Washington, D.C.

With the help of my dad while he was here, we planned and executed a trip to DC to see my sister. She was supposed to have her little baby girl when we got there, but she's still waiting. My mom flew out to help with the new one and we were just a big Sorensen family gathering. We hauled Melissa (my sister) out to the zoo in 95 degree weather along with all three of my girls and Mel's little boy, Van, hoping to induce labor. Three hours of walking in the heat and pushing strollers up a hill and we got nothing. If the zoo hadn't have been free we would have asked for our money back.

So all of the animals were doing exactly what the rest of us should have been doing - taking a siesta in the shade. At least we could see the lions.

This vulture was the only animal Katie got to really see in action.

There's Katie checking out the meerkats. She had fun running around and talking about the animals.

Here's Katie and Van trying to share the car. Katie kept yelling at Van to get out, "it's Katie's turn Van." I wish I would have got more pictures while we were there. Katie and Van did a good job of playing together (as good as almost 2 year olds can), we played in the plastic pool in their yard, played at the park, went for a walk, I was just excited to spend time with some of my family. Jeremy couldn't come because he can't take vacation in July. I wish we could have had Ann, her kids, and Jeremy (my brother) there as well. But you take what you can get. It's hard seeing family only a few times a year, but the good part about living apart is when you do see each other you're staying in the same house (provides for plenty of conversation) and set the whole time aside to do stuff together.

Doing anything with these girls has a similar theme. Packing and getting ready to go anywhere - from the grocery store to the trip to DC (10 hours, by the way) - is enough to make me want to cry and question why am I even going anywhere. But I'm always glad I went after we get there. Thank goodness I had someone to make the drive with. We crossed through 10 states each way: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The way there went a lot smoother than the way home. The girls were probably just a little tired of so much craziness for them, but we had one of Kate's diapers explode from too much pee, and both of the girls had poop plastered up their backs at our first stop at 8:30 in the morning just past Philadelphia. And they all grew more tired of the drive as we went on. It's one of those times when you're grateful for the bigger city traffic because as long as there's not congestion to slow you down, everyone's going at least 20 miles over the speed limit and you can pretend you're a race-car driver as you're just praying they all decide to take a nap now.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

OK, technically it's paddle since we were in a canoe. I was so excited to go and play in a canoe! I found someone to watch Sydney and Cora for a couple of hours so my dad and I could take Katie out on the Connecticut River. I must admit I would love to really get the paddle in the water and wander, but for now we will settle for me keeping Katie Lou from tipping into the river as she tries to touch the water or reach the lily pads. She loved the lily pads so we'd keep picking them and eventually found this amazing flower for her. It was two hours well spent.

We're still working on keeping her eyes open for pictures.

Getting Bigger

Let the feedings begin! These girls can't get enough of eating, though they're still not quite able to sit up and are a bit too small for the seats. So we pad them with towels and hope it helps. Of course, they still vomit, so now they vomit in color. Yeah. Let me tell you what - dinner is insane. I don't know how day care people do this with so many little ones. But it is fun to watch them eat everything and get so excited. I am surprised that neither of them are big on fruit. They love the sweet potatoes and carrots, but have been pulling all kinds of funny faces with the fruit. Go figure.
Cora and Sydney have been better about just chatting to each other until it's time to get out of the crib.

Grandpa came to visit! My dad had a conference in Maine and came over to play with us for a few days. All three of the girls just ate him up.

Here's all of our girls lounging in the kitchen.

Silly Me...

Just in case anyone was wondering, should you be filling up your sink to thaw out some meat, make sure you actually turn the water off before you leave the kitchen.

I'm Feeling So..

I can't believe how many things I seem to be feeling, so I'm going to write it all down. I feel so overwhelmed when it's the fourth night in a row of really late bed times for the little people and I've got to do it with Jeremy gone again. I feel so blessed my husband has a good job. I feel so baffled as I work on my primary calling at how much goes into organizing, teaching, and keeping every primary running in every ward in the world. There's nothing to finish as much as it is to just keep working. I'm so grateful for how many people so willingly give of their time and hearts to teach so many children about the gospel of Jesus Christ, especially knowing my kids will be there someday, shouting out the most random answers and wondering when they'll get picked to give a talk. I love singing to Sydney and Cora with the guitar when Katie's down (they can't grab the guitar yet like she can). They just smile and dance and get so excited when I sing to them.

I can't believe how much fun Katie is. Jeremy had today off for the 4th of July so we went with some other resident families to Mascoma Lake. It takes us about an hour to have everything we may need packed, and even then one of us ends up trying to keep the twins from crying, but we're always glad we went. Jeremy got the crying job today and I took Katie out in the water. She was pretty nervous at first, but together we worked on her kicking her legs like a fish and splashing in the water and walking in the water and not being afraid of it. She loved it! She loves her mom and dad and loves to laugh, be tickled, and sing the most random songs. Yesterday in church she kept opening the hymn book to sing at the top of her lungs. We're not so sure what she was actually singing, but it was beautiful to her parents. She is so smart, loves to be read to, and loves knowing how the story goes so she can say part of it, too. She does get into everything, especially when I am nursing or pumping. Last week she actually locked herself in our downstairs bathroom. Thank goodness the window was cracked. I went outside, removed the screen, opened the window all the way, climbed in and saved the day. Great, I can add breaking and entering to my mommy resume.

