I Fink You Lub Me!

My kids are getting so conversational lately. It's a lot of fun bc I can sit and have a long detailed "talk" with them about all kinds of things and just hear them describe the world through their eyes and it is PRECIOUS! They are each starting to develop their own perpectives on life, different from mine and even different from each other.

For instance, Nicholas is very self-focused. He doesn't recognize anything going on around him except what he is doing or what is happening to him and everything is always "someone else's fault". Aubree, on the other hand, is very compassionate and also very aware of moods and people around her. She is the one who wants to make others "feel better". I would have just thought this was a boy vs girls difference but then along comes Annabelle and she is kind of a little of both. She seems much more aware of her environment like Aubree, but she is a lot more self-focused like Nicholas in that she only cares about those things that affect her. Of course, like ALL toddlers, they do all share the perspective that everything is supposed to make THEM happy so when it comes to things like playing and snacks and any other thing they want, it is all about what THEY want and they don't recognize that others have equal desires that conflict with theirs...so they all do still have that in common, even Aubree.

Well, lately Nicholas has started this....thing....where he will try to discreetly negotiate to get what he wants. For example, when he is supposed to be in bed, he will get up and come to us claiming "I have to tell you something!". If we ask what he has to tell us, he stands there trying to think of something to say until he comes up with it. It is always something like, "You're watching your show!" or "Is that a book?" or something like that (yeah, still needs to polish up those negoiation skills) but they are always just somehthing that helps him get that extra 12 seconds of time to be up. We got to where we do't even let him "tell us something" anymore, we tell him to go to bed and he can tell us in the morning. However, since I have been on bedrest the last few days, I have gotten weak and started letting him talk. Last night he came into the living room with that same claim, "I have to tell you something!". When I asked him what he had to tell me, he thought for a long moment then said, "I fink you lub me!" I just smiled at his precious serious expression. Then I pulled him into my lap and asked him why he think I love him and he said, "Because I'm a boy like daddy!" What I heard in that answer was that he thinks I love him because he is like his daddy. I must say, he is very perceptive. That is exactly why I love him! He is 1 part me, 1 part daddy and that, to me, is the BEST mix!! I will confess, he ended up staying up about 2 hours past bedtime after that. I was weak, daddy was out of town, I coldn't help it. :)

Just because I never want to forget...

Oh my goodness! My kids crack me up all the time but tonight they have been on a roll! So, first off:

In the car on the way home from church tonight, Nicholas and Aubree wanted to play with my phone. I told them no bc I am trying to put new limits on their iPhone/iPad play time now. To distract them, I told them to look outside and tell me what they see. They saw the cars, stores, lights, "green light means go....red light means stop! stop! stop!" and several other things they saw. Then they saw the moon and stars and they started talking about flying. Nicholas said "Jesus is flying in the sky." I asked him where Jesus was at and if he saw Him. He said he didn't that "Jesus is in His room." I asked him where Jesus' room was at and he said "It's on the moon!" I asked if it was inside the moon and he said (with attitude might I add) "NO! It's ON the moon!" OH! Well EXCUSE me for not knowing! :) Then Aubree said she wanted to fly to the moon to see Him. I told her to close her eyes and she could fly there and she looked at me with a very sad pouty face and said, "I can't" I asked "why not?" (my tone and face matching the sadness in her eyes) and she answered, "Because I don't have any pixie dust."

So that had me giggling (inwardly as I didn't want to offend her grief at being out of "pixie dust"- you see why we are limiting their tv/gadgets time now?) :)

(Ok, so this is totally not the picture from tonight, it's about 1 year old, but my, my my, look how they've grown!)

I was putting the kids down when Donny decided he wanted some Annabelle time so he got her out of bed. So that the twins wouldn't get upset, I laid in their bed with them for a little bit. Aubree asked, "Will you tell us a story about Jesus?" (They ALWAYS want me to tell them a story---which I usually just completely make up over the top funny stories about the adventures of Aubree, Nicholas and BelleBelle---and tonight they had their Wednesday night church class so she was a little more specific on the type of story)

I was thrilled, of course, so I started telling them about how Jesus "made everything but out of everything He made, His people are His very favorite! Just like NicNic has a favorite blankie!---What is NicNic's favorite blankie?" Both the twins shouted excitedly, "soccer blankie!!!" (He has a blanket with soccer balls on it and it is by FAR his favorite!) I said, "that's right! and that is his very favorite out of ALL his blankies! Just like the soccer blankie is NicNic's favorite, Jesus' favorite thing out of EVERYTHING He made is His people! He loves His people more than the sun and the moon and the trees and the animals!" Nicholas said, "and Jesus is in my heart!" I said, "yes, that's right! Becasue He loves you and you love Jesus so He is in your heart."

