Learning to Ride

Nana, Papa, and Tia arrived yesterday just in time for dinner.  Mikayla showed her love and gratitude for them coming up by giving everyone some "sugah".

Today, we took the girls over to the school across the street so they could show Papa their bike riding skills.  Hey, maybe we will get the training wheels off before next Christmas!!  They got the stop and go down to a tee now.  All I have to say is THANK YOU for helmets!!  Delilah had her first fall today and although it was a small fall (turning a corner a little too fast), when she fell, her helmet hit the ground.  But with the help of her Papa, she was right back on the bike and going full speed ahead!

Here is Papa chasing Mikayla with Delilah in the background.
Papa giving Delilah a little push.
Mikayla so proud of her big girl bike.
Delilah so proud of her big girl bike.

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

Merry Christmas!!  It is so amazing to see how the joy of Christmas is increased with the innocence of children.  The girls woke up and ran into our room asking if Santa came yet.  We had them run out to see and Delilah was fixated for the next 15 minutes on where Santa was - saying he was lost or stuck in the chimney.  We had to keep reassuring her that Santa was back home in the North Pole sleeping because he was tired from all the houses he visited during the night.  They both loved seeing the trail of "snow" left from the fireplace to the Christmas tree. Mikayla was a little overwhelmed by opening the presents and not being able to play with them right away so next year, we will probably break up the present-opening throughout the morning.  But they were truly blessed with many wonderful gifts from friends and family.   

Here... Mikayla and Delilah on their new bikes from Nana and Papa with their new protective gear from auntie Neitra. This was an interesting experience, teaching them to ride a bike that they can't pedal backwards anymore (or it makes them brake). But they started getting the hang of it.

Mikayla in some of her new dress up from Grandma (as Cinderella)

Delilah in some of her new dress up... as Snow White

Nana, Papa, and Tia are coming the day after Christmas so we held off on doing the official Christmas dinner at home. We went over to our friends, Mike and Brenna's house for dinner. The girls were excited when we got out of the car because there was a real snowman on their front yard (in Roseville!). Guess Santa drops off snow every Christmas eve for their twin boys to play in. Fortunately, it was so cold throughout the day that snow was still left, allowing the girls to throw a couple of snow balls at each other and at Daddy.

And our yearly picture with the pajamas that Santa left all of us. We attempted a entire family picture with the dog too... but Popcorn decided not to cooperate very well with the first one!

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"

It is Christmas Eve and the girls are decorating cookies for Santa Claus.  Of course, they had to taste them to make sure they wouldn't make Santa sick.

After making cookies, we watched Polar Express and drank hot chocolate.  
Delilah shares her hot chocolate with Daddy.
Girls giving Christmas love to the baby.
Girls putting cookies and milk out for Santa Claus before heading to bed.

What's for Christmas Dinner?

While we were enjoying our Saturday before Christmas, we were figuring out what to have for our Christmas dinner.  Lo and behold.... our Christmas dinner was walking in our front yard - hurry... let's get the b-b gun!!  (just kidding animal lovers!! We wouldn't really eat wild turkey anyway - too gamey!)  But Popcorn made a run for them when we were all outside watching them.  Fortunately, she listens to us and we got her back inside before she attempted to have her Christmas dinner early.

"Sweet Dreams Are Made of These..."

Okay - so that isn't a Christmas song but it had to do with sweets!!  Today, Mikayla made a cake all by herself.  Delilah was having a tough day so she just watched but she will help make cookies for Santa on Monday.  

Here are Mikayla and Delilah painting their Christmas cakes.  Crayola came out with a cake thing this year that kids get to paint (of course, using edible paints) the decorations on their Christmas tree.
Mikayla with her finished product... proudly showing Daddy her work.
The girls enjoying the cake!
After all of the sugar rush ended, they went peacefully asleep.  Delilah hugging her Pluto.
Mikayla just hugging her blankie.
A silent night for all....

2 Weeks and 1 Day....

Only 15 days left till D Day.  After seeing my doctor on Monday, she said I am now going to be the first scheduled surgery that morning so it will be an early morning or a late night - whichever you want to look at it as.  Everything is looking good.  My cervix is still long, closed, and high up there.  I am softening (20% effaced) but she said that is typical at this stage.  

