A few weeks ago, before my mom went back to Seattle, we had a visit from my dad, sister and nephew Garret. They came down for the weekend to meet the new babies and pick up my mom to bring her back home. It was so fun to watch Piper and Garret play together. We packed in a busy weekend full of fun - bouncy house, museum, playing toys and even squeezed in a "movie night" watching a 20 min Dora show - complete with popcorn! Fun family time. Then it was time for us to see what a family life of FIVE was all about. I wasn't sure how we were going to manage without the help of my mom, especially with getting up with Piper in the morning, staying on top of the daily laundry that piles up so fast, meals, dishes, changing diapers...and all the little things that she helped with every day. But I have to say, the transition went smoothly, and we are feeling more and more confident every day. I have learned to nurse, burp and change both babies by myself, sometimes even in about 30 minutes. We are getting out and about by ourselves, one on one dates with Piper, and as a whole family. My body is recovering nicely, I even was able to hike a 3 mile loop with Mango after dropping Piper off at school. It felt great to be outside! Last weekend we took Piper sledding and this weekend we went snowshoeing, I am very proud of ourselves for getting out and enjoying the winter. The babies are troopers all snuggled in the front carrier cozy inside Davids down jacket. Here are a few photos for you to enjoy... Calvin and Jett are proving to be sweet and mellow little guys. They have their moments, but for the most part they are happy and chill most of the time. They are still sleeping a lot, which is nice because it gives us plenty of time to play with Piper or get some work done. Piper's favorite thing to do these days is play with her dollhouse. I am so happy the twins decided to bring this present home from the hospital for Piper. She LOVES it!

Just so you know, in both the pictures above, Calvin is on the left and Jett is on the right.

This picture is from last night, after the last feeding before bedtime. As you can see I am just as passed out as these little guys and I really did go to bed just before 8 o'clock in the evening. It might have also had something to do with the first margarita I had since not being pregnant anymore! Ye haw...party animal!!!

Going Good

Can I dare to say that life with twins is going better than we expected? Granted they sleep all the time, we still have my mom here to help and we are being showered with yummy dinners from our dear friends in town. But still, we are pleasently surprised at how well things are going. It is a little tricky squeezing outings out in between feedings, but we have managed to get out and every time we do, it builds a little more confidence. It is funny how much attention the twins attract. Everywhere we go people love to stop us and take a peak. They always want to know how old they are, what their names are, and when they find out we have a two year old too, most people just shake their head and say "Wow, you are going to be busy!" I am glad I don't really know what the craziness in store for us will be like, because for now I am just blindly going forward. I guess I just believe it is going to work out and that we have a fun filled life ahead of us! Family photo...David is holding Jett and I have Calvin. Big sister Piper is of course cute as ever!

1 Week of LIFE

Calvin and Jett have smoothly entered the world and into our loving and welcoming hearts. I am relieved to say that their delivery by planned c section went well and they came out strong and healthy. I did not get to experience the VBAC that I had originally planned for when I first became pregnant, and still hoped for when I learned they were twins, but making it to 38 weeks and having healthy babies that didn't need the NICU is all that matters to me now. Calvin Judah Staley came out first on December 28th at 7:45pm weighing 5lbs 10 oz and a breach Jett Everett Staley quickly followed at 7:46pm weighing 5lbs 14oz.

Calvin and Jett have melted our hearts, it is a wonderful feeling to hold them both and snuggle their fuzzy baby heads. Piper is also quite taken with her new brothers. She loves to tickle their toes and kiss their heads. The twins brought her home a new wooden doll house when they came home from the hospital which has been a huge hit! The adjustment to being a big sister has mostly been fun for Piper, though she has had a bad cold since the day before the boys were born - bummer.

Piper proudly wears her "big sister" t shirts, loves to unwrap their swaddling blankets and is always concerned if one of them is crying. She is really sweet with them which is fun to see.

It has been a tremendous help to have my parents and Dave's mom here to help ease us into becoming a family of five. My parents arrived on Christmas Day and Alice swooped in a few days after Calvin and Jett were born. Now it is just my mom here and she is doing a fantastic job helping us juggle meals, diapers, swaddling, Piper time, laundry, snuggling and more diaper changing. Thank you MOM!!! We really would be in a world of hurt without the extra hands.

Thankfully Calvin and Jett have been mellow sleepy babies. There was a few days where they couldn't be calmed between the hours of nine and midnight, but even that has tappered down. I am proud to say that I have been successfully feeding both babies at one time, which is a skill that I didn't expect to happen so quickly. Calvin and Jett took bottles from Grandma and Daddy with no problem, so that is encourgaging and we plan to keep that up for future free time as the boys get a little older.

Just so you can tell the boys apart, Jett has the longer oval face and is on the left and Calvin has a rounder face and is on the right in the picture above.

