Thanksgiving... already?

I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week! It seems like it was just Halloween.  I'm pretty excited. We take turns with my husbands family and my family for thanksgiving and Christmas.  This year we're having Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas Eve with his family. I'm really excited about black Friday which has basically become black Thursday evening.  I've never gotten to go. Before now my mom didn't want me to go because she was buying for me, I had to work, I had just had my twins, and then the last year I was huge pregnant and I had to take care of twin one year olds. But this year my husband is off work and is going to watch the kids while I go fight some middle-aged woman over a trampoline. It's bound to the best Thanksgiving day ever! We already have our tree up and presents under it. Presents that my sons think they should get to open now and have already gotten into trouble for trying to open. The only things that will put a damper on Thanksgiving are for one thing my daddy isn't going to be there and another is that we still haven't heard about our mortgage application and we won't hear about it until probably December 1st! I'm so ready to find out something! Hopefully they'll have that done soon and sent off to whoever they have to send it to and we'll be closing on our house soon! I know it's not that far off I just hate not knowing.  I hate waiting, surprises, and secrets. We aren't telling anybody where the house is until we know for sure we're getting it just in case, Lord forbid, that it falls through. I've had a hard time keeping it. Am I the only one that hates keeping secrets? My husbands family seems to thrive on them. I love my in-laws but it drives me crazy. They love surprises and secrets.  I don't see the greatness of them. We drew names with them this year and me and my husband said we didn't want to keep it a secret but they were like "majority rules" in this snooty voice. When did we vote? Me and my husband know who each other have. I have him which seems dumb  to me seeing as how he is paying for his own gift. Kinda not fair. Wow, I can't seem to post without complaining. This year we're doing Christmas at our house with hjs family which is one reason why I'm ready to move into our new house. Its quite a bit bigger than our 14 x 80 trailer. And the day we move my parents are giving us a King size bed for Christmas:).

My husband

Reese. He's amazing.  I have a very limited vocabulary of words that would really describe him. Hardworking is one. He started a new job recently.  After 3 and a half years of him working his butt off being a carpenter he changed professions. He is now a pipe fitter for a gigantic company. He has a place to move up if he wants. He is a great provider. He now makes about three times the amount that he made at his other job. The only downside is that he works more hours than at his old job. Do not get me wrong.  I'm so very thankful for this job. It has benefits! He is also hilarious. That's one of my favorite things about him.  He makes me laugh. When we first started dating he quoted Ace Ventura : pet detective a lot. I had never seen it. It is now one of my favorite movies. All he has to do is quote that if we're arguing and I can't stay mad. He understands me. Most of the time. And if he doesn't,  most of the time he'll try to understand. He's in church. He loves God. We both help each other. That's a thing I cherish about our relationship.  We're honest with each other. If I'm struggling I can tell him and he won't get mad or pushy. Its helps for me to talk everything out when I'm having a problem about anything and he's always there to listen. He was my first real boyfriend and I was his first girlfriend.  He was my first everything. We were both virgins when we got married. Our parents raised us the right way.  I was taught that you don't have sex before marriage and so was he. It not only makes you feel empty when you don't do it the right way, the way God planned, but it takes away the specialness of your wedding and your wedding night. I'm not saying we were completely innocent and we had gone farther than we should have but we had never went that far. I'm so very thankful that we waited. It proves that it can be done and you don't have to give in to peer pressure.  Reese is forgiving and loving and kind and handsome and hilarious and he's everything that I've always wanted in a husband.  He's my other half. He is outgoing when I'm a hermit. We're opposites in most things but that's what makes us work. He's my soul mate. And I'll love him 'til the day I die.

