Poop Scooper AKA Mom

Yup I have now added a new job title to the ever growing list of jobs included in the "Mommy" job description. The other night Kirk was giving John and Bennett their baths and discovered a little something special floating in the water so we quickly ended bath and I began getting them dressed while he disinfected the tub so the girls could have a bath (Dan and Ang's girls were here). So I got John diapered up and started dressing him and realized that I should probably at least put Bennett's diaper on before we had an accident...well...while I was walking him over to the "station", Tarin screams, "He's pooping!!!" So I act without thinking and catch what I can in my hand....wow talk about a messed up instinct. In this situation the Mommy instinct didn't really pay off for me. I say let it drop on the carpet...I have great carpet cleaner!!

Yesterday on the way up to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner we were at a stop sign and Taylor said, "Stop....stop...Mommy that says stop! I can read now!!!!! Let's find a big word for me to read!!!!" It was hilarious...mostly because everytime we come to a stop sign we go through this drill:
Taylor: Mommy what does that sign say?
Mom: Sound it out.
Taylor: sssss ttttttt oooooo ppppppp. STOP. I did it!
Mom: Good job Taylor.
She then begins her repertoire of questions regarding traffic rules...Why do you stop? How do you drive the car? What does the yellow light mean? What's that sound clicking (the blinker)? and on and on...my she is inquisitive.
Her latest thing is to say, "Mommy I need to watch you change his pooper diaper so that when I'm a mommy I know how to do it." Also insert fix dinner, make cookies, wash laundry, etc. What 3 year old thinks like this?

Two Wild and Crazy Guys!

Note to self...don't give Bennett and John the big yellow bowls for lunch!
Quick little man story: This afternoon while fixing lunch they were playing together nicely (wow!) and Bennett went up behind John and gave him a big hug and they both just laughed and laughed. Bennett ended up giving John probably 10 hugs! Oh I love my boys!!!

"boys boys boys!!"

We have had a few more funny moments this week that I thought I would share. A few days ago I was fixing dinner (the grumpiest time of the day for most everyone at our house). And I could hear Bennett and John laughing in the front room. So I went to check it out to make sure they weren't having too much fun if you know what I mean, and I found them chasing this fly around on the window. I thought, "great they will be entertained and happy while I finish fixing dinner, no way will they be able to catch that little guy!" Well, a few minutes later Bennett comes into the kitchen crying so I went to see what happened and John had something in his mouth. Sure enough he caught that fly and decided to eat it (what else would you do with a fly?)!! YUCK! Fortunately (I guess), he didn't swallow it. John sure does have a fascination with bugs though. He just wants to poke them all. When we go outside I will sometimes catch him standing right in front of the raspberry bushes just staring at them. Finally I figured out that the reason he stares is because he is watching the hundreds of bees that are pollinating the buds. Clearly he hasn't been stung yet or that fascination would be done I think.

I also had another fun surprise upon leaving the bathroom the other day. Bennett and John we sitting on the kitchen table splashing in a large puddle of water. They were just as happy as could be and as wet as could be. I of course did the only thing I could think of and took a picture...(I'll post later)...I love to send those mixed messages-don't climb on the table but if you do I'll take your picture.

By the way, I did get past my hard day...and I'm no longer grumpy or bitter or wanting to complain. Just had to get it out there so I could get past it. It's amazing how cathartic that can be to even just admit that you are a little ticked off or grumpy or whatever...go figure. Thank goodness for blogs I guess.

More headbands

I made these headbands for sisters...a 2 year old and a new baby...what do you think? This was today's sanity project.....yup it worked I'm still sane!! I will do matching flowers for each set.

