Tonight we had Maddie's investiture for Girl Scouts. This is when the girls finally get to wear their blue outfit and earn "petals" which will create a colorful daisy on the front of the uniform. So there it is, Maddie is officially a Daisy Girl Scout! I hope you are all getting hungry for girl scout cookies! LOL

18 months today!

Wow, where has the time gone? I can't believe that Lucy and Ava are well on their way to turning 2! I never thought the day would come when we would have toddlers, but here they are! I can actually see how much fun we are going to have with them in the future; ocean trips, Disneyland, bike rides, and more! It has been hard to imagine the future when I can hardly get through the day, sometimes I can hardly get through the hour! LOL.. .. (Brittany, I am sure you can agree with me here...) Anyway, here are a few photos from today. Notice in the first 2 photos the girls have the same finger in their mouth? I found it kind of funny since the usually suck their thumbs. Must be a twin thing. :)

It was such a beautiful day today! We started our day off by going to church and then visiting Chris at the fire station. We came home, had some lunch and then the girls took a nap. Maddie has been begging us latley to take a walk to the river, so today we did! It was a great walk. The girls had a blast in the stroller, and Maddie walked the whole way there AND back! The river is about 1 mile from our house, both ways! I can't believe our little munchkin walked 2 miles without breaking a sweat. There are many things that I love about living in Fair Oaks, and the American River parkway is definitely one of them. Here are a few photos of the munchkins playing by the water. Ginger and Daisy really wanted to come swim in the water, but there were to many people around to let them off the leash. Too bad because it is fun to throw the ball for them and watch them swim to get it...

Girls are fun

Tonight after dinner I was cleaning up as I usually do. The girls were all playing together quite well. This does not happen as often as I would like. ;) Anyway, I could hear Madeline stomping around upstairs and then I heard the gate close which meant that she was coming back downstairs. Madeline was busy being the "little mommy" as she usually is. I hear her in the living room trying to tell Ava what to do and I am just laughing to myself about how cute these kids are! The next thing I see is Lucy walking around the kitchen with the cutest dress up outfit on. A snow white top and a pink, I don't know, ballerina thing?? Anyway, she is laughing and she must think that she looks sooooo cute...and she does! LOL Next thing I hear is Ava laughing and she is wearing Madeline's Princess Aurora dress up which is 10 times to big for her. The girls see each other and proceed to laugh some more. Madeline is very proud of herself for dressing the girls up. It was just such a sweet moment to see all three girls laughing and having a good time together. It melted my heart. :)

I guess I need to be updating more often! The busy life we live in the Siler house has put a lot of the things I do on hold. So, here is an update as to what we have been doing. We started a retaining wall project in our backyard about a week before Christmas and we are still working on it. It seems like every step takes 4 days to complete, but, it is FINALLY almost done so that should make some more time for me. Other than that I started my classes last week. I really think I am taking on more than I can handle though. I have 3 classes, one with a lab, for a total of 10 units. That might not seem like a lot, but when you are taking care of three kids, a house and a husband, that is a lot! I am really thinking hard about dropping my Anatomy class with the lab. I need to get all A's in my classes to better my chances of getting in the part time nursing program and with the load I have I will not be getting A's. I have until the 26th to withdraw from the class without it showing on my transcript. Maddie's school is getting a bit more challenging for her. She is in the highest reading group and I think they are finally at a point where she is not bored everyday, which is huge for her. She comes home reading books all the time. It is SO incredible to see her learn and grow. I have been trying to help out at her school at least once a week. I am a firm believer in parent participation. I love being able to be a part of Maddie's life this way and watch Maddie excel. She is such a smart little girl.

The twins are now taking one nap a day. They are in that phase where 2 naps is to much and one may not be enough. It has been a rough week, but I can see it getting better. They sleep about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for their one nap and I think if they increased it to 2 1/2 hours they would be much happier. On a brighter note, Lucy language is exploding and Ava is starting to talk a little more too. They are both happy and growing well. Plus, they have not been sick for a few weeks!! Knock on wood, right?

I got my hip x-rays back and they were normal for the most part. My PCP said they were great, but then when I went to go see the orthopedic Dr. he pointed out a small abnormality of my hip bone and the socket. He said there is a slight chance that I could have been born that way, or it was a resulting injury from the pregnancy. He wouldn't go into detail about my options because he wants me to have another test done first. The test is an MRI with a needle in my hip joint to fill it with dye... (I hope this does not hurt!!!) He said after we get the results of that test we can discuss our options. He did day that he knows a great physical therapist, but he doesn't think he would be able to help me... This leads me to believe that surgery may be my only option, but I am going to TRY not to go crazy thinking about that... the last think I want to do is have hip surgery!

Anyway, every one is happy and healthy. I will try to get some pictures up soon!

