alphabet posting

Hi friends and family,

Today's blog will contain topics in alphabetical order starting in the middle. Occasionally Layla will burst into song with the "Jesus ABC song" (thanks GG and Oma for introducing it to us) and start somewhere in the middle, so this post is dedicated to you, miss ABC singer.

O is for Octopus - Layla knows the entire alphabet and counts up to 20. She knows many words beyond any 20 month old I've met including Seahorse and Octopus. Seriously, how many kids under 2 years old do you know who understand, recognize, and can say, "seahorse"? Here's one of the reason's she is so well versed in the ABCs: The letter puzzle...


She is constantly learning, soaking in everything around her and repeating verbatim every word uttered in her presence. This includes Kendra's regular emphatic "Oh my goodness!"

P is for P90X - I'm officially done with the P90X fitness program. My goal was to gain weight. Unfortunately, I lost weight. and I mean a lot of weight. I now weigh LESS than when I graduated high school 13 years ago. I hadn't weighed myself since starting the P90X program until today. Here are my key learnings:

1. You can do anything for 90 days if you commit to it 100%. I am proud of myself for completing it even though the results weren't what I expected.

2. Hind sight is 20/20. From what I can tell, my inability to gain weight turned into a weight LOSS because of three failures on my part:
- dumbbells weren't heavy enough. I did a ton of reps with too light of weight.
- I didn't eat the quantity necessary to sustain and build. I ate TOO healthy and not enough quantity.
- Too much other activity added on top of P90X. I ran and went for walks occasionally, rode my mountain bike for 2 hours weekly, 6 hours of martial arts training weekly, and chasing twins around during non-work hours.

3. I am more flexible than ever and my core is stronger than ever. I attribute my lack of back pain to increased flexibility and core strength. It was like a magic pill... my back problems disappeared completely.

4. As with many things in life, adventures don't always turn out like we plan or expect, but you never know until you try. What did I have to lose? (besides 15 lbs. of muscle)

5. It doesn't matter why we are where we are. The catalyst and purpose of why I did P90X is immaterial. It only matters what we learn from situations and how to make the most of it.

In summary, a better plan would have been to eat cheesecake, watch TV, and do P90X as my only activity besides couch sitting. I'm not back on MY routine including weight lifting in the gym. I'm excited to see what I can do in the next 90 days.

Q is for quasi - Easton still loves to play on the slide and in the plastic pool of balls. He recently discovered a love for "diving" into the pool and I call this the QUASI belly flop:



R is for Rebellious - Layla is learning obedience through a different path than Easton. At times she does the limp noodle trick and whales as if she's being flogged with a cat of nine tails. Kendra went with her friend April to the park and when it was time to go Layla wanted to continue playing. Easton happily responded to Kendra's "go to the car" command. However, Layla had to be forcefully removed from the slide along with her puppy backpack.


You can mask it as "strong willed child" if you want, but I prefer to call it what it is... rebellious.

S is for slide - You can see by the next picture why it was so difficult to leave. Looks like all three of them are having a blast on slide!


T is for terrible - Last night Kendra played soccer, which meant daddy daycare duty was in full effect. I bathed the twins and prepared to stuff them into their pajamas. This time of night is frantic because Easton and Layla both run around the house screaming, "I'm naked! I'm naked!" There wasn't much time to locate pajamas and I didn't know Easton's were in the clothes dryer. Since I couldn't find a single set of his I begrudgingly grabbed a spare set from Layla's drawer. I feel terrible for making Easton sleep in hearts... just terrible.


I know there are worse things in life than a father putting babies shoes on backwards or dressing a boy in hearts. I just find it humorous to point out the funny things about being a parent that others are willing to expose.

Good night, see you soon!