Happy Halloween

A long time ago in a pumpkin patch far far away, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia met with their friends The Ninja, Batman, and Yoda to engage in the yearly American tradition of searching for the perfect pumpkin. Unfortunately, the princess was rather upset about finding out that Darth Vader was actually her father (that, and the fact that she was awoken from her beauty sleep a tad too early). Thankfully, Chewbacca was in good spirits and helped the princess eventually have a good time, too.







Darth Vader had a grand time searching through hay bale mazes, enjoying a tractor-pulled hay ride, and eating ice cream.
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Chewbacca and Princess Leia eventually disrobed and discovered ice cream, too (what an amazingly delicious galactic treat!)




Even the Guardians had a good time!

Weight loss Update

Just wanted to report that things are going very well with my weightloss. I've made a lot of progress in the past month and am feeling very good! I'm excercising almost every day (I walk on the mornings Tyler is in pre-school and do videos on the other days). I re-joined weight watchers, so now I am being weighed once a week and have some good accountability. I've even earned my first "reward" goal that I set for myself. I was planning to get an Ipod, but I was also in the market for a new phone. Apple coincidentally reduced the price of their Iphone by $200, so in the end I got to splurge and am enjoying a really cool new piece of technology. Of course, once we started playing with it, Erik decided he had to have one, too, so we now have two in our household.




I am not able to blog as often as I would like, so I added a weightloss ruler to the right of the page. I will try to keep that updated once a week, so even if I can't write about how I'm doing, I can at least share where I am with my progress.

Aquarium Pics

I was never able to add the pictures to the last blog, but I am able to put them in a new post. I have no idea why, but I am still very computer illiterate, so I will never know why.

Lots to Catch Up On

O.K., So what have we been up to? I think the last post mentioned we were headed to Monterey overnight. Hmmmm. Interesting trip. Definitely a learning experience and not the type of trip Hannah or I will be running out the door to do anytime soon, again. The boys had a lot of fun playing at the park and seeing the Aquarium. Tyler got to play on a real locomotive engine and climb all over swinging bridges and really fun play equipment. His favorite part of the Aquarium was a kids play section where he could do color rubbings of various sea creatures and climb all over kid friendly displays. He also liked the jelly fish. For Hannah and I, the trip was quite a bit of work. It's pretty amazing what all needs to be packed and crammed into a suburban sized vehicle to take two adults three babies and three boys to stay overnight for one night. It was actually probably pretty comical watching us trying to coordinate getting in and out of the vehicle each time, not to mention loading and unloading the vehicle at the motel while keeping six kids safe and accounted for. We ended up having two rooms next to each other that only had a king bed in each (different from what I was told would be available when I booked the rooms on the phone :)). The three boys slept in one room. Hannah and I slept in the other with the babies. Three pac-n-plays sure take up a lot of space in a tiny motel-sized room. We had a lot of good laughs, some stressful moments, and definitely some wonderful bonding time (adults and kids alike). We had some great sea-food meals on the wharf in Monterey and were extremely pleased with the children's behavior while we dined at restaurants. I felt kind of sorry for the waitors and waitresses as they approached our tables each time....I'm sure they were quite nervous. But ultimately we got lots of comments on how good everybody was.

That's about all the time I have for now. I still need to write about our trip to Lake Almanor and Tyler's first week of pre-school, so hopefully that will happen soon. Nana is here visiting so I have a little help, and I am actually getting a chance to use the computer. Yay Nana!

O.K.....this was actually supposed to be posted on Monday the 14th, but I wasn't able to and haven't been able to get photos uplaoded to this, so for now, I'll have to do without. Hopefully I'll figure out why it's not working and have pictures soon.

MIA

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. My days seem to be getting a bit more full, and time that I have to spend on the computer has greatly diminished. Aiden and Ashley are in full motion now and working their way upward as well as forwards. It's very funny to see them sitting next to each other when they both spot a toy they want. They actually have "baby races" now to see who can get to the toy first! (Aiden usually wins, as he is a bit more experienced than Ashley.....Big brother steps in to help her out, though :).) Tyler is about a month away from starting pre-school. Before that we are taking an overnight trip to Monterey to go to the Aquarium with friends Hannah, Michael, Seth, and baby James. We are also taking a week+ trip to lake Almanor where the above mentioned (with the addition of Jan and Erik) will be joining us for part of the time. Papa is on his way up to stay at our house tonight and he will leave tomorrow morning to meet up with Nana in Almanor. Tyler is already making his plans for how to avoid the dreaded "beard kiss" when Papa arrives. This weekend I will be going to the bay area for my friend Jenni's baby shower. She is due next month with a younger sister (Savannah) for her three year-old boy, Collin. Jenni was one of my bride's maids in our wedding eight years ago. Erik and Tyler will stay home for some father/son time :). I guess that's it for now. I will leave you with a cute picture taken recently of Aiden and Ashley with their frined James.

