Massanutten

 Dave's parents let us use a week at their Massanutten time share which made for a very affordable vacation.  Massanutten, which I didn't know much about before, is resort in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia that has skiing in the winter and golfing, hiking, mountain biking and water parks in the summer.  We were so excited to go and very much looking forward to having some time to relax with just the four of us.  

I had to take a picture because I knew if I gave just a description I wouldn't be believed - this was the jumbo jacuzzi that was in the 2 bed, 2 bath condo we stay in all week... 

can you believe how big it is?!  This helped with my relaxation throughout the week and also made for some fun bath times with the twins.  I have now added this as a must have item for any of our future houses.

There were some cooler days while we were there so we made the most of indoor activities.  First we headed to Luray Caverns to check out the awesome stalactite and stalagmite formations.  I thought it'd be a pretty cool temperature in the cave and having not packed any socks for Ian or Suzie (oops!) I decided footed fleece pajamas would work perfectly!

And then we found out it was not cool at all, but warm and humid.  We both ended up taking our jackets off and taking the twins out of the carriers to cool down.  Oh well, at least I tried to be prepared.  It seemed like Ian and Suzie liked looking around.  Suzie had fun making her squeals and hearing them echo and Ian kept making his low grunting sounds.  We started calling him our little cave monster.  There was a time when both of them were totally silent - when the stalacpipe organ was playing which was so cool to hear!

Our attempts at getting a family shot while in the cavern...

Everyone looking, but not everyone's face made it in the shot

A little better, but Ian is still out of the photo

And we did it!  Everyone in the shot, mostly ;-)

 We also enjoyed going to the indoor pool on the rainy days.  At the resort there are a ton of pools and an awesome looking water park.  We would've had to pay $60 to get into the water park so we opted for the free pools since at this age there really isn't too much of a difference for Ian and Suzette.

Believe it or not we had our first restaurant experience with the twins while on vacation.  When they were younger/smaller it was just logistically harder to find room for 2 car seats at a table or booth and now that they're old enough to be in high chairs it was something I would only attempt having another adult with me to help.  So Dave suggested Shoney's since he has fond memories of going there with his dad as a kid and it's a great family friendly place.  It was also fun to get Suzie and Ian different things to try from the breakfast buffet.  Peaches, yes.  Cottage cheese, no.  Cheerios, always!  And when we left the floor under and around our table didn't even look that bad.  The experience went so well we took them to Five Guys later in the week!

A little blurry and out of focus, but happy to document the twins first time at a restaurant.

 There were so many awesome things to do outdoors that during the sunny days with perfect temperatures we spent as much time outside as we could!  Our condo complex was right across from the driving range so during a few of the babies nap times Dave would walk over to practice his swing.

We had fun feeding the animals at the petting farm.

Suzie liked looking at the turkey and Ian liked watching the ducks.

Suzie was pretty excited after seeing all the animals!

 Massanutten is known for having some awesome mountain biking trails so after going to the petting farm in the morning we drove to the overlook at the top of the mountain (yes, I realize in Utah these would all be called foothills) in the afternoon to take in the beautiful scenery...

 drop Dave off at the trailhead...

 then meet up with him 30 minutes later at the bottom of the mountain.  

 It took just about exactly the same amount of time for him to ride down the trail as it did for me to drive around to the other side of the mountain and pick him up.  I loved driving along the back country roads and soaking up all the quaint sights of farm houses and rolling hills.  And as a bonus I had some pretty cute faces to keep me company along the way!

Ian's favorite new trick to do while in his carseat

Suzette was pretty happy to see daddy again!

 We also enjoyed going to the outdoor pool when it was warm and sunny.  Suzie and Ian were happy just floating around and people watching.

Mr. Ian and I taking a short break from being in the water.

 On the way home we decided to take Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park.  The views were unbelievable!  A place we will go back to for sure.

