The Henneuse Family

Zoo Lights

2012-01-10T22:09:00.003-07:00

We went to the zoo's Wild Lights a few days after Christmas. Its becoming a tradition for us. It was a great night and all of the kids seemed to like it. Alli and Nick were very excited about their cameras that Santa brought them and took many, many pictures. Here are the best ones...

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-12-19T15:10:00.005-07:00

First up, decorating the tree. We are doing an advent calendar with activities every day. This was one of the first activities. One night while the kids were sleeping I decorated the house and put up the tree. When they woke up they ran around the house looking at everything. I'm really glad that I decorated at night becuase it was so much less stressful for me to get things out without all the extra "help" PLUS the kids were so excited to wake up, see the decorations, and decorate the tree...it was kind of magical for them.

Next (not Christmas related), but this is how I've been finding Makenna a lot lately. And not just in the morning or after naps. She has definitely reached the stage when she knows how to take her clothes off and she does it often. Like sometimes 3 times in a half hour. I usually give up at this point and she goes naked the rest of the day. She is extra sneaky about it and usually hides while taking off her clothes and then hides her clothes too. Luckily (and I am double crossing my fingers here) she does not take off her diaper, so we are safe on that front.

We went to the church Christmas breakfast and the kids got to visit with Santa. Considering that Kenna is the biggest momma's girl ever, it's not too surpising that she did not want to have anything to do with Santa. Alli was a little shy, but she tried to be brave and she told Santa she wants a scarf for dress-up. And Nick was himself and not afraid at all and told Santa he wants a remote control car.

Makenna...before the terrifying close encounter with Santa.

And finally, at Alli's preschool last week Alli and Nick got to decorate gingerbread houses. It was so nice of Courtney to let Nick come too. The kids loved this project, especially eating candy.

I am excited about this week. Brian has a few days off and other people will be working in our basement, so we should have some fun family time before Christmas. Plus Brian's mom is coming in to town for Christmas and we are all so excited to see her and to spend time with my parents too.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T14:43:00.003-07:00

We enjoyed Thanksgiving this year with my parents and Courtney and Russ and their kids. We made the turkey and had dinner at our house. Alli and Nick were so excited to have everyone over. I think all of the food turned out really good, thanks Brian, mom, and Courtney for all your hard work!

Toy Story Birthday Party

2011-11-26T14:11:00.006-07:00

We had the twin's birthday party a few days after their birthday when Brian, my parents, and all of their friends could make it. I talked them into a joint birthday this year. They both like Toy Story and when I told them they could dress up like Jesse and Woody, they were sold. First we made Mr. Potato Head party bags.Next, we hid army men in Alli and Nick's room and had them find them. They got a piece of candy for every army man they found (kind of like an Easter egg hunt). Then we played pin the tail on Bullseye. Here is what Bullseye looked like when we were done.

The final (and most popular game) was The Claw, where the kids used tongs to pick out toys from a slit in this box.

Then we had pizza and veggies for lunch. Our kitchen was packed.Next was opening presents.
Then we had cake After everyone was gone, Makenna tried on Alli's cowgirl hat. She is so cute.
And then we gave Alli and Nick their last present - big kid bikes!

Alli and Nick are so lucky to have so many friends! We're glad that almost everyone could make it to the party!

Alli and Nick's Birthday Lunch

2011-11-26T13:49:00.003-07:00

The twins didn't have their birthday party on their birthday this year, so we celebrated by having lunch with Brian at Red Robin. It is our favorite place for birthday lunches. Alli and Nick both got to pick out whatever they wanted from the kids menu. Alli picked a corn dog and salad and Nick picked pizza and carrot sticks. I'm not sure why Alli picked a corn dog; we haven't had them at home in a long time and when we did have them she didn't like them, but whatever, it's her birthday. They also got ice cream for dessert.

Makenna was so funny. I shared lunch with her, but all she wanted to eat was ranch. She just kept dipping the same french fry over and over again in the ranch and when she got tired of that she tried to drink it out of the cup. Red Robin does have good ranch, but seriously? Good thing we don't take the kids out to eat often!

I can't believe that Alli and Nick are 4! Time flies. Alli is already plotting her next birthday. She says, "In a few days when I turn 5 I will have a butterfly birthday". I try to explain to her that it is a lot more than just a few days. Time (months, years, weeks, etc.) is such a hard thing for the twins to understand right now. We talk about it a lot and they are trying to figure it out, but it hasn't clicked yet. But, she is probably right, it will only seem like a few days and then it will be their next birthday.

Halloween

2011-11-01T20:08:00.005-06:00

Halloween was very much anticipated at our house this year. After I put our decorations up during the first week of October there were many teary moments (mostly involving Nick) where someone (he) could not understand why Halloween wasn't today. The decorations were up, it must be Halloween, right? We had many talks about the calendar and how many days were left, but to no avail. It helped take the edge off when Nick and Alli got to wear their costumes at their school parties and when we went to the ward party. Then finally, Halloween came! (Side note, it is a definite possiblity that we will not have any Christmas decorations up at our house until the week of Chirstmas).

Like every other year, we went to Courtney and Russ's for dinner and then went trick-or-treating afterwards. Thanks Courtney and Russ for hosting us! The Jacobs fam also stopped by just as we were getting ready to leave so we got to go with them too. So fun!

A rare picture of all our kids together. Alli is Rapunzel, Makenna is a monkey, and Nick is a dragon.
The princesses - Alli and Lindsey

My little monkey. If you remember, Nick and Alli wore this costume for their first Halloween.

Nick the dragon, commonly confused with a dinosaur.

My beautiful princess. She was so excited to get to wear her costume and she always makes silly faces for the camera.

And the babies, Makenna and Taylor. They aren't really babies anymore, but it's hard not to call them that when they are the youngest.

Hope that you had a fun Halloween too!

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-30T21:52:00.003-06:00

One of the (few) benefits of afternoon church is that we get to do some fun things together as a family in the morning. After we ate a yummy pancakes and bacon breakfast that Brian made, we carved our pumpkins in our pajamas. The kids tried to be really helpful with getting out all of the seeds and strings. Then they wanted to help with the cutting, but we had to draw the line. Nick and Alli each got to pick a design. Alli chose a Boo ghost and Nick chose a monster.

Yes, Nick and Alli are scraping out seeds from the bottom of the pumpkin. Brian saw something on the news about doing it this way and it worked out pretty well.

The finished product. My favorite Halloween tradition.

First Snow

2011-10-29T22:38:00.004-06:00

Our first snow this year was a pretty big one! Makenna got to play in the snow for the first time. She was so cute and she had so much fun out there. The kids begged me to go outside all day, but since they had friends over all morning I made them wait until after Kenna's nap. They still played outside for an hour and a half and I could only lure them in with hot chocolate and cookies.

Miller Farms

2011-10-29T22:15:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago Alli's preschool (plus Nick, Tanner, and Lisa) went on a field trip to Miller Farms. It is a local farm where you can pick your own produce. We had heard good things about the farm before, but we'd never been there. For $14 I got three grocery sacks FULL of potatoes, onions, carrots, corn, cabbage, and tomatoes. Plus we got 3 pie pumpkins. It was fun for the kids to be able to pick there own produce. They were so excited to bring it home and eat it.

Here we are loaded up and ready to go.

Nick and his best buddy Tanner.

Alli with Lindsey and Shyler

They also had some fun things for the kids to do. Nick loved this airplane. We could not get him out of it.

I'm still finishing up using my potatoes and onions. It has been nice to have so much extra (and delicious!) produce.

Alli's New Haircut

2011-10-05T20:50:00.004-06:00

This was not planned at all...in fact every time I talked to Alli about getting her hair trimmed she would beg me not to get any cut off so that she could have long hair like Rapunzel. She is going to be Rapunzel for Halloween and she was dead-set on having the longest hair possible.

Natalie came to cut our hair (we love Natallie, at home haircuts are so nice when you have little kids). Linsdey went first and got several inches trimmed off into a bob. When it came time for Alli's turn I asked her just to confirm, "you want just a little trimmed off, right?" Well, apparently she wants to be just like Lindsey and she changed her mind and now she wants her hair chopped off. After confirming with her like a million times I agree, but only to her shoulders. Then Natalie says that if she cuts an inch or two above that she can donate her hair. So that's what we did. I almost cried, I was totally unprepared to cut off that much. But it is so cute now, I love it!

And Alli will still be Rapunzel for Halloween, but like at the end of the movie when her hair is short.

Alli's First Day of Preschool

2011-09-08T21:19:00.001-06:00

Alli started preschool this week and she loves it. This year I am doing a co-op preschool with 4 other moms twice a week. We all have girls and I think it will be so much fun. We are using the Mother Goose Time curriculum and it will be so nice because everything comes in the mail once a month. I don't have to think of any ideas so that will take a lot of pressure off! We've gotten the first packet of stuff and it looks great. Alli loves being with her cousin Linsdey and making some new friends too. Yay for Preschool!

10 Year Anniversary

2011-09-08T21:19:00.000-06:00

We recently celebrated our 10-year anniversary. My wonderful mom watched the kids overnight so that we could go on a mini-getaway. It was so fun to get to spend time together, going places we can't go to with the kids and to remember that we really do have more in common than our children.

Berry Patch Farms

2011-09-08T21:17:00.000-06:00

This is one of my most favorite things to do at the end of the summer. It was a perfect day, finally starting to cool down. Brian was off from work and Nick was in Preschool, so we took the girls to pick some berries. Makenna ate every berry she could find and would get mad if there weren't any left in her basket. Her face was dripping red when we left. Alli was a good helper and a very serious berry picker. As soon as we got home Alli started eating berries. I would find her in the fridge every few minutes grabbing one.

