MoMEnTS To BLoG ABoUt

Unofficial Sleepover

2011-07-14T14:33:00.001-07:00

I went to check on the girls one night and they had fallen asleep together in the same bed. They were practically on top of each other. So cute!
Off to the boys room....

Same thing here on the same night. The boys had also fallen asleep in the same bed. I love it when they are nice to each other so I thought this was precious.

Hyphen Interiors: Painted Upholstery – The Process Revealed (Tutoria...

2011-03-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Hyphen Interiors: Painted Upholstery – The Process Revealed (Tutoria...: "How do you get a chair to go from drab to fab? I recently painted an upholstered chair and have been asked about the process. Below ..."

Disneyland in December

2011-03-01T08:51:00.001-07:00

They don't look so scary here but this was a rough trip. These kids had me crying outside our motel room. Eric and I had to lock them in the motel room and we had a time out in the hall. They thought it was a great oppurtunity to help themselves to Capri Suns and other snacks.

Santa was at California Adventure.

The Christmas Tree on Main Street.

I had to sit this one out. This ride would have ruined my trip.

Standing in line with our helpers. Thanks Michelle and Carol!

The Tower of Terror! Tate and Ashton got to come on this with Eric, Brad Lauren and me. It was hilarious to see there faces.
They hated it. :) We knew they would but it was pay back for all the crying they did on our trip.

This is what we had to push, carry, pack all around Disneyland and California Adventure. Not to mention all the crying and tantrums. Since I am posting these pictures 3 months after the trip it doesn't look so bad now. We will be waiting at least 3 more years to take our kids back. We do have some fun memories. As always, the drive home is welcomed when the time comes.

Newport Beach was one of the highlights of our trip. The kids could just run wild and we didn't have to worry about them. Next vacation=beach and no kids.

This sweet lady insisted on getting a picture with our girls. She wanted a picture for her granddaughter. Maybe they don't have twins where she's from? We took a picture so we wouldn't offend them. :)

Here comes trouble.

Karate kid.

Christmas with Aunt Edna! A must see and read....so hilarious!

2011-01-16T18:04:00.001-07:00

http://beaucourt.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/2010-family-christmas-party-and-a-little-visit-from-aunt-edna/#comment-696

New Year's Goal's

2011-01-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have 2 main goal's this year. I am working toward losing 16 pounds...I have already lost 3.2. My other goal is to simplify. Eric and I want to go on a cruise in June to celebrate our birthday's and our 7th Anniversary. Since we had four kids within our first 4 years of marriage, we haven't had much time to ourselves. I can't wait to get him alone. ;) My other goal; to simplify, means I am going to focus on my family. My kids require so much time and I really want to find balance in our lives. I am going to say yes to the things that we can do and say no to anything that puts our lives over the limit. Don't get me wrong, I still want to serve other people and help out where I can but I feel like my life is on overload when too many things come up at the same time. I am really looking forward to enjoying the things that we do get to do. I am also looking forward to the inner peace that comes from finding balance in my life. I think the peace of feeling balanced will trickle down to my children feeling happier and my husband will be happier as well.

Happy Fourth Birthday Tater Bug!

2010-12-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

JOY frOm OuR KIdS

2010-12-07T21:47:00.001-07:00

Happy Fifth Birthday Ashton!!!

2010-10-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

ChAIr ReDO ReCYcled LoVE IT!

2010-10-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Barf!

I am going to let the pictures speak for themself. That aweful ugly fabric at the top is the old fabric and the chair was a shiny black. I wanted to funk it up so for about $9 for 2 cans of paint and some fabric I got this beautiful chair. I found it at a garage sale last weekend. The guy was cleaning up and as he was carrying it back into his garage, I stopped my car and asked to see it. I had to have it. I love this chair!!!

KiTcHEn MaKEoVER

2010-08-24T14:35:00.001-07:00

I couldn't find a better picture. This was Ashton's 4th birthday party but just look at my ugly cupboards. They had to go. It was shortly after this party that I yanked them all down and got to work.

I had Eric put beadboard into all our cabinet doors to replace the old foofoo look. It sounds easy but it took him two days or hard labor. It was SO worth it. I love the results! I look at it as money we saved since a "new" kitchen wasn't in the budget.

The Process: I took all the cupboards out to the garage. Eric routered into the cupboard into a rectangle shape so that he could place the beadboard into the actual door. I had to lightly sand all the cupboards and put on a coat of Glidden White Gripper primer so that the paint would last on the previous oil base stain. Then I had to paint the cupboards white. It took a few coats. Once they were dry we had to use some white painter's caulk to fix any imperfections around the beadboard. I painted them with a final coat of white. I used some Polycrylic over the cupboard doors that we would use the most. I wasn't up for painting all of the cupboards with the Polycrylic. I am thrilled with the outcome. I have been putting off painting our bathroom cupboards but that is next on the list. It is a very inexpensive project that made me actually like my kitchen. Later I will have to add a post about how I painted my kitchen counters. Notice the difference from the first picture to the 3rd picture? Now onto the next project...

ATTN: Chicken Coop Update!!!

2010-08-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

Our home for Oakley is now in progress. Poor Eric!

As for any project I have in mind for him,

it always takes a lot longer then I ever think it will take.

He is a good sport. As for Ashton, he is so excited to get

more chickens and have the chicken coop complete.

My Twins Are 2!!!

2010-08-02T21:12:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow Ali and Ava will be 2. I can't even believe they are already 2 years old! About two weeks ago I was driving down the street and I saw a girl with two infant seats in her back seat. I noticed she had twins which got me wishing I could hug the girl and tell her how much fun it is to have twins. The first few months before and after our twins were born were some of the hardest times we have had to endure. Our lives have been so blessed with these sweet little precious girls. They are so fun and sweet! About three days ago my girls were sitting on the floor looking at a book. I noticed that the book was the book I made them for their first Christmas that had the story of us finding out we were having twins all the way up to the girls NICU experience. I was just going to take the book away from them to keep safe on the shelf but I decided to sit down and look at it with them. I showed the girls the pictures and I found myself crying my eyes out as I was once again reminded of just how blessed we are to have these girls in our lives. They are little miracle babies and I just love them so much!!! I cry just thinking about how happy they make me. I also cryed writing this whole post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

MY SWEET

LITTLE GIRLS!!!

<><><><>

This is their birthday present and they are loving it!

Faith, Trust, & a Little Pixie Dust: Real People And Their Homes - Colorful and Comfort...

