Baking Christmas Cookies

Carter and I just returned from Chicago (can you say SNOW????) and the boys split the time with the grandparents.  Here are some pictures of them making cookies at my Mom's house... check out the aprons!

Happy December!

Palmer fell asleep at the Tech football game...

This one is for Uncle Jay... they call this their "dragon hair".

This should give you a good laugh. I caught Harrison reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" so I ran to grab the camera. He started over for me, but pretty soon Palmer couldn't stand not being the center of attention. You'll notice him crawl up on the table next to Harrison and then proceed to get stuck... almost fall... and interrupt Harrison (who never finishes, by the way). It isn't perfect, but represents their personalities SO well. :)

This one's for Britta!

Thanks, Britta!!!


10 Years Ago I . . .
1. lived on my own for the very first time... no roomates!
2. drove a red pontiac sunbird
3. worked as a waitress at Gardski's
4. had just started my education block classes
5. was about a month away from getting engaged

5 Things on Today's To-Do List
1. grade portfolios
2. finish reading "Breaking Dawn"
3. Watch the 10 episodes of Gilmore Girls I have DVRd
4. Finish laundry
5. update this blog (check!)

5 Snacks I Enjoy
1. CHEEZ-ITS (my VERY favorite!)
2. M&Ms
3. white chocolate covered oreos
4. sesame sticks
5. trail mix... especially with dried fruit

5 Places I've Lived
1. Lubbock
2. Abilene (twice)
3. East Bernard
4. Seagraves
5. Lubbock (AGAIN!)

5 Jobs I've Had
1. concession stand at Movies 16
2. waitress at Gardski's
3. science teacher (7th grade through Physics)
4. Outreach Coordinator for CISER at Tech
5. Instructor in the College of Education

Now... the rest of you are TAGGED!

Could I be any worse at posting?

Wow. My posting skills rank extremely low this year!

We have had a fast and furious semester...

• Carter's band got sweepstakes at contest (hooray!)
• I traveled to Fort Worth for a conference
• the boys are doing GREAT at Hope Lutheran 3 days a week and having fun at home with me 2 days a week -- we have become library regulars every Thursday
• Carter broke his leg (a hairline fracture in his fibula) and is now in an orthopedic boot and milking his injury for ALL it is worth :)
• we are SO proud of the Red Raiders as they are 10-0 this year and have a huge game against Oklahoma this Saturday

Here are a few pictures

Waking up with Daddy on a Saturday morning

Tailgating before the Texas Game (behind them is the College GameDay being broken down)

How cute are they???? They are quickly becoming best friends and don't like being apart much.



Here is our best Halloween picture... trick-or-treating with their friend Kaylin and dressed as James (red... Harrison) and Thomas (blue... Palmer) the Tank Engines

Recovery

The surgery went very well. I'm in a lot more pain than I had hoped, but Carter is staying home today to take care of the boys so I can rest. Have I mentioned how much I love that man?

Dr. Jabara reported that I have "significant" endometriosis. He said there were 5 bad spots, and he removed 4 of them. The fifth one was on my colon, and he didn't think it was worth the risk of a bowel perforation... so he left that one alone.

I go see him a week from today for post-op. Until then, I can't lift anything over 10 pounds (which means the twins do a lot more walking and climbing into their own carseats!) . I can drive again starting probably tomorrow... depending on when I stop taking the pain medicine with codine. (God bless the person who invented that miracle stuff!)

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers... we are so blessed by all of our friends and family!

Birthday

Today is my 31st birthday. I spent today at the Science Spectrum (which Palmer calls the Spience Shrekdom) and Taco Bueno. What better day could you ask for???? It was great to spend the day with my guys. I am LOVING staying home with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays! It is the best of both worlds... working and staying home.

Tomorrow morning I'm having another Laparoscopy. It is seriously a minor surgery. (Although some part of me thinks that "minor surgery" is an oxymoron.) I had one about five years ago. Dr. Jabara (still my favorite doc in the WORLD!) is going to look for endometriosis, which they found the last time. I think this is our last chance to have an actual "diagnosis" for our infertility issues. So far, everything has been labeled "unexplained". After my last lap was done, we got pregnant on our own... but miscarried very early. Dr. J hopes this will help us have success on our own without having to resort to IVF again. (A much cheaper, less painful and more fun way to make babies... hee hee!) We'll see how it goes.

As for P&H... man oh man are they fun right now! They love everything Halloween... especially any chance they can get to eat candy. Here is Palmer bragging to me that he put his underwear on "All by myself, Mommy!" Notice they are on backwards.

