Jeff and I met in 2004, got married in 2006 and were preggo with Piper before our first anniversary. When Piper reached eighteen months, we decided we were ready to add to our brood. I found out three days before Piper's second birthday that I was pregnant again. Working full time and keeping up with a two year old, I found myself absolutely exhausted in those first few weeks. I remember thinking I was such a wuss just wanting to lay around all the time...I soon found out that I wasn't housing just one, but two little people. Jeff nearly passed out in the doctor's office when we heard the news...funny story!
Looking back, my pregnancy with Piper was a breeze. I had no problems, no swelling and only gained 22 pounds (not that I was counting), Pregnancy with twins was definitely a different story. Through the exhaustion and working full time, we also faced the death of our oldest dog, Jake (who we all miss greatly), Jeff's job loss, stress of Jeff starting a new job, trading in my first car for a minivan and the purchase of a new more gas efficient vehicle for Jeff since the new job included travel. It seemed like there was some huge event every month. Add in the financial concerns we faced at the thought of two more mouths to feed, butts to diaper and people to care for and I was bound to have a few issues. My nesting instinct kicked in and my need to keep life as normal as possible for Piper led to the early debut of Sully and Finley. At 33 weeks, Sully decided he was coming out, ready or not! Finley came nearly 45 minuter after Sully. They had a rough start to life, spending their first three weeks in the NICU. Today at nearly eight months, they're thriving!
The decision to work or not to work was unfortunately decided for me. I truly had mixed feelings about working and having three kids. I had always wanted to be a stay at home mommy. When Piper was born, it just wasn't in the cards-my income far exceeded the cost of daycare. When I found out I was having twins, Jeff insisted that this time we would make it work for me to stay home. Even though I always wanted to stay home, I was torn by the thought of pulling Piper out of daycare. She had so many friends and loved "school". When Jeff got laid-off, I was so grateful he was able to find a new job so quickly. The new job unfortunately didn't have the same type of insurance or rate of pay as the previous job...so we needed my income and insurance benefits.
Life as a family of five is awesome! Being a full time mommy of three little kiddos, one big kiddo and one very furry little guy certainly has its chaotic moments, but I couldn't imagine my life any other way! Some of it is just too funny not to share...
