January 2020

Since the Fall my sisters and I have been working through an online exercise program together. We met in person to do the last one. It was helpful to have people to be accountable to and feel like if I didn't want to fall behind, I better get it in. I know I definitely gained muscle.  I've been losing weight pretty consistently  since Theo's birth due to some of the habits I formed while I had gestational diabetes. But with the crazy high blood sugars I've had over Christmas break, I've needed to go back to a very strict low-carb diet, so thats also helped with weight loss. 

Max and his shenanigans. He is one inquisitive, independent, stubborn little boy. 

We attended a school event at a nearby skate center. 

Charlie's end is in sight with violin! He's been complaining about going for a few months now and wanting to quit but I made him stick it out until the concert. Then his teacher is taking some maternity leave and we'll probably not start back up. I've attended most of his lessons with him, sitting on a couch taking notes. Its been a beast trying to get him to practice. He has a hard time standing and keeping his arms up for the length of time he needs to and complains about it hurting.  But he's made good progress and I'm proud of him for trying and learning something new.  Charlie did a great job with his song at his concert and I accompanied him on the piano, so I was nervous for it as well.  Whew. Glad its behind us.

Chris has been playing basketball with our ward team in the Stake league. Sometimes he'll take Charlie with him. We all went and watched one of their games recently. 

Alec's been involved with the Lego Robotics Club after school once a week since the beginning of the school year. The community competition was on a Saturday at the Rec. Center.  It was good to see the friends and teacher he's been spending so much time with. Their team did alright and performed some of the tasks they needed to. Its been a really great experience for him.  (I don't understand what the dehydrated orange slices hanging from their ears is supposed to mean... some kind of team bonding thing... Alec thought they were funny.)

Also in January, Sarah, German, Jordan, Estefi, Chris and I did a triple date together at an Ax Throwing place. We played some shuffle board, foosball games while we waited for our turns in the pens. It was pretty hard! I eventually got the Axe to stick in the wood and got a little better at aiming towards the end. But Chris was a master at it. I love living by family. 

Also, I chopped my hair! It had been a few years since I'd cut it and I cut enough to donate. It feels so healthy, but I always think I look funny with short hair. I'm sure I'll get used to it. It dries so quickly now!

My exercise buddy. Kinda fussy and wants to be held a lot... probably teething. 

We say "two babies" a lot when we do the same thing with both Max and Theo. "Should I put pajamas on my two babies" When i'm holding them both and we pass by a mirror, "Two babies!" etc. Trying to exercise is always hard with two babies around, but when I put Theo down for his first nap, thats the best time. Unfortunately, Max likes to go in our room, move the trash can across the room to climb in it and get into the bassinet, waking up sleeping Theo. When I find them, Max is all smiles and says, "Two Babies!" 

Gwen and I went with Brittany and Jane and some of their friends to see a BYU gymnastic meet. 

I think we took this picture because Charlie was ordained a deacon. What a big day for him.  I love having Grandma and Grandpa in our ward for things like this.  Charlie is so sweet and takes passing the sacrament seriously and isn't too scared or nervous about it. 

We tried a new method of scripture study for a few weeks. We woke the kids up a little early and had hot chocolate waiting for them to sip on while we read. It didn't take. After a few days the hot chocolate wasn't as exciting and the kids still were distracted with it. We switched to doing it with just the older kids after the younger ones are in bed around 8:00 at nights. Its working well. 

 

Two Babies...

Max likes to say "two babies!" whenever he and Theo do something the same. If Theo is laying down with a toy, Max will come over, lay down and say "two babies!" If I ever have to hold both of them (which happens a lot) Max will say, "two babies!"  Sometimes I use it to my advantage when I need to get Max to do something like change his diaper, take a bath or get dressed. I'll get Theo started then pause halfway through and look at  Max and say, "two babies?" It usually works. 

Twice this week, Max has wandered into the room where Theo was sleeping, moved the trashcan over to climb up into the bassinet to wake up to snuggle Nonny.  What does he say when I walk into the room? "Two babies!" 

These two - Max and Theo...'Mats and Nonny." They seriously make life so challenging for me right now. Max doesn't understand about NOT waking up Theodore when he's sleeping. He also doesn't understand to be quiet when I'm trying to put Theodore to sleep. And Theo doesn't understand how to fall asleep or stay asleep! Its exhausting. Theo wants to be held constantly and loves to nurse like every 2 hours... he'll sometimes demand second helpings and scream like he's being tortured until he gets more milk.   Max loves to throw everything, and eat everything (or at least ask for everything to eat and then leave most of it uneaten, and strewn about the kitchen).  Max loves to scream "STOP!!" whenever anyone touches a toy that he wants, or tries to take away something from him that he shouldn't have.  Its really loud.  The combination of these boys' ages and needs is so complicated and I often am brought to tears with shaky deep breaths as I juggle the difficulty of taking care of them both.  (to say nothing of the stress the other children bring... a kindergartener, 2 pre-teens and a teenager!)

