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Friday, December 24, 2010

Santa's Busy Helpers

This time of year gets so so busy, and then before you know it it's over. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas! All the shopping is done, presents are wrapped, cookies baked. We spent this evening with my family celebrating and had a great time. Now we are back home, the kids are in bed, and Hubby and I are busy being Santa's helpers and putting out presents. Well, Hubby is busy. My feet and ankles are very swollen from being on my feet so much the last few days so I'm soaking them in cold water and then going to put them up for a bit. I think I'll have Hubby bring me the stocking stuff and I can get those all done while I am on the couch. We just have a few things for the stockings, some candy and the boys each have a Toy Story figure and crayons. No christening gifts photo frames or anything, we kept them simple this year. I can't wait to see the boys' faces when they come down in the morning and see what Santa brought. Then the inlaws will be coming down some time tomorrow for a few days. I think my favorite thing about this holiday is spending it with family.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Need Ideas

So, does anyone have any good gift ideas for husbands? I look up holiday gift guides that say they have the perfect gift for every type of person, but there is never really anything on there that jumps out to me. I want to find Hubby something fun and interesting but I just don't have any good ideas. He's pretty simple to please, get him some DVDs and lingerie and he's set, but I feel so lame always getting him the same type of gift when he picks out such perfect personal gifts for me. And he did give me a bunch of ideas, but I want to find him something he didn't ask for but would love. Maybe I need to go walk down the electronics aisle at the store and see what stands out.

Same or not

I think it's funny how phone manufacturers will make so many phones that look almost exactly alike but just have a few differences. I know part of it is that they make different phones for different cell phone carriers. Like my husband's phone is the HTC Evo, which he totally loves. But they also have a ton of similar phones like the Mozart, Trophy, and htc desire android phones that all do basically the same things from what I can tell. Though maybe they are different, I'm not sure. And my phone is a Samsung Intercept and it looks very similar to some of the other Samsung phones. I'm sure if I worked for them I could tell all the differences, but really to me a phone is pretty much a phone lol.

Too full

Ugh, I am so stuffed. I'm really running out of room in my stomach from the babies filling up my belly, but I am still used to eating as much as I normally do. So when I eat that much I then feel sick because I am too full. Causes the babies to go crazy, my tummy to feel upset, and heartburn that wakes me up at night. I'm glad I won't have to worry about how to lose weight fast because in a month I'll lose a bunch of weight pretty quickly lol. I really do need to start paying attention to how much I'm eating though so I don't make myself sick. Even if I have to eat more frequently to make up for it, it would feel so much better not to have an overfull stomach.

A short break in our hectic life

So how did this year go by so quickly?! Seriously, I can't believe in just a few weeks it'll be a new year. So much has happened this year that we've hardly had time to stop and think. I'm hoping that the last few weeks of the year will be a bit more relaxed. I only have one more test for school, Jason is off-track until January, Jakey only has 2 days of preschool this week before his winter break, and this is the last week I watch the 2 extra kids I babysit. So after this week we should get a few weeks break from the crazy business of life. Of course there's Christmas, but I'm hoping to get all the shopping finished up this week so we won't have to worry about it next week and just enjoy the holiday. It would be nice to just have a bit more time to relax before the babies comes next month, especially because I'm so tired and sore and have no energy.

Gifts

I think it's funny watching commercials this time of year and seeing how every store seems to think that all women ever want is jewelry. Yes, things like scott kay engagement rings are nice, but I'm the kind of girl that prefers practical gifts. Plus I rarely wear jewelry. My wedding ring is the only jewelry I wear all the time. I occasionally wear earrings and/or a necklace, but it's rare. So I'm glad my husband doesn't buy me jewelry because it would just be a waste of money for me. Instead he actually pays attention to stuff I mention, even months before Christmas, and then gets me stuff I really want and need. He's an awesome gift-giver. I'm not so good at it lol. I always have to ask him what he wants so he is hardly ever surprised at what he gets, though I do occasionally remember something that he wants but hasn't asked for. This year I have no ideas of my own for him so he gave me a bunch. I better get shopping soon though with Christmas less than 2 weeks away!

Why we don't have nice things

Do you ever just sit and wonder why kids do the things they do? I do. And I just have no answers. I'm pretty sure kids just don't think at all about what they are doing lol. A few days ago the kids were being awful for me and I was just tired of it. I finally got to sit for a few minutes while dinner was heating up and Jakey comes upstairs with a huge hole in his shirt. He said Jason did it so we called for Jason to come upstairs but he wasn't. So I go down and find him struggling to take off his shirt, probably so he could hide it. He had cut out the whole front of the shirt. I was soooo mad. He ended up going to bed with no dinner and they were both grounded from the playroom the next day so they had to stay upstairs where I could keep an eye on them. I just don't know what they were thinking. Makes me glad that we keep more expensive breakable stuff out of their reach so it doesn't get destroyed. Like our big TV. We have it on a tv mounts on the wall because it would get so dirty when we had it on a stand from the kids touching it with yucky hands. And I was always afraid they'd manage to knock it off and hurt themselves or break it. It's just really hard to keep nice things nice with little kids lol.

Insured

One of the biggest reasons we moved here a few years ago was because the company Hubby works for offers really cheap health insurance. Seriously. There is no deductible, no monthly premiums, and a low out of pocket max (I think $1000 individual or $2000 family). So when they started talking about changing their health insurance for the coming year we were a bit upset and worried that our costs would go way up. Luckily the company has come up with a plan that will basically cost the same overall. It's a high-deductible plan with HSA, but the company saved so much by switching to that plan that they are reimbursing the employees for the deductible and we just have to make up the difference of $1000 to reach the out of pocket max. It's still confusing having to get used to how the new plan works, but I'm happy they were able to come up with something that still provides great benefits for the employees. We feel very blessed to have such good health insurance.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Yep, today is my birthday! I am now 27 years old. We started off the morning by going to our ward Christmas breakfast this morning. So nice to have a yummy breakfast made by someone else on my birthday. In a little bit I'll be heading over to my sister's salon to get my hair cut and colored and get a pedicure. A few hours of kid-free pampering is just what I need. Then I will look all nice for my dinner date with Hubby. We are going to Olive Garden, our favorite restaurant. So, although I slept awful last night (stuffy cold and babies beating me up) I am planning to have a great day and enjoy myself. I'm sure it'll be the last time I can have some good kid-free time for awhile since the babies will be here next month.

Wanna Get Away

Have I mentioned how much I hate Winter? I'm pretty sure I have. I love the holidays and that it stays darker longer so it's easier to sleep, but I do not like the cold. The hardest thing for me is that at night the air is so dry from the heater being on that I get stuffed up and a sore throat and always end up with a cold that lasts all Winter. Unfortunately that cold has started this week. I even got out my humidifier and it's only helped a little. This time of year I always wish I lived in a warmer climate, or at least could go on a little vacation. A trip to Disney World would be nice right about now. Except of course the cost. Either flying and looking up miami car rentals or driving the whole way would really add up. Plus hotel and theme park costs. A winter trip to Cancun would be nice too. When we went 4 years ago (has it really been that long?!) we went end of January and it was perfect. A girl in one of my classes this semester is in Cancun right now and I'm so jealous. Of course if we did that I'd want to go with no kids and just relax, and with the babies coming a kid-free vacation probably won't be happening any time soon lol. We are thinking of planning a cruise for our 10 year anniversary in a few years, that would be great.

Thursday, December 02, 2010

Breakouts

I really am bummed about how bad my face has broken out in the last few weeks. I'm not sure if it's the change in the weather or what but it's disgusting. And of course pregnant women can't use most acne medications because of the ingredients so I'm stuck with just washing my face really good. I need to wash my pillowcase too, and hopefully that will help. Until then I'm glad I at least have some good coverup to put on the spots when I go out.

Holiday pounds

This time of year lots of people are starting to plan their New Year's Resolutions, which often involve dieting. There are tons of different diets. I think the most popular one these days is the HCG diet. I'm really not sure how that one works. Isn't HCG the human growth hormone that pregnant women get? So how does that help someone lose weight? I just have no idea how it's supposed to work. But I do know a few people who have used it with success. Hopefully just having my babies will be enough weight loss for me and I won't have to worry about dieting, cuz with nursing two babies I don't think dieting would be a good idea lol.

