Brothers Three

With Daddy's help, we got all three to smile at once in the top photo. The 2nd one is funny to me because Daniel looks so put upon, so I call that the "Daniel Sandwich" photo. The last one is where Daddy was playing with the Caleb boy as he was a bit grumpy for the photo shoot overall. I might add here that Josiah is also sick with some cold thing-a-ma-bob like me. The difference though is that he has energy (as usual) and I don't. How is that fair? Oh yeah, life isn't fair, I almost forgot! Enjoy the photos and have a great day!

More Fun Josiah-isms

I have been collecting some fun Josiah sayings for a while now and thought I would share them with you now. One thing he has been doing lately is when he does something successfully afterward he will say, "That's how you do it!" very matter of factly.

The other day he wanted me to tell the story of "Mater and the Ghostlight." http://video.yahoo.com/watch/142876 He lines up all his cars in a long line and puts both his Sheriffs on the other side facing all the cars. Then he says, "Momma, tell Mater and Ghostlight." So I started to tell it and with a funny voice I said, "Once upon a time in Radiator Springs there was a mysterious blue glow..." Then I started laughing really hard and he started laughing too. Josiah then points at me and says with a mustered up serious face, "Don't laugh, Momma. Tell story!" I attempted to tell the story and started laughing again and he tried to make me serious again. We had a lot of laughs that night before bedtime!

We were reading one of his I-Spy books and he pointed out a little figurine and it went something like this:
Josiah: It's a boy. What's name?
Me: I don't know his name. You can make it up. You tell me what his name is.
Josiah: Trentrome.
Me: Trentrome?
Josiah: Yeah, Trentrome. He's a man. He has a sword. He's bad man. He hates bears.
(As a side note, we watched Brother Bear on the Disney channel the other day, so the hating bears part probably came from that show.)
Josiah then points to the figurine again.
Josiah: This is Daddy.
Me: I thought it was Trentrome?
Josiah: No, it's Dada now!
Me: What does Dada do?
Josiah: He works.
Me: Where does he work?
Josiah: At work.
At this point, I tried to get him to say "Pemco" as that it where Daddy works.
Me: Can you say Pemco?
Josiah: NO, I can't say that.

Today's dialogue this morning:
Me: Mommy is an adult. You are a kid.
Josiah: I am not a duck!
Me: No, silly I didn't say you were a duck. Mommy is an adult, you are a kid.
Josiah: I'm boy!
(I eventually got him to pronounce the the word "adult.")

Glutton for Punishment

Hello All, I am writing to you again with yet another (count them now 4 in 4 months) illness. I am pretty sure it is another sinus infection, but who knows. The most annoying part about it all is that even if I do go to the doctor (which incidentally I tried to do tonight but it just so happened the clinic open until 10pm was closed early for a staff meeting) they won't give me anything much to help because I am nursing. The last time I was given Amoxicillin, which seemed to help but apparently didn't fully rid me of my infection 'cause here it is back again. I feel like quoting the Terminator here, "Ahhll-be-bahhk!!" It seems my body is acting out that commercial for Musinex where the mucous makes its home in my sinuses and instead of getting fully kicked out, it leaves behind a baby mucous to torment me after it is fully grown. Ugh!!! Perhaps I should just have the resolve and have the expectation that every month around the last part that I will be getting sick again and then it wouldn't bother me so much? And might I add that my sinus surgery in March 2007 was supposed to make it so I don't get sick constantly? Oh and another fun tidbit, the doctor who did my surgery is pawning me off on my OBGYN and Family Practice doctor 'cause they don't feel comfortable prescribing for me because I am nursing. UGH!!! I suppose I could force the issue and make an appointment, which likely would be 2 or 3 weeks out when I am well again and don't need the appointment.

After all that...please pray for me. This is all very frustrating indeed and I am up at the lovely 2:00 AM hour today because Caleb woke up briefly because he was squiggling down his seat and got the blankie over his head. I fixed him up and gave him a pacifier and he fell back asleep after I already got his bottle ready and such. Well, I guess it gave me an excuse to write a blog post and take another Sudafed before trying to sleep again only to wake up around 4:30 again to feed the boys. Maybe they will sleep until 5 AM or perhaps 6 AM...yeah pray for that! (Amd by the time you pray they will already be up! Hee hee!)

Anyway, in my self pity I will now dutifully quote James (which I am working to memorize) "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds, because the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." I am determined to learn something through all this illness. Whether it be patience in annoying circumstances or something else I don't know, but with the Lord's help I will learn it! Blessings to you all! Thanks for your prayers!

Uncle & Aunt Time!!

My brother Brent and his wife Katie visited us this last Sunday. Brent was on his way to the airport to fly over to Spokane to help my mother and her family clean out Grandpa's house. They stopped in for a quick visit with the babes and then afterward I went out with them to a restaurant. It was nice to see them! We then saw them again on the return trip when my mom came here with the U-haul to unload some things into her truck that she left here as well. You can see another good shot of Josiah's shiner on his lip too from his fall. The swelling has gone down quite a bit now and his wounds are healing nicely.

