I have a lot to post about. I'm planning on doing a few posts in the next few days to get caught up. But, here are a few of our happenings as of yet. Stay tuned...

Ewan enjoys the floor. He's getting around a lot more and finding ways to push the sisters' buttons. He tries to grab food, sippies, and toys from them which makes both of them not so happy.

Oh the time we play in the bean box! I got new toys for it for Mother's Day! I probably need a bigger box and more beans.

Olivia coloring at the table. This is rare moment, she's actually coloring on the paper!

Aislee coloring.

It's been pretty warm here. We decided to try out the new floaties and go to the pool. Ewan likes the water. Isn't he cute!

Olivia would stay all day if we let her! That child has no fear! She will be sporting a life-jacket the whole time we're at Lake Powell.

Aislee isn't quite so anxious about jumping in, but she hates to leave!

More coloring.

He's getting to long and big for these jeans!

Here's his latest trick!

Taking advantage of naptime

Since all the kids are asleep, and should be for a few more minutes, I decided to update the blog before we leave for Utah on Friday. I'll just give a quick update of things that have been happening. Things that are not pictured; Paul and I celebrated our 3rd Anniversary on April 27th. It's amazing to think that we have been married for three years, have three kids, and have lived in three different states. I'm so lucky to have Paul. He's wonderful. We look forward to many more anniversaries! Paul turned 26! Yeah, I know...wow! He's closer to 30 than 20! We had celebrated with white chocolate chip cookies, frozen pizza, and root beer. I know, we're big spenders. We watched Sherlock Holmes and Kung-Fu Panda. Paul got to pick out a book at Borders, which he has already finished. It was a pretty awesome day! Ewan is starting to really scoot! He's getting into "army-crawl" mode. He rolls, swivels, and manipulates his body to get where he wants to go. It's usually towards the noise!
Now for the pictures...

A woman I visit teach just had her first baby a few days ago. My companion and I threw her a baby shower and, I made a diaper cake for the event. I had to take a picture so I would remember how to do it if it ever came up again.

The twins are into, "I do it myself" more than ever! They want a fork and bowl all to themselves. Sometimes it's, "I throw it on the floor all by myself", but whatever. I have to clean up a little bit more and it's not so efficient, but they're learning.

We went to the zoo on one of Paul's off-Fridays. This is the really big tortoise. We thought he was stuck, or dead. When we came back an hour later, he moved a couple feet.

The girls loved the monkeys. They even got to feed the giraffe. Paul got to pet a snake.

About half-way through our trip, we let the girls run around one of the little parks. Aislee would only get back in the stroller if she could sit by Ewan.

A very large goldfish.

A duck with a very blue bill.

A duck with a very red bill.

Sometimes, I get in a dinner stump. So, I've decided to make one new recipe a week. I've been given quite a few cook books that I haven't really looked through! A lot of the things look fun to make, but I have a hard time using alcohol in my cooking. A lot of my books call for alcohol, and I haven't figured out a substitute, so I skip those recipes. This is a herb rub roast chicken with steamed broccoli and herb mashed potatoes. Most of the ones I've tried have not made the permanent list, but it's fun to try new things.

I've been trying to get the girls to color for a little while during the day. We got a table for them to sit at. Sometimes they miss the paper, and color the table. Well, Olivia misses the paper and colors on the table. Aislee is quick to say, "Oh no. Oh no Ia." She calls Olivia "Ia", and Olivia calls her Aisee. It's pretty hilarious! They also holds hands in the car. Paul and I are always holding hands in the car ('cause it's the only time we can!). We'll turn back to check on them, and they're holding hands the same way we are.

We went to a birthday party earlier in the day and got bouncy balls. They bounced them under the fridge. We had to find them! We were all sad that they were too far back for any of us to reach them. Olivia almost had a come-apart. Paul had to move the fridge to get them out. We found a few missing Potato Head pieces. Yay for a big, strong daddy!

We tried big girl beds for like a week. Either they're not ready to stay in one, or we're not ready for them to keep us up all night and take short naps! I think it's more of the latter. We may try in a few months.

For right now, they're fine sleeping in their crib. Ewan is now sleeping in his own room in his bassinet. He sleeps from 9 to 5:30 or so. Some mornings, I wake him up to feed him so I can go run. He usually falls back asleep for a little while longer.

My sister, Megan was a genius. She had an indoor sandbox made up of a bunch of beans and little toys with shovels. She'd pour the bucket out on a blanket and her kids would dig through the beans to find stuff. I decided to try it. It's been getting pretty hot here, and it's hard to get outside some days. I get this out when Ewan is sleeping and let the girls dig around for a while. When they're done, they help clean up as much as they can. They usually get bored and find other toys while I finish picking the rest of the stuff up. It's neat to see them cover their toys and then dig them out and pour the beans in one cup and into another. Genius, I tell you!