Winter Skin

My poor skin. Winter is always hard on it, making my psoriasis flare up and causing dry cracked skin on my hands. Constant chapped lips and itchy skin. On top of the pregnancy acne, stretch marks, and prominent veins. Winter is just not a good time for skin. I've been putting lotion on more, especially on my arms for my psoriasis, but it's something I just have to ride out. Hopefully a few of those things will go away next month (next month!) after I have the babies. At least this time of year I can wear long sleeves and sweaters more often to at least cover up the problem areas.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

5 Minutes for Mom Christmas Giveaway

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Have you heard about the great giveaways going on at 5 Minutes for Mom? The have some amazing gifts to give away in their Christmas Giveaway that could help you out this season. But you better hurry! The deadline to enter is December 4th.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers!!! I hope you enjoy a wonderful day with those you love. Remember all the things you have to be thankful for. We will be having dinner at my mom's house with the family. I am looking forward to my mom's delicious stuffing and turkey. And I'm very glad I don't have to make anything but the rolls lol. No worrying about how much potatoes to mash or how much atlantic salt to add, or getting a turkey done in time. My mom makes such a yummy Thanksgiving dinner too. Soooo good!

I am thankful for:
*My wonderful husband, Nate. He is such a great guy who helps me with the kids and the house and loves me no matter what. Love you honey!
*My 3 little boys- Jason, Jacob, and Nathan. It is such a joy to watch them grow up and see their personalities. They are all so different but I love them all for who they are.
*The 2 little boys growing in my belly, Isaac and Caleb. I feel so incredibly blessed to be the mommy of these little boys and am so excited to meet them in a few months.
*My parents and siblings. They helped shape me into the woman I am today. I love spending time with all of them, laughing and sharing stories and just being together.
*Family, extended and non-related. I have been blessed with some great inlaws and extended family on both sides. Also, all those who aren't technically related but have still become family.
*Friends. I cherish each of my friendships and am thankful for those near and far who I call friend.

Thank you, Father in Heaven, for the many blessings I have been given!

Friday, November 12, 2010

28 Week Belly


OK, I promised a picture. Here I am at 28 weeks pregnant. I am almost as big as I usually am at full term lol. And obviously that shirt is getting a tad on the small side. Today it feels like these boys are trying to claw their way out through the top of my belly, it is so sore. It'll be so interesting to see how much bigger I get. And since I'm gaining more weight than normal I hope it comes off as easy as my others have so I don't have to worry about reading diet pill reviews to take care of it. Now it's time for me to go to bed and rest my sore belly, it's been a long day.

Digital vs print

I keep telling myself that I really need to organize all my digital photos and get some printed. We have no photo albums or anything. We still haven't even printed out any of our engagement or wedding photos from 7.5 years ago! I want to get some photo albums made (not scrapbooks, I am not a scrapbooker!) but with the thousands and thousands of digital photos piled up for years, it's a daunting task. And then I have to find the best photo printing for less sites. I know a lot of sites offer free prints for new customers so I intend to take advantage of that whenever I do finally get around to printing some.

Party time

Tonight we had my youngest son's birthday party. Tomorrow he will turn 2! I can't believe how fast the last 2 years have gone. He is such an adorable little guy and I'm so thankful for him. He's still not talking a lot, but he's starting to say a few more things. We didn't buy him much for his birthday because he doesn't really need anything. He doesn't need toys or clothes or mbt shoes. I finally picked out a toy phone and a few easy puzzles. He got some fun gifts from family too and the party was fun. I may or may not post some pictures from the party. I make no promises lol.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Gonna pop!

So I am feeling so huge! Not sure how I can grow any more over the next few months lol. These little boys are so active too. I'm glad that we've decided to visit the inlaws just after Thanksgiving this year because there is no way we are going up at Christmas. Not only does the dr not want me traveling at that stage (so no point in looking up flight deals to get away from this freezing weather) but I can't imagine how uncomfortable it would be to sit in the car for 5 hrs at that point. I'm sure it'll be pretty uncomfortable in 2 weeks. Some of my maternity shirts are already getting too short, and I think all of my non-maternity shirts have been retired for a bit by now. And pants, ugh. I have a few pair of maternity jeans and they are all uncomfortable. Thank heavens for my 2 pair of maternity yoga pants. They are my favorite pants ever!

I will be taking a new belly pic tomorrow (if I remember lol) and will get that posted.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

New Laptop! Hallelujah!

So I don't think I mentioned that we got a new laptop! I'm sure I've said on here frequently how awful our laptop was. It would shut down anytime we played music, movies, or games. And sometimes it would shut down even when we didn't do any of those things. It's gotten worse and worse to the point I was afraid it would crash and lose everything. And our desktop is not much better. It doesn't shut down, which is great, but it is soooo slow. So I hardly ever use the desktop. Both need to be wheeled away on medical carts and put to sleep. Luckily we have an external hard drive that I've kept things backed up just in case the laptop died, especially pictures and files for school.

Anyway, we had some money in savings and saw an ad for some good laptops in our price range and decided to just bite the bullet and get it over with before the laptop died. Friday Hubby went and picked one out and so far I love it. It's a Toshiba (our last 2 have been HP and both were junk) and it runs so much faster and quieter. I have to get used to the keyboard and touchpad being a little different, and get used to Windows 7 instead of XP, but I'm really happy with it. I got all my important files transferred over so now I just use the new one. It is so nice to be able to listen to music again, or to be able to play a video on YouTube or just play games with the boys. So happy we finally got it!

Junk Mail

I think it's funny when I read through my junk mail (well, not really read, just scan to make sure nothing important got put there) and find emails from places I signed up for years and years ago. I don't know why I don't just unsubscribe from the newsletters and lists for those places, I'd probably get a lot less junk mail. Some I don't mind like when I get things like tiger direct coupons or notices for places I have used and may use again. The rest though I just delete every time so I really should just find their unsubscribe button and get it over with lol.

Trick-or-Treat!

So last night we had a fun time taking the boys trick-or-treating. The weather was cold and rainy, but luckily it stopped really pouring by the time we went and was just a steady drizzle. First we went over to my mom's so she could see their costumes and give them big Hershey bars, then we came home and grabbed the umbrella and went out. We decided to just go up the little street by our house and back because of the rain, and that turned out just the right amount of time. By the last couple houses the boys were asking if we were done yet. And even though we probably went to less than 15 houses they still got plenty of candy. I've been trying to keep out of it more so I don't have to look up lipofuze reviews, and so far I've been good lol. I'm going to grab a few pieces of candy to snack on while I watch football. Once I get pics uploaded I will get a pic of the boys in their costumes posted. They were so adorable. Oh, and Nathan was so cute. After the first house he really caught on about getting candy just for holding out his bucket lol. He would hold it out and say "Tee-tee! Tee-tee!" and always said thank you. So fun.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Sugar low

Wow, the morning has passed by really quickly. Hubby left early to go help a family from church move and isn't back yet. The boys have been really good this morning, probably because I have only let them have a little candy and they slept so well after their sugar high crashed yesterday lol. Even Nathan has been sleeping better at night. Now I just need to get a grocery list written so we can go shopping as soon as Hubby gets home, and hopefully before it rains.

Want my old body back

Some days I really wish I still had the same body I had in high school. For most of my childhood I danced, mostly jazz and some ballet and tap. In 10th grade I was on the school dance team and was having practices every day during the week, even in summer we had to take extra classes and practice. I was flexible and had actual muscles, especially in my legs. We moved before 11th grade though and my dancing died down. I took a class at school and then a class a local lady taught, but it wasn't the same as the constant practices and hours of dancing that build muscles and keep up flexibility. Now after 8+ years and a handful of kids my body is definitely not in that shape anymore. I keep telling myself I'd love to take a dance class again, but I'd probably have to start out with a beginner class because my body just isn't used to it anymore. One of the credits I need for college has to be some healthy fitness related class and they have dance classes, so I've been thinking of doing that next fall when I go back.

Seeing straight

My right eye has always given me problems. When I was little the tear duct was clogged so they fixed it but ever since then it waters too much. Which means that I'm wiping my eyes more, which irritates them, which causes more watering, and makes a vicious cycle. So my right eye now looks more droopy and tired and lined all the time from the years of rubbing my eye. It drives me insane. I have some anti wrinkle cream stuff for eyes but I forget to use it. I want to try just using it around my right eye to see if it makes a difference in how it looks. The other issues that eye has is that when I was around 12 or so I got an infection in my eye from touching a cold sore then touching my eye. That left a scar on my eye. Also, ever since having kids I've developed some mild seasonal allergies that create a gunky buildup in that eye, leading to more eye rubbing. Oddly though, I have better vision in that eye lol. My left eye prescription is -5.5 and my right eye is +.75. So I only wear a contact in my left eye.