But sometimes there are these moments that still my soul. I am reminded that this stage won't last forever and I take a deep breath to savor the momentary sweetness.  It happened today as I rocked Max before his nap. Theo was being fussy so instead of leaving him in his bouncer or carseat, I kept him in my arm as I scooped Max and his bottle of milk up in my other arm. I walked down the stairs with both my babies and whispered Max's oft-used phrase, "two babies."  I sat in the rocker with Max lounging back on my left leg, his arm raised holding his bottle, his head cocked to the side resting on my shoulder. Theo was curled up in my right arm, holding his toes, sucking on a pacifier. Occasionally Theo would turn his head in the near-pitch black room to rest against my cheek,  as if reassuring himself that I was still there.  I sat and rocked in the quiet dark with my two babies' warm heads nestled into both sides of my neck, breathing deep, sometimes kissing a soft head or cherub cheek.

Christmas, Alec's Bday and Orem House

 To surprise my mom and dad who are moving into the home in American Fork they bought last month we went over and set up some Christmas decorations for them. Pulling in and needing to move in a few days before Christmas only to leave a few days after that was going to be challenging. I knew it wouldn't be a priority to decorate for Christmas and I knew my mom would be a little sad at that lack of holiday cheer, so the sibs pooled extra/old Christmas decorations together and a bunch of us met to set them up. It was fun.

Kayla, Eddie and cute Miss P and Ollie came to stay for Christmas! We moved Gwen and Alec out of the two rooms upstairs so they could use them and so Alec slept on the floor in the library with Max and Gwen shared with Freddy and Charlie across from our bedroom with Theo.  We had the traditional Raclette night with Bruce and Dianes and Gene and Dorcus' families. We had it at Edward and Kayla's condo's Clubhouse.  A little crazy with all the kids running around with not much to do, but there was a small projector/theater room downstairs that the big kids loved.  Also another night we all gathered for our traditional singing night. 

Christmas Eve we got together with all the Archibald's to reenact the nativity and have challah bread and clam chowder 

Theo has got abs of STEEL! He will keep his toes and head/shoulders above the ground for long long periods of time... he'll stay this way through an entire diaper change! Its so funny. Christmas Eve, Freddy dropped a nerf gun over the stairs when he didn't realize that Max was coming up the stairs and it landed on Max's face and completely split his forehead opened.  There was a lot of blood (head wound) but he was super brave and stopped crying before I even got him to the sink to clean it up. But thats what the white X on his forehead is in all these pictures. Chris superglued it together and the bandaids got stuck to that too, so.... it'll be a while before it comes off. 

Christmas Day was pretty low key. We gave Theo rice cereal for the first time. He was not impressed. 

The cousins also came over for the cousin gift exchange. This year, we had a rule that the gifts had to be handmade. It was quite the time commitment for the mamas to help the kids think of something they could make that would also be wanted. I think our kids came up with some great ideas. Freddy helped me sew Jane a fancy silk/rhinestone purse, Alec made a football game for Jackson, and Charlie made a basketball game for Austin and Gwen made a cape and crown for Isla. 

Alec's birthday breakfast 'in bed'. He turned 13! An official teenager. We met some family at the Provo Rec Center for a swim session, using our kids Rec Center Passes they got for Christmas for the first time. Then had cupcakes and icecream later. 

We did a lot of fun stuff with the Archibald's this Christmas. We went ice skating (not as many adults per child as would have been nice since Jess and Ryan couldn't make it... it was kind of a circus act with all the young babies and younger kids on the ice needing help. I think I wore Theo on my self and carried Max on my shoulders while pushing the stroller with the twins in it at one point.  We also went to University Mall to do the Giving Machines. We bought a well and some chickens and other things. That was really cool. We let each kid pick what they wanted to give and a few kids combined for the well.  We also rented a large house in Orem to stay for a few nights all ALL together. Except... the gathering places were even smaller than Grandma and Grandpas house and Edward and Grandpa and Ryan didn't sleep there. It was actually kind of nuts and we thought, why didn't we just have a few sleepovers at Grandma's? The kitchen was tiny and weird but it was fun to be together for entire days and 3 meals. We did gingerbread houses, played games, watched movies, ate good food. My A1C was getting lower at my last appointment so I got a little lax and let myself have a very SMALL handful of candy when we made the gingerbread houses, and I ate a small portion of actual white rice (not cauliflower rice) with the curry.. etc... and when I checked my numbers the day after we left the Orem house, my numbers were INSANE like mid 300s, close to 400. It was depressing and I have to go back to eating almost zero carbs until I can get my blood sugar in the right range.