A Little of This, Some More of That

I have always wanted a clean house. While working I mainly got to my house cleaning on Saturdays. I have a wonderful husband that LOVES helping me clean (ok love may be a strong word, but at least he was willing). Together we could hammer out most of our cleaning all in one Saturday.

As my belly got bigger, bending over to clean and scrub became too difficult. Heck even standing for more then a few minutes got to be difficult. On Paul's birthday I had decided to clean the house, so we could have people over the next day for cake and ice cream. The mind was willing, but my body was not. I ended up on the couch asking Paul if he would mind sweeping and mopping the floors. Happy Birthday to you Paul.

Fast forward to today. Up until lately, I have really had a hard time finding time to get things cleaned. Just ask Tomo, who up until today was allowed to spread his dirt where ever he went. Today with the boys help, I was able to sweep, mop and vacuum. Granted the house is no where in the state I would like it to be in, but I have to say I love my clean kitchen floor.

Thank you Matthew and Seth for giving me some sanity by letting me clean.

Thank you Heavenly Father for giving me the energy to clean on the day that Seth and Matthew would be cooperative. The planets must have aligned just right today! now if only that dang dog would stop getting so dirty!

Poor Paul was asked to speak in church about his new perspective on motherhood for Mother's Day. I guess the recent events made him a prime target to speak in church. Paul said he didn't think it went that well, but it made me cry so he must have said something right. It was also Matthew and Seth's first day at church. They didn't see any of it since we had their car seats covered, but I can say we had our little family there for my first Mother's Day.

I was washing bottles yet again when it occurred to me that I had no idea what the date was. I didn't even know what month it was. Once I was informed it was May, I had to inquire if we were in the beginning or end of the month. And now it is already June! Who knew your days could fly by so fast just sitting in your house?

There is a reason people say the first couple of months of parenthood are a blur. Between the lack of sleep, the same tasks over and over again and the shock of not working for a paycheck, I am one lost mom. This is funny to me because up to the arrival of Matthew and Seth, I was counting the days, and trying to get everything done before the boys dropped in. Now to have no clue what day, month, and yes sometimes even the year gives me a new respect of time.

With that said, I am loving my boys. I love saying boys. I love that they are so different, yet similar in so many ways.

Brothers...

When Matthew was first born he seemed to be the passive one. Just kind of went with what ever we subjected him to. Now that he has found his voice, he is very vocal about is displeasure of being changed, and when I am just not quick enough with his meals.

Matthew

Seth on the other had seemed to be a little more alert and wide eyed when he was born. Now it is quite the task to keep him awake. I feel badly because he seems to have his days and nights mixed up, so just when he is winding up, we are all collapsing.

Seth

I find it funny to see how easily they seem to ignore each other, yet they gravitate (or more likely shuffle) towards each other while sleeping. That being said, they do set each other off when it comes to feeding time (I said that and it reminded me of a zoo or something.)

Feed Us!!

I absolutely love seeing Paul with these boys. He loves a good snuggle and Matthew and Seth don't complain the slightest bit to snooze with Dad.

So tired...

I can't end this post without thanking everyone who has helped us over the last couple of months and so many who continue to do so. We have had meals dropped off, our dog walked, babies fed (both day and night!), babies watched so we could escape for a little while, people have run to the store for us, and so much more. We really don't know how we could have survived this long without all of you! Having our boys has been a blessing, but so has the service that has been rendered to us. I look forward to reciprocating!!

After being told by our doctor that we had another week to week and a half, our boys surprised us by arriving early on April 8, 2010. They were born at 35 weeks and two days. Paul and I were hoping they would arrive closer to the end of 36 weeks, but apparently my body was sick of carrying over 11 pounds of babies.

Matthew was born at 8:01 am weighing in at 6 lbs 7 oz, and 19 1/4 inches long.

Matthew meets Mom!

Seth was quick to follow at 8:02 am weighing in at 5 pounds 1 oz and 18 3/4 inches long.

Mom meets Seth!

We were worried that they would have to be placed in the neonatal intensive care unit since they were early, but they arrived kicking and screaming and doing just fine.

Everyone meets everyone!

Brothers don't shake hands! Brothers gotta... snuggle!

We love our boys and can't imagine having one and not the other!

It's been a long wait, but SO worth it! We are so happy Matthew and Seth are here!

Hello World!

After we ran all over Japan and finally got back to Austin, it felt like we were still running. Heck even after Christmas it still feels like we have running to do.

So here is a brief recap of all of our adventures in the last few months!

Japan was awesome! We saw so much but felt like we could have stayed longer in every city we visited. We saw shrines galore, tons of beautiful leaves, awesome mountains, and we saw Paul converse in Japanese. We started off in smaller towns, so Paul was able to use his Japanese more frequently. As we got to the larger cities like Kyoto and Tokyo, people would speak to us in English. Not exactly what Paul wanted! By the end of the trip I was ready to come home. I missed my bed, and I missed having more then 3 changes of clothes. I know Paul would have stayed longer if he could have.

When we got back from Japan we both had to catch up on work, and normal life. Somewhere in there we found out that we will be having two BOYS in April!! Prior to finding out, we said we couldn't see us having two girls, and two boys just plain scared us. Heavenly Father knows what is best for us I guess! Paul and I are so excited for our boys to join our family!

With the ups also come the downs. My grandmother at the age of 86 passed away in early December. She was buried next to my grandfather in Abilene, TX. Even though it was sad that we were gathered under those circumstances, it was great to see family. There was a lot of reminiscing and laughing. All that talking about family history made some of us think a little more about genealogy. Nothing but good can come from that.

The rest of December was nothing but happiness. My little sister Megan married Sam on the 19th of December. They are so happy together and it was great to have all all of the siblings there for their day. We had the whole family crammed in my parents house which meant we had 9 kids running all over. It was fun, but definitely loud! We were also able to celebrate my niece's baptism/birthday as well which made it that much better. Gotta love family!

After our travels to CO, we headed to WY. We were able to spend Christmas with Paul's family and were able to be there for Melissa and Josh's little baby Kolter's blessing. Paul's mom also threw me a baby shower while we were there, making the boy's arrival in April seem much much more real.

It turned out the whole month of December was pretty much about the circle of life. Babies, Birthdays, Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals. You could say it put some perspective on what really matters in life.

What's next for us? Trying to get ready for our family expansion. We have a lot to do to be ready for our boys!!!

Happy New year everyone!