My Mommy Blog

Grant is here

2011-11-11T13:29:00.001-05:00

Grant was born at 12:56 pm on 11-11-11. He is 7 lbs and 11 ounces. He is 20.25 inches. He scored a 9 and a 9 on the Apgar.

Today is Veteran's Day. Grant is named after his great-grandfather Grant. Grant was a WWII vet. His plane was shot down. The Nazi's took him prisoner. He was in a POW camp and had to go on forced death marches until he was eventually freed by American forces. Terry and I used to sit at his and Nana's dinner table on Sundays and hear him tell us of his experiences in WWII. He was not only Terry's grandfather, but more a grandfather to me than any one else! We are proud to name our son after him and proud that this could happen on Veteran's Day when we remember Papa's sacrifices for us! We love both our Grants.

It's TIme!

2011-11-11T05:46:00.001-05:00

We are about to leave to the hospital!

2011-11-08T21:17:00.000-05:00

Well, today is Tuesday and the countdown is on!!! Terry is supposed to get induced Friday morning. Stay tuned!

Levi wears a tie

2011-10-30T22:20:00.004-04:00

Levi wore a tie for the first time today. While I was getting dressed this morning he approached me with one of my ties. I got him one that would better match his shirt and tied it far down on the thick part. He had an awesome giant knot, but it fit well. He looked great at stake conference this morning. Baby Grant should be born soon. So, stay tuned!

Horricane Irene

2011-08-30T13:36:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday our home in Virginia was hit by Horricane Irene. My children aren't big into saying "hurricane;" they prefer "horricane." The horricane blew down lots and lots of trees and power lines. It was amazing to see the trees in our backyard blowing back and forth. Here is a picture of the major damamge at our house. Luckily, Super Levi came to my rescue and removed Horricane Irene's biggest piece of damage from on top of me. Here are some pictures of trees on power lines I took from my car.

I took some other pictures with my phone, but I need to figur out a way to resize them so that I can text them to myself.

We never lost power for longer than 5 seconds. That means we are in the 25% that never lost power in the Richmond area. While I am writing this we still have 50% of the region without power. We have been watching DVDs, because we just moved and have not had phone, cable or internet set up at our new house. We have some wonderful company at our house and they more than make up for no internet. We have been having a history marathon. First, we watched the conspirator. Now, we are almost halfway through the John Adams mini series from HBO. Anyone have Band of Brothers so we can borrow it?

When I got in the car this morning they were talking about another aftershock to the earthquake last week. Does it count as an aftershock if you can't even feel it when you are awake? By the way, my in-laws had foundation damage from the earthquake last week. Have I ever told you how I prefer earthquakes to hurricanes. You have to clean up after both, but you have to stress about hurricanes for a week ahead of time. Not cool.

Levi is getting ready!

2011-08-16T11:31:00.005-04:00

Levi is getting ready to be a big brother. He is practising! Little P. is hard to feed, so I am sure Terry is happy for the help!

Free Chick-fil-A Day!

2011-07-09T19:45:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was free Chick-fil-A Day! Anyone who dressed up as cows got a free entree or meal. It all depended on how dressed up they were! We printed off the official costumes from the website and donned them and, as a family, received $25 worth of free food!!! Yum-Yum! Thank you Chick-fil-A!!! Here are Eliza and Sadie meeting the "Princess Cow."

Cruisin' the Bahamas

2011-07-09T18:28:00.007-04:00

Terry and I went on a cruise, courtesy of my parents, the first week of May. We sailed out of Jacksonville, Florida on the Carnival Fascination on a seven night voyage through the Carribean! We stopped in Nassau, Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk. We had a blast. The only problem was that Terry was pregnant and didn't have a ton of energy for a ton of stuff.

We loved getting sample jewlery from the jewlery stores. The dining room was a lot of fun. We ate our hearts out there every meal we could! The beach at Half Moon Cay was so beautiful...neither of us had ever been to anything like it in our life. The pictures were taken from inside a waterproof bag, so they ended up too iffy to enjoy. Sorry!

Levi's 2nd Birthday

2010-09-19T22:03:00.002-04:00

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Eliza's 6th Birthday

2010-08-13T21:26:00.008-04:00

Today is Eliza's 6th Birthday! She wanted to have a Wii Party. The Henry Family came over and we played Wii and ate pizza and cupcakes (some with strawberries and whip cream). Below are a few photos from the evening in no particular order. I am happy Eliza was born! :0)

I didn't get any photos of it, but Levi loved playing with Rusty, Aunt Molly's toy poodle.

The candles were pretty cool. The flames were the same color as the candle.

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Pillowcase Dresses

2010-07-27T16:56:00.002-04:00

I learned how to make Pillowcase Dresses yesterday at Activity Day Girls; thanks to the Primary President, Sister Amy! Eliza and Sadie got to watch the big girls making them and they really wanted one too. So, yesterday evening we went to the store and the girls picked out the fabric they wanted. Sadie picked cows because they make milk, of course. :0) I made dresses for their dolls with the scraps.

My Crazy Lazy

2010-07-20T17:53:00.017-04:00

I was born with crossed eyes.

When I was an infant I had 3 surgeries to correct my crossed eyes. It is challenging to straighten eyes because the surgeon can not be sure they are straight when he is working on them. He/she make his/her best guess.
My eyes were never perfectly aligned. If one's eyes are not straight, one will see double. The brain will learn to suppress one image to eliminate the double vision. So, all of my life I have only used one eye at a time. I see out of both eyes, but I alternate which one I use to focus and which one I suppress. This is so natural to me, that I didn't even know I did it until an eye doctor pointed it out to me when I was 25 years old.

I was so awesome in 9th grade that I could even look in 2 directions at once!My wandering eye (strabismus) was a little vexatious because people often thought I wasn't looking at them. When you give someone eye contact, you look at one of their eyes. So, I had a 50% chance someone I was talking to would think I was looking at him or her.
When I taught the children in Primary (at church), several times children became confused because they thought I was calling someone else their name. I was good with the names, just not with the looking. One day, I just explained my "Crazy Lazy" eye to the children. I brought in a pair of glasses with one red lens and one green lens for each child. I had them put on the glasses. They talked about how they could see both red and green at the same time. I then told them that when I put on the glasses I can only see red or green, not both at the same time. I explained that I only use one eye so the eye I am not using wanders away. I called this my "Crazy Lazy." If the crazy lazy wasn't looking at them, look at my other eye. When the children later seemed confused about whom I was addressing, I'd remind them to ignore the Crazy Lazy! :0) Fun times!!!

Soooo, I decided to try again for straight eyes!

Beware:
Below is a scary post-surgery photo! It's a red eyed monster!
BOO!!

So surgery #4 left me with eyes that drifted inward instead of outward. The surgeon, Dr. Brown, over-corrected on purpose. The hope was that as my eye muscles healed, they would pull my eyes back to the center------They didn't.

My tired old brain could not deal with the new inward position of my eyes. So, I had pesky double vision. In addition, for the first 2.5 weeks, I had a torsion problem with my right eye. Everything appeared to be tilted, like it was leaning. That was crazy but my brain worked that out on it's own! Phew.

So,the eye nurse, Lisa, worked with me on the double vision. She put a prizm on one of my glasses lens, The prizm would bend the light, which would move the image from that eye out of my view, so the double vision would disappear. I felt a bit nerdy wearing the funny looking, cloudy prizm. (But that's not unusual, huh, Molly?).
Three months after surgery #4, I had surgery #5! This time Dr. Brown only operated on my left eye. I woke up after the surgery a little disappointed that I still saw double. I came home, groggy from the anesthesia, and took a nap. I woke up a few hours later and looked at the clock. I was elated to discover that there was just ONE clock! Yippee!!

Ta Da! They're lookin' straight!

Today I had my 6 week post-op check-up. Everything looks good. I was a little concerned about how red the corner of my left eye still looks. Lisa explained that it could take up to a year for the scar tissue to completely heal, but it should continue to lighten all the time. Dr. Brown seemed sure it would eventually go white. I had a loose stitch that was stuck in my eye. It looked like an eye lash. but wouldn't come out. Dr. Brown put an anesthetic drop in my eye and removed the stitch with a tool. She said that removing the stitch should help the redness go away. It was a foreign body that was irritating my eye.

I am so excited!!! My eyes appear straight and my pesky double vision is gone!

Tutus!

2010-07-19T08:40:00.003-04:00

Eliza, Sadie and I love the new skirts Grandma sent!

It was such a treat when the girls opened their package!

Blurry, but still a cute curtsy. ;)
David and I are in our room talking. We hear hysterical laughter coming from 4 year old, Sadie. It was one of those unstoppable belly laughs. I, like most folks, love a good stomach cramping, speech impaired, humor induced laugh. It was a joy to listen to my small child experience this! (Much more delightful than say a tickle induced laugh). When Sadie finally slowed down her laughter to a light giggle, I inquired, "Sadie, what is so funny?" She began, "Levi iiiiiiis...." (Bout of uncontrolled laughter).... "He iii(giggles)iis...(more laughter).....

1 Minutes Earlier:
Levi comes into my room holding a tutu he had pulled out of the girl's dress up box. He struggled to get it on himself and then he handed it to me. I was a bit hesitant to dress my boy in a tutu but I understood he wanted to dance with his sisters. I put it on him and he anxiously ran out to the family room.

Sadie's reaction made it worth it! The next day I asked her, "Sadie, what was so funny yesterday?" The memory of it still made her laugh as she retold, "Levi was dancing in my tutu!"

