Happy Birthday Mi Amore!

Oh LEVI! I can't believe you are 30 years old! This is a milestone. And you have accomplished so much. I am so very proud of you. You are the best husband & dad in the world. Thank you for your hardworking attitude. Thank you for sacrificing so much for our family. Thank you for being a dependable partner. I know you would do anything for any of us. We love you so much. Hope your day is the best birthday ever!

Love you so much!


Here is Levi's List of 30:

1. Creative- he has such vision. It amazes me all the time.
2. Talented furniture builder
3. Really level-headed
4. Great barbecuer
5. I am jealous of his beautiful skin
6. Good teeth
7. Great hair
8. Loves his little princesses
9. Can pretty much build anything involving wood
10. Can build it and make it look amazing
11. He has such a great work ethic
12. Heart of gold
13. Funny funny guy- keeps me laughing. This is the second thing I noticed and liked about him when we first met. My stomach was so sore the next day from laughing all night.
14. Can do insane math in his head and it makes sense to him..not me
15. He is a gentleman
16. Loves to sing out loud (at the top of his lungs) even if people are around.
17. Is usually up to doing just about anything
18. Very patient person
19. Very loving person
20. Really strong
21. Will snowboard whenever he gets a chance to
22. Is a loyal friend
23. Good cook
24. When I first met him, I told my roommates "He's hot, he looks like Mario Lopez."
25. When we first met I was really impressed by how generous of a guy he was. He isn't really a selfish person.
26. He willingly serves those around him, without complaining.
27. He secretly likes Phineas & Ferb and watches it even when the kids are asleep.
28. He is the best dad to his princesses and can't wait to have a son to put to work and take fishing.
29. Loves his family very much.
30. He is someone I look up to and strive to be like in so many ways!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! LOVE YOU LOTS!

The days are long, but the years are short....

{Pictures from about a year ago...I was happy to find these pictures that were lost from my hard drive. I loaded them on to facebook last year, and re-discovered them today! YAY! :D }

Looking back at these pictures makes me a little sad. Bella is much more mature and wiser now. Her chubby cheeks are almost gone. The twins now know how to say "NO". They don't cuddle together and fall asleep together as they did when they were so small...They fight now - over blankets and sippy cups and toys. There is occasional hitting, pinching, hair pulling, pushing & biting which I have to break up. Neither one will back down.

These pictures are a reminder for me that while the days can sometimes be long (like today)...the years are so short.

****************************************

Bella is struggling to unzip her coat.

"MOM! I think my coat is trying to eat me!"

*******************************************

B: Mom, can I take a picture with your phone?

M: No, we used up all the space. There isn't anymore room.

B: That's okay, look...sister is really little.

*******************************************

Bella calls Kailia the "Nice One"

and poor little Paislee the "Mean One".

hmmmm.....maybe Paislee should stop hitting and biting so much.

Today's adventures...

So Bella sits me down on the porch and says:
B: Mom, we need to talk.
M: What's going on?
B: Do you know how much I love you?
M: I don't....how much?
B: fifteeen!
M: Wow, that's a lot.
B: giggles

Bella shocks me and says, "Mom I have snappy hair!"

Today Kailia woke up from naptime a little earlier than Paislee. We quietly got her out without waking sis (this rarely happens). We went outside to play with Bella. But Kailia was so concerned about leaving Paislee! She started crying and saying, "Baybee...Baybee...Baybee" (that's how she says paislee). I had to reassure her that Pais was okay and she was still tired. It took a lot of convincing though...I love their sweet bond.

Kailia has been sick with a cold/ear infection. The poor girl has been absolutely miserable! So when it was nap time, she just wanted mommy to rock her and hold her. But how can I leave Pais in bed thinking I love Kailia more??!! It's so hard sometimes with two babies the same age. It broke my heart, but I had to leave them both in bed to get their sleep. That is the biggest dilemma right now with my twins...sometimes having to choose between them.

What happened this week....

this didn't happen this week, but I had to post a pic from Halloween

***************************************************

So Bella is in the kitchen, when Levi enters from the garage door. Bella is so startled she actually jumps...

B: Dad! You scared me out of crap!

I love it when she gets little catch phrases wrong. It's so funny.

******************************************************

I am making dinner....

B: (whispers something)

M: What?

B: I said "EW" quietly so you wouldn't hear!

M: What's ew?

B: Green beans are ew mom!

Thank you for sparing my feelings, Bella.

Isn't that what makes kids so great, though? Their bluntness and honesty? She doesn't sugar coat things ever, and I love that about her.

***********************************************

Kailia got another staph infection on her little bum/leg area this week. This is the second one in a few months. The doc tested her and it isn't MRSA thank goodness. But he had to drain it with a pin right there in the office. No wonder my kids hate the doctor!

On this same visit, we were led back by the nurse and Paislee started yelling "NO! NO!" Even though the visit was for sis, she did NOT want anything to do with the nurses, doctor or the room.

***********************************************

So the girls' favorite bathtub toy is the empty (and clean) sour cream, yogurt, and cool whip containers. They actually fight over the "biggest" one. This is even after we got them each a new bathtub toy set for Christmas. Nice.

************************************************

We used our Christmas Gift card at the Italian Place (thank you my dear brothers). I got the turkey with everything, and cream cheese instead of provolone. I forgot how fantastic their sandwiches are! It was so good, I had to try to duplicate it today for lunch. If you've ever had a sandwich there, they mix cream cheese and some seasonings in with their turkey or steak meat. OH MY GOODNESS. Maybe it's a prego thing, but I sooo love cream cheese right now. Here is what I did to copy:

1 Pillsbury French Bread Loaf (freshly baked) they used these soft rolls, but we didn't have any
1 lb. ground pepper turkey from the deli- thinly sliced
.5 - 1 package of Italian dressing mix
1 package of FAT FREE cream cheese (less guilt)
tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, onion- whatever you want!

