Cameron and Elisabeth

There were 5 in the bed and the little one said...

2012-02-06T19:14:00.000-08:00

Every morning as the dawn is considering cracking my children race to be the first to get in bed with us. Despite the early hours we have a lot of fun cuddling and talking about the dreams that were just had. Grant is like me and remembers many of his dreams, it's hit or miss with Katelyn and Dallin.
Thanks to our oldest we have had to set a few rules for our morning cuddling time,
1. if it's before 6am they are sent back to their room, but 6:01am is fair game. I am positive that some mornings Katelyn waits by her clock until it says 6:00 so she can be the first one there. Usually it's closer to 6:30 before we are bombarded.
2. if there is crying or fighting over who is in what spot, they are sent back to their room. Everyone wants to be by mommy or daddy but no one wants to be squished in the middle. it's hard to fit 5 people in a queen size bed especially since one of those people is still recovering from being pregnant with twins. and speaking of twins, if they are awake it's nearly impossible to fit everyone happily.
3. no wiggling or squirming especially if mommy and daddy are still trying to sleep... which is most of the time.

This morning Cameron was still working, and Peter decided he was done sleeping around 6:15am, and we had some time to smile and coo at each other before the other kids came in. and before long Lilly wanted to join in the fun and excitement.

The kids LOVE playing with the babies, We all love it, it's so fun to make them laugh and smile.

Dallin gets especially goofy with the babies, and they eat it up, they love watching him waiting for him to do something funny.

Most mornings are pretty great at our house... that is if you like waking up before the crack of dawn.. which we do... mostly.

Birthdays are great... yippee

2012-02-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

This year my birthday high light was going on not one but 2 dates with my husband without kids, I might add. It was so great! Two of my dear friends offered to watch all five of my kids so that we could enjoy some time together. Thankfully the twins are in an easy for other people to watch stage (or so I'm told...) because they pretty much sleep from 6pm on, so the only kids to worry about are the big kids and they pretty much play with my friends kids the whole time, it's so nice to have good kids... otherwise I'm pretty sure there would be no dating until after the kids move out of the house.
another highlight was having another dear friend drop by with a gift, it was very thoughtful and I felt loved.
Cameron got me this turtle pie, it was great and I didn't have to make it. The kids decided they would prefer chocolate cream pie, so they ate that, it will kind of be a sad day when the kids decide they like "mommy daddy" food. we might actually have to share...

why is it I got 3 pictures of the store bought turtle pie and not a single picture of me, Cameron or the babies... clearly my priorities are a bit skewed, or maybe the pie is willing to sit still while I snap a picture...

Just when I needed it most.

2012-02-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

today Katelyn decided on her own, without coercion, to do the dishes for me.

When you're helping your happy! and what a great help she is.

Getting better all the time.

2012-01-26T04:46:00.000-08:00

kinda....

Katelyn is still working on mastering the art of roller skating. we thought it might help to give the kids practice on their bikes and roller skates so we took them to the "Von Bose" park and let them ride and skate around on the sidewalk that runs around the park and grass area.

We thought practicing on the grass might help her keep her footing a bit better, and it did help but it was still tricky.

she's getting better all the time and i'm sure before we know it she will be skating circles around us.

our little picker

2012-01-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

Grant is a picker, unfortunately, he comes by it naturally. he has had the scab on his cheek for a number of weeks now because he can't leave it alone and no amount of bribing seemed to work, because he seemed to do it unconsciously especially when we was asleep. so we decided to take control of the matter and put a band-aid on it, unfortunately that only made the problem worse because apparently he is allergic to the bandage adhesive... looks like we're back to the drawing board...

What did you do today?

2012-01-16T19:25:00.000-08:00

why is it I can't keep up with my blog... oh wait, now I remember...

plus one load in the washer, one in the dryer and one on the floor in the laundry room... I'd say it was quite a day... too bad we will be repeating the process in approximately 2 days... It would be great to love doing laundry right about now...

Getting into the swing of things

2012-01-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

I love 4 month old babies, They laugh they smile,

the blow bubbles with their spit...

They stick out their tong... what's not to love?

Yes Lilly is wearing a boy bib, somehow we have 5 times as many boy bibs as we do girl ones unfortunately it's our little girl who spits up all over the place, so she gets to wear boy bibs... it's not the end of the world...

We put Peter in a baby swing for the first time, he LOVED it. actually I think it relaxed him, he just sat there with a look of complete contentment and then he fell asleep... should have gotten a picture of that... oh well.

Lilly got her first experience in a swing too, she was a little more tense but in the end she also fell asleep... maybe it was nap time? you would think that after 5 kids I would be able to read their signals better...

and of course we can't leave out the "big kids" they wanted their turn in the swing. I'm guessing in a few years this might not be possible without getting completely stuck but for now we are living it up!

Daddy

2012-01-06T05:35:00.000-08:00

Cameron is amazing in so many ways but especially when it comes to being a daddy. Even as I write this he is playing little games with Peter while he get's him changed and dressed for the day. he's always the first to be fun loving and playful but he also helps around the house and follows through with parenting decisions. I knew he was wonderful when we got married but I really didn't know how great he was until we had kids

I am so blessed to get to spend forever with this amazing guy.

Primary Activity

2012-01-06T04:52:00.000-08:00

we showed up in a jammies and ate breakfast at the church while members of the bishopric introduced the new primary theme, "Choose the Right"... or something along those lines, I love that primary has a theme to focus on each year. it's nice to have direction.

I know this may come as a shock to you but no, her hair does not look like that first thing in the morning... I know, I know I'm even surprised myself.

Grant is actually this happy just about every morning, he is one of the happiest kids I know.

my kids love and adore juice boxes, they are a rare and special treat at our house, as are fruit snacks, I figure they are pretty much like candy, they might as well be treated like candy.

Lilly has pretty much won the heart of the young women in our ward, it's hard to resist those cute cheeks.

Cameron's hair does not actually look like this in the morning either, believe it or not, he made great efforts to get his hair to stick up like that. on the other hand, Peter's hair doesn't change no matter the time of day or night... believe me.

After breakfast the kids were encouraged to color on the tables, they were happy to comply

Katelyn was so excited to wear her hello kitty slippers, she LOVES them, and who wouldn't?

My Little Helper

2012-01-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

Like everyone else, Grant loves our two new additions. He loves to make them laugh and doesn't seems to mind too much when they cry. Both Lilly and Peter love watching the kids jump and Grant is always happy to volunteer. Grant was also the first to notice that Peter Loves to hear us sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and will sing it to him whenever he gets fussy.

It's actually become pretty rear to find one the kids feeding either of the babies... especially Lilly because I think we all have experienced being drenched in her spit-up. but today Grant was happy to do it.

It's so fun to watch the big kids interact with the babies, we all love them so much.

Lilly's First Hair Trim

2012-01-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

One of Lilly's most distinguishing features is that little tuft of hair that sticks straight up. So we decided to give her tuft a little trim.

Grant had the first go at it, cutting approximately six hairs... yep, that's them, right there.

Katelyn was the next self proclaimed barber, and she cut a few more hairs, we feared that between Lilly's head bobbing and the unsteady hand of our other children, Lilly would get her eyes poked out, so we concluded that hair cutting session almost as quickly as it begain.

The results were stunning... ok so no one actually noticed the change but those of us who were there knew, and we could see the difference... barely.

Baking up a storm is fun to do...

2012-01-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what it is about the cooler months that get me in the mood to bake, but this December we did some fun baking projects... all of which involved a LOT of sugar!

Why eat a plain frosted sugar cookie when you can add sprinkles?

one night while i was up feeding the babies I had this great idea for breakfast that morning, Snow man pancakes! I thought the kids would LOVE them, and they did, they loved everything except the chocolate chips and candy corn... you can't win them all.

reindeer ginger cookies. a huge hit!

If you didn't get a plate of these from us this Christmas season, sorry. we ended up making these 3 separate times the last time tripling the recipe, unfortunately after we made up the plates, loaded the kids in the car and made our first delivery each and everyone of the kids had a meltdown so rather then force everyone to finish the deliveries, we turned around and went home... we have since eaten a lot of reindeer cookies... sorry... sometimes that's just the way we roll...

we only made one batch of these snicker doodle snowman cookies... inspired by certain snowman pancakes... and the ginger cookies tasted so much better that I was embarrassed to give these ones away so we took them to playgroup and the kids all thoroughly enjoyed them.

we also created a gingerbread train... it looks more like a sugar cookie train but that's because we used light brown sugar and light corn syrup, so we got a light result. no one seemed to mind.

I also baked cupcakes for the Alliance December bake sale. Chocolate with a few having mint frosting, peanut butter frosting or vanilla frosting with sprinkles. this was my attempt to please a crowd. They were a hit and sold almost the second they were placed on the display table.

we baked many more things that aren't pictured... or remembered... but I know it happened... it's amazing how sleep deprivation has that effect on you...

Hair

2012-01-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

I love doing Katelyn's hair, it's fun for me to try new things and see what I can recreate. Katelyn only cries and screams during the brushing out part, and since I would do that part regardless I don't feel bad about taking time to fix her hair after the initial brushing.

she's not going to let me do her hair forever so I want to have some fun with it while I can.

in the end, Katelyn loves it. She's always pleased when other people notice her hair.

A New Paint

2012-01-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

I should have been suspicious when the kids stopped coming in begging for snacks and I could hear the snuffled laughter as the kids took turns running from outside to the kids bathroom and back again.

What they discovered? Calk mixed with Water creates PAINT!

what was also discovered: Chalk paint is still messy, even if it is made with chalk and water... who knew?

Fun times had by all... that is until it was time to clean up...

Multitasking

2011-12-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

I've never been one to sit around and twiddling my thumbs... not that thumb twiddling isn't an awesome skill... I'm just not that coordinated.... plus I have way to much to do. I'm that girl who watches movies while crafting or cleaning. I do the dishes while moping the floor. I can't have a phone conversation without scrubbing something. well having twins has taken it to a whole new level.

Now most everything I do I do one handed.and believe me I can do a lot, but my never ending pile of laundry, sink full of dishes and sticky kitchen floor is proof that something take two hands. Right now at my house if it can't be done with one hand it probably wont get done... at least until Cameron gets home from work....

I have developed a whole assortment of skills I never imagined possible. for instance one day I discovered that I can feed one baby while changing the diaper of the other... there are no pictures, if someone had been around to take a picture I would have had them change the diaper. I can also text and type while holding one or even two babies.... someone in this family has to keep in touch with the outside world... Cameron came in from doing something and took this picture of me because he couldn't believe that I was texting, and typing at the same time while holding both babies... (in this picture it looks like Lilly is laying on top of Peter, she's not really) I can also feed a baby while posting on my blog.... oh wait that's what I'm doing right now.

And sometimes it's nice to just sit, love, and hold my babies.

Sick

2011-11-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

Like most everyone within a 10 mile radius we have had visits from both the throw up and snuffly nose kinds of sicknesses this past week. currently, besides the occasional bouts of coughing, everyone seems to be over it... everyone except our sweet Lilly who is not only having a hard time breathing but can't seem to keep anything down. she does better when we are holding her up right against our chest. she's eating little bits as often as she seems hungry, so my beautifully orchestrated 3 hour schedule is out the window and for the first time in their lives she and Peter are on completely different schedules.

