Christmas 2010

This year was such a blast for us for Christmas, with Morgan understanding the concept of Santa and bringing presents it was really rewarding to us to see how excited she got when she was able to open her presents! I also had the funnest time shopping for her because she is now at the age where she can appreciate the toys and that they are on a whole new "learning" level!

Morgan with her Christmas eve present, Curious George, she was happy!

We did the ring countdown and she new the night before that if she went to bed Santa would come. We told her she had to stay in her bed all night otherwise Santa won't come and she actually did (big feat since she has been making appearances in our bed at night) That morning she was so excited but we convinced her to wait a little bit so Mom and Dad could have a cup of coffee and Jaidyn was still sleeping at 8 am. After she started getting antsy I woke Jaidyn up so she could be part of it. She was really sweet and opened her little sisters presents for them and then showed them what they got.

Showing Cameryn her new pajamas that Santa brought her

She really did enjoy all the presents we got her (or should I say Santa) and has been busy playing with them ever since. I would say her favorite is a VTech digital camera we got her, she is always trying to take pictures with our cameras so I figured this would be a great present for her!

That night her cousin, aunt and uncle came over and we cooked up a feast, deep fried turkey, ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing and rolls....it was delicious, I even make a Lemon Meringue pie and a Turtle Cheesecake. The lemon meringue was okay, it just needed more time to firm up as it was a little runny and the turtle cheesecake was delicious!

My pie!

I can't wait for next year as Cameryn and Jaidyn should be able to open some presents, even though they still wont get the concept, but Morgan will help!

Cameryn and Jaidyn in their Christmas pajamas!

Now we have her birthday to concentrate on, it is less than a month away and I can't even believe she is turning 3! We have a special present picked out for her that I can't wait to see when she get its, she has been asking for it for a few months now. I also did a countdown ring for her birthday so she is pretty excited about being able to pull a ring off everyday and then count to how many days till what she says "my Happy Birthday"

Weekly Menu

It's that time again, here is my menu for the week!

Sunday: Leftovers (Ham, cheesy potatoes, stuffing and green bean casserole)
Monday: Beef w/ Pea pods, rice and egg rolls
Tuesday: Pork Chops, rice and corn
Wednesday: Spaghetti and Sausage w/ Garlic Toast
Thursday: Chicken Stew w/ rolls
Friday: Appetizers
Saturday: Pizza

I am trying a few new things this week as you can see, I have not made the beef with pea pods before, I am hoping it is like Beef w/ Broccoli but since Tyson won't eat broccoli I am substituting pea pods, also the Chicken stew is new, that is in my crock pot cookbook so I am excited to try that as well! Have a great week!

Morgan's 3rd Christmas

I am so excited for this Christmas with Morgan, she understands the concept of Santa and is getting really excited for him to come and visit. About a month ago we made a Santa countdown chain and every morning she gets to tear one ring off and then we count how many days till Santa comes. This is the first thing she asks for now in the morning to be able to tear her ring off. I am thinking of making one for her birthday since that is 1 month away.

We have presents under the tree and she has been really good about not touching them, she did pick out some presents for Cameryn and Jaidyn and has helped me wrap them. She is really into the ornaments and pointing out the ones we have for everyone, (the dogs and cat also have an ornament). She even picked out one for daddy this year, his is a BBQ Grill that says GrillMaster on it!!

Needless to say it is also the hardest for me to get the presents in the house, hidden and wrapped w/o her seeing. I got some wrapped during a nap once but I was paranoid she was going to come down the whole time, now I am going to finish tonight after she goes to bed.

We are also going to be making cookies tomorrow for Santa to eat as I told her that he needs cookies in order to be able to deliver presents to all the kids. I can't wait till next year, it will be even more exciting for her and then the babies will be able to open some presents as well!.



Here is Morgan on her first Christmas!


Here she is on her 2nd Christmas

I will post after this Christmas the next set of pictures...Have a great Christmas everyone!!!

Weekly Menu

It's that time again to post my weekly menu, I have been trying to post some video's of the girls but am having a problem with the upload, so I am going to keep trying and will hopefully get that posted this week sometime!

Sunday: Spaghetti Batch and Garlic Toast (made a huge batch in the crock pot and then we freeze it in bowls for the perfect serving for us)
Monday: Keilbasa w/ caramelized onions, noodles and corn
Tuesday: Lasagna and Salad
Wednesday: Chicken, rice and green beans (not sure what kind of chicken yet.)
Thursday: Taco Thursday, and tator tots
Friday: Christmas Eve Dinner w/ the Canale Clan
Saturday: Turkey, Ham, Cheesy Potatoes, etc...all the good stuff for Christmas!

I am going to even attempt to make a Lemon Meringue Pie for Tyson as it is his favorite, It seems like a lot of work, but I won't know if I can do it unless I try!

Jaidyn has found her voice!

Jaidyn has always been the talker out of the two babies, but over the last few days she has really started to become vocal, and she is LOUD! Who knew such a small thing could be so loud, we are going to be in trouble when she gets older if she keeps up this level of volume. Here is a brief video of her talking to me!

DONT JUDGE!

So I was upset when I posted the previous blog, and I think I have every right to be but I feel like I should say it a bit differently.

