Hale's Angels

Its One of Those Days...

2011-06-09T19:20:00.002-04:00

Do you ever have those days when you feel like everything is just falling apart? I do, and I am having one today. Are you supposed to blog (or journal) about them, or just pretend that day-to-day life as a mother/parent is always easy and perfect? I have asked my mom about days like I am having, and she said that she has really just forgotten them over the years. That is probably the right approach to take- forget about the hard days and just remember the happy, positive aspects of your children growing up...

Sometimes I feel like letting it all out. I have hard days. I don't have them everyday, but some days I have a headache, the kids whine a lot, they aren't nice to each other, and the bathroom (and the boys) are covered in conditioner. Some days Aaron is on a conference call (and still at the office at 7:15 pm) and all my friends are gathering for crepes at another friend's house. And I am still here till he gets home. Yeah, it has been rough.

Really, I don't want to dwell on days like today. I know that tomorrow is a new day. I know that my headache will go away. I know that Aaron will come home and I can at least escape to my nearest favorite retail store to just walk around in the quiet. I know that the kids will be asleep later tonight and when I go in to check on them, I will want to lay down and snuggle their sweet little faces.

But until then, I must go stop the chasing down and stealing of yet another toy and quiet the kid who isn't dealing well with this day, either.

Atlanta Temple Open House and Rededication

2011-06-02T15:03:00.004-04:00

Our Temple closed in July of 2009 for remodeling and finally reopened in May of this year! Lucky for us, that included a two week open house followed by the rededication performed by President Thomas S. Monson. Since there was an open house, we were able to take the kids to the temple. Once the temples are dedicated, only worthy, adult members of our church are allowed to enter. However, our church allows the public to enter and tour the temples before they are dedicated. It is so beautiful inside and there is such a calm and peace that is present in the temple. The kids loved being inside, and Emma said her favorite part was the chandelier in the Celestial Room.

Jonathan and Emma outside the temple

Since I don't know when we will have another opportunity to tour the temple with the kids, I took Emma through a second time so she and I could talk about the temple and really focus on it. I knew that she would remember going, so I wanted to make sure she had a great experience.

Emma and me- Girls Night Out at the Atlanta Temple

Emma and me- Girl's Night Out at the Temple Open House! My sweet Emma girl- outside the temple

My Boys

2011-04-25T18:13:00.001-04:00

Jonathan and William- April 2011

I meant to include this picture in the boys' birthday post, but I forgot to add it. And its so cute, that I think it deserves a post all on its own.

I love watching my boys. They will hardly do anything without the other, and they usually don't go too far away from one another. They are best friends! Yesterday, Jonathan couldn't find his Easter basket and was pretty upset. I stood back and watched as William assessed the situation, picked up his own basket, and gave it to Jonathan. I have also seen Jonathan get William's blanket, milk and toys on numerous occasions. Just today, William had fallen asleep on the couch while I was doing some laundry. I walked through the living room a few minutes later, and Jonathan had covered William up with a blanket while he slept.

I hope that they will always be close, and always be best friends. There was a couple that lived in our ward who had twin sons that are about 23. I love looking at pictures (thank you, Facebook!) of these guys together- at each others' wedding receptions, hanging out with family, etc.- and trying to imagine my own boys in those situations. It makes me happy to see that the bond that twins have lasts into adulthood and that they can always be close.

I sure love my boys and I am so glad that they love each other so much!

Spring Break 2011 Destin, Florida

2011-04-12T11:13:00.003-04:00

For Emma's Spring Break, we took a trip to one of our favorite near-by (meaning 6 hours away) cities- Destin, Florida! We love the beaches there- the sand is great, the beaches are clean, and things are pretty family friendly.

The boys were pretty hesitant to get near the water at first. I ran up to the water with them, and then screamed and ran away as the waves came onto the sand (like it was chasing me). The boys thought that was pretty funny, tried it for themselves, and begged to be at the beach almost every second after that. They DID NOT like sand in their flip flops. Apparently that is just too much. These jelly fish were all over the beach. I am pretty sure they were dead, as they didn't have any tentacles, and we pretty much played with them without getting stung. I thought this one was neat with the purple spots on it. I don't like putting non-flattering pictures of myself on this blog, but here ya go. I was there. This area of Florida is known as the "Emerald Coast," and according to Wikipedia, is known for "its white sand and emerald green waters." I don't always trust everything I read on Wikipeida, but judging from the picture below, I think that is probably credible information. (Some other interesting info from Wikipedia, it says "The sand on Destin's beaches is some of the whitest in the world. The sand comes from the Appalachain Mountains, and is made of finely ground quartz crystal giving the appearance of sugar.) Emma took advantage of that sugary-quartz sand to practice her writing skills:

This was another jelly that we found on the beach. It was so different from all the others that we had seen, and it still had its tentacles. I didn't take any chances and scooped it up with some sand and set it on my flip flop to take its picture. I thought it was a neat little jelly!

A big storm blew through the second night we were there, and it cooled things down quite a bit. There was a strong wind blowing as well, so we took the kids to a "family fun center." The kids wanted to ride this airplane so bad, so we let them. And the boys cried (and screamed) the ENTIRE time. Emma was being such a good big sister and tried to calm them down, but they just weren't happy. After torturing them with an airplane ride, I took them on a train ride, and I went with them this time. They were still so upset that this is the face I got when I tried to get them to smile: I think that the favorite part of the trip was playing on Dad's surf board. The kids all tried it out and LOVED it! (Which is good. That is what we are hoping for!) They thought they were pretty cool once they stood up! (On a side note, I am glad they liked it so much, since we are in the process of decorating their room in a surfing theme!) Here is my surfer girl, Emma. I am glad that she got out in the water- especially after I told her about Bethany Hamilton (the girl who surfed and got attacked by a shark, losing her arm) and seeing previews to the movie coming out about her.... Is this a happy girl, or what?! We also kept seeing these pools and inflatable bubbles in the parking lots of the beach shops. Emma wanted to try it so bad, but there was always a long wait. So, on the day we were leaving, we found one, waited till it opened, and Emma was the first one in!

She had to get in the uninflated bubble, and they blew air into it with a leaf blower. Once it was fully inflated, she had to walk up the little ramp to get into the pool. (She kept calling it her hamster ball!) Once she got in the water, she flipped, rolled, and acted like, well, a hamster in a ball! She had a lot of fun in there! We kept trying to get her to stand up, but she was never able to for more than a few minutes at a time. It was so nice to have a little family getaway, especially since Aaron had such a busy "busy season," which required much travel and time away from home. The boys keep asking to go to the beach, and I hope we can go again soon!

Three Year Olds!

2011-03-28T13:11:00.008-04:00

Yesterday my "baby" boys turned 3. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!

A few days before their birthday, I looked at my pictures from the boys' birth on my computer. It takes me back a little to see them, tiny little babies, with feeding tubes and heart monitors, oxygen monitors and itty-bitty hospital bracelets around their ankles. It is sometimes hard to look at the pictures- to think about all the "what-ifs" that come with multiples pregnancies and births, but I see them now and know that for us, all is well. I am so thankful for my fun-loving, mostly happy, mischievous, snuggly, cuddly little boys. Here are some then and now pictures to take you back down memory lane with me!

This is William in the NICU. He was the oldest, but the smaller of the boys. He had trouble regulating his body temperature, and stayed on oxygen and IV fluids longer. He also had to tube feed longer. I remember looking at him and thinking that he would be the more careful and cautious of the two- and I could picture him always following Jonathan around saying, "No, Jonathan, don't do that." Jonathan was born two minutes after William, and was off his oxygen and fluids first. He was a more vigorous eater, and the larger of the boys. He is still bigger in size. He still loves to eat. (He ate 3 fajitas at dinner the other night- even more than me!) He is actually the more cautious of the boys. He is always following William around and telling him, "No!" William was so tiny that his bottle looked huge next to him. (He was 4 pounds 10 ounces at birth, and had probably lost some weight at the point this picture was taken.) Although he was the bigger baby, Jonathan weighed 5 pounds 5 ounces at birth, and was under 5 pounds when we brought them home from the hospital. Look at his tiny head in Aaron's hand. The boys were only in the most critical part of the NICU for 4 days before being moved to the upper floor, which is the less critical area of the NICU. Here they were able to share an "open crib" and they worked on their eating so they could come home. (This is William.) They kept their feeding tubes in so that if they got too tired from eating from a bottle, they could still be fed through the tube. They had to be able to feed from 8 bottles each day in order to come home. (This is Jonathan.) Here they are together, in their shared crib, still in the hospital. At this point, William (on the left) still had his feeding tube, but Jonathan had gone to all bottles! What a difference a few years makes! Here is a picture that my friend, Erin Summerill, took of the boys during our Christmas trip to Utah in 2010. They are such good friends (most of the time) and are really sweet to each other, again, most of the time! (Jonathan is on the left and William is on the right in this one.) I just couldn't resist adding this picture! It was too cute to leave out!I took this picture of the boys earlier this month. They were sitting in the recliner together, watching a show. They were just being too sweet! (Jonathan on the left, William on the right.)

Here are the boys celebrating their 3rd birthday. We were singing "Happy Birthday" to them, and Emma was so kind to help with getting their cupcakes and candles to them. The boys are trying to show everyone that they are three with their fingers! We will keep working on that one. (William is on the left, Jonathan on the right.) William has a blue icing goatee! Jonathan was just really happy- happy that it was his birthday, happy to get cupcakes again (they went to a friend's birthday party earlier in the day), and happy to be wearing his "monkey on a motorcycle" t-shirt! Here is everyone (minus me, of course) sporting cupcake faces! Baths were definitely next on the agenda for the evening! Here are some things about the boys at this age that I want to remember: William: likes to gather up all the matchbox cars at the end of each day, pile them in the middle of the bed and sleep with them. William is the mischief maker. He loves to be silly and play jokes. If he wakes up in the middle of the night (and even some mornings), when I come into his room, he will pat the spot next to him on the bed and say, "Mommy lay down." I usually can't resist!

Jonathan: my little snuggler. Jonathan is the lover- he loves to give hugs and kisses. He likes to read stories with anyone that will read to him. He is my big eater! He always finishes his dinner and usually asks for seconds!

I am so thankful for the unexpected blessing of twin boys. They are so much fun and I can't imagine life without the two of them- together.

2011 Daddy Daughter Date Night

2011-03-25T15:37:00.003-04:00

First of all, apologies to those of you who want to see my kids. Not many pictures of them in this post, but a good kid post is coming. The boys will turn three in a few days and I will see if I can come up with a good post- guaranteed to make you (or at the very least, me) bawl like a baby! Anyway, two years ago, my dad got tickets to the Daddy Daughter Date night in my hometown, which takes place on the weekend around Valentine's Day. You may remember pictures from that one. He took us all again this year, and it was so much fun!

My mom stayed home with the boys and I hope that when they are bigger, and a little easier to tote around, that she can have a date night with them while we are at date night. It sure was nice of her to keep them so Aaron and I could both go and have some fun!

Here I am with my baby sister, Katherine, who is 17 years younger than me. (Wow, actually putting that in print- with a picture of us together- makes me feel SO old!) She is several inches taller than me, and so sweet and cute. I am sure you would agree! (And, in case you are wondering, my natural hair color is most likely the same as hers. I just haven't seen mine in so long that I'm not quite sure anymore!) Here I am with my daddy! And here I am with my daddy, again, making stupid faces. (What else is new?!?) Aaron and Emma are getting ready to enjoy a yummy dinner! My daddy with his daughters... Emma got so tired from all the dancing and running around (and the one hour time difference from Eastern to Central time) that she fell asleep. My dad took the opportunity to hold her, and fall asleep himself. We had so much fun. I love going to these and swing dancing with my dad, just like we used to do when I was a teenager and little girl. It was also fun to dance and be silly with Kat- and to watch Emma and Aaron, and Emma and my dad together. What a fun time!

Florida Trip!

2011-02-18T16:52:00.007-05:00

During Aaron's busy season, he spent 5 weeks working for a client in Jacksonville, Florida. On the last weekend he was working (Feb. 4-6), I got to fly down and spend the weekend with him, instead of him coming home. It was cool, overcast, and drizzly the whole time I was there- but I didn't care because it was warmer than it was at home!

This was the view from his hotel room (tough life, huh?). This was a crab that I found hiding out in one of the shells that I collected while I walked the beaches. I wanted to bring it home to the kids, but I didn't know how well crabs fare on airplanes! On Saturday, we drove to St. Augustine, which is about a half hour from Jacksonville. It was such a neat place to visit- and is one of the oldest cities in the US.

This picture is of Flagler College, formerly the Ponce de Leon Hotel. Many of the large building that are still standing were built by a man named Henry Flagler. He was a business partner with John D. Rockafeller, co-founding Standard Oil. He was a very wealthy man, and many of the buildings in St. Augustine are somehow connected to him. Another picture of Flagler College. This is the Memorial Presbyterian Church. This church was also built by Henry Flagler, as a memorial to his daughter who died in childbirth earlier that year (1889). This is a street lined with "live oaks." These are oak trees whose leaves stay green all year round, hence the "live" part of their names. They are also covered in Spanish moss. It was so beautiful!

We also went to Castill de San Marcos, which is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. It was really quite impressive, right at the edge of the water and with its view of any ships that might be coming to attack the town. There were various cannons at the "fort" and we even watched a cannon shooting demonstration. This is the interior of the fort- the cannons were placed all along the upper wall, and in the "courtyard" area, there were rooms for storing gunpowder, sleeping quarters, and places to keep the prisoners! A view of the fort walls from the outside. The masonry is actually made from something called "coquina," which means "small shells." The shells are bonded together and harden forming something similar to limestone. The construction of the fort was completed in 1695. I really enjoyed my trip and I loved learning about St. Augustine. We took one of the Old Town Trolly tours- which drives around the city and the passengers are able to get off and on the trolley at different stops. They are very good to talk about the history of the town and the buildings in it. (We also did one of the tours when we went to Savannah.) If you are ever in a town that has the trolley tours, I totally recommend it!

It was fun to have a little break from the kids and to get to hang out with Aaron. It is nice to remember that we actually do like to hang out together!

January 2011

2011-02-09T13:40:00.005-05:00

I didn't take many pictures during January...

It snowed quite a bit here during the first week of January. I am probably the only person that didn't take pictures. (I have been looking at my friends' blogs, and they are all good moms with pictures of their kids in the snow.) I guess I got my fill of snow while we were in Utah over Christmas. I am regretting not taking pictures now because the kids were so funny. The snow here was totally different than the Utah snow. We had several inches, and then there was a super slick layer of ice on top. It pretty much turned the back yard into an ice skating rink- especially since the boys just wore their rain boots (with several layers of socks) out to play.

During the week of snow, Aaron was unable to get to his client in Charlotte, NC, and he was also unable to get to his office in Atlanta. Which meant he was working here. The whole week. It was really a task for me to keep the kids away from him while he was on conference calls and calls with co-workers.

We also managed to break our water heater and vacuum cleaner during the snow week. There were no plumbing companies that would come help replace the water heater in the snow and ice, so Aaron and a sweet older man from our ward went and bought and installed a new water heater. (I make it sound like it was quick and easy, but the job took the entire day.) I also got to buy myself a new vacuum cleaner- and I love it!

I did happen to take two pictures during the month. This one is Emma with a picture that she drew on her chalk board/ white board art easel that she got for Christmas. She wanted to wear her nicest clothes for this picture. She picked the outfit out all by herself! (In case you can't tell, that is a picture of an angel and God.)

The only other picture I took was one of Emma receiving her 100 Day Club certificate. The kids in her Kindergarten are given 100 "skills" to master in the first 100 days of school. Emma mastered them all, with several weeks to spare! Here she is getting her certificate from her Principal. We are so proud of you, Emma!

2010 in one big post...

2011-01-11T19:17:00.033-05:00

How long has it been since I posted? Yeah, I know. Whatever. The point is, I am going to post now! And, in an effort to NOT bore you to death, I will post a few of the highlights from each quarter of 2010 (Aaron's suggestion- can't you tell it came from an accountant with the whole "quarter" thing?). So, here goes!

First Quarter:

The boys got their first hair cuts. They looked so cute! We visited the nursery and took 4-wheeler rides with Jefe. We picked strawberries in Jefe's greenhouse and ate them all! (And they were delicious!) We had our first Georgia snow. I helped a few of my friends piece together a quilt for our bishop. Each family in the ward made their own square and then we put it all together. This was the "highlight" of our Ward Birthday Party, celebrating a year after our boundaries had changed. I was the head of the activities committee, so this was one of my big projects at church. Emma went to her first Braves game!

Second Quarter:

Aaron baptized Michelle and Christian. He baptized their parents while he was on his mission in Colombia 8 years before. Emma graduated from Preschool. Emma and I went to see my sister, Katherine, in her ballet recital. (Isn't Kat gorgeous???) We picked (and ate) all the raspberries we could find at my dad's nursery. Aaron and I took a weekend trip to Savannah, Georgia. It was so beautiful and such a neat, old city. (I have more pictures if you want to see them...Just let me know and I will post them.) This is the famous River Street. This is the sunset from River Street. We got to eat at Paula Deen's restaurant! We ate at this really cool restaurant that was built into this awesome tree on Tybee Island, called "The Crab Shack." This is the view we had from our table at the restaurant. I swear, an alligator could have slithered up onto the floor and eaten my leg off. Emma got my camera and took self-portraits. We tried to get all the grandkids that were around to pose for a picture to go on the front of the new catalog for my dad's nursery. Aunt Kat-Kat had to go in and help, and it turned out really cute!

