hooray!!

I've been meaning to post this for a week or so now- Metta's getting married!!! Not only am I so excited for her- I am so excited that it means we get to go home this summer! Thanks met :) and congratulations! We love you and are so happy for you! Even though he does have a girly name (clair), he's from Malad- so that makes up for it. See you in August!!

he's growing like a weed!

Everyday when Zeb wakes up I swear he's sprouted a bit. He just looks so grown up.
He's been refusing naps this week (let's hope it's just a phase) so he does "quiet" time in his room for an hour or two. Today I heard him jabbering away to his trains and walked in to find him reciting the letters on his shirt. He must have been teaching the trains. This kid is such a little smarty pants. He found one of my elastics on the floor this morning and brought it to me and told me it was an "O". He is OBSESSED with letters. You can see him saying "A" in the picture! He draws all sorts of crazy lines on his magna doodle and tells us which letters they are.I'm pretty sure that he used to be able to fit inside the train tracks without his feet hanging over the edge!

i LOVE them

My neighbor is taking up photography and I begged her to practice on my little rugrats! I couldn't be happier about the result. Aren't my kidlets so darn cute?!?!

Which one is your favorite? I think that I like the last one of Ike in the grass the most- but all of them are fabulous.

My seminary students think he looks like an Abercrombie model in this one.

I'm not sure how she got him to pose like this :)I absolutely LOVE this smile.
Isn't he so cute?!

zoo day and swine flu

It was so blasted hot today. Thankfully it's supposed to cool off for the next few days. We went straight from nasty cold to wicked hot. Grrr. Please bring back spring, PLEASE!

We went to the zoo for playgroup and had so much fun (minus the aforementioned heat).
Ike was sooooo good. I put him in his zoo outfit (thank-you laney) for the special occasion. He could pass as a little girl- but don't all babies look non gender specific? He'd just woken up when I snapped this picture so he looks a little goofy.Zeb loved running around and looking at everything. He was a little wild but also sooo good and I am so lucky to have had some help (thanks, jen!). The zoo was packed and couldn't help but run to look at animals or chase after friends.
And speaking of animals- the Swine flue is getting pretty close to us. A case was reported in Wood county- which is just a few miles away and part of our stake. We may have to go out and get some face masks soon.

family photos and updates.

I think that this is the first picture we've got of all four of us ever! Ike is nearly three months old and we couldn't hold still long enough to get a picture until today!!!
Kent's head is cut off and we are not centered because this was taken by timer from the other couch. I can't believe that we got a smile out of the Zebster at the appropriate time. Ike doesn't take direction quite yet.

Here's the photo that was taken when we were still getting ready. I thought that kent had set the ten second timer- but apparently it was the 2 second one. Zeb was trying to get us to eat his strawberries (I think it's actually supposed to be a tomato but he calls it a strawberry) and grapes.
I couldn't resist posting this picture. I know that most parents think their children are just adorable all the time- but I will admit that Ike has his cute times and his not so cute moments. Just ask my seminary students- one of them gagged one morning when he started coughing. She said it grossed her out really bad and that he looked "scary" when he coughed!!
Lately he has been pretty darn cute nearly all of the time. His laughs and giggles are hilarious. Unfortunately EVERY time I pull out the video camera to record it- he gets all intrigued and becomes very serious immediately.

Zeb has finally started to LOVE coloring. It used to bore him tremendously but now he gets so excited when he sees any writing utensils. We've had a few run ins with the crayons this week however. I'm posting this picture of his artwork on the wall. Right after I took the picture he was required to wash down the wall. I won't be including the picture of the blue crayon that he ate (it's a picture of the digestion aftermath).
You can see his little pointer finger in the "no" position as he mimics my actions pointing to the wall. "no, wall, no" he kept saying to me.

Yesterday morning it was 38 degrees. Today- 84?! I'm so not ready. I got a sun headache today.
It looks like it's time for Zeb to wear his short pajamas. He's been pretty ticked about the hot weather too. He keeps telling me that everything is "hot! hot!".

spring has sprung-for real this time.

I think it's finally here- but I'm sure I'm jinxing myself with that statement. I just want to run outside again- EVERYday- and not sporadically between snowstorms and downpours! Today was fantastic. Ike was a champ during my run and then still while we had walking group.

This picture reminds me of zeb so so much.Zeb was also pretty darn good. He was completely tantrum/scream free and was nice to all of his friends. He did have a major spill while making a break to the playground though- he fell and rolled onto his head and skidded on the gravel along his cheek. I'll have to get a picture.

