Day 334: Truck repairs

After a year without it working, Jamin finally got his truck in to repair the air conditioning. We stopped by to pick up the truck after small group tonight. Hopefully this means Jamin will be more comfortable and maybe even less sweaty and stinky when he gets home!

Day 333: Play date with twins

These adorable twin boys, Tyler and Logan, will be a year old this week. We had a play date with them today, and I got to hear their mom's birth story and issues with having them share certain toys. They're sitting on a riding train toy that Zaria brought to their attention, and it's been a major source of contention for Tyler. He's not happy seeing anyone else use the train, so they plan to either get another one or get rid of it.

Day 332: Dine and dance with ZJ

After the Bible study, Zaria, Mom and I met with Cassie and her grandma for lunch. Typically, Zaria ignores us when we go out to eat, but today she had fun hamming it up for the four of us. She stayed with her Grandma Joy through the afternoon while I had a short OB appointment, then we met up again to watch a Scandinavian band play in the park. Zaria had fun dancing and entertaining the mostly older crowd.

Day 331: Buffet date night

We decided to have a date night tonight and went out to a Chinese buffet. I don't think I'll get my money's worth at buffets soon since I'm getting full fast with the lack of space. It was nice to get out just the two of us, at any rate.

Day 330: Playing outside

I have trouble remembering plant names, but these guys have gone crazy this year. I should probably cut them back a little. Zaria has been nervous walking past them because there's been a very busy bumblebee that is a constant presence in these flowers. We had fun playing outside a little this evening. It had been too hot for me to be out earlier at 85 degrees. I've been so lucky that it's been a relatively cool summer.

Day 328: Robert's bday and FBC dinner

We went to Robby's 1st birthday party this afternoon-- today's the actual day! I was very impressed that he likes to eat lettuce (Zaria will pull it out of her mouth). He's apparently a very good eater.

Then we headed downtown to FBC to join with the Community at Calhoun gathering. We missed the lake time, but joined everyone at church for the dinner. It was a tropical theme, so it was very fun and a great time of fellowship. Mandy was walking around taking lots of pictures, so I caught her in the act. I was sad to hear we'd missed three baptisms at the lake. My own baptism was in a lake-- I liked the idea of being in God's creation while taking that step.

Day 327: Rummy chances

Jamin wasn't home early enough to rock out with Bryan and Renee and I to Rock Band, but we still managed to get in a game of Rummy Cube before bedtime. We both pulled tiles to find out who should go first, and we both ended up pulling the red nines. What are the chances of that happening?

Day 326: 26 weeks

No stretch marks yet! *fingers crossed* I had a nice doctor that said I may not get them since I didn't have any with Zaria. That was a relief since I thought it would be automatic with twins. I'm definitely feeling the pull of gravity and am carrying them low, which I believe would be the correct old wives' tales way of predicting a boy. Does that double with two?

Day 325: Grocery shopping

I nearly went grocery shopping by myself while my mom took Zaria to the library for storytime, but by the time I had the list ready and was about to go into the store, I realized I only had enough energy to get the stuff, and not to bag it, haul it and put it all away. Since I knew Jamin would be home for a while in the afternoon, I decided to wait for him to come with me, and I was really glad I did. Zaria had a new, somewhat annoying thing to do while we shopped-- asking us to open everything so she could try it. We let her play with a can, and kept explaining that we couldn't open it since we didn't have a can opener. That mostly worked.

Day 324: Nap in the car

After playing with James and Joshua at the women's Bible study and eating lunch with Grandma, Zaria was pretty zonked. I'm glad I still have the ability to transfer her successfully to her crib from the car. It is tough carrying her up the stairs, but when she's asleep I can sling her halfway over my shoulder and just take it easy up the steps.

