The boys and I had a "first" this week. I had to bake some Amish Friendship Bread that my sister Mindy gave me and Jared had to go in to work so I thought "hey, I should let the boys help". In the back of my mind I knew it would take double the amount of time to make the bread and 10 times the mess but I pushed on and I am SO glad I did. They had so much fun and each time I handed Eli the measuring cup full of flour or sugar he giggled enthusiastically. Alex just quickly dumped the contents into the bowl and was ready for his next task but he too LOVED doing this. I actually felt guilty that I didn't wait until Jared was home because although he is not one to want to help in the kitchen he would have loved to see the joy on his son's faces. I am now determined to involve them more often which will obviously involve slowing down and taking in the moment. This is ALWAYS a good thing when I surrender to it.

On a funny note, I would allow them to put in what I had given them and then move the bowl away from them while I loaded up the next measuring cup, however, one of the times I didn't factor in Eli's long reach. He grabbed an egg yolk from the bowl. I quickly screeched and said "Eli, you could get salmonella" and he dutifully repeated as I was scrubbing his skin off "salmonella?". He cracks me up!


I can't take the credit for realizing this is something that I needed to experience with my boys. Ever since I read this post by Tuesday's Mommy, whom I don't know and will never meet, it affected me. She and her husband give an extremely honest account of losing their sweet daughter. Despite how I often act and the fact that the boys drive me to my wits end, time is fleeting and there will never be enough days to make pancakes with your kids ;) I feel blessed that we will be together in eternity but because our days here are numbered, as are the days they will be willing to stay home and bake with mommy on a Saturday night, I suggest you hand your kids some measuring cups and go bake something!!! What's the worst that could happen?

Well, they could grab an egg yolk. :)

A Day with Miss Olivia

If you knew my niece Olivia, or Livi as I like to call her, you would call her Miss too. She may be small but she is scrappy and manages to taunt her older siblings and her parents from time to time. She is adorably tiny but again she is a force to be reckoned with. She asked me to do an "ungagog" (under dog) while pushing her on the swings several times and I swear she almost talked me into it. She is THAT good!

She made the boys laugh a lot and they had a blast. They also realize that they are capable of new things when she is around. I guess it is like when children have older siblings and watch and learn from them. She is only 9 months or so older than the boys but 9 months at this age is like a lifetime.

Eli's response to Olivia hanging onto the bar and swinging (Sorry Missy, I did make her stop!)

Me TOO!!!!

We sidewalk chalked!

And read books while waiting for our broccoli and mac n' cheese.

NYC's cowboy has nothing on Alex

And then there is Eli, below, wearing his "hat". He loves running around like this.

Ahhh, 2 years old......I am going to miss these days.

At TWO....

you already seem to have a strong bond and, as I have mentioned before, Alex has taken on the big (little) brother role. Despite the fact that he is just shy of 24 lbs. and Eli is 28 1/2 lbs. his determination to take care of his (big) little bro is not swayed.

He has been know to bring Eli his milk and pat his back when he cries. He also brings him various things (books, alligator, etc) when Eli is having his diaper changed. Eli is not a fan of slowing down and letting us change him thereby making the task less than enjoyable for Mommy and Daddy.

July 2008 (Alex on the left)

Alex calls Eli~ eye-eye and Eli calls Alex~ eye-eye. Eli completely understands that his name is Eli and Li-Li and that his brother's name is Alex yet he still calls him eye-eye. What a pair, these two.


As always you laugh at each other harder than you laugh at anyone else although sneezes have become absolutely hysterical to both of you. Eli's sneeze impression sounds like I-I-I-choo! Alex's is similar and they are both pretty cute. Daddy is the BEST at the fake sneezes. I think because his are the loudest!

You are starting to enjoy things other than Barney although your palate is limited. They now enjoy Madagascar also. Eli laughs out loud at the penguins slapping each other and the zebra when he makes "toot" noises using his arm pit. Can anyone tell I live in a house full of boys??? Yikes!

I continue to think of things you are up to at two. I will keep your future selfs, who I hope will read this someday, posted! ;) Love you guys!