What we choose to do with our money is our business, not yours.....if your that concerned your welcome to ask and MAYBE I will have a conversation with you about it, however it is not your business which is why I think you choose to talk about behind our backs. We are great, hardworking parents and do deserve time out...it is what makes a marriage work. We don't appreciate you assuming our situation and we don't appreciate you talking behind our backs about it. Please stop causing drama where it is not needed, we have enough going on in our lives right now and are not going to start playing this game with you. Either you can be in our lives as an understanding, non judgemental person or not, it is your choice but I think you know what choice you have already made...

That is all I have to say and I am open to discuss this further with you if you would like, you know my number to call me.

Weekly Menu

I know I am behind on my menu but we really don't have that much food in the house with the exception of chicken and hamburger and I am waiting to go grocery shopping tomorrow on payday. Lindsay a friend of ours is coming over the babysit Cameryn and Jaidyn so I can take Morgan for some one on one time and to a BIG shopping trip. So I have been kinda making my meals up in the morning with what food we do have in the house.

Sunday: Chicken with Rotel and bow tie pasta, just made it up and it tasted pretty good
Monday: Taco Soup and quesadilla's
Tuesday: Fried Chicken, Noodles and Green Beans
Wednesday: Tyson and I have a date night so I don't have to cook :)
Thursday: French Dips and fries
Friday: BBQ Ribs
Saturday: Steak and Potatoes

I know it is weird to have a date night during the week, but my sister in law and brother in law are watching our kids and they work weekends, (they will be going over to Aunt Dodo's and Uncle Bobby's as well, that wasn't the original plan but it is now, which I don't mind as long as I get out of the house!) so if we want a date night I will take a Wednesday, I am just excited to be going out and be able to order off of a menu, it has been so long since I have done that when it isn't fast food.

Goodbye Cable

We decided to go ahead and cancel our cable for a couple of reasons, the first being that we don't really have a lot of time to watch TV right now and to pay an extra $90 a month for something we don't get to enjoy didn't make sense. Also we need to save that extra money for things like diapers, clothes, baby food etc, also right now we only have 1 working TV, our big TV that was downstairs broke a while back, we purchased a $120.00 light bulb thinking that was it and it didn't fix it, it will cost us another $150.00 for the other parts that we think MIGHT fix it. So we moved our bedroom TV downstairs and I cancelled cable!

I thought I was going to be really sad about it since I do watch TV when I am feeding the babies and after everyone is in bed. I have to say that I haven't missed it. We have our PS3 hooked up to stream netflix as well as we signed up for Hulu which you can watch TV shows through there. I have been very pleased with this since the Hulu cost us $20 for the YEAR. It is a little slow from time to time but it is worth the patience to be saving over $90 a month!!! Now I do miss my DVR but that is exactly what Hulu is. It has been great because they have a ton of kids stuff as well and so if Morgan wants to watch something we can search for it.

Now I just wish Netflix had more newer movies to watch but then we do get on DVD at a time so if only I was better about watching those movies and returning them then I could watch more updated movies.

Now I only wish we would of done this sooner!

Cameryn VS. Jaidyn

I can't even believe almost 5 months have gone by since we had the girls, it went by so fast! At first I thought I was never going to get any sleep since we had Morgan during the day and couldn't really nap when the girls napped. But I have to say that we are blessed with babies that like their sleep and they have been sleeping 11-12 hours through the night for about a month in a half, it makes it so much easier to get through the day when they do that!

As far as the girls go, they couldn't be any different. It is amazing to see their personality's starting to show and really how different they are.

Cameryn--she is our happy baby. If she is hungry or needs a new diaper all she does is smile and giggle at you when your getting ready to help her. It makes me smile every time. She giggles already especially when you kiss her cheeks, she loves it! She is also our eater, she eats 8 ozs at a time and up to 5 bottles a day, along with rice cereal. She is also our chunky baby and holds herself like a sack of potatoes when you hold her. She can hold her head up and is really strong and is really close to rolling over to her belly already. She is so easy that I would take 10 of her any day!

Jaidyn--oh Jaidyn she is our fussy baby. LOVES to be held all the time and has been known to have random crying fits. Our baby swing has come in handy with her, Morgan never liked the swing and Cameryn is happy with her bouncy seat. Although she is happy about 90% of the time and does smile at you a lot when you are giving her attention. Half the time her grin is a mischievous smile that makes me wonder what she is thinking. She does not giggle yet but she is a "talker" she is constantly cooing and making bubbles which Cameryn doesn't do. She is our picky eater as well, only eating 6 ozs at a time and spits up almost every time. She has eaten rice cereal but tends to gag on it so I have been taking that slow with her. She is getting better with her neck muscles but not as good as Cameryn however she has really strong leg muscles and when she is on the floor she "scoots" around in circles. We were told from our Dr. that there is a chance she has cerebral palsy and that is why her upper leg muscles are so strong. I want the best for her so if we have to go into physical therapy then that is what we are going to do!!!

They both LOVE bath time and riding in the car. They also love to stare at each other when I put them together. It actually looks like they are "communicating" in a way w/o words, it is so neat to see!

I am looking forward to what's to come, crawling and all, and I can't wait till this next summer for camping, that will be interesting, dirt and crawling....

Weekly Menu

It is that time again and we are running out of options as we are overdue to go grocery shopping, however we still have food in the fridge and freezer but it is not going to be anything spectacular this week!

