A Very Burns Christmas

We did our first Christmas this year at my parent's house. I documented some of the more unusual gifts given this year. Dad got a really large jar of pickles...just what everyone asks for. 

Graham got a cool green ribbon, so I could tell which one he was. Also they both sported very trendy Santa's Helper onesies with hats. 

precious

Mom showed her Crimson and white pride by sporting a national championship covered umbrella. You never have one when you need it.

Dad and Hayes. I dont know who looks happier

Jordan drank and helped open boxes. Scary combo

Hayes trying not too pee on mom's rug. 

Happy Burns Christmas!

And another one

Cant get enough of the Christmas story this year. Thank you Jimmy Fallon.

Merry christmas

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!  <== Click here. Enjoy.

BLING!

My youngest sister got engaged this weekend. Her fiancé is a gemologist (go taylor) for Brombergs and let's just say he certainly put a hell of a ring on it. Congrats Tay and Ryan! I'm pushing for a destination wedding... Momma needs a beach trip :)

The Process

We have been home with our little men for only five days, and it has been quite overwhelming to say the least. However, thanks to the amazing help of the Shelby Baptist Nicu nurses, we were somewhat prepared on how to handle life with twins on "the outside." I dont have much time to post, as I have a mere 45 mins to our next feeding. Basically, we have created a process (much like our dear ole saint nick saban). This is how it goes for those curious as to how one functions with two preemie newborns: 

We feed the boys every three hours around the clock (nothing different than any other newborn). Each feeding last anywhere from one-two hours, depending on how they eat and if you have one or two people. (it's possible but quite frustrating and time consuming to attempt a feeding alone at this point). We wake the first baby, change them, and then I start feeding him. About ten minutes later, we wake the other one, and follow that same process, just ten minutes behind. When I get done feeding one, I hand it to whoever is helping and they bottle feed to supplement with formula (right now 30 ml). Then they check the first baby's diaper again, swaddle, and either put him back to bed, or let him chill in a swing, nap nanny, or the crib. Repeat with #2. 

Luckily, we have had some amazing help from our mom's who have stayed overnight with us so I can get more than an hour and a half of sleep at a time during the night. We went back to the hospital on Sunday to check the boy's weights and make sure they were gaining at home. They had both gained 7 oz which puts Graham at 5lbs 2oz and Hayes at 4lbs 15 oz.  We go to the Pediatrician in the morning, so he may throw the whole system for a loop, but for now it works, so im sticking to it. 

Ok, now for some pictures. 

The boys dont quite fit into the nap nannys, but they do love to chill in them after they eat. 

Fun with twins. 

Thing 1 & Thing 2

Right now, they sleep in the same crib, buffered on each side by rolls of swaddle blankets. The hospital's swaddle blankets are simply the best things ever. 

Everyone keeps asking me if they are identical. We have no idea. So far, they look pretty similar. We typically dont dress them alike or we wouldnt know which baby we are holding. Graham does have a stork bite/birth mark on his chest, so if push comes to shove, we can tell them apart from this. When they sleep, Hayes is always on the left and Graham on the right. This allows me to know who is who. My sister and I went through a whole feeding on day 2 thinking each had the other baby until the very end. That probably wont be the first time that happens. 

Ok, back to the boys. 

Who knew

that on Monday I would go from making strawberry cupcakes with mom

to delivering twins six hours later. 

Introducing:

Graham Bailey Gaston

4 lbs 11 ounces

18 3/4 inches

and

Hayes Samuel Gaston

4lbs 8oz

17 3/4 inches

More pics and stories to come!

Blue bows

We seem to have an abundance of baby blue ribbon at our house for some reason. So, the pups needed a photo shoot. They were....less than happy about it. 

Since I wont be doing a Christmas card this year, I figured I would at least indulge myself in some pup pics. Soon, they wont be the ones we will be focusing all our attention. Clearly, they dont know that yet. 

heeeeey. 

Slutty Disney Princess

Im Jasmine. Who are you?

Watch out world. My body will be back...someday. 

thanks Erin (the original SDP)


By the way, who is Tiana? Did I miss a movie somewhere?

Comedy Tuesday

Ricky & Liam. Have a great day!

