Fun times in our busy life.

Life in the West household has been an adventure as you can imagine with twins and a 3 year old, but we have been having a lot of fun. All of the boys are growing so fast and it's amazing seeing the amount of stuff that they are learning in such a short period of time. Our house is loud, but it is full of love and laughter and, of course, the occasional crying.

Tyler's verbal skills has blasted off and he is trying so hard to pronounce words better. We sometime repeat words about 5 times before he can say it right, but at least he is trying. He has been telling us stories and trying to read to the boys. We have trouble understanding him at times especially when he is talking fast and he starts slurring his words together, but its amazing to see the improvement he has made in one year. I still think he will need some speech therapy in the future, but his teacher feels that he does not need it at this time.
Recently we had Tyler's best friend, Xander, and his family over for dinner and a play date. The boys are so cute together and it was amazing to see how similar Xander and Tyler's personalities are. It was nice talking to his parents and it felt like we were encouraging each other about the difficulties of a 3 year old. Hopefully Xander will be able to come over for more play dates.Tyler and Xander
Tyler was so sad the next morning when he woke up. He went to the chair that Xander had been sitting in the night before, touched the chair with his hand and said, "Xander" in such a sad touching voice. He missed his buddy, but we let him know that he would see Xander at school and would be able to play with him. He said, "Ok" in an excited voice and went on playing. Such a funny little guy.

The twins are now 5 1/2 months old and they are such loving and fun little people. I am enjoying them so much I can't even put it into the right words. I have to say that I love having twins right now. It is so hard at times, but just making them smile and laugh, especially at the same time is so worth all the hard times we go through. At their last dr.'s appt Liam had passed up Xander in weight by 2 oz. They both weighed about 15 lbs which is about 50%, but they were about 90% for height. I am really excited to see they are tall boys.


Xander is such a cutie. His eyebrows are so expressive and I can't get enough of him. I call him the Daddy Tracker. If Eric is anywhere in the room, he can spot him so fast and just smiles and gets all squirmy. He loves his daddy. He loves to move his legs also. When he sits in his bouncer or car seat his legs get going so fast that I feel like he is running a Marathon. I am so afraid of when he begins to walk because I can just imagine him running everywhere. Xander is our loud child. He talks and squeals constantly whether he is happy or complaining. I just love his little voice. Xander also has 2 bottom teeth and they are sharp! His smile is so cute now with his teeth showing. He also likes to bite. Eric keeps complaining that he keeps gnawing on his hand and it hurts.
Liam is our laid back and joyful child. His cheeks are so chunky that I just love to kiss them. He loves to put both hands on my face and smile at me in a tender way. He also likes to grab my hair which I do not like, but he thinks its funny when I say,"OW." Liam is starting to become mobile. He is kind of crawling backwards and actually gets places, just not the places that he wants to go. He is about ready to roll over and has actually done it once. I think once he gets the rolling thing down he will be rolling everywhere instead of backing up into things. The funniest thing about Liam is that he talks and complains himself to sleep.
Xander also does this a little, but Liam will talk with his eyes closed for a while before he goes to sleep.
As you can see we are having a lot of fun and the kids are so entertaining. I feel like my life is fulfilled and could not get anymore happier.

Living with 4month twins.

A year ago, if you asked me if I would ever liked to have twins, I would have laughed in your face. Never did I imagine that we would be blessed with twins. Today I am loving having twins. Don't get me wrong, it is a lot of work and I have gotten used to getting very little sleep at times, but think about all the fun and adorable moments you have with just one baby and double it. Our house is a lot more noisy, but the noise if probably from laughter and love.

I can't believe that Xander and Liam are already 4 months old. I can't believe that we have been parents of twins for 4 months and are actually enjoying it.

At 4 months old, the boys are cooing like crazy. It's so much fun to sit them facing each other and listen to them just talk. When we lay them down next to each other, they always hold hands. I can't wait to see how their relationship grows closer as they get older.

Xander rolled over already and I am sure that Liam will follow soon. Both boys love to stand up and Liam even tries to take steps.

We have finally moved the boys into their own room and they are currently sharing a crib and transitioning very well. If it was not for the cold and cough that has plagued them lately, they would probably be sleeping through the night. It funny to see no matter how far apart you place them in the crib, they always tend to migrate and snuggle up close to each other during the night.

One part of having twins and twin babies is the adorable faces that they make. They are starting to look a lot more alike to us, but we can always tell the apart. A lot of our laughter comes from just looking at them and hearing them talk.Liam is intently listening to Xander's complaints...

but he is not sure what to do about it.

Puzzled looks.
Help! I'm falling over from laughter!

Say Cheese!

3 months.

