We're Having Another Baby!!

Well, if you haven't heard already we are expecting again in July!! We are super excited and can't wait to see what we are having. We are hoping for a girl this time around. Hanna is pretty outnumbered with four boys already! The kids are really excited and think that it is a girl. We will see in a little over a month. It was fun to pull out our baby name list that we have had through all of our kids. Here is a list of the names that we still really like:
             GirlNames                               Boy Names
                Piper                                          Grant
                Emerson                                    Graham
                Lauren                                   
                Avery
                            
As you can see our boy list has gotten pretty short because we have been able to use most of them up. Girl names seem to be a lot harden to agree on and so the list has always been shorter than the boys. I'll let you know what we are having when I find out!! :)

New House

Well I figured that since we had been in our house almost a year that I should Show you what it looks like. Haha! Can I just say that things have been busy around here. With Ty in Kindergarden, and E and Nuna in preschool, it makes for a lot of driving around!

Okay, now for updates. Ty lost his first tooth a few weeks ago. He was so excited to let Grandpa pull it out! (He gives a dollar for every tooth he pulls!) He is doing very well in school and is quite the little artist! He spends at least an hour every day coloring. His teacher says he is very artistic and is the best color-er in the class! Looks like he is taking after his father in that aspect!






Little E-man is such a cutie! He loves to practice his letters (ABC's) every night so that he can be ready for kindergarten. I can't believe that he is getting so big! I will admit I did get a little teary eyed when I went to his kindergarten round-up. When he was born, we didn't even know how long he would live, and look at him now! He is going into kindergarten!! Heavenly Father has blessed our lives with Ethan! I don't know what we would do without him!
 
Now for Nuna Dilly. She is quite the little mommy! She is so helpful, and such a joy to have around! She always wants to help me with what I am doing. She is practicing her letters with Ethan almost every night, and I think that she will be shocked when she doesn't go to kindergarten with E. She loves her boys, and keeps up with them pretty well.
Abram is such a funny guy! He mostly has a straight face, but if you can get him to smile, he has the cheesiest grin! He tries to act shy and has the best faces! He loves to jump and eat. He knows how to walk but feels more sure on his knees or crawling.
 
Owen is so outgoing! He loves to "talk." He walks around everywhere like he owns the place. He doesn't smile for strangers, but he is all smiles at home. He is more of a picky eater, maybe that's why he is a whole 2 pounds less than Abram.
Both of the twins love to climb. We took them to a local hot springs a few weeks ago and they LOVED the water! For the most part they are my happy go lucky babies who don't give smiles away easily. :) (Unless they see Grandpa Baird, he has them wrapped around his finger!) We love our home, neighbors, ward, new friends, and life. We couldn't be happier! We have been so blessed!

Never A Dull Moment

My goodness! These past few months have been so busy and fun! Life with 5 kids is great! I am having so much fun being a mom! 


We went to the fair and had a blast! The kids loved it! The got to eat a tiger ear and go on rides and even go to a petting zoo and see lots of animals. The babies were so good! They are the most chill babies I have ever had! It makes it easy to go places with everyone. Towards the end though I think that Ryan was getting tired. Haha! He is such a good Daddy! 






We visited uncle Jared and Sabrina in Provo at the Macaroni Grill. It was really good to see them, but it was hard to tell who the kids and the adults were. 

 




We went to the river and fed the ducks with uncle Seth. He is so fun! There were lots of fun park benches to sit on and enjoy. The kids love to feed the duck at the river! This summer was just filled with adventure! We loved it! 



The kids have started school and the twins are moving all over the place! We moved into a new house and have met so may great friends! When you hear the term, "never a dull moment," you think of things always being exciting and having something fun going on. I have come to find out that it means always doing something, whether it is fun or not. My mornings now consist of helping everyone get fed, clean, and ready, and then I have a moment to feed myself and maybe if I'm lucky get to shower before they go to school in the afternoon. Some one always needs my assistance, which is great, I love that they need and want me to be with them. But it has caused me to neglect a few things. For example: my house, the dishes, laundry, myself getting ready for the day, making dinner every night, just to name a few. :) (Of course not all at once, ;), what kind of wife/mother would I be.)

So lets update you on the family. Lets start with Tyler. He started kindergarten this year and LOVES it! He is always so excited to go and to do his homework. :) He loves all of the new friends that we have made in our new neighborhood! Most of them are girls which he loves! He has a different girl that he is going to marry each week, it is quite funny. I only thought girls got crushes when they were little, but Ty has proved me wrong! He is exactly as I imagine Ryan was when he was little. I love it!
Ethan is in Preschool again this year and loves it! He is talking so much! I can't believe how much more grown up he is than last year! He loves school and playing with his new buddy Garrison. He is such a sweetie! He had a kidney stone laser-ed out a few days ago. He is the bravest person I know! He was skipping into the hospital and was so excited to go with the anesthesiologist back to surgery. He doesn't complain unless he is really hurting. He can barely walk today and is still smiling! My hero!

