Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Girl

Dear Lilliana, 

Today is the day you have been waiting for so you can be "big and not take naps" anymore. When you crawled into bed with me this morning I thought in my head thankfully your sisters won't share a birthday with you at this point.  It has been 5 years, but feels like it was just yesterday. I pulled myself or more like rolled out of bed as huge as can be and it brought back all the memories of your birth. You came so fast, but your labor was the easiest so far. It kind of reminds me of how easy of a child you are. We have been blessed with your sweet spirit and wonderful attitude.

Your love of all things art and performing has brought so much animation to our lives I couldn't image life without it. While your brothers may not enjoy your constant singing and performing, inwardly I smile and giggle knowing you love to perform

I can't believe how responsible you have become in just a year.  You are going to be the best big sister. I know you can't wait to have more girls in the house. I know you will be my big helper and love your sisters so much. 

We are so blessed to have your sweet spirit in our home.  While it is hard watching you grow, I love the little girl you are becoming. I couldn't ask for anybody better. I love you!

Love,
Mom

Birthday Interviews


5Years Old

1. What is your favorite color?  Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Stuffed Turtle

3. What is your favorite fruit? Pear
4. What is your favorite tv show? SuperWhy
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut and Jelly Sandwhich
6. What is your favorite outfit? Elsa Dress
7. What is your favorite game? Sorry
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snacks
9. What is your favorite animal? Cat
10. What is your favorite song? Her Own She makes up
11. What is your favorite book? Burgess Book Old Mother Westwind
12. Who is your best friend? Hayden
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios 
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in the Garden
15. What is your favorite drink? Lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Turtle
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cheerios

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Spaghetti
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A mom

Four Years Old

1. What is your favorite color?  Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? American Girl Twin Dolls

3. What is your favorite fruit? Clementine
4. What is your favorite tv show? The Incredible Dr. Pol
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut and Jelly Sandwhich
6. What is your favorite outfit? Dress From Grandpa and Grandma Crawford From Mexico
7. What is your favorite game? Connect 4
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snacks
9. What is your favorite animal? Giraffe
10. What is your favorite song? Go To Sleep Lullabye
11. What is your favorite book? The Animal Book
12. Who is your best friend? Hayden
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios 
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in the Sandbox
15. What is your favorite drink? almond milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? A Purple Coat
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Blueberry Pancakes

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Veterinarian  Like Dr. Pol 

Three Years Old

1. What is your favorite color?  Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Hedgehog Stuffed Animal

3. What is your favorite fruit? Pears
4. What is your favorite tv show? Super Why 
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut and Jelly Sandwhich
6. What is your favorite outfit? Blue Corduroy Dress with Snowmen on the Bottom
7. What is your favorite game? Hungry Hungry Hippos
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit Salad
9. What is your favorite animal? Cat
10. What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me
11. What is your favorite book? The Very Hungry Caterpillar
12. Who is your best friend? Daddy
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios with Honey from the local beekeeper
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in the Sandbox
15. What is your favorite drink? almond milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Easter
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Eli's blanket that Aunt Di made....she has basically claimed it. 
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Blueberry Pancakes

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? This was funny..... She said a goose. We told her no something like what people do a mom, teacher, astronaut, etc. She said to play with her hedgehog. We explained it again and this time it was an Astronaut. Then she changed her mind to a Teacher. 

Preparing for Twins

The thoughts that run through your mind when you are preparing for twins can be a roller coaster. In some ways you need double of everything and in some ways you don't. Then there is the research to see if you can find anything to make your life easier or if it is just more "gear." Today I put together a few of the things I have purchased in hopes of making our lives just maybe a bit smoother. Some of these are favorites I have had for all kids and some of of these will be new to me.

1. Gowns- I love them for boys or girls! They make diaper changes at night so easy. I don't think you can have enough.  If you sew and want an easy pattern to make custom ones Peek-A-Boo Pattern Shop  has the easiest pattern.


2. Herbal Bath- I have noticed in the past year the appearance of Herbal Bath photos in photography has become popular. I have to laugh because thanks to my wonderful midwives I have used these for each baby so almost 7 years ago I took my first one with Eli. With Lilliana and Ari they were our first bath together at the birth center and some of my favorite memories. If you are local you can purchase premade bath mixes at Little Green Branches or Mother and Earth Baby Boutique. These are wonderful for healing and relaxing after having a baby. I always enjoyed the snuggles with my newborn and how they relaxed in the water. 

