Great to be a MOM

Being a mother has made me appreciate my Mother and Mother-in-law a great deal. Being a mother is a never ending job...even after the kids have left the nest, mothers are still needed. I want to send out a HUGE thanks and I love you to the two moms in my life that have never failed me. You are always there to answer my questions and hear my concerns. You always lift my spirits and give me words of encouragement. Your never ending support and affection does not go without recognition. I truly am blessed to have a mother who accepts me for my strengths and overlooks my faults. A mother-in-law who loves me and treats me as her own. I couldn't have married into a better family. I know I am always calling on you for advice on my many adventures in motherhood. Without fail you are both always there to help save the day.

I hope on this mothers day there will be no doubt in your mind as to your success in being a mother. You are the BEST! Thank you Mom and Elaine. I am sending all my love in virtual hugs and kisses.:)

NOW....The best part of my life is being a MOTHER to my incredible 4 children and my over sized 5th child (Chris). I wouldn't want to live my life any other way. I have had many ups and downs and I realize that all of my experiences are necessary for growth, to be a better wife, mother, teacher and companion. Wish me luck in my pursuit in being the best mom there ever was!!

Catching Up

This has been a busy week! The easiest way for me to share life's happenings is to list them. Since I am not the greatest writer.

1. Barrett laughed for the first time this week. He is a very smiley baby and he has a great little cackle to go along with it. I was able to run and grab the video camera so I caught the tail end of it.

2. Weaning is HORRIBLE! I am completely miserable. I have had mastitis and have been living with cabbage leaves on my breasts. (it is supposed to help dry me up) I am hoping life becomes barable before tomorrow when we leave for Disney or I might consider nursing again just to relieve myself and wean more gradually after the trip.

3. Tristan has mastered the art of Temper Tantrums. Thankfully he hasn't pulled one in public...yet. Maybe he is sensing that his daddy is leaving soon so he is acting out but he has regressed back to his defiant stage where he acts like he doesn't hear me and most of the time doesn't seem to care about the consequence. He is just rotten. (But still adorable)

4. Poor Soren had to battle constipation for several days due to the formula he was on. Little guy tried pushing for 3 days then finally relieved himself yesterday. I guess mommy's milk is best.

5. We have been running around the house trying to get everything ready for our trip and for Chris' departure. He has to be all packed by today so they can send over his stuff.

6. I go through the large tin of formula in 3 days! Thankfully I buy walmart brand which is $15 instead of $25 for name brand. Whew, these babies are expensive!

7. Eliana's dance recital is the 16th, the day after we get back. I video recorded the teacher during rehearsal so Eli could practice at home. She just LOVES to dance. I can't stop laughing every time Tristan stand right next to her and joins in. He would make a great ballet dancer but I think he is more built for football! Right DAD?

Well, I guess there wasn't as much going on as it felt like around here. My life just seems to be non-stop. Especially now that I wash bottles 3 times a day. Some days i fell like all I do is hold babies, feed babies, run after Tristan, Tell Eliana to stop screaming. (I swear that child has the loudest voice box I have ever heard!) and let the dogs in and out all day. Nothing seems to get done. I certainly need to learn how to manage my time better.

Weaning

Yes, I am weaning the babies. It has been an emotional few days. After the babies Dr visit I tried feeding Soren On-Demand instead of the 3 hour schedule they have been on. It really messed things up. Now I know why all moms of multiples say you have to be on a schedule. I had crying babies every hour acting hungry. I don't know if timing was coincidental but it seemed that I wasn't producing enough milk to meet their growing appetite. It has been a sad yet exciting feeling. I am sad that I can't nurse them as long as I hoped but I am SO looking forward to the freedoms of bottle feeding. Trust me when I say I know and believe in ALL the benefits of breast feeding. However, I feel a huge relief to not be tied down. Not to be the only one who can fill that need.

I feel like a brand new mother. I have never bottle fed before. It may seem silly to say that I am a little nervous to get it right. Which formula is the best? What bottles are the best. What nipples (flow) do my babies need? How many ounces should they be taking in? IT is all new to me. Breastfeeding was easy in the sense that I didn't have to think that much about it.

