The Dojo's Newest Members

The Dojo is proud to welcome it's 2 newest members - Kate & Elle Burns. Tyler and I are the proud parents of these 2 little girls, born early in the morning on September 3rd. Aren't they lovely??

I started having contractions around 8pm on Wednesday and after a call to the doctor, reported to the hospital, thinking I'd most likely get sent home. Wrong! When they told us they'd scheduled me for a C-Section, I think both our mouths dropped open. And so Ellerson Anne came into the world at 12:16am weighing 5lbs 9oz and measuring 18 3/4" long, followed by Kathryn Madison at 12:17am, weighing 5 lbs 15 oz and measuring 19" long. It was all so surreal and hard to believe that the 2 little ones I'd been carrying for 37 weeks were finally here! Elle was able to come with me right away, but Kate had to go to the transition nursery for just a little while, as her little lungs adjusted. But she was quickly released and our family of two suddenly became a family of 4. Plus Lily, who we cannot leave out, even if she's not getting much attention these days!

I can hardly believe they are already 1 month old. The first several weeks were tough, but worth it. We continue to fall in love with our two sweet girls each day. And they really are such good babies. They are noisy sleepers, which took this mom some getting used to, but they sleep and eat well and don't cry much at all (hopefully I didn't just jinx us). They are starting to get little personalities already - Miss Kate looks just like her daddy and is already exhibiting his crazy sense of humor. And sweet Elle looks more like me and seems quite introspective and focused like her mom. It's kind of amazing to see already - we'll see if they stay that way!

They have their one month checkup tomorrow - hopefully they will get an excellent report. They've been eating like champs, so here's hoping their weight is up!

As we adjust to this new, crazy life of raising twins, we are so thankful that God chose us to be their parents. And we are exceedingly thankful for our families, who have been SO wonderful and supportive. Here's to the craziness of daily life with twins, hopefully not a crazy mom, and a dad who loves all 3 of his girls so well.


As many faces as she makes, Kate would not make a different one when I was trying to take her picture. She smiles so much!
















Elle is voguing.














Dad and Kate













Mom and Elle

Wonder Twin Powers - Activate!

I can hardly believe our girls' are almost here! In one week and one day, if they haven't decided to come on their own yet, we'll be meeting them for the very first time. I can't really wrap my head around it. We are both so excited and also so nervous at the same time. Or maybe I'm a little more nervous. Unless Tyler just hides it really well. :)

I totally had a dream last night that I forgot about one of the babies while I was feeding the other and then I couldn't remember which one I fed. Let's hope this dream does not come true or heaven help us.

I'm currently 36 weeks and 4 days and the girls' are weighing in at 5 lbs 12 oz and 6 lbs even. Those measurements of course could be off, but apparently we're going to have some big twins! Everything is looking good in the ultrasounds and they are definitely kicking around in there. Mostly on my bladder, which is really awesome.

Tyler has been working like a champ around the house trying to get everything as ready as we can for them. He's working like a champ at his actual place of employment too, so I know he is so tired, but he just trucks right along and has been the greatest through all this. If only he would stop talking in weird pitched voices to the girls' so they will actually recognize his voice when they come out. He sounds a little like a drag queen sometimes, which I must say is infinitely amusing to me.

So all this to say - babies' arrival is just around the corner and here's hoping we have some semblance of a clue as to what to do when they get here! Regardless, we can't wait to meet them.

Babies and Butterflies

A few weekends ago, Tyler and I headed out of town to Pine Mountain, GA to meet up with some dear friends of mine from Auburn. It was a combo reunion weekend/baby shower and we had a great time. It was full of babies - and not just the two in utero - but also a precious little girl and boy belonging to 2 of my friends. We had a great time hanging out, talking, eating and going to Callaway Gardens. Of course we picked the hottest weekend of the year, but we still saw birds of prey and butterflies and everyone was a trooper. Except me who kept having to sit down because I was so dang hot. The ugly, red-faced, sweat pouring down my face, might throw up, kind of hot. It was so attractive. I wish you all could have been there. Tyler had fun playing with all the kiddos, as he himself, is a big kid. He's going to be the greatest dad. And you'll also see some of his artsy butterfly/nature photos below. A renaissance man, he is.

We had a great time and I'm so thankful for great friends - even if I don't get to see them nearly as much as I'd like!

Somewhere, this picture exists with all of us looking at the camera. I have no idea where though.











The butterfly garden has a tropical jungle climate to keep all the butterflies happy. This feels totally awesome when it's 98 degrees outside. I had been in there before, so I sat outside on the cool bench, while Tyler took pictures. It's like I was right there with him. :)














Yes, we are models. And we do our little turns on the catwalk.

The Burns' Girls get Showered

The Burns' Girls were proud recipients of a shower hosted by 2 of their most favorite people this weekend. They were super excited about all of the wonderful gifts they got and can't wait to try them out when they make their grand entrance in September. Or at least this is what they would say were they, you know, not still hanging out in my belly. But I know it's what they're thinking.

We had a bunch of family come in town to celebrate with us. We had a great time visiting with all of them and being together. Below are a few pictures from the festivities. A special shout out to Brenda and Kristin for being the best hostesses a girl could ask for.