2010-07-26T16:01:00.002-07:00

My mom's house was featured on a cute blog. I thought that the lady did a really good job so I am sharing.

Faith, Trust, & a Little Pixie Dust: Real People And Their Homes - Colorful and Comfort...: "I love the 'eye candy' photos out there in blogland -those perfect pictures of homes andfood from catalogs and magazines . . . AHHH! Since ..."

Oakley Rodeo and Oakley Our Hen

2010-07-21T21:43:00.000-07:00

Our Patriotic little guys during the National Anthem

My Little Cowboys anxious to get after those chickens

Over the 4th of July, we went to the Oakley Kids Rodeo. Our boys got to ride a sheep and race with a bunch of kids to try and catch a chicken. We never expected Ashton to really catch the chicken but he did. It was hilarious and I am so glad we got it on video!

He was so excited!

Poor Aunt Michelle had to

hold the chicken while Ashton

did some other rodeo events and she got pooped on.

Eric helping the boys with the chicken

Aunt Michelle

Ava & Ali playing with the boys new cowboy hats

Ali wearing Ashton's cowboy hat

Since "Oakley" came to our home, he has been on several bikes rides,

swing rides and all the neighbor kids love him.

The chicken is now getting a coop because we plan to get him some friends.

Ashton and I have spent a few hours online looking for a coop we like.

My Favorite coop is this one

but Eric won't go for it. ;)

So we are in the process of building one that looks similar to this.

Eventually we would like to buy a chicken that looks like this

in hopes that she will lay some eggs for us that look like this

or this

Can't wait to eat them but mostly I just think they are so beautiful!

Ashton's STitChEs!!!

2010-06-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

The thought of having one of my kids with stitches or a broken body part crossed my mind earlier this same day. Sure enough, I went running and when I came home my neighbor was sitting on my couch while 3 of my kids slept. Ashton was running to bed and cut his eye open. He ended up at the Instacare with Eric. He got 5 stitches. I guess it could have been worse. My nephew broke his leg at about the same time and ended up getting a full leg cast for 8 weeks.

Ashton Graduated from Preschool!

2010-05-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

WAY TO GO ASTHON!!!!

My sweet hubby made my day and my weekend!

2010-04-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

Eric took me to Heber last Friday night for a night stay up at the Zermot. It was so fun. We had a delicious Sushi and Seafood dinner and relaxed. It was so nice to have a night away from the kids. We went to breakfast the next morning at IHOP and enjoyed driving around in the mountains with the music up loud.

Last night Eric came home with the kids with my birthday surprise. Today is my birthday but the kids couldn't wait to give me my surprise. They gave me this note along with the following picture.

Notice the yellow teeth.

This picture made me laugh and when you turn it over...

...the teeth are white.

I recently mentioned to Eric how I need to whiten my teeth and he remembered. I thought this was such a cute and clever way for Eric to give me whitening gel for my birthday. I love how he got the kids involved. It made my night and day.

He also got me this cute screen door and installed it for me last week. I love fresh air and I am so excited to be able to leave my front door open.

Coupon clipping really pays off!!!!

2010-03-19T13:03:00.001-07:00

Back to coupon clipping~! I got all

of this food and toiletries:

2 milk

5 Apple Juice

6 Bags Easter Candy

7 Boxes Cereal

3 Salad Dressings

3 Tubes Toothpaste

5 boxes Pasta

2 Boxes of Diapers

4 Bags of Diapers

2 bags of Chips

9 Bars of soap

Shampoo and Conditioner (Pantene)

4 packs of gum

1 bottle Wesson Canola Oil

2 tubs of butter

Bunch of Bananas

Carrots

and more.

$108.86

I Saved $131.92 (coupons and store discounts)

I feel GOOD and my Easter baskets are done!!!

You Know You're a Mom When...

2010-03-17T21:31:00.004-07:00

(Sorry about the mess in this picture! Eric was busy watching the Jazz game and I had my hands full as usual.

This is the best picture I could find of me being a mom.)

You Know You’re a Mom When…

1. You count the sprinkles on each kid’s cupcake to make sure they’re equal.

2. You find yourself cutting your husbands’ sandwiches into cute shapes.

3. You can’t bear to give away baby clothes – it’s so final.

4. You hear your mother’s voice coming out of your mouth when you say, “NOT in your good clothes!"
5. You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.

6. You hire a sitter because you haven’t been out with your husband in ages, then spend half the night checking on the kids.

7. You have time to shave only one leg at a time.

8. You hide in the bathroom to be alone.

9. Your kid throws up and you catch it.

10. Someone else’s kid throws up at a party. You keep eating.

11. You use your own saliva to clean your child’s face.

12. You’ve mastered the art of placing large quantities of pancakes and eggs on a plate without anything touching.

13. Your child insists that you read “Once Upon a Potty” out loud in the lobby of Grand Central Station and you do it.

14. You cling to the high moral ground on toy weapons; your child chews his toast into the shape of a gun.

15. You hope ketchup is a vegetable, since it’s the only one your child eats.

16. You donate to charities in the hope that your child won’t get that disease.

17. Your feet stick to the kitchen floor, and you don’t care.

18. The closest you get to gourmet cooking is making Rice Krispie treats.

19. You no longer object to cold pizza for breakfast.

20. Your purse is crammed with emergency toys, candy and first aid supplies.

21. You can talk on the phone, pack a lunch & breast feed all once.

22. You wonder why it was you ever feared being alone.

23 You spend an entire week wearing sweats.

24. You can remove chewing gum from just about anything.

25. You say at least once a day, “I’m not cut out for this job”, but you know you wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Do-It-Yourself Glitter Eggs

2010-03-14T17:18:00.001-07:00

The other day my sister Court and I went to the Spring Home and Garden Show. We thought we would be out of there in about an hour and half but it looks like we have a lot more of our dad in us then we thought. We took over 3 hours. Our plan was to only stop at the booths that we had real interest in. I got stopped at the first booth on the first row. After making our way through most of the show we ended up at a booth for a window washer. Court loves to get her windows cleaned. He got all of her info. and then turned to me and asked me if I wanted my windows cleaned. I of course said, "No, I am a big time do-it-yourselfer!" He immediatley paid me no attention and continued talking to Courtney. I didn't really mind as it was just another vendor I had to turn down.

The whole point of this is that I love to get ideas of things people do themselves and I would like to share some of the things I have done myself. Today I got the kids together and we made glitter eggs.

