tickle monster

A while ago my kind brother William sent (just for the fun of it, isn't that nice? and fun?) Reid this book.  It's a really cute children's book about tickling.  Very fun for mom and dad to read with a little Reid.  But, it gets even better...

William also sent us the matching tickle mitts, they're these glove things that you put on and your fingers come out the little holes so that your hands look like the tickle monster's hands and you have your fingers free for tickling.  They are VERY cute.
Reid loves the book, loves the mitts, and loves tickling.  Here he is tickling his babies.  They can't get enough attention from Reid, it's adorable.  They'll be playing on the floor or in a bouncy seat and Reid will walk by and they practically rubberneck to see him going by.  They are BIG Reid fans.  I love it when Reid chooses things to play with on his own, like this time when he put on the mitt himself and started tickling his babies.  Things like this make all the hard work worth it.  

p.s.  Where did Reid get that gorgeous flaxen gold hair?  I just love it.  Oh, and that's Alec on the left and Dane on the right.

my morning coffee.

With all the sleep I'm not getting these days, I need serious help in the morning.  A good jolt.  I don't drink coffee...but who needs it anyway with these cute little morning jolts.  This is what I wake up to.

This is morning Reid.  He woke up and I went in to get him a few times, but each time he pointed to his bed and put his head back on his pillow.  He wasn't ready yet.  When he was ready he buried his pacifier under his pillow, (maybe hoping the pacifier fairy will leave him some cash?) and he was ready to go.  As you can see, he has crazy hair after he sleeps.  Every time I can't wait to see it when he wakes up.  This morning was especially good.
Here are my jabbery babies jabbering at me.  They are so fun.  It's getting to be so much FUN with all these boys!  Demanding, confining, exhausting...but fun!
Happy Alec.
Happy Dane.
Happy boys playing on a happy morning.  Seriously, who needs coffee?  These little ones are my pick-me-up...as in, "Mom!  Pick me up!"

Back on the horse.

I have been to the library since the incident, but not with all three kids.  Today, I did it.  We didn't make it for storytime (everything in life revolves around the babies eating schedule, it seems...) but soon after.  Probably better anyway, fewer people.  

It went wonderfully.  

Well, my three little ones did wonderfully well, that is...but I think the incident has left me as a marked woman.  With the Wednesday library volunteers, at least.  When we were checking out our books the lady was really trying to hurry, asking people if they would mind if she checked us out first, scrambling, dropping things...I'm not exaggerating.  I promise.  She was acting like my two smiling and cooing babies, lying peacefully in their stroller, could at any moment burst out crying - shooting piercing cries out into the silent library like flames from a dragon's mouth.  

It was funny, and a little discouraging.  I think we'll just go to the library on a day that's not Wednesday.  Reid doesn't care, he wasn't into storytime, anyway.

But!  I did get this!  It's like brand-spankin' new and I've already been able to check it out at my local library.  Well, I had to request it...so, for $.50 I got it at my local library.

It's a good thing.

I'll let you know my thoughts.  Since you're dying to know.  

Here's a sneak preview...

I don't like the shells on pots idea so much.

Just saying.

and head injury free!

Here's a good one from ohdeedoh, a really cool parenting/kids/design/home blog.

It's a coffee table playmat, something that you could just wrap onto your existing coffee table.  We had a coffee table, but when we were getting ready to move from Alaska here to California, and with the impending birth of two more little ones, I convinced Erik that a wood coffee table (and therefore hard corners at little person height) was just not a good idea.  (sorry, Erik)  I wish I had seen this then.  What a great idea to just wrap it on and take it off, besides the fact that Reid is obsessed with all things cars and would love this.

While we're on the subject...

While I'm getting all churchy and stuff...

this last weekend was General Conference. Twice a year the leaders of my church address the body of the church (and the world at large, actually) and give counsel, love and support. It's wonderful. I heard someone call it "spring cleaning for the soul" and that's exactly right.

You can listen to clips here.

(in a few days you'll also be able to watch clips or read in .pdf files)

Feeling a little overwhelmed with the current economy, feeling financially and emotionally strapped and wondering what your family can do? (listen to Elder Robert D. Hales from the Saturday morning session)

Feeling alone, lonely and a little forgotten? (listen to Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from the Sunday morning session)

Feeling like life changes so fast and not always for the better? Are those changes getting you down? (listen to Elder Steven E. Snow from the Sunday morning session)

Feeling like life is just too much to figure out on your own? Wondering how to find your path? (listen to Elder F. Michael Watson from the Sunday afternoon session)

I promise you'll feel like your soul just got a big drink of Gatorade, a renewed sense of purpose, energy, devotion, peace and joy.

