Look out, 2009! The resolving has begun.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody! Well there is no doubt about it, 2008 has been the best year of my life. It will be difficult to top, but I know 2009 will bring us many more blessings of joy. Here are some New Year's resolutions I have been thinking about- I may come back and add more later! Some are simple, and some a little more time consuming (which will be hard since I don't have much of that lately! But hey- sleep is overrated, right?). I am going to print the list out and put them up at work and at home. I will have a "follow-up" in three months to check my progress- like a job evaluation!

1. Have quiet time with God/read Bible every day . I need to come up with a plan for this. I may need to do it at work on my lunch break until the babies start sleeping a little later in the morning. Ideally, I like having quiet time in the morning to get my day started off right. I want to get a devotional and memorize different Bible versus every week.

2. Try new recipes. My menu pretty much consists of scrambled eggs, mac and cheese, baked chicken, spaghetti and grilled cheese sandwiches. I want to be able to cook good meals for my family. ANY GOOD (fairly simple) RECIPES SUGGESTIONS?

3. Lose remaining pregnancy weight. This is not about physical appearance, I just want to feel like me again and be healthy and able to fit into my clothes. Not sure how I will do it yet, but my best bet will probably be laying off the cheeseburgers and mixing in a few sit ups here and there.

4. Drink 8 glasses of water a day.

5. Get back to reading with my book club. Both the reading and the company of my friends brought so much to my life and I would love to be able to try and read a little at night after the babies are asleep and try to start going to the "meetings" again. Miss you, girls!!!

6. Get organized/simplify/clean out and throw or give away. This is a necessity for us right now. We do not have room for ANYTHING anymore and it drives me nuts to have clutter. If we do not use it, it is going!

7. No turning the TV on as soon as I plop down on the couch and having it on just for background noise. This is a habit for me that I want and need to break. We have enough noise in the house these days. I will only watch the few shows I really love to watch.

8. Find a good church for our family.. and GO!

9. Be helpful and thoughtful. I may not be able to save the world, but I can look for ways to help people every day. Opportunities are all over the place if we just look for them.

10. Keep my car and my house clean- pick up after myself as I go, don't let clutter build up. Do a little every day, so I don't have mountains of crud on the weekend.

11. No more potty mouth- including when I am driving in my car and a texting teenager cuts me off and slams on her breaks, and when I stump my toe so hard that I think I broke it. This one will be a challenge, I'm not proud to say, but I am up for it.

12. Find cool, fun, local, inexpensive things to do as a family. I want to get out with the kids more and do fun stuff, as they get a little older and kinda know what's going on.

Let me know what your resolutions are!

To each, his own.. crib.

I almost forgot to report a very important development in the Pierson household- both babies sleeping in their own cribs-in the SAME ROOM! Nate has been doing great in his crib in the nursery. He is always sleepy after his night time bottle, so a few minutes after he eats we just lay him in bed and he falls asleep pretty shortly. Lilly has also been doing pretty good, but in the pack 'n' play right beside me in our bedroom. We did this for a couple of reasons. 1-she had scary acid reflux spit up and sometimes during the night, so I wanted to keep a close watch on her. 2-We had not gotten the crib that matched the one we have from my sister yet, so we only had the one crib. 3 (and this is the main reason they were not in the same room)- they wake each other up!

We got the crib when we were in Waco for Christmas and decided to try it out Friday night. We put Nate in the crib as usual, and I rocked Lilly while Nate was falling asleep. Shortly after, Lilly was zonked out so I put her in the crib about 8:45pm...and... HALLELUJAH! We didn't hear a peep out of them until 5:30 the next morning! They did good Saturday night too, and they would have done good last night except for some diaper leakage issues.
As excited as I was, I do have to confess that I layed in bed the first night Lilly was in her crib and cried for a few minutes. I missed my baby girl who had been sleeping so close to me for the last six months. I missed hearing her gurgles and sighs, but I know it is the best thing for her and for us!! I am confident that we are going to be able to make it work- YAY!!! This is HUGE.

Sometimes Lilly still likes to hang out with Nate in his crib!!