Then Nicholas tipped his chin to his chest and looked at his "heart" then grabbed at it with his hand pulling on his skin. He said, "Mommy, I want my heart to be bigger so Jesus can come out of it and play with me!" Oh, it made me giggle! I had to ask him to repeat it so he did. Then he asked, "When Jesus comes out of my heart He makes my heart bleeb." (translation: "BLEED") I smiled and said, "your heart bleebs?" He said, "Yes. It's too ouchie. It's ouchie when Jesus comes out of my hear. I want my heart to be bigger." I told him that "Jesus is very special and He can do very special things. He can be out of your heart and play with you AND stay in your heart and take care of you all at the same time!" I knew he wouldn't understand so I was already preparing a simpler answer but then realized I didn't need one when he just simply said, "Oh." and truly seemed content with that. It just made me realize how significant and profound are the simple verses telling us that we must be as children. How is it that a 3 year old understands something that my own educated mind has a hard time grasping!?

a bit about our miracle twins!!!

quick note (below is twins' story):
Hey everyone! So, I am working on putting together my first tutorial! The stink is that I don't have a camera right now so hopefully that will be resolved soon! I know...how can a mom with three babies NOT have a camera. Just another way that iPhones are taking over the world. They give you that sense that you don't need anything else! Well, I have come to see the deception in that! I DO need a camera!!! Soon...very soon. Anyways, as soon as I do, I will be able to complete the tutorials. I have been reviewing all my steps. Never thought it would be this complicated to simply explain how to do some of these simple things I do, but I think I am just too much a creature of detail! This is why I feel a good camera is so desperately needed I guess! :) So please "follow" my blog so you can not just get updates on tutorials, but also keep updated on all the amazing things going on in our lives here at the Wetzel house lately! Don't worry, I am a once or twice a month only blogger so I won't be loading you down crazy! sometimes though, it's nice to get your input and ideas for things. Ok, well I will get back with more on that soon!


Okay, so only a few people know about this but it's actually a pretty crazy story about the twins. It is pretty long but I tried to break it up with a few pictures. In March of 2008, Donny and I decided we were ready to start a family. We had been married just over a year and a half and all our friends and family were having babies so we decided we were ready to join that club. We did not tell anyone because it was just a personal decision between us and we decided that when we found out, it would be a surprise to everyone! One Sunday morning in early May, a good friend caught us after church sevice and said she needed to talk to me. I said ok and she (sort of hesitantly) said, "I had a dream that I really feel was from the Lord and in my dream you had twins". Knowing that this friend has been known to have a strong prophetic gifting, Donny laughed and said, "well, you need to go back and dream one." We all smiled at that but then her face became a bit more intent and she said, "well, maybe it had something to do with...double anointing or..." then she looked at me much more intently and said confidently, "no, you had TWINS."  Then she said she would continue praying about it and what it meant. Other than sharing that with my mom I did not think much more of it. I felt as most women that twins would be so much fun! But at the same time I just wanted a baby and felt 2 would just be crazy! they don't run in my family, I have no medical reasons for why they might occur, I did not have any reason to think I would actually have them.


It was only 2 weeks later that Donny and I found out we were having a baby!!! I am sorry to say that my dear husband had to find out via text message! I know! What can I say? I had all kinds of special ideas for how I would tell him when I found out and the moment I did...everything was out the window, even my senses and I sent him a text. (he was at work and rarely did his phone work) He did call me back not too much later so we were able to share in the excitement in that way for that moment. Almost immediately, my mom brought up our friend's words about twins. I thought about it for all of a moment but then it wasn't really about 2, it was just about a new baby!


Some time in mid-June, a dear friend of mine had her baby shower. At the baby shower, 2 other friends announced they were pregnant. I ended up keeping my secret for the simple fact of not making it "just another pregnant announcement". It was, however, at this baby shower that I started having an overwhelming feeling hat I was going to have twins. Strangely enough, though, several other expectant friends also kept saying they wanted twins or they thought they were going to have them so I pushed aside this thought thinking, ok, so EVERY pregnant woman sees double! and I am still convinced this is pretty accurate. Over the next 4 weeks or so, I prayed for my pregnancy EVERY morning and I just felt really strongly led to pray for "these two babies inside me" and I would always write in my journal about "these babies". I never told anyone though because I didn't want to end up being wrong and everyone think I was just "seeing double" too. Then...the day came for our ultrasound.


I was 10 weeks along and we were leaving that evening for our last family vacation in Florida and Donny was wanting me to postpone the appointment until after vacation, but I had already postponed it before bc of my birthday in July so I didn't want to. So, that morning, 8/8/08, we went to meet our doctor and see our little surprises for the first time. The ultrasound screen was turned towards my Doctor and nurse while me and Donny waiting, almost not breathing. The doctor smiled and pointed to the screen whispering something to the nurse. I asked, "is everything ok?". He smiled and said, "yes....REALLY good actually." Donny (always having to open his mouth) :) said, "as long as there isn't 2 or 3 in there, we're good." Doctor and nurse both laughed and turned the screen aound so we could see. He pointed to the 2 dark spots with beautiful little white spots inside and said, "well...there's one. and.....there's the other"


Here is the very picture that he took that day:

Left: Nicholas (Baby B) Right: Aubree (Baby A)

All I remember is being unable to stop smiling, staring at the screen then seeing Donny, a tear in his eye (yes I told everyone babe!) squeezing my hand and both of us unable to say ANYTHING! What was there to say? He checked their heartrates and said everything looked good and then Donny left the room. Later I found out he called and told his mom, who of course didn't believe him...in fact...probably didn't believe him until we arrived at her house with the ultrasound pictures. I conference called my entire family who were all waiting for us in Florida. The next person who found out was our realtor (haha! funny bc she just happened to call as soon as we left the hospital to let us know that we were going into escrow on our first home!-should'a went with a bigger house) :) After that, I just HAD to call my friend who knew it before it ever even happened!


