The luckiest

I always hoped I would have twins. It’s funny the kinds of reactions you can get when people realize you have/are having twins. I have gotten everything from “bless your heart” to “you poor thing” to “what a blessing.” I always take each comment with a smile, and a bit of reflection, because I know how lucky I am.

Billy and Brooklyn are my two biggest accomplishments in my life, and also my two biggest blessings.

And in case you didn’t know it, they are the two most beautiful children in the world. And I’m not one bit partial so there is no argument there. :)

Someone passed on an exciting article to me a few days ago that discussed mothers of twins. It stated the following: “Researchers at the University of Utah report in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B that women who have twins are more likely to live longer, have more children over their lifetime and have offspring closer together, compared with women who had singletons...So rather than directly playing a role in longevity, having twins may be a marker of some yet unknown factor that leads to long life. "It's not that you can go out and have twins in order to live longer," says Smith. "It's more that twinning is a reflection of an innate feature that we can't yet identify that leads to longer life."

Talk about exciting news!!!

Before I had children, I was incredibly nervous to hold or interact with other people’s babies. I viewed it as such a huge responsibility. To put it in perspective, before we had the twins, I hadn’t changed a diaper since my sister’s seven year old son was a baby.

But it’s funny how naturally some things can come to you, and for those things that don’t, just pay close attention to Netty and Nenny and you will catch on.

Billy and Brooklyn are constantly teaching me things about themselves, this world, and about myself. I have decided to start keeping a list, some are funny, some are sentimental. Here are a few starters:

1. Baby poop really can smell that bad. :)
2. Girl babies can in fact pee on you more than boy babies. That is a total myth about boys.
3. For a girl that use to have a serious issue with spit or drool, it’s amazing how quickly I’ll grab some off a chin and wipe it on my pants or shirt. :)
4. The best smiles are the sleepy, fuzzy-haired smiles at the 3:30 AM feedings.
5. I can in fact sleep in 45 minutes increments for days at a time while the babies go through growth spurts, are teething, or are feeling a little restless.
6. My singing voice must not be as bad as I thought, because I sure get some sweet smiles when I sing “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” :)
7. I have super speed when it comes to feeding two babies solid food at the same time-SKILL.
8. Some babies like to go to sleep to a bottle and a nice fast rock. Some babies like to go to sleep by simply being laid down.
9. Baby Powder and Baby lotion= Purely blissful and calming scents.
10. Puppies fascinate babies. Billy and Brooklyn have been following Boo around with their eyes and Billy recently starting laughing at him when he is nearby.
11. Babies are incredibly observant, and way smarter than we imagine.

In closing, I must say that there is nothing quite like holding your son or daughter while they sleep as a baby. I may not know who they may marry one day, what their favorite color will be, what their favorite flavor of ice cream will be, what they will want to study in school, or what sports (if any) they will play…but in that moment, I know that they are safe, secure, and in the one person’s arms that love them more than anything or anyone in this world (Sorry Billy- I know you love them as much :)). It is INDESCRIBABLE.