22 & 23 weeks

Here's a little baby bump update. I am currently at 23 weeks, more than half way for sure. With twins the doctor won't let me go past 38 weeks and I can go any time between 34-38 weeks. So my due date is basically anywhere from Thanksgiving to Christmas, oh joy. We are hoping these sweet girls stay in til about week 37 (mid-December) so they won't have to be in the NICU, or at least for not as long. We are still so excited to meet our little girls. We have definitely had some stressful times these last 2 weeks since finding out but we know it is a huge blessing to be getting these two in our home. It's quite the roller coaster ride!

This Friday is our 5 year anniversary and we are celebrating by taking one last (small) trip before the twins come. We are headed to St. George to relax at a hotel and to see Mary Poppins at Tuachan. I am praying we don't get rained out! We've gotten so much rain the past week. But it will be a nice break from work and it will be nice to relax with my feet up.

22 weeks

23 weeks

Identical twin fun fact (that made me tear up): Researchers from University of Padova in Italy recently studied 3D ultrasound videos of five sets of twins in the womb. When the fetuses were just 14 weeks old, the researchers noticed that the pairs seemed to be reaching out for each other, touching head to head and arm to head. At 18 weeks, they were stroking each other more often and were in physical contact about 30% of the time. Even more phenomenal, the fetuses seemed to be extra gentle when touching around their siblings' eyes (likely because this area is so delicate, the researchers posit.)

and then there were two

I thought I'd share a little more info about our "twins" story and how everything happened.

Back on May 29 we went in for my first appointment with the doctor. We did an ultrasound and the doctor assured us there was only one baby in there and that it was definitely a boy or girl (funny doc).

Before the ultrasound, Logan had the thought that he'd be pretty excited if they were twins. Once the doctor said there was only one, we thought nothing more of twins and moved on.

Two more appointments passed and we heard the heartbeat each appointment. The doctors didn't feel around too much for the heart beat so they only heard 1 at each appointment but said it was strong and healthy. After 3 appointments we knew for sure there was only one baby and we were getting pretty excited to find out if it was a boy or girl. All along we thought it was a boy and basically everyone else did too.

I scheduled my 20 week ultrasound for August 23, the day before my birthday since my birthday was on Saturday. That month felt like an eternity because we were so anxious to find out the gender. I wanted to start buying things but there wasn't much I could do til we knew the gender.

My parents came into town on August 9th and that helped to make the next two weeks go by quicker. August 23 finally arrived and we went in for our appointment at 3:40pm. They were a bit behind and we ended up waiting about 45 minutes, then we finally were taken back and we sat in the ultrasound room for another 15 minutes. Our excitement was starting to wear off and I kept thinking, hurry up just get this overwith.

The doctor finally came in and we were his last appointment so he was able to take a little extra time with us. He popped a DVD into the player to record the ultrasound and we got started. At first the doctor said, wow this baby's head is way far down so he looked around some more to see it's position and within one minute he said "you guys know you're having twins right?" I will never ever forget those words, in fact they play through my mind daily. Logan and I both looked at him and said "you're joking right??" "tell me you're joking". He said "no...I'd never joke about something that big". Logan and I started busting up. Both of us sat there in shock laughing and me with tears streaming down my face. Neither of us knew what to think and most of the ultrasound was a blur at this point. The doctor did some measurements on the first baby and then he said "well looks like you've got one little girl" and tears streamed down my face again. I was so excited to hear we were having a girl. The doctor moved over to the other baby, did some measurements and then said, "yep looks like another girl". We were blown away. Logan was hoping the second one was a boy but we were so excited. Two girls!! Wow.

The doctor joked with us that we were taking the news really well, probably because neither of us could stop laughing. He asked us who our first doctor was, I rotate through doctor's at my clinic, so we told him it was Dr. Melendez and he joked that we should schedule our next appointment with him just to give him a hard time. We assume the second baby was hiding behind the other one in the first ultrasound but we really have no idea how he could miss TWO babies (I actually think it's the blob in the picture above on the right side of the screen).

