Bye Bye Boobies!

No more breastfeeding! No more boobie milk, its been a LONG journey! I made it! I did it! We did it! It was a HUGE success could not be happier!! My TWINS had breastmilk for a year! o yea, you can do it!!! Need encouragement? call me, ill talk to you at 2 am :) BEST THING EVER FOR YOUR CHILDREN.

SN: Good luck to Amanda( my friend that just had twin boys!)

Toddlers Vs. Babies

You know back when our babies were still "babies" we were saying how much "easier it would get if we were just at the "next stage."

1. Just laying still and stearing at their mobiles---Oh I wish they would learn to roll over!
Completed a milestone, Yes. Now they are rolling, cant lay them just anywhere.

2. Just laying on their bellies---Oh I wish my babies were sitting up so they could play with their toys better!
Completed a milestone, Yes. Now this milestone I think was a good one! They couldnt move but they were content playing with their toys!

3. Oh I am ready for them to learn to pull up!
Completed a milestone, Yes. BUt now they can reach everything!!!!!!!!!!!! Baby proof!!! Baby Proof Everything!

4. Oh I am ready for them to pick up their own food, and stop feeding them baby food on a spoon.
Completed a milestone, Yes! But now I CLEAN up even more bc half their food ends up on the floor! So this involoves sweeping after every meal, and Moping if they ate something Messy!

5. Oh I am ready for them to crawl!
Completed a milestone, Yes. But crawl, o my, times two, o dear, this was crazy! Baby gates, 4 of them! Top and bottom of stairs and going into the kitchen! Baby gates baby gates!!!

6. Oh I am ready for them to WALK, or should I just skip walking and say running!
THIS IS A BIG MILESTONE, AND SINCE MY MONSTERS starting taking steps at 8 months, they are now running away from me! And they think its funny!

So,,,,stages got harder, and stages got easier, in different ways as they get older! Toddlers are FUN, but def. more work!!!! Love my babies, Slow dowwwwwwwwwwwn!

'Be who you are and say what you feel, ... There is no one alive who is Youer than You."

Dr. Seuss could not have said it better!!!! The birthday party was a HUGE hit! I pulled it off!! I decorated and made everything accept for the cake (which was wonderful I do have to say)! If anyone needs help plannning a Dr Seuss, Thing 1 Thing 2 party, please you may borrow my decorations! They are taking up my garage right now, ha! Lets see where to start!

I think its better to show you in pictures! I have over 300 of the party, so I will just choose a few! Enjoy! And thanks to everyone who came and celebrated the best year of my life with my and my baby girls!

Everything was perfect! I was not ready for it to end! As with anything, "time flies when you are having fun!"

My Sweet Monsters turned 1!

Well its official as of 6:08 and 6:09 today my sweet baby girls turned one years old!!! Can I believe it? NO! It has gone by so fast! We survived twinfants! I hit my goal of breastfeeding my baby girls for one whole year!!! Wow, I do have to say besides graduating college, that is one of the most major accomlishments I have ever achieved my entire life, and I am officially saying I am SUPER proud, to announce that I gave my babies the best of the best BREASTMILK their first entire year of life!

They have developed into their own sweet personalitys! Although one week, one of them will do something or act a certain way and the next week they will switch! They are starting to really "play" with each other, or I should say pulling each others hair, knocking each other down, and stealing each others toys! But I think this is there way of "learning to play" with each other! Hey its true love when you pull someones hair and they pull yours back, right?

I think I can now officially say, I have walkers!!! WAHOO!(or should I say OH NO) For their one year check up they both walked like big girls from the waiting room, all the way into the room where they were going to see the doctor!!! BIG GIRLS!!! SO BIG! They get harder and easier as they hit different stages! My arms get a break ? Yes, but now my legs get a workout! I get to chase them everywhere! The girls STATS, were Lillianah 21 pounds even and Zohan 19.8 lbs, both their head is the same size and it is in the 90 % ! Ha! Just like their momma, I had a big head when I was younger, and as my dad used to tell me, my body had to grow to catch up with my head!

Their Birthday party was a HUGE success!! All the prep. and hard work paid off! I think I was doing crafts for a month! I hand made everything with help from erinator, g-ma jo and Heather! We had the party at my moms house and it was of course THING 1 THING 2 from Dr Seuss! But I will have to put a blog post up specfically about the party!

I would have never thought when the girls were two months old that it would fly by this fast!! I do have to say, all the pain that I went through to have them, all the pain that I experienced afterwards, all the crying sessions, frustrations of trying to get twinfants to latch on at the same time, sleep deprevation, not eating hot meals, not going out to hang out with my friends just because, any many more things, I would give up all that and more over and over and over again for my sweet babies! I dont remember much after the c-section, but I do remember looking into my sweet baby girls eyes for the first time and falling in love instantly! The love you experience for your own child is undescribable, its pure and real and nothing like it in the world.

I love you to the moon and back again and I am looking forward to the toddler stage, its bitter sweet!

