Time flies...

Time sure does fly when you are about to have a baby and then bam... they are here!!!

6 1/2 months later here is my story!

It started as a typical ridiculously hot summer day, I met my sister-in-laws and father-in-law and dropped the kids off with them so they could go to the zoo! What fun! They asked if I wanted to go, but seeing as how it was only 9:30 and I was already unbearably hot and could not imagine walking around in the heat with my big belly I passed. Plus, I had a date with my hubby! Well, really I had to pick him up so we could go sign some life insurance paperwork. So off they went and off I went to get Tim. We finished up atound 11:30 and thought, lunch date? Yes, please!!!! Even with my huge belly I devoured my chicken nachos and enjoyed some time with my man! I dropped him off at work and contemplated what else do to with my free time. So I decided to hit up the grocery store. I went to sunflower and target and got tons of yummy looking fresh produce and some random odds and ends a nesting pregnant lady insists on buying. I have this theory that no one will go to the store for like a month so I make sure that even our deodorant and toothpaste is well stocked! I ran into the lady who normally does my ultrasound and said, "see ya soon" I have my appt in just a little while!" I had just enough time, luckily, to take it all home and get to my doctor's office. 

In all of the books you read when preparing for a baby they say to pack a bag, which I did, but i don't remember if they say pack it for your doctor's visits... For this visit, my 37 week, (technically, I was 37 1/2 weeks) my normal doctor whom I had seen at every prenatal visit was out of town, no big deal just a vacation to mexico! So I saw a new doctor, Dr. Head. I do the usual weight and heart rate checks and then wait with my pants off to see how far I am dilated... in comes my new doctor who is very nice and asks how I am doing? I say fine, I have been feeling some back pain which gets to be very very uncomfortable, but otherwise I'm just a fat pregnant lady waiting for just one more week to be induced :-)  She says, well lets just check you out and see how you are doing....

Down she goes with her hand... With a look of confusion she says, "Are you sure you're not in labor?" To which I reply, "I don't think so, I have never gone on my own, so I couldn't tell you, do I look like I am? And why do you ask???" "Well", she says, "You are 7 cm dilated and I can feel your little ones little feet kicking me!!!" Oh that's neat I think to myself and she follows with, "I've never experienced this except for with a women in labor. So, what do you think about having your baby today?" With tears in my eyes and a state of shock I say, "Um....", and think, but that wasn't my plan. She proceeds to tell me that I should go home get my stuff, get my husband, and go check into the hospital and when she is done in the office for the day she'll induce me....

"Nope, actually I want you to just go right over there right now!!!" What??? She could tell my look of confusion and concern so then she informs me that with as far as I am dilated she is afraid that my water will break and if that happens worst case little baby a's cord could prolapse, or slip out first and the baby could lose oxygen and well that would be bad. Did she just tell me that? Way to scare me! So I ask her what her experience with twins is and she says she has done tons of c-sections and has delivered many sets of twins. I was comforted enough with this information and say , well I guess I will see you in a little while. She really was a sweet doctor and very nice and I am glad to have had her if I couldn't have had my regular doctor. I'm really glad it wasn't the one guy doctor there that I don't like!!

So I go to move my car from one parking lot around to the hospital parking lot and call Tim, "Hey, honey hows about we have a baby today?" I tried to be all nonchalant about it, but really I was kinda freaking out. He sounded a bit shocked and was like, when? Ummm... right now. Finish up I say and get my bag from the house, oh and my phone charger would be good since my phone is almost dead and I'll see you in the hospital :-) 

Remember the previous fact about my almost dead phone? Yeah, so I send out a mass text to my mom, sister, mother, father and sister-in-laws, and try frantically to call my father-in-law to tell him there is a change of plans. Three tries later I call Karen, she doesn't answer, so then I call Sarah, hoping they are still together, nope, they are in separate cars on their way home. Well, please pass this message on to him and please take care of my kids, I hope they are ok and being good. See ya later!

And here I am!!!! Ready and super duper nervous to experience a c-secction but glad my husband has finally arrived! 

