my life now

My life is on constant baby alert now.

Among their latest feats (besides crawling, standing against stuff, etc.) the babies have learned how to climb stairs!!!!!! Afton can get all the way up to the top and Lilly does about two and decides she is done. Soon enough she will be up at the top too.

So many people I have met with twins say the first year is the hardest. What kind of lies are they spreading? :) For me, the first year really hasn't been that bad. I am so scared of what this second year will bring. In the first year they are not too mobile, you can leave a room and know they stay stationary , they don't eat everything in sight and try to get into everything. It seems like from about this age to 2 years old you always have to keep A CONSTANT eye on kids. Trouble, trouble and trouble just at this house it is times two!!!! Of course when they make faces like Lilly did here how can you not help but love every moment with them!

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

Here are five pictures of Lizzie's birthday festivities. I still do not want to believe she is already five.

I know quite often I mention what a challenge this girl is for me. On one hand, she is the one that makes me laugh the hardest every day over something she says or does. She is the one that makes me lose my patience the most. She is also the child that I have cried the most for. In her first 4 years she went through so much. She started getting sick around 8 months. In her first 4 years she had so many UTI's, a lumbar puncture, 3 to 4 VCUG tests, cathetered at least 15 times and two surgeries. One of which she had an awful recovery from. In all reality she is also my middle child which from all of my development classes gets some issues of their own:)

I would not trade her for anything though. She teaches me about the world and myself every day (strenghts and weaknesses). She loves to play with her ponies, be an artist or do Play-Doh. I still remember when she was born and the first time she was brought to me and I saw that pink ribbon on her head I just cried!!! I had a girl and I was so happy!!

We had a really fun birthday weekend. On Saturday she had a "princess and prince" birthday with her friends. There was a surprise quest appearance by Snow White and Cinderella which was really awesome. The birthday party was really loud and crazy but luckily for the parents it is only about an hour and a half once a year. Ethan gave her a My Little Pony she has been wanting for awhile (Scootaloo). Well as soon as she opened it she charged Ethan in a huge hug and would not let go of the poor boy. In the picture you can barely see Ethan's face :)

Sunday night we had a family party which was nice. She wanted piggy meat (ham) and her favorite food of mashed potatoes for dinner. She had even asked Santa for mashed potatoes at Christmas. She loves strawberries and Tom and Stacey took care of that for her. Thank you to all who helped make her day special

Today we are going to have a "Lizzie day" for her birthday. I am taking her to get her 5 year pictures, we are having a "tea party" with a neighbor whose birthday is also today. I also told her I will take her to spend some of her birthday money and maybe we will go to the Living Planet Aquarium since we have a year pass and it will be free.

Happy Birthday Liz.

blessings of service

So today Jim and I went and helped out at the Draper Temple by being ushers. I was working with a guy in our stake that looked young (18-22ish). Well we were just chatting and he asked me what ward I went to. I told him and then he asked me if that was the singles ward. I took it as a compliment that he thought I looked young enough to belong to it. Either that or he thought I was cute enough to see if I was availabe. Either way-win win situation. And no- our singles ward isn't for those 30ish or older :)
Last time I volunteered at the temple someone else asked me if I was a sister missionary. Thank goodness for moisturizing cream.

Alas I loved the compliments.......

25 things about me.

Only because my house is spotless and everything is checked off my to do list for the day (lies, lies, and more lies.) I actually got tagged on facebook but still don't feel extremely comfortable or safe there. So here we go...... 25 things about me....



