Please head over to my Mom's place today and wish her an OH SO HAPPY 60th birthday! She's retiring soon, so her life is really just beginning. Have a great one, Mom!
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Speaking of my Mom, I was reading her "Random Ramblings" post yesterday and she had posted a picture of a hair cut that Care Bear had given Feisty back in January (under her watch, mind you). We panicked at the time, and I mourned a little at the fact that my little girls beautiful blonde hair that was finally starting to grow long enough for pig-tails was now lying on the floor in a heap. My mom immediately took her to get it fixed, and while the fixed 'do was very cute (albeit a little bit shorter than I would have preferred), after looking at it yesterday, I made a shocking realization.

Posh Spice stole my baby's hair-cut! I kid you not. Back in January, when I originally posted these pictures, POSH must have been perusing my blog (because you know, I'm sure she had nothing better to do than read a no-name, American, mommy-blogger's blog) saw that hair-cut and decided that she wanted to make that cut her own. She took the picture, took it to some high-end London hair-stylist, told him, "Make my hair look like this--even the color" and VOILA. The Feisty hair-cut (created by Care Bear) was born. And Posh is taking the credit. Hmmpph. Guess we should have seen Care Bear's talent for what it was worth back in January and patented the look. Because now everyone wanna-be Posh in Hollywood has it--hey, I've even seen locals with the do. Man. Did I miss my chance.
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And I just need to share a little more of my girls' artistic talent.

Here is a picture Feisty drew of Care Bear: And this is a picture Care Bear drew of some Fairies. She copied them off of the back of a library book.

And that's it for me. Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

The "Baby Name Game" will continue throughout the remainder of my pregnancy (or until I decide on names, whichever comes first). Click on the button in the sidebar to add any names you think of. This is much harder than I thought!

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful baby name suggestions! I have had so much fun reading all of them and have come up (thus far) with a very comprehensive list of potential names. Keep 'em comin! I'm keeping the baby name game button on my sidebar that links directly to that post, so if you think of anymore, feel free to add! (Until such time as I either go into labor, or I choose names).

Since the fear over my babies has subsided, I find myself having little or nothing to think about. That is scary. Well, not nothing....I always have something to worry about. But nothing that would be of any interest to any of you. Why on earth would anyone care to read about the fact that I am finding it increasingly difficult to find clothes to put on in the morning? Or whether or not something I choose to eat may or may not bring back the horrendous nausea and/or heart-burn that has recently subsided? Yeah. I didn't think that'd be too interesting to read about. So in the interest of not turning my blog into a "This is what I did today" hum-drum, I just leave it alone to get stale.

The doctor did call towards the end of the week (I believe Friday) to inform us that the final results of the amniocentesis came back (the results I posted a week ago Friday were the prelimary results) and that there is indeed, no presence of any chromosomal abnormalities in either baby. It's good to know that this is what the final results say. Because I wouldn't have been at all upset if the final results had differed from the prelimary results. However, they do want me to come back for my scheduled appointment on October 12 for another ultra sound just to make sure that the babies' organs are all OK. You know, because doctors hate to admit that they could have possibly been wrong about their initial diagnosis. They are still concerned about the mass on the big baby's neck (which heretofore will be referred to as Big Squirt) even though it is no longer there. So what. It was there initially, therefore they are going to be concerned. It's all good. They really just don't want me to sue them should my baby be born with one foot larger than the other or something. So I will take one final drive to Denver to lay there and have warm goo that probably costs a good $500 smeared all over my belly and have them tell me, "Well, for cryin' out loud! There really is nothing wrong with these kids!" At least I can get one more good shot at my babies in utero before they're born.


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All appears to be well on the health front with Feisty as well. We had taken her last week to get some tests done at Children's Hospital to find out if there is something horribly wrong with her that is causing her to continually get these UTIs. Surprise, surprise.....those tests came back normal as well. And while this is great and re-assuring, we still don't know why she continues to get them, and don't even know she has them until she is either burning up with fever, or curled up on the floor in a fetal position in pain.



I'm a worrier by nature and have come discover in the past five years of mother-hood that I never knew what worrying really was until I had little lives to constantly worry about. I can barely stand to watch the news anymore because every story I see makes me worry somehow about my kids. Even if it has nothing to do with kids.


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It is only in the 40s here today and pouring rain. I rather enjoy it....except when I have to walk nearly a mile across campus to my office....with no umbrella.



