Post #250

If I look back at my first post, I am amazed where life has taken us in 250 posts. Two great 18 month old kids and still loving life with my best friend.

Doug and I had a great date afternoon yesterday.  Doug's mom was kind enough to watch E&S for the afternoon and evening while Doug and I went to Park City. Back at the Marchant Mountain Retreat, I spun a wheel at the Olympic Park and won a ride on the Bobsled (worth $60!) and Doug's mom won as well and offered it to Doug so we could ride together. We've been looking forward to it and got the oppotunity to experience the Olympic bobsled track in an actual bobsled on wheels (in winter you can ride an actual bobsled too...insane.)

There was an observation deck where spectators stood to watch the Olympians compete in the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic games.

The luge used the same track, but had a different starting point. They had an actual sled sitting there with a little tiny rope. Doug thought of trying it out. That sled was so tiny with no way to really 'hang on'. Again...insane.

When we got in line, we were told it would be a 20-25 minute wait and there were about 30 people in line or so. Well, about an hour later, we took this photo while still in line. At least we got to watch people pushing the sled and seeing who had the fastest times down the track. I made a few friends in line as well. Doug wasn't surprised at all. 

We had to gear up for the ride. There was 1 driver with 3 passengers. The heavier the passengers, the faster the sled. We met Zack who hopped in as rider 4. Doug hopped in second as rider 3. Then the pilot got in next. That left me for last.

It was a bit of a tight squeeze and felt kind of funny nearly hugging the driver, so I had to ask his name since it felt like he was in my personal 'bubble'. His name is Nick...now I felt like he wasn't a total stranger!

Nick has been driving bobsled in the summer at the Olympic Park for 8 years and is in the control tower in the winter. He was a little guy and I am a little small myself so our sled wasn't super fast. We hit 70 MPH and had some turns with 4Gs of force on our bodies. We had some strict instructions to shrug our shoulders to prevent our head from bobbing around with all the force in the turns.  It felt a lot like a wooden rollercoaster, but probably twice the 'turbulence' and twice the force on your body. About half way through, I had a headache from all the pressure in the turns. There were 15 turns and I am glad there wasn't another. My headache vanished almost immediately when we came to a stop after a 59.64 second ride. We took 11th place for the day out of about 48 sleds down the track.

At the bottom, a tractor pulled us to a position where they could move the sled into the back of a pickup truck and we rode alongside our sled to the top of the track to get our things. We asked Nick a few questions and found out there was an actual winter bobsled at the starting line that they use in the winter to drive people down the track. He said it costs about $40,000 but a competition sled for Olympians costs at least twice that much. It is pretty much just metal and not comfortable for a ride like this at 85 MPH in the winter.  Not sure who invented this sport or what those sleds are made of, but it seems just a little crazy to me.

We walked down alongside the mile-long track and loved the scenery as well as watching the bobsled pass us on the way down.

Not sure if we would've paid $120 for both of us to ride, but it was fun to experience to do once...for free!

We picked up Cafe Rio for dinner and ate our dinners on the ski hill at Deer Valley Resort waiting for the concert to begin at the Deer Valley Music Festival. The show was Broadway Rocks and we had a GREAT time. We stood up and danced a little in the chilly night air and loved the music. "Oh What a Night!"

I am so Lucky

I cannot believe Ethan and Sydney are 18 months old...then again, I can.  They have a zest for life that is so fun and somedays exhausing.  They love books, dancing, and talking.  They are learning several new words each day in addition to dance moves.

They had a doctor appt and they are weighing in pretty well:
Sydney 20 lb 9 1/2 oz (5 percentile for an 18 mo. old!)
31 inches long
48 cm head circumference

Ethan 20 lb 8 1/2 oz (not on the chart, but getting closer)
30 inches long
49 cm head circumference

For all the people who ask me if Sydney's head is bigger than Ethans, it's not!  She just has my long face.  And for all the strangers who don't think they are twins because Sydney is "so much bigger", it is only 1 oz difference!

We spend so much time outside with Sydney in flip flops that she has some serious tan lines on her feet.  Ethan has flip flops, but with his clubbed foot treatment (and wearing his brace) he rolls his feet inward and the flip flops come off within minutes.

