What I Love About My Hubby After 5 Years of Marriage

• How he took care of me, loved me & helped me fight cancer, fertility issues, 14 weeks of bedrest & post c-section surgery



• I still get flowers for no reason



• His love for cookies- it's really funny



• Our mutual love for wine (AND food!!)



• How much fun we have on vacation together (and that he throws his frugalness out the window & just wants to have a great time!)



• His graying hair than he teases is being caused by me! (And now the other 2 women in the house. lol)



• What an INCREDIBLE father he is. He stepped in from moment one & will do anything.



• How freely gives me my alone time or time with w/ my girlfriends.



• How hard he works so I can be a Stay-At-Home-Mom



• His beautiful blue eyes



• How much he loves his daughters



• How together we made it through the 1st few months of taking care of twinfants!



• His daily phone call to check in & make sure S&S aren't ganging up on me too bad

There's so many more but I'll leave it at that. I'm blessed for so many reasons but one of the biggest is that this wonderful man chose ME to spend his life with. Happy 5 Year Anniversary, Baby!

Video of Daddy making Sara giggle

Daddy & his Girls

Golden Gate, Here We Come!!!!

We're so excited cuz it's our 5 year anniversary on Saturday & we're going to San Francisco!! It's such a special place for us since we fell in love there & we've missed it so much, as we haven't been in 3 years. We're even driving out to Napa on Saturday!! It's suppose to be sunny & 65 degrees- what could be better than that?! Mom & Dad are sweet enough to watch the girls for the weekend. What would we do without them? (I guess nothing!!! haha)

So, I finally got another video of Siena crawling (albeit short), but it's only fair she's on here too! She does the army-crawl version, but it still gets her everywhere she wants to go!

Okay, so I already have another funny video to share. I gave the girls chicken for the 1st time & it did not go over well. Lol Sara is my really good eater & so far has only not liked avocados (weird like her Daddy) but she seems to also HATE chicken. Don't think Siena is too fond of it either. It was from a jar so I'm hoping she'll change her mind & I won't have to start making that too!! (Although, I don't blame her. Ewww....) I'm having a hard time downloading this also, so I'll attach a link instead. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8VLw2VJnCE

Its a New Year and a Very Happy One At That!!

I'm so grateful for the year 2008. Despite how scary it started- only being 20 weeks pregnant, 4 trips to the hospital & 14 weeks of bedrest, every minute was worth it cuz our girls are now with us, happy & healthy. And now, 2009? We've got 2 crawling healthy babies that have brightened my world. :-0 I knew this day would come, but it feels like it came so fast. Sara started crawling the week before X-Mas. Fortunately, she didn't realize just how far she could go & would only go a couple feet, then sit back up. I was so happy we didn't have to worry about the X-Mas tree & presents. Now? It's a different story. She wants to go everywhere!! (Who can blame her, huh?) And to top it off, Siena is now army-crawling & w/in days, can scoot all over the place. We're in the process of baby-proofing the living room & it's been a huge pain. It's a very small room & oddly shaped. We even moved our coffee table into the garage to give them more room. So, I've ordered what we need, but in the meantime, I'm having to chase them all over. They've got a ton of toys to play with, but of course they want everything they're not suppose to have! lol It's so fun watching them learn new things, although I find myself so sad at how fast they're growing. They're finally in 9 month clothes & I cried a little when I packed up all the 6 month stuff.

Other good news is that Siena is doing great at Physical Therapy & may only have to go 2 more times. We'll see how she's doing at her appt. next week, but I'm SO proud of her & how far she's come. My frail little 4 lb. 4 oz'r w/ a heart monitor is now a chubby, very smiley (and whiney! lol) crawler!! :-)

Here's the girls whoopin it up New Years style. (Siena was not happy Sara got the champagne!)

So she took it from her!!

Siena- Daddy was not happy about this bit of exibitionism. haha

Sara trying to pull up on everything. She even got herself into the splits & couldn't get out of them!

Here's a couple videos to document their new milestones. Wishing all of you a very happy & healthy New Year.

Sara

I'm having trouble uploading Siena crawling so I threw in a funny one for now. ;-) (It's only the beginning!!)

Merry Christmas AND Happy 8 Month Birthday!!

It's been a BUSY, yet mostly wonderful, couple weeks. I cannot believe the girls are 8 months old. It makes me sooo sad how fast time is going but I am loving each & every new thing they do each day. (Especially the big smiles & giggles!)

1st off, let me tell about the worst part of our holiday. The night before X-Mas Eve, we had fed the girls & were changing them to put them to bed. I was changing Sara & she started gasping for air & couldn't breathe. She also choked a little & gagged in between gasps. My instant reaction was to start patting her on the back in case she was choking (which is what you're not suppose to do according to the Infant CPR training we took that I apparently forgot!). After what seemed like forever, Jeff told me to call 911. Despite her gasping, she was acting pretty normal. As I went outside to look for the firemen & direct them to our place, I could hear the fire engine sirens coming from the station. It was then that I panicked- they were coming to MY house for MY daughter! I was terrified. 6 firemen/paramedics came in & assessed her. Fortunately, she had begun breathing normally again so they just watched her for a while. We think she may have gotten an air bubble caught in her windpipe. The men were all Dads & thought the girls were so cute & were amazed at how mellow they both were. They both were just staring at all of them & I laughed & said "They must already like boys." Thank God she's been fine ever since & I pray we never have to make that phone call again. Ever!!

On Christmas Eve, Jeff's sister Cherie & her hubby Keith came down & we had a great time as always. The girls love them & it was so nice to stay home for the 1st time in 7 years. Here's some pics:

Poor Jeff's outnumbered!! hee hee

Their favorite part of their presents

Miss Sara showin off two of her SEVEN teeth!!

