22 Weeks

22 Weeks. Im still feeling really good! I dont have any complaints really. I am having some issues with my allergies right now, but they arent THAT bad. Sleeping is getting a little more uncomfortable, but I know its only going to get worse, so I shouldnt start complaining yet! I've only gained around 13lbs, so im pretty happy with that as well. Id like to stay below 30lbs, but we will see how that goes!

We are having a hard time with deciding on a name. For a LONG time I really liked Clayton. (I still really like it) BUT, having Claire, Carlie and Clayton, is a huge mouthful. I was trying to say all three names in the same sentence, and I kept messing up. So, im not sure about using that name. I like the name Cooper, but Aaron isnt a huge fan of it. Other than those 2 names, I dont really have any others that I am in love with.

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

I had to hurry and snap a picture of the girlies before they went to school! These little girls are just too cute!
And these are the little bows I made for them last night. So cute!

BFF's

(please excuse carlies mean face. shes upset because she really wanted to be in bed)

Claire and Carlie really are best friends. They are kind to one another, they help eachother out, they miss eachother when they are separated (Carlie went to school without Claire since she was sick) Today in the bathtub, Claire said to Carlie "You sure are my bestfriend!" It was just too cute! I sure love these little girlies!

Snow? In March?

Our weather has been a little CRAZY lately! We've had a TON of rain this year. Today we got some snail. (snow/hail) There wasnt a ton, and it didnt stick for long, but it sure was fun to watch!

Rebels!

Saturday we went to the last Rebel game of the regular season. The girls LOVE the Rebels, and both have mentioned they want to be Rebel Cheerleaders! It wasnt a very exciting game, both girls ended up falling asleep in the 2nd half. (shoot, I would have fallen asleep too, the game was sooooo ... blah!)

My New Friends!

I bought the Shark Steam Mop from Target yesterday, and I LOVE IT! It makes mopping so much easier! (p.s. its on sale for $59 right now) I was just talking with my friend about how gross mopping is. It didnt make sense for me to rinse my mop in dirty water, then put it back on my floor! And most floor cleaner that i've used have left a grimy feeling on the floor. So, I was pretty impressed with the Shark. I've mopped every inch of tile in my house!

I cant find a picture, but our old vacuum died a while ago, and we finally got a new one last month. Its amazing. (Its a Bissell) I love seeing how much lint/dust it picks up each time I vacuum! And I vacuum a LOT! (pretty much everyday!) I love seeing the lines in my carpet.

Private or Not Private???

I have been debating on going private for a while, but I just cant seem to actually bring myself to do it. I dont care how many readers I have so thats not holding me back. I guess I dont feel like putting forth the effort to do it... But, I do want my family safe! Sooooo ... send me your email, just in case I do decide to go for it.

FINALLY!!

For the past week and a half the girls have been sick.

Carlie stayed home from school all of last week, she had a nasty cough, fever, and what seemed like a cold. I kept giving her Motrin and trying just about everything under the sun for her cough. NOTHING WORKED. I slept very little last week, due to her coughing all night long, and her waking up because her fever came back.

Thursday Claire started getting the same symptoms. Fever and cough. Friday morning I took them to the Dr. and sure enough, they both had ear infections. They FINALLY started feeling better Monday morning. Claire had a fever up until yesterday. Both girls are still coughing a LOT, and NOTHING seems to soothe it, but at least they are acting like they are feeling better!

Tomorrow they are going back to school! They are so ready to be away from the house. And I sure as heck need a break too!

So much to do!

I feel like there is so much to do before the baby comes. I know I have a while, but I want to be prepared. I doubt I will deliver as early as I did with the twins, but you never know how early I'll actually deliver.

Yesterday I started cleaning out the play room. The playroom will be the baby room. The twins have out grown a LOT of their toys, and we dont need to keep very many. I'll of course keep their kitchen set, doll house, and they have started liking Littlest PetShops, so I'll be keeping those too. Today I was able to narrow down what is being kept, and I think it will all fit in their room just fine!