Sunday: Carne Azada
Monday:Spaghetti and Garlic Toast
Tuesday: Tilapia, noodles and corn
Wednesday: Pork Chops, rice and green beans
Thursday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and mixed veggies
Friday: Chicken (a recipe from my friend Jo who is in New Zealand, very yummy), baked potatoes and corn
Saturday: free for all day, I think we might pick up a papa murphys pizza...we will see.

as you noticed we don't get a variety of vegetables because Tyson likes corn and green beans only, I sneak in the mixed veggies because it has both of those options and occasionally he will eat asparagus, however that is it. I on the other hand LOVE all veggies (yes Brussell sprouts are my fav) EXCEPT squash so I eat those during the week for my lunches!

Weekly Menu

It is another week and I have another menu plan. I am already in need of going grocery shopping so we have slim pickins for this week. I am just trying to use what I have in the house w/o grocery shopping as I would like to wait till the 15Th in order to go for budget reasons.

Monday: Cola Chicken, white rice, scalloped potatoes and green beans
Tuesday: Hungarian Goulash and biscuits
Wednesday: ?? day, we are having my sister and brother in law over so I am not sure.
Thursday: what I call W.T, Baked potatoes, chili, and mac and cheese
Friday: Carne Azada and tator tots
Saturday: Appetizer night (chicken bites, potato skins and jalapeno poppers)

I have some more great ideas coming up for this month on some new recipes that I am going to try so I am excited about that. I love cooking especially in the winter!

4 month check up

The twins had their 4 month check up today. Since we no longer have insurance we decided to go back to our first pediatrician Dr. Beauchaine, we had to switch when I changed jobs and my insurance changed and we have missed her ever since!!!

Cameryn weighed in at 12lbs and 12oz's, she was 22 3/4 inches long, which puts her in the 28% for weight to age and 83.4% for weight to length as well at 5.78% for length to age. So needless to say she is doing great, is hitting all the right milestones.

Jaidyn weighed in at 11lbs and 5ozs, she was 22 1/2 inches long, she is at 8.82% for weight to age and 3.36% for length to age. She has a bit of a ways to go with her head and holding it up compared to Cameryn but she will get there.

Some unfortunate news, Jaidyn is going to be watched for cerebral palsy, the DR said that her leg muscles seem to tight and thinks she might have a "mild" case of cerebral palsy, it will be checked again in 2 months and if it is still the same she will have to go into physical therapy. She was also concerned with her not stretching her hands, Cameryn already is ahead of her on that and Jaidyn is tight fisted all day long, so she said that because they were born 4 weeks early it may just take her a little bit longer to relax her hands.

I immediately freaked out thinking that she was going to be the "joke" in school and everyone is going to make fun of her, but the Dr assured us that physical therapy will help and you might not even notice. She said that she thinks she has "heel to heel" which is when she walks instead of walking straight she will walk heel to heel.

I guess I took for granted that my first was so healthy and we didn't have any problems to having two beautiful twins and if it is not one problem it is another, and it is so frustrating because all we want is for our kids to be healthy and happy.

I am going to TRY to not worry too much about it and see what happens, all I know is I love my family and I love my kids and to me that is enough.

Weekly Menu

It's that time again, here is my menu for the week, I have to say I am really looking forward to thanksgiving dinner, it is my favorite dinner by far! I love having all the leftovers and the turkey sandwiches are the best!!! I was trying to find a "small" turkey like 10 pounds but the smallest I could find was 19 pounds, that is a lot of turkey for 3 people but I am excited to try out some new recipes with the leftovers!

Sunday: Taco Soup
Monday: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
Tuesday: Chorizo's and Tator Tots
Wednesday: Chicken, noodles and corn
Thursday: TURKEY DAY
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Wings and fried potatoes

Creative Sayings from a 3 year old

Here are some of the funny things Morgan has been saying lately that makes me wonder where she gets it from!



"Momma, a cheeseburger will make my owies feel better"



"Daddy goes to work to make the money?"



"Momma, my apple juice is going to help me poop"



"Mom, ahah (her stuffed monkey) likes the purple ones and I like the pink ones" (her attempt for me to buy her more than 1 pair of pajamas, very creative)



Dad: "Morgan who gets to eat out of your Halloween bucket first, me or mommy" and Morgan with a very curt reply "Ummm ME!"




I know there has been a ton more and I need to start writing them down, they sure do make me laugh!!

Weekly Menu

I am a little behind on the menu but I just got to grocery shopping today, so I am happy to say we now have food in our house again! Yay!

Sunday: Carne Azada and tator tots
Monday: Tilapia, stuffing and green beans
Tuesday: Pot Roast w/ potatoes and carrots, gravy and rolls
Wednesday: Philly Cheese Steaks with the left over pot roast
Thursday: Pork Chops, rice and corn
Friday: undecided still, if we can afford it I might get chinese, otherwise maybe taco's
Saturday: Ribs and fried potatoes

I have said in the past how much I love cooking, and I really do enjoy it, but lately when the weekend hits I just plain don't want to, so I am going to continue to post this menu for my motivation, without me working going out to dinner for $40-$50 is not an option! And we don't want to go out to eat with three kids anyways, we would rather save that for a date night!!! We are suppose to be getting a 1/4 cow soon, we got a PORTION of a 1/4 cow from my sister in law right when the twins were born and we just used the last of it! So it lasted us 4 months so I can't imagine how long a full 1/4 will last, but it was nice not having to buy any beef! Next up is to get a portion of pig as well!

Weekly Menu

another week has come and gone and here is my menu for this week, next week is grocery shopping so I will be able to be "creative" again when I have more options in my freezer and cupboards.

