1.11.11

PROFOUND...The first week of January...so grey.  Spring will be here before we know it, so I'm trying to enjoy this hard season.  Hard, because its cold and dark.   You don't move as fast, cars are cold when you start them, chores take longer, kids can't go outside.  My windows have ice on them, the INSIDE.  I miss being outside in the dust and dirt.  I'm thankful to get to stay inside a lot.  Unfortunately for Coby he's outside with work a lot.  Good thing he likes the cold.

VISIT...my mom flew up for the week to see us.  We visited family & friends in SF, and did a lot of shopping and lunch.

Teague...is a bookworm. Seriously into books.  They are his favorite toy.  WRECK...at Hobby Lobby he baled out of the shopping cart when we got back out to the truck.  I barely caught him before he hit.  He still got a little scratch and a little fat lip.

Taylee...likes to play a GAME where she covers her ears and I talk with no sound because she can't hear me with her ears covered, then when she uncovers them, she can hear the talking.  You probably have to be there.  I have no idea where she figured it out.

WORDS we say...a lot...ut-oh (self-explanatory in every fashion), mmmmm (when eating something), puppy (refers to cows too), dink (drink), mo, (more), kitty (they see them out the sliding door).

1-1-11 Its A New Year

Its a new year, and I'm making a resolution to get back to blogging, or as you see from my new title JOURNALING. They say you should keep a journal for many reasons, its cathartic (yes, I had to spell check this), it preserves your history (many generations from now my great-great grandkids might want to know what I was thinking), it organizes your thoughts (very helpful), and its something to do during the long, boring winter months.

RIGHT NOW...its soooo cold and snowy, I'm caught up on work & most of the house work, and I'm working on this while the babies sleep.

THE BABIES....aren't really babies anymore. They grow too dang fast. They are little people that do the funniest things. They make messes. They laugh at the silliest stuff. They touch stuff they shouldn't they look at me and say 'no no no'. Those words echo through our house on a regular basis. They take 2 naps a day and sleep 12 hours at night. People think they are tall for their age. They are getting a lot of teeth but they don't have problems with it.

2010...is history. It was a good year. It was filled with parenting and that is a blessing to have in our lives. Lewis died, I'm still super sad over it. We had a garden, a lot of stuff didn't grow and it was pretty weedy. We rode a lot this fall and bought a dun horse that we both really like. One of my best friends got pregnant after being told she couldn't. We bought the kiddies too much stuff for Christmas and vowed to not spend so much next year. We took a lot of rodeo trips but didn't go with each other very much. We had a good year financially and feel blessed since so many around us didn't. We remodeled the kitchen and did a lot of landscaping in the yard. It makes us like our home a lot. We settled into Tremonton, or should I say I settled into Tremonton. I turned 35. The babies turned 1. Coby turned grey. Just a little. We went to church. We sold a couple horses we didn't like. I lost the baby weight. Coby got a new job. Twice. We made new friends. We decided to keep driving the same car and truck. I bottle fed kittens. And now its on to the adventures of 2011...

Sometimes don't you just love the uneventful 'normal' days?? Just when everything is going smooth and as you'd expect. That's kind of how our last month or so has been. Its nice, but never lasts for long.

The babies are still growing, growing, growing. Teague has crossed over from quiet little baby that you swaddle up and lay on the couch to a little crawler that explores everything and pulls himself up on anything that can support his 20 pounds. He gets real proud of himself when he accomplishes something new and stops in the middle of what he's doing to make sure you are looking. This of course makes him loose focus and since he's generally standing when he does this, he falls. Good thing babies have thick skulls. I hope eventually I stop holding my breath everytime he starts to fall or crash. I just cringe! Taya really enjoys being around other kids. She loves to watch them play, as long as they don't get too rough with her. Teague on the other hand loves his older cousins to rough house. Taya is really a good babbler now, she strings it together like she's having a conversation with you.

We remodeled our kitchen this month and it is so much nicer! Its so nice to cook with 21st century appliances! Coby's been building more fence (for some reason no one believes in fences in Tremonton). Next on the agenda is to start working on the yard. Yikes!! Now that's a project!! Actually, our whole place has been. But, I have to admit I don't know what we'd do with our time and spare change if we weren't putting it into here! Maybe one day we'll go on a vacation or something!

We're 6 Months Old!

I like eating peaches and sweet potatoes. I am learning how to roll onto my tummy and play, but then I get stuck so mom has to come rescue me. I am a happy baby with a little shy smile that fills my whole face up. My hair is growing in light colored and thick. I have long pretty fingers and narrow feet. I like taking naps and I sleep all night long. Mom and dad call me a sleepy head. I love practicing how to use my voicebox. Sometimes I babble, sometimes I yell, and I scream when I'm really having fun. I like people to make me laugh. I like to watch my brother play.

