38 weeks...full term!

We feel so blessed that after several scary episodes and 3 months of bedrest, our twins are now full term!  So many miracles and so much help...we can't express how much it means to us.  For many who have been asking how huge I am, here are the picts.  We're excited to welcome our new little girls tomorrow!

Happy Easter!

Still can't figure out how to make my pictures upload correctly (so sorry for the flipped ones).  Claire enjoyed several egg hunts this year.  It was fun for me to pick out her Easter dress (during my 2 weeks off of bedrest before the girls arrive on Tuesday).  She also tells a sweet story of Jesus dying, laying in the tomb for 3 days, and then being resurrected.  We tried to get it on video, but failed.  We're so grateful for our Savior, His atonement, and this season where we truly focus on all He's done for us.

Match Day

Many of you know this already, but we were thrilled to find out on March 16th that Brian matched into the Pathology program at OHSU in Portland, Oregon!  We're excited to move to Beaverton and be closer to family and enjoy the beautiful climate :)  The last couple of picts are of me at 35 weeks pregnant with the girls.

Portland Children's Museum

Also a September update :)  Claire loves the Children's Museum in Portland.  It was fun taking her there with Grandma and Grandpa.  She especially loved the water feature/play area.  We hope it's the beginning of many trips there.

A Night at the Oregon Coast

Back in September when we were in Oregon for Brian's away rotation at OHSU, we left Claire for the first time ever at enjoyed a night together away at the Oregon coast.  We simply loved it.  We drove through beautiful Oregon forest, pausing at Camp 18 (an old logging station turned restaurant/gift shop) just to look around.  We were tempted to eat there, but 2 other great options we'd researched where we were staying and decided to wait.  We ended up eating at Bigfoot's (right next to our hotel).  We had the best prime rib of our lives (actually...the first time I think we'd even had prime rib at a restaurant :)  We then strolled along the beach and got ice cream at a little shop in Seaside.  We laughed that even though we were on vacation and could anything we wanted, we were both tired and decided to go to bed "early".

The next morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel and walked the beach again.  We then drove up the coast to see a few cute neighboring towns on our way to the Tillamook cheese factory.  While at Cannon Beach we visited a cool art shop where we were especially glad we didn't have Claire.  I felt like I was about to break something at every turn...lots of glass :)  We ate lunch at a fabulous little fish shop (homemade clam chowder and fish n chips).  Then, to top our trip off, we toured the famous Tillamook cheese factory; such amazing ice cream! Although we really missed our little girl, it did make us excited for future trips together :)

A lot of Estrogen!

We found out the day before leaving on our extended trip that we are having 2 more little girls! We are thrilled and excited for Claire to be a fabulous big sister :)

So far behind!

We've had a very busy few months.  Most of it has been wonderful; some of it very hard.  Although in no way comprehensive, here's a bit of what we've been up to!

A messy meal

I'm not exactly sure why my blood pressure rises when I see Claire all smeared in food like this...especially when she's in her high chair with a bib on.  I'm working on chilling out :)  This time, I ran for the camera instead of the rag to wipe her off.  The rag was a close second grab :)

Fun Halloween

We dressed Claire up as a monkey for Halloween this year.  Poor girl.  Other moms dress thier girls in fairy costumes, or as princess.  Last year, Claire was a cow...this year...a monkey.  I haven't decided what she'll be next year, but there is a trend now.  I decided afterwards that I should have at least put a flower or bow on her head...people were often confused at the gender of our little primate :)  We thought she was adorable and she now begs to wear her costume every day.  We're definately getting our $5 worth out of it :)

Hike up Holy Hill

On one of Brian's precious mornings off in the month of October, we made the trip to Holy Hill to see the amazing fall colors.  It's a hike to the top, so we borrowed a backback from a friend so that we could get Claire to the top (and so that she couldn't jump off once we got there :)  We loved the view, the weather was perfect, and we had a great time!  We will miss these beautiful fall colors if/when we leave Wisconsin.  Still struggling with getting our pictures to face the right direction.  We think we may need a new camera :(