First Trip to the zoo

The Portland zoo is in a really pretty setting. Shane hadn't been yet so we decided to make a day of it with my brother, Dan and niece Amaris... compliments of my brothers annual pass!!!

Baby Video

Date Night

Shane and I went on our first date since pre-babies. My parents watched the babies while we were in Bend. We decided to go out to dinner and a movie. We shared a dish at El Rosa and then used some movie passes to watch the movie Salt. We ended the evening passionately by returning to my parents house excited to see the babes. Thanks mom and dad for a fabulous evening that was much needed and very appreciated!!!

Honey and Tutkee

Honey and Tutkee are the names that my parents go by with the grandkids. Honey was coined by my niece Bailey and Tutkee is what my grandfather went by and so my dad initiated the passing on of the name. Greyson and Bentley love spending time with Honey and Tutkee and as always they were spoiled up. Aside from being amazing parents, Honey and Tutkee are outstanding grandparents and we are so fortunate to be able to share the twins with them.

Updated

I think that our blog is pretty much up to date. I have had this blog since April and I haven't been utilizing it and I wanted to make sure and document the twins so I back dated posts and now my plan is to keep it current. Some of my posts are super long for my own documentation and recollection purposes...yeah for blogging, finally a form of journaling that just might work for me.

Three months

Greyson and Bentley were three months old on August 28th and the following are all of their current talents:

Both of them can roll from their tummy to their back (Greyson first rolled to his back at 7 weeks and Bentley just rolled over September 1st)

They can play on their tummies and hold their heads up and look side to side

They both coo, smile, and grasp and bat at objects as well as make bubbles

Self-soothe: Bentley sucks her fingers, especially her thumb and Greyson sucks on his fists (however he still enjoys the binki to calm him)

Greyson weighs: 13 lbs 11oz
Bentley weighs: 13 lbs 7oz

It has been so much fun to interact with both of them. It makes it so rewarding and fun to be a mom when they smile or cuddle into me.

Trip to Boise

Shane had a week off in between his summer and fall classes so we decided to take a road trip to Boise. Initially, we weren't sure that it was going to work out but then everything fell into place. I was in survival mode when we moved and unable to really share the babies with our friends and family so it was so fun to go back and share Greyson and Bentley with everyone in a more "normal" state. We got to Nampa in the early A.M on Friday August 27th and stayed through the following Wednesday September 1st. It was a rushed trip and unfortunately we weren't able to see everyone but we will be back in December and hope to stay longer. While we were in Idaho we went to the doctor's for a wellness appointment. The babies also got some of their shots, which was so sad to watch. Greyson weighs 13 lbs 11oz and Bentley weighs 13 lbs 7oz. They are getting so big. Shane's family had a dinner/get together on Sunday and it was so fun to be able to see all of his siblings and their families that live in the area. We stopped by my work to see old co-workers, went to a company picnic at Roaring springs, had lunch with friends, went to dinner with friends and family, had dinner at friends houses, went to breakfast at friends and had visitors stop by the house. We stayed in our house, which was interesting without furniture but we had a really good time. My friend Emily stopped by and left all the necessities on our counter which was so welcoming when we got in in the middle of the night. She even thought of condiments to put in the fridge. Thank you so much Emily... you are always so detail oriented and one of the most fabulous people that I have met. We miss everyone so much and had such a great time visiting with everyone. We love you and can't wait to see you soon!!

A few pics while in Boise....

Neices and Nephews with Greyson and Bentley

Shane and I with his parents

Me and Andrea

Shane's sister Tammy and her husband Tom with the babes

Lena, TeRonda and I

Multnomah Falls

( I can't figure out how to rotate the pictures)

My parents and sister came to visit and on one of the days we decided to venture to Multnomah Falls. We started off with the stroller and then realized that the path probably wasn't conducive to the "double bob". People kept passing us and making comments and about 3/4 of the way up I decided to ditch the stroller and we put on the baby bjorns to finish. I am glad that we decided to put on the bjorns because the path got a little jagged towards the end. The hike is really short.. about 1-1 1/4 miles up to the falls but it is steep. I can't believe that i left the bob though, if someone wanted to take it they definitely could have made a few bucks. Shortly after leaving the stroller, I was talking to Shane on the phone and he said that he didn't think that it was a good idea to leave the stroller and I just thought that he was being paranoid but in retrospect he was completely right... what was I thinking.

