The Twins are S-I-X- months old!!

Today the Twins are exactly 6 months old!! I cannot believe how fast time flies! I was looking at pictures of Cambree at 6 months old and thought I would post her 6 month old celebration along with the twins. This was Cambree's cake! And the start of celebrating the 6 month old milestone!

Look at my lil Cambree! I am thinking Austin & her are the REAL twins! They both have huuuge heads!

Cambree and mommy!! Cannot believe how fast time went by especially considering Cambree is now 2 1/2!

The twins 6 month old cake! (Note: there isn't much variety at the commissary! lol)

They wasted NO time digging in! Ashley was the more aggressive one! She loooves her cake!

Happy 6 months old twinsy!! Mommy loooooves you!

Mommy and Austin!

I hope the next 6 months slow down because the first 6 months flew by! I love my twins and cannot imagine my life without them! They make our family complete! Now if we could just get Cambree to like them!!!

Twins my foot....

Ahh the twins... my pride and joy! My reason for living! My reason for crying! LOL! I thought I would jot down a few things I've noticed about the twins before I forget. It is funny to have two babies the same age because it is interesting to see how differently they develop. Here are a few of the differences in my adorable twins...

Ashley has been rolling over onto her stomach since she was probably 4 months old. Maybe even before then. She is CRAZY about rolling over. And she drives me crazy with her constant rolling! If she is laying down she will be on her tummy in about 2 seconds flat. She absolutely refuses to sleep on her back. At first I was worried about letting her sleep on her stomach but there was no fighting it. I would flip her over.. and she would flip back onto her tummy before I could even turn away...Buddy on the other hand makes me laugh. He has a little budda belly which I think has prevented him from rolling over as fast. In fact it has just been the past few weeks where he could even make it onto his belly and then once he is on his belly he is instantly crying. He hates being on his stomach!! It is kinda funny though because when he does make it onto his stomach his feet are in the air! They don't touch the floor due to his budda belly. Poor buddy!!

Ashley is SO much more independent than Austin. For example I can put her in the pack n play to sleep at night and she will fall asleep by herself. Buddy on the other hand HATES being in the pack n play by himself. (Mama's boy what?!) If I put him in there to fall asleep and he is by himself he will cry. He gets so put out. He actually has this fake cough he does when he is put out or wants attention which is kinda cute the first few times he did it but super annoying now lol. It is only once Ashley joins him he will actually fall asleep! (And the fake coughing stops! Hallelujah!)

Ashley is high energy already! She is already like go go go! She is seriously days away from crawling. She keeps trying! We keep joking that I will put her down one day and I'll come back and she will have crawled away. Besides trying to crawl she is super active. She is always kicking her legs and moving her arms. Forget trying to feed her a bottle. Her arms are all over the place and her head is like looking left to right.. left to right... as if she would miss something! When I put her in the play saucer I swear she almost hyperventilates! Breath Ashley breath! Buddy on the other hand is more laid back. He is more vocal than active. He will jabber jabber jabber but doesn't really move around much and forget about crawling. He will probably be like big sister Cambree and not crawl til for-ever!!! His motto must be why crawl when you can be carried! On the plus side he is super easy to feed a bottle to and sometimes I can actually prop the bottle up and it will stay because he is pretty still.

The one thing Buddy does beat Ashley at is eating LOL! Surprise surprise he is a boy! That boy can pack away the milk and now he can pack away the solids! I started him on actual solids (like the baby applesauce and banana's) a week ago. He eats like a champ. He even opens his mouth up when I put the spoon close to it! I think this boy has a future in hot dog eating contests! Ashley on the other hand is such a girl! She takes forever to drink a bottle and usually ends up drinking about 2 ounces less than Buddy. She refused to eat the solids at first but is slowly and I do mean slowly coming around. I think she wants to maintain her girlish figure even at 5 months old lol.

