And Another Month Passes....

I've been meaning to update this for the past two weeks. Such is life with two 12 week olds and a three year old. This past month has been the busiest yet. The boys are thoroughly done with the sleep, eat, poop routine. They are now on to the eat, fuss, sleep, fuss, play, fuss, eat, fuss, sleep, fuss, play, fuss, etc. Did you notice the pattern? Yes, a lot of fussing, crying, and screaming in this house. I'm am not joking or exagerating when I saw that even when the boys are asleep, I still hear them crying. I actually go check on them to make sure that indeed I'm hearing things. How sad is that? Over the past month we've noticed some good changes along with some more unpleasant ones.

Natalie taking Tristan shopping.

The Good:

• The boys have finally exhausted the three hour feeding routine. They are now on to four hour feedings. You may not think that's much of a change, but it makes a world of difference.  I find this interesting because I'm not giving them much more food per feeding. They just slowly spread out their schedule. We're still stock piling formula and go through about two large containers per week. If I were super-mom I would have breastfed them longer, but I chose my sanity over our checkbook!




Everett top, Tristan bottom


• Along with the four hour feedings, their night time feeding schedule has changed drastically. They now eat at 8:00 PM, are usually down for the night by 9:30, are up between 1:00-2:00, then again around 5:00. With only two feedings at night and more sleep in between, we are much happier parents. Well, I'm happier since I feed them! Kevin will help with one feeding per night when he has to go to work so it's not uncommon for me to be up for a couple hours at a time for at least one feeding. It's not ideal, but it's getting better.




Everett


• Playtime is becoming more interactive. The boys will lay down and play with their floor toys. They smile and coo and make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Everett especially chatters. He has the cutest little voice right now. He's so reserved most of the time that it catches me off guard when he's chattering away. Tristan is just now beginning to coo. Usually when Tristan is awake he is screaming, so we know he can use his voice, but not "in a positive way" (how's that for a teacher term?).

• Natalie. Natalie is my good. She has grown so much in the past few months. We went though our jealous stage, our defiant stage, our angry stage and now we've moved on. She loves her brothers. I take that back. She absolutely adores, cherishes and is enamored with her brothers. She wants to play with them, help us with them and is always talking to them. She has now nicknamed Everett, Everett Keverett and Tristan is now....get this...Tristan, Bistan, Wistan, Histan, Kistan. Yes, indeed she knows how to rhyme. Tristan is also known as spit-up boy. I love seeing her with the boys. She's an absolutely amazing little girl. She's also beautiful, but I'm a bit prejudice!

The Bad

• Poor little Tristan. Tristan, Tristan, Tristan.....sigh. Tristan screams. That's it. He screams. When he is awake, he screams. When he is asleep he doesn't. That is the life of Tristan. Did I mention that he rarely sleeps? Did I also mention that I may lose my mind trying to console this child? He's constantly burping, spitting up, tooting, and has a very gurgly belly. We've tried all sorts of formula with none making any difference. Natalie also screamed, but with some reflux medicine and some outragously expensive formula, she turned into a happy baby. None of those tricks have worked with T-man. Lord help me.

• Stress. Did you know that it's stressful to have a toddler and a set of newborn twins? I'll be the first to tell you that it is unlike anything I've ever thought of. I don't have much time to think about it, but on those rare occasions when I sit down and realize that I'm exhausted, my body aches, and I have absolutely no idea what I've done during the day, where I've been, what I've said, and pretty much turn into a pile of nothingness.....I find myself thinking "Oh, boy. When will this end?" And then a baby cries and I have no more time to ponder. I have people ask me "How do you do it?". I completely understand what my mom has always told me when I'd ask her how she handled my brother and I being 13 months apart. "You just get up and you do it. "  It sounds so simple, and it is until you look back and fully understand what "it" involves.




Everett is in Natalie's "tent".

The Ugly

• Having twins sucks when it comes to body image. Now six pounds away from pre-babies weight.....and holding steady. Six pounds....nothing right? I'm now thinking that weight from other parts of my body have migrated to my stomach, hips and thighs because I'm 100% certain that if I lost 6 pounds, I STILL would not fit into my clothes. This just sucks. Sucks, sucks, sucks. No time to exercise (yet), no energy....just a feeling of "Oh gross, is that me in the mirror?" To all of you saying "Oh, Sarah, you just had twins. The weight will come off. It took nine months to put it on. You look great (I love it when they add "for having twins")." I have this to say....  Yes, I know the weight will come off, I know it doesn't matter right now, I know that there will be time to exercise. But at this moment it's just one of those things that irritates me. I feel great, I just want to look how I feel.