Thankfully Aunt Amy is here to help care for the sick little ones.

Hopefully this will pass quickly but for now we are trading off taking the opportunity to cuddle my sweet little sickie.

Celebrating!

2011-11-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

Fall 2008

November has become a monumental month for me, 3 years ago this month I was declared cancer free. so I celebrate. This picture is probably when I looked the sickest, it took a while for my eyebrows and eyelashes to fall out, that's when you look truly sick, and by November it was all gone and I started growing old man grey wispies on my head.... cute, I"m telling you.

We aren't really sure when exactly I was rid of cancer. I did chemo first to shrink the tumor and when I had surgery in November there wasn't any cancer to be found.

There are so many things I am grateful for as I look back on that time in my life. Hair is definitely one of them. This is Katelyn and me November 2008 with one of my 4 wigs... I didn't need 4 wigs, and I actually perfered to wear wraps over wigs or hats, the Florida summer heat makes most head wear unbearable, but I wasn't comfortable going around bald.

Fall 2009

A year later, I had curls, and lots of them. my experience with cancer treatment was still very real and I was concerned as we moved from Florida to Texas leaving behind everyone who had stood by me, who had supported me and knew what I had been through.

my curls were the envy of every 70 year old lady, and my developing mullet was to die for. We quickly found our place here in Texas and except for the on going doctor's appointments, life became very normal.

What's the point in having so many curls if you don't have fun with them?

When I no longer had to spend any time on my own hair I started to focus on Katelyn's. I had a great time looking up fun hair styles on the internet and trying them out on the only one in the family who had hair long enough to play with.

Fall 2010

by the next year the curls had mellowed a bit and my hair became much more manageable. Although I hadn't started cutting the front yet I did realize that the mullet had to go, and everyone was much happier.

Fall 2011

This year my hair has pretty much gone straight, I honestly didn't think that was possible, I think it may have something to do with the hormones involved with being pregnant with twins... I think you can blame most anything on that...

3 year out, life is pretty normal... except all the doctor visits... oh yeah and the occasional trying not to freak out at every lump or bump I discover.... other then that we carry on as usual.

so grateful to be alive. so increadably blessed with a beautiful family. and so thankful for hair.

Bikes Katelyn Style

2011-10-23T16:43:00.001-07:00

Katelyn also learned to ride her bike without training wheels this week. as with most things she has a bit of a different approach then Dallin does...

there was a bit of this....

and some of that...

so she decided to try her hand at roller skating...

Skating proved to be more challenging then we had previously thought.

So she went back to the bike and what do you know, she got it. she was the first of the three kids to be able to balance on her own and she is by far the fastest rider. Cameron offered her a treat if she could ride by herself to our next door neighbor's house, and she did, no problem. she just needed a little confidence in her abilities... sometimes bribery does wonders when it comes to things like that.

Bikes, Dallin Style

2011-10-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa decided that on Grandpa's last day here it might be fun to teach the kids how to ride bikes without training wheels, The kids were so excited! Teaching someone how to balance on a bike proved to be a bit more tricky then I thought it would be.

The strategy that seemed to work the best was holding onto the back of their shirts and helping them balance that way. It seemed to work pretty well.

over and over again we each took turns with each of the kids, riding back and forth, back and forth, over and over and over again.

Dallin fell a few times and was very nervous about passing a certain rose bush. he preferred for us to hold the handle bars and his shirt... I can't say I blame him... he tended to run into things because it took him a while to get the concept that he was the one steering the bike, not us.

Grandpa had to show the kids that, once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget... apparently that's true.

This is my own blackmail picture. I'm putting it out there so no one else can use it against me, it's just to prove that I did just have twins and some shirts are best left unworn for a while and sometimes you need to see a picture to make that obvious...

After practicing for a while with slow progress, Cameron offered Dallin a treat if he could ride by himself for 3 sidewalk squares... amazingly, he did. once he knew he could do it, it was pretty easy from there, he road farther and farther until it was no problem for him to ride to the neighbors house. we've been practicing every day and now besides being a bit wobbly he is a pro.

way to go Dallin!

School Days

2011-10-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

My kids love school, They love their teachers, and they love learning... they express it in different ways.

Katelyn has never been one to tell me much about her day, she kind of reminds me of a teenager boy in that sense,
me: Hi honey how was your day? (cheerful smile)
Katelyn: huffy breath grunt, (scowl)
Me: what did you do today?
Katelyn: growl..... mom. I don't want to talk about it.
Me: well, what did you eat for lunch today?
Katelyn: Mom!

so it's a bit refreshing when she comes home and goes on about how she was playing this game at recess, and her friend said this.... and then she said that... and then they did ..... and it was so funny.

Dallin loves coming home and presenting me with all of his school work, he shows me one thing at a time, and is excited to tell me about his day. he comes home pretty regularly with toys from the treasure chest and notes telling what a good kid he is, and we don't doubt it.

Grant gets to stay home with me.... I don't think he minds too much....

our little photographer

2011-10-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

Dallin's decided he would like to experience what it 's like to be on the other end of the camera... He loved it! in fact he may never go back.

Grandma Louise was generous enough to let him practice his photography skills with her camera... the only camera we own is my Cannon Rebel and it's not that I don't trust him... it's just... yeah.

He captured a new prospective of our back yard.

What can I say? he LOVES it!

Earings

2011-10-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

a while ago I had told katelyn that she could get her ears pireced for her 7th birthday, then school started, babies came, and an assortment of visitors came and went and I completely forgot... Katelyn on the other hand didn't. so while everyone else in the house was napping, Grandma Louise, Aunt Amy and I took Katelyn to Claire's.

i hadn't actually gone into great detail about how ears are pierced, I figured we would all be better off if she didn't realize that they would be punching a hole in each ear, maybe she always knew and decided to do it anyways but I think she only started wondering about that whole process when the Claire's worker kept asking her if she was nervous.... why do people do that?

Thankfully they did both ears at the same time. She was so brave, she didn't cry, or freak out. she saved that for later when we had to clean and twist them for the first time...

She of course choose the hello kitty earrings. she has been great at reminding us that it's time to clean and twist them. My little girl is growing up.

All Dressed Up and nowhere to go...

2011-09-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist dressing Lilly and Peter on their first Sunday... not planning to take them to church for a while but that doesn't mean we can't pull out a few cute newborn outfits. Lilly's not sure how she feels about the headband, Peter is filling out nicely and actually fits in his outfit.

Katelyn insisted that Lilly wear shoes, these were the smallest shoes we have and they are still ridiculously large on her. unfortunately if she has her mother's feet finding shoes that fit will be a perpetual problem although shoes that are too big will not be the issue...

Grant and Katelyn Love feeding Peter and Lilly... Yes Grant did put on his own tie, how could you tell?

...Just because they look good.... Silly faces and all.

This is what Lilly looked like seconds before she threw up all over me, I'm pretty sure more milk came out of that girl then we put in... needless to say I took my second shower for the day soon after this picture was taken.

One Week

2011-09-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

It seems like we've had Peter and Lilly for much longer then a week, and yet the calendar shows otherwise. a lot has happened since they joined our family ...

The day after getting home from the hospital, Grandma Net came, She and I trade off waking up for the night time feedings, Cameron and I feed them around midnight and then my mom feeds them around 3 am, and then Cameron or I will feed them at 6am. it works well. and so far I haven't felt that overwhelming sense of exhaustion that generally comes with newborns.

Katelyn and Dallin love to care for the babies after school, and are always a bit disappointed if Lilly and Peter are still sleeping when they get off the bus. (i'm not sure why I don't have a picture of Dallin)

Lilly and Peter went on their first outing. On Tuesday they had their first doctor's and WIC appointments. then just for good measure we took them on a walk to the park that's just down the road.

They slept through most of these experiences.

Grant has decided to be super helpful, He loves to hold and feed the babies. He especially loves burping Peter... call it a boy thing.

Peter has figured out how to escape from a few of his outfits... he has also decided that this eating thing isn't so bad, and is starting to eat more then Lilly.

Lilly is still drowning in most of her outfits. She is a content little girl.

I am still working on how to feed these little guys at the same time, thankfully i still have over a week to perfect it. Mom and I have been trying to finish those projects I never finished, it's pretty slow going... but that's okay because right now we have more important things to take care of.

Going Home

2011-09-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

As is often the case when leaving the hospital after childbirth we spent the morning waiting... and waiting... and waiting. Cameron went to go help Becky with our other children so I waited alone with Peter and Lilly.

After lunch, I heard familiar voices in the hall and in skipped Katelyn, Dallin and Grant, followed closely by Cameron and Aunt Becky. I guess Cameron decided we needed an escort... or maybe he was hoping that having three kids running around the hospital would encourage whoever was in charge of our discharge to speed things up a bit. In any case it was great to spend some time together, The kids convinced Cameron to turn on Despicable Me and get them Popsicles from the freezer full of food for the patients

Aunt Becky was thrilled to see Peter and Lilly again.

At last it was time to go, I love how teeny tiny new babies look in their car seats. Last night our nurse had to do a car seat trial with Lilly and Peter because they are technically preemies. I'm not sure what was all involved but I do know they had to sit in their car seat for a hour and a half, and our nurse thankfully did it in the middle of the night keeping them until after their next feeding and bringing them back sound asleep at 3 am. she was wonderful. and it was great to get some uninterrupted sleep.

mother of 5

2011-09-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

my heart is so full of gratitude right now. it's amazing to think that not too long ago I was certain we wouldn't be able to have any more children and now I have two tiny little people to love and care for. I absolutely love these two sweet little babies. it's amazing how quickly they make their way into your life and into your heart. I love holding snuggling and feeding them. not being able to nurse, I think Cameron has enjoyed helping out with the feeding too.

It feels great to not be pregnant right now. I don't remember feeling such a big difference with my other babies. Right after Lilly and Peter were born I remember looking down at my stomach and being surprised that it had shrunk so much. I'm sure I still look 6 or 7 months pregnant but it's way better then looking 11 or 12 months pregnant. I love being able to do small things without too much effort... like picking things up off the floor for example. I've been sore.. but i think that's expected. I've been surprised at how strong my contractions still are as my body tries to shrink my uterus back to a normal size.

so far I haven't felt too overwhelmed having twins but I've been in the hospital with Cameron by my side, nurses changing diapers, house keeping cleaning messes and food services bringing meals... I'm thinking once I get home things will be a little different...

Peter makes the most adorable funny faces, he looks a bit like a shrunken old man, but a cute shrunken old man with an adorable double chin.

Lilly has a cute little round face, she too resembles a cute little old man and can pull so pretty funny faces. she is beautiful.

Visitors

2011-09-05T09:07:00.001-07:00

First to visit was this trio and their positively saintly Aunt Becky, who should probably get an award for everything she has done the past few days. Katelyn and Dallin were especially excited to see the babies. Grant was content to cuddle Little Ruff Ruff.

Katelyn insisted on holding her sister first, I think someone is a bit excited to not be the only girl in the family anymore.