One more thing

Last night Chris, Maddie and I all went to this show at Arco Arena called "Walking with Dinosaurs". I have to admit that I was not all that thrilled to go to this show. Don't get me wrong, I was interested, just not thrilled. Well after seeing the show I was amazed! I was interested the whole time and it was so awesome seeing the life like dinosaurs. Maddie loves dinosaurs so we have been reading up on them in magazines and various books which made this show even more interesting. I wish I could have taken some better pictures, but they would not allow flash photography, so I got what a I got.

This is some wild weather we are having!

The news said that we would have a big storm coming into California today, and this time they were right! The rain and wind started last night and peaked around noon today. We lost power to our house for about 2 1/2 hours. At first I thought the rain and wind was fun, but taking care of three kids with no power is quite a challenge! Our house was dark and for the first time in my life I experienced making lunch for the kids by candle light. LOL We ate in the dark and no one seemed to care. :) As a result of the heavy winds and rain we have 3 sections of fence that blew down and now need to be repaired, a tree that fell down right on the border of our neighbor's yard and ours (thankfully it is their tree!! :) ) and we had some minor flooding in our backyard. Over the last year Chris fixed the drainage problem we had at our house which would leave us with water in our heater vents in the family room and the sump pump going off every 5 seconds... This year I am relieved to say that the sump pump has not gone off one time and there is no water in our heater vents. :) Good job honey!

Chris is working today and helping whoever needs help. He started his shift at 8am and when I talked to him tonight at 7pm he said they had gone on 12 calls already today! Wow, and the day is only half over. Unfortunately, he still has to work tomorrow too.... poor guy is going to be exhausted! Not that is has been any easier at home...

A pain in the... hip!

Finally, after 16 months of pain, I went to the Doctor yesterday to find out why my hip is still hurting. After I gave birth to the twins in August of 2006 I have had limited motion and I have had to limit my physical activity due to my left hip hurting. ( Their combined weight was almost 13 pounds, no wonder!!!) After working out at the gym or going on to long of a walk I would wind up having very bad pain that would cause me to limp around for a few days. I have read many articles on the Internet saying that this is common, but it usually goes away by 6-8 months post partum and occasionally can take up to 12 months. So I waited, and I waited, and then I waited some more. Finally, after being so frustrated that I can't work out and get into shape the way I want to, I decided to get it checked out. The Doctor confirmed that is is my hip, not muscular, so now I have to go get an x-ray done. The Doctor seems to think that I may have chronic inflammation, which I would have to get cortisone shots for, or I may have injured the actual bone. There was one condition that really scared me that is called hip osteonecrosis. This is where my hip bone has decreased blood flow (caused by the pregnancy) and the bone starts to die. Whatever the reason for the pain I am looking forward to getting it fixed so I can resume with my active lifestyle. I am in the worst shape of my life and it really sucks not being able to do anything about it...

The last day of 2007... a look back...

Saved...

Last day of Kindergarten in 2007!

Maddie and I had a blast together today at her school. The Kindergarten class had a little celebration before the Christmas break. We decorated cookies and cake, sang songs, played games and took some fun class pictures. I love being able to help out at her school. The kids are just adorable and so much fun at this age. I think it is so funny that they call me "Madeline's mommy". Having kids is a blast! They are just so much darn fun at this age!!

What a surprise!!!

Oh my gosh... Today was such a crazy busy day. We are having our retaining wall re-done and that itself has been a bit chaotic. Chris is working today so I have had to keep after the workers while running Maddie to and from school, dragging the twins along, and keeping up with their whining too. Maddie is having a play date today with her very good friend Delaney from school and I had finally put the babies down for their second nap. I had the girls watch a movie so I could catch up on the never ending pile of laundry and mess that the girls made... Needless to say I was feeling a bit frazzled.

This is where the surprise comes in. I went upstairs to check on the girls to make sure they were sleeping (our Gardner had just shown up and was using the leaf blower). I came downstairs and I see someone wearing red standing by our front door. I was puzzled and wondering who would be visiting us right now???(And who the heck was knocking on my door that could possibly wake the babies up?? LOL) Well, guess who it was??? Santa and Mrs. Claus! Yes, I am serious! They came all the way from the North Pole to say hello to my children and brighten my day. :) They couldn't have come at a better time. I feel so happy after seeing Maddie and her friend get so excited from them visiting. What a wonderful surprise. :) :) :)

Lucy and Ava are 16 months old today!

Happy 16 month Birthday girls!! I can't believe it has been 16 months already! Before I know it we are going to be celebrating your 2nd birthday. We spent the morning today at the pediatrician's office getting shots and making sure you are healthy. Here are the latest stats:

Lucy:

22 pounds 13ounces and 29.5 inches tall.

