Magician

I hear muffled shouts coming from the bathroom. Sometimes accompanied by various songs. I open the door and see this image. Maggie with her head face planted in the step stool. This is how I know Maggie needs me to help wipe her poopies. She started this routine about 3 months ago. I have no idea why- but I don't ever ask. When I enter into the bathroom Maggie drops the step stool on the floor and assumes the position- She plops her head in between my knees. She also started this about 3 months ago. Again- I don't ask. She is then ready to be wiped.

I do my motherly duties, help her wash her hands, and go about by many tasks again.

While this ritual is a obviously a treat in my daily life- yesterday I got a bonus gift. As I turned to walk out of the bathroom Maggie started shouting "Look Mom! I had Magic Poo!" Regular poo, I'm just not that interested in looking at..... but Magic Poo?! That's a different story. I decided to take a look. Inside the bowl was a regular poo, and I informed Maggie of that. She said "Nut uhh"- and then told me that her poo was magical because it had colored specks in it. I looked in the bowl again and had to apologize to Maggie. It was indeed colorful... so obviously it had to be full of magic.

I flushed the toilet and told her that it was magic too- it took the poo to mysterious and mystical places.

She was impressed.


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Hi. My name is Breezi- and this is my glamorous life as a mom. I'm also a magician.

Quilts

My SIL Leah has the awesome talent to quilt. We were so excited that right before she came, we got a package in the mail with two quilts- one for each boy.

I want her to make me one for my bed.... I LOVE the pattern, the fabric, and the ....well... everything!

Leah didn't say which quilt was for which boy, so I decided since Dex has more of a non-traditional name he'd get the quilt with orange, green, and blues.
(My flash made the orange look florescent.... but it's really not.)

Miles got the more traditional colored quilt with the red, white and blues.
He wasn't happy about being a model when he was hungry. (I thought all models were supposed to be starving.... I guess he didn't get the memo.)
**the red isn't that bright either.... darn flash**

If you saw these quilts in person you'd be pretty amazed. Around each square it has a raw edge that will give each quilt a 'rag quilt' feel the more times it's washed. My mom did the quilting of the quilts on her big ol' machine- That woman's got some mad skills too!

These two little guys are lucky to have such talented women in their lives who love them so much. If they could talk, I know they'd say 'Thank You!"

(FYI: I did not dress them to match their quilts in any way. That was pure coincidence.)

Limiting Words

There is two words that instantly causes Maggie to have a colossal melt down. It's nothing that I say... she actually says them herself. She is the destroyer of her own abilities.

The two words are: I Can't.

As soon as I hear these words out of Maggie, I know that she will give up. She throws herself on the ground and refuses to even try. Time stops. Effort stops. Listening to any sort of logic or reason ends.

" I Can't " is such a limiting phrase.

I've been hearing those two words so often lately. Not just out of Maggie either.

"I can't believe you can manage having twins!"
"I can't possibly imagine living in 1000 sq feet with 6 people."
"I couldn't ever let my husband take so long to start a business."
"I couldn't live without a dishwasher."
"I could never go grocery shopping with 4 kids alone, or the zoo, or anywhere for that matter."
"I can't NOT have cable!"

I can't
I can't
I can't.

There is a funny thing about those words. They often inspire the person saying them to receive some sort of pity from me. I feel sorry for them having such little understanding or such little faith. It's not like I chose to have the trials or situations that I was blessed with. I was a person who couldn't imagine ever having two babies at the same, or couldn't imagine being without any family here to help us, or couldn't imagine my husband starting his own company- but you roll with the punches..... and all of sudden something that seemed so frightening before is now the norm and you wouldn't have it any other way. I pity people who have always had things perfectly land in their laps with minimal struggling or hardships. They will never know how certain situations feel- and while they may have sympathy for people in their struggles, they will never have empathy. I'm not saying that I'm such an awesome person for having trials in my life. Everyone has trials. Some people's are just longer than others. Some people have health trials- Some people have financial trials- Some people have trials of faith. Some trials go by in a blink- others take years to pass by.

I had two experiences in the past few months that have stuck with me.

