Conner and Marielle: Life With 2 More

Shannon was so nice to throw me a baby shower a few weeks after the girls arrived. I was so overwhelmed with the support from the ward. I bet half the women there didn't even have a clue who I was. I am so grateful to Shannon and her hospitality, as well as a caring ward family.

I had to laugh when we took up the entire waiting room at the doctor's office. Just like that-a family of FIVE!

We finally got out of the house to go to the park (McCrae's very favorite place in the whole world) and he couldn't stop running back to the stroller to check on the babies.

Hannah and Heidi are now five weeks old. It has been the fastest five weeks of my life! The first couple sleepless nights were a real eye-opener. I thought staying up with one newborn was hard! Luckily, Marissa came just a few short days after we came home. Conner had an early appointment the morning after she arrived so she decided to stay in my bed with me and help me feed the babies. Luckily for Conner, she ended up staying with me every night! We had so much fun with her here. We held babies, fed babies, burped babies, changed babies and watched Poldark any chance we got. She was such a big help and we were so glad she came.

McCrae, showing Heidi the nakie dance in honor of her first bath.

Aunt Holli came next and she was a great help as well. Luckily, the ward meals had stopped (we had a few interesting casseroles) and she cooked some wonderful homemade lasagna which we ate out on our porch for the first time. It was beautiful weather and we had a great time. She kept McCrae entertained with a minky pillow, minkster, and a big sticker book. Not to mention, Snapchat. McCrae could stare at himself changing characters and facial features all day! Some of them were pretty funny. We hated to see Holli go, but my mom was coming next!

Holli cross-stitched this outfit for ME over 30 years ago.

Our nightly setup. It started feeling like Groundhog Day when we would haul all this equipment upstairs EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

My Mom was granted permission to leave the mission for 10 days. She went to see Julianne and her new baby Kamden (and everyone else in Utah), and then came to see us in Pennsylvania. It was the first time I was glad I lived here without any of my siblings around so that I didn't have to share her attention. She arrived Wednesday afternoon. We loved catching up, and McCrae was so happy to have Grammy here. We decided Friday night that we would bless the babies on Sunday so that she could witness this special event. Saturday, we drove an hour to a store called St. Jude's in Haverton, PA in hopes that we would find blessing dresses. Luckily, we found two that were PERFECT! The owner of the shop happened to have twins and she gave us 20% off! We spent the rest of the night making hair bows, and the next morning my mom steamed the dresses, cleaned the two sets of booties that I had worn as a baby, and made sure everything was perfect. Boy, was I glad she was here. I never would've had time to do all that, and I loved watching her participate in the girls' special day. We made sure that we were about half an hour early to church in order to dress the girls. We had them dressed just in time. Conner took Hannah first and gave her the most beautiful blessing. Heidi was next and hers was equally special. It didn't matter that the circle was small, the Spirit was definitely there. We missed having our family there, but it was so special to have my mom there. Shannon had invited us over for dinner earlier in the week, and we decided that it was the perfect after party. We didn't even have to host!

The last day my mom was in Pennsylvania we decided to load up all of the kids and go to Philadelphia. She was able to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Elfreth's Alley, the Betsy Ross House, Christ's Church and Benjamin Franklin's grave. It was brave of us to do such an outing, but I'm glad we did. She even took us to PF Changs on the way home! It was delicious.

It was a tearful goodbye as expected but I felt so lucky that she was even able to come. It was such a special few days.

Auntie Shannon had surgery just a few weeks after the girls were born. All she wanted when she got home was to hold a baby.

About a week after my mom came, my cousin Kelsey came to help. Jan joined her just a couple of days later and the two of them took two night shifts while they were here. What a sacrifice! They were awesome. My uncle, Alan flew into Richmond to stay with his son Jordan and they drove up to meet Kelsey and Jan and Philadelphia for a couple of days and then all stopped by to visit one night. It was fun having so much family in town.

Karla Jenkins came next. We couldn't believe how many visitors we were so lucky to have. We were able to take her to Lancaster to see the Amish and go to kitchen kettle Village. She had a great time. I don't think I'll ever get sick of that drive. It was fun having her, but when she left, we felt ready to figure out how to do things on our own.

The next morning, we were really missing our visitors! It took a few days to wrap my head around how I was going to do this by myself. Luckily, Conner works from home the majority of the week, so I am never truly alone. Although he doesn't work as many hours as he probably should, I am so grateful for all of his help. I think it would go insane without him available in case of an emergency.

McCrae, for the most part, is such a good big brother; He loves to kiss them, hold them, feed them, take baths with them and occasionally, throw a ball at their head.

The girls have been such good babies. They are usually squirming with gassy tummies from about 7 to 11 pm. But, for the most part they are happy. While Kelsey was here, she convinced me to take the girls to a chiropractor. Apparently, they can help with colic. We have been to one appointment and we will see if it helps.

Hannah started smiling at about six weeks and she hasn't stopped. Heidi followed her shortly there after at about eight weeks… But she is not as free with her smiles. You have to be really lucky! They definitely have their own looks, and their own personalities. Hannah loves to sleep during the day. And when you wake her to feed her, she is all smiles. Heidi wakes up every three hours, almost on the dot and is screaming to be fed. If she is awake, she wants to eat! Hannah has long fingers and long toes and Heidi has short fingers and short toes...just like her mother! We are excited to see if their personalities as they get older stay true to their newborn personalities.

Although I am exhausted, I am so happy. I told Conner the other day that I am just so content. I still can't believe that we have twins. I don't think that I will ever believe it. But we feel so lucky and so incredibly blessed that they are here and healthy and all is well.