Third Quarter:

Emma was just plain cute. We took the kids to their first Braves game (well, it was the boys' first game. Emma went to one back in the spring). Emma started Kindergarten. Emma turned 5. Emma took more pictures of herself. The boys got hungry and ate all our sandwich rolls. We took the kids to the county fair in my hometown. Emma made me ride the carousel with her. And then I felt sick for the rest of the night. Emma found a cat at the farm and she fell in love. She named it "Rose Kitties" and can't bear to leave it when we go visit. I, on the other hand, am happy to leave it there!

Fourth Quarter:

I made Emma's Halloween costume. It had 83 "sprinkles" on it, and each one was hand sewn. We went Trick-or-Treating. Emma made an Indian dress for Thanksgiving and changed her name to Green Tree (that's my girl!). However, she refused to smile for any of my pictures. We welcomed Uncle Russell home from his mission. We spent Christmas in Utah with lots of family that we haven't seen in 3 years (and that the boys had never met!). We met and snuggled baby Eva, our newest little cousin! Whew! There was our 2010 overview. I am hoping to do better with blogging this year, but I feel like I say that all the time now. So, who knows? Happy 2011!

Trying To Catch Up

2010-09-02T12:51:00.003-04:00

I keep promising myself that I am going to get this thing up to date, and then I don't do it (I think the last several posts have begun with this sentence!). So many things have been happening lately that I want to blog, but I refuse to put them on here till I have gotten current. I am ready to throw my hands up and just start where we are now, but I am going to make one more attempt:

November

When we were living in Utah, we tried to get up in the mountains each fall for a family picture. For 2009, we went to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (a Civil War battlefield) here in Georgia. Looking back at this picture, I can't believe how much the boys have grown!

Emma got my camera and snapped this picture of Jonathan. As well of this one of William.

December

For some reason, I don't have any pictures of Christmas. But I do have a few other ones from December.

This is a picture of Emma wearing the pillowcase dress I made for her. She only wore it this one time, and informed me that she will not ever wear it again. (I don't know why...I think she looks adorable in it!) We will try again this fall and winter to get it on her! I also got this picture of my three little cuties! Looking at it, I realized that my kids could pass for triplets if the boys were bigger! I didn't realize how similar they all look until I looked at this picture! Here is another picture of all the kids together. Emma loves being a big sister and having fun with her brothers! Stay tuned... there is more to come!

October 2009

2010-07-06T13:59:00.005-04:00

Not that I can remember too much from October (seeing that it is now JULY), but I do remember that one morning I took the kids outside for a chocolate chip muffin picnic for breakfast. I also remember that they really loved it!

This is Jonathan, eating his muffin at the kid picnic table. And here is William (and yes, they are still in their pajama tops! I did put some jeans on them, though!). I don't remember what day this was, but I think that Emma just looks so darn cute in the Cozy Coupe- and I love the colors of the car and her shirt. In October, Emma participated in her first ever Primary Program. She wore this dress that her BB bought for her, and she looked so pretty! She also memorized her part for the program and several of the primary teachers commented on how well she did!And of course, October means Halloween. Here is William digging in the "scary hand candy bowl" at the ward Trunk or Treat (that was held in the gym). The boys had gotten flu shots the day before and didn't feel that great. That didn't stop them from eating candy, though! (A note about the bowl: My dad got the bowl at one of his "auction" trips and it scared Emma to death. The hand moves and it makes noises. Anytime anyone would come over to our house, Emma would lead them to the closet where we kept the bowl and tell them to get it out, take it home with them, and throw it away!) Here is Jonathan- unhappy about his costume, and not feeling well. I felt like I totally scored on the costumes, though. I waited till the day of Halloween, went to the Walgreens down the street, and got each dog costume for $2.50. I think they were regularly $10 or $15 each! Emma wanted to be Woody from "Toy Story" for Halloween, but most older people didn't know who Woody was when we went Trick or Treating. So, she was pretty frustrated by the end of the day since everyone kept telling her she was a pretty cowgirl!

Slacking

2010-07-06T13:56:00.002-04:00

How did I let another month slip by without posting a single thing? I made a resolve to blog more often...and I didn't follow through! I don't know why, I just didn't. There was a time when I made sure to keep this thing updated, with pictures, each and every month. If you look back to the first few years of blogging, I think I only missed one, maybe two months. Lately, I have been getting further and further behind. I feel like my life is full of chaos and I feel totally unorganized when it comes to things that require some attention (other than feeding, clothing, or diaper changing!) from me. So, this is my ramble, along with a new, slightly more determined resolve to keep blogging.

September Stuff

2010-05-10T10:13:00.013-04:00

Our month of September was full of fun, fun and more fun! Here are some of the highlights:

We went to Tennessee for a little visit and Emma got to go around and pick raspberries with her Jefe (that is what we call my dad- it was his special request.) at the farm. Dad has expanded his plant operation to include lots of berry plants. He has raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. (Pictures of his strawberry set up will follow!) Later on in the month, Aaron had a training for work in Miami. Since I have never been, his hours would be managable, we got our Moms to take turns keeping the kids, and I went to Miami for a few days.

This is the pool that I lounged by all day, reading books and working on my tan. These are the palm trees that I lounged under, while reading books and working on my tan. While we were in Miami, we went to a mall area that was at the edge of the ocean called Bayside. We found a little stand that was selling Latin foods, and Aaron had to have some of the things he had on his mission. We ate arepas and choclo, and Aaron was even able to score his mission drink- Colombiana. We also took a boat tour around the bay. Here is a picture of us on that tour. In September, there was also a storm system that came through the Atlanta area and dumped quite a bit of water on us. The neighborhood drainage creek runs through our yard and it overflowed into the yard. I have never seen this much water in that area. The area just beyond the lower "trees" is the place where the water runs under the road. It was so full of debris and the water turned into a huge swirling mess as it tried to get under the road. You can see where the water goes under the road, and then follows the "creek" into my neighbor's yard across the street. It was truly amazing to see the power of the water. It was also a little scary too. We got a little bit of water in the basement, but nothing really to worry about. It was enough to soak some cardboard boxes, but I got to it all quickly enough that we didn't have to throw anything away. We learned our lesson, and went to all plastic boxes, and bought a dehumidifier! And finally, here are a few pictures of the boys. This one is William. And this is Jonathan. We had a little muffin picnic outside on their table. Fun times!

So Many Things to Show You...

2010-05-06T18:53:00.009-04:00

It has been quite some time since I have done a real blog post. I blame life for being so hectic and out of control. I just realized that I haven't posted pictures of the kids since August. Oops! I am hoping to update over the next few days to get caught up to now! Here is the rest of August (for the first part of August, you can go here.

Emma started Preschool in August. Her preschool is run by one of the local Baptist churches, and I (and she) have loved the school and the teachers. By the way, that is her favorite shirt, and I love those shoes! Remember the dance move called Running Man? She totally looks like she is doing it here! I don't remember when or why, but at some point we went up to Tennessee for a visit. Here are the boys trying to figure out how to drive Jefe's 4 wheeler. (That is Jonathan in the front, and William riding in the back.) This is a close up of William, courtesy of Emma's photography! And Jonathan, again, taken by Emma.

A Shameless Plug for Erin Summerill Photography

2010-04-02T13:03:00.004-04:00

My dear friend Erin, Erin Summerill Photography, is having a give away on her photography blog. She is an awesome photographer in the Utah Valley area. You may remember some of the pictures she took of us when she was just starting out in photography. Now, she has built quite the photography business and I am so proud of her!

The other great thing about Erin, is her house remodeling, desk building, handyman- husband, Mark. Mark has started making some beautiful frames for Erin's pictures, and you can see them here. (I am begging Aaron to get me the corkboard in the frame. I love that thing!)

So, head on over to her photography site, check out her pictures and the blog area of her site. And while you are there, leave her a message saying that you came from my blog so I can win her contest!

Just some funny stuff

2010-03-10T18:17:00.002-05:00

I know I haven't done a good post in, like, FOREVER, and that there are some of you who just want to see pictures of the kids, but I will get to that a little later. Emma has said some funny things lately, and I want to post them while I remember them.

Emma keeps asking me questions about the things that happened in "Allison Wonderland." She keeps referring to Alice as Allison.

We recently watched the movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." (Cute movie, by the way.) Emma keeps referring to the main character, Flint Lockwood, as "Flip Flop Wood." We also watch the Disney Channel show, "Sonny With a Chance," on occasion. She gets the movie and the show titles mixed up which results in "Cloudy With Meatballs of Chance."

And last, today, she was asking about the "Cat corner" in our yard. Long story, but when we moved to our house, the previous owners had buried their pet cats in the back corner of the yard. When the previous owners finished building their new house, they came back and dug the cats up and took them to their new house. (Note: The story is much more detailed and disgusting, but I am not putting that on the blog! Ask me about it sometime...) ANYWAY, we call that part of the yard the cat corner since that is where the cats were. Today, when Emma asked why we called it that, I explained it to her. That it was kind of a cemetery. She said, "Oh, you mean like a greatyard?" Yeah...I guess...

Law

2010-01-27T10:34:00.002-05:00

You've heard of Murphy's Law, right? Its the one that says, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." It's one of my Dad's favorites.

Which brings me to some of my Dad's Laws:

No good deed goes unpunished.
If you keep doing what you're doing, you will keep getting what you're getting.
I'm not going to say I told you so, but I previously informed you. (I don't know that that one is a law per say, but the law is that when we do something dumb, he will say that...)

After an incident this morning, I decided to come up with MY own laws, "Mommy Laws" if you will:

Clean carpets will be puked on. (Aaron and I spent last night cleaning all the carpets/rugs in the house. Upon returning home from taking Emma to preschool this morning, Jonathan puked all over the place. Luckily, it was outside and in the van a little. But now I won't let him get on the carpets.)
Clean diapers will get pooed in (within 5 minutes of clean diaper being put on). (This one is a no fail around here. I have given the boys a fresh diaper, only to have to change it 5 minutes later, more times than I can count.)
Mommy's black shirts will get snotted. (Probably serves me right for wearing a black shirt. BUT it seems that every time I wear a black shirt, my kids wipe their noses on it. I have learned to lovingly refer to the snot streaks as "slug trails.")
Slobbery kisses are the best. (Nothing melts my heart like a big slobbery, sometimes open mouthed, kiss from my boys. They are so sweet, and rarely ever turn down my request for a little lovin'.)
Nothing is better than being a "Momma." (Do I really need to explain?)

While life as a mommy isn't always glamorous, easy, or even clean, I can tell you that there is nothing else I would rather do with my life. My life as a mom, even with the "Mommy Laws," could not be any sweeter. And I try, every day, to remember that. I have heard so many people say, "They grow up so fast," or "This is just a phase." I know they do, and I know it is. And I also know that when its gone, it is gone. One day my carpets will stay clean, my black shirts won't have a shimmery trail, and my boys won't want to kiss me, and my kids will be embarrassed by their Momma.

Love your life, live by its laws, and learn to throw your hands up and say, "Oh, well!" Enjoy it while its here.

Hello, Old Friends!

2010-01-26T14:48:00.002-05:00

Hello, old friends (since you are the only ones left that check my blog anymore)! I hope that you are all well and that you had a nice Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, etc., etc. It has been that long since I have posted anything that required much effort!

We have been pretty busy around here, with the holidays, hosting Christmas for ourselves and our families, and entertaining the various viruses that seem to think our family is hospitable. I am ready to be done with tissues, barf bowls, and repetitive sheet washing. But something tells me that this will be part of my life for the next few years and that I better just get used to it!

I am thinking of making it a habit to share more of my inner thoughts and funny "mommy moments" here. Is anyone interested in reading them? (Emma just says the funniest things, and the boys are developing such fun little personalities that I can't bear to keep it all to myself. And I am experiencing some things that I think only the mom of twins (or multiple boys) can fully appreciate. Like, for instance, when I found the boys dumping water by the cup full out of the toilet (which, luckily, had been flushed prior to the incident). Where did they get the cups you ask? They are the cups we use to bathe them with-you know, the rinsing cups.) So give me some feed back!

Seven Years

2009-12-14T21:36:00.004-05:00

Seven years ago, I skipped my college graduation to get married. I remember thinking the graduation ceremony paled in comparison to the sealing ceremony. It was an easy decision. It was by far, one of the best decisions I have ever made!

Miami-September 2009

(Looking through my pictures from this year, I realized that I only have 2 pictures of us together. Well, I have more than one version of each picture, but these are the ones that are the best of both of us!)

Braves game-April 2009

Life together has been happy...and good...and sweet. I am such a happy girl!

We're Still Here...

2009-12-06T22:14:00.002-05:00

I don't know if anyone comes to my blog these days. It seems like facebook has pretty much taken over. But, we are still here.

We have been pretty busy lately, as I just finished out the ward activities for the year with a big Christmas party last night. Aaron has done some traveling for work, we have been sick with colds and general yuckiness, and we have been busy with our callings at church. Just so you know, I plan to update soon with a few marathon posts-complete with pictures, of course!

Sandra, this one is for YOU!

2009-10-26T21:03:00.008-04:00

There seems to be some debate, as of my last few posts, as to whether or not I should keep posting "dumb face pictures" (I am quoting Aunt Sandra) of Aaron. Since Aunt Sandra thinks he needs a nice face picture, this is for her. BUT, if you do enjoy a good "dumb face picture," it isn't Aaron, but I think this will do: Love ya, Dad!

Missing U

2009-09-30T17:42:00.014-04:00

For the last two fall seasons, a little ache has filled my heart. I have been missing U. As in Utah. We lived in Utah for 5 years, moving there very shortly after we were married. At first, I had a difficult time adjusting-you know, Southern farm girl moving to the big mountain West. It didn't take me too long to realize the beauty of the mountains, the Quaking Aspen trees, and to realize how blessed I was to be a new member in a family so full of love.

So now I post-with a few tears and an ache in my heart...missing Utah. I miss BYU football games. I miss hiking up to the top corner-to watch the game with all the Jones family. I miss going to see who is in the Hale seats during half time. I miss sneaking in bottled waters and eating kettle corn. I miss driving the Alpine Loop in American Fork Canyon and stopping to take our yearly family picture. I miss the vibrant yellow of the aspens mixed with the deep, dark green of the pine trees. I miss the mountains. Oh, how I miss those mountains. They were so hard to get used to at first...so large and immovable. But then I learned to love them. I learned to see the beauty that they held... ...Like beautiful, open meadows. I miss this face. SO MUCH.

I miss this yard-the raspberries, grapes, and all the games of bocci and tether ball. I miss laying in the hammock and sitting on the steps. I miss family gatherings here and eating till I can't eat anymore, and then eating some more. I miss playing 5 Crowns and Rummikub. I miss this man, and all of his practical wisdom and gardening knowledge. I miss these two and watching the away BYU football games at their house. I miss their garden and their backyard. I miss watching the birds with Emma from their sliding glass door.

Although it took me a little getting used to, I learned to love things that are different. I learned to appreciate a regions natural beauty. I learned to love other people, and learned to allow myself to be loved by others. I leaned about the heritage and the ancestors of Aaron's family and began to love those who went before us and paved the way.

So, for right now, I am going to let myself be a little homesick. Yes, I said homesick. Isn't there a saying, "Home is where the heart is?" No matter where we live, no matter where we go, a good piece of my heart will always be in Utah.

August

2009-09-01T09:15:00.018-04:00

The month of August has been a lot of fun for us. I am starting this post with some of my favorite pictures from this month:

I love this of the boys! They were having so much fun with the cordless phone and the headset that goes with it. I tried to get a picture of William with the headset on, but he kept taking it off. However, Jonathan would not put the phone down!

Jonathan looks so puzzled here!

The boys got their first sink bath after we had lasagna for dinner one night. As I was washing them up, I wondered why this was their first sink bath. I could have been saving myself so much back ache if I had been doing things this was all along! (William on the left, Jonathan on the right)

And then they showed me why we probably shouldn't be doing sink baths at this point. They kept trying to crawl out on to the counters!

My mom found this awesome water table on Amazon.com and got it for Emma's birthday-for all the kids to play with. They have had so much fun with it!

More of the boys in the water table.

If you read my last post, you know that Emma turned 4 this year! Since her birthday fell on a Monday, we had a little family dinner with cake and family present opening. We let Emma choose her birthday dinner, and she requested steak and smashy potatoes. We were thinking that she would ask for hot dogs or pizza or something, but it was steak!

Here is Emma, accompanying us while we sang "Happy Birthday."

This is Jonathan with his slice of cake... And William after devouring his slice!

On the following Saturday, we had a birthday party for Emma. She invited 4 friends and their families over for a barbecue, cake, pinata, and fun in the back yard!

