2 weeks old!

Alex

Aidan

Lilli with her new kitchen set, Christmas pajamas, and her Tinkerbell outfit

The boys are doing great!  I can't believe they're already 2 weeks old!  They are growing so big.  We took them in for their 48 hour check-up and Alex was more jaundice than Aidan.  We ended up having to bring Alex in 2 more times to get checked again.  Poor little guy!  But we're glad that he's doing great now.  They both are eating really well, and are helping me lose this weight.  I'm happy to say that after a week I was already at my pre-pregnancy weight and have lost about 7 more pounds in another week.  Plus I still have more "stuff" to lose.  Nursing twins is challenging, but I feel like it's so worth it.  For obvious reasons!  The boys are great little eaters, though at first it was a little challenging.  They both had bottles their first days in this world and had a hard time latching on.  We have our good days and bad, but when all is said and done, these little guys have brought such joy to our family!  We're so glad their healthy.  They both are getting some chubby cheeks.  I love it!  I can't help but smother them with loves and kisses.  Lilli has been really good with them.  She is such a good big sister (when she wants to be) and is always quick to give one of them their binky or give them kisses.  She's had a hard time adjusting and when she wants Mommy or Daddy's attention, she wants it now.  That's been hard for us too.  We love her and know that this is a big adjustment for all of us.  We feel so blessed to have such beautiful, healthy, happy children and know the Lord is with us!

I'll give details of our Christmas later.  I'm pooped and need to get SOME shut eye before it's time to feed again.  Thank you to all of you for your love and concern. 

Introducing...

After much anticipation, we are very pleased to announce the arrival of the Davis Twins!! Alexander Keith and Aidan Scott came into the world at 7:26pm and 7:27pm respectively. Both babies and Momma are doing quite well and are expected to come home tomorrow. I'm not sure we will ever be able to adequately express our gratitude for the many, many thoughts, prayers, gifts, meals we have received all throughout Shari's pregnancy - Thank you all so very much!

And now for some pictures...

Isn't she a pretty pregger?! This is Shari just a day before the boys were delivered (compare with the last picture-only about a week or two before). It got to be pretty difficult telling the difference between the smile you see here and the several winces and grimaces I got in the days and weeks leading up to delivery...

Although I was looking forward to observing every part of the delivery (via Cesarean), both the anesthesiologist and Shari (having already lost her lunch once) insisted that I stay on her side of the curtain for moral support. I did, however, get to peek around the curtain to see the boys come out!

First came Alex at 7:26 p.m. He weighed 5 pounds, 11 ounces, and measured 19 inches in length. The bigger of the two, Alex has, so far, been the more easy-going and spends most of his time sleeping. I've been told that with twins, one is more calm, the other a little more lively...

Next, came Aidan at 7:27 p.m. He was 5 pounds, 7 ounces and 17 1/2 inches long. Aidan decided to give the interns something to worry about with his elevated respiratory rate and drop in blood pressure. After a day of observation, he was released to us from the NICU late yesterday afternoon. Aidan is a little fireball. It's only fitting that his name is Irish for "a fiery young man". He was the more active in Momma's belly and, as you can see, is definitely been more of a character so far...

Shari with Alex

Shari with Aidan

Proudest pop in town!

Stay tuned for more updates and pics. Please be patient with us though, as the majority of our time will spent keeping up with the kids!

Hospital Visit

This is going to be quick because this is three blogs in a row where I haven't posted any pictures and I don't feel like posting a long post (which I'm sure you're all very happy about).

Anyway, Sunday night I started having consistent contractions, as in about 4-5 minutes apart.  I called the hospital to see if I should go in and they said yes, just so they can monitor me.  Well, on the way they started getting closer and closer together.  I get there and they thought maybe I was dehydrated so they gave me an IV.  Well, my contractions were getting more consistent and stronger.  Not quite the reaction they were hoping for.  So they ended up giving me a shot to stop the contractions.  1 hour later, I was having them again.  They decided to keep me there until the morning.  I was still having consistent contractions, but I wasn't dialating or anything.  The conclusion: they ended up giving me 3 doses of the shot to stop the contractions and sent me home.  By the end, I was exhausted both emotionally and physically.  I thought we'd have babies by now, but nope.  They told me to take it easy and drink lots of fluids.  Needless to say, I was tired and sore.  I just want my babies to be healthy and safe.  I'm frustrated, but I'm sure the doctors know what they're doing.  The babies are the priority and I need to remember that.  I'm still feeling contractions but nothing regular.  We'll see what happens when i turn 36 weeks on Friday.