I am hoping that I can have them completely weaned before next Monday the 12th when we leave for Disney World. This is my idea: Today I have been alternating breastfeeding and bottle feeding. Tomorrow and Tuesday I am going to nurse every third feeding. Then on Wed. every 4th feeding. I am really hoping I don't get any clogged ducts or mastitis. If you have any advice on a better way to wean please post and let me know.

Wish me luck as I welcome stinkier diapers, smellier spit-ups and bottles out the wazoo to clean. As if I don't clean a million sippy cups every day!!

SURPRISE happy early birthday Mommy!!

Have I ever mentioned that I have the greatest hubby ever?! Last night he walked in the door with a birthday cake and the kids singing happy birthday. What a great surprise. My birthday isn't until June 24th! He wanted to give me my present before he deployed in a few weeks. So the kids helped me cover my eyes while he brought in my present.

WOW!!! Just what I've always wanted!! Chris is always the one in our family buying high priced things. He blames it on his passion for great things and having the best. He was excited to hear me mention several weeks ago that I would love to have this camera. I never gave it a second thought after I mentioned it but he ran with the idea...and not a moment too soon. I have a couple weeks to learn how to use it before we head off to Disney World. Thankfully I have a good friend Lisa who has a similar camera and will give me the low down.

Last night the kids refused to eat the rest of their dinner and only wanted cake. I can't blame them. I got a jump start on reading about mt camera then decided I had to go to bed since my babies were sleeping.

Thank You babe, I LOVE you!

Well baby check-up

The little guys are almost 4 months old and I finally got them in for their 2 month check up and shots. They are doing great other than their size. The Dr. was a little concerned for Soren. He is almost a lb. smaller than Barret. Barret-10lbs. 15 oz. 23 inches long. Soren 10 lbs. 1 oz. 23 inches long. He talked about supplementing Soren and I said I didn't want to start supplementing him because I would be able to stop after starting. So I am changing my feeding style. I had them on a pretty strict 3 hour schedule. Moms with multiples have to schedule to be able to go anywhere outside the house. I am going to keep Barret on that schedule and start feeding Soren on demand to fatten him up a bit. I hope it works. These babies are still not even on the growth chart. Yep, not even in the 1 percentile. They are SO small for being 4 months since Tristan was 9 lbs at birth. I am perfectly fine with it. Holding little babies just warms my heart.

Survivng Walmart

OK, I have been SO spoiled by my friend Kayleen who almost always offers to watch my kids while I go to walmart. Today I drudged all 4 little ones and myself to walmart for some pre-Disney World shopping. Yes, that's right...we are going to Disney May 12-15. Wahoooo!! The kids needed new shoes and goodies for the trip. I am incredible lucky that the babies are still sleeping most of the time. Eli and Tristan get the famous pep talk while we are walking into walmart...stay close to mom, don't touch anything, no screaming, you can't have everything that you see and don't put things in the cart without asking mom. Just covering the bases. So I am a sight pushing a double stroller and pulling a cart with the kids (helping). I only get as far as the toothpaste before I start threatening Tristan. He runs down an isle, grabs Diego band aids and Diego toothpaste. "Mom, I NEED this!" So up they go into the cart for better damage control. Then came the begging. "Mommy, I will be GOOD. Please let me down, PLEASE!" OK, I gave in. We were looking at sunglasses for the kids and they saw kids watches. They were RELENTLESS! Oh mom! I really want this watch." "No kids, you are getting other goodies today." "But MOOOOM" you know how it goes from there. I didn't want to fight that battle so it was worth giving in so we could make it out of walmart that same day. After yelling at Tristan to stop pushing the cart like it was a race car we were ready to check out. Now, I draw the line when it comes to begging for candy. They know who is the boss and I don't give in every time. I was so proud that I held my own and conquered the begging toddler while keeping my cool. Then we ran into a church friend who offered to push my FULL cart out to the truck for me. What an angel! I managed to get home just in time to feed my crying babies. Whew, I survived another trip to walmart. As the twins get bigger I will only get to go to the stores while Eli and Tristan are in school. How do my friends with Triplets do it!!

