Where is time going?!

Time is getting away from me!! Where is it going?!

It has been three weeks now since I promised a post "soon". This was not what I was thinking when I said "soon"....but I guess it's better now than never! The kiddos are enjoying a bath, so I am sitting in the bathroom watching them and decided it would be a good time to get this post started!!

First.....a little recap of our WONDERFUL vacation to Coronado this year : ) Thanks to Chip's parents, we have gotten to go to Coronado every summer since we got married. This was our 5th summer going!!! We left on a Sunday and got home Thursday night. We had a GREAT time.

We left on Sunday morning after breakfast. We were on the road by our goal time: 9am! The kids were wonderful on the drive over. We drove a little over 3 hours to Yuma and stopped for lunch. We ate at Burger King and then went across the street and got Blizzards and Dairy Queen and let the kids run around in the grass for a little bit before loading back into the car. We loaded up around 1:30 and made it to the house we were staying at in Coronado about 3 hours later. The kids took naps and read books and ate snacks and never cried at all. I was so proud of my little travelers. We were thinking, though, how this was the last "fast" drive over there we will probably have for awhile, since both kids were in diapers. From here on out I foresee many bathroom stops in our future.

Chip's parents rented a house this year. The past two years we have stayed at the El Cordova Hotel, but we all decided it might be nice to have a full sized kitchen and backyard now, and the house was actually not as expensive which was a nice part too : ) The house was beautiful!! Chip's parents were SOO amazing and let us have the master bedroom which had a closet big enough for a twin-sized air mattress for Kenzie AND a pack n play for Ryken! When we got there, we got the car unloaded and the beds set up and then we packed a picnic dinner and headed out for a concert in the park. The weather was PERFECT. The park was SUPER crowded, but the music was great and the kids had so much fun running around and playing in the grass! After the concert we went to our FAVORITE gelato place. Then we headed home and the kids went to bed. We watched a movie and then went to bed, too.

On Monday we got up and had a yummy brunch outside. After Ryken took his morning nap, we headed to the beach. We were there for a couple hours enjoying the warm sun and cool water. Kenzie LOVED playing in the sand and water. Ryken had to warm up to the idea. For the first hour he only wanted to be held and he cried if we tried to have him touch the water or sand. But after watching his sister have fun for awhile, he decided to join in too. We didn't get many pictures because the camera memory card was full...so that night we uploaded the pictures so that we'd be able to take more the rest of the trip. After the beach we took the kids home and got all showered off and cleaned up and put them down for a nap. Liz stayed home with them and Chip and I ran to a local pizza place to get our FAVORITE cheesy bread. We had it as a mid-afternoon snack. We didn't really need lunch since we had such a large brunch mid-morning, but I wasn't going to make it until dinner....so it was the perfect solution : ) After the kids woke up from their nap we went to the Boathouse for dinner. We took Chip's parents out as a "thank you" for the vacation! We all enjoyed fantastic food!! Afterwards, Chip's dad took us all out for ice cream. We went home and put the kids to bed and then played a game.

Tuesday, we woke up and hung out around the house for the morning. We played outside and enjoyed the weather. Here is Ryken exploring the backyard...he LOVED that little dog statue:


After Ryken's morning nap, Chip and I took the kids to the park to eat a picnic lunch and play on the playground. They had so much fun playing!!



A little after noon Chip's parents and sister met us at the park and we spent the afternoon walking and browsing the shops. We went home and had more cheesy bread that afternoon and put the kids down for a late nap. We made hamburgers, corn, and cheesy potatoes for dinner and after dinner we got to meet up with on of my friends and her for dessert : ) I met her online during my pregnancy with Ryken and we were so excited that we happened to both be vacationing in San Diego at the same time. Her little girl is just a little over a week younger than Ryken...they were due the same day: ) It was so much fun to meet them after over a year of talking!

When we got home we gave the kids a bath and put them to bed. Chip and I got to take a little "date" and took a walk on the beach. We LOVE having babysitters on vacation : )

Wednesday we had another beach day. We tried to skip Ryken's morning nap....but it didn't work out. He was asleep within the first 5 minutes that we were at the beach. What a little cutie sleeping to the sound of the waves!






