Yard Work: Before and After

 I love yard work. I really do. I think it is so fulfilling to work and work and then see the final result. After we've worked a bunch in the yard I like to just sit in front of our big window and just admire our work. It's kinda like staring at Quinn after he gets a hair cut. It just looks so trimmed up and nice.

It's frustrating working in a rental yard.  There are certain things we would love to change or fix that the owners don't want to fix.  Bushes could be pulled, landscaping borders could be updated, new weed fabric could be put down and so many other things.  We are probably luckier than most though, since they let us fence the back yard and dig up some of the back yard for a garden.

This corner of our yard has always been such a headache for us. It's big and it's such an eye sore. There is plastic laid down to keep the weeds out but it is really old and it has been so torn up that it doesn't work anymore. The weeds are so hard to pull because it's more like grass than weeds. This year we had had enough. We bought some inexpensive weed control fabric from Home Depot, laid it down, and then Quinn found free bark dust on craigslist. So we borrowed some friends truck and got a whole bed full and VOILA!  We have great before and after pictures to share. I love looking at them.

We both like gardening but it is a challenge with so many little kids. Our problem is we finally get around to buying the seeds and plants and then it takes us a week or more to find the time and get the garden ready. So on May 16th we got our plants and seeds. After we got home and ate dinner I said to Quinn, "Lets just do this tonight so it's over with". The twins were asleep, McKay and Gensie got to watch Paddington for the second time before we returned it, and Avonlea helped Mom and Dad. In two hours Quinn and I had the garden going from this to this. We make a good team. I even had to stop to nurse.

We planted tomatoes, pumpkin, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, and carrots.

McKay's Birthday: 5 years old

Our little boy is now 5!

May 7th was our little man's birthday, and in keeping with our tradition of special birthday cakes Tasha made a cake of his choice.  This year he chose a rhino and he loved it.

We decided to do a little party for him and asked McKay who he would like to invite.  His immediate response was, "Mason!"  So we invited him, but we couldn't get his Mom to bring him. :(  We asked him who else he would like to have come and he asked for the Woods (a family in our ward) and some of the young men in our ward who McKay loves. (A 5 year old inviting youth who are 12-16 and an entire family to his birthday party...makes you smile!) Not everyone was able to make it, but most of the Wood family was able to come and McKay was thrilled. Just to clarify they're not actually made out of wood. :)

Here is a list of some of his favorite things right now:

Color: Blue and Red

Food: Lasagna

Person: Mason Ballard and Colby Smith

Toy: Sword and Bow & arrow

Movie: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Book: Which ever one is new :)

Store: Kitchen set store (A consignment store called Denim and Frills)

Song: The Ballad of Davy Crockett (which he sings over and over and over and over...and over)

Didn't turn out as cute as I'd liked. Hope you can tell it's a rhino.

 From Mom and Dad he got a toy bow with arrows, a sword, and  a bigger bike. The Woods gave him a big long range squirt gun. I think he's set with weapons.

Left: Josh, McKay, Zach, Gensie, Megan, (our baby sitter) and Avonlea.

We had this bike hiding in the back of the van so McKay wouldn't find it. Well, one day we were loading kids in the van and McKay looked over the seat and saw it. He told me there was a bike in the back of the van and wanted to know who it was for. I told him we knew a kid that needed a new bike so we bought him one. He said "Oh I thought it was for me." When we brought it out on his birthday he was so surprised then said "Mom I thought you said this was for a kid that needed a new bike." Tricky Mom

Nativity 2014

 I hate it when this happens. I forgot to post these pictures from our last nativity. I wanted to look at these pictures so I tried looking the post up on our blog and it wasn't there. So this is about 6 months late but I wanted to post it since this is our family journal. If you remember last year Avonlea was a little lamb and she was darling. I thought she might fit into the costume again this year but then changed my mind and made her an angel. It was perfect. She is wearing a white pillow case, gold Christmas ribbon tied around her waist and a halo and I think she looked darling even with the little attitude she was having about mom making her stay on that stool. I had to get after her a little bit and insist that she obey and stay standing on the stool and she wasn't real happy about it.

but her attitude improved.