I am so thankful to have David as my partner in this adventure of twins and a two year old...and the journey ahead. It feels good to know we are a team and I can count on him to help or take the lead every step of the way. You are an amazing Daddy and wonderful husband David Staley, I love you!

Shock Value!!

Monday is the big day...enjoy one last peak at this beautiful belly before the boys arrive...

Christmas and Belly Love

Christmas is approaching fast, Piper is beyond excited. So much is going on. She knows that the baby brothers are coming, Santa is coming, Grandma and Grandpa are coming, everything is happening at once. It is so fun to watch her experience all the beauty of the season. She loves all the decorations and music and the anticipation of Santa. Piper loved meeting Santa in person. We were the first ones there, so she got to hang out on Santa's lap while they got the camera all set up. She wasn't scared at all and told him she wanted purple toys for Christmas. She especially liked the candy cane he gave her as a special treat!

We had a fun visit from Uncle Topher for Thanksgiving. He and Piper hit it off from the start and had a blast playing toys, reading books and simply enjoying each others company. This was the 3rd Thanksgiving in a row that Uncle Topher has spent with us, officially making it a fun tradition! Last weekend when I was just about 35 weeks, a few friends gathered to celebrate this pregnancy of twins! Besides the good company and yummy food, the highlight was doing a belly cast. This will be a fun memento for years down the road to help me remember how big my belly really got. And really its getting bigger...it has only been one week, but I don't think the belly cast would fit around my belly today! Yikes.

Not every Pregnant mama will say this, but I really do love being pregnant. I am definitely starting to get uncomfortable, but it is such a special time and unique experience to watch my belly transform to the size it is now. It is weird to look down and not see my toes, but I think my belly is beautiful. I also really love feeling all the movement from the babies inside. It is like a little secret between me and the babies. An amazing connection that no one else can see or feel except us. I remember missing the movement after Piper was born. It is still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that two babies are in there. And even harder for me to imagine what life is going to be like once they come out. I have no idea what to expect, but I do realize it is going to be a wild ride. For now we are enjoying the calm before the storm. I have been taking naps and plan to enjoy a nice breakfast date with David tomorrow morning while Piper is a school.

Send good thoughts our way, hoping to keep these babies cooking another 2 weeks!

Nesting

Check out our latest home improvement! It has been so fun making our house feel like a home. We have been "nesting" and putting lots of energy in choosing different household items that never really seemed important before. For example we finally just ordered a bed for our new mattress. For the last 8 years that we have been in Bend, our bed has been on the floor of our bedroom. We always loved where we lived, but always knew that we wouldn't be there for the long haul, so it just wasn't a priority. I think the move into this new house has felt so right, and it finally feels like the time to make some of these investments. Anyway, another fun project has been this cherry blossom decal in Piper's room. It was a birthday present from Piper's Grandpa Richard and Grammie Lynn - Thank you!!! We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into when we started, but over the last 2 weeks, we have probably spent more that 10 hours placing the tree and each and every blossom on the wall. It has been a fun project and Piper loves it. What an improvement from her first "room" - the dead end hallway in our rental house!

And finally as promised, here is the latest belly picture, I am almost 33 weeks pregnant! Last week I wasn't feeling that great, really waddling around and wondering if any activity was going to send me into labor. I felt like a walking time bomb! Then on Thursday I had my doctors appointment and got some reassurance that as long as I wasn't in pre-term labor, meaning having real contractions, walking around wasn't going to send me into labor. So after I left the appointment, the time bomb feeling went away and I felt ten times better - I think my head was getting the best of me. The bad news from my appointment was that twin B flipped and is no longer in the head down facing position. A heart breaker for the hopeful VBAC I was wanting to experience. I am handling the news better than I would have guessed, but still disappointed. Overall I am feeling great and excited for this wild ride of twins and a two year old. Our long list of to-do's is getting shorter, which feels good. One last major purchase will be the mini van, we are bummed to have to give up the Subaru, but realize that swallowing our pride and tossing out our cool card is for the greater good of practicality.

Piper the Park Ranger

Piper was a hit in her Grand Canyon Park Ranger Halloween costume this year! We have discovered her to be quite the Candy Monster, which is no surprise considering her Daddy's sweet tooth too. Piper loved trick o treating at the Old Mill shops and had so much fun seeing all the other kids dressed up as well. She liked the witches the best. Grandma Alice came for a visit, Piper loved being spoiled with attention and love. Especially getting special sweet treats at the local bakeries and ice cream shops. Grandma Alice gave us a nice treat too, by getting up with Piper every morning and letting us sleep in...something soon to be a thing of the past once the twins arrive. Speaking of the twins, I am now 32 weeks pregnant and all of a sudden really feeling it. I have felt a noticeable difference in my body really needing to slow down. David has been wonderfully ready to do what ever needs to be done, I just need to let him. We want to do what ever it takes to keep these babies cooking. My belly has officially grown bigger than where it was when Piper came out, I will work on getting a picture uploaded maybe for the next post!