Out of Kleenex

Hi everyone,

Hope your week is going fast... or slow, depending on how much work you have to get done this week. For me, I could use an extra day between Wednesday and Thursday. Maybe call it "ProductiveDay" or something like so I can shut the world out and get some actual work done. I believe Instant Messenger, cell phone, texting, email, and skype have made me SO accessible at work that I can't get anything done. I thought those items were supposed to make me more productive? Such irony, huh...

Anyway, on to the 4 "snotty" Webbs topics. We all have runny noses so we're plowing through boxes of Kleenex like Mexico, except we don't have H1N1 (formerly known as the swine flew).

I found some laughable humor today while visiting the Fox News web site. The headline reads, "USDA: Please Call It H1N1, Not Swine Flu"

Then the bottom half of the page has this section:

Don't you think it's odd for the article headlines at the bottom to use the words Swine Flu when the article heading is please don't do that?

OK, well I thought it was funny. Back to the twins. Easton and Layla are both in very good spirits considering the never-ending snot bubbles and stuff coming out of their nose that makes me gag. This morning when I went in to get them out of bed Easton started talking and pointing and asking for things (mostly crackers) with a non-stop barrage of words. I'm amazed every day at that boys vocabulary. He isn't interested in daredevil moves on the slide, but I'm having such a great time seeing each baby develop different skills in their own time.

Today Kendra took the twins over to Wilson's house for a playtime in the afternoon. Their dog Max was a huge hit. Easton and Layla were dazzled by the real-life dog (not just a picture in their books or videos).

Layla discovered the joys of climbing up the stairs and then sliding down the slide.


She is truly fearless and loves a thrill. As you can imagine, a slide is the next thing on our "to buy" list. Kendra already started her search on Craigslist for one.

Great balls of fire!


Layla also loved playing in the mini-jump house full of balls.

No, we are NOT getting one of these. Our house is running out of room already. Besides, that would be a hazard to have Easton carefully remove all 150 balls and scatter them around the house. Not to mention the sub-woofer would be jam-packed with balls (see previous post for details).

Danielle spent some time showing the twins around their palatial, childproof area and demo'ing the many toys.


She's such a good sport to add Kendra plus the two wild ones on top of her own little boy running around.

The play date was a smash hit and I know they are looking forward to more of those. Besides, during their afternoon nap they slept like, uh... like babies. You know what I mean.

Time to go wipe some noses. See you soon.

temporary triplets

Good evening,

The 4 Webbs had a wonderful recovery weekend after returning from NorCal. We sure needed it. Before I had the chance to unpack my suitcase, which never happens within the first week of getting home, Easton and Layla decided to explore it. I call this photo: Suitcase Full of Life


I'm not sure what is so exciting about a bunch of clothes, but maybe they were trying to say, "we're ready to go see Oma and Opa again right now!"

In case you can't read Easton's pajama top, it says, "Future Mr. Right". Yeah, i'm very proud of that too. It's never too early to start speaking words of affirmation over Easton and Layla about their lives!

We took advantage of the windy day Saturday and went to the duck pond so we could fly the kite and watch the airplanes. Seems like there have been twice as many windy days as a normal spring in Phoenix. Anyway, we stopped by Jamba Juice before the park and the twins are growing very fond of their smoothies.


Easton and Layla both learned how to use a straw long ago and we're thankful for that because Jamba Juice doesn't flow through sippy cups. Easton would have polished his juice off earlier if he didn't spend so much time pointing out and announcing every airplane flying overhead.


I'm working on a photo video for each of the twins individually and one of the pictures I need is of Layla sleeping. She's such a light sleeper that it's tough to sneak into their room without her waking up, but using my ninja skills I managed to get this shot. My, what long eye lashes she has...


Temporary Triplets - Today we had a visitor for the afternoon. Meet Daniel.