10 Positive Things about this Pregnancy

After reading my last blog, I'm feeling pretty guilty about being so negative.  So I've decided to write 10 positive things about this pregnancy.

1.  My husband still thinks I'm hot even when I weigh 50 pounds heavier and look like a bloated cow.

2.  I really do have a healthy, amazing, strong body.  I mean, I'm doing things at 35 weeks that most women with twins at that point CAN'T do.

3.  I have so many wonderful, supportive people, both far away and close by, who love me and offer their love and support without question (see previous posts comments for just an idea).

4.  I'm able to eat whatever the heck I want and NOT feel guilty about it.

5.  I have TWO babies for the price of one.

6.  They're both healthy and strong.

7.  I have a loving Heavenly Father who is ALWAYS aware of me and my needs, and ALWAYS gives me comfort when I need Him.

8.  I have a wonderful husband who will do anything and everything to make sure I'm happy and healthy and comfortable.  I love him so much!!!

9.  I have a beautiful, healthy, ACTIVE little girl who keeps me active and healthy, and who will give me loves just for the heck of it.

10.  Knowing that I get two beautiful babies in the end makes everything worth it!

Venting

I know I've been complaining in my last few blogs and I'm really sorry.  I hate reading blogs that are negative, but I've been feeling a little down the last couple of days.  I just feel like this pregnancy is never going to end.  Yesterday I got really really sick.  It progressively got worse throughout the day.  My body ached, I had a fever, and the chills.  So I felt cold, but I was burning up.  Anyway, I took a hot bath (which probably wasn't the best idea) and stayed in until I felt dizzy and nauseous.  Then laid down and fell asleep at about 5:30pm.  I woke up at 7pm still burning up, so I shed some layers and drank a whole lot of cold water.  Eventually my body cooled down, but I could not get back to sleep until about 9pm.  I was just so uncomfortable.  I finally had to prop myself up and use my body pillow to support my belly.  I had to change sides every half hour or my hips would start to ache.  But I eventually did get some sleep.  I slept without any blankets, that's how hot I was.  And I didn't even get cold.  My poor husband.  He's so wonderful!  He's always asking me what I need and always willing to do whatever.  This pregnancy hasn't been easy for him either and he's been so patient.  I don't know what I'd do without him!

Sorry for complaining.  Right now, I just feel like there's no light at the end of the tunnel and that I'm constantly battling some sort of pain or something always needs to be done.  This wasn't written to get sympathy, I just needed to vent.  I know there IS a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm sure it's going to come soon rather than later and then I'll have something else to vent about.  So I'm over venting and feeling sorry for myself.  Thanks for having the patience to read this.  Sometimes venting does a person good, but now it's time to push on. 

11 pounds of baby!!!!

Yes, you read that right!  I had an ultrasound last night (thanks again Pilks for watching Lilli).  The boys are really healthy and as you have read, they both weigh about 5.5 pounds A PIECE!  So the reason I LOOK so big, is because I AM so big!  But I'm so glad they're healthy and big.  I'd rather have them on the big/average side than on the smaller side.  I'll be scheduling a C-section around the 39th week mark, but I honestly don't know that I will be able to last that long.  I'm having a hard enough time now.  The other day I just cried because I was so uncomfortable and miserable.  I hurt everywhere and could barely walk.  I'm also feeling more nauseous.  This too shall pass.  I just want my babies to be safe and healthy!

We've got our Christmas decorations up.  I love it!  Now it really feels more like the season.  Plus I wanted to get everything up before I got too big and before the babies came.  We haven't gotten any of our Christmas shopping done though.  We should probably do that here soon.  Christmas will be small this year, for obvious reasons but that will be okay.  It'll be easier to teach Lilli about the reason we celebrate Christmas.  She might not fully understand, but we can try.  I hope we all remember why we celebrate the season and not lose sight of that.  We need to remember Christ's birth and all He did during his life here on earth.  He is our Savior and He loves us.  He's given us hope, especially in the world today.  I find great peace in that.  

