A Letter to Our Babies

Dear Silas and Grace,

The past year of my life has been the best yet. I have three people to thank; both of you and your Dada. As I sit back and reflect on all of the changes that Dada and I have gone through since October 21, 2010, they pale in comparison to the thrilling, scary, and miraculous journey you have endured. I have witnessed you enter the world from the warm, dark, and predictable place where you grew so quickly. You have figured out gravity, light, sounds, and security. You have adapted to changing weather, changing schedules, and changing levels of understanding. You have went from a sedentary little peanut to a vertically moving ball of energy. You have learned from one another new tricks, and started to learn what it means to have a built-in friend for life, your sibling. You have shared inside jokes with one another, giggling and smiling for reasons far from our realm of comprehension. And while you don’t know what the word is for it yet, you have learned about love…pure and profound love.

As I sit in amazement of the little people you have turned out to be in one short year, I marvel in the sheer amount of knowledge that you will learn you as you grow older. There are so many, many things that will expand your mind and open your soul. Dada and I will teach you as many lessons as we can, carefully trying to show you all you need to learn to be a happy adult. Your Papa, Nana, Grandma Helen, Aunts and Uncle will surely teach you all sorts of neat things that are best taught by extended family members, like how to catch bugs, how to slide down the stairs in sleeping bags, and how to drive me crazy. Strangers will teach you how the world works, both for the bad and good. Dada and I will do our best to protect you from as much pain as possible, but surely some wayward boy or girl will break your heart a time or two. Rest assured, we will be here waiting with open arms to envelope you in a bear hug when someone commits such an offense.

So much to learn…a lifetime to learn it. When you are grown and you look back at what we have taught you, I hope you have three guiding principles you hold strong in your heart.

Honesty: noun /änistē/ Scrupulous with regard to telling the truth; not given to swindling, lying, or fraud; upright; True; fair; unbiased; In good faith; without malice

Your word is sometimes all you have. Most people will believe you until you give them reason not to, and once you break trust it is so difficult to regain. While your word is easy to give, be careful how freely you give it, for it is sometimes difficult to keep. You will find out that not everyone tells the truth or acts with good intention, but it does not give you the pass to do the same. You were born innately honest, you were born innately good hearted…do not let the temptation to lie or cheat get the better of you. You deserve the wonderful sensation of calmness that comes from living a honest life. You will someday encounter situations when it is easier to be dishonest, to stretch the truth, to stay out of trouble…but let your Mama reassure you…that is only in the short term. Dishonesty is never the easiest, nor the right option, long term. Stand strong, stand by your words, and stand true to your actions. I want you to be able to hold your head high, and also rest it peacefully on your pillow at night.

Strength: noun /streNG(k)TH/  The capacity of an object, substance, or person to withstand great force or pressure

May you never question where you came from, the love that created you, and the strength that you have within. It pains me to know that life will not always be easy for you, not a peaceful walk through flowers, but more an unpredictable path of hills and valleys. May the hills help bolster what we will try so hard to instill in you…inner strength. May the valleys not seem so deep because of this invaluable trait. There will be times when you think you cannot make it through a hardship, but you will. I promise, you will. God will not give you anything you cannot handle. Every obstacle you overcome will add a little piece of inner strength to your armor. The more you build this armor up, the more you will be able to endure the next time you are in battle. But do not fear, dear love, for life will mostly be made up of beautiful experiences, as long as you look for them. You will not always have to wear your inner strength armor to protect yourself, but you can always lend it to someone else who is not so strong. Build up your inner strength so you have some to spare, some to share with another person who seems like they need it. Be strong in your convictions and your beliefs. Know you have a mother and father behind you every step of the way, even if we are not within your sight as you spread your wings and grow older. We love you, we support you, we believe in you. Trust in your own inner strength.

