One week ago today...

One week ago today we were giving our new mini's a tour of their home. They seemed to like it, so much that they were comfortable enough to take a nap in their chairs in the living room with daddy. And now today as I sit here writing this they are again taking naps in their chairs, but the week between has brought many different experiences!

Rather then go into how each night went let's just say this, just when we think we have this down and we know what we are doing they throw us a curveball. So today we accept the fact that we will NEVER know how to be good parents and just go on loving them and doing the best.

With that said I want to just share some different photos from last Sunday to this Sunday. This way everyone who can't live next door to us can track their weekly progress, at least in photos. Enjoy and remember...be nice to your parents, once upon a time all of our parents dealt with this same thing and all I can say is, "I'm sorry...and boy am I thankful God made you to love me!"

First Sunday Home

Truman James - 4 days old

Aubrey Lynn - 4 days old

Second Sunday Home

Truman James - 11 days old

Aubrey Lynn - 11 days old

Keep watching for the Weekly Sunday Photos!

upon popular request...

I have been contemplating putting up these photos, for many reasons really, but the most being the judgement or comments that I am subjecting myself to. However, suddenly I realized something. It doesn't matter, I have two healthy babies growing inside of me. Nothing beyond that miracle staying on track matters. I know the typical responses are either "you aren't that big for twins" or "do you have any more room for them" neither of which I want to go into my emotions upon. Rather I say this for all of us women that begin the sacrafices of motherhood in this same exact stage.

WE have NO control. So grow those bellies and let God work his magic no matter the size you end at, it's just the beginning of a mother's sacrafice.

So enjoy the photos of the mini's growing, today they weigh over 3 lbs each!!! So yes, 29 weeks now and I have almost 7 lbs of baby in me, yippee!

13 weeks...

17 weeks...

21 weeks...(easter weekend)

23 weeks...

...clearly we still laugh, possibly at knowing how little of sleep we are going to get soon!!!
(all these last 6 photos are from the same weekend...
27 weeks)

27 weeks...

(6 pounds of baby in that "bump") :-)

Here is the final 27 week photo.

We are VERY happy parents, which may be because we are very naive to what awaits us. Either way we say "bring it on kids, bring it on!"

Enjoy and feel free to share any of your baby bump photos too!

tata for now,

annie

28 weeks and counting...

It's been a while, but I wanted to give a quick update. We have hit our 28 week mark today! Mini A and Mini B are active, never a dull moment in this growing tummy! We still cannot decide if they are fighting already or just playing, only time will tell.

We really couldn't ask for a better pregnancy. These babies are growing, usually about one week ahead of schedule. Good work minis, go overachieve - we LOVE that (for now)!

I plan to update you on adventures we've taken the mini's on - like our "family date" to the Drive-In movies. But for now just smile knowing we have made it past my stress point...and it looks good to make it well into the complete uncomfortable zone of full-term for twins!

Thank you for the thoughts and prayers, they are working so keep them coming.

annie (and mini's)

Our 1st Family Movie...

Happy 30TH Birthday Hubbers!

It is official...as of today I am the ONLY person in our family that is still in their 20's! Now THAT rocks!!!

Yes, today is the day that my husband turns 30 years wiser. I have enjoyed watching him change from his looks of his mid-twenties to today. He is still as handsome as before and continues to get sweeter with the day. So, since I cannot do much special for him (due to our restricted life living in a hotel) I say this...Happy, Happy Birthday mister Mikey!

tata for now...

annie (the only one in the 20s in our family)

Our move to upstate New York

Many have wondered where we are (including ourselves), so I wanted to update everyone that we have officially made the move to NY. We chose to do the move over the long Thanksgiving weekend.


We were bright eyed and ready for the adventure when we left Georgia Friday afternoon. But, things quickly started to turn a direction neither of us anticipated. I could write a book on the past three days, but instead I have decided to leave the narration up to the photos below. Enjoy the photo book of our last three days full of adventures!

DAY ONE:
Mile Marker 99.6 of our trip...

Sad we were in this situation so early...

But happy that we got to a safe place before the tire blew!

DAY TWO:

Mile marker 528.1...

Nearly a two hour delay, but Mikey actually fixed it before the repair guy...then we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, but overall just happy we were "on the road again"

...yet throughout Day Two we had two more delays, so we had to call it a night in Syracuse

(just one hour from our final destination)

DAY THREE:

Somewhere over 975 miles (stopped tracking)...

And this happened twice on Day Three...but this final one was the end of our truck driving, we had to call in help to get us to our hotel...


our version of Optimus Prime came to our rescue...and he came back today to bring us to our storage unit to unload.

