Ice Cream! Yous Cream!

So Papa Cain has been gone for a week and we are starting to really miss his face around here. Malakai asks for him constantly. Saturday morning when the girls were eating breakfast they heard Malakai playing with my keys in the living room and started saying, "Hi, Daddy!" over and over again. :(

Thankfully, we have less than a week to go before he rejoins us! yay! In the mean time, we have been able to enjoy some yummy treats thanks to some sweet friends. Seriously, everyone should get some friends like these. They buy you ice cream and bathe your children in their home after eating said ice cream.

Much love to you all!

Month:18

Haven't really done one of these little "monthly" updates for quite some time... 

18 months in & we're living life fuller than ever! 

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right?

By all indications, they are growing, healthy, intelligent little 1.5 year olds.

They walk. Run. CLIMB like MONKEYS!

Seriously, they are all over everything & anyone! 

I'm glad they are strong & healthy

BUT...

I'm just waiting for a big spill off the couch...

tv stand, bookshelf... FRIDGE?! (let's hope not)

There really is no telling how capable these girls are...

Talking.

Where do I even begin?

They tell their brother to, STOP IT!

Both of them boss some but Ava is my bossy-pants.

Lilly is goofy. She will argue, 

yes/no, yes/no, yes/no

(being silly)

She also will tell you, funny. 

(As is, "I'm funny")

They will pretty much say/copy anything. 

My favorite addition to their vocab?

(NOT)

"WHY?"

UGH! One conversation with my 3 yr old will reveal the source of this.

Thank you, son for making my soul die a little faster.

Regular things around the Cain house...

Screaming/Yelling.

Not fighting.

Just for fun 

screamatthetopofyourlungstillmommyfreaksout

It never ends. 

All 3 just feed off of one another.

Sometimes I just have to walk away.

Or dig my eardrums out.

Teething.

They are both working on k-9's

Ava, as usual is a little ahead of Lils in this game.

Laughing.

Lots o laughter round this joint.

Books.

Toys.

Clothes.

Fun.

Food.

They are still in the beginning stages of potty training. They will go when asked but do not practice much control or tell me they need to go. I'm okay with it, we'll just keep pressing forward :)

Generally, Lilly won't leave a ponytail in her hair. I don't know if they just bother her or what but after a few minutes she is pulling at it. She will, however, leave a headband in so that's what we've been doing to keep her ever growing hair out of her eyes :) [so along with differentiating them by color (pink A & purple L), you can add headband usually means Lilly]

Pretty much our lives are busy and incredibly amazing.

I am still in awe that the Lord chose to give us this double portion!

Ava & Lilly bring so much joy to our home- I really cannot imagine life without them.

Here are the stats from their appointment:

L: Lillian R: Ava

Birthday Week Day 5 {crazy day}

Today is birthday celebration #2 for the pretty girls :-) lots more blessings, lots more kisses, lots more hugs :-) We celebrated with my in-laws at our thanksgiving feast :-) It was super sweet and a lot fun to see family! My intentions were to get some photos and post them today but, yeah, didn't work out. I'm actually writing this in the car on the wayb to pick up my sick husband from drill. (Someone is bringing him to meet me at a gas station which gave me a few minutes to get this done :-) Anyway, one this I've learned about my girls this birthday: they LOVE cake! Haha both times they've had the opportunity, they dug in like they hadn't eaten in days! (I will add pics when I get to a computer :-)) Second thing: they are fabulous! I already knew that but really, they did so good today! Family visits consist of lots of driving, people they aret that farmiliar with and minimal naps. These two girls were champs! They smiled, played, hugged, kissed... s sweet :-) So this is what I have for today. Kinda lame but it's written and I didn't miss a day of nablpomo :-)

Birthday Week Day 3 {Say What?!}

Let me back up a little.

July 2010, we went in for our routine ultrasound. We were really excited to see our baby for the first time. At this point, I was 20 weeks along and had only heard the heart beat though doppler. On the way to the OB office that day, I had this urge just to pray for peace for whatever the outcome of the ultrasound. Something inside was telling me this ultrasound was going to be different. I am not a person that really worries or get worked up about things but I just prayed for protection and health over our baby. I prayed for peace. I prayed that no matter what was revealed in this ultrasound, we would be content and trust God. I prayed for peace.

Turns out that this would prove to be a very different ultrasound. 

