Easter: He Is Risen!

Easter this year for our family was bittersweet.  This year Cade's anniversary shares the same day as Easter.  Even though today is tough, we are so blessed to be spending our first Easter with Easton and Emerson.  The two of them have brought so much joy to our life.  I find myself smiling all of the time.  It's crazy how you can be having a bad day and then they look up at you and smile and it all goes away!

I got them both an Easter basket and  filled it with a bathing suit, an outfit, teething rings, and a stuffed toy that chimes.  I'm sure they loved it (ha)!  The best part was I was able to get a picture of them together and they were both smiling!  It took a lot of work, but we got a good one!

We took them to church and put them in Peeweeville for the first time last night for the Saturday evening Easter service.  They did great…a few of our friends were serving in their room so it made it A LOT easier to drop them off!  It was so good for Darrell and I to be back at church.  It makes all the difference in the world actually being there versus listening to the service on the computer.

After church we went to eat with Mimi and Pa Cade to Salt Grass.

Easton & Emerson with PaCade and Mimi

Sunday we got up and went to the cemetery.  It was the first time we got Easton and Emerson out of the car with us.  All of the other times we've visited the weather hasn't been good or they were asleep.  We snapped a couple of pictures of them and they turned out really sweet.  Then we went to MawMaw and PawPaw's for a late lunch.

Easton & Emerson with MawMaw and PawPaw

Happy Easter from our family to yours!  

Three Years Today

It's hard to believe how time can fly by, but at the same time it seems like its been forever.  Today marks three years since Cade passed away.  Quite frankly, I still can't believe it.  My emotions change all of the time.  I still have moments when I get mad and confused not understanding why this had to happen.  The truth is, we may never know and it doesn't really matter.  God has plans for each of us and in the end we will all be together and the answer to that question won't matter.  It just hurts still, not having him here.

There are so many things I miss about that kid!  I miss him cuddling with me on the couch.  I miss him being rough and wrestling with Darrell.  I miss him waking up in the morning with crazy hair and knowing it was time for a haircut.  One of the most things I miss is watching him with his sister.  It is one of the most amazing things to experience as a mother…the immediate love he had for Addi and the immediate protector he became of her.  I can only imagine what the two of them are up to in Heaven!

When we went to the cemetery today there were so many flowers, balloons, and new toys.  It makes me cry every time.  So many people still continue to go out there.  Darrell and I are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love us and love our children!!  It makes days like these a little easier to get through!

Visiting their big brother and big sister for the first time

Three Months

AND Now We're THREE Months!

Seriously, where does the time go?!?!  You blink and another month has gone by.  This past month has been such a fun one!  Both Easton and Emerson are smiling and cooing SO much…especially Easton.  He LOVES to talk!  They are both getting stronger and holding their heads up more and more.  Poor Easton, his head is so big it wears him out at times.  He'll be doing great and then all of a sudden his head will just drop.  They are the happiest babies and don't really fuss unless they are hungry.  It's amazing how content they are!

Look how happy Easton is to see his sister!

Just practicing some wrestling moves

Too cute for words

Everything is just wonderful!  We've gotten pretty good at being parents to twins if I do say so myself.  We are busy, but it's a good busy.  We have our routines and everything just falls into place.  We are even on time to events!!  Darrell and I have always been on the go, and they are doing well with that too.

On March 17th I went back to work and it was a really tough day!  I enjoyed being at home with them so much.  They are now staying with Ashley during the day.  She kept Cade and Addi too.  We love her so much and it made going back to work much easier.  They are doing great and she even said they were the easiest babies she's ever had!

Ashley with the kiddos

The day they turned 3 months (April 6th), we decided to try and put them down earlier and see if they could still make it to 7:00 in the morning.  YES THEY DID!!  We've been putting them down between 7:00 and 7:30 and they usually start stirring between 6:30 and 7:00 (and by they I mean Emerson, Easton sleeps a little later than her).  It's been awesome!  Emerson likes to stay awake for longer periods of time during the day.  She's such a typical little girl and likes to know what's going on, doesn't want to miss anything.  Easton on the other hand, doesn't really care and doesn't have a problem missing anything.  He likes his naps!

We're enjoying every minute and having a hard time with how fast they are growing!

Easton

Weight:  16 pounds (we did this at home, so who knows how accurate it is)

Eating:  6 ounces in the morning and before bed, 5 ounces during the day

*Cooing A LOT!  Enjoys the bouncer chair and talking, follows you with his eyes

Emerson

Weight:  13 pounds (see note above)

Eating:  5 ounces in the morning and before bed, 4 ounces during the day

*Cooing and follows you with her eyes where ever you go, enjoys the bouncer chair

Two Years

Two years.  How is it possible that time can go by so quickly but seems like it's been forever too?!?!  It's been two years that we have been without our sweet little girl.  I remember this day like it was yesterday and always will.  What a true miracle we witnessed the last week of her life!!

