What a weekend!

I'm so spoiled. This last Friday was my birthday and Dan made plans a while back for us to have a little getaway. Thursday night we headed to Gilbert with the kiddos and dropped them off at his parents house. (Thank you Skip, Lynn, and Cambi!) It was the weirdest feeling leaving and knowing that we could go do whatever we wanted without having to worry if the diaper bag was packed, if the girls were fed, are their diapers clean?, naps?, did we pack the stoller?, and how much time we will have until they are hungry again. It was almost as free and liberating as the day I told Dan he can do his own laundry from now on. So wonderful! Well his first surprise was where we were staying. He got us a couple nights at the Marriot in Old Town Scottsdale. First we checked in and then he took me shopping. I've been dying to buy some new clothes. I'm just one size away from fitting into my old pants and I've been super frustrated that it has taken this long for my hips to go back. So, instead of wearing maternity pants with a stretchy waist, I decided that I'm just going to buy bigger pants! I don't know why I've waited this long. We went to Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall and to my favorite store- Charlotte Russe. It was so cute. When one of the girls asked us if she could help, he tells them that I just had twins a few months ago and that they needed to help me find whatever I wanted because it had been too long since I'd been shopping for myself and that he was taking me out for dinner that night. The girls there were so cute. They were pulling stuff from all the racks and had me in their biggest dressing room, trying on all sorts of clothes and giving their input on what looked good. I finally decided on something nice and then it was on to shoes and jewelry. Dan was adorable, picking out different things that he liked and wanted me to get. After we finished dressing me, it was his wardrobe next. After Hollister and help from about 3 people at Gap, we were both looking like a million bucks. He looked so handsome in his outfit. We had such a blast. For dinner, we went to the Pink Taco in Scottsdale. It was so good! Their carne asada skewers appetizers were AMAZING! Also their green salsa was so yummy too. I had the pink tacos for my main course and Dan had the Lobster Enchiladas. Both dishes were excellent. After dinner we went to the movies and saw Eagle Eye. It was a really good movie. We didn't get back to the hotel until after 1 am. We were so pooped! The next day Dan left it up to me to do whatever I wanted. Of course I wanted to shop some more! We hit up Sports Authority for workout clothes, Last Chance, Old Navy, Urban Outfitters, and the mall again. We had such a blast shopping and got some great outfits for the both of us. Dan needed clothes just as bad as I did. I kept saying that it didn't feel like my birthday because I know that any day he would let me go shopping and get whatever I want. That night for dinner was the big surprise. I kept asking him to give me hints. He would tell me, "If you guess it, we're going to McDonalds instead." :) He took me to the Melting Pot. It was FANTASTIC! I love that place and will go anytime he wants to take me! :) It's a yummy fondue restaurant. We ordered the 4 course meal which included cheese fondue of your choice, amazing salads, your main course meat with broth fondue, and chocolate fondue for desert. All were so delicious. When we got there he had reserved a booth that had a curtain on it so you could have privacy and smooch all you want. :) He ordered roses and had them there at our table when we arrived. He is so sweet. Everything was so perfect and thought out. I have the best husband ever!
The presentation of the food was so cool- I had to take pictures. Later that night we walked around mill and toyed with the idea of going dancing but I was so exhausted. I opted for a back rub instead. :) Our little getaway was so fun. I loved every minute of it. Thanks Dan, you are the best!

Sneak peek!

Yesterday Dan and I took engagement pictures for my brother Spencer and his fiance Dustynn. They are such a cute couple. We got some good ones but still have another photo shoot to do next Sunday. Here's just a few of our favorites.




Spencer is such a geek! :)

What we've been up to.

