A Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Perrier

Grandma and Grandpa drove out the Minivan we just bought (now we have room for the twins). We loved seeing them and are so grateful for all their help with the car and the time they spent on it for us!!!
When it was time for them to leave I (mom) was a little sad. As we drove home from dropping them off I started to cry. Brooklyn ask "What's wrong mom?". I told her I was just sad to have them leave. She told me in the sweetest voice, "Mom, maybe we can go to Utah to see them, but we can't go unless you stop crying".

Here are a few pictures of the kids loving their Grandparents!

Grandpa and Brooklyn signing together and cuddling below

Snuggle time with Grandma

Thank you so much for coming! We Miss you!

We are having....

Two little buckaroos! And we are really excited!

Baby A: he didn't give us a great shot of his face, but if you can make out two circles on the round thing, those are his eyes.Baby B: Great profile!


We had an ultrasound yesterday and they were both very obviously boys. Baby A was nice and calm during the ultrasound but you could see baby B's hands and feet fly into the shot. Baby B wouldn't hold still for his measurements. He was a mover and a shaker! It was just so crazy to see the two of them together and "playing" together. Interestingly enough, it seems like I feel more movement on the left side, which happens to be baby B, the mover. They were both measuring exactly 20 weeks. Brandon thought for sure they looked identical :).

Brandon wants to name them James and Timothy, so we can call them Timmy and Jimmy. Please help me convince him this is a really bad idea.

I think Brooklyn was a little disappointed not to get any girls. I tried to emphasize that she will be our special little girl and the special big sister. I think she is ok with it now, but she better toughen up because Dallin is already chasing her around and tormenting her!

Brandon is excited to be able to take the 3 boys camping and do fun boys stuff with them.
I am a little nervous for a rowdy household of boys. But I think the teenage years will be a little nicer compared to the hormones of the girls.

I have been feeling a lot better from the morning sickness. It started to get better about a month ago and I am now off the anti-nausea meds too! I was sick for a while, but it was no where near as bad as my first pregnancy. I was sure it was a girl until I found out it was twins. Then I thought it was 2 boys or one of each. I figured I would have been much more sick if I had two girls!

Overall, things look good (as far as we could tell) and we are happy and excited to know so we can start planning a little more! Life is going to busy for a while, but we have so much fun with the kids we already have...it will just be loads more fun!

Weather Changes!

Here is a fun Hot and Humid day at the park:

This is 2 days later at Schuster's Farm, and I am afraid we were not prepared for the weather! There were several school field trip groups there and somehow all their parents knew to send them with hat and gloves! I am obviously new the Wisconsin fall! I was in just a sweater and Froze!

But of course the kids had a great time and I have brought 2 options for jackets, so they were able to double up and be ok.

Brooklyn loved the HUGE slide!

Nintendo and the Garden

Nintendo Crazed? No we really aren't, but the Wii can a lot of fun! I think the husbands wanted to capture this moment on camera.

Leslie, Ashley and Elena

Nintendo Crazed again? I hope not, but Brooklyn and Dallin both love the play (or pretend to play depending on the game).
This picture: PRICELESS

The Garden

OH the garden is about done, I am sad to see it go! It was great having fresh veggies all the time! Here is one of the last harvests. Got to love the stumpy looking carrots! The picture is missing the corn, and peppers.

Epic Photo Shoot Part II

We love the pants that have an adjustable waist...you know with the elastic and the buttons inside the waist band. Well, at the end of our visit to Daddy's work one of the buttons had come undone and the elastic was well inside the waist band ( so far that I couldn't fish it out). As we weaved through the Epic Campus she kept losing her pants. She was so embarrassed. She kept saying that no one wants to see her underwear. Unfortunately we ran into several employees that caught a glimpse. It happened so many times that by the time we were walking across the parking lot her pants dropped and she just left them down, waddling her way to the car. And left them down while I got Dallin, stroller and stuff in the car. I don't know if she was traumatized by the event, or just sick of pulling up her pants.

I felt bad for her, but not bad enough to keep trying to capture it on camera. I only succeeded once.

the photo shoot at epic

Yesterday we went to visit Brandon at work for lunch. It is a fun work environment with themed buildings and fun landscaping outside with a waterfall, ponds, and a stream. The kids loved playing all over and I had a great time snapping shots. Here are a few of my favorite pics:

I asked Brooklyn to stand next to the painting of guy with the tatts...this is as close as she would get. What a relief.

Brooklyn on a dragon swing made of an old tire.

Brooklyn's loved the dancing frog statue.

Gotta love the attempt at the Family picture!  We will take what we can get!  

Even the twins are in this picture :) I'm 4 months along in this picture. 

DAL

Dallin is starting to use some basic sign language and I am so excited to have him communicating in a way that doesn't include the irritating crying and whining sound.

