Luke the thumb sucker

This is what Jeff walked into the other morning--Luke sucking his thumb in his bed! I have tried and tried to get him to take a pacifier, but they both refuse. Being a Dental Hygienist I would rather a pacifier over the thumb. About a month ago Carter spent about two weeks trying to find his thumb and as soon as he did that was it. We thought for sure he would be the thumb sucker, but he hasn't had anything to do with it since. Then all of a sudden Luke is sucking away. I don't think he is totally addicated yet, and hopefully he won't, but it sure is cute for now.

Christmas in Paris...

Paris, Texas that is. Saturday we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Paris for another family Christmas. The drive there was good and the babies did well. We rode with Rabbit and Dixie and Luke and Carter's three cousins, needless to say we were a little cramped. It was another day of pass me the baby. L&C got to meet their second cousin Debbie for the first time. Debbie is in the Navy and stationed in San Diego, Calif. When we went to California a few summers ago, we met up with Debbie and she was able to give us a tour of the ship she goes out on. It was very neat to see. Luke and Carter received a very special gift from Uncle Steve. He is a coin collector and he gave us two sets of the 2008 Presidential coins. I hope the boys will think it's neat to have collector coins from the year they were born. Thank you Uncle Steve and Aunt Geri. And by the way, Luke is sleeping a bit better, but now neither baby is eating well.

O' Sleep, Where Arn't Thou?

Okay what is going on? Is there a full moon, or are my babies just growing and changing? Luke and Carter have been great sleepers for a few months now and I have gotten spoiled to it. They would take great naps (still in their swings, but sleep is sleep. Right??), and sleep well at night. I'm not one of these lucky mommy's whose babies slept thru the night since day one, but I have worked hard to get them on a schedule and in good a sleep routine, thanks to Dr. W-Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Yesterday oh yesterday is when it began! My little Mr. Luke has decided he is going to boy cot sleep altogether. He has slept about 20 mins at each of his naps and woke three times in the night. We fed him, changed him, rocked him, you name it we tried it, there was just no soothing him. Jeff is working tonight so I hope he is exhausted from his lack of sleep the past two days and sleeps well tonight. So far so good. I just hope this is a temporary thing--I was getting used to a fulls night sleep lately. Due to Luke's desire not to sleep, it affects Carter's sleep so not only to I have one tired cranky baby, but I have two. Oh what the joys of having twins.

Our first Christmas

Happy Birthday Jesus and Merry Christmas to all. What a great first Christmas we had. Santa left Luke and Carter a Jumperoo and an excersaucer and each some wonderful stuffed animals. It was fun to see them play in them in their cute Santa pj's. We relaxed for the morning then Grampy, Mimi, Aunt Dixie, Uncle Rabbit and Cousins-Ethan, Mason, and Gavin came over for dinner. L&C enjoyed being passed around-AGAIN, and watching their big cousins play. They also enjoyed watching everyone open all the presents. I think it was the sound of the paper tearing and the shiny paper. I can't imagine how crazy it will be next year when they are mobile and we have five wild boys on a Christmas day high. Thank you everyone for all the wonderful gifts.

Christmas Eve at Ma maw and Pa paw's

Every year we spend Christmas Eve with Jeff's family. We all meet at Ma maw's house for lunch and then the opening of presents. Luke and Carter were defiantly the guest of honor for the day. They received way too many gifts and I don't think they were put down one time unless they were sleeping. Even then everyone waited impatiently for them to wake. L&C are so lucky to have such wonderful aunts, uncles, and cousins to play with them. Being the youngest on both sides I'm sure they will always be special to their cousins. Carter even watched a movie with his cousin Havin. Another great Christmas with the Manning's.

Mommy and Me or Us?

I am the happiest person alive--at least I feel that way most days. I can't believe how these two babies have changed my life. All I do is think about them day and night. It was almost a year ago I to, like a child, couldn't wait until Christmas morning (that was the day I could take my pregnancy test). I think I was more impatient than the kids waiting on Santa. I woke up at 6am, just like most kids on Christmas morning. The difference is I ran to the bathroom to take a pregnancy test instead of to the living room to see what Santa brought me. I couldn't believe my own two eyes-it was true, it was positive. I remember running back to the room waking Jeff and saying "it was positive and I'm so scared, I have to give birth!". For those who really know me, this has been one of my fears for many years. Well I soon found out that child birth is not scary it is amazing. It is absolutely amazing how God works and how in just nine short months two little miracles were born. That was the best Christmas of my life.