Aching neck

My neck is killing me. Well, my whole body is killing me at this point lol, but my back and neck have always given me issues. Especially since getting in a car wreck in 2003. The worst is that my neck gets out of alignment and pinches a nerve, giving me a migraine. Typically if I can get into a chiropractor soon that helps get rid of it. Of course most of the time that happens it's a weekend when my chiro isn't in office. So what I do for migraine relief when that happens is take some extra strength Tylenol with a Mtn Dew if I have to be up taking care of kids, or if Hubby's home I go take a hot bath and lay down in my dim room. I wish our insurance covered more chiro visits. We only get 10 per year, which means I can't even go once a month. I loved our chiro when we lived in Logan, especially while I was pregnant. It's such a big help for my back and neck when I can go in regularly.

Sugar overload

Yesterday Hubby's work did their annual Halloween party for the families. It's not really a party, it's pretty much trick-or-treating around the offices in the building. It's always fun and they give out tons of candy. And they give good candy too! Stuff like licorice ropes, candy bars, etc. No cheapo taffies or those yucky Bit-O-Honey candies. I had the 2 extra kids I babysit with me so that was an adventure getting them all in their costumes and in the car to drive to Hubby's work. Then keeping track of them all as we walked through the building. Nathan's bucket was too small and so he kept dropping candy and the handle broke, but he wouldn't let me help him hold it because he thought I was trying to take it away lol. We finally got a grocery bag to dump his bucket into so he could carry it again. Of course, the rest of the night the kids were crazy from sugar overload. It was fun though. Because of the amount of candy we already have (and the fact it is supposed to be rainy this evening) we won't be trick-or-treating around the neighborhood for very long tonight.

Death by candy

Oh my goodness! This Halloween candy is going to be the death of me! Ugh :P I have eaten way too much. I am to the point where I just don't even want to see any candy (and those who know me well, know that it takes a lot for me not to want candy lol). I'm going to need to join an online weight loss program if I keep up the candy snacking. And we haven't even gone trick-or-treating yet, yikes! I'm going to make Hubby take some of it to work with him Monday so it's out of the house, and that way he'll actually get some before it's gone lol. At least I moved the big bowl of candy from the counter to the pantry so it's not quite as easy to grab and munch. Not that I even want to anymore lol.

Friday, October 29, 2010

School Halloween Parade

Today we got to go to my 6-year old's school to watch them all parade around the gym in their Halloween costumes. It was so cute. Of course my camera is stupid and wouldn't take the picture as he passed, but I did go to his class after and got a picture of the whole class (which unfortunately I won't be posting, because that's a lot of little kids whose parent's might not like their pic on the Internet). There were tons of Marios and witches and vampires. I swear almost half of the kids were dressed as vampires. Seems to be a very popular costume this year. My 17-year old sister is even dressing up as a vampire. She's wearing one of our other sister's old prom dresses and a really cool grey cape. I'm sure there will be fake blood involved. I was shocked at some of the scary costumes that parents let their little kids wear, especially around other little kids that could get scared easily. I prefer my kids to look as unscary as possible lol. Jason and Jakey are tigers and Nathan is a monkey, and they all look adorable. I will get a pic of them up when we get them all dressed up together.

No time for TV

I don't watch a lot of TV. Back when we had DVR I used to because then I could watch the shows I like at a more convenient time, but since we don't have DVR anymore I really don't watch much. I do watch football during football season and sometimes I catch and episode of The Office, but that's about it. I have noticed, though, that some of the commercials have changed. There used to be a lot of those lawyer type ones that said something about being compensated if you got mesothelioma from working in a place with asbestos, and now those commercials have all switched over to being compensated for the recent hip replacement recall. You know another thing that was great about DVR? Not having to watch any commercials at all lol.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

More U/S pics

Here's the pictures from yesterday's ultrasound. It's getting harder to get good pictures because they are pretty smooshed lol. They were so cute though. We could see Caleb has a little bit of hair already and Isaac opened up one eye and was blinking slowly at us. Also, Caleb is measuring about half a pound bigger than Isaac, but both are growing great and look perfect. The first 4 are Isaac, the last 4 are Caleb.

Only 2 months til Christmas!

So, Christmas is in just two months! Eek. I have no idea what to get anybody for presents. We are planning to get the boys some new clothes for church (how do they trash their shirts so easy when they only get worn for a few hours a week?!) and after that I have no ideas for gifts. I know Hubby needs new pants and I need new shoes, so maybe that's what we'll get ourselves lol. As for family, I always have a hard time figuring out what to get. We always end up doing movie baskets with a few DVDs, popcorn, candy, etc for everyone. But we've been doing that for years, and it would be nice to think of something else. All our siblings are old enough that I can't get stuff like play discount jewelry, dolls, toy cars, etc. It was much easier when they were kids lol. Maybe I'll look into other kinds of gift baskets or something. It seems early to be worried about it, since there are still 2 months to go, but I know those 2 months are going to fly by.

Weight off my shoulders

Before we found out we were having twins I had planned to continue taking classes next semester, and just cut back to 1 or 2. Since finding out there were 2 babies I've been debating what to do, especially since they should be born right around the beginning of the semester. We were going to try to make it work, but after thinking it over carefully and getting the advice of other twin moms, I decided that it will just be too much stress to go next semester so I'll be taking a break. And I feel so much better having decided that. It's going to be hard enough taking care of two babies without adding in schoolwork. That one issue was really stressing me out because I know I'm already exhausted taking 3 classes and it would just be harder with newborns. Now hopefully with a little less stress I will be able to sleep better and stop worrying about finding acne treatment cream to clear up my stress-induced breakouts. Still have to get through the next month and a half of classes, but so far so good. I actually looked up some of my grades and I have the highest score in my CIS class with 99.5%, and my COMM grade is around 98.6% so far. I don't know about my English score, I emailed the teacher to see how I'm doing, but it should be pretty good since I always get my assignments done on time and have done well so far with my papers. Anyway, even doing good it's still stressful, so it'll be nice to take a break from it for a bit.

Swamped

Holy cow, I still haven't posted pics from Bear Lake, huh? Well, it probably won't happen then lol. It's all I can do to keep up with current stuff. That might just have to wait until life slows down. So, um, never. I really do have tons of stuff to do every day for the next few months, with appointments, holidays, birthdays, baby showers, housework, etc. I know I really don't want bedrest, but sometimes I think it would be nice just so I can have an excuse not to do all the stuff on my to-do list lol.

Holidays are too busy

This week is crazy busy. I have a bunch of homework due this week, which is annoying considering it's a holiday week so there's a lot more going on. Teachers should really plan that better. I have gotten a few assignments done, so I'm caught up to today, but I still have a CIS assignment due Friday that I haven't even looked at, and a big English assignment due Sunday. I won't have much time the next few days to work on them either because I have the extra kids I watch both days, my online class plus a Tupperware party at my mom's tomorrow night, Hubby's work Halloween party and babysitting my little nephew Friday night, and then of course Halloween stuff on Saturday. At least it keeps me from worrying about silly stuff like neck acne or how badly my kitchen needs mopped. Life just gets so busy from October to December with all the holiday stuff and stupid snow.

That time of year

Ugh, I have a huge headache today. I think it's from the change in the weather messing with my sinuses. It suddenly got cold here the last few days. We even have snow! And you know how much I hate snow. So now I've got a little sniffle and feel like my head is going to explode. Every time I talk it feels like steel drums are being pounded in my head. Why oh why don't I live in a place where it's 75* year round?! Nathan and Hubby also had a cold a few days ago. Luckily the other two boys have been fine.

Cuter belly pic

I didn't really like the last picture I posted because I don't think it showed off just how big my belly is getting. This one shows it a bit better, plus I look cuter lol.

So this is at almost 26 weeks. At my appointment yesterday my belly measured 35 weeks! Isn't that crazy?! So I'll probably be measuring full-term in about a month lol. I'm hoping that even though I'll get bigger this time, that I won't have any trouble losing the weight. I've never had to look into weight loss pills that work because it always came off pretty easy with breastfeeding. I'm a little more worried about the stretched out skin. That's never been a problem either, but it's never gotten as big as it will this time.

