Stickers and Sisters

I keep trying to think of something witty to say but this picture is just turning my brains to mush.

Maggie just hit the big 3 month mark.  She weighs a giant 11 pounds.  Okay not giant at all, her doctor calls her "petite" but she is getting close to doubling her birth weight and I swear I saw the beginnings of a dimple.  Jennie (and Grant) turned 7 a few weeks ago.  It blows my mind.  Of course I forgot to take pictures of the birthday cakes, presents and even the actual birthday subjects.  And I call myself a mom...

In case you were wondering, those are stickers covering my baby.  But before you judge let me tell you that they were letter stickers and Nathan was practicing his spelling.  Helpless baby sisters make excellent subjects.

Have a happy Tuesday, Mags insists that you do.

love the miles

Time Flies

Somehow I had two babies at the same time (oh my word!) and I managed to feed and change them and generally survive the chaos.   I think I was younger back then.

circa 2006

They grew up and now they feed and dress themselves and definitely create large doses of chaos.  They still make me tired.

just last week

Obviously our family is just not capable of taking family pictures where everyone is A: smiling, B: looking at the camera or C: sitting up straight.  I think that needs to be our next family project...

2011...  I think

This picture makes me happy.  I love my kids, LOVE THEM!

july 2013

Happy Tuesday!

Love, Kristen

No relation, just interesting (ish)

1.  Kindergartners make me mushy inside.  Especially these two.

Mine are the two looking at the camera...

I'm sorta in love with my six year olds.

2.  The best time to tackle a home improvement project is when you are 19 weeks pregnant and you and your husband are both in school and you have too few hours in the day.  FYI.

After complaining about the genius who put carpet in the dining area for a while (approximately 8 years now) we're finally ready to take the plunge.

We bought the laminate on Saturday with a strict, written in blood agreement that we would wait to install them after the semester was over.  Meaning May.

This was our main level last night right after we put the kids to bed.

Then this happened.

Look closely at the pile o' crap on the floor.  That was under our carpet.  We'd been living with that.  I also claim to be a pretty good maid...

I'd also like you to notice that pile of dust where our heat register is supposed to be.  The husband was digging around in there and found not one but two of my missing exercise DVDs.

I blame these two.

Before we called it a night the carpet was gone as well as those dangerous tack strips.  I had the extremely not difficult job of vacuuming up the years of dirt as well as any random staples, band aids and missing Barbie shoes while the handyman I married took care of the rest.  It was a pretty even trade... for me.

3.  We've finally figured out a way to read our scriptures regularly (more than once every six months), we read during breakfast.  Each of the kids reads, or repeats a verse and the husband and I read a few more.  We're kinda on a roll, it's been months since we started and we're still going strong.  It may take us approximately 27 years to make it through the scriptures but I'm just shooting for effort points not completion.

Oh and yes, my daughter is wearing a coat at the breakfast table.  My heater doesn't go any higher than 68 no matter how much snow is on the ground, it's very strange.

Should I be concerned? A one act play by Kristen Miles

Characters:
Handsome and adventurous 5 year old boy with an appetite for construction.
Inquisitive and beautiful 5 year old girl who loves to take care of people.
Overambitious and occasionally distracted mother who should pay more attention to her children.

Setting:
Early afternoon on a surprisingly warm, okay, not freezing December day somewhere in Utah. 

Boy: Momma, I need a board.

Momma:  In the garage.

Girl:  Momma, where are my Halloween tights?

Momma:  In your drawer.

Boy:  Momma, I need a brick.

Momma:  By the shed.

Boy:  Momma, I need a hammer.

Momma:  On the workbench.

Girl:  Momma, I don't think I need a coat today.

Momma:  Your choice babes.

Girl:  Actually I think I'm cold now.  I'm going to wear a coat.

Momma:  Good call.

Girl:  Momma, we need 7 nails.

Momma:  In the can on the workbench.

Boy:  I need another board.  Oh and a brick too.

Momma:  You know where they are.

Girl:  Momma, I think we need a band aid.  Maybe two would be better.

The End

I've got it all: part dos

Sometimes I get these great ideas about multiple part projects and then I start and well, maybe one part turns out to be enough.  That's what happened with this post here.  I kept thinking about it and mulling over it and I just couldn't come up with more than what I had already said.  So here we are with just one part and maybe a half of a one part series.  Exciting I know but that's the way I roll.

