Merry Christmas, Love The Brown's

Santa

Claire told Santa she wants "a toy".
I think he'll come through on that.
Poor Syd was scared to death. Luckily she could put her head on her sisters shoulder. Man I love
the relationship the twins have.

Don't Judge Me!

I gave in and watched the Oprah special.
What else can I say?
I think I have a problem.

Happy Birthday Bella!

Dear Bella,
Where did the last 6 years go? I seriously can't believe you are getting so old.
First off I have to say how proud I am of you!
Every year at this time I'm reminded of how blessed I am and how far we've come together.
You are growing up to be such an amazing little person.
When thinking of you a few words come to mind:
Obedient, Thoughtful, Funny, Creative, Kind, Smart, Beautiful!
It's hard to put into words how much I truly love you and how grateful I am to be your mom!!
I hope this next year brings as much fun as this last one.
Love,
Mom

Bella's Birthday Weekend

I have a 6 year old!!!!
The night before Bella said to me "mom, is tomorrow the day when you decorate my door and we eat cupcakes and open presents?". Ahh...I was so happy she likes all the little traditions I've tried to establish.
Her birthday weekend was filled with lots of fun things. Breakfast and presents in bed, 2 different dinners with 2 different sets of grandparents, pottery painting with a friend, and a birthday party for her cousin who shares the same birthday.
(pictures to come of the amazing cake)
My favorite part of the day was when she said,

"MoM, I CaN't BeLiEvE i'M 6 YeArS oLd!. i StILl fEeL LiKe A 5 YeAr oLd".

Birthday morning with all her presents
dinner with grandma & grandpa

Luke & Bella-Birthday cousins

Bella & darci at Color Me Mine

It's Already Started

A few days ago we had Thanksgiving lunch at Bella's school. She was so excited that we were coming. She talked of nothing else the days leading up to it.
Then on the day of the lunch, who does she sit by?

Her family?

No, of course not.

She ran to sit with her friends.

Isn't she a little young to be realizing that we're not as cool as her friends? I thought that happened in jr. high.

Oh well.

At least Seth and I got to enjoy a gross school lunch together.

Are You Kidding Me #26

I saw this on the news this morning and all I could think was...well I won't say what I thought because it might sound like I was making fun of them. Ok I was making fun of them.
Now, I'm not totally heartless. I think it's adorable when my nephews play quidditch in the back yard. They run around on my sisters brooms and wear their robes and hit tennis balls. And it's cute cause they're 6 and 9 year old boys.
But from the looks of this video these are college age men and women holding a stick between their legs as they around the field.
So if I've offended anyone who plays this now's your turn to convince me it's a real sport and not something to be made fun of.
PS thanks jenn!!

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Breakfast With Grandpa

Bella's school is always doing such fun things.
For example: dad's and donuts, mom's and muffins, birthday lunch tables where parents can bring lunch for the student.
This morning was grandparents and goodies. Which meant cinnamon rolls from a local bakery and reading books in the morning before school started.
Bella's pretty lucky. She has 4 grandma's, 1 grandpa, and 4 great-grandparents. All still living. So she had her pick. Too bad all the grandparents work.
Luckily grandpa was able to go with Bella and her cousins (another plus, she has goes to school with her cousins).
What a great experience.

A Date With My Girl

Lately Bella's been asking if we can go somewhere, anywhere.
"Just us, not Claire, and not the twins", is how she puts it.
I thought that was a great idea and asked what she wanted to do. I was thinking a movie or something. But, what she wanted was to go to the

LiBrArY!!!

This was great news for me. Free and close to home.

Although it did get me thinking about the last time I took her to the library. Sadly I think it was close to 3 years ago. Don't judge.

I remember the last time we went and just picture Claire running wild and me pregnant with twins. It wasn't a pretty sight.

So thanks to my friend Tibi who offered to come to my house and play games with Claire (perfect one-on-one attention) while the twins slept, we were able to get out for an hour and a half.

Just us! Exactly what she wanted. We read books, even checked some out (she was pretty excited about that) and got ice cream.