Alex and Eli their first day home together (July 2007). This is one of the last times Alex was winning the weight game! He is the one on the left with the cheeks :)

More about you being 2

Alex and Eli's 2 Year Old Dictionary

peas~ not the vegetable but this is your version of the word "please"
We encourage you to say this instead of whining for example:

You: cookie, cookie, cookie, cookie! (in your whiniest voice)

Me or Daddy: Stop whining. Now, what do you say?

You: PEAS

I gone getchooo~"I am going to get you!" You say this when you want to be chased.

Luh-lou~ I love you!

I pope~ contrary to what it may seem Alex is not claiming to be the head of the catholic church. This means that he has a present in his diaper for Daddy or Me.

beeps~ grapes. Alex says it this way and it means that he wants grapes. Grapes are their new favorite fruit that they are obsessed with. Recently, while in the grocery store I had a hysterical children screaming for "beeps". (Confession: I actually gave in and gave them some, dirt and all, before paying. Yep, I live life on the edge!)

OK, OK, OK, OK~ Eli repeats this over and over and over to you with his hand out. He is basically rushing you. He wants whatever it is you have and you are not handing it over fast enough.

chaka monkey~ chocolate milky (this is one of my favorites).

Wee-ah-you?~ Where are you?

Bawneee~ Our favorite purple dinosaur.

TB~ not the disease but T.V. meaning TURN IT ON!

Recently, although this has only happened once Eli said to himself, apparently, while in the car with Daddy and Alex. "Eli, you are so funny!" Confidence is not an issue with this one!

You are saying a lot of other words some more clear than others but these are the ones that stand out at the moment. Well, these along with Wassat? and Whossat? which I mentioned previously.

HELP: If anyone know why the spacing gets screwed up when I post I would appreciate some info. It is driving me CRAZY and I go back and fix it only to find when I publish that it is jacked up again. Thanks!

Kisses

The boys have begun to give each other kisses on a consistent basis. It is adorable and melts my heart. We have to remind Eli to be gentle as you can probably see as he looks like he is going in for the kill. Unfortunately, there is not a gentle bone in Eli's body at this point. He tries and he has a sweet demeanor but it doesn't match up with his ability to be gentle with his brother. He steps on him on a regular basis and pulls him "gently" (by the collar of his shirt) out of the way when he is being bothered by his brother's presence. Alex tends to shrug it off and is rarely hurt by his brother's antics.

Something else they are doing at two!

Whassat?

My one year olds last year 4-18-08

Translation of my title: What's that?

Description: twin boys with one finger each pointed at anything and everything asking "whassat?" This is also asked whenever their is a sound within a 10 mile radius.

This was ADORABLE at first but then you try and read them a book and are interrupted regularly with the same question. Being a patient mommy I answer THAT is a: star, grass, moon, girl, boy, tree, duck, bird, mommy, daddy, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit (they point to the same thing over and over and over and over). I think you get the picture and that is what fills mine and Jared's day. We no longer have what some might call "free time" we are now the answerer's to the question WHAT IS THAT? It consumer our lives. :)

Another fun one is "Who'sAT?" This becomes the most fun in the line at IKEA when they are pointing at strangers and saying "whosat?, whosat?" My response: "I don't know honey, I don't know, idon'tknowidon'tknowidon'tknowidon'tknowidon'tknow". Some strangers smile and are cordial and some are WAY to cool to utter a word. It is actually those people that I torture by allowing the boys to continue pointing and asking . Evil, I know, and I am partially kidding but I do have to laugh when people become uncomfortable with a child and their child-like ways. It is too funny.

Wow, spell check had a field day with this post.

So that is a little about who the boys are at 2! More to come....

It's official

they turned 2 on Saturday! We started their b-day by waking them singing "Happy B-day to You" and by the time we sang it again at nap they were singing along. We then got them ready, fed them, etc. and went to a new park that we LOVE. We headed home for a LONG nap and the boys woke up to some balloons and new plastic reptiles. As my sister Missy said "boys are so easy". They were thrilled with their balloons that is for sure and they love hissing like snakes too.



As you may recall we had their b-day bash a couple of weeks ago and gave them their presents then. Since the party Daddy made the boys a train table for their new trains and that was also one of their presents. I must say I am so impressed with my husbands skills. He continually amazes me. Me, Daddy and the boys then headed off to Ikea for some "necessities" and then they had their B-day dinner at the pizzeria that our friends own. They loved their day that is for sure and Mommy and Daddy loved sharing it with them.

