Celebrating 7 years of marriage!

7 years ago today (well, yesterday really) I married my best friend. The last 7 years have been filled with all kinds of happiness as well as plenty of trials in our marriage. I can say honestly, that today.. i love Jay more than the day i married him. We are stronger today because of the struggles we have faced and overcome. I cannot wait to see what our future will hold. My twin sister, Nicole got married on July 31st. I was unable to go to the wedding, but it looked absolutely beautiful. It made me think of my own wedding and how much love i felt on that day. Jay and I sat down and watched the slideshow of our wedding photos and it reminded me so much of that day. Happy Anniversary, Babe!

2 months old!

This past Tuesday, July 13th, the twins turned 2 months old! It is hard to believe this much time has passed already! They are growing a lot. We had their well visit appointment and Katelyn is now weighing in at 9 pounds 4.5 ounces and 20.5 inches. Corban is weighing in at 10 pounds 7.5 ounces and 22.5 inches. They are still in the low percentiles for height and weight for 2 month olds. But, since they were born a month early, they are right on track for 1 month olds! Good! Last week we had a scare with Katelyn. I went to change her diaper and noticed a piece of hair was wrapped around one of her toes 4 times and then three of her toes one time. I pulled the hair, hoping to break it. Well, most of it broke.. but it got SUPER tight. I could not see the hair after that to try to loosen it up. Her toe started swelling and bleeding. Totally freaked me out. When i could't fix it i decided to call the paramedics. They arrived within literally a few minutes, took a look at her toe and said they could not do anything. They too couldn't see the hair because it was so tight and said to call my pediatrician or to head to the ER. Luckily, my mother in law was in the area, so she came right over and watched the other kids while i took Kate to our pediatrician. Apparently this is something that happens a lot with young children and he was prepared! He had a sensitive formula of NAIR that he put on the toe two times and by the time we left his office her toe looked a ton better. Still swollen. Still bloody, but better. What an ordeal! That day he also saw her in one of her "fits" and presribed Axid for her. It is an acid reflux medication that is much like zantac but without the alcohol. So far, it has really helped. She is not even spitting up much, if at all anymore. She still has a hard time eating, but he said it would take about 2 weeks for the meds to work fully. Yay for relief! Other than that we are doing well. The weather has been nice lately so the big kids have been spending a lot of time playing outside. The twins have been spending more and more time awake lately too. Katelyn has finally given me a social smile. Corban has too, but he makes me really work for it! So, that is our update!

As if i didn't have enough on my plate already...

We (I really) have decided to cloth diaper the twins. I know what you are thinking.. i must be crazy, right!? Up until now i had never really considered it either. I always assumed it would be super gross and i had this old school picture in my mind of cloth diapers with pins like our parents used. SO glad they are not like that anymore!! I decided to do this for a few reasons. For one, we are shelling out a ton of money for disposable diapers and wipes every month. We spend at least $100/month. With cloth we can save a significant amount of money throughout the 2.5+ years our twins will be in diapers. Another reason i decided to switch was because of Katelyn's bottm. She has had a nasty diaper rash ever since we started her in disposables. The more i looked into why that may be the more i realized how many harsh chemicals they put in disposable diapers. I had no idea. There is also a HUGE controversy lately with Pampers Swaddlers diapers with Dry Max. Kids are getting very bad rashes and even chemical burns from these diapers. With Tristan and Rylie i loved Pampers Swaddlers, but these new ones scare me. Oh, and in my opinions, cloth diapers are just super cute! Anyway, i ordered a diaper called Softbums to try. They are pretty awesome. They have a shell that can size a kid from 5-35 pounds. That sounds ridiculous, but seriously.. they can. I have put them on the twins for the last few days and i can say i am impressed. Not only do they fit, but they are super cute. So far, so good. I hope to purchase a larger package of these soon so i can get the twins in them full time. Wish me luck! Don't my babies look so cute!!

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!