They got me all ready and with whatever they gave me I was cold, or I just started to shake and I was nervous so they gave me something else to relax me. They wheeled me into the operating room got me ready and just before the cut they brought in Tim. Whatever they numb you with is crazy and instantly I was numb! He got in there and I felt like all of a sudden I had a baby! I felt this huge amout of pressure, more like relief as I had a baby taken out of my tummy, It's a girl!!! Then 30 seconds later, It's a boy!!! I felt them tugging around and fixing me and sewing me up and I strained to look and see my two little bundles of joy!!! They look good and healthy, I hear and I let out a sigh of relief, and probably a tear or two! All of a sudden I have my cute little tiny baby girl being held over me and as soon as I have time to recognize what is happening I have my cute not so little baby boy added to the pile! They are real, they are here and so precious!!! We were a very happy mommy and daddy and so thankful for these precious gifts!!!

A whole pound!!!! I was guessing that he would be bigger, but a whole pound? 

We had lots of family waiting in the waiting area for us. They just knew my c-section was at 5 so they came and were so excited to get to meet two new babies! Well little did we know of how it works when you have a c-section. After they took them out, they took the babies to be looked over by the nurses. I went to a recovery room and soon Tim got to join me. After a little while I was also joined by the babies, 6 1/2 months later this part gets a little fuzzy. I think I was able to feed them at this point, which was about an hour after I had had them. Again they were whisked away this time for a bath and I was wheeled down to my real room. Unfortunately there was a lot going on in the hospital and they only had one tiny room left, but down the hall we went, past the nursery and past the parade of family who were patiently waiting and into my room! Soon the family came in and I got to chat with them for a little bit and let them take guesses at the babies names. Finally at like 8:30 Corinne was ready to come in! We introduced her to the family and let everyone know that while I was in recovery we finally decided on her name, Corinne Jo. We went through like 8 names and that was the latest one we were on and then we picked Jo after my mom, who was also named after her great grandmother Josephine. 

Everyone took a turn holding her and could not believe how tiny she was, the smallest baby by far that was born on both sides of our family at 5lb 8oz!  Next we had a fun time having people guess what the little man's name was. At they zoo they had tried to coax it out of Shyler, but they thought they were confused. When we finally told them there were a lot of mixed looks. Mostly they were like, really, Like the new Broncos quarterback? Yep, just like that! Actually we liked the name even before he was the new quarterback and we had picked the middle name even before we knew it was a boy for sure. There was much debate about his name being reversed, but in the end we agreed on Peyton John!

Now that we had finally introduced both babies I was one tired momma!! It was 9pm well past visiting hours and I could hardly keep my eyes open (partially from the drugs)!!! People started to get the hint and we got ready for our first night of not one, but two newborn feedings!! 

Lucky for us, my sister had a lot of free time so she took the big kids home and was able to watch them for the next few days while we stayed in the hospital. She was the biggest help I could have ever asked for! She had my niece with her to entertain the kids and she cooked and cleaned and spent a few weeks with us! I am glad that I did not have to experience the first month without her, my mom, tim's family and the amazing people in my ward at church! I actually felt like the first few weeks were easier with the twins than with Adam because I had so much great help!

Shyler and Adam love being a big sister and big brother! Shyler loves to hold them, especially her sister and Adam loves to be a big helper and hold his little brother! 

One big happy family!!!

Crazy kids

more to come...!!!

Here I am! 

Here are the twins and me at 32weeks, but measuring 37! 

