It's Amazing....

the difference a year makes!

One year ago today (12/31/09):

Today(12/31/10):

Jim and I couldn't be more thrilled with the changes that came our way in 2010.  What a great year it has been!  We are so looking forward to the years to come!

Happy New Year! 

I hope all of your wishes and dreams come true in the New Year!

Bring on 2011!!

Merry Christmas Eve - and Happy 4 Months!

Jimmy and Abby turned 4 months old today and are also celebrating their first Christmas Eve!  We are off enjoying the festivies so a picture will have to suffice for today!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Nice to Meet You!!

Jimmy and Abby were able to meet their Uncle Jim and cousins, Amber, Avery and Allie this week!  And they got to see Aunt Michelle again too! 

It is always so fun when we are able to introduce the babies to everyone they haven't met yet.  So far, both Abby and Jimmy are very friendly and sociable!  I know that is bound to change one day, but so far they thoroughly enjoy staring at the new faces that come their way.

The Balow family was in town for Christmas and to attend the babies' baptism on the 26th.  They made the long hike up here over the weekend and then stopped by to hang out with us on Monday.

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the day!

Uncle Jim spending time with Abby - oh, and Bret Baier too!  And check out that smile from Jimmy!  He loves spending time with those that share his name (Daddy, Grandpa Balow, Grandpa Frybarger, Uncle Jim...whew!  Lots of Jims in the family!)

Allie was such a joy to watch with the babies.  But though you could tell she loved meeting Abby and Jimmy, you could also tell she loved catching up with Amigo and Leo.  And Amigo loved the attention he received from Allie! Here's a shot of Allie and Abby!

Avery and his Uncle Jim hanging out on the couch.  Avery enjoyed meeting his cousins too, but tended to keep on eye on them from afar, while letting the girls oooh and ahhh over them.  I think he enjoyed playing the Cut the Rope game on the iPad!

Amber was a great big cousin!  She played with Abby and Jimmy and would help feed them their bottles too.  She was so helpful and it seems so enjoyed Abs and Jimmy as much as they enjoyed her!



Abby hanging out with Aunt Michelle again!  She sure did miss her Aunt Michelle and was happy to snuggle with her again!

And last but not least, here's one of Uncle Jim cuddling the babies in the rocker he plans to swipe from us one day! 

The babies sure did enjoy spending time with the Balows and look forward to many more fun times to come!  Maybe we will try to make a trip down to Texas to visit everyone later this winter!  I don't know though, traveling with two little ones is going to be interesting, that's for sure!

Funny First Time Mom Video!

OMG - I couldn't stop laughing!  Check out this video: (oh and by the way, I have all those books that she referenced - BabyWise, The Baby Whisperer and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (I have the twins version!).  Too funny.

Preparing for Christmas!

Well, it took me a while to get into the Christmas spirit but I think I am finally getting there - less than one week before Christmas. I have no idea what my issue is this year, but I have not really been feeling very festive at all.  It may be because I barely even realize it's Christmas time since I don't ever have the TV on anymore (missing out on the Christmas movies and specials), haven't been out of the house much to see the decorations and lights up and on or maybe it is because I know that once Christmas is over, I only have one week left to go before I am back to work.  Not sure, but I am finally feeling slightly excited about Christmas which is fast approaching!

We decorated the house for Christmas over the past couple weeks. It definitely has been a work in progress since the babies are still on a three hour feeding schedule and are still pretty sucky at going down (and staying down) for their naps.  But it is finally done!  The lights are up outside, the stockings are hung and the tree is decorated and sparkling!  We bought new stockings for us and the babies and new ornaments with our names on them. And I will tell you a secret... I did buy two extra stockings for any future family members that may come along one day so that we all have matching stockings. (Now do not read into that at all...no future additions anytime soon!)

Here are a couple pictures to show your what Christmas looks like in the cramped Frybarger condo:

And here are Abby and Jimmy posing with their new name ornaments:



Another thing I pretty much neglected until the last minute was our Christmas cards. I always send out Christmas cards every year.  Yet this year I couldn't find the motivation (or the time) to buy, fill out and mail our Christmas cards.  Well, then at the (almost) last minute, I decided to try to do a photo card.  So I dressed the babies in the adorable matching striped reindeer sleep and plays, busted out the camera (which is never too far away) and tried to get a shot of the babies, smiling or even both looking for that matter, at the camera.  Well, as soon as the babies see the camera, the smiles disappear and the puzzled looks appear. 

