January 4th

Today is friday and I decided to hang up my cleaning gloves and enjoy time with my precious kiddos! I will admit I did pick up a tad bit because I can not relax in mess, but I left the dishes in the sink and toys on the floor! There truly is nothing greater then the smiles on your kids faces and laughter filling the house! My kids are true miracles! After 5 long tearful years Noah Bird decided he would join our family. Not to long after the twins followed. even though there pregnancy was rip yor soul apart terrifying they joined our family! Its sad to watch them grow but exciting at the same time! I love my kiddos with every fiber of my being, even if that means no sleep, extra laundry, a day or two without a shower and driving a mommy vehicle instead of a sports car. In exchange i get to hear the sweetest laughs, the fnniest made up thngs by Noah, snuggles in bed with 3 beautiful children, and an eternal family! I'm one lucky girl!

New Years Resolutions!! (We are back)

Hello everyone! It has been so long since I last blogged. My life has changed in so many ways. Here is a quick run down of 2012.(This is going to be a long post sorry) 2012 started out great, Matthew and I learned we were having twins! My pregnancy with the girls was full of challenges to say the least . The girls were given a 20% chance of survival due to twin to twin transfusion syndrome but they defied the odds and became my sweet miracle twins! Not to long after we discovered we were having twins we found out we were moving to Germany! Thats right after a complicated crazy pregnancy and delivery we spent a month in the NICU, came home, packed up our belongings and moved to the great land of Germany!!! Before we left we had a few visitors. Grandma Gochicoa, Auntie Brina, and Uncle Marke came out to visit and help out with Noah while mommy and daddy spent a month in the NICU. Soon after Grandma Bird came and helped mommy out! Grandpa Bird along with cousins C.J. and Tristen made a quick appearance! We blessed the girls packed up our lives, said goodbye to our neighbor family, friends in Abilene, and celebrated Noahs 2nd birthday, then boarded a plane and traveled to Germany! We found a house moved in and celebrated our first overseas holidays with our good friends the Halls! (thank goodness for friends who have become like your family) We were also able to spend some time with our friends Seth & Jayne and meet there additions Oliver and Violet. We had not seen them in 4 years when we left montana. It was so great to see them again and to think all the way in Germany is wear we met up. We are so excited to see them again in Turkey in May. I hope 2012 was a good year for you and your family. We are so excited for 2013. I have to admit my good friend came up with the idea to post every day this year and turn it into a book. Sorry Chelsea but I am stealing your idea! I figure this will be a great way to keep a journal and turn it into a book of our adventures here in Germany! I cant even express how grateful I am to live in such an amazing place. Its beautiful here. My children will get to experience another culture and my husband and I will get to explore! Im super excited. I guess I will start by catching you up!

January 1st: We celebrated in style! We had plans to party hop that night since we were invited over to 2 peoples houses but Noah burnt out early and passed out at the first stop! We had the time of our lives anyways. We celebrated with our friends the Halls. We had a fire pit wear we roasted German brots, made smores, enjoyed the fire, and lit off fireworks! My friend lives on the top of the hill in her village so we had a panoramic view of the cites fireworks for a good 45minutes! It was such a fun evening and one I will always remember!

January 2nd: Dad had to go back to work so the kiddos and I went to there doctors appointment and then to the grocery store! We also got to eat lunch with dad that day and that was a blast! For Christmas Noah was given a matching uniform like daddies. He loves that thing and wanted to wear it to match dad! We got a lot of how cute he matches dad comments! It was adorable! Noah has gone to the dark side and absolutely LOVES all things DAD! I must admit its adorable.

January 3rd: Well here we are today being lazy and enjoying one another's company. No big plans just enjoying the cold day indoors. Today daddy works late so we are on our own! Theres nothing better then being a stay at home mom and watching my sweet kids grow up! I hope everyone has a wonderful day and remember its the New Year, a chance to start fresh and enjoy the small things in life! We miss so many of you back at home and hopefully one day soon we see you again.

Its been so long!!

