Good Riddance, 2011!!

Let me just preface this post by saying that 2011 was a little completely crazy. We had some of the best and also some of the worst experiences of our lives. 2 has been our number. This year alone we’ve had:

• 2 working parents
• 2 major tests (UT BAR and NASM)
• 2 unborn babies
• a 2 hour drive (sometimes less, sometimes more) to visit 2 different specialists (perinatalogist and hematologist) every 2 weeks (or more).
• 2 months of bed rest
• 2 trips to the ER (one for me, and one for a cut on Liam’s hand).
• 2 layoffs
• 2 trips to Utah
• 2 Christmas season stomach flus

I am hoping that 2012 will at least not be any worse, and will hopefully turn out to be quite a bit better, even if just as crazy.

Although I realize our situation is slightly complicated right now (and will likely continue to be so due to our new additions), I have decided to be ambitious and have come up with 12 resolutions for the year.

1. Pay off our car
2. Lose baby weight
3. Potty train William
4. Wean William from pacifier
5. Read 12 books (almost completed #1)
6. Be a better budgeter---I have a goal of replenishing our emergency fund.
7. Monthly DIY projects (mostly baby/sewing projects, but I also want to try to make foaming hand soap, household cleaners, among other things).
8. Finally finish William’s baby book---this one has been nearly done for 2 years. Just need to actually print out photos and transfer my notes about his first life into the book
9. Get a race PR---probably shoot for a 5k or 10k---a half or full marathon may be too ambitious when nursing twins.
10. Pay off all our debt…mostly just our insurance deductible, but still, it would feel good to be done
11. Try 52 new recipes---I had a goal of 100 last year, and did about 70. Not bad considering I couldn’t cook/eat for 2-3 months. I’ve already done 2!
12. Organize our life---monthly organizing projects. This is my current passion. I have always LOVED to organized, but I’d really like to get things organized in a fun, cute, or original way. And hopefully I can get Steve and William to at least sort of keep things that way.

In some ways, I have planned to be less ambitious than in years past, in case the twins prove to be more work than I have anticipated…but I have also wanted to challenge myself and grow as a person. I am excited to see how much I can actually accomplish and am going to try to report when I finish a goal so I feel more accountable. Wish me luck!

Since no post is complete without photos, I’ve included a few of our photo shoot outtakes. It was so hard to choose! We have put some up on the wall…and I love the finished look. We even put up a belly shot where a picture of the twins will one day go. Makes me want to get nice pictures every year.

This photo of William is probably my favorite. It doesn’t quite capture his personality like the one on the sidebar, but as my SIL Catherine calls it, the “GQ Baby” photo, is really something else.

Merry Christmas from the Garffs

Happy 2nd Birthday William

William had lots of visitors for is birthday. William’s uncles Arthur and Daniel visited him first and wheeled April around the LA Zoo in a wheelchair for her first weekend off bedrest. William did his best primate impersonation.

We also squeezed in a couple of Disneyland trips.

William’s grandma, grandpa, aunt and, uncle were able to come down to celebrate his birthday with him.

He was pretty exited for his presents.

We had perfect beach and fruit picking weather.

How to Tell Twins Apart: A Tutorial

For us, it’s easy.  We’re getting a boy and a girl. Babies are both looking good and are healthy as can be.  As you can tell by my belly, they’re HUGE.

 

Our sweet daughter was particularly photogenic, though she kept sticking out her tongue and stuck her fingers up her nose as well.  Such a lady.

 

But her twin brother is considerably less cooperative. He kept curling up in a ball and crossing his legs.

Wonder how that will translate into their personalities?

And Baby Girl (Baby B) is already getting kicked in the face by her brother.  Guess she better get used to it now.

Grandma and Halloween

Steve’s mother came to help us out with William this week while I’m on bed rest. Grandma really saved us. While she was here, she (among other things) ran errands, cooked, cleaned the carpets, got new tires and wipers for the car, kept the house clean and presentable (which is not an easy task with me on bed rest and a high-energy 2 year old), took Silly Billy on walks, AND picked up Café Rio for dinner (yum!).

She even let me cheat a little and go to our ward’s trunk or treat.  It was so nice to actually get out of the house (other than to see the doctor) and be social again.  All my bed rest went to good use and I (with help from Steve) made an awesome costume complete with life-size fetuses. I offered to make Steve one with a burger and fries in the belly, but he declined and wore a bowling shirt instead.

 

It was also the ward Chili/soup cookoff. I ate 4 bowls.  Between that and Grandma Garff’s dinners, I was FINALLY able to put on 4-5 lbs, which is a good start to the 40-50 I need to gain in the next 20 weeks.

Skeletons were by far the most popular costume in our area.

Though we did have a wide variety of others.

Steven even allowed me to walk around with William for a bit---he was a BIG fan of trick or treating, though it did take awhile for him to get the idea.  Usually, he just said, “treat” (occasionally throwing in a “please” as well) and then took a handful of candy. It was great fun to watch.

After one row of cars, I was banished to the backseat.

Halloween night was much less exciting. I was allowed to go to 2 houses and was banished to the couch for the remainder of the evening. Steven and Liam had a great time wandering the neighborhood in search of the goods and looking at the decorations.

William made out like a bandit, with several houses allowing him multiple handfuls of candy (luckily, some of these were choking hazards and had to be taken care of by Mom and Dad).

William had a great time with his Grandma here, and Grandma was a good sport, despite the fact that she had to clean up after his messes and other such adventures.

We even lucked out when going to the doctor. Not only did I not have to worry about getting a babysitter, but Grandma thought Silly Billy was cold and got him a new shirt to keep him warm. Go Bruins!

Saturday, everyone except me (since I’m still stuck in bed) went out to Reseda to the orchard to pick fruit.  William hadn’t been in nearly a year and had a great time.

It was a hoot to see him discovering the fruit.  You can tell he loved it.

He couldn’t help running around exploring. And as a bonus for us, We got a backseat full of oranges, grapefruit, lemons, and avocados. 

Which is perfect because we have two little avocado-sized babies waiting to join our family next year.