Five Years!

(...a little early, but I don't know if I'll get a chance to post this next week)

2008

In the past five years...

We have had 2 sweet girls with another one on the way.
Lots of diaper changing -- we figure it's somewhere around 7,500...at LEAST!!!
(Out of our five years of marriage, almost two of those have been spent pregnant!)

14 church callings - (currently Aaron is our ward's "Piano Man" - ward organist, primary pianist, choir pianist - obviously they have a hard time finding people to do this in our ward. And I just got the calling to be the R.S. Enrichment Leader.)

lived in 4 different apartments (in Idaho and Utah)

3 bachelors and a masters degree (Aaron has two bachelors degrees)

I've only had 1 job (for the first nine months - until Carly came) Aaron has had about 9 different jobs.

(warning: this next one could be it's own separate post) In five years we have purchased only 1 item of furniture - our bed - and this we didn't purchase until we moved to Moscow. The first couple weeks we had a blow-up mattress and after that Aaron's parents let us borrow two twin beds that we pushed together (one was even a little shorter than the other - ha ha!) All of the other furniture we own has been given to us - some new, but mostly rejects/hand-me-downs. Our kitchen table, couches, rocker/glider, bookshelf, TV and TV stand, crib, pack-n-play, girls' twin beds, all four of our dressers, and most of our home decor... Yeah, you're probably thinking we're way cheap - but we like to call it frugal :)! We are planning on buying our second item of furniture soon - another dresser so we can fit all of the girls clothes when the new little one comes. But wait a second... I just remembered that my parents have a couple dressers that they haven't been using for a few years now... :)

In the past five years we have owned only 1 car (which we did buy). Luckily, this car hasn't given up on us, and luckily, Aaron's work pays for him to use public transportation. We obviously love the saying:
Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Or do without
A great saying to live by,

In the past five years we have driven back and forth between Rexburg (Aaron's parents) and Idaho Falls (my parents) way too many times!

In the past five years I have felt so lucky to have met Aaron and married him - and as my Dad has said: "There aren't any better than this, Camile." I agree.

All about Carly and Ellie

Ellie with a "real" smile! She has just learned how to zip up her coat all by herself (Carly just learned too). Ellie will be three in just two months.



Carly found this snail a while back (I am so amazed at how unafraid she is of bugs and slimy things!) Carly turned 4 in August.

Although it was hard, at times, to have Carly and Ellie so close together (17 months), I am so grateful now because they are such good friends and entertain each other so well!



We are doing a preschool/joyschool for Carly right now and the past few weeks have been at my home (Ellie joins the other three kids when it's at my house) - Let me just say, I hope I am never in a position where I feel like I need to homeschool my children!
Today for preschool we talked about children all around the world. Here they are with their homemade, paper bag, pinatas.




One thing that Carly and Ellie love to do together is make-believe. Some of their favorites:
-One of them is the Mommy and the other is the baby or puppy. Today Carly was Mary and Ellie was Baby Jesus.
-Sharks or aligators are on the family room floor and they have to get away from them.
-Imaginary puppies and kittens need to be rescued and taken care of.
-One of them is the librarian (they will sit and read books for a really long time).
I love listening to them make up different situations and playing so well with each other.

They still fight a lot though. Some of the biggest issues:
-Carly won't let Ellie brush her hair
-Who gets the favorite color cup, spoon, fork, or whatever (I've tried to explain that the water/food tastes the same either way - they don't care!)
-Who gets to ride on Daddy's shoulders
-"She hit (or kicked or pinched or touched) me!"
-They both want to be in charge at the same time (This is usually what it always boils down to)


If I would have known 20 years ago how irritating it was to listen to your kids fight, I would have been much kinder to Stephanie. It does give me great hope to think of what great friends Steph and I are now though!



This is Carly with a couple of her friends - the one on the left is a year older than her and the one on the right is only 4 months older than her! (Carly is so tiny!!!)

6 months down...3 more to go!

6 months!!!

Carly and Ellie have been very helpful in coming up with names for their baby sister.

Some of Carly's most creative ideas:
Luckiah
Rispoona
Niclair
Cackleen (her version of Kathleen)



Some of Ellie's:
Laleela
Camile
Olivia
Ike (my favorite)

Aaron and Camile's:
still not sure!

Everything is going well as far as the pregnancy is concerned. I've been experiencing Braxton-Hicks for about a month and a half now and have already been feeling some pressure and a little uncomfortable. I'm not worried about the baby coming too early, I'm just nervous about how uncomfortable the last month might be!

Even thought this is the third time around, I am still just amazed when I feel the baby move and kick... and to think that this is one of my own babies, just like Carly and Ellie. It is so amazing and I'm so grateful to be pregnant! I am so excited to meet this little girl and see how her personality will fit into our family. I wonder who she will look like. And I wonder if we'll have another little "boss" or get to experience a laid back child. For those of you have had three (or more) children - especially those with 3 girls in a row (and I know quite a few) - what is the third child's personality like in your family?

This baby is going to get so much love - Carly and Ellie already love to hug and kiss my belly and sing and talk to their sister. The second time around (when I was pregnant with Ellie) I always wondered how I would be able to love another little baby like I loved Carly. I just thought I loved Carly more than I would be able to love anything else! But, it's amazing how you can just find more and more love inside of you - did any of you feel this way with your second pregnancy? So, with this pregnancy I haven't really had to think about that - I already love this little one, and I'm sure that this love will continue to grow.