Ava:

21 pounds 13 ounces 30.5 inches tall.

Ava is really grwoing fast since she started out a 1/2 inch shorter than Lucy and now she is an inch taller! They are both healthy and as happy as can be! :)

It's been a while...

I have been pretty bad about updating the site lately. We have been so busy trying to get through Chris' eBay season, plus his regular duty and overtime, that I have just been exhausted! On top of that I am sick with and I think I have a sinus infection, plus all three girls were sick and Lucy and Ava are still sick. It has just been a rough month and I sure hope that we will all be on the mend soon. So, on to better news.

Maddie has first report card and we had out first parent teacher conference a few weeks ago. Maddie is doing outstanding and got perfect grades on her report card. San Juan Unifed school district now grades on a scale of 1-4 instead of A, B, C, D and F. 3 is the highest grade you can get unless the teacher thinks you are a genius and you need to be in the next grade level up. Maddie's teacher said that she sees the potential for Maddie to be skipping a grade in a few years from now!! Right now the kindergartner's are supposed to be writing simple words and reading simple words... Now this is where I have to brag... Maddie is writing 3-4 sentences and can read books by herself!!! I am truly amazed how how smart she is. Actually I am scared because soon she will know more than me! LOL

More good news is that Chris' work bid for new stations today. The bid will stay in effect for 3 years and we were really hoping that Chris would get a station close to home. Well the good news is, he did! He got station 32 again which is about 1.3 miles away from our house. With the new 48/96 schedule they have going on this will only make our transition that much easier!

Lucy and Ava are doing well, despite being sick. They are now into pushing each other and pulling each others hair. I am not sure what to do about this yet as the aggressor is usually laughing at making the other cry even when being punished. The both constantly fighting for my attention and I can honestly say that the bickering has not been fun. I think we are in for a long phase of this so I better get use to it soon!!

Oh, here is a funny thing that Lucy does. Almost every night at dinner Lucy will finish all her food first so we let her play while we finish our dinner. Lucy loves to go over to Ava's chair and steal food off of her tray and eat it. This of course makes Ava very mad! LOL This is definitely more funny in person than what I am trying to explain here...

We had the chance over the last few days to put our Christmas tree and light up. It really is starting to feel a lot like Christmas! :) I am excited for the twins to open presents this year and I am looking forward to Maddie still believing in Santa. I think by next year she might start to catch on, but hopefully we still have a few years of fun with the idea of it all. :) The twins of course are having fun taking the decorations off of the tree which has forced me to move all of the decorations to the top half of the tree. LOL They love to look at Christmas lights and I am excited to show them all the pretty decorated houses in the different neighborhoods.

Here are a few cute pictures of the girls playing in the ever growing pile of leaves in our backyard. It was fun throwing leaves in the air and seeing the girls laugh. I am so glad that they are easily amused. :)

JBF dinner

We had our annual "Just Between Friends" dinner today. It was so awesome seeing all the girls and all the kids. I got teary eyed just looking at all of our children because just 3 years ago when I met this fabulous group of women, none of them had children. I had Maddie and I was truly grateful to have her, but after I had her I was struggling with infertility myself. Now between all of us we have 13 children with 4 on the way! That really is amazing!

Each one of the girls in our group are very special to me. It amazes me that we can get together and never argue, and are 100% comfortable around each other. The pain of our infertility seems to have brought us a special bond and closeness to our friendship that I could never replace. They are the best friends a girl could ask for.....

A trip to Apple Hill!

What a beautiful day it was to go up to Apple Hill. The weather was gorgeous and all three kids were cooperative! We decided the only way to get up to Apple Hill this year was to skip Lucy and Ava's afternoon nap... I know, a scary thought! Once we got up to the farm, all the girls had fun. We bought some apples, pears and and apple pie... yum! Maddie wanted to go fishing in the pond, so we did. She caught a nice trout in the first 45 seconds! Maddie loves to fish, but won't have anything to do with the fish after it is caught unless it is Mahi Mahi. LOL Lucy and Ava loved to eat the apples whole. They both took one from the boxes and starting eating it when were picking out our own apples. The theifs!

The evening was a bit tough since the girls didn't nap. OK, it was more than a little rough, they were SO fussy! But I have to admit it was nice to get out and have a family afternoon. :) Oh, and the babies are 15 months old today! :)

Our 6th Anniversary

Chris and I got married 6 years ago today. I can still remember our wedding day as if it were yesterday. I can't believe it has been 6 years already! Chris is a wonderful husband and father and he is truly my best friend. I still feel a little bolt of excitement when I hear him walking through the door, a little flutter in my stomach when he smiles at me and gives that certain look. I still feel so special when we hold hands, and I still feel so warm and loved from his hugs. I still feel like we are "that couple" and really don't think that will ever change.