Myrtle Beach

Hi friends! Yes, we're still here, and no nothing is wrong. I guess I just let blogging get away from me for a few weeks. Have we been busy? Yes. But hasn't everybody? No excuse really. But I will try to update some of favorite things about the past few weeks by blogging every day this week to catch up!

But first of all, I have to tell you about our fabulous trip to Myrtle Beach. While we've been in South Carolina almost five years, we've never been to Myrtle. I guess we're such big fans of Charleston and Edisto Island that we never consider spending our time in Myrtle. However, Scott went to a conference there last fall and he said he thought the kids would love it. We were gone for three days, which was plenty enough time. It was the perfect chance for us to spend time on our family, just connecting and loving on our kids. Simply perfect!

(before I go any farther, I must admit that I have more than a couple loads of laundry waiting for me, a dishwasher to unload, and a hungry husband. Can you say... procrastination? But I was just so excited to share the pictures from our trip!)

Here are some of my favorites from the day we spent out on the beach. Notice the pictures of the twins before the water touched them, and after. They liked to sit and watch the water more than they liked being wet!
















And I have a funny Emily story that must be told:
Emily came running up to us saying she needed to to pee. Scott explained that she should just pee in the ocean, to which Emily responded, "Seriously?" So off she went, only to return a minute later. "But everybody will see me going potty! That's just ridiculous!" she said. Scott told her to just sit down in the sand in the water, and nobody would ever know. So off she went. She returned one more time, told us we were ridiculous, and then went out for a final time.



I guess Scott and I were busy giving crackers to the babies, because all of the sudden I look up to find Emily, and I see her pulling off her swim suit, right there in the ocean!?! I RUN towards her, yelling at her to stop. She took one look at me, and knowingly said, "I told you this was ridiculous!"

I still don't think she understands that we meant to leave the swim suit on, but whatever. The damage was done. I am still giggling about it!





Lots of fun times on this trip. And I feel so lucky to have three kids who travel as easily as these three! Emily has always been an awesome traveler (did she have a choice?) but to have twins who sleep so well in a hotel and act so well at restaurants is truly a blessing. More than one person told us they would have waited a few years before going on vacation with little ones, but we just shrugged it off and remembered to be thankful for their good car behavior, sleeping habits, and eating routines. Now I guess I just have to get that laundry done, and figure out what we're eating for dinner!

Oh, and the new picture on the top of the blog was taken after breakfast one morning. With early risers like ours, breakfast is before seven. We'd go down to the awesome hotel breakfast, and then take a stroll with the kids still in their jammies. It was a fun way to start the day!

Tired Mommy needs a nap

Today we went to the library for story time, followed by lunch at Chic-fil-a. That sounds simple enough. But nothing about it was simple. Not that we didn't have a great time... because the entire trip was fabulous (except that I got a parking ticket.)

However, even though it was very fun, it was also very tiring. And while I normally don't make it a habit to sleep during the day I thought that this day deserved an exception. I couldn't wait for the three kiddos to fall asleep so I could take a little siesta.

I went in to check on the twins, and this is what I saw:






A very awake Elsie, pointing her sweet toes, kicking, and sticking them in between the crib slats. She didn't fall asleep until well after Eli and Emily. So by the time she fell asleep, I only had twenty minutes before the other two woke up. Oh well.

But those sure are some cute toes!

Laughing my way through the morning

This morning has been CRAZY! I seriously can't recall another morning when it was so crazy that I had to walk around in giggles just to keep from going in to hysterics. And I'm glad I laughed, because it is just really funny!


**Warning paragraph below contains gross details!**
First of all, Scott mentioned as he was leaving for work that he smelled something, and maybe I needed to check the babies diapers. I'd just changed them both, and didn't think much of it. But then a few minutes after he left, I put Eli in the play room while Elsie finished up her breakfast. When I returned to the kitchen Elsie had a huge mess coming out of her diaper, through her flannel jammies, down the high chair, and dripping on the kitchen floor. Let me sum it up with two words: Brown liquid.

After I got Elsie upstairs, bathed, and all cleaned up, I walked down stairs to find that Eli has pulled down each toy storage bin (eight in all) and dumped them out on the play room floor. Good thing most of Em's small toys are upstairs! He had also rolled himself over to the shelf with the puzzles and had dumped over five of them on the floor. He was VERY pleased with his mess!

