Doublettes!

So...... remember how I posted that our ultra sound wouldn't be until the 17th? Well apparently there was a misunderstanding-- our apt. was actually set for TODAY! (I am so glad that I called to confirm when I did because otherwise we would have missed it!) Anyway, yet again the two peanuts were being somewhat uncooperative in giving us a good shot of the goods... until towards the end of the ultra sound, the nurse got the most perfect shot of the two sitting side by side, rump down-- and there was "nothing" there! Yep, we are having girls and we are so excited! We are already enjoying the never-ending supply of hand-me-downs coming our way. We are truly blessed... now to come up with not one, but two cute names....any ideas?

Baptisms, Blessings, the 4th, and "Doublets"...

Gosh, what a whirlwind this last week has been! On Tuesday afternoon, Jordan and I set out for yet another mini-vacation to California. We drove a rental car big enough to haul all the baby stuff (crib, etc.) Mom and Lindsey had been collecting for us, back to Utah. We got in late Tuesday night and crashed on an air mattress in the family room. On Wednesday we attended our neice Annie's baptism. I cannot believe that little girl is 8-- and still just as sassy as I remember:) It was good to see friends and family who had not seen "the belly" yet. I kept telling everyone that my tummy felt really big for not even being 5 months yet, but my sister assured me that when you are pregnant, you always feel bigger than you really are.
Thursday was an exciting day! My mom works as a receptionist for a mobile ultra-sound company, and was able to set up and appointment for one of the techs to come over and tell us what "kind" of baby I am having. We were so excited to find out-- not to mention, Lindsey had an arsenal of girl clothes she wanted to send with us if it was a girl. Anyway, we were in my mom's room on her bed, and about a minute into it the tech asks "how many babies are you expecting?" "Just one." I replied. She continued looking around and after a while she said..." I don't mean to alarm you, but I am seeing two babies" WHAT?!! Sure enough, as she kept prodding around with the scope, there was two of everything! I could not believe my ears or my eyes! My great grandpa on my mom's side was a twin, but never in a million years did I think I would be having twins. No wonder my belly felt so huge! We were so shocked, but very excited! Anyway, the sweet tech tried and tried to get a shot of the "goods" so that we could still find out the gender, but to no avail. At one point they were spooning (which was so adorable), in another shot they were rump to rump-- yeah, totally uncooperative. Jordan and I were like "great... they are already non compliant." Anyway, I will be going in on the 17th for my actual 20 week ultra sound, so hopefully we will find out more then. In the meantime, we are still trying to digest the news that there are two babies, and not just one.
That same day I went to visit the Bahouths-- a family I used to work for in California. We were eager to see the kids, Jordan especially because I had been back not to long ago babysitting them for that week in April. Anyway, cute Talmage, who is 6, hadn't seen my big belly yet. So his mom asked him "Talmage, do you know why Maci's tummy is so big? What's in there?" He replied "It's a little child" (it was so cute, I wish you could have heard it in his voice). Then I said, "It's not just one little child, it's two. Do you know what that's called when there are two babies?" He said "Doublets!" It was so hilarious-- we got such a kick out of it. So these babies will no longer be called the twins, but the doublets, thanks to Talmage:).
The next day was the Fourth of July. That morning my nieces Annie, Mia, and Afton all participated in the neighborhood-wide kid parade. It was very cute. They all decorated their bikes, Afton was in a wagon, and rode around the neighborhood. That evening we went to our friends the Grayson's house for swimming and a BBQ. We totally hit the right spot because the pool temp. was perfect and for some reason I couldn't get enough bratwurst-- it was delicious, and totally what my body wanted--when cravings, for me, are still rare! They also gave us quite the fireworks show and the end of the night!
Saturday morning, Mom, Linds, and I went garage sale-ing. It was fun, and I found some much needed baby items. We had a good time. That night was low key--just swam and had some yummy pizza.
On Sunday my friends Chrissie and Jason blessed their baby boy, Ellis. He looked soo adorable. After the fun event we went to their house for a yummy brunch, and then set off to make the long drive home.
It was such a fun trip, and I hope that we will be able to do it again soon-- although we are going to have our hands full for the next little while, so I am not sure when that will happen:). I will update  once we find out the gender of our doublets... it's only a week away!

