Whitney potty trains..... herself!

Tucker working really hard to button his top button

Whitney spending some serious quality time on froggy

Tucker playing cars with Tanner

Midnight snack.  Literally

Tucker at kid's museum talking to or about fish.  Not sure which

Tucker spending serious quality time here while Whitney is spending quality time with Froggy

Whitney at kid's museum

This pyramid is so cool!

Tucker playing with water at kids museum.  But then again, I can do this at home

Whew!  I feel like I have had a lot of fun and craziness all at once the past two weeks, and most especially around Thanksgiving.  But we are all alive and the better for it.

The week before Thanksgiving I was doing laundry and found water on the floor.  It wasn't the washing machine.  It wasn't the pipe.  It was the septic system.  We have been having people come out and assess the septic system as well as fix it for the past week.  We finally settled on a contractor and they dug up almost our entire back yard to fix the leech pipes to the drain field.  Good thing we don't have landscaping.  As a result, there have been lots of exciting tractors making beeping noise and general excitement that warrants an excuse to take nap a little later in the day. How cool!  Tucker and Whitney really like watching the tractors.  They also have taken to saying "beep...beep..beep" when pushing stools around the kitchen.  That is pretty dang cute, I must admit.  We'll not comment on the price tag of such a fix, but needless to say, a new washing machine would have been WAY cheaper.  Oh well.  Good thing we found it before worse stuff starting backing up in the house.

During this time, we weren't doing laundry as the sudden influx of water put a stress on the system and we were saving that for flushes.  So Whitney and Daddy got in cahoots and decided to POTTY TRAIN!!!!  Yeah!!  Mommy was much, much, much less enthusiastic.  Although, this might be why Whitney did soooooo much better with Daddy.  And Daddy adapted the program to lots more treats, juice boxes and a cool potty chair that Mommy did not do.  Whatever! Success!  We went to church today and there were no accidents.  Whitney told us when she had to go.  But we did cheat a little and she didn't go to nursery on account of the huge amounts of snot that came out with each sneeze.  It was a very, very good thing to get back to doing all sorts of stinky laundry with the new septic system in place.  Daddy said about potty training "this is the most exciting thing I've done as a parent so far!"  He loves to teach.  I keep teasing Jim that maybe he should stay home with the kids and I should go to work so he gets to have more time with them.  And a HUGE thanks to Grandma Ann and Hannah who spent a whole lot of quality time with Whitney in the bathroom.  For TWO DAYS of their trip here.  Tucker was also a huge trooper and played really well, solo, while Whitney was learning.  He even brought Whitney some things while she was on the potty chair.  He spent quality time getting into cupboards and opening and shutting the microwave, his favorite thing.

Some really cute things Tucker did this week is play really well.  There is a photo of him on his belly with another 6 month old.  He got down on his belly and pushed cars around with this little guy, as if he were entertaining him.  He did it all on his own.  He is also learning to do comfort pats to Whitney when she is sad.  He gets a kick out of Piglet pretend talking.  And he loves the ball fort Daddy got him.  I guess it was to compensate for all the treats Whitney got and the fact Tucker is going to have a hand me down potty frog.  There is a video of him playing in it, but I can't find it on this silly computer of ours.  He is making good use out of it.

Tucker has had a tough time with being a picky eater.  He doesn't want to eat what's given him except rice, fish crackers and oatmeal, with some swigs of milk in between.  Really annoying.  He must have this internal calorie counter in his body because if he doesn't get a certain number, HE WAKES UP AT MIDNIGHT for a snack.  We all hate this trick.  And he only eats fish crackers during this time.  See above photo.

We had a great Thanksgiving and a full house.  Jim cooked and organized the tons of other helpers we had to make it all work.  We had Paul, Cathy, Hannah, Erik, the missionaries, Mina, Ixchell, Christopher and us.  It was great fun!  Jim smoked a turkey and some ham.  Lots of good times!  Cathy has the pics for that.

Oh yeah.  And in all the midst of this, Jim gave his two weeks notice at Razorfish and will begin work at Nintendo starting December 1.  Crazy.  He is excited as this was the job that he was supposed to have with Amazon.  He had a great time at Razorfish, but this will be another great opportunity for him.  Here we go!