Here is the table. The top is in two pieces and is removable to store all their trains and cars.

They are doing a million new things and I plan to post more about that in the future but here are pics from their official b-day.

Nice playset

but where are the children?????

behind the shed playing with rocks and a stick! Typical!

It has been beautiful today and the boys are loving it. I think while playing outside tonight they were having a "who can get the most disgustingly dirty" contest. Alex won because he is our little "Pig-pen". Tomorrow they are officially two! I cannot believe my little babies are TWO!

Easter 2009

We started our day at church and had an awesome service that again reminded us how gracious our Savior is!

Later in the afternoon we got together with all of my sisters and the kids decorated the bunny cake which is a tradition that we had growing up and just started with our own kids. My sisters and I walked away from the experience realizing that our parents must have directed our decorating A LOT! It was rather "creative" and we will leave it at that because my niece is a reader of this blog. :)

Here is Alli and the boys reaction to being told that they had decorated enough, this really meant that they had eaten enough jelly beans and licked off enough frosting. They were not happy! By the way, have no fear, none of the adults actually ate the cake. We were smart enough to have our own desserts.

And here is the Easter Egg Hunt. This was a first too and as usual my boys loved having their picture taken. Ugh!!! How do people get group photos with children???? I am finding it next to impossible, yet I continue to attempt it while those around me snicker. :)

And this is the point where I mentioned that I meant to bring "Madagascar" for the boys to watch and as if floating down from the heavens Missy chimed in and said "I brought it!". You gotta love a seasoned veteran in the Mom department. They all sat and watched it long enough for us to have adult (if you can call it that :) ) conversation in the dining room!



I feel very blessed to have been able to spend it with family. I sat next to Celia (my 8 year old niece) during praise and worship Sunday morning and it was all I could do not to get emotional. She stood there and sang her little heart out in such a sweet voice. I felt so grateful that she is not only part of my family but that I have this AMAZING family of Christians at my church that have been stability for me and my sisters and their husbands and our children. God is GOOD!

Um, Mommy's grounded...

and is no longer allowed to play with scissors! My sweet son, Alex was minding his own business and eating his waffles this morning when he saw his Mommy get a crazed look in her eye. Suddenly she was tearing through the junk drawer and looking for the scissors.

In my defense I was trying to put off having their hair cut because I do like the boys hair a little on the long side but suddenly it was in Alex's eyes. I didn't want to bother Grandma Dolores (she cuts their hair) at the last minute and on a holiday weekend so I thought "How hard could it be? I have seen her cut it. She twists a piece and sort of cuts at an angle. Right?" WRONG! The funny part is the long side of his bangs that bothered me stayed long and the side that was a fine length got much shorter.

Thankfully, Grandma didn't mind being bothered so we hauled the boys over there and they got to play with the doggies a bit. They loved it and Mommy is happy to have her mistake fixed. I am still not sure what made me think I was capable of cutting hair. I have to say that this is a typical "Becky" moment and Jared just laughed. I think after six years with me he is prepared for just about anything. :)

The pictures do not do it justice but here are a couple of pictures of my hack job:

I love how in the above picture. It looks like he is a bit concerned about his mother being a lunatic. Actually, now that I take a second look when he lifts his eyebrows it really doesn't look that bad. Hmmm I wonder if he could have held that look for Easter pictures and no one would have been the wiser :)

Such a busy week!

The boys have been partying like rock stars this week. We went with Aunt Linda on Wednesday to shop for Easter outfits. The boys had a blast. It was the first time I ever attempted taking them in dressing rooms to assess the fit of their clothes. Alex loved the 3 sided mirror (I guess that is what you call it?) and just stood there and made faces in it. Eli enjoyed the mirror when he wasn't trying to squeeze past Aunt Linda who was blocking him from exiting the store. We were victorious in our search and for the first time it was necessary for me to purchase two different sizes for my boys. Alex 18 months; Eli 24 months. I have been asked a couple of times lately how far apart they are and it takes a minute for me to understand that people don't realize that they are twins anymore. Alex is eating like he has a hollow leg but Eli still wins in the weight dept. Last time we checked he weighed over 28 lbs. and Alex was 22 lbs.