Yesterday he signed banana for the first time. When I gave it to him he was so excited! He put the banana down while he clapped and cheered for himself. Then he picked up the banana and chucked it on the ground. Did he really want the banana or just something that would make a nice sound as it hit the floor? Oh well, it is a start.

Pictures of the kiddos and Brooklyn's little party

Here are some fun pictures of the kiddos and a few from Brooklyn's family birthday party. I can't believe she is 3 already!

Buy cute PJ's! I think I will!

I have received a couple emails from friends asking: "How are you?". Well, this is me right now.

I am not living in the here and now (probably not a great idea...I'm working on it : ). I am always thinking about when the twins come and what that will bring. One of my biggest fears with the twins is what if one or both have medical issues...in the hospital for a long time etc...that is what I am freaking out about lately. Life will be insane when they are both home. But my mom will come out for a while and Brandon's mom will come out. But Everyone has offered to help and that is a comfort.

I am still excited, but this morning I started reading a book about the first year of twins...not a medical book, but practical mom to mom advice type book. It was supposed to be a little humorous and what not. I was crying all morning (gotta love the HORMONES!). It talks about how hard things can be and keeps saying to put things in perspective and laugh about it. Example: Buy cute PJ's so you don't feel too bad when you are wearing them for the 3rd day in a row without showering. But the book doesn't really address already having 2 other kids and what to do with them and how to survive that on top of the twins. I am sure it will all work out and family will help and our ward is amazing. But I am getting a little stressed.

I am starting to feel a little better and now. I need to kick into high gear and start cleaning and cooking again. It is so hard to do it even though it isn't making me sick to smell the food.

One thing the book mentions that was a life saver was Crock pot meals! Once your kids start napping more consistently you can plan to do crock pot meals during the morning nap. But I am not likely to try a bunch of new things when I am so busy, so if you have any crock pot recipes that you like please send them my way! I am going to start trying them!
Dinner time is already so crazy around here, so I am really excited about this idea!

Hop on Pop and "Hawk Ears"

I guess it is my turn to share a cute story about our kids and my lovely wife. Brooklyn and I share a nighttime routine of two books, then scriptures, then prayers, and then bed.



The other night it was time for the two books, and one of my responsibilities is to select Brooklyn's "choices." One of the choices I had chosen was "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. As Brooklyn looked over her choices, she touched "Hop on Pop" and said, "We can't do this one dad, because they hop on their pop and that isn't nice." I haven't been able to convince her to read that book with me since.

I was recently talking with a friend whose wife is expecting and we came upon the subject of "Pregnancy Brain" which can be loosely defined as the crazy things our pregnant wives do or say, that they wouldn't normally do or say (you all know what I am talking about).

Elena and I have noticed that Dallin has developed some sort of sixth sense, where he can tell when we are about to go to bed, or when we want to sleep in. This morning Elena got out of bed around 6:45 am to take some anti-nausea medication with every intention of returning to bed for some much needed sleep. Just as soon as she started to lay back down, we could hear Dallin starting to call for her "MAAAA." Elena turned to me and said..."Man, that boy has the ears of a hawk!" Hmmmm...and I always thought the phrase was the "eyes of a hawk."

The story might mean a night on the couch, but it was too funny to keep to myself.

A Few Things I love about my kids...

~Brooklyn bumped into the wall and said, "Mom, we need to get softer walls".

~Dallin filled Daddy's shoes with the tissues from the trash : ) (sorry dad)

~Dallin loves to pretend to sneeze.

~They cry when the other sibling has to take a nap...there goes their play mate.

~When Brooklyn sings Dallin songs to make him sleepy, but is sad when he is not asleep at the end of the song.

~Dallin yells "MAA" at Brooklyn and she gets upset because he is calling her mom.

~When Brooklyn gets so excited for Dallin when he learns a new sign or takes another step.

~When Dallin uses his signs and I know what he wants!

~When Daddy comes home! They are SO EXCITED!

~"Hop on Pop" time!

Dallin is Walking!

Well, it has finally happened! Dallin has started walking! He has been so stubborn! I knew he could do it, but he would sit down immediately anytime you would stand him up or try to coax him! Last week we put Brooklyn's Dress up Hat on him and he forgot about his stubbornness and took 4 steps! We had to trick him like that for a couple of days. Now he is finally learning he can do it! I am so excited!

Brandon's Attempt at a Post

I mostly wanted to try to put a slideshow on the blog. Here are some of my favorite pictures (or at least they were my favorite pictures a year ago):



I will add a little more to this post in a little bit.

More Pictures!

The Kiddos LOVE Corn!

Brandon's Ultimate Frisbee Team...Brooklyn the team bubble blower and mascotA few pictures I played with...Kat I wish I had your talent!