The Green Life

2011 in review

2012-01-02T20:42:00.000-08:00

so...about a year ago i posted about my goals for the year and thought i should see how i did.

✭BLOG more - my goal was 3 times a week. clearly that didn't happen since my last post before this one was what, september? in fact i think i blogged less this year than any other year before. so, maybe not making a blog goal this year will be more effective.

✭COUPONing- i have to say i did awesome with this the first half of the year. i learned good prices and when to stock up, etc. in fact i'm still using some of the stuff i stocked up on. but, mid-year i sort of fizzled out. it takes so much time! i keep saying, once i can quit my day job i'll coupon more. still look for good deals, but i don't dedicate as much time lately..

✭COOK more - totally did this. my crockpot and i have become good friends and meal planning is a life (and pocketbook) saver.

✭make QUIET BOOKS for my kids - aced this one. ok, it may still be un-bound, but the pages have been done for months and the kids enjoy it. i loved this project! i have ideas for several more that hopefully i'll get around to soon.

✭SCRIPTURES every day - did pretty good on this. always want to do better! and read to my kids every day.

✭lose WEIGHT - how do i measure this one. i gained about 15 pounds and have lost that again plus some. still working on it.

✭GARDEN - i was super proud of our garden this year! we had a bounty of squash, zucchini, grean beans, bell peppers (yellow, red, orange and green), poblano peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, basil, parsley, chives and cucumbers. i made about 12 bottles worth of spaghetti sauce and two batches of pepper jelly with our spoils.

✭made JAMS & JELLIES - pepper jelly from our garden and mixed berry jam. YUM!

✭organize and decorate our OFFICE - kept up on my filing and organizing. didn't decorate though

✭house UPDATES on our house - we did get new blinds for the living room. no painting or updates to kitchen yet.

so, i didn't accomplish everything 100% but i made and kept other goals throughout the year so i am not ashamed. i love the new year and fresh start it seems to give. BRING IT ON 2012. i'm so ready for you!

Josh graduated!

2011-09-10T19:55:00.000-07:00

We're so proud of you!

cuteness

2011-07-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

found them playing the piano this morning just one of the billion reasons i love being home with them on my days off :)

modern conveniences and other things

2011-06-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

sometimes i'm really thankful for the convenience of online shopping. no, not for fun kind of shopping like clothes and shoes (although i am thankful for that too). i'm talking about ordering diapers, wipes, deodorant...you know, things other people are really going to be thankful i was able to purchase too when I have super busy weeks coming up like this one. :)

the kids tun 18 months this Wednesday! i told them now that they are old enough for nursery (yipee!!), they can stop growing up now. we did our first week of swimming lessons last week and another one this week. they love it but not as much as i thought they would. i honestly think josh has the most fun of any of us - he is such a fun dad.

this weekend was so much fun - shopping with josh and the kids, garage saleing with mom green, and josh and i saw Mary Poppins on Broadway (in Sacramento). love that movie. the play was pretty good too. today was fathers day and the kids and i had fun spoiling josh. for dinner we made steak (josh did that part), grilled squash from our garden, grilled corn on the cob, yummy fresh pineapple and strawberry salad, and garlic blue cheese mashed potatoes (so good!). i love weekends. at least it's only a four day week this week!

good night all!

120 mile challenge

2011-06-06T21:15:00.000-07:00

I joined THIS CHALLENGE and I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty dang excited (as if the HUGE orange button on the right side of my blog didn't give give that away). I started walking last week and so far I've done 12 miles! I feel like 120 miles in 3 months is do-able but still a challenge for me since before last week I wasn't doing anything. So, I've been walking on my lunch breaks at work...and I may have jogged a little today...in my work clothes. Don't tell anybody :) I'm excited too because about 11 of my coworkers decided to do it too, so we have a little office challenge going on at the same time. I'm exhausted but I know it'll get easier with time, and I know my body will thank me for this.

San Franciso Trip

2011-05-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

This post is long overdue but I have to blog about my fun girls trip earlier this month.

About a year ago three of my very good friends and roommates from BYU started talking about the idea of getting together for a girls weekend in San Francisco. A couple weeks ago we finally did it and I was so happy to see them and spend the weekend together! I hadn't seen Jane or Velay since my wedding in 2007 and I hadn't seen my mama Liz in about 6 years! We stayed with Jane who lives in San Fran and she was a great tour guide. We visited all the must-sees- Ghirardelli, Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Union Square shopping, "Postcard Row" (Full House!!), Lombard St, and Jane knew of some great restaurants which were YUMmy. Here are a few pics of our adventures...

It was awesome to catch up with these girls and stay up talking 'till 1 in the morning like we used to. I was 17 when I met these girls so they played a big part of who I am now. It just makes me so happy to know we are all married in the temple with our own little families and are all relatively happy. Hopefully it won't be this long until we see each other again! (Alaska cruise anyone??!).

food

2011-05-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

I was feeling adventurous and made this for dinner last night. Um, it was delicious. You should try it. Oh and if you want another really good (and easy) recipe, we had this one earlier this week which was also very tasty. Go me, cooking more than once in one week (if crock pot dinners count as cooking LOL).

my dad is hilarious

2011-04-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

i laughed out loud when i got the following text this morning before dropping the kids off at my parents:

"WE NEED MORE WIPES - WE NEEDS SOME WIPES ALL OVER UP IN HERE ANY WHICH WAYS YOU CAN...I MEAN THEM WIPES IS NEEDED BAD!!"

my dad is so crazy.

2 new additions to our family

2011-04-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

i'm so excited to announce that....we got two new fruit trees! :)

meet mr. eureka lemon tree

and mrs. juicy pomegranate

we are really looking forward to raising these two special spirits and are especially excited for all the yummy fruit they will give us! we wanted to get like 6 other trees at the nursery but they are not cheap, so maybe another week when our budget is replenished :)

of course we can't forget our other yard family members who were so good to us last year: mr. cherry tree and his son junior, mr and mrs plum, ms. pear and miss apple, (who i hope will be more giving this year since we didn't get to eat any of her apples last year before the birds got them). oh, and we love you too strawberries and blueberries.

have i ever said how thankful i am to have a yard where we can plant and grow what we want? well, I AM! i love having food storage that we grow ourselves. up next: finishing the vegetable garden!

just 3 little things

2011-04-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

sometime i'm actually going to get around to posting some "for reals" posts, but for now i will just say:
1. we have started sleep training the babies (ie letting them "cry it out"). this is the second night and yes, they're crying as i type, but somehow i feel a total sense of freedom knowing it's ok for me to do this and it's good for both of us. last night was the first time in their lives i think that they went to sleep on their own!
2. i just read on facebook that my SIL ashley is having a baby boy in august and i am SOOO super duper excited. yay for a new nephew!
3. i think i'm going to make this tomorrow and i'm hoping it really does taste like thai food!

good night!

just call me mrs. notary pants

2011-03-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

yep, i'm officially a Notary Public for the state of CA. i even performed my first notarial act today at work (don't tell anyone but i was really nervous!). i think being a notary will be fun though...something new is nice sometimes.

first day of spring!

2011-03-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

...i'm back from my 2 week blog hiatus...

by the way, sorry about that last post. i just re-read it and boy, what a downer. that's not fun. i have good news to post today though. even though it's raining and has been for what seems like for-ev-er, i love the rain. i love the smell and the feeling of getting all cozy inside. josh even turned on our pellet stove last night. BUT, as much as i love the rain i love a change in seasons even more.

SPRING is on the way people. tomorrow is the official first day of spring! (i just googled it so you know it must be true). our plum trees have already bloomed and leafed (is that a word?). our apple tree now has popcorn popping and our cherry trees (my favorite) are coming along too. not to mention our daffodils are bloomed and our ONE bright pink tulip is up and beautiful.

i especially love the symbolism of spring and new life and renewal. maybe i'll blog more about that around Easter time :)

happy spring everyone!

motivation, I miss you!

2011-03-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

Someone please tell me why I am not motivated to lose weight? Well, I take that back. I go through phases of being motivated (like from 8am-12pm today I ate really healthy but then I just blew it the rest of the day - ending with Cold Stone ice cream). I seriously don't know what is wrong with me! I can't seem to STAY motivated and it's driving me nuts. I don't want to pay for Weight Watchers, but I try almost daily to do it on my own and I just slip and end up overeating and feeling crappy. I seriously need to find motivation again soon or I'm going to be back at my pregnancy weight here pretty quick. Blech!

Sorry, just needed to get this off my chest!

oh my sillies

2011-03-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

Eden and Ezra discovered a new drawer this past week and have been having fun pulling all my cake pans out and banging them on the kitchen floor, etc. This morning they started at it again (probably because this is the only non-child proofed drawer within their reach...) and I just let them at it because we had just woken up and it was giving me a chance to get ready for the day. Pretty soon I heard Ezzy crying and when I came into the kitchen I saw this...