Dallin Loves babies and enjoyed taking turns holding each of the babies. He is such a wonderful brother, I know he will be a big help as the twins grow.

Grant was happy to hold Little Ruff Ruff and eat potato chips. I think this has been a bit hard for him. hopefully we will all adjust quickly.

Aunt Becky has been a life saver these past few days. I'm sure it hasn't been easy to go from young single adult life to taking care of three small excited children but she has done it with grace. I am so grateful that she was here and was willing to step up to the plate when we needed her. Thank you Becky!

Caroline and Rebecca came to visit Sunday morning before church. it was so nice to visit and chat and feel somewhat normal for a while.

Randi stopped by Sunday evening. She is amazing! not only did she have a baby less then a week ago but on her way over she stopped by my house and delivered flowers and cinnamon rolls... I haven't quite figured out how she does it.

Lilly Anne Smith

2011-09-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

Lilly Loves to eat. she started out at a lower birth weight then Peter but she is quickly catching up to him, she is the one who reminds us every 3 hours that it's time to eat. she is a wiggler, it's fun to watch her sleep. she kicks and jabs even in her sleep... which explains why I felt her move so much more then Peter when i was pregnant. She looks like all of our kids combined and yet none of them. We sure love her and are so blessed to have her join our family.

Peter Cameron Smith

2011-09-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

Peter is a sweet baby. He looks a lot like Dallin did when he was a baby but he has the same hair as Grant did. So far he's pretty mellow and not too interested in food yet. Like most newborns he is one sleepy boy. he loves to be cuddled and swaddled. and we love having him in our family.

Babies!

2011-09-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

we are stuck in the hospital for an extra day and so I thought it would be a good time to update the blog, because I know when we get home life will be a bit on the crazy side.

The birth story.

I was laying in bed early Friday morning, not sleeping, but noticing a few mild contractions and I knew there was a good chance these babies would be coming sooner rather then later, because I never feel contractions until the day I go into labor My first thought was, I need to clean my bathroom, I didn't want to come home to a messy bathroom. so in the morning, when all the normal people were awake I got busy cleaning the house, my sister was a great help and we finished in record time. I spent the rest of the day running errands and trying to finish the bumpers for the baby crib... they never got completely finished.

around 8:30pm contractions began coming 5 minutes apart, we decided to go to the hospital early to avoid having my water break at the nurses station like last time.
the only problem was no one believed I was in labor, they humored me by checking me in and having me wait in a triage room while they checked on the other women there who were clearly in pain, waiting, I'm sure to see when real labor would start or at least to see a grimace on my face.
while we waited my contractions grew stronger, coming every minute and lasting 20-30 seconds. we were assigned a brand new intern. she checked my cervix and without much confidence declared I was dilated 4 and a half centimeters. she then left to get an ultra sound machine to check and see if the babies were still head down. when she came back she studied the images for a long time. after a while I asked if everything was okay. she looked up and said it looks like they are both head down but I'm going to get another opinion. not being able to see the images myself, I looked over at Cameron, he nodded, confirming that they were indeed head down... sometimes it helps to be married to a radiologist...
Before long I was admitted.
we walked down to the labor and delivery rooms and got me hooked up to some fluid and penicillin. within minutes of getting settled my contractions all but stopped. a few hours and a handful of contractions later the resident doctor came in to check my cervix and determined I was dilated to 5 centimeters. we discussed our options, I was clearly not progressing much, but I was dilated to a 5, so we could go home and wait for labor to kick in again or we could stay until morning and reevaluate the situation then. knowing my body I was sure I wouldn't get past the front door before full labor would begin again and then we would have to go through the hassle of being admitted and hooked up to fluids all over again. so we settled in for the night.

Cameron seemed to sleep relatively well but with 3 monitors strapped to my stomach, 2 babies kicking, the few, yet hard contractions and medical personal checking on me it was a rough night.
in the morning they checked my cervix again, not much change, and we discussed options, they could induce me or we could go home. my babies were 36 weeks and 5 days, technically preterm, but I was dilated to a 5 and would likely have them within the day. so we decided to stay and be induced.
they started the pitcion around 7am and we waited. My contraction were weak at best. after a few hours Dr Fothergill suggested I get an epidural and then he would break my water, hoping that would speed things up a bit, I'm not sure if it did because after getting my epidural I couldn't feel anything, nothing at all. At noon Dr Fothergill checked my cervix and determined I was nearly dilated to a 9.
30 minutes later they rolled my bed to the operating room where a dozen medical personal joined us. They transfered me to the operating table. there is a hospital policy that twins have to be delivered in the O.R. just in case an emergency c-section was needed. it wasn't. two pushes later at 12:48pm our little boy was born 5 pounds 13 ounces. we waited a few minutes for our little girl to get in position and she was born 8 minutes later. she made her entrance by peeing all over Dr. Fothergill then she too was whisked across the room to be cleaned, checked and measured, 5 pounds 9 ounces.
I didn't get to see either baby until we were back in the labor and delivery room to recover a while before being transferred to a recovery room. The delivery went much smoother then I feared. we are so blessed to have these two beautiful babies join our family.

36 weeks

2011-08-29T05:46:00.000-07:00

you wouldn't think being 36 weeks could cause such commotion at the grocery store, but I can't go anywhere without at least a dozen people asking me when I'm due and how far along I am. you can see the pity in their eyes when I tell them I'm not due until September 26th but then they quickly confirm that I look great when I mention that I'm having twins, then it's back to pity when I tell them I have 3 other children at home... we are of course thrilled to have 5 kids.

For the most part I feel pretty good. My back gets sore so I usually lay down on my side about 2 times a day to relieve the pain. it's hard to sit or stand or lay for very long. nothing fits, I have 3 shirts that almost fit. they only show a little of my belly some of the time. I'm almost always hungry, I eat constantly, I can't help it.

I feel a constant flow of movement in my belly. The girl moves quite a bit more then the boy. Sometimes I worry about that. but I usually feel him just enough to know that he's okay.

my feelings vacillate between being really excited to meet these two sweet babies and feeling a bit over whelmed thinking about caring for twins.

sleepless

2011-08-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the night before school starts, the kids are excited, if not a bit apprehensive about what tomorrow will bring, Dallin's not sure how he feels about school happening everyday, he doesn't mind it for a day or two but to have it keep going, until next summer, that's a bit much.
Katelyn has come out of her bed no less then 3 times to ask me what first grade will be like, I tried to assure her that it will likely be a lot like kindergarten except she'll do even more fun things and read even bigger book, at which point she burst into tears exclaiming,
But I"m not so great at reading big books!

I tried to reassure her that she was one of the best readers in Kindergarten and that her teacher would help her do anything she didn't know how to do. I remember being awake a lot the night before school started, worrying about many of the same things Katelyn worries about.
tonight I can't help wishing I could always be there to protect her from the bully and mean girls at school as there are bound to be some.

last night as Cameron and I were out on a date, I had the most awful thought, What if Katelyn marries someone I don't like. for a brief moment I thought, maybe we should let her live with us forever, Currently that's her plan. maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea. I'm not sure where that thought came from and Thankfully we have a while before we have to worry about that. she is such a sweet, wonderful girl, I love her so much, and I know that I can't be there to always protect her, she will make mistakes, have her feelings hurt, and she will learn and grow from these experiences, who am I to deprive her of some of life's greatest joys by trying to protect her from life's most difficult challenges, We are very blessed and I know that Heavenly Father will continue to bless us. These are some of the thoughts running through my head on this sleepless night.
Meanwhile, Dallin and Grant have been asleep for well over an hour, clearly not all of us have sleeping issues the night before school starts. I love my sweet little boys, just as I love my sweet little girl. And I know they will have a great year of school... even Grant who will get to be schooled in the loving care of twins... lucky guy.

swim Lessons!

2011-08-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

The kids did 2 rounds of swim lessons this year, the first round was a bit crazy, only because there were a million other kids taking swim lessons, okay not a million but Grant had 10-12 and he was in the beginning, non-swimming level, Dallin had 8 in his, just-barely-can-swim level and Katelyn had 4 in her swimming-like-a-champ level. Granted they did have 2 teacher for each class, regardless it was still crazy.

In the second session Katelyn and Dallin both had one other person in their level and Grant was alone in his class. so they moved Dallin up to Katelyn's class and the other boy in Dallin's class down to Grant's level with still 2 teachers per level. it was Great!

if not a bit cold...

since she was itty bitty Katelyn has been a fish in the water, she loves it and can swim everywhere in the pool, she is amazing. she loves to dive deep and get things on the bottom of the pool.

Dallin started swimming a bit last year but was just getting the hang of it when pool season ended, so I wasn't sure how good he would be this year, but he picked up right where he left off and is now swimming like a champ. he has a bit of a funny frog like kick that I smile at every time I watch him, but it works and it gets him where he wants to go, He and Katelyn swim all over the pool, I still keep a close eye on him because there are times when he tries to tread water in the middle of the pool for so long that when he tries to swim to the edge he is tired and calls me over to help.

Grant loves swimming and has gotten good at it. he can swim about half way accross the pool, not too bad for a 3-year-old. he hasn't quite figured out how to take a breath while swimming so when he swims to me he stays under water the whole time, but that will come. he loves to turn around while he is swimming, he'll be swimming to me and then decide to turn back to the wall. he loves to dive for rings in the water, and he is really good at it.

going off the diving board.

my 3 little swimmers, growing up and saving China.

Cake Decorating

2011-08-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

As my due date approaches, time is ticking and I am feeling the desprate need to actually do the things I've been meaning to do, you know the list, the one you have for when you have time, someday, well I've realized lately that "that day" either needs to happen now or it will be a while before it does.
one of the things on my list is to take a cake decorating class, I have always liked artistic things and I've played around with cake decorating for a while but I wanted to take a class or two before I am completely swamped with caring for twins. so I did it. Above is my first cake. among other things we learned dots. or blobby balls, or what ever you would like to call them.

we did Cupcakes the 3rd week, the day after this class we had some kids over to play and Katelyn never tired of telling her friends that her mom makes the best cupcakes... if only she would stay this easy to please...

then the last class we did a final cake, I had done a lot of research on the internet to find something that looked nice but wasn't actually too complicated. This is what I found from Fantasticake. It looked easy enough, yet very cute.

well... this is what mine turned out like...

It actually looks better in the picture then it did in real life. Granted I had to do it from memory because we did it in class and my printer is down. but still, I think it will be a while before I go professional...

The class was fun and I would totally do another one when I can.

The morning Fortress

2011-08-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

We've always had a variety of things for breakfast, waffles, pancakes, eggs and toast, sausage, oatmeal, french toast, you get the idea. But many mornings we have cereal and even though my kids pick the same cearel every day: Dallin-honey bunches of Oats, Katelyn- Strawberry awake (Walmart's special K with Berries) and Grant- Honey nut cheerios, I still get out every box of cereal from the pantry and line them up on the table so they can "choose." If ever I just pull out the cereal they are bound to choose, without lining up all the different choices, tears and sure to fall. so lately the kids have decided to create Fortresses with the boxes, they set them up and hide from us as they eat their breakfast in seclusion.