Daniel fit right in with the 4 Webbs and felt comfortable enough to kick back in a rocking chair. He's the son of our friends Brendon and Danielle as well as the grandson of our Pastor, Phil Goldsberry. Since he is only 6 months older than our twins it was a simulated triplets environment and I learned a LOT today. I learned if we would have had triplets, we would have survived just fine. I also learned we would have needed to buy three of everything instead of just two because as hard as it is for Easton and Layla to share, it's an order of magnitude harder for three babies to share two things. Here you can see we need three high chairs, three cups, faster spoons, three times the number of crackers, etc.


So if you think economies of scale applies to multiples of children, I can assure you the advantages are minuscule. Those logistical things aside, Daniel and the twins played together very well and we had a ball showing Daniel our world including toys, books, and games (chasing around the kitchen island).


We even went for a walk around our neighborhood. Kendra pushed Daniel in the Combi stroller and I loaded Easton and Layla up in the Chariot. The 4 Webbs wore Daniel out! He spent the last half hour at our house slumped over Kendra's shoulder asking for his mom.


We were looking forward to having Daniel over and he was a pleasant, fun addition to our crazy household.

In other news... I have a good definition of teething: A few months after birth teething begins. A continuous cycle of "slobber, drool, whine, new tooth" repeats itself until all teeth are present and accounted for. Layla is in the drool - whine phase for one or more teeth and we feel so bad for her having to go through that. On a more positive note: Layla is one step closer to becoming a steak eater!

See you soon

monster and zombies

Happy weekend friends,

ZOMBIES: The 4 Webbs drove 13 hours through the night to get home from Sacramento. The twins slept well through the night... well, most of the night anyway. We were cruising along the I-10 freeway around 2:00 AM at a speed I consider to be reasonable and prudent. Then, we stopped. Easton and Layla woke up and we sat there for over an hour! The trucks next to us all turned off their engines and jumped out to converse with other truckers wondering around the highway.

It was like a Snickers commercial: "Not going anywhere for a while, grab a snickers!" Instead, we grabbed some pavement:


Don't ever tell the 4 Webbs to "go play on the freeway" 'cause WE'LL DO IT! This is what happens with two separate Tractor Trailers jack knife and roll over cross ways within a mile of each other. We made the most of the situation by giving Easton a real-life lesson in trucks. He was able to touch the side of the truck and the trailer and the enormous tires.


Are the tires huge or is Easton small? Certainly a little of both is true. Either way, Easton clearly understands what a truck is now and said the word more frequently today on the road as a result of his up close and personal experience.

Layla was a little bit scared of the noisy machines as they idled close by, but I was more than happy to have her hold on to me tightly. Here we are standing on the center line of the I-10 parking lot with the big, stationary trucks stretching for miles in both directions.


All that excitement overnight was enough to turn us into zombies today. We're wondering around the house waiting for the next opportunity to take a nap... and I mean ALL of us took naps today. Hopefully we'll get ourselves and the twins to bed at a decent hour tonight and bask in the glory of our own bed and pillows. Tomorrow we should be back to normal, but it's almost like jet lag.

MONSTER: The trip home was uneventful other than the highway parking lot delay. Although I admit to chugging a Monster energy drink at 3:00 AM because I was getting tired. I bought the can of Monster as a precautionary measure to be used only if I was seriously tired. When I hit that level of desperation I drank it all within about 10 minutes and waited for the effects.

First of all, I've never drank an energy drink before. Monster tastes disgustingly like carbonated cough syrup. I had a tough time choking it down. I actually experienced the shivers at that point. You know... when the hair on the back of your neck stands up and your head shakes side to side a few times involuntarily?

Anyway, when I finished I felt bloated, nauseous, and wired. Staying awake was a breeze though so even though it tasted horrible and gave me a stomach ache for the next 12 hours, I didn't fall asleep at the wheel!

LAST DAY IN CALI:

We decided to eat at the fancy Fat's Chinese restaurant (yes the name is called "Fats" if you can believe that) for our last meal with Oma and Opa. Layla got a little fidgety before the food arrived so Kendra gave her a toothbrush. If any adult started brushing their teeth in the restaurant that would be weird. However, since Layla did it, we thought the moment to be picture worthy. Such a bright smile and she LOVES brushing every night after bath time.