Nick's First Day of Preschool

2011-08-30T14:01:00.003-06:00

Nick started preschool and he loves it. He goes to the preschool program at Riverdale Elementary twice a week. He is in the fish room. School starts early at 7:45 AM. I know it's really not that early, but the kids and I are used to leaving the house at 9 at the earliest. So it's been an adjustment for me to wake up at 6 and then to have to wake the kids up and try to get them to eat breakfast and get dressed before 7:30. Not to mention the crazy parking situation around the school in the morning. Hence, not the best "first day" picture below. We barely made it in time and we were lucky to get a picture.

I'm glad that he likes school. He is always so excited to go - he just runs into his classroom and doesn't look back. I think preschool will be really good for him. And even though it is hard now, I am glad that we are getting an earlier start in the morning. Alli starts preschool in a week. She is doing an all girl co-op preschool with Lindsey and some new friends.

Camping at Mueller State Park

2011-08-25T20:22:00.008-06:00

We decided early on in the summer to go on a camping trip this year. I am not the biggest fan of car camping, but with kids it's really the only option. We read an article about Mueller State Park and it sounded like a good place to visit - lots of family-friendly features (flush toilets, playground, walk-in tent campsites) and only 30 minutes from Colorado Springs. We made our reservations very far in advance because this place fills up quick.

The trip turned out way better than I expected. I hate to say that because it sounds like I have low expectations, but when it comes to car camping with kids, I guess I DO have low expectations! But, surprise - everyone had a great time and no major calamities. We all came home a little tired, but it was totally worth it to have some quality family time.

Day #1 - Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
We heard wonderful things about this zoo from friends and it did not disappoint. I wouldn't say that it is better than Denver Zoo, it was just different. And different is a good thing when it comes to zoos because we go to the Denver Zoo a lot. Our favorite things at this zoo: feeding giraffes and seeing them up-close, all of the kid areas (caves, tunnels, playgrounds, petting zoo), and the amazing views of Colorado Springs.

Alli is petting a baby wallabee

Here is our campsite and our amazing camping dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup, haha. I think that is actually one of the things that made this trip a sucess. We tried to keep things simple and easy so that we could do more with the kids. The next night we had campfire hot dogs. The campsite was nice because we walked in about 20 yard from the car. It was far from the road and gave us some distance from other campers.Day #2 - Garden of the Gods and Cave of the Winds

We drove around the Garden of the Gods and then did a short hike around the main area. The rocks are amazing and it was fun to see the rock climbers. Nick insisted that I take a picture of him and Alli in the "circle". Temperatures were in the mid 90's that day, so we weren't out hiking for too long.

We didn't get any pictures at the Cave of the Winds. Alli and Nick's favorite thing was this kid's cave maze thing. They went though it about 20 times while we waited for our turn in the cave. I think they liked the actual cave, but got a little bored about 30 minutes into the tour.The caves were big and fairly easy to navigate through. There were a few sketchy moments with me carrying a sleeping Kenna through 3'10" tunnels and very narrow and steep staircases (hence no pictures), but other than that it was a fun time.

Day #3 - Dragonfly Trail and Drive Home

We stopped at this children's trail on our way out of the park. Alli and Nick loved it. It was just the perfect trail for them. They got to read signs, see how far they could jump, go over bridges, and go through tunnels. So fun...I wish we had something like this close to our house.

This really was a fun trip. I think we will try to come back next year, maybe even with Courtney's family and my parents.

Ballet, Swimming, and Fun

2011-07-21T21:03:00.010-06:00

Note: I tried first posting this about 2 weeks ago and finally just figured out the problem and was able to publish it.

If you live in Colorado you know that almost every afternoon for the past few weeks we have been getting thunderstorms. Sometimes really big thunderstorms. On Tuesday night our power went out for a couple of hours. Luckily I was just finishing dinner and the only thing that was still cold was the corn. We have been getting way more rain than usual. I don't think we've even had to run our sprinklers, which will be nice when the water bill comes. It does put a little bit of a damper on our afternoon plans. But, Makenna takes an afternoon nap, so its not too big of an inconvenience.

We tried a new-ish park this week and it was so fun. It is a combination splash park and playground. We stayed there for 4 hours. All of the kids were happy and the weather was perfect so we had no incentive to leave.

Alli took a month-long ballet class in June. She really enjoyed it and has been showing all of us her twirls and jumps.

Alli and Nick have also been taking swimming lessons at the Rec Center with their cousin Lindsey. They are halfway through their second 2-week session now. They are learning so much and progressing really well. These pictures are from the last day of class last session. On the last day they get to go down the big slide and play in the kiddie area. I am looking forward to a year or two from now when they are swimming well enough that I will be able to take all of the kids to the pool by myself. Nothing better than a summer day by the pool!

San Francisco

2011-06-13T20:24:00.005-06:00

Before my birthday a few months ago I told Brian I only wanted two things: 1) Nick to be potty-trained and 2) Makenna to sleep through the night. Brian helped me get Nick potty-trained and Makenna's ear infections cleared up and we were able to do sleep training with her. I was so relieved to have gotten over these hurdles.

Of course, I recieved some other gifts for my birthday. But then I got a huge surprise from Brian, my mom, and my sister - a weeked getaway to San Francisco with my mom and sister to visit my brother David and his wife Natalie! I haven't been away from the kids except for a really quick 24-hour trip to Salt Lake when my brother got married a couple of years ago. I love the kids so much but I was feeling a little burnt out. I needed a short break and I was so excited when the time came this weekend to go.

We ate at so many amazing restaurans, tried some new things, and had a lot of fun. Here I am at the top of the highest hill in San Francisco. Amazing views, even with the clouds.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was the Alcatraz tour. It was so interesting. Here are my mom and my sister on the boat.

Here's the family hanging out at a park on Sunday. It was a beautiful day and we loved the sun.
Thank you mom and Courtney for the best birthday present ever! Thank you so much David and Natalie for driving us around and hosting us. And an extra big thanks to Brian for doing such a great job watching the kids all weekend!

Pictures

2011-05-16T20:31:00.003-06:00

Brian snapped some quick pictures of the kids before church. Aren't they cuties? And I love that the grass is green and the trees are starting to bloom and leaf out. Hooray for spring!

Swimming Lessons

2011-04-30T21:35:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it, but swim lessons are already over! Alli and Nick both learned so much. Alli loves the water and can even swim a little on her own. Nick's favorite part of swim lessons was jumping into the pool and going down the crab slide at the end of every lesson. He has no fear!

On the last day of classes they got to go down the big slide and play in the kiddie area. So much fun!

We will be doing more lessons this summer. Can't wait!

Easter

2011-04-30T21:14:00.003-06:00

We had a fun Easter. We went to the twin's club Easter egg hunt this year. It started snowing when we got there, so we didn't hang out for too long (just long enough to do the egg hunt) and we didn't get any pictures. Makenna participated this year and even picked up one egg (Alli was happy to help with the other 11!)

This was also the first year that we dyed eggs with the kids. We did 10. Again, no pictures. Having cups of dye out with two 3-year olds was a little stressful for me...but here's the end result. Some turned out kind of brown because Alli insisted on adding more dye to the cups after the first round.
And yes, the Easter Bunny did visit our house! He hid eggs all over inside and left a baseball bat and mitt set for Nick, a Barbie and Snow White shoes for Alli, and an animal book for Makenna. Don't you just love these morning pictures?

And finally, we went to dinner at my parent's house. Alli saw a picture of a bunny cake a week before and wanted me to make one. Because I am such an amazing mom (right?) I made her one to bring for dessert. My mom used to make these for Easter and it was fun for me to do it.

Of course the kids loved it!

Tot School - Easter

2011-04-30T20:31:00.006-06:00

My last Tot School for the year! So, so much fun, but it is nice to be done for a little while. The twins still have another month left. I'm not sure how we will keep so active and busy this summer. I'm sure the calendar will fill in with park days, swimming lessons, field trips, vacations, and play dates. But I think we will ALL miss this scheduled playtime with friends. They LOVE going and playing and I love the time I have to run errands and get things done around the house. Every morning when we get dressed Alli asks me, "Where are we going today?" We almost always have something to do, but on some days (like today) when I don't really have a planned activity she kind of freaks out if I tell her we are mostly going to be hanging out around the house. So, I am a little worried about having too much free time this summer. I will probably look back at this post at the end of the summer and laugh because we will be so busy...

But on to Easter Tot School. On the first day our activity was painting suncatchers that I found at Michael's. I was super busy and actually forgot that I was doing Tot School until a few days before. I didn't really have time to think of a project, so this was easy. The kids liked squeezing the paint in and trying to match the pictures. The suncatchers were surprisingly forgiving and by the time they dried, they all looked great.

On the second day our activity was putting stickers on buckets and having an Easter egg hunt. This is the best picture I could get. Everyone was so excited that the Easter bunny stopped by our house to drop off some eggs, they couldn't look or smile at the camera :)

Our snacks were bunny cheese crackers one day and rice crispy treat "nests" the other day. Both snacks were a hit!

Nesting

2011-04-03T21:32:00.005-06:00

Nope, not me! For clarification I am NOT pregnant, and definitely not close to delivery when the nesting instinct is so strong.

But Nick sure seems to be in a "spring mood". I'm not sure exactly why he keeps making these blanket/toy nests everywhere, all over the house, but I've heard him talking about camping when he's doing it, so it must be something along these lines.

On average I clean up about 3 of these nests a day. Thanks Nick! You make me laugh!

Gymnastics

2011-04-03T21:16:00.008-06:00

Alli and Nick just finished up a gymnastics class at the Rec Center. It was their first time being in a real class. Nick had a hard time waiting his turn and following all of the instructions, so I ended up moving him to a parent/tot class. I'm so glad I did. He loved going with me and Brian and he got to be more active.

I kept Alli in the same class because she loved her teacher and was able to participate and have fun. I think it's easier for girls at 3 to listen and follow instructions than for boys, but that's just my opinion. I'm sure it's not true in all cases!

I didn't get any pictures of Nick (imagine gym shorts and a t-shirt), but I got a few of Alli in her leotard, which she was always so excited to wear (can you tell?)

