Quick Update

Sorry I had a lapse there. I have been up at the hospital with the twins. They unfortunately caught colds from big brothers. I had taken them to their pediatrician who was concerned they may have RSV a respiratory virus especially common with preemies. But the good news is all the big tests came back negative. So they stayed a few nights and got breathing treatments around the clock to help break up some of the "junk" and we are back home now! They still have yucky coughs that could last up to a month, but we just have to let it run it's course. We will be gone all next week on vacation so I will catch up when we get back!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Yesterday we went to Tina & Doug's for a BBQ/pool day. I was a great time. The boys had a blast playing in the water (we somehow avoided the surrounding thunderstorm ) and I had a great time catching up with my friends and eating tons of food!! Today was supposed to be another boat day, but on our way to meet Grandpa Gus and Grandma we got a phone call that the boats power steering went out. :( The boys were so excited to go too! Since they were already covered in sunscreen and had their swimtrunks on, I decided to take them to the Splashpark. We ended up having a really nice morning. Afterwards we came home and all took naps. I just woke up!! Can't beat that:)

SPA DAY

No it's not what I would hope for ( ha ha ), but it was still pretty relaxing. My grandma cleaned her spa for the summer and invited us over for a swim. The boys had a blast. Once they realized they could jump in with their floaty rings it was game on! These are just a few pictures from this morning.

HE DID IT!!!

So Maddox has practically mastered the art of cruising around on his 3 wheelers. In fact he flies. His elbows angle upwards, his head scrunches down into his shoulders and he gets this look of determination with his lips pursed as he pedals furiously to nowhere. So when I brought Maddox home a mini bike with training wheels I just assumed he'd take to it immediately.....not so. The new bike only brought frustration because every time he went to pedal forward his feet would slip backwards triggering the bikes brakes. Arik and I tried to no avail to teach him the art of riding a big boy bike, but we fell short. So the bike was put aside for several weeks. This morning Maddox, Jaxon and Uncle Bret were riding scooters out front and Maddox marches in. "Mom, can you show me how to ride my big bike?" I answered, "I'll take it out front and let uncle Bret show you." As I'm carrying the bike out front, I remind him to pedal forwards not backwards. "Okay mom." he replies matter of factly......The moment of truth. I set the bike down, Maddox climbs on. He begins to pedal slowly as Uncle Bret hangs on for support. One pedal, 2 pedal, 3 pedal...no brakes.....is he doing it??? HE IS!!! His first time back on and something just clicked. Maddox rode and rode and let me tell you, the new challenge was getting him to come inside!!

Play Date

Today we went to playgroup. I kept Maddox out of school b/c this is the second to last week for this particular playdate. It's held a a friend of mines church. I just love it. They set up heir whole gym with different stations for the kids to go to and at the back they have a huge bounce maze with double big slides and a bounce house. Last week was the first time the boys got up the nerve to enter the tunnel to go through it. Once they did though it was hard to get them off!! Maddox is playing at the bean station in the picture. I feel sorry for whoever has to sweep the floor at the end of the morning. We rounded off the morning with lunch at chik-fil-a. All in all a good day. My mom's out fishin' with the boys right now, but I expect them home anytime b/c their is torrential downpour outside. I just got off the phone with her not too long ago and the boys had both already caught fish.....with the first 4 shrimp! I'm gonna boogie and try and get things a little straightened up before they get home!!

The Detsroyer

Let me clarify from the start...The following is totally my fault.