I still can't believe we have made it this far.  It is such a miracle and I remind myself of that when my ribs are hurting, my back is uncomfortable, and I am playing with my water-retained ankles (which is actually quite entertaining - making designs that stay there for a few seconds before they bounce back to the swollen cankles!)

"Away In A Manger..."

We received cute little gifts from our preschool teachers yesterday at the last day of school till 2008.  We got ornaments with the cutest pictures of our angels in them as well as some pictures of the kids dressed up for nativity scenes.  Mikayla was a proud girl shepherd (as she called it) and Delilah was a little upset that she wasn't Mary but still wore the wise man's crown well.

On another preschool note that was quite cute.... we were getting ready for our last day of preschool in 2007 when Mikayla mentioned how "so-and-so" isn't nice cause she says Don't Play With Me.  So I told Mikayla that it isn't nice to say that because it does hurt people's feelings and why doesn't she play with someone else if that person says that.  Mikayla sat there and thought for a moment and then said "I know who I will play with.... Delilah!  I like playing with Delilah!"  I would only hope she likes playing with her sister... but it was so touching to hear her love for her sister come out like that.

"Silent Night"

At MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), the 3's and 4's had been practicing a couple of songs to sing at our Christmas meeting.  So most of our meeting was done and we were just waiting on the lil' ones to come in.  I had my video camera ready to tape Mikayla and Delilah singing with the other kids (or at least standing there).  The door opens and the line of kids start winding through the room.  One kid yelled "Hi Mom!"  Next thing I knew, Mikayla and Delilah were looking for me.  Delilah found me and yelled Hi and waved and kept walking... Mikayla found me and ran over to me and started crying.  So for the next 8 minutes, she was attached to my leg and wouldn't go sing in the front with the other kids.  But Delilah walked right on up.  I couldn't get videotape of her singing for two reasons... 1) The lady "conducting" them was right in front of me so I would have just had her behind in most of the video and 2) Mikayla wasn't letting me move around easily to get a good video of Delilah.  Oh well, at least some of my friends got some pics.  

Ha Got Ya!!

So I have actually had two people comment on the blog titles! :-) I thought I was being clever. hee hee

This one is exempt from the December blog titling due to the nature of it. I just got the girls' class pics back. We didn't do any individual ones this year but did want the class pic so here it is...

"It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas..."

We went to our Mother's of Multiples holiday party and the girls had a blast making crafts, decorating cookies, eating, and hanging out with Santa.


After taking pictures, I all of a sudden realized... I look as big as I feel!!

"Here Comes Santa Claus..."

So we decided to brave the malls on a Friday morning - thinking it wouldn't be bad - but oh no... all the stay-at-home moms obviously thought the same thing!! :-) After waiting one hour in what looked like a short line, the girls finally got to see Santa and tell him Merry Christmas. Mikayla definitely has the innocence about her with Christmas now. It is so cute and makes me smile even when I am upset that they had been fighting all morning long. As we were leaving to go see Santa, Mikayla said, "Santa is going to bring me some new shoes for Christmas." Now, that sounds worse than it is - Mommy and Daddy do keep new and hole-less shoes on her feet. However, she has managed to finally destroy two of her Dollar Tree dress up shoes in the last three days. Both Delilah and she loves to wear their high heels around the house. Now with only one pair left, she is hoping Santa brings her more. :-) Delilah just is still in awe of all the decorations. But both understand that Christmas is Jesus' birthday but LOVE the factor of Santa Claus (probably due to all of the tv Christmas shows).

On a different note, we have 4 weeks left till D-Day!! After meeting with my doctor this past week, it sounds like I am second in line for surgery that day so most likely, it will be an 8 am appointment (meaning be at the hospital around 6:30 am). I get more definite information at my next appointment on the 17th of December!

"Oh Christmas Tree..."

Today I test-drove a recipe from The ADVENTure of Christmas. It is such a wonderful book if you don't have it!!! Anyway, the cake I made is called a Flaming Star Tree. It is an edible representation of why we put lights on our tree. For those who don't know, Martin Luther (from the 1500s) was overwhelmed by the awesome beauty of the stars twinkling in the blackness of night that he wanted to recreate God's creation in his living area. He chopped down a small fir tree and gathered up all the candles and carefully placed them on his tree. His children's eyes suddenly opened to the meaning of Psalm 19:1: "The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship."