Random Pics of the Babes

These are just a few pictures that we have recently taken of the babies!!!

Guess who is sucking her thumb....

I have gone in several times to check on Bentley while she is napping and this is how I find her. She is sucking her thumb. I will even put a binki in her mouth and she will pull it out and replace it with her thumb. In this picture she fell asleep on her "play blanket".

Shane's study buddies

Shane has both Bentley & Greyson while he studies. However, the majority of the time that Shane is home studying, you can find Greyson asleep laying across his lap. They are bonding through academics and buying some time for me to get some things done.

Christiansen's come to visit

(cousins) Kammi, Rivkah, and Alicia with the twins

Christiansen family with the twins and me in front of the Portland Temple

our first family trip to the beach

Shane's sister, Sondra and her family came to visit at the end of July. Their family went on vacation to Seattle and on there way back to Idaho they stayed a few nights in Gresham with Craig's (Sondra's husband) brother. We met up with everyone at Seaside on the Oregon coast, Friday July 30th. We took the babes in the stroller and spent time together as a family on the beach. We had sandwiches and then drove back home. On Saturday, Sondra's family came over to our apartment to see where we live and then we took them to the temple. However, the temple was closed for bi-annual cleaning and so we took a few pics outside the entrance. In the evening we went to Craig's brothers for dinner. It was so nice to have visitors and to see family.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Shane and I celebrated our eighth anniversary with the twins. We had a nice evening which started with Shane coming home early from school and helping hang pictures in our apartment. Then we went to the Claim Jumper for dinner. It was our first date out to eat with the twins together. Shane and I were reflecting at dinner and entertained with the fact that not much changed from our first anniversary... we are in school, no money, limited resources but one dramatic change was of course the addition of the twins. Cheers and here is to another eight fun-filled years plus many, many more.

Time in Bend

After we found housing in Portland the babes and I went to Bend from July 4th-18th to stay with my mom and get some additional help while Shane got settled into his class routine. My mom was amazing and sleep with me every night that Shane was gone to help with the night feedings and give me support. I am truely fortunate to have such an amazing mother. Did I mention that she stayed with us for the first 8 weeks of thte twins lives to help in any way that she could. I think that I would have died without her help. I was so emotionally and physically drained that had she not been there it could have gotten pretty interesting, even more so then it already had. Adjusting to motherhood has definately had its trying moments. I went from working full time in a career, going about my schedule spontaneously, and living next to family and friends to working harder than I thought was possible and being emotionally tested beyond comprehension in a new living environment without my network of support. Anyway, while staying in Bend, Shane came to visit on the weekends and it was so uplifting to have him present. Although my mother was amazing I felt guilty relying on her to help whereas Shane was their dad and it just felt like a different kind of help and I didn't feel bad relying on him. When Shane came to Bend to visit we went running for the first time together as a family out at Shevlin park, went on walks, and went downtown to the Bend summer festival. Also we went to Eagle Crest for our first water adventure. My sister's friend Marie got us tickets and it was a lot of fun. While i was in Bend I was able to get caught up on bills, hang out with my family, and take the babies to thier first movie. My sister, Abbey and I went to see New Moon which I am embarrassed to admit. Although it was the best of the three movies thus far. Thanks again mom and dad for taking such good care of us and loving us up!!!

The Search is on....

Shane, Bentley and Greyson hanging out on their aunt Lisa's couch.

After leaving Boise and traveling to Portland. We lived with my sister, Lisa for a week while we looked for an apartment. My mom and I packed up the babes daily to scout out our housing options. We were on a limited budget which minimized a lot of initial interests and made it difficult to find anything decent. Portland is slightly a different housing market in comparison to Idaho. Lets just say Idahoans have it good or cheap!!! After a few days of searching and with the help of family members, we found an apartment complex called Deveraux Glen. Our apartment is 1028 sq ft which isn't bad for an apartment but sad to have transitioned from 2453 sq ft of living space for just the two of us. Now we live in half the space with our numbers doubled. However, we already downsized in regards to our belongings so the transition didn't seem too bad. Interestingly it is on the top story. I'm not sure what we were thinking. I blame it on the fact that I still haven't recovered full brain acquirement because I am continually forgetting and having difficulty articulating and therefore couldn't have been capable of fully making such a decision shortly after having twins or I surely would have thought of the fact that i would be lugging twins up and down the stairs on a daily basis which would be horrific. I am sure if I had thought that one completely through the outcome would have been different. Our apartment has good lighting and several windows which is nice since I will be home a lot more than I ever have in my life.