Everyday that I'm here in Toledo I realize just how much I love it. I don't think that we could have found a better place for us to live. I love the parks and the events and the fun things to do- but mostly I love the fabulous people.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I know everybody is so sick of looking at my mouth- but I need help (and if you really don't want to see strange things you should have stopped reading my blog a long time ago). I am in so much pain. I have had THE worst mouth luck lately. I have the most INSANE canker sore. The pain is unbearable at this point. I've got the numbing stuff, I'm dousing it with hydrogen peroxide, and I'm taking 600 milligrams of ibuprofen regularly. What else can I do? does anybody have some sure fire way of getting rid of these things? Am I immuno-compromised or something? it's been here for SIX days- and it's GROWING.
Every time I get one of these things I remember- THERE'S NOTHING WORSE THAN A CANKER SORE. My tongue won't stop touching it, when I eat- it KILLS, and even when I talk my teeth rub against it and I want to die.

sad sad nose

Check out this kid's sad little nose. It's been all crusty and bloody for a week now. Kent does the honors of wiping it and detaching all the crusties- so Zeb has been pretty mad at him for a few days. Last night after the ordeal I asked Zeb if he loved me and he replied with a nod yes. When asked if he loved his papa- he shook his head with a stern no.

check these guys out

Ike is such a different little boy than Zeb. These pictures were taken at 10 weeks for each rugrat. There's no way we could get such a big cheesy smile or giggle out of Ike right now. He definitely smiles and is equally as happy- just not so bubbly and rambunctious. Let's hope this is a sign of easier days in the toddler phase for Ike- because Zeb's personality sure is fun but a lot of HARD work.
Zeb was already in size two diapers at this point but since Ike starved the first month of life- he's still in ones.

I don't think I am ready yet!

Yesterday was really nice. It was warm- I got a little sun- Zeb got to play outside with friends at the park-we took a run outside- and we saw the first magnolia blossoms beginning to bloom! but I don't think that I can handle the heat quite yet. Last night my feet were on FIRE. I have this terrible problem that I've had since I was little. My mom tells me that my Grandma Howell had it too. My feet get soooo hot at night. Sometimes I sleep with a pan of water next to the bed so that I can dip them in when I wake up because of the burning. In Utah our vents were on the floor so we moved our bed next to them and I slept with my feet hanging over the edge so they'd stay cool. They were already hot last night and it reached only 70 degrees yesterday!!!!!!!!! any suggestions?
I think Zeb is going to take after me. When we got in the car yesterday after having been at the park he kept complaining that the car was too hot. Let's just hope we get a nice pleasant long spring before it gets raging hot.

NO, mommy, NO!

His very favorite word in the whole world right now is NO! And every time he uses it- he SCREAMS it with a nasty big glare. He is pretty much finished with his wailing and gnashing of teeth tantrum episodes- but now he feels he needs to greet each friend with a mean "NO! (insert name of friend here) NO!" or just a plain old grisly scream. We are trying to replace the unpleasant greeting with a nice warm hug- or even just a polite hello. We'll see how things go. It seems that the screaming is augmented by being indoors so now that the weather has perked up - he has improved.
He's still pretty cute though!

boys

Zeb and I had a rough evening. Watching this makes me remember why I love him. I really like the little sentences he uses- "doggy say..." and "kitty cat say..." He insisted on wearing these sunglasses for an entire day! He calls glasses "eyes".


and this little guy must know when his big brother is stressing me out- because he becomes angelic or falls asleep right on cue. Plus- he has given us TEN straight hours of uninterrupted sleep the past few nights.Isn't he so cute?

Here is little Zebby with the crazy dog eddy in Ashland. He loved him to death- even after this knockdown! Watch carefully because it's at the very beginning.

the rest of our easter weekend in MANY pictures!

Not too far from Ashland there's a little town called Millersburg (we had to drive through Friedricksburg to get there) that's full of delicious cheese and lots of Amish! Amish country is absolutely beautiful and the people are so interesting. Driving through their towns and seeing the way they live is really neat. I can't believe that we hadn't been before! I felt a little awkward driving around and staring at them- but they take advantage of the situation as well by selling goods so I didn't feel so bad.
They don't love getting their pictures taken so I took this one through our front windshield as we drove upon the buggy.

The best part of the day was our "tour" of Heini's Cheese Chalet. The Amish supply most of the products used in the cheese- and many of them work there as well.
They make something like 70 types of cheese and you can sample ALL of them. I have never eaten so much cheese in my entire life. I think that my favorite was the pizza cheese! They also had (cream) cheese fudge that was DELICIOUS. I was just a little sick to my stomach that night- but all the tasting was well worth it.
Zeb loved sampling all of the cheeses and really wanted to buy an Amish hat so badly- too bad his parents are way too cheap to spend the eight bucks!













