life lately

before i get to more twin stuff, let's take a look at regular old life these days.

an impromptu backyard "fire pit"
our friends' brother has an old washing machine drum he uses to do his own backyard fire pit, our friends brought it on over to our driveway area and it worked! very white-trash feeling but oh so much fun! too bad the evening felt like we were just constantly trying to keep the kids away from running into the street or not touching the fire (or for maxson, stealing other people's food). a little more stressful than fun at times but still oh so worth it. but we love getting together with our friends.

maxson was very giddy to have a hot dog in one hand and a cup of watermelon in the other

corn on the cob and bratwurst 

unbeknownst to my knowledge one morning, casey let maxson play in the large puddle in the street. maxson loved it. casey didn't care either way. and i as a mother cringed for so many reasons. but alas, he had fun (and that will be his last time having fun like that in the middle of the street).
also note casey's outfit- church shoes were the first things he found downstairs to slip on...

after a hot day at the splash pad i stopped and got maxson a soft serve and he was in heaven.
hello summer!
(we have  A LOT of diaper only moments outside these days due to water, mud, food, or other little boy debris. just be warned it is only the first month of summer)

my two favorite boys!

love this man of mine.

casey made a toddler bed for maxson with a TON of help from his friend josh. josh is a master wood worker. i gave them this tutorial/picture, but said i like the head and foot of this bed a little more and they came up with their own design and put it to life. it looks so fantastic! and it is such high quality. they finished it in just 2 days time working a ton on it. we need to bring it home sometime so i can take more pictures of it. we don't plan on using it for awhile but it was a good time of the year with schooling for them both to whip it out.

post bath snuggles

entertaining the children while casey and josh made the toddler bed.
more ice cream cones!

aaaaaaaaaand, while my parents were here (yes my parents came in town for 4 marvelous days and it was SOOOOOO wonderful to have them here, such a treat!) they outfitted us with all our summer water needs! a hose, a key to the spicket on the hose, a play pool, and this sweet sprinkler slip in slide (only $8 at target people, RUN do not walk). maxson isn't overly obsessed with it quite yet but he'll grow into it with the summer months i bet and the combo of the weather getting hotter and the water getting warmer, it's ICE COLD right now!

life in lincoln on the phone

a. poured out the wheat flour everywhere
b. oreo mess
c. entertainment in the car
d. poured cereal out everywhere

a.-b. family home evening lesson on reverence (during prayers)
c. at the mall
d. decided to get out the tool bench on a desperate day

a. chalk outside
b. whenever he sees a skateboard he's always trying to ride it
c.-d. at the lincoln zoo with friends. maxson loved the peacock most i believe, those things have the craziest yells

life is definitely getting happier again now that it's warm enough out in lincoln. we still have crappy rainy/cold days every once and awhile but overall i can see an end to winter/spring and pure summer making its way!

life lately

a few recent pictures prior to our indiana trip!

there was a sunday evening a few weeks ago that was so warm and beautiful, it was definitely that glimpse of glorious spring/summer.
a bunch of the neighbors on the street met in the backyard where the kids played, husbands played corn hole, and wives chatted, it was wonderful. funny how the kids have changed so much though, last year they were crawling around on blankets and this year they're all literally running all over the place!
come back warm weather!

friends eat (green) pancakes together

this is definitely one of my most favorite pictures in a long time, he fell into the drum and got stuck, he wasn't too happy

maxson insists we read where the wild things to him 20 times a day, and i mean, like, 6 times in a row too. this week i hid the book on top of the bookshelf, ha i needed a break from it

helping dad study while begging for chips. do you see how tall he is?


sometimes max gets super upset when 1 parent leaves without him, funny boy

he was watching videos of himself on the computer and loving it

this and that of life

this little fishy at bath time.

he slips and slides all over the tub and loves it.

bonks his head all the time and doesn't blink an eye.

he's adorable.

evidence of bath time with a baby

back to school feast cake.

it was a hodge podge of recipes but was yummmmo!

the first fruits of our garden!

but our tomato plant is in the process of dying :(

worked on remaking this laundry organizer beast.

ours had gone months falling apart until literally the only things holding it onto the poles were the corners of the two front sides.

i was proud of my work.

yay for my BYU sewing class

maxson's first BYU football game!

he (and us) were less than impressed.

it's ok, we still love them cougars win or lose

feeding himself foooooooood!

and making messes.

whew!
i'm trying to catch up our life on the blog!
coming up 9 month pics, iFono picturas, and our time in arizona!

nice and slow

life has been nice and slow lately.

we got back from indiana and have been lounging around a lot and i love it.

the weather shows signs of maybe a spring ahead.

today was the first day maxson spent any real time in fresh air!

it was absolutely lovely to take him outside and swing him around without being bundled up in blankets/snowsuits.

i can't wait for summer.

it's the most lovely time of year.

casey is continuing to study like a mad man (i've never been so eager for a semester of school to be over in my life).

maxson is sleeping longer stretches at night sometimes which is a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

last night we had our first 9 hour sleeping stretch, oh my, that was nice.

but i of course woke up after he'd been sleeping for 8 hours, naturally,

and then couldn't fall back to sleep,

and then i went to make sure he was still breathing,

and then i went to the bathroom,

and still couldn't fall back to sleep,

then went down stairs to pump a little bit to relieve the pressure,

then still couldn't go  back to sleep,

then needed chapstick,

then casey needed tylenol for a throbbing ear infection (at 26????),

then maybe i was about to fall back to sleep,

and maxson wakes up.

30 minutes later, after he's full and asleep, we continue our slumber until morning.

and somehow i was still tired even after all that sleep?

i've been kinda lazy myself lately, just going from nap to nap without much of a schedule.

we've been baby wearing lots around here.

maxson is perfectly content and happy with whatever activity i'm doing while he's in the moby.

(sitting down doing nothing doesn't count as an activity to him... what?)

it's been a lot of fun.

we dance,

do dishes,

pick up the house,

vacuum,

make dinner,

distract watch daddy while he studies,

ya know, mom/wife/house stuff

but we love that moby.

even casey has joined in on it a time or two.

and big announcement

after 2 rounds I AM WINNING THE FAMILY MARCH MADNESS BRACKET.

people, that's a big deal!

you know how i pick the teams? 

rankings? well yes of course i keep those in consideration.

but beyond that i pick the winner based off a bunch of whims.

examples:

arizona, california, and utah teams usually are almost always chosen in my brackets.

western states almost always beat all other states.

isn't kansas like always good at basketball?

michigan has gangsters, they usually win too.

sometimes teams just have names that sound like winning teams: butler, duke, marquette, harvard, etc.

if i've never heard of a team before they won't ever get chosen no matter what their ranking (FGCU? whichita? la salle? who are these teams?)

back to maxson,

we've been getting more big laughs lately doing the most random stuff!

and once we can tell he's laughing at us we keep doing it over and over and over and over to get replay action on that sound.

babies laughing=happiest moment of my days