Praise for Dave

I had the BEST Sunday ever! (Starting after church. We had an incident in nursery...) We came home, I made a quick lunch. After, I went to lay down for a bit, 2 hours later awoke to a spotless house (incl. living room, dining room, kitchen w/dishes done, family room, and office!), happy and

clean kids, and an awesome husband. I'm so happy and so blessed!

I wish we could have people over right now! I know it's not going to last long.

Hair cut, Take 2

Here are the pictures you've all been waiting for!

Now, for the happenings in our lives.

Thanksgiving was GREAT! We had it at our house this year. Lauren and Carolyn came down, and they brought Briant with them. We also had our friend Tyler (from Dave's unit in UT) over since he couldn't go home to be with his family.

It was so nice having everyone here! We ate loads of food, the guys played Call of Duty against each other and my brother Ben and nephew Clay in Alaska. After, we went upstairs and ate some of the best desserts I have ever had, thanks to Carolyn and her awesome cooking skills. We played some Rummy and ate some more...it was a great day.

Lizzy wanted to put up our little tree early this year so she could surprise Dave when he got home from work. She decorated it all by herself! (I had to move a few ornaments to the top as she couldn't reach that high :) It looks so cute.

5 months and a hair cut!

Rachel, Dave's sister came to visit this month! It was so much fun having her here! We took her on the usual route of sites to be seen. We went to the top of the Washington monument, it was amazing!




The girls had their 4 month well child check and they are doing great! They are growing so fast. They love to laugh and talk all the time. It's so sweet! Lizzy is their favorite person to laugh for.

Lizzy is also getting so big! She'll be 4 in January. She loves being a big sister, running around outside and reading books. Lizzy is also very helpful around the house. She sets the table for meals, cleans up after herself and her sisters, she even decorated our little Christmas tree this year!

Last night, Dave and I were down stairs watching a moving, after the kids were in bed. About an hour after we put Lizzy in bed, we heard her running around upstairs. Dave went and checked on her and found this.....






Yup! She found scissors. I couldn't stop laughing! I thought we were past that age, but I was wrong. After her bath that night she asked me for a haircut, I said I'd take her to the salon to get it done. I asked her why she didn't wait til Monday, her response was, "I can cut it better than they cut it." (said with her eyes full of tears.) It was so sad!

Here are some videos of the twins talking. They may be a bit long, but that's because we think they are so cute!

Since we last met...

Since I posted last so many things in life have changed! Here we go...

1. Dave went to Africa and the girls and I went to my family's reunion in Colorado. Then the girls and I went up to Michigan until Dave got home.

2. The day after Dave came home we found out that the contract he was working on was not going to be renewed because of budgeting and he had 4 weeks to find a new job or we had to move to stay with his company.

3. His boss found him a position in the DC area! Whew. Relief.

4. The twins were blessed! It was so nice. All the grandparents were there, all 4 sets! It was a wonderful weekend.

5. The girls went in for their 2 month well child check (at 3 months old) and they are still perfect! I'll post their details in a bit. But know that they are just so cute and smiley now! And they are starting to talk all the time. It's so cute. :)

6. Lizzy started dance lessons in Nebraska. She could only go to 1 class before we moved, but she loved it! We are hoping to sign her up for preschool or dance once everything gets settled.

7.We moved to a house in Virginia, just a few minutes from where Dave's office will be in April. (SWEET! He'll have a short commute again...15 mins-ish) In the mean time, Dave is working from home, doing loads of training online while they are waiting for administrative stuff. After that happens he will be driving 1 hr+ commute both ways until April. No fun.

We love it here! We've already begun looking for a home to buy in our community. It's so nice here! It's a gated community with a guard, it has horse stables, a marina (from which you can get to the ocean! How cool is that?!), a few pools, basketball and tennis courts, a preschool for Lizzy, baseball fields and playgrounds! We also have our own private police force, a country club and golf course! And it's just so beautiful here. The leaves are starting to change colors!

Another reason we love it, it's close to family! My brother and his wife live in Alexandria for now and they are only 30 miles away! It's great having family so close. I'm still not used to it though, it's been so long.

IKEA! I forgot to mention that there is an Ikea 20 mins away! There is also loads of other great shopping near by too.

We love living so near DC. Last Saturday we drove up and went to the White House, Washington Monument and to the Lincoln Memorial. It was my first time in DC and I loved it! There is so much more for us to see and we hear all the museums are free!

