Trunk or Treat

The Chapel's 2nd annual trunk-or-treat was this past Sunday and we had a blast! Mulan and Mushu were a hit in their homemade costumes (homemade by Ally that is, not me!). Mulan had a big black wig with a bun on top that she chickened out of wearing at the last minute, but the red hair worked just as good for this Chinese princess!
Mushu never could quite figure out how to sit down because he had a stiff tail stuffed with paper behind him at all times. So mostly he just stood around confused as to why his mom was making him wear such nonsense!

Typically very shy, Mulan had no problem strutting her stuff for the camera...anyone's camera. If she saw a camera, she immediately went into this pose. I don't know if it was the makeup or the outfit, but something obviously made her feel like a million bucks!I have countless pictures of these 2 over the last few years and most of them have our little Mulan looking at her "Bat" Eli in this same way. He was the first boy she ever met (yep, on day 1 of her life in the hospital) and she hasn't let him forget it!

Me + Pregnancy = Train Wreck

...and that is why anything positive goes a LONG way in my book these days.

Most people we've told about our upcoming twinkies have been thoroughly shocked and then thoroughly excited. Of course we still get the "Better you than me!" comments here and again, but there have been so many people coming out of the wood works to wish us well, give us hugs, and begin praying for us.

Despite the fact that I'm in the horizontal fetal position 80% of the day, it's actually a very exciting time. And because I'm down for the count so often (or hanging my head over the toilet or what have you), I have LOTS of time to think (too much, really).

Time to think about what life will be like as a family of 6.

Wow.

Karen reminded me the other day that I always used to say if there had been a major at UGA in stay-at-home-mom-ness, I would have gotten my degree in that. Maybe even my Masters. Hey, might as well go for the PhD at this point.

And Alicia reminded me that twinkies are a GIFT and that we've been CHOSEN BY GOD to be their parents. 1 in 500 chance? We'll take it!

Jana brought it from the Word and welcomed me to my "full quiver".

And today in church, one of the sweetest men (with 5 kids of his own!) was the first to congratulate us in our new "ministry".

It's so good to hear those words when I swim in a hole of nausea, migraines, and complete overwhelm-ness (so not a word, sorry) all day long.

This is what I signed up for. This is my ministry. To love Jesus, my husband, and 4 kids.

Hopefully I can reflect Him to them.

Wrapping My Head Around TWINS

Really, there is no wrapping my head around twins. If ever there was a woman who wrapped her head around twins, I would like to find her, interview her, and then call her out for being a LIAR!

I am thankful that this is not our first pregnancy. Mind you, I'm not sure I'm thankful that it's our THIRD, but at least I know life with newborns and can somewhat feel comfortable feeding, diapering, nurturing, and not panicking too much over every gurgle. Though twofold, I'm sure all of that will change.

Before this bedlam came about, I made some open-mouth-insert-foot comments a-plenty. Some of the comments made prior to knowing I was having twins that I would like to strike from the record are as follows:

1. "If only we could have 4 kids for the price of 3 pregnancies!"

2. "Twins would be a blast!"

3. "I could totally handle Jon & Kate Plus 8's lifestyle."

4. "Twins would solve our naming dilemma. We could use ALL the names we love without narrowing them down!"

5. "I think it would be fun to squeeze tons of kids into our tiny house!"

The Lowdown

Babies are healthy thus far. Got to keep a close eye of them to make sure they move away from each other so they don't start sharing any important things (blood vessels, arteries, etc.). The line in between their little sacs (which by the way is a GROSS word) determines whether or not they are fraternal or identical. Looking to be fraternal right now. Here's hoping...

I make big babies which is not altogether a positive thing with twins. So we'll try to keep them small so they can stay longer. If they stay 34 weeks+, I can deliver in Brunswick with the best doctor in the world. If they come earlier, I'll get shipped off to Savannah where the NICU is top-notch. Praying for Option A.

Here is their first portrait. Note: Twin B got a little camera shy and hid.

Cat's Out-O-Tha Bag

I really like the title of my blog: Beach Baby Bedlam.

Especially that last word.

bed-lam (noun): a scene or state of wild uproar and confusion

It seems that title was just a precursor of what's to come. Bedlam with simply 2 small children 3 and under?

Utter silliness.

Bedlam with 4 children ages 4 and under?

BINGO.

(Newsflash: We're preggers!)

(Oh yeah, DOUBLE NEWSFLASH: It's TWINS!)

I'll try to keep the cuss words from leaking out of my brain onto the keyboard.

Pumpkins

One of my all-time favorite day trips of the year is our annual trip to Poppell Farms to see the pumpkin patch. I really don't know who has more fun, the kids or me. It's like Christmas, except much more Harvesty.

I got so excited this year that I got crafty.

Stop laughing.

I cannot be crafty on my own, but if I see something I like, and even moreso if it comes with directions, I can make it happen. (That's why I always hated "creative freedom time" in my art classes growing up...give me a model to copy!).

So I saw these shirts on the cover of a magazine and made it happen...slightly less professional looking, but still cutey patootey.

Pumpkin mission accomplished. Now I'm ready for the Christmas tree farm.

Fun Playdates

With the beautiful weather we've had over the past few weeks, we've been able to enjoy the outdoors at Neptune Park. Here's Little Man playing peek-a-boo in his favorite tunnel. Notice the evil eye Little Man is throwing out to his boy Will who's getting a little too close to his sister. Hmmmm....the first of many!!
We're excited about Will's little bro Nate coming into the world and making Little Miss Redhead feel like she's the pro of big kid-ness.

All Tuckered Out

By Sunday evening, the boys realized the weekend had caught up with them and they were down for the count by 6pm. That's what we get for skipping naps!