a&e turn SEVEN.

we had a campout.

with 8 little girls.

with the cutest decorations.

and an outdoor movie theater.

but mr. phone stealer has them.

waaaah.

you're just gonna have to believe me on this one.

i do have some on my big camera, i think. so at least i have those, right? 

i need to check & post those soon too.

okay, i'm sorry. i'll stop talking about my stolen phone for one post.

back to my story...

my little 3 pound twins turned SEVEN in july.

time, will ya slow the heck down?! geez.

on their actual birthday, they wanted to go iceskating again.

so we picked up their lil' friend, dropped off the nunu, & away we went!

 

a little ring around the rosey on ice. no big deal.

one of my favorite pics right now. ellie & daddy, dancing away on the ice. swooooooon.

these girls bring SO much joy into our lives. i can't stand how big they're getting, but still love how innocent & sweet they are.

some things i want to remember about them:
-just the other day, they came home & said, "mom, everyone has their ears pierced in our class but us! can we get ours pierced?" guess where we're headed on friday? ;)
-and yesterday ellie asked if we could buy her a belt. i guess all the cool kids are wearing a belt these days? haha!
-ellie still likes her arms & face tickled at night.
-audrey slept walk the other night & almost peed in tim's laundry basket. her little bare hiney was stuck right in there & scared the kajeebies outta me!
-they asked me if i was ever going to have another baby the other day & i had to tell them no. it was sad.
-sometimes i listen to their conversations through the door at night. sometimes i'm rolling! and other times, i'm crying. they are the sweetest.
-they hold hands a lot. randomly. it's the sweetest.

they are so funny. they're at their first tennis lesson as we speak. hehe. i love them! i love them!

twins, man.
never knew the ride i was in for when my water broke at 32 weeks.
thank you Jesus for this crazy awesome blessing you knew about all along.

what i want to remember about six.

my audrey grace:

full of life, spunk, & laughter for days.

collector of anything stuffed.

first one brave enough to ride a big roller coaster & take off her training wheels.

sensitive as the dickens.

gets in trouble a million times a day for hugging her sister too tight [and making her face almost pop off]. she loves that little e SO much.

loves dresses! the raggier, the better.

oh, and high heels.

wants to be 16 instead of 6.

still lets me do her hair however i want to.

addicted to cartoons. might just need an intervention soon. lol.

says, 'no worries!' all the time. no worries, mom, i'll....[fill in the blank]

supposedly has a boyfriend? but if you ask about him, she totally denies it. hehe.

sweet as pie. really. this kid couldn't hurt a fly. [but she wouldn't be afraid to pick one up & add it to her hoarder collection under her bed.]

a hugger.

the artist. you can find her new art taped to my walls daily.

lost her two front teeth just in time for christmas [but could care less about the $ left under her pillow. the tooth fairy caught on & started leaving dollar trinkets & toys instead. muuuuuch better].

asks me every morning, 'mom, do i look uuuutiful today?' [never pronounces the b. i DIE.]

my ellie joy:

has the giggles almost every night.

loves a good poop joke like her mom [well, audrey does too. i train them well. heh.]

prefers pants & shirts over dresses. 

has to pick out her own outfits.

always has to wear her high heel boots, too.

a daily battle.

and must have her hair a certain way every single day.

usually a boring ol' [cute] pony tail.

sleeps with at least 10 stuffed friends a night.

and knows when i put one in the closet. right away. don't do it.

a teeny bit afraid of the dark [but don't tell her friends..hehe..her dreamlite pillow pet has helped her so much!]

pretty sensitive as well.

the kindest, sweetest, biggest heart.

says the best prayers before bed. and always ends with 'the end,' instead of amen.

more coordinated when it comes to sports [sorry, audge. you got my genes.]

love, love, loves school. 

i let audrey ditch the other day [shh! don't tell.] & ellie would not ditch with us. went all alone. poo-ey.

loves to sing her heart out. she definitely got the ganny gene. if she's not talking, she's singing or humming all the good day long. i love it.

told me randomly yesterday [through tears] that she doesn't want to get big and hafta have a baby in her belly. does everyone hafta have a baby in their belly when they're big? cause i don't want one! she says.[say wha?]

oh, lawd. the drama.

together:

total bffs.

inseparable at home.

but at school, rarely play together.

weird, right? [they don't think so]

the same in so many ways.

but different in so many more.

