Oh my GOSH!

The girls are parroting everything these days and I'm reeeeally having to watch what I say now. They are picking up on everything they hear and can say thousands of words by now.

A few days ago Jocelyn was frustrated while trying to put her headband back on and she spit out "Oh my gosh!" I was a bit shocked. I quickly tried to think of how often I use that words and couldn't remember. But I guess Kyle and I must use it enough for her to pick up on. Another sentance she feels proud of saying (which is actually her first complete sentance) is, "My eyes are brown." Both her and Ivy like to identify eye color, pointing to others and saying:
"Ivy. Boo eyes."
"Jocy. Bown eyes."
"Mommy. Bown eyes."
"Daddy. Boo eyes"
And then it gets repeated. Multiple times. Per hour.

And I have to say. As much as I DESPISED having newborn twins (its been long enough since the newborn stage that I feel comfortable admitting it now), I really do LOVE having toddler twins. These two girls are such good friends. They do fight and tease. But they play games together, willingly share, tell stories to each other, hug, kiss, cuddle, and get into mischief together. I love them so much and they make me strive to be a better, more patient person everyday. Nothing motivates me like these two angels.

One word that Ivy says that makes me smile right now is "Tab-bub." For Bathtub :)

A few weeks ago at the SGPD Awards Ceremony I got presented with a "Lifesaving Award" for a 911 call that I took back from a woman whose husband had gone into cardiac arrest. She was thankful that I was there to instruct her on how to perform CPR correctly so that her husband was able to be revived and make a recovery, and she wrote a letter thanking me and SGPD for our service. What a sweet gesture!

Sometimes the girls like to climb in the front seat, put on a pair of sunglasses, and pretend to drive. I'm usually surprised the next time I start my car because the hazard lights are blinking, the windshield wipers on, and the radio up full blast. 

We like nisson park for wading to keep cool .

And RedCliffs Campground for playing in the mud.

There was one last, late snowstorm in May. We booked it up to the Browse exit and ate a few handfuls before we got cold enough to get back in the truck.

Painting. You've seen it before. We still do it a LOT.

Ivy practicing "painting her toenails." Greenish-yellowish-blueish. Prettyyyy!

The splash pad is more fun this year because we are better at climbing and walking around. The only drawback seems to be the sicknesses that come along with visiting the splash pad. About a month ago the girls came down with hand, foot, and mouth disease (a viral infection) shortly after visiting the splash pad for the first time this season. I didn't make a connection between the two until several people at my work starting saying that THEIR kids had the hand, foot, and mouth disease after visiting the splash pad. In total, I know at least 8 people whose kids have come down with the sickness after being at the splash pad. Could be coincidental but.... I personally think not.

I decided to abandon street running JUST for one day and hit the trail instead. I cruised up Water Canyon in Pinevalley and enjoyed the spring wildflowers in their full bloom.

 And saw this horned toad.



One afternoon I heard 30 seconds of silence. I was terrified. I ran screaming through the house looking for the girls and I found them in the pantry. Covered in flour. Along with everything else. They had a blast.

We traveled to San Diego in May to see my baby brother, Kalin, graduate from the Marine Corps boot camp. The girls quite liked playing in the sand at Coronado Beach.

Kalin and Jocy half buried.

Ninety-nine times out of a hundred she will chose the "boy" item over the "girl" item. Thomas the Train and Cars are her favorites right now. What is a princess? We don't know that word around this house. *whew!*

This was my birthday present! I was soooo excited that Kyle (along with our friends, the Farnsworths) built me a chicken coop! No, really. It's probaly the coolest present I've ever received! Its at the east end of our first garden underneath the shade of the neighbors trees. We are still waiting just a little while to rent it out to chickens though. Probably toward the end of the summer when things cool down just a bit.

Ivy admiring the bees on the creeping rosemary.

Me and my two cute brothers and their girlfriends getting ready to hike down into Yankee Doodle Canyon.

We did end up hiking down the riverbed but we MISSED the turnoff for Yankee Doodle and ended up just exploring the riverbed for several more miles.

That's my update!

