Strangely the boys birthday seemed like any other day (except for webcam time with Geep and Gran which they love). But when Dad got home he brought truck baloons and they came down and saw the presents. We knew they would notice but didn't know what they would think. They knew just what to do with them! They ran over and said "Ope it pennence!" (open presents) over and over. We made them wait until after dinner and they were fine with that. They enjoyed their dinner and then both wanted to have cake right away. I had been singing Jaden Happy Birthday throughout the day to see if he would be afraid and he would always laugh and giggle and sing it back to me. However, when we sang it with the candles they both got upset. Really I think they just didn't understand why we wouldn't let them go ahead and eat the cake! They both blew out each of their candles (Jaden only nearly lost one eyebrow :)) and then decided it would be easier to eat their cakes by picking them up rather than using forks. They had alot of fun opening and playing with their gifts and they stayed up until 9:30. I tried earlier to read them the "Birthday Book" which was a tradition coming from me when I was a child and they would have none of it. However, when it was time to put them to bed I sat with them in the chair and they let me read them the entire thing which is a miracle in itself! They were SUPER tired but I think they also didn't want to go to bed.
We were going to have a just family party on Sunday but it turned out barely half of them could come due to some last minute sickness so we decided to postpone it. However, we had allready bought balloons and I had allready make cake! So we had some friends over with a little girl the boys love and though we didn't have a birthday celebration we all had a good time, got to eat cake, and the kids loved the baloons. So now the plan is to have the family as well as a few friends that the boys know and love over this coming Monday night as a final celebration.
I had been working with them on saying they were 2 instead of 1 for a couple weeks. Just before their birthday I would ask how old they are and they would say "ONE! Birtday TWO!" Very cute but I can't get them to do it on camera.
So.....here are some pictures and video of the celebration. Some of these will have family most interested but they're still fun.
On the Slide with Balloons....
Happy Birthday!
Eating Cake...
Opening Gifts...
As you can tell from Jared's comment there were seriously at least 50 clipped/twisted/and tied things to unhook to get this out - it took FOREVER....
Friday, February 20, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Finally an Update
I have been too tired to post lately.
I feel queasy in the evenings and would sleep 24 hours a day if possible. It's all I can do to stay up till 9 and I nap when the boys nap. I'm not getting a lot done around here but all in all I can't complain and the boys have been so good.
I had my first appointment last week and I am currently JUST past 10 weeks. I'm truly hoping my symptoms go away at 3 months (unlike 4 months with the boys) so that I only have a couple more weeks of this. My due date is Sept 6th.
We had a quick ultrasound at my first appointment (verifying that there is only one baby this time!) and I will have a more detailed ultrasound in a couple of weeks. Here are the first pictures of our baby. We call him/her "Baby C" Because the boys were twins they were ALWAYS referred to as "Baby A" and "Baby B" so it seems only natural that this should be "Baby C"
The boys are always talking about the baby in tummy that is going to come out and then talk about the picture of it. Several friends have recently had babies so as we spend time with them we'll see how the boys do with me actually paying specific attention to one!
Here are some things we could use prayer for....
1) We canceled an Aflac policy that would have paid us money when the baby is born. Had we had this policy when the boys were born we would have received enough to cover our portion of the medical bills (because they were in the hospital so long). There is a waiting period and the DUE date is 2 weeks before we can start receiving benefits. bummer. So... please pray that we can get these new medical bills paid right away (unlike the coming years we will take to pay off the ones from 2 years ago :))
2) Still up in the air about getting a van or something. We're picky about what we want but finances allow what they allow....so.... we'll probably keep what we have and purchase smaller car seats or get something bigger that isn't what we'd like but cheaper so we can almost break even after selling our car. I don't know. Pray for us to make good decisions and for God to provide what we need.
Those are probably the main things for now. Jared has been great at helping around here and my mom will be out for a little bit pretty soon so I can accomplish some things and rest!
3) I had carpal tunnel at the end of my last pregnancy and it turned into this awful tendinitis thing after the boys were born. It lasted about a year (until I was done nursing) and switched back and forth from hand to hand, occasionally in both. No fun. It's been gone almost a year now but a few weeks after getting pregnant I'm having problems with one wrist. PLEASE pray this is a fluke and goes away.