Anyway, hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and have a great December/Christmas! 

My bigness, and the baby quilts

I had Ben take a quick picture of me just now so that ya'll can see how big I am.  If I look really big, that's because I am.  If I don't look that big, well, then the photo doesn't do me any justice.  I've also taken a picture of one of the two quilts my awesomely talented friend made for the boys.  The other quilt looks just like this one only with a brown back to it.  I love them, and she also made matching crib skirts as well.  Very cute!  

A little behind.......

All right.  No pictures.  Sorry.  But I'll TRY to keep this short.  I guess I'll write updates how my friend did them (good idea Megan).

Lilli:  She is still going strong with the whole potty thing.  Only a few accidents.  She's starting to lose interest, but as long as we keep reminding her to go potty in the big girl potty she does really good.  I haven't tried the night time potty training.  Going out is good.  I put a pull-up on and underwear over and sometimes she does good and sometimes she pees in her pull-up.  Any ideas on how to train for the overnighters?  Other than that, she's getting more and more sassy and bossy.  She's ready to be a big sister and will do wonderfully.  We love her so much and she brings such joy to our lives.

Ben: He's getting older.  Today is his 28th birthday.  We went out to dinner at Chop House and had some yummy prime rib.  I had more than he did.  Then we stopped and got him FIFA 09 for our Wii.  Now he and our neighbor are playing it up.  He's doing really good at work as well.  He's looking into changing shops and hopefully that will happen here soon.  He's in much need of a change.  We're definitely re-enlisting next June and feel like it's the right thing for us.  He's also looking at doing an internship/TDY overseas during that time as well.  He's been quite successful at work and is such a great support at home.  He's wonderful and is always so helpful. 

Me:  I'm surviving.  I'm ready to have these babies.  I have weekly appointments at the NST clinic.  AND I have one last ultrasound this coming Monday.  I really try not to complain but I'm so uncomfortable.  I just start crying sometimes from the pain.  They're so rambunctious and are constantly moving it seems.  I know people feel sorry for me.  I'm growing bigger everyday and need help with everything.  But I'm anxious for these babies to be here.  I finally feel ready for them to come.  Everything is all set up and we went on our tour of the hospital so we're good.  I'm 34 weeks now and would be okay with having these babies in the next week or two.  We'll see how much longer.

Thanksgiving was fun.  It's so nice to spend the holidays with good friends.  We miss our families and wish we could spend it with them, but good friends are a good second family.  Those of you who live close to family, appreciate them.  Spend the Holidays with them!  You don't realize what you have and how lucky you are!  We're looking forward to Christmas and just having these babies here.  I'll try to take one last picture of my bigness.  You really have NO IDEA how big I really am!

Potty Training Day 4

Totally awesome!!!  My little booger went on the toilet ALL day, BY HERSELF!  She's a pro!  Watch, now that I say that, tomorrow will be a downer day.  Oh well.  I still need to keep with it, because I know I'm not going to want to do it after the babies are born.  I'm so proud of Lilli and this hurdle we're crossing.  It's going to be quite an adjustment once the babies are here, but she'll do great!  I'm such a proud mama!!!!

ALS Graduation, Halloween, and other updates

Let's see.  Where do I start.  Ben graduated from ALS October 30th.  I drove up to Columbia and attended the ceremony.  It was cool to meet a lot of the people from his class and some of his supervisors.  He was a top graduate (1 of 4 out of 50 people), so I was very proud of him for that.  He wasn't expecting it at all.  It was a fun surprise.  Also, another surprise..........he sang the National Anthem for the ceremony, a capella.  That was another fun surprise for me and he did so awesome!  He really has a beautiful voice, I wish he would sing more.  Anyway, thanks to our good friends the Pilk's for keeping Lilli overnight that night.  I heard the girls had WAY too much fun!

Then we had Halloween.  Lilli was a cute little kitty cat.  She had so much fun trick or treating.  She's so not shy and would run up to the people with that candy and in her sweet little voice say trick or treat.  They all thought it was so cute.  They would let her get the candy and she wouldn't take just one handful, she had to take a couple more.  Yeah, we had to put a stop to that.  We went with our good friends the Gernat's.  They have a little boy about the same age as Lilli.  They had so much fun.  We only went to a few houses, but ended up with a lot of candy.  Neither Ben or I are much candy eaters, so we'll probably have the candy for a while.  We've been using it as a treat for potty training.