Sunday: Big Batch of Spaghetti (We make a huge batch and freeze about 6-7 bowls and then when we want Spaghetti we just take it out of the freezer and we are all out so it is time to make another batch)
Monday: Chicken, Rice and Corn

Tuesday: Sloppy Joes and Tator Tots

Wednesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and Gravy with mixed veggies

Thursday: Breakfast for dinner (my favorite besides tacos!)

Friday: Homemade Finger Steaks and French Fries

Saturday: Appetizer day

Tyson said the other day he wishes I had been a stay at home mom longer because he is really liking my cooking and having a HUGE variety of food rather than us just throwing together stuff that is quick after a long day of work. I am really enjoying it as well because it is nice to not eat the same stuff all the time! Have a great week!!!

Trick or Treat

Well this Halloween was even more exciting because Morgan was finally understanding the concept of trick or treating. We practiced for weeks before her saying "Trick or Treat" and then replying with "Thank You "

This year at Costco I saw the cutest Fairy costume and I gave her the option between that and a Witch and she chose the Fairy, which I was happy about. She was very excited about her costume and anyone that came over to the house she had to show it to them! I was surprised that when she asked to wear it and I told her we had to wait that she didn't throw a fit but I just didn't want it to get ruined or dirty.

At some of the houses since she just waited patiently in the back while the bigger kids would step in front of her she scored more than once piece of candy, everyone kept saying, "Since you were so patient you get a handful", ha ha that might of been her tactic, who knows.

Next year should be even more interesting, I am not sure if the twins will be walking by then or not so we will see if they get to participate.

Weekly Menu

It is time again for my menu, here it is!

Sunday: Taco Soup
Monday, Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
Tuesday: Pork Chops, Noodles and Corn (didn't have this last week)
Wednesday: Pulled Pork, potatoes and Green Beans
Thursday: W.T. (Baked potatoes, chili and Mac n Cheese)
Friday: Dutch Oven Meal
Saturday: Homemade Pizza-Tyson is going to the BSU game with Don so we thought we would let the kids make their own homemade pizza, Heather is coming over with the kids)

Have a great Week!!

New Routine

So you would think after 3 months of having twin newborns and a toddler we would have a routine worked out....WRONG....we are still working out the kinks but I think we FINALLY have a system worked out!!!

To go back a ways when I was working I felt very guilty for leaving Morgan in daycare which resulted in me enjoying my time with her when I could get it, so sleep time I never did the crying out method, it was time I got to spend with her and make her feel special, well that just bit me in my rear end because as she got older she realized it!!!

When we got pregnant the next time I put it into high gear, she was still in her crib but she understood that she got 10 minutes of cuddle time with me and off to bed she went, she took to that easy, then when we converted her crib to a bed, she transitioned just fine......when the toddler bed came to play which was May she HATED it, so I was a sucker and let her fall asleep in my bed and moved her. The only problem with this was it could take up to an hour and w/o any other children it was fine, no problem.....then July 20Th happened

The babies came and all of sudden I realized my mistake with Morgan's sleeping and it was too late to take back what I had done. So we had to make a decision and that decision was Morgan is a big girl and needs to be treated like one. For the last 4 weeks we have been doing the "crying" it out method except she doesn't cry she just gets out of her bed. She does really well some nights and other nights it takes us over an hour to get her down.

We have also been struggling with the twins because when we would sit down for dinner at 630 they would want to eat but we weren't ready for them to eat because we still had to deal with Morgan, so I proposed a new schedule to Tyson which is dinner ready at 530, he does bath time and playtime with Morgan while I feed and change the girls, then when she is ready to go to bed at 730-8 the girls will be falling asleep and then when I get Morgan down I can move the girls to bed. What do you know for the last 2 days that has worked!!!! I am hoping this is our last schedule change, I know that as the twins get older there will be a few changes but I am only one person vs. 3 so one step at a time :)


The lesson in all of this, I now know that with the twins it WILL NOT be this way and we will do the "cry" it out method with them.

Weekly Menu

Oops again I forgot to post this, but I have been busy as you all can understand :) here is my menu for the week:

Sunday: Tilapia w/ a lime marinade and salsa, roasted potatoes and salad
Monday: Chicken fried in panko bread crumbs, rice, and corn
Tuesday: Homemade Chili and Bread
Wednesday: Tuna Casserole, corn and biscuits
Thursday: Pork chops, noodles and green beans
Friday: Mexican Shrimp
Saturday: Wings, potatoes and quesadillas

SMILES, SMILES, SMILES

Finally after 3 months of being overwhelmed by not only taking care of two newborns but also a toddler, we are rewarded with smiles! It is the best feeling in the world, especially when they start to fuss and I go up to them and they give me the biggest grin in the world. Cameryn has been smiling about 3 weeks longer than Jaidyn, who tends to be the fussy baby, it is just so nice to know that they are happy where they are at! Cameryn is even "giggling" a little bit. Here are some smile pics!

Jaidyn on the left (love how chunky she is finally getting) and Cameryn on the right:

Cameryn

Jaidyn

Weekly Menu

I have to say that I am much happier now that I have had a chance to grocery shop and we now have food in the house again!! I am loving more and more to be creative and try new things so here is my menu:

Sunday: Carne Azada
Monday: Meatball subs and Tator tots
Tuesday: Beer marinated chicken, noodles and corn
Wednesday: Kielbasa w/ mushrooms and onions, rice, and green beans
Thursday: Spaghetti and Garlic Toast
Friday: Chuck Steak slow roasted w/ gravy, potatoes and mixed veggies
Saturday: Appetizers

The only new menu item for this week is the meatball subs, everything else I have made before but I have to say it is nice to have time to cook and be creative and save money all at the same time!