LOL. They were cracking me up! Luckily I had my camera on the counter and snapped a few shots of them crammed in their little drawer. I don't know why, but they LOVE to get into boxes and buckets and baskets and apparently oven drawers. The other day Ezra was trying to sit it the tiniest little box at my parents house (smaller than a shoebox) and pretty soon Eden came over and tried to wedge her way in there with him. They are so silly.

PS I know Eden's hair is crazy in these pics. She will NOT keep a hair tie in her hair for anything!

new blinds!

2011-03-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

So twice a year J gets a bonus - not very big, but just some money that isn't in our normal budget. I always tell him he gets to pick what we spend it on because it's "extra". This year he surprised me and wanted to spend it on living room blinds! I've been wanting them since we moved in so I was so excited! Of course I didn't get a "before" picture because that would have been fun to post on here, but the old blinds were vertical metal blinds that were huge and bulky - just completely dated. Now the room feels so much more cozy :) Oh and we got a set for our larger kitchen window too. So, a small part of one of my goals (updating the house) is complete.

my weekend

2011-02-27T17:47:00.000-08:00

The babies have been sick again and Ezra had a really bad fever the last couple of days. So, my weekend was spent cuddling this sick little boy...

Chasing around this crazy (and sick) little girl...

And of course hanging out with this favorite guy... (he was thinking i was crazy for taking his picture just now...) and he is also feeling sick btw

Ezzy got so bad we even took him to the doctor this morning...but of course they said just let it run it's course. no ear infection or anything else they can do anything about. poor thing was so miserable yesterday and this morning - he just sat on my lap and didn't play or eat or anything. luckily i actually think he's starting to feel better now. i can hear him banging pots and pans in the kitchen as i type.

it is just sad to watch them suffer and not be able to do anything about it. being a mom is hard! :)

Happy Presidents Day!

2011-02-21T11:37:00.001-08:00

a sweet movie

2011-02-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

Today we watched Ramona and Beezus and it was such a cute movie. Probably one of the best movies I've seen in a really long time. No swearing (other than "GUTS"), no sexual innuendos, no violence. Just a really cute and funny movie with a real family with two parents in the home and good family values. I usually end up getting up and doing stuff around the house while a movie is on just because I don't care to watch most movies anymore. This one was enjoyable (and refreshing) to watch.

"the" twins

2011-02-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

I love having twins. I love seeing how unique they each are (and knowing it is their personalities because they are being raised the same). It is so fun to have a boy and girl and see how they interact with each other and with everyone around them. I think one of the very best things about having twins is that they always have a playmate. If one of them is sleeping while the other is awake they simply don't know what to do with themselves. They usually end up wandering around whining and bored. I'm just so thankful that they have each other and I hope they're always close.

Interestingly I don't find myself calling them "the twins" much, if at all. I usually call them "the babies" or by their names. I don't mind AT ALL when other people refer to them that way. I think being a twin will always be a big part of their identity and should be because it's really special. I guess I just don't want them to feel like their "twinhood" is their only identity and I want to make sure I recognized them for their own individuality.

Anyway, their differences fascinate me. Take something as simple as eating for instance. Here are some pictures of them in their high chairs a couple of days ago. I don't know if you can tell, but Ezra's tray is so neat and tidy and he was picking up each piece of food with his two fingers one at a time. Eden's, on the other hand, is so messy and crazy. She thought the peas were fun to squish all over her hands and tray and hair. Her facial expression in this picture explains it all.

They are so funny. These next pictures I just had to post because, well, they're adorable :)

park

2011-02-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

we found the cutest park a couple of blocks from us (on Almond if any of you are near us and want to check it out). we took the kids there on friday after josh got home from work. it was so much fun to watch E & E explore. while we were there a couple came with their set of twin boys who are about a month than our kids so that was fun too.

this was taken right after miss independent ran off and bonked her head on the cement :(

look ma, i'm swinging (not too sure about it)

hehehe she did NOT like the swings. love her hair though.

she loves the freedom

he found the moon!

blueberry pie

2011-02-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Last year we were surprised to discover that our funny bushes out back were blueberry bushes. They produced a ton of fruit and we're still using the berries that we froze. I actually like them a lot more now that we grow them (before I wasn't a big fan). This weekend I decided to try to make my very first blueberry pie. It turned out pretty darn well, especially with vanilla ice cream!

this and that

2011-01-30T17:37:00.000-08:00

what a wonderful weekend. other than feeling sick still, we've had fun.

friday the babies and i went for a nice foggy walk and spent the day together. then that night we went with the trogdons to LEATHERBYS (!). i've been craving it so that was yummy, even if my brownie did taste like cardboard.

yesterday i was feeling so icky again. i woke up that morning with a terrible pain in my chest and had to do my inhaler before i could breathe comfortably again. josh had to leave me to work overtime all day which was sad, but i'm thankful for the money and that we have jobs...

today was stake conference. it was a broadcast from SLC for 67 stakes in northern california. the talks were wonderful. even though i spent most of the time chasing ezra around the hallway, they were broadcasting it in so many rooms i could pretty much hear the talks no matter where i was so that was nice. one thing that really struck me was that i need to read the scriptures to my children every day. new GOAL for my list :) that and attending the temple at least once a month. after conference we spent some time with mom green which was nice.

welp nothing else really happening. another week starts tomorrow. at least it's only a 4 day work week for me - actually i won't have to work a 5 day week until like the 2nd week in March. woot woot!

venting

2011-01-26T18:56:00.000-08:00

i know i know, it's been a bad blog week. this nasty cold is lingering WAY too long (like this is the 3rd week of hacking cough long). ugh.

you know what's annoying? one year olds and dishwasher dials! why are they so intent on turning it, especially of course while it's running. grr. i may have sprayed them with the sink hose a time or two. i know i'm a horrible parent.

lastly, my hubs isn't home and hasn't called and it's now 5 minutes to 7. i am going to eat without him if he doesn't get here in 5 minutes because i'm starving.

in a sour mood? yeah, i guess i am.

sick

2011-01-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

a little robitussin, excedrine, two different inhalers and some in n' out in my belly and i'm feeling a teensy bit better.

moms should not be allowed to get sick!

speaking of moms, my mommy has pneumonia right now
:( prayers for her are appreciated!

B-U-N-C-O

2011-01-19T07:16:00.000-08:00

confession time. we have been in our ward for about 15 months now and i still feel like i don't know anybody (we're in primary and we have two 1 year olds - those are my excuses).

about a month or two ago one of my few friends, who was also in our last ward with us, invited me to join the bunco group she and some other girls were forming. she said it would be a "12 month" commitment and i hesitated a little because i've never played bunco and didn't know what i was getting myself into. but, i joined because frankly it's time for me to stop hiding behind my babies and actually meet people and be social again dang it!

so, last night was our first bunco night and it was a lot of fun. 12 girls, good food, lots of chatting and of course bunco playing. oh and i won some pretty little bowls as my prize for lowest score LOL.

as a side: i'm thankful for josh because he has always supported and encouraged me to have friend/girl time. oh, and he also bought me these:

love him!

chocolatey goodness

2011-01-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

remember in elementary school when you got a choice between a chocolate or regular milk carton with your lunch? i must have been crazy back then because i remember thinking the chocolate milk was way too "chocolatey" and i always went for the white milk. would that i still hated it, but no more. the most delicious beverage ever is BYU chocolate milk, but i'll settle for nesquik in a pinch. like this week. i have been addicted to chocolate milk this week...and i may or may not have had a glass every day. mmmmm.

that is all.

hoping to de-funk in 2011

2011-01-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

well it's January again so naturally i've been reflecting on the last year. 2010 was definitely an interesting year in the green house. actually looking back the year seems like a blur. sometimes i think things like, we went to utah last summer or we did this or that...but i'm actually thinking of 2009. almost like 2010 didn't happen in some ways. weird. of course it's been a wonderful first year as a mother and watching my cutie patooties grow and learn so much...but i've realized something. i've been in a funk for pretty much...well, pretty much the whole year. i think a lot of it was postpartum depression. nothing too severe but enough to make me not feel like myself and not feel motivated to set goals or do anything to improve myself.

i think i'm finally starting to break out of the funk and get back to myself. i'm finally back down to my pre-pregnancy weight (heaviest pre-preg but it's something) and starting to feel pretty again. josh and i both hate that i have to work right now, but we're making plans and feeling good about them. i am thankful that at least heavenly father has made work more bearable these days. i'm learning to find happiness even though i'm not a stay at home mom (yet!). i'm having fun with josh as we learn how to be parents and laugh at our "learning experiences" and our kids' funny personalities.

so i thought i'd share some of my goals for 2011 - now that i've actually made some:

✭one is to BLOG more. i think it's healthy to write thoughts down and since i've been terrible at keeping my journal (funk, remember) i am setting a goal to blog at least 3 times weekly. we'll see if i can keep it up.

