Whachu Talkin' 'Bout Willis?

Anastasia is doing her Zoolander.


















The babies love playing on my bed, but mostly they love getting their picture taken or videos of themselves. Anastasia is the especially hammy one. Amelia is studying the camera.

























Anastasia was helping me unpack boxes in the girls room and fell asleep on the job.

I Love Morning

Well, I love this morning, anyway. I woke up just a little before six and realized it was the first time I had been awake since I went to bed at 11. The babies slept through the night because I left Mike with them for the afternoon while I went to the temple and visited with Arren. He mostly fed them and gave them bottles, and they never took their late nap.

That was a wonderful change from the night before, where I stayed up until 12:30 watching back episodes of Chuck in prep for the new season opener. One-half hour later someone woke up screaming. Two hours later the same someone woke up again, but it wasn't time for another bottle. I could tell she was in pain, but I had given her tylenol at her 2AM feeding. So I just laid on the couch upstairs with her on my chest until she was asleep and secure. Then I couldn't get back to sleep until 6am. They woke up at eight. I didn't like that morning.

That means I lived on 2 2-hour cat naps. I went to the temple in that condition and managed to stay awake the majority of the time. I was impressed with myself.

So far this morning (which is why I love waking up early and rested) I have done some cleaning in the garage, unpacked 3 boxes of girls stuff and started my each-child-has-own-school/art/memorabilia/scrapbook-box project, painted a "desk" and, of course, fed babies, changed diapers, made bottles, danced to Queen with baby, wiped spit up, and even given baths. It is only 1:30. I can still add made lunch for myself and husband, done a blog post and even taken some special time for my honey.

I think it may be time for the babies' second nap. I may take one, but I may be better than that and continue working on my writing project.

My Dear Charlotte

Last week I called Charlotte, my old dance teacher. She is 81 now. I found out last year that she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but I didn't post about it because it was too close to Sharon's death. I had wanted so badly to visit her this previous summer. She is still doing well. She remembers me, but her voice is very weak. She struggles with her words, but knows not to try to use big words or explain complicated things. She said how much she wanted to see me and I could tell it was for the same reason I had.

She is such a sweet and amazing person. I owe her so much. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone at the studio, but she believed so much in my ability that she insisted I come to class as often as there were classes for me and I would never have to pay. My parents never would have been able to afford what she gave me. I have a hunch that I wasn't the only one in the dance studio she did that for.

While I waited for my classes (my parents usually dropped me of 1-2 hours early) she would have me help her with instruction, and so she groomed me to teach. She gave me opportunities to choreograph and eventually even mastermind an entire production. She has been a loving mentor to me like no other. Thank you Charlotte.

Between Loads of Laundry

In case I haven't explained it, Anastasia has congenital torticolis. When I was pregnant, she was really low, head down, in my pelvis. Amelia was also head down. Anastasia's position and Amelia's weight on her made is so she had very limited neck movement, and so the muscle on one side of her neck developed short. She goes to physical therapy every week to stretch that muscle out so she doesn't hold her head tilted to the left for the rest of her life.

Thursday she was strapped into her trailer trash high chair (bar stool and a gold-studded belt) and pushed it away from the table making herself fall straight back. She didn't even get a goose egg, but the floor in the dining room is concrete. I was more concerned that she had whiplash.

I took her to physical therapy and she would not have any of it. Christen, her tech was really concerned and suggested I have a doctor look at her. I took her to the ER, but she was fine.

For the past week I have been working on a writing project, and will continue to be working on it for some time, so I may continue to have a slow down in my blogging. In addition, it is finally fall in Texas, which means it is the perfect time of year for projects like refinishing and painting furniture. Now that I have my own little yard, I may be devoting a bit of time to gardening as well.

Don't you fret. I certainly will continue to blog, and probably still more than Devanie. I will also continue to read and comment in my usual places.

Llittle Known Facts

The human body does not easily digest paper. In the case of infants at least, it may pass with print still legible.

It's cricket season in Texas. They are so slow a baby can almost catch them. When they die in conspicuous places, babies can certainly catch them.

Toddling infants improve housekeeping skills.

Amelia has cut two top teeth, Anastasia has one.

They sit up to the table with us and beg for scraps.

Amelia wants it now, Anastasia wants it her way.

Amelia likes to be sung to sleep. Anastasia is too busy singing along to fall asleep.