Josiah's First Emergency Room Visit

This picture is of Josiah in the emergency room today (sorry for the camera phone quality). He was standing on the bench in our dining room at home looking at Caleb and somehow fell off the bench (which he often falls without incident I might add) and managed to cut his bottom lip open (as you see in the picture) and also cut his upper lip inside as well as damaged the gum above his upper teeth. When it first happened, blood was gushing everywhere and we weren't sure if it would stop doing so. We called our friend Laurie to come over and watch the babies so that we could go to the emergency room to see if he needed stitches. We both opted to go in case he started bleeding again that we could monitor that as we drove. Thankfully, it didn't start up again really heavily and he settled down after a while. As it turns out, the doctor says that these sorts of mouth injuries heal very well on their own and his main concern was to feel the teeth to be sure they were OK and they were fine! We were glad that he was fine and that there was no need for stitches!
He was a very good boy for the doctor and behaved very well at the hospital even though it was well past his bedtime. Now it is my bedtime too! Goodnight!

Boys At Play

Recently, the boys have had a lot more wake times and so we have been rotating them through the Bumbo chair (Caleb was watching a Baby Einstein video on the computer), the exersaucer (Caleb again in that one) and the play gym (one of Daniel sleeping and one of him playing and one of them both playing).

Almost 6 month Pictures + Josiah too!!

I decided it had been far too long since we had some cute Carpenter kid photos, so I did a make-shift photo shoot today! With Sharel's help, I got some fun smiles from the boys as well. Josiah wanted in on the action and so I got a nice cheesey grin from him also! As a side note, Caleb has been under the weather a bit recently. He has had a slight fever, but no other symptoms other than he isn't eating quite as much as usual. He may be teething, but I haven't seen any teeth, so who knows. He has been super sleepy, so I am hoping that the extra sleep will nip whatever he has (if a virus) in the bud! Daniel is finally well and I am hoping he won't have anymore colds for a while!

Twin Mommy Stuffage

As promised, here is a picture of all of us twin moms at the New Mother's Tea at Grassi's Cafe in Tacoma. The gal there had the insight to get us all lined up on their nice staircase rather than take a picture of all us at the table with all the dirty dishes after the meal. I noticed at the bottom of the stairs a book they were trying to sell entitled "Men, They Just Don't Get It," and suggested that we turn it around since all of us were ladies in the photo. No offense honey, but it was a funny joke I thought! It was a really fun event and I was glad to get out and talk with the ladies. Most people that find out that I have 5 month old twins and an almost 3 year old say, "Wow, you must have your hands full," but the twin moms just give a knowing look and/or actually have practical advice to deal with "having my hands full." This is the benefit of meeting other twin moms in my opinion. It is a common bond that unites us immediately...the understanding that it is a tough job to raise two at once! Molly said it nicely at the tea when she was speaking of the challenges of the first year and people asked her, "Are you getting help?" She responded with, "Yes, my mother is coming over once a week," and they said, "Oh good, you will be able to get out and do something then, that will be fun!" She said again, "No, actually I will be getting HELP...as in I need an extra set of hands to assist me!" It is hard to do alone and the way I put it is, when things are running smoothly it seems almost easy, but when everyone starts crying at once and there is a real kink in the routine it can be a huge nightmare!

David and I were talking the other day and we concluded that perhaps for me, in these times where it all seems so overwhelming, it is my opportunity to remain humble and look to the Lord for strength as it is clear that my strength is always inadequate for the task. I am attempting to take hold of these opportunities and look forward to the growth that it will produce in my life as well as the lives of these little guys. I have been memorizing the book of James and I think it was well put when it says, "...the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." As a twin mom, the "not lacking anything" part would sure be welcome at this point! I know I am not anywhere near there yet as this is a lifetime process. My current goal is to learn to draw on the Lord's calm in the storms I experience. To be firm with my children, but not lose control. To be self controlled with my time and to take time to play with my children. Speaking of which, Josiah is putting all his cars on the table for yet another reinactment of "Mater and the Ghost Light"...don't ask!! For those of you that have seen "Cars" you are perhaps familiar with this story. We have a lot of the small replica cars from the movie and I am called upon to tell the story over and over again.

The Ghost Light calls...off I go! Blessings to you all!

Good Times!

