It's been awhile. Here's what I've been up to.

I know it's been months since I blogged last. I knew I wouldn't really keep up with it! The last couple months have been dedicated to photography. I have really found a passion for it and have decided to go at it full force. I've done about 10 photo shoots in the past 6 weeks and have really loved it. We just got our income tax return so I have purchased an upgraded camera and some necessary accessories for indoor photo shoots. It's really exciting and I can't wait to actually receive my new goodies in the mail.

All the kids are doing great, there really isn't much to say about that. Joshua is doing great in school and the girls are wonderful. They are so sweet and polite. We get compliments on them all the time while we're out in public, about how well they are behaved. Makes me one proud mama.

Anyway, here is some of the photography stuff I've been doing. I'm still just starting out and have a long ways to go but I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far.

 

 

There are so many more but I won’t bore you with them. If you are interested, I have created a fan page on Facebook. I show a lot of my work there. www.facebook.com/CynthiaCrainePhotography

Have we forgotten about Thanksgiving?

I'm completely in the Christmas mood. Of course we're celebrating Thanksgiving and all (it's also Joshua's birthday) but I've taken all my fall decor down and the Christmas tree is up and garland is wrapped around the staircase. Our neighbors have almost all decorated their yards. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

This year, Dusty and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm sure the excitement will wear off after this first year though. We have enough house to accommodate everyone, so it's only logical to have it here. We're having a combo celebration though. It's Thanksgiving BUT more importantly, it's my baby boy's 7th birthday!! My Mom also celebrates her birthday the same day, but I'll leave her age off of here ..hehe.

I'll probably put up a little Spiderman decoration for Joshua. I'm making him a chocolate cake and he has also requested an apple pie (I'm leaving that one to my mom) We're all really excited about Tuesday of this week though. We are going to Splash Village! (an indoor water park) The girls haven't really been there before.. well, they were in my belly a couple years ago but I'm sure they won't remember LOL. I know they will LOVE it. This year we are also taking my 14 year old sister. She's excited to get out of school that day =)

Then just 2.5 weeks after Thanksgiving, we celebrate the girl's birthday. They will be 2. Oh boy.. do they ever act it too. Geez. If it's not one thing it's another with those princesses. Addison is definitely giving us a run for our money. We'll probably have a small party. Grandparents, aunts and uncles. Possibly my best friend and her family. I'm excited about that too! We're all done shopping and it's been fun sending out everyone's birthday wish lists. The kids sure do get spoiled this time of year with their birthdays being so close to Christmas and all.

Speaking of my best friend. Her husband lost his job this past week. It's a really crappy situation that lead up to this whole thing. I hate when people lose their job at no fault of their own. I mean, it's one thing when you suck at your job or just half ass things to barely scrape by but when you bust your butt and then in the end get crapped on, that sucks. His job loss also led to my job loss. I babysat their youngest baby a few days a week. It was so sad on Friday after hearing the news. My bff and I just cried as I packed up all the baby's things and sent them on their way. I swear I felt like I would never see the baby again. I know it's silly but I've taken care of her since she was 3 months old and she's almost 13 months now. I know her daddy will find another job but the economy is so bad, it may take awhile. I feel for them and of course I'm selfish and feel bad for myself. Don't forget me Chloe! Cynthia loves you!! =)

Hello? Anyone out there (there.. there……there…..)

Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve blogged last huh? This is probably just going to be a completely unrelated gathering of ramblings.

• Joshua turns 7 at the end of this month. We are going to Splash Village again this year but we are taking the girls this time. They will almost be 2 years old and I know they’ll really enjoy it. We actually pull Joshua from school that day. It always lands on the short work/school week of Thanksgiving, so he doesn’t miss much of anything. Plus it makes it a bit more special too.

• Joshua is THIS close to losing another tooth. There is a very good chance that he will be able to sing the song “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth” He has only lost 2 so far (bottom) but both top front teeth are loose and one is barely hanging on to dear life.

• Addison and Samantha are growing like weeds. Both are talking a lot more. They don’t make full sentences yet but are putting 2 and 3 words together. They definitely get their point across no matter what though =P Addison’s most recent saying is “Ble(sh) you” when you sneeze. It’s super cute. Samantha, on the other hand, is saying a lot of “Shut… UP” to just about anyone and everyone making loud noises. So that’s lovely.

