2015 Recap!

I love writing these yearly posts to recap our year.  I almost didn't do it this year, but then decided I must.  They are fun to look back on and I knew I'd regret it if I didn't.  2015 was a busy year, but truly one of the best to date.  

JANUARY:

January was a relatively calm month.  I honestly don't remember much from this month, but Daniel and I did take a trip to New York City the end of January to celebrate a co-worker of mine getting her Lexus with Rodan + Fields.  We had a great time celebrating, and we also enjoyed touring NYC (in the FREEZING cold) for a couple days.  We really ate our way through NYC.  We went to one of the best restaurants I've EVER been to and will ever go to as long as I'm alive.  We were very pampered and the food was exquisite.  My parents watched the babies so we could have this time away...we enjoyed it!

FEBRUARY:

A month of horrible sickness for our babies.  It was a month I truly thought would never end.  I think Abby and George were sick the whole month.  It started with some horrific colds for them....George's eye was swollen shut from an infection and Abby ended up in the ER after what we thought was an allergic reaction scare.  After dinner one night she started choking, Daniel had to give her the hymlic and that did help, although she was still choking.  I called 911 and even though it felt like ages, the ambulance did get to our house and whisked her and Daniel away.  It was terrifying.  They did allergy tests on her and found nothing.  We though it was from the shrimp dip we had that night that she was eating, but now we really think it was from the mucus and sickness that she had.  We think she choked on her mucus and it got caught in her throat.  SO glad she's ok, but phew, very scary moment as parents.  The end of February we celebrated my birthday and I got a pedicure.

MARCH:

Another sick month.  George caught a nasty respiratory virus and it got so bad that he was admitted to the hospital.  His oxygen levels were scary low and his little body needed some extra help to fight this virus.  We were in the hospital with him for about four (long) days.  Also in March, our new house was beginning to be built!  We put a contract on a house in November of 2014 and it was starting to be built.  Daniel and I ran the Monument Ave. 10K and both had a great run!

APRIL:

So thankful that the weather is (slightly) starting to get warmer.  Also thankful for healthy kids!  I honestly don't remember much that happened this month...I don't think we went anywhere or did much!

MAY:

Gosh, my memory is failing me now that I'm going back to write this now!  I drove up to PA to visit a great friends of mine in their new home.  I really enjoyed touring their adorable town and spending time with them.  We also did the CF walk there which was great!  We put our house on the market this month!  Talk about STRESS.  But the house sold in 10 days so we were thrilled!

JUNE:

Abby and George's 2nd Birthday!  We went to Holden Beach for a week with Daniel's family and celebrated there.  We had a small, laid back birthday party for them with pizza to eat and of course birthday cake for dessert.  It was fun and a nice to be at the beach!  We closed on our (old) house this month.  Felt good to have that part of the equation done.  We rented back from the owners until our house was ready to be moved into.  We also spent a lot of time on Papa's new boat this summer.  We love Mimi and Papa's boat, it's so much fun!

JULY:

Drove up with the kids to Buffalo, NY to celebrate the 4th with my Dad's side of the family.  This has become a tradition for us!  It's fun to be up there in the perfect weather and with family.  They have boats and pools up there so we always get lots of water time which is nice.  When we came home from this trip, we started packing up our house.

AUGUST:

MOVING MONTH!  We moved mid-August.  Phew, what a rollercoaster.  I wasn't sad to leave our old house but always leaving the memories is a bit hard.  The biggest memories of that house is bringing our babies home to it!  It really was a great first house and we really did transform it and put so much love into it.  The move went pretty seamless for as far as moves can go.  Late August we went to Pawley's Island with Mimi and Papa.  It was a nice treat to go there for a week and relax after our move.

SEPTEMBER:

We got some pool time in our new neighborhood pool.  The pool is very close to our house, so it's nice to be able to walk to it.  Spent some more time going through boxes, but really got through the boxes quickly.  We really enjoy having so much more space in our new house....loving it!  At the end of this month I flew off to Austin, TX for Rodan + Fields convention...it was so much fun.

