The Birth Story

Our little Joelle is here and she gets cuter every day. Since I just got home from the hospital last night we decided to celebrate Christmas today so i could be there when the boys wake up. They had a great day and we are all so happy to be together as a family.
Here is the story of how we got our little Christmas Eve baby.
Friday morning i woke up with a little bleeding. I called the Dr and went into Labor and Delivery so they could check me. They hooked me up to a non-stress test and in the 40 min they were monitoring me i had only 3 mild contractions. When the Dr checked me I was only dilated to a "loose 2", so she stripped my membranes and sent me home. About an hour later I noticed some cramping and decided that it was to be expected after having my membrane stripped. Joe had to go into work from 1-5 that day, so i just tried to take a nap and hopefully I'd feel better when i woke up. The cramping started coming in intervals anywhere from 7-20 minutes apart and I couldn't sleep. When Joe got home I had him time the contractions and they started getting pretty regular at about 6 minutes apart. When I called my Dr she said to come in when they are 5 minutes apart or the contractions are too strong to walk or talk through. From 4:30 when Joe got home until about 11 they didn't get any closer together but they did start to get stronger. Finally at midnight we called our amazing lifesaver friend Tawnya Rasmussen to come and stay with the boys so we could go in. I had only had contractions 5 minutes apart for about 20 minutes, but they were getting really strong so i went in. In the 10 minutes time it took to get to the hospital and get hooked back up to the non-stress test my contractions were 2 minutes apart, lasting a minute long, and quite miserable. Very miserable. Every time i had one I thought I was going to throw up, but the nurse said I was only at an "almost 3" and since I wasn't progressing, they weren't going to admit me yet. I didn't think I could handle waiting any longer. I begged the nurse to take me to labor and delivery, and she looked at me and said "this is your first delivery isn't it?" I was devastated that she had decided that I could just deal with the pain because apparently being at a 3 meant that my contractions weren't very painful. About 2 minutes later my water broke and I was SO relieved. I made joe run and tell the nurse and she said i could be admitted. She had me walk to the delivery room and I was really annoyed that they didn't rush me there in a wheelchair, but i was in too much pain to say anything. I had to stop every time i had a contraction. Finally they got the process started and I had my epidural in and working around 2:15. The nurse told me to sleep while my labor progressed so I tried, but I was shaking so violently that I couldn't sleep. I honestly didn't mind the shaking or itching, but after an hour and a half the Dr came in to put in an internal monitor since my shaking was making the contractions hard to see. When she came in I had progressed to an 8! I wanted to rub in in the nurse's face a little that my labor really WAS hard and painful and her lack of urgency was a mistake. But i didn't. She told me to try to take a short nap until I was fully dilated (of course I knew I wouldn't be able to). About 10 minutes later I was feeling a LOT of pressure so i told Joe to inform the nurse. When she came in she said i was ready to push! I still can't believe how quickly my labor progressed. I'm so glad I had that epidural. I pushed for just under a half hour and Joelle Marie Whitehead was born at 5:14 am. She was 7lbs 8 oz and had lots of dark hair.

I love her so much. Its so different having just one. I get to just cuddle her and hold her and smell her head and touch her hair as long as I want without any tubes or wires or nurses or guilt that I'm ignoring anyone else. The boys love her too, and Joe is the most adorable dad ever. He's been so good juggling the boys, and helping me and loving Joelle. Its good to be home.

preggo belly part 2

By popular demand: its the belly Notice the line above my belly button from my maternity pants I was wearing earlier?

Ya, everything i wear is too tight and leaves indents.

Preggo Picture

So this is me at 38 weeks...and one day. Every day counts so I had to add that one in there. Yes I am wearing scrubs that Joe "borrowed" from the University Hospital during his 3rd yr surgery rotation-thanks for asking. They are one of the few pants that aren't uncomfortably tight on me.I also took a couple bare-belly pictures. Personally I wouldn't care if I posted them, but I know it grosses some people out. Including my husband. What is your take? It IS my personal blog and not my facebook. On the other hand, this is not a private blog. Meh, if I get a bunch of requests I'll post it, otherwise i won't worry about it.

This is a true testament to how much my boys love to dress up. On the day we got our Christmas stuff out, Ethan snagged some stockings and a Santa hat to wear around the house. They still wear their Halloween costumes most days, so this was a fun change of pace. As annoying as it can be to help them into their costumes almost every day, its so cute to hear them refer to each other by their character. They run around the house saying "Mario, come play trains!" or "Hey Luigi, chase me!" I absolutely have to play along or I'll get corrected. I'll say "what's wrong? Did Noah hit?" and I'll get the answer "No, Woody hit me." I will, of course, have to call for Woody and send him to timeout. (woody was last year's costume).

