times with Daddy

Tucker at the beach, waiting for a Dungeness crab meal
Tucker wasn't really into the cold, rainy beach trip, so Whitney took charge collecting, you guessed it, rocks.
I'm big! Whitney next to her highest stack yet in her 24 month sized clothes.
Wishing YOU could be here!
Whitney balancing next to some pink petunias
more balancing act

How do I work this thing?


Well, nursery went as predicted. Tucker loved it as long as Mommy or Daddy were present. Whitney loved the new toys and kids. Whatever. I guess we are up for another cry session for as long as the nursery leaders can stand it.

Tucker is working on very important skills. Whitney is going to be the brains of the operations and he'll be the muscle. He can unscrew lotion caps with 100% accuracy, open the dishwasher, muscle himself up the chain ladder at the playground and in the rocker at home, close doors from the outside (much to Rocky's dismay) using the handle. Tucker is also, as Jim calls him, a baby moth. One of his other chores is to take the nightlight out of the plug. He can do this safely now and can't stand to leave their room for the morning unless that is done. Oh yeah. Tucker is also pretty good at staying in time out for a minute. He seems to know he has to stay there until I say he can get out. He has more practice than Whitney for taking toys, hitting and bouncing on the screen door on purpose.

Whitney has worked on getting the bag for the toy cars and putting them in the bag on her own with only the prompt of the clean up song, getting and putting away her step stool from the bathroom to empty out the top rack of the dishwasher, brushing bark chips off of Tucker's shirt at the park (after he threw them in the air) and washing Tucker's hair. Watching her wash Tucker's hair was cute. Tucker was intent on snapping the shampoo bottle cap open and shut multiple times while Whitney scooped up bubbles, slapped them in Tucker's hair and said BUB-bles over and over. Tucker was pretty cute comforting Whitney this week. He is giving her hugs and patted her on the back at dinner when she got in trouble.


Below is a video of our family home evening activity. Tucker wanted nothing to do with having a ride in the wheelbarrow, but had a great time watching Whitney

18 months

Tucker on the balance beam. Hey Sue, recognize the outfit?

Yet another advantage of being a twin. Go faster, Tucker!

"Oh I see. Your collection" I think of this line from Little Mermaid as I watch Whitney collect rocks. It's her favorite thing to do. This is what she did on the beach all day Friday, too.
They think it is so funny when I roll up my pant legs. It's usually cold, but the sun peaked out a bit. They copied me, then got some Vit D with me, too.
Babies helping Daddy
Whitney making sure the drill is in top functioning order

Tucker wondering why we're building the fence, when he knows it's not tall enough to keep him in.



It must be summer. Jim is wanting to build, which is fine by me. This year's project is a tad smaller than last year's shed. It's a fence to keep the poop in our yard. Apparently the dogs think the grass is greener on the other side, but the neighbors are not amused with the saying. It won't keep the babies, in though. Tucker already figured out how to undo the latch. Sigh.

On Tuesday the babies turned 18 months, something all LDS parents look forward to. Now they are old enough for nursery today. We'll see how it goes. I'm not worried about Whitney liking it (they have fruit snacks there), but who knows about Tucker. It will probably depend on his mood. They went to the doctor on Wednesday. That was an adventure.

I thought going to the doctor when they were babies was hard. Hah! And I think I have a lot more than this to look forward to, once they figure out this is where they get their shots. Tucker weighs 26 pounds and Whitney weighs 21 pounds. Much better than the 31 pounds the scale at home tells us. Which is also good for me, because now I can subtract 5 pounds off of the weight it tells me for me, too! Tucker is 33.5 inches tall and Whitney is 32.5 inches tall. That wasn't so bad, but as soon as that doctor started poking and proding Tucker, it was a screaming, kicking, fighting fest. The doctor has no idea how Tucker's ears are doing because Tucker would have none of that. It got worse and worse, until finally, it was over and he could jump off the table and hug Mommy. It was obviously very relaxing to hug Mommy, the only problem is that he was diaperless at this point of the exam and Mommy got peed on. My mom always told me about how embarrassed she was that I peed on the doctor when I first went, but I don't know. I think the doctor can take one for the team. It wasn't that fun to smell stinky and be all sticky wet until I got home. That Tucker! Whitney had no problem. In fact, she seemed to like the one on one attention from two adults. They were both really good about getting shots, though. And that is one I hate, too.