Our anxiety grew as the moments grew closer to seeing that little black and white screen fill up w/ our growing bean. The tech covered my belly in the gooey blue stuff and put the little do-dad on my belly. She rubbed it around a bit to get a good view. I barely had the chance to look at the screen when she said, "well I guess there's no easy way to put this other than to just say it." Our hearts sunk. In hindsight, I should have known it wasn't something horrible bc generally it has to be the OB that delivers that kind of news. Never the less, the split seconds between that sentence and the next seemed like an eternity and dread for what could come next was all that filled my being. 

"You've got two in there." 

I was shocked. Michael was shocked. More than anything, though, we were RELIEVED! 

"What?! Are you kidding me???" 

I think Michael just kept giggling and grinning ear to ear. He kept cracking jokes and telling Malakai he was going to be a big brother of TWO sisters!

She kept moving things around and looking and said, "I can't know for sure because of how far along you are but I'm pretty sure they are identical." 

WHAT?! IDENTICAL??? 

This was all too much to process. 

After some searching for the membrane and peeking around, she determined that both were girls and most likely, they were identical and sharing a placenta (monozygotic/dichorionic).

 The ultrasound tech noted how calm we were. Apparently, the general response includes a lot of screaming, crying and freaking out. I think she just chalked up our response to shock but I think it was partly relief from the way she presented it and mostly the grace of God giving us a peace and joy for this double portion :) 

Following the ultrasound, we sat waiting to see the doctor. We didn't even really know what to say to one another. I stared at the floor, smiled at Michael and attempted to wrap my head around this news. (BTW- I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.)

Due to the fact that they were sharing a placenta, we would need to regularly see a specialist to be monitored for twin to twin transfusion (basically, where one twin is getting more nutrients than the other which can cause a multitude of issues for both babies). Praise God, we didn't have any complications and week to week received the good news that both babies were growing nicely. 

Thus, began our journey into parenting multiples. Sharing this news with friends and family was a lot of fun :) Some knew right away what they were seeing, while others thought maybe they were seeing butt cheeks ??? Yeah, no. 

Regardless, we were overjoyed and scared to death! 

Can it be?!?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRINCESS AVA!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRINCESS LILLIAN!!!

Yes, today is the day. 1 year ago I walked into the hospital, anxious to hold my baby girls. These two little sisters are precious joys in my life. I can't imagine life without them. Seeing them interact with their brother is intoxicating sweetness! Words cannot express how blessed I feel. 

So Ava Lynn. She is beautiful. Precious. Happy. Curious. 

Ava likes to get into everything. She loves to talk and laugh and be tickled. She has 4 teeth and working on #5 (her first top tooth). Brother thinks she is a brother and also that she is 2 or 3 yrs old but she doesn't mind, she loves to rough house with him. Ask her a question and generally, you will get, "no" for an answer. Her favorite words right now are, eeeeeat, no, da-da, Pop-Pop, please (saying & signing), more (signing), all done (signing). I think she says cup or drink or something for that but it's not that recognizable. She HATES it when I mess with her hair. She enjoys looking at books and singing. Oh how this girl loves singing. At church she will "sing" and get louder as the singing gets louder (it's more like yelling but it's totally adorable). You can catch her singing, "ei, ei, ooooo" to herself all the time. Precious, precious, precious. Ava is still pretty content to crawl, which is fine. I'm really not into rushing things these days but it will be nice when her face and hands are not always in the floor.

Lillian Renee. She is a greeter. Gorgeous. Sweet. Cuddly. 

Lillian loves to climb. She climbs on the couch, in the toy basket, through the bars under the chairs. She is curious and her sisters sidekick. She has 2 teeth but I'm seeing 2 more on bottom trying to come through. Lilly likes to say, "yes". She will legitimately answer your question if she wants whatever you are asking. If she doesn't want it, she just looks at you :) Pushing the limits (even beyond) is a regular occurrence for this little munchkin. She wants us to think she doesn't understand and is just tooooooo cute to discipline. She's almost convincing. She can say, "please." Most of the time, she doesn't want to. Actually, I think she prefers to say it over signing it but still she fights it. Favorite words for her are, (signing) more & all done, (saying) hiiiiii (in the sweetest high pitched voice you've ever heard), eeeeat, AaaaaP (we're not sure what it means but I'm wondering if its Ava bc we asked her to say Ava last night and that was one of the sounds she made), bath (which sounds more like, "baaa", da-da and of course, pop-pop. I could not believe my eyes a couple of weeks ago when she took her first steps! I was so proud of her. She still isn't officially walking but shows a lot of interest in it. 

