Project Three somethingty something 2010

There's this thing going around called Project 365 challenging people to document a year in pictures. Remembering to take a picture every single day is a little ambitious for me so I decided to make it three hundred something pictures so I won't feel like a failure when I forget a day or two here and there. The plan is to post a week in review here on our blog so you guys can see the types of things we find exciting around here. As usual, I procrastinated a little so here we are 30 days into January and I'm just now putting my first batch of pictures up. Hopefully I'll be a little better about getting them up on a regular basis from here on out.

January 1st: Keaton with the unicorn Pillow Pet he got for Christmas.

January 2nd: I don't think there are many Saturdays that don't involve a trip to Sam's.

January 3rd: Uh-oh, I forgot to buy a new calendar, better hurry up and get one.

January 4th: Aubrie's first day back to Irish dance after the Christmas break.

January 5th: One last picture of the Christmas tree before I take it down.

January 6th: Our plumbing backed up and flooded the kitchen and the kid's room last night so today we went out and got a new steam cleaner because their room stunk!!

January 7th: Irelyn and Juliette are 4 months old today.

January 8th: My favorite coffee cup. Two things that make me happy: lots of coffee and bright colors.

January 9th: Gage playing with blocks.

January 10th: Sunday night after kids are in bed is lesson planning time.

January 11th: Kenlie's first time to get her nails painted. She kept saying "I'm so excited you painted my fingers and my toes with 'more' polish".

January 12th: Started doing Weight Watchers today. My goal is to lose 32 pounds.

January 13th: Before.

January 14th: Gage doing math in the kitchen floor.

January 15th: I've had The One Year Bible for years now and haven't actually done it. I decided this will be the year for that. I'm starting a little late but the reading is short so I should be able to catch up.

January 16th: Gage with the spy glasses he got for Christmas.

January 17th: Irelyn.

January 18th: I finally got around to taking down the Christmas tree and this is what I found on the wall behind where it stood. Thankfully the artist signed his name so I was able to know who I had to punish.

January 21st: Juliette (left) and Irelyn (right) getting some tummy time.

January 23rd: Gage playing "Connect 4X4" with himself.

January 24th: Kenlie is sick with RSV and a double ear infection. She was watching t.v. and fell asleep on the couch.

January 25th: Gage is quite an artist. He made a laptop and on the screen is his favorite computer game "Toon Town".

January 26th: Sickness has struck the house hard. Kenlie, Karys, Irelyn and Juliette all have RSV and I have a really bad cold.

January 27th: Karys, Kenlie and Aubrie freshly bathed.

January 28th: Ice on one of the bushes in our front yard.

I promise now that I'm caught up, the next post won't be so long.

2 monkeys 1 banana

As most of you know I'm currently expecting twins (which in and of itself should be an explanation as to why I haven't had the energy or the ability to form coherent sentences necessary for blogging.)

I thought I would come out of hiding to blog about what it's like to be pregnant with twins since so many people want to know how it differs from a singleton pregnancy. Let's just say that on Feb 5th 2009 I found out for certain that God definitely has a sense of humor. After 5 completely uneventful pregnancies I guess God decided that it would be a hoot to give Michael and me twins. Michael had a suspicion that we were having twins before that first appointment, I was completely blind-sided.

The first trimester was filled with shock and fear (as well as puking and overwhelming exhaustion). It took about a week for me to think about having twins without crying because I was so overwhelmed by what could go wrong. It really is amazing, though, how God kept reminding me that He is in control. A couple of days after finding out I was having a really rough time emotionally and I was digging through my purse looking for a pen or something and I found this:

I'm not sure where it came from, probably something one of the kids made at church that had fallen to the depths of my purse but there was God's reminder that I could lean on Him. Then, that Sunday our pastor preached on fear. I was like, 'Okay, God, I've got it. You're in control and I'm going to trust in you'. That's not to say there haven't been days where I've started panicking again but for the most part I'm okay with it all.

The second trimester was better. We had our "big" ultrasound at 18 wks and 4 days. That is when we found out we're expecting identical girls. This can carry some risks since there's only one placenta but so far the girls are doing great and I haven't had any signs of premature labor. The all day sickness (I'm sorry, whoever coined it morning sickness had obviously never had a baby) finally passed at about week 20. I also learned during the second trimester how many great people God has placed in my life. I have some really awesome friends and family who have definitely stepped up to help out by offering to take the kids for me so I can rest to making us dinner because I was just too tired to cook. I've also had tons of people offer help for after the babies are born and for those of you who have offered and are reading this, you'd better be serious about your offers because I have a notebook with all your names in it and I will be calling you!!