Here's another U.S. pic taken on 9/5/08:

(For those who like to know: Baby B(Nicholas)- Head all the way to the left, body stretching out towards the right, Baby A(Aubree)- Head at B's feet and body slanting at a downward angle to the right.)

So...the pregnancy was great! Sickness during the first couple months (but, in fact, it was completely gone before I even knew it was twins) and of course I got HUGE!!! Close your eyes if you don't want to see this nasty shot from about 3 weeks before they were born. 

WARNING: it is a bare belly shot! I usually hate the bare belly stuff but as very few shirts even fit over my massive growth there at the end, bare belly shots were really all I could get that really showed what we were dealing with!

And...I just want to put this next one up so maybe I can be a bit redeemed after that one. This next one was actually taken about 9 weeks before they were born, but they are just much prettier than the previous one.

The end of January started all my pre-term troubles. Their actual due-date was March 5th. I had 4 labor-scares beginning January 25th but 2 turned out to be labor-inducing infections which antibiotics quickly stopped and 1 was me being on my feet too much and the last one was that at one of my regular NSTs (non-stress tests that I had to do twice a week in addition to my perinatologist visit AND my regular visit- for those counting that's 4...yes FOUR doctors visit PER WEEK---not to mention I lived just over an hour away) but anyways, at one of my regular NSTs, my sisters and neice and nephew had come with me and we were going to go shopping afterwards but the appiontment went REALLY late bc they had to monitor Aubree for an additional 2 hours (they usually do for 30 minutes) bc she was not moving. They ended up sending me to labor and delivery telling me that they were going to deliver within 3 hours. PANIC! My parents were in Switzerland and my husband was at work nearly 3 hours away! After being monitored in labor and delivery for an hour, they said Aubree was doing fine but Nicholas was not moving. UGH! Cooperate kiddos! Finally, after 7 hours of me moving and pushing my stomach and everything else I could do to get them to move, they discharged me! YAY! The twins would have been almost 7 weeks early had they been born at that point. WHEW! 

It wasn't until the morning of February 10th. My C-section was scheduled for February 19th and I thought they would come on the 11th. But on the 10th Donny and I had left the house to run errands. I just had the strangest feeling that they would be coming that day. I texted my mom to tell her to keep her phone close. She slightly panicked and told me to track them. Once I did, I realized contractions were 5 minutes apart though I could barely even feel them. The nurse I called told me to head on down since being twins put me at higher risk. Quickly they closed to 2 minutes apart but were still not very hard. A couple hours of monitoring and the on-call doctor admitted me. Here is an amazing miracle that anyone with Kaiser will understand: BOTH my doctor AND my perinatologist just so happened to be the 2 doctors on that day! CRAZY! So we were blessed that the babies were delivered by BOTH of our doctors!!! At 5:51pm, Aubree Faith was born and at 5:52pm, Nicholas William was born. Something about pugs and chic-fil-a....yeah, I don't remember but Donny swears that's what I was talking about while our babies were being born. The meds had me all loopy shaking so bad all I know is that I was freezing cold but I do remember the first cry. Then I remember waiting for the second and hearing it and I think that was the first time I let out a breath during that whole time! I remember the nurses calling out their weights: 6 pounds, 5 ounces for baby A (Aubree) and 6 pounds, 15 ounces for baby B (Nicholas). I remember the nurse at my side (there were 14 doctors and nurses in there total) telling me how she couldn't believe how big they were but the best part I remember was once they finish working on us all, they put the babies on me and wheeled me into recovery! Just the four of us, Donny and I swapping babies back and forth even though I cold hardly move. 

While in the recovery room, the nurse kept monitoring Nicholas and ended up sending him to the NICU with a lot of fluid in his lungs. We were there for about 2 hours waiting for a room to open up and finally we were sent to our room, Aubree laying at my side. We got to our room and I was able to see my mom for the first time. They did all of Aubree's checks and one of the nurses was just not happy about her oxygen levels. After a few more checks, Aubree was sent to the NICU. 

(Aubree Faith- this was actually taken when she was already about a week old bc she doesn't have the feeding tube in here)

(Nicholas William)

I thought surely they will check them and they will be back tonight. A new mom never thinks about the scary possibilities, even when you have been warned your babies are at risk for it. I was not able to see them until the next day when I was able to move enough to walk over to the NICU but Donny went over to get updates amost every hour throughout the night. The next 5 days were a struggle for our little angels. Back and forth kinda battle where they would be doing great and possibly coming home to where they were declining so rapidly that even the doctors expressed their uncertainties. I was discharged on the 4th day then finally on the 5th day, they had made enough progression that the doctors were certain they would be fine with just a bit of care. Nurses kept saying they would probably be 3-4 weeks and I was not too thrilled about that...of course! :) Every morning, me and Donny woke up at 6am and made the hour long drive to the hospital and we sat in there with the babies until 9pm (only leaving to grab lunch and occasional snacks in the vending machines) and then made the hour long drive back home to sleep and do it all again in the morning. Donny took that time off work so that he could be with us! (We were so blessed to only have to do that for ten days. There were two families in the NICU whose children were 6months and 9 months and had been in there since birth! :~(   Well, Aubree began making rapid improvements and on February 20th around 7am, we got the blessed call! We were on our way down and were told that Aubree would be coming home that day and Nicholas would probably be ready in another day or two. We were ecstatic! We got there and were soon told that after Nicholas' last check, it was possible that he too might come home with his sister! 

