Have I Told You Lately That I Love You: September Already?

I obviously don't post well with this thing. But I'll try HARD to do this at least 4 times a year. LOL! It's been a fun summer but school is back in session and life is back in swing. Doesn't mean too many changes for the Esparza's cause our boys definitely aren't school age yet and I didn't go back to work (for now...) My mom and dad just visited. It was such a GREAT visit. My dad hasn't seen the boys since they were TEN DAYS OLD and would you believe they're already going to be TEN MONTHS OLD in eight days. *sigh* My little boogers are growing too fast for my liking! Erik's been in Texas since Friday visiting Grandma Sally. I'm so glad he had this time with her but man we miss him! Little Elijah got his third tooth AND took his first steps while daddy was gone! Things change daily with little ones and I do miss my newborns but watching them learn and grow is FABULOUS! Today I'm packing up and heading to the ranch tomorrow morning. My gma is going to meet us there and Erik and his parents will be home in the evening as well. Sam is going to come Friday night too, just till Sunday morning but at least she'll get to see the boys! I'm glad that's gonna work out cause she won't be able to make it in November for their first birthday... sadly! Erik found out that the Ibogaine Clinic he's been working for is most likely going to close which will be a big loss in our income. I'm not thrilled about that. Once we get back from the ranch we're really going to have to examine our pennies and go from there. I pray I don't need to get back in the working world just yet. I'm not really ready. We also started talking with a realtor to see if we can get a home with a yard for these boys. I love our condo but it's not really functional anymore... these boys are ready to move and there's not much space for them to move in! ANYWAYS! I love the fall/winter but it's about to get REALLY busy! I joined MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) which so far I'm LOVING so that'll keep me busy.... come October there's Emmaus' birthday and mine. Can you believe my sweet little nephew is going to be TWO YEARS OLD?!?? OMGosh! Totally forgot to mention.... I'm going to be an AUNTIE AGAIN! Karrie is preggers again and due March 24th! I totally can't wait to find out if there's another boy or a sweet little girl in there and START SHOPPING!!! Anyways, November my mom and Shaina will be here for two weeks - there's first birthday celebrations for the boys (and my dad's bday). Then we're driving up to Georgia for Thanksgiving and Elias' birthday. Then there's Christmas and New Years (which no plans have been solidified yet but there's a possible Disney trip in there!) So yea..... there's a small change I might be MIA again until 2013. HAHA! Until next time.... here's my handsome little men! <3

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You: Almost 8 Months & 1st Birthday Planning

Can't believe we're closer to their first birthday than to their birth. *sigh* Where does the time go? The boys first birthday will be hosted at their new "hot spot" Gymboree Play & Music with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme and this party planning momma is "full speed ahead" with this excitement! These boys are crawling like champs, they're pulling themselves up into a standing position and they LOVE LOVE LOVE to swim! Their baby classes at Gymboree have REALLY helped them too. Though we've had our share of some "bads" too with the experience of taking Elijah to the hospital for "shortness of breath" to find out that he had a severe case of croup and had to be admitted and monitored for 48 hours. Scariest ordeal EVER for this momma. Many there were lots of tears and lots of prayers those few days. Praise God he's doing much better. Ephraim on the other hand.... the ordeal of being abandoned has jump started his separation anxiety and man is it bad. I had to sleep with him last night from 3am on. And as much as I love my kids, yes, I HAD TO I did NOT want to. It was a freakin' mission! Praise God my mom is here helping right now. It's been REALLY nice for me. Tomorrow the hubs and I are FINALLY going on a date for his birthday AND getting MUCH NEEDED massages. Totally can't wait for that. Anyhoo... here's a look at our beautiful ALMOST 8 month old twins. Until next time.....

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You: Six Months!

It's hard to believe but in less than two weeks my beautiful boys will be six months old. They are such strong and intelligent boys and I realize more and more everyday how much God has blessed us. They are eager to learn and behave so well. God blessed us with the knowledge early on and the insight to a book called "Twelve Hours by Twelve Weeks" and thanks to this book are boys pretty much sleep through the night and are on a life changing schedule.  I literally change them and feed them but otherwise they usually entertain each other. We are already in the first phases of crawling too. Can you believe that? And teething --- no teeth yet but man are they drooling and chomping on everything! Right now, my prediction is the Ephraim is going to have a schmooser personality like my dad and will be our artist/musician. Elijah, will be the class clown like his daddy and will be our athlete. This is my prediction --- lets look back on this in 15 years and see how I guessed ;) Anyways, obviously writing on here has been non existent. I'd love to write constantly but it's not something I desire enough to discipline myself to do. So I just catch up when I can and then I'll still have something to look on in the future. My mom just left from spending two weeks with us. It was GREAT! It was the first time she'd seen the boys since they were 10 days old. What a difference for her!! She loved to bathe them and feed them. They love their solid foods and I'm making food for them as much as possible which I'm sure is making them enjoy it even more. They are so active and my mom just kept up with them. It was nice for me to have my mom here too! She did give us a break and let us go work a wedding together while she took care of the kids. That was also really nice to kind of be "back in the action" with my hubby again. Since then we've left the boys with a babysitter when he has jobs to shoot. It's worth paying the babysitter to have me there. And even though it's still work, it's a nice break too. Also, Erik graduated from Miami Dade College last month with his Certificate for Addiction Studies. We are all VERY proud of him! I can't wait till the boys are old enough to truly understand how big of a deal that is! Anyways, we are gearing up for Cathi and the boys to come to town in a few weeks and FINALLY meet Ephraim and Elijah! I'm stoked about that! Plus I really need some time with her. I've missed her way too much! Not sure when my mom will be back but hopefully she'll be coming with my daddy this time. Also not sure when we'll be seeing Auntie Shaina - she just got a full time job so may not make it over here until the boys' first birthday!!! BOO! And of course, Auntie Sammy cakes is supposed to be coming over the summer, possibly July? Also this summer we're going to spend some time at the ranch just not sure when. Doesn't look like we'll be doing the regular 4th of July trip so not sure when. Anyways, I have NO IDEA when I'll write again but I'm sure it'll come with something interesting! :)