Livin' Large in the Lotus

Our good friend lets us barrow her Lotus a couple times a month. It is SO small, fast and fun. Chris took the kids on a little ride around the neighborhood yesterday. I think it suits them well, dont you!

CRASH!!

OK I knew this time had to come sooner or later. When my whole world seems to cave in on me and I can no longer put on a strong face. Today is that day. Being me just isn't peachie right now. Maybe the lack of sleep is catching up to me or it could be that I have had NO time to myself in who knows how long. OR it could be all the stress I am facing in my life right now. How about a combination of all the above! I can't go into details of why my life is so burdened right now...other than the obvious...hubby deploying to Iraq in a matter of weeks, twins and kids constantly needing me, keeping home and family in order and other rigors of life. I can say that my crying only lasted an hour or so and now is the process of putting back on my smiley face. Thank goodness for a loving husband who offers blessings whenever I am in need. Who picks up the screaming baby when I am at my whits end and puts his loving arms around me and tells me I am the best. After I have moments like today I just have to pick myself up and remind myself of all the great and wonderful blessings in my life. It is the only way I can survive! I am sure everyone on this earth at one point in their lives has asked the question "Why ME?" I quickly reply to myself "Because I am still learning, growing and molding into the individual that I am aspiring to become and without the burdens of 'why me' I could not achieve my fullest potential." So...I am putting back on my smiley face and braving another day of my life, a step at a time.

Thank you to all my friends that light up my life. My biggest thanks goes to my forever guiding light, my Savior Jesus Christ. A close and equal second is my forever companion, Chris. I love you babe!

My kids are my life and my joy! It amazes me how quickly they learn and grow. Despite my faults and shortcomings as a parent, my children prove to be sweet, polite, loving and considerate children. What more could a mom ask for?

REFLECTIONS

If you visit the following website, you'll be able to watch a breathtakingly beautiful photographic exhibit about Christ entitled "Reflections of Christ." The main website for the exhibit is actually here - but the previous link was for the slide show.

The creators of the exhibit are traveling around the country showing a live exhibit, but if you have a soldier who is currently serving in Iraq they have a special message and offer for you (well, us). Just follow this link. I know there are several of you that have loved ones in Iraq. let's inundate them with requests!

I absolutely love these images that were captured. Seeing them ignited a spark in my heart to help renew my testimony of our Living Christ. What a blessing it is to have this faith that guides me everyday. I love the peace and comfort I receive from having this personal relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope that you too will feel the love Christ has for you. Never doubt your self-worth.

I am SPEED!

Tristan had his #3 birthday party today. He wanted to do Lightening McQueen AGAIN! I had fun making the cake. It was actually a lot easier than Eliana's princess castle. We played it low key this year. He invited two friends over plus the new missionaries in our ward. Oh, how could I forget Jess and Robyn were in attendance too. WE chowed on meatballs and dips. Tristan loved his presents and went to bed a happy little boy.

Chris and I are wiped out. We picked up Chris and Jess at the airport this morning from their red-eye flight. They had been in WA state for the week. Then we worked all day getting things done. We got a new patio door that has a dogie door in it. WE also got a skeeter-vac set up in the backyard. I am hoping it holds to its claim of eliminating the bugs. The sand gnats are killer out here. Well, I am off to bed...hopefully.

The "I LOVE YOU" finger suck

Soren prefers to suck on his fingers than the pacifier. I keep trying to pull them out and stick the passy back in but he is going to win this battle. Isn't he cute!!

Animal Frenzie

Monday we met up with CPOM (Coastal Parents of Multiples) at the petting farm out in Midway GA. A local church runs the farm and what sweet suthern ladies they are! Everyone had a great time. There was play equipment, swings and a huge sand box. I am glad they recommended to bring a change of clothes and shoes with us!! After a group photo we were off to meet the animals. Just that morning a miniature horse was born. They named him C-POM after our group. The cutest little horse ever...he looked like a stuffed animal. SOOO small for a horse. The kids were able to play with llamas, ostriches, pigs, a variety of horses and ponies, goats, lambs, birds, camels, buffalo, guinie pigs, emu's, and Eliana's favorite...Bunnies! Aside from stepping in poop everywhere we went and the muddy ground from the previous rain, it was great fun had by all. We followed with a picnic lunch and social fun. I am sure the kids and i will plan a trip back sometime soon. Oh....how could I forget the tractor train ride and the horse back ride. What a fun place.

