got my mojo back.

So the weekly edition of pictures is a good idea, but what if I'm in the mood to post pictures when it's not weekly edition day?

I'm going to do it, darn it.  

I think I'm making this bloggy business too difficult. 

From now on, if I have a moment and feel like blogging, I'm going to do it.  So that means that there probably won't be a pattern, or any way to predict when to check us out for a new post...but that just adds to the fun, right?  You can check us out and be like, "wow!  Four new posts about Emily's hair!  Great!"  

Just kidding.  I think I'm going to create a separate blog for all the Emily nonsense, for those interested in that kind of...nonsense.

This blog will remain as the place to find new on the babes, and the babe (Erik), and the baby mama (me). 

Here goes.

Remember this quilt?  When I was in Tucson a few months ago I had it quilted and my mom bound it and now it's pretty perfect for letting squirmy, roll-y babies go to town on it.  Between the two of them, they need a LOT of room to roam.

More babies, but this time au natural.  Cute.  They are obsessed with rolling around lately, and love to play together rolling.  I just have to referee to make sure they don't kick each other in the head/stomach/face/etc.
Dane is saying, "Hello!"
We were getting ready to go somewhere so I was changing everyone into clean clothes, assembly line-style.  
I love the look on each boy's face. 
Happy Dane.
Happy Alec.
On Monday the scouts in our ward had a barbecue to raise money for scout camp.  Erik works with the YM in the ward, so he was there helping out all day (starting at 7am!  What a good guy!)  I showed up with the boys for lunch and it was a little cold out, so Reid got to wear one of daddy's hats.
Can't get enough of that face!
This picture was taken this morning.  I heard giggling and jabbering and turned to see the babies facing each other.  I had put them down a little bit apart, to give them room to roam, but they found their way to each other to visit for a while.  Oh, and check out the cute quilt my mom made for them.  The red one is Dane's and the blue one is Alec's (scroll up a few pictures to see them on the blue one).  They are great quilts.  My mom is a quilting genius.  
And lastly, just because he's cute, this is Reid this morning at breakfast.  I love his morning hair.  Actually, that's his hairstyle quite often, but I just can't bring myself to cut it.  I like it all crazy.  
Keep checking up on us.  You never know when more of this adorableness will show up, but I promise you, you don't want to miss it.

the cuteness tour.

Hello, and welcome to our family's blog.  My name is Reid, and I'll be your tour guide today.  My mom is kind of lame about blogging sometimes, so I'm going to tell you about what's been going on around here.  

First of all, I'm darn cute. 

I like to get all bathed and have my hair freshly combed, and then play with my mom's shoes.
After that, I like to find a way to get dirty.  Because that just means more baths, and I like baths.  What's not to like?  Getting dirty then getting another bath.  Life is good.

My mom doesn't mind so much, and I don't mind that our backyard is full of spiky weeds.  Apparently my mom and dad are "working on it", but I haven't seen much improvement yet.
Last weekend my Uncle William came to visit.  I love Uncle William.  He's fun and likes to watch Queen with me (Cars).  It was his birthday so my mom made him a cake.  Or at least she tried to, but it was what she called a "total bust".  There were so many little nooks and crannies, and even though she tried her darnedest to grease all of them, it just didn't quite work out.  I still liked the scraps, though.  I also liked the party.  My girlfriend Kelly came over (with her husband Tom, and the Reynolds came too) and we had a cheese party.  I think there were 7 different kinds of cheese in all.  I liked going from person to person and saying "mo cheees peees".  It usually worked.  

Mom was in this picture, but she cropped herself out because she says she still looks pretty frumpy.  I love her frumpy.  It's very snuggly and I like to snuggle.
Earlier that day we went to Solvang and my mom and dad got this big orange thing to hang in our house.  My mom calls it "art" but I think it looks like a big mess.  My mom loves it.  We went into a gallery and my mom saw this painting right away.  She liked it a lot, and as she was looking she noticed that there are words on the bottom.  She started to read them to herself and realized that they are the words to her and daddy's song.  And the title of the painting is "Eternity", and she tells me about how she and daddy were married in the temple so that our family can be together for eternity, so this painting was pretty much perfect.  I think I would like it better if Queen was on it.

