mama and little man.

cole and i decided to strike a pose for the camera today.  

i love my silly guy!

on a side note, i was very productive today!  i made salsa, hummus, banana bread and dinner (which was ssssooooo yummy and you must check it out here!) 

the banana bread was from the deceptively delicious cookbook and has pureed cauliflower hidden in it, plus whole wheat flour and egg whites instead of full eggs.  it is so healthy and by far the best banana bread i have ever had. and brenner agrees! 

 i may or may not have eaten most of the loaf by now, but we don't have to talk about that. 

i really do enjoy cooking, especially when all the results are as tasty as all of these!

memorial day.

we spent memorial day just hanging out as a family.  

we played, cooked burgers and busted out the pool.

redneck style.

here we are in the back driveway with the kids in the tiny baby blow-up pool.  

cole really wanted to play in the water and we haven't joined a pool yet this summer so this was plan b for today.

plus, i was dying to get the girls into their swimsuits.

 so precious.

 since the girls obviously cannot sit up yet, i pulled out their little mesh baby bath so that one of them could sit in the pool unassisted.  

i know, that's a little redneck too.

 are those not the cutest swimsuits???

 love those skinny legs.

and i guess all that hard swimming wore them out because when they went down for their naps afterward, they slept for 3 hours. 

it was wonderful.

swimming is something we will be doing everyday if naps like that follow. 

i just need to work on our pool situation. 

family came to town.

this past weekend, we had some of my family from st. louis come to visit us.  

they probably spent more time in the car than they did in waco, but it was SO much fun having them here!

my aunt beth, aunt bobbie, cousin wendy, her son colby and my cousin tony all came to hang out, meet the girls, and play!

of course we took them to the zoo and got to see our favorite cat, just like we did here

he one of the many reasons i love our zoo.  it looks like he is my snuggle buddy even though he really is behind plexiglass. 

 i love this picture. 

and i wish he were my snuggle buddy.

except he would probably eat me.

i digress.

 cole and colby 

(yes, that sometimes got confusing over the weekend!)

we also took them to the mayborn museum, ate barbeque, and ended their trip with brunch at cafe cappuccino 

 goodbye hugs. 

thank you, sweet family, for coming to visit!  we can't wait to see you in september!

the graduate.

it's that time of year again, where graduates cross the stage and receive a diploma proving their years of hard work and dedication have paid off.  

a couple weeks ago, brother joined the crowd and got himself graduated from law school.

and now he is off to be a JAG in the army

 where this is his future!

we are so proud of you chris!!!!

our travels.

many people have asked about our trip.
so i thought that i would describe a little bit about our experience traveling to d.c. with the kids.
just the highlights. 

the kids really did outstanding for both legs of the trip.  

each way, we took two flights.  one between waco and dallas, and one between dallas and d.c. 

obviously the real challenge was the 3 hour flight.
and the security line.

cole slept on both of those long flights, ptl.

one the flight home, there were several empty seats so we were able to bring one of the carseats on the plane with us.  the girls rotated being in the carseat.

clara added lots of fun to both trips by having major blowouts at the best possible times.

on the way there, she decided to take advantage of our extra 30 seconds at the gate before boarding.  literally the entire plane is boarding before our eyes while i have a naked girl on the floor of the airport covered in poop.  all while cole is literally running circles around us in a manic state (since this is of course in the middle of nap time).  

then, once clean, we have to collapse the stroller, which i am the only person who knows how (since all the stroller makers in the world gather together yearly to make sure that no 2 strollers can be opened or closed the same way, thus ensuring confusion and frustration by parents everywhere), put it, and the car seats, in their protective bags, gather the children and our other 23 items currently in our hands only to discover that not only are we the last ones to board the plane, we are in the very last row.  

mom had a baby and helped cole down the aisle.  i had a baby and the carry on suitcase.  

i walked down the aisle, the diaper bag and cole's backpack over my shoulders, hitting every.single.person. sitting in an aisle seat.  i kept apologizing an making funny, awkward comments to make up for pelting them with our large amount of carry on luggage but most people did not look amused.  

on the way home, brenner took clara out of the carseat in the middle of the flight so that i could feed her only to discover, that yes, she pooped all over herself again.  

