outakes

Good afternoon Webb fans,

This is the first edition of outtakes for the 4 Webbs. After 6 months (today) and 1600 pictures there have been a few that show just how hard it is to capture the moment. You think it's tough to get ONE baby to be happy for a photo opportunity??? We've had fun finding ways to get TWO babies to look at the camera and smile during their adventures.

Since I am in AZ while the camera and Kendra and the twins are in CA, I decided to dig back through the archive to find some of the not-so-perfect pictures and hopefully you'll get as many laughs as I did trying to find these jewels:

Easton has an excellent pouty lip here and Layla just looks apathetic. Kendra is probably telling me to keep Easton in the water so he doesn't get cold in the 108 degree temperatures...

I have no idea what was going on during this moment, but Easton has the funniest facial expression that appears to be sheer horror!

I think Layla was blinking and sucking her bottom lip, but her expression is so bizarre. What's worse is that the picture of my sister, Joanie, turned out so well! She looks great, but Layla didn't cooperate at all for this one:


Here's a good example of me trying to capture a sweet father-daughter moment and Layla not caring at all. You can tell by her eyes and the fact she is twiddling her thumbs from boredom.


Kendra and I look great... Layla and Easton were not paying attention at all... i think it was the uncomfortable diaper bathing suits.


I love this next picture. It makes me laugh every time i see it. No, we don't give our babies illegal drugs, but if we did this is what they would look like.


That's not exactly a kodak moment that you would put in a frame, but I think it's hilarious in its own way. This next picture shows Easton and Layla figuring out their fingers and hands... Speaking of fingers, I KNOW she doesn't mean to hold up that particular finger more prominently than the others.


and now for the coup de grâce... No matter how happy Kendra and I look, there is just no way this picture had a chance at success with Easton's bottom lip sticking out like that and Layla airing out her lungs with tears.


and that concludes this pictoral representation of outtakes with the twins!

I'm missing Kendra and the babies already and it's only been one day out of a 5 day trip. :( Kendra assured me today she is taking plenty of pictures so I can catch back up with new stuff for blog when i get there on Monday. Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane (I can't believe how tiny Layla was). We weighed the babies in an unofficial way and the results are: Easton = 16 lbs. and Layla = 14 lbs. Those seem to be good numbers but we won't know for sure until we go to the pediatrician in 4 weeks.

I'll be offline until Sunday night so feel free to comment here and keep the conversation going in my absence!

the big deal with beautiful

Hi everyone,

Not a lot of pictures from today because it was fairly low key and normal, but i'll be glad to fill the pages here with the odd thoughts and feelings that pass through my head. First though, here's a picture of Oma Burgess and GG playing tennis on the Wii:

We all joined in the fun of playing tennis, but seeing GG and Oma do their best backhand swing was the highlight of the evening because they were both so funny to watch. It was a good family gathering and included kendra's brother, Logan, and his girlfriend Bree. Logan was a little weirded out by the idea of babies (and i can relate to that as the youngest child) so he enjoyed our babies from a few feet away. Bree jumped right in and held Layla. They smiled and giggled at each other and it was such a spectacle that everyone else in the room watched.

This evening after the babies went to sleep we left GG at home with them and walked down the street to have some after dinner snacks and hang out together. We met two guys from phoenix (it's a small world) and had a few laughs sitting close to each other and spending a few alone moments together.

That brings me to my deep thought of the day and that is: why is it so hard for guys to say the right compliment in the right way? I've discovered the word "beautiful" is something Kendra wants to hear from me, but for some unknown reason i don't say it. I think it all the time. I write it in cards and emails. I even sing James Blunt's song called "you're beautiful". but just to look in her eyes and say those three words is apparently beyond my boneheaded capacity.

I've told her she's cute, pretty, attractive, and 100 other descriptive words, but that's not what she needs to hear. I wonder if every woman is this way or if each one is different in the exact word that they want to hear their husband use to describe how he feels about her. In some ways I consider myself lucky because at least Kendra has made it known to me what she wants. I'm probably the envy of all the guys because at least she is open enough to tell me. :)

If I say, "you are beautiful to me" that implies only I feel that way about her, but others might not find her to be beautiful. If I say, "I think you are beautiful" that implies doubt and uncertainty. Adding anything at all to those three words does nothing but take away from the person they are meant to describe. So here I sit contemplating how to say:

you... are... beautiful...

as silly as it sounds (believe me, I know it's silly) I'm not stressed out about it or worried. these are just the random thoughts that pass through my head and sometimes it helps just to put it down in writing. Our 6th anniversary is coming up on August 10 and I'm working hard to plan a special night for us. I can't believe it has been 6 years since we started our lives together!

Time to get some sleep because tomorrow holds a full day of work and a flight home to AZ for a few days. This will be the longest I've ever been away from my babies since they were born 6 months ago. I already miss them and Kendra and hope the time away goes by fast.

catch you later!