Doug and I stayed in Salt Lake this past weekend while E&S stayed with my sister, Tiffany, and her family. Due to leaking through his diaper, Tiffany changed him in the middle of the night into her daughter's shorts. Every once in the while, I see a photo that makes him look so grown up that it makes me sad...

Sydney approaches me as soon as she wakes up, finishes eating, or whenever with one of their backpacks and says "on, on!" so I will snap it onto her back. It's so funny.

I am a lucky mom.

He's a champion

Years ago, when I was a missionary in Sydney, the Aussies would say, "he's a champion!" meaning, "he's awesome". Well, Doug is a champion!
First, he completed the first draft of his prospectus (a huge chunk of his dissertation).

Second, he finished his first marathon in under 4 hours despite some difficulty on the run. I was in awe of him and his high expectations. I was so excited when I saw him round the corner and approach the finish line of the Deseret News Marathon!

He pushed himself very hard in the race down immigration canyon even when he was slowed by some cramping so he didn't feel well for about 4 hours after he crossed the finish line. He was a shade of grey but still managed to smile for the camera.

We found friends on the run as well. Our good friends Scott and Rachelle Kunz ran as well.  It was great to see them and catch up.

Doug's family showed up at the finish line to cheer Doug on to the end. It made it even more fun and we watched the parade with them afterward.

Doug gleaned some great advice from Scott and Rachelle.  He was to take an ice bath for 15 minutes twice the day of the race.  Doug hopped in some shorts and made me set a timer while he read the newspaper to distract himself. It was great advice because just 2 days after his race he was nearly like new.

Way to go Doug!

Workout party

I am doing P90X right now and in week 11.  I have LOVED it and will do it again after my next half marathon Doug and I run in Hawaii this fall.  In order to accomodate my long workouts, Doug will often feed E&S breakfast/dinner (depending on the day) while I quickly pop in a video and workout.  On this particular day, Sydney wanted to join in after she finished eating.

Independence on a leash

I always made fun of parents who had their child 'on a leash'.  I thought it was so sad and "wrong" that someone would do that to a child...until I had two running in different directions.  What was once "wrong" has become practical so I can keep them both safe. Still, I can't help but laugh that I have purchased these backpack leashes.

Life around here has started to reflect some independence. Both Ethan and Sydney love to feed themselves and are starting to communicate with me. Their favorite words are: HI!, dance, neigh, doggie, woof woof, done, bye, help, and PLEASE!  It is so difficult when Ethan walks around saying please so passionately but I have no idea what he is wanting. He really does think that please is a magic word...and that I will know what he is requesting, so politely!

They think that sitting on the chair without their booster is the coolest.

 If we let Ethan walk around the garage while we get Sydney in her carseat, Ethan find his favorite piece of lawn equipment to push around the garage.

They have their moments though where sleep gets the better of them and they fall into my arms. I took them for a walk before nap time to see if I could keep them awake and it backfired...big time. Sydney was asleep on Ethan's shoulder, but by the time I got out my phone to take a photo, she had bounced forward.



Can't believe they are almost 18 months. This stage is flying by and we're having a blast!

Putting ON the armor of God

Doug and I teach Sunday School to about ten 12-year olds every Sunday. Ethan and Sydney are fast becoming our class mascots and keep the kids on their toes.  After being particularly fussy today, I tried to get Ethan to stop fussing by putting paper (with tape already on the back) onto his face.  It worked! 

I had to laugh when I realized that I had literally put the armor of God ON my son...
(see Ephesians 6)

Quadruplets...

Having twins, I think you often wonder what it would be like adding one or two more babies to your world. After a long RSV season of being quarantined and a spring that flew by, we finally got together with Ethan and Sydney's bunk-mates from the NICU. 

Amazingly enough, Sydney took to the boys right away and went up to Will (I think) and got really close to him to say hi. This was a complete surprise to Emily and I and we couldn't help but laugh. She seemed to remember them.

Emily's husband called and needed her to drive to meet him because he left something at home that he needed.  I offered to watch all four kids and it was so fun, really.  I thought it would be fun to try to get a photo of them playing, but after 4 attempts, they were frustrated that I was behind the gate so I gave up on my quest.

But then I had the idea to put them all on the couch. Despite my best efforts, I still couldn't get one with everyone looking at the camera and smiling...


So glad they have NICU buddies. Thanks for your company Emily, Mac, and Will.