I have a fire log sitting at home just waiting to be used. I hope it's still cold and rainy when I get home.
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I made a recipe last night that I found over at Barb's place last month sometime. It's Chicken Divan and it is seriously the best thing I've ever made. And I am no cook. But I can't even quit eating my own cooking. Good grief. My taste buds think they've died and gone to heaven. So, thanks Barb.
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*MAJOR CONFLICT ALERT** I am presently ashamed to work where I do....particularly since where I work is responsible for recruiting and trying to get people to come here. If I had kids of college age, I would not send them to a place where the school paper publishes a larger than life editorial such as this: (obviously edited for content)

I really don't care what your political affiliation is. That's not my beef. I just think it's disgusting to print something like this about anyone in a student run newspaper. The editor says he was trying to encourage dialogue. Yeah. The dialogue you agree with, perhaps. You can only imagine the backlash this has caused. It's garnered national attention. Real cool. Free speech, blah, blah, blah. Within reason, thankyouverymuch.

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That's what's happening in my neck of the woods. And yours?

Happy Monday!

The "Baby Name Game" will continue throughout the remainder of my pregnancy (or until I decide on names, whichever comes first). Click on the button in the sidebar to add any names you think of. This is much harder than I thought!

The Name Game!!

The weekend has passed and I have had several days now to let it sink in that I can begin to actually enjoy my pregnancy and look forward to (or fear) the arrival of the two wiggly girls that are currently calling my uterus home. I have less than 6 (six) months to come up with two (not one) names. I had one in mind, which I no longer will be using so the pressure is on. Here is where you come in. I need your help in naming "the girls". I made a button on my side bar that will link directly to this post. No pressure to come up with anything right this minute, or before this post makes its way down the archives. If you come up with something, click on that little button, and make your suggestion.....all the way up until the point of delivery. I will be coming up with fake names for these two as I have with my other three, however if I choose the name or names that you suggested, then I will let you know and you will be a priveledged soul who knows the true name or names of the little baby girls. I will be entrusting you with that knowledge. (Hee hee!) So, let the game begin. Come up with something good for me, will ya? I'm all tapped out!

The Results!!

I sat all day at my desk waiting for the call to come in, but no call came. I harassed the doctor's office twice hoping to hear that results had come in. No results. I resigned myself to the fact that I would probably be waiting until tomorrow....maybe longer....until I found out the fate of my babies. I had waited this long, after all. What's a few more days, right?

I got home at 5:15. I had missed their call by 14 minutes. The phone was dead. I let it charge for about 1/2 hour and called; holding my breath to hear what the message said. The nurse said she would wait until 6:00, specifically to get my call. I called her at 5:53.

I'm still having difficulty wrapping my head around the news I received.

I'm having difficulty forming a complete thought or sentence.

I'm wondering how well I'm going to sleep tonight.

A month and a half of pure torture waiting to find out how these precious two little beings forming in my womb are doing. But admist the torture, a strange sense of calm and peace about the whole thing (once the initial shock and despair had passed).

My babies (which are definitively two girls) have NO SIGNS OF ANY CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITY WHATSOEVER. None.

The nurse said she's not sure how to explain the growth that was there initially, but is no longer present.

But I know why. Because as I said earlier....those babies have the Great Physician in their corner and I had I don't know how many people out there praying for me, loving me and supporting me. People that I know and love dearly....and people whom I have never even met.

I have never felt such an enormous sense of relief; of happiness; of joy. I have been through quite a few difficulties in my life; but I don't think many have matched the fear of the unknown where these precious little girls are concerned.

It's a miracle....plain and simple. There is no other explanation.

I'm having a little party here....join me, won't you? Because my babies are A.O.K.

You all are amazing, wonderful people and I will never in a lifetime be able to show my gratitude to everyone.

Stay tuned over the next six months. There's still plenty of adventure to come....I'm sure of it!

Well, the waiting game has begun today. I will sit here all day chained to my desk waiting to get that call from the doctor's office. I'm so nervous I can barely stand it. I will post as soon as I know something.

In the meantime, to ward of the nerves, I'm going to go back to the good old blogging days; the archives...before twin baby stress, pukiness and long bloggy breaks and do something I haven't done in awhile. Gotta get my mind on something else. So, I bring you....

Brit/ney Spe/ars

Awhile back, you know, when Brit shaved her head, I was among those who was of the school of thought, "This girl is a mess and needs to get her head straigtened out." I think that's what most people were thinking. As the months have passed and we have seen her come in and out of rehab, party the nights away, take her clothes off in public, let her kids locate her "lollipops" (a.k.a. cigarettes) for her and call them "mistakes", my opinion hasn't changed much. I still think she needs some help. But more in the form of just getting herself and her children out of the public eye and becoming a "normal" family. Now, how normal a family life she can ever have, I don't know, but it could definitely be started by trying to stay out of the public eye, staying away from nightclubs and keeping her clothes on.

