Tucker's in the lead again

Whitney eating paper while Daddy and Uncle Ryan build the shed

It is WAY too hot out here!! How is it that they can work in this sun! I'm going diaper only style with this monkey Daddy got me.

Tucker in the bucket
Seriously.....
How do you drive this thing? Watch out world. Whitney's at the wheel.

Babies in a bucket. Mom doesn't want to get a kiddie pool before moving. Weird.

Uncle Scotti's ear is really cool. Give me a piece of that!



We've had a lot of craziness and fun this week. Now we are doing the last things we need to do in Utah. The plans for moving and when change daily, so who knows, but there has been a lot of prep work on the house to get it ready for.... whatever. Tucker's second tooth is almost in and his first tooth is razor sharp. And he just so happens to like paper even more, now that he can shred it. They get better and better at sitting up..... and sleeping at night. They've both slept through the night by my definition 5 out of 7 nights. Good. We can get lots done around the house when they go to bed. Except for that one night Tucker wanted to play at midnight. Jim finally gave up and drove him around. Jim discovered the more bouncing, the better, so he was aiming for potholes. The policeman wasn't so amused, but didn't want to hear another Tucker scream, so he let Jim drive "erratically" around the neighborhood (only going about 20 mph) to hit all the potholes. They've tried oatmeal this week and love it. Whitney likes it better than rice cereal by a long shot.

My mom and Scott went home this week after having a s'mores campfire, kayaking (almost in a thunderstorm), babysitting babies while Mommy went to work, and hiking Mt. Timp (we let Scott and Ryan do that one without babies, just to be nice). There's been a lot of shed building since. I haven't talked to Ryan much due to everyone being tired from being out in the hot sun. I think he's doing ok. We did a retry of the kayaking yesterday with a lot more success. I don't recommend pulling three people on a tub behind a kayak. The tube won, but no one flipped.

There should be a video attached somehow. It's a feeding time with rice cereal. Whitney was eating it through her toes, but of course, when the camera came out, she stopped. Stay tuned for next week...

thou shalt not covet thy house nor anything like unto it...

Whitney during tummy time Sunday afternoon. She loves containers and lids right now.

Whitney playing at Sis Perry's pool this week. She is trying to get a plastic bowling pin toy that belongs to Amberlie (Sis Perry's daughter). They loved the pool and loved the company and help with two babies in water.

Whitney figured out how loud banging on her high chair tray can be and how fun it is!!
Gotta love that rice cement! She is also fascinated with the stroller wheels. She leans out of the stroller to watch them turn almost the entire walk.

Tucker in the front yard

Tucker enjoying the plastic bowling pins at Sis Perry's pool. They are sitting pretty well now. I only needed to support him a little bit.

Grandma Kim and Whitney taste testing the corn/dirt on the corn ear.

Tucker impersonating Uncle Ryan. Uncle Scotti's idea. Ryan's hat and ever present Gatorade bottle.

Whitney after a garden harvest with Daddy. One banana, two banana, three banana peppers....

Up close shot of Uncle Ryan impersonation.

Tucker and Whitney laughing at us!!



Video of Uncle Scotti and Tucker. Tucker's first tooth popped through yesterday. He is suddenly happier.



Maybe I should start with explaining the title of this post. We are moving to Washington state due to Jim's job offer. It will be a great thing for Jim and his career and for our family in general, but the news is somewhat sudden. They came back with an offer on Tuesday that we would consider, and by Thursday night, there was no counteroffer from Jim's current employer, so we both gave our two weeks notice. Jim starts work 8/9/10. I have really enjoyed where we are living. The neighbors have been great, helping so much with our family. I've gotten used the weather quite well and there is so much to do so close by (three waterfalls within easy hiking distance for example). The hardest part is that both of us have made great life long friends that we will be leaving behind. Jim commented that the friends he has made through school and work have been some of the best friends he's had. Which is great, because that is what happened when I went to school here and wanted the same thing for Jim in his schooling experience. But I didn't think that I would make more great friends, too.

