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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all. I hope it has been a swell day for you!

Ok just mad

I am trying to blog pics that I FINALLY took of the kiddos and guess what? Photobucket has changed everything so it is 10x harder to do this. Plus my new camera, the pics are way too big so I have to hammer out my techinical difficulties. Sorry, coming soon. Promise.

Say no to moo.

Yep that is right. Not because I have gone veggie or sided with PITA or something. The boys cannot tolerate any dairy I eat. No milk...No cheese...No butter...ugh. If I eat more than a smigen, they get congested, they get gassy, and their diapers...well, I won't go into details but it ain't pretty.

Helen was the same to cows milk for a while maybe 8 months but we had her on Soy formula and no worries there. I am hoping that this won't last long. From what I have read, they say if the reactions are not severe, the mom can try it in a month or so and see if they are less sensitive, so I am looking at Christmas time to try again.

I am seriously going through some withdrawls. At the end of my pregnancy, I was consuming a gallon a week of milk pretty much by myself. Eating tonnes of cheese (note the way I spelt that, very British, *cough* *cough* I mean Australian) and baking with butter. Right now, I make something and even through I would not put any dairy in it, I think it needs something like a bit of butter, milk or cheese. I have been crabby and irritable. I dream about sourcream enchilladas.

Well, it shall pass (hopefully fast) because I am not going to give up breastfeeding the twins for this. They are doing so well. So pass me the soy cheese and maybe the tofurkey while you are at it.

All tests negative...

Helen had a cough and runny nose for like a month and a half and no matter what, it would not quit. So the Dr thought she had allergies. So we put her on Claratin and ran some tests. Well I just got a call from the Dr and all tests are negative.

She is not allergic to:

Pollen - many types common here in Australia
Cats
Dogs
Soy
Cows Milk
Peanuts
shellfish
fish
eggs

There was a few others but the dr said they did the run of test with foods etc and it all came back negative. So we can stop the Claratin and see where we go from there.

Also, tomorrow she is going to have PB and J since she is all good with peanuts. ye-haw!

Personalities

At first, I was so worried I could not tell the boys apart and I couldn't. I would seriously look at each one going who are you. They were changing every day so the thing I would pick to look at would be different and then crap, who was who. When they were born, they each had a band-aid applied to their back with their name written in sharpie. I think it is so they could tell who is who in the theatre (operating room). Well they were 10 days old before I took those band-aids off. How sad is that.

Now? I can tell them apart and I have even got Austin mixed up (he was right all the time in the begining). I think what is part of it is their personalities are starting to show through.

Erik is my high strung little dude and Jason is my chill little chap. I am not sure if it is because Erik was the smaller of the two but that kid has to cry louder, eat more (and gain more weight), and poop more than his brother. Making up for something, lost time maybe who knows. Jason, just sits and chills, until he is hungry but that is remidied pretty quickly.

It is neat to see they are not just the same, Erik reminds us alot of Helen when she was first born (in looks and facial expressions). Jason's looks look alot like Austin's baby pics and I see alot of Austin's facial expressions in him already.

To tell you the truth, I am glad I can tell them apart with painting someone with nail polish.

The Boys are here...(yes, this post is quite late)

I wanted to shout out that the Boys are here. Well they were born, oct 13 (yes, two weeks ago) and I will give you some stats and pics. I would have posted sooner but the first week, I was in hospital with NO internet. (sucks!!!) and the second week, every moment has been breastfeeding the two or getting a nap and sad to say, sleeping is much higher priority than blogging (that is probably a blogging sin, will I go to blogger hell?)

I know they were supposed to be born on the 20th but once again, we can not stick to the plan for anything. I had been having contractions but I thought they were the practice ones and went in to Dubbo to get check out by my Dr for some high blood pressure (yes, high bp again!) and the Dr decided to do a check and I was dialated to 4! So we did the c-section that day instead of waiting a week. It was interesting as Austin just missed it (he was back in Cobar and drove as fast as he could but missed it by 20 mins) and in that 30 or so mins from when I went into the OR to when he showed up, Helen was passed around from Nurse to Nurse until Austin made in. Thank goodness for the kindness of those nurses.

Anyways, Twin one was born Jason David Hemphill, 3.18 kgs, 49 cms and 15:43.

Twin two was born Erik Robert Hemphill, 2.80 kgs, 49 cms, at 15:43.

