Project Overload

I think I'm a little more ambitious then I should be when it comes to projects...especially when I'm pregnant.
When I was pregnant with Payton I made him blankets, burp clothes, hats, binki clips, and went all out decorating his room.
So this time around, I thought i'd do the same thing...for each baby.
I guess I forgot I have a 2 year old.

Even still, I have been busy getting some of my projects done.

I have completed a few blankets for them.
My favorite are the minki ones with the little tabs of ribbon around the outside. They are SO soft and warm. I love the colors, and how they each will have their own.
I have made 4 recieveing blankets and am working on crocheting around them. (only 3 are in the picture). I have stuck to a color theme. One of the boys will get all the blue, and the other all the green. Sometimes the fronts are the exact same, with different fabric on the back.
I have made a few burp clothes. I learned with Payton that the homemade ones just weren't absorbent enough for my projectile puker. So I used cloth diapers, not so cute. I will anticipate the same problems with reflux and puking for these two, so heavier duty burp clothes are a must. I found a cute idea to make plain white cloth diapers look much cuter by putting a panel of material down the middle. Here is a picture of some of the ones I saw online. I hope mine turn out as cute!I have made a small dent in my list of projects.
Here is a pile of ongoing things!

This week should be project central at our house!
Devry comes home tonight (YAY!)
Tomorrow we will get to work on our bedroom.
OUR bedroom? Really...yes I did take on the project of redoing our bedroom as well.
I am sick of it.
We painted it a deep rhubarb red about 3 years ago.
It wasn't really intentional. I had chosen the color to do an accent wall in another room, then changed my mind. Understandably, Devry was not too thrilled with the fact that we spent money on a gallon of red paint that I no longer wanted to use.
So when it came time to choose a color for our bedroom....guess what it had to be, since we already spent the money...rhubarb red.
I really don't mind the COLOR.
I HATE how dark it is though.
The room feels so closed in and dark.
I need a light, clean, bright feeling bedroom.
So after 3 years, I FINALLY get to re-do my bedroom!

Here is my bedroom now. So dark.

The plan:
Light, sky blue walls
White trim.
White bedding
Blue accent pillows
White curtains
White picture frames.
A clean, serene feeling room of blue and white.
I CAN'T WAIT!
I also get white crown molding, all the doors repainted, and some electrical repairs. What a wonderful husband I have!
Hopefully it will help me better enjoy the hours I spend in here with my two little babies.

Also this week:
The Nursery.
I have thrown around so many ideas for the nursery, and finally have found what I want.
Blue, Green and Tan, with a jungle animal theme.
I can't wait to see how it turns out!

And last but not least, my list of projects I will be working on over the next several weeks

• Car seat covers
• more burp clothes
• Bumper pads
• crib skirt
• A couple more blankets
  
• Names for their wall
• curtains
• Decorations for their room

should be fun!

28 week Dr's appointment tomorrow! It's a busy one with my glucose test, hgb level, and rhogam shot. I will also have an ultrasound to measure their growth. I'll post pictures soon!
Happy Sunday!

Missing Devry

We really miss Devry today.
He has been out on location this week....working 16-19 hours a day with no cell service. We haven't talked more then 10 minutes at night in 5 days. Payton has only talked to him 1 time in 5 days. I am anxious for this week to be over. He will be in the shop next week, and only work 13ish hours a day. Not having him here is hard, but the weeks we don't get to talk are definitely the worst...for all of us.

Payton woke up at 5 am...screaming. This is really unusual for him. I quickly went in to calm him down. I sat and held him and he kept saying "Daddy cuddle with me" and "Daddy read me books." It broke my heart. The poor boy just wanted his Daddy. I sat and cried with him and rocked him. I know exactly how he feels missing Devry. I finally convinced him to lay down and let me read him a book. I left and he fell back asleep for a few more hours.