Day 323: Tossing sleep

It's a habit of mine to check in on Zaria before I go to sleep, and I'm usually amused at how much she moves around in her sleep. She takes after me in this, although I probably don't move as much in my sleep right now since it usually wakes up the twins. I've actually gotten more used to their movements and can get back to sleep with them moving, as long as they're not pushing painfully. Now as I watch Zaria sleep, I've been imagining little X and Y sleeping alongside each other in the crib as tiny little peanuts. Zaria's gotten so much bigger, but I'm still glad she's in a crib with all her nightly locomotion-- I think she'd fall out of a bed pretty quickly.

Day 322: Fun at the cabin

Zaria loved having the run of the cabin, and she had an especially fun time when she discovered the shower and could open and close the door. We heard her repeat "open, close" and squeal with laughter. What a fun little girl we have!

My dad seems to be working on a project at all times when we're up at the cabin, so it was no surprise that he was down fixing something on the dock with Dawn's help. I caught this picture just as they had finished and were about to come back up the steps. Today the lake was much more wavy than it had been Friday or Saturday, but I like how the light plays on the waves.

Day 321: Toes ready to dance

Grandma Dawn painted Zaria's finger's and toes, and we all went into town for a community dinner and dance. The dance didn't start right away, so we went to the nearby park to play until the music started. Zaria wasn't up for dancing very long since she'd already spent a lot of energy running around right after dinner.

Day 320: Boat ride

We may have missed Sonshine, but we did make it up to Dad and Dawn's cabin today. I almost wasn't sure we'd make it-- I woke up with such terrible pain in my hip that started hurting when I rolled over in the night, that I could barely move around. I went to a chiropractor to get an adjustment, and felt pretty well by the end of the day. We took a boat ride after dinner, and it was a beautiful evening. Zaria liked watching the water and the loons we passed, and didn't seem to mind wearing a life jacket like she did last year.

Day 319: Disappearing feet

As I was preparing to go over our small group book, Pedaling Tandem for the Long Haul, I looked down and remembered that I can no longer see my feet. It's actually been that way for a while now, but here's a glimpse from my perspective.

Today is also the first official day of Sonshine. *sigh* We decided not to go this year since it would be too costly for Jamin to take the time off work, and I certainly don't feel up to going without him. As it was, he barely made it to small group tonight and then he had to finish dealing with a load after small group.

Day 318: Sharing at the library

After story time today, Zaria spent some time playing with the other kids. Here she's sharing a toy with Tristin, one of the twin boys that comes. They amazingly took turns putting the lids into this jar. It's so good to see she's finally learning to share, since usually she just wants others to share with her.

Day 317: Swimming pool

We tried out the wading pool on Grandma's deck, and Zaria loves it. She's always loved playing with water, so this was great fun on a hot day.

Day 316: Playing outside

A beautiful day for a hippo ride.

Day 315: Preparing

Just beginning to prepare a few baby boy items for X and Y's arrival. This top drawer has some of the smallest items.
Dave preparing (well, actually, starting) a bonfire for us to enjoy and roast marshmallows on.

Day 314: Back on the wagon

After a traumatic spill out of the wagon a few days ago, Zaria was still willing and happy to get back in, especially with her cousin Gwendolyn. Zaria skinned her cheek and had a pretty good bruise from the tumble, which was partly due to the plastic seatbelt bolt coming out on one side while going around a fast corner. We'll be taking it much easier now, and probably replacing the bolts with something metal and sturdier. I walked just a short ways with Jamin, Dan, Naomi and the girls, then met them at the park after driving. I just can't walk very far or very fast at this point without being completely winded.

Day 313: After the storm

A large thunderstorm swept across us rather quickly, leaving a nice sunset on the other side. Jamin was able to wait it out. I was just about ready to get Zaria out of bed and go pick him up so he wouldn't have to drive his scooter in the storm, but it only lasted about a half an hour.

Day 312: 24 weeks' size

I'm definitely feeling the largeness these days. I took a tape measure out to check, and I am actually slightly larger from this angle (sideways) than straight on now, so no use in turning sideways to get around things, though I still do it out of habit.