Dallin's always the first to finish and always the best at remembering to put his bowl in the dishwasher.

Katelyn was the first to start this fortress idea, she loves to hide behind her boxes

Grant is so happy in the morning, he only likes to eat a few bits of breakfast and then come back half an hour later "Starving" we're working on that...

They all have so much fun. I love listening to their conversations, they love each other so much.

32 weeks and going strong

2011-07-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

for being 32 weeks pregnant with twins life is pretty good, yeah sure I don't sleep great these days, and picking thing up off the floor has become a chore,(I can't tell you the number of times Dallin has said, "Why can't you pick that up, it's right by you?") but overall I feel great, if not a bit big, and a bit hot... okay more then a bit hot, but I'm pretty sure everyone here in Texas is feeling that way. The babies are doing great, they seem to have completely recovered from the fifth's disease and are growing right on target. such a blessing.

This week we have been busy.

Cameron and a friend from church put in a back splash, it looks beautiful and they did the whole kitchen in 3 hours, the last hour was spent cutting random pieces to fit around the window, now we just have to grout and seal it, it may take us another couple of months to get that done but hey it steel looks great.

Grant decided that he wanted watermelon and wasn't going to wait for mommy to cut it for him. taking matters into his own hands he grabbed a knife and hacked away and of course there is juice that needs to be taken care of. He has also entered a stage of orneriness, he has decided he doesn't want to do anything that we want him to do. Thankfully we realize it's a stage and we aren't too concerned about this becoming a new personality trait. Although I hope he passes through this stage quickly.

Dallin lost his first tooth yesterday, it's been loose for about a month, he was so excited to put the tooth under his pillow so that the tooth fairy could give him money to put in his piggy bank, it's funny to see the difference between Katelyn and Dallin when it comes to losing teeth, Katelyn begged to keep her tooth so we wrote a note to the tooth fairy asking if she could keep her tooth, Dallin couldn't care less about the tooth he just wanted the money but when he woke up this morning he came to cuddle with us before he even checked under his pillow. He is a funny kid.

Katelyn is such a great big sister, she is so sweet and nice with the boys, they love to run and play together. not a day goes by when I don't think about how blessed I am to have such great kids, I love listening to them play together,

What's in a name?

2011-07-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

we are notorious for being indecisive when it comes to names, we are the type who bring a list to the hospital and make the final decision there, not because we need to see the baby before we feel right about a name but because we have a deadline...and we will not leave the hospital without filling in a name on that birth certificate.

so Grant has decided we need a little extra help in that department and today out of the blue he piped up and said, " I know what we can name that little baby girl,"

so I said, "what should we name our baby girl?"

Grant looked up with a huge smile and said, "Barbie a fairy secret!"

Katelyn rolled her eyes and said, "Grant, That's not a name!"

so Grant said, "how about Dora?"

to which Katelyn replied "We Can't name babies after people on TV."

Dallin spoke up and said, "don't you have a kid named Diego in your class,"

Katelyn nodded,

Then Grant shouted, "We could name our babies Dora and Diego!"

Everyone thought that was a great idea.

so there you have it, if the kids were in charge these things would obviously be much easier.

a new skill

2011-07-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

The kids learned a new skill this summer, it may not seem like much but just like when they finally learn to properly pump their legs on a swing, blowing up a balloon is surprisingly helpful.

They have been practicing all day for the past 2 days, and of course what fun is blowing up a balloon if you can't release it and let if free fly around the living room. our house has never been so full of deflated balloons.

Texas 4th of July

2011-07-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

What do you do when fireworks have been completely outlawed... I'll give you a hint. it involves soda and mentos... and I think they are called soda pop bombs, but I'm probably just making that up... pretty sure I am, but they should be called soda pop bombs.

We weren't sure how explosive it would be so we kept everyone at a safe distance... clearly that was not completely necessary but at least none of us walked away sticky... well, not totally true because after we finished the kids decided to run trough the puddles.

Grant and Dallin were happy to sit and watch. but Katelyn wanted to try her hand at making the soda explode.

She had a hard time getting the Mentos to all go in the soda so it didn't go very high, but she sure had fun doing it.

Everyone had a great time. who needs fireworks? so over rated.

We've been busy around here.

2011-07-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

Summer time is always full of activities and fun and this summer is no different except that we have started learning how to do chores.

with some inspiration from a friend I created a routine chart, and we follow it pretty strictly around here... well at least in the morning, we haven't had too much luck following our afternoon routine. here is an example of a typical day.

First we wake up... I figured that would be a great way to start the day.

we get dressed, naturally. sometimes this part involves a bit of a tantrum

we put our jammies in the laundry, or in a drawer.. depending on how strong they smell... Grant has yet to put his back in his drawer...

Next it's breakfast,

This is not how katelyn usually looks for breakfast

and of course cleaning up our dishes always follows.

Then we brush our teeth.

The electric toothbrushes makes this part fun, most days

Then we move on to getting our bag ready for the day, some days we go to the library, sometimes swimming or play group, they have to get everything in the van and ready to go so that we can leave the house at a moments notice... because most days I lose track of time and we are rushing to get out the door.

Then we do chores. if it's a chore they have never done I spend that time training them while doing it.

They love washing windows, making their bed, dusting, emptying the dishwasher and taking out the trash.

their least favorite thing is picking up their toys, and hanging up their clothes.

They also do things like water the garden, wash the doors, mop the floor, disinfect the bathroom, and clean door knobs.

Taking out the trash.

Emptying the dishwasher.

and of course somewhere in there I brush Katelyn's hair, that's not something she can do on her own and I'm usually busy encouraging and training so sometimes that doesn't happen for a while. but it always happens

after chores Grant and Dallin practice writing their letters.

and Katelyn practices the piano, when they are finished with all of that they can have free time.

somehow we are able to finish all of that and get to our 9am swim lessons on time. The kids get a prize each Saturday if they have done well on their charts, they get a check for each thing accomplished and two checks if they do it without being reminded. and without complaining. so far it's working pretty well, we have our bad days but we have more good days.
Hooray for summer time!

Impromptu Picnic

2011-07-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

Dallin really really wanted a picnic today... there is only one problem, it's over 100 degrees outside. and I am 7 months pregnant. Thankfully he was happy to have it in the backyard.

we spread out a little blue blanket, grabbed a basket, made bean and cheese burritos and grabbed some fruit and veggies out of the fridge then headed out.

The picnic lasted about 10 minutes before everyone got too hot and headed to the air conditioning, but it was a great 10 minutes.

Grant had already eaten spaghetti-os inside but he was happy to sit with Dallin and eat strawberries and carrots.

Katelyn had also eaten spaghetti-os but she was happy to pose for a few pictures.

Dallin was so happy to have everyone hang out with him at his impromptu picnic.

oh my how you've grown...

2011-06-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Remember Fuzzy? our cute little bunny, well she's not so little anymore,

I know it's not the most flattering picture. That complete look of terror is not an uncommon sight around here. although she is getting bigger she still tolerates all the extra "love" but she's not the only one growing around here.

okay I know I'm pushing my belly out as far as it will go... but still for 25 weeks, I'm feeling HUGE.

I love feeling the babies move, in fact now I worry when I don't feel them, I figure with two in there someone has to be doing summersaults, but just when I'm starting to panic a bit, sure enough someone elbows me and I know all is well.
on a completely unrelated note, I can't seem to get my hair to be curly any more, all of a sudden it's decided to be straight-ish, so now I'm back to the blow drying, and straightening routine I had before chemo... I will never complain about having hair, no matter the shape or length, but I kind of miss my curls.

The good the great and the ugly

2011-05-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

it's not too often that someone has an oncology appointment just a hour before an OBGYN appointment, But I guess I'm not the typical patient, I'm happy to report that I continue to be cancer free I'm nearly 3 years out and there are no signs of lumps, bumps or bruises (unless you count the great huge bump consuming my belly.)

we also had some great news today at my OBGYN appointment, our little twin girl is looking better, Her anemia is back to normal levels, she still has a lot of fluid surrounding her organs but that should clear up as her body gets the oxygen it needs.

Our twin boy is still struggling and his anemia is actually worse. I am meeting with the doctors on Thursday and if he isn't improving we will prepare to do a blood transfusion on Friday.

There isn't much research to prove that the benefits of doing transumbilical transfusions outweigh the risk of the procedure so the doctors want to wait to see if the babies recover on their own. The improvement in the girl is encouraging and we suspect that since she was looking worse last week that maybe she was just a bit further progressed in the viral illness and that the boy will soon follow. There is a 5% risk of death with transfusions which doubles with twins so it's all kind of risky business but we are taking it all pretty well, as usual. We thank everyone for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

we hope that Thursday's report has all good news.

2011-05-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Cameron doesn't know how to do things half way, if he is going to do something it's going to be done well, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise when Cameron announced that if we wanted a bunny cage built into the play set it would need a paint job first.

Dallin is always first to volunteer when it comes to working alongside daddy,

Grant also thought it would be fun to help scrap off the old paint. Who wouldn't like that job?

Because of school Katelyn missed out on the scraping part but was happy to help with the painting part. Cameron picked out the paint when he was out by himself and when I saw the color I thought it would be way too bright but once the whole set was painted I thought it looked great.

While Everyone else was busy painting Grant decided to paint a few things himself. the side walk, and our brick mailbox were numbered among the causalities.

Not to mention himself and of course the bunny.

Once the play set was repainted it was time to finish putting together the bunny hutch, Cameron designed and built it himself. It took a lot more work that we had anticipated and in the end we decided that next time we will just buy a bunny hutch... but for now we will enjoy his handy work.

it was complete with 2 entrances, in case we needed to reach the bunny from either side. I added the brick paint job, I thought it would make it look nice. and now the bunny can move out of the plastic storage bin and into his new fancy house.

Little bunny fofo

2011-05-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

We love the library, so many books to read and you don't even have to find a place to store them or even pack them up when you move... it's great. back in February I found this cool gardening book I thought looked interesting, not realizing how much Cameron would love it. one thing the book talked about was how rabbit pellets are a great way to fertilize a yard and next thing I know we are meeting a girl at a gas station who is selling her bunnies on craigslist.

Each of the kids have fallen in love with "Fuzzy" (we tried to convince the kids to rename her but that didn't go over well, so Fuzzy it is)

Katelyn has recently decided that Fuzzy is her personal baby and she carries and coddles her to no end, Fuzzy seems to tolerate all the "love" very well.

Dallin and Grant love to take turns creating advnetures for the bunny, she take many trips down the slide and has been zoomed through the house in the back of a dump truck, not to mention she been carried around in our compost bin, she doesn't seems to mind too much.

some not bad news

2011-05-09T18:53:00.000-07:00

my ultra sound today showed that there was the slightest improvement in each baby's flow of blood meaning that their red blood cell count is a tiny bit higher.. a good sign, but we also saw that there is slightly more fluid surrounding their organs, our baby girl especially has a lot of fluid.... not a good sign. I have another appointment on Thursday to see if the anemia is improving, if things aren't looking better we will do a blood transfusion on Monday, if it does we will likely have another ultra sound to monitor progress.

so not necessarily good news, but also not bad news, overall I feel better about this whole situation. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, please keep them coming.

helpless

2011-05-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday they did the "big" ultra sound, That morning I got a call from my OBGYN letting me know that the blood work from my last appointment had come back positive for fifths disease and to be sure and let the doctor who would be doing the ultra sound know so that he could look to see how it had effected the babies, everything should be fine, worse case scenario the babies would need a blood transfusion, but that rarely happens.

