The VanHorn Family

Marlowe's Room

2012-01-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

I just put the finishing touches on one wall of Marlowe's room, and I'm in love. And not only with the little girl who sleeps in that crib. :)

Marlowe's room is decorated in primary colors, in a style that I'm going to call "modern vintage". The fabric on the curtains and crib skirt have a modern feel, but there's some decidedly vintage things in there, too, as you can see.

Where should I even start? The banner at the top is from my baby shower, made by my talented sister Paula. It said "VanHorn Baby Shower", so I just rearranged the words so that it would work in the room!

The owl was created by my mom. She looked on Pinterest for inspiration, then drew it by hand onto scrapbook paper. Simple and wonderful!

Tony made my fantastic pallet shelves. Seriously, these shelves make me want jump up and down with happiness. One free pallet + a few well-placed cuts = adorable shelves!

I bought the vintage blocks for a few dollars at an antique store.

My incredibly talented friend Kate gave me the flower print for my baby shower!

My dad collects marbles and gave me the ones you see, so these have extra special meaning.

The A-Z bookends were a clearance purchase at Hobby Lobby, and the books are a set by Beatrix Potter, from my mom.

Lastly, the ukulele! (Actually, I don't know if it's a ukulele or a toy guitar, but we'll go with ukulele.) Here's the (kind of lengthy) story: Tony's grandparents have moved from their farmhouse into the nearest town. Since their new living arrangements are smaller than their house, we were welcomed to go through their house at Christmas and take items that we could use, or that were meaningful to us. Tony and I took a few things, and on the way out I spotted the old farm sign that used to be posted by the road. It was fantastically vintage, and after checking with a few people, we were told that we could take it. So, on the way back to Colorado, we stopped quickly to pick up the sign. Tony ran inside the house for something while I stayed in the van with the kids. When he came back out, he was carrying the ukulele. It doesn't have any strings, and I'm not sure it would work even if it did. He said, "I saw this in the closet, and I thought you'd like to put it somewhere in our house." Does this guy know me or what? What a fantastic husband. And he was right about the ukulele. I had just the place for it.

Twins vs. Singletons

2012-01-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

(People tend to ask me about twins vs. singletons a lot, so I might just turn this into a series. We'll see.)

The one question that I have been asked over and over again since Marlowe's birth is, "How is it, with just one baby instead of two?" Most of the time my answer is, "I don't have just one baby, I have three children! I'll never get to know what just one baby is like!"

While that's true, I know what people mean when they ask me that question. It's nice, not nursing two babies. It's nice, not forcing Marlowe's schedule to match somebody else's so that I can have a little time to myself. It's nice, being able to rock Marlowe for as long as I want every once in a while (twins permitting), without worrying that I'm neglecting the needs of another baby.

I think Marlowe knows that she's got center stage, too. The one thing that I wanted with a "singleton" is the opportunity to hold her more, since I had to divide my time between the twins. And, boy, have I gotten my wish! Marlowe wouldn't sleep without physically touching somebody for about three weeks after she was born. After a while, she would sleep in the swing for naps, but most of the time, Tony or I would end up with her in our arms for at least part of the night.

All of a sudden, in the last week or so, Marlowe doesn't need to be held as much. She'll take whole naps in her crib, and she's stopped waking up in the night, except to nurse and drowsily be returned to the crib. Before, I wondered how long it would be before she would sleep on her own. Now that it's not needed as much, I miss it.

I still insist on rocking her to sleep at the beginning of every nap, though. Because I can. I might just do that until she's leaving for college. :)

Santa Baby

2012-01-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well, this one is late, too, but at least I'm catching up!

Marlowe continues to be a fantastic baby. And a fat baby. At last check, she was 13 1/2 lbs -- the 96th percentile for her age. Ha ha!

In fact, Marlowe is such a good baby that she smiles and coos until she's exhausted, and we can't even tell that she's tired. Then, she's so tired that she can't fall asleep and ends up crying while she tries to fall asleep. We're getting better about catching her when she's just the right amount of sleepy, though.

Anyway, here she is at Christmas! My little, goofy Santa Baby.

A Bushel and A Peck Art

2012-01-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

Well, my last crafty project was well received, so I'll keep sharing with you!

This one has been completed for a while, but I accidentally cracked the glass when I was putting it together. Thankfully I have a neighbor who saves everything (the same one who gave me one of the yardsticks!), and I was able to replace the glass from their stash for free!

It started with a big frame that I bought for about $5 on clearance. I didn't have any plans for it, but I don't see big frames for that cheap very often (it's 16" x 20"). It sat for a while before I decided what to do with it. Then, I was reminded of this song that we used to sing when I was a kid ... and the brainstorming began. Since I don't have a Cricut (*sigh*), I described my idea to my sister and she cut out the circles and letters for me, which I arranged on white paper. And here's the finished product:

It has taken it's place on the wall in the twins' room. It was a little hard to get a good shot with the picture on the wall, but here's one:

Falling in Leaf With You

2012-01-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late with this one -- the pictures were taken in mid-November -- but they're cute enough (to me, anyway) that I wanted to post them. Maybe it's a good reminder for all of us to get outside and act like kids every once in a while. :)

(Hadley blue / Leila purple)

Yardstick Coat Rack

2012-01-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

I haven't always considered myself to be "crafty". I'm from a family of ridiculously talented crafters (Postscripts, for example), and on that totem pole, I'm pretty low. And as long as I'm being honest, Pinterest is my major source of help for getting from an idea in my head to actual reality. But, since I stay at home, I've realized that I need an outlet to give my mind something other than kids to think about every once in a while. And, I'm in a craft group! (Hi, Chi Gamma!) :)

So, starting now, I'm going to post my finished projects more often. Here's one that just went on the wall today, and I am giddy about it.

Not only are the yardsticks fabulously vintage, but they also have special meaning to our family. I collected them from my dear next door neighbor and both of Tony's sets of grandparents.

Also, I used metal brackets and a metal stamping set to create these cute little name plates for each hanger. (Tony and I joked that we can't have any more kids now!) :) They're not perfect, but I think it adds to the charm.

We don't have much room in our little house for a coat rack, so this meets our needs perfectly. And yes, my purse is hanging on the hook that's labeled with my name. :)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

Mar-love

2011-12-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

The Many Faces of Marlowe

2011-12-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I haven't had time to post much about our sweet, sweet Marlowe. She's six weeks old today! She hardly ever cries, and likes to watch her sisters run around. She's in the 95% percentile for weight -- I'm guessing she's at or over 12 lbs by now. Ha! She still eats every three hours ... around the clock ... but I'm hoping that will start to stretch at night soon. And if it doesn't, it's just a season, right? I'll sleep in a few years. :)

As Marlowe's hair gets longer, it just gets more epic. It doesn't lay down, it stands up. And, of course, all those adorable newborn faces ... man, I love this kid!

Happy ... Halloween?

2011-12-05T17:13:00.001-08:00

I stumbled upon this picture today and realized that I hadn't shared it with anybody. Sure, I went into labor about 12 hours after it was taken, but that's no excuse. :)

I didn't make costumes for the twins, but when I hadn't gone into labor by Halloween night, we put them in some tutus, gave them wands and called it good. I think they were perfectly adorable.

Jingle Belles

2011-12-04T08:12:00.001-08:00

I wish there was a way to send out virtual Christmas cards in the mail. If I could, you would all be receiving this video. Since there's not, I present to you: "Hadley and Leila: Jingle Belles". You won't be able to keep a smile off your face.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

2011-11-23T08:42:00.001-08:00

It's true -- on a whim, I gave the twins different haircuts! Mostly, it was because I noticed that Hadley's hair is always in her face, while Leila's tends to stay out of her face. So, I decided to give Hadley bangs! Then, I cut Leila's hair so that it's at least an inch shorter than Hadley's. (Don't look too closely ... I'm not a professional, and Hadley moved while I was in the middle of cutting.) :)

My mommy heart is a little sad that my identicals aren't "identical" anymore. But I'm happy that people will have an easy way to tell them apart. And, you've got to admit, it's just pretty darn cute!

Three Under Three

2011-11-23T08:35:00.001-08:00

You know I can't stay away from blogging for too long ...

I want to make sure everybody sees my "pretty maids, all in a row"! :)

Party of Five

2011-11-19T11:12:00.001-08:00

I was doing well with twins+newborn for a little while ... but sleepless nights have taken their toll on me. I'm going into "hunker down mode" until I can form a complete sentence without pausing in the middle of it. :) You might see me here on the blog every once in a while, of course. Until then, enjoy some pictures of Marlowe's first couple of weeks at home!

P.S. Did you see my new blog header?

Marlowe's Story

2011-11-07T20:09:00.000-08:00

For those of you who like to know the birth story ...

By Halloween night, I had been experiencing early labor sporadically for twelve days, even though my "official" due date wasn't until November 5th. I was tired of the anticipation and the Braxton-Hicks. That evening, we went to a fantastic first birthday party for our friends' daughter. Leila must have eaten too much candy, because on the way home she threw up, and continued to throw up randomly for the next 3 - 4 hours. Thankfully, she fell asleep around midnight and didn't wake up again.

As Tony and I were heading to bed, I mentioned that my groin and lower abdomen muscles had been really hurting throughout the day, and wondered out loud how long I'd have to put up with it. Just another early labor symptom on top of all the other symptoms I already had, I figured.

At 5:30 am, I woke up to use the bathroom. On the way back to bed, I had an extremely strong contraction, but chalked it up to early labor and laid back down. I continued to have contractions until Tony woke up for work at 6:30 am. I mentioned the contractions but said that he could go ahead and get ready for work. By the time he was out of the shower, I asked him to stay home for a couple of hours so that I could decide whether this was true labor. By 7:00 am, I was calling my sister to ask her to come stay with the twins while we went to the hospital.

We got to the hospital at about 8:00 am. My contractions were three minutes apart and I was dilated to 6 centimeters, so at 8:50 am I was officially admitted. We were taken to our labor and delivery room, where I almost immediately received an epidural. (I considered doing natural labor since everything was moving so quickly, but Tony and I decided together that an epidural was the best decision for us, and in hindsight, I still think it was the best decision.) As soon as the epidural had been administered, the doctor came in, checked me, and announced that I had reached 10 centimeters -- it was time to start pushing! So, about four hours after the first contraction, and an hour after being admitted to the hospital, with my parents and another sister in the waiting room, we were having our baby.

I want to pause here and mention how different a single, vaginal birth is from a multiple birth that starts with a vaginal delivery and ends with a c-section. I mean, obviously, that sentence speaks for itself, but I was truly shocked when there was only one nurse in the room with Tony and I for 99% of the birth. She was fantastic, but I kept looking around, thinking, aren't there supposed to be more people here? It was actually quite peaceful.

I pushed for nearly two hours, which of course was exhausting. (Although I will say that it wasn't stressful or worrisome.) Tony was a fantastic teammate and support. During those last few pushes, we both had tears in our eyes as we anticipated our little one's arrival. Wait -- did I say little one? Because we were all shocked when our HUGE daughter arrived -- all 9 pounds of her! Marlowe Grace had a full head of brown hair, and was just gorgeous. (Still is!) I couldn't believe the difference between her and the twins, in every single aspect. She was healthy, and there were no concerns about her in any way. We were discharged from the hospital about 30 hours after we were admitted -- much better than the 16 days that the twins spent there!