Once again in the fashion of our naming kids, the first name is their own and the second name is after family. David after my and Austin's fathers and Robert after my Grandfather.

We just had their two week appt today and they are almost at their birthweight, so yeah for the two week recovery. Jason has gained 160 gms in the last nine days and Erik gained 210 gms. They are my little piggies.

Here is a shot of me the next day holding them. Still a little out of it....

Here they are in their cot. Jason on the left and Erik on the right.

Here is a close up of their heads. Jason looks like Austin and Erik looks more like Helen which takes after me I guess.

Here they are in the back seat of the car, ready to come home.

More pics are to come as I get them sorted on put online. Thanks for looking!

High Blood Pressure

Well I have got it again. Same time as with Helen, 36 wks. Darn. So I get booked in the local hospital last night for monitoring. The meds brought it down and now to wait and see. We shall see if the next plan of attack is. We might go to Dubbo early, we might have the babies early (well earlier than the 20th). So I should hear back today and get checked tomorrow to see where we are sitting for my blood pressure. I am kind of hoping we will just keep the current plan and see the boys in 10 days but that be asking a bit much.

On another note completely unrelated, I found this website that is just amazing. http://www.onlineconversion.com/ Here the recipes call for cups of butter like in the states but butter is only sold in 250 and 500 g blocks. Get this, 1/2 cup of butter is 113 g. What can I do without screwing up the recipe? This website has a butter measurment converter. How cool is that? Also, it will help you convert a number of cooking ingredients from metric to standard and back. Wanna know the density of Crisco? This site can tell you too. So no more googling and second guessing. I might just become a better cook because of all this.

Cankles and sausage toes...

We have 14 days until the boys arrive. I am very excited. We are getting closer on names and might actually have something to name the both of them when they arrive. Still working on things around the house and I have started a list of the things needing to be done by the 18th. The only problem is that it is getting harder each day. I have a feeling this fortnight is going to be the hardest yet. Hard to sit, stand, lay down, walk, do pretty much anything. I am ready for this to be done but I want to wait since we have this skillful little plan in the countdown.

We went to a christening yesterday and then we went to the party afterwards. It was a nice long party that morphed into a Grand Final party (like a Rugby Superbowl). I had a blast but to wake up this monring, my feet are so swollen and my ankles are so big, they are the size of my calves, hince the cankles. Oh what is next.

carrots...

Well she has become a little carrot eater. Raw cut carrots. I don't think she is teething but she likes to just chew chew chew. I figure that is a healthier option than chewing on something else.
Here are some pics!

A lesson in Gardening...by Helen Hemphill

Well, I have been hearing that some people have these black thumbs, well I am here to help people out and get them to embrace their inner green thumb.

The first thing you need to do it pick a white rock. I love the white rocks and I think everyone should have one in their pocket while doing any gardening. Just go out and pick the one you love.


It is very important to learn to water your garden. Now we are going to learn about proper hose management.


Do you have your white rock? Good...now...


You need to make sure that all spray nozzles are clear of any debri. Like this...


Then insert the nozzle in the hose (here) and voila! Your hose is ready to use.


Well lets go take a look at some new plantings...got your rock?


See, me and daddy just planted these the other day. They need lots of water and some fertilizer would not hurt either.


See these flowers? they were planted a while a go, but with lots of water and good sun, they have bloomed. Don't they look great!!!


Please tell me you got all that, I do not want to have to go over it again.

October 20, 2008

Tis the Day!!!!!! Yep! That is the day my c-section is scheduled to get these kids out. Eviction notice filed and soon to be, all kids out of the pool. We had our Dr. appt and Scan on Friday and it was marvelous! The boys look great (well a little cramped) and they are measuring great. I am 34 wks, they were measuring 36 and 35.5 wks (that is A and B). Their estimated weights are 6.5 and 5.5 lbs right now and everything else looked great. Twin A slowed down a bit, Twin B caught up and I am just as happy as I can be. I don't know how much I am measuring but I am measuring over 40 wks at this point. The Dr said, well isn't that a big belly! Well yeah!

Sooo that means like 21 days until we leave for the hospital (we check in the night before). That is 3 wks!!!! I have to make sure everything is really ready for them to come home (well most of that is done), recheck my bags, and clean the house so my In-Laws will come and not be grossed out by my terrible lack of energy to clean toliets and mop floors.

