Ho, Ho, Ho...Merry Christmas @ the Mitchell's

Stone who wants to be an Inventor when he grows up is now experimenting with electricity...Wish us luck! Knowing Stone next it will be bombs in the basement. If that happens...we will gladly steer him towards a career in the military as he would be a great asset to our Country! ... :)


Phoenix and her American Girl doll really do look alike...I know it is supposed to be like that, but its just strange...


All little Miss Avery wanted this year from Santa was PlayDoh. She was so excited when he didn't let her down.


Zion and Cy are so happily stimulated by something other than each other...imagine that!

Can't get her off of my mind!

Stone has a friend in school who had a house fire earlier in the school year and has been out of their home since. Immediately after the fire Stone came home very determined to serve in any way possible this friend. He obviously could feel the inner struggle and need within this child as he begged with me to do whatever we could to ease to burdened mind of his friend. We did serve in our own families way and went about our business.

Stone's class had a Christmas party the other day and I was able to meet up with the mother of Stone's friend again who I had never met prior to our brief meeting after the fire nor had I seen her since. We had a brief yet intense conversation. The Spirit which accompanied was so strong. Even though they are in a rental townhouse and have been for months. She had mentioned that the builders had not even begun to start construction on her home and once they begin it will take anywhere from 5-7 months to get back into their home from that time. I asked her if they gave her any idea when they would start and she said "no". She has some things that they were able to "save" from the fire in storage, but she is not sure what is there and how damaged things are and whatnot. I asked her if she has been able to feel at home yet in the townhome. She said that she is having a hard time because of her kitchen things. She said that she always did all the big holidays and she has been able to replace the necessities in the kitchen and things are in storage, but it just doesn't feel like home.

As I have done the Christmas thing with my family the past 5 days since speaking with her I cannot get her off of my mind! I am a mother...I take the greatest pride and comfort in feeding and loving my family from one place...my kitchen. It is my belief that the woman before me was telling me the same thing. I must do something! But I need some help...Everyone has different things which makes their kitchen special and run more efficiently for them.

I cannot even begin to help her replace these special things until I know what they are. I mean, I know what mine would be...Please tell me the three to five things which you cannot live without in your kitchen.

Not only on an eveyday basis, but during the holidays as well.

Thanks!

Happy 4th Birthday Avery!

Just a bit Blogger late...We actually did celebrate on time.

My dear Avery is four. I love it! To all those who haven't had the privilege let me explain the cocktail to which makes up my beautiful daughter. She is first and for most hilarious. The things which come out of her mouth...crack me up! Second she is sweet. If she decides she likes you she will call you her "best friend" and check with you often to ensure her ongoing status. She then talks about you, wants to call you, and makes up stories about you. It doesn't even matter to her how old you are. Some of her better "best friends" are above 30. The third part of Avery is Scary :) She will tell you where to put it, how to put it, and if you don't do it quick enough for her liking suggest if she could put it for you. I will give you a example which is why I included her purple birthday cake into the birthday picture selections below. Avery went into her Four Year Old Check up a bit ago and began her normal spilling her guts sessions to anyone who will listen to her speak. The nice nurse taking her height and weight asked her what type of birthday cake she would be choosing this year. She informed her "purple". The nurse looked at me. I nodded that was correct. No Barbie, No Dora...Just Purple...Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining just stating the facts. So the nurse looked back at her and said "well what flavor is purple" Avery gave her the nastiest look like "you idiot" and said "Purple!" That's my girl...Scary!

Ps...The cake flavor was chocolate...lol.

Our Special Tree

Christmas time is upon us... I should be keeping my children in their beds as I listen to them being mischievous upstairs, but pretend not to notice as I seriously need a break for myself down here. I will try to ignore them a little bit longer. As long as I can stand the bangs and clangs of out of control children trying to sound sneaky...lol.

I know that we have fallen off the radar for a minute, but we have had really good excuses. None of which I want to get into at this point, but believe you me. Its just some of the same old only ever seems to happen to Chris kinda crap that really would make normal people weep if only Chris didn't make it sound so damn amusing. How the hell does she do that anyhow???? lol...But anyhoo... I wanted to share some of our fun putting up the Christmas lights pictures. Now yes, I did say lights... I have decided no actual ornaments will adorn my tree this year. It is with mixed emotions I have made this decision but I did not want to spend the whole holiday yelling at my children to "Leave the Tree Be!" So we only hung lights and candy canes and Phoenix and Avery ate the candy canes within the first three days so we are just chillin with our lights. I am happy to report I have not yelled about my tree once this year :)

But I am about to yell about my children running around upstairs...Enjoy the Pics!

