Okay... so maybe the last post was a little over dramatic. But, it's only because forever isn't long enough to spend with my nuggets and wrinkles and gray hair are just indicators of the inevitable. I seriously start choking up at the thought of my time coming to an end and having to part ways from them. If I could eat them, I would. If I could sew them onto me and form some kind of three-headed-siamese-triplet-thing, I would. (That might be a little embarrassing for them in high school though.)

All 4 of us were completely sick last week and are still trying to finish getting over it. (I have a tissue shoved up my nose as I type this.) Callie isn't bouncing back as quickly as she should be and I'm afraid that I might need to take her to the doctor's office. We're keeping a close eye on her.

Sunday night, I drove to Columbia to see my Zippy play in a volleyball tournament. She did really well and I fully enjoyed watching her kick some ass. She's extremely talented! Then, she and I stayed in Columbia overnight and shopped 'til we dropped all day yesterday. It was nice to get away and be stupid and stuff but I did start missing the kids pretty badly yesterday. When I got home, Monkey hung around my neck for a good while and Callie was so excited to see me that she didn't know what to do with her hyper little self. She was running around every where and showing me things and patting me on the back as she sprinted by, but she wouldn't settle down enough to let me love on her until hours later. Today, we are spending lots time catching up on the hugs and kisses!

P.S. - One of my friends sent me a really helpful link to a website this morning that is great if you are interested in finding out about BPA free bottles, sippy cups, etc... I was able to look up each type of our sippy cups using the search bar on the left to find out whether I needed to pitch it or not. Here is the link: http://safemama.com/

I have some gray hairs too.

Tonight I was looking in the mirror and realized how wrinkly my forehead is becoming. Sick. I never noticed it before. I felt like someone pulled the rug out from under me and I immediately discovered that I am pro chemical peels. Seriously. This is coming on the tails of having a hard time turning 29 and knowing that next year I'll be 30!

Freaking 30. Toe in the damn grave.

It's true. And why the hell am I lacking the maturity that should accompany a woman of my age. And why the hell am I calling myself a woman!?!? I feel like a fragile little girl! I don't understand. I'm confused and kinda scared if you want to know the truth.

The fact of the matter is, I graduated college 7 years ago!!!! 7 years!!!! If I had to guess, I would have thought it might have been a year or two ago! These years are going by in the blink of an eye. I mean, it's almost May! I feel like I just took down the Christmas decorations!

I'm dying. Hold me.

Strawberry Pie

This morning, the kids kissed each other three times completely unprovoked! It was literally the cutest moment between the two of them that I could have imagined! I hope that they become best friends through their little twin bond. That would be awesome!

But, the little nuggets are sick. Pew. They have fevers and runny noses and are just miserable. That's all I'm going to say about that for now, otherwise I'll end up pulling out my soapbox and have to burn one of my bras or something if I start thinking about how they got sick. Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

So, I had all these strawberries that I had to figure out what to do with and I ended up making a strawberry pie. I mean, it's make-your-knees-weak good! Here is the recipe and if you have a pint or two of fresh strawberries on hand and decide to try it, let me know how it turns out!

Strawberry Pie

1-1/4 cups water
1 cup white sugar
2 tbsp. and 1-1/2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 (3 ounce) package tropical flavored gelatin mix
4-5 cups strawberries, hulled
1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked

In a saucepan, combine water, sugar, salt, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin packet. Allow to cool slightly. Arrange strawberries in the pie crust and pour gelatin mixture over, covering the berries. Refrigerate for 2 hours prior to serving.

Strawberry Pickin'

Double (Soggy) Trouble!

We had such a fun day at the beach today and Brent and I both agreed that we think that they had the most fun today than they have had in their whole lives so far. They absolutely had a blast! They were free to run and there was sand and water and dogs and birds. It was like if they could design their own little special world right now, it would be just like the beach. Callie was totally pissed when we left and threw a huge tantrum because she wasn't ready to go yet. Up until this point, they weren't really old enough to be able to enjoy it so much, but now it's obvious to both of us that we will be permanent fixtures there this summer. I'm so excited!

A gift only a mother could appreciate...