On to THAT subject.  The day before yesterday I decided it was time to start potty training.  It has to be done, and Lilli did awesome.  No accidents the whole day except at the end.  Yesterday I wasn't feeling great so I didn't do it, but today I am.  I know.  It's all about consistency.  I'm having a hard time with keeping her in her underwear even when we go out.  I get nervous.  Does anyone have any good ideas?  I need to just do it and just make sure I have extra clothes for her to wear.  But, so far so good.

I'm feeling okay.  The babies are just getting bigger and therefore there's not a whole lot of room for them to move.  I'm starting to go in every week now to the Non-Stress Testing Clinic, or NST.  I don't know what that entails.  We'll see come Monday at 9:30am.  My doctor said that they'll hook me up to "the machine."  Whatever that means.  The last couple of days I've been feeling a lot of contractions, and to be honest, it's my fault.  Lack of water and lack of rest is not a good combination.  I was really scared Tuesday night because I had 3 contractions within 20 minutes of each other.  So I've been really trying to suck down the liquids (and food) and just take it easy.  I'm excited for them to be here, just not right now.  Maybe in a few more weeks.  Speaking of a few more weeks, I'll have one last ultrasound just to make sure the boys are still doing okay.

Oh!  Another big development (atleast for us), we've picked names!!!!!!!!  Yea!!!!!  We're very excited.  Now it's just a matter of picking middle names, which we've kind of picked but I'm still hesitant on one of them.  I'm not going to say what they are because we could change our minds tomorrow (or Ben could), but they're very cute and I'm very happy.  Ben was actually the one who "picked" them, but they were names that I had suggested to him (and he wasn't sure about).  We're, okay I'm very excited about that!

Well, I think that's about all that's going on in our lives.  We're all healthy and happy!

Another Ultrasound

I know I have a lot of catching up to do.  I still have pictures from Ben's graduation and also Halloween.  I'll post them later, because I know you're all just dying to read my blog and then you will have something to look forward to.  

Anyway, yesterday we had another follow-up ultrasound.  The babies are still growing good.  They're both almost 4 pounds a piece (well, 3lb 11 oz and 3 lb 7 oz).  That's almost 8 pounds of baby right there.  And boy am I feeling it!!!  One of the babies (Twin A) has made his way right down into my pelvic area (he's dropped a lot since my last ultrasound) and the other (Twin B) was kind of head down as well.  Twin B's head was in the side of the other, so Baby B was basically in a ball sideways.  I told Ben I was going to try to manipulate BB so he was head down as well.  That would be a perfect scenario.  I would no longer have to choose if I wanted a C-section or naturally (w/ an epidural OF COURSE).   I would definitely go natural.  We'll see.  I have another dr. appointment next Monday and she'll be able to see how BB is positioned.  I'll be having regular weekly appointments from here on out, which is comforting.  I'm pretty big (bigger than my picture, if you can imagine).  Ben says I'm as big as I was with Lilli days before I had her.  So.........I'm huge!!!  We're getting anxious and excited for their arrival.  I feel like they're constantly battling for good positioning in my belly.  It's crazy!  My whole body moves when they're duking it out!  Anyway, babies are healthy!!! 

Making cookies

So I decided to try this yummy sugar cookie recipe that my friend always makes.  They're seriously the best sugar cookies IN THE WORLD!  But sadly, my attempt at making them was not so great.  The dough was really particular and it was just hard to roll out and cut.  So while the dough was in the fridge, I gave Lilli a little bit of dough and let her at it.  She had so much fun.  She wanted to do the whole rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutter.  As you can see, I didn't really give her a whole lot of dough to work with.  I think we may have a future chef on our hands.  By the way, my cookies turned out okay, but nowhere near the yummy deliciousness of my friends!

Pictures

These are pictures of Lilli in her cat costume before we left for the Ward's Trunk or Treat and also the flowers Ben sent me for my birthday.  They were beautiful!

