Final Piece

Well, the final piece of our family puzzle {at least for this year} was safely put into place last week.

Congrats to my sister Kate and her husband Oscar.

Welcome Camden Beau Heidbreder.

What a cutie!

My parents are in Texas now visiting little Beau and loving on mama Kate.

Let the good times begin!

Firsts

Well, the time has come. It's official. I now have a child in school.

I have kind of suppressed the thought of school since it mostly reminds me of Robbie's absence. He would be going to 1st grade!

We decided Eveley would go to preschool this year. She turned 4 in April and seems ready for a classroom and learning environment. Call me a nerd, but I really enjoyed school and believed Eveley would as well.

I signed her up for Transitional Kindergarten at a church preschool where she will be going 5 days a week. This is the first church we joined after moving to the area, and these people have become family. Their children's programs are phenomenal and the staff is full of beautiful, godly people. We are very blessed to have this opportunity for Eveley to be loved and nurtured by such wonderful influences.

Eveley had a bit of separation anxiety from her mama after the twins were born. Who could blame her? But VBS was a great training ground, and we have really encouraged her about school over the past month.

Yesterday, she decided she wanted me to write her teacher a letter. So she dictated the following

Dear Teacher,

I love school, and I'm not going to cry. You are the bestest teacher in the whole world. I will not say 'Oh my God' or 'Oh my heck' and I want to learn how to read.

From Eveley Joy

Umm... so I didn't write the note exactly as she wanted me to.

This morning, she woke up excited about school. On the ride there, she piped up from the back seat, "Mom, you know I am never alone because God is always with me."

"You are absolutely right, Eveley!" I said.

Then she proceeded to quote her Bible verse from Sunday school.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Robert 3:5".

With the hundreds of Roberts in our family, it makes perfect sense! I couldn't bear to correct her. =)

She then told me she wanted to do the drop off! (This means, I will just pull up to the curb and let a teacher walk her into the school.) And she did. Without even looking back.

This is a HUGE turning point in our family's life...or that's the way it feels right now. We are losing a bit of our flexible, pajama-filled days. And the schedule requires us to be out of the house by 8:20 each morning. Do you realize what this means?

By 8:20, I must:

wake up. start coffee. change Jack. drink coffee. nurse Jack. put Jack in swing. kiss Caleb and Eveley good morning. tell Caleb to step away from Jack. wake up Ryan. change Ryan. nurse Ryan. tell Eveley I can't answer questions until I've finished my second cup of coffee. move Jack to bouncy seat. put Ryan in swing. fix Caleb some waffles and milk. fix Eveley her PB&J and milk. shower. (hopefully). dress Caleb. dress Eveley. dress myself. fix Eveley's hair. fix my hair. drink coffee. pack the diaper bag. pack Eveley a snack and drink. put on some mascara. pump. find car keys. find everyone's shoes. put Jack in car seat. find Jack's paci. put Ryan in car seat. find Ryan's paci. carry twins downstairs to garage. yell at older kids to come on. wipe sweat from brow. fill up travel mug with coffee. put twins in car. remind Eveley to buckle. buckle Caleb in car. remind Eveley to buckle. remind Eveley to buckle. drive away smiling and singing, "This is the Day," at the top of our lungs.

Fortunately for me, God is very wise. He knew that this would be impossible. So, without my knowledge or advice, He orchestrated a beautiful plan that included having my neighbor offer to take and bring Eveley home three days a week and supplying us a live-in nanny! (more on that later...)

He Loves Her. He Really Loves Her.

My darling Caleb is 2. Enough said.

He is overflowing with spunk and syrup. I love him to pieces.

But he made the transition with the twins quite difficult. As any 2-year-old boy, he wanted to push, poke, and prod. Leaving him unattended anywhere near the twins was just out of the question. This made maneuvering through the house almost impossible.

We instructed him to "pet" the babies like a kitty cat. That was the best I could come up with. Words like "gentle" and "baby" just didn't register with him.

But he has turned over a new leaf and is a little smitten by Miss Ryan.

 

 

 

Wish I could say the same for her.
(camera phone photos!)

The Aunts Go Marching One by One

I have two really rad sisters.

Growing up, we weren't very close because of our age difference. I am a {little} older.

