Blessings

We finally had the babies blessed here in our home in Meridian. It was special to have my mom and dad here and to be able to have the opportunity to bless our children and know that they will be ours forever. What peace and gratitude I felt for being given these wonderful babies to raise.

Happy Turkey Day

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. We had all but one Thanksgiving that we lived in Omaha in Village Green. We miss you all in Omaha. We are enjoying the milder weather though. We are looking forward to Christmas when we will have family visiting to share in the holidays. We hope you all have a happy holiday season.

Happy Halloween

I seem to always be a month behind or a holiday behind or both but like I always say, "Better late than never." Hope you are all having a happy holiday season.

Our new Idaho Home

In order to see the captions you have to hold the mouse just at the bottom of each picture

The move

Here is a little peek into the adventure of our move. I hope we never have to move again.

Babies 3 and 4 mon.

Here is a picture of Aspen and the babies around the time they turned 3 mon. It was such a hectic time I didn't even take any pictures of them that day. The one of the two of them was taken just a couple days before they turned 4 mon. They are growing so fast and we are trying to savor every minute. Jude's new thing is sticking his tounge out and sucking on his arm. Lily's new thing is talking to herself and she loves to smile. I gave her her first baby doll and she seems to like it. Aspen is loving her new school and her new primary class. School is only a couple of blocks and church is only a little further. We are starting to settle in slowly but surely. I am still surrounded by a never ending supply of full boxes. At least we have a garage. It is a three car garage and currently no cars are parked in it. Hopefully that will change.

Moving in

We hope to close on Friday and can't wait to move in. We really like it here in Idaho. It snowed the other day and it was a record for the earliest snow ever. So much for moving to a milder climate. Hopefully the rest of the winter will be better. We will send pics as soon as my other computer is unpacked. This computer doesn't have my camera software. Hope you are all healthy and happy.

Our new home

Sorry no pictures yet. We are living in a hotel and have just put an offer in on a house. It feels like camping out. We are hoping to close next Friday and then we will update you all with new address etc. We are really liking it here. Daren has only been able to work a couple of days before we found out his license didn't tranfer to Idaho yet. We are waiting on forms to be sent etc. Hopefully next week he can get back to work. He thinks he will really like it. He will be doing Home Health and should get quite a variety of patients. We really like the size of Meridian and it's closeness to all other areas of the Treasure Valley as they call it. We are also enjoying our new Minivan that was a lifesaver on our long drive here. Life has been stressful and full of change but it is fun and exciting at the same time. It will be nice to get settled and be somewhat stable again.

I'm Eight

We are living in chaos with boxes everywhere but we wanted to take a moment to celebrate Aspen's special day. Here is a pic of her and her gluten free cupcake with a song. We will have a real party when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit us in our new house in Boise. We will be moving this week and are excited to get on the road and on to our new adventures.

Say Cheese

These are the first glimpses of the babies smiles.

Uncle Craig in Rockport

Daren's brother Craig is a helicopter pilot and has been working in Kansas City. He had some time off and so we met in a tiny town called Rockport Missouri. We thought there would be somewhere in the town to eat just a bit off the freeway but we were wrong. I don't think the town had even one stoplight. We went back to the freeway where there was a Subway in the gas station and a McDonald's. Both of those sounded pretty safe, boring and ghetto but safe. There was a restaurant in the back called the Black Iron Grill or BIG for short. That seemed even more ghetto but we let Craig pick and he was up for an adventure. We went in side and it was actually really nice. It was more like a Famous Dave's inside. The food was great and Craig treated us to a fine meal. Thanks Uncle Craig. We miss you.

2 Months

I can't believe how lucky we are to have these precious babies in our home. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe I am not just dreaming. We waited so long to have them and now they are finally here and I don't know what we did without them.

Help

Does anyone know why my pictures keep posting sideways even though on my computer they are straight? Also how do you do the list of friends and family with the drop down menu so it is all compact?

Better than nothing...

Here is a cute one of them holding onto each other. No time for more now.