Here is Emma with her pinata spoils-boxes of Dots candy, stuffed in her pockets and lining the cuffs of her jeans. Well done, Emma! This is Emma's birthday cake. Cinderella-her favorite!

And just for fun, I am leaving you with the latest picture of Aaron!

Emma is Four!

2009-08-10T13:07:00.011-04:00

Today is Emma's fourth birthday. My, how the years have gone by! I have so many memories with this girl. I could go on forever, with memories of her growing up, but I will focus on the "now."

Emma's body seems to finally be growing into her personality. She has always known what she wants and how she wants it, she is just so vocal about it these days. She is fun, sassy, sweet, all at the same time. Emma is also very smart, and inquisitive.

She also keeps us laughing non-stop. Just this morning, she came out of my bedroom and said, "Mom, I am getting ready for my birfday. I putted on your pineapple lotion all over my legs and I put some dusting (loose powder) on my cheeks. Do I look beau-ty-full?" Yes, baby girl, you do!

Here are some things Emma has done over the past year: First trip to the ER, complete with scan of noggin.

Last minute family trip to "Florida Destin." Emma loved it so much there and asks to go back all the time. She loves the beach! Emma also went on her first "date." With her daddy. And her Jefe. She had so much fun! Emma finds my camera and then runs and hides. Then she takes lots of pictures. Some, like this one, are keepers! She loves to help cook. And it {obviously} doesn't even matter if anyone is really cooking. She started riding dirt bikes...with her dad, of course! She has been missing her Uncle Russell. She has been finding her own "style." Emma has been teaching her brothers all the things she knows. She is such a great big sister!

Emma, I am so pleased with the little person you are. You bring me such happiness and joy every single day of my life! I am so blessed to be your mommy! I love you!

Fun Times

2009-07-15T13:28:00.009-04:00

Can you guess what happens when you put this:

On this?

And employ this:

And this:as supervision?

YOU GET SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

Don't know yet? Let me help you.

That is Emma sleeping, in her favorite, most comforting Pooh bear blanket, me sitting in a row of kid size comfy chairs, complete with a sticker on my shirt identifying myself as Emma's parent.

WE ARE AT THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM.

Saturday night, we had a little barbecue with Ammon, Jillian and their kids (they were visiting), and some other friends. After eating, all the kids, and the dads, went to the park to play. Emma decided to go UP the slide (the wrong way) which isn't really a problem as long as someone is there to supervise. Halfway up the slide, (the slide she has gone up many, many times) Emma lost her footing and fell off. Onto her head.

Now, here's the thing: Emma is a pretty tough kid. I have seen her take some pretty nasty spills and she usually shakes it off within 5-10 minutes and goes on her way. That didn't happen this time.

As soon as she fell, she started crying, sobbing, wailing, what have you. Her eyes started rolling back in her head, like she was falling asleep. But she was still crying. So, we did what any good parents would do in this situation: We got out a flashlight and shined it in her eyes, trying to make sure her pupils were both dilating, blah blah blah. They were, and we thought she would be fine. After 30 minutes, she was still crying pretty hard, so we decided to call the nurse line with our insurance company. While we were on the phone with the nurse, Emma fell asleep, which I felt fine about since her eyes were fine, and she had been awake for a half hour since the incident. Until....Emma threw up. All over the place. At that point, the nurse on the phone said to take her to the emergency room. So we called our pediatrician...who said to do the same thing. We quickly set off for the hospital.

We got there, and after getting her all checked out, and having a CT scan as a precaution, we were told that she probably had a concussion, but nothing really to worry about.

This was my facebook status the following day: Trip to Scottish Rite Emergency Room, mandatory valet parking at ER, CT scan, concussion diagnosis, lots of stickers and one balloon-$77 copay

Knowing that Emma's head is okay, and then hearing her say, "So, this is why you don't want me to go up the slide the wrong way, right Mom?"-priceless!

Father's Day Weekend

2009-06-23T10:24:00.010-04:00

I am so far behind in my blogging, that I thought I would be better off to just start where we are now. There hasn't been much that has happened since our fun Florida trip. Well, maybe I just haven't really had the camera out much. I "participated" in a 5k, we have been sick off and on, we had our hardwood floors refinished (dishwasher leak back in November), then our fridge went out, then the fridge repair man damaged the floor in front of the fridge, and I think that gets us to last weekend!

For Father's Day weekend, we went up to Tennessee. My brother, Sampson, his wife, Brittany, and their new baby girl, Phoenix, were in from Utah. We haven't ever met Phoenix before, so it was really nice to see and hold her! The boys seemed to like her, but they were a little cautious around her, too. William kept crawling up to her, reaching out to touch her, and then he would pull his hand away. It was really sweet. And Phoenix was a little doll! She is so sweet!

My brother, Dan, took some great pictures over the weekend with his awesome camera, and here are some of those.

There is a little market close to the river called Rock Island Market. They have some of the best cheeseburgers on the face of the earth. Here are the boys getting their first taste of Market food. (Jonathan is on the left, in the background.) Here is William, who thinks he is starving, which is evident when you notice how much food he is trying to shove in his mouth. Emma and Jonathan With the boys still just crawling, we found it necessary to contain them down at the dock. The little inflatable raft did just the trick! (And just so you know, I am not at all concerned about them not walking yet. Yes, they are 15 months old. But they will do it when they are ready. Once they master walking, I could be in for it.) And then there's Emma. My sweet, sassy, "cool surfer girl," Emma. She loved riding the boogie board behind the jet ski (which was driven v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y!) "Oh Yeah!" She was so excited to be doing such big things. Here is Emma with her cousin, Noah, swimming around under the dock. (If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you can see how blue her eyes are. They are so pretty in this picture.) Emma swimming around...

It was a fun weekend!

PS-Thanks to Dan for all the great pictures!

Florida Trip

2009-06-05T09:33:00.019-04:00

Back in the early spring, Aaron was working on a very time demanding client. As he was finishing up the project, he was given the opportunity to take a few days off. We decided to take the kids on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Florida. It was a fun trip (except that William was at the end of a very scary Roseola incident) and nice to go somewhere as a family. We really miss Aaron a lot when he is working so much!

We went to Destin, Florida. It is one of the closest beach towns, about 6 hours away from us. The sand was beautiful, the ocean was cold, and the weather was quite nice.

Jonathan was so cute in his little hat! Emma loved playing in the ocean. She would go out into the water with Aaron, and she would try to get him to further and further out into the ocean. This is the swimsuit she chose for herself this year. She says that it is a cool girl swimsuit. I think she looks like a super cute, surfer girl in it! Jonathan was being so cute that I couldn't stop taking his picture! He just kept giving me the cutest smiles! (William was sitting in my lap the whole time, feeling pretty yucky.) Here are both the boys, in one of the rare moments that William wasn't on my lap! William and Jonathan playing with sand toys. Self-beach-portrait, with William on my lap. (I had to get a picture of myself with some sand in the background!) We went to a restaurant called "Fudpucker's." The food was decent, extremely overpriced, but we had fun anyway! A lot of fun! This restaurant also boasted its live alligators. There was a "pit" in the front of the restaurant, and these were the alligators. Don't know if you can really tell here, but they were babies. Maybe pre-teens. They were all pretty small. So, we went somewhere else to see the big guys!

We went to a place called the "Gulfarium." It was kind of like the aquarium/zoo only with gulf animals. We saw these huge alligators. They were much scarier than the baby ones. But, they hardly moved. We also saw a "multi-species" show, which consisted of a dolphin and a sea lion. They did some pretty cool tricks, like this one (above). The sea lion is holding a fish in its mouth, and the dolphin jumped out of the water to get it! In this trick, the sea lion and the dolphin are kissing. The sea lion could also throw trash in a trash can, which gave the gulfarium trainers a good opportunity to talk about throwing trash in trash cans and not in the ocean. There was a dolphin show we also watched. This dolphin is jumping through a hula hoop. (See the ocean and the pier in the background?) And finally the pier at Fort Walton Beach. People were fishing off the pier and these very large birds were all over the place. This one got so close to Aaron and Emma, so I took their picture with it! (If you look closely, you can see some of these birds standing on the light poles.)

We had a great time. And, one of the parts I am most proud of is: my "bet" with Aaron. We drove past a PacSun outlet, and we decided we could both use a new tshirt or two. Aaron bet me that I couldn't go in and get us both a shirt in under 10 minutes. And, I went in and got us both a shirt in 7 minutes! I win! (Unfortunately, we didn't really wager anything in the bet. But, I did get a new shirt out of it!)

April (the first part)

2009-05-13T17:29:00.009-04:00

Well, once again, another month has passed and I am playing catch up with my blog. So here are the highlights from April (well, the first part, anyway)! Jonathan has become quite the little entertainer! During his meal time, he loves to take his bib off and put it on his head. He thinks he is so funny when he does it!

WARNING: If you are easily grossed out (or can't handle looking at baby barf), you may want to scroll past this picture really fast. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

William got really sick one night after eating baby food peas. He and Jonathan were both really tired, and they were crying uncontrollably (while I was trying to clean them up after their dinner). Jonathan had been crying longer, so I took him up to his bed first. (Face it, with twins, sometimes you have to choose one over the other. In instances like this, I choose the one that is more upset.) When I got back to get William, he was hysterical. As I picked him up, I noticed that his stomach was rock hard. I gave him his binky, which he spit out. So I tried to give it back to him, and then he puked. All down the front of my shirt, in my shirt, and all down my back. And on the carpet. And on my jeans. The dark spots on my shirt are where it is in my shirt and is seeping through. Only a mother could love a kid that does that to her...

Easter

This is our only picture from Easter that I am putting on here. Our family pictures from after church look pretty rough. Okay, they are horrible. But, here are Emma and Aaron dyeing Easter eggs. We found some things out after this.

A) Inside the house is probably not a good choice.

B) Wearing white shirts probably isn't a good idea either.

C) When blue easter egg dye spills down the front of cabinets, it will soak EVERYTHING that is in said cabinets.

D) No matter how fast desperate mother tries to clean up blue egg dye, it will seep into the cracks where the cabinet front meets the drawer, and it will stain the inside of the drawers.

E) I love my kid more than my cabinets. I love my kid more than my cabinets. I love my kid more than my cabinets.

F) And finally, I learned that no matter how upset I am, sometimes it is best not to show it.

BRAVES GAME!

I got to go to my first Braves game in April. Aaron was working one night, and no one was using the company tickets, so Aaron and one of his co-workers got the tickets.

Just a little FYI: This is a very, VERY unflattering picture of Aaron. But I look pretty good in it, which is why it is here. It's all about me! The tickets were for Row 8. Well, as you can see, the roof of the Home dugout takes up rows 1-5, so we were really the third row back from the field. It was sweet! Here is a picture of Chipper Jones at bat.

We also took a little trip to Florida, but that will be the next post.

The rest of March and the Boys' Birthday!

2009-04-23T14:33:00.010-04:00

If you don't live in the South, then you may not understand much about Spring here. It is so unpredictable. It will be 80 degrees one day, and then 30 the next. And then back again. We had some really nice days in March and we spent our time playing out on the park and taking walks around the neighborhood. I thought it was funny that both boys were chewing on the straps to the stroller. Now, it doesn't seem that funny.

I can't believe that I boo-hooed like I did over the boys turning one, and then waited till just now to post pictures of their birthday! We went up to Tennessee to celebrate, since Craig and Jaime were in McMinnville, and my parents were there, too. We went out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant, and the waiters really seemed to like the boys. They brought this mini-sombrero over to let them try it on. William seemed to like it pretty well.... Jonathan... not so much! My mom and I stayed up till 2:30 am making the boys cake. (Well, more like just decorating the cake.) I bought the cake already made and iced (the bottom layer) so that I didn't have to mess with that. Then, I bought more icing, had it tinted, and then finished decorating the cake myself. Emma and I saw a cake like this one someone else's blog, and Emma wanted baby brothers to have one like it. (If she didn't want them to have one like it so bad, I probably would have just had the bakery finish decorating it.) She wanted to be sure that I put plenty of "bull rushes" on it. Isn't she sweet? Here it is again in case you need a closer look. Feel free to tell me how cute it is. It is the first cake I have ever decorated. I made the boys each their own "smash" cake. William seemed to know what was coming and dug right in. He really liked it. Jonathan didn't seem to sure about the whole thing. (And I thought they would go nuts and demolish these cakes, which is why they are in the buff.) William again. I am sure he was thinking, "Mmmm, cake." Jonathan must have been thinking, "What is this? Why is everyone staring at me?" He never did do much with the cake. I think I actually let all the kids eat this one. Which was fine. Leave the good buttercream frosting for me!

It was a nice little birthday for the boys. We enjoyed the time that we got to spend with our family that came.

March

2009-04-19T22:24:00.009-04:00

Ugh, I am so behind on my blogging. Things have been really crazy around here, and they are finally starting to calm down, so back to the blog!

Anyway, here is the rundown from March (or at least the pictures that I have downloaded to the computer). The first Sunday of March, we had a snowstorm. Wait, after living in Utah, this really only qualified as a light dusting. This was the only snow accumulation we had all winter. And I have to say, I am not very sad about that! The house and yard. On a side note, we got out of church an hour early this day. You know, because of the snow. Emma and Aaron built a "snowfriend" that Emma called, Fred. He was as tall as she was and lasted about three days. (Notice all the grassy spots in the yard from building him!) This was three weeks after our snow. I got the boys these little swings from a friend (who was going to sell them in a consignment sale) for $5. For both of them. The boys LOVE them!

William

Jonathan

March for Babies

2009-04-13T11:39:00.002-04:00

You may have just noticed that I added a March for Babies sponsor thing to my blog. Aaron and I are walking the March of Dimes on April 25. This is walk that I wanted to do last year, after the boys were born, but it is a 5 mile walk and I couldn't exactly do it only a month after having them. So, we are going to walk this year! If you find that you can, or would like to help us in our goal, you can donate by clicking on the link on my page.

If times are a little tough for your family, and you don't have extra money to spare, consider this: My local grocery store chain (Publix) is also taking donations for the March of Dimes. If your local store is also taking donations, and you can spare an extra dollar on your next shopping trip, consider giving to the March of Dimes. If you need a reason to give, just think of us.

Like I said, I know that things are financially hard for a lot of people right now. I just wanted to put our cause out there.

Love, Haley, William and Jonathan

One year ago, today

2009-04-03T09:14:00.005-04:00

One year ago, to the day, we brought the boys home from the hospital, after an 8 day stay in the NICU. They were both less than 5 pounds when they came home. It was a rainy, spring day here in Georgia. Aaron got off work and came to the hospital to meet me and get the boys. Driving home, in the rain and heavy Friday traffic was the longest car ride of my life! I panicked with every single little noise they made (or didn't make) on the way home.They were so tiny in their little carseats. I had to buy one new one (since we only had 1 to begin with) but when they did their "car seat test" to make sure they could stand a ride home, the nurses informed me that the car seat we used with Emma wouldn't cut it. The straps didn't tighten down enough. (On a side note, the boys no longer use the head support, and their straps are in the top strap slot now.) I remember when Aaron and I got the boys out and laid them on this blanket. I was so nervous! I felt so overwhelmed. I remember Aaron and I looking at each other and feeling happy to have them home, but terrified wondering if I could take care of them!

I still can't believe how tiny they were.....

You may see another post or two like this in the coming weeks. This is really a tender time for me, and I have a lot of feelings that are resurfacing. I just kind of need to get them out.

Happy First Birthday Baby Brothers!

2009-03-27T08:02:00.024-04:00

February 2009

Today is William and Jonathan's first birthday! We are so happy to have "baby brothers" in our family.

December 2008

I remember being shocked when we got the news that we were having twins. I even struggled with it a little. But now...I know that life would not be as sweet if I didn't have them both. I love my little guys so much. I have just loved that last year. It has been a lot of hard work, but it has really been great! Happy birthday, baby brothers! We love you so much!

March 2009

*Knowing that this day would be pretty emotional for me, I wrote this a month ago, in anticipation of today. I am glad I did it then!*

It is actually February 25. I know that the boys' first birthday is fast approaching, and I want some time to gather my thoughts, to say exactly what is in my heart. This birthday is bitter sweet. I can't believe a year has passed me by so quickly.

July 2008

The details surrounding their birth are still a bit fuzzy although as I have replayed that time in my head, I feel that Heavenly Father was truly watching over my little family. I recognize that He knew and He had a plan, even though I had no idea. Maybe I will blog that one some other time, but not now. It is too much.

Blessing Gowns

October 2008

Anyway, the details surrounding the birth are still pieced together in my mind. I remember going to the hospital. Being told something about a high liver count, low white blood cell count, babies now, put you to sleep, your husband cannot be with you. I remember being wheeled down the hall, into an operating room, sweet, sweet nurses in blue scrubs, blue face masks, and blue hair "nets." Counting backward. Blackness. Waking up, feeling groggy. Aaron at my side. Aaron by my side, asking if the babies were okay, if I was okay. Oxygen masks. Wheelchair. NICU. Not getting to hold William. Falling asleep while holding Jonathan. Leaving the hospital. Leaving my babies there. Coming home, empty house. Daily trips to the hospital to see the babies. Pumping, endlessly.

