We Did It!

5:30pm

December 19th

7:30 pm

December 19th

Rook

5 lb 7 oz

Tigue (Teeg)

4 lb 8 oz

The proud Dad

The proud and very happy to not be pregnant (ever again) mom.

Tigue, Dak, Tay, Payte, Tagg, Rook

Tigue and Rook

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Rook and Tigue

Rook and Tigue

Back in Again:(

Howdy all. Reese here, stepping in to post on behalf of Kat.

Well, her cheery post about being home on bed rest turned out to be short lived. Apparently all our concerns about her keeping her keester in a bed full-time were warranted. I don't know if it was pity on me and my woeful performance as Mr. Mom, or the simple fact that anything short of chains, rope, and heavy sedatives will fail at keeping her down, but either way the whole "bed rest at home" thing didn't work. I must give her credit for a valiant effort, but it just wasn't to be. On Tuesday we came in for another appointment and she was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced. I'm not sure what all that meansspecifically, but I do know it means she is moving along more quickly than she should be for this stage in the pregnancy. She is still 8 weeks from really being due. Nobody ever expected full-term, but they also are not prepared to let her deliver these babies any earlier than is absolutely necessary. They are hoping she can keep them in the oven till mid-December, so in their wisdom they have put her back into the hospital till the babies decide to come. Strangely, they openly admit that there is nothing they are necessarily going to do in the hospital that couldn't be done at home, other than they can force her to stay off her feet and they just don't trust her to do that at the house. Expensive hotel stay, but the truth is that they are right - this is really the only way she'll stay down.

We love you all - we'll keep you posted. Providence continues to smile down and watch over us, for which we are eternally grateful. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Bed Rest Projects

I'm home now! And much more comfortable. I was only in the hospital for four days. They got my contractions under control and gave me steroid shots to speed up the babies' lung development. And yes, we are having twins. A boy and a girl!

I can't even express how grateful I am for all the people that are making this bed rest thing possible. We've had people from church, teachers from school, and Reese's co-workers bringing in meals, cleaning, and taking the kids. My moms have been a HUGE help. As I mentioned before my mom was here when I went into the hospital. Yay! Reese's mom came last week while he was out of town. She was fabulous!

Best of all I have an amazing husband who has been very supportive and patient. He has been VeRy busy at work and then comes home to do all my jobs. He's great with the kids. He got home from traveling in the middle of the night on Friday and spent and good while giving me a much needed back rub. Thanks Honey! I love you SO much.

My friend Becca came over one morning to keep me company. She taught me how to make these cute flower hair pins.

I love to knit! I made these hats for the babies.

I had taken much too long a hiatus from my project this year. I wanted to get all the kids stocking done in time for Christmas. My current situation has made this possible. Sorry for showing these off, but I'm ToTaLlY proud of my work.

Preggers!

I didn't think my belly looked SO huge in my last post but, some have inquired, so obviously, I was wrong. Actually, I was going to post this anyway.

This comes as a shock to some, but I actually have to go on fertility to get pregnant. Just clomid, and it always does the trick fairly quickly. Right before Tagg turned one I felt very strongly that there was at least one more spirit waiting to come to our family. So, I started treatments again but to no avail. I got pregnant and miscarried, then went through further testing only to find nothing wrong. My doctor put me on a new drug that I was totally non responsive to. I was SO SO discouraged. I felt like I was doing everything in my power to have another baby but nothing was happening. My AMAZING husband daringly suggested that I was focusing too much on myself. He was right. I was feeling sorry for myself and forgetting about all that I have been blessed with........which is a TON. I decided to devote my energies to my relationship with the Lord. The more I read my scriptures, attended the temple, sincerely prayed, and served others, the less I cared about being pregnant. I was comforted and knew everything would happen as it was supposed to. A few months later my doctor let me have one more shot on the clomid. It worked! And, here I am almost 30 weeks along. There is no doubt in my mind that this pregnancy has been nothing but miraculous.

This is the only good prego picture I have. This was two months ago. I get HUGE.

And this is me, today, in the hospital. I'll be here for at least a few days. When and if I go home I'll be on total bedrest. Thankfully my mom is in town and is holding down the fort while I'm in here.

Tay's Baptism!

Tay was baptized on Sunday! It seemed as though she felt it were the best day of her life. She radiated. She was blessed to have both sets of grandparents there........... and a surprise visit from Uncle Ryan and MIA!!!!

We invited all of Tay's school teachers, and they ALL came! WOW! Thank you SO much everyone, for being there with her on her special day.

I am so proud of your decision to be baptized Tay!

Mrs. Spinosa (her current teacher)

Ms. Sequeira (first grade)

Ms. Cavezzi (kindergarten)

Mrs. D (her book club advisor)

Tay and her good friends

I regret not getting a picture of just Reese, me and Tay. I guess we could dress up and take one.............probably not gonna happen.

Cousins!!!!!!

Ashley and fam came out to visit us!!!!!!!! We were SO thrilled they came.

The kids had TONS of fun together.

I LOVE hanging out with my sister. She is amazing. Every time we get together I wish, so so much, that we lived closer together. But, they might be moving overseas. I'm crazy jealous.

