Laughs!

What a busy day today was!  Chris and I both had to work today so Mana (Chris' mom) came down to watch babies!  My mom kept Alex and Mana kept the twins.  They had a fun time playing and when Mommy got home it was time to pick up Alex and head to church for the candlelite service!  It was so cute!  Alex got to be an "animal" in the Christmas story during the service and being his first time in "big" church, he did so good!

Caroline laughed for the first time today!  I was so excited I couldn't help but get a quick video of her :)
The babies were so happy tonite we were able to get a few cute pics out of them as well!  Alex got a new Mr. Incredible costume from his Mana and wore it all night!  He got to open one present tonite and chose one from his Great Aunt Mary.  She got him this really cool tunnel that connects to a pop up tent!  He LOVES it!  He couldn't wait to get it set up and check it out!  And as soon as it was set up he was in it immediately and demanding a pillow for it!  Hahaha!  It was too cute :)

Nana bought the twins some really cute outfits for Christmas so I snapped this pic just for her :)  I don't realize it until i see a pic of them together but they look so much alike to be boy/girl twins!

Carter is full of smiles and Caroline has discovered her toes and loves to hold on to them every chance she gets :)

Well, it's time to get ready for Santa!  Merry Christmas everyone!

Santa!

I had to post again to brag on my babies!  They all did SO good with Santa!  Well, Caroline melted about 5 seconds after we set her in Santa's lap, but luckily we got a shot "mid-meltdown"!  LOL!

Alex had a great time with his good friend, Campbell!

Campbell wasn't so sure about Santa :)

Fun times!

It's been a busy week/end!  The babies are finally starting to feel a little better (thank you antibiotics!) so we're going today to get Santa pics this afternoon!  Who knows how they'll react.  They'll probably be terrified but I hope not, I have the CUTEST outfits for them!  I'm still not sure how we're going to do with with 3 kiddos and Santa only having 2 arms...Hmmm...

Yesterday was a busy day of visiting with friends!  My good friend Tanya came over for lunch with her family.  It's been way too long since we've seen them and they were surprised at how big the babies have gotten!  When I took Carter to the doc on Friday he was a whopping 15lbs 11oz!  Who knows how big Caroline is now...I'd bet close to 16lbs!  Last nite we had 2 other managers and their families (from State Farm) over for dinner.  The babies did well, because there was always someone willing to hold them :)  It was tons of fun and nice to enjoy time with friends!  We even met a future babysitter :)  She's 13 and so sweet!  She was wonderful with the babies and I think she will make a great babysitter one day!  I don't know that's she's ready to tackle all three though!  Chris smoked ribs and they were so yummy!  The night concluded with the guys playing Xbox on the big screen.  I think a fun time was had by all!

It was my night to get up with babies and for the most part they did ok.  Carter (as usual) slept thru the night until 5am but Ms. Caroline was up at 1am then 230, then 245.  Finally after that she crashed until 5am.  I fed them then and put them back down and they were sound asleep until we were awoken by our house alarm going off!  Alex had opened the back door to get something and didn't realize the alarm was still.  Needless to say, it was not the best way to start the day...  It's 10:45a now and the babies are napping in their swings and I'm still in jammies with my 2nd cup of coffee.

It's hard to believe that just a couple of months ago our lives were CRAZY!  The babies were much more high maintenance and we were exhausted!  I'm afraid to say it but it seems to have gotten easier overnight almost.  The babies are napping (kind of) consistently now and are so much fun when they're awake!  They're starting to sleep more at night and that helps everyone!  I guess we've kind of  gotten into our groove...finally!

I never thought I'd say this but...

Caroline and I were back at the pediatrician's office this afternoon after she ran a temp of 101.5.  As it turns out she's got another ear infection (surprise, surprise).  I never thought I'd say this but I'm glad she has another one.  Only because this means that Dr. E finally agrees that she needs tubes.  I know that sounds crazy but after getting tubes myself (just a few years ago) and Alex getting tubes (the same time I did) I am much more reassured that this is the right decision.  I'm so ready to be done with ear infections!  We'll now be referred to Dr. G (our ENT doc) for a consult then to schedule the surgery.  I wish we could get it done before the end of the year (since we've met all of our out-of-pocket maximums) but I doubt that will happen.  The surgery will be done at the new MTMC and I'm very confident that things will go well.

Oddly enough as soon as I got home from the doctor with Caroline I noticed that Carter was running a fever as well :(  This means that we'll be back at the pediatrician's office tomorrow morning to have him checked out...  Who knows, maybe we could get a 2 for 1 deal on the surgeries!  Ha!

On a good note, when I got to Dr. E's office tonite they informed me that "Molly" had been by.  Molly is the formula rep for them and my new best friend!  LOL!  Dr. E has been more than generous in supplying us with LOTS of sample cans of formula.  A few weeks ago they supplied us with 48 cans and just today Molly dropped off 24 more cans of formula for us!  Wahoo!  That's an additional 24 days of formula!  That will save us about $350!  I can't tell you have blessed we feel to have such a caring and generous pediatrician :)  It definitely makes paying those $15 copays well worth it!

