Best little Helpers EVER

Ian's 13 yr. old little twin sisters, Grace and Emily, came to stay with us for the past three weeks to be our little helpers. They actually flew in from Sacramento the day after their last day of school. While most kids were hanging out by the pool, or sleeping in, or going to Girl's Camp, these ladies found themselves in what can only be aptly called: a sweatshop. Literally. You think I'm joking, well, I'm not. When mom is pinned to the bed and there are two little boys running around, plus a household to make ready for more little newcomers, there's a lot to do. These girls scrubbed the bathrooms, made meals, muffins, cleared out closets, fed, diapered, dusted, laundered and sewed their way through three weeks with the slave master Puentes. They always responded to my requests with a gracious smile and 'no problem' and never, ever complained about it either!! They cracked eggs for the first time, learned how to iron, got the mail, fed me in bed and absolutely kicked tush in everything that they did. It was so funny to watch twins taking care of twins, they were in perfect harmony with each other as they diapered, strapped, and fed our kids and then took them to their cribs. Aaa, it was a thing of beauty. Who says the next generation is a bunch of video gaming, facebooking, loungin good fer nuddins? I've already secured them for another visit next summer- way to go girls!!

a means, a stage, a cow-in-calf

Come on people! Why am I so large? And don't just say twins, because this is really, really big even for twins considering there are still FOUR MONTHS LEFT.

I look back on my college dayplanners with a sort of bygone fascination- so many classes, so many worlds of intellectual exploration, so many people, places and events to experience... I had to write in really teeny handwriting to get down all the things that were going on. Reading it makes my head spin. Today my dayplanner (if I needed it right now) has just one word for each day: incubate. I mean, I do some other things too- reading, eating, teethbrushing, but let's be honest, I've never written 'clip toenails' in my dayplanner before, even just to make it feel like I'm doing more than I really am. Sylvia Plath's poem Metaphors made me laugh- (can you guess what the riddle is?)

I'm a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf
I've eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there's no getting off.

These kids are growing so fast that my loaf is HUGE with yeasty rising right now. The thing is, having the pace of life slow down has been welcome in some ways- my dependency has drawn me closer to a lot of people, has left me spleechless with gratitude for so many kind deeds, reminded me how much I love reading, and even given me something to blog about. Every cloud has its silver lining. Nice to know, because once you board the train, there's no getting off!!

Things that BedRest makes me Grateful For

Relief Society. Besides my sisters, even the ones I don't know very well, bringing me meals like no other, Gail Smith drops by to help clean up and bring the boys to their school, Valecia picked up a package at the post office for me, Val brought over some kickbutt bread and a yummy meal, Katie offered to do a Target run, Laura spent her morning at the pool with my 13 yr. old helpers to give them a break, Ashlee brought a movie and pizza, and Lindsay and Nicole have lent me awesome books. I have been brought to tears by their thoughtful acts of service and outpouring of love.

The Snoogle. Makes bed bearable.

My lifeline to love and laughter. My sister in law Charla has called every single day, and friend Val and Grandma have spent several hours giggling with me too.

Emily and Grace, my two little sister in laws, are the most helpful, cheerful girls who never get offended at the stupid, trivial things they are asked to do all day long during their summer break.

Sunshine in a cup.

The sweet photos Ian takes with my rad new Nikon I got for my birthday. When I see them it feels like I'm outside with the fam even when I'm not.


Twilight. I scoffed at these vampire romance novels initially, but bedrest made me bored enough to check them out. Read the first book in less than a day and making my way through the third now. I love them.

Sooo awesome.

Lindsay, my sister. She dropped everything to stay with the kids when we went into the hospital and brought me my all-time fav. Baskin Robbins flavah to keep me company in bed.

on the Sidelines

I told my friends about this bedrest magazine I got recently on recommendation from my physical therapist. It's by an amazing organization called Sidelines. They support women who are on bedrest due to high risk pregnancies. It seemed to be such a weird name- I know that you are supposed to lie on your left side to take weight off your uterus and help blood flow, so I figured that was where it came from. I was horrified to find that the name Sidelines mostly came from the fact that when you're on bedrest you're on the sidelines of life- watching as others play the game and you sit it out. What a depressing name!
My bedrest started at the end of last week, after the contractions I've been having here and there started to increase. They're really painless, just a faint tightening I mostly feel with my hands, but they've been coming about 3 minutes apart for a 2-3 hour run/day. So my doctor put me on 'bedrest with bathroom priveleges' (something she's been threatening to do for awhile) and this weekend I stayed horizontal. I 'took it easy', I didn't get up at all barely, even though we had a lot going on. My two little sister-in-laws showed up from Sacramento to help us out, and I had to tell them where to find the muffin ingredients and how to cook the bacon. Also, Ian's sister came to watch the boys and I had to help put the whippersnappers down for their nap. But even through all that I stayed lying down! I couldn't figure out why my contractions weren't stopping, they just seemed to be picking up.
By Monday I started freaking out. I realized that was having a tough time accepting what 'bedrest' really meant. So today, I stayed in my room and shut the door. I listened to Enya. I didn't think about where anything was or how my kids were going to eat or nap or what my sister in laws were going to do later in the day or if the smoke detector was going off or how the ward activity was going to come together. It was very, very difficult! However, my uterus was calm and quiet and my family got through the day in one piece as well. My doctor even told me I didn't need to come in today. I guess I got the 'bed' part down, but understanding how to really 'rest' is harder- putting myself on the Sidelines. Why is it so tough to truly relax for a day, a week, a month or more, even when so many people are helping us and so much is at stake? I don't know, I'm trying not to think about it too much ;)

Nothing like a little visit to the Studio to make you appreciate your children (after the fact of course)

A few weeks ago I took my boys to Lindsay's to get their photos taken. They were both well-napped, fed and watered. However, despite my best efforts the minute we walked into her home and Julian saw the huge black backdrop he threw himself on the ground and wailed. Wow. Picture taking with kids can be such a hassle! But I really wanted a nice set of studio prints of our little sweeties. I was pretty surprised we got anything usable let alone some cutes ones! Lindsay was super patient and did a great job! I'm planning on doing some fun things with them to put around our home. Caleb and Julian grow so fast, they already look a little different from a few weeks ago...

Birthday Fun & Last Hurrah

This past week I went out to dinner with my ward fam girls! It was so much fun! All eight of us piled into Katie's car and headed down to the Venice pier. As we stepped into the restaurant we could see the beach and ocean floating a block or two away from us. Everybody looked amazing, and, crazily enough, we all wound up wearing black and white. Wait, all of us except Katie- she was wearing a gorgeous coral colour. I feel like I stick out so much already with my massive tummy that I was glad for at least a little something to help me blend in better. The evening was over all too quickly, I was laughing so much at all the crazy stories we were dishing around I almost forgot to get a picture to document the event. Besides a birthday celeb, the night was also a bit of a last hurrah for me. My doctor's been warning me for awhile that she would be putting me on 'modified bedrest' sometime soon, and earlier in the day when I went in for my weekly she did just that. We had so much fun I knew it wouldn't be too hard to stretch it out for the next few weeks as I bunker down on the couch.