I also sorted through 6 large bins of girl clothes, that we have kept over the last 4 years! I have a HUGE pile of stuff to give to DI, and a pile for my cousin, and a pile for one of Aarons co workers. It'll be nice to get those things out of the way!

With the 3rd room almost clear, I want to set up the crib and swing! I need to donate or sell our other crib, crib mattress and a few other things. Then I'll get to start looking for baby boy stuff to decorate with!

There is so much to do! Im so excited though!

19 Weeks

Here I am, 19 weeks pregnant. Other than being sick (i have a cold) I feel pretty good. I have a good amount of energy, so thats good. I have started feeling little tiny baby kicks. I have been drinking TONS of water, so that means I pee a billion times a day. Sleeping is getting uncomfortable, but not too bad. Overall, im feeling good. Things are good!

We are having a .....

BOY!!!!

We are very excited!!

I'll post a picture soon. I feel like I have really started showing thes last few weeks! My jeans dont fit, some of my shirts dont even cover the bottom of my belly!

Really, not much going on.

I feel like I havent blogged in forever, but we havent been doing anything too exciting.

The last few weeks have been pretty low key. We just do our regular day to day stuff. Pre School, Work, Church, occasional play dates. Saturday the girls had a Primary Activity, and they had a lot of fun at that. The girls are still taking dance, and love it. They are so excited for their costumes for the recital in June. Pre School is going well. Sometimes I think they arent really learning anything, but then they will point out certain numbers or letters, and tell me what they are. I have been working on writing their names, and letter recognition. I really hope they will be ready for Kindergarten this fall.

Valentines Day was pretty low key for us. Sunday I got up and made the girls pink pancakes with strawberries and blueberries. Then we spent time together as a family. Sunday evening, Aaron had to work, but the girls and I went to my grandparents house to celebrate my moms birthday. We had a nice steak dinner, and had a fun time visiting as usual. My great grandma Walker has been in town for a while, so it was nice to finally see her as well!

This week is pretty busy for us!
Tuesday - Aaron and I are doing a service project for the Disneyland 'Give a Day, Get a Day'. We chose to help out with a Habitat for Humanity project. I dont think I was thinking too clearly when I signed up for that one! I'm 17 weeks pregnant ... and I'll be helping build a house! This should be interesting!

Wednesday is a pretty normal day. The girls have pre-school, and Aaron is off work. There might be a Rebel game so we will either go to that, or watch it depending on where it is.

Thursday morning we find out the sex of this baby! I've had a few dreams of it being a girl, but I also had a dream that it was a boy. So who knows! Claire thinks its a girl, Carlie says its either a boy, or a girl! That afternoon the girls have dance, then after dance, Im getting my hair done. Its going to be a busy day!

Friday the girls have school, im sure Aaron will have cars to wash.

After this week, we go back to our regular not so busy life!

At the end of March we will be heading to Disneyland! We are SO excited! It will be Claire and Carlies very first time, and they are so excited to see all of the Princesses!

This pregnancy is going by pretty fast I think. Im feeling REALLY good, i've been able to sleep comfortably still. I dont have much heartburn. Last week I feel like I really started showing. Most of my pants I cant button, and some of my shirts just dont fit right anymore. I'll post a picture next week!

16 Weeks

Im still feeling pretty good!
Im tired a lot. But I think that has to do with our cloudy weather.
Sleeping on my stomach has gotten uncomfortable.
I started getting heartburn last night.
My jeans are starting to get a little tight. (thank goodness I have so many Shade shirts to cover my jeans that I dont button!)
I've been having TONS of newborn baby dreams. In most of them its a little girl. But last night, it was a boy.
So far, no crazy cravings! (when I was pregnant with the girls, I CRAVED dirt. I know, totally weird, but the I always wanted to smell dirt. I could have eaten it, but thats pretty gross.)

We get to find out what we are having on the 18th. I totally think its a girl!

Sneaky Sneaky.

The twins wake up a lot earlier than I do. (they wake up at 6:40am, and I dont wake up till a little bit later) I'll get up, make them some breakfast, then head back to bed. Some mornings I wont be totally asleep, and I can hear what they are doing in the living room. When I hear chairs moving, I know I probably need to get up.