PLEASE smile for mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last Saturday we took the babies back to Portrait Innovations for 6 month pictures. This is the same place we got their first professional pictures at 3 months and we got so many good poses that we ended up with TONS of pictures, and every shot on our very own CD! Boy, was this time different! All I wanted was one good pose with both of them (no individual pictures this time). Of course (in what definitely seemed like a team effort to irritate me) they were all smiles right before and right after we had them posing for the camera, but at the moment when the camera was in their faces.. nothing! Nate was just sitting there staring, which is fine, but Lilly got tired and VERY fussy, so the photographer guy was making all these crazy loud noises trying to get Lilly to snap out of it. Consequently, Lilly would refocus for a few seconds right about the same time Nate would decide he was scared of the photographer and start crying! So the guy tells us "You know, if you're not happy with these you can always come back and re-do the sitting". I let him know in a not-so-subtle way that this was the one and only beating we would be enduring for these photos! ha!! It is tough to time it just right; to have them both fed, diapered, dressed up and thoroughly rested in time to smile for pictures, not to mention trying to position them (when they can't quite sit up by themselves) and get them to stay long enough to get that money shot!
In the end, it was all worth it! We ended up with one that I don't think shows how adorable they REALLY are, but for a $10.99 package of photos, they will do!

Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra, ra-ra-ra-raaaa!!

'Tis the season to be jolly, and our first Christmas with the babies was just that! They are so little, they of course have no clue what is going on, but nonetheless it was fun for us to pretend they did ("Ohhh! Look what Santa brought you!!"). Nate was more interested in pulling the tissue paper out of the bags and trying to eat it. Brian made fun of me for setting the gifts up by the tree and taking pictures, but I thought- what if they ask me what Santa brought them for their first Christmas? I need a picture! I put the jumperoo in the picture even though "Santa" (A.k.a. Amazon.com) dropped it off a month ago- it was still a Christmas present!! Those things are expensive! I made them each a fleece blanket (mommy can't knit, sew, or crochet but she can sure as heck cut strips and tie a million knots together). They also each got a Christmas ornament, on which I put their name and the year. I think I will make this a tradition (thank you for the neat idea Allie!!).
After we fed, dressed, and forced the babies to sit by the tree and act like they knew it was Christmas for pictures, we loaded up half the house and headed down to Waco to hang out at Aunt Achie and Uncle Gary's with Gram and cousins Avery and Lane. The drive was about an hour and a half and the babies did great..on the way there. The ride back was a different story. Lilly got cranky and I ended up in the backseat holding her paci in place for the last 45 minutes!! It was worth it to not have to hear that piercing scream of hers! Anyway, back to Christmas.. we had a great time and Alison and Gary prepared a DELICIOUS Christmas dinner and a very yummy "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake. The babies got some great presents and we had a good time talking and being together.
We missed Aunt Hilary, Uncle Mark and cousins, and Grandpa Dick and Grandma Diane, and ALL aunts, uncles, and cousins in Colorado, but we will see them all soon and have MORE Christmas- YAY!

Peas and Thank You - Fun With Food X 2

Here is a picture of what I was talking about in an earlier post. Nate gets so upset when poor Lilly gets a bite! In his defense, he was also very sleepy.

It is so much easier when Brian is home and we can feed one-on-one! I have to turn Lilly around so they don't distract each other too much!

All smiles after they have full bellies!

My New Favorite Christmas Song!

This is such an awesome song.. gives me chills every time I hear it.

"A Baby Changes Everything"- Faith Hill

Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything

Not a ring on her hand

All her dreams and all her plans

A baby changes everything

A baby changes everything

The man she loves she's never touched
How will she keep his trust?
A baby changes everything
Ababy changes everything

And she cries, oh, she cries

She has to leave, go far away
Heaven knows she can't stay
A baby changes everything

She can feel it's coming soon
There's no place, there's no room
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

And she cries, and she cries
Oh, she cries

Shepherds all gather 'round
Up above the star shines down
A baby changes everything

Choir of angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

My whole life has turned around
I was lost, but now I'm found
A baby changes everything, yeah
A baby changes everything