(Sigh) My boy is back to his firetruck! Really, it is so fun to see how boys and girls are born different! Levi has started charging me, diving into me, or falling in my lap with some accompanying sound affect. Then he gives me a hug, climbs down, backs up for some running room and does it again. He's affectionate, playful, and destructive all in one move. :0)

David has been growing his hair out for the first time in his life. I really had no idea he had curly hair and I have known him 10 years! He is getting all kinds of attention over these lovely locks!

Prettiest Princesses Ever

2009-10-26T20:06:00.000-04:00

Eliza Goes To Kindergarten

2009-09-09T12:06:00.004-04:00

Independance Day Family Home Evening

2009-07-01T20:37:00.003-04:00

Since Independence Day is this week, we decided to have a Patriotic History themed Family Home Evening. David tried to teach the girl's about evil, oppressive, tyrannical, King George III. To illustrate the events of the American Revolution we had a little dramatization....

David as the tyrant, King George the Third

King George is demanding taxes from the hard working American Patriots.

The Freemen get fed up and charge King George on a horse.The Freemen take down King George III with a sword.You're done, Tyrant!The Freemen declare their independence and celebrate by eating a flag cake!This dramatization is fictional, based loosely on actual events.

Hopefully, we'll do a better job with historical accuracy next year. David also showed the girls a couple of scenes from the John Adams HBO Mini Series. They were sure were pleased that the good soldiers won and now we are free! USA, USA, USA!!!

Father's Day 2009!

2009-07-01T20:25:00.002-04:00

Eliza and Sadie brought Daddy breakfast in bed.

They wanted to join him.

Daddy and his kiddies before heading off to Church

My Boy and His Twin Cousin

2009-07-01T20:14:00.002-04:00

We went to Molly's house the other day. My niece, Camille, has the most delightful disposition! She is so friendly. She took an interest in her baby cousin. They were born on the same day but Camille thinks she is a toddler. :0) She followed Levi around and wanted to do what he did. It was so cute. I wonder what kind-of trouble they'll get into together when they are both on two feet?

All I want....

2009-06-23T19:36:00.005-04:00

"Dear Heavenly Father...
I'm sad. I don't have nothing...All I want is a Genevieve set for my birthday and a Hello Kitty Moobie for my birthday. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen"
-Sadie, age 3

My little preschooler uttered this prayer when we knelt for family prayer this evening. She whined out the first 3 sentences and quickly turned cheerful as she thought of the rest. Have we done something wrong?

Temple Visit

2009-06-11T16:57:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago at Stake Conference, the Washington D.C. Temple president, President Tingey, asked the parents of young children to bring their children to the temple. He encouraged us to teach our children that the temple is important to us and to instill in them a love for and a desire to attend the temple. So David and I planned a trip to take the little kiddies to see the temple for the coming Saturday. We picked up my nephew, Wyatt, on the way. The night before, David and I listened to this great General Conference talk which also invites us to bring our children to see the temple. After visiting the temple, we also road the Metro Train into D.C. to see the National Museum of Natural History.

This one is my favorite. The girls loved seeing the bride. They wanted to go talk to her. (Although, if we had let them, I'm sure they would have been shy).

That doll is real.

Jail Bird

2009-06-11T16:35:00.000-04:00

Trying to chew his way out.

Pretend Mother's Day

2009-06-09T11:45:00.002-04:00

Levi loves to play in Eliza and Sadie's room. Yesterday he scooted on his tummy and followed them back to their room. I followed Levi. I laid down on the bedroom floor and watched the kids play. The girl's decided to play "Mother's Day." They prepared play food at their play kitchen and they brought me breakfast in bed. They kept filling up plates and served them to me while I laid on my floor "bed."

I was laying on my side, my head resting on a pillow. My arm was bent, poistioning my hand near my face with my palm up. Levi crawled over to me. He laid his hand inside of mine and dropped a toy strawberry right inside. It was so cute. I don't know if he just happened to pick up the strawberry and he happened to crawl to me and happened to place his hand in mine and drop the berry? OR maybe he was paying attention to the game his big sisters were playing and he decided to bring me some food too. I like to think it was the latter but either way it was SOOO CUTE!

Levi Is Pulling Up

2009-05-29T21:41:00.004-04:00

Levi pulled all the way up to standing today. He had pulled up to his knees before. I think he would have done it sooner in his crib if he wasn't always in a restricting sleep sack in there. He was so proud of himself! You could see it in his face. Big Boy! Levi just loves to play with the big girls. In the last couple of days he has also learned to crawl up our one step in the sunken family room. Yesterday he crawled up the step and followed the big girls down the hall to their room. He just LOVED playing in there with them. It was so cute. I don't care for it, but the girls enjoy taking the cushions off the couches from time to time and building forts and stuff with them. Levi loves this. He tries to climb in and over and on the cushions! He is such a boy and I love it!

This morning Sadie picked this outfit out of Levi's drawer and said, "Levi can wear this and he can be My Farmer Prince!"

Spotlight Sadie

2009-05-29T21:30:00.003-04:00

Sadie was the Spotlight Child at Church this month. The Primary President made a poster with her picture and questionnaire that is displayed in the lobby at Church. I heard that Sister Jensen, the Primary President, read off the list without saying who the child was. Sadie would be excited and say things like, "My Grammy has a cat named Skeeter!.... I have that book!" She didn't quite get that the list was about her, she thought they were amazing coincidences. She was delighted to be spotlighted!

David's Surprise Birthday/Graduation Party

2009-05-29T18:11:00.004-04:00

May 17th 2009

Levi Shakes Head

2009-05-25T18:57:00.000-04:00

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May Fun

2009-05-25T18:40:00.004-04:00

We had a great time at Aunt Molly and Uncle Jeff's Memorial Day Eve Party! The kids loved playing all over Uncle David.

Levi Loves Bath Time!

Levi, 8 Months and Our First Strawberry

2009-05-22T14:13:00.004-04:00

Silly Girl - Dressed up in Daddy's clothes.... Classic. :0)

There is something about Levi when he makes this expression that makes him
look like David's Dad to me. :0)

The girls and I have had so much fun watching our sweet little strawberry plant grow!
Look we have a red berry!

Sadie had to pick it!She says "The strawberry I growed was yummy!"

Levi Self Feeds

2009-05-03T20:15:00.004-04:00

Levi's grandma bought this Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder. We tried it out with Levi today. He really enjoyed eating a piece of pineapple and mango. :0) Don't mind the pink bib - I just figured I didn't need to buy a bunch of new bibs. When I pack a bib to use outside the house, I take a boyish one. :0)

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Commando Crawler

2009-04-30T15:07:00.000-04:00

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Finally Potty Trained!

2009-04-26T16:25:00.003-04:00

When Eliza was about two and half years old I gave her a potty chair and a Dora Seat to go on the big potty. I showed her how to use the potty. I had her teach her doll how to use the potty and get a treat. She was so excited when her doll used the potty but when I asked her if she wanted to try, she always responded, "No Potty, Mommy.... I want diapers!" I pretty much stopped trying except for occasionally asking her if she wanted to try the potty. I knew her answer would be "No potty, Mommy!"

One morning, when Eliza was 3 years and 1 week old, I asked her if she wanted to go potty. She gave me the standard answerer. Later that afternoon she came to me and said, "I want to go potty, Mommy." I didn't really believe her but I didn't want to discourage her so I took her to the bathroom. She used the toilet from that day on.

I thought I had potty training all figured out. It can be frustrating for Moms if they keep trying when the kid isn't ready. All you have to do is buy them a seat, make sure they know what to do and then just wait until the kid decides he/she is ready.

Soooo...when Sadie was 2.5 years old, I went to the attic and got down Eliza's old potty chair. I placed the potty on the floor. Sadie immediately took off her diaper, sat down and relieved herself. I thought, "wow, she is going to be easy to train... she already knows what to do and is interested." Awww... I was so wrong.

She was interested that first day but didn't care after that. I wasn't worried about it. As Sadie approached 3 years old, I thought I'd maybe make more of an effort. I tried potty treats. She like that for the first day and she successfully used the potty and each time received a piece of candy. The next day she didn't' care about the treat anymore. Next I took her to the store and let her pick out some princess panties. She loved them and wanted to wear them... for one day. I thought, well, I'll just wait for her to decide....

She saw a Barbie Beauty Set online. She really wanted it. She would just ask to look at the picture all the time. I ordered it. When it came I showed it to her and told her she could have it when she used the potty and not diapers anymore. She immediately went and used the potty and came back and asked for it. I explained that she had to use the potty all the time and no more diapers. Over the next few days she used the potty on and off and each time she came and asked me for the beauty set. Eventually I gave it to her and she immediately stopped trying to use the potty. I was bamboozled.

When Sadie was about 3 years and 2 months, I began to feel a little anxious about training her. I tried the sticker chart thing. She loved it and used the potty every time... for one day!

A couple of weeks ago I read an article in a Parenting Magazine about Potty Training. It had several suggestions... like candy, cheering, and charts. I had tried all of the suggestions except for one - Reverse Psychology.

A mom wrote how she told her that she didn't want him to be potty trained because the pirates said they would make him a real pirate but he had to wear big boy pants. She said she didn't want him to be a pirate because she would miss him so she begged him to wear diapers. He stopped wearing diapers that night. She took him to Disneyland and arranged for a pirate to officially make him a pirate.

I thought I'd try it. I picked up the phone and pretended to be talking to Princess Aurora. Sadie listened intently to my end of the conversation:
"Oh...You want Sadie to be in the Princess Club?...... She has to be big girl and not wear diapers?... Oh, so the princess club is just for girls that wear panties?!.... uh huh... what? Girls in the Princess Club get to go to Toys R Us and pick out a princess toy?.... Okay, thanks Aurora. Bye!"

