The Transition

Every big "transition" the twins have gone through has made my heart ache. 

Every single one. 

From bottles to sippy cups, baby carriers to big car seats, binky to none, heck even when I was potty training Sabrina it was still a little sad for me.

That's how I knew I wasn't going to much enjoy the transition from cribs to big beds.  Before this happened, I swore up and down that they would be in their cribs until they were crawling out.  And with one exception of Sammy doing that at one point, they never dared.  Climbing out just wasn't on their list of priorities.

I wanted to wait until we were here and settled for some time before embarking on another big change.  You know us moms; "Don't want to do too much at once!  I don't want to overwhelm them with changes!"  Or maybe it's just me.

But Jason had pointed out that poor Sammy rolled around a lot and kept knocking into the rails on the crib....he just didn't seem comfortable in there anymore.  Sabrina might have stayed....but we couldn't just move one.  It would have to be both.

I contemplated.  I worried.  I cried.  And then, I relented.  We still had the cribs, we could still go back if we needed to.  We still had options.

So, off to the furniture store we went.  We picked out their bedroom sets and within a week we were ready. 

I contemplated.  I worried.  I cried--though not in front of them. 

I put on my brave mommy face and did our nighttime ritual as always.  Brushing teeth, reading books, family kisses, and tucking in. 

And I waited.  Or I should say, we waited.

Nothing happened.  Nothing bad any ways.  They went to sleep, peacefully, just had they always done.  They jabbered for a little while, reading their own books in their own beds, listening to their own music.

And I cried some more.

My babies are only 2 1/2 years old....and I knew that this day would come.  This is a good thing, I guess.  But I think it does sadden me that they are "growing up"....even if they are far from that.  Kids seem in such a rush these days to grow up (or maybe it was always this way?) but I don't want them to ever rush.  I want them to take their time and enjoy life as it comes....and these changes are a part of life.

It's been well over a week and everything has still gone smoothly.  They love their beds and they love their rooms. 

And apparently, they know much better than their mama did that they would be alright.

I love you, my babies.

Be patient with me as I take a walk down memory lane.  As I usually do when these things happen...

We've gone from this:

To this:

To this:

To this:

And now this:

Sigh.

Too long.....

Yes, I know....it's been too long since I have last posted.  Too be fair, we have been super busy...and finding time to blog is only after the twins have went to bed for the night...or when they are napping during the day.

I had a nasty bout of something, but I am feeling somewhat better...better enough anyways to sit instead of lay down and go through the 300 plus photo's I took this week when Jason's mom was here.

It was SO great having someone here from home!  We absolutely loved it and can't wait until Grandma comes back again!  We kept her pretty busy here--last Friday we went to a little town called Eureka Springs.  It is on a mountain and there are lots of shops to look at and browse.  The twins did GREAT, even considering it was much more cold here then it usually is.

Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch in Missouri and the twins loved that as well.  They had lots of things for kids to do other than just a wagon ride....hay jumping, slides, and a place for them to shoot some hoops, and even more for the little ones to do.  They also have a HUGE corn maze there, but we really didn't have time to do that.

So, here are just a few pics of our time together here:

At the park with Grandma:

Eureka Springs:

Pumpkin Patch:

Just Because...

They are too darn cute.  And they darn well know it!

Autumn

This is one of my favorite times of the year.  I love the crisp chill in the air, the smell of fresh cider made from apples, and the warmth of a favorite sweatshirt.

I've heard from many that the Arkansas fall season is beautiful and so it is on our agenda to do some scenic driving to catch some good pictures.  As well as the pumpkin patch, corn maze, and Halloween parade.

In between all of those festivities, we like to do crafts at home as well, no matter the season.  Fall just makes it more fun!

Today we made leaves:

 

The best part of the day wasn't when Sammy told me, "Good job mama!" or when Sabrina did good outline of her very own leaf.  Those were mere highlights.

The best part?

When daddy came home and they rushed to the door....and then rushed him to the window to show him their proud work.

"Look at my green leaf, dada!"

"I made one too dada!"

I've missed this...

They've missed this...

But not anymore...

After...

After a day of unpacking...

After a day of toddlers times two...

Tantrums times two...well, everything times two...

And craziness in general

I am reminded

That I have this times two every night

And that makes it all more than worth it

Our new home...

Well, we are moved into our new home...for the most part.  Everything is here, it's just a matter of finding and unpacking.  Which, I won't lie, is a little daunting.  But while we have been unpacking we have also been throwing stuff away that we realized we no longer need (or maybe ever needed ;) ).  It is amazing to me how much *stuff* we accumulated over only nine years of being married.  And how much more we accumulated in the past two years after the twins being born.  So it is a good thing that we can now basically go through it all.

Anyways, we are still in major unpacking mode.  But I decided to at least post some pics of the house while it was still empty, before we moved in.

View of the front door

View to the right, where the three extra bedrooms are.  Also an extra bathroom.

View of first bedroom that was supposed to be Sammy's, but we decided to make this the guest room. 

What will be Sabrina's room.  She loves the color and paint, so we got lucky there!

This will be Sammy's room.  (Which we will repaint....eventually!)

View into the extra bathroom.  Nice good space in there!

View from hallway into the foyer and dining room

View from dining room (that door in the back is to our bedroom)

View into kitchen and nook area.  The kitchen is really nice and spacious with lots of counter room and cabinets...

(Excuse the little mess!)

Fireplace in family room

Looking over to dining room....the family is actually a really good size

View into our bedroom

Another view from our bedroom

Master bathroom

Garage

Extra storage space in garage

So I think this will do us just fine.  It's a really nice house and we didn't even lose any square footage....we just went from a colonial to a ranch.  The storage will be really nice in the garage...we had a two car garage in Michigan so the extra space is really nice!

I forgot to take pictures of the deck off the back and plus the backyard is actually really big for this area.  So the kids will have fun running around out there!

And for fun.....

The twins having some fun on moving day!