Feature Friday | M is for Mama

Confession: I’ve been an absolutely no-good, awful, downright pathetic blogger this week.

Why?

Because the twins turned 1-year-old on Tuesday, and I didn’t make a single peep about it here. Or much of anywhere else, unless you count this grainy pic I tossed up on Instagram and Facebook.

I’m actually pretty embarrassed.

But here’s the thing: they were under the weather earlier this week (they’re better now), and both had fevers on their actual birthday. Believe me, if it sounds sad for a 1-year-old to be sick on her birthday, it truly is doubly sad when it’s twins (double your pleasure…double your pain). And I didn’t do much blogging that day for obvious reasons. Hence: no fanfare whatsoever for quite a momentous landmark.

I mean…seriously. 1 year ago, I gave birth to TWINS. At home. With no pain meds. (And it was my best birth yet).

(Ack! They’re so tiny. It makes my heart squeeeeeze)

And then I figured out how to feed both of them (they’re still nursing in case you’re just dying to know).

And I got kind of used to this:

We even managed to all get dressed at once and take pictures of it (I’m not going to say the process didn’t involve a mild nervous breakdown…or three).

They got cuter…

(and quite advanced…see Nola waving hi?)

…and cuter…

And I got pretty darn good at holding them both at the same time.

And then I mastered the art of grocery shopping with twins in my basket and a 7-year-old pushing another cart ~~into my ankles~~ behind me. And I got new crow’s feet and a slight crick in my neck from smiling and nodding at the 478 occurrences of, “You have your hands full,” and, “Bless your heart,” every time we went anywhere in public.

And they just kept growing…

And Growing…

…and GROWING!

They even tried their hands at a little blogging:

And you know what?

The process—this whole keeping-twins+3-other-kids-alive-for-a-whole-year business—it’s been amazing. Yes, some days are crazy hard. Or at least as hard as they can be for a mama with a grocery store 15 minutes away (they sell chocolate, after all), a supportive husband, a mama who takes her three oldest for a day every single weekend (oh yes, she does), and some of the sweetest kids on the planet. But mostly, it’s fantastic. I kind of want to make a t-shirt that says: “Everybody needs a set of twins. They make life more fun. (And harder too).” But that’s a bit longwinded for a t-shirt design, and I think anyone who hasn’t experienced it might think I was nuts (not that they’d be wrong). So, I guess I’ll just restrain myself to blabbering about it here to you guys. Because a whole lot of y’all have been here from the beginning, and I think you know what I mean.

To say that God has been gracious to our family is to that say that the sun is bright. It’s such a vague, weak little facsimile of the truth. As hectic and wild as much of this year has been, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more aware of His abundant blessing and love for me, a girl who doesn’t deserve a shred of it and who fails more times than she can count, every. single. day.

Praise God that his mercies are new every morning!

I don’t know what the future holds, but this I can tell you:

Today is very good indeed.

{I dressed my poor little feverish girls up in their birthday duds and took a—very fuzzy—picture for posterity. Some of them came out better than this, but I just love their long-suffering expressions here. They do a good job of humoring their goofy mama}.

And now I’m off to craft some various something-or-others for their party tomorrow and make a cake that I’m not entirely sure is even going to work out (but I guarantee it’ll taste good).

There’s no linky party today (sorry, guys!), but I hope you all have an absolutely LOVELY weekend!

Pssst…I’ll probably be posting sneak peaks of the party details all weekend on Instagram if you want to follow along.

Like what you read? Like M is for Mama on facebook (pretty please?):

Good morning, all you lovely people! Just in case your Friday is not starting out exactly the way you hoped it would, and you’re feeling a bit down, always remember that you could have walked around a grocery store with a basketful of children…like this:

Yes, that is my derriere, and yes, that is a very large rip in my shorts. I would love to tell you that I discovered it before I traipsed all over Brookshire’s with the kids, but I can’t. So, instead, I’ll tell you that I’m very grateful that my kids are too little to be (very) embarrassed by their mother and too oblivious to have noticed (because your 5-year-old suddenly hollering, “MAMA! I can see your un.der.wear!” in a crowded shopping area is never a good thing). I would also love to tell you that we drew less attention than usual, but after Wednesday’s rant public service announcement, I’m guessing you know that’s just wishful thinking. In fact, I remember thinking, “Wow! There are waaaay more people here than usual today.” Face palm.

This particular outing was a little different, though, because it involved an encounter with a fellow mom of five (with her last two being twin girls) who informed me that once the twins start walking, it’s a whole new ball game (I do believe her exact words were: “They make you live right!”) and a fun conversation with a mom of 11-week-old triplets who seemed totally chill and happy (and didn’t even have a baby pooch!).

All in all, it was one of the more enjoyable (if I can dare to use such a word for grocery shopping with 5 children) shopping trips in recent history…except that it ended with my husband saying, “You haven’t gone anywhere recently, have you? Because you have a major rip in your pants, and I can see the pattern on your undies.”

Pure, unadulterated awesomeness right there, folks.

Anyhoo…not sure how to segue from that little anecdote to our next order of business other than to say that the jeans I’m selling today do NOT have rips in them.

Of course, it’s not just jeans. I’m cleaning out some closets as part of Project Elephant (you can see my first two completed projects here and here and join in the challenge any time! We show off our accomplishments each Monday) so I thought I’d take the opportunity to post a few items as I go, in case y’all are interested in snagging a good deal! I’ll be adding more items throughout the day, so keep checking back in because everything is on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you see something you like, just email me at shopabbie{at}gmail{dot}com, and whoever claims it first will get it!

Here’s the first item, just in time for fall!

BRAND: A.N.A.

SIZE: Large

CONDITION: Very good

MORE INFO: Genuine Leather. This bag is crazy soft and incredibly durable and holds a ton. It shows very little wear. I tried to take a picture of the slight scuffing in that bottom picture, but it’s so faint that it didn’t photograph well.

I didn’t get a good picture of them, but it has tassels on the sides as well.

PRICE: $10

SHIPPING: $7

Stay tuned for more great deals throughout the weekend!

And now, it’s PARTY TIME!!

Don’t forget to grab a party button so others can join in the fun (or just include a text link-back).

Oh, and don’t forget to follow along with all these other fun happenings:

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram

Like what you read? Like M is for Mama on facebook (pretty please?):

M is for Mama

Category Archives: Feature Friday

Twins: A Year in Review

Feature Friday FREE-FOR-ALL {#84} + A Pop-up Sale