Giving Thanks - Day 9-11

It was bound to happen that I would be a few days behind.  The weekend has been quite busy, so here is a little catch-up:

Day 9 - I am thankful that the boys enjoy looking at and reading books.  I know it's good to start the love of reading at a young age, but I love the fact that they are just as content flipping through books as they are playing with their blocks.  Or, that we have more books in the car to entertain them on car rides compared to other toys.

Day 10 - I am thankful for a good solid 8 hours of sleep.  Thursday night was a bit rough and something was bothering Ellis enough to keep him up off and on for 2 hours.  That made for one sleepy mama on Friday.  Thankfully, I got some decent sleep Friday night to make up for it.

Day 11 - I am thankful for those moments that create uncontrollable laughter.  Two times today, Troy had the boys laughing so hard, it couldn't help but crack you up.  It is definitely nice to have these moments every so often since you can't help but laugh yourself!





I am also thankful for one last beautiful day before what seems like the cold weather settles in.  We definitely enjoyed the day outside.  And for all we know, we might have a future soccer star in the works:

Giving Thanks - Day 7-8

Day 7 - I'm thankful for the end of major construction projects near home.  Throughout the summer and right before school started, there were 3 major construction projects near home and closed down the entire road for periods of time.  One of these projects literally started the week before going back to school and it was on the route that I take to work.  This caused me to take a different route (which I think EVERYONE had to take since 2 other roads were being worked on too), and added 10-15 minutes to my already long enough commute.  Thankfully, the construction is over and the roads are open for all traffic and I can resume my normal route.  I know I should get used to traffic knowing that I live 30 miles from work, but taking 10-15 minutes to get through 3 miles of road is never fun on a daily basis.  Thank you construction workers for finishing this project!

Day 8 - I'm thankful for Logan being so willing to share.  The cutest thing happened that I wish I got on video.  Logan and Ellis love, love, LOVE my iPad. It's literally their favorite toy.  They love to play a counting game and a couple of the animal games.  When one is playing with it, we make them take turns - after about 5 minutes, the other one gets to play with it.  They don't usually stop playing with it on their own, so we give warnings when their time is up and hope that they don't scream too much when it is given to the other brother.  While Logan played with the iPad, I was trying to occupy Ellis and read him some books, when all of a sudden Logan brought the iPad over to Ellis and handed it to him, and said "all done".  Ellis took it from Logan and off Logan went to play with his train.  It was the cutest.thing.ever!  I'm not certain that will happen again for a while, but for today, it definitely stands out as one of those moments that makes me smile.  And quite impressive for a 19 month old!

Giving Thanks - Day 6

Today I'm thankful for the ability to vote.  After a full day at work and my 4 hour class tonight, I wasn't sure I'd have time to run to the polls to vote in between.  Luckily the lines were short enough that I got in and out within 20 minutes and was even able to come home to grab a quick dinner before class.  I hope everyone else was able to cast their vote today too!

Giving Thanks - Day 5

I am thankful for technology.  It is amazing how much technology has boomed in the past 10-15 years and I'm almost afraid of how much it is going to change the next 10-15 years.  I hope I can keep up with it all!  Last week, Troy kept the boys home to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Bush before Grandpa headed back to Alaska.  Troy turned on some music and Grandma was able to catch Logan dancing a little bit.  How awesome to have video capabilities on a phone, for me to be able to upload it from her phone to my computer, and share it with friends and family.  How cool to have blogs and video chatting to be able share current happenings with people all over the country and beyond - or to be able to literally talk to people that live thousands of miles away.  So, for all of these technological abilities and then some, I am thankful for all the technology out there that help keep people in touch.

Giving Thanks - Day 4

I am thankful for adult time.  Last night I had such a good time, with just adults!  Every so often, Troy and I try to go out on dinner/movie dates, but last night we went out with two other couples - Nicole and Mark, and Val and Derek.  All of us have kids, so we were thankful our in-laws were available to watch our kids, so we could go out for an awesome dinner and drinks/bar-hopping afterwards.

We all love our kids dearly, but having fun with friends is important too.  I am thankful that Troy and I are able to have our adult time - both together and on our own (since all of our hobbies are not similar!).  We recognize the need to spend meaningful time as a family, yet also know how important it is to do fun adult things too - do things that make us happy, for ourselves.

