FAST update...

I debated as to what I should call this post...let's be real, it's been over a year since I have blogged! I've thought about getting back on the blogging ban wagon for quite some time but...well it just never happened! Here is our life in the last year in a nutshell!
-We finished our home addition...and we LOVE all the new space!
-We got pregnant with TWIN girls! (Huge surprise...twins do NOT run in our family...)
-We (but mostly I) delivered the twins WAY too early due to a diagnosis of HELLP...a very rare condition of preeclapsia (don't google it, it's scary!)...which is deadly to mommy and babies without immediate delivery. So our beauties were born at 27 weeks 3 days weighing 2 lbs 3 oz and 1 lb 13 oz...
-We spent 105 days in the NICU at UW (We're officially Husky fans now and there's no going back!)
-We brought Tatum Grace & Teagan Rhysse home on July 22, 2014

-And now...we are in survival mode!
The girls are doing great and LOVE being home. We are getting used to not just having a new baby but having TWO new babies! They are growing well and gaining weight like little champs. Tatum is up to 10 lbs 13.9 oz and Teagan is up to 10 lbs 3.4 oz! They are both still on feeding tubes (called a nasal gavage or NG)...these are temporary until they have developed a mature swallow. It is not uncommon for preemies to struggle with feeding, and it varies from baby to baby as to how long this can take. Ben and I have witnessed so many of God's miracles through our girls in the last four months...we are simply waiting for His next one, when our little ladies will be tube free! We go down to Children's next week for a follow up swallow study for Tatum and an initial swallow study for Teagan. We will hopefully get some good news on how Tatum has progressed and find no major issues with Teagan! PRAYING!!!
We've been home for 3 weeks now and are starting to find our new routines. The days go well...Ben is amazing! My mom is SUPER GRANDMA! We are still working on sleeping at night...Tatum and Teagan both like to "hang out & cuddle" (as the night NICU Nurses called it) from about 8:00 pm to 1:30 am...I know we will get there...we are doing some modified Baby Wise...some things just don't make sense for our preemie girls yet.
I'll be going back to work next week and Ben will start football...so who knows how long I'll be back on the blogging ban wagon! I promise to do my best!

Addition Post #9

Things are starting to happen around here....again! We had been at a bit of a stand still the last 4-7 weeks due to our struggle to match our hardwood floor and an injured contractor :( !!! When we did finally match it, we had to let it "warm up" for about a week...now we have someone to lay it and are in that process. This means our bedroom had to be emptied...which means its in our living room. Fun right? Uhhh NO! We have been "camping" in our living room for about a week now. The floor is down (finished as of 10:30 pm last night) and we are cleaning the rooms like crazy to get the big items in the room. I need my living room back! Not only has our bed been in the living room but our closet had to be emptied out also, so our couches have been holding our clothes (which some might say we have a lot of). Hopefully by the end of the week we will have all the flooring laid downstairs, plumbing finished, cabinets in and trim done...fingers crossed!!! :)

For some reason my new phone is not putting my pictures onto Google + so I have zero pictures...sorry friends. I will do my best to figure it out by the time my house is beautiful...I am looking forward to that day!

Addition Post #8

I am still deciding...but I think this is going to be the last "progress" picture of the addition until it is all finished! I really want it to be done before people see the "fun stuff." But I promise I will continue to give updates on how it is coming. This  picture is a quick one of the down stairs, standing in the kitchen/living room area looking through the current bedroom, into the new master bedroom, and then into the new master bathroom. LONG! I LOVE it. Wait until you see the paint...I don' mean to tease but, it looks goooooooood. It is all painted, and will soon be getting trim, cabinets, lighting and decore!!!!! (my favorite parts)

 

 

Our house is going to be beauitful....can't hardly wait for it to be complete, but we are feeling very thankful for all the hard work that has gone into it, and thankful everyone has stayed safe in the process!

Shopping with Landen

A few weekends ago my sister and brother-in-law were gone for the weekend so my parents had Landen and Kyla. My mom and I decided to run into Bellingham for some MINOR shopping, so we took Landen with us. We bravely left Kyla home with Uncle Ben! (I know...shocking he agreed! He learned a lot, did very well, nor was there a single tear...from either of them! hehe) Landen did so well with my mom and I shopping he got to pick a treat...guess what he wanted? New swim trunks and flip flops!!! I could hardly believe this kid didn't want a toy or something...since we found that treat on sale (it's February after all) he also got to go to the candy shop to pick another little treat.

Here he is trying to pick out just the right flavor of jelly beans....there were soooo many to choose from! We did a little mixing and matching...

He finally settled on: Ice Cream Shop, Orange Cream; Tropical Fruit and Banana

 

He decided he had to have this "gummy snake"....it was pretty much a giant gummy worm...super thick, shockingly heavy and I didn't try it, but it had to be gross! He loved it! I informed him quickly he could eat the head for now and would have to pace himself all week with the rest of it! No tummy aches on my watch!

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

I decided this post doesn't require anything more than a picture!

House Guest...

A few weeks ago we had the cutest house guest! My mom watches Jeriah on Tuesdays while his mommy and daddy are at work...and one gloomy Tuesday his mommy came home sick after his daddy was sick the day before. With both mommy and daddy under the weather Jeriah got to stay with Grandma Karen over night! He came over to hang out and show us all his new tricks!

This little boy is the smiliest guy I know...with the cutest little dimples!

I think this picture was from the weekend before when he had another sleep over so mommy and daddy could go on a date! This was the beautifully warm SUNNY Saturday we had a while back. We worked outside and cleaned up our "construction site" while this sweet little guy hung-out in the jogger...he is such a good baby!!!

This picture makes me laugh...because the dogs love the side lights too...and while they stand up on the window and bark...Jeriah likes to stand up on them and scream! Sooo funny!

He also has this "fun" little trick where he blows raspberries...I don't know why its so funny...but its hilarious...I heard mommy and daddy discourage this, which I HONESTLY didn't know at the time...but it is so cute!

 

Addition Post #7

This post really doesn't show any progress on the addition, but it does show how it is  beginning to impact our living area! I am glad this is going to be short term because I don't know how long I would be able to handle this kind of living. We are in the taping, mudding and sanding stages...exciting yes, but this also means dust...lots and lots of dust. We do have everything taped off with plastic, but when I got home from work, this is what I found...

Blinds down...and laid on the trunk, curtains down...still on the rod but laying on the couch.

I don't remember if I had posted a picture of the hole that was in our living room. Not a huge hole, but it is now mudded up...ready to be sanded (yep more dust :) ) and then textured and painted.

This was a spot we had fixed up...it is right by the vaulted ceiling so we got a nasty little crack where it had been taped during the original build...now it will be beautiful again!

 

Progress is being made...we feel like we are living in some hot summer days! It is very important for the house to stay warm so that they mud dries!! We have 5 heaters going in the addition and it is HOT...which means the rest of the house stays pretty toasty too! It could definitely be worse...but we are excited to be through this phase of the build.