Benj, Melinda, Jason, Kaitlin, and Samantha

I Wish....

2011-11-16T15:32:00.001-08:00

My SUPER talented friend is getting her young adult book published on Kindle November 19th. I have read through it twice and it is wonderful. I thought I would spread the word.....

You can check out a her book trailer below:

You can also check out her blog for more info on the book and some sneak peaks at

http://iwishjinnseries.blogspot.com/

KINDERGARTEN!

2011-09-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

It's official! Today was Jason's first day of Kindergarten.

On our way to school I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed Jason was folding his arms with his eyes closed. After a minute he said amen out loud. "I just said a personal prayer in my head mom so that I can have a great day and that you do not need to worry about it later." Thank goodness for sweet little boys who remember to pray. It did help me not worry as much.

I left him today at school, sitting in line waiting for his teacher to take them into their room. Most of the kids were silent, sitting there with scared straight faces, not interacting with each other. As I walked away I watched him stick his tongue through the space where he is missing his front tooth, make a loud funny noise and proceed to make all the quiet boys around him laugh. He was all smiles. I think he is going to love school. I drove home misty eyed thinking about how sad I was that he is growing up so fast.

He came home happily telling me about all his new friends.

And... sticking with Lloyd tradition here is OUR first annual back to school fashion show! Followed by a back to school fathers blessing.

Last beach trip of the summer

2011-09-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

We made it ALL summer with beautifully cool weather. It was wonderful. Here we are now in September with school starting up and the weather has been in the 90's and hot! My parents came to town last weekend so we jumped in the car and made it to the beach one last time for the summer.

Jason's New Story

2011-08-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

Newport Aquarium and Beach

2011-07-25T14:45:00.001-07:00

Another digital slideshow by Smilebox

The Enchanted Forest

2011-07-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

This summer we decided that traveling long distances with our two little girls would NOT be fun so we decided to make a "bucket list" of all the fun things we wanted to do around here and check off our list all summer instead.

Back when Benj was in 8th grade he went on a band trip to the Enchanted Forest. We decided to check it out again this week. It is a small amusement park down past Salem Oregon that was built in the 70's and I am pretty sure has not been updated since. But, it is charming, built on a hillside in a wooded area. There are story book houses to walk through, a play to watch, slides, a haunted house, "Indian caves" to explore, a roller coaster, kiddie rides, and a log ride. The kids loved it all and Benj and I got our workout for the day either carrying one of the girls or pushing the double stroller up and down the hills. Here is a quick video.... really quick video... of some of the pictures we took that day.

4th of July Picture Overload

2011-07-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

We drove to Washington for the 4th of July and sure had fun spending time with our families there.

Bathroom Remodel!

2011-06-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

Right now our downstairs bathroom looks like this:

I always think about taking before pictures, but then we get so excited to get started with our projects I forget! I will just say that it was ugly and outdated. When we first moved in the house the WHOLE thing ( I am talking about walls, ceiling, outlets) was painted a dark awful red. One of the first things we did was paint everything back to white. I was so set on getting rid of the red that I didn't take any pictures of it. I really wish I could show the before picture of that!

So here is a run down of what to come....

*Tape and paint new sheet rock on ceiling

*Install our new soaker tub

*Tile the floor in the same tile we used for the kitchen and dinning room

*Install bead board around the lower half of the walls

*Tile the shower/tub surround using shiny white subway tiles and a strip of decorative glass tiles

*Put in our beautiful new vanity and mirror.

*Hang up new hardware like towel racks and toilet paper holder

*Install new light fixtures

*Make and install new linen closet

*Paint

*Install new door

Hmmmm.... I think that is it! We have have everything bought and waiting for my dear husband to put it all in. I am so lucky he is capable and works so hard!

Ok so now that you have seen what we have picked out I need help picking out a wall color! The bead board is white so I want a color that will contrast nice with that. If you have any suggestions let me know!

This project might take all summer to finish so stay tuned for the after pictures!

Spring Time!

2011-05-20T19:49:00.001-07:00

I feel like I complain about the weather a lot.... especially this time of year when the highly anticipated sunshine is right around the corner....sorry. But, it has finally warmed up a little and we have had some sunny days. The kids have been in heaven playing in the back yard and I finally got out my camera and took some pictures of them playing today. (sorry picture overload!)

I know, I know.... not only does she have non matching shoes on but, she is wearing two left foot shoes. Sigh.... the girls love to stash things throughout the house. I swear they conspire together and figure out the best places to hide things like binkies, shoes, etc. I gave up looking today and this was the result. No big deal right?!

Easter

2011-05-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Better late than never! I have just been so bad about sharing pictures and blogging lately.

We had a fun low key Easter this year. The kids enjoyed dyeing eggs and hunting for them in the back yard. We enjoyed a nice dinner that night too.

Kaitlin and Samantha did not quite get the point of the Easter egg hunt and as soon as they found an egg they tried to smash and eat it. We ended up with lots of smashed eggs all over the back yard, but they had fun.

I love my sister....

2011-03-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

We got to go to Washington this weekend to see my cute sister and her husband Andy and meet her even cuter baby. They flew in from Florida which is just way way too far away. Brayden is the sweetest baby and I loved seeing my sister as a mommy. The weekend went by way too fast and I miss them already.

We spent the day Saturday playing tag, hide and go seek, sliding down the slide, soaking in some much needed sunshine, and most of all enjoying being together.

A fast break from the rain....

2011-03-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the rain stopped so we ran to the park. We played hard for 20 minutes and then literally ran back to the car to get out of the rain again. We will take what we can get! It has been wet!

Bath Time Fun

2011-03-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

Kaitlin and Samantha LOVE their bath time. Kaitlin especially loves laying down in the water and relaxing. Silly girls!

