good weather

Isn't it amazing how much good weather can do a body good? We have had 3 days in a row of sunshine and a pleasant breeze. I think it's been in the 60's and almost 70's. I've been able to weed a couple of days in a row and it's been great.

Another thing that does a body good is getting consecutive sleep. I've been able to weed during the second baby naptime because I don't feel this incessant need to sleep every second I'm awake. The babies have been only waking up 2 times in the night, and one of them is around 5-6 am, which isn't as hard to get up for as a midnight feeding. It's been awesome. The babies and I have gone for a walk every day.

We've also been working together as a family in the garden. Jim has been working on the plantar boxes and the shed, making adjustments to previous plans, as we've figured out and paid attention to the amount of sunshine different areas get.

Jim turned 30-something this week. We celebrated by having some friends come over, eating wings and apple pie with vanilla ice cream. I took care of the babies that night so Jim could go to bed whenever he wanted. That's what it's like to celebrate when you are an adult. The simple things in life.

The babies have been getting better at cooing and talking, even Tucker. Whitney does it a lot. I love listening to her talk. She often talks instead of crying when she starts getting hungry. It is a lot more pleasant than screaming. Whitney also has a lot of voice flucuation. It is so cute!!

Tucker has been making "sad face". He has the funniest sad face that I start to laugh and then he doesn't know what to do. He laughs because I am laughing, but he is still upset, so he goes back and forth between laughing and a sad face. Poor child. He is probably confused about how to respond to emotion.

The county nurse came on Monday and measured their weights. Whitney weighed 11 pounds 1 ounce and Tucker weighed 13 pounds and 15 ounces according to her scale. We all know doctor scales are different. This time the doctor scale will most likely be in agreement with my biceps and back muscles. I'm SURE they weigh more:) Most important is that they are happy, healthy and gaining weight.

There is a picture of Jim giving Whitney a bath, Tucker working with Daddy (Tucker is working on trying to break Jim's patience by crying and Jim is really working), Whitney enjoying her bubble bath, Whitney being cute in her pink overalls, and us trying to capture Tucker's sad face when he puckers up his lips. We didn't quite get the sad face but you might get the idea.

aftermath

This week we had a low key week after having so much fun last weekend with everyone here. I had to laugh at the picture of the babies sleeping with their arms up. That was the morning after everyone left. It looks like they are being robbed.

I actually left them with a babysitter this week. Jim couldn't believe I actually was able to do it. I agree with him. It was very hard to leave them for 2.5 hours, but she has 4 younger siblings, very responsible, and her mom said she would be home during that time in order to be available if she had any problems. Her mom said she has called home a few times before when she has had questions during other babysitting jobs. It was very traumatic for me but the babies had fun. They were very happy when I got home and must have had fun playing with the babysitter because they slept well the rest of the day. I worried about them the whole time I was gone. Typical. New parent nervousness.

I got a picture of them in their favorite onesies. Very fun to see Thing 1 and Thing 2 on them, especially since those outfits were so big when they left the hospital and now Tucker is getting close to outgrowing it.!!

We made it to church as a family today. It went really well. No one pooped on the way out the door, but I did think there was a bird in my clothes dryer 5 minutes before we left. Jim checked it out and the bird was pecking at the lint on the outside of the vent, so we made it to church on time still. It really sounded like flapping and a bird hurt in the dryer. I was kind of mad at first that there might have been a bird in the dryer because all my clean clothes were in there, ready to wear. I would have had to do laundry again if the bird was in there. Not cool. The babies have plenty of clean cute outfits, but mommy has a limited supply of clothes that fit and look good on her.

We are still in the newlywed phase together, the babies and us. It is so fun to snuggle with the babies and they seem to like it, too. Whitney really likes to bounce. Daddy likes to bounce her, but his arms get tired. She cries to let him know she still wants to bounce. He wants to get a chair that lets her do it. I say let Daddy and Whitney bond.

The first four pictures are their 3 month photo op at home. The last two pictures are just fun and described above.

baby blessing

Everyone has left us. So sad!! This weekend was very fun. It was Tucker and Whitney's baby blessing on Sunday, Conference weekend, Easter and Scott's birthday. Party hardy!!! Paul and Cathy came in on Wednesday night, my parents came Friday night with Scott, Ryan and Noelle close behind, and Grandma Anderson and Grandma Cindy came Saturday night. Lindsay and Ryall plus Jesse and Asher came for the blessing and to visit another time. Izana and Jonathan, as well as Dave and Jill, came for the baby blessing Sunday. We had a ton of fun, but as my dad said during the last session of conference, "the natives are restless". There was a lot of fun noise and activity but not something the babies were used to. They got a little tired from staying up to socialize.

