Thankful

I have a lot to be thankful for.

Over the last week we have had a whirlwind of visitors and events.
It has been wonderful to say the least. We have felt so loved on and refreshed as a family.

We had my Mom and Dad here for a few days followed by Greg and Beth after that.

We ate so much good food (Thank you Goddess and the Grocer for preparing our Thanksgiving dinner twice! I am not a good chef, in the least).

Spent so much time laughing and just being recharged by being around our family.
It is hard to live in Chicago, when the majority of our family lives in KC.

We have been so blessed to have Kristen up in Chicago for this season of life. It has been so life giving to us, and hopefully to her as well.

I am so thankful.

I am thankful  for Austin.

He is a wonderful man, full of integrity and selflessness.
Above all, he loves Jesus.

Then, he loves me. And, he does that well.
One way he has really loved me well this year is by encouraging my pursuit of a career.

He has had to sacrifice a lot to allow me to this (like all of my home made food, NOT).
But, it has given our family new life.

He also runs with me.
Austin hates running, but clearly loves me.
He even runs crazy distances with me.

I told him yesterday that we are starting training of our half marathon in March on Tuesday.
He was not thrilled.

But, he pursues me. And knows that spending that time together gives me life.

He loves the girls. Seeing Austin with Kate and Grace is such a joy.
They love their daddy, and he loves them.

Often, when Daddy is at work the girls like to carry around a framed picture of our family that I have on my desk.

They only want to see daddy in that picture. It's the sweetest.

I am so thankful.

I am thankful for Kate and Grace.

I remember the day we found out we were expecting vividly.
I also remember the shock of the day that we were expecting twins.

Kate and Grace have been a wake up call.
Anyone who is a parent knows what I mean.

You don't realize how selfish you are until you have kids.

Then, you have no choice to be selfless.

Kate and Grace bring me joy in so many ways.

Their belly laughs.
Their sassiness.
Their slobbery kisses.

They are such a joy.

I am so thankful.

I am thankful for Jesus.

I am so thankful for the grace that has been extended to me, by God.
That despite how depraved and wicked I am that I am loved and redeemed.

And, that there is nothing I could do to make Him love me any more.

I am thankful that His mercies are new every morning.
And, that He will never leave me.

I am so thankful.

While this year has yet been another year of transition, I am so thankful for the blessings in my life.

3 Things I Learned by Being a Mommy with Type 1 Diabetes

November is Diabetes awareness month. 

Go hug someone who has diabetes. Just go do it, unless they don't like hugs, then don't. 

I would like to clear up some misconceptions. 

And, I would like to also say that if what I'm about to say is a surprise to you, that's okay. 

Let me give you a little background. 

On June 4th, 2008, I felt like crap. It's true, I had been feeling AWFUL for about a week. 

I had to go to the bathroom all the time (like 8 times a night)

I couldn't drink enough water

I couldn't get enough to eat ever

I was just plain exhausted

And, I was super dizzy. 

I put all of these lovely symptoms into WebMD (Don't judge, you all have done it too), and it told me I had vertigo. Obviously. 

Later that day, my wise mommy told me she wanted to go to the Dr. to get it all checked out. 

I didn't want to go, WebMD Told me it would pass. 

But, I went because I learned at a very young age that one is not sassy to Sandy Clements. 

So I went to the Dr, and stepped on the scale and found out I lost 15 pounds in about a week. 

SCORE. 

(This was not the same reaction that the Dr. had.)

We talked about what was going on, and then they did some test... They poked my finger. I over reacted and acted like it was the end of the world, I'm sure. OH NO A NEEDLE. 

The nurse looked at the number on the meter and immediately left the room. 

The Doctor came back in and told me and my mom that I had Diabetes and that I needed to go straight to the hospital to get admitted. 

I then broke down and said (being totally naive), I'm not old or overweight how do I have diabetes. 

He then explained that what I had was Type one diabetes. 

Type one diabetes is different from type two diabetes(which is most common), it simply means that your pancreas has stopped working, and that in order for you to stay alive you have do the job of your pancreas. And, you do this with the needles that you have to constantly poke yourself with . 

