So Long Sweet Summer

A great BIG thank you and WELCOME BACK to everyone who found me from my post on Twin Talk!  I hope some of you will stick with me, either here on my blog or on Instagram.  It was so much fun to "meet" so many of you from your own blogs and IG accounts.  I have so many new twin moms to follow, which has been tons of fun.

This week I started back at school, which has been going great.  I have the sweetest class this year and I'm excited to be back in the school groove.  I have been pretty wiped out though!  It usually takes a week or so to adjust to my schedule in the fall, but I am finding that starting the year with babies makes it that much harder!  Plus, the boys are in a new class at their school now, and they have a different nap schedule.  So we all needed a good week to adjust and get used to it.  But! They now nap for {almost} THREE HOURS IN THE AFTERNOON! Straight. In a row. I thought moving to one nap would be INSANE, but it has actually been pretty fantastic.  It is working out well for all of us, so we can't complain.

Thank goodness for the long weekend!  I am catching up on blogging {i also have a teaching blog!} and trying to also get some last details wrapped up in my classroom.  Knowing that we don't have work yet tomorrow is the best feeling.  We have had a pretty lazy weekend, just hanging around at home and watching lots of college football {yay!}

Henry and Parker were {of course} sporting their Texas gear {Mom's team}, but Henry also gave Dad a shout out with his OSU hat.  Luckily, his head is big enough to wear Mark's hat!

Right before school started, the boys and I went to the pool with one of my fellow teacher friends.  Her sister-in-law and niece were there too, and the littles enjoyed playing with some cups {that may or may not have been for the wine.}  One thing we did not do nearly enough this summer was hit up the pool.  But, we still have tomorrow.

Enjoy your long weekends. Soak up the sun!

This Girl is a Guest Blogger!!

You guys, I think I am {finally} a legit blogger because I am being featured on another blog!  I know what you're thinking.  How can someone who posts {maybe} once a month make it as a guest blogger somewhere else? Well, I am kind of asking myself that too.  But lo and behold, today you can find me over at Twin Talk Blog where I will be sharing the boys' birth story.  

I never imagined I would be a Birth Story Sharing Kinda Blogger, but if you are at all interested in a little insight into Henry and Parker's big debut, head on over to Twin Talk Blog today.  And if you are a twin mom yourself, FOR SURE add Twin Talk to your blog list because it is an awesome community of twin moms!  Meredith and Amber, both mothers of twins and even from the DFW area, started the blog together as a way to share and collaborate with other moms on ALL THINGS TWINS.  Like if you were/are super googling during your pregnancy about twin births or wondering what the heck your twin baby bump was going to look like at week 32, then this my friend is the place for you. {Sidenote: I do not want to relive what my belly looked like, ahh}  Meredith and Amber, as well as tons of other twin moms {::cough::me::cough} share everything from their favorite baby products, great ideas for what to feed your littles, and even help you find other Twin Mamas in your area for TWIN PLAY DATES.  Can you even imagine?  I guarantee you will want to be BFFs with all the awesome ladies on Twin Talk.

Ok whew.  Twin mom rant over.  Welcome to any new readers who found me from my guest post and DISCLAIMER: I submitted my birth story post to the blog like months ago, for real.  I don't even remember what all I wrote, so I hope I don't cringe when I read it.  But yes, welcome!

That's me and my husband Mark, Parker (on the left) and Henry (on the right).  

When Meredith emailed me to let me know that my story would be on their blog today, she was like OMG I can't believe your girl turned out to be a boy and I was like OMG I can't believe I actually kind of forgot about all that!!  Or at least I don't think of it that often.  These little guys are so a part of our family that I cannot even dream what it would be like if we had a girl in the mix instead.  The picture above is actually from July 4, taken outside our house.  We recreated a picture we took last year on the fourth, which I posted on social media as an announcement about my pregnancy:

Notice anything different?  Yes, last year we had a blue chair and a pink chair.  This year, we replaced that pink with another blue.  It was a truly shocking and fun surprise to hear that nurse say, "oh they're both boys!" right after our little guys were born.  The brother bond Henry and Parker already share is the best thing ever.  And I don't think Henry even notices that his bed is pink....... ;)

In other news, school inservice starts on Monday for me, so tomorrow is actually my last official day of summer vacation and my last day to be home with the boys.  I am sad but also so excited to start a new year and get back into the swing of the school routine.  We are laying low this weekend and hopefully will have a smooth transition back to my Working Mom schedule.  The boys and I have been busy making the most of our freedom these past several weeks by visiting grandparents, hitting up the pool and taking lots of walks before it gets to be 104 degrees outside.  My parents live on a ranch, and Henry got such a kick out of "driving" their mule around their property every morning we were there, to check on the cows!  

Everyone have a good weekend!  And don't forget to follow Twin Talk.  They are also on Instagram here.  If you are a twin mom and blogger too, leave me your link!  I am always looking for others to follow.  And if you don't have a blog, let me know where you are from.  Any Dallas area moms?  I'd love to get together!  Twins or no twins!

xoxo

August

I know it is not August yet, but it might as well be.  Where did the summer go?!  I can't believe school starts back up in a month.  Four weeks.  EEEK.  It feels like we only just started our lazy (ha) days at home, and now they are already running out.

The boys are napping right now.  Both of them.  Are asleep.  This feat was not achieved lightly.  It took almost 20 solid minutes of screams of rage.  Parker did not think he needed to take a nap, so he voiced his opinion quite loudly.  In fact, don't tell him that I was actually about to wave the white flag and go get him out of his bed, giving up on the afternoon nap.  But when I creaked the door open, he was sprawled out asleep.  Whew.

