Announcing the Birth of:
Camille Marie Elliott, 8lbs. 13oz.
&
Emma Kate Elliott, 8lbs.

My sweetie getting ready for the big day!!! What grace!

Abby showing her...... well you know where this is going!!

The presentation of hand-made stocking hats from the labor & delivery department!!

I believe this is Cami. She came out feet first. Going to have to work on the diving skills!

Cutting the cord. (Sorry it wasn't me. They had two, remember!)

Cleanup for Emma.

Cami keeping warm!

'Bout time!! Momma needs to see them two!

Cami?

Definitely Cami!!

And in the other corner Emma, the lightweight!

What a big sister!

Time to get that baby cleaned up! (Emma)

"Can't they just leave me alone!"

A daddy trying his best to pay attention to everything!

Daddy and daddy.

Emma.

Cami.

Aunt Kendyl and Emma!

Emma's first bath!

All CLEAN!!

Time for some bottle!

A picture of the whole scene.

Cami's first bath.

All CLEAN!!

What a pair!!

The Daddy.

The Grams.

The Paw-Paw.

The Nana.

The Aunt Turn-Turn.

The Aunt Kennell.

The MOMMY!!!!!

Kisses from the BIG SISTER!!!!!

Elliott, Party of Five!

Wonderful Mommy!!!!

The hats.

Just Chillin'!

What a hoot this picture is!! That's funny right there, I don't care who you are!

The BIG Sister!!!

Just a bunch of Daddy's girls!!!

Funny tidbit...

I PROMISE I am going to put pictures up!! We have waaaaay too much downloaded and Zac needs to get them arranged and such....but I AM working on it! :)

Had to share a funny tidbit...the babies had just been fed and Mom and I were changing their diapers. Abby was standing beside us (we were sitting on the couch) talking to us and the babies when, all of a sudden, Cami started peeing. It sprayed EVERYWHERE, including the couch, Abby and on Emma's head!!! A good laugh for all of us; except Abby, who was a little grossed out! :)

Packed and ready....

All our stuff, neatly packed and ready to go!!! The little suitcase full of stuff, Abby's super cute duffel bag from Aunt Hope, my awesome tote from Christine full of snacks and other necessities and, of course, the wonderful crocheted blankets from our friend Juanita. I think we're ready to go!!!

Abby's birthday....

This post is more for me. Once I'm home from the hospital, I need to remember what we are wanting to get Abby for her birthday....and I know I'll lose a piece of paper. So, you can all feel free to skip reading this one. LOL


The LAST thing my child needs is toys. I do want to get her a couple of little-kid board games, like Candyland and Chutes & Ladders. I reeeaaalllly want to get her a bedding set to dress up her room; I like this bed-in-a-bag from Wal-Mart. But I need to order it soon if she's going to get it. We need new/more luggage before our October trip home to AR, so I thought it would be fun to get Abby some cute stuff. Wal-Mart has a cute apple set and Target has a super cute pink polka dot set that I found in the store. We also want to put her in a gym or dance class - I'd LOVE to put her in preschool, but I'm afraid it's a bit out of our budget. But those classes all start at the end of August or first of September, so we need to get on that, too. AAACCKKK!!! Too much to do! :)

Dr appointment and an invite...

Well, I had my final appointment today - woo hoo!! The NST went great, amniotic fluid levels look good and we are all set for Friday at 9:30am!! BTW, for those interested, I had my fundus measured again and I'm at 59cm. Holy cow!!


And now, a side note for my Draper friends - a few of us are wanting to go see "The Proposal" tomorrow night...if you're interested, talk to me or Teresa Ellis. We are thinking a 7pm show or possibly one a little later, closer to 9. Let us know!!

Ragamuffin....

Tonight we were getting ready to take Zac some dinner and I was trying to tell Abby to wipe her face and let me fix her hair. Here's the conversation:

Me: "Abby, you look like a ragamuffin."

Abby: "No, Mommy. I'm not a muffin, I'm just a doughnut."