Come to find out, I was in the late stages of DKA (this is a VERY bad thing). I got to take up a residence at the hospital for a week, before I was ready to go home and begin tackling this disease on my own (with the help of my incredibly supportive family, of course). 

Okay, I know great story. 

Things got interesting after Austin and I got married and  found out we were expecting twins. When we moved to Chicago and I told my endo that I had twins, she looked at me and said something to the extent of "Oh, gosh. I'm glad I wasn't your doctor." 

I got extremely lucky with my medical team while I was pregnant. But, it was a challenge. 

So, here are three things I learned by being a mommy with type 1. 

1. Don't be so judgmental. 

Some people can't nurse their babies. These moms still know its the best thing, and as a mom you do want the best for your kids, but for some people it's just not in the cards. If you hear that someone isn't nursing let's all just do one another a favor and assume that there is a reason. Don't be a hater. I gave it a shot, and it simply came down to the fact that it wasn't safe for me to be home alone nursing TWO babies. After I had the girls my blood sugars were all over the place (and still are some days). Austin and I were constantly afraid that I would go low and not be able to take care of the girls. 

There are definitely times that I need this reminder, maybe not about nursing but about another parenting issue. I'll say to Austin, "Can you believe that they are doing (insert any controversial parenting thing, ps everything in parenting is controversial)". I have to remember that I don't know their outside circumstances, and I need to stop being a hater. Nobody likes a hater. 

 

2. I have to put my health first. 

For me to be a good wife to Austin and a good mommy to Kate and Grace, I have to take care of my self first. There was a situation, not long after we moved to Chicago that I was admitted back into the hospital for DKA. It was bad news. My mom flew up from KC, everything seemed to stop. I couldn't take care of myself, and heavens knows I couldn't take care of my family. It was the worst, but it was a wake up call for me. 

3. Sometimes People Don't Understand, and That's Okay. 

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me (or someone so close to me and my disease that it hurts) why I didn't just exercise more (Austin and I just trained for and ran the Chicago marathon) or eat better (I am a soft Vegan, and eat a whole foods diet), I would be a rich rich woman.  

Sometimes, when I'm really stressed my blood sugar will just shoot up. And, being a mom of toddler twins is stressful business. 

I can't always control my blood sugar, but I am thankful for the advances in medical technology and my support system.

I have to realize that some people refuse to take time and learn about the disease, and that's okay. I know there are so many things that I don't know the first anything about. And, it is a constant reminder that i need to be full of patience and grace not only with others, but myself as well. 

If you want to learn more, I encourage you to try the Type One for a Day Challenge here. 

Moving Downtown

Hello.

A while ago (okay, it's probably been a long while) , I told you that I would write a blog about us moving downtown. I haven't taken the time, I think because I knew this was going to be a long post.

So, keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all time. :)

To understand our move downtown , you have to understand where we have been.

When Kate and Grace were 6 weeks we packed up and moved to Chicago. It was a lot, but honestly it was all such a blur...

When we moved to Chicago, we didn't have an apartment lined up, so we lived in a hotel for about a week. The perk of living in a hotel with two itsy bitsy babies was the hotel staff felt bad for us and upgraded our room, the bad part was the rest of it.

That was a very stressful week for our family. We ended up finding a place, and it was almost too good to be true. It was in a "family friendly" Chicago neighborhood, it had a washer and dryer IN UNIT (this is a HUGE deal in Chicago) and a parking space included. Seriously, this was unheard of.

We were so revealed. Finally, we could stop living out of suitcases with two tiny babies.

Here is a photo from our days of living in a hotel :) 

Well, what people say is true. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. 

We found out that our apartment, was really out of the "family friendly" neighborhood by about a half a mile and instead smack dab in the middle of two gang territories. Awesome. 

It was a really challenging year for us. 

I had to make the choice daily that I would not live in fear, especially in my own home. 

We had a number of unfortunate events happen while we lived in that apartment. Some that I would rather just forget. 

We knew we needed to move. We so desired to stay in Chicago, but we really didn't know what that looked like after our first year back. I was pretty traumatized. 

We decided to look in a few different neighborhoods. 

We looked in Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Lakeview and many more. 

We just couldn't find a place that we really felt like we could call home. 

Every time we went downtown, Austin and I would both say that we wished we lived downtown. 

