Cousin Time in Fresno

Having family around is the best. We have had fun playing with my brother's family this week and having all of our crazy kids together!

Michael:

was on call three times this week so he barely saw our nieces and nephews that are visiting, which was too bad. But he'll have more time with them this next week. He's tired. But he did have Saturday off, and we hiked to a huge waterfall with my brother's fam and it was a blast. He also made us a fire Saturday night and we had fun having hot dogs and s'mores.

Maddie:

had so much fun having visitors and playing with all these kiddos this week. We went to Sequoia National Park, played at some local parks, picked oranges at an orchard nearby, went on walks, and just had fun watching all these kiddos play together. I woke up to beautiful flowers and yummy treats on Friday for our fifth anniversary and I don't even know when Michael managed to get those or surprise me with them. I feel so lucky to be married to him. He's a great husband and dad and friend.

Westin:

loves having cousins around! He wakes up asking right away where cousins are, and he has had fun feeling like a big kid lately. He has eaten lunch outside with them each day and feels big being with just the kids. He is way more adventurous when there are lots of kids around.

Bennett:

slept without being swaddled for the first time yesterday and he basically looked like a teenager. How is he getting so big so fast? He's still not too sure about solid food. He has been a terrible sleeper at night, but he has been good at sleeping on the go all week during our full days.

We're excited for another week to play with family!

The whole crew, stopping for our picnic on our waterfall hike! We did between 5 and 6 miles with all these kiddos, they did a great job.

Huge waterfall! You couldn't get very close to it without getting soaked.

Cave on the way to the waterfall.

First unswaddled nap. I just stared at him because he looked 14 to me.

Westin loved the waterfall, then became instantly terrified of it when we came within a certain distance from it.

Popsicle time with cousins.

Bennett loves his Uncle Logan.

Over 100 oranges picked by this crew.

Pajama Party

General Sherman's Tree -- largest in the world by volume.

The largest tree in the world is nothing compared to a stick to play with.

Root Beer Floats and two-year-old conversation.

Happy Easter

Michael:

has had some interesting work stories lately. He told me a few of them on Saturday night when we had our first post-Bennett babysitter and went out for our fifth anniversary. He's on call on our actual anniversary (April 21st) so it was fun to celebrate early with him. Thai food and Trader Joe's, happy date night. When we came home just before 9:00 Westin was singing a little song in his room, and Michael said, "Can I go set up our tent really quick?" He had wanted to camp outside with Westin on Friday night, but he ended up getting home from work around 10pm so that didn't happen. So, we went in to see Westin and he said, "I need to get out, I need a snack!" Which are typical bed-avoiding requests, but this time we let him get back up and gave him a banana and started setting up the tent. He just kept saying "This is fun! This is fun!" Then Michael slept outside with him for Westin's first "camping" experience. I heard a lot of "Do you need to go back to your crib?" "No!" "Ok, then lay down." for the first little while, but then all was quiet from about 10:00 to 7:00 a.m. which was pleasantly surprising. Michael is such a fun dad. I tried to not stress about the fact that 10:00 is still 2-3 hours later than regular bedtime, before a Sunday of church during his regular nap time. Can you tell who the fun parent is?

Maddie:

was so happy to go out on a date night this week! It's been a while since I just went to dinner with Michael. We need to start doing that more. This week we finally found a grill that we wanted after keeping our eye out ever since Michael's birthday last November. Purchasing it was kind of a fiasco, as I pulled a cart full of a grill and grill supplies while pushing a cart full of kiddos and a car seat through Costco. Annnd then that grill didn't really fit in the Corolla. Whoops. Luckily a kind Costco employee noticed all of my efforts and came and helped me finagle it into the front seat of my car. I had to hold it up with my elbow so I could shift into drive and keep it from knocking me out of gear. It was one of those "I hate residency" moments because some errands are not mom+2 kid errands, but in the end it always works out. Plus now we have a happy Traeger grill that we are so excited to start playing with! I helped put together an Easter Egg hunt with a friend this week and it was fun to watch all the kids have fun that day. Also I held a 40-pound Burmese Python this week. Bam. I don't really understand how I can comfortably hold that snake and think it's awesome, and then literally shed tears when I had to kill a cockroach this week. 