 When taking a wrong turn down a country road I saw this sign and thought it was the perfect way to sum up out trip...

Thanks for the wonderful memories Massanutten, we hope to see you again!

Memorial Day

Since we were staying local for this Memorial Day weekend Dave and I thought it'd be fun to get a blow-up pool and let the twins splash around.  So we did and got it set up in the front yard.  It was so nice to be able to take them inside when we needed to, not deal with crowds at a pool and have it be just us relaxing and hanging out together.

Suzie and Ian all geared up and ready to have some fun in the sun!

Family Photo

Silly Suzie and mommy

Funny Ian and daddy

The dolphin toys were a hit with Suzie, who loved to eat them.  The rings were Ian's favorite, but every time the camera came out that was the "toy" he really wanted.  Both had fun playing and splashing each other.  I was happy to give their bathing suits a trial run before our vacation next week.  Spending $10 on a blow-up pool was totally worth the hours of fun and entertainment it'll provide this summer!  The front yard provided a great spot to have some sun in the morning and help the water warm up a bit then be in the shade during all afternoon.  And of course being able to see the cars drive up and down the street was very exciting for Ian.  It was the perfect plan which made for the perfect day!

Eight Months Old

Are Suzette and Ian really eight months old already?!  While pregnant you hear it from everyone, but until you live it there is no way to truly understand how fast it all goes.  It is hard for me to believe they were once teeny tiny babies.  Suzie and Ian are full of personality and growing ever more aware of all the things in their environment.  

They are very interested anytime we eat around them.  Dave decided to share his apple with them one day after coming home from work.  They loved it because it was something nice and cold for them to gnaw on which helps when teeth are coming in.  Of course in the process the apple was covered in slobber by the end.

It's always fun to get loved on by aunts, uncles, cousins and GGpa!  This past month there was lots of that happening.

Group hug with Auntie Anne, cousin Chase and cousin Caroline

Relaxing with GGpa

The uncles holding their nieces

 For now Ian and Suzie are doing a great job of sharing toys.  We'll see how long this lasts!

While rolling over is a skill each do well crawling is still in the works.  When Ian figures it out I'm in big trouble, just check out the videos below...

did you see how fast those limbs are moving?!  I have a feeling he'll be from point A to point B once crawling in no time.  Suzie can scoot backwards while on her tummy and turn in a 360 degree circle as well.  I think she may be the first one to figure out crawling, but we'll just have to wait and see.  I certainly am in no rush for the learning process to happen any faster than it needs to as massive baby proofing will need to take place.

Ian now has 6 teeth, 2 on the bottom and 4 on the top.  Suzie FINALLY had 1 break through on the bottom.  Each of them are eating well and growing stronger and bigger.  Ian still is doing a bit better with table food, but with more exposure I think Suzie will get a better hang of it in the coming months.  

Ian has started to experiment more with talking making consonant sounds and melting his daddy's heart everytime he says da-da.  One day Dave come home from work and walked into the room while I was holding Ian.  Ian turned his head and saw Dave then with a big smile said da-da.  Super cute.  Most other times he just says it while playing or having his diaper changed, but it's fun to see him start to associate the word with Dave.

Suzie isn't making quite the same sounds as Ian yet, but that's not to say she isn't vocal.  She will actually make some pretty high pitch squeals and squeeks to express herself.  Most of the time it's while she is playing and just having fun.  I have a feeling she is going to be quite the talker.

Both Suzette and Ian have the cutest smiles that make me turn to mush.  It's been a tricky task to try to capture them with the camera, but sometimes it actually happens and when it does I feel a sense of relief.  As if the baby magic has been bottled and captured and can be looked at and enjoyed during the years to come.  I love these little cutie pies so much and consider myself extremely lucky to be the one with them all day, every day.  

 

With the weather being so nice I've tried to make sure Suzie and Ian get plenty of outdoor time.  Just sitting on the grass is a whole new adventure and one they are all to eager to explore.  It has been so fun to see the world through their eyes as they discover new things each day.  The Traxler Tribe is looking forward to all the summer adventures ahead!

