Baby Lucas

We got an early Christmas present this year -- Baby Lucas (also known as "Bebe Wookie" by Sam &
Ty) arrived December 4, 2011 at 12:52am weighing 8lbs 7oz and 21 inches long. 

It all started when I went in for a regular check-up on Friday, December 2 to my OB.  Without going into too many details, she told me things were progressing and I might even go that weekend.  I was blown away.  And I really didn't believe her (I wasn't due until December 23rd).  I started having contractions early Saturday morning and they continued all day Saturday.  Jack says he knew we were in for it when I dropped an entire gallon of OJ on the floor and it cracked (the plastic split on impact, juice everywhere) at 6am when getting juice for Sam & Ty.  I finally called the doctor around 4pm (Jack had gone into work and we had a Christmas party that evening so perhaps I was procrastinating a little) and shortly thereafter, the contractions became a little more intense.  I still thought maybe we'd be sent home and we could go to our party ...but alas, we were admitted (total denial).

We got settled in to our room, we both took a nap, and then boom: water broke at midnight, Lucas arrived at 12:52 (the doctor barely made it).  Because he came early, and because we were deadlocked, he was BabyBoy VanderPloeg for about 20 minutes while we decided on a name but now we are thrilled with "Lucas".

As he lays sleeping on my chest now, I can still hardly believe he is here.  It's amazing how something so small fit in my belly only a few weeks ago.  He is beautiful and healthy.  He is sleepy and cuddly.  He is simply perfect.

Thanksgiving Weekend

It has been a very busy couple days. On Wednesday, we carpeted our upstairs stairway and the two bedrooms in order to move the boys upstairs. While we loved the look of the hardwood steps, it just simply wasn't safe with the boys in socks or sleepers going up and down those slippery steps. We officially moved them up last night and it went really well! (Note: we did have to take apart their two cribs and then put together the three in one night ... something I never would have envisioned as an exciting Saturday night activity). Their room needs a little bit of love in terms of stuff on the wall and it is certainly an adjustment not having them in "their" old room (for us maybe even more than them -- it just seems empty), but overall it looks good. I even got the new crib bedding washed up and on the new crib and that looks pretty nice too. 



Stairs Before

Stairs After

Thursday was a busy day of Thanksgiving with family. I played my trumpet at church so we had to get a little early start to the morning for practice and then went straight from the service to my folks' house. After a fabulous dinner with my family, we went over to the Ploeg's for the afternoon and didn't get home until 7pm -- it was a long day but the boys did pretty well.




Sam's Cookie Area

Tyler's Cookie Area

Friday was the annual Christmas cookie-a-thon with the VLugts at my mom's house. It's funny how things have changed over the years as we now have more kids than moms which means lots of rotation of who is watching the kids vs. the cookies but the results were delicious. My buddies even got in on the decorating (I have a wonderfully relaxed mom who doesn't get worked up about a sprinkle or two on the floor)! Friday afternoon I also had a dinner date with two of my high school friends who I don't get to see often enough and it was so wonderful to catch up.



Saturday was a much needed day of relative quiet with just me and the boys (Jack was working). The boys and I put up some Christmas decorations, went to the grocery store, played outside, and just hung out. I even squeezed in a nap!

Sunday was the VLugt birthday celebration of the twins turing two. I can hardly believe my babies are two! My mom made them special diet-friendly cupcakes which they loved (I tried them and they were actually good -- this is not always the case with these gluten free, dairy free, etc. mixes). They also made quite a haul in terms of presents: Elmo's, baseball gloves, PJ's, noisy Tonka trucks (with no off switch -- thanks Kristin), books, a Thomas movie, and an art easel with supplies (and probably more that I forgot). They absolutely loved it. I wasn't sure how much they'd get into it but they were both honestly pumped about all of it! Ty was particularly excited about his own glove as Sam wasn't much of a sharer of daddy's old one.

For years I have loved celebrating my beautiful niece and nephews' birthdays with presents, cake, and fun for their special day but I find when the attention is turned towards my kids, I have a lot of the same feelings I felt with my baby or wedding showers -- this is all too much! You are all too nice! I hope this wasn't too much trouble! As I have said before, I have a wonderful family and on this weekend of Thanksgiving and with all its activity, I am reminded how lucky I am to be surrounded by a family who loves me (and my kids) as much as I love them.

Praise the Lord for all his wonderful blessings!

The boys totally zoned out after a busy weekend.