A Day For Me

So yesterday I was able to have a day just for me (it was my b-day).  A friend offered to watch Lilli for me while I went out and did whatever I wanted.  With Ben's graduation coming up and it being a formal event, I really wanted to get my hair cut and get my nails done.  I don't like to get the fake nails on, but decided that this once won't hurt.  I love my hair cut.  It's so cute!  I was also able to run some errands and just do something for me.  Such a thoughtful gift, so thanks Stephanie!!!  It was a pretty good birthday, even if Ben was gone.  But he did send me my favorite flowers, lilies (I loved lilies BEFORE I even had Lilli).  And we did go out to Olive Garden for lunch on Saturday, and he told our waiter it was my birthday.  Of course they sang, but I told him (our waiter) I didn't want any big hooplah.  He was good about that.  So thanks to those of you who made my birthday special!  Thanks for the cards, emails, phone calls, treats, and other gifts!  It's nice to know I'm loved!

Trunk or Treat

Ben was able to come home this weekend and Lilli and I were so glad to see him!  We miss him very much, but this is his last week at ALS (4 days left).  He graduates on Thursday so I'll be going up to Columbia and attending that.  Anyway, it's starting to get cooler now and Lilli is needing some sweaters and long sleeve shirts so Saturday we went to Old Navy.  Lilli was needing a costume as well because that night was our ward's Trunk or Treat and she couldn't very well go and be the ONLY kid not in a cool costume.  We debated on what she should be.  A princess?  Hermoine (from Harry Potter)? A hippie?  We were shooting for a costume where we wouldn't have to spend a lot of money, using stuff we already had.  Anyway, when we got to Old Navy I looked over and saw that they had some costumes.  Not really knowing what they had, I saw that the price was $5 for these $23 costumes.  Were they for real???  $5 for a costume?  Ben brought Lilli over and we asked her if she wanted any of the costumes.  Of course she picked the kitty cat costume (she's been constantly pretending to be a cat for the last week, so why WOULDN'T she pick the cat costume).  It was really cute, and for $5, it was even cuter!  They also had some cute little ninja costumes, so I bought the boys one for each for next year.  Come on!  FOR $5!!!!!!!  I was so proud of myself!  Can you tell?!?!  

Anyway, we got to the trunk or treat a little late, but Lilli had a blast.  She played on the cake walk and won (everyone won something), got to go fishing (she won a bracelet), ate hotdogs w/ chips and juice, AND of course went trunk or treating and got lots of candy!  We have such a great ward and always have so much fun at these sort of activities.  We also met a few new families in the ward (our ward is a very transient ward, people are always moving in and out).  I didn't run around a whole lot with Lilli.  I've been feeling a lot of contractions (not A LOT, but enough to make me need to relax some; today I felt a couple contractions within about 10 minutes of each other, SCARY).  I'm a dork and don't drink enough.  Anyway, so Ben was wonderful and chased Lilli around the parking lot, teaching her how to say Trick or Treat.  He said she FINALLY picked up on it at the last car.  It was a fun weekend and we're always glad when Daddy comes home!  I'll post some pics of Lilli in her costume tomorrow.  I need to go eat and DRINK SOME WATER!!!!!

Edventure Children's Museum

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Last weekend we were able to make the 2 hour drive and see Ben in Columbia.  It was so fun to see him.  When we first got there, his class was having a "dog show."  One of the guys in Ben's class is a police officer and has a dog that he works with (canine unit).  So we went to that (Ben will post pictures and more about that).  It was really cool.  Then they had a BBQ and we ate hot dogs, burgers, juice, and chips.  It was fun to meet a lot of the people he goes to class with.  They were all really nice and friendly.  Then we checked in to our hotel room and went down to the pool.  They told me the pool was heated, but when we got in, or rather when Ben got in, it was freezing (I just dipped my toe in).  I had specifically requested this motel for its heated indoor pool.  Oh well!  Lilli wasn't really that interested in getting into the water anyway.  We played in the hot tub instead (it wasn't hot at all or I wouldn't have gotten in).  The next day, Ben had a service project his flight had to do so he left in the morning for a bit then came back to get us.  Then we were on our way to the Edventure Children's Museum.  We first ate at Wild Wing's (it was the only good restaurant nearby) then headed to the Museum.  The museum is super cool.  I recommend every family doing it at least once.  Lilli absolutely loved it!  She had so much fun!  There are so many things to see and do.  After about an hour, both Ben and I were so tired but Lilli was still going.  I think we left after almost 2 hours there.  It was a good experience for all of us and it was fun just spending time as a family!

