Baby Shower

I had my baby shower this morning! Lots of people came and I got some great gifts for the babies. Thanks to everyone who came or who helped in anyway! Brooks and I both appreciate it!

I got to my mom's around 9:00 and helped put together some of the finishing touches. Mom, Heidi, Amerae and Chereese had been busy most of the morning (and the previous day) getting things ready for the shower. Everything looked great and turned out wonderful!

The shower was from 10-1 and was a brunch. There were cinnamon rolls (homemade by Aunt Ruth and Mom), muffins, yogurt parfaits (with homemade granola from Heidi), quiche, a fruit platter, fruit tarts (another Martha Stewart creation of Heidi's), juice, milk and maybe a couple other things I am forgetting. It was displayed beautifully and tasted amazing!

Donelle came into town earlier this week and was able to come to the shower. It was fun to have her here. The Crandell's brought the quiche and were lifesavers to go get the welcome balloons for the mailbox last minute!

Grandma Ruth made this dog themed quilt for one of the boys and is working on another quilt for the other one. I love it! What a lot of time and love she put into this blanket!

Some of the gifts I received were diapers, wipes, bottles, a baby monitor, 3 bathtubs!, a wipe warmer, bath stuff, lots of clothes and shoes, 2 car seats, car seat protectors, car window shades, diaper rash cream, picture frames, a baby calendar, onsies, toys and more! Thanks to everyone for their generosity!

Mataya was my special helper while opening gifts and brought me gifts to open.

Ruth & Janette

Brittany Adair, Heidi and Cami Larson

Lottie Montgomery got this great sign to go in the boys room. It matches perfectly!

Hunter and Jaron are my twin cousins. We had to get a picture with them and my twin boys:)

Brittany, Makaila and Chloe with me

Lunch with Donelle, Kelley & Taryn

Donelle came into town from BYU Wednesday night, and we all decided to go to lunch on Thursday. Donelle and I ran to Costco and the mall and then met up with Kelley & Taryn at Paradise Bakery. Emery came too. Notice the pigtails on Emery in the picture. Very cute! Lunch was great and it was fun to sit and chat.

Happy Birthday to Me

I am officially 27 which sounds so much closer to 30 than 26 does! Mom, Heidi and I (with the boys) went to Tia Rosa's for lunch. I shared a flying saucer with Mom which is my favorite. Brooks introduced me to flying saucer's 10 years ago(?) and I have loved them ever since. I even got a free fried ice cream (with strawberries) for my birthday. Yummy!

Dallin has definitely hit the 2 year old stage. He has quite the personality and is getting to be a little stubborn about things. Having him at lunch was a bit of an adventure. I emptied out my purse trying to find things for him to do. I think his favorites were the fruit snacks I found and he enjoyed stuffing and removing pennies from a change purse. What a cute little stinker!

Brooks met up with me in the afternoon and we saw a movie and got my free birthday meal at Joe's. Brooks also set up the crib in the morning and got my car washed, vacuumed and all. Both were birthday present requests. Thanks honey!

Brooks went to mutual in the evening, and I ditched out on mutual to have Oreo ice cream cake at Mom's. Thanks to Mom for making my favorite cake. I actually just realized there is a piece left in my freezer that I might have to go eat right now!

Easter

For FHE on Monday, we had a late Easter celebration at Grandpa & Grandma Reese's. We roasted hot dogs over the fire (or microwaved them for those that didn't want to wait) and grilled hamburgers for dinner. All the kids then participated in an Easter egg hunt, and then Grandpa started a big bonfire with the branches from all the peach trees he lost this year. Smores followed later on after the big fire. Every year there seems to be a few less egg hunters. In a few years our boys can add to the hunting group:)

Brooks and Mark roasting hot dogs.

Dallin did a great job hunting for eggs. He actually found the "prize egg" but someone re-hid it for someone older to find it. In the past, the prize egg has been the cause of many tears and hurt feelings. Dallin could care less so it worked out. The funny thing about the prize egg is that the prize is always the same: a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups that are shared with everyone. Nothing too crazy, at least it doesn't seem like it could cause that many problems to me. Maybe one of these years the prize egg will be banned:)


Group picture of the hunters

Grandpa's fire

Dallin watching the fire

Grandpa decided to pull out the tractor to move all the outer branches closer to the blaze. Luckily no damage was done to grandpa or the tractor.