We went to church at 9. Both of us already tired and having an emotional day.
One of the speakers was Devry's cousin (well his cousin's husband), who also works away from his family in the oil fields most of the time. He talked about how much he missed his family, and how homesick he would get when he is away. He broke down in tears about it, and of course my emotions took over, and I couldn't keep the tears away. We miss Devry so much, and I know he misses us, and is homesick too.

I tried to take Payton to nursery, but he started crying. He NEVER cries about going to nursery. He loves going! He kept wanting me, Grandma and Grandpa to hold him. No one could convince him to stay. I felt bad leaving him there crying, so I gave him the choice of staying or going home for a nap. He chose a nap. So we headed home, and he fell asleep so quickly. He really was overtired and needed it.

One more week until Devry comes home. It cannot go fast enough, yet I know it will drag on! I am grateful to him for making so many sacrifices to provide for us. I know he has just as hard of a time as we do being apart, but goes willingly to work his butt off, and never complains. What an amazing husband I have! I feel so lucky!
He will only be home 3 more times before I have these babies. CRAZY! Hopefully it works out perfect and he can have 3-4 weeks off when I have them...that would be really nice. Not to have to say goodbye for a month! Here's hoping!

Priorities

I've been putting off writing this post, because I'm pregnant and emotional about things :)
When we decided in July that Devry would take his job in Wyoming, we knew it would bring tons of changes in our life.
Then in August we found out we were pregnant, and knew it would bring even more changes.
Then in September, we found out we were having Twins, and knew it would bring more changes then we ever could have anticipated.
Although all of these things meant changes, we knew we were making the right decisions, and the changes would be ones we could handle!
After a few months of Devry being gone to work....I realized that to be able to handle all of the changes, I needed to get my life back to basics, and prioritize better.
I had too many responsibilities, and my family needed to be put first.
So I began making some changes.
I was teaching the 3-4 year olds at Church, and asked to be released.
I told my boss I was going to cut back at work after the twins are born.
These things weren't too hard.
But then we began realizing our dogs needed more attention then we were able to give them.
The summer time was perfectly fine. Payton and I were outside with them every day, playing with them tons.
But then when if got cold, we didn't go out as much.
We tried everything to make it work.
Devry fenced in our back yard so they had much more room to run and play.
He was out with them a ton when he was home.
But they kept figuring out ways to get out. Probably because they were bored, and we weren't with them enough. We couldn't afford a nice privacy fence, and the wire fence just wasn't holding them in.
Most days I went out for 5 minutes or less with them. To give them food and water.
I debated letting them be inside more..But I really don't want to have more cleaning to do from them shedding, and getting mud and snow on my floors. And they love being outside, and having someone to play with.
After alot of debate...Devry and I very hesitantly agreed that they needed to be in a home that would give them the love and attention they deserve.
I had a hard time with this decision.
I really love these dogs.
We have had them both since they were puppies.
They are so sweet, obedient, gentle with kids, and loving.
And since they are so wonderful, we knew they deserved so much more then we have been able to give them the last 6 months.
If I knew it would improve, I would never even consider finding them new homes.
But adding 2 babies will make it even worse.
Plus, we are so undecided and unsure of our plans for the next couple years. Having two large dogs will make renting much more difficult, if thats what we need to do.
So I put an ad in the classifieds, kind of hoping no one would respond.
We had several calls the first few days.
And found them a wonderful home.
With a lady who recently lost her husband, and needed companionship.
who has a beautiful fenced in acre of a yard...with a real vinyl privacy fence.
She came to see them and absolutely fell in love with them. And I could tell right away that she would be giving them the love and attention they need. Before she even got them, she had appointments to take them to the vet, and the groomer. Asked every single question about what they eat, what they like, where they sleep, everything! She was obviously going to spoil them rotten!
So we met her in Pocatello on our way to Utah last week.
And I cried my eyes out.
And dreaded seeing them go.
But I knew they would be going to a home where they would be given what they need.
So we said good bye.

