Two Year Checkup

I can't believe Elizabeth and Thomas are two years old. One would never guess by looking at them now that they were preemies who spent time in the NICU. I took them for their two year old Well Visit last Friday, and we received a good report. Elizabeth is 33 1/4 inches tall, weighs 24 pounds and one ounce, and has a head circumference of 18 1/2 inches. Thomas is 34 3/4 inches tall, weighs 26 pounds and five ounces, and has a head circumference of 19 inches. They have both grown a little over two inches in four months!!! Isn't that amazing? Two inches!! I was just thinking how their slide looked shorter/smaller than when we bought it, but I guess it is because our children have gotten bigger (haha).

All other areas of development are on target....they are running, climbing stairs, putting several words together, etc. I love watching them communicate, and they seem so proud of themselves when they communicate effectively. As a speech pathologist I have felt pride and happiness for my students as I watched them learn and develop communication skills, but it pales in comparison to what I feel while watching my own children. They constantly amaze me with their observations and the ability to communicate what they observe....the things they remember from recent past experiences.

Motherhood is so rewarding! I feel so blessed to get to stay at home and watch my kids grow and learn.

Birthday Weekend

I have been meaning to write about the twins' birthday weekend for awhile now but just haven't had the time. This year's party was much more low key than last year with fewer guests. With the rising cost of gasoline I didn't expect our families to be able to make the trip to SC. Even though we missed many family members we still had a great birthday weekend with some family, friends, and couple of neighbors.



The festivities began with the arrival of some dear friends of mine from Georgia, Emmett and Marcia. I used to work with Marcia and haven't seen her since I was pregnant with E and T. It was great seeing her and her husband, and I was so glad they finally got to meet the twins. Next came Gramps and Grandmother Jane and Uncle Jimmy (who drove all the way from Virginia JUST for the party) who all stayed the weekend with us. Gramps and Grandmother went blueberry picking with us and then babysat while Uncle Jimmy went birthday shopping with David and I.



The birthday party was a hit. I wondered how the Thomas and Elizabeth would react to their guests, but shouldn't have worried. Our neighbors Ron and Meg came with their children Ava and Cole, and Eddie and Linda came with their grandchildren Elizabeth and William. The kids enjoyed jumping in/on the Jump N Slide inflatable bouncer. Thomas and Elizabeth enjoyed being sung to and loved their Elmo cake. Thomas devoured his cake and ice cream while Elizabeth only took a few bites. The presents were great, the food was delicious, and the company was awesome. I must say the entire weekend was a hit.

I can't believe T and E are two years old. Time has flown the past twelve months. David and I grow more in love with our children each day and can't imagine life without them.

Favorites

At age two Thomas and Elizabeth have developed several "favorites."

Favorite characters: Elmo and Curious George
Favorite movie: Elmo's Potty Movie
Favorite toys: Tool Bench (Thomas)
Baby and diapers (Elizabeth)
Favorite food: Waffles (Elizabeth)
Blueberries (Thomas)
Favorite music: The Beach Boys.....yes....they request the Beach Boys


They are sort of going through a phase where they would rather "read" themselves rather than have me read to them. It makes me sad. I miss reading to them.

Blueberries!!!

Last Friday the MOMs club had an outing to a blueberry farm. Gramps and Grandmother were up for the fun so we took Thomas and Elizabeth for a little blueberry picking. I wasn't sure how much they would like picking blueberries.....I knew Thomas would LOVE eating them....wasn't sure what Elizabeth would think. All my skepticism went out of the window as soon as we arrived. We each had our own buckets, and as soon as I showed T and E how to pick and instructed them to only pick the blue ones NOT the green ones they were off to the races. Every blueberry Thomas picked went straight into his tummy....none in the bucket unless Gramps or Grandmother put them in. Elizabeth loved picking the berries. She kept saying, "I right here, I right here," to let me know where she was. She was the cutest blueberry picker east of the Mississippi (I know I am partial). We finally had to stop picking because of the heat and the ever increasing size of Thomas' belly. We picked three pounds of blueberries among the five of us. We froze some and ate some.

Grandmother taught me how to make a blueberry cobbler, and I made one Wednesday with the berries we picked as a family. It was delicious, especially once topped with some vanilla ice cream.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELIZABETH AND THOMAS! You are two years old today.

Mama and Dada love you.

Arkansas Pics

Arkansas

We have been back home for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't had time to post. Thomas and Elizabeth were really tired upon our arrival and needed several days to catch up.....so did I. We had a wonderful visit with family in Arkansas. I got lots of quality time with my nieces and nephew and kept them during the day while we were there. Thomas and Elizabeth really enjoyed their cousins and learned all of their names. Thomas fell in love with Aunt JoJo and quickly learned to say he was "JoJo's boy." David was not excited about hearing that and is still trying to re-program him to say he is "Dada's boy." The entire trip flew by with lots of summer time fun. We went to one of Cullom's baseball games, swam in Unc and Aunt Angie's pool, went to Cullom and Caroline's birthday party, rode on a tractor with Uncle Mark, played outside in the dirt.....lots of dirt, played in the water hose, danced to High School Musical hits with cousins, went swimsuit shopping for Mama in Jonesboro (fun for T and E....NOT fun for Mama), had lunch and ice cream at Franny and Grandaddy's house, rode a motorcycle with Uncle Chris (T did, not E), ate homemade dewberry cobbler.....the list goes on and on.

It was so nice being home for 10 days. It was so peaceful out in the country, and even in the metropolis of Osceola things moved at a much slower pace than here in SC. I never get to see or visit all of the people I want to when planning a trip home, and each visit seems to go by faster. It is strange seeing how quickly my nieces and nephews are growing and quite frankly, how my parents and grandparents are aging. I miss them all so much and want my children to know them.....really know them.