Exactly 3 months ago, I gave birth to these beautiful baby boys.
Today Eric and I said to each other, 'Congratulations, we have survived 3 months with 3 kids."
The last 3 months have been so hard, but so wonderful. I can honestly say that these are the best of times and the worst of times. It is so hard to function with just a couple of hours of sleep on some nights, with two babies crying at the same time, and a 3 year old demanding your attention. It's exhausting trying to feed two babies and still find time to feed yourself or even take a shower. It's frustrating not being able to keep my house clean with all this going on and after spending hours cleaning it, a little certain boy comes along and messes it up within 5 minutes.

Life can be so hard sometimes, but then there are those times when these beautiful babies look up at you, smile, coo just because you are their mother. It's magical watching a 3 year old ask to hold his baby brothers and snuggle up to them or try to tickle them and then watching these cute babies smile back at him. It's wonderful being able to comfort these boys just by holding them and talking to them. It's so peaceful watching these sweet babies sleep, their eyes twitching and wandering what they are dreaming of. I would not trade any of those hard times if it means that I have these precious moments in my life.
At 3 months of age, Xander and Liam are very happy boys. They smile constantly and love to coo or talk when they are being talked to. Last night Xander laughed out loud for the first time. It was a big chuckle and the most precious sound. I feel Liam is trying to learn how to crawl. Every time I put him on his tummy on the floor, he tries to grab onto something and pull himself forward. Sometimes he makes it somewhere. They are also discovering their hands and toes. It is so cute watching them look at something and concentrate so hard trying to figure it out. At night they sleep together in a playard. We try to lay them down as far away from each other as possible because at some point they move right next to each other and snuggle and sometimes wake each other up.
I love my children more than anything else. Xander and Liam have already brought so much love and joy into our home and I feel so blessed and humbled with them in my life.

A month to remember.

November was a very busy month for our family and because it was so busy, I did not have time to blog.
The month started off with the passing of Dennis, then the twins blessing. The blessing was beautiful and was an even more emotional day because Dennis had passed away the Friday before. The spirit was so strong that day and it felt like a day of mourning Dennis and celebrating the birth of the twins. Try contemplating how we felt that day. Many happy and sad tears were shed that day.
Liam

Xander

That next week we spent attending Dennis' memorial service then driving to Utah and attending the burial service at the Salt Lake City Cemetery. It was a beautiful service. This was the one time when all of Dennis' children and stepchildren were all together. We spent 2 days gathering and having fun.Tyler was in heaven playing with so many cousins It was truly a celebration of Dennis' life. I learned so much about Dennis in that week that I did not know and I loved him and missed him even more.

Ty sleeping on the drive to Utah.


Ty loving his cousin's fake rifle.

Ty and cousin celebrating his little cousin's birthday.

The next week we went to Fresno to introduce the twins to their great-grandparents. I consider myself very lucky to still have 3 living grandparents. (My grandfather passed away when I was 14). This is very special to me because I really want my children to be able to meet their great-grandparents. Unfortunately due to health problems, I am sad to say that some of them might not be around for another year,though I pray that they are. I wish that my children could grow up knowing them, but I will at least be able to say to them that they met their great- grandparents and each one was able to hold them.. I have many fond memories of spending the summers with my grandparents on both sides.My uncle also came for a visit to meet the twins.

Thanksgiving was spent at home. For the holidays we usually end of traveling, but with the passing of Dennis, we decided that we would hold Thanksgiving at home and celebrate it with Eric's mother. We had a very relaxing day, excluding the time I had to prepare the meal and worry that the turkey was never going to be done cooking.

November was a month to remember. It was a time we mourned the loss of Dennis, but continued to celebrate the birth of the twins with so many family members.

Another photo session.

We have been so blessed with gifts of photo shoots from some friends in our church ward. We now have amazing pictures of these babies and even Tyler that we will cherish for many years. Our last photo shoot was with Sarah. She is a great photographer and so energetic and she captured some priceless moments of our kids. She was great at working with us. Its hard to take picture of babies and try to get them cooperate especially if they are awake. Xander and Liam were 5 weeks old when the photos were taken and I cannot believe how awake they were. The best part and also the grossest part of the session was when Xander pooped on both Liam and himself then Liam peed on both of them. It was a mess, but you would not have known by looking at these cute boys. They were even more happy after they got it all out and even took a little nap. If you want to see more of her work go to www.sarahblairphotography.com.
This is my favorite picture. I just absolutely love the looks on these little boys. It makes me want to squeeze them through the picture.


I was so glad that Sarah captured a picture with Eric. It is really priceless.

I love this picture of the twins being so active. I feel this is how they are at home all the time.
'
These two boys are just so lovable and really react to each other.


We had to get a picture in their Halloween Outift. If you can't recognize them, they are the aliens from Toy Story. I love these hats.


This picture really captures the precious moments. It is so fun having twins when they are this age and you can still hold both of them at the same time. If you come to my house during the day, you might find me holding them this way.


