"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Saturday, March 26, 2011

First church service!

So the Sunday Faith was here was our first Sunday to all go to church as a family! Mars Hill has a satellite church here in Albuquerque and we have loved hearing Mark Driscoll preach every week. They are going through the gospel of Luke - fabulous sermons! If you'd like to hear some of his sermons just Click here - Mark Driscoll's Sermons

Right after church, outside our house.



All bundled up and ready to go! They normally cry when I first put them in their carseats, but once we start driving they are happy babies!


Fed, happy, and ready to go eat some sushi for lunch!

So that first trial run was pretty rough. I fed the babies at 9:15 then we all got ready, dressed, and were out the door about 10:55. Church is only 10min away and starts at 11:15 so that's nice! Once we got there they were sleeping so we just left them in their carseats. But then in the middle of church they both ended up waking up and being a little fussy. Our church meets in an old theater off Central so its a good set up for having kids in there and we just camped out at the very back with other parents and babies (nursery doesn't take kids until 5 months old). Driscoll also preaches an hour or more so church isn't out until anywhere from 12:45 to 1:15, so those kids were hungry and cranky! I had brought bottles though so we were able to feed them, but it was just a lot of work! Coming home I remember thinking, how are Mark and I going to do that by ourselves every Sunday! haha

I wasn't the only one worn out from church!


Faith with both the babies and then just she and Avery since they had matching pink on :) So cute!!

After church we came home, finished feeding the kids, then loaded up again to head out for lunch. Mark really wanted some sushi and after going to about three different places we finally found one that was open. The kids did great just hanging out and watching us eat. 








So overall it was a great first Sunday! And once we got home my mind starting thinking about how we could do the whole church thing better! And we've been two Sundays since then! Making progress....



Friday, March 25, 2011

Another day....

Here's a few more shots from the week Faith was here (March 1st-7th)


Happy, smiling boy! Serious, thinking girl!



So many smiles! Avery was barely smiling at this point....but about a week later she caught on!



Super cute shoes from Aunt Faith!



Sweet little Avery holding her head up so well! Aksil showing off his super cool Rocky shirt!


"Daddy!! I'm hungry right now!" Mark went upstairs to get the babies to bring them down to eat....Aksil is hungry!! Avery is still wondering why she was picked up....

Mr. Cranky haha

Sweet babies!! Having play time before nap time :)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Thank You Aunt Faith!!

The first week in March Aunt Faith came for a visit! Well, more than just a visit....she came to help out this poor tired mama :) She paid for her flight here and stayed a whole week! Yeah, is she awesome or what? She helped cook and keep the house picked up, watched the kids so we could have a couple date nights and she took on night shift with the babies - talk about a HUGE help!


Welcome to Albuquerque, Faith!

When I was by myself (and Mark had to sleep to be coherent for class) I would just feed the babies when they woke up. Not even thinking that they may not be waking up because they were hungry but just because of gas. I was too tired and out of it to put that one together. They would go about 4 1/2 hours at night before waking up so I wasn't getting much sleep at all. When Faith was here I would put the baby monitor in her room after the late night feeding (12ish then) and go crawl in bed. She would hold them off til 6am and I got a fabulous, uninterrupted SIX HOURS of sleep! Oh my gosh, it felt amazing. I think that was our first big step in getting the twins to sleep through the night.



























Gifts from Aunt Faith! The twins loved their little tummy time mats that she brought :)


The week Faith was here was the first time I got out and RAN! Yeah, can you tell by the look on my face that I'm super pumped!! haha Ok, so I only ran about 15min and I was really winded (post twins AND high altitude!) but it felt so amazing. I have missed running, swimming, biking, crossfit....all the workout stuff I used to do....missed it so badly! (and yes, I've gotten multiple questions about taking the twins in a jogging stroller. I've changed several things since this photo was taken, but yes! Can be perfectly safe and ok if you do it right)



On Saturday Mark and I took the twins on a walk. We tried the lying down position and it didn't work out so well! 





Our little family of four going on a walk! We've had super nice weather lately....sunny and in the 70s. It does get really windy some days so I don't take the kids out then....too much dust flying around.



"Dad! Mom! What's wrong with you! We hate this! Brother's feet are in my face! Sister is taking up too much room!"




Off we go!


By the time we got back they were snoozing away, but we haven't done the lying down thing again! Just doesn't work well - or look comfortable....


Uh oh, someone a little cranky!


Aksil doesn't look too bothered by Avery's whining...he's just enjoying his new play mat!