I would say it was really fun but it was more fun when the boys gave up and I did it on my own.

I think they turned out really cute and of course it was super easy. I tried it with spray adhesive which was messy so I ended up dipping my fingers in Elmer's glue and rubbing it all over the egg. Then I sprinked it with glitter. I let them dry on a piece of newspaper. I love my tightwad easter decoration.

Another Day In PAIR-adise and Remembering Ali's Time with NEC

2010-01-19T16:59:00.002-07:00

When I am out in public, I always get asked about my twins.

I also get stopped by mothers of twins and it never gets old talking about how much fun they are.

I can't thank the lord enough for these little blessings. They make my life so much fun. Whenever I hear about someone having twins I get excited for them.

I know it comes with double diapers, double doodies/doodoos and double trouble, double copays, double the butt wipes, etc...

but I like to think of it as:

Double Laughs

Double Love

Double Joy

Double Play

Double The Pleasure

Double The Fun!

Double Snuggles

Double Laughs

Double Kisses

Double Hugs

"Life is Two-riffic with twins. "

Recently I have heard of a few pairs of twins that have had ongoing reprocussions from having NEC as preemies. Ali had NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis) when she was just 6 days old. She was immediatly cut off from her feedings, given antibiotics, had a PICC Line inserted into her head and had to have a Spinal Tap. She suffered so much during her first few weeks of life and amazingly she recovered with no long term effects.

I was grateful at the time when she recovered and was able to restart her feedings but I have recently been reminded to continue to be grateful. She and her sister are our little miracles. I know that the nurses and doctors at IMC don't read my blog but I am so grateful for their knowledge that helped to save my little Ali. I am also grateful to my heavenly father who sent me these little GIANT blessings.

I love being a mother of twins and I am so grateful for the happy moments that I get to experience with these little angels.

It's Time to Order Valentine's Toffee!!!

2010-01-15T14:40:00.005-07:00

It's that time of year again!

Valentine's is just around the corner so call or email me if you would like to order toffee. You could even comment on this post with order.

One Pound $15

Half Pound $8

Orders must be made by February 7th. We can only make so much so please order today if you are interested. We will deliver it to you if you live close, otherwise you will need to pick it up. (sorry but we don't charge enough for delivery)

FYI...All the money that we make is helping us get to Disneyland! Plus its the best toffee in the world. We got some at Christmas time and I ate 3/4 a pound in one day. I can't believe I just admitted that but since I only have 9 followers...well oh well!

http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=ZNYESFRZXPMIIVJZCDRJ

Moms by Heart frugal shopping and learn couponing tricks, find internet printable coupons and pizza coupon codes, save your budget, spend less on groceries, couponers get free groceries

2010-01-15T10:25:00.001-07:00

Moms by Heart frugal shopping and learn couponing tricks, find internet printable coupons and pizza coupon codes, save your budget, spend less on groceries, couponers get free groceries

Posted using ShareThis

EnJOyInG ThE SNoW

2010-01-06T10:37:00.004-07:00

It was a beautiful snowy day

and we decided to make the most of it.

Thanks Aunt Court for taking

these darling pictures of the boys.

Court and I had more fun then the boys.

Other Christmas Surprises...

2009-12-28T16:01:00.008-07:00

Eric got new Ping golf clubs that he can't wait to try out. I asked him yesterday to find a place to put them away and he said, "I can't put clubs this nice in my old golf bag." Figures~! It's like that book, "If You Give a Pig a Pancake". The pig gets a pancake and then he wants some syrup to go with it and on and on he goes wanting more. Anyway, Eric surprised me with a laptop which I am enjoying at this very moment and that explains why after months of no blogging, I have posted 3 times today.

Ashton got a darling red barn for his horses. It was my favorite kid present this year. The horse was a hit too. The boys named the horse Meg and he cost us $1. My friend Becky gave this to us and I paid $1 to purchase some felt to patch a hole on the saddle. The boys absolutley love it and "Santa" loves a thrifty gift.

Christmas morning lasted about 1/2 hour but overall it was a successful year. It was really our first year where the kids actually understood that Santa came. We tried so hard to keep it simple and it always ends up being overload. Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas!

Girls Christmas Goodies

2009-12-28T14:31:00.006-07:00

This is Ava getting high centered in her new red wagon. She did this several times yesterday and everytime I had to laugh.

They got some outfits for next summer, play necklaces, magic wands and darling play food from grandma Debi. They also got a great tea set from aunt Amy.

Santa brought the girls each a rocking chair and grandma Carol got the a red wagon for the park. The Sit and Spin is from grandma Debi and all the kids are loving this.

Christmas Morning...

2009-12-28T14:24:00.003-07:00

Twas the Day After Christmas....and I spilled the beans.

2009-12-28T13:27:00.005-07:00

Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house

was the smell of delicious baked beans and bacon no doubt.

It took many hours to prepare the baked beans

and I doubled the recipe to make sure there were plenty.

When the time came to take them out of the oven

the crock pot handles broke off and the beans went into oblivion.

Well let's just say I wasn't happy that night

and I'll never make baked beans again without fright.

Many thanks to my dad for coming over in a dash to help me clean up beans that made there way all over my cupboards, fridge, oven, dishwasher, floor, floorboards, etc.

YouTube - I Gotta Feeling Live at Oprah's 24th Season Kickoff Party

2009-10-20T10:06:00.001-07:00

YouTube - I Gotta Feeling Live at Oprah's 24th Season Kickoff Party
My mom is making us learn this dance to perform at our Thanksgiving day feast! Better get practicing!!!

I went on a Hot Air Balloon with Dierks Bentley!

2009-10-13T13:42:00.008-07:00

Somebody told me once that my husband looks like Dierks Bentley. I happen to have a huge crush on Dierks and went to his most recent concert here. I actually went to see Brad Paisley but lucked out that Dierks was one of the opening bands. I totally know why I think he is so good looking. I went back through some old pictures of Eric and I when we first started dating and they look exactly alike...except Eric is much hotter. Who's with me?

These are cute pic's from the concert. It was great weather and then the rain came. It was so much fun to see Brad Paisley playing his guitar in the rain. Great concert and many thanks to a wonderful sister Morgan who paid my way.

BOoOoOooo!!!

2009-10-12T12:51:00.007-07:00

HaLLoWeEn FUn!

