Cowboy Day

Posted on November 27, 2010 by Julie

Cutest Cowboy I have ever seen!  He was actually posed like this all on his own.  His school has an annual Cowboy Day, where kids dress up and have a full day of events lined up.  Roping a “horse” or bail of hay with a saddle on it, petting zoo (with the cutest squealing baby pigs), mining for gold, pony rides, etc..   Chase could not wait for school to start this day. At 7am he was pleading to get in the car so they could go, school doesn’t start till 9am. :)

All dressed and ready to go!

Sweet Chase!   I love when I capture the tender moments Chase so often displays in the more quiet moments around our house.  Most everyone else always sees the rowdy Chase.  Our boy is sooo special & uniquely made!

Only real cowboys ride horses (or cute, docile ponies :)

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Friends

Posted on November 27, 2010 by Julie

What sweet friends these boys are.  It is soo cool to see a mini Jeff & mini Michael playing together.   It is going to be such a neat relationship growing up with friends (really family) like this!

We are blessed to have many “aunts, uncles & cousins” like the Neidels.  Always a treat when y’all come to visit.

This is just ingenious!  They came up with this all on their own.  It’s all about teamwork!!

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How we fill our days…

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Julie

So many balls to keep in the air on a normal day, but I try my best to provide time for sweet memories like these:


As you can see, life never stops around here.  Chase has been such an AMAZING big brother to these little guys. He is always hugging and kissing them & giving them toys when they are clearly bored.  :)   Love seeing the interaction between these boys already, cannot wait until they are big enough to interact with him for real!

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It’s a Zoo around here

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Julie

Yes, I admittedly am a Theme Nazi.  I like themed birthdays and themed Halloweens.  This Halloween was fairly easy to decide on though.  We were torn for awhile about doing the whole Toy Story thing (in case you were wondering, Chase was going to be Buzz, me Jessi, Michael Woody, Travis & Ryan either those cute aliens or Weenie & the Dinosaur and my mom played with the idea of being Mr. Potato Head.)  But when it was all said and done we decided to play up the Zoo that we feel like we live in right now.  Enter pictures of our Zoo Family:

And yes, I know there are not technically ponies at the zoo, but the giraffe costume that I  had bought in September did not fit Chase by the time Halloween came, this is where the trip to Target on Halloween day comes in and the elephant just wasn’t near as cute as the pony. Plus Chase really like holding onto the reins. :)

We had a good time pre-partying with neighbors and enjoyed hitting up some of our favorite neighbors houses for trick or treating.  I realize now costumes for itty bitty babies are a pointless endeavor – but every mom of a precious newborn has to indulge  a little. I mean, they are only this tiny for so long.  They literally only wore their full costumes for picture documentation purposes. Silly silly mommy I am!  Hey, the first step is admitting I have a problem, right? :)
Chase’s favorite candy from the night was the candy bracelet I gave to him pre trick or treating. I gave it to him right before leaving the house & he made it his mission to eat the entire thing before we got to the cul-de-sac for the Halloween Party. Yes, it took us a LONG time to walk down there with him stopping every minute to eat more – sweet memory though!  I also really liked his expression when he woke up from naptime to my mom and I with our faces in full make up.  He was not quite sure what to think of us – we get that a lot. :)

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A boy and his cars

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Julie

Chase has his few things he is REALLY into right now.  Along with Mr Potato Head, policemen/firemen, cartoons and his brothers  his most favorite thing to do is play with his Hot Wheels.  He spends countless hours arranging these special cars, trucks, planes, etc… in a very particular manner.

he is so proud

Below you will see a few of his “car collisions” It is so neat to see his imagination at work.  I love seeing him pretend to drive cars and how the cars converse with each other.  They talk about their days, what they want to do, where they’re going ( you know typical things cars/trucks would talk about)

serious business people

they're rallying

I see some of my task master (some might say anal) qualities coming out in this sweet boy too.  For instance, he can not be interrupted while lining all of his cars up. I will often ask him to do something and he polietely says, “in juuuussst a minute mommy, after I line up allllllll my cars I will do that” Believe me Chase, I feel ya! I like to complete projects before moving on to something else too.

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Fraternal or Identical – that is the question?

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Julie

So if finding out we were unexpectedly pregnant was not enough, then the layer of having twins was added, they were first diagnosed as fraternal twins.  We were scared, confused, in disbelief, excited and nervous.  We proceeded to ask all of our family members where are the twins??  We found out there were actually quite a few to be mentioned.  My Grandmother’s dad (on my moms side) was a fraternal twin and my Grandpa’s mom on my dad’s side was also a twin.  And then we found out there were a few more fraternal twins on my dads side as well.  Crazy! How did I not know this?? And more importantly only found out after I was pregnant with twins that there was such a great risk of us having twins.  Michael jokingly holds my mom responsible for not telling us. :)

Anywho, a few weeks later we go to Texas Perinatal Group (a pregnancy specialist here in Austin and they tell us we are having identical twins, which they say is a “fluke” thing & has nothing to do with genetics & how many sets of twins are in your family, which we found odd but trusted the doctors.  Then we found out we were having 2 boys which further confirmed the identical theory.

