Valentine's

I just can't seem to keep up with the blog lately. Not sure what it is--but my time has been used elsewhere while at work and the farther behind I am the less I want to do it and the more I know I am going to forget things so I better get on here. So to my future journal reading self and children--sorry! I'll try my best to recall what we have been up to.

Life continues as usual, the boys are at school Tues-Fri and while they are gone sis and I do the shopping and try to get some cleaning done. Mondays we usually go and play somewhere together and then on my evenings off we play as a family once Dad is home. Weekends we clean and spend time with the extended family usually. We prefer to do most activities while school is in session since it is so much less busy so since Weds is my day off it is our biggest play day.
The boys have been doing well with preschool. They fight me some mornings complaining they don't want to go but always seem happy when I pick them up and like to show me the projects they have been working on. This week was ocean themed so they have a lovely finger painted ocean with colored animals on top and a sandy beach project with sea shells. They really love Teacher Jodi (I do too, she is a sweetie and always fusses over Claire) and their high school friends. They are learning too, they both write their names so much better now and have an interest in reading. They like to read the letters off of signs and have me tell them what it says. Sometimes they can sound it out themselves. Carter has even started spelling words by sounding them out. Always surprises me, but he says he just knew how to spell it (this week was zoo, though he spelled it zooo, pretty close.).

The boys big thing right now is Sponge Bob which really drives me crazy but is useful for bribery purposes. They are getting taller I can tell because the 4T pants really are too short now but the 5 pants are still huge and fall off. 5T are just about right but I only have 1 pair and I hate to buy more when they have plenty of 5s. Meanwhile Claire is burning right through her 3-6 clothes. She'll be 5 months tomorrow and the 6-9 I tried last night was not very big at all. Potty issues come and go at our house still. Davis is almost entirely night trained now--yea! Carter may be dry 1 night/week but is working on it. He was doing really well with no accidents during the day and Davis was doing okay, but now they are both doing poorly again. I hate poop! We are revamping the forced potty times and reward systems and if that doesn't work it is back to the Miralax. Here's hoping.

I did get them registered for kindergarten the other day, so hard to believe. In most ways it will actually not be much different from preschool for me, 1st grade will be harder. It will just be cheaper! They are signed up for afternoon in different classes. I hope that will be the right decision. It gives me more time with them in the morning, Lowell some down time after work (us some time together too!), time to go play while school is in, and time to sleep in. They struggle getting up at 8 for preschool at 9:30. And my non-sleeping kids are SO ornery. Not worth it. And I'd love to keep them together, I like the idea of them together but I think they will do better apart. They will miss each other but they also won't be distracting each other and causing as much trouble. I don't look forward to different class parties, home work, friends, etc. but they have to become their own little people sooner or later. Davis actually asked not to "dress like a twin" the other day. Not sure I am ready for them to grow up.

I know I am not ready for Claire to be growing up so fast. Little stinker is starting to sit up. Not straight up but leaning forward or propped up with the boppy. She is getting stronger all the time though and can balance better now than even last week. She adores her jumperoo and will jump away and spin and play with all the toys. She still isn't tall enough to reach the ground but with a pillow under her she does great. She has been a little sick lately and has not enjoyed that one bit. She hates having her nose sucked out but can't eat if I don't. She'll cuss me out to Dad for 10 minutes afterwards. She hasn't been sleeping as well either, maybe from being sick or I almost think she is getting hungry at night. She is still exclusively on breastmilk but I think she is close to ready for solids. She reaches for our food and will happily drink water from a cup or a spoon. There is so much debate on when to start solids but our ped recommended cereal starting at 5 and a half months and then the rest at 6 months so that is what we are doing. I am excited for 2 weeks from now though, hoping it will help her be more full and content. Though I am still proud that all the calories that made that 15 lb baby are from me. 1/2 cell is from Lowell, the rest is all me, :).

Some excitement in our family--my older brother is engaged! His fiancee is named Michelle and is a sweetie. We are so happy for him, honestly I wasn't sure it would ever happen. But I have been praying for him knowing this is what he has wanted so we are grateful for a loving, listening Heavenly Father. Michelle has a 5 year old boy so the boys think a new cousin would be great! They have a 5 yo girl cousin too, lucky kiddos.

