Moving along

As of last Sunday, we have TWO crawlers. Ethan has been crawling backward for about one month and I was encouraging him and trying to teach him (he just thought I wanted to play with him and would roll over and smile at me...blast!). Honestly, I was tired of having to move him from his 'stuck' positions next to the wall, his legs pinned under our chair, or up to his shoulders under our couch. Crawling backward posed many problems for him. After 3 weeks of that, he starting doing what we call 'the worm". Maybe he'll be a brakedancer when he's older? The possibilities are endless.

My sister's family, the Christensens', gave them this toy for Christmas and they have been in heaven (and so have I with them entertained!) for weeks now. We watched the two boys that live upstairs and they were nearly fighting over it. The good news is that they may like this toy until they are well over 3 years old. Thanks Christensens.

My friend, April, and her husband, Brian, came over for a visit after ZUMBA last week and Sydney took a liking to April that I had to catch in a photo. It was adorable.

I've learned to take the two balls from that great toy the Christensen's gave us and let them play with it while they eat. This cures all manner of difficulties. They chase the balls around their trays and I sneak in a few bites while they are distracted. Two gifts in one!

The other item used for distraction are these cups. They are still learning how to drink out of them and we're glad because we think they would just drink water all day. Sydney cries whenever I take it away after giving her multiple sips from it. I guess they are related to me with my 1/2 gallon water bottle I tote around all the time. Notice Sydney's toes on her tray? She likes to eat while hooking her toes onto her tray and will stay that way the entire time. She LOVES feet.

I am now a sew-er...I sew things. My mom came over Friday and helped me sew this cute red bag for their blocks. After picking out the canvas and the rope, I realized it was going to look a lot like a Santa sack...oh well. I think I will buy some other colors and make more for their other toys. Sydney is already in love with the rope. She is so adorable and her hair is starting to curl at the ends...so cute.

New Years

My siblings and their families (sorry we missed Tyler and the kids) were all in town for a New Year's celebration this year.  We had a great time.  So great in fact, that my picture-taking family took almost zero photos. 

We went to Boondocks (Matt's treat) on New Year's Eve and had lunch and played for a good part of the day.  I mostly hung around the arcade and played my favorite game.  (Matt has let us come for free a few times with the babies)  After just 2 tries, I won and the bonus wheel spun on the Wheel of Fortune game and I scored 1,000 bonus tickets!  The babies got some new toys, Doug got a mini bowling set, and my neices and nephews got some extras as well.  I got the thrill people feel when they gamble in Vegas as that wheel spun to tell me my bonus. 

New Year's day, we took some photos of the 2010 Beckstrand grandchildren before Dave and Chelsea left with their moving van on their way to Arizona.  Can't believe how many babies have arrived this past year.  Don't know if we'll ever have another 'wave' like this again, but we're so excited that E&S will have so many cousins their age.

I had to get more use out of their Christmas outfits.

Older counsins: Kayden, Grace, Sydney & Ethan--all born within 6 weeks of eachother.

Our cautious attempt to add 5 week old Avery in with these crazy babies.  We are lucky Ethan was too excited about the camera to squeeze her face like he does to Sydney.

Our winter outing

Winter is a long season in Utah. Doug convinced me that we should purchase the attachment for our Chariot stroller to convert it to a cross country skiing sleigh. Today I ate every word I ever said about what a lame idea that was. They loved it! I was shocked when I reached inside, their hands and faces were warm! It was a beautiful day and even better--it was FREE. Thanks to Doug's sister, Michelle, for joining us on our first ride (and for picking up the ski rentals--what a fiasco--but we got free ski rentals for next time!)

I joked that E&S first word will be 'mush'. Doug was a trooper. When he read the instructions that morning, it said it was "only for experienced cross-country skiers." I think Doug was a little nervous, but he said it was fairly easy to pull.

I stayed behind to try to get a photo of Michelle and Doug with E&S. Every time I stopped, got my gloves off, camera out of its case, and ready to take the photo they were nearly out of sight. This was my third attempt. They were speedy...especially when I had to catch up.

Finally caught up and asked the only people near the path the entire time to snap a photo for us.

Michelle with Ethan after our journey.

Ethan slept for a good portion of the trip, while Sydney enjoyed a nap at the very end.

Don't know if they realize that this will be a regular occurance over the next few years.

Christmas Break

There aren't too many benefits to having a husband (and dad) in graduate school, but there is the 2-week break for Christmas. That is pretty sweet. Tomorrow is back to reality, so I thought I'd sum up the last two weeks in a quick post.

Ethan got his first haircut and we discovered that his hair is darker than we thought. It is light brown!


Sydney surprised us and learned to get on her knees while holding onto the crib. Doug and I were playing with her after she woke up from her nap. It was fun to watch her make a discovery.

On Wednesday, Dec 22nd the U of U played in their bowl game. Doug opened a present from Ethan and Sydney a little early. They had matching black/red/white pants to wear while we watched the game. I knew Doug would love it.