And so another installment of the thoughts of a crazy, frazzled, mother of three comes to a close. Even through my venting, I wouldn't have my life any other way. Kevin and I are extremely happy. Probably happier than we've been in awhile. I feel extremely loved and continue to have my amazing mom help me every single day with my children. She's a God-send. I WOULD NOT be able to do this on my own and feel as though God has given me such wonderful gifts in life. I always imagined myself being a self-sufficient, independent woman. This gift of twins has taught me that aksing and accepting help allows you to see the things that are most important in life. It's the people you surround yourself with. It's your family, your friends and those whom you didn't even know cared for you until allowed them to become part of your life. I thank everyone who has either given their time to help me or simply offered.

I need to check on Tristan, he's been asleep for two and a half hours.....what's wrong????

Closing in on Two Months

Some may say "Wow! Two months already?". I say..... "Wow, it seems like it has been more than two months!". Everybody comments on how big they are and how time is flying. I'll let you in on a secret. When you are at home with two newborns and a three year old time does go by quickly in the sense of not enough hours in the day to get everything done, but when the boys need to be fed every 3-4 hours day and night, diapers need to be changed, clothes need changing, baths need to be given, etc, etc, etc, it really does not feel like time is flying by. Maybe when the boys are able to easily go 4 hours between feedings, sleep more soundly at night and are able to be awake without crying, maybe time will feel like it's flying by. As for now, each day is pretty much the same. Life is on hold and I sometimes feel like a prisoner in this never ending cycle of bottle making, feeding, diapers, laundry, dishes, cleaning/picking-up, and trying to actually spend some time with Natalie. I never understood why people wanted to "get away" and do nothing on vacation. I've always wanted to travel somewhere so that I could "do" something or see something new. I have to admit that right at this moment, I understand the desire to go somewhere and do nothing.



They just can't leave eachother alone.

 Now, don't get me wrong. I wouldn't change the fact of having three incredibly healthy and loving children. And yes, I know that I'll look back at this time and wonder how it went by so quickly, but right now, today, at this moment it seems like a long road ahead! I have a lot of people helping so it's not that I'm overwhelmed by the amount of work to do, it's just the cycle of doing it over and over again...and again....and again...and again. I long for the time when the boys can interact with us and eachother. I have to admit that even with Natalie I was not a fan of the newborn stage. They are cute and are definitely miracles, but I'm more of an "infant" and toddler kind of person. Maybe that's a bit selfish, but I'm not trying to sugar coat anyting!

Unhappy babies on the 4th of July

As the boys approach their two month milestone, they've grown tremendously and are continuing to change. As of a week ago, Everett weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces. Knowing this, we're assuming Tristan is at least 11 pounds! I had to take Everett back to our wonderful doctor because he was still struggling with his snorty nose. It always sounds like he's congested, yet we can't ever get anyting out of his nose. He struggles to breathe when he eats and snores like an old man when he sleeps. Our doctor referred us to an ear, nose and throat specialist to probe into a possible cause. We visited Dr. Theil yesterday and I believe Everett may still be traumatized by the visit (I know I am!)! Dr. Theil took a long probe and inserted it into Everett's nose and down his throat. You can imagine how much fun that was! I was wearing a cranberry colored shirt, and his poor little face was camoflauged into it during the procedure. The findings were good and bad. I was hoping it was nothing serious, but "fixable". It turns out that it's not serious, but it's also nothing that's very fixable at the moment. Everett's soft pallette hangs down lower than most people's, therefore it vibrates more. When asked if there were any snorers in the family I had to laugh. Kevin snores like a freight train! So we can blame that on Daddy. I asked the doctor if she could cure Kevin's snoring and she said she could try.....I see an appointment in the near future! Also, since Everett has a recessed chin/jaw, his poor tongue does not have much room in his mouth so it has to fall back further. So the combination of the pallette hanging down and his tongue being pushed back causes them to irritate each other and make him congested. He should grow out of the soft pallette issue mostly, but he'll always have that problem. Dr. Theil just said that since he makes so much noise we'll always know where he is. I guess that's the silver lining! She mentioned that we might want to take him to a maxilofacial oral surgeon at some point to correct his jaw. She told us to start saving our pennies.