OCTOBER:

This was a fun month!  Daniel and I were given a trip to San Francisco and Sanoma courtesy of Rodan + Fields.  It was the nicest trip we've ever been on!  We were spoiled with amazing meals, snacks, wine (lots of wine!) and more.  I've never been on  a company trip before but all I can say is wow....this company truly knows how to do it.  They had everything planned to a tee...it was perfect.  We had a blast and it was so nice to get away for a few days.  Mimi and Papa watched the twins and had just as much fun with them!  Elise and Sush came to visit us in our new house!  Elise brought her new baby, Loralei...Abby (and George) is soooo in love with her.  For Halloween, George was a cowboy and Abby a cowgirl...they were the cutest cowboy and cowgirl around!  We had fun trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood.  They got the hang of trick or treating VERY quickly.  I had to moderate them on eating the candy...they thought you could eat the pieces you got right away, after getting them from the house.  I told them that they need to put them in their pumpkin baskets and save them for later.  That's a hard concept to tell 2 year olds.

NOVEMBER:

The holiday craziness starts!  I try to get a head start on my Christmas shopping.  Thank God for Amazon and online shopping!  Shopping these days is extremely difficult with the twins so I'm thankful we are able to do it online.  We went to Raleigh for Thanksgiving.  It was nice and fun for the twins to be with all their cousins.  Scott and Erin so graciously hosted Thanksgiving and lots of food and fun was to be had.

DECEMBER:

We had a fun, festive month.  Abby and George talked non-stop about Santa.  So much that I thought maybe, just maybe, they'd truly enjoy sitting on his lap (HA).  We went to my parents Country Club for their annual Christmas brunch with Santa....A & G didn't cry, but they wouldn't let go of us and had fear in their eyes...like "you better not put me on that man's lap!" lol.  But still, improvement from last year!  Christmas Eve, we had an early dinner at my parents house and then went to Christmas Eve service at their church.  Christmas morning, Abby woke up at 4 am and would not leave my side.  She never does this, so we are 99% sure it's because she was afraid that Santa was still in the house.  We ended up bringing her back to bed with us (which we never do) and she thankfully fell back asleep in the bed with us (after much tossing and turning).  Once the kids awoke, we came downstairs and opened stockings and gifts.  They were SO excited!  Then we had my parents and Uncle Stephen over for brunch.  We cooked an overnight egg casserole, bacon, fruit and Daniel made delicious biscuit/cream cheese/chocolate monkey bread...it was a delicious meal!  Then the kids played with their new toys (including a kitchen from Mimi and Papa!), napped and then we went over to Mimi and Papa's house for more Christmas festivities and present opening.  My brother and his wife and kids were there too, so that was fun to see them.  

All in all, it was a great year!  Oh and business was very good for both Daniel and I.  2016, bring it on...let's make this one even better than 2015!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Abigail and George!

TWO! No way.  George, I love how you hold up one finger on each hand, shrug your shoulders up and say "two" when we ask how old you are now.  You are too cute for words.  Abby, I love how silly you are when asked how old you are...you are already a jokester (wonder where she gets that from??) at a young age.  You turned two on June 4th, 2015.  We were at Holden Beach for a week with Dad's family and it was fun celebrating your birthday there.  You so enjoyed playing on the beach, and oh, the pool, you are BOTH little fishes!  You both love, love, love to swim.  For your birthday dinner we had pizza (your fav!), salad and birthday cake.  Of course I think the birthday cake was your favorite part of the meal.  

I swear this last year has flown by.  You learned to walk at 15 months just shortly after your first birthday.  Your talking....wow...you amaze everyone with your vocabulary.  People constantly say that twins can sometimes be delayed in their speech, but not you two, not you two at all.  I love how you will now repeat anything we ask you to repeat, it's so cool.  And you are putting many words together to form sentences.  My little babies are growing up!  

George, you are all BOY.  You are definitely a little athlete.  Watch out world, I have a feeling you are going to go far in sports when you get older.  Your top two favorite sports are golf and soccer.  You have a golf swing like no other two year old I've seen.  My jaw drops every time I watch you swing that club.  Daddy has already taught you well!  And Soccer....you are a left foot kicker.  Your kick also amazes me.  You have talent, sweet boy!!!!  You also love to swim, blow bubbles in the water and put your head under the water.  You really are a fish...I swear you have gills.  And last but not least, you love to ride bikes.  And you are great with that as well.  Your favorite thing is to get to the top of the driveway and fly down it fast with no one helping....you little dare devil, already making Mom nervous.  You have definitely started some tantrums, but all in all you are a super sweet boy with a precious smile.  I love how we cuddle in the morning while you wake up.  I hope we can always do this!