Joe has his last day before Christmas break tomorrow. After that, this baby has my official permission to come join us. What do you think my chances are that I'll conveniently be a week and a half early? I'm trying to be positive and proactive. I've been eating spicy food-despite my constant heartburn. I got out the exercise ball to bounce around on. I've tried pressure points. I've tried other things... ya, this blog isn't private so I won't get into it. Anyway, this baby needs to come out soon. I'm hoping sheer willpower and determination on my end will make it happen. You can laugh at me later, but for now, don't mess with the crazy pregnancy thought process. Wish me luck!

ethan and noah nativity

Last night was our ward Christmas party, and the sunbeams put on a nativity for everyone. The video is kinda long, so this is mostly for grandma's and parents. Ethan is Joseph, and his friend Jane Summers is Mary. Evelyn Keyes is the angel, and Noah, Jake Dougherty, Spencer Rasmussen, and Ben Grout are shepherds. I am the giant pregnant lady holding the mic, and Joe is the weird guy who occasionally pops out from behind the stable to corral the kids. Enjoy!

Boys Playing, and Joe Playing

This is what the boys have been up to lately: Building "tunnels". This is a fort we made out of blankets on their bunk beds. They loved it! I find that if I want the boys to actually sleep for nap time i have to bribe them with something fun when they wake up-but only if they take a good nap. This is one of those bribes. Building a tunnel.

Another bribe is playing in the leaves.

They sure are cute. They loved jumping in the giant pile of leaves out front and were supremely disappointed when the city came by to suck up all the leaves.

Here is Joe's project from Saturday. As you can see below, we have an awkward nook in the boys room. Its good for nothing, so yesterday Joe spent all day turning it into...

....This. A built in shelf. Now the boys have a place in their room for their books, hamper, and some toys. While Joe was hammering away I took the opportunity to reupholster the rocking ottoman. It was a cream color with LOTS of stains on it from the boys. We use it as a time-out chair. I also moved the boys recently repainted letters into their room. I think it looks so much better, and now it can be more organized too. Good job Joe!

Better quality video from the previous post.

Surprise from Joe

Last night while I was at a baby shower Joe was putting together a surprise for me-and the boys helped.




While watching this I was biting my nails nervously-even though i'd seen the finished product and knew it didn't end in disaster. I was torn between being very worried, and a little proud. I guess thats how it always goes when you let your kids try something new.

Here is the crib all set up with the completely amazing crib bedding I made. Its so crazy to have this all set up. It means a baby will be sleeping in it soon.

Trip to Utah

Sorry, i don't have any pictures. Pathetic right? 4 weeks in Utah and I don't have a single picture. I didn't pack my camera for fear that I'd have my luggage checked and have it stolen. Turns out I did have my luggage inspected on the return flight, so I do NOT regret this decision.
I'll have to keep this post fairly brief since nobody will read a long post with no pics, and I can't blame you.
Quick overview:
Joe has an externship in Des Moines for school for 5 weeks so I decided to spend the first 4 weeks in Utah so I could get some help with the boys. This is another decision I do NOT regret. I cannot tell you how good it was to have so much help. I don't think I could have made it through these 4 weeks otherwise. He still has to finish out this last week, but i can handle one week alone.
the highlights:
-The boys playing with their cousins in Salt Lake. At one point, all of the twins (there are 6 of them) were running around in super hero costumes screaming and hero-ing. it was so much fun to watch them all play together.
-The boys playing with their cousins in Price. One of the nights all of the cousins went to the dirt hills to ride a mini motorcycle. Obviously my boys were too little for this, but it was so fun to see the boys running around with their cousins in the same dirt hills that Joe spent his childhood running around in.
-The Gluten Free Expo. I came home with 4 loaded bags of free stuff. Super awesome.
-My mom putting my kids to bed for me for 2 weeks. Oh. My. Goodness. Can you imagine not having to put your kids to bed for 2 weeks? Seriously-it was SO NICE!
-Relaxing in Price. Peggy (Joe's mom), and Sarah (Joe's sister) probably got sick of my non-contributing laziness, but it was so helpful not to have to worry about meals, and housekeeping etc. Plus Sarah's little girl Molly kept the boys attention most of the time and i just got to sit and relax, and grow my new baby.
-Visiting friends. I got to see a lot of my Utah friends while i was in salt lake-plus some Iowa friends that recently moved to Utah. The boys loved seeing "jackson and akenna" (jackson and makenna), and i loved seeing their mom Kassie.
-i loved seeing my family. over the 4 weeks i was able to visit with all of my siblings and in-laws. plus i got to spend a whole week with my mom, which is rare since she works full time.
-gluten free restaurants. mmmmm.
The Low-lights:
-missing Joe. a lot.
-a very dear friend of mine passed away on oct 24th. But i felt blessed to be in Utah when it happened so that i could get together with our mutual friends and share pictures and memories about her.
-missing Joe more
-Noah discovering that I don't punish him as harshly around grandma. He was such a punk sometimes. He needed/I needed Joe there to back me up. And Ethan felt like he NEEDED to play with the ipad all the time. ugh.
-missing Joe when i had nightmares. yes i have nightmares and yes i usually wake Joe up to help calm myself down.
-the flight back to Utah was terrible, but it's over so i don't have to think about it anymore.

