Blog Changes

It has been brought to my attention (by more than one faithful reader) that I need to address, among other items, the issue of my blog name. Since we are no longer just the five cheery O's, shouldn't I come up with a new name.

Well, I have given this much thought, even before the babies were born. I think it still works because we now have five cheery O children! Now, if this pregnancy had resulted in a singleton, then, yes, I would have had to change it. Some say to leave it is as it is would be lame. Maybe. But I never have cared much what others think. That is why I still wear my crocs past pregnancy. (Just kidding, Kelsie! I wouldn't embarrass you like that!)

I did finally remove the pregnancy ticker now that the twins have been here a whole month. I plan to get around to some other upgrades to the blog as well. It is just time consuming. And time is a hot commodity these days.

Like right now - Daniel requires some of my time! Gotta go!

Mother's Day - Max's Birthday

I had a great Mother's Day this year. I had two more children to mother for starters! How awesome! My husband and the kids made me breakfast in bed. They also gave me a wonderful gift - an ipod shuffle and beautiful cards (the home made ones are the best!). It was the first Sunday back at church since the birth of the twins. It was like we were celebrities. Well, actually not us, just the babies. All that was missing was the flash of a hundred cameras. It was so much fun!

I received a lovely rose corsage and the day brought special prayers for mothers. After church we spent some time talking with friends, and I was able to share my birth story with some who were interested. How fun! We finally left church and headed to my mom's house. But not so we could take her to lunch or something traditional like that...

My mom made lunch for me! It was a very yummy treat and greatly appreciated. My mom is an awesome cook. Her family get-together meals are the best. (My sister-in-law made my mom's brisket recipe and it was super delicious. I am a little jealous that she can cook so well!) My brother and his wife (the good cook II) came over with their kids and we sang happy birthday to Max.

He received some cool gifts this year. I think he got most of his favorite things - an airport set complete with airplane and helicopter, a construction site play set, small toy tool kit, "baseball game", addition to Thomas train set, motorcycles, clothes, as well as some other fun things.

There is a picture of Max and my twin nursing pillow. He said it was his turn to nurse the babies, so he got himself ready and asked me to hand him the babies!

The picture of Max and Daniel depicts how his genuine desire to show love and tenderness for the babies is sometimes outweighed by his curiosity about their body parts.

Speaking of which, when he was helping Daddy change one of the babies recently, he noticed what was under the diaper and proclaimed "Just like me! Just like me!"

Max really does love the babies, and he does try to be gentle and soft with the babies. It is so sweet. But he just doesn't have any concept of spatial relationship or how much he weighs compared to the little boys. (By the way, I didn't try to take a photo of Max poking Daniel in the eye; it just happened that he decided to poke his eye as my slow camera finally shuttered.)

I also wanted to include a photo of my Grandma on Mother's Day. My brother was the good grandchild and went to visit our grandparents - so this photo is courtesy of him. The little girl with Grandma is his daughter, Aubrey. My daughter Kynzie shares the same birthday as my Grandma.

They say nursing (babies) sucks your brains out...

I haven't blogged in so long... But I really do have good reasons! Homeschooling a 13-year old who would rather not right now (can't blame her!), a two-year old boy that loves to learn about his world in a physical way, an almost four-year old little girl who wants to know what happens to everything and why, a house that doesn't clean itself, laundry that multiplies all by itself, shopping lists, groceries, and meal planning and preparation... the list goes on and on. Oh, and did I mention my newborn twin sons, and the sleepless nights that come with them?

I guess they aren't exactly newborns anymore; they just passed their one month "birthday". They are so sweet and adorable and cuddly... until sometime in the middle of the night. I am not entirely sure when it happens, but all of the sudden my angels don't seem to be as cute as I remember from just a few short hours earlier.

I have never experienced sheer exhaustion until the last few weeks. Fortunately, it is not daily. Some nights are much better than other nights. But I can definitely tell when I am running on a large sleep deficit - my brain just doesn't work. I can't think clearly and I have "tired voice" all day. I have started to keep a "While I Am Thinking About It" notebook. I try to write down everything down so I don't forget.

Yesterday was the worst case of forgetfulness yet. We went to the library a few days ago, and the librarian told the kids about a bug party they were having to kick off their summer reading program. The kids could wear bug costumes, there would be face painting, bug crafts, special guests bringing exotic bugs for the kids to see, and a popular storyteller telling, yep, bug stories.

Kynzie loves bugs, or at least most of them most of the time. She loves to play in the garden, and any dirt patch is a garden to her. She likes to find bugs in her gardens. She loves to learn about bugs. We have a great 3-D book about bees and another one about ants. I would like to have more of those for her. But I digress. My point here is that she was sooooo super excited about that party.

And guess what Mommy forgot. It is still that saddest thing. She prayed two or three times that Jesus would talk to the library and ask them to have another bug party. I am so upset that I forgot.

So, we are going to try to recreate the bug party at home, minus the exotic bugs.

In other news, Max turned two! I will try to load some pics of him in a bit. We didn't have a party. I originally planned to have a double party for Max and Kynzie later in June. But I don't think that is going to happen either. There is so much going on and the idea of a clean house is very enticing but a little overwhelming at this point. We are doing pretty good keeping the living room mostly clean. That's about it.

Also, more than a few people at a time at our house wouldn't fit comfortably pre-twins; post-twins we need a whole room for all the baby equipment! I had good intentions, but I just don't think a big party is going to happen this year.

Am I sleep deprived or is it just Blogger?

I realized last night after I posted that last post that the captions didn't match the order of the photos... Blogger showed the photos in one order in the preview and then switched them up a bit when I actually posted. So, I am blaming it on Blogger. But I was too sleep-deprived to go back and fix it! My apologies for the confusion. Hopefully, you can kind of figure out which picture really goes with which pic. It can be like a little matching game for everyone!

Twin pictures

Here are a few pictures of the twins.

The first picture, top picture on the left, is Poppa (or Papa) Dan (Scott's Dad) holding Daniel Justus.

The top picture on the right is a picture of me holding both twins - so sweet and peaceful.

The third is the twins holding the twins. That is my Aunt Karen and Mom (identical twins) holding Dennis and Daniel.

Then there is Scott holding Max who suddenly became excited about the babies when we brought them home. He didn't think much of them while we were at the hospital. And Kynzie somehow finds her way into every photo she can, so there she is, too.

The next photo is of Kynzie's first glimpse of the babies at the hospital. She was so excited to get them here and then to finally see and hold them. She did not want to be without a baby on her lap the whole time she visited. At one point she looked up at me and said, "Thank you for the babies, Mommy." She was smiling and so very content as long as she was holding a baby. When Daddy started to take the baby from her, she hunched over the baby and held her arms over the top of the baby. Very possessive of "her" babies.

Second to last is a pic of Grandpa Denny, aka Boppa, aka Papa, depending on which grandchild you are talking to... Here Dennis (my dad) is holding his namesake Dennis Aaron.

The last photo here is of the boys in their little port-a-crib in our room. When next to each other, Daniel often rolls toward his 24-minute older brother, Dennis.