So an hour later I casually mention to the ultra sound tech that my doctor wanted me to mention that I tested positive for fifths disease. so she quietly took picture after picture, measuring one thing after another, an hour later everyone cleared out of the room and we waited for the doctor who also happened to be the department head.

He starts explaining about how the fifth's disease has attacked both babies bone marrow and they are highly anemic and struggling to make enough red blood cells. they have enlarged hearts and extra fluid surrounding their organs, their condition is very serious but' it's possible that it will correct itself but if it doesn't it would be fatal. The only thing that can be done is a blood transfusion, they would attempt to give the babies blood by sticking a needle into a vein in each of their umbilical cords. risky on so many levels.

As he's talking more doctors file in, my OBGYN and the other department head. as they come in I become more nervous because I'm starting to understand the seriousness of this situation. and I keep thinking "this isn't right, he's suppose to tell us "congratulations, you're having a boy and a girl and they appear to be healthy and strong." and yet he goes on about blood clots and heart failure, not to mention the lack of red blood cells causing problems with brain development."

After more measurements are taken and options are discussed we decide to wait a few day to see if the babies recover on their own and then proceed with a blood transfusion if we need to at that point. and there is nothing I can do, nothing that I would eat or do would help the babies in anyway with this problem. We find out tomorrow how they are doing and until then I feel completely helpless.

Mother's day

2011-05-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

This mother's day was mostly uneventful, in a crazy busy sort of way. Katelyn started the day with "wake up Mommy! it's mother's day!" she then insisted that I open the present she made for me at school. Pink soap, shaped like a rose and smelling like gummy bears. It was pretty cute, what was more cute was how excited she was to give it to me. she get's so excited for surprises and special days.

Cameron made us waffles, and the kids where torn between that and "special cereal" (any surgery cereal) because they are only allowed to have that on Sunday and holidays. it's tough having to choose between two great things so they all chose both, and they actually ate both, which doesn't usually happen... ever.

the rest of the day was busy, calling our wonderful mothers, preparing lessons, and getting things ready for the mother's day luncheon which would take place during Relief Society and then of course cleaning up after said luncheon.

Dallin, quite envious of my pink rose soap asked, "so when is kids day?" I told him every day was kids day, He didn't buy that, but was pleased to find out that there was an actual Father's Day. Now he has something to look forward to.

the Spring Break that wasn't... a break I mean.

2011-03-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

ah spring break, a great time to enjoy the warming weather. we spent the first two days chilling at home, running errands and pretty much doing nothing, then on Wednesday we had planned to go to the zoo or something fun but found out that Cameron didn't have a lunch meeting that day so decided to stay home and then go eat lunch with him, as we were pulling out of our driveway he called to tell us that they had called a last minute meeting and that he couldn't eat lunch with us, we were crushed so of course we went home and sulked. Dallin was still sulking long after the allotted sulking time and sulked through dinner, teeth brushing, book reading and bed time. then at 10pm he woke up crying, Cameron went to check it out and found the poor boy completely covered in throw up. he continued to throw up every hour for the rest of the night and all the next day, The day after that was a tiny bit better but he still wasn't keeping anything down and was losing a lot of weight, I could feel all his bones every time I held him. he threw up for about 48 hours and then his stomach seemed to calm and he slept through the third night with minor interruptions of a mother trying to get him to sip more fluids. it was a rough couple of days and he is still very weak. but he is doing so much better and thankfully except for Katelyn getting an ear infection everyone else has been healthy and happy. Hopefully now that Spring Break is over we can all rest and relax.

Something New

2011-03-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

Nearly 3 years ago I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer (see summer 2008 archives) after chemo, surgery and radiation there was a 30% chance that I wouldn't be able to bare anymore children, we considered embryo preservation before I started cancer treatments but after much thought and prayer, Cameron and I both felt that it wouldn't be necessary.

Nearly a year ago my oncologist gave us the go ahead to start trying, the first month when I didn't get pregnant, it was disappointing, but hey, it had only been a month, by the third month my heart ached and I stopped trying to care so much because as the months passed I was sure the threat of infertility was a reality. One of my greatest desires was to have more children. of course I was happy and blessed with 3 beautiful healthy children. but I couldn't help feeling a little sorrow as Grant passed even the tiniest of milestones, feeling in my heart that it would be the last time I would witness that as a mother. I wasn't bitter or even a bit resentful but my heart was filled with sorrow.

one day in January as I was going about my day I suddenly realized that I had miscalculated when I suppose to start my period and that I was actually a few days late. a little spark of hope ignited but I wanted to wait until the next morning to find out for sure. The next morning I took the test and I could see the tiniest hint of a second line, I yelled for Cameron to come and give me a second opinion and as time passed the line grew darker. I left the stick out in the bathroom where I could see it, I just couldn't believe that it was real and I worried that one time I would pass by and realize that I couldn't have possibly seen what I thought I saw.

I had my first doctors appointment a few weeks ago, the nurse did a routine ultra sound, I glanced up at the screen and immediately saw two embryos with two placentas and asked, "Are there two in there?" The nurse looked at me and said "I can't say for sure but we are getting a doctor in here to confirm wither it's twins or not" While we waited for the doctor to come in, I asked if I could page my husband who was working at the hospital, she said I could but she didn't want me to tell him the news until he got in the room. so I paged Cameron and when he called me I told him I was in one of the obgyn patient rooms and that he should come as soon as he could. I didn't realize at the time that my call gave Cameron approximately 8 minutes to think of the worse possible case scenarios of what could be wrong. and with his medical training and background the possibilities were endless. Cameron came in after the doctor had left, looked at the screen and said, "oh good, it's just twins" we are of course so excited and feel twice as blessed.

The doctor explained that it's likely when I stopped ovulating because of Chemo that my hormones were still sending signals to my body to ovulate so when I finally did ovulate I produced 2 eggs rather then one. I'm due September 25th. We are all so excited.

Grantism

2011-02-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

This morning out of nowhere Grant says, "when I get big I will be a Mommy just like you," Katelyn pipes in, "No you will be a daddy just like Daddy" to which Grant replied, "No, because Daddy's don't get treats" so I had to ask "are Mommies the only ones who get treats?" then Grant said "no, mommies don't get treats either, just kids, so I just want to be a kid"
That does seem to be the way things work at our house.

snickers

2011-02-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

Grandma Louise got a "kitten" for Christmas, it's more like a teenager then a kitten but it's still very cute and playful, the kids love her, in fact they couldn't leave her alone, the first thing they would ask upon waking in the morning is, "Where is Snickers?" Snickers was actually pretty tolerant of the kids and their "love" she didn't scratch or bite but she did spend a lot of time hiding under the couch when she heard them coming.

Roller Skates

2011-02-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

Katelyn got roller skates for Christmas this year, she loves them most of the time and can now skate without falling sometimes. her favorite is to skate in the house on the carpet, and she has gotten pretty good at that. the sidewalk still gives her a few bumps and bruises but she is diligent and gets herself back up.

Friends

2011-01-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

During our very short visit to Tampa we got to reconnect with some good friends. I didn't have my camera with me so this really is the best shot I have of that visit, taken on my phone. we have a wonderful visit, even if it was much too short.

Raking Leaves

2011-01-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

The boys love raking the leaves, they would do it all day if they could but we just don't have that many leaves.

Dallin takes it very seriously, he is careful to make sure each leaf is getting to the pile.

Grant thinks the point of having a pile of leaves is to jump in it and have fun.

Christmas on the Beach

2011-01-17T18:23:00.000-08:00

A trip to Florida always includes a day at the beach, and this trip was no exception. We had a great time building sand castles and collecting sea shells with our cousins.

Most of our time was spent running back and forth to the ocean to collect the water to fill the mote for this massive creation.... it never did get filled, but we sure tried.

Katelyn was in heaven because she had 4 girl cousins to play with... Lauren is her same age... added bonus.

Kid Biz

2011-01-13T18:03:00.000-08:00

Katelyn and Dallin were in a performance group called Kid Biz, they learned songs and dances and did performances throughout the community, they did a great job, Katelyn even had a solo and Dallin sang in a few small groups. We weren't sure how well our kids would do preforming in front of others, we have some pretty reserved genes in our family, but they did well.

Katelyn made a lot of friends, her favorite part was playing "Red Rover" after every practice.

Dallin and Katelyn in all of their Kid Biz glory

Dallin, all smiles after a great performance.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2010-11-23T16:06:00.000-08:00

Katelyn has been so excited to decorate the house she's been talking about it for weeks, but I'm one of those who like to wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas, so the day after Thanksgiving Katelyn woke up early and danced around the house singing about Christmas. she was so excited so the kids and I put up all the decorations while Cameron was a work. I don't think he minded.

I had seen a friend do flowers on her tree and wanted to try it. Pretty huh?

Family Pictures

2010-11-22T13:02:00.000-08:00

We went with some friends this weekend and took turns taking each other's pictures, they all turned out fine, but none of them turned out as amazing as I was envisioning,

This was the best picture of Grant, sadly, he was having a hard day and wasn't feeling all that well so this is as good as it gets.

Katelyn on the other hand was very cooperative and we got some cute ones of her and her missing tooth

Dallin wanted to touch everything, she it was hard to making him sit still long enough for a good shot, he loved the tree though. I think he would still be sitting there if we let him.

Pumpkin patch

2010-11-02T18:14:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch again this year. The kids had a great time.

The only free thing to do is play on the Hay stack so we did a lot of that. I'm pretty sure that's their favorite thing anyway so I don't feel like I'm depriving them. they love seeing how much hay they can dump on each other, and if there happens to be innocent by standers... well they should have thought of that before they decided to chit chat near the hay stack....

we let the kids ride this train hooked up to a tractor. they were pretty excited about that, and who wouldn't be, adults weren't allowed on this ride... not sure why not...

riding the pony's was a favorite, they loved it.

Dallin and Grant love playing on the rock pile near the pony ride. Dallin and Grant bonked heads the week before and Grant walked away unharmed while Dallin went to school the next day with a black eye, unwilling to tell the teacher how it happened. Thankfully I'm pretty involved at that school so they knew that it had to have been an accident.

Katelyn and one of her best friends Anna, they sure love each other.

Cameron found this water cooler at a garage sale and loves it, we take it everywhere, I'm not totally sure what he loves about it but he does, I think it's kind of gross to have everyone drink out of the spout so we bring cups now whenever we take the blue water cooler anywhere.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T08:09:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween, well, the Fun part of Halloween, we try not to focus on the scary part. This year I got a little lazy with the costumes and everyone wore something from our dress up box. Grant insisted on being a Ninja Turtle, I had an adorable clown costume but he didn't want to have anything to do with that.

it's been done before....

(Halloween 2008, Don't I look so much better with eye lashes, eye brows and hair?)