A while ago there was a woman from my church that came over to my home. She is well off and has always been so-even at the wee beginning of her marriage. Everything has always landed perfectly in place. Designer home, Von Trapp family children, Husband home by 5pm every day, etc. She is as nice as pie and is a real sweet lady. You could tell that she really felt sorry for me in my situation. She would just apologize over and over for my trials (I'm so sorry you have to deal with such and such) and our situation. She was yearning to connect with me but there was so much of a gap. Instead of lifting my spirits with her good intentions, it just made me sad- not necessarily just sad for myself, but sad for her too. She could not imagine ever being without her perfect world.

A few weeks ago another woman from church dropped off a meal to me to help out after my mom left. She also has a designer style home, adorable children, and an awesome husband but things haven't always landed perfectly in place for her. She never once said "I can't {insert whatever trial here}......." while she was visiting me. She never once apologized for my trials. Instead she said how proud she was of Chip and I for trying for our dreams and for listening to the answers of our prayers. She told me that we were an inspiration to her- of weathering the storms and trials of our lives with such faith. When she left, I felt uplifted. I felt like I could keep going.

Both women came over to my home to uplift me. Only one succeeded. One made me look around at all of the trials that I have and I saw them as huge mountains all around me- some of which I still have so far to climb. The other made me look around to see how far I've come up those mountains.

These two experiences reminded me that I want to be a builder- not destroyer of people.

I was talking to Chip in our car trip on Saturday about these two experiences. He was telling me that he read a book saying that people affiliate with others who are most like themselves. People who have dead-end situations stay around others with the same fate. People who are rich and powerful hang around others who are rich and powerful. People who love to whine and complain about their situations like to hang around others who do the same. People who are up lifters of others generally like to be with others who do it too.

I decided that I want to be with people who uplift me. I have enough trials that if I sit and think about them or complain about them non-stop it will bog me down -and really leave a bad taste in other people's mouths if they have to hear about it over and over. I don't want that in my life anymore. I want to be able on the other side of my 'trial mountain' to look back and think that I climbed it pretty well- not look back and think of the exhaustion and the negatives of the climb. I want to encourage those around me in their trials and mountain climbs.

It's so easy when talking to others and trying to sympathize with them to focus on the bad and forget the good. It's a lot harder to make positives out of the negatives. I guess it's all in how you approach things.

I'll just finish my post by saying- if nothing I wrote inspired you to be a builder upper of others than this is my last ditch cheese effort to inspire you. (Get your crackers ready.... this is a lot of cheese.....)

Remember. You are an Amer-I-Can. Not an Amer-I-Can't.

You can do it.

So can I.

The Scott and Leah Visit

This past week was very special for my family and I. I am so grateful that my brother and sister in law were able to fly out to visit us, along with their little girl Maddy (Rylan, their son- was at 'Camp Grandma' for the week). A little background on why it was so special: My brother, due to military assignments in Iraq and also due to living across the country has never met Maggie- who just turned 4. I have never met my little niece Maddy either- who'll be 2 in September. It feels good to finally have met!

We had so much fun together- and like most visits it went way to quickly.

This is going to be a tad bit of a picture over load- but they are cute pictures, so I'm sure you'll be okay with that.

Alli, Maddy, and Maggie inside the petting area at the zoo.
For the life of me, I couldn't get Maggie to smile nicely :)

The girls pretending they were caged monkeys. I don't think they had to pretend very hard. We kept telling Maddy that there were monkeys inside the cage. She went in and said "There's no monkeys!" and came back out. Little did she know......

The carousel was a fun treat to ride on too! It was Maggie's first time not freaking out while riding it!

Everyone got to pet the snake inside the reptile house.

While they were here, Scott and Leah stayed at a hotel with a fun pool. We decided to take advantage of the opportunity to cool off on a hot day. Ahhh..... cool water.......

Chip even got to try out his new underwater video camera. I have no idea how to upload anything from it, but we did get some fun videos in the pool.

Aunt Leah giving some tickles.

I told Scott and Chip to show some 'brotherly love' for a picture. I think they both need to get in touch with their "love" side.

Leah is going to kill me for posting this picture because she said "Don't post this on your blog", but she's not here..... so whatcha gunna do? I had to post it.
I think it's a mighty awesome talent, myself. I wish I could do it.

We asked Maddy to cross her eyes too. This was the look she gave us:

If anyone wants to know what Scott and Leah will look like when they have twins.... now you know. I keep sending "twin vibes" to them so we can all have the same amount of babies...... but I think they are blocking them with a force field. We'll see the next time they get pregnant if my vibes worked or not. :) (Scott's holding Miles, Leah is holding Dex.)

