No complaints!

I've had many people ask me "How are you feeling?" This has got to be the most popular pregnancy question. I also get a lot of other questions..... about my back (I have scoliosis, which is painful enough by it's self let alone while pregnant!), about having the babies early (premature), about my stomach (I have diastasis recti, another thing that hurts enough when not pregnant), bed rest, and many other questions about other health problem I have but do not wish to share with the world.

Here is my answer to all questions......

I'M GREAT!

Is this a easy pregnancy? NO! Am I sore, tired and in pain EVERYDAY? YES! I really feel way too blessed to complain about any of these things!

I have two very healthy babies growing inside me. What a gift to be able to have children! What a gift to be able to feel these sweet babies moving around! I do not take these gifts for granted as I know not all can experience these things. So what's nine months of sickness, pain and permanent figure changes? REALLY? When you are receiving one of the greatest gifts! I thank my Heavenly Father for each painful pregnant day!!! Everyday I carry these babies is one more day they are growing healthy in me and one less day they could spend in the NICU. I have NO wish to have these babies early! I hear many pregnant women say "I'm SO done being pregnant!!!" This truly is a feeling all expecting moms feel. I have had a change of heart! You will Not hear those words uttered from my lips. I am bound and determined to enjoy this time I have, this gift!

June 17, 2010

31 weeks

This is a picture after my doctors appointment/ultrasound.

The babies are very healthy! Little girl is about 3lbs 8oz and little boy is 3lbs 6oz. They are each the healthy size of what a singleton (one baby) should be at this point, not at all small! Dr. told me to keep up the good work. Work it is!!! I have to eat ALL day long to get the nutrients we need. Some of you might be thinking that sounds like fun. Well, it's NOT!!! I'm not eating ice cream and doughnuts, I'm eating healthy, protein packed foods. I have to eat over 100 grams of protein a day. Just for fun look at something you normally eat during the day and see what the protein is per serving, you will be surprised. Things that are high in protein make you feel full longer, which is great if you are trying to loose weight or are not trying to eat as much as I have to. I have very little space for food because these babies have taken over, so I have to eat a little at a time till I reach my daily goal. Honestly I have to force feed myself most days. I've gained 30lbs so far and they want me to gain more. During doctor appointments they always measure your uterus to make sure it's growing properly to take care of your baby, or in my case babies. You are supposed to be one centimeter for every week pregnant you are. Now of course I'm supposed to measure bigger because I have two babies cooking. So any guesses at what I measured in at last week?

I measured in at...

42 centimeters!

That's right I officially have the body of a women who is past due and I still have two months to go! So imagine that feeling of being nine months pregnant......can you feel it? Now live like that for over three months!!! Not comfortable, but TOTALLY worth it!!! Who said pregnancy was supposed to be easy anyway? I feel bad for those who had to do this a long time ago! Crossing the plains, sleeping on rocks! I've got it easy!!!! A comfy bed and a T.V. What more can you ask for?

Ezra at 31 weeks

This is what Ezra has been up to lately...
Having a ball!


I love Granddad Great!
This is my Mom's dad. Unfortunately, Ezra really hasn't spent very much time with his grandad so far during his little life. My Granddad has been over a couple of times in the last week to see my mom and Ezra has fallen in love! My granddad doesn't like to push the kids into spending time with him. When we try and get the kids to say hi or give him a hug he always says "Don't bother them, let them come to me when they are ready!" It works....Ezra was begging him to hold him and play with him! In the picture above Ezra is cracking up at a funny game Granddad was playing with him. Ezra now asks for him and signs grandpa.

What's that I said? Granddad, visit my Mom?
YES!!!!
She's here....
Hallelujah she's here!
We are so blessed to have my mom staying with us right now as I need 24 hour help!

I come from a land down under!

Even though I did not eat a Vegemite sandwich, I think I got a pretty good taste of Australia!

