The Wilsons

Bring on 2012

2012-01-01T21:55:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone and now so has Christmas and all of 2011 for that matter. We find ourselves reflecting on what 2011 brought us....a whole lot of HUGE changes, that's for sure. 1)We found out we were having twins, 2)We bought a house, 3)We had twins 2 weeks later, 4)Brett switched jobs. It's been exciting around here and I in no way would want to live this past year again. We have seen many miracles in our lives and are so grateful for everything that has happened in 2011 and are excited to see what 2012 brings to us.
Here are a few pictures of the past month and a half.

My mom holding both babies and loving it. My parents have been so great and have been coming to be with the babies every Sunday so the rest of us can enjoy church and not worry about the babies getting sick.

For Thanksgiving all of the Wilsons headed out bowling. This was Jules and Libby's first time.

Libby was so strong and picked her ball up every time.

Libby, Maddie, Jules, Morgan

Jodi, Me, Tammy, Marci, Melissa.

The day after Thanksgiving we set up Christmas. The girls were so excited and loved having the house all decorated. I didn't take a single picture of Jared, our elf, but we did begin our tradition of having Jared the elf watching over them every day.

Maybe 2 in a baby swing is too much.

The carousel and the Provo Mall

I took Libby potty right before seeing Santa and she peed over the toilet and got her pants all wet. I didn't know what to do and of course I didn't have a new pair for her. There was no line to see Santa and I didn't want to miss this opportunity. So we went and saw him anyway. I wasn't going to let her sit on his lap but as I turned my back to take the picture Santa puller her right up on his lap. I guess what Santa doesn't know won't hurt him right? This was the day before our niece Ella went and saw him and announced that she tooted on him. Poor Santa.

Instead of gingerbread houses, we did nativities. We were all going to build our own but did one together instead. The one in the background we deemed as the Inn.

Cute babies Kate and Jane.

Our ward Christmas party.

Some attempts at taking the babies' pictures. Some turned out pretty good but they are few and far between. This is Jane.

Jane

Kate

Of course this is Kate with her typical tongue.

....and then attempting to do both...at night...during their grumpy time.

...and then we Christmased.

Jules felt fine that morning...then around 1:30 she got sick for the next 3 full days.

and some toys to keep the babies entertained.

Brett and I didn't go all out this Christmas. We bought a washer and dryer back in October when our washer decided to break the week the babies got home. So that was our early Christmas. We are also getting new smart phones.

and the babies turned 4 months. The outfits are still fitting.

We didn't get the chance to see the lights at Temple Square before Christmas this year, so we went after. We thought it would be fun to get the whole experience in and we took Trax. Kyle has been home for the holidays too so he came along with us and we had a great time. Here Kyle is teaching Jules how to not fall down when it goes and stops.

Libby cheesing it as usual.

Libby in front of a blue tree. For some reason this kid LOVES the color blue.

Some other shots I took of the kids on a happy day and at a happy time.

Jane

Kate

Libby is holding Kate and Jules is holding Jane.

Jane and Kate

3 Months

2011-11-23T17:02:00.004-07:00

Yup, they are 3 months old. Actually they are 3 months and 1 1/2 weeks to be more precise. I started posting pictures last week and haven't gotten around to finishing up until now. Jane and Kate are getting to be so much fun though.

Jules and Libby were both taking a nap the other day so I just had the twins. We just sat there and played together and my heart was full of so much love for them. I wondered why I was so scared or sad that I was ever having twins. It is seriously so much fun having two and I hope it just gets more fun as they become older and better friends. They smile so easily now and talk to us too. About 2 weeks ago I had them lying on the floor next to each other and they were talking to each other. It was the cutest thing. Jane talks the most and smiles at us all of the time. Jane loves Jules. Jules takes a special liking to Jane because her names starts with a J just like hers. Kate smiles with her whole face. Her eyes light up and it shows throughout her whole face.

This is an older picture from when Kate was still on oxygen. I just love their tiny bums. I had my other kids sleeping on their stomachs by now but not with them. They don't seem to like it as much which I guess is good since it's not recommended by the docs.

We didn't do much for Halloween. It was a huge pain leaving the house with Kate and her oxygen. We did go to a few parties. This was a small party some friends from our old ward put on. We also went to Brett's work party at Adobe but those pictures are on my phone. (Brett has also switched back to his old job since then. Adobe didn't have any prospect of hiring him on as a full time employee. We did it for a year and he did love the job but we really need health insurance so he went back.) I was a witch just because that's the only costume I really have. I'm not a huge Halloween lover. Libby was Tinkerbell and Jules just put one of her dress-ups on. She calls it her Steeshee dress. I don't know who Steeshee is but it is what it is.

Brett holding both of the babies. They have their fussy time at night when he is home so we do a lot of this sometimes when the other is busy. We don't get much done at night since they need the extra attention then. Luckily, it is when he is home so I don't have to do it all on my own. Having both babies cry at the same time is the hardest part with having twins. Lately they have been sleeping through the night. They did it two nights in a row a few days ago then woke up again in the night for a few nights. Last night they slept through the night again so things are definitely looking good.

Kate and her tongue

I love how they both have the same shocked/surprised look. Kate is in the pink and Jane is in the yellow.

11 week old pictures.

Kate on the left and Jane on the right. We got these outfits from 2 totally different people, how funny is that? I love them, they are so cute.

This is how they sleep at night. Both on their backs with their hands stretched out to the side.

I've been pretty good about making a decent meal even with the babies. I'm home a lot more so that gives me a little more time to actually cook. We've kind of strayed away from my no cooking on Friday nights rule though. I will ask the kids what they want for dinner and Jules always says she wants chicken, pasta, and fruit. Well, we've done that a lot and I've come up with different pasta renditions but it just doesn't work to have that every night obviously. For lunch they always say they want peanut butter and jelly, mac cheese, and peaches. I never do it for lunch and tell them to choose one of them, not both. Well, one night I didn't care and I didn't want to fight the kids on finishing their food so that's exactly what I made. It was easy and I didn't have to think of a meal idea. Here is the proof.

We ended up doing canned pears instead of peaches to change it up a little and the pears were old and going bad. When Jules told Brett what we were having, Brett said we should have fruit loops too(as a joke). Well, I added some of them to our meal as well. I did make BLTs for Brett and me so it wasn't all that bad.

I was doing laundry during their fussy time so I had a baby lying on my legs and that's where she fell asleep.

13 weeks old which was 1 day before their 3 month old pictures.

Kate is obviously winning the fight.

They wore these outfits while they were in the hospital and they were huge. Now they fit perfectly but it's too cold to actually wear them. I saw a cute idea on pinterest that has the babies wearing the same outfit month after month to compare their size. That's what I'm planning on doing with these outfits. It's cute because by 12 months they are totally huge and bursting out of them.

Jules wanted to take a picture of me and then she wanted some pictures of her too. She's one crazy kid.

We didn't put Jules in preschool this year again 1)we are too cheap to pay for it, 2) I didn't want to have to worry about hauling the babies around during the cold winter months, and 3)We knew we were moving but didn't know where or when so we didn't find one in this new area. So I have taken on the roll of teaching Jules myself. I bought a book called "How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons". It is such a good book and teaches them to read with 15 minutes of practice each day. We have missed a few days but stick to it for the most part. She gets frustrated at times but she is learning to read and learns to write her letters along with the lessons. I love seeing how excited she gets when she reads new words. It's pretty fun but I definitely would never have enough patients to home school full time.

Kate looks like the bigger kid here but they are actually weighing pretty close to the same.
Their 2 month check up put them both in the 3 percentile. Jane weighed in at 8lbs. 11oz, 21 inches long and 14.5 inch head circumference. Kate was 8 lbs. 10 oz. 21 inches long, and head was 15 inches in circumference which made her head jump up to the 22 percentile in her head. Jane's face is longer like Jules' was and Kate's face is more round like Libby's was. It's pretty funny how their personalities are more alike also. Jane and Jules are alike and so are Kate and Libby. Jane spits up a lot and Jules spit up a ton. Jane is all around a bit more happy like Jules was. Kate and Libby are both a bit more feisty.

I have been strictly bottle feeding them with my milk. I pump 3 times a day and that gives me enough milk to last the day. They are both drinking about 4 ounces each feeding which is great. They will still nurse if I want them to or need them to which is nice. I keep them on the same feeding schedule and they will drink a bottle while they are sleeping so that's a big part of why I do bottles. They will not nurse if they are sleeping. A lot of the time one of them is crying for food while the other is still sleeping so it works best to have bottles.

We are trying this new thing with Jules and Libby so we spend some special one on one time with them. Each month on their birth date one of us will take them out by themselves. Some times we will do something special like bowling or something fun. Other times it will be that they just get to run errands with mommy by themselves and get ice cream. That's what it was for both of them this time (which was the 1st time we've done it). It's nothing special but it's something where they feel a little important. It's really sad when Jules is gone though because Libby just wanders the house bored. She will even ask to go to bed. She just doesn't know what to do without Jules. They fight like siblings but love each other like best friends too.

9 weeks old and loving it!

2011-10-25T13:35:00.016-06:00

The babies have been home for 3 1/2 weeks now and are 9 weeks old today. They say that twins are delayed 2 weeks so on Thursday they will gestationally be 42 weeks meaning that on Thursday they will finally be at the stage of a normal newborn born at 40 weeks. I haven't had a doctor appointment for a few weeks, so I'm not sure how much they weigh. My guess is that Jane weighs about as much as Libby when she was born which is 7 lbs. 13 oz. and Kate is a little smaller than that, maybe 7 lbs. 3 oz. That's just my guess. We have an appointment next week. Kate is still on oxygen and we aren't enjoying that much. She gets frustrated with it and tries to pull it off all of the time. Hopefully by the end of this week she will be ready to get rid of it. We will do another trial run sometime this week to see how she is doing.

They are still wearing newborn clothes but have surpassed the preemie outfits which is nice. These outfits that my old mission companion gave me are so cute. I love the whole animal print theme going on in their bed. This was towards the end of our time at the hospital. I just wanted to remember how it all was with them in the hospital, so bare with me.

They had to do a test with them in the car seats for 90 minutes to make sure their breathing stayed steady while in the car. They passed.

This was taken after feeding them one day in the hospital. When I nurse them I do it tandem football style so I'm not feeding babies all day long. I always feed them at the same time to keep them on the same feeding schedule so I can get some sleep at night. This was after a feeding while I was trying to burp them. It's hard work I tell you. I got exhausted and just let them fall into each other.

Another shot of what we saw in the hospital. This was their bed, it kind of looks like a mini prison cell or something. They would cover the top up to block out the light and let them sleep as much as possible.

I had some of the best nurses. This is Lisa, she was one of my primary nurses that stuck with me through the good and bad days. She took great care of us. She was so amazing that her mom even made us blessing dresses. We had a cousin make some and she was there when I got them and they were really short. So just had the cousin make them a bit longer and it wasn't a big deal. She didn't know that and felt really bad for us and was telling her mom and her mom felt super bad and made us some gorgeous blessing dresses. They are super cute and long and beautiful but when I put them on the babies they were too big. I would have used them anyway but they were falling off their shoulders big. We went with the ones that Brett's cousin made and they were perfect. I feel really bad but that's the kind of awesome nurses we had at the hospital.

This is Jennifer (Jen) another favorite nurse of ours. This was departure day so she came down to the van with us so we could bring the babies home.

Lisa and Jen are actually really good friends and they ended up both working on the day we left and helped us get them ready to come home. They finally came home on Friday, September 30th.

These are the bands that I had to wear for the 5 1/2 weeks. They were my entrance into the hospital and my way of getting them out of the hospital. The blue one changed every day.

This was the plan for the week to get them home. They had to pass all of these feeding tests before they would let them come home.

6 week pictures weren't the easiest to take...

Jules and Libby have adjusted super well to the babies. They love holding them, but we don't get super happy with them when they try to do it when we aren't there to help them. Luckily it doesn't happen too often.....but it does happen.

Blessing day

Grandpa Wilson holding Jane

Adoree holding Jane

You can sort of get a glimpse of our house from this picture. We had a great turn out with most of our family. My nephew actually got baptized earlier that day so we did it on the same day while all the family was together. My sister also came into town for the festivities and sent her family back home and stayed for a week to help me out.

Family picture time.

Kellie with Jane...Jane is the easier one to pass around because Kate has the oxygen tubes and monitor.

Such a proud mom...

and dad.

Sydney holding Kate. Most of the time the kids wanted to hold Jane because they were scared of the cords.

At first Tyler said he didn't want to hold the babies at all. That changed within seconds and he loved holding the babies and tried to give each baby equal time.

I've been addicted to pinterest lately and have found so many fun activities for the kids using normal household items. I made this finger paint last week for FHE and the girls had fun painting. I wasn't a huge fan of the recipe, it was easy but the consistency isn't great. The girls had fun though.

another shot of our house, the kitchen was a bit messy though, sorry. One of these days I will get some good clean pictures of the house...one of these days.

Kate and Jane in Grandma Wilson's bouncy seat. This is made for one baby by the way.

On Sunday they turned 2 months old.

Since we can't exactly take a picture of me feeding both of the babies at the same time we thought we would at least get Brett doing the job. (nice MC Hammer pants huh, haha. It's the weird angle I promise)

It's hard to see how small they are so I put my hand to compare her with. They are getting bigger but are still tiny.

...and I love it. Especially since I didn't get to enjoy them so much for the first 5 1/2 weeks.

Jane at 2 months old.

9 week pictures taken today. This was the first time I have let the girls hold both babies at the same time. Can you tell how happy and excited they were about it?

Jane with her "half smile"

They still sleep in the same bed but I have seperated them a bit in there so this was the first time in a few days that they have laid close to each other other than feeding times. They loved being back together and were flayling their arms a bit. Here they actually got them interlocked.

I am doing surprisingly well. I have discovered that giving them bottles during the night equals more sleep for me. If I nurse them it takes about an hour, maybe a little less. If I give them bottles with my milk then it only takes about 25 minutes. We just stay up late and feed them around midnight then I get up around 3 or 4. Then they wake up around 6:30-8am. Depending on what time they wake up, I either just stay up or go back to bed. Lately I've been going back to bed for a bit. I don't usually need a nap during the day but can if I need to. They are really good babies and don't cry too much.

They still sleep most of the day so I can still get things done. We just don't leave the house much becuase it's a pain and we don't want them getting sick. Life is pretty good though, we can't complain about anything.

The first week the babies were home our washer broke. Not great timing with all of the laundry twins add to the house. We took a few days and Brett did some heavy research, including asking facebook friends for advice, and we got a huge washer and dryer later that week. It has been super helpful having such a big set and we love them. I can't believe how much more laundry 2 tiny babies add.

Like I said earlier, my sister came and stayed with me for a week and that was super nice. I was a bit nervous to have her leave but we've been doing pretty well. When she was here, we made some freezer meals so I have some easy-to-make dinners ready to go, which has helped a lot. We have a lot of support from family and the prayers have been felt greatly, especially while they were still in the hospital. I'm not sure how I would have handled everything without your prayers. We have been super blessed. Thanks to all.