• We’ve all completely avoided any illness thus far. We feel pretty good especially since it seems that the entire world is dropping like flies (especially if you get caught up in the media aspect). We’ve only had 4 confirmed cases of H1N1 in our school district. Which oddly enough made the news. Our district never shut down and our attendance is at 95% (according to our superintendent) No one I know IRL and have daily, weekly, or monthly contact with, has been sick either.

• I’m still babysitting about 3-4 days a week. It’s hard to believe I’ve been watching little Miss Chloe for 10 months now. She just turned a year old last week. She had a Halloween birthday party. The kids had a lot of fun painting pumpkins, doing a monster egg hunt and enjoying monster cupcakes. Chloe pretty much feels like another family member. She plays with the girls well and they can “fight” like siblings too. It’s really worked out well all around. I get to earn some extra money while being home with the girls anyway. Plus my friend and her husband have someone that can watch the baby last minute. This works out well because my friend is a Nurse and is often asked to come in on her days off, come in early for her shift, work overtime …etc.

• Halloween was a blast. It was cold and windy but at least the rain had stopped in time. My mom, sister and I took the kids around to about 10 houses and then I brought the girls back home and Dusty took my sister (13yo) and Joshua throughout the entire neighborhood. We ended up with about 150 trick or treaters here. I was fully prepared..well almost. We had to turn our porch light off about 10 mins early because we ran out of candy. It was just great being outside and seeing all the kids out and about. It was really active. It just made me love our neighborhood even more than I already do. This move has been such a blessing to us.

• For those that follow me on Facebook, you may have noticed a status update that I posted

"its so frustrating when someone treats your loved one so terribly and you pretty much have to keep your lips sealed on how you really feel about this particular person because it's their family member. It's kind of like "hey, I can call my brother/sister/mom/dad/cousin stupid but you can't" UGH!! Then they'll forgive them and you are still stewing over the mess??"

I am STILL stewing over the whole mess but can’t go into it. It just makes me mad when someone (especially a closely related family member) treats someone like dirt. I can tell you with 100% honesty that I will never get over it. But I don’t have to, this person isn’t my “problem” except for how it affects the person I love. I feel bad for my loved one that didn’t, doesn’t and probably will never experience the type of relationship that they should have or deserved to experience. It will always be tainted.

Now I will leave you with some recent pictures.

and finally.. Chloe

18 month well baby appt.

The girls had their well baby appointment yesterday. I had my 13 year old sister go along with me because Dusty was tied up with work all day and couldn’t break away.

Addison was 32 inches tall and 27 pounds.

Samantha was 32 inches tall and 26 pounds.

They are both doing very well. Addison talks SO much more now that she has tubes in her ears. And Samantha is still picking up new words everyday. We talked about the fine and gross motor skills, potty training, eating habits, speech, sleeping habits and overall behavior. Both girls were right on track. The doctor even commented that she thinks Samantha is a bit ahead of the game (which we have always thought) she understands everything. They both follow directions well but Samantha seems to understand pretty much everything we say. For example, I can say “where is brother?” and she says “Jooooosh!”

They both received 2 shots. They both handled them well. Cried but were over it in 30 seconds or less.

I’m going to post a bit about each girl (maybe brag a bit too..lol)

Addison:

Has the cutest little dimples. Her voice is so sweet and girlie. She is finally standing up for herself against Samantha. Is super cuddly. Loves her soymilk or drinking sippies in general. Her diaper output also reflects this ;). She is the first to wake up in the morning and also the first to wake from naptime. She loves hugging her stuffed kitty while she sleeps. She needs to be held and snuggled when she first wakes up. She also finds it funny when she “beats you up” and you “cry”. She is a very good thrower. She was the first to throw over hand and she does it well. She gets scared walking down stairs by herself.

 

Samantha:

Has beautiful bright blue eyes. Has gorgeous wavy hair. Is a master at stairs- up or down and a lot of the time with no hands. She is definitely our daredevil girl. She loves to climb on anything and everything and will find a way to climb up on stuff by dragging toys over and using as step stools. Will mimic almost everything we do- physically and verbally. She loves to run around wildly with her brother. If we are in the room and she finds something she shouldn’t play with, she immediately brings it to us. She also enjoys “clean up time” I start to sing the song and she starts picking up all her toys and putting them away.