"What will happen if I touch it?"

"Oh the choirs of angels! I can't listen to them any more."

 

"Hallelujah it's the end!"

Little Miracles

I love neat stories and I have one to share. I feel like you always hear about fun stories and little miracles happening to other people but here is one that happened to us (not that what we have already been blessed with isn't a miracle). Actually, before I get to that first story I should mention two others that just came to mind as I was thinking.

The first is this: I didn't start measuring big until about the last 6 weeks of pregnancy, and then I only measured a little bit big.  That by itself could have clued us on to the twins hiding in there, but because Avonlea was over 10lbs my midwives just thought I was having another huge baby so they didn't' think too much about it.

The second: Because we felt so strongly with Avonlea's pregnancy that we might be having twins we went and got an ultra sound in our first trimester, just to check for twins. So this pregnancy when I would really suspect twins I never went to get an ultra sound because I thought it would be the same thing as last time. I would get all excited about the possibility of twins and then find only one. So both those things with Avonlea's pregnancy helped hide these two from us. (To really understand the blessing of the twins being a surprise you would need to read this again)
 
With that said, here is the original story I wanted to tell:
After the twins were born my milk was taking longer than normal to come in because of my fatty-liver pregnancy and blood loss.  So before we even went to the hospital our midwives suggested we try to find some donor milk for our girls, and asked is we knew anyone who could give us some. We did! A Sister in our ward, whom I know but not really well, had her baby 5 days before the twins were born. Quinn called them and told her husband our situation and asked if we could possibly get some breast
milk from them. He said his wife had already been pumping and freezing so he brought us some and even more than we asked for. My milk was still not in by the time the donated milk was gone, so even though we felt really bad asking when we thought they had their own plans for it, we asked if they could spare any more. They were more than happy to bring more.  What a blessing!

Well this is the part of the story that becomes a truly tender mercy. Last week I wrote this Sister a thank you note and when I went to give it to her at church I sat down by her to also thank her in person for what she had done for our girls. After I expressed my gratitude to her she said, "Tasha the interesting thing about this is I have never pumped before with any of my babies." (She just had her 5th). She went on to say, "I didn't' need the milk but had thought maybe I should start pumping, just to have it for an emergency. I just didn't' know you were the emergency." Then she added, "And, honestly, I have not pumped since."

Lele ADORES her little sisters.  She was so tickled when we put her between them to take some pictures.  They kept touching her with their hand so she kept grabbing them and kissing them.  She kept saying, "Hi Baby! Hi Baby!" Then she decided that wasn't enough affection for them so she had to turn and love on each one of them.

First this baby...

Now this baby

Notes from the Cupboard

Well it has been a LONG time since we have shared one of these posts.  Most all of these are texts that Tasha has sent to Quinn so we can remember them.  Quinn's phone has become so full that we need to clear it out :)  We will put dates on when these things happened so both you and we can know when they happened.

Sept 2014
I just said to Gensie, "I love you Maid Mary".  Don't worry, I got corrected.  She said, "No, my name is Maid Marrian!"


Gensie is singing: "Rocky-bye Shrek and Metal Head (a ninja turtle)"

Gensie was pretending she was part of the vision of the Tree of Life when she said, "Grab on to da rug!"  She meant the Iron Rod.

While watching me get dressed Gensie asked if I had a baby in my tummy.  When I said 'Yes' she asked, "Then why do you take your shirt off to let the baby fall out?"

Gensie has a little stuffed.puppy that makes whining noises when you squeeze the paw.  The other day when we were leaving in the car and praying before we left.  Gensie reminded me to pray that her puppy would stop whining.

Oct 2014
We have a big stuffed teddy bear that we call 'Big Bear' (creative right?).  Gensie wanted to put him in the tub and Mckay said, "Big Bear can't get in the tub!  Because he will get his clothes all wet and he will get his naked all dirty!"