The Twin's Nursery

After months of internet scouring, pinteresting, mind changes, and mixed decisions, the nursery is final completed! I could not be happier with the end result. It is exactly what I wanted; a calm and comforting place for me and the boys. Before I get to the pics, I have to thank the amazing people without which, I would still be standing in an empty room. My sister Kimberly is a design genius. She helped me put to practice what I could barely even visualize. Plus, she's quite skilled with a saw, drill, and hammer. Below is an example. This is a wood pallet Kimberly and Jeff had at their house from a home depot run. I told her I saw on pinterest where someone made bookshelves from one of these. Before I knew it, she was sawing. See below.

About ten minutes later, we realized this was a larger task than we anticipated. Luckily, her husband is just as handy. So, I also have to thank Jeff for his amazing craftsmanship and patience as I have stolen his wife most weekends over the past few months. Thanks to his expertise (and use of tools) we have our bookshelves. 

I also have to thank my mom for all her help in cleaning, organizing, washing baby clothes and of course allowing us to use this great dresser. The lamp I got from the bama antique mall and just added a new shade from target. The mirror is also a flea mall find, but from about six years ago. The frames are from hobby lobby. I love the idea of maps/globes, so I took something that was special to me and incorporated it into the room. 

This map is the one Andrew and I used two years ago for our road trip extravaganza of Ireland. Since I keep everything, I still had it tucked away. Thanks to my sister in law, Emily for doing a great job cutting each coast for us to frame. 

Also, a thank you goes out to my awesome mother in law, Susie for all her help in organizing, cleaning and being willing to help with anything that needs to be done (including dealing with incompetent babies r us people via the chair story below) I am very blessed with amazing family indeed!

The letter wall! One of my favorite parts of the whole room. I have to thank all my friends and family who sent me letters and helped make this fun wall come to life. Each letter has it's own story, and it makes me think of the person who gave it to me. So, it's nostalgic and cool. The storage unit below it is from target, and the empty area to the left of the picture is for the glider, the last piece to missing t the room. After the first one was delivered, it was discovered to have grease on the side, so it was reordered and hopefully will be here before the boys make their grand entrance!

Finally, we have the cribs. The frames above are also from hobby lobby (with mat board cut by Kim) and each is complete with their own ultrasound pic. We'll replace those when the boys get here. I must also thank Olivia in advance for her generous gift of a newborn picture session, and also for all of her advice, opinions and the temporary use of her nap nanny so now I have two. 

So, as you can see, this room has been a labor of love for the past seven months. As we near the end of the preparation portion of this ride, we now must transition to the adventure waiting for us in t-minus four weeks or less. Regardless of when Graham & Hayes decide to grace us with their presence, I think they have one hell of a room to call home. 

Did you know the human head weighs 8 pounds?

Check out our cute Jerry McGuire boy now. Im slightly disturbed to tell you the truth.

When will this end?

If there is one thing this lady knows how to do, it's birthin babies. I will admit to have watched this show on occasion  Purely out of sheer fascination with this family. But, if it hasn't gotten ridiculous already, it has now. Momma D is pregnant with #20 and the family "couldn't be happier." She had her last child two years ago, and she was born at 25 weeks due to her mom's preclampsia. This baby barely survived, but I guess that isn't the wake up call they were looking for to consider 19 being enough. I mean, her oldest son has two children, the youngest being four months. Think about that. Those two kids have an aunt or an uncle who hasn't even been born yet. Odd.

The good news is that small town Arkansas now has a place of culture to take all those little ones (instead of teaching them the violin and how to sew plaid). Thanks Ms. Walton. Bentonville and Tontitown (where the duggers reside) are just down the road from each other in good old Arkansas. It's a bitch to get to for anyone else in the world, but if you are from around there, and have a car, you can see a world class art museum any day of the week.

Monday funday

I get the most random emails from J during the day (thanks to his obsession with thechive.com) Usually they are funny videos of kittens doing silly things or drunk people falling. I guess we are now adding baby related pics to the list. Here is the latest. Happy Monday.

Southern born, southern bred

In honor of this weekend's scrimmage. 

Love it when we get a little Tide action in the New York Times. Enjoy.

and to continue the civility...

totally taken from facebook

So, this is real

Baby Toupee. For those ashamed at the thought of a bald baby. Nothing says welcome to the world of no self esteem than a toupee once you get here. I cant make this stuff up. Oh, they have a gallery. Enjoy.