I think June was our first month of having no one stay with us to help since we moved her. We moved here a year ago. I love our house, neighborhood, the weather, and the people here. I would really love our girls to grow up here. But I'm sad, too. I miss being able to see my family. I would love to go on regular walks with my mom and plan outings with my sisters. I wish I could be there for my parents now when things are hard. I feel sad that I can't just give my parents a hug, or have Katie spend time with her great grandparents. I can't believe we survived a month on our own. It's not been without great effort. Sometimes the thought of getting everyone out the door on my own again is enough to make me want to cry and hide under the covers, but I don't. Well, crawl under the covers anyway. We've made it work. We get so much help, especially from the ward and I can't thank them enough.

I want to spend more time slowing down. I really want to become better at pondering and reading my scriptures again. I was under some delusion when I was single that that would be easy when I would stay home with kids. Jeremy told me today I have chosen the harder course. I know this is where I need to be, but this is not easy. I don't know how to make the time to slow down, but I will learn.

So I'm feeling some of everything: happy, sad, grateful, content, overwhelmed, and excited. It is good to be alive. Life would be so boring if we couldn't experience all of this.

We Love You

I have pictures somewhere of my Grandma Adams holding Katie, but I can't find them. I really wanted to put it up, but since I can't find it all I can say is we love you Grandma Adams and thank you for raising my dad to be such a good father. Thank you for letting my family live with you when we first moved to Utah and couldn't find a home when I was younger. Thank you for loving all of us and being faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your kindness. We will miss you and I'm sorry we weren't closer to let you see your great-grandbabies more.

The Best Helper EVER

Katie is my little shadow. She wants to do everything with me. We have a little black stool that she moves around the kitchen to stand with me wherever I am - making toast, cooking, washing the dishes, using the microwave. She also loves to help with the girls. She buckles every buckle in this house - her high chair, the girls' swings, the car seats, anything she can and says "Katie did it. I did it!" She even decided to change Sydney's diaper for me. I had taken Cora in the other room and when I came back Katie had unbuttoned Sydney's onesie, taken off her diaper and was wiping her bum. Then she put the wipe in the diaper and took it to the trash. She's hired! I just need to teach her to put a new diaper on. Katie also loves to play in the water, so I let her help me water the garden.

She loves to spray herself in the face and say "I a wet cookie!"

This is her telling me "I a wet cookie."

You just can't find hired help like this. Isn't this why we have kids? Slave labor?

She figured out she wasn't tall enough to turn the swings on, so she moved her little stool over to make sure her dollies could swing like the babies do.

This is the face she pulls when you ask her to smile. She closes her eyes and shows her teeth.

Laughing at Pele. I had to get a couple of real smiles up.

She has no fear of anything and climbs on whatever she can. No severe accidents yet.

And jumping in her little pool. "I making waves!" is what she loves to say in her pool.

Six Months Tomorrow

Six months tomorrow. My jaw wants to drop. Sometimes when we're out people stop me to say, "oh, you have twins," and somewhere in my brain I'm thinking - I do? Oh, yeah, these guys. It has surprised me that in many ways I am still recovering, but I guess part of that has to do with not sleeping for so long after the squirts were born. They have been a marvel to watch, even more so having two to compare. One does one thing, then the other, then they switch. They notice Katie a lot now and just smile at her and love her. They get so excited when any of us come close to them - a big gummy grin and they kick their little legs and squeal. We all love to kiss them and love them. They still puke, but not as bad as Katie. We love having them in our family and enjoy getting to know them more and more everyday.

Daddy with Sydney
Sydney loving her new play area.

Here we have Sydney and Cora. I just wanted to pull up a picture of Katie about the same age, doing about the same thing and ask if anyone can really see much of a difference between the three of them.

This was Katie in March of 2009. She doesn't have the dimple in her chin like the girls do, but other than that I think they all look the same. Good thing their names all sound a little different. I can't wait till I'm running down the whole list in a few years after they've decided to do something devious together. I hope I can tell them apart then.

We're working on getting them to sleep through the night so all three girls can be in the same room upstairs (Sydney and Cora's current residence has been the upstairs hallway or the downstairs guest room). They've gotten a lot better about sleeping through their nap time, except that right now I'm sitting outside of their room listening to them talk and play with each other. And bed time's been pretty good as well. I will have a hard time putting them in separate cribs, though. I don't know if I will until they can start hoisting each other out because they sure are cute together. Oh, well. Everything I said I wasn't going to do I've done and things I was planning on doing I never even started, so we'll see where this goes.

June Showers

I couldn't wait for spring and summer this year because I can get out and play in the dirt! And everything seems to bloom here. These are the red tiger lilies my brother relocated when I made him dig up the garden during his visit last summer. They survived the transplant and I think they are gorgeous!
The first fruits of our labor from our garden. I can't believe how quick the squash and zucchini are growing.

These are the regular tiger lilies that are everywhere here. I tell you what, the crazy rain makes everything just grow and grow. Our veggie garden has exploded. We don't know if we'll get any cucumber, but it might be because everything else is taking over. It's so fun to go out and pick something and cook it up for dinner. I hope wherever we end up permanently has a growing climate as versatile and fertile as this one.