Emily was asking to play "dance party" which is where I turn on music and she dances around with the babies in their jumper-roos. I thought this sounded like a fabulous idea, but when I went to put the CD in the DVD/CD player, it wouldn't read correctly. It seemed like something was lodged in there, so I got a chopstick and eventually pulled out two jelly beans and a hair rubber band, but this didn't help. The CD still wouldn't play.

So I bring in the boom box from the other room and put music on. The babies had a great time while Emily danced, and for twenty minutes there seemed to be normalcy (or as normal as a house with a five year old and twin babies can get!)

Then I heard the recycling truck pull in to the neighborhood, and instantly remembered the recycling that I forgot to put out. I sent Emily out in her jammies to put the items in the bin, and as she returned she told me the sliding van doors were both open. I couldn't figure out how this could have happened, but as I used my remote to close them, Ethel, my cunning devilish cat leaped out from the inside of the van. It was at this point that I remembered she hadn't been fed, and I knew instantly she'd left a "treat" in my van. Yep. I was right. The cat has a serious vindictive side.

I'd just cleaned up the mound left on my previously spotless car mat when I noticed it was 9 a.m. and the babies were starting to fuss. Time for their naps. I put them upstairs in their cribs while Emily continued to dance to her tunes downstairs. Apparently the fussing through the monitor was too loud and from what I understand, Emily was trying to turn up the volume dial when she tripped and accidently turned the dial to the loudest volume possible. One would think she would simply turn down the dial, but no. She ran out to the garage and hid in a box with a blanket over her head, crying.

At this point let's just stop to survey the scene. I had two babies fussing in their cribs. My big girl was crying in a box in the garage from fear of the music, that was still blaring loud. I had a cat who was seriously ticked from the lack of a timely breakfast. And there was still "brown liquid" all over the high chair and kitchen floor.

Yep. That was life this morning. Hysterically crazy. And its only just after 10!

Kate Gosselin impersonator

I was looking at Elsie's hair this morning, and couldn't help but notice how familiar the style was. I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but then finally figured it out. She looks like Kate Gosselin. Elsie is rocking that now infamous hair style!

Five year old chores

When Emily turned four a year ago, we began showing her how to make her bed. At first I had to simply cringe at the crinkles and ruffles in the bedding and it was everything I could do to not go fix it. But she practiced and practiced and can now successfully make her bed with minimal ruffles in the blankets. She even snuck in Grammy's bedroom during our stay at Christmas and she made Grammy and Papa's bed.



Now that she is five we decided she could now learn to dust and vacuum her room. What a rite of passage, don't you think? Of course learning a new thing like this is a novelty at first that will surely wear off soon. But for now, Emily enjoys using the vacuum and the dusting spray. She especially likes using her daddy's old sock as a dusting mitt, because that is just so silly! :)












In the process, Emily has figured out that if she doesn't do a REALLY good job picking up her Polly Pockets, they easily become vacuum food. This was a tragedy at first, but she is MUCH better at REALLY picking up her room now.... which is an unsuspected bonus for me!

What a big girl!

Blueberry Muffins

Last July we went blueberry picking. I posted the details here. That day we picked over ten pounds of fresh blueberries. I loaded up the freezer, and we've been enjoying them ever since.






One of our favorite ways to use the blueberries is in Kathy D's blueberry buckle recipe. On Sunday morning Emily decided she wanted blueberry muffins for her birthday breakfast. I whipped up this recipe and put them in the muffin pans (without the topping). They were fabulously delicious. And now that the twins are able to eat a larger variety of foods, they were able to appreciate the wonderful recipe and blueberries as well! I think they enjoyed them very much!









Sadly, our blueberry supply has diminished, as we're down to half of a quart bag. I am so very much looking forward to July, and the wonderful blueberries to be picked at the blueberry farm! What fun!

Preschool birthday bash

Emily's birthday is Sunday. She will be five years old. Today in preschool she brought in cupcakes to celebrate. And yes, we did dye the frosting to match the cupcake on her sweater. Ridiculous, yes. But I did have a stronger sense of accomplishment when it matched to a tee. Thanks Wilton Co.