That Person

There is this funny thing about having kids.  It has made me realize I've already become "that person" in so many ways.  I am now that person who...

*stays in "yoga" pants 6 out of the 7 days of the week and only 25% of the time will actually have make-up on
*will linger a little longer during a church service to hear the speaker in hopes I myself will be uplifted even though my babies are starting to make louder and louder noises
*arrives late to events because my estimation oh how long it'll take me to get out the door has still not caught up with the reality of how long it actually takes
*tries to navigate a double stroller in the narrow aisles of stores while bumping into clothing racks and just saying, "Sorry...oops, sorry...oh yeah, um sorry about knocking that over" then just keeps going
*makes a weight loss goal public who should've just kept their mouth shut because instead of using this...

I now have to use this...

I'm that person who struggles for YEARS with infertility then after finally having a baby (in my case babies) gets pregnant naturally right away.  Yup, that gets added to the list now too.  Ahhhh, I am now "that person" in so many ways.  Let's just establish that babies are a blessing and there is no denying that, but I have to admit getting pregnant so soon after having twins has really devastated my body image.  I seriously was so pumped to "get my body back" and now it'll be 2013 before I even start thinking about that again, blah.  And for those of you who are super human and gain like 10 pounds during pregnancies and work out the entire time so within 2 weeks of delivery you're back to your pre-pregnant body I don't want to hear any advice you have to give.  I think its generous of me to say we can still be friends at all ;-)

*** I know that the majority of my readers are women, but there is one who is not - so this is where you may want to stop reading, Grandpa***

So now onto the details.  When my cycle came back after having the twins everything was back to clock work.  I've always been super regular in that department (which is why it was uber frustrating dealing with unexplained infertility).  Then one month I was late.  Dave and I talked about it and decided to wait another week or so since it was still so close after I had the babies before we tested anything and we were both in denial that we'd really be pregnant.  Still nothing.  Then the following week Dave came home one night with a pregnancy test and early on a Sunday morning he woke me up and said, "So are you going to take the test?"  I was still so groggy that I replied, "I don't have a test, I'm not in school anymore."  He laughed and said, "No, the pregnancy test."  Oh yeah.  So I grabbed one of the sticks and headed off to the bathroom.  No joke in 2 seconds flat it had changed, but Dave got a test I was not familiar with (which is pretty funny since I have peed on many, many pregnancy test before) and I had to shout to him, "Look at the box and tell me what it means if there is one negative sign and one plus sign."  He came running in and said, "It means you're pregnant!"  SHOCK.  Complete and total shock.  I couldn't even bring myself to pee on the second stick because I didn't want it confirmed so fast.  

I still can't believe it.  And to be honest after trying so hard to have the twins and all the anticipation and work that led up to it, this was a bit anti-climatic.  I thought - so this is how it is for everyone else.  Just pee on a stick after being a little late then boom yup, pregnant.  I waited to call the OB for a little bit, again still trying to wrap my head around it all.  Don't worry, I did start taking pre-natal vitamins right away though.  So finally I made it in for the blood test, results - positive.  At the first ultrasound we saw the baby was measuring right around what the estimated due date is - 

It was really fun sharing the news with our parents.  We told mine on my mom's birthday and I totally wished I'd had our flip set up to record her reaction because it was awesome!  I gave her a gift of a framed family photo of us with wording on it that said - Printed Picture $2, Frame $15, Gift Bag $3.50, the look on your face when you realize there are five of us in this photo, priceless!  Priceless indeed.

We told my MIL early on Mother's Day by asking about my SIL who is due in a month with their third boy.  We asked, "Now what number will this make for how many grandchildren you'll have?"  Nineteen!  Then Dave said, "Gosh mom, who do you think will have number 20?"  She laughed and thought about it and said, "Oh, I don't know." Then Dave said, "Well, I do - it's us!  We're pregnant."  She was shocked as well and it was so fun sharing the news with her too.

