No! Not him! Not Santa!

The babies in their "cages"

I have no idea what Tucker is doing. He wanted to snuggle with the nasty front hall rug. Gross

The less successful Santa visit. Note: Tucker clinging for dear life to his Daddy's neck

I'm doing this backwards. Jim is still working so I can't use his cool computer to upload pics. I'll write the text, then add the pics.

One thing I really wanted to remember to blog about is how much fun Tucker has making faces in the mirror at himself or with me. It cracks me up. Happens every time we wash hands.

This week I cut Tucker's hair and played phonic videos for them, per a friend's recommendation. Holy cow. They love it! Tucker was great during his 30 min hair cut. Except one side of his hair looks great and the other side, well, you can tell which side I had better access to.

This week we went to the Garden d'Lights. Wow. That was absolutely incredible. I didn't think a lights display could ever compare to Temple square, but this one just might compare. They made the gardens with lights. They made all sorts of plants with lights. For example, there was a garden patch. A strawberry patch, corn rows, tomato plants, carrots and a scarecrow all made with lights. Silly me didn't take pictures. A friend did, though. Any pics from there are from her. Jim was supposed to meet us there, but he ended up working, so it was a little crazy with them both. I didn't have the stroller in the car because we had taken it out for sledding and didn't put it back in. It was awesome until Tucker got cold. Then it was a lot of screaming. Whitney seemed to be enjoying herself, though.

Santa came to visit our house this week. It was super cool! Tucker wouldn't let go of Daddy. Had a death grip on his neck. Whitney wasn't too excited either, but they both were very gracious and said Bye a bunch when it was time for him to leave.

This week is the shortest day of the year. I can' wait! That means the days will be getting longer. Something I'm looking forward to more than any other year.

I watched a friend's kids this week as part of a babysitting trade. Whitney and Tucker had a blast helping with the baby. They both liked feeding him his bottle, something that really stressed him out, but he drank faster that way. Whitney liked sharing her crib and high chair with him. When she saw him at church, she pointed to him and said Baby! like she was excited to see him.

Whitney has been saying "asleep, asleep" a bunch this week. I just connected why. We've been playing the children's christmas songs and the Away in the Manger song says that in the chorus a bunch. Very cute to me that she picked up on that.

Today in church mention was made of a storybook that tells of a mom that had a great service opportunity. Each week the family draws names and serves the other person during the week. When they do the service, they add a straw of hay to the manger they have on display in order to prep for the coming of Baby Jesus. Very cool. Now. All I need to do is remember that for next year, or the year after.....

the festivities!

Tucker cooking with Whitney

Whitney so cute in her outfit playing with magnets

Whitney being really cute

Daddy's fins arrived. Whitney's first SCUBA lesson

Family fun together

Whitney munching on her Skittles while building the gingerbread house

Whitney poking her head out of the log at the Children's museum

Last week when Tucker and Whitney were snuggling in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Whitney chasing the cat at a friend's house. It went behind the couch

Tucker helping our friends with their tree lights

Tucker having a blast with the cat at a friend's house

Whitney trying out the sled

Listening to choir practice before church started. Tucker's got a cheese stick

Listening to choir

Whitney helping take out the christmas decorations at a friend's house

This is what Daddy sees when he comes home from work. Tucker shouting "Papa!"

We had a lot of fun enjoying the Christmas season this week. It started off with some friends inviting us over for dinner and helping them put up their tree. I didn't want to put a tree up this year because of all the effort and then the policing that would happen, but maybe I should have. Whitney had so much fun unwrapping all the ornaments. Tucker liked helping with the lights. These friends have a cat and Tucker and Whitney ran around chasing it. Now every time they see this friend of mine, they start meowing.

Monday we cleaned and cleaned. Tucker was taking an early nap. Couldn't make it past 11 am, so Whitney was helping me this time. She finally was able to get her hands on the small hand broom and can sweep all the stuff into fairly well. She can't get the last bits, but she can do all the rest. I was very impressed. And this whole time I had no idea how well she can sweep because Tucker is a bit of a broom hog at times.

Tucker really likes to help. He likes to set everything up. He helps get everything set up in the bathroom for Whitney to poop when we are in public, including shutting the bathroom door, which, (exciting!) has a latch at his level. He also likes to turn the lights on and off when we are using different rooms as well as get the room ready for bed, nightlight, radio and toys and blankets.

Tucker is Whitney's biggest cheerleader with the potty training. He claps for her after each success and monitors her progress on her successes, just like Mommy and Daddy.

I started playing Inzey Winzey spider with them this week. They love it! Tucker has a certain way of holding his hands to ask to play it that melts my heart.