Not to be outdone, the boys are doing well. On a side note, Jaden is terrified of the Happy Birthday song. He screams and cries and runs into the corner and then wants a hug. Not sure what that will mean for their birthday next week. In the following pictures you will see how they climb in each others cribs (don't worry, it's completely impossible for them to choke themselves on the curtain), how they climb on the dresser and how Jaden didn't know how to get down from the dresser and would just go to sleep on top of it. So.... now their room is rearranged so they can't do this anymore. There's also a picture of a rug with roads and tracks they can drive their cars on that Jared played with when he was little. AND a slide we're using from a friend that they love. You will also see a picture of the back of Jackson's head. He sometimes gets upset when I try to take his picture these days and runs away....
I feel queasy in the evenings and would sleep 24 hours a day if possible. It's all I can do to stay up till 9 and I nap when the boys nap. I'm not getting a lot done around here but all in all I can't complain and the boys have been so good.
I had my first appointment last week and I am currently JUST past 10 weeks. I'm truly hoping my symptoms go away at 3 months (unlike 4 months with the boys) so that I only have a couple more weeks of this. My due date is Sept 6th.
We had a quick ultrasound at my first appointment (verifying that there is only one baby this time!) and I will have a more detailed ultrasound in a couple of weeks. Here are the first pictures of our baby. We call him/her "Baby C" Because the boys were twins they were ALWAYS referred to as "Baby A" and "Baby B" so it seems only natural that this should be "Baby C"
The boys are always talking about the baby in tummy that is going to come out and then talk about the picture of it. Several friends have recently had babies so as we spend time with them we'll see how the boys do with me actually paying specific attention to one!
Here are some things we could use prayer for....
1) We canceled an Aflac policy that would have paid us money when the baby is born. Had we had this policy when the boys were born we would have received enough to cover our portion of the medical bills (because they were in the hospital so long). There is a waiting period and the DUE date is 2 weeks before we can start receiving benefits. bummer. So... please pray that we can get these new medical bills paid right away (unlike the coming years we will take to pay off the ones from 2 years ago :))
2) Still up in the air about getting a van or something. We're picky about what we want but finances allow what they allow....so.... we'll probably keep what we have and purchase smaller car seats or get something bigger that isn't what we'd like but cheaper so we can almost break even after selling our car. I don't know. Pray for us to make good decisions and for God to provide what we need.
Those are probably the main things for now. Jared has been great at helping around here and my mom will be out for a little bit pretty soon so I can accomplish some things and rest!
3) I had carpal tunnel at the end of my last pregnancy and it turned into this awful tendinitis thing after the boys were born. It lasted about a year (until I was done nursing) and switched back and forth from hand to hand, occasionally in both. No fun. It's been gone almost a year now but a few weeks after getting pregnant I'm having problems with one wrist. PLEASE pray this is a fluke and goes away.
Not to be outdone, the boys are doing well. On a side note, Jaden is terrified of the Happy Birthday song. He screams and cries and runs into the corner and then wants a hug. Not sure what that will mean for their birthday next week. In the following pictures you will see how they climb in each others cribs (don't worry, it's completely impossible for them to choke themselves on the curtain), how they climb on the dresser and how Jaden didn't know how to get down from the dresser and would just go to sleep on top of it. So.... now their room is rearranged so they can't do this anymore. There's also a picture of a rug with roads and tracks they can drive their cars on that Jared played with when he was little. AND a slide we're using from a friend that they love. You will also see a picture of the back of Jackson's head. He sometimes gets upset when I try to take his picture these days and runs away....
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
And now there are three......
For those who may not allready know.....we're expecting a baby sometime in September!
We are very excited and a little nervous (well, at least I am) all at the same time!
There isn't much to report but that I'll have my first appointment in a couple weeks (where we will double check to verify there's only one in there!).
There are some things you could begin to pray about for us however.....
1) That everything goes smoothly and carries out to full term this time!
2) That we will determine if we should do a c-section or not since I had to have one last time but would prefer not this time.
3) I'm not too sick just a little queasy and pretty tired at night. Not fun and challenging with the boys but I pray it does not get any worse so that I can make it through the first three months without going crazy :)
4) I'm concerned about going on bedrest. If I did I would need lots of help. I have friends and family that will be more than willing to help but it can be a little tricky since everyone either has kids or works.
5) Pray for Jared's job - that it will be a good year financially and emotionally and that when he takes a little time off there won't be too much stress for him.
