Lots More 1st! (This one's for you Papa G!)

It has been a weekend of new discoveries, accidents and passed down family traditions. Here are just a few of the things my kids discovered this past weekend...

• 1st real bruise...Elliot fell and hit a coffee table, bruising her cheek. (You can kind of see it in this picture on her right cheek...we think she scarily resembles Suri Cruise in this pic!)




• 1st bloody lip...Keaton slipped on a puzzle and hit a bookshelf.


• 1st taste of Guido's! (If you are from NWA and have never been to Guido's in Tonitown, you MUST go tonight!)



• 1st fried okra...Oh you know my babies LOVED them some fried okra like their momma!


• 1st chocolate experience...don't judge me, it's sugar free chocolate pudding.




• 1st Jello...Elliot is now obsessed with Jello along with cheese!

And most important.....FIRST CHEERIOS!!!

Here is the video documentation...

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Now that the kids are on solid foods, we are starting to discover that carrots & blueberries must be in the same molecular family as corn! (think about it!)

Here are just some cute pics from our family walk the other night...

Keaton & Elliot's New Love:

REAL FOOD!

We were cleared at our 9mo checkup to start the kids on table food. They have pretty much loved everything they have tried so far. Favorites so far are purple hull peas, real applesauce, bananas, cheese and this...



I couldn't find much fattening foods the other day to give the kids for lunch so after eating their veggies, they finished off this piece of cheesecake! What a great diet!






In case your wondering...that is cheese, turkey sticks & spanish rice!

For you mom's out there, if you have any suggestions for new foods to try, send them my way. Especially if you got some good fattening foods. I think I may have to make them a big pot of homeade alfredo made with heavy cream & fried pancetta! How are Ryan & I not going to eat that?

Go Hogs Go!

Fall & more importantly FOOTBALL SEASON are right around the corner! We are gearing up here for Razorback football (controversies and all) and started teaching the kids cheers yesterday. They love the H-O-G-S spell out!

We got to go out last night for an adults only dinner with Todd & Kathy. It was fantastic and long overdue. Thanks guys for the great company! These are some pics in the kids new Razorback gear before we took them over to Nana & Papa G's house. (Yes, it is now impossible to get the to look at smile at the same time!) If you can't tell, Keaton's shirt says "BIG man on campus" and Sissy's says "Future Cheerleader".

Keaton practicing his new bad posture!

9 Month Update

Ryan is home....HALLELUJAH!!! In the time he was gone, the kids and I dealt with a flat tire, having to buy two new ones and the air conditioning going out. Two weeks alone with two toddlers is exhausting! I have a new appreciation for single mothers....and more so, single mothers with multiples! If you are one of them, I applaud you!

Luckily, I am blessed with some pretty easy kids so I made it just fine but hope Ryan doesn't have to go to the Orient much more! The kids just lit up when they saw him on Thursday morning! It was so sweet and just about brought tears to his eyes. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful, supportive husband who beyond all of that is an amazing father and adores his children!

Ok, enough sappiness....

Monday, the 16th, was my birthday and since Ryan was gone my neighbor Leslie and her kids came to the pool and helped me celebrate. Probably 9 out of 10 birthdays of my childhood were pool parties at my Aunt Donna & Uncle Alan's pool. (Yes, the other party was probably at McDonalds with that cool tour of the freezer!) I feel sorry for people with winter birthdays who don't get to have pool parties! My kids took a good 2 hour nap so I got to play with the older kids trying to teach the boys, Chandler & Chase, how to dive. They are getting to be such brave little swimmers! They surprised me with a card and a birthday cake which we devoured after all that swimming!









Also, Elliot cut her 1st tooth on my birthday! It was a great day!

So to catch up, Thursday was our 9 month check up. (They loved the paper on the table!)






Elliot is 14lbs 12oz and 25 1/2in long.




Keaton is 15lbs 10oz and is 26in long.
(Yes, still spitting up!)

It's getting near impossible to get them to look at the camera at the same time!

Both kids have fallen below the 5% in weight and height but still 25% in head circumference. Guess that just means they have good brains! So we have been instructed to add either butter or heavy whipping cream to everything they eat. They are now able to eat any table food they want and the more whole fat cheese the better...what a diet! Apparently more fat is needed before age 2 for brain and neurovascular development. She said that she knew they would never be big kids but she would atleast like them between the 5th & 10th percentile. So far the kids have had pancakes, cheese, blueberry muffins, yogurt and a little sip of Starbucks (which they loved! They definitely have some Cobb blood in them!)

Other than that, their development is right on track and they do not track a month behind like most preemies do. My little overachievers! They are pulling up, crawling, chattering, cruising around furniture and trying to walk. It is about to get crazy folks!

Now that we're caught up, hopefully I can get back to blogging funny day to day stories! Thanks for indulging me as I catch my family up on what has been happening these last few days.

Quick video...the kids have really started enjoying each other and Elliot thinks Keaton is so funny, especially when he tries to take her toys! Her is a video of that along with our first bruise caused by Elliot whacking Keaton on the head with the toy that someone ends up crying every time we play with it...but they love that little $.88 toy!









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I've been tagged....

First of all, RYAN IS BACK HOME!!! We realized last night that this was his 10th trip to China...way too many! I will fill you all in the in morning on the adventures we encountered while he was gone and update you all on the kids Dr. visit today for their 9 mo. check-up! But first...

Thanks Tesney!