Emily had a fabulous time, and I got to stay for almost the entire morning of preschool. I'm reminded again that Emily's teachers are fabulous. From circle time, to centers, to the Bible story, the morning was fun for everybody. The kids learn so much while playing with each other. I am continually amazed at how organized these wonderful ladies are in order to pull this off every day.

I'm sure you can see by her smiles that she had a great time, and she has some great little friends in her class. Out of the eighteen kids in her preschool class, eight of them were born in March. Crazy. Right now we have seven different invitations on our fridge from classmates and other friends. Team that up with Emily's own birthday party, and the preschool celebrations, and that is a whole lot of birthday hoopla! The little girls in the class all seemed to be talking about it, as Emily's is the first of the long line of birthday fun.

And of course the babies joined me. Easy and cooperative, they sat in their stroller and watched the "big kids" play and have a great time. They ate their bottle and dozed off for a quick sleep before waking back up to go home. Emily showed them off to whoever would listen. She was grateful to have them at her school for her birthday as well!

Random updates

- Yesterday the kids and I went to Charleston with Paul and Mary. We had a fabulous time. Charleston is one of my favorites cities. We really didn't have too much on the agenda, however there is always so much to do. Scott had to work, but I did bring him back some of his favorites from the candy store. Something about the smell of hot pralines does me good!

- Sunday is Emily's birthday. Her big birthday party will be the following Saturday. Besides her own party, she has an additional five birthday party invites for her friends' birthdays. This kid is seriously social. Don't know where she gets that from!

- It snowed last night. Just enough to dust the ground and cancel preschool for Emily today. But for the second time this season, the snow reminded me of the beauty of God's creation. Falling snow is peaceful, graceful, and fabulously special.

- Scott and I are not house-bound. I know sometimes when we're out with the twins people must think it looks like too much work, and it would be easier to just stay at home while they are little. They must think I am nuts. What they don't realize is that staying at home all the time would make me nuts. I'm thankful for our sweet babies and the way they love to experience our world as we show it to them one small piece at a time.

- A couple weeks ago Scott found one of my favorite drinks at Trader Joes. It is called Framboise (sp?) and it is a Belgian berry beer that is very sweet. When I've ordered it at restaurants it comes in either a champagne or wine glass. The other night we drank some, and it was heavenly. I don't remember if it was Woody or Heather who first introduced it to us. Yum!

- The big 3-0 is looming around the corner. I'm noticing wrinkles all the time. The other day Emily asked me why I put on make-up, and I told her that having kids made my skin wrinkle. She replied, "But you only have three kids." I guess she saw way more than three wrinkles. Good point, Em. Good point indeed.

-There is a great little farm down the street that sells organic fresh produce. He grows all sorts of vegetables across from his house and sells them in a cute little shed on the side of his driveway. Right now he has fresh brussel sprouts! Too bad my family would hang me up by my toenails if I try to serve them! I with my dad lived near. He loves brussel sprouts.

- Elsie is finally off her horrible antibiotics. They gave her a horrible diaper rash that seems to only be clearing up with a great product called "Butt paste." Emily loves to say the name of the cream because she knows she won't get in trouble for saying "butt." Its the little things in life I guess.

- Scott and I began watching the very first season of Lost. We didn't know what all the hub-bub was about when the final season began showing a few weeks ago. We found the entire series in full episode on Hulu.com and we're now hooked. We are still t.v. free at our house, but this way we can still watch our favorite shows. This has become a quick favorite, even though we're only on season 2 now, and have a long way to go!

Imagined Conversations

The babies were happily playing with their toys on the floor this afternoon when I sat down with them to cut out my coupons. I quickly realized I forgot my scissors, and ran upstairs real fast to grab them.

This is the conversation that I imagine took place when I was out of sight:

Eli: She's gone! Can you reach any of that fun stuff?
Elsie: I don't think mommy wants us to touch her papers.
Eli: But let's just see if you can grab it... reach!
Elsie: Okay, I guess it won't hurt. (reaches behind her and grabs the paper)
Eli: Way to go sister! You're awesome! Now hand me some before she gets back!
(Elsie hands him a stack of papers)
Eli: Woo Hoo! I am a ripping and crinkling machine!
Elsie: Great idea Eli! We're having a big time!






I guess this is only an inkling of what is to come!