Maddy jumped off the couch last minute, but here's a picture with Uncle Scott and "Uncle Leah" (That's what the kids called her... hehehe) with all of my children.

Isn't she the cutest ever!?!
Such a sweet and sassy little girl. I think she fits perfectly in the family!

Maddy loved Uncle Chip. I think Chip is totally smitten with her.

I was thinking about it... and the last time my brother and I were in a picture together was right after he got home from his mission in July/Aug of 2000. I think 10 years since being in a picture together was a good reason to take a snapshot...... plus we wanted our mother to be able to say she actually has two children and they see each other once in a while.
This one's for you, mom.
(We only took one shot before Scott went to the airport... sorry we didn't have time to perfect it.)

It was a wonderful visit! Chip and I (and our kiddos) feel very blessed that Scott and Leah took the time to come and visit us. It really meant a lot to us. Thanks guys for coming!

Survivor

When the boys and I had come home from the hospital I was really restless. I'm not one for sitting around doing nothing. I know, nursing and snuggling newborns isn't exactly "nothing".... but not being able to interact with people is what I was missing. I was having a major case of cabin fever. A night out on the town is what I was needing.

Archivers was determined to be the destination of choice. With hopes up high to get some mental relief, my mom and I headed out the door leaving Chip with two overly tired girls refusing to go to bed and hyped up on the high of life and 11 day old newborns.
I'm one of the lucky girls who happens to have a husband that can put up with just about anything I throw at him.... including children. I wasn't to worried walking out the door.

After an hour and a half of pure bliss surrounded by buttons, paper, glitter and all sorts of loveliness- my mom and I decided to head back home.

I walked in the door not sure of what I was going to find. Chip could have been in a fetal position with two babies screaming at the top of their lungs- but I was so happy to find Chip just sitting on the couch- one baby in each arm, two bottles in between his legs, and a pillow on each of his side (for when he laid the babies beside him and fed them). Seriously- this guys is amazing.

I'm happy to say that Chip survived.

He has a twitch now- but other than that he's completely unscathed.

Walk in the Park

"Girls- turn around and smile" I called as they were walking in front of Chip and I at the park the other day. This is what I snapped immediately after they turned. They didn't discuss the pose with each other previously- they just both settled in this position.

My girls are so gangsta' cool.

"Okay, how about now you give me a nice smile" I said after the previous pose.
This is what I got:

I obviously wasn't going to get very far photographing the girls.
(Don't you just love Alli's socks- At least they match her shirt)

So I decided to photograph things that I didn't have to tell "Say Cheese" to.

I love going for walks with my family.

Bath time

With each new child we've had two items of business that are up to Chip. The first one: He "gets" to change their first poo's. The second: He gets to give them their first baths.

This go around has been no exception to the rules.

We finally decided last week they were stinky enough to warrant a bath. Chip got the boys ready for their fun new adventure in Water-land.

Judging by their reactions, you'll probably come to the same conclusion as we did.

The boys both LOVE bath time!

I thought I'd insert a nice quote from Chip as he was bathing them:

" I like to give the kids a bath. It's the only time I get to torture them and I don't get in trouble!"

Life

I think there are two ways to approach life.

I'll use the band-aid idiom. You can either take it off cautiously and slow to make sure there is minimal damage and pain...... Or you can just rip the sucker off- short/sweet and have a little sting that 'hurts so good'.

You can also use that same approach when first getting in the pool. Do you jump in feet first and enjoy the thrilling rush of cold water, or do you wade in one step at a time and get adjusted slowly to the water temperature.

I have decided that I only get one lifetime, so I'm not going to waste it sitting around my house trying to work up the courage to be brave enough to take all of my little blessings out and about. My mom left a week ago- and so far, aside from having two more children (and a whole heck of a lot more laundry)- life is pretty much like it was before the twins came along. I HATE sitting around doing nothing- It is such a waste. (Unless "sitting around doing nothing" means blog surfing or blogging in general.... and then it's not wasteful at all.... it's research... ha ha.) I have taken all four of the kids to the park, almost every day- alone. I have gone to the mall with the four kids- alone. And yesterday I decided to take the final plunge into 'parenthood of four children'- and I took them grocery shopping- alone.