Other things that are somewhat disappointing is leaving a garden that is how we want it and ready to harvest soon, and this house. It has been so awesome to live in, built to live in with small things that make life so much easier (like outdoor outlets in multiple places and fun things like a fire pit). Hence the title of this blog. As soon as you love where you live, it's time to move. I'm still shocked that we have only been here 10 months. This is a bad time to try to sell a house, so I have a feeling I will be here until 10/9/10, the longest we have to take advantage of the relocation package from Jim's company. As soon as this house sells, I'm out of here, but until then, I will have lots of help.

The baby news for the week is somewhat self explanatory from the pictures. But the other news for this week that will help so much when Jim and I are not together is that the babies both slept through the night, on the same night, per my definition of sleeping through the night. From 10 pm to 6 am. That was definitely heaven sent.

rice cement

Tucker and Whitney playing in the crib while I went to get the stroller ready for the morning walk. They were both talking. I snapped this just after Tucker pulled his hand out of Whitney's mouth. I don't know who was discovering who. Whitney discovering Tucker's hand or Tucker trying to pull Whitney's mouth closer.

Whitney loves to harvest the garden with Daddy. She was helping harvest banana peppers and didn't want Daddy to take that banana pepper away for nothing. She gets really excited when Daddy finds something and reaches out to grab it to investigate.

Tucker trying really hard to clean the spatula while helping Mommy with dishes.

Tucker finally figured out how to roll over on his stomach to sleep and boy did he sleep well. I especially love his foot poking out the crib rail.

Whitney waking up in the morning and just plain cute!



Gerber and Beechnut companies need to be told that they are advertizing baby rice cereal. It is not rice cereal. It is rice cement. Once that stuff gets on a baby's face, it's there for three or four face cleanings and the high chair tray is doomed unless soaked if you miss wiping a spot. If you are looking for testimonials, Whitney prefers Beechnut and Tucker doesn't really care. Whitney cried two meals in a row about the rice cereal and didn't calm down until I fed her pears or squash or whatever else was in that bowl except rice cereal. Poor babies. We had been putting rice cereal in the bottles and hadn't increased the size of the holes because the Beechnut brand dissolved enough, but when I switched to Gerber (it was on sale) it clogged the holes. It happened to be the night Paul and Cathy came into town, so they were ok with the switch because the babies were still up, since they hadn't gotten enough food from their bottles fast enough to go to sleep on their first bed time. Oops.

So pears is where it's at for Whitney. They both really like squash, too. We're going to figure out a way to make zuchinni a baby food so they can start helping eat the plentiful harvest from our garden. It will even be organic! I take it back about Whitney being a clean eater. Once Tucker figured out that food comes from a spoon, there are very few left overs on his hands or bib. He usually slurps that stuff right up.

This week was much calmer, but still fun. Monday was catch up day, Tuesday I went to work, so they played with the nanny and had a blast. Slept really well that night too, because they played so hard and had fun with her. Wednesday we visited Izana. They are old enough to enjoy the fact that her kids like to play with them. Joseph really likes to play with Whitney and Tucker and Whitney and Tucker had a good time laughing at his antics. Izana was glad his craziness was good for something! Thursday Paul and Cathy came into town and Friday was Lindsay's graduation from her nursing program. Saturday we met with Sue and Marshall and Autumn and Emily. It was a roommate reunion from college!! I finally saw the movie The Blind Side. Awesome movie!!

Jim went to Seattle Sunday through Tuesday to visit with Amazon. We find out tomorrow how the interview went. We'll keep you posted.

I finally read some of the other blogs from my friends and got some ideas. Like I can label the pictures below the pictures. That is obvious and much easier. The disadvantage of reading the blog (it was Sue and Marshall's) is that I had caught up with them (kind of) right before they visited. Won't do that again. I won't read blogs of people I visit for about 2-3 months before I visit them so I can enjoy catching up with them verbally, not virtually. Live and learn.

6 months old and happy campers

This week was a busy week. We went to the doctor and went camping as well as took professional pictures. Jim's company was closed for the week, so we took advantage.

Tucker weighs 19 pounds and 2 oz and is 27 inches long. Whitney is 15 pounds 11 oz and 25 3/4 inches tall. They still hate their shots, but did better with them. It seemed to only do a mild fever for a few hours and a lot less grumpyness.

