Funny Guys

Zack loves to pick up the phone and say "Hi! Hi!" especially when Mom calls from work. Unfortunately the big shiny button on the phone is the talk button and the end button is the little non-interesting black button.

Whenever we put lotion on Austin he wipes it off his belly and rubs it in his hair but tonight I was able to stop him. Unfortunately, I forgot to close the lid on the lotion and I caught him getting the little bit of lotion inside the lid and wiping it in his hair. Doesn't he look proud of his greased hair?

18 Months

I can't believe my sweet babies are 18 months old now. The time has gone by way to fast!! We are loving the stage they are at right now. They are doing so many fun things and their personalities are really starting to come out now. Some of their accomplishments:

• they just got to move in to forward facing car seats on Memorial Day weekend
  
• Zack has 12 teeth and is getting 4 more
  
• Austin has 12 teeth and is getting 4 more
• they love brushing their teeth
  
• they both love to pick up the phone and they hold it to their ear and say hi
  
• they love to use combs or brushes to do their hair
  
• about a month ago they decided we weren't allowed to feed them anymore so meal time is always fun now!
• they love to play hide n seek with each other and chase each around, giggling the whole time
  
• they are totally caught up in every area except gross motor, but they are ahead in their language
  
• Zack has turned in to a bit of a comedian and loves to pull faces and make funny noises
  
• Austin is very good at giving loves and is always hugging or kissing Zack, me, or Aaron
  
• they are both still mommy boys
  
• they get very excited when daddy gets home from work
  
• they love to play catch and play with balls
  
• they love to look out the windows and especially to stand in our window seat in the front room
  
• they love being outside
  
• they are mommy's running partners
  
• Austin loves water no matter what the temperature is
  
• Zack is left handed so far and Austin is right (we are pretty sure they are mirror twins)
  
• they both love to cuddle
  
• they can say juice, snack, cracker, mom, dad, boo, hi, bye, no, yes, uh oh spaghetti-o, dog, woof woof, shoes, tickle, nose, eye, ball, quack, stinky, and banana
  
• they love to imitate anything mom or dad do
  
• they blow on their food
  
• they can be really good eaters and together they can eat as much as me
  
• they love each other and if they are in different rooms they will start yelling back and forth to locate each other
  
• they are partners in crime and encourage each other to get in to trouble
  
• they follow each other everywhere
  
• when I go to get them in the morning and after naps they jump and dance in their cribs because they are so excited
  
• they love dogs and they have started calling every animal a dog, when they see one their voices raise several octaves and they start screaming with excitement
  
• they love to wrestle with each other
  

I could go on and on, we are so proud of our boys and how far they have come. They are the light of our lives and we don't know what we would ever do without them! We are so grateful for their health and appreciate every day with them. We love you Zack and Austin!!!

A couple of weeks ago Austin figured out if he pushed things like his car or the laundry basket over to things then he could climb up on the couch or window seat. He's pretty proud of himself.

One of Zack's funny faces.


The boys loved the massage chair at my parent's. Their faces were hilarious, I'm sure what mine looks like during a massage or pedicure.

Swimming at our neighbors Summer Kickoff Party. The water was freezing, but it didn't phase Austin at all, Zack had fun once he warmed up to it.

We've been doing some repairs on our shower/bath so we've had to be creative with the boy's bathtime. They thought this was the coolest thing ever! They were inconsolable when we took them out and out kitchen was drenched!

We had fun playing outside today.

UPDATE: Life Lesons

For the common good of the readers of this blog, I need to make a public service announcement. Water, milk, olive oil, rubbing alcohol, vinegar, aloe, and ice are not to effective but milk was the best option of these, especially for burning up the nose (possible pictures to follow). Luckily, I was able to find this picture on the internet showing the best solution for the dreaded jalapeño burn (never mind that the couch the subject is sitting on looks strikingly similar to ours). What you are seeing below are two hands covered in full fat mayonnaise (no low fat stuff) and encapsulated in Ziploc bags. This should be done for about an hour to relieve burning.
And so you know, the Utah Poison Control number is 1-800-222-1222. For best results call immediately and not 5 hours later.

Life Lessons

Important lesson learned tonight- NEVER cut jalapeño peppers without gloves! If you do cut them without gloves never proceed to rub your face or your eyes!!! If you still want to learn the hard way immediately after you do it and the burn starts run for the milk pour it all over the body part burning, never scrub with soap and water. Don't learn the hard way!

Austin Walking!