My babies

I just watched a video that man captured of his preemie sons first year and it was a tear-jerker. For those of you that have never had a baby in the NICU it may not mean as much but it touched my heart. My twin boys were 4 weeks early but they still had to go to the NICU for a week. It wasn't near as long as some babies have to stay. Honestly it was probably one of the shorter stays for babies. They were born at 5 lbs 5 oz and 5 lbs 7 oz. They were beautiful. It was one of the hardest things to watch my babies get shipped to another hospital because the one I was at didn't have a NICU. I was so upset. I had had a c-section and normally most women stay for 2 or 3 days but my doctor let Me be released after 24 hours because I was so upset.  I barely remember the pain of the incision.  I think mostly because I was so worried about my boys that I didn't care I felt. I cried the first time I had to shower and the first time I had to walk. I think I cried more in the first 2 months after they were born than I ever have in my whole life and that's saying a lot because I'm pretty emotional.  The only other time that probably compares is when I had my little girl and I had to stay in the hospital while my boys were at home for 2 days. I felt like a horrible momma when I got to the NICU and I didn't know which baby was which because I only saw them for a few minutes before they took them, I felt like a horrible momma because I was so worn out that I didn't get up to try to breastfeed both of them every 3 hours while we stayed with them in the hospital. I suggest while you're in the hospital that you limit your visitors because you won't rest at all with people coming in and out of your room so much. It's not rude.  You need the rest and they should understand.  Once we got home I was so worried with trying to clean and take care of them that I again felt like a horrible momma and wife. Thank God for my amazing husband and momma. I also suggest you get your momma or close friend to help you with cleaning or watching the baby while you nap. Not stay with you but just come over the first week or so. And do not keep taking the pain killers after the first 3 or so days because they make you tired which makes you feel like sleeping constantly and will in turn make you feel bad for not taking care of your baby.  It will hurt at first without the pills but it only gets better. After the first c-section it's a breeze.  Anyways, back to the main story. Watching then grow and laugh and roll and crawl and finally walk is amazing. They make me proud. I cannot imagine life without them. People always act like twins are hard and while at times it's not easy it's still awesome. Holding them for the first time was incredible. Together they weighed a little more than what a full term baby should weigh. They were so tiny. At the doctors office they say they  are only in the 35th percentile but I don't think that percentile stuff is correct. It changes so much when they gain a couple ounces. I think they are doing amazing for theur age. They are so smart. Just in the past couple of months they've seemed to take off, mentally. They surprise me daily. They are so sweet to watch. Cay is my instigator.  Har is my caretaker. Sai is my daredevil(who would've thought a 10 month old could  be a daredevil). At first when I had Sai I thought it was going to be hard trying to juggle the three of them. I remember thinking that I didn't know what I was going to do because Cay didn't laugh or smile for the first few weeks she was home. I was so worried about him. He wouldn't kiss me or anything. He loves her now but it was kind of touch and go at first. How people can give up their kids or have an abortion is beyond me. I can't fathom not wanting my babies. And FYI, abortion is murder. Any form of it is murder. It affects you mentally and physically. I had a miscarriage and if having an abortion feels half as bad as having a miscarriage I don't know how people live with what they've done to their baby. Babies are the imbodiment of innocence. Let me get back on track again. When I had Sai it was like I forgot what if was like to have a newborn even though it had barely been a year before that I had twins. She also makes me proud. I'm glad that I had them so close together.  They will have each other growing up the way I had my brothers. Even when they're being bad they still make me happy.  I love them infinity plus one.

30 days of thanks:)

So I didn't get to start the daily 30 days of thanks so I'm just going to do one post with all my thanks:)

Day 1 - My husband. My soul mate. My other half. My true love. My best friend. The father of my children. I'm so very blessed to have him.  You put up with a lot from me and I don't know what I would do without you. 

Day 2 - My beautiful children, Cay, Har, and Sai. I love y'all more than I could ever put into words.  The three of you filled a gap that I didn't know was there before. There is nothing like hearing y'all say "I love you, momma" or seeing y'all smile or holding y'all while you sleep. God gave me the most amazing children.

Day 3 - God. My strength. My joy. My peace. My heavenly father. Thank you for everything you've done for me. I could never repay you for the debt you paid.  My life is not enough but it's all I have to give. I am yours.

Day 4 - My momma. You make being a momma and wife look easy. You are stronger than I ever hope to be. You are Super-Mom. Thank you for not having another kid after me;). I love you.

Day 5 - My Daddy. You have sacrificed so much so that we could be happy. I never thought I would find a man as good as you. Surprisingly, y'all are more a like than either of probably wants to admit:). You and momma did the best thing that you could have possibly done for me by raising me in church. You are an awesome daddy! I love you.

Day 6 - My big brothers. Y'all made me tough. Y'all were my first friends. Y'all are the best brothers that a girl could ask for. I hope my boys are as awesome to Sailor as y'all were to me. We're honest with each other and that's what makes us close. We may never say that we love each other but its only because we've never needed that reassurance. We know it without a doubt.

Day 7 - My Ry. Even though you didn't come along until I was 12 I'm so glad you did. We may get on each others nerves but I still love you. You'll always be the my Vinny.

Day 8 - My in-laws. Without y'all I wouldn't have my wonderful husband or my beautiful kids.

Day 9 - My Pastor and his wife. I'm so very thankful for a man of God in my life who still preaches the truth.  It may not be popular but it's what we need to hear. And I'm thankful for Sis. Herringtons example of how we as women are supposed to be. What you see is what you get and that is very unusual nowadays.

Day 10 - Granny. You are still going strong at 79. Delivering meals on wheels  and visiting the elderly. You are an inspiration. 

Day 11 - My husbands new job. It's so nice to not worry about rain or him getting overheated working outside. I hate that he's gone more now but it's so much safer than his other job.