Not only would it give us a lot more time together, due to the fact Austin's commute would be about 1/4 of the time, but it would also give us security that we were so desperate for our first year back in Chicago. 

We really wanted time to find a since of normal. 

There had been so much change in our lives, and we so desperately needed normal.

We looked and looked downtown. Nothing was really fitting. 

Then, we found a place right in between Michigan Ave and the Lake. 

Again, we thought that it was just too good to be true. 

We were so hesitant. 

We decided to proceed with it and just be watching for red lights. 

We didn't see any.

And, it finally happened. We were able to move downtown.

Here is the little tiny sliver of the lake you can see from our window. 

When we moved downtown, we decided to sell our car. This was such nerve racking move for us. 

We had two one year olds at this time. What were we doing selling our car. 

I have to say, it was one of the best moves we made as a family. 

It simplified our lives in a way, you can only understand if you live in the city. 

We didn't have to worry about tickets, or being towed to the edge of hell (which happens to be on lower lower lower Wacker Drive in the city tow lot.) There was so much freedom in the simplicity of just walking for us.  

Our true desire in living in Chicago has always been not to just be tourists in the city, but residents who are concerned about our neighbors and the issues of the city. And, I think Austin and I have both come to a realization in our move, that it doesn't matter where in the city you live, there are people hurting and their is injustice taking place. People just need you to stop and ask how their day is going. 

One of my very favorite things about our building is the other people who live here. I would say over half of our building is about 75 and have lived in the building for most of their adult life. They have raised their families in this building. This building is a significant part of their life, and their is nothing that brings them as much joy as seeing Grace and Kate in the building. I have had many people tell me, seeing them is the highlight of their day. It reminds them of the time that they spent here as a young family. It is such a cool thing to bring the joy of that memory to the people in our building. 

You should see all the kisses that the girls blow and kisses that are blown back to them. 

They are basically the rock stars of the building. It's adorable, and they don't mind it one bit. 

We love our city, our neighborhood and our building. We are so thankful that we are able to live where we do and have the opportunity to engage with the people around us! 

Sissssssy

I like to blog in spurts. Clearly.

Actually, I really do like to blog in general, but I just sometimes forget.

Kate and Grace love each other, a lot.

I was really blessed to grow up with a great brother and sister.

Side story about my brother...

 Growing up, my mom always told us that she didn't need to know what was going on unless it was immoral, could cause us physical harm in someway or life threatening. I told on Brian a lot. Like the time he sprayed axe (the obnoxious cologne that middle school boys decide to cover themselves in) in the house and then lit it on fire. He was mad at me, but i felt like my life was in danger. I'm pretty sure he got in trouble for that.

Anyways,

A few months ago my Sister moved to Chicago. Check out her blog here. It has been wonderful, I love my sister so very much. I also love that Grace and Kate get to spend so much time with her. I find that the hardest part of being in Chicago is being away from my family.

I know my sweet girls have a special bond. One of their first words was "sissssssy!" If you ask them where their sissy is they grab hands and try to get close to each other. If they have a hard time finding sissy, things get sad. I mean,how would it not. This is the person that they have really never been separated from.

Most days it's a struggle for them to take a nap or go to bed. How would you handle having your best friend over for a sleep over every single night. They just giggle and giggle and talk and talk. They are hysterical.

Well, it's hysterical after they take a nap or go to sleep. But, they just love each other so.

Seeing them with each other really makes me question how anyone gets through life without a twin.
In elementary school I had a serious obsession with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, I wanted to be a twin. Life as a twin just looked awesome. Now, being a mom of twins, I have to say I'm pretty sure it is as awesome as it was in my head as an elementary school girl.

I mean, how are you supposed to constantly feed yourself. You need a twin to feed you when you get tired.

When you are lonely, you need a twin to snuggle with.

Or, when your paci falls out, you need a twin to put it back in.

How about a back scratch. You have a twin for that.

I just an not sure how we have all managed to survive.. But somehow we did.

I am so thankful for the special relationship my sweet girls share and the love they have for each other!

The Park

There are few places that Grace and Kate love as much as the park.

Living in downtown Chicago, we don't have a yard, so when we are ready to go outside to play the park is where it's at.

