Happy 4th!

Dan and Gracie are at church and the babies are asleep. I know I should be taking advantage of this time and sleeping as well, but when I get the itch to update, I do it! The fourth of July was so much fun. Non-stop partying! Well, Reece, Violet, and I started the celebration at about 12:30 that morning. My original due date with the twins was the 4th of July and I think they new it. They wanted to play all night long because they thought it was supposed to be their birthday party. :) Finally at about 5:15 that morning they decided that they were pooped and fell asleep. I just started to doze off on the couch when the traditional bombs went off at 5:30 alerting the entire town that the celebrations were about to begin. Then soon after the fire trucks started to blare their sirens up and down the streets. I think our street was their favorite to drive on. :) It was so cute. I knew it would probably wake up Gracie and sure enough, I hear this "Moooommmmyyy, What is that noise?!" Dan woke up and I got Gracie ready to ride on the fire truck in the parade. I loaded up the babies and we headed over to watch, but first picking up my dad on the way. I love that the only thing patriotic Dan could find to wear was a USC shirt and hat. Close enough I guess. :)


The babies zonked out from our all nighter.


I think 90% of the people on this truck is family. :)


Family waiting for the parade.


My mom, niece Rachel and her boy Cooper on Grandma's pimped out golf cart. If you ever hear a strange horn going off, its her coming down the road. The little boy sitting between them was riding his bike and couldn't keep up so my mom stopped the parade and loaded him up with them. Cute little guy!


In my family, you can never leave your camera alone, or you will get surprises like this. Nice Chad!


Later that morning I came home to catch up on some sleep while my mom came and played with the babies. Dan and some of the guys took off with Chad's new boat and headed to the lake. They had so much fun and met up with the rest of the family later that evening at my dad's farm for a cookout, swimming, and fourwheeling. We had a blast out there and the food was delish with Uncle Wick and Reagan in charge of the grill.

Bombs away! Lillie, Lexie and Haley jumping off the dock just so I could get a picture. Thanks girlies!


The little kids were so entertained with throwing rocks off the hill.


Just chilling under the ramada that my dad built.


Before Dan met up with us, Gracie kept asking me to take her swimming in the "dirty water" as she was calling it. I finally convinced her that she needed to wait for dad to take her. Thanks Dan! The grass that was growing in the pond was tickling her legs and she didn't really like it. She told me later that she didn't like to swim in the tickly water because it smells like poop.



View from the top of the hill. So beautiful!


Me, crazy aunt Sarah, and the babies in their 4th of July outfits, (thanks aunt Amy).


Me and my honey headed for a little ride. Woohoo!

Just bear with me...

Okay, I'm totally one of those moms. Make all the fun you want. Yes I do like to take pictures of my girls and no I can't decide on one that I like best so I have to post all of them! :) My mom would always comment that a grown person can lift their hand and touch their face and its nothing big; but when a baby does it we have to make the biggest deal out of it. "How cute! Look she's touching her nose!" All you moms know what I mean! :)
My mom and sister bought the girls these little outfits and Lisa made the bows.
























































I love monsoon weather. Last Sunday it rained for quite a while. Gracie loved it and it was the perfect temperature later that evening for a walk with the girls.




Gracie has the best dad. I can't tell who is having more fun running through the sprinklers. ??? :)



More pictures of the babies.

Reece


Violet

Crazy-but fun.