Something You Don't See Every Day

Okay, Have you ever seen me post a recipe? Not only am I posting one, but I made it up.

Orangesicle Cake

1 Yellow cake according to directions.
1 Small box orange gelatin
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
5-7 mandarin orange slices

Dissolve gelatin in one cup of boiling water. Let cool about 10 minutes. Poke holes in cake with end of wooden spoon. Pour gelatin into holes of cake. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Soften cream cheese and butter. Beat with mixer until smooth. Thoroughly drain oranges. Beat into cream cheese mixture. Spread over cake. Eat small pieces, as it is very sweet.

I would have posted this yesterday, but my power went out as I was trying to. We got "hit by the hurricane" ever so mildly. The winds blew and the rains fell, but not too much rain at all. Everything got wet, but nothing close to flooding. Today it is bright and sunny.

All of the kids were here and when the power went off in the middle of the day, most everybody fell asleep.

Today we got all 10 of us to 9 am church on time, but before sacrament was over I had to take Mike back home because he left the meeting 4 times trying to get his stomach and intestines under control. He had a little Nyquil, so he is feeling better--I guess *zzzz*

The kids are at the park. Life is good

Product Peves

Okay, I absolutely love my new house; first of all that it is mine and besides that it has room that I can work with. That said, I want to complain. We bought brand new Maytag appliances--except we still have our old refrigerator. The oven/stove is fine, does the job, but I hate the controls on the overhead microwave. Everything requires a minimum of 2-3 buttons before engaging. The auto defrost it is better than the Kenmore I was using. It requires a total of three rather than the previous four touches.

I miss my GE it was beautiful. Everything was one touch--no need to even push start a lot of the time. The popcorn button was just one, perfect choice that started as soon as it was touched. Numbers 1-6 were also one-touch and represented the number of minutes it would cook as soon as the number was pressed. If you wanted, say, 10 seconds, then you would push time cook before hitting the numbers to prevent the one-touch activation.

The main issue here is my need to use multiple buttons to prevent uneven wear (which I have discussed in earlier posts Non-Disclosure Agreement and More OCD) The only relief for the soon-to-be-worn-out start button is the add 30 sec button.

I am also not impressed with my new dishwasher. The stupid silverware rack is right in the middle like an old one would be and it only has five compartments. I have trained my children to separate big spoons, little spoons, big forks, little forks, knives, serving spoons, and oversize utensils. now they don't have the space to do that, and neither do I. What's more, the top rack is over-specialized into different levels and angled pegs, minimizing the flexible capacity of the dishwasher. It has some fold-down shelves to double one side of space, but the Kenmore I was using had the same, but without all the odd niches. It also had 9 silverware compartments snugly fit along the side of the bottom shelf, leaving the entire bottom free for whatever configuration the user deems necessary.

That's all I have to say about that.

I have added two more of Clara's letters to the Laygacy blog if you haven't checked that in a while.

Getting Settled

The babies bedroom was the first place to get completely set up--minus the books on the empty bookshelf. They enjoy playing in their new bedroom and in the living area outside their bedroom when the gate is up at the stairs.











They can keep themselves entertained for at least an hour which has really helped me get stuff done around here. There is not a whole lot left to do except the boys bedroom and some general organization and picture hanging, decor, etc. stuff.







They slept for 12 hours last night with only one 2:30 wake up, so I feel rested again. They have yet to make a habit of such kindness, but it is getting closer. Anastasia was the one who woke up, but I made a bottle for Amelia at the same time and rolled the sleeping child over and popped it in her mouth.


The toy box has hardly anything in it, but the girls love to stand against it and drum on it. That is what they do more than anything; whenever they encounter a new surface, they have to slap it to see how it sounds. I don't remember that so much with my babies that did not have a drummer as a father, but that may just be poor memory.

These outfits are a size nine months. My babies just turned 8 months and they are able to wear 12 month clothes. The 6-9 are really tight on them. This is really strange for me. I am used to my babies being behind the curve. Their legs are proportionally fairly long, it seems. They don't look stubby even with their chubby.



Anastasia is closest to the crib and Amelia is closest to the dresser. When they sleep, I make sure to trade off with who gets the crib and who gets the Pack n' Play, they don't seem to care either way






These are the first phases of getting the living/dining room put together. I don't have high chairs and the swing got left in the back yard, so the babies are eating peaches on the bar stools.

