Tap the Mic

Is this thing on?

Yes?

Just checking.

When the year comes to a close and I do my normal - LET'S MAKE ALL THE RESOLUTIONS - I peer back to this blog with a sigh and I must admit, I really do miss it.

My last post was in 2017. I had to transfer it here, because in typical fashion, I created numerous blogs that I could never maintain. Better to keep it simple. Better to bring it home.

It is a little hard to come back to. It contains a lot of the nitty gritty before the gals, the challenge to get them here, and the growing pains we had as parents when they finally arrived. But I can safely say, as I look back on it now, damn we were lucky, and that the trauma has passed. (Well except for that whole not wanting to have anymore kids because it was a nightmare process thing...)

I've had a ton of friends catch the blog bug again and it's exciting. I can't lie, I've fed off of the enthusiasm. I can't wait to support them and see their content. Platforms come and go, but the blog writing is cathartic, and I think we've realized that.

I realize I have a lot of updating to do here. I'm no longer the workout obsessed, hardly eating type in the left hand picture of your screen. Many of the links are broken, but I will fix that, I promise. Things have been really good though! New jobs, new house, new phone, who dis?

So Cheers to Us! Let's have an awesome 2019.

When you want to find a cute family pic, but this comes up in your Google Albums, and it just speaks volumes, as it just describes you so much better. 

Big Kid Status: Room Edition

We did it! We finished the gals' room and we've lived to tell about it.

This was our first attempt at painting as well, so I was a bit nervous. However, now that it's all done, I'm patting ourselves on the back! We rocked it!!

Because our house is a new build, boring beige is EVERYWHERE, and we had to rectify it right away. Painting the ceiling was a challenge, but I finally got the hang of it and we knocked out the whole room in one afternoon.

I'm so excited to have their room done. It's been a long time coming, and they definitely deserve it!

Here's a quick tour:

My mom made the Gals a teepee. She is awesome.

We found their dresser at the Lakewood Antique Market today! We had been hunting for something for a long time and it was quite fitting that we found it today. We are hoping to find some more art for the walls in the next few months.

This wall is still rather empty, but we are hoping to find a big tree decal on Etsy to fill the space.

 This nightstand was also found at the antique market today and my mom brought down this lamp for us on her last visit. It used to be my grandmothers and I didn't realize how perfect it was for this space until today!

I made the plaques this week as I ventured back into the crafting world.

The gals were a little unsure of what was going on, but after a bit they warmed up to their new room!

Goodnight Gals!

The Gals' Room

Most of y'all already know that the Gal's entrance into this world was a bit hectic. I was admitted to the hospital at 27 weeks pregnant, and there I stayed till the Gal's birthday, 4 weeks later. Both of the girls had a NICU stay, Madeline for 6 weeks, and Amelia for 7.

So needless to say our nursery was never decorated.  

And because of previous losses, this was a milestone I had held off on. 

Don't want to jinx it, right? 

And all of a sudden I wasn't home to do it. There also was certainly no desire on my part to decorate after making trips to the NICU everyday. Then, just like that, you finally have these two tiny people home that need you all the time. 

Life right? It keeps you busy. 

We lived in a tiny factory loft condo, no real room to move around, let alone decorate, so we just shrugged it off, assembled our Ikea furniture and went on our merry way. 

Last Summer, spur of the moment, we decided to put our condo up for sale and build in the burbs. Moving twice (we lived in an apartment for a few months while out house was being built), and trying to fill a house 3 times the size of our condo was a daunting task and rough on our wallets. We agreed that the real decorating would happen after we purchased all of our furniture. 

Fast forward to 8 months later and finally we are making an effort to give the Gals a room that I've always pictured in my head. The one that I wanted to give them before they were born, but never had a chance.

We are going with a nature/camping theme and have already picked out some essentials. Yesterday Dave and I bought two twin mattresses, so we can move out the Gal's toddler beds as well. This weekend we will be attempting to paint. If you guys know me, you are already aware that I come from a family who LOVES to renovate things. I, on the other hand, do not. At all. So painting will surely be a labor of love.  If you follow me on twitter, I'm sure I will be cursing up a storm and asking for all the advice in the world. 

Hopefully it will all come together in the next few weeks and I will post the pictures here. 

Until then here's a sneak peek!

Goodbye...Till Next Time!

Oh y'all.

Today sucked.

My mom and my sister went home.

They were in town this past week and left for home today. Living 10 hours away from your family is just...sad.