They are imitating a lot. Whitney and Tucker both imitate words and action. I am starting to see a reflection of me. For example, Tucker shushes the dogs the same way I do, then says "basta!". Whitney often tells Sammy "out!" and shuts the door every time she goes to the bathroom. Or tells Sammy "move!" when he walks in front of her or tries to get petted. She copies a lot of the words I say. I think the cutest thing is her trying to say zuchinni.

Another thing that Whitney does that is imitating me is me getting ready. She has been giving me my toothbrush to brush my teeth first, then brushes her teeth right after. This week I got a big laugh from her. She has progressed to doing everything I do to get ready, including putting in her contacts. One morning, she brushed her teeth as usual, then asked me for my contact case just after I put in my contacts. She opened it up, poked her finger in each well, one at a time, and then poking at each of her eyes with the fluid on it, just like I do. She also put lotion on her face and chapstick on her lips. Her "putting in her contacts" cracked me up the most because her actions were just like Mommy's.

She is also starting to put together three word phrases and is saying 1-3 new words a day. For example, we went to the pet store and she saw turtles and called them turtles. I didn't know she knew that word. She also pointed out a hat in a book and said hat when I hadn't even pointed out the hat. I don't feel like she is smarter than any other kid, I think what startles me is how much they know at such a young age but are just now able to communicate it. And it is fun!

Yesterday the babies played in the snow for the first time that they were able to participate. Whitney and Tucker both LOVE sledding. Whitney likes it longer. She doesn't mind the cold hands and feet as much as Tucker. As soon as his hands got a little cold, he was done, but Whitney put up with cold hands and feet much longer for the thrill of the riding. She loved to say "bump, bump, bump" as we hit some bumps. Just like they do in the car when we hit speed bumps.

Yesterday us and two other families Jim knows through work got together and planned a winter fun day. Jim cooked, another family found a sledding place and the other work buddy (a girl) made gingerbread house parts from scratch and brought all the candy and stuff to put the house together. We also had a bit of hot chocolate. It was a blast! One of the other kids, only seven, built a fence, a utility pole off the chimney and a sled from candy and gingerbread house parts. I was impressed with the ingenuity.

I went to a music time group on Wednesday for the first time. Some moms that have younger kids that want a little more structure but not so much to do a joy school or play school have put together a music time group. And Tucker and Whitney LOVED it! Their favorite part was the parachute. Tucker loved the balloons they had and Whitney loved the fuzz ball that was part of the art project to make a reindeer puppet with paper lunch sacks.

Thursday was a fun day for Mommy. I went to my first clogging class. I'm wearing tap shoes, so the sound isn't quite right, but I'm learning the techniques. There is a lady in our ward that is part of a women's group that meets once a week to clog as a workout for them. This lady has an older daughter that can come and play with the kids in the gym while we dance on the stage. Tucker took a great liking to her right away when she showed Tucker about making a basket with a basketball. They played in the gym with her for an hour and a half while I learned some basic steps. I'm very excited to be part of this a little more long term.

And least but not last, I'm getting very excited for some awesome Christmas presents to give. I almost can't stand it! I usually never come up with these great of ideas or prices, but I guess I have more time and energy around Christmas than I've ever had and I'm way excited about it!

setting up for Christmas

One tab off

then the other tab off...

checking for "stinky poop", very, very gingerly..

Whew! That was a stinky one!

Now.  How do I get this thing back on?

Ask Mommy!  All done!

Learning to wind the santa music box.  Looks a bit like surgery or working under the car

Seriously.  Does life get any better?

So this week has been adorable and very busy.  I think I'm starting the time that people have always referred to when they heard I was going to have twins.  "Wow.  You're going to be very busy".  It's really fun as they start talking and putting words together to express thoughts, but boy is it busy.  They are both in constant motion.  As I'm cleaning up glass from an ornament thrown down the stairs, Tucker is attempting to pull all the cups out of the cupboard........  It truely is non stop.  And they still nap.  I seriously don't know what I'm going to do when naptimes end.  Let's not think about that and move on to the really cute times of this week.

Most of these I didn't have a camera handy because it is a constant motion, so I'll have to describe them.  On Monday we decorated for Christmas.  I decided not to have a tree this year.  It won't be used and I didn't want to have ALL of my ornaments broken this year, so I put only a few out for them to break.  Case in point as referred to above.  As soon as Whitney and I decorated the bannister with the holiday garland, Tucker spied the red glass ornaments, exclaimed "Apple!", plucked the fruit off and promptly threw it down the stairs, in say, 2 seconds.   Whitney loved gently unwrapping all the different snowmen ornaments and christmas stuff in general out the box.  I think she is really going to like opening presents this year, just for the surprise factor.  We have some friends in the ward that said when their kids were little, they put the tree on the porch, so they could see the tree through the window but not touch it.  That tickles my funny bone and seems so sensible!  As long as you don't live in a ghetto.