3. Woven Wrap- Babywearing is nothing new to me. I have worn all the kids and many days wearing them saved my sanity so I could get things done. A woven wrap is new  to me though. I can't wait to see how I like it. I am planning to wear both babies at a time, yes I am crazy!


The next three things are nursing related, so if you have no interest scroll right on past. From the moment I found out there were two, breastfeeding has been a huge source of research and planning. I know it can be done and I have been very successful with the other three so it is a huge priority. I am so thankful Sparrow is baby friendly so I know this will aid in our journey. I also know it is going to be more time consuming and the longer they stay put the more successful we will be. So I have spent several months planning and researching different products and tools just specifically for this.

4. PuraVida Bracelet- With the other three I never worried about what side they were on because it was easy to tell from the last feed. This time I figured we better try some sort of bracelet system to keep track as they will need to switch for head development etc. My wonderful friend shared with me these bracelets. Each baby gets their own color and they will be perfect for what I need plus very reasonably priced! I call that a win.
 
5. Bamboobies Nursing Pads- Gotta love the name. I used these with Ari and these were some of my favorite things after having him. They are so soft. I hated using disposable ones. It was such a waste and they always made me have a rash. You can buy them Here. Until tomorrow you can get a free pair just pay for shipping! 

6. Twin Z Nursing Pillow- This may be the most loved or most hated thing. Time will tell. I used a pillow a little bit with Eli, but then I never did much with the other kids. I am hoping to tandem feed though to cut down on time, so I felt a twin nursing pillow was a necessity. We will see how it goes! I really hope to love it. They can also use it to lay in so either way I am sure it will get used. It can be purchased HERE.

We have spent months preparing for these girls with more space in the house. I am thrilled where we are in that area. Everybody is in their rooms now and are adjusting well. We still need to move homeschool things, but it will happen this week. My house is less cluttered and I am so happy about that. The only thing I need to do is spend some months really organizing each room with shelves etc. It will happen, but for now we have more space so I can not complain. I forgot I took these the other day of the kids helping upstairs. I am not going to lie there may have been days last month the kids were in pjs. all day long and we were barely hanging on with this remodel. I was cooking a lot. I have tried to build up some freezer meals. Between cooking, finishing school, and having them all day by myself while Anthony worked we kind of were in survival mode. Maybe I should say I was. The end is in sight though and all the hard work has paid off.

The other thing I finished finally last night was their quilts. I post more of my quilting on Instagram, but finally took some nice photos today. The end of 2014 I purchased a really nice sewing machine and honestly it has been the best thing for me. It has given me another hobby to get away from the computer. I love photography and I miss it sooo much. I really do, but I spent too much time editing. My kids also don't enjoy the camera as much which is to be expected. I took some time away and it was good for us all. I have a need to create and sewing/quilting was the perfect outlet.

I have fallen in love with Reproduction 30's and 40s fabric. In fact if I could I would buy it all and only make quilts from that period. I have not done that, but I would like to. My wonderful grandma sends me fabric she will never use. Last year she sent a charm pack which are squares that are 5"X5" from a fabric line. They are wonderful because they are precut and you get a huge variety. You can't get this fabric anymore. I fell in love with it. They are 30's fabrics and everything I love about them. I put it away and just knew I would save it for a baby quilt if we had another baby and it was a girl. When I found out I was expecting I pulled it out frequently trying to decide which quilt design I would make. I am so partial to pinwheels for baby quilts. They are happy and fun. I knew that would probably be the design, but I wanted something a little different. Well, then we found out there were two. So I had to split that charm pack and add from my stash. I usually use a quilt pattern because it is easier so I don't have to sit and do the math for everything. Well, with two and what I wanted to achieve I ended up making my own pattern using the Dutch Pinwheel pattern. Oh they were a mess at one point. They were square and much bigger than I had planned! I don't care for complete square quilts. So I had to modify. The end of December I knew it was time to call in help. I just could not finish these mentally/physically and so I sent them to my dear grandma to quilt. She added boarders which I knew it needed, but just was so mentally wore out from everything in general I could not get to where I needed. It takes a lot for me to send a quilt to be quilted by somebody else. I love this part of the process. It is a favorite of mine. In the end I am SOOO glad I did. She has an embroidery machine and can add some neat effects. They are similar but different in their own ways and probably some of my favorite quilts to date. I am told that my grandpa tried to keep them.