The blue recliner seen here will eventually be covered with a tan durasuede cover. It was in my bedroom, but since we can't fit both of our gigantic couches reasonably in our living room, the chaise sofa is going in the second living room upstairs and the recliner provides extra seating in the main living area. I wanted to put the TV out of the focus of the downstairs living room, but since the master is downstairs and the kids are up, I didn't want the TV where they could get up and watch it without us knowing.



This picture was before Mike was able to help me get it up the stairs. Anastasia has taken to my coaching about how to safely roll off the couch to a stand. We will start working on safely maneuvering the stairs before too long. They pull themselves up to a stand now, but are not yet climbing, so stairs are not a priority.

Back to School

I don't have any first day of school snapshots. We moved in the week after school was supposed to have started, but it turned out that it didn't matter.

About a month ago, I was fighting with Matt about who was to get the kids this year. When I got married I let them stay with their dad with the expectation that they would live with me the following year so they would have time to adjust to my new marriage and have one last year in their old school. The expectation was that the third year their dad would move to the Dallas area and we would be able to go back to 50/50 custody. He didn't get transferred, so we had to come up with a different plan. I expected Isaac and Emylie to stay with their dad this year and have Andrew and Claire start in their new permanent school this year, where they would not have to change schools again. Their dad thought that we agreed to trade them every year. That sucks for the kids.

We weren't getting any closer to an agreement as the school year was fast approaching so I suggested mediation. The final result was that the kids would be with Matt for this school year, but permanently with me after that "unless they choose otherwise" but that they would have to talk to a counselor before making the decision to separate from their siblings.

There's a lot more blah-di-blah, but that's the short of it. What I noticed this morning is that most of the focus of my energy in moving out and unpacking has been on the kids' bedrooms. That's when I realized how much I miss them.

I've said before that I am not one of those mom's that gets wrapped up in their kids as identity. But being a mom means doing certain things for your kids: getting them ready (up at least) for school, making meals, being in the same house. It didn't seem hard the first year. Maybe because I was newly married. But this year I have two amazing babies to occupy my time. I am still being a full time mother. I guess it is just the emptiness of failed expectation.

Back in the Saddle

Mike went out to get a Dr. Pepper, so I need to post before he gets back.

We are officially moved into our new house with much help from our old Ward and our new one. We are so thankful for the church and for good friends in it.

The babies had a rough couple of nights. Friday they spent the night with Heather, my visiting teacher while we tried to get packing stuff done. Because I was so wound up about what we needed to do, I didn't get any more sleep than I would have if they were here. They slept on the floor one night in the old house and one night in the new house. When I finally was able to get the crib set up (someone put the pack and play in the moving truck) Amelia giggled when she saw it. She was excited just to sit in her own bed. Last night they only woke up once, and I had gone to slee early, so for the first time in I don't know how long, I slept really well.

Today I did laundry and unpacked a number of boxes. The kitchen is almost done and the babies' room is done. My bathroom is looking great too. Everything else is poo poo poo.

Mike's home, gotta go!

Last Post

This is my last post in my old house. I will not have internet access until midweek next week in the new house. Be assured, the computers will be set up and ready when the technicians finally get around to connecting us.

There is a huge Penske truck in front of my house. I drove it here. It felt weird. Li'l ol me in a monstrosity. The seat is hydraulic to make up for the absence of shocks. Dips in the road made me bounce so high it was hard to keep my feet on the gas/brake pedal.

I have only packed three boxes, and it doesn't look like I will need too many more. I am pleased with how NOT overwhelmed I am--except for the time. I can see what needs to be done though instead of just standing bewildered as I walk into each room. I need to get to it, though.

Just Silly--But Fun

I really should go to bed now, but for those outside the Lay Family loop, my sister, Kim posted this sentence making activity. Please post what you come up with.

Pick the month you were born:
January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over
Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a surfer
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy
Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink -----------because I'm crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can..
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!

My sentence today is: I did the Macarena with a football player because I'm crazy. Tomorrow I will wear a gray shirt so I can do the macarena with a football player because Big Bird is my leader. Have fun!

Overnighter

Last night I spent the first night in my new house. I had to take Mikey and Lexi back to their mom., which puts me most of the way to the house and we had to finish up the floor covering before we move in on Saturday So I took the babies with me and we slept on blankets and sleeping bags on the floor. They actually slept for a seven hour stretch together. One has been doing that lately, but the other has often been up around 1 or 2. Don't ask me if it is the same one, or which one. I am asleep when I take care of them.