This week is decorating.  And testing public bathrooms. Any tips?

Whitney potty trains..... Bear!

Tucker cooking up some serious meat (puzzle pieces of farm animals)

In the box... in the box!

The cutest thing ever this week.  Whitney potty trained Bear (her stuffed bear).  I was in the bathroom washing my hands when I looked over at Whitney.  She had flipped the toilet lid up, sat Bear on the potty and held him there like I do when I put her on the toilet.  After about 30 seconds, she took Bear off the potty and put the lid down.  I really wish I had my camera for that!

One of the videos should be titled "Eddy!  Wish you were here! -Sammy and Rocky".  This week the babies have been very amused by watching the dogs eat.  So they gave them lots of opportunity with lots of dog treats.  One time Tucker was lying on the floor on his stomach, propped up on his elbows, lazily kicking his legs a bit watching the dogs eat.  Very amusing.  Whatever.  They weren't fighting or doing anything dangerous, so it let me get something done.  Although, I regretted it a bit later in the week when I went to poop scoop and there seemed to be a lot more poop to scoop this week.  Whitney is the narrator in the video.

That's another cute thing.  Is to poop scoop while the babies point out where the poop is.  Whitney is the most diligent at sticking to the task.  There is an explanation of "poop!" and then "yuck" follows repeatedly as I actually pick it up.

This week was a bit like having a newborn.  Tucker (and Whitney) had a cold.  He got up around 12 or 1 am almost every night this week.  To cry, eat crackers and just generally be awake until he was comfortable enough to sleep.  Whatever.  By Saturday I was exhausted and tired of the constant whining and just left the house.  Jim asked where I was going.  I didn't know, but just wanted to leave.  I ended up going to the library.  No screaming children that were mine there.  Hallelujah!  Thank heavens for good hubbys.

Another video is them playing with "the box"  The box is a new smoker.  Because we needed a new smoker since we haven't used the last one since the "ice fishing incident when mandy was gone for a weekend" time.  About 3 years ago.  This one is bigger and better.  Bigger and better to take up more space.  But I do have to say, it was pretty cool that the next expense was $25.  He did sell the other smoker.  Now, he can smoke a Thanksgiving turkey while I use the oven for other things.

Tucker has been practicing his cooking skills, as noted these past couple of weeks.  The video of him putting the spices in and out of the microwave was easy to get because he literally did that same activity for 1/2 hour straight.  I got the dishes done.

I got back some really cute Halloween pictures that I put on Thanksgiving postcards and will send a letter out on Christmas paper.  That way you can have my three favorite holidays in one envelope.  At least, that will be my goal for this week.  Soooo  It should be done around the first week in December.  Keep checking the mailbox!

I think I have to do a separate post for the box video.

halloween and it's aftermath

Tucker playing with the oven mitts.  He knows they need to be used to touch anything in the oven

Diaper boxes are always the best

Daddy carving the pumpkin.  Whitney eating string cheese  Tucky supervising

Hmmmm... so far, looks good!

And we make it look even cuter!

We were invited over to dinner by some friends who let Tucker and Whitney play with and take home these bowls.  Who knew they were the best toys ever!  Whitney made block soup

And a hat

Tucker wearing his hat while helping me with chores

What I should have done for costumes (the other set of twins in the ward and their big brother.  yep.  only 16 months apart.  My life is suddenly easier

Another cute idea.  Mom is referee (obviously), Dad is the fan and the kids are the players. 

Before they knew how much fun they were going to have

Getting closer to fun with bags in hand.  one is a candy corn and one is a ghost bag

I told Daddy that they could eat as much candy as they wanted Halloween night and  the next night, then that was it.  Party hardy!

Can't even wait to open the wrappers

I haven't had this much fun on Halloween since I was a kid.  The cutest things we liked were how much fun they had loading their bags with things.  Once Whitney figured out that she could ask people for objects to put in her bag, she was totally sold.  They didn't even care that it was candy.  I don't think they knew.  Then, on the way home, they figured out it was candy when I opened on.  After that, they tried "opening" the wrappers themselves with their teeth.  They now know what candy is. The day after Halloween, I went to put their trick or treat bags away and Whitney spied them.  All of a sudden, she wanted to go for a "walk", grabbed her bag and went to get her socks and shoes on.  I think she was wanting a repeat of the night before.  We had a blast.

