It's Easter!!

Today is Zach's first Easter & the first that Ty really 'got'. Our Easter Bunny even had a little time before the rain hit to hide some eggs outside for Ty to find.

Strollin' around

I have been looking for a double jogging stroller to put both monkeys in when we go for walks. I just couldn't justify paying full price (almost $300), so have been checking in with a couple of different 'kid friendly' consignment shops. I finally found the one I was wanting for 1/3 the price!!! Both of the boys love it, and I have found that Zach is quite the instigator of mischief...he'll reach over & grab Ty's sunglasses, pull his ear or poke him! It's kind of cute right now, but I know that eventually I'm going to have to come up with a way to 'separate' the two!!

In these photos, Ty is showing his "hi ya" moves...we're really into Kung Fu Panda and 'fighting' right now!!

"Bruderly Love"

Ty has always referred to Zach as his "bruda" so that's what we call him too!

It's getting really hard to get a decent photo of the two - I'm sure the first of many challenges with them!! I can officially say, I have my hands full!

Birthday Cheer

On my birthday, both Tim and my parent's sent me some flowers at work. They were both beautiful arrangements and I got tons of compliments on them! Here's to being '29'!!

Hair cut time!

Zach has had his first haircut. Because I love that his hair is so wild & crazy on top, I asked my stylist not to cut the top, but to PLEASE trim around the ears. Here are some photos of Zach's first haircut and a couple of Ty's too!

An update on Tyler

As I have mentioned before, Ty has a really good vocabulary for a little one his age. He had his cute sayings for things (i.e. muffins were fumpins). But, here are some of his latest...

• If Ty is in another room and myself or Tim try to ask him something (which he hears us ask), he will reply "what yer say?" We repeat ourselves and he says "what yer say?" We usually give up at that point!
• Driving into Salem every day, we take a back road that will take us right into South Salem. There are cows, horses, alpacas, barns, etc. About 2 months ago coming home, the alpacas were not in the field that we usually see them in. Ty states "apparently the alpacas are sleeping." I turn and look at him and asked him what he just said. He repeated himself. Where does this kid get all of this??
• I'm at a loss with this next one. Ty loves Spongebob Squarepants and can repeat almost every line in EVERY episode. There is an episode were Spongebob is trying to use one of those paddles with the ball attached. He hits it once, then misses & says "darn it". This happens over & over again. It took us a while to teach Ty that that really isn't nice to say - our thinking is that it is too close to a bad word & we don't need the public thinking that he's getting it from us! (see the next bullet...). The other day, Ty was playing with his little people and one kept falling over. I was in the kitchen, but heard "barnacles" "uh" "come on" "oh barnacles". Well, Spongebob has yet another episode were he is trying to do something & it's not working, so he says "barnacles"...I guess it's better than some other things he could be saying.
• As mentioned earlier, I drive into Salem with the boys every day. Well, I tend to talk to other drivers while I'm driving. Of course, I'm talking to myself about how displeased I am with the other driver's driving skills. I'm always very careful not to cuss around the boys. So in the car - if you ever drive with me - you may hear an occasional, "Come ON!" or "Really?" or "Seriously?" Well, Ty has picked up on that! I was cooking dinner and had raw chicken on my hands. Zach was in his high chair having a snack & chewing on some teething rings. He thought that it was funny to drop them one at a time onto the floor. I couldn't pick them up, so I asked Ty (he was in the living room) to come and help brother out. Ty came running in & set the toys back on the high chair tray then ran off. This happened a couple more times. By the third time, Ty comes running in, sets the rings on the tray and looks at his "bruda" and says "Seriously Zach, I'm trying to watch Spongebob". Yeah, I got busted for that one!

Bathroom Disaster!

Bet you thought from the title that this one was going to be about potty training!

When Zach was old enough & could sit up by himself, I started giving both of the boys a bath at the same time - to save water, time, etc. Ty absolutely loves the bath & would spend an hour each night in there if we let him. So, I found that if I got both of the boys scrubbed clean, then let Ty play in the tub while I got Zach into PJ's and a bottle ready, then Ty would be about ready to get out. This was a great plan until about a month ago, when Zach decided that he liked to poop in the tub. After that first incident, I decided that it was easier to just give Zach his bath first - by himself, then Ty. This usually entailed scrubbing the tub in between baths! Zach had gone for about a week without pooping in the tub, so I decided to try to give the boys a bath together again...