They just started swim lessons and so far so good! Nick is doing much better with listening and following instructions and Alli is like a little fish. We took her swimming on Friday night and she has already learned how to float on her back by herself.

Mountains

2011-04-03T20:06:00.010-06:00

My turn for Tot School again! This time the theme was mountains. I set up a little play tent and made a pretend fire (paper towel rolls, newspaper, and paper "flames") so that the kids could pretend to go camping. They had fun cooking their play food in the fire.

On the first day our project was to make a trail tote. It is an egg carton with each of the holes inside painted a different color. The idea is to take it along on a hike and try to find something to match each of the colors. We have yet to try out our totes, but I'm sure we will soon. Here is T painting his tote.

The inside all painted...

And the label on the outside.

On the second day our project was to make a picture to go along with the song "The Bear Went Over the Mountain". I had the kids color the bear and glue it to a popsicle stick. The mountains were a torn piece of blue paper. We also added trees and a sun. The kids liked singing this song and got it pretty quick because it is mostly the same line over and over again...haha. Here is T putting glue on his mountain. He is really focusing :)

And here's Alli with her mountain and bear almost all finished, just putting on another tree for a finishing touch!

One of the other activities we did was with play-doh to help the kids understand how mountains are made. I gave each of the kids a ball and told them to squish it to make a continent (which conveniently looks like a pancake). Then they crashed their continents together to make mountains.

We also had some yummy snacks. On one day we had trail mix and on another day we had my version of indoor s'mores which is graham crackers spread with Nutella and topped with mini marshmallows. Delicious! Sorry to write about Tot School every time I do it. I just want to remember what I planned for future reference because it takes me a little while to come up with the ideas. Plus, the kids are so cute and fun I can't help but snap pictures!

Makenna's First Birthday

2011-02-25T21:40:00.005-07:00

Makenna just recently turned 1! We had a small Valentine's-themed party for her with some of our family. My buddy, Steve (we've been friends since middle school) was in town for the weekend and his family came too. They will hopefully be moving back to Colorado soon, which would be just perfect since they have girls that are only a month apart from our kids.

We had panini's for lunch and angel food cake for desert. Makenna also got to open her presents. She is such a lucky girl (especially for a girl who already has almost everything from her older siblings). She got a carseat from us (exciting, right?) and a purse, a doll, a swimsuit and a sprinkler ball toy for the summer, a new towel that Aunt Courtney made, bath toys, and a really cute summer outfit.

Here is a video of her with her cake. She loved the strawberries and didn't get too messy. We ended up cutting everything in smaller pieces to make it easier.

I can't believe that she is already 1. Her stats are 21.9 lbs (50-75%) and 30" (75%). She is a goer. She started walking about 6 weeks ago and now she tries to run to keep up with the twins. She always has been a momma's girl and is even more-so now... and she is still not sleeping through the night, but we are working on that. Her words are daddy, uh-oh (her favorite), hi, and mama. She can also make a lion (woar) and snake (sss) sound and she likes to try and sing-along to the ABC song. Such a cutie, we are so glad she is in our family.

Favorite Things

2011-02-25T20:43:00.006-07:00

A couple of weeks ago it was my turn for Tot School and the theme was "My Favorite Things". The kids were SO excited to tell me all about their favorite toys, snacks, colors, friends, etc.

The first project we worked on was painting boxes for the kids to keep their favorite things. I was amazed how seriously they all took the painting of their boxes - even Nick who will usually paint for a couple of minutes and then get up to play. They all very carefully picked a color and painted every surface of their boxes.

The snacks for the week were the kids' favorite snacks. On the first day we had cheese and crackers (for Lindsey), fruit snacks (for Keegan), and chocolate milk (for Nick).

On the second day we had green jell-o jigglers (for Tanner), cinnamon teddy grahams (for Bridget), and apple juice (for Alli).

For our project on the second day we made books about all of the kid's favorite things. I interviewed them on the first day and then found pictures of their answers. They were very excited to see pictures of all the pictures. Here is Keegan getting ready to work on his book. He is such a sweetie. When I asked him who his favorite friend was he said "mommy".

I took a picture of each kid for the front of the books. Lindsey and Nick's turned out especially cute, I thought.

Poor Makenna!

2011-02-03T17:09:00.004-07:00

Makenna has been through a lot lately. I took her to the doctor yesterday for an allergy test that involved taking blood from a vein in her arm (very sad!) and found out that she has yet ANOTHER ear infection. This is the 5th ear infection she has had since Thanksgiving! Luckily the doctor prescribed an oral antibiotic this time, instead of the 3 shots she had to have last time (very, very ouch!). She will see an ENT specialist at the end of this month to find out if she will need to have tubes placed in her ears. At this point I am willing to do whatever will make her better. I keep putting off sleep training (yep, still up twice a night on average) and weaning until her ears are clear. Makenna and I are on a dairy-free diet right now to see if that will help her ears and unfortunately she's not a big fan of soy formula so weaning is a no-go.

But on to happier times:
In the bathtub, with her bubble hat that Alli made her.

Playing in the house. It has been SO cold this week, so we have been inside a lot. A week ago it was 65. That is just how Colorado is in the winter. Shorts one day, heavy winter coat the next!

Baby Steps

2011-01-15T20:29:00.002-07:00

This is what Makenna has been practicing a lot lately... I'm so proud and sad at the same time.

The Zoo in January

2011-01-15T20:00:00.006-07:00

Today was one of the nicer days of the week and Brian had to work this morning, so why not get out of the house and head to the zoo for a couple hours? It was chilly, but felt good to be outside. Courtney even saw someone putting on sunscreen in the parking lot (seriously). Add another 40 or 50 degrees and it could have been July.

Not all of the animals were out but we still got to see most of the animals and ride the carousel. We also were accosted by a very friendly/starving peacock (way too starving/scary for Alli and Lindsey's liking; yes, there were tears) during snacktime. We made it out alive and Alli has only told me the peacock story about 10 times since we've been home.

Playing in the Snow

2011-01-13T21:03:00.003-07:00

For the first time this winter Nick and Alli got to play in the snow! They loved it. I think it took almost as long to bundle them up as they actually played in the snow, though. And as soon as they came in they wanted "hot chocit"; I can't blame them. Its been a pretty light winter for snow and cold so far, but you wouldn't have known it this week. Brrrr!

Poor Makenna, stuck inside watching. Notice that she's holding her favorite toy? It's a plastic skrewdriver from Nick's Handy Manny laptop. She carries it around with her all day!

Videos

2011-01-09T21:36:00.002-07:00

We got a flip cam for Christmas. Here are a couple of our favorite videos so far:

Nick and Nutella:

Makenna on the trampoline:

Makenna just started taking her first steps. Hopefully I'll catch a video soon!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T22:06:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. David and Natalie came to visit from San Francisco and we all stayed together for a couple of nights at my grandparent's house. It was fun to spend time together - watching movies, playing games, eating, visiting, and playing with kids.

Kershaw family tradition is that the kids get to open a present on Christmas Eve. This year we stretched it to two presents - pajamas and a book (all matching, see below) and an ornament. My grandma Kershaw started the ornament tradition with her grandkids and my mom has kept it going with her grandkids.
Alli hiding a present. Her favorite presents this year were her new dress-ups (Snow White and Tinkerbell), purse and accessories, and kitchen tools.

Boo-boo. She was a mama's girl on this trip (like she is most of the time). It probably didn't help that she just got two new teeth!

Makenna is happier here, probably because she is naked, which is her favorite thing. We have a picture just like this of me on my first Christmas.

Nick's favorite presents this year were his Mack truck, car transporter, skidder, and racetrack (see a common theme?).

While Brian had time off we also enjoyed zoo lights, swimming, an adult dinner out with my family, and 3 trips to the movie theater. I'm sad that he's going back to work tomorrow!

Stats

2010-12-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

We recently had Makenna's 9-month check-up and the twin's 3-year check-up. They are big kids and definitly following more after Brian. Here are their stats:

Makenna:
20 lb. 3 oz (50-75%)
28 1/2 inches (75 - 90%)

Alli:
36.8 lb (90%)
39 3/4" (95%)

Nick:
41.6 lb (>97%)
39 3/4" (90%)

I've spent more time at the doctor's office than I'd like in the last couple of months. Makenna has had two ear infections, we've all had pink eye and colds. Not to mention Nick's whole sickness (remember that?). I took him to see the specialist a week ago and she thought the last episode could have been giardia and the other periodic vomiting could be migraines. More lab work and follow-up visits to come, yay!

Overall though, I feel blessed to have such healthy and happy kids!

December ... So Far

2010-12-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

Just like everyone else, we have been busy getting ready for Christmas. The cards have been sent, the food has been purchased, I'm almost done with the shopping (only 2 more quick things to pick up), and I wrapped presents last night. Brian finished working for the week and I'm looking forward to some family togetherness, both with the immediate family and my extended family. We are going to take our kids to a movie, zoo lights, and swimming sometime between now and the New Year. We are planning to spend Christmas with my family. My brother David and his wife Natalie are coming to town and we are all going to spend a couple of days at my grandparent's house in Berthoud (unfortunately, without grandma and grandpa, they are wintering in Arizona...we will miss them). So, besides preparing for Christmas, here's what we've been up to lately.

Makenna had the privilege of opening the first gift of Christmas (with lots of help from her brother and sister). It was a Little People Nativity Set. I've wanted our family to have one since the twins were her age. They all play with it every day and its kept the curiosity away from my Nativity.

We celebrated Brian's birthday! I brought the kids to have lunch with him at Red Robin and we had a small family get-together later in the week. Our tradition is that we make a cake for each other on our birthdays. He picked a chocolate malt ice cream cake. It was a 3-day process to make, but delicious. I also let the kids each pick out a present for him. Alli chose a bubble set and Nick chose a Doc (from the Cars movie) night light...haha

Makenna was all dressed up in her Christmas dress on Sunday. Adorable, if I do say so myself!

