What do you think?

Nora
Norah

Were having a hard time deciding???

34 Weeks

Wow! That belly is getting large. And unfortunately so is the rest of me---face, legs, arms, butt. Have I mentioned how much I love pregnancy! Good thing you get to have precious babies when this is all said and done. I'm having all sorts of side effects I never had with J and O, but I guess that is to be expected. Tyler now has to cut my toe nails and the kids help me put my shoes on, and I don't even want to know what my legs look like. And if I drop something food related on the floor you can bet I'm calling the dog over to clean it up.
I had an ultra sound this week and here are the stats---
Baby girl 4lbs 7oz
Baby boy 4lbs 3oz
So things are moving along smoothly. All is good and healthy, which we are very grateful for. My goal is to go naturally. I would love to avoid being induced or a c-section. My doctor is all for that plan. Although if I get past 36 weeks and these little ones still aren't here being induced is going to be very tempting. I feel like I would even do it now :)
Also, we FINALLY decided on names---
Crosby and Nora
(middle names are still in the works).
-by the way I'm constantly holding my back like this and I am an expert waddler-
We have been busy getting ready. We finally ordered car seats. When we brought these home Tyler and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Not because of the 2 babies but mostly because of the room we don't have for anything. It will be a full house. But how cute are those!?! Were excited.

I've also been going through bins and bins of baby clothes, which was quite overwhelming. We were very lucky to already have a boy and girl. I have washed and folded. I can't believe I've already filled up an entire dresser. Tonight I packed my hospital bag (think the twins are getting the hint yet), made sure the camera battery was charged, and had my mom book her flight out here. I think the only thing left to do is to re-arrange our bedroom to fit a pack-n-play. I am all about being ready, so I'm feeling better already.

And I just had to include this picture because it clearly shows how my kids could get away with murder these days. They know I can't move fast and I don't really have the energy to say no. So this is O eating her nutritious breakfast of chicken nuggets---hey don't judge!

So this is our update thus far. I say "bring on the babies".
I also want to thank all of those who have already sent adorable gifts, friends who have brought us meals, watched my kids and family who has committed to coming out to help. Tyler and I couldn't be more grateful.

Christmas in Missouri

Christmas this year was a bit different for us. We decided it would be best not to travel back to Utah. It was definitely bitter sweet. I had my break down moments where I was wishing we were there but it was really nice to be home. It was relaxing---we rarely had to get out of pj's and we really got to enjoy having Ty home for his 2 week break. We missed family, friends, skiing, and I certainly had to cook a lot more than usual :) Makes you realize all the hard work your parents still put into making sure their kids (and grandkids) have a great Christmas. Thank goodness we had some good friends who also stayed so we weren't completely alone. We tried our best to keep with the family traditions. Really wanting to make sure it felt like Christmas.

We hung lights.
Jackson was such a good little helper and Olivia wanted to stay in the warm house (me too). We baked A LOT of treats.

Tyler taught the kids how to make his delicious fudge.

We saw santa.
Odee's list---baby, princesses and a stroller.

Jackson's list---zhu zhu pets, wii, transformers.

We played out the nativity.
Handsome Joseph.

Beautiful Mary.

We shoveled snow.

We pounded out chicken for Christmas Eve Chicken Cordon Bleu.

We sprinkled Reindeer dust.

Waiting for the "okay" to come out and see what Santa brought.
Remember this feeling? Being a kid Christmas morning was the best!

And we enjoyed every present!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Homemade gifts are more fun for the home maker of the home made gift

Over the years we have started to resort more to homemade gifts. This is do to many things ranging from lack of diñero to the increase in creativity and talents in our home...but mostly the money thing.






Anyways, this increase in homemade gifts has shown me that the giver/maker of the homemade gift gets as much, if not more, enjoyment from creating the gift than the receiver gets from the receiving. Take last night's gift making session for Jackson's teacher. It got crazy up in here!





Much fun was had...maybe even more fun than Mrs. Yardley had with her Christmas ornament. Aimee even got in on the action with a pendant necklace for the well deserving kindergarten teacher but I can't post those pics due to her new hobby of hand crafting in the buff. Like I said, more fun in the making than in the receiving of a homemade gift. Like all good things, it had to come to an end which means a long clean up



I need to find a craft that I'm good at. Maybe next year everyone can expect to receive a hand carved ice sculpture from me and of me. Shipping may be an issue. Merry Christmas from the ice prince.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

27 weeks and Thanksgiving

Yep I'm putting these two posts together. It just seemed like more work to split them up :). I promised my sister I would post a pic every month so I am a bit behind. Here I am, 27 weeks. I had an ultra sound last week and both babes were 2lbs 1oz and healthy. They are growing and so am I. My goal for the next few weeks is to be more positive about pregnancy. I am not a good pregnant person. I'm sick (yes still), can't breath, can't sleep, can't exercise, can't cuddle my kids, ask Tyler nearly every day if he still thinks I'm cute (he's smart and always answers yes). I just plain hate being pregnant. But I am very grateful for these little ones and know it's not forever. So I'm going to TRY to have a better attitude :)Moving on to much cuter people.

Thanksgiving was awesome. We were fortunate to spend it with friends we haven't seen in months. We spent the first 2 days of break with some friends in Illinios (which i didn't get pics of). Then we made the rest of the trek to Ohio to see the Warners and Millers. Well worth the drive.
We missed these cute faces.

And I know J missed being surrounded by all girls.

And I certainly missed these 2 faces.

Thanks for the fun relaxing week. The kids played so well together we hardly had to do much. They even all slept in one room. It was fun to hear them giggle as they tried to go to sleep, and of course O was always the last one asleep. Thanks for the good food, laughs and late nights. We can't wait to see you again.

This first born of ours

The other night I tickled this little boys face to sleep (i love that he still lets me do that). And I started thinking what a special little boy he is. There is something special about your first born, something that maybe only a mom and dad can see. I see it in J everyday.

I feel like he has grown up so fast since he started Kindergarten---which I love and hate all at the same time. His reading and writing skills make me smile. He was never one to sit and create things but now he wants to do it all the time. He wrote this book the other day in church (of course it was about avatar). Here are one of my favorite pages. It made me laugh.
If you can't see it, it says---
"But Momo wanted to flush himself down the toilet".
"I will flush me down the toilet".

I love that he wants to sleep in nothing but his cute little boy underwear.
I love that he thinks it's cool to slick your hair back.

I love that he'd rather have shrimp, crab and mushrooms over any other food.
I love that if we're making anything with cheese (cheese chips, cheese eggs) he always asks if he can do the "cheesening". I now am starting to use it like a real word.
I love that he wants to make costumes out of paper (which really doesn't work). This is his bat costume.

I love that he lets his sister in on everything he does. They really have such a special bond, and always have.
I love that he has figured out how to let O do everything for him :). Put his dishes in the sink, get him a drink, fetch the remote (as i write this O is letting me know that J wants a cookie). She's happy to do favors for him.

Most of all I love that he's ours. I truly feel that Heavenly Father sent him to us first for a reason. He's such a good big brother and I know he'll love these new babies. He has such a tender heart.
We love you J!

31 and awesome

Need I say more?
I remember one of the first times I went to Tyler's house was on his 18th birthday---wow we've known each other a long time.
I am truly grateful.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful hubby.