Addi loved life and we loved every minute we had with her.  She loved to carry around anything on her wrists and loved to dance.  I can still see her coming around the corner from the hallway loaded down with bows, bags, whatever dangling from her arm.  And who can forget Mr. G…he was with her twenty four seven!!

Bags, bows, and Mr. G

I'm not going to lie, there are still many days that I ask myself if this is really our life.  Sometimes it is still overwhelming to think that both of our children had to leave us so early.  It's just not supposed to be that way.  We may never know why God was ready for them when He was, but it's okay.  Because of our faith, we know that we will all be together again one day.  Because of Him, we are able to get up everyday and enjoy the life that he wants us to have.  God has blessed us beyond measure in so many different ways.  Knowing where she is and that she is with her big brother makes me smile!  We love you right up to the moon and back Addi!!

Two Months

Look at us…we're TWO months!!

Pictures right after shots…Easton doesn't appreciate them!

"My legs hurt!"

"I don't know what the big deal is."

I feel like I say this all of the time, but time really is flying by!  On March 6th the kiddos turned two months old.  It always amazes me how much babies change and grow month to month.  They both had wonderful two month checkups.  They did great with their shots and they are growing in weight like crazy!!  Both of them really love to eat and the scales are showing it!  They are also getting better about using tummy time to actually lift their heads up instead of sleeping.  They still usually end up sleeping, but at least they are getting a little bit of a workout.  We also have moved both of them from our rooms into their own cribs in their own bedrooms.  The transition was pretty good.  I figured out they do much better when they are swaddled.  I'm going to begin trying to ween the swaddling soon.

All of this tummy time wears us out!!

First nap in his crib (before I figured out to swaddle).

First nap in her bed.  This only lasted about ten minutes (again, much better when swaddled)!

My favorite thing they are doing is smiling and cooing.  It melts my heart.  The other morning I went into each of their rooms to get them ready for the day and they BOTH smiled at me when I reached their crib.  Easton is really close to sleeping through the night (10:00-3:30) and Emerson is right behind him.  We decided that we would start feeding them individually when they woke up (only at the middle of the night feeding) instead of waking the other one up.  Their schedules are awesome, but by waking the other one up we had no idea just how long they could sleep individually.  We learned quickly that Easton can make it an hour or two (just depends) longer than Emerson.

Check out Easton's double chin!

So cute!!

Every day I am overwhelmed with how much love both of them have brought to our family!  These two precious things have stolen our hearts!!

Easton

Weight:  14 pounds 3 ounces

Eating:  5 ounces

*Smiling and cooing.  Loves to hang out on a blanket on the floor. 

Love to smile!!

Emerson

Weight:  11 pounds  11 ounces

Eating:  4 ounces

*Smiling and cooing.  Loves to be held.

I love to smile too!

One Month

February 6th marked one month for Easton and Emerson.  They had great checkups with Dr. Palamountain.  Easton weighed in at 10 pounds 3 ounces and Emerson was exactly nine pounds.  They did really well while we were there.  The worst part was getting their heals pricked!

    

We are eating up every minute!  They are doing really well at home.  They are only waking up once in the middle of the night to eat and then they are up between 6:30 and 6:45 for the day.  They sleep quite a bit during the day.  We have been spending a lot of time at home to keep them away from the flu and germs until they get their two month shots.

Me with both of them…this is how we do it!

We are already seeing a lot of personality from them.  Easton is a lot like his brother Cade.  He is very laid back and can easily soothe himself when he gets upset.  His cry is very soft and he's just a sweet baby who loves to cuddle!  Emerson is a lot like her sister Addi, she has a lot of "attitude".  She is a little high maintenance…she loves to be held and will scream, at times, until someone picks her up (she's just a tad bit spoiled, they both are really).  She has a set of lungs on her.  She is sassy and we wouldn't have it any other way!  She's a sweet girl!

Sleepy Heads

There are times when I look at them and I still can't believe that they are here and healthy!  God is so good and we are looking forward to what the future has in store for both of them!

One Month Stats:

Emerson

Weight:  9 pounds

Eating:  4 ounces

*Follows you with her eyes.

Easton

Weight:  10 pounds 3 ounces

Eating: 4.5 ounces

*Follows you with his eyes.