This week Cathy and Hannah helped me with getting the babies pictures taken in their blessing outfits as well as go shopping in preparation for the crowds. Good thing!! Having more hands to hold the babies and prep really helped, especially since in the beginning of the week Tucker and Whitney got off schedule at night 3 nights in a row. Jim and I were very tired. I think there must be a quota of how much sleep you have to miss as a parent, so the kids are very accommodating in making sure we meet this quota.

Now that everyone is gone, Tucker still wants to be held all the time and Whitney likes to "dance", something she did the most with Grandpa Henry.

Another great thing that happened this weekend was that the planter boxes were mostly finished, thanks to Paul, Jim, Ryan and Erik. Hallelullah!! The garden will be planted this year!!

Anyway, there is a small sample of pics available, but most of you probably got your own on your camera from visiting. Others should get a blessing picture mailed to you.

The pictures are of Scott and Ryan feeding their nephew and niece, Grandma Anderson feeding Tucker, and Jim and I with the babies after their blessing.

Tucker's first haircut

This week I made Tucker BYU legal, meaning he can now go on BYU campus because his hair isn't hanging over his ears.

The rest of the week is a blur. They got off schedule in the night two nights in a row and Jim went with the scouts on a camp out the third night. We are all overly tired, except the babies. They sleep whenever.

Before the babies got off sync, I went to the caucus meeting for our neighborhood. That was interesting. I've never been to one and was unprepared. But I'm ready for the next one in 2 years. I mostly felt like I didn't know what questions to ask. And I didn't realize how easy it could be to get started as a politician.

I finally met my goal to start making bread instead of buying it.

The first picture is of one of the scouts in the slot canyon hike Jim went on in the San Rafael Swell area. He was avoiding the water. Don't blame him. The water was just above freezing and it had snowed the day before. Not exactly perfect weather for hiking there, but an adventure, for sure. One of the pics is Tucker's first hair cut. The one of Whitney and mama is because Whitney is so cute in bright pink. The last picture was Tucker on the floor after the Daylight saving poop episode. There wasn't anywhere clean to put him. The floor was the cleanest.

Jim and I's advice to you is to check to see if the waterproof pocket you put the camera in really is waterproof, and, don't catch the edge of the toilet paper with the vacuum cleaner. I watched the vacuum cleaner get threaded with toilet paper like a bobbin on a sewing machine, but with the background smell of a burning engine. Awesome.

busy week

We got the pictures back on CD from the babies photo op through my neighbor's sister. She gave us a CD and released all the photos to us. They were taken the day they turned 2 months.

This week was fun but maybe a little busy. Monday we were able to have some friends over for family home evening, the Tiners. It was really fun to have them come down and visit, but we could talk all night. Tim had to get Denise and I to stop talking.

Tuesday I decided to go spend the night at Izana's. That was really fun and a trial of traveling with the babies. It was a little exhausting, but fun to have company all day and talk to Izana. She said she didn't hear the babies at night, but I'm not so sure. The hardest part about traveling with the babies was that I felt bad if the babies were crying too much or too loud or that Izana had extra work. Extra work with kids is not something that I want to create for someone else. But it must have been ok because they asked when we want to go camping this year. Crazy. Izana will be very pregnant or with a newborn if we go this summer.

Joseph, her 4 year old is very good at taking care of the babies. He fed them, always asked before holding the babies and came asking with his hands already washed. His favorite comment was of Whitney's feet: "Your baby has such little toes!". My kids must be cute because Joseph and my visiting teacher's 5 year old daughter both said my babies were cute and kids tell the honest truth, more than we want to sometimes.

Thursday we finished the baby blessing outfits. Sister Perry is awesome!! They are so pretty and handsome. I'm very excited about the finished product.

Yesterday Jim started on his plans and pricing out how to build our garden, compost pile and mini orchard we are going to grow in the back yard. We found a gala apple tree. Now I'm worried about it growing, not dying. I don't have the best track record with plants or pruning. I know we need to prune it soon, but not sure when. Jim will google it, I'm sure

This week the plan is to get dirt and supplies for the garden. Another busy week, but I think that is life!

I admit I have been very spoiled. I asked for diapers if anyone wanted to get me a gift and I'm glad I did. This week is the first time I've had to buy diapers. Hmmmm. No wonder people say it is too expensive to raise kids. Jim looked at the costco box and said, "That will last a day". Especially with Tucker. He peed on my friend's carpet as I was changing a poop diaper and telling her about my last sunday and daylight saving time. I won't tell that story again. It reminds Tucker of his skills.