The whapper

Good morning and happy Monday to you,

I've made references to Layla as the "mad whapper" and finally caught a video clip worthy enough to show you why:



She splashes in the pool with a big smile and doesn't care about water drenching her face or everyone around her. She's so funny to watch in the pool or anywhere because whapping her arms is how she expresses excitement along with her extra long groans and babbling.

Here's a picture of Layla displaying the effects of excessive whapping...



combined with the comfy feeling of Opa's arms and rocking, of course. This proves even Layla has a limited source of energy. If I could put her energy in a bottle we would finally have a solution to the oil crisis!

Did you know GG still plays tennis at 81 years old? She seemed to enjoy playing tennis on the Wii and I'll post the pictures of that tomorrow to show how "young at heart" she really is. :)

Have a good week! more pictures coming soon.

Cool morning, lot's of family

Good afternoon friends and family,

OK, one more picture of Thing 1 and Thing 2. I just can't resist because they look outstanding.



Before we headed out of town, my cousin Karen and her daughter Lauren came by to see the twins and spend some time hanging out. It's been a while since we seen each other and it was good to catch up with her and get to know Lauren. As soon as i opened the door, Lauren said, "hello, can I hold the baby?!" She was very cute and we all sat on the couch and past the twins back and forth. Here's Easton giving them cute giggles and laughs so they will keep making silly faces back at him:



Before leaving we managed to pack our entire house along with the kitchen sink into the Pilot. I had no idea it took this much stuff to raise babies, but there it is... one month worth of supplies for a trip to Ca:



We made it safely to California and the 12 hour drive turned out to be tiring and safe. Easton slept the entire time and Layla was... uh... we'll call it "strong willed". She had a 5 hour stretch of solid sleep, but spent the rest of the time making funny groaning noises and crying once in a while. Here they are... Easton and Layla on their first inter-state journey:



I think we ended up covering about 660 miles and traveling at night was a very good idea. It only took us about 30 minutes to completely cover GG's house with baby toys and chairs and clothes. She is so sweet to let us invade her house and take it over like this.

Yesterday, Kendra's brother, Casey, came home from work and was excited to meet Easton and Layla to fulfill his "uncle" role. Layla was amazed by how big of a guy he is and that long beard.



Casey invited me to go to the river so I took the opportunity to have some fun and get a tan. We ended up doing some cliff jumping into the American river! I jumped off a rock 45 feet above the water and screamed like a little girl all the way down... both times I jumped... :) Casey is a riot to be around and had me laughing the whole time.

We went out to dinner at Mimi's cafe to celebrate Opa's 53rd birthday. Yeah, i know... i can't believe he is 53 either! He certainly looks and acts much younger. I'm not sure how it turned out that Oma and Opa fed Easton and Layla during dinner, but they were more than happy to take care of business while we ate.



After dinner we came back to GG's house and sat out on the back porch where we talked and hung out until bed time. The cool delta breeze felt odd because I'm used to the summer in phoenix where any wind or breeze feels like a hair dryer. Not exactly refreshing. Overnight low was 56 degrees and we are loving the opportunity to be outside. this morning we packed the twins into the chariot stroller and walked the few blocks into town for Starbucks. We made a stop into the local drug store to buy earplugs on the way home. Now that the twins are sleeping in their pack-n-plays right next to us, every little grunt and flop they make wakes us up and Kendra can no longer lean over and switch off the baby monitor to regain quietness in the bedroom! Other than that, everything about the trip and our stay is working out magically.

One last picture from yesterday before I head off to Oma and Opa's for dinner... As I was looking over the past few months of blogs, I noticed there were very few of the twins out of their clothes. that makes it hard to see exactly how cute and chubby they are when we constantly have their pictures in striped onesies... Anyway, here they are in their natural state (along with the diapers of course):



Good night! Tomorrow I'll post the video of Layla splashing, which makes me laugh every time I see it.

bye bye Oma and Opa

Good Morning!

Some of you may get this song reference below, but most of you will be scratching your heads. At any rate, here's the song that came to mind when we dropped off Oma and Opa Burgess at the airport and said goodbye...

So they all rolled over and two fell out, 4 webbs in the house and the little one said, "I'm lonely..."
Luckily our loneliness will only last for one day because we're packing up to Pilot tomorrow and driving to CA for an extended stay at GGs. We'll have to chance to visit with several of Kendra's relatives and she'll get to hang out with her friends. We may stay a couple of weeks or we may stay a month. It all depends on how things are going and when we get home sick. Although I have to say that August in Phoenix is horrendous. I'm a little uneasy about driving through the night with our twins for the 13 hour trek. I really hope they sleep a looooong time and are ok with being in a car seat for that many hours. I'll let you know if taking a 6 month old baby (or two in our case) on a 13 hour road trip is a good idea or not...

I can't believe how quickly 6 weeks of Oma and Opa Burgess went by. The typical conversation with my friends is something like this:

Bronson: My in-laws are in town
friend: cool. how long?
Bronson: 6 weeks.
friend: are you serious? that's a LONG time. who are they staying with?
Bronson: us... in our house...
friend: WOW! that must suck.
Bronson: No, actually we're having a great time and really enjoy their company and staying in our house. I wish they could stay longer!
friend: good for you, man. you're lucky to have in-laws you feel that way about.
Bronson: yup. I chose wisely.