Conslusion: for those of you dental wives who'll have to go through this 5 week externship without their husbands, i would most definitely recommend getting to some extra help if you can swing it. 4 weeks is a long time to be away from Joe, but it was totally worth it. the time went by pretty quickly, and my kids still have all of their limbs attatched. Neither of those things would have happened if i'd stayed in Iowa.

The boys have been....taxing lately. That's the nicest way I can put it. They're 3. And there are 2 of them. And Joe has been working late a lot. And my belly is finally big enough that bending down is quite uncomfortable. Sorry, no belly pic today. Anyway, the culmination of all of it has made for a tough week. This had been my saving grace.See that sad little face? Ethan fell on something-maybe a Tupperware bin? I was in the other room when it happened. But now every time I look at those sad eyes I can't stand to be mad at him. After all, he's been through so much. Not really, but the poor kid looks pathetic.

Noah, on the other hand, is perfectly capable. Here he is smiling for the camera, and completely oblivious to Ethan's poor eye. Both the boys have been so DEFIANT lately. Unfortunately for Noah he has no ailment to gain my sympathies. My friend Angela offered to bop him over the head so that I'd like him more. Sadly, this plan may have worked. That's when you know you need some time away.
This picture makes me laugh. Joe is trying to put Neosporin on sad little Ethan, and Noah is smiling his biggest for the camera.

This is what I've been doing to get away. In preparation for the new baby, I've been sewing some crib bedding for her. I realized very quickly that new crib bedding is outrageously expensive, and I happened to have a lot of fabric stored up over the years. So far I've made a crib bumper out of some pink curtains and I patched together this crib quilt. The only fabrics i had to buy were the owl fabric, and stripes. As of when I started making this I've spent about $5. I'll still need to buy some batting and yarn to tie the quilt, but then I'll be done.

I'm quite proud of the bedding on a budget. I'm not very proud of my mothering skills lately, but hopefully it'll get better soon. And if not, I'm flying to Utah in Oct for the whole month and then my family can take my kids off of my hands for a while.

I Just Can't Wait to be King

This is mostly for Grandmas. it gets better the closer you get to the end.

Its a GIRL!

