prego update!!!

so here are some maternity shots that todd did! the first set was 27 weeks (when i was still small and only had one chin :O) the second shoot was a fun one downtown, i felt like one of todd's clients...we had a blast. that was at 31 weeks(again, i feel like that was ages and many many pounds and inches ago :o). Enjoy the pictures!!

a little pregnancy update: this has been the healthiest twin pregnancy (besides a bunch of discomfort, gas, backache ect :o), my doctor said "model twin pregnancy...so i guess that is good!! i am now almost 36 weeks (i thought i was 36, but i think i was 2 days off on my due date..anyway). There has been no gliches, no hospital visits, no bedrest, nothing....until last night!! Todd of course had a wedding today (saturday). But i definately went into labor last night. We waited here until contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and then went in, hoping to either stop labor or have the babies by 2pm, so todd could work and not miss the birth of our babies! God was so good and gracious!! Though i was in some pretty intense labor, i wasn't progressing really fast, so the doctor gave us the option of trying to stop it, because even though she is confidant the babies would be healthy at this point and we don't have to stop labor, with our schedule and the fact they aren't quite full term (full term twins is 36-38 weeks) we had that option. So all in all we were at the hospital 5 hours, and after one dose of terbutaline, contractions had slowed to a stop and we were ab le to come home!!! yea!!! i don't know if i will make it to my scheduled induction date (May 19th), but we were glad to give them a few more days to grow and todd to be able to work and not miss anything huge! God is good!! so now we wait :o)...can't wait to meet these little guys!



27 weeks



31 weeks

yes we used a tripod, not todd's favorite thing to do...but hey atleast we got a couple shot!



my few minutes of feeling like a runway model (a very large runway model!!).

where has time gone???

So... a little blog love coming atcha! It has been forever, i'm not sure why...busy busy and i don't know just not into computer writing i suppose!!

little updates:

~todd had a really awesome slower season through the winter/early spring, we had tons of family time and "normal saturdays", which was awesome!

~we survived the "louisville ice storm" , lost power for 5 days, got to 30 degrees in our house (we has great friends who let us stay with them, we were totally fine!)

~got to play in the snow several times

~we all got pretty tired of cold temperatures and winter weather (i guess especially me...the girls were great, but a little stir crazy!).

~I learned to take it easy a little bit (not work out, due to back pain during pregnancy, enjoy whole days at home...usually i'm always running, workng with the girls to share and play together ect.!!).

~lerran started talking a lot! She went from, "wow we think she is a little slow", to saying whatever she wants. the most amazing thing is that i know she understands everything! Which is awesome, but also has made us up our game in terms of discipline and staying on bad behaviors! overall though, she remains: fun, easy going, pretty independent, definately adventurous, and totally sweet!

~avery continues to LOVE preschool(2 mornings a week) and is super social. she loves to report what all her friends(in neighborhood, school, church, small group) are doing and she really loves people. She definately has her moments and is still and emotional roller coaster, as well as has grown a bossy bone for sure. What i love though is how she can totally make someones day, either from a smile, giggle, or a proclamation like "oh Ashley you are my favorite girl!" This could happen for any number of reasons: you having us to your house, having your toenails painted, wearing the color orange, giving avery somthing, having skittles at your house, showing her somthing new, or just being totally cool in her book...it is quite comical!

~i had a really fun 2 day visit to see jamie farrell in march and her growing brood (sweet little jolie was 1 month old) todd kept our girls and that was an awesome get away!

~we had great visits from both sets of nanas and papas!

~lots of really fun Easter activities, including many egg hunts

~we discovered waterfront park and the adventure playground downtown louisville...the girls and i then frequented the place atleast once a week in early spring!

~babies growing in my tummy, continued to do well all winter/spring. a little small early on, but then really caught up and as of this past week the baby boy was getting down right big @ 5lbs 12oz at 35ish weeks.

~i remained completely healthy, no bedrest or crazy pregnancy symptons (other than getting really large and having 20 toes and 20 fingers growing inside me!)

~we are soo happy for warmer weather and the ability to play outside! avery is riding her bike a ton, and lerran loves to push strollers, ride on toys and swing!

~todd's busy season is now in high gear. However the Lord has been so gracious about the timing of everything and the fact that todd is pretty caught up and doesn't have really long weddings from now untill when the babies should come!

so i know that was long and random, i will post things more specifically in the next week or so!

sorry, i know that was random and long :o)

a few fun pics of the fam!

family zoo trip

making cookies (and a big 'ole mess!)

my birthday cake and my girls!! todd threw me a great surprise party and even baked a cake...what a guy!! i love fun family times like this!

todd's birthday :o)

having fun...fooling around!! they definately get at eachother, but so often they just play well and really love on eachother!! lerran's first words when she wakes up are, "eres avri?". somtimes avery will go into "get lerran" from her nap or in the morning and they will giggle and have the greatest time for like 30 minutes! avery is definately into ready lerran stories and pretending with her, and of course bossing her around :o)

cute kids, nuff said!

