What the?

Where do the days go? May 25th was my last post - how does that happen!

You just wait! Wait until I am a stay-at-home Mama. You are going to get the play by play, the nitty gritty, the ins and outs, the minute by minute - no...second by second - account of ALL that goes on in this little house of 4. Can barely stand the anticipation can you?

Life here is good! Just C.R.A.Z.Y! It's good though - allll good. Just finishing up school...and how strange to not just be finishing it up for the summer. I am going through each drawer, each cupboard, each folder and carefully selecting what to pack up for the next so many years, what to throw, and what to give away. It's amazing how much can be accumulated in just 5 years!

I am watermeloncholy (credit to Unca Mike for that great word) though at times saying goodbye to it all. Even though I know that I can return to teaching again when the boys start school - I also know that it will never be quite like this again. I will most likely never return to that same classroom. I will probably never teach with the same team again. Who knows if I will even ever return to 4th grade or even to that school!

I have found myself thinking back on the last 5 years and being amazed with all that has happened in that classroom during this time. What will the next five years bring?

Ethan and Grayson are amazing. It is truly hard to believe that they are almost 6 months old. The old saying "Time Flies" really is true! They are changing daily and keep me on my toes!
Tonight is the 5th grade graduation at our school. It was one year ago on this day that I found out I was having twins. I will never forget it. I had just found out the news at the Dr. and then tried to go and sit through graduation. Uhhh....not happening! I was sitting there just saying over and over to myself "We're having two!" "We're having two!" "I'm pregnant with two babies!" It was the most surreal feeling and I finally just had to get up and walk out. I was about to burst and I couldn't tell anyone around me what was happening!

A year later we hit a big milestone tonight and it pumps me up! It may seem like a small thing...but for the FIRST time tonight I fed and put the boys down ALL BY MYSELF thankyouverymuch. You may find this shocking (and even perhaps a tad pathetic and first-time-parentish)that it took this long - but until this point we have ALWAYS had two people here to feed the boys in the evening. I always liked the idea of them being held while they got their bottle - and we weren't able to feed one baby at a time before this, because they used to take an hour to drink their bottle and I just don't think one baby would have been patient quite that long for me.

Now though these boys can suck an 8.5 oz. bottle down in under 10 minutes! Amazing from our rejoicing in the NICU when they used to drink 1 oz. after an hour and a half!

Tonight we weathered our first thunderstorm together (Daddy had class). I then changed them both and laid Ethan on a blanket in the nursery while I fed Grayson. Ethan just sucked his little thumb and watched us. He was so patient! I burped Grayson and laid him in his crib. He cried for all of about a minute before he dozed off to sleep. I then fed Ethan, burped him, and he cried for just two minutes before falling asleep.

BOO YAH BOO YAH! (This just reminded me. The other night I had a dream that I was M.C. Hammer. I wasn't just dressed as M.C. Hammer. I was THEE M.C. Hammer. My co-worker Phyllis was my awesome back-up dancer).

It just feels SO good. SO, SO good to know that this Mama can take care of her babies. At first it was hard for me to know that I could not physically take care of them all by myself. Sometimes I felt like just another one of the helpers instead of their mother.

I do though want to give credit where credit is due. We have had AMAZING help here over the past 5 months since they've been home. I don't know what we would have done without Chris's parents, family, and even our dear neighbor. We have been so blessed. Also, this does not mean that we don't want or need help from here on out! Don't leave us now! :)
And now - enough rambling. On to the pictures of my chunker munkers.

Sweet eyed Ethan and his little duck
Kissable Grayson

Elf eared Ethan (It's the mirror!)

Naked Grayson (who was peeing on my couch as this picture was being taken)

The best part of my morning - seeing my happy boys.

This is Ethan stretching those legs.