Baby A's Quilt-

Baby B's Quilt

She added the best details. Scotty Dogs are iconic of 30's fabric.

As are children playing....

Of course we couldn't have a pinwheel quilt without pinwheels.

She went above and beyond and I know these will be timeless keepsakes for years to come. I can't wait to tell them the story of how we were able to complete their quilts.

I still have not completed any maternity photos. I think Wed. I might finally accomplish this task. I managed to get the kid's birthday photos done today. I am officially in my 35th week which is beyond WONDERFUL!! I am hoping for at least 2 more weeks. I am not going to lie I am wearing down and it is getting hard just like with a singleton pregnancy. The end is near though. I took this last week at 34 weeks. (Excuse the dirty mirror, we had just hung it)

Last but not least this picture brought so many tears and thoughts to my mind. This is probably the last picture I will take of just the 3 of them. My 3 amigos. They have been nothing but perfect the past two months helping me. They have begun going above and beyond in so many thing. I finally have them "trained" for quick pictures together and now we will add two babies. LOL We can laugh about that in oh October when I am "attempting" fall pictures. Either way I love them and am so grateful for their help. They are going to be the best siblings and I can't wait to see how their relationship grows with the girls.

4 Babies Later

When we bought our house we got a GREAT deal on it. Honestly I don't think now we could ever buy a house as big as we have for what we paid without needing a lot more work than our current house. We also bought our house knowing it was a project house. Maybe it was more a project than we had planned though. Truly our house is beautiful. It has so many wonderful windows. The ceilings are high on both floors. It just is very light and airy which Anthony and I love. It just is well over 100 years old... built around 1890. We had a grand plans when we moved in and so far we have a few of those plans. It has also needed so many other things like fence, furnace, new windows, lots of insulation, and just normal upkeep. The upstairs to us was a huge blank slate. We had plans to add another bathroom and master bedroom. We moved in when Eli was 8 or 9 months old and lived in the downstairs. The upstairs we didn't heat and it was just there.

Fast forward to spring and we both were ready for another baby. Now, I remember looking at this house and saying oh we can just paint the walls. Well my dear husband said now the upstairs plaster and lathe had to go. It is the old horse hair kind. At the time I just said ok whatever. He at that point had done a lot of demos on houses I knew he could handle it. 

I was just barely pregnant with Lilliana and we  decided to gut these two rooms and go from there. 

Hallway looking into half of the upstairs. To the left are stairs. To the right is an entrance to a bedroom. Behind is a wide short hallway.

First room that is as big as our dining room and looks exactly like the downstairs with a bedroom off of it.

Taken from other side.

Bedroom off of big room.

We began gutting and had lots of help from Anthony's brother.

Life happened with being pregnant and us realizing we may have bitten off more than we could handle in that short time before Lilliana was supposed to arrive. So honestly there it sat. It became a huge storage area and a gutted mess. We shut the door and it just wasn't talked about because it was overwhelming. We wanted to finish it. Oh we did, it just was so overwhelming. We couldn't agree on a floor plan and exactly what we wanted. We didn't "need" the space. Then Ari happened and well that was a huge surprise. Anthony and I had a lot of disagreements about getting it done. We just were honestly at a point in our marriage though that this entire project was such a sore subject. So basically it still got ignored. I didn't even pressure to have it done before Ari came although I wanted it to be done.  I thought for sure it would happen within a year after Ari. It didn't. It was overwhelming having the 3 kids so close together and Anthony was working a lot. We could barely hold our heads above water it seemed mentally with 3 kids so young.