Day 12 - Good books. I absolutely love to read and finding a good book is hard to do but so worth it when you want to read it over and over.

Day 13 - Indoor plumbing. We forget about the small things but I'm so very thankful for it.

Day 14 - Electricity. Again with the small things. I would hate to sleep without my A/C.

Day 15 - My truck that can fit all of us in it. Enough said.

Day 16 - My Bible.  I should have said it sooner but I'm very thankful for the word of God. It has everything in it you need to know.

Day 17 - Clothes. I would hate  to see most people naked and body odor would be way worse without clothes.

Day 18 - The food we've been blessed with.

Day 19 - My House. We still have a lot of work to do on it but its home and I'm so happy to have it.

Day 20 - Country living. Going Mudding, shooting, fires, doing just about anything without having your neighbors right on top of you.

Day 21 - Our health.

Day 22 - I'm thankful my parents never told me Santa Claus was real and they taught me what Christmas is really about.

Day 23 - Common sense. Even though it's not that common.

Day 24 - Being spanked as a child. I was a pretty good kid but I still did bad things and I needed to be corrected. Now that I'm a parent it's even clearer why they spanked me and I realize now that it's not what they wanted to do but what they had to do.

Day 25 - My family. Blood related and my church family. 

Day 26 - My washer and dryer. Pure brilliance. 

Day 27 - My dishwasher. 

Day 28 - Laughter and a good sense of humor. My husband makes me laugh everyday and its one of my favorite things about him. If you have a good sense of humor we can be friends.

Day 29 - Hard-working people who get the job done. Keep up the good work.

Day 30 - Music.  Music has always been a big influence for me. I'm glad I don't listen to worldly music anymore and I'm glad that their are people who want to give glory to God with their  music.

Moving and other things

Today I got rear-ended in a hit and run! I've never been in a wreck while I was driving and I was really shocked. We were on interstate 210, which is a busy road in Lake Charles,  headed home from dropping my husband off at work. As soon as I felt them hit me I looked in my rearview mirror and I saw them doing a 360 turn. The entire time I was praying. I pulled over to the side of the road and got out to check my truck and it has a large dent on the back but other than that nothing else was wrong. I didn't call the cops because I thought the other driver would. I was wrong. They didn't stop at all. One man stopped to make sure I was ok but thst was it. I didn't want to call the cops and have to wait until they got there until I could go home.  I had my three kids in the truck with me who are all 2 years old or under. They were crying and it was an hour and a half drive home. So I left.  My neck is killing me and I just hope nothing is wrong with me, my kids, or my truck. On another note, we are most likely getting a house! We put in an offer yesterday and should know in the morning whether or not the seller accepted it. But they most likely will seeings as how they really need to sell it and we offered what they were  asking for it. We're just so tired of working on our trailer and it feels like we're never going to be done working on it. The only thing we really want to do to the house is  paint the master bedroom.  I'm so unbelievably excited! If the seller accepts we should be in the house a week before Christmas!