So now I sit with a dishwasher that needs unloading, laundry that has been in the dryer for days, and a list of things I need to start working on for school in the fall.  But instead, I'm watching a Nicholas Sparks movie I've been saving in the DVR {The Vow} and dusting off the ol' blog.

Our summer has been going really well.  I thought we would be going stir crazy and looking for things to occupy our days, but we are actually so busy that I don't even think we have had a full week at home with just me and the boys, all day everyday.  Family visiting and friends staying over and summer vacations and long weekends with the grandparents have stacked up and made the weeks fly by.  I think it is all winding down now though, which is great.  I look at the days left at home this summer and feel a pull on my heart for when Henry and Parker will go back to their school in August.  Even though the days are long and often hard and I am constantly saying prayers for patience under my breath, I really do treasure this time with my boys.

{Sidenote: I have already rewinded The Vow three times because I am not even paying attention to it.  Gah! Must use this quiet time to watch depressing chick-flicks where either Rachel McAdams or Channing Tatum is GUARANTEED to die.  Thanks a lot, Nick.}

For a few weeks, Parker's hair made the best ever faux hawk. 

Henry and Grandma

These photos are getting tougher and tougher to take, since Parker is MOBILE now!

Hankie!

Henry and Dad on the ferry to Galveston

Seeing the ocean {okay it's really the gulf} for the first time!

At our beach house, "Purple Haze"

Hey Blog! We are BACK!

OMG.  I haven't blogged over here since March.  Whoops!  

I think about this little space often and always want to get back to it, but the time always slips away every day and then bam. Two and a half months pass.  I'm three months behind in monthly photos (and to be honest I haven't even taken our 7 months ones yet, and the boys hit that mark weeks ago).  I'll try and play catch up, but I might just skip ahead and start fresh.  That seems a little less overwhelming!

Life is busy, guys.  Having two little kiddos keeps you really occupied!  Since I've been gone (shout out Kelly Clarkson):

* Parker had surgery {nothing too scary, we've known about it since birth, and it went very well}

^ Just before going back

^ One week post-op

* Henry got a Doc Band {helmet} for his little head.  We are about 2 months into wearing it, with about one more month to go.  I don't think he even knows he is wearing it, so it's been a breeze.

^ Swimming?

* My school year ended!  

Today was actually my first day of SUMMER VACATION and my first day as a SAHM.

^ Summer means the pool opened! 

Our first timing swimming was way more successful than I thought it would be!

*We've been spending time almost every evening outside on the patio, sweating a bit in the time just before baths

^ BBQ with friends!

^ Super Hero Shirts

And in general, we've just been doing a lot of growing!  With work over, I hope to be able to come back and blog a little more regularly.  My Summer Bucket List is long, so let's hope our little family can stay busy and find time to have lots of fun!

Color Coordinated

{Enjoying some warmer weather, hanging out as the sun goes down.}

Super Dad!

This picture is from December 11, so it’s an oldie in terms of our time as parents.  But I remember this night perfectly.  I was still at home on my maternity leave, staying at home alone with the boys all day.  Most days were good, but sometimes Mark would come home from work and find me crying and exhausted.  This was one such day.  He came in the door, changed his clothes and said, “Give me the babies!”

And then I went and took a shower.  Heavenly.  

Thank the Lord for this guy.  There’s no one else I would rather do this crazy parenthood thing with than him.

Baptizing Our Boys

Last month, Henry and Parker were baptized at our church and we celebrated with both my family and Mark’s family.  Everyone came over to our house for lunch, and then we began the process of getting the boys dressed in their little white outfits.  The true miracle of the day was that we got out everyone dressed up (myself included) and out the door on time!

Our wedding chalkboard continues to live on. 

A HUGE thank you to my mom for all the cute decorations, and to Mark’s mom, for so much yummy food and snacks.

Mark’s brother Mike had just gotten back from a trip to Australia, and the boys scored the little critters in this picture.

A delicious cake that we ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the days following the baptism.

Henry, packed and ready to go!  Both boys had these cute personalized shoes, which were a baby gift when they were born.  Adorbs.

Baptized!  

Here’s the funny story of the day. We got to the church and settled into some pews with all our family, with plenty of time to spare before the ceremony began.  Just as they were starting to call up babies (there were 16 getting baptized that day!!), we noticed a certain…. smell.  Parker needed to be changed.  My mom and I rushed him to the bathroom and discovered he had made a little mess in his WHITE outfit.  Of course.  To this day, this is still the only time we have been away from the house and needed a full-on clothing change for either boy.  But he couldn’t change out of his clothes because he couldn’t exactly get baptized in the orange fox pajamas I had packed in his bag for an emergency such as this!  So… thank goodness Grandma Neuschafer made them some white blankets, which I strategically used to cover the offending spot on his pants for his big moment.  Mom and I did some quick damage control and then returned back to the church for his time to shine.

Oh yeah, and Parker pretty much slept through everything.  Henry was awake and did really well in his first official mass since Christmas (which HE slept all the way through.)

A day for their history books, for sure.

Oh, Hi There.

Well the boys hit five months old tomorrow, so I guess maybe I should post their four month pictures before then?  Both little guys are asleep right now, Dad is out in the yard spraying for weeds, food is in the oven, and it’s Friday night so we all get to sleep in tomorrow.  I think perhaps I can tackle this little blog again!

In the meantime, look at these little bears and know that they are currently 30 days older than they were when these were taken!

{Sock Monster, Parker} 

{Sock Monster, Henry… see the resemblance?}

Snapshot of Our Morning

Love waking up to these two every day, even when they decide to wake up at 5:00 in the morning, ready to start their day!