We Survived the First Year!!!!

We have officially been parents for one year, and three weeks! We survived a year with twins. And it has been one of the greatest years of my life. Even better than 8th grade, which was seriously one of the best years of my life thanks to being on the Bay Beacons and watching lots of Bob Ross and playing SPIT.

The babies are pretty much entirely different people than they were in my last update. They are so awesome. I can't get over how much fun they are.


Annabelle Rae is running the show. She is definitely the dominant one at this point. Some of my favorite things about her are:

• She loves her baby dolls.  
• She loves to bring stuff to you and make you pat them like they are a baby doll. 
• She loves to be picked up and when you do pick her up she waves at all the pictures and things on the shelves. 
• She has three teeth as of August 25. 
• She has started saying, "Hi" just like I do. She just goes, "hi. hi. hi. hi." and when I notice that I do it too, it makes me so happy. 
• She can also say Ma-Ma, Da-Da, and Baby.
• When Brian comes in the room she goes, "Da-da-DA-DA" very excitedly.
• She dances. Really well. Especially to the Glow Worms.
• She knows where her head and her nose are. 
• If you tell her to get you a book or a toy she knows what to do. And she has definitely mastered saying "please" in sign language. 
• She loves to climb in and out of laundry baskets and Huggies boxes. 
• She is the sturdiest walker and so speedy. At our company picnic she just walked and walked and walked. 
• She is the sassiest and most outgoing one at home but in public she is shy, serious, and takes a while to warm up to people. 
• She also very much enjoys climbing onto the bottom shelf of the book shelf and pushing all of the books onto the floor.  
• Right now, my absolute favorite thing that she does is bring me a book and then scoot her way into my lap and snuggle in to turn the pages. It is the best. 

Stephen Michael is just the sweetest boy in the world. I love him because:

• He is such a cuddle bug. 
• He is very focused. 
• When he is playing with a toy he gets engrossed in it. 
• And he can sit and play with one thing for a while. 
• He loves his See and Say. 
• He is a big flirt. 
• He has the best smile and when he is in public he makes googly eyes and smiles at everyone. 
• At our company picnic he went up to random strangers and held his arms up to get them to hold them. 
• He is a walker too. 
• When he gets really tired he walks like a drunken sailor and often times tries to reach out for the couch or the table and just misses completely. 
• He loves to go to the window and wave when you leave the house. 
• He has the giggliest laugh in the world. 
• He loves to pull every piece of tupperware out of the cabinet in the kitchen. As does his sister. 
• He still only has two teeth. 
• My favorite thing about him lately is that he will just sit in my lap contentedly for a few minutes here and there and it is the greatest time of my life. 
• He can say Da-da, Ma-Ma, and Nana. 
• He knows how to give kisses and high fives. 
• He has crazy hair. 
• He is also pretty freaking good at patty cake. He dominates it.

A few more cute family pictures:

Finally, I am well on my way to being trained up for running the Marine Corps Marathon on October 30th. I will probably write a separate post about it but it is really exciting to be here. I started the year in January running 3 minutes and walking 1 minute at a time with the hopes of training for a 10K. And now I have run 16 miles and I have 18 miles this coming Saturday and then we have 8 weeks till the race. I really didn't think I could get here . So it is pretty exciting. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. And exciting.

Things That Seem Harder Than They Are

There are a few things that are apparently the hardest thing in the world for Brian and I. Or at least they feel that way. These include:

• Putting Netflix movies in the mail. We just mailed one that I think we have had since June.
• Charging my phone/ipod/garmin/any other electronic device. It just feels so hard b/c I have to dig through my gym bag or purse and find the darned thing and then walk all the way upstairs to plug it in.
• Putting laundry away. I think this is universal. But it is still hard.
• Starting the dishwasher at night. It is the worst feeling in the world to realize that you only have two bottles left b/c you forgot to start it the night before.
• Keeping our breakfast bar, dining room table, china hutch, and desk surfaces free of clutter.
• Eating fruit that I buy at the grocery store. I think I have a disorder where as soon as I buy it I get convinced it has gone bad and won't touch it. But I will eat 4 day old pizza or 6 day old Buffalo Chicken Dip.

Random Thoughts for August

Every night I make Brian and I say our favorite things about Annabelle and Stephen for that day. I am going to try to remember to post some of them here.

Today, Brian's favorite thing about Annabelle was that every time he and I would cuddle or hug, she would climb right in between us and break it up. I totally used to do that to my parents all the time. My favorite thing about Stephen today was when he let me cut his toenails and fingernails and he just sat so calmly in his highchair like it was no big thing. Yesterday, my favorite thing about Annabelle was that when you pick her up she waves to all the pictures and figures on the shelves and pretty much everything in the room. It is very cute.

Also, on Thursday we noticed a new tooth coming in for Little Miss Belle. This will be her third and it is her front right.

I ran 16 miles for marathon training today. It was good. I still am having hard time wrapping my mind around 26.2 though. Only 10 weeks to go.

Duggar Quotes I Love

I think you know I. LOVE. THE. DUGGARS. So I thought I would post some quotes that stick in my mind from them.

"If you can train a strong-willed child to do what is right; they will be strong-willed to do what is right."