Austin and Zack have been walking with us for months now, but usually don't even want to try to walk unless they are holding on to our hands. Last Wednesday we were just playing around and Austin all of a sudden took two steps, but after that he would just dive to us and wouldn't even stand long enough to try to walk and then tonight he all of a sudden just took off. He thought all of the attention was great! Zack can stand for like two minutes, he's so funny because he will just stand in place and look around and laugh. They are so cute!

Nestle Family Fun Run

We all woke up bright and early this morning and went and ran the Nestle Family Fun Run 5k. It was a lot of fun despite it only being in the 40s and raining. After one day of training Aaron finished in 29:34 and me and the boys finished in 31:28. I was a little disappointed in my time because I have been finishing in under 30 minutes in my training, but we were near the back of the start and it was probably almost 1/2 mile before I was able to really start running because of so many walkers and slow people in front of me so that was really frustrating. I was glad that I felt good the whole run though because I pulled the ligaments in the back of my knee on Monday so hopefully the next time around my time will be better. My uncle Mark and aunt Cheri and their kids came and ran with us and we had a great morning being able to spend time with them and some of my favorite cousins!

Henry Craig Curtis

Steve and Mandy welcomed a new baby boy in to their family yesterday. His name is Henry Craig Curtis and he came in weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz. and he was 20 1/4 inches. His big brother Neal was very excited to see him and couldn't help giving him lots of loves. Congratulations you guys we are so excited for you and for Henry joining our family!!


The cute family!


Steve with his boys

Websites I like

I've found a couple of new websites lately that I love and thought I would pass them on.

First is http://www.calorie-count.com/, you can go and enter everything you've been eating during the day and it tells you how many calories the different foods are and it keeps track of how many calories you're at for the day. I'm not good at counting calories on things because it's too much effort to me, but this is nice because since you have to write down everything you've eaten it makes you realize what you're putting in to your mouth and it makes you aware of how many calories things are and how fast they add up. It also will calculate how many calories you're burning, you wouldn't believe the different activities they have listed. You also can find out different exercise routines and workouts. I could go on and on, I love this website! I have lost two pounds in less than a week and I even went out to eat at Olive Garden (thanks for the fun afternoon SG's, we missed those of you that weren't able to come!)!

Second, is a blog I stumbled across that is a guy who does children's art work. I have been looking for pictures for my boy's room since before they were born and I finally found some. He draws the cutest pictures. His blog is http://falldowntree.blogspot.com and he's also from Farmington as well. These are the pictures I got for my boy's room, they are great quality!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day has always been a day that we have gone to the graves with my family and then gone to the park to play, but this year it has become very different. It hasn't become any easier since Daxton died, but we have all learned a lot and are hopefully becoming better friends, parents, siblings, and kids because of him and all he taught us. After going to the graves Sunday we went to a park and had a nice picnic and then had fun playing on the playground and playing sand volleyball. On Monday we visited graves again and then had a party with my dad's family. We are very grateful for our family!



Aunt Mandy holding the four boys (number 4 makes his debut next Thursday!).
The boys had a great time climbing the tree.

Card Work-out

I found this work-out on the internet that I like to do on days like today that are windy and rainy and I can't go running with the boys. It's also nice for vacation or somewhere you might be staying that you can't go to a gym or don't want to because all you need is a deck of cards.

Here is the way it works:
Draw 5 cards.
Add up the numbers on the cards.
Do that many jumping jacks, crunches and push-ups.
Rest for that many seconds.
Draw 5 more cards.
Repeat the process until you work through the whole deck.

Caution: You may not be able to do your hair or lift your kids for a couple of days after. Do at your own risk.

Let me know if any of you try this and what you think. I also didn't think it sounded that bad when I first heard it, but you will be amazed at how good it works you!

Pool Cleaning

Yesterday we had our annual pool cleaning at my parent's. We start off by draining the whole pool and then scrub it clean.


Then the fun begins! As the pool is refilling with water we have our own water slide or dancing for some that prefer that. :) I had planned on bringing swimsuits for the boys, but Aaron talked me out of it because he said the boys wouldn't want to get into it and it would be too cold for them. Last time I listen to him, they had a blast! :)


The clothes came off soon after this because they were getting soaked.



Austin was so funny he would just crawl all over and wasn't at all fazed by the coldness. Zack loved it, just not quite as much.


Cousin Neal wasn't a fan like my boys were, but isn't he cute! He was excited because they he had just splashed Zack.


There is a reason why they have swim diapers! Austin's just fell off because it was so heavy. Here is Zack's after exploding all over Grandpa.