6) We're not sure what we'll do about vehicles. If we buy 2 new car seats for the boys that are smaller we can probably squeeze all three in the back seat. This isn't a very good permanant solution since it will be quite tight but we can do it if necessary. We're particular about the type of vehicle we're "looking for" (honda odyssey or honda pilot) with good reason (for us - and I won't get into all that here :)) but affording it will be an issue. We do have a car we can sell but we won't get what we need for something else. A car payment isn't the best option for us. We're still paying off bills from the boy's birth as well as a variety of other things from a really rough financial year the year the boys were born. Ask God to show us what to do and provide whatever we need.
7) Finances - some of this is explained above but it would be great to make progress this year on our payments even with the medical costs invovled in having a baby.
Thank you all! I'll keep you posted!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Picture Update
Here are some pictures...
Here is a video of the boys playing with the basketball hoop for the first time. They call it a "oop!"
And here is Jackson getting his buzz cut....You can hear that I am concerned in the video :)....
Here is a video of the boys playing with the basketball hoop for the first time. They call it a "oop!"
And here is Jackson getting his buzz cut....You can hear that I am concerned in the video :)....
Too Fast
The boys are growing up way too fast. Jackson got his first buzz cut today. It was very sad for mom. He's had many hair cuts before but the back of his hair does this weird stand straight up thing so we thought it was time. It looks nice (though a little thin on top - but that will thicken up) and he looks older.
We went to a birthday party this morning (where the boys did very well and had fun) and we got them home for their nap a tad late - it was obvious that they were tired. We put them to bed and they started to wind up. Jared was downstairs and I was up and thought I heard a thud and a whine. I listened for a minute and didn't hear anything so I knew all was well and thought someone kicked the side of their crib or something. Then....I hear their bedroom door close....what? So I go over and look under their door and am pretty sure I see little feet. So I go get Jared and we come up to see which one has learned to climb out of their crib. We open the door and Jaden is running around and Jackson is in Jaden's crib! We laughed (though silently I was crying - many children climb out of their crib way before this and I have felt so blessed that mine don't - but now, life as I know it is over :)) They were obviously not tired so we took them downstairs and eventually they were BEYOND tired so we took them up. Several minutes later we here a couple thuds so we make our way up the stairs. We meet two boys marching down the hall in the dark. Though we decided to give up on the nap for the day we put Jackson in his crib and asked him to show us how they do it. They actually pull themselves up on the dresser (perfect height and very stable) between their cribs, get on their stomachs, and let themselves to the floor. Tonight before bed we had a conversation about how they needed to stay in bed and they stayed their and fell asleep but I have a feeling they will get out first thing in the morning (sad for me because I usually let them play in there a little while in the morning while I get ready). So I think we'll put them in their toddler beds this week and teach them that they need to stay in their beds. Pray for me this week as I'm sure naps will be a huge challenge and I will be putting the boys to bed myself 3 nights this week. :)
One of these days the boys are just going to start having constant conversations with me. Jackson is already trying. He talks a mile a minute. I usually know what he's talking about but I don't always know why and I don't know half the words he's saying. I think he will be the "why" child.
They have zoomed through 18 and 24 month clothes and are now fitting nicely in 3T. I thought that size would last us a while...but I don't know.
They love to be together and are really good at sharing....but also at fighting over the same toy :)
Jackson is pretty good at playing basketball and Jaden is pretty good at using his toy guitar as an actual guitar.
We've been working on please and thank you with the boys and they're really good with please. Jaden is good at Thank you but I have to remind him. When I try to get Jackson to say thank you he says - welcome! I can't seem to get that fixed, but it will fix itself eventually :)
Both boys know many of their letters and colors and are starting to count - so that's fun. I'm not a believer in pushing them too hard (just a little to encourage them to learn). I tried working with them on letters and numbers before and they just were not interested so I dropped it. Now they are taking an interest on their own and learning quickly.
Tonight when we put the boys to bed we said goodnight and Jared was at Jaden's bed and said "I love you" and Jaden said it back to him - it was very sweet.
That's about it from here I guess. I'm going to see if I have time to load up some pictures now and if so....there will be another post!