So today I finished the flooring in the living room and shampooed the carpet in the other rooms. The babies played in their room, my room, and the big girls room (which is where I slept). They were great all day. I think they liked having a different place to play and new things to explore.

I also scrubbed walls and doors since we don't have time to paint, repaired nail, screw, and golf ball holes, and had a little fun with electricity. I turned off the breaker that said master bed/bath, but I still got a tingle like when we played with the electric fence when installing the two outlets that were left in my bathroom. That was precisely when I decided that there was nothing else I needed power for and cut the main breaker. I started on the vanity light, but got distracted and didn't come back to it. The electric box for it is centered on the wall, but the mirror is not, so it is not centered on the mirror.

I missed the closing ceremonies of the Olympics for all that. It is good that they are over. Maybe I can make some actual progress on packing/cleaning before we get a moving truck this Saturday.

No Words

Still Here

I spent all day yesterday cleaning and working on my new house. Mike and the babies were there with me. He mostly did electrical work. We made a ridiculous number of trips to Lowe's because it is 5 minutes down the road. This week we have painting, flooring, and packing to do. We have a target date of Saturday for the big furniture move.

The babies are scooting all over the place. It is amazing how much they have advanced in their skills in the past two weeks. Things they could barely do are now perfected. They don't like being in the empty new house all day very much, though. It is hard to get stuff done with them. They are very good, but they need attention. The interruptions minimize my efficiency.

They are so fun right now, though--laughing, singing, kissing. There's just a lot of love around here.

I missed Phelp's final Gold medal because of being at the house yesterday, and who knows what else. Watching the news this afternoon they said, "If Michael Phelps was a country, he would be tied for fifth for gold medals." That really puts it into perspective. Guess I'll read now and see what I've missed from the rest of you.

Fanatic

There are very few things in my life--outside of family and church that I really get into. Apparently, the Twilight series, though that has not stood the test of time, as yet. I make every effort to watch American Idol. But before all that, and for decades of devotion, I love, love, the Olympics--winter, summer, it doesn't matter the event. I make every effort to watch all of the network coverage of it--despite my disdain for NBC. I am so glad they decided to stagger years so I don't have to wait a full four years before I get my Olympic fix. Every two years, two weeks of my life is dedicated to wrapping myself in the drama of human achievement and tragedy.

I enjoy figure skating far more than gymnastics, mostly because there is so little dance to gymnastics, even in the ladies floor routine. I would like to see a brilliant choreographer make it a floor exercise look more like a series of disjointed set-ups for strings of tumbling passes. It bugs me, too, how their pirouettes more often than not fall off to the side instead of remaining center--meaning their focus is on power more than control. Still what they do is amazing and I love to watch it. I wish synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics got more air time.

One thing I have done to minimize my obsession is not subscribe to the pay per view coverage or look for streaming video on the website. Afterall, I have a house to clean up and move out of in two weeks. The closing process has met with a lot of bumps, but we are signing on Wednesday and moving out the 23rd. The kids start school on the 27th. I have a couple of things to do. Don't expect a lot of blog participation this month--unless I get so stressed out that I want to withdraw from my responsibilities.

Belly Racing

Anastasia is on all fours rocking back and forth.














On your mark....














Anastasia in the lead!











Amelia trying to close the distance! But it's Anastasia by a head!

The Smart Twin

A few months back, I was a little concerned at how much more Amelia was picking up and how quickly she was progressing. I was afraid that Anastasia was the "slow one" Now, though, Anastasia has leaped ahead. She is crawling, sitting up unassisted indefinitely, playing the piano, and generally more observant and active. She is even getting ready to crawl on her hands and knees, though at this point she just lunges forward from that position.

I had a flashback when I saw her rocking back and forth on her hands and knees. When I see a baby doing that (which I don't remember any of my other ones doing much) I think of my twin sisters when they were babies. They would do that rocking for long periods of time, either on their hands and knees, or sitting up and bouncing themselves off the back of the couch.

Amelia is still tipping over and until yesterday was still doing the airplane kick (you know, where they lift their arms and legs off the ground, kicking and waving like their belly will propel them). I think she is going to skip the low crawl altogether and go straight to the knees. I guess the thing with twins is that they just have different rates of progress, that ultimately even out over time. Amelia will probably end up walking first.

