Photo Shoot

I'd been putting off having the kids pictures taken for a while...now I know why, it must have been "mothers intuition". Since Jeff's mom was coming up for the day I thought it would be a perfect idea to get the kids pictures taken since I would have the extra help...I don't think we could have had enough help this day...the pictures will help tell the story. It started off with us trying to get the kids dressed and looking half way decent and in clothes that didn't clash...by the time we got out of the house I really didn't care what they were wearing, they could have been in their pajamas and I would have been happy (Grant was still in his pj's and would have to get changed at the studio.) What I wanted Whitney to wear still didn't fit her...would she grow already! Clothes that she was "supposed" to fit into this winter are still hanging in her closet, brand new and unworn; by the time she fits into them it will be summer and too hot for any of the clothes. I'll just have to save them for Chelsea and hope they will fit her at the right time of year...back to my photo shoot saga...the kids were all finally dressed (except Grant) and they were loaded up. We were off! We arrived at the photo studio, we had to wait for our turn, which was fine since we still had to get Grant dressed. Whitney was having her pictures taken first. So up she goes in front of the camera, but will not smile! She was literally keeping her lips together and trying her hardest not to smile. She usually loves to smile, but not today. After some agonizing shots, I told the photographer to stop the torture and "we'll make something work" with what has already been taken. Here are the best pictures of Whitney...




...not bad, we did get a few good ones, but it took a lot of "not-so-good" ones to get these. Jeff's mom could not believe Whitney, she had never seen this little girl so adamant about not smiling.

Next was Chelsea by herself. She was a pro and the first shot was the best. Here she is looking perfect...


Then it was Grant's turn by himself, he too had some great shots right off the bat...what a happy and handsome little fella!



Next was the twins together...I thought that this would be a piece of cake since they cooperated so well by themselves...boy was I wrong! We didn't get one decent shot! This was their best shot...they look like an old grumpy couple! :) I was glad just to get a picture of them together that wasn't taken by me propping them up on the couch with pillows.


To end the photo shoot I wanted a picture of all three together...I knew this was asking a lot especially at this time, the twins didn't know what was going on, Whitney had already lost it - all she wanted was her snack (which was in the car!)...nothing would make her happy, I was bribing her with everything I could think of, but she would not have any of it...therefore...here is the final picture of the day with all three kids...


I look at this picture and just have to smile, it's life! It's definitely not the best picture, but I love it!

No excuse for not posting...

I have no idea where the time goes, it seems like I just posted something and it's already been over a month since my last post...I really should try to post more often, I just need more time in my day, lame excuse...I know, but I have more pressing things that I tend to these days...like mastering the art of feeding two babies at once (bottle feeding!). I thought I was a master at diaper changing, but I can change 3 kids faster than I ever thought possible! I am slowly mastering the art of loading up 3 kids and getting somewhere in as little time possible, I am getting pretty good - now that I venture out every once in a while. I am also mastering the art of laundry, I was good before, but now I have so much more to practice with - I have plenty to share if anyone would like to master this art too. :) It seems like I only get things accomplished when all 3 kids are sleeping at the same time - which does not happen too often - it's happening now and I have other things that I should be doing, but those things will just have to wait, my blog needs some attention desperately. Since my last post was mostly words, I decided to post mostly pictures in this post. (I am more of a picture person anyway - I usually only look at pictures in magazines, I rarely read the articles.) I can read a People magazine in about 5 minutes! So here are some fun pictures that I thought I would share. Enjoy!


Ohhh! So sweet.

Another Ohhh! So sweet.

Jeff's way of watching the kids.

Aunt Kathy, Whitney and Grant

Whitney's 2!

Birthday Girl! (Outfit and crown compliments of Uncle Jordon)

Sleeping princess.

Sleeping prince

Tummy time.

Too cute!

Artist in training.

Chelsea & Grant (impossible to get a good picture of both babies at the same time - this is the best I could do at the time.)

Where's Whitney?

TA DA!

Here I am!

Big yawn!

Best friends!

Preoccupied....

I guess you can say I have been a little preoccupied since October 28, 2008 a.k.a. the day our twins, Chelsea & Grant, were born. I thought I knew the definition of busy, but now it has a whole new meaning!!! Here's a little insight into what I have been up to...(sorry for the lengthy post...it's been a few months since I've posted)

I've decided a time line would be a good way to bring my blog up-to-date. Wish me luck!

October 28, 2008 the twins were born - what a great day! I had no idea that I would become a mom of 3 this day. I went in for my 34 week check up, my Dr. told me I was 4 centimeters dilated and she was having me admitted to the hospital until the twins were born. She said "you may be in the hospital for 1 week, maybe 2, you never know with twins." I got to the hospital and was admitted. They hooked me up to the monitoring equipment and asked if I had been having contractions, I told them yes (I had been having contractions since my 29th week and had been taking medication, so the contractions were nothing new...but for some reason my contractions started happening more frequently at the hospital.) I was given more medication to help slow the contractions, but this did not help. My Dr. and I decided that it would be best to have the twins delivered that day. I ended up having the twins that evening. I went from thinking I was going to be stuck in the hospital for a week or two to becoming a mom of twins the same day. Crazy!