More Dancing

Brothers

It must be so fun to always have a buddy. Whether they are tackling each other or hugging, stealing toys or sharing, they always have a buddy around to play with. The other day, we were at the Woodland play area and twice I noticed Tyler mid-climb on the banana or bowl of shredded wheat suddenly looking around, calling for "Sam, Sam." He just was wondering where his buddy went. And one morning last week, while Sam was still in his crib, he spotted Tyler out with mommy in the hall already and shouted "Tyler!" -- to which Ty immediately responded with "Sam!" and ran towards his crib.

Raising twins has been an interesting parenting experiment and it really shows you just how different personalities can be, regardless of how you parent. Sam is much more likely to want a certain cup, toy or blanket while Tyler is much easier to please and is generally willing to switch for which ever cup, toy or blanket Sam doesn't want (as long as he gets one, of course). Sam loves sports -- he carried his "glub" (aka glove) around for the whole week last week and he is actually pretty good at throwing and hitting off the tee. Tyler likes sports too but he is often content to "golf" (hit a ball on the ground rather than off the tee) while Sam is hitting homers. On that note, though, I must say I am very proud to say that they take turns really well with the tee lately. They love to announce "My turn!" and the other one backs up out of the way.

They are both very verbal lately and will repeat anything you say. On top of that, they also come up with their own sentences or responses to questions that actually make sense. The other day, Sam said to me totally unpromted, "I want ice cream" (definitely my son). They both are getting really good at naming all their cousins (their pictures are on the fridge). They suddenly love Elmo. They both started counting (for which I must give credit to either Kathy or Gramma because they didn't get that from me) and are working on colors and shapes too. There is a whole lot of learning going on in those cute little heads!

We bought our third crib last week and while I know that sounds crazy, I wasn't ready for the hassle of keeping Sam and Ty in big boy beds while moving them to an upstairs bedroom. We bought it on Craigslist and I figure we can always resell it. Funny enough though, two days later Sam showed me just how big he's getting by both climbing in and climbing out of his crib all on his own (neither of which did I actually witness, just the after-effects). He was so proud of himself. He kept saying "I did it!" for about 10 minutes afterward. He hasn't done it since though and I haven't reminded him of his new talent. We have yet to really make the changes around here to prepare for little bud (like moving the boys upstairs and finishing the construction in the basement) but I am aiming for the first of December for everything to be done ...

Smiles

Say cheese Ty!

Got a few wiffles, Sam?

Various Thoughts

Various thoughts from my crazy pregnant brain:

• Children's footed sleepers should all have that flap covering the zipper. Sam has discovered how to unzip and undress.


• Bleach is absolutely necessary in bathroom cleaning products. I tried other shower cleaners (in an effort to avoid the buring sensation in my lungs in our unventilated bathroom) but they simply didn't work. One round with the Tilex with bleach and it looks sparkly clean.


• Tigers in the playoffs means a lot of nights watching baseball in a row.


• When it rains, it pours. In the last few weeks, my 19 year old TV (that I bought in 5th grade with my allowance) died, our 6 year old laptop died (pretty sure), our 9 year old Nissan is running poorly ... and it's either a $500 fix or a much bigger engine issue fix.


• Baking / cooking / any task takes 1/5th the time without kids biting your ankles.


• I can't stand regular radio stations lately. Between the announcers and the ridiculous songs, I seem to find myself listening to NPR (which also repeats itself a lot and has stupid stories). Yes, I just turned 55.


• DVR is a fabulous invention.


• "Expensive" trash bags are worth every penny.


• I love my family. Obviously, I love Jack and my boys but I also love my parents, siblings and niece and nephews. Sometimes I forget how great I have it that we all truly get along and like to be together -- and it is a wonderful blessing.


• Random info for my never updated baby books: Ty is 33.5 lbs, Sam is 27.5 at 22 months.

Baby, Basement, and Food

Little baby Ploeg is 28 weeks now. He's moving and shaking all the time (especially right around 10pm ... hopefully that isn't indicitave of life outside the womb) and my Baby Center weekly email says he's over 14 inches long and 2 pounds. Crazy, huh? He'll be here before we know it and frankly, we're not ready! We are absolutely stuck on a name. We have yet to move the twins upstairs (or get it ready for that matter). I'm not ready for three hour increments of sleep. I'm not ready for another set of lungs hollering for mama. All that said, we are excited for this precious little babe to join our family. I'm excited to see who he looks like, how my boys will react to him, what he will be like.

In the mean time, the boys are doing well. They love to play outside ... a little too much and I'm nervous for the weather to really turn on us. Which is why we are seriously looking into doing some work on our basement to get it usable for them. They will need a place to run and they already love to go down there and play with the ping pong table and toys. Hopefully we can make that happen before December and baby roll around!

We went to the dietician last week but in all honestly, it wasn't all that helpful. We did get a recommendation for a prescription nutrition drink that I think will be good for the boys but all in all, she didn't have any novel ideas or recipes or tactics to make them magically eat carrots or grow out of their allergies. I got the sense that we weren't exactly an easy case (which to be fair, if we actually decide to follow Sam's full list of "bad" allergies, he won't be able to eat much more than carrots and beef -- all easily available grains are out and a lot of fruits). We haven't at this point taken any new steps in the diet though because both boys have been doing relatively well on the current wheat, milk, egg, and nut-free diet. If anything, I may try to exclude soy but that's in a lot of their existing foods that they actually like ... so I haven't decided yet. Wouldn't it be great if #3 didn't have any of these allergies? Unlikely, I know, but man that would be great!

Cheese Monkeys

Every night when I get home from work, the boys follow me into the bedroom so I can change my clothes ... partly because they'll follow me anywhere but mostly because they just love to jump on bed. I didn't quite catch in on the video but they love to jump and shake their fingers and say "No more momos" (ie. no more monkeys jumping on the bed). They also will say "cheese" when I pull out the camera ... not sure where they learned that from but it's awfully cute (not that I'm biased or anything)!

September

We recently had our 8th Annual "Party at the Ploegs" -- this year's theme was "Prom". I was a little nervous about this year's party -- not sure if it was just that a lot of people couldn't make it, I'm simply less "excited" about the hubub involved in preparing for a party with 2.5 little guys, or if I wasn't sure people would dress the part ... but it was a success, as usual. People showed up, people dressed up, and people had fun. Jack and I already have a couple good ideas kicking around for next year!

In other news, there isn't really anything new. The boys are doing great, baby boy (and belly) is growing, work is work, and overall we are just busy with life. We haven't yet had the dietician appointment for the boys so no changes yet to their diet and in all honesty, they look pretty good. Tyler is noticeably taller than Sam now -- maybe an inch and a half and definitely meatier. Ty has a full set of teeth, Sam is lacking only the eye teeth. Sam has a few more words to say than Tyler, but not by much. They both can be very insistent (Up!, Juice!, Sit!) and at least half of the time, I can understand what they want. They definitely love each other like brothers. If Ty wakes up before Sam, it isn't long until he is running over to his crib to go wake him up. If Sam is sitting on the front stoop, Ty has to come sit right by him. They also love to fight, push, steal toys, and generally annoy the other. We are working on taking turns (on the baseball tee, pushing the shopping cart at Nana's, etc.), but it's a tough lesson to learn and a frustrating battle for momma (and anyone else watching them). Thankfully, most of the "important" toys have come in pairs ... like these Cozy Coupes!

They love being outside with their cars, a bat and ball, sidewalk chalk, or just simply running down the sidewalk. I'm a little nervous for winter as I'm not sure how I'll get all their energy out without having the great outdoors to suck it out of them.

Kiddie Pool Fun

We recently got a new kiddie pool (from one of my bosses whose kids are too old for it now) and the boys love it -- with or without the water! They played in it today for a good hour.

We had breakfast this morning with my VLugt sisters at Nana's with all the cousins as a last hurrah before Auntie Dana heads back to school for the year and to celebrate the end of summer. Woah... end of summer?! When did that happen?

20 Months, 21 Weeks

My 20 month old boys are growing and changing every day; Sam is 25 pounds, Ty is 30 pounds. My 21 week old boy is growing and changing every day too; little bud is 1 pound. That's right -- it's another boy! We had our ultrasound this week and he is looking great -- healthy and normal, 75% for weight. We went to an allergist two weeks ago for the twins -- not so healthy and normal so we went and had the blood testing redone and hopefully we'll get the results soon. We may have to reevaluate our diet for the boys but thankfully, the allergist recommended we see a dietician. It would be wonderful to have some help with what to feed our kids -- somehow I think sausages, hot dogs and fruit snacks probably isn't cutting it. There are days when I would just love to make them an easy PB&J, or mac n cheese, or grilled cheese, or pretty much anything normal. It's hard to say no, heartbreaking even sometimes. Argh. But I guess the idea is that by doing all this crazy diet now, hopefully someday they can eat normally.