~Jim Bob - on Jessa being very strong willed when she was younger.

"If I don't have their eyes, I don't have their heart"

~On why Michelle makes her little ones look her in the eyes when she instructs and disciplines them.

"Be careful what you're good at doing, because you'll probably do a lot of it.
Be careful what you praise your children for doing, because they'll do a lot of it.
Be careful what you criticize your children for doing, because they won't want to do it anymore."

~Jim Bob

"Show me your friends and I'll show you my future"

~Grandma Duggar

"Modest is Hottest"

~I don't know if this is an actual quote but I think they would agree with it.

You can watch them on TLC every morning from 7:00am-8:00am or at 9:00 on Tuesday nights.

Why I Run

So I have agonized for the past two months about whether I am going to run the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October. Finally, my running coach, Sherri, said, "If you show up on July 11 and tell me you are running the marathon, then you are running the marathon." And for some reason I said, "Okay." And since then, I have not questioned it. I have set my mind to it and I am starting to believe it will happen.

Over the past two months I have thought more and more about why I run. And I have decided that I am motivated by three things.

1). Goals - I don't run because I just love running. I am just not the type of person who says, "I really just feel like going for a run today." I need to be training for something, moving toward something, and have a deadline to look forward to and an "end date".

2). Guilt - I have found that I run best when I have paid a significant amount of money (in the form of a race fee and/or training group) that makes it more painful to my wallet and my conscience (and for Brian) to quit or give up.

3). Group - Running with people, be it a training buddy or The Running Store Training Group (which is the most awesome thing ever) helps me a lot. There is accountability, there is someone to show up for, and there are people to help me keep going when all I want to do is stop. There is something about having someone beside you, even if you don't say a word, that helps you to keep moving forwar

I don't know that these are the best reasons to run but these are MY reasons to run. I like being a runner but I have a very hard time actually being a runner without the above mentioned factors. And I am happy to have realized it, embraced it, and to use them to help me get to the finish line on October 30th.

No Spend Month – Final Update

So…we survived No Spend Month. To be honest, I sort of feel like calling it “No Spend Month” sounds a lot more hardcore than it really was. Because we definitely spent money on stuff that we didn’t need. But I think calling it, “Paying Attention to What You Spend and Trying Not to Waste Money Month” is not as catchy.

It was definitely a learning experience and I do think that some of our bad habits were broken (or at least weakened).

• We learned that it works really well to plan meals in two-week intervals and go to the store after we get paid for groceries for the week.
• We learned that knowing what you have in your pocket to spend for the two weeks makes you plan a lot better and prioritize how you want to spend your money.
• I learned that making coffee at home can be just as good as going to Starbucks everyday. I also learned that being a people pleaser makes you not want to go back and face the Baristas at Starbucks who you used to see everyday for the fear that you will have to explain why you haven’t been by in two weeks.
• Brian learned that he can say no to going out to lunch every day and he will survive.

Two Ironic Things

• I was going running and I just HAD to get a new shirt b/c I didn't have time to go home and get one. I stopped at T.J. Maxx on the way to run and bought one. As soon as I took the tags off, I realized I had actually packed an extra shirt and just forgot about it.
• Brian and I spent a whole day talking about budgeting and not spending too much money on frivolous things and then I found out that Harry Potter 7.2 tickets were on sale and I freaked out.

During this last pay period we tried a new tactic where we divided up the money left over after paying our fixed bills and groceries so we each got an equal amount of “fun money” that we could use for whatever we wanted. This has also worked well for us b/c it means that Brian can go have a $50 taco night and I won’t freak out about it b/c it is “his” money and if that means he can’t buy anything else for the rest of the pay period, it does not affect me and vice versa.

One other encouraging thing that I realized that doesn’t really have much to do with No Spend Month is that when we got married we had seven different payments for debts that we owed. In a year and a half we have gone from seven payments to two and we have reduced our total debt by one third. It is really encouraging to look at how far we have come, even though we have a ways to go.

In July our focus is going to be to try to start eating better and fresher. One thing we found is that in going shopping at Walmart every two weeks, we have been eating a lot of packaged quick foods and we both feel gross and sluggish. So the goal for July is to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into our diets and we are going to start shopping at the farmer’s market or at a real grocery store like Harris Teeter for our groceries. So if you have any good suggestions for eating fresh, keeping fruits and veggies from going bad, or good recipes, please send them my way!

My Little Bear

Dear Sweet Stephen,

Last night, you woke up screaming at 2:00am because you are getting your second tooth. We changed your diaper. We gave you juice. We gave you tylenol. We gave you orajel. We gave you more juice. And then we let you cry. And you cried and cried and cried. For over 20 minutes. So finally, I got to snuggle with you.

I took you into the guest room and we cuddled close. You laid there gnawing on your hand and my fingers, making sweet noises. I smelled your washed hair and nuzzled your cheek and rubbed your head and helped you calm down. And I thought about how someday, when we dance at your wedding, I will remember getting to be The One for you for this short time.

The One you love. The One you need. The One who calms and soothes and snuggles and loves. The One who provides. The One who cares. The One who will never be able to completely let you go.

I love you so much more than I can say. And last night was one of the best nights of my life.

XOXO,

Mommy