The Joys of Motherhood

Some things will never be the same, and you know what, I am okay with that.  Like the fact that I will never wear a "small or x-small" shirt again; my belly button will be a half-and-half until it changes again; I will never have a stretch mark free body again (the stretch marks are my badge of honor and the proof that I really did have kids.); my heart will never go back to it's "small" size either; from now on I will be known as so and so's Mommy.  I do so love it...when my kids crawl up to me just to have me pick them up; when I am sitting on the floor and my kids come sit in my lap; when they want me over anyone else in room; when they miss me and smile and giggle when I return; when they smile and giggle just cause I am Mommy.  Ahh, the joys of motherhood.  I sure do love it, even the silly little things.

Jer and I just returned from a short vacation to Vegas - what a wonderful break from everyday life.  We did so much during the 3 days that we were there; we went to the Shark Reef, The Lion King on Broadway, shopping, far too much walking.  The highlight of the trip was "The Lion King" show (I highly recommend it!).  But the absolute best part was getting back home and seeing our kids. 

The kids are on the fast track to growing up; they are becoming more and more independent and opinionated.  How do they change from little babies into mind-boggling toddlers so very fast?  I blink and they change.  I fear that I'll blink and they'll be going off to college.

No walking yet from the twins, although, Saray is very, very close to walking.  She walks everywhere with her car/walker, no wall or piece of furniture gets in her way.  She has taken a few steps on her own and often stands up and dances.  Joshua is still comfortable with cruising the furniture.  He is getting very fast with his crawling and can keep up with Saray these days.  It's so fun to watch them interact.

Now for some pictures:

Trip to Rapid City and Applebees

Hanging out at the campsite (just visiting Gpa and Gma)

Grandpa and Saray at the campground

Farewell party for my little sister Ana - She's in Hawaii with Youth With A Mission

Spaghetti feast!

Saray and the Great Outdoors

The latest happenings...

Joshua had surgery on Tuesday the 8th.  For what (maybe you haven't heard)?  He was born with what is called a "natural circumcision", basically half of his foreskin was missing.  He also had a hypospadia (8 -14% have this condition) - If you don't know what that is, well it just means that his hole was not where it's suppose to be.    The surgery lasted for 90 minutes and all went well.  Currently he has 30 stitches - ouch!  The first 24 hours he was in a lot of pain, but after that, he was back to his chipper, content self.  Saray went along, mostly just to keep us company as we waited for Joshua.  She was amazing; she played, giggled and enjoyed having a new place to explore.  Having her with us really did help keep our minds off the time.

There are stages that I love and there are stages that I dislike with all that is within me.  We're in a mixed season with lots of stages.  I love that Saray and Joshua are trying to use words (words from Saray: What's this?, Hi, all done...) and I love that there is a lot of expressing (good and the bad) going on.  But one thing that is driving me nuts right now is meal time.  It's not so much with Saray, but with Joshua.  No matter what kind of finger foods you give him (puffs, fruit, veggies, crackers, ANYTHING) he just chews it up and spits it out.  I have tried taking his food away for a few minutes and then trying again (If I only had one kid I may stop and just try at a later time, but trying to feed several times in a day is not something I want to do, especially with two babies and one schedule), I have tried all different types of texture, even tried going back to 3rd Gerber food (or chunkier homemade blended food), nothing is working!  I am praying with all my heart that this is just a short phase, but in all reality it's been going on for 4, no wait, 5 weeks.   This is one reason why I have not weaned him from the bottle yet, even with the bottle he doesn't ever drink more then 24 oz, so I think I'll wait on the weaning part until this food spitting habit passes.   All I know is that this stage really, really drives me bonkers!!!

In spite of all that, we have been enjoying the wonderful weather.  It sure doesn't feel like Autumn yet, but I am sure before long the switch of seasons will happen and we'll be in shock of the change.  It's still been in the 80's and low 90's for the most part.   We've been going to the park as often as we can for we know that Winter will set in, and with it cabin fever.  So here's more pictures from our park adventures along with a few random pictures. 

bath/shower in the sink - they love it!

 

He loves to swing high (for a little baby that is)

She screams when you take her out of the swing...

"Now, what did you say this is?"

"Me first....no me first..."  No said words, but their actions sure speak loud enough

"Ohhh, a big ducky!"

  

Joshua is fascinated by the fountain

Daddy and His Little Girl

Though the Days are Long, the Years are Short

Well, my little babies turned ONE on the 29th (Josh) and the 30th (Saray); it's such a bittersweet thing really.  It's sad to see the infant days slipping away, yet at the same time there's an excitement in the air with each new day; I am always wondering what Josh and Saray will learn, do or say.   They sure do grow up so very fast!

I am beginning to understand the phrase "Though the days are long, the years are short."

