Saturday, May 4, 2013

Update 2013-style.

Act I, Scene 1. Our clumsy hero, while putting away a pan for his wife, drops the pan on his head. In a daze of anti-amnesia, he suddenly remembers that he and Lizzie have a blog and that it has been nearly a year since either of them have posted.

Aaaaand....action.

Blogging is so 2012, but with my Instragram filters blurred (my Nashville is literally, I think, in Nashville) and my Twitter account hacked by some Chinese guy who thinks that my nine followers are worth twenty minutes of time, I press on.

The Twins: Double Double, Toil and Trouble

Jonathan and Brigham have grown since the last time we've mentioned them. Jon weighs in at a cool eighteen pounds three, and Brig is just a bit behind him at fifteen pounds five oh-zees.


We found out that the twins are identical. At least, that's what our mail-order geneticists tell us. But spend a day with the two of them (No really--anytime. Please. Spend a coupla days. Or an afternoon. A few hours?) and you'll notice nearly opposite personalities.

Jon lives by Churchill's philosophy of conserving energy. When asked to what he attributed his success, Churchill replied, "Conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down. And never sit down when you can lie down." Jon is like a hibernating bear. He loves to eat. He'll mosey around a bit, enough to keep the blood flowing, but he doesn't make many sudden movements. He likes cuddling. He can zero in on a single toy and play with it for at least ten or fifteen minutes, which in twin baby time approximately six hours.

Brig is a calorie burning machine. Try to put a diaper on him, I dare you. He squirms, wiggles, contorts, slips around, and twists. Watching Brigham is a lesson in Brownian motion. He's just on the warm-up track-stage of crawling, but with all the rolling and scooting and somersaulting he does, he really doesn't need to learn to crawl. I look away for a minute and he is across the room like a ninja laced with Mountain Dew. He slobbers and drools like a St. Bernard. We think that this is partly due to his acid reflux, which he toughs through like an Army Ranger.

These boys are cute. A lot of work, but we wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

Law School

I just finished my second year of law school at BYU. Because we're doing the JD/MBA program, we have two more years left. Whenever Liz remembers that we are only halfway through, her bottom lip starts to tremble just like that kid in the movie Old Yeller who has to see his dog get shot. But we are having fun as a poor student family and, in the end, even if we can afford it,  I don't think Liz will even want to live in a place with a dishwasher and a washer and dryer. At least, that's what I tell her....

Supermom

Tending twins by day and reading by night, Lizzie has been on an absolute tear getting through her booklist this year. She is an amazing reader who writes reviews on Goodreads for every book she reads. Ask her about some of her recent favorites. She is hoping to start sewing lessons this month. No doubt she will make herself into a talented seamstress and quilter.

Miscellany

- Our boys have no hope in the ability-to-get-a-tan department. Lizzie and I once again reconfirmed this after two successive outdoor outings that ended in beet red sunburns for both of us.

- Flu and diarrea with two babies at once is fun for no one.

-My sister just had a baby today and did not name it after me. Yeah, it's a girl, but still....the nerve.

-Baby formula is expensive. Just sayin'. Can't Amazon do for baby formula what it did for e-readers and second-day shipping?

-Children's books. If the illustrators are not making 90% of the money here, they need some new negotiators. I really don't see what the authors bring to the table here. All you children's book illustrators out there: You have the power! Throw down your own terse sentences, add a rhyme or two, and then paint a beautiful picture. You really don't need these authors. As Uncle Si would say, That's a fact, jack!
 






Thursday, August 23, 2012

Isn't it about...Time?


For an update? Here’s the news:

Liz went on bed rest at 24 weeks

Liz slept on an air mattress for the entirety of bed rest because it was much more comfortable than the “firm” mattress (???!!!)

Dave and Liz go “swimming” (or in Liz’s case “floating”) everyday for one hour to keep the blood circulating.

Dave gets on Law Review!

Dave masters all cooking, cleaning, and laundry arts while Liz is “down”.

The Olympics single handedly SAVE Liz from going stir-crazy.

They both realize that a single window unit is NOT sufficient air conditioning for one of the hottest months on record.

Liz’s bi-weekly visits to the hospital put her on a first name basis with the doctors and nurses up at Maternal Fetal Medicine.

Liz delivers their babies at 33 weeks and 5 days-August 10, 2012

Liz now talks in the third person and frequently changes tenses.

Okay, enough of that. It was a sorry attempt at catching up all summer, but it will have to do. Yes, our babies are here and we are so happy. Of course we wish they could come home with us, but we know they are in good hands at the NICU.

Here are our little guys:



(Photo taken at 1 week old)

Jonathan Thomas Heywood:  born at 7:55 am, 3 lbs 5 oz
Brigham David Heywood: born at 7:55 am, 2 lbs 11 oz

No, that is not a typo; they were born in the exact same minute!

I’ll wait for another time to write the birth story (maybe December, kidding!), but for now just know that we are so grateful for all the prayers and kindness and support! We know it has helped tremendously. Both our little guys never had to be on a breathing machine and were breathing room air 5 days after birth! They are healthy and doing well, just still really small. They need to grow, grow, grow and then they can come home. Well, and they need to be able to maintain their own body temperature and breastfeed exclusively.

We are so happy they’re here!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Life from Bed (Rest)


Hey.