While Wyatt is a natural born stealer (and will use necessary force) Callie is more of a sharer. She has been sharing things with her momma and daddy for awhile now like her toys or pieces of food, but lately she has been sharing things with Wyatt too. Of course, sometimes she starts to share something that she decides is way too good to share and will change her mind mid hand-off. Recently, she's been sharing her juice cup with him and today I watched her pick up one of her cookies, walk over to Wyatt, and put it in his mouth. I gushed!

Yesterday, I took them over to play with a little friend, and Callie shared a toy with him too! I was so excited because although she has met J.P. before, it had been quite awhile since they played together. I was so proud that she shared with him also even though she didn't know him very well. I hope that some how I can preserve this pure little instinct of hers without introducing selfishness and allowing it to take over. They are so sweet and innocent right now that I can't help but want to freeze dry them sometimes.

However, I did not want to freeze dry her on Tuesday when she so lovingly shared a TURD with me.

That's right. The little stinker (and boy do I mean STINKER) very gently placed a ball of her own poop in the palm of my hand while she was taking a bath. It actually took me half a second to realize what she had handed to me. I think I even got out the "Thhhhh...." to thank her for sharing before I turned ghost white and tried not to start seizing right there on the bathroom floor.

This is a picture of girlfriend after I brushed her hair which was obviously a mistake. At some point her mop has got to start growing down, right?!?!

Here is a little video of Wyatt at dinner last night...

Woven Memories

Tonight, I cleaned out my closet to get rid of some stuff to donate to charity or whatever and I dug DEEP this time. I usually do a clean out every year just to get rid of stuff that makes it look like I have tons and tons of clothes when really I can never find anything to wear. Anyway, I usually only ditch the crap that was soooo last season or soooo not cool anymore. (Like, totally, for sure!) This allowed me to keep the things that I was still attached to in some way or another. But tonight, I dug deep enough to feel traumatized after I was done.

I wasn't really planning on keeping this stuff until I was 90? Right?

Oh my gosh. I pitched things that made me feel like I was breaking up with an old boyfriend or something. I still had the tank top I wore the day I got my driver's license. I had a satin tank top I wore under a business suit to go on my first interview. I had the cute little pink t-shirt I wore out to the bars the night we got married when we decided to ditch the honeymoon suite to party with our peeps until the wee hours of the night. I had a black sweater from freshman year of college that was probably soaked in more beer than it was ever washed. Pieces of my heart. It all came rushing back and I had to face why I never wanted to get rid of them in the first place.

Then there were clothes that I was so happy to get rid of that I cussed them into the donation pile. Work clothes. "Business casual" uncomfortableness. Button up shirts, dry-clean only pants, sweaters... I'm a comfort girl as it is. And when I was working, I was completely guilty of stripping in the foyer the second I walked in the door before it even had a chance to fully slam behind me. I could be in sweat pants and a t-shirt faster than you could blink an eye. I almost felt like I had to hold myself back from burning those clothes! I was ripping them off the hangers and even mumbled, "YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!" to the two or three pieces that never quite fit right that I constantly had to tug on or adjust. It felt so freeing and for a moment I wallowed in the perks of being a stay-at-home mom and getting to wear sweat pants as much as I want to!

Anyway, I took pictures of the clothes I had emotional attachments to before I folded them away forever. It really was sad but I figured that a picture serves me just as well and takes up way less space in my closet. Plus, it's a good cause. I'll get over it.

(I'll admit... I still kept a few things. It's like I'm a crack addict. I have problems.)

Excuse me while I swoon...

You know how you sometimes get those moments that completely justify the fact that being a mom is so challenging and thankless? Well, I totally had one of those this evening and it's so amazing how something so simple makes it all worth while. Peeny. She's my heart. Tonight, I was in the bedroom checking my email while Brent entertained the kids for a minute. Anyway, when I walked into the living room after I was finished, both kiddos were completely absorbed in playing together with one of their toys so I sat down quietly on the floor behind them so I wouldn't disturb them. Well, Callie sorta heard me and did a double-take when she realized it was me. She looked back at her toy for a second and you could tell that she was kinda torn because didn't want to break away from what she was so enthralled in, but she did anyway and walked up to me, gave me a kiss, and then hurried back to her toy. I never said a word.