We were able to spend three amazing weeks in Australia.......AUSTRALIA!!!! I still can hardly believe it! I have always had a fascination with Australia and I don't really know why. When I was thirteen I even did a school project about AU. I have always thought it would be an amazing place to visit but never thought I would be able to go there. It is expensive to fly there and once you get there it's expensive to stay! Last year my parents and three youngest sibling moved to Queensland, they live in town just outside of Brisbane. So now one of my Australia obstacles was gone, I had a place to stay! I also now wanted to go there even more because I wanted to see my family!!! Ryan and I had decided if we wanted to go now would be the time because Ezra was under two (you still pay for babies on international flights but it is "only" 10% of the cost of an adult ticket) and if we waited any longer we would be paying for another child......little did we know it would be TWO more little ones. Funny side note.....I said before that I thought from almost the very beginning that I was going to have twins. Before I booked the tickets I called the airline to see what the restrictions were for women pregnant with multiples.....TRUE STORY!.....I told you I knew. Anyways.....Back to the story. The timing was good and we had a place to stay but where do we get the money for the tickets? Tax return. I must say that we were very blessed to get a good tax return this year. We were able to back some of the money we owe (house stuff) and we were able to fund our trip to Australia! I KNOW that this blessing is a direct blessing from paying tithing! Always put the Lord first and he will bless you!!! So now that we had the money we had to "pull the trigger" and buy the tickets........I hate spending money! I am a saver. I have been since I was a young girl. I would to have LOVED to pay off more money that we owe or put the money into savings! Ryan is a "big spender" what can I say opposites attract. It is not uncommon for us to have a "fight" in the store that sounds like this....

Ryan: Just buy the shirt (or whatever it is that day)

Me: Oh, I don't know.....I don't want to spend money.

Ryan: JUST BUY IT!

So you would think I was spending a great deal of money by the way I hesitate, right? No, the shirt is probably about seven dollars. This is how much I don't like to spend money!

YES, I know I am making this a long story by all my little side notes but this is my journal and someday my great great grandchild might find this amusing!

I kept going back and forth about going....I couldn't bring myself to spend the money. Ryan finally said "WE ARE GOING!" Not in a mean way. He knew this was really important to me and that I would never spend the money on my own. We make a good team Ryan and I!

So we did it! Let me tell you.....IT WAS WORTH EVEY PENNY!!!!!

To start from the beginning of our Australia adventure please go back to the post titled

"Australia or BUST"

You might want to break up your reading because there are over 20 posts!!!! I've been working on this for weeks!

A LONG goodbye

May 21, 2010

The day we left Australia was a gray and gloomy rainy day. I must admit it mirrored my feeling that day!!! Leaving was SO hard! I'm not sure when I will see my family again and that was extremely trying for me. Yes, Australia is just a plane ride away. But it is a LONG and EXPENSIVE plane ride away! I envy those who's family members live in the states - not too close mind you, but in the states. You don't know how lucky you are!

At the Brisbane airport after they have gone through security and customs you can see your family members through a glass wall on the second floor. So my Mom waited to see us one last time. We waved goodbye and blew kisses as we headed down the terminal to catch our plane. Ryan changed Ezra's diaper and we took turns using the restrooms ourselves. As I was waiting I heard some say "Are you on the flight to LA?" "The plane is broken and they are sending one from Sydney, we have a five hour delay!" WHAT!!!!! Wait this isn't so bad because my Mom is still here because she has to wait for my Dad to get off work and pick her up, we can hang out with her a little longer! WRONG!!!! Once you go through customs you can't go back out. I found my Mom, got her attention and told her, well mimed to her what was going on. I had Ezra's airplane blanket and I pointed to the plane then acted out broken (I'm sure the fact that my plane was broken completely freaked my Mom out) as I also mouthed the words. I'm sure it was quite comical to those around us! The viewing window is on the story above the terminal so I'm looking up and she's looking down. Finally we got wise and pulled out paper! My mom had brought stuff to work on while she was waiting and it just so happened that she had these big notepads. I on the other hand had a pen but no paper. So I resorted to Subway napkins!

here are some of our notes....

"At least we are not dead" This came from me trying to look at the bright side of a five hour layover. I was glad they found the problem with the plane BEFORE we got on it! "Sydney" I was telling her they were sending a plane from Sydney. We could mouth some things but others we could get so that's were are lovely note cards came into play. "Something to blog about" This was me once again looking on the bright side of life, saying that this would be a funny story to blog. "I love you & Goodbye" No explanation needed!

Top left: is when Dad got to the airport. Top middle: is Mom being cute. Top right: is Ezra eating homemade cheese crackers my Mom made and cheese she sent for him. Bottom left: one of the signs. Bottom middle: Mom & Dad. Bottom right: Mom sharpening her pencil.

Being able to see my parents but not really able to talk or be close to them was horrible! They were so close but so far away. It made for a LONG sad goodbye.

Because of the delay the airline gave us vouchers to eat at the food court. For some reason they gave us four $16 vouchers. So we had $64 to eat. The catch is you don't get change for the voucher so you have to figure out the best way to spend the "money". Our first stop The Red Rooster. The crazy thing is we had been wanting to try this place out but had never gotten around to it until we got to the airport.......right before we went through customs. So we payed for it ten minutes before we got some for free. One of the things we got was chips and gravy. Ezra liked the gravy so much that he dipped everything in it.......including his fists!