Poor Nick. Alli has been REALLY into dressing up lately (in fact she is getting two more dress-ups for Christmas...shhh). She sometimes convinces Nick to dress up with her. Here he is in full princess/butterfly gear.

Hope that you all have a Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

It was my turn for Tot School again last week and the theme was Thanksgiving. We did lots of things - read stories about Thanksgiving, made finger puppets, made turkey puppets, pretended to play instruments in a Thanksgiving parade, and dressed up like Pilgrims and Indians. We also had a mini-Thansgiving snack and another "turkey food" snack (rice krispies, raisins, and cheerios) and pretended to eat like turkies - so silly!

Nick's Truck Party

2010-11-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

Ever since Nick started playing with toys, he has been obsessed with toys that have wheels. Especially big construction-type trucks. When I gave him a few party theme choices, I wasn't surprised that he picked a truck party.

His party was an hour after Alli's, over lunch-time. We started out playing with toys and coloring truck pictures. Then we had hot dogs, chips, and fruit (Nick's favorite). He also got to have 3 friends at his party (since he is 3). After lunch he opened his presents and then we had cake. I made him a dirt cake with trucks on it. He loved it and wanted the trucks off of it as soon as he saw it.

Brian made him a sandbox for his birthday. It was a cool day, but just nice enough for him and his friends to go outside and play for about 20 mintues.

To finish off the birthday (and to give myself a break) we went to Red Robin for dinner. We let them pick what they wanted off the kids menu. Alli chose spaghetti and Nick chose macaroni and cheese. The servers brought them ice cream sundaes and balloons and they sang to them. It was a really fun day!

Pink Princess Party

2010-11-21T21:00:00.001-07:00

Alli and Nick recently turned 3! I was hoping to be able to have another combined party, but Alli was very insistent on having a Pink Princess Party for about the last two months. I didn't think Nick would really enjoy this theme (haha) so I decided to have two small parties on the same day.

We started out the party morning with getting ready for Alli's party. I decorated Makenna's room for Alli's party since her room is painted pink. We gave Alli a present right before she needed to get dressed - it was a new pink dress-up dress with a matching crown and earrings set. She was so excited!

I wrote on the invitation for the girls to wear a princess dress. They were all adorable. Alli got to have three friends since she is turning three. My mom and sister also came (BIG help!).

They decorated crowns, colored a princess picture, danced, opened presents, and had cupcakes and a special pink fizzy Kool-aid drink. Alli loved all her presents and loved playing with her friends. I can't believe she is already 3!

Halloween

2010-11-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year. I was so worried that Nick would be sick, but he got better right before the big day! Of course I was sick on Halloween morning; luckily I was feeling much better by trick-or-treating time.

We went to the pumpkin patch about a week before Halloween. It was a beautiful day and very busy Saturday at the pumpking patch. We found two perfect pumpkins. The only problem was that all of the wagons for carrying pumpkins were already taken. Alli was SO upset. If we would have known we would have brought our own wagon. She cried the whole way home ... luckily only 5 minutes. To make her feel better we told her that when she got home she could pull the pumpkins in the wagon around the neighborhood. This made it all better. We even put Kenna in the wagon and she seemed to enjoy the ride.

The next step was carving pumpkins. We did this the day before Halloween. We let Alli and Nick each pick a pattern out of the book. Alli picked a bat and Nick didn't care so I picked out a castle for him. They had fun helping us pull out the icky seeds. Alli only tried it once, but Nick kind of got into it. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the finished product. Alli and Nick loved going outside in the dark in their pajamas to see the pumpkins glowing. They thought it was spooky and Alli kept reminding herself "its only pretend"! They insisted on going out to see the pumpkins every night until they got thrown away (which turned into a big tradgedy).

On Halloween night my sister was so nice to have us over for dinner and treats. Alli dressed up as Cinderella, Nick as a fireman, and Makenna as a dalmation. Of course they thought trick-or-treating was the best thing ever and Alli has told me over and over again since that she wants to do it again. Okay, how about in a year?

Learning Numbers

2010-11-04T21:27:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago it was my turn for tot school again and the theme this time was numbers 1-5. The first project we did was a number chart with a seasonal theme. I cut out shapes of pumpkins, cats, spiders, leaves, and candy using the cricut and then had the kids glue them onto the chart. It worked out really well for me to put glue dots on the paper for the kids and for the kids to pick out the shapes.

The second project was number caterpillars. Alli and Nick really liked this project because they saw a Little Einsteins movie about caterpillars and they have been collecting leaves outside to "feed to the caterpillars".

For playtime I had number file folder games and a number puzzle.

I also set up a "store". I saved empty cereal boxes, shampoo bottles, egg cartons, etc. and put them all out on a bench. I printed out play money and gave the kids each $5. I told them that everything was $1 and they could each pick out 5 items. It worked for about 2 seconds and then it turned into a free-for-all with the kids grabbing anything they could and not caring at all about the money (they even started stealing items from eachother)! They really liked this game and ended up playing it for the majority of the time each day, but I don't think they really got the counting concept from it. Ha ha...maybe when they're a little older or one-on-one. I'm just glad it kept them busy and happy.

Golden Gate State Park

2010-11-03T21:24:00.000-06:00

Nick is doing much better now...big relief. He stopped throwing up on Friday night and he's been fine since. I still don't know what all of that was about, but I do feel somewhat confident that a virus was involved since the whole family was sick at some point or another. I just don't understand why he was sick for 2 1/2 weeks and the rest of us were sick for only a day here and there. We are still going to talk to the GI specialist to see if something else is going on.

About six weeks ago we spent a Saturday morning in the mountains, enjoying the beautiful fall weather. We went near Golden Gate State Park (nice and close, we didn't want to drive too far with the kids). I love Golden and these mountains. It brings back memories of college and days when I had time for trail running and mountain biking ...aah nostalgia. But anyway, on this day we went on a very short hike; 1 mile tops. The kids enjoyed it and ran the first 1/2 mile and then Nick dragged the last 1/2 mile. The trail we went on had lots of old farm equipment on display. Nick especially like seeing all the equipment as he likes anything with wheels. We are going to try and do more hikes and maybe even a {very short} backpacking trip next year. Afterall, this is why we live in Colorado!

Update on Nick

2010-10-29T20:29:00.000-06:00

It's been another long week. Aside from my family (including my entire immediate family, plus my sister, Russ, and my parents) getting a stomach virus, Nick has continued to throw up at least once a day, usually at night. He went to Children's Hospital this morning to have an upper GI study. They gave him a solution to drink that included a bromine dye and watched it progress through his stomach via x-ray. They didn't find anything abnormal. Which is good, but also frustrating because we still don't know what is wrong. He has an appointment with a gastroenterologist next Thursday at Children's. Until then we are going to try a test for parasites and then maybe an antihistamine to block any allergic reaction he might be having. The antihistamine will make him really drowsy, so we are holding off on it for a while. He is pretty happy all day long, but is losing weight and is a little more demanding. He also HATES going to the doctor right now so that makes it harder too. I think he keeps remembering a couple of weeks ago when they pricked his finger and drew some blood out of his arm. Not fun. I feel bad for him, especially with Halloween coming up, escpecially since he spent part of last Halloween in the hospital. I guess its just not his best holiday. Thanks Courtney, my mom, and my dad for helping so much!

Babies

2010-10-24T21:31:00.000-06:00

On a whim I rented this movie from Netflix and watched it one night while Nick was sick. I though it was totally mesmerizing - maybe because I have a baby or maybe because I am sleep deprived. It is a documentary that follows 4 babies from different parts of the world from birth until shortly after their first birthday. Alli and Nick watched it with me the next day and they both seemed to like it too. Anyway, if you are interested at all in babies you should check it out.

I have some other posts I want to catch up on, but I've been taking caring of a sick Nick the last two weeks. We aren't really sure what's going on with him. He is fine all day and then wakes up every night between 9 and 1AM and throws up for a couple of hours. I feel so bad for him and so helpless because nothing we have tried has worked. I've taken him to the doctor and then talked to the doctor almost every day last week. He might be getting an upper GI scope this week to check things out. Alli and Makenna were fine most of last week, but have both thrown up this weekend. So, it could be a virus too. Who knows? I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord over the last two weeks, but I really want my family back to normal.

Casa Bonita

2010-10-11T21:28:00.000-06:00

If you grew up in Colorado, you've probably been to Casa Bonita. I haven't been in around 20 years, but my mom and my sister talked me into it today. The crazy thing is that it is exactly the same as I remember it as a kid. EXACTLY. I thought maybe they would have remodeled or revamped the menu. Nope! The food is still overpriced and terrible, but the sopapillas are good (it's fried dough with honey - hard to mess that up!). The cliff diving is still fun to watch. Yep, same games, same decorations, same carpet!

Alli and Nick were completely mesmorized by the place, mostly the water fountain out front and the waterfall and dive shows. Not to mention the "spooky cave" with giant spiders that made Alli cry (oops!). The best part of the whole trip was seeing it through the kid's eyes. But I hope they remember it, becuase we probably won't go back again.

The twinsters playing in the fountain out front. I'm just glad they didn't decide to go swimming!

Enjoying (not really) our lunch. Lindsey was siting at the table, but then the gorilla in one of the shows scared her, so she sat in Makenna's high chair because we told her it would protect her...haha.

They had a bazillion of the little rides like you see at the grocery store. The kids got to each ride a few times. Big smiles!

Side note: I have been to the Mayan in Salt Lake and it seemed very similar, although the food and ambiance were better there. And sorry if the formatting turned out wierd on this, Blogger is acting strange tonight. I don't know whats going on.

