Do you hear that?

I'm enjoying a few quiet moments this afternoon. Maddie's at lunch with her great-grandma, Aaron's at a staff meeting and the twins are napping. I am somewhat excited about the prospect of this happening regularly once Maddie's in Kindergarten this fall. With my luck the babies will decide naps are no longer necessary. Oh well...one can hope!

We have finally been contacted by the design center. I went in for a "browse" last week while Aaron was at work. After crunching numbers and going through the price sheet, Aaron wants to go look at our options himself before we have to make our final decisions on the 7th. We're meeting there this afternoon once his staff meeting is over. I spoke with the agent for the builder this week and he estimated that we could be in our new home by the end of November. I'm not going to hold him to that, but it's exciting that we might be settled by Christmas!

It's been awhile since I've updated on my back. It's been doing MUCH better. I have almost been able to completely give up my ibuprofen regimen twice a day. I actually hadn't taken any for almost two weeks until Monday. The county left dumpsters throughout the neighborhood and we did some big time dejunking and yard cleanup. I was really careful about not lifting heavy stuff or moving awkwardly, but apparently I wasn't careful enough. I'm more sore than I have been in several weeks. Fortunately it isn't the crippling pain that I had from November - January. I just need to remember that it will be forever injured and I need to be careful.

Cami and Brie are both walking. Cami has been for about a month and she's very steady on her feet. Brie just decided last Friday that she was going to do it and she's still in the learning stages. She's getting very good at it though! I don't know what I'm going to do with them now. Church is probably the most difficult because it is impossible to keep them happy and entertained during Sacrament Meeting. We end up taking them out to the foyer at some point during the meeting. I have managed to get the nursery leader to take them so that I can enjoy Sunday School and Relief Society without having to wrangle the girls. It's been so nice!!!

Maddie is taking swimming lessons and working on a couple of pre-K and Kindy workbooks I bought for her. She is like a sponge - she wants to know everything right now! I do not know where that child gets her energy. She's on overdrive from the moment she wakes up until after I put her to bed at night. It's hard to keep her entertained. We've been trying to go on a big outing once a week and spend a few days at the pool a week. She's also had a few playdates with the triplets. They play very well together.

I think that's all that we have going on right now. We did book a few days stay in Vegas near the end of July. It will be our only get-away this year I think. We're looking forward to a few days of relaxing and family time. (not sure relaxing will be part of it with the kids in tow!)

Family news

My brother is getting married. We are thrilled! We met Julia in December and I think the whole family has loved her from the beginning. The date is September 21st. We're really happy for them. Maddie tells me all the time that she's so happy Julia will be in our family forever.

Happy Father's Day

I'm a day early but I don't know if I'll have time to do this tomorrow. Happy Father's Day Aaron and Dad!

To my husband:

I love that you and Maddie share a love for Star Wars, Spiderman, Superman and the Justice League. I love that you instigate a late night movie fest with her so you can spend some time together. I love the way the two of you laugh when you're spending time together. I love that you find so much joy in watching the twins grow and learn and explore. I love that you are able to see a glimpse into your past as you watch them every day. I love that you work so hard to support us so that I can stay home with our children. I love that on your days off you want to go out and spend time together as a family. I love that being a dad brings so much happiness into your life. I love you!

To my dad:

You are the best dad a girl could ask for. Patient, kind, generous, supportive. I love that I can go to you when I need a hug or a shoulder to cry on. You have always seemed to know when I need that. I love how you step in and entertain your granddaughters when you can tell I need a break for a bit. I never feel like you are rushed or have somewhere else you would rather be. I feel so fortunate to have you in my life. I love you!

An update on the craziness around here

The babies are teething and they are extra clingy lately. They are also increasingly mischievous. It is making it so difficult to do anything! They had their one year check-up on Thursday and they're doing really well. Both of them are about 24 lbs. Brie is 30 1/2 inches and Cami is 29 1/2. The doctor followed up on the plans to remove Cami's dermoid cyst, she's having that surgery on July 6th. It's fairly common in infants apparently.

We have been enjoying the drive-in the last little bit. We went to see Spiderman III a few weeks ago and Thursday night we went to see Shrek 3. Maddie loves it. The other night she was so excited she pulled together everything we could possibly need (including bandaids) on her own. The babies fell asleep as Spiderman started but they enjoyed watching Shrek with us.

Saturday I had a training meeting with Heritage Makers. It was great! I got a lot of good ideas and I'm so excited about it. Aaron had to work Saturday so I took the kids to my parents' house for the day. We met up at IKEA for the exchange at the end of the day and when I got there my mom said "I don't know HOW you do this on your own all the time!" My sister laughed that it took five people to do what I do by myself - my parents, my sister and brother and my brother's fiance were all helping with the girls all day. snicker

Speaking of Heritage Makers, the book I made for Maddie came on Friday. Yesterday she asked if I would read it for her bedtime story. When we finished she said "This is such a beautiful book Mom, thanks for making it for me." Awww! I'm excited to work on some other projects. I'd love to do a book about Aaron's mom and dad - I need to drill his aunts for information. There's a lot of stuff I am afraid we will never know so I want to put as much of what we have together. I also want to do the twins' first year digital scrapbook. I suppose I will be an insomniac yet. :)