Getting this off my chest

What if I move to Price? I've been obsessing over this idea for over a month now. Joe and I NEVER considered moving back to Utah once we'd left. We were surprised by how much we love Iowa. I mean, come on-who dreams living it up by moving to Nowheresville middle America? But once we got here we realized that it was home. I fell in love with the idea of experiencing new places and almost immediately decided never to go back to Utah. I'd lived there my entire life and really never realized how much of the world is outside of it. The mountains in Utah are beautiful, but I also think the plains and the rolling hills of cornfields in the Midwest are breathtaking. So why stop here? Why not experience even more? Utah already has almost as many Dentists as they do LDS churches. I was going to move to Tahoe or Northern CA, or Texas, or Georgia, or wherever adventure called. That was the plan. It still might be the plan. But my plan isn't quite as solid as it used to be.
While we were visiting Utah a couple weeks ago Joe was made aware of a job possibility in Price. I won't get into all the details, but we'll just say it was enough to shake up our plan a bit. And now this idea has been blistering in my mind, and I have to get it out. Neither Joe or I are that keen on the idea of living in Price for the rest of our lives, but we'd be completely stupid not to give it some serious consideration. Unfortunately I'm terrible at making decisions. I obsess over all the options and basically think myself in circles (if that makes sense). Joe isn't much help either. The man can't stop talking about dentistry or sports, but when i ask his thoughts on this dilemma he says, "i think the same as you". Thanks Joe that's super insightful.
What if I'm wrong about Price just like I was wrong about Iowa? What if this Independence and adventure that I've loved so much over the last 3 yrs is what is best for me now, but not really what will make us happy in this next stage of life? The stage of having kids in school and in Tee Ball and so forth? When I was growing up I wished I had cousins my age, and that is something my boys have in spades, but what good is it if we only see them a couple of times a year? I know my kids could be happy in Price, and I know Joe could adjust fairly easily moving back, and our families would be ecstatic. but is making everyone else happy enough to keep me happy? I can't make these kinds of decisions. Some days I get a little excited thinking about trips to Lake Powell with our family, and some days I just cry thinking that I might be giving up my dreams of the life I wanted. Maybe I'm just being dramatic or prideful or wishy-washy. I can't tell. All I know is that the plan is shaken, or it might not be fool proof.

Trip to Utah

Joe finished his last day of his 3rd yr of Dental School on July 1st. On Saturday July 2nd Joe and I sat and cuddled on the couch and I thought about how my parents were about to head up to our family cabin. I hadn't been there for about 2 yrs and I was feeling pretty homesick. That's when i realized that I was homesick for the first time in the 3 yrs we've lived in Iowa, and it just so happened that Joe had about 2 weeks off of school. Why not? So at about noon on Saturday we decided to drive to UT and we left 3 hours later. Its was crazy and sporadic, but this was our last chance to go before Joe graduates next summer. We arrived after a L O N G drive and met up with my parents, brother, nephew, and aunt and uncle at the cabin. Most of my family still didn't know we were in UT. This is our family cabin. She's old, small, and falling to pieces, but I have so many memories here. There is just something peaceful and exciting at the same time about being up here. We had a great time for the day and a half we spent there.

We left so that we could take the boys to see fireworks for the 4th of July. Sorry, no pics, but the boys loved it! Next we headed to Price and spent a few days with Grandma and Grandpa Whitehead and a few of the cousins. My boys fell in love with their cousin Kitani and they still ask where "Pitani" is. We then drove up to Logan for the weekend where the rest of the Whitehead clan was. It never ceases to amaze me how Joe's family goes above and beyond to make us at home when we visit. It was so fun to talk, eat, play games, and we even took the opportunity to get some family pics taken in our reunion shirts (even though the reunion wasn't til the end of the month). We loved spending time with everyone, but i wish we could have had a little more time together. On Monday we were back in Salt Lake for a Petersen FHE with my siblings, 3 aunts, one uncle, one cousin, and grandparents. Here is a pic of The Six Pack. Mason & Jaden are the oldest twins wearing black. Austin & Carter are the middle set in white, and then mine in the grey. Between the oldest and youngest there is only one year that separates them. The FHE was a hit. My parents set up a giant water slide that the kids (and kids at heart) all enjoyed. There was also a kiddie pool that was eventually filled with warm water and ALL the cousins got in together! We had volleyball for the adults and lots of food and great company.

The whole trip was so great for us. It was the first time that my kids were really old enough to run off and play with all their cousins-and there were a LOT of cousins between the Whiteheads and Petersens. I was really able to sit back, put my feet up, and watch my boys have the time of their lives getting reacquainted with family. I loved it. I really wish that we'd have had more time to spend with them all. Looking back at these pictures makes it almost ok that we missed BOTH family reunions. Joe's side had a Harry Potter themed reunion-complete with costumes! I mean, come on! that's right up my alley and we missed it. My side of the family had a Petersen Family Reunion at the cabin with tons of my extended family. there was a zip line, 50 ft slip and slide, softball game, skeet shooting competition, line dancing, zumba class, horseshoes, charades with my dad which i haven't done since i was about 12, tons of food, cousins i haven't seen in years-the list goes on and on. sigh. at least i got to see them all beforehand. and it really was great seeing everyone. We only have one year left in Iowa and we can move back west. We've really loved our time here, but i'm getting really ready to be close enough that we never have to miss any reunions again. One year goes by in a blink. Most days I'm really afraid to leave here, but today I'm ready.

Mayhem

There are 2 things my kids love. One of them is to cause trouble. What happened here that caused such a mess? well lets ask the culprits.