Oooooh my goodness.....this child keeps me laughing......

Holy crap, cont....

Check out this article - we're only one pound away from breaking Utah's record. Not my goal AT ALL, but interesting nonetheless.....

Holy crap....

That's really the nicest phrase I can come up with after today's dr visit! :)

NOTE: When you have twins, the babies usually run small. When you have twins AND blood sugar problems, you generally run an even higher risk of low birth weight babies. So, apparently my blood sugars are great. :/

We started off with an ultrasound to get measurements and all that good stuff. Everything looks great and babies are doing well. Then she told me their (approximate) measurements: 8lbs, 3 oz and 7 lbs, 15 oz!!!! AAACCCKKKK!!!!

Aside from that small heart attack, everything else is pretty good. When Dr. Silver came into the exam room, he was looking at the ultrasound report. He looked at me and said, "Damn, those are some big kids in there! You're not supposed to have 90% twins!" Really?!? No dilating (of course!), blood pressure and sugars are still great. So, just TEN MORE DAYS and we'll have TWO babies. Eik!!!

Oh, and just FYI for those interested, my c-section is scheduled for 9:30am on Friday, July 31. WOOO HOOO!!!!

Babies moving

Kirsten has been visiting and finds it amusing/freaky when the babies move. They were VERY active tonight and so we used the remote to show their movement. May be a pitiful excuse for fun, but amusing at 11:00pm! :)

Delivery date!!!

YEA!!!! I talked to the doctor earlier today and we have a delivery date...

JULY 31st!!!!!!

Waaaaaaahoooooooo!!!!!!!

Pregnant for eternity....

Yup, that's me....pregnant till the end of time. :( NOTE: This is a little bit of a pity post -- just a heads up...

Went to the doctor today. My NST yielded good results, after some effort. The girls were not cooperating and I started feeling sick again like I had at last Thursday's NST. And now my doctor has changed the order so that they also do a sonogram to check my amniotic fluid levels after each NST. I have to lie flat on my back for that....not fun.

Sooooo, then we saw the doctor. Actually, we saw Rita, the nurse-midwife. I guess Dr. Silver was delivering a baby again. After asking if I was having any contractions/pain (no), she said, "I think you're gonna go all the way with these babies, Sarah." I wanted to verify that she meant 37 weeks and she said (with a grimace on her face), "He'll probably let you go longer..." At that point, I said a bad word. :/ oops

For kicks and giggles, I asked her to measure my fundus height. She did; then she laughed and said, "Oh honey." She checked my record and said I was 10 cm bigger than the last time she measured (4 weeks ago). That puts me at a lovely 53 cm!!!! With 3-4 weeks left. AAAAAACCCKKKK!!!!

And so she encouraged me to start begging. :) I'll be e-mailing him again at the end of the week with my blood sugar numbers and I intend to start planting the seeds.

Sorry if this blog post sounds a bit random - Kirsten is sitting next to me and just informed me that most of my recent blog posts haven't made much sense. Hopefully most of you can still follow along. :)

Swimming

Ok, these are a bit overdue...but here they are. :) We've been swimming several times but these pics are from Abby's first experience in the complex pool. She'd done some water playing at a friend's house before this (I still need to get the pics from that...) but this was her first pool experience of the summer! (Note the adorable swimsuit from Nana!) I'd picked up her arm and ring floaties at Wal-Mart a few days before and she was so excited to use them!


Here she is, considering getting into the water....


"Ring around Daddy's head..."

Swimming!! Once she gets going, she can kick all over the place with that ring on! She is definitely a little water baby! :)

Countdown...

I'm at 33 weeks today - four weeks until my goal due date. Right now, my only goal is to not go into labor until Zac gets back from Denver (he'll be gone all next week). After that - I'm game for anything! :)

Sorry I'm a bit behind; sitting at the computer isn't really comfortable for me, so I have to do this stuff in spurts. I've had two more NSTs and another scheduled for tomorrow. So far, everything is great. The babies are moving and their heartbeats are on target. My blood pressure is great. No contractions showing up on the monitor. I have another actual appointment on Tuesday, so I'll get measured and all that good stuff.

