And the girls' names are...

Joy Savannah and Blythe Annabelle!  We picked Blythe and Joy because they both have meanings to the effect of happiness, delight, exuberance, and obviously joy... which is exactly how we felt when we found out we were having the twins!  Savannah and Annabelle were chosen for their good Southern roots.  We both grew up in Georgia, have deep family ties to Georgia, and love the Low Country, thus Savannah.  We associate the name Annabelle with the antebellum period and the historical South, though the actual Hebrew meaning is grace.

We are so excited to officially announce the names!  I'm 29 weeks now, so they'll make their grand entrance in 10 weeks or less!

Disappointing people and mortification

I disappoint strangers on a daily basis.  

It is so sad to obliterate their delight and hopes that they're talking to a lady who may be going into labor at any second, an observation based on the size of my belly.  Two of my favorite lines I've heard in the last week: "Any day now, huh?"and "We'd better get you in and out of here quick!" (after I walked into a store).  Then it gets all awkward when I say, "Oh no, I'm not due until late October."  If I were really mean, I'd leave it at that and make them feel terrible.  But I always do add, "But I'm having twins, so it sure does look like I'm due tomorrow!"  I really honestly have this same conversation multiple times a day.  My mom ran errands with me this morning and witnessed the phenomenon.  She asked if I should just carry a recording to play when someone starts to get all excited.  It's pretty funny.

Now for the mortification.

So I'm new in town, right?  Sort of?  My mom and I took Abby Jane to a park on Sunday afternoon that has opened just recently, and we'd never played there before.  She was still wearing the smocked dress that she had on at church, but I didn't change her b/c swings and slides are typically not too dirty.

I didn't count on the HUGE amazing "splashground" (there are probably 7 or 8 different water elements and fountains there!) that was about 50 feet from the swings, which are of course Abby Jane's obsession.  So she starts asking for the "rain" as she call fountains, and the asking becomes more and more insistent (i.e. "I need rain!!!") until I start feeling TERRIBLE for not letting her to play in the water.  

So I do what any good mom would do and took off her pretty dress and bloomers and let her run around in a DIAPER in those fountains with the hundred other appropriately attired children.  

I have never felt so redneck in my life.  

She drew even more attention to her little naked self by her total and boisterous glee and delight to be playing in those fabulous fountains.  I was mortified, but she was happy, which is what counts, right?

I took no pictures because I didn't want the event visually recorded or her to ever say, "MOM HOW could you let me do that in front of ALL those people??"

So here are a few pictures at the same park (though few are centered- she was moving too fast!) when I took her back there yesterday.  

Clothed. 

Finishing California

Our last days in California were so bittersweet and such precious times with friends for whom we are so grateful!  Here is a brief, though not all-inclusive, summary...

Last Country Mart playdate with Nat, Josh, Les, Sammy, Jen, and Lucy (or "Yuce" as Abby Jane says)...

Big Pepperdine cookout- here are all the ladies and a few of the children... 

Went back to the fountains with the "Malibu library" crowd- here are Abby Jane and Jaxon, though Charlotte and Campbell were there too!

Last beach playdate with Jenny and Campbell, Trisha and Jaxon- how we will miss these sweet friends and amazing memories!
Sammy's 1st bday party was a puppy party (with real puppies brought in for the kids to play with!)  I don't have a great picture of the JOY this event was in Abby Jane's life, but I do believe that playing with all those puppies may be the highlight of her life so far.  OK, one of them.

Abby Jane kissing the birthday boy...
Precious Les and Sammy with us girls...  Jane asks to go to Sammy's house on a daily basis...
Sammy putting out that candle with his fingers.  What a man!
Aufhammers, DuBachs, and Hoffs...
All the kids being in the same place for a picture lasted about 10 seconds...
Sandy and Ken got there Sat. afternoon after Sammy's party and joined us in a whirlwind couple of days of packing and the aforementioned traveling craziness.  Here are the guys and Abby Jane taking a break from their hard work.  Truck is due to arrive tomorrow!