I like to find funny things to wear.  My mom has a watch that she never wears, but I like to wear it.  I like the bling.  I wear it for days at a time.  I also like to roam around without pants.  Sometimes I find a hat to wear and I put it on all by myself.  I've got style.
I love grooving to music.  Sometimes my mom will let me wear headphones and listen to songs on the computer.  I like to dance as I'm listening.  I don't think I'll get to wear headphones again for a while, though, because a few minutes after this picture was taken I ripped off all of the foam stuff on the headphones and my mom didn't like that.  I had to stand in the corner and I really don't like that.
Here's my handsome daddy and my babies.  Dane is on the left and Alec is on the right.  They are getting very big and I love to play with them.  They roll over a lot now, and they still spit up a lot, so there's little spit up trails all over the blankets on the floor.  I don't like it when they get spit up on me.  But I like making them laugh.  I'm good at that.

So that's the end of our tour.  Momma may come up with something interesting to say later on today, but don't hold your breath.  

not much to say.

Hello everyone.  This week I guess I'm fresh out of things to talk about.  Unless you want to hear about how Alec won't eat anything but breastmilk and the well is running dry and I'm kind of freaking out about it.  No?  Hmm, that's rude.

Other than that, then, is just more of the same.  More cute babies.  I couldn't get a good shot of this, but last week they were playing on the floor and Dane (on the left) started crying into the floor.  He sounded pretty bummed (tummy time sure wears them out).  Alec rolled over to him and was looking right at him, holding his shoulder, and making cooing sounds.  It was the cutest thing.  For all they lack in awesome motherness, they get ten-fold in awesome brotherness.

Meanwhile, the big brother is having fun playing with new birthday treasures.  Grandma and Grandpa Olsen sent Reid this scooter and it took him about three minutes to figure it out.  He loves it.  (Check out his riding glove, a spongeBob wash mit on his right hand)
Grandma and Grandpa Traynor sent Reid this playmat that my mom made when my oldest brother was little.  She sent along with it little toys for all the places on the mat (zoo, train, fire station, farm, etc.)  One of the places on the mat says "Air Force" because my dad was in the Air Force when my mom made this forever ago.  We knew Reid would get a kick out if it, too, and she sent planes and little army guys.  It was amazing, I opened up the package of army guys and immediately (no exaggeration, I promise) Reid starts lining them up.  He got them arranged in a little formation and then went "bbbuuuuccccggggg" (or something that sounds like an explosion) and then swiped his arm across them knocking them all down.  

What?  Nobody taught him that.  He had never even seen little army guys before that moment.  Isn't that amazing.  It's part of the male genetic makeup.  

Erik is so so so so close to finishing his private license.  I'm excited for him and dreaming up a fun party to celebrate.  Airplane themed of course.  He works really hard, has a fun calling with the YM in our ward, just finished another masters class (1/3 of the way through, woohoo!) and does his best to keep me sane around here.  He's amazing at just poof!...folding the mountain of laundry that I just hadn't gotten to yet, or poof!...doing the dishes that were teasing me in the kitchen.  He's just the best.

I'm pretending that I'm a sewer.  No, not a sewer, but a sew...er.  One who sews.  I do a lot of sewing in my head, but haven't found much time to do it in real life yet.  I hope to soon, the projects I want to do just keep piling up.

Well, that's about it.  I wish you were here right now so you could hear Dane squealing with frustration followed by delight as he's practicing rolling over.  Or so you could watch Alec's crazy contortions.  He's a determined kid, I bet he'll be walking by 8 months, then carrying Dane on his back by 9.  Ha, that's a funny mental image.

the Birthday edition.