I feel like every time we go to the park, I see the girls grow. They get bigger and braver every time. The girls are definitely no longer babies, but it still breaks my mommy heart (and makes it happy at the same time) to see them showing the park who's boss!

Tonight, it was a perfect Chicago night in my mind. You know, the type of night that Chicago fall is made of. The type of night that all the tourists come to Chicago, and we had the park all to ourselves! It was too good to be true!

So tonight, I just wanted to share with you some of our sweet family time.

Family time is the best :)

Here is a video of the girls sliding together :)

This gives you an idea of how big they are getting

Here is miss Kate

Here is Sweet Grace

Now, if that isn't video overload...

At the same time, we think they are the cutest things ever and can't get enough of them! We love this age!

The Meanest Parents EVER.

Austin and I often joke that we are the meanest parents ever. 

It's a hard job, but someone has to do it. 

Tonight, Austin and I took away the girls bottles for good. It's okay, go ahead and judge us. 

I know, the girls are 18 months old. I know they don't need bottles to go to sleep. And, I know we have waited too long to do this.

Truth be told, we are just exhausted.

That's why we have waited until now. I am always so (truly) happy for parents who have babies that sleep good. Really, I am. But, Kate and Grace don't sleep well at all. They never have. Most nights i feel like they never will. But, I know these long sleepless nights will only be a memory when they are teenagers (HA. YEAH RIGHT, we will never let them sleep in ever just as revenge. Just kidding :) ) We just tend to think that they like to be around us, that is why they get up multiple times a night. 

That being said, bottles are easy at 1:00 in the morning, and 3:00 and 4:30 and 5:45, well you get the picture. 

The other part of taking away the bottles is that the girls have figured out how to unscrew the bottle cap and pour the entire contents of their bottle onto their cribs. I think we may have some future engineers on our hangs. 

If you can unscrew the bottle cap, you don't need a bottle. 

So tonight, we were reminded about how mean we really were. For our next mean feat, we will take away paci's. 

Don't worry, we are only doing one mean thing at a time :) 

We would love to hear any tips on taking away bottles/ paci's/ ect. 

Camp Week

One of the signature trade marks of being a youth pastor is summer camp.

This week was our SR. High Camp in Holland, MI. Last year, when the girls were only 4 months old, we decided that it would be a great idea to go. Little did we know, there was no air conditioning and it was no place for two 4 month old babies and their crazy mama.

Actually, it wasn't that bad. Yes, it was hot but everyone there was so incredibly accommodating and sweet to us. I think part of it was they could see I was clearly  not in my right mind.

This year the girls and I decided to stay home. Since we moved, I feel a lot safer (Okay, that's an understatement), and I can actually be at peace in our home.

I was also so blessed to have my mom and sister come up to help. One of the most exciting parts of them being here is that we firmed up the fact that MY SISTER IS MOVING TO CHICAGO!!! Not only that be she is moving .4 miles away from us (I googled it)!

The girls had so much fun with my mom and sister. After my mom left, the girls got my phone and asked for Memaw. They were ready to see her again. I am so thankful for such a loving and supportive family.

While Austin was gone Kate got FOUR new teeth. She was pretty miserable all week. She only had 4 teeth before he left, so she literally doubled her amount of teeth. As you can imagine, it was pretty sad.

Fortunately, Grace didn't get any new teeth while Austin was gone. I think she is probably waiting until he gets home so we can share the crabbiness.

We were really thankful that we had the technology to see and talk to Austin while he was gone this last week. The girls made it clear they were mad at him for being gone, but I think the moment they see him it will all be a thing of the past.

Last night it was just K, G, and me. We had such a nice time just playing and hanging out together. We went to Panera and did a little shopping. The way people react to them constantly cracks me up. And they don't really react back, unless you have a puppy. Then, you have two instant best friends. No joke.

And, in totally unrelated news (because that's how my brain works..) watch this video of a doctor who sings to the babies he deliver and smile!

Raising Vegetarian Kids.

About a year ago I made the decision to switch to a soft vegan (every once in a while I'll have a desert with animal products) diet.
I did it due to the fact, I'm just not a huge fan of meat.

Since that time, I have seen a lot of positive changes.

Austin still eats meat (sometimes).

But, we made the choice to raise K and G on a vegetarian diet.