Update on the twins....and other stuff.

2011-09-26T12:08:00.016-06:00

Wow, has it been a month already? It seems like a lifetime yet like no time has passed at all since I've had these two little babies. So much has happened, yet they are still in the hospital so it seems like we've been stuck at the same stage forever. Jane and Kate are both healthy and gaining weight like crazy. Jane weighs 6lbs. 13 oz. and Kate weighs 6lbs. 11 oz. That's 2 lbs these guys have gained. You would think that with that awesome weight gain they could come home. Well, the hold up is their eating. Since they were premature, they hadn't developed the skill of sucking, swallowing, and breathing at the same time. It is also very exhausting for them to eat, so they fall asleep easily and sleep for hours after each feeding. So I had to start feeding them twice a day is all. I would drive down to Provo twice a day and feed them. We weighed them before and after each feeding so we would know how much they had eaten. With a bottle it's easy to see how much they eat but not with nursing. So that's how they do it. The first time I nursed them, the scale said they burned more calories than they ate. It was pretty depressing but only left room for improvement.

It's been a long process. We did 2 feedings a day for about 1 1/2 weeks. We moved on to 3 feedings and stayed there for about 2 weeks. Thursday we started adding a 4th feeding. They did pretty well but got really exhausted, so we were figuring we would be there a while too. Today they are doing 4 feedings and have two times where I nurse them back to back. Usually we would do a feeding in between where they are fed through a tube in their nose to get a break. Now we are seeing if they have enough stamina to get 2 feedings from me in a row.
Anyway, it has been a very long and exhausting process for all of us. I get up to pump every 3 hours...or so I'm supposed to. I'm at the hospital early in the morning and late at night and try to be there for Jules and Libby at home during the day. It's been a busy month but hopefully this will all end soon and we can enjoy them more at home. It was a little nice at first, to recover from a c-section and all, but I am more than ready to bring them home. Now for a bunch of pictures.

This is Brett holding the babies for the first time. He thought he didn't really "need" to hold them like I needed to but once he held them, he was hooked.

Aren't they so cute? Not sure now which baby is which but I think Kate is on the left and Jane is on the right.

Brett holding both of the babies. Kate on the left and Jane on the right.

This was the day the babies got put together in the same bed. Since they were so used to being close together in the womb, they tend to do better when they are together in the bed also. They had to be in separate beds for a week because of tubing and cords they had in them. If those cords came out then it would have been bad, so they were separated. We had our moms come to watch the joining and they got to hold the babies. It was nice having 2 babies, one for each grandma to hold. My mom has Kate and Tammy had Jane.

Jane

My dad holding the babies for the first time. She was kind enough to wake up for him. They are usually awake when I go see them, since they have to eat. I get to see their eyes and their smiles. I have never seen such small babies smile as much as these girls do. It's so sweet.

When we first put them together. They leaned in to each other and it was so cute. They are almost holding hands.

Again, blogger uploaded pictures all messed up. This was the first time I held both of them at once...well, except for the 7 1/2 months they were in my belly.

Jules holding Jane. The girls can see the babies on weekends so we have taken advantage of that. They love going in to see them and love holding them.

Our first family picture. I love it. Libby's hair could use some help but it is what it is.

Even Libby gets to hold them. Here she is holding Kate.

Kate on left, Jane on right.

We all needed a good trim to our hair; especially Libby. She has a really cute curl in her hair but it's also messy and hair is always in her face. The way her hair grows, it just grows in her face. Here is the before shot.

During the hair cut

After. It's a really cute bob with some shorter bangs but they can also go to the side. It's cute when it's done, she looks so grown up.

Jane went on oxygen for little bit. She still needs a little help while she eats. Kate went off it all together for a bit but is back on it. She will most likely come home with it for a while.

Daddy, Jane, and Libby

Not the best angle on Jane but if you notice, she doesn't have any tubing on her face for the first time since she was born. It was only because I accidentally stepped on her feeding tube and it came out. They put another one in right away but for a brief moment she didn't have anything on her face. I long for that day. I'm so tired of all of these wires connected to them.

The cutest outfits. I was waiting to bring them home in these outfits but they were gaining weight so quickly that we put them on them in the hospital. Thanks Keri!

Identical? Nope, they look a little bit alike. I think they will look more alike as they get older. We can tell them apart because Jane is bigger. They actually have different blood types too, so they are not identical. Jane on the left and Kate on the right.

Their heads are so soft that the nurses have to rotate them throughout the day to keep them nice and round. They love being on their sides so the back of their head is very round. This is how we keep them on the back of their heads to make it a little more flat.

Just a sweet picture of Jane.

The babies bedroom. I made all of the bedding the curtains, and the flag banner. I can't wait to bring them home.

Jules and Libby holding the babies again. Libby has Kate and Jules has Jane.

Kate on left and Jane on the right. This was taken last night. Again, Libby has Kate and Jules has Jane. It's really funny to watch Jules and Libby. Libby especially knows which baby is which and she doesn't get to see them very much at all. They are super excited to bring the babies home. I think they will be shocked and probably want to send them back once they come home.

Our first family picture

2011-09-04T22:21:00.004-06:00

There you have it. We were able to bring the girls in to the hospital tonight and snap a picture with everyone.....all 6 of us. Whoa, are there really 6 of us? The twins are progressing nicely. Each feeding, they figure things out a little quicker than the one before. Tonight, they took a huge jump in how much they ate, er drank. Life is good.

The Delivery Story

2011-08-25T07:25:00.010-06:00

Blogger uploaded these pictures in a really funny order and I can't change them right now. So I will try to explain each picture and try to remember which baby is which. First, is the story of how we got here so fast and early:

Saturday we didn't have anything planned other than getting the house more set up from moving in 2 weeks ago. Pictures of the house will come one of these days. I promise. Anyway, I woke up and started having pain and pressure. To me they felt more like contractions than what I have had before. I have had some cramping but it was a constant pain and these were definite off and on pains. On Saturday I was 33 weeks and 3 days; too early to be going into labor. My other babies were full term and I just figured these would come full term too. I tried to not let it get to me. We went to Lowe's and shopped around, but the pain kept coming back on and off. Brett was starting to worry but I didn't let myself get freaked out over it. We got home and I laid on the couch most of the rest of the afternoon and watched movies with Jules. I started keeping track of the contractions and they were ranging from 3 minutes all the way up to 30 minutes with no longer than 30 second contractions. They were very inconsistent. I talked to a friend who is a week ahead of me in her twin pregnancy and had been on bed rest. I asked her what she thought was going on and she told me that I should be on strict bed rest for the next 48 hours. Another friend told me to call my doctor. I hate bugging doctors on the weekend when they are with family so it took me a while, but eventually I called him. He said it was just pre-labor and not to worry too much about it. It could be because of twins and also that it was my third pregnancy. He told me not to over do it but that I didn't need to be on best rest per se. If he wasn't going to worry about it, neither was I. He also told me not to worry about keeping track of the times because it will just drive me crazy. Luckily I asked him when I should go in if these continued. He just said to monitor the pain. If it gets really painful and they aren't going away, then I should go in. He told me to take a hot bath and make sure my belly got in the water and stay there for 20 minutes to see if that would change the pattern. So that's what I did and we went to bed.

Sunday and Monday were pretty good for the most part. The contractions had pretty much stopped. I didn't do too much on Sunday, but on Monday I was starting to get a little nervous that they were going to come sooner than planned. Not as soon as they did, but sooner than planned. So I went out shopping and stocked up on food essentials and toiletries, I finally got around to buying some new nursing bras and stuff like that. It was a very full day of shopping and walking around but no contractions. I was super tired after so much shopping but not like I was going into labor by any means.

Monday night the contractions started while I was sleeping. I was so tired that I didn't really pay much attention to them or the pain level. I just know that every time I moved, it would start up a contraction. I didn't get too much sleep that night. When I woke up they didn't really stop. I started getting the babies room a little more prepared. I put diapers in their basket on the changing table and started washing their baby clothes so I could hang them up and stuff like that. It was taking me a while to do it all because the contractions kept coming and going. I had planned on making some curtains for their room and also their car seat canopies that day too.

The pain was not going away so I talked to Brett and we tried to figure out what I should do. I told him that I was thinking about just going to the hospital just to make sure. I figured they would just give me some medicine to stop the contractions and send me home. Brett had freaked me out a bit saying that I really might be in actual labor. I did start to time the contractions a little and they were about every 1:30 to 2 minutes apart and lasting about 45 seconds a piece. My friend had told me that when they are lasting that long then I should go in. The contractions were getting strong enough that I felt if I were in actual labor I would be getting an epidural and that's how I judged the pain level. I was starting to get a little nervous and did pack my bag really fast. I talked to Brett's mom and had her meet me at the park-n-ride to get the kids and I was going to drive myself to the hospital. I called my mom to have her meet me at the hospital just so I wouldn't be there alone. She works pretty close and knew she could come so that was a relief. I didn't want Brett to have to leave work if it was just false labor. When Tammy saw me she decided that I shouldn't be driving myself to the hospital so she drove me and dropped me off and took the kids home with her.

I got to the hospital and got myself checked in around 1pm. The lady at the desk later told me that she thought I was going to be a false labor mom because I looked too relaxed and calm. It really was because I had no intentions of having the babies.

They put the monitors on to make sure they were okay and started tracking my contractions. They were very consistent at 2 minutes apart. She was going to have me do my culture test and stuff but when she looked, my bags were right there. If she had tried, it would have popped the bags. She checked my dilation and I was at a 6. She quickly called the on call doctor to make a decision on what to do next. They had hoped they could try to stop them for a few hours but I was progressing quickly. I asked if I should get Brett there and she said yes and that I should hurry.

Brett quickly left work a little panicked and surprised. I was really calm during the whole thing because it all just felt so surreal to me. I was not planning on any of this happening so fast. I ordered my epidural and in the past it has taken a while to come, so I figured Brett would be there to hold my hand through it. They came in right away and gave it to me as the on call doctor and my doctor discussed what they should do. So Brett missed the epidural by a few minutes. He likes to watch that kind of stuff and I just need his hand to hold. The nurses were great and I just held theirs instead. The medicine started to work right away and right after getting it, the contractions started to get a lot stronger. The doctors decided that the best way to go was a c-section because of the way the babies were sitting. With how fast everything happened it would seem like it was an emergency c-section but it wasn't an emergency at all. They prepped the operating room and got me more numb with the epidural medicine and we were on our way. I started to shake, which I usually don't do until I'm about ready to deliver. It wasn't as much shaking in my legs this time though, it was in my arms. I couldn't control them nor my chin. The operating room was cold but they put a nice warm blow up thing with warm air flowing through it that warmed me right up. They didn't waste any time and about 15 minutes of being in the O.R. I heard a baby cry. It was so crazy. Then about a minute later I heard the next baby cry.

Brett was there watching the whole thing but once they came he left and followed the babies who were taken directly to the NICU. I didn't get to see them at all since the curtain was up and everything. I could feel some tugging and pulling but it didn't take them too long to stitch me back up. I felt a lot of pressure in my chest and was having a hard time breathing, but I just kept taking deep breaths which kept me focused on that rather than other things. They brought me back to my room and I just waited. Nobody could tell me how the babies were doing or how much they weighed or anything. The nurse was in and out but didn't have much information. I wasn't nervous that they were in horrible condition, I just wanted some information. It was a little frustrating, but I was calm. I started calling my siblings and letting them know. My mom had already called them to let them know I was having the babies today but they were surprised when I was calling so quickly to let them know they were here.

Before too long they came in and gave me the babies weights and heights. Baby A was 4 lbs. 09 oz. 17 inches long. Come to find out later that she was really 4 lbs. 12 oz. Baby B was 4 lbs. 6 oz. 17 inches long. She said they both seemed to be doing okay but didn't know any details. They arrived at 2:54 and 2:55.

Brett finally came back to the room and showed me some pictures so I finally got to sort of see them. They were all strapped down and had so many cords attached to them so it was a little sad. I still haven't been so overwhelmed by any of it though because I know they are doing what is best for the babies. It took about 2 hours before they took me back to the NICU to see them. I was so tired and lying in a big bed and couldn't see them really well but I was so happy to see them when I could. It was so hard not to be able to touch them or hold them. They got me settled in my post delivery room and we just sat and got checked on a lot. I started pumping after not too long to get my milk coming and to give the babies some colostrum.

We had some visitors that night too. My brothers Sterling and Spencer came and brought their families. Brett was able to take the adults up to see the babies and they took more pictures so I could see them a little better. I didn't get to see the babies again until the next morning. I was still connected to my IV and other things, so it was very difficult. I did 2 trips like that and just waited until I was detached to see them again. They removed Baby B's oxygen at 11pm the night she was born and 2 am on Baby A. That was a huge miracle to be off of it so quickly.

I started this post first thing this morning and now it's evening time and a lot has happened. Today's updates will be another post.

Here is a picture of Brett ready to go into the O.R. I took this picture literally as they were rolling my bed away.
I believe this is Baby A...Her name is Jane. Not sure if she will have a middle name or not. I'm telling you, we had a month left to come up with this stuff that happened in 2 hours.
Baby B. As of right now, her name is Kate. I'm thinking it will stay Kate but we aren't signing any papers quite yet.
Baby B.

Like I said, the pictures downloaded all funny. This is a picture of me right before going into the O.R. I was still smiling and so confused as to what was happening. "I'm still just going to get a shot to stop the contractions right?"The kids didn't see them until the next day. We didn't think kids could even go into the NICU. If they are siblings they can see them for 5 minutes on an initial visit and on the weekends. You have to have their current immunization records though and I only had Libby's. It was after 5 when we found out so we had to wait until the next day. We could only bring one of them in at a time and I couldn't hold them to see the babies. They got to stand on some chairs. Jules was a little scared to touch them at first but did love seeing them. I think they are still a little confused as to what's going on.

Notice Brett and Libby behind the window and in the flash.

Disclaimer: daddy did the girls hair.
Libby actually did really well. She was so excited to see the babies and she wanted to give them their binkis. She handled it really well and didn't have any problems touching them.
At 4pm the next day...25 hours later. I got to hold the babies for the first time. Being so early, they don't have the sucking reflex yet so they are being tube fed. When they get fed through the tube it's nice to get them used to being held and having that skin on skin contact. Eventually they put it all together and that the milk comes from me. It felt so good to finally hold them. It didn't feel so surreal any more. I had never held a baby so small and now I have 2 of them to hold. I cherished every minute of it. Sorry for the immodesty. I had to document me holding them for the first time and that's how it had to be. It was so precious.
It's hard to see how little they are when there is nothing to compare them to. Even looking at them in their beds they seemed to be pretty big until I actually held them. Here is Kate next to my hand. They really are so much cuter in person.

Here is Jane next to my dad's hand
My mom has seen them several times but this was my dad's first time. He went to the wrong hospital the first time and it got too late to make it over to the right hospital that first night. He made it over the next day and got to see me holding Kate.
This is me holding Kate for the first time.
As for right now I am the only one other than the staff that has held them. With preemies they get over stimulated really quick and it just wears them out which doesn't help their development. So for now, it's just Brett and I that can hold them.