So I made this sample cake to see if would come out good... and it did. The girls loved it and of course, even Daddy was amazed by it. So I will be making another one for our MOPS meeting next week. The sugar cubes were dotted with a bit of peppermint extract and then lit on fire with a match.

While making this cake, our daughters were enjoying an enchanted Christmas as Belle!!

"Deck The Halls ... Fa La La La La.."

Tonight we decorated the other tree. The girls had so much fun with this tree because most of the ornaments are the unique, individual ones like "Baby's 1st Christmas", or pictures of themselves on ornaments, etc.


After we finished, the girls enjoyed egg nog and off to bed they went. They had a long day emotionally due to getting their flu shots... but we are all covered now (except for Daddy)!!

"Hang All The Mistletoe..."

Since the baby is due shortly after New Years, we may not be leaving decorations up as long this year so I wanted to make sure we started a little earlier. Before December 1st even comes, most of our decorations are up. :-) But it does already feel like the Christmas season so it doesn't feel too early. Only problem is now Mikayla relates snow to Christmas so she doesn't think it will be Christmas unless there is snow. We keep trying to tell her that we don't get snow here in Carmichael but it will still be Christmas. Sounds like when I was a little girl... my grandparents couldn't stand when we came back to Colorado for Christmas cause I would always say I hope it snows... and if it wasn't snowing yet - it sure would!! :-) I never knew how difficult it was to live in snow (still don't).


The girls helped decorate the first Christmas tree and were so proud of their accomplishment. Tomorrow night, we will decorate our other one with daddy then we should be done with the inside. Still have more lights to put up outside. Then we can finally start working on the nursery!!

5 Weeks 5 Days and Counting....

So the scheduled c-section for the baby is January 4, 2008. I know you are wondering why so early. Due to the girls being born so early and via c-section, my uterus didn't have a chance to really "expand".... so my doctor as well as all of her colleagues agree that going past 38 weeks could cause my uterus to rupture, if I go into labor. So the date is set on Friday, January 4th. Which will give me plenty of time to recover in the hospital and get home before our princesses' 4th birthday comes around on the 15th!

So as of today, we have 5 weeks and 5 days till "B" Day! As far as I go, I am feeling good as long as I don't sit too long, stand too long and of course, I definitely can't sleep too long anyway. The middle of the night sweats have started - even when the house is 63 degrees, the tossing and turning is still continuing... and it is almost a mixed blessing when one of the girls wakes up in the middle of the night - gives me a chance to stretch out any cramps in my legs.

Daddy is doing well too - still staying strong on the "It's a girl!" thing and doesn't seem to be phased yet that there will be a newborn in our house in less than 6 weeks. Please keep in mind- neither of us have actually dealt with true newborns so this is going to be quite interesting!! When the girls finally came home, they were pretty much on a good schedule, thanks to the hospital, and they were already past that sleep all day stage.

The girls, especially Mikayla, are getting more and more excited. Delilah is more excited to have the baby out so that Mommy can help her on the monkey bars again. Mikayla is excited to help the baby learn to walk and pump her arms like Mikayla does... and learn to play and share and watch TV. (Those were her words)

We got a baby poll going on - so if you are interested in joining it, hit us up. The winner gets 50% of the pot (with the other 50% going to diapers for the baby). So far the pot is up to $100. And it is pretty split with people thinking boy or girl - but the weights and lengths are varying drastically!

Thank you to all those who are keeping us in your prayers! We feel so blessed to have gotten this far and pray to keep on truckin'!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving was a little different this year. We usually have family come up but we were supposed to go to family instead. However, since I wasn't allowed to travel further than 1 hour driving, we couldn't go anywhere so we stayed home. We had our friends, Mike and Brenna with their twin boys, Max and Cooper, come over and join us for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a delicious dinner that Michael made. Yummy, moist turkey, stuffing (new recipe that Michael stole some ideas from Paula Deen) cabbage, sweet potatoes, cornbread, green bean casserole, black-eyed peas, rice, gravy and Brenna made some delicious homemade mashed potatoes. For dessert, which only the girls and I got to that night (everyone else was stuffed), we had pumpkin pie and sour-cream apple pie. We definitely have lots of leftovers! :-)



