Santa Caught Redhanded

Our Kids Caught Santa Last Night!!

A couple of weeks ago Eliza (8) came to Sara and asked her point blank, "Is Santa Real?  Cause some of my friends don't believe in him."  Sara's reply was perfect; she told Eliza, "If you really want to know we can talk about it and I will tell you everything you want to know.  But sometimes it is just fun to believe."  Eliza decided that she didn't need to know anything more and we figured that she had grown up and just decided to believe.

So, Sara was wrapping presents yesterday and was just about finished up when the girls came into the bedroom to talk with her.  Immediately they laid eyes on the prettiest pillow pet they had ever seen.  It was a purple monkey that made noise when you squeezed its nose.  Savana had asked Santa to bring her a pillow pet and a monkey stuffed animal so she immediately asked Sara if that present was for her.  It was then that Sara realized that she hadn't wrapped all the gifts and the one laying out was indeed for Savana and was supposed to be from Santa.  Well, in the heat of the situation, thinking fast on her toes she blurted out quickly, "Where did that come from?  I haven't seen it before!  Maybe dad got it for someone not in our family.  Or maybe Santa brought the present early."  Then she hurriedly ushered the kids out of the room and called back in our oldest.  She asked Eliza, "You understand what just happened, right?  I need your help explaining this to the other girls."  Eliza looked funny at Sara and replied, "Ok mom.  Explaining what?"  Sara asked, "You know about Santa, right?" Eliza replied in the most indignant tone she could muster "Of course I know mom.  What I didn't know is that sometimes Santa brings his presents early..." 

I guess we still have a few more years of the magic of Santa!  

Two Bottles, Twenty Diapers, Two Sleepers, Two Hours of Sleep Each Night......

First of all I have to apologize to Emily and everyone who I promised a timely blog update. As you can imagine things around our house have been doubly hectic (haha). The twins were born on August 4th at 7:19 and 7:28pm. Sara was able to deliver both of them without a c-section, which is something we are extremely grateful for.

Following are all the details, which are long and probably uninteresting to everyone but us but if you make it through to the end you might just get a trophy or something.

If you would rather have the short version it is that the twins were delivered on Monday August 3rd and are healthy. Now you can either read on or just skip to the pictures. Love you all!!

Before and After


Monday Morning August 4th -

Sara had a regular scheduled doctor's appointment at 8:45am where the doctor was going to check to see if she was dilated. She went through the regular NST which raised a little bit of worry with the doctor because during one of Sara's contractions one of the baby's heart rates went down, so he sent Sara over to the hospital to do an extended NST. Sara was dilated to about 4cm and due to the alarm of the heart rate about noon the doctor decided he was going to start her. Another small reason for concern was that she was at 36 weeks and that is when our dear Emma passed. So, they started her on low doses of pitosin about noon and prepped the surgery room for delivery.

The doctor had patients scheduled all day so he didn't want her to get too far along before 5pm. At 5 the doctor showed up and started upping the pitosin to increase contractions and get Sara fully dilated. He had asked several times if she wanted to deliver them or just opt for a c-section and Sara really wanted to deliver both of them. The prospect of trying to adjust to twins while recovering from a c-section was rather daunting. So about 6 they suited me up in scrubs (which Sara said made me look really cool) and they moved us into surgery. Earlier I had given Sara a blessing and told her that everything would work out well and she would be able to deliver the babies without complications, but we were both like scared little children as we moved down the hall from the labor and delivery department into surgery. Sara was visibly nervous and having a hard time keeping her composure. That made me try to put on a brave face and I kept telling her that everything would be OK. I thought I was fooling her into believing that I was confident everything was going to be fine, but she told me later that she could see that I was worried too.