I've had that exact conversation no less than 20 times in the past few weeks and the "friend's" response is so predictable I could play it on tape recorder. The odds of getting along with in-laws that well are staggeringly low. BUT, Kendra also enjoys my parents and we are all looking forward to their visit in the fall. Calculating the odds of both of us enjoying our in-laws hurts the math side of my brain to even think about.

Here's one picture I haven't had the chance to post yet of Easton hanging out in his Exersaucer thing. My friend Judson gave us his old super-duper version of the exersaucer and our babies love it. The chair swivels around and moves back and forth on the rails. Anyway, that is Oma's finger and it looks like Easton is getting into trouble while being reprimanded by Oma, but I assure you he was being a good boy and she was just pointing at something...


And here is a simple picture of Layla up close showing her pretty eyes and funny expression as she shows us very clearly that she doesn't like granola flavored baby food.


Have a happy weekend and my next blog will be from CA once we're settled.

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Hello Webb family fans!


I want to give a little background regarding what you are about to read in the poem I wrote for the twins. Bronson's sister Joanie challenged Bronson to write a poem along the lines of Dr. Seuss's Thing One and Thing Two book. One night I sat at the computer and this is what I wrote. I didn't want to steal Bronson's thunder and decided to just show he and Kendra when we arrived here in Chandler in June. They both liked it and since Bronson said he had writer's block (I couldn't disagree more) he asked me if he could post it on the blog. I am honored that they wanted to share it. I have always enjoyed writing poems and have been doing so since my Creative Writing class in high school.

I'm sure you will all agree that our twin grandchildren are so sweet and adorable. Please look at the photo below and you will see why this makes the poem sweeter and more true to life!

Steve and I arrived on June 12th and are going home on July 24th. We are so glad that after 6 weeks Kendra and Bronson have not gotten sick of us and wanted us to go home early. Thrilled and excited are only two words that describe how we feel about our visit with the 4 Webbs! We have missed family and friends in California and occasionally missed our own king size bed but are blessed that we got to see Easton and Layla grow and change these past 6 weeks. Kendra and Bronson have been so gracious and loving to not only Steve and I but my wonderful mother (GG to the twins), Christy and Doyle and to our wonderful friends and mentors, Neil and Jenny. We had a blast with all of you. :) Laughter was a huge part of our life here in Arizona and we enjoyed everyone so much.

I have to go back to work on July 28th (bummer) but I am thankful for my job and all the perks it has and no I am NOT talking about money! We miss all of Bronson's family in Missouri and can't wait until we can get together again. I know the 4 Webbs miss you all!

Oma Burgess

A dream came true
We got the call
Grandparents to be after all

We wondered just how many there'd be
Who they’d look like, you or me?

Twins to be born
A girl and a boy
All the excitement
Hearts filled with joy

We’d rock them and sing
They’d smile and coo
What to call them
Thing 1 and Thing 2?

Small at the start
Lint balls they were
Specks on a screen
That was for sure

Shrimp size came next
Bigger they got
Fun, silly nick names but fish they were not

Potatoes, burritos, names changed as they grew
Couldn’t wait to see them
Thing 1 and Thing 2

A Dad so excited
A Mom filled with love
Waiting to hold these
Two gifts from above

Days came and went
Until they arrived
When we first saw them
Our hearts filled with pride

Look at their faces
Fingers and toes
Mommy’s sweet lips
Daddy’s great nose

Sneak into see them
Asleep in the crib
Can’t wait to try on all
Their sweet bibs

Sleep was rare all through
The Webb house
Grandpa was snoring right
On the couch

Thing 1 and Thing 2 sure kept
Us all busy
Cooking and cleaning made
Us all dizzy

To lead them to Jesus
Their Savior and friend
He’ll hold them and keep them
Right to the end

A privilege to guide them
To show them the way
How to lean on and trust
Christ everyday

If you are wondering
If they have names,
I will stop playing this
Fun silly game.

Her name is Layla
Intense but so sweet
His name is Easton
Smiles at all those he meets

This poem is now over
Find something else to do
Instead of reading about
Our Thing 1 and Thing 2!!

THE END

Going to Cali

Greetings friends and family,

We have lots going on around the 4 Webb's house and things are about to get even busier. We said hello again to Opa Burgess (yeaaaaaa) who was away at a conference for several days. We said goodbye to GG last Sunday:


And on Friday we'll say hello again to GG because we're going to California for a few weeks! She agreed to let us take over her house and fill it with babies and love while we stay there. Our local friends are house sitting for us so our kitties don't get lonely. I'll continue to work like normal since I have an office there. Kendra will spend her time showing off the twins and hanging out with her high school friends. Also, most of her relatives live within 30 minutes of each other so we'll be joining in the get togethers and pool parties.

