She's 9!!!

Emma Mae turned 9 years old today. I can't believe that we have a 9 year old, and how fast the past 9 years have gone. I have been thinking about that a lot lately as we have these brand new babies. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing Emma home from the hospital. Now she is an amazing girl with so many talents and so much in store for her. We are so proud of the good girl that Emma is and the good friend that she is to everybody. I can't wait to see what the future holds for our sweet girl.
We kept this birthday pretty simple for now. We celebrated in the morning with donuts which was a special treat for her and she got to open one present. Then she took treats to share with her class at school, and Lee went to lunch with her. She had soccer practice that night so she took treats to share with her teammates also. Then she and Lee went to the ward Halloween party. It was a busy day, but she had fun. We will really celebrate this weekend with family, and then we are planning a simple pool party for friends in a few weeks (after things have settled down around here!).
Happy Birthday Emma Mae. We love you so much!

Weight Check

Lee and I took Isaac and Grace on their first outing on Monday. They had to go to the doctor for a weight check. By the time I took a shower, got dressed, packed the diaper bag, fed the babies, got both situated in their carseats and then in the car making sure they were sufficiently warm, I was ready to get back in bed! We did pretty good though and we got to the doctor's office 5 minutes early! We were proud of ourselves. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great visit. Both babies had lost weight again. Isaac was down from 6 lbs. when we left the hospital to 5 lbs. 12 oz. Grace was down from 5 lbs. 7 oz. to 5 lbs. 1 oz. We were a little surprised and disappointed. The doctor told us to try and nurse each of them, then feed them breast milk from a bottle also. He also said to not let them ever go longer than 3 hours to eat. The problem is that Grace has decided that she has completely forgotten how to nurse, which is weird because she was stronger than Isaac in the beginning! The doctor said that sometimes it is hard for smaller babies to nurse vigorously enough, so if we bottle feed them too than they will be able to grow and hopefully be stronger nursers. I decided I should probably nurse them separately rather than together at this point so I can focus on each of them eating really well. So began the crazy feeding cycle: nurse one, bottle feed one, nurse the other, bottle feed the other, burp and change one, burp change the other, nurse the first one again, then the other. Then I pump and eat another meal (since I am famished all the time right now). Start over again in a couple of hours. Needless to say I can't wait until we can let them go longer during the night. Thankfully they sleep pretty well for the most part between feedings at night. Isaac is nursing really well right now, but still downs a bottle also. Hopefully Grace will catch up soon.

All of that is ok because between feedings during the day we love on them and get to know them. We have come to absolutely love Isaac's funny facial expressions. His cute upturned nose and downturned mouth makes him look a little snooty, and Lee has taken to calling him Sir Isaac. At the doctor's office Lee was holding Isaac naked after he was weighed. He was telling him that he was his little man. Just at that moment Isaac puffed up his chest and lifted one arm in a muscle man pose. It was hilarious and we were laughing out loud. His normal newborn movements had perfect timing. He is still pretty mellow and always looks so serious. He folds his hands across his chest or holds them under his chin. We got Lee's baby pictures out and we were surprised at how much he really looks like Lee. He is such a sweet little guy. Grace is still a little more tense than Isaac, but just as sweet. Her hands are constantly moving and are usually all over her face. She does the funniest things with her legs. They are either folded in froggy style, or they are sticking straight out and you can't bend them at all. If you rub her thighs in just the right way she sticks them out for you. She is so tiny and petite sometimes we feel like we could break her. She loves to cuddle on our chests. Lee has been calling her Princess Gracie. So, we are living with nobility!

We love these babies and we are so glad they are in our family. We have another weight check at the hospital today, and another at the doctor's office tomorrow. Hopefully we will get better news this time and they can start growing.

Do you think Gracie was hungry?

First Bath

Emma had been talking about giving Isaac and Grace their first baths at home for weeks before they were born. So, Sunday night she finally got to do it. She did a great job, even with the babies squirming and crying.

Isaac

Grace

I think she was most excited about putting them in their robes after the bath. The robes say they are 0-9 months, but both Isaac and Grace were drowning in them! They were so cute.

The best part was how yummy they smelled afterwards. I can't get enough of that clean, new baby smell.

We're home!

