Twins' First Thanksgiving

Our holiday season in our new home and town began with Thanksgiving at the McShans house. It was a gorgeous day filled with delicious dinner, solid naps, and quality family time. Enjoy the pictures!

{daddy and his babies - the bigger they get, the harder this pose becomes}

{totally distracted}

{the mcshan clan - kyle, me, jonathan, ramona, micah, bruce}

{my sweet family of four - james looks confused and mattie rose looks annoyed}

{proud grandparents}

{impossible to get a decent picture of everyone}

{my sweet boy - there are no words to describe the love}

{silly babies}

{my little turkeys}

{never too tired to jump, jump, jump}

{always intrigued by something}

Hope this Thanksgiving brought much joy to you and your families!

I Love Company!

So we have definitely been on a blogging hiatus. Life has been somewhat busy, for not much to be going on. If that makes any sense. I tend to not make sense these days...

Blogger told me I had reached my free limit of photo memory, and if I wanted to continue to upload pictures I would have to pay. No thank you, Blogger. But thank you to Kendall for showing me another route through Flickr. And it has taken me a while to figure it out, even though it is terribly easy. So there's your answer for lack of posts. Get ready for an ambush now!

Over the past month we have had some sweet time with special visitors. The transition to Crossville has been a little tough on me. Though I am busy with the babies, I get a little lonely from time to time. It's tough to go from knowing that you can see your friends at a moments notice to, well, not. I have been homesick for Memphis quite a bit, so it was wonderful to have a little bit of Memphis come to us. 

First, Mom went to visit my grandfather in Indiana several weeks ago and just so happened to make a stop "on her way home." And hour and a half out of "her way home." :) Works for me! She stayed two nights, and we just lounged in our jammies and hung out with the babies! 

Then, about two weekends ago, my dear friend Megan came to visit!!! I am so grateful for her and our friendship! We have been in a discipleship/heart group for the past couple of years now, and I can honestly say she knows my heart better than most. She has a way with kiddos that I envy and has taught many moms how to better raise their children in the Lord. God has truly given her a special gift!!! James and Mattie Rose love Mae Mae!!!!

Over Thanksgiving break, Julie was visiting her Mom in Chattanooga, so Kayla and I made a quick day trip to visit her and Kate. The babies had a blast playing together, and it was wonderful to get to visit with sweet friends. I got a nice little glimpse of what life is going to look like for us in about 5 months or so. Needless to say, I won't be sitting down much. :)

The Friday after Thanksgiving, the Selecmans stopped by since they were in town visiting JB's family. They are family to us and have played and continue to play a huge role in our lives and a couple who we look to for wisdom and guidance. We love them and their three kiddos! We had a yummy lunch followed by a wrestling match on our kitchen floor. Too much fun!!!

And then this past Sunday, the Howards were driving back from Asheville and made a pit stop at our house! Christina is also in my discipleship group, and she and I were pregnant at the same time! It was a neat time to get to share with her, and now it's even more special to walk through the newness of motherhood together. Gabby, who is about two months younger than twins, and Mattie Rose had fun looking at, reaching for, and talking to one another. And James couldn't quite staring at her! Look out Jeff! 

The Lord has been faithful in meeting my emotional needs through this change. It may sound silly to some, but I just do not handle change well, and knowing His daughter, my Father is taking care of my heart constantly! 

HELP!!!!

Yall! I was trying to write a new blog post and upload some pictures and it said that I have hit my quota for pictures! WHAT IN THE WORLD? Has anyone else had this happen??? What do I need to do to fix this?

HELP ME!!!

5 Months Letter

James and Mattie Rose,

I know every mama says this as every month goes by, but seriously, where is the time going? I looked over at both of you this morning, while you were going to town in your jumperoos, and you just looked so big to me! Definitely not the 5 pound little nuggets I brought home from the hospital. 

You are getting close to waking up from your nap, so I will try to make this quick! These past five months have been like nothing I could have ever imagined. Even if someone had told me this was exactly what it was going to be like, I still don't think it would have made a difference. You two have brought so much joy into my life in just the simplest of ways. You can do nothing but fall asleep in my arms watching Chuggington, and I can't help but smile and sometimes be moved to tears. You will read this one day and think "how silly, Mom." But should God so please to bless you with children one day, you will totally understand! At only 5 months old, it is neat to see how God has "fearfully and wonderfully" made both of you, so intentionally and distinctly! There are very few similarities between the two of you, except for you both LOVE to eat and LOVE to laugh. Mommy has never felt so funny before now! :) 

James, you are probably one of the sweetest, most loving babies on the face of the planet. You love to snuggle and giving and receiving kisses is a favorite of yours! I think you are going to be my sensitive little boy who cares so much for others. That smile that is on your face when you wake up from the night or a nap just does wonders for my soul. You love to jump in your jumperoo, laugh at Jake-dog, and carry on a conversation with anyone who will talk back to you. I love how when you are upset or tired you will just keep real close to my neck as I hold you. It makes me feel important. You love it when I pretend you have stinky feet and make a big deal out of it. This cracks you up and hearing that belly laugh of yours makes me crack up too! What you don't think is funny is a wet diaper. You HATE this... And you let mommy know all about it :) But that's okay, that's my job. You wear your emotions on your face just like your mommy (be careful, this can get you in trouble one day) and those eyebrows make each expression a comedy routine! I love you sweet little man and pray God has big things in store for you as you grow!

