Carter's friends.

So about a month ago Carter came home from school and told me that Anias was having a bad day. I asked him why and Carter told me that his grandpa was in jail. I said that would be very sad, but then Carter told me why Anias' grandpa was in jail. It was because he SHOT Anias' brother in the head. What a wonderful place we live in.

On a happier note, Carter snuck one of my snickers bars for snack time today. The little twerp. I asked him if he shared it with anyone and he started to blush. He said that he gave some to Daniella. She has yellow hair, and blue eyes like Carter. She is so good at soccer too. That's all I could get out of Carter before he got embarrassed. I love that he has a little crush. It was so cute to listen to him and see that sweet little blush on his face.

Carter

I just realized how big Carter was today. I was taking a nap with the babies on the couch and I smelled popcorn. I opened my eyes and Carter had a big bowl of popcorn in front of him. I asked him where he got it and he replied, " I just made me a little snack." I asked him how he made it and he said, " Well I just grabbed it out of the snack cupboard, took the plastic off, spread it out and put it in the microwave. Than I just hit the popcorn button so it would cook." What a big boy. He even got out a big bowl and poured it into the bowl for himself.

Dad realized how big he was yesterday. They were running some errands together and Carter was in the front seat. Rhett reached over to tickle him and Carter very seriously said, "Dad I'm not really in the mood." Kids are always in the mood to be tickled. I guess he's grown up now.

He is seriously the best little helper right now too. He is always helping me feed the babies and grabbing diapers for me. He is such a good boy that whatever I need he is usually right there to get it for me.

Taylor's Melt Down

I think that Taylor is acting out a little because of the babies. Taylor's clothes go under the bed in one of those pull out bins. Well, the twins have one just like Taylor's under the same bed. Well today (1/24/09) I went in and pulled out two pairs of the babies Jeans to get them ready to go outside. I got them all dressed and ran in the bedroom to get my shoes on and heard Taylor out in the living room bawling. I ran out to see what was going on and he had taken off Hunter's pants and was trying to take off Ryker's while screaming "my pants, my pants." I tried to explain to Taylor that those were the babies pants but it took me about 15 minutes to calm him down. He really didn't want the babies to wear his pants. How am I going to survive this kid?

Refrigerator Boxes Rock!

These are just a few things to consider before you throw away your refrigerator box. 

I got this box and my boys LOVED it. The first night that I brought it home the little boys played in it all day. Then they begged to sleep in it. 

(1) Perfect Tent!

After they had slept in it for three nights in a row it got moved outside to become a fort. I mean come on it was a huge box and took up most of the living room. We really don't have a lot of space in this apartment.

(2) Fort/Art Easel

It had been a fort for about a week and it started to rain so it got to come inside. I was watching the kid's best friends so we made a few minor adjustments and it became a theatre.

(3) Theatre

It then became a slumber party when Shaely and Carson slept over.

(4) Slumber Party

We had to cut part of it when we made the theatre, so the box was on its last days. I told Carter daddy was going to take it to the trash and he got really sad. So first we made a slide.

(5) Slide

So before you throw out that perfectly good box... just remember that kids love stuff like that. It helps them use there imagination and can entertain them for weeks.

Our Favorite Pet-Squidward

This was our favorite pet of all times. Rhett found this at school and bought it home for Carter. It was love at first sight for Carter. He named it Squidward and it became the new family pet. It lived right out on the tree by our front door and Carter always made sure to say hi to it whenever we came or went anywhere. 

This is Squidward hanging upside down. 

Carter's favorite thing to do was to go on spider hunts with daddy for Squidward to eat. This was a black widow that Rhett caught for her to eat. We would always bring her in to feed her. Rhett just put the spider and the praying mantis under a glass bowl and it was amazing to watch her eat. I was really scared when Rhett brought the black widow in, but Rhett assured me that the spider had no chance against Squidward.

We went out one day and noticed that there was 2 praying mantis's on the tree. A few days later the little (male) was gone. Squidward had eaten it. Then a few weeks later we saw her cocoon. 

We were really sad when Squidward died. She died shortly after she laid the cocoon. We made sure to take care of her cocoon and were pleasantly surprised when it opened up and all her babies came out. 

We wish that some of them had stayed on the tree, but they all flew away... just like on Charlotte's Web.

We will never forget you Squidward. (The only pet that mommy liked)

Taylor

I feel really bad for Taylor right now. We hardly get to go outside. It's so hard with having the twins and a 2 year old. The highlight of his day is walking to the bus stop to get Carter.

He is really cute when the bus gets there. He gets really excited and runs right up and gives Carter a huge hug while yelling "dartder dartder."

He is still learning to talk and is putting sentences together pretty well.  I feel bad though because if he ever hears someone on the stairs or if someone leaves he's gets a really sad look on his face and says "I go too?" 

It's just sad because usually the answer is no.

Carter Attitude!