Now, five days later, I feel so blessed to have had a healthy, full-term pregnancy with an uncomplicated delivery. And even more blessed when I look at my three beautiful daughters and the man that I'm raising a family with. Now, if only I was getting a little more sleep ... :)

Welcome, Little One!

2011-11-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

Tony and I, along with big sisters Hadley and Leila,

are proud to introduce

Marlowe Grace VanHorn

November 1, 2011

11:36 am
9 pounds, 21 inches

Cheese!

2011-10-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

We've just learned how to smile for the camera!

(Hadley pink and blue / Leila yellow and white)

39 Weeks

2011-10-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

The truth is, technically, that I'm not quite to 39 weeks. But let's pretend that I am because I don't think my belly will change much in the next couple of days. :)

As you can see, I've moved to "shirts that are too small and constant sweatpants" status. Because who really wants to buy something that fits when your due date is only about 10 days away? Also, it snowed today, which put me in a little bit of a shoe crisis -- the only ones that fit right now are flip-flops. It's okay, I managed.

The stats: I'm 4.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Which basically means nothing, except that labor will happen in the relatively near future. I never thought that I would be restless like this. When the twins were born prematurely, I longed for the experience of a full-term pregnancy, and it's true, I'm very thankful to be carrying this baby. But she's HUGE! And she KICKS! (Sure, the twins were bigger combined, but they were weaker, and in general, it felt very different.) And I've had various signs of "early labor" for almost a week. So now I understand what other women are talking about when they ~~complain about~~ discuss the end of a full-term pregnancy! :)

The other side to my restlessness is that I cannot wait to meet this little gal! What does she look like? How big will she be? Will she be easy-going or need lots of attention? What's it like to have ONE newborn at a time? I'm excited to move to the next phase. And I'm sure you're anxiously awaiting the news that she's been born as well! Shouldn't be too much longer!

Big Sister Backpacks

2011-10-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

I didn't know if I was going to be able to write the post that I promised yesterday. Last night, I had about 3 hours of mild, regular contractions. (This is after a report from the doctor yesterday that I'm 3 - 4 cm dilated and baby is "nice and engaged" for birth.) We cleaned up the house, packed our bags, put my sister (our "sitter") on call ... and then the contractions stopped. After a night of sleep, the contractions are back, along with some other "early labor" signs, but nothing that makes me think Tony should come home from work. I'm calling it "labor purgatory". Am I in labor? Am I going to have mild, regular contractions for weeks upon weeks? Your guess is as good as mine.

So, as we get ready to send Hadley and Leila to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a few days after the baby is born, I want to show you the backpacks that I put together for them. I've been thinking for a while that they would enjoy having backpacks (which will double as overnight bags when baby comes), but didn't want to spend too much. Then I stumbled upon these nice ones, from Land's End, while they were having a great sale, which I combined with a discount and free shipping, of course. :)

I made a little sign to go in the clear part:

Then, I wanted to include a new toy for their time away from home. Using a Groupon (I can't actually remember which Groupon-type site I purchased it from), I got them each a Melissa & Doug Hide & Seek Board. I haven't shown the boards to the girls, but I think they're going to love them. And I love that they have hinges, so there aren't any pieces to lose!

Last, I purchased two cheap shirts at Walmart, and using the same design as the backpack signs, I made two iron-on transfers for the shirts. My plan is for the girls to wear them to the hospital when they visit Baby Sister for the first time. Darling!

So, all of those things are sitting in their new backpacks, ready to go, whenever the time comes. Can't believe my babies are getting ready to be big sisters! They're going to do great.

And I Look Like I'm Trying to Steal a Pumpkin ...

2011-10-20T13:50:00.000-07:00

Can you tell that I'm trying to catch up on some blogging before the baby comes? I want to show you something really fun (to me, at least!), but my camera battery died, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

A few days ago, I went to a pumpkin patch with a couple of ladies from Moms at Twilight (not to be confused with some kind of fan club for the movie!). All of us had a blast -- the kids played with the pumpkins, in the wagons, and on the tractors. I thought you might enjoy the pictures, so I'll leave it at that!

37 Weeks

2011-10-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

Here we are ... 37 weeks, no end in sight. :) Baby Girl weighs about 6.5 - 7 pounds now! How in the world did I carry 10.5 pounds of babies the first time around? She's in my ribs constantly, I can't take a deep breath, I'm not sleeping well, I need help getting up from the couch ...

Enough complaining. I'm keeping my eyes on the "prize" as much as I can, looking forward to her arrival! I'll continue to keep you posted as things progress!

Ring Around the Rosie

2011-10-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hadley and Leila have only held hands with each other a couple of times, and I've never been able to get a picture of it. That's why it makes my heart happy that they've started to play "Ring Around the Rosie" with each other by themselves. Absolutely adorable.

Bear Hugs

2011-10-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

Watching their imaginations and creativity develop is one of the things I love the most about watching my girls grow. The twins were given teddy bears when they were in the NICU. (I'm not actually sure where they came from ... a charity, I think.) Until now, they've "bearly" (ha!) even noticed them. Lately, they've been carrying the bears and their baby dolls around more. Yesterday, Leila brought her teddy bear outside, which meant that Hadley needed hers, too. They promptly started showing them all the things that they like to do outside. And apparently, Hadley wants hers to learn how to ride the lawn mower. :)

Happy "Octobear"! ... I couldn't resist ... :)

Forever Blowing Bubbles

2011-09-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a quick trip to Kansas. Tony's grandma passed away, and we went back to celebrate her life and spend time with family. Great-Grandma Myrna Elaine is Leila's namesake, and I'm so glad that she and Leila got to know each other for over two years.

Tony has today off as well, and we're spending it by pretty much doing nothing. Except Hadley and Leila -- they've been quite busy. Enjoy!

33 Weeks (and a comparison shot)

2011-09-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

This week in pregnancy is very significant for me. Today, I am 33 weeks, 4 days pregnant. I delivered the twins at 33 weeks, 6 days. Assuming that I make it a couple more days, I am now entering territory that I've never experienced before -- the last six weeks of a full-term pregnancy! Sure, I was carrying over 10 pounds of baby when I delivered the twins, so the weight won't be new for me, but I'm excited about (okay, dreading, too) those STRONG full-term baby kicks. I'm excited to be able to say "okay, baby, come any time! You're healthy enough to stay out of the NICU now." And I'm sure there will be a little confusion for Tony and me when we go to the hospital to deliver. There's not going to be 20 doctors and nurses in an operating room with us when we deliver? You really will let her stay in our room right away? Weird.

Anyway, just for fun, here's a comparison photo of my two pregnancies for you.

Left: My very last twin pregnancy photo. 33 weeks, 1 day

Right: Yesterday. 33 weeks, 3 days

It doesn't look like there's as much of a difference in size as I thought there would be! And I've got six more weeks? :)

Big Sisters

2011-09-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

As I started writing this post, this was how Leila was entertaining herself. Pretending to sleep, with Lavender and her blanket, outside on a bench. She stayed like this for about 15 minutes. Goofy gal. :)

As long as I'm showcasing my beauties, here's one of Hadley from about a week ago. Those blue eyes just steal my heart!

And I can't resist sharing this one! Isn't it hilarious? It reminds me of those old-fashioned photos where nobody smiles! All that's missing is the showgirl dresses and Tony holding a rifle. :) Tony was just imitating the girls, but I have no idea what was making them so serious. Ha!

And here's the point of my post: Tony and I have been really busy around the house lately. We've moved and redecorated three bedrooms, with everything that involves, and there's always laundry to do, dishes to wash, and grass to mow. Plus, I'm pretty much beached by now. :) The twins have had to entertain themselves a lot (which of course is great in small portions, but maybe not in huge portions), and I justify it by thinking that we have to get all of these other things done before the baby comes. While that's true, I realized in the last couple of days that we're only going to be a family of four for a couple more months. I need to soak up my "baby girls" during this time, because their world is going to be rocked when Little Sister arrives. *sigh* When did my baby girls become big girls?

twinkle TWINkle

2011-09-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

I'm sure every child achieves this milestone at a different time, but one of the happiest parts of my days right now is that Hadley and Leila have started singing. Tony and I sing all the time, and they watch movies with songs in them, so they've picked up a lot of songs, but right now all they really like to sing by themselves is "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

The problem with this age is that the girls understand the concept of the camera and run around to my side of the camera as soon as they see it, to see the pictures. So it's really hard to catch them in a moment where they're willing to be the subjects. That's why this video was taken on my camera phone, and it's the best I've gotten so far.

(Two side notes: please ignore the missing buckle on Hadley's seat. And if you're willing to come help us look for it, we'd be grateful. :) Also, yes, Hadley is teething, as you can see by her chewing on her strap.)

On a related note, can anybody tell me when you can tell if your child will be able to carry a tune? Right now it's not looking so good. :) But it's a joyful noise anyway!

31 Weeks

2011-09-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

Another few weeks has come and gone ... only just over 8 weeks to go! And that's IF I get to my due date. I'm assuming that, since Baby has been measuring big this whole time, that she'll come a little early. But either way is fine with me.

For those of you who are wondering about my health after last week's drama, Baby and I are both doing great! It's like nothing happened. We couldn't be more thankful.

We've been spending Labor Day weekend at home. This morning, we were surprised to see that the hot air balloons from the annual festival were floating right past our backyard! The twins LOVED them -- they were yelling and jumping, and we stayed outside much longer in the fall weather than we should have, in our pajamas and bare feet. Also this weekend, Tony's been refinishing a dresser that will go in Hadley and Leila's room, and after that, we're done with the "big" projects that need to get done before Baby comes. Though, I've still got lots of decor projects in mind! I'll be sure to do a blog on both of the kids' rooms when I get them done.

Enjoy your extra day off, if you get one!

A Morning At The Hospital

2011-08-29T12:09:00.000-07:00

As always, I want to keep a record of our family on the blog, so that we can reminisce about those moments when we've nearly forgotten about them. So, even though many of you who read this already know what I'm going to say, I'm going to write this for the permanent record now.

(Yes, I did blur some of this information. I have no idea what pieces would be needed to invade my privacy.) :)

I'm 30 weeks pregnant, and yesterday morning, my left hand went numb. It spread to the wrist, stayed that way for about 10 minutes, and then left. I quickly asked Dr. Google :), which said that it's not unusual for pregnant women to have nerve compression during pregnancy for a variety of reasons. So, I went on with my day -- visiting my parents at their house. While there, I started getting a migraine, which is not unusual for me. My migraines include seeing big bright spots of light before the actual pain comes, which I did get, but also dismissed as normal. I took some headache medicine and moved on. Then, about an hour later, my right arm, up to the elbow, went numb, and again stayed that way for about 10 minutes.

Since it was a weekend, I just made a mental note to call my doctor in the morning. Before I could call this morning, I started having some 'bloody show' (won't go into too many details!). So, I called right away, and based on my past 24 hours of symptoms, was directed to go to the hospital right away for monitoring. Tony came home from work, we dropped of the twins at my sister's (thanks, Becky!), I had two contractions on the way to the hospital, and that's when I lost it. I was scared to death, and unreasonably guilty, blaming myself too soon for having a body that can't carry babies full-term.

Once we got to the hospital, though, the whole tide seemed to change. (It's no coincidence that we had dozens of people praying for us by now!) I was hooked to a fetal monitor for 30 minutes, with only one small contraction during that whole time. Baby was moving normally and actively. Lastly, we had an ultrasound to look at my cervix and placenta, which both looked totally normal. (We also got to see Baby Girl's face, which was a nice little boost in our day! No pictures, though -- sorry.)