I will miss these two wonderful dogs so much!
We enjoyed having them as puppies,
And seeing them grow.
And having 3 litters of puppies.
And watching Payton play and LOVE them.
That is probably the hardest part. Payton does not understand where they are, and continues to ask for them. They were so gentle with him. And tolerated so much fur, tail and ear pulling. Payton would jump on them, try to ride them like a horse, push them, hit them. And all they did was affectionately take it, then lick him.
We will miss them a ton, but know we are doing the right thing for them, and us.

26 weeks and Potty Training adventures!

This post turned into a bit of a novel!
I'm 26 weeks!
12 more left (at the most!)
As you can tell in my pictures, I am definitely "popping."
These little guys are growing a ton.
Baby A is SO active, and Baby B is a bit more mellow.
It is weird feeling two babies. Luckily they seem to have similar active times, and "down" times.
Here are a couple pictures of me at 26 weeks and 3 days..

A few things at 26 weeks..

• I feel very pregnant! I think how I feel compares to how I felt with Payton at 35ish weeks. Although I probably sound like a big complainer, I am doing pretty good! Mostly just annoying pains.
  
• I am having lots of contractions. They are mild, but pretty frequent. I'm trying to stay really hydrated and take it easy a bit more. Hopefully they don't turn into anymore more then annoying braxton hicks.
• I still am constantly shocked at how much more magnified everything is with twins. The nausea was way worse, the back pain is worse, the heartburn is worse, my sense of smell is way more heightened, my emotions are more out of whack, the leg cramps are worse, the contractions are more frequent, the sciatic pain is worse, everything. I keep telling myself that by having twins, I am saving myself 9 months of pregnancy, so I have to experience it twice as bad to make up for it :)
• I feel kind of useless. I can't lift a whole lot anymore. Devry loads up our wood box before he leaves, but I run out before he returns and I've been having to carry it from the back room. I felt bad, but had to ask Carissa to take over that job because it was making me contract much worse, and have horrible back pain. Lifting Payton has gotten to be hard, and he's having to figure out how to climb into the car seat himself. I hate feeling so useless. I am normally a very independent person, so it is difficult to admit I can't do something anymore. Devry had to get mad at me a few times before I would :)
• I don't have much of an appetite. I think its the fact that I don't have much room for food, and when I do eat I get heartburn. I'm trying very hard to eat healthy and get all the nutrients I need for these kiddos. I have gained less weight then I did with Payton so far. I think with 2 of them, they just take so much more. I'm not complaining! Hopefully it continues and it will be easier to get back to my pre-prego weight! I just want to make sure I am doing everything I can for them to be healthy.
  
• I LOVE feeling them move! It is still such an amazing feeling to me. They still have some room, so their movements haven't gotten to be painful rib shots yet. I am enjoying it, because I know in the coming weeks every movement will probably be the painful ones :)
• I am starting to make major preparations for them. I am making blankets, car seat covers, crib bumpers, and burp clothes. Plus making plans for decorating the nursery. Devry is painting on his next week off for me :) I am trying to get everything organized, and figure out what I still need.
  
• Everything is going good! I'm hoping to have them at 37ish weeks, and I hope time flies until then!

I had about 9 days off of work from the 4th till the 13th. So I decided it would be a good time to attempt potty training with Payton.

We hadn't tried before, and he never really showed a lot of interest, so I was really unsure if we would be successful. I really don't want 3 kids in diapers, so I decided to go ahead and try. Hopefully if he did get it there would be enough time between him being potty trained and the twins being born that he wouldn't regress to bad.

So we started on the 5th. Day 1 was definitely a learning day. We said goodbye to diapers. He seemed to get the concept, but we cleaned up lots of accidents. Throughout the day though he seemed to get it more, and had less accidents. I really was expecting the worst, so I was pleasantly surprised!

Days 2-6 got better and better! Day 4 we even left the house and went to Church and grandma's and Grandpa's, and he didn't have a single accident when we were gone! By Day 5 and 6 he only had 1 accident. Devry came home on Day 5, and Payton was so excited to show him how he was a big boy! He even decided he needed to use the "big" potty, and hasn't even looked twice at his Cars potty since. We didn't even have to put a smaller seat inside the big one...he just figured it out! I'll take it! We were still having to remind him to go though.