What happened boys? How did you get so dirty? "oh, uh well...you see what happened was..uh (cough cough) I'm not really, um...." Classic 'it wasn't me' excuse.

Turns out it really was them. and mud. and baseball. As I mentioned before, there are 2 things my kids love: mayhem and baseball.

updated slideshow

It seems like I've been on a blogging fast. Sorry Auntie M. Everytime I checked my blog I remembered you telling me that you needed more pics of the boys. I really meant to update more often, I just never got around to it. I'd get pics or videos and think "ooh, i'll post those on the blog", but then I never actually did it.
Last night was a much needed girls night. When I came home (late) Joe was just finishing this slideshow. I hope it will satisfy your, and everyone else who's been begging for more pics, craving.
We could have posted straight to blogger, but we decided to post on youtube so you can watch it in high def. Mom, that means you can watch it full screen without the pictures loosing quality. Enjoy!
http://youtu.be/X7hbD9pHotY?hd=1

We found puddles

As many of you know, Thursday was a blissfully warm day-especially considering that its February. I decided to postpone nap time for a hour or so and let the boys play in the back yard while I did the dishes. Obviously once I saw what was going on I decided to postpone the dishes too!

Spring is on its way and we couldn't be happier about it!

Any blog readers in UT?

There is a friend of mine in UT that's having a giveaway for a free photoshoot!
here's her photography blog if you want to enter:

lareephotography.blogspot.com

ok, i don't know why my blogger account won't let me leave link. sorry.

i hope things are going well w all of you-maybe you'll win a free photoshoot!

Sewing can be cool.

I bought this dress ages ago-probably 4 years ago from Charlotte Rousse. I absolutely fell in love with it, BUT it was just too short to just wear. So i debated about whether or not i should cut off the bottom and make it into a top, but I just couldn't stand the thought of cutting up a dress just to make a shirt. So I finally decided to make this a wearable dress. As you can see, there is a white ruffle along the bottom of the skirt. Here's the secret-its a slip! I simply sewed some eyelet lace to the bottom of the slip!

I wanted the slip to elongate this dress as much as possible, so I bought a couple yards of the widest eyelet lace I could find and sewed it onto the slip in 2 rows. Tada!

The best part is that i can use this slip with as many dresses as i want! For a tall girl like me-adding a couple inches to a dress or skirt is priceless. I just added 3 dresses back into my wardrobe, and the possibility of SO MANY other dresses out there!

I love this slip.

In case you haven't looked outside...The snow is pretty intense. The roads are bad, the air is freezing, everything is closed, and there is more on the way.

So since we're stuck inside all day we are wearing big boy underwear. No more diapers...hopefully. I put up their favorite Thomas tent and we are all trying our best to make potty training really fun.

We have wooden Thomas trains, bathtub trains, thomas stickers, and lots of track and free time.

It's been hard on all of us.

I'm giving you The Finger!

I'd like to lie and say that I was brave and calm. Such was not the case. Thank heavens Joe was home for lunch when this happened.
After laying around the house for several days while I'd been recovering from pulling BOTH my hamstrings, I was beginning to feel much better. I'd decided to be a good housewife and load the dishwasher. Joe had been doing most of my chores for the last couple days and I was feeling pretty guilty about it. So I started doing the dishes, starting with the silverware. I actually thought to myself "self, you should maybe turn that knife blade down-just to be safe...nah, I don't think it'll get as clean and I want my NEW KNIFE SET to stay nice and clean."
yes, i realize it's stupid. Hindsight is 20-20. So of course as I attempt to load another spoon in next to the knife-OUCH!
ya, it hurt. I could tell from the amount of pain and the blood dripping on the floor that it was bad, so I started freaking out. Joe literally had to tug and pull my arm to keep my hand under the cold running water. Looking back at this now, the dialogue is pretty funny. It went something like this:
Me: (screaming like a 5 yr old) AAAHHH! IT HURTS! THE WATER'S COLD-ITS TOO COLD AND IT HURTS!
Joe: (calmly) Its okay, the cold water is going to help stop the bleeding.
Me: is it bad?! (sobbing) I don't have to go to the hospital do I?
Joe: ya, we're going to have to get stitches
Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Joe: jessica, calm down. we're going to have to do this so just calm down.

I didn't calm down.