That evening we had a dinner of hot dogs and s'mores in the backyard fire pit! Zeb was in heaven- he absolutely adores hot dogs and marshmallows. And later that night we played some exciting rounds of "euchre"- Ohio's own card game- and ate some more cheese from Heinis.
We have the greatest cousins and family members in the entire world! It was so fun to talk and laugh with Amy and craigo. I sure wish that we could see all of the cousins more often.

On Easter Sunday we went to the Ashland branch and then returned home for one of the most delicious Easter meals I've ever tasted. Kathy is part greek and she made the best greek food! We had Baklava- greek custard- grape leaves- and spanakopita. Oh- and a great big lamb cake. I think that the cake was my favorite part of the dinner! We also had an insanely fun easter egg hunt. The weather was perfect and the eggs had money in them! Zeb slept through the event but I made sure and found some eggs for him. I think he may have gotten enough money to buy a new train :)
I already miss all of the great food and company! It was so nice to have a mini vacation and I wish that it could have lasted longer.

I already miss them all.

Our weekend was absolutely wonderful. I know I've said it a trillion times- but it is so nice to have family live on this side of the country! and it makes it even nicer that we've got the starkeys to house and feed us all :) Spending Easter weekend in Ashland was heaven. We ate and laughed and played and ate some more!
Ike loved getting to know his cousin (second cousin once removed actually), Sophie, better. Zeb was in heaven playing with Hank and the ginormous dog Ed. I cannot believe how much fun Zeb had with the dog!! He ran around with him all weekend giggling hysterically. This dog was so good with all the kidlets.We also thoroughly enjoyed playing with Katie and little Taylor! Nothing like a Leisy and Laney sandwich to make you smile. And check out our hair in the pictures. It's the first time EVER that we've had such different hair lengths!!










Saturday we spent nearly all day in Amish country! We hadn't ever been before and it was so great. The Amish are such interesting people. Once Laney sends me some of her pictures from that day- I'll post some more.

so excited for the weekend!!

I can't wait for the weekend to begin. Tomorrow Laney, Taylor, and Hanky arrive! and then Saturday morning it's off to Ashland- one of our favorite places in Ohio- to spend the Easter weekend with the fabulous Starkeys! We have been so lucky here in Ohio to see family so regularly. I don't think I've gone longer than a month without seeing family members of some sort! We are definitely spoiled.

We'll take lots of pictures and have lots of fun this weekend so that we've got something interesting to blog about on Monday. Until then there may be some postless days.













My two turkeys continue to make my life crazy and unpredictable. Zeb has been making some marked improvement in tantrum throwing. He's slowly but surely learning to share and not scream quite so much when he wants something. I can actually come home at the end of the day and not want to rip my hair out or banish him to eternal timeout. The above picture is him trying to workout with us at the church. He loves to follow along with our "firm bootcamp" DVD (which I highly recommend if anyone is looking for a great workout dvd).

Ike is still so so good. He's cooing and talking and smiling like crazy. I am so glad that those first eight boring weeks are behind us :) Somebody at the park approached me today and told me that my two little boys look exactly the same! I'm still not sure who I think Ike looks like- but to the unbiased eye, apparently, he looks like Zeb.

easter playgroup

here is zebby anxiously awaiting today's easter egg hunt! for playgroup the kids had an egg hunt at the church building. The weather turned a bit chilly this week so we had to stay indoors- but I think zeb enjoyed himself all the same.



Here's the after shot of Zeb enjoying his spoils with his pal Ellie. These two are so mean to each other sometimes- but still manage to stay friends. Last week the two of them went at it over a doorknob. They both claimed that it belonged to them (and in Ellie's defense- it was at her house and therefore was more hers than his).

2 month

Today was Ike's two month well check. The kid is 50th percentile in everything- just like his big brother. He weighs 11 pounds six ounces and is 22.5 inches long. He was such a champ for his immunizations. Just a short little screech and then a nice long nap. I am so glad that our Pediatrician's office is on Kent's campus- it means he can run over and be the one to hold down the kidlets while they get their shots.





before







during









after




This kid just keeps getting better and better. He slept a straight eight hours last night. Thank you, Ike.

This kid is just so easy to love. I can honestly say that coming to love this kid has been a much faster process than learning to love zeb! Maybe it's because I can actually enjoy his boringness. Perhaps it's because he is so darn good. And possibly it's just because I am better at loving then I was before. I am not one of the mothers that feels an instant connection to my fetus in utero. It takes time getting to know my little rugrats for me to really like them. I still don't enjoy newborns much- but I do like my Ike.