10 Reasons Why I Know Stone is Special

1. He is a Child of God.

2. He is a spectacular big brother.

3. Every morning after getting off the bus he returns to each one of his prior teachers classrooms just to say "Hi"

4. He is intelligent. If he hears a new word he asks for a definition, remembers it, and subsequently uses it at a later date. He watches the "learning" shows with his Dad and is always telling me things that I didn't know. He wants to be an inventor (or a football player in the NFL) and is constantly describing his inventions to me.

5. He thinks I make the "best junk food ever" When I asked about that comment he replied. "You know...Cookies, Pies, Muffins, Breads" "You are pretty good at the other food too except there are always too many veggies in your dinners" I guess that year working at the bakery really did pay off!

6. On Saturday mornings he loves to curl up next to me under a blanket and turn on cartoons.

7. He is strong willed and fights for what he believes is right. This skill will serve him much better in the real world. At home what he believes is right may not be the way it goes :)

8. He loves kisses, hugs and snuggles and gives them out freely.

9. He loves the beach as much as I do.

10. He is giving and compassionate. He asked to help his friend at school whose home was burned in a fire. At stores when they ask if you want to donate $1 to whatever cause he always says "we really should help"...I have lost more dollars that way :)

I LOVE YOU STONEY B.

To All Those Who Voted...

SURPRISE!
SURPRISE!

Zion is the winner of the weigh off @ 10 pounds 12 ounces. Cy is in close second @ 10 pounds 2 ounces. I loved this because though Cy definitely looks the bigger of the two, when you pick up Zion he feels completely solid.


~Zion on the left, Cy on the right...directly out of the bath...they were freezing...you can obviously see their displeasure with this process of Mommy taking pictures instead of promptly dressing them.

Circus Freak or Super Princess

If you have had any kind of interaction with me at all, you are probably aware that I am really quite anti-social. I have levels of this anti-social behavior which makes sense to (most likely) only me. If someone is a stranger, I would rather pull a tooth than speak to you. If you are a casual acquaintance, I will only speak if directly spoken to or if eye contact is made. Many times this situation will leave me hiding behind displays in the grocery stores to avoid conversing. If I consider you a good person and I enjoy you as a person, I will converse with you at times and ignore you at others (this change is usually associated with my stress level) because I truly do value these people in my lives, I often end up having to justify my anti-social behavior with poor excuses. Finally there is a whole other group of people. These are the people who I consider "Family". These are the people who at times I havent spoken to in a year or so and when we do speak its as if we spoke yesterday. These are the people who I will literally talk your ear off with all my crazy antics, deep ideas, and spiritual experiences. With these people, you literally cannot shut me up. I think most of this boils down to...I do not enjoy small talk...it makes me uncomfortable. All of this being said, I am now getting to the point of this blog...

I FEEL LIKE A CIRCUS FREAK!!! When I go anywhere, strangers are all up in my business. Comments, looks, questions, and opinions about anything and everything. My favorite, and most inappropriate would be the nasty look accompanied by "are those twins? and those other three are they all yours?...FIVE...Wow!"

I have come to the conclusion that I am either going to have to become a recluse, grit my teeth...grin and bear it, or my friend...(he who should remain nameless) believes that this would be my opportunity to be pushed outside my comfort zone and therefore given an ability to grow into a less anti-social person. We will see...

I will finish my thoughts with this: Tuesday I went to the kids school for "Muffins with Mom" and was attacked by many causal acquaintances and snotty nosed children alike. Many for the twin thing...others choose the five children angle...and the finial reason...I set myself up for...You see, Avery refused to wear anything but a sleeveless dress, a superman cape, pink and purple crocks and a princess wand. She proclaimed herself "Super Princess" This wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been raining and 50 degrees outside. For all those bloggers who are judging me right now. #1 My first or second would never have gotten away with this #2 The screaming wakes up the babies #3 I am learning that they are more confident children when I allow them to make their own decisions therefore consequences (she was cold and wet) #4 The wise Huband women (Linda and Pat) have given me a gem of a quote "You are not a "real" Mom until you have lost control" All those Moms with either difficult children or more than two kids (I, myself, have both) are so loving this quote right now:)

Candy Anyone?