March 2008

Babies coming home. Washing bottles. 11, 2, 5, 8, am and pm. Wake the baby, change the baby, feed the baby, put him back to sleep. Wake the other baby, change the other baby, feed the other baby, put him back to sleep.

I don't think I can do this. It is still too hard. Words seem to make it cheap. It is not. The most bitter part of all this is the time. I don't remember it all. I feel like I missed it. So much of it. I wonder where I was, but I was right here for it all. I feel like I missed them as babies. But I know I didn't-I had six more weeks of baby that most people get.

April 2008

I wish that I had held them more. I wish that I had snuggled them more. I wish that I hadn't been so sleep deprived. That there weren't so many bottles to wash. That there had been more time for rocking and holding. Those are the most bitter parts.

May 2008

But then there are the sweet parts. Like Jonathan's smile. Like going to get William from his nap and seeing him bounce up and down in the crib, holding on to the edge. Hearing them laugh. William laying his little head on my shoulder.

August 2008

Seeing how happy they are when Emma walks into the room.

July 2008

Watching their reaction when they hear Aaron's voice. Feeding them Cheerios. Sneaking in to watch them sleep, noticing that they are both sleeping in the same position. Dressing them alike so that I am the only one who can tell them apart. Carrying two babies at once.

September 2008

Watching them crawl all over the living room. Seeing William pet Jonathan's head when he is supposed to be asleep. Laying in the floor and being attacked by two smiling, slobbery babies. Jonathan playing with my hair.

November 2008

Watching them try to share their Cheerios. Seeing that there really is a bond between twins. Knowing that it must be fun to share life with your best friend. Wondering if they were such good friends in the pre-Earth life that they couldn't bear to be separated while on earth.

June 2008

I feel so lucky, so blessed, so happy, so pleased. Excited to watch them grow. Excited for what lies ahead. But there is also apprehension. Apprehension in knowing they will continue to grow up. Knowing they will go to school. That one day someone might be mean to them. Missions. Having two sons gone for two years...at the same time. Knowing that boys like to be daring. And brave. And silly.

October 2008

Knowing that my boys are "Hale" boys. (Don't understand that? Do you know many Hale boys?)

January 2009

One day, Aaron and I were talking and he said, "Can you imagine life without both of these little guys?" And my answer is, "No way!"

November 2008

Although it has been hard at times, some of the sweetest moments of my life have been as the mother of these little guys. Nothing could ever prepare me for the love that I feel for them. I once wondered if it was possible to share the love I had for Emma with two more kids. I was told that it was possible. That it was definite. I am here to say, you were right. I think a mother's heart only grows. It only produces more and more love.

I love you so much baby boys.

This Friday

2009-03-24T12:37:00.003-04:00

The boys turn one this Friday. I am a mess, emotionally. No, I take it back. I am a complete WRECK emotionally. It is different than it was with Emma. Something about twins.

There. It's out. I said it. Now, I am going to go somewhere and cry.

February

2009-03-23T16:06:00.005-04:00

We enjoyed a few warmer days in February-warm enough to go play outside for a little while one evening. This is Jonathan (on the left) and William in their little wagon (the one we got at a yard sale for $2-did I blog about that yard sale?). I love the little outfits they are wearing in this picture. I bought one for William to wear back in December when he was going to have his surgery so he would have something soft and comfy to wear. I couldn't resist one for Jonathan, too. I think this is one of my favorite pictures of these guys. I can tell who is who by looking at the side of their heads. Can you tell? No? I will tell you then. William is on the left and Jonathan is on the right. Just another picture in the wagon (Jonathan on the left, William on the right). And I can't leave out Emma, terrorizing the yard in her Barbie "Jeek." Here are the boys, in Tennessee, at Nannie and Papa's house. They loved the glass door. Aaron kept hiding around the corner and at the end of the porch so I could get this picture. It was cuter in person!

Daddy Daughter Date Night

2009-03-23T15:40:00.010-04:00

In February, we went up to Tennessee for the annual Daddy Daughter Date Night in the town I am from. My dad has taken my younger sister the past several years, and this was the first time that Emma and I went. My dad took my sister, Katherine and I, and Aaron took Emma. I think it was fun for everyone! Earlier that day, my mom took Kat, Emma and I all shopping for something to wear (well, something for Kat and me, Emma wore something she already had-but my mom bought that a while back, anyway!). This is Emma and me, posing before leaving for our big night! (I have double chin in all the "nice" pictures of us together, and so you get the crazy one since I look the best in that one.)(Also, I know my shoes don't really look that great with this dress. Believe me, I looked all day for something, ANYTHING, but it just wasn't meant to be. Oh, and I guess we should have moved the mop before taking pictures!) Emma, being her usual self. The Daddy Daughter date night theme was....CINDERELLA. They had a girl there in a blue poofy formal, wearing white gloves and a crown. There was a giant cardboard castle. The centerpieces to the tables were glass slippers or a glass horse and pumpkin carriage. Emma got to keep the centerpiece (we had the horse and carriage). I tell you, there could not have been a happier girl on the face of the earth than Emma that night. See what I have to work with?!?! (And do you notice a theme to Emma's pictures? Nice tongue, Emma!) My dad taught me some of his best swing moves when I was little. We would swing dance together when I was in the youth program at church. He taught Kat some moves, and is now teaching Emma. I love that this is something he has always done with us girls, and that he is continuing the tradition with Emma! Yes, they are doing "that" dance. (I don't know what it is called, but you know which one it is. I will call it...the knee jive.) Emma and Aaron, after a long night of dancing, eating, door prize winning and fun!

More Catching Up from January

2009-03-15T17:37:00.006-04:00

Okay, after my last post, when Aaron was doing the editing read (I always make him and my mom read my posts in case I need to edit anything), he informed me that there was plenty of space on my computer for all my pictures to date. He had cleared off a bunch of old junk and I just forgot.

Anyway, on to the pictures!

So many people have commented on the picture of the boys trying to squeeze through the two couches, that I thought I should post this one, too. Since only one head will fit into that crack at a time, they found a way to both look through the couches. Pretty smart, huh? If I remember correctly, William was not too happy about this (he is the one on the bottom). In January, we got a visit from Grandpa and Grandma Jones. Not thinking clearly, I did not take a single picture of them with the kids. Yes, I regret that. I think they should come back to visit so I can take pictures! JoLayne also came down with Julia and she (JoLayne) took pictures of the kids playing together. Emma loves to entertain the boys. And they love it when she entertains them! I am not sure what was so funny to William... maybe it was this face that Emma was making!

Come back to visit later this week, as I have lots more pictures to put on here. On a side note, here is some family news: Sampson and Brittany had their baby girl, Phoenix, on March 11. She is beautiful! (I would love to put up pictures of her, but I need to get their permission first). Our little niece, Brooklyn, turned one yesterday. Happy birthday Brooklyn!

Catching Up From January

2009-02-22T21:36:00.008-05:00

I know. It has been a long time since I have posted pictures of the kids. I HAVE AN EXCUSE! My computer is overloaded and will most likely crash if I upload one more picture. Know what takes up the most memory on the computer? Yes, pictures. In case you haven't noticed, I take lots of pictures of the kids. You only get to see a very small fraction of what I actually take! So, in case you have been religiously checking my blog for updates (haha) here is something to hold you over until I burn some pictures to CD's to clear up some memory! If you have never been to our house (or seen a picture of the living room), our couches are in the middle of the room, and form a right angle (see, I learned something in Geometry!). The arms of the couches are touching so that little ones can't escape. (I keep the other "exits" blocked off while the boys are playing so they have a big area to play and explore.) Well, Jonathan has figured out a way to spy on me when I am out of "range." The only problem is that he can't quite fit through the opening. And it doesn't look like he realizes that. (And don't judge me for the cheerio crumbs under the couch!) Here is William in his high chair. He is always so full of smiles! And here is Jonathan. He likes to growl and fake cough. We have fun "coughing" at each other. And here is another "self-portrait" of Emma. She loves my camera. I love picking it up and finding random pictures of her and her toys! In January we went on a trip to the Georgia Aquarium, which is in downtown Atlanta. We got there right as it opened, and Emma got to have a picture with Deepo, the Aquarium mascot, as he came out to roam the Aquarium for the day. (Home Depot has donated a lot of money to the aquarium, hence the orange fish, and the name Deepo.) Like I said, we got there right as the aquarium opened. There was a diver cleaning the glass in one of the tanks. It was really cool to see him in there. He has a suction cup that he holds onto with one hand while he cleans the glass with a giant sponge in the other. The kids loved it!These are the "jellies." I love the way this exhibit is set up. The jellyfish look so neat and so scary at the same time! We love to go to the aquarium, so if you are ever in Atlanta and you want to go, give us a call!

And as for me, I have taken up running on a treadmill. It is something that I have really been enjoying until I hurt something in my right foot. After I run, my foot hurts really bad on the inside part of my foot (like the tendons), right between my inside ankle bone and the pokey out bone in the middle of the inside of my foot. Usually within an hour or two of running, my calves and shins start to cramp in that leg, and then by the end of the night my whole leg hurts. (I am describing all this in case anyone has any ideas as to what it could be.) I have done some elliptical workouts, but I really would just rather run.

I have also taken the "office" back over for my dad's business. I take calls and orders, and take care of the billing. It is nice to be able to work from home, but it seems like the phone only rings when I am in the middle of changing a diaper or feeding a baby. Such is life!

Aaron has started his busy season. Oh the joy-but I am not complaining. He has a job and for that, we are very grateful.

Hope everyone is well!

Guess what I got?

2009-02-02T19:06:00.003-05:00

You may find this post boring, but I can't contain my excitement much longer...

I got a plumeria plant! I fell in love with these flowers in Hawaii, and had resigned myself to that fact that I would never see them again, unless we went back to Hawaii. And then I went to the Southeastern Horticultural Society flower show this weekend. There was a booth there selling plumeria plants. Apparently, if I keep it indoors until the night temperatures stay above 40-50 degrees, I can have plumerias! I am so excited! (By the way, this is a picture from our Hawaii trip. Right now, my plant is just a stick.)

Christmas

2009-01-08T11:33:00.007-05:00

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas! We sure did. Aaron's mom and sisters, Julia, Kathy, and Janae came down to spend Christmas with us. So did my mom and dad and Kat. It was really nice.

We also got to talk to my brother, Russell, who is serving a mission in Las Vegas. It was great to talk to him and he seems to be doing quite well. We miss him, though!

Just for kicks, here are a few Christmas pictures.

This is our little family with Santa at our church Christmas Party. We go to church with a man who is a professional Santa. Real beard, real hair. He is a really nice guy (he is the seminary teacher). I love the boys reactions to him. This is Emma surrounded by all of her Christmas loot. She also got a Barbie Jeep that she drives around out in the yard. She had a great Christmas, and I think that Aaron and I rediscovered the joy of Christmas this year. Ah, the joys of being a parent! Emma has become quite the photographer. Here is a self portrait. As some (or most) of you know, William had surgery on the 12 of December. The surgery was to correct a problem with his urethra. It was something that he was born with. I have known that this surgery was to take place since he was born, but it was still a little scary. The week of his surgery, Aaron was traveling with work, Emma came down with the flu, Christmas was nearing and our anniversary was coming up. Add all that to the deep down fears I had about the surgery, and I was, quite frankly, frazzled. None of my kids have ever had a surgery before, and William had to go under general anesthesia. Talk about tugging on my heart strings! I did (somehow) manage to remain positive through that week. We made it through William's surgery with minimal crying on my part (it hurts to watch someone else walk away with your baby into the "unknown"). He was so good! He had a catheter for a week, which was interesting, but he is doing great now! I am thankful that everything went well. (These are William's leg bands. The smaller one is the one I took off him when he came home from the NICU at less than five pounds. The larger one is from the day of his surgery. See how much he has grown?)

I am taking the boys to a doctor's appointment this afternoon so I will have an update on them a little later.

A Girl...and her dirt bike

2008-12-17T13:22:00.005-05:00

On Black Friday, my dad bought two little Yamaha 50 dirt bikes. Emma's favorite boy cousins, Cole and Noah, also have dirt bikes. My dad and Jake (Cole and Noah's dad) carved out a little bike track in one of the corners of the farm for riding, complete with jumps. At first, Emma was a little scared of the bikes, but it didnt' take her long to warm up to the idea of being a "biker chick." She kept saying, "Let's hit da dirt!" and "Hit dat jump!" Here are Emma and Russell, don't they look like little dirt bike thugs? (I don't know if you can see it in the background or not, but my dad turned his grain bins-the Harvestores-into climbing walls with grips and a belaying system. It is fun-although I think it is scary!) Here is Emma wearing Cole's helmet. It is a little big for her, but she kept saying "Do I look like Cole, mommy? Do I look cool?" Yes, Emma, you look cool. Very cool, indeed. In fact, I am getting a little worried. Does this mean that if she keeps dirt biking and wake boarding into her teenage years, that boys will chase after her? Or are we creating a very intimidating girl? Seriously, what boy wants to go out with a girl who can out jump, out flip, and out perform him in extreme sports? Or should I even be worrying about that when she's three? This is the first time that Emma got on the bike with Aaron. Let me clear something up. She doesn't drive the bikes by herself. No! She rides with someone else. Like Aaron. We will save driving for another time. Like the spring.

Six Years

2008-12-13T20:43:00.014-05:00

Aaron usually does something to surprise me on our anniversary, and I usually give away whatever secret I have been desperately trying to keep because I get too excited. So, I have been hiding out on the computer this evening creating this "surprise" for Aaron. He's on to me though-he keeps trying to sneak over and see what I am up to.

Six years ago, I was in my last semester of college, which meant that I was finishing student teaching. I was working part time for my dad. I lived in a little white house by myself in Rock Island. Six years ago, Aaron was taking some classes at Pellisippi State in Knoxville, and living with his dad. He was working for the Migrant Education Program in Tennessee.

Aaron and I were married on December 14, 2002 in the Nashville Tennessee Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I skipped my college graduation ceremony for my wedding. It was a great trade off! After our honeymoon, we moved to Salt Lake City, Utah for Aaron to attend school. This is us in our second apartment, in Pleasant Grove, Utah. At this point, Aaron was attending BYU, we were both working in Salt Lake, and PG was a good middle location for us. (We also didn't get a digital camera until that year, which is why I don't have any pictures from 2003!) Emma Katherine was born in August of 2005. We were so excited that our family was growing. This was our family Christmas picture that year. We were living in Provo, and Aaron was still going to school at BYU. I was working for my dad from home. This is our 2006 family picture. Emma was just over a year old, and always making us smile and laugh. We were still living in Provo. Aaron was still in school, and I was still working for my dad. One of our favorite things to every year was to take a drive up in American Fork Canyon and take pictures in the fall. This is us in 2007. Still in school, still working. Still loved taking pictures on fall drives in American Fork Canyon. We knew we were expecting another baby at this point. What we didn't know was how many we were expecting. You could call this picture "the calm before the storm!"

This is a side view of me about two weeks before our twin boys were born. We just bought our first home in Georgia, and Aaron had started his job with one of the "big four" accounting firms. I wasn't due to have the babies for another 2 months at this point.

William and Jonathan were born 6 weeks early at the end of March. They spent 8 days in the NICU. This is the only picture I have of us (well, where you can see some of both Aaron and I) at the hospital when the boys were born. When we brought them home, they both weighed less than five pounds. Looking back at this picture triggers some really strong emotions for me (and that is William in the picture). Here we are with our boys at Thanksgiving this year. We feel so lucky to have two healthy boys, who continue to grow and progress each day. Our family-August 2008. This was after we blessed the boys. Emma was a week away from turning three.

The last six years have been some of the best years of my life. I know, people say that all the time, but it is true! I feel so fortunate to have my very best friend as my eternal companion. I love the life that we have together, and I am sure it will only get better. Happy six years, Aaron. I LOVE YOU!

PS-I am excited for my steak and crab leg dinner that you are cooking for me tomorrow!!!

Disneyworld (Two Months Later...)

2008-12-11T10:31:00.016-05:00

In October, we went to Disneyworld with my parents, Russell and Katherine. We had a lot of fun! I thought that by going in October, it wouldn't be nearly as hot, and lines wouldn't be very long. And that's what I get for thinking! Yes, it was HOT. And yes, the lines were long. And although it was fun, I think we will wait to go again when the boys are a little older! Here I am in the van on the way to Florida. Can't you see how excited I am? Here are Emma and Jonathan (and the side of William's head) on the monorail heading to Disneyworld. Emma was so excited. In case you have missed my blog in the last few months, Emma's favorite princess is Cinderella. She loves Disney movies like Cinderella, Toy Story, Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid. Here is Cinderella's castle. As soon as we walked up, there was a show going on. It was several of the Disney princesses and their princes dancing with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and some regular ol' dancers. Cinderella and her prince waved to Emma! Jonathan and William enjoyed the show, too. One of Emma's favorite rides was Cinderella's golden carousel. You know, the merry-go-round. Here we are together, riding the carousel. Emma also got to meet Buzz Lightyear. She loves him! And so does the rest of our family! This is when Emma go to meet Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story. Did I mention that Toy Story is one of her favorite movies? Well, I think she has a crush on Woody. She LOVES him! (Since she saw Buzz the day before, he kinda got the cold shoulder at this meeting!) This was after she got a kiss from Woody. She didn't know quite how to act. I hope she will always feel akward when boys try to kiss her-at least until she is 25! This is her real love-her daddy! We saw a fireworks show at Cinderella's castle after a night parade. Since Cinderella is Emma's favorite, and purple is Emma's favorite color, I thought this was an appropriate picture! Cinderella's castle amid all the fireworks. Isn't it pretty? My pictures don't do it justice!