I'm now in the third trimester and huge and uncomfortable. I can't stand for more than 10 minutes without getting breathless and needing to sit down but thankfully when you're pregnant with twins you can milk it for all its worth ;).

Here are some pictures to show you how quickly I've grown:

This is 14 weeks

This is 19 weeks

This is 23 weeks

And here I am last week at 27 weeks

I can't believe how big I've gotten and I can't even begin to imagine how big I'll be in 9 weeks when these girls are ready to come out.

As for how it feels when both babies are moving, I've heard it described in many ways by other twin mamas but I think my favorite and the most accurate way to describe it is "I feel like I've swallowed two monkeys but only one banana".

What all good homeschoolers should teach their kids

Things I've been pondering lately

Why is it that my 2yo can eat her body weight in crackers and not gain an ounce yet I can eat an ounce of chocolate and gain 20 pounds?

Why can my 2yo sit on the potty for 20 minutes and nothing come out yet every time she gets out of the bathtub she pees on the floor (or worse, the couch)?

Why can my 5yo give an second by second account of everything Daddy did on a video game he played two weeks ago yet he can't remember what I said 30 seconds ago?

Why does my 8 month old wake up every 2-3 hours at night? Doesn't she know the term "sleeping like a baby" is supposed to mean a good night's sleep?

Why is it that when I finally make a meal that all the kids will eat without a single complaint, the next time I make it, no one will touch it with a 10 foot pole?

Why is it that it's taken us 8 months to get a picture with all of us looking at the camera?

Not me!

Apparently I have a sixth child that I wasn't aware of (no, I'm not talking about Michael this time, lol). This sixth child is named "Not Me". "Not Me" is the family troublemaker. He is responsible for many things around the house.
Who left the bathroom door open so Kenlie could drink from the potty?
"Not me!"

Who left the markers on the kitchen table so Kenlie could paint herself blue?
"Not me!"

Who took the antique rocking chair outside so the dog could scratch the seat up?
"Not me!"

Who's going to pay for Mommy to take a trip to somewhere tropical and stay with the kids while she goes?
"Not me!"

Hmmm, maybe this "Not Me" kid isn't so bad after all.

What I'm doing right now.

Listening to Aubrie and Keaton sing "Joy To The World" at the top of their lungs (IN OCTOBER!!). They're so their daddy's kids, lol.

Life is good... wait, no it's great!

Lots of stuff has happened since I last posted. Michael decided not to take the job at the jail. We had both prayed that God's will would be made clear to us regarding that decision and neither one of us felt comfortable with that job so it was nice that God made it an easy decision.

I turned the big 3-0 last week. It wasn't nearly as traumatic as people make it out to be. My sister kept asking me how does it feel to be 30 and my response was "Same as it felt to be 29". Maybe it would have been harder if I weren't so happy with where I am in life but I love my husband and I love my kids so I couldn't really ask for anything more. On my actual birthday we went to my mom's house for dinner and Michael let me know that he had made arrangements for his mom to come over on Fri to watch the kids so we could go out. He even made reservations. In the 12 years that we've been together, he's never been the one to make the dinner plans or arrange for childcare so that was a huge surprise. My present from my mom was money to use to get my hair done. I ended up cutting off over 6 inches. I was really happy with how it turned out. We decided to get all dressed up and even remembered to take a picture before we left for dinner.



We had a great time.

School's still going great with the kiddos. Keaton and Gage are really enjoying their school and Aubrie, of course, is amazing us everyday with all the info she absorbs. Did I tell you guys she's in 5th grade math this year. I'm still in shock over that one (not sure where she got the math gene from, definitely not me or Michael). Kenlie's talking is really improving, too. The other day Michael got out of the shower and realized he'd left his towel in the bedroom so he sent Kenlie to get me. She came up to me and asked me where Daddy's towel was and I said "Doesn't he have it?" and she said "No, it's lost". It's always shocking when you first realize you're having a real conversation with a 2yo, lol. Carys got her first tooth. It's hasn't come through enough to get a pic of but I'll be sure to post one when you can see it really well. Don't be deceived, just because you can't see it doesn't mean we can't feel it. I've moved from just being a human pacifier to a human teething ring (didn't I mention not wanting that job title?).

BTW, I'm sure you noticed but I've given up on trying to keep our anonymity on the web. It's just way too tiring to remember to type "A" or "K" or whatever for whomever I'm referring to (I can barely remember to call them by the right names when I'm actually talking to them, not to mention when I'm creating pseudonyms).