Our 12 Days of Christmas

Here is fun update on our December and Christmas festivities. Feel free to sing along!

"On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

12th Man headwear a'sporting

11(00) hairs a'standing on end (in anticipation, no doubt)

10 verses of Twinkle, Twinkle (or was it 12?) at a Christmas program

9 identical expressions from Cohen

(must we go on?)

8 bells a'ringing

(that little bell choir is 20 years old and still making music)

7 hours of driving (to Grandma's)

6 little hands a'baking (cookies for Santa)

5 Gimlin Boooys!

4 gingerbread contractors an'eating - errrr, I mean a'building

3 blue locomotives

2 babes having a 1st Christmas

(there's that expression again)

and 

1 four year old elf in Christmas jammies.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year from the Gimlins!

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Welcome to December!

Ready to do the Christmas Can-Can?

{2}
Do you realize this means our babies are nearly seven months old?!

Yowsa!

Here is the most recent photo of our little turkeys.

{3}

Problem: Scores and scores of fallen leaves in our yard.


Solution: Hubs does one final mow of the lawn and mows over the leaves in the process.


Problem: Instead of tracking in leaves on the bottom of our shoes we're now tracking in leaf confetti.


Doh!

{4}
The leaf confetti issue is further complicated by our main entry (aka former carport) being closed off due to floor maintenance.

And by floor maintenance I mean this.

{I'm typing this blog post while literally waiting for paint to dry. Stenciling is tougher than it looks!}

We're making progress, baby!



{5}
Baby?
 

Did somebody say baby?

Where is the baby?

This is what happens when you leave big brother alone with little brother...and beanie babies en masse.

{6}

Its all fun and games with beanie babies...

until one of those little suckers busts a seam and spills beans eh-ver-ee-where.

(sigh)

Ahhh well, it compliments the leaf confetti.

{7}

Currently in my car's CD player:
 The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.

 

Would you believe I've never read any C.S. Lewis?!

{8}

Nothing screams "I'm a frazzled mother!" more than strolling around the mall for an hour with all three kiddos in tow (each one happily, mind you) only to return to the parking lot and realize you left the back door of the minivan open the entire time.

And wouldn't you know as I was strolling the mall with my three happy and well-behaved kiddos I even had one of those prideful "Look at me because I've got it all together" moments.

And then I returned to my car.

Thank you, Lord, for keeping me humble - and for keeping thieves away from my car.

{9}

Kendry helped me pick out fabric today for Jack and Cohen's stockings. I can't wait to see all five hanging above the fireplace.

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

A wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with the hubs' family.

Our New Normal

We're still here, I promise.

Life with three kiddos has just altered a lot of our 'old normal'.

After nearly 5 months of maternity leave, I started back to work two days a week at the beginning of October. I would be lying if I said the transition has been easy, but the five of us are slowly getting the routine down to a science. Justin takes all three boys to daycare on my work days and I'll be darned if he doesn't appear to get out the door with a lot less chaos than when I'm in charge. 

Not that I'm surprised. He is an amazing daddy. 

An amazing daddy who even multitasks while watching the Seahawks.

Hi, Jacks!

Yes, I called him Jacks with an 's' - thats my nickname for him.

Cohen is Coh-ster (like 'coaster').

Anyhow...

When I'm not at work my life looks like this:

Plus this little ham.

Okay, so maybe my life doesn't look like that every non-work day. I'm not smiling every moment, and I certainly don't have my hair and make-up done every day. Oh, and it goes without saying that those two babies in my arms aren't always happy, and the four year old isn't always cooperative.

My house, on the other hand, does look like that almost every non-work day.

 Because our new normal is:

1. Puzzles and blocks strewn about the dining and living room floor. Hey, the kiddo played by himself for 15 minutes - maybe if we leave the toys out in plain sight he'll do it again.

2. Multiple burp rags stashed in each room of the house because you never know when a baby will spew. Though I cannot guarantee every burp cloth you reach for is clean. Honestly, who has time to keep track?

3. A playmat, two bouncers, two bumbos, two highchairs, two carseats, one jumperoo and a partridge in a pear tree all stuffed into our main living area - because we enjoy the obstacle course that is maneuvering through said baby paraphernalia without breaking a toe simply to reach the DVD player.

Just kidding. We have no time to watch a movie.


And I did break a toe.

The new normal does not include babies sleeping through the night.

The new normal has yet to see a real date night.

The new normal is two babies still sleeping in the same crib - a situation we are looking to amend in the very near future. Who can sleep when you're literally butting heads with your roomie?