Regarding the numbness, it is probably migraine-related or pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel. It should go away after the baby comes. And nobody we talked to has an explanation for the bloody show. Just a pregnancy mystery! (And answered prayer, of course.) Thank you for your prayers and support! We're thankful to be back into "monotony".

Things I'm Thankful For In This Moment

2011-08-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

(in no particular order)

* The smell of my new Paula Deen Mango Chutney 3-wick candle (which I got for $3!)

* Children who played happily and didn't interrupt at all while I made my grocery / coupon list this morning

* Children who are laying down for their naps but who are currently talking across the hallway (and two closed doors) to each other :)

* The little body parts that I can see moving around in my belly

* An unplanned visit from my parents yesterday (which also meant that I got to see my sister)

* Pinterest

* Tony. And if that's not self-explanatory, I'll add "a husband who loves his job, his wife, his children, his hobbies ... and doesn't mind working nearly every evening on 'baby projects'."

... and a million more. But I also have a million things to do, so I'll close. What are you thankful for?

In Which I Complain

2011-08-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

I thought this pregnancy would be easier.

It's not high risk, and I'm not carrying twice the amount of baby that a normal pregnant woman does.

Here's what I think I forgot to factor in: during my last trimester, I was on bed rest with the twins. It's not too hard to lug around a baby belly if you're on the couch! Also, this time around, I have the twins to chase WHILE lugging around the belly.

I'm currently at ~30 weeks, so I feel like immobility and exhaustion this time around are setting in too soon. Not to mention rib-kicking. :) Yesterday, I had Braxton-Hicks contractions about every 10 minutes (sometimes more) if I was on my feet, which scared me to death. I cried when Tony got home because I don't feel like resting is an option with 2-year-old twins. Just attending to their basic needs earns about five minutes of rest at a time.

But how can you complain when you look at those faces? :)

Anyway, as fate would have it, the girls got out of bed somewhere around six times before they fell asleep last night. Which means even evening wasn't very restful. Then, for whatever reason, they woke up three times in the night. (Both of those things are incredibly unusual, and I'm hoping they don't become a habit.)

On the bright side, their restless night means that they're still sleeping at 8:15 am, and I'm taking advantage of a little quiet time to have some "me" time. And, for you worriers, I'm going to call my doctor if those B-H contractions continue into today.

Here's to a better day / week / month / trimester! :)

28 Weeks

2011-08-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hello, third trimester!

I haven't compared belly sizes of the last few belly shots, but I can officially say that I'm not bigger than the twin pregnancy anymore. Which is a relief. But baby girl did reach my ribs recently, so I'm still uncomfortable. :)

Speaking of my first pregnancy, I went on bed rest with the twins at 28 weeks, so I've been thinking a lot about that recently. I'm so thankful to be experiencing a normal, healthy pregnancy. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind being told that I HAD to spend my time on the couch for a while! I can't say I'm looking forward to lugging around a full-term baby belly while chasing the twins in a month or two!

Twin Beds / Bed Twins

2011-08-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

We moved Hadley and Leila to "big girl beds" this weekend. I was nervous, since I really enjoy my sleep! We're using two borrowed bed rails, and two pool noodles under the sheets, just to prevent falling out in the middle of the night. This is the picture I posted on Facebook on the first night.

"What we're doing right now ... and it's going as well as it looks. First night in "big girl" beds!"

It took the twins about 1 1/2 hours to settle down that first night. They got out of their beds three times, figured out how to open door knobs, and poor Hadley finally fell asleep on the inside of the door while trying her hardest to be a good partner in crime to Leila. But there was no crying, and after we settled them in the last time, they slept until 6 am.

On night two, they were exhausted from the night before PLUS being out of the house all day with terrible naps, so they feel asleep right away and slept for 11 hours. I didn't even check on them.

Last night, Leila got up right after we shut the door, played with the door knob for a few minutes, and then we didn't hear anything else. A couple of hours later, as Tony and I were getting ready for bed, I went in to check on them -- I wanted to make sure that Leila hadn't fallen asleep on the floor. Sure enough, Leila's bed was empty, but she wasn't where I expected! This is the scene that I found -- both girls asleep in Hadley's bed.

I'm sure you can't even imagine the size that my heart swelled to when I saw them sleeping together like this. They haven't slept in the same bed as each other since they were three months old -- I didn't even think they would want to! They slept together all night, and got up at 6:30 this morning.

Now, I just have to figure out how to get them to sleep a little later. :)

It's A Slippery Slope

2011-07-25T13:46:00.001-07:00

We just ended a lovely couple of weekends with Tony's family, who were here on their annual vacation. We're always sad to see them go. Hadley and Leila really enjoyed their grandparents, uncle, aunt, and cousins as well. They learned all of their names and played hard, all day, every day. I'm expecting some long naps as they recover!

Here's a video from a couple of weeks ago that I've been meaning to share. Here's the transcript:

Hadley: (fake) Ow!

Leila: You okay, ya ya? (I don't know what that last word is.)

Both: *laughter*

...and repeat...

24 Weeks

2011-07-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a look at baby girl and I at 24 weeks!

I can't decide if I've forgotten how active babies are in the womb, or if this one is crazy active compared to the twins (or if the twins would have moved around this much if they had any space to move around!). Anyway, little gal moves around a ton -- sometimes for several hours at a time. I'm sure I'll miss it when she's born!

Let's Catch Up

2011-07-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a while! So, how have you been? :)

Today, I'll just share a few of my favorite pictures from this month. We've been spending as much time outside as possible. I can't remember what it was like to spend most of our time indoors last winter! (Hadley / Leila)

We did have our 2-year pediatrician appointment this week. Looks like the girls are around the 15th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for height. AND, for the first time ever, they actually ranked "advanced" in their gross motor skills! Just come over to our house and watch them scale the rocks in our neighbor's yard -- you'll believe it!

Random side note: the 2-year safety pamphlet from the doctor's office actually says "remove old refrigerators in your yard". Seriously? :)

(Hadley / Leila)

We Peeked!

2011-07-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

First of all, thank you to the 102 people who voted in our poll! I still don't believe that over a hundred people care about our life choices this much. :) The final result, with a count of 52 - 50, was that we should find out! I really truly thought that having a surprise would win, but finding out sneaked ahead in the end.

Secondly, and most importantly, introducing the little person who has already made an imprint in our hearts ...

OUR LITTLE GIRL!

The bottom one is a picture of the picture, so it's not great, but you get the point. :) The ultrasound tech actually said, "that's the most convincing set of girl parts I've seen in a while!" Ha! Unfortunately, she was facing my back, so even though we saw her beautiful face, it was so quick that we didn't get a picture. Hadley was like that at my halfway ultrasound, too. I guess that's where my babies like to hang out!

Some other highlights of the ultrasound:

* She weighs 1 lb 5 oz

* She's so big that they're talking about moving my due date up a week -- for the second time! Apparently Tony and I make a super breed of babies. :)

* She's developing and growing perfectly

* I'm carrying her well! (This was a relief for Tony and I, since my cervix was dangerously short with the twins.)

Tony and I couldn't be more thrilled, of course! (I'm especially thrilled that I can be frugal and use the clothes, etc. that we already have!) :) We're looking forward to our third little lady's arrival with joy and anticipation!

Should We Peek? An Update and Reminder

2011-07-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

Wow. You guys, this is the worst kind of suspense. As I write, our poll on whether Tony and I should find out the gender of the baby is separated by ONE VOTE. And almost 100 votes have been cast! Can you believe that at least three of my family members have posted the link to my blog on Facebook, campaigning for people to sway the vote in their direction? Such a blast. :)

Just a reminder: voting closes sometime on July 4th. I think it's around noon, but I can't remember. Also, since I didn't foresee that voting would be this close, I'm going to add this: if there is a tie, Tony will be the tiebreaker. Neither of us has voted, honestly!

We'll keep you posted!

Since I can't stand to leave a post without pictures, I'll add this one of our family from our two-year photo shoot of the twins. Isn't my sister Paula awesome?

Finger Painting

2011-06-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

I'm not great at planning organized activities for my children. My idea of an organized activity is "go to park" or "play with toys". Also, I think they're just now getting old enough to participate and enjoy anything that requires much of an attention span. But I do follow a couple of blogs that have fun learning activities for kids ... maybe to make myself feel like a good parent. :) When I saw this recipe for homemade finger paint at I Can Teach My Child, it seemed like a good thing to try out!

The best part of this recipe is that it's made with edible ingredients. It doesn't taste good, but I knew the girls would put it in their mouths ... which they did ...

Then Hadley decided to forget about painting on the paper and just do some body paint.

Then, MORE body paint. :)

...while Leila painted nicely on the paper. I would have guessed that it would have been the other way around!

Our end results! They didn't really catch on and love it, but it was a fun afternoon activity that I'm sure we'll do more often as they get older. Followed by being sprayed off in the backyard, of course. :)

Impromptu Ultrasound

2011-06-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Tony had plans to hike two Fourteeners (mountains that are over 14,000 feet in altitude) with a buddy. I didn't want to stay at home by myself, and the mountains Tony planned to climb are close to where my parents live, so we decided to make a weekend out of it and visit my parents.

Mom was talking to a friend of hers about my pregnancy (I have a feeling that she was saying that I'm HUGE for only carrying one) :) and the friend mentioned that the pregnancy center where she (the friend) volunteers has to perform a certain number of ultrasounds per week in order to maintain their certification. She suggested that we give them a call to see if they needed a test subject. Sure enough, they did!

So, on Saturday afternoon, after about 12 weeks of not going to the doctor (no health insurance, but it's coming on Friday!), I got to see our little one again. Yes, there continues to be just ONE baby in there! :) Here's one of the pictures -- head on the right, body on the left. You can see baby's spine along the top of his/her torso, and you can kind of make out baby's profile, looking down.

Tony couldn't come, since he was hiking, but mom, the twins, a niece and a nephew came with us. Leila got really protective of me when I was on the ultrasound table, so she spent a lot of the ultrasound sitting up by my head on the table. Thankfully, the nurse was awesome about all the chaos. She also told me that she could tell what the baby is ... but out of respect for our little poll (and because Tony wasn't there), I told her that I didn't want to know. Hardest thing I've ever done. :)

Speaking of our "little" poll, it's CRAZY! Over 80 people have voted, yet the vote continues to be incredibly close. Last time I looked, it was within three votes. You better vote, because your vote will make a difference!

Should We Peek? You Get To Vote! (20 Weeks)

2011-06-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

Eek! I'm so excited to be able to share this with you!

First things first, though. My (almost) 20 week photo! The last one you saw was at 15 weeks, and baby just keeps growing! I'm still bigger than my pregnancy with the twins, too. I'd say I'm about 4 weeks bigger. :)

I'm in that yucky clothing phase of pregnancy, too. None of my small clothes fit, and all of my maternity clothes are too big. You'll be glad to hear that I've been choosing to wear the clothes that are too big, but it makes me feel kind of frumpy. :)

Okay, on to the fun stuff! Tony and I have been discussing finding out whether this baby is a boy or a girl at our halfway ultrasound. He tends to be in the "find out" camp, and I waver back and forth constantly. So, here's the idea I finally pitched to him, and he went for it!

We have agreed to allow YOU, our blog readers, to decide whether or not we'll find out what gender this baby is!

