What are you thankful for?

People tend to talk about their blessings in November as Thanksgiving approaches. I don't want to wait another five months - I'm thankful now! 

It's easy to dwell on annoyances and tiny imperfections in our day to day lives. Dwelling only magnifies them but if you think about them in the grand scheme of things, they're nothing. 

Inevitably I'll forget some things due to Momma brain and lack of sleep, but here are a few things I'm thankful for right now:

• We don't have to worry about a leaky roof. The rain came down hard for a while today and I was just so thankful we had a good roof over our heads. 

• The transition from one baby to Irish Twins has been so much better than I imagined. I didn't know what we were getting into and have nothing to compare it to, but I think we're doing pretty dang good!

• Lincoln is young enough that we didn't have to deal with jealousy when we brought Liliana home. He loved giving her kissies from the very beginning. When she's not in the room he gets very concerned and says "Where's Sis?" 

• My children's mutual love for each other. In the mornings when I get him out of bed I'll say "Let's go get Sis" and he gets so excited. As soon as we walk in her room he points and yells "Sis!" and she screeches in excitement. 

• The kids have been able to stay home instead of ever going to a day care. (Not going anti-day care, just what works for us.)

• Lincoln sleeps through the night (averaging 12 hours). 

• My job offers great insurance. 

• My job and coworkers are flexible, allowing me to NEVER miss a kids' doctor appointment. 

• Happy children. 

• Turbo. 

• My husband. 

• Two reliable vehicles. 

• A garage. 

• Netflix - I barely even miss cable. Netflix is 1/10 of the price and really has a lot to offer!!

• Speaking of price, Stuff, Etc. Amazing. I buy 90% of the kids' clothes there and rarely pay more than $1.50/item. You can't even tell they're from a consignment shop - probably because at their age, children don't stay in one size long at all!!

Ok, there's so much more, but I'll stop here. I just felt compelled to spread some positivity. 

I Don't Want To Forget {5/10/14}

These are little things I don't want to forget or take for granted. 

[Lincoln: 18 months; Liliana: 7 months]

*Liliana plays with my face while I give her a bottle - usually putting her fingers in my mouth. 

*While finishing her last ounce of her bedtime bottle she puts her whole arm over her eyes, surrendering to the drowsiness. 

*Every night I read Goodnight Moon to Lincoln. When I read "And a picture offfffffffff..." building suspense as I turn the page and then say "THE COW!! jumping over the moon." Every time Lincoln squeals and has a huge smile. 

*After Goodnight Moon is over Lincoln gives me a kiss then lays his head on my shoulder and cuddles. No coercing, no fighting, just cuddles. 

*When Liliana cries, almost always Lincoln will find a book or toy to hand to her. He just wants to help her feel better. 

*I love love love how he randomly walks over and gives her kissies. 

Winter and Ped Appts

This winter just will not give up. Here in Iowa we keep getting one snow storm after the other, always accompanied with crazy wind and windchills. For weeks on end our windchill was -25 or lower. Today Mother Nature got even more bipolar on us. At noon we had a thunderstorm complete with hail, thunder, and and pouring rain. It's now, four hours later, snowing and we're in a blizzard warning for the rest of the night. 

With all that being said, out household has been hit with a stomach bug. Because it wasn't enough that we ALL had a cold a few months ago. So yesterday and today I've stayed home. Yesterday I didn't do much other than lay around but today I'm feeling a little more human. I've got to tell ya, today has been one of the best days with my kiddos. They've been pretty well behaved and such happy babies. I know I haven't done anything remotely regular as far as monthly updates on either kiddo, but I've got to say...

I think this is my favorite age of Lincoln's so far!! It's mostly because he's so happy and expressive. He loves his sister and shows her by giving her kissies roughly every 15 minutes. He helps burp her, wipes her face off (tries anyway) with her burp cloth, and rocks her in her swing and rock chair. 

He laughs constantly. He knows where his nose and mouth are when asked. He LOVES to dance. He knows how to run my iPhone. I put the Guided Access on while he's in an app so he can't get out if it. To get out of Guided Access you have to hit the home key 3 times in a row which brings up the screen for the password. He can already make it bring up the password screen. Yikes. I'm in trouble. Haha

At Lincoln's 15 month checkup he measured in at 32" long and 26.5lb. Unfortunately the Ped also found double ear infection. 

At Liliana's 4 month checkup she measured in at 26" long and 15.5lb. She's in the 95% for head, 90% for length, and I think 75% for weight. Long and skinny with a big brain!! ;)

And I'll leave you with a the best. picture. ever. 

Update on 2 under 1

Wow. It's been 7 months since I last posted. Life has been a little hectic as you can imagine. I don't think I have any followers on here that I'm not also friends with on Facebook or Instagram, but just in case, here's a brief update. 

Liliana Rose was born September 25, 2013 at 11:20pm. She was 8lb 3oz and 21" long. My levels were increasing and leading me into HELLP Syndrome so they induced me at 38 weeks. That didn't go well, though, so we switched to another emergency c-section. 

Lincoln was smitten with his little sister from their very first meeting!!

We had our work cut out for us that first month. Our hands were always full and recovering from a second c-section (10.5 months after my first) was more challenging than the first. I couldn't lift Lincoln for the first six weeks - over the weight limit. It was so hard not to be able to pick up my baby boy!!

Lincoln gives Liliana hundreds of kissies a day. He truly loves that little girl! I post tons of pictures of these kissies and all, but when my cousin was over and saw him randomly give her a kiss he realized how true and unprovoked the act is! None of the pictures are staged. Yes, we will sometimes ask him to give her kissies, especially at bedtime, but 98% of those kissies occur when he doesn't even know we're watching. Such a lover. 

To finish off this update, here is Liliana's growth: