Why I Haven't Blogged-By the Numbers...

2 days of being very sick myself
5 days of 2 VERY sick and miserable babies
30,345 steps in the dark rocking a crying baby
7 nights without a full night's sleep
2 baseball games
1 zoo field trip
1 baby getting a bottom tooth
1 baby getting a top tooth
1 husband out of town for 4 days and 3 nights
1 cat giving birth to 3 kittens
1 little girl upstairs with a fever of 100.4
1 more sleepless night...

Why Pediatricians Should Be Allowed to Prescribe Mommies Drugs...

As I sat in the doctor's office today, I'm not sure I have ever felt such pity in a look (except for maybe the 300 well-meaning-but-starting-to-become-annoying strangers that tell me DAILY "You sure have your hands full!"- my new pet peeve!). You see, she had just informed me that my boys have hand-foot-and-mouth-disease, a really scary sounding name for a virus. She had just delivered the bomb that it was a virus so...(all you frustrated mommies who want to smack the pediatrician every time they say this all too familiar line say it with me now) "there's nothing they can do for it." Thus the pitying glance and the dubious wish of good luck, not to mention the nervous laughter when I asked her if she could write me a prescription for anxiety pills. Such nervous laughter, in fact that I felt compelled to say repeatedly that I was just kidding.

So, we head home. We originally went to the doctor because Will and only Will had a temp. I simply took Wes to get her to look at a rash on his bum, but yet another joy of twins-germ sharing. By the time we arrived home at 2:30, Wesley had a fever of 102.6, a degree higher than Will's had ever been. FYI, if you haven't had the pleasure of nursing someone through this disease it causes a high, constant fever blisters down the throat that eventually spread to the hands and feet. All you can do is alternate Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours. I remember wondering if I'd survive this disease when Ashton had it- and that was only 1 baby.

I often wonder why some of you continue to read this blog because I feel I complain way too often. I'll try to work on that, but not now. Now I need to vent. This afternoon was the worst 4 hours in the last 8 months. Imagine sitting in a recliner with 2 burning hot, screaming hysterically babies, and there's nothing you can do to help them feel better. I wasn't even able to get them bottles or pacies because they both had absolute come aparts if I out them down. I had to rely on my two super-helpful-amazingly uneffected by the constant screaming older kids. It was horrible. Even now they are starting to wake up after about 2 hours of sleep. This should go on for 3-5 days, thus the pitying look I received from the pediatrician who knew this and all the pitying looks all of you are probably giving the computer right now.

So, I'll close this post with a moral question: Do you think it would be wrong to wear earplugs to dampen the never-ending crying?

Wild Will

Will is extremely high-spirited. When Wesley got his first tooth, we didn't even know. When Will got his the entire neighborhood knew! If he's not happy he makes himself well heard, but when he is happy he is the sweetest, funniest little guy you can imagine. That sweet little face melts my heart. When I first held him as a baby, he seemed so familiar because he is so much like his big brother and sister. I love this little guy so much, he is my laughter. He is quite the adventurer, on his own terms. If you swing or make him fly he kind of freaks out, but when he is in charge he knows no fear. He has been mobile for a while, officially crawling for two weeks and is already pulling up. He scares me and reminds me I better get to super-duper-baby-proofing. Here he is reaching so far out that his toes were extended on the side of his chair.

Yet, how can you get mad at him when he gives you that mischevious little grin, like after he crawled to Ashton's desk and bit a piece off of her drawing. Already, I have fished out of his mouth paper pictured below, a price tag and plastic play money. At least all of that is better than the lady bugs his big brother always ate at this age-yuck!

Be careful who you name kids after. While Will is named for 3 of his great-grandfathers, Wilmont comes from my paternal grandfather, Bill. Bill found nothing funnier than making innocent little children shoot birds, nice huh? I actually had the sad thought that since the twins never got to meet him, they will never have the bird-shooting picture that was kind of a family tradition! Well, Will decided to carry the tradition on and apparently doesn't need anyone to help him hold up the proper finger- Bill would be so proud!

My sweet Will, no one can help but love him. With his strong personality, it's going to be quite the adventure to see what amazing person he turns out to be!