Both girls love to play outside. We have quite the set up in the yard (small yard) and they can play out there for hours while mommy lounges and watches them (and surfs the net with her phone!)

Both girls also love to count. If someone is getting into trouble, I count them down (1, 2, 3- then time out or beating =P ) All I have to do is say 1 and they say two, free!

They also love to play with their purses (some old ones of mine) and put them over their shoulders and say “bye bye” and go running down the hall away from me. They can do this for 20-30 mins at a time.

I don’t have any recent pictures of them that are really great but I’ll share what I have.

Playing at a friends house:

And here is some fun with big brother Josh

Can I just say how much I enjoy having twins? It is SO fun! It’s also a lot of hard work but I think you quickly learn how to multi task. You also learn how to be one step ahead of the game. I’m always thinking ahead. My house may not be organized well but my mind is. If an outing is planned, I can get the job done in no time flat and am usually armed with anything and everything needed for any situation that may arise. I pride myself in the fact that I can get me and the kids ready in less time than most people can get themselves ready with no other responsibilities than themselves. I’m talking fully dressed, hair and makeup, snacks, sippies, extra diapers, wipes, phone, and keys. I think when you’re dealing with multiples, you learn you have to be like this in order to survive.

The first 3 months were torture with the girls. I’m not gonna lie. It was ROUGH. Next to no sleep. Seriously. I was lucky to get 2 hours straight at any given time. From 3-6 months it got easier. I got more like 3-4hrs straight. 6-9 months was 4-6hrs straight and then from 9-12 months, they transitioned to 10-12 hrs straight (which is where we have stayed). They are much more independent. I really enjoy that. I love cuddling babies and taking care of them but I enjoy sitting back and watching them play MUCH MORE! I feel more alive now. I’m no longer in a fog. I’m really just enjoying it!

Addison’s tube surgery

Today was her surgery. We left the house at 5:30 am. I just snatched her out of her crib and on we went. Luckily there wasn’t too much waiting around. We had to be there at 6am and surgery was set for 7:30am. They had so much to do, that it didn’t really feel like we waited around for 1.5hrs.

We were first taken to her room. Then, after vitals, we were taken to Pre-op where many nurses and doctors came and talked to us. Then Addison was given some medicine (in liquid form) to calm her and make her relax. It made her silly. She was trying to sit upright in her crib (or cage, as it looks!) and kept having to balance herself with her arm. She was so happy and giggly. That made it easier to part ways, for both of us. She didn’t care that we had to leave in a different direction down the hall and we were glad that she was happy.

We were in the waiting room for about 1.5-2hrs. Its a quick surgery but they also did a BAER test

 

Description:
Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR), sometimes called Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER), measures the 8th (auditory) nerve and brainstem’s response to sound. This testing can be used several ways, including newborn hearing screening, estimation of hearing sensitivity in very young patients, estimation of hearing in difficult-to-test populations, neurodiagnostics to rule out retrocochlear pathology and, sometimes, is used during surgical procedures to monitor the auditory brainstem status.

http://www.everhear.com/procedures/audiology/procedures-audiology-baer.html

 

Initial results show normal. The surgeon said that he would have more detail at our follow-up in 2 weeks. The results are printed in a graph and need to be analyzed but look normal at first glance.

She was very cranky when she woke from anesthesia. Nothing really helped her calm down. She just eventually got happier as it wore off. She was in recovery for about 15 minutes and then we were taken back to her room. We spent about an hour in her room and then she was discharged.

Here are some pictures from my camera phone.

 

This is her after her “happy juice”

Daddy and I waiting impatiently in the waiting room

After surgery, back in her room

She pulled her IV out shortly after I took this picture. Little stinker!! It was set to come out anyway. She’s impatient like her mommy.

She did SO well. I am very proud of her. She handled no sippy or food in the morning. She wasn’t able to drink anything until after surgery- around 9am, although she had been up since 5:30.

She took a longer than normal nap today (4hrs) and has been her normal happy self!

What a relief this is all over with! I had myself pretty worked up over it.