As soon as I hung up Sadie started to question me. I explained, "Sadie, Princess Aurora wants you to be in the Princess Club. She said you have to wear panties and go to Toys R Us to get a princess toy... BUT, I don't want to go to Toys R Us. It's too expensive. I want you to stay a baby and wear diapers." Sadie replies, "Nooooo. I want to be in the Princess Club! I want to talk to Ariel!" Then she ran off to her room, took off her diaper and put on panties. She ran back to the family room and kept saying she wants to talk to Ariel. I left the room and called my mom. She called Sadie back and pretended to be Ariel. Ariel told Sadie all about the princess club and Toys R Us again.

Over the following few days Sadie would get up in the morning and I would tell her that I wanted her to wear a diaper so we don't have to spend money at Toys R Us. She would say, "No! I am a big girl!." After a few days of her consistently wearing panties, I pulled out the calander. I told her she could pick a day. If she could wear panties and until that day, we would go to Toys R Us. She picked a random Tuesday about 5 days away. She put a sticker on the calander on that day.

So Sadie has fianlly been day time diaper free for about 2 weeks now! She got to go to Toys R Us and pick a toy. She ended up picking this Wall AquaDoodle.

Strawberry Blossom

2009-04-26T16:06:00.003-04:00

My awesome friend, Jana, gave me this little strawberry plant in a pot! It was shipped all the way from Washington State by Jana's mom. I have never grown anything (other than a couple of babies and myself). And in this case, Jana, did all the work of planting it in a pot. The girls and I have been watering it and making sure it gets sunshine. I was sooo delighted this morning to discover a little flower blossom growing! I can't wait to see fruit. There is something so exciting about watching life grow. Next I need to get one of these Topsy Turvy Tomato Plants!

Happy Family Day

2009-04-01T22:08:00.003-04:00

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We have a tradition every year that we call Family Day. We celebrate Eliza's adoption being finalized and the day she was sealed to David and I in the Temple.

This year we went to Toys R Us and picked out a game that we could play together as a family. We found a bowling game and we came home and played it in the living room. Then enjoyed a Cold Stone Ice Cream Cake, its a tradition we indulge in once a year. This year we got Sweet Cream Ice Cream (vanilla) with rasberries, blueberries, and chocolate shavings mixed in. YUMMY!

Eliza's New Leopard Car Seat

2009-04-01T20:46:00.002-04:00

Here's Sadie drinking juice from an orange and Eliza sitting in her cool new Leopard Car Seat. I love the look but I am have doubts about the purchase now because it's so huge! At least it has the highest safety ratings and it will be roomy and comfy. The cover on Eliza's old car seat was worn and wouldn't stay on, so Sadie picked a new cow print cover for it because she loves milk. Levi will be inheriting Sadie's zebra print car seat.

Great Videos

2009-03-30T20:02:00.002-04:00

We The People Stimulus Package

The American Form of Government

Levi's 6 Month Portraits

2009-03-24T21:17:00.009-04:00

This one is my favorite!

The photographer said, "Stinky Feet" to get the girls to smile... we didn't even notice when Sadie smelled Levi's feet until the pictures came out. So funny.

Hungry Hungry Hippo on Sadie's little mind

2009-03-24T20:42:00.004-04:00

Sadie took a late nap in the car this evening so she is having a hard time falling asleep tonight. I was just laying down next to her in my bed. When I heard her breathing get deeper, I started to get up. She turns and looks at me and rambles, "I wish I could have Hungry Hungry Hippo... Whoever gets the most wins...Mommy, will you help me so Eliza doesn't win. I want to be pink... I am going to lose. Levi is going to lose. Daddy is going to lose. Eliza is going to win.... I am going to jump into the TV and play Hungry Hungry Hippo tomorrow...Please, Mommy, could you order that online?"

It would be hard to sleep with all that on your mind. :0)

Levi Rolled

2009-03-04T08:58:00.001-05:00

Levi rolled from his back to his tummy for the first time last night. I was a little late capturing the milestone on camera. :0)

Levi Loves Books

2009-03-03T08:18:00.001-05:00

Levi really loves when I read books to him. He's so cute. When I read him books he will usually coo and talk and sometimes he even laughs hysterically.

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Snow Day!

2009-03-02T11:59:00.001-05:00

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David took the girls out and romped in the snow! It fell all night long. It was his first snow day since starting at the juvenile prison!

Eliza, Math Wiz.... and Why I'm Left Out

2009-02-27T15:59:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I asked Eliza if she remembered my friend, Sister Derby. I reminded her that we went to her house once and spent the night downstairs. There were lots of kids there and they played outside in the pool. Sister Derby has three little girls. Eliza confirmed that she remembered them. I told Eliza, "Well, Sister Derby is pregnant with twins!" Eliza responded, "So then they will have five!"

Yep, Eliza solved a math word problem!

Speaking of Katie....

I have been friends with the same group of girlfriends since I was 13 years old. We have all moved around all over the USA but we are all now back in Virginia. I love my girlfriends, Katie, Alisha, and Jenny and I feel lucky that we have been able to keep in touch throughout the years.

Alisha has 3 year old twins, a boy and a girl. Jenny has 1 year old twins, also a boy and a girl. Katie just announced that she is expecting twins! WHAT ARE THE ODDS? I know we aren't the only people in the world or anything... but seriously... Four girlfriends and Three sets of twins!

I love twins! Who doesn't? I always wanted twins... until I had a baby. Then I decided I would like to have my babies one at a time, for two reasons. First, I hold my babies A LOT... if I had two at once, I don't know how I'd manage that. I know that twins would be so much more work. Secondly, I love babies so I figure if I have my babies one at a time I can have a baby in the home for slightly more of my life.

But there is the less practical side of me that forgets about the work and thinks that having twins would be adorably awesome! So, I think I'm feeling a little left out here.... Congratulations to Alisha, Jenny, and Katie on your amazing twins!

Alisha, Jenny, Me, Katie
on Alisha's Wedding Day

The summer after graduating from High School, Katie, Jenny and I took a little road trip. We went to The Hill Cumorah Pagent in New York, and then to Canada to see Niagra Falls. I believe this photo was taken in Niagra Falls somewhere. :0)

Katie and Jenny were driving to Utah to go to BYU. I came along to help them drive. We ran into some car topper problems along the way with the KT KWIK Coffin Car.

Alisha and Me

Me and Katie. We were at the airport... getting ready to fly out to Utah for Alisha's wedding.

GOOD TIMES!!

Picture Update for February

2009-02-26T08:06:00.003-05:00

Daddy is giving Levi his first sip of water. He liked it.

Here Eliza and Sadie are excited about their second annual February 15th Valentines from Daddy... Yeah, Daddy likes to spoil his favorite little Valentines with After Valentine's Day Sale Candy.

Levi at 5 Months

Eliza likes when Levi gets her!

Pre-schoolers explain Christmas

2008-12-23T22:54:00.001-05:00

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Levi's first time playing with a toy

2008-12-23T22:11:00.002-05:00

Today Levi reached out and played with a toy for the first time. He spun the little crab on his crib aquarium. By the time I thought to film it and retrieved the camera, he was starting to get tired of it but I was able to capture a short clip. :)

Levi's 3 Month Photos

2008-12-23T22:00:00.000-05:00

Christmas Portraits

2008-11-17T14:57:00.003-05:00

More Levi and the Girls Pictures

2008-11-17T14:22:00.000-05:00

The Twins!

2008-10-27T20:50:00.003-04:00

Last month when I was in the hospital to have Levi, David did a great job updating my blog and facebook with my progress. There is one part of the story we didn't tell...

I'd mentioned before that my little sister, Molly, was pregnant at the same time as me. She was due on Sept. 15th and I was due on the 28th. On Monday, Sept. 15th, Molly saw her doctor. She was 2cm dilated. He agreed to induce her on the coming Friday, the 19th, if she had not gone into labor naturally since she was past her due date and huge. I saw my doctor the next day and found that I was 4 cm dilated. My doctor said that the baby was big enough and I was dilated enough to be induced. He called the hospital and scheduled my induction for 7am on Friday the 19th. I told my doctor that my sister is also scheduled to be induced on that same day. He said, "Oh so the race is on!" Molly saw her doctor again on Thursday. She was still 2cm dilated and she complained to her doctor that her sister is due 13 days later than her and is already 4cm. He said, "Now, its not a race."

When my mom got the news that we were both scheduled to be induced the same morning, she started referring to the babies as "The Twins."

At 6:30am on Friday morning I received a cell phone call from my sister. David and I were nearly to the hospital. Molly announced, "I won." She had gone into labor on her own at 3:00am. She called our mom to come over and watch her kids. Our mom got to her house at 3:30. Molly got to the hospital at 4:19am. When she arrived she was 6cm dilated. She soon began to beg for an epidural but was told she was fully dilated and it was too late. Her doctor broke her water and six minutes later Baby Camille was born at 5:18am, just 59 minutes after Molly got to the hospital. Camille weighed a whopping 10 lbs 11 oz.

I congratulated Molly for winning and on her new baby girl. Then I headed into the hospital. I was happy she made it until Friday to have the baby. I think it is SO fun that we had our babies the same day. I delivered Levi 3 hours and 19 minutes after the doctor broke my water and about an hour after the pitocin was started. I truly love birthing babies. Both of my experiences with it were great. I think its fun and immediately after both my babies were born, I looked forward to doing it again. Unfortunately I don't feel the same about pregnancy and it takes a lot longer than delivery.

The Twins: Camille and Levi at 1 Month

Camille was bigger at birth than Levi is now. :) And isn't it fun that Molly happened to have a matchy nighty to the one Levi happened to be wearing when I went to visit them?!

Here are some photos of Levi that I took yesterday.

Eliza loves to hold Levi! She especially loves to cuddle him while lying on her back and having him lay on her tummy.

