Hello all! The time has come again for the Blackburner! We are reviewing the end of summer and start of fall so let it begin!
July was hot, hot, hot! Normally this wouldn't bother me, but I was very pregnant and thus very uncomfortable already. This was also something odd for me as even though my first pregnancy was about the same time line as this one, this one was worse. My guess was because this time I had actually gained some weight and with twins coming, it was double the heaters. I began counting down the days until September 6th (the scheduled C-section date).
Luckily, there were activities to keep me busy. The first was Independence Day. We spent the morning at the parade catching candy, went home for lunch, and then just played together as a family at home until the fireworks would start that night. Enna had a lot of fun riding her new bike to the parade and home again (her Blackburn grandparents had told us to open her birthday present early as it was a summer toy and they wanted her to have a chance to use it).
About a week later, since we learned that my grandma's health was steadily declining, we decided to surprise her with a visit. We made a zucchini cake and drove up north. My aunts Dona and Steph were also in town so it was fun to see them.
My grandma was excited to have some fun with Enna and Aijah and seemed to like the cake. What was even more fun is that my mom decided last second to also fly in. I didn't know she was coming until my aunt Dona mentioned she had landed. I asked, “Landed? Where?” and we all had a laugh about how I wasn't told about it. Oh well, as mentioned she did decide last minute.
The next week in honor of Pioneer Day, the two Grantsville stakes hosted a parade for the kids with a breakfast and games that followed. I can't remember why, but for some reason I left later than everyone else. Then when walking to the starting place, I went the wrong way. So I went to the church to watch them arrive at the end of the parade. One of Enna's older friends convinced her to ride in the tractor they had rather than on her bike, but she had fun all the same.
After a meal of breakfast burritos, we played some games. We pulled a handcart in a race, tossed buffalo chips (Styrofoam - don't worry), and fished for prizes. It ended with a candy cannon (a lot of the candy got melted and tasted like ash, so not so fun in my opinion) that the kids seemed to enjoy, and then we went home to cool down.
A few hours later we joined some of our friends at the Grantsville reservoir for some fun in the water. The girls floated on canoes and tubes. Fun was definitely had by all.
About a week later, the hottest month of the summer came on: August. Our first adventure happened when a neighbor's rabbit wandered into our yard. We learned it was in our yard by the neighbor kids coming to our door and asking if we had a pet rabbit. I remembered that my friend had mentioned hers was missing, so I figured it was probably hers. So I went outside to look. The neighbor kids proceeded to chase it so that it was frightened under my car. I had to stop them and tell them that bunnies needed calm, quiet, slow movements if we had any hope of catching it. I then returned to the house for a carrot in hopes of luring it out from under the car.
When I came back, I tried unsuccessfully to remove the rabbit. She would come and nibble a bit and then back off when I tried to pull her toward me. I soon gave up and decided to call the owner for backup (while asking the kids to stand around the car to encourage it to stay put).
The owner soon arrived and after a brief back and forth chase, we were able to catch it under a container with the help of my neighbor. My friend gratefully returned home with her pet.
Throughout the whole endeavor my girls just sat back and watched. Enna asked a few questions, but I learned she was a bit scared of the bunny when she stated, “the bunny will eat me!” I turned my head to get out some giggles, then turned back and told her that rabbits were vegetarians and would not be interest in her. She was still wary (as she is with all animals), but seemed satisfied that it wouldn't hurt her.
The next week we had the opportunity to travel up to my aunt's ward so that we could sing with her in church. As it was a song we had performed together once before in another ward, we weren't too worried about the fact that we hadn't had much time to practice together. The morning of, we ran through it a couple of times, and called it as good as it would get. The actual performance went pretty well, so I can't complain. We then returned home to spend the rest of the day as a family (as everyone else already had plans for the day).
Later that week we were joined by Hazel as her parents went on a date night. Aijah taught her the fun of climbing on the couch (oh oh! Watch out Em!). Needless to say she took to it right away.
The last big event of the month was the baby shower that my visiting sisters threw for me. I had already had one with family, but this one was mainly the ward. There was a really good turn out and we were gifted a lot of diapers and wipes (which was greatly appreciated), and lots of cute boy's clothes. It was a really fun day and I was glad that my mother and sister-in-law were in attendance and were warmly welcomed. I felt we were finally ready for these new little additions to come.