If you did watch Conference, what were your favorite talks? I usually feel like there's a theme that sort of surfaces (one time like 4 people used the parable of the Good Samaritan in their talks) and this time it seemed like the theme was temple attendance and understanding temple covenants. What did you think?

Okay, now I'm done.

It's true, it's true. It's all true.

The other day I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Black Eiffel, and saw this post about a few movies she had seen recently. Erik and I had seen "The Visitor" just a few weeks prior, so it was interesting to read her thoughts. Want to know my thoughts? Probably not, but I think I'll post about it someday because I have a lot to say about that movie. Anywho, so I was reading some of the comments for good movie suggestions (the huz and I are always looking for something interesting to add to the netflix queue). Someone had suggested the movie "Defending your Life" saying it was a sweet and inspiring movie. So, I put it in the queue and last week Erik and I watched it.  These days it takes us at least 2 or 3 times to watch a movie because of lack of free time, or because we are so exhausted that we fall asleep every time we try to watch something.  But when I finally finished it, I have to say that I was mad.  Really annoyed.  This movie is such crap.  I know I said I'd try to say crap less, but this movie is total garbage.  

I don't want to "spoil" (that was sarcasm for ya) this movie for you, but the storyline is that this guy dies, and goes to Judgement City where judges review his life and determine whether he's ready to move on or if he needs to go back to earth as another life and try again.  Interesting concept, but it's full of lies.  

It feels to me like this world is full of noise, full of people trying to tell you what to think.  Trying to convince you of something.  Propaganda, really.  It's not always malicious, but the problem is that it's not always true.  Like this movie.  

It's a seemingly harmless movie, just a mindless way to spend a couple hours.  But that's just how lies creep into our lives.  We mindlessly listen and allow them to root in our minds.

Lies of this movie:

1.  It shows all the previous lives that the characters had before.  Women were men in previous lives and vice versa.  Lie.  I just don't believe it.  I believe (with all of my female soul) that "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."  

2.  The main guy dies, meets a girl and they fall in love.  Seems sweet, right?  Except that this girl (Meryl Streep) was married with two kids.  Did they just disappear from her memory?  She hardly mentions them.  She's all of a sudden like a schoolgirl, giddy in love with this guy she just met in Judgement City.  So what, when we die all our dearest relations here on earth are just faint memories?  What a sad thought.  I can't imagine my life without Erik and our sweet boys, let alone imagine an eternity without them.  I believe that "The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave."  I know that that is true.  I know it.

So, the point...

My faith in the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is powerful force in my life.  It's not just a faith, really.  I know that it is true.  It's all true.  We can agree to disagree on this point, that's fine with me.  But I had a moment while the babes were sleeping and Reid was eating breakfast and something in me just had to write this today.  

I hope we are all careful of what messages we allow to come into our homes/minds/hearts.  The truth is just so freeing and beautiful that I hope we don't waste time on the lies...whether they are malicious ones or just time and energy wasters.  

If you, of my small but wonderful readership, are not of my faith and are curious about what I'm talking about...please ask me.  You can email me, comment on this post, or check out lds.org

In the meantime, please read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", I believe this with every bit of my being.  It gives me hope and happiness.  It makes my everyday worthwhile and meaningful takes away the uncertainty of the future.  

Bottom line...Families are Forever.

...and thank heaven.

In defense of mom jeans.

First of all...holy crap.  Did you notice that I figured out how to put a video on the blog!?  I'm amazing.  