We had a fun and busy day Thursday at the Conference Grounds with the Ploegs. The boys played on the beach, played a little in Lake Michigan (although mostly just with buckets as the water was in the 50's), played in the kiddie pool, played on the playground, played at the campsite. They were both out cold within minutes of leaving at 7:30pm. Just exhausted. But it was a beautiful, fun day!

Camp VanderLugt 2011

Another year of Camp VanderLugt is in the history books. We went back to Big Star Lake in Baldwin, Michigan this year and it was a beautiful week at the beach (only two days were gloomy). Sam struggled a little at night with sleeping but as a whole, they slept and napped pretty well (especially compared to last year!). We played in the sand, in the water, by the cottage, in the cottage, and around the cottage. There was a lot of baseball, sand and water in and out of pails, sunscreen, wet bathing suits, sandy feet, trains and cars inside, campfires, smores, popsicles, Praise Baby and Backyardagains. I can't tell you any one super exciting thing that happened but every day was busy, busy, busy and filled with family and fun. It is very cool to see how the all cousins interact (Will and Caleb are two peas in a pod) -- we are up to 8 grandbabies as of this year, 11 come next year, and they are all so different but all very good and happy kids.

I do miss seeing and hugging all the little munchkins (and of course, my siblings) and having a lake feet away from our place for the hot days when the boys want to be outside, but it is nice to be home. I wasn't exactly anxious to get home (thankfully, I really love my family!), but the benefits of a bed that we fit in, air conditioning, water that doesn't smell like eggs, feet that aren't constantly sandy and dirty, and kids that sleep fairly consistently are nice. The boys were quite funny when we got home too -- I think they missed their house and toys. All in all, it was a successful week at camp!

Summertime

Summertime is so much fun. The boys just love summer; they love to run on the sidewalks, love to hold the water hose, love to fill up their pails, love to shoot hoops, love to play baseball, and they love to eat popsicles. What's not to love about summer?

We had a fun-filled day yesterday that left the boys (and mommy and daddy) pooped today. First we went to Nana's house to plan the upcoming "Camp VanderLugt" with my sisters (I am very hopeful for a fun week with the boys, full of naps and sleeping through the night). They always love to play at Nana's with their cousins. Then we went to celebrate my friend Betsy's upcoming baby at a house on Green Lake. While the loved the beach and the new toys and steps to explore, it was the slide into the kiddie pool that was the highlight of the night. They were relentless and quite entertaining going down the slide and splashing in the pool. That is, of course, until Tyler's foot got caught on the top of the slide and he took a dive head first into the cement. That was a little terrifying but he seems to be just fine and was ready to go play (but not on the slide) within 10 minutes. Kids are tough!

As far as news updates, I am now 17 weeks pregnant and doing pretty well. We find out next appointment (in 4 weeks) if it's a girl or a boy and we can't wait! I always find the appointments interesting though as they are much less intense compared to last pregnancy! Tyler's molars are all in and now the eye teeth are starting to poke through. Sam's upper molars are in, the lowers are working on it. We've had a rough few days with eating -- I think Sam ate just 2 sausages for breakfast and maybe 2 packs of fruitsnacks, and some veggie straws all day yesterday. He can be such a bugger (no wonder he lost weight last time!). I do think it is working though. While their skin is not perfect, I can tell when they eat something they shouldn't and they do look pretty "normal", for the most part. We also just bought a mini-van after much deliberation and negotiation ... and boy am I glad to be done with that!

Otherwise, all is well with the Ploegs. We are enjoying summer and trying to deal with the heat!

July Fun

My boys have found a new love: water. Sprinkler, hose, tub, pool, lake -- you name it, they love it. Here is some of the fun we had tonight:

And here are the boys this morning in an unprompted show of love :).

We had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. We enjoyed a beautiful Sunday at the Holtvluwer's cottage in Howard City (Brenda's parents). On Monday, we went to the Grandville Fourth of July Parade and then back to the Ploegs for lunch, wiffle ball, and sprinklers.

We also got Sam's first haircut last week. He wasn't thrilled about it but with the help of some Smarties, he did just fine. No trim for Tyler yet but it really is starting to come in!

Updates!

The boys had their 18 month checkup last week. Tyler gained a little (less than a pound) but is still about 80% for weight, 95% for height. Sam lost weight and is now 20% for weight, 90% for height. Some of that is due to the fact that he just plum doesn't like to eat (or at least not what he is allowed to eat), some of that is due to the nasty cold that has hit the entire VPloeg household. We also were referred to an allergist since their skin hasn't exactly been great, even with the food diet. Amazingly though, this week they both look pretty good so I haven't exactly been jumping to set up the appointment (I know I'll regret that later).