We've been partying around here.  Our little man Reid turned 2 yesterday, and so we've had a weekend of fun celebrating our sweet boy.  Before I get into this weekly episode of "my three sons", here's a look back at our family one year ago.  

Just a couple cute pictures of Reid eating.  He's so dang cute when he eats and I think I have more pictures of him doing that than anything else.  Plus, he's still for a moment when he eats, making it easier to get a picture of him.  Remember, I'm the worst photographer ever.  You'll see more proof in this week's edition.

Look at his little one year old self.  So cute.
One year old Reid, being fun and playful.
This was our house in Alaska, for those just tuning in to our program.
He's still so goofy.  Look at those dimples!  I hope he never loses them.

This is Reid playing with his birthday card last year from Great-Gramma and Grampa.  He still has it and loves to open and close it over and over again (it makes a train sound when you open it).
Playing with daddy.

It's crazy to think of how much life has changed in just one year.  Last year at this time we were living in Alaska, Reid was just a tiny little guy, Erik had just recently come home from being gone for 8 months, and I was pregnant with twin boys but didn't even know it yet.  And then here we are now.  Living in California with three boys now.  What a good, crazy life.

Which brings us to now.  This is what we were up to this week.  

Reid still loves playing with my shoes.  He found a pair of boots that I used to love wearing. (but can't comfortably now because my feet are a size bigger from having kids.  It sounds like nonsense, right?  But moms out there, can I get an amen?  Did your feet get bigger, too?) 
Reid eating yogurt at lunch.  Usually he's pretty good with yogurt.  He's getting to be a pro using a spoon, getting most of the food in his mouth, etc.  I just don't think he was in the mood that day.  So he ended up looking like this.  I think he knew he was getting in trouble.
Yep, he knew it.
"Okay, mom.  I'll use my spoon next time."
The babes playing around.  They are roll-y, squiggly little guys lately.
Our family friend, Liz Herron, sent us the cutest outfits for the babies.  I've been waiting for the babies to fit them and though I may have jumped the gun a little bit, they still look pretty cute.  A few nights ago I got the babies bathed, lotioned, diapered, and dressed in these cute outfits and then took a boatload of pictures.  
Reid wanted to join in on the fun.
Then, the next morning they woke up ready for more pictures.  Seriously, these babies are killer cute.  It's just too much sometimes.  Alec is on the left and Dane on the right.
Okay.

Wait for it.

This picture gave Erik and I a good laugh.  

Wait for it.

Okay, check out Alec on the left.

Oh, I love this picture.  It's so telling of their personalities.  Dane is so happy go lucky, he's by far our giggliest baby. As soon as you put your hand on his tummy, he starts giggling, like he knows the tickling is coming.  Alec is spunky, as you can tell.  He's got personality to spare.  He's loud and squawky (sometimes screamy) and he's a feisty, happy kid.
Here's a photo series of babies playing.  (Dane on left, Alec on right.  Do I need to kept clarifying who's who?  Or is it easy to tell for everyone now?)


I love Dane's face in this picture.  

And finally getting tired.
I just thought this one was cute.
Okay, now to the birthday festivities.

Disclaimer, I am not good at remembering to take pictures of things that I know I'm going to want pictures of.  So, if you're hoping to see a great shot of the party, or a perfect picture of Reid with cake all over his mouth, or opening presents...sorry to disappoint, but I was enjoying the party and my little man and kept forgetting to take pictures of it all.  I did get a few though.

