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.

Reasons I LOVE Thanksgiving

I consider myself a very thankful person but I take the opportunity of Thanksgiving to really ponder what, who and why I am thankful. First and foremost I am thankful for my personal testimony and belief in our Saviour Jesus Christ. I could not live my life with as much happiness and strength if it weren't for the guidance, enlightenment, and inspiration I receive from Him. My hubby and my children bring me more joy than I ever thought imaginable. Even though I want to strangle them half the time, I always look at them in wonder at what amazing gifts they are to our family. I think I am extremely bias when I say that my kids are the cutest and most beautiful I have ever seen. As every mother should say of their own. I can't ever take too many pictures to share and brag about. Eli just turned 4 and she can write her name along with many other letters of the alphabet. Tristan always shows how curious and brilliant he is every time he opens his mouth. He definitely gets his wit from his daddy. I said something to him the other day and he said "Is that a fact!" We cracked up laughing at him. He got mad because he said it in all seriousness. Too funny...that kid. Back to being thankful. I can't begin to type everything out but I try to take the time to remember the little things that might get missed.

I truly believe the Lord is watching out for our little (almost big) family. We had so many concerns when we found out that Chris had cancer in his leg. From his career to my pregnancy to deployments and so forth. However despite all the challenges that we have been faced with there has always been the help and support we have needed. Thanks to family and friends. The number 1 person that has been around to help us most is Jess McConnell. Chris' best friend. He bought a house right behind ours and it has been a blessing having him so close. He has put off all of his projects to help us whenever we have needed it. With both Chris and I unable to do physically challenging work he has stepped up. Literally. Stepped up into our attic to fix a leaking A/C. helped around the house with many tasks and taken care of the kids when we went down for Chris' surgery. We can't begin to credit all he has done but he has been a huge blessing to us. Chris probably wont be deploying anytime soon and when he does it shouldn't be for a whole year. Thank goodness for that! The Army came out with a cash bonus for committing another 3 years just when we didn't know how we were going to afford a new vehicle that would hold our family of 6. Now we have a beautiful Excursion that is completely paid off. I could go on and on. The point is that our blessings are not going unnoticed and we love our family that is always here for us. Thanks!

So after all the mushiness here are some pics of my little creatures!!

TAGGED...belated

Ok, ok. I said I was going to keep up with this blogging stuff for many reasons and then I go and ditch you for 2 weeks. Sorry about that. I was tagged by my dear friend Emily so here it is:

6 Things people might not know about ME

1. I actually enjoy watching the Barbie movies with Eliana. I think I may have even shed a tear when we watched Barbie The Island Princess. I am such a sap!

2. last week I made brownies for the fam and I ate 3/4ths of the pan all by myself that DAY! CAn I blame that on prenancy? Or is that just me not having control over my chocolate brownie obsession?

3. Last night Chris made it official that he is taking me to Italy for our 10 year anniversary (May 09). YEAH! My dreams are comming true. We had the long talk about how we are going to save and plan. I already have the itch to start researching all our travel plans online. I dont want to miss a thing!

4. I confess...the only exercise I get these days is when the kids frequently wake up in the night and I have to hike my big ol' pregnant bootie up the stairs to their room. Other than that it is twice a day to get clothes and clean up a bit.

5. I have a hidden jealousy of my friends that make the time to be crafty and persue their personal ambitions. Right now I seem to be content with the monotany of my motherhood. I guess I can give myself credit for having craft time with the kids. I need to start putting Eliana to work around the house. I will by her an apron for Christmas and call her maid Eli :D

6. This one may be obvious to all of you. I am completely and utterly in LOVE with my husband. He manages to make me smile everyday. He is the most passionate person I know with more ambition that he knows what to do with. Most importantly he has given me our beautiful children. I could probably write a book but I will spare you the details.

Skidaway Island Aquarium

Today I took the kids with me to my OB check-up and I have to say they were angels compared to how it could have been. As for my pregnancy...I am AOK. Everything is going perfectly. Afterwards we were off to a mommy and me activity at Skidaway Island Aquarium. It is a nice facility but very small. The kids ran around and looked at all the fish. Their favorite part was the little hermit crabs they could play with in the water. Tristan was busy flirting with little twin girls and Eli was chasing after a boy named Sam. They are definitely starting young. No gender confusion going on in our family! I have to say I was embarrassed when we were outside having our picnic and both Eli and Tristan said they had to pee and just squatted down. I had to carry them away around a tree so it wasn't so obvious. With Tristan I am a little more tolerant because he is potty training and can't hold it as long. Eliana should know better. I should have made her wait and taken her inside. Aahhh kids try to get away with murder these days. Over all we had a great time and the kids are itching to go to the beach. I think I might take them sometime next week when the weather is a little warmer. Gotta run and clean house while Tristan is sleeping.

27 weeks now

Eli took another picture of my growing belly for me. I have to say...pictures make me look smaller. Most women wouldn't complain about that. Maybe I just feel much bigger than I look. I am dreading the next 3 months!!

look, no arms!

I am trying to decide if this double carrier is worth the money or not. It is the maximom twin infant carrier and it holds the baby in 9 different positions. the harness can stay on the baby to put in the car seat, lay down for a nap or for easy position changing. Then the harness connects to parent straps easily...supposedly. Last night I went to a Coastal Parents of multiples meeting and asked some of the moms about this product and the twin nursing pillow. Some of them said the double carrier is a lifesaver when out and about. It is hard to shop with two car seats. Some moms carried one baby and put the other in the shopping cart with seat. Other moms said carrying two babies was overwhelming and they didn't venture out much with all the kids. I just don't know!! I will go crazy staying at home all the time and I know I will be out with all 4 kids. But just thinking about it is a little scary. I guess I need to read a few more reviews to figure it out. I wish I could check one of these carriers out in person. Well, wish me luck with all of this twin shopping stuff.

pay back!!