It looks like they will have to be here for a while. They have to eat 8 times in 24 hours before they will let them go home. With their slow progress, doing that will take weeks. They are doing well and have these mature little faces and are so cute. I know I'm biased, seeing as they are my kids, but they really are cute. The pictures really don't do justice at all.

Babies

2011-06-16T16:43:00.010-06:00

So this is me today at 24 weeks. It's not a very good shot of my belly. It doesn't look that big in the picture but trust me, it's big...to me anyway. Not only that but I have gained at least 20 pounds but I'm trying not to keep track too much.

I have never been pregnant during the hot summer months and so far, I'm not a fan. It's hot and I can't even wear shorts or anything. Even with a summer dress I have to wear leggings because my varicose veins are so awful. I mean AWFUL! Maybe one of these days I will get up the courage to take a picture of them as proof. They are mostly on one leg and that leg tends to swell up really fast so it's no fun at all. Luckily they are not painful.

It's been a crazy couple months as you can imagine. It has been 4 weeks since we found out that we are having 2 more girls!!! (insert concerned and freaked out font here). We found out last month and are still in a bit of shock. In fact, I had another ultrasound today and Brett was really hoping they would find a turtle in there somewhere instead of the 3 lines (for those of you who don't have kids, a boy part in an ultrasound looks like a turtle. But if it's 3 lines, then you know it's a girl). No such thing happened. It's still 2 girls and we have no clue what we are going to name them. It makes us both really ornery even thinking about names because we can't agree on a single name; let alone 2.

So my 20 week ultrasound had to be with a perinatologist because we are having twins. We will have ultrasounds at least every 4 weeks with them. We were in there for a good 2 hours just measuring and making sure that everything was good and healthy with the babies. We thought we were in the clear but the actual doctor found that there was a hole between the 2 ventricles in one of the babies. She said that she wanted me to see a cardiologist and then changed it for after the next appointment. I was a little concerned but she said that it's possible it would go away on its own. I wasn't super freaked out until my regular doctor appointment 2 weeks later. He informed me that if the baby did have this condition then she would need heart surgery within the first year of her life. WHAT?!! Ya, I was a bit freaked out. I guess it's not a huge or super abnormal surgery but it's still heart surgery.

I don't know if I said it before, but we don't have insurance. I was able to find a great insurance for just me but it will only cover the babies for the first 30 days. Brett does have a great job but it's still a contract position and they are moving super slow so who knows when we will get insurance. This surgery would have to take place up at Primary Children's so that would be rough trying to be with both of my babies at the same time. We probably could have pushed to get it done in those first 30 days for insurance purposes but who wants to do heart surgery on a tiny baby? Not me!

Anyway, we just kept praying and fasting and putting them in the temple prayer list. On fast Sunday I actually called my mom and asked if she could fast for my babies since I can't fast right now. So they did a fast and so did Brett. As we were breaking the fast the babies started moving around in my womb. I don't usually feel them moving around when I'm standing so it was really cool. I counted that as a sign and felt a huge amount of comfort at that moment. I still had my concerns but felt much better. Brett actually started applying for other jobs so we could have insurance and I just knew that everything would be okay. Of course I was still concerned but everything always works out so I was just putting my faith and trust in that.

Anyway, today I had another ultrasound and the doctor found the babies' hearts looking perfect and healthy. Can I even tell you my relief? Well, maybe you can imagine on your own. There is a little extra fluid in one of the babies' kidneys but the worst case scenario on that would be that she will be prone to UTIs. We will keep an eye on that but I'm not super concerned. The babies are measuring right on schedule and weigh about 1 lb. 6 oz. each. Baby A which will always be the baby closest to my cervix is head down, which is good. If baby A is breach then they won't even hesitate and go straight to a c-section which I would rather not have. That can always change until about week 30 though so we will see. Things are looking good though and I would rather have a c-section than have to have my tiny baby go through heart surgery.

Now to enjoy some pictures and some non-drama things:

We finally took the kids to Chuck-E-Cheese. This was our first time because Jules is so scared of everything that we figured it would be a waste. Well, we were right. She was scared of everything except these little cars that moved a tiny bit. She was fine at Disneyland when we went last year but she was scared of everything at Chuck-E-Cheese. Go figure right? Anyway, we still had a fun time.

I love our pink blossom tree. I forget what the tree actually is but in the spring it is beautiful. We are still trying to sell the house if you know anyone who is interested, send them our way.
This was at Easter time and this is what happens when Libby gives Mark a sweet innocent look when he is eating chocolate. Thanks again Mark.
The kids love to play on Jules' bed. We have several pictures just like this because they always want a picture taken.
Easter at my parents' house.
Easter morning after finding her Easter basket. When did she get so big?
Libby after finding her basket.
Matching girls ready for church...or after church...I don't remember.
Back to Easter at my parents. Jules got a ton of eggs but Libby still found more $.
The girls at the Wilson's Easter.

She's such a cheese head. She is either super grumpy and scowling in pictures or cheesing it big time. That's pretty much how she is in real life too.
My mom works for the person in charge of BYU Women's Conference so she can get VIP seating and such. So I took advantage for the first time this year. My sister has been coming down from Idaho the past 3 years now so I figured I should take advantage before 1) I have 4 kids and 2) while my mom is still working. My sister happens to be the YW president of her ward so when she saw Sister Dalton she was super excited. I quickly snapped this picture of them for her.
May brought Jules' and Libby's birthdays. They are 10 days apart so they get to celebrate together. Here they are at my parents' with their cupcake cones.
I bought them 5 gold fish the day before to give to them at the family party. 1 died that night and by the end of the party 3 more were dead. The last one survived about 3 weeks until we went on vacation and forgot to feed it. Oops. We now have a beta fish (which are near impossible to kill, although I still almost succeeded). That's another story for another day though.
Jules practicing to be a big sister. Luckily the girls are obsessed with babies... Maybe that's not so lucky. The poor babies might get attacked all the time.
I had zero intentions of throwing a birthday party for Jules this year. As it got closer though we decided to go ahead and do one. She's at the stage where the party is your birthday. If you don't have a party, then it's not your birthday. A friend on facebook made a Tangled cake so I tried to make one too. TRY being the key word. It didn't work out quite as planned but she was happy. That weird looking thing is supposed to be the tower.
For the party it was based around the movie Tangled. We watched bits and pieces of the movie then played a game or had an activity associated with the movie. That was a super last minute decision and it turned out great. Here the girls are coloring their bags that we put little battery operated candles in that became their lanterns.
We had a special visit from Brett's brother and his family from Arizona. They came up for a day and we all just loved it. The kids love uncle Matt and attacked him on the swing. Look at all of those kids adoring him, it was so cute.
Ya, that's from a blue pop cycle. What kind of dye do they put in pop cycles these days?
More of the Naumann birthday party.
For Memorial Day weekend we always go camping but this year there was a prediction of rain. When it rains in the valley, it POURS where we go so we changed the plan this year. We all went to Park City and stayed in Brett's parents' condo. The weather was pretty much awful the whole time and even snowed. We just stayed inside and watched movies and played games and had a relaxing weekend. Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures. It was Libby's birthday though so we had some dessert and sang to her. We couldn't find anything to light the candle with though so we pretended to blow the candle out.
Hanging out at the condo.
Enjoying the free breakfast at Macey's for Orem Fest. Notice I didn't even get the kids dressed for it.
We even went to the parade and watched the fireworks. The kids did awesome and we had a great time. We met up with some ward friends and just enjoyed it. Jules is usually terrified of mascots but she was the one that asked to get her picture taken with it. Libby on the other hand was hanging onto my leg screaming as I took this picture.
For some reason blogger uploaded pictures backwards or something because this is out of place like many other pictures. Anyway, this is what Libby got for her birthday. We were able to go to a park while the weather was nice for a couple of hours so we all could ride it around.
That's all for now!

It's for REAL!!!

2011-04-03T13:09:00.014-06:00

This is going to be long so either just look at the pictures or prepare for a long post. This is mostly for me in the future so I can remember. Having said that, lets begin where the last post left off. I announced that I was pregnant last post. Well, that pregnancy didn't last. On October 20 I lost the baby due to a miscarriage. It was a very hard and sad day. Luckily the Lord had prepared me for it. From the beginning I didn't think it was the right time to get pregnant but we have always felt that keeping kids 2 years apart is the right number. A few weeks before the miscarriage I actually told Brett that I wouldn't be surprised if I did lose the baby. I don't know why I said that but I just think I was being prepared. Something just didn't feel right about the whole pregnancy. The day I did lose the baby I remember my prayers being a little strange that morning. For some reason I had the impression to pray that I would be able to endure trials in my life and what was in store for me or something to that effect. I figured it was due to other things going on. My dad had been in the hospital due to a blood clot in his lungs. It was very serious but they caught it right in time so he was okay. My brothers work had been broken in to and a lot of their equipment had been stolen. We were waiting for trial #3 in our family and then it came. It was the last thing we expected it to be, but it happened nonetheless. It was a very hard time even though I was prepared. I was fine until I got sympathy from someone and then I would break down. All is well though, it really just wasn't the right time. After that I just kept having the thought that October was when we needed to have the next baby. We probably could have gotten pregnant right away but we waited so the due date would be October. Things went according to plan and we got pregnant and our due date (according to the internet's calculations) was going to be October 11th. This time we waited to announce the pregnancy just in case things went wrong again. I did tell some of my family I was pregnant that week so they knew. My first doctor appointment was March 30th. Since this is baby #3, I told Brett he didn't need to be there. He was really busy at work and still isn't hired on full time so we still don't have insurance. Anyway, I told him to not worry about it and my sister watched the kids so I went alone. I told my mom the night before that I was nervous for this appointment because I was scared it was going to be twins. I don't know if it was a feeling/prompting to prepare me or what but I was a bit nervous. Part of me was also scared that maybe things weren't going to be okay since the last one ended badly. Anyway, I went in and got an ultrasound because that's what our doctor does at our first appointment. Low and behold the nurse told me there were 2 babies in there. I was in shock and I still kind of am. She said it's very rare that people by now don't know or it's not expected because most twins these days are because of infertility problems. I was shocked but I guess I really shouldn't have been. My mom is actually a twin and seeing as it skips a generation and runs in female blood I was likely to be the one to get twins. I only have 1 sister and she's done having kids. I did tear up just out of shock mostly. I told the nurse that had helped me earlier and when I did I just started crying more. I talked to the doctor and he calmed my fears. He is very experienced in having twins and he doesn't charge more to deliver twins and just reasured me of many things. I didn't even know what to ask him because I wasn't prepared with questions about twins. He was great and I left feeling much better. I drove to Brett's work and told him to come out and I showed him the pictures. He handled it really well and started doing research on twins right away. I called my mom afterwards and she just laughed, especially after my comment to her the night before. Our families are super excited and happy to carry on the tradition. We are so blessed to have so much support and we will need it. We had already planned on announcing it on April Fools but now that it was twins I couldn't keep it in. I told all of my family but Brett made me stay quiet until April 1st. We did tell his parents the day before and Tammy jumped up and down and is so excited. Throughout this pregnancy I haven't been able to sleep as much as with the girls and I thought that was weird. I can't nap really well and the sleep at night is awful. I really think my body is preparing me for no sleep. Anyway, here are the pictures. The first one is of the top of their 2 heads, the 2nd one says baby B, and the bottom one says baby A. 40 weeks would put me due on October 6th (as planned) but twins tend to come early so we could have full term twins anywhere between September 15-October 6th. Now going back to the fall. Brett and I made a quick trip down to Vegas to watch a Michael Buble concert. We went backstage to meet the opening act which was an acappella group, Naturally 7, who did amazing. They were really cool and we just got to sit and talk with them for a while. I love Michale Buble and loved the concert. We left the kids at home and just enjoyed the quick trip by ourselves. We did bring one of Brett's friends with us seeing as he was the one that got us the tickets for free.

Halloween. Libby was a cute chick and Brett was corn flakes. He had to dress up as cereal for his work party and that was the best we could do. I accidentally erased other pictures we had taken on our camera. oops!

Jules was a fairy.

Libby was so tired at the store one day that she fell asleep. It was so cute, she has never done that before.

Jules being Jules.

Growing up, Brett had some grandparents that would give them the chance to reach into a big jar of coins and that was their present. Tammy decided to carry on the tradition this year and it was a huge hit. The older kids obviously get more money because their hands are bigger. It's much easier for her so she doesn't have to find presents for 20 or so grand kids and they all have the fond memories.

For Christmas Santa made Jules' room into a play room and now Jules and Libby share a room. Jules slept in our room with us on Christmas night and when she woke up we brought her into her new room and into their play room. Jules had been asking for a princess kitchen so she was so excited to see this. Here is Libby with her presents.

I got a headboard, a coat, a purse and later after the picture, Brett surprised me with a wii and wii fit. I was so excited and loved it all.

I gave Brett a bunch of much needed clothes and a paid and planned date a month. Each month has the plans and the gift cards for the date we get to go on that month. It has been so much fun so far.

Jules with her presents.

This is her initial reaction when she saw her new room for the first time.

New jammies

Brett had been singing in a UofU acappella group since the fall and here they are at a performance. They went to a competition and took 2nd place. He quit after that though because it was taking so much time away from the family. We sure love having him around more but he misses singing.

This is Jules' new room that she shares with Libby. They have done so well sleeping together and I love having the play room so all the toys aren't spread out on the living room floor all of the time.

More of the playroom.

More of the group.

Singing and rocking with daddy.

Libby's hair after a nap.

Jules and Libby got hair cuts. This was Libby's first time and she did great. It was just a little trim.

More snuggles with daddy.

We watched Rob and Melissa's kids so Rob could go out on his birthday. The kids all got to decorate their own cookie.

Brett sang the National Anthem at a Jazz game on February 2 (one of Jerry's last games).

Jules....ya

Jules was invited to a Valentine's party and it was so cute. They got to sit at the big table and got food and decorated cookies and made bracelets. It was so cute and the kids felt so grown up and special.

Libby loves ketchup.

After family scripture study and prayers. This happens most nights.

We went to the Provo library for the annual Fairy Tea Party. We had an extra ticket so we took cousin Maddi with us. We were there with other friends too but I'm awful at taking pictures.

For our 5 year anniversary Brett surprised me and we went up to Park City. In the condo was also a food dehydrator that I have been wanting. He totally surprised me with it and this is the only picture we got of the whole weekend. Ugly I know but we had to have some proof of our 5 years. It was nice to get away for the night and go swimming and just relax.

Libby fell and hit her head on the corner of my parents house (stucco). She has been falling so much lately but she's one tough chick...most of the time anyway.

Jules has been in a dance class put on by the rec center. It is so cute to see them all dance together. As a neighborhood and friends, we all got into the same class so it was so much fun for the kids and the moms.

Libby just had to wear a tutu as well.

She got to wear makeup and felt so grown up and special.

