2015 Highlights

Well, 2015 was a pretty quiet year for us. HA! Yeah right. We made the jump from a family of three to a family of five with the arrival of our twins and things didn't slow down from there! We also got to do some traveling in the latter half of the year and overall it was a pretty busy, but fantastic year.

Here's the #2015bestnine -

Here are some of the highlights from each month -

January

We started off the new year with me finishing the first trimester and getting a bit more energy back in the second. We also got to see our precious babies and were told they were healthy and looking great!

February

This month we found out the gender of our little babies - two girls! We also started figuring out what we were going to need for the babies and prepared for a trip to the US to do some shopping.

March

We took a big trip to Houston to do some baby shopping. This was the last time we flew before the babies arrived because we wanted to be cautious about pre-term labor. (Little did we know that I'd be going to 38+ weeks and have to be induced!) Jason also turned 30 this month and we celebrated with multiples dinners with family that came to visit us in Houston. We also did some family / maternity pictures with my fabulous friend Marianne.

April

We had a quiet Easter just our family of three and later that month Jason and Madi attended their first Father-Daughter dance! Talk about a precious duo! :-)

May

It was a pretty quiet month for us as we finished the nursery and switched Madi to a big girl room downstairs. (Both of which we revealed later since we weren't sharing names ahead of time.) We celebrated the Norwegian independence day with my friend Emily in town and Madi wore her cute bunad for the celebrations.

June

Our sweet Madi turned two! We had a wonderful marshmallow birthday party to celebrate her and I was grateful to have made it to the 36 week mark with the twins!

July

The countdown began as we waited (and not patiently) for the arrival of our twins. Finally it was time to go to the hospital to induce since I was past 38 weeks. We feel so fortunate that their delivery went smoothly and we welcomed two beautiful baby girls, Evelyn and Olivia, to our family.

August

Jason and I celebrated seven years of marriage! We weren't able to do much celebrating since we had newborns, but we had a glass of wine and spent an evening together and I wouldn't change a thing. :-)

September

The girls got their passports this month and we took advantage to see some of Europe! I took the babies with me and my friend Cindy to Poland. They traveled so well we decided to visit more countries over the next couple of months!

We also decided to have some fun with the twins and take photos with these beautiful handmade dresses from my friend Ashley.

October

This month's trip was a long weekend to Copenhagen, Denmark with a day trip to Malmo, Sweden. Two more countries down! The twins won't have nearly as many flights as Madi before they turn one, but we've got limited time left in our stay in Norway and plan to take advantage and do what we can.

We made it back from our trip just in time to celebrate Halloween with these adorable girls.

November

Our final trip before making the long haul to the States was to visit Belgium. We were visiting the weekend that the attacks happened in Paris and were fortunate that nothing happened on our stay and that we left before the city was in lockdown.

Then we made the big trip over to the US just before my 30th birthday. It was a long journey, but the girls did so amazing!

December

The girls and I spent all of December in the States, splitting our time between Chicago and Oklahoma City. Jason flew out later to meet us and we had lots of friends and family fly in to see us in OKC. We loved getting to introduce our family to the twins and spend Christmas in the States.

Overall 2015 was a pretty amazing year! We feel so blessed that my pregnancy and delivery with the twins went so well. Madi has been an amazing big sister and the babies are happy and easy going most of the time. It was a busy year, but I have a feeling things won't be slowing down anytime soon as we look at moving back to the States and getting settled in a new home somewhere. We don't know what's in store for us, but we're excited to see what happens! Bring it 2016! ;-)

Read more...

December in OKC

We've had a fun three weeks in Oklahoma City so far! We've managed to find quite a few things to do around the city and enjoyed the unusually warm weather we had up until yesterday when it went from 60 degrees in the morning to freezing overnight and snowed! Well it finally turned to snow - it started out as this awkward sleety rain thing. But I digress - back to OKC visit...

I survived my first solo flight with all three girls! They did fantastic on the flight, despite a 45 min delay due to engine trouble. There was a couple on the flight who helped me hold babies and were a huge blessing and answer to prayer for this momma!

And I rewarded myself for surviving by leaving all three littles at home with Grandma and Papa to hit up Target and Starbucks.

We've been able to attend my mom's church, Quail Springs Baptist Church, while we've been in OKC and it's been so refreshing. The girls have all done fabulous in the nursery and we've enjoyed the service and Sunday school class the past few weeks. Here's lunch after church the Sunday after I arrived.

After a week and a half in OKC alone, Daddy finally arrived! We sure missed him during the three weeks we were away from him. We also got this precious video of Madi seeing Daddy at the airport. :-)

One of my best friends Chelsea lives here in OKC and I've been able to see her quite a bit this visit. We've had drinks, dinner, and playdates with our littles, including decorating Christmas cookies. It's so neat to have old friends to catch up with!

And speaking of great friends, we feel very blessed that so many friends and family have traveled to come see us in OKC! Our first visitor was my friend Justin and his wife Rachael and their precious little girl Stella. The drove up from Tulsa to spend the day with us and meet the girls!

That weekend my friend Catherine drove up from Houston to visit us. It was so much fun catching up with her and she got lots of baby cuddles and playtime with Madi!

My friend Ramesh drove up from Bartlesville to see us. It was great having lunch with him and Madi warmed up to him right away and enjoyed playing with him.

The weekend before Christmas we had more visitors! Jason's sister Lily and Mimi flew in from Colorado to see us. It was so wonderful for them to meet the twins and get to see Madi. Madi had a blast with her Aunt Lil at the park.

We also got to ride the Polar Express at the Oklahoma City Railway Museum while they were here. Madi has become obsessed with trains recently so she had a blast on the short journey. She especially loved the small bell everyone received and we made the mistake of singing Jingle Bells only to have her ask for us to sing it a hundred more times, haha.

During our stint of warm weather we also made sure to visit the Oklahoma City Zoo. Madi enjoyed seeing the animals and playing on the playground, but I think her favorite part was feeding the parakeets!

We've also been able to find some indoor play areas and make some new friends here in Oklahoma City! I can't believe that we only have another week and a half left before we head back home to Norway.

Read more...

Christmas 2015

We had a wonderful Christmas! It really is so much more fun when there are littles. Obviously the twins couldn't participate in much of the gift opening, but big sister Madi had no problem "helping" them open their stash of presents. ;-)

We attended a wonderful, traditional Christmas Eve service with my mom, Jeff, and brother Justin. Madi held the candle during Silent Night amazingly, but unfortunately we didn't capture a picture of it. We also didn't capture a picture of her on stage with all the children pulling her dress completely up to her stomach. [Insert wide-eyed emoji here.] We did capture a couple family photos though after the service before we headed home for a delicious lobster dinner.

Christmas Day we spent watching Madi open and play with her presents, cuddling the babies, and getting in some time at the park since the weather was in the 60's! We had another delicious meal with Jason's favorite, honey-baked ham, and a very relaxing day.

Read more...