Devry and I left town for days 7 and 8. I was definitely nervous about that, and worried it would set him back a ton. Luckily Carissa had been around the entire week we were working on it, and knew every bit of his routine, so she continued with it! Man I am lucky to have that girl around! He did perfect at home with her! He had the most difficulty when he had to go to a friends house or Grandma's house while Carissa worked. Just a change in his environment I'm sure. He still did ok.

Then we came home, and days 9-11 were amazing! I think he had 1 accident in the 3 days, and was telling us whenever he had to go.
We even could stop reminding him. I was THRILLED!

Then on Sunday (day 11), Devry left and went back to Rock Springs. And Payton had a hard time with him leaving. Yesterday (Day 12) was a struggle. He had several accidents, and stopped telling me when he had to go. He kept looking for Devry and refusing to go potty unless Daddy came and helped. I felt so bad. I know exactly how he feels to miss Devry so much. His whole world gets turned upside down when he leaves..so how could I blame him for it effecting his potty training progress?

Today has been much better. He had one accident this morning. We went back to some basics of me reminding him, more excitement and prizes for telling me he has to go, and making a big deal about it all again. He has done much better with it. I am hopeful to get him back to where he was in the next few days...and hopefully he gets in enough of a habit that he stops regressing when Devry leaves. We are hanging out at home this week...and trying to master it all!

I'm so proud of this kid! Like I said I wasn't sure if he was ready. But he has done amazing! I had such horrible expectations of potty training... so I was thrilled when he caught on quickly, and picked it up in a matter of a day!

We did a few different things to rewards and praise.

Every time he went potty he got a small candy, and put a sticker on his sticker chart.

Then after he had 10 stickers, he got to pick a prize. I bought some small dollar store prizes, and he was thrilled to get them. It worked great to get him to pee in the potty.
#2 was a bit more of a challenge. He continued to have accidents, and it didn't really seem to phase him. Finally we discovered it just took a bit more motivation. When he did go #2 in the potty, he got a "BIG" prize. A Thomas the train character for his train table. We picked up a few really cheap at Ross. It only took him getting one of those characters for it to click. He was determined to get more, so he began to tell us. It worked GREAT!

He is staying dry at naptimes, so I just put training pants on him. At Nighttime, he still wakes up a bit wet. Everything I have read talks about how it is usually involuntary at night, so there is not much you can do until he is ready. I have been putting him in pull ups at night. He always wakes up and wants to go potty first thing in the morning, but seems to just be wetting while he is asleep. Once we get back to where we were with Daytime training, I will try a few nights of training pants, plastic sheets, waking him up to pee before I go to bed, and see if it works. I know boys tend to take a bit longer for nighttime training, so I am not overly concerned about it at this point.

One thing I discovered through this process is that the thrill's in life definitely change when you are a parent! When the highlight of your day is your child going potty, and it involves celebrating by singing and dancing, and jumping up and down with them...you know you are a parent. haha

A little get a way

Devry and I had been talking for a while about doing something for just the two of us.
I had told him I wanted to go somewhere before I got too pregnant.
My Dr. wouldn't be too thrilled about me leaving town much past 30 weeks.
And my discomfort is increasing every week, so I wanted to go before it got too bad.