They had a great time playing with toys while we watched the game.
{photo below taken at halftime}

The next day, we went to Elyssa's (Doug's neice) basketball game. E&S were amazed by all the cheering, bouncing, and buzzers...but most of all Sydney was amazed by her cousin Josh. She kept smiling at him and if he wasn't noticing her, she would lean down to try to get in his line of sight. Josh wasn't sure what to do with the attention. He was nice to humor her and smile back...over and over and over again.

Ethan's cousin Keslee came after halftie and Ethan loved her attention.

We spent Christmas Eve with family closeby. In the afternoon, we went to the Merrills (Doug's sister) and played games and I worked on their puzzle. We must have too much fun with them because we always forget to snap a photo. In the evening, we went to my parent's house and had our traditional opening of family gifts. Ethan sported some bows--thanks to my dad--most of the evening.

Grandma gave them each a pair of pajamas. She went to the trouble of trimming the 'feet' off of Ethan's so he could wear them to bed. He still wears his brace for night and nap-time.

Christmas morning was pretty casual this year. We woke up, ate breakfast, cleaned up breakfast, and finally waltzed into the living room to see what Santa had brought around 10 am! Doug opened his rollerblades and decided to take them out for a spin. He went over to the Merrills to check out their loot. I told him he couldn't leave without a photo--rollerblading in December. He's been wanting a new pair of rollerblades for a while now. This summer we took the babies out for a rollerblading stroller ride a few times. Now Doug can go extra fast! (while being cautious and careful pushing the stroller of course)

E&S weren't really sure what to do with the presents. Here is a photo of them opening their gift from Aunt Michelle (Doug's sister). She gave them an amazing book collection and some 'quiet books' to look at during church. I know they will love them.

Michelle spent the weekend with us along with my parents and my brother Matt. We played a lot of games, but we also spent a lot of time holding fussy babies. Sydney cut her top tooth Christmas day and Ethan cut his 2nd tooth on Boxing day. We were glad they had a reason for refusing to nap most of the day. Made Christmas a little less fun for their mom and dad.

Merry Christmas

Discovery

We are making new discoveries around here lately. I am starting to get a little (or a lot) worried.

Ethan discovered his tongue, thanks to his mother.  Not sure it was a good idea, but if I repetitively stuck out my tongue (in...out...in...out) he would stop crying. So, of course, I continued to do it. Only a few days later, Ethan began sticking his tongue out back at me. It was a fun trick and he would laugh and giggle when he saw we were 'communicating' in some way. He looks a little like a punk in this photo while Syd fell asleep on our jog.

We discovered and bought some real 'high' chairs. They strap to our chairs, so they are by no means 'high', but they work perfectly for us.
#1 They have this cool toys that we can put on while I am getting their food ready. It works pretty well, but Ethan just keeps his eyes on his food and doesn't play much.
#2 They don't take up much room--space is limited here.
#3 They collapse down so we can easily take them with us. (our favorite feature so far)
#4 The entire thing is plastic and we could hose it down if we needed to.
#5 We adjusted the height so they can't reach things on the counter while I feed them--BONUS.
#6 They have rubber feet on the bottom so I can still feed them on the counter until they figure out how to move them around. Sydney has learned to 'rock and roll' a little so this won't be lasting much longer unfortunately.

 I discovered buying toys at thrift stores. I found 3 great toys for a grand total of $4.50 and brought them home and scrubbed them. Ethan and Sydney have loved this discovery.

Ethan and Sydney discovered magical Christmas lights. I found a video online of a house lit up and animated to music. When I looked where the house was located, it was 5 minutes from our house! We took a trip for our Family Home Evening last Monday night. They loved it. Amazing enough--it's free and you're encouraged to donate to Make a Wish Foundation. There were many volunteers directing traffic.

Sydney discovered it is so fun to get her food in her hair while she's eating.

Sydney also discovered our new garbage can. We purchased this because we had a smaller one here before and we knew they might start tipping it over soon. Well, Sydney thinks is amazing that she can see herself in it. I think it's amazing how dirty she is after crawling on this kitchen floor that I vacuumed 3 times last week and mopped!

Ethan looks like he discovered reading, but it you look closely this book is upside down. Sorry Ethan, we're still trying to teach you to speak English. On a side note, Ethan did cut his first tooth (Hallelujah!) just this week. He let me know that he was in pain. I told Doug on Tuesday, "I had so much sympathy for him until 4:30 in the afternoon." As of Thursday afternoon I declared the tooth was officially 'in' and I am dreading the second one.

Ethan is just days away from getting the crawling thing down. Sydney is army crawling (using her toes to propel herself forward) everywhere. Just yesterday I was on the phone with my sister and in the course of about one minute I had said (at opposite sides of the room):
"Sydney leave the garbage can alone--you have potato skin all over yourself."
"Ethan, don't eat the poinsettia leaf--it's poisonous! Let me see in your mouth."
"Ethan, don't roll off the couch when I am trying to pick up Sydney."

I caught him just in time...whew! I put one baby on the couch at a time to get ready to feed them.  I may be feeding them on the ground from now on.

Joy in 2010

We had another photo shoot last week with our friend, Mandy.  We spent about an hour at a friend's house and  capsured some great shots of our little family that has multiplied this last year.  I have chosen a send a Christmas card, but thought I'd share some of our favorites anyway. 

Look at these cute faces.  They bring so much joy into my life.