The Adventures of Temperance and Juliet

                        Oh what did we do in the Summer time? Well... a little bit of everything.

 

We posed for the camera.

 

 

We went hiking at Five Springs

 

 

Ate Grandpa's first watermelon from the garden.

 

 

 

As Summer turned to Fall we...

 

 

Celebrated Aunt Katie's Wedding... Welcome to the family Uncle Jonathan!

 

 

Finally met cousin Payden who came all the way from Hawaii!!

 

 

Played with all our Olsen cousins.

 

 

and went swimming for the first time!

 

 

 

Time sure flies when you're having fun. Can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings!

Little Blessings

On Sunday, June 10 our little girls were finally given their blessings. There was a lot of family that came to support the girls. I am so grateful for such a great family!

The famly

Cousin Sky and Juliet

Cousin Levi and Temperance

Baby Shower

Big thanks to Audrey and Karlie for the work they put into throwing us a shower. We had a blast being with family and friends, and of course opening all the great gifts!!

Juliet, Temperance

Great Grandma 'Laine and Grammy Moncur

Home at last

After 3 months in the NICU we are finally home. The girls were given a clean bill of health one month ago and now our little family is finally complete and comfortably at home. Life with twins is never boring.

I am so grateful to the staff at the NICU for their amazing care, not only for the girls, but for Sam and I. Spending day after day in a hospital can be taxing and some days can feel like torture. The nursing team at St. Vincent's was so supportive to us and without them I am sure the many days of going back and forth to the hospital would have driven me nuts!

We made so many great friends during our experience and witness many amazing things that have strengthened my faith in prayer and my Heavenly Father.

For an update on the Olsen Twins...

Temperance Gail is now 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 in long. She has rolled over, can hold her head up, and loves to talk to herself.

Temperance 1 day old 2 lbs 14 oz and 16 in long

Juliet Violet is now 7 lbs 4 oz and 20 in long. She has rolled over, loves to look out the window, and play in the tub.

Juliet one day old 2 lb 4 oz and 14.5 in long

I feel so blessed to have such perfect spirits in my home... even when I am up at 2am changing diapers and feeding two babies at once.

Miracle

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 is a day I will never forget. The day I met two little girls who stole my heart.

Around 6:40pm Twin B had an elevated heart rate in the 200 bpm range and then a deceleration into the 50s that lasted 5 minutes. At the time I was on the phone with Sam giving him the update for the day. My Doctor had just been in to see me and let me know that everything was looking great and the girls were doing well. Shortly another two more nurses joined the room with IV fluids and equipment in hand and I was being repositioned. I could tell the situation was not resolving. I told Sam I needed to let him go so I could free up my arms for an IV.

The IV was in place quickly, I was repositioned, and Twin B was not recovering. Another doctor happened to be on the unit having just finished a C-section and was informed of our situation. She came in to do an ultrasound of Twin B because now the external monitor was not picking up the heart rate. It was determined that she was in too much distress and would not be able to recover from the deceleration. My Doctor was paged, and before I knew it the whole surgical team was waiting for me in the OR.

I was able to get a hold of Sam at 6:50 pm to tell him it was time. I was rushed to the OR and put under general anesthetic. At 7 pm our little angels were delivered. Twin A came out first with cords wrapped around her neck and had an APGAR score of 6. She needed to be intubated because she could not remember to breathe. Her sister came out next completely wrapped up in the cords. Her APGAR was only 1and she had a feeble heart beat. They intubated her as well and she quickly stabilized. They were taken to the NICU to stabilize and get settled in.

I woke up in recovery just as Sam and my Mom made it to the hospital. Sam's aunt (that I had been staying with) was by my side, I am so grateful for her support since the rest of the family was hours away. It seemed like forever before they would let us in to see the girls.

When I met my babies for the first time it was absolutely amazing. Little Temperance Gail Olsen (baby A) was 2 lbs 12 oz and 16 inches long. Juliet Violet Olsen (baby B) was 2 lbs 4 oz and 14 3/4 inches long. Juliet received two blood transfusions in the first 24 hours of life thanks to her sister getting all the blood in utero.

Both girls have made amazing progress. They are now 2 weeks old and 32 weeks gestational age. Breathing tubes are out, central lines are out, IVs are out, and they are breathing on room air. They both are still too young to eat without a feeding tube, but they both start sucking the air when the feedings start... smart little ones!

I feel so blessed that our story is unfolding in such a positive manner. Heavenly Father is certainly watching over these precious little souls, and I am so grateful to him.

Daddy and little Temperance 2 days old

Temperance 9 days old

Juliet 3 days old

Daddy and miss Juliet 3 days old

Momma and her girls 6 days old (L: Temperance, R: Juliet)

Daddy's little angels 6 days old (L: Juliet, R: Temperance)



And then there were four... (Daddy, Juliet, Temperance, Momma)

These are not my best pictures of the girls, but I am still working on getting them all on to my computer... they just get cuter and cuter everyday.

