Getting Real......

Well I have been putting writing this post off and I am not sure why. I just rewarded myself with a purchase. Beginning in January I decided it was time for a change and I needed to loose weight. I have to admit I was at the point where I did not complain about being bigger than I wanted because I did not want to admit it to myself. I never told anyone what size I wore etc... I just started to not buy stuff for me anymore. Anyway, I have now been working out for three months, 5 days a week, also changed my eating habits a lot. I was overeating and eating the wrong foods without realizing it. I don't feel I have gone on a diet- this for me is a life change. Where my weight will be at the end of this is not as important to me as being healthy, and feeling good. Okay I lied Of course loosing weight it important to me too. It hasn't been easy. I have certainly got discouraged with things were not changing as fast as I wanted, and I am sure I will get that way again. But I will keep working out and keep on going...

So after three months and loosing 20 pounds. I bought myself an IPOD. I am loving it. I loaded up my books on tape and its been really very wonderful. It's also nice for doing housework too. I have always loved reading but that hobby has been hard to keep up with everything going on, now I can enjoy my books and keep getting healthier. I plan to get some music up on it too.

Oh and did you know
-working out eventually does feel better...
-shopping for work out clothes can be fun too....
-you can always find the time (I go late at night or whenever I can, I just go)...
-Working out helps me eat better.....

Me and the twins......

Here is a crappy picture of me and the girls taken with the self timer on Sunday morning before church (the other kids had already left). I am never in the picture so I thought I would share it. I took several where the girls were smiling cute but my head was cut out (thanks to my poor self timing skills).

The girls look so cute I had to include my botched pic, LOL!

First Game.....

Today was a big day at least it was according to Jacob. It was his first Soccer game and I think he thought he was playing in the world cup. It was fun watching him enjoy it so much. Their team didn't win but they were the cutest ones out there and thats all I care about. Jacob got a few good kicks in and thats while he runs with a limp (still healing from the fracture).






And this was the view from the sidelines (Lindsey was MIA playing with friends)....

Night night...........

Yesterday while I was in the midst of folding and washing the girls were playing. They have been playing together so differently lately. There is much more going on bettween them than before. They have games and a dialogue and it is so cute to observe. This is the night night game. One of them is the mommy and the other goes night night. They can do this for a long time switching places being the mommy and the baby. They even call each other mommy and baby. It is so funny to watch them play this and listen to what they tell each other. They are really good at switching turns and its pretty cool. Here is a few photos I snapped. I need to get it on video. Right now they play this game all the time, in fact they are playing it again right now but someday they won't. They really giggle all the time together. I have no idea what is always so funny, but it is a delightful sound! The girls have only begun talking a lot together recently and it really is a window into their games and thoughts. They are so lucky to always have a playmate. They are always together finding fun (or trouble). What a complete joy it is to watch them grow up and interact -healthy happy and fun. Today I realize I am the luckiest mom in the world. Four beautiful children.

Outside fun.....

Last weekend is was downright warm and spring like. The kids created their own camp spot outside. It provided hours of childhood fun. How's that for beating the inside blues?

So... what do you do?

Spring has sprung here, but I know winter has not completely left... its going to snow again next week. Anyway as I have been doing tons of laundry, twelve loads so far and more that I sent to my mother in law (bless her heart) I have been faced with a challenge that seems to reoccur at season changes every year. We have pulled out all the new cute spring clothes and we need to keep storing all the winter ones for the cooler days. Of course our drawers just cannot fit both... So what do you do? I have been thinking of bringing my rubbermaid bin up and putting all the winter stuff inside and putting all the spring clothes away (they make me happy just seeing them). Am I the only one who deals with this trivial problem?

Oh and by the way I am not done with my laundry but I am determined to keep on working. I am still not feeling great. I went to the doctor and he put me on a antibiotic. I really hope it helps. I can't afford to let things go and rest but trying to do everything I normally do, feeling so cruddy is hard!

To come...
the pics of the kids playing outside I promised last sunday...
The picture of my new purchase for myself and the story behind it...
The twins newest game (super cute)......

Not necessarily in the order they will appear.

Waking up to mess..........

So after nearly three days of me in bed. I woke up today and realized how much I am behind on and I am feeling like I will never get caught up. Monday night I woke up shivering and wet and realized (after hours of delirous dreams) that I was sick. I took my temperature and confirmed the fever. I seem to have caught Sydney's mystery bug. I hope I gave her a lot of sympathy because I was SO miserable! I don't think I have felt so bad in 5 yrs of illness. The fever caused the worst body aches ever. Anyway, I am still feeling weak and sick but laundry and children need to be taken care of. Thank goodness for my inlaws and mom who helped care for the kids the last two days. I was in no shape to do anything! UGH! None of the other kids have had this yet so I feel worried of what is to come.

