Twins and Pictures

Okay, so i figured this would be a good time for my first post since many of you out there are very interested to see pictures of the babies and Laura will probably not be available to write a post for a few days. It has been a whirlwind 2 days and we are exhausted, but the good news is that the babies are healthy and breathing on their own. Right now we just need to them to feed well, grow, and learn to eat from a bottle or a breast. Hopefully if all goes as planned we will be able to keep this hospital stay relatively short, perhaps 3 - 4 weeks.

I am going to let Laura tell the story of the events leading up to the birth and the birth itself, because I would probably leave too many holes and leave out some of the little details. We did get some side by side pictures today and they look a lot alike, but you will have to wait for a few days to get those pictures. So without further ado here is Kallie Layne and Klaire Elise. Enjoy.

Klaire 1

Klaire 2

Klaire 3

Klaire 4

Klaire 5

Kallie

Kallie

Kallie

Kallie

Kallie



Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Kevin

Today is the day!!!!

Lyndi just texted me with the girls weights:

Kallie--3.13 lbs

Klaire--4 lbs

Lyndi said that they are doing well and they aren't even needing oxygen!

The girls are here! Kevin just called and Laura is in the recovery room. Kallie entered the world at 10:31 a.m. and Klaire followed at 10:43. Kevin said they didn't know their weights or other details yet. He is hoping to go see the girls here shortly! Be praying for those girls and for Laura. Kevin said that Laura had a tough time but she did it!

UPDATE..Laura's dad just called (10:00) and Laura is dilated to a 9!

This is April and I thought that I would let everyone know that Laura is in the hospital having the girls!! Her sister, Lyndi is keeping me updated so I will post when I find out new information. As of about 9:00 Laura was dilated to a 4 and she had just gotten her epidural. Be praying for Laura, Kallie and Klaire....and Kevin too!!

Merry Christmas!

The boys both liked seeing Santa, but they were annoyed with all of us telling them to say 'cheese'!! Santa's helpers were so concerned about the picture that boys didn't get to talk much to Santa. But he did ask them what they wanted and they said trains and cars. Afterwards, I asked Landon what he thought about seeing him and he said, "I thought he was lovely mom." :) Oh so polite when he wants to be! Liam said he would like to go back and see him again.

Today we made this gingerbread house as a family. It was just as much fun for us as it was for the kids. Kevin and are so excited about playing 'Santa' tonight. We are about to read a book to the boys about baby Jesus and drink some hot cocoa. Tomorrow we are going to put candles in our walnut bread (a delicious bread that Kevin's mom always makes for Christmas) and sing 'Happy Birthday' to Jesus.

I am so excited to be to this day and be home! Thanks for your prayers. We wish you a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Still hanging in there!

I'm still just on modified bedrest and no sign of labor yet! Yeah! I'm miserable, but the girls are getting stronger every day that they stay put, so that keeps me going. My doctor is very pleased with my progress and really thinks I can make it four more weeks! AHHHH! He says I don't know what miserable is yet.....that's scary. Seriously scary. Pray for my endurance and attitude.

Anyway, one week ago the girls were estimated at 3.0 pounds (Kallie) and 3.10 pounds (Klaire). So miss Klaire is being a little bit of a hog. However, my doctor says not to be concerned right now, we are monitoring their growth very carefully and Kallie is still growing. So if it gets to be over a pound difference and Kallie's weight gain starts to level out than we will talk about taking them early. But right now the goal is five pound babies. So pray that Klaire shares her food and that Kallie keeps gaining as steadily as her sister! (We've had them named based on their 'sides of my tummy' for a couple months now! It helps me to feel closer to them.)

So we still don't have middle names. Well correction, I have middle names......I'm just waiting on Kevin to make up his mind!! I have given him my favorite options, but he still can't commit and that's fine. As long as we have something in case I go into labor!

I think I can. I think I can.