[totally hard to explain to a stranger, but if you know them, you get it.]

this age is the funnest yet. [but i say that every year i'm sure]

they're still so innocent. and gullible. [like they are totally still into santa clause. and the elf guy that roams our house daily] 

but they are individuals who are growing up & learning new things every day, too. 

i can't get over it. they ask the best questions, too.

where is heaven mom?

do you miss your papa, mom?

do teachers have babies too, mom?

what do you do when we're at school, mom?

how come eden is one now, mom? i thought she is 11?

mom...mom...MOM....! 

if you have kids, you know. 

it's the strangest, most magical thing to watch a kid learn & have a-ha moments all the time.

family pics taken in july by it's love photography. you can find more here.

a&e, i love being your momma. and i love how much you love me back. i love that you already get my jokes. your laughs are contagious. i love how much you love & care about people. you two are the funniest, sweetest girls i know. really & truly. i love that we can go on girl dates already & get our nails done & talk about nothing at all. it means the whole world to me. it is everything i imagined being a mom to you would be. i didn't know how lucky i was to have twins 6 years ago. and now? oh my word. what a GIFT. i cry thinking about the great journey you two get to have as twin sisters & best friends. i am so excited to be there with you, cheering you on as you go! you will always be the most uuuutiful to me. love, mom

ps. totally off the subject, but have you ordered your christmas cards yet? still bangin' them out over here if you still want them! not much time left. fill out a form here to get started :)

random tidbits.

[to make up for my annoying post a couple days ago. heh.]

audrey was student of the week! and she (and we) were so proud!

i love to text mask pictures. so watch out! boo!

trying to channel lauren conrad makeup. too much pinterest for me. bwahahaa!

pretty disneyland trees. but i would never be at disneyland on bed rest. that'd be crazzzzy! ;)

i must've been ill, but we took the girls to chuck-e-cheese. gross.

cashing in their winnings. where a million tickets gets you a dang mini slinky.

oh! cute baby in a bathtub! audrey will be such a great big sister.

more cute babies in a bathtub! $2 foam= hours of entertainment.

and some driveway painting. good ol' fashioned fun.

blessed. blessed. blessed.
thankful. thankful. thankful.

funny, random fact: a+e think baby eden lives in the pregnancy app in my phone. they ask to see her in there everyday, you know, floating around in my perfectly round tummy? hah!

**36 WEEKS TODAAAAAAAY!!!!!! oh, mama. it's almost go time.**

adventures in bed rest-ing.

lately, best rest looks like this:

pictures, pictures, & more pictures taped all over my walls.

these are audrey's version of horses. a true artist in the making. gitty up!

lots of after school starbucks couch sitting. and cake pop eating.

lots of lawn chair sitting, too, watching these crazies run a muck 

outside after 7pm, when we won't melt into a puddle of sweat.

29wk belly. and the notorious daily sweat shorts. 30 wks on thur! say what?!

daddy-built forts add hours of entertainment. oh, shooooot.

and lots of little messes everywhere 

(that i don't hafta clean up! score! oh wait, who am i kidding, 

it drives me NUTS that i can't clean up. don't you know meeeeee?)

dinner dates with cousins. we love visitors, especially the small kind.

and hair-dos (or don'ts) that mommy has no control over. 

you want to wear 2 clips to school today? so be it! okay!

and let's not forget the random pig visits. a pig smaller than my hand?! 

a+e were in HOGS HEAVEN. i'm funny, i know.

pigs make audrey turn into a zombie.

so there you have it. it's good times over here, folks! (okay, there's a little sarcasm in there). if you know me, you know i can't stay still for more than 10 seconds (thank you, mom!), soooo we have to be creative & at least transfer scenery every once in awhile. from the chair! to the couch! to the lawn chair! to someone else's couch! hah. (and i do make it out every once in awhile for lunch. it's mandatory dontchaknow.) it's times likes these, i'm so thankful for twins. they always have each other, a constant playmate, & so far, barely ever get bored. it's really boring [for me] most days, but we're making it work. and God is so good the way he works things out!