Halloween 2011 style

This is my first attempt at taking pictures with my new phone. Clearly, I need some practice. Here we have our costumes this year. Lame, I know. We arnt good at Halloween. By that, we dont take the time to do some creative thinking about costumes until the day of, and we always end up scrambling. Luckily, Jordan's dad the doc has lab coats on hand and we didnt have to do much for me. 

Our friends are so much more creative. 

Say hello to: Uncle Eddie, Nicki Minaj, a busted pinata, emo gal and guy (note they are too cool or distressed to actually look at the camera), and dr. gaston obgyn

here we add James Bond and a vampire from true blood to the mix. 

Laura's annual halloween party is always a good time. This year I couldnt celebrate in complete regalia, but just wait until next year. I'll be back...

Verizon Success

I hate having phone troubles because it means I spend at least an hour standing at the Verizon desk begging for some type of resolution. This weekend was no different. On Saturday my blackberry started stalling and then calling the letter "Y" on repeat. Im pretty sure my phone was just questioning life, but it cant do that on my time. So, I head over to the 280 store on Sunday and find the reps watching football on tv. Then, one of them in a Eli Manning Colt's jersey comes to help me. I tell him what the problem is, and he just takes out the battery and puts it back in. Clearly, I had gone down this path already. I rolled my eyes because I knew this phone would now take at least 20 minutes to boot back up. When it finally does, he tells me nothing can be done. Brilliant. I gave up and walked out. (the Colt's lost by like 60 points that night to the Saints, boo ya)

Yesterday, I decide to take a different approach, and by that I went to a different Verizon store. Different karma, no? Turns out the Summit has a Verizon store, so I head in there and am presented with the same scene. No one in the store, but lots of attendants. Me and a glaringly obvious gay man walk into the store at the same time and are asked to "check in." If you havent done this yet, it is verizon's way of keeping order, even when there is no line. After a few rolled eyes and huffs, we both sign in and sit down. He starts telling me how he just came from the 280 store and that everyone there is an idiot. I clearly agreed, and we became friends.

Despite being the only two customers, neither of us were helped for at least ten minutes. When I finally see someone, I got my issues worked out. My phone was def jacked up, but luckily I was eligible for an upgrade. Which brings me to my fun news and why this story is one of Verizon success and not fail. I have decided to play for the other team. Yes, i'm switching to an iphone.

sorry blackberry. It's been a fun five years, but it's time to move on. 

(For you Verizon peps, if you have issues, go see Shawn at the Summit store. He is awesome, and his wife is pregnant with triplets. I liked him.)

Twin craziness

This twin thing continues to amaze me. Check out this article about twin boys in Great Britain. One black, one white. One gay, one straight. Genetics is an amazing thing.

Bokeelia Wedding Weekend Part II

A view of the Tarpon Lodge, our humble abode for the wedding weekend. 

We were all just hoping the rain would hold off so we could have the ceremony here, and not inside somewhere. 

The morning of the wedding, the guys played on the boat and I chilled with the bride and bridesmaids at Liz's parent's house. We snacked, (they) drank mimosas, and watched Bridesmaids the movie. The lovely wedding party.

Then we had to do what all Floridians do to celebrate a wedding day. 

Fish!

I wanted a picture of me being a pregnant and fishing, but I couldnt stop laughing at the mullets popping up everywhere, and im not good at fishing without a bobber. So, you get J getting his fish on. We didnt catch a thing, but it was a fun little activity. 

Before we knew it, the event we all flew down to see was underway. It was amazing that the weather held out. 

 I love Florida. 

 Zach waiting for his bride. Note the Rabbi and the Presbyterian minister in attendance. Coolest mash-up ceremony ive ever seen. 

 In true sailing style, Liz came to her wedding via boat.

 Off the dock and walking with her dadda

 The Bridesmaids in some stylish Lilly Pulitzer

 Liz's fam

I didnt get a pic of our fam, cause i was in the pic

 The wedding party. 

They took pics while we cocktailed. 

Then it was onto a sit down dinner at the lodge. The whole experience was a great mix of New England and the American South. For instance, at the dinner only the maid of honor, best man, and father of the bride toasted. It was great, and J did an amazing job. He brought me to tears (which isnt hard to do these days...)

Loved all the Tarpons

 A map of the island for everyone to sign.

 take one

take 2. (jeris needs a drink)

Congrats Zach and Liz!