So we left early Wednesday morning and headed to Salt Lake City.
Carissa kept Payton for us the majority of the time, with another friend and Devry's mom each taking a turn while Carissa went to her other job. We are so grateful to have such awesome people we trust with him..who he LOVES!
We started the trip by eating out at Tucano's.
We really enjoyed it! So yummy. Zantac helped me enjoy it even more. Gotta love Acid Reflux.
Then we went and got to visit with a couple of my stepsisters for a bit. We stopped at Ikea and a few stores and enjoyed a bit of shopping without a rugrat to chase around!
Then we headed to the hotel.
We stayed at the Anniversary Inn. It was such a great room, with a HUGE jacuzzi tub. I was in heaven! My tub SUCKS, and it is one of the few ways I can get my back not to hurt, so I thoroughly enjoyed this one for a day!
I didn't want to plan much, and just enjoy some time to relax. We definitely did!
On Thursday we slept in, enjoyed yummy breakfast, did a bit of shopping, ate some lunch, then Devry had secretly planned a surprise for me.
He sent me to get a massage.
Such a thoughtful guy! He knew how bad my back has been hurting, and wanted to spoil me and help with the back pain. It was SO nice and relaxing. Such a thoughtful guy!

We headed back to Rexburg a bit before dinner time, then stopped for Cafe Rio in Ogden.
We enjoyed talking, laughing and just spending time together on the way home.
I am the worst picture taker EVER.
Especially when Payton isn't with us.
I brought the camera..but it never left the case!
Silly me.

I loved having a little get-a-way with Devry.
It will be the last chance we get for quite a long time.
I miss him so much when he is gone working.
When he comes home, I have such a long honey-do list for him, and he has his own list of things to get done that those weeks seem to just fly by. I loved the opportunity to leave, forget about work, things that need done, being a parent, and just enjoy each other.

Names

We may have found names! So far we have found one we love, but can't find another to go with it that we like as much. I guess I feel like I need to like their names equally. Anyways, Devry was asking a coworker for some suggestions, and surprisingly came up with one we hadn't thought of and love! It went so well with another one we have been talking about and love....so we may have it!

Cohen and Kayson

They are sticking. We BOTH love them. We can't think of two we like as much. So unless something else pops up that we like more...those will Probably be it.
We are still deciding on spelling. I really like the idea of them starting with the same sound but different letters.

Some spelling options:
Cohen
Cohan
Kohen
Kohan

Kayson
Kaysen
Casen
Cason

And now onto Middle names. We like using family names for middle names. We will be trying to come up with those next :). I want one after my grampie. The other we arent sure yet.
I love having two likely options for names. It stresses me out not having names. Paytons name was chosen very soon after we found out he was a boy..so I am glad to have these ones chosen. Of course nothing is set in stone until its on the birth certificate. Finding ones we both like is rare...finding two that go together is even harder. Another option we have is Elias and Ethan...but I like Kayson and Cohen better. We'll see :)

Devry's 27th Birthday!

Devry turned 27 on the 28th!
Unfortunately he had to work all day. I felt bad that he had to spend his Birthday working, so I decided I would postpone it until the 29th :)
I woke up with Payton on the 29th. Devry had gotten home really late, so I tried to let him sleep in. The only problem is that he doesn't ever sleep in :) So after getting some things ready I let him get out of bed.
He came out and saw the decorations I had made.
I loved making this Happy Birthday Banner. I will be able to use it for lots of Birthday's

Payton and I also decorated the Bedroom door with balloons and fun notes.

Payton and I made some Birthday cards for Devry.

Payton had fun making his. I let him color it, and we taped balloons on like he wanted.
The funniest part was when he kept asking to make a kite to go with his card, "like mommy." I was really confused, until he started pointing to the banner I made. Apparently he thought I was making kite's for Devry when I was making the banner. So I let him pick out some scrap paper and we tied some string to it. He loved giving it to Devry for a gift!
Next we enjoyed a yummy breakfast casserole that I made. Devry's Favorite for breakfast :)

Throughout the rest of the day I had so much fun surprising Devry with gifts
He had insisted that I not buy him anything big. So I made lots of little gifts and came up with some really fun ideas to make it special.

Here is the pile of presents I gave him. I decided to do a bit of a scavenger hunt for him to find them.

Payton had a lot of fun helping Devry unwrap his presents as he found them.

