Silly Notes

Hallie wrote a note to Asher and taped it on her door. It was the cutest thing!

TRANSLATION:

I have a brother named Asher. He is a good brother. I like him. He is nice and I like him to be my brother because he is my brother.

Kids are so sweet!

The Babies

I'm pregnant ...with twins! I still can't believe it. This last week has been a bit emotional for me. First of all, there's the shock factor of not one, but two babies! Then the shock wore off and all I wanted to do was cry.
This was a risky pregnancy to begin with and adding a second baby just added complications to an already complicated pregnancy. Dr. Belfort summed it up nicely by saying, "Not only do you come back pregnant, but you come back pregnant with twins? What are you trying to do to me?!". He was joking of course, but I could tell he was concerned. I'm worried about all the possibilities of what could go wrong and scared about getting a c-section. My deliveries are great and sooo easy, I just don't like the idea of being cut open!
I like to do things by myself, my way, my schedule. The realization that I'm going to need help (especially if I have a c-section) made me feel a bit defeated. Okay, a lot defeated! I finally got to where I wasn't going to cry if someone said "twins", so that was a good day!
When I was pregnant with Natalie, I knew our family wasn't complete. Even though there were quite a few scares, I knew she wasn't the last one, but I knew it was logical for only one more pregnancy. Yesterday I went to see Dr. Belfort again and saw those two precious babies on the ultrasound monitor. I felt so much love and excitement for them even though they are still so tiny and I don't even know them. I know they are suppose to be a part of our family and while I'm scared to death, I'm also so excited for them to be born!
This will be a very long pregnancy. I have to see Dr. Belfort weekly and my doctor has decided he wants to see me every 2 weeks. I'm only 19 weeks and expected to basically be on bed rest any time from 28-32 weeks and deliver anywhere from 34-37 weeks. And with twins, I can't go more than about one hour away from town the last 3 months of the pregnancy because the risk of preterm labor is so high.
That means I have about 10 more weeks to get everything ready for the babies, rearrange things so two babies will fit in our house, get my living room painted, go on all of our summer vacations, and get school clothes for next year for Asher and Hallie and anything else that comes up. I'm not overwhelmed at all...ha ha!

What We Have Been Up To

It has been awhile since I have updated, so here are the latest things in our lives:

Natalie has turned into our new Tornado. She is always into everything making messes where ever she goes. Thank goodness Hallie no longer qualifies as a Tornado or we would be in trouble!


Natalie turned one. I can't believe it! It seems like it was just yesterday when I was spending all that time waiting in doctor's offices hoping for a healthy baby! She is so much fun to have in our family.

We had a great Halloween. Asher was an awesome ninja, Natalie was a cute little frog, and Hallie was a beautiful Egyptian.


Asher and Hallie were so excited for the new snow! And that slide is so fast with snow on it. I'm glad we didn't have any broken bones!


Asher turned 7 and was totally spoiled by everyone. I can't believe he is old enough for Senior Primary. When I saw him with the big kids in primary I almost cried! He is such a blessing in our lives and I could not imagine my life without him.


We had a really great Christmas!


Natalie was so much fun this year.


The kids enjoyed every minute of Christmas.


Did I mention how much fun it was?

It was also a very long morning!


Asher and Hallie are both doing very well in school this year. Asher loves learning and reading. We bought him a work book for Christmas and I actually have to threaten to take it away at night because he won't go to sleep because his work book is too much fun. He's kind of a nerd! At least he's dedicated to education! He told me he wants to be a business man (like Mark) or a scientist when he gets older.


Natalie is now walking, causing even more trouble and more Tornado messes. She has recently started to run. Now we have speedy Tornadoes throughout the house!


Hallie did the Mini Cheer Camp with Skyline High School. They were able to perform at a Skyline Varstiy Basketball game. She was way cute.


And she LOVED her face paint!

Summer Is Over

Summer is long gone and school has begun. I'm starting to fall into a nice schedule (finally!) but I seem to find my days flying by. This summer was busy so I never posted, but now things have slowed down a little bit. One of the highlights of the summer was definitely Hallie and Asher's first time riding a horse. I stayed home with Natalie and Mark took them riding. Now Hallie wants to buy some property and adopt a mustang. Then she can be a true cowgirl! I took the training wheels off this summer too and made my kids suck it up and ride. I should have done that last year because bikes are so much funner without training wheels.