Wonderful Wesley

My sweet Wesley is the sweetest natured child. He is the easiest of all 4 of my children. He's little Jon for good reason, feed him and let him sleep and it's all good! Lately, he has been turning into quite the flirt. If you've seen him lately, he's probably smiled his winning smile at you. He also has captured my heart because while Will constantly says Dada, Wessie now says Mama- over and over! I love this sweet boy, my baby. His first table food, green beans. He gets SO excited when you put food down in front of him- again, Little Jon.

This is his new trick- clapping. He is SO proud of himself for accomplishing this! Look how blond he looks in this picture!

Now, he gets the reputation of being all sweet, but don't let him fool you. He can be pretty naughty too but in a really sneaky way! Here he is strong arming, make that legging, his poor smaller brother!

Look at that sweet, innocent look- as he tries to steal Will's bottle!

Wesley is also quite the daredevil. For their first experience swinging, Will freaked out and Wesley laughed. Wesley also dove out of his duckie bathtub into the full tub of water and loved it. That's what I love about discovering my boys, just when you think you have them pegged they change on you. I love how different they are in every possible way because I worry about people always lumping them together. There's no danger of me doing that. It's amazing how differently I love them. Will's smile makes me want to make him laugh and squeeze his cheeks. Wesley's smile makes me want to kiss the top of his head and get him to say "Mama" in his sweet deep little voice.

So, there's my Wonderful Wesley. Stay tuned for part 2, "Wild Will".

Girls' Weekend

I had the privilage, honor, great joy, etc... to go away with some of my best friends in the world last weekend. We went to Amy's parents' cabin on Monteagle and had the ultimate girls' weekend. There were girlie movies, fun games, amazing food thanks to Chef Angie, and my favorite: NONSTOP SCRAPBOOKING! I scrapbooked until 2:30 each morning, woke back up and started again. It was HEAVEN and much needed! I hope we can go again soon, next weekend maybe?

Here are the 3 scrapbookers: We like to keep tabs of how many layouts we complete on the giant abacus. Amy and I both did one layout more than last year so that's progress! I did 18 double page spreads! The beads in the middle are from that show off Ashley who did the most despite leaving early.

My girls sadly getting ready to leave Sunday afternoon.

I'm looking really rough because I didn't want to waste scrapbooking time to do hair and make-up- priorities people!

So, here are some of my favorites. When I came home to show my family the kids really kept track of how many pages I did of each of them, so here's one page of each of them:

Here is one I did of Jackson and a picture of Jon as a child. Obviously, I don't journal while at crops becasue I can't talk and write well. I really wish you could see Jon's picture in all its 80's glory- ET socks pulled all the way up, metal Confederate flag belt buckle, and mesh hat complete with logo. How cool was he? This page is a sampling of who Ashton is right now: ballerina, model, candy nut and art fanatic!
I love this page because #1: I love these sweet pics of Will and #2 I did all the stamping on the page and loved how it turned out.
I also love this page of Wesley. Great pictures, some of my all-time favs, love the inking on the edge, and especially the chipboard letters overlapping the picture. You can't read the hanging tag, but it says "similarities and differences" and is perfect for documenting my boys' individual characteristics.
Oh, how wonderful! I can't wait until I get to spend such a perfect weekend again!

Fantastic Friday

I have been way too tired lately to blog, sorry. I know for my lurkers how disappointing it is to check a blog and it is nothing new. I know because I check about 6 every day and am ridiculously disappointed and sometimes even annoyed if there is nothing new, like they don't have busy lives of their own!

Any way there is much more to come this weekend as the pics are downloaded, shrunk and ready to go. I am just too tired to be witty and grammatically correct right now. So, I leave you with a rare pic of all 4 kiddos! How blessed am I?

Twin Angel Squad...

You've heard people say their gaurdian angel was looking out for them. Well, I 've decided God assigns an entire legion of angels to watch over twins. Believe me, it's needed. For example, the fact that I heard Wesley make a strange sound over the other 3 kids playing and laughing and me running around trying to pick up. He was choking on Easter grass. Which, let me use this platform for a minute to say: Easter grass is evil! They talk about bunnies reproducing, but I think Easter grass has them beat. It's everywhere, and Easter has been over for how many weeks? The upside of this story is that I used this scary episode to talk Jon into buying a Roomba (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE, LOVE my Roomba?). There's still grass even now with Roomba working her (I haven't thought about it but I guess it should probably be a girl for 2 reasons, #1- it cleans and #2 I shouldn't have this strong of feelings about a man besides my husband!) little batteries to the bone, and she has to drive herself to the chrager twice a day. Yes, she drives her SELF to the charger when she needs it, stand back and be amazed! That's another reason it is obviously a girl, she takes care of business without being told to.

