April

 Mina celebrated her "miracle day" on April 5th by eating a hard boiled egg.  This is how she posed for me. It's hard to believe that I went through my last IVF five years ago and she was the result. We're incredibly lucky!

The girls enjoyed coloring eggs a couple of days before Easter.  I survived the mess without freaking out. No clothes were harmed in the process. LOL!

 We attempted to get some pictures of the girls in their Easter outfits and this is what we got.

Isn't this just the best family portrait ever?

We were "egged" the day after Easter. The girls had a ton of fun searching for the eggs our friends put in the front yard. Jon happened to be home so he got to help too.

What a terrible face! I just want to smooch on her.

 Mina had her tumbling open house this past Friday.  I dropped her off ahead of time and then the rest of the family came to watch her perform. She was so excited and kept telling us how awesome it was going to be.

 What a cutie! She waved at us a number of times during the performance and while she was seated with her class.

 For a while there we were having nice weather so Mina used that time to practice riding her bike. Notice that there aren't any training wheels!  She needs help starting and stopping, but she definitely has her balance.

 Mina delights in torturing her father.  It IS kind of fun.

Here's a belly picture of me from about a week and a half ago.  I look MUCH bigger now.  I was so excited that I wasn't showing at 12 weeks and then BAM!  We're behind in taking belly pictures, but I'll share a 14 week picture soon.

I'm feeling much better, but I've been spending my afternoons laying around on the couch lately. I can't really blog from that position.  I've continued to work out in the mornings and we're keeping busy with play dates and MOMs group.  The girls are soooo painfully cute these days.  Charlotte says, "I love you. You're the best. You're a pretty mommy."  Mina sings beautiful songs. Life is good!

Survival Mode

I'm now the mom to two young children with another on the way.  It's all about survival these days. I don't have the time or energy to clean my house, put away the laundry, take a shower, or do anything but the basics.  The blog has fallen by the wayside.  I did find plenty of time to pee on sticks though.

When the toynami hits, I just hang on for the ride. 

Oh, and answering emails? No.  I'm lucky if I read my emails (other than a cursory glance on my iphone).

Our ski trip was interesting too. Jon did lots of skiing. I read lots of books, relaxed, and tried not to puke.  My stomach was pretty hit or miss.  It's not like we went out for a five course gourmet meal or anything. Oh wait....we did.  They had auto-flush toilets. It was not awesome.  You can see me riding the gondola up the mountain to the restaurant below. That may have been my last smile of the evening.

At least my kids have been super cute. They're both in fun stages and getting along really well.

 We got some fantastic news a few weeks ago. Jon passed his oral boards exam so now he's a Board Certified Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon.  We went and had a friend take a picture of us to frame for his office. I was 5 weeks pregnant at this point so it has all four of us in it. :)

 The kids are finding some benefits to me not being 100%. Along with delayed nap times, they sometimes get to eat more junk food and I don't bother to choose most battles.  Charlotte enjoyed a Larita's cookie at lunch one day.  On another day, both girls decided we were having "see" food and I just snapped pictures.

Jon has been my rock. He's been doing the majority of child care once he gets home from a full day at work.  He doesn't complain about it and has been having lots of fun with the girls. They test his patience (and mine), but this is the sort of sight I get in the evenings.  They're so cute!

 I've been asked by people that haven't seen me lately if I'm showing yet. I'd say I'm sort of showing.  I've bumped out a bit, but I don't think I look pregnant yet.  I mostly look like I'm tired and like I've been drinking too much beer.  Oh well.  I've continued to exercise so I'm hoping I won't get as big as I did with my other pregnancies. So far this week I've done a total body conditioning class and kickboxing.

This belly picture view will be fun in a few months.

 Oh, and I found some pictures from February that I hadn't shared yet.  Here I am holding my ear with my sweet Mina.  She's very excited about her baby that's coming.

 Both girls are planning to join the circus someday so Jon has been helping them prepare.

 Phew. Excuse my crazy formatting and any typos. I just wanted to get a blog post done. Go me!  Maybe I'll be feeling more like myself soon....I hope.