Hanna started preschool this year and was a little hesitant at first, but now she loves it! She loves to play and be a "little mommy." She "helps" me keep the boys in order. It is so funny! When I tell the boys to do something, she copies everything I say to them but a little quieter. Almost like she is practicing for when she is a mom. It is hilarious! She makes me laugh! She is very specific on what she wants to wear and how she wants her hair to be done! I am in trouble! She is only 3!!
 

Little Abram is so fun! He army crawls everywhere! He is so fast! I really have to be careful with him! He is full of smiles and loves to play! He scratched a capillary on his forehead and now has a permanent dot in between his eyebrows. I guess the twins will be easy to tell apart for the next few years. He can clap his hands and has his 2 bottom teeth.
Owen is such a cutie! He makes you work for a smile! He can be pretty serious, but loves to be tickled! He can crawl and climb up to things. as soon as you walk into the room he will crawl right over to you and start climbing up to his knees to get you to hold him. He is so sweet. He also has his 2 bottom teeth.
 

I had to separate the boys at night because they LOVE to wrestle. I have never seen that in my life! Two babies wrestling. It is so cute! They love it. 

 We love our new house and ward! This summer has been great! I will try to write more, it is just hard to find the time. :) I hope you all are well. Pictures of the house will be coming soon.

Time Flies!

My goodness! Things have been so busy around here! Lets see. . . .let me update you on the fam. Tyler is doing well, he will be 5 in a few weeks. Pretty crazy to think I have a 5 year old. Okay so its not as crazy as having 5 kids I know, but what do you do. Ethan had a 1 cm kidney stone taken out about a month ago. He has recovered just fine. We had a couple of weeks of uncomfort, but that little guy is a trooper! His chronic diarrhea makes him chronically dehydrated, which in turn makes it easier for him to get kidney stones. Who knew a 3 year old could get a kidney stone. Hanna is doing well also. ( She dressed herself in this picture, it was right before she put ALL of the fish food in the fish tank ;)We are working on potty training her. Not so easy when you are so busy, but someday we will get there. Abram and Owen are so fun! They don't let me sleep much, but who needs sleep anyways? (Oh wait, I need sleep! ~yawn~) So Owen does sleep through the night, most nights, which is awesome. Abram on the other hand just seems to need a snack in the middle of the night. Which is fine by me considering they are in the 5th and the 3rd percentiles. My little ones.
Ryan and I are in the process of trying to sell our house. So if you know anyone who needs one, send them our way! ( http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-Detail/845-Winona_Idaho-Falls_ID_83401_M21803-35819) We will be staying in Idaho Falls.I think that's about it for now, I just wanted to update all of you! Happy April!

Grateful

I can't believe that you can have the craziest day as a mom, where so many "oh my gosh, you have got to be kidding me," moments occur and then just one smile or cuddle and it makes it all worth it! I don't know how my kids melt my heart, but they do, over and over again. I can't believe how lucky I am to be a mom! I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Never a Dull Moment

We seriously never have boring times at our house! I went to tuck in Ty last night and he didn't have a shirt on so I asked him:
Me: "Where is your shirt?"
Ty: "Um. . ."
Me: Checking under his covers, "Did you take your pants off too?"
Ty: "Um . . "
Me "Are you naked?"
Ty: Guiltily,"Oh, I didn't know."
Me: "Ty you need to wear your pajamas!"
Ty: "I can't it hurts my eczema."
Me: "Well you at least have to wear underwear."
Ty: Almost crying, "NO!!!! It hurts me."
Me: "Sorry we always wear under wear, but you don't have to wear your pajamas."
Ty: With a 'yes I won' smile on his face, "okay"

So my 4 year old likes to sleep naked! I knew it was going to be crazy raising boys but I didn't know they would start so many "boy" things this young!
Ethan and Tyler share a room and EVERY night we go in to check on them because of the noise they are making and they are on the floor wrestling, for fun. Both as happy as can be. I don't get boys! They are so silly! And while the boys are wrestling I check on Hanna only to find her with her favorite shoes on, in bed, playing with all of her barbies quietly. Oh and when I got her out of bed this morning, she had the shoes on again. So she got up after I tucked her in again with no shoes, and put them on to sleep with them. She does beat all!

