Doing my part

Being unable to help out by getting a job has been pretty rough on me lately. I watch how hard JT works and I just sit at home and play the housewife. I know that the safety and health of the kids and myself is my top priority--I just keep feeling like I need to contribute! So after some brainstorming I have it!

1. I'm going to start a from-home tutoring business! I love school and have a knack for subjects I love. So I've decided to tutor kids K-12 in English, History, and Spanish! I'm soo nervous. Oh, and I'm also going to do some ESL tutoring if I can. We'll have to see how it goes. I just barely posted the ads on craigslist and still have a ton of marketing to do. It'll hopefully go well!

P.S. does anyone have any ideas for creative names for the business? I'm stuck.

2. We've already got ourselves a dog and a cat...and well, there's still a little room to spare. Right now, that is. I've decided (and JT has agreed) to start a doggy daycare business! We'll be taking on one extra dog at a time. We would do cats, but Snickers has a big issue with fellow felines. It's too much of a hassle to be worth it. Mia on the other hand, LOVES company! We would take in the extra dog and I would take it with me on short intermittent walks throughout the day, play with it, train it with Mia, and feed it. It's probably not going to be a huge money maker, but any extra cash helps. We'll ask them to bring their own food for the dog (new food gives them diarrhea anyways) and will avoid having to spend any extra money. We've already got extra leashes, toys, and a crate! Our amazingly talented friend Alex has already created the logo for the flyers. It's gonna be called The Doghouse!

He's just too good to be true!

Some of you may not have heard, but JT is amazingly awesome! He's just so sweet and SO talented it blows me away. He LOVES taking on new projects. Anyone remember the cat habitat he built for Snickers? Then there are the shelves he just built and installed in our living room. Now there's talk about crocheting baby blankets for the twins! His most recent adventure however, was the dog bed. The one we made before was beginning to stink and was completely chewed up! Mia hasn't been behaving herself very well. So, Bonnie was sweet enough to give us her old sewing machine and guess who knew how to use it...not me! We went out and bought 2 pillows, a yard of fleece, and some velcro. JT grabbed the materials and plopped right down and started work on that bed!

he did an awesome job of it if I do say so myself!!!

So not only is he the best handyman ever, he's creative to boot! I'm just so grateful for the blessing he is in my life and the daily sacrifices he makes for our family. 16 credits at school+work+looking for a second job+migraines+taking care of a pregnant wife = a VERY tired and wonderful husband. The thing that gets me is how happy he is to do it all. He's soo too good to be true!

Another First

JT had his first all-nighter doing homework last night!!!!!!!!! He's officially been inducted into college life. Although I do have to admit that he was pretty sneaky about it. Here's how it went down:

We got home from grocery shopping around 11:00 pm. I was hurting after being out and about too long so he helped me get snuggled into bed with a book. I knew he had homework to do so I told him I'd do my best to wait up for him so we could go to bed together. He wanted me to go to bed sooner though. He's a worry wart when it comes to me. :) So about half an hour later he came in with my sleeping pill (doctor approved Unisom). I have to have one since I wake up anywhere from 3am-5am and can't go back to sleep until the sun comes up. I resisted and said that I needed to wait to take it until I was ready for bed. This sneaky husband of mine said that since we didn't know how long it would take to kick in, it would be better to be safe than sorry. I was OUT within 20 minutes! I woke up at 4am for my usual bathroom break only to find that JT had STILL not come to bed and was STILL doing homework! Sneaky tricky man!!! I'm told that shortly thereafter he finally came to bed. I have my suspicions.

He is my cute little college student! He even had the usual luck of having the professor push the homework deadline back a few days once he got to class! I don't think he and that professor are on speaking terms anymore...

Labor Day Weekend

JT's parents came into town for a fun 3-day weekend last week! It was nice to see and spend time with them again. Friday night we gathered at their hotel room, Saturday the boys went to Cabellas, Sunday we took family pictures, and Monday we visited Katie & Nathan and had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was a lot of fun...and a little too much fun for my quickly growing body! It killed me! But it was worth it!

Here are some of the pictures from Sunday evening. I can't WAIT to hit the gym after these two little ones finally hit fresh air!

First Prego Photo

No makeup so don't judge. This is me at 18 weeks! I feel bigger than I look!

JT's first day of school!

Last Wednesday was JT's first day of school at Utah Valley University! He's a wolverine now. :) I made sure to get pictures of him waking up, his triumph at dressing himself, breakfast, and leaving for school. I'm so proud of my little Marine-turned-student! He looks so cute with his backpack!

An Unexpected Expectancy

I had my last scheduled ob/gyn appointment in Arkansas on Thursday, August 20th. I was only one day shy of 17 weeks at the time, but was ready to beg to high heaven for that ultrasound showing me whether we were having a boy or a girl! The begging worked and GOOD THING IT DID!

The doctor I saw (not my normal one since she was on maternity leave) pulled out his little laptop and began to look through my belly. He got this really confused look on his face and kept glancing over at JT and I.

Doctor: "What exactly did they tell you? When you had your ultrasound earlier..."

Me (with a confused look): "Nothing. Just that we had a healthy baby."

Doctor (confused look and shakes head, then smiles): "Well, you do... but there are two in there."



JT and I were speechless! I was trying too hard to process to know whether to laugh or cry! The nurse laughed after gasping and ran me over a box of tissues. JT kept staring at me to watch my reaction the whole time! After the initial questions of whether they were healthy or not were answered (and yes, they were), the doctor began some more poking around. He told us that Baby B is a boy!!! Kinda fitting huh? JT was thrilled he got his boy. I on the otherhand had visions of two 2 year-old boys playing tug-a-war with the cat! The doctor scheduled me for an emergency ultrasound clinic visit the next morning. We needed to know what Baby A was and whether they were sharing a placenta or not.



When we left the doctor's office JT and I simultaneously called our moms. My mother certainly enjoyed it because she'd periodically ignore me to listen to what JT was telling HIS mom and get excited about THAT. Both our parents were very cute. JT says his parents didn't even believe him at first! My dad just laughed and laughed! We left telling the rest of the family up to them. This is how my dad chose to share the news through email:


Next morning was the longest ultrasound I could EVER have imagined. They found out almost immediately that Baby A was a girl!! Best of both worlds! At least that would mean that baby-shower shopping was now officially failproof for everyone. ;) Oh, and they are NOT sharing a placenta which means I have the best possibility of a complication-free delivery possible--at least with twins that is. Both babies are healthy and even a little bigger than scheduled! A normal single pregnancy puts the baby at 7 ounces at 18 weeks. They were both at 7 ounces a week earlier AND are supposed to be naturally smaller because they're twins! Birth is definitely going to be interesting.

So there we have it! We're having twins!!!!!!!!!!!