Mommy needs timeout

Ok...so I am in serious need of some blog therapy today so here we go. We have entered a stinkin hard stage with our little twin tornadoes...today I have been thinking...this is my life???....seriously? They are into EVERYTHING!!!!!! I just am feeling very done today and we are nowhere near bedtime...it's only 10:00!!! AAAHHHHH!!!! Let me explain what I think has led to this little breakdown of mine.
Sunday morning went like this:
-Kirk is basically at meetings from 7 until 10:30....so I have the lucky job of getting everyone ready for church all by myself
-Boys are sick AGAIN so no church for them (originally I thought this would help Sunday morning go more smoothly...wrong again)
-While getting Taylor ready for church the tornadoes manage to open the cereal cupboard and dump 2 full boxes of cereal all over the kitchen and front room...but this shouldn't bother me because they were only getting a snack right? (they even got themselves little bowls out to put their contraband treats in)
-They also emptied the hamper (for the umpeenth time)
-Also they got into the laptop bag and had the cords everywhere.
So that was Sunday morning before ten.
Today John climbed up on the kitchen table to play with the laptop while Bennett fell off the kitchen chair...after they pulled the fireplace screen over on themselves and threw balls and Taylor's doll in the fireplace. AAAAHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!! I just feel very done. I get that they don't feel great and I get that they are only 19 months old and I get that they are boys and boys are different....but SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!?!? I don't want to hear how one day I will miss this. I don't want to hear how cute and funny this is. I don't want to hear how before I know it they will be old and gone and I will be so sad. I just don't want to hear any of that because right now it's just too hard. I guarentee I won't miss this stage just like I don't miss spending all but maybe 3 hours of my day feeding babies.
This morning I felt it was just tooo much for me to handle. So I closed them in their bedroom and I can hear them making all sorts of ruckus but I just can't deal with it right now so here I type and there they cry.
I know that I have more things to be grateful for then I can even mention, I have a great husband who is home every night, we are all healthy for the most part, we are doing ok financially, we just spent a great day yesterday together on a hike, and on and on and really we are surviving just fine but today I just feel spent!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! I get that everyone has their days and things could be so much worse but I just want to be grumpy and ornery and complain for a second....I just need to get it out and then dig in again. I will be fine....life is good...life is good...life is good.
Last night while putting Taylor to bed I said, "Have good sleeps" and she said, "Mommy sometimes when I am sleeping, my baby wakes me up because she is crying for me so I might not sleep." And I said, "Taylor would you like me to take care of your baby tonight so you can sleep?" "Yes Mommy." I said, "being a mommy is sometimes hard isn't it." Taylor said, "it sure is." Holy cow it is! Well I'm going to go have a good cry and then I will be ready to go again and it is probably time to let the tornoadoes loose.

Some Pictures

I realized that we haven't posted kiddo pics for a while so here you go!

This is on our hike (who am I kidding it didn't last long enough to be considered a hike...it was really a walk) in the foothills last week.

Mr. John loves his hat.

This is Bennett. We took the kids to the temple the other day to get some spring pictures of them with the tulips.

This is Taylor with her latest headband...my favorite so far!
And Taylor at her final dance performance. She did a great job!!

I'm on a ROLL!!

So I found this great pattern for headbands last night and had to try it out...here it is!!!

You'll have to excuse my model...she is currently napping and I wasn't about to wake her up...so thank you Miss Cabbage Patch. This at least gives you an idea of how it might look on Taylor Baylor!

Oh and the greatest part is the flower is removable!! So I can make flowers in all sorts of different shapes and colors and just attach with the button in the middle to coordinate with the color of the day!! YAYAY!! Next I'm going to try a skinnier headband I think but still go with the button flower idea...whatdyathink?

My latest creation

So I finally finished this crochet bag I've been working on forever! I'm so happy it's done I had to share! It took me so long though, I don't really want to use it for the chance I might ruin it or something...go figure. I'm sure I'll get over that quick! Yay it's done!!!

The Mother Load

I always thought I had been pretty appreciative of the job Carin did staying home with our kids. That is until she left to Virginia last week. I have had the kids alone for a couple of days in a row but never this long. She's been gone for 5 days. I have really enjoyed being home with the kids and spending more time with them than usual. They are good kids. Good kids or not, this is not a job for the half-hearted mother. This job is all-in.

I usually leave for work when the kids are getting dressed for the day. From that point until dinner, I thought I knew what went on here. This job doesn't end. I have been more involved since the boys were born just because with twins, it's a two-person job. I have to admit that I was reluctant to lose our MVP for 5 days and I was quite nervous about it. I learned a few things while Carin was gone.