Big Sister Morgan Jo

Morgan has been slowly adjusting to our new lifestyle of having to share Mommy and Daddy with not one but two baby sisters. Right before we had the twins she had just started the "terrible two" stage and the first month of being home with the babies it was apparent that her rebellious stage had doubled!!!

So many changes happened to her so fast so I can't say that I don't blame her but it does make it hard to get through the day sometimes!! First she was pulled out of Daycare because with me not working we couldn't afford the $700 price tag that her day to day entertainment came to. 2nd, she had to now stay home with me where I had to divide my time between the babies and her. It would be so much easier with just one baby but that is not the case, now that the babies are getting bigger we have more time to spend with her since I am not constantly feeding one, burping, changing, feed another, burp, and change and then you have about 1 hour before you start all over again. They are now spaced out to about eating every 3-4 hours in the day so we have been getting a lot of play time in.

Which brings our next hurdle....boredom, she is bored with her toys and bored with the house, so now I am having to get creative with what we do. The times that I was busy she spent a lot of time with the dogs Abbie and Camas and they are truly her best friends at this point. She talks about them all the time, shows them her new things she gets, she even gets upset if she goes out back to play and they don't follow her. I have to say that is pretty creative for her and I am glad that she has them for some companionship.

With the babies, she is helpful when she wants to be. Which you never know when she will be willing to help. She is for the most part very sweet to them and loves to hold them and give them kisses, however she has had a few times gotten mad that I was taking care of them and hit them, which I guess is going to continue for the next 16 years of her life!!! She gets really proud when she goes upstairs and brings diapers down to me, and she really, really wants to pick them up out of their bouncy seats.

I have to say that I know it would of been easier for all of us had we gotten pregnant either before she turned 2 or when she was older but that is not the case and she is adjusting as well as she can. Our next hurdle that I haven't had time to devote 100% to is potty training. If we can get her potty trained then we can get her in a preschool part time and that will give her kid to kid interaction, which I want so badly for her, plus it gives mom some down time :)

She has gotten to spend quite a bit of time with her cousin Maggie which has been great, since Dan and Jamie have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off it is perfect, so I am excited to see their relationship blossom!! As well as it breaks up our day to day routine so she doesn't get as bored.

Her bedtime routine has gotten better, for the most part she stays in her room at night, however I have woken up and her door has been opened so I think she comes out to see if we are up and then goes back to bed. We have been doing the "cry" it out method for her, which is more hard for me then for her but she has responded well to that for nighttime, nap time is a different story, it has only worked once for me. I know she just wants to be part of the action but at the same time if she doesn't take a nap she gets really crabby.

Upcoming for her is I am enrolling her in a community dance class with her cousin Maggie, it is every Thursday from 11-1145 and I am so excited for her. I hope she comes out of her "shy" shell and will interact, plus it breaks up our day to day routine. I am also really going to start on the potty training so I am hoping for her to be done by her 3rd birthday. Another goal I have is to get rid of her "mimi" which is her pacifier, she has really clung to it over the last few months and it is time it goes!!

Here's to potty training!!

Late Menu

I know I am already into this week but I still need to post my menu!! We are due for grocery shopping so we didn't have too many choices of what to make so I had to get creative this week!!! Plus we ended up going camping this weekend so there were a few things that I didn't make this weekend that I could shift to this week.

Sunday: Wings, Quesadilla's and Queso dip
Monday: Meatloaf, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes with caramelized onion and mushroom gravy
Tuesday: Hoisin Chicken (first time using this marinade), Scalloped potatoes and Corn
Wednesday: Taco Soup (I haven't made this but I have eaten others so I am excited!)
Thursday: Pork Chops, Stuffing and Green Beans
Friday: Grocery shopping hopefully so dinner is a ?

I have already planned my menu for the month, so that way I can make sure that I get everything I need at the grocery store so 1. I don't make another trip and spend more money than planned and 2. it is really hard to go to the store with 3 kids. I am really enjoying staying home and coming up with new recipe ideas and I am addicted to watching Food Network so I have a ton of new ideas that I am going to be trying this month and I am very excited. I hated cooking this last year because I would get home around 530 from work and it just seemed like a chore to cook, so I think Tyson is enjoying have good food again as well rather than what we can throw together quickly. Stay Tuned for my next menu!!

Weekly Menu

I know it has been awhile since I posted a menu, but I do have a good excuse, my hands are full with 3 kids under the age of 3, so now I am trying really hard to keep updated. We have been doing great sticking to our menu, in fact we don't have another choice because minus my income we don't get to eat out that much!! Here is my menu for this week:

Sunday: Chicken, potatoes, and green beans
Monday: Pork Chops, cheesy noodles, and corn
Tuesday: Brauts, pasta salad, and tator tots
Wednesday: Spaghetti and Garlic Toast
Thursday: Chicken tenders, scalloped potatoes and green beans
Friday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed veggies and biscuits
Saturday: Appetizer day

This just help me keep motivated to stick with our menu, I don't plan on grocery shopping till after the 15th so it is nice to have a plan so I am not tempted to go to the store and spend money that I shouldn't be spending. Have a great week!!

