Happy Halloween

Whitney loves banging on things, especially things that make noise. This was the first time she "practiced the piano" It was really fun.
This table top toy has a lot of noise making buttons that are fun to hit. The babies love it!

Whitney loves the dishwasher, but I had no idea how much until this day. I was putting away dishes and turned around to get more when I found this. It made me laugh. I'll have to remember how much they love to help with dishes and making the bed when they are teenagers

Whitney in her black ninja costume

Mommy with her loot, including Whitney with her money bag on

Whitney in her too-too, the third costume today. It's been fun

The babies first Halloween went well. No trick or treaters came to the house to wake them up after we put them down, so they are well rested. I don't think anyone snuck any candy to them considering they are the oldest children. Last night we went to the church trick or treat party. Families decorated the doors in the church instead of doing a trunk or treat. Welcome to rainy weather. I was wondering what they would do here. It was really fun. I was a prisoner and the babies were my loot (money bags). I stole the idea from my friend Emily. She did it last year with her family, except her husband was participating in the event and she was a police women and her hubby was the prisoner. I couldn't convince Jim to participate in Halloween. Oh well. Although the fun of dressing up was a little spoiled because it was like me telling a joke or drawing a picture. I had to explain what the babies were and then some people said "Oh, now I get it". A few things about that though. Most of the time we were carrying the babies and so the money sign on the bag was facing our bodies. And my mom made the bags white instead of brown, so it was confusing and hard to tell what they were at a glance. Tucker wasn't too big into dressing up, either. Whitney was fine with it. She got to change clothes three times. It was great.

The baby news for this week is fun. Tucker likes to clap, and per video, figured out how to drop objects and thinks it is hilarious. He is doing better at the mommy time stuff. He actually played on the floor this week without having some part of his body touching some part of my body in order to play. It was mostly due to this. I was cooking and had to put Tucker down, which made him scream. Whitney was crawling in circles around the kitchen, living room and playroom. She especially loves the entryway as she pulls to stand on the stair banister and can look down the stairs. She was in the entry when Tucker was screaming. She starting making some talking noises and I swear she was talking to Tucker, letting him know what cool things she could see and how much fun she was having. He stopped crying and started military crawling around the house with her. Whitney saved my butt again. I've been able to do a lot of stuff this week since they have been playing together since that day. I've been surprised. I thought when they started crawling that they would go in opposite directions, but since Tucker has to have someone near him most of the time, what happens is Whitney crawls somewhere new and Tucker follows her. They especially love to play with the dog dishes. They figured out how to get the rubber ring off of one and were playing tug of war with it and having fun. It's fun to see them interact like that.

Tucker is also feeding himself quite well now finger foods and his bottle. That has also helped a bunch. I can either eat with them or do something in the kitchen, like make dinner, while they eat instead of waiting until baby naptime to get it all done.

Whitney's top tooth broke through today. She also has been practicing standing without holding on to anything for brief moments today. Every time she can keep her balance for a second or so, she laughs hysterically and seems to be immensely impressed with herself. She'll be walking soon, which will give her the edge again to get to toys before Tucker can get them and take them away from her. She discovered how much fun it is to help Mommy put away dishes and she loves to help make the bed (she crawls around while I move the sheets over her). She laughs when she crawls to the edge and looks over the side. Most of the time Sammy is below her, so I'm not sure if she is laughing at him or just because it is fun to look over edges. She likes to look over the edge of the deck too. I think I will have to always watch her because she likes to know exactly where the boundries are and checks them out first. It reminds me of a saying a co-worker of mine used to say. "Kids are like cows. You put them out to pasture and the first thing they check is where the fences are".

I went to Value Village this week looking for my Halloween costume. I guess that is the WA word for Savers. I love Savers. Why buy anything baby first hand when you have stores like that? This one wasn't even picked over. I got three pairs of shoes for me, three long sleeved onsies, three blanket sleepers, my Halloween costume and two waterproof jackets for the next two sizes up for the babies, all for $50. Awesome!! I feel like doing a Whitney. Laughing hysterically because I'm immensely impressed with myself for those finds. And all that stuff looks pretty new.

My goal for next week is to take all the blog address info I have from people and put them on my blog so I can use this more like email and keep up more often because I won't have to type in the blog site each time. I'm very excited. If you don't see yours on there when they are up, send me an email because I probably lost it in my file of info. That's the other goal for the week of the 8th. Get my files together so I can find all that info.

