Valentine's Day.

Last year Valentine's Day was as bad as Halloween when it came to the amount of candy and treats we received. It was also a lot more work. This year however was much better. Taylor had a school party and both girls gave out a few Valentine's at dance and that was it! Definitely manageable!

I was able to help in Taylor's class for the Valentine Party.

On the 14th, we had a pink lunch as a family.

With pink breakfast food (per the request of my kids),

a yummy pink fancy drink (pink lemonade, berry sherbet, and sprite): Huge hit with the kids!

And of course chocolate strawberries.

After the kids went to bed, Tyler made me a fancy meal. I have officially declared that our tradition.
It was a fun day with the ones I love the most!

30 Weeks!

For a week I tried to get a decent 30 week preggo picture. After all 30 weeks in kind of a milestone, should be documented, right?! Unfortunately, every picture accentuated my swollen body parts and puffy face so....here's one with a bunch of kids standing in front of me hiding all the fatness. At 30 weeks, Sara and I took the kids ALONE to Disneyland, trying to squeeze in one last day of fun before the spring breakers overtake our favorite place and before we are too huge (almost there), and before we add more kids to our scene. And a scene is exactly what we were. There were lots of stares at are brood and also some out loud laughter from people behind us during the "before dinner" meltdown. But we survived! The kids had fun and that's really all that matters. The exhaustion and swelling will eventually go away.....in about 9 weeks. Okay maybe not the exhaustion.

We had an ultrasound at 30 weeks to check on our baby's heart. He has a calcification by his heart. The doctor assumed it would be gone by now but its not. But its also nothing to even think about because everything else is perfect and couldn't be better. We are definitely grateful that he is healthy and can't believe he will be here so soon. We are not ready! Painting party anyone?

I continue to go to the gym twice a week but yesterday's kickboxing class was HARD! I am hoping I can continue to go to the gym for another 3-4 weeks but yesterday had me questioning that goal.

Despite my commitment to the gym, the scale has assured me that I have exceeded my weight gain goal. All the swelling is not helping those numbers.

Life is getting harder as we enter this last stage of pregnancy but we are super glad this time around has been so smooth. We are on official countdown mode....9 weeks to go, because I am now 31 weeks.

It's that time again.

Dance competition season is in full swing!

The girls have worked so hard 3 times a week every week since September to improve their dance skills and master their routine.

It definitely paid off. At their 1st competition, they won 1st place in their division and were placed 6th overall. They had the whole audience cheering because they were so cute and fun to watch. Best part: They each received a gold medal.

Go Talent Factory!

Fun in the snow!

Last weekend we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa J's for some snow play. Playing in the snow is always fun for us So Cal people. Grandpa J even built a snow fort which the kids thought was pretty exciting.

Hey Sugar!

Love ya!Happy Valentines Day - 2010!

XOXO - Tyler

For documentation purposes only. Feel free to laugh!

For the past 2 days I have been in a lot of pain. As a result, I have been reduced to minimal bending and lifting activities. I am pretty sure my kids, specifically 2 cute but monster like 3 year olds, have figured this out and are taking full advantage of the situation. Every time I enter a room or a bathroom I find the most unbelievable messes. For example, shirts in the toilet. Seriously??? Who does that? Why do you do that? Apparently the bathroom is a fun place because 3 times in the last 2 days, after I have put a new roll of toilet paper on, it is all on the floor or in the shower....within minutes. The bath tub is another venue for mischief. Let's see how many clean towels I can get into the tub with me at one time while mom is checking on Taylor in the next room? But what's even more fun is climbing onto the cabinets and pulling down all the games and puzzles and dumping all the pieces to EVERY game on the floor.

Now those of you that read this may wonder, Where on earth I am during all of this? Maybe we should call CPS because obviously the mom in the house in nonexistent and neglects her children. Not the case, I promise. They accomplish these make-mom-crazy-things in 3.2 seconds. There are 2 of them for heaven's sake and everything occurs at warp speed.

After walking around my house a few minutes ago and practically having a nervous breakdown at every turn, I thought I should blog about this because I am sure one day...one day... I will laugh about it. Just not any time soon.

Crazy Rain!

A couple weeks ago, So. California actually experienced some weather. For a week straight we had pouring rain, hail, tornado warnings, and lots of snow in the mountains. By day 5 of this nonsense, we were a little stir crazy. So I bundled up the the kids and let them run loose in the rain and puddles. We made a boat out of a milk carton. The kids thought it was fun. It didn't really work like I had planned.

The girls didn't last too long outside because their feet were wet and freezing. I guess rain boots are kind of a nice thing but who needs them in CA when it rains once a year. Andy was in heaven, though! I was convinced his shoes must have been water proof. Oh no! They were full of water once he was done splashing around. It took days and multiple times in the dryer to get those things dried.

The girls were jealous of all the fun he was having so they ventured out again......... but only for a few minutes.

We survived the Storm of 2010!

Traumatized!

Everyday for 2 weeks Taylor asked me if she could get her ears pierced just like her best friend Paige. Saturday was "the big day." She was excited, a little nervous but was definitly not going to turn back.A second after this picture was taken I think she wished she had made a different choice. I will never forget her face when those earnings were poked through. It was so sad. Tears followed for the next 20 minutes and Little Miss Ashlyn adamantly declared that she had changed her mind and no longer wanted her ears pierced (Totally okay with us!!!).

We are on day 4 of having earnings and I think she has finally forgiven those ladies with the piercing guns and has adjusted to ears with holes in them. I was little nervous we were going to have to take them out after the tenth time she cried, "I don't like those ladies and I told you I wanted to wait until I was 7!" (Ummm no you didn't)

For some reason the earnings make her look and seem a lot older.
She is just growing up way too fast!