A couple pictures from our evening:

Our first round of drinks at Los Galanes in Mexicantown.

Enjoying a drink and watching the guys play pool at Centaur.

I definitely hope we have more evenings like that in the near future!

I also look forward to adult time with my mom and Nicole, next weekend to scrapbook, and I know that Troy is looking forward to November 15th when he heads up north for deer hunting with some friends.  

Giving Thanks - Day 1-3

I saw a friend on Facebook is posting things she is thankful for, 1 thing for each day of November, so I'm going to steal this idea and do it myself.  It seems like the daily news is filled with horrible stories lately (or always), so its time to really give thanks, show appreciation, think positively for all the good in our lives.  And Lord knows I am one lucky girl and I have a lot to be thankful for.

Day 1 - I am thankful for my twin boys.

During the 19 months the boys have been alive (and even while I was pregnant), I have been flooded with the questions of "how do you do it with twins?" or comments like "better you than me" or "double trouble".  It's amazing how many strangers feel some sort of obligation to make a comment about having twins - negative comments or questions, as if having twins means you are doomed.  I usually respond about how I don't know anything different since we didn't have any children prior to twins and let it go, but it just dawned on me that it took 19 months before I heard a sincerely positive comment from a stranger about having twins.  We took the boys trick-or-treating the other night, and one lady saw the boys and she looked at me and said "oh, what a double blessing!"  Just hearing that comment and realizing that no one has ever said that to me before (although I've heard the phrase many times) made me think about how many people don't know what they are missing out on, by NOT having the experience of having twins.

I wish more people could see all the awesomeness of having twins, instead of immediately assuming its a recipe for disaster.  I'm not saying that every day is a breeze, but even parents of one single child have their not-so-perfect days too.  Yes, I've had my fill of days that I am completely overwhelmed, but hasn't everyone?  It has been amazing to watch these two little personalities grow up and be so different at some times, but so similar other times, or even switch personalities day to day.  Seeing the bond develop between them is crazy.  Sure many kids have siblings, but there is no bond similar to the bond between twins.  Two kids of the same age and mentality interacting with each other, cracking each other up, already knowing how to share toys with each other (most of the time), reading books together, egging each other on, yet also being content playing on their own in opposite sides of the room or house, is priceless.  Watching Ellis know that if he wants the toy Logan is playing with, he can just give him a different toy and then take the one Logan had first (and vice versa) - the old bait and switch - is pretty comical considering they are only 19 months old.  They literally are the best entertainment for each other, as well as me and Troy.  I don't know what I'd do without them and they are the best thing that's happened to me!  I know some people are just "glass half empty" type people, but I am truly thankful that I have been blessed with my twin boys and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Day 2 - I'm thankful for my husband.

I am very thankful for all Troy does, on a daily basis.  What I appreciate the most is all that he does to make my life that much easier.  His willingness to do anything I ask him to do, to be my equal when it comes to cleaning the house, making dinner, etc. - not just assuming I will do it because I'm the woman and thats my "job".  He gives me my space when I need it, but support when I need that too.  He understands me - he makes me laugh - he truly makes me happy.  I love the little things he does to let me know he's thinking of me, even when he is out of town.  The fact that he realizes how important for us both to have our own time, doing things with family and friends - to be able to be gone for the weekend and not freak out that he is on his own with the kids.  I could go on and on, but I'm truly thankful that I have not only an awesome husband but a best friend (and a fantastic father to our boys), all in one.  

Day 3 - I'm thankful for my family.

I'm thankful that my immediate family is so close, despite being spread out 30-50 miles in the Metro Detroit area.  I'm so lucky to have my mom watch the boys, while I'm working - so so lucky.  I can not describe how much I appreciate all that she does for me and the boys.  I love that my sister, mom and I have a ritual of getting together once a month to scrapbook - to make holiday cookies in December - to make Christmas cards.  I love spending summer days with Nicole and watching the kids play together - at the splash pad, the zoo, the park.  I'm excited to see the cousins grow up together and hope they remain close with each other too.  

What are you thankful for?

19 months

As I've said every month, yet another month has flown by.  To change up the monthly update I thought  would include my favorite 19 pictures from their past 19 months.  Here goes:

Such awesome boys and a fun, fun age.  Happy 19 months, Logan and Ellis!  Mommy loves you.