(Chelsea)
(Grant)

October 30: Construction for a loft and bedroom addition began at our home. Yes, you read right, two days after giving birth to twins our house began to be remodeled! The twins were not suppose to come 6 weeks early and we were planning to have the construction completed or pretty close to being completed before the twins arrived. Unfortunately, the twins had a time line of their own.

(Dining room with loft being built above it.)
(Family room with a bedroom being built above it.)

October 31: I was discharged from the hospital. Chelsea & Grant stayed at the hospital in the NICU. This was the hardest day of my life. I cried the whole ride home. It was the worst feeling to leave my babies at the hospital, even knowing that it was the best place for them to be at that time.

October 29 - November 11: Visited the twins multiple times a day at the NICU.
(Jeff and I at one of our many visits.)

November 12: After 15 days in the NICU, Chelsea and Grant were finally brought home from the hospital. Yeah! Another great day! Construction was still taking place at home, not a good place to bring two newborn babies home to, so we ended up taking them to Jeff's parents house.
(Stork yard signs, a gift from our good friend, Jordon.)
(The twins loaded up ready to leave the hospital.)

November 13-17: Spent about 5 days at Jeff's parents house; then decided to caravan home with my parents.

November 18 - 23: Drove to Utah and stayed with my mom and dad for about 5 days. Everyone thought we were crazy to travel so soon with the twins. Our pediatrician gave us the OK so we packed up and headed to Utah. Construction was nearing completion while we were in Utah. While in Utah we chopped down our Christmas tree, a tradition that we began the year before. Our tree this year was about 18 feet tall! (See pictures below.) Celebrated Thanksgiving a few days early with my family.

November 23: Drove home...what a long drive with twins and an almost 2 year old! We made it, barely! We have no plans to travel again anytime soon!

November 27: Celebrated Thanksgiving with Jeff's family.

November 28 - to I forget when: New construction gets painted and new carpeting gets laid. We can finally start getting settled back into our house! Yeah! We had been living at our house, but had to stay at a friends house during the day and night while the house was painted and the new railing was stained...again not the best environment for newborns. Can my life get anymore crazy?

The construction was finally completed! Yeah! I still have no idea how I managed to make it through each day with 2 newborns, a toddler and a house full of workers! For the most part it wasn't too bad and we managed to live in the master bedroom. We are beginning to get our house put back together...this is still a work in progress. At this point, I really don't care that pictures aren't hung back on the walls...I have decided I can only do so much! (Even though I wish I could do more...or had the time or energy to do more.)

In the midst of caring for twins, trying to be a half-way decent mom to an almost two year old and trying not to take my frustrations out on my wonderful husband, Christmas was just around the corner and now I had to try to shop for Christmas gifts and get our 18+ foot Christmas tree decorated!!! Now that I am typing this post and reflecting, I have decided I must be insane! I did a lot of late evening/night Christmas shopping, when Jeff was home to watch the kids, good thing our post office has the capability to ship 24 hours a day - that came in handy a time or two. The Christmas tree was put on the back burner and I had pretty much given up on the fact that this enormous tree that was now housed in my living room would not have lights or decorations this year - I just did not know when I would have time (or energy), but thanks to my great husband, who absolutely loves Christmas, helped me put the lights on one Saturday morning, then the following day, when Whitney and the twins were napping, we hurried and placed the ornaments on the tree - there was no way we could decorate the tree when Whitney was awake - we tried to and decided that all the ornaments would be broken before they made it onto the tree. Once the tree was lit up and decorated it was so beautiful. I'm so glad we took the time to do this...Christmas would have been pretty pathetic sitting around an un-lit and un-decorated Christmas tree.
(Our Christmas tree before being chopped down.)
(Our Christmas tree all decked out.)

Ok, back to my time line...

Construction has been completed. I managed to have Christmas presents under the tree, which was lit up and decorated. We've brought the furniture in from the garage and have somewhere to sit. Things are slowly getting back to normal.

December 25: Celebrated Christmas at our house with Jeff's family. What a great day...but for some reason not as relaxing as I was hoping it would have been, oh well, there's always hope next year. I guess that same statement should be used for my Christmas cards. I really wanted to get Christmas cards sent out, but I have yet to get birth announcements out or thank you cards sent out for the baby gifts...so I decided Christmas cards were not going to happen this year. Then I thought of sending out something for New Year's, but that has now come and gone...maybe I'll shoot for sending out Happy 4th of July cards and be ecstatic if I send something out before the 4th of July rolls around!

December 28: Whitney's 2nd birthday! I still can't believe she's 2! Where has the time gone? So along with Christmas shopping I had to fit birthday shopping in. Yikes! I feel bad, but there was no way I could throw Whitney a birthday party with friends, so we had a nice family celebration and celebrated her birthday at Jeff's parents house. Jeff wanted to make her birthday cake this year; he had such a good time that he wants to make all the birthday cakes for the kids! Which is I think is a great idea!!! (Whitney in her cute birthday outfit and crown from Uncle Jordon)
(Whitney and daddy, with cake made by Jeff especially for his little girl.)
(Whitney opening her birthday gifts.)

This briefly sums up the title of my post...preoccupied. I'm going to do my best to post more often...but I make no guarantees. At times I think I'm not cut out for the blogging world and should just throw my towel in and call it quits! We'll see if I do a little better in 2009. Happy New Year!

P.S. In between all of this, the twins were eating every 3-4 hours!!! I'm surprised they didn't starve..they may have a time or two...I hope not. :)