A huge thanks to my mom for putting the slide show on the blog. We had a hard time with our laptop and the wireless connection at the hospital. I am finally getting around to posting myself! I realized that the "essential stats" didn't get posted on the blog, so here it all is:

The twins were born on Tuesday, October 21st. Isaac Russell Evans made his appearance at 7:59 am. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. and was 18 inches long. Grace Eleanor Evans came at 8:02 am. She weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long. We were thrilled at their weights, and most importantly that they were here healthy and safe. I can't even express the relief that I had after I heard both babies cry and saw them for the first time. I worried so much throughout the whole pregnancy, that part was finally over. The c-section went well and we were so happy that my mom was able to be in the operating room with us. Both babies almost immediately gave us a glimpse of their personalities. Isaac settled down very quickly and was very mellow while the nurses worked on him. Grace on the other hand screamed and cried through the whole thing. They have been about the same since, Grace is definitely a little more high strung than Isaac. Some people are drawing correlations between their personalities and their looks. Isaac looks just like Lee, and Grace looks more like me. Hmmm...am I a little more high strung than Lee???


Our hospital stay was great. We enjoyed getting to know our little babies and showing them off to friends who came to visit. Emma was so excited to be a big sister. She was with us at the hospital the whole day on Tuesday, and couldn't wait to get there to see the babies after the school all the other days. She loved wearing her big sister shirts and showing them off. I was able to nurse both Isaac and Grace together from the very beginning and all the nurses were amazed at how well we did. Unfortunately, both babies lost quite a bit of weight before my milk came in. Isaac got down to 5 lbs. 12 oz. and Grace got down to 5 lbs. 2 oz. The doctors were a little concerned and wanted to watch them so we stayed an extra day in the hospital. When we went home on Saturday Isaac was up to 6 lbs. and Grace was up to 5 lbs. 12 oz. Such a difference from Emma who was 8 lbs. 6 oz. when she was born and never lost an ounce! I was actually happy to stay another day, but by Saturday morning I was definitely ready to go home. It was fun to dress the babies for the first time and pack them up in their carseats and take them home. It is such a sobering and exciting experience to take a baby (or babies) home from the hospital.



When we got home we were welcomed by a big poster that my sisters had helped Emma to make. Emma had also spent the last couple days making little Welcome Home signs that she posted around the whole house. She even had a designated spot for each twin with a sign indicating where to put them down. It was cute!


Needless to say, we are glad to be at home together as a family. It's hard to believe these sweet, cute babies are actually here and we are loving getting to know them. I am recovering well from the c-section and I am so glad that I'm not pregnant anymore! Recovery so far has been a much easier experience than recovering from any of my surgeries. I am so relieved about that. I mentioned that to my doctor and he pointed out that I have a much better motivation this time around. He is right, this was a happy surgery with a very happy ending.

Isaac and Grace Evans

One more night

I can't believe that the time has actually come. The twins will be here tomorrow! We have to be at the hospital at 5:30 in the morning, the c-section is planned for 7:30. We feel ready. We've had a great week as a family, our favorite phrase has been "this is the last time we'll do this as a family of three". I can't believe that what we have waited so long for is finally happening. I spent my last day of peace and quiet running dumb little errands and vacuuming the van. I had lunch with Emma at school, and then we went out to dinner this evening (Red Robin of course, Emma's favorite). Then we went to my parent's house for blessings for all three of us. I feel much more relaxed and ready for everything tomorrow. I am excited to meet these babies and to add that much more love to our family.

I had to post one last belly shot. This one I am dresssed in my clothing of choice for almost this entire pregnancy. Anytime I was at home I would wear these PJ's. I wore them so much that one of Emma's friends asked me if I ever washed them! (For the record, I washed them AT LEAST twice a week). Thanks Stacy for the pregnancy-sized PJ pants, they worked great and I don't think I could have lived without them!

Hopefully we will be able to get some pictures posted tomorrow, or at least some important stats. Let the adventure begin!

Making Cookies

There are two things that I love about these pictures:

1. Seeing Emma and her Daddy having fun together. They are such good buddies and I love how Emma looks up to him, and that he is such a good person to look up to! I love seeing them together.

2. Somebody ELSE is making the cookies...not me! They were yummy, too!

The Name Says it All

Wicked. That's what they are. Last month Lee brought home a couple of these Wicked Whoopies that the family he works for had ordered all the way from Maine. They were so good and I loved them, so the next week he brought home about a dozen for me, compliments of his bosses. Well, those didn't take long to be eaten, so this week he brought home a whole case of them for me!

How can something that is packaged so cute be so bad for you?

I think I'm going to miss this "trying to gain weight for the babies" thing. I guess I will still need all those calories while I am nursing two babies...right?

Tooth Drama!