Westin:

was on his best behavior when we fed the sister missionaries this week, it was so entertaining to me. He was acting super sweet and kind and almost formal, and they kept complimenting me but in reality that was just his chosen mood for the experience and it was so funny. Let's be real guys, all moms with two-year-olds never fully know what they're going to get, despite best efforts. So that was a pleasant evening. He loved camping outside with dad SO much, but that night combined with his Easter sugar intake made for a crazy Westin on Sunday. We ate a delicious Easter dinner with friends and he was happy to be running around with them. He looooves going to nursery at church. Also he loves an older couple at church that he refers to as "grandma and grandpa" thought I've told him they are his friends, even though they are someone's grandma and grandpa. So now he calls them "someone's grandma" and "someone's grandpa" and he wants nothing to do with Michael or me during Sacrament meeting. Just wants his someone's grandparents. We went to a cool pet store this week with some friends and Westin was not too into the huge snake I held. He did like the tortoise though, and seeing some lizards and stuff.

Bennett:

has started being a pretty dependable sitter-upper and it's cute to see how much he loves feeling big. He had his first taste of real food this week (avocado) and that pretty much blew his mind. Maybe he kind of liked it? Who knows. But I'm guessing this kid is going to love food, if I had to make a prediction. His brother sure does. On Saturday I skipped the tent experience to be around for this guy and his night feedings, and I decided to feed him before I went to bed rather than wait for him to wake up. It worked great and he only ate at 3:30 after that. We got a video of Bennett laughing SO hard at Westin this weekend and it's the happiest little 40 seconds, I love how much he loves watching his brother. Also, I don't think it's possible for Bennett to be more good-natured right now. He's just so happy and wonderful and I'm obsessed with him.

Kitty:

woke me up so much on Saturday night that she gets her own paragraph for the first time, just because that's how bad I want to complain about it. That cat.

I kind of loved this. I am so fearful of anything that scurries (mice make me die), but snakes are cool.
Maybe because they eat mice.

First food!

The easter bunny brought play dough! And naturally he made lots of "food" with it. Pizzas pictured.

Westin and his girlfriends. He loves this crew.

You guys, he's the sweetest right now.

Emily had us over for Easter dinner and it was (as no surprise) so extremely delicious and fun. This is us talking about how happy we are that we are heading into a Fresno summer with these babies out instead of in.

Easter Sunday picture! Oh wait, that's not how you do that. Whoops.

Tent sleeping.

Sometimes Westin pushes his noisy little lawn mower allll the way to the mail box and back. Sometimes when I almost worry if my kids are being too loud outside or in our yard, I remember that 100% of our surrounding neighbors have obnoxious dogs. Push that mower, Westy boy.

Bathed babies are the sweetest babies.

Don't judge this donut/smoothie lunch. We saw a party so we just, got in line with the rest of the cars. Then we learned it was a grand opening of a little coffee shop by our house and all drinks were $1 for the day and all proceeds went to the children's hospital. The donut shop next door hopped on board with the cause so... donuts and smoothies for lunch.

And nothing goes better with donuts and smoothies than some balloons. I told you it was a party.

The line was super long and Dutch Bros workers were walking from car to car offering straws with a hit of whipped cream.
I don't even really like whipped cream but presentation is everything.

Why are these pictures out of order? Anyways, here's the same snake just slithering around the pet store. This was creepier to me than when she was around my shoulders.

Please Westin, only ever ask for a puppy. I'm not sure I could be a reptile's mom.

Ridiculous situation. But, it's now in our backyard and all is well.

He's not into taking pictures lately but whenever I say, "Let's show this to daddy later!" he's on board.

We had a practice easter egg hunt in our backyard while Bennett was sleeping and he loved it so much.

He just watched us for a while in sacrament meeting and then I looked back down and he was out. Angel.