Aside from the boys' health, we have been doing pretty well. Nothing new really but they are growing and learning and playing just like normal kids. Here are some pics from the Raredon's beach. They just love it -- no tears, no whining, just lots of fun in the sand!

8 Years + 1 1/2 Years = Crazy

Jack and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on Monday with a romantic dinner accompanied by our boys who turned 1 1/2 years old the day before. And by "romantic", I mean boys climbing on the table, pulling on shirts, throwing sippy cups, and crying for cookies. Such is our life, huh? Our wedding day seems like ages ago but nevertheless, a fun day to remember and celebrate, even if only with a crazy dinner and the flowers Jack brought home for me.

My toddlers (totally not babies anymore as they are fast approaching 2!) are doing well. They love to play outside, even in the 90 degree weather. They love to scoot on their trucks. They love fruit snacks and orange juice. They love their mamma. They love their Praise Baby DVD before naps or bedtime (but tragically, all our DVR's of Lawrence Welk were deleted when our AT&T malfunctioned). Tyler has 8? teeth, including 1 molar and the other 3 poking through. Sam has 8; no molars yet but they are trying to come in too. Skin and food are a constant battle but the giggles and hugs help me move past it. We are finally in "coast" mode for naps (partially due to our routine of Praise Baby and singing songs), at least most of the time. What was once an awful cry-fest, is now fairly painless. They nap between 1ish and 3ish and sleep from 8:30 til 7 something (or 8:30am like Wednesday this week!). One of the two generally wakes up sometime in the middle of the night at least 2 out of 10 nights but still, I count that as pretty good. One day this week, Sam literally ran giggling to his crib for his nap and went right down. That was a first.

Jack and I are knee-deep in big decisions involving a new minivan and maybe a new house. We've only made baby steps so far, but both are likely inevitable. It would be one thing if either one was like "should I buy this $30 blender or the $75 one?" ... but no, these both have decidedly higher price tags with decidedly higher stress. Beyond that, I'd say we are doing well. Excited for more nice days, wagon rides, and baseball with the boys.

More Silly Tyler

While they don't really know how to use these cars yet, they love to sit in them and play with the wheel and sirens. Love it!

Dancing Tyler

Tyler loves to dance.

Inspiration

I have a lot to be thankful for. I have two beautiful children. I have a loving husband. We have an amazing extended family. We have a house we can afford. We have jobs and great childcare. But yet, I am so frustrated with the boys' food allergies. I am struggling. I do not like feeding them. I don't know what to feed them. I don't know how to get them to eat new things. Meals are my least favorite part of the day.

I have been trying to put this all in perspective lately and have had some pretty good examples to look to. A friend Jack went to high school with, Matt, and his wife left last October with their two kids for Africa to be missionaries. They sold everything they owned and moved, not intending to come back for years. Five months later, they had to fly back to find out their oldest daughter has leukemia. Not that anyone "should" have a kid with cancer, but really? Missionaries? Lindsey, Matt's wife, also keeps up on a blog and she had an amazingly insightful post not too far back. In essence, she said that for a kid to get through cancer, she needs two loving parents. She needs faith, family and love. For any other child, it would be just too much to go through without all that. I'm not sure I could have been that insightful in her position.

Another friend I used to work with, Rob, had just moved to Arkansas for a new job with his family when his second child, Johnny, (of five) was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He died a few weeks ago after a year long battle. Through it all, they were an amazing witness to God's faithfulness. In every news story (and there were a lot -- from Dick Vitale wearing Johnny's arm band to Cornerstone's basketball team winning their division championship and giving the MVP trophy to Johnny), the focus was on God and the family's faith. One comment from Rob in an article said something about how he would have gladly switched his healthy brain without anesthesia for his son's cancerous one. And how, when he thought about that, he was struck by how willingly God gave his only son for us and how he wasn't sure he would do the same.

I realize that these allergies, while a total pain in my side, are not life threatening. These two amazing families have been inspirational to me, not just because of these stupid allergies, but just in general as they have gone through so much and can still praise God. How can I even blink about something so relatively easy?

I started writing this post last week Sunday when I was quite depressed about how things were going with the boys. I am happy to say, however, that I think we finally may have made some progress as Sam is finally improving (not perfect, but improving).

