Geez Louise time has flown by.  I am overwhelmed by how much Rose has grown in the past year.  It is almost heart-breaking.  She has gone from a scared little 3 year old to a mature, sensitive, and knowledgeable 4 year old.  Her vocabulary and thought process has more than tripled since she started school, and her independence and help with the twins has turned her into a little girl and not a baby anymore.  I grow more in love with her everyday, and if this past year is any indication of the young lady she is turning into then I am one lucky momma to have this little beauty.  My heart over-floweth.

ROSE 4 YEAR OLD STATS:

Weight - 32 pounds

Size - 3T

Shoe size - 7/8/9 (?)

QUESTIONS WITH ROSE:

What is your favorite color?  Purple

What is your favorite thing to do?  Gymnastics

Where is your favorite place to go?  The Park

What is your favorite day of the week?  Sunday

What is your favorite book?  The Elephant Book (? not sure)

What is your favorite toy?  My Barbie House and Camper and all my Barbies

What is your favorite food?  Chips and Coke

What is your favorite flavor?  Purple (grape)

Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?  Mickey Mouse (even though we have not even been yet?)

Who is your best friend?  Maryn-Mills and Mommy-Daddy (double names)

Who is your best friend from school?  Calli

If you could have one wish what would it be?  For Khaki (my mom) to come home (from the hospital)

THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIFE

Our life is a CIRCUS.  Do you hear me???  These two precious little bundles of joy are causing me to have grey hairs by the thousands.  They are such a handful.  I could give a million examples of how they absolutely exhaust me to no end, but I could also give you a million examples of why twins are the best thing that ever happened to our family. I sure hope I can remember every single detail of the beauty of raising twin girls.  I have no doubt I will remember the tears, the amount of poop, and the screams.  But every once in a while, I will catch a moment when they both wrap their little arms around me simultaneously and I think my heart might just explode there is so much love in it - and it makes it all worthwhile.  Our bundles of joy are 18 months and could not be any busier.  Lord bless help us.  

MARYN 18 month stats

Weight - 27.5 pounds
Height - I dunno but she is about 1/2 head taller than Millie
Diaper Size - 6
Shoe Size - 6
Teeth - 7
Clothing Size - 24 months or 2T
Words she can say - bye, da da, momma, nana, "tinky" (stinky), ba ba, no no, ta-ta, go, night night, mil mil (millie)
Personality - 90% happiest baby you will ever meet, 10% crazy lady, sweetest child I have, most loving child I have, Daddy's Girl for the Win, night owl, carefree (a lot like Mark in this respect), stubborn and strong willed but with the most tender heart.  She will wrap you around her finger in the blink of an eye!  Those cheeks were made to give sugar and those thighs were made to be held.  I could not possibly survive without her hugs.  She is the perfect "Baby Love"

MILLIE 18 month stats

Weight - 23 pounds
Height - ?
Diaper Size - 5 but she wears 6 because its too complicated to keep up with different size diapers for each kid
Shoe Size - 4/5 - I have had to start buying different colors so I can quickly tell them apart
Teeth - 5
Clothing Size - 18 months
Words she can say - everything Maryn can say plus some (down, up, look, shoe, uh-huh, gone, bath, toy, monk monk (monkey), cookie, 'nak' (snack), back pack
Personality - 75% solemn and to the point, 25% funniest kid of all time.  She is little miss Independent!  Sometimes I feel like I am looking at myself in action.  She wakes up with an agenda and I can totally see us in the future accomplishing major tasks together.  Easily responds to discipline, flexible, coordinated, content, lives on a schedule, easily flustered if she is not understood.  If you think she is judging you then she probably is.  She is not going to cuddle and don't expect any undivided attention from this little chicken.  She is all heart (from a distance).

Comparison to Rose at 18 months old:

Weight - 22

Shoe size - 3/4

Diaper size - 4

Teeth - 11

Clothing size - 18 month

I had no idea Rose was so much smaller than the twins are.  Is that not so ironic?  Considering how tiny they were for so long I really expected them to be behind in size forever....  Rose was 3 shoe sizes smaller than Maryn.  Holy cow.  Even just looking at her pictures from 18 months she looked like such a baby - and I feel like the twins are big girls.  (insert tears here)

even Darly is looking a little droopy these days ...

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES

In the country you can always tell when Spring is coming HERE.  We don't need a groundhog to tell us.  Every time we turn around we have more baby geese in the bayou swimming closely behind their mom, baby birds jumping on the ground under the trees from their free fall adventure, snake skins that have been shed if you wonder down the road less traveled, and lastly SWARMS OF BEES.  They come in like a black tornado by the millions.  You can hear them coming from a mile away.  They never bother us, and they have never gotten too close to the house.  Too bad we don't have any landscaping or pretty flowers for them to pollinate this year.  They realized very quickly that our orchard was far from a bee-paradise and they moved on to their next potential home.  Maybe by next spring we will have a little more to offer.....

IF ONLY THE GRAPES HAD BEEN CUT......

The Famous Twins (click for video)

It's not easy being famous - I am basically the brunt of the whole joke here.  This entire experience has been a rude awakening for me.  Apparently, the internet has "trolls" that have nothing better to do than post ugly, mean, hateful, and cruel comments about people that they do not know.  There is a lot to be said for CLASS.  Throughout this "The Twins are Famous" experience, I have learned that there are a lot of people out there that are lacking that quality.  