Compassion: noun /kum-paSH-on/ Sympathetic concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others

Not everyone is as fortunate as everyone else. Some people find themselves in situations caused by their own actions, while others have misfortune cast upon them through no fault of their own. The challenge you will face is to acknowledge the difference, but treat them the same. When you see another being in peril, it is your duty to care. God has blessed you with a strong mind and heart, use them to the benefit of others. However while you are busy caring for others, make sure you are teaching them to care for themselves. You never want to become a permanent crutch for them, but more a temporary cast that heals their wounds and eventually can be taken away so they can stand by themselves. Compassion is a truly beautiful quality however do not let others mistake your compassion for weakness or naiveté, for it is quite the opposite. Understand that people are genuinely good deep down, and give them the benefit of the doubt, but don’t let anyone take advantage of you. Understand that you cannot solve the world’s problems, but never stop trying to fix them.

Thank you, my little beans, for giving me a whole new perspective on life, and for making my heart grow bigger than I ever thought possible. I thank God every single moment of every single day for blessing us with you.

With endless and enduring love,

Mama

I Walk the Line...

Okay, maybe not a straight line, but there is a lot of walking going on in our house! Gracie’s first steps were at 9 ½ months, and she is now an old pro at 10 ½ months. She even picks up speed when she sees kitty nearby. Grace enjoys this new found vertical freedom so much that she spends hours just walking the play room in the basement…just walking around in circles, picking up some things along the way. You ask her what she is doing, she just pivots a little, smiles a big smile, and continues walking around aimlessly. Silas took his first steps the day after Grace, but took a little longer to translate a few unsteady lunges forward to actual walking. Last week was the big “ah ha” moment for him, and now he can walk for about ten feet before swaying back and forth to eventually plop on his bum. It is quite the show to see two short little goobers toddling around, sometimes bumping into walls, sometimes colliding with each other. They have Cory and I in stitches most of the time.

Si had a rough week, battling a fever for the better part of 5 days. Cutting teeth is hard work, especially when 3 break through at once! He now has a pretty toothy smile…2 front top, 2 front bottom, 1 1/2 top canines and we have a lateral incisor coming in. Ok, don’t be too impressed, I had to google that one. It is a tooth next to his bottom front teeth. We don’t know if it was the teeth or the fever, but our little fella was just not himself. Very fussy, clingy, not sleeping well, and uncomfortable…not our typical Si guy! Grace is taking a slower teeth pace, ever the pensive little girl, and has 2 top front, 2 bottom, and one more coming in.

The babies also seem to have started the “twin talk” stage. They babble back and forth at meal time, and whoop/holler the same noises from across the house if they hear the other make a noise. I bet we would really hear some interesting conversations if they were still in the same bedroom. We separated them about 3 months ago because they would wake up one another in the middle of the night, and we needed all the help we could get with sleeping through the night. Since then, Grace has been sleeping in a boring room (previously the guest room), certainly not fitting for a wee little girl. I had been postponing decorating it just in case we sold the house. It looks like we may be here for awhile, so I went ahead and ordered some wall decals…I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

When One Blog Closes, Another One Opens...

When our twins were born, my husband started a Blog called "Mr. Mom," chronicling his new journey as a stay at home dad. He would stay up after the little ones went to bed to write about experiences and amusing antics from past days, and put some of us to shame by posting pictures of freshly baked goodies (made during nap time, what an overachiever!) ...then along came college. Cory enrolled in school to work on his business degree and quickly found every spare second focused on homework. As he became entrenched in reading chapter after chapter, the time to blog grew less and less....until finally, nada, zip, zilch! Exit "Mr. Mom" and enter "Two Blessings"

Cory and I will take turns posting about life with twins, although I will probably be the main contributor. After all, what else am I going to do when he is knee deep in gospel literature? The option was either create a blog or watch reruns of Jersey Shore. To make sure I still had enough brain cells left to teach the kiddos important life lessons, like tying shoes and whatnot, I decided more trash reality TV was probably not the best choice.

So here we go, continuing our journey as a new mama and dada, simply enjoying everything our two little ones bring us each day.