Sisters

I had to take the babies to the pediatrician for a sick visit yesterday afternoon. They were sitting side-by-side in their stroller. I took Brie out first for the doctor to check her over and Cami was okay until she saw the doctor use the otoscope to look in Brie's ears and mouth. She flipped out. She kept screaming at the doctor. Brie was unphased by what was going on, but Cami must have thought he was dong something to hurt her. She was very protective of her. When I buckled Brie back into the stroller Cami reached over and patted Brie's hand. It was so cute. Isn't it sweet how that bond is so strong already?

Eight months!

The girls are now 8 months and one day old. Incredible. They are doing so well. They're both scooting all over the place and pulling themselves up to a sitting position. They're quite proud of themselves! They are really starting to interract with each other and had several people laughing at church on Sunday because they were giving each other slobbery kisses all during Sunday School. Brie's first tooth broke through yesterday and she was one unhappy little girl. It was so out of character for her, she kept setting Cami off. It left me feeling overwhelmed and outnumbered! I'm sure that won't be the last time!!! She's back to her content happy self today so she must be feeling better.

Maddie is loving her dance class. She does very well, she enjoys it all but seems partial to the tumbling part of it. She's at least a head taller than every girl in her class, but I'm almost certain she's almost a year older than all of them too. She can move up to the next class in August when she turns 5. She loves preschool and she's so excited about Kindergarten this fall. Registration is just over a month away, I can't believe that we're almost there! She's just growing up too fast. I love spending time with her, she's a fun and spunky little girl and she adds so much light to my life.

Aaron's work schedule has changed a little bit and he's back to rotating weekends. He's really enjoyed having them off. We'll adjust to the new schedule, it just takes some time.

My back seems to be getting better. I'd say it's at about 75%. There are still days where I have a constant dull ache, but there are many days where it doesn't bother me except when I move the wrong way - and the pain usually disappears quickly.

I spent the afternoon having a long lunch with my friend Stacie and I haven't done any housework yet today...I better get going! I have more pictures to upload and I might get to that tonight.

Cami's scooting!

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Brie Giggles

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Cami Giggles

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100 things that make me happy

Every holiday season my mom challenges us to do something the following year. Thanksgiving 2005 she challenged us to make a list of 100 things that make us happy. It wasn't always on the top of my list of things to do, so it's somewhat sporadic. I thought I'd share it here.

Aaron
Maddie
Cami
Brie
Mom
Dad
Brandon
Chelsey
My marriage
Summer thunder storms
Peanut butter m&ms
Popcorn at the movies
Maddie saying "good morning"so happily when she wakes up
Baby smiles
Date nights
Quiet
Giggles
A good deal
Kisses from my girls
Ordering plzza
A clean house
Spring rain
Watching movies in bed
Gummy grins
Naps
Lazy days
Getting over strep
Bringing cami & brie home from the hospital
Snuggling with my girls
Maddie telling me i'm her bestfriend
Being home with my kids
Seeing maddie accomplish something and being proud of herself
Finding money in unexpected places
New tv season - no more reruns!
Good music
Supportive family
Lunch with girlfriends
Seeing other people happy
Central air
Finishing a big project
Conference Sunday
Dinner in the crockpot
Wireless internet
Tivo
Hearing Maddie sing
My ipod
Hearing from a friend
A new haircut and highlights
Late night chats with aaron
Seeing Amy happy
Making new friends
Watching the babies learn new tricks
New shoes
Being able to make other people smile
Parties with friends
Knowing someone has been thinking about me
Yummy smelling candles
Making a good meal
Grandpa
Living the gospel
Getting into bed at night
A new day
Finding a cute outfit
Sandal weather
Not having to cook dinner
Aaron passing the NCLEX
Seeing two baby girls at my ultrasound
Watching Maddie play with her sisters
Seeing the babies adore Maddie
Feeling appreciated
Hearing thank you
Spending time with extended family
Beautiful scenery
Chocolate
Going to the movies
Dinner out
Learning something new
New pillows
Being able to help someone
Seeing Maddie so excited about Christmas
IM'ing friends who live far away
Memories
The quiet snow brings
Spring mornings
Holiday parties
Michael Buble concert
Hot chocolate on a cold night
Famous Dave's bread pudding
Laughing with family and friends
Me time
My relationship with my sister
Losing all the weight I gained with my pregnancy
The twins growing off the charts
Electric blankets
Finding my inner strength
Spending time with my parents
Vacations
Finishing my pre-req's for nursing school
Getting all three girls to sleep at the same time
Oreo shakes
Long scenic drives

Goals

It's a new year so it's that time again. I actually have some things that I've been working on a little bit, but I need to hold myself accountable for them, so I decided to write them here.

1. My health. This includes diet, exercise, and emotional/mental. I started Weight Watchers on Tuesday. I've done it before and I like the program. It's going well so far. My ultimate goal is to lose between 61 and 66 pounds. I also need to get an exercise routine down. My neurologist has recommended water aerobics, I have an appt. to check out Golds Gym on Friday. Emotionally and mentally I am doing fine but I need to work on taking time for myself and finding ways to challenge my brain. I will most likely review my physiology and anatomy textbooks periodically since I'm on hold for the nursing program.

