I think I might believe the lady that spring is here.

Look! Spring!
Jim in canyon
Isn't this a cool shot looking up the slot canyon?

So there was this lady in church about a month ago that said spring comes early here. She happened to say it on the day there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground. But she was making the point that there are buds on the tree. I had a good laugh about that. Today another lady said this winter was long because there was so much rain during the summer last year that "everyone here is in a bad mood". I had a good laugh about that, too. But this week I think spring really is coming to stay for the most part due to the following signs.

Number one. There are birds chirping. Lots of them. I don't really remember birds chirping, even in October. They knew to skedaddle out of here. That started up this week.

Number two. It is light until 7:30. And I know this because most nights the sky has been clear. I've even seen the moon three times this week. (must be a natural disaster). That is the one great thing about daylight savings on this end. It just makes me feel happier when it is light so late.

Number three. Boy smell. I used to think boys didn't start stinking until they were 11 or so. No that's wrong. That's when the smell hits you in the face when you walk in the door. Tucker has been significantly stinker than Whitney since he was 6 months old. His head stinks by the end of the day, and they take baths at the same time. So, now that he has learned to climb over small boulders (watch out flowers) and other such obstacles, he comes inside with this dirt/boy/sweat smell. So sad. I always thought babies were babies. Whatever.

Overall I'm very excited for the amount of sun I've seen this week. I'm much more cheery. And the babies love to go outside. Every morning after breakfast, they go get their shoes.

This week Jim came back from wandering in the desert. Good thing he brings buddies. He went to the same canyon that guy went that got his arm caught.

Anyway, computer problems, so look for two posts again.

grandma came! Relief!

Grandma giving the babies' "snuggle bottle" before nap

Bubble hats!
Sock hands are soooo silly!
Baby thighs! I love baby thighs. The babies love to go behind the crib. They only had onsies one due to really wet pants after playing in the driveway.

Grandma and Tucker are so happy to see each other.

There are several old pics. I had access to my mom's camera card and found some really cute ones. This is us in front of Auntie Jill's house desperate for some sun.

The babies 2 months old sleeping in the sun.

The babies enjoying the sun while getting their jaundice down.

The babies in the hospital. We found Tucker sucking on Whitney's nose and Whitney trying to push him away. It was right before I was supposed to feed him. He was desperately hungry. Tucker is on the left.

Babies about to be put in their crib for nap. I obviously don't have pics of this.

Whitney loved grocery shopping with grandma. She walked around the store for an hour.

The babies found this log in front of the hatchery and loved beating it and crawling on it.
Walking to the car after going to the library.



My mom decided to come up on Monday while Jim was out of town. What a welcome relief! I got all sorts of useful things done outside and inside the house. Like going to the DMV and other such necessary evils. She also helped me decide about all my paint samples (yogurt white and spaghetti sauce red were not considered by her, for some reason).

Jim went out for a "work conference". I don't know. It must be interesting to be wined and dined by your former employer and your previous co-workers. Or lots of fun. He also decided to hike the canyon that the guy from 127 hours hiked. My sister had to ask if the arm is still there. No, it's not, for anyone curious. And he got to see lots of sun. I'm only really jealous, but having my mom here helped decrease the jealously because we had our own fun. We did things like go to Dairy Queen, dress Whitney up in her new sunday dress that Grandma had to bring (not that I mind), and frequent Home Depot's paint department a couple of times. Tucker really likes Home Depot, by the way. We also went to the library together and the fish hatchery.

You'll note that my mom was able to get a few pics of things that I never (obviously) have enough hands to get pics of. We walked to the mailbox (everybody, dogs included) every day and Tucker discovered walking around the driveway and court is not as fun as climbing over rocks, splashing in puddles and walking in the mud. It still amazes me how early the boy/girl traits kick in.

I've also decided I've turned myself into an amazing cook. Of course, the kids don't necessarily agree. I made this mac and cheese "healthy" version. Only Whitney would touch the stuff, but whatever. I made these pumpkin wheat muffins, too, and at least Tucker downed those. Which brings up another phase. Tucker really only eats protein and sweet tasting things for the most part right now. Aka meat and potatoes. He won't touch anything green as of this week. Really annoying. My mom said, oh well. I guess it's going to be spinach smoothies and zucchini muffins for tucker. Definitely a boy trait coming out again. Whitney eats them.

The two pics/videos my mom wanted a picture of but didn't get because the video component wasn't working were of the babies both leaning over the side of the rocking chair to pick the next book (happens every time I stop reading a book) and Whitney shaking off a coupon stuck to the bottom of her foot. Tucker didn't notice the receipt stuck to his foot. It reminded me of people walking with a bit of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of their shoe. We all got a good laugh out of that.

I have a few old pics in the mix just because I don't have those photos but I had access to my mom's camera card this week.

slides are it

I've noticed that I've gone from photos to video a lot. It's hard to capture them on the move in a still life form. Here's a great still life, though.

Check out this little kid see-saw! Whitney is looking mournfully at the swings.

Just a little perspective of the height of the slide that Whitney likes.


