Wow! Really?

So, its been a while. Quite a while. Obviously having two babies is a full-time job. But oh-so much more fun than I could ever have imagined!!

Miss O is now 18 months old and completely grown. After a rocky first few weeks of adjusting, she LOVES school...friends, buggy rides, a play ground and we can't forget the snacks. Ahhh, snack time! She IS her mother's child. Although we're still officially in diapers, Miss O is pottying each morning after waking up, each night just before bedtime and three or four times throughout the day. We're getting close. At her February follow-up visit at UNC...oh, wait I think it's been so long since I blogged that I may not have written about the huge scare Miss O gave us in November. At her 15 month check up, her iron count was really low. Since she and I both have a form of anemia called thalessemia, I wasn't completely shocked by this news. My iron count usually hovers around an 8...Olivia's was a 2.9...WOW! Her pediatrician immediately sent us to UNC for a blood transfusion, which on its own is pretty scary. BUT words like "oncology" and "leukemia" were being used and I was petrified beyond belief. Finally in December leukemia was eliminated as a possibility. Whew and PRAISE GOD!! But a huge question remained...what the heck is going on with Miss O? Finally in February, her counts rebounded to close to 10 and she was given supplements. Our next follow up will be in July. Nowadays, Miss O is 100% chatterbox and borderline "wild as a buck!" She eats nonstop from the time we pick her up from daycare until bedtime. No kidding. HUGE prayers of thanksgiving for so many blessings!

Hudson is a whopping 5 months old and is nearly the size of his sister. He's huge. Length and weight. He's wearing 9 month clothes and even many of those are too short for our Tank Tieman, as his daddy has so proudly named him. Beyond his size, he is THE sweetest baby ever created. Yes, I am a little partial, but 'tis true! He smiles all.the.time. Never fussy and has been sleeping through the night since he was about 2 1/2 months old. Niiiice. He, too I am afraid, is becoming quite the chatterbox. He babbles from the time he wakes up in the morning, in fact that's how you know he's up...he's not crying like most babies, he's talking...and does so all day long. In between smiles.

Both babies are pure joy and life is good.

I turned the big 3-0 a few weeks ago and can say I weathered it. My hubby treated me to a full day at the spa. What a good hubby! Shane is still busy with home improvement, either at our house or various "side jobs." Most recently he and his dad added a beee-u-iful slate tile backsplash to our kitchen and it looks sooo good.

Those of you who really know me will be shocked to hear that we're already planning our annual Bloomington trip (gasp!). And although I have a running list of things we need to pack, nothing has been committed to paper...yet. This year for Christmas we surprised Shane's parents with plane tickets to join us since they haven't been back to Bloomington since moving here in 05. And my mom and aunt have heard and seen such great things, they are planning to come too...Brown County here we come!! Having the whole family in town will really make for a great trip!

Here are a few photos of the babes. I'm committed to being a better blogger from now on ;)

Our Christmas card














Liv's 3rd day of school...see the excitement.





Liv's 1st snow!

















Pure sweetness!



LOVES dress up!


















Tank Tieman is Leon Phelps. Don't worry...I will not let his daddy call him Tank much longer

For these things I am thankful

Sooooo much has happened since my last entry. Most importantly, Hudson arrived! One day before his daddy's birthday, Hudson made his debut as the best early birthday present imaginable.















Daddy & the best early birthday present EVER!


Since October 1st I have learned one thing for certain...boys are born being mini men and girls are born being little women. Just as Olivia is a miniature of her mom, Hudson is that of his dad...and Papaw. Its pretty amazing, really.

With two babies I've learned the meaning of time management, for sure, and instead of rambling on and on about how truly blessed we are, here are a few of our favorite photos from the past 8 weeks.



















The proud big sister-to-be!





3 days old













Cousins: Avery Grace Brock & Hudson Graham Tieman




















Ready to go home!











On my way home, FINALLY!




















Mommmmm,not again!

A happy, happy birthday girl & 7 weeks to go...well maybe

Olivia had a wonderful birthday party, filled with lots of playmates and plenty of cake! Many, many thanks to those of you who were brave enough to weather the storm of toddlers with me. Next year, we're going sooooooooo low key.


















Yesterday marked 7 weeks until we finally get to meet the little guy...well maybe. We'll know for sure Hudson Graham Tieman's birthdate after our appointment on August 28th. Wahoo!

