Friday, December 14, 2012

Christmas Already?!

I can hardly believe it is already Christmas time!!! I say this all the time, but time is flying by so quickly!  Already the year 2013 is just around the corner.....that's crazy!  I have been meaning to update my blog now for the past month and am just now getting around to it.  I think it has something to do with the fact that I have two little boys who don't ever take a nap.  By the time bedtime rolls around, working on the computer is the last thing I want to do....having a treat and catching about 30 minutes of TV is about all I am up to before going to bed myself.  These two little ones have been into EVERYTHING!!!! I am honestly chasing them around all day long.  I have found that several days out of the week I actually prefer to run errands in the afternoon because it gets us out of the house and I don't have to chase anyone around:)  Besides, the boys really like going to the store to watch everyone.  Costco is their favorite (and my favorite due to the fact that there are TWO seats in the cart) to go.  We go once a week to Costco and it is always a fun trip for us!

Sammy has been pulling himself up onto things and wants to walk everywhere (with the help of moma's hands).  He is going to be walking on his own very soon!  His favorite things to do right now are to tackle his brother, get into the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen and pull everything out, despite the fact that he already has two million other toys out, take a bath, play with cords and eat crackers.  He is deathly afraid of the vacuum and cries his little heart out anytime it is on.  He LOVE LOVE LOVES his bedtime bottle. He has 8 teeth (four of them are just about all the way in, the others are already in) and is, overall, a happy boy.

Drew has just recently decided that he wants to start crawling on his own, and climbing on his knees to sit up AND pull himself up all at once.  He also FINALLY learned how to suck on a binki!!! YAY!!! We are hoping this will help him learn how to drink from a sippy cup.  Forever we wondered if he was ever going to crawl and all of the sudden he is doing everything all at once!  We are SO proud of him!  His favorite things are to eat, eat and eat. Besides eating, he loves to pull out the drawers on his dresser and pull all of his clothes out, turn himself around in circles while he sits on the floor-he laughs so hard at himself when he does this...it's hilarious! He also loves to play with his brother and walk around the house in the walker and bump really hard into everything like he is in a bumper car (this also makes him laugh).  He enjoys seeing if he can get away with getting into the side table drawers and pull their contents before I get over to him and ask him not to get into them. Then he waits for me to take two steps away and attempts to get into the drawers again.....the little sneak:)

Needless to say, these two keep my running around like crazy.  And they have recently discovered that their moma has little patience for certain things.   Sometimes I feel like a terrible mom because I get frustrated and lose patience with them.  It's something that I am trying to be better about.  They are such sweet little boys and I know they are just curious about everything.  It's good that they are both such explorers-just not when they are doing something or getting into something that can hurt them in some way.

Thanksgiving was nice!  We enjoyed a day at home together...I was in the kitchen ALL day, but I REALLY enjoyed it!  I tested out some new recipes for us.  We ate quite well!  We had an herb roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and parsnips with gravy, roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots, sauteed green beans with pearl onions, homemade cornbread and sourdough stuffing, homemade rolls, cranberry chutney and mini cheesecakes for dessert.  I am so sad our leftovers are all gone!  It was such a yummy meal! 

We are really excited for Christmas!  However, We will miss our families.  Jacob is taking Drew back to Missouri for a few days right before Christmas for a little visit and I am staying here with Sammy.  Hopefully next year we can all be together.  I miss my family dearly.  I am DYING to see my brothers and sisters!  I love living out here, but being so far away from family has been a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.  Especially with kids.  My boys don't know any of their cousins, aunts, uncles, or even grandparents.  I have realized more and more how much I would love to be back in Utah and at least be within a few hours drive or shorter of family.  We will see where we end up! 

Well, I have rambled on long enough.....on to some pictures!





















Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Pictures Say It Best

Lately, this is what we've been up to......

 Baking lots of things like Artisan bread, pumpkin muffins and gingersnaps!!! Welcome to our house fall flavors!!! The boys seem to be turning more and more into little boys and not babies anymore.  Especially Sammy!  That boy is into EVERYTHING and likes to climb on anything he can.  Lot's of times he thinks his brother makes for the best stepping stool.  Drew isn't convinced that Sammy had a good idea about that.  Drew is a bottomless pit.  The child screams almost the second I take the spoon out of his mouth to get him another bite and screams even LOUDER when I feed his brother.  Im serious.  I think in his mind THIS meal will certainly be his last.  Im trying to teach him that Sammy has to eat just like he does and that he needs to learn to share feeding time:)  Needless to say, we are still working on that!