Wow time has really gotten away from me and I have not blogged in such a long time! We turned off our internet at home to help save money for our next adventure! Not to long ago Matt got orders to Germany!!! We are so excited to move to Germany but have so much to get done before then. We are scheduled to leave no later then September 30th. As many of you know by now we are also pregnant with identical twin girls!! We are so very excited and elated. Noah will be a busy big brother to say the least. At the moment we are having some complications with the twins. They have whats called twin to twin transfussion. (http://childrens.memorialhermann.org/texas-fetal-center/ttts-surgery/) <---if you would like to read a little bit about the syndrome. Basically one twin is taking more blood from the other twin. This is obviously dangerous for both twins and we have had to make some challenging decisions. Right now we are currently in Houston being seen by some of the best physicans trying to decied when to have surgery. The surgery comes with major risks so the want to make sure that its worth it before putting the babies lives in further danger. They do lots and lots and lots and lots of fun crazy ultrasounds to determin how much fetal distress the babies are under. Then they rate you from 1-3. 1=babies are stressed but they are still doing well and they dont need the surgery at this time. 2=Prime time for surgery. They are stressed but have the best survival chance at this stage when doing the surgery. 3=The most critical time for you babies and you need surgery imediatly to help save there lives. This stage you dont want to be in because the sucess of the surgery is a lot lower considering the babies are very stressed and you put them under more stress. Right now we fall in between a 1 and 2. That was as of Monday. Today is thursday and we go back to see if im progressing into the 2 stage, or if im staying about the same, or im degressing wich would be amazing!! If i have progressed into a 2 we go ahead with the surgery. If i am kinda the same we get to go home and i will see a specialist in abilene 3 times a week. It has been challenging to hear the risks and complications but we know in the end its all in Heavenly Fathers hand. I am so greatfull for the testimony I have of Christ. I know that this life is only temporary and we are supposed to face challenges and trials. Some may seem simple and some may seem so difficult we cant bare them. The trial as of late has seemed umberable at times. To think about losing one or both of these precious angels is umberable to think about. Yeasterday matt and i went to the Houston Temple and it was so peacful and humbling. I feel at times satan trys to whisper in our ear that life is tuff and if we follow him he can make things better. He trys to tempt us into anything when we are at our weakest point. Im greatful that our Father in Heaven knows and understands me personally and helps to keep my mind focused and straight on the path. While at the Temple i felt so comforted that no matter what happened we would be okay. That even threw our tuffist moments He will not leave my side. That He loves me so much. Life is hard but its not ment to be a cake walk. Im greatful for my trials but im also greatful for the calm in my life as well. Im happy to have such a strong supprotive husband who has allowed me to express my frustrations, fears, and tears. He has truly been a sholder I can lean on. Im also greatful for all of our wonderful friends, family, and church members who have graciously stood up and said how can we help? what can we do? Even though we are going threw this difficult time I have truly been blessed. I hope next time I write I can bring better news. As of now we are waiting to see how things pan out. We love each of you very much and hope things are going well at this time for you. Always remeber that you are a son/daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves you personally and knows you personally. Always look for blessing threw your trial and I promise He will help you threw them.

Its true....Hes my love...and im happy its for all ETERNITY!!!

I cant express how much I love being a mom! Its true that being a mother is the most rewarding job! Its also can be hard at times but for me I have LOVED every minute of it!! Noah has changed me in so many way and has helped me become a better mom and person! My love for him was instant! I remember when I had my c-section and I couldn't see him at first but I heard him cry and it was the best sound in the world!! My heart jumps, hops, skips, and warms when I think about it! Its a cry like any other and I can still hear it in my head when I think about it! He is the most amazing kid in the world and has surprised me every day with something new he says or does! I'm so happy that he is mine for all eternity!! I love you Noah Bird!!

Hospitals stink....

My sweet bug was not doing well in august :( Noah got sick and started having seizures. For anyone who has experienced this knows how miserable it is! I felt so awful and like a horrible mother that this had happened to my baby! It was so scary and not fun at all! The first time it happened to us NOah had two seizures one after another. I was so scared and did not know what to do so we ended up calling 911. They ended up taking him to the hospital and we had no help from doctors there just a 6 hour wait!!! The next morning Noah saw his sweet doctor and said Noah had a vi ruse that caused his temp to sore high very quickly and that's what had caused him to seize. He started to do much better and then a week later was back to being sick. He had another seizure and was not getting any better so the doctor had us bring him in again. He was admitted and thank the high Heavens has not been sick since then!! He is doing so much better and is a happy little boy again!!
Im not sure who this baby is but I can promise this is not how my sweet boy acts!!


Napping on daddy!! I love these two!


The next day and pumped with tons of fluid later....


Wanting to escape after starting to feel better


The thing he does best...play with toys!!


His favorite past time...playing with daddy!!




Saying mmmmhhhmmm after taking a bite of pizza!! The doctor brought him some after he found out it was his favorite food!!

Everything is better with JUICE!

I let Noah have juice for the first time at the begining of august! He loved it and I had to take the bottle away so he would eat dinner that night! My baby is growing and changing and I just cant believe it!!

I love the Gospel

Last night I went to our Relief Society activity at church. It was about parenting, grand parenting, & strengthening families. I love the advice I get when I attend church activities especially when I feel its aimed at me! I have been struggling with Noah lately, he is getting bigger and changing, growing, and becoming very independent! I love him so much and to be honest the struggles had nothing to do with him. It was me. I felt that I was a horrible mother and that everyone else raised kids perfectly or did things so much better then I did. Then last night I realized it was not just me!! A sweet sister who is a single mom of 2 opened my eyes and I felt her testimony helped me grow! This sister is so amazing and she never complains about life's situations. She always has a smile on her face and her kids are the sweetest kids! She talked a bit about parenting and how dear it was to her heart and shared a video that was made by the church. I went and looked up the talk and read it that night.("Because she is a mother" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland) I had to stop several times so I could brush the tears from my eyes to keep on reading. I felt as if the talk was written for me. I love feelings and moments like this. They are moments when I feel my Heavenly Father picking me up dusting me off and saying "I love you so very much, I am here with you every step of the way, so lets keep going!" I'm so grateful for this lesson I learned and I'm so very grateful for the Gospel. I love the knowledge I have that im not doing this alone. That I may be imperfect but with faith and Heavenly Father by my side he can help me to become the perfect me!
I love you Noah!