Random Pictures

Happy Burfday Zippitasia!!!!

Happy Birthday Laira! (This is the age when you stop mentioning the number! Haha!) We hate that we can't be there with you today but I just want you to know that our life is richer just because we know you and we love you more than we could ever explain to you. We miss you so much and we will be thinking about you all day! The babies send you tons of burfday hugs and kisses for their Aunt Zippy! We ALL love you so much and can't wait to see you again soon! It's a new year for you so quit hugging the trunk, and go unrestrict that call! Love, Your other fam.

A toof.

Oh my goodness... my girlfriend cut her first tooth this weekend! I already feel like she's about to go to college and I can't slow it down. Oh nos. My heart is breaking in half! I don't want her to get any bigger! There are no pictures of it yet because it just looks like a little crater with a white chocolate center. Also, she's starting to rock back and forth when we get her up on her hands and knees. I give her another sedentary two weeks and then she'll be keeping up with her bro.

Monkey dude is "crawling" around so fast now! He's still not up on those knees yet, but with each little scoot, he is getting closer and closer. Now that he's on the move, he's decided that Callie's can't have anything! If he sees her with a toy or a binky or a bottle, he scoots over to her and rips it away from her. He doesn't even want it, she's just not allowed to play with anything. Also, we have the kids on a video surveillance from our bedroom and when he wakes up from his nap, he immediately tears down the bumper and starts staring at his bedroom door like, "the mommy or the daddy is supposed to come now!" It is too freaking cute!

We didn't do too much this weekend. We hung out with some friends all day on Saturday and watched football. Tonight, Peeny and I had a sleepover in the big peeps bed! It lasted all of 15 minutes, but it was the best sleepover I've ever had! That little piece of turd is my dream come true - both of them!

Get your hair did!

This is just a cute little video I took yesterday when I was sick in bed and Brent was giving the goofball a bath...

Off the charts...

I mean, I know my Cal is a little on the plump size, but when we took her to the doctor today, girlfriend topped out at 19 lbs. 11 oz! Oh my goodness... her hiney already graduated to size four diapers and poor lil Wyatt's tush just swims in them. That kid is going to want to go commando everywhere because I'm sure that's how he feels now! He could probably store all his toys in the space between his butt and the bottom of the diaper. Anyway, we had to take Callie to the doctor today because she brought home some skanky cold from her little bible study playgroup and got all of us sick. I told her not to kiss all those baby boys but she couldn't help it. She's a little hussy. She was tugging on her ear so badly today so we took her in just to be sure it wasn't an ear infection and that's when they weighed her. She didn't have an ear infection either, thank the lord! So, we didn't do too much this weekend since we were all kind of sick. We watched football and my Heath came to see me from Charleston to get her baby fix. I really love you so much, Heath! I could never explain how much...

PS - I feel like I always take pictures of the kids in THESE pjs! I don't know what that phenomenon is about...

BIG DOINGS!!!!

Monkey dude has major creepage! It started last weekend and he's gotten so good at it that I've had to put those little kid finger protectors in all the wall sockets in the living room. I'm sad. They are growing up way too fast! Peeny is like I was and has started rolling to get places. When you are a plus-sized girl, you gotta find ways to work around the precious blubber. Yea babies!!!!

Animals are just angels among us...

My life wouldn't be quite as happy if we didn't have animals in this world. They are the most innocent creatures and I can't imagine how someone wouldn't feel the same way. Here are two stories that I wanted to share that completely touched my heart. I hope you enjoy!

An abandoned baby monkey, close to death, is revived by the love of a bird. The 12-week-old macaque was rescued on Neilingding Island, in Goangdong Province, China, after being abandoned by his mother. Taken to an animal hospital, he was weaned back to physical health but still showed little appetite for life. It was not until a fellow patient, a white pigeon, took him under her wing and showed him love and affection that he perked up. Now the two are inseparable, say staff.

In a California zoo, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to pregnancy complications, the cubs were born prematurely and died shortly after birth. Mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically fine. The vets felt that the loss of her litter had caused her to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if she could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve. After checking with many other zoos, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the tiger mother. The vets decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only "orphans" that could be found quickly, were a litter of pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. The results ........

It's Official!!!!

Jeb and Agnes (AKA Mom and Pops McC.) are Bluffton bound! Callie and Wyatt are just too damn irresistible for them to continue to live 8 hours away I guess. Plus, my dad has to be close by to make sure he sways his grandson's college career toward the direction of the "Boo". Brent said it best when he said how much he loves it here, but having them close by will make it feel like home. It's true. Anyway, they are building a new house in a neighborhood that's about 5 miles away. (This is a picture of the model just like the house they are building.) It's in an old folkie neighborhood where you have to be a certain (old) age to live there. My dad keeps referring to it as "Jurassic Park"! Haha! They hope to be moved in by Thanksgiving.