We built our yearly sand castle and had a great time. We had pizza for lunch. Chip wanted to stay at the beach and eat lunch and watch the waves destroy our sandcastle (our tradition)....but I was super worn out and after a meltdown (by me) we ended up packing up our pizza and going home. I am glad we went home, because when Chip's parents went to the beach that night they said that the sandcastle was STILL there....we would have been waiting a LONG time. That night we ate lasagna for dinner. We stayed at home with Chip's sister while his parents went back to the beach for the evening. We watched some TV and then went to bed.

Thursday we woke up and after Ryken's nap we went to the beach one last time. We came home and packed up and ate some lunch. We headed out around 2:30pm. We stopped in Yuma for dinner and ended up getting home a little after 10pm. The kids did as great on the way home as the did on the way there. It was a WONDERFUL summer vacation and I can't wait to go back : )

NEXT UPDATE: The TWINS!!

I was 16 weeks yesterday and have gained 10lbs. Doing good!!

My last doctor's appointment was on September 2nd. I was 13 weeks 3 days. The babies looked great : ) I had an ultrasound two days later and got some cute pictures. We also were told by the ultrasound tech that she is QUITE CERTAIN that these babies are BOYS!! We will confirm at our next appointment!!

Here is Baby B (with part of Baby A on the right). He was measuring at 14w3d.



And here is Baby A. He was measuring at 14 weeks 2 days. Both looked GREAT!


Here are a few pictures of them together...Baby A is on the right (facing us) and Baby B is on the left (facing away from us) :


This one is very similar....you can see Baby A's hands and his little knee above Baby B's head)


Here is one that shows Baby B's rear-end in Baby A's face : ) Baby A is on the right still...and you are looking down from the top of his head.


My next doctor's appointment is a week from today (Monday, September 28th). I will have another ultrasound sometime that week as well but still need to schedule it.

Here are the newest belly pictures I have taken...but I need to take new ones. These were taken when I was 13weeks 4days...the day between my doctor's appointment and the ultrasound.




Soooo...there are SOME updates.....more to come sometime in the future (I won't say "soon" this time....but hopefully it WILL be soon anyway!!)

A Post Is Coming Soon...I Promise!

I always start posts.

And somehow they don't get finished. They sit in my "drafts" area....waiting to be finished and published. But it doesn't happen.

I don't know what could possibly be keeping me busy?!

But I WILL update SOON....things to look forward to:
*Our Trip To Coronado
*New Baby Updates (my next dr appt is next Wednesday, Sept 2nd)
*Kenzie and Ryken Updates

Soon. For real.

First I just have to:
*type a tape of dictated letters for work
*do a BUNCH of billing work that piled up over the past week while we were gone!
*finish unpacking
*get groceries
*keep the house in a normal running order

HA. It will be soon......

At least the things I keep busy with all the time are all things I love ♥ All the many blessings that God has poured upon us.

Just another day....and loving it.

Currently.....it is 7:18pm.

There are dirty dishes in the sink...along with soggy bread and tops of strawberries and other yucky things. There are also dirty dishes on the counter. And the table. The dishwasher is full of clean dishes. There are also clean dishes on a different counter.

There are toys and puzzles all over the kids' room. In the midst of the many toys there are crushed up goldfish crackers.

The living room is also a mess. Toys and crumbs scattered about.

I have work waiting for me....work that I have to concentrate on...which means starting the work when the kids are in bed.

There is an empty pizza box on the chest freezer waiting to be taken out. And diapers stacked in the hallway that never made it to their final destination in the kids' closet.

The bed is unmade. And there are clean clothes to be folded and put away. And dirty ones to be washed.

There are coupons from the Sunday paper waiting to be filed away....in hopes of saving a little bit of money here and there.

I am still in workout clothes from earlier.....in need of a shower for sure.....unsure of when that shower might actually become a reality...and unsure of where on my priority list it should go.

I need to wash the trays of the kids' high chairs...and clean up the food that was inadvertently (or sometimes purposefully...) flung on the floor.

