Lauren's 3rd Birthday

Last Thursday, February 12th, was Lauren's 3rd birthday. We had a party to celebrate on Saturday...what a fun age for a birthday party! She has been wanting an "Elmo" party for several months now, so she was excited when the big day finally came. It's hard to believe that she is already 3, and it's even harder to believe that soon she won't be my "baby" anymore. Love you, Lauren Brooke!!

25 Weeks and Counting...

Well, here I am, 25 weeks along and counting down! The beginning of the pregnancy seemed to go by slowly (probably because I felt rotten!), but now the time is passing more quickly. I am starting to outgrow some of my maternity clothes, so you may see me wearing the same things frequently (until they are outgrown...what comes after XL??). The other night, Katie was beside my tummy talking to the babies and I said, "Katie, can you believe how big the twins are getting?" And she so innocently replied, "I know! And look how big YOU'RE getting!!" I just had to smile and agree! :)

Katie's 5th Birthday Party

Last Saturday we had Katie's 5th birthday party celebration with her friends (we had a "family" party the week before). For months she had been asking for an "Ariel" party. Of course, no store in the Bartlesville area had "Ariel" party supplies, so I ordered them off the internet. They did turn out really cute! I made her Ariel cake for the family party, but I decided that I didn't want to tackle that project a second time (within one week), so I ordered the cake for the second party. Definitely a good idea!!

We had 13 of Katie's closest friends (15 kids including Katie and Lauren) at the party! The big disaster of the day came Saturday night when I realized that 10 of the pictures I had taken at the party were NOT on my camera. Gone. Missing. Not there at all. The one shot that I REALLY wanted was a group shot of all of the kids with Katie around the "birthday table"...you guessed it...one of the missing shots (as well as a picture of the four--actually six--of us in the family and another one of Katie blowing out her candles). David reminded me it wasn't the end of the world; I did still get some cute shots of her with some of the friends, just not all of them together. Oh, well! I have come to realize that being a mom of four kids will mean that I must let some things go! I am learning. We are thankful for Katie's five years and can't believe that she is growing so fast! Love you, Katie-O!

And the Ultrasound Said...

Today we had THE ultrasound--the one to tell us the genders of the babies. To our great delight, surprise, and excitement, we found out that we are having...two BOYS!! Daddy David had a big smile on his face (of course, I did, too!). All of the necessary parts were there, including arms, legs, hands, feet, heads, and hearts. They were beautiful! Of course, there were so many baby parts to see that the ultrasound tech had to keep explaining, "This is Baby A's arm" and "This is Baby B's leg..." Wow, and to think that they will keep growing??!!

The first picture shows Baby A's profile, and the second picture shows Baby B's profile (with the edge of his brother's head on the right of the picture). David is excited that he won't be so outnumbered now! When we first told the girls, Katie smiled really big, put her hand over her mouth in disbelief, and said, "That's just what I wanted!" And FYI--the babies are in separate sacs, which means that they could be either identical or fraternal twins. So, it will be a few months after they are born before we will know. If anybody has advice on boys, I'd be happy to hear it...I won't have any idea how to fix their hair, if I can't put a bow in it! :)

Roomies

A couple of nights ago we decided to try having the girls sleep together in Katie's room, since that is what will happen once the twins arrive. The girls were excited and fell asleep pretty easily. When I checked on them before going to bed myself, I was a little confused because I saw Katie on her pillow, but no Lauren. I hadn't heard her running around anywhere else in the house, so just as I was about to start looking for her, there she was...stretched across Katie, lying sideways in the bed (it was harder to see in the dark...the flash of the camera makes it easier to see in the picture). This wasn't a great surprise to us since we know, after having slept with her on a few occasions, that Lauren is a wild sleeper and changes positions MANY times during the night! David repositioned her and we went to bed. The next morning, about 6:00am, I heard a door open and then close. Sure enough, when we got up later that morning, I found that Lauren had gone back into her room and crawled into the crib. I think it will take just a few more nights of practice before she gets the hang of it!

Christmas Fun in Branson

Last week we went to Branson, MO for some fun and relaxation. We enjoy staying at Big Cedar Lodge on Table Rock Lake. While we were there, we had a lot of fun swimming in the indoor pool (well, not me, but David and the girls!), shopping, and looking at Christmas lights. We also went on a horse-drawn wagon ride around the Big Cedar property, and afterwards we made s'mores and drank hot cocoa. What a fun time!! On another night, the girls were visited in our cabin by Santa's elf. They read a story together, and Katie and Lauren told her what they wanted Santa to bring them. It's fun to witness the magic of Christmas through the eyes of a child!

Exciting News in Our Family...

Well, most of you know by now that we are expecting a baby next spring. However, a few weeks ago we found out some shocking but very exciting news...we are expecting TWINS!! Yes, that's right, two babies!! I can not even tell you how shocked we were. I was completely speechless after the doctor announced, "Here's the head, here's the heartbeat...and here's the other head and the other heartbeat!" David didn't believe the doctor at first; he said "She's so gullible, she'll believe anything you tell her." My response: "No, honey, I think they are serious," to which the doctor replied, "Oh, yes, I'm very serious!" I found out later that we were the talk of the doctor's office that day because we were so funny (my wide-eyed, shocked expression, David's disbelief, my asking "How did this happen?").

The girls are very excited. When we first told Katie, she got a big smile on her face and then said, "Oh, my...OH MY! We're gonna have to get a bigger house!" We assured her we wouldn't do that just yet. As many people have asked us, yes, twins do run in both sides of our family, but after two pregnancies, I thought "Oh, what are the chances?" Apparently, pretty good! We should find out in December if they are boys, girls, or one of each. The picture above was taken during the ultrasound last week. The babies' heads are together near the middle of the picture; during the ultrasound they were head-butting each other and I said, "Oh no, they're going to be mean!"

Thanks for sharing in our joy! This has certainly taught us that, even though we may have things planned out ("We are only having three children, that's it, we're done!"), God has His own plan (and a sense of humor). The twins are officially due on May 9th but will probably come 3-4 weeks before that date. We will keep you updated with the latest news! :)