New Tile

2011-03-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

Back in December we started ripping out the mismatched laminate flooring in our kitchen and entryway and put in new tile. Here are some during and after pictures of our new floor. These pictures where taken before we put up new baseboards. I love how it turned out and love love love that we have tile now in our dinning area instead of carpet! It was a messy project, but the kids thought it was pretty fun to eat in the laundry room. We still catch ourselves once in a while going into the front room to get food from the fridge. It is nice to have everything put back together.

Weight Loss Challenge!

2011-01-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

We decided if we wanted to actually following through with our New Year’s resolution to lose some extra pounds we needed some accountability and a reward.

So, we are starting a competition with anyone who wants to join! Everyone puts $10 into a pot and at the end of 3 months the person who has lost the most weight loss % wins the money. Don't worry you do not have to tell anyone your actual weight, just your percentage lost. We will be doing mini competitions throughout too for more motivation.

We created a blog at 2011WLC.blogspot.com that gives more information about how it will work and where people can share healthy recipes, workout tips, or anything else along with posting our weekly weight loss numbers.

Email me today if you are interested and want to join in the fun! This is open to anyone, the more the merrier!

Birthday Cake!

2011-01-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

Cake is fun!

A year ago...

2010-12-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

Can you believe this was a year ago?

Time flies when you are busy!

Happy Birthday Kaitlin and Samantha!

We have survived so far the endless diapers and bottles, the sleepless nights, and the constant search for two binkies. We love you Kaitlin. We love you Samantha. We are so grateful for your little busy hands, your giggles and smiles, your silly dance moves, your cuddles and kisses, and most of all how both of you have brought so much love into our little family.

Favorite

2010-12-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

My new favorite website! My friend shared this with me and now I am sharing with you....

It makes me want to be a better crafty creative mommy.

Check it out here!

We are going to have fun printing out things, coloring, and playing today since it has been POURING outside for forever now.

Here are some of my other favorite creative sites...

Family Fun

Deep Space Sparkle

The Artful Parent

Now if only I had enough energy and time to have my children do all of fun creative things on these sites....

What are your favorite creative sites for us moms?

Super Cute

2010-12-03T20:20:00.000-08:00

You can make a customized little movie of Santa talking to your child. We made one for Jason and I am super excited for him to see it.

Check it out here!

If you want to make your own click here. Just thought I would share.

My new blog!

2010-12-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

Check it out

Shopping Fun

2010-12-01T13:02:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Spiderman and my little senoritas! We had a good weekend...

Walking and Dancing

2010-10-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

Birthday Boy

2010-10-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Happy Birthday Jason!

He had one wish for his birthday party this year.... an "alien dance party." So we dimmed the lights, put up glow in the dark stars, included a twinkle light "disco ball" in the middle of the room, switched on the strobe light and had a dance party. He had a wonderful day with a few friends over to celebrate. We decorated spaceships made out of paper plates and bowls, ate cake pop "alien robots," and of course danced a little.

Yesterday he opened his presents from us and his Aunt Jenny who was so nice to come for the weekend to be with him. About a month ago I bought a trampoline for his present. I am not sure who was more excited for the surprise birthday morning to come... me and Benj who put it together in the dark the night before, or Jason who discovered that the poles in the garage were not for the "fence" I told him they were for, but actually his very own trampoline!

He has been in heaven playing with new toys and jumping. He is even lucky enough to be able to jump outside despite the rain thanks to our car port that fits the trampoline perfectly.

We love you birthday boy!

"Love Cookies"

2010-10-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

Last night for FHE Benj's lesson was about love. We read about Jesus and how he teaches us to love everyone. For our treat Benj taught us how to make fortune cookies that we could put our own love notes in and then give to someone. The cookies where yummy and fun to make, but even better was the note I got inside of mine. My cookie was from Jason....

It doesn't get much sweeter than that.

Conference Weekend

2010-10-07T12:16:00.001-07:00

General Conference weekend was wonderful. I love the spirit that is felt in our home as we listen to our leaders. I was excited for this conference weekend especially because I wanted to make sure Jason understood what conference was, why we watch it, and who we were listening too.

We started out by having a special conference family home evening the Monday before. We had a lesson on watch towers and how Heavenly Father gives us a prophet and apostles who are like watchmen on a tower, warning and teaching us because they can see more than us. We then read about King Benjamin who constructed a tower to stand on to teach his people and how his people set up their tents with the door facing the tower so they could listen to their prophet. We constructed our own paper tower. We taped pictures of of our prophet and the apostles on the watchtower and made sure to tape it on the wall next to the T.V. so we could look at it and remember while we watched conference. Our lesson ended with a marshmellow/toothpick tower making competition. Benj won by a fraction with a slightly taller tower than mine and Jason said he couldn't quite make a tower so he constructed the water pipes that ran through all of the tents so the people of King Benjamin could drink from drinking fountains :-).

Saturday morning before conference started we set up our little "reverence" tent in front of the t.v. I also put together a basket of goodies for Jason to work on while we watched. I printed out a packet of activities from Sugardoodle, put in some file folder games, and included some snacks. I also made some prophet/apostles flash cards that Jason flipped through when there was a new speaker. He put a sticker on the person talking and we quickly read on the card who it was and some fast facts about him. I also discovered a fabulous new website called Scriptures 4 Kids. Jason had fun quietly playing that through some of conference as well.

All in all everything worked great and helped my little 3 (almost 4) year old stay quiet and reverent. He was excited to work on his conference things and I know Benj and I felt the spirit thanks to quiet children that let us watch and listen. Thank goodness both sessions coincided with nap time for the most part for the girlies!

These things never get old....

2010-10-07T11:05:00.001-07:00

It's October!

