The Big Birthday

Back in April, I had the big birthday....3-0. It was ill timing to be leaving the 20's and going into the "three's" while feeling ick about this post partum baby body, being in a constant state of grogginess from our moves, different sleeping arrangements, etc...but Ryan went out of his way to make it special for me. When I look back and stop being selfish, I can see how blessed I am and all God has done for me - especially in my 20's. I feel as though I've learned a lifetime of lessons just in these past 10 years so I'm eager and thankful for what God has in store for me the next 10.

Ryan put on his sneaky sneak hat and pulled off a surprise birthday party for me! It was perfect to have a big bash with so many freinds whom I have missed SO much the past year! I was thankful to be surrounded by them this birthday :)

A big shout-out to my girlies Caitlin, Jenn, MB and Jessica for helping Ryan pull it off and misleading me in our plans for the evening! :) It was perfect with red velvet cake, ice cream, and horribly embarrassing pictures of my youth hanging up everywhere.

Ohio

I've had all of these posts in my head about Ohio since we moved back but have been too intimidated to sit down and put it on paper or too busy or too tired. And since all of these thoughts are starting to leave my mind and become forgotten under the business of life, I thought I should jot them down so I don't forget our time in Ohio - good and bad :)

If not for Ohio....

- I wouldn't appreciate all that Ryan does for our family to provide for us and how hard he works.

- I wouldn't appreciate friendships like I do now. They are worth the effort! It is a hard place to be when your used to knowing multiple people in any daily situation you are in to not knowing one.single.person in your new life!

- I wouldn't appreciate a date night with my husband like I do now.

- I wouldn't appreciate willing and able friends and family to watch our kids for us to go to activities and dates.

- I wouldn't be able to say I drove myself to the ER at midnight with kidney stones and contractions! haha

- I wouldn't see how important an open door to my home is. I hands down have a different heart for people and families" new to the area "  - especially those with small children. There was a time we longed for someone...anyone... to reach out and bring us in to befriend us and give us the hints and things to know of Columbus. After some time, and after we had searched out small groups and mom groups to join, those doors slowly began to open. It was a humbling experience being on the "other side" of the door. Ryan and I have spoken at length of how we want to use our home once we are settled down back here in Raleigh. I'm thankful to the Lord for opening my eyes and showing me this opportunity to show His love towards others.

- I wouldn't have had SO much down time ( sooo sick we didn't go anywhere for weeks, didn't know anyone to go hang out with, bedrest, the Ohio winter, SNOW etc....) to get close to the Lord again after being "so busy" with the twins when they were infants.

- I wouldn't have experienced Giant Eagle chocolate ice cream. Oh mercy. Slaps this wonder-ice cream "blue bell" out of the room. awesome!

- I wouldn't have been able to go almost a year without paying over $3/gallon for gas! Loooooved me some Giant Eagle (our grocery store that gave you so much money off gas just for buying groceries - very few strings attached). Nothing down here comes close, that I know of anyway.

- I wouldn't have grown in my obsession with the sun and my disdain for the cold/snow.

- I wouldn't appreciate Bojangles the way I do now. :)

- I wouldn't have met such a wonderful group of Godly women in my MOPS group who supported me so much when Easton was born. I have wonderful friends to visit with when they come down to NC...b/c lets face it, I'm not going back to Ohio. haha!

Facts of Life:

Well, if you take the good and take the bad, take them both and there you have the Facts of Life...

High Point - Easton's birth

Lowest Point - Driving myself to the ER during my kidney issues while pregnant with Easton because we didn't know anyone to watch the twins for us! With a very close second being the drive back to Ohio after our first visit home in June. BRUTAL. And a very close third being the decision to give Snuggle to another family. Moving on...

Biggest Surprise - how cold/windy the spring was and how early / often is snowed without being a big deal. Southern Culture shock here.

Will Miss: Giant Eagle, no humidity - ever, friends we made, my slideout cabinets in the kitchen, my Honda Pilot :), the Columbus Zoo, sitting by the fire and drinking hot chocolate while it is snowing outside, hearing the twins say "Biiig Snooow" everytime they walk by a window, the Mexican dish we discovered at the local Mexican Restaurant - ya'll.

Will Not Miss: feeling lonely, the cold wind, snow every week for 3 months, BeechStreet insurance, not having an ocean nearby!, getting lost so often while driving, bundling the kids with so much winter-wear, being in Ohio during an election year- unbelievable.

I know I have forgotten some things, but this sums up a year, which felt like 2 or 3, in one little sitting. :) Thankful for Ohio, but even more so for North Carolina, aka Home.