Our van croaked yesterday after driving to SLC. Zac tried to fix it, but had to go to work, so we ended up taking it to someone. Fingers crossed that it won't cost too much and will be done by this weekend before Zac leaves.

The ladies at church threw me a wonderful shower last night! Next week (with Kirsten's help!), I'll be trying to get some baby stuff in order, clothes washed, etc. Abby is excited to have Kirsten come - I know she's tired of having to put up with slow, enormous Mommy. :/

Pictures to come, I promise....just wanted to update for everybody! :)

Today's doctor visit

So today we spent awhile at the hospital. We started off with an ultrasound, which went very well; no almost-passing-out episodes like last time! The babies are running a little ahead of schedule, size-wise, but nothing major. I'm at 31 wks, 6 days and they were measuring exactly one week ahead at 32 wks, 6 days. Baby A weighs around 4lbs, 13 oz and Baby B weighs around 5lbs, 5 oz. About a half pound apart, so both pretty much right on target. Heartbeats are good and strong, each around 140bpm.

Next, we moved on to the non-stress test, my first of SEVERAL to come! It took the tech quite awhile to get Baby B's heartbeat steady on the monitor. Once the monitors are on, they have to monitor for at least twenty minutes and get two readings that show the babies' heartbeat going at least 15% above the 'resting rate.' Since we'd just eaten lunch, the babies were moving all over the place, so we got good readings - all is well!

Last, on to the doctor appointment. My blood pressure is great, so they aren't too worried about the swelling that has started in my feet/ankles. No contractions (that I can tell, anyway) and everything "looks great." We talked to the Nurse Midwife and she said Dr. Silver would be about 10 minutes. She came in about 3 minutes later and told us to go ahead and go home because he was "running to deliver a baby."

A sad thing that happened, though: When I went out to tell Zac I was moving from the NST room to the regular exam room, there were a couple of teenage girls out in the hall, crying. On our way out, we saw the same girls with (it appeared to be) the rest of their family in the Sanctuary Room, all in tears. I don't know what was wrong, but when you see people crying in the Maternal/Labor/Delivery area, it just can't be good. So when you say your prayers tonight, remember to pray for all those who might be in need of comfort...and be thankful for all the things you have!

Abby says...

During our scripture study/prayer time tonight, we talked about how Heavenly Father gave us our bodies, including our brains. We talked about how we should go to school and study to use our brains and get smart. Abby's thoughts on the whole thing?

"Yeah, we get smart and ask for canney (candy) from the Easser Bunny."

Huh? Not quite the spiritual discussion we'd hoped for, but Abby always manages to amuse us....

Your input...

One way to get comments on your blog is to ask for opinions....so here I go. :)

Today puts me at 31 weeks....only 6 weeks (maybe 7, but we'll hope not) left until the babies come!! So I should probably start thinking about getting my bag packed, in case we actually have a ''go into labor and head to the hospital'' type of situation instead of a planned c-section. So, here are my questions...feel free to respond to any/all! :)


**What did you take to the hospital that was a waste of packing space?

**What do you wish you'd brought?

**What did you take that you were glad you had?

Food storage giveaway!

If you are interested in food storage, you should check out this giveaway on Shelf Reliance's blog. They are giving away one of their BIG Harvest storage units - an awesome giveaway! You can enter through Friday, June 26. This is the start of a new giveaway thing they're doing - something new to give away every two weeks!

Yummies...

I just finished posting a couple of recipes on our recipe blog - check it out!! (Link is on the right - Elliott's Excellent Eats).

30 weeks comparison

If all goes well, I'm down to about seven weeks before the babies get here.

AAAAHHHH!!!!

Small freak out aside, I wanted to post the more technical, 30 wk comparison belly pictures. You can compare to my 30 wks pregnant with Abby pictures that I posted a few weeks ago.