So I just got a new workout series, 10 minute trainer......get all your exercise in in 10 minutes...blah blah blah. SOOOO I decide to give it a whirl. I set the boys up in the living room with snacks and a cartoon and I'm off.. I mean really that should buy me some time, but ooohh no. Jax had other plans. Actually, let me correct myself. I am SURE it was Maddox's plan, because he guides Jaxon down these paths of naughty behavior quite often. Anyways, I'm in the back room workin' up a sweat (keep in mind I can still hear the boys talking every now and then. silence is a baddd thing) and boom my ten minutes is up. I walk back into the living room....empty...."Oh no" I think to myself. And that's when I hear it....The bathwater....."nooooooooooo" I dread what I am going to see. I turn the corner and in fact I am correct in my thinking. Jax and Maddox fully clothed, in a half drawn bath. BREATH....That's the first thing I tell myself...."It's your own fault" ... What's that in your hand Jaxon??? "Phone" he replies. I look down in his tiny hand and there it is, my brand new phone. That, mind you, I opted to refuse insurance on.....(woo hoo, way to go smart one.....4 kids and refuse security).....So here I am again, back with no phone. The second time in a matter of weeks my phone has taken a bath. Hence Jaxon the destroyer....

LITTLE BUDDIES

Wow 7 wks old already. It's hard to believe. And while to strangers they are still 'so small' , to me they are geting so big! They really are such good babies..( knock on wood) they are such a blessing. Aside from doubling every duty, (which I've gotten down to a science), it hasn't been any more hectic than if we had one......yet:)

Maddox's Interview

I know I'm not the first to do this, but I just love to get the candid response that kids offer. These answers were copied verbatim with no alterations.

What's your name? -Maddox ( get the easy one out of the way first)

How old are you? -2 ( only for a few more days little buddy )

Where do you live? -here ( you'd assume this was being done at our house I hope)

What do you like to do? -Play ( oooo there's a shocker! )

What does your brother Jaxon like to do? - um, ride hi cooder (scooter) (Maddox can't say words beginning with s well)

What's your favorite song? -eieio (really??? b/c I don't remember the last time we sang that)

What does your daddy like to do? um, cut knives es ( disturbing )

What does your mommy like to do? -um, cut knives es ( I honestly can't imagine where he got this)

What do you want to be when you grow up? -fireff...um policeman ( clearly the child is confused and worn out from answering the previous questions )

What's your favorite animal? -um umm bear ( would that have anything to do with the fact that the pajamas you're wearing have a bear on them??)

Why? -because

Because why? - because ( emphasized....come on mom next question please )

What did you do today? -um played at school ( I'm flashing forward 14 years... I was at school mom...he's already working on his line)

You did not. -Yes I did (cannot be swayed )

You didn't go to school today. -Yes I did ( okay he's convinced himself )

What's your favorite thing to eat? -um um pagettio ( is that why you spit it out everytime I feed it to you?)

What's Jaxon's favorite thing to eat? - um eat dinner ( let me corect you...um everything )

What do you want to do tomorrow?- um I don't know ( one day at a time mom)

What's mommy gonna do when you go to sleep? -Umm sweep (sleep) ( you got that right kiddo!!!)

Okay so maybe it's a little to soon for me to play Barbara Walters, but hey you get the idea!!

Secret Garden Park

The boys and I went to my favorite little park yesterday. We call it the Secret Garden Park. It's so neat, families have donated cars and toys for the kids to play with. It has a circle sidewalk for the kids to ride on a huge sand pit and playground set. The center is all grass that they can run around in. The best part is you can see the whole place and there is only one exit. Plus it's just so pretty! Anyways, thought this was a great shot of the Mad man.

Chika-Cheezze!

That's what we say when we take pictures. I asked Maddox to make his cute smile...annnd this is what we get. Well atleast it's still cute:)

Nothing new

There hasn't really been anything to exciting to post the last few days. The boys are doing great. Maddox has 2 more weeks of school. ( More of a break for me than him! ) Jaxon is getting big as ever. Just within this past month his vocabulary has exploded. It still may sound like a foreign language to some, but to us it has enhanced our communication with him 10 fold! He went from grunts and screams to three word phrases. People reassured us that it was all in there just waiting to come out and it sure is. Ty and Olivia are resting peacefully as I type. I am still trying to decipher who's who when they cry. If they cry together I can usually tell the difference, but alone I still can't. Ty typically wakes up first and lets us know it's time for them to eat. Oddly enough they can be across the house and still wake up within minutes of each other. I can't sleep them together anymore b/c they are waking each other up. ...... so much for that...they are ready to eat now!!!