Dinner was excellent, but slightly sad because of the impending departure and mutual feelings of missing the time together from now until July when we go back again. Every morning for two weeks (and this morning at our house) Easton wakes up asking for Oma and Opa like a broken record. So here's one last picture with Oma and Opa before we left the restaurant of our last supper meal. Easton is clueless at this point regarding the approaching departure from Oma and Opa, hence the huge smile:


At least we have Skype! This evening when we I called Oma on Skype, Easton and Layla ran into the room where the computer is because they knew Oma and Opa would be on the voice and video.

The time with Kendra's friends and family was well worth the trip. Kendra and the twins loved it all the only regret was not having enough time to meet up with all the people we wanted to. Our trip in July will be longer so we have high expectations for the upcoming trip.

popular

The 4 Webbs have been in NorCal for almost two weeks and the truth is becoming clearer every day. I thought Kendra and I were the popular ones with such a jam-packed schedule of get togethers with friends and family. It turns out Easton and Layla are the stars in demand! Not that I blame anyone for wanting to be spend time with them. They are such a delight and highly entertaining.

Yesterday morning Kendra went to breakfast with her friends and they were more than happy to help out with the twins. Here is her friend, Dawn, with Easton. She loves babies and has a whole facebook page with nothing but pictures of babies!

Kendra had several opportunities to hang out with her long-time friends and she soaked up the experiences to get every last drop of fun from being here.

We also had the chance to see Neill and Jenny again while they are visiting their daughter, Tracy, who lives here in Sacramento. Her two kids are very entertaining and played so well with Easton and Layla. They built forts, which Layla tore down and swam with the dog, which thrilled Easton to no end.


Kendra and Tracy discussed the virtues of home schooling and I can tell you her two kids are smart, social, mature, and tons of fun.

There is a long story behind the rubber house gloves between Oma and I... We all had a good laugh when she gave one each to Easton and Layla. We put their hands inside the gloves and it was obvious the texture of the rubber was new and wierd. We need to get the twins used to cleaning up after themselves sometime, right?


I think Easton was showing Layla how the gloves are supposed to work, but she was more interested in touching the glove than figuring out what it is used for.

We also spent an evening with our long time friends, Craig and Angie. We've been friends since before I met Kendra! They have a boy and girl of their own (not twins) and their boy, Nate, is only a couple of months younger than our babies. I just had to get a picture of our boys together.


And now this week's edition of WFMW (Works For Me Wednesday)...

One of the best things we gave our babies was teaching sign language. Layla especially took to sign language as her form of communication. Easton went straight to verbal words, but Layla has used sign language as her preferred way to tell us what she thinks. She knows: more, yes, no, ball, stop, go, eat, bath, and a many other words.

The video we show them once every two or three days is: Baby Einstein - My First Signs

It's very entertaining for them and teaches them many different words with Marlee Matlin as one of the co-stars.

Anyway, I highly recommend teaching babies sign language as early as possible because knowing what they want and need makes parenting 10 times easier.

See you soon!

Out on the town

The bunny ears are the gift that keeps on giving. I just can't get over how handsome and expressive Easton is.


The 4 Webbs are so glad Kendra's grandma (GG) decided to spend time with us this weekend. Layla points to her now when we ask, "Where is GG?" Easton says her name regularly when she's around and he's so proud of himself for knowing what name goes with what person. She wore white pants and shirt so I took advantage of the moment to proclaim her, "GG the Easter Bunny".


Kendra and I experienced tons of excitement over the past day for mommy and daddy.  Easton and Layla seem to make their own excitement, but we decided to go search for it in downtown Sacramento in the form of a mini-vacation.  Kendra's parents were kind enough to take care of the twins for an entire 24 hour period (God bless their tired souls) so we could have some alone time fun.  It was a little bitter sweet being away form the twins.  The time alone with Kendra was outstanding, but it was hard to leave the babies when they say "mama and dada" while looking up at us with those sweet faces.