Our second "meal"
These ice cream bars looked really good but like I said before we had to use one whole voucher at a time or loose it. So we got two ice cream bars and some drinks for later.

I do not have a photo of our third meal is not but we got some subway to take on the plane. Yes, we used our voucher to the fullest!!!

After a LONG delay of miming and eating it was finally time to say......

to Australia!

Now for the plane ride home......
We did not want to have the same experience we had one the way over so we resorted to give Ezra something to help him sleep. Several people in Australia recommended the same product so we thought we would try it. We gave Ezra some the night before to make sure he wouldn't have any problems and he was fine. We had only tried a half dose. On the plane we gave a whole dose........BIG MISTAKE! Ezra was nice and drowsy but he had nightmares and would wake up every twenty minutes fussing and or shaking.....poor guy!!!

So after a long flight we made it to LA. Then we had to drive the rest of the way home. There was problems getting a connecting flight to Vegas so it just ended up working better to rent a car and drive the rest of the way. All of this would have gone A LOT better if ONE: We got sleep on the plane and TWO: if we would have arrived in LA at our original time. Because of the five hour difference in time we then hit LA TRAFFIC! Our car trip was long and Ryan was doing it on NO sleep. Over THIRTY HOURS of no sleep!!!

Thankfully we made it home safely worn and weary but with AMAZING memories that we will NEVER forget!!!

Last Night

Our last night in Australia was spent at home hanging out with the family.

Here are a few of the highlights....

Bethany made us a delicious Australian Or New Zealand (there is some controversy) desert called Pavlova. It is was created in honor of and named after the famous Russian ballerina Anne Pavlova. It has a meringue bottom, cream, then fruit. SO GOOD!

Dad tried out our new didgeridoo.

Ezra had fun playing with everyone!

Ezra hanging out with Grandma & Grandpa.

My favorite picture of the night! Ezra and grandpa playing.

That night I also got a blessing from my Dad. At church a few weeks before our trip I taught my girls about a Father's Blessing. It got me thinking, it had been a long time since I had a had a blessing from my Dad! Not because he doesn't care about me or vice versa, I just have a husband who gives me blessings now. I felt it was time to once again have a blessing from my Dad. I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to ask him, and that he was willing!

Dad

May 20, 2010

My Dad leaves for work early and comes home late so we didn't get to see him very much. We were grateful to have the weekends to hangout with him! We wanted to spend a little more time with him before leaving so we meet him at his office for lunch.

Me, Dad & Bethany

Bethany skipped school to hangout with us on our last day.

We got three large pizzas (which are smaller than an American medium) some drinks and headed to a nearby park. It was fun to just to spend time with my Dad!!! This is something I took for granted for too many years!

I should mention that Dad gave up an office lunch at THE FLYING NUN to hang out with us and eat tiny pizzas.....that's true love!
I love you Dad!!!

What about MOM?

So you might be thinking gosh this girl must not like her Mom very much. We haven't heard much about her! So here's is why you haven't heard much about mom.....

First my Dad left several months before my Mom did so I haven't seen him as recently and second....three weeks after we get home my Mom is coming to stay with us for three months to help us before and after the babies come. So there will be plenty of Mom time!

I do have to say thank you Mom for EVERYTHING.......meals, taking care of Ezra, taking care of me and just being there.

My mom was in the background of EVERYTHING we did on the trip. Either she was with us helping with Ezra or at home taking care of him while we were out.

Thank you Mom, I love you!!!

Just the two of us.......or should I say four of us?

May 19, 2010

Ryan and I spent the day together at Surfers Paradise. It was wonderful to have some alone time, as we soon will have NONE!

We had a great time at the beach playing in the waves. I was laughing SO hard the whole time! The waves kept knocking me down and I was just cracking up, which got Ryan laughing too. It felt so good to just let go of everything and laugh!!! It was so nice to reconnect with my amazing husband!
P.S. I LOVE YOU RYAN!!!

So now a little story about......ME.....and the lady who made my day!

Ryan and I were packing up and heading for some lunch when this lady came up to me and asked if she could talk to me. I said "Yes." She then said, "I am old enough to be your mother. I have got to tell you, you are the most beautiful pregnant women I have ever seen! I am very close to God and you are special." She said a few other really nice things as well. She told me all of this while in a half hug. When I told her I was having twins she was almost beside herself with joy. After we said our goodbye I told Ryan what she had said. He said, "Did you tell her you love her?" It's a joke that whenever I get a complement I tell the person I love them. Well I didn't tell her then but I will tell her now......Dear random lady at the beach, I love you!

