Moving home...

Our last week in Memphis was full of packing, tying up loose ends and trying to say goodbye to all of the people and places we have come to know during our four years in Memphis. Some of the hardest goodbyes included our church, friends, doctors, and Sofia's teacher. Sofia absolutely loves one of her teachers at school and they threw her a special "despedida" on her second to last day. Her teacher is wonderful and Tim and I both came to say our goodbyes to her. I actually cried watching Sofia and her have their final moment together, it just really hit me that Sofia has no idea that she'll never be at her school again or see her teacher. Our church is an incredible place in Memphis that welcomes people from all walks of life and truly practices what they preach. The church was our family while we were so far away from our own family. Our last Sunday was beautiful, we got there early enough to socialize with some people and I brought Sofia into the sanctuary while the choir was still practicing. She looked straight up and held up her hands and just smiled. I know Sofia has felt the love of God and the congregation of our church. Then she listened to the music and just started dancing in the huge open space. Normally I would be quick to pull out my phone to take a video but it was a moment I'll have to remember in my own heart because I just watched her and smiled. I was pregnant with her in that church and I remember her moving in my tummy during music and now to see things come full circle and see this beautiful little girl dancing in her church was just amazing. Saying goodbye to my school was also hard, I worked with some incredible people and had some amazing teaching experiences. My entire teaching career has been in schools of great poverty with students from some very tough homes. I will miss my students dearly but I look forward to hearing about their accomplishments as the years go by. I was amazed by how many of my old students (who are now in high school) came by to catch up with me before I left. Honestly though, the job has been a lot of work and both physically and mentally and I am looking forward to a little rest and time to focus on my own family more. We were lucky enough to say goodbye to some of our friends with a fun cabin weekend but we weren't able to say goodbye to everyone which has been really hard on me. I have never been a person to make close friends quickly. Tim and I are both a little guarded about who we let near and dear to our hearts and leaving a group of people that we have come to know and love so much is very sad. I think overall it's just been difficult because we moved so far away. Our drive was 11 hours home and we know how hard it will be to see our friends who stayed in the South, especially as people have more babies etc. Now that we are in Wisconsin it will be nice to catch up with our old friends from high school in college but we will forever miss our Memphis group.

The move itself was a lot of work. I wasn't able to help as much as I wanted since I'm the size of a full term pregnant woman, I'm currently carrying almost 6 lbs of babies! Both boys are a few ounces shy of 3 pounds. Tim's parents are amazing. They left Wisconsin after work on Friday and drove through the night (besides stopping for a few hours to sleep at a rest stop) to arrive in Memphis by 9am. Tim and I weren't even home when they arrived because Sofia left her school Friday with a little virus and we wanted to play it safe and have the doctor check her out before we left. As soon as we got home Tim and his Dad began the arduous task of moving all of our things down 3 flights of stairs in 90 degree Memphis heat. Sofia was miserable and wasn't happy about all of the coming and going, she doesn't like seeing her Dad leave. After about eight hours of packing, Tim and his Dad fit all of our belongings into a minivan, trailer, and Tim's car. I was absolutely amazed and impressed that they fit everything. We didn't want to rent a truck because of the cost of the truck and gas for a 700 mile journey. Especially since we aren't sure when the next paycheck will come. Tim's Dad left as soon as the trailer was packed and the rest of us ate a quick dinner. Tim drove his car alone, which was good since there was no space whatsoever. Tim's Mom and I drove with Sofia and Frodo. We decided to leave after dinner since Sofia was so sick and exhausted. We drove until about 3am and tried to sleep at a rest stop to save money but Frodo kept growling at everything he saw and no one could recline seats because of car seats and boxes. So finally around 3:30 we were able to find a cheap motel and sleep for a few hours before finishing the move Sunday morning.

We are currently living with Tim's parents in Baraboo. We are very grateful for a nice place to stay but it's also a little stressful because we know we're going to have to move again, possibly two more times. It's also hard to live in a place that's not your own when you've been on your own for so long. There are also a lot of benefits. Sofia is adjusting quickly and seems to have beat her virus already. She loves spending time with family and having a big house to run around in and a yard! It's really helpful to have extra hands around since I am so big and I get tired very quickly these days. Tim has four possibly five interviews in the next two weeks so hopefully we will have an idea of where we will be moving to in about a month. We thought we would know by now but the jobs in Wisconsin are just not as plentiful as the South. I've been amazed with how patient I've been able to remain about the situation. I really like things planned out well in advance but I've had to let go and give up control these days because there is absolutely nothing I can do. It's just weird to think that we have no idea where we will bring the twins home to, it could be Tim's parents house and it could be an entirely different city. I look forward to the opportunity to get a little more settled and the moving is a pain but part of the process. We are hoping that we can rent wherever we go since we couldn't save for a down payment while Tim was in school. Again, another little bump in the road but it's all part of the journey and I'm trying to remember that God has a plan for me and my family and so far it's been a pretty awesome one.

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.