I cannot believe that Sarah was able to get these great pictures of Tyler. She was ready at any moment. Tyler did not want to take pictures. We tried bribing him, but he was determined. When we got him to sit in this chair, he was so mopey until I accidently stepped on the cord for the flash and all the lights went out. When they came back on he was smiling because he thought that was pretty funny and Sarah quickly took some picture.


This is my favorite picture of Tyler. He is such a handsome little boy and I just love him so much.
I feel truly blessed for the picture that we have had. Angella and Sarah have no idea just how happy they have made me by their gifts.

In Remembrance of Dennis

Today, November 5th, my sweet father-in-law, Dennis, passed away. For the last 1 1/2 years he has been battling with a disease (myleodysplastic syndrome) that we knew would eventually take his life, but we did not think it would happen so fast. We are comforted knowing that this last week he had come to terms with the severity of his condition and was able to spend some quality time with all of his kids at one time.

When I first met Dennis 11 years ago, I remember thinking that he was Santa Claus. He had a beard that was white and he was a jolly person. He always smiled and was so positive. He was also a jokester. My most fondest memories of Dennis was sitting with him and he would tell me stories of growing up and of the funny things his kids had done. He was so proud of his children and his grandchildren. He raised some really great children too and I have been blessed to get to know them and call them my family.

Dennis was a great photographer and he loved sharing his pictures with everyone. He often sent his photos to Deseret News and they would be published. He captured the beauty of nature in his photos.

He was a lover of fishing and hunting. I remember opening up the refrigerator in the garage and finding a duck with feathers and all just laying inside or a fish that he had caught that morning and laughing and thinking, it is not often that you see this in a refrigerator.

Dennis was a wonderful cook. He often made soups, grilled yummy fish and meats, and he often made his famous clam dip. The best part was that he found joy in cooking for his family and sharing his recipes.

Dennis was such a wonderful father-in-law. It breaks my heart that I will not get to see his face again while on this earth. I always felt at peace and comforted being around him. He had that affect on a lot of people. I loved him very much and I am going to miss him a lot.

The last time I saw Dennis was in the hospital after the twins were born. I am so thankful that he was able to come and meet these sweet boys. Now I can tell them about their grandfather. I will treasure these memories forever.
Dennis was Eric's step father, but he loved us unconditionally like his own children. Although we are not sealed to Dennis and his family, I know that one day we will see him again after this life is over. So Dennis, Till we meet again.

Twin Photo Shoot Part 2

Xander giving a wink.

Liam

Daddy and Liam.

Sweet Xander

Xander

Liam

Twins 1st Photo Shoot.

While we were in the hospital, a friend who is a photographer came and took pictures of the boys. If you want to see more of Angella's work go to http://angelladawn.smugmug.com. Tyler was being a pickle so he went with Grandma and each twin at one point was crying and hungry so needed to be breastfed. Through all of that, Angella still took gorgeous pictures and captured some really precious moments of these boys that I will always cherish.Liam.

Mommy and Xander

The Birthday was scheduled before it was scheduled.

This week we had another little blessing come to us or one added onto our two that arrived last week. We found out that Xander and Liam were born on Eric's father's birthday Sept 13th. Eric's father passed away 21 years ago when Eric was 10 years old. I always remembered the date of his passing because we try to go see his grave and because it is such a very emotional day for Eric, but I did not remember when his birthday was. This year with the craziness that has been happening in the last couple of months, Eric forgot his father's birthday too. I was also the one who scheduled the c/section for this day. I was not keen on the twins being born on the 13th of the month because eventually they would have a birthday on Friday the 13th, but it was the only day that the Dr. could perform the surgery. I guess this date was meant to be.

When we found out that Liam had bladder and kidney problems before he was born I always thought of Eric's father as watching over him, and Xander, of course, but especially Liam. I knew Liam's middle name would be Calvin after his grandfather before we had decided on his first name.

I truly feel that the day of their birth was meant to be which makes me feel even more humbled that they were meant to stay in my womb longer and that my hard work at being on bed rest was for this purpose.

Now we will never forget the birthday of Xander, Liam, and Calvin West.

Welcome Xander and Liam

A week ago our family was blessed with two precious baby boys. Xander James West was born at 9:14am and Liam Calvin West was born at 9:15 am. on Sept 13, 2010 via c/section. Xander weighed 6lbs and 19.1 inches long. Liam weighed 6lbs 12 oz and 19.3 inches long. We feel so very blessed that they arrived at their scheduled time and not any earlier. It was a very trying pregnancy, but so worth it. Eric and I keep saying everyday that we cannot believe that these are our baby boys.Moments before we became parents of twin boys.
Mommy meeting her boys for the first time.
Cuddling together.
Tyler meeting his brothers for the first time.
4 days old and going home.
Tyler holding Liam for the first time.