It has been a while since my last post because my ability and desire to sit in front of the computer is dwindling. So my posts may be a little shorter:)

First of all, everyone wants to know what name we changed. I forgot to mention that last time! Right now we going with Kallie and Klaire. Still no definite middle names, but I think we are getting closer. Picking two names at once is tough!

Last Thursday I decided to practice the whole hospital thing. I was having contractions all morning and so doc decided to have me come in and be monitered. Sure enough I was having plenty of contractions, but nothing consistant or to be concerned about and my cervix was still closed. Being in a labor and delivery room brought about many memories, some wonderful and some not so wonderful:) I'm on modified bedrest and basically only getting out to take Landon to preschool and go to the doctor. Other than that, Kevin and my mom are doing my shopping and it's great!!!

Showers! We have had two wonderful showers. Thanks to all the hostesses and everyone that blessed us with gifts for the girls. We are just so thankful! Here are some pictures from the showers.

Isn't my sister's cake amazing. I call it her 'masterpiece'!

The boys are doing great. Landon told everyone at preschool last Thursday that the doctor was trying to stop my reactions. Ha! Love it. We have an ultrasound tomorrow and I'll try to give another update later this week.

Updates

We had a restful Thanksgiving, or at least I did! Kevin was a busy little bee getting all of our Christmas decorations up. Thanks honey. The boys are gearing up for Christmas. Landon is telling Liam all about Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, stockings, reindeer, etc. And of course Liam is just thrilled to have more things to talk about with his brother. You ought to hear them lately...they are just too cute. Liam will say, "Come here Wandon I need you." or "Wandon, lets go on a mission to outer space!". Today Landon accidental bonked Liam and so he came over, hugged him, and said, "It was an accident Liam, I love you too much to do something to hurt you." How sweet is that?!? They have only been physical with each other 2 times that I can remember and I know they will do plenty of that later on. But for now, our boys are pretty stinking sweet.

So I we had an ultrasound yesterday. It went very well. My doctor came in at the end to look at some things and he said he was very pleased that the girls were not sitting very low in my pelvis, the amniotic fluid measurements look good, and their sizes look good. The girls have done a switcheroo on us too. They didn't switch sides, but the one who was head down and slightly smaller is now head up and slightly bigger and the one who was head up and slightly bigger is now head down and slightly smaller! Sorry that was a lot to follow! But they are estimated at 2.10 and 2.15 right now and are looking very healthy.

So I let Landon come with me to this ultrasound and he was so excited to say the least. He charmed all the people in the office and nearly made me and the ultrasound tech wet our pants. In the middle of the ultrasound he ran over to the tech, grinned from ear to ear, and said, "This was the look I had on my face when my mommy pooped me out!" I thought I was going to die of laughter and embarrassment all at the same time. So I of course had to explain to her our recent talk with Landon. She thought the whole thing was worthy of America's Funniest Videos. I agree, if only we had captured our talk on video.....we would have won for sure!!

And we have changed one of the names of the girls:) Yep! But we still don't have middle names! Help! We don't care what letter they start with!

Here are some pictures from last week. We really like to play musical furniture at our house right now and Landon's room has gone from his room, to office, to playroom/office, to nursery/office all in 4 months. Landon and Liam are sharing a room and have been since August, they enjoy it very much and it is working well for our little house and our growing family. We weren't planning on doing a nursery for the girls in this house b/c we are putting it on the market in January, but Kevin got the itch after he surprised me with new dressers for the girls. So he painted the room pink last week and we are going to set it up to look like a nursery, but for now my desk is where a crib would go (and yes we are getting two cribs and sadly two will not fit in the room!). We hope to buy a house next year that has really big secondary bedrooms and let the boys share one and the girls share one. If all goes as we hope, we will get into a new house by July b/c Landon is going to Kindergarten and we need to be in the school district we want before school starts up! But if we have to manage here for another year, we will do that too!