The boys are progressing nicely-- my last OB appointment measured them at 1 lb 5 oz. and 1 lb 6 oz., and everything looked great. I'm getting more excited at the prospect of having two boys. They'll be a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Zaria also seems to like playing with boys and I think she'll have fun being a big sister to them. I'm having a tougher time sleeping, and they're definitely pushing in some painful ways, but I've also enjoyed feeling them move individually and knowing both X and Y are special and unique, even now. Y seems to be more acrobatic and moves all over the place, while X tends to have subtler movements except some occasional hard pushes.

Day 311: Family Toothbrushes

I finally got Zaria her own toothbrush and toothpaste to add to the family brush holder. She's been using a brush that came in the baby medical kit, but it's gotten pretty chewed up. She's the lucky one to get an orange toothbrush with Elmo on it, currently her favorite character. I mention Sesame Street and she excitedly repeats: "Elmo, Elmo." Sometimes she also mentions Zoe.

Day 310: Close expression

Day 309: Sprinkler fun

It was a hot day and Zaria was already needing a whole new outfit change, so I just went ahead and let her get all the way wet. She loved it-- soon after I took this picture, she started grabbing water to put in her hair. Thank you God, for modern plumbing!

Also, Happy Birthday today to Naomi!

Day 308: Sound practice

This morning I got to church early to do sound. Wow, I'm a whole lot slower than I was 4 weeks ago getting around, but I had a whole lot of help with set up and tear down this time. There can often be a lot of running up and down the stairs to tweak things on the stage, so I was very grateful for the help. This will likely be the last week I do it for a long while, and I'll miss it.

Day 307: Paul and Bridie and the Chicken Dance

While the newly wed couple was enjoying their shared piece of cake, Zaria was getting lessons nearby of how to do the Chicken Dance from a little girl named Arianna. Paul is Jamin's cousin-once-removed, and we had fun hanging out with some of his family before and after the wedding. I was sitting between two of Jamin's aunts with Zaria on my lap, and somehow Zaria's diaper got skewed and/or loose, and I ended up with a wet lap! That ended up being a good time to end the evening . . .

Day 306: Independence Day

We have discovered that Zaria loves to eat watermelon at the Friday Night Group barbecue. She walked all over Karin and Travis' backyard, eating the piece above down to the nubs, and also had fun playing with Gideon and Sam. Below the kids are playing at the park. By then we'd had to change Zaria's outfit after the massive wet-through of watermelon, even with the bib. She also took a liking to Sam's hat, which is unusual since she won't keep hats on most of the time. Sam enjoyed exerting some independence on Independence Day by walking down past the park toward the ponds. Fortunately, I only did minimal chasing after Zaria since there was a tricycle she wanted to try out with a parent handle on the back. (=

Day 305: Small group bocce

Here is our Thursday night small group, minus Barry and Angela (who took Abram home for bed) and myself (I had to sit down in between) playing bocce ball. It came out a little blurry, but this was a fun action shot. Instead of our usual small group time, we did a barbecue and hang out time since tomorrow's a holiday. Since our small group is so, uh, small this year, it wasn't too bad having everyone over at our place, especially with a lot of stuff outside. The guys hung out by the grill while the girls were inside, that sort of thing.

Day 304: Pajama girls

We joined John, Jen, Maria and a few other guests for dinner tonight, and stayed to visit late enough to have both of the girls in pajamas. I believe Maria had already "gone to bed" before this picture was taken, but Zaria wanted to see how she was doing and "woke" her up (as if she was actually sleeping).

Day 303: Bubbles with Boo-Boo

After Bible study today, Zaria and I visited my mom for lunch and a little playtime with the dog. She used to be called Princess, now she's usually called Boo-Boo. Zaria thought it was hilarious how Boo-Boo chased the bubbles my mom blew for her.