Just for Megan because we like you so much!

A neighbor had given us two bibs one ghost (Cy) and the other a cat (Zion). I put their bibs on them last night, but Daddy who was lugging the camera didn't really get them good enough to see. So, just for Megan, I put their bibs back on them this morning for their Halloween photo shoot. Last night, they did walk around with us in a stroller while the other kids ran up to the houses.

At our house, I left a big bowl of candy on the front step because Mitchell and I both wanted to be the ones to stay home and give out candy...We compromised and both went instead.

Happy Halloween from Spidey, Kitty, and Bunny

They all look so happy don't they! The candy rush must be over. This was the night of the Trunk or Treat @ church, but they will be wearing the same get-ups tonight.

Speaks for Itself

Remembering Rockville Ward

When I think of the Van Orden's many fun memories come flooding back to me. Toilet papering their home the night before Mother's day with huge "We love you Momma VO!" posters. Only to have Betty show up the next day to church wearing a gorgeous homemade corsage made out of the toilet paper from the front yard...Skinny dipping in their pool with 3 other girls only to have a nearby male church member peeping through the fence because he thought he saw "activity" at the house while they were on vacation...PERV...The Senior Graduation Party/BBQ at their home the year I graduated from High School and finally (the last I will share) The total feeling of love and acceptance from Momma and Poppa VO every time you entered their presence. I love these people...I always have. I love their children, their homes, the way they serve the Lord, the yummy VO food (props to Betty!) and most importantly their love and living of the Gospel. Growing up, they were just one set of examples which sprang from my life while living in the Rockville Ward. So why this tribute to the VO's after not having seen them for 10 or so years. Well Momma VO has written a Christmas book and I wanted to place it on my page for everyone to see http://www.cedarfort.com/author/VanOrden.html I remember the bit of advice Betty gave me as I went off to college "Even if you never need or use your college degree, Get one! I always regretted not getting mine" As I am two classes away from my degree and have been working on it off and on over the past 15 years. I want Betty to know I remember her advice often and keep moving forward (though slowly) because of it. I also want Betty to know she never needed a degree to do what made her special. Many, Many of our Young Women (myself included) have become better wives, mothers and women because of her example in our lives.

What do the Mitchell's do?

So...I have kids that aren't quite as helpful as they probably should be. The girls are always willing to help on "their" terms which is okay, but Stone is rarely helpful unless there is a "big" something in it for him. In the past we have tried all sorts of "fun" ideas: charts, stickers, dollar store rewards...etc. The kids would stay interested for all of about two minutes. This has always been a bit frustrating for me but since I am usually to impatient to deal with the chaos and the fact that I could have finished it by myself 20 minutes ago, I just accept the idea that I get little to no help and go about my business. A few Sunday's ago, the Relief Society lesson spoke a bit about families that are successful are those which work and play together. In a recent talk with the Bishop he also suggested in passing the fact that our kids are old enough to help and we should allow them to do so. These things considering I decided to put this goal on the front burner. I want children who are responsible, who know how to work hard. Yet I do realize that if I do not teach them to be such it will be difficult for them to acquire these traits latter on in life. So with greater resolve and the help of my Father in Heaven I began a new plan of attack. My children always fought about which job they wanted or didn't want. So this time, I gave all three the title of "Helpers". Every Saturday, I took a new sheet of paper and wrote each of their names across the paper. Then would ask them to do specific tasks, depending on what I was working on, so If I was cleaning the kitchen I would ask one to take the trash out and replace garbage bag, another to take dirty dish cloths upstairs to the dirty clothes baskets, another to but away the clean silverware from the dishwasher. I would then write whatever I ask them to do next to their name. When they returned to tell me it was done, I would put a star by their job and find another job. Each star is worth 20 cents and they do not get paid until the next Saturday. Reason 1: I may have specific jobs during the week which are star worthy. Reason 2: When you have just handed them $ they are more likely to remember what they are working for. This has worked amazingly for our children. I do not have to ask them more than once to do a task (which means no yelling) and if they "get lost" while doing a job when they return we pull out the paper and see what jobs under their names have no stars and then I point out how many stars another child might have. All of the sudden, they figure out they are getting less money than their counterparts and begin to pick up the pace. I also have started a Motto "The Mitchell's work together" and throughout the week when things need everyone to pitch in I always say "What do the Michell's do?" and they all know the answer "The Mitchell's work together". I am so excited! My kids are learning to be helpful and they can actually earn some money so when we go to the store and they ask if they can something, I can now reply: Do you have enough money to pay for it? If not, keep saving! lol.

