Family Update

Time is racing by. The weeks are full and the weekends too short, but I still look forward to them all the same. This last week we made some great progress on the basement. We got all our rough-in work done. Well all that we needed to pass the inspection. The plumber still needs to come set the shower-base, but we passed inspection and are thus ready to move onto insulation and fire blocking. We are hoping that inspection will get done and passed on Thursday. Anyway, it is moving along and I am so glad because for awhile there I was feeling stuck and like it wasn't going any place, but I am excited to get the insulation done. Then the drywaller is having the basement stocked with what he needs on Thursday or Friday and then I think he will start next week. At least that is the the hope. So, it wont be finished by the time my parents get here, but we will be to the point where it is time to put stuff in and get the final touches ready to go. Now, if we can just get these babies to wait that long.

As far as babies go, things look good. I had one friend of mine say that she thinks I have dropped a little and while that maybe true I am really not quite ready for them to come, so I hope they keep on staying in. That said they have to be growing and changing or my body is getting tired or both. My ankles and feet have taken up swelling. Plus, I can't move around as easily as I use to, so I am changing, but I am not sure exactly what these changes mean for the possibility of babies coming. I go to the high-risk doctor tomorrow and so we will see what these little ones are up to. I did take some pregnancy pics on Sunday with a friend who has almost the exact due date I do, but she is pregnant with just one, but it is her #6, so its kind of fun to compare. We are carrying very differently and I personally think we both look pretty good for being 34 weeks pregnant.

Me and my friend Jerry Lynn--bump to bump.

I just think this is a great candid shot.

My ankle and foot after a day at church.

This is how they both look. They look better on camera than in real life, but I tried to catch it.

The girls seem to be doing well. They both are enjoying school and love to play. On Saturday, they had a great time together. Sometimes after school they struggle to get along super good because Kylee is so tired, but I don't this Saturday was one of those days I always hoped I would see these two have. They used their imaginations and just play and played well. I only had to get after people for being mean or bossy a couple of times because for the most part they played and worked things out. They were playing before I cleaned the kitchen floor, but they love making a 'palace' out of the chairs and things when I clean the floor, and they had a blast with that. Then they painted and then we went outside and they 'painted' the house and to be honest I don't know what was so intriguing about playing and hauling around the rocks but they had a great time doing it. I just love watching my girls play, especially when they play together. I am amazed by how well they can do it and it is so awesome.

Painting the door.

They were so proud of the way the made this rock display.

Gaupo finished up a big project at work this week. He finished up what we refer to as "The Anthology." I am not really sure what it is or what it all entails. I just know that it is a collection of local authors submissions of stories or poems. He has had to go through and edit them and organize and get it all printed into a book. I asked him if he was really in charge of editing and he said he was in charge, but he handed most of it off to his committee. However, I do know that as far as the organizing, formatting, printing, and stuff like that he did indeed do. It has been a big project that he never intended to do, but was part of what got handed over to him when he assumed his role as Head of Technical Services. I know he is glad to have it over with, but I also think he learned a lot from it.

Gaupo as a published editor.

As for me, I am just trying to keep everything together here. I just run kids around, go to my doctor appointments, clean if I can, make dinner, and help with homework. Really my days seem plenty full, so my main goal is to try to not over due things as I really want to make it till my parents can get here to have these babies. So, I just plan and hope for the best. I love being a mom. It is a lot of worry and pressure, but I feel so blessed to have the chance to have these children. Each one teaches me different thing and helps me develop in different ways. I love my two girls. They are so helpful, and really try to be sweet. They both have their struggles and it is stressful to wonder if we will ever be able to help them work through them, but it is so rewarding when we see progress. I love watching them grow and catch on to things. I feel so blessed to be a stay-at-home mom and to enjoy being a stay-at-mom. I have wondered at time if it is really what I want to do, but it really is. I love it. Its challenging and sometimes lonely, and hard, but there are a lot of long-term and some short-term rewards and I am so glad I am don't have to miss it. I love being with my kids and letting them know that I am here for them and that I love them. I am one blessed daughter of God.

Thanksgiving Week

This year we spent Thanksgiving at home. This means we got to enjoy the whole break without having to travel. That was one definite positive to staying home. Went didn’t do anything big or exciting while we were home, but we did spend some good quality time together and did about one cool or different thing a day, so for me it was the perfect amount of ‘busy’ over break.

Monday our fun activity for the day was going swimming. Before that I made the girls do chores like cleaning the bathroom, so that made swimming that much more enjoyable. Kylee and Tia love riding the slides, so I made sure we went when the slides were on and let them ride them as much as they wanted. It was really nice for me to get in the water and “swim” around too. I have been experiencing more swelling as of late and going swimming definitely seemed to help with that, so that was awesome. Also, before we went swimming we stopped and looked at some model homes and I am pleased to say that I didn’t fall in love with a single one. There was even a big one that I hated. It sounds weird, but I feel like it just showed that my house still fits me and seems good, so we are good. Of course there are still things I would love to improve like the amount of living space and the amount of counter space, but really if that is all I have to complain about I am doing really well. Anyway, we had a good time both looking at homes and swimming. When we came home we all were ready for lunch and a nap.

Tuesday, I went to the doctor so Gaupo took care of the girls. They watched some I Dream of Jeanie, went to the park, and then Gaupo took them to the library where they sat at his desk and enjoyed some candy. So, for my girls it was the perfect morning. Personally, I enjoyed it too because I got some quiet time to myself, got to see the babies move, and even did a little shopping where I found a gift that Kylee can get Tia that I think she will really like. That night when Gaupo worked we actually went back to the library and the girls enjoyed playing on the computers while I got new books. It was a really nice day.