I sit here in the bathroom...while the kiddos get cleaned up in the bath.

They still need to be washed. And dried. And diapered. And combed. And Pj-ed. And hugged. And kissed. And prayed with. And then bedtime.

I am a mother of toddlers. A pregnant one at that. Pregnant with twins to top it off.

I am tired. I feel like I was go-go-going all day....and have very little to show for it now...as I sit here with all these messes around me.

Many others know this feeling well. And I think it depresses some. But not me. When it all starts blending together...and I feel like my days are all the same. I stop. And I say thank you to the One who blessed me with these messes and this work and these tiny little people to love.

I sit here watching Kenzie and Ryken splash and giggle and enjoy each other...and it is more than worth it.

I sit and pray that I will know when to be strict..and when to show mercy...and how to love with patience and grace. I pray that I will show them Christ.

I am so blessed to be living this life.

WOW. Ready or not......

So I had my first pre-natal appointment today. I found out I was pregnant 6 weeks ago and purposefully made my appointment for this far out, just because I didn't want to go to the doctor more times than I needed to. The first few weeks went by fine. Then a couple weeks ago I start to get a little bit antsy. By the beginning of this week I couldn't WAIT to get to the doctor and see what was up with my little peanut. I knew that most likely my doctor would be doing an ultrasound and I couldn't wait : )

Chip's mom came over to babysit for us so that Chip could come. We left at 9:35 and got to the office about 5 minutes before my appointment time. I filled out paperwork and we sat and waited. It was fun to be back in the office....it brings back so many memories : )

When I turned in my paperwork, the wonderful receptionist informed me that the ultrasound machine hadn't been working and that they were HOPEFULLY getting it fixed RIGHT THEN and that HOPEFULLY I'd be able to get an ultrasound...but she just wanted to give me a heads up. I have to admit...I was a little disappointed, but I knew either way it would be fine and eventually I'd get to see my little kiddo..even if it wasn't today.

So they called me back. We did the normal routine....weight....pee in a cup....and they put me in the exam room with the u/s machine. AS we were sitting in their the receptionist came and looked at the machine and whatever "update" or "fix" they were running on it had completed and it was FIXED! Hurray!!!

So...the medical assistant came in. Asked all the routine questions....history, current symptoms, etc. She took my blood pressure....104/69. Good. And then we waited.

Dr. C came in...it was so fun to see her! As she was getting things ready Chip made some comment like "Ok...do the ultrasound and show us we're having twins." We've been joking this whole pregnancy about twins....we've joked about it every pregnancy, in fact. Chip always tells me how nice it would be to just get two out of the way with one pregnancy.

So she starts the ultrasound and we see this right away:

Dr. C said "Sorry Chip...one baby". Everything looked great....she measured....listened to the heartbeat. Such GREAT and AWESOME things to see and hear.

As she's looking around a little more she started to say "hmmm". She then pointed out two circles to us. This:

She said- See these two circles?
Me- Yeah
Her- These are yolk sacs...there are two. You don't have two with one baby. This is sorta freaking me out a little bit.
Me- What? (In my head I am thinking...whatever..she is just messing with me because we were talking about twins)

She continued to look at the baby and move around to different angles....as she did this she was telling us about the one time that she "missed" seeing twins at an early ultrasound. She said that it was because one baby was directly behind the second. They didn't find out until the "big" 20 week ultrasound.

So then she shows us a different angle that was from the top of the head. Only there wasn't 1 head. There were 2. She went on to say...."see, sometimes ultrasounds can do like a double picture type thing...but that looks like 2 separate babies"

Then she went back to the yolk sacs again and said "see...that's definitely two yolk sacs...that's not a double picture"

By this point I was thinking...Wow...there really might be two in there. WHAT?!?!

She went on saying..."yeah, I really think this is just like that other twin pregnancy....your second baby is just laying right behind the first". She told me that she was sending me for a confirmation ultrasound, but that she was pretty sure there were two babies.

