Saturday, April 25, 2009

Super Fun Weekend Trip!!

"I was just looking. I promise!!" ~Abby
Daddy and Rory

Rory about to take off running in the hotel room


Rory loved the full-length mirror in the hotel room. We may have to get one for her room at home.

Abby's in front of the mirror, but Rory is in the reflection

Slumber party fun!!

"We're worn out! When are you going to let us go to sleep?"

The girls slept with Mommy and Daddy in the big kind size bed. They look so tiny, but they sure do take up a lot of room for as little as they are. :)

Having fun in the swimming pool with Daddy

Jonathan getting in to go swimming

Jacob swimming with his Daddy. I think this is a sweet picture!!

Jonathan peeking out from the firetruck window

Abby racing down the rollercoaster with Daddy's help

Rory loved jumping on the trampoline! She actually started jumping really high!!

Rory and Abby jumping on the trampoline

Look how high Rory can jump!!!! Abby is holding on tight!

Abby loved riding on the little tricycle that is just her size!

Rory climbing in the middle of a big foam doughnut

Jonathan Merriss and Rory racing with the help of their Daddies

Rory is going fast down the rollercoaster

Abby and Jonathan playing on the big drum! They made beautiful music together!

Jennifer and Jacob watching the fun

Rory chasing after Abby

Jonathan pounding on the drum!

I think that the Dads had as much fun as the kiddos :)

Abby driving the firetruck

Rory loved playing with the gears table

Abby figuring out where best to put the gear to make it work

This weekend, we decided to go to Lubbock with some of our closest friends, the Merriss family, for a fun trip away from home. With four kiddos in tow, we didn't know exactly how well it would work out, but we decided to be brave and ended up having an awesome time!! We went to Lubbock Friday evening after Michael got home from work. After we arrived, we ate at a Japanese place for dinner. It was so much fun to watch the cook prepare our meal right at our table. The kids were all fascinated!! Rory was a little unsure about the whole new experience, but Abby took every bit of it in!! She tried shrimp for the first time and LOVED it!!!! We spent the night in a nice hotel. Jonathan, Abby and Rory took turns running back and forth and chasing one another through the hotel rooms. Then, all four kiddos (Jonathan, Jacob, Abby and Rory) watched VeggieTales and had a bit of a slumber party for a while. They stayed up way past their normal bedtimes, but I think that they really all had so much fun!! The girls got to sleep with Mommy and Daddy in a big king size bed. For as little as they are, it is amazing how much room they take up when they are sleeping. I woke up in the middle of the night and both girls had their heads propped on their Daddy and all four of their little feet propped up on me. This morning, we got up and took the kids swimming in the indoor pool at the hotel. It was the first time that Abby and Rory had been in a big pool. They played in their little pool last summer, but it was nothing compared to the hotel pool. Both girls did pretty good. Rory decided that she does not like getting water splashed anywhere near her. Abby, on the other hand, decided that she was going to take off swimming like her Daddy and John. Michael held her up under her stomach in the water and she started kicking and swinging her arms through the water. It was so fun to watch! She was determined to figure out the whole concept of swimming! She even put her face down in the water all by herself. I think that she is really going to enjoy taking swimming lessons this summer. I think that we may have to persuade Rory that it's really a lot of fun to swim, however. After swimming, we had lunch and then headed to the Lubbock Science Spectrum. They have a room full of discovery toys that kids under 5 yrs. can play with. All four kids had a lot of fun!! Jonathan, Rory and Abby ran from toy to toy checking everything out! Abby and Jonathan even had a great time playing the big drum together!! By the time that we headed home this afternoon, all of the kids (and adults for that matter) were worn out from having such a good time. It was an awesome weekend getaway and we look forward to taking a trip with the Merriss family again soon!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter 2009

Gorgeous Abby

Rory using Daddy's face as a pillow. Neither one look really up for the upcoming festivities.


The Easter Bunny came to see the girls. What fun presents!!



Beautiful Rory




All Smiles



Our Beautiful Easter girls in their pretty dresses and hats

"I'm not happy" ~Abby


Daddy and his beautiful girls ready to head to church


Rory sportin' her Easter bunny ears


Abby actually wore her bunny ears longer than we thought.. How cute!!


"Do I look as silly as I think I do?" ~Rory



Rory putting her eggs in her bucket


Daddy and Abby hunting Easter eggs

Rory is looking at all her treasures


Abby found another egg!!