✭i want to become a crazy COUPON lady. i am really inspired by some of these blogs i read where people save 50-75% off their grocery bill. oh the possibilities if i could save this kind of money! as part of this goal i want to have 1 year of household supplies (cleaners, TP, toothpaste, soap etc) as well as at least a year supply of food stocked up by the end of the year.

✭COOK more. i haven't really cooked more than once a week since the babies were born. part of it is that i don't get home from work until about 6:30pm so josh is usually the one to cook...or we just fend for ourselves. i'm going to try to look up some crockpot meals and other ideas for prepping dinner maybe the night before and then just cooking it the next day. ideas welcome on this one.

✭make QUIET BOOKS for my kids. my mom had one for us when we were little and i loved to flip through it and do all the activities during sacrament meeting. this has been on my "to do" list since before i even had the babies and i actually have all my ideas on paper - just need to get busy.

✭this one should be at the top of this little list i'm typing. study my SCRIPTURES every day. this is one i actually haven't slacked on necessarily, but i want to have more meaningful scripture study daily (key word here is study and not just read).

✭lose WEIGHT. i have a goal in mind but i don't really feel the need to share the details. ok, maybe i'll just say that i would like to lose at least another 30 lbs. heck who knows, maybe i'll even get up enough gusto to do some exercise too.

✭this spring/summer i am going to plant a GARDEN. we had a pitiful garden last year which we planted in a hurry and then neglected. this year i really want to plant and eat what we grow - then we'll be eating healthy and saving money. some things on my list to plant: tomatoes (heirloom, beefsteak, cherry), green beans, corn, jalapenos, bell peppers, zucchini, squash, basil, chives, cucumbers and possibly strawberries, onions & potatoes. i also would like to plant more fruit trees (citrus - grapefruit, lemon, lime, orange), but that depends on time and money so i'm not commiting to them because i know those may or may not happen this year :)

✭sort of along those same lines, i want to make JAMS & JELLIES this summer. i particularly want to learn to make pepper jelly. it is so yummy! then i can give it away at christmas and won't have to think about what i'm going to give my neighbors when that time comes around. see, thinking ahead here :)

✭organize and decorate our OFFICE. this room is the catch-all in our house and i need to get a handle on it! i have a file cabinet but do i use it? sure, i use it...to stack all my filing paperwork on top. i have a theme in mind (josh will like it). after 1 1/2 years in our house i think it's about time i make time to do this one.

✭do some UPDATES on our house. we have a whole list of things to do, but probably most of them won't happen until some of our other financial goals are met. but this year i would at least like to paint and update the blinds in our living room. i want to update our kitchen too but i can't decide what to do with it, so for now it sits looking bland and boring. oh well, at least i have a kitchen :)

so, i have some other goals too but i'm not entirely sure i will be able to accomplish them (because they depend on factors outside myself). but i would love to pay off our VAN and quit my job to stay at HOME fulltime, but like i said, plans are in the works and we'll see what happens.

well, if you stuck around to read all of that, thanks. just needed to get it out of my brain and somewhere else so i can start focusing on my goals!! this is my 2nd blog post this week, so at least that one's going well. i'm feeling de-funkified more each day so i have high hopes for the others too.

Hi! My name is Candie and I am a Mormon.

2011-01-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a Christian. I believe that the Bible is the word of God, AND I also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. The Book of Mormon is a book translated from ancient records from people who lived in this land (the Americas) before and after Christ's birth.

A few months ago our Bishop at church challenged us to read the Book of Mormon again by the end of the year. I got a late start, so I ended up reading 10 - 20 pages a day, but I'm happy to say that I finished it on New Year's Eve. This was great experience for me and strengthened my testimony that I know this book is true! I have read it many times and try to read at least parts of it daily. But, this time I read it front to back in such a short amount of time that I could really see the fulfillment of the prophecies about Jesus Christ. Prophets from the beginning of the book all the way through the end prophesied and testified of the Savior. The day I read about Christ's birth and the signs being fulfilled I rejoiced! The Savior came! He was born and lived on the earth. He atoned and died for each of us. The most amazing thing to me, though, is that he was ressurected and lives again! And he opened the gates for all of us to live again.
I'm thankful for that knowledge and for this book which is truly "Another Testament of Jesus Christ".

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2010-12-15T21:40:00.001-08:00

caution: cute boy walking :)

2010-12-11T07:10:00.000-08:00

the view from where i stand...

2010-11-26T20:19:00.000-08:00

my great grandma said the best time of her life was when all of her babies (10 children!) were at home around her feet. Great Grandma, you were so very wise.

1st Halloween

2010-10-31T17:39:00.001-07:00

BiShoPs pUmPkIn FaRm

2010-10-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

On Friday my grandma had surgery to remove a mass from her lungs. We were so relieved that the doctor said it doesn't look like cancer. Won't know 100% until the lab results are back, but we are all hoping he has seen it enough to pretty much be able to tell from sight. So, on Saturday morning while Josh was taking the LSAT (so proud of him!), I took the babies over to the hospital to visit their great grandma. She was so happy to see them. She told me she is going to get them a wagon for Christmas (SHHH don't tell them). How cute is that?

So anyway, on to the title of my post...

After the hospital and Josh's test, Aunties Trulie and Sierra and Josh and I took the babies to Bishop's Pumpkin Patch. It was pretty sweet.

They had a petting zoo and free hayrides (wish I hadn't left the camera with Josh - Eden is the one in the air with the orange shirt :) The babies loved the feel of the hay - surprisingly. They also tried to eat the hay the whole time - not at all surprising.

This place had MILLIONS of pumpkins! So many and some of them were huge. The pumpkins themselves were pretty fair priced - my sister Sierra got her big one for $4. Not too shabby. Here are some pictures of our fun day.

The babies watching the piggy races

There was also train and a corn maze...lots of things that would probably be better when the babies are older. It was a fun and busy day.

I LOVE FALL!!

Ezra's first haircut!

2010-10-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Before:

the shaggy do

McFly!

the combover (was cracking me up)

action shot

and.....................

AFTER:

such a big boy!

Thanks Amelia!

august (and too lazy to add pictures to this post)

2010-08-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Oh hey, yeah it's me. We're alive and well...just been too busy to blog!

So much has happened this month! Our babies turned 8 months old on the 22nd. I can NOT believe they will be a year old in only a few short months. It is so fun watching them learn!

Ezra now has SIX teeth broken through. He just got his first one a month ago but they all decided to come at once :). He has also mastered crawling pretty well. He pulls himself up to standing too...and for a while there he couldn't figure out how to get back down again. He has figured that one out too which is nice because he doesn't just stand there crying anymore.

Eden is super-fast-crawler-baby. She is there one minute and then I turn around and find her down the hallway just like that (snap fingers). She is both sweet and stubborn (yes, it can happen) and her hair is crazy as ever. Her favorite thing to do is crawl into the kitchen and play with the little spinner thingy on the dishwasher that says "clean" or "dirty". Both of them are "talking" a lot and even talking to each other. Maybe all those rumors about "twin speak" have some truth to them?

The babies have tried lots of foods now: rice cereal, oatmeal, squash (their fav), carrots, sweet potatoes (another fav), green beans, peas, corn, pears, apples, bananas (i do not like their poopies after they eat bananas - yuck! just imagine what a banana looks like when it's about a week too ripe). We have tried feeding them those little Gerber puff things...Ezra likes them pretty well but Eden refuses to eat them. She sticks out her tongue to block us from putting it in her mouth. And, if we can sneak one in she acts like she is choking. Can you say drama queen?? :) Oh well, maybe she'll like them once she gets some teeth.

Last weekend was way fun. We visited Josh's sister Haley and her family. They live in the cutest little town on the coast called Cayucos. And their house is like 200 yards from the beach. I'm not exaggerating. We actually camped out in their back yard and it was so amazing to hear the ocean waves all night long. Mom and Dad Green went and Josh's brother Jeremy and his wife Ashley came for a day too. The babies got to meet their cousin Addison for the first time and Their other cousins Brighton and Jace were great with them. Haley and her husband Matt are starting a new business selling stand up paddle boards and equipment. Haley took us to Morro Bay and we got to try SUP (that's what you call it when you're in the know). It's like a surf board, but you stand up and use long paddle to move. We had a ton of fun. Thanks for having us Haley!

This last wednesday (the 25th) was our 3rd wedding anniversary! 3 years and 2 kids. Crazy! I can honestly say it's been an amazing 3 years and I look forward to many more! Josh is such a sweet husband. He is always trying to make me happy. Plus he cooks and cleans most nights so what more can a girl ask for ;) But seriously, I scored big time by marrying him. He is the best.

