Time for change

I feel like I've been saying this a lot in my recent blog posts but we have been extremely busy yet again. Between Tim's job hunt, being pregnant with twins, packing up my classroom, the last week of teaching, having a very active 14 month old, Tim's graduation and trying to pack to move things have been wild around here. Tim's award banquet and graduation took place last Thursday and Friday. The banquet was very nice but it was sad to say goodbye to so many people we've spent time with and grown close to over the last four years. I debated whether or not to take Sofia to the graduation ceremony because I knew I would be myself. Tim's family is wonderful and offered to come down but we told them not to since they are driving down this weekend (11 hours) to help us move back to Wisconsin. I decided that I wanted Sofia to see her Dad being recognized for his hard work and I REALLY wanted a family picture with Tim after his ceremony. I was not able to watch very much of the ceremony because I was chasing Sofia around the church and up and down the stairs but I did snap a photo of him receiving his diploma and we were able to get a few family pictures after the event. Later that day we drove to Arkansas to spend the weekend with some of our friends at a cabin in Heber Springs. The weather didn't quite cooperate but it was still really nice being able to catch up with everyone and spend some time together before we all move. We were missing two of our very best friends who were not able to come for a VERY good reason. Some of our very best friends just welcomed a beautiful baby boy into their family. We were lucky enough to meet him just hours after he was born and we saw him again tonight. It's bittersweet though because in just a few days we will be living a few states apart.

This week we have been trying to pack but also enjoy some of our favorite things in Memphis. There are many things I will miss about Memphis but many things I won't miss. I will probably write more about that next week when I have more time. I am excited to be moving up north closer to family and we couldn't have picked a better time to leave with the temperature heating up in Memphis. I'm also getting bigger by the day and I really want to try to be a bit more established before the babies come. We plan to stay with Tim's parents until we know exactly where in Wisconsin we will be living. Unfortunately, we will have to rent for a while since it's pretty much impossible to save money for a down payment on a house when Tim is in school and we spend more than our old house mortgage was on childcare each month. It's a bit depressing to think about moving to Wisconsin and getting set up in Tim's parents house, moving again to another city for who knows how long and then hopefully moving again into a house. I can't complain though, we are so lucky to have a healthy family and some job opportunities. I am exhausted and will leave you with some recent pictures.

Meeting the newest Winston!

I just love this picture. Tim and Sam are good buds and I just love how much they love babies and kids. Both these guys are incredible husbands and fathers.

What a perfect little guy! Congrats again Sam & Lea!

Tim with some of his other good friends before graduation.

Me with Rachael & Erin before graduation

All of the graduates from the class of 2011

I used the stained glass to entertain Sofia for a while. I love what the vent did to her dress!

The Ruder family!! We are so proud of Tim!!

Sofia enjoying some pasta at the cabin

Sofia giving Tim the "look" during the cabin weekend. Tim says he has seen this look before, can you guess where?

We survived the flood!

Wow, what a wild few weeks we've had. The muddy Mississippi rose to record levels in the last week and caused a lot of major flooding in Memphis. We live on Mud Island and there are only two roads off the island. One was shut down over a week ago and is still closed. The other route was narrowed to two lanes while one side of the road was built up in case everyone on the island was ordered to evacuate. Only a portion of homes on the island actually had to evacuate. Sofia's school had to pack all of the toys and equipment up and close the parking lot because the Wolf River harbor rose so high. Although we received several scary warning letters from Shelby county we remained safe.

Sofia is doing great. It is amazing to see how quickly she is growing up and become a sweet little girl. She is very adventurous. She started officially walking right at 14 months and now acts like a seasoned walker. With the weather being so nice we have taken her swimming a lot and she absolutely loves the water. This was no surprise to Tim or I since she has been swimming since she was about a month old and almost always enjoys bath time. Our pool has a little shallow circle pool with a fountain in the middle that she loves to play in. She also likes to walk around on her own and when she thinks we aren't looking she holds her arms out and just drops forward to go under water. We definitely have to keep a close eye on her. Sofia babbles a ton! She has a very mixed vocabulary of Spanish and English words, I expected this since she spends 7-8 hours a day entirely in Spanish. Sofia still loves to read and points to the words and babbles and will read to anyone who will listen. She has also become very affectionate to her baby animals. She could care less about her baby dolls but loves the animals. She holds them, brings them to me to kiss them and walks them around in a stroller. It's adorable to watch. Sofia also dances and will try to sing along to different songs she is familiar with from school. Sofia is a great eater. She will try almost anything but really loves fruit, all types of beans, yogurt, chicken, turkey, eggs, and pancakes. She used to really love vegetables but she is picky about them.