I am now accepting all pity comments. But you are only allowed to joke if you have also carried twins. :)


And I also thought I would share Abby's "owie" from sliding down all the inflatables on her belly. She keeps telling me that she needs to go to the doctor...then in the same breath tells me that she wants to "go jumpin' with Daddy again!!" So it obviously doesn't bother her too much!

Daddy's days off

The last two days have been GREAT and Abby and I have thoroughly enjoyed finally having Zac at home for a few days. He'll be off again tomorrow and then it's back to his regular, 2.5 days off each week, schedule. While we all wish he could take a week's vacation, we just don't have it right now. Saving one week for the babies and one week for a trip home in October. But after 41 days of him working without a break, we'll definitely take what we can get!!

Most of Tuesday was spent in Salt Lake for my dr appt. The rest of the day we just hung out around the house. Wednesday, Zac caught up on a few things and then we went to Jumpin Jacks. A friend had told me about this place and it was AWESOME! Parents can jump, too. I didn't get to, of course, but Zac had a good time running around with Abby!

We started her off in this little castle play area designed for kids 6 yrs and under. She wasn't really sure about it at first - I think the unsure footing kind of freaked her out. While she was checking this out, Zac went down one of the big slides....then came back for our girl.


You can't really see her face but she was skeptical, to say the least.


Then they moved on to another big slide and she started to warm up! Not sure who this other little girl is, but she apparently thought Zac was pretty cool. She kept asking to slide down with him and Abby.


Another slide...Abby was having a BLAST!


When she went by herself, she generally slid down on her belly. Funny to watch and she had a grand time. She did, however, end up with a little owie on her tummy from the friction. But she'll be ok! :) I think in her mind, it was totally worth it!


Just a few general shots to give you an idea of the size of these inflatables....a very awesome place!!

Baby update

Ok, since nobody wants to see the kangaroos on the opening screen, I'll post something else so you don't have to look at it. :)

I had a dr appt today - no ultrasound, just a regular appointment. Everything is looking good. Blood pressure was good, no major pain in any areas. They measured my fundus height and I got a good laugh. (In normal terms, they measured the size of my uterus. In a normal, single-baby pregancy, your measurement in centimeters is equal to your gestation age. Ex - 30 cm = about 30 weeks pregnant.) Now, obviously with twins, this measurement isn't an accurate way to estimate the babies' size. They measure more to ensure that everybody is growing at a consistent, steady rate. I was discussing this with the nurse-midwife and she said, "Yeah, because you'd be a little overdue right now!" I was measuring around 42 cm. ACK!!! I've still got 7-8 weeks to go!!!

I have two weeks before my next appointment, which will include an ultrasound, appoinment, and a non-stress test. That link has some good info, if you're wondering what a NST involves. Bad news: Starting with that appointment, I will be going TWICE A WEEK to the doctor until the babies come. I'll go on Tuesdays for my regular appointments and a NST, then again on Fridays for another NST. Ugh!! I'll be able to drive to downtown SLC with my eyes closed by the time these kiddos get here!! But we'll deal with it - just need to get these babies here safe and sound!

I've got some pics to upload, promise to work on that soon! I can only sit in this computer chair for so long before I start getting really achey. But I promise, pics will be up soon!!

Twins

Found this online and thought it was kind of cute (in an ugly kind of way-hehe):

"A June 5, 2009 handout photo released by the Lincoln Children's Zoo shows twin Matschie's tree kangaroo joeys peeking out of their mother Millas' pouch. Zoo authorities say the two male Matschie's (MATCH-ees) tree kangaroos weigh about a half pound each and are about 8 inches tall. The fraternal twins were first discovered in December."

Then I did a little Google search and found this website with some other cute animal twins. Awww!!