We had a great time at the beach. Eli has been asking to go back about 10 times a day. Lisa took so many great pics it is hard to decide which ones are best. Here are a couple. If you want to look at the web album here is the link.

Fam photos beach 08

Gorgeous day at the BEACH!

Our dear friend Lisa took our family pictures todat at Tybee beach. We only decided last night that today would be a good day with the weather so I didn't have much time to get outfits together. So the poor babies didn't have the cutest outfits on. BUT they still managed to look adorable. Eliana and Tristan did very well and posed where we wanted them to. Tristan didn't like having to hold one of the babies when she took pics of just the kids. I am hoping one of those shots turned out well. I have yet to see any of the pics from the photo shoot. I am sure they are great...Lisa does a wonderful job. Check out her photo blog @ http://thatbrowngirlphotography.blogspot.com/ It was torture getting the kids to leave the beach and I was ill prepared so we couldn't stay long. It is challenging preparring a family of 6 to go to the beach and have everything we need. The real challenge was getting the kids sprayed off. The shower at the end of the pier was a pain to use. I had to hold the knob for water pressure and aim the spout at the kids...leaving me NO hands to keep the kids from running off. I need to stop rambling!!!! Just tell me to S__t-up and get on with it.

The weather was great and it was a perfect day. Eli kept asking when we are going back. It will have to be soon because I am not venturing out to the beach with all 4 kids by myself. I will post a family picture when I get them. loves to all.

Happy Easter

We had a good afternoon at JF Gregory Park. The City of Richmond Hill put on an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. IT was packed! Kids everywhere! I have never seen so many eggs in my entire life then see them disapear faster than you can blink. AFter the hunting they offered free hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone. The kids loved jumping on the inflatable castles. All in all a great day.

I haven't posted in a while because all of my kids have been sick with RSV. Tristan was first. High fever and coughing. vomitting from the high fever and being just plain miserable. Eli caught it a few days after him then Barrett then Soren. I didn't know the big kids had RSV until I had to take the babies to the ER because Barrett was retracting and couldn't breathe. They took cheast x-rays and did and RSV test. Barrett recieved a breathing treatment that helped a great deal. So...I am very lucky my mom just happened to be visiting this week or I wouldn't have survived it with 4 sick ones.

"2 of a kind'

These cuties are growing..growing...growing. Everyday they look more and more different to me. Barrett just loves to smile. I guess it makes up for all the times he cries in the night.

Tristan has the flu and I am hoping no one else gets it.

We are going to a friends 30th b-day party on Friday. It will be so fun to get out of the house and socialize with our friends. If we dress up I will be sure to post pictures.

coupon frenzie

I am just starting out in the world of couponing. Two ladies from church did an Enrichment night and taught us how to coupon in the big leagues. It is a whole world I never new. I am fascinated with the savings and thrift of it all. Since I don't have the time right now to dedicate to coupon homework I signed up with www.thegrocerygame.com It does all the work for me. I get online and print up the list. It tells me what the stores have on sale, coupons from store and manufacture and the total percentage saved. Oh and also exactly where to cut the coupons from. All I have to do is cut them out and plan my shopping day. I have already stocked up on free Crystal Light from walmart and another great deal I am about to cash out on is fish oil for 97% off full price. I am hoping that my grocery bills will be cut in half. This is great seeing how in the near future I will be feeding 6 mouths and 4 of these mouths are boys.

SLEEP...whats that?

Last night was one for the books! These babies like to start their fussing at dusk and it subsides at dawn. I would LOVE it if this trend were the opposite. Last night I finally laid my head on my pillow around midnight but I didn't even get a chance to get it warm. Tristan started coughing and crying. I must have gone up there 4 times in between and during crying babies. Barrett and I both went up there to lay with him the third time. The fourth time I laid in bed with Tristan and he gagged on his cough and threw up all over his bed, wall and floor. So then I had 4 crying kids and I am SO glad Chris was here to help with clean up. He got the sheets while I took care of Tristan then the floors. Eliana was restless after that. Dad and Tristan slept together on the couch and I had both babies taking turns sleeping with me just so I could close my eyes for a short while.