We drove to downtown Sacramento in the afternoon, shopped at the mall, and checked into the Sheraton Grand hotel. Nice hotel, but nothing special. It was only one of two 4 or 5 star hotels within several miles of our expected dinner and dancing location so we didn't have much choice. The only thing special about the hotel was us being there together. Ironically, this is the SAME hotel where we spent our wedding night! Awe... how romantic.

We met Kendra's girlfriends and significant others out for dinner. What a good looking group of ladies (in a humble, non-conceited way).


Kendra and I almost didn't know what to do with ourselves during dinner without having to chase babies around, feed them and ourselves at the same time, and continually entertain the twins the entire time even as we rush out the door when they hit their limit. It was casual and we both ate WARM food at the same time without speaking in gah-gah-goo-goo words.


After dinner we danced the night away and celebrated Megan's birthday in style.


Today we both stayed in bed until 9:30 AM.  This is monumental because 14 months ago was the last time we could make that statement.  The occasional fire truck siren and noisy hotel patron walking down the hall were the only noises we heard and none of them resulted in us getting out of bed, luckily.  

We walked around the state capital park and shook our fists at the oppressive government buildings and then strolled through the exquisite flower gardens hand in hand. Taking a little time away with Kendra really does recharge the batteries and the only disappointment is that we didn't do the "overnight stay" earlier and more often.

Now it's back to work with me tomorrow and we'll spend our last week in NorCal cherishing the cool mornings and time with friends and family before heading back to reality this weekend.

Norcal Mommies

Happy weekend everyone,

This lazy Saturday morning is refreshingly boring. No one is rushing around shoveling cookie crisp cereal while mumbling about lost keys (ahem… guilty as charged). Instead we’re talking through the “to do” list for the day and sitting together as a family at the breakfast table eating slow-cooked, steel-cut oatmeal. I could care less what method was used to cut my oatmeal, but supposedly steel-cut are better somehow?

Anyway, yesterday Kendra and Oma met up with her friend, Megan (happy birthday to you!), and her other mommy friends.



Amazingly, Oma was able to get a picture with all mommies and all babies looking forward. The odds of getting such a valuable picture decrease exponentially with each additional baby. Wow, that was an extra-nerdy explanation, huh.

They went to the zoo, but the animals were hiding and sleeping for the most part. However, the usual lions and tigers and bears were out in full force so the outing is considered successful. After the zoo they strolled over to the park next door and Layla figured out how to spin herself around in the little teacup thing. Her laughs are from deep, deep down and we watched it on the big screen TV several times. Layla loves to see herself on video… She is a star in the making.



Tonight Kendra and I will leave the twins with her parents overnight so we can have a night out by ourselves, all night long. There are only a few people we trust to watch Easton and Layla. Leaving them overnight is worrisome no matter who it is or how comfortable we are. Just one of those protective parental hurdles to overcome kind of like seeing a pacifier hit the floor for the first time with no wipes handy...

Not that I have anything better to do than write more about the adventures of twins, but this’ll be a short post so I can do more of nothing for a while longer. Ah, the joys of the weekend. Easton and Layla discovered the small pile of rocks in Oma and Opa's backyard so we'll have at least an hour of fun scattering rocks all over the patio.

Bye bye!

First night away?

TGIF everyone,

Our twins were conceived on May 11th 2007 (almost two years ago). Kendra has been in the same house as the twins every single night since that day. Another way of saying that is: She hasn't had a full night away from them for 2 years!

A vacation is long overdue and we're planning a mini-vacation for Saturday night. That means a out on the town and then sleeping at a hotel and NOT waking up at 7:00 AM. It's been so long I almost don't know what to expect other than hoping Kendra has a great time and a chance to rest by sleeping soundly and sleeping in late.