Much better OB appt

I'm so glad I decided to stop seeing the stupid dr at my last clinic. I was able to get in with a maternal-fetal specialist up at the hospital I'll be delivering at who actually specializes in multiples. It's a longer drive for appointments, but the care is so much nicer. I had my first appointment with her yesterday. I could tell she was in a hurry because they were running behind, but she still stopped to take the time to answer my questions. I feel so much better with her looking after me. I also had another ultrasound, and I will get some pictures of that up as soon as I scan them in.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Gardening with latex gloves

The second product I received from Care Cleaning and Protection was some latex gloves. Now that may not seem exciting to some of you, but to me it was lol. I've actually been meaning to buy some latex gloves for awhile and always forget. There's always some yucky cleaning job I need to do but don't want to get my hands dirty. Such as bathrooms. But of course I already made a video cleaning one bathroom, and who really wants to watch someone clean two bathrooms? So I tried to think of something else I've been wanting to use latex gloves for. Now, this may seem odd to you, but I decided to try it out when digging up my potatoes a few weeks ago. I don't like gardening gloves because I'm always afraid spiders will have crawled in them (yuck!) and because I can't feel what I'm doing. With digging up potatoes I wanted to be able to feel around for the potatoes without getting dirt shoved up under my nails and I figured that I may as well try these gloves out. Here's how it went:

As you can see, they didn't quite hold up. But I'm pretty sure that was because of my long fingernails lol. I always have that problem with latex gloves, my nails eventually poke through them. But it was only on a few of the fingers and the rest of my nails remained dirt free, plus I was able to feel for the potatoes to dig up. I didn't realize, but my camera cut off after just a minute so you don't get to see the tiny little potatoes I dug out. You didn't miss much, they were pretty pathetic lol. But I'm glad I have these gloves now for the dirty projects (bathrooms!) that need cleaning.

*Disclaimer: I received a package of latex gloves for free to provide a video review and my honest opinion. I am compensated for this post.

Cleaning with Care Cleaning Products

I recently received some products from Care Cleaning and Protection to review and make a little video about. One of the products was roll towels, similar to the paper towels you find in public restrooms. Now, you may remember I used to work in fast food. During my time doing that I frequently had to clean bathrooms using this kind of paper towel, so I was actually excited to use them. Part of the reason I usually don't clean my downstairs bathroom as much as I should is that my cleaning rags are in my upstairs bathroom and I don't feel like running upstairs to get one, plus then I have a really gross rag that I don't want to just dump in with the rest of my laundry. But I put the roll of towels I got under my bathroom sink and now anytime I need to hurry and do a quick clean I can grab them and wipe things down. And with such a tiny bathroom it really doesn't take me long, I think it took me less than 5 minutes to clean this little bathroom (so why do I put it off so much?!). So, here's a little video clip of me cleaning my bathroom. Yes, it's kind of boring, but I added some music at least! And I hate hearing my voice more than I hate pictures of myself, so not talking. But the clip shows just how quickly a bathroom can get clean with a simple roll of paper towels and a few squirts of cleaner.

Overall, I was very happy to have these towels to clean my bathroom with as they make it easy for me to store them for quick cleans and I can just throw them away and not have to deal with yucky rags.

*Disclaimer: I received one roll of paper towels for free to provide my honest opinion. I am also compensated for this post.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

TV Time

I don't usually watch a lot of TV or movies. Mostly because I'm just home with the kids so I don't want TV during the day because the kids wouldn't enjoy my shows (plus I'm kind of busy) and so they just watch their kid movies. I was actually able to watch an episode of The Office this week (which was hilarious because Michael got what he thought was a cold sore and went around asking his exes if they had STDs and telling them there's no cure for herpes and it was just so hilariously awkward). Then we bought the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" for the boys because we all really enjoyed it, and we have watched it over and over and over. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it, even if you don't have kids. I'm sure I'll get annoyed with it eventually, but for now it's nice to get a break from the repetition of Wall-E and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Zzzzz

I really need to start making myself get to bed earlier. Of course last night and tonight we had family hanging out over here so that threw things off lol. We were up chatting until midnight last night with my sister and her husband and had family here until about 9 tonight watching a soccer game, which really isn't that late except then I still need to do some stuff before bed (like getting kids to bed) and so by the time I get to bed it's late. I'm going to need to rejuvenate my face with some vitamin c serum for faces. I'm practically falling asleep sitting here so I'm heading to bed in a minute. Hopefully I'll sleep good.

Little brag on myself

Alright, I've gotten my homework done for the weekend, yay! I had a paper due today in English that I just finished. Luckily it's just a rough draft cuz I know it wasn't that good and it wasn't as long as it's supposed to be. Hopefully I get some helpful peer reviews so I can make it better. I actually like my English class. I still don't like writing papers, but the class itself is ok. We have weekly online chats to discuss stuff so I feel more prepared and comfortable with it. And the peer review process has really helped. I did better than I expected on my first final draft that I turned in. I got 143/150 which is 95%. Not too bad if I do say so myself. Not that I'm going to roll up a cigar and celebrate just yet. He actually gives us a chance to revise our final drafts after grading and resubmit them, then he takes the higher grade of the two. And since most of my errors with this one were simple grammar fixes I'm going to polish it up and hope to get my grade even higher.

I am still very stressed out with my classes (added onto everything else going on, aka the twin!) but I am happy that so far I have done pretty well in all of them. My grades are all A's so far and I'm going to do my best to keep up the good work. I'm sure I'd be doing even better if I didn't have so much else going on right now and wasn't always so exhausted.

Filling my brain

Recently I've been reading a lot of books. Not the fun non-fiction ones though like usual. Nope, ever since we found out we're having twins I've been reading all the twin pregnancy and parenting books I can get my hands on. I think I've read about 10 so far. Of course most of them have very similar information, but occasionally I come across something different. I want to be as prepared as possible. Some of them were just ok, and one really annoyed me because some of the info it gave contradicted pretty much every other book I've ever read. I should have looked up some Amazon books reviews before checking them out. At least I didn't spend money on them. Yay for the library! There's one our library doesn't have that I've heard good reviews of about breastfeeding multiples. But I think without it I'll still be pretty prepared.

Friday, October 15, 2010

My cuties

Oh, I almost forgot I was going to post ultrasound pics! Silly me and my pregnant brain :D Here's the pics from last week of my cute boys. We were actually able to get a profile shot of Isaac (Baby A) this time, and some pretty good pics all around. The u/s tech said they were adorable babies. :) Isaac (A) is the first 8, Caleb (B) the other 10.


Barefoot is best

The other day when I was picking up Jason from Kindergarten I was just standing at the playground waiting and making small talk with another one of the moms. She mentioned how cute my shoes were and asked if they were comfortable. Well, they are not really comfortable. There is no arch support and if I wear them too long I get blisters. I just like them cuz they are slip-ons lol. No socks or tying needed, which is nice when a person has a big belly in the way. I'm not looking forward to snow because then I'll have to wear my old ratty sneakers. I really need some new shoes, but I have a hard time buying stuff like that for myself. It can't be avoided much longer though because they have a whole in the side that won't be fun come snow time. But until then I will take advantage of my cute uncomfortable slip-ons as long as I can. And the nice thing about being a stay-at-home mom is that I really don't go a lot of places so I can just have bare feet most of the time.

So, here's me

Alright, you know I don't like posting pictures of myself, which is why I try to keep myself out of them as much as possible, but here is my belly shot from today at 24 weeks.

And I actually look bigger in real life. This outfit doesn't do the belly justice, yo know how black is slimming. Plus by the end of the day when all the weight and food has settled in I look huge. Just ask Hubby. One of these days I need to actually make myself presentable for a picture lol. This was first thing in the morning. My hair is always in a ponytail, I just never do anything with it. Part of that is because without a blow dryer I can't dry it straight so it's pretty blah and takes too long to use my straightener (and am I the only one who has ever wondered if one of those bathroom hand dryers would work to blow dry hair in a pinch?). The other part is I'm just no good at doing hair lol. And I hardly ever wear makeup. So one day I need to get a better pic with my hair done (actually I think I did have it straightened in my 16 week pic) and put a little makeup on. And eat breakfast before the pic so I don't look so tortured.