I'd like to thank my Mother-in-law, Linda, for this wonderful Moby Wrap. I use it everyday during those times when Levi needs to be held and I need to do some housework.

Sadie's 3rd Birthday

2008-10-27T20:45:00.000-04:00

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Levi's Blessing

2008-10-18T21:26:00.004-04:00

Levi was blessed at church last Sunday.

The grandpas came to town to participate in Levi's blessing. David's dad, Gregory (aka Papi) is on the left, then David and Levi. My dad, Billy, is on the right.

Sister Love and Baby's first bath

2008-10-07T14:12:00.005-04:00

Eliza and Sadie love being big sisters. Eliza, especially loves taking care of her baby brother.

Levi's umbilical cord stump finally fell off this morning and I was able to give Levi his first bath. He seemed to like it.

Baths can be exhausting!

Finally I captured him with his eyes open

2008-09-22T21:42:00.005-04:00

More Pictures of Baby Levi

2008-09-22T14:16:00.004-04:00

Grandma and Sadie visit Levi in the hospital.

Eliza peeks in on Levi in the crib. She and Sadie made cards for Levi with Nikki. The nurse hung them in the crib so he could see how happy his big sisters are to have him.

One last cuddle before leaving the hospital.Levi's all ready to leave the hospital. Eliza welcomes Levi home.Levi sleeping, as usual. So far, at three days old, Levi has been an easy, sleepy, sweet baby.

Levi is here!

2008-09-19T08:57:00.011-04:00

Levi is born. He was born at 11:25 am after 1 push and no sweat. Terry is a birthing machine. It is just the whole pregnancy thing that stinks. She can push a baby out!

Levi is 7 lbs 7 oz. He was born after an hour of contractions. He has brown hair. You don't care about the typing do you! You want the pictures. So go ahead, look!

About to come!

2008-09-19T08:57:00.005-04:00

Terry is completely dilated. Levi's head is right there! The nurse is calling her Dr.!

In the hospital!!!!

2008-09-19T08:57:00.003-04:00

This is David speaking. We are in the hospital. Terry is almost 5 cm dilated. The doctor says she'll birth by 11 am. We'll see. They haven't actually induced her yet. Well, I'd better go and be a good husband.

Terry ready to leave the house!

Terry hooked up to the IV...waiting for the epidural.

Portraits Of My Girls

2008-09-05T18:13:00.005-04:00

Since Eliza just turned four, I took the girls in for portraits. We got some fun ones of the girls in their new Halloween costumes too.

Awesome Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-04T12:01:00.008-04:00

This weekend our family got away to my home town. It was so fun. Four families got together. I have been friends with these ladies (Katie, Alisha, and Jenny) since I was 13 years old. We went to Church together. In our young adult years we ended up living spread out all over the country, but recently we all ended up back in Virginia . I think we are lucky to have been able to keep in touch and maintain a friendship despite the miles and time between us. Jenny posted about it and some of our old adventures here. She even included some fun old adolescent pictures of us. :) (Really, Jen, is that how I used to dress?)

Katie was our wonderful host. Her awesome parents went out of town for the weekend and they let us use their beautiful and spacious home for out get together. We had tons of delicious food to eat. Katie had planned activities for the kids. My two girls had SO much fun! They loved water play and sidewalk chalk drawing. They were scared of the tractor rides but their Daddy enjoyed taking the tractor for a drive. I was a little apprehensive about how my kids would behave sleeping in a strange place, but they did great. They had so much fun and they still k me if they can go back to Katie's house. Eliza loved Alisha's older boys. That little one always loves the big boys. Katie's four year old, Ada, took great care of Sadie and always showed her around and included her in fun things to do. They loved it. David and I loved the conversation and the great company.

Sadly, I didn't think to take pictures of us when we had some natural light. This picture turned out awful but I am posting it anyway. Here we are: (from left to right) Jenny, Katie, Me, and Alisha. The babies are Jenny's twins, Madeline and Issac. Here we are with our offspring.
Here are pictures of the offspring enjoying water play.

Happy 4th Birthday, Eliza

2008-08-13T21:02:00.005-04:00

Today my little Lizie turned four years old! She belongs to Toys R Us's Birthday Club so she had received a birthday card and a gift card from them in the mail. David took her to Toys R Us last night to pick out a toy and spend her gift card. They gave her a balloon and a crown. David reported that Eliza walked all through the store showing minimal interest in most of the toys. He just followed her. Then she spotted the skate boards. She ran to them. He tried to show her the cheapest skate board but she said it was for boys and insisted that she get the pink one for girls. She came home and so proudly showed me her new skate board.

This morning when she woke up she came into my room and woke me up. Then she went back to her room and took her jamies off and put on her clothes. Then she made her bed and explained to David that she is a big girl now and she wears panties and makes her bed by herself because she is four now. So grown-up...

This afternoon my sister and her two boys came over for lunch and to celebrate Eliza's big day. Eliza got a fun box of princess dress up clothes from Grandma and a Play Tent from Mom and Dad. She is wearing her jamies in many of the pictures because when we set up the tent she immediately went and put them on. She gathered up pillows and blankets and set up camp inside. Later, after her cousin went home, she and Sadie were playing in the tent and had a dance party, something they often play when they dress up as princesses. What surprised me was when Eliza stuck her head in the window and said, "Mommy, we are having a dance party and all my boyfriends are here!" Oh dear! I didn't even know she knew the term "boyfriends." How many does she have? Does it matter? One is too many...

She had a hard time winding down for bed tonight. She took her My Little Pony to bed with her that her cousin, Wyatt gave her. She has been a little obsessed about the name of this pony all evening. I had thrown away the box. I finally looked it up. She'll be happy to learn tomorrow that the pony's name is Party Cake.

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Great American Quotes and A Little Liberal Humor

2008-08-08T09:15:00.011-04:00

I believe that our Nation's Founding Fathers were inspired by God when they formed our new Government. The Constitution and The Bill of Rights are inspired documents. The creation of the United States of America has blessed the whole planet. No other government like it existed at the time of its formation. Now liberty spreads throughout the earth. Many other nations have patterned their own constitutions after ours. I think that our Founding Fathers beliefs are still relevant today. I thought I'd post a few great quotes from our Founding Fathers. Its important that we remember the intentions of those men who worked to form this new government.

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." -Thomas Paine

"Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood." -John Adams "

"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." - Benjamin Franklin
(Have we not all seen how frighteningly true this is? Wise Mr. Franklin knew the danger we could face)

Our Founding Fathers on The Redistribution of Wealth

"To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his fathers have acquired too much, in order to spare to others who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equaled industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, 'to guarantee to everyone of a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it.' If the overgrown wealth of an individual be deemed a danger to the state, the best corrective is the law of equal inheritance to all [his descendants] in equal degrees; and the better, as this enforces a law of nature, while extra taxation violates it." -Thomas Jefferson

"I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading them or driving them out of it." -Benjamin Franklin

"The Utopian schemes of leveling [redistribution of the wealthy] and a community of goods [central ownership of all the means of production and distribution], are as visionary and impractical as those which vest all property in the Crown. [These ideas] are arbitrary, despotic, and in our government, unconstitutional." -Samual Adams

"A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them ohterwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvements, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government." - Thomas Jefferson

"The only encouragements we hold out to strangers are a good climate, fertile soil, wholesome air and water, plenty of provisions and fuel, good pay for labor, kind neighbors, good laws, liberty, and a hearty welcome; the rest depends on a man's own industry and virtue. Lands are cheap, but they must be bought. All settlements are undertaken at private expense; the public contributes nothing but defense and justice." -Benjamin Franklin
(Wow, how far we've come from the public providing only defense and justice... now the public has to provide a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and payments to fictions students and colleges for student loans).

Our Founding Fathers on The Second Amendment

"No free man shall ever be de-barred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain their right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort to protect themselves against tyranny in government." -Thomas Jefferson

"Are we at last brought to such a huiliating and debasing degradation tha we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between having our arms under our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?" -Patrick Henry

Our Founding Fathers were very concerned about the government becoming too powerful. They truly intended for "We The People" to hold the power. The right to bear arms was not only included in the Bill or Rights so that one could defend his own property and life, but so one could defend himself against the government should it become tyrannical.

A Little Liberal Humor

lib·er·al (noun)
Someone so open-minded their brains fall out

"It isn't that liberals are ignorant; its just that they know so much that isn't so." -Ronald Regan

Preggie Sisters and My Silly Girls

2008-08-03T16:53:00.007-04:00

This is my preggie sister, Molly, and me. Its been fun being pregnant with my sister. She is due 13 days before me. Yesterday we went to have our hair cut and we were riding in the car. I looked down and thought about my round pregnant belly and then I looked over at my sister and noticed how much bigger her tummy is . We are expecting that she is carrying a BIG baby. Her last baby weighed 9 lbs 2 0z. She weighed 10 lbs 5 oz at birth and her husband weighed 11 lbs 9 oz at birth so she may be a little destined to have big, adorable babies. Another fun fact about Molly's birth... Molly scored a 10/10 on her Apgar Test. The nurses in the hospital called her "Bo Derrick," after the actress who starred in the 1979 film , "10." The hospital staff kept coming by my mom's room to see the perfect 10 baby. Apparently not much has changed. Molly has continued to have a stunning appearance throughout her life. Here is Eliza working. She kept telling me to ask her to come play with her. I would ask her to play with me and then she would answer, "I'm sorry, Honey, not right now. I am working on my project." Hmmmmm....where did she get that from?
The other night I tucked Eliza into bed. A few hours later I checked in on her and saw that she had gotten out of bed and collected some animals and dolls and tucked them all back in. It pleasantly surprised m e so I sneaked back in her room for a little pic.
Over the last two weeks the girls have beein playing princesses everyday in their "real princess dresses" They never tire of playing princesses.