Snowtime

Yea for snow!!! We have had some wicked cold weather here as of late, so it was fun to finally get a little snow to go along with it!! Todd has been gone for the day, so i wasn't sure about taking the girls out by myself (a lot of times new things include a little drama!). But, i wasn't pleasantly surprised! They loved it! This was quite a relief, especially considering our experience in the snow with Avery last year. Which basically included a few good pictures of me holding her after 15 minutes of screaming that she was falling through the snow. So as you might understand i was pleasantly surprised! Lerran continues to adapt to new situations well and is quite adventerous!!

We even built 2 little snowmen and snow angels!! i love snow!

Yippee!! 2 healthy babies, 1 boy, 1 girl!!

So, again, thanks for all of your support! We are thrilled about these two little bambinos! We have been surprised on the gender of our children thus far, however with the sheer multitude of babies coming at once this time, we decided to throw tradition down the drain and find out their gender! I'm so glad we did! It was a sweet time with Todd, when we saw our little guy's "parts" and saw that we are having another precious girl!! Todd's face was priceless, when the Ultrasound tech said, "Baby A is a boy!". Very fun!! We both really thought it was two girls, so this was a fun surprise! We had decided to name 2 girls, Whoopsie and Daisy. I guess we'll have to come up with somthing else now!!

sweet little girl. i loved this profile shot!

both baby's bellies

best picture to actually see two babies.


speaks for itself, i think!

okay, so this is a straight copy from todd's blog...it was just so funny, i had to post it as well! love to have your vote, on what our babies will be. It is so weird finding out, i love surprises, so we are trying to make this fun!!


As you may know, Emily and I are expecting twins. We've decided that we want to find out what gender(s) the babies will be so we have a little time to prepare for the madness. We'll be finding out next week. Before we do, I wanted to set up a little poll to see how prophetic y'all are.

Those of you who like to know all the facts, you may find this information helpful before you guess.
- We think they are fraternal and not identical, based on the doctor's opinion.
- I have two older sisters and one younger brother. Coincidence?
- Emily has four brothers and no sisters. Perhaps God is giving her the sisters she always wanted in the form of... daughters?
- We chose not to find out with Avery and Lerran. In both cases, we had girls.
- When Lerran was born, my good friend Jeff (who has 3 girls) said "God has decided. There's already enough man in the Pellowe house."

http://tinyurl.com/9xpwkq
this is a link to todd's blog, where you can vote (and check out his amazing work!).

Christmas in Kentucky

We had the joy of hosting Christmas this year with my whole Gayer family!! All four brothers came, one sis-in-law, 2 parents, and one sweet nephew. In the words of my husband, "we had a rockin' good time!!". Our festivities included, rook games, ping pong tournaments, 1st annual Gayer talent show, traditional cinnamon roll Christmas breakfast, advent candles, lots of PS3 and movies on the big screen, Ben learning how to ride his new rip stick (and other family members trying as well, i was very nervous for people's hips), sushi dinner that Ben & kristen made, great conversation, eggnog, lots of fun with Sampson (B& K's mini dauchsand), a lot of presents, a good bit of drama from our sweet girls, and well lots of other fun times!!

It was a good time...here are some pics

avery and her sweet cousin Evan! He is a great little guy and looks just like his mommy and daddy....way to represent the red heads, Evan!

avery and lerran's "cooker hat" they recieved a new kitchen and have had a ball with it!

Daddy's labor of love. He spent many an hour putting together this kitchen...they love it!

the three cousins...pretty good shot, avery is definately the "little mama".

lerran opening a fun piano/song player. I think we should buy stock in V-tech. We defnately have kept them in business this Christmas!

Avery had fun with a piano from Jeremy.

This is an awesome vintage tractor and wagon that my dad made for Ben when he was a baby and all of us kids played with it. They gave it to Evan this Christmas...look at his huge grin!

stockings are always a ton of fun!

Todd, David, and Stephen with Todd's new Detroit Tigers blanket (from David, and lovingly stitched by mom!).

Avery loves games!!! go fish with the boys!

avery in her nurse's costume from Aunt Melissa and Uncle James in NC!

Christmas cookie fun!

cooking with Nana.

hope you all had a blessed and merry Christmas, celebrating the birth of Christ!

The joke is on us!!!!

So, I've been trying to think of a really cute, clever, and funny way to say this...but I'm too tired :o).

In the words of Avery & Lerran's shirts... "Oops They did it again!".

They are both going to be big sisters, in a big way! I was really excited to tell the blog world that we are going to have a baby in June, however much to our huge surprise, I can now tell the blog world that we are going to have 2 babies in May!! That is right, we are expecting TWINS!! It was quite the shock of a lifetime, 2 weeks ago (at my 14 week appt.) when I proudly announced to the Doctor that we were ready for a third child, and she sheepishly looked at me and asked "How about a 4th". Unbelievable!!! We are excited, knowing that God is sovereign and somewhere in His funny plan, it is ordained that we should have 4 sweet children under 4 years old! In all seriousness, we are excited and humbled and completely dependent on the Lord for the strength to do this! We would covet your prayers as we walk down this very busy and fun road!!

I'm optimistic that now I am feeling better, I will be more faithful about blogging and updating our crazy lives! Thanks for living life with us, we are excited to share this journey!!