1. Paper plates make for less dishes but more garbage.

2. McDonald's Drive thru and Totino's party pizzas are life savers

3. Don't say the word "outside" unless you plan on putting on 6 little shoes right now!

4. Grandmas are a big help.

5. Rags begin to stink without a daily load of laundry. I tried to microwave them. I figured it would get rid of the smell. It did.

6. New dishrags aren't that expensive.

7. If it's a rainy, dark morning and the babies wake up early, tuck them back in and give them a binky and they'll sleep for another hour.

8. Rainy days equal long days

9. Humming while Plugging my ears under the shower behind 2 closed doors is the only way to find harmonic solace from the crying. Even daddy needs a time out sometimes.

10. King beds are no good if there is no queen. Thank you night time sleep aid.

Success #1-I did master the 4 hour afternoon nap. Chalk that up to more crying than usual and a noteably quieter house because daddy napped too.

Success #2-No one was critically injured or taken to the hospital

Success #3-I taught Taylor how to play baseball

Yes, now I understand better why my wife's hair is more often than not pulled back in a hasty pony tail. When you shut the bathroom door crying and fits ensue. I now am beginning to understand how much work it takes to run this place, buy groceries, plan meals, fix meals (on time), have a calling in the church, do laundry, get the kids outside, read to them, clean the house and still have enough energy to want to even think about going to the gym or doing yardwork-let alone taking care of a clueless husband.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed being with the kids. I missed Carin horribly though. I will try to be more helpful when I can and try to be more aware as a husband. It's been an eye-opening experience for this husband. I am married to a marvel of a woman that balances this crazy life without one word of complaint and 100 times better than I. The calling of mother truly is the greatest and most challenging.

Taylor crawled in bed with me this morning and whispered, "Daddy, when is Mommy coming home?" I said, "She'll be here tomorrow morning when you wake up!" The Taylor said, "Let's go get the boys up, I want today to go by quickly."

I love you Carin and I can't wait for you to get home! Neither can the kids.

vacation or bust!

So I am off to Virginia in the morning with Ang and my Mom! Can't wait, it's going to be fun! A million, bazillion, quadrillion, thanks to Kirk for being so great about taking off work to be Mr. Mom for 5 days!!!!!!!! He's going to LOVE IT!!!!

Twin Tornadoes

Bennett and John have turned into little mess-makers! (I'm sure they probably inherited this from me because, well, I'll be honest, I can make an AWESOME mess). Anyway, the latest day of mess happened this morning. They had just woken up and they were playing in the front room, so I thought, "Great the perfect opportunity to use the bathroom!" So I'm doing my business enjoying my potty break-(as a side note I want to confess that occasionally my potty breaks tend to run a little long because the bathroom becomes a bit of a sanctuary for me...I can lock the door and just be by myself-kid free-no guilt, but I can still hear what the kiddos are up to). Anyway as I was saying I was doing my business enjoying the quiet and then I thought, "Oh crap it's quiet!" So I finished up and opened the door to discover the entire container of wipes (which had just been refilled) was strewn all over the front room! So much for the convenience of 'pop-up' wipes. The sad thing is this isn't the first time I have had to clean up hundreds of wipes...you would think I would learn to put the wipes up higher! EESH!
The next messy moment happened when I was showering. This time I wasn't able to hear that it was unnaturally quiet, I was just enjoying my shower. I thought I had made sure that all the proper drawers were closed and boy-proofed. Well apparently I missed the bottom drawer in the kitchen. So after my shower Taylor walks in to my room with the dreaded sentence, "Mom come look what the boys did," which by the way is becoming quite a popular phrase at our house. So I went in the kitchen and found the contents of the entire bottom drawer on the floor. They didn't choose just any random drawer either, they chose the drawer that would make the most AWESOME mess possible, the bottom drawer is where we keep our Ziploc baggies and such. So they not only emptied the drawer but they also emptied each of the 4 boxes of baggies and somehow managed to get the saran wrap and wax paper unrolled. I don't know how they managed to do that kind of destruction in only a few minutes. I was hoping I had the camera to document the mess, but I couldn't find it. Go figure. I won't soon be leaving that drawer 'un-boy-proofed'.
Right now they are napping so I think it is safe to say that no mess is currently being made...unless of course John has once again taken off his diaper before falling asleep!