Disneyland & San Diego Vacation

2009-10-12T09:51:00.003-07:00

Tate fell asleep waiting for the Pirate Ship ride. We only paid $200 to go to Disneyland & California Adventure for 2 days. I shared park hopper passes with a girl I found on KSL. I don't know if this would work for everyone but it worked awesome for us. And to top it off, we had one extra day on the passes so my sister Courtney got to take her kids for free too! We had a good time and I didn't even mind the 21 plus hours in the car thanks to Sony and our 9 inch portable DVD player.

Disneyland & San Diego Vacation

2009-10-11T18:57:00.002-07:00

Make Your Own Bulletin Board at WomansDay.com - DIY Noteboard

2009-08-14T19:47:00.001-07:00

Make Your Own Bulletin Board at WomansDay.com - DIY Noteboard

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Note to self...

2009-08-14T13:43:00.002-07:00

Buy more band-aids. Tate used them all up on saddles for his horses.

2009-08-05T15:52:00.005-07:00

These darling barns are on the way to Eric's grandpa's cabin. They are so dang cute and we finally got the chance to take pictures in front of them. It didn't help that the tripod was our photographer and doesn't hold the kids attention well. The red barn picture was our attempt at a family picture. Looks like we will need to take an actual person with us next time to take the picture and make the kids laugh.

I love this barn door. Too bad there is a telephone pole right above the door that I had to crop out. Isn't this barn door so great though! That's not a question because it is sooo cute.

Three...Two.... One...One!!! Happy Birthday girls!

2009-08-03T12:39:00.005-07:00

...So we grew togetherLike to a double cherry, seeming parted,But yet an union in partition,Two lovely berries moulded on one stem...~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Happy Birthday Beautiful Girls! I can't beleive you are now one. I love you so much!

We now have a three year old, a two year old and 2-one year olds!!!

A few Simple things I have enjoyed about this summer

2009-07-13T14:22:00.006-07:00

At our house, we have a daily routine. Each day is usually the same. We don't make it out of the house or yard very often so we have things we do around the house. It is a little hard being stuck home so I have tried hard to find things around our house that make me & the kids happy. We have Raspberry bushes in our backyard and each day the boys love to see if there are any ripe one's that are ready to eat. We pick them, split them up evenly and eat them up. It's a simple thing we look forward to each day.

I mow my lawn twice a week because I can't stand for my grass to be missing the mower lines. I love my yard to look nice and neat because it makes me feel like the inside of my house is clean too (even though it may not be)! I didn't get to mow the lawn last summer since I was pregnant with the twins and on bedrest. I really missed mowing so I have been mowing like crazy over here to make up for last summer. I think mowing is so relaxing and it makes such a difference to the appearance of the yard. It drives me absolutley nuts when people don't take care of their yards.

Another thing I am enjoying so much about this summer is my clothes line. I could stare at my girls clothes on the clothes line all day. I air dry a lot of my clothes such as my rugs, shirts, pants, girls dresses, etc. A neighbor told me that she found such joy out of her clothes line so I gave it a try. There is just something about being able to use the sun to dry your clothes outside. I love the peace and quiet when I go outside to take the clothes off the line. I mostly love to stare at my fresh cut grass, my garden vegetable's growing and my laundry blowing in the wind. It really has made my summer this far.

Oakley Kid's Rodeo on the 4th of July

2009-07-13T14:08:00.003-07:00

This was a picture from clear across the field. Not bad! The boys sat in the dirt waiting patiently for their turn to ride the sheep....or Mutton Bustin as the "real live cowboy's" put it.

Our patriotic little Ashton put his hand over his heart for the "Pledge Of Allegiance."

Oakley Kid's Rodeo

2009-07-13T13:54:00.005-07:00

Ashton & Tate refer to themselve's as "real live cowboy's." Their favorite shoes are cowboy boots and when they heard they would be able to ride a sheep at the kid's rodeo, there was no turning back. The boys were so anxious to get their turn but when there time came they were scared to death. I had to video record the whole event so I didn't get the still shots that I would have wanted. They rode for about 1 second each and Eric was there to grab the back of there pants to keep them from getting stepped on. They had fun but we will see how they feel about the ride next year.

Herriman Days

2009-07-06T15:16:00.002-07:00

Ashton loves firetrucks and here is giving his best smile
and waving at the truck in the parade.

Doesn't this look rediculous? I love my kids but we sure attract some attention when we go out on the town. Questions/Comments we always get when we go anywhere include:

-Are your girls twins? (Yep, Can't you tell?)

-Are your boys twins too?

-How many months apart they are? (Tate & Ashton)

-Those aren't all your kids, are they? (Uhhhh Yeah, you think I take this many kids out for fun?)

-You sure have your hands full! (Your telling me....I know!!!)

-Her curls are so cute! (About Tate)

-Your little sisters are so cute! (Said to Ashton about his "sister" Tate and Ali & Ava. Those curls really throw people off.)

Kennecott Copper Mine

2009-06-25T09:28:00.004-07:00

Tuesday night we decided to take the kids up the see "the biggest hole" they will ever see. Eric has never seen this hole and it is about 15 minutes from our house. We took Grandpa Austin who turned 90 yesterday and he has never seen the hole either. It was fun to watch the trucks and go in the visitor's center. This was a great activity for little boys who are fascinated by big trucks.

I am the one on the Left.

2009-05-29T12:23:00.003-07:00

I found a good picture of before I lost 19 1/2 pounds. As you can see I still have 10 1/2 pounds to lose. Those twins and also having 4 babies in less then 3 years really took a tole on my body. I am going to Lake Powell in a few days so look out fellow boater's!

I want to be a missionary now.

2009-05-24T10:07:00.004-07:00

I want to be a missionary now. I don’t want to wait until I’m grown. I want to share the gospel while I’m young,For I have a testimony of my own.
I want to tell my friends about our churchAnd the happiness it brings to me.I’ll tell them how the gospel was restored,Tell them how the Book of Mormon came to be.
Then I can be a missionary now. I don’t have to wait until I’m grown. I’ll live each day the best that I know how,And they’ll see I have a testimony of my own, A testimony of my very own.

My mom got the boys these "Future Missionary" pins and the boys love to wear them to church and occasionally during the week.

COWBOY'S

2009-05-24T09:52:00.005-07:00

Ashton wakes up each day to do his "farm work". He loves his barn animals and tractors. Tate & Ashton both have cowboy boots and each day they insist on wearing the boots with a cowboy shirt. They always ask me if I am dressing them in cowboy clothes and of course I always say yes since they don't know the difference.