On August 11 Shane, Olivia and I went in for a 4D ultrasound and below are a sampling of what we saw. I won't go into the graphic details of anatomy here, but its safe to say he's still a boy!

God grant me longevity

My sweeet baby Olivia will celebrate her first birthday tomorrow.

Wow!

Where has the time gone? This time last year, when we were just getting ready to meet Olivia, folks would say, "someone's getting ready to press the fast forward button on your lives." There was no way I could fully comprehend exactly what it was they meant then...but boy, do I now. Without question, I know one day I will look up and she'll be heading off to kindergarten...then worse--a first date, college, ahhhh...this is too much to think about right now. For today, I am both thrilled and excited, and extremely impressed that my little baby girl is not a baby anymore. When we first brought her home, I felt so inadequate as a mommy that I prayed for her 1st birthday...I knew by then she and I would have it all figured out, not to mention the whole notion of SIDS could be tossed out of the window. Strange perhaps, but these were my fears and thoughts during those first few weeks and months. I was in awe of her right from the beginning and knew that I surely had recieved the most precious gift, directly from God, that had ever been created...far better than I deserve.







And one whole year later, I still am in complete awe of this precious little one. Her innate comedic timing, her ability to see something once and know exactly how to do it and what makes it do whatever it is that it does, her unbelieveably sweet and loving ways, her inherent gift of gab and overwhelming friendliness and outgoing nature. I am in awe of HER...every tiny little piece. My favorite parts of the day are waking her up in the morning, those little eyes dancing and bright smile flashing as she peeps between the crib and the bumper to make sure its me standing at the door, just before she leaps to her feet and points to one of the many stuffed animals or knick-knacks that decorate her room as to say, "let me tell you what that one did last night while you were sleeping, Mommy." And when I walk through my back door in the evenings to be greeted by the biggest and brightest smile, hand waving and the sweetest, "hey, my momma!" And at night when she puts her head on my shoulder and plays with my hair as we're heading off to bed. And as she and I are saying our prayers, I know these are moments when you can not deny and must praise Him, "I have been blessed beyond what I deserve! My cup runneth over!"

One whole year.

Wow!

Where has the time gone?

God, grant me longevity! Another 80 years still won't be long enough.

17 weeks 'til we meet the Turtle

who still has no name, but we're working on that!

Oh, what a week!

On Sunday Olivia took her first steps...four of them to be exact...and she did so several times. Wow! My immediate thoughts were of joy and triumph for my little one and then selfishly of "oh my gosh, my baby isn't a baby." Over the past 9 months, there have been many milestones...sleeping through the night was a BIGGIE, sitting up, crawling, but this one feels different...older...more independant...more grown. And I want to just cry, already missing the baby that needed constant care. I know, I know...I AM a bit emotional these days...and largely horomonal. But this really feels like a huge "letting go" moment for my not-so-much-a-baby girl.

On other fronts, Thursday was the BIG reveal. My mom, Olivia, my dad and Shane's mom were with us. As soon as the sonographer placed the little "thingy" on my abdomen, it was deja vu...the same profile as Olivia, the same hands and feet as Olivia and the little one even had its legs crossed ankle over ankle just like Olivia always did. So when we read, "OH BOY" on the screen you can't imagine our suprise!

We leave tomorrow for our annual trip to Bloomington. And wouldn't you know that Olivia is getting over a virus and I have the worst sinus "gunk" going on. Keep your fingers crossed that Olivia's first plane ride goes smoothly! This will also be the first time Olivia has met many of her "Indiana" relatives. So, while it will be quite overwhelming, I'm sure it'll be a blast too.

Below are some photos of the past couple of weeks, including my and Olive's first Mother's Day. Olivia had a blast with Bella...trying to keep up with Bella and keeping tabs on Amos the Jack Russel puppy. And just look at that Jackson...SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sweet! Those cheeks were made for his Aunt Kiki to nibble on.

Sand, sand everywhere

...And I do mean everywhere!

This past weekend was Olivia's first time with her toes actually in the sand and she LOVED it...every little gritty bit of it.







Olivia also got to finally meet her namesake...

This past month has been full of "firsts" for the Olive. Her 1st time brushing all those teeth...






Her 1st time on the lawn mower, which despite how the pictures may appear, she LOVED!




Her 1st time in the not-so-hot tub...



And her 1st luau...




We can hardly believe our little sweetie will soon be 9 months old!! Here are more pictures from the past month...