Summer 2010

2010-09-30T14:32:00.013-06:00

Prepare for a TON of pictures. I will keep the captions short so you don't get too bored.

Jodi, Brett's sis-in-law, took some family pictures of her family this weekend so we joined in the fun and she got some of us too.

Now back to the past for a bit. This was back in April for Easter Sunday.

Brett's mom gave us Easter cookies with our names on them. FUN!

For my birthday in April we headed down to Southern California and stayed at the Nilsen's. They were so hospitable and even watched the kids so we could enjoy Disneyland without them. We did one day by ourselves and one day with Jules. We used the tickets we won on the radio, so it was a very cheap trip for us.

We won 4 tickets and didn't need one day of them and Heather and Taylor were already planning on going so it worked out for them to use them. Since we went on my birthday, I got to wear a button all day and all of the workers wished me a happy birthday all day long. I felt super special.

Jules loves princesses so she was in heaven. She did much better than we thought she would do. She got to dance around with Alice in Wonderland. I have a lot of pictures on my phone but haven't put them on the computer yet.

She loved Dumbo with daddy. I rode by myself so I could get pictures of them.

Of course she loved meeting the princesses.

Toon Town

CALIFORNIA and JULES don't share a lot of similar letters so we went with Juliana and used the "A" because it was more fun than the "L".

She has never even watched "Cars" all of the way through but it was a good picture moment.

We were so excited for Jules to watch the parades but it rained right before, so they were canceled. It got pretty cold but Jules didn't complain once.

We stayed and watched the fireworks and when we were walking down Main Street to leave, Jules fell asleep in the stroller even though there were thousands of people around us.

We love Disneyland and can't wait to go back. Good thing we won tickets on the radio again yesterday. This is the 3rd time winning tickets to Disneyland on the radio! Yay!

The girls birthdays are only 10 days apart so we celebrated them together. I made some princess cakes.

This princess is a little small for the dress but it all works out...right?

My mom got them backpacks for their birthday and it was so funny watching Libby walk around with hers. She started walking in April so she still wasn't super steady but she did great. She also got her ears pierced while we were in California but I guess all of those pictures are on my phone.

Opening presents

Eating the cake all by herself. She was not a fan.

For Memorial Day weekend my family always goes camping. The kids had a blast and loved riding the four-wheelers.

Libby loves men, especially older men. She loves her grandpas and adopts any guy who will hold her.

The 4th of July weekend Brett's brother, Matt and his family, came up from Arizona and we played all week. This is the slip and slide at Brett's parents that we set up for the "kids". Brett soon discovered that you can go faster and further if you have a bag over your body. We had a blast.

We did the temple square thing and watched "Music and the Spoken Word".

We even got up early to watch the balloons. We all look so tired but it was fun.

Then we went to the parade. This is Jules and cousin Megan waving at the princesses on the floats. (I think Jodi was just as excited as the kids :)

Waiting for it to get dark enough to do fireworks.

I just love this picture of Elle. Such a sweetheart.

We also went to the zoo. We loved the bird show.

You have to get one of these shots right?

This is where we let Libby finally get out of the stroller and she went crazy.

I did another half marathon on August. This is the only shot we got and I didn't even see Brett at the finish line. It looks like I'm fake running at this point, I guess I was just so tired. I won't go into detail here because I didn't really enjoy this run. My time was worse than the first time (I got 2:01:30) and that was really disappointing. I did it though and I'm glad I did.

These are Jules' really good friends. She loves playing with them and they are all really sweet to her and Libby.

If you haven't been to Blickenstaffs toy store in the River Woods shopping center you must go. We were all entertained and had so much fun. I can't get enough of this picture of Libby.

This was the coolest tricycle ever. Too bad it was over $300.

We go to play-group with kids in our ward every week and the kids love it. I actually think the mom's love it the most because we get to talk while the kids entertain themselves.

Jules got a new coat so we were trying it on. She decided that Libby needed one too even though she was naked. They loved playing around in them. Looks like they are ready for winter...I on the hand, am not at all.

Libby is now a computer genius. She opened the computer all on her own and started playing around with the mouse.

In other news, 2 huge things are happening in the Wilson home. 1)We are having another baby in May. That will make 3 May babies, all 2 years apart. 2)Brett got a new job working for Adobe and starts mid-October. We are excited for all of the new changes...I think :/

Beard Contest!

2010-04-28T09:35:00.005-06:00

Hey everyone, I need your help. My coworkers and I are having a little beard-growing contest. I need all the votes I can get.

Go here: http://natrondesigns.com/beard-contest/ and be sure and vote for me as Grizzly Adams. Then go vote for all the other guys as Peach Fuzz (or anything lower than Grizzly Adams).

You can vote as many times as you want. Pass this on to all your friends as well. Thanks so much!

3 holiday updates

2010-03-30T10:40:00.007-06:00

It has been a while and I am sorry. I have had some pictures to put up for a while but laziness has gotten the best of me.

I think this was back in February. It was a warmer day and we all had cabin fever. The snow was gone everywhere other than the park. The kids had fun though.
It was still a little cold for Libby.

This is in our backyard. I had a few projects I was working on. When it was a nice day we would bundle them up and go out and paint these projects. Pictures to come.

Jules loves Heidi and Jesse. She keeps them busy playing with her when they come over. I'm grateful they don't have a washer and dryer so that gets them to come over about once a week to do their laundry.
They came over one night and we made Valentine cookies. Yummy!
Valentine's breakfast.
Jules looking so grown up with pig tail braids and a cute new dress from Saver's.
I bottled chicken. It was so easy and makes making dinner on those crazy nights nice and easy.
It snowed...a lot. We finally made peace with the snow and went out and played with it. I hate the snow but Jules actually wanted to go out this day so I let her and I went out too. We made a snowman with the help of the neighbor boys. It was melted by the noon. Crazy Utah weather.
I am such a boring mom. This is the only thing we did to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I put Jules in a green dress, gave her a green bowl with kiwi, she is sitting on the green couch and reading a green book.
Libby was a vampire for a few days. Her gums were growing down before her teeth. She did cut through those teeth within the past few days but for a few days she really looked like a vampire.
For FHE last week we made flowers out Jules hand print. Pretty cute huh? The flowers that is, not her hair. She was ready for bed and I had taken out her hair when I realized we didn't take any pictures.
These are the cute cupcakes we made for that same FHE. We are so ready for spring, can you tell?
This last Saturday we celebrated Easter with my family. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. Grandpa had the kids play games to win some of their eggs and even some dollars. This is one of the games. Her legs are so short that she could walk inside of the bag and didn't understand that she was supposed to hop. It was so cute.
The boys got their turn too.
The traditional money toss. My mom got up on the ladder and threw dollars. With the help of the wind and the paper dollar it would float for a while and was very unpredictable. The kids had their turn.
And so did the big boys. The girls also got a turn but we only got video of that.
We also won tickets to Disneyland on the radio. If you remember, we have won tickets to Disneyland before and had a blast. This time we are going alone and taking Jules for a day. We are so excited and Jules can't wait to meet all of the princesses. We will be able to enjoy 2 days by ourselves and 1 day with Jules, maybe 2. We still haven't decided what to do since she is free and we have 4, 2-day park hopper passes. Thanks 101.9 The End.

Couponing Class

2010-02-18T13:46:00.004-07:00

Have you ever heard of those people that walk around using coupons all of the time and saving hundreds of dollars? Have you always wanted to know how they do it? Have you always wanted to do it but thought it was way too much work? Well, I have. It is still work, but it's worth it if you want to save your family hundreds of dollars while building up your storage.

I am having a class here at my house on Tuesday, February 23 at 7pm to learn more about this craze of "couponing". It is a CLASS, not a party. I will of course have some refreshments, but there is no pressure to buy anything. Just come learn how to take advantage of coupons and sales. If you need my address just e-mail me and I will give it to you. staceyywilson@gmail.com.

Before and After

2010-01-29T13:31:00.008-07:00

We have been busy, and here are a few of the reasons why...
Libby just turned 8 months old yesterday. She is growing like a weed and doesn't stop. She is crawling and gets everywhere she wants. I love this because she gets what she wants instead of expecting me to know what that is.

She is usually happy...if she is getting attention. She is spoiled rotten though, because I just love her and her snuggles, so much that I end up holding her a lot.

If you look close you can see Libby's 2 front teeth on the bottom. She popped her second tooth out yesterday.
Jules, of course needed some attention too.
Aren't those eyes identical? Jules weighs 29 lbs and Libby weighs 20 lbs. They are 2 years and 10 days apart. Is there something wrong with that? On a plus side, Libby doesn't spit up as much any more. She did today though, because her tummy did not like the plums she had for breakfast. We gave her plums because she tends to not poop very much. Hence the 20 lbs.
Last week we were all sick. The girls had a small case of RSV which included a nasty deep cough. It lasted Jules about 10 days. I got a sinus infection at the same time along with the same cough. Thank goodness it is mostly gone.

This is our new set of wheels. We sold our car, which was a huge blessing, and sold it right after finally finding a van that we wanted. So far we love it.
We also got new phones. Yay! We have unlimited texting, unlimited internet, and unlimited mobile to ANY mobile...and pay the exact same each month. We have never had text messaging before, because we are so cheap. So it has been nice.
I have been on a huge 'blue' kick lately. These pillows got me started on a little theme for a few of our rooms in the house. I love blue and the calming effect it gives.
This is my new jewelry organizer that I LOVE.
New curtains for our bedroom that I made and love.
This is a before picture of our tiny bathroom. It did have some color to it with decorations but I forgot to take a picture with it. So here it is, as plain as can be.

And the after picture... I just did this yesterday, so we are still getting used to it. So far, I'm in love.

This is our bathroom downstairs before...
And after... It's the same blue. The vanity still needs help, but that will have to come later.
Our family room before....
And after.... I just added curtains and pillows. It still needs more but I just haven't found the perfect things to go in it yet. It all comes slowly with a house.
This is a couch table we got from a friend. I liked it but the colors were wrong. So this is before...
And after... Don't mind the picture, I don't develop pictures very often, so we get to enjoy some of Heidi and Jesse's engagement pictures until I do.
Life has been crazy busy and we love it. Here is another new found love of mine halftees.com. You definitely need to check them out.

Christmas..oh ya, and Brett's birthday

2010-01-12T10:44:00.008-07:00

The slacker has returned to do another post.
Christmas has come and gone and it was a great one. We were busy...which is a reason for the lack of posts. I did a lot of homemade gifts this year and it was very time consuming. I don't have a lot of pictures to show my hard work but here are a few of the things we did.

We just had to a do a gingerbread house. The point was for Jules to help and have fun doing it. Brett and I got too into it to have her help out though. She mostly just ate some candy and picked at it the next day.
Yet another shot of Jules in Libby's bed. I went in Libby's room on Saturday and she was naked. No pajamas and no diaper. There is no way Libby could have done it, so I asked Jules if she went in there and she proudly admitted that it was her.

We always get together with my family on Christmas Eve...which is also Brett's birthday. This is how we spent some of the time. We had an air hockey tournament where even grandma played. Of course she lost...to a grand kid, but how's keeping track of that? Brett and Ron duked it out for the championship. Ron won.
We even had homemade root beer.
Of course, the tradition of new pajamas. Jules got princess...
...and Libby got...drunk?
Oh, there she is. She just got cute Christmas ones.
Christmas morning Jules woke up to find a play house with a few accessories...and a few presents to open. It was so fun to see her get all excited for each gift. She thought she was done and was content with things, but then she would get another one, and another. She was even a huge helper and opened Libby's presents for her.
Libby was a pretty happy girl too. Of course she played with the wrapping paper more than anything.
Brett being Brett. This is a cute saying that Heidi gave us. We love it.
Yay, I got an itouch, ihome, and a shuffle. I love them all so much.
Oh wait, notice the lack of presents for Brett. You see, a few weeks before Christmas, I went out and got myself an ipod. (Yes, I believe we were the only ones in the country that didn't have one; we don't have text either so call us old fashioned). So, I gave it to Brett to wrap up to give me on Christmas. A while later I was looking for something in his desk drawer and found an itouch. I had told Brett to get his own gifts because I never get him what he wants and he ends up exchanging a few things. I wasn't going to have that happen again this year so he was in charge of himself.

So when I saw the itouch, I figured it was for him because I got the ipod classic. Well, he had gone and sold the ipod to get the itouch to surprise me. So, I didn't get him anything for Christmas, assuming the itouch was his and that was enough. He did get some birthday presents the day before, but nothing for Christmas. Ya, I felt rotten all day. I love my itouch though:) More than I thought I would. He has since, gone out and purchased his own itouch so I don't feel so bad anymore.
New Years Eve night Brett had to sing in the Assembly Hall. I figured I would go listen to the performance because I hadn't heard it before. We left Libby with grandma and papa and head up to SLC. We had to be there early, so while Brett warmed up his voice, Jules and I went around and looked at things. She is obsessed with temples. If you ask her what she is going to do, she says "Get married in the temple, have to find prince first". We had a lot of fun. She wouldn't smile for pictures but she was really happy.

We even rode tracks for a little bit so she could get that experience. She loved it.
This is at the end Brett's performance. He sings with the Saltaires, a barbershop chorus. Even though I'm not a huge barbershop fan, they did a really good job.
Jules being super cheesy for this picture to show off the apron I made her for Christmas.
Heidi got married and moved out. We missed the wedding in San Diego but got to be there for the open house. It was beautiful and Heidi looked beautiful. Jules loved dancing with "The Princess".

Kids say (and do) the darnest things

2009-12-13T13:23:00.002-07:00

We are trying to teach Jules to ask nicely the first time without us having to remind her to say please. When she demands something that she wants, we reply, "That's nice". So the other day she had this conversation with herself..."I want cheese, that's nice, can I have cheese please, in a minute". At least she reminded herself to say please. I must say, "in a minute" a lot.

I was coloring some FHE packets the other day and Jules wanted to come color next to me. I got the old markers and let her color. I had 2 of those smelly markers and told her to smell them. She made me smell the mint one. I told her it smelled like gum. She smells it again and looks at me and said, "Mom, you're so weird".

We had Libby's 6 month check-up the other day. Right when we got into the parking lot Jules started complaining that she needed to go poopies. She repeated it over and over. So we booked it into the building and head to the elevator. She continues to repeat over and over that she really needs to go poopies. I'm starting to get really nervous that she is going to diarrhea all over the place. We get to the office, I skip the check in as she announces to everyone that she needs to go poopies. We rush to the bathroom, it's occupied. We run to the other bathroom on the other side of the office, it's empty. She sits down on the potty and lets out this big fart. That's all, no poopies, just gas and she was good.

"What the heck?". She says that every now and again at really random times along with, dang it, holy cow, and you're so crazy. There are others but I can't think of any right now.

The phrase, "Who peed in your cheerios" brought on a whole new meaning to me yesterday. I was downstairs working on a project and Jules came upstairs. Heidi was upstairs studying so when Jules came down with a bowl of cheerios, I didn't think much about it. A little while later I came upstairs to find cheerios all over the counter, on the floor, and a puddle of pee.