But the news of twins actually made a lot more sense to me at this point. I had had several symptoms early on that most women have in their third trimester. I was relieved to know there was a reason for them!

Anyway, the appointment eventually ended with several nurses coming in shocked at the surprise and us walking out feeling so overwhelmed, in a good way mostly.

We had planned a birthday lunch the next day with my family and Logan's parents to reveal the gender of our "baby". After dinner Logan and I went to Old Navy and bought 2 little dresses to use as part of the reveal. My parents were staying at my house and I was worried I'd spill the beans, cause after all, this was bigger news than the gender of one baby. Luckily my parents stayed out with one of my brother's for most of the night so I didn't have to worry about blurting it out.

The next morning came and I woke up super early, I could barely sleep cause I was so anxious to tell everyone! We met up for lunch and everyone kept bugging us to just tell them already. I kinda wanted to wait til we had ordered our meal cause I wanted to have enough time to share the news. Well we only made it through ordering drinks before we decided to tell everyone. I went around the table and asked everyone what they thought the gender was. It was about 6 boys to 2 girls. So I said, "well most of you were wrong, we're having a girl" and pulled out a little dress. Everyone was surprised and let out a little roar of excitement. Then I said "well actually you were all wrong (pulled out another dress) because we are having 2 girls". Everyone yelled! The entire restaurant was looking at us wondering what on earth just happened. There wasn't a dry eye at the table, everyone was shocked. I didn't get a good look at everyone's faces but I did see my mom's and let me tell you, it was priceless. Just across the room from us was a set of twins, two older men with some of their kids and they noticed what had happened and started clapping for us. It was so much fun to tell our families and to see the excitement in everyones faces. The rest of the day consisted of nothing but "twin" talk and all the stuff we'd have to buy.

We are excited beyond belief. We know it will be really hard for awhile but we are so excited to see the girls grow up together and see their relationship grow. My friend with twins said something I really liked, which helps me when I get overwhelmed knowing I'll have two babies. She said that this world is a pretty scary place but she is grateful to know that her girls will always have a best friend by their side. It's always comforting to hear the good side of having twins :)

We feel very blessed to be having these two come to our home and cannot wait for the adventures that await us.

the past month or so

I haven't done an update on the blog for quite some time. I think I'll just start posting my Instagram pics straight to here since I do that more often than anything else.

Logan worked for a good month or two leveling our yard and putting sprinklers in. Phew I can't even imagine how tired he was every day. He put in so much work, I am so proud of him. His parents even helped quite a bit and we cannot thank them enough for all their time and hard work.

Once the sprinklers were done we had the yard hydroseeded. It saved a ton of money and we're glad we did it.

About 10 days later we had sprouts! How cute are they!?

 It's takin it's time growing in but we have green grass! Yay! Can't wait for it to all fill in.

The company Logan works for was featured in the Salt Lake Tribune and look who's handsome face made the cover of the business section. Proud wife ;)

Spent an evening here with good friends, I just love this place.

 We spent the 4th of July in Salina with Logan's family and had a really good time.

Lorri, Logan, me, Brandi, Taylor, Emmett, Paul, Lynn, Inalee, Cy, Hank, Brent & Lisa (behind the camera :))

We've babysat this cutie a couple times this month. He's such a sweetheart, we just love our nieces and nephews.

He started saying "my water" ha, I don't think so bud!!

We found a way to get to the river trail by our house without having to go on the main road. We've been on it twice now and it's such a peaceful ride. We could ride bikes all day, we love it. I am keeping an eye out for a beaver, I'm determined to see one. We sure do love where we live.

Happy Summer!

christmas party

A week or so ago we went to my work's Christmas party, and we took this picture...