Finally the wait was almost over. September came rushing in and we got the last things ready that we felt we needed to so that we could welcome the new ones home. We had already scheduled the C-section to occur on the 6th (as our history proved that C-section was most likely the way the birth would happen). We went in for our last ultrasound about a week before and according to the technician, Dallin (we finally settled on the name) was sitting right on my cervix. The technician asked, “How are you not in labor right now?” I just shrugged and figured it was just part of my body's quirks not to know how to do labor (hence always needing C-sections).
The big day soon arrived. We left for the hospital at 3:30am so that we could make it to the surgery on time. We were excited and nervous (as we normally are) and before we knew it, we were being wheeled into the operating room.
After letting the numbing medicine kick in, my doctor asked me if I could feel her poking me. I don't think she knew I could see the reflection of her in the overhead lamp as she stabbed at my belly in a way that reminded me of Psycho. It was hilarious and terrifying at the same time. I just told her I couldn't, and the surgery proceeded.
An hour later or so later, I was closed up and holding two new babies: Dallin and Celeste. We were happy that our twins had arrived safe and healthy. As had been the case the entire pregnancy, Celeste was a hair bigger, but both were healthy and strong. During the day, the twins stayed in the room with us and then at night we sent them to the nursery (as we knew we would need all of our strength to raise all 4 kids).
A few days later we arrived home to screams of excitement. Both of the girls gave lots of hugs and then immediately asked to hold the babies. So we prepped two bottles of formula, sat them on the couch, and let them hold and feed their siblings. I think they will be good helpers.
We enjoyed the company of Ryan's mom for the first week and a half, but then sadly had to drive her to the airport and bid farewell as she had to go home to start work. So Ryan took the older girls and drove her to the airport. He then continued north to my grandparents' home to get my mom (we felt the twins were too young to go up quite yet). She had planned to stay around and help for a couple of weeks as well. The girls were very excited that they got to see both grandmas in one day.
The rest of the month was spent getting into our new routine and getting used to low sleep again. Sometimes all it felt like I was doing was nursing, but we eventually fell into somewhat of a rhythm. One thing is for sure, life just got a whole lot crazier.
Well, that does it for this quarter. Until next time!
July was hot, hot, hot! Normally this wouldn't bother me, but I was very pregnant and thus very uncomfortable already. This was also something odd for me as even though my first pregnancy was about the same time line as this one, this one was worse. My guess was because this time I had actually gained some weight and with twins coming, it was double the heaters. I began counting down the days until September 6th (the scheduled C-section date).
Luckily, there were activities to keep me busy. The first was Independence Day. We spent the morning at the parade catching candy, went home for lunch, and then just played together as a family at home until the fireworks would start that night. Enna had a lot of fun riding her new bike to the parade and home again (her Blackburn grandparents had told us to open her birthday present early as it was a summer toy and they wanted her to have a chance to use it).
About a week later, since we learned that my grandma's health was steadily declining, we decided to surprise her with a visit. We made a zucchini cake and drove up north. My aunts Dona and Steph were also in town so it was fun to see them.
My grandma was excited to have some fun with Enna and Aijah and seemed to like the cake. What was even more fun is that my mom decided last second to also fly in. I didn't know she was coming until my aunt Dona mentioned she had landed. I asked, “Landed? Where?” and we all had a laugh about how I wasn't told about it. Oh well, as mentioned she did decide last minute.
The next week in honor of Pioneer Day, the two Grantsville stakes hosted a parade for the kids with a breakfast and games that followed. I can't remember why, but for some reason I left later than everyone else. Then when walking to the starting place, I went the wrong way. So I went to the church to watch them arrive at the end of the parade. One of Enna's older friends convinced her to ride in the tractor they had rather than on her bike, but she had fun all the same.
After a meal of breakfast burritos, we played some games. We pulled a handcart in a race, tossed buffalo chips (Styrofoam - don't worry), and fished for prizes. It ended with a candy cannon (a lot of the candy got melted and tasted like ash, so not so fun in my opinion) that the kids seemed to enjoy, and then we went home to cool down.
A few hours later we joined some of our friends at the Grantsville reservoir for some fun in the water. The girls floated on canoes and tubes. Fun was definitely had by all.