Poor Oma is not feeling well today... i think the twins and the added demands of the 4 Webbs in her house have worn her down. Kendra is heading out to the zoo with her mommy friends this afternoon. I hope Oma feels good enough to go along. I made my plea with Kendra to take pictures of the outing so I’m crossing my fingers there will be new pictures waiting for me at home tonight of their adventures.

tonight should a typical low-key Friday for the 4 Webbs so I'll catch up on the blog again later tonight.

bye bye

WFMW and splash time

Hi friends and family,

At some point I won't be able post pictures of Easton and Layla in the bathtub so I will make the most of it while it lasts. Layla still does the sign language for bath when we ask her, "what time is it?" She trots over to the bath tub signing all the way. Once in the tub the two of them splash with their hands and slosh with their feet so much that whoever is giving the bath gets a free shower in the process. Easton loves the wind up dolphin even though it never really worked.


The scratch on his forehead is from taking a digger into the doormat on the back porch of Oma and Opa's house. It happens to the best of us...


Layla's whole body tenses up as she locks her legs and flails them around like oars of a canoe.


Layla's bottom jaw goes sideways sometimes when she tries to verbalize her intensity through words. usually that sounds like, "dee-dee-dee-dee-DEE" and then on to the next vowel-consonant combo.


The last couple of days begin with Oma, Opa, and I leaving for work while Kendra spends the day with the twins by herself. We all hate to leave, but look forward to coming home to get cuddles and hugs from the twins.


And now for this weeks edition of WFMW (Works For Me Wednesday) where I show what indispensible toys and tools we've discovered while parenting twins.


Here we have the Kiddopotamus bib on display. You might think we are advocating the Boon Spoon "bender", but those are new additions to the babies repertoire and have yet to be proven successful.


Anyway, the Bibbity Kiddopotamus Rinse & Roll Bib are:

1. easy to clean
2. pBA free (i just learned what that means)
3. flexible
4. functional crumb catcher (very cool)
5. rolls into a small, compact unit that fits into the diaper bag
6. three adjustable size fittings around the neck

The only downside is: no cheesy saying on the front. :( OK, maybe one other downside... the corners are starting to tear after being used 4 times per day for over a year. Guess we should have searched for the "100% indestructible titanium" version?

By the way, I'm on facebook now after much harassment from others who are more technologically savvy. Don't expect me to chime in every time I yawn or turn left at a green light because I'm not so narcissistic to think anyone cares to know about my life at that level.

Easton and Layla though... now THOSE two characters are worth blogging about.

See you soon

Cali family

Howdy folks,

Easter is gone, but left us with some great memories and plastic eggs full of M&Ms. Easton and Layla had their individual blue and pink fluffy bunny Easter baskets, which were much nicer than the 25 cent plastic ones I expected.



The twins were stylish in their matching outfits and cute as always! And here's a couple of pictures by themselves lest you believe they are Siamese twins connected at the hip because they are constantly close to each other. Easton's favorite part of the eggs is taking them apart, discovering the contents, and then putting it back together.



Layla spent most of the day walking through the back doorway. In then out, then in then out. Repeat for 4 hours or until an adult closes the door.



After 14 months of Kendra's father teaching Easton and Layla what to call him, they finally got it! Easton clearly says, "Opa" when referencing him and when we ask Layla, "Where is Opa?" she looks at him, smiles, and points. Now THAT'S progress! She also recognizes and points at GG, pictured here with Kendra.


Our cousin decided to pull Layla around in the little wagon and daredevil Layla loves a thrill like that.


Speaking of thrill seeking... Here's Layla on some contraption that spins around. I wasn't around for this trip to the local park in Cali, but from what Kendra said they had a great time on the never-before-seen park toys.


There is no picture of Easton because he wasn't interested in the experience at all. However, Easton DOES appreciate the humor from uncle Casey where he and Layla giggle at his funny noises. this video will put a smile on your face. :)



Last night we had a big family meal with GG and Casey that included plenty of watching the twins run around without their pants on. They did stay still long enough to watch one of their videos for a few minutes.



