My Beautiful Birthday

Continuing on in the spirit of catching up.

The morning of my 36th birthday I woke up late (thank you Eddie)
Ate breakfast I didn't cook (thank you Eddie)
got ready for church, went to church, and came home from church.
ate lunch I didn't have to cook (thank you to the Chavez family, our Home Teachers)
enjoyed a beautiful afternoon and laid down to rest a minute and think about dinner when the doorbell rang and my two good friends arrived with their families and food
I enjoyed a lovely dinner that I didn't have to cook (THANK YOU EDDIE)

I got a lovely present, exactly what I wanted, but it made my friends laugh, it was a canning accesories kit, lid lifter, jar tongs, the whole kit and caboodle.

Then I got the children into bed and went to bed myself.

All in all, I had a lovely day!

Much to be grateful for.

Thanksgiving happened.

I think I should probably disclose to those of you reading this that "happened" is code for the following;

A lot of memorable things took place but I didn't have/find/scrape out time to sit and write about it, so even though it is well past the event, I will now write down what I can remember so that I don't lose even more of what happened to the sands of time.



So Thanksgiving happened and was a milestone, a year from the time we moved into our new home.

We have officially survived the move.

I have survived moving a month before delivering baby/babies twice now.

I survived having twins via c-section

I survived being a NICU parent

I survived leaving the hospital without my babies, and bringing home 2 newborns

I survived my mother and mother-in law each in turn returning to their regular lives

I survived Eddie returning to work after his paternity leave.

Liana starting kindergarten and Ella starting 2nd grade (2 different pick up times)

Teaching my rotation of Nina's preschool co-op.

breastfeeding twins for 11 months (they weaned themselves)

Twin teethers (they each have 4 teeth)

twin crawlers

and any day now twin walkers (Amalia is already training for a 5K and AJ took 4 steps on his birthday!)

I don't mean to imply it was bad when I use the word "survive" it just hits me more and more what we have lived through this past year. It's a lot, but it is all good stuff.

I feel incredibly grateful to be in a home large enough for my large family to live in and not have to step on eachother's toes all day and night. I am grateful for a husband who works so hard to provide for all of us without me having to w0rk outside of the home. Grateful for extended family who come to visit and help out every chance they get. Grateful for smart children who did the best in school in spite of all the upheaval in their lives. Grateful for good friends who have really helped me get through this past year with a smile on my face...or at least on my heart, sometimes I have been too tired for it to make it to my face.

So Thank You Heavenly Father, for all these gifts which I am still recieving.

The magic of Nina

There is a magic to three-year-olds,

-

Something not found in other ages.

A 3-year-old is a changeling child who gets all the perks.

Old enough to climb the monkey bars, small enough to fall asleep on some one's shoulder.

Smart enough to import the bathroom stool to the kitchen so as to reach goodies on the counter,

innocent enough to get off light - or lets face it get off completely with the right smile and that glint in her eye.

Nina has a little more magic then most some days.

She is a brilliant singer, with a vibrato that she uses to great effect when she desires. In addition to a vast repertoire of toddler and primary favorites, she composes her own songs, and will even compose on demand;

"Nina will you sing me a song about ladybugs?"

"Ladybugs don't hurt you, they just will tickle you, and ladybugs are pretty...."

She has a great smile and when she wants to be funny she turns it all the way to one side and squints at you through half closed eyes.

She is all girl - with frequent applications of "chopsticks and lip glasses" (chapstick and lip gloss of course!) She looks "Ferfect, like a princess" - I didn't miss type, anyone who is anyone knows "Ferfect" is the correct way to pronounce "perfect."

Nina is a shoe fanatic. With a special fondness for high heels -of course! The ultimate in shoes of course are Tap Shoes, which in spite of being too small for Liana are still 2 sizes too big, this does not stop her from wearing them every chance she gets and they are not only a fashion statement, she will dance command as well - requiring an introduction and a round of applause every 30 seconds or so as payment.

She lays claim to any and all belongings she deems desirable, most often she firmly believes said items were given to her for Christmas by her grandma (even if said item is oh, say, her big sister's library book.)

The exception to her being girly is he hair, she does not want it done up in bows, she wants it "long" which is translated as " a swirling octopus of tendrils reaching out in to the cosmos, drawing life force from the atmosphere." her world is not happy if her hair is tamed into a clip or ponytail.

There are days when I forget to see the magic in Nina,

Days when the twins are all over me or getting themselves into dangers,

days when the big girls have homework and laundry is piled knee deep,

Days when I can't think what to make for dinner, what I needed at the store, where the important paper is, what time we need to be somewhere, etc., etc., etc.

There are too many of those days lately.

Days when Nina shows her temper, she throws tantrums and yells or cries when things are not going her way, and when I take her to time out, she will kick and scream and thrash,

But then, after sitting for a moment she will call to me;

"I sorry mommy, I said I sorry... Hold me?"

And then the magic happens, she suddenly becomes very small, so little and tiny, and she looks at me with her big eyes and I am compelled to pick up my little "Ninabirdy" and hold her close.

She folds herself into your lap when you hold her, she compacts herself into a little egg of comfort and warmth,

And the magic of Nina takes over once again.

Nina in November

November came and brought with it the winds. We had previously decided to have a birthday party for Nina at the park.
We had games planned, "Put the tiara on the princess," "Pass the Present", etc.
We had decorations planned, streamers, balloons, banners, etc.
We had cupcakes with candles and even remembered to bring matches.
Unfortunately Mother Nature was using her leaf blower.

Balloons blew away as we handed them to the girls to put out.
Decorations ripped and scattered.
The poster sized "Put the tiara on the princess." princess Blew off in spite of being taped on all 4 sides.
We had cupcakes but even with a blanket wrapped around the table as a wind block, candles were futile.
Eddie was at work, but thankfully, we also had good friends who helped keep the small children from blowing away, consoled the medium sized children when the decorations blew away, and even helped the big children practice their tree climbing skills safely.

Ella said it was the worst party ever,
Nina had a wonderful party at the park.