2010-10-01T20:24:00.001-07:00

We love fall! We especially love October because of the fun things we get to do like go to pumpkin patches. Jason had his first field trip with his preschool class today. We had fun at our favorite fall location, the Lake View Farm.

Free Entertainment

2010-09-09T16:05:00.001-07:00

Bubble Art/Science Lesson

2010-09-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Poor Jason has an October birthday so while most of the kids his age are doing real preschool and headed to Kindergarten in a year he is stuck at home for 2 more years with me. We will do a more formal preschool for him next year, but until then we are going to "school" at home and twice a week for 2 1/2 hours with a group of 5 other kids.

The other day we did "Bubble Art." ( click the link for instructions) It was so much fun and turned out great so I thought I would share. It was also a great way to segment into learning about colors and what happens when you mix together primary colors.

Jason has a school bin where he keeps all of the things we are working on such as his Science Journal, the books he is practicing reading, his work pages etc. He loves recapping his lessons in his Journal especially since he can then show daddy what he learned during the day.

I thought my heart would burst last Friday night when he read a whole book by himself to his Grandpa Lloyd. He is working so hard and we are having a lot of fun.

1st Tooth!

2010-09-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

My sweet little Samantha got her first tooth! Here are some fun pictures. Look close you can almost see it!

Back at work today

2010-08-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

Jason when he woke up this morning:

"Mommy we need to dig a big huge tunnel all the way to Daddy's room at work and stick a hidden microphone in it that says over and over GO HOME, GO HOME, GO HOME."

I think he misses his dad already.

Schedule

2010-08-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

With Benj heading back to work next week our blissful summer is about to end. This means all of the wonderful help I have had from him will be gone during the day. Jason has lead a pretty free summer and has enjoyed a little more one on one time since both parents have been home. I decided I needed to make a schedule for his day so when it is just me and the kids at home he will have more ideas that just T.V. and video games to do.

I made magnets that have specific activities on them. I then made a chart with the day split into morning, afternoon and evening. Each morning I will decide which activities I would like Jason to do during the different time periods in the day and put the magnets in the slots. He then has the freedom to choose which activity he wants to do from the specific time period we are in and what activity he would like to do next and move those magnets to the top. Once he has finished up with an activity it goes to the bottom to use again the next day. I hope this will be a good way to limit his T.V., and video game time to once a day and for 30 minutes and help give him a little more structure when he is thinking of things. I am also excited because it will help me make sure we are planning for and doing his "school" time each day. That is the plan at least!

Anyway, I thought I would share!

Trip Home

2010-08-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

We got to spend last week in Washington visiting our families. We got out a slip in slide for the kids to play with a day we were there. Jason had a blast running and sliding. Samantha sat and splashed a little in the water. Kaitlin had no fear and insisted on crawling up and down the slip in slide even with the water spraying her in the face. It was funny and she was determined. It was a good day.

Samantha Scooting

2010-08-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

We have to share, in all fairness, Samantha's scooting too. She has been doing this around the house for a good month or so which has made Kaitlin very jealous. The tables are turned a little now. Maybe she will watch her sister and learn how to flip over to move. This would greatly improve her bald spot on the back of her head! She is sure cute scooting though.

House Pics

2010-08-10T10:46:00.001-07:00

We have been working hard this summer fixing up our new house. And, since we have had some people requesting some pictures of all of our hard work we decided to finally take some. We also made a little movie so you can get the full effect. So far we have just done a LOT of painting, but we did sheet rock and finish over the ceiling in the front room as well and add a chandelier and a light fixture in the front room. For the record too the bathrooms are no longer red. They are now a lovely white :-). If you had seen them before you would know why white is such an improvement!

My rooms are lacking some accessories, but I we will get to the colorful pillows, curtains, and whatnots one of these days :). We love how much more bright and clean the house feels now. So, for our Washington/Utah/Florida/California family (and everyone else who cares ) out there this is for you!

Before:

After:

I am excited to tackle the bedrooms now! The girls room is almost done so stay tuned.

Kaitlin is Crawling!

2010-08-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

Last Week

2010-08-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

My beautiful sister and her husband flew in from Florida last week to visit! I asked Jason to guess who was coming and I told him to guess someone who he loved very much. He said Julie and Andy right away. Not only did we get to see her cute pregnant belly, but Grandma and Grandpa Murdock came to to visit too. We had a wonderful time! One of the days they were here we went to the Washington County fair here in Hillsboro. We had a great time.

Check out the ADORABLE hats my mom bought the girls. I love them!

Family Pictures

2010-07-29T22:04:00.001-07:00

We had some family photos taken on our trip to Utah with the Lloyd family. Check some of them out here!

Thanks Alicia Jones!

Home Repairs

2010-07-28T10:34:00.001-07:00

A lot of people have been asking for pictures of our house but the truth of the matter is that we haven't been taking too many because we are working hard this summer to get things how we like them. After thinking for a while we decided that our best option for the living room ceiling would be to sheetrock and finish the bad boy so that's what we did yesterday. Lest you think that I was able to do the whole thing by myself, you would be amazed at how much Melinda put into this one, from helping me move the 100 pound 2 packs of drywall to placing the supports. We make a pretty good team. You can kind of see what it looked like before too in the pictures.

For Grandma Lloyd

2010-07-25T20:53:00.001-07:00

Last summer G&G Lloyd went to Ecuador. Grandma discovered these beautiful dresses for the girls. I have been anxiously waiting until the girls were big enough for them. They wore them today to church and were so cute! I didn't get a picture of Samantha in her matching blue dress, but I did get some cute ones of Kaitlin.

