I love him to the moon and back:)

I received word this weekend that my Uncle Phil, my mom's brother, has been diagnosed with cancer under his tongue and in one lymph node. I began to write a long post but then thought to myself that it may be too much for my family members closest to the situation to read. Let me just say that my heart is burdened heavily for my uncle and his wonderful family. Oh, if only you all could know how wonderful my uncle Phil has been to me and how many sweet childhood memories come to mind as I type this. It's so difficult to wrap my brain around the reality that my invincible uncle is going to have to go through the rigors of intense chemotherapy and radiation and that his life is being threatened. Yes, I know, truly life is threatened everyday and we should look at each day as a gift from God - but boy does that reality stare you in the face when there is news like this. Pray for my Aunt Jane and their sons Philip and Jamie. Philip is 17 and Jamie 13, both impressionable ages to have to go through such difficulty with a father whom they esteem so highly. Pray for my Nana (his mother), she's 88 years old and words can't express how much she loves her only son. I'll keep you posted as things progress. As it stands right now, uncle Phil will begin chemo and radiation in a week.

Uncle Phil with Meredith this weekend

Lots of people have said we have a little Steven and a little Candi and I just wanted to share just how true that is, especially Meredith. I mean, my mom sometimes calls her Candi by accident because she looks so much like me.

A night at Mema and Papa's

Can you believe it? We let the babies spend a night with Steven's parents, affectionately known as Mema and Papa. It was hard to let them go. I have realized I'm a real control freak and I feel like nobody can do it like I can, but these past few months have shown me that my babies are far more capable than I give them credit for and that I need to let them try new things. According to Mema, my sweet ones did great; they napped and slept through the night (which was my biggest concern). Steven and I enjoyed our time as a couple. We went out for brunch on Thursday morning, got some errands done and I actually got some sleep - wow, I thought I'd forgotten what that was. Thanks Mema and Papa for taking such good care of our little ones.

Here are some great pictures from the babies' adventures at Mema and Papa's, which included meeting their horses. You'll also see that Berkley is now enjoying grabbing his feet and Meredith wearing her first bow (adorable!).

Here's another first for the babies; their first trip in their twin side-by-side stroller. They love going for walks now. Berkley always goes to sleep and Meredith just chills out sucking her thumb. They are quite the conversation starters, we've met lots of our neighbors thanks to our twins:)

Weekend Adventures of the Manning family

We've had quite the busy weekend in the Manning household. My brother, Aunt Gwen and Uncle Norman were in town for the weekend, which is always a treat. I also decided it was high time that the twins had some time with their G-Dot (their paternal great-grandmother), who hadn't gotten to see them since they were only a few weeks old. So, I packed them up and off we went to Farm Life on Saturday morning. We spent the morning with my folks where they got to see my parents, brother, Aunt/Uncle and Nana - what a blast! Then off we went to G-Dot's where hey met Aunt Lillie and Uncle Buddy and of course, got to spend some quality time with G-Dot, Mema and Papa. I was so proud by how well the twins did with so many different people holding them.

On Sunday we went to church for the first time in AWHILE and it was wonderful to have time with the Body. Sunday afternoon Uncle Joey and Grandma came by and I mean, we did some laughing. It was so refreshing to just laugh with my family and enjoy letting the babies get to know my mom and brother. Meredith talked to Joey a lot, mainly in squeals, which is her favorite way to communicate.

Sunday night we decided to check with Steven's mom to see if she'd be interested in keeping the babies on Monday and sure enough, she was. So on Labor Day they spent the day with Mema and Papa where they got to see lots of family and friends. Steven's mom said they did great. I was really worried about how they'd do with napping since we've been so focused on sleep training them lately. Wouldn't you know it, they slept better there than they do at home; they slept an average of 2 hrs each nap!

Also this week, the babies have officially begun sleeping all through the night. Tuesday night we decided to let them cry it out instead of us running in to give them a bottle. We also started putting them to bed earlier. It took two nights of crying on and off and now they are sleeping from around 8:30pm-7:15 (or even 8:00)am. We're thrilled with their progress and it feels wonderful to get some good sleep!

Enjoy pics from our weekend adventures.

Precious Laughter

Tonight we heard Meredith really laugh for the first time as she discovered the game of Peek-a-boo. The video speaks for itself.

7 Years

Steven and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary yesterday, August 31st. We actually celebrated all weekend, the big celebration being on Saturday. Our church family had given us a gift certificate to this amazing restaurant in Kinston call The Chef and the Farmer and were also providing babysitting - or at least that's all I thought they were doing. However, when i got home I discovered that there was much more to the gift. First of all, it was so much fun getting all dressed up and going out with my husband. I wanted to look especially nice, so I went to get my haircut Saturday morning. You see, for the last 4 months my hair has pretty much always been in a ponytail, I even slept with it in a ponytail. I knew getting a new look would help to make things even more special. The dinner out was a great experience; we loved the ambiance of the place, the food was spectacular and we loved that we could go all out with appetizer, main course and dessert and coffee:) It was hard to come home, but of course I missed my little ones. As we drove up I saw a pretty mum on the front porch and realized that some other ladies from church were there, not just the ones we had left with the babies - that's when I realized they were doing much more than I knew. I walked in and there were beautiful flowers, an anniversary cookie, icecream, sparkling grape juice and candles awaiting us. I thought that was the end of it all until I went upstairs and realized - hey, my floor looks a lot cleaner. That's right, they had cleaned my house. How amazing is that? Apparently about 9 of the ladies from my church had rotated duties at my house throughout the evening; watching the babies and cleaning. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to come home to such a sweet surprise and just humbled by the love of my sisters in Christ:) Not to mention how great it was that Steven knew about this and kept it a surprise the whole time.



It's hard to believe that 7 years has passed. Steven and I were talking last night about how we were an old married couple from the time we started dating; we've just always been that comfortable with one another...at home you might say. Parenting has definitely added a new dynamic to our marriage with it's share of challenges and joys. I love him more deeply now than ever - I love the father that he is, so hands on. Here's to many more years of bliss!