We are home after 12 days away and 2000 miles traveled.... Annabelle is just a trooper when it comes to travel.. I swear she is a better traveler than I am... she had her moments today but all in all, a 17 month old in the car for 10 hours, you can't expect much more than some acting out and fussing.. We did discover she loves Nemo and watched that for the duration... who knew?

A big thank you to Andrea and girls for holding down the house, cats and flowers for us while we were gone.. especially the cats as I don't think any of them are cat fans.. :) THANK YOU!!!

Amber had an appointment today with the doc and all is well with baby A... he/she measured in at 16 weeks and 4 days and unofficially changed our due date to December 5th... the baby looked great and was bouncing all about. The doc said the ultrasound from last week was great.. all the measurements and such were just as they should be. Her blood work hadn't come back yet but there doesn't seem to be any concern there. Amber has been placed on "no heavy lifting, over 25 lbs, and no standing on your feet all day" rest so she is off the couch and able to work!! I was mistaken that she was already lifted from this when indeed she was not! but now she is!! thank the Lord...

We go back to the doc on July 10th and we will schedule the big 20 week ultrasound a few weeks after.. I plan to make this one but don't know if Annabelle will join me!! John will be gone so it will just be the girls making the trip...

I am not posting much as I am exhausted!! and I have too much to do before bed time... do check out the new video.. I think you will like it...

Please pray for my dear friend Thomas... he was having some heart issues and needs the Lords healing hands!

Love to you all

Carolyn (John and Annabelle)

well, we don't have any baby updates other than both Amber and baby A are doing well!! It seems that we might have a smooth pregnancy from now forward (fingers crossed)



I am posting just to update you all on our vacation... today we have been gone for, what, 9 days and we still have three to go.. (big sigh) ... we have really had a great time... after Annabelle, Gran and O'Daddy left, John and I had some much needed time together... especially when both of us have been sick.. John with an upper respiratory infection and me with an upper respiratory infection AND what I think is conjunctivitis in BOTH EYES... I thought I was past it yesterday but I woke today with more gunk in my left eye!!! UGH.... Thankfully we haven't felt bad.. so we pulled ourselves together and went on our adventures...



We decided to fish Thursday... After my last ocean fishing nightmare (ask Kurt or Sharon about that) I am shocked that I agreed to go.. but I did and we had a great time.. we caught 19 Spanish Mackerel, 2 Mahi Mahi and 1, 32 pound King Mackerel!! (I caught that one!!) It was so fun and when I get home I will post photos and the video of the reel in!! haha... We have 27 pounds of fish frozen to bring home so if any of you want some, let me know.. (I am not really a fish eater)

Friday we went back to Ocracoke Island, via the ferry and spend the day Kayaking and biking around.. we went to Ocracoke just about every day.. next time, that is where we will stay, it was so nice and plenty to do... Friday evening we decided to watch a movie and saw Get Smart! Too funny.. I don't get to see movies anymore unless they are cartoons and sing about fruit salad or mashed potatoes so this was a bonus for me! Today we went back to Ocracoke for fishing and just sitting on the beach.. Here, you can still drive on the beach so we took the truck and parked right where we wanted... it was nice, a cool breeze and some cloud kept us from getting too hot... John fished but didn't catch a thing.. I read and relaxed... tonight we are going out for dinner and will start packing!! fun fun..



We head to Gran and O'daddy'stomorrow early and will spend the night there tomorrow and Monday.. we really want to see John's grandparents, Annabelle's only great grandparents, before we head out so we will not head home until Tuesday... All in all, this has been a wonderful time away.. other than the distance to drive here, this place is perfect....



Thanks to all of you for your prayers for Amber and baby A.. keep them coming.. we can never have too many... Please keep our soldiers in your prayers as well, Steph who is recovering well but still needs prayers, Elizabeth who might be having her little Alyssa before we know it! Chris and Sal while they are away from their families and for those families that are away from their soldiers... regardless the distance, it is still distance from each other..



We love you all!!


Carolyn and John..

Here we are... 14 weeks along and much has happened already with this journey... We feel very fortunate that baby A is doing well and that Amber is getting off bed rest with today's appointment... I will back up a little bit to catch everyone up... it seems we can't go a week without something crazy happening.. Last week Amber was heading to her appointment to see the doc. On her way she was rear ended and missed her appointment... She was alone and was unhurt but her van will need a new rear end... for a precaution, she went to the ER to check baby A and all was well with him/her as well! whew... we are very thankful Amber was not injured and that baby A had no issues either...