Devry's first gift was this little box I made. Every gift after this had little tokens in it. Something I would do for him, free days of diaper changes, a dessert of his choosing...etc.
This was another gift I made for him. I got the idea off a fun website with tons of dating ideas.

I put a dry erase marker on the back with Velcro. It is fun to write little notes on it telling Devry why I love him!
I gave him a few other fun gifts. I really tried to think of things that will help bring us closer together while he is away. The biggest one was his Bluetooth headset. Rock Springs has a very strict law about cell phone use when driving. Since Devry spends almost 4 hours driving a day, plus the hours and hours he spends driving to and from Rock Springs, I thought it would be great to be able to talk to him a little more if he had a headset to talk to me. It works great and I love talking to him more.

The last gift is alot of fun! I filled these jars with a combination of 366 pieces of his favorite kinds of candy and notes. The notes have things I love about Devry, my favorite memories of us dating, etc. Each day in 2012 he gets to choose a note to read, or a candy to eat. I hope that doing this will mean a lot to him, especially during the weeks he is away and I don't get to tell him those things in person.

I gave him a wallet photo holder with updated photo's of Payton and me.
I also made another little gift for him to enjoy the weeks he is gone. I filled 2 pill containers with various types of candies, and little quotes on marriage, relationships etc. Each day, he gets to enjoy a little candy and read some quotes that will help us appreciate each other more, and strengthen our marriage.

I had fun finding and thinking of these ideas. Devry really appreciated everything and enjoyed opening gifts.

My SIL Rachelle was so kind and watched Payton for us for a few hours in the afternoon.
Devry and I went to my Dr's appointment, and ate Dinner at Costa Vida.

After Dinner we came home, and had some of Devry's family over for cake.

I bugged Devry to tell me what kind of cake he wanted. He doesn't like me going all out for him, so his request was a very simple brownies and ice cream.

I may have elaborated. :)
His favorite candy is reese's peanut butter cups.
I searched online and found a Brownie Reese's PB cup ice cream cake.
I had to make it!
It was really really good, and I will definitely use the recipe again.

Devry and Payton blowing out candles.

We had a fun day! I enjoyed spending the day appreciating Devry.
I cannot even begin to express how much I love this incredible man.
He truly is amazing!
He is the most hardworking, devoted husband.
He works hours and hours away from us, and never complains.
He is always so thoughtful of me, and always makes me smile and laugh.
I love him more and more the longer I am married to him.
I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband!
Happy 27th Birthday Devry!!

24 weeks!

As of Friday I am 24 weeks along!
As a labor and delivery nurse, I have seen more heartbreaking situations with pregnancy and baby's then I would ever like. Because of this, I have quite a bit of nervousness, anxiety, and stress when it comes to pregnancy. As the weeks pass, I begin to become less nervous and more excited. Chances of loosing these babies lessen, they move more so I can constantly judge their well being, and the fact that each week they are more and more likely to be viable outside of utero makes me a little less anxious. Of course, I still have a long ways to go, but am cautiously beginning to prepare more and more for their arrival.
24 weeks is a stepping stone in my mind...they have a chance now. 28 weeks will feel really good...then 33 will be GREAT. 33 weeks on, the NICU at Madison can most likely keep them. 36 weeks will be AMAZING. As nervous as I am about them, I have a very positive outlook on carrying them long enough to have minimal or no complications. I very easily see myself having them at 37 or 38 weeks. My body seems to be cooperating with carrying them. I am hopeful it will continue this way, and although maybe uncomfortable, I will carry them no problem.

