Meet Brayden at One

You've already met Julianna at One so I thought it was about time to tell you more about my sweet Brayden.  He too has come a long way since I wrote about my expectations for him when I was pregnant!  

Brayden Harrison

Nicknames: Bray, Bray-Bray, Brady, Prince Charming, Brady-Boy

Size: Currently wearing 12 months
Favorite Song: Old McDonald
Favorite Food: Grilled Cheese
Favorite Toys: Gymnic Rody Horse, Little People (especially Princess Ariel), VTech Spin & Learn Top, LeapFrog My Pal Scout
Favorite TV Show: Bubble Guppies, YoGabaGaba or Spongebob (not that Mom is too fond of the last one)
Favorite Animal: Giraffe
Vocabulary: Mama, Dada (which has evolved to Da-ee), Nana, Baba, Bap, Uh-Oh
Tickle Spots: Inner Thigh, Right under Ribs

Brayden is a rambunctious, snuggly and hilarious little boy.  He is on the brink of learning to “run” and loves to walk in a room, catch your eye, and run out – only to repeat time after time for minutes on end.  He loves to laugh and has this contagious giggle that not even the most stoic could resist smiling for.  The most random things will get him going – the word “hundred,” a fake sneeze or hiccup, Mom crying hysterically, Dad bumping his head on the chandelier, and “alligator chomps” are some of his favorites about which to laugh. 

A warm, fluffy bed is “his spot” especially snuggled in between his parents.  He can have a conversation with his eyes and is such a little “flirt” when it comes to all the ladies he encounters as we go out.  He surely has his daddy’s charm.

Brayden is intense and at times can have a temper.  It’s obvious that he knows what he wants, and gets frustrated when it doesn't work how he expects.

 

He loves to carry around a balloon, and to pull ribbon off the spools.  He dances to every song he hears – bending his knees and bopping up and down.  His soft voice will sing along to a lullabye or song on tv when he’s getting drowsy.  He loves princess Ariel’s red hair with a passion and we joke that someday he’ll marry a red-head. He is my little Irish imp that stole my heart the moment our eyes met.  I am so incredibly lucky to be his Mom.

Meet Julianna at One

As our blog "restarts," I thought it might be the perfect time to reintroduce each of my "two."  Since she is technically my oldest (by one minute) I'll give you an update on Julianna first.  How far she's come since I last introduced her, about a month before her birth!

Julianna Marie

Nicknames: Julie, Julie-Bean, Beanie Baby, Beans, Princess, Beaners, Honey Bean (basically anything BUT Julianna)

Size: Currently wearing 18 months - will update with height and weight after our upcoming doctors appt.
Favorite Song: You Are My Sunshine
Favorite Food: Mandarin Oranges
Favorite Toys: Gymnic Rody Horse, Fisher-Price Little People Disney Princess Songs Palace, Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home
Favorite TV Show: Bubble Guppies
Favorite Animal: Dogs
Vocabulary: Mama, Dada, Uh-Oh and most recently "Hi"
Tickle Spots: Shoulders and Feet

Julies' spirit is just so joyful, silly, and spunky.  She always has a smile, and is filled with wild noises.  She loves to hold her hand in the air and holler like she's proclaiming something for the world to listen.  Julie's born to be a performer, hopping on every "stage" (ie box) that she can find.

She just began walking a few weeks ago, and is already tottering around everywhere.  She's a girly girl with bows in her hair, and pretty dresses, even giving us a "twirl" in her Christmas dress.  Julie despises socks, and likes shoes even less.  "Bling" is one of her favorite things, as is every texture of fabric that she comes across.  Julie's giggles are the most beautiful noise in the entire world.  God made her so perfectly, just for me. :-)

Party Crasher

So no, I've never crashed a real party (or at least I don't think I have) but am excited to be crashing my very first Ultimate Blog Party!  You see, I found a pin on a fellow twin mom blogger's pinterest that looked too cool not to click, and found the link.  I was so pleasantly surprised to see I was just in time to participate and figured I could quickly write up a little "about us" and join the celebration!  My fingers are in a furry, racing the clock before Julie rouses herself from her slumber and wants to eat - so forgive any errors or typos!

Who Are We:


Heather is a new mom to boy / girl twins (Brayden and Julianna) who were born December 22nd.  While still feeling completely overwhelmed by the whole "I'm really a mother" thing, I'm getting the hang of it (I think).  I am a former "professional Girl Scout" running programming for girls here in Western PA for the past five years. I love to spend time my time outdoors, in the kitchen, or in the car on my way to a fabulous vacation.  I am learning photography, the art of consignment sales and how to make hair bows.

Dan is the love of my life, fabulous Daddy, engineer, product manager, and grill master and dog groomer.  Jack of all trades and my partner in everything.

Julianna has also been known as "Wiggle Butt," "Julie Bean," and "Beanie Baby."  When not being completely adorable, she likes to moonlight as the Poopy Princess and get her toes painted.