The Fam

You will have to forgive me, because in my last post I made it seem like the twins cried all of the time. They are really good babies! They do have acid reflux though which can put a damper on happy babies, but luckily they have medicine to help soothe their little throats. I was so proud of my mommy powers today! I finally distinguished the cry of the twins. Lets hope that it can continue and is not a one time thing!
Tyler was all ready for church today and to me to hold Abram up so that he could see how cute he looked with his new tie. So I held him up and I assure you that Abram thought his brother looked so spiffy for church. Tyler just adores his new brothers! He is going to make a great little daddy someday, but for now he is a great big brother.
Ethan is starting to become more and more interested in the twins. I catch him sneaking over to them to give them kisses, it is so cute! This is his first week as a sunbeam, and he is so excited! He is getting to be such a big boy!
Hanna is the little mommy of the house. She scolds Ethan and Tyler if they do ANYTHING they are not supposed to, and if they don't listen to her she comes to me crying that they won't do what they should. Ever since it became cold outside she has to wear a hat and shoes/boots all the time. Its pretty funny! She always has to have a "complete" outfit. She is a sweetie!
Abram and Owen are still a half of a pound apart, and the more they weigh the less you can tell the weight difference. I also think that the older they get the more they look alike. I have to look at them pretty good before I can tell them apart, and in the beginning I could easily do it. It looks like I might have to start painting their big toes again. They will be eight weeks tomorrow and Abram weighs 8 lbs. 11 oz., and Owen weighs 8 lbs. 2 oz.
What a fun little family!

First Post of the Year

I was looking through our family pictures to find a more recent family picture and realized that we don't have one of the whole family yet. Bummer. The picture above though technically has everyone in it, Abram and Owen were in my tummy. At least now I know we need one now.

My goodness these last couple of weeks have been busy! We love our new additions! The kids all do so well with the babies. It has been easier for me to keep things more organized because I am always up doing something. I definitely have less down time with 5 kids, but i am getting used to it. After almost two months i would have to say that the hardest part about twins is, well, having two of them. :) I know that seems weird to say. We were blessed with really good babies! They have such a good temperament. Its does become challenging when they are both crying at the same time, or are hungry at the same time. (I have not yet mastered the nursing two at a time technique.) It makes me feel bad that I can't help their every need when they want it, but I guess they are learning patience right? (I know, babies have no concept of patience, nor will they for another year or two.) I would say that by far the hardest thing is at night when one is crying and hard to get to sleep for an hour or two, and then when he finally goes to bed the other one starts the same thing. It's pretty funny how they are truly on their own schedule. Ones crying doesn't wake up the other. I do love though that they have different wake times during the day. I get to play with each of the individually and I have so much fun with it!
For the holidays we put the twins in stockings and took pictures. I thought it would be super cute but it just ended up looking goofy. The boys were SO small compared to their stockings, it was just a little bit ridiculous!
With the new year I look forward to many memories with family and friends! Here's to an amazing 2011!

First 4 Days at Home

We all came home from the hospital on Thursday, and things couldn't be better! Ry and I are having so much fun with these little cuties! The kids want to help out a little too much sometimes, and they are not really liking the boundaries we are setting for them. They do eventually accept them because they want to be close to the babies. The first time Ty held one of the babies since we arrived home he said quietly, "I love you! My name is Tyler." It was so cute! Then he said, "He knows me now mom."
I have heard tons of stories about twins that the first few months are crazy and you never get any sleep and it all just becomes a big blur. I actually feel quite the opposite, granted I have only been home for 4 days. I am having the time of my life with my new little family! Sure it is hard work and I do have help from my family, but what family isn't hard work. I just can't get enough of the two new sweet little boys that are new to our family! I love how much they look alike, but how their personalities are different. We don't get too much sleep, but being pregnant with twins, sleep was something that you just heard about and never believed could ever happen. So even a little bit of sleep is better than none at all.
Hanna is quite the little mommy! She tries to make sure that they have their blankets and everything else that they might need. Any noise that they make Tyler is there right away to make sure they are okay. When they make little noises, Ty looks at me and says, what did he say? It is really funny! Ethan likes to look at them but that is about it. He is not very interested in the babies, but he likes them because he can get away with more things while we are busy with the babies.
To help them gain weight a little faster, I am breastfeeding them, then pumping and giving them a bottle of my milk right after. They have been gaining weight well and are doing amazing!
We are in for a ton of fun at our house for many years to come!

They're Here!

