Guns, snakes, cookies and visitors!

 We were trying to take a few pictures with the pretty fall leaves and this is all Nate wanted to do! Little monkey.

 The kids love any chance they have to go outside and shoot with Dad.

 Nate and his little buddy giving Smaug a ride on the snake. Crazy!

 I just love how Nate is snuggled up close as we were searching for the hidden pictures. I was still super sick with the oxygen attached.

 The kids were a super great help with our Christmas cookie deliveries to dental offices.

 Sooo fun to have Chris and Kate visit us!

 Cute Sadie posing by the beautiful leaves!

 Nice gun, Sadie.

 So fun to have Grandma and Grandpa visit! Grandma and the kids always have a junior mint party. We were about to go in the hot tub, hence Nate wearing his bathing suit.

So fun to have Shannon and Lindsay visit! One day we went shopping and the girls were doing a fashion show and trying all sorts of things off. Poor Nate was ready to GO HOME!

Baby B is Breech

How is that for an alliteration?

Birth mom had an appointment today. We only got a couple little updates. She had an ultrasound and everything looked good. The doc guesses they are weighing about 4 pounds each. Both heartbeats were strong. Baby B was breech a while back and then flipped to  head down at the last appointment. But she is back to breech. Sadie guesses maybe she's an active girl and loves to move around a lot (just how Sadie has been from day 1). No word about a c-section and the doc said there is still time to move back. So many unknowns and so many questions we would like to ask the doctor!

But, we will just wait and be thrilled whenever those little girls decide to come.

New due date

On the birth mom's doctor reports it says that her due date is March 15. So that's what we've been planning on. I remember seeing on the agency's website that her due date was March 1 but I thought that was probably a mistake or something and figured we should go with the doctor report due date. Since the mom didn't have an ultrasound early in the pregnancy, the due date can have a 21 day margin of error.

That puts her at 34 weeks. She measured at 34 weeks two weeks ago but she's having twins so that makes sense.

Full term for twins is 36 weeks so our social worker said to be ready any day but likely it will be in a couple weeks.

I already thought it was getting close but now it's really close!!!!

Hospital Plan

Every time we get a call from the agency, it makes my heart beat twice as fast. At this point in the game, there aren't many reasons to be calling (but there are a couple) and I just always hope, hope, hope that she isn't calling with bad news like the mom changing her mind.

Today we got a call because the birth mom had her hospital plan made with her social worker. The hospital plan is pretty much when we get to see the babies and when they stay with us for good. It was great news. We get to see them right after they are born/bathed. Then the mom wants us to have the babies with us, with her being able to come see them once or twice before she leaves the hospital. I didn't realize that the hospital will give us a room to stay overnight so we can have the babies with us (assuming they don't need any time in the NICU). Our case worker said that we were lucky to have such a great hospital plan. She was about to make a "hospital plan" call to another family and it wasn't so good. For example, one friend of mine that adopted had to wait a whole day to see her baby because the birth mom wanted to nurse the baby for a day. She was so worried the mom would change her mind after that kind of bonding.

I was so excited the rest of the day…just daydreaming about getting to see the babies that fast and then having them with us so quickly!!!

Our case worker added that the next step is that she will call us when the mom is admitted to the hospital. They will make sure she is really in labor before they tell us to begin the trek out to Utah.

Skype

Today we got to "meet" the birth mom and dad via Skype. We were both a bit nervous because it's not your every day experience to meet the people who will be giving you their children. It went so much better than I expected. They were easy to talk to and so kind. We got to know them a bit and they got to know us. We asked questions and they asked questions. The mom had such a bright, big smile several times (especially when we talked about how excited we were for the babies or how much we appreciated her). She has such a cute look and it was fun to picture if the babies look anything like her. I felt so much love for her as we talked. I wanted to reach out and hug her…and some day I will. At one point they were thanking us for letting them choose us. Wow. We felt like we couldn't thank them enough. Such an amazing gift they are giving us and such a sacrifice with all the mom has to go through with carrying two babies! When they were talking about choosing us, they said they really liked that we have older kids to help and that the gap between Nate and the babies will make  things easier with two newborns. Then the mom said "But I didn't pick you, God did."

I'm surprised I made it through the whole thing without crying!

She is doing really well physically and is still going on walks daily. The babies are doing well, too!

It was a wonderful thing to meet them and it made everything feel even more solid!

Twin Girls!!

