Saturday, April 28, 2012

YAY!!!!

My little twins blog made it into the TOP 10 for Twins and Multiples on Top Mommy Blogs!! We're number 9!

Thanks for your votes! If you are wondering what I'm talking about, you can vote for us by clicking on the Top Mommy Blog and Top Baby Blog squares on the right side of the page ------>  just clicking the square casts the vote, you don't have to put in your email or anything. And if you come back to read another story on a different day you can vote again :) I think my twins are for sure number 1. Thanks :)

The Twins and Us 4/22/12

Carter and Makenna did a great job walking (running) down the aisle.  Chris and I walked right in front of them and the whole time we were walking I could hear "Mom, Dad wait for me" "wait for me". While we were walking I said to Chris, "we're going to have to turn around at the front and catch them".  I had this vision of them running down the aisle, throwing the football (I'll explain in a second) and running right past everyone up onto the alter. We did catch them, they ran right to me and said "Hi Mommy". Then Kenna turned to find Daddy and Carter looked up and said "Hi, Uncle Phil".  I quickly scooped up Carter and handed him off to my Mom and Chris gave Kenna to my Dad. They didn't walk, but they did hold hands the whole way, they didn't fall, and they looked so darn cute, I consider it a successful aisle run. Now for the football, Carter carried a small football for a ring pillow. My Mom is super crafty and painted a small football white and added a ribbon, flower, and 2 rings.  She also made Kenna's flower ball with white flowers and purple ribbons.


Here is Chris and Carter relaxing on a bench before the reception. I love my boys.
The girls of Balfour all grown up :) We had such a great childhood and talk about how much fun it was that we all lived within 9 houses from each other on the same block. I want a neighborhood like that for the twins.  We already have our buddies one house away, but I think we need a few more kids to move onto Westerly Dr. The more the merrier! 
photo credit: Michele Ronzello
Grandpa and Carter. Carter took a few relax times sitting with Grandpa but he stayed awake the whole reception and switched between relaxing like this and tearing up the dance floor!
My bestie Michele. I can't wait for her wedding this August. (I just got my outfit for her shower :) So far all the weddings I have been in have had good bridesmaid dresses. I loved this purple dress and plan on wearing it to prom next year.  But I just tried on the dress for Michele's wedding and it's awesome too. It's more of my "style" because it goes over 1 shoulder (my fav dresses) and it's a pretty shade of yellow. With a tan it's going to look good.
photo credit: Michele Ronzello
Here I am.  I don't post many pictures of myself because I'm always the picture taker. I liked the yellow wall with the purple dress. I was standing by it and said "Hey look Chris it's your High School colors!" he laughed. Then I said it's also Phil and Diane's college colors from Defiance College.

Chris and Carter with the Army Jeep.  The twins always point out jeeps and say "Daddy's Jeep".  I think they like riding around in the Jeep better than Mommy's Explorer. (Mommy too when the top is down)
The next couple pictures are of Kenna when we went exploring the other side of the museum after the wedding was over.  We walked around the museum all by ourselves at 11:45pm. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little scared all ourselves.  I kept thinking of the movie "Night at the Museum" then all the exhibits come alive. hahaha
Kenna as a hot dog! Yes, she has a paci in all these pictures. It was midnight, I wasn't even going to try to take it away from her at that time of night and the crankiness it was saving us by her having it.
Kenna planing in the life-size doll house.
Kenna looked at all the beautiful doll houses and I don't think she liked the fact they were covered by glass so she couldn't play with them.
Then back to the dance floor! Kenna liked to be held while she danced :)
Carter getting ready to break it down on the dance floor. He was so funny. He would go from almost sleeping to....
Break dancing the night away!! This was one of his signature moves of the night.
The other signature move was "the swim". He would lay down on the floor on his tummy and them pull himself forward across the floor like he was swimming. It was so cute and funny. Then he would switch it up and go backward :) I love his dance moves! They should just change the song to "He's got moves like Carter". Chris even did "The Carter" dance across the floor.
photo credit: Michele Ronzello
We had such a great time at the wedding and reception! At least 4 times after we got home I said "what a fun wedding" and then I'm sure I said it 4 more times the next day :) But it really was FUN! 