3 year old or teenager?

Last Night on the way home from Grandpa and Grandma's Taylor was singing along with the radio. I tried talking to her and she said "Dad, don't instruct me!"
D: What does that mean?
T: It means don't talk to me!!
D: Why can't I talk to you?
T: Because I am singing!
D: Daddy can still talk to you when you sing.
T: Daddy Don't instruct me!!
D: You mean interrupt me?
T: Yeah.
D: Well sing a little louder then. I can't hear you.
T: Then turn it up.

AMAZING MAN

I have an AMAZING husband. Here is how the day of greatness went down. Friday afternoon Kirk came home early from work to start things off, then he went down and got a Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner (he knows how I hate to cook on Friday nights-for some reason I don't know why). So he came home with not only 1 pizza and breadsticks but 2 pizzas, one to put in the freezer for another night! He also stopped and got a movie, but not just any movie....a chic flick...the most chickiest of chick flicks...The Women. And he watched it with me and kept his 'man' comments to himself. He also bought me one of my favorite snacks...crab salad with club crackers....and cookies and cream ice cream (I LOVE FOOD-which is reason number 1 I still haven't lost twin baby weight)!!! AND he cleaned up after dinner...actually that one isn't unusual...Kirk does the dishes most nights after dinner and most of the time that involves emptying the dishwasher first. Yes it's true...I have an AMAZING husband.

But she did it anyway

Taylor had her second dance performance today. She performed her group number first and then she got to perform her solo dance that she and her teacher Shantel have been working on for a couple of months. I have been lucky enough to be the parental unit chosen lately to accompany Taylor to dance practice on Tuesday nights. It gives us some daddy/daughter time and I quite enjoy watching her in her class. She is about a head shorter than the next smallest in her class. That is actually how she identifies herself in the videos of her group dance.

Her dances were during the halftimes of boys rec basketball games at Fremont. Every time the whistle blew of the buzzer went off, the boys harmoniously began crying together. It was awesome. A couple of babies if you ask me.

As a summary of Taylor's solo, which is the video above, her march from the side was a bit longer than she practiced. But she did it anyway. Her skip around the practice room was quite a bit larger in a gym. But she did it anyway. We are quite surprised that she performs the solo because she is always incredibly shy around strangers. But she did it anyway. She was about the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Awesome job sweetheart!

Yay for twins!

Two faces to wash, and four dirty hands
Two insistent voices, making demands
Twice as much crying, when things go wrong
The four eyes closing, with slumber song
Twice as many garments, blowing on the line
Two cherubs in the wagon, soaking up sunshine
Work I do for twins, naturally comes double
But four arms to hug me, repay all my trouble.
(Nope I didn't write it, just found it and liked it...the only thing is, I think the work is more than double most days.)

Gear Heads

The Best Subscription Ever! Vroom.

Laughing Kids

I never thought I'd see my old Hotwheels bring such joy.

I'm just Crazy 'bout Taylor and Taylor's crazy 'bout Trains.

Carin and I are reading the Five Love Languages book. We were talking last night that Taylor's love language is most definitely "Quality Time". Taylor is such a good little girl and has really become a great help to us as parents. Sometimes she has to take the back seat for a while as we take care of the boys. I forget sometimes that this brilliant girl is only 3. She converses and reasons with you like an 8 year old. Many times we catch ourselves overlooking her needs for quality time even though she pleads, Will you play with me now?" She asked Carin last night, "Mommy, when I am older, much older, and I am getting married in the temple, can I wear your wedding dress you wore when you got married to daddy please?"


So last night, Carin and I decided that because I had today off, that I should spend the day with Taylor and give her some much needed, and well deserved quality time. I told her this morning that we were going on a Daddy-Taylor date. She got super excited. She got her hair all done and was dressed long before I was. We boarded the Front Runner in Ogden and took off for Salt Lake. As the train started moving, the look was priceless. She's never been on a real train before and you'd have thought she was in the space shuttle. The whole ride down was filled with questions about who drives the train, how he drives the train, how the tracks work, where we were, how long until the next stop, will there be more people at the next stop, what happens when it snows on the tracks, etc etc. She was simply fascinated with the whole experience.