This post might be a Tucker being gross this week. See above story. Plus, he tried licking water out of the puddle, just like Sammy, as well as eat grass, on his hands and knees, just like the dogs. Whose training who?

Friday was our favorite day this whole week. It wasn't raining and the sun peeked out a bit. This of course made Jim want to go catch those elusive crab that he tried catching the past two Fridays. This Friday he won while we played on the beach. It was great. We were there about 2 hours, the amount of time the sun was out. The babies splashed in the stream while Daddy flopped about in freezing water to catch 5 Dungeness crab. Waaaayy better than fast food. Way better than crawfish, Scott. We shared with Mina and it brought back memories for her of catching lobster in Mexico.

I really wanted to get a video of Whitney's new skills. She is really impressed with her stacking ability. She can make a tower of hot chocolate and crystal light tins as high as she is. She also has started putting things away by putting them on the counter. I couldn't find her shoes one day because I was looking on the ground.

One video is of Tucker talking. He talks like this all day long. I love it. It is so happy. It's the first thing I hear every morning (over Rocky snoring, that is). The other video is them on the bridge. It makes me nervous to have them cross the bridge, but they love it.

Another fun week. Wish you were here!

very boring blog

Well, you know how you might have said that I'm a busy mom? Well, I've felt that way some days, but now I know I have much left in store for me. I didn't take any pics or videos this week, mostly because my hands were full. So the pics above are from a couple of months ago when we first took them to the beach to go clamming. This blog is mostly reading and you'll have to fill in the blanks with your imagination.

I've decided this week to tell you the cute things they have been doing each day. Monday, the fourth, we went to a neighborhood picnic where they re-enacted a civil war battle. There were teenagers shooting water guns at each other while the crowd threw down poppers. And the teenagers had hanging name badges for their characters while they read a script. We went to the park later and Tucker was quite the daredevil. He climbed to the top of the highest slide ( about 3 feet above my head) and slid down it. Twice. What was really funny was his look of terror as he went down each time. I decided it was too stressful for me, so I didn't let him go down again. Whitney, in the mean time, went over to one of the dads sitting and watching his kid, to make friends so she could look at his watch. We also went for a walk late at night (before they woke up scared from the fireworks that started going off around 11 pm)

Tuesday we went to the pet store to get dog food. We looked at the turtles, kittens, fish, birds, and last of all the mice. There were two mice on a wheel at the same time, running. One mouse went a little faster than the other at times, so the slower mouse would trip up the faster one and he would sort of stumble outside the wheel a bit. The babies laughed hysterically at these running mice for a good 15 minutes. I wish I had a video for that, but you're going to have to use your imagination.

Wednesday I fed them cheerios in a bowl with milk for the first time. Holy cow. Cheerios in milk, we all agree, taste much better than dry, and they agree with us whole-heartedly. That was some serious, very focused eating. But, Cheerios is not the breakfast of champions. They got hungry again at 9 am instead of 11. Back to oatmeal or whole wheat pancakes. Wednesday we also got invited to one of those private lake beach parks. Boy was that fun. Lots of filling of buckets with sand with the shovel. And Whitney LOVES deep water. We were there for about 2 hours, and lucky for me Whitney didn't figure out that she likes deep water until the last 15 minutes. She preferred to have her feet buried in the sand for most of it. But then the older kids started getting deeper, so she started following them. She had quite the look of glee on her face. I think the life jacket investment will ease the stress of days at the lake.

Thursday was the daily stuff. Their chores now include emptying the dishwasher and buckling the top buckle of their car seat. I wish I could get a video of them emptying the dishwasher. Tucker empties it at top speed, very intent on getting them all out. Whitney figured out that she needs the step stools to get the dishes out in the top rack, so she asks for the step stools. In grunts, of course.