Dallin insisted on being a green power ranger, despite my efforts to get him to choose ANYTHING else.

Katelyn was an adorable butterfly, She looked great and had a fabulous time flapping around the church gym

Cameron was a classic nerd, he plays the part well.

2010-09-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

I am alive, I'm not sure what the deal is but I can't seem to blog and and live at the same time, I thought I would have all this time once school started but in fact I'm busier then before not sure how that worked out.
we are all doing well, Cameron is finally doing radiology and seems to like it so far, we love having him around a bit more , he works from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday. we love having him around in the evenings and on the weekends. he wont get any call until January, because, frankly he doesn't know enough to be left alone.
Katelyn started Kindergarten and loves it. last week she lost one of her top front teeth so she is official now. she has an adorable smile. she likes her teacher but doesn't have much to report on her day when being quizzed after school. so currently the only thing I can get out of her is she like playing flush the toilet on the playground which I think involves sliding down the twirling slide and then running up the ladder to go down again as fast as she can, she plays with a few girls in her class... I;m pretty sure she didn't come up with that one on her own.
Dallin is in preschool, he has the same teacher Katelyn had last year. He is gone all day everyday and I have the same internal debate that I had last year with Katelyn, I hate that he is gone all day, but I love his teacher and he absolutely loves school, LOVES it. and it's free, but he's gone all day and I'm not ready for that yet. but he loves it. he is super obedient at school. they have a school rule that while walking in the halls they have a bubble and a bear hug meaning their arms are folded and they have their month is closed with their cheeks puffed out like they have a bubble in their mouth and even if everyone else in his class is goofing off he just looks straight ahead with a bubble and a bear hug, and that's just the start, he is such a good kid, I can't believe how big he is.
Grant gets to hang out with me all day, we do fun things like puzzles, visiting the sick and afflicted, coloring, more puzzles, tons and tons of errands he is so excited with the kids come home from school, he misses having them around. he loves saying the prayer for every occasion even if someone else has already started praying, he jumps in and finishes it before they get the chance. he is a funny boy.
I am busy with RS stuff, it's like a job, I had no idea how busy the Relief Society president was. I don't think you can really know until you've been there. if you have a RS president, give her a hug or send some flowers or something, she is likely putting in a lot of behind the scene hours. I'm also trying to get the house in order. I'm trying to go room by room and redecorate or as is the case in most rooms, decorate, and then organize. I'm kind of stuck in the office, I've succeeded in dumping and sorting the huge bins of dress up clothes and stuffed animals but I didn't get them put away before the kids got home from school one day over a week ago and currently the entire room is covered in stuffed animals, costumes and other random closet things. the neat little stacks long since been completely demolished. I haven't really done anything with it since.... thankfully we can close the door to that room when we need to.
anyways life is good
I have pictures but can't get them off of my camera so that will have to wait.

ice blocking

2010-08-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who came up with ice blocking perhaps someone was bored one day, and thought I know, why don't I sit on a chunk of ice and ride it down a hill. however it happened, Katelyn is grateful that it did, she loved riding down a hill, high speed on a block of ice.

most of the time she made it about half way then the ice would slide out from under her and she would chase it down the rest of the way.

my Uncle Andy contributed these ice block seats, yes someone actually invented seats for this sport, I kind of think it's cheating, what's the fun in ice blocking if you don't freeze your bum?

Sarah Homecoming

2010-08-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

My sister Sarah came "home" from her Mission in August, she served in the Salt Lake City Temple Square mission and will be living with Becky in Salt Lake until she goes out to BYUI in a few weeks. we were all excited to see her and hang out with her before our Durtschi/Larsen Family reunion.

(above my sisters Sarah and Becky)

Sarah and Mom

Sarah and Me

our niece Chris, she is Stephen's oldest daughter, and Sarah

our niece Katie she is also Stephens oldest daughter... yup twins.

Stephen, my brother, not sure what the face is all about...

Dallin holding his cousin Kimmy... or Abby... I've been told how to tell them apart but I can't remember. but in any case she is one of David's twins... yup both of my brothers have twin girls.

Jared, Stephen's son.

Melissa, David's beautiful wife

Amy, my sister, she and I are 15 months apart, we did everything together.

David's other daughter... or it could be the same one, like I said, I stink at telling them apart.

David, my brother, he is 2 years older then me and we did not get along as kids... we pretty much couldn't stand each other until he graduated from High School and then magically we decided the other wasn't so bad. and now we get along great.

Wait a minute....

2010-07-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure this was Katelyn's idea, I asked the kids to get their jammies on and then went back to doing the dishes when I was done this is what I found... it's funny how excited kids get to play a joke on us.

Left Stranded

2010-06-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

11 months ago we bought a van, we got a "great" deal on it. the only problem is it doesn't actually work sometimes, those times being while I'm driving it. ok, not ALL the time we drive it but often enough. We have had to get the thing towed 4 times since we bought it and that doesn't take into account the problems we have had that don't require towing. Friday night Cameron and I went on a date, after dinner we got in the van turned the key... nothing... thankfully there was a battery and brakes type place across the parking lot so we walked over and asked if they could help, they got the car running we drove into the shop and found out that the alternator and battery are dead, we replace the battery and then the alternator which was still under warranty because we had it replaced less then a year ago. The very next day I was driving to meet Cameron for lunch and it completely shut off while I was driving in the parking lot, there are a lot of ways this could have been much worse, I could have been driving on the freeway trying to get to the airport for example. So needless to say we are currently looking for a new van.

Gone Fishing

2010-06-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

If you ever find yourself scrambling to move out of the way so you don't get whacked with a fishing pole while trying to keep a hot dog hooked to the end of a fishing line, you might be taking your kids fishing for the first time. that's what I found myself doing this Saturday as we attended the annual children's fishing competition. they provided the fish, poles and bate, all I had to do is bring the children. The kids loved it and had a great time. The family next to us appeared to be veterans and caught one fish after another. But thankfully we didn't catch anything... I'm really not sure what to do with a dead fish. We even won a prize at the raffle, a new tackle box, complete with tackle. so now next time we go fishing, with Cameron hopefully, we will be all prepared with real looking fake bugs even.

a happy Daddy

2010-06-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

anyone who knows him can probably guess that Cameron is amazing. As far as the children are concerned, he is the life of the party. he's not one to stand back and do boring grown up stuff, no he had to be on the floor wrestling, tickling or rolling over unsuspecting children who are always a bit surprised to see a grown man act more like a child the an adult. That's one of the many things we love about him. This year for Father's day each of the kids got to pick out what they thought was his favorite treat... or maybe they just picked their own favorite treat... and I got him a waffle maker and stuff for the garden... not the best present... but hey I'm working on that.
Cameron thank you for being a wonderful husband and father. We love you!

making cookies

2010-06-18T21:09:00.000-07:00

Katelyn and I make some pretty amazing sugar cookies if I do say so myself, the only problem is you can't just make 5 cookies, and the longer these cookies sit on the counter, taunting us, tempting us to take a bit, the harder it is to resist... fortunately, we also love delivering cookies to unsuspecting families. sharing the love, and the calories...

Watching our Garden Grow

2010-06-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would be much of a gardener, as a child I remember one of the most dreaded chores was weeding the garden, I was never thrilled about the dirt, bugs or heat which put a damper on the whole gardening thing. . but I'll be honest, now that we have a house and a yard I was pretty excited to finally have a garden, and I get so much joy walking to check on the garden every morning, and every time I can see a noticeable difference in the produce growing there. it's so fun!

we decided to start planting the first week of March while my mom was here helping out after my mastectomy. the kids were thrilled to help plant the seeds and make cute markers for each type of plant.

a month later at Easter our plants were beginning to outgrow their little homes but we didn't have the ground ready to plant yet

While I was away for a weekend with my old roommates Cameron transplanted the rose bushes that were against the back of our house. and that began the process of getting the ground ready for our plants that were quickly outgrowing their little pots.

the hardest part of this was digging up the grass and breaking up the hard soil so it would be ready.

Cameron put lawn clippings over the dirt to keep it from drying out as fast.

The first week of May the plants had grown a considerable amount and our squashish plants even had big yellow flowers. and yes this is the best picture I have of it at this stage and yes Grant insisted on being center of attention in this shot.

by the end of May everything was growing well.

These pictures were taken last week and our Garden is growing out of control, all of the vine type plants, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber, and pumpkin have reached far beyond their roots and we have had to redirect their vines so that they didn't overtake all of our grass, our corn is taller then we are. we also have zucchini, tomatoes, snap peas, pole bean, Alaska peas, regular peas, onions, acorn squash, butternut squash and basil. unfortunately our corn and cantaloupe have had a bit of an aphid problem so they are struggling right now but everything else is doing beautifully. I love having a garden

check out those watermelons, up until a week ago we thought that was our cantaloupe plant but then these little guys started appearing, currently there are 5 watermelon growing.

our corn is just about ready to harvest, we planted 18 plants and I think we will get about 18 corn, some have 2 ears but some don't have any, the corn is in one of the more shaded locations so we think that could have been the problem, but the aphids didn't help much either. oh well, we live and learn, we still love our little garden.

We are Family....

2010-06-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

On mother's day I decided I wanted a family picture while everyone was still in their church clothes so we headed out with our tripod and fumbled around with it for a while when our neighbor's daughters came out to take out the garbage, they were in town for mother's day and one of them just happens to be a photographer. noticing our struggles with the tripod she offered to take our picture. sadly our kids don't seem to care who is behind the camera these days and this was the best shot. still a million times better then we would have gotten left to our own devices. Thank you Neighbor's daughter who shall remain nameless... mostly because I don't think I ever caught her name in the first place...

3 months?

2010-06-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

Really? has it been 3 months since I last posted? so sorry about that. we have been pretty busy these last three months. (I still can't believe it's been that long since I've posted) I am the Relief Society president in my ward and have been since January, I like to think that I can still do all the things I use to do but as I'm writing this I have answered 4 RS related phone calls and gathered table decorations for a fruneral lunchon I'm hosting tomorrow, it's late and I was tempted to go to bed after the 4th call but I know that if I don't finish tihs it will sit in the drafted posts for another 3 months or longer. So here I am...

Katelyn "Graduated" from preschool last week. she has LOVED it and besides the lice she has brought home, not once but twice... I have enjoyed watching her expirence school. she is home now and we abslutely love having her around, she and Dallin play constantly together, they love being together. Grant gets to tag along most of the time but he's always the "baby" or the "puppy" in their games so he doesn't have much of a staring roll, but I think for now he perfers it that way. SHe has had two visits from the tooth fairy but that's for another post.

Dallin is our little comidian, he loves making faces, silly noises, falling and ocasionally bonking his head to make people laugh, which may be suprising to those we meet while we're out and about because he wont even look at people let alone say hello. He likes to askes lots and lots of questions, he wants to know why everything is the way it is. tonight during family night he asked "Why did God put ants on the earth if they bit us and hurt us?" He is convinced that we are going to have another baby soon and is constantly talking about "when we have our baby this and when we have our baby that, I've explained to him countless times that mommy doesn't have a baby growing inside her yet, this of course leads to all sorts of questions about how babies get in their mommy's tummys in the first place... fun times....

