Jesse's Birthday

Just finished giving him his present

A nap.

Wow that was EASY! Shopping is DONE! ok just kidding....sort of...

And please don't have a heart attack that I have posted something new. It's always hardest to go back the first time, but now THAT's out of the way!!!

I would post some pictures, but alas, my laptop is on the fritz and they have all been saved to Jesse's hard drive. I will be getting my new power cord shortly and should be able to put some up!!!

Man I'm getting lazy....

Since I'm beyond crazy tired, I decided that I will give the masses *cough* that read this blog at least something to read. Here are three things about my family that apparently I'm too lazy to blog about, but other people have already posted. Why reinvent the wheel?

Circus
http://cbjungle.blogspot.com/2009/09/greatest-show-on-earth.html

Little gems about this post that I'll add. As we walked down the streets of Salt Lake, my daughter yells out "Mom! That man is smoking!" Good thing he was on his cell phone.
When we were in the car getting ready to park she yells "Mom! Look at those tall houses!" she was referring to the office buildings. I felt like I was bringing the country mice to the city. My poor children who've never seen a big city apparently. Andrew was enthralled with all the cars driving by and yelled "CAR" every time he saw one. That's pretty weird since we do have cars in PG.

Cute Story
http://pgwendtfamily.blogspot.com/2009/09/growing-up.html

Thanks Brooke for letting me link to your blog!

And for your viewing pleasure here are some pictures of the Twins my friend Julie took. She's awesome!
http://jktphoto.blogspot.com/2009/09/sweet-babies-elizabeth-and-emily.html

2 Week Well Check

Last Friday we had the Twins 2 week Well Check with Dr. Mumford. So far so good! Here are the stats:

Birth Weight

Elizabeth 5 lbs 6 oz 18"
Emily 5 lbs 14 oz 18"

Weight Check 8/31
4 lbs 13 oz
5 lbs 3 oz

Well Check 9/11
5 lbs 6 oz !!!
6lbs!!!!

Length
19 1/4
19 3/4

We were so glad to see they had gained enough weight to keep the Dr happy. Elizabeth's face is getting more filled out and it makes me feel a lot better. We're just trying to keep her that way at this point. She is our most difficult eater, she takes about an hour to fully feed and will only take a certain bottle. She nurses pretty ok. Emily does great at feeding, but unfortunately we found out she has acid reflux. This is common in preemies. I was explaining some of the things she did at night when we would lay her down. He said, "Well if she does this, this and this, then we'll give her medicine. I said "check, check and check." He just laughed and gave us the prescription. No sense in waiting, he said. Since it takes 3-4 days for the medicine to work, we're glad he didn't make us wait.
We are doing ok, more sleep would be good but there's not much we can do about it! They really do sleep well, they just take turns having bad nights. If they could just have a good night at the same time, THAT would be awesome.

Here are some traits about each one of them:

Elizabeth Grace

Elizabeth is a family name on both sides. Grace is my Father's mother's name. She passed away before he met my mom, so I've never known her. We couldn't decide if we should name her Elizabeth Grace, or Grace Elizabeth, but when we saw her we knew! We intended to call her Ellie, but so far she's still Elizabeth! That might change who knows?
She is so calm and when you pick her up she lays her head on your shoulder in a way that just melts your heart. She's smaller even though she's older so we worry about her, but she's seems so strong and steady. She's still sleeping most of the time, so when she's awake, we get excited. She definitely keeps her cool better than her sister.

Emily Mae

I am a sixth generation Emily through my mother's side. My middle name is Emily but my grandmother wanted it to be my first name. So I promised my Grandma that I would name my Emily as her first name. She still comments every time I see her, that she wished her parents had called her Emily instead of her middle name, Lois. Mae is a family name on both mine and Jesse's family.
Emily is a spunky one. She goes from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds flat. But she can be easier to calm (when it's not acid reflux) and loves snuggling up to you when you hold her. She has more periods of wakefulness than her sister, probably because she is bigger and not still in her "preemie coma" She hangs out for long periods of time just looking around and figuring everything out. She's definitely a thinker.

You want pictures? You got 'em...

Ok, so not that I don't love ya'll, but I've been a little busy. And when I'm not nursing, pumping, burping, changing diapers and anything else baby related, I'm trying to catch up on my sleep and let my body try to recover. So I'm sorry I haven't been able to post more and call people back. I still love you! I'll get to it eventually. Here are some pictures:

This is Elizabeth checking out the chick who's been kicking her all this time. This is a few minutes after they were born.

