Easter in Seattle

We continue to impress ourselves with the mobility of our family of five. Before kids we were happy to make the drive from Bend to Seattle in 6 hours. Since having Piper, it has taken us as long as 8 hours. This past week both going and coming home we were able to do the drive in just under 6 1/2 hours. That is with one stop to nurse the babies, get lunch and use the bathroom! WAY TO GO TEAM!!!

Time flew by in Seattle, but we had a nice trip and even squeezed in a day at the Woodland Park Zoo and Pacific Science Center. Fun to take advantage of these big city attractions while we had the chance.

Grandma and Grandpa got lots of snuggles from the kids and it was so much fun to see Piper play with her big cousin Garret. He is so good with Piper and they really do play well together.

We got to meet Cora, our one year old Scottish cousin while my cousin Jolyn and her husband Joe were in town from Scotland. And The Tylers even made an appearance to see us and meet the twins. Their four kids always impress me, it is so fun to see them even for a short visit.

Easter egg hunting was a big success - Piper loved it and was surprisingly good at it. The Easter Bunny hid eggs all over the house in pretty hard spots and Piper was so into it. She found all but one or two of the hidden eggs and wanted to keep looking for more. It was probably about an hour of entertainment...(note to self - something to remember for a game at home) A few weeks before Easter we had told Piper that the Easter Bunny would be coming to Grandma and Grandpa's house and he was going to bring candy for her like Santa brought presents at Christmas time. Well Piper was so excited about finding the plastic eggs she forgot all about the candy and was happy to just put the eggs in her basket. Later that morning, while we were out to breakfast, Piper says, "The Easter Bunny forgot to bring candy!" We all laughed and when we got home showed her that the candy was inside the plastic eggs.

We had family come over to celebrate Easter and my birthday in the afternoon, with a highlight being another Easter Egg hunt for Garret and Piper. More exciting news was my cousin Celeste sharing that she and her husband Tim were pregnant with a baby boy! Congratulations!!!

The babies did really well and were spoiled with love and attention. I guess I didn't get many pictures of Calvin and Jett on Easter, but I promise they too had fun.

Here is a cute picture of Piper helping to feed Jett a bottle while I went to book club with some friends last night. David "the super dad" got all three kids fed and in bed with no problems, what a rock star! Thank you Love of Mine!!!

Walk before we RUN

While walking with our three kids in the chariot stroller the other day, David and I came up with a good analogy for getting out and enjoying our life. At the time we were on a little outing, heading to the "Lion Pool" (see older blog for pics of Piper swimming). We were talking about the big travel plans we have for our family and feeling a little overwhelmed with how we were going to make such grand plans happen. We decided that we need to just start getting out and going places and doing things and these outings will give confidence to plan the next adventure. The analogy of needing to walk before we can run came up and we laughed that the very outing we were on was like rolling over before we could sit up...

So that must mean that last week when we took our first family trip to the Oregon Coast, we now have "sat up." This was a very fun and I must say successful first get-a-way. The kids did great on the 4 hour car ride, only needing to stop once to feed the twins. We had a cute little modern house with great beach access. Piper and Mango LOVED running on the beach - getting chased by the waves was favorite activity. The aquarium at Newport was impressive and just so much fun to watch Piper get excited about everything she saw.

The babies weren't as crazy about seeing the ocean for the first time in their little lives, but we had to get them out to feel the salty breeze. I think they will thank us in the future! =-) This is David teaching Piper about never turning your back on a wave. The freezing cold water didn't seem to phase piper...we definitely have a water baby! Fun times had by all...Balancing rocks has become one of David's new favorite past times, he has gotten quite good at it...I liked this picture for its artistic angle of having me and the kids (babies in stroller) in the "mouth" of this balanced rock.

Now we are back home ready to enjoy a nice spring, this picture is with the twins in two Bjorn baby carriers and Piper of course in her stroller. I was out on a walk to the park and I couldn't believe how many people stopped and stared, one family slowed down their car to watch us walk by and most everyone at the park liked to make comments...I think it is a good thing we started out our family with our good looking dog, Mango. We have gotten used to people stopping us to ask about him and make a fuss about how cute he is. Now it is having the twins and a two year old that is the show stopper. That is okay, I know I must look pretty ridiculous...as long as we are getting out and on to the next adventure.

Next up learning to crawl...

Piper's first hair cut

A few Friday's ago we decided to FINALLY give Piper her first haircut at almost 2 1/2 years old. Part of me just wanted to let it keep growing and growing, but the endless food getting caught and causing unmanageable tangles finally won me over. That and the fact that Piper is not a fan of getting her hair combed, it was starting to look ridiculous. I think my resistance to getting it cut was my personal grudge against my own childhood bowl cut that lasted way too long. I see the ease of short hair on kids, especially when they don't let you comb it, but Piper likes her long hair...and so do I. Even if it means a struggle to get it brushed. We went to Sprouts, a kids salon, and Piper liked the car chair she got to sit on. The stylist even put sparkles and a purple clip in her hair.

