Our McDouble!!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Goodbye V-town and friends...hello Merced?

Is Christmas really over already?! I blinked and it went from Thanksgiving to the new year. Our move from visalia to Merced went really well (all things considered...like, we moved new years eve). Without the help of our awesome families, and amazing friends, there's literally NO way we could've pulled it off. Between my Mom coming down to help and Kirk's Mom, Step-Dad and Grandma Shirley...we were basically packed. Kirk's family had originally been coming into town to celebrate Christmas with us, but finding out just a few weeks before Christmas that we were going to be moving greatly changed the tone and pace of their trip. They were a whirlwind of packing, cooking, baking and hanging out. It was crazy, but we lots of fun too!
We felt so extremely blessed to have all the help we did. Even though there's all the unpacking left to do, at least we are here and not in between here and there. Our goal is, "a box a week." We are behind...
The truth, this month has been both wonderful and not so wonderful. Kirk's job, for example, is WAY more intense than we thought it was going to be...max security federal prison anyone? In February he will have to go to Georgia for 3 weeks to do correctional officer training...yikes!! He will have to do everything from pat downs to cell searches, but hopefully not on a regular basis. I guess the mentality there is that everyone should be trained as a C.O., that way everyone is on board if things get out of hand.
Am I super excited for this new job of my husbands? No. Not at all. But, I do feel grateful that this job is a great opportunity for Kirk to really put his skills as a therapist to good use. In his last job, the opportunity for real clinical work was rare as so much of his time was spent doing paperwork.
Hopefully he will be working as the supervisor in the substance abuse program, which apparently is a very cool program. The guys who have been chosen to take part in this program are motivated and are there because of good behavior...thank you, Jesus!
Do I like living in a new city where I don't know anyone while having young babies? No. Not at all. But, I found myself feeling guilty for not enjoying every moment of this new house, new job, new neighborhood, new people, etc. Then I read this awesome article written by a mom and it made me realize it's okay that I'm not enjoying all these new changes all the time. Here's the article if you get a chance to check it out:

http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/04/2011-lesson-2-dont-carpe-diem/

I am grateful though...more grateful for these precious babies and how much joy they bring to our lives. Grateful that they are so happy and healthy. I'm also grateful that we now live much closer to our families up north and we are only a short drive away from our Visalia friends.
Hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Christmas and new year!

Daddy hanging out with the boys

Going for a walk in our cool new hats from Annie B's sister!

Uncle Matty & Jojo

Auntie Ally & Benny on Christmas

Chaddy's got to come home for Christmas and everyone was SO excited to see him!

Welcome to Baby-ville

Annie & Jojo at our 2nd annual girl's gift exchange (this year it was DIY gifts)

Benny and Cous-Auntie Kim on Christmas Day at the Rigg's House.

Smiles

Annie B's sister knit these awesome hats for the whole fam

Austin showing Jojo pictures

Precious Hands

Babies' First Christmas 2011

Go Lions! Doesn't Benny look excited?!

Benny Bear

Cous-Auntie Jen with Jojo...she's got the touch.

We love you Stephie!!

Check out my two teeth I got at 4 1/2 months old!!

Uncle Matty & Auntie Amber are the best

Bumbo time

Love our cousins!

Benny loves spending time with Papa D.

Who you lookin' at?

Jojo and Mommy's pictures at about the same age

The boys love Papa D and Grandma Jan

Great-Grandpa Joe, lil Joe and Barb

Reading and hanging out with Daddy.

