Family Pictures!

We got our family pictures back! We are so glad that they turned out so well since it was quite the project to keep everybody happy and smiling in the pictures!

Leauna

Lydia

My four little ones! Leauna, Lydia, Reagan, Ryland

Leauna and Lydia

Ryland

Reagan

Lydia

Leauna

Lydia, Leah, Leauna, Ryan, Ryland, Reagan

 

One Year Ago

One year ago on this coming Sunday, my dear sweet little boys were born! I remember being full of so much fear for their safety. Reagan had not been passing his not stress tests the last coulple of weeks, and Rylands ultrasound showed that he was not growing the way that he was supposed too. My Dr. induced me at 35 weeks.
Reagan Douglas was born at 6:22 pm weighing in at 4lbs 13 oz. 18 inches long.

Ryland joined us at 6:40 pm weighing a wopping 5lbs 1 oz 17 1/2 inches long.

They did so well for the first little while, however at about 24 hours Reagan started to struggle. He was having to strain himself realy hard to breath, it looked so painful I remember just wanting to be able to do the breathing for him. The Drs. quickly began runing test and Reagan was diagnosed with Necrotizing Entercolitis (NEC). NEC is an infection in the intestines. It was a very scary time and there were alot of ups and downs but we made it through. Ryland spend 16 day in the NICU and then was able to come home Reagan spend 25 day in the NICU and then our family was complete again! They were well loved by their sisters who were so excited to have babys around! They have been the best big sisters, and they made the transition from 2 to 4 kids so easy on Ryan and I!

They were so fun and good babys. Always making us laugh with their smiles and laughter!

Now my little boys are a year old! They are healthy happy boys! I can't believe how fast has gone by and I still can't believe that we have survived the first year of 4 kids. Reagan is a sweet boy! He is calm and easy going. He will go to anyone and demands little! He can now say DaDa, MaMa. And he just learned to clap! We are so blessed to have him in our family. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday that he is healthy and that we made it through his scare with a mild care compared to what it could have been.

Ryland is my little Tazmanian Devil! He is so full of life and is as fast and busy as can be. He is finding his way into new adventures! He keeps us on our toes that is for sure! He is a daddys boy and if daddy is around that is where you will find him! He can now say Da Da, Ma Ma and BaBa. He can clap his hands and just started giving kisses! I am so thankful for my dear little Taz!

We have truly been blessed by our children and even though two sets of twins isn't exactly how we had our lives planned out I can't imagine my life any other way. Leauna wouldn't be the same with out Lydia, and Reagan wouldn't be the same with out Ryland. I know that there is a reason for everything and they Heavenly Father has a plan. Although I may wonder what he was thinking when he sent these four sweet spirits to me I am truly thankful for them, and thankful to my Heavenly father for trusting me with them. My children fill each and everyday with joy. Happy Birthday Reagan and Ryland I love you!

(birthday pics. will come later!)

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Tuesday was my wonderful husbands Birthday! We had a little get together for him with his family since we were in Washington still! It was great to have his family around for the celebration.


I gave him a Sea Hawks Blanket that he was realy excitedd about!

His sister gave him a Seahawks Sweat shirt! Can you tell he like the Seahawks! Ryan I love you and I think that you are amazing! Happy Birthday!

Leauna's first surgery!

Well on Thanksgiving day I noticed that Leauna's thumb was swollen and not looking good at all. She had an ingrown fingernail that had gone unnoticed. Her finger was red and purple and full of puss. I drained what I could out of it, but it just felt like I couldn't empty out all the infection. Ryan ended up taking her to the ER that night when it continued to look poorly. They had to cut her finger open and drain and clean the infection all out. I am glad that we took her in when we did as it could have continued to spread.

This is Leauna waiting for the doctor to come look at her! She was so brave and did such a good job. Ryan said that she cried when they gave her a shot to numb her finger but other than that she did great! She held still and let them clean her out!

This is her the next day! Showing off with a thumbs up!

Leauna getting her finger wrapped up! We are so thankful that all turned out ok! And so blessed to have such a sweet girl as a part of our family!

Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving! We were able to travel to Washington to spend Thanksgiving with Ryans family! It was a full house and everyone was there except for Ryans brother and his family, and we sure missed them! We had Thanksgiving dinner in Moses Lake at Ryans sisters home! We have had a great time here! It has been so nice to see family especially since many hadn't seen the boys before!

This is me and my sister inlaws and my mother inlaws!

This is all the boy cousins except for Alex! We missed you!

This is all the girls! What a great week! We are still in Washington as Ryan is looking into a few job opportunities here! Hopefully something will work out soon.