Mattie Rose, my little firecracker! You are a trip little girl! You are completely your mother's daughter. You like things a very specific way, and when you want something done, you want it done right then and there! I'll be praying the Lord would provide many opportunities for us to practice patience together :) Here lately, you're fussiness has calmed down and we have been able to call you "Squeaks" again. You love to talk, and when you get really excited, you let out this high-pitched, glass-breaking squeal! It gets me every time... You are an emotional extremist, there is no middle ground with you. You are either incredibly happy or just down-right-mad! You are 12 pounds of intensity. When you play with your favorite red ball and links, you become so focused on the task at hand. You carefully examine anything you lock eyes with. And once it's grabbed your attention, God forbid anyone take it away. You also are very loving. Any time you are lying next to James you immediately reach over for him, just to make sure he is there and to grab his hand. I hope and pray this need for each other grows as you two do! Squeaks, I love you very much and pray that I continue to grow in my walk with the Lord so that as you get older and we walk through life together, you don't have to go searching for a godly woman to look up to. That she'll be just down the hall. 

And because you both are now letting me know nap time is over, I don't have time to rearrange your pictures from our little morning photo shoot...

{giggling little girl}

{being sassy}

{this was from the end - you were both over it}

{baby james}

{sweet little man}

{could eat you up buddy}

{awww mom, you don't have to tell me i'm your favorite :) }

{there's that intensity}

{you get it all from your mama}

{love you}

{older sister, little sister. younger brother, big brother.}

{this is your reaction to "shooooweee, stinky feet!"}

{you love your quilt}

{there's those eyebrows}

{you know exactly where each other is at all times}

{tired babies}

{you are definitely morning people}

{those eyebrows!}

{"i'm not sure what i'm supposed to be doing..."}

{ugh. that sweet face. it will get you whatever your want :) }

Memphis Visit

Only two weeks after moving to Crossville, I couldn't help but head back to Memphis! Ha! I know, I know...I'm a baby. But trust me, there were valid reasons for the escape visit. :) Two weekends ago, I attended the women's conference put on by Downline Ministries. In case you didn't know, Kyle and I went through the Downline Institute our first year of marriage, and it was INCREDIBLE! Click their link to find out more! Your life will never be the same! Moving on (I could rave about Downline all day).... Then, last weekend was the Race for the Cure. Mom is now more than four years cancer-free, and we have no one to thank but our Ultimate Physician, Christ!

In between the two, the week was full of doctor's appointments, hair appointments, and visits with friends and family! I am too lazy to caption each picture today and fearful that the babies nap is about to be over, so just enjoy some pictures of my sweet niece Abbi (who is expecting baby sister Harper Claire in January whoop whoop!), boys only bath time with my growing-by-the-minute godson Declan, and sweet loving from Aunt Jennie. 

Happy Tuesday everyone! And although I feel like I am saying this all the time now, I'll say it again...CAN Y'ALL BELIEVE OCTOBER IS OVER????

4, errr 4 3/4, Months Update

Monday afternoon, the babies had their 4 month check-up with the oh-so-wonderful Dr. Hanson at Laurelwood Pediatrics. Mommies or mommies-to-be in the Memphis area, if you are looking for a new pediatrician I HIGHLY recommend him! He is fantastic! As a healthcare professional myself, knowledge and clinical skills are incredibly important to me, but as a mother, loving my children is just as important. This sweet man walks in and immediately reaches for the twins! And they love him! He will sit with you as long as you need and doesn't get irritated when I pull out my phone to check my laundry list of ridiculous questions! And when he says the twins look great, he will look over at you and say, "Great job, Mom." Which obviously is a nice bit of validation!

Enjoy a few pictures before I give you their stats!

{a little tummy time while we wait for the doc. these kids love mirrors.}

{james and his funny faces}

{mattie rose has a few of her own as well}

{their two favorite toys, links and those red balls}

{mattie rose is enthralled by her toes these days}

{mom was unable to go with me, so madalyn, my dear friend a mother-in-the-faith to me, met us there. so grateful for her, because it is so difficult to console two babies at the same time.}

So here is where we stand one week before our 5 month birthday:

Length:

     *Mattie Rose: 24 inches - 29th percentile

     *James: 25.25 inches - 52nd percentile

Weight:

     *Mattie Rose: 12 pounds 2.5 ounces - 10th percentile

     *James: 13 pounds 14 ounces - 18th percentile

Head Circumference:

     *Mattie Rose: 40 centimeters - 21st percentile

     *James: 41 centimeters - 18th percentile

So per Dr. Hanson's words, according to the growth charts they are little babies with big ole heads! :) He said they look fantastic and was quite impressed with their development for being twins and a few weeks early at that! I am one. proud. mama.

After their two months shots, they seemed to do just fine. They were a little fussy, but no fever. They did not tolerate this round quite as well. Yesterday may have been the hardest day I have had in about three months. They were both running fever all day, despite my rigid 4-hour Tylenol dosing. And both wanted to be held all day. Now, for some more comic relief, please picture what this might have looked like while I had a follow up OB appointment in the middle of the day! Ay yi yi!

Needless to say, after bath time last night, mommy was right behind the babies in going to bed. I have no shame in telling you that my eyes were shut by 8:00!

This morning, though, we woke up with smiles on our faces and no fever! Praise God. Seriously. I put my head down last night telling Him, "I cannot do this without you." He totally met me in my need yesterday, as He does everyday!