But now we are the best of friends, and last summer began the process of us sharing common experiences when both sisters got married.

We have been able to spend the past year talking about the difficulties awesomeness of marriage.

Then, the first of January, both sisters found out they were expecting their first babies. And later, we found out both would be having boys.

I have begged them to set up skype in the labor room so I could participate. But they have rudely rejected me.

Their due dates were 2 days apart, which led to major heartburn for my parents. But God has orchestrated it beautifully (why did we doubt?).

Little sis Carrianna gave birth to this sweet bundle on Sunday evening.

Meet my new little nephew.

Reese Daniel weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces and has already stolen his mom and dad's heart.

I am excited for my sisters to experience motherhood and this love like no other. They will be great moms.

He's so sweet. It makes me want another little one!



Almost...

Oh, Kate.... batter up!

As Night and Day

Our twins are 3 months old.

I almost had to pick myself off of the floor after typing that sentence.

First of all, I can't believe it's been 3 months! And secondly, I can't believe I have twins!

Twins do not run in my family. At all. Unless someone is hiding something from me, I know of no other twins in my blood line.

I knew very little about twins in general before January of this year. I had always found them to be intriguing, but upon discovering I would soon be a "mom of multiples," I began doing my research.

I may have been foreign to twin trivia, but I did know that boy/girl twins are never identical. Duh! But you would be surprised how often I get the question, "Are they identical?"

Jack and Ryan Elizabeth are fraternal twins. Upon doing a little research, here are a few interesting facts taken from a "twin" website

* In the caucasian race, you have less than 1% chance of having fraternal twins -- they occur once in every 125 births. But if you are a fraternal twin girl, you have a 1 in 17 chance of having fraternal twins. {Congratulations, Ryan!}

* Once you have a set of fraternal twins, you are twice as likely to have another set in a future pregnancy. {uh oh}

* Fraternal twins are hereditary - they run in families. While identical twins happen by sheer chance, fraternal twins run through the mother's family. {or not...maybe God just chooses to answer your heart's prayer and give you twins!}

* The older you are, the greater your chances of having fraternal twins. {32 is not old, thank you very much.}

* Twins are more common in large and tall women. {Great...and there we have it....}

While Jack and Ryan are twins, former womb mates, they are as different as night and day.

Ryan Elizabeth is my little pink piglet. She snorts and squeals. She is as solid as a rock and has a pound advantage on Jack. She is very sturdy and can already stand up while holding my fingers.

She holds nothing back. From day 1, Ryan has been the loud mouth. If she is hungry, you will know it. When I was in the hospital, I would be awakened in the middle of the night to hear her screaming as they wheeled her bassinet down the long hall.

She can complete her meal in about 5 minutes flat. She means business when it comes to eating and wastes no time. She is pretty intense.

Jack is my little lamb. He is so laid back and peaceful. While Ryan is screaming her head off, Jack is looking around with his eyes wide open and his mouth in a huge, wide grin. I have a hard time feeding him because he is constantly smiling. I try to limit the eye contact so he can concentrate on sucking!

While they are as different as night and day, Jack and Ryan do share a few things in common. They are both deeply loved. They each fill my heart with sunshine -- even at 3 a.m. And they are gifts from God.

Jack and Ryan remind me that Jesus is the "Life Giver." He is a personal God and loves each of us uniquely and individually.

Count your many blessings. Name then one by one.

Weekend Treat

Bob and I were asked to speak at a function this past weekend for our law school. Since it was being held at The Homestead, one of our all-time favorite spots, we gladly accepted.

We have stayed here quite a few times for various events but have never taken 4 children with us. Since my cousin Mathers was still here helping out, we decided to go for it! And we are so glad we did.

The kids were great, and we all had a fabulous time. Besides a mad fit, thrown by Master Caleb at breakfast, and a loud reference to a "stinker", made by Madam Eveley at dinner, everyone was on their best behavior.

We spent the afternoon at the pool.

Snuggled in bed at night

Taught the kids to play chess...

Kinda... Where's Caleb?

Did a little fishing

Let the kids run free around the grounds

{Tried} to teach Evie how to pose for a photo

Soaked our feet in the natural hot springs

And exhaustingly tried to get a family photo.

Perfect.