Into April

Michael:

had to be on call three times this last week, so that was a bummer. But he lucked out Saturday and after his rounds he ended up not having to go back to the hospital. He had a few calls but nothing that required him to go in, so that felt like extra fun bonus time with him! We went to Chipotle, had fun at home, and he let Westin drive the Corolla up and down our street. We are all so happy when we have dad around. He picked oranges with us again last weekend and we love having lots of those around, too. I love Michael and how hard he works for our family. This week he texted me around 9:45pm Friday from work "All done, heading home. I bought you a Reese's...but I ate it a while ago." He's running on empty but it's the thought that counts :) When work goes that long after long weeks, you can always eat my Reese's.

Maddie:

got caught up and back in routine this week. We made it to the zoo with friends and to a park near our house another day, plus a Sam's Club trip which always makes Westin happy. Right now Bennett sleeps from 9:00 to 11:00 for his morning nap (most days) and then both boys take a nap around 1:30, so we have a short window each day when we get out and play or get things done. I'm completely changing my exercise routine for one month to try and help my ab separation that I've had since Bennett was born. I'm going to miss High classes so much, but I've been reading about how high impact exercise can make separation worse. So this week I'm starting a new program and I think it will be good. Westin enjoys doing it with me, so at least the two-year-old will have a rockin' core around here even if mine feels long gone. My sister got in a really rough car accident this week and I've been emotional from it. She and her husband are fine but their car is ruined and the pictures just make me so grateful they're ok.

Westin:

probably loved driving the car more than anything else this week, but zoo trips and park trips are fun too. He also has some new toy lizards that he's attached to and it cracks me up. He puts them down for a nap when he sleeps, and when we go from room to room he says, "Oh, my lizards!" and brings them along. My favorite thing he asks for right now is a "soup hug" which means group hug when both Michael and I put him to bed together. That rarely happens because usually Michael gets home after Westin is in bed, so Westin loves it. If we forget, he asks for it right before we close the door and say good night to him. "Wait, soup hug?" And we'll never say no to that! He also loves reading The Friend, Jr. magazine and we read it every morning while eating breakfast. That's about 8 pages worth of material, so know that I am always real happy when the next month's issue comes around. He started wearing underwear this week (our potty training method says a few weeks of commando help solidify new skills, don't judge) and it makes him seem so much older to me. We've got a little boy running around here.

Bennett:

hit six months old! I cannot believe that. Half-birthday. He's growing up. His first tooth showed up this week! We haven't started food yet, but I have an avocado on my counter with his name on it. Starting solid food makes me kind of sad. Maybe because I know they're no longer just a baby who needs milk, maybe because I know the messes that await me in my near future again... maybe both. But I think he'll love it and it will be fun to see him try new things. He has slept terribly this week but hopefully he sorts that out soon. Last night Bennett woke up four times and Westin woke up twice. Westin never wakes up in the night so it was just a rough time. I went in to see why Westin was crying at 3am and he said, "I need a snack, mom." Only one kid is allowed to snack at 3am around here, and even that one is starting to wear out his welcome with that deal. But even after tired nights, when the morning comes I'm always so happy these sweet, healthy, precious boys are mine. 

Happy, happy baby boy.

Getting pretty good at sitting up!

Washing oranges on oranges on oranges.

"I'm driving, mama!"

We were out in the garden when Westin woke up from his nap, so we tapped on his window.

He thought it was so funny and talked to us through the window for a while.

Westin had stickers in his Chick-Fil-A kids meal and he kept calling them band-aids and sticking them everywhere.

Loved those band-aids.

One-on-one time with Benny boy, the only time he can play with toys without hearing "Hey, that's mine!"
We're working on the sharing concept over here.
Updated to add: Westin just saw this picture and said, "No, my turn to hold my hippopotamus." So, yeah.

From Insta: I know it's blurry, but every time I go get Bennett from a nap or in the morning he does a little shoulder-shake dance. This six-month shot can help you visualize that because it's the happiest little set of moves. Happy half-birthday, Bennett! Time to start eating food, but I'm kind of sad about that. Nursing is a serious investment up front, but I think it's so easy and convenient once things get rolling. I can't believe you're halfway to one, baby boy. You're such a joyful little soul.
#bennettdae #daetwylerfamily

I saw this on Facebook and just loved it so much. You guys, for real.

Babies have so much figuring out to do and I love watching it.

Tummy time pro.

My sister's car :( Not their fault, no one badly hurt, but so sad and scary all the same.