Apple Pickin' with the Garmans

We went to MacQueens Apple Orchard with some of our good friends a few weeks ago and I am just now getting to this post. Oops! Remember my posts of our "twin" playdates? Well those babies are growing up so fast and it was so much fun getting together with them again. Kelly and Kris have Brody, 3, and Emmy and Jax, who turned 1 on September 2nd. We met them out at the orchard, where it smelled AMAZING!!!! Wes and I opted not to pick our own apples because I really had my heart set on Honeycrisp. If you haven't had any of them you are totallymissing out. They are the most delicious apples ever. Apparently Honeycrisp apples are early bloomers and were picked about 3 weeks ago. They had them for sale in the store but you couldn't pick your own in the orchard. We bought a bag of apples, some apple cider and some pumpkin cake donut holes. Kelly and Kris bought some apples too but they also paid to pick abag so we just walked around with them. It was so cute to see all of the kiddos together. Emmy and Jax were perfectly content riding in their wagon. Mya, Stella and Brody explored the orchard and even tasted an apple straight from the tree......shhh don't tell! My class went back to this same orchard the following Monday for a field trip, but I knew that it is always hard for me to get into the store when I'm there with my students and I wanted some yummy fall treats.

I love all of these pictures! Several are similar but I just love the facial expressions the kids

have. Also, note Stella my little hoarder with her arms full of apples. LOL

After the orchard we stopped at Boston Market (one of our favs!!!) and proceeded to stuff our faces. :) YUMMY!!!!

Sadness

One of the blogs that I follow, the Layla Grace Foundation, is written by the family of Layla Grace a little girl who lost her battle with neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer. I followed their blog while Layla was still alive and I cannot begin to tell you how emotionally attached I became to this little girl. She was absolutely adorable and her story was so heartbreaking. I was in tears each time I read her parents' posts. She died in March at just 2 years old.

These amazing parents have gone on to start their foundation that raises money for research to end neuroblastoma. They don't want other families to have to deal with what they had to. They have two other daughters and their whole families' lives were altered forever by this. Their latest posts have been telling about their heros - other children who are battling or have lost their battle from this terrible disease. I instantly start sobbing when I read these. The pictures are what really get me. These sweet, innocent, beautiful children who are having their lives taken from this tear me up inside. I just cannot imagine what these families go through. I think it would absolutely kill me to know there is something wrong inside my perfect little child that I cannot fix. That they will go through so much agony and I can't even promise them that it will be alright. That they would have to go heaven long before I will and the intense ache I would always carry for my child. MY CHILD! How can this happen? How can there be something that can take my sweet little miracle away from me? Why should a little child who never even had the chance to live their life be put through so much pain? It just makes me so sick to think about it and I pray daily that I never have to really know how that feels. Just imagining it makes me horribly sad. They are my world and I would be so lost without them.

Ahhh the Joys of Mommyhood

Gross story of the day:

I was sitting down on the couch eating a nice big bowl of Brown Cow ice cream that Wes scooped for me before heading out the door to go work at the new house. If you haven't had that flavor it is fabulous! It is chocolate and vanilla ice cream with swirls of fudge in it! YUMMY GOODNESS!!!! As I get down to a few bites left I hear Stella making a whining noise just around the corner in the kitchen and then she walks around by the couch and shows me the chocolate all over her fingers. I'm thinking Wes left the ice cream out for who knows what reason and she has gotten into it. I stand up to go clean her hands and I almost step in a pile of Milo's poop. Apparently he needed to go outside. I bet you can guess where this story is headed........Yes, ladies and gentlemen Stella had poop all over her hands. She had picked up a warm piece and smooshed it between her fingers! Are you gagging yet?????? Because I definitely was. We scrubbed her hands for a long while and I cleaned up the floor.

The worst part of this whole story is that I still had a few bites left of my delicious chocolate fudge AKA poop looking ice cream! GRRRRRRRR!

Why I Love Wesley...

I know that I am the luckiest girl in the world. My super sweet husband is one in a million. I love him for so many reasons but just to name a few...

*He is an amazing father! He is head-over-heels in love with our daughters and his face just lights up whenever he is around them. They love their Daddy and nothing warms my heart more than watching them interact with him. He is always very hands-on and helps with everything. I mean, the man took both girls in a double stroller to the grocery store and bought a week's worth of groceries. I personally think that's crazy and would never attempt it, but he's done it more than once. He has been very involved at every stage. I know that a lot of men don't like the newborn stage so much, but he loved it! He was so calm in the hospital when everything was so new and he just made me feel at ease. Lucky, lucky me!

*He loves all kids! He teaches kindergarten and it is so cute to watch him with his students. He is probably the most requested teacher in his building and he hasn't been there that long. I love that he loves his job and he can make such a positive impact on so many students. They love their "man teacher" as one little girl called him. His love of kids follows him everywhere and I swear I haven't met a child who doesn't warm up to him. He has such an amazing way with all of them. I LOVE watching him with our niece and nephew. Sadly, I'm pretty sure they like him more than me, but that's ok.

*He is such a genuine person. He is calm, supportive and loving. I have complete trust in him and I'm certain that hell would freeze over before I would ever have to worry about him straying. He is incredibly loyal. Everyone who knows him thinks he is a stand-up guy and tells me how lucky am.......not really necessary because I KNOW!