Chris was supposed to be gone all week in WA for training but his flight got cancelled so he rescheduled. I would have dreaded last night if I were doing it alone. I am sure more nights like that will happen.

I have noticed that it is very hard for people to listen to babies cry when it is not their own. I have gotten used to hearing at least one baby cry because I cannot hold both at the same time safely. This is good at church or friends houses because the babies are always held or tended to. AT home, poor guys have to tough it out.

I am off to endure another sleepless night. Wish me luck and pray that I may keep my cool.

A little bit of lovin'

Tristan is finally warming up to the babies. He is going to be a great big brother!!

Smiles amidst a ruff day

I have to say that today is a contender for the worst day Tristan has given me. I don't know why but he was a BEAST today. I am seriously going to write letters to supper Nanny and Nanny 911 to see if I qualify as a parent in NEED of guidance. But amidst the tyrants escapades we managed to squeeze in a few smiles. How can anyone not love these smiles? Oh, the joys of motherhood.

Babies Blessed

Yesterday Chris blessed the babies at church. It was a wonderful event. Both Soren and Barrett were perfect while being blessed. Chris was emotional as he gave his sons very heartfelt blessings. I wish we could have taken pictures of the whole family together that day but things are always hectic around here. I have to run.

Poor Lanie

I just got off the phone with the Vet to find out what had caused her eye to pop out. She said that her eye had collapsed (all the fluid had drained out) and it had probably been punctured or bit. Poor lanie just looks terrible. I am taking her to be groomed today. She is SO dirty from getting into that dog fight.

gotta love my name

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 23 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Chris and I have VERY common names but our kids are pretty rare. Sorens name is so uncommon that is isn't listed in their database that anyone has that name. which i doubt.

Happenings with Tristan and Lanie

Tristan has been such a pill lately. I mean seriously! This child has gone above and beyond to be disobedient right in front of me and does it just to get under my skin. He does anything from peeing all over the place, pouring juice in his shoes, throwing anything and everything that he holds in his hands, hitting his sister, poking Diesel with a pencil and I swear he opens the refrigerator a hundred times a day. These are just a few of his misdeeds. I found that me yelling and getting SO angry wasn't helping the situation and was only getting me uptight and making our home an unhappy place. So I am trying to cool my temper and take things in stride. My more mellow attitude seems to be helping slightly. I am truly hoping this phase passes QUICKLY. I am open for any advice or encouragement.

Lanie got into a fight with the neighbor dog yesterday. It was pretty bad...by the time I finally caught hold of her leg to pull her away she was in bad shape. I freaked out just a little bit when I saw that her Eye had popped out of its socket, blood everywhere. I quickly rushed her to the vet and left all 4 kids with my neighbor. Today they are doing surgery to remove the eye and sew it closed. I could have had them push it back in and repair it but she would have been blind in that eye and could have had future complications. AT least she can be a pirate next Halloween! It was a hard decision whether to do the surgery or just put her down. The only reason that thought comes to my mind is because of Lanies growing aggression. Tristan is pretty ruff on her and she has lashed out at him a few times. Plus she got into this terrible fight and with one eye is she going to be more aggressive. but we decided she is only 9 yrs and still in good health. So we will give her the benefit of the doubt and see how she does with things. Diesel would have missed her terribly if we had her put down. So I bring her home late today. I hope she is in good spirits. I have already talked to the kids (Tristan especially) about how we need to treat Lanie. I will keep you posted.

I promise more pics as soon as we buy a new charger for my camera. I have lost it and the battery is dead. Grandma's have been pretty upset at the lack of photos coming there way.

I'm a slacker!

OK, keeping up with a blog after having twins and keeping my sanity with my 4 and 2 year old isn't as easy as I thought. Not because I couldn't make time, but because I simply haven't been in the mood. I guess that is what lack of sleep does to me.