As I was getting ready to go on my adventure, my husband was a little shocked. He heard the blow dryer in the bathroom and had to take a peak inside to see what I was doing. I don't fault him for this- it's been a while since he's heard what one has sounded like, let alone seen one in action. Chip asked what the special occasion was and who I was meeting. I told him I was just going to go grocery shopping. He asked me why I was blow drying/curling my hair and putting on make-up to go grocery shopping. I didn't come up with a clever response then, but when I was driving the car to the store my answer became clear: I blow dried my hair and got gussied up because there are only a few times in ones life that they have the opportunity to prepare themselves for their own funeral. I was 59% sure that my shopping excursion was going to be the end of me..... I almost wrote my own epitaph before I left the house.

I do have to admit that once inside the store I cheated- Giant Eagle has a wonderful and magical place to send all kids ages 3 and up called the Eagle's Nest. It's fabulous! There are toys galore, games, crafts, movies..... and a babysitter- for free. I wasn't going to deny my girls the joys of playing with the same toys we have at the house.... so I reluctantly let them go. ( When I say reluctantly....I meant to add there was a cart wheel made after dropping them off. And it wasn't by the girls.)

I got the boys in their car seats loaded up in the shopping cart and away I went.

I encountered a tiny dilemma that prohibited me to get all I needed.- there is only .18 cubic inches of space in a shopping cart to put food stuffs in after placing babies in cart. I had to utilize that bottom shelf to it's full capacity.

I was able to go shopping, check out, pick up my children with further problems.

After I got home, unloaded groceries, and tried to make something for dinner, I did find a huge problem. I didn't really get many groceries into my cart- so I couldn't really make something for dinner.

Good thing I found we had some chicken legs.

R-A-D answers

Alright guys- This being my first Reader Appreciation Day post, I'll let you off with a warning. It was such an underwhelming response- Next time- my peeps- step it up. I'll forgive you this time.

For those of you who did comment- you all win a lifetime supply of awesomeness. Congratulations.


And now for the answers you are dying to hear:

Q- What was I doing up at 2am blogging?
A- I have always been a night owl. I love staying up late. It's usually my time to scrapbook, quilt, or just veg and watch TV without having anyone bother me. My babies have all enjoyed the night too. The twins are no exception to that. They tend to think that the witching hours are the most fun. We like to have fun all together.

Q- What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
A- Approximately 6. I'm not sure what that means to the laden swallow, but there you go.

Q-My most embarrassing moment?
A- I have had many encounters with blushing cheeks in my life. As an adult I can usually just shrug things off- and it's usually silly things like smelly toots eeking out in a crowded place..... but when I was little- there were a few times that have stuck with me. The first one I was in 3rd grade, about to play the piano for my talent show competition at school. I stood up in front of the crowd to bow, and I peed my pants (I was wearing a dress, but you get the point). Right there on stage. I remember my friend Donita looking at me with her Italian eyes opened wide- one hand covering her mouth , and the other pointing at the puddle forming between my legs. I think the other hugely embarrassing moment was when I was like 12/13 ish. My family and I were driving home from our Cabin. My brother had one of his best buddies in the back of the truck with him and Ceejay (our Miniature Sheltie). I think this is the appropriate time to mention that I had a GIGANTIC crush on his best buddy. During the one hour car trip the boys apparently got bored enough to go through my luggage. When we got home and opened the back of the canopy- there was the dog, dressed in my dirty clothes. Right down to my bra and dirty underwear. I was a little more than mortified.

Q- Do I still eat cat food, or was that a mean trick my brother, Scott played on me.
A- I can honestly say that I don't eat cat food. I did it once. But that was because my brother was mean and told me it was yummy and he ate it all the time. That was also the same reason that I licked an electric fence. If someone ever tells you that a wire fence tastes like candy- don't believe them.

Q- What do I want my posterity to remember me for?
A- My utter awesomeness of course. Actually, I want my posterity to remember me for serving others. It's not my season in life right now to serve as much as I want to (I think right now it's my time for allowing others to serve me and I just have to buck up and deal with it....), but that will all change as the boys get old enough to use the toilet. Chip and I have a dream goal when "poof" happens ("Poof", you might remember, is when our business Telesaur takes off huge) to serve those in need. We have many dreams of how to help communities, how to help all of our family, how to help those we see needing a hand up.
When Chip was little his family didn't have money. I hear stories from his parents about the service they received from others. From a few dollars left on their door with a note telling them to go for an ice cream treat, to them coming home one day to find $500 in cash in an envelope with the anonymous note saying "Bishop, go buy yourself a new suit". (Chip's dad was a bishop for our church when he was 24-25ish years old -> which is pretty young to be called as a bishop.)
I also hear stories of people I admire deeply like my mom and grandma helping others in need. They are just like the saying in the movie Robots "See a need, Fill a need." They fill many needs of people in their community, family, and church.
This may seem like a silly thing- but I want my posterity to remember me as their friend. I have to say that my mom and grandma are two of my best friends. I love having that relationship with them. I can't wait for my children to not see their grandparents and parents as authority figures, but as friends. It's just awesome.

