Happy New Year!

2012, 10 years after I graduated from high school. I spent some time today thinking about where I thought I would be 10 years ago. I'm pleased to say that things are better than I could have imagined. I'm married to the person I love most in this world, I'm lucky enough to be able to say he is also my best friend. I love being married to someone that I truly enjoy spending my life with, we enjoy almost all of the same activities and more importantly we challenge each other to be better parents and people every day. I am healthy, happy and I have three beautiful children. I never expected I would have twins. The only major thing I'm not doing that I thought I would be is working in a traditional "career", I never saw myself as a stay at home mother. However, I had no idea what it would mean to become a mother and the intense love I would feel for my babies. Although staying at home with our kids isn't a traditional job, it's by far the most challenging and most wonderful job I've ever had. And I feel satisfied knowing how much I was able to accomplish during my five years of teaching in inner city schools on a local and national scale. During the first few months of the twins being around Tim would frequently say that being at work is easy compared to being at home. And now? It's still a lot of work, but life is so incredibly sweet. Sofia is an amazing little girl, we love seeing her developing personality. The boys' personalities are really starting to shine through, they laugh and interact with us and other people constantly. Our house is definitely not what I expected it to be 10 years ago, or even five years ago. Tim and I naively assumed we would be able to afford a larger home after he finished Optometry school. We didn't realize that our priorities would change with children. We have a modest house, but it's home and it works great for us. And the best part of our house is that it allows me to be able to stay home and raise our children. I have no idea what the coming year will bring for Tim and I, but we are so excited to see our kids grow and develop over the course of this next year.

Highlights of the year:
-Finding out we were expecting, again!
-Discovering that we were expecting twin boys
-Celebrating Sofia's first year of life in Florida
-Watching Tim graduate from the Southern College of Optometry
-Spending two months living with Tim's parents while we figured out where we were headed, I will be forever grateful for how much they helped us. The last two months of my pregnancy were great but I definitely didn't have the energy I normally do which made caring for Sofia quite challenging. Many will be shocked that I list this as a highlight, but I am lucky to say that I truly love my in-laws and I really enjoy spending time with them.
-Welcoming Everett James and Sullivan Jeffrey into our family
-Tim accepting a position with Premier Vision
-Closing on our home in Port Washington and finally living under the same roof as a family!
-Being able to spend more time with family now that we are in Wisconsin
-Planning and booking our 5 year anniversary trip to St. Lucia!! Tim and I are heading to St. Lucia in February, we are so excited! We agreed that if we live in Wisconsin we need to budget for a trip every winter to keep our sanity and have some fun just the two of us.

I can't wait to see what this year brings for our family!

Christmas 2011

Wow! We had an awesome yet very busy Christmas season. The week leading up to Christmas was very busy for me, I did a lot of baking, two parties, and went to a showing of the Nutcracker with my family. Then we welcomed some of Tim's family over for a visit, Tim's brother left the country before Christmas to be with his new fiance in Ecuador. Then my family came over for Christmas Eve. Our church had a Christmas pageant this year and Sullivan played the role of Jesus. It was such a sweet performance but was made even sweeter having my little guy in it. He was so calm throughout the dress rehearsal and the performance. He just looked around at all of the lights and other characters. I hosted my first formal dinner in our house on Christmas Eve after the church service, I was quite pleased with how everything turned out. Sofia had a ton of fun opening presents from her grandparents and aunts and uncles.

Tim and I decided that we wanted to spent Christmas morning with our little family before traveling to all of the other family events. After opening a few presents with Sofia and a kamikaze packing session we were off to Madison to stop at one Ruder Christmas event. We spent a few hours visiting there before we were off to Baraboo to be with Tim's family and the Sullivan side of his family. We greatly missed having Tim's Grandma Sullivan around this year. Here are some pictures from all of the fun!

Andy feeding the boys rice cereal.

Making pancakes with Granddad

Tim will kill me if he sees this picture on here, good thing he doesn't read my blog :)

I still can't believe this is Wisconsin at the end of December, hardly any snow on the ground.

Check out his two bottom teeth!

Trying to figure out one of the exhibits at the museum.

Sully smiling with Tio Carlos

Sofia's last swim lesson for the year!

Sofia had her first experience with swimming lessons this fall. She absolutely loves swimming and being in the pool. She was the youngest in her class but still seemed to really enjoy it. Whenever we get in the pool she laughs, smiles and says "Happy!". She has absolutely no fear of the water, even after swim lessons. So we will definitely be continuing with more lessons. Tim and I want her to enjoy the water but also to respect it. Here are some pictures from her final lesson.

Looking for rings in the water.

Blowing bubbles with Dad.

Our year in review

Here are a few month by month highlights from the past year.

December 2010/January 2011- We found out we were expecting twins! We had a lot of fun visiting with friends and family in Wisconsin during Christmas break. We were surprised to have four snow days in January, in Memphis! We were able to take Sofia sledding a few times.

