Dear Stay-At-Home Amy

My precious readers who have been desperately missing my presence over the past year: I'm baaaaaack! But probably only for a moment. I've made it through half of the school year, and I continue to think about this post. Remember? The one where I wrote a letter to my working self from my stay-at-home self. I am constantly reminded that this job called motherhood is HARD. It doesn't matter if you stay at home all day with your sweet loves or you charge out into the working world for 8+ hours a day, taking care of kiddos is tough work. For those women blessed to stay at home, it's a full time job that never ends. For those of us who feel led to work, it's our first job before we head to the office.

After this long weekend with my babies, my heart is longing for the days when they drove me nuts (don't get me wrong, they can drive me nuts in the few hours I'm with them after work each day ;) ). As I feel jealous of my stay-at-home self, I think it's time to write her a letter. I'm back to remind stay-at-home Amy of her blessings, and I think you'll notice the tone of this letter is a bit different from it's predecessor. 

Dear Stay-At-Home Amy,

Remember when you walked into the twins' room and Harpy said, "You home?" How much did your heart melt to be able to pull that baby girl into your arms and say, "Yes, baby girl, I'm home." What a precious moment you have each morning to kiss those fresh faces while you carry them down the hall. It won't be long before they don't fit into your arms anymore. What about that big girl that loves to help fix breakfast or spend time with you while you get ready? Stamp her sweet smile in your brain forever.

How many kisses did you get today? More than you can count, I'm sure. What about hugs or "hold you's"? Your heart must be full with the love and attention shown to you by those babies. Measure your success in those kisses and hugs; your babies love you unconditionally. 

Stay-At-Home Amy, remember when you claimed my working mama floors would be clean and the sink would be empty because no one was home to use them? You were sadly mistaken. By the end of your work day, you are exhausted, but that doesn't matter. Three sweet things are relying on your arms to hold them, feed them, clean them, and give them all the love. By the time that loving is done, you're exhausted and tell yourself, "The floors can wait; the dishes don't have to be washed tonight - we have sippy cups for tomorrow; the clothes have already been on the couch for three days, what's another?" Those floors haven't been spotless in months!

When was the last time you had to tell your three-year-old, "Not now, baby, mommy's got to work?" Or locked yourself in your bedroom so you could record a lesson in peace? Not lately, huh? Because your time belongs to you and your babies. One day, your babies will be grown. They will remember the attention and love that you gave them 24/7. They will appreciate you. You will be filled with sweet memories of their innocence and sweetness to get you through those times where they push your limits and seem to lack any ounce of sweet at all. You will never regret the moments that you get to spend focused on loving your children.

Finally, stay-at-home Amy, I'll end with two simple words. Nap time.

Love,

Working Amy

Off to dry my eyes. How many days until summer?!??!?!

Twins are TWO!

We celebrated the twins' birthday today - a few weeks later than their actual birthday. We wanted some out-of-town friends and family to be able to attend the party, so we planned it for today. It was actually SO nice to have all week to work on cleaning the house and getting ready for the party. I would have been crazy stressed had we planned the party closer to their actual birthday. With my current job, I can barely keep up with a few simple household chores; I don't know how I would have been able to prepare for a party! Anyway, we had SUUUUUUCH a sweet time with our family and friends today! I am so thankful for everyone who came to celebrate my sweet babies with us!

I cooked up a huge pot of gumbo and made some reasonable cupcakes; we set up some reasonable decorations and tables/chairs and we were ready to go! The weather was perfect! My babies played with their best friends and cousins; I just could not have asked for a better day! I can't believe my baby twins are TWO. It really causes sadness in my heart when I think about it. My friend, Carrie, gave them Christmas jams that say "Best gift ever" and I about cried. It's so true; they are my sweet miracle blessings from the Lord!

Ok. Here are some pictures from our fun afternoon!!!

Ready to party!

This is the extent of my decor. It's perfect :)

You can't tell from these pics, but they kept disappearing during presents! They just weren't that interested!

The wind kept blowing out their candles :(

"NAPKIN!!!!"

Check out my soul sister and cookie baker extraordinaire!

Our sweet cousins were able to come to the party all the way from Texas!!!!

I spy Mad's two BFF's!

Just chillin'

My best friends and our crew. This is the best we could get with three 3 year olds, 3 two year olds, a one year old, and one on the way!!!!! This is actually not that bad of a picture!!!!

Any questions about which kid was NOT in the picture taking mood today??? CeCe just wanted a picture of her grand babies!

Funny faces!

"Go High!"

More crying pictures...hahaha

Now we are happy!!!!

My baby boy

110% my soul sister!! No question.

