Life is Beautiful

Do you ever have moments when you think, "life is good?" I'm having one of those. I can't help but think it's funny because of all that's going on in our lives. David has had a really slow recovery with his back. We've spent a small fortune with his various doctors, consultations and such. Granted it's 100% worth it, but it's been an expensive time for us. Not to mention that I'm in the middle of being sick. But I can't help but look at my life and be thankful.

My children. These precious little ones. These beautiful people who love me without reservation. This is what I've always wanted; to be a mother. To be entrusted with a child is a huge undertaking, and one that I relish with all my heart. As good as I thought motherhood would be.....it's even better.

Of all the ways I seek to make myself happy, the things society says will bring happiness; for me it's my family. It's these amazing children God has blessed me with. It's this man who stands at my side. I am blessed beyond belief.

Life is beautiful!!!!

Haircuts

Janna got her hair cut today and Kennedy & Courtney seemed enthralled by this. They watched her in the chair and chattered at her the whole time.

Kennedy was there to show her support.

I knew Courtney desperately needed a haircut. She has this one piece of hair that is so much longer than the rest of her hair. She's had it since birth, hence her first nickname of Courtney Cockatoo. So the lady put her up in the chair and trimmed it for me. She didn't move, she didn't wiggle or anything. She smiled really big and sat there like it was no big deal. Her first haircut at 9 3/4 months. What a big girl!!!

Here she is in the chair waiting her turn. You can see what I mean about really needing this cut!!!!

This one was taken just for daddy as he loves to put their hair in mohawks.

The finished product. Courtney in her little top knot that mommy likes so much!!

Trip to the wolf sanctuary

Janna has an amazing Daisy Scout leader. Everything they do has some way to earn a badge. In her short time, they have done some wonderful events. Most recently we went to a wolf sanctuary out in Montgomery Texas (see link for details). It was so cool, I had to add a few videos & photos to share. For various reasons none of these graceful animals will ever be allowed to return to the wild. Therefore, all the wolves are rescued and brought to this place to live out their lives in peace.

http://www.wolvesofsaintfrancis.org/

The girls would line up at the fence and howl to get the wolves to howl back at them. As you can see the wolves were accommodating.

On Saturdays all the wolves are walked. It gives them a chance to stretch out and roam. Their cages are good sized, but this definitely gives them a chance to exercise a bit more. Three volunteers will take two wolves out at a time. One of the volunteers wore perfume and it seems that the wolf, Mystery decided she liked. Check out this video. They are spraying perfume onto the fence then the wolf rubs it on herself.

They have guides who can give you all the details of each wolf and adults are able to get a little closer. There are two nine month old wolf cubs joining them soon - we'll be heading back once they are there. We were able to meet the lovely woman who owns all the land and lives there. She told us some great stories and we had an amazing time.

Happy birthday to ME!!

Yesterday was my birthday and I received a great present. David went to visit the back specialist and it turns out he doesn’t need surgery!!! Instead he will be getting transformational epidural steroid injections while continuing his visits with the chiropractor. A friend of ours had this and said it worked wonders. He should see a drastic improvement after the first one. He has a consult with the doctor next Tuesday and they will set up a time to do the first injection that same week. We are all just plain relieved he won’t have to do surgery. I couldn’t ask for more – well, a healed back for him would be nice.

The other great part of my birthday was being with my family. We had a lovely dinner with my in-laws the night before my birthday. Then Tuesday night we went out with my sister Tina, Bill & Lynn. They brought me my favorite cake & ice cream (which was a complete surprise) I received some lovely gifts and we all had a great time. Although I should say we were enjoying ourselves until the end of the night.

Right as we are getting everything together to leave the restaurant Janna starts playing around. She wound up falling flat on her face, hitting her chin and biting her tongue. She’s screaming, crying and bleeding while I do everything I can to calm her. It was pretty traumatic. Tina & Lynn loaded up the car for me while Bill carried everything out. David can’t lift anything due to his back so he was feeling pretty helpless. During all this Kennedy decides that big sister can’t be the only one crying so she starts wailing at the top of her lungs. As we are getting everyone in the car and Janna begs me to sit in the back with her. So David drives while I sit in the back feeding Janna ice and cuddling her. Kennedy cried most of the way home.