Piper the FISH

Piper has mad skills in the water. We call her our little fish! She loves to be underwater and can hold her breath for a long time - it is almost scary. We went to McMenamins soaking pool yesterday as a special date with just mommy, daddy and piper. This Turkish bath is like a hot swimming pool, with fountains and beautiful tile work and best of all has an open air ceiling. It was such a fun morning, we biked over to our favorite bakery, Nancy P's for a sweet treat, then headed to the pool. I am happy I had my camera to witness Piper take her first real swim across the pool. She was so proud of herself and wanted to do it over and over again.

Piper is not even 2 1/2 years old yet and so confident in the water. We are so proud!

Seriously, Piper loves to be underwater, she might grow gills if she is not careful!

And the boys are growing and getting cuter and cuter...Thank you Courtney for the matchy-poo monkey suits. I never thought I would be one to dress them alike, but I have to admit, it is fun! In all of these pictures Calvin is on the right and Jett is on the left.

Thriving as a family of FIVE

Piper is at such a fun and challenging age. She continues to make us laugh with some of the things she says - like the other day she asked David, "Daddy...would you cry if you pooped in your pantalettes?" Or yesterday Piper was in her playroom rocking on her rocking horse and I could hear her saying in this sad voice, "I'm all alone, I'm all alone, I'm all alone." Then this morning one of the babies woke up and I was going to go into the closet (where they are sleeping in a pack-n-play these days) and Piper said so sweetly, "I will come with you Mommy, so you wont be alone." Being two years old she is also continually testing limits. Messing with the babies when they are sleeping seems to be a favorite line to cross. But for the most part she is super interested in the twins and loves to kiss them and sing to them. When she wakes up in the morning she likes to ask, "Do the babies want to see me?" Here are a few fun pictures of Piper while we were out for an evening walk at Shevlin Park. I love this frumpy face in this 2nd picture... Calvin and Jett have seemed to "wake up" this last week. They are getting so much more alert and really starting to smile and bat and play with their hanging toys. It is fun to see their little differences already. Jett seems to be more physically active, always moving his arms and legs in non-stop motion. Calvin does move around too, but also can be seen just chilling totally still and relaxed, yet wide awake. For two months we have David's mom Alice in town. She has been a huge help with the kids and here to give us a break from our all of a sudden large family! Alice is house sitting at our good friends Michelle and Eric's house while they are away in Argentina spending quality family time with their new little one, Mae. Piper is a big fan of having Grandma around to play with and do projects with and EAT ICE CREAM with! And the twins love the attention of singing songs and cuddling. David and I have really appreciated the time away to go x country skiing, out to a leisurely breakfast, or even just to shut the office door and get some work done. Thank you Alice for all your help and support. Lately we have also had fun making use of our double chariot stroller! We bought this off craigslist this summer in anticipation of having 3 kids and wanting to make sure we keep getting out to enjoy all the fun outdoor things that we love to do here in Bend. This stroller is great because it has attachments for a bike trailer, x-country skiing, jogging and just strolling through town. These adorable bear suits are so so cute, thank you Ron and Jess Alford for all the wonderful hand-me-downs. It has been pretty cold here, so these warm fuzzies have been put to good use! And here is a few more pics of our sweet sweet boys...

A few weeks ago, before my mom went back to Seattle, we had a visit from my dad, sister and nephew Garret. They came down for the weekend to meet the new babies and pick up my mom to bring her back home. It was so fun to watch Piper and Garret play together. We packed in a busy weekend full of fun - bouncy house, museum, playing toys and even squeezed in a "movie night" watching a 20 min Dora show - complete with popcorn! Fun family time. Then it was time for us to see what a family life of FIVE was all about. I wasn't sure how we were going to manage without the help of my mom, especially with getting up with Piper in the morning, staying on top of the daily laundry that piles up so fast, meals, dishes, changing diapers...and all the little things that she helped with every day. But I have to say, the transition went smoothly, and we are feeling more and more confident every day. I have learned to nurse, burp and change both babies by myself, sometimes even in about 30 minutes. We are getting out and about by ourselves, one on one dates with Piper, and as a whole family. My body is recovering nicely, I even was able to hike a 3 mile loop with Mango after dropping Piper off at school. It felt great to be outside! Last weekend we took Piper sledding and this weekend we went snowshoeing, I am very proud of ourselves for getting out and enjoying the winter. The babies are troopers all snuggled in the front carrier cozy inside Davids down jacket. Here are a few photos for you to enjoy... Calvin and Jett are proving to be sweet and mellow little guys. They have their moments, but for the most part they are happy and chill most of the time. They are still sleeping a lot, which is nice because it gives us plenty of time to play with Piper or get some work done. Piper's favorite thing to do these days is play with her dollhouse. I am so happy the twins decided to bring this present home from the hospital for Piper. She LOVES it!

Just so you know, in both the pictures above, Calvin is on the left and Jett is on the right.

This picture is from last night, after the last feeding before bedtime. As you can see I am just as passed out as these little guys and I really did go to bed just before 8 o'clock in the evening. It might have also had something to do with the first margarita I had since not being pregnant anymore! Ye haw...party animal!!!