Camping

2010-07-25T20:33:00.001-07:00

Last week we got to go camping at Cape Lookout. We have an amazing tent that fit two port-a- cribs, a mattress for Jason, and a king size blow up mattress for Benj and I and despite it being really cold everyone slept really well! Jason loved playing in the water and sand. Thank goodness Grandma Lloyd was there because she was the only one willing to brave the water with him.

Jason really wanted his picture taken on this log. As soon as he got on top he discovered there was a big hole in the middle. Benj teased him and told him it was a raccoon house. He was so scared! This the best smile I could get out of him after that.

Sitting Up

2010-07-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Check up

2010-07-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Our girls are 6 months! Time is going by so fast and I can't believe how fast my tiny little babies have grown into rolling and scooting, chubby little girls. Here are their stats and some fun tid bits about them.

Samantha is full of energy, loves to play with her toys. She will give you the sweetest open mouth crinkled nose smile if you just look at her. Her favorite thing to do right now is to lay on her back and push herself backwards. She scoots all over the house looking backwards at where she is headed. She can roll from her belly to her back and from her back to her belly and is getting better and better at sitting up on her own. She has quite the war cry scream. She doesn't do it when she is mad, but instead when she is just playing or just wants someone to look at her. She will not fall asleep unless she is swaddled or at least holding onto her blanket, but is good at falling asleep on her own. She loves her parents and gives great hugs and snuggles and especially loves to rub faces with you. She weighs 17lbs 6oz and is 27.5 inches long.

Kaitlin is mellow and quieter than her sister, but lately thanks to some teeth coming in has definitely found her voice for sure! She loves to watch her brother and will giggle and giggle at him being silly. She also loves when her daddy or brother play peek a boo with her. She is great at rolling from all positions and tries really really hard to sit up by herself while laying on her back. She is going to have the strongest core from all her palliate moves. Kaitlin loves to give kisses and will grab your face and pull it towards her mouth for a slimy one. One of her favorite things to do is jump in her Johnny Jumper. She loves being cuddled in a blanket as well and will fall asleep really fast in her bed if I just rub her face for a minute or so to get her sleepy. We think she is going to be a dancer because she is always wiggling and bouncing. She weighs 17lbs 6 oz and is 27 inches long.

And, they are both loving this real food thing! We try really hard to stay clean, but it is hard when you are negotiating two mouths and four hands trying to grab the spoons and the food!

We love our little precious girls and are so thankful for them in our family!

(Kaitlin is on the left, Samantha is on the right)

They are just following in their big brothers footsteps!

It's hot today!

2010-07-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

Vacation

2010-07-08T21:11:00.000-07:00

We decided to make a fast trip to Utah for the 4th of July. Benj's family was all going to be there and we had his brother and sister-in-law's baby Clair and my brand new nephew Davis who was just born a week and a half ago to meet. We also got to see my parents in the Tri-cities along the way and my grandparents in SLC. I was VERY nervous about how everyone would do in the car, but our kids were wonderful thanks so some books on CD, Where's Waldo books, and naps. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we did get to hit at least some highlights while in Utah like going up the canyon, watching the parade in Provo, eating at Cafe Rio, and seeing all of the new buildings at BYU.

And, after traveling for 14 hours last Tuesday to get home Jason said "that was not too long!"

On the way home we stopped at Multnoma Falls to stretch our legs.

My nephews Isaac and Micah holding their new tiny and cute brother Davis.

Watching the parade. Sleeping at the park.

Cute cousin Eliza.

Cousin Clair with my girls.

Summer has begun!

2010-06-24T22:25:00.001-07:00

With the record amount of rain we have been having here the sunshine today was wonderful! We spent the afternoon outside. Jason played in the water, the girls lounged in their stroller watching kids play, and I got to spend the day with Benj who is officially free for the summer. It was a good afternoon.

Happy Father's Day to me

2010-06-20T21:56:00.001-07:00

I’m the luckiest dad in the world and I’ve spent the last couple of days with my family waiting on me hand and foot. Check out my father’s day gift. Melinda let me go to Home Depot early Saturday morning and pick up some supplies and then watched all the kids for 4 or 5 hours while I built myself a workbench out in the garage. My wife is amazing, I mean, check out that garage real estate, that could have been shelving or something but she wanted me to have a little work area. I think I’ll stay up late tonight just to relish the last few hours of what has been a wonderful father’s day.

Picture Overload

2010-06-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Growing like a weed!

2010-06-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

We measured Jason yesterday and discovered he has grown 1 1/4 inches in 4 months! I was surprised until I remember that all of his pants look like this.....

Time to go shopping again!

Jason Loves His Cousins!

2010-06-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

First Food and Laughter

2010-06-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

As a side note.... Can you believe this was a year ago exactly!? Time has flown by. It is amazing what a year can bring.

Photos at the Park

2010-05-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting a new family photo with everyone to hang in my new kitchen so we went to a gorgeous park by our home and took some pics. Here are some of my favorite.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

2010-05-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

Benj did it! Today was the last class of his masters program. I am so proud of him and all the hard work he did. He is graduating with a masters in Educational Technology and with a 4.0 to go with it. Congrats honey! I love you! Thank you for working so hard for us and being a wonderful husband and father at the same time.

Eating Some Breakfast

2010-05-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

Lately the girls have discovered their bottles and love to "help." This means that their little hands go crazy while they eat as they try to hold their bottle, tip it up for the last bit of milk, or swat it away when they are finished. They are pretty cute and it makes feeding two at a time even more eventful.

Kaitlin

Samantha

Smeeza Baleeza

2010-05-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

Jason loves stories. We spend lots of time together telling silly stories to each other. Today as we ate lunch Jason came up with a funny story and asked me if we could make it into a book. I thought that was a wonderful idea! I pulled out my laptop and told him to tell it to me again. He talked and I frantically typed to get it all down word for word. He then sat on my lap and we looked up funny pictures on the internet to illustrate his little story. He was so excited and I thought I would share. So, enjoy Smeeza Baleeza, by Jason Lloyd dot com (his author name haha).

