Summer Fun

We've been having a blast this summer, but it is flying by! The girls are telling everyone that will listen that they are ALMOST 4. I can't get over the fact that I'm planning their 4th birthday party and how much they've changed in just the last few months. I'm working on a post from our Chicago trip, but found these favorite photos from Father's Day, that I couldn't pass up posting. They love their daddy (and their grandpas)!

Jeremy celebrates 9 years with his company this week (he's the only person I know still working for the company that hired him out of IU) and I'm getting ready to take on my 4th academic year with Gamma Sigma Alpha. We are planning our final summer trip and first long road trip on September, so we still have a lot of summer in us. Enjoy the photos!

Blessed Beyond Measure-Christmas 2010

I'm procrastinating putting the decorations away and still eating leftovers, not quite ready to kiss the holiday good-bye. It was a good one. Magical, to say the least. A & L's excitement and anticipation had me awake at 5:30 on Christmas Day. I lived my best holiday through them. A great benefit of being a mom, I guess. We had visitors and gifts and I'll surely rank their favorites on a later blog when I see which span the test of some time. I'll get to my thank-you notes, clean the fridge and edit some pictures, slowly ticking off the to-do list. However, my biggest hope is that the feelings revisit my heart and theirs again before next December.

The tree-taken at about 6:30 a.m.--just before the girls walked down!
Letter to Santa--written verbatim--gotta love the potty reminder!

Evidence that he had come and gone and taken that silly Elf on the Shelf with him!

Bedtime stories with dad!

Holiday walk in the snow with Uncle Joe

Christmas Eve before church--Daddy post-lasik! It's still weird seeing him without glasses! (Lilly, on the other hand looks like she might need them :-)

Picture from the Ash grandparents holiday card!

Picture from the Sadler holiday card (yes, A & L graced 3 holiday cards in 2010-we are really trying NOT to let the popularity get to their heads!)

Humbled to host this crew at our home for dinner every year! We feel the love!

Halloween Hangover...

Not sure where October went, but the final weekend was occupied by a Hayride & Picnic with our twin friends, a costume/birthday party for a friend, neighborhood gathering & parade, and trick-or-treating with both grandparents here celebrating our chicken & egg. Now, I'm trying to wrap my brain around November and rid the house of any evidence of any Halloween candy.

The week leading up to Halloween, EVERYONE asked the girls what they were going to be. Most anticipated hearing "princess" or "fairy" or "ladybug." I was afraid the girls would be swayed and would want to go as princesses instead (because don't get me wrong-they love princesses), but they were troopers, each time proclaiming proudly that they were going as a chicken and an egg! Overall, they were great trick-or-treaters and tolerated Daddy driving them all over town to show them off before getting to do any actual door-to-door action.

During the neighborhood gathering & parade, we realized we hadn't quite prepared them for the 'scary' costumes. Lilly took one look at some kid draped in black cloth (head to toe) with a bloody stump on top of his head and FREAKED. Girlfriend had to come back to the house and ran upstairs insisting that she'd rather go to bed than participate in Halloween. It was so sad, but after some coaching, she rallied. With her daddy by her side, she braved the neighborhood again. The grandpas' recounted a couple of times having to cross the street to avoid the "scary" guys". Luckily, we had no long-term side effects of the trauma.

Addy was a doll and told anyone who asked that her Ga Ga Jody had made her costume. She has a new-found love of NERDS and I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing as she eats them one-at-a-time, so a mini box can occupy her attention for up to 30 minutes. She adored watching the older kids and idolize our neighbors, so any holiday that means she spends time with them, she's on board!

Enjoy the pictures!

Lilly on the hayride

A wind-blown Addy on the hayride

Braving the big-hill slide at a park nearby during the twins club picnic

Mom's turn!

Addy-layered and ready to go! (it was a chilly Halloween night in Indiana!)

Lilly-ready to fill her bag!

First stop: GiGi's and Wild Bill's house (great-grandparents)

Grandpa Dave, Grandpa Ian, Ga Ga Linda, Ga Ga Jody, Daddy, his chicken & his egg!

4th of July at the Lakes

Ten days post-potty-boot-camp and I couldn't be happier. The girls are doing well and we feel the toughest part is long behind us (pardon the pun). Third birthday party planning is well underway and we've been blessed with visits with my best-friend Jenny, our friends Jillian & Teague and Aunt-Cat, who Addy has dubbed her "favorite friend". Life is good. Here are some pictures from 4th of July that I couldn't let pass and not share.

Laker-Girls

All-decked out in red-white-and-blue with Baby Owen



Lilly, honestly thought she was Jeremy's skipper--letting him know when the ladder was left down or when he was going too fast or too slow--it was a riot, the girl will be a laker for life.



Who needs to swim when I can ride on daddy's back???

