Reactive Airway Disease

What is it you ask. Well, my opinion is its what you call it when a little boy comes in wheezing and coughing and you don't have anything better to call it. You rule out pneumonia with an x-ray, rule bronchlitis by listening, decide its not asthma so of course it reactive airway disease. I was at the doctor this morning with Caleb for two hours to find this out. How do you treat it? With oral steroids and albuteral of course. I know I shouldn't sound so jaded about the medical field since I am a nurse, but sometimes I wish a doctor would just say I don't know whats wrong. That would be the day. I hope the steroids don't effect him the same way they did last time. He was such a fussy butt. Here he is for a cute profile shot. Well as best a I could do with a curious baby. By the way with no medicine he has been a joy just wheezing and occasional cough.

Busy, busy, busy!

Now that Samantha is 10 she is the busiest one in the house. Last week was girl scout camp this week is VBS(vacaton bible school), and next week is organic farm camp(Camp Pizza). I see her for breif times this week, but I think when I get some quality time with her she will be driving. The one camp picture I got I love. It was Samantha greeting Kellina after a week of being away. Ithink all I got was a quick glance. Well maybe a sideways hug:).

Finding each other

The boys have finally found each other. It's no longer by mistake. They wrestle and bug each other none stop.

Back to cloth

As a gift when the boys were first born my mom got us a cloth diaper service. We thought it would be great and save us money. It turned out that we didn't use them as much as we thought we would so we stopped the service. Everything was great till it dawned on us how EXPENSIVE two babies in diapers are. So after complaining to my friend about the cost she reminded me she owns a cloth diaper company. We are now back to cloth. The company is called Snap-ez and I love their diapers. They are just as easy as disposables and I got the 2nd quality diapers so they were free(can't beat that). Its good to have friends that like to help. 2nd quality on one pair meant the snaps in the front didn't match the snaps in the back. Pretty cool if you ask me. By the way my friends name is Ruth. She has 11 kids and her littlest has downs syndrome. You'd think that would be enough, but its not she home schools them all and runs her own cloth diaper company. She is a great lady who makes a great diaper. I thought the boys looked cute in the matching yellow so enjoy.

Learning to share

We all have to learn how to share, but when your a twin you have to learn how to do it a little sooner then most. The boys are just now starting to figure this out.

Our Lords Beauty

Tonight I was touched by our Lords beauty and amazed by his creation. I had Caleb sick and fussy in my arms while Joshua fussed and bounced in his Jumperoo. I noticed a golden light coming in the window and knew the sun set must be pretty. I went to the window and the Lord touched me with His glory. It was very simple really. Just some clouds, but they were amazing clouds. I felt as if I were in the sky looking down on many small hills and valleys. The golden glow from the sunset lit up all the peaks with the most beautiful golden glow. The valleys were all dark and grey. What a contrast! I wish I had a camera that could have captured the scene, but it never could have captured the emotion of the moment. Tears in eyes, baby in arms with wheezy airways and baby fussing away in a jumper, and so much love and joy filling my heart. I am so blessed to have a Savior who has given me all these wonderful things and so much more that I take for granted every day that I don't stop to see. I pray that he will help me to see this world the way he does. To stop and see people with his eyes and not my own. I pray that he will guide me where I need to go and give me my strength along the way.

Softball season

Jeff plays softball with our church every year. This Monday was the last game so I thought maybe I should bring the camera and take a couple photos. I went with the best of intentions. I took one photo the entire time we were there. No big deal if only it were of Jeff hitting his home run, but alas it was not. Amy this photo is for you. This little boy is named Oliver, but something about him screams Clint to me. He is baby number six to the sweetest women I know. Not just his blue eyes and blond hair remind me because she has others with that. I don't know just what it is but I thought I would share him with you. He is 14 months old and adorable.

More puzzles

This time though it was Joshua who was enjoying showing off his puzzle skills. Okay so he liked chewing them more then doing them. He was still cute and Melia couldn't handle not being in the photos.