So, I've started going to this Bible Study (no, that is not a typo) and today was the first day that I took the kids with me so that they could play with all the other little babies in the nursery. I was a nervous wreck and Brent even came with me to help me drop them off and get them situated and stuff. (I swear, we are going to be THOSE over-protective parents!) It felt like my heart was torn in half. I like to imagine that they had tons of fun but we will never know for sure. When I finally got to pick them up, there was no cheer or hooray, just two very tired babies who could barely keep their eyes open. They were exhausted. I brought them home and scrubbed the ever living crap out of them to get off all that public-community-kiddie-viral-ridden-grime ("spishyak" as we like to call it), topped them off with a fat bottle, and put them to bed for the rest of the afternoon. It was a crazy big day for the squirts... and huge letting-go moment for us too.

Callie sang with me!!!!!!!!!

Precious little runt decided to sing the itsy bitsy spider with me today! It was like I had tears of 'how the hell is something this cute existing on the planet right now'!?!?! So innocently sweet! She of course did not sing the words but she definately tried to used her own words softly and drawn out to make it sound like a tune! Thank goodness she did it again when Brent came home or he wouldn't have believed me. He was dying laughing with his fist over his mouth so that he wouldn't make a sound and distract her. Oh my God! It was THE cutest thing ever!!!!

Six Month Professionals

Kona Salad

Okay... a dorky recipe post, but get over it and make it because this is my new favorite salad that we made this weekend and it is the shizzle.

1 Red Au Jus Pear (pick a juicy one)

1 bag Spring Mix salad

1/2 container of crumbled gorgonzola

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

3/4 cup chopped smoked almonds

Dressing:

6 tbsp. orange juice

2 tbsp. rice vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 canola oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

Also, these are two pictures of that same kind of passion flower that I saw before at Chick-Fil-A. We randomly saw them again growing at my aunt and uncle's house... my aunt had no idea what they were. My mom told me what they were called and that they were my grandmother's favorite flower. Now, I like to play around with the idea that because I'm seeing them often, she might be lingering around us and watching over the babies or something spooktacular like that... who knows but it's kind of a comforting thought.

Trip to Jacksonville

I know it's been awhile since I posted... again... but, we have been so busy it's just been hard to find the time. For Labor Day weekend, Brent and I decided to take the kids down to Jacksonville to visit my aunt and uncle. We hadn't been down to visit in at least a year so we were completely overdue. My aunt just spoils us (and the kids) rotten when see her. She bought the kids some clothes and cooked some damn good eats for me and Brent. We hung out, shopped, watched movies, and played in the pool. It was nice. The kids had fun. Wyatt has figured out that you are supposed to smile when the camera comes out and he has created the most cheesy and adorable FAKE smile! Such a smart little turd. He can pick up and drop a fake smile in a split second. I love it! Callie has also turned into a baby con-artist. If she is playing on the floor or in her jumperoo and wants to be picked up, she starts FAKE coughing! So funny! Anyway, here is a short little slide show of this weekend...

Happy Anniversary!

I am so lucky I get to grow old with you! I love you so so much!

I can't believe I forgot my camera!!!

So, Saturday morning I was still a little tipsy and completely hungover which was definately bad timing since Brent and I were driving to Charleston for the weekend to celebrate our anniversary. His parents came down to take care of the kids while we were away and it was just AWFUL leaving them behind. Once we got on the road, I was okay but walking out the door felt just like being torn in half. Anyway, we shopped (bought stuff for the kids, of course) and then checked into our hotel called the Planters Inn right there on Market Street in Downtown Charleston. It was a gorgeous hotel in a really old restored building. Brent had even made sure that there were a dozen roses and strawberries waiting for me when we got in... so thoughtful! We went downstairs and walked through the slave market before we went to dinner and bought more crap for the kids. We obviously weren't missing them. :)

Brent had made reservations to eat at the restaurant in the hotel, The Peninsula Grill, and it was absolutely phenominal! I've been sort of a dork about getting into that Top Chef show and got antsy about wanting to try foie gras and truffles since they make such a freaking stink about those ingredients. Well, the restaurant had both so we ordered both along with steak tartare, a killer pork chop, and a big ass piece of prime steak. Oh my... It was totally one of those restaurants where you wished you had a spare stomach so that you could eat forever. It was definately at the top of my favorites list. Oh! By the way, foie gras is just duck liver and tastes like it too. I don't know what I was expecting, but definately not that distinct liver taste. Also, truffles are not my favorite either. They are potent as hell and smell like a dirt star with a mushroom sticking out of it. No wonder pigs have no problem sniffing them out! Sick!

So anyway, we were both so tired from partying too hard the night before that we decided not to go out after dinner. It was so nice being able to spend time together and you really don't realize the freedom that you had before kids until you get to step away from them for a minute. We drove home early the next morning because we missed the kids so much. Brent's parents had taken good care of them and even cleaned our house a little bit. It was such a great weekend! Here are two picture of the kids we took last night.

For Preott!

