Merry Christmas

It was so weird to wake up on Christmas and not see anything white on the ground, instead we had a beautiful Christmas. It was almost 70 degrees here yesterday if you can believe it. Christmas came and left this year way too fast. I didn't really have time to get much into the spirit this year. I have just been so preoccupied with taking care of my babies that we haven't had time for much else. We didn't go see any Christmas lights. I hardly listened to Christmas music, I didn't do my usual Christmas baking, and I didn't make any gifts to pass out to my friends and neighbors. Oh well, there is always next year! We really missed our families this year but it was nice that we were able to spend time together as a family making our own traditions. In the nine years that Kevin and I have been married we have never been able to stay home on Christmas. Our day always began around 6:00 a.m. and ended way too late. This year it was nice to actually sleep in.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and everyone got exactly what they wished for. Alyssa got a Nintendo ds which she has not put down since she got it. She also received a keyboard that Kelsie won't stop playing. Kelsie got a bike, and a play kitchen. The Bratz dolls were no where to be found (there is a Santa who loves me! Thanks Santa) p.s. Bratz dolls are soon to be off the market FOREVER! Yeah! Leah and Audrey spent Christmas sleeping. Santa was good to them and brought them some bouncy seats, clothes, and other random things. Kevin and I were not so good this year I guess because Santa forgot the gifts for us. We got the gift of each other does that count? However, a few nights ago the babies started sleeping for six hours at a time. That was enough of a Christmas gift in itself. Sleep is good!

Well, I wasn't so good about taking pictures this year. Mainly because I was busy feeding babies all morning, but here are a few pictures. We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season.

The Flintstones Christmas special was on tonight and it made me start reminiscing about my childhood days. It also occured to me that my children don't even have any clue as to who the Flintones are. (although Alyssa was very observant and pointed out that the characters looked like the ones on the Fruity Pebbles box, it's a start right?) Speaking of the Flintstones what happened to all of the classic cartoons? Remember Jem and the Holograms which if I remember right was on about the same time as He Man. Jem could of kicked He Man's butt anyday!What a superwoman! I can't say enough about Jem! Moving along to the Smurf's? Who could forget these lovable blue creatures. I loved watching that show, I especially loved Smurfette. (I even dressed up like her for Halloween in preschool.) What has happened to television. The kids now days have no idea what they are missing out on.


Now moving on to toys, what were some of your favorite toys that you received as a child on Christmas?

One of my favorite things were Cabbage Patch Dolls. My first cabbage patch doll looked a lot like this one, and her name was Trixie. I just loved her. (My brother's even received boy cabbage patch dolls for Christmas) I read the following about these dolls:
What can we say? Cabbage Patch Kids defined the word "fad" in the 1980s. Every child wanted one, and it seemed that every mom and dad in the United States spent frantic days searching for Cabbage Patch Kids to put under their Christmas Trees. The dolls clicked with the general public because they were so ugly they were cute, because they were very huggable, and because the adoption aspect of the dolls was highly appealing.
Ugly, I think not! Look at how cute my trixie was. I loved her permed bangs, and her beautiful yarn locks.
Other great toys included Teddy Ruxpin, Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite. How sad that our children will never get to experience playing with such great toys!
So go ahead and tell me what your favorite toys were as a child. I am dying to know!

Another "Snow" day
The weather looks terrible doesn't it?

Leah you are so cute!

The babies are plumping right up

Kelsie can't get enough of the babies, we find her putting toys in their cribs, wrapping them up in blankets, trying to pick them up, etc. We have to keep a close eye on her! She is a little too helpful at times.

Leah is on the left, Audrey is on the right.

Where have the last five weeks gone? I feel like I have been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off literally. There are days when I feel completely overwhelmed and wonder how on earth I can do everything that I need to do. Sometimes I get so busy taking care of the twins that I completely forget that I have two older girls who also need some attention. I know that it will get easier, it will just take time.

I don't remember what it was that I was watching on TV the other night but they were talking about how you needed to live in the moment. I love that, and it's something that I really need to take to heart. There is a time and a season for everything. Right time it's my time to raise my children. I don't need to worry about perfection, that can come much later. I think that we all need to take this poem to heart. It's one of my favorites.

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep! I'm rocking my babies and babies don't keep.

We are all doing well, the girls are getting so excited about Christmas. They are hoping that Santa knows that they moved to Tennessee. We have assured them that he does know, and he will find them. I can't believe that Christmas is one week away wow! Enjoy your holiday with your loved ones, I know that we will!

Grandma Preece

Grandma Preece has been here visiting for the last ten days. She just went home today. It was so good to have her here. She raised a set of twins herself and so she knows a thing or two about taking care of two babies at once. She also knows a thing or two about spoiling children. Of course she couldn't put the babies down the whole time she was here, and when she would try to lie the babies down, they would immediately start crying. She would go to pick the babies up, and immediately they would be back to sleep. They aren't spoiled babies or anything are they?

