midnight blizzard

i went out and took my tripod out for some photos tonight of the blizzard...it was VERY cold and windy. But I love taking photos like that. Wish I was brave enough to take a walk around my block, i wasn't wearing snow pants though so I didn't want to be caught freezing cold and sopping wet! Caed is going to love it tomorrow!

facts

Some facts so I don't forget.

Started nursing the twins separately after Thanksgiving- they were 8 mo. old. I am probably going to wean them at the end of February.

They eat so much variety, even now at 10 months. I never gave Caed grapes until much later, but I find if I cut them up small, I can give them to they with no problems. Thanks to a good friend of mine who has a baby only 2 weeks older and she gives him everything too, it's helped me broaden my options. (thanks nina!)

Caed will take himself potty, flush and wash his hands all by himself- and pulling up his own underwear and pants (finally!) this has helped tremendously. His communication has grown so much lately, and that's help the general workings of our day....he will keep himself busy with drawing and play-doh or lots of pretend play with his trucks. Or on those days he ends up watching the movie "UP" three times and then at bedtime tells his dad he's "going to rip him like a library book" (yes he did say that!) and we center our TV/Movie views habits back to minimal.

While Theron still doesn't get around, Aldan is making up for it. I have a feeling Theron is going to do some sort of other type of scooting though- and soon. He's getting frustrated and will rock himself back and forth so much that he finally can turn himself or propel himself in a direction...so he's getting there, i just hope he "hones" his type soon, it's very funny looking! Theron just got two more teeth finally, but he keeps up with Aldan no problem. They are both drooling hounds lately...Theron listens to books much more patiently then Aldan.

The two of them have started talking and laughing at the beginning or end of nap time- it's too cute. I hope to somehow foster the same sort of thing for Caed- maybe all three should share a room....hmmm...

I just took on a small graphics project. I think I am regretting it. Nothing else will get done around here since I only have small windows of time, and I'll need to them to do the work and communicate with the client. Good thing it's a weekend and Jon can pitch in...

10 months

We've made it another month...looking at these pictures gets me all teary! Amazing. Amazing that we've been so blessed with these monkeys.



Yup, it's pretty hard to keep Aldan still..



Caed asked to get into the photos...that was really funny...

My joy runeth over!

Morning

This morning I snapped a few shots of the kids. I have not taken my camera out since Christmas! My mom was here a whole week, and my sister and her fam came to visit- I didn't snap a single shot! What is wrong with me? I couldn't help but be in love with my babies this morning! I sent Jon off to the gym alone, thinking I'd get there after he came back...I was feeling too tired to motivate the whole family. The kids were apparently too! Caed slept until 8, Aldan until 8:30 and Theron woke up at 9:15! It was a lazy morning for me, in terms of getting myself ready. When Jon returned the roads were just too slippery to get out- and there had been no plows or salt trucks that had gone by yet. So i stayed in.

Don't these kids look totally different? Amazing they are twins!

When enough snow had fallen I let Caed get bundled up and go outside to play. He loved it. Stayed out there nearly and hour by himself in the back yard. He was playing with Rado and throwing the ball to him too. So cute, my boy and his dog! (love it!) Although the other day driving in the car, we had been quiet and Caed blurted out "got it". I asked him what he was talking about, and he said. "I have a plan. We'll give Rado to MB (former owners) and then we can get a cat!" I told him Rado wasn't going anywhere....and we could get a cat when we got a bigger house. He immediately asked if we could move. I told him no. The kid desperately wants a cat. It was really cute that he was devising a way to get a cat while riding in the back seat....but he loves Rado, so it was a strange request!

I also recently found a way to get him to drink orange juice! Give it to him in a cup with a twisty straw....and BAM! it's all gone! See, kids just need to have things presented to them in different ways, and they will feel differently about anything....now he's getting his vitamin c! (we drink OJ with Lots of Pulp, so it's not easily drinkable in a sippy cup) Here he is with his second breakfast. He was hungry this morning....

Theron's been a little clingy lately, which is hard with twins..both babies usually demand some of your attention, and when one wants to be on your hip....well i am thankful I've got a husband to hold one too. this morning, Jon was getting ready to head out- and theron looks slightly drugged. He wasn't, but I liked jon's smile (and tired eyes) in this photo.

Aldan's my mover....and here he is perfecting his sitting from standing...a difficult task to master of course. He usually plops to the ground...I work on very little with these guys, and while it's worked for Aldan, I've started helping Theron out with getting around- he'll be a little happier when he can join the fun by his own choice.

I am so blessed by these boys. Now to get some sleep so I can keep up with them in the morning- and motivate us out the door to church!

Back.