Stupid OB Appointment

So, I had my 24 week checkup this morning. Or, according to them 25 weeks and some days. But I don't go by their date cuz I know they are wrong. But will they listen? Nope. How would a simple girl who has been charting for 5 years know anything about when her body ovulates, especially compared to their high-and-mighty ultrasound machine (even though it can be up to 2 weeks off, but they don't acknowledge that). Anyway, sorry for the little rant, I just had the worst appointment and have been in a mood all day.

It started with me arriving at the clinic at 9:10. My appointment was at 9:30 so I figured if I got there early I might be seen on time. Unfortunately, no. They did acll me back at 9:45 and did the weight, blood pressure, etc. Then they stuck me in a room to wait. And wait. And wait a little longer. Finally at 10:40 (over an hour after my appointment time!) the doctor comes in. And I use the term doctor loosely. I'm sure if this guy just had to go into healthcare there's some healthcare it jobs that would have suited him much better than OB. For one, I'm a high-risk patient, and the clinic only does high-risk appointments on Friday mornings. So you would think they would at least have high-risk specialists there, right? This guy had absolutely no experience with twins so he could not answer any of my questions and gave me a little run around when I argued my due date with him about how it was actually better to have it early since I'll be going early anyway. Um, hello! How is that better?! That just means that when I do go early I'll be even earlier than they want to believe. For example, if they don't stop labor after 35 weeks and I go into labor at 33.5 weeks when they think I'm 35, then they wouldn't stop it and that could mean an extra week or two of NICU time for my babies. So, yeah, it is not better and makes a huge difference to me! I didn't even bother asking half my questions because I knew he wouldn't know. I'm pretty sure I know a lot more than him about twins.

He measured my belly (didn't tell me what the measurement was) and then left to find my last ultrasound report and I waited for another 15 minutes. Then he did a quick ultrasound to check the babies heart rates (which he didn't tell me those numbers either, heaven forbid I know anything they write in my chart) and it really seemed like he had no idea how to do an ultrasound. Mostly because both babies are obviously head down and he said one was breech. He even mentioned how their heads were right by each other, plus I can feel both kick and know where their feet are and both have been kicking up top.

Anyway, I finally get to leave at 11:40, having wasted 2.5hrs of my time. The only good that came out of it was hearing that I had passed my 3hr GTT and getting confirmation that Baby A is head down like I thought. I will not be going back to that clinic. I was only going there cuz it was closer than going up to the clinic at the hospital, but I'm going to call the hospital clinic and get transferred there, and see if they can get me in with a doctor there I've heard good things about.

So that is why my day got off to a crappy start. Luckily it has slowly gotten better and I expect it to keep getting better.

One of them days

Ever have one of those days that starts off terrible and you just want to go back to bed and wake up in a week? Yeah, that was today. So I may not get around to posting pics of Bear Lake yet cuz I'm too tired to go through the hundreds of pics and find some to post. But I am going to at least get my last ultrasound pics up. And I guess I could post my new belly shot.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Just whining a little

I had no idea how exhausting it would be to be pregnant with twins. I was tired when I was pregnant with Nathan, more than with the other two, but this is even more. This is bone deep, brain won't function, wake up in the morning ready to go back to bed tired. All the time. I'm going to need the best wrinkle cream to get rid of these bags under my eyes. And I get three more months of this before the real sleep-deprivation torture begins. Good thing I love my kids so much lol. And there are tons of things I do love about being pregnant, like feeling the babies kick and my cute little big belly. And I know it's silly but I'm kind of enjoying the extra attention twins brings lol, even if I do have to hear "You're going to have your hands full!" a million times a day. So I can deal with the tiredness for a time. I know it won't last forever. I'm just having a whiney day today lol.

The extra expenses of fun stuff

The other day Hubby and I were talking about camping. I was saying that on our next trip to Bear Lake it would be fun to go a couple days early and camp before we go to the condo. But I decided that with two little babies that would not be much fun lol. We went camping once when Jason was a baby and it was a big pain. So I was saying that having a trailer would make it easier, but there's just too many expenses to go with it. Gas, water, sewage, towing (and a vehicle capable of towing lol), registration, etc. Just like if we had ATVs we'd need ATV Accessories like helmets. Some things would be fun to have, but with a limited income it's just too hard to justify so many extra expenses. So if we do ever go camping again we'll make do with our tents and sleeping bags and cooking over a fire. Of course who knows when that will be cuz I really do not want to camp with two little babies lol. Might be a long time before we get to go again.

I'm quitting

So, only two more months of doing childcare for me! It's been a nice way to earn a little extra income for my family without having to leave the kids, but I'm tired. The thing with any kind of home based business is that you don't get a break from your home life while still having the responsibilities of a job, it's like working a double job. And I just can't do it anymore. Mentally or physically. Plus I really won't be able to after the babies are born because I have to take Jakey to preschool twice a week and our minivan only fits 5 carseats/boosters so no room for any extras lol. So I won't be taking on any more kids, and after December when the mom of the two I watch has her baby I won't have them anymore. The loss of that income, especially when we will have the extra bills from 2 new babies, will stink, but there's really no other option. And I am so relieved.

Too tired

Oh boy, I guess I still haven't put up pictures from Bear Lake or anything for a few months. Such a slacker. Well, not really. I am just incredibly busy. I watch 2 kids part time, Jason is in Kindergarten, Jakey just started back to preschool, I'm taking 3 online classes, and of course I'm pregnant with twins. So I just have tons going on and not enough time or energy to post much. I will try to get some pictures up.

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Something random

One of the things I love about our house is that most of the rooms have honeycomb shades instead of cheap vinyl blinds. Our basement rooms still have the cheap mini blinds, but every other room has the shades and they are so much better. Except when you have to re-thread one, that's a pain lol. Mini blinds are just plain boring. In our last house we had them except for one window that we had faux wood blinds that were really nice. I wouldn't mind having those again. Our kids broke our blinds so frequently when we had the vinyl mini blinds, the shades are so much sturdier and they do a good job keeping heat and cold in or out. It's the little things like that that made a difference when we chose this house.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

22 Weeks

Seriously, time just never stops and lets me catch up! I am so exhausted all the time. And I know it will just get worse and worse until the real torture begins lol. Other than the exhaustion I feel pretty good. A lady in my ward gave me some maternity clothes and a double stroller last week. I'm so thankful for it. I was getting low on pants that fit lol. And the double stroller is in good condition and works great. I failed my 1hr glucose test so I had to go take the 3hr test this past Friday. Hopefully I pass because I would just cry if I have to give up sugar for the next 4 months. No idea when my next actual checkup will be, they haven't bothered to schedule one for me, even though it's been 4 weeks. But I do have an ultrasound on Tuesday, yay! I'm excited to see my little babies again. And I hope I get some more pictures (it would be nice of Baby A to cooperate a bit better so we can get a good profile shot). I'm glad our printer is all-in-one so it has scanning software so I can share the pictures. :) These little boys are getting more active, it's so fun. Today I was sitting and watching my belly move around. I'm enjoying it now cuz I'm sure in a few months that I'll be crying in pain from the 2 of them moving around lol.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Family Vacation!

We got back yesterday from a very fun week in Bear Lake! The boys had a really great time and it was nice to get out in the sun and play. I am so happy that the weather was really nice most of the time. On Tuesday afternoon a little storm blew through but other than that it was in the 70s most of the week. We went down to the beach a few times and to the pool a few times as well. The lake itself was freezing but that didn't keep the boys from wading in. Nathan especially loved going in the water. So we waded out there with them. The pool was really nice because the water wasn't very cold and they have a little kiddie pool that is perfect for young kids. Plus they put in a slide that Jason and Jakey loved taking turns going down. We ran into 3 other couples at the pool who had a child Nathan's age and 2 of those ladies were also pregnant and due a little before me lol.

I feel bad for Nathan because his eczema has flared up again in the last few weeks. I'm not sure if it's the change in the weather or what, but I think getting him out in the sun more at Bear Lake helped, plus we've started putting his cream on it again. I just hope it doesn't get as bad as it was earlier this year. My psoriasis has gotten worse as well and I'm glad I was able to get some more sun this week because that helps.

I will try to remember to get some pictures of our trip up soon, but I'm not promising anything lol. Very busy with school, being pg, and taking care of kids, barely have the energy to get out of bed most days!

CSNStores.com

I have been so happy to be able to do reviews for CSNStores.com. They are great to work with and have so many items in their stores to choose from. With over 200 online stores you can find everything from cheap bedroom furniture to organizational products. I'm sure you've seen the reviews I've done in the past for them. I have another review coming up soon that I am so excited to share!

