for your own safety...

Let's enjoy another round of fun pictures from days gone by:

In Alaska (oh, I miss Alaska sometimes...) there was this course that Erik and I would take walks on sometimes (when mosquitoes weren't out to kill) that had little stations along the trail to do small workouts/skill training on.  One of the stations is this little pile of logs that you are supposed to jump over.  Here is Erik jumping.  Look at how high his legs are above the logs!  And look at how awesome my photo skills are and how I completely cut his head out of the picture!
Then it was my turn and I was terrified.  It may not seem like much (I admit, looking at this picture and how few logs there are gives me a bit of shame), but I was fairly convinced that I wouldn't clear it.  We both were cracking up at the high likelihood of me biffing it and knocking my big teeth on the logs.  Not that it would be funny, but...you know, kind of funny.
After getting up enough courage, I went for it.  This shot might leave you to wonder if I cleared it, because my feet are barely above the logs.  But I did.  Awesome.  

A small but funny memory for me.
One time we went to the Fairbanks Pioneer Day parade and for some reason there were wiener dogs dressed up like saloon girls.  I can't for the life of me remember why, or if there was a reason.  But, man oh man, was it funny.  You can kind of see that some of the dogs are in wagons, too.  I'm guessing because they would get tuckered out with their little legs trying to walk the parade?  Funny.
Then, one time when we were in Colorado with Erik's parents, we went into this store that sells all kinds of hats, actually anything you can put on your head, really.  Erik tried on this wig and I love this picture.  He would have been smokin' hot in an '80's hair band, no?
And last on the roundup is one summer when we were checking out a glacier and there was a little creek of glacial runoff.  Erik dared me to stand in the water for 60 seconds, and he was pretty darn sure I couldn't do it.  Here I am doing it, and while I'm not positive, I would bet that his losing meant he had to watch Pride and Prejudice (the A&E one of course) with me.  Again.

Now here we are.  Here's life as we know it:
This is what I like to call "Baby Greco-Roman Wrestling".  The babies rolled up to one another and then things got tricky when one wanted to roll one way and the other wanted to go the other way.  So they just put their heads down and tried to out roll the other baby.  It was funny.  I eventually had to break it up.
You know how the other day Reid was carrying around his toothbrush and a shovel and pail?  Well, on this day it was one of those neck pillows that you take on planes, in its little mesh bag.  He wore that thing around his back all day.

The babies after church.  Could you just die?  I love the overalls.

Alec being cute.
My little men.
Out in the front yard, right by the sidewalk, we have a very small magnolia tree.  Small, but yesterday it bloomed!  This ginormous bloom!  I wished that I knew someone getting married that day because it was in perfect condition to wear on the side of a low bun.  And it smelled heavenly.
They're getting so big!
Alec's arms move too fast for our camera!
Happy babies.

And here's the safety warning:

I think I manage to be a moderately positive person.  Most of the time.  But sometimes, heaven help us, I just get bugged!  And on days like today, when I've changed FOUR poopy Reid diapers, and he's battled me on everything (No lunch!  Coooo-kies!), and the babies and I are not very gracefully going from three naps to two...I get super bugged.  So, for your own safety, here are some tips of what NOT to say to me.

If I'm in the middle of a trial...do NOT say "this too shall pass" (unless you have a good Seester Incarnacion impression)

If I'm talking about something fun I want to do that may be difficult because I have like a hundred babies...do NOT say "there is a time and a season for all things" 

and, here's the big one.  

If I had a nickel for every time I heard this one, I would seriously be looking to invest in some real estate.  No lie, I manage to get told this EVERY DAY (imagine that one in a Nacho Libre accent) and even more than that if I'm out running errands.

here it is:

If you're meeting me for the first time and see all my little kiddos...do NOT say "wow, he he, you've sure got your hands full!" (oh, how that one grates on me.  It's always said in such a condescending way, even though I bet they don't mean to be so darn rude.)