On the Move!

Struggling

I knew it was coming. It always does. I'm in a weightloss slump. I've gained back a couple pounds. In the past, this is where I always manage to give up. I can't let that happen this time. Any words of encouragement, ideas, prayers would be greatly appreciated. One of the biggest struggles is excercise, right now. I have Tyler home a lot, and Hannah has her boys at home more due to summer break, so it's much more difficult to get out and walk (the 100+ temps. don't help, either). Do any of you Moms have any suggestions? A gym is too expensive because of monthly dues combined with childcare costs. I think I have to find something to do at home. I think I will start writing down what I am eating again, too. That should be a good wake-up call. I think just writing about this should help to get me going again. I feel like I have a lot of people to be accountable to :).

Change of Plans and Other Things

We have decided not to attempt camping this week. I was too afraid of spending hours getting the trailer ready to go and packed up only to get to the beach and not get a camping site. I think we will attempt it at the beginning of August, instead, when it's not a holiday week. Erik ended up taking an overtime shift today, anyways. So, for the 4th, Hannah and I might attempt to take 6 kids to the Templeton 4th of July parade at 10 a.m. (both husbands are working). Then we will go back to Hannah's house for an all day block party (Tyler loves playing with the kids in their neighborhood, and there will be bounce houses...woohoo!). Finally, we will head to Hannah's parents house for a view of some of the local firworks shows (they live high in the hills in Templeton and can see them all the way from Paso Robles). Erik should be able to join us for the fireworks. Tyler is excited this week because his friend Michael (Hannah's son) will begin joining him at Dolores's (Tyler's day care) this week and for the rest of the summer.


We had a wonderful visit with Erik's Grandparents (Nanci's parents) this week. They drove all the way from Palo Alto just to come see us. We went out to lunch and spent time with them at our house. Tyler loved getting caught up with them and even played golf with them in our living room :). I think they really enjoyed seeing how much the babies have grown and all the new things they are doing.

I had to share this final picture, just because it was so cute. Aiden and Ashley were playing in the living room. I left for about five minutes to do something in the office, and when I returned to check on them, Aiden was fast alseep on the carpet. It reminded me of that carpet commercial where the baby was screaming until the Dad layed the baby down on the carpet.

Our Newest Family Members

Meet Jesse, Bessie, Flighty, and Tweety. We have been waiting for our newest pets for quite some time and they are finally here. We picked them up this morning at the local Hay and Feed store. We are very excited about the prospect of having fresh eggs right outside. Poor Erik gets the job of building the coop. Hopefully I can remain responsible enough to keep these cute little things alive.

What We've Been Up To

It's about time I post some more pics of the kids and give an update on what's been going on in our household. We've had Erik home for 7 glorious days and have been enjoying our family time. Erik's been working on various projects around the house (LOTS of weeds to cut down) and I've been doing the usual...caring for kids and trying to keep the house from becoming a disaster area. v`q
Nana and Papa came for a fun visit for Father's Day weekend. The chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream pie we ate was great for my weaightloss efforts :).
The babies had their 6 month apt. Aiden is now 20 lbs. 6 oz. and Ashley is 16 lbs. 9 oz. Aiden is in the 85th pecentile for weight and Ashley is in the 50th. Aiden is already wearing 9-12 month clothing. Aiden has started sitting up on his own for a couple of minutes at a time. Ashley is not quite ready, but she rolls better than Aiden. It's fun to see all the differences between the babies as they develop, both in personality and physical ability.





Tyler is also growing leaps and bounds. I keep threatening to put him in a "stop-growing machine" but he doesn't seem to like that idea. He is quite the conversationalist and has lots of "four-year-old-boy" energy. He still adores his brother and sister and is very helpful with them.
We hope to take Nana and Papa's travel trailer to the beach for 4th of July week. We will park it right near the entrance of where Erik goes to work (If we are lucky enough to secure a first-come, first-served site). Erik will go to and from the campsite for work that week.
O.K., we are off to meet Hannah and her three boys at the park for a picnic and play. We are looking forward to lots of fun summer activities.