Side Shot - 30 weeks

Here I am at the Easter party. I think the last side shot I took was from about 23 weeks. I am a bit more pregnant in this picture. I am just over 30 weeks here. The past few days, the boys have been moving like crazy. It feels like they are doing somersaults in there. My belly moves in wave motions and I love watching it. Hopefully they aren't fighting too much in there.

Please Don't Get Sick

The flu has been going around between our house and Heidi and Mark's house for the past few days. Dallin got it on Tuesday, Heidi started feeling sick on Wednesday and Brooks and Mark both woke up on Thursday with stomach problems. They thought baby Steven had it as well, but it may have actually passed him by. I have been dreading my turn of being sick to roll around, but nothing so far. My body does not usually get sick which I love. I am hoping my immune system can fight this one off as well. The stomach flu and a high fever are not a good mix for a pregnant lady. For the sake of the babies (and my own sake), I hope I am in the clear. Maybe we will cross our fingers for the next couple of days.

29 Weeks

I had another appointment on Thursday and am now 29 weeks along. Both boys are this picture! We don't have too many like this. On the left is a profile of one with his hand by his mouth. On the right is the other one's head. During the appointment the baby on the left jabbed his brother in the head with his fist. Fun to watch! They were both head down which was a first. At all my other appointments one of them was sprawled across the bottom of my ribs. The boys weigh about 3 pounds each now! I feel them moving all the time. Lately, I have even been able to see them move. I love to watch my belly move and try to figure out what they are doing in there. The space in there is getting limited, and I am sure they like to stretch out occasionally.

In the past few weeks I have had a few less people tell me how cute I look and a few more ask me if I am almost due:) My belly has really grown in the last few weeks. I am more uncomfortable, but that just means we are getting closer to having two little boys join our family.

6 Year Anniversary

Brooks and I have married for 6 years. Our anniversary is March 8, but we didn't go out until Monday the 10th. We decided to celebrate by going to the Melting Pot. Others had told us how much they enjoyed it, but we had never been before. They put is in one of those little "privacy booths" with a curtain and even had a "Happy Anniversary" card waiting for us. The picture is of us getting ready to enjoy dessert. If you look closely at the second picture, you can see I really enjoyed it. My pregnant belly got in the way and I ended up with a little chocolate on my shirt:) We were at the restaurant for 2 hours eating! Not sure why it took that long, but it was a nice dinner. A bit pricey, but a fun experience.
We also went to stay in Fountain Hills for the evening at the same resort we stayed at on our honeymoon. This will be our last anniversary without kids around and we figured we better make it memorable.

In honor of our anniversary, here is a list of some of the things I love about my husband:
1. He always tells me how beautiful I am (no matter how pregnant I am)
2. He makes me laugh often
3. He is very good looking:)
4. He helps around the house
5. He honors his priesthood and is able to give me blessings
6. He is a faithful home teacher
7. He serves faithfully in his calling
8. He goes to the temple with me
9. He wants children and will be a wonderful father
10. He is motivated and purses his dreams
11. He is a great listener
12. I love our late night talks!

There are many more, but that will have to suffice for now. I feel lucky to be married to such a wonderful man!

New Do

I decided that my roots had grown out far enough and that it was time for a change of hair. Brooks likes it when my hair is long and blond, but I like it better shorter because it is easier to do. I stuck with the blond this time, but decided to chop it off. With the rest of my body getting bigger and feeling more uncomfortable, I guess I figured this was one thing I could control. It is much shorter, but I really like it. One of my friends, Amanda, is in beauty school and I had her cut it for me. This was the day it was done and I haven't been able to make it look quite that cute on my own, but I'm working on it.

Twins Garage Sale

I was doing some research about twins and found out that there are local clubs for mothers with twins. I was interested in joining and especially interested in participating in their semi-annual garage sale. A few weeks ago, I went to my first meeting and got some great information and hints from mothers with twins. I will only be a part of the group for a couple of months before the babies come and then we move, but I really wanted to shop early at the garage sale. Last Thursday was the sale. By the end of the night, my car was FULL of baby stuff. I got 2 high chairs, a baby swing, a play mat, a Baby Bjorn carrier, a Bumbo, lots of toys, a few outfits, a baby monitor, and a few other things. It was all in great shape and well priced! When I got home, Brooks was a little surprised by the amount of stuff I had bought, but even he was getting into a few of the toys. One of my favorites is a race track that makes all sorts of noises. The boys (and their dad) will have fun with that one.