Hawaii 2011 (week one)

I am finally getting through all the pictures I have recently taken off my camera, and realized I haven't shared our exciting vacation with you all!

Sam and I never took a honeymoon. Getting married just before spring semester, with me still in nursing school did not leave a lot of buffer time between our wedding (on Saturday) and me going back to clinicals (on Monday)....

For us a vacation was long over due since we will be married two years this month! Time sure flies.

I have been to Hawaii before, but Sam has never gone. This seemed like the prime opportunity to go somewhere a little exotic before our little bundles of joy make an entrance. Sam's brother Dan lives on Oahu, and we do not get to see him and his wife often so it just made sense that we would vacation in their neck of the... um... tropics.

We flew out December 10 and stayed through Dec 23. What a lovely break from reality, and what a lovely gift from Dan and Raia to let us crash at their place!

I wanted to share some of my favorite memories and places with you. I hope it will bring a little sunshine to you in this wintery weather!

We arrived on a Sat. night and the following Monday the fun began. A trip to the Dole Pineapple Plantation was silly, educational, and very tasty.

Of course the beach was a must, and we lucked out to be staying literally across the street from Hukilau beach. This soon became a frequent stop for surf, sand, and a little boogie boarding.

A little tid-bit... if you have ever heard the hula song about the Hukilau, it was written about this beach.

One of my favorite things to do is snorkel. We did this a few times and sadly the only pictures even related to snorkeling were from Hanauma Bay, a marine life conservation area 10 miles from Waikki. It was a beautiful little cove, however; the tide was really low that day so it made for some shallow swimming. Not very easy for two pregnant women!

I have a thing for light houses. This was a great "little" hike up to a very beautiful view. We tried to watch for whales since this is the time of year they migrate to the area, but no such luck.

We were able to take time and do a session at the Temple, which was in walking distance from where Dan and Raia live

When you have the right connections you get the special treatment. Dan has several buddies in the military, one of which got his Captain's license literally that day so we could all make a trip out in Kaneohe Bay. We rented a boat from the Marine base and skipped on over to a sandbar!! Once in a lifetime fun for Wyomingites like us.

Families Can be Together Forever

Kenneth and Peter are creeping up on leaving for their missions. We recently had the awesome opportunity of attending the Temple with them. I have had some pretty special spiritual moments in my life, but this was pretty great. To see almost my complete family sitting in the Temple together was something I will never forget, and I can't wait until Cole will share in the experience.

Way to go Boys, you are such a great example!!

There is Beauty all Around

I have been battling a roaring sinus/ear infection for a little over a week now (finally it is settling down...)... but even being sick and having tremendous pressure in my head did not keep me from a family fishing trip this last week. I have to admit I am a very poor navigator, so what I am about to describe may make no sense.

We went through Ten-sleep and up the mountain, past meadowlark lake... over the river... through the woods... (no, no stop at grandmother's house) and came to a trail that no one in their right mind would drive a full cab/long box truck through.... unless of course you count us. A mile and a few heart attacks later, we found ourselves at what we were informed is called Ten Sleep lake (more like two lakes). It was beautiful... except our hike around the lake resulted in Sam and Dan almost having to cary me back out because I could barely breathe (sill me for thinking the elevation would not effect my sinus pressure). We caught no fish, though not for lack of the creatures....

We then crept back down the insane trail and on to creek fishing in some beautiful meadows. If I had been in my right mind and not curled up in a blanket, I would have thought to take more pictures of the beautiful landscape... and for that matter charge my camera. Regardless of my neglect, I did walk away with a couple snapshots of natures wonder.

The Newest Olsens

Family events are always a highlight for us. The end of July was full of exciting family additions and celebrations. We welcomed two new members of our family, and are to excited that they have joined us!

Another Year Older and Wiser Too!

Sam's Mom had a birthday this last week. We had a little family dinner for her at out place. I have always wanted to learn to decorate cakes... I have even bought all the basic supplies... but never been successful. Since I finally had an event to make a cake for, I thought I might try something simple. My idea was butter cream roses... well I couldn't ever get the icing right!!!

After about ten melted roses, I finally made something that resembled a flower... ha ha!

When the whole cake was put together it did not look too bad... for a first attempt.

What really made it all special, was having family together... no matter what the cake looked like!

Cleanup

There is always a project at my parent's house. Recently we went to visit and my Dad made a comment about one of the dead cottonwood trees needing to come down someday. Well no sooner that we could think about it, Sam was ready to get out the chainsaw and fell that tree!

Here is how the tree looked before the men got to it, and they made short work of it.

If you squint, you can see Sam in the background acting as an anchor... I have to admit, it made me nervous.

Strategic discussion.

Had to have one artistic view.

Lumberjack Sam!!