My Joy

Today is our Eveley Joy's 4th birthday. As I have said many times before, she is certainly living up to her name. She brings us enormous joy and many laughs.

My Eveley ~

You have certainly grown up this past year and are such a sweet girl. We love you deeply and are so proud of you. You are a great helper to your mom and have already declared that you will be taking care of your baby sister when she arrives. (I think baby brother will have to fend for himself.)

You have learned many new things these past few months -- how to swing by yourself, play Twinkle Twinkle on the piano, and dress yourself.

Lately, you have been very interested in talking about Jesus and your big "brudder" Robbie. We went to the cemetery together last weekend and you wanted to go look at "Robbie's flower." As we were walking around, you asked to see "Miss Meredith's flowers," -- one of my friends. I explained to you that she didn't have any flowers there because these were for people who had already gone to heaven. You looked up at me for a second and said, "Then I want to go see God's flowers."

I cannot believe that you will be starting school this fall, but I know you are going to love it!

Your daddy and I love you with all our hearts and are excited to see how God uses you. I know He has already used you to bring us (and many others) great joy.

Mama

CELEBRATION PREPARATIONS

Eveley always enjoys helping me plan her parties. I began asking her what type of party she wanted and got a variety of answers -- pirates, princess, Strawberry Shortcake. But we decided on having a "Sweet" party which allowed mom to improvise as we went along.

Both Eveley and Caleb were huge "helps" in the kitchen.

For the cake, Eveley wanted one that was similar to last year's rainbow cake.

Remember this.



This year, though, we would use brighter colors -- pink, green, yellow, orange, aqua, and purple.

Eveley helped mix the colors, and we ended up with 6 bright layers.

Unfortunately, the green layer did not survive Caleb.

So a 5-layer cake of colorful goodness would have to do this year. I made a snow peak icing and topped it with some pink sugar.

CHANGE OF PLANS

We had hoped to celebrate her birthday on Saturday but the weather would not cooperate. Afraid she would be utterly disappointed, dad arranged for a different type of surprise on Saturday.

An entire dump truck of gravel for our massive driveway.

Eveley (and Caleb) LOVED it!

Caleb has inherited Eveley's purple crocs from last summer. =) {Only for around the house, honey. I promise!}

THE BIG DAY

We were able to have Eveley's birthday party Sunday afternoon. The weather was gorgeous and so many friends were able to join us.

Eveley thought it was a perfect day.

And it was...kinda...

Due to some "miscommunication" with dad, the birthday cake arrived at the party looking like this.

But Eveley didn't care. She was surrounded by friends and family and having a blast!

This was the replacement cake from the local grocery store. =)

Caleb wanted to blow out some candles too.

and eat some cake

Today is Eveley's "official" birthday and she has decided to spend the entire day -- beginning at 6:30 -- playing with, and wearing, as many of her birthday presents as possible.

Happy Birthday, Princess!

Family Update

We are really enjoying the arrival of spring and looking forward to the arrival of the twins. And while we have much to do indoors to prepare for the babes, I have been trying to spend as much time outside as possible with Caleb and Eveley.

Last week was our MOPS Easter egg hunt. It was a fabulous day!

This shirt was Caleb's gift from our babymoon in Los Angeles. Kinda sums him up. =)

Now for my precious twins in utero. They are pushing the family tradition. While I have said many times that "I only birth stubborn children," it is rare that their stubborness shows up before birth. But these twins are hard headed and are snuggled close together with their heads firmly placed underneath my rib cage.

One doc said there is still hope that our boy will flip given the good amount of amniotic fluid. But my other doc said to start preparing for a C-section, which would most likely be scheduled for the week of May 8.

I won't give up hope yet. As a friend reminded me yesterday, this entire pregnancy has been filed with miracle after miracle. So, I am still praying for my boy to turn.

In the meantime, I am trying out a few recommended ways to urge the babe downward -- standing on my head, placing a bag of frozen peas on the top of my stomach, and considering a trip to an indoor pool.

And I am focusing on the blessing of these two healthy babies. As of Tuesday, baby girl weighed 4 pounds, 9 ounces, and baby boy weighed 4 pounds, 4 ounces. She has continued to face inward and we have yet to get a good look at her sweet face. He is facing outward and is content to bounce on my bladder.

There is so much to do! But our top priority this weekend is celebrating Eveley Joy's 4th Birthday.

I asked Eveley what she wanted for her birthday and she said, "The Lizard of Oz." Still looking for that...

The Besties

This past weekend, several girlfriends hosted a baby shower for me.

