New Year's Eve

We had every intention of being social on New Year's Eve. Most years it's pretty lame, so I made plans, got a babysitter, and everything! The night before we got invited to a game night, and had so much fun we didn't get home until 2 AM. So the next day we all felt like garbage. And I just couldn't bare the thought of doing it all over again. So we decided to just sit at home and be bums as usual. Luckily, Sam and Amy didn't want to be out late either since they were going on a trip the next morning, so they brought their kids and some "fireworks" over and we rung in the new year at 8:00 and were in bed by 10:30. 

Now pretend the hooded child in the following pictures is Clark and not my nephew and that the real Clark wasn't hiding behind a tree, terrified of the sparklers. 

The next day I made some resolutions, most of which I've already failed at (see previous post), but little by little. Don't try to read them, because I might be embarrassed by the one that says to take showers.

2013

It's been a pretty crazy year for us! If I had to give a theme to this year it would be faith. Not just believing in God, but believing that He's the one in charge (have I mentioned I'm controlling?) Really, he knows what he's doing.

There were several times I looked to the heavens and thought "excuse me, what are you thinking?" and now I can look back at every little (and big) unexpected turn and find something really important that I learned from it. Something I might not have learned otherwise. And it turns out, I love having two babies at once. It's exactly what I never knew I needed. These two little maggots are so perfect for me.

So glad they're a little fatter now, too

Anyhow for the first time it occurred to me that all those times the scriptures say "be not afraid" or the like, it's not just a reassurance. It's a COMMANDMENT. As usual, Jeffrey R. Holland says it best:

"[This] may be one of the Savior's commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord's merciful heart... . May I be bold enough to suggest that it is impossible for anyone who really knows God to doubt his willingness to receive us with open arms in a divine embrace if we will but ‘come unto Him?... I am convinced that none of us can appreciate how deeply it wounds the loving heart of the Savior of the world when He finds that his people do not  feel confident in his care, or secure in His hands". 

Here's to a much less eventful 2014!

Christmas Morning

I haven't enjoyed Christmas morning so much since I was a kid. I just loved being in our own home and watching Clark get excited about every little thing! Jacob and I forgot to even look at our own presents until well after Clark had seen all of his.

The rest of the day was a little crazy going from our house to his parents' to my parents' to his grandparents' and back to my parents'. By the end of the day we were all exhausted and getting sick, but all in the name of holiday spirit!

(And if you want to know how I really feel about Christmas, just read this. It's really good.)

Good thing we got so much cute stuff at baby showers so we could pretend the girls got gifts. Since they care and all..

Smith Festivus 2013

I love Christmas Eve with my family. It's loud, crazy, obnoxious, too packed with activities, and I love it! Here are the usual festivities:

- Canaya's Birthday party where we eat an amazing Filipino feast cooked by Adina

- Viewing of the family Christmas music video which I had the privilege of editing this year. We've been forbidden to publish some of them online, but this one's relatively tame:

- Christmas Elvises leave our new jammies at the door during a round of "minister's cat". A stampede of screaming children ensues.

can you tell the babies woke me at 4 am?

- Never ending "talent" show. After every number, my mom asks "Does anyone else have something?" and a child between the ages of 3 and 10 will undoubtedly raise their hand and share their something (usually made up on the spot). Rinse and repeat.

- Adult white elephant. There were a lot of winners this year, but I really hit the jackpot with a replica of Amy's "World's Greatest Mom" night shirt.

Our Really Ugly Christmas Tree and Other Tidbits

One time I bought an 8 ft. Christmas tree at a garage sale for $5. They kindly let me know it was missing a stand. Hey, I can buy a stand. NBD, $5 is a steal. Oh wait, you forgot to mention it's also missing the TOP THIRD of the tree. So we put our tree together, and found that it was only 2/3 of a tree and looked more like a large bush. Then Jacob had the genius idea of putting our little 3 ft. tree on top. So it kinda changes shape, color, and texture there, but we covered it in so much crap you can hardly tell. 

Why don't people use tinsel anymore? Because it looks like junk? Well it's really cool in the dark, and Clark had a hay day (sp?) with it!

Some of the many ornaments that add to the classiness:

hand-painted by Clark

I have way too many ornaments with my picture on them.

Clark's been good about not touching the tree (with a lot of threats from us), so I made him this pretty ghetto one out of green tape and card stock shapes. That thing's provided a lot of entertainment. Plus every time we're walking down the stairs he says, "There you are, tree! Thank you Mama!" which melts my heart a little.

I also started the Twelve Days of Christmas for Jacob. After 5 years of considering it, and stealing some ideas from a friend I was finally on-the-ball enough to actually have it all ready by the 14th. It takes a lot of planning, but I've loved watching him open something every day. And each time, he runs over to me after and says "I love it! I love it! I love it!" really fast like a little boy and hugs me. So, totally worth it.

 If Jacob used Instagram, he'd put a cool filter on these and be like "My wife is the coolest! #iloveit"

(On the third day, I gave him a framed picture of his three cute kids, but he must have forgotten to take a picture)

"Happy Thanksgiving Back"

On Wednesday Amy had the girls over to bake pies. She even made us all these cute little aprons.

Annie volunteered to be my little helper. I told her I was going to take her picture and she said "Wait! Does this look like a good face?" Ya, totally.

I decided last minute to go join a little local Turkey Trot on Thursday. Trot I did. Run I did not. I jogged for a few minutes before feeling like I would pass out and speed walked the rest of the way. Let's pretend it's because I just had babies and not because I'm almost always out of shape.

My cute trotting pals. Forgot to get a picture of Clark up front. Oops. Get used to it, kid.