Charlotte

Yesterday we went to Charlotte for the day with Scott's dad and Mary. We had a great time. It was the perfect reason to get out of the house and do something for the day. We left shortly after eight, and arrived at Bass Pro. Emily loves this place. She doesn't understand the animal heads everywhere, and has asked on numerous occasion about the reindeer that got stuck in the wall. I think that she really believes that on the other side of the wall is the remainder of that reindeer's body. Lucky for us, the other side of the wall is inaccessible, and we're saved the drama of that realization.

We had lunch at one of my mom's favorite restaurants. When guests come to visit we always bring them to Sticky Fingers. It is a great local chain with fabulous ribs.

We did some strolling through the mall, and then headed to Costco where we found lots of Costco favorites. These include: costco breakfast muffins (you know, the ones that are completely fattening and will add one pound each, but are completely heavenly??) new socks all around, and.... TRI-TIP!!! That's right! Perfectly trimmed, Costco tri-tip! Now, please understand that years ago I found out that the Southern population doesn't understand tri-tip. It isn't found in any grocery store, meat market, or warehouse shopping center. I did find a butcher at Publix who has at least heard of a tri-tip (he has friends in Texas) and he made his best attempt to cut one for me. It was good. Very small, and somewhat of the wrong shape, unlike what I'm used to. But I paid almost twenty dollars for it. Needless to say, I haven't been back to ask him to cut me one of those 8.99/ lb tri-tips since! My mom has on occasion lined the inside of her suitcase with frozen tri-tip. Right now there are four tri-tips in my fridge, and Scott and I are in a state of tri-tip bliss!

Finally we made a short trip to Trader Joes. I got my favorite coffee, Scott got his favorite peanutbutter pretzels, and some other great things.

The day was great, the kids were fabulous, and we had a very nice time getting out of the house.

Dress up

We have a large bin in our playroom filled with all sorts of dress up pieces. Emily has always loved to play dress-up and I am sure she was thinking her little sister would want to join in the fun.





That isn't exactly how it panned out. Elsie was happy touching the different textures of the pieces, but dress-up it turns out just isn't her thing.





Emily however did find another willing participant who was much better at cooperating.








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A day in the life...

Actually, more like an hour in the life. A very funny hour.

Yesterday evening was quite comical. And really comical is the only way to describe it. But before I go into detail, I must explain the latest illness to strike the Johnson household. Elsie has a virus. Luckily it has only struck her so far. I thought when she developed a mild fever on Friday that it was just a typical reaction to the vaccines that she'd received at her well visit the day before. But when the fever spiked to 104.0 on Saturday, we realized this was more than just a vaccine reaction. After another pediatrician visit we found that the virus caused a secondary infection in her ear, and that she also has thrush. Poor sweetie! She is only comforted when she is held, but now she has antibiotics and slept well last night for the first time in days.

Ahhh. Okay. So knowing that, please picture my funny evening. I was in the middle of dicing chicken for dinner when I had to stop and feed the babies. Scott was trying his best to feed a very sick Elsie, and I was feeding carrots to Eli when he spit them all over me. And I mean ALL OVER ME! My face, hair, neck and and shirt were covered in pureed orange yuck. So I brought him up to the bedroom to towel off, and then began undressing the twins for their bath while Scott prepared the tub. While I spent two seconds walking Elsie in to Scott, Eli wizzed all over the floor. Nice. Then when I picked up their diapers, Elsie had a lovely tootsie roll that fell out. And in one fluid, non-stop motion the tootsie roll fell to the floor and I stepped in it. Barefoot. Ewww!

Once that mess was cleaned up, I walked back downstairs to rediscover Emily in time-out. (for not cleaning up her toys after being asked about a zillion times!) I noticed that she was rubbing her nose against the wall, and upon further inspection I see streaks of what else? Boogers! I guess that's what happens when a semi-obedient girl is forgotten about in time-out!

After I talked with her and disinfected the wall, I noticed my coupon organizer on the floor. Upside-down. With every coupon strewn about. And if you know anything about me, you know that I often get three sets of Sunday coupon inserts which means my coupon organizer is full. Very full. And dear reader, you should be horrified. I know I was!