See you again soon with more stories from the West Coast.

messy eaters

Hi friends and family,

Easton and Layla are relying more and more on their own skills of eating instead of being spoon fed from us all the time. The results are an extraordinary mess almost every meal time, but we gladly let them mush it up and smear around everywhere because that's just what babies do... I'm not sure what this meal started as, but here they are eating some food all by their selves.


Easton is a bit cleaner than Layla, but that reflects his personality well because he typically stays cleaner than Layla throughout the day as well.


and after this mess was cleaned up Kendra decided to let them try fudge pops and as you can tell it was both a success (they loved the way they taste) and a failure (we still haven't got all the chocolate off the high chair or the floor) at the same time.


During the packing mayhem that ensued on Wednesday Kendra decided to suit up Layla in the bear outfit to see if it will still be usable for the trip to Sacramento. We bought it a slightly too big so they would grow into it and they sure have grown!


Tomorrow being Easter will hopefully result in many pictures and cute outfits for the twins and the other kids in Kendra's extended family.

Easton and Layla are having a great time with Oma and Opa as well as the new toys and books. The twins remember them well from previous visits and regular Skype calls. technology is wonderful when it works...

See you soon.

My miracle

The 4 Webbs drove to NorCal and the trip went well! I've been working over the past couple of days on writing this blog, but it's taken a bit of effort to get the details right, so here it goes...

I was diagnosed with scoliosis (curvature of the spine) at 8 years of age. There were no medical advances like body braces back then to correct the condition. Over the years my body adjusted to the misshaped spine resulting in lopsided shoulders and hips. I eventually started wearing a heel lift in my left shoe and even had to go so far as sitting on a thick mouse pad at work in order to get my left side to align better with my body. On THREE separate occasions I experienced a herniated disc in my back over the past 5 years. I visit the chiropractor about once every two weeks and sometimes several times a week when things get too far out of alignment or the pain gets to be too much to bear.

A curved spine, shorter leg, crooked shoulders, and pain all were so “normal” that it became an acceptable part of who I am. Just part of life… Every day for the past 28 years I look at myself in the mirror and notice the asymmetrical shapes of my shoulders and abdomen. Sometimes I don’t even realize how bad things are in certain areas of my life (like my back) until I step back and write down the absurd realities I’ve come to accept as normal.

Faith and belief in God have always been a part of my life and being a son of a preacher man who believes in miracles means I’ve seen many of them over the years. However, for me personally all of the miracles were in the form of “blessings in disguise”. Easton and Layla for example… Are they a miracle? Yes. Can their lives be justified scientifically as a probability and man-made? Yes. There are Godless people who have twins through IVF all the time. I am certain our twins are a miracle, but it’s not tangibly proven to be God.

All of that changed on Wednesday night. So here is the story of my miracle.

Neill and Jenny, the South African missionaries staying with us, have their own unique gifts and talents. Jenny has the gift of healing. Over the last few years I’ve witnessed God perform miracles through Jenny with my own eyes. Even though I believed what I saw, I just didn’t think it was available to me for some reason.

Anyway, as they sat in our living room Wednesday evening with just the 4 of us adults talking and hanging out, I decided to do some stretching there on the rug. I stretch almost every single day for martial arts and injury avoidance, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for me to roll off the couch onto the floor and do some flexibility training. However, as I sat on the floor, pulled my legs together, and leaned forward, Jenny looked at my feet with a perplexed facial expression and said, “you have one leg shorter than the other!?” I responded back saying, “yes, I have scoliosis and that’s one of the side effects… that and lopsided shoulders and hips.”

She grabbed a chair and told me to sit in it because she was going to pray for healing of my back. I agreed and sat down while Kendra sat on the floor in front of me next to Jenny. I put my feet together and extended them out in front of me. All of us could visibly see the gap between the lengths of my legs.