Diane and Phil "The Wedding" 4/22/12

What an amazing wedding! My little brother is MARRIED!!!! And he married the most wonderful, smart, caring, pretty..... Way to go Phil! He's not a bad catch either, he's my brother, he's awesome! The ceremony was nice, I liked the way the wedding party stood up with them the whole time, and I liked that they did their vows up in the very front of the church. The church they belong to is one of the most beautiful churches in the area. I don't have any photos from the church (we were a little busy) 

And then we went to the reception.  It was at The Henry Ford Museum and it was AMAZING! I was in awe from the minute we walked in. The plane was over the band and dance floor, Phil told me about the plane but I couldn't picture it or didn't realize how big and cool it was until I was actually there.  The reception was right in the middle of the museum. 

I caught this shot of phil walking up to Diane before the reception and its one of my favorite pictures of the night! I love the way he is looking at her and how the camera caught the light in the background. 

Kenna and the "princess" she was checking out her pretty necklaces. Diane is a stunning bride. 
The neighborhood group! We all grew up on Balfour Ave. Yep, Phil was the only boy :)) and Diane fits in perfectly. 
photo credit: Michele Ronzello
Of course I took a picture of the cake! And everyone got a chocolate covered strawberry.  I didn't get to eat mine I was saving it for one of the babies and then the waitress picked it up. It's ok, I ate 3 pieces of wedding cake the next day to make up for it!! Wedding cake is my favorite cake ever.

Diane laughing at something... not sure what but she looks so happy. It's a fun picture
Their first dance as Husband and Wife.  I didn't know this until Trevor's best man speech but their first dance as boyfriend and girlfriend was at my wedding almost 5 years ago.  I would also like to comment on how Trevor is an awesome public speaker. He had a great speech and it was memorized! and Paula,  your's was great too. I liked that you had a clipboard and it all organized for what you wanted to say (it's so you!) She is always organized and when she comes to my house she organizes it for me. It's the only time my cupboards are EVER organized :)
Phil and Diane we are so happy for you and love you both very much! I'm excited to have another sister, Diane welcome to the family. Now the next question is... How long until the twins have a little cousin or two? 

Friday, April 20, 2012

Wedding Weekend!


It's my Phil and Diane's wedding weekend!!! I am so excited to be part of their big day and Diane picked the prettiest bridesmaid dress (bonus!) I will be wearing it again!! I'm thinking for Prom next year. I love being a bridesmaid. I don't think everyone likes it, but I do. I like to make sure everything is perfect for the bride and I love wearing a pretty dress.  I love to be a support person and having a job to do during the wedding. AND I love to get my hair done and all dressed up. OK seriously bottom line is....... I love weddings because I love, LOVE! and the happiness and family and the feeling of the beginning of an adventure. I love weddings because it makes me remember mine and the vows we took. LOVE IS AMAZING! and I love to be part of it.

Now to the point. I didn't have to pick out the dress or shoes, and I would like to say thank you for picking an awesome dress!!!! Not having to shop around and make decisions makes things easy peasey (especially for my jumbled brain) . But I do have to pick out a hairstyle. I'm usually pretty easy going and tell them to do whatever they want. I'm going to be different this time, I want to have a style idea picked out. So I turned to good ol' Pinterest and came up with too many ideas... here's a few.. Now I just have to narrow it down..Diane and Paula, What are you going to do with your hair?? Are we putting any pins or flowers in it??? Help a sister out! (I can say that now to both of them!!!)





Source: favim.com via Marissa on Pinterest

Monday, April 16, 2012

Daddy's Girl

Lately Makenna has had a Daddy crush. Chris is loving it! She has been choosing him to put her to bed and always crawls up onto his lap when he's sitting in the chair. She even has been dressing up just like daddy. She melts my heart!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

I didn't sign up for this!!!

Go figure... Chris and the kids are napping, and I am sitting here, all sentimental, thinking about how I don't want to move away.... I guess this is better than painting the house crazy colors.

I moved to Florida in 2006 to be a teacher!  That's it, I wanted to teach and HMS hired me.  Chris moved with me and I'm sooooooo happy he did.  I can't live a day without him so I know I wouldn't still be here if he didn't come with me.  I probably wouldn't have made it a full school year.  Anyway, that's not what I didn't sign up for.  Chris has been in the army reserve since our junior year of college.  At first that's all it was, in the army...... it was his "second" job because he was in school and thought he wanted to do something else.  He was still in the "reserves" when we moved here and is technically still in the reserves in the AGR program which means he's full time reserve recruiter.  When he became a recruiter he told me we are eventually going to have to move, its like being in the regular Army.  Every few years you get a change of station. I said ya, it's OK, not really thinking we would have to.  Chris had a way of somehow choosing where he wanted to be. (maybe it's a reserve thing) I don't know.  But I figured he would find a way to stay here.