Here also are some little, or maybe well known, facts about this pregnancy:

1. I hear this a lot... "You are so tiny! I can't believe you are having twins"... Now I will admit that I am super fortunate to be so small in comparison to some women, but none the less I feel ginormous!!! But, I do admit that it is hard to believe that there are actually 2 babies inside of me!
2. I have gained 38lbs so far and even though I know I am supposed to gain 40-45, I hate to step on the scale and see the numbers going up and up!
3. In connection with the previous, I do eat food and don't feel like I have any weird cravings... mostly just aversions. I can't stand to eat corn for example. A lot of times lately I don't know what to eat and nothing sounds good. While Tim was out of town this week we had cereal for dinner, which the kids loved!!! Then the next night we had breakfast...
4. That leads me to my next one. I hate cooking dinner and making the decision of what to eat. So unless I get told what to make it ends up being what sounds the easiest to make, so we eat spaghetti and hamburgers a lot.
5. I am not a fan of this super hot summer!!! 5 days in a row with 100 degree plus days and records did not make for a happy me... but I think that pregnant or not I would be feeling like that! I do love my prenatal swim class which helps me cool off and gets me doing something active!
6. I am not a fan of heartburn!!!! I am thankful that I don't have it on a regular basis and if I did, I am sure Tim would force me to the doctor for an extra strength prescription because I would complain all the time!!!
7. It's not all bad... I love feeling the babies move inside of me! I think it's fun knowing approximately where they are and so it is neat to know if it Baby A or B. A is the girl and is down low and usually I feel kicks from her more on the inside, like on my bladder. She also gets a nerve that shoots pain down my leg, but it is always nice knowing she is there and doing well! B is the boy and is up high. He kicks my upper stomach area and my ribs. These kicks are the ones that Tim can really feel and I can notice my stomach moving around more. I'm not really a fan of getting kicked in the ribs, but again it is still nice to know he is doing well.
8. I have been told that Heavenly Father wouldn't give me more than I can handle, and I have also been told that I am a great mom and will do a great job with twins because Heavenly Father trusts me with 2 sweet spirits at once... Now, whether you believe that or not, I mostly don't believe the second theory... I do know that I am so lucky to have this opportunity and I continue to pray each and every day for the health and safety of these two little babies and for them to come not too early and that I will be able to have the mental and emotional strength to raise these little ones along with the other amazing 2 children I have been given.  I am thankful for this blessing of being able to bring a total of 4 children into this world and I hope I can do the best job possible to make my Heavenly Father proud as I raise these children. I know that not everyone has it as easy as I have had it in having these children and so I hope that I don't take them for granted and that I enjoy each and every day that I have with them!
9. Unless there are any complications I now have 6 weeks and 3 days at most until I meet these little guys! I keep wondering what they will look like. Will the boy have dark hair and eyes like Shyler or light hair and eyes like Adam??? And what about the girl? So many possibilities!!!! I also wonder if their activities and way they have been in the womb is an indication of how they will be in real life. For example, she is stubborn and will not listen to me as I plead for her to go head down. He on the other hand has always been on top of her and crowding her. Either he will demand to be the center of attention or he will be the best twin brother, always protecting her, which might be nice when the boys come around wanting to date her :-)
10. No, we don't have our names picked yet. If you ask Tim he would say yes. But I am still not sure. We have decided on about 4 different girl names and then we change our mind! Well, mostly I change it and then Tim agrees. Either way we are not planning on revealing the names until they are here!

FYI the picture on the left is me with Shyler at 36 weeks and the one on the right is with Adam at 36 weeks!!! See I am huge!!!

32 weeks and counting...

Well here we are and wow how the time has gone by. We have been staying pretty busy and I have been getting super tired so usually the blog is the last thing on my mind. This week I hit the 32 week mark for my pregnancy with these twins. At the doctor I measured 37 weeks and they both weighed 4 lbs!!! Baby A which will come out first is butt down so I am hoping she decides to turn herself around soon!!! It is one for the record books for sure as we had a 5 day stretch of 100 degree days or more!!! That has been interesting trying to survive the heat, entertain the children, and not get too worn out chasing them around too. We are super sad for Colorado and all of the wildfires that are burning so big and so close to so many people. We are praying and hoping for a nice rain spell!!! 

Some of the things we have done are

.... "Babymoon" trip to San Francisco, just Tim and Amanda

.... Family trip to Estes Park for the weekend

..... Tim has traveled to WY for work a few times

....  Lots of swimming at the rec center, including me taking a prenatal swim class which I love!

