First Haircuts

Yep, today was the day. All 4 kids and I trooped off to the hair salon for the twins' first haircut. The boys didn't mind it at all! Not even one bit of fussing. I couldn't believe it! We would've been done in half the time except that after each snip we had to make sure the hair got in the little ziplock baggie. And no, I didn't even cry.

Zach was curious about why this lady was touching him
Once he was handed the keys, he had no idea what else was going on....

Doesn't this look pretty much say it all?

Tyler meeting Kimberly

Tyler was a bit more squirmy but still, not bad at all

And he got a pair of keys too! I think keys make the world all better in the eyes of a baby.

A Tad Bit Chilly

Today we went out to Sandi and Irvin's and Trish's house and went swimming. We were celebrating Irvin's birthday and had pizza and dessert. Although the pool was a bit chilly, we wanted to get the kids in there to swim. Matthew and Kathryn swam for hours. Mike and Irvin, maybe an hour, and grandpa, the boys and myself.....minutes. It was cold! But still a ton of fun! Here's some photos from our day..........

Tyler and Grandpa
Zachary and Mom

Michael and Kathryn

Oh yes, Mike and Matthew play football in the pool.

Sandi and Irvin have two dogs, Orphie and Annie. They are great with the kids. Tyler, who just loves dogs, things that Orphie is his personal play toy. Here you can see him 'petting' (or hitting, as some would call it) Orphie, but he doesn't mind one bit!

And after the boys (and grandpa) were all tuckered out, they sat in the massage chair and enjoyed the vibrations!

Do we like this?

That was the question of the day. We got a new sandbox on Craigs List and so today was the day to try it out. The boys have never felt sand, and as you can see below, their first reaction was to basically scream and cry.

But, after several minutes of sitting there, they finally figured out that I wasn't just trying to torture them (and the neighbors who were listening to us) and they caught on that this could be fun.
Tyler decided that he liked to eat the sand. Below he is spitting the sand out of his mouth by way of blowing bubbles, which is pretty much his favorite thing to do.

Zachary never really got all the way in, but I did get some smiles out of him so I'm calling that a success.

Since it was so warm, Kathryn and I then decided that we should get the pool out and wash all of the sand off. Tyler of course dove right in. And a minute after, to my surprise, Zachary did too!

Kathryn spiked Tyler's hair which made quite a mohawk!

And Zachary (who will kill me for this later) was practicing standing up and taking steps in the water.

Tyler gets so excited. He actually loves to dive under the water. I went and got the soap and I bathed them in the pool so that chore is done for the day!

And here is the group photo!

Baby Curls

I am having a hard time coping with the fact that my boys are going to turn 1 in less than a month. In fact, I think 'complete denial' pretty much fits. And just as hard is the knowledge that it is time for my boys to get a haircut. I just can't put it off any longer. So, next week are the first haircuts. Yes, I will probably cry. Anyhow, tonight Tyler woke up from a nap and his hair had the cutest curls ever so I just had to get a photo.

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***As a side note, I had to come back and add that I am not going to cut off those beautiful curls....he is just going to get trimmed around his ears and forehead. Mike and I chatted and the curls are STAYING!!!***

The Big Day

Here are some photos of Mike's swearing in ceremony.

Worn out

Today the boys and I went to grandma and grandpa's house. The weather was perfect to play in their backyard on the play structure that they bought the boys. Here's some photos of their adventure....

Tyler is looking up at grandpa wondering how he's supposed to get down! After the first time, he got the hang of it quite quickly!
It didn't take Zachary long at all to fall in love with the slide!

Tyler peeking out from underneath

Its nice that there's so much room for them both to play so they don't have to fight!

After the boys were worn out from playing on the play structure, we sat on the blanket while grandma snapped beans from the garden for dinner. Tyler helped himself to a few. I don't think he really enjoyed the taste, but it was fun to watch him with something new!

It's mine! No, it's mine!

Tonight we had company over. Our friends Erin and Keith came over with their twin boys. Luke and Braedon are about 3 weeks older than our boys. While we ate our dinner, we decided to occupy the boys by throwing down some cheerios onto the floor and letting them have at it! (Yes, we fed our children on the floor! Don't tell anyone!) It was so funny because 4 little heads and 8 little hands all swarmed in trying to grab a cheerio or two.

Aren't they cute?
Here is Luke, Braedon, Zachary and Tyler chomping down on Cheerios.
Tyler had been told not to throw any more toys out on the deck. Can you guess what he just did and why he is trying to look so innocent as his hand (and the toy) are behind him dangling over the deck?

Luke and Braedon brought some toys to share and one was this tambourine. Zachary didn't really use it as most people would, but he did enjoy sticking the noise makers in his mouth!

Splish Splash

On the run again

Well, it seems that the boys are finally feeling better. Thank goodness! I thought I'd put up some photos of the boys now that they actually look like they are back in the land of the living.

