8 years

*July 2009 at Tomlinson's house. Pregnant with Ruth

Paul and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on Tuesday.  My sister Lisa was here visiting so we had the best babysitter.  We recapped our years of marriage and what monumental events took place:

1: moved  to Midvale and had Eden
2: moved to Sandy and had David
3: moved to Mississippi and Paul started Law school
4: started MAC program and space law scholarship
5. had Ruth, waitress at Chili's, Paul graduated
6. moved to Indiana and started Purdue Accounting PhD program...not sure we could make it through the first year.
7. bought first home and mustered through 2nd year of school
8. had twins and Paul passed prelims

So, what did we do to celebrate these 8 fabulous years?  We ran errands and went to dinner.  I have never appreciated a quiet meal as much as I did on this anniversary.  One moment while I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair the waiter encouraged me not to fall asleep.  I opened my eyes and just smiled...I don't think he understood the importance of how much I just wanted to be left alone.  It was fabulous to have a night out.

Paul was determined to have some 'fun' on our anniversary.  We went to Purdue and played pool and air hockey.  It was actually really fun.  I love you Paul E.

This year we also have had some scares concerning Paul's health.  I spent a few months wondering what my life would be like if Paul was terminally ill or even passed away.  I decided having him terminal ill would be worse than death.  I don't think I could take care of 5 babies and one sick husband but I would do it.  I would do anything for this man.  I also decided that I would be shattered and completely broken if he passed away.  I would be overwhelmed   I would be lost.  

That worry seems to have passed from us now by some miracle.  Just as quickly has his symptoms came, they went away.  I know that the faith and prayers of our family and friends is what helped us. It might have even healed Paul.  I learned that in a crisis I have a hard time turning to the Lord. I am more likely to just survive and muster through.  During this 8th year of marriage I plan on making a special effort to turn more to the Lord.  To pray more earnestly and be more faithful.  I have a blessed life.  I have a great husband.  I have precious children.  Life is good.

8 months old

These boys are both crawling.  They love puffs and baby food.  So far, they eat everything I give them.  They both have two bottom teeth and put everything in their mouths.  The past month they have fought sickness: pink eye, respiratory infections, runny noses and terrible coughs.  Despite all this they have been a joy.  Now for your viewing pleasure, I present the babies...

 Sam 17 lbs 14 oz

 Ben 17 lbs

 Ben

Sam

King Benjamin

Big Accomplishment

David received ALL green smiley faces in the month of February!  This is a big accomplishment for him.  He has been in kindergarten for 6 months and usually doesn't make it a week without a yellow marks.  He is excited to get a purple ticket on Monday.  I think he is starting to understand the rules and what is expected of him.  High five David.  

In other news.  The kids are working on filling their button jar to earn a family movie night in the tent (inside).  As encouragement to keep going, we watched a little bit of Anne of Green Gables tonight.  Once the popcorn was finished, David was gone.  The babies crawled around finding the tiniest things to put in their mouths and Ruthie kept asking a million questions.  These kids literally take ALL my energy.  Every night I am amazed at how tired I am.  I feel like I could sleep for the rest of winter.  They are so darn cute though.  I am trying to enjoy the moment and not wish away their childhood.  

Since I am too tired to even get out of this chair- I will continue.  We had a special stake conference today.  It is always nice to gather with other Saints and feel of the spirit.  Stake conference is all about endurance, I am prepared to handle the kids for 70 minutes during sacrament meeting.  Today after an hour pasted I felt like I was going to explode.  I was hot, the chairs were so hard (when did they get so hard?!), my church bag exploded on the floor, all the kids wanted to sit on my lap...it was just really long.  I was so tired.

Here's the deal.  Everyone has their own trials.  People deal with things all the time, things you can't see or hear.  Things that aren't so obvious.  I have come to understand the importance of not judging others.  On Sunday I like to watch families, I wonder what their week was like.  What their lives look like.  Then I think about myself.  Some weeks I feel blessed and thank the Lord for my amazing life.  Some weeks I sit in the chapel and just think about how tired I am.  I have realized how stress makes you so tired.  It also makes you selfish.  It is really hard to look past yourself when you are stressed.

I'll stop rambling now.  I am so thankful for pictures.  I love to look at snapshots and remember the good.  They give me perspective and help me love my children so much more.  It's easy to see how cute they are in a picture.

Growing

The babies are growing! 

Dance with Dads

Annual Dance with Dads at Earhart Elementary.