Anyway, I can't wait for this week's adventures. HOpe you enjoy the pics and video

getting settled

Whitney was congested last night, so after I had been up with her for three hours, Jim took over and this is how I found them this morning. So adorable!! Jim said he was dreaming about how he was dreaming about taking care of Whitney. The background is our driveway.
I think Tucker likes music. The only time that he will play by himself on the floor this week for longer than 5 minutes is when I'm playing the piano. Whitney likes to bang on the piano and be up off the floor where Tucker can't crawl over her or take over her mommy.



So. I have absolutely no idea what happened in church today. It's the beginning of the end, I guess. Now that they no longer nap in public places and skipped morning nap, plus they both know how to crawl and want to feed themselves solid food, it was insane keeping them entertained, but not so entertained that they were getting into everyone else's stuff. How do people do it when they have more kids? Or older kids? No idea, but I guess I'll find out.

This week was wonderful. Lots of wonderful things happened. Like the washer got fixed on Thursday and my neighbor let me borrow her vacuum, even though we have dogs and lots of bark in the house from the movers. It was soooo awesome to have a cleaner floor. It was getting pretty bad. At least the babies "swifter" the place on a daily basis, but I was getting so grossed out with the clumps of dog hair all over their bellies whenever I picked them up. Which increased the amount of clothing that was dirty. Couldn't do much about that for awhile, but on Thursday I could finally do all the loads. The washer had a break down, literally, with all that washing, but at least I got all my loads in before it broke. Now I can go another 10 days, no problem. And it will be better. The floor is better and Whitney keeps getting better at crawling on her hands and knees, so she spends less time swiftering the place.

I also have almost everything put away. That was another great thing about this week. I could actually clean because everything was put away. And I wasn't spending every minute working on things to get settled. So we went sunbathing for 1/2 hours every day. The amount of time that the sun shines on our deck where the babies can crawl. This week has also been mostly sunny, which has helped my mood considerably. I can't believe how much missing the month of August of all things, has affected me. I feel like winter set in too soon. I have always hated the month of August because of the intense heat, but since I missed that intense heat, I guess I didn't get all the vitamin D. That's what all the women around here blame their health problems on, is the lack of vitamin D. Good idea. Don't worry. Maybe I will go on that trip down south to visit Sue and Stefanie like I had planned before we knew we were moving.

Anyway. Most of the time the babies were being cute was on the deck, and I can't leave them and go get the camera, so there aren't many new pics. You'll have to review last weeks. Mostly I'm really excited because I feel like a normal routine can return (except for Sundays of course!) and anyone can come visit now!! We'd love to have you and have the space for just about anyone.

We have also gotten to know our next door neighbor who has been awesome!! She absolutely loves the babies and even got them each a toy as a house warming gift!! She is grandma-age, so it is working out really well. I also found out how close the parks, library and shopping all are. It's getting to start to be a little like home. I found the pictures this week and was looking at the past couple of years. I never thought I'd say it, but I found myself missing Utah. We grew a lot as a couple and went through a lot of things, plus have some great friends there. And I will miss having snow at Christmas, but I'm sure it will work out for us this year as we do things to make it feel like home.

For baby news, Whitney loves to pull to stand and Tucker likes to push and pull drawers open. I guess the high chair and dog dishes were a preview. Whitney had her first taste of a pinecone. She made a face, but didn't spit it out, whatever that means. Their doctor visit went well. Tucker is 28.5" and Whitney is 27.5". The nurse says Tucker weighs 21 pounds and Whitney weighs 19 pounds but I didn't believe it. I went home and weighed them again. According to our scale, Whitney weighs 19 pounds and Tucker weighs 23 pounds. That makes way more sense. I feel like my arm is going to break off whenever I carry Tucker (which is a lot lately as they are going through an "I only want mommy" phase). It also makes sense because Tucker just fits his size 4 diapers and 12 month clothes, most of which say 20-24 pounds. So I'm right because moms are always right. The babies had egg the first time this week. Typical reaction. Whitney devoured it as soon as she knew it was food and Tucker made a face and chewed slowly until he decided it was good, then opened his mouth for more and more and more.

I'll try to get more pics this week. It should be easier because Grandma Kim is coming Friday and Halloween is next week!! So fun!

tada!

