Delightful Three

I thought I would take a moment to jot down three things about each of my three kiddos as they are this fine March day.

Abigail

- She got her ears pierced yesterday.  She was brave up until go-time.  She needed to sit on my lap and be held to get the job done.  She freaked out, which we expected.  Her reaction kept Vivian from going through with it, which was what we were hoping would happen.

- She is doing well in school.  She isn't the fastest worker, but I see that she is able to work independently more than the other kids and she makes a strong effort in her work.

- She adores her baby brother and is best friends with her sister.  As a result, she plays well with Vivian and helps us out a lot with caring for Auggie.

Vivian

- She seems to be struggling with sensory overload, especially as it pertains to loud noises.  She doesn't even like to play in the indoor playground at Chik-fil-A because it gets too loud.  We're noticing that the sensory overload or nervousness that she feels is manifesting itself in a nervous action she does with her fingers.  I'm not quite sure how to work through this one yet.  I'm hoping it will resolve itself.  The benefit though is that I know her level of comfort in situations even when she's not verbalizing her feelings.

- Her superior oblique palsy (aka-crazy eye) is getting worst.  She will be undergoing surgery next Thursday.  This surgery can not be coming soon enough.  I'm excited for her to get this corrected and nervous for the recovery process.

- She has a very sweet and sensitive soul.  She is loving, thoughtful, and grateful.  She expresses her love with both words and affection.  She asks how you're doing and if you're enjoying your meal.  She hates to disappoint or disobey.  All things that make her a joy to have in our family.

August

- He's a strong little dude and always trying to lift his head.  He seems to love looking at the world around him.

- He sleeps pretty well.  I wish our schedule was more consistent, but that's due to me not really knowing how to get him in on a schedule.  Suggestions?

- He gets gassy, which leads to at least one crying fit a day.  Fortunately, the Mylocon really helps with this issue.  He drinks 5 oz. of formula per feeding.  We can pretty much count on at least one good spit up per feeding.

So, there you have it!  My delightful three.

Disney Family Day

The girls Annual Passes expire in early May.  Aaron and my passes expired this past January.  We've decided not to renew for now.  However, we were bummed that the girls were missing out on four months of Disney adventures.  As a result, Aaron and I decided to purchase the 2-for-1 deal for ourselves that they have during the Off Season for SoCal Residents.

You can only do one park each day.  We hit up CA Adventure yesterday for our day one.  This was August's first Disney trip.  He was only able to ride two rides.  His first ride was The Little Mermaid (not very manly, sorry Auggie).  His second ride was Toy Story's Midway Mania. 

The weather was PERFECT.  It was sunny but cool.

We were able to use the Switch Pass on Soarin' Over California.  It was nice that we didn't have to wait in the line two times for us to both be able to go. 

We saw three little parade/shows.  Abby joined in on one of them, while I could barely get Viv to watch on the sidelines.  Our little Vivian is quite the shy one.

It was a fun-filled day.  The girls are getting to an age where they are able to do more.  Its nice when your kids get taller and braver.  It opens up a whole new world at amusement parks.  Abby actually wanted to go on California Screamin', but she still has a few inches to go.  Here's to getting taller before we renew our passes again!

Challenge

When I was a young girl, my Dad gave me guidelines to follow.  There were six of them.  I recall them to be the following:
1.  Don't quit.
2.  Don't lie.
3.  Don't steal.
4.  Love and honor your Father and Mother
5.  Love and honor your Heavenly Father
6.  Believe in yourself.

The one that always stuck with me the most was "Don't quit."  This was mainly due to the fact that I had the most trouble with this one.  Upon receiving these guidelines, I had already quit soccer after two practices because the coach raised his voice at me.  It wasn't long after that that I took singing lessons and quit those after two lessons.  In high school, I did volleyball over the summer.  By the time Hell Week had begun, I had quit volleyball before playing in the Fall Season.  I'm sure guideline six and guideline one had a close correlation.

So, I told you all that to tell you this.

I completed something that I wasn't sure I could see through to the end.

Back in January, the Bishop of our church had given us a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 60 days. Thankfully, he also gave us an outline of what we would have to read each day to accomplish this goal.

When he mentioned that challenge, I really wanted to do it. Sadly though, I had already had it in my head that we probably wouldn't pull it off. I was already formulating excuses in my head. August's upcoming arrival was number one on the excuse list.

Over the past 60 days, I have read an average of 10 pages of scriptures from the Book of Mormon each day.  Did I miss a couple days?  Yes.  But I always made up for them on another day. 

Aaron also completed this challenge.  Some days we read together, some days we read on our own.  There were days that we would take the kids to the park and read our scriptures off our phones while they played.  There were days when I read out loud to August while I was feeding him a bottle.  We read in the hospital while I was in labor.  We read in the ER when I was there for my knee.  In short, we read.