like all over herself.

brenner looks at me and we give each other a staredown about who has to change her.

obviously, the airplane bathrooms are a tight squeeze and while it would have been funny to watch brenner change her in such a space, it made more since for me to do it.  

brenner was johnny on the spot though, standing outside the bathroom waiting for me with extra wipes and the dirty clothes bag (don't worry, the other 2 children were asleep). 

it was also quite an ordeal going through security in d.c.  at least when we flew out of waco, we were not rushed seeing as there are only 2 gates at the waco airport and my mom waited to be the last ones through.  

but in d.c., not only is security tighter, there were about 100 business people behind us.  i had tried to prepare brenner for what going through security would be like but i don't think that he quite believed me.  he told me to go on through with the kids once i had loaded my stuff onto the belt.  

while holding both the girls and cole holding onto my pants, we went through the detector only to then watch brenner try to make his way through for the next 7 minutes.  he couldn't figure out how to collapse the stroller (because he forgot to take stuff out of the bottom tray!) and the security guard 'helping' him was of no use.  brenner also forgot you had to turn the carseats upside down on the belt which caused issues.  

and cole's milk had to go through separately to be tested for explosives.  even though he had just been drinking it. apparently that is not proof enough these days that your milk is safe.

i am trying to yell at him  tell him these things from the land of safety that i was in, but at the same time, cole thought it was funny to kick everything around us which resulted in time out against the wall. 

 i actually left him in time out for the remainder of our time in the security line just so he wouldn't be running around.  

i know, mother of the year.  

(but the kid is so good in time out that he just sits there and waits for me to tell him to get up!) 

i am still holding the girls through all of this because the carseats are not through.
and everyone that comes near us, including the security people, are asking about the twins.
their weight, names, age, personality differences, how much sleep i'm getting, my pregnancy.
seriously people?
you really think i want to talk to you with this chaos circling around me, while barefooted in a security line at the airport about to board a small aircraft with 3 small children?
does this seem like a time to chat to you?

but we made it.
and while complicated, things overall went smoothly.
and just think, i get to do this again in july when we go to new york with my family for vacation.
and again in september when we go to st. louis for a family reunion.
and in october when we got to pennsylvania for my cousin's wedding.

apparently i am a glutton for punishment. 

bumbo.

we pulled out the ole' bumbo this week.  

cole was 3 months when he started sitting in it so i thought i would see how the girls would do.

everything started out well.

the girls really liked it and i think they enjoyed a change in position.  

i put them by the front door so they could look out at the world.  

here is clara, looking proud.

 but before i knew it, elise looked like this.  

she is not quite as strong as clara.  

but believe it or not, she was not distressed while being in this position.

so i left her like this while i took a picture.  

she'll thank me one day for capturing these precious moments of her childhood.

hello....

my name is adorable.  

how are you?

and the waiting continues.

i am still waiting for the night that the girls will sleep without waking up and demanding to be fed. 

they are so needy.

but seriously, people, i am tired. 

like really tired. 

 it has been 98 nights since i have had a full night sleep. 

not the i am counting or anything. 

last week i was changing a diaper in the middle of the night, i don't even know who it was, and i put the dirty diaper back on the baby instead of the clean one.  i didn't even notice until she was already dressed and back in bed and i went to throw away the other diaper, which seemed very light.  

nice one, mom.  

and then the other night, when re-dressing elise after a middle of the night changing, i put both of her legs into the same pant leg of her jammies.  

i didn't catch that mistake until the next morning. 

seriously tired, people.   

for mother's day, i asked brenner for 10 hours of straight sleep.

he said he will get that for me next year. 

fab-u-lous.

 don't get me wrong, they are totally worth it, but a little more sleep would be much appreciated. 

ya hear that, little one?

oh yeah, and tell your sister.

my weekend.

this weekend brenner was at a bachelor party getaway in ft. worth and cole was with brenner's mom.  

the girls and i were busy running errands, napping, watching the food network and showing some baby love to some friends.  

we found ourselves asleep across the house throughout the weekend. 

elise was on one sofa.

 clara on the other sofa.

and here are the girls with their future best bud, londyn. 

i may have also had one or two of these.  

holla!

i read that brewer's yeast is good for breast milk production.  

so, i am taking one for the team.  anything for the babies!

family pictures.

here are some great family pictures that i have collected over the past month or so that have yet to be posted. 

a stray easter picture that i love with gammi and hunt!

 posing with papa at hannah's wedding.  

