Happy Birthday Hayden & Reese!

At 9:41 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. exactly one year ago, our lives were forever changed. After years of infertily, one miscarriage, and failed fertility treatments, our lives were doubly blessed with twins. While absolutely true, I often find statements about God's timing & perfect plan to be poorly timed when people are hurting. However, these two precious gifts were perfectly timed for us. I can't imagine life without them. Maybe one day they'll read these quick letters~

Hayden,

You bring us such joy. Your laughter is infectious, and your happiness is contagious. You have such a sensitive heart, and I pray that never changes. You have loved your sister since day one, and I hope you always treasure and protect her. I love watching you dance and hearing you say uh-oh! You have always been such a sweet boy. One of my favorite things every day is when daddy says, "I'm gonna get Hayden", and you take off crawling and laughing as if your life depends on it. You are so much fun. Happy birthday, little boy!

Reese,

You are my little fighter. Who knew you would be so spunky after being born at 3 pounds 11 ounces? You were a fighter in the NICU, and you are a determined little girl now. At one year, you know what you want and how to get it. Ha! It made us so happy to watch you learn peek-a-boo and how to play catch. It is so sweet to see how badly you want to keep up with your big brother and how you look around the room when you do something fantastic to make sure people are looking. One of my favorite things about you is how you have a different laugh for every occassion- even a pity laugh when I'm not that funny. Happy birthday, to our "surprise" little girl!

We love you both, and we thank God every day for each of you. You have blessed us more than you'll ever know!

Thinner Thursday Update

This was my first week to hit a wall in the eating and losing weight department. Well, I chose to hit the wall by the choices I made over the weekend. Yesterday, I weighed in at:

209.6

That is a total weight loss of 13.8 pounds, and 1.8 for this week. My goal is two pounds a week, so I didn't quite get it. I also had a goal to walk twice this week, and I didn't do that either. Oops. Let me tell you what I did do.

Last Thursday night we went to see the midnight showing of Hunger Games. Danielle brought me Raisinettes and I munched on Rob's popcorn. I budgetted for those calories that day, so it wasn't that bad.

On Saturday, we celebrated my nephew's birthday and I had cake and ice cream. I kind of planned for it by watching my calories for breakfast and lunch that day carefully. A light dinner would have worked, but we went to a going away party for our friends, Brian and Steph, and there were appetizers everywhere. I could live off of appetizers- I love them! Chip & dip, nuggets, veggies, etc. We were hanging out with the Mensers right beside the table, and I just kept snacking. I left them to go to the other room, not to be rude, but to simply be away from the food!

Last night all 9 of us Virginia Shepherds got together at "our" house for a family dinner. I made a crock pot lasagna and garlic bread, Marcia made the salad, and Nicole brought dessert. I definitely went over my calories again.

I cannot settle! While I want this to be a lifestyle, and I do believe every now & then you can be "normal", I have to have discipline because for me this is a slippery slope.

This week's challenges:

• Reese & Hayden's birthday party Saturday which is a dessert party
• Courtney's birthday lunch Sunday
• Spring Break is next week which means changes in routines & schedules
• Easter candy is everywhere! Darn Cadbury Eggs, Stacy!!

Here's to making wise choices!

What areas do you struggle to make wise choices?

No Blog Wednesday

I am too tired to blog. See you Thursday.

Twin Tuesday: Last Week of 11 Months!

I can't believe that we are celebrating their first birthday this week! Ahh! Until then.....

Hayden has been rockin' a little curly haired mullet for quite a while now. I was fully aware of it, but just hadn't made time to get his hair cut. My friend, Courtney, reminded me everyday to get it cut. This past Friday, we loaded up the babies and went to our friend Stacy Froyen's house. She cuts hair out of her house (my hair included), and also happens to love our babies like crazy! We gave him a mum mum to munch on while she cut. Hayden was a champ! Here are some pictures:

Our handsome boy!

Reese has had a fun week too! She is just too darn cute. She loves to pose for the camera! Here are some favorites for this week.



 Cuddles on the couch while she skipped her nap!

 Cheesin' during lunch and during snuggles!

Crazy cheese! At Auntie Stacy's house!