I leave the room for 2 seconds..................

Look at her just chillin', like nothing is out of the ordinary, chowin' down on a Tootsie Roll!

and look at the mess she made!  That is my whole package of gum strewn all over the couch.  I had just gotten that gum the other day.  I had only eaten 1/2 a piece out of that whole thing.  Lilli had it everywhere and most of the pieces had half a bite taken from them.  I was able to salvage 4 whole pieces.  The rest I just threw away.  And not only that, but I had forgotten that I had some candy leftover in my purse from the Oliver Hardy Festival Parade.  Yes!  That is Tootsie Roll slobber all over her face.  So what do you do when you want to scream at your child!  You take pictures and post a blog about it 3 days later!

Mama's Big Belly

Everyone keeps asking me to blog pictures of myself and my big belly.  I'm telling you, I am huge!  Especially for only being 27 weeks (28 weeks tomorrow).  I know I'm pregnant with twins AND it's my second pregnancy, but still.  It doesn't make me feel any better.  The pregnancy is going rather well, considering.  It is hard for me to sleep at nights and I'm tired all the time, but I'm trying to keep a positive outlook.  I only have a short amount of time left and as everyone keeps telling me, the twins are easier to take care of INSIDE rather than OUTSIDE.  So even though I'm quite uncomfortable, have really bad acid reflux/heart burn, still feel the nausea, chasing around a VERY active 2 year old, am a single mom at the moment, and am tired all the time, I FEEL GREAT!!!!!!!  I have wonderful friends and family who give me love and support and offer their services willingly.  Thank you so much to all of you!  It really does make me feel like I can get through this and makes me feel really GREAT!

Pumpkins

I can't tell who Lilli looks like more in this picture, me or Ben.

Monday, we decided to carve pumpkins.  We went to Wal-Mart, and thinking we would be creative, decided to get 4 smaller pumpkins so we can carve the word "BOO!" using each pumpkin for a letter and the exclamation point.  As we started to carve, or TRY to carve, we noticed that our knives weren't cutting through the pumpkins very easily, or rather, not at all.  Ben gave up and went to Food Lion to get a bigger pumpkin while I was somewhat successful in carving out 3 of the 4 smaller pumpkins.  Lilli was so  not interested in carving pumpkins.  We tried to get her to clean the guts out but she was grossed out.  By the end of the carving process, Ben and I were both so tired of carving.  My pumpkins are cleaned out (3 of the 4 of them) but I have yet to actually carve something in them.  And Ben's big pumpkin, well, the pictures speak for themselves!  Can you tell he was tired?  Plus he was leaving and had about 30 minutes to carve a face out anyway.  

Free Handbag

Handbag Planet is having a deal where you can win a free handbag every hour on October 15th.  Just head to www.handbagplanet.com and enter to win!

Kleenex

I've been sick the last 2 weeks with a nasty cold.  I still have a little congestion, but not as bad as it was.  Because of it, I've had a really runny nose and I had to sleep sitting up a little.  Well, my nose would still run so I'd stuff  a piece of kleenex up my nose to stop it (I know, gross).  It helped me sleep and was actually pleasant (I couldn't breathe anyway).  Lilli would catch me a couple of times with some up my nose and would try to pull it out.  At one point, I came into the living room and these pictures show what I saw.  I had to laugh!  

Oliver Hardy Festival

The first weekend of October, Harlem, GA celebrates the birth (or something) of Oliver Hardy.  Those of you who don't know who he is, he was an old slapstick comedian/actor.  He was in "The Laurel and Hardy Show", I think that's what it was called.  Anyway, they close off the Main Street in little Harlem and people set up vendors to sell their crafts and food.  So we walked up the street until the parade started.  It was kind of a dinky parade, as you can tell from the pictures.  Lilli had lots of fun getting candy, but whenever the vehicles drove by, she would cling onto Ben and I.  After the parade, we walked back down the street and went home.  That was about as exciting as it got.  Though on our way, we heard one of the vendors selling food tell someone that they didn't have to have a license to serve food.  Yeah, we didn't get ANY food!  We did stop by the Laurel and Hardy Museum, where they had flown up look-a-like actors from Universal Studios.  There were too many people in there and it really wasn't all that interesting.  They had a puppet show that was geared toward the Christian population.  They'd sing songs about prophets.  It was interesting, but Lilli enjoyed it.  I guess it wasn't too bad of a celebration.  We definitely felt like we were in the South.