Neill and Jenny will be traveling around the country while we're there in California so we won't get a chance to spend time with them. But here's an excellent picture we just received in email of Goma (Go-Ma) Jenny holding our smiley peanut:

This was the last picture taken of Layla with no teeth. The next time she'll smile like this with no teeth showing will be when she's 95 years old... and I bet she'll be just as happy and energetic.

I told Layla to do the "surprised look" with me while out to dinner with GG. She gets this look every time the flash goes off, but I thought it would make her feel better if we BOTH had the same look... She has several new outfits (Thanks to Oma, Goma, and GG) and this one is extra cute in my opinion.


We ended up at Marie Calendar's since GG wanted to treat us all to going out to dinner one last time during her trip. I couldn't resist and bought myself a chocolate satin pie. a WHOLE pie. I've been knocking it down, 1 piece per day, and can't get enough of that tasty, cookie crust. Uncle Dave and I used to get a pie or two every time Marie Calendars has their bi-annual pie sale so it was somewhat emotional to be there. Luckily I had Kendra, Oma, and GG to help eat the pie with me! :)

Our friend and neighbor, Marsha, came by over the weekend and gave us coordinated outfits for Easton and Layla. The tiny dress is oh so cute, but it's not quite tiny enough for our little Layla Rae. However, Easton's fit just fine and here's a picture of us hanging out together on Sunday afternoon. His outfit has "T is for Turtle" on the front, but Marsha said it really says "T is for Troy" (his middle name). Either way, it looks good and fits good so we're thankful and he's happy!


This morning Kendra and I ate our breakfast and then put rubber bibs (who's the genius that thought of these things???) so the twins could have some food of their own. Can you tell which baby likes granola apple flavor?

If you guessed Easton, then you are correct. He loved it and you can see that he's one happy baby. Layla on the other hand gave the sour-puss face the whole time. Half of hers ended up in the bottom of the rubber bib and some ended up on me. I was dumb enough to teach her how to make the buzzing noise with her mouth (see the previous post) and then sit in front of her as she had a mouth full of mushy goodness...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this latest bacth of baby pics and their portraits. I'm really glad we spent the time and money to get those taken. My sister is right that in a few years we'll look back and think it was money well spent. :)

By the way, last night Kendra and I went to see the latest Batman flick. Oma and Opa took care of the twins for a few hours so we could have a mini date night. Kendra says it was the best movie ever made. I say don't take anyone under 30 years old because it was creepy and scary in ways I can't even describe. Luckily I didn't have any nightmares last night, but I did cuddle up with Kendra a little closer than normal.

Have a great Tuesday!

Relaxing Sunday

From Kendra:

Good afternoon everyone, Today was wonderful and relaxing day. The twins woke up right on schedule and ate happily. I was so tired this morning that my Mom was gracious enough to let me go back to bed and sleep in. The best part is that I was able steal a kiss from my hubby. My mom and has been so helpful these 5 weeks. She has cooked, cleaned and been to the grocery store a million times. I am truly grateful with all the help she has given. I also wanted to let Jenny Jenkins and GG know how special it was for them to be here and play with Easton and Layla. Thank you for loving us so much! Here is another pic from Sears, are they so cute!

And here is one more of them together:

If you want any prints of these just send us an email with which ones and what sizes and we'll be happy to ship them to you! It costs us less than a dollar per picture and we'd love for everyone to have these so please let us know what you want.

Oh and just to give Mama Mia a great shout out! GG, Mom and I went to the movies on Friday. We loved it! If you have not seen it, you should. My helpful hubby took care of the kiddos, thank you Bronson! What a fun movie, upbeat and light! I forgot how much I like ABBA.



Today we got a clip of Layla laughing and squeaking. She was so excited that she whaps her arms up and down. I am so glad that today was relaxing, hope all of you had the same.....

Kendra

Generational portrait

The twins are 162 days old today! Sure doesn't sound like much when age is put in those terms, huh. The portraits turned out really well and Kendra is happy with how she looks as well as everyone else in the picture. We ended up with about 15 digital pics and chose to get the CD along with the printed ones.

Layla had a rough day yesterday regarding nap times so we weren't able to go get the portraits yesterday. Today isn't much better in that department because Layla is so wired and aware that she doesn't want to bother with sleep when there is so much to see and do instead of sleeping... She'll figure it out, I'm sure. Oma found a baby sleep guide, book, program thing that has a money back guarantee! She thought it would be worth a try so we'll get that in the mail and let you know if it is worthwhile or not.

Kendra is feeding smashed veggies to the twins almost every day now and I think they are getting used to it and enjoy it. Also, there doesn't appear to be any lasting, damaging effects from GGs "ice cream" incident earlier this week. :)

Here's the generational picture and I'm happy things worked out for them to get the portraits done like this. Seeing this reminds of two things: my first date with Kendra and why I married her.

Firstly, I'm remind of one of the reasons I married Kendra: A common pieces of advice I received from people through the years regarding "how to find a wife" is that your wife will eventually look like her mother, to some extent. It is easy to see the beauty passed down through the generations here. You can tell why I was excited to be with Kendra for the rest of my life as she matures and gets even more beautiful over time.