Speaking of spoiled, I am the one who has been spoiled. I have had constant help with these babies since they were born. My Mom was here for a long time, Kevin had his vacation for a couple of weeks, and then I have had his Grandma. It's been so nice having the extra hands. I am hoping that I can now take care of these two little babies by myself. Wish me luck!

You want what for Christmas?

Why is it that whenever your kids see Santa they suddenly add new things to their Christmas lists? Kelsie wants a play kitchen and a bike for Christmas, or at least she used to. Apparently now she wants bratz dolls. What? I have never heard her mention that before. Alyssa wanted a keyboard, and a Nintendo ds. Now all of a sudden she has added frogs to her list. Not stuffed frogs, but real frogs with an aquarium.

How much would you pay for a cupcake?

They have the cutest cupcake store in Nashville. It's called Gygi's cupcakes. The other day as the girls and I were driving through, I thought that I would stop and get us a treat. This store only makes cupcakes nothing else. The cupcakes are just standard size piled with 2 feet of frosting. For 3 cupcakes it cost me $9.36. I almost died! It looks like we won't be going back there anytime soon.

bad weather

When severe weather brings school closings, you need to be prepared. That's the heading that we read on the local news website. Are you kidding me? This is considered severe weather? Alyssa couldn't go to school today because school was canceled. Apparently Alyssa hasn't been having recess either because it's been "TOO COLD" outside. Tennessee has no idea what bad weather looks like. Even in Utah it wasn't uncommon for the kids to go to school with several inches of snow on the ground. We got a good laugh today that's for sure!

Leah and Audrey happenings

Audrey

Leah is at the bottom, Audrey is at the top

Audrey doing what she does best, CRYING!

peaceful Leah

Audrey

Audrey and Leah are now almost three weeks old. They are growing fast, and are almost starting to fit in some of their newborn clothes. I didn't buy any preemie clothes for them just because I thought that they wouldn't need them but now I am wishing that I had. We are now almost 100% sure that the girls are not identical. They look completely different from each other. Leah has very curly hair, Audrey has very straight hair. Leah looks so different from the rest of our girls. Audrey looks almost identical to how Kelsie looked as a baby. Leah is QUIET! Audrey is LOUD! That's the biggest difference between them. Sleeping at night is pretty much still non-existent. They wake up about every 2 1/2 hours to eat, and then will go right back to sleep. We have tried to get the girls on the same eating schedule but have found that it's easier just to let them each be on their own eating schedule. We don't wake up one baby when the other one wakes up. It just somehow works better for us. We have also tried putting them both in the same crib but found that the girls did better being in their own cribs. Kevin and I still have a lot to learn about raising twins. It's a lot of work, let's just say that!

Our first Thanksgiving

So our first Thanksgiving away from our family wasn't exactly picture perfect, but we spent the day as a family and that's the most important part right? So the Thanksgiving preparations began around 10:30 a.m. Kevin started getting the turkey ready to put in the oven, it had defrosted for several days and seemed perfect for such a special occasion. We cooked the turkey for four hours and the lovely timer popped out. It was time to take the bird out of the oven. As Kevin started carving it, he noticed that the inside was still completely pink. We couldn't figure what had happened. **side note** I have always gone with Norbest turkey's. The quality is flawless, the taste is delicious, and they are all around perfect turkeys. However, this year I had to go with cheap, and the cheapest turkey was an off brand called private selection. I had never heard of it but whatever, turkey is turkey or so I thought. After putting the turkey back in the oven for the second round we were getting impatient and hungry not to mention words were being said in the kitchen that weren't exactly appropriate on Thanksgiving day. In the meantime, Kevin had started making the potatoes. He decided that he would just have the peeled, cooked potatoes soaking in the pot of hot water until the turkey was done, BAD IDEA! Did you know that potatoes disintegrate after being in water for too long? Yeah, we didn't know either. Potatoes were ruined, and we ended up having to make more. We wanted to include some of our families traditions in the meal so we made a marshmallow salad that Kevin's Grandma makes every year which by the way has to be made the day before. We ended up eating the salad anyway and it tasted just fine. Through all of the cooking, the babies were just screaming and wanted to be held. I was trying to help Kevin and things just weren't going good. After hours of cooking, I wondered why we didn't just load up the kids and get chinese take out or something. Who needs turkey? The day actually ended on a good note, and we had an enjoyable meal. The stress made us enjoy every bite! Next year though we are going out to eat!
Where was Paula Deen when we needed her?

We survived our first week!

Our little babies are 1 week old and somehow we made it through our first week. I didn't know that two little girls could produce so much poop, eat so much, sleep so much, cause sleep deprivation to their two parents, and yet be so lovable all at the same time. In a week's time, here is what we have noticed:
Laundry has now quadrupled- I think I have washed 4 loads just of baby clothes in a week's time

We have gone through at least 60 diapers (that's 240 diapers a month) I may have to get a part time job just to pay for diapers, wow!