Tristan discovers the mirror and sees a handsome boy!

Between Everett's jaw and Natalie's missing teeth, we may have to have a dental fund started before a college fund! So far Tristan is just fussy, but nothing medically wrong......still waiting for his "ailment" to appear! I think his ailment is simply a bad temper and impatience. I wonder who he gets that from! 

Natalie's 4th of July new pool.

Sicne we spend so much time caring for the boys, Natalie many times has to wait for attention. I know older children go through this, but it doesn't make it any easier to know that it's normal. Kevin and I are leaving the boys with their grandmothers on Friday to take Natalie to "A Day out with Thomas" in Snoqualmie. She loves Thomas the Train and I couldn't resist buying tickets for the exhibit and train ride. I was a sucker and bought the conductor's package that comes with an engineer's hat, a lanyard with a Thomas train at the end and a Thomas the Train whistle. I can't wait to see her reaction when we arrive. I also can't wait to get out of the house!!!! Did I just say that?! We plan on hitting the oulet stores and visiting with my cousin's family who lives in Snoqualmie while we're there. They're creating quite the buzz with their little boy dancing at a recent Mariner's game. It's been a long time since we've seen them and I'm excited to finally catch up.

Speaking of cousins, Natalie said yesterday that she has two cousins. She asked how many cousins Daddy had. I told her two. Then she asked how many I had. Oh boy! I couldn't tell her so I started telling her all of their names. You can imagine her first reaction of "Wow, that's a lot!" to her utter boredom and eventual walking away from me! She'll learn one day that having a large family is more exciting than just listing names!

Ava and Natalie helping Papa open his birthday presents.

One more Natalie"ism" before I sign off..... During a recent trip to Costco, Natalie and I were pushing the cart back into one of the parking lot stalls. I turned quickly and lost my balance and bumped into her. Here's the ensuing conversation:
Me: Oops! Mommy lost her balance.
Nat: (Looking very inquisitively) Where did it go?
Me: Where did what go?
Nat: Your balance. Did you leave it in the store?
Me (lauging) No. When you almost fall down you say that you "lose your balance."
Nat: But where is it? I think you left it in the store. Maybe we should go look for it.
Me: Yes, maybe we should, but it's late and we need to get home.

So from now on, Costco not only carries bulk items, but it also has Mommy's balance!

Tristan and Everett at 8 weeks

Tristan (on left) was fussing, so this is what I found when I went to "save" him. I don't know who the culprit was!

Hurry and take the picture so we can feed them!

Different Looks, Different Personalities

It's becoming more and more evident that the personalities of our two boys are pretty much polar opposites. While they were in-utero, Tristan was the feisty one, always kicking, jerking around, hiccuping....the one who I ALWAYS knew was present. Everett on the other hand was more quiet. He would stretch, squirm, gently push, but nothing sporatic or too surprising. I find it funny that out of the womb, those behaviors are continuing.

Tristan

We like to say that he's just a bit high maintenance. He's extremely vocal, has a bad temper, agitated quite often, grunts, growls, in general he just has a hard time relaxing. He eats like there's no tomorrow. He'll inhale four ounces in a matter of 10 - 15 minutes, produces burps that any bar mate would be proud of, and always wants more. He would eat 24 hours a day if we let him. That's why he's such a chunk! Other than his eating habits, he reminds us a lot of Natalie. Natalie was a very wound up baby, even after her stomach issues were resolved. Unfortunately I don't think I can blame these traits on Kevin. I believe they are most definitely traits they inherited from their mother! I believe Tristan also inherited my body shape. He's a chunky little boy, long torso and short little legs. He has my olive skin tone and dark brown hair. He definitely has a Nipper chin and a Whitish nose. I can definitely claim this one as my child.



Tristan's growly face.

Everett
Everett on the other hand is our ONE child that is relaxed!! Kevin refers to him as "chill-dog". We can put him on the floor to play, and he plays. We can put him in his swing, and he swings. We can just hold him and he'll simply look around, happy as can be. He takes his time eating and I'm sure gets upset that his brother wants to eat all the time! He rarely finishes his bottle, takes his time burping, falls asleep during feedings, and unless he has an air bubble, rarely fusses. He takes a long time to fall asleep because he just looks around. He always looks like he's on the verge of telling you the world's most important secret. He has pale skin, reddish/blonde hair, and a long lean body. In a nut shell, this is a miniature Kevin. Thank goodness for Everett. I love my Tristan and Natalie, but I was ready for an Everett!