Today's appointment was a good one.. she didn't get to see the doctor but did have an extensive level 2 ultrasound... baby A is our little over achiever measuring in at 15 weeks and 3 days (yes, that is 8 days ahead!!) and has a heart rate of 164... they saw all 4 chambers of the heart, both hemispheres of the brain, the bladder, kidneys and stomach! Baby is already swallowing as there is already fluid in his/her tummy! I am still saying he/she because they could not verify the sex of the baby because he/she wouldn't cooperate and kept his/her legs shut... :)

Amber said baby A was just bouncing around, just like when I saw on the other ultrasound and that the ultrasound tech said "unofficially" that everything looks great.. The doc will have to confirm this but there were no visible abnormalities...

She could not be specific as to when baby B passed but was still measuring 12 weeks 2 days. this will gradually grow smaller and smaller until it is reabsorbed...

There has been no bleeding and Amber has been taken off bed rest and placed on restrict/light rest.. meaning no heavy lifting and such...

We are thrilled to have internet access here in Hatteras island, NC (OBX) and are enjoying our time... O'Daddy, Gran and Annabelle depart tomorrow, leaving John and I to some much needed quiet time (as i type to the sounds of an unhappy Annabelle!)

We love you all and miss you as well... Please pray for the Evans' trip tomorrow and Sunday (when we depart) ... it is a LONG drive, 18 hours if we didn't stop half way!! and of course pray for our families, although they aren't "ours" any longer and those in harms way

God bless!!

The Evans from the beach... Carolyn, John, O'Daddy, Gran and Annabelle!

Hello faithful bloggers…. With a saddened heart I have to inform you all that today we found out our baby B has passed… I knew yesterday that the ultrasound didn’t seem right, the heart beat was hard to find and the tech told us knowingly, baby B’s heart rate was actually baby A’s…you can see her move the curser to baby A and label it Baby B… I am terribly upset and angry about the fact that she never mentioned to either of us, nor did she call our OB to tell them… If I had known, I would have stayed to be there with Amber... Twice now she has had to endure the pain of losing a twin and twice now I was not there for her... we will be contacting them regarding this… how terribly inconsiderate knowing I was there for the appointment, that I was leaving and that Amber would have to find out alone..

John and I are at peace with what has happened… we know God has his plan and that we can’t question His plan even when (especially when) it doesn’t match with our plan… Baby A is going well... Still measuring ahead of schedule 13 weeks 6 days and has a nice strong heartbeat… Amber goes back Thursday for an extensive exam to go over everything and make sure there is nothing to worry about… she still has a small hemorrhage but the Doctor doesn’t seem concerned about it.

Please pray for Amber… she is very upset and is very angry at her body… Please pray she finds peace and that she knows how much she has given us in Annabelle and our baby A.. I think it is perfect... Our baby B and now our baby A...

Thank you all for your continued prayers… we will update as we can….

Much love,
Carolyn, John and Annabelle

Today we were supposed to have our OB appointment... I say supposed to because we got a call that we were pushed back 30 minutes... then another call that they would CALL US when/if we were going to be seen!!??!! Lucky Amber had called and made an emergency last minute appointment at baby waves (a pay place where you can have 3/4d ultrasounds done) so lucky for us we got to at least see the babies and know they are both doing well.. both had great heart rates and baby A was moving like always... one thing we did see, we think, is the fact that daddy is going to be way out numbered as both babies seem to be girls... !! now this is not 100% because we are rather early but we didn't see any "weenies" down in the nether regions.. haha... I suppose we will start saving NOW for three weddings!! back to the missed appointment.. we talked about me staying an extra day but we really have no one to take care of Annabelle and not to mention I have lots to do for the change of command on Wednesday... then Amber suggested I be on the phone like I did for one of the other appointments and ask questions and hear what the doc tells us via phone.. not the optimal situation but better than nothing... Amber is supposed to be seen tomorrow (to hopefully release her from bed rest and she can go back to work) and so we can be told (we hope) that both the SCHs are gone!!
OK. I am about to get ready to head back to the airport to make my way home.. but I wanted to update you all.

Much love and thanks for the continued prayers
Carolyn

Well, I am here in Kansas (on a laptop that I am not used to so forgive this short post) awaiting our appointment tomorrow... I am VERY excited about seeing the babies and had a great time today shopping with Amber getting her decked out in cute maternity clothing !! I had no clue how cute maternity clothing is! it was lots of fun...

Amber is feeling well and is starting to look pregnant... we'll post a photo if we can, if not today then I will post one when I get home...

I had my 20 year reunion last night and really had a great time.. it was so nice seeing people that I haven't seen in years... and was happy to catch up with my very best high school bud Jennifer.. I hope to keep in better touch with all the locals...

I need to run.. Dinner is calling but I wanted to let everyone know our update...

Much love and say a little prayer tomorrow at 10:30am for our appointment to go without any hitch and that both the SCHs are gone!!

Carolyn (and Amber)