Here are my responses for First & Last:

First Memory:
Probably from church when I was in the Toddler class. I can remember they brought a bunny one Sunday and I loved it!

First Real Kiss: Jeremy Bishop

First Love: Jacob Gump...Kindergarten through 3rd grade!

First Concert:
Rick Springfield and Cory Hart ("I wear my sunglasses at night"!) I was in 6th grade and my uncle Geo took me and my cousins. I got to wear my pink Rick Springfield shirt to school the next day.

First Thought In The Morning: Please lay back down and go back to sleep...Just a little longer!

First Question You'll Ask In Heaven: Where's all my friends & family at?

First Thought When Hearing The Word "VACATION": Destin or Lake Ouachita

First Best Friend: Heather Mayberry

Last Food You Ate: Grilled Hot Dog & Pringles (healthy dinner I know)

Last CD You Purchased: People still buy CDs? I don't know because my husband has downloaded over 4500 songs on my IPOD. I don't think I ever have to buy a CD again!
Seriously, I have everything from 50 Cent "In Da Club" to The Razorback Marching Band.

Last Good Book You Read: Moo, Baa, LaLaLa by Sandra Boynton

Last Time You Cried: Looking over my kids crib the other night and realizing how far we have come and how merciful are Great God is!

Last "I Love You" Said: Just now as I was kissing my kids one more time while they sleep.

Last Funny Thing You Did: Dancing this morning as a family to Mickey's Clubhouse "Hot Diggity Dog" song! The kids loved it!

Last TV Show Watched: Scrubs is on while I type so I guess Scrubs.

Ok, don't feel like you have to do it but I would love to see responses from Amanda W., Leslie L., and Geo! Tag, you're it!

Hotter than....

Just a quick post to let you all know that I hope to be back tomorrow. Ryan is STILL in China and we have been without airconditioning since Friday night! Fortunately my in laws live here so I was able to use their house while they were in Mexico and then they came home last night and have been here today with us. We are suppose to be back up and running tomorrow morning so I am hoping to be home for the kids afternoon nap so I can clean before Ryan gets back.

With all that said, I have some catchin' up to do with the blogging tomorrow. Thanks for checkin' in!

Music to my ears!

Every mother, aunt, grandmother in the South has a story of having her kids, nieces, nephews or grand kids playing in the kitchen while they cook. Ryan's Memaw always tells of how the boys use to sit on her counter tops and help her make pie crust. I can remember always hanging out in the kitchen at my Grandmurna's house and at my house. I know that is where my love of cooking came from (and I was the understudy to some of the best cooks in the South!).



So it thrilled me to no end when my kiddos decided today to start carrying on this tradition. Given some Tupperware, some measuring spoons and one random Lego, my kids put on a show for me I will never forget. It was the best concert I have ever attended and I was fortunate enough to have front row seat.





I just can't wait until I can start teaching them how to cook and hopefully they will love it as much as Ryan & I do!

Here is a small pirated clip I took to share with you all. It may sound like a bunch of racket but to me, it was the sweetest sound I heard all day!

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Graphic Art

Today started out perfect. The sky was clear (which I think is the first time since May) and there was no rain in sight. So I called up my neighbor Leslie and invited her and her 4 kids to go to the pool for a day of fun in the sun! Leslie has boy/girl twins as well (Cameron & Chase) and has been such a blessing to us in these first months with the kids!

We headed first to spin class and worked up a good sweat before heading over to Gary & Martha's. We had a great time swimming and enjoying some Chik-fil-a for lunch. The babies swam, ate and then took a good 2 hour nap so we could play in the pool with the bigger kids. The Shewmaker kids are some good swimmers!

Caroline & Cameron enjoying the pool!

Keaton & Chandler

The Shewmaker clan

Caroline, Cameron, Chandler & Chase

Around 3pm we headed home for what I thought would be a normal, playful afternoon before we started our nightly routine. Boy was I wrong!



I had fed the kids and put them in their pack-n-play to play for a little bit while I unpacked from the day. They were having a great time; play well together and laughing from time to time as they so often do. However, there was more to there laughter than I knew. I was about to take some things upstairs and was going to grab the fingernail clippers (oh yeah, I was going to clip Keaton's nails...totally forgot til just now) and I suddenly noticed Miss Elliot had something all over her...her diaper, her legs, her stomach, her face. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that my precious angel can now take off her diaper...EVEN AFTER POOPING!

Yep, you got it...poop EVERYWHERE! On her, on the toys, on the pack-n-play and yes...on Keaton. They seemed to be having a blast with their first finger painting session but momma was a little grossed out (hence why there are no pics of this blessed event!). I grabbed Elliot and took her upstairs to clean her off. There was no hope except for a full fledged bath. So her and Keaton were done with baths tonight at 4:15! They were so confused when I got them out and let them go play some more. Let's just hope they hold up til bedtime!





Are girls just like this? Am I in for so much more? Please forewarn me!







Keaton is not without his episodes either however. Monday night around 10pm he began to cry. I so looked forward to being able to go in, pick up my baby boy and spend some quality time rocking him back to sleep. I leaned down to pick him up and then....YACK....all over me! Good news is he seemed to feel much better and never opened an eye. Fell right back to sleep in all his innocence, not ever even knowing what happened. So he went back to bed and I went to change clothes...OH, and did I mention that this was right after I had finally gotten to take a shower for the day?


So goes my blessed life....and I wouldn't trade it for anything!