Now do you see why I'm so excited? The truth is, I can go either way, so I'll be perfectly happy with whatever decision is made. I think Tony's a little nervous about leaving our fate in the hands of other people, but you have to admit, it's going to be a blast. :)

So, here are my arguments for and against finding out:

If we find out:

*It makes planning for a new baby generally easier.

*This is the best choice if we have a boy. We don't have any boy clothing, blankets, towels, or bedding. (Should have registered for gender-neutral items the first time around!)

*No matter which sex the baby is, it makes name selection a little easier when you know what you're having.

*The excitement is spread out, in a way. We get to find out what gender he/she is now, and we get to see what he/she looks like and have the excitement of having a new baby in November!

If we don't find out:

*We get to have the moment when the doctor announces, "it's a boy!" or "it's a girl!"

*I want to decorate the new nursery in primary colors, so gender doesn't matter in that respect.

*If we have a boy, we have enough gender-neutral items to get by. Plus, I think it's safe to assume that he'll receive gifts, especially since he'll be born within a couple of months of Christmas.

*I may go crazy trying to plan for all the unknowns. :)

Disclaimer: If, by some miracle, we find a second baby in there, Tony and I will make the final decision. I think you understand. :)

The ultrasound is on the afternoon of July 5th. Voting will close on the afternoon of July 4th. I believe you can only vote once per computer.

Our fate is in your hands! What's your vote? And be sure to leave a comment to share in our excitement!

The Power of A Praying Toddler

2011-06-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

A couple of videos of Hadley's lunchtime "prayers". Leila still needs some witnessing. :) Oh, and please excuse my "Saturday morning" attire. :)

Two by Two: Birthday Party!

2011-06-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

(This turned into a pretty lengthy post. I tried to do collages where I could, and you can click on the collages to see them bigger. Enjoy!)

So, my babies turned two! We celebrated with a family barbeque at our house on Saturday. The theme was "Two by Two: Noah's Ark". Get it? Our TWO are TWO? I thought it was clever. :) Really, it was just an animal theme. I loved it!

I started by buying this set of clipart on Etsy. Adorable, right?

Then, made the invitation:

Then it was party day! Here's a few pictures of the birthday girls (Hadley pink, Leila yellow). Our wonderful neighbor embroidered two little bears sitting on an ark onto their tank tops. It was her idea, and I think it was perfect!

My sister, Paula, made the banner. Paula has an Etsy store, if you're interested!

Food! In the front center, you'll see that I made a rainbow out of fruits and vegetables. It wasn't as pretty as I wanted it to be, but the idea was still fun!

Another thing Paula helped me with: labels for gummy bears, goldfish, and animal crackers (you know, to go with the theme...)

We had animal masks for everyone to wear. The kids had a blast with them!

Another sister, Becky, makes the most AMAZING cupcakes. Paula make the cupcake toppers, which blew me away!

Some of my favorite party people photos:

As you can see, it was an awesome time with family. We all took long naps afterward. :) And I think I need a nap after all this blogging! :)

24 Months

2011-06-04T13:28:00.001-07:00

Another 12 months has come and gone ...

Happy 2nd Birthday, Hadley and Leila!

Leila's Life

2011-06-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

Continuing my series leading up to the big TWO, here's a little bit about our second born. Second by 28 minutes, if you're counting, but she definitely made her own entrance!

Unlike Hadley, who has many nicknames, we mostly stick to one nickname for Leila -- "Leila Lanie" (her middle name is Elaine). Although, Hadley does call her "La-la". Grandma K. says that she has a joyful heart, and well, I just don't think Leila can keep all that joy inside. It just comes busting out of her all the time. Leila is the one who walks up to total strangers and befriends them. I've actually seen her join other tables at restaurants and not think twice about it. (And neither do the people who she joins, amazingly enough!) She has LOTS of words and uses them constantly. (Sometimes she'll yell, "Ma-MA! Door! Open!" from her crib in the morning.)

Like I said, Leila is best friends with every person in the room from the moment she walks in. But that means she's also not as likely to want to play by herself. And if nobody wants to play with her ... well, she'll usually end up on top of the dining room table, or inside the open dishwasher. She's more physically advanced than Hadley ... or maybe she's just more adventurous. She receives discipline far more often than her sister but keeps on pushing the limits.

But with all that spice comes sugar, right? She's the first to laugh when she thinks something is funny. And somehow, Leila has become a total Mommy's girl. Several times a day, she'll come to me with Lavender (her purple bunny) and a blanket and pull me to the couch, just because she needs someone to snuggle with. And boy, does she snuggle! I honestly believe that she would snuggle during every waking moment, if I didn't have to walk away in order to do ... well, anything.

So that's it -- my spunky, sassy little gal, who we love so much. We see differences in personality between Hadley and Leila every day, but I can honestly say that one's personality is not more desirable than the other. They just make a perfect blend. :)

Hadley's Happenings

2011-06-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

I realized that I've been posting plenty of quick bites about our life, but I haven't really sat down and written about each of the girls and their personalities recently. So, in the couple of days leading up to THEIR SECOND BIRTHDAY(!), I'm going to take a few minutes to share about each of the girls. I'll start with my first born.

Tony calls her "Happy Had". I call her "Hadley Lou" (her middle name is Luella) or "Haddie". Leila calls her "Laddie". Grandma K. says she's a ray of sunshine, and you couldn't say it better; she just radiates sweetness. She's a little smaller and a little behind Leila developmentally -- she didn't even walk 100% of the time until she was about 20 months old. But don't let her fool you! She puts Leila to shame at the dinner table, and is happy to be the brains behind Leila's brawn. She should probably get disciplined more than she does, but she's so quiet about being disobedient, I don't realize what she's doing until it's too late! :)

Between the two of them, she was the first to learn to use a spoon, and the first to learn how to undress herself -- usually at inappropriate moments. Her little voice is higher pitched than sister's voice; I was surprised to recently realize that I can tell them apart on the phone. She's constantly thinking, and it shows in the pictures we take of her. Unless it's the one below, where she was working on a new smile ... or something ...

(Look at those curls!)

Hadley sticks close to home in new situations, but once she warms up, she loves to play with everybody. She especially loves wrestling with Leila in one of their cribs, but she's also the first one to play quietly by herself with her cars or her baby doll. (I saw her trying to put a diaper on her doll the other day, which was absolutely adorable.) And in case you might think that Hadley is Mommy's gal, let me assure you that this one is all about Daddy. Every so often, she'll get liberal with her snuggles and kisses for me, but for Daddy, there is no reserve.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some of my favorite Hadley-isms, but I think that paints a pretty good picture. We have so much love in our hearts for our sweet, smart little gal.

Hadley's Itsy Bitsy Spider

2011-05-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

She did great until she realized she was being watched. :)

(As usual, ignore my messy house. It was probably clean about 30 minutes before I shot the video.) :)

Ode To A Little Brick House

2011-05-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

Our little brick house sits in a 60-year-old neighborhood, which is filled with perfect climbing trees and a spectrum of houses, well-kept to run-down, with a spectrum of occupants, children to retirees. The view from her big backyard is one that not even many locals get. She's made of red brick, with wooden decks in the front and the back.

Inside, she has original hardwood floors, french doors, and a set of built-in bookshelves. Her kitchen, dining room, and living room mingle happily with each other, just like the people who come in and out. She's not perfect, but we're slowly giving her the updates she deserves. And she's given our family a place to live for over four years.

In some ways, we'd like to stay here forever. But, unfortunately, our little brick house only has barely over 1,000 square feet. Technically, there are three bedrooms, but one of those is an office, and I honestly can't figure out how a bed and a dresser would both fit in it.

So, we've been looking at our options for getting into a bigger house. And here's what we found out, from two different companies: we have no options. We bought at the peak of the market, and our house value has decreased to the point that we owe more than our house is worth. End of story.

On the bright side, we just paid off our hospital debt! So our plan is to snowball that money directly into our mortgage from now on. With those additional principal payments, it shouldn't be too long before we're back to "right-side-up" on the mortgage.

Our little brick house welcomes us for as long as we need her. And you know what? We're perfectly happy to stay here. Tony and I are going to move into that tiny office and give the bedrooms to the kids. The house will be bursting at the seams. And that's okay.

There's still that tiny part of me that wants to have the bigger house, with room for house guests and dinner guests and play dates. A play room would be amazing. Honestly, I want to keep up with the Joneses. Until (and if) that time comes, we'll sit on our back porch, watching the sun set over Pikes Peak. I think we'll be okay.

Then & Now

2011-05-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Just a little look at how my babies have grown:

March 2010 vs. May 2011

(And judging by the look of my arm, I've done some growing, too! That's the difference between being in the middle of nursing twins and being 16 weeks pregnant, I guess.) :)

15 Weeks

2011-05-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

Lots has happened since my 12 week photo! A business trip for me, staying a week at Grandma and Grandpa's for Hadley and Leila, and poor Tony was stuck at home alone while we had the hardwood floors refinished. We're glad to be back to "normal"!

In morning sickness news, I'm feeling much better. I stopped taking my medicine (too lazy to go get a refill, mostly). I still have hard moments, especially if I go too long without eating. But, dare I say that I might be getting close to being done with nausea? Also, since Tony switched jobs and was a "temp" for a while at the new job, we don't have health insurance right now. It makes me nervous just to write that. So far, it just means that I haven't had a couple of my regular check-ups, which I'm not worried about at all. But it also means that we probably won't find out what we're having until later than a normal pregnancy -- sometime after 23 weeks. AND, just to warn you, we are talking about finding out what we're having and then not telling anybody. Probably not the most popular decision we'll ever make ... let me know what you think. :)

This week's picture is from my phone -- Hadley pulled the camera off the dining room table and now it won't turn on. So we'll see what happens there. Baby is the size of an apple this week!

A Sprinkle of Love

2011-05-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you come home from the grocery store and your neighbor has his sprinkler on? Let your kids run through it fully clothed, of course. :)

(Although, I guess it's really "kid" in this case. Leila loved the sprinkler, but Hadley mostly just cried when the wind blew little drops at her.)

I'm very happy to be home after a business trip with the National Day of Prayer Task Force to Washington, D.C. I always love my time there, but I'm always especially excited to get home. Absence truly does make my heart grow fonder. Hadley and Leila stayed at Grandma and Grandpa K's, and it sounds like they all had a blast. Or maybe that's just what they're telling me. Either way. :)

12 Weeks

2011-04-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

I hope your Easter was as wonderful as ours! Unfortunately, our Sunday was so full of happy time with family (and a little bit of grumpiness by twins) that we didn't get to take an Easter photo. We sure enjoyed the family time, though! But I'm going to try to get another shot at it after I can get the dresses through the wash.

Even if I didn't get any pictures of the twins or the whole family, I did manage to snap a 12-week belly shot while the girls were napping. Since I know you're wondering ... yes, I'm still bigger than my first pregnancy. I'm probably about 4 - 5 weeks bigger, based on my pictures from last time. I'm not speculating; I'm just giving the updates. :)

Hair We Go!

2011-04-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Hubby's out on a bike ride, the twins are in bed, and I'm going to catch up on blogging. I know, I get wild on Saturday nights. :)

Tonight after bath time, I decided it was time for first haircuts EVER! I didn't want to change anything, but the back is growing more quickly than the front and I want to give it a chance to catch up. Plus, I wanted to cut a lock of hair for their baby books. So I only cut about a half inch off the mullets :) and one longer lock. Other than a little wiggling, the girls did awesome. I was worried about losing some of their cute baby curls, but it actually made their curls tighter ... so cute.

