chocolate lovrz

Hello Again
Wow, a lot has happened since my last blog entry almost two years ago. I do not even know
where to begin. I have felt impressed lately to be more vigilant in writing blog entries. I am
going to try to write an entry at least once a week and will try to begin sharing my thoughts on
more personal subjects. If it is not something that interests you please feel free to just skip over
it.

The biggest change in our lives over the past year has been the birth of our twin boys. Yes, that
is right I did say TWIN boys. As you can imagine our lives have been flipped upside down in
ways that we never thought could be possible. With the twin gene running in my family I always
knew that there was a small chance that we could have twins but never really imagined it would
actually happen. In fact, my OB did not even notice signs of twins until I was 20 weeks along
and he was looking for it. On the day I found out there was a possibility that I could be caring
twins I told my husband that I would be ok with twins as long as it was not twin boys. Ha Ha.
Sure enough two boys and boy are they different in every way possible. But we sure love them
to death and could not imagine life without them now (ok, who am I kidding, I long for a vacation
with just me and my husband which I am afraid we will not get for a very long time). I know that
these two boys belong in our family and they have been such a blessing in our lives. Many of
my blog entries will be about our journey in raising these two munchkins. It is a journey that we
never dreamed we would be taking but here we are already almost a year gone. I can honestly
say that the past year has been the hardest year of my entire life and we have had some rough
years. I am told that the first year is the hardest so hopefully it will just get better from here. My
husband works with a man that had twins a few years back and apparently had a few phone
calls from social workers. I can proudly say that we have made it through this year without any
calls from social workers and the boys are healthy and growing. Not to say that there were not
times that I felt my feet could not carry on and I just wanted to die inside. It was in those
moments that I could feel someone watching out for me and lift me up to keep on keeping on.
My sweet Grandmother had two sets of twins and in her words, "sometimes you just do it
because you have to". But I know that I have not been alone. I have made a pledge to myself
that if ever I am in a position to render some kind of help to a mother of multiples that I will not
hesitate to just knock in the door and ask, "what can I do?" So here is an update on my sweet
family.

A Family Meant To Be. . .
Kyler
The youngest by only one minute, Kyler is my little black sheep. My only brown eyed child with a
body built to be a football player. He is solid, not just in stature but also in strength and
persistence. He knows what he wants and goes after it. He is very active and can move
quickly. Walking already at ten months and into everything he can get his hands on. But boy do
his dimples melt my heart.

Kade
The older of the twins but definitely smaller than his brother. He looks a lot like his other
siblings. So very different in temperament. Kade is content with just crawling and has no desire
to walk or run. He tries to figure out how things work and how they go together and will sit for a
while just trying to fit pieces together. Loves everyone and is so happy. He will smile your
troubles away and gives the best open mouth kisses. With Kyler's strength and Kade's brains, I
am afraid that these two will get into more trouble than I can even imagine.

Cody
Struggling a little to find a sense of self worth as the birth of his brothers has thrown him for a
loop. He is still not sure how he fits into this family but he sure loves his brothers and can make
them laugh harder than anyone else. He is in Kindergarten now and seems to be doing well in
everything but writing. We fight over homework every night but not because it is too hard, in
fact I am not even sure what it is. He does not like homework. We are in search of an activity
that he can really enjoy and be passionate about. We will be trying swimming next. He can
really be a sweet loving boy and treats everyone so kind.

Hallie Jo
Can not believe she will be ten this year. I do not know if I could have made it through this past
year without her. She will just step in and take over caring for one of her three brothers when
she sees that I need help. She sure wanted a sister and cried with me when she found out the
twins were boys but she adores them. She has been a much happier girl not doing competitive
gymnastics and just doing classes although I think she would gladly quit gymnastics altogether if
I would let her. She has found a passion in ballet and is really starting to excel. What a gem
she is.

Hal and I
A few months before we were expecting our babies, Hal decided to find a new job. The hours he was working at his old job were insane and I do not think we could have made it through the last year if he was still working there. He now works in Alpine with only a 15 minute commute and can come home to help me at night and even when I am desperate. Looking back, I know that him getting a different job was inspiration. I am still trying to find balance in raising my family and coaching gymnastics as well. It has sure been a struggle for me but whenever I pray about making a change I always get the feeling that I need to just Keep On Keeping On for now. I am wearing down and burning out but somehow I still make it through every day and at the end of each day can say that my home is a happy home and my family is healthy. My dad continues to struggle with his cancer and is at a point where the insurance will not approve any further transplants, which is the last option he has. If he can not get into a trial then it will only be a matter of time before his cancer cells mutate and there will be no other treatments they can do. This makes me very sad. I love my dad so much.

A few more fun pics. . .