As my mother so lovingly pointed out, "Well you had the twins sleeping through the night by 4 months old, then you add 9 months of pregnancy so they'll be 13 months apart.  Can't help but wonder if you didn't so such a good job with sleep training if this baby wouldn't have come for a little longer."  Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

There you have it - the details of Traxler baby #3.  Well, I guess I should share this detail as well -- we are not finding out the gender until the day I deliver.  We figure why not keep with the trend and let this baby be a surprise all the way around?!  As far as being prepared, we already have baby things for a boy AND girl so we're covered...I think.

Mother's Day 2012

Today started out with a wonderful breakfast of crepes, made by Dave, served with all the toppings.  Yumm-o!  I think this will make it onto our family tradition list.  Dave presented me with my very first Mother's Day gift of a necklace with two charms that have Ian and Suzette's name on them and a mother of pearl dangling from the chain.  I love it!  After stuffing myself with three filled to the brim with an assortment of fillings (peanut butter & banana, nutella w/ berries and lemon juice & sugar) we got Ian and Suzette up and ready for church. 

 I LOVED the program our ward did for Mother's Day.  The Young Women and their leaders organized it with a variety of beautiful musical numbers, short talks spot lighting women of faith from the scriptures and brief testimonies of motherhood all done by the girls themselves.  The Spirit was so strong and I almost lost it every time one of the girls would get choked up sharing just how much their mom meant to them.  As a mother of my own daughter now that just takes on a whole new meaning.  I hope and pray that if I do my job right Suzette could be standing at the podium professing those same words of love and adoration for me one day - a mother can dream! 

For me this day has not always been the easiest.  I've become more open with sharing this part about our lives recently, but at the time only a handful of friends and family members knew (but I'm sure many other assumed).  After our second year of marriage a diagnosis of unexplained infertility was confirmed, meaning after a reproductive endocrinologist ran every test possible on me and Dave - twice! - there was no medical reason we were not conceiving.  The next three years we were forced onto the infertility roller coaster as we tried to get pregnant.  The details of our journey including procedures done, number of attempts and methods tried will remain something I choose only to share in person with close friends and those whom I feel could benefit from knowing our story.  I will say this, with out questions it was the single hardest trial in my life that not only rocked me to the core of my foundation, but chipped away at it piece by piece until I gathered the strength to build it back up, which was a long, long process.  I felt betrayed by my body since it could not do the divine purpose it was created for.  There were many other feelings and emotions I experienced during those years and I know I could not have married a better person to be by my side and endure that trial with me.  Mother's Day to me during that time was like squeezing lemon juice on an open wound.  It stung and made me wince.  And each year without fail my heart would hurt. 

So for my first Mother's Day as an actual mother today was glorious!  I relished every moment of being with my two beautiful children and amazing husband.  Today my heart was beyond full of joy and hope and love.  Today I looked into my children's eyes and saw a beautiful future of promise.  Today was a good day - right up there with the top 5 of my life.  

 And knowing come November Suzette and Ian will have a little brother or sister makes today even sweeter.  That's right, the Traxler Tribe will soon be a family of five!

Traxler baby #3 waving hello!

More pregnancy details coming soon...

... and just an FYI only family members heard about this from us in person.  ALL friends are finding out about it for the first time via blog/facebook today.

Fun Videos of Ian

So Ian likes to do this thing with the bottle where he bites the end of it over and over when he is holding it himself... (you can stop watching after the first 30 seconds as it gets pretty boring after that)

and today I just realized that it's probably because his 2 top teeth are coming in!!!  Seven months old and 4 teeth, not too shabby.  Suzette on the other hand still has only pink gums to show off, thank goodness.  This whole growing up thing happens so fast.  I guess she's just breaking me in easy.