Q- If I could travel any place in the world where would it be?
A- I do have a goal to spit off of every major tall building in the world. I have spit off of the Eiffel Tower and the Space Needle. There a lot of tall buildings left to chuck my saliva off of. I am pretty sure there some on every continent.

Q- If I had to pick just ONE hobby to do, what would it be?
A- Hands down- Scrapbooking. While I enjoy quilting, Scrapbooking is a photographic journal of my life and my children's lives. I have learned through the years to incorporate journaling in everyone of my pages. When I first started scrapbooking it was all about how many photos, stickers and glitter I could pack on every page. Now it's more layouts of one or two pictures and lots of story telling. I hope my children will actually look at them. (Leah- If Chip and I die, you're in charge of making sure my children know of their scrapbooks..... and you also have to pick up where I left off- or I'll haunt you. Just FYI)

Q- If you could sleep as long as you wanted, how many hours could you get in?
A- I don't think you should ask a mother of newborn twins that question. Honestly: I'd like to go in a medically induced coma for a few months. I think after that, I'd finally feel rested.


Well, that's about it. Thanks for playing. :)
Until next time, your assignment is to think of more questions.

R-A-D

Reader Appreciation Day.

That's right. I appreciate you. Who knows... someday the lot of you will help me get invited to a Meat Mixer.

So, as a gesture of my love to each of you, I thought I'd let you ask me some questions. Whatever question that has been burning deep within your bosom about me- feel free to ask away. If you have been lurking in the shadows of my blog too afraid to leave comments (Don't worry, I stalk people too....), If you are related to me and finally want to know the truth about something....(Scott did it.) Or if you just think I'm kinda funny and witty (I really want to have the word "Witty" somewhere on my tombstone.)- this is your opportunity to ask away.

I'm quite excited about this. In fact, my tummy is getting butterflies hoping that there will be some fun questions to answer! (**Giggles!!**)

I'll start out with a fun fact about me. My very first boyfriend had the last name of Scharmann. If I would married him, my name would have been Breezi Scharmann..... Spring Fresh Toilet Paper. I knew our relationship could never go past smooching. (Yes,I know it's spelled differently than Charmin toilet paper... but it sounds the same- therefore it is the same.)

So... with that lingering in the air..... have fun thinking of a question to ask! I can't wait.

Thoughts

Spending lots of time watching sleeping babies and also sitting alone nursing has made me do some thinking lately.

#1- I think I was pregnant for way to long. My once huge stomach is now in the process of deflating- (down almost 50lbs in 2.5 weeks... I say that's the best diet I've ever been on....... and I think I only gained 20-25 lbs during the pregnancy. Sweet.) which means that I can actually see my upper thighs again. I have found with the void of baby stomach- A HUGE mole has popped up on my upper thigh! When did that get there? Obviously in the past 5 months- but still. Weird.

#2- I don't think any amount of "firming lotion" can fix my stomach. Think a balloon that has been blown up to capacity, and then slowly over time the air leaks out of it.... and the balloon gets that soft wrinkled look and feel. Yeah. Just paint that balloon pasty white- and you've got a good image of my stomach.

#3- Another sign I've been pregnant for way to long: I just don't feel right unless my underoos and pants are up to my bra line. I'm a mix between Urkel and a Granny wearing polyester elastic waist banded pants. All I need is suspenders and orange lipstick and I'm an insta-Halloween costume.