We finally had our twin boys! They are so much fun to hold, look at, well everything with them is just fun right now! They look more and more alike everyday. I went into labor Sunday night and at 5 o' clock Monday morning the Dr started my C-Section. Abram Dylan Later was born first at 5:18 AM. He weighed 6 lbs. 1 oz. Then almost immediately after, Owen Ryan Later was born, still in his amniotic sack. Technically they were born in the same minute, but they waited to count Owen until his sack was ruptured so 5:19 AM was his time. The Dr. said that the Native American Indians thought that it means that your baby is very special if it was born in its sack, because it is so rare. I thought that was pretty cool. They looked great from the beginning! They both had great apgar scores, and they each had little red "distinguishing marks" on their foreheads by their hairlines. Abram was a half of a pound bigger than Owen, and Abram's nose seemed a little bigger than Owens. We were excited to be able to have some ways to tell them apart. But then to our dismay: the marks went away, their weights started evening out, the swelling on Abram's nose went down, and then look well. . . .. . IDENTICAL! Holy cow it is hard to tell them apart! Thank goodness for the little bands on their ankles that tell us who they are! We will have some trouble with that when we get home, I hope we don't mix them up! I think Owen is on the left and Abram is on the right.
Grandma and Grandpa Baird brought the kids up to see the babies, and they were so excited! They kept asking, "Who is this?" They couldn't tell them apart either, not that I expect them to though. Their favorite part was getting to hold the babies! Abram is the one with the little bald head, and Owen has the white hat on.
I decided to throw in a picture of these adorable wrinkly legs! Owen posed so well for us to get that picture. It is a little blurry, but you get the idea.
They are eating well and they are so darn cute!! We think that they look a lot like Tyler when he was born, also some Ethan in there too. They are a good mix of Ryan and the boys. Oh, I am so excited to bring these two boys home!

So this will be your second set of twins?

I get asked this a lot when I am out with my other children. Granted Ethan and Hanna are very close in age (11 months), and they do look alike!
I am now 36 and a half weeks along, and feeling very full of babies! The doctor says they are about 5 pounds each now, and if I keep them in until 39 weeks then they will weigh about 6 pounds each. Just what I have always wanted, a 12 pound baby! No, I'm really excited to be having twins! I can't wait to meet them and hold them. Now if we could only decide what to name them. . . .

September Happenings

Boy it has been a crazy month! Two of my kids starting school, both of my Grandma's die within a week of each other, me getting very largo, and getting a bigger car. It seems overwhelming but it has been such a blast! The boys LOVE school! I love that the bus comes and picks them up from our house. Saves me a lot of sleep in the morning (which I can't live without, or be sane without for that matter.) The boys now share a room and it took about a month, but they go to bed pretty fast now. Ethan loves that he gets to be in a big boy bed. They play better together now too, its nice. Everyone has seemed to grow up a little bit, just in time for the new arrivals. I have also loved spending more one on one time with Hanna too! She is such a fireball! She loves Yo Gabba Gabba, and cuddling with me, her baby, and of course, naturally, a purse. I love that I got at least one girl to love! She sure is a sweetie! She let Ry put her hair in curlers the other day and this was the outcome: It seriously looks like she is wearing a wig! I keep dreaming of the day that I can bend over easily, roll over in bed easily, run, and play outside with my kids. I feel a little trapped in my body, but definitely glad that the twins are staying in! I am almost 34 weeks which is awesome! (Along with my size) Anyhow, my goal for the boys is to stay in as long as possible with them to not have to be in the NICU. I've had enough of NICU's to last a lifetime! We still do not have names picked out. I have NO idea what we are going to name them. Lets hope we find a cute name by the time they get here. Any Suggestions?
Ryan is being such a good sport with this pregnancy! You think that being pregnant with one baby is hard, emotional and limiting physically, and then you get pregnant with twins. He is a saint! Lets just say that I am not the easiest person to live with on a day to day basis when I am pregnant. He has joined our local gyms "The biggest loser," and is doing really well! It ends the day before Thanksgiving, lucky him!! He is a stud and will do well, I know it!
My sister just found out this month also that she is pregnant with twins too! My poor mother! No, it is really exciting! I can't wait to find out what she is having.
All craziness aside, I have really been enjoying this month with my little family! All of the little special moments that we get to share together means so much to me! Whether its giving Hanna "oatmilk" for breakfast, or letting Ethan talk to his "guncle Seth," or having ty tell us that he just "tooted" out of his mouth. There is never a dull moment! Oh, Hanna threw up a few weeks ago and I was talking to her about it and how she wasn't feeling good and she said, "Yea, I poop out of my mouth." So Hilarious!!
I have been busy trying to bust out as many quilting projects as I can before I turn into a zombie milking machine. I finished my moms quilts finally (I've been working on it for 3 years). Chloe's baby quilt and James's. Its nice to get things done. Now if I could only finish Ryan's applecore quilt that he has been dying for me to make him. Maybe I can get it done by Christmas, if he is on Santa's good list, we will have to see!
We tried on options for Halloween and here were the winners. Enjoy!