New Jobs

So this is week 2 of Jason's new job.
Like I have said several times, he is working as a PA at an orthopedic clinic. He really likes it! Unfortunately, he is still balancing working and studying for the PA national certification exam. We will all be VERY glad to have that test behind us. 

Sometimes we convince him to take study breaks. 

It is also week 2 of my new job: being a staying home mom. 

So far, pretty good! 

My college roommate invited me to join a bible study once a week, and I joined a gym. There are tons of young women who go to this gym, and everyone is extremely friendly. The people Jason work with are also very welcoming. I have been invited to go on a walk at a local greenway and we are even going to dinner at a coworker's house tonight. I have brought the girls up to the office a couple of times for different reasons. We are staying busy and getting to know the area very well. The girls seem to love having me home all day, and I love that I finally have time to just be on the floor and PLAY with the girls, without having the work I need to do hanging over my head. I also had my friend Caitlin over. She is another friend from college who is now at Mississippi State studying in vet school. So nice to be near her again! 

Columbus, MS Riverwalk

Overall, we are adjusting to the area very well. I am not surprised how much I like Columbus. I knew we would like it. We are small town people! We love being in Mississippi. We love being closer to family. We love that we will be able to go to lots of things at MSU! I am just surprised how quickly we adjusted and love it! 

We will be open to having guests starting in February! :) 

Holidays!

whew!
Things from the holidays have finally settled down!!
In November Jason and I were fortunate enough to get the opportunity to have a whole day date by ourselves! A good friend from church (adopted Knoxville grandmother- Sheila) watched the girls for us all day so we could go to Dollywood. We rode every roller coaster and ride that was open, some a few times. I didn't tell Jason that I didn't like roller coasters until we were walking out! I was trying to be a good sport since he loves them. It was so nice to spend time alone, away, and know that our girls were in good hands.

This is Sheila! She watched the girls while we went to Dollywood. 

A few weeks later at Thanksgiving we drove down to Columbus, MS to find a place to live. We got to spend the night with Fran, which is like a mini-retreat every time. We drove down Thursday morning to Jackson to spend Thanksgiving with the Caswells. We celebrated with a huge feast with Jason's Dad's family. I should have taken a picture of the spread. It was overwhelming. I couldn't even fit one serving of everything on my first plate. Needless to say I had several plates. Oops.. Maybe I shouldn't admit that.
Sunday night we were invited to Jason's new company's Christmas party. We had a very nice time. It was held at a beautiful log cabin, and everyone was really welcoming. We left the girls with our good friends, Buz and Alice. They were so generous to let us stay with them and watch the girls for us! We are really happy to be moving closer to them so we can spend more time together.

After Thanksgiving we had a few weeks of packing our stuff, wrapping up school and testing, and barely sleeping. Jason's parents came to help us watch the girls so we could finish packing our house. Of course the primary reason they came was to watch their exceptional son walk across the stage. We were all so proud of him!!!
Watching Jason walk across the stage to accept his third (and final!) diploma was an incredible feeling. So many hours of Jason studying and working really paid off. Cliche? Maybe.. but it was a dream coming true.

The girls are proud of their daddy, too!

After graduation, we went to a celebratory lunch. Then we hurried home and got ready for the girls' first birthday party. We had a lot of people come over. It was exactly what we wanted. All of our friends in Knoxville, who have truly become like family, got to come and celebrate with us. It takes a village? Yes, it does. We were certainly blessed to have such a generous village to support us throughout the last year. A great big  THANK YOU for everything. Your good deeds will not be forgotten!

This is little Sam and me- Sam is one of the girls' bestest friends since they were about 6 weeks old!! 

Let's do this next year together! 

Happy birthday, girls!! 

Dakota loves the lion we got them for their birthday! 

Jared, Monica, and Sam Kimutis and our family.
They are some of our best friends in Knoxville.
We already miss them so much! (And we are planning a trip to visit this summer!)

I worked Monday and we had a holiday party for my students. Of course in Knox County Schools we can't have parties, so it wasn't really a party. It was a social skills activity that involved food, crafts, and gingerbread houses. I think the parents had a good time, and I KNOW the kids did. (so did the teachers!)
It was so hard to leave my students and co-workers on Tuesday. I was blessed to have an amazing support system at work, and a class full of wonderful kids. They made tons of improvements this year. I am so proud of them. I wish I could see into the future and see what impact they will make on the world some day!!

Tuesday afternoon Jason's mom and I drove down to Columbus with the girls. Jason and his dad had already driven down all of our things. My parents met us in Columbus, and they committed to watching the girls while we unpacked everything. It was a busy three days, but we did it. When we left on Saturday for Jackson, we didn't have any boxes left to unpack, and we even had things hanging on the walls!