Secondly, it reminds me of our first date. I know it's one of those situations where "you had to be there" to appreciate it, but I want to share anyway. On our first official date Kendra and I went out to dinner and then back to her house. She told me to bring my swimming suit because her parents house where she lived had a pool and hot tub. I put on my trunks and headed out to see Kendra in a swimming suit for the first time. I found Kendra, GG, and Oma ALL hanging out in the hot tub! I hopped in and joined the conversation. We all had a fun time talking about old hymns, the history of their family in town, and many other topics. How's that for a first date? I'll certainly never forget it... They all felt comfortable around me and invited me back, so I guess my first impression for them was a good one!

These two pictures turned out well of Layla and Easton individually. Apparently Kendra and Oma had to help a little with keeping them from falling over since they haven't mastered the ability of sitting up yet... Here's our sweet, little peanut smiling and looking beautiful as always.

and here's Easton with his inviting grin and relaxed attitude. We have the yin and yang of personalities on display every day at the 4 webb's house between the two of them.

We're heading out to dinner with GG since she will be leaving us to go home tomorrow. :( We're sad to see her go, but plan to stay with her during our 3 or 4 week visit next month. Time really flies when you're having fun.

Enjoy your weekend!

Leave it to the professionals

There are no pictures because I'm leaving it to the professionals at Sears who took official portraits yesterday. I saw the preview pics and Kendra is going to get the pictures today. I about fell out of my chair when she told me how much it costs. I think I'm in the wrong business because I can print an 8 X 11 high quality photo for 42 cents from my home printer. That means there is some SERIOUS mark up on those professional ones. Although I must admit they were able to get Easton and Layla smiling so big that it really captured their personalities and happiness.

This morning I woke up after Kendra finished the morning feeding for the twins. She was really tired so I stayed up and took care of them while Kendra and Oma and GG slept in. The big accomplishment of the day belongs to Layla. As she sat in my lap facing each other, I made the motorboat noises where you blow air through your pursed lips while humming. (I know you just did that at home as you were reading. It's fun, huh?) I tried about 10 times and then Layla did her best to imitate me! I read somewhere this would be a milestone and thought I'd try it out on Layla to see if she was up to the task. She ended up slobbering and spitting on me, but I was really proud to be there for that moment when she tried.

Kendra and I went out last night for a few hours away from home. We went to the gym and had did some exercising and then to Border's books where we sat across from each other at a table and talked while we read magazines. She opted for People and Us... I read Harvard Business Review and Fortune. We are completely different individuals and it's obvious from what we chose to browse through in the cornucopia of reading material at Borders. I wouldn't have it any other way though. She balances me out and I hope she realizes that our differences simply fill in the gaps in each other's life. It's taken several years of marriage to really live out the truth in this idea, but I'm making progress in letting Kendra be Kendra. I have such a long way to go, but luckily we have many decades together to figure it out.

Check back tomorrow morning for the official 6 month pictures of Easton and Layla!

ice cream?

Hey there fellow baby lovers,

We said goodbye to Neill and Jenny this morning since they are heading home today. Having them around was our pleasure and we'll miss their wisdom and laughter. I learned so much from both of them and wish we had more time together. We were honored to have them stay with us and look forward to next year as they come through AZ again. On their way out the door Jenny asked to take Easton and Layla with them in their carry-on luggage because they want to continue loving on the twins.

Layla has TWO visible teeth now , but it's an impossible task to get a picture of them poking through her gums because she is too active and quick with her movements. She smiles with her whole face so grand that it looks like the sun is shining right through her. The only trouble is that it lasts about .5 seconds and then she's back her normal grin. That doesn't give me much time to snap a picture. Anyway, i'll keep trying... Her demeanor is shifting away from fussy and back her normal, pleasant self. The other big development for her is crawling. Yes, she is officially crawling. We put her down on her back in the crib and then find her on her stomach in another corner of the crib facing the opposite direction. Time to baby-proof the Casa de 4 Webbs!

Yesterday we had Neill and Jenny's friends over for a visit in the afternoon. They look up to Neill and Jenny in the same way Oma and Opa do, as mentors. I'll have to post the picture her later tonight when I download it onto the computer so you can see how full the house was.

Last night we had dinner at home and then went to Baskin Robin's at the request of GG. While we were there... Oh, just watch the video...

We've been very rigid with the twins' eating schedule and plan because the theory is that if you feed fruits or sweets too early, then they won't want the bland tasting vegetables. That's why we've been trying avocados and sweet potatoes. So now Easton and Layla have BOTH experienced their first dairy and first sugar in the form of Mocha Fudge ice cream. GG can sure get away with a lot. :)

Today I've scheduled a "generational" photo at the portrait studio for the ladies and I'm looking forward to posting those pics when we get them. These are special days where we have FOUR generations of wonderful girls spending time together.