Brayden is everybody's little buddy, and truly an "old soul."  He's curious, a huge flirt, a complainer and completely incredible.

And this here is our little home on the web.  A place for me to have a "project," a place to share my experiences, and my hub for finding other mom's whose experiences make me better.  If you're visiting from the Ultimate Blog Party - thanks for stopping and welcome!  Leave me a comment as I'm looking forward to getting to know you!

Meet Julianna

Ever since I was in my mid-teens, I've known (well - hoped and prayed at least) that someday I'd have a lovely little girl.  Her name would be Julianna Marie and I would have so much fun being her mom.  When we found out that we were pregnant, deep in my heart I so hoped that this would be my chance to meet this special little girl, but already was pretty sure that I was carrying a boy.  So when we discovered that there were two - I had a spark of hope that now would be our time.

When we had our ultrasound, the tech (of course) determined the sex of our son first.  When she said that Baby B was a girl, my heart leaped for joy.  We are so blessed to have the both of best worlds.  While Dan's always dreamed of playing ball with a son, he too is so thrilled to experience the joys of a daughter.  She will be such a special girl.

Luckily, Dan also loved the name that I'd chosen for her over ten years ago - Julianna - pronounced JEW-LEE-YANNA (with the end rhyming with "Hanna").  While I know I'll never be able to prevent people from their own pronunciations of her name, we much prefer this to JEW-LEE-AWNA which sounds a little more "eastern European" to us.  I already call her "Julie" more than anything else...

She is my little feisty girl.  While Brayden is crowded on the left side, Julie is sprawled out on the right along my whole side.  She loves to kick and I can often see the right half of my stomach moving and shaking as she gets comfortable.  Julie lets me know when she's not content.  For instance, when I lay on my right (where she'd be on the bottom) she kicks and kicks until I flip over.  She also loves music...  Whenever I play something loudly in the car, she wiggles around like she's dancing in their - especially when I sing along.  I dream of her being a little Irish Step Dancer someday.

I've told my mother that I think I may be carrying a mini-me - feisty and spirited.  If this is the case, boy are we in for an adventure!

My hopes as a mother are that she'll grow to learn how special and unique she is.  I want her to believe in herself without question, and know that she can accomplish anything she puts her mind to.  She will do incredible things with her life, and I can't wait to see who she becomes.

Meet Brayden

Brayden is our "baby A" and therefore I thought he should go first with introductions.  From the moment I knew I was having twins, I have felt such a special bond with Brayden because he was the underdog - our baby with the smaller sack and an indeterminable destiny.  But I knew God had big things in store for him, and that he would figure out a way to grow into a big strong baby.

I also have felt so connected with Brayden because I was sure, within weeks of becoming pregnant - even before I knew that there were two - that we would be having a boy.  I know he is the son Dan has thought about every time he's considered what fatherhood would be like, and of course, we can't wait to meet him!

I'd never really considered what it would be like to have a son, as my motherhood fantasies typically involved lots of frilly dresses and hair bows.  I'm eager for him to learn to be the type of man his dad is - one that is patient and kind, a hard worker who loves and respects his wife.  In all of my hopes to teach my daughter about being an independent woman it had never really dawned on me how men are just as much a part of the equality equation and I'm excited about the opportunity to raise him in that perspective.

So what is Brayden like?  I think he is strong and brave because of how he overcame the early challenges he faced in our pregnancy.  He has grown to be even bigger than his sister (by millimeters of course).  He's patient and accommodating, which I know because he's scrunched himself into a little "frank breech" ball, while his sister sprawls out on my right side.  He's not a pushover though, and makes himself known quite frequently with his pokes and kicks.  He is such a special boy...

Meet Our Family

Our family will very soon be doubling in size as we look forward to the arrival of our "first children."  But first, it was only us.  We could still be considered newlyweds, married in April 2010.  Dan is a Project Manager, transplanted to Pittsburgh from New York for work.  For the past five years, I've worked for a national youth serving non-profit, and am counting down the days until my "maternity leave."  Only 13 days to go...

Our babies are officially due January 5, 2012 but as twins commonly go, we're expecting their arrival to be somewhere near the second week in December (optimistically.)  The ultrasounds show one beautiful little girl, and one handsome little boy.  We couldn't be more excited!

I was thinking today, how as much as I'd hoped and prayed and looked forward to being pregnant at some point, I never ever thought to ask for twins.  It'd never dawned on me that I'd be the one to experience joys and challenges of twin motherhood.  I must say, at this point in the game I feel pretty clueless but am so thankful for the opportunity to learn.  

My support system is amazing...  I have a husband who is truly the best man I've ever met, my best friend and partner, who I know will be an incredible Dad.  My mother is my total rock, and will be here every step of the way - even moving in with us for the first few weeks until I figure out a process to this new adventure.  My Dad loves me more than I could ever ask, and will do anything he can to make my experiences better.  I can't wait to see them become grandparents and are so proud to be able to bring them this joy.