Indoor Soccer

Brooks just joined an indoor soccer league. When he got the call last week asking him to join the team, he was quite excited. He has never played indoor soccer, but always wanted to. Their first game was Tuesday night at the new sports complex in Gilbert on Power/Elliot. There are 8 baseball fields and 1 indoor soccer arena. I went to the game to watch. The field is much smaller than the regular soccer field and the goal is much smaller as well. The sides of the field are enclosed by big plastic(?) panels, and there is a huge net that stretches from the outer walls to the ceiling. The ball comes flying at those panels often and is not considered "out" unless it hits the nets above the walls. There are also fewer players on the field. Brooks and Preston are both on the team with their high school coach and a guy they played with in high school. The first game didn't turn out too well for their team, but it was fun to watch. Much quicker moving than regular soccer. Maybe next week they will figure out how to mesh as a team and pull off a win. The complex was nice, but I don't like the $3 entry fee:(

Cute Little Laugh

We had dinner at the Crandell's on Sunday and got to see Sterling, Taryn and Ian. Brooks started playing the "trying to scare Ian" game and Ian loved it. I think it was the first time I had heard him laugh. What a cute little guy!

Scout Campout

Brooks was called as the Assistant Scoutmaster back in September and then changed to the 2nd Counselor in the YM presidency a few months later. The Scoutmaster is currently sick and not able to do a lot with scouting. This means the responsibility has fallen to Brooks and the other leaders in the deacons program. They have been planning hikes and campouts with the scouts. This past weekend they went to the Superstition Mountains for their campout. Only 4 boys (out of 24?) were able to go, but they had an enjoyable time. On Saturday they did a hike from the Peralta trail head. They got to a point where they were a little confused about which trail to take and Brooks ran ahead to check out the trail. He has much more energy than me and took off running down the trail while the others stayed behind. Brooks came home with a sprained ankle from tripping while running, but didn't seem too bothered by it. Bro. McElhaney had some IB Profen on the trail and that helped with the swelling. It is a little bruised and sore still, but not holding him back much.




Brent, Morgan, Dalton and Tanner

No More Scheduling!

For the past 3 years I have been doing the scheduling, billing and other paperwork for our pest control business. With the babies coming and a big move ahead, we started looking for someone else to take over my job. I was a little stressed about finding someone to do my job and about handing everything over to someone else. At the beginning of Feb., we found someone interested in doing my job and she had previous pest control scheduling experience. About a week ago, I transitioned the schedule and most of my other responsibilities to her. It was actually harder to give it up than I imagined. There are a few items I am still taking care of for the time, but it is definitely weird not to have the schedule and the phone with me everywhere I go. Now I have a little more time to get ready for the babies and to get ready to move. We are thrilled that this transition has gone so smoothly!

Canine Assistant

Last week I went with Dayton and his family, friends and relatives to Petsmart for a special presentation for Dayton. They are providing a canine assistant for Dayton and presented him with a life sized check. He will get the dog either this summer or next. This is going to be a big change for their family, but it will be really good for Dayton. The dog can help bring attention to some of Dayton's medical needs and will help him socially as well.

10 Years

Brooks & I started dating 10 years ago this week, our junior year of high school. Although I am hesitant to share the fact that I had a boyfriend in high school with my children or the young women I serve, I am very grateful that Brooks and I met and ended up marrying each other:) We dated 2 years in high school, wrote while he was on his mission, and then got married 2 months after he got home. We have now been married 6 years and are adding two little boys to our family in the next couple of months. I was going through pictures and decided to post a few of Brooks and I from high school.

This was from PROM 1998. My mom took a much better picture of us, but I can't find it.

Dec. 1999 - Hiking with the Reeses over Christmas break

1999 - At a lunch pep rally

Prom 1999 - Brian Bowles (Brooks boss and family friend) took us water skiing for our day activity

Graduation 1999