I took the boys with me to the pediatrician's office for the girls 9 month appointments recently. When we were leaving the office the receptionist gave the boys a token to pick a prize out of the machine. Ashton said he wanted a cowboy toy. I thought to myself, "Yeah right, like there's going to be a cowboy prize." I said to Ashton, "Well let's see what they have." Sure enough, they had these silly mustaches. The boys both got one and when we got home we laughed our heads off trying them on. Even the girls got a chance with the mustache.

Today I am down 16 1/2 pounds...need I say more?

2009-05-22T11:10:00.001-07:00

I don't miss those 15 pounds!!!

2009-05-21T13:32:00.003-07:00

My neighbor lost a lot of weight doing HCG so for several nights I went to sleep wondering if HCG would work for me. I was very doubtful that I could stick to the 500 calories a day. Well I haven't admitted this on my blog or to my friends because I wanted to prove to myself that I could actually follow the program and get results. I am on day 20 and I am so excited because I have lost 15 & 1/2 pounds!!! I still have about a week to go. The 500 calories a day seems to meet my hunger needs because I don't feel hungry. I am anxious to get on to phase 3 of the diet where I work on maintanence.
I would love to lose 14 1/2 more pounds so I may give it another shot at the end of summer. I want to be able to enjoy the summer BBQ's. I will try to post a before and after picture when I get a chance. My sister has a good before picture but she emailed it 2 days ago and it still hasn't arrived. I am thinking my butt was too big even for cyberspace. I'll keep watching for the email though.
A worker at Target noticed my weight loss and I gave her the phone number to call to get her drops. I told her I would check back with her in a few weeks to see how she is doing on the diet.

Eric can't keep his hand off of me so I told him I might have to start eating cupcakes again.

Easter 2009 Continued...

2009-04-16T19:39:00.008-07:00

We spent our afternoon at the Grandma & Grandpa Wilkinson's. We dyed eggs, had a wonderful lunch and the kids went on another egg hunt as well as a scavenger hunt that Grandpa Dennis planned for each kid. Little Tate wasn't himself this weekend. He seem dazed and tired. Eric ended up taking him to an after hours clinic at Alta View Hospital. They had to do an x-ray of Tate's chest because they could hear rattling. It turned out that Tate had bacterial pneumonia. Poor kid was miserable. We ended up calling it a day and headed home. Easter & my 30th birthday were the same day this year. Yes....I am now 30! Easter Sunday we were planning on going to church but since Tate was contagious we decided to stay home. Eric made me an omelet for breakfast and then we had a little Easter egg hunt. The Easter bunny left some bunny drops that lead to the kid's baskets. Ashton didn't hesitate to eat them. Good thing they were just Raisonet's. For my birthday Eric gave me Rachel Ray Pot's & Pan's, a homemade ice cream maker and of course, a box of Diet Dr. Pepper. It's funny how the older you get, the more practical the presents. Last year I got a Swivel Sweeper which I love & use almost everyday. Anyway, this post was supposed to be up several weeks ago and I just haven't updated my blog for way too long.

An Eventful Easter

2009-04-15T13:46:00.008-07:00

Easter was very eventful this year. We had brunch at Grandma Debi's followed by an indoor scavenger hunt...thanks to the weather. The kids all had a lot of fun.

Grandma's bathroom...

Grandma's porch & hallway...

We had a lot of fun and then it was off to the Wilkinson's for some more Easter fun.

Funny twin moments caught on tape!

2009-04-08T14:35:00.004-07:00

Spring in Utah

2009-03-28T13:42:00.007-07:00

Thursday we had a snow storm and Eric was home in the morning so he made a snowman with the boys.

It was actually a snowgirl once Eric put the finishing touches on. The boys really liked her.

Can you see why she is a girl? Tate ate the grape that I sent out for an eye. I gave him a replacement grape for the eye and he ate it again so this is what she ended up looking like, "One eyed Jilly."

All that work and 4 hours later she looked like this...

What do fresh breath, chap stick & shaved legs have in common?

2009-03-25T14:39:00.007-07:00

I don't know what they have in common but I do know I like them all. I know that it is lame to take pictures of all of my good deals but for some reason, I have too! I am not the only one who does it. I have been following many blogs of people who not only love to take pictures of their good deals but also love to clip coupons. I don't really like clipping coupons but I love getting a good deal. I got the all of the above items for $7. The gum was free, the Burt's Bee's was $2.49 and I paid about $4.50 for the razors, razor refills and the toothpaste. WOW!

I got all of my Easter candy (4 bags) for $6 shown above. I spent $13.40 on everything and saved $27.38. Walgreen's is my new favorite place thanks to my coupon clipping.

At what point can I call myself a farmers wife?

2009-03-25T14:22:00.002-07:00

...or at least say I live in a petting zoo? I have pictures posted of our fish Oscar but we also have 2 other fish. This is our dog Bleu. He is four and we bought him from the Humane Society. He is a good dog.

These are our new chicks. They are very cute but the fun wore off after one day. Grandpa Austin bought them for the boys last week at IFA. Ashton named his Carribeaner and Tate named his Yucky. We ended up with another chick (Carly) when one of my brothers two chicks died. If they end up being roosters then we will be having chicken dinner later this year. So far, they have kept me awake 2 nights because I can hear them pecking at the cardboard box or chirping in the middle of the night. Since it appears that winter is back temporarily, Bleu, Carribeaner, Yucky and Carly all sleep in our laundry room. The chicks are in the cardboard box of course.

Snack Time!

2009-03-16T14:26:00.004-07:00

I gave Ashton & Tate their morning snack and a little later when I went to check on them I saw them feeding the farm animals. I had to take a picture because I thought it was so sweet and funny.

Meet Oscar

2009-03-16T14:07:00.004-07:00

This is Oscar. He came with my husband as part of the "I do" deal. He used to live in this ugly octagon tank in our kitchen and I was so ambarrassed about this ugly fish and his ugly tank. A few tanks later and our 5 year anniversary approaching, we still have this big ugly fish. He now lives in a rectangle tank in our office. A few weeks ago Eric went downstairs to feed the fish and noticed that Oscar had laid eggs. He had me come check it out and we were exctied to show the boys in the morning because he had never done this before. The next morning all of the eggs were gone and were probably eaten by "Parona" our small yellow fish that Ashton named. Well if that isn't enough to make you dry heave, a few weeks later, he did it again. Eric took a picture of all of the eggs so we would have something to show the boys. Sure enough, the eggs were eaten by morning again but we got this picture as proof. The good news about this story is that Eric did some research on the internet to see why Oscar was all of the sudden laying eggs. He told me that the life expectancy of an Oscar fish is 10 to 12 years. Looks like he will be around for a few more years. I think I can handle that. ;)

I used to boycott Walgreen's because they put Riverton Drug out of business!

