Getting old...

Maybe it's because my birthday is around the corner, or maybe it's because my feet are all taped up just like my Grandma's were, but I am feeling old! It all started a couple of weeks ago when my sister-in-law Jesse asked me to play on her soccer team. They were hoping to add a couple of substitutes so I thought I would help out. I figured I was in good enough shape and a little friendly competition on the field never hurt anyone, right? Wrong.

Let's start with game #1. Not only did we not have any substitutes, we were a player short! Five of us against a team with eight. Not good. By the time we hit half-time, I thought my lungs were going to explode. It's sad to say, but every time they scored in the second half (which they did 3 times!), I was actually glad simply because it meant we got to rest for a second as we set up to start over. Pathetic! It didn't help that the girls we were playing were pretty dang good. I was thinking to myself, I haven't played soccer since 9th grade and here I am going up against girls using their heads to get the ball downfield-not my kind of game.

By game #2, which came immediately after game #1, I was done. How could I endure anymore of this? Fortunately I didn't have to. A couple of girls from another team must have felt sorry for us and offered to play and two other team members came-hallelujah. At least now we had subs and that made a huge difference. Too, I had the best little cheerleader ever which really kept my spirits up. Capri would yell for me every 5 minutes until I looked over, waved, and then she would wave back. So cute. I had always played half-back or forward growing up, but I tried out playing defense and had a great time. It can be fun to take out all of your stress and aggression on someone in trying to get that ball. I took a few hits for the team, one leading to an insane bruise and cleat indents on the knee, but it seems worth it when they don't get a chance to score. I will always remember my dad screaming "CHARGE!" to motivate us to do this very thing, but when you are 8 years old, talking to your friends is so much more fun-Nicole, I need that footage!Anyway, we still lost 0-1 and I was wishing I had my soccer pals, Erika and Julie, with me to make it a win. Girls, didn't we have so much fun freshman year?!

The big bummer of the day, however, was the fact that I really screwed up my feet. (You are all thinking how I am getting back to my point of getting old and here it is...) I have always relied on orthotics to prevent pain in my arches, achilles and bunnions, and they have worked great. Unfortunately, I didn't wear them that day because my cleats I borrowed were already too small and I didn't want to make them smaller by using my orthotics. Bad idea. I was limping like an eighty year-old for the next week and to compensate, ended up hurting my knee as well. Nice. So, now I have ankle booties of tape that I get to wear for the next week. I have had them taped for a day and already want to rip it all off! I am also seriously bummed because I can't exercise at all, let alone race in the upcoming 10k planned for the 24th of July. Hopefully I will get going soon so wish me luck!

Our team, the Hot Tomales, getting a pep talk for game #2:

Not the greatest quality, as my dad took these pics with his phone, but here I go:

Here I am actually near a ball!

How we roll...

Yep. That's a single AND a double jogger we get to push now. Nothing like some extra poundage to keep your runs that much more challenging! I actually love taking the kids on our runs to the lake because there is plenty for them to see and they really enjoy the ride. I just don't know how much longer we will be able to pull that off as the kids will only get heavier! You can tell how wasted I was in this picture and we had only run 3 miles...hmmm, not pretty, but it proves my point. At least I don't have to worry about that for the next week or two as I am not allowed to exercise at all. More on that to come...

Cuteness...

These were taken a month ago, but I had to post just a few from my little photo shoot with Karoline:

Karoline has been such a delight. She is rolling from her tummy to her back, is all smiles, laughs for her siblings (is there anything that sounds better than a baby laughing?), loves to eat her hands, tries to hold her bottle, coos, and now grabs her toes. Her favorite thing still is to be talked and sung to. She has been incredibly alert from day one and really doesn't want to miss out on any of the action around her. I swear she could sit and watch Roman and Capri play all day. This may be the reason why she won't sleep during the day. I am lucky if she sleeps for more than 30 minutes for each nap...Karoline taking cat naps leads to a very unproductive mom! Thankfully she is sleeping great at night, usually from 9:00pm til about 5 or 6:00am. She then eats for 10 minutes and then is back to sleep for another couple of hours. I feel like a new woman getting sleep like that! Karoline is also starting to take a bottle really well now which means I can leave her with others. I left her with Tucker tonight and I was loving the evening out at my sister's baby shower, so nice. I wonder, however, if I can continue this pattern of nursing in the morning, evening, and once or twice during the day. Will my milk dry up if I'm not nursing every time? Feedback please.