Double Vision- A Look Back

Nate and Lilly have been on this earth 6 months today! I know I already talked about the shots, the heights and weights, the developmental mile stones, but I also wanted to look back to the beginning, to tell the story from my persective. This is going to be a long one..
It all started with an ultrasound. On December 3 2007, I was around 7 weeks pregnant and had experienced some problems. We scheduled an early ultrasound and feared that we may hear the worst when we went in. Sitting in that tiny room with the technician, Brian, the nurse, and my mom stuffed over in the corner, we stared at a black screen with blurry stuff on it. We stared at the technician, our facial expressions screaming "WELL, IS THE BABY OKAY OR NOT?!?" Finally she spoke and we hung on her every word.."Well.. there are two..". "Are they okay?" is the only thing I could utter and the only thing I cared about. "Yes" she said, and then she showed us the tiny little heartbeats, just beating away. Two hearts, in two little blurry blobs, that is the first time we laid eyes on Nate and Lilly (that day, "baby A" and "baby B"). That was an awesome day; the day we went from thinking baby to thinking babies. I honestly don't remember being worried, or thinking "how are we going to do this?" It must have been some kind of ignorant bliss to keep me from having a heart attack during my pregnancy, because I have sure had the thought a few times since they were born!
I was so happy the day (or should I say night-morning-middle of the night?) the babies were born. It had been a long day (to be exact- the longest day of the year- summer solstice!!), and I was in a surreal trans-like state holding the babies for a few minutes, one in each arm, swaddled in their hospital blankets, trying to memorize their faces before they had to take them back to the nursery. They were such a good size for twins (almost 6 pounds each) and overall they looked healthy enough to stay in the regular nursery and not have to be in the NICU. What a relief! The whole next day they got to stay with us in the room. I remember Brian had gone home to tend to Mattie and get a shower, and the nurse brought both babies in and left them in there with me. "How fun!" I thought. "Time alone with my new babies!" So there I was trying to feed Lilly, when Nate started fussing from the baby bed. "Hmm.. how is this going to work.. should I get up and get Nate? but then what do I do with Lilly? Well I can't just leave Nate crying, but I can't hold Lilly and pick Nate up at the same time.." Oh man, thus began the double trouble! Whatever I did, I ended up with both of them awkwardly in my lap in the hospital bed. Thank goodness, the nurse came back in shortly to help me! If only she could have come home with us..
It took a while to get over my post-pregnancy hormone funk, so the first couple weeks are a little blurry (thank God for family help during this time-especially our in house helpers, Grandma Diane, Grandpa Dick, and Grandma Nancy). I just remember knowing in my heart I was grateful and thankful for these two beautiful healthy babies, but in my head I felt quite hopeless and helpless, and very inadequate as a new mother to two babies. Besides an allergy problem Nate had with the formula and some acid reflux/ spit up problems with Lilly, the babies were fairly calm for the most part. The hardest thing for me was feeling like I could not give 100% to either one of them, so they were both getting a cruddy, tired 50% of me, no matter how hard I tried.
Everything got better when I was able to mix in a little sleep here and there. Oh- when the babies went from eating every three hours to every four hours that was a happy day!! Somewhere around 2.5 months, I think. You wouldn't think one more hour would make that much of a difference but it is amazing! Around this time is also when they started to really look at me, like they knew I was their mommy, and smile and laugh. Lilly started first with the smiles and Nate was able to amuse a few weeks later. Talk about making my heart smile! It's amazing how a smile from your baby (or babies in our case) can make you forget that you haven't slept or showered in four days and for that instant that you are connecting with them, you feel so good!
Twins are double duty. They are double dirty diapers, double mouths to feed, double loud screams, double night time craziness, double bath times, double peas spit back at me, double bottles to wash, double carriers to carry, double laundry to clean, double financial stress. What makes it all worth it are the double smiles, double laughs, double play mates, double sleepy faces late at night and early in the morning, double cute naked baby hineys, double photo opportunities, and double LOVE. :)
More than anything, I look at Nate and Lilly and hope they will realize when they get older how much I love each one of them individually and how they are both special to me in such different ways. They already have a very unique bond between the two of them that has been so much fun to watch develop! Any time they are next to each other, they are usually staring at each other or reaching out to each other. It's awesome.
Happy six month birthday to Nate and Lilly. Thank you, Jesus, for our sweet babies.

6 Month Check-Up!

Nate and Lilly had their 6 month check up yesterday and everything was great! Lilly weighed in at a whopping 17.15 pounds and Nate was lagging behind at 16.8 pounds. They were both 26 or 27 inches long (I can't quite remember). The doctor was very pleased with their growth, although when he walked into the room, both babies were stripped down to diapers and he thought that Lilly was a boy and Nate was a girl!

Anyway, they took their shots like champs, and thankfully we don't have to look forward to any more of those for a while. In developmental news, both babies passed their "physical" tests, although Lilly is STILL not rolling over. I really think she could if she wanted to, but she just doesn't care! She is perfectly happy lying on her back, or sitting up supported. She doesn't like her "tummy time" even though she is great at holding her head up for long periods of time. The doc said not to worry about it so I won't! Nate, on the other hand, will not stay in one spot for longer than ten seconds. No more leaving him on the couch or changing table for a second to go check on Lilly or grab something out of the drawer for him to wear. Nope, he wants to move! He is our little roley-poley!