Friday we went to the beach again. Last Friday Jim paddled out and dropped crab pots off the kayaks, caught a bunch of rock crab and then accidentally killed them on the way home. He got ice for the bottom of the ice chest for them to make the ride home more comfortable and unplugged the stopper. However, the stopper became stopped up again with all the bouncing on the way home and the ice chest filled up with non oxygenated fresh water that killed them. It was really sad for all parties involved. So he still wanted crab. This time, though, he decided to dive for them to get Dungeness crab instead. No such luck. But while he was out swimming in freezing, murky water, we were on the beach throwing rocks, filling the bucket with sand, eating dinner with lots of screaming involved. And Whitney pointing to different dogs arriving and saying "daw" each time they arrived. She also says "raw" for rock every time I threw one for her or she gave me one.

Saturday they did something cute, but I don't remember what. Probably charmed the neighbors. We had a neighborhood BBQ at our house and one of the neighbor's brought over some new sand toys.

Sunday was awesome because they were so cute sleeping. I can't believe it. Tucker had a melt down around 6:30 pm, so I bathed him and threw him in bed by 7 pm. He slept until 7 am today. Crazy. And then, Whitney pulled a record of sleeping from 8 pm to 9 am this morning.

Next week: nursery!!!!

So, on a more philosophical note, I'm reading a very interesting book. Well, one I like. I've always been fascinated by survival stories, so I've read books like Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Deep Survival, another one about a lady that made it alive in China in the 1960's, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom and now The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz. I love the suspense if they make it or not. It makes me realize that my life as a stay at home mom is really paradise

"Why is it so stinkin' cold here!!!"
Just enjoying the sun
"Ready to go in the spa, Uncle Scotti. This puddle isn't cutting it for me any more"
We were the last car in the line on the ferry. We ran up and down this a bunch. It was a gorgeous sunset (that I didn't remember to get a picture of until we had to load in the car to drive off)
Ouch! I don't like stepping on rocks
Rocky and Whitney on the way to the groomers. They both looked so sad about the whole thing
I left the room to go get the camera, and this is what I found. Oh yeah. They know how to climb now. It's over. No more peace and quiet
I thought I had captured all the adorable sleeping baby pics, but this one melted my heart


The babies/kidlets have learned lots and lots this week. They learned how to go up the stairs and down the slide by themselves at the park. Whitney learned to put her hands in her pockets (see above pic), to get my shoes on their feet, to really climb up on chairs (and thus tables), unload the dishwasher using the step stool to reach the top rack and they seem to suddenly understand a lot of what I'm saying. I will just say it's time to eat or time to read books or to pray and they will go to where they need to be and get ready for the activity.

The sun was out on Friday, so, since Jim had work off, we(he) went clamming. Which is fine, because the babies love clam chowder. He decided to catch Dungeness crab, but they didn't want to be caught, so he caught rock crab instead. Tucker was really good at digging with Daddy with his shovel. Tucker also spent a bunch of time "bouldering" on the rocks to get down to the beach and walking in the water to throw rocks into the water. Whitney liked burying her feet in the sand with her shovel. She spent a lot of time in my arms, though, as we learned later she was getting sick.

This week, even though it was cold a lot of the time (see outfits) it was also sunny part of the day every day, so we went to the park a bunch. That is probably why they learned to master the stairs and slide at the playground. In fact, we went to the park in celebration of my mom's 52nd birthday:)

Anyway, it's been fun watching the kidlets grow and learn this week.

the "very relaxing" recovery week

Tucker figured out how to rock this thing on his own. See video below. He got pretty wild with it after awhile.
Because I can't resist sleeping baby pics. Tucker's new tie has dog prints on it!! I got it from a friend that sells them online.
More irresistible sleeping baby
Relaxing after the vaca. Daddy saw these chairs and he couldn't resist buying them for them, but they love them. See how they love them in video below.



So this week was the recovery week. I didn't realize just how long we were gone. It didn't seem like we were gone for 10 days until I came back to weeds and grass literally up to my knees. Oopps. And a big pile of poop left in our yard by my neighbor because I didn't scoop for 10 days and she probably mowed her lawn twice while we were gone (the grass is greener on the other side, according to the dogs). Another Oopps.

