summer moments

View from my parents' home in Hilton Head, SC

All day, every day, I am "grabbing moments" -- whether it's relishing a moment with my babies who are growing so freaking fast or grabbing a moment to get something done while all four children are happy and occupied (how few and far between those moments are!!).

Everything every mother of twins told me about having twins was, and is, true. My world has changed completely. C O M P L E T E L Y. I am in constant amazement at how constantly busy I am with the addition of two little baby boys. It is CONSTANT.

But I am loving it. Oh so much.

But there are moments.....when the love of it ain't there so much....

Anyway, I am finally grabbing a moment to update my blog with moments from my summer:

There were some other babies born on the Kappelman Farm this summer.
Check out the wee beak inside the hole in the house Soren painted!

But these are the babes that kept me verrrrrry busy this summer.....

Niels and Anders at 3 1/2 months old

Busy feeding....

This was the first time I fed them solids at 2 months old, but I gave up pretty quickly
since neither I nor they were ready to deal with spoon feedings.

....and feeding......

I started feeding them solids regularly at 3 months old. These boys eat one heckuva lot,
lemme tell you!
(Check out the difference in bib-to-baby size in those two photos!
Just ONE MONTH difference!)

....and feeding......

I'm seriously not kidding. I'm still nursing too, but, frankly, nursing all day,
every day does not appeal to me in the least. Hence lots of supplementing with
formula and solid foods.

They also, thankfully, do lots of sleeping.

2 months old in the bassinet. So itty bitty. One month later they couldn't fit in it together.

Anders: 2 months

Anders, 2 months

The best Big Pa ever. Seriously.

I would always put them in the same crib about two feet apart and I would inevitably find them snuggled up together in the morning. So. Dang. Cute.

I mean come ON. Waaaayyyy too cute for words.

I feel like the luckiest momma in the entire world every single day because BOTH, yes both, babies started sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night at 3 months old. EVERY night. How freaking lucky am I?? VERY lucky.

There was, however, a few months when they were NOT sleeping through the night and, thankfully, oh so thankfully, I was staying at my parents' house during the worst of those sleep-deprived months.

In amongst my horrid sleep-deprivation, we did many, many fun things. Like.......

rode the wave runner


tubing with Big Pa


wave running and tubing


swimming (the first year they both swam without any floaties!)


visiting "buddy," our dolphin friend we would see on our boat trips on the intercoastal waterway


went fishin' with Nana



worked on our "puzzle of the summer" -- one of the coolest puzzles ever


This was my personal sanity-saver, Tasha, who made it so that I had the freedom do so many of these things and spend some time with the adults in my family. She took such great care of my boys.


My parents had a 4th of July Bash that was an absolute blast with a Dixieland Band and good times had by all.... Unfortunately, I was in the midst of my intense sleep deprivation and baby feedings, so I don't remember much of it -- but my nephew took this picture and it helped me remember some of it.

He also took this picture. It is so beautiful there.....

My big boy had his 6th birthday during our month away. He asked to have a "Cardinal Cake", so that is just what he got! I made a nest cake and bought a cardinal (that even makes chirping noises like a Cardinal when you squeeze it!) to put on top -- easy for this busy, tired momma and, more importantly, he loved it.



I sent this picture to Jim while I was away and he said I looked tired. Yes. Yes I was. Very, very tired.

Here are some other pics of my lil man who could not possibly be a better helper and big brother. He is everything good about little boys and big brothers.




I think this is the last picture of him with all of his teeth (in his favorite, and most adorable, hat that Nana gave him).


I love this picture. It's our first watermelon from our garden! SO yummy.


One tooth gone...


...both front teeth gone for his first day of school.


He makes his bed every morning with a different way of placing his stuffed animals. I love going to his room and seeing how they are arranged.

Jim has been working looooooong hours this summer so our garden was overgrown with weeds and he had to mow it over. However, we have had LOTS of tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, cabbage, squash and potatoes; and some cantaloupe (SO sweet!!), watermelon, blackberries, onions, carrots, zucchini and eggplant. Frankly, it was a very good summer to not have an over-abundance of goodies. Key word: "OVER-abundance". We certainly had an "abundance", but apparently not in Farmer Jim's eyes as he was very sad about his garden this year. I have to admit that seeing his hard work from this past spring overgrown with weeds as tall as I am was a very sad sight to see. But...we had plenty for pickin' and canning.....

Picking tomatoes with Big Pa and JoiVie directing.


I canned quite a few jars of tomatoes and even made and canned salsa since we had so many peppers this year.

So that's it. I finally updated my blog with a few moments from my summer (there were SO MANY more that I simply did not capture). I can finally check it off of my very, very, very, verrrrrrry looooong to-do list. My hands are very full these days.

And so is my heart -- so constantly full of love and devotion for these guys.....

Just one dang cute picture of daddy and his boys at 3 months old.