1. I have four kids and not one of them came close to their due date. They were all born at least a month early.
2. I never imagined myself as a stay at home mom. You can ask my parents. Even up to the last couple months of being pregnant with Ethan I still didn't think it was for me. A month before he was born something changed. I would not change it for all the money in the world (and we have some serious student loan debt :)
3. I hated avacodos and sauteed mushrooms as a kid and now think they are so delicious.
4. I have a tendency to overeat foods that I like. I have been known to eat a whole pound of chewy sprees and 6 krispy kreme doughuts in one seating (separate occasions of course)
5. I was baptized and joined the LDS church at the age of 20
6. Because of the example and influence 3 people had in my life to make my #5 decision, I would walk across the globe if needed for Trudy, Aric and Lorna.
7. I hate types of "skins". You know jello skin, gravy skin, pudding skin, etc.
8. My one trip out of the country was to Tijuana where I had someone say to me "oh, beautiful american blonde girl."
9. I know I weigh a little more than 100 pounds but have always been self-conscious of my body. I think it is just a girl thing
10. Between Lizzie, Afton and Lilly I was on bedrest for a total of 20 weeks!!! That is five months people!!!
11. I love carbonation
12. My one habit I hate the most is I bite my fingernails.
13. I used to be a really organized person until I went to college. It seems to have been a continual downhill slide since :)
14. I hated running in junior high and high school and now really, really like to run half marathons
15. I hate buying shoes. I only have like 7 pair (3 of which are running)
16. I don't like walking in bare feet especially outside.
17. I love the smell of a freshly mown lawn.
18. I qualified for state in Debate in High School (I went on a senior trip with the Academy of Finance instead, a decison I have NEVER regretted).
19. In less than 7 months Jim and I manged to start dating, get engaged and married!!!
20. Moving to Phoenix with a boy I had only known for 7 months was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Shows you much I loved and still do love that guy.
21. I really like to send out Christmas cards and will start prepping in November.
22. I love getting mail in December
23. I would have all my dolls play monopoly with me as a kid. I would stay busy for hours.
24. I have a Master's Degree.
25. My life is very busy right now but I love the good busy that I get to deal with each day.

lack of cooperation

I have been trying for the past little while to get a picture of the babies in motion crawling together. I have the perfect picture in my mind of how I want their picture to go but they aren't cooperating for my shot. They are both crawling now. No army crawls but real crawling. It is hilarious to see them crawling side by side towards the same object. I feel like we should be placing bets on our own baby derby. They are also babbling like crazy which is so cute to hear. They both really like our front room mirrors and the other day Lilly kept trying to give herself kisses to the cute baby in the mirror.

On another funny note- the other day Lizzie had to go in time out. I was upstairs getting ready for the day and I could hear her downstairs singing "My Heavenly Father loves me....." while in time out.

In these pictures Ethan is almost 7 (April), Lizzie almost 5 (in 16 days) and the babies 10 months old.

January report

I am happy to report that Jim and I are still running. For the month of January we managed to work in 37 miles for me and 36 miles for Jim. He had one off running time and was done a mile early. We originally were supposed to run 43 miles for January but there is always room for adjustment. So far our longest runs have been five miles (just yesterday). It was a good run. Our Saturday runs will be our long runs and will start increasing more. I am so excited for the weather to get a little warmer so we can get outside. The half marathon is in about 12 weeks or so. It is on Ethan's birthday - April 18th.

birthday festivities

I would post a birthday update for anyone else in the family so here is one for me :)

Today I turn the beautiful age of 32. It doesn't seem old. Plus just

a couple of days ago when I was volunteering at the Draper Open house for the new temple- someone asked if I was a sister missionary. I politely said no thinking I should have said I am almost 32 and have four kids :) But anyways, I have a few more laugh lines and one more year of life experience under my belt.

Festivities started last Sunday when my dad made me a Wok for a pre-birthday dinner. So delicious. Last Friday I got a box of clothes from my sister in law who has way too many :)
They were much appreciated.

Last night we had a family party and it was nice to get together with everyone. I like the open house of people that came due to various reasons. It actually seemed a little less chaotic. Jim gave me season 4 of The Office. I love that show and that is one of the few shows I giggle outloud for.

What am I doing on today my actual birthday? Well car pools, Lizzie dance class, making a cleaning dent somewhere in the house, changing tons of diapers, etc. I will go sneak a treat or something later for my own birthday present :) Plus Jim sent me some beautiful gerber daisies to stare at.