No Time

I don't blog nearly as often as I would like too.  Sometimes I think I will have plenty of time when everyone naps or when everyone is in bed or when everyone is playing, but it seems like those "free" times get sucked up with other things.....laundry (never ending), bottle washing, cleaning, relaxing, errand running, etc.

Sometimes I am just too tired by the time I get a free minute.

So this is what is going on in our lives right now.

Evan just got back from Idaho with Nana and Papa.  He had so much fun!  He is starting Soccer on Friday and on Saturday his binky is going in the garbage.  He is doing well in preschool and I am signing him up for a peer modeling preschool at Mountain Meadow Elementary school for next year.  I am excited about this because I am hoping to get him into Early Kindergarten the year after.  Evan loves his brothers especially Morgan.  Morgan and Evan wrestle already and he can really make Morgan laugh.  Evan is growing up so fast and growing right out of his clothes!

Morgan and Riley both have colds and pink eye right now :-( they are pretty miserable.  We are still experimenting with food.  Morgan seems to tolerate anything but Riley has a pretty sensitive stomach and is not into eating as much as Morgan.  Both boys are rapidly outgrowing their car seats so we are in the process of switching all 3 boys into the next size up. Morgan sleeps all night in his crib and occasionally wakes up to eat once in the night to eat, but generally stays pretty happy and will just lay in his crib and "talk".  Riley is having trouble sleeping.  He cries often and all night long.  He usually ends up in a pack and play in our room.

I am working hard in my very limited spare time, to get my resume ready to find a job this next school year.  I am determined to find a job.  Sometimes I feel like I went into the wrong profession at the wrong time. Nobody is hiring people who don't have a ton of experience.  I haven't sub nearly as much as I have wanted to.  But I am not going to let that stop me.  I am going to research and refresh my memory on all the "lingo", talk with friends and really put myself out there.

Tony is an awesome dad.  Although he has tried to no avail to get a job, he has kept a pretty positive attitude, still fixes computers on the side and is working hard on our finances at the moment to ensure that we have a bright and secure future.

Through all our business we still try to have fun.  We play and read.  Take little day trips and spend time together as a family.

6 Months

Morgan and Riley are 6 months old now

1/2 a year has gone by since their birth.

They are 1/2 way to a year old.

Where has the time gone?!?

Morgan is rolling all over the place, it is how he get around.
Riley doesn't roll yet but he is getting close.
Floor time for Riley is getting more bearable.
Morgan LOVES to move and jump.
Both boys loves cuddles and kisses.
Both boys are napping in their cribs and start out in their cribs at night, they like their cribs.
Both boys put themselves to sleep.
Both boys like solid food, although Morgan is a little more picky about textures...Riley eats anything!
Both boys are sitting for longer periods of time.
They are more aware of each other now and will grab each other when on the floor and almost wrestle.
Morgan belly laughs at Evan and is very ticklish.
Riley likes to smile but it takes a lot to make him laugh.

Both boys are growing way too fast, but I love every stage with them!

I love these boys....all my boys.

The Story of Morgan and Riley

So it turns out Morgan and Riley's conception wasn't so cut and dry as I thought it was.

Yes we used IVF.
Yes we only had ONE embryo implanted.
Yes we had twins.

HOWEVER....

No they are not identical they are in fact fraternal.
No the doctors did not accidentally put 2 embryos in.
No it was not an imacculat conception...LOL

It turns out we conceived naturally at the same time that we conceived through IVF and it all just happened to be the perfect storm....but an amazingly wonderful story that resulted in my amazing baby boys!

So the story might be TMI for some people, I am warning you now :-)

Tony and I tried to get pregnant for YEARS almost our entire married life.  I have Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) meaning I do not ovulate.  Any eggs I have simply turn into cysts on my ovaries and fade away.  We have tried so many different ways of getting pregnant before being referred to Seattle Reproductive Medicine (SRM) for IVF.  Through the IVF process 4 years ago I got pregnant on our first try with Evan (ahhhh we were so in love) we had what we had been trying for for so long (could be why he is a spoiled brat LOL...Just kidding).  We had frozen embryos left over and I tried once to no avail and the second time on Evan's 2nd birthday I miscarried.  We were heartbroken and didn't know if we wanted to ever try again, but we thought since Evan was a "fresh" cycle we would try another fresh cycle (a last ditch effort because we had exhausted all of our resources) and it in fact was a success!
Now backing up just a little bit.  The way IVF works is I am pumped full of hormones and stimulation meds to help my ovaries mature as many eggs as possible (but not too many) and then they retrieve those eggs, fertilize them with Tony's sperm and wait to see which ones actually mature into embryos.  In 3-5 days 1 or 2 embryos are implanted in my uterus depending on how strong they look and our personal choice of whether we want to risk multiples.  We did not want to risk multiples so we opted for 1 embryo.
Now to back up a few days.  We are to abstain for sex for 5 days before they retrieve my eggs so that they get the max potency of sperm from Tony.  Well the doctors have since told Tony that he has "super sperm" and boy is he running with that term...LOL  anyway just meaning they are strong, they live long and swim fast. The point of me telling you this is that Tony and I shared a romantic evening 6 days before egg retrieval knowing full well it would be awhile before we could be in that position again.  When they retrieved my eggs they retrieved 21 eggs from my right ovary and only 3 from my left.  My left ovary was hard to reach, but had just as many mature eggs, however they could not get them all and just left them to expire.  In this process 1, 2, 3 who knows how many eggs ovulated on their own from this ovary and there in my uterus just waiting for an egg to fertilize was Tony's sperm!  OMG It really couldn't be more meant to be!