Not a bad post to have left up for three weeks, but it's time to change...(although I don't like change too much)

It's been tough getting back into the routine since coming back from Myrtle Beach. coming back was a lot of work. There was never ending laundry, and I mean for real. Besides, I've realized that in one single day my family can produce one load of laundry for the most part. So I just couldn't get on top of it. I did something everyday that kept me from just being home and unwinding. We had to take down Christmas and then one of my childhood best friends came for a visit. She stayed with us one night, and then a last minute stayed two. My mom came in the following Thursday and leaves tomorrow. (luckily she's been helping me keep up with the laundry)

We tried the gym out for the first time as a family the second Saturday we were back. It was really good, and great for me to see the work required to do it too. I was glad to do the first time with Jon. I went once by myself, and we've gone again as a family.

Now school has started back for Caed, this week is already his third week. Last week I had to be in the classroom, so that means up and at 'em early for me. I've got to get out the door by 7:30. think it's possible? It's not, that's why I was calling the teacher both days to tell her I was running behind. Luckily the tasks at that early hour are relatively easy to do since it's my second year...seriously, traveling with rush hour is no easy feat in addition to trying to get all the necessary arrangements. I have a list of everything that I need to do on those mornings- including what I want to feed Caed and myself for breakfast- and I didn't actually get to eat either morning even with my carefully thought out plans! How is it you get yourself ready, and three kids (okay really only one, I was just nursing the twins and leaving everything else for my mom to do both these mornings.) to do anything early? I don't think i ever see a solution. Maybe once the twins are 2 and they are doing more on their own...who knows...

Aldan has seven teeth- and is crawling all around the house now. And he says Uh-Oh all the time. It's incredibly cute. He's got this spiky hair that just isn't tameable. I love it. He wants to be on the go all the time! He's got a smile that lights up every corner of my being!

Theron, well he likes to do things on his own time. He's quite content to sit and watch. My mom has been giving him tons of tummy time though, and he's finally moved up to scooting backwards! The pediatrician will be proud! He's so cute though just happy as can be sitting and watching us and playing with his toys until he's hungry or tired...he loves to lean in for a kiss and have you snuggle him!

Caed is seeing the benefits of his brothers all the time, and he's getting better at engaging them too. I love this. the other night he was cracking Theron up in the car....oh boy, that sound was amazing...i didn't want to get out of the car! He also is showing more of an attention span for longer books, and is getting more and more out of our conversations and book reading. He's become a big helper too- pretty much whatever I ask him to get, he'll run and get it...that's a huge help!

We'll be back in the swing of things in a couple of days...sad to see my mom go tomorrow- but thankful she was here so I could have my days in the classroom, and go to the dentist, and the doctor (for a general physical)- I wouldn't have been able to do it as easily without her....

my heart.

Sometimes I don't do a good job of being grateful on a moment to moment basis. Overall I am grateful for what I have in my life- but on days when babies are sick, toddler hasn't napped, I am short on sleep, and then Jon comes in the house an hour late, I forget how thankful I really am. In fact I probably sound extremely selfish. And I struggle to remain calm and in control. Perfection hasn't been my strong suit. But I am a work in progress. I could elaborate on this further, but I'll get to my point.

This Christmas I wasn't feeling particularly needy for anything. I don't know if it's because I feel such satisfaction over my family right now- or because my birthday was just a month ago, or I was so happy with what I was giving this year, but I couldn't think of anything that I really would want. I LOVED what we gave Caed, and I was so happy I was getting to see my mom, grandmother, aunt, and sister and her hubby. I also loved that I gave Jon his first tickets to an NFL game. I arranged with his brother and he flew in to go with him!

Jon was planning something for me. I didn't know what it could be because I didn't know of anything I wanted! I was thinking if I had mentioned anything and I really couldn't think of anything. I mean, maybe some kitchen something here or there, or some new clothes- but it was obvious that he wasn't planning on getting me a crock pot or a new pair of jeans. The gifts were arriving by mail, and he had to go out and go to physical stores too. What could this be? I had happened upon a new CD that he got me, when he left it on top of the stereo. (it's up high and I typically don't look up there, but I had misplaced the checkbook and was searching everywhere!) So I only knew I was getting the new Switchfoot CD.

Christmas Eve he wrapped my gifts while i was putting the kids to bed. I came downstairs and there was a stack of 5 small-ish gifts. Tied together.

Christmas morning I was overjoyed to be with the family! The babies slept in, so we really got to watch Caed open his gifts. For those that are curious, we give each kid 3 gifts. Representing the three gifts the wise men brought to Jesus. Caed knows this. He gets three gifts- and all from mom and dad. Since he's been exposed to Santa, he thinks, and we direct his thinking, that Santa only fills our stockings. So if I have something outside the three gifts I want to give him and it's small, I'll stick it in the stocking- but I find it really helps me be intentional about the gifts we buy him- and we don't go overboard since we keep to the three gifts. I got this idea from another former roommate of mine, shauna. I don't know if she still does it- but that's where I got the idea for the three gifts. We bought Caed a small Wall-E figure, a Mack truck from the movie Cars, and a Woodland House Playmobil set (with a thousand small, cool pieces).

