Day 272: 18 weeks

Day 271: FNG Welcoming committee

"Auntie" Krista and "Uncle" Joe got quite the welcoming committee at Friday Night Group this week. Even more amazing was that most of the parents managed to stay past 9 pm tonight, and we even worked in a game of Settlers of Catan. I should add a picture of Krista holding the newest member of the FNG, Kelly and Phill's baby Michael.

Day 270: Diane's Funeral

Above is a big group shot of family members at my mom's cousin Diane's funeral today. A few of my mom's siblings, Julene, Judy, and Jonathon were able to attend. I think I might've been the only cousin-once-removed. The two characters in the center hamming it up are Diane's sons Corbin and Benjamin. I don't think they ever take a serious photo. Maybe I'll add one more to prove my point.
The three girls in front are my second cousins that are identical triplets. They were born one month before I was, and it just so happens one of them is pregnant and due on my same due date! Don't ask me who is who though, I still have no idea.

Day 269: Playing with grandfolks

We had my dad and Dawn over for dinner this evening, mostly so Jamin could show them how to use a little mini-computer they're trying out. But Jamin was running late, so we had fun playing with Zaria until he got home.

Day 268: Fruit

I forgot to go grocery shopping all weekend, so Zaria and I finally went this morning. I felt bad that Jamin had practically no sandwich supplies to start out the week. Zaria *loves* fruit. When we eat, I generally have to wait until she's finished other food before offering it because that's all she'll want to eat otherwise. I let her play with a tied up bag of nectarines while we shopped today, which mostly worked. I think they only ended up on the floor once or twice.

Day 267: Happy Memorial Day

We joined Dan, Naomi and Gwendolyn at my in-law's place today. So we actually spent Memorial Day with veterans-- both Marla and David served in the military. The girls had a lot of fun playing with some little chairs that they found up in the attic, and below Dan discovered an old kite of his that had been hiding in their garage. It was overcast during lunch, but a really nice day to hang out outside.

Day 266: Jamin's practicing

Yes, he does still practice playing his horn occasionally.

Day 265: Walking Boo Boo

Zaria and I went over to let Princess, now called Boo Boo, outside and for a walk. Mom and Dave were off to see Elvis perform up north and so Boo Boo just needed a one-time relief while they were gone. Zaria loves Boo Boo, so she enjoyed the visit.

Day 264: Happy Birthday Roy!

This is our friend Roy, who is 31 years old today (unless you believe his license that they messed up, which says he turned 30 last month-- for some reason they were 11 months off on his birth date). For his birthday he invited a bunch of friends over and made some fabulous Indian food. It was very good. Jamin didn't get into town until after midnight, so he missed the celebration.
I also love this picture of Zaria's cheeks. They've gotten a little bit smaller, but they are still extremely kissable.

Day 263: Wagon train

I took Zaria for a walk with this yesterday along with the twin dolls she has. Today I wasn't able to walk as far before feeling a little sore, but Zaria still loved it. She laughs whenever we hit a bump or change speeds.

Day 262: Library walk

It was a gorgeous day, there are benches on the way, so I decided we could make it on a walk to the library. My first attempt of the season. Zaria loved it, and I did fine, though Mom met us at the library so I didn't have to walk both ways (though I think I could have).

Day 261: Errands by the railroad

Jamin needed me to submit some paperwork for him this morning, so Zaria got a little practice on stairs again. The office we had to go to was on the second floor with no elevator. The doc says I need to try not to lift her or anything else over 20 lbs, but it is really hard not to lift a 17-month-old. She does pretty well with climbing most things, but it takes so much more time and she doesn't always want to cooperate, as you can imagine. Jamin's also heading out of state today, so I'll be on my own with her until at least tomorrow night.

Day 260: Little talkin mama

She loves babies and loves phones -- I guess she's a born multi-tasker. Her typical conversation on the phone:
"Hello. Ahhhhhhh. (Insert other random noises) Bye."
If she's talking to Grandma Joy on the phone, she'll ask about Boo Boo (the nickname for their dog).
We met with our real estate agent this evening, took another look at one of the houses we saw last Friday, and have officially put out an offer! It is bank-owned and already had one offer, so now I'm hoping that we'll hear back sooner than later whether or not they'll accept our offer so we can keep looking if we need to. We walked around the neighborhood over the weekend and really liked what we saw. I could imagine pulling the wagon train around by this place. (=
Happy birthday to Dawn today!

Day 259: Park times

Jamin was quick to make sure Zaria was out of the way at the bottom of the slide while Gwendolyn came down in this shot. We enjoyed dinner and visiting with Dan, Naomi and Gwendolyn this evening. It's actually been quite a while since our families have been busy. Zaria and Gwen enjoyed pushing a stroller together on the way to this park, and both enjoyed the slides, though Zaria only did partial slides

Day 258: Multiples Sale haul

Today was the big Mothers of Multiples garage sale, so I made a bee line for the double strollers, sorta hoping to find something that we could add a third seat on to. The one we got, I'm not sure if we can add to, and I found out at home that only one car seat will go into it (doh!). Jamin thinks he could still modify it, or maybe I'll find one to borrow until they've outgrown the bucket seats. I also got this fun wagon train that has three spots . . . it's for ages 1-5, so the twins may not be big enough next summer, but Zaria tried it out and already enjoys it. I was sure glad to have Mom's help this morning, especially the use of her van.

