Truly a Vacation

We just arrived home after a one week vacation to Ormond Beach, Florida. We stayed at a Spinnaker resort and my sister Paula and her family joined us. My Mom and Dad also came down for part of the trip and brought my nephew, Andy and niece Lauren. The kids did wonderful in the car with only having to make two stops. The resort was great as it had a huge pool overlooking the ocean with lots of fun kids activities. There was a miniature golf course on site in addition to lots of other games. Each day we awoke and split the day between the pool and the beach. Half way through the trip we decided that the twins were missing way too much fun during their nap time so we decided to just skip them...yes we just skipped them and they lasted all day and night. The twins were such troopers and they were in heaven with all of their big cousins. Their cousins were sweet to build sand castles with them and play games in the pool with them. We bought puddle jumpers for the trip which are kind of like swimmies and they allowed the twins to swim all by themselves. We cooked out for some of our dinners and the other nights we were able to walk to local restaurants. We explained what "souvenirs" were to the twins and they had their first souvenirs shopping experience. Gracie picked out a stuffed glittery mermaid and Bailey found a plastic shark that made the perfect pool toy. The beach had an ice cream truck that came everyday and so the twins enjoyed nice sandy cold ice creams every day while watching the waves crash. Things do not get much better then an ice cream truck on the beach! For seven days we did the same thing everyday and never got tired of it. It was truly a "vacation" and a lasting memory of a great week spent with family.

Gracie's First Haircut

In preparation to go to the beach I thought it was time that Bailey needed it a haircut as he gets so hat and his hair is thick. Even though Gracie honestly didn't "need" a haircut I thought it was probably a good idea that I could say that she got her first hair cut before she turned three. I asked Bailey if he would be a "big boy" and teach her how to get her hair cut. He was so excited that he had the role of being the teacher. He sat in the chair and was so proud that his sister was watching him. When it was time for Gracie to hop in the chair she was a little timid but she warmed up and was perfect. She sat still and quietly and listened to all the directions of how to hold her head. I was very proud of my sweet girl and excited that she didn't loose any of those beautiful baby curls.

The best of both worlds

This past weekend Preston was doing some repairs to our deck. A few boards needed to be hammered in and he cleaned it in preparation for putting on a new coat of paint. Bailey was so cute and he ran inside to get his tool belt so he could help his Daddy. He was right there next to Preston hammering with his own little plastic hammer. I was sitting on the porch just watching and Gracie walked outside. She said "I want to help." Bailey turned around looked at his sister and without pausing told her "princesses can't hammer!" It was one of those moments where I jut died laughing inside. I love having both a boy and a girl and I love that God made them each in their own very special way!

Celebrating Red, White & Blue x 2!

The past week and a half has felt like one big party since my sister had her baby in combination with the holidays. My parent were already visiting in order to see the new baby and so they joined us for our Fourth of July festivities. Gracie and Bailey had made lots of Fourth of July art at school so we started off the holiday with decorating the house. They loved helping hang up all of our red, white and blue around the house. Our neighborhood had a get together on Monday night. The fire works were really spectacular. The twins did not know what to think at first and they did not like the loud noises that they made. Gracie warmed up to them a little quicker then Bailey did. We had a bar b que at our home on the 3rd and the twins friend, Zach and his family joined us along with Preston's parents and my parents. We had a full house including 2 sets of twins! On the morning of the Fourth we went to the Cumming Steam Engine Parade. We took the twins last year but I do not think they remembered. They were not a fan of the loud Engines but they LOVED all the candy and goodies that they collected from the the people throwing them off the floats. Aunt Kara joined us for the parade. I love that Gracie and Bailey are starting to have a pride in their own Country and that they can recognize the colors of our flag and say" USA!"

Introducing baby cousin Isabella!

Gracie and Bailey became BIG cousins again on 6/29/12. I was honored to be in the room when Isabella Ann Skeens was born. My sister, Mary Ellen and her husband, Brian chose not to find out the baby's sex and so it made for a suspenseful moment in the delivery room. It was so exciting to get to hear the doctor say, "it is a girl." My sister delivered at Emory at Johns Creek Hospital so it was also fun getting to see all my old nurses and friends who worked at the hospital. Isabella was 6 lbs 10 ozs and 19.5 pds. She is a beautiful baby and cries very seldom. She is so sweet and makes my heart melt every time I hold her. We introduced Gracie and Bailey to her for the very first time this weekend. Bailey said "she is so cute!" Gracie was more interested in helping "take care of her" by doing things such as giving her a bottle or pacifier. I seemed to have plenty of help while feeding her.