Well, today was a nice surprise. I got to stay home from work because my parents are sick (feel better soon marmie). I wish I could stay home everyday, but I cherish days like these at home with my babes. They are growing so fast and I just try to soak up every minute (they are napping right now btw, in case you are wondering why i'm on the computer instead of playing with them :) ) Anyhoo, because the weather was nice and because I was already up early this morning, I went jogging for the first time post pregnancy. It was killer, but I'm glad I did it. I know it'll get easier the more I do it.

That's august in a nutshell. Hopefully i'll get around to more posts and pictures next month~

warning: i'm new at adding hyperlinks and can't figure out how to make it open in a new window

2010-08-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

so, remember this post? well, i'm happy to say that i'm almost done with week 2 of "pre training". finally got my booty in gear and started doing something. long way to go still, but it feels good to be headed in the right direction.

hi from the greens

2010-07-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

well, life here has been wonderful & busy!

our twins are 7 months old!!

we took the babies fishing for the first time earlier this month. josh's grandparents and uncle mike came. i'm so glad great-grandma coleman was there to help with the kiddos while the boys fished. (yes, she really did help. she is one spunky and active great-grandma!)

so exhausted from the trip...i love sleeping baby pictures! :)

we also went camping for the first time since the babes were born! we went to meeks bay (lake tahoe) with uncle mike and aunt heidi and their two girls katelyn and julianna.

here they are, dirt faces and all! (i am so not looking forward to those days!)

both babies loved being outside! they were perfectly happy to play in their pack n play by all of us. here's eden chillin.

view of meeks bay:

in other news, ezra's first tooth broke through this week!

oh, my handsome boys :)

getting so big!

eden has learned to crawl! she is exploring everything.

oh and after she learned to crawl (checked that off her list) she started standing up like 2 days later. crazy beautiful girl.

the babies have been interacting with each other so much lately too. i love it! here they are wrestling. eden usually wins haha.

i'm so excited for today! josh and i are going with a couple of friends to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Music Circus! And tonight is my dad's 50th birthday party!

hope everyone has a great weekend!

decisions

2010-07-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

have you ever been faced with a decision which should make perfect sense, but for some reason you just get a feeling that you can't ignore which says you should reconsider?

josh and i had that experience recently and i'm so grateful that Heavenly Father lets us go through these experiences to help us learn to trust him.

it's a long story and i'll spare most details, but basically we had the opportunity to re-finance our home loan to an INCREDIBLY low apr at NO COST to us. we had a lot of questions and felt like the whole process over the last month had been very rushed and, frankly, too good to be true. the situation has definitely helped us rely on the spirit's promptings. i'm thankful that sometimes the promptings are to take a step back and pause to think things through and reason things out. sometimes even after reasoning, it still doesn't feel right. don't always know why... and don't need to. "i know that [God] loveth his children, neverthless i do not know the meaning of all things" 1Ne 11:17.

anyhoo, it ended up that our re-fi actually worked out great and we feel so blessed that the opportunity came our way to lighten the financial burden. more importantly, though, we feel blessed to have the Holy Ghost and a Father in Heaven who is always waiting to teach us when we are listening.

god bless america, land that i love!

2010-07-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

First of all...

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays! We had a lot of fun going to Lincoln last night for fireworks with my family, and our friends Joe, Brooke, Evan and Penny. The show was pretty spectacular. Maybe I'll try to get Josh to upload a video from last night. I am thankful to live in this country and enjoy so many freedoms!

One freedom that I am especially grateful for today is the freedom to worship how I want. Today while Josh and I were teaching our primary class (10-12 year olds) something really neat happened. We were talking about Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. I'll spare you the details, but basically I could just see a light bulb go on with one of the girls in our class and I knew she had felt the Spirit and learned something. It gave me goosebumps and I'm feeling very blessed to be able to serve in the primary and in the church.

God Bless America!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Eden and Ezra!

2010-06-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow the babies will be 6 months old! They are getting cuter and more fun every day! We love our babies and love spending time together as a family!

Today Josh and I both woke up feeling like we had been hit by a truck - we were so exhausted! So, we took the day off to recover and got to spend some special time with the babes.

Ezra and Eden have been eating rice cereal for a few weeks now, but today they tried solid food for the first time! Carrots, yummm...

Ezra didn't know what to think of it.
Eden actually ate quite a bit before she realized it was different (I think). Then all of the sudden she started acting like she was going to gag. LOL
It's hard to believe how much they've grown and learned in the last 6 months! It's exciting.
Eden is learning how to crawl! She rolls and scoots all over the room and she gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. Any day I'm expecting her to get the hang of it. She also has learned that her nose makes noise. Her new trick is scrunching up her nose and mouth and breathing really hard in and out. It's really funny. She is also learning how to sit. Today I sat her up and she stayed there by herself for at least a full minute, maybe longer!

Ezra is such a happy boy! He is SOOOO giggly and laughs all the time. Oh, he still gets mad - and you know it when he is - but for the most part he's a really loving, cuddly baby who LOVES attention. He is also getting good at sitting up and can sit for 30 seconds or so at a time without help!

We love you Ezra & Eden!! We are so blessed to have you in our family!

squeeeeeze!

2010-06-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

too bad ezzy's a little blurry. still cute though!

redwoods trip

2010-06-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip with my family up to Eureka to visit the redwoods. It is so gorgeous there! One of my favorite places on earth. It was Josh's first time going and, of course, Eden and Ezra's first time as well.

They also had a lot of other "firsts" this trip. The most exciting to me was...it was their first time swimming! Josh and I took them to our hotel pool the first night we were there! I love the water and they do too. They had fun I think and Eden's chubby little legs were kicking like crazy. So cute!
We also took the babies to the beach for the first time. First time seeing the ocean! Pretty sweet.

My sister Trulie

Of course we tried to see as many of the amazing trees as we could on our short trip.

This is a where's Josh? shot...

Abbie and I at the "Big Tree"

Some not huge-but still cool-trees

A-mazing

We had to stop for a few pit stops to feed the babies. Isn't this the funniest picture of Edie? :)

Auntie Trulie feeding Eden

Pappy holding Ezzie

Ezra and Mom in a wooden chair

Ezra by himself in the wooden chair. Instantly after this pic was taken he fell over and bonked his head :(

Eden on the wooden chair. Dad stood by just in case she had an Ezra-incident.

Josh and I in a hollow log

Look, our kids are in a tree!

Sweet hubby in front of a sweet fallen tree (the roots side)

More roots. Isn't that just cool?

A tree growing out of another (fallen) tree.

Plants growing out of a log.

This tree is called the Dyerville Giant. It fell in 1991, but before it did, it was measured at at least 362 feet tall . It is 52 feet in circumference and probably weighs over a million pounds!

Four sisters in a tree

After we drove around, we went back to Eureka and checked out this restaurant on the Marina. It was a cool atmosphere. Josh took this picture so that's why he isn't in it...

I entertained Ezra by tickling his feet

Josh entertained Eden by letting her play with his hat

Boats on the marina right in front of us while we ate

We checked out a couple of "tourist-y" spots too.

This is a big tree. People drive through it.

We saw some elk in the field

On the way home, we drove through the Avenue of the Giants. And giants they were!

So, that was our weekend in a nutshell. It is exhausting traveling with babieS. I think Eden's face describes how we all felt - beat! But, it was a beautiful place and a lot of fun!

lil' sailors

2010-06-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

my aunt pam sent the cutest matching outfits for the babies - little sailor suits. they are so adorable. the pictures we got of eden and ezra wearing them aren't the greatest, but they'll have to do.

ode to eden

2010-06-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

since i posted pictures of just ezra a while back, i dedicate this post to eden girl. she is such a happy baby, but for some reason, she is so serious for pictures :)

another happy surprise

2010-06-05T20:53:00.001-07:00

we have cherries!

it is time

2010-05-22T16:04:00.000-07:00

My beautiful and amazing sister Trulie told me yesterday that she has a goal to run a 1/2 marathon this year! I'm so proud of her. And I got to thinking that I am SO out of shape, maybe I should finally do something about it. I have never had the desire to run a marathon (or even a half-marathon) but I do want to get back into running and be able to run at least a 5k again. So, I'm excited. I need a double jogging stroller and a new pair of shoes and I'll be set because I have the motivation now! at least today Thanks Tru

what i wore to work today

2010-05-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

can i just say it was a rough night. this pretty much sums it up:

we raced for the cure

2010-05-14T12:33:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday we did the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure as a family. It was at Cal Expo in Sacramento. We had a blast being together with so many other people participating for such a good cause.I learned some amazing things there too. Did you know that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer?! Ladies, did you also know that by giving yourself a monthly self-breast exam, you can detect a lump the size of about a marble whereas if you wait until your doctor detects it, it could be about as large as a silver dollar?? I had no idea. Pretty incredible.

