Parenting 101

This was a post I started just before the boys were born, but never published.  This Sunday, while doing our family planning for the week, I looked at the calendar and realized February 1st a year ago, was when I was initially put on bedrest.  The gripping fear, anxiety, and stress of that period in our lives is something I don't think Dan or I will ever forget, and hopefully something we never have to go through again.

To say we've learned a lot would be an understatement.  Thinking back on our year, I know I've had to acquire more backbone and really stick to my guns with regard to how we/I choose to parent/mother our children . . . occasionally with friends, or family but especially when it has come to doctors. There have been heartaches, challenges, many sleepless nights, lots of reading/research, phone calls trying to figure out how to 'do' this parenting thing.  It's been a sharp learning curve, and the lessons are far from over, but we have made some progress.

Reading this tidbit from year ago, gave me a glimpse into heaven and made the veil seem a bit thinner as I thought of our loving Father in Heaven gently, tenderly guiding us along.

From 2012: The idea of being a parent truly scares me.  Despite that, I had a moment about 1 1/2 months ago which gave me a glimpse into my eternal 401k and actually made me excited about being a mom.  We are going to have he opportunity to bring two of God's children into this world - what an awesome responsibility!  I know it's going to be challenging and we are going to make a lot of mistakes, but I am grateful as well.  Grateful I get to do this with Dan by my side and for the father he will be; grateful for how abundantly we've been blessed in the time we have been married; grateful to know there is a purpose to this life; and grateful for the knowledge that I can learn a great deal about parenting from our Heavenly Father.  Knowing all of that, does parenting still scare me?  Yes, yes it does . . . but I am grateful to know we are not in this alone.

The trouble with twins . . .

. . . . is that there are two. 

Truer words were never spoken.  It's been a bit of crazy few months around here, mostly because there are two. . . and they have already discovered the beauty of tag-teaming.  We will get one baby settled down and the other will start fussing almost at any given time during the day.  It makes for long days, but they have finally started sleeping for six to seven hours at night (Hallelujah!). 

Although you wouldn't know it, we had one heck of a time getting this picture; in fact, Dan and I were both pleasantly surprised we got a picture that turned out so well - these boys like to wiggle around, a lot!  Some of the bloopers are quite hilarious. 

That's the latest from our neck of the woods.  We'll post more again when one of them isn't fussing ;)

Learning to expect the unexpected.

This pregnancy has been quite an experience for both Dan and I.  While it has not been what we thought it would be in many regards, we have felt and seen the hand of the Lord throughout this experience.  I think it has shown us that we are not the ones in charge and has also reassured us that things will happen according to the timing and the will of the Lord.  I know He is aware of us and of these little boys. One thing I keep coming back to in this experience is how my specialist responded at our first visit when he found out we were LDS.  He knew we would be taken care of, and we have been; due in part to our knowledge about families and that they can be eternal as well as the temporal 'relief and watchcare' of family and our ward family here. What a blessing the gospel is in our lives! 

Our 2nd annual Christmas 'P' tradition 2011

We realized upon arrival to the Pittock Mansion, in 2010 we went to Peacock Lane (a popular street in downtown where many homes have Christmas lights) with our friends the Bushchicken's aka the Hedgecock's.  Afterword (last year as well as this year) we stopped at Starbucks for their infamous spiced carmel apple cider = fatty goodness.  We thought it might be fun to start doing an annual December 'P' outing/activity every year . . . we'll see what we come up with this year. 

The Pittock Mansion is a mansion with an incredible view of Portland.  Each year the place is decked out in Christmas decor from all over so we thought it would be fun to check it out. Here are some pictures taken by Peter - our unofficial outing photographer. 

 
Here we decided to do our own version of the 'Kardashian Christmas Card'.  How'd we do?

And us actually smiling . . . 

Both families in front of the mansion and enjoying the view of the city. Hedgecock's oldest son, Jordan, took this picture and did a great job!

Christmas traditions

We are experimenting each year with new ideas of things we'd like to start as family traditions.  This year, Dan cut down our first Christmas tree.  They grow here like you wouldn't believe and you can get a good sized tree for about $20.  Love it!

We also decided to bake a ham (my first) and enjoyed eating it, picking at it etc. this week.  We have managed to maintain a tasty spread of treats and healthy snacks, make gingerbread houses (Dan's first in quite a few years) and visit the Pittock Mansion with friends.  I also thought it would be fun to start getting a Christmas book, a new ornament, and for good measure, a game as traditions too. We were successful on all counts this year. . . we'll see how well we do next year :)

My gingerbread house had quite a few roof cave-ins but luckily still managed to turn out okay.  Dan's was done with precision, structural soundness and a steady hand.  Both turned out great, and we had a lot of fun doing them together. 