Success!

Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouragement regarding my weightloss. I 've had a good week with several milestones accomplished. First, since recording my weight with Hannah on March 29th at the "starting point" I have lost 10 pounds :). Second, I passed my pre-pregnancy weight! (though I can't say I am the same "shape" I was.....but I guess I can't expect that after giving birth to twins :). And third, I put on two pairs of pre-pregnancy jeans this morning and they fit! Woohoo! They are a tad bit snug, but definitely wearable. I have a long ways to go from here, but it's definitely exciting to be making progress. Seven pounds more to go and I get to buy a new Ipod :).

Yummy Yummy!

As you can probably guess, Aiden and Ashley have started their first foods. As I suspected, Aiden has adjusted to the new adventure quite easily. The first picture is funny because I was trying to get him to look at the camera, but he would only stare at his food bowl, like "Mom.....I'm waaaaiiiiiting." During the first feeding, I attempted to switch back and forth between both babies. Aiden would cry each time I went to Ashley (very impatient....he he he). Since then, I do one and then the other and it works much better. I think there's lots more trial and error when you have twins :).

Ashley is having fun trying her food, too, though her tounge doesn't quite work as well. She's having to work on getting the food to the back of her mouth, but she seems to be enjoying herself.

O.K. Wow! Three posts in one night! I guess I have to pack 'em in when I have the chance. I still have to post "Eight things about myself" (more on that later.....Rich and Mel, thanks for giving me more work..he he). Also, I'll have a fun story about tomorrow to share, so stay tuned.

Ashley Rolls!

I had attempted to take video of Ashley rolling about four other times and she would never do it while I had the camera on. Just over the past two days, though, she has mastered it and won't stay on her tummy anymore. We're all having fun watching her perform her new skill. Tyler even likes to imitate her.....very cute:).

Prayer Quilts

My church has a very cool ministry group of women who sew prayer quilts. Usually, the quilts are made to give to someone who is very ill. The quilts are presented duing a church service where the pastor and congregation pray for the person who is ill. Also, the quilters place strings all over the qulilts that have not yet been tied. After the service, people are asked to say a prayer for the person and tie one of the knots as a symbol that a prayer has been said. Very cool!!

Anyways, today at church, Aiden and Ashley were presented with "Celebration" prayer quilts for being the newest "members" of our church. It was so awesome seeing so many people pray for our sweet babies. I am very mad at myself because I forgot my camera and didn't get any pictures at church, but I took some when we got home.

April Showers Bring May Snow?!

Well, things have been busy, but fun around here. I wish I had a little more time to attend to this blog, but I guess time is just a precious commodity and will be for a while. We are currently in the mountains at Lake Almanor visiting Nana. Unfortunately, Erik is stuck back at home working 13 hour night shifts, six days on, one day off. He will be doing that for the next four weeks! Tyler and the babies are having a lot fun with Nana and “Auntie Carol” (our good family friend who was my “Auntie Carol” growing up). Our good friend Lynn also visited two nights ago and it was great having three “Grandma’s” here. I got almost a two hour nap the other day while the Grandma’s tended to the little ones! The babies have been experiencing many “firsts” the last few days. First trip to Almanor. First long car ride (they did great!). First bath in a sink (out of their baby bath). First swing. First slide. First snow. Yes, snow! There wasn’t a lot, but just enough for Tyler to have a little fun in it before it melted. We’ve been inside a lot because of rain, snow, and cold temps., but Tyler has been finding fun stuff around the house to keep him busy (he placed pegs into every hole of the game “battleship” on both sides….I didn’t realize he had that kind of patience!). We did make it to the park yesterday during a dry spell and we ALL got to play . That’s it for now. More on our Almanor adventure soon!

Batman, Batgirl, and the Iceman!

Isn't technology cool? Obviously I have been having some fun learning how to post. This video is from a couple weeks ago. I guess my blog is turning into more of a "visual" attraction rather than a journal. I'm not the greatest writer, anyways, so it's nice to have the technology to fall bcak on :).