The boys are really starting to like playing with each other. As long as it doesn't involve Sammy climbing on top of Drew and sitting there, Drew is always so very interested in what Sammy is doing and watches him very closely.  Drew still isn't crawling, so he likes to watch Sam go all over the place.  Although many times he just gets really frustrated that he can't also crawl around like his brother.  Hopefully he will be crawling soon!  The boys both love taking baths, and let's face it, naked baby bums NEVER get old:)

We drove up to the Napa Valley and had a picnic while Jacob's mom was in town.  WOW!  Now I know why everyone is so in love with the Napa Valley.  It's beautiful!  Absolutely beautiful!  We seemed to enjoy it just fine without having any wine:)  It was great to have Jacob's mom here for a couple of days.  Jacob and I were able to go to a movie!!!!!! YAY!!! I can't even remember when we went to a movie last....It was way before I had the boys.  Well over a year and a half.  The boys loved all of the extra attention from Grandma Jennings too!  Thanks Lori! 

The last picture is of my sweet little Drew all curled up while taking a nap.  Occasionally the boys will take a nap.  And I LOVE it when they do:)  Enjoy the pictures!  Until next time.......















Wednesday, September 5, 2012

They Did it

Well, they did it.  My boys went and turned one on me.  At least we had a big birthday bash to celebrate!  We had a big BBQ with a bunch of Jacob's dental school friends.  And we had a blast!  It made me so grateful to have so many wonderful people to call our friends!  We really had quite the celebration.  I even attempted to make a 'peep' cake....you know, those disgusting Easter marshmallow candies that are covered in bright yellow sugar?  Well, they were my mom's absolute favorite treat at Easter.  When I saw the picture of it in the Food Network magazine back in March, I just new I HAD to make that for the boys.  So I attempted.  It turned out okay for my first shot at a fancy cake.  That is, if you consider a lop sided beak and uneven tail "okay".  It was the best I could do with two screaming baby boys by my side while I assembled and frosted it.  The point is, that I tried to make them something special.  That way, in 20 years when they are looking back at their pictures, they can see that I tried to do something special despite the fact that they were only turning one and couldn't have cared less about a cake:)

Jacob's friends were so kind and brought some very generous gifts.  More than anything, it was a wonderful celebration of the lives of two miracle baby boys.  How grateful I am to call them my children.  I have done a lot of reflecting over the past couple of months.  Lots of looking at pictures of them in the NICU and when we first brought them home.  Where did my cuddly little babies go?  Why does time have to go by so quickly?  Now I look at them, Sammy is crawling everywhere and is in to everything, has two razor sharp teeth that like to bite my ankles, laughs all the time and has the most infectious smile.  Drew rolls and spins all over, growls, slaps our faces and hates to sleep.  They are both growing up so quickly. 

Although the adults were all having a good time at the party, Drew was ready to call it quites as soon as we brought out the cake, broke out the birthday hats and sang "Happy Birthday".  Yep, he screamed at the top of his lungs the entire time we sang.  And when Jacob forced his hands and feet in the cake he screamed even harder.  It may sound mean, but it was actually really funny to see him so sad and all dressed up in birthday cake and a party hat.  Although he is incredibly loud, he makes one VERY cute unhappy birthday boy:)




Wednesday, August 15, 2012

It's About Time....

It's about time I post some pictures of our sweet boys.  I can't believe how quickly time passes and how fast these two are growing up.  I am LOVING being a mom of twins!  It is SO busy, but so rewarding to see them smile at me and snuggle with me.  Neither of them are big snugglers, but when they do, I eat it up!  I feel like lately we have been to a lot of appointments...not our favorite thing, but when I think about how many doctor appointments we thought we would need when these littles were born, I am relieved that there are so few!  It's all about perspective, my friends:)

Nothing really new with Jacob or me.  Jacob is just as busy as ever in school and comes home early when he can, but he is usually gone until at least 8:00 and sometimes 11:00pm.  He is such a hard worker.  It's crazy to think that he has less than two years of school.  We still love living here and LOVE our house!  It was such a good move for us.