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. I think I have a pretty good reason to be behind a little. :) I wrote a different post a couple nights ago, but I think because it was 2 am, I was totally sleep deprived, and I'd already had a trip back to the hospital, that nothing made sense and it was a little whiney, so I'm going to start over. Things have been crazy but so much fun. These girls are such cute little babies. It's so funny to read a few posts back where I was talking about their little personalities while I was carrying them. They are the same outside as they were on the inside. Reece is my little spazzy squeaker. She loves to sing and make noises. I don't remember if I wrote about this before she was born. When I would sit in the pool, Dan would sometimes be playing basketball in the water too. Sometimes when the ball would hit the water, it would make a loud smack and Reece would jump or flinch inside of me. Also when my hips would pop she would do the same thing. Now, any little noise like when I drop something on the ground, she'll flinch. She can also go from 0-60 in about a half a second. She definitely is my feisty little girl. Violet on the other hand is my mellow, chill baby. She doesn't get too fussy and sleeps through anything. Violet is the bigger eater whereas Reece will just snack most of the time. Also when I took their pictures Reece didn't want anything to do with it, just like in the ultrasounds. She is so full of personality though. She makes the cutest little faces and sounds that make me smile and laugh even at 4:00 in the morning. Both babies are so sweet and I love being their mom and taking care of them. I've had so much fun with all three of my girls. Gracie is just finally starting to warm up to her sisters. At first she didn't show much interest. Now I can't get her to stop malling them most of the time. She loves to give kisses and is a big help with getting diapers and giving them their pacifiers. Life is definitely more crazy but I am loving every minute of it. I'm glad that I am finally starting to feel a little better. I can't believe those women who swear that c-sections are awesome and they prefer to have them instead of regular births. This was way worse and the recovery has not been fun at all. I bounced back just a couple days after I had Gracie and it seems that it is not going to be that way with this one. I'm so thankful for Dan, my family and friends who have put in so much of their time to help me out. I appreciate all the meals that have been brought by, help with Gracie, and family coming by to clean my house and watch the babies so I can catch up on sleep a couple hours at a time. Thank you everyone for making it a little easier to handle. I couldn't survive without all that help. Thanks a ton!
.....My niece Rachel bought these adorable little beanies for them. I finally did their pictures today and I think they turned out so cute. Thanks Rach, you're awesome!

Lisa is AWESOME!!!

For those of you who know my sister-in-law Lisa, you know that she is super talented. While I was down in Mesa she called and asked if she could decorate the twins nursery. I had only bought my cribs but didn't have anything else ready or even picked out. She said that she had all the material and could make everything for it. Quilts, bumper pads, bedskirts, curtains, diaper holder, you name it. I hadn't seen the material but knew that anything that she does or touches turns out so beautiful! Of course I said go ahead. I absolutely love their room and how it all looks. I couldn't have done even close to what she did. These pictures don't even give it justice but you can get the idea of how pretty everything is. She also makes bows and while I was still up at the hospital, she brought up a whole bunch that she had made just that day. Lisa you are so stinking talented and so generous with your time and creativity. Thanks a ton for everything. I'm so grateful to have a sister-in-law like you!

It doesn't get any better....+Happy Father's Day...+Happy Birthday Mom!