When we started the challenge, we seemed to complete week one without any hiccups.  It was that success that kept me motivated to keep going.  I'm SO glad that I/we did.

Reading the Book of Mormon this time felt like I was putting together a puzzle.  I had always read little snippets here and there.  Even when I first read it all the way through, I think it honestly took me a year.  I would just read small amounts of text at a time.  This time around, it felt like all the pieces were coming together and I was able to see a bigger picture.  The complete picture.  I was able to see how everything connected.  It was such an amazing experience.

I had the benefit of seeing something through to the end.  I had the benefit of creating a more complete picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it unfolded for the Nephites and Lamanites.  I enjoyed the chance to spend quality time with Aaron doing uplifting things.  On top of all of that, I strengthened my testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  What a blessing this challenge has been in my life.

I imagine most challenges in life offer this same satisfaction when seen through to the end.  As a friend once told me, "you can do hard."  I need to remember that I can DO hard and I need not quit nor stop believing in myself.

Month of Love

I love holidays (big and small) spent with my family.

I love my handsome husband who took my sweet daughter to her first Daddy & Daughter Dance.

 I love surprise packages that brighten not just my day but my outlook on life.

 I love working to transform a room from a pin on Pinterest to a reality.

I love when people use their talents to provide special and priceless gifts that we will cherish always.  Thanks, Granny Dee!

 I love first moments...

 and sharing those moments with family.

 I love this sweet boy who joined our family during this month of love.

1, 2, 3

When August was first born, most of the comments received were, "I can't believe how much he looks like Viv."  I'm not sure I have an opinion one way or the other.  I think when they are your own you see their distinctions so much its hard to see their similarities.  It's that ability to see distinctions that makes it possible for parents of identical twins to see the differences, I'm sure.

I just thought it would be fun to compare pics of the kids a little over 3 weeks old in each picture.

A Room for August

Our roommate moved out this past Thursday.  While we're sad to see her go, we're happy for the direction she is going.  She has exciting things on her horizon. 

Following her departure, we started to prepare the room for August to move in.  I'm still working on bringing all of my ideas together.  Most of my ideas are Pinterest-induced.

Here are our family painters painting the far wall a light gray.  Abby was at school during the painting so she missed out on the chaos.

Auggie was our foreman on the job.  Here you can see his bouncer is set up at just the right angle to order us around while simultaneously avoiding paint fumes.

Something about his facial expression tells me we're not doing it quite right.  But at least we're having fun in the process...

Once the painting was done, it was time to bring in the furniture.  The furniture was a little bigger than I remembered, so I'm going to have to change my decor plans a bit.  I'm looking forward to the finished product though.

After a few wardrobe changes, our foreman fell asleep on the job.  Hopefully we did the room to his liking.  Either way, it's still a work in progress.

On The Day You Were Born

This is how pregnant I looked the morning I gave birth to you.  I was 40 weeks and 2 days along and headed in to have labor induced on Saturday, February 4, at 8:00 AM.

We treated the girls to donuts on the morning of your birth before dropping them off with Papa & Granny Dee for the weekend.

It was a clear, cool, and sunny day.  It was so clear, in fact, that you could see the LA skyline clearly from the top of the Bastanchury/St. College Blvd. hill.

When we arrived at the hospital, I was BEYOND nervous.  I saw Dr. Henderson upon reaching the Labor & Delivery floor.  I headed straight for him and gave him a hug telling him how nervous I was to deliver.  In my spastic-ness, I hit his arm that held his coffee and spilled coffee all over him.  Epic fail.

My body responded fairly quickly to the Pitocin and things were moving along nicely. 

I got an epidural shortly thereafter.  It was not a pleasant experience.  I would have to say the worst yet.  She had trouble getting it in and had to do it three times.  OUCH!

They anticipated a quick labor from that point.  Unfortunately, my nerves were actually slowing down the process and they had to give me Benadryl to calm myself down.  I knocked right out.

Just before the Benadryl, your Dad and I read out of the Book of Mormon.  We read Alma chapters 11-13. 

After my Benadryl-induced nap, I worked hard to get out of my groggy state. 

My body was finally moving along at a decent pace and the pain from my contractions began to break through the epidural.  At this time, we realized that you were not positioned just right for delivery.  You needed to turn around.

The nurse shifted my body from side to side to move you around.  She also suggested that I have your sisters come and see me before delivery.  Papa & Granny Dee brought your sisters at 6:55 PM.

At 7:05 PM, I felt you move into position and knew that it was GO TIME!  I quickly told Papa to get your sisters out since I didn't want them to see me in pain.

The nurse promptly checked me and then called for Dr. Henderson to come in right away.  Because it was shift change, there was the day AND night staff in the room to assist in the delivery.  I joked that it was a party in Room 8!  Dr. Henderson looked behind him to see some 6+ nurses and said, "This may be the most expensive delivery I've done."

