Bounce !

Today we had a super Saturday that started off with a family breakfast date at IHOP. Gracie and Bailey did great and seemed to enjoy the meal. Bailey loved mommy's french toast and Gracie waved to everyone in the restaurant. They also had fun waving and saying bye bye whenever anyone around us when get up to leave. We were quite an attraction! After stuffing our bellies we decided to try our first trip to Monkey Joes which is an inflatable fun zone. The twins absolutely loved it. They wanted to do all the big slides over and over again. Preston and I talked about how we were ready for a nap on our way home. It was a great place for us to all play together while letting out some built up energy from these past cold days. We will definitely be visiting Monkey Joes again soon.

Thanksgiving in Macon

Our Thankful Family of Four

Each year my Mom hosts Thanksgiving the first week of November because she says it is more important to celebrate together as a family then to celebrate on any one specific day which works out nicely for my sisters and I since we all have husbands and extended families to celebrate with. Two days before our big day this year I got a phone call and my mom did not sound like her chipper excited self as she would normally be a couple days before all her babies are coming into town, she gave me the news that she had fallen and they she broke her right ankle. She was upset that she could not be the "hostess to the mostest" that she normally is but with four girls we all chipped in and the festivities were just and fun and yummy. The weekend included games of cornhole, sleepovers with cousins, a wine tasting, bunco tournament, the Christmas in the South craft show and of course Thanksgiving dinner. As usual Gracie and Bailey had endless hours of fun with their cousins. We were excited to have my Aunt Debby, cousin Shannon and her new sweet baby girl, Chloe to join us from Florida. My mom's early Thanksgiving always seems to confuse me a little as I return home ready for awesome sales and to start decorating for Christmas and then I always get reminded that the actual Thanksgiving day hasn't really happened yet. It is fun to stretch the holiday season out a little bit and to have extra time to reflect on all of our many blessings. I am a very thankful and blessed daughter, sister, wife and mother.

Gracie and Bailey having fun in Granny's garden.

Granny and her Gracie.
Bailey is having a cookie with Gma and Gpa Grace.
All the cousins minus Addie Mae who was napping.
"Bailey, Michael, Andrew, Lauren, Molly Kay and Gracie"

Four thankful sisters!

Mickey and Minnie's Halloween

Celebrating Halloween was a blast with Gracie and Bailey this year. I was so excited to find their costumes a couple of months ago at my twin club's consignment sale. I purchased them both for under $12! Gracie and Bailey love Mickey Mouse and so their costumes brought lots of laughs. It was fun to watch them look at each other and giggle at one another in their costumes. We were able to enjoy our costumes at a couple of different events. Their first Halloween experience was at a Trunk or Treat festivity at our local park. We met up with some of our friends but after the twins discovered that people were putting candy in their bags then they wanted to do nothing else but sit and take the candy in and out of their bags. We enjoyed attending a party in my sister Mary Ellen's neighborhood and had fun visiting with our cousins, Lauren and Andy. On Halloween night we moved our fire pit to f the front yard and Grammy and Daddy Bob joined us in handing out candy. Gracie loved handing out the candy and she would shake in excitement when she saw kids coming down the street. She waved the candy and yelled "candy" as the kids walked up the driveway. We knocked on one neighbor's door so we could officially say that Gracie and Bailey went trick or treating. Bailey discovered what candy tasted like when he bit open a box of nerds and was distracted with yumminess for the rest of the night. Experiencing the "first holidays" through our little one's eyes is so much fun and brings a new meaning to each and every festivity.

Gracie and Bailey with cousins, Lauren and Andy.

Grammy and Daddy Bob with Mickey and Minnie on Halloween night.

Visiting with our friends Joshua and Elise at the Trunk or Treat.

Bailey discovering what was in his treat bag.

Gracie handing out candy to the trick or treaters.

Fall Family Tradition

I love traditions and one of my favorite family traditions that we started last year is to visit the Kinsey Family Farm. We have been friends with Jenn and Andy Kinsey for some time and it is great to have such an amazing treasure that is close to home. Last year when we took the twins they were still on their monitors and so it was fun to reminisce about how much they have grown. Daddy did not get to go to the pumpkin patch with us in Macon so he enjoyed watching Gracie and Bailey play in pumpkins. The twins loved their first ever hayride and they giggled as they bounced up and down. Bailey loved pointing to the tractor and that pulled the hayride as he has just recently fallen in love with books on trucks. The hayride stopped at a pond on the property where we were able to feed the catfish which were huge. Bailey barked at them as I guess he thought they resembled dogs in one way or another and Gracie tried as hard as she could to jump right in the pond with them. Gracie and Bailey's favorite part of the visit was most definitely the animals that we visited at the end. They were able to pet a cow and goats which were very friendly. We can't wait till our visit again next year!

Cutest lil Pumpkins

The twins and I were so excited to be able to spend a week at Granny and Grandpa's house while Preston was traveling with work. We had lots of fun with Granny as she always spoils us with trying new things and fun outings. We visited a local pumpkin patch that is at their Gma and Gpa Grace's church. It was truly amazing to see my Gracie and Bailey run and play in the pumpkins when remembering just how tiny they were last year at this time. During our visit to the pumpkin patch last year they were still on their monitors and were probably only weighing in as a sack of potatoes at 8 pds! You can sneak a peak from last year by clicking here: http://gracieandbaileysmom.blogspot.com/2009/11/fall-fun.html

Gracie and Bailey had a hard time deciding on which pumpkin to pick so Granny let them pick one small, medium and large! As their mommy I am a little partial but I loved seeing them in their cute little onesie's that I had made for the Fall season. They were definitely the cutest lil pumpkins in the patch! More Fall Fun is to come soon as Mickey and Minnie have been having lots of fun.

