Visitors

Lucky us, we had some visitors this last week. My cousins came to visit for a fun girls weekend. We went to the Apple Orchard with the fam and then out for pedicures and manicures and dinner --- just the girls! It was a great time and I am so glad that they made the trip! My mom came out for a visit, too. It is always a treat to have Grandma here and we are so thankful for all that she did for us!

In the famous Iowa Corn!

They had this awesome slide! We probably went down at least 15 times. (Not me, don't worry!)

Here is me trying to rope Aaron. What is funny is that the rope got away from me and I actually roped Lainey!
They have this awesome Jumping Pillow.

Hal and Mag getting some air.

With the cute--stinky pigs!

My Girls.

And finally an updated picture of me. This is me at about 30 1/2 weeks. Getting huge and FEELING it!

Happy Halloween

Unfortunately, we missed out on most of the Halloween festivities this year. Luckily the kids didn't really know what they were missing, so putting on their cotumes and getting a handful of candy made them as happy as could be. We had our annual witch dinner, which they love. Somehow if it looks cool, it tastes better and they want to eat it. Hopefully next year, we will be back to the whole fam dressing up and having a great time.

I promise Hal's teeth are not that yellow! She was eating some of the squash!

Down and Out

Unfortunately, we have contracted the H1N1 at our house and have spent the week hanging out at home. Hallie and Maggie ar ethe only two that have actually come down with it, so we will keep our fingers crossed that it stays that way. Just thought I'd post a few pics to catch you up again on what has been going on here. Warning- LOTS of pictures that go from present to past.

We have been in desperate search of entertainment, especially on our sixth day at home. The girls gathered up all of the blankets in the house and made a landing pad. They came up with some pretty great jumps!

Lots of eating . . .

snuggling . . .

and reading . . . and watching TV, ( I admit) lest you think I have actually come up with activities to fill the whole time!

A couple of weeks ago, we woke up to this! The girls were soooooo excited!

Of course they had to gear up and go play in it! Lainey's new "cheese" face is my favorite!

Aaron dressed up as a hippie for a youth activity, "Where's Waldo" in the mall. He looked awesome and the kids had a hard time recognizing him. He was chillin' in front of Hot Topic. Love it!

In between General Conference sessions we went out to our previous Bishop's house to pick pumpkins, go for a hayride and, for my kids, chase and hold cats! They cannot focus on anything else when we are there. The Pences are such an amazing family and we have LOVED getting to know them since we have lived here. They are so generous to have us all come out and hang out at their fun house and pick pumpkins!

Our annual trip to Center Grove Orchard-- one of our favorite places in Iowa!

Update

Just a quick update about what we have been up to.

Lainey has been transitioning from two naps to one and sometimes has a hard time making it through lunch!

This is one of my favorite pics b/c it is so typical of a day at our house. Notice Lainey's feet hanging out of the TV armoire- where she climbs about 100 times a day!- and notice Maggie's little bum hanging out. That also happens everyday! Cracks me up. Hallie is, of course, in charge and is the "teacher" for the group.

Dad has had a lot more time at home and we have all been LOVING it! He is such a great dad!

And then there is me, growing like a champ! I am getting bigger and bigger everyday. I can't believe that I still have so far to go, and at the same time I am getting nervous that it is getting so close! Ahhhh!


The baby girls are getting so big and are doing really well. I love these first two pictures. Baby A has a hip bone (from Baby B) resting on her face and arm, and in the next picture, Baby B has her sister's foot ready to kick her in the face! It is crazy how intertwined they are. But, I guess that is all they know, so they do ok! Can't wait for these girlies to get here! What a blessing!

Maggie's First Day of School

Miss Magoo has started school! She was so excited and has been counting the days until school started. She had to wait 2 1/2 weeks after Hallie started and she has been dying to go! She loves school and loves her teachers and asks everyday if it is a school day. I miss my girls when they are gone, but I know that they are learning and having fun!

The Zoo

I just had to write about Hallie and the zoo the other day. It was Monday, labor day, and Hallie was SOOOOOO excited to have the day off school. She woke up late and laid around in her jammies watching cartoons all morning. She must have seen a commercial for the zoo and came running into the kitchen, "Mom, we HAVE to go to the zoo today. There are new animals and I REALLY want to go see them. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can we go to the zoo?". If you know Hallie, you can only imagine the excitement and animation on her face as she begged to go to the zoo. How could I resist? We decided right then and there we had better get ready and get to the zoo. Once we were in the car, I asked Hallie to tell me about the new animals and what we were going to see. "Oh mom, you are going to be so excited. They got new BIRDS! The new birds are called PIGEONS. Yea mom, we are going to get to see pigeons today!" Oh, to be as excitable as a five year old! Well, let me tell you, we saw some some pigeons and Hallie was completely satisfied. And so was I!

Check One Off the List

Just a quick update on what is going on with us here. As you can imagine, news of the twin girls coming has rocked our world a little! We have a list with several things that we need to do to make room and get ready for these girls. We have kind of been going around in circles trying to accomplish SOMETHING, but really getting no where. But alas, we have the first of many things checked off our list! We traded our old car (*actually our new car) for a new(actually older)car. It was hard for us. Probably b/c we just bought the Ford last year and we LOVED it, but it just wasn't going to work. So, first thing checked off the list and one less thing to do to get ready for these babes. We love our new van and the girls think it is the coolest thing in the world.

Also thought I'd post a picture of the growing belly. It is getting HUGE already, I can't imagine that I am only halfway! But for all of my family and friends far away who don't believe me. I am getting big! This is me at 20 weeks.