More Fall fun

Punkin Patch fun
Apple orchard fun

















Our prizes from Gran and Big Daddy's trip to Ruidoso!

You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

I had a proud mom moment today... but this is small potatoes for some of my other mom friends. Some of my friends sew, scrapbook, make bows, etc. but I found a new easy craft for myself that is pretty fool proof. IRON ON T-SHIRT TRANSFERS!

Tonight is the Seagraves homecoming game... and the boys' first pep rally. We have no Seagraves shirts for them... so I decided to try this printable iron transfer paper. It was so much fun! The hardest part was creating the design... I had a few for Carter to look at last night. He chose my least favorite, but I think they turned out cute anyway. :) I even put their names on the back... Look out Martha Stewart!

I must hold the record for length between posts!

Can you tell by the length of time it has been since I posted that my life is out of control? I'm finally able to see light at the end of the tunnel, so I decided it was time to update my obsolete blog. :)

I know what you all come here for is to see pictures of Palmer & Harrison... so here goes...

Our trip to Sea World... this was the very end of a long day. The boys had so much fun... and Shamu was their favorite.

The coolest birthday cake EVER! Carter made this AND decorated it himself! He is available for hire... :) We had a Monsters Inc. party.

Including a giant stuffed Sully monster...

and a Mike!

Here is my goofy Harrison in a random picture that has become one of my very favorites. :)

Another random pic... but the tanktops with the cowboy hats are pretty hilarious.

This one needs some explanation. Note the date on this picture... Labor Day 2008. We finally took down our CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!!! I am sure our neighbors thought we were freaks for leaving our lights up, but it just never made it to the top of our priorities. We had just about decided to leave them up until NEXT Christmas, but for those of you who don't know... we are building our first house! Check out the Vintage Township website to see where our new house will be... we are SO excited! Until the house is finished, we are living with my parents to save money for our downpayment. (A whole blog entry to come later!) So... to make a long story short, the lights came down on Labor Day.

Promotion Sunday at Church

First day of PRESCHOOL! The boys are going to Pre-K at Seagraves with Carter each day. So far, so good!

Sorry for the lengthy post... I'll do my very best to update more frequently now that things are starting to settle down.

Summer... What Summer???

My last post was about how glad I was that summer was finally here... and now it feels like summer is almost over! This has been without a doubt the busiest 2 months of my life! Today was the last day of our summer workshops. I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief! I promise to post pictures from our summer vacation soon and let you know how the boys are doing. Right now I'm going home to take a NAP!

Summer Begins

I don't have any pictures to post today... but how great that summer is finally here! This is my busiest time of the entire year at work. Teacher workshops are in full swing! This entire week I'm teaching geology workshops for Kindergarten through! I finally had a spare minute today on my lunch break to update this blog!

Carter is enjoying being Mr. Mom. At least, I think he is. He called me last Monday (his first full day) and said, "It is going to be a LONG summer." Wednesday he called me laughing about a potty-training story that involved Harrison dropping his pants and peeing on the floor in the bathroom at United. The stall was occupied... and he couldn't wait! At least Carter was laughing... I would have been in tears. He cleaned up the puddle and Palmer decided he needed to go too, so started pulling off everything and Carter had to keep him from stepping in the puddle. :) I can just imagine the face of the man walking out of the stall. 2 half naked boys and a man cleaning up a puddle of pee. Hmmmm....

The boys have enjoyed swim lessons so far and are turning into water bugs! We wore them out yesterday by swimming at Gran's pool with Isaac and Luke and then took them to the Rec Center for swim lessons. Palmer said he was tired of swimming for the day. :) Gran came to take pictures (since Carter and I are in the water with them) and maybe I can post them soon.

I miss seeing the boys in the morning. They are usually still asleep when I leave for work. That "wake up" time was one of my joys. I know Carter is enjoying spending that time with them now, but I do miss it. They've gotten really bad lately about waking each other up. We hear them on the monitor... the conversation usually goes something like this...

Palmer: "Harrison... it is time to wake up!"
Harrison: no response
Palmer: "Harrison... the sun is up! wake up! wake up!"
Harrison: groan and roll over
Palmer: "Harrison Gaither... wake up RIGHT NOW"
Harrison: "Leave me alone"

I'll try to post some pictures soon.

Learn to Read, Paula!