We got off at the Gateway and started looking for a place to eat. We decided on McGrath's Fishhouse. She was sold when she saw the live Lobsters. She immediately named them and told me the one climbing on top of the mommy one was the "daddy lobster". Don't ask how she figured that out! She knew she wanted a cheeseburger. She ordered warm water and a side of ranch with her cheeseburger. The waiter just chuckled. She devoured a loaf of sourdough bread before her meal even came. We visited the restroom a few times while we were there. As we were washing her hands she said, "You know something Daddy, this is a nice bathroom! I thought for a minute that it was a magic bathroom!" I asked her what a magic bathroom was. She said," Well, you see, sometimes you go to the bathroom and when you're done, you stand up and the toilet flushes all by itself! And the faucets and the towels!" She wasn't at all disappointed that it wasn't a magic bathroom, just surprised that one so nice wasn't magic.

I don't think Taylor stepped on a crack all day. She constantly leaped and skipped over the cracks all around the Gateway. She was awed by the "spitting floor" at the Gateway. She experienced an escalator, which she thought was fantastic and we may or may not have played on them a little more than was necessary and we had fun. We went to the Planetarium and had a good time there. She looked up at me and said, "Daddy, we had better get back on the train to go somewhere." I asked her why and she said,"Well, here's the thing, you see, I haven't had a quiet time today and I probably better have one." I told her she didn't need to have a quiet time but realized that this was Taylor's polite little way of telling her daddy that she was beat and needed to rest. So we headed back to the station. Again, the questions flowed. She figured out that on the way down, the engine of the train was in the back. She said, "Were we in reverse the whole way down?" I told her no but she insisted that we had to get out and go inspect the engine and see where the conductor sat. So we did and she got to meet the guy that drives the train and he explained the whole thing to her which she accepted, as it came from the conductor himself.

She crashed for most of the way home and insisted that I tickle her back while she rested. I gladly indulged her. Once back in Ogden, I told her we would go climb on some trains at the Union Station. This was the highlight of her day. The pictures I posted here are shear and utter excitement. No posing her or telling her to smile, just plain old jump-out-of-your-pants excitement. It brought me much joy.

While climbing on the last train, we realized she had lost her little teddy bear that Carin had crocheted for her for Valentines Day. She adored the thing, ate with it, slept with it and carried it with her. Her little eyes filled up with tears and she came over and hugged my neck like she's just seen her dog die. I felt so bad. I told her that we would figure something out and that maybe mommy could make her a new one. In between her sobs she said, "Well, I guess we'd better call mommy." So I handed Taylor the phone as it was ringing and she broke down into tears about the Teddy Bear. I told her to wait for Carin to pick up before she talked. Carin picked up and asked Taylor how she was doing and where we were. Before crying about her bear, the sweet little girl answered her mom's questions and said, "I'm having lots of fun. We are just coming home from Salt Lake and I will be home after I climb on this last train......but mom, guess what? I lost my bear you made me....will you make me another one please?" She got off the phone and said, "Mommy's going to make me another one just like it tonight while I am sleeping!" And the party continued.

Taylor and I rode in my truck home and told stories and asked each other the same knock-knock joke 10 times each and laughed our heads off every time. Taylor's was Knock Knock...who's there...Taylor....Taylor who.....Taylor Dawn Chugg silly goose! After a bad daddy attempt at an "Orange you glad I didn't say banana" knock-knock joke, Taylor asked if her new name could be Orange Glatitude. I agreed. It would be a great name for someone like Taylor. She has a great little attitude and is just glad to be here. I am so grateful for the good girl that she is and thank God everyday that I get to be her daddy. We got home tonight and got dressed in her princess clothes and came out to ask me if I would like to dance-explaining that she is the princess and I would be her prince. Getting worried today, I explained to her that boys are not to be kissed until she's married. She said, "Oh daddy, don't worry you're the only boy I kiss ....and my boys of course (pointing to her brothers)."