McKay woke in the night having wet the bed a little bit so we changed his pants before getting him back to bed.  In the morning he was playing and noticed he was wearing different pajama pants than the ones he had gone to bed in.  He said, "Mom, who do you think took my pants off me and put these ones on me?"  Tasha was laughing so hard because of the puzzled look he had on his face.  Apparently he didn't remember the change during the night.

(This is a funny note that we just came back across!)
Gensie asked, "Mommy do you have two babies in your tummy?"  When I said 'No' she asked, "What's that?"  and then pointed at my chest.  I told her and she said, "No.   It's not your chest, it's a baby!"  Then she said, "Hey Avonlea!  Your friend is in Mommy's tummy."

McKay was wearing his Batman mask when Gensie asked why the mask doesn't have ears.  McKay told her, "Cause Batman can just use my ears."

One morning Gensie was leaving her room and said, "Come on Avonlea!"  When Lele didn't follow Gensie stomps back into the room, grabs Lele's arm and says, "When I tell you to come, you come!  Ok?"  Then drags her out of the room.

Nov 2014
McKay said, "Mom, what book is this?"  Tasha said, "It's the Saggy Baggy Elephant."  McKay responds, "OH!  The Faggy Baggy Elephant!"

Gensie said, "Da Once Upon a God store is my favorite store!"  She is mixing up Once Upon a Child and I am a Child of God.  :)

McKay said, "I wish that they would have used no nails on Jesus on the cross.  Just tape."  Gensie replied by saying, "But He didn't got taped, He got nailed"

Gensie told me she is "never never never going to be like Satan.  Just be like Jesus, Superman, and Batman."

Tasha sometimes tells the kids that if they do not obey she is going to sell them.  :)  McKay replied one day by saying, "Well Dad will punch the people you sell us to 'cause Daddy is the strongest in this world!"

McKay praying:  "Dear Heavenly Father, I really want to see Jesus.  Heavenly Father, and lots of angels 'cause I have never seen them before.  Please help the baby in Mommy's tummy and please help Daddy to get a better job so we can move and get a puppy.  Amen."

Gensie said, "These are the jammies that make me go to bed.  And I am never going to put them on again!"

Dec 2014
McKay told Tasha that when he gets as big as her he is going to learn how to sew, and then he is going to sew his Daddy a baby Jesus doll so Daddy can be just like him.

McKay asked Gensie, "Did you bring your sword and arrow and bow?"  Gensie replied, "No, I didn't.  But I can punch!"

Driving in the car we saw a fire truck.  Gensie wanted to know if they are going to burn people.  Tasha said, "No, they save people."  Gensie replied, "No, dey are going to open da ground, get Satan out, and burn him."

Our dinner prayer went like so, "Dear Hena Fauder, please help my Dad to get a better job so we can move and get a puppy, a kitty, and some rabbits.  Name of Jesus...oh!  and a pet bird.  Name of...oh!  And a bunch of birds.  Name of Jesus Christ Amen."  Gensie pops right up and says, "Hena Fauder, please help me to get a bird wif no wings, so it won't fly away.  Amen"  Mckay also added, "Oh!  and please help me to get a parrot."

We watched a Dr. Quinn that had a bear attack on it.  McKay has asked about it many times since and now he has come up with a whole bear attack plan for the family.  Then Gensie adds, "If a bear comes in our house, it wiw go to my room door and break my room door, den it wiw lie on my bed wif his shoes on and break my baby's head!"

Gensie's breakfast prayer, "Dear Hena Fauder, dank you for dis food.  Dank you for dis little bowl and spoon."

Gensie on the phone, "Hello Joseph Smif.  I told you I can't help you right now.  Don't espect me to right now.  So go into da light and stay in der and I wiw drive into der when I get big enought to drive a car."