Grant is gets cuter evreyday. He still hauls his blanket and two puppies around everywhere he goes and likes to show off his two front teeth. He is simply the sweetest little boy. don't get me wrong he denfinately has his two-amd-a-half-year-old moments, but he is always the first to cuddle me and say, "I yove you mommy"

he loves saying the prayer every chance he gets and if ever someone else starts saying the prayer he quickly rushes to say it before the other person can finsh... not one of his most reverent habbits but we still love him. He is growing way, way too fast.

Pre-K Graduation

2010-05-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

apparently graduating from preschool has become a pretty big deal complete with caps and gowns and the whole 9 yards. I can remember in kindergarten making a cap out of cardboard and black construction paper and we thought that was pretty cool. Times have changed.

Katelyn meeting her teacher, Miss McDaniel and the principal Ms Coppin.

the photo shoot

there are two classes in this shot, no Katelyn did not have all those kids in her class.

At the end there were refreshments in the gym for the families and many of her class mate got presents from their families, Katelyn asked why we hadn't gotten her a present. and I told her, "it's fun to celebrate all the fun times we had in preschool but you still get to go to school for a long time and sometimes we don't get presents for everything we do."

Katelyn and Miss McDaniel, I have loved Miss McDaniel she is such an amazing teacher, Dallin is looking forward to having her next year.

Backyard Camping

2010-05-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

We've been meaning to take the kids camping for a while, but it hasn't happened, it's too hot, too cold Cameron has to work, we have to wake up early.. we have a million excuses. on Memorial day we put all excuses aside and set up the tent in the back yard, The kids were so excited they could hardly stand it.

Cameron made a fire in his little barbecuer and the kids roasted marshmallows on metal hangers, unhinged and sanitized of course.

once it got dark we tried catching fireflies but the mosquitoes were better at catching us so we retreated to the tent where the kids played with their flashlights and the parents lamented the lack of airflow on a humid night.

Grant had an especially difficult time settling down so finally at 10pm I took him inside to sleep in the house, he walked to the kitchen and tried making himself comfortable on the kitchen floor, before long I was able to convince him to sleep on the living room floor but it did take some persuasion.

Katelyn soon followed us in and insisted on being my cuddle buddy in my bed. and cuddle she did, as I tried to move away and have some space she cuddled even closer. I came close to falling off the bed a few times, now i know what my sisters felt like, they did not enjoy sharing a bed with me because I tended to do the exact same thing and they were either left squished against the wall or hanging off the side of the bed.

Dallin slept great out in the tent, Cameron on the other hand didn't get much sleep to speak of but he stuck it out and made it until morning. what a trooper!

Mother's Day

2010-05-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

This mother's day was a bit different then mother's days in the past. Cameron and the children picked me wild flowers from a near by field. I had forgotten about wildflowers, Florida doesn't have wild flowers at least not south west Florida. the day started out a bit rough, I got up early to make some last minute preparations for our special mother's day lunch for the RS sisters. It was a lunch/ visiting teaching conference. The kids soon woke up crying wanting their breakfast, I went to work getting each one what they wanted, Grant needed the blue bowl, Dallin had to settle for the blue spoon and Katelyn was content with the yellow bowl but only if she could have the yellow spoon too, which of course was dirty, nothing a little soap and water can't fix. as soon as everything calmed down Cameron came out of the room apologizing because he had forgotten it was mother's day. The rest of the day was busy. during Sunday school my presidency set up the lunch and served up each plate, we planned for 65 sisters and we had close to that many.

Randi, on the left in blue is my 2nd councilor, and Sarah, across from her in black and white is my sectary, Donna, below on the right, in blue is my 1st councilor. I would be completely dysfunctional without them. they are the best!

The 3 blonds in this picture make up most of the primary presidency, they are fantastic.

doesn't it look like they are having fun? and who wouldn't getting to eat an amazing lunch instead of teaching or going to class. while the guy take over the responsibilities of nursery and primary.

ok so these aren't the most flattering of pictures, it was a quick snap and not very well thought out, I'll do better next time.

so much to do, so little time...

2010-03-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

I'm in a quandrey. yesterday I read about one of my friends who is doing this thing where she takes a picture everyday for a year. That inspired me. I love photography and it's something I think I could be good at if I spent more time doing it, this is contray to the believe of my children who think I already spend pletny of time behind the camera I would just like to remind them that I wouldn't need to spend so much time if my subjects were more cooperative.
I've also just finished reading an email of another friend who wants to join the NaNoWriMo which involves writeing a 50,000 word novel in one month, the month of November to be exact. this also intregues me because I've been thinking of writing a book for some time now and why not do it now? I was thinking of writing something more along the lines of a parenting book or how to get through cancer treatments with a smile on your face, but I could somehow work that into a novel right?
I also want to finish Dallin's and Grant's baby books before they are teenagers, Katelyn was born during my scrapbooking days so she has an adorable scrapbook but the boys weren't so lucky so they will have to settle with a photo book.
I'm also starting this thing with the family where we study different cultures around the world and every month we will find out fun facts and make food from that country and celebrate any holidays they may have. I'm really excited about this, and I think it's something my kids will really enjoy too.
we also had a lesson about family history today and I would like to spend more time doing that.
so with so many fun things to do, what do I choose? Anyone who knows me, knows I will probably choose all of them, I will think, analize, make lists and plan and then actually do none of them, not because I don't want to but because that's just too much to add to my already full life...

All is Well

2010-03-07T07:22:00.000-08:00

my Surgery went well, I feel more sore and tired then I remember feeling last time but over all I feel ok. my actual surgery didn't start until 4pm and I was starving! you have to have an empty stomach for the anesthesia you're not suppose to eat past midnight the night before which is fine when you have surgery at 7am, you almost don't even notice. but when you're surgery isn't until 4pm, that's another story.

it took me a while to wake up from the anesthesia, it always does, When I was finally taken up to my room, Cameron was so sweet and had gotten me food from Whataburger because he knew how hunger I was but I couldn't eat, I tried but it made me feel sick. so he ate both his and mine... what a sacrificer.

The next morning Cameron brought the kids to the hospital to visit and they were pretty concerned to see my IV, in fact they didn't want to come anywhere near me. they had a great time making my bed go up and down and once I got off it they enjoyed climbing up and making themselves go up and down. as long as I wasn't too close to them. They are also a bit grossed out by my drain... but let's be honest, who isn't? They gave me a different kind of drain that's much bigger and has extra long tubing so I have to be careful it doesn't get caught on anything.

I am at home now, resting and recovering, I truly appreciate how wonderful everyone has been to me and my family, I feel so blessed to have so many people concerned for me and ready to jump in and help whenever possible. Thank you so much!

Mastectomy Round II

2010-03-04T17:14:00.000-08:00

I'm gearing up for my second mastectomy, why you might ask? because it reduces my risk of getting breast cancer on the right side by like 95% and I would like to see my kids grow up. plus I would love to have more kids and I can't imagine how awful it would be to get pregnant and then find out I have breast cancer again. so tonight I find myself making last minute babysitting arrangements with a knot in my stomach, I know everything will be fine but I can't help having a few unsettled nerves before my surgery on Friday. I don't remember my first mastectomy being too bad but I haven't decided if that's because I was so drugged up on pain killers that I just don't remember or if its because it was so soon after I finished chemotherapy that my brain cells hadn't recovered yet and there is a laps in my memory or if nothing seems that bad when you've been thought what I've been through. or if it really wasn't that bad... it's hard to say. I guess I'll find out.

Our First Texas Rodeo

2010-02-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

Katelyn's Preschool had field trip to the Rodeo, I volunteered to help supervise... I don't think what I did could be classified as help though, Dallin, Grant and Reagan made sure I was too busy to pay much attention to anything else going on.

Dallin and Grants Favorite part was watching the cowboys and cowgirls ride around the rink before the show started.

and this would be why we don't have more pictures of this great event.

Who needs to go Potty?

2010-02-13T15:13:00.000-08:00

Grant has been training "Big Ruff Ruff" to go potty. Really, anything that can be carried to the bathroom is considered potty trainable at our house.
Grant for the most part has stopped having accidents but if ever we catch him doing the potty dance, you know the one, where they wiggle and squirm because they obviously need to go but wont, we always suggest that perhaps his best friend Ruff Ruff needs to go and without hesitation he runs to the potty, helps Ruff Ruff do his business tells him good job as he tosses him aside and grabs the next victim until they've all had a turn then Grant says, "Grant's turn," he goes and there are smiles all around... Thank goodness Ruff Ruff needs to go so often...

Meet Reagan

2010-02-13T14:54:00.000-08:00

I know what you're thinking, "I don't remember Elisabeth mentioning that she was having a baby... where have I been," I get that a lot.

well if it makes you feel better, she's not actually mine, but I get to hang out with her during the day while her mom saves lives... or whatever anesthesia residents do. As a teacher, her dad is also saving lives, one high school student at a time.

Katelyn loves having a little baby in the house unfortunately most days Reagan is gone before Katelyn comes home on the bus, but on those rare occasions when Reagan is still around Katelyn loves feeding and playing with her.

Dallin has proven himself over and over again as a "big Brother" he especially loves it when Reagan has tummy time, he gets right down there with her making faces and keeping her content.

It's a bit harder then I thought to take care of another child but now that we have been doing it for 3 weeks it's gotten easier... and harder, but not because of Reagan, harder because 2 weeks ago I was called as the Relief Society President... What! someone has a lot of confidence in my abilities... personally, I'm still in shock.

2010-02-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

in a fit of creative that come when the TV is finally turned off Dallin decided to make a bed out of the under-bed storage bin left under Grant's crib, Katelyn came home from school and LOVED it! Grant wasn't about to be left out of the fun and due to my random spurts of organization frenzies we happened to have 3 empty bins just for such an occasion.

in case you are wondering Grant is the only one who actually fits in the bin but when I suggested that they might not be comfortable sleeping in their "beds" because they were too small they showed me that yes indeed if they slept curled up in their sides they could fit. so we let them sleep in their new "beds"

and sleep they did... funny kids.

A New Favorite Pastime

2010-01-13T20:58:00.000-08:00

on a windy day in December, the kids discovered the thrill of watching the leaves race by our house while remaining in the comfort of our home. Does life get more entertaining then that?

The Grass is Always Greener...

2010-01-13T20:49:00.000-08:00

Katelyn's first official Christmas break had a bit of a rough start, she spent the first 3 days laying on the couch drifting in and out of consciousness. Ear infections. when at last we took her to the doctor to get some antibiotics her first comment upon stepping outdoors was, mom, why did our grass turn to hay?

an eye opener for someone who has spent a lot of time in Florida, where the grass never turn brown, or yellow for that matter.

Mischief

2010-01-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

When a two year old lives in your house and you find yourself with time to sit down and read without urgent tugging accompanied by a jumble of incohearent words, you know something is afoot. and even if you would like to embrace those quite moments of solitude something in the back of your mind is flashing red warning lights and it's usually best to go check on said two-year-old...

before flour is spread throughout the entire house and beyond.