Well our time is has come, he just informed me that within the next year we are going to have to move somewhere. (that's what I didn't sign up for!)

 I'm not ready to move!!!!!! but I will, because he LOVES his job and the Army and he's pretty good at it (at least I think so) BUT WHAT ABOUT ME??????? and the KIDS??????? Why do they make people move if he's doing a good job and staying in the same job?? why move?? I have a career too! and I LOVE TEACHING!! I love MY school and I love COACHING.. This just isn't fair. To top it all off I have the most amazing group of friends here! We have best friends that live one house away and across the street. And I have the most amazing group of teacher/mommy friends in the world. (I can't list them all) But I was just thinking of our summer teacher/mommy/kids and get sad this might be my last summer.  I look up to my friend Lisa as a teacher, mother, and runner.... everything really. I don't know how she does it? But if I ever have a question or need advise about anything she's the first one I call. She is my first friend I made when I moved here, she's my best friend!  And Vicky I call her super mom, because she is!!!!! I'm in tears as I type this. How did I get so lucky to find such a great group of friends?? I want to pack them up and take them with me so we can spend every summer together talking about how the "SAHM's" have it made and how easy life is during the summer and how we could do this everyday  :)

I've talked to a few people about the fact that we will eventually have to move and I have to quit my job.  Everyone always tells me you'll get another teaching job. Yeah, I probably will, but there is one more thing. Tammy!!! If we move and I get another job who is going to watch my babies? I can't just take them to anybody.  Really, I planned on them staying with Tammy until they started Kindergarten. She is the BEST, there are no words to explain how much she means to us. She really is their second Mom! So ya, I'll get another teaching job when Tammy moves with us :) or when the twins go to kindergarten. (tears still)

Then there's our house which is a whole different story/headache that we are going to have to deal with when the time comes. I can't even think about it at the moment because it could quite possibly push my emotions over the edge.  So like I said "I didn't sign up for this" when I moved to Florida; because all I knew was that I was going to be a teacher, it was MY dream, what I went to 5 years of college for. BUT.... DREAMS GROW as we grow. My DREAM now has Chris, Carter and Kenna as the most important.

I DID sign up for this when I married my soulmate and best friend.  I didn't think at the time " OK lets get married, start our life together and move it around the country". But I did think "We are a team, we are going to be together for the rest of our lives, and where ever life takes us I'm happy to be with you." So if that means we will have to move around the U.S. for Chris's job, then I'm in.

 I know I'm going to be "difficult Marissa" through this whole process. And I'm apologizing ahead of time for it, I just can't help it. I'm sad.   I do secretly hope that in a couple years the Army will move us right back to Westerly Dr. and everything will just fall back into place like we never left. The other part of this whole process is the unknown.  I'm a planner, I like to plan things out sometimes a year in advance, so this not knowing whats going on is killing me.  Part of me wants to just know when and where we are going to have to go, and part of me doesn't want the dreaded news because that means its REAL. I'm not ready for reality to smack me in the face.


Aquarium Party!

Happy Birthday to Gavin and Ethan!!!! The twins best buds from daycare had their birthdays at The Florida Aquarium yesterday and we were thrilled to celebrate with them. Gavin turned 3 and Ethan turned 1.  It was such a fun party with awesome guests. It was nice to hang out with some of the teachers from school that I usually don't get to see outside of school.  Rose, Allison, Chad and Beth, Shannon, Kelly, Liza; we are all teachers and get into the aquarium free, lets do this again this summer!!!!!!! 

The party was out in a covered area right by the channel and overlooking the spray park. The kids were able to run around the spray park right when they got there. I think it's funny how different the twins are.  Carter is a bruiser, he was running everywhere and not afraid to slide down or jump off anything. Kenna is a little calmer, she thinks things through and usually is a little more cautious.


 All the fun and running didn't come without a few wipe outs.  Poor Carter :( But we did tell him each time to stop running because he was going to get hurt. He'll learn right?!?!?! Chad told me about a book about a Lion that doesn't listen to his parents and gets hurt. I think he said the title was "When Lion Doesn't Listen".  I need to find that book for Carter.