Jacob played some football and then caught up to us on the way home. I started working on the rolls I volunteered to bring to Thanksgiving dinner and got done with one small batch when my bread machine broke. Ughh what a mess. Luckily there were plenty of my mom's delicious rolls to go around and the rest of Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic as well.

Every year after I go Black Friday shopping, I say that I am never going again. And then the next year, something pulls me back in. I really can't stand the thought of missing a great deal. This year I went to Old Navy with my sister on Thursday night to get 50% off everything. I got some great deals on kid stuff, but the line was OUTRAGEOUS! And I was one of the lucky ones that only had to wait an hour. I won't even say I'm never going again.

On Friday we gave Clark some ornaments to paint while we set up for Christmas. Now he asks me every day if he can paint.

We finished off our long weekend by going to my mom's for warm cinnamon rolls and then temple lights. Clark's been obsessed with "pentles" (temples) ever since I pointed out the Gilbert one to him while driving. We could only get him to look away by waving a chip in front of his face.

Stuff We've Done Lately

Clark can be a picky eater sometimes, but happily ate the stump of a broccoli crown? Right now one of his favorite things to do is help dad out in the yard. He just walks around out there picking up dirt and moving it to new places, because it makes him feel important and gets him filthy, which I guess is the goal when you're a toddler. 

Random funny story while I'm talking about Clark: One time after my sister EmmaLee was over, he kept pointing at my chest and saying "EmmaLee". I was confused and figured my shirt looked like the one she had been wearing or something. A few days later he did it again and I noticed it was every time I wore a tight shirt. Eventually I figured out that he thought boobs (is there a more euphemistic word for them...sorry, can't think of one) were called "EmmaLee" because she had pointed to herself and said her name, trying to tell him who she was but he thought she was naming a body part because he loves pointing out people's nose, eyes, ears, etc.  I think I'll just let him think that for now. 

Ok, back to our life.

We went to Zoo Lights for Jacob's work party. For Clark, who gets really excited about turning the kitchen lights on and who loves animals of all kinds, this was heaven--even though the only real animal we saw was a zebra (which he stared at in awe for several minutes), the light up ones were equally exciting. His very favorite thing was when all the lights did a dance to Trans Siberian Orchestra music. 

There was also food and glow sticks, so... 

From left: strangers, Canaya sporting 34 glow sticks, Bethany helping feed babies, me+Wendy, Clark, Clark's wasted dinner

Me as an alien or me as a deer in the headlights. They were both so cute, I just couldn't pick. Also, all the kids went on that carousel. Clark was terrified. 

Other stuff: 

The girls like to torment their cousin Ty. They're just jealous of his thighs. 

We went to the park to have lunch on Veterans Day. It was really crowded and the worst kid park ever.

Halloween '13

Well I was in no mood to be creative or elaborate with costumes this year, so we whipped out the old Mario and Peach costumes from 5 years ago, rounded up a Luigi costume for Clark, and made some little mushroom hats for the babies. Lucky for me, Amy also lent me this glorious wig to complete the look.

We went to our ward trunk or treat on Tuesday night where I forced Clark to do the cake walk and go from car to car begging for candy...for him of course (no). I guess I'll never be a day older than 12 at heart. By this point he had erased his mustache and refused to keep his hat on, so pretty much just looked like a kid wearing overalls. Jacob pushed the girls in the stroller at a distance and pretended he didn't know me.

On real Halloween we went to the annual Halloween party put on by my sister. Ate soup and bread bowls and amazing homemade donuts and then all the kids went out trick or treating. Jacob took Clark along while I stayed with the babies. I was so excited that he was old enough to justify trick-or-treating but young enough to not know that I would be eating most of his loot. So I was genuinely upset when all the youngins came back with buckets of candy and Clark was empty handed! Apparently Jacob did not feel Clark was old enough to actually participate in the candy-getting part of trick-or-treating. Grrrr. Lesson learned. And I still have the next 2 months of holidays to get fat.

4th of July

On the 4th of July, we went swimming with my family at my parent's...neighbor's house. They were out of town and said we could use the pool, so obviously we had ourselves a party. Then we ate some good food and set off "fireworks" which Clark loved until they started being really loud. Then he clung to me, trembling and saying "all done, all done." Poor guy. We're just glad to have Jacob back!

Also, it's HOT here. Who moves to Arizona in the middle of summer...while pregnant...with twins?!

Dad

 

I used to be a little jealous that Clark loves Dad best, but now nothing could make me happier. And when we called Jacob (still in California) on speaker phone the other day and I watched Clark's face go from joy to confused frustration that he couldn't get Dada out of the phone, it made me teary-eyed. Because we both need him here and because so much love in such a little boy is the sweetest thing I ever saw. I really wish every kid could have this kind of dad!

Some things Clark and I love about Jacob:

-He always wears Clark around the house as he vacuums or outside while he does yardwork.

-He's the best story reader. They like to play a game where Clark will press a picture in the book and Jacob will say what it is. Over. And over. ("tree. tree. tree. tree" "butterfly. butterfly. butterfly.") Then he says, "I'm like one of those book toys that reads out loud when you press the button!" I do not have the patience for this game and even when I try to, it's just not the same  

-He knows raising kids is a combined effort, not just the mom's job. The second he gets home from work, no matter how stressful his day, he takes over whatever I'm doing with Clark: playing, feeding, bedtime, etc. On the weekends he tells me to get out by myself or takes Clark out so I can have the house to myself for a little while.

-He can always make us laugh. His hold-Clark-and-crazy-dance parties are way better than mine.

-He sings to Clark almost every night before bed.

-He's always so concerned for our well-being and loves hearing every boring detail and minute milestone of our day.

Anddd he's just really cool. We love you and miss you!