I was able to get one picture the whole day!! :-) And of course, Mikayla looks like she is 2 years older than her sister. Michael says she reminds him of the Gatorade Big Head commercial with Kevin Garnett and other sport stars.... here is a link if you don't remember it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5olLUhTPOzg

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Last week at preschool, the kids made placemats for Thanksgiving dinner. They were asked by their teacher "What are you thankful for?" and the teacher wrote what they were thankful for. The kids then put stickers on their placemats to decorate them. Below are the pictures of our girls' placemats. They are quite heartwarming!! :-)

"DELILAH IS THANKFUL FOR CHICKENS"

"MIKAYLA IS THANKFUL FOR MY MOMMY"

Our Thanks!!

Mommy’s Thanks: I am truly thankful for God blessing me with wonderful friends and family that are such a special part of my life, for my precious daughters continuing to grow into beautiful Christian girls, for my husband who works his behind off so that i can stay home to raise our beautiful daughters and enjoy (almost) every minute of their lives, for the miracle growing inside my belly and that he/she is staying in there so far, for starbucks coffee that helps me get through the day as well as a place to enjoy long talks with an awesome friend, for a wonderful childhood that makes me want to provide the same love and grace to our children, and for the grace of God... for without that, i would be lost!!

Daddy’s Thanks: I am thankful for a beautiful, loving pregnant wife and two awesome kids. I have been blessed to have wonderful family and friends. Who could ask for anything more. I am truly blessed!

Mikayla’s Thanks: Pumpkins, books from the library, xylophone, animals, disneyland, lilah, mommy, daddy, and God

Delilah’s Thanks: tv, myself, kayla, mommy, daddy, and God

Baby’s Thanks: For mommy moving around so much - helps me to sleep; for all the hamburgers, steak, and chicken that mommy eats to help me be a strong baby, for my sisters kissing mommy’s tummy - i know i will be loved that much more; for daddy singing to me and laughing as i make mommy’s tummy move!

We Are Coming Back

Due to the cost of .mac and the uncertainty of its usefulness besides for uploading from iweb, we have decided to discontinue the website style and go back to good 'ol free-blogger!!

Long Week

This past week has been too long!! Started off last Tuesday when we decided to go take a look at some manufactured homes - just to get ideas for our vacation property. I decided to step on a brick (that I thought was in-ground or cemented) to step over a pathway. Well, needless to say, that brick wasn’t in-ground and i fell! After recovering with scrapes on my arm and leg, i started stressing about the baby so I called the doctor. She said it should be fine since it wasn’t a jarring fall but more of a rolling fall but i could come in to get monitored. The main thing they were worried about was during jarring falls, the placenta could become loose. well, we went to the hospital, was monitored for a little over an hour, and everything looked good. So we went home and I rested.

Then Thursday of last week, Delilah decided to get the stomach flu. Friday came and she was better... saturday came, and she was sick again... sunday came, and I got sick as well as mikayla. I was so sick that i couldn’t hold even a sip of water and went to the hospital at 10:30 pm while our angel of a neighbor came over to stay with the girls. I got to the hospital and did a urine test right away and was the most dehydrated the nurse has ever seen. So needless to say, an IV went into my hand and iv’s were started. FInally at 5 am, they released me after i was hydrated again and holding down water and sprite. Came home and found out that Mikayla had been up all night throwing up. Our poor friend!! She didn’t know what she was in for but she was awesome and didn’t care. Now we just pray that she doesn’t get sick.

Monday came, my birthday, and I just laid around all day getting my strength back since I couldn’t eat regular food yet... and mikayla continued to be sick... delilah threw up yet again. Tuesday came, and mikayla and I started feeling better but Delilah still threw up one more time... and now Daddy got sick!! So all last night, daddy was sleeping in the bathroom to be close to the toilet. As of right now, he hasn’t thrown up for almost 12 hours and is doing much better... but delilah threw up yet again before nap! Will it ever end!!!

on my way to the doctor’s this afternoon for my 31 week check-up!!! Can you believe it??!! I will be taking mikayla with me and leaving the sickos home to relax and watch cartoons. They were definitely made for each other.

please say a prayer for our family. we are hoping the bugs go away so we will even have one more thing (in our list of countless blessings) to be thankful for next thursday!!