It is truely amazing that we are not going to be a family of five. The Hemphill five. I am just so excited.

One month to family of five...

Austin pointed out today that in about a month (we don't have a date set but should have something come this friday) we will be having our twins. one month. Am I ready? Is Helen ready? Who knows, but like it or not, we will have ourselves a set of Irish Triplets.

Things wise, I think we are ready. We have a crib, stroller, carseats, and clothing. And I have started to collect diapers but this is going to be alot of work. A lot of fun and joy i hope too but I am begining to get scared about what will need to happen after they are here to keep everyone happy and feeling loved. As my friend Jane says, "God does not give me more than I can handle" and I certainly think to add "But, boy does he try..." maybe I should have that engraved or painted somewhere. It is something I say in my head alot, and I think I will probably say it alot more. (At least Jane's saying).

I guess what also bugs me is we don't have names yet. We have some in the running but I feel so behind on this because we were sure of Helen's name at 3 mos and when we found out it was girl, it was set. This is nuts! I hope we can find one that feels right soon.

Peace

need I say more..

She walked...

Sunday was a pretty good day. Woke up to Austin's birthday (Happy Birthday!) and got ready for Helen's birthday party. Austin had just settled down on the couch with his coffee and she decides to get up and walk over to Austin. She took about 8 steps in a row and it ended up with a hug by daddy and a very surprised mommy. She has not done that since but she is now taking a step or two by herself and getting better at it. All in the practice I guess.

The party was lovely. We invited a few of our friends and their kids to BBQ and just eat and chat. It was a lovely time by all, at least I think so, and everyone went home stuffed full of cake and ice cream.

Here is a video of Helen and Austin walking around the house. She is not walking alone this time but as you can see, she is practices like this every day. Soon she will be running....

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

I can not believe it has been a year since Helen was born. It is has been a long and short year but most importantly, an amazing year. I love that she is our daughter and glad that we have her. Here are some pics from our little family party. We plan to have a party later this week with a few friends and that will be just fun.

BC (that is before cake, you will see..)

The cake and all the presents from all the grandparents.

What should be my wish....

Well, if I have to eat this thing...better get started...

One bite down, five million to go....

I think I need a bigger fork...

Oh whew! I just have to eat this little piece...Slap! Make it smaller.

uh-oh, looks like I snuck up on dad...

What a yummy mess!!!My guess, it is bath night...

How fun is this?

Wow, mom never lets me play with paper...this is great.

Ooooo, a new book...

How do I get this thing open?

Videos....cool.

oooo, a disk for the car... gimme that!

Shoes, shoes, that is nice. mmm cd...

I want to play this now, how do I get it open?

Still working on this cd....

Can you put the camera down and help me out a bit, mom?

Shoes? You mean something on my feet?

Dang, they have elastic, they can't just pull off.

Well these aren't that bad, feels pretty good....

Thanks for sharing my birthday!!!!!

Just some cute ole pics of Helen

In the last couple of days, I have gotten out the camera more have taken these all in the last fortnight. Since it is now warmer, we are trying to get Helen outside more and more. She likes to play in the grass now, and when we traveled to Dubbo last, we stopped both ways at a local park for her to get out and stretch her legs. I think we might see some walking here in the next month or two. Everyday she is working on it and it is amazing to see how close she is. She has taken a step or two but then immediatly falls down. When she walks with us, she does not lean on our hands. I think she thinks she can't walk without us. One of these days, she will get up and walk across the house as if she has always had. She did that with crawling, I can imagine that walking would be the same.

She grabbed this book and it looked like she was giving an advertisment.


Here is Helen walking around the house with Austin (Da-do)



Maybe a step on her own?!?!?!

No more, just back into daddy's arms.


This is later that day at the Park in Narrowmine (part way between Cobar and Dubbo)








Playing the Da-do on the slide...

weeee!!!!!

Go Da-do!


After Helen got over her bout of sickness, she also got a case of Oral Thrush as if being sick wasn't enough. This is us, cleaning all her hard toys in hot water and vinegar.

She was not too pleased to see all her toys in the tub. Wasn't sure if they would come back or not...



More walking with dad. always.

What a cutie!

They other night, we could not get her to bed so we thought we would take her pics as she was still up at 10 pm.


Sleepy? Nah...




Come to find out, why she couldn't get to sleep. Da-do thought it was funny that Helen was wired, little did he know, he was in big trouble later...

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