31

Last Saturday morning, Jamie and I took our kids to an Easter "Trunk Hop." The kids went to different stations to hear songs, skits, or stories about Easter. They received an egg with a treat inside at each station. Their favorite treats were "Free Frosty" coupons! They also enlisted in the Lord's Army. :)

Sunday evening, Tim, Krista, & their girls came for dinner. Sydney stayed the night...the girls' 1st sleepover in the new house. :)

Today was my birthday! Thanks for all of the birthday wishes via cards, calls, texts, and emails! I am blessed with such wonderful family and friends! This is the first time since I can remember that I worked on my birthday. It wasn't so bad though. Dr. F & Dr. B always send us flowers for our birthdays. I love the spring colors, and daisies are one of my favorite flowers. Mandi, Gabe, & Ella surprised me with a balloon, Mello Yello, and package of Twix bars. (You think they know me well?!) For lunch, we had a surprise baby shower for my friend Rose...lots of laughs and good food. Then, Alex brought the girls by the office for a surprise visit! I love getting to see my girls in the middle of the day. They also brought daisies! (I wasn't completely surprised by their flowers though since Brynna had told me recently..."I'm going to get you flowers for your birthday and daddy will pay for them and I will give them to you." :) Then this evening, we enjoyed Mi Pueblo for dinner! Yum! My final surprise was a cookie cake and the girls sang Happy Birthday to me. It was a wonderful birthday...and 31 isn't so bad.

Cute story from the girls...

Brynna: My daddy is at work. He works at the bank.

Mommy: What does daddy do at the bank?

Brynna: Umm, he takes money.

Braylee: No, he earns money!

One more...
(Note: For all of you who frequent Holiday World, you know there are trash cans EVERYWHERE!)
The other day, we had 3 trash cans lined up and Braylee said, "This looks like Holiday World!" ;) It's amazing the things kids notice that you'd think they would be completely oblivious about!

Pour out the Rain

Happy Birthday, Gramps. We love you and miss you!

(These were taken at his birthday last year.)

Mud Puddles and Victory Dances

Last Friday evening, it was dreary and drippy outside, but it was warm so we didn't pass on the opportunity to go outside. If you have mud puddles, you might as well splash in them, right?

On Saturday, we enjoyed watching BR win the Regional!

Brynna (with popcorn of course) and cousin Brody

Congratulating Alex's cousin Josh after the championship game

The girls did their own little victory dances. ;)

Wednesday, I told the girls we were going to the park, but I didn't tell Braylee our other plans until we got there. It was time for her immunizations for kindergarten. A little drama...of course. She had tears coming down her face as we walked in. After it was done, she said, "If I knew it was just going to be poke, poke, poke, I wouldn't have been so upset." Hmm...I doubt it. ;) As promised, we played at the park when she was done. Braylee was really happy when Elle and Colton showed up! I told her God must have sent Elle to the playground to make her day a little brighter. In the afternoon, we tried to go on a walk/bike ride with Abby and her kids, but we were called back to the house for a FedEx delivery. For some reason, my girls are just not as impressed with the FedEx guy as they are with the men in the big brown trucks. ;)

The girls have loved using the new bathtub. Last week, Daddy brought home star kisses for them from Dairy Queen. What a life...eating ice cream while relaxing in the jacuzzi!

One day this week, I had one of those "mom moments." I was getting up from the computer and saw this:It was a little reminder of how blessed I am to be a mom!

Home Sweet Home

The last two weeks, we've been busy cleaning at the new house and getting ready to move in. The girls entertained themselves a lot while Mommy & Daddy kept busy. One night, they were putting on a show from their "stage" i.e. fireplace. I must have heard Brynna say "Gymnastics is tan-tastic!" (Gymnastics is fantastic.) about 50 times. ;)

One day, I found them doing the limbo.

The girls had fun cheering for BR during Sectional week. These pictures were taken at Tuesday night's game (March 2nd).

Daddy & his BR girls
The girls love their cousin Dillon who is a Senior at BR this year.

We were blessed with gorgeous weather on Saturday for the move. Thanks to some great friends, the day went smoothly and we accomplished a lot.

Gramma took the girls on several golf cart rides.

Saturday wasn't just about moving though...For starters, it was Braylee's first t-ball practice! She was so excited and loved it! She has already asked when her next practice is so I'd say that's a good sign.

She told me she wanted to take the helmet off for the picture since you "only wear the helmet when you're batting" but I told her it would be ok for the pictures. :)

First T-ball practice. Receiving instructions from Coach Graber

Then, Saturday night was the BIG game. We had fun cheering on the Vikings to another Sectional win. At the end of the game, we were all jumping and cheering and Brynna asked, "Did our team win the trophy?!" :)

Sunday, we spent the majority of the day organizing things around the house. Alex set up the girls' "village" (all of their little houses, castles, pet shops, etc) in the basement on some scrap carpet. Hopefully all of those little pieces will STAY in the basement. :) I set up the girls' "play house." Our original plan for their playroom upstairs was to use it mostly for arts & crafts, reading, and homework. But on Sunday, I decided to turn it into their own little house. On one wall is their walk-in kitchen, by the window is their table and chair set, in another corner is a TV and some of their comfy chairs, and in another area is the "baby's room" with the cradle, doll clothes, etc. The girls LOVE it. They had to show their daddy around their house. ;) We also had Small Group Sunday evening at Abby & Kevin's.  Lots of yummy food and tons of little kiddos running around.

Monday, Mandy and I headed out on another one of our day-long shopping trips. It was another successful trip. We're guessing our hubbies are going to put a stop to them soon, but it's so fun buying things for our new houses and bouncing ideas off each other. I'm sure people were making fun of us though with our paint swatches and measuring tapes. :)

Tuesday, the satellite people came...an answered prayer of Braylee's I'm sure! I really don't let them watch that much TV, but Braylee loves TV! On Sunday, she told me, "I guess I'll just have to play all day because we don't have TV yet." On Monday, she told my mom that her new house was boring because it didn't have TV! So, I'm guessing the satellite guys are now on Braylee's "People I Love" list...right up there with Santa and the UPS guy.

Even with everything that's been going on, a ballerina still needs her beauty sleep.

We're In!

It's official! We moved in on Saturday and have been sleeping here since then. There is still a ton of unpacking and decorating to do, but it's already starting to feel like home.

Answers

I thought I'd answer a few questions I've gotten about the twins...

No, they are not identical since one is a boy and one is a girl, but I'm sure they will have sibling similarities. ☺

As of yesterday, Hadlee was up to 4lbs. 12 oz. (gained 1 pound since birth) and Kooper was 5lbs. 8oz. (gained 1 pound and 4 oz. since birth).

They are both still getting oxygen...Hadlee 100% and Kooper 65%.

No idea yet when they will be able to go home. From the beginning, they've told them to plan on them being there until their due date...which is 3 weeks from now. Hopefully they will get to go home sooner though.

Twins

My tiny little niece and nephew are 1 month old today! 

Hadlee Maelynn
Owen Kooper

Due to NICU protocol to help reduce risk of infection, the babies can not be touched at the same time. I feel sorry for them...all cozy in the womb together and now they haven't seen each other for a month! ;) Hopefully they will be home soon and can snuggle together!