We stayed in Jackson until Monday, when Jason had to appear in front of the Mississippi medical board to get approved for his license. Then we drove to Memphis for our Platten family Christmas. We had a delicious dinner and shared gifts and good times. We loved spending time with our family, including my sister Julie and her new husband, Reed, my sister Laura, her husband, Hayden, their three little ones, Haley (6), Trey (4), and Avery (2),  and  my dad's little brother from Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

The next day (Christmas Eve) we drove up to Saint Louis to spend time with all of my extended family. Christmas Eve is traditionally spent with my dad's side of the family. Our gracious host, John and Margie, also agreed to let the Caswell clan crash at their house. We had so much fun with everyone. Christmas morning we woke up and had a very laid back morning with a delicious breakfast and mass at their church in Saint Charles. Then we spent the day with my mom's side of the family. Another delectable meal and laid back afternoon. The day after Christmas we attended the annual Platten/LeGrand lunch. As always, we don't skip a beat. We spent the evening having a pizza party with my grandfather at his house. We headed out the next day and spent the night at Laura's house. We stayed up late just talking. One of my favorite parts of this whole trip was just spending quality time with all of our family. I may not remember the gifts we got, but I won't forget the memories made! (Ok, I doubt I will forget that I got a cricut...! :) )

My Grandpa Platten and Kiley

My dad's dog is a little jealous that the girls are getting all the attention.

The next morning we drove down to Jackson, MS again for a belated Christmas celebration with the Caswell's, including Jason's dad's mother, and two of his brothers, Jason's brothers, Derek and Chad, and his parents. Unfortunately Chad's wife, Laura, was sick so she missed out on the incredible food (again, I should have taken a picture of the spread...my mouth is watering just thinking about it), and we certainly missed her.

Jason's maternal grandmother

The next day we drove down to New Orleans to spend time with Jason's mom's side of the family. It was a rough day, since one of the things the Plattens seemed to give for Christmas this year was a stomach bug. I started feeling better the next day though, so we spent time with Jason's maternal grandparents. They LOVE the babies! New Years Eve was a lot of fun. Miraculously, the girls slept through all the fireworks and celebrating and didn't wake up at all throughout the night. The Gravois New Years celebrating doesn't stop at midnight- that's when we start celebrating Genevieve's birthday! Then we all go home for what seems like a little nap, followed by the New Years Day celebration. The next day we headed home. We stopped overnight in Jackson again.

I love seeing his face light up when he looks at the girls! 

Finally we went home. After a VERY long trip, we thanked God that we had a home to come back to, for safe travels, for babies who travel well, and that we didn't need to unpack any boxes when we got home!

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! 

Alles Gute Zum Geburtstag!

Guten Tag! Jason and I have had a very busy couple of weeks!
Last weekend our sweet friends from Jason's PA class threw us a diaper shower! They worked so hard to put it on, and it paid off. The food was delicious. The only downside is we had to watch our dawgs lose to Texas A&M.

The girls from Jason's PA class! 

The banner matches our crib bedding. 

Diaper wreath! 

Then on Wednesday, the staff from my school showered us with gifts! It was SO thoughtful. I was overwhelmed by how many people participated in the shower. The special ed staff hosted it.  They did a great job with the cupcakes (little booties on top! so cute.) and punch and ice cream. It was after school and the majority of the staff came, and some other coworkers that work in other parts of the school district. PLUS they got together and bought both car seats! I think we officially have all of the little things we need BEFORE they come. 

Aren't these adorable! 

So then this weekend we started celebrating Jason's birthday a little early. I planned an Oktoberfest themed birthday party. (Hence the German greetings.. and Alles Gute Zum Geburtstag- Happy Birthday.) 

We had German food and beer (for some of us). We also had a beer tasting. Everyone brought beer to share, and I served a blind taste test. There was awards for best, worst, and most interesting! 

Please note that this would not have been possible without the huge amount of help from Zahida and Valerie all afternoon!

German Potato salad, of course

Honey Beer Bread

Homemade Pretzels (I don't suggest this recipe) with Beer Cheese Dip

My mom's recipe for sweet and sour green beans..YUM!

Zahida

Brandon

Val brought the best beer... Sarah brought the WORST.

Birthday boy!

You can't even tell I'm pregnant in this picture! 

Chad

Andrew

Elijah

Add caption

Andrew, so proud of his team...

Sunday morning we had a chance to meet with the Legrands briefly for breakfast before church. It was so good to see them!!!

Jason's birthday is actually next Monday, but we had a great time getting the celebration started! 

Pregnancy news: 

I am now 32 weeks. It is quite a milestone! I am still working, and I plan to work for at least the next two weeks. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break. Jason's family is coming over from Nashville so that will help tremendously! Thank you for all of your prayers! I am hoping to carry the twins for another 3-5 weeks at least!