Libby

2009-12-11T00:14:00.010-07:00

It's been a while, sorry about that. Here are a lot of pictures of mostly Libby the past month...or more. First of all we have Halloween. I'm pretty sure Jules has swine flu so she looks miserable here. If you don't watch "The Office" you might not understand Brett's costume, or lack of costume. He is "Facebook". Get it, BOOK is written on his "face". He even has the blue shirt.
A couple of pictures of Libby in her costume. Her shirt said "Princess in Training". Thanks for all of you who voted for Libby; we did not win though.

This is Jules' hat but Jules decided to put it on Libby. She looks like Toad from Mario Bro.
Libby in her high chair. She is still getting used to the eating thing.
Jules loves the temple and sings "I love to see the Temple" all the time. She knows that the temple is Jesus' house and that Moroni is on top. Jules likes to put her hands up to her mouth a blow a horn like Moroni. It's really cute. One day we were driving errands and she told me she wanted to go see the temple. So we drove to the temple to see it.
Jules is being the "helpful" big sister and feeding Libby. It's really cute...and messy.
Callie, Brett's sister, went to Africa to teach deaf kids. She was there for 2 months so she got her hair braided. It took 6 of us over an hour to take them all out. It was pretty cool looking.

Taking out the last braid. She had the perfect crimp.
Jules and Libby hanging out on the couch together.
Libby is a total mommy's girl. I love it.
Libby is over 6 months old now and is sitting and practically crawling. She doesn't have any teeth yet, but she sure drools a lot, and bites everything.
All ready for Christmas. She even has the double chin and fat rolls to prepare her for this cold weather.
Libby in the high chair again. She's getting so big, way too fast.
We helped my mom put up her Christmas decorations. Jules was this same age when we got a picture of her in the same sleigh my mom has. We had to do one with Libby too.
Libby waking up from a nap all happy.
Then Jules had to come in and interrupt. Jules is happy, I just don't know about Libby.
Happy Birthday in December to mom, Maddie, Brett and Nettie. Good thing I didn't have the recording of us singing.
Jules and Elise love playing together. Elise is Gerald and Adoree's daughter. Elise is going to be a big sister in May, yay!
That is about all. We have been busy doing things, I just don't know what.

VOTE FOR JULES!!

2009-11-04T15:01:00.007-07:00

Hey folks, we need your help! Please go to http://www.kosy.com/pages/disney_on_ice/vote.html and vote for photo number 228. We're trying to win the Kosy 106.5 Disney on ice vacation, and the one with the most votes wins. It's kind of a pain to go through the images, so here's the photo we put up there. It's only 1 vote per email address, so use multiple addresses if you can. Spread the word and get as many people as you can to help! We'd greatly appreciate it. Hurry, we only have until November 9th! Thanks so much!

PS - It might not work in Internet Explore, so feel free to use any other browser, such as Firefox.

Potty training

2009-11-04T13:34:00.002-07:00

-I love that Jules had to check the potty to make sure she went poopies before she could proudly announce that she did if fact go poopies.
-I love that Jules cheers for me when I go potty.
-I love that I don't have to buy her any more diapers.
-I love that she likes to wipe her own bum.
-I love that Jules just goes into the bathroom by herself and goes without my help...most of the time.

Halloween!

2009-10-28T21:45:00.005-06:00

Isn't his car a beauty? 2006 Hyundai Sonata. Great condition, 50K miles, only $9,500, anyone, anyone? Yup, we are trying to sell our car. Reason #1: Our registration is up this month and we don't want to pay to register it again. #2: We want a van. Now I know that some of you are thinking that we only have 2 kids and don't need a van and it's true. It was either a van or a truck because we always need something bigger for some reason and a van just seems more practical for now. So, if anyone wants a great car, let us know.
We carved pumpkins. We had my cousin over with her 2 kids and they helped out and we even made some Halloween cupcakes. It was a lot of fun. Brett's is the face, mine is the ghost, and that small one up there is a princess crown...sort of. I should have given Brett more instruction of what I was really thinking.

We finally finished our wall...mostly. We have had these frames on the wall for about 2 months now and finally filled them with our family pictures that we took 2 months ago. We still need to fill in the space under the "W" but at least it has pictures now. Kim, I'm waiting for a Mount Timpanogos picture.
On Saturday we threw a bridal shower for Brett's cousin once removed, Rachel, it was really last minute and we didn't get a ton of people but it was still fun.
Jules enjoying a red velvet cupcake at the shower.
Brett loves to take long, hot showers. So one day he was having fun and spelled out our names in the shower. Remember his is a 30 year old house. The people who remodeled the house decided to just paint over the old tile to make it "look good enough to sell". So obviously paint over tile doesn't last too long and Brett just scratched it off to spell our names.
Last night we had a ward Halloween Carnival that the YM/YW put on every year for the primary kids. This was one of my favorite costumes. 2 years ago when we were in the ward the mom made them into the Monsters Inc. characters and did a fabulous job. This year, she did the "Aladdin" theme. Aren't they adorable. I wish I got a picture of the dad and their 1 year old. He was Jafar and the baby was the parrot...so cute.
This is Jules looking all traumatized as Snow White. Grandma Wilson got these cute shoes that go perfectly with the dress. Jules loves the shoes. Unfortunately Jules woke up sick today so hopefully she will feel better by Saturday. I totally forgot to get pictures of Brett as Napoleon and Libby as a "princess in training". Stay tuned and we'll get some pictures on Saturday.
Libby is 5 months old today. I have been able to feed her at least rice for a month now, but haven't until yesterday. This is her today eating it up. My baby is so big. Time goes by so fast. She is so much fun, but the time is just passing way too fast.

Fall

2009-10-07T21:16:00.012-06:00

So a couple of weeks ago, I was downstairs working on some primary stuff, Jules was upstairs watching some princess movie and Libby was sleeping. Everything was peaceful and quiet until I heard a loud pounding on the door. I quickly ran upstairs and didn't see Jules on the couch and Libby was screaming bloody murder, but I couldn't hear it downstairs. I quickly thought that Jules opened the front door and was found outside on the street or something and some neighbor was returning her to me. I opened the door and it was a cop. He wasn't dressed up and so I was a little hesitant when he started asking me questions like what my name was and wanting to see my drivers license to verify it was me.

Let me assure you that at this point I knew Jules was fine and was playing with Libby because I could hear her in Libby's room, so I knew nothing was wrong with her. The cop then began to question me about the previous person that lived in our house. I was extremely relieved and told him everything I knew about the person and sent him elsewhere to someone who would know more. I guess this person is in a little bit of trouble which is sad because I did know them. I was very relieved to know it had nothing to do with me and a dead child on the side of the road. Once we got that all straightened out and he left I went in and found this...

Yup, that's Jules without a diaper in Libby's crib. You can't see it from this picture but Jules had also pooped in her diaper, taken it off, and then sat on Libby or something because there was poop on Libby's bum. Fun!

That was before we started potty training her. I am proud to say that Jules is 80% potty trained. She is just having troubles pooping on the potty for some reason. The funny this is that pooping on the potty once, is how the whole thing got started on us potty training her. So, we have had a few poop accidents but didn't have a single pee pee accident. BTW, I never knew it would be so hard to try to decide on words for "poop" and "pee pee" and "fart". We just use "stinky" for that one. Although when she smells that someone has passed gas, she says that person is poopy so what do you do?

Just a fun picture of Jules playing with Libby. Don't worry, Jules is most likely laying on top of Libby while this picture was taken. Hey, it's better than yesterday when she actually rolled Libby off the couch.
Growing up we never had FHE. I always said that I would do it no matter what from day #1 of being married. Well, 3 1/2 years later we finally started doing them. It was so hard with just the 2 of us so we would do something together but it was usually just watching TV or something like that. Last week we went up the canyon and learned a little about the creation and that Heavenly Father gave us ducks and trees and a few other things we saw around the park. Here are a few pictures from that outing.
Feeding the ducks.
Notice the really pretty red trees in the background. It was so beautiful. I'm sure it's all covered by snow now.
Jules showing dad how to go down the slide.
Good job daddy!
Kicking the ball around.
So another exciting thing happened. Last Tuesday night there was a big storm. I woke up with Libby at 5 that morning and looked outside the window to see if it was windy or raining and I saw branches right in front of her window that shouldn't be there. This is the surprise we woke up to.
It just blew right over. There wasn't any damage and it ended up not being too bad. We didn't like the tree for one, and our neighbor needed some fire wood, for another, so he came and cut it all up and took it to heat his house. There is still a big stump and all the roots that we still have to deal with but it could have been a lot worse.
Brett's "sort of aunt" passed away last week and this is her and her husband's headstone. It's huge!
Libby strutting her stuff at the funeral.
What happens when you leave the grand kids downstairs for too long without supervision. That's a treadmill btw.
At least Libby and grandpa were having a good time. She didn't look very comfortable at all but was so happy lying there with grandpa.
This was FHE this week. We made carmel apples. They were a little messy but of course it was fun.
I also put these pictures up so Brett might learn to smile in pictures.

Today, we went to a park because I've walked there a few times and I wanted to know how far away it was. We got there and I saw the park and realized it had been a while since we had gone, and I didn't have anything planned that I needed to get home for, so we stopped and ran into some of our really good friends, Daryl and Katrina, who we haven't seen forever. It was so funny because their trip to the park was unexpected too. The kids got to play together and this is them on the swings. The kids got along great and it was so fun to see them again.
We fit Jules and Libby in the swing. Libby loved it. I love this pictures because it makes Libby's head look ten times bigger than Jules'.
We had Libby's 4 month appointment last week and everything is looking good. She is growing and weighs 15 1/2 pounds which is in the 79th percentile or something like that. Jules was in the 2 percentile at this age so it's been really interesting having the extremes.

I just love this picture I took of her tonight because you can pretty much count the fat rolls on her. Poor thing just wanted to eat and go to bed.
Thanks for hanging in there for this extremely long post and update. We are loving the fall and the fact that things are slowing down a bit.

Boring Us!

2009-09-21T20:33:00.007-06:00

Things have been busy and frankly I just haven't had a desire to blog. Ever since Libby was born I barely even have a chance to read other blogs so I apologize for my lack of comments on your blogs. Here are a few things that we have been up to since I last posted:
Heidi, Brett's cousin once removed, moved in with us. I have loved having the extra help around the house and the kids just love her. Even though Jules looks totally drugged in this picture, she really does love Heidi.

Libby will be 4 months old next week. She is getting so big so fast. She is totally opposite of Jules as far as weight goes. Jules didn't even weigh 11 lbs at 4 months. Libby on the other hand weighed 12 lbs at 2 months and even started out smaller. She's our little rolly polly baby.

Just a funny picture I had to add of Jules with a snot bubble one morning. Gotta love the bed head too.
Jules loves Libby. Sometimes a little too much. These are just some fun pictures I took of both of them playing together.
This picture makes me realize how much they look alike. I think Libby's head is just as big as Jules head.
Another fun picture of Jules.
Brett's group singing at a benefit concert that about 20 people were at. His barbershop group is now over because one of the members is moving. Sad days. Now he's back to trying to get an acappella group together.
Our very first FHE. We taught Jules about temples then we went to the Provo Temple and took some really cute pictures.
We had to include Libby.
Over Labor Day weekend we went up to Sun Valley Idaho for a car show. Brett's dad sold this car. It was really cute.
Libby is so happy and smiles and laughs so easily.
Tammy came over the other day and when she got here Brett looked outside and noticed she drove all the way over here with a lid on her hood. Hmmm, I'm thinking Kyle put it there when he was packing his car. So this picture is for you Kyle. Hope you don't need this lid.
On Friday I decided to do some canning. I was pretty proud of myself because I did it all by myself. Heidi did help a little I guess. I did grape juice, peaches and tomatoes. I already did some salsa a few weeks ago too. It's really not a lot I guess, but I had never done juice or tomatoes before. I've kind of helped my mom in the past I guess but didn't really pay that much attention.
This was Libby last night. I propped her up on the couch while I got Jules ready for bed and this is how I found her a few minutes later. She spits up a bunch and is still gaining weight like crazy.
So that's what we've been doing. Staying busy and getting ready for fall. I'm ready for things to slow down and keep hoping that will happen once it starts getting colder.

Family Pictures

2009-08-13T21:54:00.007-06:00

Yay, we finally got our family pictures taken with all 4 of us. Thanks Kellie, my fabulous sister-in-law, for taking them for us.

Jules had a hard time smiling for us.

Jules' Hair

2009-07-16T20:33:00.006-06:00

I could say:
-That Jules found some scissors and cut her own hair
-That we went to a salon and the stylist did a horrible job
-That Brett cut it
-She woke up and it was all of a sudden short
-Or I could just admit that I cut it myself.

People have been telling me for a while that she needs a haircut and bangs, to get her hair out of her face...and for some reason I actually listened. I didn't think it would be too hard to do it myself, so I did. I got out my sewing scissors, which are huge, and went to town. I really thought I wasn't cutting off that much so I could have something to work with if I messed up. Well, it ended up being a lot shorter than I planned and wanted.

Disclaimer: This picture was taken right after a nap where Jules did sweat a lot and it got a lot worse looking.

Luckily my cousin is a stylist so we took her in and she fixed it up. It's still shorter than we wanted but we are getting used to it. At least now it has some shape and order to it.
Here is Jules and Libby. Libby is now 7 weeks old and doing really well. She is gaining weight like crazy which makes me sad because she's getting so big too fast.

I do love this stage though because she is really responding to us and smiling like crazy. She's so much fun.

Aren't these smiles priceless?

What A Week

2009-07-06T16:48:00.029-06:00

We had a very busy week so here are some pictures to show some of the highlights.

My sister came into town for the 4th of July. She got here Friday, June 26th and just left on Monday, July 8th. Brett went out of town on Tuesday so she came to keep me company and keep me busy so the week wouldn't be so hard. Since she was here we decided to bless Libby. The problem is that we decided on Friday to bless her 2 days later. We made a bunch of phone calls to let everyone know and everything worked out. It was great because I didn't stress about it before hand because I didn't have time to stress about it. We did it in my parents back yard as we have done for most of the grand kids.
I couldn't decide if I wanted to use the same dress that Jules was blessed in or not. After shopping around and not finding anything nearly as cute as Jules' blessing dress, (and they were all $50+) I decided to just use the same one. It is so cute and very special because Brett's mom made it.
What a proud daddy and happy girl. She didn't cry at all but she did spit up on a few hands during the blessing...oops!
The happy family.
All the family that came to support us.
Some of the kids.
Jules feeding Toby, my sisters dog.
So the blessing was on Sunday. On Monday we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It was beautiful and Jules did pretty good while we were in the temple. Afterwards was another story. This is her pouting because she did not want to take a picture.
A face that I saw many times this week. It was just a little too busy for her.
Brett had to work so it was just me and my sister and our kids.
Tuesday morning Brett left for Anaheim, so I went to the SLC Temple with Cheryl and Kellie. It was a lot of fun and nice to get away from the kids for a bit. I forgot my camera so I'm hoping Kellie will post the picture she took so I can steal it from her blog.