Housework is pretty much non-existent at this point, if I can get the laundry done, I feel productive

I need more hands

Breastfeeding is not all it's cracked up to be.(I don't know if a big chest is worth it)

Babies have a good life. Sleep all day, stay awake all night

Life is good, and I am so in love with my four beautiful girls. I am also so in love with my wonderful husband. Kevin is always willing to change diapers, helps take care of the babies in the middle of the night, and he is always worried about my well-being. I am so grateful for Kevin, I couldn't do this without him. Raising twins is definitely a team effort!

It's been a few days now since we brought our girls home from the hospital and I am still in awe as I hold these two in my arms. What a miracle they truly are!

So labor began last Saturday night, I was having regular contractions about 15 minutes apart. Sunday all day was basically the same pattern. I was ready to go to the hospital but was told by my husband and my obstetrician that I needed to wait until the contractions were closer together. (sometimes it's hard being married to a doctor, they think they know everything.) So, as per both doctor's orders, I waited it out. By Monday morning the pain had intensified by 100% and I couldn't stand being in pain any longer. We headed for the hospital where the real fun began. I was dilated to a 5 by the time I got to the hospital and we knew then that this was the real deal. I was given an epidural by Kevin's resident which I was so grateful for. (I love anesthesiologists, I guess that's why I am married to one.) I slept most of the way through labor which lasted about nine hours. When it was time to deliver, they got me ready to take to the OR just in case there was chance of needing a c-section. On the way to the OR Leah was ready to make her debut and was born in the hallway. When we finally made it into the OR it was time to deliver baby number 2, and Audrey made her debut 25 minutes later. It was just a great experience all in all. I couldn't believe how easy it all was. Everything from the pregnancy to the delivery was great! Kevin and I kind of joked that it had to be easy to prepare us for how hard it would be to raise them. Let me just say it's true! The last few days have been quite challenging. Of course both babies have their nights and days mixed up. They have been sleeping all day, and then are awake all night. We get one fed and changed, go to lay them down, and then of course sister wakes up and we start the process all over. We will hopefully develop a schedule and it will all work out. Leah is definitely the peacemaker. Audrey is more high strung and wants to know that someone is with her at all times. Dad is adjusting to having all girls and he has been such a trooper in helping me take care of them. Alyssa and Kelsie are loving that they each get a baby to hold whenever they want to, and they have been such great helpers. We are not sure if our twins are identical or fraternal or not. I still have a hard time telling them apart, and have to ask Kevin who is who. You think that I could figure that out. I also can't tell their cries apart. The other night one of the babies was crying. I went into their room and picked up Leah who was dead asleep only to realize that it was Audrey who was crying. Hopefully I will get this all figured out soon. So that's what's going on in our house where everything is stirring even the mouse!

20 tiny fingers, 20 tiny toes, what lies ahead of us, Heaven only knows!

We are so excited to introduce the two newest additions of our family, Leah and Audrey who were born on Monday, November 10th. Leah was born first, and weighed 5 lbs 8.9 oz. and is 18. inches long. Audrey followed 25 minutes later and weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs. 13 oz. and is 18.5 inches long. Both babies are doing exceptionally well, and are now recovering at home without any problems. We are so grateful that things turned out so well, and now the real fun begins. I need to run, it's feeding time yet again! I will post more pictures and add more about the labor later.

The lack of posts lately comes from the lack of energy, the lack of time, and the lack of not feeling like sitting at the computer, but I am back at least for now.

We have had an eventful couple of weeks to say the least. My Mom is here staying with us, and it's been so fun to see her. It's been five months since I have seen her, and boy have I missed her! We have just been going, going, going ever since she got here. We went on the General Jackson showboat which was very fun. The showboat goes along the Cumberland river which was a beautiful drive, we had lunch on the boat as well and then were able to see the Peking Acrobat show which was just amazing. We have been able to try a lot of good restaurants like Bar-b-cutie, and Captain D's, we have been shopping 'till we drop, gone for drives, and tried hush puppies for the first time. We even went to see High School Musical 3 which made me pretty homesick for Utah especially when they showed the mountains. (we used to live within minutes of East High school where the movie was filmed) My Mom also spent Halloween with us and we had a great time trick-or treating. I made sure to walk plenty to see if I could go into labor. I was pretty sure that it worked, and we spent the next night in Labor & Delivery only to be sent home. False alarm and I was sent home! That's right, I am still pregnant! I have tried everything to get these babies to come but they are on their own schedule I guess. I will be 37 weeks along on Monday, and I am beyond ready for these little girls to get here. My Mom leaves next Wednesday so we are really hoping that they will be born while she is still here.

All in all, it has been a great couple of weeks, and I am so sad thinking about my Mom having to go back to Utah. I wish that she just lived next door. We have a single man next door, and I told her that maybe she could just marry him for 3 1/2 years, and then she could just tell him she has to go back to Utah. (OH I WISH THAT SHE LIVED CLOSER) My mom is great, and she is single so if you know of anyone to line her up with let me know.