The first day of the recovery week went like so. Monday. "Oh. I guess we don't have any clean clothes. Better spend all day washing them." Then Tuesday was a "Oh dear. We REALLY don't have any fresh food to eat. Lots of cans, but no milk, cheese or yogurt. heaven forbid." Wednesday was a slap in the face because it rained a ton, as well as Thursday. I spent those days wondering why I ever left Utah, the sun, and exactly what am I doing with my life that has any purpose...... I think I did more laundry or cleaned the floor or somethings those days. Don't remember. All I know is that going to a sunny, warm place made me realize how much I need the sun.

Today was also a beautiful day, so I took the babies on a walk in the stroller before church. I need to do that more often. That was the least stressful church day I've had in a long time. Probably because I went for a walk in the sun.

Friday was our 7th wedding anniversary!! We ate together. By our big bad selves. We went rock climbing with our friends and the babies the next day. It was really fun to do that together. I think I really like climbing with my hubby. Hopefully he likes it, too. The climbing wall was outdoors. Not well used due to less than optimal conditions with the rain, but there was a playground right next to it. Perfect!! That's where we got the pics of the babies. I think Jim had fun as he got all motivated to clean the garage that afternoon. What an awesome anniversary present!! Seriously. It's been bothering me since we moved here. The babies and I cleaned Jim's truck (sucked up a bunch of dried out peas and cheerios. Wiped off a bunch of milk splatters, too) for his anniversary present. Yep. I guess we've been married a bit if we do that for the anniversary.

Tuesday was a beautiful night and I talked a friend into going kayaking on the lake last minute. First time out and it's June.

While I was on the phone with my mom this morning, Whitney did a really funny thing. She pulled the cup out of the dog food bag, tucked it under her left arm and was scattering dog food on the floor like she was feeding chickens. It was so cute! But then Tucker tasted a few and the picture was suddenly less cute.

One other video is of Whitney being what Jim calls "baby shark" We were at this park in Pendleton OR. If anyone has been to Pendleton, they would know all these things we did at that park were fine. We fit right in with the locals. Whitney crawled up on the table and begged for food like a baby shark. (she leans forward toward the food she wants, opening her mouth wider and wider until she gets it). We stripped them down to change diapers in the parking lot and put them in their pjs. All quite right for this park.

Anyway, this week ended well due to all the fun and relaxing we had after the vaca. (see pics above). 2 more sundays until nursery. Then we'll call them the kidlets instead of the babies, Ryan.

this blog is subject to change

Whitney running through the grass. "I'm free of my carseat!!!"" They loved the long grass and wearing sandels
Their favorite toy at Izana's house. Henry is on the floor next to them

Whitney has always been a very messy eater. So this picture is to show that she is properly motivated with smoothies. Note: there are only four spills. The bowl is almost empty. She doesn't miss a single bit. This is how she officially learned to use a spoon.
Whitney playing with chopsticks (and looking kind of cross-eyed). She wanted to take Daddy out to dinner (one foodie to another) for Father's day, so we met him early for dinner on Monday near his work.

"This is how you properly eat with chopsticks!"
Their favorite box. It's great for putting on shoes.
"Here's my belly button, Daddy! How come you keep asking me, silly?"
"I love my stool. Love it."
"Even better than running through the house in only a diaper is driving while only wearing a diaper. You should try it."
"Look ma! No hands!" (Daddy showed her this new trick)
Tucker prefers to use his hands (although he does occasionally like to try the toe trick). And he can multitask. Honk the horn while eating, all at the same time.
Tucker content in the car
Tucker still content in the car.
Again, Tucker likes road trips.
More content Tucker pictures. Note: there are no content Whitney pictures (except the toe trick) in the car. She doesn't like road trips. And she told/screamed this for 3.5 hours straight, too. Jim was so desperate to not listen to her for 14 hours, that, driving into Salt Lake, he was seriously considering putting Whitney and me on the plane and meeting us at home. (He didn't, but thought about it).
Tucker eating watermelon on his own.
Whitney's turn.
Slinky's are cool.
OK. Maybe there is one picture of Whitney content in the car.
Tucky rock climbing, just like Daddy and Mommy
Tucker preventing neck strain. His head did flop around a bit. I thought the arm thing was so cute.
This is the first thing the babies did when we got home from our trip. Sit in these chairs. They love them that much. Thanks Izana!
Whitney also loves the doll bed from Tia Izana

Whitney loves the swing. Happy Father's day.