Well those are a few of the differences I can think of right now! Gotta love the craziness that comes with having twins! My days are never boring and that is fo sho!

My addictions!!!!

If there is one thing I know about myself it is this.... when I find something I like... I do it over and over and over AND over again. Food, movies, drinks... whatever it may be... once I latch onto something good it pretty much becomes my newest addiction. When I was home in Utah we decided to all hop on my moms bed and rent a movie. We stumbled across this movie called Country Strong and really by chance decided to watch it. For whatever reason that movie spoke to my soul!!! I instantly became obsessed with that movie. My fabulous sister downloaded all the songs from the movie and I immediately began listening to them over and over and over AND over. Don't believe me, ask my sister! My favorite thing from the movie is obviously Garrett and his a-m-a-z-i-n-g good looks er... I mean voice! I listen to the songs he sings from that movie pretty much every night when I'm going to bed! Check out his "Timing is Everything" song... it is truly inspired I tell you!!
My next current addiction is chocolate covered strawberries. My first encounter with chocolate covered strawberries came about a year ago. I had a friend who brought them into my life and ever since them I have been sold on them. Currently I make them like no joke three times a week! I would totally be a lot thinner right now if a) I didn't make them so much and b) I didn't feel the obligation to eat them all in one sitting! What?! It's an addiction! Suuurely you can understand! They are best when slightly chilled from the fridge... ohhhh don't get me started I want some NOW!
Another addiction has plauged me for a long time.... that is Shabby Chic sheets! I know I know ... I said SHEETS! When I was single and rich I bought sheets alllll the time. I know, who does that right? I was the sheet queen I tell you! I came across Shabby Chic like 10 years ago and we instantly became best friends. Now that I'm married and poor with three kids I can't afford to buy them as much but I currently have Shabby Chic sheets on both Cambree's bed and my bed at the moment. If you are in the market for new sheets check-cha-check-check-check check them out!
One of my last addictions/obsessions is that of autobiographies. Nerd alert I KNOW! My sisters are both into the (sometimes saucy) romance novels.... but me my friends.... I love me a good autobiography. My past favorite reads were Andre Aggassi (a REAL page turner... I cannot say enough about that book) and George W. Bush (who knew he was SO funny!) I started reading Larry H. Miller's book but somehow it ended up getting lost at my parents house. Literally we could not find it. One minute I'm reading it on the couch (or it could have been in Shaun's room) and the next I am turning over couch cushions with no luck and no book... I'm currently reading Chris Herren's book. It might seem like an odd choice but Chris Herren played at Fresno State the same time I was attending Utah State (so like an eternity ago right) and Freson always played against Utah State so I actually remember watching him play. Not to mention any sports book is a good book to me so that helps too.

So I guess if I were to put them all together a perfect night would be watching Country Strong... and then going to bed on my Shabby Chic sheets with a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and my Chris Herren book..... all of which I intend to do tonight because a) I'm nerdy like that and b) Keri works nights so what else do I have to do? Watch British tv? I think not......

Anxiously waiting...

We thought we had the next four years of our lives set but then we got word that we aren't going to Washington D.C. after all! In order for Keri to work for the White House he had to have two separate types of security clearances. (A Top Secret Clearance and a Presidential Clearance) It takes a certain amount of time to do each clearance and from the time Keri accepted the assignment til the time we are suppose to be there... there isn't enough time to complete the security clearances and apparently you can't arrive there without having both in place) Confusing I know and completely retarded. Basically they shouldn't have given us that assignment knowing we wouldn't have enough time to completely the steps necessary to have in place to accept it. Sooo now we are waiting to hear where we are actually going!!!! I'm a nervous wreck!! I wasn't exactly thrilled to hear about the D.C. job but after a few months I was (getting) excited and now we are back to square one!! I feel like I've paid my dues living in England so I HOPE we get a good assignment next!! On the top of our "wish list" is Colorado, Nevada, Washington, Ohio, and Virgina. I would be good with any of those but the only luck Keri and I have is BAD luck so we will probably end up in Alabama or something hot and humid! (Noooooothing against Alabama because I could definitely become an Auburn fan but I'd rather live in a dry climate!) Overall though I will just be happy to be leaving this tiny miserable island I'm calling England lol!! We are suppose to hear any time now so cross your fingers for us!! Pray we don't get sent to somewhere like North Dakota either!!!!! None of us have winter coats ;)

Sorry doesn't even cover it!