Then there's yesterday when I swear one of said angels tapped me on the shoulder to alert me that Wesley was about my laptop charger (the other end of which was plugged in) into his mouth. I don't know how much that would have hurt but don't imagine it would've been good, and I know. You see, when Ashton was his age she stuck a phone cord in her mouth and started screaming. Now I thought, "It's a phone cord why would that hurt?" See folks, it's confirmed now, Jon is definately the technological person in our house. So, in one of my proudest parenting moments, I stuck it to my tongue. Here's a fun fact my oh-so-smart husband shared with me when I called him with Ashton and I crying hysterically: phone cords have quite a strong current of electricity in them (I forget the amps, again not the techno-savy one). Anyway, (there's a story I'll regret sharing later) I would imagine a charger would have hurt even more, but I wouldn't try to find out this timh!

Easter grass and computer cord aside, my scariest moment happened yesterday. THose of you who know me will be shocked that I didn't even take pictures despite the fact I had the camera in my hand- I know shocking isn't it! That shows you how terrified I was at this event.

The boys were playing on the floor after a photo shoot gone bad (funny pics later). Ashton was coloring so Will crawled over and stole marker. Then Wesley grabbed the same marker and pulled the top off of it. I just sat there unable to act as my future passed before my eyes. You're wondering, "What's the big deal? It was one marker." Look deeper, look deeper, then pity me. You see, it wasn't the top coming off the marker, it was how they worked together! Will was unable to get the top off by himself, but Wesley reached over and pulled one end while Will pulled the other. At 8 months old, they were able to work together to do something they weren't supposed to do. All I could see as I sat there were all the naughty things that a single child couldn't accomplish them being able to do because they had an ACCOMPLICE! Can't reach those cleaning products on the top shelf? You get on your knees, and I'll stand on your back. Can't catch that other kid? I'll hold him down, and you bite him. Can't get that plug protector out? You pull one side, and I'll pry the other. Can't get to that ball on the other side of the street? I'll run one way to distract that Mommy lady, and you run out in the street.

Now, do you see my fear? I pray there are legions of angels and just wish there were legions of me! I guess this post has to end now because, probably to illustrate my point further, while I was typing this Wesley has found and is trying to eat Jackson's metal bat. Meanwhile, Will has crawled up under the swings and found the Roomba at her charger and tunred it on. She is going around in circles trying to figure out how to get past him, and he's trying his best to stick his hand in her way! Wow, wow...

The End of An Era...

Last night we had a sad milestone. We gave the babies what will be their last bath in their little tub. They are already too big for it, but I wanted to drag it out as long as possible (plus it's more fun for my back to give baths standing up!).

So, in true Tonya fashion here are the pics to document this milestone.

I have been trying to document this funny feature of my sweet Chunky Monkey, Wesley. His toes are so fat they don't fit next to each other, 2 on top, 3 down. How cute is that? He loved playing with the water so much I can't wait to see him splashing in the big bath tub.

Will, who used to scream bloody murder from the minute the bath started until 5 minutes after, has finally decided to just kick back and enjoy.

And when it's over, he's all beautiful, blue-eyed smiles.

After baths Mommy is on lotion duty because we all know that Daddy won't touch it!

So, it makes me so sad to think that this era is over. My little babies are growing way to quickly. I could wax poetic about this end of an era much more, but, seriously, it's making me sad! I gotta go... :(

PS: Anyone want to buy a used baby tub?

Happy Blogiversary to Me!!!

Yes, believe it or not, it has been one year since I undertook this endeaver. At the time I had two friends who had blogs. Now I only have about 2 that don't! It's amazing how it has caught on, and I can say I was on the cutting edge, for Spring Hill anyway!

