A City Life For Me

Something I often seen and wanted to do, but never accomplished, is to make the kids some busy books or quiet books.  Our church lets the kids stay in the nursery until their 4th birthday, and then they go to other classes.  So…I haven’t really needed it to keep them quiet in church yet. With twins coming, I know I will often be unable to play, read, and entertain Nolan & Elaine as they have been used to.  I will also be often busy nursing the new babies.  A friend {also expecting} recently shared a Velcro quiet book she made for her little girl.  She was kind enough to share some pages with me.  This saved me a lot of work!  I also printed off several games and paper doll activities from a website she recommended. We are trying to learn other letters besides “E” for Elaine’s name, so I was very happy that Cindy had thought to include a page like this in her book! This was a game, but it is good for Elaine to sort by type, and Nola...

Monday marked 32 weeks in this pregnancy.  Assuming that our twins are “average”, they should arrive around 35-36 weeks.  That means that in under a month, I will be the mother of four kids ages three and under.  And life will never be the same. Today I did the laundry because Ben is sick.  It’s a lot of work right now!  Most routine chores have taken on a difficult angle for me.  If I get the lunch dishes done before naptime, we’re doing good.  I don’t even attempt the dinner dishes anymore.  Picking up the toys, scrubbing the bathtub, putting on my socks , are all very hard to accomplish.  I dread the cry coming from the bedroom that means my kids are done with naptime, while I am wishing for another hour… at least .  But at the same time – we have made it – almost to the end – with no bed rest.  No major complications.  No medication.  No need to think that I have to schedule a c-section.  God has been very goo...

I have been furiously trying to finish up a myriad of projects in case the twins decide to arrive ahead of schedule.  I showed you the headbands for Baby Girl a few days ago.  Another project I have been working on is a Baby Book/Calendar.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and was inspired to make my own.  However, I didn’t want to just use a spiral notebook – I wanted it to be more polished. I used my StoryBook Creator software to design pages. I primarily used the “Oh Baby Boy” and “Oh Baby Girl” digital element packages so that the colors and graphics coordinate for everything. Then I laminated the pages and 3-hole punched everything.  I used binder rings to hold it all together.  This will allow me to add/remove/replace pages as needed.  I also want to include a plastic pocket in the front for the calendar stickers.  I was able to customize everything with Baby Boy and Baby Girl’s names.  {In the pictures, any smudge you see is the re...

   Nolan was playing dress-up with the winter gear we keep by the front door. He came out wearing Elaine’s stuff…    She needed her sparkly rainboots so she could be a princess… My missionary friend, Mrs. Lou Ann Keiser, is a published author!  I just received her new book in the mail.  I completed my missionary internship with the Keiser’s in the Basque province of Spain. Nolan received his new Highlights Magazine {subscription from Great-Grams} in the mail.  So Elaine sat on the couch and “read” it to him. Nolan, Sammy, Elaine, and AnnaBeth.  We came home from church and the Mead’s were there dropping off our neighbor.  We let the kids play a little, and then they all sat down on the steps together.

This week Elaine and finished a project for Baby Sister!  We made a small stash of homemade baby headbands to add to the store-bought stash we already have from Baby Elaine.  I used several different tutorials and pins from Pinterest to help me make the decorations.  This is what we ended up with… I used some stretchy lace elastic for the headband.  It was inexpensive and it is soft for Baby Sister’s head.  This idea came from It’s Just Laine. Elaine gets the two big flower headbands on the left.  One of them matches Baby Sister’s headband on the far right.  These three are fabric flowers ( tutorial here). The other flowers and bows are made from felt.  I avoided these ones at first because I had to cut several flowers out for each big flower, and they had to be hand sewn.  In the end, they were the easiest of all the headbands that I made, and I think they are the perfect size for a baby. I liked the look of these large b...

Elaine has been a riot lately…when she hasn’t been sick.  Here’s a few things I’ve laughed at recently. Elaine came out and said, “Sall {her baby doll} is sick.  I’m taking her to the doctor.  Dr. Holly {our doctor is Dr. Mahale } is going to give her a shot and a bandaid and then she will be all better.”  A few minutes later… “We are all done, Mom.  We are riding the train because we don’t have a car today.  Sally is taking a snoozy.” Nolan is playing on the bunk beds.  Elaine climbs up with a cheery, “Hi Nolan.  How’s it goin’ up there?” I had dusted the house to get ready for visitors. Elaine found my duster and wanted to help, so I said she could dust the books. When she finished she said the following: “Want me to dust the computer, Mommy?” “No, I already did it.” “Oh, well, you didn’t do a very good job!” At lunch Elaine asked for me to take the crusts off her sandwich. I said, “No, that’s not necessary.” “...

I had another appointment today.  I feel like I spend a lot of time at the OB office these days.  The good news is that Baby Boy has turned and is no longer breech.  Everything is still progressing very well with no hints of pre-term labor, at least not yet.  My total weight gain is 34 pounds which is great for twins.  I am very tired and easily worn out.  Sometimes feeding the kids and doing the dishes is all I can manage. I mostly feel uncomfortable – no matter what.  Only 6ish more weeks to go!  Still praying for a minivan.  It is the last thing we need in order to be ready.

He tried so very hard, but he doesn’t have the hang of a “gentle blow” yet.  Mostly he spit, got the wand too close to his face so that he swallowed bubbles, and spilled the bubbles on the sidewalk. But then…he finally succeeded.  And he was so happy!