Second of all, have you seen this before?  I'm sure you have, "mom jeans" is now part of our pop culture vernacular.  Sadly, though, I think that mom jeans have been given a bad rap.  Some days I think I would really enjoy a pair of mom jeans, and here's why:

I'm up and down and on the floor and bending over and picking up and chasing kids and lifting them up...all...day...long.  I bought a really cute pair of jeans (in a size bigger than my regular size) after the babies were born to help me in that interim time until I could fit in my regular clothes.  Now they're too big (thank goodness), and my regular clothes fit in some places, but not others.  As I have made you uncomfortable by mentioning before, all the extra stretchy skin on my stomach now resembles a waterbed.  I have a lot to squeeze into that waistband and an elastic waistband sure sounds comfortable.  Plus, jeans these days have lower rises.  That's just not practical for when I'm up and down all day.  Sitting/playing/rolling/tickling/etc. on the floor with my 3 little ones sure tests the limits of that low rise.  I think it might be nice to have a super high rise that went over the extra stomach squishiness and went higher in the back.  Lastly, most of my jeans are a hip dark wash.  I really like jeans in a dark indigo wash, but spit-up stains are really obvious on dark jeans.  I can't wash my jeans every time I wear them. (because believe me, every outfit I wear ends up getting spit-up on.  No exceptions.)  I'm already doing 10-15 loads a week as it is and I just can't do anymore.  So a nice light wash that can conceal a few spit-up splotches sounds pretty good to me, too.

Who's with me?


Nevermind, they're just too dang ugly.  I may be close, but I haven't given up yet. 

My favorite line, "Give her something that says, 'I'm not a woman anymore...I'm a mom.' "

Awesome.

edited to add: don't you love it how they thread their belts through the "mom jeans" leather patch on the back?  So good.

the babes.

I realize that most (if not all) of you read this blog for news on these cute kids, and not so much for news about fat quarters or my hair. Fair enough.
Well, here you go.
Cute kids.
This was Reid watching a Baby Einstein one day. (Brian and Stamatia, thank you a MILLION times over for those DVDs! What a lifesaver! Except that Reid's favorite one is Baby Newton, the one about shapes, and this lady sings a really dumb song. I'm working on getting over it, though.) I just thought it was funny how he was so chill in his seat. This is his little camp chair and he always sits in it when he watches a movie. He likes to put it right smack in front of the TV and then we have to pull it back. Very funny. And yes, there are quite a few boxes in the family room still. We're working on it.

Remember how I told you about the robot arms? This is it. This was on Sunday so he's in church pants and socks, and we probably just had a messy dinner. Hence the bare chested robot.

The babies are getting better at tummy time. Here's a cute worm's eye view of Alec.

And Dane.Here are the babies playing. Alec is on the left and Dane on the right. They are really getting into this playing thing lately, even batting at toys and waving them around and stuff.

When the babies are down on the ground, Reid is like "oh, so we're playing on the ground? Cool. I can do that." and he gets down with them. You should see him do an impression of the babies during tummy time. It's hilarious. He lays down next to them, face down, and kind of burrows his head into the ground while squealing. Really funny, and pretty accurate to what the babies do when they're tired of tummy time.

This one I thought was funny. I like how Alec is playing, Dane is looking over at his goofy brother, and Reid is being silly. Reid is wearing his "pajamas." The shirt is just the shirt he wore the day before, but HAD to sleep in, too. He's really weird about clothes lately (remember the weirdness about pants?). So we kept his shirt on and were going to put on his sleeper over it (like we frequently do) but he was very clear that he wanted to pick out some pajama bottoms to go with his shirt. He picked the ones with tigers on them.

Okay. Fine by us. Weird, but fine.

So, that's what we're up to.

These kids just get cuter everyday, I don't know how we're going to survive it.

good idea.

Some good ideas for a Thursday afternoon:
This one was my idea. I have a bunch of fat quarters (for you sewing folk) that are just sitting around, waiting to be used. I also love cloth napkins. So, I figured, how about I make these fat quarters into napkins! My mom and I serged the edges with a rolled hem (lickety-split) and now they're all ready to go. We actually had company over on Monday night for our standing cards night (after FHE together) and I could have used them for dinner that night, but Erik grilled ribs. Messy ribs. I know it may bother some that if you did this your stash fabric might get dirty, but the way I figure it is that if you are someone who would use a vintage (used) tablecloth in a quilt project (I would)...then what's the difference with this? Someday when these fabrics make it into a quilt, they may have a little wear on them, and that's fine with me.

But I draw the line at ribs.

When we moved into our house 2 months ago, a family from the ward that lives down the street brought over this pan of brownies for us. It said (before I started eating them in a very unladylike fashion) "Welcome to the neighborhood Olsen Family." Isn't that so cute? And nice? And yummy?

So as I'm cutting up the brownies, I see something strange about the bottom of the pan. (Look to the left of the knife in the first picture...do you see an "S"?) I look at the bottom of the pan and see that she had etched the family's last name onto the plate. Genius! Ward Party Potluck Dilemma SOLVED! I even happen to have some ArmorEtch from Michael's sitting in my craft area. I love this idea.