Easter

We had a pretty fun day here. We started with Easter baskets which the Easter Bunny delivered to our doorstep sometime overnight. We made it to church at about 9 a.m. and were treated to a waffle and strawberry breakfast served by the youth of Hope Lutheran Church. We had a wonderful Easter service given by Pastor Carl at 9:30.
After the church service, Tyler got to hunt for eggs with the other children at church (also provided by the teens of our church). After church we headed to my friend Hannah's parents' house (Jim and Susan). Jim is actually one of Erik's bosses. Hannah's husband Jan (Erik's friend and co-worker)and their three children, plus Hannah's sister and grandmother were also there. Tyler colored eggs and had an Easter egg hunt with his friends Michael and Seth. Aiden and Ashley hung out with their friend James (2 months old). We finished off the day with an early dinner at a Mexican restaraunt. It was the first time taking the babies to dinner and they did very well. Everyone helped keep the babies entertained so I could eat my dinner (yay!). Tyler got to spend the night at Hannah and Jan's house with his two friends. It was nice for Erik and I to have a little less responsibility and a little more time to relax in the evening when he arrived home.

All in all a wonderful day!!

New stroller!

I've been trying to get out and walk as often as possible lately, and my regular stroller was not handling the dirt all that well. I convinced Erik a new double jogging stroller would be a good investement. It arrived today! I am very excited about the front to back design. Most double strollers are side to side and take up tons of room (can't take them into stores). I can't wait to use it!

Life With Twinfants

Where do I start? This adventure has been amazing so far and so different from what I think I expected. I had a lot of fear and worry about how tough things were going to be before the twins arrived. I wondered how in the world I would manage even simple tasks like getting the babies in the car, feeding both at the same time, changing double the diapers, dealing with two babies different needs, etc., etc. It’s funny, because I have never really stopped to think about “how am I going to do these things?” since they were born. I simply do them. The Lord has given me the skills and patience I need and away we go! I have heard from other Moms that when people ask “How do you do it?” they always answer…”You just do it.” I find myself saying that all the time now, too.

I can’t even explain the joy that these two beautiful babies have brought to me and our family. Yeah, it’s tough at times (and what parenting job isn’t?), but getting double the smiles and watching their development as a pair has been so much fun. I have a poem framed in the babies room that sums it up pretty well:

Some days seem endless,
My patience grows thin.
Why was I chosen
to be the Mother of TWINS?
The answer comes clear,
at the end of each day.
As I tuck them in bed,
to myself I say.
There's two to kiss,
there's two to hug.
And best of all,
there's two to love!

This week both babies have started rolling over. Ashley was the first, on Monday, and Aiden followed on Wednesday. They are working on grasping objects, and bringing their hands together and to their mouths. The last two nights they both slept nine hours straight (8p.m. to 5 a.m.) Wooohooooo! Ashley took two ounces from a bottle for me yesterday (Yay!). Dolores, Tyler’s daycare lady, has offered to work with Ashley all next week with the bottle. Hopefully we will be back in business with that again soon so I can get away a bit in the near future (assuming I can find someone or a couple someones willing to watch three children J.
The pictures I have here are kind of funny, because I could not get a clear shot of both babies. Someone was always moving and blurry, But I picked the best facial expressions to share. As you can see, Ashley is quite the character. She is very much a flirt and will give a gigantic smile to anyone who will look at her for the slightest moment. She is known to keep many-a-church-goer distracted during the pastor’s sermons (esp. those sitting behind us making goo goo ga ga faces at her). Aiden is a little more serious and loves most to be held by Mommy, but he also has a very infectious smile and he carries on “full conversations” with anyone willing to chat with him. They are both incredibly happy babies. I have been amazed at what great temperaments all three of my children have. How did Erik and I get so blessed?

Best Buds

When I woke up and looked out the kitchen window this morning, this is what I saw. In case you can't tell what you're looking at, the brownish lump on the left of the blob is our cat, Dorey, and the black lump on the right is our dog, Codey. I could't get a better shot for fear of waking the sleeping buddies.

Update: I got a better picture this morning. They were right outsdie the window.

Tylerspective

Well, this is my second attempt at this post. I wrote three nice sized paragraphs and posted 5 photos just in time for my computer to freeze up, requiring me to end my task and lose all I had written. SO, here we go again.

Janell has been posting some cute photos that her girls have taken from their own perspective. I thought it would be fun to give Tyler the camera and see what happened. He took four photos which can bee seen here. I thought they showcased some of his "loves" pretty well. Had Daddy been home, I'm sure he would have been in one of the pictures, too. Can't say I'm too fond of the post-pregnancy body shot, but I guess that's what I get for doing this experiment :)!