So not only would Faith help the kids sleep at night, she would play with them in the mornings so I could get sleep. She even made me breakfast a few mornings! We had such an awesome time having her here...great memories talking, laughing, watching movies in the evening, playing with the kids :) And Mark watched the twins one night for us so we could do some shopping at the mall - so fun to get out and SHOP! yay!

Thank you Aunt Faith for coming and helping! We sure do love you!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Green all around.... (2 months old)

Our sweet babies are two months old! So hard to believe that the time has gone this quickly....makes me grateful for all the times I've just forgotten everything else and played with my babies, or spent an extra 10 minutes rocking them to sleep, or held them in my lap, or toted them around to "help" me with chores.




























Happy St Patricks Day! They celebrated today by wearing green ;)

























Best friends! They are starting to watch each other more now....during play time when I have them on their mats sometimes they will just stare at each other like, "Heeeeyyyyy.....yeah YOU were that person with me in mama who was kicking all the time!"


























Mark started paramedic on Monday. This is his huge box of drug study cards. They cram a whole lot of info into a really short amount of time. He's super diligent to study every night and I'm already so impressed with how much he knows! Plus he's awesome at explaining stuff - makes it easy to understand and gives good details. So of course I think he's gonna do amazing!


























Oh how I've missed my yummy coffee! So just last week Mark purchased a little decaf for me. No, nothing like Starbucks, but still smells and tastes like heaven to this mama who can't have Starbucks! Plus, on mornings when I'm super tired I make a cup and tell myself it'll give me a boost, haha. Ok, so decaf DOES have a little caffeine....but I think the "boost" I get is mostly made up in my head, haha



























Precious little baby feet....I love their little toes!! Adorable!


Avery is Daddy's little Princess for sure! She was crying her head off tonight, but the INSTANT I handed her off to Mark she was silent! Not even a whimper - little stinker. So maybe she is a little spoiled but I love that she loves her Daddy. 


























Aksil would spend his entire life eating if that were an option I'm sure! Every feeding he starts getting frustrated and cranky when he gets full because he wants to keep eating! No joke! This little guy loves "Daddy time" as well and is smiling and "talking" more and more. If you talk to him then wait, he'll answer back with his little cooing sounds and its so much fun to listen too! We love it :)


This little girl is super attentive to everything! She loves looking at lights, windows, the iPhone, the TV - anything bright and she gets these big eyes and just stares. She "talks" too now and gets so intent on what she is trying to communicate. AND she's started to smile in the last couple weeks! Love this baby girl!


























Little Man finds his hands more and more and resorts to just sucking on those since he's not allowed to eat 24/7 haha! A couple times he's found his thumb but mostly he just sucks on his fist. He's our calm, cool, and collected little guy whereas Avery is pure drama! She definitely cries more than him!


























Sticking with the theme of green.....Faith brought me some Bath and Body Works stress relief aromatherapy when she came! ahhhhhh.....fabulous stuff.

Little signs of spring are starting to appear! We have a small fenced in area right off our porch and there are little sprigs of peppermint all over. Makes it smell yummy out there :)


If this little guy hears you talking he will look all around until he finds you! So stinkin cute! 


























Sweet Pea can be so expressive! When you talk to her and she tries to "talk" back she makes the cutest little faces. I love the drama she adds around here!

Aksil is so happy most of the time! He smiles a lot in the morning and a lot when Daddy comes home. He even smiles up at you when you put him in the crib at night - so precious! They are on an every 3hr schedule during the day (feed/awake/sleep) and both go down for naps really well....hardly make a sound....until the dreaded 6pm hour. That's "witching hour" around here where they are just super fussy! We resort to swings or holding them if its too bed. No naps in the crib at this time of day! We are still working on our night times. They can go six hours at night but still wake up with gas. I don't feed them, just calm them down and they usually go back to sleep pretty well. With it being twins and with us moving at 4 1/2 weeks I've learned that we are just a little behind all the way around. But that's ok! We are getting there! Making progress a little at a time :)


It's so neat to see these two little ones grow up side by side. The differences between boy and girl are so obvious and adorable! It will be neat when they start playing together. It's funny because when one starts crying and the other is still asleep, I go get the crying one and put them in the swing or whatever. Within 5-10 minutes the non crying baby wakes up crying! Without fail! It's like they realize the other one isn't around :) Almost every night standing over their crib or rocking them to sleep I pray a little prayer - thanking God for my precious little ones, asking for His protection on them, and asking for wisdom on how to raise them up to be godly, to love Jesus with their whole hearts. Such a huge task, an amazing responsibility being a mommy. Wow, and God chose me to be the mommy to these little ones. I don't take a single moment, a single day I have with them for granted. Mark and I are so blessed.