Hmmm, let me start at the beginning…

My best friend and I have had all six of our babies together.  Our first two are five months apart, our second two are five months apart, and our third two are four months apart.  My husband is the second of four children.  My best friend’s husband is an only child.  Truth be told, her husband was kind of “done” after the second child, which gave them one boy and one girl.  In the spring of 2006 we both got pregnant with number three.  Within one week of each other, we both miscarried.  Very traumatic and very crazy that we BOTH miscarried!  Within the next few months we were both pregnant again with baby number three…again…due between Feb. and June of 2007.  I’ve always wanted (at least) four kids.  My best friend, on the other hand, was quite happy, and pretty “done” with three, aside from the occasional “baby fever”.  On top of the stresses of having three kids in four years, she has been very open about her struggle with depression.  It runs in her family and is obviously worsened by post-partum hormones.  It goes without saying that your sex life is affected a little bit tremendously when you have several little ones in the house.  We’ve gone to great lengths to hold each other accountable in this area.  We’ve set goals for the month…”Okay, did you reach your quota for April?”  I know, it sounds rediculous, but we really do desire to meet our husbands needs in this very important area, and sometimes it’s just NOT THAT EASY!  My best friend has often times been much more successful than myself in the love department, but she’d been in a little bit of a ‘dry patch’ and to put it bluntly, they’d only had ONE successful ‘encounter’ over the course of about six weeks.  I give you all of this information because it makes the fact that she’s PREGNANT even more amazing…or hilarious…or scary (if you don’t think it can happen to you!).  She has been incredibly sick with this pregnancy.  Very tired, lots of puking, not always in the best mood (can you blame her!?).  So she went for her eleven week appointment yesterday.  The doctor could not find the heartbeat with the doppler so he ordered an ultrasound right away.  She grabbed a wad of tissues, sent a text to her husband, and braced herself for the worst.  I can only imagine the thoughts that were running through her mind a mile a minute as she waited for the sonographer to call her name and either give her the worst news of the year, or show her a tiny beating heart on that screen and put her mind and nerves at ease.  She never expected what happened next…

…the sonographer placed that “magic wand” on her belly and began to slowly move it around.  Up and down, side to side.  I imagine my best friend was holding back tears and fighting the urge to puke all at once as she waited…

…”Well, everthing looks great!” the sonographer announced, “Baby A is measuring 11 weeks and 1 day and baby B is measuring 11 weeks and 2 days.”

Yes, that’s right…T W I N S !!!!!!! 

Because it is not ME experiencing this, I am COMPLETELY elated, over-joyed, excited, beyond myself!!  My mother and her twin brother are number four and five in their family and I’ve always gotten excited at the thought of having twins…now I get to do it vicariously through my best friend. 

She, on the other hand, is still in a state of shock.  When does it really set in that you’re about to add TWO new human beings to your house, your family, your “home school”, your car, your budget?  Do you ever really get used to the idea before they arrive and you’re thrust into an adventure like you’ve never imagined?  Is there really any way to be completely prepared for twins when you already have three children ages five and under?  Or maybe, just maybe, she’s hoping it’s all a strange dream and is just waiting to wake up  with her skinny jeans on, a flat stomach, a smile on her face, and the voice of God saying,

“Gotcha! You’ve been punk’d!”

Assuming that is NOT going to happen and there WILL be two precious little babies born sometime at the end of October, beginning of November, I am taking on the job of helping her get her life, household, mental readiness, meals, homeschool, and twin nursery as ORGANIZED as possible.  She WILL succeed at this new challenge.  She WILL enjoy her prenancy.  Her husband and children WILL survive the next five months, and these sweet babies WILL come home to a well-oiled machine, ready to take on two more hungry mouths, two more diapered butts, two more infant carseats, two more beds to change, and two more hearts to nurture and love.

I love you best friend!  :)

~audrey

I suppose this is a tribute to my sweet Grandma.  After living her entire adult life with diabetes, her kidneys are failing and her body grows more frail everyday.  She has withered away to a mere 115 pounds and sleeps around the clock, only to wake up for a few bites to eat or to say hello to a visitor.  The doctors don’t give her long to live.  They say when she stops eating, she’ll go quickly.  We beg her to eat, but her weak body would simply rather rest.  The boys and I met my brother in Greenwood yesterday, where my grandma lives in an assisted living facility.  We had a nice visit.  Something about the presence of children brings out life in the eyes of the eldery.  They brighten up and smile from ear to ear as my three little boys walk slowly down the hall, staring at all the men and women in their electric scooters and wheel chairs.  I can’t help but wonder who they all used to be.  Doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers?  All that is left is a frail wrinkley body and a small amount of silver hair.  Some are missing limbs, some can hardly hold their own head up, but almost all of them have lost the sparkle in their eyes.  They look lonely and defeated.  I don’t want my grandma to die alone.  On my way to Greenwood, my mind wandered back 15-20 years when I used to spend weeks at a time at her house during the summer.  She was the best cook I’d ever known.  I think I always went back home with a little belly from all of her delicious baked goods and extravagent breakfasts.  I remember waking up to the smell of buttermilk biscuits and Grandma’s famous chocolate gravy….oh my goodness.  :)

Her house always smelled good and was always clean.  She had plastic fruit and silk plants in every nook and cranny of her little three bedroom house.  Aside from her family, my Grandma had a great love for jewelry and shoes.  She had a large jewelry armoire that she would let me explore everytime I visited.  She always gave me the freedom to try on every ring, every bracelet, and every necklace.  Her earrings were too heavy for my young ears, so I would simply pick up every pair and hold them up to my ears in front of the mirror, imagining how beautiful she must look as she wears each pair.  Her closet was lined with shoe boxes.  Front to back, top to bottom, and side to side, shoe boxes everywhere.  She has a small foot and I always LOVED it when I found a pair that fit my feet!   Often times she’d let me keep a pair of her shoes or a piece of her jewelry.  You see, I was not only the first girl on either side of the family, but I was also the very first grandchild to my Grandma and Papa (my dad’s side of the family).  I grew up always feeling like the favorite.  I’m sure my brother and two other cousins felt the same way.  Grandma and Papa had such a special way of treating us that always made us feel like “the only child”. 