Firsts

2010-05-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a couple of firsts..... Jason changed his first diaper ( two actually), Kaitlin rolled over onto her back while she was on her belly, and Samantha held her own bottle while she ate! It was a good day.

House

2010-05-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

Ok so we do not have too many pictures of our new house yet. This is due to the mess, the camera being packed, and us just being way too busy but, here are a few. When we moved into the house the kitchen and bathrooms were painting a really dark thick red. This red was EVERYWHERE! Ceilings, fixtures, outlet covers etc. We have been busy painting the red away. Here is a before and after picture of our kitchen.

Also our girlies had their 4 month check up. Here are the stats:

Samantha is 14lbs 6 oz. and 24.75 inches long. Kaitlin is 13lbs 10oz. and 24.25 inches long.

Smiles

2010-04-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

Kaitlin's signature closed mouth smile!

Samantha's signature open mouth smile!

Mat Time and Samantha Laughing....sort of :-)

2010-04-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

Update

2010-04-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

Needless to say we have had a really busy couple of months. February and March have flown by. There are so many things that have happened I will give you the highlights.

Julie came to visit the beginning of February. We loved getting to see her and really appreciated her help with the babies. We miss you Julie and Andy.
We blessed Kaitlin and Samantha and enjoyed having both grandparents and lots of Aunts and Uncles. Benj did a wonderful job and have beautiful blessings and the girls where both very quiet through the whole things.
Samantha and Kaitlin started to smile and make all sorts of cute noises.
Samantha is super strong and is usually stiff and likes to stands straight up.
Kaitlin likes to cuddle and bat away at her toys.
Kaitlin is getting longer and longer with very expressive big blue eyes. Samantha has the cutest baby rolls all over and will give you the biggest open mouth smile.
Both girls are sleeping 8 to 9 hours straight and then another couple of hours a night!
The girls are getting close to 4 months old!
Jason took a gymnastics class and a music class at the rec. center. He loved ever second of them and now knows how to walk across the balance beam, do tricks on the bars, do somersaults, and has the best dance moves around. He just started a sports adventure class. Every week he learns how to do a different sport. So far he has learned how to play soccer, basketball and t-ball. He loves it!
Jason is mastering the the sounds of letters and loves to pick apart words and tell you the letters he hears.He also loves to rhyme and to tell us how to drive around town. He has a great sense of direction and can tell you if you need to go straight, left, or right. He is usually right.
The beginning of March Benj took his big cumulative test for his masters program. He needed to pass this test in order to graduate. After two days of grueling testing he passed with flying colors. He now has a couple more weeks left and he will graduate with his masters! Too bad we do not live closer to Boise State so he could walk! Good job honey!!!
Benj is also in his last trimester at work and is already looking forward to summer break. He has been teaching an after school web design club for some students and is also working hard at his last class at Boise state where he has to make an educational video game.
As for me I have been mastering the art of feeding two babies at a time, one nursing and one eating from a bottle, or both nursing or both with a bottle. I am getting really strong arms from carrying two car seats around. I am also getting really good at changing lots and lots of diapers fast. I have learned that if I go out in public I have to cover the girls up with a blanket or else I get stopped every 5 minutes by someone who wants to stare at them and tell me about some distant relative or friend of a friend who has twins too. It is nice to have such admired babies though. I sure love all of my children.
We got to spend spring break in Washington enjoying family. We loved staying out in the Lloyd's new "cottage" and Jason especially loved seeing all his grandparents. The girls did wonderful on their road trip and slept the whole way there and back. We even got to see my grandparents who came up from Utah to see the babies. It was nice to visit with them and have them meet the girls.
We also got the spend a week with Bryan, Ily and the cousins the last week of March. It was so fun to see them. We spent Easter with them too and got to dye eggs. Jason sure misses his cousins.
On top of all of these things we have been doing we bought a house! We officially closed on the house last week, but it has been a busy couple of months making it actually happen. We found an older farm house in Hillsboro. It is a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom home with lots of room for us to spread out. We are so excited for more space and for our own place. We have grand plans of all sorts of fun things we are going to do to it this summer when we have more time. For now we are very busy painting, cleaning, packing, and buying appliances.

Coming of Age

2010-03-26T19:32:00.001-07:00

When I installed office furniture as a college student I was introduced to the manly world of dewalt drills. Well, we might be getting a house with endless opportunities to fix things so I had to jump at the chance when a good deal came up on a used dewalt 18 volt drill. Projects anyone?

What do you think?

2010-03-10T15:33:00.001-08:00

When my mom came to help out a month or so ago she kept commenting on how she would look at Samantha and have flashes of me as a baby. She said it was uncanny how much we looked alike. Same dark hair, same blue eyes, same pointy chin. She sent me this picture to prove it.... I think she was right!

I snapped this picture of Kaitlin last Sunday and while I was looking at it all I could think was this looks just like Jason. I found a picture to prove it. Same round blue eyes, same nose, same lighter hair, same mouth.

I think we are related. I also think everyone was right when they said Samantha looks like a Murdock and Kaitlin looks like a Lloyd. Fun to see the comparisons.

Sunday Pictures

2010-03-07T16:14:00.001-08:00

Big brother!
Samantha
Samantha and mommy
Samantha
Kaitlin
Sisters!
Samantha

2 months already!

2010-03-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

The girls are 2 months now! Can you believe it!? Here are their stats as of last week...

Samantha is 10 lbs 4 ounces, 22 1/4 inches long and has a 15 inch head

Kaitlin is 9 lbs 6 ounces, 23 inches long and has a 15 inch head

They went from being way below average at their last appointment to right around average. They are getting cute and chubby!