I was researching quotes to use at the girls birthday party this weekend, as you all know, my sweet monsters are going to be thing 1 and thing 2. Well I came across this poem and thought it was SUPER cute and wanted to share, it fits my lifestyle perfect just now, and of course it helps that it is Dr. Seuss!
Dr. Seuss for Nursing Moms




Would you nurse her in the park?

Would you nurse him in the dark?

Would you nurse him with a Boppy?

And when your boobs are feeling floppy?



I would nurse him in the park,

I would nurse her in the dark.

I’d nurse with or without a Boppy.

Floppy boobs will never stop me.



Can you nurse with your seat belt on?

Can you nurse from dusk till dawn?

Though she may pinch me, bite me, pull,

I will nurse her `till she’s full!



Can you nurse and make some soup?

Can you nurse and feed the group?

It makes her healthy strong and smart,

Mommy’s milk is the best start!



Would you nurse him at the game?

Would you nurse her in the rain?

In front of those who dare complain?

I would nurse him at the game.

I would nurse her in the rain.



As for those who protest lactation,

I have the perfect explanation.

Mommy’s milk is tailor made

It’s the perfect food, you need no aid.



Some may scoff and some may wriggle,

Avert their eyes or even giggle.

To those who can be cruel and rude,

Remind them breast’s the perfect food!



I would never scoff or giggle,

Roll my eyes or even wiggle!

I would not be so crass or crude,

I KNOW that this milk’s the perfect food!



We make the amount we need

The perfect temp for every feed.

There’s no compare to milk from breast-

The perfect food, above the rest.



Those sweet nursing smiles are oh so sweet,

Mommy’s milk is such a treat.

Human milk just can’t be beat.

I will nurse, in any case,

On the street or in your face.



I will not let my baby cry,

I’ll meet her needs, I’ll always try.

It’s not about what’s good for you,

It’s best for babies, through and through.



I will nurse her in my home,

I will nurse her when I roam.

Leave me be lads and ma’am.

I will nurse her, Mom I am.

362

its starting to sink in.

my babies will be one in just three days.

where has the time gone.

it has gone so soon.

i love  you babies to the moon and back again.

love, mom

Stroller MAMA's

you know its like stroller strides but its free. im all about free stuff aren't you.

we workout tuesday, thursday and saturday.

we roatate neighborhoods so its fair.

we run, walk, cardio, run, walk, legs/butts, run walk, arms, run, walk, abs. bam we are done.

want to join? its fun, we have 4 moms and 5 babies and we would love more.

the babies, well lets see they, eat cookies, drink milk, play with toys, and jibber jabber.

life's hard for them, eh?

occasionally will stare at us like we have 5 heads when we are all dying from working out.

working out with our post-baby(ies) bodies. eh.

summer is my motivation, whats yours?

We like Target do you?

Target, is our favorite place to shop. I mean it has a little bit of every thing, you can go in there and pretty much get anything you need, besides meats and fresh fruit. But thats ok. I am like an addict, I have to go there every weekend, even if I do not need anything, but I some how manage to come up with a list of things that I "need." (or i think i need) and when I say "I," I really should say babies, bc they are the center of my shopping now.
They do have good deals and you get great cupons after you buy something. Don't you think they should give them to you before? I do, that would be great.
We do lots of shopping, the girls LOVE to look around and shop, I am glad I have girls, Keagan always goes with us too. BC I always shop with my mere and my soeur. But in a couple years, Keagan is going to want to go "fishing, hunting, or play with his daddy" and no more mommy shopping time! This is why she needs to have another baby! Don't you think? THen I will have two kids and then she will have two kids and mom and dad will have 4 grandkids. Then we will be tied, PERFECT, then after that, well lets not talk about after that because I am not ready for more kids for a while. Would love it, but I am enjoying my time with just my two girls right now, selfish? Maybe. But I love them and not ready for more nor is my body.
Speaking of bodiess,, ehhhhhh pre-pregnancy body where did you go!? Please come back!

We just started a couple weeks ago a stroller mama's group. We work out with the babies 3 days a week, its great! I love it, run, walk, jog, and do lots of cardio, abs, legs and arms, and buts! We work it all and it could not have been working out better!!!

Do you like to shop? Circle yes or no?

They always take off their shoes! This was the end of our shopping trip!!! Both missing a sock and a shoe off the same foot! Silly girls!

MS walk

This morning we went to the MS walk, this is the 2nd year we have done it and it would have been the third but I was a new mommy of twins at this event last year, so we had to skip it. MS means alot of our family. One of my good friends (Cameron her dad is John) dad has MS, one of Lonnie's cousins(Patrick), and his co-worker renee's mother passed from MS(kim), and one of my kids at the gym mother has MS(shelly).This is where our team name came from "Walking for Kim, John, Patrick, and Shelly." So we are all surrounded, and I bet if you asked 5 people at least one of them would know someone with MS, once you start talking about it, people come out of the wood works.

Here is the story of our team, please read! We love for new walkers to join, so come join our team next year! This was taken from the MS website for our team.