We are constantly looking for new meal ideas for them. Recently, I feel like we have been in a recipe rut.

All of this to say I have found an amazing website. It's a blog called What Vegan Kids Eat. Love it. ( Thanks Pintrest!)

Yesterday, I went to the grocery store by myself and I bought enough food to make 15 freezer vegan crock pot meals.

Win.

Austin helped me put them together last night when I got home and we had such a fun time.

Austin is actually a awesome cook and does 95% of the cooking at our house. I'm pretty sure he would rock Master Chef.

So, check out the blog. It's a great resource if you want to introduce a few more plant base meals into your diet.

In totally unrelated news, here are some pictures of Grace and  Kate. Just because they are so stinking cute.

Beach Time

When we moved downtown a few months ago, we knew there were a lot of perks.

One of which was being so close to the lake. After we moved into our place I came to the realization that we could actually see (a tiny sliver) of the lake from our apartment.

Ahh, so nice. Seriously, I feel like we are constantly on vacation in our apartment. We love our place so much. 

So yesterday Austin had a youth group event at the beach by our house. So, the girls and I decided to stop by for a little while. Well, I decided and the girls were not happy about the decision until they actually got there because they had to ride in their stroller. It was very sad. 

They love the beach so much! Daddy covered Kate in sand. 

And then it was time to do some tanning. She is her mother's daughter. 

And this is my favorite. 

Right before we headed home I was holding Grace and then I realized my shirt was wet. Yep.She peed on me. Even with a swim diaper. 

My least favorite part of the beach? Bringing all of the sand home. I have a feeling I will be cleaning up sand for the rest of the week. 

Tantrums

Last night was a rough night.

I was initially going to write about how the girls walked home from the park holding our hands yesterday. It was so sweet and fun.

And then,. last night happened.

Don't get me wrong, Kate and Grace are the sweetest. But, when they get tired...man watch out.

Kate has been throwing temper tantrums lately. Well, she really only throws them for me. She has never thrown one for Austin.

I think it's just because she feels so comfortable around me :)

So, last night. Austin was at work and I put the girls to bed...Well, Grace never feel asleep. Then she woke up Kate.

Kate was not happy. She let Grace and I know for over 20 minutes. I have pictures of her throwing her tantrum that I sent to Austin just to let him know what he was missing. And, just to let him know that he was missed :)

I decided against showing her tantrum pictures because she would kill me in about 15 years if she found out they were on the internet.

But, I will show you the aftermath.

After we decided to calm down, we feel asleep on the floor.

Then, Grace decided to go rub Kate's head. She was really concerned about her when she was having her tantrum.

Anyways. This is our real life. Tantrums and all. 

Mom Fails

Day 7.

There have been a lot of things that I would consider a big ol' fail when it comes to being a mom. If we are being honest, every mom has them. And, if you are anything like me it probably happens multiple times a day. I'm just being real here :)

Well, today here was my Mom fail.

It actually starts with last night. We didn't get the girls to bed until around 11. OPPS. But, the beautiful thing about that was that they didn't wake up until around 8 am. What?? This is unheard of in the Hey household. We have our morning alarm (Grace and Kate) go off without fail by 6:15 at the latest.

So, needless to say, our schedule was a little off today. Okay, a lot.

On top of that Austin had his summer kick off for the Student Ministry. So we got to spend the majority of the day at church with little to no nap for the girls.

We got home it was around 3ish. I can see the wheels turning in your head. It's getting a little tricky, right.

Austin and I were exhausted so we put Kate and Grace in their cribs for some quiet time. That's what we call nap time where we really don't know if they need naps, but we know we really need a break. Don't worry, they get toys.

And low and behold, noise stops coming out of their room around 4. Austin is taking a nap at this point and I am browsing Pintrest and doing some online shopping.

The next thing I notice, it's 7:45 (well actually more like 8:00, but 7:45 sounds better) and I realize that I hear someone  in the nursery. Opps. I let the girls take a nap until 8:00.

So, bed time didn't happen until 11:00.

Here's to another 8 am wake up call :)

Kate and Grace's Nursery

Day 6.

I'm exhausted, but I'm going to write a blog. I can do it. I can do it. Sometimes, you just need a little pep talk.

