Spring has Sprung

We are so excited to spend time outside watching the horses in our backyard (not ours--we don't have to do anything but admire and pet them)!

We got to shared our horses with cousins, Ellie, Levi, and Grace yesterday.

Today was warm again and I tried to catch a photo of Ethan in the apricot tree for a good "Popcorn popping on the apricot tree" photo, but he thought I was crazy to stick him in a tree and step away to take the picture.  He held on to me so tightly and wanted to 'get out'.

We took our balloons outside and played for a while.

Ethan and Sydney think their pockets are completely awesome and walk around with their hands in them forever.  Too sweet.

They are growing up so fast!

One Awesome Uncle

My brother, Matt, has loved his job (his first and we all thought it could be his last!) ever since he started working at Boondocks at 16.  He earns credit there and has always been generous in allowing his nieces and nephews to come and play.  Tiffany and I took our kids as well as my sister's kids with us for a fun morning of intense playing followed by pizza (thanks Matt!) and they were grinning ear-to-ear the entire time.

Sydney loved swinging like monkey.

Ethan loved climbing and sliding.

Isaac loved this game and was really good.  My favorite was how his mouth would gape open every time he hit it.

We went on free arcade game day and so the kids hopped on any game and took a drive.

We had a delicious lunch and the kids had so much fun together.  We're excited that Sarah and Chris will be moving this direction this summer.  We are already anticipating how much fun we'll have.

Nastics

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We went to the PAC-12 Gymnastics Championships tonight and "grandma" came with us.  We had a great time--especially watching Ethan and Sydney and their excitement.

There is plenty of music from the band to the floor routines where they can dance.  It's quite the event for toddlers!

As well as their need to make us laugh.  He is quite the entertainer this boy--he made this face for several photos and then burst into laughter.

Ode to Grandma

I love this woman.  Ethan and Sydney call her Grandma and Doug and I call her mom.  Last night when we said our prayers together as a couple, we thanked our Father in Heaven for her and her kindness to us and her generosity.  We thanked our Father in Heaven for the love we know that Ethan and Sydney have for her.  

She came over Thursday when Doug and I both had some deadlines for work and played with Ethan and Sydney even while I was home working in the same room.  Friday, she came and walked to the park next door and played 'ball' with them and found a bat and taught them how to hit a ball.  She then fed them dinner and put them to bed so Doug and I could have a night out.  

While we were going to the store earlier this week, Ethan started singing "A, B, C, D, E, F, G... all the way until "next time won't you sing with me." I turned to Doug and said, "did you teach him that?" When he shook his head no, I picked up my phone and called grandma and thanked her for teaching him this song and had him sing it to her answering machine.  

She is extraordinary and we don't know how we could've made it through the last few years of graduate school as parents of twins without her.  Thanks Grandma!

Naptime Nightmare

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I guess we should consider ourselves fortunate that we have two toddlers who share a room and fall asleep after we sing them (sometimes several) songs and say "good night".  This all changed after daylight savings.  Completely.  


We wish we knew what triggered this.  We put them in their beds and they play, jump, sing songs, throw their stuffed animals, throw blankets, run and push each other over in their cribs, throw binkis and then cry for them, and play with the blinds (sometimes violently!) by their beds.  We have tried threats, pulling up the blinds, and setting up a pack-and-play in our room and separating them.  The last one works but it is a PAIN.  Regardless, we have been glued to our video monitor that also acts as an intercom and tell them to "lay down or I'll come in and take your binkis and your animals" over and over again.  Boo!  


We decided that we would separate their cribs and re-arrange their furniture today before nap time.  We don't have much room to work with and we even doubted it would be possible, but Doug is my hero and he figured it out.  

They struggled to go to sleep, but we knew we had just made their room more exciting.  Here's to hoping it gets better or we might be moving to a bigger place sooner than we planned.

Leave them alone for just 2 minutes...

and this is what you get.

Fiesta a la Marchant

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I can hardly believe that our Fiesta is over.  The Fiesta a la Marchant is from March 10th to March 20th.  We thought it would be fun to add potty-training into our fiesta...we were wrong.  Not fun.  

Ethan woke up with a very red bum Sunday and has been asking to go to the potty all the time, so I thought it was a good day to start.  We left them without a diaper or underwear on and brought out the potty chairs.  Ethan did really well with only 2 accidents while Sydney was 0 for 6 or something.  I threw up the white flag when Sydney peed on my leg (I showered and changed clothes), then almost immediately Ethan peed on the floor and got the bottom of my pant leg (cleaned up and changed clothes, again), and within a few minutes, we were reading books and I had put a diaper and Sydney and given up when Ethan peed on my leg, again.  That was all in about 20 minutes or something and I waved the white flag and surrendered.  They both had diapers on by 4 pm.  Ugh!

*If anyone can guess what movie they are watching, I'll think of a prize for you.

Tuesday was Doug's birthday.  It proved be a little lame as he had work in the morning and had some deadlines to meet for his dissertation.  We celebrated by going out for pizza and opening a few gifts.

Doug got a remote-controlled helicopter that I knew the kids would like just as much as he did.  They squealed with excitement.  I'll take a shorter video than the one I took already and post it later.

Ethan LOVED pizza.  It was his first time really having it before and we think he ate 2 full pieces not to mention some of my whole wheat pasta and marinara sauce.  They were in heaven.  Ethan wanted to hold it all by himself.  Love the independence lately...

He even took a few turns feeding his sister.  She would take a bite and they would both laugh (while everyone around us was entertained).