Anyway, life is good, extra good with this little one.

St. George

When I woke up to snow on that crazy day in May, I needed to get out and run to somewhere warm. So with 3 days before the long Memorial weekend, I planned a trip to St. George. It was very spontaneous, but such a great trip with our little family.

One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing one of my best friends Amy. Her and I grew up together as our families were very close and we have some of the greatest memories. Unfortunately, I never see her anymore now that she lives down south so this was a real treat to catch up and watch our kids have fun together.

Her oldest, Brianna, was so cute with Capri and the two really hit it off. I love this picture of them with Brianna squatting down to Capri's level and Capri's hand on her shoulder...
The first day we were there, we went to Hidden Valley Park that had an awesome splash pad and the best type of play equipment out there-shaded! Roman was having a blast and I think you can see it in his face...

Capri was a huge fan of the swings...surprise, surprise!
In the hotel room (aka "the tiny house")-wow, I have three kids!
On Saturday evening, Amy invited us over to her place for dinner. It was so great to have the kids playing outside while the adults could have a few minutes to chat and eat. Ice cream was had by all and enjoyed by all...

Audrey, Roman, Brianna and Capri

As you know, Roman is still working on his verbal skills. Quin, Amy's son, has autism and doesn't speak much at all so when these two got together, there was this mutual understanding of one another...so sweet...

Me and my munchkin...
We ended up going back to the park the next day for more wear-yourself-ragged kind of play. It got pretty warm so when the ice cream truck came by, Tucker and I totally caved and bought ridiculously expensive orange cream bars...totally worth it!
Karoline was an angel on this trip! I couldn't believe how easy it was to bring her along, especially considering she slept in her car seat at night. She was such a trooper and we thoroughly enjoyed having her along...
She loves her daddy and to have him for three days was absolute heaven.
The new favorite toy in our house is Tucker's iPhone. You would think we would ban it during vacation time, but we gave in-I know, we are awesome in the discipline area. Capri wouldn't even look up for a picture, she just smiled and continued to play...
We had such a nice getaway in the sun, reunion with friends, and all around a great time with our kids!

My favorite things to hear...

*Capri's new saying, "Oh my gosh, gracious!" or even, "Oh my gosh, gracious, goodness!"

*"Holy Cow!"

*Roman's "big truck" song that he makes up every time! Oh, and he actually says truck now instead of "cuck," this is great progress!

*Capri singing all day everyday. Some of her favorites are "I Love to See the Temple," the "heart song" which is actually Barney's, "I love you" song, Tarzan's, "You'll Be in my Heart," and "You are My Sunshine."

We don't call her fattycakes for nothing!

Karoline is growing way too fast and I simply can't get enough of her...or those cheeks! We love the extra chub wherever we can get it so her cheeks, thighs, shoulders and bum are very much adored. I was reading C Jane's blog and she wrote, "What is it about motherhood that brings out the cannibalism in us?" I couldn't agree more, Tucker and I both love to eat her up!

Karoline at 2 months old:
She is not a fan of tummy time so I was surprised she was as content as she was here:
Karoline at 2 months and 1 week-in her swing while I was taking a shower (part of the routine and she actually loves the sound of the water and my blow dryer!):

You can really see the chub chub here on Karoline at 2 months!

Karoline at 6 weeks-not a great picture, but one of her first great smiles caught on camera:

Happy Mother's Day to me!

I love being a mother more than anything. I love my children more than words can say. It truly amazes me. I loved my twins with every ounce of my being and didn't know how I could love another child as much as I love them. Then I had Karoline and wow. The love I had for all three children grew beyond measure. How wonderful is that?!

Roman and Capri holding their Mother's Day gifts they made in church that day......they were clay handprints with colored glass beads placed on top.

Who wouldn't love these adorable kids?!