Well, here are just a few pictures from our 5k walk.

Later that day, we took some pictures of the babies in the "matching" overalls my Aunt Pam sent them. I LOVE a baby in overalls!!

And...we took some of just Ezra. I know what you are thinking, but I am not playing favorites here - Eden was napping and honestly I was afraid the next time Ezzy go to wear this cute lil' outfit it might not fit him (it's 6month size but I could barely snap it!)

wonderful week

2010-05-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

It's finally my day off...E & E are both sleeping...I should probably shower, but I thought I'd do a little bloggy blog instead.

I had a wonderful 1st Mother's Day! Josh made me breakfast and got me a little digital picture frame for my desk at work - already filled with pictures of our family. It was so thoughtful... and I love that I can look at it and be reminded of why I'm at work every day.My mom surprised me and had the babies' pictures taken at Picture People in the mall one day. She gave me a big framed picture of the babies looking at each other smiling! Makes my heart melt :)

That evening we went to my parents house and got to talk (well, actually Skype) with my little brother Drake who is on a mission in the Philippines. It was so great to see him and how happy he is serving the people and the Lord. He is growing and learning so much. Here are a couple of pictures of little Dwakey (for those of you who know Drake, he really is "little" now - he's lost about 80 lbs).

The babies had their 4 month well-baby check up about a week ago too. They actually went a little late - they are going to be 5 months old in 8 more days! Anyhoo, they are lookin' great. We will probably start them trying rice cereal soon. Crazy how fast time flies. Anyway, here are their stats:

Eden:

Height: 25"
Weight: 16lb 3oz
Head: 98th percentile

To sum it up, the doctor says she's a short chubby baby with a big head. We love her! She is the sweetest girl. She is all smiles from the moment she wakes up. Her hair has been compared to chick fluff and velcro (it's fuzzy) and she LOVES to stick her tongue out. She is a squeeker - she loves to talk to herself, her brother and mom and dad. Oh, and if you lay her down on her tummy she does an insta-roll. She prefers sleeping on her back or side these days. She is just such a joy!

Ezra:
Height: 26"
Weight: 16lbs 12oz
Head: 91st percentile

He is happy and healthy! He is such a cute boy! He's a lot more calm now and doesn't scream anymore that much. He has been talking more and more too. He's good at grabbing toys and has the biggest bluest eyes ever. And Grammy found Ezzy's TICKLE BUTTON. When she tickles him, he just laughs his head off - it is hilarious! (he is super ticklish when she does it, not so much me or josh).

E & E laugh and smile at each other too. It is the cutest. We are so grateful they are growing and are healthy!

'saucer love

2010-04-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

My little babies are getting so big. Daddy is taking them in this week for their four month well- baby check up - which means more shots :( - so we shall see just how big they are!

A few weeks ago they were getting really restless and acting like they really needed something to keep them entertained and boy did we find the solution...exersaucers!! They love them.

( we lucked out and scored 3 of these beauties for a total of like $8. Woo hoo!)

Ezra's first time...he's thinking about liking it.

Ezzy loves looking at the mirror. I would too if I was as cute as him!

Edie loves her pink 'saucer

Look at that sweet face! I just want to eat her up!

PS I just figured out how to upload more than one picture on here at once! I have been doing it one by one this whole time. Don't know if I should be super excited that it's so much easier or embarrassed that I never noticed before :)

rollin' rollin' rollin'

2010-04-16T12:25:00.001-07:00

my babies are rolling! ok not that much, but ezra rolled at least twice last week and eden rolled over in her crib this morning. it's exciting and sad at the same time to see them hit these milestones. they really do grow fast!!

i'm back

2010-04-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

whew. today was my first day back at work. i'm not going to lie, i am emotionally exhausted. crying all day will do that to ya. BUT, i am determined to make it a good week.

my work mantra:

"i discovered we all have choices and sometimes it's only a choice of attitude." Judith M. Knowlton

pet peeve

2010-04-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

today ezra has literally been screaming almost every waking moment. i love him but sometimes he drives me nuts! the sooner we teach him signs so he can communicate, the better! both babies are currently sleeping so i thought i'd take this moment to vent about one of my pet peeves. i can't think of many pet peeves that i have but today i realized i do have at least one...

the conversation went like this-

michael's clerk: aww, you have your hands full! twins?

in my mind: oh no, please no chit chat. i am trying to juggle a double stroller, a hand basket, screaming ezra and my wallet. please make my check-out quick.

me out loud: yep

clerk: one boy and one girl?

me: yep

clerk: wow, that's neat; that doesn't happen very often

me: yeah, i got lucky

in my mind: wondering what statistics she's referring to?

clerk: are they identical though?

in my mind: are you kidding me?

me out loud: nope not identical if they are a boy and girl

seriously people. this happens about once a day. i thought everyone knew b/g twins could not be identical. you know, different parts and all? guess not.

ps i think i did a pretty good job at not letting on that i was annoyed and honestly josh and i usually just laugh about it. i blame my attitude on the aforementioned screaming baby day.

the race is on!

2010-04-02T12:34:00.001-07:00

ok, not really. but tomorrow will make 5 weeks until the Susan G. Komen race for the cure!! i posted a while back about my goal to complete the 5k on 5/8/10 [side note-if any of you are still considering it, it would be fun to all go together!!]

the race raises money to find a cure for breast cancer. it's such a great cause and has given me some more motivation in the getting-into-shape-category. i've run the race before but this year i'm planning on walking it with josh and, of course, eden and ezra.

eden and ezra have been my biggest supporters! they go with me on my walks and keep me company. nice of them, eh? they sure do love it outside. sometimes if we go in the evenings josh comes too and i've even been able to jog a couple of times. getting back into shape (slloooooowly) feels good. i just hope life doesn't get too crazy when i go back to work and i can still make time for a little exercise.

family walk

i love my life...

2010-03-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

so, i have been thinking a lot because i go back to work in a week and a half and i am very sad about it. i mean, it will be easy compared to being a mommy of twins, but i would much rather be at home with my babies.

anyway, i am going back to work (for now--it is temporary) because i need to for our family. i feel good about that. and we are VERY fortunate because my mom (grammy) is going to watch the babes. but josh and my goal is for me to be able to stay home sometime soon.

i had a little moment of clarity in my thinking this past weekend. this whole time since the babies were born (and even while i was pregnant) i guess my mindset has been that i won't be a good mom or the best mom i can be until i am able to stay at home. but i realized that what my babies need is nurturing; i can do that. they need to be taught; i can do that too. they need to be taken care of and loved and read to and played with; i can still do all those things. i don't need to put being a good mom "on hold" until i'm not working full time. with the lord's help i can be the best mom i can be even if i am working and that gives me hope.

well that's it for now. thanks for listening.

photo shoot - 3 months

2010-03-31T09:15:00.001-07:00

our friend Megan Svetz (www.bandtphotoraphy.blogspot.com) took some adorable pictures of our cuties a couple of weeks ago.

here are a few of my fav's:

eden kelli & ezra joshua
3.16.10
12 weeks old

my cute boys

2010-03-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

Monday night Josh decided to grill chicken for dinner. He taught Ezra the ropes...

i'm a nerd...but a frugal nerd!

2010-03-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

the last few weeks i've been finding all these money-saving blogs. i think i have a new obsession.

this week i got these for less than $4 a pack:
these were $0.65 each
got these for $2.25 a packand (my fav) I got these games for $2 each!

i told josh i could save us so much money if i stayed home blogging and shopping all day :)

we have a lot of financial goals for this next year while we're both working--I am really excited to work hard to achieve them!

2010-03-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Happy 3-Month Birthday Eden & Ezra!!

house happenings

2010-03-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to do a HOUSE post for quite a while now...like before the babies were born (whoops). But, better late than never...right?

Anyhoo, this is our wonderful house:

Short story of how we happened to get this beauty: The previous owners, the Kents, were the original owners of the house (they bought the house when it was brand new in 1960). Mrs. Kent passed away and about a year later Mr. Kent passed away too. The couple had two grown sons who were selling the house.

--enter our realtor, Cary--

Cary called us up at about 7 o'clock one night and said, "sorry to bother you, etc but there is a really nice looking house that JUST went on the market and I know it will go fast. Do you want to look at it?" Of course by this time we had been looking for a house for about 6 months and were growing increasingly anxious to find one before the babies arrived. So, we went and had a look. While we were there 2 other young couples stopped to look at it as well--very disheartening :(

The house was nice. Like, nicer than we thought it would be. The decor and style were a little on the mature side for us (come on, what do you expect with a senior couple living there) but the house was very well maintained and you could just tell Mr. Kent took pride in his home.

There was a family room addition which lets in tons of light and looks over the backyard. Speaking of the backyard, I absolutely fell in love with it (pictures to follow).