And, to end on a happier note...

I sure do have my hands full.  My hands are full.  Full to the brims and overflowing.  And what a wonderful thing.  

If I had to choose (and because of many small and big decisions throughout my life I guess I have) between having hands that were empty and hands that were full, I would happily choose full hands.  My hands hold the hands of my sweetheart Erik, my happy little Reid, and the sweet babes Dane and Alec.  My hands make the food that we all eat, my hands wash the clothes that we wear and our vast collection of spit-up rags, my hands wash the dishes that we use, my hands change many diapers, my hands can make things that are beautiful to me and bring me joy, and my hands end the day praying with my little family in gratitude for all my many blessings.  

So, yeah, my hands are full.  I would definitely recommend it.

In Memoriam

Last weekend we purchased a rad new Toyota Sienna (room for all our babies!), and while I love it, I didn't feel right about posting pictures and news about it until I properly honored my old car, my wonderful little Subaru. And then...last night we got an email from Celine, the girl that bought the Subaru from us. Erik had emailed her to say that we found the spare key as we were unpacking and that we could mail it to her if she wanted it. She sent us an email back saying that with all the rain they've been getting in Fairbanks this summer, one day she woke up to this:
My poor little Subaru! When Erik was at the computer reading his email, he called me over to tell me the bad news. I sat down on his lap and he was like, "now, I know that this may be hard to see, but it's done now and we had 3 good years with it." Isn't that cute? He knows how much I loved that beautiful little Subaru.
If you wouldn't mind having a little moment of silence for the car...
...
...
...
...
Thank you. It was a good car for us, and just the right size. I'll need a period of mourning before I can officially introduce you all to the new car. Thank you for your understanding.
Oh, and I guess the one to really feel bad for is poor Celine. She had that car for a month before it met its untimely death. That's a bummer. You know, when I was working at Dr. Sonderer's office, we had a lot of senior patients. If one spouse died, usually the other spouse died within a year. Even if they were healthy, they just sort of gave up. Maybe that's how the Subaru felt. It missed me and just sort of gave up without me. That's really tender, actually.
Although still a bummer for Celine.

Coming out of our ears

News that is. News is coming out of our ears. Things are changing at a very rapid pace lately. Let's break it down.

1. The news I'm most excited to share is that we went to Anchorage on Wednesday for an appointment with a specialist, a perinatologist. We found out at 10 weeks that we were having twins, and since then we've had 4 or 5 ultrasounds, all showing that the babies are in one amniotic sac and share one placenta. That makes them "mono/mono" twins if you want to wikipedia it, but the bottom line is that it's the riskiest kind of twins you can have...well, second to conjoined twins. The mortality rate for mono/mono twins is 50% and they frequently elect to deliver them early, like at 32 weeks or so, because of the risk of entanglement (which is the cords wrapping and kinking on each other). Basically, it's no good. On Tuesday night I asked our good friend Ben Borrego to come over and be there when Erik gave me a blessing. The two of them gave me a blessing and I felt very peaceful about the appointment. Well, on Wednesday we very clearly saw a division between the babies...meaning there is membrane between the two...meaning they are in their own sac! This is incredible news for us. This means that the entanglement risk is gone, and depending on how the babies grow (if there is any complications of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome or not, wiki that one too if you're interested) I may be able to carry them until 37 weeks or so. I had prepared myself for very small babies and lots of hospital time, and while we're not out of trouble just yet, things are looking so much brighter. For me, it was a miracle and an answer to many, many prayers to see that they are in separate sacs. I'm just elated.