On The Farm

2008-07-27T17:24:00.006-04:00

Yesterday our family went to the farm. We took a hayride out to the blackberry patch. This was probably the girls favorite part. Eliza loved the "bumpy ride.....weeeee!"
David took berry picking very seriously. He wanted to fill up our basket!

Eliza didn't care much for smooched berries on her fingers. She was so relieved when I removed them with a leaf.Now I just have to figure out what I will do with 6.5 lbs of delicious blackberries.

My Wee Little Hero

2008-07-21T10:46:00.005-04:00

Just a few minutes ago I hear screeching from the bathroom. I get up to investigate. The girls have spotted a very small spider (or piece of dirt, I am not sure) in the bathtub. Eliza instructs, "Get back, everyone.... I'll get that spider. I'll squish it and kill it. It will be okay...." She tears a piece of toilet paper off the roll and steps into the bathtub. After about three cautious attempts she smashes the tiny thing under her hand on the toilet paper. She examined the remains on the toilet paper and then dropped it in the toilet and flushed. She looks up proudly and asks, "Am I both of your hero?" I exclaimed, "oh, yes, you're our hero." She gleams, "Yeah, I am your hero, like Daddy."

Our super hero proudly wears her Halloween spider shirt with her lilac pants with purple and blue butterflies on it. Daddy took both girls to the Hair Cuttery on Saturday while I ran into Toys R Us to look for a birthday gift. Daddy got Eliza a bob cut. Sadie just got a trim. I was growing out her bangs but she has started to pull out her clips and pony tails so I decided to cut her bangs so she can see. Eliza has never let me put anything in her hair so they get to sport the cute short hair dos! I like the hair cuts, but I have to compliment my sister here... She is a dog groomer so I had her trim Eliza's bangs the last time they needed it. She cut them so much straighter! Maybe I'll have her cut their hair from now on. It's like I've always said, if you want a good hair cut, see your family dog groomer. ;)

Eliza Votes

2008-07-21T10:10:00.000-04:00

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My favorite part is Obama riding the unicorn.

Summer Activities

2008-06-30T14:16:00.005-04:00

Here's just a little catch up of the things the kiddos have been doing the last couple of weeks...

We saw how Ray had a campout in the living room with his girls a few weeks ago and David really wanted to copy the idea. He took the girls to Wal-Mart and they bought a tent, brought it home and set it up in the Family Room. The girls LOVED having a campout with Daddy! Sadie went to sleep pretty well. Eliza was up pretty late but had a great time. I opted to sleep in my Tempurpedic bed.

Eliza is making a face at me for disrupting their special camping trip with Daddy by coming in the tent and taking pictures...again.

Aunt Molly invited us to join them at their community pool. The kids loved it, especially Sadie! Nearly every day since she tells me she wants to have a swimming party with Wyatt again.

Our local movie theater offers a free family movie matinee during the summer. (Regal Cinemas offers this at theaters throughout the country. Check to see if its offered in your area). I thought it would be a good idea to take the kids to the movies when I didn't pay for tickets so I am not out much if we have to leave early. I think they had a good time. I don't think the movie was their favorite. We're going to try it again this week and see how it goes. I took these pics before the show started and they were playing a little 10 minute cartoon before starting the opening previews.

We had some friends over for a little while while their Mom went visiting teaching. The kids all played dress up. It was really cute. My favorite is Bumblebee in the Pirate outfit with his "pirate vacuum," as he called it. Eliza especially loved playing with the big girls that day

Bowling

2008-06-18T16:46:00.002-04:00

I saw on Gina's blog a video of her little Liam bowling. It was so cute. He looked so delighted. I thought that maybe my kids would like bowling. I called our local bowling alleys. The all charged around $5 a game per person and $4 for shoes. I did find one older alley that offers $1 game and shoe rental nights every Tuesday from 5pm to close. So we decided to try it out. They didn't have the nice stand that I saw in Gina's montage, but they were cheap and therefore quite busy. We had to wait about a half hour or so for a lane to become available. The kids had a really fun time. Eliza was quite upset when we left. I was a little bit sore... I have been wadlling around today. I am not sure if my old six month pregnant body was up for bowling but I did beat David nonetheless. :) I had a few spares, only one or two of which was bumper assisted. :) We told the kiddos that they needed to roll the ball and if they knocked over any pins then they won. It was fun to see their excitment.

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Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T15:58:00.001-04:00

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My Babies

2008-06-12T08:43:00.003-04:00

Earlier this week I had another ultrasound because at my last visit there were a few parts of the baby's anatomy that the ultrasound tech was unable to get a good look at. The first thing the tech said was, "Whoa, yep, thats a boy!" Then she said, "Whoa, this boy moves a lot." He sure does. He moves around so much more than Sadie did. Is this an idication of how active he will be outside the womb? My mother-in-law says David was active in and outside of the womb. My sister, Molly's, firstborn moved a lot in the womb and then he proved to be a very active child. Her second born was not nearly so active in the womb and he is a much more calm child. Well, having energy is good, hopefully he can grow up and put it to good use by being a very hard worker. This time the tech had no problem seeing his heart, spine, nose and mouth. She said he couldn't have been more cooperative. She would capture the view of the needed body part and then he would move and she could capture the next thing.

A couple of days ago Sadie fell asleep on the family room floor. Its the first time she has done that so I snapped a picture. Sadie still loves the blankets Grandma made her and her milk.

Wishes Fullfilled

2008-05-28T20:18:00.006-04:00

For a few years now I have dreamed of owning a Toyota Sienna. I really wanted an eight passenger mini van. I just couldn't rationalize the expense. Now that we are expecting baby number three, we have to get a bigger car. Three car seats will not fit in the back seat of my Honda CRV. Since learning of my pregnancy we have been checking out listings on these mini vans. There really isn't a big selection of used 8 passenger Siennas (The 7 passenger is more popular).

Well, over the weekend I found a couple of Siennas on eBay that I was interested in. Our very good friend, Mike, is the manager of a Toyota dealership in California. He has been looking for a Sienna for us. He also offered to negotiate a price for us if we found one locally. Well, David emailed the two listings to Mike on Saturday. Mike told us which one he thought was the better deal. In fact, he told us that he has been looking for us for months and hasn't been able to get one at that good of a price. He said he'd call the salesman and try to negotiate the price down a little but even if they didn't budge $1, it was a great price. He figured that there wasn't much room to move the price but he may be able to get it down $500. Well, Mike called. He got the price lowered $487.

We made a deposit on the van through paypal after talking to the salesman. We booked a flight for David to fly to Ohio Monday morning to close the deal and drive the van home. David shows up at check in and presents his drivers license to the TSA agent. The agent asks, "Did you know your drivers license was expired?" David answers, "uh... no.." They ask him for other ID like a passport or military ID. He has none. They have security check him very carefully. They went through every pocket of his backpack. Fortunately they decided to let him fly. Phew!

The salesman picked David up at the airport and drove him to the dealership. They completed the paperwork. Thankfully everything came together because that van was David's ride home.

I am now the very happy owner of a New Toyota Certified Pre-Owned mini van. :) I love driving a mini-van. I love being up high. My first trip out was to Wal-Mart. When I went to back out of the parking space, I was so excited to find that I could actually see if a car was coming! It was amazing! I find myself reaching for the clutch with my left leg a lot. This is the first time I've owned a car with an automatic transmission so I have to get used to it. I love driving stick shift cars, but I conceded this time because I really wanted a mini van. Its a good trade. :)

The girls were also really excited about the mini van. When we went outside, the sliding door opened and I instructed Eliza to climb in. She gasped, "The door opened by itself... that is so cool!" I showed her how I opened it with the button on my key chain. She climbed in and looked around and kept repeating, "This is so cool." That's not even a phrase she ever uses.

BTW, David went to the DMV on Tuesday and renewed his license. I guess that's something they have those over the hillers do when they turn thirty. :)

OTHER RANDOM STUFF

Another wish of mine has been fulfilled... Sadie had bronchitis last week (um... that's not what I was wishing for). She was given two presciptions. She doesn't fight me to take her medicine! I don't have to feel like a jerk as I force it down her. In fact, all she wants is to be able to administer it to herself. How wonderful!

Here's a photo of Grandpa and my girls enjoying some watermelon together. This was on Monday afternoon when my dad delivered a twin bed to my house. It has a very comfortable generic Tempurpedic mattress. My mom and I traded. We are giving my dad David's old 1994 Toyota Corolla, which just yesterday hit 200,000 miles. Its hard to believe, but its actually a step up from the old two door Toyota Tercel my dad drives. I mean, I know he grew up in the depression and all, but the guy just won't give up on his car. This interesting trade is the only way we can get him to indulge in driving a four door car with all the seats in tact and no holes in the floor. We will all miss seeing blacktop below us when he drives. :)

Our Great Wolf Lodge Family Vacation

2008-05-18T21:40:00.003-04:00

Last week we went on a little family vacation to The Great Wolf Lodge. Boy did we need the time away! We had soooo much fun! The highlight of the resort is the indoor waterpark. Unfortunately, thats the area where we don't have any pictures to show how much fun we had. We arrived on Monday and after visiting the park, we decided we really needed pictures. That night I took the girls to show and story time while David went to Wal-Mart in search of a waterproof camera bag. No luck. The next morning we went to the only other store in town we thought might carry one, Ritz Camera Store. The only thing they could offer was a waterproof disposable camera. I asked the clerk if it had a flash and he said yes. I should have looked for myself because as soon as I opened the box back in our room, I noticed there was no flash. Well, we took pictures anyway and just like I suspected, they didn't turn out. (If by any chance you care, you can see lots of pictures of the waterpark here.)