The typical routine before bath time is to check both diapers for any surprises that need to be taken care of prior to getting into the tub. Well last week, I wasn't feeling very good, but knew that I couldn't smell anything stinky, so took both boys (still in their diapers) to the bathroom. I stood Zach up on the floor - he held onto the edge of the tub & Ty was standing next to him. I had the water running & the tub starting to fill up. Tim was in the living room picking up some toys. I pulled Zach's diaper off and started to lift him into the tub...Ty yells (I was standing right next to him) "oh gross, mommy" he then starts to act like he's going to throw up all over. I look down & realize that Zach's diaper is full! (I'll spare the details!) I yell for Tim to bring some wipes. By this point, I'm laughing so hard that I have to brace myself on the wall next to the tub. Then I realize that Zach has now started to pee - all over me, the bathroom floor - EVERYWHERE!!! By the time Tim made it to the bathroom, it looked like the Nile River!!! I don't think that his diaper would have been able to hold all of that if it wanted to!

It's a good thing that he is so darn cute!

Zach's 9 month photos

I had every intention of getting Zach's photos done just before his 9 month birthday so that they could be mailed on time (shocker, I know), but time just seemed to pass me by. We did get his photos done while he was still 9 months old though!! My in-laws neighbor (took our family photos in December) has started her own photography business. She had time to take Zach's photos the day before he turned 10 months! He has so much more hair than Ty did at this age - Ty was completely bald! Zach's hair naturally stood up in it's own mohawk. It is a little crazy, but unfortunately, the background that was used, doesn't allow you to see it very well.

He finally started crawling just about a week ago. He was really slow at first, but is now on his little mission. If he thinks you are chasing him, or get down to his level, he smiles real big and goes REALLY fast! We are learning all of his 'hot spots' and trying to figure out how to childproof them! YIKES!!

Things look better from this view!

Had to post some photos of Zach learning that he can do new things everyday. He was sitting on the floor the other evening across from Tim clapping & singing. Then he realized that he could lean over & still see Tim...

Hurray for Zach!

Maybe this angle will be better??

Tyler's phone calls

Ty is at the age right now that he loves talking on the phone. He loves talking to Grandma & Crapa (that's Grandpa) - but it has to be on speaker phone! He has to walk around the house, asking if they "see this" as he shows them his room, his favorite toy for the day, or the episode of Spongebob that he is watching. He was walking around one evening telling them about something and this is what I happened to capture:Gotta love the 3 year old who is always on the go!

In the spirit of...

So, as a claims adjuster there are many terms & acronyms that I deal with on a daily basis. One of my favorites (but probably shouldn't be) is "defacto..."This can mean fees, penalties, etc in my working world. In my "mommy" world, it's just how I run.

Here it is March 1st, and though I have yet to set New Year's Resolutions or even begin to think of what they'd be, I thought I'd give it a try.

1) watch less tv - so far, so good (for day 1)... it's amazing to me how one episode of Spongebob can lead to 5 hours of it!
2) be "mindful and in the present"...never thought that my class with Jerry Braza in college could actually mean so much! I find myself getting so frustrated with my little guys - and have to remember that this is a perfect example of when "defacto" is a good thing. So I'm not exactly on time every where I go - who cares! I only get so many minutes with my little ones as it is, so darn it, I'm doing to enjoy every second of those minutes!
3) try reading more - and not case law! My parents gave me "The Shack" for Christmas. I was very hesitant to start reading it - I'm an emotional wreck! I think that being a parent has made me that way...just ask Tim. I cannot & refuse to watch any type of drama (TV show or movie) - commercials kill me (especially St. Jude, etc). But I have to admit, this book is AWESOME and has really made me think more about #2 above.
4) spend 15 minutes every evening "blessing" my house - okay, so I stole that one from FLYLADY, but after a couple of nights, I feel better about the appearance of the house. It's not spotless by any means but it's not a complete disaster!

