Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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THEY'RE HERE!

Hi friends and family! Life is a little bit busier now that the twins have arrived and this is the first time I have gotten to the computer with time enough to blog. KATE NOELLE and KARA JOY arrived at 9:51 and 9:59 pm on December 23, 2008. Kate weighed in at 6 lbs 6 oz, 19.5 inches and Kara weighed 6 lbs 13 oz, 20 inches. That is over 13 lbs and over 3 feet of baby!. I was induced and everything went great. It was a smooth delivery and has been a great recovery so far. We are SO HAPPY they are here, are healthy, and a part of our family. It takes a little adjustment on our parts (poor Zach) but we are all doing great. Enjoy some pictures of our best Christmas Presents ever!

Here's Zach looking studly in his scrubs.

Their first sight of us. I had to deliver in the OR just in case of emergency C-section, but everything went smoothly. Started pushing at 9:45 and they were both out by 9:59!

When Zach first saw them he put his finger to his mouth and said "Shhh..."

My Mom and Dad with their newest grandchildren...#21 and 22! I am SO GLAD that they would brave the Edmonton winter and that they are here right now.

Our family!

Pretty little Kate.

We're home! We came home at 5 pm on Christmas Eve. They were only 20 hours old!

Zach just wanted them out.

Our cutie Kara.

Kate (L) and Kara (R).

Just kickin' it on the couch together (Kara's on the left, Kate on the right).

Mom caught a Day 1 smile from Kara just in time! Zach kissing Kara on Christmas morning. Although he doesn't like that they take attention away from him, he sure loves them and is very gentle with them.

Our family on Christmas Day.

Our stockings filled with Kar-a and Kate! :)

'Twas the Night Before Twins...

Good News!!! We are having twins tomorrow. Now all of my Christmas wishes are coming true! I went to my appointment this morning and the Doc said that it is time, so tomorrow it is. We are very excited to finally meet our little girls. Now, we know the day, but it is up to you all to guess the TIMES, WEIGHTS, and LENGTHS of our little Christmas Angels. Winner will be crowned as Kate and Kara's first babysitters!!! :) Start predicting!

On Saturday...the DUE DATE.

Here we are all dressed up and ready to deliver some Christmas goodies...we came back a few minutes later as it was ice winds of -35 C out!! Zach sure loves his boots though.
And here is our last exciting bit of news, the basement is painted and carpet comes tomorrow! So the tomorrow marks the delivery of our carpet and twins. What a day!

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Winter's here. For sure. Here's a picture of some proof. This is Zach's milk that was left in the car during church today. Yep, it's frozen. Yesterday (our "errand-running" day) it just so happened to be one of the first shockingly cold days of our Edmonton winter. It was - 26 C (-17 F) out with a windchill of -40 C (-40 F)! Today it was -27 C with a windchill of -37 C! I have heard Justin mention moving to California or Hawaii twice in the last day... I won't argue! My mom and dad fly in Wednesday and it is supposed to be -17 C (+1 F). We have to break them in slowly you know. I am so grateful for them to come up here, but I hope they stay the full 3 weeks and don't run out on me early! They probably should have come and fallen in love with the place in the summer...Oh well!!

And yes, I know. You are all thinking, ANOTHER picture of Amelia! Man, she's so full of herself! :) BUT humor me one more time, because this should be one of THE LAST belly shots before the girls get here! My 37 week twin due date is THIS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20TH!!! Of course, I will go late I am sure, but there is an end in sight! I have an appointment tomorrow with my doc, so we will see what he says. Hopefully he says, "Okay, let's strip your membranes!" :) I better wear all my favorite maternity clothes this week!

Photo Shoot!

Hi all! My talented friends Maren and Alysha offered to take pictures of pregnant me before I burst. These were taken at 34 weeks. They turned out pretty good! This is a lot of pictures...sorry, but I couldn't just pick and choose! There are still more on Facebook too! :) Enjoy!

Belly Dancing @ 35 Weeks!

Hello friends and family! I am at 35 weeks now and definitely counting...I am not sleeping well and would much rather prefer to actually see and hold the cute reasons why I am not sleeping. I also think I have PUPPP...pruritic uticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy. They are tiny red bumps all over my belly with a few on my neck, arms and legs that itch EXTREMELY bad! I HATE it. It is most common in twin pregnancies or first-timers probably caused somehow by the stretching of the skin. It isn't super common, luckily, but it isn't detrimental to the girls. It just drives me crazy! Anyway, enough complaining. Here is a little demo of my newest talent...Belly Dancing! It is hard to catch on film, but I got a few good ones, especially after the 3rd pen swipe. Be patient! (I will try to be patient too.) Well, Merry Christmas every one. Make sure you all watch "The Muppet Christmas Carol"!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Girls...At 34 weeks

Well, I had my last (hopefully) ultrasound today. It was a million times better. The tech was SO nice and she talked to me the whole time. The girls are looking great and cooperated nicely. Both are head down (-ish...Baby B is head down but a little horizontal still) which is great, but they could always change at delivery! Baby A measured at at 4 lbs 13 oz. Baby B is at 5 lbs 1 oz so they say. They said probably no babies anytime soon though. Darn. Well, I mean it is a good thing, but I REALLY don't want to go late again. Here are some pictures! (The nice tech even gave them to me free because she felt so bad she left a 34 week pregnant-with-twins mom with a FULL bladder waiting for a while!) I'll take it! Baby A (Kate we think). Once again, she cooperates very well and gives us a great profile shot.
Baby B (Kara) is a little less cooperative in giving us a cute picture, again. We still love her though. This is starting to get a little more real. I am SO excited and can't wait to meet their cute faces. Only 19 days until the due date and 16 days until Mom and Dad are here! That means only 24 until Christmas...get shopping!