Emily Crawls

Emily actually crawled today, she has been scooting around for a while, but today she crawled to a little cd player that I had sitting on a shelf. I guess she couldn't resist the temptation. Hopefully, we will get some video of Elizabeth's doings some time soon.

Not A Silent Sleeper

I always know when Emily is about to fall asleep because she starts to moan. Occasionally, she will moan while she is sleeping too. Here is some video footage of my noisy napper.

Testing 1-2-3

I have been trying to figure out how to get video onto blogger and I think I figured it out. This video is really just a test, but you can watch it if you like. We will see if it works. The video is of Abigail and Darin painting her playhouse.

Baby Jail & Emily Standing

We were getting ready to go to Abigail's dance class and I put the twins in one of their cribs so I could pack the diaper bag. When I came back into the room this was what I found, so I ran and grabbed the camera. The twins look like they are planning an escape.
Right after I took the first picture Emily decided to stand up on her own for the 1st time. I was lucky that I had my camera in my hand so that I could just snap a quick photo. She is so proud. Time to lower the crib.

My Little Sister is Engaged%&*#!!!

As of September 19th 2008 Heather Nan Stocker (My baby sister) is engaged to Shane Michael Booth. I am so excited for her and a little bit nervous too. She has chosen me along with my mom as her designated wedding planners, but I don't really think that she could have stopped me from putting my two cents in anyway. Congratulations Heather & Shane. They will be getting married on Saturday, January 3rd 2009 in the Dallas, Texas Temple. If you know Heather and would like an invite, I am helping her collect addresses so send your address this way. By the way this is not a picture of Heather's ring. I just liked it.

Abigail's First Ride Home On The School Bus

I can not tell you how excited Abigail was to ride the bus with the big kids. She gets to ride the bus home on Thursdays, the buses are very safe here and the big kids look out for the little ones. The bus driver's name is Larry Fillmore and yes he was Darin's school bus driver when Darin was a little guy.

The Twins Are 8 Months Old Today

I can't believe how time has flown this year. It all seems like a blurr. I can't believe Emily and Elizabeth are 8 months old already. Emily Celia

*Sleeps through the night, but very difficult to get to sleep. She would rather wiggle and screech.

*Wild sleeper. It is impossible to keep a blanket on top of her.

*Has one bottom tooth.

*Is in size 12 months clothes. Size 4 diapers. (The outfit she is wearing is what Abigail wore at her 1st birthday party.)

*Very Strong. She makes me tired when I hold her because I am constantly fighting a wiggly baby.

*Knows how to babble, but she prefers screeching as her form of communication.

*Loves to blow bubbles and raspberries.

*Plays with toys; she will sit in her playpen and play for 20 minutes without complaining.

*Tries to crawl. She pushes herself backwards as her means of transportation. She hasn't quite figured out the forward motion yet.

*She bangs her head into the floor when she gets mad or frustrated.

*Tries to pull herself up, but she can't stand yet.

*Puts anything and everything in her mouth that she can get her hands on.

*Likes puffs and mum mums (food)

*Very cautious about new people.

Elizabeth Claire

*Still wakes up at least once in the night, but pretty easy to get to sleep, I just lay her down with a pacifier or her bottle if she is hungry and she falls asleep.

*Has two bottom teeth.

*In size 9 months clothes. Size 3 diapers.

*My cuddly baby. She loves to be cuddled and loved all day long, which can sometimes pose as a problem for mom.

*Babbles saying, "dadada, bababa, mamama"

*Silly girl. She loves to laugh at anything.

*Plays with toys, but doesn't like to be left in her play pen very long.

*Not too interested in crawling, she prefers sitting over being on her stomach. She rolls as her mode of transportation.

*She throws herself backwards when she gets mad or frustrated.

*She loves to sleep with a blanket covering her eyes, just like Abigail.

*Puts anything and everything in her mouth that she can get her hands on.

*She loves to rip and tear magazines and newspaper.

*Very friendly.

*She loves baby food.

Abigail's First Day of Pre-School

Abigail had her first day of school today. She was so excited to go be with friends. She will go to the Rockland School on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-3. Her pre-school teacher is named Mrs. Taysom. Mrs. Taysom was Darin's Kindergarten teacher 27 years ago. I hope Abigail doesn't cause her to retire.
Outside Rockland School. First day jitters. I think she was just putting on an act because she was beside herself with excitement before we left the house. Maybe she was a little bit nervous or maybe a little melodramatic or maybe both, who knows?

Labor Day Weekend Camping At Henry's Lake State Park

We decided to take a family camping trip to Henry's Lake, which is about 15 minutes away from West Yellowstone. We realized that this was the first time in five years that we have taken a family trip, with just us. We have taken several trips since we have been married, but we have always traveled with someone else or gone to visit family. We love traveling with our loved ones, but it was nice to have just the five of us. Darin went camping at Henry's Lake as a child and it brought back a lot of memories for him. Darin & Abigail outside our pop up tent trailer.
Abigail loved to dig in the rocks with our kitchen utensils.
When we were down by the lake we saw this thing on top of the mountain. It looked like a space ship from where we were. Curiosity got the best of Darin and we drove 12 miles up the mountain to look at this FAA tower. Abigail was convinced that martians lived in the great big ball and she kept looking for them the whole time we were up there.
I was the first one to spot Aliens on top of the mountain. There were three of them.
Henry's Lake is a beautiful campground, but we quickly discovered that there was nothing to do, but go boating and since we didn't have a boat, we had to figure out something to entertain Abigail (a person can only play Go Fish so many times). We went to West Yellowstone one day and found a nice playground. Abigail had a blast.

Side Note: Some of you may be wondering why I am not in any of the pictures, well, I will tell you: I love camping, but I do not love pictures of me camping, so I made sure that I was the designated photographer this camping trip. Also, some of you may be wondering how it was to take 3 kids under the age of 4 camping. Let me just say, the first day was a disaster and it got much better from there aside from the storm that we were in on the second night. I would definitely do it again (maybe next Memorial Day) we had some great bonding time, especially with Abigail.

Bear World

We were happy not to encounter any bears on our camping trip, but Abigail was bound and determined to see a bear before we got home. She said she wanted to "go on a bear hunt" so on our way home from Henry's Lake we stopped at Yellowstone's Bear World, which is about 5 miles outside of Rexburg, Idaho. This was definitely the highlight of Abigail's weekend. We saw Elk, Deer, Wolves, a Moose, and of course tons of bears: Grizzly Bears & Black Bears. She told me that she was a little bit disappointed that she didn't see a buffalo or a raccoon. Black Bear
Bear World had a bunch of little carnival rides for the kids - free of charge, since admission was a bit pricey. She is finally tall enough to go on some of the rides.
At the petting zoo. Abigail's favorite, the pot-bellied pig.
The Moose
Abigail met a friend named Moory from Chicago, she just hopped in the car right next to him and they were best friends from then on (well, at least for the next 15 minutes).