Big (bitter/sweet) News!

Jason and I are SO happy to announce that after 27 months in PA school in Knoxville, TN, Jason is GRADUATING! :)
I am so proud of Jason's hard work. God called us to Knoxville and he put things in place to make it happen. Jason will finally be a PA in less than a month! I can't believe how fast it has gone (for me at least! Ha!)

The bittersweet news is that Jason has accepted a position in Columbus, MS!
It will be SO hard to leave Knoxville. The city has so much to offer. It has certainly become a home to us in the 2 years we have lived here. We have made some true friends who I think we will stay friends with for a long time. We have had so many great experiences: ESPECIALLY the birth of our little ones. That will link us to Knoxville forever.

Plus the WEATHER here! It is perfect all year round. (A real four seasons!) No, I didn't take this picture.. but I could have. It is seriously that beautiful in the fall. This is a picture of the Smokey Mountains. These colors we will miss.. the obnoxious orange and the Rocky Top Song- not so much. (Ok, I do have to admit that it has grown on me enough to support UT when they aren't playing MState. Support- not necessarily wear UT clothes or anything.) 

On the bright side, we are so eager to get back down to Mississippi. Jason and I love small town life, and we love Mississippi State (which will be about 15 minutes away from where we will live). We will be exactly 2 1/2 hours away from my parents and his parents. Not to mention we will be 15 minutes from many of our friends, like Lindsay- my best friend from college and Fran the mom away from home. YAY!

Kiley at her first MSU game

The job is an excellent opportunity for Jason. He will be working with a top notch spine surgeon at an orthopedic group. The group he will be working with covers Mississippi State athletics. I think the job is great match for Jason, and I am so proud of him! I know the group will be glad they found him. 

Another exciting aspect of the job is that it will allow me to retire from one of my full time jobs. So starting in December I will be a "stay-at-home" mom. Looking forward to it, but also somewhat scared! I know that it will be tough, but that is what is best for our little family right now and I am so grateful that I will get to be with my little ones during a prime time in their developmental lives!

My life with TWINS

OH. Remember that blog I have? I just remembered. WhoopS! How embarrassing! :)
This was drafted long ago. I will post this with just a little bit added!

People always ask me, how is it having twins? So here is the honest truth.

First of all, I have the absolute best partner you can imagine. That is the truth. He helps with EVERYTHING. I can't imagine making this work with two babies without 100% of his support. He helps me so much, he takes care of them so much, and he LOVES his little girls. They are so lucky to have him, although I am sure when they are teenagers they will hate how protective he is. :)

Sleep when the babies sleep. 

Daddy's girls! (5 months)

Secondly, we have the most supportive family and friends. We appreciate every call, text, email, card, gift, gift card, DINNER, everything. You are all so generous and helpful. Of course the most gratitude goes to our parents- they have done so much that I literally cannot list it all. Plus, there are probably so many things that I don't even know about that they have done for us. They have been here for us helping out through the first two rotations for Jason. They have taken turns coming for 5 days at a time for the first few months. Jason and I managed to get through the weekends by ourselves, but we were always ready for the additional help by Sunday night. :)

The girls are perfectly healthy and truly little miracles. When they are fun, they are DOUBLE the fun! Seriously!!! So much smiling, so many things that make us laugh out loud.
But that also means double the diapers, double the crying, and half as likely to get a full night's sleep or get anywhere on time.

(Added later)
Yes, our lives have changed dramatically from our pre-baby times... and we love it! Jason and I are having so much fun with our little family. We are still so blessed with all of the help and support we receive. So thank you! We know we could not do it alone. We thank God, and we thank all of you for answering God's call to help us! Please know that we see you as an instrument of God's blessings to us.

Check out these little girls having a ball while waiting for dinner! They are always making each other laugh! :) And yes, that is a FAKE cough from Kiley.

Stay tuned for an update on what is NEXT!

They are best friends!! 

They love when mommy comes home from work! 

We got very good at holding babies while we eat! 

It's a Girl! .... and another girl!!!

As most of you know, we welcomed our two beautiful, perfect, gifts from God on December 19, 2012.  (As many men have pointed out, we got them in just in time to get the tax deductions! Although we consider them much more precious than a tax deduction.)

I have been incredibly blessed to have a very healthy multiple pregnancy. Any multiple pregnancy is considered high risk, but with the help and support of Jason I ate well (followed a multiples diet-if you are expecting multiples, please ask me about it. I seriously credit a lot of my health and their health to this book.) and relatively exercised frequently. That being said, by the end I had increased my weight be 50%, and I was having difficulty walking, sleeping, breathing, etc. I stopped working after Thanksgiving break at 34 weeks. That gave me 3 weeks of rest to prepare for the birth. The last week of my pregnancy I was HEALTHY (Praise God) but miserably uncomfortable. 

The one sad part was that I had to miss Jason's White Coat Ceremony. I was so proud of all of his hard work he put into his didactic year. His parents came in town and his brother Chad travelled from FL to see him get his white coat. (And he thought the babies would be here by then... We all did.)

The birth itself was very smooth. I won't go into detail. (You're welcome. :) ) The best part was the end... We had two perfect babies! And Jason was the best, most supportive husband. I am seriously so blessed to have him. 

We had quite a full room of visitors. Jason's parents and all three of his brothers (one from MS, one from FL, and one from Nashville), my parents and both of my sisters (from Memphis) all travelled to be here for the birth. It meant so much to have them here. 

Here is the details: 

Dakota Elizabeth Caswell

Born 12.19.12 at 6:19 pm

Weight: 6 lb 7 oz

Length: 21 inches

Kiley Rose Caswell

Born 12.19.12 at 6:33 pm

Weight: 6 lb 8 oz

Length: 20.5 inches

Both were able to stay with us in our room the whole time. They came home with us after a standard 2 days. Now a month later, I am happy to report that they are growing well and keeping us entertained and exhausted- as new babies should. 

And now what you really want: The pictures!