What a difference a year makes..

This time last year

..We left behind a really great church, a wonderful Life Group, and some very very dear friends to move back to California. It happened fast, very fast. Jay put in a transfer and it went through within 3 weeks. I think because it happened so fast i was both excited and extremely nervous. For the first time in my life i was able to be a stay at home Mom. Something i always wanted, but never thought i would be able to do. We made the decision because we wanted to be closer to our families as our children grew up. We thought we were done having kids, but God had other plans. Last October we found out we were expecting again.. quite the shock, and soon after found out it would be twins. We celebrated Rylie's 2nd Birthday, and then Jay and my 6 year wedding anniversary. We moved into a new house around Christmas and later celebrated Tristan's 4th birthday. After much searching, and realizing we would not find a church like Momentum in Monterey we landed at Shoreline Community Church. I started going to MOPS hoping to get connected with women like i had at Momentum. I am just now starting to actually have relationships with some women through that group. A year ago i stopped singing and leading worship.. i miss that a lot. A LOT. We celebrated Jay's 29th birthday, and my 28th birthday. We hit a rough patch in our marriage, and i was forced to lean on God even more. We committed ourselves to our marriage, and trusted that God would heal whatever was broken. I was diagnosed with Pregnancy induced high blood pressure, which included bedrest. My mom came out and helped me for a month. We gave birth to twins, Corban and Katelyn. We celebrated Rylie's 3rd brithday. Stacia moved back here.. YAY. We celebrated the twins one month birthday.. which brings me to the current. What a difference a year makes. It certainly has had it's ups and downs. But looking back i can see that the reasons we moved; for me to stay home, to be closer to family, etc. have really happened. I have seen Tristan and Rylie grow to have amazing relationships with their grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins. We have even made a few trips down south to visit my family too. It went by fast.. really fast. It feels like just yesterday we were packing up our home into a 27' truck and driving across the country with our little clan. A year. Makes me realize just how short life is and to not take things for granted.. what will the next year hold? I am hoping it brings new friendships, deeper realtionships with our family, growing in our walk with the Lord, teaching our children more about God, lots of fun, preschool, and enjoying life. I am sure it will be a crazy year, but i can't wait..

To all of our friends in Georgia.. thank you for investing in us. Your friendships mean more than you can know..

3 weeks old

So, i apologize that it has taken me this long to write an update. Life around here is pretty crazy with 2 toddlers and 2 newborns! It hit me today that i am a Mama to 4 kids. 4 kids?! That is such a crazy thought to me. Although Jay and I always talked about wanting 4 kids, i honestly never thought we really would. But alas, here we are. I had a lot of help in the beginning, and this was my first week "on my own" with all the kids. Wow. Let me just say that it is hard work trying to stay up all night on my own feeding the babies and then try to wake up early when the big kids get up. I am sure we will get into a routine soon, but right now we are in the trenches.. and i can feel it. I am thankful that Auntie Stacia is back in town and she has come over to help entertain the big kids several times this week. What a relief, because i just can't go outside with them right now. They have been troopers though.. watching a lot of movies in the back room and playing well together, well most of the time. Luckily, my mother in law, or Oma as she is called around here offered to pick them up this morning at 7:30am to give me a break. How awesome is that?! So, i was able to sleep with the newborns for the morning and really started my day around noon. Awesome. Anyway, back to the twins. We think it is funny how they are starting to really show a personality. Corban is totally relaxed, and a great baby for the most part. Sleeps well, eats well.. not really many issues. He is like Rylie was as a baby. Katelyn.. oh man, she is a hard one. She screams and cries a lot more than her brother. She would be content to be held all.day.long if i would/could. (This is when having a sling is the best thing ever!) She is like Tristan was as a baby for sure. Lately, come 5:00pm she is all cries. No consoling. Makes for a tired Mama that is for sure. I am beginning to wonder if she has Colic or Reflux. She can spit up a lot and when it comes out her nose it especially freaks me out! Yuck. Needless to say, I am taking it a day at a time and doing the best that i can. this also means that i stay in PJs all day long, that my hair is a mess, i have spit up on me, and it is usually a few days before i can shower or shave. Yet.. my husband still finds me attractive and tells me so. Boy, did i luck out with him!! Here are a few pictures of our babies. Their looks have changed so much in just a few weeks. Especially their faces.. starting to actually see some chunk!

The Twins are here!!!!!