Oh my gosh! I got SOOO hammered at the party on Friday night. It was really fun and I got to see alot of the people I used to work with. We played beer pong most of the night and Pratt and I ruled the damn table. We were unstoppable until I got too drunk to focus anymore. It was great and I know that I was out of control, but I think I just needed it. I'm usually against posting pictures where I look like a moron, but I'll take one for the team just because Pratt wanted to be on the blog! I miss the ever living crap out of you!

Out of Town Again!

We were in Atlanta most of the week and just got home late last night. Brent had to go on a business trip and because it was in Helen, GA which is this cutesy little Austrian kind of town, we decided to pack up the kids and tag along.

After living here in beachy podunkville for 3 years now, driving through a big city with actual stores and restaurants is almost euphoric now. It's so funny because when we moved here, people would suggest all these "fabulous" restaurants in the area because we were hurting to find good food. We still haven't found one. It's just not like Atlanta at all! Also, WE HAVE NO MALL HERE! Can you believe that!?!?! Sure, we have the outlets, but damn... sometimes a girl just craves a regular old mall. Anyway, so driving through Atlanta, we were foaming at the mouth and decided to stop where ever we felt like stopping along the way. It was great!

Brent had to work all day Wednesday so I loaded up the kids and took them to some REAL outlets and got to shop at some of my favorites like Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware... Gosh, I know I'm rambling about shopping, but you have NO IDEA what it's like to be without stores that you love like that for so long! Then I took the kids to visit one of my "other mothers", Mrs. Fussell and got to catch up with her a little bit. It was a really fun day although it was tough being out with the twins by myself. We came back and met up with Brent and his work peeps for dinner in Helen. I ordered crab legs but they smelled like a dead body and the hand wipes were mildewed. It was like eating in Bluffton. Awww. Home.

Yesterday, of course, we took our time coming home and stopped by IKEA and Crate and Barrel. We also stopped by Brent's office in downtown Atlanta and got to show the babies to some of the people he works with. It was really nice to finally meet some of the people he talks about so much. We got caught in traffic during rush hour and didn't make it out of the city until 7 so we ended up at home at about 11. It was a long and busy trip for the kids and they are totally exhausted today. Tonight we are going to a keg party... I don't know if my old bones know how to handle one of those anymore! I'm so excited!

Laura... a classic "I'm not playing!" memory. LOVE YOU!

Yeah we're comin'.... to your citay!

We had a pretty fun weekend... on Friday afternoon, we decided to go to Charleston to visit other Heather and her mom because her mom wanted to see the babies and I hadn't seen Heath's house since she moved in. It was a really nice drive up there and the babies were great. We drove thru the Chick-Fil-A to get some lunch and there was these vines that had grown up the wall of the building and had sprouted these BEAUTIFUL flowers on them. Luckily, I was dorking around with the camera as we drove up and Brent managed to take a quick picture. We have no idea what kind of flower it was but wow, it was just stunning and it's not everyday that I actually take time to look at a flower. I have the worst black-thumb on the planet!


We saw Heath and her mom and it was a nice little visit. We started to drive home but since the kids were being so great we braved downtown during rush hour because I was dying to go to Talbot's Kids and it's the closest one around. After that, we headed to Mt. Pleasant to visit Ape who had two friends in town that were trying out for American Idol. They both sang for us while we were there and one of the girls was so good that I got goosebumps listening to her. I was sure she had an honest shot at making it to a second round but neither of them ended up making the cut. They said that the only people that got through were really crusty people that were weird and sang horrible. I guess they were gathering those wackos for the funny portion of the tryouts. Anyway, Saturday we took the kids to have their pictures taken and neither of the kids would give up a smile. I was so bummed because they have the most precious little smiles, but they were too weirded out by the goofy people working there and just ended up looking freaked out in all the shots. We don't have the pictures back yet, but I will be sure to post them as soon as we pick them up. Today we tooled around at Sam's and ran a couple other errands. It's starting to look like fall outside a little (although it definately still feels like the hottest part of summer). T minus 10 days until college football starts again! Thank the Lord! Saturdays will be blissful once again!

P.S. - I'm going to kick your ass in pick 'em this year, Pops!

A Shoutout For My Trevor!

Awww. Our nephew, Trevor, started school yesterday! I can't believe he's old enough to go to school already! What a little pimp too! Congratulations buddy! We love you so much!

Word.

First of all, let me apologize for the lack of posts... Our laptop died and needed to be redone and Brent was out of town for 4 days which just left me a very busy momma. When Brent goes out of town, I pretty much go into survival mode and can't catch my breath. The kids were great the first two days and I was pretty proud of myself for not having to rock myself to sleep in the fetal position. Day three sucked and by the time he got home on day four, we were both too tired to function. I had no pity for the kid since he got to go to Alabama to be in his best friend's wedding. I wish I could have gone but because he also ended up working along the way, there was just no way I was going to be able to drive to Alabama by myself with two babies. I totally got the ass end of the deal on that one (although he did bring me home some flowers)! Paybacks baby. Paybacks. Anyway, here are some pictures of the munchkins from this week. Callie holds her bottle ALL THE TIME now and hauls ass around her little roundabout activity table! She'll be walking first I'm sure!