So, defacto can be a positive...maybe just not in the workers' comp world!

Zach is 9 months old!

It's amazing to me how fast time can go. I learned this with Ty, but it seems like things are going even faster with Zach! However, he still isn't crawling yet...I'll cherish this one for as long as I can! Here is a photo of this great face that he makes - He's really smiling, not crying!

He weighs in at a whopping 19 pounds, 10 ounces has a ton of "crazy" hair, and 3 teeth (all on the bottom)...

When it comes to crawling, I can put him on all fours, line up some toys at the end of the blanket and lay behind them. He will laugh & smile for about 5 - 10 minutes and then this is the outcome!

Just had to post this one!

The first weekend of January, we went down to Grants Pass with Tim's family. His aunt & uncle celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We went down on Saturday & came home on Sunday. Ty didn't get a nap on the way down, so pretty much the only way to keep him going at the reception was to let him watch some SpongeBob on my Ipod. (Luckily, I had downloaded a couple of episodes). Of course, as kids go, the rest of the weekend he wanted to only watch SpongeBob on the Ipod. These photos were from breakfast on Sunday morning. All of the kids were exhausted - so my niece, Rebeka, and Ty watched an episode.

Who knew that the "Best Day Ever" could be so darn entertaining?!!!

Once we got home, I downloaded a few more episodes and included a couple of Seasame Street and my all time favorite - Fraggle Rock! Ty keeps asking when our next trip is. Usually like this, "hey mom, I want to watch SpongeBob on your puter...can we go see Grandma & Grandpa?" I better get a few more shows on the "puter" before we take that trip!!

Fun in the February sun!

Usually wintertime in this area is rain, rain, rain. We were fortunate to have some beautiful sunny days - not warm by any means, but sunny. On the 7th, I took the boys down to the park to get some fresh air...by Tuesday, Zach had developed quite an ear infection. Can't win for trying! Here are some of the photos from our day - Zach's first time in a swing!

Eventually, we had to leave as Zach was starting to get a little hungry...

...but not before Ty went down the slide one last time!

January 2009

This was a busy month for us - I was so grateful to have 2 Holidays this month (New Year's Day & Martin Luther King Jr). Work felt like it was getting out of control & I spent a couple of Saturday's in the office just trying to keep my head above water. Then, at the end of the month, I had to make an overnight trip to Medford to meet with some accounts. I was thankful that Tim didn't have too much of a fit with me leaving him with the boys, and my in-laws assisted with getting the boys to and from daycare those 2 days.

While I was in Medford, I was selected as the "VIP" for the night. At first, I thought that my co-worker was playing some kind of trick on me. She got really excited for me - letting me know that when that happened to her, she was upgraded to the Honeymoon suite for the night. The clerk checking me in laughed, saying "you got the honeymoon suite huh...well, she is getting the Presidential Suite!" I couldn't believe it - nothing like this has ever happened to me before!! It was beautiful!!! (I'd like to credit my last name for this amazing surprise!) I had 700 square feet to myself - it had a living room, dining area, bar with 5 stools, a hot tub in the bedroom, and a King size pillow top bed! WOW!! But the best part of all - it was already clean & I didn't have to pick up after anyone!! I'd love to attach photos, however, they are on my cell phone & I cannot figure out how to email them to put up here. If you see me - ask to see them...

Christmas 2008

What a great time of year. Ty is getting more into the whole "Santa" thing & it was Zach's first Christmas. Ty was actually more into his brother's toys than he was his own - however, he didn't really want to help Zach unwrap any gifts, which was quite surprising. We got some cute photos of the 2 of them - I'm so blessed that Ty loves his little brother!!

I'm back!

So, I need to apologize to all of my family & friends for not posting in a couple of months. Things got a little crazy around the holidays & then trying to accommodate the changes at work...it's been an adventure to say the least! I don't think I've adjusted very well - but I'll get there...eventually! In December I joined FACEBOOK - I know not a good excuse for not blogging as a lot of my "followers" are not members of FACEBOOK, yet - I'll get you there. It's a pretty cool tool to use - helps get you reconnected with those friends/family that you haven't talked with in a while!