Carnivorous

In October you got to see some great pics of Elijah and Evelyn at "the farm" aka the home of my good friends Kim and Troy Galloway in Big Rapids.  They got to meet the horses, chickens, dogs, kitties, and...piggies.  These were not pet pigs, they were being raised for...ahem...food: just as God intended!

Come Christmas time we recieved a gift from Kim and Troy- a selection of pork from the same little piggies we got to meet this fall.  We've been enjoying the meat (thank you Galloways!) and last night had some fantastic chops ala "Harry Plopper," which is what we've been calling the pig as it's the only given name I remember.

That brings me to this series of pictures.  See, eating little cubes of meat just is not as fun as chewing it off the bone, especially if you've gotten to meet your meat (heehee) in person.  So, morbid as it may seem, I just couldn't help but snag a few pics.  Plus, as Andy pointed out, one day we can show these to Evelyn if she ever decides to go all-veggie.  Enjoy!

 "Mom, pork is good."  (I should add that Evelyn is particularly fond of bacon-surprise surprise)

"What do you mean pork is pig?  Is this that big, hairy, dirty thing I met last October?  Oh my goodness!  Oh who am I kidding...I really don't care.  Nom nom nom."

And now for another type of meat: sister-meat.  Elijah thinks Evelyn might be tasty too.

Two Bedrooms? Make that Three

We have a two bedroom house.  I believe it would be called a "bungalow."  Four years ago we absolutely fell in love with it, it was one of the first homes we looked at!  We even made an offer, walked away, then came back a couple months later because we just couldn't get it off our minds.  Back then, we figured we'd live here for a couple years as a newlywed couple before adding Baby #1.  We'd turn the back room into a lovely little nursery, then wait another year or two before trying for Baby #2.  With the arrival of Baby #2 a move would be imminent, but not urgent.  If need be we could keep Baby #2 in our room for awhile and possibly even move Baby #1 into the basement for a little bit until we could sell this house and purchase House #2.

Well...it's been 4 years.  We did live here happily as a newlywed couple for 2 1/2 years...however, that is where life stopped going according to plan. (Well, maybe it happened sooner when we found out we were infertile but that's another story)...  Suddenly we had twins on the way and a new plan emerged- the lovely little nursery for one became an efficient little nursery for two, twins share a room, right?  It's a given...or so we thought.

Fast forward 15 months.  We've tried lots of things to get Things 1 and 2 to sleep well and still share a room- white noise, binky tethers, bottles long past when I thought they'd still be getting them, even separated nap times with Evelyn sleeping behind the bar in a pack 'n play in the basement.  Well, this week we've reached a new level of unplanned chaos in our home. Mom and Dad are now bunking up in the basement.  We share our space with the dog, a bar, a guest bed, a set of snow tires, Andy's weight bench, and the laundry chute.  Our bed is tucked under the stairs and my "closet" is actually a pipe that runs along the ceiling in the storage area with two Rubbermaid drawer towers underneath.

Honestly, lest I sound disappointed with this situation I could not be happier with this option for our current home.  No, it's not the master bedroom I thought I'd have entering my fifth year of marriage, but my family is happy, warm, and getting sleep that is disrupted much less than when our bed resided in our bright and airy "master" with the dove gray (I love that color) walls.

My babies have their own rooms.  Evelyn has taken over our old room, but it's not overly girly just as Elijah's is not overly boyish (we aren't doing the true remodel here folks, it just doesn't seem necessary).  Her sweet little white crib takes up just one corner of the room and over it hangs a favorite mirror I picked up at a garage sale several years ago complete with a bunny resting in a hammock that suction-cups to the mirror- a beloved stuffed animal from my childhood.  The rest of it gives them both room to play, play, PLAY!  We were able to pull my grandmother's old dresser out of it's storage spot and fill it with little girl things.  We are finally using the great orange lamp I bought that never fit in the jam-packed nursery.  There are no longer toys covering every inch of my living room floor and when the kids walk into their bedrooms they can clearly see exactly what they can play with and all the parts for each toy are in one spot!  I am also finally going to be able to pull out the doll cradle my grandpa made and grandma painted.  I've wanted to show it to Evelyn for quite awhile but there has never been room.