And lastly, I saw this on Design Mom and loved it. I mean, LOVED LOVED LOVED it. It's a play tent, made out of great fabrics, and just the cutest thing. Check out the etsy shop here.

So, there's some good ideas for you.

Next up, posts of cute babies.

diaper count

it's 11 o'clock in the morning and the diaper count for today just reached 12.
True business.

Good Distractions.

Man, these babies are wearing me out lately. Have I told you (at least a hundred times, I'm sure) about how these babies are a lot of work? Seriously, a LOT of work. And they are both screamers. Alec is a super-screamer, but Dane is a pretty decent screamer, too. I reach a point every day where I think, "I don't think I can make it one more minute!" But then a minute goes by, and then an hour, and next thing I know it's time for bed and after 4 hours of sleep I feel a little better. The thing is, no rescue squad ever shows up (or when they do show up, in the form of grandparents, they always end up going home. Why do you guys have to have lives of your own? Couldn't you just be grandparents full-time? We have a guest room waiting...) to save the day so my little band of boys and I just keep going.

One day at a time.

Actually, one nap at a time. I'm always just trying to get to the next nap for a little breather.

Of course, there are moments - shining moments - every day that make it all worth it.

Things like:

-when Reid puts his fists in bottles and they go up to almost his elbow and I say "I am a robot" in a robot voice and he CRACKS UP. Now his new favorite thing is to be a robot with baby bottles on his arms.

-or how Alec can scream and scream and then I'll put him on the changing table to change his diaper and give him a new (un-spitup'ed) outfit and he'll giggle, I mean really laugh, right to me. Oh, it's heaven. His goopy eyes (still has trouble with tear duct drainage, hopefully he'll grow out of that soon) are so twinkly and happy and those smiles - for the moment - makes me forget the screaming.

-or how Dane is getting so awesome at tummy time. He bends his head up and his legs up and makes a moon shape with his body. It's so funny to see how high he can get his legs up behind him.

-or here's a good one. Reid has become obsessed with pants. He goes back and forth between not wanting pants, very passionately NOT wanting pants...to desperately wanting to keep whatever pants he has on and not change into other pants or take them off to get a new diaper/take a bath/etc. Erik and I can't figure out what the deal is with this pants craziness. The thing is, however, is that I'm learning that you can either laugh or cry, and I'm choosing laugh. Like the other day when Reid saw me getting dressed and as I put on my pants he moaned and cried (for the next 10 minutes), "no pants mama, no pants." Over and over again. That, I choose to laugh about.

In between the moments when I find the wherewithal to laugh about how I'm going crazytown, I like to distract myself. I think distraction can be a healthy thing, at least for me it is. If I took my workload too seriously I think I'd have to be committed soon. (ooh, that's actually a good idea...lots of sleep and no dishes - the dishwasher broke again, or rather, the dumb dishwasher man never really fixed it. With the exception of the 3 loads we were able to do before it went kaput again, we've been sans-dishwasher for like 9 weeks. I don't recommend it.)

I like to think of ways that I could spend my time, in case I find some someday. Or I like to think about things that make me happy. Or I just think about things that don't involve laundry, dishes, poop, or screaming. Here's a round-up of things I've been thinking about lately:


Erik's younger brother Zach and his wife Natalie just welcomed a beautiful baby girl to their family. Baby Jane. Get a load of that hair! Tons of blonde hair! Couldn't you just die! Grandpa Olsen called it last night "silky blonde hair that always stays in a mohawk." Perfection.The cute family of three.
I can't wait to meet her! Oh, I hope I get a girl someday. Someday in the far distant future when I've had a nap or something.

So that's a happy thing, how about some distractions? Things I'd do if I had time to do stuff.

I've been thinking a lot about writing. I'd like to become a better writer. I don't know what I would ever write about, people always say to "write what you know", but does that mean that people would want to read about my thoughts about my hair or how much poop I have to deal with on any given day? I'm not sure about that. But if you want to become a better writer with me, check out this awesome blog. I love her.

I am working out the details of a goal, a big one. It involves me starting a business (laughable, I know). I have a bunch of ideas that I'm always churning in my head, lately about quilting. My goal is to get myself to a Quilt Market in the near future. It's when a bunch of designers/companies/local store owners/etc. get together for a trade show. My kind of heaven. You'll hear more about the details as I work them out, but in the meantime how about an awesome blog about quilting? Here you go.

