uploading pics on Saturday night doesn't work... here's the real blog for the week.

Tucker a couple of days after Christmas. We had family photos taken and here are a few of my favorites.
Grandpa and Whitney



Daddy snuggle nap. He's definitely not a baby any more. Look at the size of that kid! He is as big as Daddy's torso! He was having a hard time sleeping so Jim walked him in the patapum on the treadmill. Two wonderfully great buys.

"I laugh in the face of danger!" Tucker stumbled off the ledge looking into the house onto the cement bench. It looked scarier in person (new mom).

Whitney collecting rocks. The rocks at the top of the driveway are small, so she can put a ton of them in her hands. She loves to play in those rocks.

Whitney enjoying the sun. The real reason she stayed there long enough for a picture is because her shoe fell off. She waited patiently for me to find her and put the shoe back on. Only a girl would do that.
Doggies supervising.
Tucker thinks this is the most fun when Whitney is pushing.

Tucky solved the rubix cube!

Whitney loves her new carseat and her new carseat box even more.

The videos are of Tucker talking about his flowers and Whitney being strong enough to push Tucker, instead of the other way around. And then there is Whitney eating applesauce. I swear they learn from the dogs at times.

getting stuff done

This was a while back. It was the day that they went for their first hike when they did some of the hiking. Never mind they had soft soled shoes on and the ground was frozen that day. I don't know. Better than mud, like the usual. It made me laugh to see Tucker in this hat.

Whitney really likes applesauce. Don't want to leave any leftovers.

I have no idea why she loves to do this.

It seems like every day they figure something else out.

Tucker learned how to pull a toy behind him. Then, once he figured it out, he ran around the house laughing hysterically that something is following him. He also may be a storyteller. Too soon to tell, but every time we go outside to play, the first thing he does is have this running dialog about the flowers. I don't know about what, but I tried to get it on video. The dialog was cut short of course as soon as he saw mommy was in the perfect position to hug. He likes to splash his hand in the puddles in the driveway and then lick his hand. So gross. But at least he is not licking the puddles directly like the dogs.

Tucker has a typical boy forehead. Covered in bruises. He has a lot more than his big sis. I'm not sure if it is because he is so top heavy with that big noggin of his, or if it is because he is a boy. I remember hearing stories about Scout camp and also wondering how it is that boys seem to have all this knowledge about stuff way sooner than they should. For example, why was it that my 16 old friend, who was the same age as I was, knew so much about building, painting, mowing lawns, burning fires, guns, or fixing bikes/cars? I think I have finally figured out the connection between the knowledge/experience that these high school friends of mine had, and scout camp. They just tried stuff out. That is why they knew how important the safety lock is on a gun, how to get a roaring blaze so quickly, or fix a broken bike/car. And I think they had a lot of these trying things out experiences with their leaders' supervision. Hence the hair raising stories from scout camp that I never really heard until I was around 22 or so, once they had moved out of said mom's house for real and couldn't get grounded. Tucker already does it. "Hmmmmm... What would happen if I tried to climb over this rock that is taller than I am? Or what if I try to go off the steps just like Mom and Dad do? Or throw this rock really hard?" Forget reading the manual or let Mom show you what to do. Just try it out. Owner's manuals are completely overrated (except for my brother Ryan).

In contrast, Whitney figures things out after watching her brother, finding a safe, sometimes easier way of doing things. For example, we went to the park this week. The playground had two ways to climb to the slide. The more gradual slope, and safer way for try-it-out boys, and a more direct, steeper route. Mom was not about to demonstrate for Tucker that the faster way was even an option. But Whitney figured it out and tested her limits before putting all her weight on that foot. She also figured out how to navigate into the flower beds. Much easier to go between the rocks, instead of over them directly. No pain and she didn't even need my help.

Another thing she does that is really cute is say hi to Papa! I don't know if she is actually saying the words, but it sounds like she is saying hi whenever someone comes into the room. It can be any one of us. She gets a big smile and says hi. I love it when she does it when Jim's truck starts pulling into the driveway or when Tucker comes over to her crib in the morning. She also gives me hugs when I'm down low. I've been doing a lot of weeding while the babies play outside. She is constantly collecting rocks then coming over to give me a hug. She even helped me weed a bit today by picking stuff out between the rocks (pine needles) and putting it in the bucket. She also throws pine cones she collects around the yard in the bucket. Tonight for bath I asked for her foot and she smiled, laughed and lifted her foot out of the water so I could wash it. She loves the Foot Book by Dr. Seuss. We've been reading that one a lot this week, so maybe that's why she knows that word. So cute to first time Mommy.

My favorite embarrassing moment for Whitney this week was that she figured out how to pick her nose. It was at breakfast one morning. Tucker has had this skill down pat for months now, but for some reason that day, Whitney figured it out. So then Tucker saw her and thought, "oh yeah! Good idea! I know how to do that too!" And joined the fun. Whatever. I just ask him repeatedly to take his finger out of his nose. In Spanish, so only half the population around me understands me. One of the benefits of knowing a second language.

So that's what they've been up to, allowing me to get stuff done, like paint and weed. I'll probably still be doing that next week, too. Sorry if you read stuff that I've put on the blog before. The weeks run together for some reason......

baby news/pics for the week

If this isn't a great blackmail picture I don't know what is. If his wife ever complains of how he won't go down "that isle" because he doesn't want to be seen "holding those things!", I'll pull out this picture.
Whitney helping me paint.
Tucker helping me paint.
Whitney playing while I was painting.
Isn't this an awesome picture of spring. My mom gave it to me, so it's definitely cheating, but check out the sun and shadows on this pic. I'm so excited.


So as far as baby happenings, this is it. The babies helped me paint. Well, more like Whitney checked out and played with all the unopened paint supplies while Tucker pulled up all the news paper I had put on the floor and ran through it, ripped it up, danced on it until his hands and feet were covered in newsprint. I mean covered. Even on the tops of his feet and backs of his hands. He was entertained for 45 minutes. It made up for the fact that I had to wipe news print off the of the newly painted (dried) walls. Tucker has also figured out how to turn in circles. He likes to push the button on the farmer tadd magnet and spin around while he dances to the music. He is also very amused at rocks and pinecones rolling down the driveway. It gets him laughing "like a bowl full of jelly". Don't worry. His mommy had him pick them all up again and that was fun to listen to the loud noise as they went into the bucket. Every time we go outside, Tucker goes over to the flower grandma planted and talks about them to me. I wish I knew what he was saying. I'm not sure if he likes to talk about the flowers themselves and how they are growing, or if he likes to tell me about how Grandma got to use a big shovel and put them in the ground and that's how you plant flowers. Hmmmm.

Whitney is learning to wave goodbye. I know. A little late, but honestly, I haven't spent time to teach her that. She picked up on it when the lady that helped us out of the grocery store waved bye to her. Tucker is really taken to smashing her or pushing her into the ground if he can't get up to stand when he falls outside and there are no walls to help him. Very annoying to supervise that one. Whitney also learned to pick flowers and smell them. Whitney was also very cute sitting on the paint can after bath one night. Now we know. No buying a special potty, just her own paint can. Some of the pics and videos are on Jim's phone, so you'll probably see them next week.

On a twin note, some cute twin things they are doing is laughing at each other throw toys. I know. Only cute now because they can't really throw. They also share food back and forth the high chair trays and sometimes play with each other's hands, almost like they are trying to give each other high fives or play patty cake together.

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