Catch you later!

teeth and squash

I suppose the title really should be "tooth", not teeth because Layla has her first tooth showing finally. It's a sharp, pointy thing like what you would expect to feel inside a shark's mouth. That one tooth has caused her much pain and crying as well as stress for us so we welcomed the arrival with cheers and smiles. Only 31 more teeth to go + 32 for Easton. :) Kendra gave Easton and Layla squash mixed up with rice cereal, which looked disturbingly gross to me. Apparently it was a big hit though because Layla appeared to like it. Easton didn't figure out exactly what to do with it yet. The twins are doing great so far with no allergies. We're glad to get them eating solid food sooner rather than later.

Yesterday we all went out for dinner and Easton and Layla were cute and cuddly as usual. Easton is starting to grab at forks and spoons and drinks as whoever is holding him tries to eat. I think he's figured out what we are doing and he wants to get in on the whole eating experience. He's also intrigued by lights and trees and decorations. Oma stood him up on the table at the restaurant and he stared intently at the light fixture on the wall. He grunted and moaned as if to say, "wow!" in his own baby words. This is similar to when the caveman discovered fire, i think:


Layla on the other hand is our little professor who studies every little thing. She's starting to notice tags on her stuffed animals and toys. She focuses and plays with the tag more than the toy itself! Kendra said that's a big milestone and I was glad to hear it because I'm still clueless about what indicators show the twins are on the right track for development. After dinner we went to the mall and while we were waiting on GG to buy something, Jenny was making silly faces and noises with Layla, who giggled and laughed more than we've ever heard. She has such a contagious laugh that all of us standing around were laughing right along with her.

Here's a picture from a couple of weeks ago that I saved for a rainy day such as today where we're missing Opa Burgess as he is still in California for the rest of the week. It's no easy task holding both babies at once, but he does a good job of it. You can see how valuable it would be if God gave us a third arm or maybe two more...

Neil and Jenny are heading back to Sacramento tomorrow so we'll make the most of their time with us today and this evening. Last night we all went for a late night swim (8:00 PM) and the temperature was just right. Even more importantly there was no lightning, unlike the previous few evenings as the monsoons rolled through.

I've got work to do... Catch you later!

The rocking horse

Happy Monday everyone,

On Saturday Kendra and I sat on the couch alone and she ran her fingers through my hair as we watched Jurassic Park for 100th time. Every time we mindlessly flip through the channels and see that movie on, we get a kick out of seeing it as if it were the first time... only now we know where the scary parts are when the dinosaurs jump out of the weeds. Having Kendra NOT jump out of her skin and squeeze my hand like a pro-wrestler makes it a much more enjoyable movie watching experience.

OK, so in all honesty we also flipped back and forth between that and Predator to see Arnold the Governator do his standard, horrible acting job with intriguing alien scenes. Kendra is a very cool wife and I'm grateful because she puts up with my desire to watch stupid macho movies like that and also stays in the room next to me. No matter what was on TV, it was nice to have an hour alone in the house with the babies asleep (or sort of asleep in Layla's case tonight). For a brief moment it was just like back in the newly married days when we could spend an ENTIRE night just flipping channels and sitting close on the couch together. Not that I wish life were any different than it is today, but it was an odd feeling.

Having GG around is entertaining and fun as always. She says those immortal words that echo through my mind for weeks after every time I see her: "You're so special!" as she gives me a hug and looks me square in the eyes. Kendra and I love having GG spend time with us here. It looks like we'll be staying with her during August when we will be in NorCal for a few weeks. Kendra is really looking forward to going to her home town and spending time with friends and family there.

We're working on another generational picture with GG, Oma, Kendra, and Layla. I'm thinking we're going to get a professional photographer involved for this because my little point and shoot combined with lack of photography skills will not capture this moment in time adequately. Here's a picture of GG giving Layla her evening bottle last night. You can see the love from GG and the intensity of our little Peanut.

We went to Aunt Mary's for dinner on Friday and had a great time for a couple of hours. Mary has my Uncle Dave's old rocking horse from when he was a small boy. I let Easton give it a try, but his legs and arms are still a little too short for it to work right. Nevermind that he needs to figure out balance and a few other motor skills to make the whole work, but it was fun to hold him on there and let him bounce around for a bit.


Easton and Layla were right on time with the dual alarm clocks letting us know it was dinner time and bed time for them so we weren't able to stay at Mary's as long as we'd liked.

Today was completely crazy so everyone in the 4 Webb's house is totally worn out. We went to the church where Neill and Jenny spoke this morning and then out to lunch with the church folks. Then back home for a very short breather and then over to one of the church member's home for a second message from Neill as a Sunday night service. Seeing the two of them in action was amazing and we are even more honored to have them spend so much time with us knowing how extraordinary they are.

Here's a picture of Oma, Jenny, Kendra, and Layla after church this morning:

Because of the busy schedule, the twins only slept for ONE hour out of 10 during the day. Needless to say, they were as worn out as the rest of us and they are sleeping very well tonight. One last milestone to throw in here is that Easton and Layla are holding their own sippy cups and drinking water. It's summer time in Arizona so the faster they start drinking water and keeping hydrated, the better. Here's Easton showing off his new skills:

Good night and have an excellent week!