Yesterday I took Tyler on a walk/bike ride. Tyler got a new big boy bike from Daddy this week and he is really having fun on it. He rode it all the way around Atascadero Lake! One funny thing was seeing from his perspective what a "big hill" was while he was riding. Mommy got a good workout pushing a double stroller and pulling a four year old on a bike at the same time up these "big hills" (if you've ever been around Atascadero Lake, you know it's not exactly a hilly area, but I guess for someone just learning to ride a bike, it can be a little difficult). I was very proud of my little man. He got to play at the park for a while afterwards, too. It was a fun day. I even managed to feed the younger ones (one at a time) while sitting on the grass at the park as Tyler played. Seems simple, but for having twins, it was actually quite an accomplishment.

We are gearing up for Easter here. Unfortunately, Erik will be working, but the rest of us will go to church. I have no room to complain, though, because at least my husband is here in town, and not half way around the world (Scott, Janell, and girls, I continue to pray for you!). Tyler will have an Easter egg hunt at home and at church. This year seems extra special to me because Tyler is really beginning to understand who Jesus is and will know more about what Easter really is. Oh, and I have to share a funny thing that Tyler asked me this week. These were his exact words: "Mommy, did God put my ears on with glue?" Very cute!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Meet Tyler and Emily....

No, not that Tyler and Emily........This Tyler and Emily:

In case you can't tell what they are from the pics, they are two caterpillars we found in the yard and are attempting to keep alive long enough to see cacoons and resulting moths (at least I think that's what they will turn into). Also, in case you didn't know, Tyler named them. Emily is the big one and is named after Tyler's best friend from church and daycare. She is the big caterpillar because she is older and therefore "big." We've actually already managed to kill one caterpillar. Thankfully, that one didn't have a name. If we are successful in caring for these caterpillars, we will be moving onto something a bit bigger in the next month. Let's just say that Tyler and Emily (the caterpillar Tyler and Emily) could be food for our next animal adventure. I know.....I've got your interests peeked. But I'm not sharing just yet :).

O.K. babies are crying, so time to go. Oh, and by the way. Hannah and I had a wonderful two hour dinner at a French restaraunt in Paso Robles (Panolivo). I can't say Erik and Jan had nearly as much fun. Ashley cried the entire two hours I was away and Aiden cried almost that, except when he was eating a bottle and finally fell asleep. Ashley has decided she does not like bottles anymore. Yikes! We will be working on that. James, the other baby (almost two months old), was sympathy crying as well. What fun! Erik asked me if next time we could go to lunch instead :).

Tyler's Birthday

Whew! Finally getting back here again. Tyler's birthdya was almost a week ago now, but I wanted to share some photos, so here they are. We had nine crazy kids and their parents here for a couple hours to eat pizza and cake. It was pretty wild, but very fun. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day, so the kids mostly played outside. I enjoyed having a bunch of "Mommies" around to hold babies so I could get a little break and turn my attention on Tyler a little. Tyler had a lot of fun, but was a bit impatient about opening presents (I think he asked me about every five minutes "when is it time?"). He didn't even want to eat cake because he was so excited about the presents. His friends were all very generous and we are once again filled to the brim with toys. His favorites right now are Legos, Bob the Builder (of course), Rescue Heroes, and Power Rangers. What a boy!

We have been having fun visiting with Erik's sister, Igrid, who is with us for the last time before she heads back to live in Missouri next month. She and her husband Mitch will be greatly missed! She and Erik are loading up her truck right now with all sorts of stuff to take back to Missouri that we were ready to get rid of (lots of baby stuff that we are done with or can't use because it's for "singleton" babaies, and no, there are no babies expected from her anytime soon, we're just giving her the stuff now so it can go in the moving truck.....otherwise we couldn't get it to her when the time actually comes :).

So, anyhow, life is good here. We are off to the neighbors birthday party today (he is two days younger than Tyler), then We are all going to our friends' Hannah and Jan's house so Erik and Jan can watch three babies and three boys ages 3-6 while Hannah and I go to dinner by ourselves....Yippeee! I can't wait to see what things are like in the house when we return from dinner! I'm sure I'll have a fun blog to write about that!!! BFN! (That's By For Now).