We had such a fantastic time. Sadie mostly wanted to stay in the baby pool where she could go down the baby water slides over and over again. Eliza and David rode down some of the big slides together on a tube. There is a big fort thing that you can climb. At the top they have a couple of big water slides that you don't use tubes to go down. On Wednesday, David climbed that fort with the girls and they both went down those big slides. I waited at the bottom for the girls. I was so nervous David was taking them down those big slides. When Sadie got to the bottom, I picked her up and asked her if it was scary or fun. She responded repeatedly, "I went down big slide all by myself..." I wasn't sure if that was a proud "I went down by myself" or a traumatized one. I found out when Daddy and Eliza went up again without her while I remained holding her. She was so upset. I asked her if she wanted to go with Mommy to the baby pool and go down those slides. She said, "No! I want big slides!" They went down them a few more times. I was glad, at least, that they didn't try those big slides until the last day. I was nervous every time my babies went down those slides. At least I didn't have them begging to go down the whole visit. :)

Its been a week since our trip and Sadie is still asking to go back all the time. We love The Great Wolf Lodge! I play the "this little piggy" game with her toes only I send the piggies to The Great Wolf Lodge, to the wave pool and the baby pool, ect. Sadie wants me to do it over and over again. :)

Happy 30th Birthday, David!

2008-05-17T16:33:00.005-04:00

Today my hubby turned 30! I don't usually procrastinate gift purchasing. This time I did, and it didn't go so well. At the beginning of this week our family went to The Great Wolf Lodge. We had sooo much fun (and I'll blog about that later when I'm feeling better). My plan was to take the girls shopping with me when we returned on Thursday or Friday. That way they could be involved with getting Daddy a present and wrapping it, ect. Well, Thursday I woke up with a sore throat and I felt a little sick. I figured I'd go shopping on Friday when I felt better. Thursday night I felt worse. I woke up in the night with a fever. So I never made it to the store. So last night I told David that I was sorry I didn't get him a gift and I invited him to order something for himself online. This morning he reported that he ordered himself a new pair of dress shoes from Zappos. He also ordered a year membership to the NRA, which includes a magazine subscription. See, that I would have never thought of . :)

David made his own birthday cake with the girls last night. I even planned a little surprise over the hill birthday party for him but I realized I wasn't feeling up to it and our guests probably didn't want to get sick. Yesterday I talked to my sister on the phone and I told her the party was canceled. Then I told David all about my good intentions to give him a surprise party. Then this morning I even had David call up our friends and tell them that his surprise party was off.

So David's 30th birthday has been spent taking care of me and the kids. Oh yeah, and attempting to put together a changing table which came with a messed up part. He has to call the manufacturer in British Columbia on Monday and ask for a replacement part. David took the kids outside to play and Eliza commented that Daddy needed to mow the lawn because the grass was too long. So, David also mowed the grass while the kids blew bubbles on the porch. I tried to tell David that he ought to get used to it. Birthdays are probably going to be more like this now that he is over the hill. We are old now, after all.

Happy 30th Birthday, Honey! I am glad you were born!

Baby's Gender Announcement

2008-05-09T19:17:00.005-04:00

Well, I had my mid-pregnancy ultrasound today... IT'S A BOY!!!

I am so happy to finally know the baby's gender! I surprised myself a little at my feelings after Catherine, the ultrasound tech, told me it's a boy. I began to feel a little nervous. I mean, I have daughters.. they are like me. I don't really know about raising a son. Then I immediately tell myself that it will be fine, I mean, afterall, there are a lot of men around, all of which have mothers who learned to raise sons. See, I can be practical that way.

Here is the baby's profile. The black hole is his stomach. :)

On Monday our family is off on a little vaction. We are heading to The Great Wolf Lodge for a couple of nights. We planned it as a way to celebrate David's graduation and to go one last time before we have a newborn. Well, it turns out David is not graduating like we thought becasue he has a lot more work to do on his thesis apparently. Oh well! I have to say I'm not too sad that its too late to cancel! :)

The Great Wolf Lodge is located in Williamsburg. Prime Outlet Mall is also located in Williamsburg. I am excited to visit the Carter's Outlet and other baby stores while I am there. I am looking forward to shopping for some little boy stuff! I love little baby clothes and since I am having a new gender, I can more easily justify the expense! :)

Wyatt's Birthday

2008-05-08T15:06:00.008-04:00

Last Saturday was my nephew, Wyatt's, fifth birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. The kids had such a great time. Eliza loved the rides and the climbing tunnel and slide.

Sadie loved playing games that spit out tickets. David said she just loved to pull the tickets out and then feed them to the ticket cashing in machine thing. For her prize, Sadie picked out a little bag of Pirate MoneyTo my amazement, I ran into one of best friends from high school at Chuck E Cheese. Here's Piper. My sister and her family live in our home town so thats where the party was. Piper lives in Tennessee now. She was visiting for the weekend and decided to bring her niece to Chuck E Cheese. What are the chances that both of us, who live out of town, would be at Chuck E Cheese at the same time? I had a great time catching up with my old friend! We used to run around so much and have so much fun together when we were young. It was an amazing treat to see her again.

Here we are at age 18 with Piper's boyfriend, Chopper, at my boyfriend, Kelly's, missionary farewell party. Chopper and I were the only Latter-Day Saints in our class at school so we were pretty close friends. The four of us (Chopper, Piper, Kelly, and I) had a lot of fun together.My sister, Molly, decided to have birthday cake at home instead of at Chuck E Cheese so that we'd have a way to encourage the kids to leave. Here is Wyatt's awesome Harry Potter cake.
Molly is a dog groomer by profession, and apparently a very good one, so naturally, I asked her to trim Eliza's bangs for me. Actually, since becoming a dog groomer, so many friends have asked her for hair cuts that she went ahead and bought a pair of human hair cutting scissors. Baby Elliot is so cute. The kids had fun blowing bubbles and playing in the backyard.What's a birthday party without a serious game of Mario Cart on the Wii?Happy Birthday, Wyatt. We love you!

Ahh, doing chores

2008-05-05T20:14:00.004-04:00

This morning Eliza wakes me up by shouting, "Mommy, Mommy, I made my bed by myself! Come see! Come see! " Then she showed me how she also opened her curtains "like you do, Mommy."
I am very proud. What a good girl.

Fun Friends

2008-05-02T16:29:00.007-04:00

Yesterday my good friend, Nikki, had to visit the ER. Poor Nikki, but the girls and I had a fun time playing with Melissa. The girls played nice together and had a great time the whole visit.

These two large photos are my favorites. I think they all look the same when they're upside down. :) How convenient that I had three pairs of the same jamies on hand! Yeah, I bought three pairs of the same jamies because they were the only ones left at the end of the season for $5 a pair.

Melissa loves to drink chocolate milk at my house. :)

My Sister, Kimmy, is engaged

2008-05-01T14:00:00.000-04:00

Diego and Friends

2008-04-30T14:36:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago the girls and I went to The Children's Museum with our friends, Nikki, Melissa and Kayla. We had issues with our internet connection for about a week and I had trouble uploading pictures so I didn't post about it sooner. Anyway, we had a great time, as we always do with our friends. The highlight was meeting Diego and his sister, Alicia, from Nick Jr. After playing at the museum, we went for a donut. Fun times.

Dental Check Up Time

2008-04-28T12:47:00.007-04:00

Eliza and Sadie went to the dentist today. Six months ago, they had their very first dentist appointments. I didn't even think to bring my camera to record such a milestone. Then today, I took my camera with me to the dentist office. I felt a little silly taking pictures but I was going to do it anyway for my blog. I took a couple pictures when I realized that while I actually remembered the camera this time, I didn't check to make sure the memory stick was in it. So, no cute sitting in the dental chair pictures after all. Eliza was SO good for the hygienist and the dentist. She opened her mouth wide and did everything they asked. She was so brave. She cooperated so well that they were even able to give her a little fluoride treatment. Sadie did better than the last time. She did open her mouth and let the hygienist clean her teeth with a toothbrush, so thats good. Plus the last time she cried when the dentist wanted to look at her teeth and this time she hesitantly let him.

I REALLY like the pediatric dentist. I was so impressed the first time I went with the patience they show these little ones. The hygienist showed Sadie all her tools and said she didn't have to try them this time but she was going to let her see them. She called the water sprayer thing, Mr. Water and she let Sadie see it squirt on the floor. Then she asked Sadie if she wanted to try it. Sadie let her squirt water into her mouth. Then she showed her Mr. Thirsty. Mr. Thirsty, she explained is like a little vacuum that drinks the water in her mouth. She let Sadie feel the suction on her finger and then asked her to kiss it. She meant for Sadie to open her mouth, let Mr. Thirsty in, and then close her mouth around it, making a kissing pucker face. But Sadie just leaned over and actually kissed Mr. Thirsty. Then the hygienist showed Sadie Mr. Tickle. He is the tool with the round spinning head that polishes teeth. She let said feel the spinning on her finger. Then on her tooth. Sadie let her clean only one tooth with Mr. Tickle. Eliza got to wear sunglasses during her treatment so that the light wouldn't get in her eyes. She was so cool and relaxed!

After their cleanings, the girls picked out a toy. They both picked a plastic watch, the same prize they both picked six months ago. :) They each got a balloon and then Dr. Wood, the dentist, took a look at their teeth. Sadie said that Dr. Wood's puppy mask was so silly. Good news, they both are cavity free!!! Hooray! Also, the doc warned me to save my money because they will both need braces. :)

Sometimey Parents

2008-04-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

I just heard Eliza singing a favorite Church Song, "I Am A Child of God." She sang:
"I am a child of God and He has sent me here, has given me an earthly home with parents kind-of here..."