That evening after ridiculously extensive discharge processes and brief training on how to care for pre-term babies, they finally were able to come home with us!!! The next day my mom and sister came over to see them and took this picture:

Anyways, so that is the story of the twins and now we are getting reasy to celebrate their THIRD birthday! It's just crazy to me! I am so happy the Lord blessed us with them and so proud of everything they have become in these short three years and will continue to become all their days! I am amazed at how the Lord has worked in mine and Donny's lives through them and they have no idea the ministry that they have alrady conducted! They are so completely His and always will be and for that I am so grateful! Here's one for the road!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!

So...potty training right? The last few days I have been working with Aubree.

She has really been wanting to for several months now but we have just been way too busy to make that kind of committment so I kept putting it off. Finally, 3 days ago, I decided I would just buckle down and get to business so we have been working on it. She has been really good at asking to go for several weeks now so I knew I already had a head start there. Since she is going to be 3 in only 1 month from tomorrow, she will be moving to the "big kid class" at church and I am sure they are not going to want to be changing her diapers (they will already have Nicholas to change bc in NO WAY will he even consider sitting on the potty.)

So anyways, she has not had a wet diaper since we started save waking up in the mornings. She still had not done the Big Business until about a half hour ago...well, so I am hoping. I finally let her put on some "big girl panties" since she was doing so good. She put them on and we went about our business around the house. I was in my bedroom and she comes running bare-booty in the room with a diaper. I asked if she wanted to wear a diaper and she said es. When I asked why she didn't want to wear the "big gil panties" she said, "I just need my diaper". I figured she must have to "do the Big Business" so I went to put the diaper on when I saw she had some poopy smudges on her bottom. ---oh dear...

I asked her if she went poopy and she said yes. I asked her where her panties were, assuming she had pooped in them somewhere. She pointed to Nicholas in the corner of the room. I realized he was trying to put those same panties on. (!!!!!!!!!!!panic!!!!!!) I told him to stop! I went and took them from him but realized they were completely clean. -uh-oh- that means she must have pooped on the floor somewhere. I began the hunt using her as a type of hunting dog. "Aubree, where is your poopy?" she kept saying she pooped in the potty. I knew she couldn't have all on her own so I figured she must think she is going to get n trouble so didn't want to tell me. I just kept trying to get her to tell me. She led me all over the house saying, "I can't fiiiiiind you, where are you...." (what we say when we look for things).

So we continue our hunt until we have searched every room finding nothing. I am, at this point, becoming amazingly impressed that her first Big Business, she did all on her own. I get down at eye level with her and say, "Ok, Aubree. You are not in trouble. Mommy just wants to clean it, so I need you to show me where your poopy is." She smiles at me and takes my hand and takes me into the bathroom. She opens the lid to the potty and says, "it's in here". I just hug her and tell her what a good job she did. So then, we go into the living room and I turn on Finding Nemo. I start typing on here as they are watching it. Nicholas starts jumping around the room when suddenly he yells and starts crying. I look over at him and he is walking funny, holding his right foot toes up and walking only on his heel. I asked what was wrong and he yells crying, "I got Aubree's poop on my toes. Mommy get it off!!!!! Mommy get it off!!!!!" I just start busting up laughing. Aubree is looking at me waiting to get in trouble and Nicholas is in hysterics. I clean his foot then take him back and ask him where he stepped on it. He showed me and there were only 3 thick smudges. I clean it up (luckily we have tile so it's pretty easy) and then we start the hunt all over again. We never found any other spots so hopefully I won't discover them later the same way Nic did. :) Needless to say, I explained to Aubree that I am proud of her for doing so good on her own, but she still needs to tell mommy when she goes potty so I can help.

Ok, so that story just made me think of how we are with God sometimes. He teaches us to do something and then suddenly we feel we are good enough to just take over and go at it. We feel we are ready and usually with good intentions. He holds our hand telling us, "you're not quite ready yet" but still we let go and start doing things on our own. We feel we already know the process and the way to do things so that should be good enough. We take the Holy Spirit out of the equation forgetting that he trumps all processes and no matter how much training or even experience we have, NOTHING will succeed in bringing glory to the Father without the Spirit's guidance. We will end up just making a mess of things. And usually it will affect others too! (our mess will get all over those who are closest to us) haha! How crazy the things I can pull out of this funny story. But it is so true! I love the things th eLord taches me through my chidren. Not only things about parenting and love, but also these funny little experiences that make me think of how the Father must look at us. I imagine Him sometimes looking down at me with a smile and just shaking His head thinking, "oh my goodness child." Just the same way I did with Aubree. I wasn't upset at her, but still had to teach her that she can't go without my help. She understands that now.

Ok, so I have been going back and forth on my first post of the new year! I have actually written out a few different ones so I am going to just combine them all and post them below. Happy New Year everyone!
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So, I want to have a new year's resolution but I have never been a big resolution-maker. A diet resolution is unavoidably disastrous for me! In fact, I think my brain was programmed to translate "diet" into "chocolate", so I really don't even understand the difference between the two. Other people like to set their resolutions around things like being kinder to people, speaking to people more, travelling...things like that. Well, my whole family would BEG me not to do anything that has to do with speaking more, I already have a tendency to stare complete strangers down until they make eye contact just so I can open up about my whole life story. A grocery cart just doubles the threat because then I can trap them in the aisle. So, I am not going to get any more ambitious in that area. I am pretty sure most everyone that knows me considers me a kind person. (at least I like to think that) :) so maybe I could go for the travelling. I do have a new reason to visit Hawaii. (if anyone ever even needs a "new reason" to go somewhere like that) haha! well, last year was my first year to make a resolution and I must say, it was the best I ever could have made and it was 100% successful! Maybe I will just retire from resolution-making while I am winning.