I'm going to take the easy out and show you Grace and Kate's room. It's adorable, and they love playing in it. I'm still not quite finished but we are getting close.

Adorable, I told you. This is only half of their room. It is HUGE. Truth be told, we gave them the master bedroom. Since I work from home, it just made sense for them to have a nice big playroom where they can enjoy hours of play while I can be in the other room on calls. 

And, in other news, they are the cutest. They love each other and reading. 

A story that will make you shake your head.

Day 5ish. 

Well, I made it four days without missing any days... and then I dropped off the face of the blogging earth again. 

I guess the only thing I can say in my defense is that I really like sleep. And, typically, blogging happens after the girls go to bed. 

Yesterday, we took the girls to the pediatrician. It was technically for their 15 month appointment, but it ended up being closer to 16 months. Eh, it's the effort that counts :) 

We started at a new pediatrician due to the fact that it is less then half a mile from our place. You can't beat that. We loved our old pediatrician, but the thought of trying to get the girls there on my own gave me nightmares. 

So, we changed to a new one. He is a nice guy. I'm pretty sure he was overwhelmed by the chaos that we brought with us. Maybe it was the girls running around the room pushing all of the stools. Whatever keeps them entertained. 

G and K are very picky about people, and they made it clear that he was not their favorite. Awesome. 

He then told us that they were one of the most identical sets of twins that he had ever seen. That's funny, because they are fraternal. I mean, they do look a lot a like, but they aren't identical. 

But, other then that it was an uneventful visit. The girls are very healthy and active. Kate weighed in at 21 pounds (10th percentile) and Grace weighed in at 20 pounds (5th percentile). They both are 29 1/2 inches tall (10th percentile). This was pretty much what I expected due to the fact that they are still in 9-12 month clothes at almost 16 months :) 

So, all in all. It was a great appointment. 

In other news, here is a story that will make you shake your head. 

Background: Austin and I were in the elevator with the girls. There was another man in the elevator with us, and a lady comes on the elevator. 

Lady: Are they twins? 

Me: Yes, they are.

Lady: Oh, are they paternal? 

Me: Well, they are fraternal.

Lady: Oh, so they are identical?

Me: No, they are fraternal, although they look very similar.

Lady: Are you sure? Because I think they are identical. How do you know?

Me: They had separate placentas.

Lady: What's that?

Me: (trying to explain separate placentas in a non-awkward way for the sake of the gentlemen in the elevator)

Lady: Oh, so are they twins?

Me: No, we just had one baby and then cloned it immediately after birth.

Lady: Oh! I've heard of that. Any side effects?

Me: One of them has a super powers.

***The actual conversation ended after my explanation of the separate placentas...****

Have a lovely day!

A Home Goods Super Find.

Day Four:

Today has been a busy day.

Austin and I are running the Chicago marathon in October, and today was our first long run. The girls were not thrilled that they had to join us on the run. After about 5 miles they were done. After our run, we had to grab a few things at the grocery store, and they made it clear to everyone in the store that they were not happy.

Well, until I bought them crackers (I'm not above toddler bribery).

Anyways...
Today one of the errands we had to run was to Home Goods. I LOVE Home Goods. Austin does not. But, we were in desperate need of new measuring cups, so to Home Goods we headed.

There was no way I was going to go into Home Goods and literally just buy measuring cups (I think this is why Austin doesn't like it ).

So, as we were meandering through the many wonderful aisles of goodness that is Home Goods we stumbled upon this little jewel.

A sparkle playroom rules sign. 

I have been looking for a cute girly playroom sign since we moved into our new place about two months ago. I feel like I searched so many different places for one that wasn't gender neutral. Our house is not a gender neutral house :) Although, we did buy a darker color couch for Austin to help neutralize all of the pink. 

The biggest news about the sign is... Austin was the one who found it! Ha! I just walked past it. 

And it was only $20. That is what we call a steal friends. 

Here it is in the girls room. Love it! 

The Children's Museum and A Funny Daddy

Day Three:

Today, we had a play date with our little friend Jeremiah.

Jeremiah (and his mommy and daddy) live in Streeterville too. We met them probably 7(ish) months ago in the nursery at church. Austin and I love this family. They are such a blessing to us.

