Life is never dull!

September has been a busy month. Things are going well at our churches here in Lewisville. I am busy at school, preparing for the fall program. Lucy is LOVING school and would stay there all day if they would let her. Charlie and Alex are both beginning to walk and curious about everything they see!

We've had some work being done in the back yard. The boys have enjoyed watching out the window!

An interesting way to look out the window. . .  

Lucy's had many fun things at school. Every child has a turn to be the Star Student of the day - they get to be the line leader, help with other tasks in the classroom, as well as bring in something to share with the class. In case you aren't aware, this is a BIG DEAL. ;) Lucy also has lunch bunch on Wednesdays and Fridays where she gets to stay at school and have lunch and playtime with her friends. She is excited every morning to get up and go to school. I'll be honest . . .I 'm not sure how much new information she's learning but she's definitely having a good time. And it's been a great way for her to have the opportunity to socialize with other kids her own age.

Lucy's "Feet" project - working on seriation (smallest to biggest)

All three of the Flack children have been having allergy issues. Lucy came home from school one afternoon and as the evening went on, we discovered that she was covered in hives. The best explanation we could come up with was perhaps it was to something in her strawberry applesauce. Who knows? We've got allergy testing scheduled for her coming up at the end of November. Charlie and Alex are also scheduled for allergy testing at the end of October as well. We've felt for a while that they are allergic to milk so we've done our best to avoid it as much as possible. They still have issues with their eczema though. And Alex seems to have it worse than Charlie. We stopped giving him watermelon because it seems like his skin breaks out whenever he touches it. We had a somewhat scary episode with him this week as well. On Monday night, we put him to bed at 7:15 and he was fine. At 10, he woke up screaming. His stomach seemed to be bothering him and he was clawing at his skin. Once we got him into the light, his eyes and his ears were swollen and his skin was red. His nose was extremely stuffy as well and he had been just fine when he went to bed. I knew he was having some kind of allergic reaction, but had no clue what it was coming from. We called for an ambulance because we had no idea where it was coming from and we didn't know if the reaction was going to get worse. Once they came and checked out his breathing, I felt safe enough to drive him up to the hospital. Mom and Dad came and stayed with the other two so that Michael could come join me. After a long night, some Benadryl and a steroid, he seems to be fine now. The scary thing is, we have no idea what caused this reaction so we have no idea how to prevent it from happening again. I will be so glad to get them tested so we can hopefully have some answers!

We are so excited to be headed to the beach soon. It will be a crazy trip, I'm sure with three little ones, but we're looking forward to our first vacation as a family of five. I'll be sure to post photos when we return. Here are just a few more cute pictures to last until then!

Charlie and "Raffi"

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - and yes, Alex is crawling up to get closer!

 Two cute little boys

Does it get any sweeter than this??

What a difference a year makes!

One year ago today, the Flack family of five finally settled under one roof! I went back to read my post from this time last year, and as I sit here with my three children asleep, I can't help but reflect on what a year it's been.

During this past year, we've had wonderful, amazing days where life has been picture perfect, where the kids are just so sweet you can't believe how blessed you are, and filled with moments where you wish time could stand still because it's just slipping by too fast. We've had days where the screaming just wouldn't stop, where bed time couldn't get here fast enough, and where we've been so tired it seems like you just can't go on. And of course, many days in between!

Other mothers of twins always said to me, "Once you survive the first year, having twins is great." Every single one of them always said, "The first year is hard." I remember thinking to myself that sure, of course it's hard. But then again, everyone had said it was hard when we had Lucy. Life sure did change when Lucy came along, but after about three months, we settled into a pattern and life continued on. But with these boys. . . there were days where I had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into. I don't think it was until we got moved in July and settled here that things seemed to calm down. Those ladies weren't lying - that first year with twins is incredibly hard.

These days though, we have worked out a routine that seems to work for us. The boys feed themselves for the most part these days so that frees us up a little during meal time. They also are more content these days to play on their own. Naptime is fairly consistent these days and the boys sleep through the night, finally, until about 5 AM, wake up to eat, and then go back to bed until 7. While they still eat all the time, we don't have as many bottles so I don't feel like I spend so much time pumping. Life is still hectic, but a manageable hectic.

No matter how crazy this year has been, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I can't imagine my life any other way. I am so thankful for my family of five and as I fall asleep each evening, I thank God once again for my three sweet children. I'm looking forward to all that this next year holds for us.