So after falling in love with my husband again......and unexpectedly with a random lady at the beach it was time for lunch. We headed down to the mall, only a short walk/ride.

Top left picture is Ryan looking very regal while sitting on a wooden crocodile at a gift shop. Bottom left The AuqaDuck, a tour bus in shape of a duck. Bottom right me trying chips and gravy. Chips, fries to us Americans, and gravy is very big in Australia! We had to try it before we leaving. It was yummy! We eat mashed potatoes and gravy so I guess it's really not that strange, it's all apart of the potato family, right? The top right picture is in front of the Ripley's Believe it or not museum. The figures danced and "sang" along to the music playing. Well I guess they didn't want to spend too much time programing them so they only sang three songs.....over.....and.....over. This was right across from the cafe we had lunch at,which had outdoor seating, so we heard a lifetimes worth of "Poker face", "Numa Numa" and "Boom Boom Pow".

As we were leaving the mall we saw the coolest thing (which would not show up in picture, so it's not posted). The mall walk way leads straight to the beach and the Surfers Paradise sign. As we headed toward the sign a rainbow appeared in the sky ending at the Surfers Paradise sign! Awesome!!!

Ryan's trip & girls dinner

May 18, 2010

At Camp Doo Doo we worked on more than one didgeridoo. There was one didg that we worked really hard on. Ryan barked the whole thing by himself and we both did some of the wood burning. The next morning my Mom was talking to me about that didg. She asked me if I thought Ryan would want it since he had done so much work on it. Indeed Ryan was attached to it. I told him if it was important to him he should go back and buy it. Ryan called Darren and set up a time to go get the didg. I called it saving his baby! when Ryan came home that night he had a different didg. I asked him what happened. It turns out that that didg he had put so much of his love into making sounded horrible. You see, you can't tell what the didg will sound like until it is all done. So you can put hours of work into a didg that ends up sounding terrible. Darren suggested Ryan try out some other didgs to see if there was one that would he a better fit. Ryan tried several and then.....Magic....Ryan explained that the experience was like when Harry Potter went to Ollivander's in diagon ally for the first time to choose his magic wand. Sparks flew and Ryan had found his match.

On the way back from Kenilsworth, where camp doo doo is located, Ryan stopped at this rain forest reserve. He was all by himself in the forest which, with all of the little animals scurrying around can sometimes seem a little too much like a scene from Texas chain saw massacre then a relaxing little hike. But, the pictures are beautiful.

The boys were out on a walk so it was just us girls at the dinner table so we thought it would be fun to make it a fancy dinner aka regular dinner with candles and sparkling cider.


We had fun having girl talk and laughing!

Maccas

Maccas...... what's that?

Mc Donalds!

One thing you've got to know about the Aussies is they had a nickname for EVERYTHING! When you live the laidback lifestyle they do you can't spend all your time saying such long words. Here are a couple abbreviations....... ta (thank you), brecky (breakfast)

After a long day of hard work and fun at Camp Doo Doo we were starving! Like I said previously things close early for the most part in Australia, so it was hard to find somewhere open to eat. Well, what is open everywhere all the time? Mc Donalds of course. Now I don't usually eat at Mc Donalds. My one exception is their ice cream....I love it!

So here is Ezra at Mc Donals for the first time.

Look at that face! Look impressed much?

Ezra definitely prefers In-In-Out!

DIDGERIDOO!!!!

May 17, 2010

I have got to say that this was one of the highlights of our whole trip!
We made our own didgeridoo!

Eumundi Didgeridoo camp is AMAZING!!!! The camp is run by a really awesome guy named Darren. The shop, where you make the didgeridoo is in the backyard of his house, and it's just CHILL! Take a nap, play pool, whatever you want...Awesome!!!

In these pictures we are choosing are piece of wood to make our didg.I really liked the very natural look and wanted a piece with a root.

My choice!

I just like this picture!

Darren put Ryan right to work.

These young adults are WWOOFing. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. This is something that started in the UK. The gist is that these kids backpack around the country. In each city they find someone who will let them stay. WWOOFers pay for their room and board by doing five hours of work for their host.

Darren found these two love birds late one night and took them in. That day their job was to paint the house. It's a win win situation for everyone.

Ezra had a BLAST!
It was heaven for a little boy. The middle picture is him playing in a sandbox. The bottom picture is him playing a didg aka a piece of scrap wood. He used everything that day as a didgeridoo and is still doing the same today. He will pick something up hold it to his mouth and say do do didg do. Top picture is Darren, Ryan and Ezra just having fun.

Lots of work goes into making a didgeridoo!