We continue to plan our surprise trip to DisneyWorld. It now includes both of my sisters as well, it is going to be SO fun. I have to stop researching the websites, I am so anxious to go but have 2 months still to wait. I think that's a good overview on us for now--here's some recent pics:

Daddy (with fun hair) and the boys in the pool at the Legacy Center. After flooding a bathroom and getting soaked playing in a bath tub we decided it was time to swim. Fun times! The boys and I went down the slide so many times, nice to have an indoor pool close to us.
We had a fun Valentine's play group with our twin friends. Preschool ended up not having a party this year so this was a nice chance to still pass out cards. Here's D with A&A.
A new game (?) playing under a blanket with sis. I don't know, but they were all laughing, so it's all good.
Sometimes Claire jumps herself right out, :). She was still jumping even with her eyes closed. Perhaps I should get this girly on a proper nap schedule . . .
More fun times at Trafalga--this time we got Daddy to come along for laser tagging and rock climbing fun. He even pitched in for some arcade games and the boys came home with so many fun prizes--thanks to a few good spins on the bass fishing game.

Last time we went Carter can almost get to the very top--and it is 2 stories+ high. He'll just go up and down over and over. Helps that they weigh so little it is almost pulling them up. We went again with A&A the other day and tried out the black light mini golf course on the third floor. Cute and fun--I always love when a place I already have a pass to gets even better!
The Saturday before Valentine's Day was a busy one! Lowell and I went for early morning massages (thanks for sitting with the kids Hill) and that was lovely. Then I volunteered at our local Bountiful Baskets--which I am just adoring. It's amazing how much more fruits/veggies we are eating now. None is going to waste and I am getting it cheap too. Love it! Then we went to a ward V Day activity and had baked potatoes and played Bingo. The kids ran around with the other little boys and had a blast really. They are such social creatures, we still don't know where they came from but we try to accommodate them as we can. Home again I tried to get some V Day pics in their casual V day outfits. They didn't turn out great.

Saturday night--we went to a neighbor's fabulous Chinese New Year party complete with authentic food and fireworks. Oh and 100 people in one house, a good portion of them kids. Man our boys had fun at that too. I did too, good friends to visit with, including one happy to hold my baby the whole time and yummy food!
The church clothes V-day pics--I LOVE them! I even made the tutu (her dolly has a matching one too, but I didn't get a pic yet. My mom always made me and my dolls matching dresses, so this was as close as non-sewing me was going to get).
Seriously handsome little boys! This was the first shot too!
Love my little miss--she hates tummy time so it surprises me I got such a good pic.
Monday for Valentine's we set out to make some friends. :) I felt like all the boys' aunts needed to have a Valentine even if they were 5. So we made up treats and ran them all over. We love you aunts and grandmas! The kids got treats from Grandma P, Mike&Sina and family, and even from future cousin Cam. We love our family!
It was a fun Valentine's Day. I had to work but Lowell and the kids brought me a box of chocolate (Carter's idea!), flowers, and chocolate covered strawberries. Yea me! Then Weds Lowell and I went out to dinner to the Harvest restaurant at Thanksgiving Point and then to Cold Stone for dessert. Thanks to Dinda for sitting. It was very yummy and a nice chance to get away and visit. Unfortunately I got sick that night and threw it all up but I figure it just means I don't have to count all those calories. I have had a lot of sick the past 2 weeks, a raging fever, head/chest cold and then the tummy issues. We have done a little less than usual accordingly as Lowell has taken care of the kiddos while I have rested up. So hard to catch up when I am sick because I get so little sleep as it is. Hanging in there though, went back to the gym for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday and wasn't up to speed but did okay. I have been getting some great deals through CityDeals, etc. so there are more fun times to come. The boys just need to finish earning enough $ to go--they get 25 cents/day of school or church plus more for chores. Of course it all goes to activities I wanted to do anyway but then they get to own it.
Oh and I almost forgot that we did go to the zoo Wednesday as well, right after school with my mom. The weather had been so nice so we took the chance to get outside for a bit. The boys ran all over and wore themselves out and Claire sat very nicely in her stroller looking around and chewing on Kate. She is such a lovely baby. Thanks for coming Mom!

And just for fun, here's the boys playing a game at Trafalga, oh my goodness they get into shooting pirates! :)