July 20th...already!?!

This month is flying by! I'm looking forward to a family reunion and mini-vacation next week, so that's okay by me!

I had surgery last Friday. It's something I've wanted for a long time. That being said, I have mixed feelings about it at the moment. Yesterday was a rough day, today I'm feeling more optimistic. From what I understand, it's somewhat normal to have this kind of a reaction to this particular surgery. The recovery hasn't been too bad. I spent the first night in the hospital with demerol shots for pain every four hours. That was great! ;) I spent a few days home in bed while Aaron chased after the kids. The pain is manageable, not as bad as I had anticipated.

Maddie is going to be in the Days of '47 youth parade tomorrow. She is so excited! I remember doing this parade when I was about her age. It will be fun for her.

The girls all had a stomach bug again last week, I am not a fan. This has happened almost once a month since March! Each time I have been reminded of that scene with Ashley Judd from Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Yuck. The babies are still having tummy issues of the diarrhea variety. It's been an exciting week.

The twins are starting to interact more. They usually enjoy torturing each other by pulling hair and grabbing at something the other one has. I'm trying to discourage this behavior by encouraging "loves" when I see them do this. They will usually stop and give each other a hug. It's really sweet. It is a riot watching them figure things out every day. They're working on putting words together, so far we hear an occasional "no" (of course), "ticka" (tickle), "quack" and then a few other things that sound mostly like baby babble but imitate phrases like "what's this?" and "I did it." Maddie enjoys chasing them around the living room and hearing them squeal with delight. They all seem to enjoy each other. I love it.

Independence Day

It's one of my favorite holidays. Oddly enough, I have more specific memories of my family celebrating the 4th than I do Christmas. Parades, neighborhood fairs, Lagoon, Stadium of Fire, barbecues...

I have a strong sense of patriotism. Despite the conflicts, the politics, the difference of opinions, I feel blessed to live here. I think that my appreciation for what we have here has only increased since 9/11.

Today we spent the day at This is the Place Heritage Park. Maddie enjoyed the train and pony ride, the petting coral and the tours of the houses and watching how the pioneers lived and worked 160 years ago. I have some cute pics of the kids I'll post later. Oh, and as an added bonus we saw Glenn Beck while we were there. He's in town to host the Stadium of Fire and he taped his television broadcast at the park this afternoon. We didn't officially meet him but he did wave and say hi to us as he was walking by.

We're planning on fireworks tonight, but the deal was that Maddie needed to take a nap first. It's been an hour and half since we got home and she's still restless. It's also 6:15. Aaron's asleep and I'm not sure how he's going to handle this when he wakes up. It's up to him. :) Maybe we'll head to Murray Park tonight, maybe not.

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. :)

A day at the zoo

We went to Hogle Zoo this morning followed by an afternoon at the park for the twins' birthday. It was a lot of fun! Here's some pics from our day.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

One year ago tonight...

I was sitting on the couch IM'ing a friend and timing contractions. They were coming every few minutes and didn't let up so I called Aaron at work. We decided that since this had happened for several nights in a row (they'd stop after an hour or so) that we'd go to L&D. I called my parents to have them meet us at the hospital and set my bags by the door. When Aaron got home we transferred Maddie to the car and headed to Cottonwood Hospital at about 11:45 p.m. I really did not think I'd be having my babies that night!

Cami and Brie are turning 1. What a year it has been! These girls have brought so much joy into our lives and we love them to pieces. Brie is quietly mischievious and always makes sure she has what she wants. Cami is always concerned about her sisters and more willing to snuggle. They are learning to walk and taking several quick steps at a time. Aaron says they look like Frankenstein when they walk. They both love to do things to get attention! We have so much fun with them.

It's not quite the 24th of May but Happy Birthday, Cami and Brie!!!

I finished my first Storybook

I decided to do a book for Maddie about her Grandma Pam. I had been trying to find something special to do for her with the pictures I had and I knew had found it when I learned about this company a few weeks ago.

If you want to check out my storybook go to the Heritage Makers website and click on "Project Gallery." From there you click on "Search the Project Gallery" and enter my project ID number which is 251808.

I chose to go with the basic Storybook template because it allowed me more freedom with text and picture layouts. I am excited to try the designer scrapbook options on one of my future projects!

Lacking

Patience
I guess we all lack patience in one way or another. I am generally a patient person. I am struggling with it right now though. First of all, I have a 4 year-old who talks. Constantly. She is not patient. We are both working on it.

Second, we turned in the contract for our house at the beginning of April. We were told we'd hear from the design center within 3-4 weeks. It's been about 7. I am not finding any comfort in the timeline they've given us.