The baby bump

A few friends have requested pictures of the baby bump.  It's funny, the other day we saw some pictures of another friend at twenty weeks and could hardly tell she had a bump.  I may not look big, but I feel rather large.  Such is life when you are having twins, I guess.

Here's the picture, taken on Christmas Day. . . and we just found out today, we are having two boys!

Lincoln City

And yet, another unfinished post.  Man!  

Over Labor Day weekend, we had our first visitors to Portland (hooray)!  It was a lot of fun to have my parents here, to see where we live, and just spend some time together.  While we got a lot done (painting, canning and a few other projects) we also took some time to enjoy Portland beauty which included going to the beach . . . a family favorite. 

Upon arrival, Dan found a stick and immediately started writing a message. Before I get to what he wrote though, let me just say, none of these photos are photoshop enhanced.  We really do have blue skies. . . . I wouldn't have believed it, but have seen many a gorgeous day the last few months while living here. 

Anyhow, back to the message. 

which says. . . 'Hi, my wifey'.  Cute!

We enjoyed a few hours, just walking around,

seeing how long we could stand keeping our feet in the cold sand,

digging ourselves in holes

and frolicking in the water (sorry, couldn't find those pictures).

It was a fun day.

And great to have family with us visiting! 

Discovering downtown

Wow . . . so I just discovered this unfinished post from about 3 1/2 months ago. . . oops!  Back in August we decided to take a trip downtown via the MAX.  It was a blast!  The MAX is a fairly nice ride for public transportation, and the best part: we didn't have to try and find parking.  Sweet! 

We visited the food carts and enjoyed some amazing pizza at "Give Pizza a Chance".  This place bursts with flavor, and the guy who runs it - super friendly and a riot to talk to. 

We decided to find this small park dedicated to some early firefighters in Portland, one of whom is Dan's distant relative, T. Grenfell. 

You can see, the park isn't kept in the best repair, but it was fun to make another 'family discovery' in how we are connected to Portland. 

Two x's the fun!

We are pregnant and expecting twins.  Yes, you read that correctly - twins!  Some common questions we've been getting from family that you may be wondering: twins run in my family; the old saying that they skip a generation . . . yeah, not so much in my family.  There has been at least 1+ set of twins in each generation of my family for the last 3-4 generations . . . 

Our twins are fraternal - both have their own sac and placenta, which is the best case scenario for all of our health.  Twins are notorious for coming early so we are anticipating sometime late April to early May.  As for how I've been feeling . . . it depends on the day.  Physically: the nausea/morning sickness is mostly gone - and that is a huge blessing!  I am hoping to be able to get a lot done during this trimester, though I definitely feel more tired than usual.  All-in-all though - no complaints here.  Mentally: I'm not going to lie - the thought of having 2 babies has been pretty overwhelming.  That being said, we are adjusting to the idea and are grateful we were fortunate to find out early that we are having twins.  We have a great doctor and are hoping for the best in the upcoming months. 

Here is a picture Dan found the other day that we couldn't help laughing at. 

Oh, snap!

This t-shirt says it all.

Queen City . . . Emerald City . . . er . . .

Seattle, Washington has a variety of nicknames.  From 1869 until 1982, Seattle was known as the "Queen City". Seattle's current official nickname is the "Emerald City", in reference to the lush evergreen forests of the area. Seattle is also referred to informally as the "Gateway to Alaska", "Rain City", and "Jet City", the last from the local influence of Boeing. So many options! 

For an early anniversary get-away, we decided to spend a few days in Seattle and did some really fun things.  Pike's Market is always enjoyable and I love the beautiful flower bouquets you can get there for only $10.  We also went to an art museum, Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum (highly recommended), took a ferry ride and did an underground tour of the city.  

Because Seattle was not built on much of a stable foundation, not long after the city was built, it sank.  These pictures show what was street level until the city sank and these store fronts etc. became the underground.

From above, these look like pretty sidewalk art.  However, below - these colored squares of glass provide light for people in the underground.

This portion of the underground was where there were supposedly 'ghosts'.  . . . it looks like Dan maybe spotted something!

Huge flower pots, like the ones in the next picture, lined the street.  Considering how much I love flowers - I had to get a picture :)

The infamous, and pretty disgusting, wall of gum. . .

The depth of the inlets throughout Seattle allows larger ships to come into port making it the largest/busiest port in the Northwest.  While on our ferry ride we couldn't help but notice the amount of 'sea traffic'. 

At the front of our ferry ship enjoying the salty sea air, and the wind in our faces. 

Nearing the end of the journey and getting cold . . .

My favorite Seattle restaurant: Ivars.