Verbs of Life

March and April.
Planting. Building. Swinging. Smiling. Studying. Smelling. Painting, Tasting, Reading, Peeking. Those are just a few verbs that describe what we've been up to the last couple of months! The girls are chattering non-stop these days and I'm still trying to keep up with them.

Big girl swings!

Trying our hand out at screws and screwdrivers

Cookie beater love

Reading in her box

Painting with a cottonball

Painting with a dandelion

Look Mommy! Wellow!

Self expression

Messes are fun

Peeking out of the chicken coop in progress

Planting

Painting with pine needles

Dip dip dip

Pre-painting practice

Jocy offering the bees a flower

Ivy watching the bees on the rosemary

Two at Two

My two are now TWO!
I can't believe how that second year flew by. And, my gosh, they are changing so much everyday now. I'm constantly suprised by their new words and skills I didn't even know they had picked up on. They are such good friends now that they are old enough to understand how to play together. Of course they fight, usually over a toy or piece of food, but they forget fast and go right back to playing. Just a bit about each:

Ivy


24+ lbs

Some of her newest words: flower (wowow), yucky (kucky), ice (iche), no (NO!), good night (nigh nigh), cheese (tchi), ball (baw), peekaboo (peeebo), Elmo/Abby (Ahmo/Ahbee).

Thinks bugs and jellybeans are hilarious.

Wears Moms shoes around the house. And Dads too.

Loves the letters R, M, and W. Carries these 3 magnet letters around with her everywhere she goes and repeats them. "Ahhhrr, Eeeem, Dabooo."

Loves singing the ABC's and tries to join in at P and W.  "....P!!!..... Dabo!."

Thinks tears are "kucky" and gets disgusted when tears come out of hers or Jocys eyes.

Loves playing tug o war with Jocelyn and gets laughing so hard she can't run straight and runs into walls.

Likes coloring on paper with crayons, pens, whatever. Likes drawing cirles over and over.

Hates her teeth being brushed.

Loves Sesame Street; Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Abby Cadabby specifically.

Jocelyn

21+ lbs

Some of her newest words: yay (yayyyyy!), okay (oootay), wall (wahw), car (caaah), clock (cack), tortilla (tia), slide (sigh), yucky (kucky), no (NO!), good night (nigh nigh), Elmo/Abby (Ahmo/Ahbee)

Thinks umbrellas are hilarious.

Favorite books are Go Dog Go and No, David. Requests them to be read 30 times a day.

Asks for a "tia" for lunch fairly often (tortillas = quesadillas).

When she gets dirt on her hands or pants she hits it and says "Go! Go!" telling it to go away.

Thinks there is a monster in Mom and Dads closet.

Likes helping Mom sweep the kitchen floor every day with her little broom. Likes helping vacuum too with her little vacuum.

Loves the slide.

Scared of walking on hills.

Loves Sesame Street; Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Abby Cadabby specifically.





Of course I took a boatload of pictures for their birthday. We had a family dinner and then opened gifts, had cake, and played on the little kid rollercoaster they got for their birthday.



We really do love our Grandpa Lamoreaux even though we don't show it!



Without even having to ask her, my sister Rachelle is ALways stepping in to help me with the girls when she can see I need it. Like here when I'm running around and Jocy wants to be held. Rachelle is awesome!

These are the "Abby Cadabby" wands I made the girls. They LOVE Abby and think her wand is a firework.

The day before the girls birthday, I ran my first race ever, the Washington City Dogtown half-marathon (13.1 miles). I've been training for awhile but I'm still a newbie so I didn't know what to expect. Therefore my only goal was to finish, and not last. It was really hot and I'd totally overdressed so I was heat-exhausted by the end. I started hurting at about mile 11 but I pushed hard and ended with a time of 2:02, a great pace of 9:22 and a new personal record for me. I love the feeling of testing my physical limits and the exhilaration of giving my 100% and finishing something that was hard to do. I plan on running some more races this spring and summer and then hitting the St George Marathon this fall. My only goals are to finish and improve MY time. I'm racing myself. I'm trying to get Kyle to jump on the running bandwagon with me but he's hard to convince.



Just finished. Overheated and guzzling Gatorade.





Dancing to some Def Leppard "Animal" with J

Sharing Gatorade with the girls.