Now comes the exciting part. There was no organ music or loud choir singing or crying out to God with intensity and screaming. For a few seconds there was complete and total silence. Then, in her calm and sweet voice, Jenny began to pray and thank God for healing me. As she was praying my legs and spine felt like they turned into taffy. I felt my hips and legs shifting; Slowly, gradually, smoothly back and forth a few times. Kendra and I both had our eyes open and saw my legs and hips shifting. When my feet finally settled in perfect alignment she lowered them to the ground and I just sat there in complete shock at what I had just felt and seen. I stood up and walked over the mirror in our hallway and just stared at myself for the next couple of hours. My shoulders are straight for the first time since I was a little boy!

Here is a picture from a couple of years ago with a line I drew in with photoshop to show how far off from straight my spine alignment was.


and here is a picture I had Kendra take moments after my miracle.



Here is the full sized unedited version of the "before" picture just for reference.


The visual representation, and the instantaneous change is undeniable. Whether you personally believe in God or miracles is completely irrelevant because the truth of my miracle is not dependant on belief from anyone else. :)From now on when people ask if I've experienced a miracle I will no longer sheepishly shrug my shoulders and explain my way through other situations in the past, which may or may not have been a miracle.

This is as real and visible and obvious as any miracle I've ever heard of. I am from Missouri, the show-me state, so I have a cultural upbringing of requiring visible proof! Every morning since Wednesday I wake up, shuffle over to the mirror, and stare at myself for a few minutes because the idea of my body being balanced and even and level is my new reality. I am forever grateful to Jenny for being willing to have faith enough for me.

The story is much longer than I can write here as a blog, so feel free to ask me about the other details if you'd like to hear more. :)

Have a happy Easter weekend.

Swimming in April

Greetings from the 4 Webbs,

The only thing we have to look forward to in the summer time here in AZ is swimming. Similarly, some places only look forward to winter for the benefit of snow skiing. April is normally still to cold for us natives (i think the pools are about 72 degrees?). Lucky for us though, Great Aunt Mary down the street agreed to heat her pool for us! We made the best of the situation by swimming two days in a row. Jenny went with me on Monday and Kendra went with me on Tuesday.


Last year when they were just a few months old, Easton and Layla would enjoy the splashing around for about 12 minutes and then it was time to get out. This time they happily played for over an hour each time. Of course we were cautious at all times so there's no video footage of high-flying, daring antics. But we did get this short clip of Easton in the air and wearing daddy's cowboy hat.



Here’s the still shot picture from the same time as the video. Easton looks more like me every day (from what people say) so he should be comfortable in board shorts and a cowboy hat like his Dad. I think that makes us wannabe urban cowboys? I’ll start looking for a hat his size. :)


and here's Layla floating in one of Mary's many floating toys. She looks a little scared in the picture for some reason, but I assure you she was fearless as usual.


Both Easton and Layla learned to trust Kendra and I by standing on the edge of the pool and leaning over as we held our hands a few inches away and caught them. That the most fun of the day for all of us.

Neill and Jenny are busier than I expected partly due to our filling their time with running around town with the twins. We stopped by the duck park for some relaxation therapy. We laid on the blanket in the shade of a tree listening to the birds while the breeze flows by. By “we” I mean Kendra and I. :) Neill and Jenny had a different experience because they took Easton and Layla over towards the more exciting side of the park on their own suggestion.


They chased ducks, wondered through the sand, and did their best to help the twins avoid duck doo-doo and pine needles as they led the twins around.

As a side note, Layla found the tiny trash can in the laundry room and discovered lint. She grabbed a piece of the lint taken from the dryer and ate it! I heard her coughing a little and walked in to find Layla with lint all over her mouth like cotton candy. Not much we could do at that point... Never a dull moment with these two babies roaming around the house.

The 4 Webbs are heading out for California tomorrow to spend some time with Kendra's friends and family. We're all looking forward to spending Easter and vacation days at Oma and Opa's house. We'll get to test out the new reclining car seats as we drive through the night. More adventures to come...

See you soon