The Surgery Room

Once in the surgery room everything seemed like a whirlwind. There was a multitude gathered to witness the births. Two doctors, the anesthesiologist, 5 nurses for sara, 4 nurses for the babies, and then me. I was told where to stand and was told that if I moved or got in the way I would quickly be escorted out of the room and not allowed back in. They hooked up an ultrasound machine which kept unexpectedly shutting down. The doctor seemed to keep asking for more supplies which were hard to find as they were setting everything up. Then there was a problem with the surgery table that Sara was on and they almost had to bring in another table. The stirrups on the table weren't working right so they had to bring in the "old stirrups" and set them up. All this was going on while Sara was having contractions and waiting to be told to push. Then the epidural starting wearing off on one side so Sara was feeling half of the labor.

Preparation Done

Time to break the water. The first baby was head down but not fully in the birth canal so if the umbilical cord came out with the water it would result in a c-section. Once the water was broken the head moved down and the first hurdle was cleared. Next thing that would warrant a c-section was if the first baby got stuck in the birth canal too long. It took about 20 minutes of pushing for the first baby to be born, but during that time it was discovered that the heart rate monitor we had didn't work with twins so they had to rush to the delivery room and snatch the monitor we had in there and get that set up. Throughout all this Sara had nurses at either side of her who were encouraging her and were a great comfort as the whirlwind kept spinning around us. Bella Rose was delivered at 7:19pm and after I cut the umbilical cord I actually did a little jig because I was so excited! The nurses and doctor were laughing at me because of this and a little comic relief was definitely welcome.

Next Hurdle

Two more hurdles to cross to avoid a c-section. The second baby was breech and our doctor was trained in breech births and had successfully done several so we were confident in his ability to help deliver her. He had explained to us that after the first was born if the baby did not quickly turn on her own he would need to grab her feet and pull her out. He quickly got one of her feet but she would not give him the other. Just at the point that he was about to abandon a normal delivery and cut Sara open an amazing thing happened. The doctor's words were that she kicked her feet out and springboarded off his hands, doing a somersault and placing her head in the birth canal. The second water was broken and time started ticking. The doctor had told us that if she wasn't delivered within 10 minutes it would again result in a c-section. At 8 minutes she had crowned and with a little help from a Kiwi (Not someone from New Zealand or the Hairy Fruit with Green Meat, but a little vacuum device that is attached to the head and used instead of forceps) Jemma Sage was born at 7:28, 9 minutes after her sister.

Twenty Tiny Fingers, Twenty Tiny Toes, Two Angel Faces, Each with a Turned-Up Nose

Bella looks like a total chunk compared to Jemma in this picture!

Bella Rose weighed in at 6lbs 12oz and Jemma Sage was 5lbs 7oz. They could be identical but due to the difference in weight it is pretty easy to tell them apart right now. The twins did great in the hospital learning how to eat and doing all the other things that little babies are supposed to do. We were able to leave the hospital with the twins around noon on Wednesday. There was no jaundice, no complications and the babies are healthy. Tomorrow they will be 2 weeks old and they have a doctor's checkup.

Despite the lack of sleep everything is going well. Sara's mom and sister came after we returned from the hospital and were here at different times and that was an enormous help to us. We also have AWESOME neighbors and friends who have dropped in with meals and support and encouragement. We really feel that we know what it is like to live in a Zion like society. Sara is feeling better every day and is really doing well. She can't wait to start running again and says it feels much better to have them on the outside than it did to have them on the inside.

So that is the long story. Hope all is well in your world. Enjoy the pictures.

Jemma in the nursery. The 2 fingers are to tell us that she was the second twin born. She regularly furrows her brow and looks concerned like this.

Bella just seems fat and happy most of the time.

Got this precious picture today. They were holding hands as they slept.

My little women. The older girls are doing great with the twins and are very helpful. Jemma is on the left and Bella is on the right.

Great Grandma Marble holding Bella.

Dad is holding Bella and Bet is holding Jemma

Ew!!!! You licked a what?

A Slug!!!! We were at the Knouse Family Reunion last weekend and Eliza came running up to me so excited saying, "Dad, Dad, Look I found a slug!!" On a whim and partially as a joke I said, "I will give you a quarter if you lick it." which was followed immediately, without thought, with a, "No way daddy!" Phew! Sometimes I just slip into my scout leader mentality and start kicking out dares without really thinking. Well, a couple minutes later Eliza brought me the slug plate and said, "Dad, I washed the slug. Will I still get a quarter if I lick it?" I thought I had dodged that bullet but I was wrong. Eliza got the quarter.

