What it means to be a MOM

He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord –Psalms 113:9 

I have wanted to be a “mom” since I was 5 years old and my parents told me they were having another baby.  I couldn’t wait!  And when my sister was born, I took care of her like she was mine.  I changed her, fed her, rocked her and played with her.  My dream of wanting to be a “real” mom continued all these years and on March 25th, 2011, God gave me the desires of my heart and blessed us with two precious babies.

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart –Psalms 37:4

  They mean the world to me and I couldn’t imagine life without them.  Everyday is a new adventure with them and this is the most rewarding job I have and will ever have!

With that being said, being a mom is also the hardest and most challenging thing I have ever done. 

It is the most selfless I have ever been. 

As a mom, I feel like I am being pulled and stretched all different directions.

I go to bed every night, completely exhausted, because I have given, or tried to give, my all to them and I love it!

Do everything without complaining or arguing –Phil 2:14

Some days I feel like my job as their mother is easy. 

Other days, I feel overwhelmed that God chose me to be the mother of these twin boys and to help raise them to know and love Jesus.  That is a lot of responsibility!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God –Phi l3:6

When my babies are crying, I am supposed to soothe them and help make them feel better.  But I don’t always know what to do.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding –Prov 3:5

Are they hurting? In pain?

Teething?

Fever?

Over-exhausted?

Ear ache?

Stomach ache?

Sore from shots?

Or just crying?

I don’t always have the right answers or know what to do.  I am so glad God gave me Jared to be on my team and that we can walk through this journey together.

But the most important thing I am learning about being a mom is that God entrusted me with these babies.  It is my job to continue to seek help from Him daily.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength –Phil 4:13

I don’t always have to have the right answers, thank goodness.  But if I seek Him and trust and confide in Him daily, I am being the BEST mom I can be.  And I am setting that example for my boys.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever –Psalms 118:1

“Being a mom is the most challenging and most rewarding job I have and will ever have, and for that I am thankful!”

-quote from any woman that is a mom

Thank you God for allowing/blessing/entrusting me to be the mom of these precious babies!

6 months (September 25th)

Ha!  It’s getting harder to get you two to pose together for a picture these days! :) You both are so busy, which means so is mommy.

Where to begin?  Can NOT believe my babies are a half a year old!?!  I have a lump in my throat this morning writing this.  People were not even kidding when they said it flies by.  It makes me sad to know how quick it is going but I am so thankful I am here to witness every minute of your growing! 

This month, by far, is my favorite, and daddy’s too!  In your sixth month, you both continue to roll over back and forth.  Bye-bye to the days where I just lay you down and come back to see you are still there.  Nope, these days, you both are usually half way across the living room as soon as I lay you down. 

This month, we let you try cereal. 

Gage, you loved it the first few times and Graham hated it.  Mommy was not real consistent feeding it to both of you, mainly because she knew you didn’t really have to have it until 6 months. 

This month, we daddy let you watch way too much football.

Mommy got her new stroller and you both LOVED to ride in it,

probably because you weren’t in your car seat and you could see out!

You both LOVE to read books and enjoy turning the pages.  Makes this teacher momma proud!  You both love your feet and enjoy sucking biting on your toes.  And the biggest surprise of this month?  Little Graham, you passed your brother in height and weight!  Can’t believe it!  Graham weighs 16lbs 4oz and 27 1/4 inches long and Gage weighs 15 lbs 10oz and 27 inches long.  Both of you are in the 75-90% height and 25% in weight.  “Long and Lean” Dr. G called both of you.  You don’t get that from your momma, that’s for sure!  At your 6 month  appt, you got the last of your vaccines, 3 each and also got your flu shot.  Praying the flu shot works for us and none of us get it!  We also found out that Gage got his first ear infection…Oops!  Mommy didn’t even know.  She thought all the fussiness and fever lately were from the two front teeth that popped in on Sunday morning (the day you turned 6 months).  Thankfully, Dr. G said it wasn’t too bad so we didn’t need to get any antibiotics. 

Gage

Bless your heart!  What a month it has been for you!  Those two stinkin’ bottom teeth have caused you (and mommy) a lot of grief this month.  Mommy had no idea what was going on for several weeks when her happy baby was so fussy and in pain.  I was really hoping it was your teeth causing all the problems but wow, didn’t know it would take so long for those stinkers to pop through. :)  Here is the best picture I could get of your precious first two teeth.

Look closely, they are there, I PROMISE! :)

Anyway, you are sooooooooo busy and active!  You are trying to crawl and that scares mommy!  You like to get up on all fours and then you are not sure what to do after that.  Sometimes, you lunge forward and face plant.  We have also been working on you sitting up by yourself.  You can do it, but you would rather stand or roll around.  You are too busy to cuddle, but mommy sure tries.  The best time to cuddle is when you wake up from a nap.  You still love to stick that tongue out and love to stuff ANY thing in your mouth… your hands, my hands, your feet, blankets, bibs, burp cloths, spoons, toys, teethers, whatever is in your reach!  Dr. G told us to “baby proof” our house this month and I couldn’t agree more.  I am so sure you will be into EVERYTHING!  My favorite thing you do right now is when I am feeding you, you stop, look into my eyes and smile, which makes your whole face light up and completely melt my heart!  Gage, I am so thankful for you and your precious personality!  Without you, life would be boring!