This leads me to the other thing that I'm lacking that is driving me absolutely crazy.

Space
There's five of us in two bedrooms. No playroom, no family room to hide toys in. We are literally spilling out of the closets. No room looks tidy because there is no space to put anything. Once upon a time, I was a neat and tidy person. I want that person back. Here comes patience again...I can't wait to have closets, , a playroom, a garage; room to put things out so I can sort through them and actually do something with the piles.

****************************************************************
I took my sister down to show her the model that matches our floorplan. While we were there I checked out a new model home they've just finished. I didn't love the floorplan but the color scheme, cabinets and carpet were closer to what we'll be going with in our home. I was excited to see it put together. It helped me envision our home a little better.

I'm excited! I'm doing my best not to have a particular date/time of year in mind for our moving day...at the rate we're going it could be January. Still, it's closer than it's ever been, and we're happy!

Ten things

Since Mother's Day was on Sunday and I am so thankful for these adorable little girls that have given me the title of "Mom," here's a list of ten things that I love about being a mom right now.

1. Four chubby, dimpled hands that clap (along with smiling faces and chatter) when I enter the room.
2. Maddie telling me I'm her best friend multiple times a day.
3. Endless hugs, kisses and squeezes from all my girls.
4. Maddie sneaking into my bed to snuggle with me during the night.
5. Being able to stay home to take care of my girls.
6. Seeing the babies learn to steady themselves on their feet
7. Waking up to the sounds of my girls playing and laughing together.
8. Always having a shopping buddy.
9. Watching Maddie find a great sense of accomplishment when she learns something new.
10. Seeing the world through a child's eyes again.

We need to do that more often!

Aaron and I had a night away together for the first time in two years! It was great. We celebrated our anniversary last night at Castle Creek Inn, a nice bed and breakfast about 15 minutes from our home. It was great to have a night off of bedtime routines, waking up with the babies, etc. Aaron got me a beautiful strand of pearls with a matching bracelet set. Very nice and completely unexpected. From what I've been told the girls slept all night so we might be able to do this again sooner than 2 years from now.

We have a babysitter tomorrow afternoon for a few hours. The community we're moving to has a promotion going on and we wanted to check it out sans kids. We might hit Spiderman 3 while we're out. Seems like it's feast or famine as far as date nights are concerned!

Nine years and counting

It's our 9th wedding anniversary. It is somewhat hard to believe how fast the time has gone by. I also can't believe that what started out as a party of two is now a party of five! Our family is our greatest accomplishment.

Aaron's at work tonight so we're celebrating on Thursday evening. He's my bestfriend and we've gone through a lot together the past several years. I love him very much!

Not too soon, baboon!

Maddie had her "See you later alligator" program today for preschool graduation. Since she goes to the lab school associated with the college, their last day of preschool is next Thursday. The program was adorable! Lots of songs and cute little stories, with props of course! I have been so impressed with the faculty and the things Maddie has learned the last two years. I can't believe she's reached this milestone already.

I'm here

Friday I told my bestfriend that some days I just don't cut it as a mom. While I know that's not true, Friday was one of those days that I was very thankful for bedtime. Maddie had a supersized meltdown as we were leaving for an outing. I quickly cancelled the outing and dealt with a screaming, stomping, red faced fit instead. It was all over fairly quickly so we had dinner, I bathed the girls and sent them all to bed at 6:30. I was in bed by 8:30. Ay yi yi.

Yesterday morning my mom called to see if I had heard anything about a young woman I grew up with. She lived down the street from me. Her obituary was in the paper Saturday. She was in a car accident recently and died from complications because of it. She was 29 and left her husband and two young kids behind. It is so terribly sad.

Earlier this week I caught glimpses of the horrendous tragedy at Virginia Tech and I was reminded of so many other senseless events that have taken so many lives too soon.

It is easy for me to be overcome with sadness when I think of all the families that have to deal with the deaths of such young, vibrant people.

Cami is becoming more confident in her ability to stand on her own. She smiles when I see her practicing. Brie is working on being quietly mischevious and grins when she is caught. Maddie has learned how to write "Maddie loves Mommy" and proudly presents me with valentines throughout the day. I was holding Brie tonight as she settled down to sleep and I was overwhelmed with the love I have for my sweet girls. I will try to remember to enjoy the bad days just as much as the fabulous ones. Well, almost.

My parents are amazing

I am one lucky girl.