#4- What is the point of having Baby Pooh Bear, Baby Bumble Bee's, Baby Sesame Street characters on diapers? Is it for my enjoyment in the diaper changing process? Or is it for the babies to enjoy pooping in the diapers more? I just don't get it. I think if the point is for me to enjoy changing the diapers- maybe they need to put some Chuck Norris "facts" on the diapers. At least I'd get a laugh out of every change. (Q: How many Chuck Norris' does it take to change a light bulb? A: None. Chuck Norris prefers to kill in the dark)

#5- I'm a good 50/50 at little predictions as to what's going to happen in my life. For example: I thought for SURE that I'd get gestational diabetes. That didn't happen. BUT I had a hunch that I was going to have twins- and we all know how that 'feeling' turned out. Now I'm a little befuddled. I have a 'feeling' that one of the babies is allergic to peanuts and/or nuts in general. Chip thinks I'm paranoid. I think I'm paranoid. The bottle washing wand-thingy touched peanut butter tonight and now it's sitting in a sink with bleach water..... along with all the bottles. How exactly do I go about finding out if one of the babies is allergic to nuts without sounding like a complete freak? I don't want to find out because they go into anaphylactic shock.
Just for FYI: Nobody in either family has peanut allergies- they only have dust/pet allergies. I've also been able to eat things with peanuts in it and nurse the babies and they have no reactions.
Maybe I am going off the deep end. Is this what happens with lack of sleep? Paranoia?

#6- Why do the babies demand to be fed at the same time? Is it to torture me by making me feel bad that one has to wail and turn red while the other is making those soft happy nursing sighs of contentment?

#7- Upon closer inspection Dex (when awake and sitting up with help) looks a lot like the Sicilian from Princess Bride. Now I can't stop picturing him as a balding man laughing. Again- Chip thinks I'm loosing it. Perhaps I am. But still a funny thought- right?

Miss Mags

Technically today (June 12th) is Maggie's birthday..... but since we had all but one grandparent here in town for the blessings of the babies and we had a set of great grandparents too, and Maggie has never once had a single grandparent at any of her birthday parties (such is the stinky life of living away from everyone)- we thought it'd be more than acceptable to celebrate her birthday a week early. After all, you only turn 4 once.

It's a tradition in the Kohrman household that every child gets one small gift on someone else's birthday. The tradition as been passed to our family as well. Nunnums and Patsy got Alli a super cool music thing that plays really loud "awesome" music. This is Alli getting down to the tunes.

Maggie and her vacuum.
Funny story about this. After the babies came, my mom told Chip and I to run out together and have some fun. So what did we do? Went to Target to birthday shop for Maggie. As spunky, independent and defiant as Maggie is- there are glimpses of the good within (thank Heaven.) One of her sweet little things that she is all about- is helping to clean. Dishes. Vacuuming. Dusting. Toilets. Tubs. Mopping. Taking out trash. You name the chore (aside from cleaning her room)- and she loves to do it. For her birthday last year she got an ironing board from my parents, and it's one of her favorite things to play with. We thought this vacuum would be a perfect addition to her ironing board. We were right.
When we got home, Maggie came outside to help us bring stuff in- and accidentally caught a glimpse of the vacuum. When we told her that it wasn't hers, and we were returning it for a friend- she cried and cried- she kept wailing "I want a vacuum!!" over and over. We told her maybe she could wish for a vacuum for her birthday.
She didn't stop talking about that stupid toy clear until the day we celebrated. That child has a mind like a steel trap.
Needless to say- this toy is rarely without a 4 year old pushing it everywhere. Luckily she hasn't asked us to put the batteries in it yet.

All the grandparents watching Maggie open presents.

Don't you just love the lust in Maggie's eyes? It cracks me up.

I feel a little sad about not going all out for Maggie's cake (especially after making the Candy Land cake a few months ago) I shouldn't feel too bad. She got exactly what she wanted, which was "A big rainbow cake with white frosting". I think M&M's make good rainbows... don't you?

I love these cute little girls.

At least I can get one out of two children to give me a nice smile. We'll keep practicing.

We are so thankful to have Maggie in our family. She's a tough customer and sure keeps us on our toes (I'm pretty sure she was sent here before the boys to give us confidence. If Maggie doesn't kill us- we can survive anything.) but she sure does have some super sweet soft sides as well. She's the first to cover someone up when they are taking a nap, she loves to snuggle and give kisses and hugs, she's super helpful and encouraging, and always has a silly little tickle ready for you. Happy Birthday our 4 year old girl.

Animal Behavior

"I know why animals eat their young."