The kids caught a cold over the weekend, and Paul and I had some pretty long nights. So, I had a glasses day. I just wasn't in the mood to put my contacts in. We all had a glasses day! (Olivia)

Aislee


Because it's been so hot out (98), we've been using our water table from last August. I should have gotten them in swimsuits, but we just needed to get outside (oh to have a yard...!).

Olivia Christine

Since I'm not creative and am always looking for blog ideas, my friend Holly gave me the idea of posting about my twins and talking about how to tell them apart and how they are different. We will start with "Baby A", Olivia Christine.

Olivia (Livi, Liver Spot, Livage, Olive Oil) loves to be outside. She loves flowers, rocks and dogs. Her favorite thing to do is pick up the biggest rock she can carry and walk around with it, all day.

Livi loves potato heads and blocks. She could sit for hours making new potato heads and building towers. She actually does sit for hours making those things.

She loves babies, especially her little brother, Ewan. Lately, she's been trying to pick him up. He weighs around 17lbs while she is only 23lbs. She doesn't accomplish much but frustration and the occasional tear.

Olivia likes to have her hair done. She knows that she can't go outside unless her hair is combed. She'll say "Walk. Bow. Outside" She has to have a bow in her hair if she wants to go for a walk outside.

These are her sleepy toys. Actually, hers is the grey wolf. Aislee's is the monkey, but somehow, Olivia ends up with both. They're usually in the crib for naps and bed, but sometimes Mommy is a push-over and lets her take them to breakfast. They have to sit on the floor and watch the girls eat once food is on the tray, though.

I tell them that they're princesses all the time. Olivia would take their toy necklaces and put them on her head so she could be a princess.

Olivia is definitely my Thing 1. Any opportunity to get into something she's probably not supposed to get into, she's there! with a smile!

Olivia is very friendly. She'll go to just about any woman, and takes a little while to ease upto men. Our friend Briggs now has a beard and it takes her a little while to go to him.

For differences, Olivia has a birthmark on her right hip. That's why Aunt Sarah calls her Liver Spot. She also has a freckle on her left thigh, and weighs about 2lbs less than Aislee. They're pretty different in their mannerisms. It doesn't take long to tell them apart once you've been around them for a little while. Olivia has her own "tricks". She says, "Owwoooo" for a wolf, makes fishy faces, can do "westside" with her fingers (not on purpose, she just makes her fingers do that), she says, "Oh, no. Oh, no" quite frequently, Olivia does not like fruit unless it's a green apple, and she loves broccoli.

Olivia was born at 6:05am August 22nd. She weighed 4lbs 3oz. She's growing and learning and just a joy for our family.

Aislee Maureen

Aislee Maureen "Baby B" (aka Aser, Aislee Paisley, Aser Taser) was born at 6:47am on August 22nd. She weighed 5lbs 2oz and is still just growing and figuring out the world.

Besides the size difference, Aislee has a freckle on her left-upper tukus (bum). Her hair isn't quite as thick in the back, but just as long. She eats fruit, most of the time. She loves green beans and peas and goldfish crackers. She'll tell me if I'm singing the wrong song until I get to the one she wants to hear. She frequently has a bruise on her head from bumping into something. Aislee has an obsession with phones, but what toddler doesn't. She'll walk around the house talking on the remote and laughing. She's very good at fake laughing, or I really am as funny as I think I am. She knows she has to have shoes and socks on for walks and says, "Sock, shoe, walk!"

She was the bigger of the twins and has always been just a little bit bigger. It's hard to say she was "chubbier" because at 4 and 5 lbs, you're not really chubby! She's still not chubby at all, just 2lbs bigger.

Aislee is willing to try anything once. She will put on the glasses, wear the hat, try on the shoes, and dance in the dress.

However, Aislee is our "slow-to-warm" child. She gets nervous around strangers and will cling to Paul or me in public. While going for walks, we sometimes have a problem with the twins going in opposite directions, but Paul has learned to follow Olivia and Aislee will follow him.

She loves Ewan's carseat, maybe because it was once hers (or Olivia's). Anytime it's out and she notices, she is in it or putting her babies in or trying to get Ewan out of it!

Aislee is my "little mother". She sits by me/on me while I nurse and will set herself up with my nursing bib, pillow and her doll when I'm not using them.

Exhibit A

She loves to carry a baby doll around with a diaper bag. Aislee always wants me to put real diapers and a sippy in her bag. She also quite enjoys Ewan. She loves to give him very wet kisses (we're trying to get rid of her tongue being out for every kiss), and pat him on the head and tummy. He likes the attention, for a while.

We sing a lot of songs throughout the day. One of our favorites is "If You're Happy and You Know it". Here she is singing "Your face will surely show it."


This is a classic Aislee. She has inherited my grace (sorry, kid!). She bumps, trips, bangs, pinches and slams whatever she can. We've been giving a lot of kisses to make things better at this house!