(Leila top two, Hadley bottom two)

On a pregnancy note, I'm surviving. The medicine is still working well, although it doesn't completely take away the morning sickness. My energy level is at zero, so our laundry / dishes / overall house cleanliness is a pretty big failure most of the time. Thankfully, Tony is gracious enough to overlook it, and he also pitches in when he's got time. Have I mentioned how much I love that guy?

Video Catch-Up

2011-04-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted some videos. There are dozens of videos from my camera that I haven't even looked at, so don't be surprised if I take us on a trip down memory lane with a bunch of old videos sometime.

As usual, my disclaimer is that my camera doesn't take fantastic video footage, and you have to ignore my messy house. :) And yes, Hadley is chewing on a baby wipe in the second one ... we literally have to hide them from her.

Introducing ...

2011-03-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

... the newest member of the VanHorn family! He or she will be arriving around November 3rd!

Keeping this secret off the blog has been one of the hardest things I've ever done, but we wanted to get a firm count on how many people we were growing this time. :)

So, let me catch you up! Here's our timeline so far:

February 22 - I write this blog post, insisting that I'm not pregnant. I knew it was a possibility, but figured it wouldn't happen, and wanted to wait a few more months before thinking about it again.

February 25 - Tony's last day of work at his old job. I wake up at 2 am with a strong feeling that I'm pregnant, and know I won't be able to fall asleep until I take a test. Sure enough, positive! I don't want to wake Tony, so I write him a message and go back to bed. What a fun surprise for him to see in the morning! (I taped the pregnancy test to the mirror. It looks different because it's a cheap one. :) And 11-9-11 was what I thought our due date was. Getting confused about dates yet?)

March 8 - I have my first doctor's appointment, where they tell me that my due date is 11-11-11.

March 9 - At 5 weeks pregnant, I start to outgrow my pants. This convinces me that we have at least twins, if not triplets, growing in there.

March 15 - The twins and I visit my parents. They wear "11-11-11" shirts to announce their new sibling. I don't have that picture because it was taken on another camera, but I'll post it when I get the chance.

March 19 - The morning sickness hits, full force, just like last time. After a weekend of throwing up, my doctor prescribed a nausea medicine that I didn't try last time, and miracle of miracles, it's working! I'm still exhausted, but not throwing up, and that's enough for me.

March 25 - Our sixth wedding anniversary! I take my first belly shot, which, at 7 weeks, is as big as my 15 week picture with the twins. I know, I'm not shockingly huge, but being bigger than carrying twins definitely played with my mind! This convinces me even further that we're having multiples again.

March 30 - Ultrasound day! I can't sleep, and when I do sleep, I dream that we suddenly have so many puppies that I can't find enough places for them to nap. You don't have to look very far for the symbolism there. :) The doctor only finds one inside, which we are very pleased with. She also moves my due date to 11-3-11.

Phew! Of course, I'll keep you posted as we go, even though I know that a single pregnancy isn't quite as exciting for my readers (but Tony and I are definitely just as excited!). Here's to 3 kids in 29 months!

Spring Skirts

2011-03-25T12:29:00.001-07:00

Cutest. Kids. Ever. Seriously, how can I look at pictures of my own kids and just want to squeal and clap my hands? :)

(Hadley blue / Leila pink)

March Madness (And I'm Not Talking Basketball)

2011-03-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

I'm overdue for a post, so I'm going to write a quick one with some pictures to catch you up. Like I said before, we have a lot on our plates right now, but I hope to be back to normal in the next couple of months.

Can you find the twins?

Leila's new favorite TV spot:

I love it when they choose to sit this close to each other without prompting. You'll notice that Leila is engrossed in a Dora coloring book, oblivious to Hadley, who has about 10 diapers strewn around her. Ornery kids.

Tony finished his second 5k, then promptly went mountain biking and broke his big toe. Poor guy has to be in a boot for four weeks, at least.

And lastly, Leila, my couch potato. Yesterday she watched an entire Dora movie like this while I made dinner. I finally propped a pillow behind her. :)

Leila's Close Call

2011-03-03T19:01:00.001-08:00

Today, I had the scariest moment of my entire life. I posted about it on Facebook, but I really want to get the whole story written down immediately, because it seems like the type of thing that might fade on me over time.

The twins and I went to a new park today. It's been nice for three days in a row, and we went to the same park for the first two days, so I wanted a change in scenery. The new park has a merry-go-round, which Hadley and Leila discovered right away. They weren't going around, just climbing on and off.

Not more than 10 minutes after we arrived, Leila stepped off the merry-go-round, barely caught her foot on a pole, and fell into the sand on her shoulder, hitting her head a little bit. I stepped to her right away since I knew she would cry. When I picked her up, I looked at her face-to-face to see if she had any scrapes. Instead of scrapes, I noticed that her eyes were rolling up into her head, and that they had turned "milky". The only way to describe what I saw in that moment is that she wasn't there anymore. She jerked, then she slumped against my shoulder. Out loud, I said, "Leila. Leila. LEILA!" In my head, I was thinking, I am watching as my greatest fear -- losing one of my twins and not the other -- is being realized. (In my head, I really do think it would be harder to lose one than both, although I'm sure that's not true.)

I ran over to the diaper bag, intending to call 911, and realized I had forgotten my phone. As I looked at the other family on the playground, wondering if I could use their phone, Leila woke up. It hadn't been more than five seconds. Her eyes cleared up, and she started crying.

I loaded the girls into the van and drove the mile home. At one point, when the car in front of me wasn't moving, I muttered, "go, go, go, go..." and Hadley echoed me from her car seat: "go, go, go, go..." Leila's own little cheering section. :) I left the girls in the car, ran inside to get my phone, ran back outside, and called my dad, who has some medical training. Once he had assured me that as long as her eyes were dilating, and she wasn't bleeding or throwing up, that she was probably fine, the relief and the tears came.

The picture is of Leila this evening. The only thing she has to show for her fall is that little scrape on her forehead. Believe me, she was as spunky as always tonight ... if not more. We're praising God for watching over us today, as He always does.

Tony = BIDWA

2011-03-01T06:45:00.000-08:00

Tony starts a new job today! He'll be a Business Intelligence Data Warehouse Analyst at the United States Olympic Committee. The girls and I are so proud of him!

In honor of his new job, I made Olympic pancakes for him this weekend.

And I hope he'll forgive me for taking this picture as soon as he woke up! :)

Good luck, Tony! Thank you for being a wonderful husband and provider.

Pillow Pet Passion

2011-02-26T13:12:00.001-08:00

This is my 200th blog post. Congratulations to me!

I gave into the craze, and bought two Pillow Pets for the girls this week. They were a good deal, compared to what they normally go for, but more than I usually spend on toys. Still, they were totally worth it, because Hadley and Leila LOVE them. They carry them everywhere, watch TV on them, wrestle with them, kiss them ... as you can see.

Just Getting By

2011-02-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

Life, in one slightly embarrassing picture.

I'm overwhelmed.

For a few months, we went through an "easy" phase in development. Hadley was (finally) walking. Leila was practically running, and both girls were learning all kinds of new words. Discipline was well-received. Tony was able to mention the thought of another baby without me collapsing on the floor in tears. (That didn't really happen, and no, we're not pregnant.)

Alas, most of these phases, good or bad, only last about three months. Now, we're in this phase: "How did you get up there?" "Don't eat that!" "Do you know where your sister went?" "Where did you find that?" "Don't draw on the wall/floor/yourself!"

Add to this recipe the annual six-month contract I have with The National Day of Prayer Task Force. On top of that, I have two speaking engagements on couponing scheduled, and I'm co-planning a baby shower. I'm trying to wear many different hats, and since I work at home, the line is constantly blurred about which hat I'm currently wearing.

Worst of all, the whole family was feeling the effects of my stress. Leila is teething, and suddenly became physically velcroed to me. Because of that, I feared Hadley would be forgotten as she was being so good. I was spending every moment in my day either parenting, working, or cleaning, without taking any time for myself, and the television was babysitting my kids WAY more than I was comfortable with. Tony became "honey, will you unload the dishwasher?" instead of a spouse.

So, this weekend, I had a chance to talk with two fantastic moms about being overwhelmed. Then, Tony and I went out on a date (thanks, Martha!), and had a chance to really talk. We discussed things that are really important to us, and things that are just taking time away from other things. When we came home, I actually made a schedule of the coming week. I included the things we had discussed, and made "a place for everything, and everything in its place". I wrote down silly things, like "get dressed". It forced me to make a time slot for things I normally procrastinate doing. And, most importantly, I didn't schedule something into every minute so that I can rearrange as needed. Already, two days into having our days written down, I'm breathing a sigh of relief.

Here are our new priorities:

We will eat every meal as a family. (In the past, we sometimes fed the girls first so that Tony and I could have real dinner conversation. Or, I would quickly do some work during their lunch.)
I will interact (read: be on the floor) with the twins for a significant period of time, several times a day. No walking away to quickly check email!
I will not feel guilty for letting Hadley and Leila watch Sesame Street while I shower, or Dora while I prepare supper.
One of us will play with the kids in the evening, while the other cleans the kitchen and living room. Then, when the kids are in bed, we have time for each other! (Thanks, Amy!)
Instead of setting an item down when we're done with it, we will immediately put it where it belongs.

Yes, those things are ridiculously simple. And you can laugh at me for writing down the details for our tiny little lives in our tiny little corner of the world. But I've regained "control", and tonight I plan on doing absolutely nothing!

Hair-iffic

2011-02-16T15:39:00.000-08:00

You know it's been a good night of sleep when you wake up like this...

(Leila / Hadley)

My Little Valentines

2011-02-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

Two Years Ago

One Year Ago

And today ...

(Hadley/Leila)

This was the best picture I got. What do you expect with two 1 1/2 year olds? Anyway, see how their hair is long enough to pull back into full pigtails now? Awww....

Salt Lake City: Days Three & Four

2011-02-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

I'm behind in getting these last two days out ... but I'm okay with that. :)

Happy Birthday to me! Our third day in Salt Lake City happens to be my birthday. Tony informed me that I could do whatever I wanted today. I chose to go to the Mormon Tabernacle. I don't think that's what he expected. :)

I wanted to go there to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, since I'm musical myself. We walked over to the Tabernacle, only a couple blocks from our hotel, and were quickly informed that children are not allowed in the sanctuary when the choir performs because it's a live broadcast and the audience has to be quiet. So, Tony graciously agreed to wait in the visitor center while I listened to the choir. The performance was amazing, of course, although it felt pointedly non-religious. I was expecting to hear more about Mormonism. Anyway, when I went to get Tony and the twins ... poor guy ... he had to spend those 30 minutes being "witnessed to" by several sets of Mormon missionaries. He practically dragged me out the door. :)

After lunch and a nap, we went to Park City, where the Sundance Film Festival was just wrapping up. Unfortunately, we didn't spot any celebrities, and after enjoying their Main Street, we headed back toward Salt Lake City. On the way, we stopped to tour the 2002 Olympic Center, which was a little anti-climactic, but still fun.

(Our one attempt at a family photo. Yes, it really was that crooked.)

****************

Day four was our "travel home" day. We didn't do a lot before our flight left. We went swimming right after breakfast, then packed up. After lunch at Buca di Beppo (and a free birthday brownie!), we all napped, then headed for the airport.