Carter is such a sassy boy lately. Especially at grandma's house. Due to the fact that they let him get away with everything. While we were there Carter said two things that cracked everyone up... 

(1) Grandpa Olsen was scooping him out some ice cream and visiting while he did it. Carter got really serious and said.." Can YOU please hurry up." I guess he said please right lol.

(2) I went over to my mom's for Christmas Eve and Rhett was going to meet me over there later. Carter decided to stay and play with the cousins and come over later with dad. Grandpa saw him and said, "Hey I thought you went over with your mom." Carter said, "No, I stayed." Then grandpa asked if Taylor stayed too. Carter just looked at him and said, "Well do you see him here."

We will continue to work to change this little attitude problem, but for now people think he's pretty funny!

Carter Seaworld

Aunt Julie took Carter and Taylor to Seaworld a couple months back and they were sitting in the Shamu (killer whale) show and the trainer was riding the whale. Julie looked at Carter and commented that that would be so fun to be when you grow up. Carter's face immediately lit up and said "Yeah when I grow up I want to be a killer whale." Kids are funny! Special thanks to Julie for taking my kids to do all the fun stuff!

Rice Cereal

I started the babies on rice cereal just recently. Ryker really likes it. Hunter really doesn't. Here are a few pictures to remember their first taste of Rice Cereal.

Hunter

Hunter

Hunter

Ryker

Ryker

This video shows how much Hunter liked the rice cereal. He was trying so hard to please me and so he continue to swallow it, but as you can tell from the reaction he really wasn't the biggest fan.

Taylor's favorite word

Taylor learning how to talk. Can you figure out his favorite word?

Christmas 2008

We had such a fun Christmas season this year!

This is our gingerbread house. It totally rocked. Carter and Taylor even helped make an ice rink for their gummy bears to skate on. We had a house and two shacks (Carter's and Taylor's) and we even made cars out of snickers bars and peppermint candies. What a blast we had.

This is the nativity scene at grandma's house. We had Jessica as Mary, Carter as Joseph, Taylor as a one of the wise men, Ryker as baby Jesus, Jenny and Hunter as angels, and Erik as a sheep. It was a really great night. My mom had a wonderful program planned. We cried and laughed the night away.

Sweet little Ryker Christmas Morning

Sweet Little Hunter Christmas Morning

Ryker with his present

Hunter with his present

Taylor with one of his. He was very protective of all of his gifts this year. He had a blast with Carter opening all the presents he got.

Carter opening one of his. He was such a good helper. He was right there if anyone needed help with the ripping part. In fact he was even there when you didn't need help. 

He was so funny this year. All he wanted for Christmas was a real motorcycle. We went to see Santa and when he got up to sit on his lap Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he replied that he wanted a real motorcycle like his daddy's. Santa asked if there was anything else just in case he couldn't get him the motorcycle and Carter thought for a minute then replied a flute. Yeah me and Rhett both cracked up over that statement. Motorcycles and flutes are a lot alike. 

The sweet little babies under the tree with the presents. I wonder what the return policy is for them. j/k. 

Christmas morning santa did come and everyone got everything that they wanted. Carter got a motorized scooter. Taylor got a shopping cart. The twins got diapers and baby toys. I got to go see "Wicked,"and Rhett got new dental loupes. We had such a great holiday season this year. 

Hunter & Ryker

Hunter & Ryker Olsen

born August 1, 2008

Hunter 5 lbs 12 oz.    18 in.

Ryker 5 lbs 11 1/2 oz. 18 in.

Hunter and Ryker may have been born on the same day, but they are nothing alike. Hunter is extremely demanding while Ryker is very mellow. Hunter wants to be held all the time and hates all the toys. Ryker loves the bouncy chair, the swing, even the highchair. He is very content to be laying on the floor playing. Hunter laughs and smiles at everything. Ryker you have to work a little bit harder to get that sweet laugh from him. Ryker tends to need a little bit more sleep than Hunter does. 

When we went to Disneyland we put both babies in the bojourn's. Ryker slept most of the day and was very pleasant when he was awake. Hunter was so scared to shut his eyes at all and only took two cat naps. He didn't want to miss a thing.

If they weren't twins I would think that Hunter was about a month ahead of Ryker. He rolled over before he even hit 3 months. He loves to be on his belly and rolls over all the time. Ryker is now 5 1/2 months and Ryker has only rolled over three times. He just really isn't in that big of a hurry to grow up.

Rhett and Hunter have an extremely strong bond. Hunter loves his daddy so much and would pick him over me any day. Ryker is more of a momma's boy, but still loves his daddy a ton.

These are some of the hospital pictures. The pregnancy with the twins was really hard. I had a lot of pre-term labor and was on heavy duty medicine the whole time to prevent contractions. The Terbutaline made me really sick and It made my heart hurt. I was put on bedrest at 18 weeks and finally got off at 36 weeks. I'm so glad that I got two babies in the end though.