After changing Avonlea's diaper I asked Gensie to hand me Lele's pants.  After she did she said, "Now can you let me live in peace?"

Gense is standing next to Tasha as Tasha is brushing out her wet hair after getting out of the shower.  Gensie
 said, "Stop raining me!"

Jan 2015
McKay was yelling, "Gensie!  Gensie where are you?!  Gensie!"  There was no answer, so then McKay said, "Oh boy. (sigh)  I lost a kid."

Feb 2015
Gensie's baby doll is named Ruth.  One morning Gensie woke up and says to Quinn, "Dad, McKay is coughing and coughing and he keeps waking up Ruth!"  Quinn said, "That's ok.  She will go back to sleep."  Gensie said, "No she won't!  And she keeps waking up her Mom!"

Gensie was taking a drink out of a water bottle in the car.  McKay asked if he could have some.  Gensie said 'No'.  He reminded her that she was supposed to share.  Then he said, "When will you be done?"  She said, "In three days."

Gensie just got her first CTR ring at church.  She asked me when we got home where her 'VCR ring' is.

Gensie says, "Ready!  Up set!  Go!"

Gensie is Maid Marrian and she was pretending Mom is the monster that is going to get her.  When she told McKay he said, "No, that's my Mom.  She's not a monster."  Then he asked again, "Where is the monster?"  Gensie replies, "He's at work."

McKay went hunting the other day and brought home some meat for us to eat.  He brought a bear and a baby doll hand cuffed around their necks.  When I told him we don't eat babies, he insisted it would be ok.  That is was just some meat for us.  Then I had to explain why we never ever eat babies or people.  They don't prepare you for this kind of stuff before you become a mother!

March 2015
Gensie found a resurrected turtle 'dat is alive again'.

McKay said, "Shout for hurray!  Because der are cookies!"

Gensie stepped on a "bumper bee" because it was mean.

April 2015
I just cleaned the living room.  Gensie walks in, notices it is clean and says in a very dramatic voice, "You put da house back together!?"

On our first day out with all 5 kids we went to the store and one of the workers asked Gensie if she wanted to stay and help them.  Her response, "Well...I belong with my parents."

McKay asked Gensie, "Gensie, when you grow up and get big who do you want to marry?"  She answered, "You."  McKay says, "Well you can't.  I want to marry you.  But Mom and Dad say No."

Twins = no more blog posts apparently

We can't believe it has been so long since we have posted already!  I am sure you can imagine how busy it can get around here lately.  :)  So here is a basic update with pictures.

Tasha thinks London is on the left. Quinn thinks London is on the right so you can decide for yourself.

This is a special pillow that was designed just for twins specifically for nursing but has many other uses. It was sent to us by Mom and Dad Eastin. We have used it many times already. It's called a z pillow but it looks more like a E pillow to us.