I like eating applesauce and sweet potatoes and especially pears. I am a happy little boy that is exploring all the fun stuff around me. I play agressively with my toys and really focus on what I'm doing. I am strong for my age and like to practice standing up. I think I want to walk before I learn to crawl. I practice hand/eye coordination by pulling my sister's hair or my mom's hair. I sleep all night long after a full day of playing. I draw people in with my quick smile and make people laugh with my funny expressions.

Its been so fun having these cute little babies around! They just get cuter everyday. They have such adorable personalities and they are little troopers. They handled me hauling them 13 hours in a truck and trailer to and from Arizona last month, they entertain themselves while I'm trying to work the crazy hours I've been been working the past few months. They were patient while I was helping pack up my mom's house in Spanish Fork that she just sold. They are good to go along with whatever their mom and dad have on the agenda for the day! Everyday is an adventure.

We had a wonderful holiday season this year with our babies! They are a little young to appreciate Christmas, but we still had fun with them. Grandma Jami & Grandpa Bob came to our house and stayed for Christmas. On Christmas Eve we went to Grandpa Rod's and he and Staci gave the babies ExerSaucers that they already love to play in. Cort & Amanda and Riley and Sunee and their kids all came for a nice Christmas Eve dinner at our house. On New Years I took the babies down to Aunt Ann & Mark's. We had a fun day together and I took a really long nap which was nice since I hadn't gotten much sleep for the past week.

The babies are 4 MONTHS OLD tomorrow, I can't believe it! They are such happy babies and they babble and talk to anyone that will listen. They have started recognizing each other too, they'll look at each other and smile now. Its really cute. There is something about putting a camera in their faces though, they become very serious. I've yet to get a smile on camera! Its amazing to think back to last year at this time all I was going through to get them here. They are such a blessing and everyday I'm thankful for them.

Well, we are half way through the longest month of the year. I am packing me and the babies up and heading to sunny warm Arizona for February! My mom is really overdue for some babysitting so I figured I'd make the trip this time. I'm really excited to get out of Bothwell for a while!! I'm taking one horse with me and have 2 lined up to ride when I get there, so I'll get plenty of riding time out in the desert. I wish Coby could go, but he's a workin' man so he'll be staying home and holding the fort down. Maybe he'll be able to come down for a few days and drive us home. I think that this little 13 hour drive I have a head of me is going to be...interesting with twins! Our pledge is to come home tan and Teague pledge's to come home hair! Happy Winter everyone!

These are a few pic's of Christmas and Coby's new toy to give him something fun to do while we are gone.

I have twins! (do I need any other excuse for being a bad blogger...)

Sitting up in the chairThanksgiving trying to get them to smile for the cameraGrandma Jami tendingStacie tendingTeague & Taya's Great-Grandma & Grandpa Peterson

The babies turn 3 months old this week. Time goes so fast with them. I've already put away their premie/newborn outfits and they are filling out the 0-3's really well now. They have both found their smiles (although I've yet to capture it on camera) and, as you can see, have gained a lot of weight and are so healthy. Both our families have been so supportive of us and have helped us out so much. My mom has flown in to see them and help me out, Jami has made regular trips down from Rigby and stayed with us, Rod & Staci come over for visits or babysitting duty, Stacie flew in over Thanksgiving to see them. Its been such a perfect time of life, its everything I hoped it would be!

I am looking forward to our first Christmas together even though they are a little young to understand what an exciting time of year it is. Santa is bringing a boatload of stuff for them anyways.

As for blessing them, we aren't sure when we are going to do it. With it being such a nasty flu season we've been really careful about taking them out, they are too little to be catching that stuff. So, we'll see.

New Beginnings...


Taya Lee Jones, Sept 17th 9:57pm
Teague D. Jones, Sept 17th 9:59pm


Ok, this is an epistal I realize. I am writing this more for me than anything, like a journal so I can have some of the best moments in life documented. So, I won't be offended if you skip the reading and just look at the pictures, they pretty much say it all anyways!

Last Thursday I went from this, to this! (pic above)What an exciting week its been. My mom and I headed down for a 'routine' doctor visit and he was a little quiet when he was ultrasounding me because we weren't getting good fetal breathing on the monitor. That, plus all the swelling, the rapidly raising blood pressure, steady contractions (although I didn't know I was having contractions) and in his opinion, the extra precaution to take with IVF babies since they were worked for so hard, so instead of the usual, looks like another 2 weeks...he said go across the street to the hospital, they'll be waiting for you. We were prepared to talk him into delivering me the following Monday, I just didn't think I had it in me to last clear to 38 weeks, instead, it was going to happen at 36 and a half weeks. We made it pretty close to full term, it was a miracle it all went so good.