It was really wild to have two babies inside my belly. I gained 55 lbs. It was weird to feel them kicking all over. One was under my ribs while the other was kicking my bladder.

Even when the babies came out they have always loved to be right next to each other. I have noticed that if they are away from one another for long amounts of time they will get fussy. If I just lay them together they just curl up together and are happy.

This is when they could fit in the swing together. So cute!

This is Ryker giving Hunter a little kiss. 

Photo time with daddy. Everything is cuter in two's.

Getting ready for bed is always fun. They sleep in the same crib together and love to cuddle. I am so excited that they are sleeping through the night now. It was hard to get up and feed all the time. Since they were born they have been on opposite schedules. They eat at the same time, but sleep at different times during the day. So Hunter will be sleeping then they eat and right after Ryker will fall asleep. It's like having one baby awake 24 hours a day. A little challenging but nice that I get alone time with each baby separately.

Under the Christmas tree. They had fun Christmas morning.

This happens quite a bit. Hunter will roll over onto Ryker. Ryker was okay with it that day because then he had fingers to chew on. Yummy!

Ryker Top- Hunter Bottom
My two little baseball players. These pictures are dedicated to my husband Rhett who hates baseball more than any other sport on the planet!

Taylor

Taylor Ken Olsen

born January 5, 2007

6 lbs. 14 oz.     19 1/2 in.

Taylor Taylor Taylor. You are my little firecracker. I wish that I could say that you loved life from the very beginning, but actually you hated it. You had colic from about 2 weeks-6 months. You were such a trying little guy. I used to just sit in the rocker and rock you all day when daddy was at school. I just tried to remember that you were only crying because your little belly was hurting you so bad. I love you Taylor and it was worth all the stress of your early days to get you into our lives.

You had the cutest little face as a baby. It was fun for mommy that you looked a little more like me. Carter looks so much like daddy that it was fun to know that I helped make a child. You have adorable auburn hair and eyes that almost match.

I tried to burn all of these pictures and only use the ones where you weren't crying, but honestly it wasn't very often that you weren't screaming your head off. Look how cute you were even yelling though. You are such a cutie!

Carter loves you. He wanted to hold you all the time. He also talked to mommy's belly a lot before you came out. He always said that he wanted a little brother. You two still have so much fun playing together. Taylor's highlight of the day right now is going to the bus stop. When Carter gets off he always runs right into his arms for a bear hug. 

This is grandma's idea. She had fun taking pictures and miraculously you were really good that day. You really love grandma. I think you remember her from a better place. Carter has a really strong connection with other grandma. I think Melanie would claim him if she got the chance. Taylor when you were a baby you had these big bright eyes that wanted to take everything in. It took you a long time to smile, but I figure that was due to the colic. because as soon as you hit 6 months you have been smiling ever since.

You liked belly time a lot more than Carter did. Carter looked so betrayed every time we even tried to place him on his belly. He would just scream. Taylor you did things really fast. You rolled over at 3 1/2 months, crawled right around 5 1/2 months, and started talking really fast. Your first word was "momma."  Your favorite word that you learned to say was "grooooossss." It was funny every time I would change the twins you would be so grossed out.... as if I hadn't just changed poop from you minutes earlier.

Easter 2007. What an adorable little guy. Very serious. You weren't sure that you liked Carter putting eggs all over you. 

Look at those little teeth. You were such a trooper when you were getting teeth. They didn't seen to affect you at all!

You have a really cute smile that you show us all the time. You seem to really enjoy life. You love to eat buddy. Anything, but you love "tookies" and "m an m's" the most.

We went to see the play "The Wizard of Oz" and you had such a good time. You thought it was so funny. You loved the little dog toto the most.

This picture was taken at the firework show. You were hilarious. You just danced and danced to the pre show music. Mommy was really pregnant so daddy had to chase you everywhere.

As I was looking through the photos and picking some out. I came across this pose several times. Carter always squishes your face as you both give us cheesy smiles. 

This was on your way over to the babysitters house so mommy could go and bring your baby brothers home. You love the babies so much. You are always kissing and laying on top of them.  
Taylor you are so adorable. We are so glad to have you in the family. I just wanted to write down some of the times you haven't been quite as cute. You are such a red head and have the personality to go along with it. You are really stubborn and down right naughty a lot of the time right now. You just turned two so I'm hoping that you grow out of the bad behavior. You are the middle child and have been quite a brat to the babies. You love to pull the babies out of the bouncers. You just grab their little legs and pull. You think it's hilarious when they land on the floor crying. You always come up and say "bebies cry... cry bebies." 

Another naughty thing that you did recently was you got an open monster energy drink out of the fridge and dumped it all over Hunter. I think you were trying to be nice and give him a drink. You actually got quite a bit in his mouth and tons on his clothes before mommy came in and caught you in the act.