1 year? Amazing.......

SO much going on with the holidays and the babies first birthday I forget about my blog...but I am sure my friends are too busy to read it anyway! So I keep hearing stories of mom's getting all sad when their babies turn 1 and become toddlers. Just stories, not MY girlfriends of course! But I am not sad, in fact, I am so glad we made it through the first year,...never thought we were capeable of raising two kids at once! Anyway, looking back on the last year of their life, I swear I cannot believe how much they have grown and changed. That cold November morning in 06' when we drove to the hospital with a little bit of snow falling I was so clueless how much these little ones would change our life. What the heck did we do before they were here? I mean, we had some seriously good times as a newly married couple without kiddos, don't get me wrong, but when we were ready to have kids, we were READY! Their birth was so easy for me but I wonder what they were thinking as they emerged from that cut in my belly? All I know is I am so thankful everyday for them and I can't wait to see what they suprise me with next! Their birthday party was so much fun. All my faves (accept for the Carlizzie's and the McDonald's) were present and we even had a suprise east coast pop-in for the weekend Ashley Oster (Woo). She is in the process of adopting a little one from Peru and I am so excited to meet that kid one day! If a year goes by this fast, I am going to be old SO SOON! I need another baby...........to be continued.........

Tiny miracle

Today I had the privilege of meeting the tiniest miracle I have ever seen! Christian was born to Crystal and Jason (Shela's nephew) at 26 weeks 1 day. Crystal spent 2 weeks up at OHSU after she discovered her amniotic fluid was leaking at 24 weeks. She was life lighted from her home in Hermiston, OR (200 miles from PDX) right away. She has been living with Shela for the past 3 weeks making daliy trips to the hospital while her little guy gets stronger up at the NICU. I knew he would be small, but this was beyond what I had imagined. I got teared up when I first saw him. . How could a baby this small still be alive? He was PERFECT! He is like everything you see on a full term newborn baby but TINY! I really loved his perfectly shaped head, long fingers and little toes. It was hard to take pictures because like Shela said before, you would rather just stare at him...... According to mom, Christian is the strongest premie up at OHSU. And looking around at the other babies (they are in incubators/isolates 4 per room) I agree! He is so precious and I wish I could see him everyday.....sigh.....at least I have pictures! So everyday thank God for miracles especially the ones that come in the smallest packages.

Changes, changes

You are reading this because I sent out an email letting my peeps know I changed my blog address.....for good reason of course! I have always always ALWAYS disliked my "corporate" upbringing in the business world post college. The cheesy catch phrases, endless office memo's, conference calls, and sometimes annoying bosses just never felt like "ME". When I found out I was prego with the twins, I knew this was my ticket out and my dream job (being a mom) was about to become real. When I did give notice to J&J after my maternity leave, I was so happy. It was an adjustment at first, but I was the CEO of my house! What could be better? Although I did miss my corporate buddies, I never lost touch. One of my favorite work friend/mentors was my boss Cindy who I shot "Hey, how are you?" emails over the last 4 years since we worked together. She and I met at "Q" and left around the same time as well. She has since started her own company and called me up to let me know she would love to have me work for her again! I am thrilled because I can still focus on my family and work as an independant contractor from HOME part time! What a great opportunity have the best of both worlds-making some extra money and still being able to stay home with my kids! I can't wait to learn all about her product and start selling again!

Goodbye Kona

So Josh and I have been thinking about our poor neglected cats over the last few months. As much as we love them, our kids are our main focus now. That being said, the choice to give our sweet little Kona, who has been with us since we were first married, was so hard. HOWEVER, she has been "acting out" lately and it's just not something we want to deal with. So I contacted Second Chance Companions (http://www.sccpets.com/) and listed Kona for adoption. I got a call back right away (I mean, look at that pic! She is really pretty!) and freaked out! I wasn't ready to let her go without processing the idea for awhile. I thought we had more time. So we pulled her ad, and waited. She was still acting out, and we were done. I re-listed her last week and got a call right away again. It was the SAME couple who wanted her before, and let me tell you, when I met them today I knew she was meant to be with them. So heres to Linda and Bob and their new life with my Kona, may she NEVER act out on them as long as she lives!!

The Breastraunt is closed....

I can't say I coined the "breastraunt" part of the title, but when I heard the word (ok, a made up word) I could totally relate. The day my life as a breast feeder began, I knew I would be tested. Not only did we have to stay in the hospital an extra day because Gavin was losing weight like it was his job but Aubrey sounded like she was inhaling air the whole time she was feeding. I wanted to breastfeed my kids so badly and I knew I could do it! Breastfeeding was not easy for me or my boobs at the beginning, but like all other moms who have gone before me, it turned out to be one of the most rewarding parts of my job. So, fast forward 11 months and 2 weeks and here we are..... I started the gradual weaning process about 3 months ago once the babies started eating more and more dairy. As expected, the need for the boob was diminishing. The bonding and comfort aspects of it are amazing, and I will truly miss those moments, but my babies are not babies anymore, they are officially toddlers after 11/28! On one hand I am sad and the other hand so happy to know that even though my kids don't need me for nourishment anymore, they will always need me for guidance, discipline, hugs and mostly LOVE.

Wow, I am already a horrible blogger!

I just realized that I have not posted since April. My first thought was "is this blogging thing for me?" but then I took into account that I have about a million things going on each day with the twins as well as limited time online....that being said, blogging IS for me! I need a place to vent, put down my thoughts, frustrations and to keep the loved ones in my life who are far away (and near) updated on the day to day. This is not going to be the most exciting blog, but if you like to stalk me and want to see some cute pics of my kiddos, this should be on your favorites list! I am going to mention my friend Kathy Carlisle (http://www.heavenseyephotography.com/) a lot, she has been a major inspiration in my life as a mom and has taught this rookie photographer how to take a decent pic or two! I will also probably be posting a lot of her pics on here as well. Speaking of pictures, here's a couple pics I took today with my new Canon Rebel (ok, my dad gave it to me!) of the kids.....can't beleive they are going to be one at the end of this month! Snif, snif.......I know what all you parents are thinking, "it goes by SO fast!" : (

Such a blog rookie...

So, I have offically been inspired to blog by my dear friend Kathy. She is not only one of the coolest, most pulled together, hot moms I know, but she is an amazingly talented photographer who has captured my hot pre-prego bod as well as my big a$$ belly, hot husband and my beautiful miracle twins! I can't wait to blog here and see where it takes me.......