Whitney first learning obstacles. She is excited about it, but it looks uncomfortable. Aug 2010
Whitney really learning how to crawl. She had this day where chasing a toy on the smooth floor was fun, but it kept getting stuck behind the toilet. Sept 2010
Whitney playing in the morning.
Whitney and Tucker playing in the morning She rules the toys. Sept 2010
Tucker playing in the morning
Tucker learns to pull himself on the toys. Whitney no longer reigns. Sept 2010
Whitney at the Sculpture park. Sept 2010
Tucker learns to stand at the window. Sept 2010. Whitney looks on. big deal. She already knows that trick.
Whitney and Tucker at the park. Sept 2010
Double babies.
Babies in the swing.
hey aunti jill! Recognize these? This was the last night they could fit in these pjs at the same time. Sept 2010
Rocky has been ousted. Aug 2010
Tucker christens kitchen with the first diaper change. 10/11/10
Whitney checking out the new window. This shirt glows in the dark, by the way. 10/11/10
Who's having more fun playing? 10/14/10
Whitney is not so sure about this new weather. Aug 2010
View from the duck tour 8/10
Overlooking Puget sound. The sculpture park. I spent a lot of time there enjoying the view. 8/10

The babies at the Sculpture park with the space needle in the background 8/10
All of us on the duck ride 8/10

Tucker and Whitney playing in the window the first time in Seattle. 8/10
The babies at the Sculpture park 8/10
Our first dinner in Seattle. Jim made awesome seafood, of course. 8/10

Sammy traveling to Seattle 8/10
Rocky traveling to seattle 8/10


Tada! We moved in. I guess I forgot to blog last week. I think I started it, but then my brother called, so that ended that. This week was quite the adventure moving. I would have to say having someone move you definitely is worth it. The advantages for someone moving you outweigh the disadvantages, although other things happen that wouldn't happen if you moved yourself. Like possibly getting someone else's stuff. The truck showed up Tuesday to deliver our stuff. It was supposed to come last Friday, but that was due to an underwriter at the bank that caused that. We closed on Friday morning and it was recorded at the courthouse at 4:30 pm. 30 min before closing time for a three day weekend due to Columbus Day. Perfect. Because we camped in our house on Monday night, something we wouldn't have been able to do until the house was officially ours.

So back to things that happen when someone else moves you. I didn't realize the process, otherwise I would have made Jim stay home from work on Tuesday. As the movers pulled stuff off the truck, you are supposed to check off the numbered item on this list so they know we have it. Then you tell them where to put it. Which is awesome when you are not trying to entertain or feed crying babies that are clingy due to all the changes in the past few days. Most of the time the babies were good or it was during a nap time, but there were some crazy hours to hold two babies and hold them outside. Thank heavens it wasn't raining, a real miracle here. So they started pulling things off the truck, after the guy double checked we were the correct Andersons. A few items into pulling stuff off the truck, several bed items came off that I didn't recognize. They stopped unloading the truck and everything was double checked again, when I suddenly remembered that we had packed Noelle's stuff, including her daybed, which is the stuff I didn't recognize. Opps. The driver said, "Mandy! You scared me!!!" I might have stressed him out. Well, as much as you can stress out an Islander.

Then I discovered the vacuum was present but is missing the top. The part that keeps the dirt in. Rats!! It was the last off the truck, so I think it fell when they opened the truck and didn't find all the parts when they put it together, or it got moved around in the warehouse here. I guess our stuff was in a sort of cubby for 2 months. The dogs tracked in all sorts of bark and pine needles and Whitney is having a grand old time vacuuming without a vacuum. For some reason it is very fascinating to pick up scraps of bark and eat them before Mommy notices.

Then the third party crating guy shows up. He was asking the moving guys (who were at this time unpacking all of my boxes, so there was paper, boxes and loose stuff everywhere on any flat surface) where different things were for the baby cribs, the washer and dryer, and the TV. I think he was irritated. I guess the third party crater on the other end didn't leave instructions on how to put the crib together. The guy here had to guess and ended up putting it together 3 times. Then the washer hose was broken in the move, but he didn't notice it, so there was water all over the place when he went to check that it was in good working order. At least he checked before I did. Then the movers thought at first that they had to put together the tv, so they had started opening the crate a little, so the third party guy was looking for parts, walking around asking the mover guys where a box was and they said it was unpacked... and so on. It was a zoo. All during this time there are 4 other guys plus two babies and me all making lots of noise.

Something else that always happens is that not all the stuff comes off the truck. Parts of shipments often get left in the warehouse. Once the truck was unloaded and all the numbers were checked off, I went through all the items that were not received (about 20), most of which were all Jim's. I thought it was funny, but he didn't. Half of his desk didn't show up. His Ikea TV stand and chair weren't there. His desk bookshelf was there, but not the bookcase it goes to. So all of his office gadgets and books were strewn all over the floor, but nothing to put them in. Like I say, I thought it was funny, but he didn't. Oh yeah. His grill didn't make it the first trip, either. Or his bike. It ended up coming the next day, though. I didn't notice anything missing. Until yesterday. I can't find my piano music. There is one box that I packed (possibly my piano music) and one box they packed of clothes that never got checked off, but then there are a ton of boxes in the garage, so maybe it's there. I really need to find my box of sponges and cleaning rags, too, but I'm not ready to tackle the garage. I have to say, next time someone moves in, I know exactly what helps them unpack. Pulling everything out. Even though it was a huge mess and I had to barricade the babies to a certain part of the house, at least I could see everything and all I had to do was put everything away. It saved a ton of time to not deal with the boxes and paper all over the place.