This is a cute video of Ian's reaction to playing peek-a-boo, love his giggles!

Seven Months Old

Ian and Suzette have experienced many changes this past month and it has been so fun to watch them grow, develop and learn.  Introducing food went very well - carrots and peas and sweet potato, oh my!  The very first thing they got a taste of was carrots and to this day the l-o-v-e them!

Mmm, mmm good!

Next up, peas!  They were not a hit at first.  Ian would even lean back in his high chair as if to say, no thank you.  But I didn't give up and they'll eat peas and green beans just fine now.

My parents had the lucky honor of introducing sweet potato.  Ian and Suzie both seem to enjoy it as well.  I was surprised to see they don't seen to enjoy fruits as much as I thought they would.  I've given them bananas (mashed up on their tray) and pears and although they eat them they certainly don't scarf them down like the carrots.  The twins got their first taste of avocado on Easter and it went pretty well.  Ian is a bit better at picking food up and bringing it to his mouth.  Suzie like to be served.  Cheerios are a hit with Ian while Suzie wonders what crazy thing I just put in her mouth.  Maybe it's the no teeth issue that inhibits her from gumming her food well.  Whatever the reason Ian does a lot better with that.

All of those photos were taken right after they turned 6 months old and I quickly realized the cloth bibs weren't going to cut it.  So we've moved on to the fantastic rubber ones that make clean up a breeze!  With the introduction of food I have realized our days of relatively easy to clean clothes are at an end.  I can see now that stains of all sorts in a variety of new colors will now become a permanent part of our lives.  It's amazing how oxi clean can get just about get any poop stain out, but when it comes to avocado or carrot stains it seems to loose it's magical powers.  Sad.  Oh well, good thing we've had so many hand-me-down clothes given to us and 2 sets of grandparents that are all to eager to buy the twins cute outfits!

At 6 months 5 days Suzette rolled over from her back to her belly for the first time and it seems like she's been rolling ever since!  It took Ian a bit longer, but we first realized he could do it one morning (April 16th) when Dave and I went in to feed them and found him on his belly.  After his afternoon nap later that same day he was on his belly again.  Then a few days later while he was laying on the floor playing I went into the nursery to change Suzie's diaper and when I came back he was on his belly.  Dave and I thought it was so funny how he would not roll over when someone was looking.  We called him our closet roller.  Just a few days ago we FINALLY got to witness his rolling with our own eyes as he went from back to belly while Dave and I were talking and seemingly "not looking" at him.  Going from tummy to back has not happened yet and I can't wait until it does because then we won't hear any more distressed cries from the nursery after their bedtime.  If they get on their tummy and don't want to be there they can just roll over themselves....ahh, just imagine!

  

   In other news Ian and Suzette are now sitting up on their own very well!!!  I realized they got so used to sitting up with me or Dave behind them that they became too comfortable just leaning back whenever they got off balance or were tired.  So I made a point to always have them sit up alone with just pillows surrounding them while I'd sit in front of them.  And you know what?  They got better so fast at balancing on their own when they realized falling meant landing on a pillow and not being propped back up right away.  I love sitting in front of them and singing songs or reading books.  I feel like my babies are quickly disappearing as I get glimpses of my past preschool teacher days when we do this because it almost feels like circle time.  I know in reality we still have a ways to go before we're really at that point, but still it is so crazy how fast it all goes.

If you look closely at the above photo you can see Ian's teeth are getting really big!  Suzie is still sans teeth, but I know they'll come.

It has been so fun to see Suzette and Ian become more aware of each other.  Suzie has been aware of Ian for a while now, but Ian is now responding more.  I love having them sit and look at each other while they play.  It's funny to see what they do when one of them takes a toy from the other.  Funny for now, I know that will get old really fast when they're older.  They'll also hand each other things too and smile at, laugh and giggle together sometimes.  It melts my heart!  They are two social little babes.