It's official. Tucker and Whitney are no longer wearing newborn sized clothes anymore!! And I finally squeezed (no. take that back. Rolled my skin into) my jeans, so now I have more clothes to wear. I celebrated by eating four cookies.

Enjoy the pics!

Spring forward!?

So. You know those people that show up to church an hour late and say they totally forgot about daylight savings time? I think it is just an excuse to have one less hour of church. I can't believe that anyone could forget daylight savings time. It is very important. And we are now officially part of that group. I can't believe I forgot about daylight savings time. Jim woke up at 8:30 (really 9:30 unknown to us at the time) and asked what time I wanted to go to church. Then the next sentence was "Is today daylight savings time?" Oh yeah. The only reason we figured it out was because he looked at his phone, the only correct clock in the house. At least he didn't have to bring anyone to church today. It still makes that comic of the two dinosaurs stranded on an island watching the ark in the distance with the word caption "Oh crap! That was TODAY!" totally apply.

As Jim is having this conversation with me, Tucker is fussing because he messed his pants, so I go in to change him. He pretty much missed the diaper and is covered in poop up to his neck. Really. Up to his neck in poop. How is that possible? It's not like you can change the direction your bum can face. As I am trying to clean him up, he peed on the wall. I was too focused on the poop to watch the pee. I rapidly covered him with his diaper. A minute later, erroneously thinking it was safe, I tried to finish cleaning the poop and he peed on the changing pad cover, his clean clothes, Whitney's clean diaper and the wet wipe container. I quit. What an awesome spring forward day. Good thing the snow laced trees outside were present to remind me it is spring.

Anyway. This week was pretty good. I went to my doctor's appt and finally got full release to do everything again. The babies had their first shots and only got a mild fever. Oh yeah. That was the night Daddy was babysitting. I forgot to tell him about the second dose of infant tylonol and the warm bath to calm them down. They cried the whole time I was gone.

I went to a landscaping design class. That was pretty cool. My neighbor and I also got Whitney's blessing dress done and half of Tucker's outfit. It looks so cool.

I called my mom to tell her Tucker weighs 10 lbs. 1 oz and Whitney weighs 8 lbs 11 oz. She said that Tucker's new nickname should be "Hefty Hefty". He is getting cute and fat.

The pictures are of Whitney's shots and bandaids. The other is Tucker the first time he used his Bumbo chairs sitting on the table. He is getting so big.

Over the top!!

Last week was insane. For everyone involved, I think. Jim was able to do his presentation and spend the week Tuesday through Friday working from 7 am or so until 10 pm or later helping his clients that flew in for the conferences. I thought I was going to fall over dead doing all that child care alone and was very glad to see him Friday night. I think Jim was glad to be done, too. Now it is work as regularly scheduled. Jim mentioned one time that he was tired after all that activity at work. I don't think he'll mention being fatigued again to someone who has been woken up every 2-3 hours and is up for an hour for two months. His words fell on deaf ears.

Jim spent Saturday and Sunday helping to take care of the babies while I got caught up on stuff. Mostly housework and shopping. He kept walking around the house exclaiming "You're huge!" to Tucker. Apparently Tucker grew a ton in four days. Every time we go to pick him up, his weight is very noticible. That would explain why he decided to eat 4-5 ounces every 3 to 4 hours. Whitney eats about 2.5-3 ounces. I think all that attention from Daddy to Tucker made her jealous because now she is increasing her intake to 4 ounces on occasion, too. Whitney smiled at Mommy on purpose on Wednesday and Tucker on Friday. Whitney made a cooing sound today, just because. They are getting rather good at tummy time and lifting their heads to turn them. We are almost able to use the Bumbo chairs. That will be great when they want to see what Mommy is cooking. I will be able to set them on the counter.

This week we will be doing a photo op with a friend's sister. She needs newborn pics for a class and is coming to the house for FREE!! I can't wait. It is my awesome ex-neighbor that hooked me up with her sister to do this. A county nurse is coming to the house today to weigh them and they go to the doctors for their shots on Thursday. This is going to be a busy but fun week.

The picture of the babies in the boppy is right after eating. Milk makes a baby happy. The picture of them in their pink and blue bear outfits are the babies after a walk. Walking also makes them very happy. The one with them in the pack and play in their walking outfits made me laugh. It looked like they were saying " Mom. Mom. We can't move. Help. Get us out of these things!" There is a picture of Tucker in his full of cuteness outfit, also after eating and in his swing. The last one is Grandma Kim snuggling with Tucker.

Hmmmm. Smells like burnt quesadilla. I guess I forgot I was cooking trying to finish this before they need to eat again.