The thing I forgot was that she still remembered the banana slug incident in the Redwood Forest in California. You see a few years ago we went to San Jose to visit my brother-in-law Joe. As we drove to the redwood forest Joe told me that if I licked a banana slug my tongue would go numb. Hmmmmm!! Sounded interesting. Always up for a new experience I promptly found one and bent down to test the tongue numbing properties of the yellow creature. Eliza started crying and screaming, "Daddy, no, what if it gets stuck in your throat?" She thought I was going to eat the banana slug. After a considerable amount of explanation she was calmed down and I tested Joe's promise! You know, you should all thank me! None of you need to lick a slug! Eliza and I already tried it! Your tongue doesn't go numb!

Oh yeah, and by the way, Eliza and Savana both held a snake that I caught while we were up there. It was a great weekend!!!

Latest on the Twins

So now Sara is up to two doctor's visits a week. All is well. No changes since last week. Sara will be at 34 weeks on Sunday. If she makes it 1 more week the doctor will take her off of bed rest and the medication and will let her go into labor. Sara asked the doctor if she could go to Katies wedding and he said it was up to her, but that if she went into labor in Orem he wouldn't be able to make it down to deliver the baby. So, Sara is going to try really hard not to go into labor in the Sealing Room or any time on the 25th because she doesn't want to steal Katie and JT's thunder. Thank you for all your prayers, well wishes, and help!

God's Fireworks Are Awesome

This morning we woke up to 27 new Day Lillies in the garden. How appropriate that on the day that people celebrate Independence with fireworks God sent us a display better than anything man-made. Hope you enjoy!

Twins, (W)Under Girls and Green Skies

So... I kind of failed miserably at posting on a monthly basis. Sorry! I got caught up in the facebook world and other internet past times fell by the way side. So, here is the update on the twins. If you don't know by now, they are both girls. So that will make #5 and #6 girls for us. We don't know if they are identical and won't know until they are born. They do both have the same nose though, and it is my nose and not Sara's (so sad for girls to come into the world with an English bubble nose instead of a sleek Italian nose). Sara is at 32 weeks and has started having contractions that are pretty much being controlled by blood pressure medications. She is on bed rest. The doctor says there is a great chance that we are safe for another 2 weeks at least, and optomistic that she can hold out until 36 weeks. We have almost decided on the names. We are going to keep with the tradition of classic names and call them Esther and Polly. Sara truly looks like she is going to split in two any day now. See for yourself.

Audrey is having troubles with potty training. Given the choice of playing and going potty she chooses the former (and let's face it, if it was socially acceptable I think we all would do the same). But in addition to her insatiable desire for fun getting in the way of proper waste disposal, it seems that she has underwear dyslexia. It doesn't matter if we tell her that the unders go on UNDER, because the other girls find it funny and mimic her. So now we call them our Wunder Girls! Something similar to this happened when Eliza was young. She was just learning her colors and, as a joke, I told her the sky was Green and the lawn was Blue. It took Sara 4 months to convince her otherwise.


I will strive to post weekly for the next few in order to keep you all in the know about the progress of Esther and Polly. And we hope you all have a W'under'ful Independence Day!

Twins

Here is the first ultrasound. The first 10 minutes of the ultrasound was done only on the baby on the right with the assumption that there was only one baby. At the end of the ultrasound the doctor quickly swept to the right and said, "Hold on wait a minute. I think I just discovered why your uterus is so big. There is a twin...No, that is the same one, Wait.... there are two... No....Um, Yes I am sure! See here, You are having twins!" What a roller coaster!!! Afterward he looked at me and asked, "Do you need to sit down?" I guess I looked a little bit shocked.

Now we have had a week and a half to start adjsting to the thought of two infants and still are in a state of shock. Daily we think of several things that we will need to do to prepare or that will change our daily lives once the babies are finally here.