It made me smile. (If you are not familiar with the song, the words are "with parents kind and dear).

Craft and Princess Time

2008-04-23T17:41:00.003-04:00

This afternoon the girls and I made beaded necklaces... you know I am I feeling good when I start getting crafty. When the necklaces were complete, the girls wanted to play princess, of course. Little girls are such fun.

Big Girl Bed

2008-04-23T12:09:00.003-04:00

David and I have been pretty busy with spring cleaning over the last couple of weeks. Really, its just a coincidence that it is spring... I have entered the better part of pregnancy. The nausea has really subsided and I am feeling better. David says I am nesting. I have come up with a list of chores we need to get done to get ready for the new little one. David went through the attic, and pulled out stuff we could throw away. Then he organized the stuff up there compactly, creating empty space that I could have him add to.

Well, we had sort-of an office room, with a computer and a spare twin bed and the closet was full of storage. Eliza and Sadie used to share a room but around the time Eliza turned three she began to give us major bedtime resistance. She would climb into Sadie's crib and keep her up. So we eventually ended up moving Sadie's crib to the office room. Well, now with a new baby coming I have begun to make plans to have the girls share a room again so that the baby can have it's own room.

So, On Friday night David moved the twin bed from the office, which was actually the bottom bunk of a bunk bed. He set the bunk bed up in Eliza's room. The girls were so excited. Eliza helped put the bed together and she couldn't stop talking about how she was going to sleep on the top. Sadie at two and a half, still doesn't climb out of her crib, which is a relief because Eliza climbed out at 21 months. I love babies being contained in their beds so I was actually in no hurry to move Sadie to a big bed. I was just setting it up, to be prepared for the future.

Well, Sadie insisted on sleeping on the bottom bunk that first night. She has insisted on it ever since. She loves her big girl bed. The first two days I put her down for a nap in her crib but the third day she insisted on her bed. Yesterday after lunch, her typical nap time, Sadie says, "Mommy, I can't want to take a nap." But then she walked herself back to her room and climbed into bed. I read her a story and she went to sleep. An hour and a half later she comes out to the family room and announces, "Mommy I woke up in the morning." I think she likes the freedom of being able to get out of bed herself instead of waiting for someone to come get her. I can't blame her for that.

Now I have two girls getting out of bed at night. Eliza enjoys her little bedtime playmate/partner in mischief.

Potty Time

2008-04-13T19:56:00.005-04:00

This evening David got Eliza's old potty chair down from the attic and set it up for Sadie. She showed immediate interest in it. Right away she asked me to help her take off her diaper. She sat down and tinkled. Then a little while later she told me she wanted to use the potty again. This time she pulled down her Pull-Up and tinkled again. Both times she was awarded with the whole family clapping and dancing and congratulating her, and with potty treats (aka: M&Ms).

After the second time she announces, "I am so proud. I want to do it again." It sounded so mature to me so I tried to get her to say it again on camera but she would only say the "I want to do it again" part. Her potty chair sings a song, "I'm going on the potty now. It makes me proud, cause I know how." I think thats what inspired the "I'm so proud part."

I am hoping Sadie will take to the potty quickly. This is really my very first attempt to train her and all I did was ask David to get the potty chair down from the attic. She did the rest. So far, so good. I have no idea what I am doing, by the way, but I believe in not even trying to potty train until the tot wants to. Its less work and frustration that way... I guess I'm lazy. :)

In related potty news, David has the girls cleaning the toilets now.

Happy Family Day

2008-03-29T21:44:00.010-04:00

Today is a special day for our family. Its the anniversary of the day Eliza was sealed to David and I. We like to celebrate a little on this day; we call it Family Day.For those not familiar with the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe that the family unit can exist forever. A husband and wife can be sealed, or bound together for eternity; their marriage does not end with death. This sealing or binding of a marriage is an ordinance performed in one of our holy temples. Any children born to such a couple is also sealed to the couple and that family can be together forever, beyond this earthly existence. Families can be bound for generations.

Since Eliza wasn't born to David and I, she wasn't automatically sealed to us (like Sadie was). When Eliza was seven months old, her adoption was finalized. David and I were then able to take Eliza to the temple and have her sealed to us forever. Today marks the third anniversary of this special sealing day when we became an eternal family.

Plus everyone needs a reason to eat a Cold Stone Ice Cream Cake once a year, right?

We went out to dinner at an Mexican Restaurant. Eliza surprised me by eating all of her enchilada. Then we picked up our ice cream cake and came home to enjoy it. Throughout the evening Eliza and Sadie would wish David and I a Happy Family Day. :)"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven..."
Matt 16:19

Sadie's Favorite Things

2008-03-27T09:24:00.004-04:00

Little 2 year old, Sadie, has some very favorite things. Here they are in order:

1. Milk - Sadie's first love, milk. When she was an infant she had NO desire to move onto solid foods. She refused them and exclusively breast fed for nine months. At nine months she got bronchitis and it became difficult to breastfeed. She finally at the point tried baby food. The ONLY baby food she would eat was pears. She hasn't changed much. Now when I serve her a meal she may look at it or maybe even take a bite. Then she pushes it away and asks for milk.

2. Blankets - Sadie loves the blankets her Grandma crocheted for her. It is not unusual for a toddler to become attached to her blanket. When Grandma visited a few months ago she noticed that Sadie was outgrowing her little crocheted baby blankets so she crocheted her a couple of bigger ones. Sadie drags all of them around the house. I hide the two little ones she has in case she soils her other ones at night and I need to trade them out. If I didn't hide them, she'd insist on dragging all four around. Sadie talks about how "blankets are for smelling." She sometimes invites me to smell them.

3. Swimsuit - After breakfast this morning, the first thing Sadie asked me for was her swimsuit. She loves water play! When given the chance, Sadie will wear or simply carry her swimsuit around. She has done this since about a year and a half old. She used to cry whenever I took it off.

4. Backpack - This is a new interest. Dora has a backpack... need I say more?

Easter Weekend

2008-03-25T20:13:00.002-04:00

Our family had a fun Easter. The girls loved egg hunting and the surprises the Easter Bunny left in their Easter baskets. David and I gave the girls a backpack with their names embroidered on it. They have enjoyed those too, especially Eliza.

I know this is a long montage. I don't expect anyone to watch it. I just post it so my own memories can be recorded here. :)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

All American Girl

2008-03-08T23:45:00.008-05:00

Hi Everyone! This is really A Little Revolution! Terry asked me to do a guest post. Let me first update you on Terry and the girls. Terry is, as of today, the sickest she has ever been while pregnant. She is spending a lot of time in bed. Which reminds me, special thanks to Keep-N-Touch for the lasagna she brought over earlier this week! It was a double blessing this week. Two Sundays ago Terry accidentally set the time for 53:20 instead of 5:32 on a microwave meal. Twenty minutes later the meal was a lump of charcoal and the house full of smoke. The microwave was ruined. So last Saturday I finally had time to buy a new one; it broke two days later; never buy a LG brand microwave. Our nice new microwave we ordered off the internet came yesterday. I walked in the door and the Eliza couldn't wait to show me it. She is so cute. I guess that brings me to the topic of tonight's post.

I went up North to help Molly (who is also very pregnant and sick) and Jeff move to their new townhouse today. On the way through our ~~state's~~ commonwealth's capital I was switching the radio around. I heard Carrie Underwood's angelic voice singing a song I had never heard before.

I have to admit that I only heard the last 45 seconds. But, it moved me to tears. Yes, I am tired. I don't usually drive on the interstate crying while listening to country music. But, the song was "All American Girl." The boy, in those last 45 seconds, wanted his wife to have an All American Girl and she had him wrapped around her little baby finger. So here I am, driving up the interstate, with tears falling-not rolling-falling down my face as I think about my two precious daughters, Eliza and Sadie, my beautiful wife, Terry, and fetus (no-we don't know if fetus is a ♂ or a ♀ yet). I have these three All American girls and I am most definitely wrapped around their collective little finger. It probably also helped induce crying that I haven't gotten to see them often for the past six months due to the internship I just finished two days ago.

So, after I got home from my moving duties I looked up the song and listened to the whole thing. I listened to it and was amazed. It reminded me of my family. I'll tell you why in a moment. So, I took the laptop back to where Terry was tucked into bed along with her headache and nausea and asked her if she wanted to cry. She said, "Yes, just put it down on the bed." So, I hit play and left the laptop and went back to chasing the All American Girls in question and trying to feed them dinner. After a few minutes I went back to the bedroom; sure enough, Terry was crying her eyes out. Once she finished telling me just how crying made her feel sicker she said, "It's just like how you love your little daughters!"

That is true. However, my parents have a weird thing about sons. I grew up with a father who REALLY WANTED a boy and was so happy and proud when I, the firstborn, was a male. The first verse is about how the first guy in the song wanted a son to grow up to become an All American athlete.

I literally grew up hearing about how I was the firstborn and if it had been a different era I would have been heir to the birthright. Then the stories of the Patriarchs would come and so on and so forth. But, my father did make sure to teach that the birthright didn't always go to the oldest son, I guess he was warning me to be good! Well, it worked I guess. ;) But, don't worry, my parents are very liberal and will split everything equally when they die, etc. etc.

As if that wasn't funny enough; there is more! Really, Mom, Papi, I love you. This is just all fun. It makes a great story! And you do get a little weird and medieval on the whole baby boy thing.