We went to the playground as a family today. Whitney loves slides. We can't decide if Tucker really likes playgrounds as he was too involved people watching to really get much into any climbing or sliding. But he definitely did not like swinging very high.

This was all between nose wiping, of course. As you know from the last blog we had some sick babies last week and the rest of the week was spend mostly resting and getting better. But we did have some fun in the sun on the in between. There's a video of them eating. Tucker is amazingly skilled at using a spork. Maybe I'm just amazed at it because I'm his mom and just two weeks ago he was barely learning to walk, so how could he get to be an even bigger kid by using utensils. But Whitney keeps it all in check. She isn't much interested in utensils as noted on the video. I think she wants to be a dog when she grows up. I'm not so certain she's said her first word, but a couple of times we swear she is saying dog on purpose (or something similar). She also has discovered she likes her peas better after they've been on the ground for a few minutes after she throws them off the tray. Not my favorite new skill of hers. We did catch her babbeling on video this week. Only parents and grandparents might like this video, so any others can skip it.

I think my favorite part of today, besides hearing the babies laugh of course, is feeling the warmth of sunshine and showing Whitney the crocuses. Spring is on its way. I think.

the fun life

That's how much snow we got
Whitney snuggling with daddy when she was sick.
Whitney snuggly with mommy when sick


I didn't have time to blog until tonight. We had some very sick babies this weekend. Whitney had a temperature that even spiked to a 102, so we were giving her baths and watching her pretty closely through the night. So I didn't blog and got through the first fever night as a parent successfully.

By Tuesday last week, Tucker pretty much had walking down. He loves to wander the house, put toys in various cabinets, open cabinets, take stuff out, wander around some more. It makes me laugh to see how much he loves to walk. Whitney figured out walking just about as well yesterday. The videos are of them walking. And one of Whitney doing her cute talking thing.

I think I had my grossest mom day so far. There was poop and pee and throw up everywhere from everyone. I had another friend blog about how much she hates potty training. After that day, I have a feeling I might have an inkling of an idea of how those days may be......

I think my favorite time this week was on Wednesday night. We got enough snow to cover the daffodil starts (about 5-6 inches). We sat and watched the snow fall and just talked, kind of like watching the fire while camping, but inside, nice and warm.

I have all these paint samples painted on my walls, including the kitchen. Whitney, even though she can't talk, has added her opinions. "Hey Mom. How does yogurt white look? Or spaghetti sauce red? Nah. Scratch all those. I really like sweet potato orange!" (three splats follow). I finally figured out how to survive me surviving learning to eat with utensils. I double bib them. The only way to go. And I think I'll wait to paint the kitchen until most meals stay within the tray space

pics and videos to they're walking blog

Whitney eating and sharing her Valentine from Grandma. She "shared" her Valentine with the dogs.

Tucker very neatly ate his crackers out of the box

Who wants to help Mom clean the shower?! We do! We do! (You've got to record moments like these while they last)
Cute ballarina baby

they are walking!!

This week was a lot of growth and the walking switch turned on. It is so odd. Whitney started really walking on Friday afternoon, the 18th and Tucker learned this afternoon to really walk on his own. I thought the stuff at the beginning of this week was exciting, but nothing compares to later this week.

Tucker is really grasping fine motor skills, too, this week. He is able to dip his spoon right side up into the bowl and get it to his mouth right side up. We've been practicing with applesauce. He can stack the rings on the rocking stick, put megablocks together without more than one repetition, clean up about 10 toys once the clean up song gets going, and laugh like a bowl full of jelly. His whole body shakes and it still makes me laugh.

Whitney mostly practiced walking this week. She tried and tried and tried until she figured it out. Then Tucker saw her and decided to give it a try. They both laugh when they walk independently, especially if they are walking toward each other. Apparently it is some new game. What really amazes me about this walking thing is that it took about 3 months of working on the walking skills before they really got all the skills put together, and then they put the skills together in an hour. Literally. This morning Tucker was taking 2-5 steps independently and then by tonight he was walking laps around the dining room/kitchen independently. And apparently the first time parent is having so much fun watching the babies grow up.

Today we went for a hike. While the rest of the country has bad weather, we get sun. It's lovely and freezing cold. Literally. The ground this morning was frozen when we went hiking. The fun part about the hike is that the babies wanted to get down and hike, so they did. Tucker liked it a bit more than Whitney, but she likes to smash leaves, so that made up for it. Tucker looked so silly cute in his hat. But today was the babies' first hike.

This week we watched the crane work on taking out a tree next door. I got a little bit of taste of the power being out (I didn't realize how much I love my microwave) while they worked. It was pretty interesting stuff. Even the green waste garbage man watched. He emptied our can then stayed put while the crane brought the top part down. The babies watched all the trucks come and go (the power guy, the tree guys, the crane guy, the green waste guy) for 45 minutes.