When Carter and his dad went to the Master's this spring, I didn't care for a souvenir. When I learned he would be eating at Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah, I changed my mind. He brought me back a signed cookbook! I broke it out this week and made my first two "Paula" recipes.

Before making any "Paula" recipe, I had to make her "House Seasoning" which she lists as 1 cup salt, 1/4 cup black pepper, and 1/4 cup garlic powder. I even bought a special canister at the grocery store that holds my "Paula" spice. Proud, proud, proud.

My"non-pimento Pimento cheese" was a hit with the boys and Carter's parents Monday night. I hate pimentos so I made my own variation of her recipe.

Wednesday night, however, I was not so lucky. I made "Cheeseburger Meatloaf with Sauce". Sounds delicious, right? May I just say again how proud I was? I came home at lunch and mixed all the ingredients together so it would be ready to put in the oven when we got home. It cooked for an hour and smelled DELECTABLE. You know when a smell makes you hungry? It smelled that good.

We sat down to eat it and took the first bite. It did taste good... a little salty, but good. After a few more bites Carter asked "What all is in this?" so I start rattling off the PROUD list of ingredients. (Who else puts sour cream in a meatloaf?) He stopped me when I said 2 tablespoons of "Paula spice". He thought that seemed like a lot. "No it's not!" I said. "I used 2 pounds of meat. I just followed her recipe!"

Right about that time one of the boys needed to potty. I took him to the bathroom and on my way back, slyly glanced at the open cookbook on the counter. "2 teaspoons House Seasoning" was printed in black and white right there.

This Paula needs to learn how to read.

Cuteness

The boys have been hilarious lately. A few Saturdays ago Carter and I were cleaning out the garage. P&H played basketball and drew with side walk chalk. They were still in the PJ's, but added a few accessories to their outfits all by themselves...

That would be cowboy hats, rain boots, superman capes, and for Harrison... a Saxophone.

They also had fun helping Carter rake leaves and put them in the trash...

And Palmer took his first picture... this one is Harrison stirring the eggs.

Boston trip pictures

The Boston World Trade Center is where Ross Ann and I presented our workshop at the National Science Teachers Association conference! Our workshop was "Science -- It's a GIRL Thing: The Chemistry of Perfume" and we had a blast. Here are some highlights of the trip...

Here I am at one of the gates to HARVARD! Ross Ann and I took the subway there and had NO idea where we were... but we didn't care. We were on the campus of HARVARD! It was beautiful. I could fill an entire post of pictures.

I found a map of Harvard campus online and mapped where we actually walked... it was fortuitous that two science teachers stumbled upon the science center. We went inside (to thaw out) and called everyone we could think of to tell them where we were! How nerdy.

The students we were traveling with wanted to eat at "Cheers"... so we did. The food was pretty horrible.

Faneuiel Hall has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of Boston National Historical Park and a well known stop on the Freedom Trail. It is sometimes referred to as "the Cradle of Liberty".

It was a great trip. I had strep throat the entire time but still managed to make it and have fun. Sorry to take so long to post pictures... things have been a little crazy. Pictures of the boys will follow sometime soon! I know that is what you all visit the blog for anyway. :) Not pictures of me at far away amazing places. :)

Negative, Ghostrider... The Pattern is Full

Negative test this morning.

Successful Embryo Transfer!

We had a great day! Four of our embryos were thawed and three survived. One was rated "good" quality, one "fair" and one "poor". These are terms that sound scary, but really just mean how far along developmentally they embryos are at this point. We're talking just a few cells (around 16-64). They take a lot of things in to consideration such as number of cells, shape, and if the embryo is what they call "expanded". Sorry for the science lesson... it truly fascinates my inner science nerd. :)

Are you sitting down? We transferred ALL three embryos. Deep breath. This was the suggestion of our embryologist and our doctor... both of whom we trust explicitly. The percentages of frozen cycle pregnancies are already lowered, so hopefully one of these three will stick around for the next nine months!

I did give Carter a heart attack when I said to him that if these three each split into two we could be another "John and Kate plus EIGHT"!!!!!!!!

I am on bed rest for the rest of today and tomorrow and then life will be as normal as possible until my pregnancy test on Friday, April 18th. We are still on nightly shots... GRRRRR.

Your continued prayers are greatly appreciated. Thanks for all of your well wishes and support as we travel down this difficult road. We know God has a plan!

Mark Your Calendars!