This week I was thinking about how a year ago I was in Illinois.  I had so much fun last year.  And kind of wish I had waited to come this year (although my mom isn't already up here to help get them back there) because they are so much more fun.  For one, they don't sleep as much and eat more foods, not to mention all the fun stuff they do.  Oh well.  It was a great trip with lots of good memories and I can't believe it has been a year.  They still play with the dolls my aunt gave them and love the soft blankets when in the car.

This week has seemed like more of the same.  We went to the mall indoor playground, which they love.  They can literally bounce off the walls.  But I'm not sure I love it.  3 days after, predictibly, they are sick again, which makes for sleepless nights. Hmmmm..  But they are very cute bouncing off those playthings.

This week they had lots of fun helping me dig in the dirt, deadhead plants, put rocks in the wheelbarrow, draw on the white board (with lots of supervision),  and add ingredients to receipes. It still does my heart good of how much they like to help right now.  They have been getting better with each other.  Since Whitney's cold, Tucker has been fairly vigilant about getting her Kleenexes.  And since they have all sorts of winter clothes and rain boots on outside, they fall often.  But they have started helping each other up.  It's very cute and sometimes a little dangerous.  Tucker still pulls Whitney's hair, but less often, and when he does, he has figured out how to say sorry.

bear?

Tucker supervising the croissants cooking

Whitney anticipating time to eat them

Whitney loves the biggest leaves

and loves giving her leaves rides

Tucker learning to sit on his car and ride it, instead of pushing it

reading the Sunday paper before breakfast

Tucker in time out at the park

Whitney voluntarily sitting in time out while Tucker was also in time out

This week was another sick week.  Jim stayed home from church to watch the babies.  They made croissants, which Daddy was sure was a cure for colds.  The babies seemed to like it.  Tucker didn't have an appetite while he was sick.  But then he would wake up from nap or even in the middle of the night for a fish cracker snack.  For some reason fish crackers was the only thing he would eat when he got that hungry he was screaming. Whatever.  At least he is back to eating normally.

We had some gorgeous and beautiful days of sun.  Bitterly cold, but dry, nonetheless.  We went to the park and found lots of monarch butterfly catapillars everywhere.  Very exciting!  Whitney really enjoys watching them crawl.

We went to some friends for dinner tonight.  It was great because they try out toys at the other kids houses and we know what they like.  For example, the soft foam chairs in St. George.  Tonight it was the sit and spin and the stacking boxes that are also nesting boxes.  Very cool.  I didn't know Whitney would get the sit and spin thing so well.  Jim also brought up the exercise ball that the previous owners left for the babies to play with this week.  Another hit.

Tucker this week grasped the concept of sitting in time out.  Anytime he throws something down the stairs or hits Whitney or a dog, he is asked to go in time out.  And he does!  He runs over there and sits down until the timer goes off.  Not sure this method of discipline is effective....  he does not seem to be phased by time outs.

This week we frosted sugar cookies.  That meant more fun of putting ingredients in bowls for the dough and the frosting.  I gave the babies each a cookie to decorate.  boy was that a thoughtless thing to do.  I turned around and they had both devored half of their cookies before we even started frosting them.  Really.  What was I thinking??!!! 

I think a bear went through our yard on Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday night the trash cans were knocked over.  Sunday night, I heard them get knocked over around 2 am ,as I was already awake with Tucker.  But I was too scared to look out the window to see glowing eyes peering at me.  The thing that made me think it was a bear is that we have two sections of our fence that got flattened, about 6 feet long.  Pretty sure a raccoon was not the one that knocked over the can.  It looked like the animal knocked over the can, didn't like the cucumber in it, walked around and over our fence, bending it to the ground at the ground level, then walked out of our yard, flattening another fence, to get to our backyard neighbor's compost pile.  I hope they go into hibernation soon! I tried fixing the fence that day, but it bounced back as I was working in another section of the yard.  I had creeped myself out so much that when the fence sprang back to it's broken shape, I thought for one crazy second that it was the bear coming back!