So by this time I am thinking...wow...there ACTUALLY REALLY might be two. I am thinking she's like 75% sure or something. So I asked "Like...in percentages....how sure ARE you?" She responded "I'm 99% sure". That was when it really hit HARD. 99% sure is like REALLY REALLY sure. She started talking to us about twin pregnancies...what to expect....what extra vitamins to take, etc. I sat there the whole time talking about all of it, but feeling like it wasn't really ME we were talking about....not OUR twins.

So we left the office. We called our families and told them what was going on. I called to make my follow up u/s appointment and they told me they could see me today! Woohoo!! I wouldn't have to wait to confirm this 99% sure news!

So we went home and let Chip's mom leave. We had lunch. I felt like the minutes were DRAGGING by until I could leave for the ultrasound. Chip stayed home with the k ids. I was getting antsy so I left a little early to drop off a prescription for my extra vitamins. I got to the ultrasound place right on time.....filled out paperwork...and waited. They finally called me back. This was it. The confirming moment.

The ultrasound tech introduced herself and asked what exactly they were looking for. I explained what had happened earlier and showed her the two ultrasound pictures from above. The she started the ultrasound. Right away we saw this:

Two babies. No mistaking it. Definitely two. TWINS!!

She told me they were sharing a placenta. From what I have read....shared placenta = identical! They each have their own sacs though, which is good since sharing a sac makes them even more high risk. They are already higher risk because of sharing the placenta.

She got their heart rates. Baby A was measuring at 9 weeks 1 day and the heart rate was 185bpm.

Baby B was measuring 9 weeks 3 days and the heart rate was 169bpm.

Both looked GREAT and perfectly on track! Here are babies A & B...side by side pictures:

So. That was our day. I made lots of phone calls and had fun sharing the news with the masses on Facebook. It's still sinking in....lots of emotions...mostly great and wonderful ones, with a few anxious ones mixed in. But our hope and trust in God and His Sovereign plan helps to calm those anxious feelings. We know that He has given us these two precious gifts and we can't wait to meet them both. We are SOO thankful for the "extra" blessing and we know that Christ is the provider of strength, patience, love, and so much more....He promises to give us all of the things we need if we trust Him and place Him first. So we know that He will equip us to raise these little blessings. There will be hard times....but there will also be SO many times filled with fun, laughter, and extra joy :)

It's a good thing we really wanted 4 kids : ) God just allowed us to get there even sooner than we expected.....and we already thought we were on the SUPER FAST plan...just goes to show that "A man's heart plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9) These weren't exactly the "steps" we were planning on...but we're ready.....or trying to be!

PS- I guess it makes sense now why I have been SOOOO tired (see previous post..hehe)!

SOOOOO Tired!!

I am now somewhere between 8 & 10 weeks pregnant and HOLY COW is this baby WIPING ME OUT! I know that it is common to be super tired in your first trimester...it is just strange for me as I didn't experience being THIS worn out with me first two pregnancies.

I am thinking it is a combination of things.....one of those things being the fact that I have a 2 year old and ALMOST 1 year old. The other being the fact that I have never been newly pregnant at this time of year and I think the heat is really adding to my sleepiness!

All of that to say.........I HAVE A WONDERFUL HUSBAND! And I want to take a second to brag about him a little bit : )

This week Chip has been AMAZING (not that he isn't ALWAYS amazing...he really is, but this week he has just had extra hard circumstances to work with and he's STILL being amazing). He has been letting me sleep in every morning....he gets up with the kids and makes them breakfast and plays with them. He lets me take naps..sometimes multiple a day! He doesn't complain AT ALL when he gets home from work and the house is a disaster....instead, he comes in and immediately starts cleaning up and asking about how my day went. He is being so understanding and such a servant and I am SO thankful that God gave me Chip as my partner in this journey of life!

Watching my husband serve me so willingly during this time has been such an encouragement and inspires ME to be more of a servant. I know that he isn't doing it for me...he is doing it for the Lord, and that makes it even sweeter.

I am praying that God gives me energy soon. Hopefully I will remember to be more thankful for the energy He gives me daily and stop taking it for granted....because it really isn't easy being a wife and mom when you just want to sleep all the time!