It was a perfect date!

When The Cats Away, The Mouse Will Play

Everyday when Bella leaves for school, Claire waits 1 maybe 2 minutes before running to get on top of the bunk bed.
That's Bella's part and it's where she keeps all the "cool" toys that she's constantly telling Claire to stay away from. So I guess it makes sense that the minute she's gone Claire is right up there playing with anything she can get her hands on.
I know it's normal when you're the younger one, to want to play or have anything the older sister has.
That's why I can never get mad at her. Plus she's so cute!

Happy Halloween

This Halloween was so much fun. 3 different parties, trick or treating, a carnival, and decorating pumpkins were just a few of the things we did this year.

I love dressing up and luckily for me, Seth is a good sport and goes along with all my ideas.

I know I'm biased but I think Claire might be the cutest Mary Poppins I've ever seen. I was really happy with her costume because almost all of it came from the DI. Just a little sewing, black spray paint and a glue gun made it possible.

Bella's getting old enough now that she won't go along with my ideas. So she went as a bat.

Such Is Life

Last Saturday when Seth was at the Utah game I thought I would take advantage of Snowbirds free tram ride and take the girls.
Little did I know we were in for quite an adventure.
As we were driving up the canyon it started raining. The further up we got, the more Bella complained that her tummy hurt. I told her as soon as we got there we would find a bathroom. (That usually helps).
We got to the parking lot and by this point it had started snowing. I loaded the twins in the stroller and we all started walking up the hill. As we were walking I noticed that Bella wasn't keeping up. Being the impatience horrible mom that I am I yell back to her that she needs to keep up so we don't miss the ride.
As I look back I watch in horror as she throws up.

Yes, we're talking on her face, coat, shoes, everywhere. And what can I do?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

I felt so bad, but seriously I had the twins and Claire, and it was snowing.
So I tell her we're almost there and I'll get her a drink and we can find a bathroom.
Right then a man in a mini van pulls up and says, "Are you going to ride the tram? Cause they closed it because of the weather".
Just my luck.
We made it inside and I got Bella cleaned up.
They were giving away passes to come back and ride the tram another time.
My plan all along had been to ride the tram and then have dinner at the restaurant, because I had a coupon.
Of course with my luck I realize that I've left the coupon in the car.
I ask the lady how strick they are at the restaurant about coupons and she says "they are very strick".
So as I'm sitting there debating about what to do, who should walk up but one of my good friends from high school. BJ Blaser. If you know BJ you know he's a hugger. He came right up gave me a hug and what do I do?
Start crying of course. I really needed that hug.
I explained everything and since he wasn't going to be able to ride the tram either he offered to watch my kids while I ran back to the car to get the coupon.
I came back with my coupon asked the lady which way to the restaurant and she says "Oh it's closed".

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME????

Did she not just help me find the batroom beacuse of my sick kid, then tell me I need my coupon and then..... I don't know maybe see me with my 4 kids?!!!
BJ heard the whole thing and was nice enough to offer yet another hug and watch the twins while I got Bella a drink.
The only thing that came to my mind as I drove home was a saying my dad used to say when I was growing up, "such is life".
That about sums it up.

Randomness

• Potty training the middle child is nothing like potty training the first
• Why did I look up how many calories there were in a Dunford chocolate donut?
• I could really use a massage
• Am I ever going to see The Social Network?
• I wish the weather would stay like this all year
• Finding myself totally addicted to Alias
• Wanting a six pack and being willing to do something about it are two totally different things
• Afternoon Kindergarten is the best
• I could play on the ground with the twins all day and never get sick of them
• Why do I fantasize about winning the lottery, when I've never bought a ticket?

tHaT's AlL

Family Picture Time

We had some family pictures taken a few weeks ago and here are just a few. There was no way I was going to put all of them on here. There were just too many.
Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions for photographers. There are so many out there and it was so hard to choose.
all my cute girls!

I had to post this one of Claire even though I didn't post the rest of the girls.

This is just such a classic Claire shot. She is so freaking cute, but underneath that adorable smile lies pure mischief!