At my appointment this morning with Dr. Jabara he decided everything looks perfect and we are ready for an EMBRYO TRANSFER which will take place Wednesday! I can't believe how fast everything is moving. Starting today Carter will give me a shot every day until we hear a heartbeat or have a negative pregnancy test. He's gotten pretty good at those shots... I'll be happy to rent him out to anyone needing his services. :)

So my blog buddies... start sending up those prayers for us! We know the statistics are not in our favor, but we are confident and peaceful that God has a plan for us. Stay tuned for updates in the next few weeks!

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Here are a few pictures of the past few weeks in the Biggers' house...

Family picture on Easter Sunday

These pictures are sideways... my darn computer isn't cooperating. Really... I know how to flip pictures. ;) This is Carter loading the embryos into the van as we were leaving the clinic...

And here are the embryos! That tiny test tube has seven of our possible children in it! We were expecting 11, but someone forgot to tell us that four of them didn't make it to the freezing day. We were shocked and horrified that 1/3 of what we thought we had were missing, but we still have 7 left that are great quality. They are all safely in Lubbock now... stay tuned for details!

Here are some of our Sunday School kids (Palmer and Harrison on the far left in their navy sport coats and ties!)

This is at Legacy Village at our church easter egg hunt. The boys are getting so big!

Here they are at the river in Junction. I taught a three day workshop over spring break... so Carter and the boys joined us for one of those days. They had so much fun throwing rocks into the water... until Harrison fell in the mud and freaked out about being dirty. Carter got them changed... and less than an hour later Palmer threw up all over everything. It was a lovely day. ;)

We had our first IM injection last night... Carter did such an amazing job! I barely felt anything at all! I leave Thursday morning for Boston for the National Science Teacher's Conference. We are taking a group of 20 people through my office... it should be an interesting trip! The weather is supposed to be cold (highs of 37 and 38) and rain/snow each day. I hope we can get home!

YIKES!

Did any of you see the story on The Today Show this morning about the identical triplets? Here's a link in case you missed it. I have to tell you guys... this is one of my nightmares! This couple put ONE embryo in during IVF and it divided... TWICE! They ended up with triplet boys! I realize the odds are low, but it scares me to think about the possibility. What would my life be like with three more boys? ;)

On the IVF front, things are moving along. I had a Sonohysterogram yesterday that revealed that I have "the perfect uterus" according to Dr. Jabara! I told him I had worked hard on that. They also did some more blood work (story of my life!) and we go for shot instructions next Tuesday afternoon. Carter has to learn how to give me injections. He did this the first time, but they were all sub-cutaneous (or sub-Q) injections (just under the skin). THIS TIME HOWEVER, all the injections are intra-muscular. Don't click that link if you're afraid of needles! The next obstacle is driving the embryos from Houston to Lubbock over spring break... stay tuned!

What a difference a day makes...

Yesterday I was in Austin presenting a workshop to teachers across the state of Texas at a STEM education conference. I was wearing a suit.

Today I had to call a locksmith because my adorable children locked themselves in my bedroom. I was wearing my bathrobe.

Are you laughing yet? I happily spent $35 dollars to pay a nice man to laugh at my situation and unlock a door I didn't even know could possibly lock. My amazing father in law came to my rescue and made me feel better that it wasn't just me... he couldn't get it open either.

I had to call FOUR locksmiths before someone would agree to help me out. I tried explaining that there were twin toddlers locked in the room, but that just didn't get any emergency bonus points. If you live here, I highly recommend Slim Jim. I'll call him first next time. (NEXT TIME? WHAT AM I THINKING?)

Palmer found a box of girl scout cookies on Carter's nightstand (you'll have to ask HIM why they aren't in the kitchen!) and shared them under the door with me. He also found two books of stamps in my purse and stuck the "stickers" all over himself and my bedroom. I think he had enough stamps on him I could have put him in the mail to one of YOU... and trust me, this morning I thought about doing just that!

Harrison occupied himself by learning how to use the three remote controls we have in our room (again... ask Carter!)

Overall... it was a hilariously mortifying situation that I know will be remembered for years.

Are you ready?

OK folks... here comes some personal information I'm sharing with the Blog world...

We are attempting IVF again!

• I have quite a saga so far... so just skip this post if you aren't interested.

• Most of you know the boys were conceived through In vitro fertilization... with Dr. Sonja Kristiansen in Houston. The experience was expensive, painful, yet amazing; and Carter and I were blessed that it worked the first time. We ended up with 11 embryos left over... which is a whole new blog post.