We had a great time, and we are thankful to my parents for letting us go with them. And stay with them. And greatful to them for listening to the time share thing so we didn't have to pay for our part of the hotel room! And for keeping the babies so we could take Emma to the night parade. And for helping us so much. I am sure I am forgetting something, so here is a blanket thank you-THANK YOU!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T10:31:00.006-05:00

Here you go, Laura. It is December and I am posting my Thanksgiving pictures. Just like you predicted!

For Thanksgiving, we went to Knoxville to Aaron's Dad's house. Grandpa and Grandma Hale flew out and Janel and Derek drove down from Michigan. Kathy and Janae also came in. It was so much fun to see everyone again. We haven't seen Grandma and Grandpa since last Christmas. This has been kind of hard since we saw them at least once a month when we lived in Utah. We also met Janel and Derek's little girl, Brooklyn, for the first time. She is two weeks older than the boys. (I didn't get any pictures of them together. For some cute pictures go to Janel's blog.) Here are William, Emma and Jonathan with Grandma and Grandpa. This is Grandma with William. Here are Grandma with the boys. I love how everyone matches! This is Aaron's mom, JoLayne with Aaron and the kids. She came up to Knoxville to visit, and we saw her for a few minutes before leaving to go to McMinnville. William (and Jonathan) have been pushing themselves up like this, and getting on their knees. I think that crawling may be coming soon. I am amazed at Jonathan's speed. Even though he isn't officially crawling, he can really get around the floor pretty fast. Baby proofing, here I come. One of the benefits of having a twin is that you never need a pillow. A leg works just fine for that!

Recent Trip to Tennessee

2008-12-01T09:20:00.008-05:00

Since Aaron has been traveling for work, we have made a few random trips to Tennessee, to break up the time and escape the boredom. Here are some pictures from one of our more recent trips. This is my Papa, my dad's dad, holding Jonathan and William. He kept saying what "good babies" they are. And, of course, my head started to swell with pride after a comment like that from him! William was being so funny while he was playing on the floor at the farm house. I guess he was getting sleepy since he was using the ball as a pillow! I went in to check on the boys while they were sleeping and I found this. William was rubbing Jonathan's head. It was so sweet! And then one morning, in my mom's kitchen floor, I found this. While I was busy with the babies, Emma snuck into my mom's kitchen and started "cooking." She emptied the flour and rice canisters, half the oatmeal container, and used a pinch of cornmeal to make her creation. It was pretty funny. She loves to "cook!" Here is Emma in her attempt to cross the monkey bars. While we were at the farm, she snuck outside and tried to go on the monkey bars by herself. When she came back in she said, "When I was going 'cross the bars, I falled off. But I didn't say aughhhh. I just falled on the ground." Do you get that? She must have not had time to scream when she was falling. She just fell off. And no, she wasn't hurt. My parents have this little dog named Killer. (He looks nothing like a killing dog of any kind. He is small, white and quite fluffy.) Anyway, Emma loves to torment him. And chase him. And spray him with the water bottle. She really likes him a lot. So much, that she is pretending to be him. By digging in the dirt like a dog. She didn't know I was taking this picture.

Fighting boys and Fall

2008-12-01T08:59:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to put up some pictures that I took a few weeks ago. Aaron put Jonathan and William on Emma's bed one night while we were giving Emma her bath. He gave them some toys to play with. Apparently they both liked this book. It was funny to watch them "fight" over the book. They weren't interested in any of the other toys on the bed-just this little book! This is a picture of our house with all the pretty fall leaves. I know, a lot of them are still green, but if you look closely, some have changed colors. This is one of my favorite trees in our yard. We live on a fairly large lot, almost a full acre. The yard is one of the reasons I fell in love with this home (although the kitchen isn't bad, either). There is a little creek that runs along the edge of our property, and this tree is down by the creek. One night, Aaron and I were walking the neighborhood, and I saw the top of this tree blowing in the wind. I said, "That tree is huge! Do you think it is ours?" Yes, it is! If you enlarge the picture, you can see how tall it is compared to our house. I love the shape of the tree, and it is one of my favorite kinds: willow oak. Just thought I'd share-you know, in case anyone else out there is a plant lover like myself (Tammy, that's you!). Here are Jonathan, Emma and William, playing on my bed. The outfits the boys are wearing are two of the four "neutral" outfits that Emma had as a baby. I just wanted to get a quick picture of them before they go back to the storage bin!

Halloween (Yes, I know it is almost Thanksgiving)

2008-11-20T09:02:00.009-05:00

I know, I know, Thanksgiving is next week and I am just now getting around to posting our Halloween pictures. BUT since this is my blog, I am posting whatever I want! Emma and I went to a Halloween party at the YMCA down the road the week before Halloween. She was Cinderella (which is no surprise to anyone that has been around her the last few months). I think that she was a little overwhelmed with all the costumes at the party, because she wouldn't play any of the games or do any of the activities. We just sat in the middle of the floor watching everyone. Most of the pictures I took that night resemble this one. I was lucky and got the cute picture (above) by accident! The Sunday night before Halloween, Aaron and Emma carved our pumpkins. Since Aaron was working out of town, this was the only chance he would get to carve pumpkins before Halloween. Emma really loved pulling all the slime out of the pumpkin. I toasted the seeds, and they were pretty good. Here is Emma on Halloween night, all ready to go Trick-or-Treating. In case you noticed, that is a different Cinderella dress. Emma's cousin, Sadie, let her borrow more dress-ups, and since she already wore the one Cinderella dress up for the YMCA party, she decided to wear Sadie's for Trick-or-Treating. I wasn't going to dress the boys up, but the Saturday before Halloween, I went to Old Navy and found these funny costumes on sale for 5 DOLLARS EACH. When I walked into the store, I got a coupon for $5 off my purchase, which really means, I got one for free! (Or that they were just $2.50 each). Pretty cool, huh? And don't the boys look totally adorable in them? We got a quick family picture before we left to Trick-or-Treat. We had a great time!

Some More Pictures

2008-10-27T16:52:00.014-04:00

In an attempt to get up to speed with my pictures, I am just posting some random ones that I like.Here are William and Jonathan one Sunday before church in the cutest little outfits that my friend from college, Kari Anna, got for them. She mailed them to me soon after the boys were born, and her card said something like, "I am sure that these look huge now, but they will fit sooner than you think." It is true. I pulled them out of the box, and they look enormous. It was hard to imagine the outfits ever fitting my tiny, less-than-five-pound babies. But she was right. They did fit. And now they are almost too small. And that is kind of sad to me. We have been giving the boys their baths together lately. They love to splash and play in the water. It is so much fun to watch them squeal and kick in the water. Jonathan is on the left, and William is on the right. My mom got Emma this little princess/ballerina dress. She LOVES it and wants to wear it to church every Sunday. Somehow I have convinced her that she can wear it every other Sunday. She also likes me to put her hair up and put a pink ribbon that says "Princess" on it around her hair. If you're gonna fish, why not try fishing like this? My dad loves to take Emma fishing in the pond at the farm. She loves getting to hold the "fishing wand." This is just a far away shot of Dad, Emma and Russ fishing at the pond. (And that is my dad's favorite shirt. Because it was free. And because he will never get lost in a crowd. No matter how hard we try to lose him!)

Emma Updates

2008-10-22T10:14:00.011-04:00

Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do.

This post is mainly pictures of Emma and some of her fun adventures over the last few weeks (okay, months. I am that far behind in my blogging.). Emma had her first bike crash a while back. She has an indoor bike that has special wheels for riding inside. Well, wouldn't ya know, the first time we let her take it outside and ride it around the block (with Aaron, Russell and I), she crashes. And breaks her fall with her face! I love this picture of her on the bathroom counter. It totally looks like a prison mug shot. This is Emma the day after the crash. The swelling went down, and the road rash began to emerge. Bike crash with road rash at age 3. Russell is such a proud uncle! This may not look like anything to you, but it is Emma's name written on the carport with side walk chalk. She just went out one day and wrote it. I haven't helped her write, make letters, or anything (I know, I am a bad mom.)! If you look closely, you will see that her "E" has a few more lines than necessary, her "M's" kind of look like "N's" and her "A" slightly resembles an "F." BUT she did this ALL BY HERSELF! She must be some kind of genius or something-takes after her mother, no doubt! (That is to be read with total sarcasm!) Here is Emma with her picnic. One day she kept getting out all the napkins and paper plates, and I couldn't figure out why, until I saw her picnic. One day, Aaron and I were spying on Emma while she was playing out in the yard. She kept going from one of my potted plants to the rain gauge. She was filling the gauge with dirt. There, all full! (These pictures are so blurry because I took them from the kitchen window. Where I was spying on her.) Emma went wakeboarding with her daddy over Labor Day weekend. We went out with some friends on their boat, and Emma got up enough courage to get out behind the boat! The first time, (she went more than once!) she started out by hanging on to Aaron's neck. She loved it! He eventually moved her around so that he could hold her for the ride.The second time, she actually stood on the board. It was so funny because not long after she stood up, we were swamped with 3 boats and 2 jet skis, making for a pretty bumpy ride. I think she got scared a little then, but that didn't stop her from talking about getting her own wakeboard for "next time." Emma helped Aaron wash his car one day, by getting in the bucket. She likes getting herself into small places (remember the garbage bag box?). And I couldn't end this post without some pictures of the boys. Here they are, again, sleeping in the same position. I think this one is so funny because of their outfits.

I will most likely post some more pictures this week. We have been having lots of fun, and just got back from a trip to Disneyworld, so I have a lot more pictures!

Tennessee: The Farm and The Fair

2008-09-30T13:56:00.031-04:00

While Aaron spent some time on the road for work, I took the kids up to Tennessee for Warren County Fair Week, and to visit with my family. Here are some of the highlights of our trip. After a long ride in the van (with only a short stop in Chattanooga to get something from Grandma JoLayne), we stopped at the farm. We went to visit Nannie and Papa. William was happy to be out of the van and able to play on a blanket. The two Emmas at play! William also got his first ride on the four wheeler with his Jefe. (Sometimes it pays to be the fussy one!) A highlight of any trip to the farm is being driven around on the Gator by Papa. On this particular trip, he took us to see the garden, his punkins, and the persimmon tree, which is loaded down with persimmons. He showed us all the nut trees on the farm that have limbs breaking off because they are so heavy with nuts. We made a stop at the apple tree to get Emma an apple. I got one too and they were delicious! Part of our Tennessee trip included fishing at a pond where I fished as a little girl. I don't think the fish have gotten any bigger since then! Emma is wearing this huge shirt because she had an accident in her blue jeans (and I forgot to bring any extras), and she is standing in the middle of a field of saw grass so the shirt is to protect her little legs! I, one the other hand, got my arms all in the grass and was really feeling it for several hours after we finished fishing! Here are Emma and Jefe with one of their fish. In the end, all Emma really wanted to do was play with worms. That is her favorite part of fishing. Finding (and playing with) the worms. Girly girl? Not this one! (Check out all the mud and dirt on her legs!)

Other Fun:

While we were staying at my parent's house, my little sister (well, I guess I should say "younger." "Little" is decieving. She is taller than me!) decided to move to a different bedroom. The kids and I helped her move into her "new" room, and we found a giant foam finger from my high school. It fit Jonathan really well. I think he liked it! My mom took Emma to see "Disney on Ice" in Nashville. They had so much fun together. Emma still talks about it. She likes to line up her princess dolls on a book or other flat surface and have a "show." Then, pretending to be the announcer, she stands in the corner and says (very loudly) "EJNOIN THE SHOW!" Here are some pictures of Emma and BB before the show. The classic "Mommy-wants-you-to-make-a-nice-face-for-the-picture" face. Katherine (my super cute sister) was such a help with all the kids. And Emma worships the ground that Kat walks on. Here is Kat holding William. See Emma, Kat-Kat makes nice faces for mommy's pictures. Oh wait, I see where Emma gets it! This is a more typical picture of Katherine. Love you, Kat! Here are Jonathan and William celebrating the BYU win over UCLA by wearing their Cougar onesies they got for Christmas last year (before they were born.) from Uncle Sampson and Aunt Brittany. It was our way of showing our support for the team while Daddy got to watch the game in person.

The Warren County A & L Fair

If you currently (or have ever lived)in or near Warren County, chances are, you have been to the fair! For those of you who are far, far away and have never had the pleasure of experiencing the fair, give me a moment to explain. This is, I think, one of the biggest events in our community for the whole year. EVERYONE goes to the fair. Several of the local "Quick Cash" places ran ads in the newspaper for "Fair Week" loans and pay check advances. Yes, it is that big of a deal! I haven't been to the fair since I got married, almost 6 years ago, so you can imagine that I was a little excited to get to go this year. I went and realized something very quickly. Some things NEVER change! It was fun, though.

The lights must have been too much for William, because he started hiding behind his straps in the stroller! William hiding again. Emma wanted to ride the Merry-Go-Round first thing. She rode it several times. Since an adult needed to ride with her, I let her choose who she wanted to go with her. Luckily, she chose my dad. It was fun to watch him-mainly because he gets motion sick pretty easy. After three times on the merry-go-round, he was green. Anything for Emma! Here is my dad with Emma and the fish they won. He said it only cost five dollars! (And check out that neon yellow shirt. We didn't ever lose him!) Here is Emma riding the Scrambler. She looks like she is having so much fun, doesn't she? She actually really liked it. As long as she got to ride it alone. One time, someone had to get on and share a seat with her, so she got off the ride. We need to work on making friends! She did make friends with the operator of the crazy boats ride. She would high five this guy every time she came around to the spot he was standing. Here she is again, driving the crazy boat. She really liked this ride! The bumper cars are kind of a tradition in my family. I remember riding them with my dad when I was little. They were always so much fun! I am glad that Emma got to take a spin with him!She loved it! Especially when Russell and I got a car, too. She loved it when dad would crash their car into me or Russ.

We sure missed Aaron while he was gone, going to football games and working, but we had a lot of fun, too! We are lucky to be close enough to family to go and do things while Aaron is gone!

2008-09-16T14:16:00.003-04:00

Yesterday my brother, Dan, met me out at my family's farm house and we took pictures of the boys on the porch. I love the way the pictures turned out, and I love that the background is the home where I grew up.

More Catching Up!

2008-09-08T08:54:00.009-04:00

Again, I am trying to catch up on the last several weeks since August was such a busy month for us. I have taken some really cute pictures of the kids, and I wanted to start off with the cutest ones; I just couldn't decide which one to put up first. Here is William. He looks like one of the people on those cheesy commercials when they say, "Call now, operators are standing by." This was a new toy that Emma won with her tickets at her and Aaron's latest "daddy-daughter day" at Chuck E. Cheese. I love it...he looks so...official! The boys recently started rolling over. And they are still in the same crib. And adding those two factors together results in situations like this. Jonathan with his feet in William's face. Apparently he wasn't really kicking too hard, or William would have been crying instead of smiling! This is the stuff that mommy dreams are made of! All my babies asleep together in the same bed. All quiet, all playing nice. And then they woke up. We only have the one tv in our house, and sometimes I don't want to watch Cinderella, Dora, or Curious George. So, when I am watching the Food Network, and Emma wants a show, I let her watch one on Aaron's laptop. Well, on this day, she turned the sound down too low, and so she needed to get closer to hear better. I think she was sleepy, too. This is our resident princess with our resident prince. Emma loves to wear the dress-ups that Sadi let her borrow. I found some really snazzy dress up shoes at a consignment sale that are perfect for the princess dresses. Emma loves to re-enact scenes from her favorite movie, Cinderella. She makes us dance with her, and she loves to run away from "the ball" leaving her "glass slipper" on the step, all the while making Aaron run after her saying, "Wait! Stop! But I don't even know your name!" He is such a good sport-uh, I mean, prince! This is my latest craft project. It is a fabric board that I made for my sister, Katherine, as a birthday present. It was fun and really easy to make. My friend, Marci, helped the Young Women make them for an activity and she let me borrow her board as a pattern and her staple gun so I could make one for Kat. Purple is Kat's favorite color (I think), and I loved that the fabric looked like scrapbook paper. And this is my gardenia. The blooms on it are so pretty and they smell wonderful. Emma doesn't really like the way they smell, but who cares-it is my plant! We had a storm a couple weeks ago that lasted several days and we got 3 1/2 inches of rain. Everything was so green and pretty for a few days, and a lot of my plants that I thought were dead or dying have started putting on some new growth. Yay!