Adventures with Fuzzy

Fuzzy is a stuffed dog which Phoenix's class is passing around. Each child gets Fuzzy for a 24 hour period. Fuzzy comes along with a journal, so that each child can write what they did with Fuzzy and share with the class the next day. Yesterday was Phoenix's turn. The bus had barely pulled away when Fuzzy came like lightning out of Phoenix's backpack. Immediately she disappeared on her adventures. An hour later she reemerged to write in the journal what her and her new best friend were up to. I, at the time, was helping Stone with homework, but every few minutes I would get a "How do you spell..." question. She would then disappear again. Avery has become Phoenix's newly acquired shadow, which for the most part, Phoenix doesn't mind. So three steps off was Avery. All afternoon long it was Fuzzy, Phoenix, and Avery. They played a game of throw Fuzzy in a tree and shake him down (I liked this game least of all) They rode bikes with Fuzzy in the basket. They jumped on the trampoline and played hide and seek. Fuzzy even tried to make it to the dinner table. I found Fuzzy in the crib with the twins while Phoenix and Avery giggled and when Mitchell got home from work it was picture taking time with Fuzzy. At bedtime, Phoenix read Fuzzy stories and went to bed cuddling up to him. This was really cute and quite frankly kept both Avery and Phoenix entertained all night long. So here's to you Fuzzy, from a Mom who really needed the extra help!

Fuzzy @ Sea

Fuzzy's a Hot Dog!

Fuzzy listening to the MP3 player on the Trampoline

My Adult Thumbsucking

I was watching some TV program on ABC the other morning and they had this guest on named Judith Wright who spoke about Soft Addictions. I took the below directly from the ABC web page to help me explain.

"Wright, the author of "The Soft Addiction Solution," says soft addictions are normal, everyday activities done to excess. She says some addictions zone you out, like television or Internet, while others, like overeating or overusing gadgets like BlackBerrys, are the adult equivalent of thumb-sucking.

Soft addictions start early, according to Wright, and she sees more than boredom as the cause. "The real issue is that they're stressed out. They're trying to comfort themselves."

It's a problem "when the behavior no longer just soothes you, but instead begins to bother you," Wright said.
Wright said these soft addictions could become very embarrassing for the addicts.
"You don't feel good that you are out of control and that something has this much power over you,"

I have now not been able to get this crap off my mind. I was not at all bothered by my so called Soft Addictions until this lady gets on the TV and says that "you are out of control and that something has this much power over you" and "adult thumb sucking" As I began to think about what in my life would be classified as a Soft Addiction they just kept coming and coming. It is no real surprise to me as my self awareness has always allowed me to identify that I become addicted to things quite quickly. My plight in life has just been to control what I allow myself to become addicted to. Is that an oxymoron? I also have on and off switches to certain Soft Addictions such as: Exercise, Weighing myself, Eating Candy, Getting lost in my music, going out for drive-thru food, etc. Then there are others that seem to be constant: Cracking my fingers, TV as background noise, Eating Popcorn/Crunchy Foods, etc. I have found that the trick to this for me is to pick the "healthy" ones and tweak the not so healthy ones. Like I only exercise once a day at a certain time and if I miss it, I will not do it until the next day or eating light Popcorn, carrots, almonds and apples not only for the crunch but to combat the candy. I have been working on the TV as background noise, but seem to be loosing this battle (I may give it more attention now) But as for cracking my fingers call it what you will "thumb sucking" whatever it will never stop. One of the greatest things about my husband is that it doesn't bother him, he has actually never said one word about it and he doesn't even do it! This is a blessing as I grew up being backhanded with a "knock it off" by Mommy for it a few times a day since John Cook taught me to do it in fifth grade.

Who gets the Binki?

