This Week

We visited with cousins. (We have lucked out on visits with cousins this month. I believe we have had four!)

Kate learned to climb out of her crib (and into it too), ruining my newly-made plans for the girls' bedding arrangements. (I blame my wonderful sister-in-law Debbie for jinxing us on this point. :) ) Her mattress is on the floor for now.

Kate got a stomach bug and threw up all over me and herself multiple times, despite my attempts to help her aim elsewhere. She made up for it with some good, exhausted snuggling during her recovery.

Though we love our town pool and are quite loyal to it, we went to the pool in a neighboring town with some friends to change things up. Theirs has a family slide and lazy river, which was fun. (It's been a hundred degrees for about two weeks straight, so pool trips have been necessary.)

Mike manned a table for the city at the county fair promoting an energy conservation program, completed his summer class and chaperoned a youth dance for church.

We took the kids to said fair (twice, actually, to give Mike moral support at his table) and found time to enjoy shaved ice, funnel cake, cotton candy, animal sightings and even a couple rides. Kate and Maggie loved it all. Kate enjoyed saying hi to all the animals and wanted to pet them, while Maggie encouraged them to make their sound from a distance (ie., "Say 'quack' Duck!"). They loved the treats and would have liked more rides. We met up with Maggie's friend there (actually friends of our whole family) and Maggie's reflections on the evening were the following: "I wish I could go to the fair with my best friend Molly again."

And we spent much of Saturday doing some good old family chores.

I am exhausted!

A New Blog Title

And for those who are wondering, come November, the name of our blog will be...

Mike and Me and Our Little Girls Three!!!

Our baby bump at 21 weeks...I am now at 25 weeks
and she's poking out even more

Yep. We are back to dreaming of girl names. :)

Emotional Roller Coaster

The past month has had a lot of ups and downs. A quick run-down...

Four weeks ago: Slightly nervous

My twenty-week sonogram gave an initial diagnosis of placenta previa, a condition where the position of the placenta prevents a normal delivery and requires a Cesarean and where complications such as bleeding or pre-term delivery are possible. It also means restricted activity and possible bedrest later in pregnancy to prevent complications. It can correct itself as the baby and uterus grow, pulling the placenta out of the way, but the position of the placenta seemed less likely than some to change. The doctor decided to have me come back in in four weeks for a more thorough ultrasound. It didn't sound dire, but I was definitely concerned.

Two weeks ago: Disappointment

Had my first toothache, which unfortunately turned into my first root canal, right when we were scheduled to go on our excursion to Nauvoo. I even had everything packed and ready to go. I felt a little sorry for myself...but thankful for modern dentistry.

A week-and-a-half ago: Heartache

My amazing friend Amber and her beautiful family lost their darling baby girl after a full-term, uncomplicated pregnancy--every pregnant woman's worst nightmare. Their little one was stillborn, apparently from a kink in the umbilical cord. These things can happen so fast. I am so impressed by my friend's faith and trust in the Lord's plan at this time. She is truly amazing and I'm lucky to know her. Though I know their daughter is in good hands, my heart mourns her loss.

A week ago: Bliss

Mike and I went on our first weekend getaway without the girls at the end of last week. (I had never left them overnight before except when I spent the night in the hospital after having Kate.) We missed them lots and talked about them a fair amount, but it was really nice to take our luggage carry-on and zip through the airport sans stroller and carseats. It was really fun to see my wonderful friend Elise married to her sweetheart Rich and visit with my parents, sister and high school friends at the wedding. And it was lovely to spend some quality and quantity time together, just us. More on the trip later.

Yesterday: Relief

My follow-up ultrasound was reassuring. Mike would probably put it: Situation normal. The placenta is now well out of baby's way and everything is looking as it should. The ultrasound technician was surprised they hadn't done a little more thorough ultrasound last time and even seemed to doubt if the placenta had been in quite as bad a position as they originally thought. Regardless, I am grateful it is now well out of harm's way and am thankful for the prayers of my wonderful family and friends.

And scattered throughout: Alternating enjoyment and exhaustion

I love being the mom of young children, having wonderful friends and family to visit with, and taking advantage of the wonders of summer. Enough said.

And for those of you who saw this barely started post earlier and were left hanging, I'm so sorry. A little three-year-old I know got on the computer this morning and started clicking the mouse at random, accidentally publishing my post fragment unbeknownst to me. :)

The Momentum

At the beginning of the year, our lawn mower died. Its death presented a change that was welcomed by all involved, except for maybe the lawnmower that ended up at the lawn mower graveyard at the repair place.

We decided to try something new and Finnish: the Fiskars Momentum Reel Lawn Mower.

For the size of our lawn, this works quite well for us. It's not as difficult to push as it may seem, and does a good job of cutting. Some weeds, which are plentiful this year, grow too tall for the blades to slice and must be clipped with the trimmer, but otherwise the scissor cut works well. It is very quiet when being used and fits much better in our garage than most mowers. While not an overtly environmentally concerned household, the use of a mower that does not create any emissions and that is truly self-propelled, does provide a certain satisfaction at the end of a mow. We'll see if our positive feelings remain through the heat of summer.

On a separate topic, once again our Royals are comfortably at the bottom of the American League. In honor of this, enjoy this quintessential clip:

Complimentary

after the most recent Chamber of Commerce dinner

Mike was really excited, the guest speaker was the director of the college football tournament (Bowl Championship Series, I asked Mike the correct term) and used to be a chairman for the Final Four in basketball

I am good at planning a million projects. (A hundred, if I think I'm being realistic.)

Mike is good at executing them. (I'm not sure if his motivation is simply love or a desire to avoid overwhelmed tears. But either way I appreciate his efforts.)

At the start of last month we had a serious family meeting. We try to have meetings weekly. In this one, I listed all the family projects I felt we needed to get going on (that is things I was stressed out about). He listened. Then we planned what to focus on when and what baby steps towards our goals were realistic.

And then we got going.

Over the past month, Mike personally reorganized our basement storage and inventoried our food storage. He bought the needed items for 72-hour kits. He cleaned up his bedside table and papers in our room. He helped me figure out how to organize and streamline digital picture storage. And yesterday, he got us started on the paint job in the girls' room that I have been wanting to do for months.

we entertained the girls' in their cribs with books and toys and the camera remote

His efforts were just the motivation I needed. I got some files organized. Packed clothes for 72-hour kits. Got going on some picture projects. And finished up the paint job in the girls' room...which I LOVE--it was just the right yellow, kind of a warm, gold, Pooh-bear color.

More cases of Mike's helpful initiative: I casually mentioned I wanted to learn more about photography and lightroom a week or so ago. Mike surprised me with accessible, easy-to-use books on each. I said it might be nice to go see the Nauvoo pageant again this year. The next day Mike e-mails me with a possible date and location to stay. I just love that thoughtful man.

Mike's strength is efficiency. Mine is in the details. Where alone those strengths might become weaknesses, together we are quite complimentary. Don't you just love family projects?

And finally, pictures from last week's date to the temple.

We are trying to take advantage of our away-from-home dates (or "playdates" as Maggie refers to them) these next few months: walks on the beach (that's what they call the lake here), the annual Chamber of Commerce dinner (we won the centerpiece for the second year in a row, but had to give away our wine), classy diners like Steak-and-Shake...