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You: Two Healthy Boys

It's been three months since I wrote. This time I have a semi-valid excuse. I've got my hands full!

The end of October held a huge change - I got VERY LARGE VERY QUICKLY! I was ready to explode and crying and begging constantly to GET THEM OUT! My last day of work ended up being about a week earlier because I just couldn't do it anymore. My mom came in Halloween weekend cause she was afraid the boys were going to come early and didn't want to miss it. They didn't come early but thank God my mom was here because I couldn't barely do a thing for myself. It got to the point I wasn't even comfortable to drive (though I could've if I had to). November 5th (our 1 year wedding anniversary) we had a scare and went to the hospital... I really thought "this is it, here they come" but they sent us home with a "false alarm" and orders for me for bed rest (which I, of course, ignored).I was having some nasty skin hanging that was "hard" and painful so I went to my gastric by pass doctor - just to be safe - and it turned out I had an umbilical hernia he was going to repair at the same time as my csection.... lucky me! My in-laws, my dad and my lil sis got here right in time - November 16th. November 18th we woke up bright and early and headed to the hospital for preparation. I was nervous to have two kids AND two surgeries but I was ready. I had the spinal from hell and a lot of the csection is a blur to me. I just remember hearing my boys cry and begging someone to tell me how much the weigh. I only remember seeing Elijah in the operating room but I know I saw them both - Erik told me and there's pictures but I was pretty out of it. I was talking crazy talk in recovery. But finally getting to my room and getting to my boys is an unexplainable feeling. I didn't want to share them with anyone! They were so tiny and beautiful and HEALTHY praise God! They were BOTH born at 9:58am as they were tangled and brought out at the same exact time! Elijah was 5 pounds 15 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Ephraim was 6 pounds 2 ounces and 19 1/4 inches long. Recovery for me was HARD! I lost a lot of blood and was in danger of a blood transfusion. My iron was low and my energy was GONE! I couldn't use the restroom by myself and therefore had to be re-catheterized twice out of surgery before I was successful. I was and am so grateful for my mother and my husband. They were such troopers. My poor husband - I've never seen him so tired in my life. But he took to the title "daddy" so quickly. He had to change all the diapers and deal with a LOT very quickly because I could barely move. Seeing him with his boys was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever experienced. I seriously fell in love with him all over again! We came home from the hospital Monday night the 21st. It was rough for me the first few nights but my parents were staying with us and they were very helpful. Thanksgiving was so nice. My parents, both my sisters, my grandma, Erik's parents, his brother Elias and his wife Karrie and our nephew Emmaus were all here. Everyone pitched in and we had a GREAT feast and there was lots of loving on my little men. I could not have been happier, even though I was exhausted and my emotions were so askew I couldn't stop crying. We had an early Christmas with my family that Saturday and our best gift was a recordable book of "The Night Before Christmas" that my dad recorded for the boys. I think I still cry everytime I open the book. Sadly my parents left that Monday and it was so hard for me to let go. I was a complete disaster. But I eventually balanced out and learned to deal with it. Praise God my in laws were still here for the next month to help the transition. I don't know where we'd be without them! Our first REAL Christmas was bittersweet. Erik and I were so grateful to finally have our own little family but we were desperately missing our families we grew up a part of. It was literally just the four of us. We put the blow up mattress in our living room - we went to Christmas Eve Candle light service and came home to watch Hallmark Christmas movies back to back, sleep on the mattress in front of the Christmas tree and make tamales (part of Erik's families tradition). Christmas day was quite sweet - more Christmas movies and snuggling with our boys. I wouldn't have had it any other way! New Years Eve was pretty much the same (minus the blow up mattress). Spent at home, quite, sweet and snuggling in front of the TV, complete with taco salads! YUM! In the month of December we also got a membership with Kiddie Kandids through babies r us to get the boys photographed once a month for the next year so we can document their growth. I'm very excited for that! Their next shoot (2 months) is this Sunday. Two months.... can you believe that? At their one month check up, Elijah was 8 pounds 1 1/2 ounces and Ephraim was 8 pounds even. We've had a bit of trouble with feeding - I've had to stop giving them breast milk and we've changed formulas 4 times. They've been colicky, gassy and just generally very fussy but they seem to be on the other side of it. We'll see what the doctor tells us on the 20th at their 2 month check up. These boys are so sweet and so yummy. They already recognize our voices and they smile so much, I just want to eat them up!! They sleep about 4 hours at the night, which I don't think is bad for 8 weeks old. I am a very blessed lady and I thank God daily for giving me the strength to carry these boys to term and letting them be so healthy. I can't wait to see what the future holds and watch these beautiful baby boys become awesome young men!