Just as a comparison- When Jason was born he weighed 9 lbs 3 ounces, was 21 inches long, and his head was 18 inches around. It is crazy to think they are about the same size at 9 weeks as he was when he was born!

Sun

2010-02-18T14:54:00.000-08:00

We have had sunshine! Two days of it so far and life is all the sudden a little better.

Last week I was getting SOAKED while trying to get two babies into the limousine of a stroller I have to use these days, help Jason out of his seat, stick binkies into two crying mouths and run to Jason's 1/2 hour class that we were already 10 minutes late for all the while thinking to myself.... breath.... you can do this...

I did get to see Jason busting a move in his music class. Which, despite the fact that my pant legs were wet up to my knees and my hair was dripping the babies fell asleep and Jason's ear to ear grin while being the most enthusiastic dancer in the class made it worth it.

Going anywhere with twins and a three year old is hard work. Doing it for the past 7 weeks in pouring rain is hard... and well ....wet :-).

This week I stepped outside to sun and this growing in the front yard and things are a little bit better. We even went to a park today! The forecast for next week is rain again, but at least for the next couple of days it will be nice to get out of the car and stay dry.

Baby Blessing Day

2010-02-13T17:11:00.000-08:00

We were able to bless the babies last week at church. Benj did a wonderful job and the girls slept through the whole thing. Here are some pictures from the day. Thanks to my wonderful mother who made the beautiful dresses and thanks to my wonderful mother in law who gave us the beautiful blankets for this special day.

The last month in pictures!

2010-02-01T17:56:00.000-08:00

Kaitlin and Samantha are here!

2010-01-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

We have our girls! I have so much to post and no time to do it so please be patient with us :-). We will soon post lots and lots and lots of pictures. Until then ....

Everyone is healthy and doing well and we have been constantly counting our many many blessings this past week. I still cannot believe these two beautiful perfect tiny girls are ours and here in our family. I tear up just thinking about it.

Stay tuned for more!

Stats

2009-12-23T20:14:00.001-08:00

We had a growth ultrasound today so we found out how big these girls actually are. They are both 6 pounds 7 ounces! They are big for 36 weeks which is even bigger for twins. I hope they come soon!

Baby Update

2009-12-18T11:14:00.001-08:00

The car seats are in the van. Our hospital bags are packed. The crib is set up. The dresser is packed with all sorts of cute girly clothes. The house is as organized and as clean as I can get it. I have enough diapers to last us at least a week.... maybe...

I am 35 weeks and a few days and feel like these babies could come any time! 36 weeks is average time for twins to come so I have almost made it to my goal. I now have to see the doctor at least once, sometime 3, times a week. Between stress tests on the babies, ultrasounds, and doctor visits I am a regular there.

The babies for the last month or so have not changed positions. Baby A is breech sitting down low and Baby B is transverse curled up under my ribs so I will most likely have a c-section. My doctor tells me that he will not schedule a c-section until I am 39 week so January 13th will be the day unless I go into labor before that. I really really really hope I go into labor before that :-). I am having a lot of contractions so I hope that means it is sooner than later.

Each baby at this point is getting closer to 6 pounds and are around 18 inches long and are doing great ( I will tell you their exact stats next Wednesday after another growth ultrasound). I have been lucky to not have to go on bed rest. I am measuring far beyond 40 weeks and have been now for about a month and I am just super duper uncomfortable, having a hard time sleeping, and dealing with everything else that comes along with being ginormously pregnant. All in all though things are going really well and we are super excited. It is so weird to think there are really two babies in there, though recently it feels like arms and legs everywhere. I sometimes think they are fighting because both will just start kicking and pushing like crazy. The poor things are probably defending the little room they have left.

Oh and I think we have committed to names though we are not sure who is who yet. Samantha and Kaitlin. Got any ideas for middle names? Picking two first names was hard enough!

"Perfect Pear"

2009-11-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you Katie for throwing me a baby shower!
Thank you to everyone who came!

Twice the sweet outfits

And cute curly hair

Two precious baby girls

Will make the perfect pair!

Reassurance from a little boy

2009-11-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

I will be 31 weeks in a couple of days and I think I am starting to get really nervous for these little girls to come. My goal is to make it until 36-37 weeks so the count down has started.

I was talking to Benj yesterday telling him how scared I was and that I am worried I will not be a good mom to 3 children all of the sudden. Jason walked over to me, patted my head, and said “Don’t worry mom, take a deep breath. It will be ok because you’re really nice.”

At least he has faith in me!

Newest baby pics

2009-11-07T11:27:00.001-08:00

29 weeks. About 2 1/2 pounds and about 15 inches long.

He is getting too smart for his own good!

2009-11-02T10:12:00.000-08:00

Conversation between Jason and Benj last night. Jason was trying his best to get out of going to bed.

J: "Daddy, I am too scared to go to bed. I am scared a man is going to come over here and bite me."

B: "What are you talking about? Who is going to come and bite you?"

J: "I am scared you are going to come over and bite me!"

Benj leans over and pretends to bite Jason's neck making him laugh and laugh. (I think this is when the light bulb clicked on in his head)

B: "Ok, go to sleep now."

J: "Daddy, I am too scared to go to bed. I am scared a man is going to come over and pick me up!"

B: " Who is going to come and get you?"

J: "Daddy, I am too scared because I think you are going pick me up and take me downstairs and watch a movie about robots with me on the couch."

B: " Nice try!"

silly boy

Halloween Remix

2009-11-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

Make your own maternity pants!

