Picture This

We had some pics taken last week of the girls, it has been too long since we've had them done. Shannon Queen has done our family pictures for the past year, and she is absolutely wonderful. The family pictures you see on this blog, she took. Checkout her website here. I also got some preggo pics taken since I never have before. Just wanted to share these cute Fall pictures with everyone, enjoy!

Ella

Reese

Charlotte

The Girls

Playing Dress Up & Tea Party

Ella & Me

Bare Twin Belly :)

Love These Girls

This is what I found the girls doing while I'm trying to stay off my feet. At least they are keeping themselves busy!! Love, love, love these little women.

Twin Belly Pics, Almost 30 Weeks!! Fun At The Hair Salon...

I was getting my hair highlighted last night at a salon where my cousin/close friend Alex works. They were doing my hair after hours since Alex works there, that way I can help put the kiddos to bed first :). And I must say, I love getting my hair highlighted. Well they have these huge full length mirrors and we were having fun snapping some cell phone pics....I didn't have my regular camera. Alex was laughing cause I was joking that I should be taking pics of my swollen ankles instead, they're not exactly small right now.

I am showing some serious signs that Preeclampsia has started to set in. While I'm not shocked, I was a little bummed when I realized that I was going to probably face it again. But I know that there many other things that could be happening that would be a lot worse, so I am thankful that we are almost 30 weeks and the babes seem to be doing well. My contractions are stronger and more frequent, so I have been ordered to the couch, and if that doesn't help, I guess full bed rest will be next. I am hopeful that resting more and staying down will help. I still have to be up taking Ella to school and taking care of all 3 obviously, we are just going to have to take it one day at a time. Our Dr. is a little worried that we won't make it to 36 weeks, but I am still confident that I can make it to 37 weeks.

I still can't believe that we are only about 7 weeks away from 5 little girls. I feel so overwhelmed sometimes just thinking about it, but also very excited to add these new little ones to our family. What a change it will be, but what a blessing it is at the same time.

The Name Game

I will be back on with some pics later, the weather has been absolutely amazing after our little run in with IKE. Nice and cool, the way a pregnant woman likes it. For now though I need some girl names. We have been through almost every name list out there, and although we have some "front runners", we are still on the fence.

So what have you heard lately on the girl name scene? Any new ones out there? We would love to hear your favorites!!!

28 Week Check Up & Testing

Just a pregnancy update. I had my glucose tests today at my 28 week check up. Nothing like fasting when you're pregnant. I was eating a piece of pie last night at 11:45pm, I had to get it in before midnight. You would've thought that they were asking me to fast for a week instead of just overnight.

The appointment went great, and I don't show any signs of a problem. I am starting to have some swelling & my contractions have definitely started to ramp up over the past week or so. The swelling is not really a shock since I'm almost 30 weeks, and I had preeclampsia with my last set of twins. Hopefully it won't develop like it did last time. If so, it's ok, I just want these little girls to be here & healthy, that's all I care about. And as for the contractions, feet up & take it easy......which shouldn't be that hard with 3 little girls to run after :). I am thankful that we have made it this far without any major problems, and that the babies seem to be growing like they should. I am so excited to see their little faces!! Our Dr. seems optimistic that we will make it close to term if not all the way (36/37 weeks for twins), which is nice to hear. And for those of you who know our Dr., he's still handing out A+'s. :)

I still can't believe that God is giving us 2 more little girls. I feel so unworthy. Even though it will be stressful & crazy at times, I am just so thankful that He has chosen us for this journey. I don't know, it's just so hard to wrap my mind around God's Grace, it is truly amazing.

Night Time Story

I just had to post this pic of Reese & Charlotte. At bedtime they both sit on Charlotte's bed while we read them a story. They love it. I told them I was going to take a picture, and they put their hands on their cheeks and said, "cheeeeese!" They seriously crack us up all the time. Love, love, love them.

1st Day Of School!!

Ella started her 4 yr old Preschool class yesterday. She was so excited. When she got out of bed she said, "It's time for school, we gotta go!" She has been talking about it for a month now, summer had lost it's novelty for Ella, she was ready for a change.

I took Reese & Charlotte on some errands, and all they said the whole time was, "Ella Pee-School, Ella Pee-School." It's sweet that they miss her like they do, they don't like when someone is missing from the pack. I love that they care for each other like they do.

When I picked Ella up, she had lots to talk about. Her teacher came to the door and said, "Ella was chosen to be the first to have our class pet!" In my mind I'm thinking, "like an actual living pet, with a heartbeat? Could we get some insurance on that thing, because who knows what could happen to it at our house right now. We have very curious 2 yr olds, and a pregnant mom that's not exactly on top of her game all the time." Luckily, when I saw the bag I remembered that the class pet was a stuffed animal, a dog, Wags. So right now Wags is on top of the kitchen cabinets because we can't seem to share Wags. Sorry Dog, but I have to keep things in order here.

So all in all it was a great day. She had a blast, and absolutely loves her class. Her teacher is so sweet, and we really like the school. We are excited for a fun year!

