SHIT!

All I had to do was watch two babies while Rick was attending a morning meeting with the Pflugerville Education Association. All was good until a code brown in the tub ended with me emerging from the laundry room to discover this present. And yes, I did run to find my phone so I could take a photo before I cleaned it up. I would have grabbed my camera if my phone wasn't closer.

A View of One

Here are some photos of the girls opening their birthday presents. For ease of reference, Lizzie is in orange and Kat is in pink. They are just a year but it is clear their personalities are already breaking out. In the photo below, Kat is waiting on JT to open a tractor that goes with the farm they got for Christmas.

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Note that Lizzie acknowledges that she will have to care for both babies. Cake photos will be next.

someday

I know the loyal crowd wants photos from the Chickens "official" first birthday. I promise I am editing those now but what I am focused on is figuring out how I get myself here:

Here there are no kids, no work, no bills,  just me, some books, some drinks, and quiet. If Rick plays his cards right, I might take him with me.

2013!

It has taken three years filled with some lows, several bumps, lots of laughter, and two unexpected bundles of joy for Rick and I to realize the truth behind Eisenhower's quote "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." 

2012 started off in a way we could have never imagined 15 years ago with the arrival of the Chickens. I would be lying if I said this year has been easy because it has been anything but. Some days I don't know how we do it but somehow we do. Many a day Rick and I don't get to actually have a complete conversation until late at night when we are both falling asleep. 

The first three months of this year Rick and I spent our nights passing babies back and forth, watching some truly terrible television, and eating a serious amount of ice cream.

Spring baseball came and went with some drama that made us pause and wonder if all the work to pull a team together is really worth it. Fall baseball came and went with JT playing for a new team and Zach starting coach pitch. 

Summer was not what the boys usually experience and probably the toughest one we have had to date. The boys are used to Rick being at their beck and call for activities and it just wasn't possible this summer. We also didn't take a road trip this year, which was tough on all of us. The boys did get to spend some time with their cousin Jackson and they have formed a close bond with him, which we think is great. 

This summer also brought us our greatest adventure to date when Rick answered a call from an unknown number only to start a conversation with a casting agent that lead to the Lucas family exposure to the world of reality TV. 

Work has been crazy busy for me and I've gotten some great opportunities this past year that will continue on into 2013 and I am excited (as excited as one can get about work) about what I have going on the next few months.

2012 made us aware of how blessed we are to have some truly fabulous friends who have been supportive and more than helpful with the juggling 4 kids. When you don't have family close by, you quickly learn friends can be more like and in some cases better than family. Hopefully we can find ways to repay each of them in 2013. 

Rick and I have pinkie swore that we are not making any plans for 2013. We are both eager and excited about what could be around the corner but we aren't going to start counting our chickens just yet. Right now the only thing we are hoping for is a house where no one is sick and a night that involves us getting more than 2 hours of continuous sleep.

I promise to keep the blog more up-to-date than I did this past year and bring the latest and greatest in our adventures.

Christmas

Trite as it sounds, it seems odd how quickly Christmas arrived and how quickly it was over. We were severely delayed in getting Christmas underway at our house due to Rick's secret project, which I think made it a little hard for all of us to really get in to the spirit. It probably didn't help that I only put up the tree this year since nothing came out until the 20th. Rick and I were looking forward to a relaxing week of nothing until Rick's 92 year old grandpa called and asked us to come visit. Rick and I both agreed that when you are 92 and tell someone to come visit; you get what you want. So Christmas came and went in a flash. The boys and I did find time to make some treats and pierogis,which we shared with friends for Christmas dinner. And then we were packed up and on our way to Oklahoma. It was a short visit with Rick's aunt, grandpa, and uncle but as always we enjoyed the family time and we were glad to bring a little happiness to grandpa in the form of his favorite twin great-granddaughters. We ended our Christmas break with a stop at Great Wolf Lodge, which may be the highlight of the boys' year.

Christmas Eve gift opening.

Christmas morning

Chickens taking a break to get some food.

Kat working on a present. She has a thing for eating paper so we knew she'd be the one most interested in opening gifts.

Chickens spending time loving their two favorite gifts. 

Lizzie checking out her first doll.

JT made his first scratch cake by himself. It is a peppermint swirl cake with peppermint butter cream frosting.

I wish I had been faster with my camera but I was holding Lizzie. Kat and Lizzie both enjoyed taking turns on grandpa's lap while he rode them around in his wheelchair. Kat caught on quickly how to make the chair move and took grandpa for a spin.