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.