About Dad...

My thoughts have been turned a lot toward my dad lately... I am not sure if it is because of an upcoming Father's day, or just that I always feel a sense of concern for him... but at any rate, I thought it a worthy occasion to blog about Dad.
When I was young, my dad was my hero. The gospel and his family were his greatest priorities which was made evident by the kind of life he lived. He and my mom moved their young, little family out to Folsom (two hours away from the Bay Area where Dad worked) just so that we could grow up in nice home with a backyard! Everyday, Dad would make the grueling commute to and from work in a little Nissan pick-up with no air conditioning and vinyl seats, which is no small deal for those of you who know how brutal California summers can be. He did this without complaint-- in fact, I remember on several occasions Dad coming home and playing with us immediately after the long drive home, giving my mom the rest of the night "off." Although I appreciated the time Dad took to play with us then, I feel like now that I am growing into adult life and taking on more responsibilities, I am able to fully appreciate the love and sacrifice that went into mustering enough energy after a long day to play with some feisty kids.
Dad's love for the gospel was also made evident in so many ways. As an adult convert to the church, he would often express how much he would have loved to serve a mission, and never cowered at the chance to share the gospel with friends. He was a strong spiritual leader, serving on councils and bishoprics. He would often take us aside for a one-on-one "lump-in-the-throat-talk," as we called them. He would inquire about how things were going in our lives with school, friends, and whatever else is important to a young child. He would take that time to tell us individually how much he and mom loved us, and how much our Heavenly Father loved us. This time was special. And again, now that I am older, I realize that the lump in my throat was the Spirit that would enter the room as we had that time together.
As time went on, even in my teen years I was able to maintain a good relationship with my dad. But it wasn't until my late teens-early twenties that my family and I realized that the dad we respected and loved so dearly was changing.
Dad's work ethic and true zest for life decreased at an unimaginable rate. All he ever wanted to do was go walk around malls, go the movies, or eat out. He began alienating himself from the rest of us through poor and downright childish and selfish behavior. We were all extremely hurt and confused. Where had the righteous leader of our family gone?
While serving my mission, I continued to receive only bad news about Dad and his behavior. We just couldn't understand how such a loving and family-centered person could make such a drastic life change, and in such a short span of time. We were convinced that it had to have been something chemical because it just couldn't be explained otherwise.
A few months after I returned home, we finally got a diagnosis! This was to our great relief, as up until this point we were fighting feelings of bitterness and resentment at his behavior. Dad was diagnosed with Fronto-temporal Dementia or FTD. This disease attacks the brain, much like Alzheimer's, however it is unlike Alzheimer's in that it does not affect memory. Essentially what is happening to Dad's brain is that it is shrinking, and as you might have guessed by the name of the disease, it attacks primarily the frontal lobes of the brain. Unfortunately, it is the frontal lobes that affect your personality, reason, judgement, inhibitions, etc. This explains why Dad's behavior was so strange, and so unlike him. It was unlike him because it wasn't him.
Like I said, we were relieved to have a diagnosis, but at the same time, we were just so sad to have lost our beloved father. His disease has progressed quite a bit since then. It is hard to witness, but it makes me so incredibly grateful for my knowledge of the gospel. One day I will see the "real him" again.
I always thought that when I grew up my parents would be able to teach me so many things about real-life-- and he has, just not like I expected. Through this whole experience he has taught us patience, tolerance, to find happiness in the simplest of things, and how to keep perspective. I will be the first to admit, these lessons have not been easily learned. In fact, it is still really hard to be patient with him when he calls me 5 times a day to tell me the same joke. But I know there is a bigger plan, and that I just need to be doing my best. I love him. That's what I want to say about Dad...

Early Pregnancy...