I rented videos from the library this week once I realized the babies wanted nothing to do with playing outside longer than 10 minutes at a time.  Not even Tucker.  Too cold.  He was pushing the stroller around, a favorite pastime that normally occupies up to 45 minutes in a day.  After about 10 minutes of pushing it around, he suddenly stopped and started crying, looking at his hands, and promptly went to the front door.  So video time after dinner is a way to stop the destruction for a moment.  I got a few Elmo videos for Whitney.  She can spot Elmo a mile away in a store.  I have no idea how she learned about him, but she has.  This morning, practicing her newly acquired skill of putting words together she said "watch Elmo?" as she bounced on the edge of the mattresses we have on the floor down there as an indoor trampoline.  Very cute, but it was Sunday. 

Another absolutely adorable word phrase she put together is "snuggle mom"  She says it whenever she wants to be picked up.  Which is a lot more than I previously thought she wanted to be picked up.  This phrase is used more frequently if we are outside or as I'm cooking dinner.  A little frustrating, but seriously.  Who could possibly resist, least of all the mom.

We went to the Festival of the Nativities today.  It's where there are hundreds of nativity sets set out on display tables.  Tucker and Whitney were impressively good.  No touching.  They seemed fascinated with the lit trees that were in the room, the metal trap door type thing on the gym floor that covers the holes for the volleyball net poles, and they walked around either saying "baaaaa" or "mooo" whenever they saw a sheep or a cow, or any animal for that manner.  With hundreds of nativities, you can imagine how often that was said.  Whitney also pointed out the "papa", "mama" and "baby" in many of them.

This week we went in public and had no accidents in public.  I'm very impressed.  Whitney seems to increase the frequency of saying "poop" when we are in public.  I think she really likes public bathrooms.  I'm not sure if she just likes to try them all out, or if it because when she shouts, which she does while on the throne, there is such a loud sound in response.  Tucker likes it when Whitney goes in the bathroom.  The first time we went in a public bathroom, he passed a stall, then as he passed another, he paused, looking in.  he did it for each stall.  I think he was fascinated at how many pottys there were in one room.  He also likes to show Whitney where she needs to be to do her business and monitor said business.

Whitney also started increasing her frequency of asking to go to the bathroom at home.  Each time she asked for a fruit snack, but it sounds like "poop snack" how she pronounces it.  All the same, right?

We had a lot of fun just starting the festivities in general.  The first time I turned on the Christmas lights, Tucker's eyes lit up and he kept saying "wow!" every time he would walk back into the room.  He loves to wind the Santa music box.  The first time they started trying to do it on their own, it scared me, but they have been amazingly good and careful when they carry it to me to wind and they always bring it back to the table on which it belongs.  So far.

Whitney had a ton of fun helping me roll out sugar cookies.  See video.  While Whitney was intently cooking, Tucker was taste testing.  And boy does he like dough.  In fact, he was so sure all of it tasted good, that he started licking various measuring cups and spoons, too.  After we rolled out all the dough, Whitney expertly cleaned off the floor on the counter.  I was very impressed at how she swept it off into her hand.  I had to have my hand below hers as her aim was a little low, but she got the concept.

On Monday night, Tucker realized how warm it is in Mommy and Daddy's bed.  For some reason, he figured out how to climb up and snuggle in the covers, singing to himself. Whitney soon joined them.  They had a great time.

One last thing.  Let it be known.  Tucker DOES NOT eat defective fish of any kind.  I have no idea why, but he won't eat it, even if it has a tiny speck missing out of it.  Accountant?  Auditor? Engineer?

See separate posts for videos

Whitney potty trains..... herself!

Tucker working really hard to button his top button

Whitney spending some serious quality time on froggy

Tucker playing cars with Tanner

Midnight snack.  Literally

Tucker at kid's museum talking to or about fish.  Not sure which

Tucker spending serious quality time here while Whitney is spending quality time with Froggy

Whitney at kid's museum

This pyramid is so cool!

Tucker playing with water at kids museum.  But then again, I can do this at home

Whew!  I feel like I have had a lot of fun and craziness all at once the past two weeks, and most especially around Thanksgiving.  But we are all alive and the better for it.