They are both doing really good with food- eating fruits or veggies twice a day now! Nate makes it virtually impossible for me to feed them at the same time, since he has no patience to let Lilly take her turn. The second I turn to her to give her a bite, Nate is screaming bloody murder. It's kind of funny how fast he freaks out. The doc told us that we could start trying regular formula for Nate instead of the expensive stuff (to see if he is still allergic) and we can hopefully take Lilly off her acid-reflux medication soon. Both things that will save us money- yippee!! I am going to partaaay when we don't have to deal with formula anymore- only 6 more months!!

Pictures from the last month..

Already having fun together!

Uh-Oh..This does not turn out well!Hey mom, come look!

Nate loves to eat the butterfly on his jumperoo!

Have you seen cuter chubby cheeks in your life?
Big boys and girls in their high chairs..

Getting ready for Christmas pictures!
Sticking her tongue out is Lilly's new favorite thing!

Get your game face on! The youngest Vikings fan..

Little do Brad Childress and the Minnesota Vikings know, but they can attribute their 35-15 win over the Cardinals yesterday to a six-month old little boy who was wearing his Vikings jersey. Daddy decided to try it on him even though we knew it would be a little big. He has, after all, been waiting to have someone to put this on for about ten years (don't ask me why he has had this for so long?!?)!

Getting ready for the game. GO VIKES!We better take a snoozer before the game starts so we are fully rested.

It's 3:00. Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!?

Get out of the way, mom! You're blocking the TV!

I guess sister can watch too..

Christmas Card Rejects

It's that time of year again!! I was so excited that this was the first year we would be able to feature babies in our annual Christmas cards. In keeping with the naivete I have had regarding the twins since my pregnancy, I had no idea what a challenge it would be to get two five month old babies to do what I wanted them to do.. and at the same time!! I have to thank my mom, who was and has always been our Christmas card photog. I'll keep the final picture a surprise, but here are a few outtakes to make you appreciate what we went through when you open your card from us this year!!

First, let's try getting the whole family by the tree.. maybe standing up?

Nope, Brian's head cut off, kids looking off in confusion, is that a finger in the corner??

Let's try sitting on the floor so Mattie can join us!

Nope, kids look drunk and Mattie didn't fit.

Nate- look at the camera and get your hand out of your mouth!! We stopped attempting to get Mattie in the picture after this one.

Getting a little irritated- let's try something else!

Oops- daddy didn't get the rattle out of the picture in time! Looks like it was only working with Nate anyway! Gross- look at that dirty fireplace!!
umm.. is this almost over? I think Lilly is getting tired.

Yep, she's out like a light, and Bubba is not far behind! Modeling is so tiring!

GOOD BYE Twenties!

Hello Thirties!

What did my twenties teach me? Hmm..Just a few cliches that ring true to me..

Not everything happens on our time table, but it always happens exactly when it should.
Holding on to anger doesn't hurt anyone but you.
You should never depend on any one person to make you happy and fulfill all your needs.
If you can't have everything you want, learn to want everything you have.
Sleep deprivation will make you crazy, but probably won't kill you.
You can't always please everyone, so don't waste your time trying.
Try not to second guess yourself.
Trust your gut feeling.
Diets are for losers- life is too short.

This one is more about me than the babies, but on this, the last day of my twenties, the last day I will be able to say, "I'm twenty-whatever", I felt the need to jot down a few thoughts. Am I sad about turning thirty? Not really. I am ready to reap the benefits of lessons I have learned (some the hard way) in my twenties. The last ten years have been marked with the best moments of my life. Among them are the night I met Brian, our wedding day, my college graduation, the birth of my precious nieces and nephews, trip to NYC with mom, and last but not least, my pregnancy and the birth of our miracles last summer.

This past Sunday, November 30, my former boss's 21 year old son was killed in a car wreck. The news has been so devastating for him and his wife and it is all I have been able to think of since it happened. He was their only child, their blessing, adopted when they were in their forties. I just can't figure out why he would be taken from them at such a young age, but I also can't help but be so grateful that I am lucky enough to be turning 30.

I'm not sad to be getting older, even though when I look in the mirror and see the wrinkles and grays it is kind of a shock sometimes. But I guess every wrinkle earns its right to be there, and the babies have definitely had a lot to do with my grey hairs, so I will try not to complain! I can't wait to see what my thirties have in store!!

Turkey Day 2008

First Thanksgiving! Here are some pictures of our day- hangin' out over at Grandma's!!