We had a nice relaxing Saturday. Last night the girls and I went to the Theater in the Park to watch "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown". It was a really great show and I so enjoyed the music and the singing, and most especially the almost chilly weather!
This morning I got up and made some banana bread and got the kids dressed and out the door to play in this nice weather and then a friend stopped by for a nice long chat! I haven't had time for one of those in such a long time. It was so much fun to sip our coffee and nibble the fresh bread and just talk girl talk!
In the afternoon we went to visit a new mommy in the hospital where her precious baby girl is trying to grow and gain strength. I am praying for little Mattie and her brave mommy. I know God will be with them. I can only imagine how frightening it would be to have this happen with your first child.
Going to settle in for the night, have to be in bed early so we can be on time for church tomorrow! We have been late for the last few weeks and I am bound and determined to start getting my family there on time!! I hate to be the last family in there...and we don't even have the babies yet! At least then we would have a good excuse!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
32 Weeks and counting!
Here is the birthmom's beautiful 32 week tummy! She is a tiny little lady, so she is practically all tummy now! She says the boys are up til all hours playing and kicking each other! That is one of her twins with his hand on her tummy, he is so precious.
We are still in Kansas. I have a class that does not finish up until the 23rd of August, I can leave if i have to, but I'd like to complete that before we drive to North Carolina. The plan is to leave on Friday the 24th and drive through Nashville to Charlotte. It is approximately 984 miles and so it will make for a fun family road trip!!
I have been busy around the house...nesting! Besides sewing the fun receiving blankets in all the bright fabrics we bought, I have also used the scraps to make these cute burp cloths. You just buy the cloth diapers at WalMart, and then take a strip of the flannel fabric and turn it under, pin it in place down the front of the cloth diaper and sew it down. It's cute and matches the blankets! (And for some reason the picture makes it look like it's pink! But it really is not!)
And here is our "Diaper Station" that we set up in the family room. We got the cute basket at Michael's on sale! It holds about 60 diapers, the wipe container in it's handy carry basket, and will also hold about 6 receiving blankets. To the side of it, where there is a stack of diapers right now, I will place a medium size plastic bin that will hold all of their dirty laundry each day. Our house is large and if you are down in the family room you can't hear anything going on up in my Master bedroom which is on the complete opposite side of the house and upstairs. So we find it easier to have 2 complete areas that are set up for sleeping, diapering, feeding, etc.
Oh you know I have to be organized! How else could I keep my sanity with all these kiddos! And lastly are the new bottles. I have used the same bottles for the last 5 years! I decided it was time to buy some new ones. I was going to use the Dr. Browns, but have you seen what those cost?! And I need 20! Now in the past I have used only 3 or 4 bottles per child. I like the wide mouth so when I am mixing up the formula late at night I don't have to worry about missing the opening and dumping all that expensive formula down the side of the bottle. But with twins I figure I am going to need a better plan.
So I am going to mix up the formula every morning in a big pitcher and then pour it out into 16 bottles for the day. I will then put the bottles into the refrigerator and take them out 1/2 hour before feeding time. I am also putting one of those little dorm refrigerators in my bedroom for a while so I can store their bottles for the nighttime feedings. Now doesn't that sound organized?!
So because of the sheer number needed, I went with these little Gerber bottles. When they eat more than 5 ounces, well then we will have to get bigger bottles. This will be the first time i have not "Fed on demand". I usually don't like to schedule babies, I have always thought that was kind of like trying to potty train a cat! I mean, babies will let you know when they are hungry, and they are always growing so their internal schedules are always changing. But other moms of twins have really been adamant about getting the boys on a schedule. They have told me if I let them eat just when they want to I will literally be feeding one of them all of the time! So we will try sticking to a schedule and so I will need a lot of bottles!
I am excited! I know some of this will work and some will go right out of the window, but I am ready to get started. Double the load, double the fun!!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Eat More Chickin'
It took us about an hour to get through the line and get our dinner. We watched as many people finished their meals, cleaned up their tables and then went up to the manager and offered to help as volunteers! It was so awesome!! One little lady walked around the restaurant offering to refill your drinks, she was just precious!
I was so proud to be a part of this and for my children to witness such encouragement and caring from our community and I know this is going on throughout our country!!