 So about the bottle feeding. After the babies were born I was REALLY weak for about 4 days because of two reasons. First because of my liver issue and second because I hemorrhaged. I lost a dangerous amount of blood. Because I was so weak and sick I had no appetite which added to having no milk. As hard as I tried I just couldn't hardly eat let alone eat enough to get my milk in. Then just when I started feeling better and was getting my strength back and my appetite had returned I had to go to the hospital because of my liver issue. (We didn't yet know about the liver issue of course).  But does the hospital let you eat? Of course not! They don't let you eat, sleep, or drink; three things that are absolutely essential to get my milk in. It makes you wonder if we go there to be healed or harmed. I was in the hospital for a whole day and was pumping but not eating, so a waste of time that was. So five days after the girls were born I was finally home with an appetite and ready to nurse and I had not a single drop of milk. I pumped for a few days and ate and drank around the clock and finally started to get a few drops of colostrum. Then with A LOT of nursing twins AND pumping A LOT I started to get a few drops of whitish yellow stuff. By this time the twins are 10-11 days old. We had been supplementing with some breast milk from a friend in our ward who had a baby earlier the same week as the twins. Another friend had some frozen breast milk she wasn't going to be using so she gave us what she had. We were feeding them with a syringe and feeding tube as they nursed on a finger.  It took forever to feed two little babies milk through a syringe, especially when we only had one syringe! After another day or two I was able to get just enough to BARELY cover the bottom of a bottle, and it was white so I knew now I was actually getting milk. At this point the girls are about 2 weeks old and we're all out of  milk from friends so we had to start supplementing and we started giving it in a bottle since they now were requiring so much more. I knew if my body was able to produce some it could produce more I just needed to let it know what kind of a demand there was for it. I was drinking mothers milk tea, nettle tea, milk thistle, fenugreek, go laccta, tigers milk (which is absolutely horrid) eating lot's of oats, staying warm (that helps increase milk supply), breast compressions, anything we heard of that was a natural way to help bring in my milk we did it. Gradually I got more and more with each pumping and I would start to hear the babies gulping more. My mom was here for 3 weeks and she helped so much. She and my sister Autumn would take turns staying up all night with the babies so Quinn got a full nights sleep the whole time they were here and so did I, except for when I would get up to nurse and pump. Once my mom left I didn't have the advantage to hand a crying baby off to her for her to feed a bottle so I would nurse then nurse some more or nurse both at the same time. It's easier to nurse than to get a bottle made and we noticed a difference so fast that they became more and more satisfied with nursing. Immediately we went down to only supplementing twice a day with about 3 oz each time. Then we got down to only 3oz once a day at bedtime. Now we are SOOOOOO happy to say for 3 days we have made NO bottles. Nursing twins 100%

See so many uses.

McKay's hair has never gotten that shaggy before. That is what comes when babies show up 2 weeks early and then I don't see him for 2 weeks. He is in love with these girls.

All 3 of our older kids are so in love with our new girlies and so eager to help.

McKay holding Cadence and Gensie holding London.

Autumn got creative. This is what you do when you have 2 hungry babies and 3 older kids to take care of also. You get Gensie and Avonlea's babies to pull their weight.

Avonlea ADORES these babies. She loves on them and kisses them more than all the rest of us put together and that is really saying something. She now says "Hi beebee dou." Which is Hi baby doll. every time she greats them.

Oh baby acne is the worst. So nice it's behind us now.

We thought Lele was still a baby. We were corrected.

Apparently they're not talking to each other

They both sleep the best on their tummies. This last week they both jumped from sleeping 3-5 hours to sleeping 7 and sometimes a little more. One night London slept 12 hours without eating once or crying. I even got up to check on her. I made sure she was breathing and moving.

Soaking them in. They are such GOOD babies. Quinn and I have both said all our babies have been so good and not fussy at all but these two top the cake.

Chubby little Cadie J. She still out weighs London by about a half a pound. London now weighs about 10lbs and Cadence 10 1/2 lbs

London

We think this is Cadence but we don't know for sure. We can't see her straight on.

Sometimes they look so identical and other times differences seem obvious.

This is Quinn getting creative during dinner.

We sleep them like this now because they are getting too big to fit side by side in this bassinet. We are on the hunt for a bigger bed.

London on the left and Cadence on the right

Twins takes multitasking to a whole new level!  If he would take that binky out of his mouth we could have a conversation at the same time.  :)

Sleeping babies! We just cant' get enough pictures of them. Why is it we try so hard to get a baby sound asleep so we can lay her down then when you come to check on them they look so cute you want to just pick them right back up again?

Cadie J

This is what happens when you have twins to take care of and you leave the dinner table without clearing it and you have a 1 year old: Fruit salad by the HUGE spoonfuls. She thought it was just great.

A number of people have asked me if I can hold them at the same time. I nicely say "Yes" when I'm thinking 'Are you kidding me!?' I not only hold them at the same time I nurse them, burp them, rock them, nurse one while burping one! You name it, I have done it. Sometimes I just have to do whatever combo you can think of. It's great.

Our 5 beautiful little kids.  We are so grateful and blessed.