Checking out the small pumpkins, which were so fun to hold.

and moving on the medium sized pumpkins....
and now for the big ones!
Gracie thinks this one is just right!

Bailey is taking a little break in the pumpkin patch.

Busy, busy, busy picking out pumpkins.

Bailey is keeping watch over his selection.

Pumpkins really are amazing in a lil one's eyes.

Thanks for sharing in our memories with us.

Momma's little project

This past weekend I worked on a special project for my two sweet little ones. With the weather being so pretty we have been spending alot of time outdoors and so I wanted to get them some more things to enjoy outside. My top choice was a playhouse but we simply did not have $200-$300 to invest in something like this right before Christmas so I started checking craigslist to see what I could find in our budget. I was bummed when they were still in the $100 range and I kept missing out on the ones that were in the $50 range because people would purchase them right away. One afternoon I got a call from one of the listings that I called on and he said that his first buyer fell through and so he was offering it to me. I agreed on $50 and Preston was a great sport in driving all the way to Dacula ,which was half way to Athens in order to pick it up. We arrived and the playhouse looked TERRIBLE! It was in awful condition and the paint was all chipped off. Preston looked and me and said "honey are you sure you want this?" Since we had driven so far he agreed to pay $40 and take the playhouse home. I had high hopes that I could get this little disaster looking great. I scrubbed, sanded and after a few cans of spray paint I was very impressed with my work. I wish I would have taken before and after pics. Gracie and Bailey have loved it and it is so fun to watch them play together inside the house. I like that one side opens up since we will always have two little one's sharing the fun! Our project today is to run to Walmart to pick up some flowers for the flower boxes and some kitchen toys for the kitchen, oh how I love being able to have fun to do lists!

Come on in and play!

We love playing with the mailbox.

Bailey is checking for his mail.

Gracie is cooking in her kitchen.

So much fun to play peek a boo through the windows.

Gracie is all ready for company in her new house!

We learned how to say "snack" just in time for our new table.

14 Months

14 Months Old

"We love to giggle at each other in our hoodies"

We have been very busy the last month and have been having lots of fun at 14 months old. We are continuing to love our twins play group that we meet with twice a month and have been making lots of new friends and having fun play dates with other twins. I have joined a Mom's group called "Birds on a Wire" and so we attend that every Monday morning and while I have group with other moms Gracie and Bailey play with their friends in the child care at First Baptist of Alpharetta. I have been loving this group and so that will be another post! We also started swim lessons that we attend each Saturday. Our first lesson was on Gracie and Bailey's 14 month Birthday so it was a fun way to celebrate the day. Their first lesson went great and they seemed to have lots of fun. They learned how to blow bubbles in the water, how to kick their legs, how to move their arms and how to hold on to the side of the pool. The instructor said that they have been some of her youngest participants and that she thought their skill level was great! We also became members of a gym where I can work out while Gracie and Bailey go to play with other kiddos. They have lots of wonderful children's fitness activities as swim lessons are our first to try but we are looking forward to baby gymnastics soon.
At 14 months old we are working on lots of "transitioning." We are still trying to come completely off of our bottles and we are super close. I have tried not to become frustrated as it has been a very hard process. The pediatrician stated that for preemies they really have until 18 months but I am exhausted with washing bottles and so I am determined we will be off of them soon. We sometimes are only taking one nap a day and I think we are moving more consistently in that direction. The weather has helped immensely in that we are able to break up the day with spending lots of our time outdoors. Gracie and Bailey are feeding themselves and are doing great with their table manners. They have both learned to say "all done" instead of screaming when they are done with eating. We are still working on not throwing the food that we don't like on the ground but cookies seem to be helping with enforcing good behavior. I have introduced "time outs" although I am not really sure if we entirely get the concept. Their time outs are either in the pack and play or turned around in their high chair but it seems to be more of a punishment for who ever did not commit the misbehavior because they miss their twin so much. I am amazed at how smart Gracie and Bailey are at this young age. They can follow simple commands...if I say "eat" then they go to their high chairs, if I say "outside" they will run to the door and the one that I love the most is when I say "love each other" and they will hug each other. Gracie loves to read books and she will bring book after book to me to read to her. She also loves to ride Dixie who is such a good sport for putting up with her literally climbing on her back. Gracie has recently discovered how to dance although she can only move backwards when she is dancing and she shakes her little hands. Bailey loves to play ball and he can point to his facial features. His favorite game is peek a boo and he is constantly giggling at something. He loves to talk on the phone to his daddy on his way home from work.
I feel amazingly blessed that my husband gives me the opportunity to stay home with my sweet babies to watch all of their growth. I am learning more and more each day about how my role as a mother these first five years is vital at shaping who Gracie and Bailey will become. I absolutely love staying at home with Gracie and Bailey and capturing all of their "firsts."

Our first swim lesson

A glimpse of hosting twin playgroup in our playroom

We love going for wagon rides together

Gracie thinks she is super girl and climbs up our 5 ft play set

to go down the slide, over and over again!

Bailey isn't quite walking yet so this is how he gets around

Our first time trying ravioli, what a mess!

Gracie and Bailey's play pumpkin