Waving bye to his cousins

hahahah

Waving bye to her cousins

This was a long party, Mom.

And no party is complete without Kerri's cookies!!! They taste better than they look - if that's possible!!! Check her out here.

Twin two year old stats:

Harper

-31 lbs.

-35.5 inches

-90 percentile in both weight & height

-projected about 5'8"

Major

-28 lbs.

-34 inches

-50 percentile in both weight & height

-projected about 5'10"

Thanks again to all of our family and friends who came out to celebrate with us! I guess I should brace myself for the terrible twos times TWO! Pray for me ;)

These are a few of my favorite things

Lately I've been thinking about what I love about each of my kiddos in their current stage of life. I thought I'd record it here because soon I will forget. This blog is such a treasure to me during the twins' first year of life. I have forgotten so many moments in the blur of sleeplessness that I'm thankful I carved out time to record those moments. As they get older, I find they change a bit more slowly, so posts come few & far between. But, this has been a precious place for me to save (and share) the wonderful moments of our life and journey, so I hope that I'll continue to make time to write.

Here are just a few of my favorite things about each Crain kid...

Maddex
1. Her helpfulness. She delights in doing things to help me - whether it's putting something in the sink, grabbing a diaper, or putting away her clothes.

 

2. Mispronunciations. Last night she was "reading" snow white to me and said "college" instead of "cottage." I got the giggles for quite a while. My favorite is when Mitch was eating some butterscotch candies and she heard us talking about it. She quickly asked me if I was wearing my butterscotch panties. (Another one: she told Mitch she wanted to get the earwack out of her ear and when he asked her if she meant earwax, she said, "No, just one earwack." Hey - at least she gets singulars & plurals, kinda).

3. Crazy hair. There are plenty of moments when it drives me nuts, but most of the time her half curly/half straight uneven 'do is a perfect representation of her silly personality.


4. Making her siblings laugh. Maddex is a picture of silliness, and she delights in gaining sweet giggles from her brother and sister. These moments usually delight us, too.


5. Imitating mom & dad. I just heard her say, "That's right baby girl" to Harper and she'll tell Major, "You're such a good boy." She often tells the babies, "Good job!!!

6. Waking up/sleepy face. I love her face when she wakes up - it's just a little big puffy and her hair's crazy. She is super snuggly and sweet in those first few moments of the morning or after nap.


7. Total sweetness. Tonight she told me, "I love daddy. And I love you, too!" My favorite is when I was calling Harper my lovey girl, and Maddex said, "Mommy, Harpy is your lovey girl and you are my lovey girl." I hope I am always her lovey girl.

Major
1. His deep voice. Ok, it's not as deep as I make it out to be, but he sounds so manly when he says, "Runny nose mama" or when I walk in to get him and he says, "Hey mah muh."


2. Kissy lips. There has never been a better smoocher than this boy. He puckers up so good and plants one right on the pecker :)


3. Snuggles at bedtime. Most nights when it's time to go to bed, he wraps his arms around me and lays his head on my shoulder. He'll perk up to give me a kiss, then lay that head right back down.


4. Mama's boy. There's no doubt about it - this boy loves me. What else am I supposed to do when he gets fussed an then comes to snuggle??

5.Towel snuggling. Unlike his sister, Major get his towel on after his bath and immediately wants me to pick him up. He snuggles me sweetly while we go get him diapered and milked.

6. Sister loving. Major man is just a lovey boy. He is always willing to kiss and hug his sisters. He will bring things to them and is always such a sweet brother.
 



Harper
1. Giggles. I wish I could bottle her giggles. There is just not much better than a high-pitched, hilarious Harpy giggle.


2. Woodchuck teeth. I know that's a horrible thing to call them, but her front four teeth have always been so round and noticeable. Her top eyeteeth are coming in, and I'm afraid we will lose these sweet teeth.


3. Running. Y'all, there is something so hilarious about Harper's run. She kinda picks one leg up when she gets ready to go, and then moves so slowly. She loves to run away from us, so we get to witness this silly scene often.

4. Babbling. Harper will tell me something emphatically, except that it's unintelligible! She'll even repeat the phrase multiple times, but I'm lucky if I can pick a word or two out!


5. Naked towel running. After her bath every night, I put the towel on her head, and Harper takes off running into the living room. Her running is already hilarious, so add a towel and naked butt and it doesn't get better than that! She'd run around naked all night if we let her!

6. Raise both hands. Anytime I ask a question that starts with "Who..." or "Raise your hand if you..." Harpy raises both hands up in the air (this is best if she is wearing a short shirt and her belly shows) and says, "MEEEEE!!"