Both girls are just getting so big and are truly coming into their own little personalities. Seeing them interact is so neat. They have a special bond and I look forward to watching that continue to develop. 

While the year has FLOWN by, it seems like there was never life before the sisters. They have invaded and are here to stay. 

Life is so good :)

**Just a little note: I think beginning today I am going to make this birthday week and post something Lillian/Ava/twin related for the next 7 days :)** 

Reality sets in...

Tiny baby girls do become little girls...


My tiny 5lb twin baby princesses just celebrated their first 1st birthday party. Their actual birthday is on Tuesday but we celebrated at church with some friends and family this afternoon. I am so thankful to have such great friends and family that helped me pull things together :) It was pretty and dainty and everyone had a great time!

My friend Kelly (a woman w/ a servant's heart who graciously gives her time, creativity and efforts) and I made a cake from scratch: Red {Wine} Velvet Cake w/ German cream cheese buttercream frosting... one word... YUM! (This recipe was written by someone my husband knew growing... she is a very talented pastry chef and witty writer- check out Stella at her blog, The Brave Tart) I'm not the most experienced baker but I do enjoy it and this turned out fabulous!

My sister also receives BIG props for her sewing skills... she made some adorable dresses inspired by this dress. I will share more when I have photos but I definitely wanted to say, "thank you" :)

We were going for 'sugar & spice'... it turned out very sweet and tea party-ish and was a lot of fun :) While it still is hard to believe that its already been a year since they joined our family, we certainly cannot imagine life with out them :) They are a joy and make our lives so much fuller.

8 minutes 17 seconds

I'm loving this fall season. The weather is beautiful. Pumpkins, changing leaves, crisp mornings and nights... it all makes me so happy for fall. 

As much as I love this weather and season, it is leaving me sort of... sad? I don't know. Every day I am reminded of my daughters' impending 1st birthday and it just makes me kind of sad. I'm loving every minute with them but hating that clock ticking away leaving us with an almost complete 1st year of life for those sweet, sweet sisters. 

Have I savored enough of the moments? The everyday moments that happen so often I take them for granted. The little (or big) smiles. The bumps. The quick but ever so sweet exchanges between siblings. The hugs & kisses. All of it. I'm thinking the answer is, probably not.

Lately, I've taken to capturing more videos knowing that I won't be able to remember it all. Knowing how many videos I review from Malakai's 1st year hold what would have been forgotten memories reminds me how awesome it will be years from now that we've captured these small snippets of their baby-hood :) 

Just some thoughts I've been having in the last few weeks. 

On a totally awesome and really saaa-weet note.... my anniversary is coming up!!! yay! I love this man that makes up the other half of my children's dna.

I hope to bring you more blog posts this week... 

I've been a bit of a slacker here recently :/ 

Peace out, y'all!!!

(enjoy this little window into our lives w/ 3 under 3...)

few little randoms... including a certain anniversary shout out

First of all...

We made a little visit to the pediatrician today. As some of you may know, I had a pretty nasty infection last week which required antibiotics... boo :/ Thankfully it is all cleared up now but unfortunately has caused a little bit of thrush in Ava's mouth and yeast infection in the diaper area on both girls... again- boo :/ Since we were already at the doc (and I missed their weight checks when I was sick last week) we went ahead and checked their weights... Little Miss Avy Aves is weighing in at 16lbs 5oz (w/ a wet diaper) and Lills is weighing in at 15lbs 12oz (mostly dry diaper). Both are growing well and barely on the charts for weight- 3rd & 1st percentiles, respectively.

All this being said, girls are being medicated but doing juuuust fine :)




For my 2nd order of business... saw today on fb that B&H is offering Adobe Lightroom 3 for 1/2 price for the next few hours (offer ends at 11:59 am on Oct 4th)! Just $149.99 for this awesome photo editing software! Seriously people, this is a GREAT deal!! Just thought I'd share this :)

Lightroom 3 on sale for next 24 hours

Also, a SUPER BIG shout out to some super amazing friends...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY RICK & KELLY!!!!

13 Years and counting :)

Let me tell you a little bit about these two people.