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-Doesn't that sound orca-ish?- ok, so listening to Dory speak whale is a bit distracting for me.
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So, January always seems to be such a significant month for me. Obviously it's significant as the firstfruit of our year, but for some strange reason HUGE things always seem to happen in January.  ( it was in January -year 2001- that my family prayed about something huge and then quickly received a new mandate on our lives...to move from Atlanta, Ga to the southern California desert) and each January from then on seems to have had something big happen. The last couple of January's particularly have been the MOST significant of my life by FAR! 2 years ago on January 5th, a beautiful and dear friend last graced this earth with her presence and first graced Heaven with her smile! It was only a few days later that I first laid eyes on my precious little Annabelle...of course, at that time, she was in black and white blur on a small monitor and I didn't even know if she was a she at all. Then January 4th last year marked what is most likely in the top 3 significant days of my entire life! God revealed a new calling on our family's life and changed the course we were on! Proving once again how PERFECT His timing is, Donny shortly after ran out of jobs at work and remained unemployed almost consistently until the end of the year allowing time for us to focus on this new calling and truly take the time to seek after the fullness of God's purpose in it. Now...here we are...January again. Makes me wonder what is going to happen this month! And...if nothing happens, how that will signify significance and what God would have me see in that! Don't you know God is ALWAYS speaking? Even in His silence, He has MUCH to say! I just pray that I will ALWAYS understand what He has to say to me! I just want to know Him so deeply that I am right there on every thought of His, soaking in every smile, clinging to every move of His hand! Well, here's to January!
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Ok, so those are the things I had written out over the last week and a half. There was one more as well but I am thinking it will do for a later time as I never was able to finish it. I am going to leave you all with some pictures of me and my family! We are so glad to have another year pass by leaving us all healthy and happy!

Family notes:
Aubree and Nicholas will be 3 on February 10th.

(I will most likely write up around then about the highlights of the twin pregnancy and delivery remembering that blessed time!)
Aubree is getting so beautiful and sweet. She's turned into quite the little mommy. Sometimes even to a fault. She tries to defend her brother and sister even to me sometimes. I have to emind her that she may be the "pretend mommy" but I am the REAL mommy. But she is the best kid with correction and instruction. A lot like my older sister inthe way that she does not like to get in trouble so she will try to avoid being naughty most of the time. She also has an impeccable memory. Don't ever tell her something you don't intend to be held accountable for bc she will not forget it. (I hear that is very much a girl thing.)
Nicholas on the other hand

has become quite my little trouble maker. He is too smart for his own good. He has started figuring out how to REASON and even debate. Maybe if he were quite a bit older, but in this house, 3 year olds are not allowed to reason or debate, only to obey. So even though we are working on him with that, he does continue to impress us with his intelligence. He has not yet met a toy or gadget he can't figure out how to operate and he rarely encounters a problem he can't work out a resolution for. It's just weird that at so young, you can just watch his face turn intent as he mentally processes the problem, then he will concentrate on it until he firgures it out...well, unless he is too tired, then he does turn whiny until you figure it out for him.
They are both communicating so well. They even have full and understandable dialogues with each other. I will just sit and listen as Aubree explains soemthing to him and he corrects her (bc he is a perfectionist and everything must be conveyed perfectly accurately) and then they will talk about things they want to do. They make up their own games and play them. A lot of people talk about "twin talk" and they have never really done that very much as far as having "their own language" but they do converse with each other constantly. They are lost without each othe most of the time, even when they are mad at each other.
Annabelle is getting to be such a big girl. She is 17 months and almost 25 pounds and in the 90%ile for her height. By the end of this year, I predict she will be as tall as Aubree. She is already wearing 2T clothes that are a little tight on her. (not all of them, but certain brands are). She is my strongest personality out of the 3. She can say a few words like, mommy, daddy, ball, cookie, no, yes, chicken and "oh toooooodles!!!!"- from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse- but other than that, she doesn't say many other words, but you ALWAYS get her meaning. She does not tolerate the twins picking on her in any way. She is the sweetest little cuddle bug though. Pretty much the instant you pick her up, she lays her head on your shoulder (even if she is not tired) and just lays there. A total tease to her personality.

Don't you love these little leggies!!!

As for Donny and me, well, we are still waiting for the house to sell, Donny is back to work consistently and I am getting used to being a domestic part-time working mom again. (ok, so not so much for the domestic-although I did make a chicken recipe I just threw together in an attempt to become a cook and apparently it worked bc, at Donny's request, we have now had it 3 times in the last week. I am a little sick of it to be honest but if anyone is interested, it is super easy. I wrote the recipe below if interested.) Anywaysm we are all doing great and so ready for 2012!!!

Ok, so that is all for this super long post today! Enjoy these pics of the last year!