There you have it, our first family move. We are at a hotel and exhausted, but even with all the problems we have this to say:

1) we are safe
2) we kept our wits (diminished a bit each delay, but overall more laughs then anything)
3) we say Penske has some great customer service, especially for a holiday weekend.

I have tons of words that I could put to this move, but I will digress. Enjoy the photo story and if you really want I will write a short novel on this!!!

Thanks for all the support, we are going to keep this adventure of our first family move going!

tata for now,

annie

Ladies & Gentlemen: THE WHEELS ARE UP!

Yes, you heard me correct...the wheels are up!!! Today is the end of counting lonely Wednesdays.

We have 51 Wednesday behind us, 361 days apart done. Check that box, we are finished!

Right here, right now I take a vow to always remind myself of this moment, this feeling. And I vow to try to always remember the little things, they are what I miss the most and I should never take them for granted.

Thank you for your support - he's on his way home. T-12 hours!!!

tata for now,

Annie

A Lizard Welcome!

Yes, I am back in Georgia. I will be sure to post more about my trip and the first couple days, but first I had to share with everyone my cardio workout for today. Sure, some would say moving furniture into a townhome is cardio, but I beg to differ on that. I think the true workout for today came when I found myself chasing a lizard that somehow...wait for it....got inside our townhome!

You heard me right...there was a lizard in our home and it greeted me when I opened the door with a load of boxes. Just hanging out below the first step, staring at me, just saying with its eyes, "hello there lady!" Sure it was colorful, blue and green and purple, but in no way did I find this thing "cute." It was my enemy. A 4 inch enemy with four legs that could outrun an olympic athelete.

So, naturally I immediately slam the door and decide then and there that the lizard can have the house. I like sleeping under the stars anyway, I'll just hang by the sidewalk until it decides to let itself out. No problem. Seconds into that thought I realized that there are MORE of them outside then inside. Knowing this, I had to face this thing head on, but how?

I call Christine. (I don't want to know how that call sounded to her as it would only embarass me) She advised me to grab a cup and a spatula (working with little to nothing in this house) and catch the lizard. Catch it? Really, this can be done? Okay. Off I went. In the front door, took two leaps to my kitchen, grabbed a plastic cup and a big spoon.

Since I've kept my eye on it I know exactly how to get it. I sneak up behind it, just hanging out behind a table leg, and before I could move fast enough the thing bolted to be underneath me chair. Shoot. This IS NOT working. That thing sprints. So, I call Christine back. What in the world do I do now, the cup is too small and the spoon is tiny, that thing will easily climb out and then be ON ME...gross!

Per her advice I grab a pan (thankfully I was ambitious last night and unpacked one kitchen box). Now it's on like donkey kong. I know it is still under the chair so I do a quick flip and the thing is off to the races again. Now in the corner I am chasing it...then back to the other corner...then back to the first corner...then back to the other corner...well, this corner business goes on for a while. Then it outsmarts me and goes under my couch. Shoot...this isn't going to be so easy to flip! But I know that in order to actually get any sleep tonight it MUST be done. I finally flip it and smack my pan down on the floor.

I missed...but not completely. There was this tail fileling (is that a word) around on the floor - missing from the lizard. Crap, crap, crap. I grab the cup for the tail....put that on the table. Ew, gross...my entire body did the hee-bee jee-bee shake. But now the lizard is underneath the flipped couch and chair so i quickly flip both while trying to stand away (god forbid this thing runs on my foot!). Boom, get them both up and after a couple more laps around the living room I finally caught it! I had it captured. So, the tail, the lizard and I went outside. I walked out of our development and dropped it off. Yes, I walked nearly a half mile to ASSURE I could get rest tonight. I didn't want it anywhere near for revenge...I knew that thing wanted to get back at me!

So, I have no images for this as I was too busy chasing a lizard for a good ten minutes today. I survived it, not without a few blood curdling screams, but I did. Afterwards I just had to take a shower, I haven't had that good of a workout in a while. Welcome back to Georgia! lizard style

tata for now, I need to go do lizard dishes now.

annie

A+

A+ for those that commented on the pop quiz! F for me not posting enough to keep readers interested!!!!