Finally 2014 we made goals to finish this upstairs. We wanted another baby as Ari was finally growing up and we were doing better. It just needed done. We didn't know exactly how it would work. Then the lead and window issue came about so this got put on hold again, but we got new windows which was another goal. My grandparents began talking about coming out. I actually didn't know if they would for sure. Life can come up and change things like it had in the past, but they were sticking to plans. My grandpa could help with the electrical which was the big thing holding us up. He also could help Anthony hang dry wall. In the mean time SURPRISE! I am pregnant again 6 months sooner than we had talked about trying. I told my grandma on the phone. I don't care what happens you have to come!! She just laughed and said they were.

Fast forward to October of last year and Anthony and my Grandpa came up with a plan for a big master bedroom and then homeschool/tv room. I was not expecting that at all because I just was planning a kids room. I was thrilled. They also ran electrical and put up drywall in a week. They worked so hard.

New Design, our bedroom looking into homeschool room

 

Hallway looking into homeschool room and our room.

 

What it looked like when my grandparents headed back on their long drive to Idaho.

Anthony has been working non stop since they left. He has gone to work early and come home to work many late nights. We have had some help from his brother and cousin which we are so grateful for. It has left me and the kids which can be challenging pregnant, but we have made it. Finally this past weekend we finished everything enough to begin moving everybody's room around and getting everything in place for the babies. We still need to pick out light fixtures and have some trim to install, but at this point we will do that later. We also have a bit of paint to touch up on trim. We just need to get moved. I am thrilled with how well it came out and my wonderful husband worked so hard. It is amazing how everything came together in just the right time. 

Master Bedroom

Homeschool/TV room looking in from hallway. 

View from other side of homeschool room

 

Now for decorating....I am waiting for my dear sister to come visit and decorate for me. The girl can turn any Pinterest project into reality and truly I am decoration challenged. She was influential in paint colors and flooring. Seriously, I am decoration challenged. Now that we have this huge project done I think we can breath again and move onto the next thing of replacing the carpet downstairs and the rainbow carpet upstairs. I can't wait to finally have a wonderful space to relax after the babies are born and not feel any pressure of the house not being done over my head!! We started with one baby and finally 4 babies later it is complete. 

January Cabin Fever

I have no idea how it is already February. I am still in disbelief. January was a little rough around here. Right after the holidays everybody began getting sick with an awful cold that seemed to linger for weeks. Lilliana and Ari still have a bit of a cough and runny nose. I also had the awful cold and I can't say it was the easiest. I think I hit a wall at about 30 weeks pregnant and having a cold. Thankfully I am feeling much better. Needless to say we spent a lot of time on the couch cuddling. 

I was even inspired to grab my camera a couple times during that time. Ari is so expressive I love taking photos of his silly, grouchy, and funny faces. 

Eli and I pushed hard through school and we are almost done!! Overnight he just has taken off with reading. He was reading before, but it finally clicked. Now his days are spent with telling me how to spell words and bringing me random things and telling me what they say. We have had some very warm days for January so most days he is out at 8:00 a.m. playing in the little snow we have or the mud now. It has been good for him.

The younger two have discovered my DS. It is nearly 8 years old and they get a kick out of playing it. Eli does too, but these two only ever get about 10 minutes and they spend it usually snuggling together. I have to admit it was a nice little break while I was sick. 

Lilliana who has always been this sweet easy going child has not exactly kept that temperament. It has been a little hard to adjust. Don't get me wrong she is not terrible, but she has always been soo very easy and any time she isn't it throws me through a loop. We had a couple rough days and I thought I was losing my mind. Then I sat down at lunch and saw her with the banana sticker on her head and just laughed. 

I started the banana sticker when she was a baby. I always would grab them off and put them on their foreheads and laugh and say they were my Chiquita babies. They have continued at now almost 5. Eli does it too. There was a point they even fought over the bananas for the one with the sticker. All those rough moments just made me smile and laugh.

I have lots of cabin fever. I was not able to walk as much outside in January, but I hope that is put on hold since we are back to little ice and warmer weather. I plan to do a big post on pregnancy progress this week. I have not done the best job documenting this time, but I have plans to take a few photos this week and update with the progress on the house. Needless to say floor begins going in today:) We are so close!! The best news is I have made it to 33 weeks. Each week they stay put is even better. The next goal is of course 34 and 35. Every day after that is a huge blessing. My ultimate goal is 38 weeks, but more on that later this week. Happy February to everybody! It is a favorite month here with birthdays and our anniversary.