I heated up the cream cheese with the cut up turkey, added in the entire package of Italian dressing mix (It was a little strong, so next time I would start off with half and add more if needed). I heated in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.

SO delicious! I can see using croissant rolls, a whole wheat pita, or anything really. yum.

Stories

B: (in an all-important tone)
Mom, could I have a moment?

M: Yes. You can have a moment. What is it?

B: Can I watch Imagination Movers?

M: Um, I think I can arrange that.


***************************************************

P: GaiGai! GaiGai! GaiGai! (as if to say: KaiKai!!! GUESS WHAT! THIS IS SO COOL! YOU HAVE TO CHECK THIS OUT!)
Paislee does the "come here" motion.
So, Kailia runs into the craft room and they shut the door. Uh oh.

It is so funny to watch them communicate with each other.

Kailia

***************************************************

Bella turns on my relaxation water fountain.

B: Ahhhhh....That is music to my ears!

***************************************************

So, we watch Fineas and Ferb (on the Disney Channel) just about every night before bedtime to wind down the girls. Tonight, we realized Paislee has been singing along with the theme song. She says "Dodo Bird" and yells, "Mo-om!" at the end with the characters. They are picking up on so many things. They are smarter than we give them credit for.

Paislee

*****************************************************
I did an all-hair ponytail in Paislee & Kailia's hair. They look so BIG!

Pais

Kai

*******************************************************
We finally got my Christmas present up. Levi picked out his favorite picture of Christ and built a frame for it. We put it above the fireplace of course. It's absolutely gorgeous! (It throws off the decorations on my mantel, so I'm still figuring that out.) Levi is so talented. I'm such a lucky girl!

14 New Things

1. Paislee and Kailia now weigh 18 lbs. They gained .5 a pound in 1 month! They are still tiny though...in the 3rd percentile for weight.

2. Bella is learning her alphabet and alphabet sounds...thanks to The Letter Factory. She sings the song constantly.

3. Levi has had a couple days of down time, so he has put me to work. Our first project was the storage room. You could barely walk through the path of junk without knocking something over. We took a car load of stuff to DI and filled 3 garbage bags with trash. Levi built some wooden shelving for really, really cheap. I must say, it is gorgeous. I can find anything now. I love organization! There is so much room. I didn't realize how big that room is.

4. Our second project, spray painting the front entry windows with frost spray paint. Now people can't peak in and see us at the front door. It's really nice. I am still getting used to it though, it looks like it's foggy outside. (Next to do, the window next to our master tub.)

5. Our third project, an office makeover. This room turned out so manly and rugged. I absolutely love how it turned out. First, we removed everything. There was so much dust and dirt! ew! We did a glaze treatment on the walls above the chair railing and a chocolate brown paint below, in the desk niche, and on the false ceiling beams. Love it. I found a gorgeous solid oak executive desk on Craigslist.com for a mere $30. Levi sprayed black paint on it with his paint gun, and it is beautiful. We also spreayed the book case we inherited black. Levi will build a matching one for the other side of the desk. All we need now is a leather love seat for the rounded corner. It was so much fun to work on a couple things with Levi and get a lot accomplished. I have to say, he was the driving force behind them. I got really tired, sore, and grumpy. (not so used to physical activity and not yet used to my expanding belly.) ... which brings me to my next one

6. I have officially started the pregnant waddle. I have been fighting it, but now it is here until May. grr.

7. Bella and Kailia love to poke and play with my extruding belly button- which I find disgusting.

8. Kailia calls Paislee "Baybee"

9. Paislee calls Kailia "GuyGuy"

10. The twins call Bella "Belba". I love it.

11. The twins both learned the word "NO". I hate it. Levi loves the way they say it cause it's just so cute.

12. Bella is growing up too fast. She used her Elmo potty seat and left it on the other day. I realized she hadn't used it in a while. It made me kinda sad even though that seat gets in the way.

12. Levi dropped off Bella at preschool today. He got sad about his growing girl when he walked her to the door. "Dad, why are you still here? I go by myself." ouch.

13. Bella's story from the other day:
B: Mom, next time I go camping with Star (her aunt), I am gonna wear these shoes cause they're super fast. And if a monster gets Star, I can grab her arm and run fast and pull her.
M: Oh really?
B: Yeah, cause she is my favorite Star. And I don't want her to get bit.

14. Levi was released from his favorite calling ever- young men and women's sunday school teacher. We had them over for a little Rock Band party and fed them pulled pork sandwiches. They had a lot of fun. They are such great kids. It's always nice to have an excuse to throw a little get together.

Twins 17 month Pictures

I realized the twins are 17 months already! In February they will be going into nursery, tag-teaming all the other kids! Their hair was so cute the other day, I had to take some pictures out on the front porch, before their hair became porcupine-like. Oh I love em!

Paislee

Kailia

Paislee Magoo

The elusive Kailia


I love those cheeks.

My little Kaikai. That face reminds me of a few of my own childhood pics.

Paislee - little miss poser. She was a delight!

KaiKai - thought it was a game to get away from me. It was tricky to get some good ones of the front of her!

I couldn't resist one of Bella. I took a ton more, but she was making the most unnatural looking faces!

They look so much alike here.





My most favorite picture of all...