MTV tried to help her out a little bit by having her open the VMAs--her big chance to make her big comeback. Her first album in four years is set to be released on November 13. The new single is getting fairly good reviews. But she came out and she bombed with a less than flattering outfit, un-synchronized "lip-syncing", and sub-par dance moves. Put that performance on your computer next to her previous performance on the VMAs where she sang "Slave For You" and you wouldn't even know it was the same person. She seemed uninterested, out of it, and like she could really care less to be there. My opinion? She didn't want to be there. I don't think she really wants a big comeback. I think she wants (and desperately needs) to be out of the spotlight and focus on herself and her precious little ones. She needs to heal her relationship with her family and she needs to rest and relax for awhile. I feel sorry for her....and I never thought I'd hear myself say that. Yes, she has done her share of self-destructing, however I think she is at such a bad place that she doesn't know how to dig herself out. People just need to leave her alone and quit analyzing everything she does with their proverbial microscope. I know I'd have a pretty tough time raising my kids if I had photogs following me at every turn just to see if I accidentally made some mistake that any other "normal" person could do without a second glance or thought. Go into hiding Brit. And stay there for a long time. It's the best thing you can do for yourself right now.

V*anessa Hud*gens

Am I the only person in the world sick and tired of hearing about these people and their "High School Musical"?! To be honest, until a few weeks ago, I hadn't even ever heard of HSM....I just kept seeing these strange young "stars" showing up in magazines talking about how HUGE they are but having no earthly clue who they are. I'm still confused. Was it a musical on broadway? A made for TV movie? I just really don't have a clue, and honestly don't care. I'm just sick of hearing about it. Gag. They are wholesome, wonderful, young role models for the young kids. And if you believe that, I have some ocean front property for sale right here at the base of the foothills in the Rocky Mountains. If you ever hear about how wholesome and wonderful a young person is, you can bet there's some skeleton out there in their closet that is bound to come out sooner or later. And so it was for miss V*anessa Hud*gens. Apparently she took some nude pictures of herself awhile ago....she must not have had too much faith in herself that she'd ever become famous because if she did, then she might have just thought that perhaps those pictures just might come out one day (a la Paris Hilon's infamous tape....maybe that's what she wants, who knows). Of course, those nude pictures were released by someone and put out there and supposedly she had taken those pictures and sent them to Drake Bell from the Nick show "Drake and Josh". If I were her, I'd be so embarassed I'd want to take my little wholesome rear and go hide under a high school bleacher for a year or two.

Regardless, I'll be glad when this whole thing is over. I can't stand to open one more magazine and see these people anymore. If I understood the huge appeal, maybe I'd feel differently....or maybe if I was eight years old. Who knows. No offense to anyone who has seen and likes this show. I haven't seen it so I shouldn't judge, I just get tired of seeing people in magazines when I don't even know who they are or what the big deal is!! Explain, please!

That's all I've got for this edition. Celebrity news, lately, has been pretty boring. Unless you thrive on reading or watching the news and continuously seeing little startlets who are barely of age getting thrown in and out of jail and rehab and then getting out ready to "change the world" only to be thrown back into rehab again. Yes, I'm speaking of you, Ms. Lo-han. I hope for your sake that once you get out of your lateset program that you are successful in staying clean, but I'm not betting my 1992 Saturn Sedan on it. Good luck!

And have a happy Thursday, y'all!

True Statement: When it rains.....it pours (in my case a torrential downpour).

A Myth (or so I am beginning to believe): God never gives you more than you can handle.

My mom posted a little update post for me a couple of days ago. Feisty was plagued, yet again, with a UTI, that could be a kidney infection (waiting on test results) that came on really quickly and really severely. She was admitted to the hospital Monday evening to receive anti-biotics through a drip and fluids. Thankfully, she slept well through the night and woke up in the morning her usual little feisty self. She ate more breakfast that morning than a football player could and had all the nurses in love with her by the time we left. She is doing well now, but has to be on yet another antibiotic and we have to take her to Children's Hospital in Denver for tests. How I will ever pay all of these doctor and hospital and test bills I will never know. I'm convinced I will be paying them until long beyond the grave. When Feisty is 60, she'll still be paying for her hospital bills because Mama will have left them for her after she's long gone. How's that for a positive outlook? Hopefully, however, once we find out what is wrong, it could be as simple as her having to take a medication every day for about a year to correct the problem (that itself will be a pain in the rear but better than something more serious or painful for her).