So. This post is, as stated above, subject to change. I will probably finish it in pieces, but I have all the pics up, so that's all that matters.

We had a great time at the family reunion. We learned a lot about each other and felt the glorious sun every day. What follows are the details.

Whitney doesn't like car rides. Tucker doesn't like them much either, but spends a significantly less time talking about it. They only slept in the car 45 minutes total for each leg. Shoot me now. They (Whitney) was much better on the way back as there was one video (out of 9) from the library that she liked. It was educational. All in Spanish. Daddy learned the words for "birdie" "kitty" "airplane", etc all in Spanish. It helps to get 8 hours of repetition to learn a new language. Whitney also doesn't like to sleep in the cold. The first night we went camping. The next three nights, we hotel camped. And everyone was happier. To give Whitney credit, we were all cold. It was 36 degrees that night (something we wouldn't have to worry about in WA) and she was so cold that when I brought her into my sleeping bag, I could feel her cold toes through her socks, sleeper and my pajamas as well on my thighs. Poor thing! Tucker just flopped around a ton and cried, hoping to get warm.

We went and hiked Mt Timpanogos caves the next day. If the rest of Jim's family wasn't mad at us by then, they were after this. We got to the top just fine. Aunt Hannah carried Whitney the whole way. That is a lot of work. Then we went in the caves. It started out with a bit of fussing until it got to full on melt downs. The ranger (finally) asked if I wanted to leave the caves at this point. I could barely hear her with both babies screaming in my ear, in a cave. Very memorable. I'm pretty sure I'll never forget that trip. Daddy was gone rock climbing with his brother and Dad, and hiked up to meet us at the end of the cave tour. Thank heavens! As soon as there was one baby to a parent, they both fell fast asleep, 2.5 hours after they should have started taking a nap.

Thursday was touring Salt Lake City. Believe me, I was in no mood to have a repeat of the previous day, so we stayed in camp. We had a great time digging in dirt, pulling dandelions and other yellow flowers, sitting in mini chairs, and climbing on the playground to worry about them in Salt Lake. Much, much better. The babies and I also slept for 3 hours together while Daddy went to see a movie. He claims he can't nap. Poor man.

Friday was really fun. Grandma and Grandpa watched Whitney and Tucker for 4 hours while we went rock climbing together. It was so much fun! The sun was shining, I was with my hubby and rock climbing is really fun. It is like a puzzle as far as knowing where to put your feet and I already knew I love repelling. I really want to be my hubby's climbing buddy, now. Grandma and Grandpa took Tucky and Whit on a nature hike and threw rocks in the stream. Whitney's fan club probably fed her lots of Red vines and gold fish crackers.

That was another really cute thing that happened on this trip. Whitney's fan club and how much Whitney loved the attention. There were about 5 girl cousins ages 7-15 that followed Whitney around camp, and Whitney followed them around, too. She had this little grin the whole time she was with them.

Another time Whitney had her little grin on was when Aaron and Joseph dressed them while I was at Izana's house. Aaron and Joseph really wanted to dress the babies, but since the babies don't really like getting dressed, I said no. I went to get their clothes out and turned around to find them gently undressing them. The babies weren't protesting, so I let them process. Whitney had her little cute grin on that said "I love being the star of the show" the whole time those boys dressed them. Tucker let them be extra rough without protesting, as if to say, "It's ok. I'm learning too"

The cutest thing by far that has happened this week it that Whitney and Tucker have figured out to fold their arms for prayer. Whitney figured it out first, but Tucker soon followed. It's really fun to see this new skill.

I'm sure I'll keep adding to this blog as I remember stuff, but maybe not. We'll see.