Brenda, Me & Kristin. And yes, I'm wearing a crown.












Me and Mom, a.k.a., "Mimi".


















My 2 grandmothers, soon to be great-grandmothers! Nana on the left and Gabby on the right.

















That's the baby daddy to the left and my dad, one of the future grandfathers, on the right. He has yet to choose a name for himself. However, I can't judge as we have yet to choose names for the girls'. So I'll just blame him for my indecisiveness. :)













Tyler's grandmother on the left and mom on the right. MeMaw and Coco.
















The Burns' Girls aunt's and father, who appears to be doing his best Zoolander impersonation.












Get it? Aren't we funny? Wait, I don't hear you laughing.

The Burns' Girls

Well, as most of my blog readers know already, we are expecting twins! My apologies for the huge delay in actually blogging about it. In my defense, I couldn't find the cord that hooked our computer to the printer so I could scan some ultrasound pics in. Now, I have no defense but laziness as I found said cord but still haven't scanned them in. When I do, I will post! Until then, here's a picture of me with my dear friend, Kelley, who's expecting her little boy any day now! This picture is about 3 weeks old and let me tell you, the belly has GROWN since then. This was at about 18 weeks.

Tyler and I are excited and overwhelmed and so thankful for these 2 little blessings! I've started to feel them move around which is so cool and also a little freaky. So far, Tyler hasn't been able to feel them, despite my repeating "THERE! Did you feel that???" over and over again. Weird how it doesn't work like that.

So far, they are doing well and we pray that they continue to grow and develop and stay healthy. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to hear the heartbeats, which is always so fun and reassuring.

We have tons of stuff to do before the little squirts arrive, starting with registering this weekend. I'm not gonna lie, I'm afraid of Babies R Us. It makes me sweat a little bit. But our super cool friend, Brenda, is coming along to stop any meltdowns and help us navigate the craziness that is the baby superstore. Brenda, I promise not to cause any scenes. I can't make any promises for Tyler though. The guy's a loose cannon.

So anyway, I *hope* to be blogging more frequently as we take this journey towards meeting our 2 girls. I know I've said that before, but hopefully this time, I actually mean it. That kind of makes this entry a cliffhanger, doesn't it? Sweet.

If You're Going to San Francisco...

Please be sure to pack a raincoat.

Ha - you thought I was going to say wear flowers in your hair, didn't you? I like to keep you guessing. But you can wear flowers in your hair if you want. You'd fit right in.

Tyler and I took a trip to San Francisco to celebrate our 5th anniversary/my upcoming birthday on which I will celebrate the 9th anniversary of my 21st birthday. We had a great time.


Some highlights:

The Chinese New Year parade (apparently one of the top 10 parades in the world - had no idea). Then, eating at a restaurant in Chinatown. Let me just say, it is fly by the seat of your pants when you're picking a restaurant in Chinatown. It was slightly scary, yet strangely exhilarating. There are some interesting things hanging in the windows. And fried rice in Chinatown is not the same as fried rice at PF Chang's. Or wherever you like to get your Chinese food. Not bad, just different.











































Meeting an old friend for the day and getting a super tour of San Fran and seeing the redwoods. The redwoods are gorgeous! I'm so glad we got to see them. And apparently, Muir Woods is where the Ewoks in Star Wars lived. Well, I mean, not for real - but that's where it was shot. All my Star Wars friends (ahem, Brenda) will appreciate that. :)






































Driving to Sonoma to visit wine country. It is BEAUTIFUL there. I think I could stay there for a week and just sit on a porch in a rocking chair and read. We went to a few wineries, where Tyler, my non-wine loving husband, developed an appreciation for it. Way to go, honey! We ate a delicious lunch in little historic downtown Sonoma. I think Tyler said it was the best burger he ever had. High praise, coming from him.







































We also took a ferry ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. It was flipping cold, but it was still fun and we got a lot of good pics. The Golden Gate Bridge is quite impressive and it made me hum the theme song to Full House whenever I saw it. Which is always fun. I think Tyler and I sang it all the way through while driving across it.



















































And speaking of Full House, on a totally unrelated note, please watch this link and tell me it made you cringe and laugh as much as I did. I could do a whole post about Full House. But I digress.

So, clearly we had a great time in San Francisco. I'm actually headed back out to the left coast for work tomorrow - it's no vacation, but I'll take a trip to LA over sitting at my desk anyday!

Snow!

I'm really doing an excellent job with my New Year's resolution about keeping up my blog. Thanks for pointing that out, Michelle. I need someone to hold me accountable. Oh, Brenda, thank you too. And Tyler. So it's really not being held "accountable". It's just being hounded. And it appears to have finally worked. Well done, guys.

I have other updates coming, but first, in a shocking turn of events - it snowed. In Atlanta. In March. So, while the rest of the city was rushing out to the store to buy up all the bread and milk they could, I took a picture of our house to commemorate the occasion. People, this is rare. It had to be documented. Lily didn't know what to do with herself. I wish I'd gotten a picture of her contemplating the snow with her head cocked to one side.

Snow yesterday, but a high this week of 68. March is off to a brilliant start!