There are so many funny things I've wanted to write about. Gracie- what a character! Here's some of her latest.
“You’re my silliest mommy I ever seen!”
“Oh mommy, I LOVE YOUR HAIR….buuuuut….I really don’t like your shirt.”
Counting in Spanish, “Uno, dos, glace, squawko, cinqo, gliss, sketday, orcho….”
The other day her cousin was over playing and she wasn’t sharing her bike. I was fed up with her being a turd that day and opened the back door and shouted at her, “If you don’t start sharing your bike, I’m going to throw it over the fence.” Her eyes got really big and she excitedly said, “Like really, really far mommy, up to the sky?!?!?!?!” So much for that threat working. :)
The other day Dan and I were talking about working out and I was saying how I just want my abs to go back to normal. He was reassuring that my tummy looked great when Gracie piped in, “Yeah mom, your tummy is like THIS BIG.” (While she was sticking out her belly.” I shot Dan a look like, “I told you so.” I then asked Gracie, what else is big of mommy’s hoping to get the whole truth and nothing but the truth. She thought for a minute then said, “Your NECK!” Okay, so she really doesn’t know what she’s talking about. :)
Gracie loves to sing and has the sweetest voice. She sings everything to the tune of either “I am a child of God” or “Twinkle little Star.” She makes up her own words and sings in vibrato. It is so cute.
We are having tons of fun but are so busy. Dan is doing great in school and I’m kept really busy between the girls, my part time job house cleaning, Pilates, piano lessons from my super talented sister Lynn, computer class, laundry, poopy diapers, laundry, feedings, laundry, hanging with Gracie, and then more…you guessed it, LAUNDRY! I really am having so much being home with my family. I’m so glad that I didn’t start the nursing program. Although it would have been fun, I would be missing out on some really great times with Gracie and the twins. Violet is such a sweetie. She has become really high maintenance. She loves her mom and she loves her mom to hold her ALL the time. I don’t because I can’t but she is so funny how she pushes my buttons and wears on my nerves with her tantrums. She gets really worked up when crying in her crib and won’t go to sleep. The second I peek over the crib she stops wailing and then gets her arms and legs going and starts breathing really fast like she is saying, “pick me up, pick me up!” Then as soon as I do she is all giggles and smiles. She is always looking around and never holds her head still. Now she has a complete bald spot on the back of her head. Reece, what a doll she is! She just started getting really scared when I carry her in her car seat. I noticed it the other day when I was loading them into the car. I look down at Reece and her eyes are so HUGE, and her face beet red, and she is clenching her fists and is totally stiff and holding her breath. We’ve learned to carry her separately. I thought she got over being so jumpy but today I went to check on her in her crib and she didn’t see me at first. She turned her head towards me and about jumped out of her crib. Then she started screaming and wailing. I wasn’t trying to scare her and I didn’t even make any noise but I guess I spooked her pretty bad. She loves to talk, coo, and spit bubbles to anyone who will do it back to her. The other day I was sitting feeding her. I was cradling her and had my hand under her bum. I heard and felt her mess her diaper but waited to change her until she was done. About a minute later I look down, lift my hand, and see that I am holding about a ½ cup of nasty green poop and it is also running down my leg. It was so warm I didn’t even realize she’d blown through her diaper all over me! Gross huh! Violet and Reece are such good babies. Together, they are way easier than Gracie was by herself. But then again, Gracie was my practice run and I did everything wrong with her. She was plain exhausted. The twins are sleeping 10-11 hours at night and nap most of the day. I hope I get to have twins again. These girls have been so much fun and such a joy to have in our family. As crazy as things are sometimes, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy the pictures.
Gracie flying her "Tite"

My friend Erin had her baby girl a couple weeks before I had the twins. She made these ADORABLE little tutus for them. Of course that meant PICTURE TIME!!! Thanks Erin I love them!








Here's my family working on our cement borders in our front yard. I'll have to post pictures when our yards are done. Hopefully they'll look awesome.

What's wrong with this picture? Yes there is a man on top of my refrigerator, and yes it is Dan. We were playing hide and seek with Gracie and I was it. I found Gracie right away but I could not find Dan! I looked everywhere in every room! Then Gracie squeals, "He's up there!" My husband is such a kid, I love it. :)


A little funny that just happened...
My husband is such a geek. I was expecting him home from work any minute and I hear a knock on the door. I peek out the window and see that it is Dan. "That's weird" I think to myself. I open it and this is the conversation with Dan on the front step. Dan-"Hey I understand someone here is looking for a friend." Me-"Oh yeah, that's me. I see you brought me some pie." (As he hands it to me.) Dan-"Hey nice to meet you, you're really pretty." Me-"Thanks" Dan-"Hey I was just in the neighborhood and was wondering if I could use your bathroom?" Then he walks past me into our room. He's such a nerd...but the funny thing about this conversation is that this is how our lives seem lately. It's like, "Hey I used to know someone who looks like you. There's always a bunch of kids attached to her. Yeah she's really cool but I never see her and I can't quite remember her name." Ah-the crazy life!

Every thing is back to Normal

This is actually Dan posting. I thought that I should write to give an update on things. Becky has been so busy with the girls, school and helping me that she never gets any free time. Two weeks ago Becky and I began doing "the biggest loser". It is with the Mullenaux bunch. This is how it works. Every one who wants to be in the competition puts in ten dollars. At the start of the three weeks we all weigh ourselves. For three weeks we all diet and do whatever we need to to lose the most weight. The winner wins by percentage of body fat lost. So, it keeps it even for everyone. I won't tell you what Becky or I have lost yet, but lets just say that we want the money!!!!!! Because i'm the fattest, that means that I have to lose the most weight of all the competitors. I am shooting for losing about 15 to 20 pounds. Even if I lose twenty pounds I still haven't lost 10% of my body weight. If Becky loses ten pounds (which is imposible, because she would wither away into nothing, She is so skinny) she would for sure win the competition. So I have to do some major working out to do.
Here is a little funny side note. On monday night I wanted a piece of pecan pie. So, for desert we each had a piece (YUM). Then we took the rest of the pie over to Becky's parents house so that they would eat it too. They ate it all up. They are some of our competitors in this competition and each of those pieces was 460 calories. He He He He We are liitle stinkers.