Well, we put in an offer as high as we could comfortably go but it still wasn't the highest offer. I think the reason we got the house, besides Heaven's help of course, was because Cary wrote to the Kent brothers telling them all about us and that we were a young couple starting our family. I think they wanted to keep it a family home and I am forever grateful :)

So, we are slowly making the house our home. We have plans to add some more space to the two smaller bedrooms and to update the kitchen in the future. We are so excited and grateful to have our house!!

Even more exciting is that as the different seasons progress we keep finding sweet surprises, like these daffodils:

yep, they just sprouted up without warning and I was quite pleasantly surprised...but was even more surprised as when I found this:

and don't even get me started on THESE:

according to my Nana, these are Irises (yes, about 1000 of them!). can't wait to see when those beauties bloom!

these are (some of) our rose bushes, just starting to bud:

and these are (some of) our fruit trees:what kind of fruit? we're not sure yet but we're excited to find out! we know we have a cherry tree which our neighbors Bill and Connie (who are also the original owners of their house) say has the BEST cherries!

This last weekend Josh and I decided to do some work out in our yard. He planted flowers and Gardenia bushes out front...

and we both planted our garden:
we are growing basil, chives, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, cucumbers and pickling cucumbers.

Well, this post was mostly just for me to reflect on how grateful we are that Heavenly Father has blessed us with this home. We look forward to many years here.

st. patty's day

2010-03-17T12:51:00.001-07:00

this is how josh looked when he left for work this morning:
oddly enough, it's very much like he looked on the day we met, 3 years ago exactly! the only difference is that his hair was permanently dyed green then and he was wearing a plaid shirt with camouflage shorts!

who wouldn't fall in love with this quirky, sweet, funny, handsome, loveable guy?

happy anniversary to us...happy St. Patrick's Day all of you!

all before 9am...

2010-03-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

4 diaper changes
3 pairs of clothes
2 beautiful babies
1 happy mommy

dear diary...

2010-03-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

so this week is josh's 3rd week back at work (or is it the 4th?). i am adapting to life at home with the kiddos by myself. it is the hardest job i have ever had. i joke with my mom that when i have to go back to work (april 12th--ugh) it will be so easy compared to taking care of these two little ones :) i wish i could stay home with them forever though! someday soon.

the babies are learning so much every day! they are smiling more and more which makes my heart melt! they are both almost 12 lbs now and are growing so well. they have also slept a couple of 7 hour stretches in the last week which has been heaven-sent. sleepless nights take their toll on me after a while. they usually wake up once sometime between 12 and 3am and then usually get up at 5 for the day. i have been reading a book called "healthy sleep habits, happy child" and it advocates naps whenever the babies act sleepy so i'm trying that today. i'm still reading to figure out the whole method, but we'll see how it works out.

i love the rain but wish it would clear up so i can get out walking/jogging more. on nice days the babies and i go for walks and yesterday i mowed the lawn after we got back. wow, that was a workout! (in my defense, our backyard has quite the hill). i have gone jogging a couple of times recently too but i have a long way to go before i get back into shape.

last night while josh was at school i had eden in my right arm and ezra in my left and i just rocked and sang to them as they fell asleep. it was truly the sweetest thing i have ever seen. i have an awesome husband who works so hard and helps me so much. we have a house that we love and live near family and friends who help us a lot. we have the gospel of Jesus Christ and a loving Heavenly Father who takes care of us. i feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

chubby bunnies

2010-02-27T13:17:00.001-08:00

Eden & Ezra--9 weeks

ezzie boy

2010-02-18T13:01:00.000-08:00

i love my baby boy!

AKA's: "the boy", ezzie, ezzie boy, mister/little mister, brother, froggy boy, little man, mr. krabs

TALENTS: has the biggest, cutest buggy eyes ever. learning to smile, VERY dramatic if not fed within seconds of waking. hates his diaper changed, but is getting over that. tall and handsome; look out ladies. enjoys car rides and long walks. loves naps, bless him!"FEED ME!"

eden girl

2010-02-18T12:55:00.001-08:00

my sweet babies will be two months old on Monday! time really does fly. it doesn't seem fair that the pregnancy part seemed to take FORever and now it's like i blink and another week has gone by. sigh.

i thought i'd post a little something about my sweet girl Eden.

AKA's: "the girl", eden girl, edie, edengreen (said as one word), chub cheeks, little one (or wittle one depending on my mood), sister, little miss, missy

TALENTS: holds head up and stands on laps like a pro. loves to look around. loves long walks outdoors, hates sleep and fights naps like crazy, ravenous eater, has perfected the "ooo" lips face. has the chubbiest most kissable cheeks around!finally out!

new goal...

2010-02-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

...to complete the 5k race for the cure on 5/8/10 in sacramento. and i actually talked josh into joining me (yay!). anyone interested in joining us?

be my valentine

2010-02-15T11:09:00.000-08:00

this is a day late, but i wanted to dedicate this post to my valentine...

14 reasons why i love joshy:

14. he lets me call him joshy

13. he likes to fix things

12. he buys me flowers because he knows i love it

11. he loves our minivan and that makes me smile.

10. he loves the outdoors

9. he likes my cooking

8. he is silly and makes me laugh

7. he supports me with my goals (note the t-shirt)

6. he opens my door

5. he gets up at night with me and the babies

4. he always sneaks a picture in of my booty whenever he gets ahold of the camera haha.

3. he loves the Lord & is always trying to be better

2. he is a great dad

1. he tells me i'm beautiful ALL the time

...and many many more reasons. i love you josh!

baby blessings

2010-02-11T17:24:00.001-08:00

our babies were blessed this last sunday in sacrament meeting. we feel so lucky to have so many family members and friends who love us and our babies. it was a special day.

look, we're twins!

2010-02-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

my poor babies have been sick {ok, truthfully i know it was me who passed on my cold :( } it's their first official cold, poor little stuffed up things. so this morning they smelled of sour milk and vicks vapor rub so it was definitely bath time!

we don't have too many matching outfits for the babies since they're different genders...but today after their bath i decided to dress them in the set of matching onesies and sleepers that we do have! they are so cute, i just want to snuggle them all day! lucky for me, i get to!

my co-worker julie got these onesies for the babies...very appropriate! i love how they're looking at each other --

of course even though they are dressed alike, eden had to have her little flower. a girl's got to accessorize!

the babies were also blessed yesterday. i will have to blog about that later when i find another free second! :)

church and brad's visit

2010-01-26T17:06:00.000-08:00

for the past 3 weeks we have been trying to go to church. 9am comes way too quickly when you've only had a few hours of interrupted sleep. this last sunday Josh was sick so i got the babies ready and went to church in Loomis with my parents (12:30 is a much more do-able time!). here's some pics from our first day going to church!!(ezra is very...vocal. hopefully he's more excited to go to church when he gets older)

in other good news, a couple weeks ago one of my good friends, Brad, came to visit us from Utah. it was fun to see him and reminisce about our good times there. i would go into the details of our best friendship between his apartment and ours, but my baby is crying and i really should do something about it (guess which one?) sigh.

photo shoot

2010-01-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

josh's cousin Amanda is a photographer and offered to take pictures of our babies for us when they were a week old. she and her sister Molly took the pictures & they turned out sooo cute. here are a few from the day.

www.mollywassenaar.com
www.amandabillsphotography.com

adventure to target

2010-01-11T17:12:00.000-08:00

today josh and i ventured out to Target with the babies. big step, i know! i admit i was a little worried there would be people coming up wanting to touch them and stuff, but luckily no one did. good thing too because i got full permission from my mother in law to body check anyone who tried lol.

while we were there, a lady did stop us to chat for a bit. she has 6 1/2 year old boy/girl twins and said she was surprised we were out this early because all she did was cry for the first 3 weeks. luckily i got most of my crying out the first week :) but it was neat to talk to her and see her kids and think about our babies growing up. josh and i are quite pleased each day when we realize the babies are still alive so we must be doing something right :)little man

pretty girl

2 weeks already!

2010-01-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

you know what's funny? watching nurses trying to catch a pee sample from 2 week olds. our little boy sprayed all over them and the floor and both babies did a little more than pee in their little baggies! lol... just one of the many reasons why i'm not a nurse.

anyway, their 2 week appointment went well today. both of them weigh more than their birth weight now which makes me really happy. i want chubby babies! i'm glad they're gaining weight. they're getting stronger and lifting their heads up a bit when they're on their stomachs too. they're growing up so fast!! :)

cookie dough

2010-01-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

i just realized something yesterday that made me really happy...now that i'm not pregnant, i can eat this again!!!

cute

2010-01-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

just some pictures of my cuties...

{ready for their 1st doctor's appointment}

{cute daddy}

{sweet babies}

once upon a time...