God Bless America and the citizens who stand up for our right to speak our minds!! God Bless the management and employees of Chick-Fil-A for modeling such wholesome family values!!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
My 13 year old Princess!
Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God."
I love you Katy! Happy 13th Birthday!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Baby Update!
Our birthmom went into early labor yesterday. She is at 29 weeks 1 day and the boys are measuring at 2 lbs. 15 oz. She is at CMC hospital in Charlotte and the doctors were able to stop the contractions last night. They gave her one steroid shot last night and another one today at noon.
They are releasing her to go home on strict bed rest. She has family with her and they will do everything including take care of her other children.
Please pray!! Pray for the health of the birthmom and her peace. Pray that the boys will get at least one more week to grow over 3 lbs! Pray that the doctors will be vigilant and keep a watch for any signs of trouble! And please pray that this mommy, so far away from her babies will be at peace with all that the Lord has planned. I am trying to keep from panicking, to trust that God has them in His hands and will take tender care of them.
We are preparing to drive to Charlotte as soon as they are born, we were going to fly, but I don't think we will have time now to buy tickets at a reasonable amount. If the boys come this early, they will most likely end up in the Nicu for quite awhile, so we will probably have to go there, stay a week or two, come back home and then go again and wait for them to be released.
What a whirlwind! God give me strength!
They are releasing her to go home on strict bed rest. She has family with her and they will do everything including take care of her other children.
Please pray!! Pray for the health of the birthmom and her peace. Pray that the boys will get at least one more week to grow over 3 lbs! Pray that the doctors will be vigilant and keep a watch for any signs of trouble! And please pray that this mommy, so far away from her babies will be at peace with all that the Lord has planned. I am trying to keep from panicking, to trust that God has them in His hands and will take tender care of them.
We are preparing to drive to Charlotte as soon as they are born, we were going to fly, but I don't think we will have time now to buy tickets at a reasonable amount. If the boys come this early, they will most likely end up in the Nicu for quite awhile, so we will probably have to go there, stay a week or two, come back home and then go again and wait for them to be released.
What a whirlwind! God give me strength!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Trying out a new recipe!
One of the blogs I read, Little Did I Know, had this awesome recipe for Hawiian Bread Sandwiches that looked awesome and I just had to try it. Here are the sandwiches before going in the oven. They have ham, swiss cheese and a mixture of onions, butter and dijon mustard. (We left out the poppy seeds.)
After assembling them you bake them in the oven and they come out a warm delicious sweetness! Out of this world!
Thank you to Lisa for posting this. You can see the recipe on her blog here.
Monday, June 18, 2012
A womb with a view...
Katy and I traveled to North Carolina a few weeks back to visit the birthmom of my twin boys that are due at the end of summer. It was a fun time for both of us.
We had to catch two flights, the first was from KC to Cincinnati, OH where we had a layover for 1 hour and then to Charlotte, NC. We arrived around 1 pm and caught a cab to the car rental place. By the time we left Enterprise Car Rental we hit a little traffic on our way north to Lake Norman where we were staying at a really nice Hampton Inn. We checked in about 3pm and called C (the birthmom), she was tired and so we decided to wait to get together in the morning , as we had a lot of fun things planned.
Katy changed into her bathing suit and we hit the pool. Of all the things I have to say that the pool was a little disappointing, you see Katy is 5'9", and the pool is about 12 feet long...I am NOT kidding! So she can dive in and touch the other side almost immediately! Oh well, at least it was a great way to cool off. I just sat down on a chaise lounge and took a quick nap.
We went back upstairs so Katy could rinse off and get dressed, then we headed downstairs to the Manager's reception, which is kind of like a happy hour with lots of food. They had Italian Meatballs in sauce, noodles and great big rolls so you could have meatball sandwiches which is exactly what we decided to have. They also had a delicious salad with lots of dressing choices. After we were done, we were originally going to go out to dinner, but we were basically full!
So we got in the little rental car and just drove around for a awhile. We ended up at a Target and picked up some nice gifts for C and her family. Then we stopped at a Starbucks and went to a movie, we saw The Hunger Games which I knew nothing about. It was pretty good, but a little frightening for mine and Katy's taste. My Mom told us we should read the book, but we may wait a bit more. Katy was very worried for the main character, even after she won her battle.