I did the unthinkable.  I actually read about 10k of the 17k comments.  I will admit, as the comments went on, I had more people defending me.  However, the first 2000 or so are just plain horrible.  The worst comments were all at the top.  I have definitely been hated on this past week.  A few times I had to step away from my computer to avoid conflict and not stoop to their level.  It was much harder to do than it sounds.  I clicked on a few profiles of people that had horrible things to say about the mother who doesn't cut her kids grapes up.  I must say - I was in awe.  These perfect moms had profile pics of themselves smoking cigarettes, covered in tattoos, greasy hair, and almost all of them had bad teeth.  It made me feel a little better.  I was doing my best to not judge back and be on the defense but it wasn't working.

I keep waiting on The Today Show to call me so that I can nationally redeem myself ...

THE EASTER SEASON OF 2016 ... THAT OFFICIALLY LASTED FOREVER

This year, to me, if felt like Easter lasted as long as Christmas does....  It was never-ending.  Between 4 egg hunts, 2 school Easter parties, meeting the Easter bunny, and being the Easter bunny - I was worn completely out!!!!  By the time we got the to the last Egg hunt at the Country Club, Mark said I was "No Help to him"....  (I was taking pictures from a distance and sippin' Sangria).  

The Egg Hunt at our Church was the first time that I have had a true emotional breakdown and the realization that I could not handle all 3 of my kids by myself (and my mom went).  They split the age groups up and Rose was in a different hunt.  She was crying for me to hunt with her.  My mom could not take the twins alone.  Maryn is a SUPA-STAR egg hunter.  Not even kidding.  I was not.  She does not get this from her momma.  Maryn is all about to some egg-hunting and the kid just took off.  Dont you dare mess that basket either!  She knows exactly how it is supposed to hang on her shoulder!  Mills was sick with an ear infection and was not in the mood to people-please.  She is not much on large crowds and everybody ooohhh-and-ahhhhhing over her anyway. Here is a glimpse of my morning:

"Rose stop crying" (insert me putting grass back into someones basket)

"Rose why are you upset - I said I would hunt eggs with you" (insert me holding 3 kicking screaming kids)

"Maryn put those eggs back in his basket, those are not your eggs" (insert me giving another kid back his eggs)

"Rose stop aggravating Millie" (picture two screaming kids fighting over eggs and baskets)

"Mills, holy cow, I have to put you down for 5 minutes" (picture a 2 year old tantrum)

"Somebody help me find Maryn" (picture me running around like a chicken with my head cut off searching for child #3)

"Rose stop hunting, the hunt has not started" (amazed look.... she actually found eggs all by herself)

"Maryn, stop eating candy from other peoples eggs" (OMG)

"Give her the DAMN COOKIE" (picture the twins crying because Rose doesnt want to share her cookie)

.........
Do you get the picture yet?????
HORRIBLE!!!!

So Round Three ensues and now you understand why I was sipping sangria in the sunshine instead of chasing kids!!!!  Mills was still pretty miserable with the ear infection, so we left her at my mom's house watching cartoons and laying on the sofa.  Maryn (the Queen of all hunting) and Rose went to the Country Club.  Mark handled them both like a champion.  There was no fussing, everybody just had a great time (or is that the sangria talking????)  (Mark's version is slightly different)

Not scared one little bit!  She loves the Easter Bunny

"where's an egg???  Come here little egg!!!"

I adore this picture!  I think she is looking more like Mark every single day!

Easter morning Bubble Bath compliments of the Easter Bunny

 Another Easter Disaster.......  I attempted to help Julia get lunch ready and her stove just quit working.  Ann took all the food back to Nana's to cook.  Rose went to Grandma Montagues for Easter.  Mark took the twins and the BOTTOM FELL OUT.  He was soaked.  In every Easter picture I have with him, his hair is wet and stuck down to his forehead.  And clearly, the girls were overjoyed with Easter pictures as well....

I GIVE UP.

THE DEVIL WORKS HARD ON SUNDAYS!

THE DEVIL WORKS EVEN HARDER ON EASTER SUNDAY!  

ROSE'S EASTER EGG HUNT AND CLASS PARTY

This year Rose's class Easter Egg Hunt and party was a total bust.  The weather was AWFUL.  It was pouring down rain.  The kids were all soaked.  The pre-school had a leak.  The moved the hunt to inside the Sanctuary (which was working out OK until somebody tracked muddy shoes upstairs on the carpet).  I snuck out of work for about 30 minutes to grab a few pictures.  Sadly, I missed the twins egg hunt.  I heard they had a blast and Mills and Maryn worked as a team.  Mills collected and Maryn ran behind with the basket.  I will have more pics to come of my hunt with them at our church the following day.  I think Rose had a great time all in all.  Anytime there are cupcakes, no school, and momma comes to class is a great day!

what kind of face is this???

Rose wore Maryn's Easter Dress to school that day....  Yes, Rose is wearing a 2T dress and that is the same size Maryn wears.......  only difference in the two is the length - and that is not by much!