.... Tim's annual memorial day bike ride/ brew tour with college buddies

.... Tim replaced a section of fence in the backyard (during previously mentioned heat wave) and painted the kids' room downstairs so they can move in this weekend :-)

.... Celebrated Tim's dad turning 60!!!

.... Mother's Day! I have the best husband how bought me a Kitchen Aid mixer!!!

.... Father's Day! He got a new grill!!!

.... Finished off the school year and preschool with Shyler

.... and growing 2 babies!!!

So the pictures I don't think uploaded in any special order, but here you go!

Adam and a little flour mishap with the kitchen aid

 Silly Girls! Posing for the camera for their last week of school!

 A month ago at 28 weeks

 Huffin' and puffin, Having a great surprise party at Dave and Buster's

 Princess Shyler after her beautiful face painting at a friends birthday party

 Watching him cut and wrap the famous Estes Park taffy 

 Our cabin, Coleman, at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park

 Chowing down on some S'mores

 Hiking away and enjoying RMNP

 Our first stop at Nymph Lake

 Stopping for the camera at a cool little waterfall 

 We loved hiking with the Haun's!

At the top of Trail Ridge Rd

Twins and Easter!!!

Here is my growing belly!!!! 20 weeks along with the twins!!!!

I guess I never announced our exciting news via the blog, but yep we are expecting not only one baby, but two!!!!! The past two ultrasounds have shown one boy for sure swimming around like a boy squishing his little sister that is just curled up, head down so far, under him. She is the one that we weren't sure on, but both times they were pretty positive it was a girl. We are excited for this new adventure and aren't quite sure what to expect, but I'm sure we will get through it and enjoy all of the fun they bring into our lives!

This picture was a few weeks ago, but our due date is Aug 19, which means probably at the beginning of the month the way twins go. The pregnancy has been ok so far, just your typical stuff just a little magnified, at least for what I'm used to. Now I'm past the sickness and onto the big belly that gets full really easily and the start of heartburn! The kids are really excited and even love giving the babies hugs and kisses. Shyler has named them Francesco and Franceski.... but it was pinky for a little while... Don't worry those aren't their real names and we will probably be stinkers and not tell until the birth because we are even having a hard time agreeing as it is :-)

Another beautiful spring day that we got to spend at the zoo before our pass expired! Shyler loved meeting up with her friends from preschool too!

Shyler got a special day with daddy, he was in heaven at the Denver Auto Show and Shyler had fun being a cute little model. They really enjoyed the mustangs too!

How does this happen? I don't even know how but, yes I did get peed on... Adam was behind me after his bath and then I was wet! Silly boy!

Shyler was enjoying a nice spring day with her new bike she got for her birthday!

We had a great time celebrating the Easter season. For Family Home Evening we did a cool idea I found on Pinterest. We used marshmallows to represent the body of Christ, butter, cinnamon and sugar to represent the anointing oils and spices, and then a crescent roll for the linens they wrapped His body in before His body was put into the tomb. After He was risen we took the finished product out of the oven and the marshmallows were gone just like Christ's body was when he was resurrected. It was a great visual and a very yummy treat, although Adam was very concerned where Jesus had gone.

We did an egg hunt the city hosted with cousin Kimberly, one at grandma and grandpa's with all of the cousins, then one at home with cousin Tyler. It was lots of fun!!! Good think we were smart and just re-used the eggs each time! Adam did a great job and Shyler of course was really good!

Happy Easter!!!

What a silly silly boy!!! He's missing his armbands though that he usually insists on wearing. That would have completed the picture. But just an FYI he insisted on the shorts being up like that.

Last Saturday he decided he didn't need to take a nap, so we get the infamous toddler falling asleep at the dinner table. We haven't had that in a while and it was very entertaining. Too bad there wasn't something like a bowl of soup for him to crash into, that would have been hilarious!!! And then of course after his head nods he got a second wind and was running around like crazy!!! Then he didn't even sleep in! Lucky for me I got a 3 1/2 hour nap out of both of them on Monday!!! During which time I should have slept, but instead read the 3rd book in the Hunger Games series. It was interesting and it really made me want to find out was happened, but I just didn't like all of the violence.