Day 257: Birthday cake

We celebrated Sam and Karin's birthdays this evening after looking at some houses. Here Sam and his cousin Gideon enjoy some chocolate cake while Karin prepares some more pieces. We didn't arrive until after 8 pm, so Zaria didn't participate in the cake-eating. She was already pretty tired and definitely didn't need sugar that late.

We weren't able to look at the home we wanted to put an offer in on, but we looked at some comparables with my dad and one of them caught our attention. It had a bigger kitchen and a less busy street, so it may be a contender if we like the neighborhood.

Day 256: Library play

Day 255: Visiting Cassie

We went to visit Cassie at her parents' house for a while today. Zaria enjoyed chasing after the dogs, and said a few things we didn't know she knew-- Cassie's name and "tail" as she pet the dog's wagging tail. She also pointed at knees and toes and said those words, which I attribute to singing the song "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes" a lot lately.

Day 254: Slippers

Incredibly, Zaria kept her slippers on this evening. She usually has them off after a couple of room crossings. So I put my slippers on and we did some slipper dancing, turning in circles and waving our hands.

I also had an OB appointment today, and X and Y are doing great. In 3 weeks, I have my level II ultrasound, which will be a good time to determine the sex of each baby. But the doctor asked if I wanted to find out today, and I was up for it since the big MOMs garage sale is this weekend. So . . . it looks like one of them is a boy! I'm not sure if it was X or Y, though I think it was Y (I'll call him that since it matches his chromosome, not to confuse the other one if X is also a boy). We're still not sure on X, because X was a little more shy . . . it's likely X is a girl, but we'll make a better determination in three weeks.

Day 253: MOMs

Today was the last meeting of the MOMs (Mothers of Multiples) called Multiple Connections for the year, so they introduced the new board members. Here they gave out roses to all the past presidents of the group. There were tons of door prizes and a charity raffle. I won a gift basket full of Tastefully Simple items. I've never actually tried them before, so I'm looking forward to it. I had my eye on the basket of games that you can see on the table in front of me, but it was not to be.

Day 252: Happy Mother's Day!

My lovely mother, and the cute little girl that gave me motherhood.

Day 251: Reading

Zaria loves it when we read her stories. Recently, she's started pointing at things in the pictures and trying to say some of the words, which is really fun. Not everything sounds quite right, but she tries to say strawberry, sock, elephant, animal, turtle, bunny, mouse, and orange. Even better, she's started to say "thank you" when we give her things and sometimes pauses with her hands folded before we eat, waiting for us to pray. I am amazed by this little girl.

Day 250: Pink fire patrol

We had a play date at the park today with Jen and Maria. Maria was much more interested in the play equipment than Zaria, but they both enjoyed this fire truck for a while.

Day 249: Composure

Zaria was pretty crabby today; I'm not sure why. Her feelings have been pretty sensitive and she's had a hard time not getting her own way. Maybe it's just toddler angst or maybe it's those molars coming in strong. I just try to keep my composure and try to cheer her up by trying to cheer her up or at least distract her.

Day 248: Family walk in the park

It was so beautiful out today. Jamin got home in the afternoon, so we were able to eat dinner together and take a walk. Zaria and I had gone out earlier with Jamin's mom, but she was happy to push her stroller around and look for ducks and dogs again. I loved the sound of community softball players in the background.

Day 247: Mothers' Fellowship last brunch

Today was the last official day of Mothers' Fellowship for the year, and it ended, as always, with a brunch. This is a bit of a wide view. On brunch days, each group decorates their tables and it's a big potluck with more fellowship time. We don't do the usual worship and speaker. I'm a little sad to be done for the summer. I certainly plan to come back, but I know it will also be harder to make it regularly with 3 kids.

Day 246: Forking a mess and quiet waters

Zaria sort of used the fork I gave her, but then she started having fun putting her hands in it, then rubbing her face. Oh, goodness. Later we went for a walk by the lake-- if you look on the other side of the water you can see a couple of deer.

Day 245: Walking the dogs

This evening Zaria and I went to visit Cassie and perhaps play games-- her mom and grandma joined in a game of Dominoes, but we ended up taking the dogs and Zaria for a walk because she was getting much too crabby and tired to let us play Dominoes in peace.

Day 244: Baby shower

We had a little baby shower for my cousin Leslie today. She's due in late July with her second child. Her other child is a boy named Tristin (pictured below) whom Zaria enjoyed bugging. She was feeling much better today and enjoyed making the rounds. She thought that Tristin's paying attention to a video game was a great reason to stand right in front of his face and babble to him. It was probably good practice for him to be an older brother soon.

Day 243: Cookies on a rainy day

I made some cookies today for a girls' night taste test night-- we're bringing some food item with both generic and name-brand ingredients to see if there really is a difference. So I made chocolate chip cookies with both Cub brand chips and Hershey's. Zaria was pretty ill today and only joined me for a little while in between naps. Hopefully all her sleeping today will mean she'll be much better tomorrow.

Below is Jamin with his new hat and my umbrella (since it's the only one we could find right away). It's a pretty silly hat as it is. I believe his word is "jaunty". It was even more ridiculous pairing it with this umbrella, so I had to capture the moment.

Day 242: New clothes, clean place

We picked up a whole bag full of clothes and shoes for Zaria at church on Sunday, all nicely laid out in sizes and FREE. Too bad I still am not sure what to start gathering for X and Y. There were a lot of cute girls' clothes. A big thank you to the parents (moms, mostly) that put on the clothing give-away! Zaria's already been having fun trying on the shoes (too big still) and hats that we grabbed. She was also a little scared of the vacuum again. It seemed to help leaving it out and playing with it with her to get her used to it.