Anyway, we are really enjoying our new house. I love all the trees I can see and we've been lucky with the weather so far. There has been sunshine during part of the day every day this week.

For baby news, Whitney is getting to be a real speed crawler. She crawls on her hands and knees most of the time, instead of military crawling and is really good at feeding herself. She really loves chasing balls and is having a blast with all of her "new" toys that I pulled out of storage. She pulls to stand on this mini table/toy thing and has a great time banging on it and singing about it, too. And she hates the vacuum cleaner. Every time I tried to make it run (at the apartment last week) she chases it like she wants to kill it. Smart girl.

They often play together, chasing balls, fighting over the frisbee and crawling around following the dogs. Tucker finally grasped the concept of feeding himself small bits of food this week, too, and has long mastered holding the bottle. He is really talking up a storm and smiling at anyone that looks his way. I trimmed up his hairline again, but that's as far as I got. He is a lot more wiggly. This may be a two person job for a little while. He continues to spit and growl lots too. He also hammed it up at the title company and loved sitting in the big chair.

Something I got a big kick out of is when Jim was playing with the babies. They were playing with a toy that sings a song. The song was playing when the babies hit it and stopped the song. Jim said "Oh! I like that song".

Lots of the pictures were of the first part of seattle, since I didn't have this computer to get the pictures off, so enjoy! The videos are of the babies chasing balls, eating, and Tucker likes to push things back and forth. Like the dog dishes. And high chairs.

life in Seattle

Whitney playing her favorite game, Slap-the-coffee-table

Early morning snuggles in bed

"Look Ma! One hand!"
Daddy had a lot of fun taking pictures of Tucker in this monster outfit. It's too small now, so it won't make it to Halloween. No worries. We have a good surprise up our sleeves for costumes. He loves playing with the plastic kitchen spoons.

Tucker ready to take the dogs out in the morning.

Tucker on his tummy just plain cute.

Both babies playing in their pjs in the morning.

The awesome doorstop. This provides hours of entertainment. See video below for more doorstop fun.


Whitney loves to pull herself to standing at the window and look out. The ledge is a great height to help her pull to stand. She is very impressed with herself.
This file cabinet is also at a great height to practice pulling to stand. And to bang on, both very impressive baby skills.
Whitney taking a break from all of her play. She doesn't have her jeans on anymore because she crawled out of them. Oh well. Resting is very serious business.


This week hasn't been terribly exciting. Probably a good thing the week before we move, to have a calm week. Most of it has been watching the babies really learn to move. Tucker finally has grasped crawling. Rocky was his motivator. Rocky was Tucker's body length away. Apparently it was a distance that wasn't too intimidating. Especially if moving that far would be rewarded by being able to touch Rocky's paws (which he hates, by the way). So that's what Tucker did. He rapidly military crawled to Rocky. Poor Rocky. He didn't know what hit him. Previous to that moment, that baby wasn't a threat. Only Whitney. Now Rocky knows. And much to Rocky's dismay, Whitney also crawls over obstacles, something that Rocky is very good at being. Rocky hates being crawled over.

Some things that makes Whitney laugh or smile is looking at herself in a mirror and digging into Mommy or Daddy's mouth, like she's about to do a root canal on wisdom teeth or something. The hair on their Thing one and Thing two dolls makes her laugh. If we tickle her face with their hair, she will laugh. She loves materials. She hates being on her back for a diaper change, so if I give her something with a material to feel, she will be still long enough to change her diaper. She especially loves the feel of her hair bows and her tights.

Now that Tucker can move himself around, I can get other things done, like dishes and laundry, when they are awake because he can entertain himself better. I love that. Perfect timing that they are mobile, but not very mobile yet where not having baby locks is an issue.

We tried to go to the art museum this week, but went to the library instead because it was closed. Oops! Oh well. I got a great idea from the Taiwan mom about putting the babies back to back in a baby swing that day, so the walk to a closed museum was worth it. Which worked out great because on Thursday afternoon, there was not a cloud in the sky, so we went to the park and I did just that with them. Put them in the swing back to back on the playground. And realized I left the camera at home. We had a great time enjoying the sun. Spending time at the library was also nice because they have a table that is low that has toys attached to it. Whitney learned to stand up and sit back down on that table.

Anyway, we will be moving out of this apartment this week, so I will be doing my last Seattle things while we are still downtown. Enjoy the pics!