Little Nemo...

Just some pics of the fish in the family...

This is us with our instructor, April. Becca was shy the first day, but is warming up to her now.

She will be doing the triple lindy before we know it...

Swing Batter, Batter...no HGH here.

Looks like our Big Girl is gonna be a slugger! We are so excited that she has taken to her tee ball set so well. When she got this for her birthday it was the first time she'd ever swung a bat, so she's really coming along great. This video was made a few weeks ago; she's really slugging it now. We practice in the backyard several times a week.

Thanks to Coach Dad for helping to perfect her "stance" and her smooth swing. LOL! What a hoot!

The sweetest thing you ever saw...

We had professional pictures taken when the kids were 14 days old. Nice story, here. Through my work I have become friends with the editor of Peekaboo magazine....a local publication. She told me right after the twins were born that she works with a professional photographer who wanted to offer us a free portrait sitting in order to work some twins into her portfolio. WOW! What a great opportunity! And we got some AWESOME photos to boot! This is the only one I have to share right now due to copyrights, etc. They are all over Facebook if you want to see more. Now we are going to go bankrupt from ordering pictures.

Thanks to Kimberly Ginn of Sweet Portrayal in Rogers. I highly recommend her to take photos of your kids or family. She was so nice and spent 2 whole hours with us to get the perfect photos of Carley and Evan.

Don't lie, we know you're jealous of us

Here is just one reason why I haven't taken a lot of photos for the blog. Not much material to work with. That, and it's hard to work the camera with a baby and a bottle in both hands.

Lee took Becca out for a walk last night. I was hanging out with the babies. Turn up your sound. The little babes are 3 weeks old!

Bottle Feeding, Butt Wiping, Mini Van-Driving Awesome Parents

First and foremost, here is a picture of our newest addition. It's a 2003 Honda Odysssey, and we really like it (shhhh!). It's a little bit older than what we wanted, but it's top of the line and very clean and nice. Shout out to my cousin Adam for the advice on the purchase; he is the Honda Man. So, look for us to roll through your town later this summer when we take our first Party of Five road trip to the Eastside.



And yes, I know what comments I'm about to get on here. I stole some of mom's pictures because SERIOUSLY, I haven't had time to take any!! Free time is spent showering, sleeping or washing baby things. We had a professional photo session last week, so we will soon have lots of gorgeous photos to share. Or you can see them on my Facebook page. Or Tracy's. Or Lee's. Or Mom's. Take your pick.

Ashley took Becca to see her first movie in a theater. They had a great time!

Here is Becca on the morning of her first day at the new daycare. She gets to take her lunch, so she was all about the new Dora lunchbox!

Quick update on Evan and Carley--

Had our two-week checkup yesterday at the clinic. They measure exactly the same in length and head circumference. She outweighs him just a tiny bit. She was 6 lbs, 1.5 oz and He was 5 lbs, 15.5 oz. Just call it 6 lbs!

The doctor says they are doing great and right where he wants them to be. They are eating good, and we're working on getting them to sleep longer between feeding at night. Unfortunately, we've discovered they don't like to sleep between the hours of 11:00pm and about 3:00 am. AGGHH! Other than that, they sleep GREAT. Go figure.

I think we're all adjusting well. If Lee and I can manage to squeeze in a cat nap during the day, even better. Well, someone just pooped so I gotta go! More later....

Welcome to the world Carley and Evan!

Whew. First time I've had a chance to do this all week. Get used to it, right?

I still haven't talked to many of you, so I'll start with the events that led up to "birth day" last Thursday, June 10 and the arrival of our sweet new babes, Carley Fran and Evan Wyatt. Of course, my c-section was scheduled for June 25, but I knew there was no way I'd make it that long. And thank goodness!

I woke up early on Thursday morning, like 2:00ish, with minor contractions. I roamed around the house quietly by myself until I was sure it was really labor. When Lee's alarm went off at 5:00, I told him to call in to work because we needed to head to the hospital. My great friend Sara met us at the hospital and took Becca back to her house, as we had planned. Once in the ER, I found out my doctor was coming on call at 7:00--yay! From 6:00-8:30, I just waited and stayed hooked up to the monitors. My doctor came in and told me I'd be second in line and in the OR soon; we don't mess around. Babies were born at 9:15 and 9:16 (Evan first).

This time I had to be completely put out with anesthesia, so I don't remember anything after being taken into the OR. Probably better that way, because I was nervous. The bad thing is that it took forever for the sleepy to wear off. I didn't hold the babies for several hours and really can't tell you anything about what happened Thursday afternoon.

I got discharged from the hospital on Sunday, but the babies had to stay an extra night. Evan wasn't eating enough to make the doctors happy and they decided not to split the kiddos up. By the time we went back on Monday morning, he was doing better and they let us take them both home.

First pediatrician appointment was Tuesday and both babies got a great report! We are so lucky they were so healthy and strong, being born at 36 weeks.

Becca is SO EXCITED about being a big sister! I think this is Evan she's holding.

Evan on bottom, Carley on top. Snuggle buddies!

Getting some rest in the nursery.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock....watch out, she might EXPLODE!

Thought I'd do a little Bramell update while I'm sitting on my nest. We've made it to 35 weeks and 4 days. I've about decided that I must be the only freak of nature who could carry twins to 40 weeks (if they let me). Thank goodness, surgery is set for June 25 so there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I am just about miserable--and the 90 degree temps are not helping a bit!! I am planning to work this week from home on my laptop, then start my maternity leave on June 14. Getting a shower and "dressed" for work is becoming too much of a chore and I only have a couple of outfits that are even comfortable enough to wear out of the house.

Let's see.....what else. Oh, we found renters for our house. BIG YAY! They are going to move in the middle of July, so that will take a big burden off us right now. It's a couple moving here from Atlanta, so we don't know them...just got lucky!

We are having some minor repairs done on the XTerra so we can get it up for sale. We've decided to take the plunge and go ahead and get a minivan. We've looked at and driven some, and they are definitely what we need for our growing family.

Becca will start at her new daycare on June 16, and seems to be excited about it. I was trying to avoid too much change at once for her, but what can we do?? She'll be fine, and the babies will join her there when I go back to work.

As far as baby prep, I think we are set. We have just about two of everything and a great stock of supplies, thanks to a lot of awesome friends and family. Lee took diaper inventory the other day and figures we have about 2400 diapers---which we calculate should last about 4 months!! Crazy. That's a lot of wiping butts!

Enough for now. Going to go put my swollen, tired feet up and rest. Becca is napping and Lee's working in the yard, so I have a golden opportunity here. Stay tuned....the next post just may be THE ONE!!!