That is right. They understood they couldn't do a thing about Eliza, we were adopting a girl. But, Sadie, boy did they hope she was a boy. And fetus, someday when you read this, they hope you are a boy. They really are hung up on it. They are really concerned! Like the family name is going to die or something. C'mon! I have a brother. He can pass on the family name. I have a multitude of male cousins, one even has the same name and his dad is always accidentally sending me email meant for him. There are plenty of possibilities for male heirs.

Get over it! The Incan Empire died out many moons ago. We aren't going to need an heir to lay claim to the throne (as if there weren't hundreds of thousands of other descendants of Atahualpa) in Machu Picchu! I am too busy trying to live righteously so I can "inherit all the Father hath." Why would I want a male heir when George Washington didn't have one? (Hee Hee; going all holier than thou always ticks people off!) Plus, who would want to claim a small European country's throne (at least the Incas did cool stuff)...? So, I am happy being a normal average American.

I don't need a male heir to pass anything onto. My All American Girls are enough to bring me to tears of joy! (Fetus, if you are a boy, don't take offense, I'll still love you as much as I love your big sisters.)

Hormones

2008-02-18T23:45:00.009-05:00

"My biggest fear is that PMS doesn't really exist
and this is my real personality."

I saw this statement on the wall of the examining room at the OBGYN this afternoon. It made me laugh out loud so I thought I'd share it. BTW, I heard the wee fetus's heart beat today so the baby is alive. :) I am not too surprised, being that the sweet fetus is making me sick, which is why I havent' been posting or reading blogs lately. I am sorry I havent' visited you, my bloggy friends. I am just trying to keep up with the laundry and and dishes. I am failing at that but at least I have consistently fed the kids. Today I bought a big supply of paper plates and bowls to minimize the dishes mess over the next few weeks.. I am 8 weeks and 1 day pregnant with a due date of September 28th.

Pre-schoolers First Sleepover

2008-02-04T12:51:00.001-05:00

Eliza had her first sleepover a few weeks ago. Her guest: Cousin Wyatt. My sister and her husband went out of town to the temple. They had to leave early on Saturday morning and they were going to be gone all day so they dropped Wyatt off on Friday evening. Wyatt and Eliza thought it would be a good idea if Eliza slept on the air mattress too. Eliza usually goes to bed around 7:30. Because of the special occasion I let the kids stay up until 9:00. They sure had a lot of fun together not sleeping. Why was I not surprised? Finally at 11:30, when I was ready for bed, I had them close their eyes and I stood there and watched them for about 3 minutes. They fell asleep. They just needed to stop moving. Fifteen minutes later I heard Eliza crying. She had rolled off the air mattress and landed on her toys. She requested I move her to her bed. So now I know she still does need her bed rails. :)

The next morning...everyone was a little tired.
The kiddos always love painting. We had a fun treat! SNOW!!!!

We don't get a lot of snow in Virginia. So I don't want to invest in snow attire that will be worn twice before it is outgrown. So, just ignore the crazy non matching layers and my nephew's pink gloves. :) Sadie is wearing a snow suit my mom found in the Spring on sale a few years ago. Its about two sizes smaller than she actually wears, but you didn't notice, right?

Fun times!

Mommies

2008-01-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

Failed Eye Surgery

2008-01-21T22:29:00.000-05:00

I have a crazy little eye condition in which I only see out of one eye at a time. I've seen this way my whole life only I didn't know it until I was 25, but thats a story for another time. Anyway, I had an appointment this morning with an eye surgeon. She had good news for me, I am a good candidate for eye surgery and there is more than an 80% chance of permanent improvement for my eyes. Great. I scheduled the surgery for next month.

David's mom agreed to fly out to help with the kids the week of the surgery. Before purchasing a plane ticket, I wanted to be sure I was going to go through with the eye surgery. Since I will be going under general anesthesia, I am required to have a physical completed before the procedure to be sure I am healthy enough to handle it. I went to one of those walk-in medical clinic places. Well, it turns out I can't have the surgery after all due to the results found in a blood test... I am pregnant!

David and I are really excited. Perhaps if you happened to have read my adoption story post, than you know that we once had trouble conceiving a baby. We tried for almost two years before we adopted Eliza. Just a few months after Eliza arrived, I became pregnant with Sadie. So the first pregnancy took two years and this time I became pregnant the very first month we stopped preventing. There is no doubt that Eliza was meant to be in our family. Her adoption was such a miracle! It would have to be meant to be or it would have had no chance of working out. I don't know why God sent her to us through adoption but He did and we love it. Once we had her, than I got pregnant. David and I believe that perhaps our infertility problems were necessary at the time so that we would pursue adoption, therefore opening the opportunity for Eliza to join our family.

According to an on-line due date calculator, I am about three weeks along. I will no for sure once I have my first ultrasound in about a month. Aren't fetuses so cute?

For My Bloggy Buddies

2008-01-16T16:14:00.000-05:00

Dot com

2008-01-14T15:24:00.000-05:00

Pre-schoolers are full of surprises.

I had no idea that Eliza had any idea about "dot coms and dot orgs." I know that looks a little scripted but its not at all. I just grabbed the camera and started filming her. (I did, however, help her type in pbskids.org just before the last scene). Sadie surprised me when she proudly showed me her drawing. It resembled a face, not just scribble. :)

Sneaky...

2008-01-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

At least its washable...

2008-01-09T20:02:00.000-05:00

My back was turned to Sadie for a minute while I cleaned Eliza up after painting. Sadie took the opportunity to get creative.
The damage was done, so I helped Eliza paint a heart on her face.

They clean up real nice.

Just growing and waiting for Mommy

2008-01-06T18:32:00.000-05:00

Just after dinner our family had this conversation tonight. The conversation ended in one of those rare moments that left a tear in my eye. So sweet...

Me: Guess what, girls.
Eliza: Hmm?
Me: Aunt Molly has a baby growing in her tummy!
Eliza: (wide eyed interest)
Me: (pinch fingers together really small) The baby is teeny tiny small like this. The baby is growing in her tummy and when the baby is this big (move hands about 20" apart) the baby will be born.

(David enters the room)

Me: Eliza tell Daddy what Aunt Molly has in her tummy.
Eliza: (proud grin and excitment in voice) Daddy, Aunt Molly has a baby growing in her tummy! (pinches fingers in like manner to Mommy) The baby is tiny small, like this. The baby is growing bigger and bigger in Aunt Molly's tummy.....
Daddy: Wow.
(Eliza turns to me): He said, "wow" (in an awed whisper).
(Eliza turns back to Daddy).
Eliza: I was a tiny baby and I grew bigger (jumps up and raises hand high in the air). I grew in Mommy Amanda's tummy.
Sadie: (jumps around growing like Eliza and enthusiastically says,) I grow in Mommy
Amanda's tummy.
Eliza: No, Sadie, you grew in Mommy Terry's tummy.
Sadie: I grew in Mommy Terry's tummy?
Eliza: Yeah, Sadie!... I grew in Mommy Amanda's tummy and waited for Mommy.

She waited for me...its so sweet. I love that kiddo.

Thank you, Hubby!

2008-01-06T08:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I was browsing the internet looking for free blog templates. I came across one that I liked except it had a photo of someone else's baby on it. I told David that I'd like this template if only it had a picture of MY babies instead. Being a man and wanting to rescue me or something, he takes a look. He reads the code and then determines he can do that. Hubby spent three hours last night cutting, pasting, HTML code manipulating, and I don't know what else... Then he presented my new blog look to me. I love it!!! Its awesome! It looks so much better than my previous bland looking blog. Thank you, Hubby, for all your time and effort! You're the best!

Family Times

2008-01-01T12:50:00.000-05:00

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

After Christmas Gifts

2007-12-28T15:15:00.000-05:00

My mom collects really great toys for her grandkids. She's kind of into it. Well, from time to time she will decide she has too many toys or found a better one of the same type or something. Because of this, my kids have been the beneficiaries of many great toys. Yesterday my dad drove down to my house and brought my girls a wooden kitchen set that Grammy decided she didn't want to keep space for anymore. Eliza and Sadie played with it the rest of the day and again all morning today. They were cute wearing the aprons that another Grandma made them for Christmas and playing kitchen. As you may see in the photos, the kitchen was set up in my hallway for about 24 hours until I figured out where I was going to put it.

Sadie found a toy mushroom and decided to pretend it was a pacifier and that she is a baby.

Christmas Eve Fun

2007-12-24T23:37:00.000-05:00

Our family had a little Christmas Eve celebration. It was so much fun! A few friends came over with their families. My sister, Molly and her son, Wyatt also came. All the kids ran around and played. It was a pajama party for the kiddies. I know Eliza and Sadie had so much fun playing with their friends and staying up WAY past their bedtimes. (They usually go to bed at 7:30 but tonight, not until 10:30). Even though they were tired, they weren't cranky at all. They must have been full of Christmas cheer. They did go right to bed with no problems tonight.

Santa stopped by the party. Santa is very busy tonight but he loves parties so he dropped by. He rang the doorbell and all the kids came running. Santa said, "Ho Ho Ho. Merry Christmas." Eliza exclaims, "Santa!.....pause.....(giggles)..DADDY!" Darn! We hoped we could fool her. She thought it was so funny that Daddy dressed up like Santa. (Okay, so really Santa was too busy tonight to stop by our party but a great looking replacement helped out). After the party, Eliza says to David, "Daddy, you were silly dressed like Santa. I saw your eyes."

Sadie on the other hand, really thought she met Santa. She was cautious at first to go sit on his lap. Once she got on though, she talked and talked to him. She told him about her family and that she'd been good this year. She said she wanted toys for Christmas.

Having a house full of happy kids on Christmas Eve is the best!

Bench Press Babies

2007-12-23T19:24:00.000-05:00

This little montage is dedicated to your favorite work out trainer and mine, cfs from The Lowest Rated Blog.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com