It could have been worse... much, much worse.

Clearly he is feeling the remorse.

Dallin's many identies

2010-01-13T20:10:00.000-08:00

Dallin has become quite the chameleon he is constantly changing into some kind of costume depending on his mood. his current favorite...

Black G.I. Joe guy meets Safety hat Construction Man.

But he's also content to be a "inga" turtle, or a fire fighter. as long as it involves head gear...

a photo opt

2010-01-13T19:52:00.000-08:00

Why is it that I don't have better pictures of my kids... oh wait now I remember...

This was the result of a planned photo opportunity. yes even the thought of taking pictures after church on Sunday can cause meltdowns.

were we suppose to take the pictures before or after lunch? I can never remember...

Why?

2010-01-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

now you might be asking yourself, "why did she take a picture of her trash can, or perhaps its a picture of her neighbors car, a rake? maybe the flag hiding behind the tree?"

it's the trash can, and I'll show you why,

I'm not sure how this all started but I think it involves raking the yard and piles of leaves, and turned into some kind of "less then appealing" game of peek-a-boo.

brr it's g g g gold!

2010-01-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

It's gotten cold here in Texas it's been all the way down in the 60's which for Dallin our native Floridan, is basically freezing

the other day Dallin said "Brrr mom it's gold" g g g Cold starts with G that's why I don't like the cold.

makes perfect sense....

Christmas Card 2009

2009-12-28T18:20:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are wondering What happened to our Christmas Card this year, wonder no more. This year the problem was our picture, I know there's always an excuse right? we were running out of time before Christmas so we dressed everyone in red, green, white and pink (of course) to take our family Christmas card picture... this was the best one we got and I wanted something a little better so we took this one...

Which was at least outside but I was planning to get a professional one soon and now I realize that it's just not going to happen, so here's our letter, sorry to all of you who didn't get a personal one, they are actually all typed out and waiting for the perfect picture.... it may be a while so enjoy this in the mean time.

We had a few snow flurries in Temple, Texas the other day so we decided to get in the spirit and write a christmas card. There have been a lot of changes in the Smith family this year:

Cameron graduated from medical school in May. He was matched in Radiology at Scott and White Hospital in Temple and we moved in June. It's December now and he hasn't actually done any radiology but he can order Tylenol with the best of them. He is doing his intern year which will follow with 4 years of radiology.

We bought our first home and planted our first garden. Cameron is amassing an arsenal of yard tools and equipment. Elisabeth was able to get painting the house out of her system quickly, and the kids are able to jump, run and play the keyboard as loud as they can without having the big black guy from downstairs pound on the ceiling. Can you beat that?

We also bought our first used van this year. It worked great.....for about 23 hours. It died while driving to church on Sunday. That was a great day... hot, sunny, everyone dressed up, and a distressed 4 year old Katelyn and two boys that couldn't walk all of a sudden. We got the van fixed real quick..... unfortunately it broke down the following week, and the week after that and a few more times for good measure. I'm not sure we're supposed to know the town tow truck driver so well. The good news is we haven't had problems for a while as long as you ignore the check engine light.

Elisabeth is cancer free and discovering all the great things she can do with curly hair. She loves it…all 6 inches of it. For a few weeks it was competing with some serious fros, but it was no match for Cameron’s hair cutting/styling abilities. Other than hair, Elisabeth has been doing well… sewing, blogging (cameronandelisabeth.blogspot.com) , cooking, cleaning, exercising, hazardous waste disposaling (thank you Grant)...

Grant is 2 and dang cute. As not to make the other kids look bad he occasionally leaves poop lying about. Apart from the bathroom issues he is a joy. He enjoys mimicking everything he hears and he gets louder each time he repeats it. He believes he can have anything he wants if he attaches “peas” to the end of his request with a tummy rub.(his own personal sign language for the word please) At times he is a bit mischievous and Elisabeth can always tell he’s up to something when he says, “shoo mommy, shoo shoo,” as he waves his hand to shoo her away.

Dallin has become a rambunctious 3 year old who is the self designated class clown of the preschool Elisabeth teaches with a few other moms. He prefers to end every sentence with “bob” and especially likes “ju ju bo bob” and then he and every young child within earshot bursts into hysterics. It’s very charming. At the same time he has become very contemplative. When is he thinking of something he taps his temple with his fore finger and says, “Hmm, hmmm, I’m thinking” then he rubs his chin and hmms a little more. We’re trying to decide if he has ever told us what he is thinking of.

Katelyn is 5 and has started an official preschool and is doing very well. She loves learning and being in the school environment. She has only recently stopped waking up at 5am every morning in anticipation of riding the bus. Katelyn now eats the meatballs in spaghettios, wants to marry Dallin, is beginning to pray to Santa Claus, and continues to cry if you so much as look at her while holding a hair brush.

We hope all is well with you and wish you a Merry Christmas!

Love,

Cameron, Elisabeth, Katelyn, Dallin, and Grant Smith

gearing up for Christmas

2009-12-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

This is the first time we have been on our own for Christmas. Cameron was scheduled to work Christmas morning and we didn't figure that would go over well for traveling across the country.

we had fun as we prepared for Christmas.

We wrote letters to Santa,

put up the Christmas lights,

Katelyn was most excited about this and insisted on having everyone come outside and admire the lights every single night until they came down.

that's dedication.

we decorated the tree.

katelyn had a great time hanging the ornaments as hight as she could, in fact it was hard to convince her that it was ok to hang them low too.

hung the stockings with care,

and then tried them on, that's what your suppose to do right? just to make sure they qualify as real stockings... right?

and finally in honer of our friends the Patricks we made a ginger bread house,

this was their "house" last year. it's actually the school most of the kids go to.

ours came pretty close to that....

if you close one eye and squint the other... it is made of ginger bread and held together with frosting... and that's where the similarities end...

we had a great time making it and that's what counts, this was actually the very first gingerbread house I have ever made unless you count the ones you make with graham crackers... which we don't, because that would be a graham cracker house... of course.

RiverWalk

2009-12-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

my sister Amy came out to visit this past week and while she was here we took a trip to San Antonio we spent the morning at the Alamo and the afternoon walking down the Riverwalk. it was beautiful!

Grant was basically freezing the entire day. We, meaning I, forgot his jacket... it's more like a hooded sweatshirt, much like my hooded sweathirt but at least it's something. We are not prepared for the fridged Texas winters where the temptures drop to a freezing 40 degrees. Maybe Cameron will get me a sweater for Christmas....

The boys did their best to panic all the other adults along the river by running ahead of us around the corner making everyone think they were on their own. whenever we did catch up we usually got the "look" to let us know that these children were being neglected, I usually tried to make it look like they were Amy's kids.

Amy has some mad picture taking skills and was able to get a shot of everyone actually looking at the camera, a feet I have yet to accomplish.

We ate lunch at a cute mexical restraunt where we were seranaded by a mariachi band. Grant chowed down on the chips and HOT salsa. it was especailly nice to come in from the cold.

We had a great time with Aunt Amy, Everyone kept commenting on how much we look alike and I have to agree especailly now that my hair is dark and curly but when we were in high school and at BYU no one would believe that we were sisters, we had to show them our school IDs to prove that we had the same unusual last name before they would believe us... funny how things change.

my little helper

2009-10-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

Grant is always the first to volenteer when I ask, "who wants to vacuum the van?" We got this small vacuum for Cameron's birthday.... not one of the greatest birthday presents known to man but I wanted a vaccuum and his birthday was coming up so... in my defence the van, kitchen and carpet has never been more vacuumed.

Fall Festival

2009-10-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our Fall Festival. we had a Chili cookoff and a carnival of sorts with a cake walk, bean bag toss, fishing, coloring, and cookie decorating. my kids loved it.

Some of the kids dressed up, these were two of my favorite. Kaleb the Mummy and Grace the butterfly.

Grant has decided that he is attached to me. He wanted me to hold him and tried to hide from anyone who wasn't family. he hasn't ever done that before.

Can you guess who Katelyn is? I made Katelyn's Wendy costume, it was an easy pattern, creating the matching bear costume on the other hand wasn't so easy. but it meant a lot to her, and it turned out pertty cute, hopefully I can get some better pictures at Halloween.

Waiting for the Bus

2009-10-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

These days we spend a lot of time waiting for the bus. In the morning the bus picks Katelyn up at 6:40am. You might be asking yourself, Why do you hurry to catch the bus at 6:40am when school doesn't even start until 7:45 and it's only a 12 minute drive? I'll tell you why, Because Katelyn LOVES riding the bus, if ever I tell her that I'm going to drive her to school the next day, she begs and pleads with me to let her ride the bus, and then she wakes up 2 or 3 times throughout the night to reconfirm that I really am giong to let her ride the bus in the morning, then just to be sure she wakes up at 5:30ish as Cameron is leaving for work and comes into my room and once again begs me to let her ride the bus... how can I say no to that?

so if you ever happen to come by my house at 6:39am you'll probably watch as Katelyn, Dallin and Grant have races down the sidewalk as we wait for the bus.

The boys are equally excited for the bus but they usually sleep in until 6 or 6:30am and have not usually changed their clothes before we head out the door to wait.

I'm not sure why I don't have a picture of Dallin.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

The McKernen's invited us to go to a pumpkin patch with them. It was free to get in but you had to have tickets to do any of the activities. Each ticket was a dollar and each activity cost anywhere between 2 and 5 tickets. It turned out to be a little expensive but it was fun.

The kids had to most fun playing in the hay stack, they took turns sliding down the"hill" and trowing hay at the adults careless enough to stand within reach.

They got to go on a train, pulled by a lawn mower.

paint their own pumpkins.

feed the lammas in the petting zoo

Enjoy a pony ride

Dallin and Grant had the best time playing on some rocks while the daddies waited in line for the pony ride.

Everyone had a great time.

a Garden

2009-10-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

It was bound to happen, now that we have our very own house, with our very own yard we have planted our very own garden. We went to Lowes this weekend and bought some plants... mostly lettuce, peas and pumpkin but we also got some straberries, bell peppers, and some other pepper. It should make for an interesting crop.

The kids got really into it. Katelyn and Dallin both put in their muscles to spread the soil. Thankfully Grant was content to play inside during this whole ordeal.

Here's to fall gardening.

We also planted a tangerine tree. it should start producing in about 5 years, right about the time we'll be moving... but hey it was 50% off.

A new bed

2009-10-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Some friends of ours upgraded to a bunk bed and offered us their toddler bed... we couldn't say no. Grant was so excited to sleep in his new bed that he had are hard time... aah.... sleeping.

He tried to show us that he really would stay in his bed but every time we left the room he would start giggling and "sneaking" out of bed. He's not the quietest sneak I've ever heard. He likes to open and close doors then run back to bed laughing. We gave him a few trys but ultimately he ended up sleeping in his crib that first night.

Dallin insisterd on sleeping on the floor next to the bed.

We've had the bed for a few weeks now and Gramt's slept in it maybe 3 times, the other nights we try, he just gets too excited to stay in bed. Dallin and Katelyn don't mind because if he has to sleep in his crib they get to alternate sleeping in the new bed.

Who knew a bed could be so much fun?