*He has a wonderful relationship with his mom. He talks to her several times a week if not more and they are very close. She lives 2 hours away but he is a wonderful son and makes sure she is connected. Honestly, this was one of the first reasons I fell in love with him. I even sent his mom a Mother's Day card a few months after we started dating to thank her for raising such a wonderful man! I hope that we have a son one day and if we do I know that Wes will pass on the importance of a great relationship with his mother.

*He's HOT!!!!!! I love to look at him! He is so cute! I especially love to watch him play sports. He is really good at pretty much any athletic event he has tried and he looks good doing it! He also looks super cute coaching. I just loved watching him give signs to his batters when he was coaching baseball or huddles with his basketball team! Love, love, love!

*He makes me a better person. Anyone who knows me, knows that I can get riled up pretty easily and he never does. When we argue it's normally me getting mad and him staying calm. We walk away and in a little bit we are both over it and can act like nothing happened. It doesn't happen that often but when it does it is extremely short lived.

When I think back to the beginning of "us" I cannot for the life of me figure out how he was single. Or how I managed to snag him. I love him with all of my heart and I will forever and ever!

Are you ready for this cuteness??????

My heart just explodes when I see my girls doing cute things. Today I asked Stella to give Mya a hug and she was all about it. She chased Mya around and wrapped her arms around her. Mya was not interested in loving on her sister and in fact shoved Stella when she tried to hug her. Persistent little Stel continued to try anyways. :) P.S. I LOVE the jammies they are wearing in the pics. They are my favorite so far! The last picture was a few weeks ago when we taught them how to hold hands.

Mya and Stella are 15 Months!

*Please excuse the gross stove behind them.

They have their sticky fingers all over it all the time.

My sweet girls turned 15 months old on September 2nd. I haven't done a monthly update on them since they turned one so they have changed a ton. First of all here are their stats from their 15 month well-baby check-up:

Mya Alyse ~

Weight: 24 lbs. 14 oz. (gained 1 lb. 14 oz. since 12 mo. appt.)

Length: 30 inches (grew 1/2 an inch)

Head Circumference 18 1/2 in. (grew 1/2 an inch)

Stella Grace ~

Weight: 21 lbs. 8 oz. (gained 1 lb. 13 oz. since 12 mo. appt.)

Length: 29 1/2 inches (grew 1/2 an inch)

Head Circumference: 18 in. (grew 1/2 an inch)

My parents had to take the girls to their appointment because Wes and I were both back to work. Papa said he won't ever take them again because it really made him so sad to have them look at him with their trusting eyes while he held them down to get a shot. He told me several times how much that hurt him so I won't put him in that spot again. Nana also went to the 12 month appointment and so she said "no more" as long as there will be shots. Mya is deathly afraid of the doctor's office now. She cries so hard and shakes when we get there. She peed all over the scale while she was being weighed too. That absolutely breaks my heart that she is so scared. The next time we go back (18 months) is in December and sadly they will need shots again.

Back to my update. Like I said they've changed so much in the last 3 months. They can:

* Walk and run

* Kick and throw a ball

* Point on demand to their ears, eyes, nose, teeth, mouth, cheeks, knees, shoulders, toes, feet, fingers, hands, bellybutton, chin, hair, and head.

*Words: shoes, mama, dada, papa, nana, milo (although it is always milemilemile), open, more, ball, bellybutton, bath, hi, bye bye, boo and Stella says Mya.

*They can identify most objects in their daily lives and can retrieve what we ask.

* Stomp their feet and shake their booty

* Blow

* Smell (the cutest little sniffing face ever!!!)

* Blow a kiss

* Clap their hands

* Turn the TV off (I HATE this!)

* Go up and down the stairs

* Climb onto the couch by themselves

* When we say "Do you want to eat?" of "Are you hungry?" they run to the kitchen and stand in front of their correct high chairs.

* Throw their own diapers in the garbage and they love it!

* When we say "Let's go to bed. " They drop whatever they are doing and run to the gate by the stairs. When we open it they climb up as fast as they can but always head for the toys in their room first. LOL

*Lay their head down when we say Go Night-Night (Nye-Nye) and close their eyes.

* Love and kiss all over their baby dolls

* Build with their blocks

* Play Peek-A-Boo

* Tickle themselves, us or each other with the cutest ickle, ickle (Stella) or aggle, aggle (Mya) sound.

They have a big love for books and pretty much always have one with them. They also LOVE Your Baby Can Read DVDS and we watch them several times a day like you are supposed to. They pretty much eat whatever we eat and that is so nice. We do not give them any juice, as there is no need. They drink milk and water. I am still nursing them in the mornings and I pump at night so they have milk to drink in their cups during the day. It isn't really an issue for me and it is free. Plus Mya gets a horrible diaper rash everytime she has tried cows milk. Stella did the first time but has since grown out of it. She gets whole or 2 % milk sometimes. They absolutely love fruit and eat a ton of it. They also really like veggies and cheese. They are really good eaters and very rarely refuse things. I hope it stays that way. They are soooo much fun these days and we are loving every minute with them. They are definitely exhausting because they are always on the move, but we wouldn't have it any other way! Loving life with our Sweet Peas!