2009-12-26T09:10:00.000-08:00

once upon a time there was a boy and a girl who met on a blind date. the boy and girl fell in love and soon they were married!

now the boy and girl called each other husband and wife. they loved their life together and had a lot of fun adventures. they were very happy and couldn't imagine spending life without each other. one day the boy and girl thought to themselves that someone was missing from their family. soon they found out they were expecting a baby and they were so happy! imagine their surprise when they found out they were actually having TWINS!

the months passed and the babies grew and grew and each day the boy and girl got more excited to meet their little boy and little girl.

soon the BIG day arrived and the boy and girl were very excited to have their babies!

the girls' dad and the boy gave the girl a priesthood blessing and they knew everything would be just fine during the delivery.

{the girl walking to the operating room}

the doctors and nurses took good care of the family and soon the babies were here!!

{first picture of Eden Kelli Green 12/22/09 6:57am, 6lbs 7oz 19 3/4" long}

{first picture of Ezra Joshua Green 12/22/09 6:59am, 7lbs 5oz 19 3/4" long}

then the nurses brought the babies over to the girl to meet for the first time...

{meeting Eden for the first time}

{meeting Ezra for the first time}

then the babies were off to recovery to make sure they were healthy and stable. the boy promised the girl that he would follow the babies and stay with them...

then the girl, who was now the mom, went to the recovery room too. she loved looking at her babies.

the boy, who was now the dad, got to hold the babies for the first time!

{Josh & Ezra}

the babies got their first baths. grandma G and grammy and pappy cottman were there to meet them to.

{Ezra's first bath}

after recovery, mom and the babies were taken to the postpartum room where they would live for the babies' first few days of life.

the girl got to hold the babies for the first time and she was so happy!!

{Candie & babies 12/22/09}

the family had lots of visitors come. unfortunately they didn't get pictures of everyone, but they felt very loved and blessed.

{Aunt Pam and Great-Grandma Cottman)

{mom's friend Jyl}

the dad's chair to sleep in was not very comfortable and after a few days they were anxious to go home.

but while they were in the hospital, they loved the time with their babies. they couldn't believe how beautiful and perfect they were!

{Eden's tiny feet and Ezra asleep in the background}

{perfect little angels}

{no, seriously they are}

then the boy and girl got the perfect christmas gift--they got to take the babies home!

{Josh with Ezra and Eden all ready to go home!}

the mom's family came to visit them at home and so did grandma G.

{Aunt Sierra with Ezra}

and the mom and dad survived the first night home!

{daddy's little girl. Josh and Eden 12/26/09)

Thank you to everyone who has helped us and loved us and our new precious babies! The babies are doing well and Candie is recovering nicely. We want to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

the final countdown

2009-12-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

bags are packed and carseats are installed. by this time tomorrow we will have 2 kids! we are so excited! it's going to be the best christmas ever!

relief

2009-12-14T21:18:00.001-08:00

for my friends who blog but don't do facebook, here's a lovely picture for you:

36 weeks 5 days (12/13/09).

so, i'll be 37 weeks tomorrow. went to the doctor today (first of 4 appointments this week by the way). baby a is still breech so c-section is a must. i was practically in tears when the doctor asked me if i was ready to have the babies. YES!! i keep telling them they should come out and meet everyone and that it's not so bad out here. i guess they're just happy using my bladder as a cushion and being squished together. or maybe (as mom reminded me) they're getting some extra counsel form Heavenly Father and family like my grandpa Wendell before they come.

whatever the case may be, doc scheduled my c-section on my 38 week mark-- Tuesday 12/22/09! it is such a relief to have an end in sight (or a beginning depending on how you look at it). if all goes well we should have them home just in time for christmas!!

first christmas tradition

2009-12-12T16:55:00.000-08:00

it's a family tradition in my family to get a teddy bear for baby's first christmas. i still have mine. here is a picture of my bear. his name is bandaid.

i really want to pass this tradition on to our kids. so, since the twins will most likely be here before Christmas, i thought we better be prepared just in case. it took a lot of searching to find just regular teddy bears! but i finally found some cute ones at target. don't they look like happy little twin bears?

my favorite room

2009-12-11T07:38:00.001-08:00

so, the babies' room is my favorite room in the house right now...which is a good thing since i'm sure i'll be spending a lot of time in there :) it's probably my fav just because i actually put some time and thought into decorating it. the top 1/2 of the room is cream and the bottom is green with a white chair rail to match the furniture. josh actually put up the chair rail himself and helped my vision come true. what a crafty husband i have!

i made the kiddo's names out of craft letters to hang above their cribs, but now we're re-thinking our boy name so i'm postponing that part of the room decor.

Mom Green helped us find some sweet furtniture. I love this chest--it's gorgeous and will make an awesome toy box:

(chest open:)

another sweet find was this beautiful dresser...now fully stocked :)

just some more pics...

oh, and i HAD to post a picture of the closet. josh's aunt Becky came up to us one day at church and said she had found a bunch of diapers for cheap and wanted to know if we wanted to buy them. of course we said yes. little did we know she had found us 800 diapers for $50! how crazy is that? oh, and not to mention she also threw in 4 jumbo packs of wipes as a bonus. this picture doesn't do it justice, but we have quite the stockpile...which will last us probably a couple of weeks haha.
we really feel blessed. Heavenly Father is taking care of us and these babies by sending us such generous friends and family. thank you all so much!!!

crab 'n snow

2009-12-07T07:29:00.000-08:00

ok, so in recent years i have become somewhat...~~stingy~~ ~~thrifty~~ frugal. i'm all about a good bargain.

this last weekend Raley's had dungeness crab on sale for a ridiculously low price so josh and i splurged and had an at-home crab feed!

doesn't josh look so happy? he LOVES crab.

other exciting news, we woke up to snow here this morning. it rarely even trys to snow here and NEVER sticks so this was a big deal :)

our backyard, orangevale CA 12/7/09

update and paranoia

2009-12-05T05:48:00.000-08:00

well, at my last ultrasound "twin B" (baby boy) was measuring 5lbs 13 oz and "twin A" (baby girl) was measuring 5lbs 3 oz. so, since one is a lot bigger than the other my doc wants me to go in twice a week until the end of my pregnancy now to do non-stress testing--just to make sure they are each getting enough blood flow and are moving like they should. so, i'm pretty much going to live at Kaiser in december i think. i don't mind though, especially because yesterday was my last day of work!!!

ok, this is random but last night i was watching a show on the discovery channel about multiples and they showed a woman having quadruplets. when they pulled them out, the nurses were so rough with the babies! flinging them around and turning them upside down, holding them with one hand, etc etc. i was horrified! what if they drop my babies!? am i the only one paranoid about this?

on a brighter note, josh's co-workers gave us a baby shower last night at BJ's in folsom (& we saw the Kutys there which i was excited about). it was a lot of fun and j's work friends were very generous. i can't thank everyone enough for all the help and generousity you've shown us! we truly are blessed.

almost

2009-11-29T19:20:00.000-08:00

almost time for maternity leave! i will be so happy when this week is over; only 5 more work days. i can't wait to catch up on sleep and projects before the babies come. and of course i'm ecstatic that i get to be home for at least 3 months with my babies. my job is a good job and i'm thankful to have it...but truthfully i don't want to think about going back to work after my leave time is up. it scares me. so, i'm not thinking about it :) i'm just focusing on this time with our babies. yay!

gratitude

2009-11-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

just some of the things i am thankful for. i am so blessed!

blog slacker

2009-11-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

i am such a blog slacker. there, glad i got that off my chest.

life has been really good and REALLY busy for us lately. i know it's only going to get more so once we have these babies. the last few days i've been starting to feel really nervous about the fact that we are going to have children (plural) in about a month. it's such a crazy thought that our lives will be so different. we are so excited and feel so blessed and really we can't wait to meet our son and daughter.

i had an ultrasound last Friday. the babies are growing and look healthy. baby a (girl) looks to be 5lb 3 oz and baby b (boy) 5lb 13oz! i admit that i was excited when we found out we were having twins because the babies would be smaller. with 6 weeks until i'm due, i'm beginning to worry we're still going to have huge babies, and TWO of them! i can't complain because i'm glad they're healthy...i'm just hoping we have them before Christmas.

we are moved in and getting settled in our house. still have a lot of blank walls. i'll get to decorating someday. the most exciting news is that we bought a big chest freezer and went to costco and stocked up last weekend! i'm such a nerd, i love food storage!

i have taken pictures of stuff i've been meaning to blog about, but i'm too lazy to go into the other room to get the camera to upload them on here (and i got not shame admitting it either). again, someday i'll get to it :)

whew

2009-11-09T07:17:00.000-08:00

We finally have internet again! I plan on updating this with pictures of the move, etc. Quick re-cap since I'm headed to work: we moved into our first house!!, started setting up the nursery, got a piano :), unpacked and are getting settled. The babies are doing good and growing well. I'll be 32 weeks (8 months) tomorrow! It's flying by and we're getting excited to meet these little ones. Well, more to come later...

a little update

2009-10-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

We are going to sign papers for our house this Wednesday! Hopefully we'll get the keys a few days after that. I've never been so excited to PAINT and MOVE in my life (though I won't be able to do much of either...hmmmm). Hooray for a home!

conversation

2009-10-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

Co-worker #1: wow candie! every time I see you, your tummy just get's more and more...