Two weeks ago I was in the middle of a stomach bug with all three girls and myself. Not fun at all. As you can imagine, the laundry associated with three little girls throwing up profusely is just obscene. After a late night sick session I had to strip Maddie's bed and get everything in the wash. I realized right then that the washing machine hadn't fully drained from the load I'd done earlier that night. I hoped that I'd get lucky and threw her bedding in anyways. I woke up the next morning to find I wasn't lucky at all. I called my dad because that's what I do when something isn't working right. He said he'd be by to look at it. I gathered up all of our laundry and spent a couple hours at the laundromat getting everything washed and folded. Dad came by and declared that the motor had died. What timing...in so many ways! Having just put earnest money down on the house, we didn't have any extra $$ for an appliance purchase. Everyone had stopped throwing up but the babies had a BAD case of the runs and laundry was accumulating so quickly! Saturday we left the house for a few hours and came home to a new washing machine - already installed. My parents decided a washing machine was a necessity for me and they took care of it. They're the best! I did 12 loads of laundry in 36 hours. You've probably never seen a girl happier about having a washing machine.

Tonight I called my dad to see if I could borrow their lawn mower because we couldn't figure out how to get the one here started. He stopped by to check it out and he had mowed most of the lawn before I realized he was here. He stopped only because it ran out of gas. He left for a minute to get more and came back to finish up. What a guy. :)

These are just two examples of the bazillion things my parents do for me. Thanks, Mom and Dad! I love you!

We got it!!!

We got the approval! I'm going down to meet with the builder's agent tomorrow afternoon to sign the contract.

Oh my goodness. This is unreal. We're so excited. And a little nauseous. :)

Hoping for new digs

The home ownership bug has bitten. We've gone through this before, but the timing has never felt right. Many opportunities have passed us by and we have really not done ourselves any favors by waiting. We've spent the last month or so browsing the MLS websites, checking out mortgage calculators, crunching numbers. Our options in the valley are limited, we really can't get what we want here. The prices are obscene. Yesterday we got in the car and drove South to check things out. We checked out several model homes and builders while we were out and about. We came upon one particular builder by accident, really, and walked into a model that just felt like it could be our home. I love it! We are really hoping this is it. We went through the pre-qualification process with a mortgage broker last night, he was really optimistic but isn't able to give us a confirmation until he talks to some lenders on Monday. If this does work out, we're anywhere from 6-12 months out from the home being done. They're finishing up one phase and starting on another, our home would be built in yet another phase. They're building like crazy in this area. I really feel like the timing is right. We'll be hoping and praying all weekend! :)

8 things about my trip to California

1. Mucinex is a lifesaver. I had a chest cold and sinus infection and felt horrible the day before we left. The antibiotics kicked in and Mucinex helped me feel almost 100%.
2. GPS systems in an unfamiliar area are a bad idea. "Where2" led us right into South Central L.A. and it was a little scary! (It's a good thing we were there at 9:30 in the morning and not 9:30 at night)
3. Pinkberry frozen yogurt is worth a bit of a drive.
4. My cousin and I still laugh and giggle like we did when we were teenagers. LOL.
5. To date, nothing I have done as a parent has made me feel as guilty as going to Disneyland without my Disney fanatic 4 year-old. :)
6. Going on the Tower of Terror with someone who is totally clueless about what it entails is a priceless experience.
7. I missed my girls (Aaron too) so much that I opted to drive home rather than stay an extra day or two in California. Standby airline tickets aren't a reliable way to travel.
8. Aaron did fairly well while I was gone. He admitted it wasn't as bad as he thought and they were all in one piece and happy when I got home.

Spring Fever

I am so ready for some sunshine! The weather has been pleasant the last few days. A little cool, but the sun has been out and I broke out my capris and tees. Yay! This morning I had to run out to the car and it was raining a little bit. I love spring rain. It makes everything feel so fresh and it brings so much promise of things to come. We have some daffodils blooming in the yard. MIL loved her flowers, it will be fun to see what pops up this year. I thought of her today as Maddie was enjoying the new colors popping up out of the dirt.

I am headed to Southern California next week for a couple of days with my cousin. I am so looking forward to the break from my normal routine. We are flying into Long Beach, staying in Anaheim. One day will be spent doing the Disney thing (of course!) and the other day we're up in the air about...maybe heading down to San Diego or checking out some of L.A. Jess and I have a great time together. We're two weeks apart and spent a weekend together every month when we were teeanagers(she lived a couple hours away). We travelled to Europe together when we were 15. This trip will be a lot of fun.

It will be interesting to see how Aaron handles the girls for two days on his own. This is a first! Lucky for him, the girls have started sleeping through the night the last little bit. They're on a good schedule so as long as he sticks to it things should go smoothly. We'll see how it goes!