 Eden was so excited. She had her outfit picked out days ago.  She plugged in the hot rollers and was insisted that Paul wear his suit for their date.  Paul didn't go for the suit idea, so Eden settled in picking out his shirt.

They won 4th place (same as last year) in the dance competition.  These two crack me up.  Eden gets all her crazy personality from her dad.  They had so much fun.  Eden came home twirling with delight.  She pranced in with her clip on earrings Dad had bought her.  

I absolutely love him. 

Dance with Dads- video

7 months

The twins are a little under the weather this week.  They both have two tiny little teeth on the bottom.

                                           Sam 16 lbs                                            Ben 15 lbs

Today we did something we have never done before with any of our kids.  We bought a toddler toy at full price....you know the ones they grow out of in 2 months?  How do we have 5 kids without any baby toys?  Oh I know, I've always been too cheap.

These twins are so darn cute I have lost all willpower.  Plus, taking Paul to Target is always an expensive occasion.  I love him.  He looks out for our kids.  We are enjoying these babies so much!

David sledding- rock canyon

Sledding- Mountain Green

We went and stayed with Paul's brother (Nick & Jamie) in Mountain Green.  This is Paul's parents house.  Uncle Nick made this awesome track for the kids.  Paul grew up sledding down this hill. Steve's family came down and we had a great day.  It was so nice to be with family.  All of our kids had the best time playing with cousins.  Thank you everyone for making time to visit with us.

Eden sledding - rock canyon park

Christmas surprise

Holy Moly.  I just realized I never published this post about Christmas!

On Thursday, December 20th I was talking to my mom.  I was missing my mom.  It is hard  living far away from family, you don't get to share your kids with them.  My kids are so gosh darn cute and I want my mom to swoon over them like I do.

So, my mom calls Friday morning and tells me to do something crazy and drive to Utah for Christmas.  I tell Paul this crazy idea and he saids, "ok".  I just laughed.  We were prepared and perfectly happy staying home for Christmas.  It was crazy to drive 24 hours with 3 kids who constantly fight in the back seat and  5 month old twins!  Paul goes to school and I start doing laundry and thinking.  He comes home that night and I ask him again if he was serious.  He said sure.  I wanted to see my mom, I wanted to see my sister.

I called my dad that night and told him we were coming.  We didn't tell anyone else.

Saturday morning we left!  We gave our neighbors the fresh produce in the fridge, packed the presents in a Tupperware bin, downloaded a few audio books, turned off the Christmas tree lights and closed the garage door.

It was exciting traveling to Utah.  The babies were perfect, absolute angels.  The older 3 not so much...but  better than I expected.

We walked into my parent's house around midnight on Sunday.  My dad had met us up the canyon, he snuck back into bed with my mom.  We crept into their room and surprised Gigi!  She was so surprised!  It was the best.  

The next day my mom called Amber and told her she broke her foot and needed her to come over and help.  My sweet sister hurried over anxious and worried about my mom.  She was also so surprised.  It was so fun to be with her kids.  Just look at Josie girl and little Fischer.  Aren't they the cutest?!  The first thing Josie said to us was, "you finally got money to come!".

 COUSINS

 Papa holding the twins.

 Christmas morning.  Ruth had a hard time waking up.

 We got out of our car on Sunday and didn't get back in until Thursday.  It was awesome.  We just hung around in our pj's most days.  The kids played, made snowman, went sledding...we had no agenda.  

On Friday we took the older 3 to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  It was freezing.  Paul wanted to give the kids a chance to see the lights, feel the spirit and hopefully have some impression on their hearts. After seeing the Christus at the visitors center we went outside.  David saw a red stain on the cement and said, "Look mom, Jesus's blood."  

It was a fun Christmas!

Ben in action

David talking

A few funny things David has said in the past few weeks.  This is the best stuff to record because I always forget.

                       

      * "Yes-er-do"            (Translation: Yes it does)                                    
* "It's the most taste best you ever had".   (Translation: It's the best thing I have ever tasted)       
     *   "I'm just a little kid."                                           
* "Mommy, I need to tell you something..."    (he always saids this before starting his conversations)

 Conversations in the car:

Mom: David, what animal does beef come from?
David: cow
Mom: pork?
David: pig
Mom: ground beef?
David: (pause) the dirt
________________________
Mom: David, what ideas do you have to help yourself get dressed faster?  It took you 10 minutes to get your clothes on today.
David: I don't know
Mom: I want you to think of one idea.
David: Oh, I know.  What if I had a robot that got me dressed while I played the wii!  That would make me super fast.
Mom: Ok, good job for thinking of something.