Jon then had me open my gifts- in order they were stacked. Gift 1- an Ipod nano. we had talked about me getting one before, but we always say it doesn't make sense right now with small children. I am not typically putting headphones in my ears at any point in the day. I need to hear them. But I LOVED the gift! Gift 2- TWO cd's! The switchfoot album I came across, and a Live Toby Mac album. Both are christian artists. LOVE it. Gift 3- a clothes box (yes!) a pair of workout pants and an arm band for the nano. How sweet. He wants to help me get back to running! Gift 4- another clothes box! Yes! Some more workout clothes and what is my METS key chain doing in there...with three cards attached to it....? A gym membership for me, with the kids enrolled in the childcare there!!! HOLY COW!! WOW. I was speechless. See- a gym membership with childcare is one of the only ways I could see me being able to get back into shape. I recently asked a friend if I could run with her, but she runs marathons...I am not in the shape to start back up with running with her. I need some warm up runs. And I don't think that I can leave early enough in the morning before the babies wake up. I just need some extra time with childcare. Gift 5- a beautiful book of historic Paris maps. Inside Jon wrote "Lauren, Thought you could use these to study up on the Paris Marathon course. Love you, Jonathan"

Grateful. I get tears in my eyes even as I write it again.

the gifts were more then the money spent on them. It was such a demonstration of Jon supporting a dream of mine. He cares for me, and the desires of my heart. Even when I show some ugly behavior and I am not the best person I should be- he still shows me how much he just knows my heart.

I want to run the Paris Marathon in 2011. That means I have to know by about Oct. 2010 if I can commit to it. That means I need to start working on it. Jon is supportive. It means a big trip but he wants me to follow through on it. I am so filled with gratitude to have him as my husband that for this week, and hopefully at least the next couple of weeks I can work on remembering this. No, really- to have this tangible thoughtfulness will be a reminder on those evenings I want to be short on patience and frustrated with him arriving home at the kids' bedtimes instead of at dinnertime. And hopefully getting some workouts will help alleviate some stress and tension too. :)

Again- I am so thankful. Thankful that when I was a junior in high school and still had my braces on (a total of 7 years, thank you!) and dyed my hair "red" (read: orange) he still decided to like me. That even though 5 years later he thought I might be a good girlfriend and I did not,he still pursued me. And when we dated those 5 years later while I was still in college, I finally knew we would get married. And even though we had COMPLETELY different upbringings, we had our faith as our common ground and it's kept us together and in love from then on. Thank you sweetheart! I am so thankful for you and how well you know me and what's on my heart!!

I just wanted to Blog this so that I share the good that happens when I maybe let the bad leak out too.

A week long visit!

One of my former college roommates, Heidi Lyn, came for a visit at the beginning of November. We had such a great time. It was funny after the fact, to think about having a friend staying with her one year old daughter (and hubby came for the weekend) in my basement for a week. I felt like I was 16, and got to have a sleepover! They live in Seattle, so the trip was a welcomed one! The last time we saw them was when we went cabin camping in the Seattle area a little over two years ago.

I can't imagine traveling on a plane with three kids 3 and under- so I'm glad they came here for the trip. Their daughter Petra is so sweet. Having 4 kids in the house didn't mean lots of pictures, or well composed ones. So I have the few here....


On Saturday HL and Dan went on a morning date and headed downtown to see some sights, and then in the afternoon we all visited the American History Museum. Again on the metro with all three kids! It was so nice to have them here....we love getting to spend time with Petra too.

We stopped to eat with all the kids before we got to the museum- can you imagine finding space for 4 kids and 4 adults? It's tricky. Sometimes you have to fight for space!





Caed wasn't all that agreeable for the dads and kids picture...



While HL was here I took the kids on their first metro ride ever. We did it one day when Caed had to go to school, so it was my first trip with all three too! what fun and chaos we had. Finding all the elevators to get in and out of the metro...hysterical. And after we dropped Caed off at school we skipped nap and headed to the building museum in the cold rain! I can't believe it rained the whole week they were here...such is life- and well they are from Seattle, so they know they won't melt...

And the wrong angle gets such a bad view of the weight I need to still loose!! Oh well, worth posting anyway...

We miss you guys!

snow, I'll wash my hair with snow...

My grandmother (yes, you Nana) always tells me that you don't have to take more then one picture of your house in the snow, because it will always look the same. I agree, but can't stop wanting to get pictures of all the beautiful clean white snow...

Here are some shots of the snow we got today...what a fun day! Jon took Caed out to sled in the morning, and I took him out in the late afternoon...and Caed had a great time trying to walk through it all. It tired him out too!

8 months

I still haven't blogged my meager pictures from my former roommate's visit. I'll still get to it.

Here's a quick, albeit late, shot of the twins at 8 mo. We were super sick last week coming home after thanksgiving. The kind of sickness you want every 10 years. (how did we just have a terrible sickness less then 2 years ago? It was so terrible, I won't forget that one!) Anyway, I was impressed I got them both mostly similing.

and here's how they interact lately:

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for my life and how rich it is. the Lord has truly blessed me.

Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving! I am sure to have some cute photos. (besides I have the cutest ones from when HL and Petra were here..I still need to post those.)