So Blessed and Loved...

Tonight as I was laying in bed and Chad was rubbing my feet I started to doze...Ding Dong! I thought I heard the door bell ring but I kind of thought it was in my soon to be dreams. Then Sydney my 8 year old comes running up stairs..."Didn't you hear the door bell ring?" So Chad went to see who was there. As I am lying in bed I can hear my kids say "what is with all of those boxes?" I immediately jump (as much as I can jump) out of bed to see what all the commotion is about. Chad and the kids start bringing in these boxes.

Now to back up a little bit, my good friend has a sister who had twin boys a couple years ago. This sister had saved all of her twin baby clothes which were in awesome condition and were darling, nice clothes. My friend had asked me if I wanted them, that her sister was willing to sell them all to me for a great price. I went over there to go through these clothes from ages 0-24 months. I loved them. All matching or coordinating darling boy clothes. I told my friend to please put them aside until I could afford to buy them from her.

This past week our family car (Ford Expedition) died...I mean really died. I was driving "Rose" which is what my kids have affectionately named our car and we have called it "Rose" since I can remember. When we found out what it was going to cost to fix her (rose) we were distraught! Since Chad has recently started a new business, money has been tight, Chad's business is picking up and will be awesome in the next little bit. There has just been a whole lot of expenses this last year that have been adding up. I have not been able to buy anything for these babies, I figured I would be able to soon. Friends in my ward have been asking me if I need anything, etc! Of course I say no and that we are great! Chad serves as the Bishop in our ward and we have received many blessings from his service in this calling. But nothing like the one we received tonight...Back to the Boxes.

As Chad and my kids are bringing in these boxes I look closely at them...Each box has a different age written on them, 0-3 month, 3-6 month etc. I soon discover that those boxes are filled with the baby clothes that my friend was storing for me. With them is a card. A sweet, wonderful card that contains cash. In this card was written :

Dear Cassie,

We know that you have been wanting and needing these clothes for the babies. So they are yours. Paid in full. With this extra money we want you to buy anything else the boys will need: Car seats, blessing outfits, coming home outfits, soft blankets, diapers etc. We want you to have fun shopping for the babies. We love you and can't wait to meet the babies.

Love Your Friends.

Wow! Talk about being completely overwhelmed. I began sobbing...not crying but sobbing. My kids all started crying. I don't even know if they knew why they were crying. It was the most unbelievable feeling of love, appreciation and gratitude that I have ever felt. We got down on our knees and thanked our Heavenly Father for this and for the generosity of some really great friends! I share this because I want to always remember my feelings at this moment and I want these boys to remember how much they are loved and looked forward to. I did know of one person who would know where and who these gifts came from. She told me that she would not tell me who did it but that there is a higher power looking out for our family and that someday she would tell me the story. I went downstairs and found my oldest daughter writing in her journal about this experience with tears flowing down her cheeks. What a sweet experience for my family to have. I feel so blessed and loved.
LIFE IS GOOD!!!

26 weeks

Wow I cannot believe that I am already 26 weeks along!! I mean I can believe it by looking at this photo but I can't believe that I am so close to the end. I have had a few requests to keep posting pictures so I had Chad take this one tonight. My camera lens broke so I had to borrow my moms. Doesn't that belly look heavy?? Well it is! Going down the stairs isn't to bad but coming back up the stairs is awful! Seriously I don't remember felling "heavy" in the belly like I do with these two babies. I am still feeling good, not sleeping great but ok. Tonight we borrowed my dad's lazy boy chair from my mom's house to see if I can sleep better in it. At least I have another option besides my bed or just wandering around the house until the sun comes up. I am happy I am still feeling so good, the babies are moving great too. The doctor always gave me Halloween as a point to look forward to. He told me that after Halloween I would begin to be miserable...that is next week. He told me to have my house in order by Halloween...ha ha ha does he realize how funny that is...my house in order...what is that and what does that look like? Tomorrow I am hoping to clean out some things and get some things organized. At least that is my plan today.
Happy 26 weeks!!!

