updated slideshow

It seems like I've been on a blogging fast. Sorry Auntie M. Everytime I checked my blog I remembered you telling me that you needed more pics of the boys. I really meant to update more often, I just never got around to it. I'd get pics or videos and think "ooh, i'll post those on the blog", but then I never actually did it.
Last night was a much needed girls night. When I came home (late) Joe was just finishing this slideshow. I hope it will satisfy your, and everyone else who's been begging for more pics, craving.
We could have posted straight to blogger, but we decided to post on youtube so you can watch it in high def. Mom, that means you can watch it full screen without the pictures loosing quality. Enjoy!
http://youtu.be/X7hbD9pHotY?hd=1

We found puddles

As many of you know, Thursday was a blissfully warm day-especially considering that its February. I decided to postpone nap time for a hour or so and let the boys play in the back yard while I did the dishes. Obviously once I saw what was going on I decided to postpone the dishes too!

Spring is on its way and we couldn't be happier about it!

Any blog readers in UT?

There is a friend of mine in UT that's having a giveaway for a free photoshoot!
here's her photography blog if you want to enter:

lareephotography.blogspot.com

ok, i don't know why my blogger account won't let me leave link. sorry.

i hope things are going well w all of you-maybe you'll win a free photoshoot!

Sewing can be cool.

I bought this dress ages ago-probably 4 years ago from Charlotte Rousse. I absolutely fell in love with it, BUT it was just too short to just wear. So i debated about whether or not i should cut off the bottom and make it into a top, but I just couldn't stand the thought of cutting up a dress just to make a shirt. So I finally decided to make this a wearable dress. As you can see, there is a white ruffle along the bottom of the skirt. Here's the secret-its a slip! I simply sewed some eyelet lace to the bottom of the slip!

I wanted the slip to elongate this dress as much as possible, so I bought a couple yards of the widest eyelet lace I could find and sewed it onto the slip in 2 rows. Tada!

The best part is that i can use this slip with as many dresses as i want! For a tall girl like me-adding a couple inches to a dress or skirt is priceless. I just added 3 dresses back into my wardrobe, and the possibility of SO MANY other dresses out there!

I love this slip.

In case you haven't looked outside...The snow is pretty intense. The roads are bad, the air is freezing, everything is closed, and there is more on the way.

So since we're stuck inside all day we are wearing big boy underwear. No more diapers...hopefully. I put up their favorite Thomas tent and we are all trying our best to make potty training really fun.

We have wooden Thomas trains, bathtub trains, thomas stickers, and lots of track and free time.

It's been hard on all of us.

I'm giving you The Finger!

I'd like to lie and say that I was brave and calm. Such was not the case. Thank heavens Joe was home for lunch when this happened.
After laying around the house for several days while I'd been recovering from pulling BOTH my hamstrings, I was beginning to feel much better. I'd decided to be a good housewife and load the dishwasher. Joe had been doing most of my chores for the last couple days and I was feeling pretty guilty about it. So I started doing the dishes, starting with the silverware. I actually thought to myself "self, you should maybe turn that knife blade down-just to be safe...nah, I don't think it'll get as clean and I want my NEW KNIFE SET to stay nice and clean."
yes, i realize it's stupid. Hindsight is 20-20. So of course as I attempt to load another spoon in next to the knife-OUCH!
ya, it hurt. I could tell from the amount of pain and the blood dripping on the floor that it was bad, so I started freaking out. Joe literally had to tug and pull my arm to keep my hand under the cold running water. Looking back at this now, the dialogue is pretty funny. It went something like this:
Me: (screaming like a 5 yr old) AAAHHH! IT HURTS! THE WATER'S COLD-ITS TOO COLD AND IT HURTS!
Joe: (calmly) Its okay, the cold water is going to help stop the bleeding.
Me: is it bad?! (sobbing) I don't have to go to the hospital do I?
Joe: ya, we're going to have to get stitches
Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Joe: jessica, calm down. we're going to have to do this so just calm down.

I didn't calm down.

