Its All So Fast

Time is getting away from me. Apparently the last post I made was about Halloween and my baby shower at the beginning of the month and now it like almost the end of the month. It probably feels closer to the end than it normally does because Thanksgiving is this week and that usually signals the end of November, but this year there is still whole week after it. Either way time is flying and in most ways it is great but in other ways I just want it to hang on. I feel like as a family we don't get much 'down' time together so I am loving this week. I had time with the girls yesterday. Gaupo had them today while I went to the doctor. I get to spend time with them and visiting a friend tomorrow and then its Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. I love the food. I love gathering with family, which is a little hard this year because we aren't going anywhere and no one is coming here, but I get to gather with my little family and hopefully have some good food and chill time together.

The things keep us busy around here are still kind of the same. Although, this last week we finished out self-reliance class. It was so good for us to take. We met some great people and made friends. Gaupo and are more united on finances than we have ever been, and we have a great foundation to keep building on. I am going to miss having a topic to discuss together every Thursday night. We always had to get each others thoughts after class and I loved spending that time together just talking and planning. We didn't make any huge changes, but we have made some small ones that have made a pretty big impact. First we made saving a priority which means for us after tithing we save some money. It isn't very much, but every pay check we take a little bit out and put in savings BEFORE we pay any bills. The crazy thing is it actually works. The money is there we can save it whereas before I never could figure out how to get it there. Second, we have a budget that fits our means. We have always budgeted, but if the balance was over what we made that was okay. We just kind of went with it, but we moved a few things and thought about what we really needed and made it work. We recommitted to the envelope system hybrid and for us it totally works. I love knowing if we need something and there is money in the budget than I can spend it because its covered. For example, we needed cleaning supplies and it was so nice to be like yep, the household needs money is still here and so I can get those now instead of waiting or getting them and then wondering where the money was going to come from. It is just comforting. Then Guapo and I decided that we would go through 'plastic surgery.' Meaning we would no longer purchase things on our credit card. There are a couple of bills that go there but that is it. We don't use it for gas, or for a little thing here or there, we just don't use it. It is awesome. I love the peace I have of knowing how much that bill is and that we have the money to cover it. Honestly, our bottom line works out so much better without using the credit card. There are so many other things in the book that we need to do and work on, but it was all we could do this time to do these things and plan and talk about the others. It was a wonderful use of our last 12 Thursdays. And I am going to brag here...we made it to every class. It was close sometimes with a last minute babysitter once and a video of Jason in another, but we did it. We didn't miss a single class and I feel very blessed for attending.

Our basement is still keeping us really quite busy. Gaupo has pretty much finished the framing he has maybe like an hour left and then he will be done, done. The rough-in for the electrical and mechanical is done, and the electrician is coming and will hopefully get done soon. So, it is moving along and I really hope it keeps going. I know my parents said they would be fine if it wasn't done and I do believe them, but I would really just love it if it was and we can if that is what is suppose to happen, but we just have to keep doing our part and see what happens. I did get my shower stuff today, so i am excited about that. it should be awesome!! We also got new carpet in the living room. It was a Christmas present from Oma and Papa. It has made a huge difference in the room. It looks and feels amazing. I love, love, love it, so it makes me even that much more excited for the basement to be done.

The twins are still growing. At the last growth scan they were baby boy-3lbs 14 oz and baby girl 4lbs 6 oz. Both 50% or higher which is really good for twins. Pregnancy is going pretty well. I am kind of having a rough time staying asleep as long as I would like more night than I would like. Also the swelling in the hands, feet, and ankles isn't going away like it use to, so that also isn't that great. I also get a contraction every now and again which makes me nervous, but so far things are not progressing, so that is good. I really hope they cook a little longer. Also Gaupo's work threw us a baby shower on the 9th of this month. It was suppose to be a surprise, but I kind of accidentally figured it out, although I wasn't quite sure. It was fun to visit with all the people, have a taco bar, treats, and of course a few presents. They were very generous and it was awesome. I could tell Gaupo felt so appreciated. I have determined if you want to do something for Gaupo, do something for his kids and wife and he will feel just as good about that as if you do something for him. He loved the shower though and I loved that he felt so supported by his work. I think the people he works with really mean a lot to him, so for him to do this for me and the girls was perfect for him.