I am definitely feeling and looking pregnant lately! What a difference the past 4 weeks has made! They are growing like crazy, which means I am growing like crazy! I feel pretty good, with some aches and pains that are to be expected. It is so neat to be able to feel them so much. I am starting to be able to tell which baby is moving. It is strange, but I am feeling kind of like I am getting to know their little personalities just from their movements. Baby A is SO active. Constantly moving, kicking, punching, and making me very aware that he is there. Baby B is not. He is much more mellow. I rarely feel him, and I think when I do his brother is moving at the same time and is much more active so that is what I notice. It suprised me SO much when I went to my Dr's appointment on Thursday and saw that baby B had flipped completely around and is now head down too. I thought that would have been something I would notice....yet I didn't. I don't know when he flipped or why I didn't notice, but he did! There is always a chance of him flipping back, but it is nice to know they are both head down. I plan on trying to labor and delivery them regularly. I am in no way opposed to a c-section and will not hesitate to have one if I need it....but it would be nice to not have to recover from it if they can do just fine the other way. So that's the plan! The way my Dr put it is that if I can deliver a 9 lb baby, 2 smaller ones will be a breeze :) We'll see what happens. I am willing to change my plan in an instant if these boys need it!
My Dr's appointment went great. No concerns, no problems. They look fantastic! Next appointment will have a little more to it. A full ultrasound measuring their growth, the glucose tolerance test, blood tests, and I will get Rhogam (for being 0 negative blood type). Then after that I will probably start going every 2 weeks or more until I deliver.
We are starting to make preparations for them. Buying some things we need, making blankets, burp clothes and carseat covers. We will be painting the nursery next week, and start setting everything up. My goal is to have EVERYTHING ready by the beginning of march. I will be huge and pretty useless by then, so hopefully we can get it all done.
I have 14 weeks (until 38 weeks, which is the longest I will go...so its the end in my book :) )
It works out to be 25 shifts at work...if I can work that long.
Devry will only be home 4 times between now and then! That means lots of projects for him the weeks he is home!
It is crazy! Time is flying by with this pregnancy. I have so much to do!
And we have to come up with names. Ugh. We are really having a hard time.
We are excited to hopefully get to take a quick little trip for just Devry and I this month. We figured it will be at LEAST a year before we ever get some time away for just us, so we want to before I get too far along. Not sure exactly what we are doing yet, but we will figure out something.

Here is my 24 week belly picture. It's getting harder for me to post them as I begin to get huge....but I know I will be glad later that I did. Even if I do look like a giant whale :)

The next 3 months will be challenging, yet exciting.
I feel like no matter how difficult things are, I am always taken care of.
For example...
Last year, when Devry decided to take the job in Wyoming, we had to decide what to do with Payton the nights I worked. The first month or so we took him to family's houses to stay. They were so willing to help us out. At first I thought that would work. The more I took him the more I realized he just did so much better at home, in his own bed. I knew he would do better with consistency since his whole world was already be turned upside down with Devry gone. Plus, he is a routine kid...and needs all his "bedtime stuff"...which was a hassle to get to and from the various places he was staying. Devry and I both felt like we needed to hire someone. We posted an ad on the university's website and were overwhelmed with responses. So many wonderful girls that wanted the job. We filtered through them, and after many interviews, chats, and prayers we chose a girl. Her name is Carissa, and he has been incredible! All semester she would come before I had to leave for work, and stay until she had class the next day. Payton ADORES her! She is so helpful, and always tidy's up my house after Payton is in bed. She takes care of him so well, and keeps his routine. I don't have to worry when I work.
This semester is her "off track." So I thought she would be going back to Boise for the semester. I was disappointed and nervous to try to find someone else. Then she decided she didn't want to leave Rexburg for the semester. Everything worked out perfectly. She found a part time job that she works at m-f 12-4...which never interferes with my work schedule, and also makes her free the mornings after I work to watch Payton for me. She is going to be living with us. She is so willing to help me out, and I will be so grateful for her help the next 3 months. It is a huge stress lifted from me that I know I have her help if I do get put on bedrest, or any other problems. Even things like I can go to my appointments without taking Payton, or go grocery shopping. It is wonderful to have her! I feel so lucky and spoiled that I found such an awesome girl, and that we have the financial means to have her work for us.

Anyways, Happy New Year!! It has been a fun, eventful, memory filled 2011, and I am so excited for what 2012 will bring! My New Year's resolution for the year.....

To survive it :)