We love this kid. 

He is a loving boy.  He is simple and straight forward but also floats in and out reality.  I love how decisive he is.  He makes up his mind and stops thinking about it. 

Must haves- BABY

I have been thinking of my younger sister.  All the advice I have for her when she gets married and when she has her own children.  This post is  in honor of my younger siblings who will evidently have their own children.

For Lisa...when the time comes.  

Cyndi's must have for pregnancy:

1.  Loose, cute, comfy pj's
2. A nice pillow. Spend at least $20 for one.  For my first 3 I had a body pillow, for the twins I didn't.
3. Belly band
4. Towards the end I would eat a banana at night and I think it helped with the leg cramps.
5.  See...I already forgot about pregnancy.

Cyndi's must haves for newborns:

1. Sleepers with ZIPPERS.
2. Think one piece: I believe in only putting my babies in sleepers for the first few months.  I do not like outfits for newborns, sock or shoes.  I don't like a lot of clothes.  In fact, I only allowed 1 drawer for their clothes.  The truth is, you put them in the same clothes because you do laundry often.
3. Good sleeping and nursing bras.
4. Medela hand pump.  Pump in the car, pump at the movies, pump anywhere....loved it.
5. Knit or gauze swaddle blankets.
6. Carseat canopy
7. Cute nursing cover
8. Highchair
9. Bumbo
10. Good stroller
11. Swing

Things I thought I would like...

1. Any type of carrier.  The idea is great.  You carry your baby...but really, why do I want to strap an extra 10-20 lbs on my body at the park?  It hurt my neck and back.  There are a few exceptions where this might be good (hiking, going to a place with a lot of stairs, crowds, water park).  So, I would probably suggest a backpack type.  For me, I am a BIG fan of the stroller and leaving my baby home.  If I  go to the water park, I am going to leave that child with a sitter.

2. Baby gowns.  I used them with the twins for the first time.  The babies would kick their legs and curl into a ball so the neck lines stretched out.  Then I was trying to find their legs with all this fabric.  When they got a little bigger I had to put socks on their feet...that just seemed like too much work.  Sleepers are better.
3.  Baby monitor.  Mine is still in the box and probably only used several times.  We have never had a big house though, so that would make a difference.  In Mississippi, we would go across the street and play games with the baby monitor...so that was useful.  

Things I never bothered with, so I guess I can't really say.

1.  Playmats

2.  Exersaucers

3.  Those carseat toys

4.  Expensive carseats

5.  Tag blankets

Things I am still on the fence about...

1.  Bouncers.  They are nice, although your swing can do the trick.   I got 2 for the twins (at garage sales) and like them.

2. Swaddle blankets.  I am big fan of swaddling.  The Velcro is nice.  Although, you can get a good swaddle with a gauze or knit blanket. They grow out of them so fast.

3. Rocking chair.  I never had one.  When I was pregnant with the twins we bought a lazy boy chair. So, I have never really 'rocked' any of my babies.  Isn't that what a swing is for? :)  I do love the lazy boy for reading books.  When I was pregnant I slept in it a few times when my heartburn was really bad.  When the twins were newborns Paul loved rocking them in the lazy boy.

Favorite brands

1. Dr. Brown bottles.  I used them with all 5 of my kids.  Never had any problems or colic.  I like the slim, solid shape of the bottles.  

2.  Soothie pacifiers.  All my kids loved them.  With the twins I really tried to get them to use other brands but they wouldn't.  All my kids love the pacifier until about 4-5 months when they start teething.  They just naturally gave it up.

3.  Target newborn wipes (less expensive then the pampers swaddle wipes).

4.  I do not like Pamper diapers, they absorb really well which makes even the tiniest pee seem like a squishy diaper.  I do like newborn Pampers swaddler diapers though.

Good luck.  Hope this can come in handy someday.

6 months

 The babies are 6 months old.

 I kiss them 1,764 times a day.

 Ben, Benny, Ben-ja-min 

(his hair is quite blonde, contrary to the lighting in this photo).

14 lbs 14 oz
 25 1/2 inches

 Sam, Sammy, Sam the Man

15 lbs 1 oz
 25 1/4 inches

Here's the crew at home during the day.  What fun. 

This photo depicts them perfectly, interested in everything and trying to figure out how to move around.