Besides spring cleaning and celebrating my mom's birthday that's about all we've been up to!

Birthday's Galore!

It's a busy busy time around here! We had lots to celebrate recently and we are excited for all of our many blessings!

In Feb we got to celebrate Adam's second birthday and my birthday with a super bowl party with our wonderful family! And yes he does have a nice shiner on his forehead, he decided to fall into the coffee table a few days before his birthday.

We enjoyed our present of about a foot of snow and the fun times playing in the snow gave us. Shyler and her dad had a blast, Adam was a little more hesitant, but it was all in all fun times!

Also for our birthday celebrations we got to go to the CSU mens basketball game with my mom and our friends the Fourniers. It was fun and we love showing our Ram Pride! The next week we also got to go to a play area and celebrate Cam the Rams birthday too. The kids loved running around and eating pizza, and cupcakes.

I spent some time trying to be creative and made some letters for the kids room. Adam loves the balls and points them out all the time!

Shyler loves hers too!

She was so excited to finally get to wear her fancy new dress from her grandparents and loved her fancy curls Aunt Kelli gave her too!

It may not have been a present, but got some tickets to the nuggets game. 11th row!!! It was a nail biter until the finish in overtime when they sealed the deal.

A princess and her friends!

Shyler had a blast with her friends and they enjoyed a lovely day fit for a princess! We had fun coming up with a food for each princess, we played a couple games, like pass snow white's poison apple and then by then time they were done eating I could tell they were exhausted, so we watched princess sing-a-long songs! They were totally in the zone!

Shyler was the perfect little princess and we were so proud of her for doing so well with so many other little princesses. We can't believe it has been 4 years since she blessed our lives and gave us the amazing gift of being parents!

On another note, we really needed a car wash... so real quick we did the drive through wash, and Adam did not enjoy it! Silly boy, next time we'll have to remember to leave him out of that.

Where has Jan gone?

Merry Christmas!!! This is us waiting for Adam to decide to wake up so we could start our Christmas morning!!

Well you would think that with Tim home my life wouldn't be nearly as crazy, but it is!! We have been busy enjoying time together when we can after work with Tim and trying to stay sane during the day with these winter months. This week the kids had a blast at the rec center gymnastics area where they had an open gym. It was a great deal, $2/ hour and they ran around and had so much fun!!! I think I will have to take them more often, and it was a nice change for the kids too!

They loved the running trampoline they have!

He finally got the hang of running down then walking back! We all took a good nap after this!

Shyler tried out the balance beam, and the uneven the bars and rings too!

Tim survived his trip home with minimal weather which was perfect for us waiting for him on the other end. He enjoyed a stop in Omaha and a nice dinner out with his Aunt and Uncle as well. He really enjoyed his project he worked on and the people he met in Ohio, but luckily we won out and he knew it was time to come home... if we would have been out there with him I'm pretty sure it would have gone from a 6 month project to an 18 month one! He received many thank you's and made some good friends while gaining some invaluable experience so we are happy to have supported him in this. Now we are just so happy to have him home again!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas with the family and enjoyed the craziness at the Miller's with 6 grandkids aged 4 and under! It was fun having Christmas on a Sunday. Our family woke up, well i was up first followed by Tim and Shyler then we sat next to Adam until he finally woke up to us staring at him, then we opened our stockings. We had some yummy Costco muffins and enjoyed a great time at church. We came home and opened our presents then we went to spend the rest of the day with the rest of Tim's family. It was nice to have my mom with us and it was a fun time had by all!

Now we are getting ready to celebrate! Poor Tim was in Ohio for his birthday, but we celebrated when he got home. Next week is Adam's and my birthday! I can't believe is his 2 already!!!! Fun Fun Fun and a lot of craziness around here!