After a kind of late night, you would have thought we would have a hard time getting up the next morning, but we were so excited to meet C in person, we were both awake by 6am. We got dressed and wrapped all the gifts and headed downstairs to the lobby for their FREE breakfast! I do enjoy a meal that someone else prepares for me, especially when it is free!
We drove over to C's apartment around 9:30am. I was so nervous, but also so excited to see her. She is beautiful and so kind to us. We sat in her apartment for about an hour, talking and looking at pictures. Her children were still asleep, so we had to whisper, and we all kept giggling! Then it was time to go to her doctor's appointment and to see the 3D Sonogram. We drove her in our little rental car, if you had seen us, just chatting away, you would have thought we had been friends forever! She is so nice and friendly!
The doctor's office is right on the first floor of the hospital where she will be having the twins, it is very pretty and so easily accessible. It will be very easy to visit when we come back at the end of the summer. The office administration and the nurses were very kind and sensitive, they led us to the sonogram room and the technician told us everything she was going to do. Katy and I squealed when she showed the first picture on the big screen they have! It was quite thrilling to see Baby A's face for the first time! He is so handsome and seemed quite happy to get his picture taken.
Here is Baby A. I have been told that it is surprising after they are born how close they look to their sonogram photos. I can not tell you how impatient I feel now to hold and see these adorable little guys! I keep telling myself that I must be patient, they still have a long way to go. But seeing this beautiful face makes my heart skip a beat!
Unfortunately, Baby B was not quite as cooperative as his brother. (Is this a little preview of how he will be?) He was quite comfy with his back to us and after a bit of prodding from the technician would only show us his profile! I found this to be quite endearing! Baby B is full of surprises and will probably turn out to be a bit of a stubborn boy!
But just look at those little fingers, they are so sweet to me! I can not wait to wrap them around my own fingers, I think I even see him wincing, like he is trying to say, "Please leave the light off and let me sleep a little longer!" We had such a fun time and C was so kind to lay there and let the technician get tons of pictures for us.
After our "photo shoot" we went out to lunch and then back to C's apartment to play with her little kiddos and meet her family. Everyone was so nice and we stayed and talked to them for 4 hours! I am so happy that everyone is so encouraging and supportive and that our plan is to be open with this adoption and to stay connected to the birth family so these little guys will always have lots of people to love them! We even talked about having C and her children join us for Thanksgiving this year. We'll have to see how she feels and if she is ready, I already know two things I will be thankful for!
Katy and I went back to our hotel on cloud nine! We had met the manager, Tonya, the night before and she took us on a tour of the hotel so we could see one of their suites. This is where we will be staying when we come back for the twins, so I wanted to be sure we will all fit. I will be bringing my other girls with us, so we need room for the 5 of us and the babies as soon as they are released form the hospital. We will have to stay in the area for around 2 weeks to file the paperwork with the courts, and that is only if there are no medical issues. I am praying very hard that the boys will be ready to come home with us right away, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
The hotel manager was so sweet and she got very excited for us too. I have to say, I just love the people of North Carolina! I was a little worried, as I think of it as so southern and worried about how Katy would be treated. But I am so happy to say that there was not one unkind word or stare or anything! A lot of worrying on my part for nothing, thankfully.
That night we fell asleep with visions of cute little baby boys in our heads! Thankful for all that God has revealed and for the place He has led us to. The next morning we woke really early and drove back to Enterprise to drop off the car. They called an awesome cab driver who we will definitely call again when we return, he drove us safely back to the airport and we flew from Charlotte to Atlanta, GA, then back to KC and were met by my Mom and my other daughters who I could not wait to get lots of hugs from!!
Such a fun adventure and so much more to look forward to!
We had to catch two flights, the first was from KC to Cincinnati, OH where we had a layover for 1 hour and then to Charlotte, NC. We arrived around 1 pm and caught a cab to the car rental place. By the time we left Enterprise Car Rental we hit a little traffic on our way north to Lake Norman where we were staying at a really nice Hampton Inn. We checked in about 3pm and called C (the birthmom), she was tired and so we decided to wait to get together in the morning , as we had a lot of fun things planned.
Katy changed into her bathing suit and we hit the pool. Of all the things I have to say that the pool was a little disappointing, you see Katy is 5'9", and the pool is about 12 feet long...I am NOT kidding! So she can dive in and touch the other side almost immediately! Oh well, at least it was a great way to cool off. I just sat down on a chaise lounge and took a quick nap.