Belly comparison

Kirsten asked me to post pics of my belly from when I was pregnant with Abby, for comparison to now. The closest ones I could find are from when I was 30 wks pregnant with Abby. Right now, I'm at 29 weeks, but I'll compare it to the pictures I posted a week ago when I was at 27.5 wks. If I remember, I'll get Zac to take some 30 wk pictures next week for a more exact comparison. :)

Pregnant with Abby at 30 weeks

Pregnant with the twins at 27.5 weeks

I showed Zac the comparison and he said, "You're gonna be ginormous." Thanks, honey. :)

Oh, happy day.....

ABBY JUST POOPED IN THE POTTY!!!!!

YEA!!!!!!!

Giveaway fun...

Hey! Check out these two giveaway sites for some awesome stuff! Give Away Today has several things you can enter to win, lots of fun stuff! I just recently discovered Everyday Giveaway and today they're giving away a $200 Visa gift card. We could all use that!!

Silly girl...

Abby and I spent this morning running errands. We were getting out of the car at Best Buy and somebody's car beeped when it locked. Here's the conversation:

Abby: "What's that beep?"

Me: "Somebody locked their car."

Abby: "And their car beeped?"

Me: "Yup."

Abby: "Oh. That sounds serious."

I thought it was hilarious....maybe you had to be there? :)

Belly pictures #3

Pictures really don't do this belly enough justice. I wore my 'Easter' dress to church again (the one my mom made for me) and.....the belly was a LOT tighter than it was at Easter! I got a lot of comments today at church regarding my sprouting belly. I really am feeling enormous....everything in my belly area feels SO tight and uncomfortable. It kind of worries me, because I still have awhile to go. I guess we'll see what happens.

FYI - My 40 wk due date is August 19. Since 37 wks is considered average for twins, that would put us around July 29. Meemaw says the babies will come on July 31, her birthday. She guessed right on Abby's birthday, so I guess we'll see what happens. :)

Anyway, for your viewing entertainment and because I figured you could all use a good smile, here I am in my enormous-ness. Today I'm at 27.5 weeks. If you are looking for a comparison, here are the other two belly posts I've done: the first at 16.5 weeks and the second at 21.5 weeks. Enjoy! :)


Yeah, I know I make weird faces in all these pictures. I can't help it. The last one is actually because Zac caught me off guard. Just a side note...

Catching up...

I have a lot of blogging topics going through my head, but have yet to sit down and compose the posts. So, I'll just update you on a couple of Abby's latest, crazy things.

**When I have to pick her up because she's not acting right, not holding hands, etc, she will start to yell, "No Mommy, I got bears in my tummy! Weave me awone!" I have no clue where this came from. She has been told several times that she can't jump on me because I have babies in my tummy - maybe she put her own twist on it. Smart little thing. :) The funniest/worst part is that she YELLS it...in the grocery store, in the library, in church...she's not partial.

**This one might not make much sense if you're not LDS. (side note: We believe that worthy priesthood holders can administer blessings to the sick and others in need.) Abby has received a few blessings from Zac and I guess they made quite an impression on her. The other day, I kind of yelped a little when my back caught as I was sitting down. She ran over and said, "Mommy, what's wrong?" I told her I was fine, that my back just hurt a little. She put her hands on my head and said, "Heavenly Father, thank you this day. Amen. You feel better now, Mommy?" Strangely, I did. :)

**I've been trying to put Abby's hand on my belly when the babies are moving. So far, I don't think she's really felt anything strong enough to understand what's going on. The other day, we were sitting on the couch together and dinner time was approaching. Abby was sitting on my lap and my stomach growled. She looked at me and said, "Mommy, I hear the babies!"

**Her new favorite conversation starter, whether during the day or at 4:00am is to remind us, "My birthday August. We have party cake with party hats and bwoons and PRESENTS!!"

And last, but not least...

**I've been trying to teach her about introducting herself to other kids at the park. I've been telling her that if she sees someone she wants to play with, she should say, "Hi, I'm Abby. Do you want to play?" or something along those lines. Last week we were at the park and she went up to a little girl about her age. I couldn't hear everything she said, I only caught the "My Mommy says..." The other girl's mom smiled and kind of laughed. I must have had a questioning look on my face because she filled me in on what Abby had said.