2. My family. I need to find ways to keep Maddie entertained and happy without relying so much on the television. This is easier when the weather is good...hurry up spring! I'm still feeling like a newby at being home full-time so I am constantly finding things that are working (and aren't) for us.

3. My marriage. It's not bad, just an ongoing project. That won't change, but there are some areas I know I can personally improve so I'll be working at them.

4. My faith. So many areas here to work on!

5. My house. I have set up a loose schedule for household chores. My biggest thing is keeping on top of the dishes and laundry. Those two things left undone for a day can cause a huge mess which seems to have a domino affect on the rest of the house.

I think that's it. LOL.

Getting the hang of this

Preschool started up again on today. Life is back on schedule after the holidays. I sent Aaron off to work and took Maddie to school, put the babies down for a nap when we got home. The house was quiet and I had time to do the stuff on my list. I have found it most helpful to make a list of the things that I want/need to get done the night before. I got out of the habit of doing it and I've been a big slacker lately. I guess that's mostly because of my back pain but I need to just deal with it and make myself get up and do things.

I got everything done on my list by 5:00, and it was a long list! My mom came over at 6:00 so that I could run to the store sans kids. That saved me so much time. It was a 10 minute errand (roundtrip) by myself, it would have been at least 30 minutes with the kids in tow. When I got back I fed the babies and then sat down for dinner with Maddie. All the kids were in bed by 8:00. How nice it is to have the laundry folded and put away before 10:00 at night!

Maddie started dance Monday. She has wanted to "ballet" for months. We promised her she could start once we moved, but everyone was getting ready for holiday performances when that happened. She was so excited to be there yesterday, she had a grin from ear to ear. It's an intro to ballet, jazz and tumbling for 3 and 4 year-olds. She spent most of the hour running laps around the girls who were practicing their leaps and skips, but she was sure ready to go to bed last night! It will be fun to see how this goes. As long as she enjoys it, it's a good thing.

The latest

It's just pain. It really is. I can deal with this. Lots of people do. My dad is the first person to come to mind. He has struggled with back problems since his early 20's. He is so upset that his bad back genes have been passed on to me. Dad, it's not your fault! I love you!

I found out last week that I have degenerative disc disease. The good news is that now that I know, there are things I can do to prevent future flare-ups. It doesn't do me any good right now. I'm currently on a prednisone pack, the doctor told me that it is effective in approximately 50% of his patients. If this doesn't work we will try the injections. If that doesn't work then I'll have to consider surgery. I am really hoping that the pills or the injections will take care of the problem. I'm on day 4 of the pills and haven't noticed a change, so we'll see how it goes. I have a follow-up on the 17th.

A New Year

I know it's just a difference between 11:59 p.m. and Midnight on one day, but it's so significant. 2006 was such a rollercoaster for me and my family. Full of life-changing events, mostly for the better. Many of my previous posts have already talked about this, so I'm not going to go into it again. I will say that I feel like I have grown a lot, learned a little about myself and done my best to support my husband and my daughters in the challenges we have faced. I think we are all stronger because of it.

There are random moments throughout the week that I look at my girls and think "WOW!" So much of my day is filled with the same diaper changing, feeding, soothing, cuddling, entertaining...it is easy to let the big picture fade a little. Tonight I was watching Cami and Brie roll around on the floor and had one of those moments. They were smiling at me and playing with each other and I realized how quickly they are turning into little people. They are so much fun (and so much work!) and we are loving it.

I had all the kids in bed for about 45 minutes until Cami decided she needed some one-on-one time with me. She is a horrible sleeper. I am fairly confident that if Cami would sleep all night Brie would follow suit - she usually wakes up only after Cami has. I am clueless about how to fix this. I own The Happiest Baby on the Block and I used a moderated Ferber technique to get Maddie to sleep when she was an infant. First problem is I can't find the book, and if I do find it, when would I read it? The other problem is that all three girls are sharing a room. Kind of hard to Ferberize without waking up the other two. I am sure I am setting the twins up for horrible sleeping habits and I am trying so hard to prevent that! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Oops, I got side-tracked. Cami was playing on the floor while I was working on a new menu and grocery list. She kept looking at herself in the mirror and she thought it was the funniest thing. She laughed and laughed. So cute!

For some reason it is really easy to get giggles out of Cami and Brie when they're in their highchairs after they've eaten some yummy (?) baby food. I'll get them started and Maddie will come running in from the living room to take over. She loves to make them laugh. Tonight Maddie offered to feed Cami for me while I put dinner together and I took her up on it. That was a mess! I should have taken pictures. Eventually she managed to get most of the food in Cami's mouth. She was so proud of herself. She loves being the big sister and she really shines when she's doing things to help them (and me) out. It's great!