Just when you are cruising along life thinking everything is great you get thrown a curve ball. In this case it was a curve ball that I should have let pass me by but I didn't. The thing about life is you can get so caught up in something that you don't stop to think about the consequences or people that could get hurt in the process. I hurt a person who I once called a friend and if I could talk to that person again I would say from the bottom of my heart how incredibly sorry I am!

Just hanging around the hospital pictures

This was one of my first moments with Baby Austin. I didn't really get to see him after he was born and he was whisked away for quite a while before I finally got to meet him!!

Baby Ashley... her hair was quite the color when she came out. Bright yellowish red!

Austin had a few problems so he had to be taken three times a day for antibiotics. He had an IV line in his arm the whole hospital stay. Poor guy!

They definitely slept better in one bassinet together!

Mommy and baby!

Cam peeking in on her brother!

My awesome friend Robyn came to the hospital every day!! I don't know what I would do without her!!!!

Vicky holding Ashley. Vicky watched Cambree for three days while I was in the hospital. She is THE most amazing person I've ever met. I feel lucky to know her!

Dr. Snow checked on us quite a bit... he loved holding the babies!

Lisa came to visit us!! I love her!

Miranda hurt her foot so Robyn had to wheel her in to see me!

Miranda was reminiscing about the days when her own twins were born!

Tessie is a great friend and also my doctor's wife! She made the cutest burp rags!!!

Comfy cozy twins!

Snuggling!

I just love my twins!!!!

Tale of the Twin's birth!

First let me start by saying pictures are to follow but I wanted to write down the story of the twin's birth before I forget some of the details.

When I found out I was pregnant with twins almost everyone told me that twins come early. I heard and read all sorts of stories about twins arriving anywhere from 32 weeks to 36. Since Cambree arrived at 36 weeks herself I was certain I wasn't going to make it the full 38 with my weeks. Imagine my surprise (and discomfort) when I was only 2 days away from my scheduled c section date of February 2nd. At this point I was 37 weeks and 5 days along. I could NOT believe that I was going to be 38 weeks pregnant with twins. I mean who does that anymore? I don't know that many people who went 38 weeks with twins and of course as much as you want your twins to stay in as long as possible so they are healthy, at 37 weeks you just want them out. I was all but begging the doctor to take them at 37 weeks but he insisted I wait the whole 38. Keri measured my waist and I was sitting at 57 inches round! To make a long story short I was miserable and it was a struggle to get through EVERY day.

So January 31st came and I was starting to get nervous for the arrival of my twins. Keri had taken the cars out to get cleaned and I was itching to get to the BX to pick up a few things I needed for the hospital. He got home and I headed to the BX alone. From the second I got into car to head out I knew it was a bad idea and I probably shouldn't go but I proceeded anyway. I could literally barely fit behind the wheel. I started having the WORST back pain and it was a struggle to even walk through the BX. We are talking serious pain and again I had the thought I should not be out doing this. Luckily I got my stuff and made it back to the car and home. I spent the rest of the day in bed in the worst pain.