Wednesday was kind of long. It was definitely the day that I was like what is the point of being home alone for Thanksgiving. I know I am not alone. I have my family, but this lovely group of 4 is so small compared to the giant family events that I love. Anyway, I slept in so the morning got off to a late start. Then we made the brine for the Turkey. We have never brined a Turkey before, but I do think it makes a difference especially with the leftover turkey. So, we made that and then we visited our friend Sis. Colleen Miller. She think my girls especially Tia are just awesome and we haven’t been over since Tia and I helped her, so it was good to visit and be with her. When her physical therapist came we left and came home and had lunch. Then I mixed up a double batch of crescent rolls and then took a nap. When I woke up I needed to work on my job for a little bit, and then made pie crusts.  Then it was time to make rolls. Which, I finished that up in time for dinner. We had canned soup. I always think it’s funny I make delicious homemade rolls and then have canned soup. Oh well, it was easy and I was starting to get tired again and I still needed to make pumpkin pie. After everything was cleaned up we bathed the kids and then I made the pumpkin pie, watched a little bit of I  Dream of Jeanie and then went to bed. I was so tired, but sadly didn’t sleep too well.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. I actually really enjoyed Thanksgiving Day. Gaupo took care of the turkey and potatoes and I roasted some veggies. Since most of the cooking was done the day before we played a Clue Jr. with the girls and then took them to the park. Gaupo actually took them for a bike ride while I walked and we met up at the park. When we got home we got the feast ready. We shared some pie and turkey with a family in our ward and then had our own feast. Kylee said it was almost a feast. When I asked her what was missing she said, “A feast has a lot of food and people.” I said, “This is a lot of food.” She said, “Yeah, but we don’t have a lot of people.” I couldn’t argue with that I did miss the company. I love the chatter that happens at the Thanksgiving meal. I love my girls, but they don’t stick around at the table to just chat after they are done eating. So, dinner was super good, but it was over really quick. The clean up was actually pretty easy too, and we even ate on REAL dishes. However, it was nice to take a Thanksgiving nap and know that I wasn’t missing anything. Everyone was sleeping. When everyone woke up we just hung out for a while. We had a little bit of dinner and then we watched a movie together. After the movie we put the kiddo’s to bed and Gaupo worked on the basement for a bit. I know lame to work on Thanksgiving, but we had been ‘resting’ all day, so Gaupo  said he actually needed to DO something. Before I could totally die from shock or wonder if I was really talking to the guy I married, he kind of explained that he had played his games so much that they needed time to build up stuff and so he couldn’t really play them anyway. However, it was good for us because it got all the framing complete. After working a bit we got cleaned up and went to bed.

The girls and I waiting to dish up dinner.

Gaupo helping everyone get food.

Friday was a good day, I know it was but I can’t really remember what we did. I had a super rough night the night before, so I was pretty tired, but we managed to get Christmas up. Kylee was in my room by 7:00AM asking to decorate. We made them wait till Gaupo got home from picking up our stuff for the new bathroom, but then we did as much as we could. We eventually had to stop because I was hungry and exhausted. The girls didn’t want to but I explained to them we needed to stop or they would probably get yelled at because I was so tired and needed food. So, they agreed and we finished the final touches after naps. That night we also had a baptism for a girl in our ward, so Gaupo left around 5 to fill up the font and the girls and I had dinner and then went to the baptism.

Saturday was a healthy balance of work and play. We went down to the basement as a family and worked on getting it cleaned up. It went pretty well. Gaupo made good progress on the stairs and the girls helped me sort and organize the wood scraps so I could sweep up the sawdust from all the framing. After working on that, the girls went and played and I worked on money and making seven layer pie. I also made a grocery list after which we had lunch. Then Gaupo and I opted not to give the girls naps, so I took them with me grocery shopping while he worked on the stairs. The electrician came out and talked with us about our project and then we went ice skating. Well, I helped the girls get their skates on, but then I just watch Gaupo help them. He took them out by himself first and after one lap of that he opted to let them use the walkers. Either way the girls had a blast. It was fun to watch them skate. I did really want to go out there, but boy howdy that would have been a terrible decision. So, the girls got pretty tuckered out with that activity, so after dinner it was baths and bed for them. Then I used the quiet time to prepare my primary lesson.

Gaupo and the girls ice skating.

This Thanksgiving went over a lot better than the last one we had to stay home for, but I think that is because we are more established as a family. Also Gaupo and I know what we like for Thanksgiving and we tried as best we could to eat and do those things that make it feel that way to us. Also we have two very wonderful capable children now and so it wasn’t like we alone, so that was nice.  I still think it’s worth the drive to go spend the day with family, and staying here actually helped me appreciate all the work the host families of my past have put in to Thanksgiving, so I could enjoy it. I really enjoyed being home for the break. It was nice to not have anything we had to do. We didn’t have therapy, school, the last half of the week Gaupo didn’t even have work. We just got to do whatever we wanted and it was nice to enjoy it.

I have been so blessed this past year. We have been able to visit family. We are expecting and expecting twins. The girls seem to be progressing in the things that they need too. I had the wonderful opportunity to serve in the Relief Society and now in primary. We have been blessed with work and promotions there. We have a home and also get the opportunity to learn and work on that. We got to take the self-reliance class TOGETHER. We have really enjoyed learning and growing as a family this year. We have been richly blessed and we were already so blessed with great families, the gospel, good church leaders, callings to help us grow, wonderful children, work, food, and so many other wonderful things. I feel deeply blessed to be where I am now. It hasn’t all been easy, but it is most definitely worth it.