I ignore the coupon organizer, secretly hoping the issue would go away, and I walk in the kitchen to resume the dinner preparation I had started over an hour earlier. But the chicken breast I was dicing looked funny. Hmmm. Yep. Dakota (our lab/chihuahua/boxer mut) had eaten half of the raw chicken breast. The remains were hanging off the cutting board, dangling from the counter top. Where was Dakota? He was trembling from underneath the kitchen table.

What else does one do after these event? Laugh. Hard. Then you call your mom to explain how hilarious the evening went. And when she says "oh honey, I'm so sorry!" You tell her it is really okay. Because one day the house won't be this crazy. It will be quiet, and calm. And I hope when it is that Scott and I will remind ourselves of nights like last night as we wish we could go back just for one crazy, chaotic night.

Carolina Snow

We rarely get snow in South Carolina, but when we do it is a big event. Yesterday afternoon the snow began falling and continued for most of the night, ending around midnight. We played in it a bit last night, and again this morning. What fun!



In our neighborhood there is a big grassy hill that goes from the top of the road, down to the pool and sand volleyball court. This big hill makes a great sledding hill, and whenever we get any snow it is covered with neighborhood kids and their make-shift sleds. We saw kids sledding on rubbermaid storage container lids, big metal mixing bowls, and boogie boards. Emily has a shark boogie board, and that is what she is riding with her friend Joseph, who she affectionately calls "Jofus."





The snow is simply magnificent! We've had such a special Saturday morning in the snow. And its so beautiful! Of course fun in the snow has to be followed by a hot cup of cocoa!

9 month appt.

The babies had their nine month appt. today. The big news of the appt. was that Elsie had finally caught up, and passed her brother in weight! She nows weighs one ounce more than Eli! We all decided it was because of her chunky thighs!

Here are the nine month happenings of Elsie and Eli:

-Eli weighs 16 lbs 10 oz and Elsie weighs 16 11 oz
- I've been giving them more and more finger foods lately. The other day I slow-cooked a whole chicken and fork-shredded it before giving it to them. They thought this was fabulous. And while Elsie thought the bits of mushy/steamed broccoli was great, Eli thought I was surely trying to poison him.
- When I sit Eli down, he quickly flops backward so he is laying down, and then precedes to roll and roll and roll. Elsie on the other hand will sit as long as I'll let her. She hates falling or flopping backward. Crawling is not in her near future, as she feels laying on the ground is beneath her.
- Both babies sleep fabulously (right now). As long as they are healthy they are sleeping well. Normaly bed time is around 6:45 and wake time is 6 a.m. I'm trying to push back the bed time to 7 p.m. so that maybe, just maybe we could stay in bed until 6:30. Apparently all of our three children have my cheery morning disposition. (and no, that's not sarcasm. I'm annoyingly chipper in the morning. Ask Jenny. I think this was one thing she HATED about living with me! :)
- Eli has horrible eczema on his face. We've tried numerous oinments and lotions. We've followed doctor's orders regarding creams and applying it as many times as we've been told with no avail. Just a few days ago it had gotten so bad that poor Eli began rubbing his itchy face on his crib sheets until he had blood all over. It made my heart drop. Today we got a new prescription steroid that we're hopeful will help.
-While Eli grew out of his reflux, Elsie still struggles and requires Zantac twice a day. When her reflux gets out of control she has a hard time sleeping, which is normally an indicator that her dosage needs to be readjusted for her ever-growing weight.

I still am in shock at them being nine months old. Didn't I just have them? Wasn't I pregnant with them just yesterday? Again, I need to remind myself that it goes by too fast, and that I need to slow down and
enjoy EVERY. SINGLE. MOMENT. (Don't even get me started on my almost-five-year-old!?!)

Bed Time

Bed time rituals and routines are somewhat of a necessity in our home. Even when the kids are sick, teething, or having reflux issues we try to stick to it. We have the bath time, the play time, the last bottle, the snuggles and kisses, and then lay them down in their crib.

However, the twins each have their own way of nodding off to sleep. They do it so regularly, that I knew I should be able to catch it on video without a hitch. I tried to tonight, and they didn't disappoint. I think it is rather funny, and so true to their differing personalities that I wanted to share!

Eli:



Elsie:


*And don't worry... every night I go back in and pull Eli's blanket back down!