Don't Drink Milk and Drive

2010-10-08T21:02:00.000-06:00

Any mom who's had a toddler that needs naps, but refuses to take them will appreciate this. Nick has been fighting naptime since we changed his crib into a toddler bed. At first he was ultra-crabby by around 4PM, but lately he's been pretty happy and actually has a hard time going to sleep at night if he does happen to get a nap. This week, however, he's been waking up at 6AM (instead of 7) for some crazy reason. For selfish reasons I really hope that he stops doing this!

He had a big day today and he must have been tired. I put a movie in for him to watch during quiet time and I went and made some phone calls for church. I came back and he was totally sprawled out like this, asleep. It looks like he was riding his truck and crashed off...hahaha. He slept like this for a little more than an hour. See Nick, you need a nap sometimes and you should stop waking me up so dang early!

Nick and Brian in California

2010-09-26T20:03:00.000-06:00

So I get to take a turn putting a post or two on the blog (this is Brian). In August I flew with Nick and my mom to California for my uncle's 60th birthday party.

I spent the better part of my youth in the Santa Cruz area of Northern California, so I thought that it would be fun to go back and see family and to show Nick where I used to spend a lot of time.

We had a great time. Nick was a really good kid. This was Nick playing at the beach. He really loved it and I wish that I had planned the beach trip out better and we could have spent more time there.

Here is a video of Nick having the time of his life playing at the beach.

I decided just to take Nick because we didn't have that many miles for the airline. Once I arrived at the airport, I was glad that I had just one kid to keep an eye on. Don't get me wrong, Nick was great, but there are just so many fun things to explore and touch in an airport for a two year old.

My Aunt Gail was also nice enough to let us stay with her. Nick had a great time at her house. My cousin (4 years younger than me) lives just up the hill from my aunt. My Aunt Gail told Nick that Chris (my cousin) likes cars, just like Nick. A few hours later when Chris came down for dinner, Nick greeted him at the door: Nick - "Hi, I like cars!" Chris - "Oh, hey there, I like cars too."

Nick really loves trains. So I decided that I had to take Nick to Roaring Camp. Roaring Camp is in the mountains above Santa Cruz (Felton). They have restored old logging narrow gauge trains that were used in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The ride that we went on goes up through the Santa Cruz Mountains through a redwood forest. The train climbs up a 9-10% grade over trestles and sharp switch-backs. We thought that we would get the best seats and sit in the car right behind the train. We couldn't understand why no one was lining up for that car. Then we realized two things; from the back you could see the train better around the sharp corners and that old train makes a lot of noise. Nick had a lot of fun, but I think that whistle was a little bit too much for him and he pulled my arm over his head every time the conductor blew the whistle.

While visiting a park that my mom used to play at, and that I played at when I was a kid, we passed a fire house. One of the firefighters happened to hear us walking by and invited us in.

While the photo is a little bit blurry, you can tell from the look on Nick's face that he was pretty excited. I would like to claim that I planned this great treat for Nick, but it kind of just fell in our laps.

Tot School

2010-09-21T00:17:00.000-06:00

The twins aren't quite old enough for preschool, but I thought they were ready for a little more social interaction. So some other moms and I decided to try a co-op kind of play group/school (mostly play). The twins have loved this so far. Here they are on their first day:Last week was my turn to host. The theme was "My body". We made paper dolls that looked like each child. The kids loved glueing on all of their pieces.

I traced each kid on big sheet of paper and then they got to color.

We practiced giving babies a bath to reinforce the names of body part i.e. wash babies arms, legs, toes, etc.

We also played with Mr. Potato head

Snack one day was different things that made up a face...

The other day snack was sugar cookie "men" that I let the kids decorate. The Pampered Chef decorating set is great for kids. They loved this part!

It was fun, but I'm glad my turn is over for a little while!

Stitches

2010-09-21T00:10:00.001-06:00

Our first stitches!

Alli was playing on the bouncy stairs at Big Dry Creek Park, fell off, and sliced her skin above her eyebrow. I took her to the doctor, just down the street (how convenient!) and she got 3 stitches. They tried to glue it back together first, but this didn't work. Lindsey and Kenna were with us too. Luckily my mom had the day off work and was able to come help me.

Alli makes me laugh. After I got all the blood cleaned up and some nice moms at the park helped me get her bandaged up, she ran off to play again. I told her we had to go to the doctor and she was so upset, she just wanted to stay and play!

Potty-Training

2010-09-20T23:57:00.001-06:00

After reading a book about potty-training in 1 day (!) I decided to try it out with Alli. One Saturday near the end of June I made this amazing snack tray and made several other preparations. I was excited. Alli was excited. And it failed miserably. After 7 accidents in 2 or 3 hours I gave up. Mostly because she didn't have any clean underwear left. I think she thought it was so much fun to put a new pair of *princess* underwear on after every accident!

Since then we practiced a few hours here and there until she got the idea. Then a few weeks ago when we were going to be home most of the week, I made the commitment and she has done really well. She's only had one accident in the last week! This is her playing with her big reward (a doctor's set). She loves this set. Nick was outside playing and got hurt. She ran inside, grabbed her doctor set, and ran out to help! For the past 3 months she has been obsessed with doctors and has told me several times that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up!

I {heart} summer

2010-09-20T23:35:00.000-06:00

I love so many things about summer...We had a busy summer and had so much fun. I'm sad to see it come to an end.

Trips to the zoo. We have a membership and we must have gone at least 6 times.

Treats

Swimming and picnics. Just being outside.

Making mischief of one kind and another

2010-09-20T23:17:00.001-06:00

My children truly are wild things. There is a reason why I refuse to take all 3 of them out in public by myself...

Nick must have been worried that Kenna would get bored in the crib by herself- he dumped the contents of at least 4 baskets plus lots of books and stuffed animals in the crib. This occured in the space of 3 minutes while I was doing Alli's hair.

Nick was *starving* and couldn't wait for dinner. He stole the cheese off the counter

and tried to open the package with his teeth.
Yes, even Kenna is trouble. We don't let her sit by the paper towels anymore.

Alli and Nick snuck outside and ran through the sprinklers with all their clothes still on

Kenna somehow opened up her puffs and threw herself a big puff party

Dress-Up

2010-09-20T23:01:00.000-06:00

Alli loves to dress up. Sometimes Nick joins in too. We have a dress-up basket with several random idems, but most of the time she just uses whatever she finds around the house. She is so excited to be Cinderella for Halloween. I had to hide her costume because I know if I didn't she would want to wear it everyday until then. Hope you get a few laughs.

She added a firefighter hat and a pirate eye patch to this get-up later

Mr. Trucks - he often tells me "I love trucks"

Glad-ware hat and mommy's shoes

Not sure how to describe this look???

Baby Kenna

2010-09-20T21:38:00.000-06:00

I'll start by catching up with Makenna. She is 7 months old now and oh, so cute. I just can't get enough of my roly poly baby. She's on the move - crawling, rolling, and sitting. She started crawling a full month before the twins did...I think she's trying to keep up with them. Most of her awake time is spent crawling around the living room playing with/trying to eat whatever toys Nick and Alli have out. She loves her baby food and any kind of "food" she can get ahold of including wipes and paper. She is still not sleeping through the night and I can't bring myself to do sleep training (crying) with her, especially since her room is right next to the twins' room.

At her 6 month appointment her weight was 17 lb 7 oz (75%) and her height was 27" (90%). Looks like we have another giant child that will be taller than me by the time she is 8.

With newborn cousin Taylor - 3 months old

3 1/2 months old

First time eating solids - 4 months

4 1/2 months

6 months

At her 1/2 year birthday party

Playing with Nick and Alli - 6 1/2 months

It's been a while...

2010-09-20T20:26:00.000-06:00

So I've got some catching up to do. Back in May we took our office out of a bedroom and made it into Makenna's room. We moved the computer and everything to the basement. Our desktop is old. We got it 8 years ago; its on its last leg and we didn't get it hooked back up until a month or so ago. So I couldn't really blog. BUT we got a new laptop and I'm back in business. Yay! Warning - backposting ahead!

Toddler Boredom Busters

2010-06-21T22:13:00.000-06:00

My friend Valerie is an amazing mom and has some great ideas of things to do with toddlers. She even blogs about it on her "Toddler Boredom Busters" blog. Alli and Nick have had so much fun going over to do projects with her kids. You can see what they've been up to here.

Makenna's Pictures

2010-06-06T21:29:00.000-06:00

I took Makenna to get her pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. She was obsessed with trying to suck her fingers that day, but the photographer still got some good smiles. If you know me, you know that I hate taking my kids to get their pictures taken. Maybe because I'm sort of a perfectionist and my kids don't sit perfectly still (or even still at all!). Maybe because Brian has a nice camera and takes great candid shots...portraits are just not my favorite thing to do. But, I was pretty happy with these. Maybe I'll even try to get a picture of all the kids together - yikes!

Makenna is 2 Months!

2010-04-21T14:33:00.000-06:00

Makenna just turned 2 months! She is growing so fast:

She weighs 12 lbs 4 oz (75-90th percentile)
She is 22 1/2 inches long (50th percentile)

Here are some of my favorite recent pictures of her:
Alli loves her new sister so much. Whenever she hears her cry she tells me and then she runs to talk to her and give her kisses. I can't tell you how many times I've heard her say "It's okay Kenna, mommy's going to get you." If I'm busy and trying to finish something up I can just tell Alli to go talk to Makenna for a minute and that will usually calm Makenna down. I come to get her and she's smiling at Alli. Love it!

Makenna's Blessing

2010-04-21T14:16:00.000-06:00

On April 11th Makenna was given a name and a blessing by her daddy at church. It was a special day and we were blessed to have family there to see her. She was a little fussy before her blessing, but her Aunt Courtney (the baby whisperer) was able to get her to sleep, so she slept through it! She was beautiful in her long, white dress! We love our baby Makenna so much!

Our smiley girl...
My parents were there to see her and to help with the twins (thanks!)
Our crazy little family...