I will catch you up on our first week out here in the next couple of days, but I could not go forward until I had recorded that last week- and even that's leaving out some precious times during which my camera battery inopportunely died...

As we've said before- it's a sweet thing to be sad to leave people and a place- it would be so much worse if we were leaving nothing dear there after investing three years of our lives!  We feel blessed for sure...

Safe and Sound

Abby Jane and I are officially in Atlanta!

We were originally supposed to leave on Sunday, but as Jake's mom Sandy, Abby Jane, and I were planning to fly standby, the availability of flights pushed back that date until yesterday.

My mother-in-law did an amazing thing and listed Abby Jane with her... which meant that when Sandy (with her higher seniority with Delta due to Jake's dad) got on the first flight out that we arrived at LAX for, my daughter flew across the country with her... while I stayed at LAX until I caught a flight!

It was the kindest thing- not that it's a terrible thing to fly with a toddler, but it's BUSY and PHYSICAL, and at this stage of pregnancy, those things are not very fun or comfortable in such confined spaces.

So I actually got to write thank-you's, crack one of the twins books I've received (these kids are coming soon, so I thought I would start reading up- I hear it's a little different than one child), and watch a movie on the plane.

I know, I am SO spoiled.

But after the emotional and physical drain of the preceding days of packing and goodbyes to precious people, it was SO perfect. My sis-in-law Susan picked me up from the airport last night and when I arrived at my mom's, my daughter was already bathed, fed, tucked in bed, and reportedly happy and settled.

(She did wake once in the night and when I went in to her, she said- through her tears- "Mama... Mimi? Airplane?" as if to say, "Did you even KNOW I got on an airplane yesterday with Mimi?")

Jake and his dad are on Day 2 of their cross-country trek, with today's route scheduled to be from Albequerque to Little Rock. Jake has the laptop with him, so all our pictures and stories from the rest of our time in Malibu will wait until they arrive. It was very, very sweet, and I'll leave it at that for now.

We are so thankful for our wonderful family and all their amazing help!

Last Week Goings On

Last Sunday was our last day at our wonderful, amazing church. After the service, a huge group of us went to lunch.  The Jones family gave Abby Jane twin baby dolls who are now a staple in our lives. Here are Canon and Abby Jane discussing the twins (or the string cheese in Canon's hand)!

We had a delicious dinner with the Hoffs on Saturday night, and Abby Jane was sent home with a pair of dress-up heels that she was very attached to.  She calls them her "running shoes"- and wants to wear them everywhere (see below as we're getting ready to go to the pool!)- though we make her keep them at home!

Yes, I'm only 26 weeks along and this big already (only a few pounds less than I was when I delivered Abby Jane!)- heaven help me with three months still to go with these girls!  I had an ultrasound yesterday, and the girls are about 2 lbs each and are doing just great.

Holding onto her baby dolls in her "running shoes"...

Playing at the Country Mart with Sammy

Jake had a going-away party given for him at their new office yesterday afternoon.  It was so neat to hear Jake's wonderful boss, Doug, affirm and talk about all that Jake has done at Pepperdine and how much they'll miss him! Abby Jane was excited to go to the "pahty" and have "nummy nummies"= ice cream.  

We went on our last family beach picnic last night, and it was such a special night!

Friday Fountains, Beach, and Daddy

Fountains at Juan Batista with Jen, Lucy, Em, Canon, and Brady- PURE DELIGHT!

We rounded the corner of the house to go down the stairs to the beach and were greeted with the sight of glasses of cab sav, sparkling lemonade for me, bowl of fresh fruit, brownies, and snacks for the kids... just for the fun of it!  Now THAT'S a Friday afternoon playdate!  (Sabrina started the trouble- the first time she joined our little group, she brought homemade sangria and cookies... we decided we'd keep her around.)

When we got home from the beach, DADDY WAS HOME from being gone this last week for the second half of his July school session.  It was a wonderful night.  Happy weekend!