2009-03-16T13:33:00.007-07:00

That's right. I always said I will never shop at Walgreen's because they put Riverton Drug out of business. It bothered me that Walgreen's started popping up on every corner. I never thought I would see the day that I would appreciate a Walgreen's on every corner. I saw that Walgreen's had there Huggies Diapers on sale for $10 a bag. I have 3 kid's in diapers so I am always looking for a good deal. $10 is about average but Walgreen's was offering a $10 register reward for every $25 spent on participating products. Apparently I wasn't the only one who saw how good this deal was and Walgreen's ran out of the diapers early on in the week. They were getting another shipment in on Friday so Court, my mom and I spent half our day trying to get to a Walgreen's when the truck came in. Court called me because Riverton's Walgreen's had a bunch. I loaded up all 4 of my kids and my nephew Kaden into the car in record time and raced to the store.

Now the $10 Walgreen's gift card was a good deal but what made the deal even sweeter was that I had $5 off almost every bag of Huggies that I bought that I found at coupons.com.

I ended up with ALL of the following products for $102.43. I saved $150.89!!! I used coupons on most of the products that I bought with my $40 in Walgreen's gift cards.

I want to be a "Coupon Mom"

2009-03-10T16:52:00.005-07:00

I love saving money and its like a natural high when I get a good deal. I have been inspired to work on my food storage by looking at http://www.myfoodstoragedeals.com/
This girls food storage room is fantastic. She doesn't use coupons but I want to. I have been looking into all sorts of websites and my favorites are all linked on my "blog list". Anyway, I went to Walgreen's last night with Eric because I have read that you can get stuff there for practically free. I went for diapers because they are on sale and I have a slew of coupons but they were out of diapers...of course! I ended up with 2 bottles of Garnier shampoo, 2 bottles of Garnier conditioner, 3 bottles of Lysoel wipes, 4 tubes of Colgate Toothpaste and a bottle of Axe Shampoo for Eric. The grand total came to $19.12 but Walgreen's will be sending ME a check back for $7 which means I got all that stuff for $12 averaging a $1 an item. WOW! And I didn't clip a single coupon because they did it for me at the register. I always read about people getting good deals and now its going to be me. :) Now if anyone knows where I can get baby food coupons please tell. I will report back tomorrow on my shopping experience with the "Grocery Guru". Good old Ken is going to take me and some ladies from the ward to Smith's and show us how he get's 15 meals for around $30. It better not be Captain Crunch around the clock.

Funny Tate

2009-02-28T14:46:00.003-07:00

Tate ate a gumball at Gateway and all I can say is thank goodness for butt wipes.

He has never had a haircut in all of his 2 years and 3 months. I put his hair in a ponytail holder the other day to get some practice for Ali & Ava's future hairdo's. He wasn't to pleased with all the laughs that Eric and I had.

The Life of Ryan

2009-02-28T14:42:00.002-07:00

My sweet sister-in-laws brother died yesterday in a tragic plane crash in California. If you would like to check out his blog it is: www.ryanmouritsen.blogspot.com
He was a very nice guy and our thoughts and prayers go to his family.

What a Deal!

2009-02-26T21:46:00.005-07:00

Last week the "Grocery Guru" came to our enrichment day. I have seen his speech about 3 times before and I have yet to get as good a deal as him. He, of course, tried to get us to purchase 2 copies of the newspaper because he says you need 2 sets of coupons to get the best deal. He also claims he can save you 70% when you go to the store. That is of course if you want to eat Captain Crunch for breakfast, lunch and dinner a few times a week. After listening to him for the 4th time in my life, I decided to give it another shot. I don't subscribe the Newspaper because I am too cheap and also because I hate to waste paper as I am an excellent recycler. In fact, I don't even look at the Albertson's ad. It goes straight into my recycle sack each Tuesday because I think they always have the worst prices. So anyway, Eric and I loaded up all 4 kids, which anyone with 4 kids knows is no easy task. We headed to Albertson's with NO coupons. I must say we ended up with a great deal...such a great deal I had to brag about it. This is some of our healthy options but we got a steal on all the junk. Most of these items in this picture cost us $14 total. Plus, with all the Box Tops we will end up with, we will single handedly fund a purchase of 1 bottle of glue for some child's school. ;)

...And all of these items cost us... ???

...$27!!!!

...and our total came to $43. There are 4 can's of Progresso behind all the cake mixes too! We saved $92.50!!! It was so much fun. I know what your thinking! We didn't need most of these items. Well you are right. We didn't! :)

2009-02-23T15:37:00.002-07:00

Sisters

2009-02-23T14:06:00.003-07:00

Brothers

2009-02-23T13:57:00.001-07:00

2009-02-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

2009-02-22T09:25:00.003-07:00

Kort is such a trooper. She was 39 weeks pregnant and still came with us to the Circus. She sat on these hard seats for 2 hours. Good job Kort!

South Jordan Circus

2009-02-22T08:58:00.002-07:00

So I got these free tickets to the South Jordan Circus from the Daybreak Community Center. You could get 2 kids in free with each paying adult. I am all about free and I knew the kids would love it so we went. It turns out it was $16 an adult. I thought that was outragious but I we were already there so we paid the money and went in. It turned out to be so much fun! Our boys don't sit still for anything but they did for this. Kortney & Jackson came with us and the kids all loved it. They had lions, tigers and bears...(oh my!). Anyway, they also had elephants and everything else you would expect from the Circus. Our boys have always been afraid of bears and are constanlty talking about how the bears are coming to get them. Well ever since they saw this bear, they haven't talked about their fear of bears. Problem solved. It was a fun night and worth the money.

Picasa Web Albums - Brittany

2009-02-08T22:02:00.003-07:00

Picasa Web Albums - Brittany

These beautiful pictures were taken by my sister's sister-in-law, Lacey. Her company is http://www.ljpblissfulphotography.blogspot.com/ if you need a great photographer.