We took the boys in for developmental and physical evaluations today at UCSF.  We set a record!  Drew and Sammy are by far the youngest (gestational age...born at 23 weeks, 4 days) they had ever seen.  In fact, the neurologist said that they don't even attempt to save babies if they are younger than 24 weeks at UCSF.  WHAT?!!!!  That sounds horrible to me!  One thing is for sure, despite how hard it was on us to be in Utah and to be away from Jacob, we were definitely in the right place.  The Neurologist and each of the therapists could NOT believe what they were seeing with our boys.  They were all so impressed with how healthy mentally and physically our boys are.  I can't even begin to tell you how emotional I was at the appointment.  These boys are absolute miracles and gifts from our Heavenly Father.  There is no doubt about it.  Why they came early, we'll never know, or we might.....but the important thing is that they are here.  I am their mother and Jacob their father.  We have the responsibility of teaching these boys (and any other kids we have) the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ, how to be hard workers, a good father (they have a wonderful example!), how to be men, a friend, and so on and so forth.  I sure hope I am doing this whole "mother" thing right.  Sometimes I wonder if I am being a good mom.

I love these boys more than I can say.  They are my little beans and I can't imagine life without them.  Despite the fact that they wear me out every day and by the time I go to bed I am completely exhausted, they are my treasures and I get excited to wake up to them the following morning.

Enough of my rambling......now the good stuff:)

                                                     Drew fell asleep like this on the floor
                                                        Oh I love this cute face!!!
                        Drew wanted some of my Costco frozen yogurt...one of our favorite treats!
                                                                Chillin' at Costco
                                                               All ready for church!
                                                          Just waking up from his nap
               I made the boys a green smoothie and they LOVED it!   I am so excited they like it!
                                                  Attempting to eat their bottles on the floor.....

                                        

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

So Fun!!!!

We have had a few exciting things over the past couple of weeks!  First of all, Jacob officially received his white coat!  Doesn't he look so handsome?!  I'll answer that for you...YES! Well on his way to becoming Dr. Jacob Jennings:)


I am one lucky girl to have this boy.  Not only is he handsome, but he is also such a wonderful husband and father.  I know most women say that about their husbands.  However, I mean it.  I couldn't have married anyone more perfect for me that this boy.  I am so proud of him and all the hard work he puts into school.

Also, my beautiful and wonderful sister and her darling family were on their way back to Utah from Oregon and they decided to drop in for a quick visit!!! I haven't seen her since January....basically that is an eternity for us, so you can imagine how excited we were to have them spend the night with us.  Isn't her son, Matthew so darn cute?!  I already miss those cute, chubby and oh so kissable cheeks!  And those eyes and eye lashes?!  BEAUTIFUL!  Thanks Elizabeth and Jeremiah for taking the time to come see us! Every second was enjoyed!


(Matthew 15 months, Drew and Sammy 11 months)





Big news at our house- Sammy is crawling and is into EVERYTHING!!! I love watching him get around!  It's a one armed Army/gimp crawl, but he gets where he wants to go.  And quick!  He is pretty proud of himself and loves to get into the shoe basket and pull out all the shoes, pull out the DVDs and anything that looks like a cord.  Oh I love him!  He crawls around with a giant smile on his face!  He is such a happy boy and laughs all the time.  I can't get enough of him! 

Drew is secretly a clown. You'd never guess it by the serious look he has on his face most of the time, but he is.  He growls at me all the time.  Especially when he is eating.  He lets me know when I am not getting food in his mouth fast enough or if he wants more after its gone.  He has also been into yelling and humming lately.  It's pretty funny until he gets so loud that it hurts your ears:)  He loves to be held, entertained and loved on.  We love him so much!!!



Monday, July 9, 2012

Adventures

A couple of weeks ago we had some of our very best friends visit the area.  We had a chance to show them around a bit and have some fun!  We went to the Golden Gate Bridge and walked across it, Fisherman's Wharf, Baker Beach and Sausalito.  We are so glad they came!  We also got to meet their sweet baby boy, Cole.  Thanks Cliff and Emily for coming!  We love you guys!