After just a couple good pushes, you were born at 7:16 PM.

On the day you were born, I wept with joy.

Your APGAR score was 8, 9.  Or was it 9, 8?  They don't give 10's, so strong work!

You were 21 inches long.  You weighed 8 lbs., 11 ounces.  As you can see, they rounded up in the numbers. 

The excitement of being new parents all over again filled your Daddy & I with such joy.

On the day you were born, we became a family of five.

Your sisters were your first visitors and they were instantly in love.  Vivian kept wanting to see my stomach to see if it was all gone.  I had to explain to her that it didn't all go away.  She also kept asking to see your whole body.  I think she was suspicious.  She also noted that your eyes were black.  We had all said that we wanted your eyes to be green like Daddy's eyes.  She was thinking they would be green right away.  Your eyes did look black at that moment, but I would say they were a dark gray, since they seem to be gray so far.  Abby kept saying that she had never held a REAL baby before, just her dolls.  They were both SO excited!

After your sisters got some time, your Papa & Granny Dee came in to hold you.  They were both excited to meet their newest grand baby!

Your Daddy changed your first diaper.

On the day you were born, Heavenly Father entrusted us with one of his choicest spirits and we gained our first son. 

You are loved dearly, August Matthew Warren. You are a child of God and a sweet addition to the Warren Family.  

My Girls

In a few short days, at the most, our family will go from a family of four to a family of five. I've been so focused on the upcoming arrival of August, that I've failed to share much about my two sweet daughters. I was reading another friend's blog and she was sharing a conversation that she had with her Stake President (religious leader in our religion) where he said, "You should gain a testimony of your children." That comment has made me ponder more about what I know and appreciate about my children and what more I can learn by understanding their needs and personalities better.

ABIGAIL

She is a vivacious little girl.  She is singing or talking virtually constantly.  She definitely has a song in her heart.  Thankfully, she has a beautiful voice to go with that song.  Unfortunately, sometimes she gets stuck on repeat and that can become a little maddening at times.  She is a very loving little girl who watches out for her sister.  She does great in school and got all high marks on her first report card.  She also received a Top Flight Award at her school for Writing this past week.  She has yet to pull a card (something that results from a bad decision) and I imagine the day that happens she will be in tears.  She definitely is high on emotion.  Things that become particularly dramatic moments for her are when pain or blood are involved.  A small scrape may seem like a life-threatening wound to her.  She is becoming more quick witted, like her Dad.  She is super outgoing!  She also is very perceptive!  She picks up on things and topics that Aaron and I are talking about without me even realizing she's listening.  She also has a theory for why things are the way they are in life.  It's fascinating to hear the workings of her mind.

Favorite Things to Do: go to Disneyland, be with her family, play computer games, draw, go to the park, play with legos

Favorite Food: burger with cheese and ketchup only or pasta noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese 

Favorite Dessert: Ice-cream





VIVIAN

She is a law abider to the core.  This little girl will ask permission for everything.  When I say everything, I mean it.  If she wants to get a booger out of her nose, she asks.  If she is getting sleepy in the car, she'll ask first if its okay to fall asleep in the car.  I'm pretty sure she got this way since she's seen her sister get my wrath when her sister does something wrong.  Vivian wants nothing to do with my wrath.  I don't blame her.  She is also very detailed in how she shares her plans or desires.  She will outline what she is going to do and how it will be within the boundaries that have been set for her.  Ex: She'll come into my room and ask if she can take paper from the printer to draw on.  She asks because she knows I monitor how much they take.  Once I say yes, she will then tell me that she is going to take the paper and use markers to color.  She will then clarify that she is not going to color on the ottoman (she says this because she knows using markers by the couch is off limits).  She will then add that she is going to color over by the fireplace (since that is a marker approved area).  Its unreal.  She does this with most everything.  She is painfully shy.  She often opts to play by herself versus joining in with others, unless Abby is there as moral support.  She still has food neophobia (fear of new foods), but has made progress in this department.  She also has Partial Superior Oblique Palsy, which is a paralysis in the fourth nerve in her right eye.  She is slated to have surgery on this in March.  One of my favorite things that she does is when she caresses my face when she snuggles in bed with me.

Favorite Things to Do: type family members name on the computer, play Doctor, do my hair, have a tea party, run, go to Disneyland, and have family movie night

Favorite Food: quesadilla or chicken dinos

Favorite Dessert: cookies

These two girls are incredible!  I feel so blessed to have them in my life!  August is a lucky little guy to have such loving sisters to care for him when he arrives.  I know Aaron and I feel richly blessed by their presence in our home and they make us want to be better parents and better people.  I look forward to strengthening my testimony of these two beautiful daughters of God.