This day couldn't come soon enough

I don't know who was more ready for this day, Aspen or I. I know she has been really bored at home with me having to take care of babies all day. She has been kind of jealous of the attention the babies get. It is great she gets to go back to school to be with her friends and have a more structured day. She really seems to have enjoyed her first couple days back. She was able to get the same teacher, room and same 10 of the 13 kids in her class. I think this will really make the move much easier with less transition and less change. Hope all of your first days of school went well.

Good Bye Zoo, Good Bye Omaha

We made our last trip to the zoo to see the butterfly exhibit. I thought Aspen might finally enjoy the carousel. She really liked standing in line listening to the music and she liked the first half of the ride and then I think she went on overload. She covered her ears and clung to me. It was fun to see how she would react. It is sad to think of all the things we will miss about Omaha. I have to say one thing I won't miss are the winters. We will be leaving just in time. We should be headed out the first week in October if all goes as planned. Hopefully all the pieces fall into place. Boise here we come.

One Month

We gave in and got pacifiers. With two it was either that or one of them would always be crying. I hope it doesn't take years to get rid of them.

4 Weeks and a Month are not the same

Double Trouble but Twice as Nice.

3 Weeks Came and Went...

It is all a blur but at least it is a fun blur.
Sorry I don't know why the pictures are sideways. They aren't sideways in my picture folder.

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

Another week has past and I don't want to think about Jude and Lily growing up. I love this newborn stage even with the sleep depravation. They are almost back up to their birth weights and are really doing well. We are just trying to enjoy every moment.

One Week Already

I can't believe it has already been a week. They are doing so well. Lily is over her jaundice and they are eating and sleeping well. My parents are here to help and have been lifesavers. We are just so excited for our new adventures ahead.

They're Here

I went in to Labor and Delivery Thursday afternoon because I thought I had the flu and it was making my contractions act up. Turns out it was real labor and when they checked Lily was breech so they went ahead and did a C-section about an hour later. What a pleasant surprise to be done so quickly. It went really well and recovery has been soo much better than last time. The babies are healthy and doing well. They both have jaundice and Lily has to wear a light for a few days. They were born at 6:40 and 6:41 pm on Thursday the 26th and Lily weighed 5 lbs. 13 oz. and Jude weighed 5 lbs. 10 oz. We are thrilled to have them here safe and sound. We feel truly blessed to have these miracles in our home.

Coming Soon...

We are still waiting for the twins to arrive. Every doctor's appt. I hope there is something new going on. I did find out on Tue. that they think the girl weighs 6 lbs. 1 oz. and the boy weighs 5 lbs. 15 oz. so if they are close to that they should be in pretty good shape. I sure feel like I am carrying around 12 lbs. of baby. We can't wait to meet them.

The best birthday ever...

So Daren had to work on his birthday and he was headed to the YMCA to jog. He was only about 1/2 a block from the parking lot when BAM! Some lady pulled right into him. He hit his head on the steering wheel in two places and scraped up his cheek. He hit his shoulder, knee and ankle. He got sidelash for his neck which just made it sore. He was in shock when it happened and refused the ambulance but by the time he got home he was ready for a trip to the ER. They did xrays and gave a perscription for muscle relaxants. Luckily nothing was broken but the shoulder he had hurt 2 months before had just gotten better and now it is worse than the first injury. He seems to be recovering well and is back to work after a day and a weekend off. We just found out the car is totaled. He is sad to lose his Infinity but hopefully we can find him something fun he likes. Not a fun way to celebrate his birthday but we had friends over for cake and ice cream the next day and had a great time. Thanks to all of you who expressed your concern and thanks to Bret for Daren's ride home.

It looks like a baby...

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Here are the pictures from the last ultrasound taken last Monday. After they took all the measurements the girl weighs 4 lbs. and the boy weighs 3 lbs. 9 oz. That was great news! They are still going to try hard to hold me off for another couple weeks but after that they won't try as hard. I will get to take my pump off at 36 weeks if I make it that far. For now the babies are just growing and would be fine anytime the Dr. said. We are getting excited and can't believe they are almost here.