Meet Bella's Soccer Coaches.............

A few weeks before soccer started I got a call from someone in the league saying that there was no coach for Bella's team. He was calling all the parents to see if anyone was interested.
Out of guilt I said yes.
When I told Seth I was the coach his response was,
"So you mean I'm the coach."
To which I said,
"Uh yeah. Unless you think I'm going to get out there with the twins and Claire. Then yeah you're the coach".
Don't let Seth's response fool you. He loves being the coach.
Bella loves it too. She was so excited when I told her.
Luckily for us she still thinks we're cool. Please no one tell her the truth. She'll figure it out on her own soon enough.

Coach Brown

Jaci and Bella finally got to play each other. They would have rather stayed on the side playing than play soccer.

Dirty Dash

Last Saturday I competed in the Dirty Dash. If you haven't heard about it here's the run down.
It's a 10K/Boot Camp/Mud Race. That's what I would call it, anyway.
There were teams or you could do it individually. I would highly recommend being on a team. It's much more fun.
I was on a team with my sister Laura, my cousin Melanie and my good friends Chelsie and Amber.
This was such a fun race!! I've never done anything like it before. But I have to say to anyone who is thinking about doing it, as much fun as it was, it was also very challenging.
There were lots and lots of hills!! The map on their website really didn't do it justice.
Basically we started the first mile which was mostly a hill and then came to our first obstacle, which was jumping over hay stacks. Not too bad, but from then on there were other obstacles such as a wall, where after you climbed over you fell into mud. If only I had a apicture of my cute muddy hand print on Laura's butt from when I helped get her over the wall.
There was a tire obstacle just like they do in the army. There was also a huge swamp type mud mess. I wish I had a camera to capture Chelsie stuck waist deep. But I probably wouldn't have taken a good picture since I was laughing too hard.
Poor Chels! She also fell into the river while trying to jump over it. Thank you to the nice man who helped her out.
And last but not least there was a slip n slide ending in the final mud bath.
Another fun thing about this race was the costumes. We all wore pj's and curlers in our hair.
I wish I had a camera for some of the things we saw. Some of the teams were very creative. For example: one team all wearing wedding dresses and calling themselves "the runaway brides", another team of all men had prison uniforms and were chained together while they ran.
We got a head start on the fun by staying over night in Heber the night before.
Oh and I stole some of the pictures from the Dirty Dash web site. We didn't dare bring our cameras since we didn't want to take the chance of getting them ruined. But oh how I wish we had them to capture some great moments.
Here's to next years fun, girls!! All of us after the race. I wish we had gotten a close up of Laura's awesome outfit. Amber and Chelsie picked up our rockin jammies at the DI. Turns out Laura's was actually a pant suit. Fully equiped with sholder pads, pockets and even pleats. But somehow it made it's way on the pajama rack.

Me and Chels on the slip n slide

Amber trudging through the mud

Me trudging through the mud

Mel pulling Laura down into the mud

Twins 1 Year Check Up

Sydney

2 weeks 5.45 lbs 1% 19.9 inches length 9%

3 months 8.8 lbs 5% 22.05 inches length 26%

6 months 14.97 lbs 19% 26. 57 inches length 67%

12 months 18.61 lbs 12% 29.43 inches length 60%

Breanna

2 weeks 6.02 lbs 3% 19.69 inches length 25%

3 months 9.59 lbs 13% 23.03 inches length 65%

6 months 15.34 lbs 25% 26.57 inches length 67%

12 months 19.53 lbs 23% 30.51 inches length 89%

Dear Oprah

Dear Oprah,
Today's a big day for you. I know because it's been all over the news.
The first show starting your last season.
I'm feeling torn.
You're the person I love to hate. (can't believe I'm admitting it but I've dedicated 10 posts to you over the years)
What will I do when you're off the air? Who will I complain about yet continue to watch?
So, here's to you on your 25th season.
Love Amy
PS (to be read sarcastically)
You picked John Travolta as your first guest back? Really? I'm sure you could have found someone better.