This was the night before around midnight, making Reid's cake.  It turned out so rad.  Go here for instructions, and I found the idea here.
Our good friend Kelly (Reid's a little obsessed/in love with her...okay, a lot) came over early to help set up for the party.  The night before I was short on time (naturally) and didn't get home from the store with my last minute party shopping until after 11pm.  While at the store I figured I would save myself some headache and just buy cookie dough instead of making sugar cookie dough myself.  But then on Saturday morning (party day) when I rolled out the store bought dough, cut it out with the letter shapes, and baked them, they spread so much that you couldn't tell a "Z" from an "R".  Not good.  So, last minute I made this dough and Kelly and Reid helped me roll them out.  They turned out perfectly.  I used these cookie cutters and they worked really well.  The letters kept their shapes well and they were pretty decent cookie cutters for being so cheap for so many.  Oh, and as a sidenote, when I made the dough I made it with half wheat flour and half white.  Can't even tell a difference.  I think next time I may even go all wheat.
Reid loved getting messy.  He had his hands in the flour the whole time.
Here's the partygoers decorating the cookies.  It was an alphabet themed party and so this was one of the activities.  The frosting is from here, and it turned out really well too.  It makes a nice vibrant icing and the kids painted it on with little brushes.  Worked great.
The huz, doing the dad of the birthday boy job very well.
Here's Reid eating his cake.  Doesn't it look so cool?  Click on it to see it bigger.  Oh, and check out his cup, I'll be talking more about that letter sticker later.
The aftermath.  New toys everywhere.
A messy house.  Our cute little house had maybe thirty people in it, cute kids and fun parents.  I love a full house.
Bottles to recycle.
And dishes to do.  (This is even after help from Kelly loading up the dishwasher and washing things and putting them away!)

For lunch we had macaroni and cheese (it was so good, I definitely recommend it), peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches, and lots of fruit with dip (8 oz. strawberry cream cheese and a jar of marshmallow creme, yum.)  Good kid food.
I made gift bags for the guests, but didn't get a good picture of them, of course.  I got a lot of good ideas from blogs and marthastewart.com and stuff.  I saw lots of pictures of parties with everything all organized and arranged.  Pictures like this, or this, for example.  I'm good at the getting it done, but not good at the having it all together and displayed in time to take a picture before the mayhem starts.  Oh well.

I sewed these little bags, and found the cards and sticker book online.  Oh, I also found the little gummy letters.  Another activity at the party was making letter crayons.  I saw the idea here.  I found these molds online and they worked perfectly.  It was so fun putting these favor bags together.  Okay, about the labels you see on the bags and the one that was on Reid's cup a few pictures ago.  I got them from here and I love them!  Next time you have a party, get yourself some fancy labels.  It made things look very Martha Stewart Weddings.  Awesome.

So, today I have TON of dishes to do, laundry from last week that didn't get done because I was having fun with party preparations, I need to help Reid organize his toys (and get them out of the living room) and I intend to sew a little.  I'm going to do this quilt-a-long.  How about you do it, too?  Doesn't that sound fun?

Oh, and I'm almost ready to talk about the business that I'm starting.  Maybe in next week's edition.

Lastly, one thing that I'm horrible at...I mean, HORRIBLE...is remembering to send thank-you notes and birthday cards.  The irony is, that I never forget someone's birthday.  I know when it is and I think of them all day and probably the whole week of their birthday.  I even remember the birthdays of friends from elementary school.  And I love to make cards.  I love it.  And sometimes I'm good at it.  I just am NOT good at remembering to send them out.  So lame.

I was reminded of how badly I want to be better at this when on Saturday Reid got a birthday card from the Texas Olsens.  Man oh man, Jan is AWESOME at this.  She never disappoints.  She is so good at thank-yous and birthday cards. 

I am determined to be better because I really want people to know how much I appreciate all the kind things they do for me (I'm going to be very busy with thank-yous, so many people to thank!)

So here's the deal, I'm going to get it right for 2009.  The problem is, however, that we're 1/3 of the way through the year.  My solution is that I'm just going to send out birthday cards now for those who have already had birthdays and stay on top of it for the rest of the year. 

Better late than never, right?  Right?

So Dad, Jan, David, Ann, Dana, Kate, Jane, Gramma, and Kate-o potato...keep your eye out for a very late love note.  And I need to get on top of things fast, or else I'll miss Max's, too.

the end.