Claire is a CLIMBER. I hide most 'treats' on top of the fridge. Claire has figured out that she can scoot a chair over to the countertop, stand on the counter, and reach on top of the fridge and get whatever is up there. While Claire is doing this, she sends Carlie to stand in the hallway to make sure I don't come in the kitchen. She will stand in the hallway, and block me so I dont go to the kitchen. I usually get pretty mad, but really, its pretty dang funny!

Bonnie Springs

Last week, we took the girls up to the Bonnie Springs petting zoo!

This Deer, was not afraid of people. In fact right after this picture, it started EATING my shirt. Seriously, I had to PULL my shirt from its mouth. I about died laughing!

The girls really enjoyed being away from home. They loved seeing all of the animals, and kept asking if we could get a bunny! Claire was very daring and would stick her hands in the gates, and try to pet some of the animals. Carlie, was very careful, and didnt really pet any animals that werent supposed to be pet!

12 Weeks

Me at 12 weeks pregnant. Can I just say I am SO glad to be done with my first Trimester?! There were a few weeks where I felt sick ALL DAY LONG. Food didnt sound good, and I was tired all the time. It was pretty bad! Now I am feeling GREAT! Food tastes/sounds good again, I have energy again, and I dont think I have as crazy of mood swings as before! I havent gained any weight, but I feel a little thicker in the middle! Im looking forward to finding out what we are having!
Right before Christmas I was able to get an ultrasound, and everything looks great. And, we are only having one baby this time! My official due date is July 22nd!

Pictures from Parowan/New Years

(I love how blogger decides to just randomly put pictures out of the order I uploaded them in)

I know I already posted about our New Years trip up to Parowan, but I wasnt able to post pictures! So here they are!
This is a picture of the Torch Parade. This is all of the people going up the ski lift with the torches.
Claire going down the little slide we made.

Carlie going down the slide

And this is a picture of the people coming DOWN the mountain skiing and snowboarding! It was really cool looking!

Me and the girls waiting for the Torch parade to start!

Christmas!

As always, Christmas Eve was spent at my Grandparents house. When I was younger, we used to always have Oyster Stew for dinner, then we stopped for quite a few years. This year Nana found some good Oysters, and made Oyster stew this year! I didnt love it, but Claire and Carlie enjoyed the broth! After dinner we opened presents.

Christmas morning we opened presents from Santa, then headed over to Aarons dads house.

After we opened presents at Aarons dads house, all the kids played in the playroom, and when I went to check in on the girls, this is how I found them! I have no idea how they got up there, but they played up there for a while!


We had a great Christmas and are so blessed to have all of our families here in town!

Visiting Santa at Bass Pro Shops

We took the twins to Bass Pro Shops to go see Santa! That place is great for kids! They have lots of fun things to do while, waiting in the long line to see Santa!
They got to sit on a pink 4 wheeler ...
Play with remote control trucks ...
Color
Sit in a train!
And finally, have a picture taken with Santa. I guess thats the 'not so fun' part! Claire did GREAT! She happily sat on Santas lap, told him what she wanted for Christmas, and even SMILED for the picture. Carlie... not so much. She wanted NOTHING to do with it. I ended up having to sit on santas lap, just to get Carlie in the picture. She wouldnt even look up! She is pretty stubborn!
Best of all, its free! They give you 1 5x7, and send you on your merry way!

Dance Recital

In December Claire and Carlie had their dance recital!

When it came time for the girls to dance, Carlie DID NOT want to do it. She kept saying how shy she was, and that she didnt want everyone to laugh at her. It was pretty sad. Im just glad Claire still wanted to dance even though Carlie didnt! Claire did GREAT! She danced very well, and wasnt shy at all! Im so glad!

I thought maybe after the first dance, Carlie would see that it wasnt so bad, and decide to do their second song, but, she wanted nothing to do with it. Ms. Lori AND Ms. Natalie BOTH tried to get Carlie to come dance, but she didnt want to. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Dave and Linda brought the girls flowers! Thanks for driving all the way out here to see them! That sure meant a lot to them!