Grand Central Station

Happy Friday everyone!

We said goodbye to Opa Burgess as he will spend the next 10 days in SoCal at a PE conference. His sister Robin and their family in Pismo Beach. Here's a picture of Kendra with her from a year ago when we visited them. The twins were still Lint Balls in Kendra's belly at this point, but they ARE in the picture!

I'm sure Opa Burgess will come back with plenty of stories, but no pictures because their camera is still here with us at home... At the same time we said goodbye to him, we welcomed GG Ellie Swingle from the airport to spend a week with us! Neill and Jenny are here only for a few more days and we're all getting along great. We're having tons of fun relaxing, cooking meals, playing with babies, and talking. Easton and Layla are loving the extra attention from so many willing playmates. WE are loving the opportunity for them to have family around for support and social interactions. This morning I left for work and felt ten times better with the house full of people saying, "goodbye! we'll take care of the babies!" as opposed to Kendra juggling everything in the house and caring for the twins by herself. Last night we experienced a huge monsoon storm that rolled through town bringing lightning and torrential rains for a few hours. It's so rare to see rain here that it's a highlight of the week and talked about at work for days afterwards.

During one of our outings last week we walked by a toy store and couldn't resist going inside to dream of the days when we'll be playing with match box cars and princess outfits. When I say "we" I mean Kendra and I... :) Having children is one way we can act like kids ourselves... with our kids... and get away with it. Anyway, Kendra put on the batman mask and I think she looks a lot like the catwoman cartoon character. I'm very glad to have her be so fun and playful that she would put on the mask and play the role like that. I'll get there soon... it's just taking me a little longer to not be so stuffy and boring.

In our spare time one evening I put on my fighting gear, which is just a bunch of pads to protect me from getting hurt, and Oma Burgess put on my padded gloves. Now think about this scenario... She has on boxing gloves and her son-in-law is asking for her to punch him to practice defending. Sounds like a dream situation for SOME mother-in-laws who would love the chance to give punch the knucklehead who stole their daughter away. I know she doesn't think of me like that so I wasn't worried about her putting a little extra jab to the face when i wasn't looking. :) I'm still a rookie at the whole martial arts thing, but Oma did very well and was able to land a few punches that I didn't block. That's not red-eye from the camera... she actually turned into an animal and growled at me a few times. Can you see the fire in her eyes???


We're planning to take the whole family (6 adults and 2 babies) over to aunt Mary's tonight for tacos and swimming. She knows Neil and Jenny and GG from past trips so we are excited to have a big, fun family night together.

Enjoy your weekend!

Laughing Layla

Our house has been busier than normal with people hanging out, but we're always glad to have visitors around. Last night Kendra and I went to her mentor's house for our monthly married-couples get together. Oma and Opa and Neill and Jenny stayed home with the twins so it was a nice break to take the drive up to Fountain Hills alone. Everyone did great at home and when we arrived back from our outing, the adults were playing Sequence and Layla and Easton were sleeping, just as things should be.

I believe we're out of the woods finally with the pacifier needs. Layla only cries for a short, few minutes each nap time except for when she's teething. We're expecting teeth to show up any day now, but have no idea how that really works. We've heard that one day you see her smile and BAM, there's teeth that weren't there before.

The video shows Layla laughing as Oma and Opa play. Each time Oma moves towards her she gets so excited and laughs while moving her arms all around. She looks and sounds almost like she's crying but it really is laughter, I promise!

There's a website that shows nothing but babies laughing and i'm tempted to submit this clip there because it makes me smile just watching it even though I'm overly tired right now. I woke up at 5:15 this morning to the hairball hacking, vomit noise from our cat, Kobe. It was my dumb idea to leave the door cracked so he could sleep on the bed with us and feel secure. Boy was that a mistake. I realized two things at that moment. One, by the time I jump out of bed, go over to Kobe, and put him outside, his little episode will already be over. Two, he's already on the tile in the bathroom, so clean up is easy. He does his gross noises and I rolled over to go back to sleep. Just as I'm fading back to lala land 30 seconds later... I hear the convulsing yak noises once again from Kobe, only this time i can tell he's NOT on the tile, but instead sitting right next to our bed. At this point I realized point number one from the previous episode is still true for this one. However, knowing he as on the carpet this time just made me feel helpless and frustrated. He yaked. I sighed. Kendra went back to sleep.

Just like that I was wide awake at 5:15 AM so I did what any good corporate citizen does: Log into work on the computer and get some work done! Then, I generously waited for the babies to wake up this morning and only woke Kendra long enough to feed them, then we played for the next two hours so Kendra could sleep in. I ran out of silly faces about 12 minutes into my two hour shift. It's HARD to entertain two 5-month-old babies for that long! We had fun hanging out together though. I found out that watching Ben Bernanke give his testimony to capitol hill on the Fox Business channel doesn't generate the same reactions as when they watch Baby Einstein. :)

Happy Thursday!

full house

Neill and Jenny arrived safely and we are very glad to have them around. Aunt Mary was kind enough to let Oma and Opa Burgess crash at her house since there is no room in the 4webb's Inn. We went out for an early dinner since Neill and Jenny were hungry. Apparently the airlines have even cut peanuts and crackers out of the budget! 4 of us love sushi and 2 hate it so we overruled the unadventurous grandparents (no names mentioned) and forced them to eat Teriyaki chicken while we enjoyed our sushi.