As with all anniversaries or birthdays, I suppose it should be a time to reflect. So, in true David Letterman style:

The Top Ten Things I Have Learned in the Last Year:

10. Carrying twins is like letting 2 greased pigs wrestle under a blanket, obviously my belly is the blanket! Sure, it's funny at first until you start getting pelted with hooves nonstop. Said craziness and pain doesn't stop after birth- I'll let you know when and if it ever does.

9. I can inspire (i.e.: talk my husband into) anything from having twins to starting his own blog!

8. One can survive bedrest reasonably sane, if you consider blogging about how much I love doing housework sane. Yeah, I'm SO over that.

7. ElastiGirl has nothing on me. I can bounce a baby on one leg, feed another baby a bottle on the other leg all while cooking dinner, playing house and supervising first grade homework. I AM Superwoman, hear me roar (mostly when Jon works late!).

6. I come from a line of tough women. Two of whom have successfully fought breast cancer and won. Others who voluntarily watch all of my children!

5. I'm not a diamonds are a girl's best friend type of girl. Give me the Sam's size of Enfamil formula and I'm happy. It's gold colored for a reason.

4. I can love 5 people with all of my heart. I love one for his goofy puns, one for his heart that is outraged at any injustice, one for her desire to please and be loved, one for his excited arm flapping when he sees me, and one for the precious smile that came first only for me and is now shared with anyone who crosses his path.

3. I no longer have to worry about remembering the multitude of cute things my kids do (or mean things my husband does) because I can always go back and look at my blog.

2. Now when my kids do something they ask, "Are you going to put that on your blog?" And Jon is always asking me, "Is that blogworthy?"

1. Most of all, I have learned a whole new way to make and draw closer to friends. Those of you who don't blog will never know how close you can feel to those whose blogs you stalk and who stalk you right back. It's crazy, but I have made some great friends and drawn even closer to old friends who I know are always there for me. They keep up with my life faithfully (ok, obsessively is more accurate. I know-I'm the same way about theirs!). I find myself trusting completely that they are checking on me and knowing they will call with help, jokes or prayers as the situation warrants!

So, here's to one unbelievably crazy and very productive (in the reproducing arena not so much in the housekeeping/cooking field) year. I've loved it and love that all of you love me enough to read it. Here's to many more...

If You Can't Beat Them, Enjoy Them...

Every Friday Jackson's teacher sends home the week's work, and I go through it to see what goes in the trash and what gets put in the treasured keep box. I found this paper, was disgusted and ready to throw it away. I thought, "I don't want to remember this years from now." Then I realized that I am now the mother of 3 boys. I can't rewrite their history or pretend they are always charming little gentlemen. I have to appreciate them for who they are, how God made them to be "wild at heart." I'm not saying I'm going to completely let them be the hooligans they want to be. I am still going to try to teach them nice manners and other skills that my future daughters-in-law (I'll have 3, heaven help me I'm bound to but heads with one of them!) will thank me for later. But I've decided (thus the title) I need to embrace the messy-potty mouth-stunt pulling- dirt collecting treasure that they are!

So, what wonderful piece came out of his folder that inspired the revulsion turned revelation?

I found a white piece of paper covered with a collection of words written in the precious first grade spelling, and I quote, "eye balls, fire ants, dog throwe up, diyareea."

There you have it ladies and gentlemen a list of what makes a 7 year old boy, ok let's face it' boys and men of all ages, giggle!

Oh well, when asked Jackson said they were told to write the grossest recipe they could think of. I think considering that he did a really good job. See, he's not disgusting, he's gifted :)

It Is Here and Life Is Good...

Meet my new best friend, and let's face it...Slave! The amazing Roomba! You know I have always felt I live in the wrong time period, but I am now proud to be part of the modern age as my robot vacuum gets all the dirt, dog hair, and choking hazzards out of the way as I sit here and blog! Be jealous one and all! It is awesome! Not only does it clean, but it entertains. We all 6 just sit and watch it! The babies are amazed at it, and the big kids like to make it navigate around them. Jon and I just watch in amazement and with gratitude. My new goal is to try for the grand slam- Roomba going, dishwasher running, washing machine washing and dryer drying! How amazing would that be? I'd finally feel like I was getting something done. Actually, I'd feel like Jane Jetson! Did I mention I love the modern life?