I say it is like the perfect storm because:
1. It is rare for a woman to ovulate during an IVF treatment
2. It is unthinkable for me to ovulate AT ALL!
3. It is rare, but has been recorded in textbooks, for sperm to live 6 days waiting for an egg to fertilize.
4. It is rare for an embryo making its home in a uterus to not be jolted, scared, traumatized by another embryo being implanted next to it by a long tube!

These boys really wanted to be here and they were both strong from the start.  We love them SO much and even though life is really though right now, we are really blessed to have them.  I am amazed when I see their smiley faces everyday.  I can't wait for the day when they will understand this story and then argue over who was who :-)

Morgan Michael

Riley Michael

I love my crazy little family and my house full of boys!

Aquarium Trip

A couple of weeks ago we were trying to figure out what to do as a family one Sunday that was fairly inexpensive but fun for everyone.  We found a Groupon to the Seattle Aquarium that got Tony and I in for $24 and all 3 boys were still free, so it was the perfect idea.  We had a lot of fun.

Evan walked around "studying" all the species of fish.
The boys enjoyed being in their stroller and just looking at everyone and everything.
It was not too crowded because it was also a big day for the Seahawks.
Evan loved taking pictures of everything on his own.
Nobody cried.
No fits were thrown.
Evan got to buy a bag of sharks that now live in our bathtub.
It was a really nice family day.

Afterwards we used Tony's free birthday meal at Red Robin and had lunch for cheap as well.  It was our first time going out to a restaurant with the three boys AND it was nap time.  Everyone was wonderful.  Evan  colored with Tony and gobbled up his mac-n-cheese and apple slices and the boys had bottles and fell right asleep.

What a great way to spend a Sunday!

Diver feeding the fish and talking about them

Morgan and Riley taking it all in

Watching the diver

Measuring up to a sixgill shark

Checking out the underwater dome

Some Evan captured pictures

Star fish in the touch tank

A fun day with our amazing family. Love them all.

5 Months

Morgan and Riley are 5 months old now and are changing so fast!
Everyday it seems like they are learning/doing something new.  As I right this post Riley is watching Yo Gabba Gabba and taking his socks off!  Riley has figured out how to take his socks off and grab his feet.  He also tries to sit up out of his bouncer seat.  Both boys scoot and bounce right out of any seat they are in, they are so wiggly! Right now, just after they turned 5 months, they are starting to try to sit on their own.  Both boys can sit for a few seconds at a time alone, but then they topple over to the side or backwards.  They are starting to really "see" each other and realize that they are there and also noticing their big brother more and more.

Riley still gets scared easily, cries a lot and doesn't like to be left alone but he make the cutest faces and chews on his tongue.  He has a BIG bright smile and looks around at things as if to say "what can I do with that later on"

Morgan is sweet natured but if he is upset you will know!  He arches his back and lets out loud screeches with big tears.  He is cuddly, smiley  and doesn't mind be left to his own devices for a little while as long as he can still see mom or dad.  He is sensitive and likes to just take in the world around him.

Evan loves his baby brothers.  He is starting to get annoyed by them at times.  One day Morgan was kicking him (of course not on purpose) and Evan grabbed his foot and made him kick his self and said "There Morgan, kick your own self!"  Of course he had to be reprimanded for that, but I do see lots of little battles like that in my future!

Time goes too fast, but I love every stage of their lives!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was spent at our house just the 6 of us and it was very nice and relaxed.

Santa brought Evan the Castle and Ogre that he REALLY wanted and under the tree he had a ton of dinosaurs which is also all that he really wanted.

Santa brought Brianna the perfume that she really wanted.  She didn't think Santa was coming for her this year because she is 16, but he had a surprise!

Santa brought the boys a play table that they will be able to use in a few months.  They just enjoyed watching everything that was going on.

Christmas day was filled with fun.
Christmas Day was filled with love.
Christmas day was peaceful.
Christmas day was everything we wanted it to be.

What Santa left....before the chaos :-)

The boys' first Christmas

Riley taking it all in

So excited to see what Santa brought

Happy boy

Too much fun for Morgan

One of our many attempts to get a group picture

Finally a decent one....not perfect, but decent

All of the kids

A great day with the best little people ever and the man who created them with me.  Couldn't be any better.

Elfies Last Days

So Christmas has come and gone it is now January 5th (by the time this posts shows) and I have some serious catching up to do to end 2012.

First Elfie's last 11 days with us were a blast but also bittersweet because 1) it meant that Christmas was coming to an end and 2) it meant that we would not see Elfie again until next year.

Here is what Elfie did in our house for his last 11 days:

Riding an elephant

He used a marker to write on all of the mirrors

He ate ice cream

He copied himself

TP'd the tree

Roasted marshmellows

Painted all the boys noses red to look like Rudolph! (Evan didn't want his picture taken of this)

Had T-Rex pull him on a sled with presents

Made a BIG mess with sugar cookie sprinkles (mom was not happy)

Got inside Evan's gingerbread house

On Christmas Eve morning he was gone and he left a nice note for Evan

We will miss you Elfie!  See you next year!