Craziness abides here

Since there is ample space for toys and such upstairs, we have a rule that toys don't come downstairs. It makes it a lot easier for me to keep the main floor clean, and the girls have a playroom plus their own rooms to keep stuff in. It's worked really well. And then came Christmas. Oh my goodness. Everyone is running amok. I pick toys up and they reappear. It is driving me batty. Hopefully I can restore order soon!

We had a really nice Christmas. The girls were thrilled with the things they received, it was so much fun to watch the three of them. Maddie was super excited about everything and the twins were in awe of the decorations and lights and wrapping paper.

I don't think that I have updated here, I found out in the early part of November that I am starting nursing school (the full-time program) on January 7th! I can't believe it. This is going to be a big change for all of us. I need to do it though. I don't know that the timing will ever be better - there will always some excuse to delay it. Might as well get it done!

Aaron had Christmas off but is working most of the next week to make up for it. We're hoping to go out a week from tomorrow without the girls because it might not happen again until I'm done with my first semester.

Here are some pictures from the last little bit.

10 years ago

tonight Aaron and Iate dinner here. He was so nervous he was hardly able to eat his dinner. I knew what he was up to, though - you don't go to La Caille for a normal date night. I just didn't know when to expect the big question. For dessert, Aaron ordered a flambais and I ordered bananas foster. Our waitress came and apologzied after we had waited for quite awhile saying that Aaron's flambais had fallen and they had to start it over. When our desserts came to our table, my ring was sitting in between some of the fruit garnish on the plate. While I had expected it, I hadn't expected the flood of emotions that came when I saw Aaron bend down on one knee. I don't remember much of what he said other than that he loved me and would I please be his wife. Of course I said yes!

Once we started eating our desserts the waitress came and told us the real story. Apparently DH had given my ring to a hostess when we got to the restaurant (he had arranged for everything ahead of time). The hostess' shift ended and she went home with the ring in her pocket. They were scrambling like crazy trying to get ahold of her to get the ring back in time for our desserts. That's why we got the story about the flambais falling.

Roots planted

It's official! We're homeowners! We closed on Halloween. The movers hauled our furniture from our old address to our new one on the first of November. We were "settled" enough to have family over for pizza and cake on my birthday - November 2nd. We've been spending the last 2 weeks unpacking and putting things away and enjoying all of the space! Maddie's doing great at her new school and we're looking forward to meeting our neighbors.

Last Monday I got a message from the health science admissions department. My name had come up as an alternate for the nursing program and I needed to let them know by 4:30 pm on Tuesday if I was ready. Aaron and I talked about it and decided to go for it. I responded on Monday afternoon and then got a phone call on Tuesday around Noon that I was officially IN the program. Crazy! I went to orientation yesterday. I'm excited and a little scared. This will be a big change and sacrifice for our family, requiring effort from everyone. I'm nervous about being a student again, it's been 2 1/2 years and I had two fewer kids at the time. ;) I know it will work out. Wish me luck!

We have internet service and our computer is all fixed so I should be able to post more often. I will try and get some pictures uploaded later this week.

Random quotes

I am packing up and found some quotes written on loose sheets of paper that I want to hang on to. I'm just putting them here so that I can find them in the future.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Marianne Williamson
1992 Book "Return to Love"


"You are one of the noblest of God's creations. His intent is that your life be gloriously beautiful regardless of your circumstances. As you are grateful and obedient, you can become all that God intends you to be."

Elder Richard G. Scott

An update

I was invited to apply for the part-time nursing program at SLCC. There's only 30 slots and acceptance is based on where you are on the waiting list. It starts in January and is 7 semesters long - but it's only one or two classes each semester. I'll find out by the 15th if I'm in it or not. I'd really prefer to go part-time so I hope that I get in. They might not offer part-time again, it depends on funding. If I don't get in I'll apply to take pathophysiology this spring because I will most likely be starting the FT program next August. Crazy!

We've been busy packing and getting ready for our move. I hate this part! PODS is delivering a unit tomorrow so that we can load it up as we pack. I think this is going to help me work more efficiently. We went to the house yesterday and it's looking great! I'm really happy with the cabinets and countertops together - they look great!

We also went to Gardner Village yesterday to look at the witches. I've got a few pictures of the girls while we were there.

Pictures

Here's a handful of pictures from the last little bit. I'm having trouble uploading pictures to any of the online image hosting sites or I'd include more. Two are from the wedding reception, Maddie LOVED twirling in her fancy dress and watching herself in the mirror. Cami and Brie are pictured with my cousins that babysit the girls for us often. There's a cute pic of Cami and Brie hugging and then a pic of Maddie on her first day of school. There is also a picture of our house, it looks different now because all of the exterior is done (siding, rock work and shutters). Thanks for looking!

I disappeared....

Actually, our computer crashed. The operating system died. It was a big mess and it took the Geek Squad weeks to fix it. We finally got it back yesterday. It is now working better than it has in months. Yay!!!

I don't have time for a major update right now so here's a quick list:

*My brother got married on Friday.
*The girls are doing great. (Maddie has a horrible cold though!)
*The house is moving along quickly. Exterior is about done and the drywall is ready for texture and paint!
*I'm answering "What's this?" 1000 times a day - it's Brie's favorite thing to say.


I should be able to update this more frequently now. Thanks for checking in...if anyone is still around! :)

A random update

We went to Fillmore, UT for a family reunion on July 27th. It was nice to visit with family we don't see very often. Maddie loved having so many kids to play with and the twins enjoyed a massive yard to wander around and explore. My parents brought the girls back to Salt Lake Saturday night. We had made arrangements for my cousin, Alex, to watch the girls while we had a quick get-away in Vegas. We drove down Sunday and came home Wednesday afternoon. We did our normal Vegas stuff - Miracle Mile shops, the outlets, Caesar's Palace. We ate at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville on Sunday evening, Spice Market Buffet Monday evening, and Pamapas Brazilian Steakhouse on Tuesday night. After dinner on Monday night, we went to see Bodies...The Exhibition. It was fascinating! It was worth the money and really very interesting. I even shocked myself as I pulled a few anatomy and physiology facts from somewhere deep in my brain. It was so nice to have a few days with Aaron, we haven't done anything like that in a long time. We're hoping we'll be able to fit in a trip next spring for our 10 year anniversary - we'll see!

We're finally seeing progress on our house. They poured the foundation this past week and will begin framing this week. It's so exciting! We met with the builder on Thursday to go over all of the structural and interior options we chose. We've been given a tentative closing date of October 26th. Giving some room for delays, I'm fairly confident we'll be moved in by Thanksgiving.

We got the Kindergarten welcome letter from Maddie's elementary. She'll be in the morning class and her first day of school is September 6th. She is beside herself with excitement. I've tried to keep up with her desire to learn everything she can this summer, it's been a challenge! We've gone through 3 rather large workbooks. She's not quite reading, but it won't be long.

Speaking of reading, I've been reminded of one of my favorite hobbies. It's something I haven't done much of for quite a while. I picked up The Memory Keeper's Daughter to read while I was recovering from my surgery. Then, of course, there's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. My dad loaned Michael Palmer's Fatal to me and I read while we were driving back from Vegas. This week I picked up Stephenie Meyer's Twilight while I was grocery shopping. I read it in two days. I was anxious to pick up the next two in the series because Maddie is currently camping with her great-grandma and I knew I would have time to read them. The second book, New Moon, wasn't a problem to find. Tracking down Eclipse was a bit of a challenge that ended with a drive to Layton late on Saturday afternoon. I really enjoyed the series - but Twilight is my favorite of the three, I think.

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