2009-10-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Check out a fun trick I learned a while back. I wanted to have some more pants that I could wear while I was pregnant, but did not want pay a ton for maternity jeans that almost always look nerdy or do not fit right. I stumbled onto this "instructable" on how to turn your own regular jeans into maternity pants. I did it to two pairs of my jeans and it was actually really easy and worked great! I wear them more than I do the expensive pair I bought at the maternity clothing store.

Belly Pictures

2009-10-25T09:39:00.001-07:00

Here I am at 23 weeks. I took this picture with my phone to send to my sister after she called and asked if I was showing yet :-). I was indeed.

Here is 27 weeks. Yeah....I know, I am huge! I am measuring about as big or bigger than I did when I HAD Jason. 37 weeks is considered full term for twins. Let's see if I can make it 10 more weeks!

Party Time

2009-10-25T09:30:00.001-07:00

Making the traditional pinata with daddy for his b-day party.

We had a pretty low key party this year, but Jason loved playing at the Jungle Playland, breaking apart his pinata duck, opening presents, and eating cake. Happy Birthday Jason!

Happy 3rd Birthday Jason!

2009-10-22T08:26:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday big boy! We sure love you!!!!!

Pumpkin Patch Time Again

2009-10-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

The forecast was rain rain rain for Saturday, but we braved the elements and went to our favorite pumpkin patch with our friends the Marleys. The weather did not disappoint. Despite our rain coats, rain boots, and umbrellas we all went home pretty muddy and wet. I would have stayed drier if I could have button more than the top 2 buttons of my rain coat. I had a perfect triangle of wetness on my protruding belly :-). It was almost comical to see all the die hard families toting their toddlers through the mud to find a perfect pumpkin. It was worth it though. The look on Jason's face below says it all.

Jason sure loves his buddy Van.

Even though we went to the same pumpkin patch last year we enjoyed it just as much! You get to ride a boat to the pumpkins, watch a shark and lock nest monster jump out of the water, see some haunted pirates, and then ride a train back to your car. My only regret is that I didn't get to take more pictures of us and the green, orange, red, and yellow of the scenery around us. I was worried that my camera would be water logged from the few pictures I did manage to snap. This is truly a beautiful time of year here even though I fear we have hit the rainy season already. You have to love the NW because even as I type this the rain is pouring down outside and yet I can hear my neighbor out mowing his lawn :-).

Fun at the Zoo

2009-10-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

Every first Tuesday of the month our zoo has a special $2.00 day. Jason and I meet up with some friends and finally took advantage of the discount. We had a great time even though it was pretty cold and rainy. I forgot my camera. Thanks Katie for the pictures!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2009-10-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

We love you! I hope you have a great day. Thank you for being so wonderful.

LED's Again

2009-10-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

So I had to do another cool project with LEDs. Here's a video of the finished project.

Heaven

2009-10-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Jase: "Momma, I so happy to be here with you."

Melinda: "Thank you Jason, me too!"

Jase: "Yeah, Momma I came down from Heaven to be with you and Daddy."

Happy October!

2009-10-07T08:34:00.001-07:00

I love this time of year. I love the beautiful leaves, the cool sunny weather, the fun apples farms and pumpkin patches, and the festivities of Halloween... I also love that my sweet little Jason will be turing 3.

In the spirit of Fall I thought I would share some fun things:

For a silly movie click here!

For some fun Halloween Tricks and creative yummy Treats check out my friends blog here!

"...and a half!"

2009-09-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

Jason: "Momma, I am only 2 and a half. When I turn 3 and a half I will be a BIG boy. Then I can drive the car and look in the mirror like you right!?"

********

A couple of months ago Jason and Benj were... um... having a little argument about something. I cannot remember what they were having a power struggle about, but in all my mommy wisdom :-) I gently reminded Benj that Jason was only 2 years old. Jason immediately stopped what he was doing, turned to me, and yelled "Momma! I am 2 and a half! Don't take away my half, don't take away my half!"

The funniest part is I am pretty sure we have never taught him about "and a half." Silly kid.

General Conference Time!

2009-09-30T08:15:00.001-07:00

I am excited for this weekend! My parents are visiting and we get to watch General Conference!

In an attempt to help Jason understand what General Conference is and why it is special I have been compiling activities for him to do while we watch this weekend. Check out this site for some WONDERFUL ideas! It has conference activity packets, FHE lesson ideas, coloring pages, etc.

Boy Party

2009-09-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a cub scout committee meeting so Jason and Benj got to spend some quality time together just the two of them. I told Jason he was going to have a boy party with dad. His response was "yeah! We need some party hats!" When I came home Benj showed me this picture he took with the cell phone. Looks like they had fun. Party hats and toilette paper roll swords, looks like some fun dad/son bonding.

Monster Friend

2009-09-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today's craft.

You've got to love what a little batting and felt will create. Jason had fun stuffing him full and gluing the pieces down and it was a good way for me to review colors and shapes with him. The result is a new monster friend for him. His name is "Frabbit."

Ghetto LED LCD Hack

2009-08-30T08:50:00.001-07:00

So a week or so ago we decided to get Jason a computer. He's started playing some learning games on our laptop and not only does he enjoy them, but it seems to be helping him get some concepts down so we figured he might as well have his own. (Not to mention he's almost 3)

Anyway, I helped some guy that I met off of Craigslist fix his push reel mower in exchange for a really good deal on a used computer. Then I found a guy in Vancouver that was offering an LCD monitor for $25. Like all things that seem to be too good to be true, it kind of was. When we got home to try it out we found out that the backlight didn't work. In other words, the monitor comes on but doesn't light up and you can't see anything.

After discovering that one of the lamps was burnt out which caused the inverter to fail, parts would cost about $50, I decided I needed to do a ghetto hack. $6 dollars of cheap LED lamps from the dollar store and behold, the ghetto LED LCD hack.