OrangeJuice/SalsaMix Chicken Recipe:
>>You just boil about 3c of orange juice (I like pulp, donny doesn't) with about a half tsp of H&H Brand Salsa Seasoning, HOT and let it reduce. Brown 3Chicken breasts on both sides in olive oil. Then put the chicken breasts in the boiling juice while you sautee 2 onions in the oils from the chicken. Get them good and brown/black and super limp and they are PERFECT! Then put the chicken on the sauteed oinions and spread the onions all over the breasts. Then pour the orange juice over the breasts and let simmerfor about 30 minutes until it becomes a glaze. Super fantastic! And my husband, being a gourmet cook himself and a VERY tough food critic even said it is the second best chicken he's had! woohoo!

Kids can be crazy!

Things happen daily that make me think, Oh, life with twins and today was one of those days. For starters, Aubree has been potty training for....hmmm....let's see....I think it's ummm, 16 months now??? :) Well, okay so that's kinda the thing. At 16 months, she started showing an interest in potty training (I think bc her  cousin Chloe (2 years older than her) went "potty" and she wants to be like her) so we got a potty and started- not consistently, more just to get her used to it- taking her potty every once in a while. This was a GENIUS idea, or so I thought, bc I was due with their little sister 2 months later. Well, turns out that getting them used to the potty just makes it another "toy" in their life but really...what can ya do? I had 2 one year olds and was about to pop with another! I figured, oh, when they wanna go, they'll go. Well, for the last year that is pretty much how we have handled it and though they are not potty trained, they go occasionally and they do just fine...until recently. Aubree has decided that when she wants to go potty, she "want[s] Nick Nick to watch me". Oh my goodness! You would think having shared a womb, sharing beds, sharing toys, (some) clothes, carseats, bedrooms, birthdays, etc., a girl would want SOME space, but NO! She's gotta take the one most private and personal time she will ever have, and "share" it with her twin. Okay, but even more is that Nicholas likes to sit there and talk to her and wait for her to finish. Okay, gonna need some serious intervention here! Those 2 are so crazy!

So, speaking of sharing, my family is most giving during the cold/flu season. 2 rounds with Aubree, 2 with Belle and (thankfully) only 1 with Nicholas. You know how people always say that men are the worst sick people! A woman can be nearing her death bed she's so sick and you would never know bc she is still up taking care of kids, the house, making dinner, and just dealing with everything that must be dealt with even though she feels like c**p (that was kinda fun beeping that out) :) but then a man gets a little chest cold and hell shakes beneath our feet disrupting every aspect of life until he is better. (And of course most all wives have heard the, "yeah, but when I'M sick I'm REALLY sick" from them...bc when WE are sick, aparnetly we are not REALLY sick...ok, off track)

Well, here is a benefit to having boy and girl twins. I have them from birth to observe and study (and believe me, I HAVE) and so many things just stand out about the differences between boys and girls. For one, this sickness issue.

 Exmple 1: Aubree is born, 1 minute later Nicholas. Approximately 1 hour later, Nicholas is taken into the NICU bc of too much fluid in his lungs and respiratory problems. Aubree sucks it up (literally) and deals with it for as long as possible even trying to fake her way to health until a VERY observant nurse just doesn't "get it" and sends her to the NICU where they discover that she has all the same problems as Nicholas, but they are even worse! (point 1: boys want to be pampered, girls would rather suck it up and take care of themselves!---PROVEN!)

Example 2: Twins are approximately 5 months old. Nicholas starts coughing, I realize he is sick. He wines and is gripey and snotty and cough-y all day long. We end up calling doctor who sets him up on a nebulizer with antibiotics. I get home and play with Aubree bc I feel bad she has been nearly ignored bc of Nickle's sickness. While playing, I realize she has a little snot too. I start watching her and realize that she quietly coughs every now and then and also has congestion sounds when she breathes. I felt horrible I had not noticed sooner that she was also sick. (point 2: boys will exaggerate their symptoms to get attention and sympathy, girls remain quiet and continue to do what is expected of them without complaint---PROVEN!)

Example 3: Aubree and Nicholas are approximately 18 months. Aubree is laying on the floor on her stomach watching a movie. Daddy tells Nicholas to sneak up on Aubree so he does...let me re-phrase...he runs full speed and JUMPS on top of her full force knocking his head into hers *BANG!*. They both immediately jump up grabbing their heads, Aubree looking at mommy with a horrified expression, Nicholas screaming and crying. I look at them both and say, "it's okay" and Aubree looks at me, calms down still holding her head and sits back down to watch her show while Nicholas, still screaming, comes to mommy crying, "MOMMY MY OUCHIE! KISS IT! MY OUCHIE!" I kiss it and he still cries another minute asking 2 more times for me to kiss it again before he quiets down then turns to me and says, "Aubree hit my ouchie!" (point 3: girls get pain, they process it, they deal with it, it's over...boys get pain, they complain about it, they show it off for the sake of sympathy, they ask for attention, they use it as an excuse and then they blame it on someone else!---PROVEN!)

So, obviously this is scientific so it should go into some science records book somewhere.