Rob / Johnny: http://www.mlive.com/smallcolleges/grandrapids/index.ssf/2011/05/family_friends_of_johnny_teis.html

Lindsey / Lola: http://followingthecall.org/2011/03/who-should-it-be/

May Fun

Oh the boys. What's new over here ... well, we had to get more blood drawn from the boys today because last time they ran out of blood to complete the allergy testing. Since Sam has been a total mess for the last month or two, we decided to figure out the milk thing ... and chances are pretty good that food group will be out. For those counting, we would then be left with meats, most veggies and fruits (which they aren't overly fond of), corn and rice. The doc recommended we see a nutritionist to make sure the kids get what they need ... which I think may be a little tough. Meal times are among my least favorite part of the day anyway so I can't wait to throw another monkey wrench into the mix.

Beyond that, they are getting lots of new teeth, including some molars. They love playing outside. In fact, this morning, they were banging on the door trying to get out to play. Tyler is a total goofball. Sam is a riot too but seriously mischevious. Anything he can possibly find to get in trouble with, he does. They are starting to become just a teensy bit independent... by that I mean, I can sort of let them go play on their own and not worry too much about major catastrophies. For example, yesterday, I was raking up the ridiculous amount of grass clippings from our first lawn mow while the boys were in our little gated area behind the garage playing baseball ... for like 20 minutes! I wasn't even in their eye sight and they were just having a ball. I kept checking on them ... but they were just doing their thing. It was awesome. They still love Lawrence Welk and get very excited any time the theme music starts to play (it's quite funny). They love their morning OJ (the only time they drink something other than water all day) -- Sam helps us get the juice out of the fridge every morning and sucks it down in less than 2 minutes.

Oh and they love to tickle daddy's feet (see last post). And it's not acting from Jack. He cannot STAND when anyone touches his feet ... thus my egging on the boys!

Tickle Daddy!

April Odds & Ends

Today marks the second anniversary of the happiest day of my life. And in all honesty, I'm not sure it can ever be topped. Two years ago today we found out our dream of becoming parents was finally coming true. It was a wonderful day with happy phone calls and tears of joy. It was also the day I met my nephew, Joshua (who was born the night before) which just added one more layer of happiness. I have had a lot of especially happy days (the boys' birthday, our wedding) and I imagine I'll have more ... but this one was simply the best.

As the weather has finally warmed up (even if only sporatically), we have finally been able to get in a little T-ball with the boys and let me tell you, they are naturals! The bats are a little heavy yet but I think they'll gain their strength fast. We have also devised a working fence for now closing off the area behind our porch and garage (thanks Brenda!) that so far, has been working wonderfully.

We have been doing a wheat, egg, nut-free diet for the past few weeks and it has only been working OK so far. We probably should be excluding dairy too but we don't know for sure that they are allergic as they didn't draw enough blood to test (grr!). Tyler looks good and he hasn't had any break outs like he used to since (he'd start itching his eyes and get all puffy / hivey during or right after meals) we've started but I can't say that he's stopped itching. Sam has had a rough go of it the past few weeks. In fact, he's been a mess. His knees have been raw, his skin feels like sandpaper, and all around just not good. We had him on an antiboitic that helped a little but now that it's done, it's starting to come back. It's very frustrating to be trying so hard but not getting results. Unfortunately, I know the drill which I'm sure isn't exactly helping my attitude about the whole situation.

On the whole, the boys are doing very well. We are trying very hard to teach them words (still a little slow in that area). Sam has a new tooth but Ty has been stuck at 6 for months. We're graduating to 24mth sizes. Sam's hair is probably due for a cut, Ty's is finally starting to come in. They both love their mommy a little too much sometimes but since the same can be said for mommy, I guess I can't hold it against them.

Wagons, Spring, and Bowling

We got a new wagon for Christmas this past year and were finally able to use it this week! (Next up: The T-Ball set!) Daddy put it together and man, is it a smooth ride! I think they're really going to love it this year. We are so excited to go play outside and ecstatic about the warmer weather (as evidenced by these lovely crocuses blooming!). It's a lot of work to take the boys outside and I'm always a half second away from a skinned chin, but they just can't get enough of it.

We also got to try bowling this week as we celebrated our cousin Jeff's 11th birthday with some fun and festivities at the Hudsonville Lanes. They were both a little frustrated at why they couldn't play with all the balls on the racks... they just looked so fun! We tried to get them to roll them back and forth, but picking them up is just much more fun. Tyler lifted an 8 pounder off the ground before we diverted attention to simply running around the alley (I sensed impending doom for a toe or finger). We had a lot of fun celebrating!