It's hard to believe we only have 2 weeks left in Memphis. We are going to try to pack in a lot of our favorite things in Memphis for our grand finale. It's amazing how much this city has grown on me. Working in Memphis City Schools has not been easy and definitely made my time in Memphis challenging but I will miss a lot of things about teaching, especially since I'm not sure when I will teach again. We will miss the early spring and long fall but I'm so happy we are moving home before the sweltering heat hits Memphis. Tim graduates a week from today and then we are spending the weekend at a cabin on a lake in Arkansas with some of our nearest and dearest friends we met in Memphis so we can have a proper goodbye. Many of the people who will be at the cabin were away for part of fourth year so I am so excited to catch up and relax with everyone.

I'll leave you with some adorable pictures taken from Sofia's one year photo session back in March. We picked up her pictures from the studio today and they turned out great!!

Walking in Memphis!!

Sofia has been talking steps here and there for the past few weeks but the day before she turned 14 months old she she started actually walking! She does pretty well but sometimes gets tripped by Frodo and is still learning how to go down steps or inclines. Here is a video of her walking tonight.

Sofia also loves to read. Every day when we get home the first thing she wants to do is look through her books. Sometimes she likes to be read to but many times she just flips through the books and babbles. I'm amazed at how much all of the reading Tim and I did with her from the time she was in my tummy has paid off.  My students at school always ask me what Sofia's favorite tv show is and it always catches me by surprise because Sofia doesn't watch tv. I feel pretty strongly about her not being exposed to a lot of tv before the age of 2. Every now and then we have a sports game on and Sofia checks it out but she is much more interested in exploring, reading, and playing. Here is a video of Sofia reading with Tim.

This weekend we welcomed my sister Lindsey and her boyfriend Carlos to Memphis for a visit. They were touring some wineries in Southern Illinois and came to see us for the weekend. We spent some time letting Sofia swim on Friday afternoon, it was too cold for the adults. Then we had some nice appetizers and drinks (everyone but me :)) and headed downtown. We wanted to show Lindsey and Carlos around and also enjoy the South Main Trolley night. Sofia's bedtime is normally 7pm but we thought we would take her and just see how things went. We got on the trolley around 7pm and it was packed! Sofia loved being on the trolley and watching all of the people and buildings. Friday night was a big night for Memphis, the Redbirds had a game, the Grizzlies had a game, Beale St Music Festival and South Main Trolley Night. The newspaper estimated that around 100,000 people were downtown Friday night. It was a perfect night, not too hot, not too cool. We rode the trolley all the way down to South Main and enjoyed some cheesecake and art galleries. Then we walked by the FedEx Forum to check on the basketball game, we thought about going to the game earlier in the week but we knew there was no way Sofia would be able to stay up that late. We got home just in time to watch the rest of the game on television and still put Sofia to bed by 9:30. She is such an awesome little girl, she is so flexible and easy going.

Saturday was great. We went to the Farmer's Market, made a big breakfast/lunch, and took Sofia to the awesome new park in Shelby Farms. She was exhausted and the playground was packed so we spent most of our time flying kites. We finished the night with dinner at the BBQ Shop, another Memphis BBQ place and dessert at YoLo. It was so nice to have family in town for the past few weeks. It's hard to believe Tim and I only have about a month left until we leave Memphis. We intend to do everything we can to savor our final weeks. It will be great to be back in Wisconsin but we will certainly miss Memphis.

Sofia loves swimming and water! This summer will be so much fun.

Carlos, Sofia & Lindsey

Sofia on the trolley checking out the scenery.

Lindsey, Sofia & Tim on the trolley.

I love her SO much!

My belly prevents me from wearing the Ergo carrier on the front so I started wearing Sofia on my back, she loves it and I can get so much done so much faster this way.