The week before Thanksgiving I was doing laundry and found water on the floor.  It wasn't the washing machine.  It wasn't the pipe.  It was the septic system.  We have been having people come out and assess the septic system as well as fix it for the past week.  We finally settled on a contractor and they dug up almost our entire back yard to fix the leech pipes to the drain field.  Good thing we don't have landscaping.  As a result, there have been lots of exciting tractors making beeping noise and general excitement that warrants an excuse to take nap a little later in the day. How cool!  Tucker and Whitney really like watching the tractors.  They also have taken to saying "beep...beep..beep" when pushing stools around the kitchen.  That is pretty dang cute, I must admit.  We'll not comment on the price tag of such a fix, but needless to say, a new washing machine would have been WAY cheaper.  Oh well.  Good thing we found it before worse stuff starting backing up in the house.

During this time, we weren't doing laundry as the sudden influx of water put a stress on the system and we were saving that for flushes.  So Whitney and Daddy got in cahoots and decided to POTTY TRAIN!!!!  Yeah!!  Mommy was much, much, much less enthusiastic.  Although, this might be why Whitney did soooooo much better with Daddy.  And Daddy adapted the program to lots more treats, juice boxes and a cool potty chair that Mommy did not do.  Whatever! Success!  We went to church today and there were no accidents.  Whitney told us when she had to go.  But we did cheat a little and she didn't go to nursery on account of the huge amounts of snot that came out with each sneeze.  It was a very, very good thing to get back to doing all sorts of stinky laundry with the new septic system in place.  Daddy said about potty training "this is the most exciting thing I've done as a parent so far!"  He loves to teach.  I keep teasing Jim that maybe he should stay home with the kids and I should go to work so he gets to have more time with them.  And a HUGE thanks to Grandma Ann and Hannah who spent a whole lot of quality time with Whitney in the bathroom.  For TWO DAYS of their trip here.  Tucker was also a huge trooper and played really well, solo, while Whitney was learning.  He even brought Whitney some things while she was on the potty chair.  He spent quality time getting into cupboards and opening and shutting the microwave, his favorite thing.

Some really cute things Tucker did this week is play really well.  There is a photo of him on his belly with another 6 month old.  He got down on his belly and pushed cars around with this little guy, as if he were entertaining him.  He did it all on his own.  He is also learning to do comfort pats to Whitney when she is sad.  He gets a kick out of Piglet pretend talking.  And he loves the ball fort Daddy got him.  I guess it was to compensate for all the treats Whitney got and the fact Tucker is going to have a hand me down potty frog.  There is a video of him playing in it, but I can't find it on this silly computer of ours.  He is making good use out of it.

Tucker has had a tough time with being a picky eater.  He doesn't want to eat what's given him except rice, fish crackers and oatmeal, with some swigs of milk in between.  Really annoying.  He must have this internal calorie counter in his body because if he doesn't get a certain number, HE WAKES UP AT MIDNIGHT for a snack.  We all hate this trick.  And he only eats fish crackers during this time.  See above photo.

We had a great Thanksgiving and a full house.  Jim cooked and organized the tons of other helpers we had to make it all work.  We had Paul, Cathy, Hannah, Erik, the missionaries, Mina, Ixchell, Christopher and us.  It was great fun!  Jim smoked a turkey and some ham.  Lots of good times!  Cathy has the pics for that.

Oh yeah.  And in all the midst of this, Jim gave his two weeks notice at Razorfish and will begin work at Nintendo starting December 1.  Crazy.  He is excited as this was the job that he was supposed to have with Amazon.  He had a great time at Razorfish, but this will be another great opportunity for him.  Here we go!

This week is decorating.  And testing public bathrooms. Any tips?

Whitney potty trains..... Bear!

Tucker cooking up some serious meat (puzzle pieces of farm animals)

In the box... in the box!

The cutest thing ever this week.  Whitney potty trained Bear (her stuffed bear).  I was in the bathroom washing my hands when I looked over at Whitney.  She had flipped the toilet lid up, sat Bear on the potty and held him there like I do when I put her on the toilet.  After about 30 seconds, she took Bear off the potty and put the lid down.  I really wish I had my camera for that!

One of the videos should be titled "Eddy!  Wish you were here! -Sammy and Rocky".  This week the babies have been very amused by watching the dogs eat.  So they gave them lots of opportunity with lots of dog treats.  One time Tucker was lying on the floor on his stomach, propped up on his elbows, lazily kicking his legs a bit watching the dogs eat.  Very amusing.  Whatever.  They weren't fighting or doing anything dangerous, so it let me get something done.  Although, I regretted it a bit later in the week when I went to poop scoop and there seemed to be a lot more poop to scoop this week.  Whitney is the narrator in the video.