Time to finish packing so I can sleep and get to the next Wednesday!

goodnight readers,

annie

Room full of boxes

As I sit here in a room where the furniture and all signs of occupancy have been removed, I wonder why I am not jumping around dancing on this perfectly positioned dance floor. The image of this room means the 52nd Wednesday will be here soon. I will again get precious kisses on my forehead. I will again fall asleep with the warmth of my husbands breath. I will again have his arms around me and be completely and totally safe. I will again be the "typical married woman." But yet, the rollercoaster continues. Tonight I look around and emotions of every kind fill me. I am proud, scared, excited, sad, overjoyed, overwhelmed in good and not-so-good ways.

I am proud of my husband. I am proud that we survived these weeks and are more in love and stronger than before. I am proud I survived in a fairly normal manner!

I am scared because I don't really know what to expect. I am scared because I don't know how to do it all.

I am excited because we get to live our lives together, not seperate. I am sad because I have to say goodbye, or shall I say "see you later."

I am overjoyed because I get to say hello...WE get to continue our family on the same soil.

I am overwhelmed because I don't know what to expect, where to go, or even what to say. But most of all I am overwhelmed with knowing that no matter where I land, I am surrounded by love.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but at least I know that no matter what emotion catches me, I will survive...and my survival is not because I can "do this alone." I've never done any of this alone. And I thank each of you for that. thank you.

tata for now, I'm off to go dance as that is the mood that strikes me now. and until next time...dance a bit for me when your kids are driving you nuts, your husband isn't home for supper, or life just seems to be a cruel joke of murphy's law. Know that you are loved...by some you have never even met.

annie

Pop QUIZ!!!

How many Wednesdays are left?

(leave your guess in the comments section)

2 for $20

As I sit here with the television on to drown out the quiet, there is one commercial that continues to make me smile. It's a simple commercial that isn't targeted at pulling out these emotions, rather it is simply trying to get the viewers to go eat there and enjoy a meal on a budget. But, for me it means more.

I smile because for long enough now I've relied on family and friends to take advantage of the 2 for $20 deal, and soon I will be able to look to my right while watching television and ask my husband if he wants to go on a date with me! That, that thought is what makes me smile. And now maybe the 2 for $20 commercial will be more than just an advertisement to you, maybe now it will make you smile for your own reason. Smile everyone, life's blessings are all over...you just have to search sometimes.

tata for now,

annie

I love you mister!!!

**PS...this post has nothing to do with me being in advertising...it's really a true story and I'm not trying to plug any establishment. (wink. wink.)

It's been a while...

I noticed the other day that it has been a while since my last post on here. I had a great piece from our anniversary date, but I forgot to hit "publish". And now it just seems a bit too late, but maybe I'll let it grace the pages later this year.

My urge to blog today came from one of my friends. She is living through this long deployment with me, only she has two kids to keep balanced as well. I, well I just have my own emotions to keep in check. I admire her daily. She has been a great mentor to me as I learn the ropes of being an Army wife. And through it all a very close friend that I will forever cherish. Today her life is a bit different. She is waiting with high anticipation for her R&R visit from her husband. They have been apart for 9 full months...NINE. I am so happy for her, for all of them. If you were sitting across from me right now you'd think it was my husband that was coming home. I cannot stop grinning and my eyes are glossy, nearly ready to shed a tear of joy and excitement!

It makes me wonder, has she planned out her outfit? Has she questioned whether she is going to be good at kissing or sharing a bed again? Has she thought about drinking a 7-up to calm the butterflies in her stomach? Has she experienced the joy of doing his laundry again? Will she take one moment of every day to stare at her husband and smile, even when he is doing the most "normal" daily tasks of life? Will she wake up 5 minutes before him to watch him sleep in the comfort of his own home? Will the clock become an enemy as she wants to slow time down, while the other wives want to speed it up? No matter what she has or will do, everything will be perfect.

And if not, then I guess I'm just a bit crazy...because those are all the feelings I had before Mikey came home. And knowing she is waiting for this moment jolts me right back to the day I picked him up. A perfect day, much like our wedding day where we forgot anyone was around us watching. No one will take that special moment away from any of us spouses, and for those that have yet to experience that...I hope it comes soon.

...and batman, enjoy all the moments, you & the kids deserve all of them!!! I'll try to slow the clock for you too!

(And a special note...only 13 more wednesday's left!!!!)

tata for now,

Annie

spoiled by my hubbers.

Thank you, we are proud!

Thank you to the troops that have served our country, making sacrifices for all of us.

Thank you to all the families that stand beside their soldier, making sacrifices for all of them.

Thank you to everyone that supports our troops and all of our troops past, present and future.

We all love you. Stay safe and we will wait patiently for our Tigersharks to come home so we can hug them a little longer.

Strike at Night.

annie