Since I haven’t been blogging lately, I thought I catch you up on the happenings here in Spendlove land.
Last month on the 7th of November, my beautiful Joseph and Emma turned 6. I can’t believe that it’s been 6 years since I had them. I’ll tell you a little story about them. By now you all know that I have 10 children. Jo Jo and Emma are 8 and 9 in the lineup. For every pregnancy before them, I would ask Heavenly Father for twins. And then when I saw the ultrasound, I would be heartbroken when it wasn’t twins. I don’t know why I wanted twins so badly, but I did. I really did. I remember a specific time when I was just praying and asking Heavenly Father AGAIN for twins (I wasn’t even pregnant at this time) I remember saying, “Please, Heavenly Father, I REALLY want to have twins…PLEASE can I have twins…” And while I paused and breathed in for another “please” I heard a voice. Not out loud. But still, a voice. It said, “O.K. you can have twins” Now this may sound a little strange, but if you knew how many times I’d asked, you might understand. This voice sounded exasperated. Not in a mean way, just like a Mom who had heard their child ask a million times for something and there not being a reason NOT to give it, give in to the request.
I remember thinking to myself, “Really?! Serious, did I just hear that?! And then came the impression that it would be a girl and a boy. THAT was the most exciting thing that had EVER happened to me. But here’s the weird thing. I kind of forgot about it. I know, I thought it was weird too. But…when I became pregnant again, there was a time when I remembered it quite vividly.
Kelvin was sitting next to me on the sofa and he would often put his hand on my belly and just rub it for a moment. I was barely pregnant at the time. When he rubbed it this time he paused. And then he said, “Julie, I think we’re having twins…”
I looked at him and said “Are you saying this because you think I’m fat already, or are you having a revelation?” (I know, you can laugh) He said,”I just have a feeling”. Well this is when I remembered what had happened. So my reply to that was “Well, if we’re having twins, it’s a boy and a girl!” And then I told him about what happened the year before.
A couple of weeks later, we went to the doctors for an ultrasound. I was a lucky girl and got to have an ultrasound early because I have diabetes so I’m considered “high risk”. The technician looked at the screen and moved on. (I thought I saw “something” but she moved too fast.) After a bit, she says” Well, I’ve got some news…” And before she could say anything, Kelvin says”We’re having twins!” “Yep”, she says, “you are!”
I can’t even describe how incredibly blessed I feel to have these beautiful children. All of them. But, to have 2 in my womb at the same time, was absolutely the most FANTASTIC thing that I’ve ever done! Seriously, I loved EVERY second of it. Well, except for the 21 weeks of bed rest. I thought I would love it, but seriously, I hated it!! The house has NEVER recovered. During those months of bed rest, my husband did the best he could, but housekeeping wasn’t one of them. And due to a misunderstanding (thanks to a certain man in our ward) no one from the ward came out to help with the cleaning. And my husbands father had cancer with radiation EVERY week for an entire year, so SHE couldn’t help. But there IS one thing that was a saving grace. My ward brought dinner in EVERY day for those 21 weeks and 3 weeks after they were born. I cannot tell you how much that helped our family. And how grateful I am for their service. Oh my goodness, I am STILL SO GRATEFUL!
I wish that I were writing from my other computer so I could show you some photos during that time. They were so cute. I could tell you the story behind their names though. I’m sure everyone that is mormon thinks that they were named after Joseph and Emma Smith. But in actuality, they are named after their Grandma and Grandpa Spendlove. Kelvin’s mom’s name is Emma Frances Spendlove. She uses the name Frances as her first name because an aunt was called Emma too. But I love the name Emma. I really wanted her to be named Brielle Emma, but it just didn’t flow right. So I switched it to Emma Brielle. (Doesn’t that sound so much better?) As for Joseph, that was a little bit difficult. Kelvin’s father’s name is Eugene Spendlove. (I don’t like the name Eugene AT ALL. ) But as a boy, Eugene would tag around after HIS grandpa who was named “Joe”. He would even wear his overalls just like his grandpa, with one of the tabs unhooked. Since he was SO much like his grandpa, the whole family started calling him “Lil’ Joe” The name stuck. He is known today as “Joe” by all his family and any friends that are still around from back in the day. So…I decided that I WOULD name him Joseph. (and the fact that they have the same names as Joseph and Emma Smith is just a bonus!)
Joseph and Emma are as different as night and day. Emma is the sweetest little girl that I have EVER had. Literally. She likes to do what is right. I think the idea of doing something wrong is truly foreign for her. I used to be afraid that she’d get “twinkled” (taken back to Heavenly Father) because she was too good.
Now that is not to say that Joseph is bad, because he’s not! He has so much imagination. He does things just to get a reaction. To see what would happen. It was way worse when he was younger. Thank Heaven it’s evened out a little. I was really worried, wondering what kind of trouble he’d get himself into.
And he loves Emma so much. As Emma does him. I asked Joseph’s teacher how he was doing in school and her reply was, “Fine, except he wants to use the restroom all the time”.
O….K….wonder what that’s all about. So I decide to ask him why he’s using the restroom all the time at school. His reply, “Cuz, I wanna see Emma.” (The two classrooms are divided by the restroom) That was the sweetest thing. Made me want to cry.
Emma is like a little mother to him. She’d do everything for him if I let her. Of course Joseph would let her!
Here’s a couple of birthday pictures. They were SO excited to get these!
That night we were supposed to go Chuck E Cheese’s but when we arrived, it was a madhouse. I do not like to be in a place where it would be difficult to find my children, so we went to Denny’s for dinner and ended up going to Chuck E Cheese’s on Monday when it was less busy.
Fast forward a month and it’s Brynleigh’s birthday! December 4th. Oh my goodness, she is spoiled! By everyone! She’s the last one and everyone knows it, so they spoil her. I’m having to undo some damage from that now. She thinks she should be given her way with EVERYTHING. She’s got the funniest sense of humor too. And she loves her mommy. Her grandma asked her who’s girl she was, and her quick reply was “My Mommy’s! (Yeah for Brynni!!)
Here’s some picture’s of her Preschool birthday.
And here’s a picture with her Preschool teacher, whom we really love. She has a genuine love for her preschoolers!! I wish I has MORE kids to go to her. I wish I had found her back when my oldest one’s were younger.
For her birthday dinner, we went to “Red Robin” where she ordered a beautiful pizza! (Tasted disgusting! I tried it…)
My sister Becky and her husband Michael came with us. Along with their son Aaron. Isn’t he a cutie! She is finally letting me put some photos of him on my blog!
After dinner we went to Build a Bear and both of them got to build their own stuffed animal. Brynleigh chose a tie dye bear. (Not my choice, I would’ve gotten the cute Frosty)
Here she is kissing that little heart so her bear will know she love her!
And making sure she is nicely groomed before she gets dressed!
She dressed her little bear all by herself. (I tried to help and she would have nothing to do with it!!)
I think she looks “pleased as punch” in this picture. Don’t you?
Too bad that she decided to change the outfit right after!!
Since Santa Claus was right outside the store, we decided to take Brynleigh and Aaron to see him. Aaron absolutely LOVED Santa! Bryn…not so much. She refused to look at me OR smile! And Aaron laughed and giggled throughout the whole thing!! Santa even came over to check out the pictures of Aaron because he was the happiest little baby he’d ever seen. (My sister was secretly SO proud! Hee Hee!)
Here’s the proud parents!!
So there’s two birthdays! I’ll hopefully have more tomorrow. It’s so hard to get on here sometimes! But I have so many pictures to post!!