Discovering best buddies

Luke and Carter are noticing each other more and more every day. You would think that being in such close quarters for nine months that they wouldn't like being away from each other. Well it's not that way--we have always put them in front of one another and they wouldn't ever look at each other. I'm sure this had some to do with being newborns and not seeing well and others we would laugh and say they have already had enough of each other. It is fun to watch them interact together. Luke just stares at Carter with a huge side smile wondering what he is doing and well Carter just tries to eat Luke' s hands and laughs while he's doing it. Jeff and I are very entertained watching them and try to figure out they are telling each other. We are excited to watch them grow together and we know they will always be the best of buddies.

The echoing caugh

Carter started the funniest thing this weekend. Jeff has had a cold which has turned into a lingering cough. Friday we noticed Carter was coughing alot, but you could tell it wasn't a real cough. After a few times Jeff and I realized that Carter's coughs were right after his daddy's. We played around with it a few times, then it was confirmed--Carter was echoing his daddy's coughs. It is so neat to watch them figure new things out and amazing how smart they are. I know we have so much more to look forward to seeing. I love this!!!

Sitting in Santa's lap

Tonight we got to meet Santa for the first time. It was very exciting (I think more for me than for the boys) and I'm looking forward to see how the boys respond to him in future meetings. This year they loved it. They both sat like good big boys and let me snap away. I was so excited I had to get in on the fun and have my picture with Santa as well. Its been years since I've talked to Santa and I felt I needed to make up for the time lost, good thing there wasn't a line of eager children behind us. Marry Christmas!!!

Tis the season--

I love this time of year and I'm excited for the babies first Christmas. With Thanksgiving already gone and Christmas only 15 days away the holidays are going fast. I enjoy the hustle and bustle of crazy shoppers everywhere, traffic backed up for miles just to get to one store (as long as the babies aren't crying), and all the Christmas lights that light up the sky for Santa to see his way. We have been so busy the past few weeks that I just got my tree up today and I'm still not finished with it. Christmas's in the past I had my tree up in just an hour or so and lights on the house by Thanksgiving. How things have changed having TWO babies in the house. I'm not ever early to anything (well maybe that hasn't changed) and it takes extra long to get anything done. I love these changes and I look forward to see what other changes these two little ones will bring to my life. I have the two best Christmas gifts I could ever ask for. I tried to get some pictures in front of the Ma maw's tree, but as you can see that didn't turn out to well. They are still adorable.

On another note--Carter finally rolled over and Luke has mastered his laugh, and it is the sweetest little laugh. Carter is so strong and loud and my little Luke is just so soft and delicate. I love the differences in them and have been told they do tend to switch roles as the grow--we will see. Well happy holidays to everyone!!!!

Meeting cousin Lauren

This past weekend while we were in Colorado visiting my mom we were lucky enough to get to meet up with my cousin Katie and her family. Katie went from living in California all her life to the snowy mountains of Colorado. She lives just 40 miles from my mom so we try to get together whenever we are there. This time we were all able to meet for dinner. It was nice to see her little Lauren again and how much she has grown. The last time we were all together Lauren was five months old and Luke and Carter were two months in the human incabator. I think L&C were happy to finally meet one of their second cousins. Little do they know they still have many more to meet. It will be fun to watch them play together when we go back next year.

Saying good-bye to Oma

It was hard to do, but it had to be done--we had to say good-bye to our Oma as she leaves for her deployment. We spent three days in Colorado Springs cherishing each moment with her. We went to her Casing Cermony Friday morning, which was very interesting and moving. Basically what they do is perpare their unit flag for travel, indicating the unit is officially deployed. Once they reach their destination they uncase the flag, indicating they are ready for duty. When the deployment is over they will repeat the ceremonies bring the flag back home. The part I enjoyed the most was when all the soliders sang The Army Song--it shows that they are truly a family.

I am so proud of my mom for being so strong. She joined the military about 20 years ago as a reservist in the Navy. Once she graduated with her Bachelors Degree as a Registered Dietitian she transfered to the Army as a 1st Lieutant. She got deployed (here in the states) about four years ago and decided she really enjoyed the military life. She joined in as Acitve duty and has been stationed in Colorado Springs for the last two years. It has been nice to visit her and she has really enjoys living there. Currently she is a Captain and just completed her Masters Degree in Human Nutrition. She will be gone for a year and we will miss her so much.

Good-bye Oma, have a safe deployment. We love you!!