Tuesday night I had my 4 oldest nieces sleep over so I wouldn't be alone. Around midnight I was checking the garage door to make sure it was locked and discovered the freezer had stopped working and everything in it was defrosted. I hurried and cooked all the meet I had in there to re-freeze so I wouldn't loose it. I did lose quite a bit still and didn't get to bed until 2am.

On Wednesday my parents took the day off from work and we all went to Cowabunga Water Park. It was pretty fun but not so much for toddlers. It's great for kids 8+. There is water constantly being poured on you and sprayed on you and it just isn't all that pleasant. It gets old really fast. We paid for the half day which is 4 hours and that was plenty of time.
On Thursday, my parents took the day off again so we could all go to the zoo. This is Jules crying because she was terrified of the train...that is until it started to go. She was scared it was going to be fast or something but was fine after it started.
Kellie and her kids came too, so this is all the kids with the big gorilla.
Taking a break on the big wall.
Thursday we also had a BBQ with the Wilson's. Cousin Keri and her family were in town and wanted to see all the cousins so that was fun.

On Friday we went to the Kennecott Copper Mine. I have lived in Utah my whole life and have never been there. Same with everyone else except Sterling who built a few things up there. It was pretty cool. One of these tires cost $25K.
On Saturday we woke up early to go watch the balloons take off. It had been such a long and busy week that Jules wasn't too happy at first.
Luckily she got better. Here she is with my dad.
After the balloons, we went to the parade. We totally lucked out with great seats. This is Cheryl with Tyler and Jules wanted to sit on Tyler's lap.
Libby was really good for the whole parade.
How Jules watched part of the parade. She loved to wave at all the people waving in the parade.
Love Libby...
Holding my girls.
We then had another BBQ at the Wilson's and got to spend some time with Brett's family which was nice.

Later that night we went to the Stadium of Fire. We go and sit outside by the cougar and watch the fireworks every year. This year we had a few of our own fireworks to do which included some sparklers. I took a pictures with Cheryl and Jules and we switched because I wanted a picture with Jules but the sparkler died right before they got the picture taken. Afterwards, I was holding Jules and she decided to reach out and touch the sparkler and got burned. She wasn't too happy after that.
After getting sympathy from me she had to go get some from grandma. She did really good during the fireworks...as long as grandma was holding her close.
Libby enjoyed watching the fireworks as well. I put some padding of blankets around her hears so it wouldn't be so loud.
The fun didn't end on Saturday night. We got together again on Sunday to celebrate birthdays and Cheryl's daughter got knocked off the slide and broke her arm. It was a very eventful and exhausting week. I'm glad to have it over and Brett home and things back to normal. We had a lot of fun. Thanks for coming Cheryl!

4 Weeks

2009-06-24T22:13:00.015-06:00

Life has been a little busy adjusting to 2 kids. Jules is still acting up a lot more and is a lot more needy and demanding. Libby on the other hand is an angel. She is growing like crazy and I almost can't stand it. Why can't they just stay tiny for a little bit longer? She will be 4 weeks old tomorrow and the time has flown by so fast. Here she is at 2 weeks.
Here we are at Libby's 2 week appointment. Jules was having a rough day and Libby was being a little camera shy.
She has this big head and big belly but tiny chicken legs and arms. Her 2 week appointment went really well. She was at 8.5 pounds which was up quite a bit and grew 1/4 of an inch. Not sure on the percentiles because I forgot to ask for them.
More 2 week pictures. Notice her eating her hand...again. I really do feed the kid.
Here is a miscommunication problem Brett and I had. Jules was upstairs watching cartoons and Brett was downstairs with Libby when I ran to Wal-Mart. I yelled down the stairs telling him to put Jules to bed while I was gone and he thought I said I was putting her to bed. So the whole time I was at Wal-Mart, Jules had free reign to the whole upstairs. Usually that's not a huge deal because she's pretty good and usually doesn't leave my side. Not the case this time. Brett called me as I was leaving Wal-Mart asking me where the camera was. I got home to find this...

That would be a whole tub of Bed Head Manipulator stuff. I use about a pea size amount when I use it. It just teases and seperates the hair a little. Jules always wants to play with it when she sees me using it but I have never let her. So, beeing as she had the place to herself she opened it and did what she thought mommy did. Looks like she even tried to use my flat iron. It was such a mess to clean up and get out of her hair. When I discovered what had happened I couldn't stop laughing, too bad Jules didn't have the same feeling after getting in trouble.

This is me and a mission friend Elisha. She was actually due about 2 weeks before me but ended up having her baby 3 days before me. She went over and I went early but he still looks about 2+ weeks older because he was big. I don't realize how dark Libby's skin is until I put her up to someone else with not so dark skin. It was fun meeting baby Harrison and seeing the proud parents.
For Father's Day we went over to Brett's parents to have dessert. Jules was so excited to get some ice cream. She stuck the ball of ice cream on her fork and went to town...and it went all down her dress.
Here is Libby about 30 minutes ago. She and Jules have some similar features like their noses and lips; the head shape is totally different though which makes them look completely different.
Libby is definetly growing much faster than Jules did at her age. Jules spit everything up and had a hard time gaining weight. Libby is not having a problem in that department at all. She does spit up a bit but nothing like Jules.
Here is one of many pictures that we got of Libby on Monday night. I still haven't seen any of them, I had to steal this on from Kellie's blog. She took a bunch of naked pictures of Libby outside and she was so good. We actually wanted her to sleep so she wouldn't move so much but she stayed awake the whole time. Comparing the picture above and this one below it's hard to believe it is the same baby, they look completely different.

Updated pictures of Libby

2009-06-08T16:50:00.013-06:00

We have been busy adjusting to the new addition. Jules loves to hold Libby and Libby is usually pretty good when Jules is holding her. Jules loves to take her binki out of her mouth and put it back in. It's great fun. This was while we were still in the hospital.
This is last Sunday after church. It's funny because the first couple of days Jules forgot all about Libby in the mornings. She would wake up and after a while say, "Oh ya, baby".

One of Libby's favorite things to do is cover her eyes.
This is her one week old picture. Isn't she an angel?
Daddy, Jules and Libby
This is Jules during another one of her naps. Who can sleep like that? She was completely out and didn't wake up or budge while I took the picture.
Grandpa loves Libby too. I went over there the other day and pulled Libby out of her car seat and he was really surprised because he had forgotten that I had a baby. He was just so excited to see Jules.
Libby's first real bath. She actually loved it and didn't cry once.
Our failed attempt at taking a quick family picture. Libby was screaming and Jules was so serious...What do you do?
Libby covering her eyes again.
This is Libby today. She also loves to eat her hand. She started this right after she was born and I had to call the nurse in to give me a binki because you can take binki's away but you can't take fingers away. I do not want a finger/thumb sucker.
Jules has been pretty needy and not quite as good of a big sister as we had hoped. She loves Libby but needs lots of attention. Too many new things all at once and she just hasn't known what to do about it all.
Libby has been an angel baby. She only wakes up at 3 am and then again at 7 am for feedings. It is very different having 2 kids but we are doing pretty good. Brett got 5 days of paternity leave so he was home most of last week which was really helpful. I have recovered really quickly and feel great. I didn't get any stitches again so I really haven't been sore at all...except the "twins". Gotta love adjusting to breast feeding. We love our little Libby and couldn't be more blessed.

Libby pictures...

2009-05-29T13:05:00.014-06:00

Ok you want them. Here are some pics of Libby.

Our little Libby....

2009-05-28T17:08:00.002-06:00

She's here! We got to the hospital at 6:30 am and got right to work. She was here at 2:03 pm after only 2 pushes. Anyway, here are the Stats...

7 lbs 13 oz
20.5 inches

And yes, as you can see, we've decided on Libby Mae as her name. Pictures are coming soon!!

Hogle Zoo

2009-05-27T22:58:00.011-06:00

Nothing will stop me. Even though I'm having a baby tomorrow it didn't stop me from going to the zoo today. I have been wanting to go to the zoo for a while now and wanted to something fun with Jules before the baby comes. Jules loves animals and knows what sounds they all make. Brett's mom didn't think it was a good idea that I go alone just in case something happened so she came along too. She really wanted to go to the zoo anyway and it was a ton of fun. Crazy thing is that grandma got stung by a bee within the first minute we were there. Here are a few pictures.

She had to squat because I was squatting. I was only squatting to be closer to her and show her the cool birds.

She loved the carousel. She wasn't too sure about it at first but didn't want to get off when it was all over.
This is me really feeling like an ape. Good thing the pregnancy will all be over soon.
Jules would not pose for this picture until I did it with her. After that, we couldn't get her away from it.
This is a really cool elephant. It has a sensor on it and squirts water if you stand in front of it. Jules saw the water and was scared of it. Finally we got her to pose for a picture and eventually she did stand in front of it and got a little wet. It mostly got grandma wet though.
Another thing she was terrified of at first. Of course the things she talks about the most now are the elephant that got her wet and the drink she got from the lion. She gets so excited talking about the zoo.
She also loved playing with the ball that went in circles and was all wet.
I'm so glad that we were able to take the afternoon off and spend it having fun. There was a lot that I would have liked to do at the house to be a little more prepared and organized but I wouldn't remember that in the future. This is something that I will always remember doing the day before the baby came. We will post pictures of the baby as soon as we can. Hopefully we will have a name picked out by then huh?

It's About Time

2009-05-19T21:03:00.010-06:00

It's about time I updated my blog. I hope you enjoy the pictures...
Ok, I had to fool you for a little bit. No, I have not had the baby yet. This is Jules 2 years ago right after she was born. I can't believe she is already 2 years old! She is such a sweetheart and the best daughter! Everyone who knows Jules, loves her. Someone once said that she was "charming" and those words fit her perfectly. She loves everyone around her...especially babies.

For Jules' birthday we had all my family come over and weed our flower beds. We have 2 huge flower beds in our front yard that have been neglected. Being 8 1/2 months pregnant I haven't been able to take care of them and Brett has been working so hard on other things in the house that he hasn't had time. So my family was kind enough to come help. I'm sure they regretted it after we got started, since it was a lot worse than we all thought, but the job got done. Thanks for all the help you guys. I can't even imagine having to do it ourselves and how long it would have taken us.
Here are some pictures from her little birthday party. It was so hot and we don't have our swamp cooler working yet so I wasn't about ready to turn the oven on to bake a cake. Poor thing got these cupcakes for her cake. Luckily aunt Kellie was kind enough to make an amazing dessert for the rest of us to enjoy. P.S. Kellie, I need that recipe.
I only include this picture so you can see my belly since I have been super bad about taking and posting pictures of it.
These are the coolest things ever. All you have to do is wiggle the steering wheel thingy and it goes. It doesn't give the kid the same exercise as a tricycle does but she still can't reach the peddles on a tricycle and she loves this thing.
Grandma knew just what to get Jules for her birthday...A princess book. Jules is obsessed with Cinderella and any princess. She could sit and watch Cinderella all day long and some days I let her. I don't consider myself a bad mother for letting her do it either. I am 8 1/2 months pregnant and just don't have the energy and have been really busy with the house and dealing with all the things we have been dealing with.
We also got her a dog! Just Kidding. My brother brought his little dog over. Jules loves dogs.

We got Jules a toddler bed so we could use the crib for the baby. She does really well with it and most of the time she actually sleeps in it. There are a few times we have found her sound asleep on the floor though. She does well at bed time but during her naps she'll get up and play with her toys until she is exhausted and eventually falls asleep on the floor.
What Jules looks like in the morning as she eats her cereal. Gotta love the hair.
I had a doctor's appointment today and we are scheduled to get induced for next Thursday the 28th of May. It's so crazy that it's so soon and we still feel like there is a lot we need to do. We are kind of thinking about postponing the induction to June 1st which is just another few days. I don't want her birthday to fall on Memorial Day weekend and Brett doesn't want her birthday to be at the end of the school year every year growing up. I always enjoyed having my birthday during school so I could celebrate it with my class, but June 1st is just an easier date to remember. What are your thoughts? May 28th or June 1st?

More Easter and House

2009-04-19T22:28:00.009-06:00

The other day when it was nice and beautiful I went outside of our apartment and the house across the street had about 6 big beautiful trees with pink blossoms. I thought to myself that I really wanted one of those trees at my house one day. Later that same day we had to go over to the new house for some reason and this is what I discovered we had in our front yard. I was so happy. Unfortunately a few days later we got a nasty snow storm and broke a few of the branches off but it's still bright and beautiful. This was taken after the storm so as you can see, everything will be okay. It still just needs a little shaping and pruning.
Pictures of the front of the house like I promised.

We were going to celebrate Easter last Saturday with my family but the weather was horrible and it was freezing. We postponed it until yesterday. The weather was perfect and Jules did so well. Brett walked around with her but she would get the eggs and place them in her bag.

My dad took Jules on a four wheeler ride on Saturday and she loved it. He got it out again yesterday for a minute and took her out again with my nephew but he went a lot faster and she was terrified. Good old uncle Sterling took her around again a lot slower so she wouldn't be so scared for the future.
We also did the traditional money toss for Easter. My dad stands on a ladder and throws crisp one dollar bills in the air and we all fight for the money. It's not as easy as it sounds. It works perfectly if there is a slight breeze and there was yesterday. It does get pretty violent but I still participated being 7 1/2 months pregnant. I did it when I was pregnant with Jules and she turned out okay so I figured "why not". We were too busy catching money to take any pictures of it, but just know that we had fun.
Yesterday was also my birthday and for my birthday we get to move into our house this week...yay! Ok, it's not for my birthday, it just happens to fall close to it so I am a very happy birthday girl. I did have a great day, thanks to Brett for changing all the diapers yesterday and having a wonderful meal with all my family and a yummy dessert and best of all it was perfect weather. Having a spring birthday and living in Utah you never know how the weather is going to turn out. Brett and I did get to go out to a nice dinner on Friday also so that was fun. Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone. I'm still trying to decide how to spend my birthday money.

Easter and House

2009-04-14T20:38:00.010-06:00

Jules looking through her Easter basket.
We didn't do candy this time because Jules has been sick. So she got a princess dress up and LOVED it.
This is just a classic blackmail picture for her teenage years. Thanks for the idea Lou. I think she walks better in high heels than I do.
Jules eating a cupcake like a dog.
This is the house we are in the process of getting. It was raining really bad today and I totally forgot to get a picture of the outside so stay tuned. This is the kitchen.
Living room/Front room
Master bath. It's tiny but at least we have one.
Huge family room downstairs
Like I said, more pictures to come.

What? A House?