I can remember Grandma chasing my brother and cousin Michael around the house with the fly swatter when they’d done something worthy of punishment.  I remember countless trips to the mall, where Grandma would get her hair done and then buy me a new outfit.  I was with my Grandma at the Hot Springs mall when I tasted my first Chick-fil-A sandwich.  That was the beginning of a lifelong, bitter sweet relationship…with Chick-fil-A! :)

I used to sit in the living room with Grandma and help her fold clothes while we watched soap operas.  Her cookie jar was always full.  At Christmas time, she had a large, plastic, light-up nativity scene that she would put in the front yard by the bird feeder.  I loved her house at Christmas.  There were always SO many gifts and she always had funky lights on her tree, like the kind that blinked to the beat of Christmas carols.  I grew up thinking Grandma and Papa were rich.  In reality, they were simply a middle class couple.  My Grandpa was retired from the army and was working as a manager for Roadway, and my grandma often did odd jobs, like work in the gift wrap department at a local department store.  They always had good food on the table and showered us with gifts for every occasion, or for no reason at all.  They were/are the best grandparents in the whole world.  I wish I hadn’t waited so long to tell them just how much I love them and just how much they mean to me. 

Our visit yesterday was a sweet one.  I plan to go back by myself sometime next week.  Although she’s had poor quality of life for the last couple of years, I hate to see her go and dread the day that I receive that news.  I find joy and peace knowing that she’ll have a brand new body as she enters the gates of heaven and I’ll see her again in eternity. 

God Bless you, Grandma.  I love you forever.

~audrey

Really I meant to post this two days ago (Monday), because that’s the day I’m talking about, but I seem to be “a day late and a dollar short” on a lot of things lately. :)

We woke up to the sound of rain yesterday. I like those kind of days. The t.v. stayed off, we did lots of school, and we met Ashley and the kiddos at Monkey Joes at 11:30.  The kids were excited to see eachother. Since Ashley has been SO sick, we haven’t been able to get together as much as usual. By the time they put their shoes in the shoe cubbies, we didn’t see them again for a while. Unfortunately, Jonathan is often referred to as Curious George, and if Ashley doesn’t see him for more than a minute or two, her radar goes off and she knows he’s likely into trouble…well, she was right! This is what we found when we went lookin’ for our sweet little monkey (who’s daddy just happens to be a basketball coach :)

And again, a few minutes later, Ashley heard his little cry for help as he got stuck right at the end of the obstacle course:

…looking back, I realize that a good friend would’ve jumped in there and rescued him so that his pregnant, nauseous momma didn’t have to…but she’s so quick, I didn’t even have time to offer…honest!! :)

After Monkey Joes, the boys and I were trying to figure out what to do about lunch…we had NO groceries in our house and did not feel like going shopping. We almost NEVER go to restaurants…especially just me and the little boys. But this day, we decided on Salsa’s (local Mexican restaurant). We had such a great time and really probably spent what we would’ve spent to feed four people at a fast food joint…the boys all three shared a kids meal because it’s too much for just one kid. Owen LOVES salsa. He eats it with chips, but only uses the chip as the scooper…he doesn’t actually take bites of the chip! :)

Then, Joshua begged me to take a picture of his FULL belly, so here it is. I wish that’s what my belly looked like when I was full!! LOL! :)

A great day with friends and a sweet little “date” with my loves.
~audrey

1- I didn’t realize until noon yesterday that it was Thursday!! I was thinking it was already Friday.

2- When the boys finish their chores today, we’re heading to Target and Old Navy.  I need some new flip-flops and something about Target is therapeutic.

3- I’ve made bread twice this week.  The second time was this morning and I did it for the sole purpose of making my house smell good…it worked.  :)

4- I really need to change the sheets on the boys bed because Owen’s diaper leaked the other night…but I completely forgot!!  (I’ll do it today!)

5- I’m very excited that I’ve lost almost twelve pounds since my thyroid surgery seven weeks ago.  Keep it coming…or should I say going?

6- I make my four and six year olds do a lot of chores.  It teaches them responsibility and lightens my load a lot.

7- I started painting my master bathroom a few months ago and still have not finished.  It’s REALLY hard to paint with three kids in the house!

8- I’ve discovered that I’m not a very good friend to insecure, needy people…they are very draining, both emotionally and mentally.

9- I found out that our home study will be complete this weekend and we should be foster parents in the next month or so…FINALLY!  :)

10- I strive to be an incurable optimist.

11- After a hard core week of eating healthy, the boys and I enjoyed a breakfast of whole wheat pancakes, powdered sugar, and homemade strawberry preserves.  oh…my…gooness…it was divine.

12- I love my husband more and more everyday.  He is my steadfast pillar of strength, peace, and comfort…aside from the Lord of course, but I’ve seriously never met another man as gentle and kind as my husband, while still being strong, brave, and rugged.

13-  I’m beginning to see more and more lately, what life is going to be like with three sons.  They seem to have gotten a booster of testosterone in the last few weeks and can literally climb my door frames, wrestle until there is a bloody nose, and eat until there is no food left in the pantry.

14- ok, my toddler is screaming, my four year old is whining because I won’t let him wear cowboy boots with shorts and a t-shirt, and my six year old can’t find any clean shorts…it’s time to go!

Have a great weekend!

~audrey