MOVING... Portland or Bust!!!

Shane was laid off March of 2009 and as a result decided to change professions. After researching different options, he settled in on Nurse Anesthetist. He enrolled in pre-req classes during the summer and away he went. In January of this year he finished several pre-reqs and decided to apply for some fast track nursing programs, knowing that there would be minimal options due to the classes he needed to still complete. However there were a hand full of programs that he had completed the requirements and of those few, I believe just 1-2 programs that he hadn't missed the application deadlines. So with that, Shane applied to Linfield College's fast track nursing program, knowing that it started in June shortly after the twins were due. We just thought that it would be nice to at least attempt to apply to a program but knew more realistically that he would be applying to several schools in the fall when he had completed more pre-req's. However, I couldn't help but think that aside from the ISU program, that Linfield would be a great fit for Shane and so I kept encouraging him and he completed his application. We received a letter in the mail stating that Shane was put on the waiting list and aside from occassionally checking the status, we put it on the back burner as we prepared for the arrival of the twins. However, there must have been other plans in store for us because on May 28th we had the babes and then on June 10th we received a phone call from Linfield College, notifying Shane that he was accepted into the fast track nursing program. It actually made my stomach hurt. I was more disturbed than anything, however it is what Shane and I had been praying and hoping for. We knew it was what we needed to do but simultaneously I hated the idea. I kept trying to think how could we could make it work and move at a more optimal time, possibly when I wasn't just recovering from having twins. We had to make a decision ASAP and as much as I didn't really want to go through with moving forward... how couldn't we. I weighed our options which weren't equating to much. Unemployment, minimal income, mortgage, new parents vs. continued education/new career (never a bad idea), student loans (at an alarming amount), loss of support network (super sad). Either way it was going to be difficult and the reality of the situation was that we would be prolonging the inevitable. Shane and I had strategized for a while how to optimize on the opportunities avaiable prior to the phone call and so I feel like we were prepared in some respect. So ultimately we decided to go for it. Shane started his program June 21st and it has been crazy ever since Shane moved a week before us to get there in time for the start date and to allow for additional packing time. He left on father's day (his first) and then flew back the following friday to help with packing up the house and driving the U-Haul. It was sad to leave our friends, church, work, our home to move to Portland but we have felt so fortunate and blessed. Ultimately I am excited for the end result of the move but in the mean time it has definately been trying.

BABIES BLESSINGS

On June 27th we blessed the babies in Nampa, Idaho. Each of their blessings were so special and I could feel the spirit as Shane blessed Greyson and Bentley through the priesthood. There were a few things that stood out to me in each of their blessings that I thought were unique and special. In Bentley's blessing, Shane blessed her to continue to radiate Heavenly Father's love and sprit to others and through her smile, she will share her love and happiness to others and in Greyson's blessing, Shane blessed Greyson to have peace of mind, confidence and to have a sense of humor and to make many friends and have a postive influence over them. I am just paraphrasing a part of each of their blessings that stood out to me but I just thought that it was so precious and endearing to listen to those words from Shane's mouth through the gift of the priesthood and in regards to our children. I am in awe of Greyson and Bentley's countenance and can't believe that we have been so blessed. They are such beautiful individuals that I am so excited to watch grow and develop and build a relationships with. After sacrament meeting we met several members of both our families as well as friends at the park for lunch. Thank you Sondra and Jeanette for organizing and making all the food. It was fabulous!!

Baby Blessing Pictures

Those who participated in the blessing

Shane's siblings and their families

Lena, me, TeRonda, Richelle

The babes with their grandparents and parents

Just the four of us

Tiny Babes

The babes all swaddled and with their papa

I know this picture isn't clear but Bentley had such a cute smile on her face, I couldn't pass it up

This is how the babes sleep together. It is so cute and they look so peaceful. They look as though they fit together like a puzzle peice.