Christmas Decorating

I wasnt feeling too hot when it came time to put up the Christmas decorations. Aaron took over and got the tree decorated with the twins! They did an awesome job! The tree was re-arranged daily by the twins!
Claire helped Aaron put up our Christmas lights. Im so thankful that she took over for me while I dealt with my morning sickness that lasted all day!

Carlie was nice enough to over see the light hanging!

Great Grandma Walker (Thanksgiving)

For Thanksgiving, Great Grandma Walker (93) came in town from Iowa! She is so much fun to be around, and im glad we have an opportunity to see her each year.

Here is the entire family! (minus Keri) Im THANKFUL that we get to spend Thanksgiving with Grandma Walker each year. She is such an amazing woman!

Keri came to visit!

My sister Keri was able to come home to visit in November! I hadnt seen her in over 7 months! It sure was nice getting to spend time with her, and hang out like old times! The twins were SO excited to see her as well! Every once in a while they will talk about how Keri lives in Washington, and they ask if they have cars and houses there! Its pretty funny. I cant wait for Keri to come down again!

Shark Reef

Back in November, we took the girls to the Shark Reef. They loved it!
Its really hard to get a picture where both girls are looking at the camera!

Claire was brave enough to touch one of the horse shoe crab things in the water. Carlie, not so much.

The girls LOVE animals/sea creatures, so im glad they were able to see some of their favorite things! Im also glad that Aaron gets such a huge discount to visit the Shark Reef, since he is a MGM Mirage employee! We sure do love spending time with our sweet little girls!

Help Bishop Garth Abbott

Aarons Bishop (Garth Abbott) from the singles ward has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of Breast Cancer (IBC) His Daughter in law has set up an auction to raise money for his treatment (he is uninsured, and to recieve treatment he must pay the $$ up front ... and its EXPENSIVE)
Head on over to her blog http://www.thedailyabbott.blogspot.com/ for more details, and to view/bid on the many items being auctioned off.

Project 365

I have decided to do Project 365 this year! Project 365 is a project where you take a picture EVERYDAY for 365 days, and write a little journal caption to go along with each picture. Since I am so far behind in scrapbooking, I figure if I commit to this, I will have 2010's scrapbook done.

For right now i've started a blog for my Project 365 pictures. You can view it at www.valentinefamily365.blogspot.com

Happy New Year!

For New Years we headed up to Parowan to play in the snow. We had invited some friends to come with us, but their daughter got sick, and they stayed home. I was bummed at first, but we still had a great time! Wednesday we got up there are right away got our snow clothes on, and started to build a snow slide for Claire and Carlie! They had a blast going down the slide. It started getting really blizzard like, so we headed inside for the night, had some hot chocolate, and watched a movie.

Thursday we played outside for a good part of the morning. The girls came in and took a nap, then we got ready to head up to Brian Head (the Giant Steps lift) to watch the fireworks. We got up there an hour early, and got a perfect parking spot! We had planned on sitting on the tailgate of the truck, but it was FREEZING outside! So we flipped the truck around, and decided to sit in the front seats and watch the fireworks from inside. Then we ended up going back outside and standing in the snow with all the other people that came to see the fireworks. There was a DJ right at the bottom of the run, playing fun music, so we danced around while we waited for the festivities to start. Right at 6pm, the employees from BrianHead all rode up the ski lift with "Torches" (red flares) There were about 60 people all together on the ski lift. Once they all got to the top, the came down the ski run waving the torches. It was pretty dang cool! After that there was a 15 minute fireworks show! It was a lot of fun, and the girls really enjoyed everything! We headed back to the house, had dinner, watched a movie, and headed to bed! Aaron and I tried REALLY hard to stay up till midnight, but around 11:30 we were out!

Friday morning the girls played outside some more, then we packed up and headed home!

It was a fun trip with just our little family. The girls didnt fight very much, and it was very relaxing! I cant wait to go up again in a few weeks!