Jaidyn Elliott

Jaidyn was "Baby B" in my belly. She said right in the middle of the stomach, so since I had Cameryn on my left and Jaidyn in the middle, literally my right side was not touched by a baby!! Oh Jaidyn, she is our little one. She dropped the most weight after being born, she was born 5 lbs and 11Oz's and left the hospital at 4 lbs 14 Oz's. Even though now she only weighs 1 lb less than her sister, she carries it so different, she is just lighter and smaller and more petite.
We know that her middle name is unique and that was the way we wanted it, I actually was going to name her Elliott for her first name but I changed my mind and we decided on Jaidyn, it was in the hospital that Tyson suggested we use it for her middle name!

She is also our MOST fussiest baby we have ever had. She is perfectly happy and content if...your holding her. She wants to be held and cuddled ALL THE TIME. Which is hard for us because first of all we are not used to that, second of all there is another baby that has to be taken care of and third of all we have a 2 1/2 year old that is having a hard time adjusting to having not one but two new baby sisters around. She has gotten better though as we have really put an effort in to not baby her when she cries and wants to be held, so hopefully it is just a stage and she moves out of it.

Sleep, that is another thing, she only sleeps about 4 hours a night where Cameryn is up to 6 hours. (Although last night she slept for 7 hours, I have a feeling that is not going to last but we will see!!) She will definitely makes us work as parents I have a feeling otherwise she might turn that and be the easiest toddler, who knows, but we will see.

Cameryn Paige

Cameryn is our first born of the twins. She was "Baby A" in the womb as well as the first name we decided and agreed upon. This being my 2nd pregnancy I thought it would be a lot similar to my first with Morgan, however it was not. I don't know if it was having two babies in my belly but they sure did move a lot more than Morgan ever did. I have to say Cameryn was my active baby!! She was on my left side of my stomache and was head down the whole time, I was either getting punched in the hip (wierdest feeling ever) to a point where I would be walking and she would hit me and my left leg would almost give out sending me to the ground!! Or she had her feet HIGH up in my ribs, so bad it would take my breath away. It is funny that she was that active because now she is what we call "uncle fester" not only does she have a HUGE head but she is just chill, feed her, change her, and cuddle for a few minutes and she is good to go.

She is a such a relaxed baby, you can lay her down and she just likes to look around at everything!! She is a BIG belcher and poops usually twice a day if not more (still getting the name Uncle fester right for her) She is also really strong with her neck and head already, she will pick it up, look around and set it back down!! In fact she did that at the hospital when my friend Heather was holding her!!! She is already close to almost rolling over as well at only 6 weeks, I would say that is amazing!!!

She is the biggest of the twins and LOVES her food, she is also the most similar looking to Morgan when she was an infant! I have no idea how she is going to be as a toddler, but we do appreciate her being a really easy baby!!

The Twins have arrived!!

Wow, it has been a while since I updated. It is easy to say that I have been BUSY!!! I wanted to give everyone an update. In June my blood pressure continued to be high and after a few trips to Labor and Delivery and elevated protein in my urine they went ahead and put me on bed rest. My goal was to make it to 37 weeks with the pregnancy cause that was as far as they were going to let me go before having a scheduled C Section. After three weeks of bed rest we pulled Morgan out of daycare in my 36Th week thinking I would be able to make it one more week with having her at home full time. Monday went along just fine, but on Tuesday as soon as I woke up I didn't not feel well at all. I couldn't keep food or water down and after a few blood pressure checks I took Morgan to her Aunt Jamie's (it was planned for her to go to the zoo that day anyways since I had a DR appointment at 11) and stopped in at Labor and Delivery for them to check my blood pressure. I checked in at 915 am and by 11 they said that they were going to go ahead and do the C Section within the hour!!! I wasn't expecting that, I just thought they would monitor me and then send my to my Dr. Appointment!!!

Tyson hurried off work and to the hospital and at 1:00 I was in the operating room! At 1:13 pm Cameryn Paige Pechanec made her entrance weighing in at 5lbs 11Oz's, one minute later at 1:14 pm Jaidyn Elliott Pechanec made her entrance weighing in at 5lbs 10Oz's!! I only got to see them for a minute and then they were taken for observation. I had to stay behind because I was also getting my tubes tied at the same time (yup this baby factory is over). At the time they started my C Section they also started pumping me full of Magnesium, because I had pre-eclampsia they gave me magnesium so I didn't have a stroke. That stuff is NASTY stuff. With about 20 minutes left of my surgery I started to get really hot (side effect), really itchy (side effect) and really nauseous. By the time I got to recovery I was really out of it. The girls blood sugars were in the 40's so we had to feed them some formula to try to get it above 50. If it didn't go about 50 after an hour then they would have to go to NICU. Thank goodness my friend Heather was there to help Tyson because I could barely comprehend what was going on (another side effect)

The girls pulled thru and I got brought back to Labor and Delivery, because I was on Magnesium I had to stay there for 24 hours till they stopped it. I was very happy and excited that the girls were healthy and a good weight and nothing major had happened!! It all happened so fast!!

Baby Shower

Last weekend my friend Heather and my sister in law Jamie offered to throw us a baby shower for the twins. I wasn't really expecting a baby shower for having a 2ND (and 3rd) baby but since they offered we took them up on it. We figured if we could get some diapers out of it then we would be happy. I decided that I wanted a "family" event so husbands and kids welcomed, more of a BBQ atmosphere rather than a formal baby shower, that way everyone can enjoy it!!! It turned out the be one of the nicest days we had had all spring, which was great. Jamie had a kids pool set up so the kid could swim, there was adult beverages (sadly I couldn't participate in that) as well as some kid friendly drinks (unlimited for me--ha ha)

Here are the kids playing in the pool

Heather and Jamie out did themselves, they decorated with my jungle theme that I have for the girl's room, there were colored lanterns strung all around, and a TON of food. Some of my coworkers came, Aunt Donna came--of course spoiling the girls along with an amazing Jungle cake, our friend Lindsey who we haven't seen forever came, and our neighbors Sheila and Dorian and their kids came, and Dan's parents were there. Unfortunately there were a few that couldn't make it, but I know that they would of rather of been there then having to go through what they were at the time.