First: You bark it- This is done by hand taking a wood tool and sliding down the wood over and over until all the bark and outer layers are removed.

Second: You sand it- This is done with an electric sander. You work over the wood until it is all smooth.

Third: You carve it- By hand or with electric tools.

Fourth: Wood burning- burn in any wanted designs

Fifth: The wood is sealed and treated to make sure any bugs that could still be living in it are killed.

Sixth: Varnish

Seventh: Dry

As you can tell it takes hours of work!

Ryan barking/blisters from barking

It takes lots of muscle! He is showing off his blister in the pictures.

I like this shadow picture of Ryan barking.

This is where you can just CHILL!

A huge open room right of the shop with about six couches, a drum set, piano, hot tub, hammocks, punching bags, pool table and more.

Top left: The view from Darren's yard, beautiful! Top right: Carved sign. Middle: The Camp Doo Doo bus. It with one day be full of bunk beds. Bottom left: Ezra sitting on the back porch playing the didg. Bottom right: Once again the view.

Ryan & I wood burning

I really, really enjoyed wood burning! It was quite relaxing.

Finished!!!

Shipwreck & Fancy Dinner

May 16, 2010

After church the boy decided to go on a little walk to see a shipwreck. This is a ship they transplanted to the beach. Ryan said it was neat and Ezra had a good time.

Ezra making himself right at home.



In December for my parents anniversary Bethany, Alan and Andrew set up a fancy dinner for my parents on the patio. The kids were dying to do the same thing for us and of course we obliged. We were sent into the exercise room (right next to my parents flat) to wait while they got ready. As we headed out the door I asked if I could get a cushion on my seat and Bethany said I would have to call and put it in my reservation. So I picked up my phone (my hand) and called her. At that point I named the restaurant The Elizabeth House. I named it after Bethany, her middle name is Elizabeth. By the way isn't she totally gorgeous!?! Our lovely waiter Bob (Andrew) came to get us and tell us our table was ready. See the towel over his arm...too cute!


These are some funny kids!!! Bethany played the role of our sassy waitress. She asked us if we were from America because she she detected a bit of an accent. We told her we were from Canada and we were very offended by people thinking we were Americans. This was not the only witty banter. Let me set the stage....The kids wanted to keep Ezra inside so we could enjoy our nice dinner but Ezra had different plans. He ended up walking in and out of the house throughout dinner. The kids trying to keep the element of surprise were trying to keep the drapes closed as much as possible. At one point Ezra was playing in the curtains and Andrew said out of nowhere, "Pay no attention to the baby behind the curtain." Like from the wizard of OZ. We were all dying of laughter!!! We had a wonderful eating, talking and laughing!


Thank you Bethany, Alan and Andrew for a great night!!!

The Sea Way & Sufers Paradise

May 15, 2010

At the Sea Way I tried snorkeling for the first time! It didn't go very well for me because one, I couldn't kick very well because of the belly...two the waves kept pushing me toward the rocks and like I said I had a hard time kicking...three I didn't have the breath support to blow the water out of the snorkel very well. I can't wait to try it again when I'm not pregnant!

The Sea Way


Ryan was laying out relaxing.....Ezra thought he might enjoy a little a sand on his face....how thoughtful!

Suffers Paradise is a pretty famous place. Of course we had to get a picture of the sign! If we didn't it would be like coming to Vegas and not getting a picture with the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign (something we have never done)

Dad, Me and Andrew

My boys

Suffers Paradise is beautiful, and, of course, the waves are great!

Random Phone Photos

These photos are not the best quality because they are taken from my phone but I still wanted to post them.

Ezra working out
This is what Ezra was doing while we were waiting to be seated for our fancy dinner put on by the kids.

One cute little man after a shower.


Do you know what this is? This is how you flush the toilet. The half triangle is for "number one" and the whole triangle is for "number two" it's for water conservation. Cool! Australia is really into conserving energy in general.


Here is another example.


All the outlets have a switches so when you are not using the outlet you turn the switch off and the power completely shuts off to that outlet. I SO wish we had this! Did you know that appliances still draw energy when they are plugged in and not in use? Aussies have figured out that you can save 50% or more on your power by unplugging, or turning power off to, appliances not in use.

We passed this a couple of times but I couldn't get a picture. Ryan stopped and got one for me. Thank you!

Ezra & Andrew

Peek-a-boo!

Ezra kept standing right in front of the T.V. so my Mom pulled out this little mat to try and get him to stay back.....brilliant! How cute is he!!!

Andrew is in percussion at school and he gets to play may different instruments. This particular week he had the xylophone. Ezra had a ball playing.

Some Australian money