When they mentioned this a couple months ago, I was very excited and surprised to have a baby shower at this stage of the game (babies #4 and #5). But I have the best friends ever!!

They have been so excited with me at the news of these twins, and I am extremely blessed to have them in my life.

The theme of the shower was "She's About to Pop." No arguing there!





It was a beautiful morning with bright flowers, a southern brunch, cake pops, some famous caramel corn, presents galore, and crazy games.








The girls had to stuff a pink and blue balloon up their shirt so they could somehow get an idea of my physical predicament. =) Then we had to figure out how to pop them. Hilarious.







I am sincerely overwhelmed by the generosity and love of these girls. They are beautiful people and amazing friends.





Ultrasound tomorrow!

What's in Your Nursery?

TWINS UPDATE: I am 33 weeks and 5 days. We will be going Tuesday for an ultrasound to determine their size and position. Other than some heartburn, I am feeling great and really appreciate your kind words and prayers! Another belly pic may be coming...

I have been out of the baby gear purchasing phase for quite some time. Of course I went through the typical research phase with my first pregnancy and collected all of those "must haves" for Robbie. Being Miss Practical, most of my larger purchases were in a pattern that would work well for a girl or boy. So when I was pregnant with Eveley, I simply added a few girly items. When Caleb arrived, I again pulled out the boy items from Robbie, and we were set.

It has been several years since I have made any significant purchases for a baby's arrival. But the addition of the twins is necessitating some new items. My dilemma is deciphering what is truly needed given the fact that we are quickly outgrowing our house and don't want to add unnecessary clutter.

And with my sisters both going through their first pregnancies, I am racking my brain to help them come up with that list of true "must haves" to help them prepare for their new arrivals.

Here are a few things that really helped me.

My sweet friend Jenna, who was an experienced mom, sent me a great gift of goodies for Robbie. It was a basket containing all of the necessary items for a baby boy AND it was accompanied by an instruction sheet! It included everything I would need for grooming, teething, bathing, caring for his circumcision, nursing, fevers, and a notebook to record our breastfeeding schedule. It was a lifesaver to have her words guide me through the little things that just seemed so overwhelming during those first months.

The car seat is obvious. And there are tons of cute and safe ones to choose from.

But the most important part of the infant stage, to me, is having a stroller that the car seat can be fastened into. This is such a huge time saver and helps keep those little ones sleeping. When I first had to purchase one of these, I had the Graco system that weighed a ton and felt like you were pushing a truck.


These new snap n go frames are awesome, and they seem to be the perfect solution for that first infant stage.

After baby grows up a little, an umbrella stroller is a must have. My favorite is the Maclaren stroller. It is easy to collapse and store. But the main reason I prefer it is because of the height of the handles. It is great for us tall moms (so this doesn't apply to you, Carrianna) and it keeps me from stepping on the back wheels. I have always opted for the one that has a reclining seat to allow for easier napping.

We have also used air purifiers (or noise machines) in our kids' rooms. This is really more about settling me down than them. But it does help me relax about other noise in the house.

I have not had a video baby monitor but think one would be awesome! We did have an audio monitor with Robbie, but I found that it did nothing more that totally stress me out during those first weeks. I could never sleep as I was listening to all the little gurgles and sounds. So we ended up turning it off at nights and just keeping the doors open.

I think a video monitor would allow me to look in on the little one to reassure myself that he/she was covered and sleeping well without having to wonder what all the noises meant. This seems to be especially important this go around as the twins will most likely be sleeping together for the first part, and I will want to make sure baby girl is not continuing to torture her brother like she is doing in the womb.

I love the boppy! (so did Robbie)


It has a million uses. For the first 2 weeks, I sat on it. But then was able to use it for nursing and propping baby up during the day. And it gives great support when they are learning how to sit up.

I also think a pac-n-play is essential, especially if you live in a multi-level house. It enables you to have a diaper changing station, place for naps, and place for safe and confined play. Great investment!

I also think that a play mat and jumperoo (for a doorway) were wonderful things to have.

Can't you tell how much Caleb was loving it!

You can't have enough gowns to start out with. They make diaper changes much easier than trying to fasten all of those snaps on a full sleeper in the middle of the night.

Things that made my "you've got to be kidding" list included: wipes warmer (unless you live in a cabin in Alaska), diaper genie, and a co-sleeper.

Sorry, but we have never had babies sleeping in our room. It isn't due to some high parenting calling. Rather, I CANNOT sleep with a baby in my room. It is pure torture.

So... what's in your nursery??
I would LOVE to hear any of your comments or suggestions.