Here is the short story: I went in to Labor and Delivery with high blood pressure and signs of mild pre-eclampsia last Monday, 5/10. I was monitored for a few hours and then sent home, though my headache never really got better. By Tuesday my headache still would not go away so i decided to call my OB again ad he sent me off to L&D again. Only this time, i was told i was going to stay overnight. Wednesday morning i had a talk with my OB while in the hospital. He said he knew i was uncomfortable, but wanted me to be aware of the risks of me delivering at 36 weeks. He said i was borderline pre-eclamptic, but not worried enough to deliver the babies yet. He said that if he sent me home i would likely be right back so he suggested i just stay and try to make it to 37 weeks. If i waited to get to 37 weeks he had no issues delivering me. He also said if i got to the point while in the hospital where i just could not take it anymore that i had the option of him doing an amnio on me to check the babies lung maturity. If they were mature, he would deliver. So, we mutually came to the decision that i would wait it out at least a few days in the hospital and see how i felt and then we could go from there. Meanwhile, i am having contractions that show up on the monitor a lot. I was given 6 shots of terbutaline up until Wednesday afternoon, where he said Enough is Enough and said if my body went in to labor that he would not stop it. I continued to contract all of Wedneday night and early Thursday morning. They were getting pretty intense, and i was feeling pretty bad. I had decided that morning that i was going to tell my doc that i had reached my breaking point. Luckily, i didn't have to! He came into my room at 7:00am and told me that things had changed a bit. My headache was not going away, despite taking all sorts of drugs, AND I was having contractions every 2-4 minutes on the monitor. So, he said if he kept me there i would go into active labor very quickly.. and then he said.. let's go get these babies! I could hardly believe it. They wanted to do the C Section right the but i asked if we could wait because my husband had gone to work that morning and it would take him an hour and a half to get to the hospital. So, the Section was scheduled at Noon. I was a bundle of nerves at this point. All this anticipation and my babies would be here so soon. I was so glad to see DH when he finally arrived at the hospital! The walk to the OR was scary to me, and then came the time to get the Spinal. This, is not, a fun experience. Not at all. They asked me to slump my back and relax my shoulders. I immediately held onto the wonderful nurse in front of me. When it was over i kept thinking my feet and legs would go numb, but i could still move them. It was really starting to freak me out. So they got a sharp stick thing and poked my arm where i could feel it and then poked my leg and stomach. I kept tellig them i could feel it. At one point i started to cry, i couldn't hold it in any more. It was scary. I kept thinking they would cut me and i would be able to feel everything. My OB asked how i was doing, and i told him i was scared. They decided to try the Spinal again. They did the whole thing i the same spot and it didn't work. So, they had to do it again.. a third time, and it finally worked. The surgery itself seemed like it took forever. Apparently i had a lot of scar tissue so it took them awhile to get through it. Before i knew it they had Corban out and he had a great cry. Not a minute later Katelyn was born.

Corban Jay weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 inches long

Katelyn Elaine weighted 5 pounds, 3 ounces and 18 inches long

They are beautiful. Perfect. Precious. They look NOTHING alike. It is really pretty funny. Katelyn looks like the rest of my brood (my husband) and Corban is the lone ranger, the only one that looks like me. I love it. They have done so well, have been in an open air bassinet since being born and i have been able to feed them every 3 hours since birth. They will be able to go home with us either tomorrow or Monday when we are discharged. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your support throughout this pregnancy.. and in the end it was all worth it. I wouldn't change a thing!

Happy Mother's Day!

Jay surprised me this morning by drawing me this special picture. I bawled my eyes out. He is quite the artist if i do say so myself. It captures our new (or rather soon to be) family perfectly. I am blessed. He also had the kids draw pictures for me. Priceless.

35 weeks!

I have made it to 35 weeks. I think i am both relieved, and a little surprised that i have actually made it this far. I have been willing, praying, pleading that my water would break this week, but alas.. nothing so far. Maybe it is God telling me to trust him and be patient. I am trying to change my mindset. My C Section is currently scheduled for May 25th. That is exactly 3 weeks from today. 3 weeks.. 3 weeks MAX. So, sometime within 3 weeks we will get to meet Corban and Katelyn. That makes me happy and terrified at the same time. As much as i am ready NOT to be pregnant anymore, i am still a little nervous as to how we are going to cope adding 2 more kids, let alone newborns to our family.

I had a Non Stress Test this morning where my blood pressure was high again, despite the doctor doubling the dose of meds i am on. I was also contracting every 3-4 minutes. My mom went with me and we were there for about an hour and a half. They gave me another shot of terbutaline and my blood pressure went down a bit before they sent me out. I then visited my regular OB at his office where he did a pelvic exam and said i was not dialated yet. That is good.. i guess. But, it makes me wonder what the heck these contractions are and why they are not doing anything! lol

In other news, my Mom and sister in law Kim came to my house late last Tuesday night. Kim stayed until Friday night and they were busy cleaning, hanging out with the kids, and just getting me organized and ready for the twins. My mom has been here since then and looks like she will be staying until the twins decide to arrive, and hopefully for a little after that. She has been a huge help to me as i am still on bedrest (though, that is hard, i tend to be up more than i should!). The kids love having her in town, i think they will be so shocked when she actually has to leave. I know it has been exhausting for her, but we are blessed to have the help. Thanks, Mom! My house has not looked this clean in awhile.. you are such a trooper!

And, what is a post without a picture? I am 34.5 weeks in the picture here. Yes, i am that huge, and no, you don't have to try and flatter me and say i don't look bad. LOL. I have no makeup on, and my hair is a mess, but here i am in all my glory. I did not realize my belly was this huge until i looked at this picture. Good grief!! Please, Corban and Katelyn, please come soon!