Thursday, Mommy planned to work out and the classes are held at Daddy's school so he took the boys and let them play in his class room. At this point open spaces that allow them to run are like Disney World for these boys. We also got to sneek a peak at all the girls in their Junior/Senior (the private school version of prom) dresses because they all met at the school for a photo op that had been set up. The boys got to see their babysitters in big, fun, poofy dresses which I am sure would have thrilled them more if they were little girls. I told them we were going to see princesses. Eli loved it and wore his sunglasses in the pictures, looking like a stud, and Alex was a little frightened by the bright, protruding, tool surrounding him therefore he refused pictures unless Mommy was holding him. This was "great" since I was in my workout clothes with my hair in a ponytail next to girls who had just had their hair and make up done and were in gorgeous dresses. Ah well, Motherhood can be a humbling experience ;) All kidding aside, it was really cool for me because I grew up babysitting these girls and I remember them coming to see me in my dress before Jr./Sr. and now it was my turn to bring my kids over to look at them. It reminded me how awesome it is to be part of my church/school family.

Friday, we attended our Good Friday service and it was a blessing. I cannot say much more about it than that. In an attempt to not use flowery words and diminish the effect it had I will simply say it was exactly what I needed to help me focus on Christ's sacrifice for me. I am truly humbled by His love for us, His children.

Tonight we head to our friends house and Sunday we have church and then dinner with my sisters! I am looking forward to it!

I tried some clothes on the boys at home in order to avoid the dressing room but as I mentioned we had to do it anyways.

Alex tried on the shirt first and I told him how handsome he looked. He DID NOT want to take it off so the pouty face was his response to handing the shirt over to his brother.

Simple Math

Twin Boys + Mud = Pure Joy

Here they are in their mud puddle. They giggled and giggled! In the 2nd picture they are stomping on their shadows which is a new thing they enjoy doing. (I didn't get any of the muddiest pictures because I was busy using the video feature.)

Alex's muddy face and Eli's thrilled face!

And last but not least my favorite equation:

Twin Boys + Fresh Air, Mud, a Bath and Full Bellies = One 3 hr. nap!

Spring is in the air...

well, not exactly! It was a rough day for Michiganders yesterday. State lost to North Carolina (See, Mariah I know what's up! O.k. I asked Mindy;) ) and we got hit with some Spring snow.

The boys and I made the most of it and actually had a great day with minimal amounts of meltdowns. We finally made the stegosaurus that I planned to make a month or so ago and it was a hit. It was messy but they LOVED sponge painting. Eli did manage to snap himself with the clothespin and didn't recover quickly from that ordeal but overall I would say it was a good craft. We read a dinosaur book to go with it and I had two happy boys. Then daddy came home and took us all out to dinner which made for one happy Mommy.

Today was story time and I had to laugh because the librarian themed it all towards April showers and Spring, meanwhile it is snowing outside. I personally, think all this snow is in honor of my sister Missy's anniversary. 9 years ago on Wednesday it snowed on their wedding day. I remember thinking it was kind of magical....the white dress, the snow flakes. Today is the 2nd day of snow, however and I am not feeling as nostalgic. I am ready for some warmer weather. :)

Crazy weekend for this Mama!

Well, we had an interesting wknd. It all began with me having distorted vision on Thursday evening that went away and returned Friday morning. I called Jared at work and told him it was happening again and we decided to head to my Dr.'s office. There we discovered that my blood pressure was high but not high enough (in his opinion) to warrant vision disturbances. On a side note I have not had previous BP issues other than when I was pregnant which led to HELLP syndrome and the boys being delivered at 27 wks.

They gave me a script for the bp issues and referred me to an opthamologist which is where things got a little scary. I passed all of the vision tests with flying colors and was feeling like I would just head home, take my new prescription and call it a day. The opthamologist then had a look and found something that disturbed him. My optic nerves were swollen which can mean increased pressure on the brain from fluid. At this point he mentions that the only way to know if this is the problems is to have a lumbar puncture (AKA spinal tap). Ummm, what??? I was headed over to my friend Stephanie's house after this presumed innocent appointment.

Our weekend took a serious turn for the worst and Jared and I spent Friday into the wee hours of Saturday in the hospital. While there I had blood drawn, had a CAT scan, a spinal tap and an MRI. The good new is they didn't find anything thus far. They were looking for things like brain tumors, spinal fluid pressure, MS so I am thrilled that they didn't find anything but we were EXHAUSTED. We got into bed around 4:30 am and our sweet boys woke up like clock work at 8am.