Every family has some sort of system of operations they automatically go by, usually it has something to do with seniority or something like that? Well, since seniority doesn't really work so well in the instance of twins, our family works a bit different. It all has more to do with humor here. This is cool bc it gives Annabelle an equal opportunity to be at the top of that system of operations (that sounded kind of official so I just wanted to use the phrase again- in fact, I think I'm gonna make it official....NOW! add that to the science record book---dang! gotta find a location for that book) anyways, so the last few days have not been her day at the top bc she has been teething as well as she is sick with a fever and all so...kinda been at the bottom. Anyways, today she got a bit of a start- I told Aubree that Annabelle's mouth was "ouchie" (she has a sore throat) so Aubree looked at Annabelle and opened her mouth wide and said , "Belle Belle, say 'AHHHHHHHH'" so Belle Belle complied and said, "AH!" and Aubree did it all again and Belle Belle complied again. Well, a giggling Aubree went for a third shot at it and said, "Belle Belle, say 'AHHHHHHHH'" and as soon as she did, Annabelle reached her fist up to aubree's mouth and shoved it full force right into Aubree's throat! **Take THAT Dr. Aubree!**** (she may not have SAID those words, but she meant every one of them!) :) ***Please note that no children were harmed during this***

Okay, so a long day in a long week in a VERY short year...how is that even possible?

Meet My Kids!

Meet Aubree Faith!!!

My beautiful princess, blonde hair and green/gray eyes. (strange) and the oldest (by 1 minute) Wetzel baby.

 

Aubree has always been the lively, bubbly and energetic one. She did everything MUCH sooner than her twin brother. She was rolling over at 4 months and crawling at 6 months and always motivated and on the run. She continues being that little bubble of energy now at 2 1/2 years and I don't imagine her slowing down any time in the near (or distant) future!

Aubree was born on February 10, 2009 at 5:51pm. Although she was a twin AND 4 weeks early, she was still a whopping 6lb 5 oz and 19.5" long. Even though she was only 4 weeks early, she still spent 10 days in the NICU with her brother. Initially she had many more complications than her brother, but ever the fighter, she quickly improved so much that we thought we might end up taking her home before her brother was able to come with us. (Luckily, they ended up being released the same day) She has always LOVED her "Nick-Nick" even before she was able to move or talk. When they were only a few months old, she would always end up laying on TOP of him and laughing at him and hitting him in the face as he cried and cried. She just always has enjoyed being right with him. Even now, if he goes somewhere without her or visa versa, she constantly asks and cries for him. He is her BEST friend! It is pretty amazing the attachment she has to him actually because of all my kids, she is definitely the most independent as far as she prefers to be left to do things herself. She won' even let me help her get dressed most of the time because she wants to "do by myself". She likes to do things that make her feel like a "big girl". She is always making a mess of herslef too. She is definitely no sidelines girl, she is the one in the middle of the action. She is not ver coordinated yet though so right now it is just more fun to watch her try but failure does NOT get this one down! Aubree is the girl who tries and tries and tries until she succeeds and she has fun the whole time. She likes to figure things out herself and if it's wrong and I try to help her, she backs away from me and says, "I do by mysef" and she will stop for a momen then get right back at it until she firgures it out. I LOVE her persistence! Aubree also has a very sweet temperament too. People always think she is probably my "difficult child" because of how busy she always is and hyper and all, but she is actually my easiest child BY FAR because she has such a sensitivity to her. She does NOT like to get in trouble. While her brother will test boundaries at times, Aubree is the one who, the moment she sees you coming in, she will panic for fear of getting disciplined. She is very sweet and likes to love on you when she is upset. She also has an OBSSESSION with her older (by 2 years) cousin, Chloe. If I ever can't get her to do or wear something, all I have to say is, "[this] is like Chloe" and immediately she is on it! I love my little spirited princess. Her "princess match" (because I come from a family of mostly girls and it is IMPERATIVE that all the girls have a "princess match") is Rapunzel bc they are both the freckle-faced blondes but I love that she really is the Tangled version of Rapunzel in that she is quite awkward and clumsy but beautiful and spirited and fun! She is such a moma's girl too! (that's my FAVORITE part!)




Next...meet the MAN! Nicholas William

 Nicholas, Nickle Pickle, Nick-Nick...but if you call him "Nickle Pickle" he will say, "no! Nick Nick" or "No! Nicholas!" This handsome guy might be a bit shy, but don't let that fool you, this man is POWER!

Nicholas is my 2nd-born (by 1 minute) but there is a reason he came AFTER his sister...that's because he was building for his grand entrance. He didn't want anyone coming after him because he wanted to be the last one you saw and, therefore, remember most!

Born at 5:52pm o February 10, 2009 at a whopping 6lb15oz, Nicholas was very quiet and shy as a baby and still has a lot of those reserved mannerisms but he is truly become one of the smartest toddlers many people say they have met. He is a very observant and intellectual kid. It's crazy the process of thought I can see he has. His twin sister is very smart as well but there is something different and unique about the way Nicholas' mind works. He processes things the way an adult does as far as being able to deduce and reason and I have NO IDEA how he can do it. I never thought such young children were even capable of doing stuff like that. He plays computer/phone/iPad games but not just like playing around on them, he actually WINS most complicated games. His memory is AMAZING! If you show him something once, he will never forget it. It seems constantly Aubree is coming to me for help with something and I always say, "go ask Nicholas to help you" and he immediately goes and does whatever she needs (tv channels turned to her show, phone unlocked and game pulled up, breaking through locks, etc). He can remember lock patterns and number patterns even though he can't count past 17 (yeah I know, it's kinda random number but he just loses interest around there) :)  and he likes to make stacks and can figure out how to balance off-shaped items in ways I even sometimes have troubles with. There is another side to this amazing mind...he is STUBBORN! Oh! Goodness! I knew it would come back to me. If I heard it once I've heard it a thousand times..."he's just like his momma". Yes! This boy may be smart and may be shy, but he knows EXACTLY what he wants and he will WORK you until he gets it...THANK YOU JESUS You have given him a momma who is MORE stubborn than he is and will see to it that his stubbornness does not rule the house but this boy has no idea how close he is to out-lasting me sometimes! :) (and he will never know) 