I am ESPECIALLY praying for some extra grace and energy for the next two days......and if you happen to read this maybe you can pray for me as well : ) Chip is participating in a golf tournament for our church tomorrow morning and he has to be there at 6am which means he'll be leaving around 5:30 or 5:45am. Then, right after the golf tournament he works from 3-11pm. SOOO....that means I am home with the kiddos all day. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal at all, but just pray that I have extra patience and extra energy to deal with my little ones : ) Sunday won't be much easier because Chip has to be at work at 6:30am. He will get home around 3pm and we have to be finished with dinner by 5:30 to leave for church at 6pm. So it will be another full day. I also have work to get done before Monday.......

SOOO......I know I will make it through it......maybe the kids will get to have a brain frying TV marathon this weekend....haha. I'll try not to use Woody and Buzz Lightyear as my babysitters TOO MUCH...but we'll do what we need to do!!

Thank you Lord...for my husband and his servant's heart.
Thank you Lord...for my sweet babies that you've allowed me to raise.
Thank you Lord...for the new little one you are growing inside me.
Thank you Lord...for the other COUNTLESS blessings you've poured upon me!

Big News and Birthday Time!

We're going for it.

Baby #3 is on the way.


3 children. Under 3 years old.

A challenge? Yes.
Exciting? For sure.
A blessing? Indeed!

I haven't been to the doctor yet, but we're thinking that our third little one will be joining the family sometime in February of 2010. We didn't "try" for the baby or "not try". We left it completely 100% in God's hands. And He blessed us. And we're thankful!

We told our families on the 4th of July. I made the kids t-shirts. Kenzie's said "I'm the big sister".
Ryken's said "I'm the little brother" on the front and "AND the BIG BROTHER" on the back.

Here's a cute shot of the kiddos swimming on the 4th of July at their great grandma and grandpa Brown's house:

I go to the doctor on August 5th. So I will be able to update more specifically then. But for now. I am somewhere between 6 & 8 weeks along and feel great. I get queasy in the mornings, but as soon as I eat something I feel much better. My super-sniffer pregnancy nose is back in full force...wonderful for changing those stinky diapers. And my belly is already getting quite bloaty and round in the evenings. I'm not sure that I am ready to be huge again so soon....but there's not much I can do about that.

So that's about it as far as baby news goes.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Part 2 of this post = my 24th birthday

I turned 24 on July 9th. It was a great day : )

Ryken woke me up early. Really early. 5am to be exact. But it was ok. I needed to get some work done by 7:30 and it was a good thing he woke me up because it ended up taking me longer than I was thinking it would and I finished at about 7:15.

Chip let me go back to bed at 7:30 until he had to leave for work at 8:30. I was grateful for the extra rest! Chip worked from 9am-5pm that day. Kenzie and I watched TV and played while Ryken took his morning nap. When he woke up I packed the kids into the minivan and headed out into the EXTREME heat to get some free birthday food : ) First we went to Joes Real BBQ where Chip happened to be working the To-Go window. I got a quart of mac n cheese, a kid's sized bun, and a piece of lemon cake in place of my "birthday meal". So it was FREE : ) Then we headed across the street to Liberty Market. You get a $10 credit for your birthday there. I ordered the vegetarian pizza which is $9.50 and a water. So again. FREE : ) I fed the kids their mac n cheese and enjoyed my delicious pizza. We had enough leftovers for another meal....BONUS!! We shared the lemon cake and went on our way.

We got home at 1:30. Both kids fell asleep in the car. Both kids woke up as I transferred them inside. Both kids got completeley WOUND UP and would NOT go back to sleep. I think they FINALLY fell asleep about 2 hours later. It was an ordeal.

Chip got off work at 5. His mom came over to babysit at 5:15. We left at 5:30.

We got to go to dinner AND a movie! We usually do one or the other. So it was pretty special : ) We ate at Brio, a nice Italian restaurant. We had a gift card so we splurged and got things like appetizers and lemonade. I got way too full. I felt pretty miserable. But it sure tasted GREAT!