We celebrated Josh and Saray's birthdays on Saturday by having a party at the Evans (Rocket) Park here in Spearfish.  My family and a few of our dear friends came to celebrate the fact that we made it through the first year of parenting twins and that the twins were turning One.  The kids did amazingly well during the party considering they had a very short morning nap.  They just absorbed all the love, attention and good food.   Next year I hope the weather is a little better (in the shade it was about 63 and in the sun only about 70 degrees).

Lately it has been getting easier for me to take the twins out and about by myself.  In the last few weeks just the 3 of us have ventured out to a particular park (Brady Park to be exact), it has a fountain, lots of shade, and more than 1 baby swing. 

 

Joshua loves anything electronic: phones, stereos, toys that make music or noise of some sort.  But the phone has got to be his all time favorite, especially if someone is on the phone talking to him; he giggles and smiles the biggest smile ever when he has the phone in hand.
He is now pulling up to everything and cruising all our furniture.  He tries to climb things like Saray, but he's a few inches shorter than his little sister so that gets him hung up a little...he'll grow and before we know it he'll be climbing all over as well.


Saray loves the bath and shower (she loves all water); the moment the water is running she is right there to check things out.  She rips open the curtain and giggles as mist from the shower hits her face and hands, she watches contently from the outside of the tub.  However, today she decided that viewing was not enough; she jumped right in, over the high ledge of the bath and into the shower with Daddy. 
Saray is a such an mover and explorer; her latest thing is climbing, she climbs up on the couch,  coffee table, diaper box, anything that is a few feet off the floor.  She is learning to turn around and get down off of things feet first instead of head first. 

Photo Books for Kids' birthdays - Take a peek

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to view this photo book larger

11 Months Old

Hope this finds you enjoying the Summer months; they sure are going by fast. We had such great plans for the Summer but many of them have yet to happen and may not happen. Camping is one of those things that will NOT happen this year. For one thing, our 2 man tent is far too small for the 4 of us. Plus I have a whole lot of reasons why I don't feel the need to camp out...maybe next year. I have so many fond memories of camping when I was a child and I think my kiddos should be provided with camping opportunities as well. But I think waiting a year or two is okay.

The twins are 11 months old! We will be celebrating their birthdays at the end of THIS month! I really need to get my act together and plan a little something for them. Does anyone have any suggestions? For their birthday gifts I decided to do photo books of their 1st year (one for each kiddo of course). Making two photo books in 2 weeks was by far much easier than trying to scrapbook the entire 1st year for each baby. I just don't have the time or energy for that right now. (For the Grandparents: you do have the option of ordering these books as well...in 8x8 or 12x12. If you are interested let me know and I'll give you the prices and you can take a peek.)

The kids are getting smarter and smarter each day. Joshua is really into tags, yep you heard me, tags. If a teething toy has a tag, he will chew on the tag rather than the actual toy. He is also trying to advance to regular crawling versus army crawling. By the looks of it though he may be one of those who crawls on his hands and feet rather than on his hands and knees. Even though he can move around, he is still so very content to stay and play with one thing for a very long period of time. His attention span amazes me.

Saray is really into dolls and stuffed animals; when she sees a baby doll she smiles and squeals with delight. She is also trying to climb EVERYTHING - the coffee table, the couches (from one to the other even), etc. I think if she could she would try and climb the wall.

Joshua and Saray love music. Saray is really starting to get her moves on, it's quite hilarious. The twins really enjoy playing my keyboard; Saray even changes the sounds by turning the knob. I love watching them grow and learn.

I couldn't decide what pictures to post as there were far too many great ones from the last few weeks of July, so I posted a ton. Enjoy!
Daddy and J-man
Quite the expression
Another one of his great expressions..ha!
Saray is always digging in the toy box
Josh - 11 months old
Josh & Saray trying on their chef hats that their great aunt made

My smiley girlie


Saray trying to climb on top of the coffee table
Lots of tongue action lately
My beautiful, mellow boy
Trip to Storybook Island - tasted ice cream for the 1st time.
What a special bond they share - 11 months old
Cottage cheese anyone?

Trip to Alaska

Jer and I took the twins to Alaska from July 11th - 20th for a McMahan Family Reunion - WHAT A TRIP! On our way to AK we had two flights to catch, the last one was 5.5 hours long. Joshua was sick with a bad cold while we were flying so all he really wanted to do was snuggle and sleep; I snuggled him in the sling majority of the trip that day. Saray on the other hand was a bit wild. She likes to explore and move, so you can just imagine how nuts flying with her really was. She literally was up, down and turning around for 4.0 hours of our 5.5 flight. And when we did encourage her to sleep she would scream and make quite the scene. She did manage to sleep for a hour or so on that long flight - thank goodness! Jer and I were able to lose our minds! After arriving into Anchorage (and stopping to sleep at a motel) we had to drive 200 miles to Gakona (Where Jer's Mom and Step dad live). On our way back home we had 3 flights. Saray was just as hyper and only slept an 1.5 (broken up) the WHOLE ENTIRE DAY (from 4am to 10:30pm). Joshua was a bit more himself on the flights home so we had our hands really full. I think next time we fly with the kids they will be much older; this baby stage is challenging enough without adding flying to the picture.