So for our play date, we headed to the Children's Museum at Navy Pier. We are so blessed to live less than a mile from Navy Pier. It just seemed like a no brainier to take advantage of the Children's Museum there.

The girls had so much fun. We only explored two of the rooms, but we are looking forward to being regulars there :)

In other news about being regulars... We went to the grocery store today, and the cashier asked us where we had been. Neighborhood win. Or, we buy to much food. I'll go with the neighborhood win, we have become one of the locals :)

Now, on a totally unrelated note I will leave you with this little jewel.

Flying with Toddlers

Day Two,

Confession, I had to type "flying" about three times in the title to get it spelled right. I'm thinking that I haven't had enough coffee today.

On our most recent trip to KC we decided to fly.

A few months ago, we decided to become all hipster and sell our car and move down town. Well, the real reason wasn't to be hipsters. Maybe I'll write about that tomorrow.

Well, on our way to KC everything went great. Minimal fussing, maximum sleeping. Everything any parent of a toddler (or two) could ask for.

On the way back home, things didn't go quite as smooth. The girls missed their nap time because I decided to try to coincide nap time with our flight. Great idea, Sara. Well, in theory it was a great idea. Unfortunately, I didn't plan on the fact that we would be grounded for two hours...with two overly tired 15 month old toddlers.

Everyone on the plane was super thrilled with us.

We started on a happy note.

Grace and Kate liked watching the airplanes and being hams. 

Seriously, they were waving at everyone. They bring so much joy to so many people. 

Once we found out that our plane was grounded... The vibe changed a little. I didn't bring milk or many snacks for the girls. Again, everyone on the plane was thrilled. 

Then, we got creative. We made drinking water out of our sippy cups a game by putting them in the back pocket of the seat in front of us. If nothing else, it really kept them entertained. 

Thankfully, I was finally able to get off and get milk. What a relief. Once we were finally aloud to take off, Kate and Grace were out cold. Kate didn't even wake up for the landing, and we were sitting right next to the wings/wheels/engines (another great planning job by Sara Hey). 

As a side note, I was talking to our friend Amy about this whole fiasco and she told me it rained for 30 minutes here. Seriously?? We were grounded for two hours because of 30 minutes of rain?!?! End Rant. 

So, what did I learn from all of this?

1.Austin is great. 

Well, I already knew that.  But, he is so great with the girls. He sings them songs from their princess book, has picnics with them and gets up in the middle of the night when they fuss. Grace, Kate and I are lucky girls.

2. Over preparing snacks is always a good idea. 

Even if the girls don't eat them, I can get hungry too!

3.I am so thankful for technology.

If you have a toddler and haven't heard of Peek a Boo Barn, you are missing out. 

Well, if nothing else, I'll be better prepared on our next flight :)  

60 Blogs in 60 Days, Take Two.

Last year, I really really tried to write 60 blogs in 60 days. Really.

I had a good start and then fizzled out. I think there were a number of things that contributed to the fizzle.

Maybe the fact that I had twin babies. Eh, could be.
Or Maybe, when I did have time to write about the happenings of our ever so exciting life I decided all I wanted to do was pass out on the couch instead.

Often, I just had the idea that our lives really weren't that important for people to read about. I was just going about what seemed normal for me and every once in a while I would come to the realization that the situation we are in is unique and important. Grace and Kate bring so much joy to so many people and sometimes I just forget that. I just become so use to the blessing they are that it just becomes "normal".

Now, my babies really aren't babies anymore. They are 15 months old and running around like crazy. They are pulling hair, throwing food and yelling "NO,NO", "ball", "puppy", and many other things. I feel like we are this crazy tornado that causes chaos where ever we go.

But honestly, it's getting better.

I went back to work in January. It was one of the best decisions we could have made for our family. I am wired to work and be a professional, and I am a much more delightful person to be around since I've gone back to work. Seriously, just ask Austin. While I think being a stay at home mom is an awesome calling, it's not mine.

All of that to say, I feel like i'm not living in the tornado of chaos fog any more.

We were in KC this last week and I was talking to my mom. I was telling her that I really don't feel like I remember anything about Grace and Kate being itty bitty. She told me that is the way we are programmed so we can have more kids down the line. Ha, I believe it. Then, she promptly told me stories about when I was 2 and would stand in my room screaming, for hours and hours, because I didn't want to go to bed. (I guess she still remembers that!)

