four years old today

The twins are four today. That fact doesn't make me sad but I find it hard to believe that these past four years of their little lives have gone by so quickly! It's incredible to me that they are already four. I have looked forward to this age. I don't know why exactly except that now they are more independent. We can "chat" together. They can drink out of a cup without a lid fairly efficiently. They can use the toilet now and can pull up their own pants. They can dress themselves. They recognize their own names and those of their siblings and of mama and daddy. They really play well together with each other and with their little sister, Naomi.
People who see me out with the kids say that I have my hands full. That I must be busy all the time. I was told this when they were infants and we carted them all over the place in their infant carseats in their double stroller. I really, honestly did not think of it that way. I would always just nod and say, "Yes...", it was the polite thing to say. What I really wanted to do was show them my little notebook. I carried a notebook with me everywhere to write down when I had fed them last and on which side they had nursed on last. As a nursing mama of twins I had to keep track of every feeding and every side that was nursed on (they had to take turns on each side) so that I wouldn't become "un-even". I wrote down when they napped. I fed them at the same time, but they took turns. My mom and sister were my helpers and sidekicks. Maybe I would've felt majorly overwhelmed had it not been for them but we had an awesome teamwork mentality going on! While I nursed one my mom or my sister would be working at waking the other so that he or she could nurse well. Then, after the first babe was finished nursing my mom or sister would take that one and do the burping and changing while I fed the other waiting babe. We had fun and I really enjoyed being the full-handed mama of twins. I knew as soon as 11-ish weeks along in my pregnancy that we were having twins. I am an organized person, at least I try to be. The very first thing we did after we left the hospital after finding out our good and unbelievable news was go to Border's. Well, I take that back. We went to Wendy's first and then Borders! Hey, I was hungy.... Anyway, I asked James to drive us to Borders so I could get some books on twins. This was going to be fun I thought! I could really be prepared now! I studied and prepped and wrote notes down in my notebook and dreamed and readied myself for the up-coming adventure!
I was blessed with a very healthy and pretty comfortable pregnancy. Of course, I battled the morning sickness but once those first 4 months were over I was feeling fine! I had heartburn a lot now that I think back and my feet and arms and legs and hands got majorly swollen the bigger I got! My feet would hurt by the end of the day and the closer I got to the birth of the babes the more they would hurt early in the day. I took, what I thought, forever to finally start "pooching". I wanted to wear those maternity clothes like crazy! I was excited to be able to shop in that section of the store. Am I crazy? Probably so. But, this was my dream come true! I had been dreaming of having babies since I was a toddler. Then, I started showing...I got huge! My tummy protruded from me like a miniature card table. My mom and I would just laugh and laugh over how funny it looked! And we would all, James included, of course, would just wonder at the amazing fact that there were two babes growing in there!
I am so glad that I can be the mama of these two precious babies. They really are a joy and I am so thankful for their health and that they are smart and happy.
Here are a few pictures from each year of their lives.

The prego mama. This picture was taken about a month and a half before Henry and Marcail were born.
Henry and Marcail the day we brought them home from the hospital.

One Year Old

Two Years Old

Three Years Old

Henry Alexander and Marcail Lynne

Four Years Old

Happy fourth birthday, Henry and Marcail! We love you to pieces!