We went camping for two nights up a canyon near our house. Most of the pictures explain what we did. We set up camp, used the dutch oven, went hiking and kayakin,g and made it through the night with only waking up 3 times the first night then 1 time the next night (a record I would love to have at home). I learned a few things about keeping them warm at night. The babies even slept through a big thunderstorm. If you've ever been through heavy rain and thunder in a tent, that is a feat. They were tired. From the pictures you might realize why they were so tired.

The first four pictures are from the portrait studio. We printed off the best pictures and will pass those along. We don't want to give away the cute ones yet!! The next one is Whitney with her hat wet after hiking to a waterfall with Daddy. Whitney really likes to reach out and pull things toward her now and there is a picture of her exploring a pine tree and its needles. Tucker had a hard time actually taking naps during nap time. Too much excitement in the tent, so he fell asleep on our hike. Here he is relaxing in the pack once we got back. I couldn't wake him up for anything. One night I bathed them and Tucker wouldn't sit in the bucket, but had fun with the washcloth. The next picture is the babies waking up at 7 am, right on schedule, but Daddy wasn't wanting to get up that early. The next on is Daddy feeding Tucker at the base of the waterfall. Whitney was ready for bed, basically wearing her sleeping bag, sitting in Mommy's camp chair and looking very cute in the next picture. Tucker is in the next picture, checking out the lake's waves. The next picture is of Whitney. The neighbor brought over an exersaucer that she absolutely loved. This was the day before we left for camping and she was glad to play in it again when she got home. This is a good expression of how much she likes to play with toys. The next picture is everyone helping Daddy figure out how to put up the new tent that we had to get to fit two pack 'n plays in. Whitney is sure if she eats the instructions the secret will come out in ink that is activated by slobber. The next shot is a front view of Tucker playing in the lake. The last picture is of Whitney, taking her bath in the bucket. I love we caught her smile!!

It was really fun to take the babies camping for the first time and we had fun being together this week that Jim had off work. Until next week...enjoy!

Whitney is winning

Whitney passed some major milestones this week. She learned to flip from her back to her stomach independently and then last night she slept from 7:30 pm to 7:30 am. She likes to sleep on her stomach. She was put to sleep on her back 3 times by Jim and I, but she rapidly flipped over to her stomach. It's so cute!! Tucker is still working on it. Tucker has been talking a lot this week and chewing like crazy with his bib. He continues to make more friends at church with his "jolly baby" look. Daddy went to a garage sale and found an exersaucer and some stuffed animals, which they love. They both are discovering paper. Rice cereal this week was a success. Tucker likes rice cereal more than bananas. I'm not sure if it is the texture or the more savory versus sweet that he likes.

We went hiking this week three times this week to three different waterfalls. They love waterfalls and so do I!! I had the help of friends that don't have kids. The trial run through was a success with the nanny. I start work once a week for 4 hours starting July 13. My brother came to visit for the 4th and has been helping Jim get going on the shed. Jim has also been into dutch oven cooking. Yummy hot meals in the middle of summer with no additional heat in the kitchen and that I don't have to cook. Score me!! I learned about day lilies and how to replant and divide them. If anyone wants orange day lilies for next year, let me know!!

Auntie Jill, recognize the outfit? The first picture is Tucker in his Thing One/Thing Two sleepwear before eating bananas in the morning. The next two pictures are of us watching the dutch oven cook on the front porch. The next is a picture of Whitney just being cute, then us on a hike with Ashleigh to one of the waterfalls. The next is a picture of Tucker NOT looking at the camera. Whitney was in her Bumbo with the dogs and Daddy working on the shed in the next picture and then Whitney on her way to a waterfall with Mommy and Ashleigh. The last two pictures are of Uncle Ryan and us on a hike for the 4th. The last is the double bath picture. Uncle Ryan is standing outside the kitchen window for the best photo op.

just plain ol' cute

This week was the regrouping week after the long vacation, and I have to say the babies are doing pretty well with getting back to a routine and schedule. In fact, Tucker went back to waking up only 1 time a night to eat (which means Whitney is eating 1 time a night). They have also gotten into a fairly set nap routine. I can count on them sleeping for 40 minutes starting around 9:15 or 9:30, then 3 hours from 12- 3 or 12:30-3:30 and then bed at 7:30 or 8:00. It is SOOOO lovely. I really like how I now have down time at night for sure. It is most relaxing to take a shower for as long as I want. No interruptions.