So Tristan has this bad habit of running head first into my pregnant belly. Well tonight he got a little pay back. After the second time he head butted my belly and me yelling at him to stop he rammed me a 3rd time. But the twins were prepared. They kicked him back right in the cheek. You should have seen him...Tristan jumped back and said "Whoa!" I think that was the first time that he realized there are living babies inside of me and they wont put up with him. But Tristan didn't take offense to their retaliation. Instead he thought it was hilarious and decided it would be fun to keep doing it with uncontrollable giggles in between each blow. I got him under control so his head butts were tolerable. I can see the future now: Tristan trying to establish dominance over the twins and these boys plotting against him. Times will be fun.

another attempt

Hi there! Yes, a year and a half is a VERY long time between posts. I never really made it a priority. But now I feel this will be the best way to keep all my friends and family up-to-date on our happenings around here. Times are getting hectic at the Damato home. Chris is still in recovery from his surgery that removed the cancer from his leg. Today he actually attempted to hobble around without his crutches...kind of hard with the Big Black BOOT! Over all his recovery is going as well as can be expected. He still gets very frustrated by the lack of mobility and being stuck in this house. He is going a little stir crazy. But I can't complain about tending to him. At least he is here and gets to spend quality time with the FAM.

Eliana just had her 4 year b-day party. It was a blast! She was the most beautiful Cinderella anyone has ever seen. Grandma Elaine made her dress and it is absolutely AMAZING! I built a cardboard castle that was a hit and the wand making activity was perfect for her little friends. All in all a big success.

Tristan is in the midst of potty training. It started a long time ago but we got stuck in pull-up limbo. Those things are life savers but then you end up cursing their creation because it is just as bad as breaking them of diapers. Today was his first day at church wearing underwear and it was a success. He still hasn't mastered the BM's but I guess all will come in due time. I am just anxious to get him independent with that whole venture before these twin boys come.

My pregnancy is going well. I am about 26 weeks and look like I am due at any moment. I have only gained about16 lbs But my belly is way out there. These boys are always on the go. They like to wrestle around in there and take every opportunity to stretch out as soon as I am sitting still. The little one-twin B is the acrobat of the two. He likes to flip around and lay horizontally. Twin A just sits and punches my cervix. knocking I presume. Eliana and Tristan are SO cute with my pregnancy. They always talk about their little brothers and give them lots of kisses. My belly hasn't seen this much action in years. Hehe :)

Well, this is enough for a refresher post. I hope to keep this up regularly. Wish me luck.

Super bowl day

It has been a good day. We had a great morning at church. I really enjoyed the lesson in the Young Womens class. Eliana did great in Nursery and Tristan slept for dad during Priesthood. The surprising part is Tristan slept in his car seat for another 2 hours after we got home! He was extra tired tonight since he didn't take an evening nap. His exploits at church with the other one year old girls probably wore him out too. It was great watching him try to keep up with Kristen Kidd, she is 13 months and a new walker. He is a little taller than her but she just cruises by him. He tried his darndest to keep up crawling behind her. As soon as he gets better balance he will be off and running. Yesterday he descovered the stairs going up. He made it to the 4th step then tried to sit and almost fell down the steps. Now I have to keep the gate up. He tried it again today and thankfully I cought him in time. He is just growing up too fast!!

Chris was a sweetheart today and let me take a nap after church. AFter an hour and a half of entertaining Tristan all on his own he realized what a handful he is. Chris was worn out. Chris has been singing my praise as he has realized the challenges I have faced the past year in his absence.

Eli LOVES to be thrown around. Dad is flipping her around and she flies onto the couch. Fun times in the D-house. oh, in this pic of Lanie is she trying to carry her pup back to there box. Lanie has such a soft bite that she can't get a good grip around him to carry him back. It was neat to watch.

Puppies!! ;-)

Yes, Lanie had her puppies Thursday night at 2:30am. She managed to jump into my bed while I was sleeping and I awoke to a licking noise in my ear and turned around to see that Lanie had delivered a puppy IN MY BED!!! and she was licking it profusely. I jumped out of bed and paniced. Chris was in Atlanta so I immediately called him on the phone. The little puppy wasn't moving or breathing. I tried everything I could think of to get him going to no success. I was devastated. I went upstairs to get Jess to help me as I had to deal with lanie having pups and Tristan being awake. About an hour later she had the next pup. He came out feet first. I was a little worried about him because he was weak and not moving very much. Thankfully he pulled through and we have one healthy male puppy. Lanie took to mothering very well. Except she wont stop licking him to death. His poor little underbelly is raw. He was a whopping 4oz. And you know what?!? I didn't even think about measuring how long he was...oh well. I think he will be smaller than lanie, more like his dad Sparticus.

Hello ALL

My friend Heidi gave me inspiration to start my own blog. So here it is! I can't promise that it will be entertaining. I can promise it will be filled with silly pictures of my kids. I probably picked a poor time to start this as I am very tired and achey from chasing the kids and Lanie all morning long. I had to bathe Lanie twice as she just had to roll around in the mud. Eli's bumm rolled around in mudd too...Twice in one morning. Too much Mudd for moms liking. Everytime Tristan sneezes it looks like Niagra falls is streaming out of his nose. Poor thing has been sick for a couple weeks now. My mornings start early these days. Tristan woke up at 4 dark 30 this morning. I tried my darndest to get him back to sleep with no success. SO no wonder it feels like bed time at noon. Well, the kids are calling.