Ice Cream & Lions

So, at our local library they have a summer reading program for the kids and they get a prize each week if they get their books read - or in the twins case, read to them. Last week they got a coupon for a free ice cream cone at Falls Drug, it is a pharmacy and a soda shop. So me and my friend Mandie took the kids on Friday to get their cones and two of their other friends were there getting their ice creams. It was a bit wild, but fun.



Saturday was kind of a weird day - no matter what I did with the girls hair they still ended up looking homeless. Here are some beautiful pictures of Whitney after we woke her up - she fell asleep on the chair for about 30 minutes. I was laughing SO hard at her hair, the pictures still make me giggle, that I called her my little lion for the rest of the day. Gracie gave me her best roar and we got a pic of her too.






The girls came downstairs Saturday morning and I'm not quite sure what they were supposed to be, but they really wanted their picture taken. If you notice Gracies arm - this is the new pose I get when I say it's time for pictures.



Careful ladies, he is already taken.

Kayaking

For playgroup yesterday we went to Egin Lakes out by the sand dunes and let all the kids play in the water for a few hours. All of my friends up here kayak a lot and so they brought their kayaks to the lake (which is very shallow) and all the little kids took turns "kayaking" - they actually did a pretty good job and decided they would really like to learn how next year. It was a little bit cooler and my little Whitney had blue lips and was shivering but refused to get out until I told her it was time to go home.





Livvy has started to like her bouncer a bit and actually fell asleep in it yesterday. She also slept from 9:30 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. this morning. It was great - Jeremy always the optomist - told me not to count on her doing it again. I wasn't planning on it, but a girl can dream, can't she?



A couple of nights ago I had just finished taking a bunch of pictures of Olivia and decided I'd better snap a couple of the twins - these are the poses they pulled when I asked them if they wanted their pictures taken. What a couple of cheese balls.




One last thing - I wanted to congratulate my cousin Austin on getting his mission call. He is heading to St. Louis, MO in August. We are so proud of him - he just graduated from high school and will be attending BYU on a football scholarship when he gets back. Great things happen when you put the Lord first and trust in Him. Congratulations again Austin!

Cuter & Cuter

Well, the twins have been home for almost one week and it is good to have them here. I didn't realize what an adjustment it was going to be going from two kids to three. My twins are pretty self-sufficient and even with all they can do for themselves I can't believe how much I don't accomplish each day. I finally decided last night that for right now I was going to focus on what was really important to me - like that my kids look clean and cared for and that I get a shower, it's also important that they get fed each day. Yup, that's about it and I'm proud to say that I accomplished all of those things today, gold star for me.

Our little Olivia just keeps getting cuter and it is fun to see how her little face is filling out. The twins were so excited to help out with her bath this morning and wanted to make sure I put her frog hood on her head.




She has had a little bout with a gassy stomach (she's gonna love to read about this when she is older) and so I have been putting her on her tummy for naps out in the family room and it seems to help - she just looks so sweet, I can't believe she is mine. I still think that about the twins each day - what a blessing.




A quick congratulations to my sister-in-law Jen - she is having a little bundle of joy this year (surprise!) and found out today she is having a boy - that kid is going to be SO loved by his three big sisters.

Hooray for Today

I have been looking forward to this day all week - the twins are coming home tonight and I will be SO happy to have them back with me. I have missed them so much - I have done much better the past couple of days, but Saturday through Tuesday were quite tough on me. Just ask Jeremy - I kept babbling about how they must not miss me at all because they sounded so happy on the phone, etc. Jeremy was so concerned about my emotional state that he left early from his second job on Tuesday night to make sure I was okay. And then Wednesday morning these showed up at the front door



They are SO beautiful - definitely the prettiest ones he has ever bought me.

This morning we thought Livvy was waking up while Jer was getting ready for work and so he picked her up and she went right back to sleep so I told him to just put her in bed with me - well, she slept & slept and I ended getting up to eat breakfast and just as I was finishing up my cereal she started grunting and crying a bit so I went in the bedroom to get her and this is what I found:



She has started pushing herself out of her blankets, but she took it one step further and pushed herself out of her nightgown - it was so funny - she just looked up at me with a look of defeat, her arms were stuck to her sides which she hates, and there was nowhere else for her to go.

So mom made things all better and fed her and gave her a bath, doesn't she clean up nice?




She has been quite the little grower during her first week at home - at her doctor's appointment on Monday she had grown 1 1/2 inches and gained 8 oz. Her little face is filling out and we aren't quite sure how much longer she will fit in her newborn clothes. She is an amazingly sweet baby and we feel so blessed to have her in our home!

She's Here!

I was very surprised on Monday when my water broke - I had finally given up on the idea of going into labor on my own and just went with the plan of being induced on Tuesday. After laboring for close to 11 hours our baby girl started having adverse reactions to the contractions and we ended up having a c-section late Monday night. She is SO worth it. We were in the hospital for 3 days and came home Thursday afternoon. I am feeling pretty good - just tired. Livvy is such a good little baby - she just eats and sleeps - at night she is sleeping between 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours between feedings which has just been great. Whitney and Gracie are SO proud to be big sisters. They were quite helpful while Grandma Dana and Aunt Marianne were here helping me on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The girls are spending the next week down in Utah with my family and Jeremy's family - they are very excited. I couldn't stop crying after they left, but I know they will have a good time and it will be such a treat to have them home with us again next weekend. Here are some pictures of our little princess - her first bath given by Grandma Dana, her cute purple outfit from Aunt Marianne and some more pictures of her with her sisters.