The babies are doing great. They are around 7 lbs and growing fast. Tristan is a huge handful and is more defiant than I ever thought posssible. If we had a candid camera around on Sunday morning it would have definately hit the You Tube fast. I am completely at a loss with how to control this kid!! I am truely hopeing it is just a phase because of our new additions...whew...I am running out of ideas to get Tristan to behave. I have to say that Tristan is still adorable and captures my heart (almost) everytime I look at him.




I have gotten up and down from this chair 7 times since I started this post. It is 11pm and Chris isn't home from work yet. The babies needed to be changed and fed and now I am rushing to finish this so I can get my little (big) behind in bed. I am hopeing for an easy night. We've had some nights that we wanted to pull our hair out X2. Having a baby is challenging at times. Having 2 new babies is assuredly chaotic. Well, I am going to set a goal of posting at least once a week. If you check my blog and it has been longer...send me an email and harrass me a little. Thanks

Proud Sister

I just love Eliana's smile in this photo. She is getting better and better at telling the babies apart. For some reason she favors Barrett. Maybe because he is more even tempered. I have to say that so far these are very well behaved babies. And a HUGE advantage to having them in the nursery for 10 days was now they can sleep through anything. My kids are extremely loud, especially since we got wood floors put in the house. Not once have the boys woke up crying because of Eli and Tristan's screams. Lets just hope it stays this way.

Mommy, Daddy, Soren and Barrett are HOME!!

We have had a busy and exciting day. We all loaded up in the Excursion to pick up Soren and Barrett at the hospital. Eliana and Tristan were SO excited. Eli helped me push the little crib all the way out to the front of the hospital. The whole drive home the kids kept commenting on the babies and wanted to take pictures with my camera. Most of the ones Tristan took didn't come out but he had a good time none the less. We are all trying to get settled and situated. Balancing everything is going to be a challenge but we will hopefully figure it out. I am totally pooped so I will post more later. This Mamma has to catch up on some Zzzz's.

They are here!

Whew...Just 5 days after my last post of my big belly my body decided that it couldn't hold these babies any longer and I went into active labor. At first I thought it was just a lot of braxton hicks so i drove myself to the hospital to be checked out while Chris stayed with the kids. Sure enough I was in labor and had my baby boys that night at 8:30 and 8:31pm January 3rd. They looked great! healthy boys weighing in at 5.4 lbs and 5.1 lbs. They took them to the well baby nursery while I was in recovery. Sadly they couldn't keep up the strength to maintain their temps so they were sent off to the NICU. To say it all in fewer words, Barrett has a mild case of apnea where his heart slows way down. But thankfully he recovers well on his own. He did have one instance where he had to be stimulated to recover so we are coming home with a monitor for him. Soren is definitely the stronger one (as of now.) He hasn't struggled as much with keeping his body temp up. Both babies were moved to the Special baby unit 3 days after birth. I was discharged Sunday night but they let me room in since they had extra rooms available. But that only lasted 2 nights. So we have been driving to the hospital twice a day to love on the babies and drop off the breast milk. Today is Sunday and we are hoping to bring them home today. I will keep you posted. LOVES to all who have sent messages of support. We are grateful to have such wonderful friends and family.

TO expose or NOT to expose

My mother in law wanted to see a picture of how much my belly has grown. So tonight I had Chris take a picture. Not the most flattering pic but I figured the only people looking at my blog are my cute little friends who would just giggle at my protruding belly. So here I am...hanging all out for you to see. And to think, I have a few more weeks to go and they will both gain half a pound a week. Whew! I will be adding a few stretch marks to the ones I already have. The joys of pregnancy!

workin' hard or hardly workin'