The older they get, the louder they get. Cy has always had the market cornered when it came to decibel level, yet now a days Zion is giving her a run for the money. My favorite (sarcasm) is when they cry me a duet. Sometimes I just have to laugh as I remember the days when one was enough of me and I was able to jump up and rescue my baby from whatever was ailing them. Now I must pick which one will be rescued leaving the other to just become more and more upset. It, at times, gets quite ugly...red faced, screaming, shaking, kicking. While I rehearse in my head the following "go to my happy place, go to my happy place" knowing I can do nothing until I am finished dealing with the other. I have been getting good at breastfeeding one while bottle feeding the other (Cy refuses to breastfeed), but the burping is giving me issues with this process. Inevitably someone spits up. I must admit...I do love the chaos and the challenge of it all. Plus they are just so cute together.

Ode to Daniel

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...You look like a monkey and you smell like one too!"

It's so much better than a card or even a gift which was sent two weeks ago and must be lost in the mail. Gosh, you are the luckiest to have such a wonderful sister as me! Some would give their right arm for space on THIS blog. Have a happy happy day! Hey isn't this 30? You're getting up there. Good luck with that...Old Man :)

I love you!

What's on my mind

Does Heavenly Father, at times, give you more than the normal amount of opportunities to serve during the midst of some of the greatest trials? As many of you are aware, we have had our share of trials over the past year and a half. It, to me, can best be described as a parade. The minute we seem to catch our breath...here comes the next one. I am not complaining because it is also true that some of our greatest blessings and growth as individuals have also come during this time. I am just mentally taking note that our family is again staring down the barrel of another trial. This is usually the time when I become very "family" minded, doing all that I can do to ensure the most damage control possible. This time I am feeling, though overwhelmed, a huge push to serve in some very specific, very outside of Chris's box kind of ways. Quite frankly, I wish to return to business as usual and start the normal processes (becoming a recluse to all but my family). But is it possible that Heavenly Father is telling me to serve others and He will take care of us? I guess I just answered my own question. Though to all that care...I don't like this plan! Being outside of my box is never a comfortable place to be. I guess I will have faith and put myself out there.

The Primary song "When were helping were happy and we sing as we go..." just came to mind. IT'S ALL A LIE MINUS THE SINGING PART APPARENTLY :)

A Whole Bunch of Love

Cy and Zion on their first day @ church last week (above). I had to beat off the people (aka, germs) with sticks. People have no idea how I cringe every time they come close to their faces. They are getting so big. They suck each others fingers, hold hands, and sleep nose to nose. It is so cute. Cy's double chin and cheeks just continue to get bigger and bigger which only makes her cuter to me and her Dad! Dad loves the cheeks especially! Zion seems to be laid back and soulful. Its almost as if he is looking through you. (You can see from below)

Phoenix and Stone on the first day of school. Last week, Phoenix came home asking to join running club at school. I must say my nightmares from Jr High School all came flooding back as I began to break out into a cold sweat, but realizing this isn't all about me I agreed to sign her up. We asked Stone if he would like to join as well and he said he would. It is once a week immediately after school. I had a parent teacher conference at the school on the same day, so I was able to sit in the car and watch the running club. They divided the grades and so Stone and Phoenix are both doing something different. I first saw Stone who was running around some made up course (over the river and through the woods...almost) he was looking like a beat dog. I felt a bit Mommish for him as I watched him run and knew how hot it must have been outside my air conditioned car :) I then turned my attention to Phoenix as she came around the corner of the building. She was talking, giggling, and walking. Had I not signed her up for running club I would have believed she was in some kind of social club. Her and her little friend Joey (which she does everything with at school) were having a blast. They would run about 10 steps every so many minutes and then back to the party. When they finished, Stone greeted me with a "I want to quit. They made me run!" On the contrary Phoenix said " I had so much fun. I wish it was everyday" I smiled my "I know why grin" and suggested that Stone may want to find a friend to run with as it seemed to be working with Phoenix and besides I will not allow my $ to go to waste. (I told him that he couldn't quit because of commitment and teamwork...blah...blah....blah)

Avery is stuck at home with her sleepy, grumpy, busy Mommy. You can see in the picture she is desperate to get on the bus with the other kids. She is becoming an expert at fetching two diapers, finding binkies, staying on the couch watching TV while Mommy takes a nap, picking up dirty clothes, helping to make dinner and other such domestic Goddess duties. She seems to enjoy it yet I must admit most times I feel guilty she has few and far between chances to go to the park, ride her bike, play with playdough, and other such fun activities the older two were able to do. On really special days she gets to play in the tub while I clean the bathrooms and if she is REALLY lucky I will get in and play with her but again few and far between. I wonder if she has any idea how short her end of the stick actually is. Today I made up a picnic on my bedroom carpet so I could actually take a longer nap. She spread out a beautifully lined up blanket and we ate popcorn, cheese sticks, peanut butter sandwiches and grapes. We then climbed back into bed for the third hour of TV/Naptime. I know...horrible, but reality at this point!