Let it snow---

Well we made it..to Colorado that is. We left early Thrusday morning for a 12 hour drive to Colorado Springs to see my mom off. The drive went well-the babies slept most of the way, we left at 3am in hopes they would. As we got into New Mexico the snow started falling and it didn't stop until early this morning. Everything was covered in white. I love the snow, but I do have to say just getting the babies out the few times we did it's not fun and I don't think they like all the bundling. So with the long drive and the snowy roads we enjoyed watching it from our hotel window. Here are a few pictures of the countryside along the way--covered in snow. BEAUTIFUL!

Doctor fun!

Today we had our four month appointment. The babies did great!! They waited patiently their turn to get measured and weighed and also to get the wonderful shots. They are both doing well on their growth. Carter is still a bit in the lead, but it may always stay that way and we are okay with that. Carter weighed in at 15.4 and Luke at 13.6. I am so proud how much they are growing and checking off their milestones. After being out weighed at the doctor, Luke decided he needed to show his brother up and rolled over first from his tummy to back. I am so happy for him, to bad he was to tired to show daddy when he got home from work. That's okay, I have a feeling there will be alot of rolling before we know it.

A visit from our little friend Ella.

Luke and Carter got to meet one of their friends for the first time last weekend. Jessica, Jamie (her husband) and Ella (their little girl/L&C's girlfriend) we able to come visit us from Tennessee. The last time we were all together was about a year and a half ago at the lake in Ark. camping with Jessica's family. This is a trip they have done since Jessica's mom was a little girl and now we are lucky to be a part of it each year. Anyway, Jessica and I were pregnant at the same time so we shared and compared our pregnancies all the time. Since L&C were four weeks early that made Ella only four weeks older then them. It was fun to watch the babies try to interact with one another and for Jeff and I to see how fast they change. Ella is doing so much more than the boys and it's weird to think they will be were she is in just a matter of weeks. We can't wait to see Jessica and her family again this summer at the lake.

Luke and Carter and their daddy..

L&C love playing with their daddy. Each evening when they are starting to get tired from a long day Jeff gets on the floor to try to pass a few more minutes before bed. They stare at him waiting their turn to be tickled and poked. Their legs going crazy and grins from ear to ear. This is the best time to get them to laugh. I love sitting either with the video camera or just the regular one waiting for the perfect moment to snap away. One thing we have found out with having twins is we have to be a team and I think Jeff and I make a great one. Even if it just taking pictures of laughing babies. A team is still a team.

Christmas with Oma

We celebrated Christmas this weekend with Oma since, as you know, she is deploying next weekend and this was our only time to do it. It was different not having the christmas tree and all the decorations, but we still had the spirit. We had a delicious lasagna made by my brother and sister in law and the very impatient children inspecting every present that had their name on it asking "Can we open presents yet?". I think it was just as exciting for me as it was for them. Being Luke and Carter's first Christmas, I feel like a kid again. L & C got some very cute slippers and teether from Oma along with the Baby Einstien DVD set, and each a personalized baseball jersery onesie from Aunt Dixie and Uncle Rabbit. Thank you Oma and everyone for all the wonderful gifts.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I do have to say I am so blessed and have so much to be thankful for. To start with I have my two boys who have made my life complete, thanks Jeff. I also have been lucky enough to have my mom and one of my best friends here to share this Thanksgiving/Birthday weekend with. We started the busy weekend off with last minute shopping for the rest of our Thanksgiving feast fixings. I spent all day Friday in the kitchen with my co-chef (my mom) and I have to say it paid off Thurday when it was meal time--everything turned out wonderful and I learned alot about cooking. Thursday morning we headed out to the Turkey Trot with babies in tow. We walked 3.1 miles and with having done that we all agreed that we were free to eat whatever we wanted for the rest of the day, well and weekend. The rest of Thanksgiving day was wonderful, we had about 20 family members at our house to eat good food and send their last farewells to my mom as she leaves next Saturday for her deployment. The babies did very well with their first Thanksgiving and had fun rooting on the Cowboys with their daddy and uncles.

Here we are!!

Well, I'm going to give this blog a try. I have been thinking about it for a while and I thought with my mom being deployed and having new babies at home it would be a good way to keep her updated with the boys milestones as well as all of our friends and family. I hope I am able to stay current with this and give everyone an opportunity to enjoy the babies as much as we do thru words and pictures. Thank you for reading and please comment, we love hearing from everyone. ENJOY!!