Here's Emily nuzzling her older sister

Here are my parents holding them the night they were born

Maddi was SO excited to finally hold a baby! She had waited a long time.Here's Andrew checking out the babies

Emily peeking over her blanket at us

The Twins in the Coming Home outfits. Size 0-3 was HUGE on them!

Ready to go home!

All snuggled together at home. Emily sleeps on the left, Elizabeth on the right.

Here is Emily striking a John Travolta move

Emily getting into it and Elizabeth wondering what's going on...

They both had a lot of Bilirubin problems. So we finally had a little sunbathing party to help them along. Worked like a charm.

They are doing well. We have done a few weight checks, poor Elizabeth lost a LOT of weight, and most of it seemed to be in her face. She looked so emaciated it was sad. She's looking better these days. We've successfully kept them out of the NICU so far, but we've been very close a couple of times. We just keep feeding them as much as possible! We've had a ton of help and couldn't have done it without our family and friends! We are so lucky!
PS. HUGE shout out to Kaylynn for giving us all her Preemie clothes! They are a lifesaver and they're adorable. You are AWESOME!

First Photos

They're here!

12:16 and 12:21 am. Baby A: 5 lbs 6 oz, and Baby B: 5 lbs 14 oz. Both 18 inches long. Awesome delivery, both were head down. Pictures to come when I'm not hopped up on drugs! I will post more details and pictures! when I wake up from these drugs!

Ok!!!!!!!!!

It's Showtime!!!
They just admitted me and I just got the epidural!

Just call me, The Time Bomb!

Hi all! I went to the Dr today, and he told me I was at a 4 almost a 5! I can't even begin to tell you how bad that freaks me out! I'm usually in the HOSPITAL when I'm at a 5! He did say he didn't think I would last until Monday. I was up all night last night with contractions. My whole body just ....hurts. It's a very odd feeling. I feel like I'm going to just go at any minute. Anyway. I thought I would just send out the alert! THEY'RE COMING!!!!!
ps. Jesse threw out his back on Monday. Of all the luck, seriously. I took him to an Orthopedic Dr, he was walking hunched over making terrible noises, and I was holding onto the wall and inching along because my whole belly was tight. We were both so pathetic, we just started laughing! He's doing slightly better, getting better everyday.

Update....

Hello all. Since a lot of you have been wondering what's up with me, I thought I would just post it on here. I'm now 35 1/2 weeks trying to make it to 36. I do have a scheduled induction for the 31st, so if I don't go before then, you'll know it'll at least be on that day.
And I'm sorry for alarming all the neighbors with the car situation. Jesse cleaned out the garage so we could park in there. And I guess the absence of the car cause a panic! lol sorry. Should I hang a sign?
As for me, I'm more than ready to get the show on the road! I can't move, I can't do anything, and that gets pretty old, pretty quick! Luckily I've had Rebecca here with me, she has been my legs.
Anyway, that's it. I'll post anything cool that happens on here, so stay tuned!

au revior

Being Pregnant with Twins, the stuff no one tells you.

Ok so here is just a taste of things in my life that have changed since I've been getting bigger. Not trying to complain here, but some of these are just weird.


* If I drop something on the ground, there is now a cause for a debate. How important is this thing that I dropped? Can I live without it? Would it be disgusting if I left it there? (You know, food and stuff like that) You would be amazed the things I have dismissed and decided it just wasn't worth it anymore. I am emotionally detached from my carpet now. It is dead to me.

* Going along with the above statement, my tabletops are clean. Just wear shoes when you come over.

* When I was pregnant with my other two, laying on my back was uncomfortable, but not impossible. When I am in mid turn while in bed, the mere seconds I spend on my back feels like someone is choking me. It's not just that I am without oxygen, it's the pressure on my throat. Weird? At my last ultra sound I passed out while I was laying flat on my back. Now how does THAT work?

* Man was it humiliating having to buy the LARGEST size of maternity garments available at the distribution center, (without special ordering that is) And it's not the garment itself. It's the elastic. The elastic is so crazy tight I can't handle it. The legs themselves are gigantic on me. It's pretty humbling, but the lady at the cash register says I'm not the only one. (it didn't really make me feel better)

*I'm gathering up the courage to ask Jesse to clip my toenails. I've been thinking about springing for a pedicure, but I really think the massage will be too much. It was borderline last time and I was only 18 weeks. And the massage is the best part! So no one look at my toes.

*I've learned that if I do have to get on the ground, I have to stay on my hands and knees, if I don't, I get stuck. Just ask Jesse. I once waited for him for 20 minutes to come back inside to help me up.