This is what Chip said to me tonight while picking up a wailing Miles. I asked Chip to enlighten me on his thought process. This is what came out(While I put this in quotes, I can't recall {due to lack of sleep} the exact words that came out of his mouth..... but this was the gist of it):

"Babies are such pathetic creatures! They just lay there, helpless, crying and crying- expecting to get some sort of outcome from their persistent wails. They can't get their own food, they are constantly pooping themselves, and they don't allow the adults to sleep. I bet that the reason why babies of animals get eaten is because they wake their parents up. The baby cries and the parent says "Well that's enough of that", and eats them. The animal then has a full stomach and a quiet den, then they finally get a good night's sleep."

While I don't condone eating one's young- I can certainly see the logic behind it.

(Chip should know by now that anything he says is fair game to blog about..... so this was his own can of worms that he opened up. Such a funny, funny can of worms.)

Baby Blessings

In our church it's customary to give babies a blessing. (Click here for more information)
On Sunday our family came from far away to join us for this special occasion.

(Chip's mom {Nunnums} made these adorable outfits. She has mad awesome sewing skills and she made the girls each their blessing dresses too. We are incredibly lucky to have her!)

(Miles has the green binkie, Dexter has the blue)

Chip gave the boys each a beautiful blessing. Ohh goodness -how we were blessed by getting these two children in our family.

This is our new family picture.
(And yes..... this was one of the best pictures that were taken... hahaha)

We were so honored that our neighbors (The Jacob's) came to witness the blessings. They are not members of our church, but they are the sweetest people and came to support us.

This picture is of the boys (and Chip) with their namesakes.
Miles Rudolf was named after my grandpa Rudi.
Dexter Patrick was named after Chip's dad. He is Charles Patrick II, but goes by Pat.
We wanted to name the boys after honorable and righteous men. We are so lucky to have such awesome and strong influences for all things good- like Chip's dad and my grandpa.

Chip and I with our boys.

Our family who were here for the blessing.
From left to right:
Chip's Parents Pat and Nomi (Patsy and Nunnums), Chip holding Miles, Maggie, Me holding Dexter, Chip's brother Jeff (behind me), Alli, My mom Jody (Grammy), My Grandma Bonnie (Oma), Grandpa Rudi (Opa)

We are so thankful that everyone came to join us! We are lucky to have the family that we do.
(We're lucky that they put up with us too....... probably because we give them babies to play with)

Leg Rub

(Chip and my Grandpa Rudi- Giving leg rubs)

This story takes place a long time ago. June of 2001 to be exact. Chip and I had been officially dating for about 4-5 weeks at this time....
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(If you don't know the story of Chip and I, I'll do a quick recap of our 'love story': I met Chip. 6 weeks later we were engaged. 6 months later we were married. This year will be our 9Th anniversary. Who says shot gun relationships don't last?)

Okay, back to the story.

My grandparents, who had been living in Germany, were in the process of moving to the States. (Did I mention that my grandpa is 100% German?) Luck of all Luck, they were going to be moving to Wilmington, De- which was only an hour from where we were living in Philly. If you know my grandparents, you know they are extremely awesome people- so this was going to be such a cool thing! When my grandparents flew in to Philly, I knew they had to meet this super cool guy I was dating. I asked my grandma and grandpa if we could all go out to dinner together. I hoped and prayed that they would like Chip.

We settled on meeting in Philly's China Town.

As we sat down to dinner I leaned over to Chip and whispered into his ear "Rub Rudi's Leg." He looked at me with huge wide eyes and whispered back "WHAT?!?" to which I replied "It's a German custom, a warm greeting of sorts. If you don't do it, he'll get offended." I don't think Chip believed me, but being the obedient boyfriend that he was and wanting to make a good impression on my family, he stretched his leg under the table and gave Rudi a nice firm leg rub.

There aren't words enough to describe how the situation unfolded. My grandpa was a little shocked to say the least, but as I couldn't keep a straight face, and Chip face was about as red as a fire engine- let's just say that guttural laughing and almost wetting of pants occurred. Tears falling from faces people. Crocodile tears.

Chip did make an impression on my family. I think it was decided there that he was a keeper.

So- If Chip ever sits across from you and you feel a nice sturdy leg rub, just know- It's a German custom and it's just Chip's way of saying "hi".

Apology

(Adams Peanut Butter Fudge Ripple Cheesecake, From the Cheesecake Factory..... All 59 grams of fat of it.)

Many of you read in my emotional post that I put up after I got home from the hospital that one of the reasons that I cried was over the loss of my cheesecake. What you did not read was my theory to who/whom I thought ate it.

