I'm a Big Girl Now

As a working mom, I've always been afraid that I'm going to miss all of Reese and Tucker's "firsts"; first time to roll over, sit up, crawl, stand, walk, etc. I was so blessed to be home with them this summer and get to see Tucker take his first steps. He's been walking for weeks now but Reese has been totally content to just crawl from place to place. After all, she is crazy fast.

Last week she was just playing as she usually does (without pants on b/c she often refuses to let us to put them back on after a diaper change) and she finally realized that she could stand up all by herself. She was quite proud of her new accomplishment and spent about 15 minutes going up and down, up and down. I caught a little on video...



I was so excited that she waited for me to get home from work to show off. I think she finally decided to try it so she could look at her pretty pink toes. "Thanks Aunt Amber, for my first pedicure! I'm a big girl now."

Love the Summer... HATE the heat!

Is anyone else tired of this smoldering Texas heat? I don't think I remember it being this hot last summer. Oh wait, maybe because I was laying on the couch WAY pregnant with twins. I'm pretty sure I didn't see the sun at all last summer; which was evident by my ghostly white body. I digress.

Anyway, I really do love summer... the vacations, the food, the not working, etc. I love eating corn on the cob, ice cream cones, juicy hot dogs and of course, the famous Doyle snow cone. I love playing in the pool, going to the lake, and going to the waterpark like a crazy teenager. Because I HATE the heat, I pretty much refuse to do anything outside in the summer that doesn't involve me getting wet (and sweating doesn't count.)

After being at the lake all afternoon and the pool all evening, I needed to cool off. Here are some fun pictures of us playing in the snow this past year...



We spent the babies' first Christmas at Granny's house... and it was definitely a white one.


Chris and Tuck playing in the snow




Making snow angels with Emma





Dana and the kids after sledding




Caden completely burried in the snow




All bunddled up and heading out





Nick and Amber ice skating. Did you see the Rock?! Baby sister is getting married in December!





We didn't get to ski at Christmas time, so Chris surprised me with a ski trip in February... more fun in the snow!





I know winter is months away... but a girl can dream can't she?

Back-to-School Blues

Well... my days of swimming pools, afternoon naps, and late night movies are officially over. And I've decided that 5 weeks of summer is not nearly enough. I hear all of you "non-educators" telling me to shut up, but I'm ignoring you. I'm totally suffering from the back-to-school blues. Instead of playing in the pool with the babies today, I spent the afternoon mulling over the implications of the new graduation requirements that were just passed by legislation (a month before school starts, I might add). You know you want to hear all about it.

I know I should be grateful for the weeks I've had with Reese and Tucker, but right now I'm committed to pouting about how it just wasn't long enough. I do keep reminding myself that they get to hang out with Aunt Amber until she starts teaching in August. And that's pretty cool.

Does it make me a bad mom to admit that there were actually a few enjoyable things about today? Like not having to cut anything up into tiny little pieces at lunch, and going a full 7 hours without changing a single dirty diaper. Hey, these things are huge. Although I enjoyed being off "mom" duty for a few hours, I still missed Reese and Tucker like crazy. It didn't matter how much chocolate I indulged myself in, the back-to-school-blues just wouldn't go away. Then I came home to these guys...

All better!

Small Texas Towns

There's something great about spending the day in a small Texas town! I'm not into antiques or western wear, but I still love to look around in the shops and eat in the "hole in the wall" restaurants. I love that the people are so friendly and they all seem to know each other. I also love how acceptable it is for shop owners to close their stores at anytime and just put a note on the door that says, "be back at 3." I've visited my share and have come to realize that small Texas towns all have three things in common: Dairy Queen, overpriced western decor made out of fence pickets, and the fact that Child Labor Laws don't apply.
These facts were once again confirmed when we spent the day in Calvert, TX yesterday. Grammy and Grandpa drove up from Houston to meet us for a few hours to eat and play. We ate lunch at Loretta's Cafe where I'm pretty sure we were served by Loretta herself. Her 12 year old daughter worked the ice cream counter. After lunch the boys headed off to the sale barn... since we're going to turn "country" now that we bought 25 acres to live on. Anyway... they went to check out the livestock while Grammy, the kids and I did some shopping. It was clear that this town was built before handicap laws were put in place! What a beat down... trying to get the double stroller up and down the stairs and in and out of shops. We finally got smart and just took them out of the stroller and carried them around. No need to worry that the stroller would be stolen in Calvert, TX. Good, honest, small town people can totally be trusted! What a fun day... the kids were totally pooped and slept all the way home! Here are a few pics of them with their Grammy and Grandpa...

Time Flies!

Wow, it's hard to believe it's been over a year since the babies were born! You'd think I would have started this blog while I was lying around for 8 weeks waiting for their arrival. I'm sure it would have been way too much stress on the babies though, as I've discovered once again that I have the technology curse! Andrea told me how easy it was to get this done and of course, I had to get her to come over twice to help me figure it out! So embarrassing! I'm really not incompetent... technology just hates me!

It's been a busy year in the Tims' house, as you can imagine! I've tried hard to scrapbook every moment, but this blog would have really been great during Reese & Tucker's first year. Oh well... never too late to start I guess!

Here's Reese...

Throughout the past 12 months, Reese has developed quite the little personality. A few things that we love about her include:

• the way she gets really shy and holds on to us tight when she's around a lot of people
• the way she picks out the food she doesn't like and puts it to the side (refusing to eat it in a nice way)
• her ability to say "uh-oh" at exactly the right time
• the way she makes herself laugh
• how excited she gets when we come in the room or when she does something really "big"
• her love of bows
• her ability to sleep FOREVER if we'd let her
• the way she giggles uncontrollably when we throw her in the air or swing her around

The list could go on and on! We'll go ahead and move on to our big boy, Tucker...

Tucker has really evolved during these last 12 months. He started out a "wimpy little white boy" and has turned into rough and tough big boy. Some of our favorite things about him include:

• the way he races across the room screaming like a crazy man
• his huge smile that hardly ever goes away
• the fact that he is rough and tough and doesn't cry when he falls down
• how he loves to splash and play in the water until his toes look like raisins
• the way he likes to wrestle with his sister
• his ability to eat dinner in 3 minutes flat
• his sense of adventure, curiosity, and fearlessness
• the way all his muscles tighten up when we throw him in the air or swing him around

Both he and Reese have totally added fun, laughter, adventure, exhaustion, patience, and complete fulfillment to our lives!! We can't wait to begin sharing their special moments and events with you. Of course, we'll keep you updated on Chris and me too... but we realize that you'd much rather see pictures of and hear stories about the babies!
Check back periodically... so you can enjoy more "Times with the Tims!"