Jim brought home cupcakes from work for the babies. Lovely, the mommy says, who would rather the babies not have sugar. But it was much more fun than their one year birthday. Tucker didn't want to make too much of a mess, but Whitney enjoyed her chocolate. I guess it's because earlier in the week Jim got her used to the taste. One night I asked Jim to give them their bedtime snack and told him to give him whatever he wanted. Bad idea, the "whatever you want to feed them" thing. He gave them some of my Valentine's truffles and gummy bears. Definitely a nutritious bedtime snack. I don't recall wanting to share those, nor was I excited about the sugar given. It just so happens he was leaving for a meeting right at bedtime. Not fair!! The babies were wound up during story time. Whitney was dancing and turning the pages super fast. Lucky for me they didn't cry when they went down.

This week has been lovely. We finally figured out what Tucker needed to go to sleep without crying for at least 1/2 hour. He needs to be wrapped up in his snuggle blanket while sitting up, then he can fall on it and lay on top of it. It puts him right out. Jim kept insisting he needed something, like Whitney likes her monkey, and somehow we happened to stumble upon it. But rest assured parents that struggle with kids going to bed. It took us 8 months of trying to get him to go to sleep on his own without crying, unlike Whitney's 3 weeks. So the next mom that I hear say you just need to let them cry it out for a couple of weeks and they'll figure it out, is full of it. Not all kids do this. And I'm sure we'll have trouble over and over with Tucker, still, about going to bed on his own and staying asleep, that is. It reminds me that other mothers that struggle with things that have come easily, just mean that their kid doesn't do "the usual".

Anyway, this is another week of the post with the pictures and the videos are separate. This time it is purely because the computer wants to be annoying. We'll try again tomorrow.

if you're having a bad day....

Tucker falls asleep eating.... again.

Daddy gives Whitney jam and bread, to Mommy's dismay

Make more Daddy! (she was in diaper only due to the mess she made eating dinner)

Whitney giving help and tips for better bread.

Seeing little baby shoes in my house makes me smile


So if you're having a bad day, a kid's laughter or smile is enough to make anyone feel better. Tucker's laugh and Whitney's "snork" face (crinkling her nose up to smile and sticking her bottom teeth out) always makes my day. We've tried to capture both on camera to share, but that never works. Today Tucker was laughing hysterically at the blowfish float toy rolling down the seat bottom I was trying to recover. Whitney looked over to see what is so funny and made her snork face while she took advantage of Tucker being busy to walk by "unassisted" (by Tucker, that is) using her scooter and gave me a snork face smile.

Today she went shopping with Daddy. They were gone a long time, and I was wondering what was going on when they came back with Valentine flowers and big smiles. Apparently Whitney didn't ride in the cart like Mommy would have her do, but walked around the whole store holding Daddy's hand. What an awesome adventure! So many different things to look at! Tucker stayed home and played with Mommy. He seemed a little bummed, though, that he didn't get to go, wherever they were going without him.

This week we went to the park and learned how to crawl around on the toddler jungle gym. It wasn't sunny or warm, but it was dry (for Washington). Apparently we're the only ones getting good weather in the US. Except for my mom who seems to thoroughly enjoy rubbing it in my face about 60 degree weather, doing yard work and seeing the sun EVERY TIME SHE CALLS! Or so it seems when you don't see the sun much. Or live in Illinois where even the dogs don't go outside to do their business, it's so cold. More on that later. Anyway. Whitney really loves the slide. I think Tucker really likes it too, but I'm not sure if he likes it like Whitney. He doesn't let out a squeal of joy as he goes down like she does. He does breathe hard at the bottom and gets really anxious to go climb up the steps again. No video of that because I went to the park without Jim. Tucker also really likes the other kids. He was trying to follow this other boy that is 1 year older than him without success. His mommy wasn't going fast enough to keep up.

Other than that, this week has been a lot of walking in circles around the house and laughing at the little things the babies do. Enjoy the videos and pics.

I've been having lots of fun with the Roots Magic software for gathering family history! It is so much easier to see what information is there and what isn't there. So I've been filling in missing info and finding holes, so don't mind me if I call you up and ask all these crazy questions. I'm thinking of printing stuff out for Christmas presents, but remind me that's what I'm doing because it's only February, and I'll probably totally forget about it by then.

I've also been working on learning to make bread. Each batch is carefully tested. I give it to the babies and if the texture isn't right, it gets chucked off the side of the high chair tray in rapid fire succession for the dogs. At least I always have two constant fans of my cooking. Very frustrating to see all my hard work going to the dogs. It takes a little bit of time to take the food from the babies so they stop throwing it. Whitney has this trick. She sometimes does a little taste testing and seems to eat it, but then, out of the blue, starts flinging. Maybe the bread is good, but the flinging is a game. I don't know. Whatever. I don't have the texture right yet. It's been four months. Sigh. I think I'll go back to knitting.

Back to this weather thing. Everyone that wants to take advantage of the fact that we would love to have you use our house for a basecamp for a fun vacation, better do it in the next five years. Or so Jim says. He is already scheming his next career move that will allow us to move to a warmer, sunnier climate. Good thing his line of work does allow for the possibility of telecommuting. I think this winter is getting to us, especially since we haven't been able to enjoy the "awesome"summer that everyone talks about. So I don't think these plans are serious, but they seem pretty serious right now and will probably be serious until the end of April or so.

Anyway, now to watch Tucker play with one of his favorite toys...... Whitney thinks it's funny, too.