I am now scheduled to see a neurologist and it is presumed that either the blood pressure caused the vision problems or it was migraines. These problems are actually the best case scenario and we are hopeful that they are our answer. I never thought I would wish for migraines but this put things in perspective. I also have a new found reason to continue my admiration for my dear friend Heidi who endured 3 spinal taps in one hospital stay and several MRI's which, for me, was worse than the spinal tap. I was having "Kill Bill" nightmares. It truly feels like you are in a casket. YUCK! Regardless, I don't know how those with long term illnesses go through what they do. I am in awe! I had a 24 hour taste of what they live with.

My sisters (that includes you, Kim :) ) and dear friends were a great help to us and watched the boys and helped me when I couldn't lift them following the spinal tap. The boys are so used to their Mommy being around that they were a little out of sorts Saturday and couldn't figure out why mommy couldn't pick them up but other than that they did well. Jared was an awesome support, who handled it all in such a calm way (my strong oak) and we even managed not to kill each other while functioning on little sleep the past couple of days. (We are not fun people when we are tired.) So that is my recap. There isn't much other than this drama going on. I now have 3 follow up appointments with my Dr.'s and I have to kick things up a notch in the diet and exercise dept so that I don't have to stay on the blasted bp meds. I haven't had vision issues since Friday morning which is awesome! I look forward to a wonderful week leading up to Easter and that is about it. I am off to bed. Goodnight!

"The Rules"

Yes, he was plucking grapes from the vine and eating them! :) Apparently cutting them up is SO 2008! Rules, shhmules!

I tend to be a follower of rules. I am pretty sure that is why God gave me Jared. He tends to lean in the opposite direction which balances my fear of "coloring outside of the lines". But we agree on following a lot of parenting rules. You know the mommy/daddy rules that we hear from the pediatrician or read in textbooks and magazines: quarter hot dogs to avoid choking, along with grapes, don't feed them peanut butter until their 18, (seriously, they keep backing it up and I fear my poor children may never experience a peanut butter fluff sandwich which is a true tragedy in itself), no cold medications, wash hands frequently, and on and on AND ON the list goes. That is why when I finished changing Eli's diaper and turned around I had to laugh at my son Alex. This is what he was doing:

Flashback Friday Pictures (almost 6 months old)

Victory is MINE!

Yes, my friends I am victorious! The boys received 2 wooden train sets for their birthday and Jared built tracks for them over the weekend and they LOVED it. They woke up Monday morning saying "choo choo train". I got out all of the tracks and began to build and they had lots of fun. OK that is what I planned anyways. The truth is what I admitted to Jared last night.....I cannot build a train track! I wasn't trying to build anything monumental. In fact, on the 2nd day that I attempted it I would have been satisfied with a circle. I couldn't do it! Jared said "maybe it is a guy thing." I am pretty sure this is what awakened my desire to try harder :)

This morning with all the determination my pre-caffeine brain could muster I DID IT!!! I even took pictures to prove it. Yep, those oval shaped tracks are my pride and joy! Seriously, I know this is embarrassingly sad but whatever we all have our strengths or in this case extreme weaknesses. My friend Amy has raised a Thomas the Tank Engine lovin' boy and she assures me that I will get good at this. Her and Grant used to spend hours building and her husband would come home to elaborately laid tracks. Oh yes, someday I will achieve this. :) Amy has given me new found hope.

Feeling the joy of my victory I thought I would also conquer a run (aka slow jog) pushing the boys in my jogging stroller. Wow, I kept waiting for people driving by to stop and ask if I was alright. I didn't plan for the fact that I was pushing 50 pounds of baby along with the stroller AND it was uphill and the wind was blowing against me BOTH ways (I know this isn't possible but it felt like it and it's my blog, so there.). The boys kept looking back at me and laughing. I am not sure if it was the huffing and the puffing or the groans but they found it entertaining.

I have to say I HATE running. I don't "hit my stride" EVER! I am content to go back to using my jogging stroller for what I intended it to be for, WALKING! I may actually try it again but truth be told I will not enjoy it! So that is my day in a nutshell. Now the boys are in bed and I am off to look at pictures. The UPS man delivered my first installment of uploaded pictures! I am so excited!