The girls are still loving school. Kylee had a Thanksgiving play last week. She did her part awesome and had a great time singing the songs. She is really growing. She loves school, especially math. To be honest I didn't think that would be her thing. I kind of thought reading would, but she actually kind of struggles with that but is improving still. Her math though she really is pretty good at especially if she will slow down and think about it. I am amazed at all she can do. Her favorite thing to do at recess is play 'tether' which is short for tether-ball. She also love her music special where they do a lot of movement. The school tells you to make sure your child has tennis shoes for music and PE. I think that is so awesome.

Tia still loves school as well and I think is doing really well. We got some good new the other week from a speech evaluation we took her to. They said she seemed to be progressing well, and they didn't recommend private speech at this time but would check again in 6 months to make sure she was still on track for Kindergarten, so that means come January I will only have 1 therapy 1x a week to go to, WAHOOO!! I think her vision therapy is working and that she is progressing well with that. I can actually see her eyes converge and then not. So, I really think we will be good by the end of December. Occupational Therapy is also going well I think. We just started a sensory processing program done with music and I know is sounds crazy, but I really think it is making a huge difference. Tia still has bounteous energy, a mind of her own, and a fierce determination, but you know what she can sit though breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She can actually make the choice to obey or not. As in she can delay her impulses. She can also sit and do books. I know those sound like little things, but they are miracles for us especially at mealtime. So, both girls are doing great in there own little ways. They are still really good friends and love being together. I love that they are still best friends.

Gaupo is doing well at work and has been busy with his calling lately, but is continually being blessed to be able to do it and all the other things he has to do. We have had quite a few baptisms it seems like lately and he has been able to do his part for those and still get what he needs to done on the basement. He doesn't get everything he wants to done, but everything he needs to. Sometimes the load of family, work, church, and the basement wear on him, but I also think he is being very blessed to do all that he needs to do. I am grateful for all his hard work and dedication. He is such a great example.

I am just keeping things moving around here. I try to keep our house kind of clean which is easier said then done with kids and construction. I try to make some good food on the weekend for my hardworking husband. I help the kids with their homework which some days goes better than others, but we are all getting better at the homework and being patient with each other. I have also been blessed to still work a little bit, take naps, read the Book of Mormon (trying to fulfill the prophets challenge to reread it by the end of the year) and play a little. Like Gaupo I feel very blessed to have the time and energy that I do. I wouldn't be able to do what I do if the Lord wasn't looking out for me.

Heavenly Father is blessing our family all the time. It isn't always in the ways or times I would like but as I look I can see his hand in my life. He is ever guiding and helping us. I know he doesn't want us to fail and so we have to keep on trusting in him, because he is our strength, the best planner. and the most knowledgeable in what we actually need. God is watching over this little family and I know that he will bless us as we see fit, but I do have to trust Him and do all that I can do too. So, until later Happy Thanksgiving.

Halloween, A Baby Shower, and Some More

Oh man, I don't know if I will be able to paint my toes next month because boy, oh boy, does it get my acid going. Plus it is kind of hard to breath all bent over. I seriously am more out of breath when I paint my toes than when I climb my four flights of stairs to the doctor office. I just really needed to say that, so that is how this blog is starting out, but it isn't what it is about.