We have been trying to get our house in order since we moved in and it has been one project after another. We are also getting ready for these babies to come. We decided to put wood floors in and get rid of the carpet and laminate tile. Chris started ripping up the tile tonight and the kids were there cheering him on. Tristan even put on his tool belt on for the occasion. Chris gave them a little lecture because they were hammering in the glue he had just scrapped up. We also decided to paint the babies room fun bold colors. We are using the Ten. Titans blue, red and grey. Not that we are fans...we just like the colors. The kids were BEGGING to grab a paint brush and help so I brought in the time out chair and said "have at it!" I was busy washing up the car seat covers and putting them all back together. Eliana insisted that her baby doll get buckled in. Tristan wanted to carry it around and Eli wanted to cover it with a huge blanket. I told them soon enough there will be two new babies and they can each give plenty of love and attention without having to fight about it.
At the end of each day I can see where I am falling behind on my normal chores and kick myself for not having the energy or ability to stand long enough to get things done. I can hardly reach the sink because this dang belly is in my way! I spent an hour cleaning the kitchen and it wiped me out for half the day. I can't wait to get my body back so I can keep up with the normality's of life. Of course nothing will be normal after having twins. Ahh...the anticipation is driving me crazy. I will be 35 weeks next Wednesday and after that if I go into labor they will arrange the c-section. I am hoping to have them around 37 weeks. That means just 3 more weeks to go!! SO, we have a lot to get done in 3 weeks. I better get to workin' hard instead of hardly workin'.

Christmas morning

T'was the morning of Christmas and not a creature was stirring...except for the pregnant lady who can't seem to sleep! As I was trying to fall back asleep on the couch I remembered that we had two presents that hadn't been wrapped and were still in the garage! I didn't think I was going to be able to get to them without opening the garage door but I managed to stumble and squeeze my way around without killing myself. So here I was stressing to get these presents wrapped at 6:30 am hoping my kids wouldn't wake up and catch me in the act. Thankfully I got it done and then had to twiddle my thumbs until the household decided to wake up. I heard them mumbling so I went upstairs and brought them down. It was great to see their faces when they saw what Santa had brought during the night. It is funny that Tristan didn't even notice the BIG green tractor right in front of him he was too focused on Eliana's Dora scooter. We transported all the presents to the living room and put piles in front of the kids. They had a blast opening up all the goodies. Eli's favorite was her kitty cat in a cage grooming kit. Tristan couldn't put down his toy shotgun. After the morning fun came the Fighting ALL day long over toys. Can't we just all learn to share?? Well, I love the Holiday season and all the joys it brings but I was quite weary from all the chaos as well. Today I did my after Christmas shopping and stocked up on lights for next year. Now I am ready for bed. Good night friends and family. Hope you too had a wonderful Christmas filled with the love of Christ and family to share it with.

Tis' the Season

We have been busy with the Christmas chaos getting everything just as it should be for the special day. Christmas Eve we had our Family Home Evening. Chris told the kids the nativity story and let them put all the nativity people where they belonged. Eli loves to listen to stories and soaked it all in while Tristan was too busy playing with the statues. He is a typical 2 year old boy! IT was finally time to bake cookies for Santa. Eli wanted to make M&M cookies so there was no arguing with that. The kids love to help in the kitchen. They fight over who gets to pour what into the mixer. Tristan practically yells at me to stop the kitchen aid when he thinks it is the perfect consistency so he can stick his little fingers in there to test it out. I don't think Santa objects to germs...so we set out the cookies on a plate and a large cup of milk. The kids went to bed fairly easily. Maybe it was because I told them Santa wouldn't come until everyone was sleeping. After we were sure they were asleep is when we began playing Santa's little helpers. Well, if you can consider me (little), more like a fat jolly helper. Ho, ho. ho.

Santa creeps Tristan out!

We went to a brunch with Santa on Saturday. Eli was so excited to see the jolly ol' guy but Tristan wanted nothing to do with him even before we arrived. As soon as St Nick walked through the door Tristan bolted underneath the table and stayed there until he took his place in his green chair for storytime. Santa (mom) gave the kids a wrapped book. Eli had to deliver Tristans to him because he was still apprehensive. Ever all it was a fun activity. The kids made ornaments, colored and ate yummy foods. We still need to write our letters to Santa before it gets too late! So much to do with too little time (and energy.)

Reality strikes!

OK, today at the commissary a complete stranger, a cute old lady, came up to me and actually asked if I was having twins!!! I must really look huge for someone to be so bold. I am getting a little nervous. I am 32 weeks and just started having braxton hicks. I never really had them with Eli or Tristan so it is wierd for me. Thankfully my parents are flying in tomorrow through the holiday. Chris thinks I should be on bed rest but if I did, reality would set in quickly as to how much I do around the house and with the kids to keep life functioning. I will post a picture of my belly when I can get someone to take a decent photo of me.