One little, two little . . .

July started off for us with fireworks with the Winns on the 3rd of July. We went to Longwood Gardens where they have a big light show with fountains and fireworks and music. Jason and I reserved some spots for the family and we all had a great time. Adri was a little traumatized by the whole thing. The only thing she was able to say the whole way home until she went to bed was “coddy coddy, scary scary,” meaning ‘scary colors.’ She made sure everyone knew how she felt but now likes to point out pictures of things that look like scary colors and we draw fireworks with her crayons all the time.


Adri and the 'big kitty'

We also found time to bring Adri to the zoo again while she was still an only child. We got there early enough that all the animals were active and there weren’t many groups of kids around to crowd us out. Adri and I have also been meeting some new Indian ladies in our complex. They are all very nice and we are excited to be friends with ladies who have little girls who are closer to Adri’s age. It’s funny to me how Adri is very good at saying Indian names like Dyuman and Akshita but still has trouble getting Madison right.
As a family we attended lots of ward activities this month. To me this seems like quite an accomplishment since it is usually a long drive to see anyone else in the ward. I went to a baby shower, then Jason and I took Adri to a ward BBQ at a member’s house. Their house was surrounded by raspberry bushes so I went to work at picking as many as I could to bring home for jam. The next week was a farewell BBQ for three of the families in our ward. This happened to be the Saturday before I went into labor. I felt fine all day though and didn’t think anything of playing frisbee or carrying Adri up and down the hills in the yard. Monday morning I went into labor and, by 3:06 pm, we were a family of four. Adri had lots of fun with Gramma Winn while we were getting used to having a new baby and trying to agree on a name. I was almost afraid she wouldn’t want to come back. Lucky for me she was ready to come home by the end of the third day away. She loves babies and is always asking to hold them so she was pleased as punch to have a baby of her own to hold whenever she wants. She has been very good considering that we stay inside most of the day. We tried to make up for some of that when we threw a farewell party for our friends, Richard and Catherine Ethington, from our young couples FHE group. Everyone had a great time and they all got to hold the baby and Adri couldn’t get enough of swimming in the pool with Daddy. She told him when to go off the diving board, when it was time to get in the hot tub and when it was time to take a break for a minute. We were very sad to see our friends go, but I know they’re going to a better place (Utah).



Juliet

So now I’m getting used to life with two babies. They are both wonderful but they both are very fussy eaters. Lucky for me, my mom has decided to come visit us earlier than expected and should be here this evening. Plus, Gramma Nancy took good care of us during our first week back with loads of groceries, dinners, baby clothes and new baby toys. Kristi even came to help watch the kids for a day and I got to take a much needed shower. Having two kids is a little harder than I thought it would be but we’re doing much better thanks to all the help from our families.
Other than babies, I’ve got a lot of sorting to do. After some of my friends moved away, I was left with a bunch of things they couldn’t pack but didn’t want to throw away. Most of it is baby stuff so I’ve been busy trying to get all my pregnant friends to come over and take some of it. About 40% (seriously) of the ladies in our ward are expecting so it shouldn’t take too much longer! Some of it was food, so I decided that I would finally start some sort of food storage for our family. I hope we can live for 72 hours on Top Ramen.
Thank you for all of your well wishes!