Here is a sneak peek of what kind of pictures we took to get our Christmas card picture. 

And here is what the photo shoot looked like behind the scenes! 

The last couple weeks we have been enjoying visiting with my dad (Grandpa from Texas), Shannon and Lina.  It is always fun having visitors come and hang out with us!  The babies love to see new faces (they are pretty sick of mine, I am sure!) and I love the adult interaction!  My dad came to town the first week of December, Shannon pops in once a week or so for some fabulous grilled cheese, and Lina stopped by just yesterday.  And as to be expected, I always get pictures while they are here! 

Grandpa hanging out with Abby!  Check out that big smile - on them both!

 Everyone seems to be enjoying the play mat (even Grandpa!):

More cuddle time with their favorite Auntie Shannon!  Jimmy was totally snuggling up to Shannon.

Lina stopped by on Saturday to hang out with us and meet the babies for the first time.  Unfortunately, her beautiful daughter Elena wasn't able to come too since she was getting over a bug.  Bummer!  But it was great to see Lina and I do believe Lina may have left with a little baby fever!  Ha!

My mom is in town now for Christmas so we have been prepping and preparing for Christmas together. We have been shopping and wrapping and planning out our Christmas cookie baking plan.  And of course, there is always the cuddling time that takes precedence!  Here are a couple pics of Grandma with Abby and Jimmy - in their cute Santa hats!



And now for the totally random side note of the day, Leo loves the new humidifier!

More Christmas fun to come!  Stay tuned!

I Tried So Hard....

Not to cry. But it has happened. I cried yesterday while signing the babies up for daycare. And yes, I cried in front of everyone. My lip may have even quivered.

How am I going to leave these two cuties?!

That is all.  The end.

What Many MoMs Deal With Daily

It's amazing the looks, stares, points, comments and converstations I am privy to now that I am a MoM (Mother of Multiples). Pretty much everytime I am out with the babies someone will come up to me to chat about our babies. Truthfully, I don't mind it too much, even though sometimes I am in a hurry and don't have time to chat, I do enjoy talking about my babies. However, I have only been a MoM for a short period of time, and I imagine that the looks, comments, points and stares could possibly get old farily quickly. It is true, every time Jim and I are out with the babies, we make a bet to see how many people will come up to us to chat about the babies. It is a fun game. Both Jim and I are pretty reserved and shy so it is hard to constantly be chatting with everyone, but I think we do pretty good.

There are some questions that we pretty much will get asked all.the.time. Almost always people will ask, "Are they a boy and a girl," followed by, "Are they identical," and then others similar to, "Do twins run in your family," and "How do you handle it?" Then sometimes I have had people say things like, "Better you than me," which in my opinion is kind of rude.

Anyway, a lot of MoMs hate the comments from random strangers. Especially as the questions relate to infertility. So just keep that in mind when you encounter a MoM.

Here is a video that pretty much sums up all the questions and comments that MoMs are subjected to:

Our Visit with Santa

Jim and I took the babies to meet Santa on Wednesday, December 8. And we were luckily able to share the day and experience with my Dad who was in town for the week!

Prior to heading out, I dressed the babies in their most festive attire:

I was pretty nervous about the whole Santa thing. I was worried that the babies would spit up on Santa or poop while waiting in line (and their poop STINKS so there would be no hiding it!). But everything went great. They slept for the first part of the trip (just while we were eating and walking around the mall) and then we woke them up about 20 minutes before the Santa line was opening back up.

The whole Santa thing was a lot of fun! The picture turned out pretty good and I am pretty sure Santa will bring them what they want (ha!) since they have been good this year! ;-)

Here are a couple pictures from the trip - and of course the SANTA PIC!

Waiting on Santa...Where are you jolly ol' fella?

Second in line - we don't mess around when in comes to Santa!

Hi there Santa! (you look a little scary...even to me!)

Getting our family shot in the Ice Throne. It was quite chilly on the bum!

Santa meets Abby and Jimmy!

And drumroll please.... The official photos:

Here we are - right before meeting Santa!

SANTA! (Abby's face is priceless! She is totally staring us down!)

See you again soon Santa... (please stop by on December 24, we've all been good!)