Twin Update

At my January 14th appointment, I had another ultrasound.  We were thrilled to see that the twins are growing and developing normally.

Baby A's heartbeat measured 167 beats per minute.

Baby B's heartbeat measured 161 beats per minute.

Thankfully, all was well at my February 11th appointment as well!

Celebrating the Holidays in Virginia

Since Lee had to be in Florence throughout the Christmas holidays, the boys and I traveled to Virginia on our own.  Upon exiting the plane in Charlottesville, we put stickers on our bellies that mimicked Things 1 and 2 from the beloved Dr. Seuss book.  This is how we chose to tell my side of the family about the twins.

Parker, who was inspired by the exciting news of the twins, drew this picture for me.  Can you see the two babies in what is supposed to be my stomach?

We celebrated Christmas with Maw Maw, Pop Pop, Uncle Bobby, and Aunt Pat on December 27th.  It was so nice to be surrounded by family during the holidays.  (Maw Maw had made the boys matching sweaters.  Aren't they sweet?)

Luke enjoyed playing on the stairs and looking through the spindles.  Naturally, Parker and Hudson had to do the same.  At least they sat still long enough to snap a few pictures.

Bucky and Sammy made sure to have plenty of activities to keep the boys occupied.  Whether decorating cookies, watching movies, playing with toys, reading books, or riding the "monster truck," each day was fun-filled and full of smiles.

Of course, the trip wouldn't have been complete without taking a few pictures of the pregnant sisters. 

Christmas in a Nutshell

This year, the boys were extremely excited about Christmas.  In fact, they were so anxious that they wrote their letter to Santa early in November.  As you can see, they asked for a four-wheeler as well as a trip to Disney World and Sea World.

Needless to say, they were thrilled when Santa called the house to tell them that he had made arrangements for us to go to Disney World and Sea World during the week of Thanksgiving.

Thanks to Lee (photographer extraordinair), we have over 1,000 pictures from our Disney vacation.  These are a few of my favorites.

The following weekend, we visited our local Christmas tree farm in order to pick out and cut down our Christmas tree.  Despite the cold, we had a good time and found the perfect tree for our living room.

The boys and I waited inside with hot apple cider while Lee was paying for the tree.  While waiting, Santa arrived.  Hudson ran over to him right away, but Parker wasn't interested in sitting in Santa's lap.

The students of Riverhill School performed a precious Christmas musical this year.  It was difficult to get good pictures of the boys during the actual performance (especially since Hudson had his back to the audience most of the time), but here's a cute photo that we took afterwards.

The Jolly boys made such cute reindeer, but we must always remember...Although Santa and his reindeer make the holidays fun, the true meaning of Christmas lies in God's Son.

Lee surprised the boys with an early Christmas present.  Don't they look cute in their matching shirts and hats? 

Before going to bed on Christmas Eve, the kids left treats for Santa and his reindeer.  Parker also left Santa a thank-you note.

On Christmas morning, the boys were amazed to see that the treats had been eaten and that Santa had left them a note as well.     

While searching through their stockings, the boys found new gloves.  Each pair of gloves had a key attached to them.  Parker and Hudson soon learned that the keys would start their new four-wheeler.

It was such an exciting morning!  Not only were the boys thrilled with their gifts, but they were surprised by the snow outside.  It's hard to believe, but Florence was actually blessed with a white Christmas.