“Still love my tongue and toes!”

A moment that doesn’t happen often, you being still

Reading one of your books

Sweet hat that mommy’s asst. principal made you

Yep…any day now :-/

Poor baby, you spent a lot of your 5th month in pain, I’m sorry!

We call this your side plank.  You like to lay on your side to play, when you are not rolling everywhere!

Graham

You are full of faces and sounds these days!  You are really coming out of your shell and your personality is getting sillier!  Two new sounds/ words you discovered this month are “Bah” and “Aah.”  You like to roll over occasionally, but you are content with laying and playing as well.  No signs of teeth yet, but I think you are close.  You are chewing on your fingers and your Sophie giraffe and you rub it on your gums.  Maybe you will be a “quiet teether,” we will see.  You have become a great eater and it shouldn’t surprise me that you passed your brother in weight this month.  Your cuddles are still the best and never will get old to me.  You love to lay your head on my shoulder and put your arms around my shoulders and I LOVE it!  Mommy will NEVER get tired of this so feel free to continue this :).  You and your brother started this humming right before you fall asleep and it is so cute.  You don’t do it at the same time though.  One of you will hum and when it stops the other will start.  You are starting to notice Zoey and once she licked you and you made this horrified face and it seems you are not too crazy about her.  I’m sure this will change.  Graham, I am so thankful for you and your cuddly, silly personality.  Can’t imagine life with out you!

getting ready for cereal

“How does my hair look mom?”

Cuddling with monkey

Making a silly face, probably because mommy put you in there backwards

Love this sweet face!

Mommy has trouble keeping this hair tamed!

<3 Pretty blue eyes

 

We love you boys so much and are so thankful to be your parents!  Thank you God for our precious 6 month/ half a year old miracles!

Howdy Pawtna!

On Sunday, one of our friends’ little boys, Brody, celebrated his first birthday.  The invitation said to wear your boots and because it has been so hot outside since the boys were born, they haven’t had a chance to wear their boots.  So, Jared and I took this opportunity to have a photo shoot of the boys in their boots. 

I knew when I was packing for our trip to Abilene, I better pack the boys’ outfits and boots because I wasn’t sure if we would have time to go home before the party.  Good thing I did.  We got to the party a little late and had to leave early because the boys were not in the best spirits.  I don’t blame them though.  We had been in the car traveling all day, their schedules were off the whole weekend, and they were tired from all the fun at their Honey & Papa G’s, and Easy and Granna’s house!  They did the best they could and then they were done! 

Here is the one picture we got at the party…

(Gage, Graham, Katy with Riley Kate, and Rachel with Rawston)

Poor babies were NOT happy!  I now know what it’s like to be the mom of “the fussy babies.”  It doesn’t happen often, thank goodness!

We went to our house as soon as this picture was taken.  I fed the boys and it’s like they knew they were back at their home.  We had been gone since Thursday and I think they were relieved and more relaxed so we snapped a few pictures of them while they were happy.

Gage

Graham

Gage trying to escape… Imagine that!

 

This is the first (and I’m sure not the last of) pictures I’ll take of the boys in their cowboy hats and boots!

I love my little COWBOYS! :)

*Don’t pay too much attention to my living room.  It always looks like a crazy daycare these days :)

Abilene, Dove hunting, and Grandparents’ Day!

This past weekend, we went to Abilene to visit family and Jared needed to do a little dove hunting.  Anytime we go to Abilene, it is always an adventure.  So we decided to leave Thursday night, after the boys’ last feeding, so they would sleep the whole way and we wouldn’t have to stop and feed them.  BEST. IDEA. EVER!  All our other trips to Abilene (with the boys) have been fun (and a little stressful) but this was the best trip/ visit yet!  We did a great job splitting up our time evenly between Jared’s parents, his sister, husband and nephews, my parents, and my sister and her husband.

I am trying to relax more and enjoy our time with family and not stress too much about the boys’ schedule (which is huge for this type-A personality!)  I only got stressed out like twice this trip, usually it’s at least 14 times!  Anyway, I decided if we get past the first 24 hours, the boys get adjusted to where we are and they relax more.  It’s the first 24 hours that are hard because they don’t sleep well and are usually more fussy.  Needless to say, we had a fun and relaxing weekend with everyone!  I always love the extra help when we go home.  Here are some pictures to prove it!

Early morning play time, no smiles yet

time for a photo shoot (Gage left, Graham right)

COUSINS~ Camden with Graham and Braden with Gage

Graham watching Sports Center with Papa G

Honey with Gage and Graham

The boys made this for their Honey & Papa G and their Granna & Easy for Grandparents’ day

Great Aunt Phyllis with Gage (action spit up shot) and Graham

Hard to see, but this truck was behind us driving home.  I thought it was cool he had an American flag on his “grill.”

We had so much fun shopping, enjoying the cooler weather and drinking lots of coffee! :)  We love our families and trips to Abilene.  We look forward to many more trips “home” with the boys!

(I am sad I didn’t get any pictures of the boys with Jared and Easy with their camo on, I am sure there will be more opportunities in the future though!)