Okay so I just have a few things to say about early pregnancy (in hopes that things will get better in the future)... it is such strange experience. Like, I'm really not myself these days. For instance, the only foods I ever crave (which is a rare occurrence these days anyway) is something nasty that I wouldn't dream of eating otherwise. I have been known to have hankerings for taco bell mexican pizzas and top ramen of all things! It's insane. Why am I never in the mood for something delicious and nutritionally dense? Cafe Rio--why not you? Another strange thing is the extreme sensitivity of my senses. Never have lights seemed so bright, voices seemed so loud, burnt food smelled so strong-- it's crazy. The worst part is my aversion to Jordan. My poor husband who slaves away waiting on me absolutely revolts me these days... it is so sad:(. It's mostly his smell (which is strange because that's usually something I love most about him)... he will want to come give me a hug or something, but it won't last for 3 seconds before I have to tell him to go away because I might be sick.  Pregnancy has definitely rocked our worlds, but we know that in a strange way, this is preparing us for things to come.  We know that having a child will change things--a lot! So, although it's hard, we are grateful for the lessons Heavenly Father has taught us during this time.  

Announcement...

FINALLY--something exciting to announce!
We're having a baby! We found out a couple of weeks before I went to California, but were a little apprehensive to announce it before I was safely through my first trimester. Well, I am on my 12th week, and we just went in today and heard the heartbeat for the first time! What an amazing blessing this is-- we could not be more thrilled! Although I have to admit, pregnancy has been rough!  I am always nauseous, and pretty helpless and demanding (sorry, Jordan!)   But, ) we are so excited to have this new addition to our family, it makes it all worth it. So if there are any calls I have not returned or visits I have missed...hopefully you won't be too angry with me...We're expecting Stutz Jr. at the end of November:)

Finals are over, but no time to celebrate...

Ah well... I have had countless friends ask me to update this thing and, well, I am touched that you all care so deeply...or maybe you are just bored of reading the same old thing:) At any rate, we thought we would give you somewhat of an update on things. I recently returned home from a trip to California where I was able to watch three of my favorite kids for a whole week! It was a good time, the weather was beautiful, I had some fun visits with friends and family, but I do admit I came home completely exhausted! Jordan wasn't able to come with me this trip because, well, finals decided to show up that same week so he had problems of his own. But being a "single mom" for a whole week made me realize how lucky I am to have the support of such a wonderful husband. I even came home to a spotless house, which is always a nice surprise. Anyway, the long and short of it is we both survived our week of madness and are now preparing to start another semester (tomorrow in fact). Yeah, we only wish there were time for a break, but we need to finish school as soon as possible if we ever want to move on with our lives! We love Provo, but we are excited to what our future holds, too! Stop by again soon! Love to you all...

We're back and fatter than ever...

We recently returned from California--and back to reality--which is kind of a bummer, but we had a really enjoyable trip! We had good weather there and back which made driving more bearable. On Thanksgiving day we went to my Uncle Rich's house and had his famous BBQ turkey-- I swear there is nothing like it! Even the white meat is juicy! Then on Friday we had all of the siblings and families over to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving ham and games. It was so fun to be with everyone-- we had a great time, but we felt like such porkers, gorging ourselves on two separate occasions. We also took some family photos-- our individual family one is posted up above. We thought it would be a good opportunity to get a big group picture with Dad and some individual family photos for Christmas cards. It was strange to see how much Dad's disease has progressed just in the short time we have been away. His movements are a lot slower and more deliberate now, and he has become a lot more compliant to the rules of the house (which is a HUGE blessing!). The Folsom Telegraph (our city paper) did a story on Dad and his disease. It was well done, but while talking with my mom about it she had mentioned how she wished they would have included the comments she made about how her faith has helped sustain her through it all. What would we do without the gospel?! However, she is really happy that someone had at least given his disease some attention so that people could understand him and others like him who suffer from the same condition. This and a few other specific experiences in California really made me appreciate the relationships I have with the people I love.