2. On Friday and Monday the packers came and boxed everything up, they loaded the truck on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning we signed out of our house. It all happened so fast, but amazingly everything has gone very smoothly. We stayed up until 2 am cleaning to be ready for our housing inspection, because we couldn't really start cleaning until after the packers moved everything out (actually, until after we got Reid to bed). We put a lot of work and elbow grease into it, and the inspection went a little something like this: they walked around, pulled out the fridge and made sure it wasn't gross back there, and then said when we're ready we can sign the papers. I was so jazzed that it went so well, but I actually wanted her to praise me, profusely, for the stellar cleaning job that I had done. Especially the stove/oven. You should have seen how sparkling clean that thing was. Oh well. It's done. That's good enough. I guess.



3. This morning we fly out of Alaska for good. We've been here for three really wonderful years, and it's hard to believe that it's already over. I'm all nostalgic about my cherished Alaskan memories lately, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the summers are so gorgeous. I'm glad we're leaving on a high note. If we were leaving in January or February, I don't think I would be so nostalgic.



4. We're still on the hunt for a house. We've done a LOT of looking online, but hope to meet with a realtor soon after we get to CA and start making something happen. I can't wait to get settled. I've got a crazy nesting instinct lately, but no nest. This little mama bird needs a nest for all her babies. We'll be on the road until next Friday, so catch us on the cell phone for a chat.



5. So, today is the day. The day we leave Alaska. I've really loved it here, it's been a wonderful home for Erik and I to grow together as a family. We've met some lifelong friends that I pretty much regard as family now. Being away from my own family was hard, but we were really blessed with the right friends, right when we needed them. Ah, I am getting all nostalgic. I think I feel a certain Green Day song coming on. No, wait...it's a Sarah McLachlan song. I think you know the one.

I've got a good excuse

So, yes...things around here have been a little crazy lately. Just goes to show that just because I haven't blogged in over a month, it doesn't mean that there isn't news to share. In fact, we've got some pretty great news. Double news.
How many heads do you see in the above picture? The answer is more than one and less than three.
That's right, we're having twins! This Christmas I'm going to get two babies!. And if you're trying to do the math in your head, I'll save you the trouble. Erik got home at the beginning of March...it adds up. When I called my family to tell them most of them paused for a little bit to do the math. A little funny and a tad insulting. But it all adds up. Our plans have changed quite a bit since we got the good news. Our house and car plans have drastically changed. We're going to have to upgrade straight to a minivan when we sell my awesome little Subaru. And we are no longer considering any home makeover-type houses. No fixer-uppers for us. Thinking about it now is almost laughable. We know that the twins are identical, but we don't know yet if Reid is going to get brothers or sisters. We're excited to find out which it'll be. In other news...check out some of the fun things we've been up to. A few weeks ago I was curious to see if Reid fit into his ginormous Yoda costume yet. He doesn't.

A really lucky shot of Reid as he's just about to sneeze. Cracks me right up.
Adventures in self-feeding.
Playing with a fun train toy that Grandma and Grandpa Traynor gave him for his birthday. He LOVES it.
Helping me clean, this was the day that Erik came home from his 5 weeks in Alabama.
We stopped for lunch after picking up Erik, and as you can see, it doesn't take much time for Reid to completely forget about mom. Their readjustment time is always about 30 seconds.

Erik reading a magazine and Reid reading the annoying fliers inside.
This is the little plane that Erik has been learning on. He's thisclose to finishing his pilot's license.
When Erik rides his motorcycle to work he wears this vest for visibility. One day when Erik was home for lunch I put it on Reid as a joke, and then he didn't want me to take it off. This is the face he would give me when I would reach for it.
Reid loves to read. He picks up a book and points to things on the page, jabbering the whole time. It's too cute to explain.
Adventures in Alaska. This is a gift shop that in a brochure was described as the "classiest gift shop you'll ever see." That was a lie.