Superbowl Party

2009-02-02T10:17:00.004-07:00

Ali

Leave it to Dennis to get the 3D glasses for the Superbowl commerial's in 3D. It's hard to be the "Biggest Loser" when you go to a Superbowl party. They say the average person consumes an extra 1200 calories just snacking during the Superbowl. I think that might be true considering we had yummy salad, Limey Bean Dip with Lime Chips, meatballs, smoked ribs, cupcakes & Bacon Wrapped Waterchesnuts! It was delicous but now I need to go run for 3 hours.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN...ORDER YOUR TOFFEE FOR VALENTINE'S!

2009-02-02T10:10:00.002-07:00

My mother-in-law makes the best toffee in town. If you are wondering what to get your Valentine, well now you know. One pound of hand dipped toffee is $15 or $9 for a half pound. Orders need to be made by February 7th. This is a good deal because a pound of Cummings toffee is $25 and it is not nearly as delicous!

Biggest Loser Update Week Four

2009-01-31T21:08:00.002-07:00

It's hard to be the biggest loser when you can cook like I can ;) I made these beautiful Blueberry Muffins for breakfast a few days ago to celebrate my girls sleeping through the night for the first time at the same time. They will be 6 months on February 3rd so it is long overdo. Anyway, I only had 1 1/2 of these delicious muffins so hopefully if won't go straight to my butt. Tomorrow I get weighed so let's cross our fingers for some lost pounds!!!

Ashton=My BIG Sunbeam!

2009-01-31T21:01:00.002-07:00

Ashton gave his first talk in Primary. He has only been a Sunbeam for a few weeks and he already had to talk. He did so great! He repeated everything that Eric whispered in his ear. He smiled and spoke clearly. He is such a smarty pants!

Sledding at the park with cousins. Let's hope we get more snow so we can have more days like this.!

2009-01-31T20:57:00.001-07:00

Watch out Ms. America!!!

2009-01-31T20:48:00.003-07:00

Biggest Loser

2009-01-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

Since the girls are almost 6 months, I decided it's time to get the baby weight off once and for all. I pretty much have 4 baby weights to lose since I never really had a break. I want to lose 25 - 30 pounds. There are 11 of us doing the biggest loser and we all chipped in $25. First place winner gets 70% and second place gets 30%. I want to be 1st place of course so week one I ate great and didn't work out. I lost 5 pounds. Last week I worked out twice and ate pretty well and gained 1 pound. This is the start of week 3 of 12 weeks and my goals are to work out 4 times, eat well, write down everything I eat and stick to my Weight Watchers Points. Wish me luck!!!!

Funny Tate...

2009-01-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Ashton & Tate were at Grandma Carol's. They were playing Follow the Leader with their cousins. I heard little Tate following all the big kid's around and he was singing, "I'm following the wiener, the wiener, the wiener....!" He thought he was so big and knew the words to the song.
Tater thinks Ali & Ava are Owie and Aba. He usually calls them both Owie. Tate thinks that stop it is shut up. When he wants Ashton to stop bugging him he always says, "Shut Up Ashton!" It's only funny because he always says it out of context. Tate has a dog named, "Thomas" after "Thomas the choo choo train." He carries his dog everywhere and sleeps with him for naps and at bedtime. He also walks around saying, "Your not being nice to me", even if you are being nice to him. He just likes to have something to say. He is such a cutie pie!!!

My little girls ;)

2009-01-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

I made these tutu's for the girls and the boys had so much fun with them. Ashton loves to dress up like a little girl. Ahhhohhhh!

"Invisible Mother!." This email was so great I had to post it.

2008-12-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

Invisible Mother......It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response,the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phoneand ask to be taken to the store.
Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'Obviously, not.No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor,or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see meat all.I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair ofhands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can youopen this?Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm aclock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer,'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Rightaround 5:30, please.'I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and theeyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude- but now they had disappeared into the pean ut butter, never to beseen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return ofa friend from England ..Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going onand on about the hotel she stayed in.I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together sowell. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with abeautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe ..I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:'To My Dear Friend, with admiration for the great ness of what you arebuilding when no one sees.'In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I woulddiscover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, afterwhich I could pattern my work:No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record oftheir names.These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyesof God saw everything.A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit thecathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving atiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man,'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam thatwill be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And theworkman replied, 'Because God se es'I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I seethe sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcakeyou've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You arebuilding a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it willbecome.'At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not adisease that is erasing my life.It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It isthe antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. Asone of the people who show up at a job that they will never seefinished, to work on something that their name wil l never be on.The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals couldever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willingto sacrifice to that degree.When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friendhe's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom
gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemadepies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and pressesall the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine ora monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then,if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're goingto love it there.'As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen ifwe're doing it right.And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not onlyat what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to theworld by the sacrifices of invisible women.Great Job, MOM!Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does.We never know what our finished products will turn out to be becauseof our perseverance.

Two is SO much FUN!!!

2008-12-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

There going to ask for my copyrights at Walmart again!!! Court got a new camera and all I can say is WOW!!! :)

2008-12-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

2008-12-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ali Carol & Ava Debi

2008-12-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

We blessed the girls on Nov. 2nd. Our mom's had never asked what the girls middle names were. When Eric blessed the girls and gave them their names, our mom's were pleasantly surprised to hear the girls were given their names. We love our mom's and thought it was a great way to pay tribute them.

President Hinckley

2008-11-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

My grandpa Austin played President Gordan B. Hinckley in the new Living Scriptures movie. He plays the 95 year old prophet as he walked to the cemetery to see his wife. He did a great job and we were all so proud of him. He has been told many times that he looks like him.

102

2008-11-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

The twins are 102 days old today. The reason that that is significant is because our girls have now been home with us for the same amount of time they spent in the hospital. They are so big and cute! Ali is about 9 1/2 lbs and Ava is about 10 1/2 lbs. I am enjoying them so much!!! Eric is warming up to having 2 babies. He has a hard time with all the crying but loves them.

Our Beautiful Girls!!!

2008-10-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Third Birthday Ashton!!!

2008-10-05T16:06:00.001-07:00

Stroller

2008-10-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

I found this stroller on KSL.com Isn't this so funny looking? And to think that this stroller would be perfect for us! It comes with an attachment to hook it on the back of the car. :)

2008-10-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

We love our new hats!!!

2008-10-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks for our darling hats Aunt Court...as you can see we really love them!

WE'RE HOME!!!