Best of all, I now know that when one of my babies is sick, teething, has a nightmare, wakes up early from a nap, or just plain wants to play, the other one can continue sleeping peacefully while Mommy and Daddy calm (or honestly, sometimes ignore) the other baby.  In truth, that peace of mind is priceless. It's a little weird to think that our kids have the true bedrooms in the house while we sort of feel like we are still in college living in our parent's basement, but this is where we are right now and truthfully I always liked college.  The economy hasn't been kind to any of us and I am just so thankful that we are healthy and happy in our little two (make that three) bedroom bungalow :)

(Pictures to come but not until Andy organizes his clothes in the basement and the carpets get cleaned!  I'm honest but not THAT honest...)

A (Posed) Christmas Morning Picture Progression

 Merry Christmas from the Heemstra's!



My Family's Family Christmas

I just love our family Christmas.  It's always uber crazy, lasts about six times longer than it needs to, and is full of all kinds of shenanigans.  First thing this year we decided to get the annual grandkids picture since they were still fresh, dressed, and unruffled from any naps.  This first one is probably the overall best, taking all parties into account, my kids don't look that great but everyone is present and accounted for, looking in the general vicinity of the camera, and with a halfway pleasant smile on their face. 

This next picture was taken a split second later and it's waaaaay fun to click back and forth between them, especially when you look at Evie's and Reece's face.

 Here we see that Reece is beginning to escape, Molly is losing interest, Raegan has disappeared behind Evelyn's ponytail, Evie is getting into full rock-out picture-taking mode, and Elijah is throwing silly faces at whoever is to his left.

 Love.

 Will you look at this face???

 CHEESE!  Check out my new chomp that FINALLY made an appearance!

 Papa and two of his girls.  Evelyn has really been laying the charm on thick with Papa lately...

 Poor Elijah, this was so not his weekend.  On Friday night around midnight he began puking...and didn't stop until Sunday morning around 5am.  He ended the Christmas party with a wonderful projectile vomit across most of Nana's kitchen.  Whew.

"Don't step on me, I might puke!"

Turkeys

Snotty nose, pale skin, tired eyes, bad hair day, lack of cute holiday outfit...

Cute face and outfit but bruises all over her face...

Who says the Holidays have to be cute? I may be a few days late but I'm thankful for these guys this year, bruises, snot, messy hair and all!

Love Bugs

The twinners' little personalities have been growing by leaps and bounds lately, they are learning so many new things, it's hard to keep track!

For posterity I want to record a few of my favorites:

Hugs n Kisses- both kids are learning to hug and kiss each other and other kids. They've been practicing their skills with their friend Ani, it is so cute to watch them. In a rare moment of sibling love the other day they were sitting on the couch and Evie laid her head on Eli's shoulder for a few seconds, it's so fun to see them be affectionate with each other!

"Where's Evie?"- One day I noticed Evelyn putting her hands over her eyes so I said, "Where's Evie?" She removed them and grinned, the classic peek-a-boo game. However for some reason in the last couple of days she has gotten confused so that when I say "Where's Evie?" She throws her hands up over her ears and grins at me..."Can't hear you mom." Thing is, Elijah now also believes this is how the game is played so you'll usually see him in the background, also covering his ears. :)

"Where's your belly?" When he doesn't confuse this question with the above mentioned, Elijah is just precious when he points to his tummy with one chubby little pointer. He also often doubles over with laughter afterwards.

Books. Both kids are starting to love books and I couldn't be happier. For the longest time they'd bring me a book, then walk away or shut the book the moment I opened it. Now one or the other will bring me a book, sit in my lap, and let me read at least three pages!

Skype. Andy got his own laptop recently and so now we have the ability to "Skype" each other. This means the kids can see him and he can see the kids on the computer. Wow, it was so fun to watch the first time...Elijah was beside himself he was so excited, he kept trying to grab the screen and would not stop smiling.

Evelyn on the other hand stared at him hard, then turned around to cling to me and cry. After a few minutes she suddenly warmed up and gave him a half smile, then some "yah! yah!'s" Absolutely adorable to watch :)

This is not cute but again for posterity- Evelyn has recently taken to going No. 2 in the tub. Every. Single. Time. You won't be seeing any pictures anytime soon and I don't know if the tub relaxes her or is just a result of terrible timing on my part, but this phase can end as quickly as it began...

How Far We've Come!

Around this time one year ago we had two tiny, squished-looking infants who basically cried, ate, pooped, and slept (all day and in 20 minute intervals at night :)

Today we have two healthy, vibrant, active one-year olds who still cry, eat, and poop, but also sleep (mostly) through the night, walk, communicate in their own way, and are just generally about the cutest kids you could ever hope to see.

Love you E2!