We went back upstairs so Katy could rinse off and get dressed, then we headed downstairs to the Manager's reception, which is kind of like a happy hour with lots of food. They had Italian Meatballs in sauce, noodles and great big rolls so you could have meatball sandwiches which is exactly what we decided to have. They also had a delicious salad with lots of dressing choices. After we were done, we were originally going to go out to dinner, but we were basically full!
So we got in the little rental car and just drove around for a awhile. We ended up at a Target and picked up some nice gifts for C and her family. Then we stopped at a Starbucks and went to a movie, we saw The Hunger Games which I knew nothing about. It was pretty good, but a little frightening for mine and Katy's taste. My Mom told us we should read the book, but we may wait a bit more. Katy was very worried for the main character, even after she won her battle.
After a kind of late night, you would have thought we would have a hard time getting up the next morning, but we were so excited to meet C in person, we were both awake by 6am. We got dressed and wrapped all the gifts and headed downstairs to the lobby for their FREE breakfast! I do enjoy a meal that someone else prepares for me, especially when it is free!
We drove over to C's apartment around 9:30am. I was so nervous, but also so excited to see her. She is beautiful and so kind to us. We sat in her apartment for about an hour, talking and looking at pictures. Her children were still asleep, so we had to whisper, and we all kept giggling! Then it was time to go to her doctor's appointment and to see the 3D Sonogram. We drove her in our little rental car, if you had seen us, just chatting away, you would have thought we had been friends forever! She is so nice and friendly!
The doctor's office is right on the first floor of the hospital where she will be having the twins, it is very pretty and so easily accessible. It will be very easy to visit when we come back at the end of the summer. The office administration and the nurses were very kind and sensitive, they led us to the sonogram room and the technician told us everything she was going to do. Katy and I squealed when she showed the first picture on the big screen they have! It was quite thrilling to see Baby A's face for the first time! He is so handsome and seemed quite happy to get his picture taken.
Unfortunately, Baby B was not quite as cooperative as his brother. (Is this a little preview of how he will be?) He was quite comfy with his back to us and after a bit of prodding from the technician would only show us his profile! I found this to be quite endearing! Baby B is full of surprises and will probably turn out to be a bit of a stubborn boy!
But just look at those little fingers, they are so sweet to me! I can not wait to wrap them around my own fingers, I think I even see him wincing, like he is trying to say, "Please leave the light off and let me sleep a little longer!" We had such a fun time and C was so kind to lay there and let the technician get tons of pictures for us.
After our "photo shoot" we went out to lunch and then back to C's apartment to play with her little kiddos and meet her family. Everyone was so nice and we stayed and talked to them for 4 hours! I am so happy that everyone is so encouraging and supportive and that our plan is to be open with this adoption and to stay connected to the birth family so these little guys will always have lots of people to love them! We even talked about having C and her children join us for Thanksgiving this year. We'll have to see how she feels and if she is ready, I already know two things I will be thankful for!
Katy and I went back to our hotel on cloud nine! We had met the manager, Tonya, the night before and she took us on a tour of the hotel so we could see one of their suites. This is where we will be staying when we come back for the twins, so I wanted to be sure we will all fit. I will be bringing my other girls with us, so we need room for the 5 of us and the babies as soon as they are released form the hospital. We will have to stay in the area for around 2 weeks to file the paperwork with the courts, and that is only if there are no medical issues. I am praying very hard that the boys will be ready to come home with us right away, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
The hotel manager was so sweet and she got very excited for us too. I have to say, I just love the people of North Carolina! I was a little worried, as I think of it as so southern and worried about how Katy would be treated. But I am so happy to say that there was not one unkind word or stare or anything! A lot of worrying on my part for nothing, thankfully.
That night we fell asleep with visions of cute little baby boys in our heads! Thankful for all that God has revealed and for the place He has led us to. The next morning we woke really early and drove back to Enterprise to drop off the car. They called an awesome cab driver who we will definitely call again when we return, he drove us safely back to the airport and we flew from Charlotte to Atlanta, GA, then back to KC and were met by my Mom and my other daughters who I could not wait to get lots of hugs from!!
Such a fun adventure and so much more to look forward to!
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