Abigail, you, my love, are all GIRL.  You are happy as a clam with your purse and your baby dolls.  Every.single baby you see when we are out and about you get so excited about.  "Baby! Baby! Baby!"  You are my fiesty girl, you know what you want and when you want it.  But you are also my super sweet and loving girl.  I love how you say "Bless You, Momma" after I sneeze.  You started saying this not too long ago and it warms my heart every time I hear it.  You are also good with your pleases and thank you's.  You are very sensitive, like your Mom.  You never mean to do bad (unless you are fighting with your brother!) and get really upset when you are yelled at or scolded.  You constantly want to be held by Momma, which is definitely getting harder these days.  You must be around 33 pounds by now, and this makes Momma tired carrying you everywhere.  You also love to help me cook.  Every time I'm in the kitchen (which is a lot), you are right there beside me.  And you LOVE to have your Daddy tickle you.  You tell him "more! more! more!" when he stops.  And my favorite thing at the end of the day when I'm so tired is rocking you before you go to bed.  You say "Momma, rock rock" and that's what I do.

I love you both so much.  You make your Momma tired, but you are mounds of fun these days.  I'm so looking forward to the memories we all make in your second year of life!

Twenty-Fourteen

Twenty-Fourteen...you started off a little shaky, but ended good...very good.

On January 4th, 2014, Abby and George turned 7 months old.  Getting a tad bit easier, but still hard.  Sleep was getting much better, although not consistent every night...we knew things were turning a corner in the sleep department and boy, we were ready for that!

In February, we celebrated my 31st Birthday and rejoiced in the fact that I was not in the hospital like I was for my 30th birthday in 2013!  The hubs took me on a surprise trip to NYC for my birthday while Mimi and Papa took great care of Abby and George.  It was a wonderful get-away...just what we needed.  I could have done without the round-the-clock pumping while being gone from my babies, but Momma does what's best for her littles!  I am so thankful for my husband who realizes the importance of family, but also how important it is for us to have our alone time too.  When we make time for ourselves, we are better parents and better to each other.  This month, I also went to Asheville with Abby and my Mom to celebrate Charlotte and the soon to be birth of baby-Clay!  We had a wonderful time showering Charlotte and Clay with gifts. 

My memory is escaping me with what we did in March.  I know it was still quiet busy with two, 9 month olds.  I was still nursing and pumping, and that, my friends, still took up a big chunk of our day.  We also had a decent snow in March, so had fun taking the babies out for that.  They didn't quite know what to think of the snow, so we didn't stay out for long.  They also started to get the hang of solids more this month which was fun for me.  I made all their food and enjoyed that from day 1.  

They are crawling everywhere and keeping their Mamma and Dadda busy!

April came, and I was looking forward to the warmer weather coming so we could get outside more.  A few times I met friends at a local gym that has an amazing indoor pool to swim there.  My friends helped me with Abby and George and it was so much fun!  At 10 months old, Abby and George are really starting to play with each other.  It is the COOLEST thing ever to sit back and watch.  Gah, how lucky are we to be parents of twins???  We went to Raleigh for Easter and had a nice time celebrating Christ and spending time with family.

 (Abby wanting to walk!)

 Easter!

May, oh May, thank you for your warmer temps!  May was a busy but very fun month.  My sister in law got married in Raleigh so we went there for the wedding.  It was such a beautiful, perfect and very fun wedding!  Mim and Papa were there to help with Abby and George...they hung around for some dancing at the reception and then headed home when they were getting tired.  They stayed up the latest they ever had that night and went to bed around 9 pm.  Tired babies!  We all had so much fun though.  The day after the wedding we headed to Pawleys Island for a week at the beach with Mimi and Papa.  As always, it was glorious.  

 The bride the day before her wedding!

In June, my sweet, precious babies turned ONE.  I had a very hard time believing this.  Where did the past year go?  I'd say the first 6 months of Abby and George's life were a blur and seemed to go by slowly (perhaps b/c we were in a constant state of exhaustion?), after that it started getting easier but then time just seemed to FLY.  We had a small birthday party for them with mainly family.  We didn't have a theme because I thought I'd make this party simple...well as simple as my Type A personality could ;)  We had a blast and they both LOVED their first taste of cake!  Abby killed her cake and wanted more...George was happy with the one small piece he got and was ready to move on.  Very typical of both children!  Unfortunately, Abby woke up that night with a high fever.  I knew something was very wrong because she was burning up and crying like she was in pain.  She wouldn't sleep unless she was sleeping on me...this is not like her or George.  I know something is very wrong with my babies when they don't sleep well at night as they are typically great sleepers.  We took Abby to urgent care on Sunday and found out she had hand, foot and mouth disease.  :(  She was absolutely pitiful for a few days...the sickest she's ever been.  Just as she was getting over it, of course, George got it.  The glory of twins.  If one gets it, the other will get it.  No rest for the weary.  I was exhausted and felt so bad for my babies.  Not a fun way to spend their birthday.  I missed my god-son, Clay's, baptism because of this nasty hand, foot and mouth disease.  I was so sad!  After they got over this, the hubs and I headed to Greenville, SC for a sorority sister's wedding.  Another get-away for Mom and Dad.  It was much needed after caring for two very sick babies!  We had a wonderful time and have to thank Mimi and Papa again for taking care of our precious ones.  I also became a consultant for Rodan + Fields skincare this month.  You can read more about my decision to join this company in my post below, but it has been the best decision ever.  I am so happy with it and glad I can make money while staying home with Abby and George.  