Once home I carry everyone and everything into the house and settle Janna on the couch. I put both babies in bed so I can tend to Janna. Kennedy screamed at being unattended – she kept at it until she cried herself to sleep. Once I finished with Janna I went back in, fed her, changed her diaper, got her dressed for bed and put her back down. While she had finally stopped crying she did kick her little legs a few times when I put her down just to make sure I knew she wasn’t completely happy with me.

Back to Janna: By the time we got home she had calmed down and I even managed to make her laugh. Pretty soon she is being VERY silly with me. She tells me, “I’m the goofiest one in this family.” To which I replied, “I don’t think so, who do you think you inherited your silliness from? That’s right me!!” She replied, “No I didn’t. I got it from the wildlife in Zimbabwe.” I laughed and asked her where she comes up with the stuff. She said, “duh, in my head mommy!” She definitely gives me a run for my money.

I feel the need to mention that through all of this Courtney was as good as gold. She smiled, played, cooed and was a little angel baby. She was a complete doll at dinner and went right to bed once we got home. After I sorted the other two out, I got her back up, fed her once more, changed her diaper, changed her into night clothes and put her back down. She smiled at me the entire time.

So thank you mom & dad for yummy Sweet Bella’s dinner & cake on Monday. Thank you David, Tina, Bill, Lynn & my sweet girls for a fun time at CJ’s my actual birthday. And thank you to all my sweet friends who remembered my birthday and sent me emails or called me to share in the day. I greatly appreciate you and you each made me feel special.

PS - Tracy – I love when you & your family sing!!!!! You need to have your own record deal!!!!

Wake me up

Janna asked for an alarm clock so she could wake up on her own. I was impressed but honestly didn't think she would actually do it. Turns out she loves it. She doesn't want me coming in to wake her up - she likes coming out to me. It's so fun to see her huge smile as she realizes she did it herself!!

When I set her alarm I set it to wake up to music but forgot to check what station I had it on. This morning she came out, gave me a cuddle and then headed back into her room to get herself dressed. I could hear the radio as I was making breakfast so I went in to turn the alarm off. I couldn't help but laugh as I walk in and she is jamming to Evanescence's Bring Me to Life. She told me, "don't turn it off, I'm listening to that!!!" She danced around her room and when the song was over she said, "now you can turn it off." Isn't she funny!?!?!?

Dinner

I made broccoli cheese soup & bread for dinner tonight. Everyone loved it. Janna told the babies, “we’re eating little trees, but it’s okay, these are the good kind.” The twins tried to feed themselves as I wasn’t doing it fast enough and made a HUGE mess. I had to put them in the tub right afterwards. There were bread crumbs & tiny pieces of broccoli all over my tub. I could have used their bathwater for soup stock!! I’m just glad they like my cooking.

Quick videos of the babies

Kennedy is hilarious and she knows it. We all love to laugh and consider it a major triumph if we can make someone else laugh out loud. Kennedy has learned this lesson early. See for yourself. The clicking is her trick her daddy taught her while I taught her the nose thing. She started to cry one day and I laughed at her and told her she was faking. In mid cry with her face all scrunched up she smiled at me as if to say, "yeah, okay mom, I'm busted." Since then I can ask her to make her "fake face" and she'll do this look for me.

This toy was a great Christmas gift from Grandma & grandpa. The girls have played with it every day since. Being a baby everthing goes in her mouth; as Courtney clearly shows in this video. She loves to stand up while holding onto it. She tries to get it to move so she can walk with it but that doesn't work so well. Kennedy has finally learned to pull herself up on it too. Although she just makes it to her knees and cries for us to come help her all the way up. Yesterday Janna helped her up to her feet and after a few minutes Kennedy started crying because she couldn't figure out how to sit back down. Poor baby, she's still learning. She isn't in much of a hurry to crawl or stand. She leaves that up to Courtney. She's happy and content where she is.