The last product I was able to order and review was the Honey Can Do Triple Laundry Sorter in Chrome. We have always used the cheap triple sorters from WalMart and really they are junk, either the fabric tears easily or the frame breaks apart. So when I found the Honey Can Do sorter at CSNStores.com it looked perfect, sturdy and reliable. And it hasn't disappointed. It was pretty easy to put together and feels very solid. It barely squeezes into the area I have for it, luckily it wasn't an inch wider lol. I like that each basket is removable if you want. Plus it looks so much nicer than our old ones. As always, the shipping was fast and I had no problems at all with my order. I really do recommend checking out CSNStores.com for some excellent products.

*Disclaimer- I was given a $50 gift code to use on any item I wished from csnstores.com and asked for honest reviews. I was not paid to give good reviews, the opinions posted are my own.*

Most Asked Questions

I have been getting so many questions and comments from people when they find out if we are having twins. Here's a few of the things I hear the most:

"You are going to have your hands full!" Especially when they see I already have 3 little boys. Yes, thank you, I realize that it will be a lot to handle, but I'll do it. Because that's what moms do, we take what we get and make it work.

"Are they identical?"
Short answer- we won't know until after they are born. Long answer- the only way to know for sure if they are identical would be if they shared the same sack (mo/mo) and/or placenta (mo/di) and the only way to know for sure if they are fraternal is if they are boy/girl. My boys have separate sacks and unsure on if the placenta is shared. After a certain point placentas can fuse together to appear shared when they are really separate. If we'd had an ultrasound earlier on we would know but by this point they can't know for sure so they just assume they have separate placentas (di/di). In the case of di/di twins there is about a 25% chance they are identical which can only be found out with dna testing after birth or if they look quite obviously different we'd know they weren't.

"So glad it's not me!" Well, I know it's not what we planned, but I am glad it is me! God chose to send me two little blessings and I assume he knew what he was doing and that I could handle it. I feel very blessed.

"So, will you need a c-section?" This is one of those things that we just have to wait and see how things are going. If Baby A is head down at delivery time and I am having no other complications necessitating a c-section, then I will be able to try a normal delivery. But I know the chances of needing a c-section, with twins and 2 c-sections already under my belt, is pretty high and I'm prepared for that outcome if necessary.

"Are you going to be done?" This one always annoys me because the size of my family is between me, Hubby, and God. If I say yes they feel bad that I only have boys, and if I say no they think we are insane. Personally, I do not feel like these will be my last. But when we have more and how many is yet to be determined.

"Your belly is so small!" This is often said by people who don't know how far along I am and/or don't know how small I am normally. For me at 20wks I am pretty big.

I've heard lots of other twin comments but these are the most frequent. And from what I hear from other twin moms the comments just get crazier after the babies are born lol. I'm so glad for the Internet where I can connect with other moms of twins to get advice. I can remember stuff from my singleton pregnancies and deliveries like what to pack for the hospital, needing natural diuretics after the delivery, breastfeeding, etc. But when it comes to what I should expect with twins it's a whole new world. I've been looking up the best double strollers, how to fit 5 carseats/boosters into our minivan (not as easy as you'd think!), how to tandem nurse, and so much more. I can't imagine figuring out all that without the wealth of info I can get online from so many other moms going through it.

Halfway

So I'm halfway through my pregnancy! Well, since it's more than likely that I will have these babies early, I'm really more than halfway lol. Hit 20 weeks yesterday. Hard to believe I still have around 4 more months to go. I'm already exhausted and in pain, and it's just going to get worse. But I'm also feeling the babies move a lot more which is so fun. I'm feeling pretty big too, but it's just the beginning lol. Despite feeling huge I haven't put a whole lot of weight on so far, about average of what I put on with the other boys by this time. I've been trying to eat more and get more nutrients in for the babies, but truthfully I already eat all the time so it's hard to add on to that lol. I did start drinking a Carnation Instant Breakfast every night to get some extra calcium and protein and other nutrients. As long as the babies are getting what they need I guess I shouldn't worry about the weight. And I suppose I won't have to worry about taking fat burner supplements after to lose the baby weight lol. Not that I've had a problem with that before, the weight has always come off pretty easy for me. I've also learned quite a bit about twins that I didn't know before, been reading as much as I can and visiting twin mommy messageboards for advice and stuff. Definitely a lot to get used to. :)

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Vacation

I am so happy that our vacation to Bear Lake is coming up soon! We really need it. It'll be so nice to get away for 5 days and just have fun and relax. We don't get to take vacations very often, so our yearly Bear Lake trip is always looked forward to with much anticipation. One of these days I want to plan a big family vacation to somewhere further away. I've told Hubby that I'd love to go somewhere back East. He spent 2 years in West Virginia and Virginia and has told me how beautiful it is over there. And I have a lot of friends that go to places like Outer Banks, NC and say how amazing it is. It's funny, they would always call it OBX and it took me soo long to realize they were saying Outer Banks.
There is an amazing house by Carolina Designs that would make a perfect vacation spot for my family. It's right by the beach and the house itself is a big 5 bedroom place that even had a pool table, game room, private pool, and so much more. It looks amazing and would be so much fun. We could even invite more family to come with us because there is plenty of room for everyone. It would be so fun to take my boys to the ocean, since we live in a land-locked state they haven't ever seen it. A fun vacation to Outer Banks would be just what we need!

Friday, September 03, 2010

I know it's early

For some reason, even though it's only September, I've been wanting to get started on Christmas shopping lately. I know we have 3.5 months to work on it, but I also know how quickly that time goes by. It would be nice for once to not be rushing to get everything the week before. And I've been wondering if we want to do Christmas cards this year. Last year was the first time we have done them, since I got them for free and we finally had a nice family picture to send with them. I'm not sure if we will this year though. I haven't even thought of what to get anyone yet, but especially with the babies being due shortly after it would be nice to be prepared early.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Shock of a lifetime!

Alright, I think I mentioned that Wednesday (yesterday) we were having the ultrasound where we would find out what the baby is. I was supposed to have a regular appointment before the ultrasound but there was a mixup and I ended up having my regular appointment this morning. So we got to the ultrasound early and they got us right back (thank heavens! The boys were already tired and bouncing off the walls). The ultrasound tech was super nice and had another lady there she was teaching. We got started and she was chatting with us about our boys and how many kids we had in our families.
I was just waiting for her to really get started and not following the conversation closely, so when she said, "So this will be 5 then," I just kind of looked at Nate confused. She then said, "Did you know that? You are having two."
UM, WHAT?!?!
Sure enough, we are having TWINS!!! Oh my gosh! You should have seen how shocked we were. I just kept grinning, and I think Nate asked, "Are you sure?" about a dozen times lol. She showed us each separate baby to prove it.
We did a bunch of the measurements and stuff they have to do, then got to the fun part of finding out the genders. Baby #1 showed us right away that he is 100% BOY! One down, maybe we'd get a girl for the other? But nope, little BOY #2 wasn't shy either! Got some very obvious proof that we are having 2 BOYS!!! Holy cow, I will have 5 boys!
Here's a pic of my two baby boys:
And before you ask- we did not have an early u/s so this was the first time we saw them so we had no clue, yes twins run in my family and I was in denial that me being bigger this time might be twins, and no we probably won't know if they are identical until after they are born because they have separate sacks but many identicals have separate sacks, though they could as easily be fraternal. And now I have to switch from the midwife group to the high-risk OBs, which kind of stinks, but you do what you gotta do. :) We are shocked but thrilled and so so excited!

Bedtime yet?

