And two more makes 6!

We've been busy!! On April 28, 2011 the Swaim family welcomed Eleanor Cate and Georgia Clare into our world! Eleanor "Norah" weighed in at 6 lbs and 18" long while Georgia "Gigi" weighed in at 5 pounds 14 oz. and was 18.5" long. Both beautiful girls dipped 10 % below their birth weight and became jaundice while waiting for mommy to recover from the emergency c-section. (Eleanor's cord was prolapsed). Week one was full of doctor's visits, lab tests, weight checks and lactation consults but all efforts paid off. The girls are doing wonderful! Week two was full of even scarier stuff for mom and dad, high fever indicated an infection so it was back to the hospital for me. A blood transfusion, 6 days of IV antibiotics, a "handful" of meds, consults with hematologists and other departments, but no real answers. Doug had all three kids to himself having to go back and forth between home and the hospital to pick up milk from me and dinner for them. He is amazing! The girls will be 6 weeks old tomorrow and we can hardly believe it. Everyone is doing much better and we are adapting to our new world. Our friends and family have been unbelievably amazing and helpful. We are blessed beyond all measures!

Project Chickens

Good News! I finally figured out a new way to put images on the blog. Doug and Liam finished the chicken coop and I have to say it looks GREAT! I love this, and I love my hubby even more for listening to my design requests and doing the project for me. I had been talking about it for over a year but it had to be moved to the top of my "after pregnancy to-do list" (For some reason Doug wasn't comfortable with his pregnant wife using a table saw) But we were missing our chickens and Doug needed a "second trimester project" so when someone offered us two free chickens, Doug got to work. Despite my proclamations that I would never name my chickens again I couldn't resist.... Please welcome Betty & June, our two 6 month old Rhode Island Reds. They are still somewhat timid but very sweet, anxious to explore and eat more than all five of our last chickens combined. We are very excited that they finally started laying eggs for us as well! And while having chickens is nothing new to Doug, Liam or I it is to Ethan. Every day the first month he checked for eggs (even though we kept telling him it would be a while).

Happy New Year!

Well, it's a new year and many things have already changed since my last update. Sorry I missed posting something for you in December.... lots of Holiday Cheer, some travel and wonderful times with the family in Texas. Sorry to those of our friends we did not get to see but we wish you all the best in the new year and hope that this year we will find more time to share together.
So for those of you who did not already know, our household will grow not by one baby girl this year but by TWO! This very exciting news has had quite a whirlwind effect on all of us :) We've flipped the bedrooms around and are contemplating plans for the big stuff, particularly a car large enough for six. Somehow, in my mind, I just don't think four kids should equal a mini van but unfortunately it does. Liam is soo excited about being a big brother. He has been an active participant in "carrying" the babies (he has two boys in his tummy) as well as choosing names. We're still working on that one. I think Ethan is making plans to be out of the house as much as possible this summer (how can you blame him). He is about to begin his fundraising for a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. He'll be checking out colleges this summer as well. Wow, what a collision of two realities that is. For the spring Ethan has club soccer that just started, Liam and Doug just finished our new chicken coop and I REALLY want to carry the twins full term so I can spend the full summer home with the kids. Cheers!