Here is our family picture, soon to grow by two more :)

We were very shocked to see that not only did we get a TON of diapers, but we got our double stroller we were wanting as well as one of the two matching car seats!!! That was a HUGE shock for us because those two big items came from Heather and Jamie who already invested in the baby shower. It is nice to know that our family and friends love us and know that having one baby is expensive let alone two. We also got a ton of clothes as well so the girls are pretty set for outfits since I saved all of Morgan's stuff from when she was a baby.

It was nice for us to just get out of the house and hang out with friends and family. Morgan had a blast swimming with her cousins Maggie and Gabriel, and her friends Reagan and Brooks. In fact she ran around nonstop from 4 to 1030 that night!! Needless to say we were in the truck for 5 minutes and she passed out.

It was a great day, full of surprises!

Here is the diaper cake that Aunt Donna made (amazing!!)

I love, love, love this picture, so cute!!! Uncle Dan helping Morgan with tying balloons on her shirt!!!!

Here is the amazing cake that Donna made--she is talented!!! and yes I had to change into more comfortable clothes, although nothing makes me comfortable at this point.

First/Last Camping for the Summer

Most of you all know how much Tyson and I love to camp but when we planned this pregnancy we really didn't think about the camping season for some reason. But then again we weren't expecting twins. We are not going to be able to get anymore camping in this summer as I cant travel too far out of the area and the weather here in Boise has been awful and we just now got on our first camping trip this last weekend. Unfortunately it will be our last until maybe the fall if the babies are doing well. We did quite a bit of camping last year so I know that Morgan was kind of "used" to it, but this time around it was even more fun cause she is getting bigger and can do more stuff.

The weather was perfect!! We got up there pretty late Friday night so that was chilly, but Saturday was warm as well as Sunday morning. Morgan loved taking the dogs down to the water and throwing rocks in the water, we had to take a few trips down there to keep her entertained.

This trip I decided to let Morgan have her first Smore as well, she wasn't so sure what to think about it and picked at the marshmallow and then didn't like it when her hand got sticky.

We are hoping that September/October we will get a few more trips in, we took Morgan on her first trip when she was only 8 weeks old, but then again, it was only one baby so we will have to wait and see how things go.

7 Months Pregnancy Update

Wow, it has been 7 months already...and I only have 2 months to go...this time definitely has gone by a lot faster than my first, probably because we are so busy with a very active 2 1/2 year old. I had my 28 week checkup today, all is well, I am at 2 week appointments at this point for the next month and then I go to 1 week appointments. I have another ultrasound in 2 weeks so today all we did was listen to the heartbeats and measure my stomach. I am measuring ahead of schedule at 33 1/2 weeks, it is normal with twins to get up to 50 inches so I am just fine on that, baby A is the most active one and always has the faster heartbeat.

As far as me, I have now started swelling, I had to take my wedding ring off today as it just hurt too much to wear, as well as my ankles, socks are really hard for me to wear now as they cut into me too much. I also get very sore by the end of the day, but then again, I am more active with this pregnancy than I was with my first. I am already getting up a bunch in the night to visit the bathroom, which just prepares you for when the newborns come home :).

Baby A is our more active baby, that baby is on my left handed side, her feet are CONSTANTLY in my ribs, in fact one day I had enough and I tried to push her feet down and she kicked at me!! I think she is going to be a feisty one. Baby B's feet are near where A is at but she is in the middle of my stomach, she moves but not as much as A. I told Tyson that A is going to be his responsibility in the middle of the night since sh is constantly poking at me!!! I don't know if it is because there is two of them in there but these babies I feel a lot more than I did Morgan, in fact it is why I get so sore by the end of the night is because they are constantly moving in me (well mostly baby A). Oh we do have some top names picked but aren't going to say until we have decided 100% what they will be so for now they are A and B

The plan right now is that the Dr is only going to let me get to 37 weeks pregnant, so we will schedule a C Section for July 28th-Aug 4th, given that I don't go into labor before hand. I will have more updates in two weeks after my ultrasound, it is nice that I get this many as I can really track them, I just want to make sure that they are gaining enough weight that if they come early they will be okay.

Weekly Menu

Here is my weekly menu, I will be updating on baby stuff this coming weekend after my Dr appointment on Friday. Have a great week!

Sunday: Chicken Kabob's and corn on the cob
Monday: Chicken Ravioli w/ Alfredo sauce and garlic bread
Tuesday: Taco's and tator tots
Wednesday: Chicken, Baked Potato's and Green Beans
Thursday: Pork chops, Rice and Corn
Friday: Carne Asada
Saturday: BBQ Ribs and chopped potato's

My Menu

Here is my menu for this week. I am proud to say that we stuck to our menu last week!!! I am always happy when that happens!!!