*Yes my belly has knocked my children over....on the ground.... more than once....

*Andrew doesn't hug me anymore, he hugs my belly.

*The thought that I am already measuring the size of a full term single baby freaks me out. HOW am I going to get bigger? Where is everything supposed to go? I still have at least 2 months!

* By the way, if anyone sees my lungs, tell them I miss them and want them to come back.

* For the first time in my life, I snore. It wakes me up, and Jesse.

*Back rubs are the best!

* When I need to put shoes away (anyone's shoes, not just mine) I just slip off my own shoes, slip the others on my feet and walk them to where they need to go. Yes, even the kiddos. I'm very talented.

*I literally turn to the side to lean in and turn on the water at the kitchen sink. If I try to do it head on or "belly on", I can't reach.

*I won't get into how I shower. But yes Dad, my feet do get wet...............eventually.

*My dr warned me about letting my feet and ankles swell too often because it can cause blood clots, which can kill you. Now I'm freaked out of my mind. My feet swell ALL THE TIME, it happens when I sit or stand. So pretty much all the time. Church is the worse, too much sitting. And grocery shopping. And cooking.. ok pretty much anything but laying down.

* I don't care what anyone says, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the color we painted the babies room.

* I was up at 4 in the morning the other night pacing the floor trying to "rock the babies back to sleep" I thought I was only going to have to do that once they were born? This is becoming a common occurrence. Well, at least I can carry them both at the same time still.

* I have CRAVED sushi this entire pregnancy. Jesse won't even let me eat the fully cooked rolls. So that is one of the first things I am doing when I can!!!!!


Ok that's probably enough for now. Whew, I'm tired now.

Maddi's Preschool Graduation

I know this is a little late, but it's better late than never right? Here are the pictures from Maddi's Preschool Graduation:

This is her whole class

This is her teacher Miss Kristy, she was awesome!This is the teacher aid Miss Camille, also incredibly awesome! I think Maddi just wanted to eat her popsicle at this point

Here is what Andrew thought of the whole affairHere's Maddi with her certificate!

Here is Maddi's bestest friend Kadence. They are two peas in a pod

She learned so much and made some really great friends, we are so proud of her!

Sweeettttt!!!!!!

The Showtime Utah Theater in PG is showing free classic movies and cartoons during the week all summer long! Here's the link: http://showtimeutah.com/Default.aspx?p=4

Thanks Everyone!

Thanks for all the love, support, help, babysitting, dinners, housework, and everything else I can't remember because there is too much! I have the best family, neighbors and friends, ever! There's no way we could do this without everyone's help and we are incredibly grateful! I hope my last post about the babies didn't sound too dire. We are doing just fine, it's not much different from before when I had morning sickness. Only this time I'm feeling ok and want to go outside! But other than that, our routine has remained the same. I'll update again when the is something to talk about!
Thanks again everyone!

Andrewism

We're at the table eating dinner. Maddi accidentally hurts her finger on the table and says "ow." Andrew leans over and says:

" Are you ok, hun?"

Ahhhh be still my beating heart....

SO PROUD!

Today Maddi said the scripture in Opening Excercises! Jesse helped her since I couldn't be there, but we were so proud. She has made so much progress overcoming her shyness, she never would have done this six months ago! I really had my doubts that she would even do it today, she really did surprise me! Last year at about this time they asked her to do a talk in our old ward and she had to be dragged to the podium and then Jesse gave the talk for her while she hugged his legs and cried. So you can see why we were so excited that she's taking risks and at least trying. Anyway, YAY!

Just an Update...

Ok so I think I'm going to split this post into 2 parts. The first is the generic Yay! part and the other part may be TMI, so read at your own risk!

Alright here's the first part. I had an Ultrasound yesterday, and we were told that with 100% certainty, we are having TWO GIRLS! Yes, that's right, I'm keeping the estrogen tradition alive! We are so excited, I wanted at least one more girl so I'm so excited about it. We're still working on names.

Ok here's the second part, if it's TMI for you then don't read it!

Earlier in the month I was diagnosed with Placenta Previa which has caused me to bleed a lot. I've called the dr's office a few times and they just kept saying it was only a concern if I didn't stop bleeding. I'd been trying to take it easy, to allieveate any unnecessary activity to stop the bleeds. They did say that if the bleeding was accompanied with cramps that I should call back.