Buffest Mom on the Block

Apparently I must have swallowed a stupid pill @ some point today, but I decided in addition to the two doctors appointments which I had (one for Stone and the other for Zion and Cy) that I would try and take on the world all in one day. Please be reminded that this would be my first trip out with the twins alone. On a side note...after 5 weeks in the Hospital, the weeks of recovery/NICU visits, and the first three weeks home getting used to these sweet newborns, I have to admit I actually felt free. This may have partially contributed to the stupidity of not just doing what I needed to and getting the hell back home! So here was my day in a nutshell. I awoke at 7:53 am which was just the right time to hear the bus pulling away from the stop. The sounds of SpongeBob SquarePants is blaring from a TV downstairs. I go downstairs and find my children lounging in their PJ's as if it were a Saturday or something. You would think I completely insulted them by letting them know that they had just missed the bus and needed to return upstairs to get dressed. The morning was not without yelling and crying and that was just from me :) As soon as I got into the car the low gas indicator dinged and we said family prayer as we drove with Stone announcing to the car "that only Mommy didn't have to close her eyes because she was driving and might kill us if she closes her eyes."We finally made it to school and dropped Phoenix off and then headed off to get gas. While filling up the gas tank I had two minutes to realize I hadn't eaten and I was apparently starving. I got into the car looked at the clock and had 15 minutes to make a 25 minute drive to the Doctors office. I still stopped at McDonalds with the justification that someone has to feed the babies and if I don't eat, neither do they. So I made it to the doctors office a bit late, but hauling two infant car seats seems to bring out the kindness or pity in the secretaries and they allowed me to see the doctor anyhow. I had an hour and a half to burn between appointments and I didn't have enough time to get Stone back to school and then make it to the appointment so Stone became my road dog for the day. I love the extra time to spend with him! Mitchell had mentioned prior that he would like me to bring the twins to his job so that he could show them off and I decided that as long as I was out and had some time to burn I would take them all to see Daddy. Mitchell was gracious and met me in the parking lot to help carry the two babies their car seats and diaper bag into the building. After much time of being goo'd and gaa'd at we left with no time to make it to the hospital. Fifteen minutes later we made it to the hospital and Stone and I were on our own for all the carrying. Stone carried the diaper bag and I carried the twins from the back of the parking lot and across the entire hospital longways until we finally found the Ultrasound place. I would like to Sidebar the fact that I cannot go anywhere without many, many people stopping me to look and ask questions about the twins. As most of you know I am the queen of anti-social with people I don't know and this has so thrown me for a loop. I am outwardly gracious, but I believe my facial expressions are around the idea of "do I know you?" I can tell that this "Stranger Questioning" is going to get really old really quickly and Pissy Chrissy may have to make her infamous debut. I fear for them....really I do! Anyhow...I make my way back to the snotty secretary at the Ultrasound unit at the Hospital who was less than impressed with my mile and a half jaunt to get to her. She nastily informed me that according to her records I had no appointment. After listening to all her snide questions (she assumed I made no appointment and just showed up for the fun of it apparently) I made her call up to the NICU because they were the ones who supposedly made this appointment but to no avail I picked up my damn heavy children and left. Stone and I made our ways to the front of the building where I sat down the carseats out of exhaustion and I went to open my mouth and a really nice hospital worker at the front said "I will call the complimentary shuttle" I said "thanks, you read my mind". I so wanted to go home, but I knew that I couldn't take this opportunity to have an extra set of hands for granted, so off we went to Costco. One over sized cart full of babies which Stone drove and One for me to load up on groceries. We again had about 20 people ask about them one hagily woman wanted to know why I had newborns out so early. I grimaced as I answered that they were two and a half months old, but thanked her for the concern anyhow. Stone and I waited in line for 15 minutes while the babies were beginning to get testy. After checking out and loading up the car we were finally headed home. The babies now crying had a 25 minute car ride home and Stone wanted to know were the McDonalds lunch that I had promised was. Mind you, we had just spent $265 on groceries. I told him that he needed to be patient with me, that the babies had to be fed, and Phoenix was going to be getting off the bus soon. We made it home. I fed the babies and Phoenix came home. We then unpacked the car full of Costco reloaded everyone in the car and off we went for $1.99 Happy Meal Friday. I got food for Mitchell and I at Arby's. When we got home, Daddy soon followed, we ate and Mitchell (thank goodness) started the bedtime routine. My muscles ache. My back is killing me. I am so tired I think I might drop. But it is so much better than being on bed rest in the hospital and besides I don't need any weights when I'm hauling them around all day. The baby weight should be falling off any day now if I keep up this routine. I would cry but I am choosing to count my blessings :) Zoloft anyone?...lol