We went to a birthday party this morning (where the boys did very well and had fun) and we got them home for their nap a tad late - it was obvious that they were tired. We put them to bed and they started to wind up. Jared was downstairs and I was up and thought I heard a thud and a whine. I listened for a minute and didn't hear anything so I knew all was well and thought someone kicked the side of their crib or something. Then....I hear their bedroom door close....what? So I go over and look under their door and am pretty sure I see little feet. So I go get Jared and we come up to see which one has learned to climb out of their crib. We open the door and Jaden is running around and Jackson is in Jaden's crib! We laughed (though silently I was crying - many children climb out of their crib way before this and I have felt so blessed that mine don't - but now, life as I know it is over :)) They were obviously not tired so we took them downstairs and eventually they were BEYOND tired so we took them up. Several minutes later we here a couple thuds so we make our way up the stairs. We meet two boys marching down the hall in the dark. Though we decided to give up on the nap for the day we put Jackson in his crib and asked him to show us how they do it. They actually pull themselves up on the dresser (perfect height and very stable) between their cribs, get on their stomachs, and let themselves to the floor. Tonight before bed we had a conversation about how they needed to stay in bed and they stayed their and fell asleep but I have a feeling they will get out first thing in the morning (sad for me because I usually let them play in there a little while in the morning while I get ready). So I think we'll put them in their toddler beds this week and teach them that they need to stay in their beds. Pray for me this week as I'm sure naps will be a huge challenge and I will be putting the boys to bed myself 3 nights this week. :)
One of these days the boys are just going to start having constant conversations with me. Jackson is already trying. He talks a mile a minute. I usually know what he's talking about but I don't always know why and I don't know half the words he's saying. I think he will be the "why" child.
They have zoomed through 18 and 24 month clothes and are now fitting nicely in 3T. I thought that size would last us a while...but I don't know.
They love to be together and are really good at sharing....but also at fighting over the same toy :)
Jackson is pretty good at playing basketball and Jaden is pretty good at using his toy guitar as an actual guitar.
We've been working on please and thank you with the boys and they're really good with please. Jaden is good at Thank you but I have to remind him. When I try to get Jackson to say thank you he says - welcome! I can't seem to get that fixed, but it will fix itself eventually :)
Both boys know many of their letters and colors and are starting to count - so that's fun. I'm not a believer in pushing them too hard (just a little to encourage them to learn). I tried working with them on letters and numbers before and they just were not interested so I dropped it. Now they are taking an interest on their own and learning quickly.
Tonight when we put the boys to bed we said goodnight and Jared was at Jaden's bed and said "I love you" and Jaden said it back to him - it was very sweet.
That's about it from here I guess. I'm going to see if I have time to load up some pictures now and if so....there will be another post!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
It's like having twins...
Can I vent for a moment?
Sometimes I want to scream when people who have children who are not twins but born less than 2 years apart say to me - "oh, i know just what it's like to raise twins, my kids are 15 months apart so I know just what you're dealing with" Um....no they don't. Even if their children were to be 9 months apart they are still not twins. They are not doing the same thing at the same time, they are in different stages, they are a different size, and the list goes on. Now, if they want to say it's harder to have kids close together than it is to have twins, fine. I think there are some things harder about twins and some things harder about having 2 very young babies that I will never have to deal with. So they can tell me their child raising experience is harder than mine and I'm fine with that (unless both my children happen to be throwing a tantrum or something at the time they are telling me this - then I might not feel like believing them :)) But PLEASE don't tell me it's the same. A friend of mine with twins said she usually just smiles and says "no it is not". I couldn't do that without being rude (she can definitely pull this off) so instead I just smile and let my blood boil until I get a headache.
Thank you. I just needed to get that out.
Sometimes I want to scream when people who have children who are not twins but born less than 2 years apart say to me - "oh, i know just what it's like to raise twins, my kids are 15 months apart so I know just what you're dealing with" Um....no they don't. Even if their children were to be 9 months apart they are still not twins. They are not doing the same thing at the same time, they are in different stages, they are a different size, and the list goes on. Now, if they want to say it's harder to have kids close together than it is to have twins, fine. I think there are some things harder about twins and some things harder about having 2 very young babies that I will never have to deal with. So they can tell me their child raising experience is harder than mine and I'm fine with that (unless both my children happen to be throwing a tantrum or something at the time they are telling me this - then I might not feel like believing them :)) But PLEASE don't tell me it's the same. A friend of mine with twins said she usually just smiles and says "no it is not". I couldn't do that without being rude (she can definitely pull this off) so instead I just smile and let my blood boil until I get a headache.
Thank you. I just needed to get that out.
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