2 days before Thanksgiving we received the most wonderful news to be thankful for. A birth mom chose us to adopt her twin girls. It was pretty exciting when the agency called and needed to get Dave and I on a conference call and then told us to sit down for the news. Excited is an understatement. They are due March 15 but we're told to plan on a month early with twins. So we're thinking some time in February we will be heading to Utah (where she is living right now). The mom is caucasian and the dad is Filipino (and the mom has red hair, green eyes and freckles). We will get them the day they are born. Soon we will hear what the "hospital plan" is which pretty much means when we see the babies for the first time.

The babies are around 2 pounds each and doing very well. This ultrasound picture was from about a month ago. I love the picture with their two heads right next to each other.

We are going to do a Skype call with the birth mom next week and that will be out first time to talk with her.

Since I'm not on Facebook, Instagram or anything like that, I'll probably just post updates on our old-fashioned blog. :)

We are so thankful and so happy to have these two babies join our family!

And if you're wondering how Nate is feeling about 2 more girls, he is fine. He just thinks that maybe he will get a gun sooner (the girls each got one on their 10th birthday) to keep some masculinity in the home!

Picture Marathon

It's been a while since I've put any pictures on the blog. Here's a recap of our last 4 months. Why is it that many of our pictures are about snakes?

 We have a huge magpie nest in our backyard. There were baby birds and one baby kept falling out. Nate was sitting on the chair, which was on the table, to keep an eye on the baby bird.

 This was the first rattler of the season. For some strange reason, I really wanted to shoot the first snake. Nate heard the rattle in a bush and called for us. Dave was kind enough to pull the rattler out of the bush so I could have an easy shot. Here we are preparing the snake for his death.

 Dave and Nate just got a prairie dog. They are sorta cute, but not when they are in your yard.

 One day I went to put something away and found where Nate had put his boots away. It made me smile.

 Sadie got Dave's old 22 for her birthday. She was so shocked and sooooo happy. Ash was so funny about it. "I got a pellet gun and Sadie gets a 22!!!?????" Then Nate said "I  know what this means. When I turn 10 I'm going to get an ak47!" Yeah right.

 Sadie spotted a nice bull snake in our backyard.

 A trip to the Jelly Belly Factory with the Draper's!

 A trip to Uncle Mike's fire station. Nate was in heaven.

 All of the Walton cousins together!

 Jamie planned the cutest "unbirthday party" for all of the cousins.

 Going to the cemetery is always a highlight when we are in California.

 There have been some fun surprises that the old owners of this home left for us. We love these flowers in the pond.

 What a special treat it was for Dave and I to take Ashlyn to the Denver temple for the first time.

 We were honored to have my sister's sister-in-law bring her family out for a visit. We had such a fun time.

 Dave and the kids built a massive fire pit for some fun nights of smore's.

 Hiking to the top of the hill with the Draper's. They were on a hunt to find a snake. Shannon and I went on a long walk just to exercise and talk...and we were the lucky ones to find the snake! Shannon got to shoot it.

 Nate loves to dress Jack up. Jack is such a good sport.

 Since we homeschool, that "first day of school" isn't quite the same. We do have a wonderful school we attend once a week. Suddenly it hit me that it was the first day of school and I better take a picture! Ash starts earlier than Sadie and Nate so she wasn't with us.

 Our ward had a pinewood derby race on Labor Day. Smaug (Nate's bearded dragon) was showcased on Sadie's car. He didn't win the fastest award but he did win for most creative.

 Ashlyn's first snake she got to shoot!

 Sadie's first snake.

 It was an exciting Sunday morning when we found two rattle snakes back to back.

 Nate's not a big fan of Sundays. They are long and boring to him. On this particular Sunday after finding two snakes, Nate said "This is the best Sunday of my life." Dave skinned both snakes (the heart was beating for 40 minutes after it was shot) and also cooked them up to go with our dinner. Disgusting.

 Preparing to fry them up!

 Nate loved the snake and kept asking for more. Right after the blessing on the food Nate said "Dad, can you please pass the rattlesnake?"

 Ashlyn's face matched probably how mine looked when I tried my one tiny bite. It was gross.

 Last year Nate's birthday party was a Civil War reenactment. This year it was the Revolutionary War.

 Nate is putting the camel from Grandma Walton to good use.

 Dave is teaching Nate how to use the revolver to shoot a snake. Nate got him right in the neck.

Grandma and Grandpa with all of the Fishbein cousins.