While we were sliding and having a blast Grandpa and Grandma were entertaining the boys and took them for wagon rides all over the yard. Even though they might not look like they are having fun they loved it. I didn't get any pictures of the sliding because I was having too much fun!

Newport Coast

We got home last Friday night from a week long vacation to Newport Coast, California. It was beautiful there and we had a great time with all of my family. I've been to the ocean quite a few times, but I totally fell in love with it this time, when I have a few million we are definitely moving to a beach house. We found the most perfect beach on Saturday with beautiful soft sand, great waves, not very many people, and dolphins and whales! Yes, you heard me right as we were getting ready to leave we saw 3 dolphins swimming and 2 whales. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen! Here is some video of it:

Austin got sick the day before we left, then Zack got sick the day after we got there so all they wanted to do was be held. Aaron had a great time body surfing and I enjoyed watching him, Angie, and Dave and listening to the ocean.




It was my parent's 29th anniversary while we there and they wanted to spend it with us. We were glad and had a great time with them!


Steve and Dave playing/wrestling with all of the boys.


Austin and Zack were so funny and they climbed in to these drawers with Neal and had a blast playing in there.


We went to an Angels game and watched them beat the Orioles. It was tons of fun, especially since my parents volunteered to watch the boys. Do you think Matt and Aaron look alike?


On Monday we rode across a ferry to Balboa Island which is man-made. We walked around the island and looked in some of the stores. We also had frozen bananas because that is where they originated from. They were pretty good, but overrated!


On Tuesday we went to an Aquarium in Long Beach. It was fun to see all of the fish, sea lions, and other marine animals. The boys loved watching the fish and the sharks swim around.




Then Tuesday night we went and saw Wicked and Steve and Mandy were awesome and volunteered to watch our boys. That play is amazing! If you haven't seen it yet you should go! Both me and Aaron are already planning when we are going to go see it again, I've been wanting to see it for years and it was even better than I thought it would be.


Unfortunately the boys passed some of their germ love on and me and Neal got sick on Wednesday, but we still managed to have a good time. We went to a Farmer's Market and then went on a walk to Crystal Cove beach that was less than 1/2 mile from where we were staying. I got to go for a run on the beach (that is a serious calf workout!) and we had fun watching the birds and being by the ocean.



On Thursday Angie watched all of the boys while the rest of us went and did a session at the Newport Temple. The temple was of course beautiful and gave us all a lot of comfort. I'm so grateful for eternal families and the knowledge I will see Daxton again and that Michelle and Matt will have their baby!


We went back to Laguna Beach after and Zack and Austin finally decided they liked the sand and had a ball playing and getting covered from head to toe in sand. It was great watching the ocean throw the guys all around and they a great time playing in the waves. As we were leaving we saw at least 5 dolphins again, it was so funny they were teasing the birds and kept chasing after them. That beach was awesome!!


We had a great time and we really miss the ocean. Thanks Mom, Dad, and everyone for a ton of fun! BTW I read The Host by Stephenie Meyer on the way home, for all of you Twilight fans and everyone else it is so good! You should all go buy a copy right away, thanks Steve, Mandy, and Neal for the great birthday present!

The 20's are fast disappearing

Yesterday was my 26th birthday. It was a great day! I had to work the night before so Aaron took off work and let me get a couple of hours of sleep which I always am grateful for. He was very sweet and had arranged babysitting and was going to take me to Maddox for lunch and then we were going to do something after, but he got a call around 7 that morning telling us our poor niece had been throwing up all night so we no longer had a babysitter. We went to Plan B and we went on a picnic and played on the playground and the slides with the boys. The weather was perfect and the boys were darling so it was perfect. Then we went and walked on the trail around Lagoon, it is so pretty and it was great to just chat with Aaron. Then we came home and my mom came and visited and then we went to Aaron's softball game which is always fun. We even had luck on our side and very narrowly missed one of the boys getting a head injury. One of the people hit the softball and it was heading straight to the stroller, luckily for some reason (because I never do) I had pulled the visor over the stroller and it hit the top of the visor instead of the boys. Aaron and the boys got me some movies and an iTunes gift card and a Nike plus which I was way excited about. Thanks for a fabulous birthday honey!



Austin and Zack are already addicted to Diet Coke (we missed the picture of Zack trying to drink it). For all of you getting ready to call DCFS, no I don't let my kids drink pop. It's a rare day that they even get juice.


On Sunday my Grandma and Grandpa had a birthday dinner for all of us April birthdays. It was great hanging with my family and the boys had a great time swinging (those were their Easter outfits).