To be honest, most of the trip was challenging and emotionally trying. The hardest part of the trip was I miscarried a few days into the trip, had signs of it the night we arrived in to Anchorage. I was 8 weeks along. Miscarriages are hard enough when you are at home, but traveling seems to make it just so much harder. Maybe it's cause you're on the go when you want to be laying low, or the fact that you're in an unfamiliar place when you would rather be home in your own bed, and so on. We did see this little one (just like our other little ones); it's one amazing thing to see someone so very tiny. This little one had perfect hands, teeny tiny feet buds, spine, heart, head, etc. Everything looked normal to the naked eye (besides the fact that its little heart was no longer beating and it was in our hands and not my womb.) We have learned from our past 2 miscarriages that life is to be honored no matter how long it is with us. We named this little one Jael.
The kiddos did quite well, they even adjusted to the time zone (two hours behind our normal zone). Life went on for them even while we were away from home; Saray got her 5th tooth, Joshua FINALLY started crawling, and he also got his 7th tooth the day we arrived home. They even did a good job of staying on a decent schedule.

My highlights were meeting all my neices and nephews, seeing all the fam together, and also getting to hang out with my cousin-in-law Johana. Also, we got to see a fish wheel in action and a few mountains one morning.

Alaska is beautiful country. The hours of sunlight was a bit nuts, the mountains were breath-taking and the Glacier fed rivers were amazing to see. But after all that, HOME is a very beautiful sight, especially after being away. There truly is no place like Home.

You can view many more pictures from our Alaska trip at www.flickr.com/photos/chapeaufour
Cousins
McMahan/Jacobsen/Chapeau Families
Chapeau Four


Beautiful Alaska Mountains
Jer and Joshua playing the bongos
Saray fell asleep in this position
What a load!

Summer Fun

Summer has arrived! Yay! We've been spending a lot of our time outdoors enjoying the warmer weather and the sun. Joshua and Saray seem to really enjoy the outdoors, just like their parents. Spearfish has a new outdoor water park which is simply awesome! We've spent 3 of our evenings at the water park just this week alone. They love splashing, kicking and trying to grab the water shooting out of the holes around the kiddie pool. It's so fun to watch the kids enjoy water so much, it makes us smile.

Joshua and Saray are doing so well. Each day reveals something new to the kids and I see things in a new light through the kids' eyes. It sure is a joy to be able to be at home with the twins everyday (even on the crazy days as long as I get a break...) Saray is such an explorer; she can make her way up and down the one stair we have so she now has full access (or almost full access) to the whole house. Nothing stands in this girl's way, not even a nearly closed door or a toy, she just pushes it out of her way and off she goes. She is currently really enjoying books/flashcards that are touch and feel, she'll lay there and study them for quite sometime. We loves to explore through touch. Saray is now pulling herself up in her crib and she is working on pulling herself up against the furniture as well. She started walking along the furniture just last night (yikes!). I wonder if she she'll be walking on her own by her 1st birthday, we'll just have to wait and see I guess.

Joshua is such content boy; currently he spinning on his tummy, rolling and scooting backwards on the floor. Although yesterday he seemed to get a little frustrated when something was out of reach in front of him. He would get all stiff, then he's start to scream and yell as if trying to tell his body to move or maybe he was yelling the toy. Either way I think he is starting to want to move like his sister does. He gets quite mad when I try and help him get up on his knees into the crawling position, he wants to do it himself and he makes it very clear too. Joshua has a very long attention span, he can study one simple toy for up to 45 minutes. He looks at it over and over and over again. So amazing to watch the kiddos learn about our world.

We have lots going on this summer, lots of trips to the water park of course, maybe a camping trip (if we can find a bigger tent), flying to Alaska for a family reunion. Yep you heard me, FLYING to AK, WITH the kids. Should be very interesting. Long, long days of flying and then driving, but I think it will be worth it. I am just praying that the kids handle the flying and being away from home and our normal schedule. I am also praying I have wisdom on how to pack for a 10 day trip and how to handle the kids while flying and while we're there. Part of me thinks I was insane to agree to this whole thing....enough said!
Anyway, that's enough for one blog. I need to get some things done around the house while the twins are taking their naps.

Enjoy the Summer days and the pictures I have posted.
Saray - 9.5 months old
Joshua - 9.5 months old
Josh and Saray - 9.5 months old
Joshua spent countless minutes playing with these stacking bowls
Molly, Josh and Saray after swimming at the water park
"Look at me, I'm standing!"
Joshua and Mommy
Father's Day Picnic
Saray and Daddy
Joshua and Saray playing (Saray in the business of taking Josh's toys...)
Playing in boxes
J-man's camera smile
Saray's latest expression
Playing outside
Saray is aiming for Joshua's hat...
Love the Hug!
Saray and Joshua