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.

The Cube and the Stairs

So, I had 2 heart attacks today. I am totally in the denial stage about my childrens' ability to climb stairs. I have the baby gate at the top of the stairs but have not yet put one downstairs because I just didn't think they would figure out how to climb the stairs yet. Today, I turn around and there is Tyler, about 6 stairs up. Hello! When did he learn to climb the stairs??? Then, after Mike got home from working 24 hours straight, Mike walked upstairs and I heard him start yelling for me come 'NOW!' So I run to the stairs and there is Tyler, up again about 8 stairs and closing in on Mike. Yes, he obviously has figured out UP, but I don't want him to fall DOWN since he hasn't figured that part out yet.

In other Sommer news...I bought this climbing cube at a garage sale and today was the first day the boys got to use it. They really seemed to enjoy it. Especially the slide!

Here's the cube....
Zach is figuring it all out....

Tyler is climbing UP the slide now too...

And he's found the little tunnel....

Zachary is ready to slide down

Chillin'....

Tonight the boys were playing on the floor with Grandma and I and I couldn't resist taking some pictures. (Yes, I know - you are shocked that I couldn't resist taking photos of the boys to put on the blog.) They grow so darned fast! And each time I take a new photo I see more and more teeth!

Zach was having the time of his life tonight
Tyler has discovered his tongue and likes to show it off
Zach has some pucker power goin' on
Tyler getting tickled by Grandma

Goin' for a ride........

Kathryn is such a good helper with the boys. They love to play with their big sister. This morning they got into the laundry basket and Kathryn pushed them around the couch about 100 times!

Here they go, around in circles......
Zach is having the time of his life....

Tyler looks pretty entertained too..........

Trip to Trish's

The boys and I were invited out to Aunt Trish's house today to spend the afternoon. We had plans to swim in the pool, but it was still a bit too cold for me. Tyler got to splash his hands and feet in the water for a while though, and he had fun. Zachary and I were too chicken. Daddy got to stop by for a visit and the boys were quite enamored with all of the buttons, badges, gadgets, and cords attached to Mike's uniform. Tyler especially was enthralled with the taser. Later we got to BBQ hamburgers and had a great feast.

Zachary and Aunt Trish sitting on the blanket in the yard
Tyler took the straw right out of Aunt Trish's drink and decided it was his new favorite toy

Here, the boys are looking quite innocent after they flipped over a plate of their food. Its a good thing Trish doesn't mind them making a mess on her carpet!

Two Little Animals

We made the switch this week from booster seats to high chairs. We found that we didn't have enough chairs for everyone else when the boys occupied two! So we went and bought these cute little Fisher Price high chairs. They are just perfect because they have lions and elephants and other safari animals on them and the boys love animals.

Here they are smiling away....

Zachary is very happy about his new chair.......And Tyler seems pretty pleased too......

Family Reunion

The boys and I spent the weekend in Molalla with grandma and grandpa. The McCary Family Reunion was on Sunday in Biggs so we packed up for the big trip.

Since we were now at a new home, the boys decided that they had to investigate. Here is Tyler getting into grandma's cupboards to see what he can find.
We had a beautiful day for the picnic. It was about 85 degrees with a nice breeze. The boys had a great time! Here they are playing on their blanket with our keys. Notice how Tyler has managed to grab Zach's set and is now shaking both pairs while Zach looks on like 'what the heck happened here?'. This seems to be happening alot. Tyler loves the toys that Zach has and promptly takes them away.
Towards the end of the afternoon I broke out the Pack'n Play with the hopes that someone might take a nap. For a while they just played, but, Tyler finally conked out, as you can see.

It was great to see their great grandparents and great aunts and uncles and cousins that they had not yet met. We are looking forward to the reunion next year, when I'll have to set up the Pack'n Play just to keep them contained!!!

4th of July Celebration

The boys' first 4th of July has come and gone. We all went to Molalla for the parade and had a great time! The boys lasted for most of the parade, which was more than I expected since it was right in the middle of nap time. They each had on their cute little 4th of July outfits and looked absolutely adorable.

Here Zachary is eating Puffs while watching the parade going by.
And Tyler is totally prepared with his sunscreen and a toy!

The many adventures at our house...

Well, this week has been a crazy one so far! We've had a ton of fun at our house. Sunday I put the boys in Hawaiian clothes. Their grandpa Jim would be proud! It was just so cute that I had to show a photo!

Here is Zachary in his hawaiian shirt with Cranston the Cranberry
I found this hat at a garage sale and got it for 25 cents! Isn't it cute?

Then I decided that since the weather was going to be so warm, I'd get the new pool out so that the sun would warm the water. I blew it up and....here we are with our waterless swimming party INSIDE! But hey, the boys are having fun and that's all that matters!

By tonight, the pool water was nice and warm, so we decided to give the boys some cake for the first time, then put them in the pool. We set up their booster seats in the yard and gave them each a piece of cake. As you can see here, Tyler is SUCH his father's son. He LOVES food, and cake is no exception! He made quite a mess!

And then there's Zachary, who looked at me like I was nuts! One, we're eating on the grass? And two, what's up with this stuff in the bowl? He literally wouldn't even touch it! Well, that's not true because here you see that he is actually placing his finger on the cake, but that was seriously as far as he went. I think his face is just priceless!

Then it was off to the pool! Zachary sat next to the pool and splashed the water with his hands for about 2 minutes, and then he was done. He sat on the grass and watched his brother swim away.

And Tyler truly did that! He sat like this and splashed the water for about 2 minutes, then all of a sudden he literally DOVE head first into the pool! We all scrambled to grab him and pull him up out of the water! Then he sat in the pool and played for over 20 minutes! The whole time he was shivering away. He had so much fun!!! Kathryn brought down some of his bathtub toys and he had a ball.

Here he is with his fireman rubber ducky in the pool.