Unfortunately, even the best laid plans of Heather VanHorn are susceptible to flight delays. Our flight was delayed by an hour, and our already "travel tired" children got even more tired. The flight home was less enjoyable, but even so, I'd like to think that nobody on the plane was giving us dirty looks.

The extremely hard part was back at the minivan. Thanks to the flight delay and a very slow shuttle back to the car, it was well past any normal child's bedtime, and Tony was desperately trying to reinstall car seats and scrape very thick ice from the windshield, while I tried to keep both of the cranky children occupied. I hit my limit when Hadley threw a tantrum at exactly the same time that Leila had a huge blowout diaper. *sigh*

Eventually, we headed home. And once we got moving, the girls gave in to sleep. And I got to take pictures of them sleeping, which always makes my heart happy.

Salt Lake City: Day Two

2011-02-02T18:27:00.000-08:00

I’m starting to get the feeling that I’ve been in this situation before. I’m sitting in a dark hotel room at 6:55 pm, listening to my children snore, while Tony works out and gets a Redbox movie. Oh, that’s right, I was here last night. :)

Some people would miss their freedom in a situation like this. I, on the other hand, like the chance to live life slowly for a few nights. It stretches out the vacation time and makes me feel like I’m truly resting.

Let me take a second to show you the brilliant contraption that Tony made for the hotel room before bedtime last night. We brought dark sheets, intending to cover the cribs with after the twins fell asleep so that we could turn on lights and watch television, but the "getting to sleep" part was the issue during the epic failed nap yesterday. Tony attached the sheets to the hotel curtains with safety pins, creating a tent, so it covers them immediately without a chance of them pulling it off, or it falling into the crib. I think they like having their own little rooms. AND I can sit in bed like a normal person, instead of the bathroom like yesterday's nap! Thanks, hubby!

We had a great time today! The girls slept until 8:00 am (yep, if you’re doing the math from my last post, that’s 13 ½ hours) – which I’ll attribute to the 45 minute naps yesterday and the little colds that they’re working on. We took our time getting out of the room, and by 10:00 am we were on the road.

After a leisurely stop at Cracker Barrel for brunch (where both of our servers were twins, oddly enough), we headed to The Great Salt Lake. We drove to Antelope Island State Park, which is supposedly the best place to see the lake. Um, apparently, that’s in the summer, because I think we could only see about 400 yards in front of us. It was weird – not foggy, not overcast. The signs on the highway said “poor air quality Sat – Sun”. I guess that’s what it was. :)

Anyway, even if we couldn’t really see much of the lake, the marshes near the roads were really cool, and we saw antelope, buffalo, and coyotes! The twins fell asleep in the car again (yes!), and slept for about 45 minutes again.

On the way back, we ate a late lunch / early supper at In-N-Out. We saw it on the way to the lake, and since Tony hadn’t ever experienced it, I decided we had to stop. The burgers, fries, and shakes were amazing, of course, but our family vote is still for Five Guys.

Back at the hotel, we went swimming again. Leila is getting really brave and will jump into our arms from the edge of the pool. Hadley really likes being supported on her tummy and kicking her arms and legs.

So, now that the kids are in bed, we’re going to watch “Salt”. I didn’t even realize that we were watching it in the right city until Tony mentioned it!

Salt Lake City: Day One

2011-02-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

**Now that we're home, I realize that this post was a little "rambly". I must have been tired. But I'm going to leave it as-is and let you enjoy my stream of consciousness.**

We're taking a pretty big trip with the whole family right now. As I write, we're in Salt Lake City. Yes, I know, it's not what most people consider a vacation destination (especially since we're not winter sport enthusiasts), but we found incredibly cheap airfare, and I wanted to fly with the girls before they were too old to be lap children on a plane. And that's the story of how we chose Utah. My plan is to blog every day while we're here, although I won't be able to publish the posts until we get back.

We kicked off our trip by staying a night in Denver, since we had to be at the airport by 5:30 am for our flight. Leila spent her time at the hotel making pretend phone calls. :) I worried about the twins getting up that early, but they woke up with the alarm just like Tony and I, and have been doing great all day long.

We checked the stroller when we checked in, instead of checking it at the gate. I thought it would be more hassle than help, but I definitely reconsidered when my arms were shaking from holding my 24 pound child and my bulging carry-on for miles. And miles. And then again on our way to baggage claim after the flight. Lesson learned.

We flew on Southwest Airlines. It might have been my first time on that airline ... I can't really remember. Anyway, the airline AND the twins were awesome! The flight was less than half full, so Tony and I each took one of the girls, sat across the aisle from each other, and had an entire row to ourselves! We had a fantastic flight attendant crew who kept "sneaking" stuff like crackers and juice to us. I think they really just wanted to keep visiting the twins, who barely even made a peep during the flight, thanks in part to Elmo.

Once we got to Salt Lake and checked into the hotel, it was definitely time for a nap. I gave the girls over an hour to fall asleep, and they never did. Not fussing, just hanging out, so once again, it's my expectations that need a change. By then, I was annoyed to the point of almost crying (Mommy wanted a nap, too!), so we piled in the rental car to get lunch and they fell asleep in the car. Hallelujah! I'm pumped that maybe, just maybe, the girls have outgrown the "I don't sleep in the car" phase. I guess we'll see tomorrow when we take a day trip!

So, after that, a great time swimming at the hotel pool, an early supper, and exhausted kiddos in bed without protest at 6:30 pm. Then, since our hotel is across the street from the Utah Jazz stadium, and there was a game tonight, Tony decided (with my blessing) to attend his first NBA game. I hope he ate a pretzel or some nachos for me!

What a Phone-y

2011-01-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

They're one year old ... going on 14. (Hadley top / Leila bottom)

Open, Shut Them

2011-01-21T16:37:00.000-08:00

My main purpose for blogging tonight is to share this video. Hadley and Leila have learned the actions to "Open, Shut Them" and I'm proud to show off their new skills! Sorry that my videos are always dark. It's a combination of a cheap camera and the fact that our house doesn't have great lighting.

But I also want to share something I've been thinking about lately. One of our new favorite activities in the VanHorn house is reading books. We've been reading to the girls since they were born, but now they know what books are called ("gook") and often bring books to me during the day to read to them. They both crawl into my lap to listen to the story and point at the pictures. In those moments, I think, boy, I'm glad God gave me two legs -- a lap for each girl!

I know the human race was made with two arms, two legs, even two breasts, as a part of God's plan. But sometimes I realize that God was thinking of me when he gave us two of all of those things. There's no way I could handle having twins without having two of everything (especially while nursing!), and it's one of those things that I hardly ever think about. He's got good foresight, that guy. But I guess I've known that all along.

Deck the Haul: A Little Compassion

2011-01-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

This is Rehema. She's from Tanzania, and she's the child that we're now sponsoring through Compassion International. This is what we've decided to do with the money that I saved during Christmas.

When we were deciding what to do with the money, I initially thought we would give to World Vision or Samaritan's Purse. I love the idea of giving a goat or a mosquito net (among so many other things) -- basic life necessities that can change lives. The reason we went in this direction instead was that I didn't want to spend the $66 we had saved, pat myself on the back, and walk away. I wanted to make a year-round commitment to making a positive change in somebody's life. What a blessing to us AND Rehema!

I'm looking forward to spending even less so that we can give even more in the future.

Hopalong Hadley

2011-01-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been over two months since I posted Leila's first steps. It's been over a month since Hadley took her first steps, so if you're a very faithful follower, you may have noticed that I haven't posted a video of her walking. The reason is pretty simple: she hasn't taken more than a few steps at a time yet. I don't even have time to grab my camera before she's back on the ground. I'm not worried about her development; I think it's just a matter of preference. She still prefers to crawl, or better yet, walk on her knees ... which is pretty funny to watch. So, here's her debut: all three of Hadley's ways of transportation.

Celebrating the New Year With a Little Bubbly

2011-01-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

(Hadley/Leila)

No Days Like Snow Days

2011-01-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

(Leila)

Today is the kind of sunny, snowy day that looks great to play in ... from the inside. As I write, it's 18 degrees out, and I'm pretty sure that's the high for the day. So, our family will stay in, relaxing from our ten days spent visiting both sides of the family, and play with our Christmas presents that haven't been played with yet because of said vacation.

However, a couple of weeks ago, we did actually get out in the snow. We have little snowsuits for the girls, and I pulled Daddy's socks all the way up their arms for "mittens", since they pull regular mittens off.

One of the most frequent questions that I hear about the twins is "what are their personality differences?" Honestly, for the first year, I didn't have an answer. They ate, slept, and cried at pretty much the same times. (That definitely should have been a clue that they were identical!) The best thing I could come up with was that I thought Hadley would be more dominant because she had to nurse first, every time. Now, though, their personalities are becoming clear. Leila is spunky and enters every room with "hiiiiiiiii!" Hadley is sweet and stays in Mommy or Daddy's arms for a while before getting used to a new situation.

So, you can imagine how that looks while playing in the snow for the first time. A little like this (Leila/Hadley):

After which, Hadley ended up in my arms:

And Leila tried eating snow.

Enjoy the snow, if you received any, and Happy New Year!

Our Little Christmas

2010-12-19T12:29:00.000-08:00

(Leila yellow / Hadley pink)

Merry Christmas! We celebrated with our little foursome on Saturday, since we'll be with our extended family on Christmas day. As I said before, we only got the girls one present to share. We did that for two reasons: 1) it was large in size, and 2) they're not old enough to know any better yet! Also, Tony and I didn't get each other presents. I guess you could say that we're "quality time" people instead of "gift" people: most of the time, we celebrate special occasions by doing something together instead. So, we opened one present yesterday. We're very exciting, I know. :)

Deck the Haul: The Finale

2010-12-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

The gifts have been purchased and wrapped! I debated about waiting until our Christmas gifts had actually been given to show you the final results of my Christmas Challenge, but I'm not great at waiting. For anything. Just ask Tony about how I ruined his wedding proposal. Seriously. :)

Here is the rundown: I've purchased presents for all 10 people on our list. That number may seem low, considering the size of our families, but all of our gatherings use name drawings now, and the adults on my side of the family are giving to charity instead of gifting for the first time this year. Also, we purchased one present for the twins to share (I'll show you later), and that's been in the garage since this summer, so I didn't factor that into the budget.

Our budget for those gifts was $100. And, really, I wasn't sure I could do it and have any money left over, since that's only $10 per person, and in the past we usually spent about $20 - $25 per person.

But, as you saw in my other post, I ended up getting really nice, quality things, like this all-natural set of six paints: And this yoyo doll:
...and those are the only things I'm going to share, because I know the adults read my blog and I don't want to ruin their surprises!

Total cost for all of our gifts: $34
(An average of $3.40 per person!)
Total we'll be giving to help others: $66

As you know, we don't have a lot of wiggle room in the ol' budget, so I'm pumped to be able to make a difference in somebody's life solely by bargain shopping! What a great challenge. Definitely one I'm already looking forward to doing again!

This Little Piggy

2010-12-13T08:59:00.000-08:00

This is definitely my favorite phase yet. (I'm pretty sure I say that about every phase.) The talking, interacting, responding ... cuteness! ... is just a blast. We've been playing "This Little Piggy" and the girls think it's absolutely hilarious. Leila has learned "oosh" (shoes), and brings shoes to us to put on her feet ... usually more shoes than feet. Hadley has a new love for music, and when she's playing with our musical toys or listening to music, she enters The Zone, which is pretty entertaining.