February- We celebrated Sofia's first birthday in Memphis with friends and family. She has been such an incredible part of our lives and our first year with her was nothing but fun. We also found out that we were expecting two boys! This news was extremely exciting but also changed our plans for our family. Tim and I went back and forth about where to live and work after graduation because we always dreamed of living in the mountains or near mountains. However, with our family entering the journey of three kids under the age of 2, we thought it would be wise to live closer to family. We really wanted our kids to have an active relationship with their family and Wisconsin is a great place to raise a family.

March- We traveled to the beach to celebrate Sofia's first birthday and have a fun trip with just the three of us. Sofia did a lot of traveling in her first year of life but she truly loved this trip. Sofia's favorite activities included the awesome tree swing, swimming in the pool and sitting in shallow water at the beach playing with sand toys. We stayed with Uncle Russ and Aunt Peg who spoiled us rotten. We also traveled to Louisiana where I presented at a teacher's conference in Baton Rouge and then we spent the weekend checking out New Orleans with Sofia.

April- We enjoyed our final spring in Memphis with some absolutely gorgeous weather. We spent a lot of time hiking and playing outside with Sofia. We were able to do a lot of biking with Sofia old enough to ride in the bike trailer. April was the last month I was able to bike because my belly grew so much faster with the twins, by the end of April my legs kept hitting my belly when I biked. Sofia also participated in the world's largest cloth diaper change, people around the world all coordinated a mass diaper change on Earth Day. We ended the month with Tim taking his third and final round of National Board Exams for optometry. 

May- May was a whirlwind month for us. I finished my fifth year of teaching, fourth year in Memphis City Schools. Tim finished his final month of externs and graduated from the Southern College of Optometry! One of our last weekends was spent with a bunch of our Memphis friends at a cabin Arkansas. It was so nice to spend some time with our friends before leaving. We were incredibly sad to say goodbye to all of the great friends we made during our four years in Memphis. At the end of the month Tim's parents came down to help us pack up and we moved back to Wisconsin. We moved in with Tim's parents in Baraboo, Wisconsin because Tim was still in the process of job hunting and we weren't sure which area of the state he would be working.

June- We adjusted to living life in Wisconsin and it was a welcome adjustment from our past few years of putting up with scorching, Southern summers. We experienced a gorgeous summer with ideal weather. Tim and I were able to spend a lot of time hanging out with Sofia at Devil's Lake state park in between Tim interviewing for various jobs across the state. Tim really wanted to be in a private practice setting and towards the end of the month he accepted a position with Premier Vision, a four doctor practice with three locations on the North Shore of Wisconsin (Fox Point, Mequon and Fredonia).

July- Tim started working for Premier Vision on July 1st and lived with my parents in Waukesha during the week to avoid spending 5 hours in the car every day. Sofia and I stayed in Baraboo to be closer to my doctor since I was 33 weeks pregnant. Sofia and I visited Tim when we could and went to visit him on July 12th. Sofia and I spent the day in Port Washington showing my Mom the house that Tim and I had put an offer on. We were happy to spend the evening with Tim and my family and to our surprise my water broke around 1am. Tim and I drove to Madison and welcomed our sweet boys (Everett James & Sullivan Jeffrey) into the world a few hours later. Despite being born 5 weeks early the boys were very healthy, Sullivan had a short stay in the NICU but was able to join Everett and I in my recovery room within 48 hours. Tim and I brought the boys back to Baraboo and sadly Tim had to leave the next day to return to work. He didn't have a lot of vacation time since he had just started his new job. I am so grateful we were in Wisconsin because I really needed help for the first few weeks. Tim's parents and my mom rotated the first few nights waking up with the boys and I every 2 hours during the night and helped me care for the boys and Sofia during the day.


August- We closed on a house in Port Washington, Wisconsin and moved in the same day. My Aunt Pat came from Florida to help me with the kids for a while, my Mom was able to come for a few days as well before the school year started for her. I applied, interviewed and got a teaching job. I turned it down the next day after re-evaluating my priorities for my kids and family. I am lucky to be able to have the option to stay home with my kids, Tim's hard work paid off. The last week of August began my first week alone with all three kids by myself. All of my years of being a Resident Assistant, camp counselor and teacher paid off with giving my the ability to juggle the responsibilities of three kids under 2.

September- Tim celebrated his 28th birthday and we enjoyed exploring our new town. We live less than a mile from an amazing playground that sits on the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. We also took several hikes with the kids on the beaches along Lake Michigan. Tim and I each wear one of the boys in front carriers and Tim puts Sofia in a hiker on his back. We are determined to stay as active as we were with Sofia, even though we have three little ones. This month we were sad to say goodbye to Tim's Grandma Nina who had been battling cancer for the past few months.

October- Tim and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. It's amazing to see how far we've come with our careers and family. In our first five years of marriage we were able to do a lot of traveling,  I finished my Master's degree, Tim finished his doctorate, we bought and renovated our first house in Memphis, and we had three kids. It's been a busy five years! Tim and his Dad completed a few renovation projects on our house this month, mainly the kitchen floor. Tim and I also were able to get back to Lambeau Field for a Packer game, we weren't able to go to any games during the four years we were in Memphis.