My dear brother-in-law is a cheesecake connoisseur. He knows his cheesecakes. While I was in the hospital, he was here at the house (unsupervised)- and being a 20 year old single male, he usually can and will eat anything left in the fridge. Deep in my heart of hearts, I knew that Jeff must have been the culprit to my cheesecake theft. I voiced it to Chip over and over. I was certain that Jeff had my peanut buttery, chocolaty, little piece of heaven in his mouth- that his teeth and tongue had the pleasure to enjoy my precious indulgence. I will admit it now, but I was seriously thinking about disowning him.

Just in case I was wrong about Jeff about devouring my cheesecake, I had a runner-up culprit as well. I thought that my mom, who is the thrower-outer of all leftovers that has been sitting in the fridge longer than 12 hours- might have chucked my beautiful cheesecake in the trash. I spent about 10 minutes picturing my cheesecake calling me from the dumpster. It was crying. Slowly rotting away amidst poopy diapers and Mexican rice. This image got me a little misty in the eyes.

I had these two conclusions in my head for a few days........ when the real culprit showed up.

I was sitting on the chair, nursing one of the babies, when I saw Maggie pull one of the kitchen chairs over to the counter/sink area. Usually this means she is getting into something that she shouldn't be. "Maggie, What are you doing?" I asked. With the sass of a 3 (almost 4) year old she replied "I'm getting a cupcake, Mom!" I had to explain to her that we didn't have any cupcakes in the house. We haven't had cupcakes in a long time. To which she said "I have a cake under my bed" (Picture hand on an outwardly thrusted hip.) "Show me," was my response.

About 3 minutes later Maggie came downstairs, grinning from ear to ear. In her pudgy little hands was my slice of heaven. Wilted, almost completely eaten, and a little smelly. I couldn't believe that my little darling Maggie was the bringer of all my unhappiness and tears.

She's never getting another slice of cheesecake for the rest of her life.

I think it's an adequate punishment.

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So I'd like to take this moment to formally apologize for blaming (and almost disowning) my mom and Jeff for eating/throwing away my cheesecake.

I forgive you.

Basket Factory and more

Since I've been feeling a little better and a little more mobile- I thought I'd show my mom the Longaberger basket factory. She's a bit of a basket collector- so I thought it would be right up her alley. So Wednesday afternoon, we loaded up the boys and Maggie in the van and drove the 59 minutes out to Frazeysburg, Ohio.
(This large 7 story basket serves as the company's home office)

On our little pit stop, my mom decided Dex needed to look cool. He didn't think the glasses were needed. Maggie decided our little trip was an excellent opportunity to take a quick nap.

So we drive all that way, pull into the lot of the factory- only to find out that the lot is blocked off and that the factory is closed on Wednesdays. Seriously?!? What company is closed on Wednesday? At least we saw a cow or two to make our journey worth it.
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Thursday was Alli's last day of school. That's right, at the end of the summer, my little baby girl is going to be in 2nd grade. Where did the time go?
(I have no idea why she is posing in this 'hunchback' position)
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This was too funny not to put in. Alli came downstairs yesterday with this taped to her face. She said she was a bird. What a funny kid! I have no idea why she wanted to be a bird......
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Ever since we brought the babies home from the hospital, Maggie has been loving her doll more and more. This baby (who's name fluctuates between Jayna and Sarah) is frequently found in the babies swing covered up with Maggie's favorite blankie. She is also sung to often, and fed by the pretend bottle with great frequency.
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We have found that the boys sleep much better when they are snuggling either each other or someone else.
One of the sure ways that we can tell the difference between these guys is by their ears. Miles' ears are folded over on the top a little bit, while Dex's ears have a little 'v' shape knicked out of the top of the lobe. Also Miles has a longer face, while Dex has a shorter rounder face.

I thought I'd take a picture of the boys in their bus. This stroller is huge. Everyone notices me when I'm pushing this baby. :)

-Tonight as the boys were waiting for the A/C to kick in, they decided to snuggle a bit on the couch. It made for adorable pictures!
(Dex is on the left- Miles is on the right)
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When I uploaded the photos on the computer, I noticed a bunch of these lovely shots hidden safely in my camera. I guess Grammy is having some fun times with her girls!

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While the boys are sleeping- I should probably get off of here and catch some Zzz's myself.
But... before I go, Let me know what you think of my new blog title. I'm just playing around with it, but I think it may have potential.