Look what they did!

Last week me and the kids went to my moms house! I wan't feeling well and Ryan had to work so we drove to Bear Lake where they could help me with the kids! While we were there the kids helped my mom out with canning carrots!


This is how Ryland helped out! A great big bowl of carrots, who could resist!

This is Grandma and her girls cutting the carrots and filling the bottles up! My mom would chop the carrots and give the girls each a pile to put in the bottles!

This is Lydia hard at work!

Leauna! I think she ate more than she put in! Oh well carrots are good for the body!

It was nice to be with family! Thanks for all the help with the kids Mom and RaLauna!

I Love to see the Temple!

A couple of weeks ago I got to attend the Rexburg Temple with my mother and my sisters! It was so great to attend the temple! I am so thankful for the temple and the blessings it brings us!

This is my mother, me, MeLinda, and RaLauna in front of the temple!

WANTED

Wanted! Someone to help me organize my videos!
Oh wait I already have 2 helpers!



So this is Ryland and Reagans new adventure in life! We like to help our mother organize the videos!

Ryland caught redhanded

Two peas in a pod!

Family Fun!

This is Reagan lounging in a bean bag chair!

Ryland! He is growing up way to fast!

Lydia fell into the kitchen sink! She was trying to get in the dish soap and fell in! It was funny and then she was to so upset that her shirt had got wet in the process!

Reagan going for a ride in the laundry basket! Thanks Leauna!

And this is me and my 4 kids! Now ignore how I look cause we had all just woke up. All of the kids wanted me to hold them. We had to get a picture because usually when I hold all 4 kids it is when no one else is home to help so we had to capture the picture while someone was there to take it!

My Little Trick or Treaters!

Haloween was a fun night. We went to a trunk or treat with my sister! The girls had blast and could not believe how much candy they were getting. The boys were overjoyed by the open spaces that they had to crawl around!

Here is my little Reagan! Is that not just the cutest thing you have ever seen!

Ryland! Moving fast getting a piture is not that easy any more! He is so full of mischieve and he started saying DADA this week! What?

Leauna! Happy happy happy!

Lydia!

MY little chicken riding cowgirls!!

Before I was a Mom!

So My day started off great today. It started with Leauna waking up at 6am and going strait into her brothers room to wake them up. By the time I got to her she was in Rylands bed and both boys were screaming. I took her out of his bed told her it was not time to wake up yet and told her to get back in bed. I continued to calm down the boys and get them back to sleep thinking that Leauna surly listened!! Ha Ha. Instead of going to bed she went and sat on Lydia. So then I had 4 screaming kids and way to early I might add. Three kids were screaming because they did not think to kindly of being woke up and the other because no one would play with her. ( Poor girl I know). Anyways Through out this glorious morning I could help but think about a poem that I came across a couple weeks ago, so I thought I would share.

Before I Was A Mom

(Author Unknown)

Before I was a Mom

I made and ate hot meals and had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom

I slept as late as I wanted

and never worried how late I went to bed.

I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was Mom

I cleaned my house each day.

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies.

Before I was a Mom

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom

I’d never been pooped on, spit on, chewed on, peed on

Or pinched by tiny fingers

Before I was a Mom

I had complete control of my mind, my thoughts, my body.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom

I never held down a screaming child

So that doctors could do tests or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom

I never held a sleeping baby just because

I didn't want to put it down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small

could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

Before I was a Mom

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night.

Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth,

The joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderfulment

Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much

before I was a Mom.

I love my children and even when the day doesn't go exactly how planed I can't imagine not being a mom. My children are my greatest accomplishment and the opportunity to raise them is my greatest challenge. I am grateful everyday that I get to be there to see them and sometimes help them take one more step in the journey of life.

BUMP!

Hi my name is Ryland, and I just wanted to take a moment to show off my first real bump on the head. Now let me tell you a little about how this happened. You see my mom is a busy lady (maybe it is because she has two sets of twins of something, I don't know.) Anyways I like to keep her on her toes, so when I knew that she was distracted with a sibling of mine I decided to HEAD FOR THE STAIRS! Now, my parents do have the stairs blocked off as much as they can, but I can still get up the bottom three stairs. So I was sitting on the third stair enjoying my view when I saw that my parents had noticed where I was, so I decided to test them. So I jumped, (head first of course.) What can I say I wanted a little adventure in my life. Well my parents failed the test, and I was left with a nice large bump on my head. Now my mom goes around saying stuff like, "I get the mother of the year award." I don't see why though. Anyways I will keep you posted on my next adventure! Wish me luck!