24 week sneak preview

Today Tim and I saw the boys again, we are more amazed every time. We feel so spoiled to have an ultrasound at every visit but it's the only way to monitor the growth of the twins. I also had my glucose test today, they should have results to me by Thursday. For now, everything is going very well. The boys are both 1lb 10oz which puts them in the 54th percentile. I am HUGE. I always get a little nervous about the weight I'm gaining but my doctor is not concerned and I know I'm eating well and the boys need everything I eat. I probably hear the phrases below (or slight variations) several times per week and sometimes several times per day....

-"Wow! You must be due any day now!"
-"Twins? Plus your daugher?! You are going to have your hands full" (No kidding)
-"Ugh, twins? Better you than me" (You're absolutely right, better me than you)

During our ultrasound today I actually teared up. It's amazing to see my babies and feel them moving. I am so happy and grateful with the life God has given me and I think I really just got caught up in the moment. I'm not a big crier for happy moments so I was a little surprised when I felt tears rolling down my cheek. After the appointment Tim and I grabbed dinner to go, picked up our sweet Sofia and enjoyed listening to the storms all night. While the worst storms were above us we kept the whole family in our closet since it's the only room in our place without windows. Sofia loved it, she rearranged all of my clothes and thought it was great to have Mom, Dad, and Frodo in a tiny room together with a stack of books we brought in for her. I can't wait for Sofia to meet her brothers. I know it will be a huge adjustment for her but I think she is going to be an amazing big sister and absolutely love her little brothers. By the way, the "boys" officially have names. I don't think I'll put them on the blog for a while yet but we are definitely excited, both the first and middle names of both boys are family names and a blend from both our families.

Here is a little sneak peak of the boys at 24 weeks 3 days old. Twin A was definitely more cooperative today than twin B.

What a birthday!

We had another busy week with Tim's parents visiting us until Wednesday and my parents and sister arriving Friday for Easter weekend. My other sister and her boyfriend will actually be arriving this Friday to spend the weekend with us. We have been so spoiled by our parents with love, good food, and lots of fun. Sofia really loves spending time with her extended family. Today I turned 27! I can hardly believe I'm so old :) We celebrated a lot this past weekend and were planning a picnic for dinner tonight but Mother Nature had other ideas. With all of the storms today it was way too wet and windy out for a picnic so we had a nice dinner at home. I feel so lucky and blessed. Tim and I dreamed of our future and family in college and I have to say things are turning out better than we could have ever expected. I can't wait to see how the next month or so progresses, I'm anxious to know where we will be moving to and what type of job Tim will have after all of his hard work.

My sister Kathleen and I. Her birthday is April 24th, mine is April 25th.

My parents arrived Friday around lunch so we met Tim for lunch at the Trolley Stop Market. We grilled some burgers and brats for dinner and then took my family to one of our favorite Memphis spots, YoLo. We started out Saturday at the Farmer's Market where I was treated to a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Then we went out to Shelby Farms for the Great Cloth Diaper Change in Memphis. Hundreds of cities around the globe were all conducting a diaper change at the same time Saturday. The event was a lot of fun and a great way to celebrate Earth Day. Sofia even got a cute t-shirt to commemorate her participation, she will be in the Guinesss Book of World Records. After that we went to the Trolley Stop Market for lunch (yes, twice in one weekend) and spent some time relaxing by the pool. For dinner, my parents really wanted to get Memphis BBQ one more time since this last visit will probably be their last. We all enjoyed a great dinner and some yummy cupcakes from my favorite Memphis bakery, Muddy's! Tim and I were able to catch a movie together too, something we haven't done since Christmas. We saw "Water for Elephants" since we had both read the book. The movie followed the book pretty closely and we both enjoyed the film. The boys were wild during the movie, they were awake the whole time kicking, rolling and moving. I think these little guys already have the same fiery personality that their big sister has.

Easter Sunday was wonderful. We took Sofia to church early for the Easter egg hunt. Poor Sofia and the other babies were almost run over by the older kids. The babies mainly stayed on a blanket in the grass and were quite content playing with the eggs around them. The church service was wonderful as always but it made me a little sad too. We only have about 3 Sundays left at our church before the big move. The rest of Easter was spent dying eggs, going for a walk, and Sofia took a nice nap outside while Tim and I were able to relax in the sun and read.