Another delightful thing about my plan to go to Quilt Market someday is that I'm going to need some cute clothes to wear. Seriously, I'm planning on starting this company for two reasons: to go to something awesome (Market) and to wear cute clothes while I'm there. Those two things are totally not a part of my everyday life and it would be such a treat. Cute clothes! With no one spitting up on them! And meeting Anna Maria Horner! Heaven! Want to dream about cute clothes? Go here. Could the main page of their site be any more gorgeous today? I don't think so. I love it all...the romantic, vintage, and artistic.

Lastly, have you been here yet? Seriously, THE best distraction. Where were we before etsy? Etsy is my instant mood-lifter. Sure thing, every time. Don't you just want to make something?

Well, there you go. Now you're thinking, she just whined about how she doesn't have any time. How is she writing this much on her dumb blog, then? Good question. My sister-in-law Ann commented on that once. First of all, I'm not the engineer of a project inventing an alternative source of energy. Seriously, amazing. Secondly, this blog is a result of hundreds of 60 second chunks of spare time found throughout a few days. I don't ever have like, say, an hour to do anything. But I can check out my favorite blogs, one at a time, scattered throughout the day and I can type a bit at a time on my own blog. That's how I'm managing and except for the mountain of laundry that I need to fold (mountain is not an exaggeration, trust me) things are working out pretty well.

Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

introducing...Grannie!

Welcome to a new blog feature called "introducing..."

This week's installment features my dear, dear, dearest Grannie. When I was in Tucson I found this picture on my mom's computer and just loved all the Grannie-ness about it:

the Lands' End shirt

the soft curls in her hair (who ended up with Grannie's curlers? I loved looking at those things

the little smile

the fact that she's on a horse (what?)

To really get an idea of how amazing this lady is, check out what my cousins had to say about her. I wholeheartedly agree with all of it. I would sure enjoy some gingersnaps or homemade bread right now, too.

If you've known me for very long at all you've no doubt heard me talk about (brag about) how amazing my Grannie is, but now you can have the witness of my 50+ cousins to go along with it.

If heaven could be a person, it would be Grannie.

So go read the link, feel inspired to be better, practice the piano, make some bread, and remember to say your prayers. Let's make Grannie proud. And then let's sit around and visit, Arnett-style. Can't beat that.

Oh, and look at the picture again. See the girl to the right of Grannie and the horse? That's me with my elementary school hair-do (probably about 4th grade). Nice.

Beautiful Boy.

Can I get an amen? Our friend Gena is the nursery leader at church and she took some pictures of the kids for the nursery wall and emailed this one to us. She's an amazing photographer and I hope to have her take some family portraits for us someday soon. In the meantime, however, let's all just gaze into Reid's gorgeous eyes. I love this picture so much, what a treasure! Thank you, Gena!

thank goodness.

grumpy and messy boy (Reid), sweet husband...

sick baby (Dane), sweet husband...

frustrated mama (me), sweet husband...

Thank GOODNESS for that sweet husband!

The Handsome Birthday Boy!

Friday was Erik's big day. He got to start his day by going to work. Bummer. But we had a little surprise for him for when he got home.
When I asked Erik (a no-fuss kind of guy, married to a fussy fuss over everything kind of gal) what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday he said, "well, do we already have any cake mixes in the pantry?"
I responded that yes, we did. We had a white cake with Valentine's sprinkles in it and frosting with matching sprinkles (Valentine's week was spent in the hospital with Alec and so the cake just didn't get made.)
He said, "I like white cake, but I don't think I need sprinkles in it."
Hmmm, I thought. Does he realize that the sprinkles are already in it? I'm not about to go picking through the mix to un-sprinkle it.
"Actually, Emily," he said, "I'm kind of desserted out."
I'm thinking, is that possible?
Apparently at work this week there have been lots of treats and seminars with treats for a mid-briefing break, etc.
"I just want a small, white cake."

Done.
This cake is small, in diameter at least. But it is 6 layers tall. Have you seen "Pollyanna"? You know when she goes to the bazaar and the cook makes these HUGE cakes? Haven't you always wanted one? Me too.

