April Check-Up

I saw the doctor for the second time on April 14th. My doctor does an ultrasound at each appointment to check on the babies. The nurse told me that it can get difficult to distinguish between the two babies heartbeats and they want to make sure that they can see both of them. I'm pretty glad that they do that because, although I have finally adjusted to having TWINS, the reassurance the ultrasound brings each month is comforting and fun to see. The babies have both grown a lot since the initial appointment. I'm still feeling fantastic. Other than minor bouts of nausea and being super tired around 1:30 every single day, I feel pretty normal. Oh yes, and the fact that I'm growing rapidly... I was 15 weeks at my appointment but measuring at 21!!!

I had a few questions for the doctor, mostly questions that others have asked me. Since some of you may be curious, here are the questions I asked and the answers the doctor gave me. (I'm sure some of you may have asked similar questions and perhaps received completely different answers. I'm listing these questions and answers basically for myself...I'm a little forgetful. I'm writing the answers I was given as I understand them...and I'm not a doctor so I could have totally misunderstood :) )

Q--Can we tell yet if they are fraternal or identical?
A--The babies each have their own sack, which is better for them medically. If they are sharing a placenta, they are identical. If they each have their own, they are fraternal. They may or may not be able to determine this until after the babies are born.

Q--How do I answer the question, "When are you due?" (I get that ALL the time.)
A--My due date is October 2nd. That will not change. However, we are planning for a healthy delivery in September.

Q--If the babies are born at 36 weeks, will their lungs be developed?
A--The babies lungs are fully developed at 38 weeks. If the babies come at 37 weeks, there is a 5% chance they will need oxygen. If they come at 36 weeks, there is a 15% chance they will need oxygen. If the doctor notices any signs of preterm labor prior to 36 weeks, I may have to have some steroid treatment to make the lungs develop quicker.

Q--What is the typical birth weight of twins?
A--Generally twins are somewhere between 5-6 pounds. Since Owen was 9 pounds when he was born, I hope my body is somewhat prepared to carry 10-12 pounds of baby!!!

We are scheduled for a super-duper ultrasound at a hospital that specializes in high-risk pregnancy and multiple births on May 5th. If everyone cooperates, we'll find out the genders then. I'll be sure to post as soon as we know! Any other questions I should ask at our next appointment?

Soccer Season is Upon Us

Cameron and Gavin are both playing soccer this year. Between practices and games we are involved in soccer 4 nights each week! At Cam's game last Tuesday I told him he could get a milkshake if he scored a goal. So he did. He also scored this week.

At Gavin's game Wednesday, he scored 2 goals and wanted to know if he gets 2 milkshakes!!!

The weather has been so crazy...we usually bundle up for one game and wear flip flops to the other. The boys absolutely love it so we'll do what we have to. :) I keep forgetting to take my camera to their games but here's Gavin at his first game. I'll add more pictures if I ever remember to take any!

Spring Break--Heading Home :(

We'd been invited to Easter Dinner at the Seamons' home in Flagstaff. Steve/Beaver was Spencer's best friend through college and their single years and Spence was Beaver's "Best Man" at his wedding...sad to say, we hadn't seen Beaver or his wife, Amelia since the wedding. And now they have 3 kids!!! Spencer was super excited to see his buddy so we were glad the trip from Phoenix to Flagstaff didn't take too long. Beaver had prepared a delicious dinner and the kids immediately made a connection. The adults sat around and caught up on the last 7 years while the kids played outside, went to the neighbors to see some animals, played the Wii and started watching a movie. It was SO good to see Beaver in the "dad" role, get to know Amelia a little better, and to meet their adorable children. We wished we had planned an extra day to spend with them.

Monday morning, the kids played their Wii again and we loaded up the car to continue northward. The two families met for lunch at a place called Strombolli's and to say goodbye. Luckily, they'll be visiting Utah within the next few months so we hope to see them sooner than in 7 years.



We decided to take a detour on our way home and visit the Grand Canyon. Neither Spence or I had ever been there so it was an experience for all of us. It was SOOOOO WINDY!!! We entered into the Park so that we'd see the South Rim. We stopped at the Watch Tower and looked at the magnificent view. Then we drove through the park to the main Visitor's Center area and saw the view from a different angle. I'm so glad we took the extra time to go see the Grand Canyon...it's something I'll never forget.





Then back in the car for another 4-5 hours...destination, Las Vegas. This time we checked into the Stratosphere. The room was so nice and we were glad to get there.


We drove home Tuesday. We hit some hail/snow and arrived home to 40 degree weather. We're so glad we had the chance to feel the sun, visit good friends, and spend time as a family. Who knows when we'll get the opportunity again?