And me? Well, let me just say that an amniocentesis is certainly not something I would like to repeat all the time--or never again. Some people might breeze through it like they're having a manicure--I don't know. But I hate needles. Always have, always will. And to me it felt like someone was trying to take that needle that they pierced into my gut (twice) and pull my insides out. Nice visual, eh? Mike said, "Well, they were pulling something out of you". I had to clarify that it felt like it was an object it felt like they were pulling out....not just some liquid-y fluid.

I had asked the doc how long the needle(s) would be in me and he said, "Oh, maybe 30-45 seconds". PSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHAAAAAAWWWWWW. Whatever. Well, maybe it was that long, but to me it felt like about 5 minutes each...at least. They kept assuring me "Almost done...almost done". I wanted to scream, "Get the stupid needle out of me, then if it's almost done". But I refrained.

The first bit of news I can offer is that they are sure one of them is a girl (big baby), and that they are almost sure the other one is a girl, too. Two more girls.

TWO GIRLS + TWO GIRLS = FOUR GIRLS

ESTROGEN RULES!!!

My body is apparently incapable of producing boys. But hey....I'm used to girls. I know how to handle girls.....I LOVE GIRLS.....so I'm OK with it. Yeah, I would have liked to have at least one boy out of the four my body has created, but what can ya do?! Feisty is thrilled. Care Bear is non-committal.....Anakin is holding out hope that the one they are "almost sure" of will really end up being a boy. I'm holding out hope for him, too.

The nurse gave me a glimmer of hope when she told me that they babies are growing as they should; they are right on target for what they should be.....measuring right on, etc....which is not typical for babies with chromosome problems. But then in the same breath took the little glimmer away when she told me that, "However, if there's not a chromosome problem we could be looking at something else like a heart problem, and since it is a girl, possibly "Turner Syndrome"." She did concede to the idea that maybe, just perhaps, it could mean that there is absolutely nothing wrong, but wouldn't go so far to say that it is a likely possibility.

I will have preliminary results by tomorrow, final results within two weeks, but she said that final results vary rarely differ from pre-liminary results. So I should pretty much know what's happening with these little ones by tomorrow.

Until then, it's a waiting game. As always, your prayers and thoughts are more appreciated than you will ever know. I'm sorry if I have not had a chance to thank every one personally for their sweet and wonderful thoughts you have given me. I'm working on getting to everyone. But know that I appreciate everyone who has shown their support and their kindness by comments, e-mails, phone calls, or prayers.

Update from Mom

Life has been throwing terrific curves lately. As you know, Kristen has an appointment tomorrow afternoon (9/11) to determine if one or both of the babies has a chromosomal abnormality.

On top of all this trauma, little Feisty ended up in the hospital tonight. She had terrible abdominal pain mid afternoon, went to emergency, and they admitted her for the night. The white count is high in her blood, indicating infection. She has been on i.v. and will be all night. She should be released in the morning. However, she will have to go to Children's Hospital in Denver soon, to determine the reasons behind her urinary tract and/or kidney problems.

Feisty is being such a little trooper this time. She's charming the nurses.

Please pray for Feisty, Kristen, the twins, and all the rest of us - it is hard on all of us.

Thank you!

All Kinds Of Stuff

When we last left off, it was Care Bear's b-day. That was last Friday. It's already Thursday(?!) and I'm just getting to talking about the weekend. And what an insane weekend it was. We packed as much into one weekend as we should have all summer. Good grief. This mama is still recovering.

Friday evening after work was the obligatory Chuck E. Cheese party for Care Bear. I really wish one of these days my kids would pick another venue for their parties rather than this germ-infested hole that serves sub-par pizza. I just have to remind myself that it's not my party, so I can't cry if I want to and enjoy it the best I can. The kids love it and they can suffer along at my b-day party when I choose to go eat raw fish or something like that.

Anyhoo---first order of business---some pics from C.E.C. (Ask my Mom how many pictures I took on her digital camera this weekend--go on, ask her. Then ask her how long it takes her to download them and send them to me.) Someone just get me my own--consider it a "pregnancy from hell" present.

The birthday girl (a.k.a. little miss Colorado) with her

crown, flowers and cake

Feisty with her consolation "It's not my b-day" present

(in my defense, I don't normally do this, but Feisty didn't get quite the

huge b-day Care Bear did so I felt she deserved it)

Feisty's favorite game

Care Bear doing what she does best....Coloring (the modern way)

Anakin, the video game conneseur

Mmmm.....cardboard pizza and a mini build-a-bear....
Life doesn't get better than that!!