10 reasons why I love my man

I saw a great idea on a friend's blog the other day and when Mitchell asked when I was going to write about him I decided I would tweak it a bit but steal it non the less. My sarcastic side would also like to note that Mitchell must be a little off his rocker to want to know when I was going to write about him. For all he knows this blog entry (depending on the day) could have been titled: 10 reasons to make my man disappear. But thanks to my brother's blog today I am feeling grateful. So I will begin...

1. He made my dream of being a stay at home mom come true. He goes to work everyday and works his butt off to ensure the stability of his family.

2. Ten years, five children and many yo-yo pounds later he still thinks I'm the sexiest woman alive.

3. He does all the yard work. Did I mention I hate yard work!

4. He treats my girls like the princess's that they are and because of that they will become queens.

5. He plays games and is okay with my competitive need to beat his butt at everything.

6. He doesn't let me bully him around even though I sometimes try.

7. He calls me "Candy Girl" and I love it because its so true.

8. He sits next to me and watches TV after the kids go to bed.

9. He goes with me to Rehoboth beach on our every so many years vacation, with my entire crazy family for a whole week. He sits on the beach all day every day. He goes to the same restaurants over and over. He spends every night on the boardwalk benches (facing the people of course) Just because its my favorite thing to do, not necessarily because he enjoys it.

10. He didn't join the church until he was ready and when he was he baptized our son, gave me sacrament in the hospital, and helps me keep the kids in line during sacrament meeting.

Exposed

Needless to say, this post pregnancy process has been much different than my three prior. Usually I can sit indiscriminately in a chair and quietly breast feed my child with little curiosity (after day three) from my other children. This time has been a very different experience! While the twins were in the NICU I needed to pump 20 minutes every two hours. Then when they came home they were still very small and inexperienced nursers. Which meant a 10 minute feeding turned into a 30 minute feeding each and then I needed to pump immediately after to keep my milk supply up because they still were not good at it. All of this meant Mom was exposed the majority of the last two months. With all this in mind, my children have become, interested in...Well...I will just give you examples (there were more than a few examples, but some, I have been prohibited from sharing). Phoenix was squeezing and poking at herself while asking why she didn't look like Mommy even though she was a girl and why she couldn't get the milk to come out. Avery was found, with all the pumping equipment trying to pump (she wasn't the first child to try either) while she yelled "I got milk! See Mommy I got milk!" (picture to follow as soon as I get around to downloading it). To this point, the question may become have I permanently damaged my obviously sponge like children who looked on all summer while Mommy with machine like determination took care of the daunting task of making sure my two youngest were fed? Some may say definitely! but as for me I am leaning towards the more positive of the two which is that I have beautifully curious children who want nothing more than to be like their Mom and I think I am okay with that!

New Blogger - New Babies

So...What exactly would a recent mother of preemie twins be starting a blog you ask? I guess I have always been a glutton for punishment and this is no exception. I must confess the reason for the madness is the utter enjoyment I have received from reading other peoples blogs and actually being able to see pictures and hear their personality's coming through. For that reason I decided to return the favor and share the love! Aren't you guys lucky. Let's just hope I am able to update more than twice a year. This translated into Chris means as long as this remains enjoyable to me you will see postings and the minute I get bored or way stressed out I will disappear. But all those who know and love me are aware that I always return just as beautiful as before!