Watching the Lions game at Uncle Brandon's and Aunt Alicia's house.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Halloween and 2 month Doctor Check up

After Kirk and I's first trip up to Sacramento since the babies were born to go to our families annual trip to Bishop's Pumpking Farm, we came the following weekend as well. Kirk and his brother, Brandon, flew out to Alabama to help get their Dad moved out here to California. We are very excited to have Terry here in California...Alabama is much too far away! It'll be nice to spend more time with him for the holidays and for him to get to see the grandkids more often as well. So, while Kirk was gone for 5 nights, I stayed with my parents. They were amazing! My Mom, Dad and sister, Ally, all helped take care of the babies and they even took turns waking up every few hours at night to help me feed the babies! They are amazing and I feel so blessed to have such an awesome family.
The weekend I was up in Sacramento and Kirk was in Alabama also was Halloween weekend. Ever since we knew that we were pregnant with twins, we have referred to the babies as our "2 peas in a pod." So, it only seemed appropriate that they would dress up as just that for Halloween! They were SO cute! For the most part they didn't mind it too much, but they were definitely ready to get out of the costumes by the end. I feel bad for this generation of kids...when they're older, they're going to say to their parents, "Did you post this picture of me on...(fill in the blank...Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, Instagram, Diptic, etc)?" Oh well, that's the price they'll have to pay for being so darn cute ;-)
This month was also their 2 month Doctor's appointment to check their height and weight and for their first round of immunizations. Since Kirk had taken off time for the weekend we were gone, I was going to have to go to this appointment alone. I knew I could do it if I had to, but knew that wasn't something I wanted to do if I could avoid it. So, my amazing friend, Jessica Haynes, left her baby at home with her hubby and accompanied me to the Doctor's appointment. I truly don't know what I would've done without her. I found myself choking up when the boys got poked and started to cry. She was there to make a bottle and hold one while the other baby was getting their shots. It was nice to have 2 adults for 2 crying babies. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends here! It wasn't until just recently that we ran out of dinners that people have given us over these past few months. Having those meals truly made these past few months so much easier where just changing out of pajamas or taking a shower seemed like an impossible task.
We were curious what the boys' weights were going to be since Benny seemed to have been catching up to Jojo recently. Jojo weighed in at 12 lbs and 23 inches and Benny was 11 lbs 12 oz and 23 inches as well. So, I guess Jojo isn't ready to let go of the lead yet. Glad to hear they're both growing well and looking healthy. There's not much else you could ask for as a parent! We are truly blessed with these amazing little boys and we've had so much fun watching their personalities emerge as they're starting to coo and talk to us. Time is flying though, and I can't believe that they're already going to be 11 weeks this Friday! Hope you all are doing well and enjoying this beautiful Fall weather!

Benny was done with the photo shoot

Beautiful Auntie Ally

Cute shirts from Grammie Pammie and Great Grandma Shirley...BTBFF = Born Together, Best Friends Forever

Morning smiles!

Benny hanging out with Patty!

Barb and Benny

Auntie Amber helped me get the boys in their costumes

The Herzogs came to visit!

Sean holding Jojo (along with Jack, Evan, Great Aunt Carol, Bo and Lisa!)

Great-Grandpa Joe holding Benny

Great Aunt Cristie and Glenda are the BEST!

Handsome Jojo

They're not huge fans of tummy time...

Jojo with his Wubba Nubba

Janelle and Benny

Tom teaching my son how to stick out his tongue

Grandpa Terry's first time meeting the boys!

I wish I could hold them all day long...

At their 2 month Doctor's appointment...before the shots.

Gilbert and Benny

Monday, November 7, 2011

2 months old!

Here's a few pics of the boys from the past few weeks...I cant believe how fast they are growing. They are still eating every 2 1/2-3 hours, but just recently started giving mom and dad an extra hour of sleep between feedings (if we're lucky) once at night. It's amazing what an extra hour of sleep can do for sleep deprived parents!
I took the boys into the doctors this past week and Josiah weighed 11.8 lbs and Benny weighed 11.5 lbs.
Jojo had always been a pound ahead of his brother, but Benny is quite the little eater and is quickly catching up to his brother!
We also went on our first road trip this past weekend up north for our family's annual trip to Bishop's pumpkin patch. We had so much fun seeing our families and we had lots of hands (big and small ) that wanted to hold the boys. I love how baby crazy our family is. Jen & Aaron's middle son, Austin, asked if he could "pet" the boys...too cute!
Stay tuned for the boys in their cute Halloween costumes...