Breaking Dawn

Okay, bear with me and my fanaticism. If you haven't read the Twilight series, you probably won't get it, so this is for those of you who care.

I am looking at a sticker by my desk that says "I was bitten by Breaking Dawn" that I got at the Lewisville Barnes & Noble midnight book release party. I had never gone to one before. We did not pre-order, but my friend that I went with picked a place for us to sit and read books for the last hour. The aisle we sat in was where they decided to start the first-come-first-served line, so after all the pre-orders bought, we were the first to get it. We had a blast with that. People would come by and ask where the end of the line was.

"I don't know, way back there somewhere."

"Is this the end of the line?"
"No this is the beginning the end is in another aisle."

"This is the beginning of the line? That sucks!"
"For you," under my breath.

Man, that was fun! Lexi was with us, so she came along too. Her friend Shannon and a few girls she had met from girls camp were there. I was really glad for her sake that she didn't have to hang out with us.

It will be her birthday (Aug 8) before we see her again, so I took her shopping and gave her some stuff I had been hiding away. I started reading the book to Mike on Saturday morning. We had a lot of interruptions (obligations, whatever you want to call them) throughout the weekend. Mike had to go to work before 7am for a few days and was very tired by Saturday night, so we didn't get very far before he started snoring. But I read to him while he was driving and working until his phone died.

Lexi was occupied reading the third book "Eclipse." over the weekend. We took them back last night. Because it was her birthday, I was committed to buying a second copy of the book so that she could take one to her mom's house with her. We didn't get a chance to before it was time to separate, so I just gave her the copy I had, with only three chapters remaining for me to read. (I say me because Mike "worked from home" while I took Lexi shopping and finished the book--Jerk.) We stopped at our first Wal Mart on the way home.

I saw the other three books in the series and knew I had a problem. I just wandered around, stunned, thinking it would appear, with a sense of hollowness like Bella wandering in the forest before Sam Uley found her. I walked out empty-handed.

We drove the access road scanning shopping centers for another place that might have another copy for me. When we found a B&N Mike went in this time to a similar scene. He asked a cashier, if there were any copies left. She thought there might be one. There were only three. *Whew* I didn't have to steal Arren's copy and prevent her husband from reading.

The cover has chess pieces on it. Not until the las five chapters do you understand--it is perfect.

It is the final book of the series, but there is certainly wiggle room for some stories from other people's perspective--a different series. The most obvious is Jacob. There are plenty of other characters that could have their own story, if not their own series.

Anyway if you made it this far and you haven't read the books, you have enough time on your hands that you should. Stephanie Meyer, Twilight. Get with it.

Magic

I forced myself to stop reading so I could go to sleep, only to turn on my blogger. I had a though I wanted to record while I remembered it.

Last night, I hung out at Barnes & Noble until well after midnight waiting for my copy of Stephanie Meyers new release Breaking Dawn. To minimize my fanaticism, I want to say it was for Arren's benefit, but I don't know if that's true. Anyway, I'm thinking about books like Twilight, Harry Potter, Narnia, etc. and I'm musing about their potency. Why do people get so involved in these imaginary worlds? Are we just a bunch of escapists? Do we unconsciously want to believe in myths and legends and magic? Why?

No, there are no such things as vampires and witches, magic wardrobes and werewolves. The socially functional of us readily recognize that. So why do we get so hooked on these books whose plots are intricately connected with our reality, and take us so far from it.

But that was my thought. Is it so far from our reality? Isn't this thirst for magic just a longing of the soul for its true origin? The reality is, there is a power beyond humanity. The magic is Diety. Just like Bella, and Harry, and Lucy that magic is part of our destiny, because we are more than ordinary humans. We have a powerful and infinite potential. The only thing that makes them different from their ordinary human peers is that their eyes are opened through the story to their potential destiny. They are willing to see outside of the ordinary world.

Our faith in our potential as literal Children of God sets us apart from our peers. It gives us real power--maybe even enough to call down miracles. But at the very least to see the miracle that our lives are--being without beginning, and without end. The only difference with us and the characters is that we don't have to keep a secret, because we know that our peers are just as entitled to the heritage, destiny, and magic that is ours--and we want it for them. We know that our Divine Father is the giver of all these things, and that he wants to give it to all of his children. Because we love him and he loves them, we love them. In loving them and sharing with them, our power actually grows. In truth, the power and the magic is very simply, but very profoundly, Love. Every heart knows it. Every beloved story ever told shows it.