... And another egg

... and another egg
(Abby really got into the egg hunt)

Braxton had a great time hunting eggs

"I found one!!!" ~Rory

We had such a wonderful Easter this year. Last year, the girls were only 2 months old on Easter and weren't really interested in everything that was going on (though they were adorable in their little dresses all the same!). This year, however, the girls were so excited about everything that was going on, even if they didn't totally understand everything. We spent the Saturday before Easter with Michael's family. It was so good to get a chance to see Greg, Apryl, Chesley, Stella, Jackson, Ingrid, Richard and Sue!! We had a really good time getting a chance to talk and catch up with everyone! On Easter Sunday morning, we went to church for the Easter service. The girls were an absolute hit in their beautiful Easter dresses and bonnets to match!! After church, we made the rounds to let our family see them in their pretty dresses. Rory kept saying "oh pitty (pretty) mama" and "pitty sister." It was too adorable!! After we got a chance to change out of our Easter Sunday clothes, we had Easter with my family. We had a nice Easter egg hunt for Braxton, Abby and Rory. Braxton was so excited to find all the "hard" eggs that his mama and Papa had hidden for him. Michael and I helped the girls find the eggs that were easier to find. We were really shocked when Abby found two of the hardest to find eggs all by herself!! She wasn't entirely sure how to get to them, but she was not going anywhere until they were in her basket!! Afterward, all three kiddos had a good time playing with their new goodies. Abby made a point to take a bite out of everyone's chocolate bunny (without their permission). I guess she really is a girl after my own heart!! :) All in all, we had an excellent Easter. It was so much fun to see the girls get a chance to participate this year and see how excited they got about everything!!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Having Fun Together

As the girls were getting ready for bed this evening, they climbed up in our glider rocker and started trying to rock it back and forth together. This worked really well as long as they were in sync. They were not, however, always in sync and started giggling as they tried to make it work. I kept having that annoying song from Wonder Pets (a cartoon that the girls watch) creep up in my head: "What's gonna work? Team work! What's gonna work? Team work!" They had a fun time working together to make the chair rock and Michael and I had a fun time watching them! Hope you enjoy!!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Just an Update

It's so hard to believe that the girls will be 14 months old this coming Sunday. They are growing like little weeds and are learning new things every single day. It amazes Michael and I how quickly they are picking things up. I know that every parent thinks that their child is a genius and we are no different. :) But, I'm convinced that we have two geniuses on our hands. :) Abby is running all over the place now. She has no problem just pushing people out of her way. She is also our little mountain climber. She will climb on anything... anywhere. I walked into the living room this morning and she was standing on her Little Mermaid push car yelling at her sister. She has started climbing our bookshelves. She likes to lay in the second shelf up on our tall bookshelf. I couldn't believe it when I turned around the other day and she was just laying there looking at me at about thigh-high (on me) on the bookshelf. She loves play chase with her Daddy and sister. Today, she picked up one of her stuffed dogs and started chasing Rory around the living room growling at her. She's too funny!! Rory talks ALL THE TIME. I mean, that child wakes up talking and doesn't stop until she falls asleep at night. She picks up words so fast that it is scary sometimes. She loves clothes... especially shoes. She loves to say "oh, pitty (pretty) mama" whenever she has on a new dress or shoes. When she wants to put on her shoes, she will get them out of her closet and follow me around saying "soooes (shoes), mama.... sooes." She also has started twirling around whenever she wants to show off her clothes. She will pull up the corner of her dress/pants/shorts/diaper and twirl around saying "pitty... pitty... pitty." She also likes to try and take care of Abby. I walked in the room the other day and Abby was laying on the floor and Rory was trying to take off her sister's diaper to change it. She will feed Abby animal crackers (which doesn't always go so well). I think that she is going to be our little "mother." There are so many things that they do every day that it is hard to put it all down.

Michael and I are doing well. We have decided to buy a new house because our house seems to be getting smaller and smaller as the girls accumulate more things. We have put our house on the market and have already found another house. We are just praying that we can sell our house before too much longer. It's stressful, but we know that it will all be worth it when we get moved into our new house.

I'm still staying home with the girls full-time and I still love it more than I can express!! It is so much fun being with the girls from the time that they wake up until they go to sleep. I love playing different things with them and watching them learn!! We have special times where the three of us will read books and sing together. I couldn't ask for a better job!! I have recently joined the Amarillo Area Mothers of Multiples group. It's an awesome group made up of women who have multiples from 2 months to 25 years. It's great to get a chance to socialize and get tips from other mothers of multiples. Not to mention, Michael and I want to find other sets of twins that the girls can get to know. We think that it's important that they have at least some friends who can relate with them being twins.

Michael is doing wonderful. He is still teaching Latin. He is probably going to take his certification test this spring to be able to teach History at the middle school level as well. His principal would like to have him teach a few history classes along with a few Latin classes. Since his Master's degree is in History, I think that he will really enjoy teaching these classes. Right now he's happy at the middle school level, so I think that he's planning to stay there for a while. I'm so proud of everything that he does. He is such a great husband and awesome daddy. The girls adore him so much (as do I)!! We couldn't ask for a better husband/daddy!!

Well, that's pretty much what's going on in our house right now. Michael and I are running to keep up with two toddlers on a daily basis (some days we succeed in this endeavor more than others). We look forward to the joys and challenges that every day brings!!