Today is just one of those days were I wish I were still in bed. It hasn't been a bad day, I'm just exhausted! I didn't sleep well last night (I'll tell you why in a minute) plus I had an appointment this morning, extra kids this afternoon, and homework to do. I have to write a rough draft for my English class. I really really have never liked writing papers. This paper is a "reflection" paper, basically we think of a memory, picture, item whatever and write about it. So if you have fond memories of your grandpa sitting in a porch swing smoking Backwoods cigars or something like that, that's something you could write on. It's actually not too hard. In about half an hour I have a little over 2 pages. It has to be 3-3.5 pages so I'm pretty close. And at least it's not due until Saturday so I have time to do some revising (it needs a lot of work) and fleshing out. I had some great ideas for the paper, but of course I never wrote them down and now can't remember all of them lol. Hopefully a few comes back to me or I am at least able to provide more details on the stuff I already have. And I'm happy it's just a rough draft that's due, not a completely finished paper.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

More to do, less time to do it

So I started my online classes a week ago. Of course the first week is easy. Basically our only assignment in most classes was to read the syllabus, introduce ourselves, or provide basic info. But this week the work starts. I spent about 3 hours Saturday reading textbooks. Every Thursday I have a madatory live chat with my English class from 6:30-7:50. I have 2 assignments for English this week, one of which is a 3 page rough draft. My only CIS assignment is easy this week and I've already done it, signing up for the online coursework program we will use. No assignments due for COMM this week, thankfully, but I do have some chapters to read once my textbook shows up. I hope is shows up soon cuz I don't want to get too far behind. I'd forgotten that going to school is like having a part-time job with how much work needs to be put into it. I'm just worried that time already seems to go by so quickly, I'm afraid it'll go even faster and I'll feel bogged down. I hope that after a few weeks I won't feel so overwhelmed just thinking about it. I'll have to see how I do this semester before I decide whether to take 2 or 3 classes next semester when I have a new baby to take care of too.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Can you sew on a button?

On Wednesday night I went to a Relief Society meeting where we learned about altering clothes, modesty, and a few basic stitches. We all made a little sampler of stitches that had the motto "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" on it, and I taught how to sew on a button. I'm always amazed at how many women don't know how to sew a button on. I've had to do it a lot because when Sam was an indoor dog he loved to chew buttons off anything, especially the boys' dress shirts. One of the ladies was showing off some cute shirts she made by using extra fabric to create decoration on the shirts. I've seen similar things online, and they are really cute, but it's really not my style. I've also seen online ladies who can make cute little girl dresses out of vintage t shirts. That I would love to learn if I ever get a girl. Not that I have any shirts that would make cute dresses, but I'm sure I could find some at thrift shops. There are so many cute little girl things that I'd love to learn to make, like hair bows and stuff. I have friends that know how to do that too. One friend makes the cutest headbands and flowers so if I get a girl I'm definitely going to be ordering some.

My sister has better taste than me

I'm so thankful for my sister who loaned me her maternity clothes. I have some, and a lot of my regular shirts are stretchy enough to work as maternity shirts, but it is nice to have more options. Plus my sister has great taste so her clothes are much cuter than mine. And hers have only gone through one pregnancy and not 3 lol. I've been enjoying having cute comfy shirts to wear. Her maternity pants are much nicer than mine too. They aren't apple bottom jeans, but they are really great. My maternity jeans get all saggy in the rear end area, but hers fit perfect and you can't even tell they are maternity jeans when I have a shirt covering the stretchy waist. I need to find out where she got them so I can get a pair a size larger. These fit perfect now, but the waist is already a bit uncomfortable because of my c-section scars, so a size bigger would be nice so they aren't quiet as tight. I need to get my box of maternity clothes sorted out now and see what I have that will work during winter since it's been a few years since I've needed them.

Nervous about back to school

Next week I am going back to school. Yep, after 4 years I am finally returning to college. I am SO nervous! It'll be a big adjustment going back to the studying and testing and writing papers. I'm taking online classes so that I can still be home but I'm worried about finding time to study and get my work done. My classes this semester shouldn't be too hard, but two of them are in some of my least favorite subjects, English and Communication. I hate writing papers and I hate giving speeches. At least once those two are done I won't have any more of that type of course. Most of my classes will be Computer Information Systems since I already have the majority of my generals done from USU.

I'm glad I don't have to worry about taking the LSAT to get in though, but for anyone who does there's some great lsat prep courses out there. Knewton.com offers and LSAT prep course you can take online. They also have GMAT and SAT prep courses, and the courses have free preptests for you to practice before taking the real test. That's a good option for people who need to take these tests but don't have the time to take a prep class for them outside of the home, you can do it online on your own time.

CSN Stores Review

Alright, I know you have all been anxiously awaiting this review, right? You know, all 2 of you who read my blog. Anyway, I was happy to get a chance to review another product from CSNStores.com. I chose to get a few things, a hose reel cart because I hate lugging hoses around by hand whenever I need to water the garden, and a cute tote box thing for Nathan's toys that we keep in the family room.

We chose the Suncast Hosemobile Hose Reel Cart. It can hold up to 225' of hose. We put 2 regular garden hoses on it. It was a bit difficult to assemble but easy to use after that. With one hose it was easy to move around but with two it is a bit harder. But I have really enjoyed not having to haul hoses by hand and worrying about them getting tangled up and all over the place. Our shed is cleaner now that we don't have hoses all over and I can quickly roll out the cart when needed and roll it back so our dog doesn't chew it up. The hose unrolls and rolls back up quite easily too, even the kids can do it.

The second item was the Skip Hop Bin-Go Large Storage Bin in Ice Blue. We had a little white plastic basket we were using for Nathan's toys in the family room, but it wasn't big enough and I wanted something cuter. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this bin is actually even bigger than I thought. It holds all the loose toys and fits perfectly in the open space beneath our movie shelf. Plus it has handles on the side so it's easy to pull out and move anywhere I want it. It's sturdy canvas and I like that the white/blue combo doesn't stand out too much in our neutral colored room. I really love this storage tote and would love some more for the boy's play room, or for quite a few other organizing things. The smaller tabletop organizer would be perfect for putting diapers and wipes in to have easy access anywhere.

As always, the shipping for the items was quick, I received both within a week. I am very happy with both items and with my experience so far with CSNStores.com.

*Disclaimer: I received a $50 code to use to buy any item(s) I wished from CSNStores.com to review honestly. The opinions in this review are my own.

This is why I'm busy

This is the kind of thing that keeps me busy all day lol. No, that is not blood (though Nathan did fall off a chair and get a bloody lip last week, but I don't stop and take pics in those situations), it is ketchup. I gave the boys corn dogs for dinner one night and when they were done Nathan decided to pick up his plate and rub it on his face and head. I wasn't even mad because it was too funny. I really don't know what goes through kid's heads sometimes and why they think to do the things they do. But it is things like that that have kept me from getting my product review post done. I'm excited to share it. It's not antenna reviews, and doesn't have anything to do with TVs or shows or antennas at all. Though I do love our TV, and we even have a digital converter in it instead of the antenna we used to need. Hm, seems my brain got off track again. Another product of the kids. I just don't seem to have the attention span I used to. Anyway, that review is coming up!

Electronics

So, I've been going through my old posts and pictures on my camera to see if I have any fun pics that I haven't posted since the last time I did a big update. It's funny because a lot of pictures on my memory card are from the boys playing with the camera. So there are quiet a few pics of the ceiling, tv, toes, fingers, noses, and blurry somethings. And then most of the rest of the pictures are of Nathan. He LOVES getting his picture taken and any time he sees the camera he gets a huge grin and goes "TEESE!" over and over, and then he gets mad when you put the camera away. Also, now that we got new phones, we can take better pictures with them so when he sees the little camera thing on the back of the phone he does the same thing. So funny. Speaking of which, I am really loving my new phone. My last one really didn't completely recover from the repeated dunking Nathan gave it a few months ago, so for a while I'd been using an old phone that my sister-in-law gave me. Finally for Hubby's birthday he talked me into letting him get the new HTC EVO 4G phone, and since he was getting a cool new phone I decided I deserved one too. We went to a few different Sprint stores (for some reason only some of them allowed you to get on a list to get the backordered EVO and others it was first come first serve. They just need to get faster wholesale distributors for that phone I think) and the lady helping us showed me a few different ones and I settled on the Samsung Intercept. In pink of course. It's an android phone that has a slide out keyboard, touch screen, and google apps. It's really cool. Oh and it has a micro-SD card so I can easily transfer pics and stuff from my phone to my computer. I really like that. It took a while to get used to how the apps work because I was so used to using our iPod Touch and still prefer how the iPod apps work, but I've gotten the hang of it now.

Girl's best friend

A few days ago I was at my sister's and she was showing me pictures of some wedding rings she wants. She was married almost a year ago, and for her anniversary they want to get new rings to replace the cheaper ones they got last year. They were gorgeous, and we all seemed to agree on one of the 3 that was the nicest. It reminded me of more than 7 years ago when Hubby and I went to look at diamond engagement rings after we got engaged. It was so fun to look through all the rings and find just the right one for me. My ring isn't too spectacular, I think of it more as simple and elegant. It really is perfect for me. As soon as I saw it I just knew it was the one. That also reminded me that I really need to have it cleaned sometime soon, it's gotten dim and the tiny diamonds on the side have gunk built up around them. So next time I'm around a jewelry store I need to remember to stop in and have them do a quick clean. It's nice that most places will do it for free and it only takes a few minutes to get it all sparkly and beautiful again.