So, why 60 blogs in 60 days? Because I want to be real. So often, I find it's easy to tell everyone about the wonderful things the girls are doing and you might not hear about how Kate's new favorite sport is trying to rip out mommy's hair from the roots (I only wish I was making this up). Share in our failures as well as our triumphs, and just laugh with us. Because, that is what we do.  We laugh and look forward to what the next day might hold, as long as we have a cup of coffee in our hands.

BOB

No, this isn't a post about my dad or any member of my extended family (I'm pretty sure half of them are Robert/Rob/Bob). This is about our stroller. We have gone through our fair share of strollers. We have been so blessed to find GREAT deals on strollers since the girls were born. We have spent a combined $200 on strollers, which is a huge win for a great stroller in general.

We recently purchased a BOB jogging stroller off of Craigslist. Creepy, I know. But it was a great deal. We registered for the Chicago Marathon today, so our jogging stroller is going to get some good use!

Registering for the marathon was a marathon in itself. It took each of us 40 minutes to register...they wanted to make sure we were dedicated I guess...


 This is what our BOB looks like... kind of.

We got our stroller right before Austin left for a youth retreat. Our sweet friends Brad and Stacy came up for the retreat. We found out Grace had phenomena right before the retreat, so Stacy and I stayed back. There are very few people I could just hang with for an entire weekend, but Stacy is one of those people in my life. We never run out of things to talk about. We will have our own talk show one day. Just wait for it. We took the girls on a walk on one of the days... when we got back we had a hard time folding up the stroller. Okay, when I say hard, I mean it probably took us 20- 30 minutes. It somehow ended up in our house, but I'm not exactly sure how...

Ha. At least it made it in the house. 

They are cute... even in a stroller.

Sleep Training

It's been a while. Who am I kidding, it's been a lot longer then a while.

The girls are almost a year old. I'm thrilled that we have made it through this last year, but a little heart broken that my sweet girls are no longer babies. Grace and Kate are the most amazing blessing in our lives. They have taught us so much, and are constantly bringing smiles to our faces.

Over the last year, one thing that hasn't brought smiles to our faces are the hours of 1am - 5am. We saw a lot of those times over the last year! I'm pretty sure I have read just about every book on the market about sleeping. We have tried so many different methods in order to get our girls to sleep, but NOTHING has worked... We just didn't know what to do.The girls would constantly wake each other up...we were just at our wits ends. Finally, we decided to start looking into some sleep training.  I can't stand to hear my girls cry. I can't. There was no way we could do the cry it out method. I knew if someone would come in and tell us to let the girls to just cry I would never be able to do that. But, there had to be a solution to our sleep problem.

I finally found a sleep consultant who was having a free seminar, and we decided to check it out. When she said that she didn't use the cry it out method, I realized there was hope for us. A sleep plan that didn't involve my sweet girls screaming, and I was able to be in their room until they fell asleep. Okay, I could do this. We hired her, and I am pleased to say I have had babies sleeping through the night for the last 3 nights. Yes, 11 hours plus!

Up until this point Austin was getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night. He took 80% of the night time shift, because my blood sugars would go crazy when I was tired and stressed. He was such a trooper. It is such a wonderful thing to be getting 8-9 hours of sleep a night. We can breathe a sigh of relief.

We did a few things differently, but one of the best things we did was buy a white noise machine. This is such a silly thing, but the night we did Grace slept through the night. No Joke.

 This is similar to the one we ended up getting.

I am thankful that we ended up getting a plan that Austin and I could both agree on, and stick to together. We are still working out some kinks in our sleep plan, but a rested Mommy and Daddy are a happy Mommy and Daddy.


In totally unrelated news, this weekend we went to a mall in the burbs. When we got there, we realized we forgot our stroller. AWESOME. We found out that the mall had loaner strollers, and so we headed on over to the customer service counter. The girls LOVED the stoller, I don't know what it was about it. They just giggled and waved at everyone, they are the biggest hams.

Kate is in the front and Grace is in the Back. They had so much fun! 

That's our sleep update for the day!
Sweet Dreams!