Random stuff.....

First off I have to say I am loving my little weather post from last week. Each time I sign on to my blog my five day forecast is updated. Who knew it could do that? Super cool.

We have been enjoying the warmer weather. We made several more adventures to the park. Hailey is loving the slides. Sydney is very scared to go across the bridges that move a bit so she isn't playing much on the equipment. Hopefully she will get more brave. Usually Sydney is the more daring of the two, but not lately at the park. She is completely over her illness and so far Hailey seems to have escaped it. I am still holding my breath. I did hear a lot of coughing from their room last night (they are not up yet).

We have a lot going on. Jacob begins soccer this week. T-ball is less than a month. I signed up for soccer late because I wasn't sure about his foot. He was desperate to play so I put him on a waiting list. We got on a team but unfortunately we are now forced to travel like 40 minutes for 6:30-7:30 every thursday for practices. Alan works late those nights so its sure to be hard (opps fun). I hope Jacob appreciates it. When I discovered the coach was so far away (not normal) I would have liked to drop out and wait till next soccer season but I could not bear to break his heart!

Sundays are very exhausting around here. I am sure many of you relate. Getting four small children, three girls hair, all ready for church by 9am is quite a feat. The bathing, the dressing is all a lot of work. The girls are really talking a ton these days. Yesterday Alan had changed Hailey in preparation to go to dinner. I was feeling really tired and told Hailey that Daddy would take her to the car. Hailey looked at me and said, "Mommy don't care"! Talk about a dagger to the heart! So I scooped her up and took her to the car too (she knew how to push my buttons).

Anyway.... I will post more pics later of the kids enjoying the outdoors. We are expecting it to get cool again later this week (check out my forecast, LOL). I also rewarded myself with a purchase. I will share that later too.

Bring on the sun.....

Yesterday lived up to its hopes, it was beautiful! I took the kids to the park (Lindsey is at school). Sydney still wasn't feeling well so she hung out with me. The girls were too little to play much on the playground last year so this was all new, and very exciting to Hailey. She had a great time. I just loved watching them run, and run and run. Being outside was wonderful to all of us.

The view going into the park...

I loved the snowy mountains and brown grass...

Sydney (L) Hailey (R)

Slides are fun to Hailey!

I had to take Jacob to his follow up on his foot so the girls napped at Grandma and Grandpa's. The appointment went well and everything is healing well. Although, we were warned against Jacob jumping, riding bikes/scooters etc... for three more weeks. Jacob was very sad. Apparently while I was gone Sydney's fever spiked again during her nap. She awoke shivering and throwing up (thankfully thats only the second throw up). I ended up taking her to the doctor too. She was very sick. The doctor tested for strep but decided it was just a bad virus. It's been a very trying day listening to her cry and whine at my legs. I am just waiting for Hailey to get sick now. Today it even warmer outside... maybe we will venture out to feel it again tomorrow.

Sunny Days are here again..... (hopefully)

I can't contain my excitement! I checked the weather tonight, as I usually do and this is what it looks like! Parks, Capri's and Sunshine here we come!!!! Hopefully this mystery illness will isolate itself and not damper my spirits. We need to get out the house and go somewhere....

Those of you who consider 60's to be downright cool are probably laughing. We have had a long, cold snowy winter!

A girls gotta have shoes....

The twins love shoes, anyones shoes. Often they mismatch but always they make them feel fabulous! Here is a shot of them in their shoes this afternoon...

Hailey

They each had one on each foot. Finding both our shoes can be hard, thanks to the girls...

Sydney is still sick and only gets off the couch when the Motrin has done its magic. Her was the conversation they were having while shoe modeling...

S-You hot, Lailey
H-No I not hot, I COLD!
S-You hot hot hot
H-No I not sick.

A Day to Remember.....

Click the pic for a better view...

