Background Info

Today has been such a great day. My dad and Debbie stopped by to visit us (well, at least the girls:)) and Eric and I have been able to relax a little bit more. So, in a quiet moment, I was perusing through our wedding and honeymoon pictures and decided to post our story and some pictures for all of you who may be interested. If you have seen these, too bad! :) Just skip this post. :)

Eric and I have had a whirlwind (SERIOUSLY!) relationship. Neither one of us regret a thing, but it was all very fast and fun! We met last March and hit it off immediately. By our third date, we both knew that we had found something special and forever! It was pretty scary for me to realize that after 27 years, I had finally found the love of my life. So, we started dating seriously and knew that we would get married by the end of the year. We were both older and settled in who we were, so there was no reason to put off the inevitable. We decided to get married sometime before Christmas so that Eric's nieces could be in the wedding before moving to New Mexico.

Well, we got engaged on June 2nd in a very unplanned, spontaneous way! I think Eric was just as surprised to propose as I was to hear it and say yes that day! We planned the wedding for September 8th! Only 6 months after meeting. :) We wanted a very small and intimate family wedding and that is what we got...it was perfect! I don't think I would have changed a thing about it. Then we were off to Puerto Vallarta for the best and most perfect honeymoon ever!

That was September...we found out we were pregnant after 7 weeks, and now we have a house, twin daughters, two dogs, and it is all so wonderful and crazy!

I really would not change A THING!! But WOWWWWW!!! What a crazy fast and exciting year! Then to top it all off, my dad likes to remind us and laugh that our daughters (born 6 weeks early) were born exactly 9 months and 1 day after our wedding. Ah, the insanity! We are so blessed.

So, thanks for reading this blog. I look forward to including you all in our lives as time goes by! God bless!

The girls are lifting up their heads a lot! They can hold them up pretty well and they LOVE tummy time! These two videos show how squirmy they are...when you put them on their tummies, they can usually roll over to their sides. They are too funny!


Lilly Squirming!

Lexi Squirming!

Playtime

Since I had my rant earlier, I wanted to post something cheerful and I have just the pictures to do it! This afternoon Miss Lexi-Bear stayed awake after her bottle for a long time and played with me. I would make sunny faces at her and tickle her toes. Both girls are trying more and more to smile while awake and it's adorable. You can tell they when they are trying to smile really big. Here are some pictures of Lexi just being really happy (and Lilly sleeping...can't leave her out)!

First Rant

I realize that all new moms feel this way, but doesn't make it any easier...Everyone keeps asking if I am sleeping when the babies sleep. The answer to that question is, "Are you kidding me? Of course not!" I was able to do that for the first few weeks off and on, but now there is just too much to do.

If I slept when they slept, I wouldn't get anything done. I wouldn't be able to cook meals, clean the bathrooms, vacuum the floors, catch up on laundry, feed the dogs, take an actual shower, the list goes on and on.

Eric and I feed the girls, and then during the day, we try and keep them awake to play for a little bit before napping. After that, I wash their bottles, pump for their next meal, and then if I am lucky, have an hour to do housework before they wake up again. Here lately, one baby tends to stay awake after a bottle for at least an hour and a half. Then as soon as I get that baby to sleep, the other one wakes up. Now don't get me wrong, I adore and LOVE my daughters, but I am just not sure how to get everything done. I find myself jealous of those of you with only 1 baby, but I wouldn't trade either one of these girls for the world. It just makes it a little more complicated and busy!

I am just frustrated today...I know I am a good mom, but I am also hard on myself. I want everything to be perfect and I am still catching up on home projects (slowly but surely) from when I was on bedrest. The two dogs make sure that I need to vacuum a lot and I am so tired!!

It's funny though...I am not frustrated with the babies or Eric or the dogs...I am just frustrated in general. I would love to sleep when they sleep and will sometimes try to do so. Last week, I laid down when they were asleep and got a whopping 15 minutes before Lilly woke up to play and snuggle!! :)

Oh well, I hear that the first few months are when you are in "survival mode"...thank goodness for others who have gone before me and the kind words they offer! It can only get better everyday. Plus, the girls are starting to sleep for 4-5 hours at a time every other night...maybe they love me after all! :) I hope you all are doing well. I acutally like doing this blog...it's stress relief! Take care and love you all!

YEA!!! :)

I am soooooooo excited!! Today I got up early and, with the girls in tow, went to the hospital to pay our labor and delivery bills. This is of course, not the reason I am excited...but its part of the story.

So, as long as I was in the building, I HAD to go upstairs and visit the wonderful nurses who took such great care of the girls while they were in the NICU. I was thrilled to turn the corner and see my 3 favorite nurses sitting there...Sherie, Michelle, and Margaret. The rest of them were great but these women were exceptional. Sherie was the one who played Casting Crowns for the girls while they were in the NICU. I just loved her!! :)

They couldn't get over how much bigger the girls had gotten and they asked me how much they now weighed. I told them I had no idea. All I knew was their weight from their 2 week checkup and that was 5 weeks ago! So they weighed them for me!! Thus the reason for my excitement!

Miss Alexis weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces (birth weight of 5 lbs, 8 oz) and Miss Lilly weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces (birth weight of 5 lbs, 2 oz)! They are doing soooooooo well!

We are so blessed! Out of all the things that could have gone wrong with them being born 6 weeks early, they have been so perfect! Lilly only needed oxygen for 1 hour and they came home 5 days later...AWESOME! As scary as it was, God had them in his hands the whole time and took care of them!

I had the girls all by myself today while Eric went to do some work, and Lexi had just finished her bottle and was fussy. One thing that they do is scream and cry for a minute or so, and then in about 5 seconds, collapse in your arms sound asleep. It's pretty funny! Lexi did this today and I happened to take her picture while doing it. Maybe that's why she was fussy to begin with...like mother like daughter! :)

More Family

I figured since I had posted so many family member pictures with my girls, I should add a few more...I originally posted the most recent ones, but what about the family that met them when they were first born? They are important too! Plus, I think I just like putting pictures on here! :)


Lilly and Mommy cuddle before bed!

Papa Epps with his girls

Nana Epps with Lilly-Bug!

Mommy and a fussy, sleepy Lexi!

Uncle Nathan's Visit

Well, here are those pictures of Nathan with my babies! He seemed to really have fun with them and when they weren't fussing or spitting up, they seemed to like him too.

Lexi tries to figure out who has her while Toby looks on!

Uncle Nathan likes his niece!

Lilly says, "Hmmmmm, to spit up or not to spit up! That is the question!"

"You're not my momma!"

Meeting Family

Lilly and Lexi met lots of family members for the first time this week. First, Eric's mom came to visit from Kentucky and meet her 10th and 11th grandchildren! I think it's love! :)

Next, Eric and I packed up the car and headed to Austin so my grandfather could meet the girls. It only took me three hours to get everything ready. My grandfather is one of the most important men in my life and it meant SO much to sit my daughters in his lap and tell him how sweet they are. Unfortunately, his health is not the best...He can't see or hear anymore (except with these little earphones, which help him hear fairly well). He apologized for not being able to see the babies but the important thing is that my children get to know their great-grandfather. I only wish he could see this picture. They are so adorable together!!

Then, we stopped over at Aunt Tyffany's house. The girls are pretty fond of Aunt Tyff and Sebastian. Plus, they finally got meet Uncle Gage.

Now, as I type this, we wait for Uncle Nathan to arrive and meet his first little nieces! I am so excited!! I will post pictures later tonight when I have some. I look forward to introducing Lilly and Lexi to all of you!