Claire's 1st Dance Recital

Claire had her first dance recital this past weekend.

During the summer a cute girl in our ward, Desi, started dance classes. For $10 a month the kids got a lesson and a the most darling costume. Claire had so much fun!

I have video and might end up posting it because Claire was huge hit. Most of the girls her age were just standing there. But not Claire. She was shaking her little bum and dancing her heart out.

This recital was so cute. All three age groups preformed and did such a great job. Desi also made a video. I was very impressed. Well not really. I already knew this girl could do amazing things! That's why we love her. The one picture we got with she and Claire didn't turn out.

Dancing with her cousin Elysia

A Few Do's & Don't's

Now that I've been a mom of twins for a year here is a list of things I've been thinking about over the last year.

A few things you should never ever say to someone who is pregnant with multiples:

• Good Luck (in a sarcastic tone)


• So Glad It's You and Not Me


• That Would Suck


• That's going to be so hard


• Telling stories about someone you know who has multiples and all the horrible things that have gone wrong


• If the person looks like they haven't gained much weight and saying, are you sure you're still pregnant? maybe one didn't make it.

I heard all of these things when I was pregnant and let me tell you it did not help. I was about to jump off a cliff as it was and hearing those things didn't help. So my advice is, even if you're thinking you would never want twins don't tell the person who's having them. It only scares them more.

Not to be too negative here are some reasons why having twins is the absolute BEST thing in the world:

• Best Friends. I love watching them play!!! The bond they have is amazing!


• Only pregnant once, but you get 2 babies. That said it still sucks to carry more than one person around inside you.


• Gain strong muscles. I really didn't need to do weights when I was carrying a carrier with a baby in each hand.


• Work is Fun. People ask all the time "Is having twins so hard?". I tell them it's work. And it depends how you look at work. Having a baby takes work, so having more than one is even more so, but I try and see it as fun.


• Dressing them alike. Probably the biggest regret I have is saying I would never dress them alike. What was I thinking? It's way too much fun!


• Going to church. People look at us strange when we say we love church!! But it's true. It's a great 3 hour break for us. If you're in our ward then you know I'm telling the truth. I am almost never holding a baby. There are always people wanting to hold them.


• Twins plus older kids is the best way to go. It sounds crazy but serioulsy I wouldn't have it any other way. There are many days that I find myself just reading or hanging out while the rest of my kids are all awake playing.

So there it is. What I've learned (not that much) in one year from being a mom of twins.

Birthday Party For The Twins

The girls woke up just like any other morning, having no idea that it was their special day!! They were grated by the rest of the family to presents and breakfast in bed. (well, sort of). They had their bottle but not just a regular bottle......whole milk!! What a treat! They drank that down pretty fast and were ready to open presents.
Big sisters were more than happy to help. playing with some new toys

Later that night we had the grandparents over for cake and ice cream.

Sydney all clean

Sydney enjyoing her cake

Bre all clean

Bre enjoying her cake

Bre enjoying her cake

I didn't get the best pictures but that's because so much was happening so fast.

Love you girls!!!

Happy Birthday Sydney

Dear Syd,
Happy 1st Birthday!! My goal when you and your sister were born was to get to know you as individuals.
I've loved watching you grow and getting to know you this past year.
You are so mellow and low key. You always have a smile on your face. You may be starving or need your diaper changed or even having your big sister Claire all over you, but I'd never know because you keep on smiling. Rarely crying.
You were born 2 minutes earlier than Bre making you the oldest. You seem to be content in any situation. Never needing to be in the spotlight.
You were the first to wave and say bye bye. You were also the first to stand.
I feel so blessed to be your mom. I can't wait to see what the next year brings.
Love,

Mom

Happy Birthday Breanna

Dear Bre,

Happy 1st birthday! I can't believe you're already 1!!!
I've loved getting to know you.
My goal when you and Syd were born was to get to know each of you as individuals.
I'm happy to say I know your little personality so well.
You love to giggle and play with all your sisters. You were the first to master sitting up, crawling and trying to walk. You know what you want when you want it. You love to tease and love being center of attention.
I'm so thankful I get to be your mommy!
Love,
Mom

The Other Woman

Meet my husbands mistress......................
She rolls into town today at 6:00pm. Good thing I'm not threatened.