We also went to Seven Peaks again this year and it was awesome! Natalie loved splashing in the water and I wasn't preggo so I could go on the slides. I took Asher on the toilet bowl slide and he freaked out! He was in front and turned around and tried to climb back by me so we tipped and lost our tube. Looking back, it was actually pretty funny but at the time it was kinda embarrassing.

Asher is in first grade this year and he loves math and science. But he mostly talks about what he ate for lunch and who he played with at recess. Hallie is in kindergarten and she has made some fun friends. She only likes school for the social aspect. I am helping out in both of their classes this year so it will be good to get to see how they act in school and who their friends are. Last year everything was too unpredictable to be able to volunteer, so I'm happy to have the chance. Natalie is scooting around on her butt, however, she won't crawl! It is strange to me because Asher and Hallie were trying to walk at her age. She talks so much. She will always say hi to Mark, Asher, Hallie, Bo, Meg, but not me. Natalie will be a talker just like Mark. She already has about 5-6 words in her vocabulary, so I'm excited. And she will be turning one next month, so that exciting too!

Our Weekend

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Lost Tooth

It's official! Hallie has finally lost a tooth. It was so loose that it was hurting her, but not loose enough to just pull it out. Mark did the old trick of tying a string around the tooth and then to a doorknob. It popped right out! She cried the whole time even though it didn't hurt one bit.

She was a little weirded out by not having a tooth where it should be. She was in bed and came out to say, "Mom, this is really weird and totally ridiculous! I mean it. It's just ridiculous!". Too funny, Hallie. It definitely was not ridiculous to her when she saw the money from the Tooth Fairy!

Fourth of July

This year the Fourth of July was a lot of fun. We started out at the parade, Natalie's first! She was so funny, just taking everything in. You can see from the picture that she's really concentrating. After awhile, she started getting mad at the sirens and started yelling back at them when they would come by. It was too funny. And she also waved for the first time at the parade! It was so stinking cute.

We also taught Asher and Hallie this year that you have to yell and cheer if you want the candy. We ended up going home with half a grocery bag full of treats and other stuff. They were so proud of themselves! We spent the rest of the day hanging out together and with family.

Then we went to the fireworks. The coolest fireworks ever! I love the fourth!

New(ish) Floors

I have new flooring! Well, kinda. I got so tired of the ugly forest green carpet in our living room so I ripped it up despite my fears of beat up hard wood floors beneath. To my surprise, they were in pretty good shape for the most part. I'm not fond of old houses, but I do love the old flooring!

Happy Father's Day

Mark is the greatest Dad and I really appreciate all of his hard work to provide for us and to help me take care of our kids. I know that I wouldn't be the mom that I am today without him and I think we make a great team. Asher loves four wheeling with Mark and helping out in the yard. Hallie loves going on Daddy Daughter dates with him. They pretty much enjoy doing anything with him. Natalie is hanging out with him in the living room tonight and is quite happy. She is slowly warming up to him! Anyone who knows Natalie knows she has her favorites and I happen to be one. When I am home, she only wants me, so for her to be happy with Mark right now is amazing! I know that Mark strives to have the best relationship with our kids and I really appreciate his efforts because our kids do love him.

Funny Signs

If you ever go on vacation to China, you might want to reconsider following the signs!



A little demanding? Do I really have to push the toilet flusher before I leave?



Ah, yes. Please excuse me while I sit on my throne.



Ouch!



Probably not a good idea..



Huh?! Just to avoid the confusion, don't smoke!



This one is interesting.



Hmmm....



I guess the Chinese should work on their spelling too.



Another favorite!



I guess men wear skirts in China.



That would be the first place I would go for information.



Gotta love these.



I'm not sure where they are going with this one.



Did I just hear the grass talking?



What?



If you're going to slip, you better do it carefully!



Doesn't that just scream "relaxing"?




Last but not least, yet another confusing sign.

Good luck to anyone going to China. I hope you can find the bathroom okay.