Sweet kisses

So right after I finished posting the last post (About Lilli being a monster), I went into my room to see what Lilli was up to and found her just laying on my bed watching a movie.  I go over to her and ask her what she's doing and all of a sudden she jumps up and gives me a big hug and gives me about 20 kisses on my cheek.  I just melted.  It's those moments that make up for the "monster" moments and make motherhood all worth it (even when you're sick)!!!!!!

Nap time

The other day, Lilli was SUPPOSED to be taking a nap.  Instead, this is how I found her.  Apparently, she had decided she would play dress up.  Notice the darker spot on her swimming suit...............it's pee.  She had taken off her diaper, put on panties, and then peed all over.  She was soaking wet.  Needless to say, instead of taking a nap, she got a bath instead.  

I've been really sick with a cold lately and was in much need of a nap that specific day.  It seems that on the days that I need a nap the most, Lilli decides she doesn't need one.  So along with being sick and miserable, I get to clean up dirty clothes and a dirty daughter.  Then I have to go upstairs in her room to make sure she didn't pee on the floor or on anything.  It was a great day!

But that's not all.  Today, while I was going over some choir stuff with our ward's choir director, I hear Lilli yelling, "My eyes, my eyes!"  So I run into the other room and she's on the floor with a bottle of Windex.  I guess she had sprayed Windex in her face!  Not to mention the fact that I'm still sick, can't breathe, can't smell, and can barely keep my eyes open and have THAT mess to clean up!  Now I understand the whole "terrible two's" phrase!  I'm so glad my husband is coming home today!!!!!!

First E.R. visit

Just some random photos of her.  What a goof!

These two photos were taken today.  She still had on the bracelet they gave her at the ER.  She didn't want to take it off today, but when they put it on her last night, she freaked out!

Yes, that's right.  Last night was our first E.R. visit.  It wasn't too bad of an experience to be honest.  They had us there a total of 2 hours.  Yesterday, after Lilli's nap, she woke up really fussy so I went to go pick her up and she was burning up.  I have never felt her this hot before.  So I took her temperature (rectally) and the thermometer read 103.8.  I don't think I left it in long enough either, so it very well could have been higher than that.  I freaked out!  Ben had just left for the week to go up to Shaw AFB for ALS.  Yes, JUST left (well, he was about 2 hours away)!  I didn't know what to do, so I call up my good friend Megan and asked her at what temperature we're supposed to take our kids in to get seen ASAP.  She said 104 and again, I freaked out.  She told me to get Lilli in a warm/cool bath to bring her temperature down and give her some Tylenol.  I did that and it seemed to work.  Her temp went down to about 101, but before I put her down for bed it started to go back up.  I made sure she was drinking plenty of fluids (juice), but she wasn't drinking it.  She kept waking up, I'd go up there, check her temperature, lay her down, sing her some songs, and go back to bed.  At about 12:45am, she come down to my room really fussy, so I pick her up and she's burning up again.  I tried not to freak out this time.  But I knew I needed to get her to the hospital.  I checked her temperature (underarm this time) and it read 103.7.  I KNOW that her core temperature was hotter than this, so I called Ben and asked him what he thought I should do.  He said to take her in.  I was so scared.  So we went in.  They told me she probably just had a virus, and then they stocked me up with some Motrin and Tylenol and we went home.  I'm glad we went though.  I felt better.  Though, by the end of our visit, Lilli was feeling better and jumping on the hospital bed.  Today she was feeling better, but still felt warm.  I gave her some more medicine and TONS of juice and Gatorade.  She was probably loving it!  Hopefully she continues to get better.  

This experience really made me appreciate Ben and the fact that he has the priesthood.  I know I probably should have called our neighbors to come give her a blessing, but it was so late and I didn't want to "inconvenience" them.  I know they would have been more than willing.   Anyway, I'm so glad to have a husband that holds the priesthood and strives everyday to live worthy so he can use it whenever he's needed.  I sure needed it yesterday!