Suzie has started to show some stranger anxiety while Ian could care less.  Usually happens when we're out for walks and people stop to say hello, if they look at Suzie too long she'll turn both corners of her mouth down and start to cry.  She looks so pitiful it's hard not to laugh.  It has also happened when other try to help me out at church and hold her, but then she'll pout then cry.  Hopefully this stage will not last long!  On an upside her physical therapy for her torticollis is going extremely well!  I didn't realize at first how having tightness on one side of her neck would affect so much of her body.  She has great range of motion on both sides now and through the PT's technique of total motion release (TMR) Suzie has made a lot of progress with her arm, hip and leg movements as well.  Her face has become more symmetrical, but she'll probably always have a bit of a-symmetry going on.  I've been assured many times by the PT and our pediatrician that is will be hardly noticeable once she has longer hair.  Whenever I look at her now I still wonder how she got to be so gorgeous.  Her slender nose, perfect eyebrows, glowing skin and oh so kissable cheeks make her beautiful to me.

Ian is my cuddle bug.  Recently he has started to cozy up to me more when I'm holding him.  When he lays his head down on my shoulder I close my eyes and smell his sweet hair and breath him in.  That is a moment I'd love to bottle and keep forever.  He is such a sweet boy who is growing stronger and talking more each day.  Still no ma-ma or da-da, but I'm sure that'll come out of his mouth soon.  His sleek slender body is one I never get tired of holding.  His bum still fits in the palm of my hand and I love that!  Bath time has become great fun for him now, splashing around and enjoying the water.  Ian has also become very good at holding his own bottle.  He needs a little help getting up tilted all the way up so he can actually drink, but the concept and fine motor skills are totally there!

Ahhhh, seven months later I am more in love than I ever though possible.  I so look forward to our future and cannot wait to see Ian and Suzette grow, learn and develop even more.

Ian has a bit of a goofy face in this one, but oh those neck rolls!  And how darling is Suzette?!  Love them :-)

Time Out For Women

This past weekend I headed up to Harrisburg, PA with 3 of my girlfriends for a time out.  Time out from jobs, husbands, kids, laundry, cooking dinner and all the other daily tasks that can sometimes get to seem oh so mundane.  We attended a conference of inspirational speakers and musical performers that began Friday evening and continued all day Saturday.  The event is appropriately named Time Out For Women and was celebrating it's 10th anniversary.  I've only been to one before, but was so uplifted I knew it wouldn't be my last.  So I invited 3 girlfriends who have never been to come see what it was all about.

Friday night we heard Jason Wright speak about failure.  Since he is a NewYork Times best selling author it was very interesting to hear his take on how to deal with and be better by experiencing failures in life.  He also happens to be the brother of a women in our church so it was fun to tease his that his sister sent us as spies. 

Saturday morning we got to hear from two ladies that were one of my main reasons for really wanting to attend this event - bloggers of one of my FAVORITE cooking blogs, Our Best Bites.  I was able to meet them in person after they spoke and have them sign my copy of their cookbook.  Sara (on the left) and Kate (in the middle, who is mucho preggo) are super funny and had a refreshing message of being moms and telling it like it is.  They also shared touching moments of their moms who for different reasons were only able to be fully present in their lives while they were young.  With humor and grace they shared a message of creating memories that are meaningful with your children, but also knowing it's okay to not want to savor EVERY single moment that happens.  Sara and Kate are some funny, funny ladies and I'm so glad I got to hear their presentation and meet them in person.

There were so many other wonderful presenters and I'm so glad I got to sit by these lovely ladies while hearing the messages they shared with us.  Besides the conference itself it was so nice to have some much needed girl time and reconnect with friends.  Chatting in our hotel room well past midnight, learning and sharing some pretty funny stuff about ourselves with each other and those oh so yummy Texas Roadhouse rolls we had during our dinner stop on the way home made the trip a blast!