That's another cute thing.  Is to poop scoop while the babies point out where the poop is.  Whitney is the most diligent at sticking to the task.  There is an explanation of "poop!" and then "yuck" follows repeatedly as I actually pick it up.

This week was a bit like having a newborn.  Tucker (and Whitney) had a cold.  He got up around 12 or 1 am almost every night this week.  To cry, eat crackers and just generally be awake until he was comfortable enough to sleep.  Whatever.  By Saturday I was exhausted and tired of the constant whining and just left the house.  Jim asked where I was going.  I didn't know, but just wanted to leave.  I ended up going to the library.  No screaming children that were mine there.  Hallelujah!  Thank heavens for good hubbys.

Another video is them playing with "the box"  The box is a new smoker.  Because we needed a new smoker since we haven't used the last one since the "ice fishing incident when mandy was gone for a weekend" time.  About 3 years ago.  This one is bigger and better.  Bigger and better to take up more space.  But I do have to say, it was pretty cool that the next expense was $25.  He did sell the other smoker.  Now, he can smoke a Thanksgiving turkey while I use the oven for other things.

Tucker has been practicing his cooking skills, as noted these past couple of weeks.  The video of him putting the spices in and out of the microwave was easy to get because he literally did that same activity for 1/2 hour straight.  I got the dishes done.

I got back some really cute Halloween pictures that I put on Thanksgiving postcards and will send a letter out on Christmas paper.  That way you can have my three favorite holidays in one envelope.  At least, that will be my goal for this week.  Soooo  It should be done around the first week in December.  Keep checking the mailbox!

I think I have to do a separate post for the box video.

halloween and it's aftermath

Tucker playing with the oven mitts.  He knows they need to be used to touch anything in the oven

Diaper boxes are always the best

Daddy carving the pumpkin.  Whitney eating string cheese  Tucky supervising

Hmmmm... so far, looks good!

And we make it look even cuter!

We were invited over to dinner by some friends who let Tucker and Whitney play with and take home these bowls.  Who knew they were the best toys ever!  Whitney made block soup

And a hat

Tucker wearing his hat while helping me with chores

What I should have done for costumes (the other set of twins in the ward and their big brother.  yep.  only 16 months apart.  My life is suddenly easier

Another cute idea.  Mom is referee (obviously), Dad is the fan and the kids are the players. 

Before they knew how much fun they were going to have

Getting closer to fun with bags in hand.  one is a candy corn and one is a ghost bag

I told Daddy that they could eat as much candy as they wanted Halloween night and  the next night, then that was it.  Party hardy!

Can't even wait to open the wrappers

I haven't had this much fun on Halloween since I was a kid.  The cutest things we liked were how much fun they had loading their bags with things.  Once Whitney figured out that she could ask people for objects to put in her bag, she was totally sold.  They didn't even care that it was candy.  I don't think they knew.  Then, on the way home, they figured out it was candy when I opened on.  After that, they tried "opening" the wrappers themselves with their teeth.  They now know what candy is. The day after Halloween, I went to put their trick or treat bags away and Whitney spied them.  All of a sudden, she wanted to go for a "walk", grabbed her bag and went to get her socks and shoes on.  I think she was wanting a repeat of the night before.  We had a blast.

This week I was thinking about how a year ago I was in Illinois.  I had so much fun last year.  And kind of wish I had waited to come this year (although my mom isn't already up here to help get them back there) because they are so much more fun.  For one, they don't sleep as much and eat more foods, not to mention all the fun stuff they do.  Oh well.  It was a great trip with lots of good memories and I can't believe it has been a year.  They still play with the dolls my aunt gave them and love the soft blankets when in the car.

This week has seemed like more of the same.  We went to the mall indoor playground, which they love.  They can literally bounce off the walls.  But I'm not sure I love it.  3 days after, predictibly, they are sick again, which makes for sleepless nights. Hmmmm..  But they are very cute bouncing off those playthings.

This week they had lots of fun helping me dig in the dirt, deadhead plants, put rocks in the wheelbarrow, draw on the white board (with lots of supervision),  and add ingredients to receipes. It still does my heart good of how much they like to help right now.  They have been getting better with each other.  Since Whitney's cold, Tucker has been fairly vigilant about getting her Kleenexes.  And since they have all sorts of winter clothes and rain boots on outside, they fall often.  But they have started helping each other up.  It's very cute and sometimes a little dangerous.  Tucker still pulls Whitney's hair, but less often, and when he does, he has figured out how to say sorry.