Happy Thanksgiving

I am just overwhelmed with thankfulness this week. The lesson our preacher brought to us this past Sunday and has made me consumed with being grateful, so I thought I would list some things I am thankful for.

-My salvation and Kevin's salvation
-Being surrounded by parents, siblings, in-laws, and friends who are also going to heaven with me
-My amazing husband
-Our perfect little boys and soon to be girls
-Our extended families
-Our church family
-Our friends
-Our jobs
-Our home
-Our food
-Our cars
-Our freedom
-Our health
-The aches and pains I have right now b/c that means I pregnant with two more angels.
-The million times I have to tell Landon and Liam to calm down or stop it b/c that means I have kids who are being kids!
-The dish washer that is full for the four time in a week b/c that means we have eaten a lot!
-The mounds of never ending laundry b/c that means we have plenty of clothes.
-And so much more. There are so many things that may seem little, but they are huge. Things like heat, air conditioning, more than one pair of shoes, indoor plumbing, beds, phones, computers.......all kinds of things that we take for granted every day! I could list 500 of them, but I won't!

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are all so blessed.

Life continues sometimes slow and sometimes fast

I mostly want to put the brakes on life right now. The boys are changing so quickly and I want to soak up every minute with them before the girls come and wonderful chaos hits our home. Don't get me wrong, I can hardly wait to meet Kaitlyn and Kallie, but I know that no matter how hard I try to be super mom I will not be able to give Landon and Liam the attention they are accustomed to.

Also, I know that there is a possibility that the girls will come before Christmas or that I will be in the hospital during Christmas (on bed rest) and I want the girls to come when they are meant to come, however, I so desperately want to celebrate this year in the comfort of our home, giving the boys our undivided attention. I want the boys to feel so special and loved this Christmas and I know we can do that even in a hospital room (or if the girls have come, we can spend Christmas morning at home likely and then go up to the hospital to be with them) but it just seems to be on my list of 'trying not to worry abouts' lately:)


We will roll with the punches no matter what happens, but I just have this mommy instinct lately telling me that these babies are coming in December. I get my cervix checked at least every two weeks and this past Wednesday it was still long and closed, but it was soft. Doc told me he was happy with it and not to worry about it being soft, but you know I get held up on details sometimes:) Kevin and I have decided to look at it like, "Well, at least they didn't come this week!' So, 27 weeks is better than 26 and next week 28 will be better than 27 would have been! My prayer has not been for a specific week, it has been that when the girls or my body to decide to go into labor, that Kaitlyn and Kallie will be ready for this world. Premmies are fighters and modern medicine makes it possible for them to over come odds that in the past they otherwise would not have been able to overcome. So we are thankful. Nervous and prayerful, but thankful.


On a lighter note, Landon and Liam have been cracking us up with their latest baby comments! Liam has decided to call the girls 'Luigi'. Yes both of them. Or 'K K'. I guess we will take whatever we get from him:) I suppose the boys will have even more trouble getting the girls mixed up than us! Landon wants us to put a stamp on one of them.....he might be onto something there. We may have to do something to keep them from having their identies stolen by each other!

Landon may have gotten his need for details from me:) This week was no exception. We have gracefully danced around his questions about how the babies got in my belly and how they get out for awhile now. We knew that our responses like, "God put the babies there. And the doctor helps get the babies out." would only suffice for so long. Well it happened this week at dinner. He cornered me! I was clearing dishes when I heard the dreaded question come. Landon said, "So, how ARE they babies going to get out if you don't have any holes in your tummy?" I flubbered for a second and then smiled and said, "How about you go wash your hands while your daddy and I talk for a minute and then we will answer your question." So Kevin and I quickly decided that we shouldn't make this a huge deal, the question is not going away, and he is going to get too many confusing answers at kindergarten next year as is. So I sat down on the couch and he ran over sat down, criss-crossed his legs, stared at me with anticipation, and says, "I'm ready for this talk mom!" (I could hardly talk to him with a straight face.) We simply told him that babies usually come out mommies 'bottoms' (he knows the real term b/c 'bottom' also did not suffice his need for details!). Then came the denial, "No, you are kidding me dad. How does THAT work??!?!?" I said the 'bottom' gets big enough for the baby/babies to come out and then after the baby comes, it gets small again. And the mommy is fine. Landon had a few more questions that Kevin and I can't remember mostly b/c we were doubled over and then he says, "I got it. It's just like me going poops. But when I get a big one it comes out looking like a mushroom, are the girls going to look like mushrooms when they come out?"