 First taste of ice-cream...loved it!

Poor sick girl on her way to the doctor :(

For July 4th, we took the babies (can I still call them babies after they turn one??) to Buffalo, NY where my Dad's family lives.  We took them on their first plane ride with Mimi, Papa and my brother and his family.  It was an adventure to say the least.  Not because of Abby and George, they were PERFECT.  But, flying was a nightmare.  Delayed after delayed flight, then finally our flight was canceled.  I won't go into it but it was a nightmare.  Thankfully Abby and George just went with the flow of things and were happy and content as ever doing whatever we needed them to do.  That was definitely a blessing otherwise I'm sure we would have turned around and came back to Richmond!  We had a great time in Buffalo visiting family, especially my Grandmother.  We also enjoyed lots of time swimming this summer.  Abby and George LOVE water!  At the end of the month we went spent the weekend at a picture-perfect Ranch house with my side of the family.  We had a great time swimming a lot, soaking in the sun, and resting as much as we could.

 Abby going to work ;)

 This is what two adults plus two babies looks like traveling!

Abby with her Uncle Stephen (her god-father!)

If my memory serves me correctly, we had a quieter August.  At 14 months, Abby started walking.  We had more fun going to the swimming pool and playing outside.  

September.  At 15 months, George started walking!  Go George!  I went to my first Rodan + Fields convention in Atlanta.  It felt weird to be away from my family but I enjoyed the break and learned so much.  We also went to Asheville, NC to shower my best friend who got married in October.  

In October we went back to Asheville for the wedding.  It was a lovely time!!!!!  George and Abby got their first hair cut at 16 months old!  Abby didn't really need one but got a small trim anyway.  We had fun picking out pumpkins this year.  Halloween was a BLAST.  I wasn't sure how it would go, but it was so much fun.  They caught onto the whole idea pretty quickly and loved walking up to the homes and getting candy put in their baskets.  Abby was a pumpkin (recycled costume from last year that still fit!) and George was a monkey.  I call him my little monkey and he is curious, just like Curious George, so it was fitting.  She was the cutest darn pumpkin and he was the cutest dang monkey you've ever seen!  What a fun month!

In November we went to Pawleys Island with my side of the family for a week for Thanksgiving.  Even though it was rainy for most of the time, it was a nice change of pace and the kids had SO much fun with their Mimi and Papa, cousins and Aunt and Uncles!

Ahh, December, we made it.  I am happy to report that we are ending this year on a good note.  My business is picking up as is Daniel's.  We are in a really good place with Abby and George.  I can't even stand how much fun these are these days.  I love hearing their little voices put words together and seeing their little minds work.  They are like little sponges these days just taking everything in.  Have I mentioned how much fun it is?  Yes, we do have our hard days and days where I want to throw in the towel, but overall, things are really, really good.  We celebrated the hubs Birthday at the beginning of the month and ended the month with a wonderful Christmas in Raleigh.  Before Raleigh my Grandma and Auntie Liz came to visit.  I loved spending time with them.  I hate that I don't get to see them both more often as they are so very special to me.  It was so fun watching Abby and George open gifts and get so excited to see what was inside the boxes.  Their eyes truly lit up.  They did NOT enjoy sitting on Santa's lap, but that was to be expected.  

  

We truly have so much to be thankful for this year.  It was a very good year.  We are looking forward to seeing what 2015 will bring.  We are so thankful for our health and our families health.  We are also appreciative of our very supportive family and friends.  May you and yours be healthy, wealthy and wise in 2015!  Blessings abound!

   

2015: I've "got my mind on my money and my money on my mind..."  Bring it.