We have lived here for 2 weeks now and I have already seen several bald eagles. Lizzy gets so excited when ever we see huge birds flying, she exclaims, "It's a Bald eagle mama! A bald eagle mama!" I just love to see her learn and get excited about things. She's so sweet. (Most of the time ;)

Mozambique

I went to Mozambique for three weeks. I was only there as a interpreter so it was a pretty easy trip. There were mostly marines, but then there were also small groups of Army, Navy and Air Force. There were three types of groups. They had three missions that were medical, engineers and military.
I was with the engineers the whole time. The renovated two schools and fixed a hospital. I was their interpreter.
I was interviewed a lot because I speak Portuguese. I was in the newspaper and on the TV news and radio. They also made a podcast for a website.
We all were issued a two man tent. It was hot during the day and cold at night. We were right above South Africa so it is pretty far south and it was winter there.
They don't have many animals there. I saw a bunch of crocodiles and a gazelle.
On the way home, our hotel was the Hilton right next to the Orange County Choppers.

They can carry a lot on their head.

There is a crocodile swimming in the middle of the river, but the picture is small. If you click on it, you can see the full sized picture.

Some of the Forcas Armadas do Mocambique that we worked with. We are in the market. They had some good bread and other food.

The higher ranking people of the engineers. We are standing in front of the Incomati River.

There were more than 750 Americans that were there.





In Front of Orange County Choppers in New York. Our hotel was right next to it.

4 weeks old already!

WOW! I can't believe it's been 4 weeks already. The girls are growing so fast! They've each gained 1 pound in the last 2 weeks! Amber is now weighing 6 lbs 15 oz and Paige is weighing in at 6 lbs 9.5 oz. That's great!

Carol, Carrie and Becca came out to visit for a few days. We had a good time! We visited the zoo, went out to dinner and ate lots of the strawberry jello pretzel dessert. :)

Carol with Paige

Becca with Paige

Carrie feeding Amber

Lizzy running out of the Jungle at the zoo!

The girls cuddling in their sleep. So so sweet.

A Special Thanks

I just wanted to say thanks to all my family and friends who fasted (Thanks dad for thinking of that and organizing it) and prayed for my case of Bell's Palsy to go away.

For the most part it has! I realized 2 nights ago that I could taste things again and my face is feeling more normal again. My smile is still a bit crooked, but only a bit!

So, thanks for everything guys. You are the best!
I really feel very blessed.

2 week check up

The girls are 2 weeks old today and they are both doing great! Here are the stats....

Amber:

birth weight: 5lbs 13oz
birth length: 18 inches

1 week weight: 5lbs 6oz

2 week weight: 5lbs 15oz
2 week length: 19.5 inches

Paige:

birth weight: 5lbs 1oz
birth length: 18 inches

1 week weight: 4lbs 13 oz

2 week weight: 5lbs 9.5 oz
2 week length: 19-19.5 inches. (she was wiggly :)

The Dr. was thrilled with the weight gain in both girls and said they looked perfect! He also said that Lizzy was such a good big sister that knows how to take care of the girls. She was on binky duty. If they cried in the office, she'd do her best to calm them down and give them a binky. It was so sweet.

Amber on the left and Paige on the right

Princess Lizzy

Dancing with Grandma G

Play time!

1 week check up

The girls had their 1 week check up and it went amazingly well! The Dr said they looked great, no jaundice and good reflexes. Paige is doing really well in the weight gain department, Amber needs to work a little harder on gaining weight.

Paige left the hospital weighing 4lbs and 5oz today she weighed 4lbs 13oz. The Dr was so happy with that. They like to see babies gain between 1/2 oz to 1 oz a day.

Amber left the hospital weighing 5lbs 5oz and today she weighed 5lbs 6oz. Her appetite increased 2 days ago, so hopefully she'll be packing on the pounds soon.

They both eat great! They are on formula for the time being because I now have Bell's Palsy (that stinks and is so annoying!) and am taking meds that make it so I can't nurse the babies for the next week. My Dr said that we caught it really early so I should have no lasting effects and will hopefully be fully recovered in 2 weeks to a couple of months.

Appearantly it happens most commonly to women in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy or within a week of giving birth. I made it to day 6. Grrrr......

We are all so happy with the new additions to the family. We just love having them home. Lizzy is such a good big sister! She loves to sing to the babies and hold them and feed them. It's so sweet. She does have times of jealousy, but we're hoping that will pass once the babies become more fun for her.

My mom is here and has been since they were born. It's so nice having her here, she has been so helpful with keeping Lizzy occupied when I can't and she makes meals and cleans the house. It's so so so great. My dad also flew in today! He's only staying for a couple of days, but it's going to be fun.Amber cuddling with daddy after a big meal

Paige playing

They like to sleep close to each other, it's so sweet.

The big sister! (Thanks for the shirt Grandma Mary and Grandpa Ray :)

Taking a nap in the living room

Lizzy feeding Paige

The girls

New Babies

Paige Marie was born first at 5 lb 0 oz and Amber Lily was born a few minutes later at 5 lb 13 oz.