Layla was kicking back in her car seat and Easton was being a little more needy than normal so that's why only one of the two babies are in the picture. Hey, it's not easy to eat sushi and hold a baby at the same time!

Layla had an extra special day today. She's telling us through copious amounts of drool and a slightly less-than-happy attitude that she's teething. We confirmed that by putting our fingers in her mouth to feel the little bumps in her gums. On the bright side, we went swimming and Layla discovered the joy of splashing. She giggled and laughed louder while splashing in the pool than any time in her short 5 month life. Unfortunately, I didn't get it on film, but we're hoping for a repeat performance tomorrow so we can capture the happiness and share it here on the blog.

We stayed up late talking tonight and hanging out so the post is a little shorter than normal. We had a lot of catching up to do and there are many conversation and teachings left to enjoy. Lucky for us, they are staying a week!

Catch you later...

Game night

Good evening friends and family,

Tonight we invited over our friends Scott and Marisue for dinner and cards. we played a game call 3 - 13, but I've renamed it "Don't Sit to Left of Opa Burgess". He is always great at card games and I had the misfortune of sitting to the left of him, which turned out to a bad place to sit if you are the least bit competative. We had a ton of fun talking and playing and eating so it was a very good use of a Monday evening.

Layla was totally relaxed and content laying in Marisue's lap for a very long time. She was studying Marisue like an astronomer looking through a telescope at the night sky. You could see Layla processing the new face and voice and words. She's our deep thinker for sure.


Easton on the other hand is so happy that he smiles when we try to feed him and he can't get a good suction on the bottle. He just sits there and makes noises with his sweet grin while the bottle nipple lays against his gums. They are very different and wonderful in their own way.

Only you techy people will get this next part... I found two onesie outfits for babies with big, bold letters where one says, "COPY" and the other says, "PASTE". I wanted to get them so bad, but it was obviously for identical twins or at least boy-boy or girl-girl twins. That is hilarious, but absolutley doesn't apply to my twins. Anyway, I'm still working on getting the "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" onesies. I'm even more motivated now because Oma Burgess bailed me out of Joanie's Dr. Seuss challenge by writing a poem about Easton and Layla in a Dr. Seuss like format. I'm hoping to get that posted by the end of the week and will let Oma complete her own blog so I am not tempted to take any credit.

Here are a couple of closing pictures of us before church and one in church that show off Easton and Layla's cute outfits. They looked so good that everyone walking by us would smile and say, "awe, look at those cute babies!" I couldn't agree more...

Good night!

holiday weekend relaxing

Three day weekends are awesome and I desperately needed the time away from work and with our family. On Friday Opa Burgess and I held the fort down while Kendra went out for an extended alone time with her mom. Anything more than 3 hours is considered extended because she's usually tied to the babies for feeding time. Luckily Easton and Layla are still taking the bottle well so we did fine. Actually we bottle feed them every night for their 7:00 PM feeding and that seems to work out well. I'm glad they were able to get out and have some fun shopping and talking.

Then we went swimming at Aunt Mary's house and had a dinner of roast, potatoes, and Oma Burgess' famous homemade rolls! Easton and Layla took turns in their new floaty toy and it was a big hit other than the floppy seahorse head that kept poking them in the forehead.


Saturday was a lazy day around the house and one of those where I think back (only 2 days later) and say, "what did we do with the whole day???" As the pictures below show, we did a lot of swimming over the holiday weekend and the twins are absolutely LOVE it... for about 15 minutes... They have a short fuse when it comes to swimming, but we're just happy to play with them in the pool as long as they are having fun. Here's a picture of me holding the naked babies and floating around:



Once their time in the pool was over, we shuttle them inside for a wardrobe change into pajamas and Oma took these cute pics of them in their towels:



Yesterday we dressed up the twins in their Sunday best for church and Layla looked like a precious, little sunflower and Easton looked like a grown up boy. I'll have those pics posted tonight and ready for your Tuesday morning coffee, ok?

The twins are still sleeping through the night even now that pacifiers are banned from the Webb house. Layla is sleeping much better during her naps too, but we're struggling to get her to STAY asleep longer than an hour at a time. They should be taking 2 hour naps, but we can't seem to find the magic wand that makes that happen.

We have an extremely busy week on our hands so i'm hoping the business makes way for more great pictures instead of squeezing us for time so much that the camera never makes it out of the diaper bag... Our friends, Neill and Jenny Jakins will be staying with us this week and we are looking forward to spending time with them! Opa Burgess is leaving for Pismo Beach on Friday to attend a 10-day PE conference and sell his nifty pushup tester to other PE program coordinators. He and a partner invented the pushup tester and hold a patent on the idea.

Have a blessed week of work or vacation!