I'm not trying to sound negative; I'm just trying to be real.

Nothing prepares you for life with multiples.

You sleep when you can, accept help whenever its offered, and you adjust your old normal accordingly, so when you look back at this crazy (but very short) period of your life you can say with certainty that you didn't just survive the first six months with multiples, you thrived.

The new normal is taking semi-daily walks around the neighborhood, even if it takes me half an hour to get all three boys bundled up.

And its not feeling guilty if everyone is still in their jammies at noon and I have yet to brush my teeth.

Its doing preschool learning at home with Kendry since he only attends his daycare/preschool on my work days. No kidding, the kiddo did this for fun during his self-play today.

And its breaking the rules when necessary, like the kiddo watching a Disney movie at 10am on a Monday so I can catch up on missed sleep.

Its not panicking if the babies go 48 72 96 hours without a bath.


Its letting go of the self-imposed pressures of social media and a beloved blog in order to really live our life without posting about it. 


Its celebrating the six month milestone of breastfeeding twins.


Its setting aside that last hour of the day to be spent with your spouse - even when there is a kitchen to be cleaned, toys to be put away and two dozen burp rags waiting to be laundered. (You think I'm kidding?)

Its starting a tradition of Doughnut Mondays - a brisk walk for exercise followed by doughnuts from the corner store. I hope when Kendry gets older he will remember our silly little doughnut picnics on the living room floor. I know I will.

 And its making smiley-face snacks, even on the rough days, when its hard to put smiles on our own faces.

The addition of these two little fellas to our family has brought so much joy, and a lot of changes.

Some days are crazy. Some days are fabulous. Some days are really tough.

But this is our fabulously crazy life now, and we love it.



And sooner or later we'll have time to post more about it.

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Hello, gorgeous!

 

{2}

 Jack has a new nickname.

Turtle.

Crazy little kid has mastered his tummy to back roll, which is great - except that he is a tummy sleeper. So he stirs during the night, rolls himself over, and then can't get himself back to sleep.

{3}

Cohen's latest trick?

Pursing his lips together to blow slobber bubbles which, incidentally, sounds a lot like someone passing gas.

We've decided a nickname probably isn't appropriate for this talent.

That being said, we're working to capture it on video.

{4}

 Kendry takes his job of getting our mail very seriously.

How does that song go again?

"The mail must go through, the mail must go through. No matter if it rains or snows, the mail must go through."

This day it was gale force winds and rain, but that didn't stop our little mailman.

Shhh! Nobody tell Kendry that umbrella is actually made to sit atop a golf bag and keep your clubs dry; he still thinks its made small just for him.

{5}

If it weren't for Justin explaining that purpose of that tiny umbrella to me I would still be in Kendry's camp.

I still have no interest in golf.

{6}

When little minds (and hands) get restless with practicing letters on paper, get out the window crayons!

 

{7}

Any of my local friends know the best place to find red baby girl tights?

Yep, you heard me right - my little boys are gonna wear tights for Halloween.

I'm sure this is my only chance to get away with this.

COMING SOON:

{Little} Men in Tights

{8}

 Addition Update:

The exterior is painted!

Here is a sneak peek:

 

{9}

I'm working on making my home a haven again this fall. This week our candle is burning.

"Each time the candle catches your eye, say a prayer for peace in your home."

Take the challenge for yourself, and your family! Check it out at Women Living Well.

 

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

A visit from my sis Jaimee and her daughter Amaya, along with a visit from my brother Justin.

So many family visits in five short months! 

We should have twins more often.

 

Frankly, My Deer, You're a Bit of a Nuisance

A line has been drawn in the sand.

Where we once ooohed and aaahed at the sight of deer in our neighborhood, pointing them out for Kendry to see, we now fetch the pellet gun.

Too harsh, you say?  I think not.

You see, we can take a little deer poop in our lawn.

We can even accept them eating a few flowers and one of my smaller pumpkins off the vine. (Who knew deer like pumpkin?!)

But then they took another run at our trees. This poor tree is noticeably stunted in growth thanks to some deer damage incurred when it was planted a few years ago.

And they destroyed the beautiful corn stalks we obtained for our outdoor fall decor.

And in the process of eating said corn stalks one of them tagged our house with an antler.

Those wires on the house lead to our meter, by the way. How curious I am to know what would have happened if his antler had punctured one of those wires.

On second thought... I don't want to know.

But today they crossed the line from nuisance to taunting.

They are now going out of their way to poop on our patio!

I stand corrected.

A line has actually been drawn in the sand on our patio.


Stupid deer.