Spring Break--Utah to Phoenix...

We woke up April 1st to a fresh blanket of snow. It was supposed to be the first day of Spring Break! Lucky for us, we had planned a vacation...the first in a REALLY long time! So we loaded the car up a little earlier than we had originally planned and hit the road. We met Grandpa Dave in Lehi and borrowed his GPS (which ended up saving our bacon numerous times.) We drove and drove and drove until we reached Las Vegas and checked into Circus Circus. We tricked the boys into staying on Utah time and got to bed early.

We woke up Friday morning and got ready to continue down the road. When we got close to the Hoover Dam, Spencer told Cam to stop the DVD they were watching because we were going to see where Megatron was hidden in Transformers. Then the boys wondered why Megatron wasn't there still. It was a little confusing for our 5-year-old. I took this pic from the car of the new bridge they are building. It looks pretty cool.

We eventually arrived in Phoenix, Arizona around 2 pm. The weather was BEAUTIFUL...between 80-85 degrees the entire time we were there. The original reason we'd decided to go to Phoenix was to see new baby, Cohen DuShane so can you believe that I didn't take one single picture of him? Yep, I'm lame. After catching up with Spencer, Adrienne, and Caden for a bit, we decided to go have dinner and make our way to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. We ate dinner at Forefathers and would recommend it to anyone living in or visiting the Phoenix/Tempe area. It was simply fantastic.

When we arrived at the Mesa Temple, we'd been advised by friends to just take a blanket and spread out on the lawn. We got situated and thought we had a great view but as more and more people came and sat in front of us, it got a little hard to see. However, the Easter Pageant was an amazing experience and although we couldn't see everything, we could hear it all and the message was so powerful.


Saturday morning we went with the DuShane Family to an Easter Parade in (I think) Chandler. It was a warm day and we all left with a little sun. They threw a lot of candy and the boys loved it.


That evening we met Uncle Tim, Cousins Rachel & Jacob, and Jacob's 3 youngest at Organ Stop Pizza. Once again, I'd highly recommend eating there if you ever get the chance. The atmosphere is one-of-a-kind.
This was a tradition when we'd visit Uncle Tim when I was a little girl. My boys absolutely enjoyed the entire experience, especially since the Organ Player ended his set with a medley from Star Wars. It was great to see Uncle Tim, Rachel and Jake. It's been a long time since I'd seen those cousins so I'm glad they took the time to come visit. We swam in the pool at the hotel that evening and got ready to say goodbye to the sun.

Sunday morning we went back to the DuShane's for the last time. After lunch we loaded up the car and began our drive northward. Here are a few shots of Cameron, Gavin, Owen, and Caden on the swing and playing the Wii. We probably should have taken more pictures but I was just enjoying catching up with Adrienne and holding Cohen to be bothered by the camera. Thanks to the DuShane Family for all the fun we had together. Can't wait to see you in May/June.

Two Easter Parties

We celebrated my mom's birthday and Easter with the Tews over the weekend of March 19-21 in Blackfoot. It was so nice to get away from Utah for a while. We hadn't planned on telling anyone about our upcoming addition (when we thought there was only one baby) until Mom's birthday so I'd planned a cute cake as our announcement. (However, when we found out it was twins, we had to tell everyone immediately.) There is a sweet song I sang with my sisters when we were younger for my grandma's birthday called "My Grandmother's Old-fashioned Garden." I decided to make a Granny Garden for my mom's cake and then decorate it with pictures of the grandkids. Here's how it turned out:


It's my Grandma Marie's chocolate cake recipe that can be found here decorated with oreo cookie crumbs, a sugar-wafer fence, some green colored coconut for grass, and lots of chocolate frosting.

Saturday morning our friends, the Sharps, came from Idaho Falls for a visit. Gavin and Brandon are "best friends" but haven't seen each other for such a long time. They were thrilled to play again. Cam was glad to see Nadia too. We also got to see their new baby, Caleb and catch up with Sarah on all the latest news from our old ward. It was so nice. (Spencer missed Cliff.) Just as they were leaving, cousins Ashley and Megan and their girls stopped by and after a short visit, went with them to tour cousin Marie's new house. It was so good to see my cousins and hear what's new in their families. Marie's house is going to be beautiful...we can't wait until it's finished so we can tour it again! Somewhere in all of that, we had a quick Easter Egg hunt. Here are a couple of pics from the Easter Egg Hunt:



The following weekend we celebrated Easter with Grandma Tisa & Grandpa Dave. The boys loved flying kites, finding Easter Eggs, coloring Easter Eggs, and having Easter Dinner. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and didn't get any pictures this time. Grandma & Grandpa live so close to a park that I'm sure we'll be flying those kites again soon.