I leave you with that! And some pics!

45 Days Until Christmas!

Christmas is coming! In 45 days! When I tallied that number I could hardly believe it. I have so many things to do before the gifts are opened (like, actually buy the gifts...). For a lot of you, sending out Christmas cards is at the top of that To Do list. Before you buy that overpriced, generic box of greeting cards for the 8th year in a row, stop by http://www.forkeepsdesign.com/ and browse through all the unique, custom designs we have to offer. Visit the Holiday section and you'll find designs in all price brackets - even as low as 99 cents!! Since you know the owner there has to be some kind of perk, right? How about a coupon?! When you order before 2009, use coupon code HOLIDAY10 and receive 10% off your entire order. Custom designed Christmas cards for 99 cents plus 10% off! You REALLY can't beat that!

Trunk of Treats and Our Pumpkins

Trunk of Treats is a huge event at many of the churches down here and ours is no exception. Our children's ministry puts on this event and they provide bounce houses, a petting zoo, an indoor maze, food, contests, and tons of candy!! Church members decorate their trunks and pass out the candy. We have a great turn out from the local neighborhoods too.....in fact I saw more neighborhood families than church families.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but we had many shoes in our trunk. The kids thought they had to smell them before we would give them candy:)

Liam was running a little fever that night but he still enjoyed everything. We weren't sure if he would wear his costume, but once we got there and he saw everyone else in theirs he didn't complain and especially when he started getting candy!!

If you ask him if he is Lightening McQueen, he will say, "well actually, I am Weeum." He is too cute and quite articulate like big brother:)

Sunday we carved pumpkins. Landon our little artist, wanted to do everything himself and just couldn't understand why we wouldn't let him use the knives. Kevin made him help 'pull out the pumpkin brains' and at first Landon was not a fan but then he really got into it.

From left to right: Landon's, Kevin's, Mine, Liam's, and of course you know whose the two in front are!

Pumpkin Patch

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch with Kevin's parents. They were in town with us this weekend. Landon jumped in the bounce houses while Liam rode the hay ride with Granddad/GrandPop (Liam has decided that he is GrandPop...so cute). They both REALLY love their pumpkins.

By the end I was pretty exhausted, so I made Landon pull me everywhere. JK- He couldn't get me very far and I'm pretty sure I was about to bust out the back of the wagon!!!

For Keeps Design Gets Big Publicity

Sarah and I and For Keeps Design are being featured on the site Freebies4Mom (see it here) this week. We're giving away a $25 gift certificate to our store (so go enter the giveaway!) and offering a 15% coupon code to her readers. Heather, the owner of Freebies4Mom, told me this morning that she is expecting around 1,000 people to enter the contest. Wow! On top of that, she was interviewed by Inside Edition this past week (set to air on Monday) so that should really spike her website hits this week. We are super excited about what this publicity will do for getting the word out about For Keeps Design. So feel free to post this on your blog and spread the word!
And don't forget to check out our latest holiday designs. We've been uploading many new ones and a lot of them are only 99 cents! You can't beat that!

Double Stroller Contest

Hey guys! I'm hoping to win this new super awesome CHICCO double stroller for the twins! If you want to enter too, then just go to http://parentswithstyle.blogspot.com/search/label/Trevi%20Twin%20Stroller
and follow the contest directions!