Lately I've been feeling almost overwhelmed with gratitude for this life I have and the wonderful people that are living it with me.  Sure there's never enough money or time or energy to do half of the to-do list but things are still pretty great.  I wonder how much of that is just my expectations, are things good because I expect them to be or because they just are?  I don't know but however it happens I'm pretty happy with this life I've been blessed with.  

In other exciting news, it's my twin's birthday.  They're one hand old.  Cool huh?

Here's what I looked like 5 years ago.

Makes you wanna cry huh?  Me too.

Have a good day peeps!

Kristen

Eddie Bauer, Name Changes and What Not To Watch

Date night is back!  We started off at the Temple, hit the Eddie Bauer 30% off clearance sale and finished off at a wedding reception with the perfect caramel cheesecake.  Definitely a change from our usual MO:  throw the kids in bed and hang out on the couch in our really old sweats for 3 or 4 hours. 

See, that's how excited I am about getting out of the house.  Moving on now. 

My kids changed their names.  This happens occasionally.  The hard part is remembering what the new names are.  Right now they're Granthum, Annabelle, Nathaniel and my favorite, Kasha. 

My baby had his tubes put in on Friday.  As far as procedures go, this is an easy one.  We were home within two hours, there's no pain after and it gives the kid immediate relief from that awful plugged ear feeling.  The med's they gave him did make the kid loopy.  See how hard it is for him to hold his head up? 

On Sunday morning we watched In The Womb:  Multiples with our kids.  I had found it at the library and thought it would be fun for the kids because it was about multiples, turns out I was wrong.  Very wrong.  It shows several multiples from ahem, conception to birth.  Try explaining what those fishy things are to your 4 year old.  We didn't finish the show.

Have a good day people!

Kristen

This post needs a title

This is our dog, Kate.  She was supposed to be a hunting dog but she makes a better kid toy.  She also likes to eat paint off the walls.  Like dried paint, she chews it off.  It's special.

One of the joys of being a parent is forcing your children to do family bonding activities that involve them wearing things that will humiliate them.  It's good to be the grown-up.

Hi.  I'm sitting on a moose.  Why?  Duh, because it was there.

Ignore the trucks and the road, look at that sky.  So pretty.

Safety first, especially while swimming.

My boy needs a tractor.  Too bad we live in the middle of the city.

He also needs a helicopter.

I went to school with a set of fraternal twins but didn't know it until graduation.  I thought they were either good friends or dating because they always drove in the same car.  I guess the fact that they had the same last name never clicked.  No I wasn't too observant, why do you ask?

This is our most recent family picture.  My baby's not that little anymore.  It might be time to schedule a new one, this time I might try to comb my girls' hair.  We'll see.

Record your life.  It will make you smile.

Kristen

10 Twin Questions (say that ten times fast)

1-  Are they identical?  Uh, no they're not. You know, because one is a boy and one is a girl.  Thank goodness we don't get asked that anymore.

2- Who is older?  He is.  By one whole minute.

3-  Do they have a secret "twin" language?  No, they talk like any other 4 year olds.  Meaning I only understand what they are saying half the time.

4-  Do they act alike?  Well, one is a boy and one is a girl, so not really.  He likes trucks, trains and anything John Deere.  She prefers Barbies, skirts and the color pink.

5-  Do twins run in your family?  Uh, no.  Maybe.  We're not sure.

6-  What is the hardest part?  Now that they're older it's pretty easy.  But that first week home from the hospital when I got about 4 hours of sleep, total, and they went through 140 diapers in the first six days.  That was rough.  Yes, I did say 140.  One hundred forty cute little newborn diapers.  Gone.  Filling up our local landfill.  Thanks babies.

7-  "Twins, that must be hard.  I could never do that."  Trust me people, if I can do it, anyone can.  Now triplets, scary...

8-  Do they get along?  Actually they do.  Up until about six months ago they shared a room.  We finally separated them because it was turning into an all night party.  Sometimes when they're watching TV they will end up sitting almost on top of each other.  It's almost like that personal bubble that most of us have doesn't exist between the two of them.

9-  Do they fight?  As a matter of fact, yes they do.  Every day, at least once.  Usually over who gets to sit in the middle or who gets to choose the show or what color the sky is.

10-  Do you like having twins?  Yes!  It's fun to have two kids going through the same experiences and ending up with different reactions.  Plus it was nice to get two kids in one shot.  That translated to less time potty training.  That was a very good thing.  See question 6 if you don't believe me.