Speaking of piggies, here's a new development: pigtails! (Leila/Hadley) Smiling for the camera is *not* something I get to enjoy in this phase. :) Also, you'll see Hadley's battle scar from the coffee table last week. *Sigh* Look at my TODDLERS!

Deck the Haul: The Strategy

2010-12-07T10:39:00.000-08:00

Before I unveil the amount that we're giving to charity this year, I wanted to let you in on the gift shopping strategies which are allowing us to spend less and give more this year.

Sites like Groupon and Eversave have daily deals that cost about 50% of their retail price. Plus, most of the time, you get a credit for signing up, which can be used toward any deal.
---> I purchased a gift certificate to an online toy store for 80% off!
There's a new fad in internet shopping -- "private sale" sites which are "members only" and offer "designer" items at a discount for a few days. (Do you like my use of quotations?) In my opinion, these sites are kind of worthless EXCEPT that they've all been giving free money to use in their store when you sign up! If you use the credit to pay shipping as well, you can get totally free items. I honestly don't know if they're still giving money when you sign up, but here are the sites I think might if you want to try: Hautelook, Modnique, Rue La La.
---> I scored this floor puzzle (isn't the case cute?) for totally free ... and have spent several other of these promotional credits on our family.
I stay up-to-date with bargain blogs like Springs Bargains and Money Saving Mom for coupons at stores that have gifts that I want to purchase.
---> J.C. Penney released an online code for $10 off a $10 purchase. (My savings: 80%)
---> Target releases several game/toy coupons each Christmas, which I combined with in-store sales. (My savings: 80%)
---> BarnesandNoble.com had a great Black Friday weekend sale. (My savings: 70%)
I use a search engine called Swagbucks, which gives points as you search and releases codes for points randomly. You can redeem those points for prizes. I always get the $5 Amazon gift card.
--> I've only earned one prize this holiday season, but the gift I purchased on Amazon was already on sale, so my savings on that gift was 85%.
Lastly, for every online purchase I make, I check Ebates to see if I can earn cash back at that retailer. The concept is that retailers pay Ebates a commission for sending them customers, and Ebates splits the money 50/50 with the customer. It's really easy, too. The most I've earned is $11 on a purchase, but most of the time I earn a dollar or two. Every penny counts!

Are you overloaded with information yet? I guess one thing that I want to add is that this doesn't take as much time as it looks. I'm not making a full-time job out of buying Christmas gifts. I have a list of items I want to purchase, check my email and read bargain blog updates a few times a day, and if something looks good, I'll check it out and do a little bit of shopping in the evening.

Stay tuned ... I'll give you the grand total as soon as I can.

18 Months

2010-12-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

My sweet babies are 18 months old today! Which means I shouldn't call them babies anymore. But I'm going to anyway.

Here's the latest news: Hadley started walking! She took her first steps on Thanksgiving day. Unlike Leila, Hadley waited until she was absolutely sure, then casually walked over to Grandma like it was nothing special. She still prefers to crawl, but she isn't fooling anybody anymore.

Leila, always breaking new ground, has learned to climb. She hasn't made it to the couch yet, but she climbs on the ottoman, and had fun climbing on a bench instead of the play equipment at a play date the other day.

I'm seeing changes in them as they move toward being toddlers. They like "thinking" toys instead of things with lots of movement and colors now. They can repeat sounds and they add new words to their vocabulary every day. Oh, and they express displeasure when things don't go their way. Time to pull out the books on discipline!

Here are a couple of unedited "outtakes" from our Christmas photo shoot with my sister. While you look at those, I'm going to go pat myself on the back for keeping them alive for over 540 days. :)

(Hadley top/Leila bottom)

Deck the Haul: My Christmas Challenge

2010-12-03T11:13:00.000-08:00

Last Christmas, I read on my friend Anna's blog that Americans spend more on Christmas than it would take to provide clean, sustainable drinking water for the entire world.

Take a minute to let that sink in.

While we're not fully involved in Advent Conspiracy like many people, Tony and I agree: we are going to spend less and give more this year. And every year. However, we also want to celebrate with our families and friends by giving gifts. So here's what I came up with:

We will set a firm Christmas budget, based on what we normally spend for gifts.
We will give to our loved ones without skimping on quality, but I will do my best to get those items by spending very little money out of pocket.
Whatever is left from our Christmas budget after gifts, will be given to a charity such as Samaritan's Purse.

So, you know I love to coupon, but I just raised the stakes for myself. And let me tell you, I am succeeding more than I thought was possible with this challenge.

I have a few more gifts to buy, so I'll wait until my shopping is done to tell you the results. I promise I'll write a detailed post in the next couple of weeks. But I want to encourage you to think about where your money is going this Christmas. Straight into retailers' pockets, spent on gifts that aren't necessary and won't be used? Or celebrating the real reason for the season, by giving to others who have needs that we can't even imagine?

Tony's Turkey Trot

2010-11-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving Day, Tony ran in his first 5k! There's a big tradition (I think it's nationwide) called the Turkey Trot, held on Thanksgiving morning every year. In ours, there were at least a thousand people who ran.

Of course, I had to show support for Daddy from Hadley and Leila! I made "Team Daddy" shirts that they wore, although we had to take the picture before we left the house since we bundled them up.

The temperature was a cozy 15 degrees when we arrived at the start, which was one of several reasons that I didn't envy him a bit. My sister, my brother-in-law, and my nephew also competed, so several members our our family came to support them. My mom even made signs for us to hold!

Can I be honest, and tell you that I was near tears twice during the race? First, they played "Chariots of Fire" when the race started. That was all it took for me to act like a blubbering fool. Then, when I saw Tony coming toward the finish, I was so proud that the misty eyes started up again. He beat his personal best, of course. Ah, I love that guy and the things he accomplishes. Not to mention my other family members and their incredible finishes as well!

Like Father, Like Daughter

2010-11-24T14:22:00.000-08:00

Even though the twins are "identical", Hadley has always reminded me more of Tony, and Leila has always reminded me more of a couple of my nieces. Proof: a picture of Tony that I stumbled across today. I think I've seen that smile before...

Viral Videos

2010-11-19T10:46:00.000-08:00

The girls and I have been sick with colds this week. Nothing life-threatening, but I don't like it when the sickness hits mommy, of course! We're hoping that it stays away from Tony -- he's running his first 5K on Thanksgiving morning! Go, Tony, go! You'll definitely see pictures from that; we're so proud!

Anyway, for our sick day, I thought I'd share a couple of videos from the last few weeks. (Get it? Viral videos, and we're sick?)

Post a Caption VII

2010-11-13T20:40:00.000-08:00

It's been four months since I posted one of these!
Go ahead ... give it your best shot. :)

(Hadley / Leila)

On Having Identicals

2010-11-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

(Hadley/Leila)

"We spent the last 17 months talking about how similar they are for fraternals, and now we've switched to talking about how different they are for identicals!"

Those are the words I've been thinking and saying for the last 6 days. Tony and I are still letting it sink in. We're thinking about things like, will people be able to tell them apart when they're adults? Will we have to tell their teachers what color each girl is wearing every morning when we take them to school? Should we try to get them into commercials or movies?

Just kidding on that last one. :)

Tony mentioned that, if somebody had told us before we got pregnant that we had a 1 in 10,000 chance of having identical twins who didn't share anything in the womb, we would have assumed that it would never happen! We're living proof that sometimes, you hit the jackpot.

Speaking of being "lucky", we're thanking God for His hand in our pregnancy. In a high percentage of identical twin pregnancies, the twins share a placenta or a sac, or both. This usually leads to one twin taking more nutrition than the other, causing extremely premature delivery, and sometimes even death. Considering that I had a risky pregnancy and premature delivery anyway, I'm so thankful that our girls were able to grow healthily and independently inside me for as long as they did.

The Results: Identical or Fraternal?

2010-11-05T10:49:00.001-07:00

I cannot tell you how pumped I was this morning when the DNA results arrived! I refused to open them until I got Tony on the phone, and of course he couldn't call me back for about half an hour ... that was painful for me. :)

So, according to you, my faithful blog readers, 51.3% think that the girls are identical, and 48.7% think that they are fraternal. It was a close race the whole time! Our house was split, too -- Tony thought that they were fraternal, while I thought that they were identical.

The test has revealed that they are ....

IDENTICAL!

Crazy, huh? Statistically speaking, monozygotic twins who didn't share either a placenta or a sac make up 0.01% of the world's population. That's how unique my girls are.

A few other things: identical twinning is not proven to be genetic. It's random, nobody knows what causes it, and it's occurrence is not affected by fertility drugs. Having identicals also means that our chances of having another set of twins is extremely unlikely. If they were fraternal, our chances would be 1 in 12 (or slightly higher, depending on who you ask). Now that we know they're identical, our chances are 1 in 70,000. I don't know if that makes me happy or sad. :)

Also, "identical" twins is kind of a misnomer, as they don't share 100% of the same DNA. Scientists have discovered "variations", both genetic and environmental, which explains why "identical" twins don't always look exactly alike. The scientific world uses the word "monozygotic" instead of "identical" now.

I was going to post a couple of videos for you, but it's a busy day and I'm too excited to wait for them to upload. I promise I'll share again soon. So, what was your vote? Are you surprised?

Blog Changes

2010-11-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

I just changed some "behind the scenes" stuff on the blog, so please let me know if you notice any difference so that I can fix it. Thanks!

P.S. We went out to breakfast at a sit-down restaurant with the same college friend last week ... SUCCESSFULLY! I think we redeemed ourselves. :)

P.P.S. We haven't heard the results of the DNA test yet, but I'm hoping it will be in the next few days.

P.P.P.S. Did you think I would leave you without pictures? Here are some from our first attempt at coloring recently. (Hadley/Leila)

My Favorite "Things"

2010-10-31T17:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from Thing 1 and Thing 2! (Hadley/Leila)

If you're wondering why our costumes look like this:It's because, for inexplicable reasons, there was a lot of this tonight:
At which point I allowed this (eating fudge):
... which made us very happy!... so we ended up with flat hair and stained costumes. Totally worth it. :)

Poll: Identical or Fraternal? (We're Finding Out!)

2010-10-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

The envelope has been mailed -- we're testing Hadley and Leila to see if they're identical or fraternal!

Here's the scientific information: when I was pregnant with the girls, they didn't share a sac or a placenta. If either of those are shared, twins are automatically known to be identical (same egg, same sperm). Since they didn't share either of them, we were told that the chances were good that they were fraternal (two eggs, two sperm). However, in a small percentage of identical twins, the egg splits early enough that they don't share anything, either.

At first, we didn't care to get the girls tested. They looked alike, but we figured that babies from the same family tend to look alike anyway, and that they would look less similar as they got older. As the months went by, it still seemed like Tony and I were the only ones who could actually tell them apart! We started to get suspicious ... but twin zygosity tests are quite expensive.

Then, two things happened: I found a company who does testing for about half of what I expected to pay. A few weeks later, I won money on a Visa debit card for playing a silly game on playdoh.com! I told Tony that I wanted to use the money on a "non-necessity" item, since we normally have a pretty tight budget. He suggested getting the girls' zygosity tested. (A zygote is an egg ... thus the term "zygosity".)

So, what do you think? Are the girls identical or fraternal? We should know the results in a week or two, so I'll let you know what we find out!