Kimberly McDowell was diagnosed in the 80's at the age of 22 with M.S. She lived at a time where not many people, including physicians, knew what the disease was & how to treat it. Kim had one of the rarest forms of the disease, the Progressive-Relapsing in which only about 5% of people diagnosed with M.S have. There were no advanced medicines as there are today & she was given only things to cure her symptoms, which in turn, made her condition worse due to side effects from those medications. She lived some of her life with a cane/walker...then spent a decade or more in a wheelchair, before having to be admitted to a nursing home for her last five years. She passed away on Memorial Day of 2006 at the age of 46. Her life gives us hope of the advanced technology and treatments available to those recently diagnosed and dreams that are now closer upon us than ever before to find a cure. Her daughter, Renee McDowell, is team captain & Chairman of the Walk.




John Chewning, was diagnosed with MS in 1995. He has been a highschool math teacher for 37 years and has been very determined to continue teaching, which is a passion of his. Before his diagnosis, he was at school all day and coaching indoor and outdoor highschool soccer after school. Since his diagnosis with MS, he has physically slowed down a bit teaching 3 sections of highschool math and spectating highschool sports, but maintains the same positive attitude he's had all his life. In April of 1996, he was in a wheelchair because his MS began affecting his ability to walk. He was hospitalized during this time for a while, however by July of 1996, he was walking again. He currently walks with the assistance of 2 canes and in December '07 was able to walk me down the aisle at my wedding. He is currently giving himself treatments to help with his MS. We all want to help find a cure for this disease, so please come out, show your support and "Walk MS"..



Patrick Farmer was diagnosed in 2009 at the age of 26. He was not too familiar with the disease when he was diagnosed, but is learning more about it and how to manage it. Being recently diagnosed, he has access to therapy and treatments that were not available years ago, thanks to fundraising for research, etc. He hopes to live a fun, exciting and MS symptom free life with his wonderful wife Sara & their newborn son Hayden.



Shelly Shuman-Johnson got up one morning in January of 2001 and realized while presenting a training she could not speak clearly and was experiencing numbness and weakness on her left side. After an initial MRI and a 4 day hospital stay she was diagnosed as having suffered 3 small mini strokes because no other indication of MS existed. 11 months later symptoms, including visual problems, increased. A subsequent MRI indicated additional lesions. Further test were run and in November of 2001 Shelly was diagnosed with MS. She knew nothing about the disease, didn't even know what MS stood for, what treatment was available or if there was a cure but in some strange way was relived to finally have a diagnosis that would not take her life. She immediately began treatment of weekly inter-muscular injections of Avonex which she and her family learned together to administer. Shelly realized MS is a life altering disease but refuses to let it be a life controlling disease. Shelly is blessed to have a wonderful family that has supported and helped her deal with every aspect of MS. Without them she would not be able to continue to work full time, participate in her children's many activities and enjoy time with her husband and friends. With the support of these special people she hopes to continue to enjoy a long happy life. Shelly her husband Bill, children Evin and Brooke, along with several friends and members of the FAME All Star Family are walking in this event to raise money for the MS Society. She feels lucky to be able to WALK for MS and hopes with events like this there will someday be a cure!

MS, as for many things, needs a cure! We can do things to help out! Even the smallest thing can make a HUGE difference! Show you care!

We had a fun walk, and the girls did wonderful in the stroller! I walked the first 1.5 miles and ran the second 1.5 miles with my stroller in hand! It was a great walk and I had two TIRED sleepy babies at the end! But it was fun and they ENJOYED looking all around! Until next year...

OH THE JOYS!

Scene: Lonnie chaning Lillianah, and I was changing zoey.
SN: If you know our babies, they dont SIT STILL, at all. Exp. when their diaper is being changed.
Coke in the cup holder on the couch.

Lillianah was good this time and let lonnie change her diaper. he finished in a few minutes, while I was doing this.
Me: lay zoey down, and i get her pants around her ankles.
Z: GETS UP, and races for the coke can.
Me: lay zoey back down
z: GETS UP, and races for the coke can.
Me: (Lonnie is done changing Lillianah at this point) Lonnie will you grab the can and put it on the other side of you, she wants it and that why she keeps getting up. I lay her back down. He moves the can. I open her diaper, POOP.
Z: GETS UP, falls on my leg, poop on the pants, sits on the floor, poop on the floor,
ME: lonnie help , she wont lay down
(she is a squirmy little thing and a STRONG liltt monkey, no one can hold her down if she doesnt want to, it takes two of us)
ME; I get her to lay back down and lonnie is talking to her so she sits still just enough for me to get the poop of her back/but, but not all of it.
(we are so busy focusing on zoey, what did we forget about? the coke can, OH, NO! Lillianah spills the coke everywhere, lonnie goes to get paper towels, Lillianah trys to play in it, i go to get her,,oh more poop everywhere, then zoey tried to play in it, and kept laughing as we tried to take her away.)
Me: layed zoey back down, finally got her diaper changed.

PROCESSSSS!!!!!!!