• Wednesday we had a consultation appointment with Dr. Jabara at the med school. We absolutely adore him already and are excited to try this process together. The process this time will not be nearly as invasive as the first time... since we already have embroys. The first obstacle we have to over-come is getting all 11 of our remaining "kiddos" to Lubbock from Houston! They can't fly because they are swimming in liquid nitrogen... a big no-no on airplanes for some reason. ;) Our plan right now is to drive them back over spring break... can't you see it now? All THIRTEEN of our children in the car together... Ha! The fact that all but 2 of them fit in a space that is about one square foot is convenient for traveling.

• Dr. Jabara was very honest and upfront with us that the success rates for a "thaw cycle" as they call it are MUCH lower than for a "fresh cycle". These terms make me shudder... but I don't know any other way to separate the two. There are lots of factors that go into the lower success rates, and we meet almost all of them. The first one he listed is whether the embryos are thawed within the first year. This one made me laugh! Can't you imagine me carting my 9 month old twins to the IVF clinic to try this entire procedure all over again? Not happening, folks! We're not even totally sure how we'll handle three kids spaced almost 4 years apart. Those of you who have closely spaced kids... my hat goes off to you!

• Dr. Jabara also feels very strongly that in order for this process to be worth our time, money, and effort he will either implant 2 or 3 embryos, depending on their quality. This scares me to death... because if I have another set of twins I might have to be institutionalized. ;) We put three in the first time and came out with beautiful boys... I just don't know if I can do four children under the age of 4. Do you think we'd be a hit as "Mandy and Carter plus FOUR" big enough to compete with "John and Kate plus EIGHT"????? (P.S. I can't watch that show without feeling lazy as a mom of two... not eight. How does she do it?)

• Have I rambled enough? I know there are more details here than some of you were ready for... and I promise to try to keep the TMI factor to a minimum... really I will.

• Because of all this, we are asking for your prayers as we attempt to have a sibling for Palmer and Harrison. We'll keep you posted.

Valentine Picture

Sorry this is sideways... my dumb computer isn't cooperating. Just thought this was too cute.

Happy Valentine's Day

Sad that I haven't posted since my Christmas update, huh? The boys are at such a fun age right now... challenging, but fun. Their vocabulary astounds me every day! We are having so much fun hearing them talk to us and to each other. Palmer is the bossy big brother (remember... he is a whole MINUTE older!), but Harrison has started really standing up for himself lately. Hilarious. I have a super cute picture of the boys with their cousins wearing wax lips... but for some reason my computer won't let me rotate it. I'll keep trying... it is a funny picture.

Here is a picture of them playing in the huge leaf pile between our house and the next one.




















And here is a funny picture that needs explanation. Palmer was home sick for three days a few weeks ago... and all he wanted to do... 24 hours a day... was play with Mr. Potato Head. Carter and I traded off staying home with him and I took this picture of all seven of his creations at once. We've since added a few more to our collection because Taco Bueno has Pototo Head toys in their kids meals! Notice the big potato is wearing Palmer's sunglasses :)

Christmas & New Year

I realize it has been quite a while... blog friends! Christmas was great... the boys got "big boy beds" from Santa so that has been our big transition. Here are a few pictures updating you on our holidays... and I apologize for the strange spacing.

Here is a random picture of Harrison that I absolutely LOVE. It captures him completely. Loves wearing hats... loves drinking out of straws (note the purple pumpkin on Christmas Day) and LOVES his Thomas house shoes.

Big Daddy got the boys cowboy hats... one of their new favorite things!

Here are the boys on the night we went to see Santa... this was at Vintage Township. I love their silouhettes in front of Frosty. Our Santa pictures were pretty bad... but we did get a cute one with the Chic-fil-a cow (who the boys enjoyed MUCH more than Santa anyway!)

One night I was cooking dinner (surprise!) and the boys wanted celery (like the WonderPets!) so I sent them to their room with Carter and a baggie of celery. I found the baggie empty and was excited that they ate it all! As I was getting Palmer ready for bed, he told me he put the celery in his boot. So here is the picture of his cowboy boots with celery in each one. Too funny.

We made a quick trip to Dallas to see my Dad's family... here we are with Mama and Papa... how cute are they?

Palmer is hooked on Santa and nutcrackers. Here he is hugging one of my Mom's stuffed Santas on Christmas morning. Now that we have packed away everything until next Christmas, Palmer thinks anything that is missing is gone "until next Christmas". He couldn't find something the other day and when I asked him where it was he said "Gone until next Christmas". I love that he loves Christmas.

The family on Christmas Eve