How We Got Here

As promised, here is a short story of how we got where we are today :). I love this pic of us. Thats me in the white :). Eric and I met in college on a Mission Trip to Mexico in 2001. We were on the same ministry team, and became friends over the time we were there. We were good friends from then on and didn't actually start dating till 2002. I wish I could post pics of us on that mission trip, but I didn't have a digital camera then, I might try to scan some. As I got to know him better, I realized what a solid guy he was, and that he really desired to follow after the Lord. We spent a lot of time together just hanging out, and talking about life. We started dating in the Spring of 2002, and were engaged in August. We got married on February 1st, 2003. I was 21 and Eric was 24. I loved the ceremony, loved the reception, and loved the whole day!

6 moths after we were married, I unexpectedly ended up pregnant. We were shocked but thrilled after the whole idea sunk in. At 8 weeks I miscarried. I was absolutely devastated. I have always wanted to be a mom, and even though the pregnancy was not planned, it hurt so bad. Well, because God's Grace is so big, and I wasn't back on any kind of birth control yet, I got pregnant again 1 month after I miscarried. So we had lots of tests, and it turned out that it was a healthy pregnancy, and we were super excited. I had a great pregnancy, and loved every minute of it. My deliverywas awesome, I only pushed for about 20 minutes. Oh, and I'm definitely an Epi girl. I have my children at the hospital, where the drugs are. I delivered Ella Julia on June 5th, 2004 at 6:22am. She was 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 20 inches long. In my room I kept thinking, "I can't believe she is actually here, and I am a mom!" It was an amazing day!

When Ella turned a year, I knew I was ready to start trying again. I found out I was pregnant in September of 2005. At 6 weeks we had an ultrasound to see if everything was growing right, and we found out that there were 2 in there! Both strong little heartbeats, I could not believe my eyes. I was speechless. We found out at 20 weeks that it was 2 more sweet little girls. We could not believe that there wasn't one little boy in there!! We were so excited, and I was loving the idea that Ella would have 2 sisters. I had a pretty smooth pregnancy up till about 30 weeks. I developed Preeclampsia, and was put on bed rest, then put in the hospital. I was on bed rest at home from about 33 weeks till I delivered. Not to bad. I went in to be induced due to the preeclampsia at almost 37 weeks, and they found that Reese had turned and was feet first with her cord over my cervix. So a C-Section it was. Reese Olivia & Charlotte Grace were born on April 28th, 2006 at about 2pm. They both weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces, and were about 18 1/2 and inches long. Almost the exact same size, strange huh!? We were so thankful, they were a great size and almost full term. It was an awesome day, and we were so content with our little family :)!

So here we are. The pic below is us about 5 months before I found out I was pregnant with this set of twins. I found out in March that we were expecting again. We had not really been trying, but had always talked about having a 4th. At a 7 week ultrasound they said that it was just 1 baby this time, and that everything looked healthy. I started bleeding around 12 weeks and was brought in for another ultrasound to see what was going on. When they put the wand on my belly, I knew immediately that they had been wrong before, I saw twins again! My Dr. could not believe it. We spent the next few weeks trying to figure out how we were going to manage 5 kids that were 4 & under. The bottom line for us was that this was no surprise to the Lord, and that this was totally His plan. He would not give us more than we could handle. At 20 weeks we found out that it was 2 more little girls!! I almost fell off the table. Eric had said the whole time that it would be 2 more girls, and he was right! We are so excited, and feel so blessed that God is giving us 2 more little girls to take care of....I am always amazed by what a generous God we have. So that is how we got where we are. A lot can happen in 5 years! We are really excited to meet baby girl #4 and #5!!

Sweet Little Videos

It is so funny to watch Reese & Charlotte try to do everything Ella does. Ella doesn't always appreciate the following, but it sure is cute to watch. I wanted to post these before they get deleted accidentally off our camera. I noticed Reese & Char have been trying to count with Ella, it is so stinkin funny. Reese is actually picking it up pretty well, I just love her sweet little voice in this video.

Here are the girls singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Well, Ella is the leader and the twins are following the best they can!!

Also, I have had some requests to blog about "how we got here" and what our life has been like up until this point. Over the weekend I will be working on posts from our wedding, through the girls births, up till this pregnancy. It has been a wild road over the past 5 years, but it has also been absolutely amazing and humbling. I look forward to looking back on our journey!!

Meet The Twins!

Baby A Face

Baby B Face

I am so excited to hold these new little loves!!

Twin Baby Belly

As promised!! Here we are, all 3 of us, at 26 weeks & 3 days. I know they aren't very bright, but I was having trouble with the flash....need to work out the details with these belly pics!! Enjoy!!

At Least She Is Honest....

Ella was in the dressing room with me over the weekend while I was trying to find shirts to cover a twin belly. Before I go on, I want to say that I absolutely appreciate and love the honesty of kids, they have no sensors, it's hilarious....even if it's not exactly what you want to hear sometimes! She looked over at me with wide eyes and said,

"WHOA, now THAT is a big belly, how big is it going to get?!"

Thanks Ella Girl, for keepin' it real.