"My mommy said I need to take a bath."

Not quite what I'd had in mind for an introductory statement, but hey....we're working on it. :)

Not much longer...

I just noticed that the Baby Countdown on my blog shows 100 days left. EIK!!!! On Wednesday, I'll be 26 weeks pregnant. Which leaves me 14 weeks. That's just not much time....

It's crazy being pregnant, I think, especially since this isn't my first pregnancy. As much as I'm ready to NOT be pregnant - I'm not sure I'm ready for two more little girls to join our family! Very mixed emotions going on here!!

I have a dr appt tomorrow, just a 'Hey, how's it going' kind of check up. On May 26, we'll have another ultrasound. These little girls are coming soon!!

Abby says...

Today when we pulled up in the parking lot at church, this conversation was going on in our van:

Abby: "Mommy, Jesus hurt himself."
Me: "Uh oh, what happened?"
Abby: "He hurt his head."
Me: "Oh. Is he better now?"
Abby: "Yup, Heavenly Father make it better. Heavenly Father and Jesus love me."

Too cute. A nice way to start Mother's Day, knowing that she's thinking about Heavenly Father and Jesus. And then tonight, she put similar words to 'music' while holding the hymnal open and singing a song she made up. We're creating a future Grammy winner. :)

Another poll

When we brought Abby home from the hospital, she was wearing a pink Razorback onesie that her Grampa got her. If I follow suit and dress these babies in a sports team, which one should I choose?? Here are your options:


**Razorbacks!!! It is our home team, after all!! And it would stand out a little bit amid all the Utah teams....

**BYU Cougars - this was my second suggestion when Zac and I had this discussion. We're LDS, it's a Church-owned school...you get the drift.

**University of Utah Utes - Then Zac reminded me that we'll be delivering at the University of Utah hospital. Miiiiiight not be a good idea to be showing Cougar love.

**Utah Jazz - Since we now live in an area that has an NBA team, should we ditch the NCAA and support the Jazz?


I know which one I prefer, but I thought it would be fun to get some other opinions. :) Let me know what you think - the poll is on the right!! ~~~>

Giveaway

If you have small kids - or grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc - you should check out my friend Erin's blog. She sells customized character party stuff, incentive charts, etc. and is having a giveaway! Go take a look!!

Cooking with Abby

I've been doing a lot more cooking since we moved and I became a SAHM. It's been fun trying new recipes and seeing how much money I can try to save. I'm still new at it, but we can definitely tell a huge difference in the food bill by cooking rather than eating out or getting convenience foods. Abby has become a great little sous chef. She loves to "sit on counter, pwease!" and help add ingredients and mix things up.


She does a great job of spreading sauce on our homemade pizzas....



And when we made quesadillas, she did a great job of, uh, trimming the tortillas to size. Kidding - we didn't use this one. She just likes to eat "tiyos."



And yesterday we made cookies. I somehow managed to keep her fingers out of the bowl; she loves to eat whatever I'm making, at whatever stage she can get a hold of it. So I gave her the beater when we were done. (Yes, I know, it's got raw eggs in it.)



Love the smile of a happy kiddo! :) Makes a happy Mommy, too!

Feeding the ducks

Our apartment complex has a pond that is home to several ducks and geese. We've taken Abby down there several times to "feed bread to the gucks." She looooves to feed the ducks!




These ducks are insane - as soon as they see somebody walking toward the pond, they start swimming over. Abby thought it was awesome. After a few tries, we were able to get her to throw small pieces of bread instead of half a piece at a time! We even found a couple of ducks that could catch the bread mid-air! :)




A few nights later, we were making dinner and noticed some movement outside - our ducks found us! Abby started yelling, "I need bread for gucks!! I need bread for gucks!!" so we gave her some and she fed them over the railing. Now they come back a few times a week around dinner time - these same two ducks! They're getting brave and coming closer to the railing each time. Abby has so much fun with her new 'pets.' And since Zac and I have zero desire to have real pets, I'm glad she has this substitute! :)