Easter

2010-04-21T14:01:00.000-06:00

Nick and Alli had the privilege of participating in three Easter egg hunts this year! Since candy was involved, naturally, they loved the idea. They just need to work on going a little faster - they tried to open the eggs and get the candy every time they found an egg. The first egg hunt was at the church, the second was at a very windy park with the Twin's club, and the third was on Easter at Lindsey's 2nd birthday party!Lindsey's birthday was a few days before Easter, but we celebrated it on Easter. Courtney made some amazing Easter cupcakes. They kids were a little confused about how to eat them, but it didn't take too long for them to figure it out!

Kids Say the Funniest Things

2010-03-26T09:51:00.000-06:00

"2 more bites Kenna. Good job!"
(Alli supervising Makenna's breastfeeding. You can't tell how we get Alli to eat more, can you?)

"Uh oh, Gracie eat trash."
(Nick informing me that he fed our dog, Gracie, pieces of apple that he pulled out of the trash can. My favorite part is the uh oh.)

"Leash"
(Alli, inspecting daddy's tie)

"Santa Clause"
(Alli, in Costco after she saw an older biker guy with a big white beard. I don't think he heard her.)

"Peeky-boo Kenna"
(Alli, the first time she saw me wearing the nursing cover. She was confused why I was covering Makenna up while nursing. She didn't realize that it was because we had guests of mixed company. She kept trying to lift the cover up to play peek-a-boo. Thanks Alli!)

Makenna is 1 Month Old

2010-03-19T20:18:00.000-06:00

We survived the first month! Makenna is one month old today! I don't know how to explain this, but the last month seems to have gone really fast and really slow at the same time...weird. Maybe that's just the shortage of sleep and chasing toddler combination.

Makenna is still waking up a couple of times a night to eat. Like most babies she gets a little grumpy at night time, but we are having more good nights when she is calm/asleep during dinner and I actually get to eat without holding or nursing her. She is starting to get on more of a schedule and takes some fairly long naps during the day. She is actually a really easy baby 99% of the time. Here are some recent pictures:

I also dug out some pictures of Alli and Nick at the same age to see who she looks more like. What do you think? I've always thought she looked like a chubby version of Alli, but maybe not. She kind of looks more like Nick in the pictures. She definitely has the big Alli eyes, though. I guess she just looks like herself!

2-Week Update

2010-03-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

Makenna is getting to be such a big girl. She had her 2 week check-up yesterday and is doing great! She gained back all her birth weigh and then some. She now weighs 8 lb 15 oz. No wonder why her newborn clothes are already getting too small!

She also lost her yucky umbilical stump thing yesterday morning. I was so excited to give her a real bath. I thought she would love it. She wasn't too thrilled about it...then she totally desecrated the bath and we had to do an emergency evacuation and a shower in the sink. I was really hoping for a happy first bath picture, but this is what we got instead:Alli gets to "hold" Makenna now that she isn't sick anymore. She loves her baby sister!

Nick and Alli gave up pacifiers a few months ago, but Nick couldn't resist trying out Makenna's.

This was the last week that Brian had mostly off from work. My mom and sister helped me on the two days that he wasn't off (thank you!). Next week I will be mostly on my own and it should be exciting!

Introducing Makenna

2010-02-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

Makenna Rose was born at 5:11 AM on Friday, February 19th! She weighed 8 lb 3 oz and was 21 inches long. We are so excited for her to join our family!

On Tuesday night I started having some light contractions. By the next morning they stopped, but I had a doctor's appointment and found out that I had dilated to 2 cm. The contractions were worse Wednesday night - we actually almost went to the hospital, but the contractions stopped by the morning. By Thursday afternoon the contractions started again. Brian came home from work early and after we finished dinner, we were ready to go to the hospital! My mom came over to watch the kids and we left. As soon as we got to the hospital though, the contractions slowed down again and I thought for sure they would send us home. They checked me and I was at 5 cm, which is amazing considering that my contractions were still at least 10 min apart and not that painful. Within a couple of hours of being at the hospital the doctor broke my water to help things progress. I was at 8 cm within the next hour and then I had an epidural. My contractions all but stopped. We rested for a few hours and nothing changed. The doctor decided to give me a tiny bit of petocin to get things moving again. Within a half an hour I was ready to start pushing and after a half hour of pushing, we had baby Makenna!

We are so excited for her to join our family, but are still adjusting to each other. Overall, she is a great baby! She figured out how to nurse in the delivery room and hasn't missed a meal since. She has been sleeping well at night and only wakes up to eat. She is much more alert and awake than the twins were (so much for the week of sleep we were counting on) and definitely has some fussy moments.

Alli is very interested in her and tries to help out as much as possible. Nick is cute with her and sporadically comes over to take a look, but he still prefers trucks to babies! I wanted to let the twins hold and play with her more, but they had colds when she came home and we found out a few days ago that Alli has infantigo bumps on her face and is contagious. She has been taking antibiotics and should be better soon. I will try to keep the blog updated, but so far life with a new baby has been a little crazy! Luckily Brian has a couple weeks off of work to help with the adjustment.

Waiting in the labor and delivery room.

So new (and mad)...

Makenna loves her daddy. He calms her like no one can (except me when I nurse)
Nick visiting in the hospital. More interested in the cool bed remote than the baby.
Alli visiting Makenna in the hospital.

Getting Caught Up

2009-12-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

Phew! December was a busy month! 6 new posts below!

Christmas Church Outfits

2009-12-27T23:43:00.000-07:00

Alli and Nick got new church outfits from grandma and grandpa Kershaw for Christmas. They wore the outfits today and they looked so cute (and they knew it). They usually don't cooperate too well for pictures, but today they were happy to pose (more than 2 inches from the camera even!) I wanted to get one of them together, but that was asking too much. Maybe next time...

Merry Christmas

2009-12-27T23:09:00.001-07:00

We stayed in Colorado with my family for Christmas this year. For Christmas Eve, we had everyone over at our house. We fed the kids pizza for dinner, watched The Grinch (my personal favorite), had the kids open their Christmas pajamas (thanks mom and dad), and then put the kids to bed. After they were asleep we had an "adults-only" dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. Italian on Christmas Eve is a Plowman/Kershaw tradition. It was so nice to be able to enjoy a meal without all the interruptions!

On Christmas morning we went to Courtney and Russ's house for breakfast and opening presents. It was a long process since most of the presents were for the kids and they were perfectly content to play with the toys they had already opened. Nick was the worst, though. He has had this thing with carrying around 2 matchbox cars at all times, which makes it very hard for him to do anything else (I think the cars have turned into his comfort item since we took the pacifiers away a few weeks ago). Everyone was happy to relax and enjoy the day. We did have one very funny full-out tantrum courtesy of Lindsey. In her defense, Alli did steal a ride on her new rocking horse.

David and Natalie - we missed you and hope you can come to visit soon!

New Hair / Basketball Belly

2009-12-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

As promised...a belly shot. No, I didn't stuff a basketball up my shirt. Yes, I really am carrying that low (thanks twins for stretching my skin out). I am feeling pretty good overall. I do have some aches and pains and I'm usually exhausted by the time Alli and Nick go to bed. Our little girl is still kicking away. When I go to the doctor, they are amazed how much she moves and how they can feel almost every body part. It's kind of neat, but kind of creepy (I think) when I look down and see my whole belly shifting and then have a knee or elbow or foot sticking out. I can' t believe that I have less than two months left (my due date is February 21st). Now that Christmas is over, I really need to start getting ready! I think that we will move the office to the basement and set her room up when she is about 3 months old. For the first few months she can camp out in our room. We have narrowed down our list of names to about 3 - just not quite ready to share yet...

Also, on a whim (sort-of) I got my hair chopped off. I have had the same hair (more or less) for a while now and decided it was time for a change. It was a little shocking at first, but I really like it.

Snow Fun

2009-12-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

We had a white Christmas in Colorado this year. Brian took the kids out sledding a couple of times and they loved it so much they didn't even want to come home for hot chocolate (or "ot chockit" as Alli would say)!

I Passed!

2009-12-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading our blog this year, you probably know that I've spent lots of time studying for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam in April and then the Principles & Practice exam in October. I found out that I passed the October exam about a week ago, so I am now officially a "Professional Engineer"! This is a major accomplishment for me and I am SO glad that I will never have to take either test again!

Visits with Santa

2009-12-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

We went to 4 Christmas parties in one weekend - 3 with the kids! It was busy, but fun! Alli and Nick were very excited about seeing Santa and didn't seem too scared this year. However, neither of them would actually talk to Santa until they were off his lap and leaving...then they could safely say "bye Santa". We only got decent pictures from the Santa visit at my work's children's party. I posted the picture from the twins club party just for fun (yes, Nick is actually picking his nose).

Happy Birthday Nick and Alli!

2009-11-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

We just celebrated Nick and Alli's 2nd birthday! We had a swimming party at the Broomfield Rec Center and then came back to our house for pizza and cupcakes. Alli and Nick love swimming and one of their most favorite foods is pizza. I think they had fun at their party - not to mention the presents! I took pictures at the pool, but they didn't turn out so well - so no swimming pictures (sorry Courtney - I know you wanted everyone to see you in your swimsuit, ha ha). I decorated the house before we left for the pool and they pulled the streamers down at least 3 or 4 times. It was a little frustrating, but since it was their birthday I tried not to get too mad.

The funny thing about 2 year-olds is that they are content to open one gift and play with it. It took a little coaxing to get them to open all of their presents, but eventually they did it. Nick is so excited to have a truck full of blocks, a wagon, puzzles, and a books. Alli loves the wagon too, and her coloring toys, farm animals, puzzles, and books. Thanks everyone! Nick and Alli have been very well entertained all week!

We had cupcakes with sprinkles and fish candies for dessert. This was my first attempt at trying to decorate cupcakes and it didn't turn out so bad. It was kind of fun actually and I think I'll have to try it again. The most important thing was that Nick and Alli liked them!

It's a girl!