I made a regular cake mix and baked it in a jelly roll pan. Then I used a serrated knife to cut out six layers (keeping the scraps in a bowl for snacking). It got a little wobbly towards the end, so we put some bamboo skewers in our Leaning Tower of Cake to keep it upright. That solved the problem for the most part.

Mom was visiting for a few days (come back Mom, come back!) and she did the honors.

The birthday boy holding a temporarily ornery Reid. I don't know what his deal was, but I'm sure the look on his face is familiar to parents of little ones.

Erik being hunka hunka handsome (look at those blue eyes!).

Reid not quite sure about the cake. He's thinking about it.

Grandma holding the babies. Alec (on the right) is like, "come on already. The sooner Dad cuts into the cake, the sooner you all eat it and the sooner I get a taste through mama." Did that gross you out? Sorry.

More handsome Erik, deer-in-headlights Reid.

Blowing out the candles. This time Reid is interested. I think he might have taken a swipe already.

Erik enjoying his "small" cake and Reid figuring out that cake is pretty awesome.

We met Erik in town after work to go to the Yamaha store so that he could pick out a helmet and goggles for dirtbiking. There's a sweet track nearby and Erik had a grand ole time riding there a couple of weeks ago.

So, mission accomplished. Another year older. His 32nd year was a big one. A move, new job, twin babies...I hope 33 is even better. Just not another move or another set of twins this year. We're pretty tired.

I need serious help.

You know how I struggle every day with the bangs or no bangs dilemma?
It's bad.

But I have come to a conclusion...I would rather live my life doing things than not doing things. You know what I mean? I would rather go for it and have it turn out horribly than have the same boring hair for the rest of my life. So, bangs here we come.

Oh, and I also wrestle with the concept of coloring my hair. It's the same "granola vs. J. Lo" struggle that I've mentioned before. Part of me is all "I want to be natural and free" and part of me wants to wear electric blue eyeshadow and glam it up. Usually when I think about coloring my hair I debate over red or black. This time, I'm going red.

Run, don't walk, to InStyle and play with the Hair Makeover Tool (in the top left corner).
It's way too much fun.
Here are some new Emily hair ideas for your consideration. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions on this matter. (and yes William, I know you don't like bangs, but try to be objective) To me, fun new hair is a very, very big deal. Mostly because in my near-zombie/mother of 3 little ones/desperate for sleep state, small improvements go a very long way. Or at least I tell myself that. This is the Ashlee Simpson. I love her color (doesn't show up as well here) but I can't stand! the way she and Pete always have hair slicked to their foreheads. Is it just me?

This is the Reese Witherspoon but dyed red (and my favorite look from the makeover tool) Yes, that's right, when I said red...I meant red. My mom is nervous that I'll look like a lady of the night, but I think the above picture looks very un-hookerish. Maybe because I'm surrounded by an adorable family, but still.

The Julia Roberts. I like it, a lot. But I think I want a little more pizazz.

The Camilla Belle. What I like about this one is that if I cut my hair like this then Jill and I could be twins! Have you been to her blog yet? I know I talk about her all the time, but seriously, could someone be any cooler?

This is the Julianne Moore. I know I said red, but I don't think I want this red of red. I don't want to lift any color out of my already pretty dark hair, so I can only get as red as will seep into my brown hair. Is that how it works Natalie?

Just for fun, the Rhianna. I like this one and may go for it after I get sick of the red.

and for when my hair gets longer, the Jennifer Garner. This is actually just wishful thinking though. Since having kids my hair isn't as thick as all that. And my feet got bigger. But more on that later.

The America Ferrara, but in red. Cute cut, but I definitely need more pizazz. From some bangs.

This is the Rachel Bilson. I like this hairdo on me a lot, but it's for when my hair gets longer and when the granola side revolts against the J. Lo side and I get all natural again. I know, I act like I have no control over this, but you don't understand...they are two very powerful forces inside of me.

and lastly, the January Jones. I am not meant to be a blond, but it was fun to give it a try. I don't know...maybe someday.

So what do you think? Are you feeling the red Reese Witherspoon? Or would I, in fact, look like a lady of the night. As you can see, I need your help.

Oh, and sorry for making you look at my mug so many times. At least you got to see the handsome huz and our 3 little ones each time, too. And look at how tiny those babies are! They were only 2 weeks old then! Breaks my heart.

Right about now you're thinking, "she hasn't blogged in like two weeks, and then blogs this nonsense?"

