Mind over Mud at the Swamp Romp!

Brandon and I did a 5 miler race called the Swamp Romp last Saturday. It was on the marine base in Kaneohe and the track was part of their basic training corse. Swamp romp for sure. We spent at least half of the run slopping through mud or wading waste deep through muddy, stinky water. Within minutues of crossing the start line we were covered in slime and flith. I haven't been that dirty since I was a kid - actually maybe never. We had a rockin good time sloshing and jumping, crawling over obstacle walls, strugglng in sand, and then dipping in the ocean.

At about mile 4 I had so much mud in my shoes that I felt like my toes were sitting in a mud and sand mold. It became easier to run in the water (to loosen the mud) than to run with club feet on hard ground. At one point I got a rock in my shoe - which scraped up and down my heal with each step.

Toes sore, muscles tried, stamina gone, we crossed the finish line arm and arm. At that point we welcomed the blast of the fire hose, un-duct-taped our shoes from our pants and walked a mile back to the car barefoot.

Can't wait to do it all again next year. Enjoy the pics!

Yabadabadoo!

Making up for lost time. This was Halloween 2010. Yabadabadoo!

Aloha!

Aloha! We've officially been in Hawaii now for three and a half weeks. I've got my tan established:-). The kids love the beach. It's so nice not to be cooped up with them with tons of snow outside. We live 50 paces from a mostly deserted beach and it's wonderful. Even Kade is one happy camper in the sand. He loves to grab fistfuls of it and get a mouthful now and then. The amazing part is that he doesn't cry... it's as if he likes to eat it. Weird.

The first week Jack and Jaz were kinda spooked of the water. The waves are small at our beach, but it was definitely enough to get them screaming. It's amazing how quickly they feel comfortable. They like to swim with us and run in and out of the waves. Jack mostly picks up twigs or rocks or whatever and throws them into the waves. He wrecks the sand castles Brandon makes for them and enjoys digging. Jaz just wanders around. They like to jump in the waves. Kade likes the waves too. I hold his little hands and let the waves wash over his ankles and knees. He squeals with glee and jumps up and down. It's so dang cute.

Ploppers

So, you know how once a baby figure out that they can control their legs they like to bring their legs straight up and then drop then back down? I call them "ploppers." I'll often listen at the cracked door of the twins room and know that they're not yet asleep or they just woke up by the "thud-thud-thud" of those leg lifts and drops. It cracks me up to watch them lift and drop, lift and drop. So, the other night I put the twins to bed and was brushing my teeth when all of a sudden I heard a really loud "thud-thud-thud," but this time it wasn't coming from the babies room. I peered around the corner to my bedroom to find Brandon lying flat on his back doing "ploppers" on the bed. I laughed so hard I literally cried. "Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it," was all he had to say. He gets a kick out of imitating Jack and Jasmine - as you've already discovered in the pic above.

Baby update

Jack and Jasmine are 6 and a half months now. I can't believe time has flown by so quickly. They are both sitting up. Jasmine loves to try new foods, Jack is still favoring the bottle. Jaz claps her hands and rolls over. Jack says, "ba ba ba ba." They had their shots yesterday and Jack is super miserable - low grade fever and incessant crying. Poor little guy. Poor mama - I was up every half hour with him last night until 4:30 am when he graciously let me sleep two solid hours before waking me at 6:30 again. Brandon took the morning shift from there and I slept until 10 am!

Looking back at this picture makes me cry. They are so floppy and still furry and tiny here - just 7 days old and 6 and 7 lbs each. Little sweeties.

Jack and Jasmine are almost 4 months. I guess I'm a quarterly writer.

Introducing Jack & Jasmine

Our twins were born March 3, 2009 by C-section. Jack Richard was born first and weighed in at 6 lbs 5 oz and 20 inches long. Jasmine Elizabeth followed at an amazing 7 lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long. They are both healthy and mostly happy babies. Mom and Dad are doing well and adjusting to parenthood. Brandon has been an amazing dad so far - helping with late night feedings and pulling his weight in diaper changing. Grandma Weight is here too and helping keep the crying to a minimum, the laundry going and the house clean. She's been a life-saver so far. It's amazing to watch my cute Brandon love his little babies. They are our little miracles. I love you Jack & Jasmine!

We took these photos ourselves, but our friend Kris Doman of KD portraits took some AMAZING photos when the twins were 7 days old. Check them out at www.kdportraits.com, click on "blog" and Jack and Jasmine are the first photos featured at the top of the page. If I can get 10 of you to post comments, I can get an extra photo for free. Care to help me out? Thanks!