2009-11-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this news a month late, but we found out we're having a girl! She looks perfect and is kicking around like crazy. Maybe I won't be getting the calm and relaxed baby I was hoping for! I look huge (still have 3 1/2 months left)! The cashier at the store was even convinced that I was either about ready to deliver or was having twins again. I'll try to get a belly shot to post sometime soon so that you can all feel sorry for me.

In the meantime, here's an ultrasound picture of our baby girl (still working on her name)...

Halloween Fun!

2009-11-01T21:34:00.001-07:00

Trick or Treat! This was Nick and Alli's first year trick or treating. I wasn't sure if they would catch on to the concept, but when candy is involved, they learn fast! Alli dressed up like a dalmatian (like her cousin Lindsey) and Nick was a tiger. They love their costumes and they keep bringing them to me to put on again. We went to about 10 houses in Lindsey's neighborhood. Nick was always the first to the doorbell. He practically ran from house to house.

The dalmations were a little slower but they stuck together.
When we got back to Lindsey's house, Alli dumped out all her candy to see what she got. She is acting like such a big kid. When she woke up this morning she asked for her "purse" (candy bag) and when I gave it to her she looked in her bag and then looked back at me very concerned and said "Go?" She wanted to know where her candy went (I dumped it into the family candy bowl - mean mom!)
About a week ago we went to a pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins. Nick loved pushing around the wheel barrel and Alli tried very hard (without much success) to pick up the pumpkins.

Steamboat

2009-08-31T21:22:00.000-06:00

We had so much fun on our weekend trip. Brian and I went on our honeymoon to Steamboat 8 years ago and we have been wanting to go back ever since. Things were a little different this time...kids change things, but I still wish we could have stayed a week.

Nick in the car. The 3 1/2 hour drive went fast on the way there and not so fast on the way back. Its always harder to come back from a trip and by then the kids were bored with their car toys.
In the gondola. Nick sat perfectly still on the seat the entire ride. He was a little freaked out by it. His more adventurous sister wasn't afraid at all.Chillin' at the top of the mountain after our hike/walk (note: two toddlers + pregnant wife with baby backpack = very short hike).We went out to dinner at a yummy mexican restaurant called Rio Grande. I guess there's one downtown. We'll have to go try it out. Nick ate at least half of adult sized steak burrito. And Alli loved the salsa so much that she was dipping her sippy cup in it after we ate all the chips.
Hanging out at the hotel. We didn't spend too much time in our room. The hotel we stayed at (Steamboat Grand) has an awesome heated pool. We went swimming 3 times!

Did I mention...

2009-08-09T21:58:00.000-06:00

Well, if you've seen me lately you probably already know. We are expecting another baby! My "official" due date is February 21st, but the two ultrasounds I've had thus far are showing that the baby is actually about a week ahead of that. So I am 12-13 weeks. We know for sure that there is only one baby this time. Brian thinks its a boy because "it has a big head" and I think its a girl because I haven't been as sick this time (yeah for me!). Since we already have both, we'll be happy either way.

The twins will be a few months over 2 when the new baby is born. So life will be crazy, but we felt like it was time for another baby. I have been "showing" earlier than I'd like (thanks twins), oh well. I swear I look like I'm already 6 months along. Here's a picture from the cabin to prove it. And here's a picture from my ultrasound last Wednesday.

Island Park

2009-08-09T21:26:00.000-06:00

We went to Island Park, Idaho with the whole family for our big summer trip this year. My aunt and uncle have a cabin there and they were kind enough to let us all stay. We used to go to this cabin almost every summer when I was a kid. My newlywed brother David and his wife were even able to come for a few days. It was so fun! I was a little worried about the long drive (about 10 hours each way), but the kids were pretty good. We broke up the trip and spent a night in Logan, UT on the way there and Pocatello, ID on the way back. While we were in Logan we got to meet up with the Zern family for pizza at a park. It was so good to see ALL of them. I wish we lived closer! We also got to go to the cemetery and visit our angel baby Alex.

When we got to the cabin we spent a lot of time relaxing, but we also did all the "traditional" cabin activities ... hiking at Big Springs and visiting the Johnny Sack cabin, visiting Yellowstone, going on walks along the river, fishing, canoeing, driving up to Sawtelle peak. Unfortunately the boys weren't able to go on their overnight campout at Shoshone lake in Yellowstone. Luckily they were able to at least go on a day canoe trip to Shoshone. Just don't ask Brian what its like to have 3 people in a canoe!

Looking for minnows and swimming in the river (brr!). Too cold for me, but Alli and Nick couldn't resist.

Courtney and Russ in Yellowstone
Nick eating ice cream at Old Faithful - another tradition
Playing at my cousin Keri's house. When we stopped in Blackfoot/Pocatello, we got to meet up with some of the Goodwins. We had so much fun playing in Keri's 2 acre (!) yard, complete with swing set, mini-tractors, and a trampoline.

Park Day

2009-07-02T10:59:00.000-06:00

The moms in my ward get together for a park day every week in the summer. I love park days because I get to try out lots of different parks and when Nick isn't dead-set on running away, I get to talk to my friends while I'm watching the kids play. The park we went to yesterday is my favorite of all the parks. There are separate areas for older kids, younger kids, swings, and sand and the playground is new and has lots of cool stuff that keeps my kids busy.

Alli loved spinning ... Jeanette and I couldn't stop laughing at the kids when they got off and stumbled around.
Nick getting ready to slide.
Nick and Alli playing in the sand. They worked very hard to fill up the orange cup.
And this was the best part! The sprinklers turned on at the adjacent soccer fields. Of course the twins wanted to go play in them like all of the bigger kids. At first they just ran around the edges laughing, and then...
this little boy unleashed the whole spray on Alli and Bridget. They got soaked - especially Alli. It was so funny. Valerie and I were laughing so hard. Alli thought it was funny too and kept running through more sprinklers. (By the way - notice Alli carrying the water bottle, squirt gun, and snack bag?, she insisted on carrying these things around with her after snack time. I don't know what her obsession is with carrying things, but she lost the snack bag and squirt gun when she got soaked...but still managed to hold on to the water bottle!)Needless to say, the twins went home in only their diapers. Thanks Valerie for recommending this park. We've been a few times now and it is the best! Thanks for the great pictures too! Sometimes I'm just too lazy to take pictures :)

Family Picnic

2009-06-28T21:19:00.001-06:00

We got together with my mom's side of the family at a park for a picnic and some visiting. So good to see everyone and the weather was perfect (that's saying a lot right now - its going to be the 2nd rainiest June in the history of Denver)! Alli and Nick played and played for 3 hours with their cousin Lindsey and 2nd cousin Austin. They played so much and they didn't even want to take a break to eat. Nick just kept asking for "gee" or drink. I'm not sure why he calls drinks "gee", but whatever.

Roxborough Hike

2009-06-28T21:14:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we went for a hike in Roxborough State Park. It is beautiful - especially with all of the rain and the resulting wild flowers. This was our first hike of the year and Nick wasn't too thrilled about the backpack, but he got used to it after a while. Nick and Alli have been so independent the last few months. They don't want help with anything, even hiking! It ended up being a really fun day and definitely worth the 45 minute drive.

Bubbles

2009-06-28T21:11:00.000-06:00

Alli and Nick got a bubble-maker for Easter. It has been such a fun summer toy!

Luau

2009-06-28T21:04:00.001-06:00

i
l

Our ward held a Luau almost a month ago. It was awesome - one of the best ward activities we've ever been to! Our whole family loved it. There was food, games, and a dance show - including a fire dancer. So cool! Nick got really into the warrior dance and was having fun doing it with Brian. Alli loved the leis - she still likes to play dress-up with them. Alli and Nick even watched the entire show and seemed pretty mesmerized by it. Thanks to Courtney and Valerie for all your hard work and for the pictures I stole off your blog!

Bigfoot

2009-06-03T20:57:00.001-06:00

Nick still has a shoe fetish. If you come to visit us, I promise he will steal your shoes and try them on!

18-Month TwinThings

2009-06-03T20:28:00.000-06:00

The twin's favorite things right now:

Nick - Riding (and crashing) his truck and laying on the floor and playing with his cars
Alli - Wrapping her babies in blankets. Seriously she spends at least 2 hours a day doing this. I find little baby and stuffed animal blanket nests all over the house.
Both - Eating! Favorites are spaghetti, fruit, and chicken nuggets with dip (or anything with dip for that matter)

Distraction

2009-05-31T20:29:00.000-06:00

I admit, I have been a little distracted lately. I've been reading the Twilight saga. I've had a hard time putting the books down. I'm starting the fourth and final book now. It has been such a fun and exciting escape. Just the right combination of suspense and romance. At first I resisted when everyone told me to read them...I'm not a huge fan of vampire stories, but I caved and I'm so glad I did.

Alli's First Haircut

2009-05-11T20:45:00.000-06:00

Alli's hair was getting long in the back and looking scraggly. I hate to admit it, but she kind of had a mullet. So I decided it was time to even everything out. I love her new "do". Its a cute little bob. I can't believe how grown up she looks now. She was so good while getting her hair cut. She just sat in the chair, playing with her magna doodle. I wish she was that good for me when I try to do her hair! Nick also got his haircut that day and it was altogether a different story. He screamed and screamed. I wasn't sure we would get to finish, but a candy cane saved the day.

Caraousal at Denver Zoo

2009-05-11T20:32:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we had a little family outing at the Denver Zoo. We love visiting and go about once every other month since we have a membership. Here's a tip for mom's with young kids - get an individual + guest membership instead of a "zoo for two" membership. My name is on the membership and then I can bring Brian or if I go on a weekday I can bring my mom, sister, or friend along. The kids are still free, so we don't need a family membership. This has worked out really well for us.

This was the first time that we went on the carousal. Alli LOVED it. She smiled the entire time. Nick wasn't quite so sure. He actually cried most of the time (I think he was a little scared and he was also mad about being taken away from the umbrella stroller he was pushing around the zoo!)