I wanted to update and give a little more detail about our exciting day. We needed to check into the hospital at 10 on Tuesday morning and of course I was up at 5:30. :) I'd gotten most everything done so just puttered around the house for a couple hours, finishing little things here and there. I took my time getting ready and of course doing my hair and makeup just right. We got to the hospital and my sister Amy (who is a nurse) was there to help with everything. We got all situated with monitoring, IV, prep stuff, all those fun things. It was so cool that I knew most of the staff that was working with us. Becky Householder was my nurse and Eliza Davis and my sister were the babies nurses. I grew up in the same ward and some were my young women leaders. I felt so comfortable having them take care of me and they did such an excellent job. We were scheduled for a 12:00 pm C-section and after waiting for a while, at about 12:45 they wheeled me back. Dan had to wait while they did all the prep work on me. Now, I'd thought that I'd prepared myself for the most part but when they wheeled me into the actual OR, I got really overwhelmed and started to cry. I was just so nervous and the bright lights, freezing cold temp, and not being able to see anyones faces really freaked me out. Luckily, while the CRNA was doing the spinal, I had Dr. Kartchner (my stake president) there helping me through it. I feel bad because I know I probably squeezed his hand off. He was there to assist my Dr. with the procedure, and one of my family doctors was there to help with the babies. Once I was numb and Dan came in, the fun began. It seemed a little chaotic just because I didn't know what they were doing and couldn't see anything from the screen that was blocking my view. Dan was right there beside me but was allowed to watch past the screen. Even though he was covered from head to toe, I could still see how his eyes lit up with amazement as he watched everything happen. He gave me a play by play and it was so funny to see how excited he would get. He didn't tell me when they were cutting me because I didn't want to know but he would tell me, "Okay, the first bag of water just broke. Okay, I can see Reece, here she comes!" And it seemed like everyone in the room shouted at the same time, "Reece is here!" Then I heard the sweetest cry burst from her sweet little body. I lost it then and couldn't help but cry harder. I can't even describe how it felt to finally hear that sound after all this time of worrying. Then Dan would update me, "Okay, your next bag broke, they're getting Violet, here she comes, she's butt first, Violet is out." Then what seemed like minutes but was only a few seconds was silence because she had aspirated and they had to resuscitate her. Thankfully, Dan didn't let me know this was happening until afterwards. I kept asking, "Why isn't she crying?" and the CRNA just distracted me and said what a beautiful baby she was and then I finally heard her cry. It was the most beautiful sound ever. While they were putting me back together, Dan got to go over and take pictures of them and they all left to go to the nursery. We had a ton of family there waiting and they were able to watch while they were measured and bathed. Amy did such a good job taking care of them and me. Amy you are a rockstar! It was so awesome having her there. After all was said and done, it was worth every day of morning sickness, bedrest, hospital stays, the whole bit. We've had so much fun with these girls. Both are such sweet little angels and such a blessing to have in our lives. It really doesn't get any better than this. Enjoy the pictures.

......Happy Father's Day to all those dads out there. I know I am blessed with such a great Dad who teaches me so much and I just love him for all the service and work that he does for his family. We sure are lucky to have someone so great to learn from. I love you Dad. Also I'm so grateful for Dan and the amazing father he is to our children. I feel so fortunate to have him as a husband and he is such an adorable father. I love to see how proud he is of his girls and I know I couldn't have found anyone better as a husband and dad that he is to us. I love you Dan!

.....Happy Birthday to the best Mom ever! I have such an amazing mom who will do anything for her family. Thanks mom for all the help that you have been in my life, especially recently. I've really enjoyed having you over to help with the babies and Gracie. They sure are lucky to have a grandma like you! Hope your birthday is a great one. We love you!

More pictures of the big day...

Reece and Violet

The girls are here. Reece is 5 lbs 14 ounces and Violet is 6 lbs 5 ounces. Mom is doing great and so are babies. The babies were born at 1:11 pm and 1:12pm. Reece is older by one minute. Violet has the shorter hair.

They're coming!

Well, we are back home. I've finally made it past 36 weeks and it is so nice to be in my own space. We met with our doctor last week and he has us scheduled for a c-section tomorrow. I'm getting really nervous and anxious to finally have these babies. I can't wait to see them. Dan has been so great to help me get prepared. He's been my right hand man lately moving this, cleaning that and doing all the little finishing touches I've wanted to get done around the house. He also gave me a blessing last night because I was getting so overwhelmed and feeling like I can't do this. He is so thoughtful and such a sweet dad to Gracie and these girls.
Today was a fun day. This morning we had a consult with the doctor so he could go over a few things before tomorrow. Dan is really excited because he gets to scrub in for the surgery. He won't get to do anything but he gets to watch on the other side of the screen instead of having to sit by my head. My sister Amy, who is an OB nurse is also going to be there to take care of one of the babies. After my appt. my sisters and mom came over and brought yummy lunch and desert. It was so nice to have a little get together before the babies come. My family is so sweet. Then later, Dan took me, Gracie, and a bunch of my nieces to the pool. Gracie had so much fun going down the slide with Dan. She had the biggest smile on her face. It was too cute. For FHE we took Gracie to the canal to let her try out the little boat she made at home depot on Saturday. We tied a piece of rope to it and let it float down. She had so much fun and it was nice to spend some quiet time with my sweet little family. Things are going to get even sweeter after tomorrow. Can't wait. We will post some pictures soon. Hope everyone is doing okay. -Becky