So when we are together, we soak it in, do the normal fun things we do, and make the best of it. Par for the course, the weather in Atlanta was deplorable, so we found ourselves indoors till yesterday, when we spent the day at the lake.

When they first arrived of course the gals were shy. But after the first hour of the gals being weird and trying to remember who everyone was, the air was soon filled with their calls for "Grandma" and "Rachel!"

So many books were read. Grandma's are good at that.

New tutu's were acquired. Grandma took part in the fun.

When Rachel and I were small there was the "Mummy Monster" and the "Bucking Bronco." Amelia gladly learned about the bronco and held on for dear life.

Rain = Puzzles. Of course only one piece was missing. Rachel showed her displeasure. 

A trip to the local Mexican restaurant showed our gals exquisite dining skills.

We moseyed back into Dunwoody to visit one of my mom's friends, so of course we went to Wright's Gourmet and of course we ran into someone we know. This time it was a notorious substitute teacher named Mrs. Dimenstein. Oh man did she have a hatred for footsie under the table. She still haunts any Austin Elementary grad's dreams.

Finally the sun came out and we went to the lake. When we were kids my mom always took us to the Buford Dam Park, so it's pretty cool to come full circle and bring my gals here too.

 

There were so many tears today when my family left.  

Of course we can't wait till we can see them again.

Welcome Back!

Ah, it's been too long! Too long!

I've really just used this space as a place to update my family about the gals, but I hope to evolve it into something more.

I liked updating my blog with news about the gals because I've always been kinda anti-Facebook. More or less because I felt that some things just aren't meant to be shared. When I spent a month in the hospital hoping that the gals would stay put just a few weeks longer, I couldn't bring myself to post anything about it. Instead, I stuck by my family, friends, and my twitter ladies (who understood what I was going through more than anyone else). These people kept me hopeful. That's all I needed.

The gals came 9 weeks early, and again, all I could post on FB was a quick pic of the gals. I'm not a fan of searching for likes, for comments, and for prayers. I wasn't ready to hear the sympathy from a person I hadn't talked to in 10 years. I just wanted my family and friends to know they were okay.

However, over the past few years FB has evolved into something more and more of my "older" family members have embraced, so I'm gradually letting my guard down and posting more pictures there.  I must admit, I love it when the Grandmas get excited about the latest gals post.

I've been thinking that this place doesn't just need to be an "update" blog. I want to branch out a bit more.

So here's what I want for this blog:

Obviously I want to talk about the gals. I'm with them all day, everyday, and they are embarking on such an amazing part of their development. These enthusiastic 2 year old could fuel any blog for centuries.

I want to talk about ME! Me?!? Isn't that selfish? But of course!! What are blogs for? I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments over the past year and half. Mostly because I put my nose to the grindstone, lost 90 pounds, and have kept it off. Yea. Pretty proud of that.

My family. All of us. What we do, where we go, and what we enjoy in our fun town of Atlanta and beyond.

And anything else interesting. Captivated yet?

There I've blogged it. That means this will all totally happen right? I won't forget about this blog again will I?

Nope...no way.

w:14 y:14

To say we are having fun with this new camera is an understatement. 

The gals stayed home with dad on Monday to watch the Braves Opening Game!

Kid is a pro at the playground. I seriously have no problem letting her roam the place all by herself.

This lasted a good 15 minutes. Teamwork man. I think we need to buy a sandbox ASAP.

Adorable outfits from Auntie Pat & Uncle Al.

I woke up with the HOFF in my google plus inbox. Made my day.

Yea mom. Just because we are twins doesn't make this fun.

Skinned knees & warm temps. Summer is on it's way!!

Again. Amelia has no fear. Climbed up the 3 stories all by herself and flew down the slide, no problem.

Big kid. Bigger Ball.

This mirror is always dirty.

Fishing for rocks.

Does it make us official homeowners when we finally take care of the shit show that is our lawn??

So once the lawn was taken care of, we went out to play, and of course I brought out the new camera.

A Gal.

Snack break.

Slide.

Lady.

Dad.

Bird.

Break on the Hill.

Ready.

w:13 y:14

OH the gals are now offically two. 

So we spent the week doing big kid things as only big kids do.

Birthday Donuts from Krispie Kreme an ATL must.

Supporting Sport Relief c/o our family across the pond.

Coloring at our 2 year check up. We actually color the picture now. Pretty neat.

Doesn't care that she's a preemie. Kicking butt & taking names. 98% for height.

Alfie hates us.

Lady long legs strutting her stuff.

Madeline Selfie.

We don't get lost on elevators when we ride in the double carts at Costco.