I also got a chance to substitute for the early morning seminary teacher while he was out of town for a week. It was so much fun! I finally see why my dad liked teaching seminary so much. And I also realized how much effort it takes to be a seminary teacher. So, on Monday morning, after teaching my first class, I called him to apologize for being such a punk teenager during my seminary years. I really liked the class, and the kids were a lot of fun.

Anyway, that is what we have been doing. I am going up to Tennessee sometime this week to let Emma get her first taste of the Warren County Fair. My mom is also taking her (Emma) to Nashville to see "Disney Princesses on Ice." Emma is so excited! There will definitely be pictures from this trip!

Have a great week!

Smokin' Hot!

2008-09-06T20:16:00.002-04:00

My cousin, Bonnie, has started a "total fitness" plan which she calls, "Smokin' Hot Mommas." It is a fitness program that combines physical fitness with healthy eating habits. You get points for achieving different fitness and healthy eating "tasks." (I should say you get points for denying yourself things of deliciousness, but the purpose of this post is to promote Smokin' Hot Mommas!) You get a point each day if you go without sugar, soda, if you get plenty of sleep, eat all your fruits and veggies, and if you drink 64 ounces of water. There are more aspects of "total fitness" than the ones I just listed, but those are just some examples. The good thing about the program is that you can do everything on your own, and Bonnie sends out weekly emails with bonus challenges and cheers you on to victory! (She was a cheerleader all through high school.) If you are interested, check out the link to the Smokin' Hot Mommas blog on the right hand side of my page, under links. Or you can leave a comment and I will get you on the email list.

Oh, and I get 5 bonus points for posting this on my blog. It's all about the points!

2008-09-01T21:54:00.012-04:00

Brace yourself, this is gonna be a long one! On August 3, we blessed the boys at church. We invited all the family that lives close by for the blessing, and then to our house afterward for lunch. I think that we had 36 people total (not including those of us that live in our house). We even had Aaron's brother, Ammon, and his wife, Jillian and their little girl, Grace in from Utah. They were able to drop everything and fly in at the last minute. It was really a nice time and I am glad that we were able to share such a special occasion with so many people that we love! This picture is us after church. The boys wore their bonnets for the blessings, but I took them off afterward. I know Emma is making one of her crazy faces in this picture, but it is the one I look the best in (and we know it is all about me!). The next week my dad had a trade show down here. I was working with him and when it was time for the boys' naps, I didn't have anywhere to put them. So, I improvised. Luckily, they fit into a plant crate. I put them in there, facing opposite ways, and they fit perfectly. But, that wasn't enough for my dad. He insisted that we put them on the table of the booth, next to a crate of bare root plants. We had so much fun with it. Almost everyone that walked by did a double take, and lots of people thought they were dolls until they came over to the booth and saw that they were real, live babies! This lovely plant is called a mandevilla. I saw it at the show, and fell in love with it. So, I took a picture of it. I showed it to my dad while we were walking the tradeshow floor, and at the end of the show he traded some plants for it and surprised me with it! He also got me a gardenia. (I took some pictures of both of them the other day that I will post later.) Isn't he the coolest? The boys also had a doctor's appointment that week. Here they are pre-shots. They look so happy, huh? This look didn't last long! (Jonathan is on the left, William on the right-in the suit that says "W is for whale.") Here is Jonathan showing off his head-holding-up-skills. He and William were being so cute for the doctor and their nurse (both ladies). They aim to please! Here is William, also showing his mad skills! Here are all my boys! I like this picture-the way the boys are making the same face. Jonathan is on the left, William on the right. Here they are together. On this particular day, Jonathan laughed for the first time. It was so fun to hear his little laugh. And, I finally got a really good picture of William smiling. They are so much fun!

I have more blog catching up to do, so be on the look out for more posts in the near future!

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

2008-08-13T14:54:00.009-04:00

Emma turned three on Sunday, and I am dedicating this post to her.Emma was born on a Thursday at 10:59 am. On her due date. No matter what I tried to make her come any earlier, she wasn't going to. I swear, babies develop their personalities long before they ever make their debut to the world. She has always done things her way-how she wanted and when she wanted. I am not saying that she's like that in a bratty way, she has just always been her own person. Emma has always been like a ray of sunshine (to borrow an expression from my mother-in-law) in our family. Here she is, a little over a year old, doing what she does best: looking at a book. She loves books-we have to read at least three books to her every night before bed (and that doesn't count the ones we have to read before bath time). She has always had the cutest smile, she is usually pretty happy, and she loves to laugh. Two of Emma's favorite things are her daddy and being outdoors. This is her and Aaron last summer up in Rock Creek Canyon. I love this picture, the dirt all over her face, and her funny smile. She and Aaron had been chasing (and catching I might add) lizards in the brush. In a lot of ways, Emma is my little sidekick. She loves to sit on the counter and help me cook. She likes to go grocery shopping with me and she likes to help me with the babies. I love to hear Emma laugh. Here she is cracking up over the past weekend at my dad's hotel room in Atlanta (he was down here for a nursery show). She was laughing so hard. I don't remember why, but whatever it was must have been pretty funny! Here is Emma with her birthday cake. Complete with the sprinkles and the "crazy candles that don't blow out" and chocolate icing (her favorite) that she asked for. She pretty much had a Cinderella present themed party. We are going to Disneyworld in October, and since she hasn't seen any of the Disney movies (except for Finding Nemo), Aaron and I thought it would be a good idea to start renting some of them so she would know what was going on at Disneyworld. Anyway, Cinderella was the first one we rented, and Emma has become obsessed. My mom got her the Cinderella "diva-d" and a Disney Princesses lunchbox to keep all her stuff in. I got her a little Cinderella doll with different dresses from the movie. She loves it all, and drags the lunch box to bed with her at night and puts it on her nightstand before going to bed. Here is Emma trying to blow out her candles. Since she requested the trick candles, they didn't blow out very easily. Careful what you ask for kid, you just might get it!

There is a line in a book that Emma loves called "When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoirs of Her Youth" by Jamie Lee Curtis. It says: "When I was little, I didn't know what a family was. When I was little, I didn't know what dreams were. When I was little, I didn't know who I was. Now I do!" This (in a way) sums up my feelings on my own life since Emma has been a part of it. When she was born, I felt like I suddenly had more purpose and direction, I had a real family of my very own, and I knew what it was to have dreams-not for myself, but for her. I hope and pray that I can be the kind of mother that can help her realize and achieve her true potential.

I feel so lucky to be her mom. Happy birthday my big girl! I love you!

2008-07-28T17:03:00.012-04:00

The boys were four months old last Sunday, and I can't believe it has been that long! They are so sweet (usually) and really add to the happy tone of our home. Here are some of the latest pictures: Usually after their 6 am feeding, we put the boys on their tummies and let them go back to sleep for a few hours (I know, I know, they aren't supposed to sleep on their stomachs. This is usually the time of the morning that I am in and out of the room, getting ready for the day, so they are being supervised.). On the particular morning that I took this picture, they had worked their way to the middle of the crib till their heads were touching, and stayed like this. They slept for five hours this way. It was so sweet to see the "twin bond." And I know you aren't supposed to bottle prop babies, but I do that, too. Am I totally giving you incriminating photo proof of what a bad mom I am or what? It is like this, though: when the boys werenewborn and still in the NICU, we were told to hold them facing away from us to eat. This way they didn't have to work too hard, trying to make eye contact with us, and they could just focus on the task at hand: eating. So, now they eat much better if we lay them on their sides and prop their bottles. We do stay by them, burp them halfway through, and make sure they get burped at the end. Besides, I think that the person who came up with the "No Bottle Propping" thing never tried to feed two babies at once!

And because boys always love to wear beads... The next two pictures are so funny. The boys were crying while I was trying to get their bottles ready, so Emma decided to do something to make them happy. She went and got some of her dress up necklaces and put them on the boys. Jonathan with his green necklace and bottle... And William who obviously didn't want the purple necklace. The funny thing about this is that he was crying and I left him to cry while I ran to get my camera so I could take a picture!

More results of a "big helper" big sister: Again, one day while Jonathan was fussing, Emma went and got her pink bear for him. It makes her happy when she is sad, so of course it would make him happy, too. She was so excited that he was "holding" her bear and smiling while he did it! I love his little laugh! Is he going to be so mad at me when he gets older, for posting pictures of him holding a pink teddy bear all over the internet? I hope not!

And the final big helper picture of the week: Yes folks, this is what I found when I heard whimpers coming from the crib. "Oh, William must be waking up," I thought. My next thought on my way to my bedroom was, "I haven't seen Emma in the last couple of minutes...she is awfully quiet. I wonder if she is in her room." Imagine my surprise when this was what I found (yes, she got in there all by herself)! "But he needed his binky, Mom." Good thing I had my camera in my apron pocket. We are going to bless the boys this Sunday at church. These are the gowns that my Nannie got for the boys to wear. Aaron and Russell say that boys don't wear "bonnets," even if it is their baby blessing. I say that Aaron and Russell aren't very into baby blessing fashions. What do you think? Bonnet or no bonnet? Really, why am I even asking-they are going to wear them anyway! And finally, on to me: My tomatoes! I took a picture of the whole plant, but it wasn't nearly as pretty as these pictures, so I left it off. I got one cherry tomato plant, and planted it in the large concrete planter outside. I thought it would be fun to have a few tomatoes. The plant is now taller than me, and is loaded with the most delicious tomatoes! Emma likes to go "check on the tomatoes" several times each day. She and I love picking them together-and somehow we never make it inside with them. They are just too yummy! Mmmm, lots of little green ones mean lots of little red ones in a few more weeks!

And one last thing that has been on my mind...I hesitate to even write anything about it because my words can't do it all justice. I recently became friends with a girl who had been trying for six years to start a family with her husband. After turning to adoption (and not becoming parents that way), they found out very unexpectedly that they were pregnant with twin girls. (That is actually how I met her-she was a friend of Aaron's family in California, and a mutual family friend told her about my blog since I had just had twins.) Well, they found out several weeks ago that their babies were experiencing Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, a condition that sometimes affects twins sharing a placenta. After a surgery to attempt to fix the TTTS, my friend developed an infection and the babies had to be delivered at 20 weeks. One was stillborn, and the other lived an hour. My heart aches for my friend and her husband. Even though I have never met her in person, her story has changed my outlook on my own life. She and her husband have been such a great example to me as they have gone through this situation. They have remained steadfast in their testimonies that families are forever. I am grateful to them for being willing to share their thoughts and feelings with others. My testimony has been strengthened and my perception on motherhood has changed. Middle of the night wakings aren't as annoying as they once were. I have learned to cherish the quiet moments with whichever of the kids is awake in the middle of the night. I have spent more time just watching them and being thankful for the time I have with these precious little ones. I just want to thank my friends for their examples, and I hope that they will continue to have the peace and comfort that they need during this time.

That is all for now. Have a good week.

Two weeks of adventures

2008-07-13T18:33:00.016-04:00

I guess I am becoming an "every two week poster", mainly because it takes me so long to make a post. (I guess it wouldn't take me as long if I just did one every week...right?) We have been really busy the last few weeks, tackling projects around the house, traveling to Tennessee for the fourth of July week, and getting back into the swing of things.

The boys had a doctor's appointment on Monday of last week, and William weighs in at 10 pounds 15 ounces, and Jonathan weighs 11 pounds 2 ounces. They are both 22 inches long, and Jonathan's head is 15 1/2 inches, still half an inch bigger than William's. They are smiling and cooing at us most of the time they are awake now. It is so sweet!

We went up to Tennessee on July 2, since Aaron took the week off work. (Well, the firm let everyone off for the 3, 4, and 5, and Aaron still has some paternity leave from the firm, so he took the entire week off. ) When we go to Tennessee we divide most of our time up between the lakehouse and the nursery. The picture above is my dad, holding Jonathan while taking a break from the heat and catching a little nap. The picture below is my dad holding William. It is fun to watch him with the boys! We had a lot of fun in Tennessee. My birthday is the third, so Aaron and I went out to eat to celebrate, and I made a George Washington cake for myself. It was so good! We spent time playing in the river mostly. Emma finally got up the courage to get on the tube behind the jet ski, and once she got on, we couldn't get her off! She would stand up on it and pretend that she was wakeboarding (which made her daddy so proud). There is talk of getting her a wakeboard next summer! Russell is still living with us, which means lots of goofing around! Not really, it means some goofing around. I have a roll of velcro tape that I use to tape our tomato plants to bamboo stakes (I will have to post pictures of our tomatoes another time-they are HUGE!) and Russell thought it would make a funny hat for William! He looks like one of the munchkins in the Lollipop Guild on the Wizard of Oz. Seriously, I just You Tubed it, and he looks like the one in the green! And this is what happens when you let your daughter loose with her ballerina dress ups! My cousin, Bonnie, let Emma borrow some fun "dress ups" and Emma wanted to share with the boys! I just had to put this one in because Emma looked so pretty in the picture! Well, the Tour de France is going on, and with Russell living here, that means, it is Tour time in our house. He even changed our dish package for the month so that he could watch it. I honestly think it is about as entertaining as watching golf or sitting through an entire NASCAR race-but he likes it. When he was babysitting one day, I came home and found William parked in front of the TV. Not really, we just staged this picture. William was laying on the couch next to Russell, but he was still watching the Tour. Here are my handsome boys before church today. I love how huge their cheeks look in this picture! Emma was the same way as a baby. I remember taking her to the doctor one time when she was a few months old. It was winter and she was all bundled up in a little fleece blanket-coat type thing. I told the nurse that I was worried that Emma wasn't gaining weight, and she laughed at me and said, "Look at those cheeks! What are you worried about?" After taking off her suit, and weighing her and finding that she hadn't gained any weight, the nurse said, "Wow, those cheeks are deceiving!" Looks like the boys have the cheeks, too! Here are all the kids on my bed for their pre-church pictures! Can you tell the boys apart? William is on the left and Jonathan is on the right. Aaron has discovered a new secret in parenting. He was helping Emma pick up all her stuff from the Living Room and Kitchen while we were cleaning house yesterday. Instead of just making her pick it all up, he got her shopping cart and helped her go "shopping" in the Living Room and Kitchen. When she picked up her brown sandals, she was getting "potatoes" and her red book in the floor wound up being a steak. It was great! She cleaned her stuff up without complaining about it, put it all away in its place, and even had a little fun in the process! Here is Emma in her trash bag box. This is the box to the Costco trash bags that we bought. It holds two hundred trash bags... Or one two and a half year old girl! We have spent the last few weekends in some home improvement projects. The first one we undertook was painting Emma's room. We painted the walls light pink, and the little entry wall (to the left in this picture) light green. Then the next weekend, Aaron's dad brought down shutters and he and Aaron installed them throughout the house. They look great! While Aaron's dad was here, he and Aaron cut a hole in the floor of the bathroom closet and built me a laundry chute, which prompted a laundry room project. Here is my new and improved laundry room! Aaron's mom brought down a piece of furniture that she used as an island in her kitchen and I use as a folding table. Then, Aaron built a table (with a top that matches that folding table) to hold the laundry basket that holds the clothes that come down the chute (its the green laundry basket). Aaron also put up a shelf for me on the wall behind all the clothes in the right side of the picture. (Those are Aaron's normal clothes. His closet is full of work clothes-button up shirts and dress pants.). I am also organizing the storage shelves to the right of the folding table to hold all my crafting supplies so that the folding table can double as a crafting table. I am going to paint the walls... eventually.

Hope you enjoy our latest adventures. It was good to get to see some of you while we were up in Tennessee. We hope you are having a great summer!

Three Months

2008-06-27T12:40:00.011-04:00

Today the boys are three months old. I have spent some of the day thinking back about the last three months and this is what I came up with.

Three months ago, I was meeting my boys for the first time, some twelve hours or so after they were born. Three months ago, I was only able to touch William the first time I saw him. I didn't get to hold him. He was attached to monitors and under a heating lamp to warm him up since he wasn't regulating his temperature.

Three months ago, I was learning about things like body temperature regulation, oxygen saturation and gavage feedings.

Three months ago, the boys were fed with a tube. Jonathan was doing a little better than William so I got to hold him on my first visit to the NICU. Three months ago, I was told that they would most likely be in the NICU for two weeks at the very least. They came home after only 8 days. Happy three months my sweet little guys! The last three months have been the happiest months of my life. To be at home, with my little guys and my Emma, brings me more joy, peace and happiness than I have ever felt otherwise. Last Sunday after church, Aaron and I piled all the kids onto our bed and we all took a nap together. Does it get any better than that? Here are some pictures of William. He and Jonathan have been so cute the last couple of weeks as they have started to smile and laugh and interact with us. William was in such a good mood when I was taking these pictures, but I missed him smiling. We got video of it, though! Here is William again, just after his bath. The boys love their baths-they are so laid back and calm afterwards! Here is Jonathan's sweet little smile! I love it! Here is Jonathan smiling again. Last night, he was asleep in his bouncer, and he started making gooing sounds in his sleep. It was so loud and clear, I was sure he was awake, but when I looked over at him, he was sound asleep!

Sorry for my mushy, gushy post this week. I am just feeling some tender emotions as I look back on the events of the last three months. It has been a very special time for me. It has been really hard, and super busy, but there is nothing like taking a nap next to the babies, or having one of them fall asleep all snuggled up in my arms or the middle of the night feeding, when I am half asleep and they look up at me, wide eyed while they drink their bottle.