You can see in the ultrasound that there is a line between the two babies. That is really good! Separate sacs means that they have their own blood supply, and there are many less complications for them growing in the womb. Due date is aroung the end of August, but 32-36 weeks is average for twins so we are hoping for somewhere after the first of August. What a rollercoaster ride!!

Two Placentas, Two Babies


Profile and Arm


Is this a boy? The doctor made an educated guess but I hav no clue. Never have been able to figure ultrasounds out!!

My Turn On Earth Family Home Evening

We decided to listen to My Turn On Earth for Family Home Evening and talk about why we are on the earth and gaining a body. The music was just sooooo good that we had to get up and dance!! Enjoy the show. P.S. My favorite part about this whole video is Sara's laughter in the background.

God Vs. The Super Bowl

Confession time! So, a couple of weeks ago Sara and I were discussing the merits of scheduling a church meeting smack dab in the middle of the Super Bowl. And I being the facetious man that I am commented (tongue in cheek, mind you), "I had better not schedule a meeting because today the Super Bowl is more important than God!" We both got a good laugh at that as we curled up on the couch to watch Bruce Springstein use too much momentum and knee slide right into the waiting camera (I thought that was funnier than any of the commercials). The problem with making a comment like that in my household is that there are always 6 little ears that hear everything that is said but don't necessarily catch all the sarcasm that is included in the conversation.

Last week as we retrieved our daughter from a friend who had been tending her my friend looked at me funny and said, "Do you know what Sabby told me? She said, My dad thinks that the Super Bowl is more important than God!" Note to self, Be more careful of how you use sarcasm around Sabby!

Savana Montana

A couple of months ago Savana got a little keychain guitar that played a Hannah Montana song. She played it over and over again until now the batteries are almost dead and it plays the song an octave lower. Savana will tell you now, "When I first got it Hannah Montana sang the song, but not it is a boy that is singing." Anyhow, here is Savana's cover of the Hannah Montana song 'Nobody's Perfect'. The real lyrics will be posted below the video.



The real Lyrics are: Nobody's perfect I gotta work it Again and again 'Til I get it right Nobody's perfect You live and you learn it And if I mess it up sometimes Nobody's perfect. Savana is my little superstar!

Vegetarian Princesses

I have a New Years resolution to post at least monthly on my blog, and even though I am currently being held hostage by the demon creators of facebook, I will prevail.

Wednesday we went out to celebrate Sara's birthday. Upon picking the girls up from our friends house we were informed that Eliza is now a vegetarian. Apparently when they sat down to eat dinner Eliza looked at her plate and said politely, "I am sorry, but I am a vegetarian now and cannot eat this stuff on my plate." Unfortunately the stuff she was referring to is commonly known as broccoli. Apparently in the world of a 5-year old, being a vegetarian allows you to pick and choose what you would like to eat. Tehehe. In the end she did eat her vegetables, but that is the most recent joke in our house. "I am sorry. I can't help with the dishes. I am a vegetarian." "I'm sorry. I can't brush my teeth. I'm a vegetarian."

On another note, Savana has decided who she is going to marry when she grows up. She has told me several times this week that when she grows up she is going to marry me. I told her that I could only have one wife (even being mormon haha) and that I am married to mom. Her reply, "That isn't true dad. Remember St. George? You can marry me when I grow up." I had no clue what she was talking about until Sara reminded that while on vacation to St. George we pulled up next to a van with a polygamous looking man and several women who looked like sister wives and we explained this to the girls. In spite of all the reasons we cannot get married it is pretty cool that my little girl looks at Sara's and My relationship and wants to have something like it when she grows up. I hope she marries someone who will love her as much as I love Sara. But for now I have to just tell her, "I'm sorry Savana. I can't marry you! I'm a vegetarian!!"

Aloha Friday

Just a little friday fun.

http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/xC4R7Mh83jBJVpnqVmi50I8q

10 Things I Discovered During The Week Sara Was At Girls Camp

1. If your baby has diarrhea you will have to change a diaper an average of 6 times an hour. And it doesn't matter how little the child eats! They have a magic power to poo out at least 3 times what they take in!