Grandpa Dave and his girls (after a long day on the water)...

"Itchy Pants"

The girls got some quality time with Grandma & Grandpa Ash this weekend--The Children's Museum, McDonalds, Sunday brunch, park, etc. Thank you so much for allowing us the time to get to Chicago to see friends! It started before their weekend, the girls had a few bites last week, but I'm afraid to report, they are covered in chigger bites. I discovered after Addy kept saying "itchy pants" last night and not knowing what she was saying until I did a diaper change and they had all appeared. Poor thing. So, much to my husbands dismay, we may be in need of a little indoor play and no more dresses when we play outside for a while. Off to the store to stock up on benedryl.....

Addy, always concentrating on the task at hand...
Grandma Jody, Lilly & Addy

Lilly throwing the sand at the children's museum

Grandpa Dave and the girls he adores!

Thanks again!

Silent Soldiers

I've said from the beginning, that it takes a village and no one knows that more than mothers of multiples! I think Grandma Linda and Grandma Jody know how much they mean to my girls, they get immediate reactions from Addy & Lilly when they walk in the door. Our "Silent Soldiers" might just be Addy & Lilly's grandpas! They get met with a little apprehension, but the girls warm up quick. Dave shows up with diapers when he visits and Grandpa Ian cooks the best breakfast in town! Thank you both for being such integral parts in our lives!

Reading a bedtime book with Grandpa Dave

Making pizzas with Grandpa Ian

Easter 2009

Jeremy is privileged to work for a company that continues to put family first. During a time when most companies have cut these gatherings from their budgets a long time ago, they host a variety of family-friendly gathering over the year and Easter is no exception. We went to the Easter party a few weeks ago. The girls got baskets and as it turns out, Addy and Lilly like the bunny as much as they liked SANTA. Maybe this distaste for people in costumes may save us in the long run, making us avoid Disney until they have kids of their own?

As for Easter day, we've been busy!

Opening Easter baskets this morning and getting a surprise from Auntie Joyce & Uncle Norman in England--the girls got little backpacks! They are so darn cute and will use them to pack up toys to take with them on day trips and to Grandma & Grandpa's house! Thank you!

Getting all dressed up for the Easter service at church and realizing why we go so infrequently...the girls were certainly not well-behaved and after bribing with snacks and toys, we ended up leaving early....

Gathering for brunch at the location where Jeremy and I had our hometown reception almost 4 years ago (to the day!). Above we have 3 uncles, 2 girlfriends, 2 grandmas, 2 grandpas, a great-grandma, a great-grandpa and us. Nothing like Easter to realize how blessed we are!

We hunted for eggs in the backyard!

And got lots of special Easter goodies!

Phew...what a day! Thankfully it's almost bedtime!

We survived...

We all survived a pretty nasty stomach flu and finally a week after it started, we feel back to normal. We managed to celebrate Thanksgiving with Jeremy's family and hopefully kept germs to ourselves. Jeremy and I planned to head to Louisville for a wedding with friends last night and we couldn't get there. The girls were so needy and we just didn't feel like we could leave them, so we stayed up at the lakehouse with Grandma & Grandpa Ash. I head to Denver this week for a board meeting of the organization I'm working with, so dad's on duty with help from my mom and his. Hopefully everyone stays healthy. Here's some pics from our Thanksgiving!

"Now, Grandpa Dave, tell me what card you are looking for and I'll try my sweet talk."--Lilly

"Uncle Joe, does your belly hurt from all that yummy food, I think I have heartburn."--Addy

"Yep, definately heartburn..."(Lilly on left, Addy on the right)

PS. Aunt Cat--we are sorry you are sick, do pictures of us make you feel better???? Get well soon!

A Day in the Life-2 months old today

I still don't know if we do this age thing by weeks or months, but today is the 11th of October and they were born the 11th of August, so we are saying Happy Birthday baby girls! They aren't happy campers today as we still seem to be working out some feeding issues as Lilly has been throwing up and Addy is more fussy than usual, so we are visiting the doctor this afternoon. However, I've been taking some pictures of what a typical day around here looks like...

When Grandpa & Grandma Sadler are here, we like to walk around the neighborhood--but no stroller for us, we'd rather be cuddled while we walk!

Lilly likes her swing only sporadically, here she is after a feeding, looking a little drunk!
Addy LOVES this mirror from Grandpa Ian, she's facinated with herself. Funny that we've spent hundreds of dollars on chairs & swings & strollers, but she is most content with a 10 buck mirror!

If it is a lucky day, we have a playdate with a friend, here is baby Addy and baby Mallory Cahill

It isn't often we sleep, but we like to sleep most cuddling with visitors. Here is Lilly and Grandpa Ash!

So, the question is, can you spoil babies, because ours seem to be slightly spoiled and know exactly how to get what they want!