Emma has had a loose tooth for several months that the orthodontist has been waiting to fall out so he could move some teeth around it. He has been trying to convince Emma to let him pull it, but she always refused. He kept making deals with her and telling her to wiggle it so many times a day, but it never came out. Finally, at her last appointment he told her that if it hadn't fallen out by the next appointment, he would have to pull it. He explained to her that it was loose enough that he would only have to numb it with gel (no shot) and then it would come out really easily and she woudln't even feel it. Well, that next appointment finally came this week. Emma was so worried about it, but not worried enough to let us pull it for her or to wiggle it out herself. It was literally just dangling there! So, when Lee took her to her ortho appointment, he said that her eyes were as big as saucers when Dr. Sessions was coming at her with the pliers, but one second later the tooth was out and she said "it's already out?". It's so funny to me how kids can make such a big deal out of nothing! She was thrilled with the "tooth coffin" that Dr. Sessions gave her to take the tooth home in. She has lost so many other teeth that the enticement of the Tooth Fairy coming to visit wasn't enough to get her to pull the tooth, so I was surprised when that night she showed me a long, detailed letter that she had written to the Tooth Fairy. It described how the orthodontist had pulled the tooth and asked the Tooth Fairy lots of questions. I was so glad that I saw that note and could pass it on to the Tooth Fairy! She was happy the next morning with the reply from the Tooth Fairy as well as the gum and the gold dollar coin. I wonder how much longer the Tooth Fairy will be coming to visit her, but for now I am happy she still believes in the magic of it all! Now we have to start gearing up for the next appointment because the orthodontist said he is going to pull another tooth if it isn't out by then. Oh boy, more drama...

Walking on the Wild Side

I am well into my 36th week, and I am still amazed that I have made it this far. At this point these babies can come whenever they want to. They have made it to the safety zone AND my doctor is in town. So, I have started trying to do more again and trying to bring on more contractions instead of prevent them. I'll be ok if I make it to the 21st, but I won't complain if they come earlier! Although, I keep telling myself that I need to enjoy this next week and a half. I need to enjoy the quiet, enjoy Emma, and enjoy our little family of three as it is now. I think we are totally ready for them to be here now. Their room is completely organized and put together. The last week or so we got several things done that I am excited about. A couple weeks ago I started refinishing a dresser/changing table that used to be Emma's. Actually, it was the changing table that my parents used for me when I was a baby and I refinished for Emma's room. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to for Emma, but this time we stained it really dark and it turned out the perfect color. I say "we" because quickly after I started the project I realized it was more than I could do right then, so Lee finished it up. He did a great job! It looks black in the picture, but it is really a dark brown.

We got an amazing double stroller as a gift from the awesome family that Lee works for. It is top of the line and pretty dang nice. They even got us all the little fun extras that go with it. It steers like a dream and I can't wait to use it!

I got the diaper bag I wanted in the mail this week. Oh boy, this is getting real!

I also got the twin nursing pillow that I needed in the mail. Isn't it HUGE! It will make nursing two babies at once a whole lot easier (I hope!). It was actually part of the group gift from my shower (along with the diaper bag and carseats).

Finally, look at the free gift that came with the nursing pillow:

I am trying to convince Lee to put it on his car, but for some reason he won't. So although I have nothing fun or exciting to blog about since the only thing we are doing at our house right now is getting ready for babies, we are walking on the wild side!

Conference Tent

We read a story in the Friend about a family who made a tent to sit in while they watched General Conference. We have talked many times before conference about how the people of King Benjamin's time pitched their tents toward the temple so they could hear him speak, so this time we made our own tent. Emma reminded me about it all this past week. She and Lee made the tent this morning and she worked on her Conference packet and ate her cinnamon roll in the tent. She had so much fun that she asked if we could make it one of our family traditions for General Conference each year. Anything that gets her excited about listening to our Prophet and other leaders is fine by me! I can't wait for our traditional Conference brunch at my parents house tomorrow, and playing "Don't Eat the Prophet" and Conference BINGO. Oh, and listening and learning too...=-)

Harley REALLY wanted some of that cinnamon roll!

Baby Shower

Last weekend my wonderful visiting teachers, Catherine & Colleen, and my good friends Susie & Shannon threw a baby shower for me. It was great and I was touched by the generosity of so many people. Thank you to all who went!
Two of my favorite gifts were the hats that Emma made. She used her knitting loom to knit a hat for each baby. She worked hard on them and she was excited to get them done. They turned out really cute!

Putting all the gifts away made me realize how close we are to bringing these babies home. Only a few more weeks!