So Helpful

The twins are such helpful little girls.
Rearranging the fridge for us.... Taking out the dirty dishes.........

And making sure we get clean in the shower....

Bella's First Day Of Kindergarten

Today was Bella's first "real" day of school. Last week she met the teacher and stayed for an hour and the rest of the week was for testing.

I wanted to write down exactly how she was when she came home in case I some day forget.

I picked her up at school and when we got back in the car she said she didn't want to talk about school.

I asked her if she had fun at recess and she said "recess was only this much(showing her hands very close together) we hardly got to play. All we did was work and work. I don't want to go back!!

When we got home she went straight to her room and cried.

Finally I was able to give her hugs and she agreed to watch a movie. I offered her an ice cream cone and she said "do we have sprinkles?". Of course we do!! Anything to make her happy after such a hard day!

45 minutes later she's now downstairs with Claire watching a movie and cuddled up with a blanket.

I wish I could hold her forever!

Oh man how I love that little girl!!

Pretty Funny

I've said it before but I love a good comedian! I've never been a huge Jimmy Fallon fan but after seeing this I totally am. It's best to listen and not watch. His impressions are dead on! You;ll think it's the real person.
Jimmy

The Magic School Bus

After picking out her 1st day of school outfit, down to the days of the week under ware (Monday of course), and a Fathers blessing, I reminded Bella about the magic school bus.
We had heard stories (thanks Jami) and I wanted to prepare her just in case it made a stop at our house.
And sure enough this morning we heard a loud knock at the door. When Bella opened it she found a delivery from the magic school bus!!! And man was she excited!!! (good thing we we got it on video).
There was a nice note on top of the bag and inside the bag there was lots of fun stuff.
A pack of lip smackers chap stick "for when you meet a new chap". A bag of Hershey's hugs and kisses "in case you need some hugs and kisses". Some smarties and nerds because "being smart doesn't mean you're a nerd". And my personal favorite tissue with a note that said "in case you miss your mom". Although she has afternoon kindergarten she was still dressed and ready by 7:30am and had her backpack ready by 8:30am. When I said I wanted to get a picture she struck this pose.

Watching her be so excited is making this day a little easier for me. But the true test will be after I drop her off.

Cry Baby

I'm so emotional today. I feel like I might start to cry at any given moment.
I just can't believe that my little girl is starting Kindergarten!!
I feel like time is just going by way to fast. I mean wasn't I just rocking her to sleep in my arms yesterday?
I can't explain what I'm feeling and I guess all the parents out there know exactly what I'm trying to say.
On one hand I am so excited that my little girl is growing up and learning new things. But on the other hand I want to keep her young and safe with me forever.
I imagine this is how my parents felt. And even more how my Father in Heaven feels.
Going to school is BiG.

It means she's going to meet new people. Some who may not like her.

She'll make mistakes.

Her testimony will be tested.

And scariest of all, I won't be there to make everything better.

I guess all I can do is send her off with a big hug every day and be waiting with open arms when she comes home.

Again how my Father in Heaven must feel.

Oh Bella,

One day if you read this I hope you know how much I LOVE YOU!! And that you mean the world to me!!

Love,

Mom

Summer 2010

I feel like this summer has gone by way too fast!
We've basically spent our days in the back yard playing on the slip n slide with friends and going to the children's museum. (buying that pass was the best idea).
When we weren't doing those 2 things we managed to have a little fun at the zoo, the rec center, boating, gymnastics, watching parades and fireworks, dance class, visiting with friends from out of town, and just hanging out!
What a great summer!
Now to get ready for school.


probably not the cleanest water, but they had fun At the rec center

All of us at the Zoo
Bella at Flips

watching the parade

twins with Sissy

slip n slide

probably one of my favorite pictures. Bella walking Claire to dance class