Friendships Rants

Recently I got to visit with some of my cousins who were my best friends growing up and I realized how lacking most of my friendships are now. That new song by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers called "You can't make old friends" is so unbelievably true. Just a bit of history on my friendships with my cousins : I have two older brothers that are 25 and 23 and I'm 21. I have five girl cousins who are 24, 21, 21, 19, and 16.  They are my momma's sisters kids and like most people we're closer to my moms family. We were all close except Ren who was the youngest and therefore got left out a lot because of the age difference. They were my best friends until I turned 16, started dating Reese, who is now my husband, and I got into church. I was raised in church but until then I was trying to do my own thing and I didn't want to go to church. I practically lived with my cousins, went to the movies as often as I could, and wore some pretty tights clothes. Our friendships really ended when I wouldn't spend the night for the last time with two of my cousins kind of as a going away party because one of them was moving to Texas because it was a Saturday and I wasn't missing church the next morning to stay up all night watching TV and being depressed because my best friend was moving.  They got extremely mad at me and called me all sorts of things and it really hurt but I wasn't backing down from my decision and until a month ago it was awkward to be around the two of them that I refused to stay with. It wasn't the same and I haven't had a real best friend besides my momma and husband since then. Me and one of them both got married and we had each other in our weddings but it was mostly for memories sake. I truly have missed them and it was really hard to let go of all the hurt that was caused from it but once I did I was so much happier and I've actually been talking to them and trying to make an effort to get to know them again but it almost seems effortless because of all of our history together. I've had a lot of friends but none as close as my cousins.  It's really hard to become really good friends with new people. You have nothing to hold you to those people. I know that because I've tried, as hard as a somewhat antisocial person can try. Me and my husband have tried being friends with several different couples at our church. It was mostly because of him that we had those friendships.  He's very friendly. We're opposites in most things. Anyways the first two couples stopped going to church and either started going to a different church or quit completely and the third couple we were closer to than the first two (or at least Reese was closer to them. It seemed forced for the first couple months for me) but one of their family members moved back this way about 3 months ago and they started acting different. This certain family member is extremely hard to get along with. I can only handle someone making fun of me for so long but if you start making fun of my kids too and calling them stupid, I just can't be around you if I'm gonna keep my Jesus. We tried for a little while but I would rather not become homicidal and go to hell just because I'm trying to keep a floundering friendship above water. I'm not being dramatic. At all. My husband told the man(we'll call him bill) that he considered his best friend that he didn't want to spend all of the time that he was with Bill with Bill's family member(we'll call him John), who isn't in church, because he is always being rude to me and our kids and all they wanted to was play video games. Bill told him that it was his job to save John and that you have to be around someone to witness to them and that John didn't treat me and our kids any different than he treats anybody else, and that if Reese didn't want to be around John then Bill wasn't going to hangout with Reese until he got over not liking John. Reese told him that he treats everyone horrible but besides that they didn't talk until this past month. It's been extremely strained being around them. I'm having a hard time letting go of the fact that Bill was unkind to my husband and he didn't even try to see his side of things. My husband said that in friendships you fight just like in marriage and you get over it but again I don't think that it happens like that unless you've been friends for longer than they have because you don't have much invested in it. With the two of them not talking it's changed my friendship with (lets call them...) Jane and her friend, that has become a good friend of mine, Jill. We were hanging out but it seems way too forced to me now. And right before John moved back this way we had a not really a fight kind of argument with Jane and Bill. We had been over the youth group at our church that month and they had just got back from PEAK in Colorado. Everyone that went to PEAK was extremely upbeat about church because they got a good touch from God. We got the cds from PEAK and it WAS awesome. But after everyone got back they decided to start doing their own thing at church instead of the stuff that we had planned for the group. It was extremely aggravating. Even before they left for PEAK everyone kept giving us advice.  Let me just throw this in. I hate advice.  Even when I ask for it.  Anyways, we didn't schedule a youth service that Friday night because everybody was going to a service at another church and nobody would've been at our church.  Well Jill and her boyfriend at the time were fighting and they came over to our house that night to talk to us because talking about your problems with an outside party can help sometimes to get a different perspective,  as long as its not going to cause them to resent your significant other or cause more problems (I suggest someone slightly older than you and thats the same sex as you). Well we couldn't just leave them at our house when they needed us. Well that made Jane and Bill mad at us because it was our responsibility to go to that service that wasn't at our church because that was the replacement for a service at our church. I HATE being told I'm supposed to do something by someone who is not an elder of the church like my pastor. It doesn't go over well with me. So we were already kind of on shaky ground with that friendship before John moved back but it just made things much worse. I'm obviously having a hard time forgiving all of this, which I have been praying about so its not hopeless. Another thing I hate is starting new friendships. You don't know how some people will react to things that you say and do. Also I hate when people act like their phones are more interesting and more important than I am when they're sitting there talking to me. You don't have to have a cell phone to survive. People lived for a long time without them and got along just fine. I find it extremely rude and while a cellphone is handy to have and I do play on mine more than I should, it is one of the worst inventions in the world along with the TV. We've been trying to be friends with another couple here lately and its going good so far. It doesn't feel as forced and awkward as it first did with Jane. I normally stay to myself because friendships normally don't last for me so I think why make the effort but I'm trying to change that. It's more so when I try to be really close friends with someone that it falls apart. But like I said I'm trying to change that. I've been wanting to get that off my chest for a while now so I feel somewhat better now.  I would also like to say that Jesus is the only friend any of us actually need. He's the best friend that anyone has or ever will have.  And I am forever thankful for his amazing grace and his sacrifice to save a wretch like me.

P.S. I understand why Bill wants John to be saved but I don't understand why Bill couldn't stay friends with both Reese and John.  I don't force my friends to be friends with my other friends. You know what I mean?

It's been an amazing two years:)

I really can't believe my little boys are already 2! My life changed dramatically from the day I found out that I was having twins. I knew we were in for an adventure from the moment y'alls daddy yelled holy crap in the ultrasound room. From the moment that y'all decided to come early. From the moment that one of you came out looking like Uncle Dalton and the other came out looking like your daddy. From the moment I layed eyes on y'all.     People told me it was going to be hard and  they've said bless my heart because they don't know how I handle the two of you and your sister but I wouldn't have it any other way. Y'all are two of the best things that ever happened to me. Y'all are so smart, and cute, and amazing. I'm honored to be called momma. I love y'all beyond belief. Happy (early) Birthday to my baby boys:)

P.S.
Happy Halloween to everyone that doesn't get the opportunity to celebrate my handsome little men turning 2!