2670 Minutes

Time is  flying by. Mina has been in a sweet phase for the past week so I've been enjoying myself immensely.  I can't believe someone this cute wants to snuggle me so much.  She's even been calling me pretty mommy. Little Charlotte has been delightful too (except when she's hungry, then she screams). 

 We spent last weekend in the Coralville/Iowa City area visiting friends.  The girls stayed up giggling for a while on the first night and then snuggled while they watched cartoons the next morning. It was too cute.

 We checked out the Iowa City tot lot on Friday morning. Yes, those are bouncy houses. I used to take Mina there once a week when we lived in Coralville. We had quite the schedule of things to do back then.  We also had a nice dinner at Christians' house that night, did some swimming, and some shopping. Iowa City is really awesome.

 As awesome as Iowa City is, there are some things that Fort Dodge has to offer us that we didn't have there. The main thing is obvious - family. My parents, Jon's parents, and both of my sisters and their families live within 15 minutes of us.  It's great.

However, I'd like to focus on something else in this post. My home away from home has become The Rec. I have logged in 2670 minutes of exercise since the middle of November. It's crazy to believe I've exercised that much in the past three months.  I've been going to classes (total body conditioning, aerobics, kick boxing, tabatas, step aerobics, and core conditioning). I've also been using the elliptical quite a lot and have read a number of books while sweating like a maniac.  I've lost about eight pounds, but more importantly, I've lost a lot of inches and have gained energy. I'm officially addicted. It all started when I bought Jon a membership at the gym for his birthday and then I joined Spark People so I could track my exercise and nutrition.  I feel better than I have for years and just had to share.  I tried to get healthier before, but I always struggled with working out at home. Now the kids happily play in the kid care room while I exercise and shower in peace.  Who knew that exercise could be an escape?  Plus, I have this song running through my head almost every day.

They're Not Robots!

I've adjusted to the new computer and I'm finally ready to share some pictures.  There are a few from Charlotte's birthday, but I've really toned down the amount of photos I snap. The kids don't cooperate and I get frustrated. Plus, Jon makes fun of me.  Anyway, I made Charlotte cake and brownie pops for her birthday party. Feel free to drool. I wish I could have found a more subdued pink sprinkle, but they tasted delicious.

 I made the mistake of going on Pinterest a few days before the party and just had to make Charlotte a birthday banner. It's scrapbook paper cut into circles and glued with sticker letters. Pretty easy and cute (if I do say so myself).

 I love Cabbage Patch dolls. I had one growing up. She had short hair and her name was Ethel.  What abuse!  It's amazing I'm a productive member of society after that.

 Charlotte was a very happy girl at the party once she got into opening presents.

 

 I was trying to get Charlotte to smile for the camera the other day and this is what she gave me.

 Notice that Mina tucked in all of her stuffed animals before she fell asleep for her nap. Toodee has an owl pillow and pillowcase on the floor. Plex is over on a toy bench on the desk. A bear is using the tiger for a bed and the green monkey is in the prime spot. I wish I was one of Mina's toys because then she'd be nice to me.

 Nana's birthday was this past week so we decided to make her a present. The girls scribbled on papers.

 Jon and I cut their scribbles and mod podged the design onto a painted canvas. I forgot to take a picture once it was dry, but it turned out pretty neat.

 Mina bossed her grandparents around and made Papa be her horse when they came over for Nana's birthday.  Mina is definitely in a bossy phase. Ugh. At least she's cute.

 The girls also used the "stage" to do a show for N & P. Mina is almost too tall to fit these days.

 The kids have been naughty lately. I guess that goes with the territory. They're 2 and 4 and not little robots. Charlotte adjusted the schedule for the week. This one made me burst out laughing since it was easily fixed.

 This one wasn't so funny.  I didn't take a picture of the garbage can in its original location on the floor surrounded by a pool of paint. I was also too busy cleaning the paint off of Charlotte to get a picture. She was tracking paint everywhere.  Our carpet is now stained with this paint. I threw away clothes and the garbage can. The bouncy house and tag books are being withheld in punishment. It was a bad scene on Thursday night.  The color should look familiar. I forgot to hide the paint and paintbrush after our project the other night. Jon was able to joke about it the next morning. He said they "went all Pinterest" on the garbage can.

At least they're sweet sometimes.