Everett after a rough night.

Even as I type this, Everett is sound asleep in his swing and Tristan is squirming, grunting and fussing. He just can't let go of that control! So, as you can see, these boys' differences go far beyond their appearances. We are asked all the time if they are identical. We think this is such a bizarre question. They look completely different and I don't believe that I think this because I'm their mother. They really truly are their own little persons.

And what about Natalie? Natalie calls Everett her little duck (because his hair looks like a little duck after his bath) and Tristan her little rabbit. We have no idea where rabbit came from. I think she's getting a little tired of "the brothers". She's always saying now "Put down that brother and ......", "The brother can go to bed now." It's much t0o time consuming to figure out which brother it is!


The boys first time on their bellies.....definite personality differences!

Growing by Leaps and Bounds

Natalie and the Brudders

One month old and growing like weeds! The boys have been growing and changing. The one thing that is not changing is their eating schedule....still eating every three hours. That means we're still not getting much sleep at night. I'm hoping that'll change sometime soon!

The boys had their one month check-up yesterday and we found out that they are little chunks! Everett weighed in at 8 lb 1 oz, and Tristan is up to 7 lb 14 oz. When they were nearly two weeks old, they hit their lowest weight. Tristan was 4 lb 15 oz and Everett was 5 lb 1 oz. So in three weeks Everett gained three pounds and Tristan gained three pounds one ounce. The first question our doctor asked was "What are you feeding these boys?!" At our appointment about ten days ago he cautioned us about feeding them too much, telling us not to give them more than 1.5-2 ounces per feeding. At that time they were easily downing three ounces. Since that time they've worked up to four ounces per feeding.....we didn't mention this to our doc! Overall the appointment went well. Everett is on another round of antibiotics to see if we can clear up his nasal passages.



Tristan and Everett



Natalie has been a big help with the boys. She loves making sure that they have toys to play with, pacifiers in their mouths, and burp rags on hand. She has enjoyed playing with them on the floor. She shows them her toys and shows them how to play with their toys. She especially enjoys showing them her Thomas the Train engine along with the others in the set. When they grunt or make funny noises she always says that they are talking "crazy talk". She also laughs when they contort their faces just before they get ready to cry. She points and laughs at them and says "look at his face!!!".



Princess Natalie and and her Prince Everett



Natalie showing Tristan how to play with Thomas the Train.





Baby Natalie.....may be a little big for this toy now!





Our little chunky monkeys. Already sharing their toys...like they have a choice!

Life is busy. I had no idea how busy I'd be. I'm exhausted and stressed yet have never been happier. This past month, although sleep deprived, has probably been the quickest month of my life. I can't believe how much the boys have changed and how our family has adapted to all of the changes. My Mom spends the night on Sundays and Tuesdays (Thank God for MOM!!!!). Monday and Wednesday nights are mostly up to me, but I enlist Kevin when I'm at my wits end! Kevin works Monday through Thursday, so he's up with me Thursday night through Saturday night. Coffee and Spark are my go to's in the morning. My stressful times are at night when I'm exhausted. Yet when the light of day comes, Natalie wakes up and everything starts rolling, I get a burst of energy and can't wait to get the day started and enjoy all three of my kids! My Mom helps me throughout the day and I'd definitely be insane by now if she weren't here!

Growing and Changing

All five of us piled into our car today and went to see Dr. Krause. The boys had their one week check-up for their circumcisions and Natalie was seen for a constant runny nose. All three kids came home with prescriptions for antibiotics. They boys are a bit swollen, which indicates a slight infection, and Natalie seems to have a sinus infection. So between giving Tristan his eye infection medication, Natalie's Dimatapp, and all three of their prescription antibiotics, when is there time to do much else? The business of life sure does multiply when you go from a family of three to a family of five!

On the upside, all three children were weighed today and all had weight gain. I wish this was a good thing for me as an adult! Natalie is now up to a whopping 29 pounds....almost into the 30th percentile for weight! I swear we're going to bring her to her first day of kindergarten in a car seat! Tristan weighed in at 6 pounds 1 ounce and our hungry boy Everett weighed in at 6 pounds 4 ounces. This puts the boys at almost the 10th percentile for weight. Granted, these percentiles are based on full term babies. Considering they were four weeks premature, I believe they're doing extremely well!

Our three kiddos.