Love is the question, and love is the answer. But mostly, love is the magic.

Well Babies

It has been a long couple of days for me and the babies. Yesterday I went to get the appliances for our new house paid for because Mike got his quarterly bonus. Then I shopped around for flooring to kill time before Anastasia's physical therapy appointment. She did great for her first full workout. She hardly fussed and she tolerated it for a full 40 minutes. Two other PT techs were hovering over the session and playing with Amelia. They were all ga-ga--and the babies too.

When I was done, Mike invited me to bring the babies to his work which wasn't too far away to show off his little girls. They caused so much commotion in that office! I valet parked at the front of the hotel and they told me there would be no charge if it was less than 15 minutes. I was in there for as much, maybe as 45 minutes. Everybody had to hold them and poke them and make faces at them. Mike was the funniest one of all. He was so goofy proud of them. He was polite enough to introduce me as well. When you have twins you just have to expect that you are nothing more than a background.

After that I went to the mall with the babies to double check on appliance prices at the Sears outlet. I killed time there until Mike was able to meet me for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe because I got a gift card to go there for my birthday from the Quigleys. We didn't get home until 10pm and the babies had not had more than 1/2 hr of sleep at a time.

This morning Mike had to be up at 5am, so I am still running on nothing. The babies did not get their morning nap again today because they had a Well Baby appt at 9am. I did some more shopping this morning too. We finally got home after noon. They are both sleeping , and I think I will too, because I am going with Arren tonight to the Barns & Noble midnight book release party for Breaking Dawn. Between now and then I have to pick up Lexi and Mikey, and make dinner in addition to getting some rest.

Anyway, Dr. McColm says the babies are beautiful and strong (as if I didn't know). Amelia, I think was 26 1/2 inches, just a little bigger than Anastasia, which they did not tell me her numbers. Amelia was just over 18 lbs, Anastasia was just under. They are right on target for growth.

If you don't hear from me this weekend, it is because I am reading a book to my husband.

End of Summer

Thankfully, there was a change last year in Texas law, so that schools couldn't start the first or second week of August. However, Summer is over for me as far as travel and activities with the kids. The rest of their time, for the most part, this summer will be with the other parents. Mike had to work late last night and it was the first day the kids were gone. I stayed busy, to be sure, but it was so quiet with just me and the babies--Anastasia actually got some uninterrupted nap time. I watched a little HGTV while I folded my 6 loads of laundry (an improvement from last week's 10).

I did a little sewing for a Relief Society service project since I am moving soon, and it would be good to finish that before I leave. I cleaned up the aftermath of having kids and not being interested in battling them to get chores done. And, of course, I played with and cared for two of the sweetest, cutest, low-maintenance babies around.

Today I have not gotten much accomplished, but I did vacuum the living room, since the babies are scooting around on the floor now. I need to go to the store to buy a couple of things, but I would prefer to wait until Mike gets home so that I don't have to haul them out of the house. That's the stinker about not having the big kids here.

Let me see what else I can do.

Computer is MINE!

My husband went to work today. I finally get the computer back! All that means for you is that we finally have the data transferred to the new hard drives and I can upload my pictures now. Here are a couple of things you missed.

Ha! I just witnessed another milestone! Amelia is sitting up, tipped over sideways, and pushed herself back up. She did it a second time, but she can't do it a third time because she has one leg out behind her. Anastasia sat up by herself for over 5 minutes this morning. She finally went past critical mass and couldn't recover.

I have decided that my babies are identical twins and I'm sticking to it. When people ask if they are, I will not hedge anymore--it only confuses people anyway. There are some distinct differences but I think that is to be expected. They have the same eyes, nose, mouth and dimples. Amelia grows a little faster because she sleeps better. Anastasia wakes up at the slightest sound and won't go back to sleep for a while after ward. They have the same little fingernails. There are no noticable differences in their body proportions. Even though Anastasia has muscular torticolis, which is often accompanied by head malformation, the backs of their heads are strikingly similar. They are round-headed baldies with a strawberry peach fuzz. No that doesn't mean their hair is going to be my color. It will be even less vibrant than my "unenhanced" dishwater strawberry and probably a little darker.

Anyway, there they are.