You'll see that there are some pretty noticable hotspots, that's the best part, Jason doesn't notice at all. Afterall, he's just a kid. The dark picture shows the monitor next to the laptop for a brightness comparison.

And the verdict is.....GIRLS!!!!

2009-08-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

We had our ultrasound today. We are having two girls! Jason has been telling us the whole time that he has two baby sisters on the way, I guess he knew what he was talking about. We are very excited!

Bend a what....

2009-08-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

..Bendaroos!

Grandma and Grandpa Murdock gave Jason some Bendaroos for a present and we absolutely love them! I say we because I think I have just as much fun creating as he does. The Bendaroos come with instructions on how to make things. It tells you how many of each color you need. Jason is a good helper and counts out each of the colors we need while saying "Mom the recipe says we need 5 cups of blue sticks, 3 cups of red sticks..."

Jason insisted we take some pictures to show Grandma. So here you go! Enjoy :-)

Also here is a shout out to Elder Lloyd. We are proud of you! Happy birthday!!!

We're Back

2009-08-15T17:49:00.001-07:00

We have had an amazingly lazy summer. I won't delve any deeper because I know how jealous it makes people to know that teachers have the summer off. Actually this is the first summer of my adult life that I haven't had more responsibility. Anyway, I know some people might remember the power wheels racer project, here's the bad boy on the open road.

Washington Fun!

2009-08-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

For the past month we have been in Washington. Benj's parents took a trip down to Ecuador and rather than be in Portland where there is no air conditioning we volunteered to stay in their air conditioned house, swim in their pool, and feed their dogs. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it :-). Favorite things of this summer so far:

*Grandma and Grandpa Lloyd's swimming pool!* Missing the record heat in Portland!*Mini golfing and bowling with G&G Murdock. * Jumping on G&G Murdock's trampoline with a sprinkler under it. *Lloyd Reunion and being with the family. * Canoeing in the Yakama River *Wrestling and running away from G&G Lloyd's dogs. *Sleeping in a king size bed. *Buying a van to fit our growing family. *Being together everyday and relaxing.

As a side note... the babies and I are doing well. I have to say that having twins really is double. I have felt twice as tired, twice as sick, and now I feel twice as big as I did with Jason. Everything is going well though so I cannot complain. I am feeling MUCH better now and we get to find out what we are having next Friday so stay tuned! If I get brave I will post a picture of my ever growing self....maybe....

Race Car

2009-06-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a short slideshow of the race car graphics I just did for a guy. I won't take credit for the installation, he did that himself with some buddies. Anything that isn't blue ont he race car is done in vinyl graphics.

The Haves and the Have Nots

2009-06-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

There are only two types of people in this world. Those who were allowed to have a power wheels when they were a child and those who were not. Those of us who were not allowed to have one probably make up the vast majority of people but even then I'm fairly certain that the have nots still get a small twinge of jealousy, even now as adults, when they see a kid driving one of these down the block.

You should have seen Melinda's face when Jase and I stuffed this thing into the cart at the GoodWill Outlet store. $5 later and some creative work getting it into the car and we had our next project. Jason helped me take it all apart and spray down the body with a hose to wash off all the dirt. The next step was to peel off all the old decals, spray paint the body, and add some new stickers. We modded it to run off of a couple of my RC car batteries for easy charging and storage. Here's the finished project below. For anyone thinking that Jason is a richie rich kid right now, remember that in a half year's time he will be getting the serious shaft.

Life will never be the same again...

2009-06-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, I cannot keep it a secret anymore!

We are expecting!

I had my first doctors appointment this past Friday and I was happy to find out that the doctor wanted to do an ultrasound to see how everything was going. I did not get to have an ultrasound when I was pregnant with Jason until I was almost 20 weeks so this was exciting. The doctor proceeded to look around without saying anything. I have to admit I was getting a little nervous because of the silence and because I had no idea what I was looking at! After a few minutes the doctor took a deep breath (which made me almost have a mini heart attack) and said "Well, see that fluttering there, that is the heart beat for baby #1." At this point I think I did have a mini heart attack and said "um baby #1! Does that mean there is more in there?" He moved the picture over a little and said "See that fluttering here, that is the heart beat of baby #2!" My hands immediately went to my face and all I could do was say "Are you sure? Oh my gosh! Are you sure? Oh my gosh!"

The doctor was able to get both babies in the shot and sure enough there was two separate little babies with two separate strong little heart beats.

We are excited, shocked, happy, overwhelmed, and feel incredibly blessed. And, according to Jason HE has a baby sister in his tummy. Needless to say he is really excited and has been running around the house shouting "TWO BABIES!"

We are due January 21st, but the doctor says that twins usually come 4 weeks early. So we may be having some Christmas babies. What a wonderful gift!

Radio Control Out of Control

2009-05-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

You have to love Melinda for putting up with mine and Jase's hobbies. You heard right, you should see the madness that ensues when Jason tries to drive this thing in the house. Melinda didn't actually allow me to buy this new toy but I was able to barter another toy on craigslist to get it. There's a park by our house with an old dirt bike track that we're going to have to hit up. Jason and I spent yesterday spraypainting and putting vinyl stickers on the body of the truck. Jason got a cool sticker that matches the one on the hood on his tricycle seat.

May 2009

2009-05-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the fun things we have been doing this month. Memorial weekend Grandma and Grandpa Murdock came to stay at Skamania Lodge. Jason and I got to go spend the day with them at the lodge. Jason especially loved getting to golf with Grandpa!

Yesterday we decided since the weather was so beautiful we would go to the beach. We went to Cannon beach and enjoyed a wonderful day playing in the water and relaxing. Today we are however feeling the effects of such sunny weather and despite the sun screen and our new beach umbrella we are all burned. It was worth it!