So early Wednesday morning I kept having dreams that I was in labor. I was feeling the pains pretty strong and was really frustrated because it seemed no one in my dream was concerned about it. I woke up around 5, and realized that the pains were real. I'm only 17 weeks along, so this was not good. I waited for the dr's office to open and then called. They told me my dr was not in, but I should come in so they could check the babies' heartbeats. I dropped Maddi off at preschool and took Andrew with me. When we got there, they tested me for a UTI and said I was actually really dehydrated. This was a shock, because I've been drinking ALOT (water, not the heavy stuff). They got me some water and told me I needed to drink more. The dehydration was hopefully the reason for the cramping.
The nurse then tried to find the heartbeats, but could only find one. They told me they needed to get the dr. So I was freaking out and I waited for a LONG time for the dr to come. He was just getting out of a delivery. Andrew was climbing the walls and spilled his apple juice all over the floor. He also wouldn't allow anyone to open or shut the door. He felt for some reason he was in charge of the door and wanted to do it himself. Oh it was fun.
Dr. Haskett finally came in and tried to find the heartbeat and couldn't. He then retrieved a laptop that had an ultrasound machine. He found Baby A's heartbeat and said it looked good. He then tried to look for Baby B's and just sat there while he watched the monitor. I waited and then I said "annnddddddd????" he said " oh yeah, it looks good! I can see the heartbeat." He said he wanted to look at the placenta but with the actual ultrasound machine, so I then waited another hour to go get an ultrasound. This is when she figured out they were girls!
But apparently my placenta is not fairing so well, so I've been put on 2 weeks bedrest. He said it's technically not bed rest because I can sit on the couch or a chair, but that was it. He said I could take Maddi to preschool, but no other long car rides.
So will someone tell the bishop that I'm not inactive? Thanks.
So anyway, that is where we are now, I'm feeling a lot better with the morning sickness. I can control it better with eating regularly, but it's just too ironic that I now and back in bed. For the love.....
So I'm signing off. Maddi's excited for sisters, she told me they are all going to be best friends. I didn't bother explaining the teenage years to her. sigh. Anyway, ta ta!

I'm sorry I just can't resist...

Just watch the WHOLE thing! It's so embarrassing at the beginning, but watch the WHOLE thing! And seriously, Simon's face is priceless.

Ok the embedding code was disabled, but here is a link. WATCH IT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Overheard

Maddi: "MOOOOMMMMM!!!!!! Andrew's hitting me softly!!"

Another conversation:
Mom: "Andrew did you hit your sister?"
Andrew: " I don't know"
Mom: "When will you know?"
Andrew: " I don't know"
Mom: "Do you know what happens when you hit?"
Andrew: "I don't know"
Mom: " You get a time out"
Andrew: " Oh I know"


Andrew: "MOOOMMMMMEEEEEEE!!!"
Mom: "Yes?"
Andrew: "I wub you"

Andrewism

I'm in my room. Andrew comes running in and yells at the top of his lungs:

"I"M STINKY! HA!"

and runs away laughing.


AHHHH yes........His communication is really coming along........ as is a WICKED sense of humor. Hmmmmmmm....... He must get it from his father.

Double Trouble

Ok Ok, GOSH!!! I will post something new. I know, I used to be the bestest blogger ever. But I have to tell you, I'm so completely not even thinking about it. Sorry all you fans, lol because I know there are SOOOO many of you.
Ok enough dinking about. As many of you know, I'm pregnant. And not only am I pregnant, but I'm pregnant with TWINS!!!!
OH MY GOSH! And let me just answer all the questions and comments I usually get.

-Yes we are overwhelmed.
-No twins do not run in my family, although they are rampant in Jesse's family. Still waiting to talk to the doc on this one although we're pretty sure we know what happened.
-Yes we were told it would be difficult for us to have more kids. We weren't making that up.
-Yes I realize that I'm going to get ginormous and will look like a whale, I don't really need anyone to tell me that, but thank you for the reminder.
-I'm due Sept. 23 but that doesn't really mean a lot considering twins rarely wait that long to come out.
-Yes I have been in bed for a month. I'm so sick I can't even fathom how easy I had it with the other two pregnancies. And I thought I was sick with then! HA! I'm on meds but they aren't doing the job like they did before. I won't give you anymore gory details. Let's just say, yuck.
-We are working on getting the kids some bunk beds. Maddi is very excited about sleeping on the top. And she wants to get the babies bunk cribs. I tried to explain to her how dangerous that would be, but she's still very excited about it.
-One day I hope to go outside again....
-Yes we are going to be insanely busy. But the more and more it's pointed out to me by incredulous people, the more freaked out I get.
-Yes, we will be having 4 kids in 5 years. That thought alone keeps me up at night.
-And last of all YES! WE'RE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!