Pumping Iron

I just received a phone call from my doctors office, Donna the nurse said "so do you want the good news or the bad news?" What? I didn't realize I had any news to get. She then told me that my diabetes test went great, I am at no risk for that. Which is good because right before I had to drink the glucose drink I ate a bowl of sugar cereal as well as a piece of chocolate cake. (I know I am the picture of health) Then I read the instructions on the bottle "do not eat anything with sugar in it before you drink this" Whoops! So I was a little nervous that my numbers would be off the chart. But she said that they get concerned with any number above 140 and my glucose registered at 80! So these babies must be eating up all of the sugar that I am consuming. Then she told me that the bad news is my iron is really low. Bummer! I am already taking a prenatal vitamin as well as an iron pill. Now I have to take two iron pills. Do you know what that can do for your bowel movements? Lets just say it can "slow the flow" quite a bit. Sorry if this is too much information! Apparently these babies are sucking all the sugar and the iron out of me. The good news is that is it! And this could be the reason that I am so exhausted...all of the time. It could be much worse...I will take the news of having to pop more pills and being a little constipated. My next appointment is in two weeks and my next ultra sound is in four weeks. Things are moving along quite nicely...well until that extra iron pill kicks in! Ha Ha!

24 and 1/2

I just returned from my appointment with the Perientologist. It went great!!! The babies look perfect. They are measuring 1 pound 12 oz and 1 pound 13 oz and everything else about them are exactly the same. The doctor said that he believes I will have these babies in 2011...which is great news! I don't want them here early. He said that with all of my other healthy pregnancies I should have no problem delivering them at 37 weeks! Woo Hoo great news! It was so fun to see these two buddies. They have gotten so big since the last ultra sound three weeks ago. It looked as though at one point they were having a boxing match with each other. I can sure feel baby B more than baby A, baby B is very active and baby A seems a little more mellow. The specialist also reviewed all of the other ultrasounds up to the very first one and said that these boys are definitely identical twins. Crazy! My boys look so much alike already I can't image two almost the same. I am finding myself loving on and enjoying my 9 month old Nicholas a little more than I think I did with my others. He is super cuddly and I make sure I cherish those times even more than before. I just don't want him to grow up too fast, he is so sweet and I sure enjoy every day with him. Tomorrow I go into my OBGYN and do my glucose testing and have a regular appointment. I am so happy to have seen my babies today and know that all is well. Life is Good!

Exhausted...

The last few days have been different. These babies must be growing. I am so exhausted! To the point that all I want to do is lay down, all of the time. My back and my hips are starting to really feel the pressure as well. Every thing is starting to ache. I don't sleep very well at night either. I don't ever want to sound negative I just want to have a truthful account of this pregnancy and what goes on week by week. It's so hard to find information on a twin pregnancy from real people. There are plenty of "book answers" about my questions just not a lot of real life. I am getting quite large. Chad keeps looking at me and saying "wow, I don't know how much bigger you can get". He means it in the nicest, compassionate way. I am sure he is just trying to validate my complaints. My house is a pit! It is such a mess and I don't do a whole lot about it. I walk around it and then go and lay back down. I am hoping that this is just another phase and I will begin getting my energy back at least for a while. I am looking forward to my next appointment with the Perientologist, it's been three weeks since I have seen the two buddies and look forward to seeing them next week! It is such a great reassurance that everything is A-OK! I have three months left to be considered full term, I am really hoping to make it that far. I really want to get through the holidays without any "baby excitement" and just enjoy the down time with my kids. Life is still good and I am looking forward to a bright future full of fun and craziness and hopefully a whole lot of energy from me!!!

What do we feed her?

I have to laugh every time I think about my 22 year old big, wrestler, studly nephew Jake and what he said to me. We were lucky enough to have him come here from Colorado to visit over the weekend for conference and for his mission reunion. He is a great guy, loves the little kids and adores the babies. On Sunday after our big Sunday dinner he turned to me and asked very seriously..."So someday I will probably get married and my wife might be pregnant with twins I need to know how much to feed her? Seriously how much do you eat?" I laughed and laughed. how much do I feed her? As if she is a pet lizard or something. I am happy he is planning on what to feed his pregnant with twins wife in the future and how to budget for that. We cracked up! What to feed me? I am not so sure these days. Nothing ever sounds good to eat. If I could create my own fantasy menu it would probably consists of a delicious steak (filet) cooked medium well, some yummy cooked asparagus, delicious warm bread with butter and some sort of brownie moose creamy dessert. Oh and also some fresh Pineapple. But since this is a "fantasy" menu I will just continue to be hungry and pick off of my kids peanut butter and honey sandwiches. And hope that my husband someday takes me back to Carrabbas!!!