fall day

My hubby is the greatest!  He not only finished getting the boys ready in the morning and put them down for a nap while I met with a friend for coffee, but he had these waiting for me this morning :)

Stargazers because they're "our flower," sunflowers because he knows I love them and burgundy marigolds because they're fall-ish.  How thoughtful is he?!

I loved getting to drive out about 30 min. to se my friend Lisa at her home.  he had a homemade mocha waiting for me!  After lots of catching up and talking about parenting (she's raised 5 kids!) it was time for me to head back home.  

The boys actually slept longer than 45 minutes today (WOAH! exciting! totally didn't comprehend the grace of this until motherhood) during their nap.  Which meant we could go on a beautiful walk. 

the lake next to our place

it's fall!

And now I've started making these twice baked buttnernut squash for dinner.  The timers going off and now one of the boys is awake (and letting me clearly know it!) Thankfully I feel like I can handle whatever especially after all these graces today.  Thank you Lord. 

barefoot and ...in the kitchen

Over the past couple of months I've been able to get back to cooking.  I couldn't even think about cooking, remember what we even had in the fridge, or contemplate that I'd have energy or time to make a meal for the first few months of motherhood...but now some semblance of sanity has returned and I've been getting back in the swing of it.

Here are a few things we're been digging into lately:

• Flounder Fish Tacos- yummy and a good change up!
• Chicken Paprikash
• Chicken (or pork chops) with Balsamic Peppers- I used pork chops so break up the overload of chicken we'd been having and it turned out well. Next time I would just do this dish on the stove instead of in the oven...to bring more depth to the peppers and onions and make the sauce a bit thicker after cooking.  Still good. 
• Green Beans- I always change recipes and in this one I subbed bacon for pancetta and pecans for pine nuts; tasty

a visit from jacksonville-ians

Grayson and Jackson sure do attract a lot of visitors! We're thankful that our families are so willing to fly up to see us the boys.  This past weekend my sister Courtney and her husband Scott came up to stay with us.  They now live in Jacksonville and basically have the complete opposite climate.  We don't talk weather most of the year.  I would cry.   

They loved getting to see the little guys especially now that they're responsive, smiley, giggly and more interactive.  

Aunt Courtney and Uncle Scott with the boys

Jackson and Grayson also went to their very fist tailgate at the school we work with.  Thankfully Court and Scott helped me actually make it there with both kiddos. 

Sara loves hanging out with juniors Courtney and Ashley...and they love the boys!

Dad and Jackson

Here are some other pictures from the last week or so:

Here's Jackson looking so much more grown during tummy time...

and precious Grayson!

Here are the cutest little butts I've ever seen! Seriously, I love their teeny cheeks!

thank you and welcome.

Thank you Missouri.  Despite all the trash talking, you gave us a big "W" on Saturday.  Grayson and Jackson were again excited for game day and are happy the Dawgs are 2-0.   

And welcome to the SEC.

On another note, the twins are doing well and thankfully getting back on track with their daly schedule.    For the last 2 weeks life has been hecitc. At least for me.  Without a predictable day everything feels more draining and Grayson and Jackson were just out of their routine.  We think it has been a combo of growth spurts, colds, and my supply decreasing and not keeping them full.  So now we're supplementing them after several of their meals and adding in more and more formula.  We need to bulk these guys up!  That seems to have helped and along with the nasal bulb to clear their runny noses, we seem to be a little more back on track.  

But in the midst of the chaotic weeks, I was at a breaking point so my wonderful, amazing, selfless, husband send me out to dinner and then told me to check into a nearby hotel.  It. was. incredible.  Eight hours of sleep and no babies crying! That was Friday night.  Didn't I marry a good one?!  So thankful!

5 months

I wrote this 2 days ago:

Hard to believe today, 5 months ago we were waiting around at the hospital and I was till prego.  Grayson and Jackson are still doing great.  Here's what they're up to lately:

• giggling:: especially Andrew can get either one of them going with silly songs, but if you catch them at the right time they'll belly laugh!
• grasping:: toys, hair, their clothes, pacifiers and bibs...they love to grab whatever they can. they now even look at something and specifically grab it. lately their favorite thing to grab is their pacifiers- out of their mouths! we're working on them being able to put them back in!
• putting things in mouth:: this is the start
• smiling
• rolling over:: they both can do this from tummy to back either direction
• weight on legs:: both love to be held while they stand up
• almost sitting up:: Jackson especially is almost able to sit. lately he's demise is that he leans forward and thus falls over. Grayson's not as interested in sitting
• tummy time:: they now enjoy tummy time far more and are usually super focused/mesmerized by whatever pattern is on the blanket they lay on.  and we think they're heads aren't quite as flat :)
• napping:: they're changing up their routine lately...Jackson seems to be ready for 3 longer naps and Grayson's fine with 4 so we're trying to figure this one out! we're heading toward 3 and made their bed time now 7 instead of 8.  that also is because they've been waking up at 6:30 instead of 8!
• still no reflux anymore :)
• have strong necks
• love looking at books
• still love kicking
• making bubbles and razzing
• talking:: both seem to be getting more and more talkative. Grayson lately has been almost yelling but it totally content.
• love bath time
• jumping:: they love when you toss them up and they try to bend their knees and jump. gets a smile every time
• superman:: they LOVE to be flown around while being held like superman.  sometimes even gets giggles

Grayson

Jackson

littlest dawg fans

Grayson and Jackson got their very first glimpse of the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.  We love the fall in large part to college football season starting.  So I obviously was excited to put these cuties in their gameday gear. 

Andrew's parents originally got us the red onesie when we told them we were pregnant.  And then they sent us the black one after we revealed there were two kiddos on the way.  I seriously can't get enough of our little guys! And they actually got to watch kick off. We do Georgia cheers every once in a while so they were ready for the game!

Jackson is in black and Grayson in red

Watching kick off in our red and black! ...And yes they are actually watching the game on TV!

And thankfully the Dawgs won too! We love that!