We had a lot of fun, even though Logan clearly doesn't know how to pose with props ;) JK neither do I

We were with Logan's family for Thanksgiving and I didn't take any pictures! oops! We had a really good weekend with them and ate a ton of food. We're heading down to his parents again this Saturday to spend Christmas with them.

I will try to take pictures this time ;)

I love this video

Isn't it fun to get all teary-eyed awhile you're at work? Ok, so maybe not, but it did happen to me this morning while watching this video. But really, you should watch this video. It's really touching.

Mormon Helping Hands :: Hurricane Sandy :: Rockaways, NY from Joshua Brown on Vimeo.

Martin's Cove

My Uncle John & Aunt Jean are on a mission at Martin's Cove in Wyoming where the pioneers took refuge from the stormy weather. They only have a couple months left so we knew we needed to go see them. My brother Blake & his wife Julie invited us along with our brother Ryan. We went up Friday night before Labor Day and stayed through Sunday morning. While I loathed the camping side of this trip, I'm really glad we went, it was a great experience for us all.

5 people, 1 car, 6 hour drive

My aunt & uncle have a nice little home on the site. I loved their sign by the front door, they truly have found joy in their journey as being missionaries at this historic site.

Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast with John & Jean then toured around the site a bit. We saw the visitor's center, the blacksmith shop, and a few other places. Then we picked up a handcart and prepared to walk up to Martin's Cove.

The round trip walk was about 5 miles, we only had a handcart for a little over 2 of those miles.

After a mile we "parked" our handcart and walked up to Martin's Cove. It was a great experience and left me in awe knowing that the pioneers had been right in this very place. Only they were freezing and had very little to eat & wear. We heard some great stories about pioneers and just enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere that surrounded this cove. Behind Logan & I is where the pioneers sought refuge from the freezing snow & chilling winds.

The trail had some beautiful spots along the way. Vacation for me doesn't normally include pushing a handcart, especially when I already did a trek as a teenager. But I am grateful we did it, it's always good to remember what our ancestors did for us.

At this point we were about to cross the river where the pioneers had to cross. The statues below depict the men who carried many many people across the river in the frozen water. The statues were probably my favorite part, it made it real for me to see what they went through. The top 2 pictures are of my favorite statue. It shows a man carrying a young boy and a baby wrapped in his jacket. What these men did was miraculous, their love for others is a true example of how we should strive to be.

This picture was taken from where the statues stand, that's our handcart and the river is the Sweet Water river where the pioneers crossed in the frozen water.

Half way through the trek we had a picnic lunch, which was delicious. You'd think the boys had never eaten with how much they loved every bit of food we brought!

After the trek we rested up a bit and had dinner. Then my aunt drove us to Independence Rock. All over the rock and along the way there are names carved out in the stone. Names that date back before the pioneers crossed the plains. It's pretty incredible to see.

I only ended up climbing part way but the boys climbed all the way up and all over the top.

Thank you so much to our aunt and uncle who treated us so well and showed us a really great time. I am so glad we went, it was really great to see where the pioneers had been and try to show some of our own gratitude to them for what they did.

family weekend in Salina

Last weekend we got to spend time with both sides of Logan's family. On Saturday we went on the annual 4-wheeler ride for Logan's grandparents birthdays. On Sunday after church we went to Maple Grove and had a family BBQ to celebrate grandma Robins birthday, she passed away a year ago.

Saturday was so much fun. We got up early and headed to a small town called Marysvale. We met up with Logan's family, grandparents, and aunt and uncle. From there we rode up the mountain all the way to 11k elevation where you could see all the way down both sides of the mountain. It was gorgeous. We had a picnic near the top of the mountain for lunch and then came back down. We spent most of the day up there, luckily it was a lot cooler on the top of the mountain, a nice break from the heat.

Sunday was a really nice day. Maple Grove is one of the most beautiful places in Utah, in my opinion. We met up with most of the Robins family and enjoyed a most delicious meal. We walked around and enjoyed the scenery. It was a beautiful day to remember a beautiful woman.