So, of course, it completely spooked me that it was happening that night about 10pm. And my mom got pretty nervous. I called Coby and spooked him, I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting me to say that I was at the hospital and he needed to wrap up at work because babies were coming. He finished up some stuff and got to the hospital about 5pm. They admitted me at 3pm. Once I got hooked up to everything I calmed down quite a bit. I think my mom kept getting more and more nervous. They gave me a magnesium drip that makes you not feel very good. The babies looked good on the monitors at that point and I was showing steady contractions, a lot of which I couldn't really feel (but I few I could, bless those women that have babies naturally.)

Everything was going good, so Coby left to go get some dinner and he was gone for a while, he'd went to the mall to buy shoes. (Actually, he went shopping everyday we were in the hospital for a break) It was funny, I guess we all deal with stress differently. He came back ready to go and a lot more relaxed. My mom, Jami & Bob and Rod & Staci were there to wish us well as I was wheeled out to deliver. They took me into the O.R. at 9pm. Our nice Dr. Sumpion stayed in the hallway with Coby while they gave me the epidural (which, in my opinion didn't hurt). They got me laid down and I was pretty sleepy and out of it from that point on. Coby was up on my side of the curtain, pretty sure he didn't dare watch for fear of getting sick, but at 9:57pm when the doctors and nurse all started talking excitedly that Baby A is coming out bum first, he couldn't help but jump up and watch. All I felt was a big pressure relief, no pain, and could here a screaming baby. They brought her up for me to see, she was blue and had blood and white stuff on her and was really loud. They started to take Coby back with her while they cleaned her up and the doctor said wait, Baby #2 is right here, and at 9:59 he was born. He looked and sounded just like her. I think its always a relief when a baby is born when you hear them screaming. Coby then left to the nursery where they were cleaned up and where our family could watch through the glass window. My mom was mad because she thought the nurses were too rough with them cleaning them up. One was crying and Rod made a rocking motion with his arms for Coby to pick the baby up, but he didn't dare pick her up so he held her hand. I of course missed those moments because I was being sewn back up. The whole thing took less than an hour. They wheeled me back to our huge labor and delivery room and I was alone for a little bit. Soon, my mom came in and was really relieved that I was ok. Coby wheeled the babies in with everyone following him. I'm a little foggy on the rest of it, I think we just took turns holding the babies. Everyone left around 11:30, my mom headed home at 1:30am.

As for me, they had a hard time that first few days getting my temperature up to normal, I would drop as low as 94 degrees. And, my blood pressure was all over the place, super low to fairly high. As for the babies, they were perfect. They laid oxygen by Taya while cleaning her up and that is all that had to be done for them. They were born very healthy.

We enjoyed visits from family and friends over the next few days and enjoyed our time together as a new little family in the mornings and evenings when everyone went home.

Here is a picture of our Candlelight Dinner that the Layton hospital does for new parents. It was so cute. They brought the babies in from the nursery at the same time our dinner arrived and we made it through our meal about half way before the babies decided it was dinner time for them too. It was our first family dinner.

I was in the hospital Thurs thru Monday. On Sunday I was pretty scared about having to go home. I felt like I was just starting to figure out how to take care of them in that environment and was pretty sure I wasn't ready to do it on my own yet. But, Monday came and we were discharged and headed home. Here is the babies in their car seats for their first ride. My mom drove Coby's work van home for us so he could drive the babies and me home.

Now, its a week later (I can't believe my babies are a week old!) and we still marvel at how cute they are. Teague has the cutest expressions on his face, he has big eyes. Taya is still so little! Through all the days at the hospital until now we still can't believe how small she is. She is so precious. Grandpa Rod is sure proud of her.

They are good babies. The first night home I was up pretty much all night with them, but we let them sleep all day (lesson #1 learned). Ever since they've been pretty good to sleep at night. We're only up 3 or 4 times a night for feedings, so we are actually getting decent sleep. (wish us luck that it continues). So, anyways, I could blog all day long about them, its been the greatest experience in our lives to have them here. And, having two is definitely a lot of work, but we wouldn't want it any other way. Twins rock! So, from this point forward this blog probably needs renamed to Teague & Taya since I'm sure that's mainly the focus from here on out!

As for who they look like, I'm happy to say that we see a little bit of my dad in Teague and we think Taya looks alot like my sister did when she was a baby. Her hair is fairly light colored. I think they both have Coby's lips. Everyone (including us still) can't believe how little she is. She's so petite featured with long skinny legs and long fingers and narrow feet (she obviously didn't get the Jones' feet!). She must get the fine bones from my mom, Grandmother Curlock and Grandma Jami.