Mixture of everything

I’ve been getting a bit more computer time but I’m finding that I don’t really want to blog. I think it’s because I have so much to say, so I just avoid it altogether because I’m not a big reader/writer, so the task just seemed overwhelming.

Well tonight was a perfect time to catch everything up a bit. Joshua is with his Gaga, the girls are asleep, Dusty is playing Hockey on the Xbox and it’s only 9pm, so why not?

I may not be very organized with this post but at least I’m here and throwing stuff out there.

Birthday

Ok, I survived my birthday. It was actually a great day. 30 doesn’t feel so bad, even if I did wake up with a tweaked back that morning. At least it’s gone now. It hurt like a ‘mother’. What made my day so great? Well, Dusty did the dirty work all day. I didn’t have to change any diapers or pick up after the kids. He took a half day off and took me to lunch at Olive Garden (my favorite restaurant). Around 10am I received a flower delivery from my best friend. What a nice surprise

My favorite flower!! (gerber daisies)

I received a lot of birthday wishes from my online friends. That meant a lot because last year I didn’t receive any birthday wishes from my online girls but this year totally made up for it. I just felt really loved by my friends and family. I received twitter msgs, text msgs, emails, forum posts, facebook wishes and a few phone calls. It just made my day!

I received cooking utensils and a pretty apron from my mom (all things I asked for). Cash from my memaw, a DVD slideshow video of the kids from my MIL, cards and an iPod docking station, frame and Starbucks gift card from my Dad. Dusty got me a Mother’s Ring and photography books. Oh and a ped egg from my brother and fluorescent nail polish (all of which I asked for)

Swim Classes

The classes are going well. Joshua is getting a lot more out of the classes than the girls. But at this point, the girls goal is to be comfortable in the water.

 

 

Chicago

A couple weekends ago, we went to Chicago on a family trip. The first night there we invited a couple friends (that live in Chicago) to our hotel to go swimming. It was so fun!

My friend Vanessa was celebrating her birthday so we had cake and ordered Giordano's!

The next day we all went downtown to Navy pier!

We also went to Build a Bear for the first time

Ice Cream

The girls had their first ice cream cone today. They really enjoyed it but Samantha ended up with an allergic reaction. We knew she was allergic to dairy but can handle small amounts without showing any signs of allergy. I figured she wouldn’t eat much of the cone. Poor baby. The spots went away in about 15mins though.

 

T-ball

Joshua’s coach finally called and his first practice is next week. I’m excited to get the season started. It will be nice to be able to sit on the side lines this time. Last year, Dusty coached the team because they didn’t have enough coaches. What a pain that was! I’m so glad we can just show up to practices and games and not worry about that stuff this year.

New Washer/Dryer

Our washer died on us a couple weeks ago. We ran out quickly and ordered a new one. I figured we might as well get a new dryer. I didn’t want a brand new washer and a 10 year old dryer. Might as well start out new all around. I LOVE them so far. I got a colossal size washer and nice big dryer. Very nice!! I was able to wash like 2 loads worth in one big load. Talk about a time saver! It took almost 2 weeks to get them delivered but luckily my mother in law helped us out a lot. She lives next door and didn’t mind us sending over baskets of dirty clothes. It was nice to go pick up the clean baskets all nice and folded.

Ear Surgery 

The next big thing on our calendar is Addison’s tube surgery. It’s scheduled for June 1st at 7:30am. –sigh- I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I can’t wait to just get it over with.

Conclusion

I also forgot to mention that I’m bored. I need to pick up a hobby. I’m not saying I have free time. That’s different than being bored. I just want something to delve into. I need some time out of the house, away from the kids and away from responsibility. I don’t like to read, play games or watch movies. I need something else. I’ve thought about going back to school but school sucks. LOL. I possibly may still go and get a CNA before the girls go to school fulltime. I’d love to work in the hospital. But then I love photography. I just don’t know all the techy stuff about it. So, for right now, I’m jumping into the photography world. I’m starting to read guide/handbooks and websites..etc. and I want to start playing around with it. I’ve got Photoshop and hours and hours worth of instructional DVDS on it.

Ok, well that’s about it for tonight. I’m going to go watch some Tivo with the hubby.