April Awesomeness

In April, we were so thrilled to be enjoying a NC spring again, we jam packed whatever we could in our schedule!

First, we visited Uncle Brent and Aunt Courtney and took over their house for a weekend. We went down to celebrate our twin cousins' first birthday! Seems like yesterday we were celebrating the survival of the first year of twins of our own - it was fun to catch up and play with our cousins!

Going on a walk to get some energy out with Uncle Brent and Aunt Courtney

The Birthday Twins! Soooo cute

Caden handling his spot as solo male just fine :)

Jenna loved being a "big girl" with Cousin Lauryn

Sarah had cute Mickey and Minnie mouse ears for the k

Easton hanging with Aunt Courtney and giving some pointers to soon-to-be Cousin Dawson

We did our job of warning Brent and Courtney what is to come! We had so much fun!

Any chance we could be outside - we took it. We are so happy to be back having playdates with our friends we missed so much!

Sorry Raleigh, we kind of took over the swing section at our playdate.

Throwing rocks in the neighborhood pond, or as the twins call it: "Go big splash"

We love eating outside on the deck at Gigi and Papa T's house!

Jenna became the green worm catching expert and collected them in her cup to observe. Sadly, all the yellow flowers in the world did not revive any green worms after rough-house Jenna was through with them.

Papa T trying to teach them early the fundamentals of camping

We also moved into Nana and Papa's house for a few weeks while Papa T was recovering from eye surgery. We learned all sorts of new things like feeding the ducks, riding big "tractors" and getting reaquainted with all of Nana's toys.

Feeding the Ducks

Jenna working intently on her latest artistic creation.

"Biiiig Tractor"

Reading books and bringing out every possible toy at Nana's house...

Fun Days in March

Oh my....not having all of my pictures on a desktop here at my parents has proven fatal to my blogging consistency. But this is my desperate attempt to catch up and dare I say keep up. As if March wasn't crazy enough moving your house and 3 babies out of state, we added to it by playing catch up with all of our friends and family we had missed sooo much! To keep it brief, pictures speak more than words, right? Here we go...

Caitlin's Baby Shower - say what? Yes, my dear friend Caitlin is having a baby! We had to pull out all of the martha stewart, pinterest, HGTV craftiness we could muster to pour on our mom to be. She has been a part of throwing two showers for me and gave much of her resources to do so each time so I was excited to see what I could contribute. Too bad it was the weekend we moved home and I was SPENT! Mom and Robin to the rescue...we all took a project and conquered this baby shower thing! Robin gets the credit for the adorable watermelon baby, my Mom and I worked on the spring/eastery corsage and Robin helped put the vase vision in my mind to fruition.

Papa T and Gigi's house - The twins have enjoyed exploring, conquering and ultimately taking over their new turf. They find new places to read books, find new clothes that Gigi bought for them, go gaulk at themselves infront of a mirror in said clothes, and sit in the laps of the newly retired Papa T and seasoned retiree, Gigi :)

We met our friends' at their family farm to enjoy the sunshine and watch the horses, feed the goats, ride on ATV's, and paddle the paddle boats on the lake. Jenna enjoyed steering the paddle boats while Caden loved feeding the goats. Easton enjoyed someone holding him all day. It was a little windy thus the winter gear on Easton :)

And then we went to a fun Easter Egg hunt. The twins really understood the point of finding the eggs and putting them in their baskets. Granted, we tried to spend as much time teaching them the real reason of Easter and talking about Jesus, but with no tangible way to show us they comprehend, we will just pray something sunk in their little mind. :) Jenna was quite serious about her egg selection. She showed great form stretching with the legs rather than lifting with the back. Caden worked the system an entirely new way having Nana hold his basket FOR him while he went on the hunt. At the end of the hunt, we dumped their eggs out to search the loot. Jenna ended up only picking out eggs that had a Dora sticker on it. Girl knows what she wants from an early age....

Three Generations!

Papa got his sugar from Easton rather than Easter Egg Candy :)

The twins refused to cooperate on Easter Sunday for any decent pictures. Even though mommy lavished your Easter baskets with your favorite goodies. I will have my revenge, don't worry. Mommy will NEVER give up the fight for a good family picture. Easton earned a small fortune of brownie points for smiling adorably every.single.time he was asked. :)

We developed a love affair with bubbles. Love, love, love the bubbles! Caden gets very serious about his bubble trigger hold and Jenna....bless her heart. If she is breathing, that tongue is out! Such concentration.