Just goes to show you that you never know what the day will bring!  This morning I never would've guessed my day would end this way...

Love,
E

The perfect morning!

As I sit here writing this blog Chris just left with Alex and Carter and Caroline are playing quietly (yes, I realize I just jinxed myself!) on their playmat in the middle of the living room...  I have my first cup of coffee right next to me and my Mom and Dad will be here any minute to visit!  I don't know a better way to start a morning :)  All of my Christmas shopping is done (with the exception of stocking stuffers) and I'll be wrapping everything today.  It's blistering cold outside and has been colder this year than ever before.  We've had temps in the single digits and windchills below zero.  For many of my northern friends that's not a big deal but here in TN that's WAY too cold!

Life is good.  We are blessed to have such wonderful friends and families near us!  It's hard to believe but in just 3 days the babies will be 5 months old!  Where has the time gone?  It seems like just yesterday I couldn't wait to "not" be pregnant anymore!  The babies are doing wonderfully and are growing leaps and bounds!  Caroline is still a little bigger than her little brother weighing 15lbs to his 14lbs 11oz.  They are each showing us their unique personalities already!  Carter "talks" to us all the time and Caroline is trying her best to roll over!  She's so close!  They're both starting to reach out and grab things they want and are starting to get attached to familiar faces.  I love to hear Caroline "talk" although she doesn't do it very often.  Her voice is so deep compared to Carter's and she can pretty much get whatever she wants by smiling :)  Carter is such a beautiful baby as well.  His big gummy smile will melt just about anyone!  We're finally rid of all the ear infections that plagued them over the past month and for the moment everyone is well and happy!

I was thinking this morning about some of the blogs I follow and how envious I am of those Mommies.  Somehow they manage to update their blogs so frequently!  I am lucky if I get in one post/week but they are great at keeping their blogs current!  One Mommy friend in particular has a way with words and her blogs make you feel like you're really there with her!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the past week or so...

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

What an exciting year we've had!  It's hard to believe that it will soon be 2011!  The babies will be 5 months old in just 1 week!  It seems like time is flying by...

It's so hard to believe Christmas will be here in just 2 weeks!  Shopping is mostly done with the exception of stocking stuffers and a couple more gifts for Chris...  I can't wait to see Alex's face Christmas morning and his reaction to his gifts!  I know he's going to be thrilled !  It's snowing outside with about 2 inches already on the ground and a temp of about 25 degrees!  Brrr!  For Tennessee that's cold!  Looks like I'll be driving the 4-wheel drive tomorrow to work and hopefully won't slide around too much!

We got to spend the afternoon today at Mom's house with my brother (aka Uncle Robo) and sister-in-law (aka Aunt Jen Jen) and it was so nice to have someone to give the babies to!  Ha!  I know that sounds bad but sometimes it's so nice to know that they are taken care of and I can just relax!  Whew!

We've been very lucky to have had Mana (Chris' Mom) stay with us alot lately.  She's been a wonderful help!  Alex loves seeing her and I know she LOVES seeing all the kiddos and playing :)  She'll be retiring soon so hopefully we'll be able to see a little more of her in the near future!

Chris passed his latest CPCU test!  Wahoo!  or Yahooey (as Alex would say!)!  This means we are just one test away from a trip to Vegas!  The next test will be sometime in March/April so we've got a small break for now...

Well, I'm off to work on Christmas cards...I"m running out of time to get them out!  I'll try to post again soon :)  I'll leave you with a couple of updated pics of the twinkies.  They are growing leaps and bounds!  Caroline is 15lbs and Carter is 14lbs 11oz!

Snip, Snip and Christmas Decor!

What a starter, right?  Well, that's our lives at the moment :) 


 The tree is up (finally!), the banisters are lit and the candles are in the windows :)  I LOVE Christmas time!  Now time to go shopping!   I finally finished shopping for the twins but still have shopping to do for Alex, Chris and Uncle J.J. (by the way, what do you want J.J.?)...  


And then there's the snip-snip...  We (obviously) decided after we found out we were having twins that we were D-O-N-E with babies!  So it was time.  The "procedure" was this morning and went well.  Chris is on the couch with instructions to lie flat on his back for 48 hours.  Also, no lifting anything over 10lbs until Tuesday and yes, that includes the twins...  Should be a fun weekend!  Thank goodness for Grandma's and good friends!


On another good note, Chris passed his CPCU test on Wednesday!  For those of you not in the insurance world, this is AWESOME news!  This was test #7 out of #8 and when he finishes the last one (next March/April) we get a free trip to Vegas and he will officially be certified!  This means he'll then be known as Chris Scogins, CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter).  This (in the accounting world would be equivalent to a CPA) is a pretty big deal for us.  Chris has been working VERY hard on this and it will hopefully open a few more doors for him at work...  Wahoo!  The trip is October 2011 and will be shortly after our 10 year anniversary!  So our plan is to renew our vows with Elvis!  LOL!


I'll be taking the twins to the doc this afternoon to recheck their ears.  Hopefully we'll get a good report and we'll be done with ear infections for a while!  Wish us luck!


Love,
E