Spring

I have a love/hate relationship with the season of Spring. I love the idea of it. In fact, once upon a time it was my hands-down favorite season of them all. But I pretty much hate spring in the northwest. This is when those infamous grey days blow. It's cold, wet and just plain gross on most days. We have a few nice days or hours mixed in between the grey ones, but few being the key word here. Oh and the other bad part, I'm pretty convinced summer doesn't start here until at least the 4th of July. (Summer being somewhat consistent warm weather.) As much as I love the Pac NW and all of the beautiful things it has to offer, the truth is, spring is little bit of a let down. Ok a big let down if your California girl like myself.

Nevertheless on most spring days, rainy or kinda-rainy or grey as can be, you will find a bundled up Lila + Lincoln down at the park, in our backyard or on a gigantic walk around our neighborhood pond. They don't know any different and are loving exploring the outdoors. We love rocks, woodchips, picking flowers, eating rocks, sliding, throwing balls, looking for birds + planes, saying 'hiiii' + 'byyyyeee' to everyone in the neighborhood, eating dirt, sitting in wet puddles and mud, blowing bubbles and screaming.

I can't wait for summer!

1st Haircut

A couple of weeks ago, Brian decided he couldn't stand the baby-mullet one more day. El Linco's hair needed a trim. Even though I knew it was true, it broke my heart just a little. You see our boy was born with a full head of light-brown hair. Not nearly as much as Lila, but a full-head no doubt. One morning a few weeks after he was born I realized, WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO HIS HAIR??? He was completely bald. Not a hair on his little head. But it grew back, and now it was time for a trim. And yes, we jacked it! But it's been a couple of weeks and it looks all good now.

A little camera shy, but only minutes old. Can you see the hair???

And a lot less hair. (And it had already started coming back at this point!)

Looks like he is enjoying it right?!

I'm pretty sure Lila is thinking...'Ha-ha sucka! I'm rocking this mop and they don't even touch it. Good luck with the scissors dude.'

Blogging Queen

I know, I know--I'm sure you all have been missing my blog posts. In fact, it's probably just keeping you up at night wondering where in the cyber-world have my updates gone right? Yeah...right. For the record, I've missed you. Anyway the reason for the lack of blogs is simple--there have been a couple of glitches in the Swisher technology department lately.

A.)I may have spilled my much-needed morning coffee all over the keyboard of my Mac. Definitely a "Don't-tell-Brian!" moment for sure. Unfortunately he was sitting right next to me when the incident went down. Not. Good. The keyboard eventually dried out, and only one problem still lingers. The spacebar doesn't work. Thus inhibiting the blogging: Becausereallywhowantstoreadapostlikethis?!

B.) Also adding to the mayhem, my cell phone is toast. RIP my little black friend. I'm due for the lame cell credit in a month, so in the meantime, I am using an old clunker. That's right friends, if you receive a text from me in the next month or so, please know that I have painfully written it out the old-school T-9way. I am this cool folks. My cell dying probably has nothing to do with the fact that I allow my children to play with my phone pretty much all the time. Don't- tell-Brian.

Fear not, I will be back to blah, blah blogging this week. Let me leave you with this: This week we had 2 big adventures both involving large amounts of blood. We experienced 2 big-time accidents--one child busted a lip and left blood all over the floor of our local Walmart and another child left Fred Meyer with a black eye and a bloody face. Any guesses as to who did what?!? My Karcktails were definitely doubles this week.

Date Night

I went on a date tonight--with a chick + a pocket full of cash. She even bought my dinner. I had the most gorgeous babysitter ever. Hanging out with girlfriends is like a breath of fresh air. Ahhhhhh....

Spaghetti Feed A la Swish

You think THEY look bad, you should've seen Brian + I!

Counting Our Blessings...Again

So do you all remember when the Pearl got sick in Cali??? Well our pediatrician wanted us to do some follow-up testing to make sure she was all good for the future. Sounds fairly easy right? Wrong. The testing had two parts--1.)ultrasound + 2.)an internal exam to check her kidney and bladder function. I took Miss Pearl to this fun-tastic 3 hour appointment, and I have to say, she did super. She cried, really hard for most of those 3 hours. She was red, sweaty and her hair was soaked with her sweet tears. I mean drenched! But she stayed on her back for both procedures and didn't need to be restrained THANK GOD. I whispered to her, sang to her and rubbed her sweaty little head. After it was all over, and I was able to calm down a bit, I was able to reflect, once again, how thankful I am for two healthy little turds. Our miracle babies. I just can't imagine having a sick child. Breaks my heart to think about it.

We got the all-clear from the doc today. Lila is perfectly healthy, and her insides look great. Her infection in Cali was just a fluke. B + I were verrrry happy to hear that!

In the waiting room:

Starting to wonder what exactly is going on here:

Random Mom Fact

FACT:

When I open one of the twin's diapers, and there is NO poop in it, I feel like I've won the lottery.

Thirty-Fun!

Oh you know, just hanging out with the 2 best birthday presents EVER! Oh yeah, the Kindle was a pretty good present as well. And I've only indulged in one cupcake so far today. The day is still young though folks, the day is still young.

And to my girl Beth, you made me feel special today. Your thoughtfulness is never expected, always appreciated + so uniquely YOU. Simply the best. And free diet cokes...we still have IT!!!

Biscotti-- Everyday feels like my birthday since I met you. Someday we will get to have a grown-up dinner date again. Someday.

Desperately Seeking Babysitter

If you know me, you know that I don't ask for much. But I do want something very bad. Very, very bad. Like get down on my hands-and-knees, pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top, be-your-best-friend kinda bad. I WANT A FREAKING BABYSITTER. The first year, I'll it admit, it was hard. Two itty-bitty infants, although adorable, are quite intimidating for pretty much everyone. I mean, I wanted to poop my own pants when I found out we were having two. Add in the breastfeeding part, and it was hard to get away. We got away for a lunch date about 3 times when family was in town, we went to a Halloween party and well, that's it folks. 14 months and that's it. Please feel free to give me some recommendations, pass my name along or move into my extra room (MOM).

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from my PEEPS to yours!

Love,

The Swishers

When We Grow Up

When I grow up, I want to be just like my mama and wear 'pretties' on my lips. For now, I will just wear it on my fingers.

When I grow up, I want to be big + strong like my daddy. I've already started my training.

When we grow up, our parents hope we are best friends. We are off to a fantastic start!

God Made Dirt...

...And Dirt Don't Hurt!

We're hoping our children continue to play in the dirt, we're hoping there are many grass stains in their future + we especially hope their fascination with nature never ends.

High Fives All Around

My bro-in-law, Crazy Uncle Rus, tried to start a campaign last year in San Francisco where he lives. While running down the Embarcadero, he wore this shirt:

His goal was simple. Runners high-fiving other runners for encouragement and an extra-boost of energy. A camaraderie if you will. He thought this was a great idea and that people would appreciate the support. Some did. Others definitely did not. He decided his idea had failed when people started Yelping that they wanted to knock out the crazy dude high-fiving people in the city. Running in certified clown shoes no less. (Another story for another blog.)

Today I went grocery shopping and I felt the urge to give high-fives to all the mamas doing the exact same thing with their many small children. I know it sure wasn't pretty getting my kids to the store this morning. Keeping them happy throughout the trip is a JOB. Moms cheering on moms...I like that. Scratch that--I LOVE THAT. I'm going to start doing this, you just watch. You'll probably be seeing this little mama shouting 'Up Top' down the aisles of Trader Joes + Target very soon.