Me: ...like a basketball?

CW#2: it's soooo cute!

CW#3: when are you due?

Me: i'm due January 5th. they'll probably come in December though.

CW#3: oh! you still have like 3 months left!

CW#4: pretty soon you won't be able to fit into the elevator!

Apparently my co-workers think I'm going to gain 3000+ pounds in the next 3 months. Nice.

I'm making a funny face in this picture, but for the kiddos sake, I thought they might want to see what I looked like someday in the future:

26 weeks 3 days

craving

2009-10-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

THIS is what I'm craving:

A big-FAT-juicy-Togo's sandwich. A #8 on onion herb bread with cheddar cheese, add mustard, hold the onion to be exact. Ah man, I really am not complaining because my pregnancy has been great so far, but I do miss cold lunch meat! (in case you were wondering, yes, they tell you not to eat it while pregnant).

I have been craving sandwiches so much. Josh is so sweet and promised to go to Togo's after the babies are born and bring me one...I made sure to point out the nearest location to the hospital so he will know right where to go :) Sigh. Only a couple more months of abstinence.

Just for argument's sake--we have a slight disagreement in our household as to which sandwich shop is the best. I prefer Togo's. Josh LOVE love loves Beach Hut Deli. What is your favorite?

The house

2009-09-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

So, we are in escrow waiting for the go ahead to sign the papers and move into the house. Whew, a lot of waiting, but at least it is an active sale, and not a short sale or foreclosure. We went and looked at paint colors today and are deciding what colors to paint the rooms. Then we will decide on a few pieces of furniture to acquire for the house and we should be set to live comfortably for a long time in this place.

back to life...

2009-09-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

well, we've been sick the last few days :( i missed 2.5 days of work last week and josh missed friday. we've mostly spent our time watching movies and tv and lounging around. i think i've left the house maybe 3 times in the last 5 days. the fevers are gone now but the hacking cough lingers on. oh well, such is life. thankfully all is well with the babies and i can even feel them move now! it's nothing constant or too strong or anything, but every once in a while i feel them move around and it's exciting.

so, tomorrow is monday and the start of another week. a week of catching up on all the work i've missed and figuring out how much sick time i'll have for when the babies come. hopefully work isn't too stressful and my clients are nice to me; that would be awesome. i need a chillaxing week to get back into the groove of real life.

good things are happening

2009-09-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

We heard back from our Realtor that our latest offer on a house was accepted by the seller! Of course it's a short sale, so the bank has to review and approve it (which could take up to 6 months) but we are hoping things will work out this time! This is further than we've gotten so far in our hunt experience and we are both really excited.

It's a halfplex in Orangevale (1/2 of a duplex). It's pretty new (built I think in 2007) and has about 1630 square feet. We are praying for a miracle so that hopefully we get to move in there before the babies come!!

We also registered for baby stuff a couple weeks ago and they gave us a gift pack with a bunch of sample stuff and coupons, etc. I had to take a picture of this:
It's a tiny diaper! Yes, that is my smallish cell phone next to it and it's nearly the same size! I can't believe how little it is. Of course, my parents babies never fit into the newborn-sized diapers when they were born (big babies) but with twins, I'm thinking they will be teeny. I'm so excited to have these two sweet tiny babies come to our family! Even little things like thinking about having 4 stockings at Christmas instead of 2 makes me smile.

HAPPY LABOR DAY EVERYONE!

the hunt

2009-08-31T18:03:00.000-07:00

ok, so you've probably heard this before, but house hunting is really frustrating! so far this has pretty much been our pattern: 1. find a place we love 2. put in an offer 3. wait 4. start planning our lives there and how we can decorate and make it our home 5. we wait some more 6. after much waiting we find out for whatever reason it doesn't work out.

the good news is, josh and i are both learning to trust in the lord and exercise more faith. we feel like we are on this unspoken "deadline" to move before the babies come, which could be any time after October (somehow i just don't see how we would fit all four of us and our 2 cats in our tiny one-bedroom apartment). but, despite the worries, it still feels good to be looking and doing everything we can. i know Heavenly Father will take care of us. i'm still amazed that he is sending us two of his children at once and is trusting us to raise them. i know He has a plan for us and things will work out. the best part is that i know He wants us to be happy NOW too. so we'll just keep enjoying life and looking forward to more blessings to come.

green babies!

2009-08-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

I know all I post about lately (and maybe from now on) are our babies. But, we are so excited for them! Our lives are going to change completely the moment they're born. It's unreal to think about.

I had another doctor's appointment today and everything looks great! I have my 20 week ultrasound tomorrow which is always exciting. It's also our anniversary tomorrow so Josh is coming with me on a date to Kaiser :) I still can't feel the babies though so I was a little worried...but doc says it looks like the placenta is in the front so that could be why (you were right Amelia!). Normal pregnancy is 40 weeks total and with twins she said if I make it to 37 it will be "outstanding". Pretty much anything after 34 weeks is bonus, so she says.

And I was so excited today when my co-worker Julie gave me these adorable onesies---

I love having a common word as a last name!

cute

2009-08-10T20:07:00.001-07:00

Today Josh told me he's EXCITED and looking forward to CRAZY Sunday mornings getting two kids ready for church. How cute is that? He is going to make a wonderful daddy.

And just as further evidence of his cuteness, here's a picture of my honey when he was a little boy. I hope our kids look just like him!

It's a boy...and a girl!!!

2009-07-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

We are so excited! We found out Thursday that (a) I am actually due January 7th now and (b) we're having a girl and a boy!! I just keep asking myself "how could I be any more blessed than this??" I can't think of a thing.

lately

2009-07-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

tis the season...for garage sales! we have definitely been taking advantage of the summer season garage sales and have found some awesome deals. we bought two cribs for $10 each and a matching changing table for another $10. somehow we found room for them in our tiny 1 bedroom apartment...for now. (and by "finding room" i mean they are sitting dismantled in our living room). also we helped mom green put on a garage sale this past saturday. it was fun, but so hot! she was nice and let me sit in the air conditioned house most of the morning. being pregnant has it's perks :)

some other exciting news is that we found a townhouse which we really like! it's in orangevale. it's 3 bed + den and 2 1/2 bath. it needs some tlc and personal touches, but that's the exciting part! the seller accepted our offer, but since it's a short sale, the bank has to review it and approve the sale. the bad part is the bank's part could take upwards of 90 days. boo. but, we're hoping to hear back any day.

we are really looking forward to the coleman reunion this week (josh's mom's side of the fam) and we are excited for lindsay and stephen's wedding on 8/1! i just hope i still fit into my dress. eek!

aaaaannd we have an ultrasound appointment this thursday! I feel lucky that we get one every month. we are hoping to find out the sexes of our babies this time. (crossing our fingers that the babies cooperate!!).

A. Okay

2009-06-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't made an official "we're pregnant" post, so I thought I'd at least give a little update!

We're pregnant with TWINS! They are due January 12th and we are super excited! I guess I was a little hesitant to post anything because it was so soon and you know, anything could happen. But, I went to the doctor Friday and everything looks great with both babies! I was SO relieved to hear that. I am such a worrier anyway, but I'm trying hard not to be because I can imagine it's not good for the babies.

So, anyway, we are just getting over the shock of having TWO babies coming. Soon our family will go from 2 to 4 just like that! We are so excited!

Here are the pictures from Friday's ultrasound visit. From the ultrasound, she said it looks like I'm actually 12 weeks, which means maybe they're due January 5th instead. Either way, we're pretty much expecting them before the end of the year anyway. Maybe having twins for our first babies will be good because we don't know how hard it is going to be anyway, so it'll feel normal...that's what I've been telling myself! :)

Here are both babies together (sorry it's so small) The one on top is "Twin B" and the one underneath is "Twin A":

Here are individual shots:

Twin A (left) was super wiggly and would hardly hold still for the picture. Twin B (right) she said looked like he was sleeping and while we were watching, he put his hand up to his mouth...a thumb sucker already?? :)

2009-05-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

We recently went camping at Loon Lake with our Friends Joe and Brooke "Tr" Ogdon, for Memorial Day. We caught Fish and ate them over the fire. Mmmmmm.
We enjoyed rafting around the lake, and relaxing at our homemade lake side resort.