We miss you Nelsons!

The kids spent lots of time putting together plays and performing songs. Ahhh.....brings back memories. My kids look so much like me and Ash's daughter looks so much like her. It almost felt like we were watching old home movies.

Tagg and Noah playing trains

The kids wouldn't leave Mike alone. Here he is, showing them who's boss.

Dak and Ez

at the beach

burying Uncle Mike

Dak was super proud of his sand castle

Halloween!

Late but inevitable..............

From left to right: Tagg refused to dress up (didn't surprise me). Tay the Mexican dancer, Dak, John from Peter Pan, and Payte the Mexican cowgirl.

Dak's costume this year topped my list of favorites. What four year old boy thinks, all by himself, to be John from Peter Pan? Reese and I were cracking up as we watched him walk down the street in his top hat swinging his little umbrella.

Grandparent's Day

Wow! I'm on the ball...........posting the same day I these pictures were taken.

Today was Grandparent's Day at the kids' school. This may be the last time we'll have grandparents close enough to come. G&G Reynolds have packed their bags and will be heading west in two weeks. Many tears have been and have yet to be shed by our fam.

Tay was asked by the PTA to play the piano for the grandparents while they had refreshments. This, I guess, was considered quite an honor, as the school traditionally only showcases the fifth graders. Way to go Tay! Payte is hoping to be ready to play next year.

I love this one of Payte and Grandma Reynolds

Everyone thinks Tay is in Kindergarten, which I guess is a good thing. People end up getting a lot more out of her than they anticipate. She had to stand on her tiptoes to see the music.

Ahhhhhh! Life on the Farm

So it was the Friday before Labor Day and I called Kat from the office. "We should go somewhere" I said. "I know, let's go to Illinois", Kat responded. Because of my crazy summer with boy scouts and youth camps we didn't get anywhere this year with the kids. It was time to get away, but I wasn't sure an 18 hour drive each way for 2 1/2 days of fun was the ideal option. That being said, I did have an itch to get out to see them as well. Truth is, there are few places on earth where our family can really relax like we can at Butch and Dee's farm. So, at 3:00 on Friday afternoon we hit the road and arrived the next day at 10:00am. We just love those guys. Their door is always open to us, and there is no end of fun to be had. We swam in the pond, played in the river, grilled out with friends, rode around the woods and cornfields on 4 wheelers, let the kids drive the truck around the field, and perhaps the highlight, played in a mud pit. As Payte, Dak, Tagg and I were cruising around on the mule we ran across an open patch of cornfield, and it had been raining all day. No sooner had I suggested that we play in the mud that Dak started peeling clothes. With a "superman" holler he dove headlong into the slop. Payte wasn't far behind. Tagg got some mud on his foot and freaked out - he decided to watch from the sidelines. I couldn't let the Tay miss out so I left them there in the pit, and Tagg and I burned back to the house to get Tay. In no time we were all neck to toes in it. We played tag for a while, painted each other brown for a bit, then found an overgrown somewhat less muddy puddle to dive into - to start the cleaning process . . . or at least get the big globs off. We hosed down back at the house in freezing water then jumped into the jacuzzi. What a day. Dak really surprised me - he was the wild man of the crew - you would have thought he grew up in a bog.

We then went to visit our dear friends in Champaign. First, we were lucky enough to spend a morning with one of my mentors and close friends, Paul and Karolyn Magelli. We had a great breakfast with them and visited the new Illinois MBA building - I did my MBA there so it was nice to get back and see all the changes. It really was nice, and was accomplished in no small part because of Paul's commitment to it.

Then we went to visit Tim and Jen Ellsworth. They are the sweetest people. Their kids are always so wonderful and happy, and their home always feels warm and inviting. Time with Ellsworths is always too short. We did make time to stop by Lil' Porgys to eat some ribs and buy a couple gallons of their magic BBQ sauce. We also went to Curtis orchard, wandered through the corn maze, ate Kettle Popcorn, Apples from the orchard, and apple donuts.

Finally, we drove back and got home at 4:00am in time for me to get to work and the kids to school. It was a whirlwind trip but totally worth it. We're lucky to have so many great friends. It was a delightful weekend, and now that we know we can do it, it will definitely not be our last Illinois road trip.

Dak loved it - would have spent the night in the mud if I'd let him.

Here's the Tagg-man picking apples in Champaign at Curtis Orchard

Payte was nice enough to take turns pulling her little brothers around the farm in the wagon. She's a great sister.

This is Butch. Everybody should know him - he's a man among men, and a treasure to all of the Gary Reynolds family.

Here are the kids with Ella Ellsworth in the corn maze at the farm.

Crazy Tay jumping off the dock at Butch and Dee's farm

Chula, our dog, living the dream of all dogs - to live and run free on a farm

Fearsome Mud Warriors

Great Old Friends!!

We spent time on our trip visiting dear friends that we haven't seen in years. I miss these good old days.

Butch and Dee

The Ellsworth's

At breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa "Jelly"

First Day Pics

I had to post these. The kids are excited to back in school, though first grade has been quite and adjustment for Payte. I love school uniforms! It makes our crazy lives a little less complicated.