We went and saw The Proposal. It was a dissapointment. I had heard from a few people it was really good. And it wasn't bad. Just not that great. But it was still fun to sit with Chip and hold hands and be somewhat entertained for a couple extra hours with no kids.

We stopped on our way back to the car and took some pictures. Just goofy stuff. But it was fun. And it felt like a date.







We got home at around 10pm. Ryken was crying. He apparently woke up and missed his mom. Poor guy. And poor grandma. Not very fun trying to take care of a mad screaming boy. But I nursed him and he went back to sleep and that was that.

The next night Chip's parents and grandparents came over and brought Buster Bars from DQ. YUM. Chip's mom got me an H2O mop to steam clean the floors. She must notice how dirty they are every week when she babysits! (Just kidding...I know that isn't true and I was not offended by the gift AT ALL...I'm actually really excited about it!) I used it tonight and it worked really well. And when I am 8 1/2 months pregnant it will be REALLY NICE not to be down on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor!

Ryken had a little birthday surprise planned for me that night...he started taking steps...2-3 at a time...back and forth between everyone as we sat on the couches talking. It was fun for so many people to share in such an exciting accomplishment for him!



Last night we went to Red Robin for my free birthday burger. Chip and I split it and bought a kids meal for the kiddos to split. Then we headed to DQ with my birthday buy one get one free blizzard coupon. Yum!

So I think now that it is the 13th my birthday festivities have finally come to an end. It sure was a wonderful birthday though!

It's been WAY too long......

How does this happen? I can't believe how time flies by.

There were several things I was INTENDING to blog about as they happened....and somehow all of those events have come and gone and still no new posts. So this will be my sorry attempt to recap a little bit!

Our first big event since I last wrote was my little sister's wedding! It was such a great time. We spent a great week catching up with family and friends and meeting and enjoying many of Cassie & Zach's friends from Taylor. Cassie was a beautiful bride, and God really blessed the whole entire weekend. I can't believe she has already been married for over a month!!

At the beginning of June we decided to re-join our local YMCA and start working out again. The membership includes childcare, which is a HUGE plus for us! We've been able to go 2-3 times a week to workout since we joined and I've also enjoyed taking the kids swimming on a few occasions in the evenings.

The next note-worthy event was our 4 year anniversary on June 18th! An especially fun part of Cassie's wedding was the fact that it took place at the same place and time that we had our own wedding. Chip and I were able to stand together and walk down the aisle together, and it was such a fun reminder of our own "big day" 4 years ago. And as exciting and fun as a wedding and "new love" is, it is so much fun to know that it only gets better and that I am much more in love with Chip today than I was 4 years ago (and I loved him A LOT 4 years ago!) We just did "normal" things for our anniversary. We worked out and ate lunch and played with the kiddos and just had a regular day.

The following Sunday was Father's Day. We had a FULL DAY that day! We went to church in the morning, came home and made a VERY yummy lunch (almond halibut, vegetable rice pilaf, broccoli and a raspberry cake. MMMmmm!) Chip's dad and sister came over for lunch (his mom was in Ohio visiting his other sister) After the kids woke up from their nap we headed over to Chip's grandparents house to swim and have a bbq. Chip's aunt, uncle, and cousins were in town from Tucson and we had a great time catching up with them! We headed home that night and got the kiddos to bed.

About a week ago we got motivated to get this place organized! We did a few different things to accomplish this:
- We cleaned some of our junk out of Chip's parents garage
- We put up a new cabinet in our "dining area" above our chest freezer for more storage space.
- We bought a bunch of gray storage bins and I organized our closet so it is no longer looks like a huge heap of junk.
- We put shelves in the babies' closet.

I think those have been our main organizational accomplishments. It feels nice, though, to find places for things. It is constantly a struggle to keep things from piling up, especially when you're working with small amounts of space. God has blessed us with just about the maximum amount of "stuff" that our cozy home can comfortably hold! For that we are thankful but it can also be a challenge sometimes!

So that's that. Time to start a new post. Time to try to be consistent again. Starting fresh.....NOW!