"Dude, Chuck E.....what is with your pizza, man?! I might as well
be eating Chef Boyardee!"

"Wait, you're kidding right?! Six more months?? Gag me! No, wait...don't do that, PLEASE!"

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Our big present this year was really a present for all the kids which Mike spent the entire day Saturday putting together. So that was the following day. Let me tell you the deal we got on this thing. It was originally priced at over $500....on clearance for $130. When do we ever get a break like that?! We were a little excited!

We're having a "friends birthday" party for her this weekend on Saturday for cake and ice cream and swing set fun! Yee-haw!

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Saturday evening, Mike's mom showed up to bestow on us a few little "knick-knacks" she picked up for us. She arrived with a trailer hitched to her SUV carrying with her a new dining room set and patio furniture set for us. Happy birthday to us! I didn't get any pics of that, though. But when Mike's mom shows up, we are never short of things to do. Her plan was to treat everyone on Sunday (after church of course) to a trip to Elitch Gardens (Denver's answer to Six Flags). Of course everyone was beyond excited about that (even me despite the fact that due to my "condition" I would be unable to ride any of the fun rides). The plan went a littly awry, however with MILs chronic condition of piddly-ness, slowness, procrastination-ess, etc....We didn't get down to Denver until almost 6:00. Elitch's closes at 9:00 once school starts back up. In addition to that, as we arrived, this is what greeted us:

So we aborted the original plan, decided to do Elitch's the following day and made our way over to Casa Bonita which is an extremely fun Mexican restaurant in Denver. Click on the link to see about it. The kids were, suprisingly, OK with this little change in plans. It turned out to be a fun evening:

The outside of the restaurant

The whole group

(I got many, many more pictures from this little outing but I think my mom was tired of downloading pictures. What's up with that?!)

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The following day we finally made our way to Elitch's (another outing that produced many pictures as well as videos, but alas.....) This was Feisty's first trip to Elitch's and true to her name she relished it in all of her feistiness! (the others enjoyed it as well!)

The Tower

Some Water Slides

Feisty's Boat Ride

Enjoying the Ferris Wheel

Massaging Our Feet

Feisty The "Trucker"

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Needless to say, we were all a little exhausted by the end of the weekend and unfortunately there was not a day to recover from it all because the next day called for school and work. No rest for the weary!

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As far as I'm concerned; I'm set for my amniocentesis next Tuesday, the 11th. In preparation for that, this week I had to get a "quad-screen" which is doctor speak for "let's squeeze as much blood as is humanly possible out of this person until the point of almost passing out" and have an ultra sound just to make sure the babies are still alive and kicking. And kicking they are. Literally. The tech said it's amazing how wiggly they are in there considering the amount of room they have. Everytime I see those two they are squirming in there like they're ready to take off. The position "big baby" was in made it difficult to tell if the membrane that they are so concerned about is still there. I'm going the "denial" route and choosing to believe that it means it's really not there anymore. "Small baby" is consistenly growing and keeping up...although still measuring a week smaller. That's all I know about the babies right now until the results of the amnio....which the doc told me could take up to a week to ten days after the test. Don't you think with the amazing amount of technology around today that they could figure out a quicker way to get test results than making an already anxious mother-to-be wait TEN MORE DAYS to find out how her babies are doing? Good grief already.

More good news for me, though! Yipeee! Doc thinks I have a hyper thyroid which required me to go have more blood drained out of my body yesterday. I was also informed that my chances of getting pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes are pretty good. Woooooo-------hooooooo!! Let me tell you how upbeat and happy I felt after that appointment. And in addition to that, due to all of the blood loss, I was nauseous all night and got very little sleep. Or maybe my body just lulled me into a false sense of security the last week and now is saying, "HA! You thought it was over, but we fooled you, you FOOL!". But I'm not bitter or anything. This pregnancy rocks!! Don't you think that expectant mothers should get their entire pregnancy off of work--PAID? My MIL (who lives right near the border of Canada) told me that a friend of hers from Canada got her whole pregnancy off paid. PEA! Can you confirm if this is how it works up there? Because if so, I'm headed your way. Do you have a spare bedroom?! ;-)

Enough for now. That should keep you going for awhile until I know more. If things go my way this weekend, I'll be taking some naps. But I doubt they'll go my way.

Happy Thursday!