Halloween was last week. The girls were so excited. They got all dressed-up in the morning and then joined their classes at school for their annual Halloween parade. They both looked like they really enjoyed doing that. While they were at school, I went and bought some new living room carpet. It will be installed on Monday and I think it will be really good stuff, now I just have to keep kids from ruining it. No, it will be so great to have a nice piece of carpet in the living room. After that, the rest of the day was kind of normal till the evening. We had our traditional Halloween meal of moldy mac and cheese although this year it looked more like monster hair and worms. The girls ate quick and then we added their face paint to their costumes, took pictures, and then I sent them out with their dad to do some trick-or-treating. They went out for a little over an hour and got a good amount of candy. It is less than previous years, but really that is probably for the best. They also might be eating more this year than previously allowed to, so its going faster or both. Anyway, they had a great time. I stayed home and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters. We don't get that many, so I got a little bored, but I got started on making jammies for Kylee and Tia for Christmas, so it was a good use of time. Once we got the girls to bed, Gaupo and I stayed up and watch Hocus Pocus. It is a great movie for Halloween, but that is about the only time I can do it. That kind of finished up Halloween night for us, but we did let the girls watch Hotel Transylvania on Friday night, so some celebrations got extended. It was a good Halloween. It was a little simple that some, but I feel like things are kind of crazy here, so we got the important stuff done and it still turned out great.

Monster hair, and worms.

My cute witch, Tia.

Kylee the Fairy Cat.

The two of them together.

This past Saturday, I had my  baby shower. Sybrina Stewart, and Jennifer Bigham hosted it for it. We did it open house style, so people could just come and go as they needed to. Quite a lot of people came and it was fun to visit. Quite a few people just stayed and that was fun to. To be honest, if it was one of my friends showers I would have stayed too, just because its a great time to hang with my friends. I got to talk to everyone that came at least for a little bit and that was good. Quite a few people brought something to share, so we had quite a spread. It included pumpkin bread, bread with a spinach and artichoke dip, apples with caramel sauce, mini sandwiches, a super good popcorn, and a brownie taste test. The test was to determine which brownie mix was best. I think Great Value and Duncan Hines were tied for the win. They also held a raffle every 30 minutes and your name got entered into the drawing if you brought diapers, so that was fun. The winners got to choose a gift basket. I wish I had gotten more pictures of that evening, but to be honest I just enjoyed it. People were so generous I am still in awe. I got a lot of wonderful things. The baby shower got over late, so when I got home no one was awake because it had been a long Saturday, so I left everything in the car.

So, the next morning we were all up kind of early because of the time change, and so I let the girls get in the van and bring it all in. Then we pulled everything out. Then Gaupo came downstairs and he helped them opened the back and get the stuff out of the back, and we opened all of that. I had opened it the night before, but everything was still in the bags, so they got to re-open it and they thought that was so fun. It was really fun to see what they loved. They both love these blanket that I got, that are huge. They are probably 45x45, so I swaddled them up in the them and they enjoyed them and the little foxes that came on diaper motorcycles. After they opened everything we had kind of a quicky breakfast and then hurried and got ready for church. It was regional conference, so Gaupo took the girls early to get a good seat and I enjoyed getting ready in peace walking to church by myself. After conference, lunch, and naps, I went through all the clothes and gift and took a picture and organized them, because we had to get the living room so we could use it again. We really need to get the basement done because sometimes we really do need more space, and the blue room is getting kind of full between the baby stuff and the food storage.

Tia and Kylee swaddled.

Foxes and diaper motorcycles.

From the back.

Everything I got from this shower.

We did make good progress though on the basement. We have the in-ground plumbing in and inspected. We are just waiting for the plumber to put a cap on, so we can cover it up and put the cement back in. Gaupo has all the walls he can frame before the cement is in done, so we are kind of making a big push, but I think the cement will be in and the framing done by Saturday or Monday. I bought the cement today and I am so glad that we got it home. We don't have a truck, so I put it in my van and boy oh boy was it loaded. Blessedly, Heavenly Father was looking out for us and we made it home safe and sound. This whole finishing a basement thing is a really grand adventure. There are so many things we don't know and if you do it all the time seem common, so they don't tell us and then we have to just learn. Like that you must be present for an inspection. I figured as long as you have access to the space, they could inspect,  but apparently not if it is in your house. Which I guess is a good thing, but it would have been good to know before I left to take Tia to school. Luckily the inspector dropped back by and did the inspection.