2. When you are caring for three young children there are only 17 hours in a day. For some unknown reason there is less time in a day. Because of this things like brushing your own teeth, daily showers, personal meals, and late night TV shows get dropped like a hot potato.

3. 5 year olds are not old enough to change the poopy diaper of a 1-year old. Enough said.

4. There has to be a training class that teaches how to do little girls hair. I have no clue how mom is able to brush out rats without tons of tears and yelling and screaming. Dad is not able to get through a whole head of hair without having friendship status revoked (Daddy, if you make my head hurt anymore you can't be my friend anymore!).

5. If you don't rinse the shampoo from a little girls hair it will be a lot more difficult to brush out the rats, but then you don't have to put gel or hairspray in. That was the only day the ponytail didn't look like Deb's from Napoleon Dynomite and the only day the ponytail stayed in all day!

6. Mom does EVERYTHING different than dad. I didn't know there was more than one way to make PBJ.

7. You have to rinse out bedding that has been thrown up on before you put it in the washer. A washing machine will magically make things like eggs, yogurt and peas disappear, but hot dogs and grapes will congregate in jeans pockets and you will inevitably discover them during the middle of a very serious meeting.

8. If only one person is sleeping in a king sized bed that person can slip out from under the covers leaving the bed completely made. When two people are sleeping in a King-Sized bed the sheets, bedspread, and blankets end up in knots, greater than any scout can tie, sometime between midnight and 5am.

9. When you have three little kids cleaning house has no beginning and no end. You just go in circles and hope you can run faster than the three tornados.

10. I love my wife!!! She is amazing to be able to handle everything here and still have time to pay attention to me after putting in a full day here at home. There is no doubt in my mind that she puts in more time, effort, and energy at sustaining our family than I do. Sara is a great help-meet.

All my girls!!!

Plaster Casts and the Resurrection

So, two months and no posts from the Marble's. Sorry everyone. No excuses. Things are going well here but I haven't really put importance on documenting it.

I have had a lot of thoughts going through my mind this week. I was asked to be prepared to bear my testimony about the Resurrection in church on Easter Sunday and so I thought about what I would say all week. I wasn't called upon but I am grateful for the chance to prepare because it prepared me to worship today.

I listened to a talk by Richard G. Scott that talked about the universe, truth, the scientific method and integrity and that made me think about how great it is to know that Heavenly Father has perfect control over everything in this universe, and even though compared to those expanses I am infinitesmally small He asks me to converse with Him constantly. I know that he listens to my prayers and loves to communicate with me.

I was in the temple this week and the guy in front of me had a crooked finger and a guy to my right had a deformed arm and I thought of how great it will be on the morning of the resurrection to see those we know who have physical troubles freed from their current state. I have two Priests who have troubles that way and I will glory in seeing them whole and strong in an immortal body.

This week Sara made an Easter tree. She hung eggs on the tree and put a card with 1 Cor. 15:55 printed on it 'O death, where is thy sting. O grave, where is thy victory?' I thought about our angel daughter Emma this week a lot and how grand a day it will be when she is resurrected and once again physically joins our family. When I woke this morning my first thoughts were of Emma. We have a pretty box that has some of Emma's things in it. It has a cap that she wore, pictures of her in the hospital and plaster casts of her hands and feet. I opened up the box and placed the card in the box. Sometimes I open the box and just hold the plaster casts and think of how having her has shaped our life and family.

I know with certainty that on the day of resurrection, after I have called back my wife from the grave, if I am worthy I stand with my wife by my side and call forth our precious daughter Emma. After holding her feet and hands I will fall at the feet of my savior and kiss his feet and hands and praise Him for the sacrifice he gave and for the power of the priesthood.

I don't know how this mortal will put on immortality, but I do know that Christ lives! And because he lives, I can live. Because he atoned for my sins I have hope for a better more perfect day. The doctrine of resurrection gives so much hope and peace in my life. I have such a long way to go before I am anywhere near as good as the Savior, but that is OK because he provided for me. I really look forward to the resurrection day and to standing as a family, complete and whole, in the presence of my Savior.