The gang at the Yukon River crossing.
Finally! We made it! We drove to the Arctic Circle, and this sign is pretty much it. We thought the drive would be about 3 hours from Fairbanks, but we were wrong. It was about 6 hours from Fairbanks, so that makes it 12 hours roundtrip. Crazy. More than half of the distance was unpaved road, so that's part of why it took so long. But, we can say we did it, we were in the Arctic Circle!On Saturday there was a party for our good friends the O'Neils. They are moving to Kansas this week, and we are sure going to miss them. The party was at Chena Lakes and Reid loved all the nature that he could play in. Here's him discovering many, many rocks.
Playing in the water.

He LOVES water, but we just couldn't get a good picture of him with his eyes open. I think I'm going to find a mommy-and-me swim class for us when we get to California.

So that's what's new. Our little (but growing) family enjoying our last summer in Alaska.

Enough is enough.

So as you view this picture, you're probably thinking,"well, that's kind of lame...it looks just like all the other pictures of snow she's shown us." Exactly. That's exactly the problem. This is what I saw when I woke up yesterday. More SNOW! I'm really trying very hard to tell myself to enjoy it because as soon as it's gone then that's the last of Alaskan snow for me. When Erik and I move to California in a few months, we'll be snow-free for a few years at least. So, while I'm desperately trying to enjoy it, I just...don't. If there's still snow around on the 3rd, then that will make 7 straight months of snow. Seriously, enough is enough.
I do have some other things to discuss, however. The first of which being the best baby food discovery ever. My friend Madeleine told me about yobaby yogurt (our store has the peach/pear flavors) and Reid loves it. It is honestly the best yogurt I've ever had. I use to think that yoplait was pretty good, but after having this I don't think I could eat it again. It's just so good. While I'm feeding Reid, I'm usually vulturing over him like, "oh, baby, are you done? Do you need mama to finish that for you? Okay, that's fine, you can be done." It's that good.

Hey, remember those three posts in a row that were crazy long? Like I had the energy to keep that up. I am going to try to make this bloggity business a little more of the Olsen family journal and a little less of the "Hail to Prince Reid" journal. The truth is, he's the best little boy ever, but it would be nice to have a more comprehensive record of the happenings around here. I guess the problem is that when Erik is gone, there doesn't seem to be much happening besides my sweet prince Reid. At least from my perspective. Anywho...I'll work on it.

Go get yourself some yobaby yogurt, you'll thank me. Irregardless of whether there's a baby in your house or not.

Spring?

We had a few days of Spring. The snow was pretty much melted, not quite a sunny blue sky - but no gray clouds, and warm enough weather to go play for a while. Reid loved it of course. I loved getting out with him in the new jogging stroller. He digs hanging out in that as we go around the neighborhoods. He waves to all the cars as they pass. For me, that stroller is freedom on wheels. Sadly, it didn't last long....
Keep reading.
A new experience for him, bare feet outside...
He's not really sure what to do when we go out to the playground. Mostly he just watches the bigger kids run around. He's definitely an observer. His middle name Hunter really seems to fit. He watches everyone around him, slow and stealthy, then he makes his move. Even when he was a tiny little guy, when someone would come up to him and talk and smile to him, he would just stare at them for 15 seconds or so...and then break into a smile. He makes you work for it. Reid, the Hunter.

And then this is what I saw on Friday morning when I woke up. Not pretty. I guess it was too soon to call it, I thought that Spring had come, but I guess Erik took it with him when he went to Alabama. He'll be gone for another 3 weeks, and then I think we'll all get to be together for a good long while.

The little man turns 1 on Saturday, so while that is his official birthday, we're going to celebrate when Erik gets home. It's like when official holidays have the actual day, and the "observed" day. So "Reid's First Birthday Observed" won't be for a few more weeks. Good thing Reid can't tell time yet, or else he might be bummed. He's sort of getting a party on Saturday, though. I'm having a bunch of girlfriends over to make these (the middle one). So cute, right? And we're going to have build-your-own panini sandwiches, and I'll think of something clever for dessert. While the party isn't really for Reid, a houseful of women is definitely Reid's kind of party. He's a shameless, shameless flirt. I'll post pictures of the cute aprons when they're all done. It's going to be great.