2009-04-08T23:01:00.008-06:00

So some of you may have noticed a comment or two on facebook regarding us having a house and have been all questions since. We actually don't have the house for sure yet. We did submit our offer today but it was a price that they told us they would accept and it's people we know. I don't have any pictures and can't send you to a link because they never even put it on the market. It's in one of our old wards in Orem which is really nice because we know almost all of people. It will be especially nice knowing the people because 3-4 weeks after we move in, this little baby will be coming and the ward is super supportive and great. Jules was born in this ward and we always loved it. Out of the 3 years we have been married, we have lived in 5 different places. We lived in this ward for the longest amount of time which was 1 year and 4 months. The house is a rambler with 5 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. It is a little older, built in 1980 but is freshly remodeled. I actually worked in the nursery with the lady that lived there. She was just renting the place and moved, so now the owners who are also in the ward hired another guy from the ward to update everything and the house looks great. It's not perfect but good enough and it will give us a few projects to work on which is always kind of fun. It has everything we have been looking for in a house so we can't complain. So there you have it. I will post pictures as soon as I get some.
Speaking of pictures, I have been so bad about taking them lately. Here are a few we took a couple of weeks ago when my sister was in town. We went to Jump-On-It here in Lindon. It is a place with a bunch of trampolines lined up close together and you just jump your little heart out. I decided not to participate being prego and all. I actually jumped on a trampoline a few days before Jules was born trying to get her to come out. It didn't work so I wasn't super scared this time but since there were others to entertain Jules I decided to sit back and take some pictures. She had a blast most of the time.

Here she is with Aunt Cheryl. She loves Cheryl and would ask for her every day that she was here...even after she left she kept asking for her and all her kids my name. She has finally stopped asking about them but had a great time with them while it lasted.

Here she is with Sydney. (top and bottom pictures)

This picture is Jules with some of the arcades. I showed her this car one and she kept going to it. If we couldn't find her, she was there driving the car.
The funniest part was that Jules was terrified of the big blow up trampolines and slides. We tried to force her because we knew she would like it if she just tried it; but she is a determined little girl and wouldn't let go of us. That's okay though, maybe next time.

Do you want to play?!!!

2009-03-26T17:23:00.000-06:00

So, here's how this game works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or be lazy and copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift!

Won't this be fun?

Christmas 2007

2009-03-22T22:17:00.004-06:00

I got tagged a while ago to post the 6th picture from my 6th folder and here it is. Jules at Christmas 2007. She had not quite mastered the art of sitting on her own until a few days later. She is actually in the process of falling over in this picture. I am choosing not to tag anyone but if you read this and feel like doing it, go for it. It's an easy update to your blog.

3 Year Anniversary

2009-03-18T15:14:00.004-06:00

It has been 3 years today that Brett and I got sealed in the temple. I can't believe how much our lives have changed in that short amount of time. Our plan was to wait 2 years to have kids so that Brett could finish school and have a good job. I was going to work that whole time and we would be in a house shortly after baby #1 came along. Well, things don't always work out that way. We got pregnant after 6 short months and life has not been the same. It is so much better, and the joy Jules brings into our lives could never make up for the other things we had in mind. Now we are 2 1/2 months away from baby #2 with the hopes of a house in the near future. I get to stay at home and play mom and life is good. We are all healthy and happy and Brett has a great job that is not only secure (knock on wood) but that he loves. Brett has been a great husband and a wonderful father and I could not ask for any better. What can I say...he deals with me and that's not an easy job.
I still love the little story our invitation tells.

$3,000?...Anyone, Anyone

2009-03-11T19:43:00.002-06:00

Does anyone have $3,000 we can have/borrow? We are $3K short of getting the house that we have been searching 6 months to find. So I figure, if all my followers put in about $200 then we can have this house. Come on, I know you want to. I will babysit for free, I will clean your house, I will cook for you. You name it and I'll do it if you can just get us $3K....ready go.

28 Weeks!

2009-03-10T22:55:00.007-06:00

I got sick of waiting to look cute for a picture so by popular demand here is a picture of me taken right before starting this ever so long post. I will be 28 weeks on Thursday so I cheated an extra day saying that I'm 28 weeks. Like I said, my belly is showing and I am pregnant and showing it off to the world.

On a side note, my flat iron decided to stop working a couple weeks ago. Luckily it has a lifetime warranty on it and I saved myself $100 by not having to buy a new one. So in the mean time as I wait for them to fix it, my hair is stuck looking ugly and in a ponytail.
So I'm not HUGE but there are 2 parts of me that get HUGE while I'm pregnant and where some people love that about pregnancy, I HATE it...or should I say "them". Sadly they just don't make bras cheap enough and big enough with the support that I like so it really sucks while I'm pregnant and nursing. My belly is finally bigger than "them" though and that's what I call "success".

Poor Jules is already "well endowed". Just kidding, it's just really funny that she has cleavage in this picture. Any kid does at this age but I just had to show this cute picture.
I was telling a friend that I still had not taken a single picture of me being pregnant with this child. I always doubted that I was really my mom's daughter because she never had any proof that I was. I am the youngest of 5 and they just stopped taking pictures by the time I came around. Not only that, but have you seen my family? We look nothing alike and I especially look nothing like my mom. I think that's why I've really wanted my daughters to look like me...so they would never doubt that I was their mom. Jules is a good combination of us both so she should have no questions about where she came from. Now what will this little baby look like?
We do have a name picked out but we are not going to tell people. We just don't want people to ruin it for us by their reactions, before the baby is even born. I also kinda feel weird calling her by the name before she's born. Things can change once you actually see the baby. So yes, we have a name...another "success".

We are still on the house search. We found a house that we LOVE and it has everything we want, including a nice swing set in the back yard. When we went to look at the house, Jules walked outside and just said "wow". We have been going back and forth with offers and counter-offers and we are just to the point that we are both at our limits and unwilling to budge. It's rough after looking for 6 months. This was only the beginning of my horrible day. It was a for sure "Tuesday" for me. If you don't know what I mean by that, refer to my "25 things about me" post. Now the rest of this post may bore you all so please stop reading now if you want some sanity.

We got the sort of final counter-offer on the house late last night. This caused me to not sleep. I ended up going to the couch around 1:30 to have the TV put me to sleep. We live with Mrs. Obsessive upstairs who does not sleep and walks like an elephant above us. This causes me to stay awake at night on the couch for even longer and with many disturbances. I am pregnant and need my sleep and when I don't get it...watch out.

Brett and I went to do sealings at the temple this morning for a ward assignment. It was great and I felt the spirit really strong at times but my belly kept hitting the alter and making me nauseous. We got home and I ran over to "movie and munchies" with the old ladies in our ward. This is normally a lot of fun and we watch a good movie and eat. Today it was a dumb movie and I was tired. We left early so I could take a nap before going to my doctor appointment. We got home and I slept for a while but it's never long enough. Luckily today the people upstairs did not start playing their baby grand piano right above me (which ticks me off) about every other day. Hence me wanting to get a house!

So anyway, we got to the doctor a little late but no big deal. The lady that signed in right before me was just as late and she got right in. I sat for about 45 minutes with out them calling my name. Finally the lady who arrived right before me left and was completely done with her appointment and I was still sitting there watching people get called and finish before me. I finally asked them what was going on and the dumb receptionist lady put my file in the wrong pile with a sly little "oops". I'm normally fine with waiting...as long as everyone else is waiting. So I sat down and watched 2 more people get called up before me still. With the lack of sleep and the lack of food I had in my stomach seeing as I put sleep before food today, I was on the verge of tears; I'm pregnant remember, it's okay to cry over dumb things. They called me back and I did the peeing and weighing thing and waited again for about 15 minutes seeing several more people called before me. Finally I get called back and the nurse was great and played with Jules and Jules heard the heart beat and loved it. Then I waited some more. I heard my doctor outside the door with other girls talking and laughing as I waited for about 20 more minutes. I was irate at this point. I went to change Jules' diaper and seriously contemplated doing what my friend did at her doctor's appointment and leaving a really stinky diaper in the room for them. For the first time ever, I was disappointed that what I smelt was Jules farting and not poop. I did not have any questions for the doctor and just wanted to leave. She came in, measured me, asked me if I needed anything and left. Good news is that I'm measuring perfectly and right on track with everything and feeling good other than the fact that I still hate being pregnant. I was there for 1:45 minutes and starving from the beginning.

I left and just wanted to go spend money and not care about anything. Lucky for Brett, I didn't. I was starving and went to Costco and got a cooked chicken for dinner and bananas and that's all I bought. I did get a slice of pizza and a big ice cream just to eat out my frustrations. But I was still on the verge of tears. I started backing out of my parking spot and the guy behind me decided to do it at the same time. Luckily we both realized each other at the same time. I pulled forward for him to get out first and he pulled out ever so slowly that I just wanted to back up and hit him just for being dumb and slow. Then I start to back out and another car decided to drive past at the same time...ever so slowly. I almost hit 2 cars within seconds. This time, I could not hold back the tears and I just let it out the whole drive home.

I got home and there was a plate for treats and a card that someone brought me. I'm so grateful for people who are in tune with the spirit and act on those instincts. I cried more when I saw them because I needed the thoughtfulness from someone. It really does not sound all that bad as I type this now but let me just tell you again...I'm pregnant and running on little sleep. I got home and vented to Brett about it and he made me look like the bad person here for being mad at the doctor's office. I was a little rude to them too and that's what he was making me feel bad about. I still didn't feel bad, does that make me a bad person? I just wanted a little sympathy from him and I didn't get it. I finally got over it by exercising and watching "Biggest Loser". I'm all good now but just wanted to share my horrible day. Thank you for having me.

BYU game/Valentine's/Random Pictures

2009-02-17T21:47:00.022-07:00

I guess it's about time to update my blog. There are a lot of pictures so I hope you enjoy and don't get too bored. These are pictures of the BYU game where Brett and his group, Hangtime, sang. They did a great job and it was estimated that about 16,000 people were actually at that game. It was kind of cool because we got to be right up close to the players while we were waiting for half time. They are really tall.

At first the crowd wasn't too excited about a barbershop group singing. I mean honestly, who likes barbershop? (don't tell Brett I said that) By the end of their first song they were really cheering them on and wanted more. His group was actually on channel 2 news at noon Thursday so that was pretty cool. This is their 2nd time on the news.
Jules loves dogs. She isn't even afraid of big ones. This is not good news to me. I never really wanted a dog because I hate dog hair everywhere and hate dog kisses. Seeing her love for dogs, I am pretty sure we will have one sooner rather than later. We just need to find a house first.
This is Jules as my little Cinderella. She actually kept this "bonnet" thing on for all of church. She looks so stinking cute in it.
She also loves to get her picture taken. She usually ends up saying "cheese" after the picture has been taken but we we are doing better.
For the President's Day/Valentine's Day weekend, we headed down to good ol St. George. This is how we tried to keep Jules entertained. She has this sudden love for "toons" or rather cartoons. She looked so cute in her car seat and head phones. We were hit with some pretty nasty weather but made it down safely with some detours.
Friday night we headed down to Mesquite for a seafood buffet. This was our "Valentine's dinner". Not too romantic with a kid and a buffet but it sure was good. We usually end up going to Panda Express because 1) We love(d) it, 2) We don't have to fight any crowds, and 3) I don't have to cook. Jules got her first ice cream cone at the buffet and LOVED it.
We went down with Brett's parents and planned on meeting his uncle down there. He ended up canceling on us last minute so there was an extra room. They thought that maybe there was a small chance that Brett's brother, Matt, and his family from Arizona could come up. With a little faith and lots of hope we called and they dropped everything and came. We rarely get to see them because it is such a long drive and they now have 5 kids. Not fun in a small van for 10 hours. They figured 7 hours wasn't as bad. We were able to enjoy the weekend even more than we thought. We got less sleep but it was well worth it. This is Megan aka "Mae Mae" with Brett. She is so funny, she loves to suck her thumb and hold someone else's ear. She is very good about asking you if she can hold it though. It's the funniest thing I've ever seen. It actually ends up putting me to sleep.
This is our future All-Star basketball player.
Some of the other kids watching a movie. Jules loved all the attention she got from her older cousins. Although there were times that she was a little overwhelmed and got a little jealous because she didn't get ALL the attention. It was good for her though.
We went to the St. George temple to watch a new movie they were showing. Jules loves Jesus so it was kind of fun for her to see a big version of him rather than the little ones we have around the house.

This is baby Elie. Jules loves babies and has been pretty good when I hold one. It was a little too much for her at times, but they were able to have some fun.
Jules loves Papa. Ross got to spend some time with his little grand babies on the patio swing. I don't know who enjoyed it more, the kids, grandpa, or the moms.
Jules doesn't have a backpack but found Megan's and loved it. She just looks so grown up.
The car ride home.
Brett has taught Jules to pull faces. She now looks in the mirror and pulls her cheeks down to make her eyes look funny. She will also hold her nose up and pull her mouth apart. It is the funniest thing.
We went swimming the other day and she insisted on wearing the diaper cover over her pants. Where do these kids get these crazy ideas?
I am now almost 25 weeks and getting a bulge in my stomach and starting to really look pregnant; seeing as I have gained about 18 pounds now. I just had an appointment today and things are looking right on schedule and the baby looks healthy. Sorry, still no pregnant pictures of me. I'll try to remember.

We are still looking for a house. We have one we could get and like, but it needs a lot of work so we are trying to decide if it's worth it or not. In the meantime we will keep on looking.

Hangtime Sings at BYU

2009-01-30T10:09:00.002-07:00

Hey folks, my little group Hangtime, will be singing at the BYU mens basketball half time show. If you happen to be there, cheer us on! It'll be our biggest crowd yet.

25 Random Things about ME

2009-01-26T16:33:00.002-07:00

My friend tagged me this on Facebook. I understand blogspot much better so I put it on here. Hope you enjoy a little more about me. I am tagging all of you who want to do this also, it's kinda fun learning more about people. rx4

1-I LOVE my daughter Juliana
2-I love ketchup. If I have a hamburger, hot dog, meat loaf, anything with ketchup, I smother it in it and then dip it in for some more. I love the stuff.
3-I hate January. It's always so cold and there is nothing to look forward to.
4-I also hate Tuesdays for some reason. I always have bad days on Tuesdays, not on purpose. I actually forget that I hate Tuesdays until the day is over and I remember and realize that's why it was a bad day. Lately it's actually been Thursday though.
5-I am pregnant with another girl and due June 4th
6-We are currently looking for a house in Orem and having a really hard time finding one we like and can afford
7-I love the clean
8-I hate doing laundry-but love when it's all done...does that ever happen?
9-I love to sit back, relax and watch movies
10-I ran a 1/2 marathon in August and LOVED it. I will try to do one every year now.
11-I love to run
12-I went to culinary school
13-I do not enjoy making dinner for 2 1/2. If I had lots of money and could cook for more people I would enjoy cooking again.
14-I enjoy making bread
15-My dad is from Chile and my mom is from Idaho
16-They met while my mom was working for the CIA in Chile
17-My mom was also Pres. Kimball's personal secretary right before he became prophet
18-We go to bed around 12:30 every night and I wake up around 8:30-9:00
19-I want some watermelon right now, yumm! Don't have any
20-I lived in Connecticut for a year as a nanny
21-I went to BYU-Idaho and loved it
22-I served a mission in Brazil
23-I speak Portuguese
24-I hate the cold
25-I am an Aries

Boy or Girl

2009-01-20T15:06:00.005-07:00

So all the kids in Brett's family have one of each gender to begin with. In my family, we've all had girls first and if we have more than 1 kid, we have another girl. So did we follow my family's tradition or Brett's family?