PS, This picture was taken in the hospital as I held Emma. When the picture was taken I was angry that the sacred moment was interrupted, but now I cherish the picture as it is the only one with me and Emma.

Oh, Wow!!!

Audrey is turning into quite the bookworm. She loves to take books off the shelf and spread them all around her. Then she opens up a book and after turning each page says, "Oh, Wow!!" Sara caught it on video.

Toddler Walk

So, It's official. Audrey is now a toddler. She realized about last Friday that she could walk. She is so excited about it that she stands herself up by the couch, throws her hands up in the air and TODDLES. She is quite the walker after only a week. Take a look!!!

Isn't she cute!!!

2007 Goals Report

So here is a report on my New Years Resolutions for 2007. I am making this post to add a measure of accountability to my actions and solicit help on my upcoming goals. At the beginning of the year I had the following goals.

1. To get down to 185 Pounds. I started out at 206 and as of yesterday morning was at 192.4 #s I don't know whether I will make the last 7.4#s by the 31st. Maybe an extended fast would be good.

2. To read the Book of Mormon twice and all the Sunday School lessons before church. I definately made the Book of Mormon goal. I had finished it twice by June 6th thanks to some challenges by Troy and should finish it for the fourth time this year tomorrow or Friday. As for the Sunday school lessons, did great until about July on that. Since then haven't budgeted my time well enough to complete that.

3. Write in my journal weekly. Another goal that I was strong on until about May. Then I started writing on my computer and then started blogging. However, none of the other stuff was consistent or weekly. One thing I did learn was that when I was consistently writing in my journal I seemed to get a lot more personal revelation and discernable direction from the Lord. There is power and insight that comes from regular introspection and documention of one's thoughts.

4. Research 20 family names and complete the temple work for them. Well, I researched many more than 20 names. And I did the complete work for many more than 20 people. Does it matter that the names I researched and the names I did the temple work for were not the same names?

This is the first year that I had real resolutions and I know that I accomplished more ths year due to the goals that I would have otherwise. I already have a good idea of my goals for 2008 but you will have to wait a couple days to hear those. Any help or encouragement from friends is welcome.

Conversations with my children!

The other night we were standing in line at a wedding reception watching the wedding video and the bride had a beautiful dress on. After watching for a couple minutes my 2 year old looked up at me with the largest puppy dog eyes I have ever seen and said, 'Daddy, someday do you think I can get married?" It was so cute and so I consented replying, "Sure, you can start dating around 27 and then get married any time after you are 28!" I figure that should give me time to rebuild my savings after my first daughter ties the knot.

Another funny conversation. We are riding in the van and Eliza asks, "Dad and mom, what if you are pregnant before you get married?" Our jaws dropped and Sara and I just looked at each other. Before we could respond Savana said, "You mean like Pregnant Hinkley?" We had a good laugh but never responded to Eliza's querry.

Halloween Hauntings

The girls had a blast on Halloween. We enjoyed going around and visiting grandparents. Sabby was undecisive about which costume she wanted to wear until about 10 minutes before we left, but finally consented to daddy's choice. She was the cutest little Einstein I have ever seen.

Snow White almost fainted because she couldn't find her 7 dwarves.
And to top it all off we were late to the trunk or treat because we had to take a detour around the Burrells!!! Tee Hee Hee!

One little mishap during the trunk or treat though. As I was dishing up the chili my afro kept getting in the way and once I bent down to pick up a ladle and my swell sun glasses which were hanging on my gold chain fell into a pot of chili! The only one who noticed was Sister Christensen (who I bribed with a sweet roll to keep quiet) and I quickly stirred the chili so that any potentially hazardous germs would be spread out over the whole congregation instead of the poor soul who was immediately next in line for a bowl. If anyone asks, it wasn't me, I was with my wife the whole time!!

Being surrounded with little girls means that every day can be a dress up day! Here are Eliza, Savana, and their friend Reagan. What fun little princesses! I love being a father!!!