UGH YUCK!!

Okay, so if there is one critter that I despise, it has to be lizards. I'll even take a roach over a lizard. My family makes fun of me because when I was young I would spend hours catching and releasing lizards, playing with them and naming them.. And now, just the mention of them makes my skin crawl. Now I have to clarify...when they are outside I can handle them, it's when they make their way indoors that I panic. I would have to say it's as close to a phobia as I can imagine. In the past we had a lizard in our room and Arik spent well over an hour (in the middle of the night) turning our room upside down trying to find it.....I wouldn't go back to sleep until I knew it was back outside....Arik had other plans though, he finally cornered it in a bathroom when shortly after I hear....bang bang bang ......I screamed and yelled, " you don't kill them, you catch them and take them outside!!!" Recently my little cousin and I walked into the boys room after we had laid them down and she says, " Look Nicki, a lizard" Oh I panicked and ordered her to track it while I furiously dialed Gus's number....."Gus, send Bret over immediately....I need him to catch a lizard.." Two minutes later, Bret casually walks in and within no time caught the lizard and took him back outside....Phew, thank goodness he was home! Anyways, much to my dismay, Bret's ease with lizards has rubbed off onto Maddox as you can clearly see in the picture he is holding a lizard.....Grrrreat.... As long as he keeps them outside. I guess on the brightside, I'll have a future indoor lizard wrangler on hand!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy, Happy Mother's Day! Hopefully this isn't the first time you've heard this today ( cough cough) . You know, I debated whether or not I wanted to have a relaxing day by myself to sit out by the pool, read a magazine, fry my butt off then take nap.....or spend the day with the kids (which is really what it's all about, without them this would just be another calendar day) . This morning we woke up nice and early, I should say, the kids woke up nice and early and we went as a family to church. It was a really nice service and great to have all of us there. On the drive home I decided, what the heck...I'm gonna take mom up on that offer to join them on the boat. The boys haven't been on a small boat before and I bet they'd love it. Arik kept the twins at home and Maddox, Jaxon and myself met my mom, Gus and little brother by the bridge where they picked us up. We cruised around all day, swam at a sandbar and soaked up the sun. We had a blast! The boys really enjoyed the whole day and were actually on their best behavior ( it was their gift to me ) and what do ya know, my day turned out to be relaxing after all AND I got to spend time with my kiddos!

Hungry Horse

Musical Magic from Maddox

He was in a good mood...what can I say: )

WE WANT YOU!

They are growing so fast!!

Fussy Monsters

Okay, so typically Arik doesn't go to sleep until about 2-3 am. Unfortunately it stems from the late night shift that he works. However, this usually works to my advantage on his nights of because I can go to sleep afer the big boys do at around 9 and Arik an take the first-second feeding. He doesn't really mind ( wink wink ) as he is up already just takin' it easy. BUUTT.... last night Ty and Olivia were not happy babies! After their 1 o'clcok feeding he tried to get them back to bed, but they were both extremely fidgety/fussy. At this point I woke up to try and help to no avail. We fed each another oz, burped, swaddled, rocked, changed diapers and tried paci....they weren't having any of it. Arik finally gave in and tried to fall asleep....I attempted to, but I would literally just get the covers under my chin and one would start up again. I was actually afraid to lay back down....because as all mothers know, it's painful to just doze off and get woke up again 2 minutes later! Finally at 3:15 I was able to get some shut eye....Just to be back up at 5 for their third feeding:) I know it's the life of a mother and this will soon pass....but sometimes I wish I had a little off switch for those sleepless nights! It's balance wanting to treasure this stage and wanting it to speed up to get caught back up again... I am sure I am speaking for Arik too;) For the most part we are getting decent sleep considering there are two of them. I am trying to keep a tight, but flexible schedule ( does that make sense??) Annnnddd in comes a cry and phone ring...gotta go!!!