Sorry for being slack in the blog department, but it was partly not my fault. I went to a Tacoma Parent's of Multiples tea party for new moms the day before Mother's Day and actually brought my camera, but the gal taking the pictures accidentally dropped it before I was able to get any photos. Incidentally, my hubby fixed our camera when I got home, so I was glad it wasn't permanently damaged. Also for Mother's Day, my sweet hubby got me an Ipod Shuffle, which is just a quarter-sized Ipod with no screen that you can load songs, podcasts, etc. on that I could use at the gym while I worked out (and yes I bring the whole crew with me to the gym--the boys stay in their carseats in what is lovingly called there "the baby bus"). The first day I brought the Ipod to the gym I was being careful not to leave it in the kid's room and put it, my kid's card, and a pacifier in the cup holder of the baby bus. I put the boy's in the SUV and these VERY loud dogs were barking their heads off in the car next to me and Josiah was already whacking Daniel in the face. In my haste, I collapsed the stroller and neglected to empty the items I had in the cupholder and so they ended up on the ground. I didn't notice this error until later when I wanted to listen to my Ipod. I called the gym and they found the kid's card (which had my kid's names on them and the name of the gym if the finder had any compassion to return the Ipod to its rightful owner) and the pacifier on the ground, but perhaps not surprisingly the Ipod was gone. This little loss pretty much ruined my whole day as I felt like a total idiot for losing it. Thankfully, my hubby was understanding and said that maybe next month he could get me another one to replace it. To finish off our Mother's Day fun, we delayed and made a date for the following Saturday since we wanted to see the Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian movie. We went to this place in Federal Way called the "Thai Bistro" and then to the movie. The food we had was super yummy!! I had these rice noodles with broccoli and this very good peanut sauce. Afterward, we shared a scoop of coconut ice cream. We had a really nice talk and it was good to be out without the kiddos for a little bit. And I was the hero at the movie theater and saved my hubby from melting into the chair!! It was super hot as they didn't have the air conditioning on in the theater and I went and asked them to turn it on. About 10 minutes later or so, we started to feel the cool breeze. My poor honey was so hot that when I tried to hold my hand he waved me away saying he just couldn't take any more body heat. Some date, hugh? Just kidding! Anyway, it was much better after the AC had a chance to circulate.

I plan to post a picture of the twin mom's tea party when I get the photo from a fellow twin mom, but these photos are of my Mom's b-day. After the nice lunch and movie with my honey, we went to dinner with my parents, Josiah and my brother to celebrate my Mom's special day. She loves Red Lobster, so we went there to eat and then afterward came home to have a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.

My Dad was being silly and taking the cucumbers from his salad that he didn't eat and putting them on his eyes as you see pictured here. He tried to do both eyes, but they kept falling off. Josiah thought this was hilarious of course! The twins stayed home with a babysitter for those of you who were wondering. We find it is hard to relax at a restaurant having to monitor two babies and an almost 3 year old. I am sure you all can understand!

First Long Day Trip

Today, I took all my boys on our first longer trip down to see my parents (about 45 minutes away). My mom had invited me to the Mother & Daughter Luncheon at their church and of course wanted to show off her newest grandsons. Grandpa watched Josiah during the meal and the twins slept most of the time until after lunch when we brought them out to show the folks there.

As you can see, we got some nice pictures from the trip as well including a fun shot of all the grandsons with Grandma and Grandpa. If you look closely you will see that the twins are wearing very special shirts that say "I Love My Grandpa" and "I Love my Grandma." Josiah wasn't as willing to pose for this picture, but this one of him making a funny face was the closest I could get to a smile! Daniel was super tired in this photo and afterward he slept for 4 hours! He didn't get much sleep on the way over because Josiah kept bothering him the whole way there. And so it begins, the brother torture, I guess! Caleb fussed off and on the whole trip back and didn't really sleep again until we got home when Daddy wrapped him up properly for sleeping. Don't you know it is impossible to sleep without being in our baby burrito mode?

Here are a couple of other photos from the event that turned out nicely. Josiah had a steady diet of strawberries and dessert at the luncheon. Apparently, the variety of salads there weren't Josiah-friendly. They were super good though! Maybe one day he will try some new foods!

Our Silly Boys

Here are another two comparison photos of Josiah (1st picture) and Daniel (2nd picture). I just put Daniel in this same outfit today and thought I would try to get some similar shots of him. Daniel will actually smile really big for me, but when he sees the red light of the camera he immediately gets a more concerned look as you see he has in his shot. In Josiah's photo he is a little over 3 months and in Daniel's he is almost 5 months old. To me however, though they look similar, Daniel's face is a little fatter and perhaps it should be considering he is a little older in his photo!


















David let Josiah wear his headphones today and had him listen to some music on his mp3 player. He appeared to be in this funny trance as he was listening, that we captured here on film. Another funny thing that happened with him today was that David was reading him his favorite I-Spy book and for a joke said, "Where is the flying rhinoceros?" (which of course there was none) and Josiah replied with, "Lu-Lu flies." Now those of you who watch any Nick Jr. with your kids will maybe know of the cartoon called, "Ni-hao Kai-lan." On this show, they have a rhinoceros that carries a balloon and flies around named Lu-Lu. So I say, "Josiah--ONE, Daddy--ZERO" on that joke! David had no clue as to what Josiah was telling him, so luckily I was there to translate!

Our little Caleb boy gave us a real chuckle today too when he worked himself really far down in his car seat (as pictured here) and managed to fall asleep that way all the while holding onto his rings! Incidentally, this must not have been very comfortable as he did wake up at some point and I had to re-wrap him and set him back up in the chair more. It was very cute though! He is a our little squirmy one!