Like I said before, life is very busy.  I remember with Natalie how extremely exhausted and overwhelmed I was. I couldn't find time to do anything and just wanted to sleep. I don't know the exact reason for the difference in the way that I feel after giving birth to these boys, but I actually feel great! Yes, of course I'm tired, but that's to be expected. I've thought of some possible reasons for this change in disposition.

Everett & Tristan

1. I felt absolutely miserable for eight months, and even worse than that for the last month of pregnancy. So now I'm thrilled to be able to sleep (when I'm allowed), move the way I want to, clean what needs to be cleaned, cook, play with Natalie, and do all of the things I haven't been able to do since last September.

2. Disproving everything people told me about having a c-section, this birth and recovery seems to be a lot easier than the previous with Natalie. Yes, the first few days were very painful and I'm still reminded of the damage that was caused to my midsection, but overall I feel great. I have a lot more energy and am able to move around really well. We go for walks everyday and I've lost almost all of the pregnancy weight. Only 8 pounds to go. Of course my body looks completely different!

Family time at the park.

3. I have amazing help! Kevin, Natalie and my mom have been absolute life savers. It will be a sad day when Kevin goes back to work on Monday! Natalie helps me so much and always wants to be part of the action. My mom helps us at night a few times a week and is always ready to come over and help us at any time. We are so blessed to have so many people who want to help us!

Gramma and her boys.

4. I'm not a novice. It's amazing how much calmer and confident I am with these boys compared to Natalie. Even though there are two, the struggle seems to be with scheduling, not caring for them. I'm not as uptight, worried or anxious. I'm able to lay them down even if they're not sound asleep. I can listen to them grunt and whine while they're sleeping and not run over and pick them up. I'm able to give them a pacifier and walk away. I don't worry about their runny nose or their spitting up. I know they are healthy, happy and that makes me the same!

Already fighting with eachother!

So, for those of you wondering how things are going here.....they're going extremely well! We're busy feeding, diapering, cleaning and cuddling, but all in all life is good. We have three very healthy children, a wonderful extended family, great friends and a supportive church family. We're also very thankful for Kevin's great job and great health benefits. After racking up over $80,000 in medical bills since March, we've had to pay a total of $200 out of pocket! Thank you tax payers! (Kevin's a government worker!)

I hear someone filling their pants......better check who the culprit is. More to come......

And then life changed once again!

I can't believe I haven't updated this in a whole month! Obviously a few things have happened during that time! The last two weeks of pregnancy were down right miserable and I prayed daily that 1) The boys were big and strong and 2) I'd go into labor. The weekend of May 14-15 was filled with aches and pains and random contractions. I felt Everett push out some ribs that caused a lot of pain. I made an emergency appointment with my fabulous physical therapist Lisa on Monday to get my ribs back in place. After an hour and a half of therapy, I left feeling better. An hour later Everett moved again and there went my ribs. This time the pain was even worse. I remember laying on the couch just crying, wishing the pain would go away and wishing the pregnancy would be over with.

On Tuesday, May 17th, I had to head home from Mom's house at 8:00 AM to go to my house to meet up with the Dish Network repair guy. I sat at the computer and wrote a few emails while he worked. I began having contractions at 8:30, not thinking anything of it. Once they started becoming pretty painful and coming every 8 minutes I began to worry. At 9:45 when the contractions were 5 minutes apart, I asked the repair guy if he would be much longer. I thought his eyes were going to pop out when I told him that I was having contractions. I had Mom bring Natalie over and told her about the contractions. I didn't want to call the dr. until the repair guy left because I knew that I'd have to explain that I couldn't come in until the repair guy left. At 10:00 I called and got the word to head to the hospital. That REALLY scared the repair guy. I never saw someone leave so quickly! I then called Kevin and told him what was going on.....of course he was in Arlington.

At 10:30 AM I was hooked up to monitors at the hospital. At 10:50 I was told that they had just taken a patient in for a c-section and I would be next. I didn't expect things to happen that quickly. I didn't have any idea what was going to happen. I automatically began to cry.....I wanted this to happen, but now things were happening too quickly....and would Kevin get here in time? After awhile I was told that there was an emergency and someone else was taken in for a c-section and I would be after that patient. Even though things were happening quickly, due to the pain, it seemed like it was taking forever. At 1:45, the nurse came in and said "It's time!" Kevin still wasn't there and wasn't answering his phone. Mom suited up in scrubs and in we went.