Me: JOE! (gasp) My face is tingling! (gasp)
Joe: you're hyperventilating. you need to calm down.
he grabs a box of GF macaroni and dumps out the noodles, hands me the empty box and tells me to breathe into the box. It helped the tingling to stop.
I'd been to preschool earlier that day and remembered Angela Dougherty saying that Joseph had the afternoon off. So I called him on Joe's phone and asked him to watch the boys while Joe took me to the ER. It sounded something like this:
Joseph D on the phone: Hey
Me: Joseph (gasp) can you come (gasp) over to watch (gasp) my boys so Joe (gasp) can take me (gasp) to get (gasp) stitches?

Yes, I realize I'm quite pathetic. As my freaking out continued Joe's patience with me was wearing thin. Here its a snippet of the yelling that went on as we drove to the hospital.

Me: (crying very hard)
Joe: Jessica, calm down!
Me: It hurts!
Joe: No, it doesn't. It doesn't even hurt anymore. blah blah blah medical jargon and that's why it doesn't hurt.
Me: Yes it does hurt! it still hurts!
Joe: Jessica, you need to stop crying. you don't want to show up to the ER like this.
Me: I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE EMBARRASSED BY ME!
Joe: Jessica! look at me! look me in the eyes! stop freaking out!
Me: (looking around the hospital) I HATE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL!
Joe: you'd hate ANY hospital right now, you're acting ridiculous!
Me: WHERE'S THE EMERGENCY ROOM! THEY SHOULD HAVE BIG RED SIGNS SHOWING US WHERE TO GO!
Joe: We'll find it! Stop freaking out!
Me: THIS IS THE WORST HOSPITAL EVER!


So, if you haven't already guessed, the doctor had to give me a sedative in order to get anywhere near my hand. Strangely, I felt a lot better after that. Go figure.
My doctor was actually really nice and funny and kept my mind off of my injury as she told me little anecdotes about her 20 month old son. She gave me six stitches and told me I'll always have a memorable 1/11/11.
Later that night as i was "watching" the boys-i was still pretty groggy from the sedative-they managed to shatter one of our glasses, and I cut my toe through my sock while i was trying to clean it up. Great. Fantastic. That's EXACTLY what i needed. it was bleeding through my sock and leaving little bloody toe-prints on the carpet, so i asked Joe if we needed to go back to the hospital. He told me it definitely wasn't an option because he'd end up in prison, and our kids would go into social services.

Now Joe is back to doing the dishes for me again. I'm a total wimp about my hand and i keep it in close to my body like Mr. Burns for fear that I'll bump it wrong or something. And i do pretty much the same for my toe. I limp around keep it elevated and all those things that are completely unnecessary, but make me feel better. Yes, I think its safe to say that I'm a wuss.

Too much to blog!

Its been so long since my last post, that it would be way too overwhelming to tell every story in detail. so instead I'm doing a quick recap of the last few months.


This is the reason why I have slowly slipped out of the social networking game these last few months. The boys decided that their favorite thing to do was to pluck each and every key off of the laptop. Joe and I tried to re-assemble the keys several times but the boys wouldn't let it stay in one piece for long. Joe ended up buying a replacement keyboard on ebay and used his amazing handyman skills install it. But once the computer was fixed I stilled stayed away because I've enjoyed the freedom of not having to check my blog/facebook/email everyday.

For Thanksgiving we had our good friends Keenan and Britney and their adorable little girl Camden with us. Keenan is going to Medical school in Wisconsin so it wasn't too far of a drive to come visit us in Iowa. Camden and the boys played so well together. We had a ton of fun making turkey, potatoes, cookies, gravy, apple crisp, and gluten free stuffing. It was delicious and we loved having them in our home.

We went to Utah for Christmas and sadly didn't take many pictures as per usual, but we did get one picture of "The Six Pack" together. ("The Six Pack": Our twins, and two other sets of twin boys from my brothers Justin and Joe) We had a really good time visiting with family and friends.

Overall the trip was great, but out of our two week vacation we were driving for six of those days. As you can see, we got a little bored. Notice Noah's starburst sideburns.

The boys have been doing really well since we have been back. They play with their new trains all day. We came home to new counter tops and a new sink courtesy of our landlord.

I don't have any pictures from today but I had to take a quick trip to the ER to get six stitches after slicing my finger with a knife while doing the dishes. Shortly followed by slicing my toe while cleaning up the glass from a broken glass the boys were playing with.

On a side note...I decided to exercise and pulled both my hamstrings. Pretty sure I will never be whole and without injury. When it rains it pours I guess.