Walking and Talking

2010-10-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, so other than not being able to go out in public, this is such a fun phase! The girls' learning has just taken off suddenly, and I'm just hanging on for the ride. :) Hadley learned how to use the scooter yesterday, and she's already as good at it as Leila, so it's only a matter of time before she walks!

Also, Leila is counting to SIX! I'm serious -- she learned it without us asking her to, she does it without prompting (except when I wanted to get it on video), and all the numbers are there, although they aren't perfectly enunciated, obviously. You can only ask a 16-month-old to do so much. :) (Side note: that's Lavender, the purple bunny. Leila only sucks her thumb when she has Lavender, and we try to keep it in the crib, but you see how well that works.)

**If you can't get this video to play, click on the upper left-hand logo and watch it directly on the website. Not sure why it's not playing.**

I Can't Take You Anywhere!

2010-10-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

(This is long, and mostly therapeutic, but you're welcome to read along with me on my journey of self-discovery!)

I hate it when other people see me struggle.

A few weeks ago, we went back to Kansas for our college homecoming. I wanted to get together with my college roommates, so we decided to meet for dinner. We chose a sit-down Mexican restaurant ... and I'll admit, I chose the location, because our track record had been pretty good lately, and the girls had been happy all day. I took the twins with me, and Tony went out separately with a friend of his. At the restaurant, we were given a corner booth and two highchairs. I should have asked to move immediately, because the high chairs wouldn't really fit near the table. The twins were happy in the beginning, and I had plenty of snacks, but it was a late supper for them, and as we sat, they started to reach their limit. When we ordered, I asked for a cup of tomatoes to tide them over until our food arrived, but maybe my voice was lost in the screeching, because the tomatoes never came.

I asked for booster chairs, thinking that it would make the corner booth situation a little easier, but booster chairs don't have seat belts, so the girls (very vocally) thought they should probably be released from their cruel imprisonment and be allowed to play. I pulled out every snack, toy, and distraction from the diaper bag, while peering over the pile of discarded distractions on the table to try to see my friends, who were mostly staring at us and trying to decide whether to smile encouragingly or swear off having children.

Meanwhile, Tony and his friend came to the restaurant. Tony planned to pick up the girls and take them home while I finished catching up with my friends. However, the food hadn't arrived, so they joined us and chatted while we waited.

As time ticked on, and our food was apparently being imported directly from Mexico, the noise and activity level from the girls was gaining momentum. Not only were they separately hungry and tired of sitting still, they were also more than happy to contribute to each others' protests. We were definitely starting to get glances from other tables, although I want to believe that they were forgiving. Tony and I were trying to smile and speak kindly, because kids feed off of others' emotions, which will only make it worse. (Believe me, though, I was stressed, and I'm sure my roommates know me well enough to have seen through my facade.)

Suddenly, Tony's friend had had enough. "Come on, Tony, let's take the twins outside." I decided I could use some fresh air, too, so Tony and I took the girls out to use their energy until the food came. Really, I wanted to cry. I wanted to say to my childless friends, it's not this bad all the time. In fact, it's not EVER this bad. We're not bad parents who can't control their children, I promise. And until you've experienced it, please don't make judgments.

I'd like to tell you that things got better, but they didn't. By the time the food arrived, the girls were too wound up to eat. Tony ended up leaving with them pretty quickly.

Later, as I was replaying the debacle with Tony, I asked him if we should stop having children. I mean, we obviously can't even control the two that we have, so why in the world should we have more? His response: "No, but we may have to stop eating at restaurants without a play place for a few years."

It's as simple as that. We'll make adjustments to fit this crazy life that we've been given. Looking at the situation from that perspective, I'm embarrassed that I was selfish enough to even ask the question. I'm also embarrassed that I let one stressful situation cloud my perspective on life. I love that guy. (And I still love my kids.)

Leila's First Steps! (and other videos!)

2010-10-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

Autumn Nutshell

2010-10-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted ... we've been quite busy! In addition to traveling last weekend, I had my wisdom teeth removed on Wednesday. Turns out my body doesn't react well to anesthesia or vicodin, so it's been a rough recovery. But, I'm feeling better ... and here's a quick picture summary of our last two or three weeks (when did I post last?). I have videos (and a BIG milestone) to share with you, but that will have to wait. Enjoy!

Hadley and Leila learned how to text message. :)
They also had their first harp "lesson", thanks to the daughter of our next door neighbor.
We went to Sterling College for Homecoming, and saw lots of family and friends!
We wore our winter coats for the first time. (Look at Leila's cheesy smile!)
Leila learned how to make a kissy-face.
Hadley has become a "hillbilly" -- her top front teeth haven't come in, but a top side one has. :)

The Bold and The Boo-tiful

2010-10-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

Leila has learned a new word, just in time for Halloween!

Frugal Fall Furlough

2010-09-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall! We've been enjoying the cooler weather and watching the leaves change. Last weekend, we decided to take advantage of a few frugal opportunities to enjoy fall close to home!

On Friday, Tony took the day off, and the whole family went to Miller Farms, a pick-your-own produce place, north of Denver. We met my friend Rebecca, who wanted to do some picking, too. We paid $10 each to pick 60 lbs of produce each -- I don't even need to tell you what a deal that is, right? I was a little worried about trying to pick 180 lbs of produce while watching the girls (who would be missing their nap), but everything worked out fantastically! It helped that there were three adults to watch the two kids. We picked corn, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, all kinds of squash, pumpkins, peppers, onions, beets, carrots, and potatoes. Now I have to store it before it goes bad!

Getting ready for the hayride!

Hadley and Leila "helping" pick potatoes

Rebecca and I at the end. See, we survived!

We stayed a couple of nights with Rebecca and Wes, who generously opened their home to us, and have plenty of room for our family. Plus, Rebecca is a fantastic cook! On Saturday, we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was one of their "fee free days", so we got free admission. Wow, the fall colors were amazing! We had a picnic lunch, hiked around a lake, and drove through a couple of scenic areas that we hadn't seen before.

Where's Tony, Hadley, and Leila?

Of course, all great things have to come to an end, right? The twins refuse to take naps in the car. They napped for 45 minutes (they usually nap for 3 - 4 hours at home). Our drive back to Denver was a mess of whining and tears ... from both the toddlers and the mommy. :) We had to cancel our dinner plans, but eating-in turned out to be great, too. (P.S. Any suggestions on car seat naps are welcome!) As an added bonus, Rebecca gets free movie tickets from her job, so the boys went out one night, and the girls went out the next night!

On Sunday, we relaxed during the morning, letting the girls get a good morning nap. Then, on our way out of town, we stopped at the Denver Botanic Gardens ... which, of course, was having a free admission day! We would have stayed for a couple of hours, I think, but one of our stroller tires went flat and started to come off, so we left after only about an hour.

Doesn't Leila look ornery in this picture?

Overall, a wonderful weekend, spent seeing wonderful places with my wonderful family, and spending time with wonderful friends. You can't beat that.

This Stinks.

2010-09-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

A glimpse into our last 12 hours...

10:00 pm -- I let Roxie outside for one last potty
10:01 pm -- Roxie promptly gets sprayed by a skunk
10:03 pm -- Tony and I race around the house, closing windows (too late) and searching for the "Miracle Skunk Odor Remover" that we've used once before
10:05 pm -- I drench Roxie in said "Miracle Skunk Odor Remover" and kennel her for the night
10:55 pm -- I finally fall asleep, with a sheet over my face because our house smells terrible

5:00 am -- Tony gets up, confirms that the "Miracle Skunk Odor Remover" has not worked, opens all the windows, and heads to work
7:30 am -- The girls and I get up; I put Roxie in the backyard, where she barks at the door until I'm ready to give her a bath
8:00 am -- Roxie's peroxide/baking soda/dish soap bath is ready; I leave the girls eating breakfast in their high chairs while I hurry Roxie to the tub
8:05 am -- Girls scream in their high chairs until I'm done with Roxie's bath. They seem to get humor out of screaming at each other, so it partially works
8:20 am -- I drain the bath water; Roxie throws up
8:21 am -- Roxie goes back outside, where she barks at the door because she's cold and wet
8:22 am -- Rescue girls from their high chairs
8:23 am -- Clean up Roxie's vomit while the twins try to climb into the bathtub to touch it
8:30 am -- Put the girls in their cribs while I grab a quick shower to wash the skunk off myself
8:45 am -- Change stinky diapers (my nose can't handle much more!)
8:50 am -- Feel sorry for Roxie and let her in ... quickly regret it
9:30 am -- Ahhhh .... first nap. Time to wash skunk-infused clothing.

If it weren't for these little stinkers (pun intended), sometimes I'd wonder why I'm doing it ...(Leila top/ Hadley bottom)

Leidybug's Scooter

2010-09-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

She's *this* close to walking!

Tiny Football Fanatics

2010-09-12T19:06:00.000-07:00

We're celebrating the start of football season!
Go Chiefs!

(Hadley ... Leila ... Hadley/Leila ... Hadley/Leila)

Fort VanHorn

2010-09-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

When I can't see them, but I can hear them, I know where to look: Fort VanHorn!

The girls have discovered a hiding place in the kitchen, under the bar, behind the recycling bin and next to the cabinet. Their favorite part is the side of the cabinet -- because it can't be seen, it doesn't have a wood finish, just a metal wall. It's so fun to bang on! They also like to peek at each other through the gap between the recycling bin and the cabinet. Enjoy the video!

A Sucker Born Every Minute

2010-09-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last week, the ladybugs (a nickname given by Daddy) had a fun first: their first suckers! Our neighbor got great humor out of sharing his Tootsie Pops with the girls ... because he didn't have to clean them up!

(Hadley / Leila)

As you can imagine, they LOVED the suckers. They carried them around until the suckers were covered in dirt and the girls were covered in red stickiness. At that point, I threw the suckers away.

Or did I?

Yesterday, the girls were being unusually quiet while playing together. When I went to check on them ... yep, those suckers had been dug out of the trash can and were being enjoyed again -- dirt, dog hair, and all! I guess I'm the sucker in this story! :)

Piano Lessons

2010-08-26T21:16:00.000-07:00

(I can't believe nine days have passed since I posted ... time just keeps going faster and faster! The girls are back to 100% after being sick, and I'm back to enjoying my happy babies. Great!)

We spent last weekend at my parents. Tony climbed his second fourteener with my dad, my cousin and her boyfriend, and a group from Dad's church. (His pictures are on his Facebook page if you're friends with him.) I stayed home with Mom, of course! One of my favorite parts of the weekend was seeing Leila learn to pull herself up to the piano so that she could play the keys. Hadley couldn't pull up, but we stood her there, and she enjoyed it just as much! (Leila purple, Hadley brown)

In other news, Leila has her THIRD tooth! Apparently, they're extremely late teethers, but we've been assured all of their teeth are there. :) She's also cruising around furniture, and getting brave enough to let go and stand on her own for a few seconds. Hadley continues to impress us with her speed in crawling and her repertoire of sound effects. They've added "hi" to their vocabulary, and love to greet us with a huge "HI!" in the morning and after naps. What a joy!

Welcome, Springs Bargains Readers!

2010-08-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

I didn't know when this would be coming, but I'm honored to have a guest post on Springs Bargains today! Tony, Hadley, Leila, and I welcome all of you who have never visited me before!

Won't you come in and stay for a while? I have links to the right, telling our story from the beginning. And be sure to leave a comment -- I'd love to hear from you!