Kellina's date

This week was Kellina's turn to go out with dad. Being the most laid back in our bunch no matter what you do she is happy. When asked what do you want to do with dad she answered "Go to the dog park and to the little kid park". Instead Jeff took her to the bowling alley and played arcade games. They then went to the park and Kellina's sweet nature shined and brought dad to tears. His favorite part of the night was writng down some classic Kellina quotes. Here they are for you to enjoy.

While driving and listening to music in the truck "Dad they said my name(faith). I like that girl in my ears. When I get older and get giant hands I'm going to get a humongous microphone."

While using the potty with dad "When I get a peanut(penis) on my bunnser I can stand and go potty like this." Then grabbed where a peanut would be and demonstrated.

After seeing a Jack in the Box ad "Dad that guy is bald and silly like you!" with giggles. Yes she was talking about the guy with the big white styrofoam head.

Profile shots

I've decided to try and get profile shots of all the kids. The babies are so curious that it doesn't work as well. I took three so far and thought others may enjoy them. The boy is Joshua.

What does Melia enjoy?

Well lets find out in her own words.

Joshua loves his MAMA!

This video makes me smile every time I watch it. Amy I think of Alivia every time I see a laughing baby in a Jumperoo. They may not be laughing for the same reason, but both times it was darn cute!

The girls new table!

Jeff found a picnic table at CostCo that he thought might be handy. I told him bring that table home!! It folds up and fits into the van so we can take it where ever we go(NICE). So far it has been used most in the house for extra seating. The girls think its the best and always ask to use it. I love a good purchase!!

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin..

get that Caleb rollin!! It has happened Caleb decided he needed to be able to roll from his back to his tummy too. All I keep thinking is crawling isn't far behind! YIKES!

Daddy date night

This time was Melia's turn. She got to bowling. Jeff was worried they wouldn't have a ball small enough, but she handled a six pounder just fine. The also went down by the ocean and just enjoyed talking. I'm sure Melia did most the talking!

Hanging out..

in his new Caleb pose. Caleb has found the way he is the most comfy and its stretched across a lap with arms out. He must like the way the world looks upside down! Joshua was loving grandmas arm. He killed me when he crossed his legs and hands to sit for a while.

Caleb sits! Joshua rolls!

Yes, he has joined his brother in sitting. Well the kind were you lean on your hands for support. Which in book rocks!!
















Joshua now can sit for brief periods with no hands and is the big roller. This has made him very mobile. YIKES!!

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

Why yes!! In this house you get three and one likes to do acupuncture. Kellina's patient by the way is her precious Conkey. Its a beanbag-stuffed animal that looks like a cow/monkey. Conkey is her love.

How much do we love Crush?

Well the girls love him enough to let him be right on top of them. I guess Samantha loves him the most, but Melia is close behind.

Puzzle time

For Melia's 2nd birthday we bought her some puzzles. We must have thought she was a genius because now at 4 she is finally able to do them. I was so glad to see Kellina master the space puzzle. Every time she got a piece it was a huge celebration. I love little brains at work.

Dress Up again!

This time it was the boys turn to get all dressed up. Well not both boys, but Joshua got in on the action. Aren't big sisters great!

For the love of hand me downs!

I love hand me downs! We have several people who give us clothes and today the girls picked through the clothes to get dressed. Melia picked all by herself and Kellina was both me and Samantha's in put.

The Doyles have talent!

While playing dress up Kellina showed off her awesome pipes! She did a medley of Twinkle Little Star, Twinkle Traffic Light, and ABCs.

Dress Up!!

One fun thing about girls is they like to dress up. Samantha had a friend over and everyone got to play dress up. They were pretending that the little girls were the queen and princess and they were the servants. Everyone was so cute:) They also pretended that they had a boarding home run by the big girls and occupied by the little girls. It was during World War II and there was no electricity. Kids are great!!

Happy 4th!!