So I Married a Geek

I have had limited computer access the past two days because my husband tore apart the good computer to beef it up to specs that only the most geekiest of geeks would need. Then, of course, because he is home, and it is his new computer (regardless of it being my birthday weekend) he has needed to "test it out."

But there's more to his geek-ness than even I had supposed. Disclaimer: I am usually very private about certain things, but this just is too good not to share. As he's "waking up" this morning, he wraps his arms around me, kisses my ear, and whispers "Let's just do html so we don't have to worry about your flash." He was still quite asleep--but useful. Whatever turns you on, babe. Love you.

Happy Birthday

Here's a different tag game. I thought it would be appropriate to post on my birthday. Leave a memory comment. Come on, you didn't get me anything else.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.
It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Gasp!

I was just about to do a different post but something much more exciting just happened. Anastasia covered half the length of my bed in less than 10 seconds doing a full-on low crawl. I called Daddy to tell him, and he says, "I know, I saw her doing it last night when you were at Isaac's Court of Honor. I didn't know it was a new thing."

My baby can crawl! It's okay, though, I still have one that can't. They are 6 months old now. They still don't sit up for extended periods of time, but Amelia is getting especially good at it. They have great control, unless they see something they want out of reach. They are so stinking fun!

Self-induced

I had a self-induced computer-free day yesterday. I did nine loads of laundry and cleaned my nasty bathroom. Then I expended huge amounts of effort to "encourage" my children help clean up. It is time to get moving on this house so we can move on to the next house.

Speaking of which, Mike and I spent this afternoon shopping discount building supply stores and appliance outlets for the stuff we need to get our new house up to specs before we move in. We found some pretty good deals.

There is just a naked concrete slab in our living/dining area just as you walk in the front door, so flooring is a must. Because it is a (not formal, but everyday) dining/living combo, carpet is out. Tile is just not at all what I am looking for, and laminate is too easy for 8 kids to warp and destroy--oh, and Mike wants a dog. So hardwood it is. The ones we looked at are nothing like the hardwoods in my 1920's house. They make the wood so thin now, and half the time it's layered with plywood. The cheapest we found was $1.50/sq. ft. I didn't really like it. We fell in love with the Brazillian Koa at Lumber Liquidators, which is about $3.20/sq.ft. It's purdy!

So In Love

When I get close to Anastasia she always wants to reach for my face. She grabs it and pulls me to her so she can eat my face. She slobbers and babbles in a soft musical tone. She wants to hug and kiss me whenever she sees my face.

She is like that with her daddy too, but that makes him a little nervous right now. He has a big cut on the side of his nose that it is no good for her to get her fingernails in. He had a carcinoma successfully removed on Thursday. He's been living off of hydrocodone and Dr.Pepper.

Amelia stretches her cheeks to the point of explosion with her smile whenever she looks at me. She is very free with her smiles and wants everyone to look at her so she can smile at them.

I am so stinkin' in love with my little girls...Such joy and wonder! I can't squeeze them tight enough. I can't kiss their cheeks and neck enough. I can't get enough of their slobber all over my face. Precious, precious love.

Then there's my husband, who loves to hold me and be close to me. His eyes sparkle and his face is filled with affection when he looks at me and our children. Our first two years together have been riddled with challenges, including being married to a complete stranger. We are beginning to know one another and appreciate the endurance of our affection through all our adversity.

AND after long months of searching, we have finally found a house. It is 4 years old, and has the space that we need at the price we can manage. It is a little further out than is ideal, but its not going to change Mike's commute time but by a couple of minutes. Our contract is pending and it should close before the end of the month. Life is good.

Blueberries

I didn't take any pictures at the blueberry farm, but it was fun. We went on Thursday (Jul 10) with the John/Marla family. Between us all we picked a flat of them for a little over $1.00/pint. We made blueberry muffins, blueberry crepes, and I made blueberry waffles. We froze the rest that we didn't eat by the handful.

The following Tuesday everyone else went to Nauvoo for a couple of days. I would not have made it back to Texas in time for Anastasia's physical therapy evaluation if I had gone along. I didn't feel like we had enough blueberries and I wanted to take some home to Mike, so I went back to the U Pick farm. Tragically, I did not remember to bring home any of the bags of blueberries that I had made the kids pick beside me. Maybe if there are enough of them left when we go back for Thanksgiving, I will make a blueberry pie.

The Gordon family was part of the second berry excursion. They live (for now) just down the road from Craig and Consie. We adults had all gone out to dinner together the night after I got there. We had a great time. When we got the kids involved a few days later they got along great also.