March 11th 2004 was surely a day to remember in our lives. I went to my first doctor appointment, 8 weeks pregnant with what we thought was our third child. Everything about the appointment was routine, until I asked for an ultrasound (not normal practice that early for my doc). A nurse took care of the ultrasound and confirmed a healthy heartbeat, suddenly without warning she announces she thinks she sees two babies! She is not sure and calls the doctor to confirm. So.... I wait for 20 minutes alone, millions of thoughts are racing in my mind. Two cribs, two babies, I am not sure I could ever be a mother of twins which equaled four children 5 and under. The doctor strolls in and confirms he sees two babies! I am in the most shock you can imagine, alone and emotional. Twins are not in my family, and were not anything I would have expected to happen to me. The doctor mentions in passing that he doesn't see a membrane between the babies but explains nothing. I question if most babies need membranes and he says very seriously yes. Don't worry he tells me he hasn't had a patient in 20 yrs of practice without one, and its like 1% of pregnancies. I forget about all that for now, I am just in total shock. I leave the office and call Alan. I can hardly talk through my tears, he assumes the worst, a miscarriage, when I explain the twins news he is shocked but very excited. This day will remain a big day in my memory, it was truly the day my life changed forever! Here is my scrapbook page of the day, the first ultrasound photo on the page is of the girls who would someday mean everything to all us. The trials, worries and struggles of their pregnancy have made them so much more precious to all of us, they are miracles. More later....

Make your mark.......

Lindsey loves art, and therefore it is a constant challenge to keep her art stuff out of the wrong hands.... or in this case pockets! Hailey



Sydney woke up cranky and has a fever of 102. While I was chasing Hailey around and trying to keep her out of trouble I found that Sydney had fallen asleep on the couch. Hailey keeps touching her and saying "ouch hot" because she feels warm. Poor sweetheart. Sydney

Poor pink cheeks waiting for her medicine.

Lindsey and Jacob hit the slopes today. I hope they enjoy what I hope will be the last of winter! Jacob's boot is officially history, hooray! Now he can finally dress himself.

Scrapbooking..........

So I have been feeling inefficient lately. I just can't seem to get the laundry and house caught up enough to do anything else. So to make myself feel better I went back and took a few pictures of the twins scrapbook pages. All pages are from Hailey's book but Sydney's are mostly the same just different pictures. This is only a few of their pages but many of my favorites. By the way Heather, it did make me feel better looking at all the stuff I had done. I am just going to have to get going and my kids will have no clean laundry (well I will have to find balance with that). I did make my cards for a card group I joined. I will take a pic of that one later. Oh by the way if you click on the pictures they will be larger and you can see a lot more. Some pics reflected better than others...

She bite, she bite, she bite.......

Sydney (L) Hailey (R) All pics...

Hailey bit Sydney while they were shopping today. It was not a small bite either- it broke skin and Sydney's little finder was swollen. Sydney let out a scream loud enough to break windows (well atleast get everyone staring at me). So I punished Hailey firmly and as further punishment I took Sydney out of the stroller and let her walk. Hailey was beside herself crying and screaming watching Sydney's freedom. I kept reminding her that she was naughty and she bit her sister. Normally I would never let either of them walk in a store, but it seemed to be helping me get across to Hailey the seriousness of her offense. The real sweet part of the story is that after Sydney calmed down, all she cared about was Hailey and how sad she was. She completely forgot the offense and was hugging her, trying to steal jewels for her, anything to make her happy. It was a true lesson in forgiveness. So far this seems to be very much a part of Sydney's personality. She is usually willing to give up what she has if Hailey is crying over it, and she always shares. If I hand her two of something without me even telling either twin to she goes and shares with her sister. Anyway the pics were before we went out running errands...

It may look beautiful, but......

It can be quite a pain, literally! Monday we got some snow, it looked beautiful. Many of you may already know but we have a very steep driveway so when it snows it has to be removed or you cannot drive in the garage (a necessity with little children). So I went out monday morning to shovel something I get the opportunity to do more than I would like. It always seems to snow while Alan is at work, and I am not comfortable with the snow blower on our hill. Anyway, I noticed quickly that this snow was not only a lot in volume but it was full of water and was extreemly heavy to work with. I only did half the driveway because it was terrible. Long story short.... even though I could not feel it at the time it ruined my back. I have been out of commission all week. I mean out! It's been terrible trying to take care of the kids and the house with this issue. I just couldn't do anything. My mom and my inlaws had to help with laundry, cooking etc.... thank goodness for them. Anyway, after a lot of pain I am finally feeling better, but I have now had to begin digging out from this terrible mess. The dishes, the laundry and toys are everywhere! Anyway below are some pictures of the kids. Sydney and Hailey tried on their spring and summer outfit and would not take it off they said, "Princess" when they had it on and I decided not to fight them about it. They were not going outside so why not celebrate warm weather thoughts inside. It's been quite a week!

Jacob racing around the house with his speedcar (opps twins strollers). I swear he is going to break them with all his monster truck like antics.

The twins "cleaning" for me....

Can you tell by her face that Hailey is not suppossed to be in there?
These pictures are of the girls getting ready for naptime together....

Unusually easy to get to bed this day!