We had a blast this 4th at my moms. The girls had fun doing sprinklers(sparklers) and Samantha had fun buying the biggest pack of fireworks at the stand. We tried to teach Melia what we were celebrating and I think she got it in the end. She said it was Americas birthday. Anyways, we got a family shot and now you know how I seem so rested. I sleep during all pictures. I don't know if will ever get one shot where everyone looks good. I thought I would share all the ones we got. Some good, some silly, most with Melia being the ham she is. We got plenty of cute kid shots so I tried to not bore you with all of them, but I may have gone over board. By the way it was so hot I got sick and stayed inside most of the afternoon with fussy hot twins. Oh I forgot to mention that Jeff amazed us all with his smoke bomb dance. He is one of those guys who has to hold all fireworks in his instead of light it off on the ground.

For the love of jam.

The first time around for jam was strawberries and mom had all the photos at her house. I wasn't going to worry about posting them, but then Amy mentioned her love of aprons. I decided then that for Amy I would post the strawberry jam photos. Enjoy Amy this is for you!

Circus, Circus, Circus!!!

And no I don't mean my everyday life. My mom and I took the girls to a small circus that is in Lynden every year. It was a lot of fun! The kids were all free and 2 adults for the price of one! You can't beat that. I had several people worn me that it wasn't that great, but the kids loved it. It wasn't the biggest one out there, but it had clowns, horses, doggy tricks, and elephants. Samantha brought Christina and they loved the 4 guys who rode dirt bikes in a giant metal ball. It was pretty amazing. Samantha had to have their poster and get it autographed. They also had very cute trained dogs. One of which got to be dressed up like a toy elephant and was the best dog I've ever seen. My favorite part was the elephants. They were amazing! I didn't have my camera for them, darn it. Melia loved the people acts. Jugglers, girls doing tricks up in the air, and best of all the people who looked like they were flying. Kellina liked the snow cone and decided that cotton candy is yucky. It may have been small, but it was worth just seeing the kids faces light up and hear them say WOW!! Samantha by the way is now to old to sit by mom and grandma so her and Christina had to sit a couple rows back. Oh how fast times change.

My backyard!

My backyard may not be much. There is no garden no huge open spaces, but it is enough for us to spread out a blanket and run through the sprinkler. Oh yeah their favorite game is pretending the water is sea water and they have to spit it out! Thanks Madagaskar.

We also have room to throw Crush a ball, but when it gets stuck in the sprinkler what is a dog to do? Well have Melia save it for you.

The girls also thought that they should fill in a couple holes that dogs of the past had left. This came about after Kellina fell in one. Luckily we have a mole that is leaving us lots of fresh dirt.

The boys just liked being able to lay on the blanket and hang out together.

HOT HOT HOT!!

When summer has finally arrived and its nice and hot out what do you do? Well make jam of course. At least that's what my mom and I thought would be fun. So far we have made strawberry jam and raspberry jam. I can't wait to do more. Samantha loves helping for part of the time. I can't blame her for losing interest it does take all day when you make as much as we made. The first time around we smashed all the berries by hand. Samantha and her friend Christina pretended to be Cinderella. This last time around we got smart and got the food processor out. Much simpler. I did give the girls a break to go out side and jump on the trampoline. They love to put the sprinkler under it and jump. Melia even pretended to be a super hero with her towel. We also got to enjoy snow peas from my moms garden. Its shaping up to be a very fun summer.

Daddy daughter date night

In this house we try our best to make sure the kids get some one on one time with us. We try very hard for the girls to get a date night once a month with dad. Sometimes they are very simple like going to run errands with dad alone(the dump is the most popular errand). Other times they are more structured. It was Samantha's turn this weekend and she got to go to the races! Jeff and Samantha went to Skagit Speed Way and enjoyed races, a demolition derby and the JUMP OF DOOM. This was a car with a boat attached to it that jumped a couple RVs that exploded. Very intense. I loved the photos of Sam and thought others would like them too.

Another milestone!

Well you know that they have to grow up , but when it happens it can blow your mind. Joshua has learned to sit by himself!! Its not the most perfect thing yet, but you can let go and he doesn't topple right over. There is a story in Jeff's family about a cousin who found a calender that said "he sits a lone". Meaning the baby could now sit up by himself. The baby was now a young boy and seeing this calender he became very sad and said "See I sat all alone. There was no one with me." In his mind he had been left all by himself and no one was there. I love this story and now my Joshua sits alone. I always knew he would do things first. I can't wait for Caleb's turn.