The long winter is over.

Okay, so it seriously took me like a half an hour to upload all of these pictures, so I hope that I'm not in trouble anymore for not posting for the last few months. I hope this post will be satisfactory. Honestly, my dad is chomping at the bit for some new Reid pictures, so...Hi Dad! Here's the latest!

This is what all of February looked like. Reid with crazy hair and boogers running out of his nose. February was a long, hard, cold month. Seriously, I hated it.
Reid loves it when I let him sit on the bench to play. Here he is working on the piece that I had set a goal to learn by when Erik got home. Didn't happen. I bet Reid could play it as accurately as I could. It's a dang hard song. It's possible that I'm not as talented as I think I am, because that song is really killing me.

Reid is a very busy kid. Busy busy busy. He's a problem solver, too. He'll pull down books to stand on top of them to reach higher books. Genius.

Okay, these aren't exactly in order, but this is the night that Erik finally came home. His flight came in around midnight, and some friends came to the airport to see him so we all went to Denny's afterwards. Here's us at the northernmost Denny's in North America. (are there Denny's anywhere else?)

These pictures are in the Fairbanks Airport, just moments after Erik got off the plane. I was worried about how Reid would adjust to his daddy being home. Reid was only 9 weeks old when Erik left, and 10 months old when he got home...so it had the potential of being a hard adjustment. The adjustment was about 30 seconds. They have been inseparable ever since. You'll see, the next 20 pictures will prove it. Reid doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore, he's OBSESSED with dad. When Erik leaves for work in the morning, Reid practically spills out of my arms reaching out to him, "Da! Da! Da!" He just wants it to be all dad, all the time. I can't really blame him.

The day after Erik got home we got down to business. Reid needed a haircut, big time. These pictures are a bit out of order, here's the end result with Erik looking as though he's saying, "Well, there you have it, folks."

We started out trying to trim his hair with scissors. Neither of us have any haircutting skills, and when Reid starting looking like Lloyd Christmas then we knew that we needed a better plan. Out came the clippers and we just went for it with the longest guard on. Much better. And, Reid didn't flip out at all. He loved all the fuss.

Dad getting set up and Reid making it difficult. Say good-bye to those sweet little curls in the back!

Here's the start of it. Seriously, Erik came home in the nick of time. That little boy has a shaggy hair do that would be the envy of all the young men in our ward. Is your ward like that, too? It's crazy. When they pass the sacrament I keep thinking, "did all of you just roll out of bed or something? Where are your eyes?" Seriously shaggy hair going on up in Alaska.

Since Erik got back, there's has been a lot of male bonding going on. Here it is in the form of crazy faces. Erik can make the most amazing crazy faces. He can instantly endear children to him with these crazy faces. Looks like Reid is entertained as well.

Just a cute shot, and it shows the new hair do pretty well.

When they're not playing, Reid remains underfoot. Honestly, he's obsessed with Erik. He's tagging along with whatever Erik is doing. Here Erik is either working on the master's, or the ipod. My guess is the ipod.

Just a cute shot. I'll have Erik post about his snowmobile adventure in Logan a few weeks ago. Crazy.

Reid and dad playing on the swings.

Reid is a walking machine now. When he took his first steps, Erik was still gone, so I pretended for a while that it was just a fluke. Then 5 steps became 10, 10 became 15, and then I resigned to the fact that it was official, Reid is a walker. In the last month, however, Reid has become a pro. He can stand up on his own now (meaning he doesn't have to pull up on anything) and when we've been travelling it's been great to let him walk around and wear himself out before our flights. He's really into the freedom and adventure that come with walking. In this picture Erik is helping him figure out what to do with that lawn-mower/popper toy. Don't mind the pajamas. Most of our pictures from the last month show us still in our pajamas. So, if you've noticed a drop in blogging/phone calls/emails from me, here's the reason. I've been busy playing with my boys...very busy.