We had just gotten Cambree to bed when I went into the bathroom and it all started going downhill. I started bleeding a little bit (muscus plug stuff) but grew a little concerned when it didn't stop. I called my sister who told me I should probably go into the hospital. I thought she was over reacting and called my mom. She was concerned too and the bleeding kept up so I ended up calling my doctor's wife (we are all in the same ward together) who called her husband who told me to call Labor and Delivery. I called L&D and explained I was bleeding more like just a little bit and they told me I should just come get cbecked out and to bring an over night bag just in case. I hopped in the shower to clean up and got dressed. Keri called Vickie Wilkins who was going to be watching Cambree for us while we were in the hospital. (Vickie is one of the BEST people I've ever ever met. She also happens to be the Bishop's wife) My overnight bag had been packed for weeks but when the babies never came I slowly started using the stuff I had packd in it so it was a rush to get it repacked. It didn't take long for Vickie and the Bishop to get to my house (they live close by). I was up in the bathroom and blood was getting pretty much everywhere. Vickie came up the stairs to help me and I kept asking her if she thought the bleeding was normal. Lucky for me she stayed calm but helped me get down the stairs and into the car. She called my doctor once we actually got in the car to tell him we were on our way. (Nice things about having the doctors in our ward!)

Ugh the roads in England are so tiny and so bumpy and the drive from Feltwell to Lakenheath was brutal. Every bump was painful. We arrived at the Lakenheath hospital and Keri pulled right up to where the Ambulances arrive at the ER. He helped me out of the car and I was just gushing blood in the parking lot. I just stood there while Keri ran to get a wheelchair. The wheelchair came and up to L&D we went.. mind you there was a trail of blood the whole way up. For some reason I felt dumb about bleeding everywhere and kept saying sorry! We got up into L&D and they got me into a gown and a room. Again I asked the nurses if this bleeding was normal. How could it be normal? It didn't stop. They assured me it was fine and started my I.V. Lucky for me my regular doctor was actually on call that night so he came in and talked to me. I felt reassured when I saw him. He is a pretty great guy (and his wife is really awesome.) He told me we were just waiting for everyone to assemble and we would probably be starting in like 25 minutes. The anesthesiologist came in (mind you he looked way young and cute) and told me instead of an epidural like I had with Cambree's c section I was going to be having a spinal block. I was less than thrilled because that meant I would be totally awake during the c section and that made me nervous. Anyway I got wheeled back to the operating room and the fun began.

Luckily I had THE BEST nurses with me that night. I was SO scared and they were great. Keri wasn't allowed in the room while I got my spinal block so I was nervous. My nurses (who had monitors on me monitoring the twins while I was getting my spinal block) let me hold their hands and one of them kept whispering comforting things to me. I cannot tell you how much I appreciated her. The spinal block was less fun .. took forever to do.. and was painful. During the process I kept gushing out blood. At one point I warned the nurses... you are about to get wet. The blood would gush out and get all over. The block got done... Keri came in.. and we got underway. It didn't take too long before Ashley came out. She arrived at 10:51pm. I was so excited when I heard her cry. Austin came next exactly one minute later at 10:52pm. The thing about him is that he didn't cry when he came out and I started to get nervous. Infact once Austin came out I didn't get to even seen him until after I was done and back in my room.

Well later I found out I had placenta abruption which is why I was bleeding so much. I also found out later that Vickie was worried about all my bleeding but kept calm for me. My doctor said he didn't realize what was going on until he walked in when I was getting my spinal block and he saw all the blood that was gushing out. He also said there was a blood clot in my uterus and the worst was that poor Austin had injested a lot of blood in the placenta. When he came out they had to suction out a lot of blood from his lungs. He also had another problem. I guess when babies are born their first instinct is to pull their hands in towards them. Austin put his hands out which was an indication of a problem. The whole time I was in the hospital he had to go three times a day to get antibotic's. Luckily everything turned out okay and everyone ended up being fine but it could have been a scary situation. I'm glad my sister was in tune enough to tell me from the second I started bleeding that I needed to go in.

Well it's been a month now and the twins are doing pretty great!! It is quite the struggle but definitely worth it! I can't imagine not having both of them. It has definitely been a crazy ride from the time I found out I was having twins until now!!!