16 Weeks

Alright, so I'm going to post a pic of me so you can see how I look at 16 weeks. My belly has definitely gotten bigger faster this time. And I hate pictures of me. :P My hair is blah, no makeup, tired. Tomorrow I'm getting my hair done at least, so I could have waited until then to take a pic to show. But I like to take pics every 4 weeks of my pregnancy. I have one at 8wks and 12wks and now 16wks. Sorry the pic is a bit dim and fuzzy. I'm also not very good at taking self pics lol.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Nice rainy day

Today was such a nice day. Cool and rainy and great. It's been in the 90's for most of the last month with very little rain so it felt great to be in the 60-70s with a nice breeze and the scent of rain in the air. I got to open my windows and let in the fresh air and sunshine without worrying about heating up the house. Plus I didn't have to water my garden. We should still have another month in the 80-90s before it cools down, and I know I should try to enjoy it before the cold winter weather kicks in, but especially after having to walk to the school and back twice every day, I've gotten very tired of the heat and bright sun.

I guess I better head to bed soon. But tomorrow I will be back, I still need to write a CSN review (and look through their stores some more for something I want, they really have tons of stuff, I wouldn't be surprised to see jewelry making tools there), and I'm going to take a pic of my baby belly, I may put it up if it's not too hideous lol. Oh, did I mention we get to find out what we are having in less than 2 weeks?! So excited!

Anyway, my thoughts are really scattered cuz I need to head to bed. My brain really stops functioning as soon as it gets dark out lol.

Need more naps

I really need to start getting to bed earlier. I'm so exhausted all the time. But it's just so nice to have quiet time after the kids go to bed. Since I can't afford to take a vacation in Orlando every few months to recharge my batteries, that quiet time at night is my little time to relax. But it doesn't help when I'm already tired to stay up more. I almost got a nap today. I fell asleep on the couch while the boys were watching a movie, but couldn't stay comfortable so it was just dozing off and on for about 15 mins. I wish they all took naps, that would be heaven lol. Jason took nice long naps until he was 4, but Jakey gave them up around 2. Luckily Nathan still takes a nap, usually 2-3hrs. I hope he is more like Jason and keeps it up until he's 4.

HSA

One of the main reasons we decided to move here from Idaho a few years ago was because the company Hubby works for has great health insurance. No monthly premium, no deductible, good coverage. Now the company is thinking of switching to a health savings account next year. I'm really not sure how exactly it works but from what I can see it is a lot more complicated than what they currently offer. We understand about rising insurance costs (they estimate the cost to our company of our current insurance will go up 20% next year, yikes) and the company trying to save money, but it stinks to be switching from the great insurance that was the motivating factor for us to move here to the HSA. One big drawback is that even though the company will make contributions to our account every month, we basically start out with nothing there so any expenses at the beginning of the year (like, say, having a BABY) will not have the money in the account to cover it yet. I really wish I knew more about how HSA's work. Overall from what they've told us, we won't really be spending any more than we are now on average, I just have a hard time figuring out how it all works.

Always a mess


Last week Nathan flooded our main bathroom and laundry room. He loves playing in the toilet and stuck a little bath toy in it, which caused it to completely plug up. Then he flushed it over and over. I couldn't hear what he was doing because our loud a/c was going, so by the time I realized what happened the water had reached the garage door. Thankfully it hadn't gotten to the carpet yet (very close though!) and Jason and Jakey helped me clean it up with a dozen towels. Jakey also was able to reach in the toilet and get the toy out so we didn't have to take the thing apart. We try to remind the boys that they need to remember to close either the laundry room or bathroom door every time they go in there. Nathan can open the doors that have a pull down latch but not the twist kind of knobs. Unfortunately most of our doors have the pull down latches, but at least the laundry room and bathroom downstairs don't so as long as it's shut he can't get in. Yet. I know all too well how quickly kids learn out to open doors, then unlock a deadbolt lock, and then they figure out how to work the child safety locks. We have to have our deadbolt locked on the front and garage doors at all times to keep Nathan inside. At least when he gets big enough to undo those we have locks at the top of the door as well that we can resort to.

Jason's in Kindergarten!


My oldest son started Kindergarten this year! How did I get that old already?! I can't believe he is almost 6 and is now in real school. This was his first day. Isn't he adorable? He started a few weeks ago and is really liking it so far. He's made lots of friends and his teacher is very nice. He's had a few issues with learning to obey the rules but he is doing better and even got a little award for "making good choices". They have half day Kindergarten only here so he goes 3hrs a day Mon-Thurs and 2hrs on Fri. I'm so glad the school is right across the street. We still have to walk down to the corner to the crosswalk and back up the street, but it's still just a few minutes. There used to be a crosswalk right by our house but they took it out last year, would have made the trip even quicker. And next year I'll have 2 in school! Jakey will be doing another year of preschool and then enter Kindergarten next year. So weird to have a school-aged kid. I don't feel old, but then I remember I'll be turning 27 this year. Time really does go by faster the older you get.

Why I love it

You know what I really love about blogs? That you can get real advice from real people. I read a lot of mommy blogs and it's so nice to get lit bits of advice about parenting, housework, marriage, etc while reading what other moms are going through. So much easier than doing searches online, where you can type in a search for potty training tips and get results that vary from plumbing fixtures to NC short term health insurance. I've gotten a lot of tips on organizing and kids activities that I find very helpful, and it's just fun to read about the experiences and feelings of other parents and realize that we all go through a lot of the same stuff. For stay-at-home moms it's a nice way not to feel so shut off from the world.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Who needs seasons anyway?

Oh my gosh, I am so tired of this heat! It's been in the 90's for over a month. I know it's worse in other place, but I just am so tired of it! I would be perfectly happy if it was 75* year round. I don't need seasons, I hate the cold and I hate being so sticky hot. Last week I thought we had finally broken the heat spell, we had a few days in the 80's and a little bit of rain, but this week we are right back up there. Yes, I know as soon as it's winter and the weather is below freezing I'll be wishing for the heat to come back lol. I really do hate the cold more than the heat. In the winter I just want to curl up in a heated blanket with some hot chocolate and a book and in summer I just want to lay on the couch under the fan with the a/c blowing. I LOVE Fall. It's so perfect, nice a crisp and just cool enough and the pretty leaves changing colors.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tackle It Tuesday - Sewing/Mending


I usually don't join in the memes and things going around blogs, but I actually tackled something this week and figured it would be fun to join in Tackle It Tuesday at 5M4M.

Now I should have tackled a review post I have been meaning to put up, but I just haven't yet, I really will soon. I promise.

What I did tackle was my growing pile of sewing/mending. In this pile I had a toddler size mattress cover that the corners were full of holes, Jakey's favorite pillowcase that had ripped up the seam, a pair of pants with a broken snap, and 5 pair of pants with ripped up knees.

I started with the broken snap since it was the only thing that didn't involve sewing. I'm pretty sure that one snap took longer than the rest of the stuff all together. Getting the old snap off was a pain! And I had to get it off because the only replacement snaps I have are not the same size so they wouldn't work with the old one. Finally with the help of a hammer, a tiny screwdriver, and needle-nose pliers I managed to rip it off. After that using my little snap kit to attach a new snap wasn't too difficult and now the pants work correctly again.

Then I set up my sewing machine and went on to the mattress cover. It has this really awful material around the edge that has worn through at all the corners and just gets worse every time I put it back on Nathan's mattress. I took some white birdseye fabric and basically just sewed a big patch over all the corners. Was easier than I'd expected and now hopefully the cover will last much longer.


The pillowcase was of course the easiest fix. The rip was next to the seam so now it looks like there are 2 seams on that side but since it's going on a 4yr old's pillow I don't really care lol. Just a simple straight stitch up the side and I was done in about a minute.

I took all the holey pants and made shorts. They aren't anything spectacular, but considering these were the cheapo $3.50 pants from WalMart (hence all the holes) and it was this or the garbage so I think they are fine. I just cut off the pants right above the ripped knees (really wish I had a rotary cutter and self-healing mat! Would have made it much easier) then hemmed them under.


And there you have it! A nice pile of finally finished sewing/mending projects.