I just felt compelled to share a little bit with you all.

So Emma!

2008-06-27T12:25:00.004-04:00

Since my main post today was more about the boys, I wanted to do a separate one about Emma. These are the pictures I took of her last Sunday before church. You may be asking yourself why I take pictures of her before church so often. This is why: she's clean, dressed cute, and her hair has been fixed. Not that she isn't usually clean, cute and groomed, she is just more so on Sundays! I made her hairbow that she is wearing. Cute hairbows are expensive so I bought all the things I needed to make them myself. This is the first one that I made! Don't you love the purple bracelet she is sporting? She got it at Chuck E. Cheese's the night before with all the tickets that she (and Aaron, Russ and I) won. I told her to make a cute face and this is what I got. Obviously she hasn't practiced "cute" in the mirror! So I just thought I'd go with it and told her to make a crazy face (although I think the other one is more crazy than this one!). She is so much fun!

Two more weeks in the life of the Hale family

2008-06-15T17:58:00.019-04:00

Since today is Father's day, I want to wish all the dads out there a Happy Father's Day! I got Aaron some new shirts and socks for work. Boring, I know, but he needed them!

We took the boys to church today! Well, we really just took them to Sacrament Meeting and then Aaron stayed home with them while I taught the lesson in Relief Society for the second Sunday in a row. The boys were really good and they had many adoring fans who have been waiting to meet them. I thought they looked so cute in their little outfits today. My cousin, Kelly, sent them to the boys. Emma kept saying, "Ohhh, they are so cute in their little church shirt." Here is William in the blue plaid shirt: And Jonathan is in the green plaid: The boys had a doctor's appointment last week (well, two weeks ago-the day after my last post). Jonathan weighs 9 pounds, 12 1/2 ounces, and William is 9 pounds, 7 ounces. They are really doing great and they both smiled at me on Friday. It wasn't just one of those random smiles, but the first time that I said something to them, they smiled, I said something else, they looked at me and smiled again...you get the picture. It was so exciting for me, especially since they were born so early. From what I understand, when babies are preemie, they usually hit the milestones at their adjusted age (their age based on their due date, not their actual birth date). That means that if they are supposed to smile at 2 months, then it wouldn't be unusual for the boys to smile at 3 1/2 months since they were born 6 weeks early. Does any of this make sense? So, if you understand all my rambling, then you can understand why I am so excited. Smiling is a milestone that is usually reached around 2 months so the fact that they are pretty close to that is amazing! (It takes so little to get me excited!)

BEHOLD, OUR LATEST AND GREATEST ADDITION:

This is the new "park" that my parents got for Emma and the boys. We have been having friends over to play several days a week, and we hosted a church playgroup last week as well. The park is awesome-it has a climbing wall, two slides (one tube slide and one wavy slide), two swings, a trapeze kind of thing, and a glider. There are also monkey bars across the place where the swings are. And, in case you can't see it in the picture, there is a picnic table and benches in the lower part of the tower.

My dad is quite proud of his method for acquiring said park. He traded it for plants. The whole thing. He even traded out the cost of delivery and set up. Is he awesome or what! Thanks, BB and Jefe! As you can see, the park is big enough and sturdy enough for adults to play on, too. I burned my elbow going down the tube slide. It is small enough that Aaron and I have to lay down to go down it, but man is it fun! The wavy slide is also a lot of fun. It is a fast slide! I have been working on my monkey bar skills, which are currently non-existent. I need to get some upper body strength! We learned very quickly that we needed to come up with some rules for the safety of the park goers! One being, no standing up in the swings. Another being: Don't go to the park without telling Mommy or Daddy or Russell. Good thing you can still have fun while obeying the rules! (My camera lens was dirty when I was taking some of the park pictures and I didn't realize it until I had already taken them.) Can you tell that we have gone from talking about the boys to talking about Emma? Here is last week's outfit for church. I got this dress from a consignment store for $5, and it is one of my favorites! I am so jealous of Emma. She has the greatest complexion-I have never put her in a color that doesn't look good on her. (Is it wrong to brag about how cute my kid is?) If you don't know this about Emma, she LOVES books. She is always looking at a book or making Aaron or Russell or me read to her. Lately I have been sending her up to her room 20 minutes or so before her nap for some calm down, reading time before I go in and read to her. On this particular day, she fell asleep before I got in there. You can see that she loaded up on books that day, but never made it past the first Dora book. My cousin, Bonnie, had a big swimming party at her neighborhood pool on Friday night. Emma chose to wear her new swimming rash guard top with matching bottoms and hat that BB got for her. She was so fun to watch at the pool! She also had on her "cool girl" Liquid Force kid's wake boarding life jacket. She started out swimming in the pool with Aaron holding on to her, but in a matter of a few minutes, was swimming around all by herself. She thought she was so big. It was so fun to watch how excited she was...but somewhere inside me a little piece of my heart was breaking. She is growing up way too fast. And then she swam up to the side of the pool where I was waiting to take her picture, and spit a mouthful of water on me. Ahhh, that tender feeling lasted but a moment...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RUSSELL!

Russell's birthday was on Monday, and I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. He asked for a "Funfetti" cake with vanilla icing. He also told his friends that, and he got two cakes. Lucky guy! I also got him some Panda Express for lunch (I asked him what he wanted to eat, and out of all the places to get food, he chose Panda.). He spent the evening with some of his friends going out to dinner and going bowling...I think.

NOW ON TO ME!!!

This is a new dress I got. I thought that it showed how skinny I have gotten (I reached my goal weight through Weight Watchers and am the skinniest I have been since before I was pregnant with Emma) until I saw the pictures that Aaron took. Emma tells me that the dress "lets my tummy out." Don't know what that means exactly, but when you want to look skinny, that can't be a good thing! Anyway, I really like the dress, it is comfortable, and works for nursing. So, here are some better skinny pictures: This is Emma and me last Sunday before church. I haven't worn this skirt in three years (or more), and it is one of my favorites! I was so excited to be able to just zip it up! I don't want anyone to think that I am trying to tell you how great I look, but I think that anyone who has had a kid knows the post pregnancy weight struggle. I am just really glad that it isn't as much of a struggle as it has been in the past. And, it is always nice to fit into the "skinny jeans"-you know...those ones that are lurking somewhere in the back of the closet, that you take out and sigh and gaze at longingly, just wishing for the day...well, my day is here! (Don't worry, I have some skinny jeans that I still can't fit into, and I am working on getting into those...but I am starting to think that it is a lost cause). Here is a front shot. I was having a bad hair day. The humidity is crazy down here! This is a picture of my blue hydrangea that is right outside my kitchen/office window. This thing has been blooming for quite sometime, and I love it! I enjoy it so much that I thought I would share! Oh, and my project that I tackled this week. I bought a lot of strawberries the other day and made some freezer jam. Last year, Aaron's grandparents gave us a good amount of strawberries two days before we left for Hawaii. (I hope I don't sound ungrateful-I was so glad they did!) I wanted to use them to make freezer jam, and I had never made it before. I called my mom who told me her recipe, then went to my local Wal-Mart to get jars, pectin (is that what it is called) and the other stuff I needed. When I got to Wal-Mart, I found this little package next to these cute little plastic "jars." I called my mom and told her what the package said (1 1/2 cups sugar to 4 cups crushed strawberries) and she and I debated over how well this would turn out. I decided to give it a try, and it is the best freezer jam I have ever had! It tastes so fresh! We thought at first that it must be a low sugar recipe, but it doesn't say that anywhere on the package. Now, I know this qualifies as cheating when it comes to freezer jam, but it is so fast and easy, that if cheating on this is wrong, then I don't wanna be right! (You have to imagine me saying that last sentence in my thickest southern accent to get the full effect!) Here are the pictures of my strawberry freezer jam. So delicious!

Since my last post, some other exciting things have happened. Our friends Lindsey and Jeph had their baby girl! We are so happy for them, and I wish so bad that I could hold their baby (they live in Utah). Grandma Hale sent me a book that I have been wanting to read, called "I Am a Mother," which was first recommended to me by my friend, Lexi. And my friend, Marci had a birthday, and we (with several other people) went out to eat at Olive Garden. Yum!

I am going to try to do a better job of posting weekly so I don't have a million pictures to post each time I make a new post. We will see how that goes. Oh, and in case I haven't said it, I really love all the comments that people leave. Sometimes I feel like I have totally lost touch with some of my friends, and I am glad to know that you guys read the blog! Have a great week (or two, depending on when I post again)!

Long Time, No Post!

2008-06-01T13:26:00.017-04:00

Has it been two months already? The boys were two months old on the 27th, and they have their two month check-up and shots tomorrow. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. (I want to thank Lindsey for pointing out that I skipped a week of posting. I will do better from now on!)

Anyway, to start off this week, I have a picture that I forgot to put on my last post. It is so fun to watch the boys. I don't know if all babies do some of the same things, or if this is just coincidence, or if it is a twin thing but see if you can figure out what I am talking about in this picture:Yes, they are sleeping in the same position. Heads turned the same way, same arm out, and in almost the same position. This happens pretty often. It is so funny to see them together in the bed, sleeping the same way. I still can't believe that we have twins! So what does a dad do when both his babies are crying? Why strap them both to his chest in a Baby Bjorn, of course! We were getting ready for our weekend trip up to Tennessee when Aaron came strutting in with this get up. I don't think the Baby Bjorn people intended for their product to be used this way. Here are the boys, just chillin' on my bed. They have both had some problems with acid reflux (a common problem in preemies) so they have been on some prescription medicine, and we are supposed to keep them propped up for at least 20 minutes after feedings. That is where the Boppies come in handy. Man, I love those things! (Jonathan is on the left and William is on the right) They fell asleep together in the same Boppy. They are growing so much that they are really too big to fit in the same Boppy together anymore! (Jonathan is on the left and William is on the right.) This picture cracks me up! We call it "Jailbreak." The matress in the boys' crib is angled so that their heads are above their feet (to help with the reflux), which hasn't really been a problem until the other day. I was nursing William and Jonathan was getting super fussy. Well, I just had to let him cry. And my thought was that since he was in his crib, what could really happen? So, when I went in to get him, this is what was going on. He wiggled his legs out of his swaddle, squirmed around and got his legs through the crib slats. No wonder he was so mad! He was totally at the bottom of the crib. I thought it was so funny-him in his striped jail bird outfit, trying to escape the bars of his crib! This is Emma and Jonathan on the bed at my parent's lake house. I thought that Emma looked so pretty in this picture! Just another Jonathan picture. My dad said that William is going to be so mad at me one day when he sees all the funny pictures of him that I have posted all over the internet. I love how little babies sometimes go cross-eyed when they try to focus on something! Okay, okay. Here is a better picture of William. He is so sweet! Lately he hasn't been feeling well, and so I have been holding him quite a bit more. He is really snuggly! For the Memorial Day weekend, we went up to Tennessee. It was the first big outing for the boys, and the first time that some of our family has met the boys. Here we are at the nursery with my dad and their dog, Killer, me, Jonathan in my lap, Emma, my Papa, William, and my Nannie. Emma loved being on the farm, and the boys can't say anything, but I know they really liked their first Gator ride with Papa! (Since this picture I have gotten a little bit of sun and don't look quite so pale!) Now, on to the Emma pictures! Emma likes to get in the crib with the boys sometimes. It helps her to remember that she really is too big to sleep in the crib anymore. Emma watched Aaron do some wakeboarding while we were in Tennessee, and so she rigged up her own way to wakeboard, in the safety of the lakehouse garage! We call it lawn boarding! (And just for the record, they don't really go anywhere, just in case anyone is thinking about how dangerous that looks!) Emma is giving Aaron a pull on the lawn board. She is such a good driver! My dad's nursery catalog has a picture of Emma on the front in a washtub full of flowers when she was a year old. Throughout the catalog, there are pictures of Emma on the farm, so while we were there we took some pictures of her for a new catalog. Here she is, posing. They were too cute not to post! This picture is so hilarious! I laugh everytime I see it! Man, I love that girl!

Those are the pictures from the last two weeks. I may be posting again sometime this week, since the boys have their doctor's appointment tomorrow. I am hoping that they will be about 10 1/2 pounds. I am going to wait another month before I really start taking them out anywhere. There are still things going around (pink eye, fevers, etc.) that I don't want to expose them to, so just to be on the safe side, we are going to chill at home a little longer.

Have a good week everyone!

2008-05-11T16:23:00.005-04:00

First, I want to wish everyone a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I have had a great day-Aaron made me butterscotch bundt for breakfast, steak and crab legs for lunch, and I am supposed to be taking a nap right now. I wanted to update the blog first, though. Aaron's mom came down for lunch and I am taking advantage of the extra time I have while she entertains the kiddies! The boys had a pretty good week. No doctor's appointment this week. They will be having a weight check this coming Friday, though. I am hoping that they are still gaining as well as they have been.

A great thing happened this week: The pediatrician's office called and said that their Similac rep had been by the office and he dropped off six sample bottles of NeoSure formula. (This is the formula that the boys are supposed to have two bottles of every day until they are nine months old.) They told me I could come get all six bottles, and that if he came back by before their two month appointment, they would give us the formula that he leaves then. It is about $8 a bottle, so that just saved me $50! Have I mentioned how much I love our pediatrician and her staff? I love these pictures of the boys. Aaron put them in the boppy together after one of their feedings. They were kind of sitting on top of each other, but I think they liked it. They haven't slept this well in a little while now! (William is on the left, Jonathan is on the right.) I thought that William looked so cute in this picture. He looks like he is deep in thought! Aaron got out the swing that was Emma's when she was a baby. It plays little songs while it swings. We put it in the basement when we aren't using it. Today Aaron came up from the basement and said, "You have to go down and see Emma." So I went down stairs, and half way down the stairs I could hear the music playing. I got further down the stairs and there she sat, pretending to be asleep and rocking in the swing. This is a picture of our new patio set that we got last weekend. I love the wrought iron patio furniture like this. It makes me think of my Nannie and sitting on the front porch at the farm house. So, I insisted on getting this kind (not to mention it was cheaper than some of the other sets, and of course, I was on a budget.) Anyway, we put it out on the back patio, and we have really enjoyed having it out there. Aaron ate his breakfast out there every morning the past week, and we have had dinner out there a few nights this week as well. We love our yard and all the pretty trees out there. We also have tons of squirrels and birds that Emma tries to "sneak" (that is what she says when she wants to sneak up on someone or something).

We are getting pretty settled in around here. We sure do love having these boys here, and we always love all the cute things that Emma comes up with. Oh, I do have to put one Emma story on here: My brother Russell is living with us (don't know if I have mentioned that before or not) and he and Emma fight over who gets to watch the tv. Lately when Emma wants to watch a show and Russ won't let her, she will come to me and say (in a slightly crying voice), "You need to say abra cadabra to Russell." Apparently she thinks that this will magically make him let her have her way. So, she has been on the "abra cadabra" kick lately. The other day I was standing at the counter and she was playing with the picture of Jesus with the children that she got from church last Sunday. I had my back to her, and heard,"Abra Cadabra, Jesus disappear!" as she covered Jesus' face with a toy. I have thought about this several times over the last week and I crack up every time I think of that!

That is all for today. Have a great week!

Week 4: Where has the time gone?

2008-05-05T16:57:00.011-04:00

I realized the other day that it is already May. I wondered what happened to the month of April. Then I remembered: Change the boys, feed the boys, pump, do laundry. Change the boys, feed the boys, pump, dry the laundry. Change the boys, feed the boys, pump, wash laundry. You get the idea! Actually, it hasn't been that routine...we have had a lot of fun with these little guys! For example:I had the camera with me after nursing the boys one evening and I took pictures of them while they were awake. Can you tell who is who? Yep, that is William on the left and Jonathan on the right. I love the face that William is making in this picture! They are so funny sometimes! Here they are looking so sweet! They had a doctor's appointment on Friday. William weighs 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and Jonathan weighs 7 pounds 10 1/2 ounces. Jonathan gained a whole pound since his last appointment! They have outgrown their preemie clothes and diapers and are now wearing size newborn clothes and diapers! Oh, and by the way, my due date is this Wednesday (May 7). Aaron likes to carry both boys at the same time. The only problem is that when he wants to put one down, he has to have some assistance! BEWARE! This is what happens if you aren't quick enough getting a boy in the bathtub! Jonathan has a great aim! We took the boys for their first stroller ride yesterday. I think they are still a little small for our double jogger stroller! Another view of them in the stroller so you can get the full effect! We let Emma ride on the front and then we covered the whole thing with a blanket. Emma is sitting in the foot rests for the stroller seats. It was pretty easy to push all three, but I can't imagine jogging with all three on there! On Saturday I got some much needed (and I like to think much deserved) relaxation time. I planted some plants! My dad sent down several plants for me and I spent the morning planting them in front of the house. It was quite cloudy the whole time I was working, and as soon as I planted the last heuchera, it started to rain! Impeccable timing! On Saturday evening, Aaron and I went to Home Depot and he bought me the hanging baskets for Mother's Day. Oh, we got a new patio set, too. I will have to post a picture of it some other time. That was also part of my Mother's Day present! I planted Guacamole hosta, Plum Pudding heuchera, and Pirate's Patch tiarella. That probably doesn't mean anything to most of you, but I know there are some plant nerds who read my blog who might care! The viney stuff was already in the landscape (I forget what it is). Oh, and Emma helped me. Her favorite part was playing with all the earth worms I dug up!