Let me just start by saying that up until about a week ago, I really didn't care what we were having. A girl would be cheap since we have Jules' stuff, but a boy would be fun and different. So since last week, I have kind of really wanted a boy and thought it was a boy. It has been a different pregnancy but my doctor reminded me that every pregnancy is different and not to count on that.

Let's just say this little girl is a stinker. It took about 20 minutes for her to open her legs enough for us to find out that it was a girl. I saw a tail bone first and thought it was a boy because it looked like the little turtle. Brett saw the 3 lines first and announced it was a girl. The lady doing the ultrasound just laughed because Brett had proudly announced at first that he thought it was a boy, but he was the first to see it was a girl. She made sure he ate his words. So there you have it. We followed my family tradition. Now my parents will have 10 granddaughters and still only have 2 blood grandsons. The Wilson's will now have 11 girls and 7 boys. Not an even amount but much better than my family.

Let the voting begin!

2009-01-19T14:16:00.001-07:00

So we're going to give everyone a chance to vote on our baby's gender. Take a moment and give us your best guess. We'll have the results at the end of tomorrow.

My Pregnancy

2009-01-16T22:44:00.005-07:00

So someone requested a belly picture and I promise I will get one up soon, but just not today. Everybody handles pregnancies differently. Some get a belly right away and you can tell they are pregnant from an early stage. I on the other hand, get fatter everywhere else it seems. I have to go up in clothes size and I'm sure people think I just gained some extra holiday weight. I actually just told my ward last week that I was expecting and they were all surprised. I'm not one to just sit in the back and do nothing either. I lead the music in Relief Society and get in front of them every week and they still didn't know. I'm not saying this is a good thing or I'm blessed in this way. I do get a very large belly by the end of my pregnancy. I'm just saying that I can still pass as not being pregnant but trust me, I feel pregnant. I actually wish that I was showing more so I didn't just feel fat. I am 20 weeks along now and we find out on Tuesday what we are having. Any guesses? Note to family: I will not be calling anyone (except maybe our parents) so please don't be offended and just check up on the blog as we will post it here.

BTW, did you know that on average, an elephant's pregnancy lasts 630 days? And we thought we had it bad.

Snow!!!

2009-01-08T13:28:00.006-07:00

Jules hates the snow. I knew this the first time it snowed and I made her touch it, which she would not do. She doesn't mind it when it is snowing and it's falling on her but if she has to touch it or walk it in, it's a whole different story. So yesterday when it was nice and sunny I took her outside to see if we could change that. I put her on a sled and we went down this tiny little hill and she screamed the whole time. I tried to pull her on it and she screamed. I tried to make her touch it and she screamed. I threw her in it and of course she screamed, it was as high as her stomach. So I figured it was hopeless and I don't like the stuff so much so we were going to go inside and she did not want to. The only thing I could think of was to make a snowman. I didn't have any gloves on so this is all we could do before my hands froze. She loved the snowman and looks at it through the window all day. I think her favorite part was the raisins we used as the eyes and mouth. I couldn't even get her to look at the camera because she just wanted to eat the raisins.
Of course if you know Jules, you know she isn't stingy with her kisses. Here she is trying to kiss him but of course she didn't because then she would have to touch the snow.

We haven't had this much snow since I was a little kid. I just want her to have memories of the snow and having so much of it. It really is pretty.

In my opinion, the only good thing about the snow and the cold is that I really enjoy nice weather when we get it. It really is like Satan to me. You have to have opposition like evil=snow to enjoy the good=nice weather.

I'm in LOVE

2009-01-05T15:58:00.002-07:00

I found the most comfortable sweats ever. Shade clothing has this sweat outfit on sale and they are to die for. They are super long which I love and so comfortable. I just can't say enough about them. I have pretty much been living in them since I got them. Not a lot of my clothes fit me right now as my belly is getting bigger, so they are perfect for pregnancy and even if you aren't. I've gone to the movies and the stores in them and don't feel like I'm dressed down at all. I'm just comfortable and warm and that's what matters. Hurry quick because they are going fast.

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T01:42:00.001-07:00

Yay, I'm the first blog post of the new year. I beat you all! And now it's time for bed.

Christmas

2008-12-30T20:07:00.011-07:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone. The decorations have been put away until next year and we are all healthy. I say that only because Jules got the flu for Christmas. For a while now, I was anticipating her excitement when she opened her presents and I got nothing, no excitement, no happiness...nothing.
Ok, she was a little happy to get this candy but it was during a white elephant game and we traded it for something else and that didn't make her very happy.
Here she is opening her pajamas on Christmas Eve, she also got those cute slippers.
This is Christmas morning after we woke up to vomit all over her crib. She got the most excited about some "ucker" (suckers) I had put in a little tupperware pitcher she got. You can also see the new 52" HDTV Brett got for his birthday, which just happens to be Christmas Eve.
We got her a toilet seat in hopes that she will get potty trained soon. I don't want to buy diapers for 2 so we better get on it; we only have 5 months left. (BTW, we find out what we are having on Jan. 20.)
Lately, she loves to hide and close her eyes. She also loves to put things over her eyes so she can't see. I don't know where she gets these ideas but I love them.
This is after she got dressed and with most of her presents. It wasn't much but we have been so blessed that she doesn't need much. She would have been happy with nothing for all she cared.
This is Jules about 30 minutes ago before I put her in bed. It's nice to see her smiling again and almost back to herself. This flu was a nasty one and lasted for almost a whole week. We are very happy to see it pass and just pray that we don't get it. Sorry for all those that got it from her.

As for me, Brett totally surprised me with a new camera. I bought my old one right when I got home from my mission almost 4 years ago. It works fine but it was time for a new one and I couldn't have been happier about it. I have really been wanting one for a while but never really complained about it because we have been looking for a house and I want that more. By the way, we didn't get that house we were waiting on. That makes 3 houses now that haven't accepted our offers. I guess I just haven't learned my lesson on patience yet.

First Hair Cut

2008-12-30T19:58:00.008-07:00

I got sick of the mullet. Sure the pigtails are cute and I do miss them, but I was damaging her hair every time I put them in. We went and had my cousin cut her hair a while back and here are the pictures. She did so well. She just sat there and let her do her thing. She looks so big in these pictures.

Now we just do it curly every day and it looks cute and will hopefully grow more evenly.

Just as a side note: Jules loves to put our shoes on and walk around the house. She didn't want to smile for this picture but she really was happy.

Take a minute to sign against abortion

2008-12-18T17:56:00.001-07:00

Please go to this web site to sign against abortion. If Obama signs this bill, then every doctor will have to perform abortions whether they want to or not. Let's try to petition and stop it.

Merry Elfmas!!

2008-12-13T23:00:00.001-07:00

Coffee Anyone?

2008-12-11T11:58:00.005-07:00

Last night Brett's group, Hangtime, had a performance at a Discovery Christian Church in Taylorsville. They did a great job and everyone loved them. Jules kind of stole the show with her dancing front and center to all the songs. After the performance they let us decorate a Christmas ornament. I was busy doing that and Jules had climbed up on a bench drinking her little Capri Sun. A minute later I hear her coughing so I look over and there was a cup of coffee on the bench and Jules decided she wanted to try it. It wasn't hot so it didn't burn her, but I have no idea how much she drank. This would be her first experience with caffeine since I never drink it. On the ride home she was banging her head from side to side for a minute but other than that, we didn't see any other signs. The funny thing is that I have been craving coffee lately so I was a little jealous. I do have some substitute stuff from Brazil that we would give our converts. It helped them switch over to a more healthy hot drink that kind of tastes like coffee but it's made out of barley and doesn't have any caffeine.

Dr. Gordon

2008-12-10T17:49:00.003-07:00

So I wasn't super close to my OB/GYN but I sure liked him a lot. Last week as we were reading our friends blog, we found out that he had passed away that week. I was super sad about it but not as sad as when I went into the office for my check-up today. First of all, pregnant women are emotional. When I see any adult crying, I cry. Doesn't matter what they are crying about, I am always a social crier but not as much as when I'm prego. Today as I walked into the office, they had programs from his services with a great picture of him on the front. You could just see the happiness in his eyes even though he had been struggling with Lou Gehrig's disease. They had another picture of him on the wall and it was just sobering. I couldn't help but tear up and was so embarrassed by it. I know he is in a happier place and for that I am happy for him. He had a full and complete life and helped so many people. What a great example. I am so grateful for the gospel and that he can be with his family again.

As far as progress of the baby, everything is going great. We find out what we are having on January 20th. I'm still not showing, just getting a little thicker around the stomach area. I'm surprised by it too because I feel like I am eating all day long.

Secrets

2008-11-28T10:31:00.009-07:00

So if anyone knows me really well they know that I can't keep a secret very well. If someone has told me something confidential or someone else has a secret then I can do it for them but if it's my own secret I'm not too good at it. That's why I'm pretty darn proud of myself for keeping my pregnancy a secret for more than 2 months. That's right...I'm pregnant and Jules is going to be a BIG SISTER. I am due June 4th. (if you can't read the shirt it says "i'm going to be a big sister")

So this is the how we told our families that I was pregnant. It took them a while to actually read the shirt but when they did they were all surprised and excited. We had told everyone that we were going to start trying after my half marathon. The marathon came up really quickly and I started getting scared that it would be hard to get pregnant and I didn't want family asking every week, so we decided to tell them that we were going to wait until we got a house. We still got questions all the time but just lied through our teeth pretty much. We were able to get pregnant right away and found out in mid-September. Last time we told family right away and the pregnancy lasted forever. This time we decided to wait until Thanksgiving. Brett really wanted to wait for Christmas but like I said... I can't keep a secret so Thanksgiving was long enough for me. We had our first appointment a few weeks ago and everything is looking good. This pregnancy has been a lot easier (not that Jules was hard). The biggest complaint is that I'm tired a lot but that's pretty normal. Jules loves babies and is pretty excited...we hope.

This is after our Thanksgiving dinner with Brett's family. This is Rob and Brett throwing the kids up in the air.

Needless to say, they loved it. I do have to admit that I didn't keep it a secret from everyone so there are a lot of you that already knew. It was the hardest keeping it away from family and that's the part that I am proud of. I just have to say that when I first got pregnant there were 13 other people that were pregnant at the same time. Since then about 5 of them have had their babies, namely, Melissa, Jen, Kelsey, Kaye, Chantell, and Jamie is going to pop any day.

Poop in the Bath

2008-11-20T13:32:00.003-07:00

Does anyone know how to prevent a kid from pooping in the bathtub? Jules usually takes a shower with me but lately I've been giving her a bath every now and then, and lately she has been pooping every time. It's no fun cleaning it up and having to sanitize all the toys and bath over and over. Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for me.

The Day Finally Came

2008-11-17T20:27:00.006-07:00

The long awaited day of going to the nursery arrived. Now I have worked in the nursery before and some of those kids were not happy when mom and dad left them all alone. Not the case with Jules. We brought her to the door and she was gone. She did turn around long enough to tell us good-bye and that was that. I was able to sit and listen to the rest of church in peace. I was able to lead the music in Relief Society without Jules coming up to the front and sucking on the chalk and eraser. It was beautiful and the time past much faster than before. I didn't have to bring a diaper bag full of toys and food to keep her entertained for 3 full hours. There was one time that I peaked through the window to see how she was doing and she was just playing and looked all grown up. There was a part of me at that point that was a little sad to see how big she has gotten but most of me just enjoyed the peace. All the leaders told me that she did really well and fit right in. This is a picture of the first projects "she" made from nursery that she is so proud of. I was lucky enough to get a big hug when I went to pick her up so she really does love me. I think she was just confused that I had been holding out on her this whole time.

On another note...Jules loves to get into the pantry. Every time I open it, she is able to squeeze herself in and get her treats which are just some Kix. I was finally able to get a picture of her in there. Look at how innocent she looks.

More Halloween..

2008-11-15T18:13:00.003-07:00

Ok, here's what we really looked like on Halloween.

Brett and I are in a picture!

2008-11-09T16:37:00.001-07:00

We finally got a picture of all of us at a Halloween party the day after Halloween. Enjoy!

Halloween

2008-11-07T09:17:00.012-07:00

Ok, Ok, Ok, I will post some pictures of Halloween now. I just don't enjoy the holiday very much. I like the fall the jacket weather but that seems to have already passed. I am just not very creative when it comes to costumes. We are cheap and don't want to spend money on a costume that you can only wear once a year. We are also trying to save money for a house right now so a costume just isn't in the budget. We were lucky enough to have someone loan us a costume for Jules, thanks Nettie. Jules actually loved the costume and loved looking at herself in the mirror.

We went to a few parties. Brett, of course, was Napoleon Dynomite. He actually won a contest at work for the funniest costume. He did the dance for everyone and everything. Everyone loved it. Unfortunately, we never took any pictures of ourselves. Other people did so we are just waiting to get some from them. One night I was a dead chef and painted my face. Jules wouldn't even look at me and would scream and cry every time she did. So for the next day I was just a boring old cat. She didn't even like that I painted whiskers on my face. The next day, Brett's nephew had a school dance and his date wanted to be Deb so he was Napolean and needed Brett's stuff. So we were the King and Queen of Hearts, yet another borrowed costume and one that we don't have any pictures of as of yet (thanks Jodi).
One thing I do like about Halloween is making goodies. I found these in a magazine and had a lot of fun with them. Jules and Maddie, my niece who looks homeless in the picture (her dad must have dropped her off that day), enjoyed eating them and helping me make them.

These are kind of old pictures but since they are so cute I wanted to put them up. A while ago we took Jules to a BYU football game. She did really well and we had a lot of fun. Luckily though, it was one of the first games, one that BYU totally dominated so we were able to leave early. It was fun to take Jules but it's more enjoyable without her.
She loves to play with my sunglasses. I am very proud to say that Jules does say cougar and when she had her Cougar shirt on, she points to it and will even hiss like a cougar.

VOTE!

2008-11-03T21:53:00.007-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long time. Life has just been boring and I've been lazy. My friend Kelsey posted this amazing thing online that is just shocking to me. It is Obama talking about abortion and his support of abortion. Listen carefully to what he says.

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Since when is having a baby a punishment? Don't women have a choice to have sex or not? (Of course there are exceptions in rape victims, but there are plenty of people willing and wanting to adopt.) He's saying that women should have a choice to have a baby or not. HELLO! If you don't want a baby, have protected sex or better yet, no sex at all. Obama just gives me the creeps. Please get out there and vote for what is right!

Rome, Italy Temple

2008-10-04T16:32:00.004-06:00

Did you hear? They announced a temple in Rome!!! Brett served his mission in Italy and actually lived in a house where the temple will be built. We were always planning on going to Italy after Brett graduated but we had a little surprise named Jules. He then promised we would go when they get a temple for the dedication. So it looks like we are going to Italy! Yay! We are super excited for the people in Italy to enjoy the blessings of the temple. Not only does Italy finally get a temple but 4 other temples were announced. The Lord's work continues to grow and I love it.