Well, we're visiting family in Arizona (hooray for Tucson!) so that's my excuse for the unintended blog break...and about the nonsense...did you really expect anything different? Come on, you know me by now.

Why Erik's parents are so great

So as you will see in style and content, this is a slight deviation from the normal blog post, but I still have contributing rights, so here goes. My parents came to our home about a month ago. It was a planned visit, but it just so happened that Alec was just getting out of the hospital and everyone was sick, so it was a perfect time for some help at the house. And that is EXACTLY what we got...and more. It was a really amazing weekend. We got more accomplished that weekend than we had since we moved in the house a month prior. My Dad is the kind of guy who when he sees a problem or puzzle, he says, "well, lets fix it". Emily wanted more counter space in the kitchen, so how do you do that and make it match the cabinets and counter tops that already exist? Well you just buy all the parts and put it together! Duh. I consider myself a pretty good problem solver, but not the best at home renovations, at least not big projects. So we went to Home Depot with my credit card and found matching cabinetry, and the tiles that matched the rest. We screwed cabinets to the wall, put the tack board on top and laid the tiles and grout to match. And now it looks like it was there the whole time! So along with the new counter space we installed a new shower head and mirrors in the bathroom, hooked up the waterline correctly to the refrigerator, hung 4 or 5 sets of curtains, rearranged furniture in Reid's room, and hung 7-8 pictures/artwork around the house, mowed the weeds in the back, and figured out how to channel warm air from the furnace back to the kid's room. Mom, bless her soul, went over to the rental we were moving out of and spent like 9 HOURS cleaning! And she was by herself! That is true love. It was a really big nice house, with a lot to clean. So during the weekend, Grandma and Grandpa got plenty of baby goo-goo time, and Erik and Emily got a gift of chores done at the house. So, a long story short, I love my parents and will be forever grateful for weekend visits like that. They helped us immensely.

So why did it take me so long to tell you? Well, first off because we are outnumbered now. I can't see blogs at work, the network has these types of web-sites blocked, so I can't do it at work (I mean, of course I wouldn't do it on government time) and then when I go home its baby duty time and I don't spend much time on the Internet. Anyhow, I also took a picture of the kitchen, but I haven't found time to load it. But we are in Tucson this weekend (Emily will be here all week), and next week I will have some more time.

I feel bad because I'm going to miss my wife and kids all week, but secretly in my head I'm dreaming of all the sleep I'm going to get, and all the little things I'm going to catch up on when the kids are here. And next weekend I was going to go snowboarding, but it is stake conference and I'm having a hard time thinking of dealing with how to explain missing a general authority (stake presidency is being replaced). So I'm thinking of camping by the ocean Friday night, or maybe getting my dirt bike working on Saturday morning, or maybe just going on a mountain bike ride or a hike. It is so fun to think about having just a bit of time to myself. Although by then I'm sure I will be missing everyone so much it won't be that fun (...maybe).

Well, its about dinner time around here...I hope this isn't my only 2009 blog post, but don't be surprised if it is. I've started another class for school, work is getting hectic, my church calling takes some effort...excuses, excuses. Anyways, thanks for listening- Erik

my life in numbers

Number of:
children crying/fussing at any one time - at least 1
mini bagels I've eaten before noon today - 4
times a day Reid says "uh....Ooooooh", and for good reason - usually about 5
pacifiers per child - 4
minutes a day spent looking for pacifiers - 20
hours of sleep each night - 3.5
library books due today - 6
pounds I gained with the twins pregnancy - 50+
pounds left to go to get back to pre-pregnancy weight - 5! (it sure doesn't look the same though, dangit)
times Reid has watched "Hello Dolly" - at least 15
times a day I give Alec a breathing treatment - 4
times a day Alec gets Zantac to hopefully help with his painful reflux - 2
weeks since we've had a functioning dishwasher - 5
size of clothes the babies wear now - 3-6 mos.
times a day we have spit-up catastrophes - 20, 30?...which leads to...
loads of laundry a week - at least 12
babies that want mom's attention, all day - 3
little guys that I get to snuggle - 3 (and 1 big one)
husbands who, when I'm at the end of my rope, somehow make everything better - 1


it all adds up to a pretty darn good, and very tiring life.

photo from here, also check out her etsy shop, it's very cool

did you know?

...that a block of cheese will bounce when dropped on a tile kitchen floor?
It's true.