Below, the conversation that ensued after passing some farm animals on the train. Pardon the nose picking....but it was part of the conversation.

Disney Villains Uncovered

After the many, many, many disney movies we have watched at our house lately, Taylor has figured out how to tell who the bad guy is. We were watching Little Mermaid yesterday and here's our discussion:
Taylor: "Mom are those people cleaning bad guys?"
Mommy: "No I don't think so."
Taylor: "But they have BIG noses!"
Mommy: "Do all bad guys have BIG noses?"
Taylor: "They sure do."
So when confronted with a potential villain.....look to the nose.

Little Window Washers

Carin decided to have the kids help wash the windows that they grubby up every day. It's okay with me because there's nothing I like better than seeing the kids plastered to the window when I leave for or get home from work. They seemed to like this form of manual labor. Turn up the volume to hear their excited little breathing.

By the way, Bennett's new favorite stories are none of than Motor Trend and Motorcyclist magazines. He sits there and "vrooms" as he excitedly turns the pages. A father can be proud can't he?

Eatin Snow...

We came outside the other day and the kids were like three little sirens going off simultaneously they were so excited. Bennett figured out that it's fun to eat the snow, and foolish to take off your gloves. I've just posted a bunch of pictures here because, well, it's been a while since we've posted any pictures of the kids


Bennett

Precursor to a motorcycle.

Beautiful taylor and her long hair.

Happy John.

Clapping for the chance to be outside!

Johnny and Taylor.

Little Nebraska fan Johnny.

Bennett.

Time to clean house

Apparently I have been lacking in the house cleaning department lately because yesterday Taylor came to me in the kitchen and said, "Mom the front room is REALLY dusty....would you like me to dust it for you?" Once I got over the shock that my 3 year old daughter even noticed the dust, I promptly got out the swiffer and let her go to town. For a minute I felt a little guilty that I had let it get that bad but then I thought..who cares...that's great that she is so excited about helping and I'll just take advantage of this moment!!! I may just let it get that bad again!!!

Conspiracy to Commit Theft and Murder

Our boys are starting to get quite clever. Bennett got picked on for a long time while John stole his toys. Now the tables have turned. John has become the victim now.

Bennett had a noisy toy that John wanted but he knew he couldn't just go take it, so he eyed it for a minute then walked over to the toys, pulled out a ball, walked over to the tile and let it bounce (knowing that Bennett would drop his current project and come chasing the ball) What John didn't count on was before Bennett took off after the ball, he ditched the noisy toy in a big pile of books so John couldn't find it. After Bennett inherited the ball and john got tired of looking for the toy in the books, they both moved on.

Let the competition begin.

This morning my tender wife also confessed she had hit a big cat on the way home from the gym. Instead of being sad about killing a family's pet, she felt bad about not feeling bad. I love this woman!!! Explains why we don't have a cat.

Mommy when are ya gonna play with me?

Yesterday I just had the strangest day. I'm not even sure why it was so strange...it just was. We didn't do anything weird or go on any adventures it just felt weird. I had a large realization yesterday that the Mommy job is HARD! And I'm not sure why it hit so hard yesterday but it did. All day I was continually having this battle within myself: Am I being a good mother? Am I spending enough time with my kids just playing? Am I teaching them the things they need to know? Am I too task oriented? What do I do all day that I can't seem to get stuff done somedays? Do my kids know how much I love them? Do I show affection enough? Am I patient enough? Am I taking the time and opportunity to really live and enjoy my family? Am I really paying attention to these moments?-they are only this little so long. and on and on and on. I think one of the hardest things for me is finding a good balance. There is so much that makes up a day and before I know it the day is done and it is time for bed and I often ask myself..what did I do today? And the answer comes...today you were MOM. What a big name that is.

Taylorism

Taylor: "I'm Certainly."
Daddy: "You're certainly what?"
Taylor: "Well, I'm certainly not crazy."
Taylor: "What's certainly mean?"
Mommy: "Absolutely"
Daddy: "Or Surely"
Taylor: "Shirley? I'm not Shirley..I'm Taylor Dawn Chugg!"