Remember me? I’m the one who promised better updates this summer?

Yeah, well things have been a little crazy ‘round these parts, which is a surprise considering our usual “craziness creator” (Dave) has been out of the country for the past 5 weeks.

Despite my adamant insistence that our blog not turn into “ The My pregnancy and Our Babies Chronicles”  I am having a hard time thinking of other things to write about. Not that there will never be amusing posts about pregnancy or a slew of photos of our adorable children. I only mean that they are to be intermixed with our thoughts, adventures, and the occasional humor post (most likely from Dave).

So while “modified bed rest” keeps me down and grounded I thought  I’d share a couple of my favorite finds from the past month.

I love love love this blog.  (and this from someone who doesn’t follow blogs)

This book has kept me entertained and enthralled for the past couple days.  500+ pages is great for bed rest.

I hate to admit it, but this song is too catchy-and I secretly love it.

This article was an interesting read about a very controversial subject and I thought it was well done.

And that’s it for now. But if you have any good “finds” than can be enjoyed from the comfort of a chair or bed, I’d love to hear about them.


P.S. Dave and I are fighting about the Blog. He insists I take it over completely. I insist he continue to write on it. Hence our lack of posting… Sorry ‘bout that.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Craving 2.0

I forgot to mention one of my favorite episodes.

One night, Lizzie was craving some spreadable salty cheese.


I was studying at the law school and so she went to the grocery store alone. Her cravings were so intense that she took a butter knife WITH HER to the grocery store. She bought some bagel thins and the cheese, and enjoyed a cheese-smeared bagel in the Smith's parking lot.

Classic.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Craving


They say pregnancy is a long, tough slog full of frustrations, stress, and miserable, painful days.

And that's just for the husbands.

Ok, but really, pregnancy does not seem to be "fun" in any sense of the word. I'm only one outside observer, but I've seen enough now to know that women go through the ringer to get this planet populated.

Lizzie is now in her second trimester. Month four seems to be better than the first three.Trimester Uno t was fun for no one. Morning sickness should be reworded as "all-day sickness."  I still can't say "J-Dawgs" around  Lizzie or she will physically hurt me.

However, I did enjoy making a list of the foods that she craved. I also made a list of the foods that she could not even stand to think about, let alone smell. And taste?  Over-her-and-a-roomful-of-innocent-victims dead bodies.


Lizzie's Food Cravings

  • Mashed potatoes
  • Chicken in a biscuit crackers
  • Orange juice. Pulp free.  But then….nope. Didn't drink one cupful.
  • Zuppas mushroom soup
  • Egg salad sandwiches. Lots of egg salad sandwhiches.
  • V-8
  • Salata German vinegar (don't ask me. I didn't even know this existed)
  • Cup of Noodle (funny story. she was craving this with a vengence and so she had me buy a whole caseful from Costco. Two Cup of Noodle's later, the craving subsided and we now have a pantry full of the stuff)
  • Tomato Soup
  • Pepperoni pasta salad
  • Ginger cookies
  • Tahara Umara salsa bar in Midawy
  • Café Galleria pizza in Midway

Lizzie's Food Aversions

  • Ranch dressing
  • Cream Cheese
  • Any type of meat, especially chicken
  • Café Rio
  • EVERYTHING
  • Milk
  • Yogurt
  • Tuna

A Few Favorite Quotes from the First Trimester
  • "I think  I could live as a vegetarian"

  • "She should be hanging over a toilet right now" -said to the female character in "Fast Five" who had just revealed she was pregnant, but was, at the same time, hanging on ledges, jumping across buildings, and driving fast cars

  • "Maybe I should have told them that I was pregnant"--said after a family discussion about vacation plans that included options of bike riding, conoeing, and extreme hiking; all of these activities were set to occur when she will be eight months pregnant

  • "So one more time. . . you're SURE I'm pregnant?" Said to the doctor during her first checkup after the doctor had told her, three times, that she was pregnant. Also, after she heard the baby's heartbeat

  • Dave: "Is there anything I can get you?
                    Liz: "A gun."




Monday, April 16, 2012

The Sun Has Set On Our Long Cold Winter



I honestly and sincerely apologize for the lack of blog posts in 2012. Of course, I am making the assumption that most of you CARE about our updating-which is a far-fetched assumption to make. But to be honest, our lives have been painfully boring. I can sum up our greatest achievements of the past four months in a few short sentences:

Dave

-Received the FLAS scholarship for next year

-Won “Best Brief” in the first year law school moot court competition

-Survived his first year of law school (almost! Technically he has his last final on Wednesday)

Liz

-Completed Seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey in record time

-Made the least amount of dinners and did the least amount of loads of laundry (due to being sick for 3 months)

-Successfully pulled off her best April Fool’s joke (see below)

Of course my “achievements” may have been exaggerated for humor sake, but really, things have been slow for this law school widow. Thank goodness for great friends who make me to go exercise class each week, and who invite me to go get dessert every now and then.

But this summer promises to make up for our boring winter. Externship in Japan (for Dave), trip to Japan (for me), family vacations (both of which the destination is yet to be determined), welcoming home Elder Ryan Heywood, and more.

So don’t go away.

Better quality posts, more frequent blogging, and contributions by Dave are forth coming.