They have both figured out how to roll back to front, so now the play gym on the counter while I cook dinner is no longer safe. They can't do it consistently, but one flip would be enough. I'm going to make a play area on the floor in the dining room. Watch out Rocky and Sammy. Your 4 legged floor buddy is going to increase from 1 to 3 here soon. Whitney flipped from her back to front on Thursday, and Tucker did it yesturday. I can assure you that Tucker learned his by accident. He absolutely hates tummy time. I left him on the floor on his back to go get something and found him on his stomach. He was a little upset when I left, but really mad when I came back. It didn't take me long to figure out why. He created more tummy time by accident and couldn't get out of it. Whitney learned to flip back to front because she wanted her favorite toy, the snail with the lights/music/mirror that Anne's mom gave them. The toy was a little out of reach, so she went to get it and flipped over. I also find them in various positions in the morning when I get them out of their cribs, so I know they can move a little more.

We've been practicing being nice to the doggies and petting them, mostly so Sammy will know that all the hair pulling might be worth it if there is another member of the family that might pet him. Rocky usually remains aloof. They both seemed to be excited to pet the dogs, but Tucker really got excited and started jabbering to Sammy and smiling, like he does when he meets new people. I don't know. Maybe he was trying to set something up about Sammy giving him a ride or something. The picture of Rocky with his paws on the scriptures is just awesome!! If anyone wants to use the picture to convince someone of how important scripture study is, go for it!! Even dogs beg for the scriptures!!

Whitney LOVES bananas. Or she really likes to eat food with different flavors other than milk. She already understands the relationship with the bowel, spoon and to open her mouth so I can actually get the food in far enough for her to swallow. It is so fun to see her get excited. She also asks for more and will settle for milk only when she gets tired of eating. I'll begin rice cereal tomorrow. I have a friend that told me that her daughter is so much less messy at eating, and I just thought it was because she didn't remember how it was with her boys at the same age, or maybe she waited a little longer to start solids with her daughter, the third child, but no. Rest assured girls get the fine motor skills sooner than boys. At least with these two. Tucker doesn't get eating. Bummer, because I think he would be happier if he did. Most of it still comes back out the mouth, and he gives it about 5 bites before he just wants to eat quickly with the bottle. Somehow he managed to get banana in the back of his hair, all over the bib, on his shoulders, under the bib, etc, while I just needed to wipe off Whitney's mouth. I don't even know how he managed to do that much damage with 5 bites worth. Whatever. Whitney polished off his portion of the banana.

Whitney also has been practicing the use of her hands. This comes in particularly handy when it comes to using the frozen teether. She gets a lot of relief out of chewing on that thing, whereas Tucker needs a little more help to keep it in. He's really good at chewing on his bib (or his clothes if his bib gets turned sideways) to relieve pain. He is getting better at using his hands this week, though, so maybe the teething thing will go better next week.

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this week and went on an official date, no kids. We went to dinner while our friends watched them. It was great to have Jim's complete attention for an hour, but now I know what people mean when they say "It's hard to be away from the kids that long" when they go on a vacation. We already started to look forward to seeing them again, as they are family!

Anyway, there are two videos of them just being cute. I love to see how content Whitney is to play on her stomach and with her toys. She kicks her legs repeatively when that happens. I also got a video of her laughing!! Finally it was caught on tape!! Tucker has been talking a bunch this week, so I have a video of that also for enjoyment. He usually does most of his talking while being upright, standing or sitting. Stomach or back positions don't usually elicit this type of calm communication. There are also some other "photo op" pictures of the babies just playing in the house or outside while I've been weeding. Enjoy!! There is one with them in the stroller. We go for a walk at 7:30 am to the top of the mountain, so that was them at the top. There is a picture of Tucker's thighs stuck in a bumbo chair. He loves to be upright in that thing, but getting in and out of it is getting to be a problem.