That Cousin Life + Parents of Multiples…High-Five!

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over the weekend, my sister made the brave and solo trip from phoenix to denver, complete with my favorite niece literally in tow!

she is seriously impressive! turns out with enough pressure from family, we got her to bring elizabeth along, even though kendal was gone two nights celebrating her friend’s engagement!

why was it so important that she bring my favorite niece elizabeth? how else could we get the literal perfect photo for them to recreate in 20 years?!?!

this is my absolute favorite photo of them. look at their toes and their little crossed arms and their biceps and omg these humans came out of our bodies!!!!

growing up, our mom adored dressing us alike and i remember being incredibly annoyed by it. like, a lot.

however, iĀ totally get it now.

sometimes i feel like i need to wear a backbrace like michele in romy and michele’s high school reunion. maybe i really should get my scoliosis reevaluated…

our mom goes by “mimi” to the little ones and she gets full credit for the matching outfits!

how cute is elizabeth’s smirk?! i adore it, especially because i’ve never seen atlas smile with her mouth closed. she looks like she knows a massive firework explosion is about to happen or something.

i offered to have lunch at our house when they got to town so our dad (aka GT – grandpa turner) could play with them while they had room to crawl. since ravery was out of town, i could only offer sandwiches because he’s the cook. however, i did serve the sandwiches on a charger so i feel like that gets a few extra points.

remember how we had starkly different pregnancies and her absurd ‘bursts of joy?‘ i am still somewhat shocked that she had a girl in there the whole time but i am so glad she did!

it was very fascinating to watch how similar yet different our daughters are. elizabeth is very roll-y and flexible when she sits or you hold her. atlas on the other hand is pretty rigid and always sits with a straight back (unlike her mother).

 

elizabeth also laughs at things much easier and also cries much louder and for longer when she’s upset (poor girl…and surrounding ears). that being said, elizabeth is super smiley and has a somewhat permanent grin on that face of hers! she also wins in the hair quantity department and has since birth.

atlas typically has an intense, very focused look most of the time and then will break into a smile or a giggle. when she cries, it’s much quieter which is interesting. atlas also immediately wagged her finger ‘no’ when elizabeth first came to our house and approached sugar’s water bowl!

they both love banging everything together and crawling everywhere!

i wasn’t always the nicest older sister growing up so it’s fun to be moms/sisters/friends now that i’m not as mean šŸ™‚ our girls are 5 weeks apart and this was their third time together.

first was at christmas:

then when we went to visit them in phoenix in march:

my sister recently entered a new chapter of her career/life and i am so proud of her! she is now an entrepreneur too and a licensed realtor in phoenix, arizona and the surrounding areas! check her out if you know someone that is looking to buy or sell there, she’s fun and in the words of my husband, ‘she’s the nice sister!’

of course i wish they lived closer than a plane ride (or long drive) away. i am grateful that we both prioritize seeing each other as much as possible! i mean, how can we not?

though it was a very fun weekend and elizabeth spent the night at mimi’s house, i truly have no idea how people with twins or triplets, or…really any more than one baby at a time stay sane. throughout the weekend, the babies never out numbered the adults but holy cow it sure felt like it.

i mean, you can’t hold them at the same time and when one finally sits the other is on the move and shoving everything in her mouth and then the other one chokes on a puff and then you can barely sip your wine before you have to chase the other one. it was exhausting.

kudos to parents of multiples, it’s impressive. if you are reading this and you are a parent of twins or more, i am going to send you a starbucks coffee. seriously. drop me a line (i’ll send one to the first 5 parents of twins/triplets/so on who either comment or email me because ya know…)

we are all headed to missouri next month to watch ‘the totality of the great american eclipse‘ and i am already SO excited. now off to go buy two of all outfits so they can do more matching!

were you close with your cousins growing up?
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12 Comments

  1. Jennifer Haston

    July 26, 2017 at 7:09 am

    Awww!! So sweet! I love the matching outfits! Adorable!!! Yes, I was very close to my cousins, especially my cousin Katie. She actually put me on the
    path to acting and the arts. I tagged along with her to several auditions and watched her do “Bye Bye Birdie” the summer I lived with them and I was well
    and truly hooked!

    • chelsea

      July 31, 2017 at 3:06 pm

      that’s so awesome you were close to your cousins while growing up, jennifer! sounds like katie played a special role in getting you into acting!

      how fun that you got to see her audition and the work that went into it! yay!

  2. Courtney {Alkeks Abroad}

    July 26, 2017 at 7:21 am

    Ahh I love this so much! Those dresses and allll of the pictures of the two of them! Leighton is only three weeks younger than her cousin (My SIL’s daughter). We definetly matched them lots over Christmas and I’m sad we don’t get to see them together more often. PS when you responded to me on insta “thanks grandma” I forgot what I had said (something about the dresses) and when it popped up I was so confused why you were calling me a grandma!

    • chelsea

      July 31, 2017 at 3:07 pm

      how fun that leighton has a cousin close in age too! i guess i can’t complain too much about the trip to AZ when you are soooo much farther away.

      haha that is too funny about the ‘thanks grandma’ on IG hahah

  3. Penny

    July 26, 2017 at 9:29 am

    Awwww this was such a wonderful article and great pictures of the 2 girls and you and your sister. I love the matching outfits. Unfortunately, I did not grow up as a baby with anyone but when I was older I found I had 3 boy cousins that lived close to me. I also had other cousins that lived in Texas, but they were not close. I think it is just great that you are going to bring these cousins up knowing and loving each other. Neat!!!!

    • chelsea

      July 31, 2017 at 3:09 pm

      we really did have a great time and we are grateful to be together! i spent a week or two in the summers with cousins but never lived near any of them. we did have great times in the summer though!

  4. Audrey

    July 26, 2017 at 10:52 am

    HOW ARE THEY SO CUTE???!?!??!
    They better re-create all these pictures in 20 years. Seriously.
    I love that you guys have a space where you can all be together. I think that’s super sweet šŸ™‚ What a fun time!!

    • chelsea

      July 31, 2017 at 3:10 pm

      riiiiiight?! TOO. CUTE.

      i am so so so glad we found a house we love and that has space to host lots of people in it because it makes my heart insanely happy!

  5. Janet

    July 27, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    Cutest babies EVER!

    • chelsea

      July 31, 2017 at 3:11 pm

      can’t argue with that!

  6. Sara | Mrs. Imperfect

    July 28, 2017 at 9:54 am

    How special that they will be able to grow up together. I never had the cousin experience growing up because there were really none that were close to me and my siblings age.

    • chelsea

      July 31, 2017 at 3:11 pm

      i am excited for them to grow up close too, sara!

      i never lived by any of my cousins either but would usually see them for a week during the summer! that week was fun but i wish i had a closer cousin experience too!