However, then they were born and almost immediately we could all see quite a few differences.  But kept chalking it up to the pound size difference and the inch difference in height.  But Ryan had skin tags, and less hair and darker mongolian spots, and different set eyes, and a smaller head.  All the differences made us wonder, but trusted the Doctors diagnosis.

Well today at their 4 month well check our pediatrician informs me that after further testing of my placenta they have confirmed they are actually fraternal twins. So I guess that is the answer…. for now.  It explains the intuition I had all along of why they looked so different & the pediatrician was relieved as well.  This proves the discrepancies between the two of them is normal as they are just two different little guys.  So that’s good!

So, what do you think? Fraternal or Identical??

On another note, we also had a consult with a pediatric surgeon today to discuss Ryan’s skin tags.  We found out they are actually called Accessory Tragus. They occur in 3-6 of every 1000 live births, so our guy is special! There is cartilage in the “tags” so she did recommend removing them. However, she said he will need to be put under anesthetic, which we are nervous about (if anyone reading this has experience with an infant going under, please email me with any advice/success stories you have).  We are going to wait until after his 6 month bday as the chances of a reaction to anesthesia greatly decrease.  So for now, they’re a great identifier. :)

Accessory Tragus's here today, gone in 2 months.

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Where has the estrogen gone?

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Julie

Women, we are unique aren’t we?  I find myself in this house with 1 husband, 3 young boys, and 1 male dog and think to myself just how cool women are.  Don’t get me wrong I love my husband and I love my little boys, it is a very sweet relationship between a mom and son.  However, having had my mom live with us for the last 4 1/2 months has made me realize just how incredible God created women.

I know the men are probably checking out at this point, thinking “here goes another woman on a tangent about how females are sooo much better” I promise that is not at all what this is.  I know my husband has strengths and interests that far surpass my knowledge and that God created us both so uniquely.  I had just never compared notes as strongly between the two genders until recently.

After having a baby, let alone two. A girl needs her mom – there is no way around it.  Many other women can assist with that desire, but a new mom ultimately craves her mom’s approval and advice.  My mom was that for me these past 4 1/2 months.  She was here for me in the thick of it all. She helped with things only a woman would think about, for instance: (and in no particular order)

* As soon as I would finish feeding a baby, she was watching and waiting to snatch him up to burp him

* When changing them, she was as meticulous about doing things as I was and was careful to do just as I had asked her to do

* She loved to dress them up with me & also loved sorting through the clothes awaiting their arrival

* She was motivated to get the whole house unpacked before they arrived & have most everything in its place

* While in the hospital, she cried with me, encouraged me, fed me, made sure I took my medicine, made sure my cup of iced apple juice was always full (believe me this was a job in itself)

* She made me laugh at times when all I wanted to do was cry.  I laughed ALOT in her time here & I am so thankful for that.

* She talked with me and listened when I just needed an ear to vent

* She kept the dishes clean, the laundry done and the house picked up. She even deep cleaned my bathrooms.

* Encouraged Michael and I to have date nights & made that possible by babysitting with my awesome mother in law!

* Most importantly she LOVED the heck out of all four of my boys! (Yes, Michael included – believe me doing the dishes is speaking love to him) There were plenty of times I just wasn’t capable to do all that I wanted for them & she stepped in with no questions asked. In fact, she thought of games to play with Chase I had never played with him before. She taught us all the importance of making the best of what we have and just how blessed we are.

* And then there is this picture:  Only a woman would decide last minute to paint her entire face like a zebra for the sake of one small smile from her grandson.

Mom, it was such a special and sweet time for you to live with us in these critical 4  1/2 months.  You helped us pack up our old house, move into & unpack our new house, stay with me and with Chase while I was in the hospital, keep the household running when I was just to tired to do it, play with & take care of my boys & support me in a time of life I needed you the most.  The memories of your time here will be with me always. Heck, if we would have had you here a couple more months you might have been cooking. :) NAH!!  I LOVE YOU!!

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Mad mom in a minivan

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Julie

So growing up on our way to school my Grandad and I would always listen to KISS FM. (Really, I listened. He would often put up an argument about “listening to that crap!” Anyways…. there was this bit they would do every morning called “Mad Mom in a Minivan”  where moms driving (all 15 of their children around, I thought)  would call in on their way to drop kids off at school and have their kids answer silly questions to win prizes.  While I loved hearing the kids answer questions I also thought to my uber cool Jr. High self, “No matter what, I will NEVER & I meant NEVER drive a minivan.”

Well one of the many things that my husband has taught me is to NEVER :) use absolutes.  Because as sure as I am writing this blog, I now officially drive a minivan.  However, I can confidently say I am not “mad” I am a mom in a minivan.  Michael and I tried to find every way around this new swagga wagon, but we could not ignore the facts.  It gets incredible gas mileage, seats our entire family comfortably & the suburban of a stoller, and still has 2 extra seats to spare.  And I have to admit the sliding doors that simply open & close with the push of a button are REALLY nice too.  So there, I said it. I am now a proud owner of a minivan.

I know some of you that already know the gloriousness of the mini understand why this deserves its own blog post.   On  a for real note, it was simply  a pride thing holding us back, for the fact that our car would not look very cool. But heck, I am over that now & have embraced the mini.  I am all about practicality, functionality & simplifying my life & the mini does just that!

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