Happy big 3-0 to my best friend and love of my life!  We have so much fun together, even in chaos!  Ethan and Sydney have brought a whole new dynamic to our fun adventures.

You can find us

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I wish the weather was more consistent.  We have been hibernating for days and then it will warm up and we'll enjoy some sunshine.

You can find us at the park!

But for the most part, you can find us playing inside.  Sydney's hair is getting so long (I keep trying to trim her bangs myself--man it's tough!

You can find Ethan and Sydney getting into anything to play with.  Wednesday it was the winter gloves collection.  This entertained them for nearly 1 hour!

By and large, you can find us behind a book.  We are big readers around here.  Thanks to my sister, Katie, we inherited a few dozen NEW books to read.  We are in love with them!

Laid back birthday

After a whirlwind two-week adventure with sick kids, sick husband, and Doug traveling, I was ready for a relaxed Saturday together to celebrate my birthday.  I got to workout, shower and do my hair (in solitude!) and get my car washed (for free) all before lunch time!  It was excellent.  

We went to Gingers in Springville for dinner.  It is my MOST favorite restaurant because I can eat anything on the menu and it is delicious.  Doug took me to the mall to get  few things I needed, but I walked out empty-handed.  I have to LOVE something in order to buy it.  It was a good effort though.  :-)  Doug is the best.  Thanks Aunt Michelle for watching Ethan and Sydney.  They had a great time at the park.

We went home and celebrated with my favorite pie Doug had made that day.  It is a chocolate truffle pie that is so rich, a sliver is enough.  There is 2 1/2 cups of cocoa in one pie!

We put the kids to bed when we walked in the door, but Ethan and Sydney enjoyed the pie the next evening.  They loved it, especially Ethan.  He loves sweets where Sydney would probably prefer a tortilla chip or two...or twelve.

Life is a dance party

I think we dance our days away around this house.  We are constantly singing and E&S now know some songs.  I will lay in bed trying to motivate myself to get up and get them out of their beds and spontaneously they will start singing.  They sing "I am like a star", "Edelweiss", "Baa baa black sheep", and "Hush little baby don't say a word" (which they call "horsie").  I am going to need to get some on video--it's too cute.

We do throw some nice dance parties around here too. Their cousin, Carter, gave them a mat that we put together and amped up our dancing with a mini dance floor.  Thanks Carter!

To get them into the car, I have to make the excursion sound like a party sometimes.  This was one of those times.  They loved it and so I did I...enough that I had to grab my camera.

I also make taking medicine very exciting.  For some reason, both E&S don't mind taking medicine one bit, and in fact, enjoy it.  Ethan is being evaluated for viral-induced asthma and has an inhaler to help him for the time being.  He will hold it himself and breathe in.  I caught a photo of him just as it pulled it away.

They discovered my makeup bag this week.  It's a good thing I only wear coverup (under my tired eyes  since becoming a mom), blush, and eyeliner.

Doug taught them to "do dishes" with him.  Not my favorite skill he has taught them.  They grab spoons, get some water, and drink it.  That's dishes, right?  They wear bibs and even still are SOAKED after "helping".

Caped Crusaders

These kids never stop moving and their zest for life is contagious.  I made some makeshift capes out of their blankets and they ran around so excited.  Life's little joys.

I want to remember moments like this forever--the ones where I just watch them and smile.  If I could remember these, maybe I would be more patient when they throw their food or scream at me for my attention...hmm.  :-)

When dad's away, we will play

...at least that's what we set out to do.  We held several "dance parties".

We made mom's favorite Super Charge Me cookies.

We saw our first big snow fall of the season.

Of course, we had our fair share of 'time outs'.

We got potty-training-excited by buying some new underwear.  I didn't feel ready to take on that 'party', so we just ended up putting a pair over Ethan's diaper when he was begging to wear them.

The week ended with a bang as Ethan came down with a high fever and a nasty cough.  I decided to give in, go to the doctor, and fill the outstanding prescription for an inhaler.  Two doctors that have looked at Ethan think he has asthma.  After his first 3 doses, I had a scary Friday night.  Doug was due home the next day, so I called him in the middle of the night when Ethan woke up with a racing heart beat.  The doctor said this was a side effect of the inhaler, but I had given it to him 6 hours before.  After a few stressful phone calls, a pharmacist said that this is normal--especially if he'd been given too much.  He said he would be fine and I broke into tears.

Doug's sister, Tonya, and her husband, Eric, came over and Eric administered to Ethan and gave him a Priesthood blessing.  Ethan's heart seemed to calm a little but he was WIDE awake (also a side effect of the rapid heart beat).  After a little partying until 3:30 am, Ethan fell asleep in his OWN bed.

Doug called Saturday morning to let me know his flight was delayed and he would miss his connection in Atlanta and wouldn't make it home until Sunday afternoon.  I was bummed, to say the least.  Doug took a screen shot of the weather warning online when he typed in his location:

We got out of the house and picked up our Chariot stroller which had been at the repair shop for nearly 1 month.  Ethan and Sydney loved looking at all the bikes in the shop.

Doug's mom called and offered to come sleep over and help me with two sick kids.  Sydney now had a fever and cough.  We were ALL happy to see her and glad she could party with us for our last night without dad.

As I pulled up to the airport today, I felt a few butterflies in my stomach.  I was so excited to see Doug.  We missed him a lot and want to have all future 'parties' with him around.  Ethan woke up from his nap still groggy and Doug got to cuddle him for a short nap on our bed.  Ethan looked so happy to see him through his tired eyes.