Tim making sure Sofia isn't run over by the stampede of children.

Easter eggs are much more interesting than getting my picture taken.

I was spoiled with some very nice gifts for my birthday. Sofia made me a beautiful card and chipped in with her Dad to get me some sunglasses I've had my eye on for a while, the "Little Beach" glasses from Maui Jim. I have a pair of big Burberry sunglasses that I've enjoyed wearing the past few years (thanks to the major discount Tim gets once a year from some of the high end optical companies) but I wanted a pair that I could wear for running, biking and other sports. The picture below is not the same color as mine but the same model. They are AWESOME, so lightweight and comfortable. It's nice being married to an optometrist!

Tim complains that I never buy myself anything so he was excited to treat me to something fun for once. My sister got me a gorgeous new dress that I can actually wear with my growing belly! My parents got me Merrell glove shoes. I was intrigued by the concept of minimalist running and the Vibram 5 finger shoes, but I can't stand having my toes separated and I honestly think those shoes are so ugly. I can't wait to try them out this fall. They are specifically intended for minimalist trail running. With twins I had to stop running in the first trimester. I can't wait to be able to run again, I miss it so much.

My parents and Tim's parents are also chipping in to get me a glider and ottoman. I never had one with Sofia because we live in an apartment without a lot of space and I didn't want to spend more money. It was a silly decision because I breastfed Sofia for nine months and I really wish I would've had a more comfortable place to do it. Since I will likely spend even more time nursing with the twins, it's high time I have a comfortable place to do it. Hopefully we will even have a bigger home so the chair will fit in a nice place. Last night we were able to have a three way Skype with Tim's brother Christopher who is currently living and working in Alaska and Tim's parents. They were able to witness Sofia taking about 7 steps on her own! She is so ready to start walking on her own but she is someone who will do things on her own time. She has also started scaling furniture so she can jump around and do other daring acts. Here she is on her reading chair this afternoon.

23 week update

Warning: this will be a very boring update post that I felt like writing just because I can't fall asleep. I can't believe the twins are already 23 weeks along! This pregnancy is flying by compared to my pregnancy with Sofia. This pregnancy is also very different, I had a hard time gaining weight in the first trimester even though I was eating a ton and I started to get a lot of weird cravings in the second trimester. The biggest difference is physical, my belly at 23 weeks is the size of my belly around 35/36 weeks with Sofia. I also get tired easily but I don't really have a lot of time to rest with a very busy and curious 13 month old. I avoided stretch marks with Sofia, I don't think I'll have such luck with the boys. My stomach feels like it's going to rip sometimes, I really don't know what I'm going to look like come June and July. I also have the joy of climbing 3 flights of stairs to get home with a 26 lb baby in tow. I really can't complain too much though, besides terrible sleep because of back pain and all the things mentioned above, I feel pretty darn good. I went for a 13 mile bike ride today which was only uncomfortable because I had to pee within 5 minutes of starting the ride and my belly is just so big! I love feeling the boys move. I felt them so much earlier than I did with Sofia. They were really rocking out during one of the songs at church today. I know I'm starting to hit the point where I need to slow down. It's going to be hard for me and I'm a little worried about how I will handle it. I am most worried about not being able to play with my sweet Sofia the way I want. I'm not exactly a sit back and watch kind of Mom. Today was probably my last bike ride since Tim's parents are taking my bike back to Wisconsin this week and we have family and tons of other events scheduled for our last few weekends in Memphis. I better end it here, Tim is not happy that I'm still up writing instead of getting my beauty rest. PS- We officially have first and middle names for both boys :) And I LOVE them. I will leave you with a few quick pics from yet another amazing weekend in the gorgeous weather Memphis gives us every spring.

Sofia giving her favorite puppy dog, Frodo, some love.

Sofia & Tim celebrating Earth Day at Shelby Farms

She was quite interested in the owl and bald eagle we saw. But her favorite thing at the festival was definitely watching the kites.

She is totally my girl, she loves walking around barefoot in the grass.