Nicholas is the man of the house when daddy's out but when daddy is in, he is right under daddy's wing every step. Since the moment he was born he has been nothing more than he has been a daddy's boy. -no matter how much I tried to get my momma's boy, it was never meant to be! His daddy just soaks it up too. Before I was able to go into the NICU to see them, my mom and husband went in there and came back to tell me about them and my mom said that they were standing around and my mom was talking sweetly to Nicholas and he just laid there but then his daddy came over and said something and immediately Nicholas's face turned towards Donny, his hazy newborn eyes searching out the familar voice. That is the story of NickNick's life now.

And then of course, Annabelle Jayde!!!!

Let's just look at her for a minute........how can you stop smiling at this one? My baby!

You look at these pictures and think to yourself...aw! She seems like a sweet little soft most squeezable little baby, right? WRONG! I wouldn't try that if I were you. :) She may be a baby doll on the outside, but this little girl will NOT sit there like a portrait to be stared at and "oooohed and aaahhhhed" over. She is a feisty little tank who works to sucker her victims in with her pretty long-lash-lined green eyes, her pitiful little stare then she will get whatever she wants!

Tread carefully with this one. She didn't come 18months after TWINS for no reason! (and she wasn't a NINE POUND baby for nothing!) She was sent on a mission from God! On August 18, 2010, our surprise 9lb, 20" baby, BelleBelle (as the twins began calling her in the womb and she remains BelleBelle even now) came sweetly and quietly into our lives making us believe that all those who said "you'll have your hands full" didn't know what they were talking about. The girl hardly did ANYTHING but sleep and smile and I think she even winked at me on occasion as if saying, "I got this, I'll take care of you mom". Well......let's skip ahead! 6 teeth came in at about 5 months (CRAZY since my other 2 didn't even cut their first tooth til after 10 months and only had 2 teeth until they were about 13 months) and started rolling over at 2...Yes! TWO months old and crawling...okay, she crawled at 6 months, so that's not so out of the ordinary, and walking at 10 months, so that's early but not unusually, but HEY! You just gotta know this little spit-fire to know! Annabelle is whatever every 18-months-younger-than-my-twin-siblings is gonna have to be to survive! From the day she was born, the thing I get told most is, "WOW! She is BEAUTIFUL!" She has such a soft and just PRETTY face and always a smile on it, even when she cries. Kinda sad when I just smile at her tears because I have never seen a more beautiful crying face. BelleBelle is going to be my tall (she is quite a lengthy child) sophisticated and elegant beauty. She has a little bit of a stubborn streak herself (nothing like her big brother's thank goodness) but in such a way that if she has something and, say AUBREE, takes it away from her, she will look at Aubree and yell at her. If Aubree gives it right back to her, she will not take it, rather, she will follow Aubree around the room yelling at her and then come to me with a pitiful devastated cry as if she had tried to "talk it over" with Aubree and correct Aubree's misbehavior and Aubree wouldn't listen. It's so funny to watch her interact with her older brother and sister. I don't think it even occurs to her that they don't understand what she is saying, or for that matter, that she isn't even as big as they are. This little one is going to be my little "boss". Aubree is a strong personality but has never been very bossy, although she likes people to play what she is playing, she is always willing to play what others want to play...Nicholas is always the child playing on his own by his own choice, if others come to play with him, he sometimes will get up an leave to be on his own...but ANNABELLE, she is the one who COMMANDS attention and is going to make sure they hear her and OBEY! :) She will be the one calling the shots!

***EDIT 4/24/12--- So much has changed I see since I wrote this! Reading it I am thinking, Annabelle was like that??? I mean, most of it is still the same but now, at 20 months I am thinking back and realizing what a good thing I wrote this because she has changed o much that I didn't even remember soe of these things until I just read it. For instance, her face "always a smile on it"??? Haha! the thing all our close friends and family know most about Belle is that she is the "serious" girl.  She always has a straight face and is constantly giving everyone a very judgemental scowl and furrowing her brow with a puckered frown. My mom says I was the exact same way when I was little. Never smiled and just always serious. It cracks me up! When she does smile and laugh, it is the sweetest cutest thing ever but typically, even when she is happy, she just has a serious face. She will intentionally jold it too. If you try to make her smile she will stare at you intently and occasionally slightly almost lose her composure with the hint of a smile but then reinforce the frown with a deeper one. Anyways, just wanted to mention the change inthe last 7 months***

So these are my amazing little angels and a little bit into their personalities! I am amazed every day at how creative and wonderful my Lord is and how it shows through my little babies. How can 3 babies with the very same parents growing up in the same place at the same time with all the same influences around them turn out so different (in appearance AND personality)! Not only that, but they all fit so perfectly together so stretegically that only He could have masterminded such a perfect blend. Had we stopped after the twins and not had Belle, we would not have had our little bubbly and lively decision-maker and had eaither of the twins not come then the other would never have turned out the way they are. 

Oh, and btw, please forgive all the ridiculous typos everywhere! It's REALLY late and this is the first blog I've ever written. :)