Here's Zachary and my keys. He loves keys!
And Tyler actually smiled for the camera for once!

Okay, this was just so funny that I had to put it up. Zachary had been standing up and was taking steps when he fell down. This was him in the process of falling down, which he thought was pretty funny.

And yet again, Tyler with a smile on his face!!!

Tonight is Mike's last night with the Sheriff's Office. I wanted a photo of him and the boys before he left for his last shift, but Tyler was still sound asleep, so its just dad and Zach. Mike starts with SPD on Monday and I am so proud of him and excited for his new endeavor.

A bit better

Well, I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. After 2 more grueling days of icky flu stuff, we are all finally on the mend. Tonight the boys were actually playing!

Zachary was using the laundry basket as a drum and just pounded away!
Tyler loves to play with the cord on the blinds. We always have to watch to make sure its high enough so that he can't get the end in his mouth. We usually set it just right so that he can hold onto it. He loves to swing it back and forth.

Here the boys are just watching the neighborhood. The wind blows through the windows pretty good and they love the feel of it on their faces. Notice Tyler still has ahold of the cord! I think the boys are so precious when they stare out the window looking at what the big world is like!

The darned flu bug!!!

Well, I can honestly say that I just experienced the worst 4 days of my life. Mike got the flu on Wednesday. Tyler started throwing up before 5am on Friday. I started in at 3pm that afternoon, and Zachary was about 2 hours after me. I have never experienced such agony in my entire life. And on top of that, I was so sick that I could not even help my children. Thank goodness Trish came over and helped Michael. I had to lay on the couch and listen to my children scream for hours. It was the worst night ever. I had no idea that babies could make so much laundry. We did about 12 loads a day for 3 days. It was the most insane experience ever. And then last night I had to take Tyler into the ER because he wouldn't keep even sips of water down. The nurses tried to get an IV in him and draw blood, but after 3 pokes, Tyler screaming, and me sobbing in the hallway, they gave up. We were sent home after 5 hours with Motrin, anti-nausea medicine, and were told to keep liquids in him as best we could. Duh. Today the boys are starting to heal I think. Poor Tyler is still miserable, but at least now he's fussy! Before he wouldn't even hardly move, so I figure fussy means he at least has some energy to make noise! Anyhow, I just wanted to share how this was the hardest weekend I've ever had as a mother. To watch my children suffer and not be able to care for them, knowing how much they are hurting because I feel it myself, and then to watch my poor baby held down by 3 people while needles are poked into him while he screams. I am just thankful that I have such good friends that helped (thank you Trish and Sandi) and a wonderful husband who does much better with vomit and diarrhea than I!!!

Concert Pianists in the making!

Okay, how excited am I about this? I have been playing the piano alot lately practicing for a wedding I've got next weekend. The boys love it when I play! They have shown a lot of interest in the keyboard and piano so today I figured I'd better get some photos. I hope this is a sign that they both want to be concert pianists!

Group photo at the keys
Tyler sits really still and bangs away, listening to the music he makes

Zachary just thinks its cool to bang on the keys

Tyler has always been really drawn to the grand piano for some reason. He always heads straight for it where Zach hasn't found it yet, or at least hasn't figured out how to play the keys.

Finally!

Yes, we have actually been so busy that I have not had time to post any photos. Okay, the real truth is that I have forgotten my camera for all of our events! So, here's a few photos and a recap of our last week. We spent 2 nights in Bend last week for Mike's grandpa Chet's funeral. Unfortunately the babies did not get to meet Chet but I know that Chet's watching over all of us now.

We stayed with my friend Patti in Bend and the boys had a great time. They swam in the pool in the backyard twice and got to play with some new toys! And the best part was that they were phenomenal travelers!!! Not one bit of fussing in the car. Whew!

Lets see, what else? Mostly just running errands and doing some school shopping and stuff.

Oh, and probably the biggest news of all - yes, Zachary is starting to walk! Last Friday he took his first steps. Yesterday he took 4 in a row! And Tyler has mastered the stairs and can make it up all 17 in seconds! So its been interesting here, to say the least (which is the nice way of saying that I'm pulling my hair out) and now Mike has the flu. I'm just praying that we don't all get it. The boys wore their new Mariners t-shirts today, compliments of Sandi and Irvin (thanks!). So, here's some photos of them eating real food (yes, we've moved on to that 'I only want your food' stage) and then of them in their shirts. (Uh, yes....what a terrible picture of me but ignore me and look at the child only. I took about 97 photos trying to get one decent one of Zach and he kept making a beeline for the camera so other than this one, they were all blurry!)

Tyler shoveling the food in....
Zach's having a good time with blueberries and watermelon
Isn't he cute in his shirt? (I tried to cut me out but it didn't work!!!)

And yes, Tyler is adorable too.