This is one of my favorite things to do. Erik loads up the little man and we go for a walk in the neighborhood. Reid loves it. I think he knows that he's got VIP seating up there with dad.

In the middle of March we all went to Utah for a week. Erik's grandfather (Grandpa Reid Olsen, our little Reid's namesake) passed away and we went down for the funeral. It was so amazing to see all of the Olsens. It's really touching to see how big of a difference one life can make. At the service there was over a hundred direct descendent of Grandpa Olsen. More than 100 people who directly benefitted from his example. I loved hearing the stories about his life and his testimony. Many people commented on his trademark saying that goes something like this, "Live the gospel. Follow the commandments and your life will be better. Your car will run better, your wife will be prettier, your neighbor's dog won't bark as loudly, you'll have more money, etc." We have a recording of Grandpa Olsen talking to his family, I think it was recorded a few years ago, and so I've heard him say that. I don't know if he meant that following the commandments resulted in blessings that made our lives better, or if he meant that when we do what's right that our outlook on life is more positive and hopeful. Or if he meant both. Either way, I agree. My life is better when I'm doing what I know to be right and good. I am really grateful that I got to meet Grandpa Olsen 3 summers ago when we were driving through Washington on out way up here. I loved him instantly, and I think he liked me too.

When we were in Utah we stayed at the house of some friends of Erik's parents. The friends are on a mission in Ghana and they were so nice to let us stay at their house. Here's a picture of Reid with his grandparents. He loves grandparents.

Here is my very miserable attempt to get a good picture of the boys playing. Reid loves it when Erik throws and flips him around. Loves it.

These two have a great time together.

Just a cute picture. My goodness, look at that face! So cute!

Celebrating Erik's birthday.

I got some of those really gross candy letters, and it had the words "Happy Birthday" and then the alphabet (with a few extra vowels) and numbers. I thought it would be funny to try and spell out words using all of the letters. What a dumb game. I think of some really dumb ones sometimes. It was so hard. After we spelled a few words all we had left was a bunch of useless consonants, so we gave up and just put his name on there. Dumb game.

Hey, if you want to know an awesome game, leave a comment and let me know, I've got some favorites that are always winners. Not like the dumb candy spelling game.

More bonding time. Erik's lap is Reid's most favorite place. And again, we're all still in pajamas. Check out Reid's bed head.

I wish that I had planned this out better, but after we all got dressed up for church on Easter, and when we were almost out the door I remembered "a picture!" So I ran and grabbed it and got this lame shot before we dashed out the door. Not a great picture, but Erik looks killer in his new suit and tie (don't you love that gray/salmon-peachish combo? I love it!) and Reid is a little heartbreaker in his outfit, as well. What a good looking pair. I had on a cute outfit too, but we all know how much self-portrait skills are...not good. So just imagine me in the picture too.

Even more bonding. We've had such a great month just hanging out, enjoying each other's company, going on some fun trips, and just being. Being our little family of three.

To wrap this up, I'd like to share with you Reid's new face. We first saw this face about a week ago and it cracks us up every time we see it. For no reason, Reid gets all playful and starts making this crazy face. It's hard to capture, but here's a pretty good example.

He makes this big growly face, spreading his mouth out as wide as he can get it, and showing his teeth. He has the two little chompers on the bottom and four teeth on top. His two front teeth are about halfway through...and about 1/8 of an inch apart. They are so funny. His bottom teeth can almost fit in between the top two. SO cute, seriously. It kills us. Another shot of the crazy face. We see it the most at mealtime.

And that brings us to the end of our tour. My sincere apologies for those of you who frequent this blog and have seen the same old post for the past 2 months. It's been a really good March, and so far April has been just as wonderful. When Erik came home, he brought Spring home with him. I mean that figuratively and literally. There were a lot of days when it felt like Spring would never come, but it did. My Spring finally came.