That is all for this week! Have a good week.

Week 3: All I Need is a Soccer Ball!

2008-04-27T13:27:00.009-04:00

This week's post is all about...ME!

Not really, just the first picture. I have officially become a minivan mom! I used to bash the minivan, saying "I will not drive a minivan. I will be an SUV mom." Well, I guess that when I was saying that, I never thought that I would be the mom of twins. I thought that surely I would have a few years to buffer the time between car and minivan, hopefully using a Honda Pilot type small SUV to be the go between. But after much discussion(on my part) and number crunching (on Aaron's part), we decided that we really did need a new car, and found a pretty good deal on this minivan. We were cramming all 5 of us into my car, which took quite a bit of effort and creativity but soon realized that wasn't going to work for very long! We talked about getting a smaller SUV but I just felt that we would want the extra space that a van offered-especially if we have any more kids (although that is not really a discussion that we have right now)!The van is a 2005 Nissan Quest. The whole console area looks kind of "spaceship-ish." Emma calls it (the console/dash area) church. I guess it does kind of look like a podium. She will stand in front of the gear shifter and pretend that it is a microphone. The van is her new favorite place to play!

And as you can see, I put up a full body picture of myself. At my two week appointment with my doctor, I discovered that I lost 41 pounds! That put me somewhere between 5 and 7 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight. (I weighed today and am actually under my pre-pregnancy weight!) Go me! I am a little confused because it took me forever to lose the weight with Emma, but it is just falling off this time around. I was all geared up for months of rigorous exercise and strict diet, but I am not having to do anything (thank goodness)! Hopefully it will last at least long enough for me to get my Lifetime membership with Weight Watchers...

And now for the update on the boys:

The boys had their doctor's appointment on Monday and both had a tremendous weight gain again! William gained 14 1/2 ounces and is up to 6 pounds 8 1/2 ounces, and Jonathan gained 13.5 ounces and weighs 6 pounds 10 1/2 ounces! The doctor told us that they want babies to gain 1 ounce per day, but they will accept as little as 1/2 ounce of weight gain a day. But my boys gained 2 ounces each day last week! We are so proud! Actually, I am pretty excited about it. They are starting to fill out a bit more in their faces and their bodies. It is comforting to watch them grow!

A neighbor stopped by on her walk one evening to visit and see the boys. While she was holding Jonathan, he found his thumb and started sucking it. This was a first for him and he hasn't done it since.

When I first saw this picture of Jonathan (while loading it on to my computer) I realized that I am going to have to go back through all my pictures and label which kid is in the picture. I can tell the boys apart when they are next to each other, I can tell them apart when I am holding one (or when Aaron brings one in and says "Which one is this?"), but in some of the pictures we have taken, it is harder for me to tell who is who. So here is one of them together. Like I said, it is hard for me to tell them apart sometimes. I put them in their little long sleeved tees, which I think look more like straight jackets, or they could pass for a chef's jacket. Anyway, just to confuse you all (and myself in the process) that is Jonathan on the left and William on the right. We usually put them the other way around-in their birth order. Emma and William had a little play time one day during the week and got all tired out. (Not really, I had just finished feeding William and sat him in the Boppy for a minute, and Emma wanted to get in hers. She covered them both in her Pooh Bear blanket-I was a little surprised that she would share.) Here they are taking a nap together. (Again, not really, Emma just pretended to be asleep for the picture.) This is Emma in her latest get up. Since it has been so hot lately, she insists on wearing her sunglasses everywhere she goes. For some reason, she thinks that the sunglasses act as some kind of "cooling off" method. She is also sporting her gardening gloves, and completes her pink spring ensemble with her church shoes-which, if you look closely, are on the wrong feet! Here is Emma before church last Sunday. She looked so sweet in this picture that I just had to post it. She is wearing a white linen dress and a pink sweater. When she came home from church, there was crayon all over her dress and sweater. She put crayons in her pocket which left marks all over the pockets. Luckily it washed out. I would have been sad if it didn't. I really like that dress!

Here is the true face of Emma. She is so funny! This is her before church today. She can be so silly sometimes!

Oh, and Aaron wants me to point out the difference in the bushes behind Emma. Last Sunday they were all wild and jungle like, and today they are all nice and shapely. Aaron spent most of the day in the yard yesterday, trying to tame all of our overgrown bushes and mowing. I love how green everything is here, but the yard work can really get away from you if you let it! (Or if it rains every Saturday, you don't do yard work on Sundays, and then don't get home from work until after dark every day during the week.) I guess that I could assist in the lawn mowing, but I kind of have a lot going on in the house! One last picture to leave you with this week. Aaron took Emma out to take pictures before church so I could finish getting ready. This one is so cute and so sweet. I will have to make it my desktop picture on my computer so that whenever she is being more than I can deal with, I can look at it and remember how sweet she can be!

That is it for this week. I realized that this blog (especially in the last few weeks) is serving as my journal. Since I am too busy to write in one, hopefully I can be descriptive enough here to serve my journal purpose. Hope you all have a good week!

Week 2: Is it possible to sleep so little and still function?

2008-04-19T17:59:00.009-04:00

First, a little disclaimer. This is probably going to wind up being a long post. Since I am trying to post at least once a week, and our weeks are becoming pretty eventful, my posts may start getting quite lengthy.

For starters, we took the boys to the pediatrician on Monday. They each gained 11 ounces in a week. To quote the pediatrician (who I heard talking out in the hall), "Holy Majoly! That little preemie gained 11 ounces in a week? That's phenomenal!" I guess they are really packing it on! They both weigh almost 6 pounds. We have another appointment on Monday, so hopefully they will have gained that much again and be almost 7 pounds.

On Tuesday, my cousin Emily and her little girl, Abby (hope I spelled it right) came over to visit. Abby is 10 weeks older than the boys-at least I think that is what we figured it up to be. She is so cute! We decided to put her in the crib with the boys to see the difference in their sizes. I thought it was a cute picture.

The sleep deprivation is finally getting to us. Aaron has been really good to give me the opportunity to take naps (when he is home) and he sends me to bed early more often than I would like. There just isn't enough time in the day to do everything on my list! Aaron said he has been making silly mistakes at work. I swear, I could sleep standing up sometimes!

Lately, Aaron likes to feed the boys at the same time, especially at night so that he can get back to sleep faster. Here they are eating together. And here is another of the same picture. But I wanted to throw this one in for a little perspective. You can see Aaron's feet at the bottom edge of the blanket in this picture. He doesn't have large feet by any means (I think they are kind of small, actually) but you can kind of see how tiny the boys are in comparison. Here is Emma being such a sweet big sister. She was holding Jonathan and "petting" him. It was so cute, and so I took a picture. She loves to "pet" them, especially their soft heads. I guess that Emma learned it from me-I love to rub their velvety little heads! I think that most any older sibling has a picture somewhere like this one. Emma wanted to know what it was like to be wrapped up in her blanket like the babies! She had just woken up from a nap and actually stayed swaddled in her favorite blanket for about 10 minutes! I can't blame her-that is the softest blanket! (Sometimes when she isn't around, if she hasn't stashed it somewhere, I curl up under it for my nap.) Okay, okay. I know that it is the middle of April and that there is a gingerbread house behind my kid in this picture. Let me explain. When we moved into our house, the people that sold it to us left this for Emma. They thought that it would be fun for her to talk about getting a new house. I kept putting off making it with her. I don't know why. But this last week, I decided that Emma was in serious need of some "Mommy-daughter" time. So we built the gingerbread house together. And she ate most of the candy for it by herself. Which made it very hard to put her to bed that night! But I am glad that I neglected housework for a while and played with her. It was so worth it-just look at that smile! This is a picture of Emma with an inchworm that she found the other day. We have been spending a lot of time outside lately, and Emma has been enjoying all the cool new bugs our yard has to offer. She is, however, afraid of ants since she learned that some of them are fire ants.

Hope you enjoyed our post for this week.

Week One: Somehow We Made It!

2008-04-11T11:12:00.006-04:00

Well, it has been a week since the boys were able to come home. Somehow, we have survived it! Emma came home on Saturday evening, and was so happy to be home and to meet her brothers. She is really doing a great job at being the big sister, and loves her brothers a lot.She loves them so much that she decided that she needed to hold William one day. He was laying on the couch while Aaron was getting his bottle ready and when Aaron turned around, Emma was picking William up. I don't know if she just couldn't hold him, or if Aaron's quick movements startled her, but she started to drop him. Aaron ran over to her and caught him right in time! I was taking a nap during all of this and Emma came running up to the bedroom, extremely upset, saying "I'm bad." I felt sad for her but I was really concerned for William at the same time. We had a family home evening that night about the rules of the babies (always wash hands before touching them, only hold them if mom or dad are helping, etc.). She has been very careful since then to follow the rules! Some of you may wonder what our days are like. Mine (or Aaron's) day begins at 2 am, depending on whose turn it is to do the 2 am feeding. They each can eat 50-60 cc's (that is 50-60 mL and I think about 2 ounces) at a time. We wake up Jonathan first, change his diaper, warm his bottle and then feed him. This whole process takes anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how quickly he eats. Then, we put him back to bed and then do the same thing for William. If it is my turn, I take another 10-15 minutes to pump before going back to bed. Then, whoever didn't do the 2 am feeding gets up at 5 am and does that feeding. This way one of us should be getting 5 solid hours of sleep at a time. The boys eat at 2,5,8,and 11 (am and pm). That is one of the pros of them being in the NICU for a week. The nurses did all the work of getting the boys on a schedule, and I didn't have to do any of it! In my spare 2 hours between feedings, I am desperately trying to do laundry, wash bottles, and take care of anything else that needs to be done before the next feeding frenzy begins. So, if you have called or emailed and I have yet to respond, I am sure you understand why! We have had a few requests for side by side pictures of the boys. We don't know yet if they are identical or not (sometimes the only way to know is a DNA test, and I don't want to pay for one-and besides, it doesn't really matter anyway). I can totally tell a difference. Some of their nurses could tell them apart, others couldn't. Can you? Just in case we get confused, we lay them in the same order of their birth. Baby A (William) is always on the left and Baby B (Jonathan) is always on the right. Here they are from the side. I think they look a little more alike here than in the picture with their eyes open.

The boys are two weeks old now, and had a doctor's appointment on Monday. Jonathan is back up to 5 pounds 2 ounces and William was 4 pounds 15 ounces. They had each gained 3 1/2 ounces in the three days since they left the hospital. They have another appointment this coming Monday and we will see how much they have gained over the course of a week.

It sure has been nice to have all my kids home, but I am so tired! Aaron has been such a big help, and takes Emma to do fun things often so that I can catch a nap in the afternoons. I am not sure if we will ever get this figured out and I am really scared to have to do this on my own when Aaron goes back to work! Luckily, he still has another week at home before he has to go back. I guess that when that time comes, I will have to be satisfied if we are all clean, fed and happy, even if the laundry and dishes are piled up and nothing else has been done!

That's about it for now.

Home Sweet Home

2008-04-05T13:54:00.003-04:00

My boys are home! I am so excited! The boys were discharged from the hospital on Friday. I was so excited at the prospect of getting them home, but so nervous at the same time. I kept asking the nurses if they were sure if it was okay for me to take them, and they have all assured me that it is. I am so afraid that I am going to break them! They are so little!

Here are the boys in their car seats. This should give a bit of perspective on their size. Each of the boys had to pass a car seat test. (That is Jonathan doing his test in the picture below.) I had to put them in their car seat, tighten the straps down so that there was no extra fabric in the straps, shove blankets in between their legs to eliminate extra space between them and the buckle, and add blankets to their sides to keep their heads up. And then, once I got them all in there, they had to sit in the seat for an hour with their oxygen saturation monitor on to make sure that their oxygen levels stayed up. They both passed their test.

I was going to just get one new car seat and use Emma's old one for the other baby. I put William in the car seat, strapped it down, and there was still tons of space between the baby and the straps, so I had to go get a new car seat the day the boys were to come home. This was a shock to Aaron and I (and our wallets). My sweet cousins all went in together to buy the new car seat. I thought that was really sweet of them. Those car seats are not cheap!

Room with a View

2008-04-05T13:39:00.004-04:00

I wanted to add a post showing the place where we have spent so much of our time lately. The Special Care Nursery (NICU) was located on the top floor of the hospital and was added about a year ago. It was very nice and offered a great view of part of Atlanta. This is not downtown Atlanta, just one business area. The two towers in the middle of the picture are called "The King" and "The Queen." I assume the one with the angular architecture on the top is the King and the one with the more rounded architecture is the Queen. It was a beautiful view. Too bad the boys are too little to appreciate it!These are the boys in their crib. They each had a computer monitor that constantly monitored their vital signs. There is a lot of extra equipment around their bed, for unexpected emergencies, I am sure. They didn't use most of that equipment. There is a small rectangular box with blue buttons on each side of the bed. This was the thing that they got their tube feedings from. The nurse would put formula into a large plastic syringe (like the kind they give you at the pharmacy if your kids get liquid medication) and would program in how much they got over the alloted period of time. The machine would slowly push the formula through their feeding tube and into their little tummies. While I am glad that I don't have to go up to that room anymore, fear and panic are beginning to set in as I know that their breathing isn't being constantly monitored, that their little heart rates aren't being watched on a 24 hour basis. Even though they were in the NICU, it was somewhat comforting to know that they were always being watched and constantly being looked after. I am glad to have them home with me though!

Together Again!

2008-04-02T07:01:00.004-04:00

I was given the official discharge for myself on Monday afternoon and Aaron and I left the hospital and went home. Without the boys. They are still in the NICU, and I must say that was quite the emotional ride home from the hospital. Imagine getting a new toy only to have to leave it at the store for some undetermined amount of time...I cried the whole way home. Emma is staying with my parents in Tennessee so she wasn't here that night either. I came home with Aaron to an empty house. I cried a lot more.

HOWEVER, as I left the hospital, the boys were transfered to another part of the NICU. A less intensive care part. And they were allowed to go in a crib together! Aaron was so sweet to take me back on Monday night and let me see them in their new bed. They were so sweet and it was the first time that we had actually been able to see them both at the same time. They don't really look very identical to us. We are starting to wonder if they really are identical or not. Although, that is the least of my cares right now.

I left the hospital Monday night feeling much better that they were together and in the less serious part of the NICU. The room or "pod" that they are in is quite nice, and was built about a year ago. There are curtains all the way around a large cubicle like area that we can close to make it a more private room for us. There is a recliner and a few other chairs in there and it is quite comfortable. I went back yesterday and spent several hours there, holding and rocking the boys, and even letting them attempt to nurse.

They will get to come home when they can eat a certain number of bottles, each a certain amount of fluid, every day without getting too tired. They are eating really well, but still have 1 or 2 tube feedings a day so that they don't overdo it.

Here is a picture of William. He is the one we call our little beach bum. He had a hard time regulating his temperature so the nurses had to put him under a heat lamp more often than his brother. He would sprawl out under the heat and sleep. We laugh and say that he is having dreams of laying on a beach somewhere. He is quite the sleeper. I watched the nurses prick his heel to get blood, cry for 3 seconds, and go right back to sleep. What a funny kid!

Here is a picture of Jonathan. He is a little more restless and loves to eat! He wakes up 10 minutes before his scheduled feeding time and roots around for his food. He is kind of a sloppy eater-the kid already needs a bib! He loves to look around and see what there is to see.

I am not allowed to drive for two weeks so I am bumming rides to the hospital each day. (Okay, does that seem a little obnoxious to anyone? Take my babies, make them stay at the hospital, and then tell me I can't drive. Sure, why not.) If I go to the hospital in the mornings, Aaron drops me off on his way to work and then someone picks me up and takes me home. Or, if I get a ride later in the day, Aaron picks me up on his way home from work. My cousins here, Bonnie and Emily have been so good to help me out with rides (and they are stocking my freezer with food. I am thinking I should have twins more often!)

Aaron went back to work yesterday so that he can take his parental leave when the boys do come home, and Emma is still in Tennessee with my parents. I have been almost a week without Emma, and I am missing her so bad. She is quite the active girl though, and it is probably better for me to take this time to rest and recover before I have all the kids here.

I am recovering well. I am getting my strength back and getting along much better than I had imagined that I would. Its hard to be up and walking around for longer than 15 or 20 minutes at a time, but I am doing better every day. We are amazed at the outpouring of love and service of those around us. Like I said, Bonnie and Emily are doing so much to help us and anytime I ask either of them for any kind of help, they never hesitate to say yes. Our ward has started calling to set up meals and rides to the hospital and I am so grateful for that. We feel so blessed.

Thank you again for all your phone calls, emails and comments on the blog. We love you all and are thankful to have so many wonderful family members and friends. I will do my best to keep my posts up to date. Love to you all!