Sunday: Carne Asada w/ grilled veggies
Monday: Spaghetti and Sausage w/ garlic toast
Tuesday: Sloppy Joe's with mini tator tots
Wednesday: Chicken, noodles and corn
Thursday: Breakfast for dinner (one of my all time fav's!!!)
Friday: Chinese food
Saturday: Tilapia w/ grilled veggies and rice

6 1/2 months Pregnant

I do have to say that this time around has gone by so much faster!!! I am ready to be done, but it feels just like yesterday we found out! This pregnancy is also very different then when I was pregnant with Morgan. With Morgan I couldn't eat ANY meat for the first 3 months, it totally disgusted me (I ate a lot of soup and salad), after three months, I was able to tolerate hamburger and chicken (as long as the chicken was cut up). I also got really swollen, really fast with Morgan, my hands, face and ankles. I also had numbness in my hands everyday until about a few weeks after I had her. With this pregnancy the only same symptoms I have is heartburn and having to go to the bathroom all the time. I am VERY grateful for that and I think that has helped with the time going by fast!!

Here is a 25 1/2 week pic of me:

As far as the babies go, they are moving all the time, in fact I don't remember Morgan moving as much, but again it could be because now I have two in there instead of one. They really like kicking me in my bladder, which I am not a huge fan of. I get another ultrasound this coming week, I also have my glucose test this week, then I go back to the Dr. in three weeks and at 30 weeks pregnant I will be on a two week interval for appointments. I will keep you all posted as I learn more!!!

Weekly Menu

Here is my weekly menu, I am hoping it gets nicer out so we can take advantage of our BBQ, it is always nice to cook and eat outside.

Sunday: Whole Roasted Chicken, Au gratin potatoes, and Corn on the Cob
Monday: Kielbasa w/ mushrooms and onions, noodles and green beans
Tuesday: Pork Chops, Rice and Corn
Wednesday: Taco's and tator tots (cinco de mayo day)
Thursday: Chicken, Noodles, and mixed veggies
Friday: French Dips and french fries
Saturday: BBQ (something, just not decided yet, either brauts, burgers, etc....)

I will update some pictures here soon of me and Morgan. Have a great week!!

Weekly Menu

Here is my weekly Menu, the weather has been really nice the last few days and it is going to be for the next so we are going to take advantage of that by using the BBQ as much as possible.

Sunday: Carne Asada, Grilled Peppers and Onions and Mexican Rice
Monday: BBQ Pork Chops, Noodles, and Corn
Tuesday: Hamburgers and French Fries
Wednesday: Breaded Chicken, Rice, and Green Beans
Thursday: Baked Potato, Chili, and Mac n Cheese (what we call W.T. night)
Friday: BBQ Beef Roast in crock pot
Saturday: Out to dinner for my birthday :) yeah for date night!!

I am really enjoying the weather and hope it continues to stay this way, I really want to BBQ more and will be looking for new recipes, I will post anything that comes out as a successes in case if anyone wants to try it at home!! Have a great week!!!

22 Week Ultrasound

I had my 22 week ultrasound this week, I am going to be be getting an ultrasound every month of my pregnancy and it may eventually become twice a month. Everything looks good, I had them double check and you could CLEARLY tell that they were both girls.

Baby A weighs around 14 ozs, everything is looking great with her. Baby B was the active one this time and she weighs around 15 ozs. So they are almost a pound each, I can really feel them moving now and they are very active. Both babies are breach, which is fine because I am having a scheduled C-Section anyways since I had one with Morgan.

They did say that I have the best type of twins there are to have because they have separate sacs and separate placenta's, so we can get the longest gestational age out of them. I didn't get any pictures this time around, but next time I will ask for some. Also the machine's are pretty high tech so I might see if they can get a 3D picture for me, since they should be plumped up by then.

All is good here, I am starting to feel more sore and wake up quite a bit to go to the bathroom at night, I am getting pretty big, in fact I have to break down and go and buy a few essential clothing items, even my pajama pants are getting tight!!!

I will keep everyone updated!!!

Here is my menu for this week, we have another ultrasound on Thursday so I will make sure that I update that. Have a great week!!

Sunday: Steak, potatoes and Corn
Monday: Taco's, Beans and Mexican Rice
Tuesday: Spaghetti and Garlic Toast
Wednesday: Chicken Pitas, Pasta Salad and Crispy Crowns
Thursday: Tilapia, Rice and Green Beans
Friday: ??? maybe order out, maybe go out
Saturday: BBQ something (we have to grocery shop)

Like I said, I will be updating after our monthly ultrasound on Thursday!!!

20 Weeks

Well I am now half way through this pregnancy and I have to say that I feel pretty good. My heart burn has started, which I can't stand, but other than that I feel great. At my 16 week checkup I had only gained 5 pounds so I was told that I should add just a little bit more calories in my diet to try to put on some more weight, so at my 20 week appointment I found out that I successfully done that and gained another 9 lbs, so I am up 14 pounds and 20 weeks to go.

We had an ultrasound done when I was 18 weeks and we found out that we are having 2 more girls!!! Yup a household full of girls is what is in store for us, Everything looked good at the ultrasound, the babies were progressing right on target. They did say that there was a little fluid on Baby B's brain, but that it was perfectly normal and it will go away. I am set right now to get my ultrasounds once a month unless needed otherwise, so I will have plenty more updates. I definitely "feel" more pregnant than 20 weeks, by that I mean my joints hurt, my back hurts, walking far is getting hard, etc....but again, overall I feel great!!

Now we are just trying to get things ready for them to come, we haven't even started their nursery yet, time is really flying by with this 2ND pregnancy, more than it did with the 1st!! I will keep the updates coming!!