I love her more every day. It sounds cliche but if you have kids you understand.

Our princess in her chariot. She is so funny in there, today she was laughing hysterically on the bike trail.

Enjoying some good food and music on a gorgeous night.

We can see the finish line!!

It was another long week while Tim prepared for boards. Sofia and I miss him so much, he gets home at 6 or 6:30 every night, sometimes later and she goes to bed at 7 so it stinks for everyone when we don't get a lot of family time together. Tim spent most of Saturday at school preparing for Part III of National Boards. Saturday night we had a few of our friends over who were in town from exterships in other states. It was so nice to hang out and catch up with everyone. The past four years have really flown by and now almost all of us have kids or are expecting babies. Sofia is the only girl out of all the babies our friends in Memphis have had. Our friends the Glenns had a boy last summer and the Winstons are having a boy in May, the Spriggs aren't finding out the gender but they are having a baby in May, and then my good friend Rachel and I have due dates within two days of each other. I'm expecting two boys and she's expecting one. It will be so much fun to get together with our friends for vacations in the future when all of the kids are older and can really play together. Anyways, we hung out, I beat all the guys in Settlers of Cataan and we called it an early night since many of the guys were testing in the morning. The only thing missing were all of the wives, I can't wait to see those ladies in May for graduation!

Sunday morning Sofia woke up extra early, probably just to help Tim get up and get ready to go take his test. She had to give him a morning pep talk and some snuggles. Tim went out to test and Sofia and I had a great morning together making breakfast, reading books, dancing, and making sure the house would be nice and clean for Tim when he came home. We even had enough time to take Frodo to the dog park in Midtown. I'm not sure who had more fun, Frodo or Sofia. Sofia is obsessed with dogs, I originally had her in the stroller so she wouldn't get knocked over but she protested until I took her out. The dogs loved her and were all very gentle. She especially loved a beautiful, silver Great Dane.

We got home just as Tim gave me a call to let me know he was done and he thought he did very well on the exam. I think it will take about 6 weeks until Tim gets the official results and can be a licensed doctor. We were planning to go for a bike ride when Tim was done because it was an absolutely gorgeous day but my front tire of my bike busted. We had a new tire and two tubes with small leaks so we had to go for a walk. We walked to Sofia's favorite park on the island and had a great time swinging and playing. We saw a side of her we've never seen, the playground was full of older kids and Sofia was extremely shy. She kept hiding behind Tim's legs.  It was adorable and strange to see, normally she is not afraid of anything.

Sofia LOVES swings. She cries whenever we stop, she could swing for hours. I can't wait to have a back yard so she can swing all the time.

We decided to celebrate the final round of Tim's board exams with a dinner at Central BBQ, one of our favorite restaurants. I can honestly say that the dinner hit every pregnancy craving I've had this week. I had a half plate of the famous BBQ nachos and half order of wings. With Sofia I craved fruit and vegetable and with the boys I crave everything under the sun. We ended our lovely day at YoLo (a frozen yogurt/gelato place) where I satisfied my sweets craving with a "to die for" cup of of pear sorbet. I included a picture, just to torture you and inspire you to go support a fabulous local business in Memphis! Our visit took a bit longer than expected, everyone had the same idea tonight. We ran into so many people we knew at YoLo.

I'm excited to be able to hang out with Tim at night this week, hopefully he and Sofia will have some time to catch up as well. Unfortunately, we will be sending Tim off on Thursday for a crazy 2 days for him. He has seven interviews in two days up in Wisconsin. Not only seven interviews, but all over the state. Please keep Tim in your prayers as he will have two very long, busy and stressful days. Hopefully he will also have some nice job prospects after these two days. Sofia and I will be busy getting ready for Baby Winston's shower that we're throwing with a few other people this Sunday. We will miss him so much! Tim has never been away from Sofia for more than one night back in September while he was at an optometry conference. The plus side is hopefully we will have a better idea of where we will be living this summer and next year!

Sofia was supposed to have a bath tonight. She fell asleep on the ride home from YoLo and she couldn't be woken up. We tried all our tricks (especially since she was covered head to toe in food. We ended up giving her a sponge bath, that she slept through. Poor baby is worn out, a sign of a great day in my eyes!