Emily Grace

Emily just keeps growing. I try to make her stop, but she doesn't listen! In the past few weeks she has talked incessantly about her big five year old birthday that is coming up in March. There are seven other children in her preschool class (yes! EIGHT out of 18!) that are also born in March, and I think much of the birthday hoopla is perpetuated by the little girls discussing their parties at school.

When Emily was two she attended a birthday party for her friend Ella at a place called American Cheer Xtreme, or ACX. I guess this place made quite an impression on Emily, because she has requested to have her birthday there. I'm a backyard birthday type of mom, but was willing to make an exception this year as I instantly potential relief that comes with not having to have my house clean to welcome 18 preschool guests and their mommies.

The date is set, and the party is being planned at ACX. Emily is thrilled! She can invite a total of 20 children, and while you may think that a little girl may have a hard time finding 20 children to invite, Emily already has a list of many more than 20. I guess she'll have to think that through in the coming weeks before we send out the invitations!

Just today the UPS man brought a box to the door for me. Emily was at the door questioning if it could possibly be for her. I asked her what she thought may be coming via the UPS man, and she answered, "ACX may be sending me something, mom. You never know!" Then she promptly went upstairs, wrote something on a piece of paper, and taped it to the outside of the storm door. I looked and saw it said "101 ACX." Emily told me this was so that ACX would know her address in case they wanted to mail her something. :)

Anyhow, I guess all this birthday talk from Emily makes me remember all the birthdays she's had in the past. I included some pictures, starting with her first birthday and ending with last year when she turned four. It really does go by just too fast!

Much better!

Today I woke up and told myself that I was going to have a better attitude, no matter what the day brought. It worked, and for the most part, we had a very, very good day. Thursdays are my favorite because we don't have to be anywhere, and if we want we can stay in our pajamas all day long and play till our hearts content.

While both babies are still recovering from their viral infection, I feel much better. I still need pain meds to keep my teeth from feeling like they are severely in pain, but it is totally manageable. Today has been the first pain-free day all week, and I am so grateful! I was thinking about it this afternoon- I have taken more pain meds with this toothache/sinus issue than both of my c-sections combined!

And finally, I have to share about our dinner time at our house. I was trying to prepare dinner while Scott fed the babies. Emily was playing with her toys. But I want you to try and visualize our long galley kitchen with its (very many times mentioned) ugly upside-down rose wall paper, with the babies strapped in their high chairs, cheerios all over the floor, Emily rolling her toys across the kitchen floor, me chopping vegetables for dinner in-between singing to keep the babies happy while the babies fuss and shout between spoonfuls of baby food that Scott is giving them while he dances around the room to "our house." All with loud music in the background.

It was chaos. It was loud. It was our house at dinner time. And I loved every minute of it! A good attitude makes such a difference! Once again I am reminded that as a mom, my attitude has so much impact on my home and those who live in it!

Life

... is overwhelming at the moment. And it seems like this moment is lasting forever! Right now I feel like I can't keep up with anything. Things like the laundry, dishes, house cleaning, etc. are piled up all around our home as constant reminders of my shortcomings.

To be brief, let's just say I've had some tremendous mouth/tooth pain this past week. Turns out it is from a sinus infection (I didn't know that could happen!?!) and I'm on antibiotics that slowly seem to help. But it literally feels like I need a series of root canals. I'm on 1000 mg of ibuprofen for pain. And I am NOT a medicine taker.

And Eli is sick. We took him to the Sunday pediatrician's office when he was really congested and yucky. We were told it was viral and to expect his twin sister to get it shortly. After many days of a healthy Elsie, we thought we'd dodged that bullet. However this evening Elsie was very fussy and had a little cough that I'm afraid is only the beginning.

I have a hard enough time keeping up with life when everything is "normal" but I don't feel anything like normal right now. I'm praying the antibiotics will make a break through in the next day or so, but I'm also remembering the sinus infection that almost landed me in the hospital with pneumonia during my pregnancy.

Most of all I know that I have a horrible attitude, and I need to change it. I have talked a lot about my attitude in the past year as I've been shown over and over again how my bad attitude effects the tempermant of my entire family, the climate of our entire home. I will chose to focus on the blessings we've been given even when I feel crummy. And I will look forward to spring.... which bring nicer weather, kids outside, and less viruses!