Eh bebe, bebe, bebe! Swing!

At the beginning of my time in MO, the weather was rather warm and mostly humid. We took the kids to the park and they did not enjoy it as much as they might have under different conditions. The babies on the other hand enjoyed it thoroughly.











Lexi, Katie, Claire, and Eva's feet and Jacob in the background--maybe it's Sam, they look ridiculously similar.








Amelia














Anastasia
















Doubles

Art

I didn't take many pictures while we were on vacation, but this one caught my eye--still life is so much easier to capture.

Dairy Farm

The day after we arrived we went to the Shatto Milk Company Dairy and had a tour for our family--13 kids and 4 adults. We packed into their little processing area. When we were done they gave us samples of all of their yummy milk, including orange cream (my favorite), banana, strawberry, and root beer (tastes like the bottom of a root beer float).

They got to pet the cows, and Lexi grew a third arm. They couldn't feed them because the calves were full from the tour who had just finished. They played outside the Dairy farm store while Grandpa Skembo purchased a fair sampling of all the milk that we had sampled on our tour. It didn't last long when we got it home, though.

The only place you can buy it though is in select parts of Kansas and Missouri. It is a very small family operation--though they have impressive production. I couldn't help but think of Uncle Matt and his job with milk transportation.

Sorry

I never gave anyone a heads up, but I have been in Missouri for the past 10 days.  I have been thinking about you, but I have been in a house that doesn't even have a computer in it.  I'm  surviving--somehow.  

I will update you more when I get back on Thursday, but the most present and amusing thing is a continuation of the last post.  I got started reading New Moon to Mike before we left.  Mike was not available for me to call and read it to him for a couple of days while he was in Dallas and I in Missouri.  I read ahead without him--stayed up until 4 am doing it.  A couple of days later, he finally had some time to sit on the phone with me while I read it to him.  I had to read two more chapters than I really wanted to because the one ended with fingernails on her window, and the other ended with a potential attack from a red-headed vampire.  At 12:30 I insisted on going to bed.  He tried to go to bed but after an hour and a half of not being able to sleep, he went and bought a second copy and read the rest of it.  While he was at it, he figured he'd get the third book.

He tried to wait for me but after three days, he couldn't stand it anymore.  Apparently he read all of it last night.  I may be reading on Thursday, rather than blogging.  I may be able to do more than one thing--we'll see.

Just the Two of Us (And the Two of Them)

It's been a very sweet weekend. Mike and I have been the only ones here since Friday, noon. He hasn't had to rush into work, or anywhere else for that matter. Most of that time he's been "driving" while I read to him. He is playing Project Gotham Racing 4 while I read Twilight. He gave it to me for our anniversary. We are done reading it now. There are a lot of other useful and productive things we could have done, but we just sat around, reading the book and admiring our silly, noisy, playful, demanding, perfect daughters. They make us laugh. We feel like we should punish them for being so cute, but all we can do is scold them. They insolently giggle at us.

We also watched a couple of movies. Mike went to return them. I fear, for the sake of my future productivity, that he is taking that opportunity to look for the next book in the Twilight series. We enjoyed it, obviously.

Pictures of Pictures

I had an in-home photo shoot with the babies a few weeks ago. The prints just came. They were ridiculously expensive. I could have gotten the same effect from Wal-Mart.

I have decided I definitely don't like posed, artificial backgrounds on professional portraits. On my Circle of Sisters blog, Melissa Fulmer is listed as one of the links. She blogs her photography, and it is exceptional.

Next time...

Summer Begins

Today is the last day I have to wake up to take Isaac to school. I finally get to sleep in. However, I don't know that it will do me much good, as my husband will still be getting up to multiple snoozes before work.

It will be just Mike and the babies and I for the 4th. I will probably start another book with him. I read out loud to him while he plays video games or doodles on the computer. We just finished the latest Lee Child book. I had never read one before. This probably wasn't a good one to start with, for me, but it gave my husband and I some time together.

He bought me Twilight because he heard everyone else talking about it, so he gets to find out with me if it is everything people say.

Now I need to post my spiritual thought on Circle of Sisters and look for a house. We put in an offer for one on Monday, but they took someone else's first. The house that I posted the picture of long ago doesn't qualify for financing. If we don't find something in the next week or two, I will stay here for another year.