Rick and Kelly are two of our best friends. Their lives are a reflection of God's love and grace. They are always available to meet needs whenever possible. They are Pop Pop and Miss Kelly. They are friends. They are neighbors. Rick is a cook and Kelly a baker. Servants, singers, worshippers. They are blessed but better than that, we are blessed to know them.

Funky.

             Friends.

                            Family.

We love you all and I am so grateful to have you all in my life. Our lives are better with you both in it :) Cannot wait to see what God does in your lives over the next 13 years ♥

10... TEN... 10... TEN months!

It is so hard for me to believe that my 5lb twin babies are ten months old! This time last year, they were still so tiny in my belly (although my belly wasn't so tiny). Today they are working on 16lbs and getting around quite well.  This time last year they needed me to help them grow- they were literally connected to me- today they can feed themselves (although they do still need me to breastfeed). So much changes in such a small window of time. They have gone from fetus to baby to little girls in no time flat. (well 10 months to be exact-HA!)

Ava is really showing herself to be the little ham and really loves to pick at people. She has us laughing all the time. Her favorite pass times are pulling her sister's hair, shirt, face... etc- point is, she is always touching her sister. When she isn't pestering Lils, she is probably working on Malakai... much to his dismay much of the time. haha. She likes to yell and smile and eat... oh yeah and stand on her head.

Lilly tends to be a bit quieter than Ava. She knows what she wants and very determined. Lilly (otherwise known as Lils) is sweet as can be and loves to cuddle. She loves to stand holding onto the wine rack in the kitchen. Whenever I walk in the room to get her out of bed, she lights up! Her smiles are contagious and her pigtails are adorable :)

Some firsts this month... Both girls are now crawling on their hands & knees. Lilly had only a couple of days up on Ava :) Ava is now pulling up on EVERYTHING! Having both girls pulling up has made bath time quite the workout :) We all experienced our first hurricane this past month... good 'ole Irene :) First time meeting some family... The girls met their cousins James, Jamie, James Jr & Kayla... They also met some family I hadn't even met before- Uncle Gary, Tina, and shoot I can't remember her daughter's name (but she was completely adorable :)). They attended their 1st wedding- Congrats Uncle Kevin & Aunt Andi and cousin Liam!!! :):):) Ava likes to yell, "aaaaaat." She also is pointing at all kinds of things and just a couple days ago started pointing at noses on command :) (she also enjoys putting her finger up her own nose-haha) Lilly says, "oooooow!" We're pretty sure she even says it in context- maybe a first word :) Both girls are saying, "mammamamamommy" and "heeeey" (imagine high pitched and totally adorable). They like to sign "all done" and clap and can wave. Peek-a-boo is a favorite game. They love to read books. We are also seeing little attitudes emerge and definitely understanding, "no, no" :) If you take something away, they protest. Lots of first outfits as we finally have them (mostly) in 6-9 mo clothes- they are such little munchkins :) (not that I'm complaining!)

This past month has FLOWN by and it is such a joy to be right in the middle of their little lives. This age is so neat because they grow and change so quickly! Their personalities are really coming through, they recognize you and begin to show real affection. Every day (although maybe not every moment) with them makes my heart smile! I just love it! I truly am one blessed mama!!!

This is Ava doing her head stand :) It cracks me up how she looks around while she is upside down :) haha (please ignore the ornery 2 yr old and stern daddy voice at the end-lol)



One last 1st learned on their 10 month birthday :) This is sure to make you smile... if you have a heart... haha

Embracing (the camera) Baby as an Accessory :)

Ava Lynn. I love this girl. She's just so stinkin cute!


 The past few days I have been wearing my girls a lot more. Not sure why but perhaps its the realization that they will all too soon be too big to be "worn" or possibly they have been a little more needy. Either way, I am enjoying it and taking full advantage :) Ava is just such a joy in my life. She makes me laugh and smile. She's goofy and cracks herself up all the time :) Peek-a-boo, grabbing glasses, biting, laughing and eating are some of her favorite things right now. She is silly and sneaking. She picks on her sister all. the. time. Her hands are constantly going for her Lilly's hair or clothes or whatever she can reach and she'll look at me with this mischievous adorable grin as if to distract me from what she is doing. Its all too much! Anyway, enjoy looking at my sweet girl ♥

So, are you ready to embrace the camera?

here's the nitty gritty:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on the link tool here (@ the anderson crew).

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair andsweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!