My heart swelled up bigger than my chest could bear and it almost hurt. I'm so in love. So in love.

Monkey is my buddy too. He's been walking a lot, although he is still very wobbly and hasn't quite pinpointed his center of balance. Every time I walk into the room, I'm on that little man's radar and he is gunning for me. I love it because I know it's still hard for him to make it far distances, but he tries so hard to get to me when he sees me. It's tough if I'm busy running around from room to room trying to get things done quickly and I see him start to take off in my direction. I can't help but stop and wait for him to finally grab onto me and then of course we cheer and have a 10 second mini-party. It's so fun and I am so blessed to gave been given these two, beautifully rotten, little rugrats!

Skrimp.

So, I thought I was the best momma ever today by making the kids ravioli and fresh shrimp for lunch. They never had shrimp before and I was so excited that both kids were about to discover their new favorite food. I couldn't have been more wrong! Both of them cautiously picked up a shrimp... sniffed it... and then chucked it on the floor! They wouldn't even give it a lick! I just sat there, heartbroken and defeated, and watched them fling every last piece of beautifully cooked and painstakingly deveined shrimp off their trays and onto the kitchen floor. At that moment, I considered that they might have been switched at birth because no children of mine would ever turn their nose up to seafood. They have no right living in the Lowcountry with such piss poor behavior!

I rewarded them with an entirely different lunch and an afternoon trip to the playground, because I'm a pushover. It really was fun and I'm so excited at how much they are starting to enjoy true kid stuff! They totally loved the slide! Well... Wyatt not so much at first, but definitely came around after listening to Callie squeal and cheer each of the 2 million times we let her go down the slide.

Brent's old too now!

Yesterday was Brent's birthday and it was a really good day! I hate the 4 days in between our birthdays when I'm technically older than he is. It makes me feel like a dude.

Daddy and the twinados on his 29th birthday!

I'm old.

I'm not really sure at what age you are supposed to stop telling people how old you are, but I know I'm getting close. I turned 29 yesterday and as my friend Lauren and I decided, "Then we turn 30, and then we are dead." I suppose I need to start wearing those dumb bathing suits with the skirts!

Regardless, I had a great birthday yesterday! Brent finally welcomed me into the 21st century with a Tivo and I already know that life will never be the same. Then last night, while my mom watched the kids, he took me to a really nice restaurant in Historic Savannah called 700 Drayton which is kind of a frou-frou restaurant where there is more plate than food and you almost need a translator to read the menu, but it's my thing and I'm lucky that Brent enjoys it too. The best part of the evening was discovering my new favorite wine. It's a German Riesling called Monchhof (Erden Treppchen, Riesling Auslese 2002) and I swear that I could drink at least a bottle a night for the rest of my life.

Pizza Party Birthday on Friday night with the rents and the squirts. Can you see Wyatt's random molar?

Me and my babies on my 29th birthday!

Little Miss Muffet

Callie Mae Muffet,
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her oatmeal and bananas.
Along came a spider,
who sat down beside her...

AND SHE FREAKING ATE IT!!!!

"It's such a good feeling..."

Cal watched Mr. Rogers today! (The clouds parted and the heavens opened up!) I'm not even gonna front... I LOVE Mr. Rogers and I would still watch that crap right now if it was on prime time. I am dead serious! I was waiting for one of them to catch on to it so that there was something we could watch together. The show bored them terribly up until today. Mr. Rogers is so precious and so genuine. I remember wanting to be related to him when I was little. I aspired to BE him and I still remember most of the songs.

(What of it? My semi-cool facade melted away after I started wearing a kid on each hip. I have learned to embrace my inner-dweeb!)

I'm not kidding that even still to this day that if I hear a funny noise in the middle of the night or something super creepy like that, I will immediately squeeze my eyes shut and think of Mr. Rogers. It's true. This might mean that I have issues, but I'm cool with that because my love for Freddybaby runs that deep and true.

HEY RICHIE! GIVE MY LOVE TO ALL THOSE HOOTERS GIRLS! HAHA!