David & Natalie's Wedding

2009-05-05T21:36:00.000-06:00

My little brother got married last weekend. Natalie is a sweetheart...we can't help but love her already! Their wedding was beautiful - in the Salt Lake Temple, sealed by Elder Ballard. Their reception was at the Rice-Eccles Stadium, overlooking Salt Lake.

My cousin's cute girls Ella & Makella

Grandma & Grandpa Plowman

Me & Courtney

Sisters

My cousin Lauren and her husband Jace

Grandma & Grandpa Plowman and Uncle Rusty

Congratulations David & Natalie!

If you didn't notice any pictures of the twins that's because we didn't bring them. We made it a whirlwind trip and left Alli and Nick with a sitter overnight. They had fun and we had fun too. It was a little scary leaving them for the first time overnight, but they did great. We wish we could have brought them to meet all of the family, but there was too much going on, so we'll have to introduce them another time.

It's About Time!

2009-04-27T20:36:00.001-06:00

My test is over and I have my life back! It is definitely time to catch up!

Nick and Alli have been into their fair share of trouble. One day Nick pulled the Cheerios off the table and spilled them all over the floor. He was quite proud of himself and dug right in!

I had my (yikes!) 29th birthday in March. I was hoping for a nice, quiet day at work followed by a dinner out with the family. No such luck...Arisa (our nanny) called me around lunch time and told me that Alli and Nick were both sick and throwing up. So I went home to take care of my sick kids. This is not supposed to happen on your birthday! I can't remember for sure, but I think I cried. Luckily the kids started feeling better and Brian was able to come home early from work to take care of them so that I could go out to dinner with my mom and sister. They rescued me and we had such a fun girl's night out at PF Changs!

Brian made me this delicous coconut-cream pie for my birthday. Loved it!

We've had some fun park days. Alli and Nick both love the park and even go down some slides all by themselves. They are always sad when we have to go home. I'm looking forward to many fun park days this summer!

We went to two Easter Egg Hunts. One with our ward and one with the twins club. We have more pictures on the other camera, but it's having technical difficulties tonight so I'll have to post those another time. Alli knew exactly what to do at the egg hunts, but Nick was more interested in running around and playing.

Lindsey was over to play a lot. The cousins have so much fun together!

Alli and Nick got a fun package in the mail from their Grandma and Grandpa Arens. They love their giant dog and bear and figured out that it is fun to slide off the chest and land on them. They also love their Elmo snugglies/leashes (at least right now). We haven't tried the leashes out in public yet, but I'm pretty sure they won't be thrilled with it (the parents will be, though). Thanks!

Alli got a new church dress. She was definitely showing off!

And finally, Nick "helping" me study. So glad that's over! He was always climbing on the table and trying to get my calculator.

Shoe Fetish

2009-03-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

Alli and Nick have loved shoes for quite some time. Every time we come home and take off our shoes they immediately want to start playing with them. Now they have decided it is fun to try them on...

We also got this cute picture last week. The twins were having fun in their rocking chair together after church. I LOVE that they are holding
hands!

I've been such a blogging slacker the last month. Almost all of my free time (i.e. when the kids are asleep) has been taken up with studying to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam. Uhhh...boring, plus I'm so dumb! I should have taken it while I was still in school, but I didn't ever think I'd need it as a chemical engineer. Well, unfortunately I do need it and it really sucks trying to remember calculus and physics and other stuff I haven't used in 7+ years!

Weekend Happenings

2009-01-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

It has been another exciting weekend with the twins! On Friday I decided it was time that Alli and Nick experience their first Happy Meal. McDonalds really isn't my favorite place to eat, but there's something about happy meals. I still eat them once in a while! Alli and Nick definitely enjoyed theirs.

As soon as we sat down, Lindsey spilled Courtney's french fries all over the floor. After Nick and Alli finished eating and I let them down to play, they kept trying to eat the french fries (this gives me shivers just to think about!)

While I was dressing Alli on Saturday morning Nick decided that it was time to make amends with Gracie (he loves pulling her tail and chasing her around the house). He found the dog treat jar in the pantry and proceeded to give her about a quarter of the jar. He even tried one himself! I swear that I don't starve the kid - seriously, he has no reason to eat dog treats and floor french fries!

We went to Mimi's for breakfast on Saturday morning. We love going out to breakfast, especially to Mimi's. Brian decided that Nick and Alli must try the chocolate chip pancakes. These pictures were taken when the kids first started eating. You should have seen them when we finished - chocolate everywhere!

Before & After

2009-01-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

I wanted you all to see my amazing bathroom transformation...

Before

After

As you probably guessed, this remodeling was done by the twinado. It's the only way I can get ready some mornings. I just let Alli and Nick tear everything down, put shoes in the bathtub, throw my brushes on the floor, etc. so that I can get a quick shower and get ready. I know all of you moms out there can probably relate!

Alli "Kiss"

2009-01-18T22:01:00.001-07:00

This is not quite what it seems! Alli and Nick were fighting over a toy and Alli bit Nick (hard!) on the cheek! The red marks are actually Alli's teeth marks. Poor guy! In all fairness, Nick started biting first and kind of taught Alli. We are working on stopping the biting, so hopefully this won't happen again! Oh, the joys of twins!

Happy New Year

2009-01-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

Brian and I both had some time off of work around New Year's, so we got a chance to take the kids out and do some fun things. On New Year's day we went to the Butterfly Pavilion. I don't think Nick and Alli really "got it"... they seemed more excited about the greenery. Probably a better activity for when they are 3+, but still fun.

The next day we went to the Downtown Aquarium. Alli and Nick were very interested in the big fish and sharks swimming up to the glass. We have found that they love everything water. They are wateraholics (you should see how much water they drink in the bath - ick), so it was not too much of a surprise that they had fun at the aquarium.

Christmas

2008-12-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Christmas at home this year with my parents. My sister was in Grand Junction with Russ's family and my brother was with his fiance Natalie (Congratulations David!) and her family. We decided that we didn't want to travel with 1-year old twins around the holidays, so even though it's the year to visit the in-laws, we didn't make it out to see Brian's family (sorry!)

I spent the day of Christmas Eve baking with my mom. It was so nice to be able to spend some quality time together. It seems like whenever I see her I have the kids and we're too busy chasing them around to get a chance to talk! On Christmas Eve Brian brought the kids over to my parent's house and we had a big Italian dinner (Plowman family tradition). We made minestone, spaghetti and meatballs, salad, garlic bread, and lots of treats. So good!

Yummy spaghetti

Nick playing with his favorite toy, the remote - don't even try to take it away!

Opening Christmas pajamas

In very adorable Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve

On Christmas morning my parents came over to our house to have breakfast and open presents. They gave Nick and Alli a little table and chairs set. We gave Alli a doll and a purse and Nick got books about cars, a squishy ball, and hand puppets, among other things. I got a new camera! It will be so nice to have my own little camera. Brian bought a big camera a few years ago and it takes great pictures, but its a bit much to carry around everywhere.

Alli couldn't wait to open presents on Christmas morning!

Nick loved his new table and chairs!

In the afternoon we went to Berthoud and had dinner with my grandparents. My grandpa was recovering from back surgery and was using a walker to get around the house. Nick thought he hit the jackpot. He loved pushing it around everywhere!

Alli playing with a toy horse that my grandpa used to play with when he was a little boy

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas too! Happy New Year!!!

Mr. Overly Competitive Touch Football Game Player

2008-12-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

I heard this on the radio last week and I couldn't stop laughing. Brian got a little bit of a reputation after our ward's Turkey Bowl and this describes him perfectly! He only caused 2 injuries this year!

Happy 30th Brian!

2008-12-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

Brian's 30th birthday was on the 8th! Can you believe that he is really that old???

10 things you might not know about Brian:

He's 30!!!
He's an amateur photographer
He started riding motorcycles when he was 5 (and he has been begging me to get a motorcycle almost every day since we got married!)
One of his favorite movies is Goonies (one of my least favorite movies!)
He once ate 2 large pizzas by himself. He has also eaten 2 1/2 ft of Subway in one sitting.
He has knack for leaving things on/behind the car and driving away
He threw hammer in college
He is an awesome snowboarder
The first time he farted around me was right after we left our wedding reception (gross, sorry, but seriously!)
He is a great cook, especially BBQ

We went bowling at Splitz and had pizza and carrot cake (his favorite) to celebrate!

My munchkin Nick

Not 30 candles, but they say 30

Excited about new running shoes

Present monster. Nick played with the shoebox for at least a half an hour. Guess what he's getting for Christmas?

Little cute Lindsey

Russy

Crazy Alli! So happy to have a party!!!

Santa Round 2

2008-12-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

Our ward Christmas breakfast was this morning, so Nick and Alli had the privilege of visiting with Santa again! Alli wasn't as scared this time, but they were both so very interested/skeptical they didn't want to take their eyes off Santa!

Family Pictures

2008-12-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

Oh boy...in case you were wondering what it would be like to try and get a decent family Christmas card photo with 1 year-old twins, now you know:

You'll get the final choice in the mail, but warning - it is NOT perfect!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

2008-12-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

Alli was not quite as happy with her first visit with Santa as Nick was...

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

So much to be thankful for...

A very curious little boy

A funny little girl...

...climbing over her grandpa

A beautiful niece

A smart, fun, and funny brother

A dad that loves his grandkids so much that he plays with them until he passes out (or was it too much turkey?)

The best sister ever

And a wonderfully caring and supportive husband that is such a good daddy and a mom that helps out when I need her most and makes the best pie in the world!

I couldn't be more thankful!

Sooo Sleepy

2008-11-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I put Nick in the exer-saucer while I was putting Alli down for her nap. It was around 9:30, their usual morning nap time, so he shouldn't have been too sleepy, but...

When I came back this is what I found...no, he's not dead...he is just crashed out in a puddle of his own drool. This NEVER happens to us. I put him in his crib and he slept for a half hour. And I thought he was exhausted...