Whew!















Ok I'm exhausted and I need to eat.....again. I have to eat every couple of hours and yet I have lost 5 pounds. Huh? yeah I know, the babies are eating me alive!!!
Anyway, over and out.

Ahem....

Tonight Jesse asked Andrew if he would say the prayer at dinner. It went a little something like this...

Jesse: Heavenly Father
Andrew: Hay Fa
Jesse: We're thankful for this food.
Andrew: Food
Jesse: Please bless it.
Andrew: ess it
Jesse: (coughs)
Andrew: (coughs)
Jesse: We say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Andrew: MEN!!!

Well at least the kid follows direction!

Maddism

Mom is getting Maddi ready for bed. Maddi decides she deserves a treat.

Maddi: Mom, can I have some M&Ms?
Mom: Sorry, we don't have any.
Maddi: Why don't we make some?
Mom: Well, I don't know how to make them,
Maddi: Oh Mom! It's so easy! You just take some chocolate and some "Ms" and mix them together, put it in the oven to bake and when you pull them out, you have M&Ms!


Wow kid why didn't you give me that recipe sooner? We could have made a fortune!

Just call me Ginger..... or Mary Ann....

Since Jesse isn't one to toot his own horn, I'll do it for him. On Monday he received a phone call from a teacher of his at UVU. She asked him if he would be willing to teach a class this semester. He was ECSTATIC! He has expressed a lot of interest in becoming an adjunct teacher in the past but he never knew how to go about it and he hasn't really had the time to figure it out. And now this has fallen into his lap and it just so happens that he will be teaching his favorite class, Interaction Design. He has a lot of prep work and reading to do, but he's really excited. They also told him if he wants to, he could do more classes next semester. He's going to wait and see how this one goes first! USANA has been so nice to work around his schedule and let him go early. Although everyone he works with has taken to calling him The Professor. I think it's funny. Jesse is not sure he agrees.

California Adventure Land!

This is the first time we turned around at the Disneyland gate and went to California Adventure instead of Disneyland! We had a blast. Maddi is the biggest Pixar fan. The highlights were definitely the Pixar Parade and the Live Playhouse Disney Show. Both events had all of Maddi and Andrew's favorite characters and they kept freaking out. It was so fun. Here are the pictures!

Maddi was sick the day before and was a little sensitive to everything. She plugged her ears through most of the show! But she watched very intently.

They LOVE Stitch! (or ITCH as Andrew says.)

We happened to be right by the speakers for the parade and it was quite loud. Nana got some ice cream cones and so this is how Maddi ate hers:

Poor Andrew was so tired he zonked right out. We tried to wake him, but he missed the entire thing.

Maddi plugged her ears but every time a character waved she waved back, but put her shoulder up to cover her ear. She's a silly one.

Yay! A high five from "the green guy"

This Buzz Lightyear chick gave her a high five too but I missed it. Buzz was on the float.

Huzzah!

And picking up where we left off....... DISNEYLAND!

Remember when we went to California? In NOVEMBER? Well here are some of the pictures. I can't not put them up here. It would be weird, no? I was still sick at this time, so you may see a few pre-percocet pictures and post-percocet pictures. It was also REALLY warm that day. It was almost 90 degrees! Crazy! (and pay no attention to the dates on pictures that say it's April 2006) And I'm not sure why Maddi insisted on wearing her hat. She's so funny.

Here are Nana and Papa walking with the kids up past the Rainforest Cafe through Downtown Disney, and on to Disneyland. They looked so cute I had to take a picture.

They were promoting the Tinkerbell movie so they had a Tinkerbell statue that was lighting the Mickey when you first walked in. Yellow lights moved along those yellow flowers up to Tinkerbell's wand. It was really cool and Maddi LOVED it! (we all know her affinity for Tinkerbell) (ps this was the best picture after many of trying to get them to look, they were too facisnated with all the twinkling lights.)

Andrew flipped out when he met Donald Duck.

"Are those big white buttons on his pants? Wow those are fancy pants"

Maddi riding her favorite ride with her Nana

WHEW! the percocet kicked in!

LOVE LOVE this picture! Don't their personalities shine through? (no offense Andrew) And see those passes hanging around our necks? We were lucky enough to get the fast passes they were handing out to random people! yeehaw!

This ride was also a favorite (although not for my tender head)

Another photo op with Goofy

Pooh Bears hunny pots

Perfect Ending to a perfect Disney Trip!

We had an awesome time ! Thanks Nana and Papa!