And they came two by two...

Sorry I have procrastinated so long getting these pictures up. It is a good thing we had my shower when we did cause I don't think I could handle that much excitement now. It has been almost a month but I just wanted to share the fun with those who couldn't be there and to thank Meghan for all her hard work. You were too nice to have done all this for our family. Thanks to Nona and Alyson for their help also and to everyone that came for their generous gifts. We are so excited to be having a boy and a girl, the best of both worlds. Thank you for all your support and friendship!

Oh Baby!

Here is a pretty recent picture that we took here in Village Green. These are all the pregnant women minus 5 or so and one that just had a set of twins that week. Some of you who used to live here will enjoy this and should recognize at least some of these girls. It was fun getting all together. This one was taken in order of due dates. Unfortunately I look way out of place but what's a girl to do. I just figure the bigger I get the bigger the babies are and the better off they will be. I just had my baby shower and not a moment too soon. I have started having contractions for the past 3 weeks or so. I spent last weekend in the hospital so they could monitor me, give me shots to stop the contractions and get a pump installed so that I could go home and still get the medication. I have a catheter in my thigh that goes to a pump that automatically administers the medication. It is way better than a shot and way better than being in the hospital. I thought that one night was going to drive me insane. I had never been so happy so see my own front door after only one day. My doctor says everything else is okay. I am not on bedrest, knock on wood. I have to take it easy because even on the medication I still have a few contractions an hour. I have another machine at home that allows me to monitor my contractions and send the information to a nurse. If I have too many she will tell me how to give an extra dose of medication or she will call the doctor. I am feeling pretty prepared with all the baby stuff. I could last a month or more if the medication continues to work or it could be any day. Luckily I am 28+ weeks and hope to make it at least to 30. Things seem to be going well. Sorry this is so long but I know it has been awhile since I posted. Things have been crazy. Aspen is doing reasonably well with her new diet. Thanks to all of you for your support and advice. We are lucky to have you all as friends.

Food Will Never Be The Same Again...

So unfortunately Aspen does have Celiac Disease. I am feeling kind of overwhelmed with all that entails. I would love recipes or ideas from anyone who know someone with Celiacs.
Daren seperated his shoulder playing in a raquetball tournament. Not good timing if you know what I mean.
The babies and I are still doing well. A mother's job is never done, as they say.
I am really enjoying the nicer weather and the fresh air with the widows open.
Happy Spring Everyone!

Home away from home...

I know I have been a total slacker about posting lately. It seems like life has been pretty uneventful as of late. I guess that is a good thing. Even Aspen has the same routine pretty much every school day. We did go to Lincoln a couple of weekends ago. I hate to admit I have only been like 3 times since we have lived here. We went to the mall to look for a pair of shoes for Daren and we walked into the food court and I got so excited because right inside the door was a Panda Express. I have really missed my orange chicken while we have been in Omaha. Everytime we go to Utah or Washington I have to have a fix. I was a very happy camper. The babies seemed to like it too. They had a party after I ate. Things are going well with the pregnancy. So far everything is on track. I haven't really felt sick at all just a lot of aches and pains. I am getting old.
Aspen had to have an Endoscopy to check for Celiac's Disease, which is an intolerance to wheat, gluten, barely, etc. We don't have the results back yet but are hoping the tests are negative. Have you ever read food labels? Wheat is in like everything. I guess we wouldn't need to store as much wheat but what am I going to feed my child that already only has a diet of about 5 things? She did great for the procedure but had a hard time waking up. We were at Children's for about 5 hours. Those padded rockers they have in the corner are deceiving. They are the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever sat in. Aspen has been to Children's over 78 times not including all her therapy sessions we have had. We could have saved so much gas money if we would have just lived closer to the hospital. I think my car goes into auto pilot when we start heading for Children's.
I will try to better about posting more often. Hope you are all doing well.