(taking 2 newborns to an out of town wedding and finding a dress to wear 6 weeks postpartum fit for a wedding was a BLAST, let me tell ya.)

 mother's day in the backyard.  slightly awkward but that's ok.  

 campbell generations.

 poppy snuggles.

 rangers vs. orioles.  

 nana with the grands.

 cole looks thrilled.  possibly because i was withholding milk until he posed for the camera at 8:00 in the morning. 

3 months old and no longer a newborn.

my babies are 3 months old today!

 some people may think that i am biased, but truly, these are the cutest babies i have ever seen.  

i mean seriously, look at this face.

 and look at this angel.  

be still my heart.

i love how they are smiling all the time now, love to watch their brother act a' fool, and are interacting with people.  i also love that i am getting slightly more sleep.  and it truly is remarkable how similar they are in their personalities.  they are easy going, sweet, and pretty go with the flow.  they do, however, like to be held and that makes for some pretty full arms. 

 read: i am always holding someone.  

they love the bjorn and the sling so i am often carrying someone in one of those when there are things i have to get done.  

i am a master of cooking, laundry, dishes and sweeping while wearing a baby.  

we are also finally out of newborn clothes and diapers.  i thought that this day would never come!  i mean, it never occurred to me that they might take 3 months to move in 0-3 months clothing.  

oh, my bitty babies. 

here are a few more pictures from our photo session.  

sister, catch me i'm falling!

 no, sister, i'm falling!

 seriously, mom?

what a wonderful 3 months it has been.  i almost pinch myself sometimes to remind myself that these girls are really mine.  

but instead i just pinch their (relatively) chubby thighs because they are oh so pinchable!

back in the saddle...and in my pants.

we, the whole family, have been back in waco for almost a week now.  

we are getting back into our normal routine.  

and our normal routine includes brenner making me breakfast most mornings.  

(i am spoiled i know!)  i think this was the reason that i missed brenner the most.  

just kidding.  kind of. 

i take my pancakes very seriously.

 cole is back to running around the yard with no pants on.

 brenner has resumed his role of putting cole to bed (which includes reading lots of books!) 

and the girls are back to laying around.  oh wait, they never stopped. 

but they like laying around back in waco with daddy.

we are very, i repeat, very happy to have brenner home! 

on another note, i am also very happy that i can now fit back into my pre-pregnancy pants!

the forces of nature have collided and worked in my favor, meaning my uterus has taken one more heave-ho inward.  and i have also decided to stop stuffing my face with cupcakes and have resumed running 4 miles a day which means the last 4 pounds should be off soon.  

i am a happy woman.  

i did not want to have to buy any more "in between" clothes.  i am way to cheap for that. 

 plus my clothes have just been hanging there, taunting me, since last summer and i am ready to wear normal things again.  things that don't remind me that my belly was stretched out to 25 times its normal size and that i looked like a cow.  

it is good to feel, and look, like me again.

mommy day.

the greatest blessings in my life are these munchkins right here. 

 i cannot believe the gifts that God has given me, that i have been chosen as their mother.

 there was a time when i didn't know if i would be able to have children.  and now i have to laugh at that thought, as God chose us to have twins.  

 these children have made me a better person.  they are making me a better person everyday. 

it is my job to raise them so that they love the Lord, honor their parents, cherish their family, respect others, be kind, laugh frequently, cry openly, share their feelings, give generously, learn self discipline, celebrate life, be humble, forgive others, pray wholeheartedly, ask questions, appreciate their toys, eat healthy, love chocolate, be silly, read books, play hard and always, always, always hug your mother upon demand.  

they are my heart.

and this job is so much harder than i ever thought.  i fail at it all.the.time.  

it is so much harder than the job i left but it is so much more rewarding.

everyday we grow together.  

and everyday i squeeze my children, smother them with kisses, and thank Jesus for another day i get to spend with them.