They even had a "creature feature".  The kids learned about the Florida Box Turtle.  The nice girl explained how they live, what they eat, and all about their protective shell. All the kids even got to touch him on his shell (and then hand sanitized!)
 Birthday Boy! Gavin turned 3!
 Birthday Boy Ethan turned 1!
 Kenna playing with Daddy :) Showing off her "trick".
 Ethan loved his 1 year old cake!! Oh, he is such a cutie. He wasn't sure about it at first, then big brother came to help.
 And he dug right in!!
 See what I mean on being such a cutie :)
 After the party, everyone was able to walk through the aquarium. It was the first time we walked through without a stroller.  Kenna held my hand and Carter held Daddy's.  It was so nice not having to maneuver the double stroller through the crowds and then get them in and out at each exhibit.  Our favorite yesterday was the sharks.  They are so cool and sooooo big.  At the first shark tank Kenna and Carter both said "Hide, the sharks are gonna eat me! Scary!" How do they know this?!? I don't think I have ever said sharks will eat you in the ocean and we have never watched "Jaws" haha. I have told them alligators would eat them! (bad Mommy :)

 At the second shark tank (the huge full wall tank) we met up with our friends and the kids other best buddies Kinsey and Kamdyn. (just for the record) Kenna does not give out kisses and hugs very freely or to just anyone.  Kenna LOVES Kamdyn! Everyday when Kamdyn comes into Tammy's Kenna hangs all over her giving her hugs and kisses when we get into the cars to go home. It's cute. Anyway, the four of them had front row seats to watch the sharks. The sharks were putting on a show, circling right up next to the glass and opening their mouth to show off their extremely sharp, pearly whites.



 Duh duh! Duh duh! Duh duh! (theme from Jaws)


Thank you for inviting us to share your special days! We had a lot of fun, it was a cool party!! Happy Birthday Gavin and Ethan! Love, your friends Carter & Kenna and Chris & Marissa

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Easter Weekend

We had a nice Easter this year.  We were able to get up early, find the Easter baskets, have a little Easter egg hunt and make it to CHURCH!! I was so happy to just make it on time. We have tried to go to church on regular Sunday mornings and never make it out of the house on time for 10:30 mass. I know I should probably set an alarm and try harder, but....... we made it on Easter! (that's gotta count for something)

 At the beginning of mass I thought it was cute that Carter wanted to dance to the music, so I let him break it down in the aisle.  He thought it would be cute to take off sprinting to the front of the church where the band was to dance in front of them like a rock concert. Carter was running, so Chris took off after him and then Carter fell right by the band.  Everyone said "Awwww" it was a slightly embarrassing moment as I stood there watching this whole thing unfold. He was fine, Chris scooped him up and said "safe" (like baseball) while the band started to play "Wipe Out" and all the "awwww's" laughed. (I don't think I was laughing) I know what I was thinking!! "Ok, we attempted, time to go home!" I wanted to walk right out before the service even started, but Chris said "we are already here, we're staying" So we just moved back a row; then we had a row of chairs in front of us and people on both sides that made a barrier to keep the sugared up, wild, twins contained.  

We were able to keep the twins from running away, the lady next to me thought they were super cute (I think she liked kids in general) so she wasn't too bothered, and only one cranky old man moved his seat halfway through the mass far far away from us. (I say he was cranky because he gave us some "looks", I don't think he generally liked kids). I had a purse full of stuff and from time to time I was feverishly digging through looking for something to stop them from yelling. They played with lip gloss, my sun glasses and case, my change purse, receipts, and when all else failed I gave them each an egg filled with jelly beans from the egg hunt.   Overall, I consider it a successful morning! 

Maria from Snider Shots Photography took their Easter pictures this year and they are fantastic! Thank you for capturing the cutest Easter picture ever! (I may be a little bias)

We had to take our own Easter pictures in front of our almost finished, freshly painted, green house!
Here are the babies with Daddy.
And here they are with Mommy! I still have to pick a color for our front door..... any suggestions? 

Happy Easter!

Their Easter buckets this year. They got too much candy, webkins animals, and Firebugs flip flops.  They are the coolest flip flops ever! They light up! The clear straps have 3 lights in the base and when they stop their feet the whole flap lights up.

We even attempted to dye eggs. We did manage to dye the eggs and our hands at the same time. Kenna's favorite eggs now are pink eggs, she asks for pink eggs almost everyday. I guess white eggs don't taste as good as pink eggs. She likes to crack and peel the shell off. Then she takes out the yolk and calls it her baby egg... I don't know how she comes up with some of this???


Hope everyone else had a nice Easter weekend!