California!!!

Every summer for the McArthur family reunion, we go to San Diego and stay in condos on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base. It's a week that all of us look forward to the whole year. The condos are really nice and have only 150 yards of sand between them and the beach. This beach is my favorite one. The waves close to shore are perfect for little kids and farther out are perfect for boogie boarding and surfing. It is never crowded either. This year our condo was about 25 yards from a little cove that was just perfect for the little kids to play in. Because it was a bit of a walk to the “big kid water” as Gracie called it, we would take a huge canopy and everything we needed for the day and stay for hours at a time. We had such a blast boogie boarding, surfing, building sand castles, reading, taking naps….you name it. The weather was perfect. Hot sun with a cool breeze coming off the water. The babies loved it. We took a porta-crib down and they slept pretty much the whole time. Gracie loved to boogie board and did such a good job. Dan and Joey rented a couple surfboards and we had fun trying to catch some waves. I did pretty good as long as Dan was there to hold the surf board for me so I didn’t get plowed by it every time a wave came. It was a workout though. Dan kept saying, “Man if I could do this for a couple hours every day, I’d be ripped.” He would because it does take a lot of muscle. You can see he did get attacked by the fin of the board. Poor guy! I’m glad it wasn’t his eye.
The Race is On!

Here it comes!

Gracie riding the waves.

The Gang.

Gracie and Uncle Joey...or "cool Joey" as Gracie says.

Happy Birthday Becca!

YUM CAKE!

Naptime!






On Sunday we went to Becca’s old ward for sacrament then drove to the San Diego Temple for a picnic lunch. Again, the weather was beautiful and the kids had fun running around on the grass.






I love boogie boarding with Dan! It is so fun to catch some waves together. There are some that he goes for that I know better and back off. Thankfully I’m not as daring as he is. Especially when I see the wave throwing him around and watching him do cartwheels. There were a few that really took him out! You go Dan!
Ready, set, GO!




Me and Gracie took a walk one morning to collect sea shells. She was so cute, every sea shell, broken or not was, “SO BEAUTIFUL MOMMY!” We didn’t get very far down the beach because she had to pick up every one that she saw.




That weekend Allison had a wedding in Monterrey and I was going to help. I rode back to Gilbert with Dan and the girls, showered, changed, packed my camera then he drove me to the airport for my flight to San Jose that evening. It was so much traveling in one day. The babies were only about 7 weeks at the time. Dan asked me to say a prayer seeing as we were going to be apart and I was traveling. I couldn’t hardly get through it because I was bawling so bad. I didn’t stop until I got to my gate. I hate leaving my kids. The lady at security was cute. I thought I was being discrete about it but she saw me coming towards her and pulled out a box of tissue from her podium. “I’m sure you’ve been needing a break for so long and when you finally get it, you can’t stop crying,” she said. Funny how it works that way. :) Anyway Monterrey was a blast. I love hanging out with my sister Allison. She’s a hoot! The joke of the whole trip was, “Oh-you would never win on Amazing Race.” Okay, I’m not good with navigating but it did take her a whole hour to get off one street in San Fransisco! Most of that was just looking for a dang parking spot. The wedding was from noon to 4 so that morning we went to Cannery Row and did the shops. It brought back a lot of memories of the times me, Allison, Ben and Rachel went there. The wedding was fun and such good experience for me. Allison taught me a few new tricks with my camera and I think my pictures turned out really well. After it was over we took off to San Fran and got to see the Golden Gate Bridge, well kinda. We got as close as we could! :-) What else did we see…..a bunch of gay guys, Alcatraz (from afar) and a silver man (head-toe) who was wearing a thong. We wanted to eat there but there was not even a parking space so we went back to our hotel in San Jose and ordered room service. It was so fun hanging out with Allison. Thanks so much for letting me come along! We both flew home Sunday morning, her to IA and me to AZ. I was so glad to see my girls and Dan again. But boy was he glad to see me. I think he gained an even greater appreciation for what I do as a mom. :-)



Just one of my favorites from the wedding.

Smiling girls!!!

The girls have been smiling so much the last couple of weeks. They are getting so big. I can't believe how much time has passed. They had a check-up a few weeks ago and Violet was 10lbs 12oz and Reece was 9lbs 14oz. I know they are so much bigger now. We've reached a major milestone this last week. They are practically sleeping through the night!!! I'm so glad because it has been a lot of work. Thank you Babywise! These girls are like clockwork now and it has made my life so much easier. They are such good happy babies. Just check out the proof below! The last few nights they have slept 7 or 8 hours straight. So NICE!





Reece is such a character. She has mellowed out a ton believe it or not. Just as I predicted, she is a talker. She wakes up so happy and talks and coos nonstop. She's finally started making eye contact and will smile her huge smile and talk and talk and talk. She's definitely going to be my quirky, spunky, social butterfly. The other day she was throwing a fit and was really being dramatic. I had to get the camera!