2008-09-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Ashton and Tate are enjoying having their sisters home after 51 days of the girls being in the hospital. Ashton loves to bring them toys and blankets and Tate thinks Ali's name is owey (spelling?) and then asks for a bandaid.
Ava & Ali
Ava

Ava came home last Friday and Ali came home on Tuesday the 23rd which was her due date. It is so fun to have them home even though we get no sleep and we are always busy. Last night at dinner I was holding a baby, Eric was holding a baby and we were each trying to eat our dinners while helping Ashton and Tate eat their dinners. We laughed because what can we do. I have learned to feed two babies bottles while pumping, talking on the phone and watching the news and all on no sleep. Many thanks to all the nurses at IMC NICU for all their love and help with our babies. We are so thankful for all the prayers and service that we have received from everyone.

Wash the dishes, dry the dishes, do the dishes all day!

2008-09-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

This is what our dishwasher & counter looked like in less then 24 hours of bottles for the girls.

Guess who's in my bed?

2008-09-18T21:38:00.001-07:00

I am laying in my bed cuddling my little Ava. It was so fun to take her out of the NICU today. Everyone in the halls of the NICU watched as I got to walk out the door with her. My day has gone a little something like this:

-arrive home

-change bum

-boys meet Ava

-change bum

-feed her(1/2 hour +)

-change bum

-lay down by her & Ashton for short nap

-change her bum

-feed her (1/2 hour +)

-change her bum

-she slept for about 1 1/2 hours so I watched Little Mermaid with the boys)

-change her bum

-feed her for about 1/2 hour +)

-change her bum

-It's now 10:30pm and we will see how the first night with her home goes

Now this might not sound too bad but I am thinking of next Tuesday when this will be only half of what I do. Ali is on day 3 of day 7 of her countdown. Looking good so far!!!

Ava is coming home!

2008-09-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

If Ava makes it through tonight without forgetting to breath then she will be coming home in the morning! We are so excited!!! She now weighs a healthy 6 pounds 11 ounces and is eating like a chunk. She looks so healthy and ready to come home. The only hard part about bringing Ava home is leaving Ali behind. The good news is that Ali is on day 2 of her 7 day count down to come home. If Ali doesn't forget to breath then she will come home on Tuesday. She now weighs 5 pounds 11 ounces and is also looking so healthy. She pulled out her NG tube (feeding tube in her nose) on her own about 2 days ago and so the nurses decided to try to give her all of her feedings by mouth. I guess Ali was telling them she was ready because she has been doing fantastic with her bottle feedings. All the nurses in the NICU have been so great and keep telling us how much they love our girls. We love them too and Ashton and Tate can't wait to meet their sisters. Thank you for all of your prayers and please keep them coming:)!

Reunited at last!

2008-09-11T06:39:00.000-07:00

Ali & Ava have been separated since day 6. The nurse let me get them together for a few minutes the other day. Ava was a little upset about having company in her crib. I couldn't get the best pictures of them since Ava wouldn't cooperate but they still look so cute. Although they are identical, they don't look the same to us. Ali is on the left and weighs 5 pounds 9 ounces and Ava weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces. They are doing really well but they still forget to breath occasionally when they eat.

When I delivered these girls the nurses told us that there is a chance they would have to stay in the NICU until they are full term. Eric and I never imagined they would be in the hospital this long and they were due on September 23rd which is coming up fast. We hope to bring them home soon but we still don't know when that will be.

Ashton & Tate getting to meet their sisters!

2008-09-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

There is an emergency exit outside our girls window and Eric had the great idea to walk the boys up to the window to see the girls. I held each of the girls up to the window while the boys checked them out and blew them kisses. It was so fun!

Our girls are making progress...

2008-09-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

This is Ava and she now weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces!!! This is the first picture that I have of her without any tubes in her nose. She is adorable and is getting so big! She is eating better but occasionally forgets to breath. Once she stops forgetting to breath, she will get to come home! YEAH!!!

Ashton's Birthday Wish List

2008-09-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Ashton's birthday is a month from today and he would like the following:

-A Fork Lift from Home Depot

-A riding lawn mower

-A motorcycle

-a John Deer dump truck that he can drive

-a dragon

Four weeks old today

2008-08-31T21:43:00.000-07:00

Our sweeties are 4 weeks old today. They are doing well. Ava (green bow) weighs 5 pounds 9 ounces. She is doing better with her reflux but still has a hard time remembering to breath when she eats. Ali (pink bow) weighs 4 pounds 11 ounces. She is perfectly content getting her feedings through her nose. She takes her bottle okay but can only handle drinking a bottle about once a day. It wears her out and she also forgets to breath. Today while I was at the hospital, I tried to nurse Ali and her oxygen level dropped below 30. She went blue and wouldn't snap out of it. The nurse had to put the oxygen mask on her. I tried to nurse Ava about a 1/2 hour later and the exact same thing happened to her. This means they won't be coming home for at least 7 more days. I thought we would at least have one of them home this week but they still have a few issues to work out. We are anxious to get them home soon!

Proud parents

2008-08-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

Upgraded to open cribs and 3 weeks old today

2008-08-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

Ava
Ali

Our girls are both out of their incubators and are now in open cribs. They have both been holding their body temperatures so this is a step up for them.

Ali got her PICC line out late last night. She now weighs 4 pounds 6 ounces. She is doing great with her feedings.

Ava weighs 4 pounds 12 ounces. She has had reflux and her oxygen levels keep dropping so they had to put her back on oxygen. She also got her feeding tube taken out yesterday because she took all of her feedings by mouth but the nurse had to put it back in today because she wouldn't take some of her bottles today. She is doing well but she needs to get her oxygen levels up so that she can work on coming home. Every time her oxygen level drops to a certain point it sets her back another week from coming home. We love our girls.

Things are looking good!

2008-08-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

Today I got to feed Ali her first bottle. She hasn't eaten in over a week. She only got to eat about a tablespoon and she wasn't very interested. They will slowly increase her feedings depending on how well she does but it could take up to 5 days. If all goes well, then she will get her PICC line out by the end of the week. Yesterday they thought she weighed 3 pounds 10 ounces but today they got a more accurate weight and she weighs 4 pounds 1 ounce.

Ava weighs 4 pounds 6 ounces today and is doing great! I gave the nurses permission today to feed her a bottle when I am not there to nurse. If she does well and takes all of her feedings by mouth for a week then she could get to come home real soon. Yeah!!!