Me: JOE! (gasp) My face is tingling! (gasp)
Joe: you're hyperventilating. you need to calm down.
he grabs a box of GF macaroni and dumps out the noodles, hands me the empty box and tells me to breathe into the box. It helped the tingling to stop.
I'd been to preschool earlier that day and remembered Angela Dougherty saying that Joseph had the afternoon off. So I called him on Joe's phone and asked him to watch the boys while Joe took me to the ER. It sounded something like this:
Joseph D on the phone: Hey
Me: Joseph (gasp) can you come (gasp) over to watch (gasp) my boys so Joe (gasp) can take me (gasp) to get (gasp) stitches?

Yes, I realize I'm quite pathetic. As my freaking out continued Joe's patience with me was wearing thin. Here its a snippet of the yelling that went on as we drove to the hospital.

Me: (crying very hard)
Joe: Jessica, calm down!
Me: It hurts!
Joe: No, it doesn't. It doesn't even hurt anymore. blah blah blah medical jargon and that's why it doesn't hurt.
Me: Yes it does hurt! it still hurts!
Joe: Jessica, you need to stop crying. you don't want to show up to the ER like this.
Me: I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE EMBARRASSED BY ME!
Joe: Jessica! look at me! look me in the eyes! stop freaking out!
Me: (looking around the hospital) I HATE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL!
Joe: you'd hate ANY hospital right now, you're acting ridiculous!
Me: WHERE'S THE EMERGENCY ROOM! THEY SHOULD HAVE BIG RED SIGNS SHOWING US WHERE TO GO!
Joe: We'll find it! Stop freaking out!
Me: THIS IS THE WORST HOSPITAL EVER!


So, if you haven't already guessed, the doctor had to give me a sedative in order to get anywhere near my hand. Strangely, I felt a lot better after that. Go figure.
My doctor was actually really nice and funny and kept my mind off of my injury as she told me little anecdotes about her 20 month old son. She gave me six stitches and told me I'll always have a memorable 1/11/11.
Later that night as i was "watching" the boys-i was still pretty groggy from the sedative-they managed to shatter one of our glasses, and I cut my toe through my sock while i was trying to clean it up. Great. Fantastic. That's EXACTLY what i needed. it was bleeding through my sock and leaving little bloody toe-prints on the carpet, so i asked Joe if we needed to go back to the hospital. He told me it definitely wasn't an option because he'd end up in prison, and our kids would go into social services.

Now Joe is back to doing the dishes for me again. I'm a total wimp about my hand and i keep it in close to my body like Mr. Burns for fear that I'll bump it wrong or something. And i do pretty much the same for my toe. I limp around keep it elevated and all those things that are completely unnecessary, but make me feel better. Yes, I think its safe to say that I'm a wuss.

Too much to blog!

Its been so long since my last post, that it would be way too overwhelming to tell every story in detail. so instead I'm doing a quick recap of the last few months.


This is the reason why I have slowly slipped out of the social networking game these last few months. The boys decided that their favorite thing to do was to pluck each and every key off of the laptop. Joe and I tried to re-assemble the keys several times but the boys wouldn't let it stay in one piece for long. Joe ended up buying a replacement keyboard on ebay and used his amazing handyman skills install it. But once the computer was fixed I stilled stayed away because I've enjoyed the freedom of not having to check my blog/facebook/email everyday.

For Thanksgiving we had our good friends Keenan and Britney and their adorable little girl Camden with us. Keenan is going to Medical school in Wisconsin so it wasn't too far of a drive to come visit us in Iowa. Camden and the boys played so well together. We had a ton of fun making turkey, potatoes, cookies, gravy, apple crisp, and gluten free stuffing. It was delicious and we loved having them in our home.

We went to Utah for Christmas and sadly didn't take many pictures as per usual, but we did get one picture of "The Six Pack" together. ("The Six Pack": Our twins, and two other sets of twin boys from my brothers Justin and Joe) We had a really good time visiting with family and friends.

Overall the trip was great, but out of our two week vacation we were driving for six of those days. As you can see, we got a little bored. Notice Noah's starburst sideburns.

The boys have been doing really well since we have been back. They play with their new trains all day. We came home to new counter tops and a new sink courtesy of our landlord.

I don't have any pictures from today but I had to take a quick trip to the ER to get six stitches after slicing my finger with a knife while doing the dishes. Shortly followed by slicing my toe while cleaning up the glass from a broken glass the boys were playing with.

On a side note...I decided to exercise and pulled both my hamstrings. Pretty sure I will never be whole and without injury. When it rains it pours I guess.