And tomorrow..... Halloween!

vote on your favorite fall photo

Tucker making hats

Hmmmm....  what should I do next

my daydreamer

great fall pic

grates are cool

yes they are!

and totally hysterical

We're sooooo cute!  What grandma or puppy doesn't love us?

Tucker talking about the "water down there"

Whitney checking stuff out

Whitney wasn't in the mood for this photo op, but just then a dog walked by and she smiled a tiny bit

Whitney asking to add more to the bread dough

Tucker learning the art of dish washing

This is what I see every time I go in the front door and it just makes me so happy

Whitney

Tucker

Tucker talking about the dogs

I'm big enough to reach the top rail!

I have to admit.  I wasn't looking forward to fall starting this year because I didn't feel ready for winter and all it's darkness.  But then fall hit here and I am reminded about how much I love fall.  All I have to do is walk around a local park (photo op above), go to the grocery store, go to church, go to Costco and there is color everywhere!  The color is best where the sun shines directly for at least 3 hours on a plant, so the parking lots around here are incredible.  There are these bright red plants around in the parking lots that are great.  A bunch of Whitney and Tucker's fall photo ops where done in a parking lot.  That's why you don't see much else besides them and their heads only, at that.  The rest of the picture would have been car grates.  There is also some ivy that grows everywhere off the freeways, roads and in the parks that are displaying great color.  I've always wanted to go to the east coast to see fall color, but maybe I've had a better taste of it here, so I'm not craving it as much.

Last week it took me 2 hours to upload 5 pictures on my computer.  Now I know a bit what it's like to be a contractor's wife or a mechanic's wife.  Of course the house will constantly be under construction or the car about to fall apart because why would they want to work on it at home.  That has become my computer situation.  No work-o well-o.  So I kicked Jim off of his computer and uploaded all these pics in 15 minutes.  That's more like it.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how I was going to start potty training Whitney.  The thing that made me decide this is that she was saying "poop" going to the bathroom and thought it was great fun to get up on the toilet.  Two weeks ago Monday night, she was saying it off and on for 10 minutes straight.  Jim thought it was cute, so he helped her to the bathroom using her potty seat, but then grew tired of her game when no results were happening.  So Whitney tried it one more time.  When Daddy didn't help her that time, she dragged the stool over to the potty, put her potty seat on the potty and was standing there trying to get up there, when Jim discovered her and her very recent poopy diaper.  Alright already!  I'll potty train you Whitney!  So we spent the next three days in intensive potty training, giving her Capri Suns and juice boxes galore so I could catch her in the act.  But then it wasn't fun anymore and she no longer said poop, but screamed if I took her to the potty as I was catching her in the act.  I gave up, exhausted.  After Christmas, maybe.  I'll think about it.  I gave up and we went to the park.  The sun was out and I wasn't about to miss that.

We also went to this huge garage sale thing and found Tucker and Whitney cute costumes for $10 total between the two of them.  Tucker is going to be a mouse and Whitney a ladybug.  Whitney already asks to wear her outfit every time she sees it hanging up in the closet.  Tucker wants nothing to do it.

They have been sick this week and taking care of each other.  They will get each other blankets.  Today Tucker ran to get a clean Kleenex for Whitney to help her with her "snork"  Whitney comes to me and says snork to get her nose cleaned too.  Whitney ran and got Tucker a toothbrush along with the one she got for herself because she knew he would feel better.

Daddy built Whitney a tent in her room.  During the potty training days I realized how much Whitney likes the corner between her crib and the wall.  So Jim put nails in the wall to have a blanket tent there.  She loves it!  We read books in there before nap time and that is so much fun right now!

So between Tucker being sick for 5 days, the rain, and Whitney potty training the week before, we haven't gotten out much except for the photo ops as above.  I took some every day pics of the babies helping me make bread and doing the dishes.  Jim did get out to go dirt biking for two days and crab season has opened in some areas, so we've had delicious crab for dinner.... after the babies go to bed!  Jim watched the babies while I went to a crafting night, which was fun.  He watched the kids while I went to church today, another relaxing event!  So life is pretty good.