MY BIG HELPERS

On a busy morning, what better to do than employ the two big brothers.....their pay?....2 jellybeans. I'd say that's a deal:)

POOPED, SORE and TIRED

Well, that about sums my day up. The twins have had their typical newborn day, not much to report as far as they are concerned. ( Except Olivia has spent the last hour or so fussing at me ) They are already out of their preemie clothes :( Maddox and Jaxon just went to sleep after a busy day. I'll tell ya what, I am ready for the school year to be over! Some days, it's more convenient to just keep him home! But Maddox loves school and has really been thriving since starting. ....... Okay now both twins are yellin' at me..." Mom, time to eat:) ....

Future MLB????

Thank you to Cody for the gloves!! It's all the boys have been talking about. They have worn them around the house all morning. Jaxon, unfortunately was a little disappointed when I stopped him from throwing the ball to Ty. I had to explain to him that Ty wasn't big enough to catch the ball yet....this on the heels of Jaxon attempting to play basketball with Olivia. Only I wasn't so quick to catch him that time and Olivia received a nice 'bonk' in the face with a basketball ( it was small and soft thank goodness )!

AHH SLEEP!

Not a whole lot to report on today. I wouldn't know because I slept! Well, not the whole day, but it felt like it. My grandma watched the twins for the first half of nap and Arik got up with the boys when they woke up and let me sleep until 5:) A beautiful, quiet (mostly uninterupted ) 4 hour nap!

Ty and Olivia's BIG day!

Well, today marked what will be the most important day in the twins life. Arik and I had them baptized together at our Lutheran Church this morning. The service was extremely touching and uplifting. Nothing compares to knowing that my children have the forgiveness of God and His love. We asked my Aunt Kim and Uncle Scott to stand for them and represent themselves as Ty and Olivia's godparents. We agreed confidently that they embodied what we feel is important in a Christian.. sharing our views, values and morals so that throughout Ty and Olivia's life they can guide them and love them just as Arik and I would. After the service we came back to our house and had a huge lasagna lunch! It was delicious:) Even though our house isn't exactly equipped for a large get-together we made it work and had a great afternoon. I will be sending out more pictures of the day, but for now here are a few of the highlights.

Splash Park

The boys and I went to the Splash Park this afternoon. Against my better judgment I allowed them to skip nap to go. For the first time both boys were able to go into the big kid wading area. In the past when we've tried, Jax was still too young and would loose his balance and fall under. This time they were both goin' to town jumpin' and attempting to swim ( I really need to take them to lessons) . Overall it was a fun afternoon, but the last 10 minutes they both had total meltdowns! I took a quick video clip that doesn't even show the half of what I endured! I can't believe they actually stayed awake on the ride home. I can't believe I actually stayed awake on the ride home for that matter!

It's FRI-DAY

Okay, so Friday certainly doesn't stand for what it used to, but either way it's the end of the week. The twins allowed me a great night sleep last night, They ate at 9, 2 and 6:30. I do have them on a tight 4 hour schedule, but hey I'm not that crazy to wake a baby in the middle of the night!!! I must have been sleeping good too because Arik told me this morning that he had to stop me from snoring like 6 times. mmm attractive:) Payback, that's all I have to say. You'd think I'd feel a little more rested (haha) but 10 cups of coffee and 3 sodas later ( not really ) I am still using my lid lifters to keep my eyes open (don't really know what those are...but it gives you a visual) This afternoon I took the boys to the fountains at Marina Jack's. It was all I could do laying back in the sun on the warm pavement to not fall asleep. Maddox and Jaxon had a blast, they were on best behavior and it was really enjoyable...(as I'm listening to Maddox whine to Arik that Jaxon won't share his toy) . We sat on a bench overlooking the bay just before we left. We watched the pelicans diving and sang 'row row row your boat' as a couple of guys sat in their dingys drinkin' beer and turnin' in circles. I debated whether or not to stop at the grocery store on the way home, but I didn't want to ruin a nice afternoon with a stressful shopping trip. So now we are home and the boys are usin' up their last bit of energy. ( Oops, and one of the babies is signaling me it's time to eat ) I better scoot....until next time!!