About a week later, the hottest month of the summer came on: August. Our first adventure happened when a neighbor's rabbit wandered into our yard. We learned it was in our yard by the neighbor kids coming to our door and asking if we had a pet rabbit. I remembered that my friend had mentioned hers was missing, so I figured it was probably hers. So I went outside to look. The neighbor kids proceeded to chase it so that it was frightened under my car. I had to stop them and tell them that bunnies needed calm, quiet, slow movements if we had any hope of catching it. I then returned to the house for a carrot in hopes of luring it out from under the car.
When I came back, I tried unsuccessfully to remove the rabbit. She would come and nibble a bit and then back off when I tried to pull her toward me. I soon gave up and decided to call the owner for backup (while asking the kids to stand around the car to encourage it to stay put).
The owner soon arrived and after a brief back and forth chase, we were able to catch it under a container with the help of my neighbor. My friend gratefully returned home with her pet.
Throughout the whole endeavor my girls just sat back and watched. Enna asked a few questions, but I learned she was a bit scared of the bunny when she stated, “the bunny will eat me!” I turned my head to get out some giggles, then turned back and told her that rabbits were vegetarians and would not be interest in her. She was still wary (as she is with all animals), but seemed satisfied that it wouldn't hurt her.
The next week we had the opportunity to travel up to my aunt's ward so that we could sing with her in church. As it was a song we had performed together once before in another ward, we weren't too worried about the fact that we hadn't had much time to practice together. The morning of, we ran through it a couple of times, and called it as good as it would get. The actual performance went pretty well, so I can't complain. We then returned home to spend the rest of the day as a family (as everyone else already had plans for the day).
Later that week we were joined by Hazel as her parents went on a date night. Aijah taught her the fun of climbing on the couch (oh oh! Watch out Em!). Needless to say she took to it right away.
The last big event of the month was the baby shower that my visiting sisters threw for me. I had already had one with family, but this one was mainly the ward. There was a really good turn out and we were gifted a lot of diapers and wipes (which was greatly appreciated), and lots of cute boy's clothes. It was a really fun day and I was glad that my mother and sister-in-law were in attendance and were warmly welcomed. I felt we were finally ready for these new little additions to come.
Finally the wait was almost over. September came rushing in and we got the last things ready that we felt we needed to so that we could welcome the new ones home. We had already scheduled the C-section to occur on the 6th (as our history proved that C-section was most likely the way the birth would happen). We went in for our last ultrasound about a week before and according to the technician, Dallin (we finally settled on the name) was sitting right on my cervix. The technician asked, “How are you not in labor right now?” I just shrugged and figured it was just part of my body's quirks not to know how to do labor (hence always needing C-sections).
The big day soon arrived. We left for the hospital at 3:30am so that we could make it to the surgery on time. We were excited and nervous (as we normally are) and before we knew it, we were being wheeled into the operating room.
After letting the numbing medicine kick in, my doctor asked me if I could feel her poking me. I don't think she knew I could see the reflection of her in the overhead lamp as she stabbed at my belly in a way that reminded me of Psycho. It was hilarious and terrifying at the same time. I just told her I couldn't, and the surgery proceeded.
An hour later or so later, I was closed up and holding two new babies: Dallin and Celeste. We were happy that our twins had arrived safe and healthy. As had been the case the entire pregnancy, Celeste was a hair bigger, but both were healthy and strong. During the day, the twins stayed in the room with us and then at night we sent them to the nursery (as we knew we would need all of our strength to raise all 4 kids).
A few days later we arrived home to screams of excitement. Both of the girls gave lots of hugs and then immediately asked to hold the babies. So we prepped two bottles of formula, sat them on the couch, and let them hold and feed their siblings. I think they will be good helpers.
We enjoyed the company of Ryan's mom for the first week and a half, but then sadly had to drive her to the airport and bid farewell as she had to go home to start work. So Ryan took the older girls and drove her to the airport. He then continued north to my grandparents' home to get my mom (we felt the twins were too young to go up quite yet). She had planned to stay around and help for a couple of weeks as well. The girls were very excited that they got to see both grandmas in one day.
The rest of the month was spent getting into our new routine and getting used to low sleep again. Sometimes all it felt like I was doing was nursing, but we eventually fell into somewhat of a rhythm. One thing is for sure, life just got a whole lot crazier.
Well, that does it for this quarter. Until next time!
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