November- Sofia started swimming lessons at the YMCA. She has no fear of water and absolutely loves swimming and playing in the pool. The boys were baptized this month at our new church, First Congregational Church.

December- We are currently enjoying our first holiday season with all three kids. The boys are growing at an unbelievable pace and are a ton of fun. Sofia's vocabulary continues to grow and we enjoy seeing her grow into a very sweet and caring little girl who loves to draw, dance and swim.

Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post, this was quite the year for us and we look forward to all of the fun ahead of us in 2012. We are so thankful for all of the love and support from our friends and family between Tennessee and Wisconsin.

 

Moments with Sofia

Another quick post with more hilarious experiences with Sofia.

• Yesterday Tim and I took the crew to the YMCA after dinner for some swimming and basketball. We had a blast in the pool and then went to the gym. The gym was split in half for basketball and zumba. Normally, Sofia loves to throw the basketball and run around the court but she kept stopping to listen to the music. Then she ran in the middle of one family's basketball game and started shaking her hips. I took her over to the Zumba area and she really let loose, shaking her hips, clapping, and imitating the dance moves the group was doing. All of the women in the class were smiling and laughing at Sofia, it was absolutely adorable. Normally I'm pretty good at snapping a quick video but I just enjoyed watching her and by the time I had the camera out the song was over. Sofia is definitely a girly girl. She loves pretending to put on makeup when she sees people do it, I wear very little makeup so she doesn't watch me very much. She loves to have her nails painted and hair brushed. But we can't call her a complete girly girl because she loves to pretend with Tim's tools and rough house with Tim and her uncles/grandparents.
• Lately (the past month or so) Sofia has been very good about telling me when she pees or poops. This week we went out and bought her a little potty. The same day we let her try it out and to our surprise she peed in the toilet within twenty minutes. I'm not very serious about potty training her right now because I want to wait until she shows me more signs that she's ready. It was pretty exciting to have so much success on our first day.
• Sofia has been asking me/wanting me to put one of her brothers in her doll stroller for a long time. This week I finally let her do it. She was so sweet and gentle with Sullivan in the stroller. I'll post a video below to show you how it went. 
• Sofia loves our nativity set. She carries baby Jesus around periodically during the day. It's so cute to listen to her talk about all of the characters and the Christmas tree. 

5 months old!

With the business of the holidays I am a little behind on blogging. Yesterday my sweet little boys turned 5 months old. They are such big boys already compared to the tiny little 5 pound peanuts we brought home in July. I'm not sure of their exact length and weight since they don't have another appointment with their doctor until their 6 month well child exams.

5 months old with Mr. Bear

Everett is Mr. Charm. During months 3-4 I described him as high work high reward. He was always a bit fussier than his brother but he can really pour on the charm and has a quite a personality. At month 5 he is pure charm. He still wakes up once or twice per night and downs eight ounces, the poor guy just can't eat enough. We are starting rice cereal and grains with the boys this month and we will slowly add other foods.  Everett is a very strong guy, I've seen him roll both front to back and back to front. He has started pushing himself across the floor when he is on his back. He loves to move and stand, last week when he was standing he started stepping forward. Everett also cut two teeth last week! He is constantly chewing on his fingers or toys, he sometimes is caught staring at our food during meal times. Everett is a very social little guy. He will try to initiate a conversation with almost anyone by making eye contact and smiling and squealing. Sometimes when we put Everett back to sleep in the middle of the night he spends a good ten or fifteen minutes singing and giggling. Most days he wakes up with cheerful noises. Sullivan is much quieter when he wakes up but when you peek in his crib he is usually stretching and has a big smile on his face.

Sullivan is Mr. Chill and just about the sweetest most laid back baby I've ever met. All along Tim and I have described him as our easiest baby of the three. I usually get to Sofia and Everett first in the morning. Sullivan just waits patiently to be fed or changed. Yesterday when I finally got to him I showered him in kisses and snuggles and he just smiles and giggles. He loves to give kisses, when you kiss his cheeks he just laughs and gives sweet baby kisses back. Sully is very strong on his legs. When he's standing he loves to coo and talk and check out his surroundings. He doesn't enjoy tummy time as much as Everett but he does best with tummy time when he is across from his brother. It is so fascinating to watch a relationship develop between the boys. Sullivan still sleeps through the night and loves to be cuddled and held. He seems to really enjoy observing things wherever he is. Everett normally sleeps through church every Sunday but Sullivan is awake and loves to listen and smile at all of the people around us.

Both boys still adore their sister, Sofia. She tries so hard to be helpful with them. She is so much fun! She will get her own post in a few weeks as she turns 22 months old!

Tummy time

The boys are hilarious during tummy time. I either position them so they are both facing me or each other. Here is a video clip of their tummy time today, sorry for all of the moving around.

And just for fun here is a video of the boys in some Christmas outfits that another twin mom gave me to use for the holidays.