On our way to the operating room.

Just as they were about to begin, I heard that Kevin had arrived. He would wait outside and go to the NICU with the boys once they were taken out. I won't go into details with the birth....let's just say they came out quickly. Tristan Andrew was born at 2:20 PM and Everett Asher was born at 2:21 PM. Tristan weighed 5 lb 9 oz and Everett weighed 5 lb 7 oz. Both were healthy and beautiful! I got to see them that night. They were the plumpest babies in the NICU! They were in there for two days, then came into my room.

The boys in the NICU.

It really hit me that I had twins when they brought the boys into my room Friday morning after spending the night with the nurses. They told me to call them when I was ready for the boys. I was waiting for my Mom to come before I called them. I also knew their feeding schedule and knew they wouldn't need to be feed until 10:00 AM. So at 8:30, a nurse comes in my room with two babies. "Here they are, and they're hungary!" Wait a minute! I didn't call yet! I'm not ready! I'm here by myself! They're BOTH hungry?!!!! HELP!!!!! Mom was there within ten minutes, but during those ten minutes I think I had a nervous breakdown!!

Natalie meets her new brothers.

Daddy and his boys.

Our boys came home on Friday May 20 and have been absolutely wonderful additions to our family and home. Besides being sleep deprived, we're all doing well. It's quite an adjustment to have two newborns, but my recovery is going extremely well and I'm so thankful to be able to care for both of them with the help of my family. More to come when more time presents itself!!!

Natalie thought her brothers were bored, so she gave them toys to play with.

Still Chugging Along......

Update:
05/03/11
I went to the doctor today, in hopes of hearing news of a time to delivery these boys. No such luck. They are "cooking" away and perfectly content staying inside Mommy. Both heartbeats are great, their movements are strong, and very consistent. I'm not dilated at all, and have very few weak contractions. The doctor says that it will take stronger, more consistent contractions to cause any dilation or to cause my water to break. Both boys have plenty of fluid and are growing like weeds. My doctor keeps talking about making it to 35 weeks, which according to him is in two weeks. He didn't come out and say "we'll induce at 35 weeks", but I'm hoping that I won't have to go longer than that! He said that at 35 weeks, there's an excellent possibility that the boys will be released from the hospital when I am. I have an ultrasound on Monday. They should be able to give another size measurement of the boys at that time. I'm assuming they'll be around five pounds each by that point. And now a picture (for those who can take it!)....

05/02/11
And yes, I do feel like I'm carrying a full load! At 33 weeks and five days I can honestly say that I'm READY to free up some space in my abdominal area. It's amazing how much these babies can grow in one week. My clothes are tighter and shorter, it's harder to get up/sit down, even more uncomfortable to lay down and sleep, more aches and pains in my back and legs, more trips to the bathroom (which I thought was completely impossible), and the most prominent problem.......indigestion. In the past I've had stomach problems, but never heart burn or reflux. I think I live off of Zantac right now. I think if I ate a piece of bread, I'd need some antacid! So life continues in pregnancyland. I have another appointment tomorrow with my doctor. I hope to make my strongest arguments to schedule a time for next week for these babies to be born. Wish me luck!!!!

Life has definitely not been normal lately. Between living 90% of the time with my parents, and about 10% at home when Kevin's home, I just go with the flow and take advantage of all of the wonderful help I'm getting. At first I thought I'd be at Mom and Dad's until I could go up and down the stairs at home, but soon realized that it's a lot easier to live at my parents so that my Mom can help with Natalie. There's no way I can keep up with her and her needs right now. I'm so lucky to have my Mom here and able to help me day and night. She's my chauffer, cook, housekeeper, nanny, but most importantly my mom. Not only does she do almost everything for me, most importantly she listens to my complaining, laughs with me, comforts me when I cry (somedays that can happen a lot!), and provides love and support. That's something that can be hard to come by from other people. I'm extemely blessed to have her supporting me right now.

As Kevin comes to the end of his big project at work, he's been working Fridays and more Saturdays, which only gives us one day a week to spend together. That has been very difficult not to have time before the boys come to spend together. We went out to dinner Friday night to celebrate our birthdays. It was so nice to be able to talk to each other one on one and just enjoy each other's company. Probably one of the last times that will happen for awhile!! Kevin says that this week will be his last busy week at work. So between Kevin's work slowing down and me being just down right uncomfortable, we're hoping that next week is the magical week!

More information to come!