Siena loving playing with the box

Me & My Girls

Uncle Keith & Siena

Auntie Cherie & Sara

Christmas Day was wonderful. The girls (and us!) were spoiled rotten by their Aunt, Uncle & Grandpa. (I'm sure one day they'll love all the toys & books they got & not just the bows & boxes they came in.) After opening presents at home, we went to my parents & had our traditional breakfast. My Mom makes THE best egg casserole. Who am I kidding- it's mainly cheese!! :-) She also made a new one this year & everyone loved it! Jake & Josh helped me pass out the presents & although we "cut back" this year, there still seemed like a ton since there were 2 more kids in the family! My Grandma & Aunt came for the 1st time in about 4 years & it was wonderful having them there. My Grandma will be 90 this March & she was beyond thrilled to spend X-Mas with her children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren. It was such a special day for everyone & I count my blessing every day to be a part of such an incredible family. More pics:

My cuties

The 2 other most important men in my life

The 2 youngest most important men in my life

My sweet Grandma. She's always laughing!

Jake LOVES the girls. He's always wanting to hold them, kiss them & talk to them.

Sara with her stocking

Siena not to happy during stocking time. (Maybe cuz she knew about the crap Grandpa picks out! lol)

Siena lovin her Grandma

My Aunt sures knows a lot about kids- she had SEVEN!!

And I forgot!!! The biggest news is that Sara is now crawling! Boy, are we in for it. ;-) I'll post a video soon, but I'm exhausted & need some sleep. Wishing you all a Happy New Year & thanks for readin. Xoxo

Early Christmas Presents!

S&S can hold their own bottles!!! This is our 2nd favorite milestone next to sleeping thru the night. (You were so right Kyrstyn!) They still need a bit of assistance cuz they don't get that they have to tilt it up to get more but they're getting better all the time. It helps us so much- especially when we're feeding them alone. Today I gave them their bottles in their highchairs & went to the kitchen & washed a couple dishes! It's sooo nice!! Pic from today:

It's been really busy lately. During my free time, I've been baking a ton, X-Mas shopping, wrapping, decorating, cooking dinner, making baby food & not to mention taking care of 2 very busy babies. They are getting so big so fast. Siena has 2 teeth now, Sara has 4 & #5 is about to pop through. Sara is now able to get up to a sitting position very easily. When I lay her down on the ground or in her crib, she pops right up! Now that she has a different view of the world, she's lovin it. Here's how I found her last week 2 minutes after I put her to bed.

"Weeeeee!!!"

She's also not quite "crawling" but she can get sure get where she wants to go. It's so cute, but boy does she wanna cause trouble now! lol Here she is trying to get to a toy & not really caring what (or WHO!) is in her way!

Siena is such a little cutie. She loves to talk. After we feed them at 6am (after them sleeping since 7pm! :-) Don't hate me people!), we put them back to bed. Siena just lays in her crib & talks away. Most of the time she falls back to sleep for a little bit (thank God for me), but she's so good about letting Mommy sleep a little more. Like I said- most of the time. Her little high pitch squeels are a little hard to ignore when she's right down the hall. lol It's adorable. Here's a cute one of her & those gorgeous eyes!!

I also have to include our 1st X-Mas card & my favorite outtakes.

The Final Product

Poor Siena toppled over.

They were "done" with their photo session.

More soon..... Have a good rest of your week!

The Girls Havin Fun!

Here's a couple videos of the girls playin.

Sara- she loves to bang things around, hence her new nickname "Brutus" from her Aunt Cherie. (You can hear Siena in the background with her high-pitched squeeling. This is part of her "talking" when she's in a good mood.)

Siena- she loves to jump!

Our Thanksgiving Weekend......

was so nice. We were so worried how the girls would be on their 1st roadtrip & they were perfect! Not one peep out of them the whole way there. I did climb in back once to hang out with them a bit, but other than that, I got to relax & read magazines, which I haven't done in hmmm.... 7 months??? ;-) We brought the girls to meet their Great Grandma Evelyn & they definitely brought a smile to her face. We also went over to visit an old family friend, Doris. She's 92 yrs. old & used to take care of Jeff's Mom & her twin brother. She was thrilled to meet the "new twins". She's a sweet, feisty woman & I just loved her! Here's a couple pics:

Jeff's Grandma

Sweet Doris

We had a nice day on Thanksgiving. Jeff got to play his annual football game with his buddies. (It's kinda funny when he always comes home whining about how sore he is. hee hee) We sat around the rest of the day eating, drinking, & plain 'ol relaxing. And a special thanks to Marie for dinner. Marie Callender's, that is. lol (You didn't think I was gonna cook dinner with 2- 7 month olds, did you?!)

Auntie Cherie playing w/her nieces. (And no, Cherie, you cannot have me arrested for posting this picture. ;-) )

Grandpa helpin out feeding the girls

About to begin the feast....

What I was hoping would be our new family pic. Eh- don't love.

Then, on Saturday, we celebrated again with my family. It was a beautiful day so we relaxed outside while we snacked & Dad & I had his famous margies. Scott was a bit late cuz he was buying his new car! I had to stop & think how blessed we are- the economy is terrible & within a couple months, my Mom, brother AND I all got new cars. :-) Dinner was great, as always, and we played a few games before going home. I hope all of you reading had a wonderful weekend as well.

The Incredible Patriarchs

My Baby & Me

Uncle Scott with Siena

Jeff & Sleepy Sara before bed (I love the way she curls he finger around her nose when she sucks her thumb.)