family update

December 19th. The best day of my life, and the worst day.

I got to be a mom. Even if it was for just a few minutes before I had to send them back to their Father in Heaven, I got to be a mom.

Lucas and I have come to recognize our important role in the lives of our sweet babies. They were lucky enough to come to earth only for a short time to fulfill their missions. We were lucky enough to supply them with the bodies and the love they needed.

I am so grateful for the wonderful doctors and nurses at Memorial Hospital. They were there to support us through difficult times, and difficult news. They cried with us. They shared their own stories with us, and made me feel at home for the worst weekend of my life. In Indiana. When Josie and Wyatt were born, they let us hold them and take care of them for the few minutes they needed us. And then they let us hold them some more. They made phone calls for us, and took care of everything we needed. They let us be a family.

I don't know what I would have done without my Kane family. I wanted my mom to be there with me, but my in-laws were perfect. Their love and support was unmeasurable. We received so many wonderful and encouraging messages from our family and friends, we are so blessed.

Lucas is my rock. He didn't leave my side. He prayed with me and gave me Priesthood blessings. He was encouraging and faithful, and the best dad I could ever imagine for my babies. Oh how I love him.

My cousin Wendy shared this quote with me ... I've read it a hundred times in the last week:

Joseph Smith rightly taught:

"The mother who laid down her little child, being deprived of the privilege, the joy, and the satisfaction of bringing it up to manhood or womanhood in this world, would, after the resurrection, have all the joy, satisfaction, and pleasure, and even more than it would have been possible to have had in mortality, in seeing her child grow to the full measure of stature of it's spirit...When she does it there, it will be with the certain knowledge that the results will be without failure; whereas here, the results are unknown until after we have passed the test."

announcement

I know most everyone has seen it on facebook already, but here's the announcement. We get:

1 girl baby

&

1 boy baby

Lucas and I are dying of excitement and I'm starting to get the shopping/crafting/decorating bug. Since I'm not crafty, and these kids are making us poor already, I'm going to need someone to make/buy me the following items:

(all images courtesy of pinterest of course)
Any volunteers? I'll let you come play with them when they're born ....

And for those that have requested maternity shots, here you are. Please keep in mind, I'm only halfway through this pregnancy.

Maybe it's time to give up on those stretchy non-maternity shirts.

Links

Some things on the internet:

Best-selling books of 2011, according to Barnes & Noble -- I need to start making a list.

The 2011 First Presidency Christmas Devotional -- Super awesome, watch if you have a chance. This is one of my favorite things each holiday season...

Kelle Hampton's Awesome Christmas Party -- I can't wait to do fun things like this for my kids...

*PS my SIL Ellen LOVES Kelle and promised to have a party like this for me next week in Michigan - can't wait Ellen!

I'm obsessed with these boots. They're practically a million dollars, and I have several pairs of boots already, but I just LOVE them.

Pinterest is still the best thing on the internet. I love love love pinning things for the kiddos.

2 babies (tumblr)

I want this. (etsy)

baby outfits (etsy)

- - - - -

And a baby update: Still feeling super awesome, getting pretty big pretty quickly. Maybe I'll put some pictures up one of these days ... Wednesday is the big gender reveal, so get excited :)

thankful

I love Thanksgiving. Not the food so much, except the potatoes and rolls, but the whole idea. So in the spirit of gratitude, I thought I would share some things that I'm grateful for:

I am grateful for my darling Lucas, who loves me every day no matter what. I'm grateful that he goes out of his way to make me happy and comfortable, even on my crazy days.

I'm grateful for the Gospel. I'm grateful for the knowledge that I am a daughter of God and that He loves me. I'm grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and especially for the knowledge of eternal families.

I'm grateful for these 2 tiny souls growing in me. We are so blessed, I can't help but feel completely overwhelmed with gratitude and joy each time I think of them. I'm also grateful that Luke is super excited to be a dad. He's been reading tons of books and studying everything he can get his hands on to learn about everything .... I love it.

I'm grateful for family and friends who are wonderful and supportive and I just love them so much. Lucas and I are extra lucky to have such great families and great friends.

source: google.com via pinterest

airplane ride

One of my favorite things in the whole world is flying. It doesn't matter if it's a 21 hour flight to Beijing or a 45 minute flight to Boise. I love being in airports and airplanes and having a carry on with special snacks and magazines and my ipod.

I especially love when my flight ends up somewhere exciting and fun, and tomorrow is no exception. We're going to Portland to visit Andy, Emily, and their kiddos :)

I can't wait to meet baby Pepper, run around with Jude, and paint Sadie's toenails. Not to mention, they just bought a new (old) house and Lucas (and me I guess) is helping with some of the renovations. His dad will be there too, so it will be a mini family reunion, I'm so excited.

It's a short trip, but I'm in desperate need of a break from work and boys and everything and this will be just perfect.

+


PS My dear friend Julie had a baby this week! Isn't he the most darling little thing?? I want to squeeze him. San Fransisco is next on the travel agenda....