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.