Big Box

We got a new washer and drying last week and the boxes they came in were HUGE. I asked the installers if we could have one because I knew the kids would love it. I was right! The box was a good solid day worth of play. The kids went in and out, in and out, drove their cars in, rolled balls around inside, opened the other end and walk in and out, in and out...all day long. Ahh, the simple pleasures.

Remembering Our Friend

This past Saturday our good friend and pastor passed away from a long fight with diabetes. Phil was not only a pastor and friend but our counselor, confidant and most of all, a true lover of the Lord. I never met anyone who could express how much the Lord love all of us more than Phil Busbee.

Phil touched my life the day I walked into First Baptist Church of San Francisco over 6 six years ago. I heard him preach on coming home and realized the Lord was calling me back to His self. And my story isn't the only one...Phil touched a countless number lives. Young and I had the pleasure of becoming close friends of Phil and his family, Claudia, Alexis & Ashley. We were in the same home bible study group for several years, sharing our most deepest fears, struggles and joys. We also spend a number of holidays and special occasions together because the Busbees are truly our family here in San Francisco.

I have to be selfish and say my fondest memory of Phil is our wedding day. I remember him smiling the whole ceremony. He chose just the right words to bless Young and I in our lives together and prayed a most intimate prayer for us as we took communion in private.

Here are a few photos of Phil over the years we were blessed to call him friend.
Phil had such amazing blessings for us on our wedding day.


This was Christmas 07' at our house...and our bible study group taking a night out at the ballpark.

We love you Phil, you will truly be missed.

They All Fall Down

Timo was playing the other day and fell down on his bum...it was kinda funny so I laughed which made him laugh too. Now he has figured out how to get a laugh from you, just fall down. He got up and kept trying to fall back down but it was harder than it looked. Cameron saw him and of course had to join in the falling game. They both were cracking each other up trying to fall down. Here they are the next day, still trying to perfect the fall down to get a laugh...

Bu-bul

Cameron has finally warmed up to bubble baths. For the longest time she has been scared of the bubbles and wouldn't go in the tub. So I put it away even though Timo loves the bubble bath. She started noticing the bubbles left behind when I washed their hair and started saying "bu-bul". She then noticed the bubbles we would blow in the back yard so I thought it was time to try bubble bath again. It was a rough start...she sat in my lap outside the tub for about 10mins, too scared to get in. She slowly warmed up to them as I played with them and wanted in. Now there is no stopping her. Every night at bath time it's "bubble, bubble, bubble" as she carries around the bubble bath container. She has a screaming fit when I pull her out of the tub, even though little her hands and feet are all pruned up.

Here are some pics from her first official bubble bath. Timo keeps trying to eat them, yuck!

Happy Father's Day

It just doesn't seem right to only have one day a year to tell our Daddy how much we love and appreciate all that he does. I love Young so much for the amazing husband and father that he is. And I know the kids love him for the big playmate that they have. The kids made Father's Day cards for their Daddy in their Sunday school class. (it's their first arts and craft!!)

We had a pretty low key Father's Day this year because of some commitments Young had that day..but we made the most of the afternoon we all had together. We played in the back yard for a little while, laughing and taking turns in Timo's big dump truck.

I told Young we would go anywhere he wanted for dinner (kid friendly, that is) and he picked sushi! Typically sushi places don't have a kids menu but we made the best of it. Cameron loved her udon noodle soup and Timo inhaled a whole basket of edamame....not to mention all the rice they wanted.

Then we were off to Young's favorite ice cream shop, Ghirardelli Square. The kids had a taste or two of Daddy's brownie sundae...Yummy

Here are the kids taking their turns at rolling down the hill...

Growing the Hard Way

This is what happens when you get too big to climb on boxes....

You break through the box, get stuck, loose your balance and fall over banging your head on the floor...poor Timo, learning the hard way.
(I know, I'm a horrible mother to let him cry while I took a picture but he just looked so cute laying there)

'round and 'round

I have to say I am learning so much about babies by having two of my own. I know that sound so corny but it's really true. I'm not much for reading the child development books or parenting books out there so a lot of what the kids do is a total surprise to me. I had no idea most of the simple skills in life are actually a learn skill. Like learning to pull a toy behind you or learning how to reach into a bag to get a cracker out. Turns out, learning how to turn yourself around is no different. I didn't occur to me that the kids didn't know how to turn around until I saw Timothy doing it the other day...and working really hard at planting his feet to spin his body around. It was so funny and adorable to watch him go around and around and then get dizzy...totally cracking himself up. Well, Cameron picked it up a few days later and here she is practicing. (I didn't have my camera when Timo was doing it, sorry baby boy) Cameron isn't as swift at Timo is but she'll get the hang of it.

Cuitest Patient

We had a very traumatic day (at least for me) last week...Timothy had another one of his asthma attacks in the morning and I had to take him to the emergency room. He started wheezing the night before and we started his inhaler. By the next morning his wheezing was worse and not getting much better with a few puffs of his medication. Around 9am I called to get him in to see a doctor but they only had afternoon apts and I wasn't comfortable waiting. Long story short...we ended up spending about 5 hours in the ER. Three enebulizer treatments later, Timo was breathing much better and loving all the special attention he was getting.

In my haste to leave, I didn't have time to find a sitter for Cameron so she was right there with us. Luckily I was able to get some friends to come to the hospital and watch her in the waiting room while I was with Timothy. All the action did fall during their nap time...and leave it up to my kids to never miss a nap! Here they are sleeping on Timo's bed in his room. I ran down to the cafeteria and got them some lunch while they slept. We had a little picnic lunch on the bed of french fries, string cheese and chicken soup.

The enebulizer treatments required me to hold a hose in front of Timothy's face so he can inhale the steam. The first one went OK, the second one not so easy and the third was nearly impossible. I got the bright idea, knowing how much he loves wheels, to let him play with the wheels on the stroller..worked like a charm.

The kids only have pacifiers in their cribs but I carry some in my diaper bag for emergencies...this was one of those such cases. All in all it was a long day but I'm glad Timothy is breathing better. The doctors aren't sure what triggers his asthma attacks but it's something I think we're going to have to deal with for a few years...poor guy.

Sign Language

We are teaching the kids sign language as a way for them to communicate with us. So far it's just VERY basic words, as you will see, like "milk", "more", "please". Just a few words that will help us understand what they need. Cameron has picked it up faster than Timothy and has a little bit better hand control. Timo knows most of them so far, it's just a little harder to get him to use it or a little more difficult to understand his sign when he does use it. But it's a lot of fun for us when you see they want something, ask them what they want and then see them sign "more milk please"...and finish off with a "thank you."



If they can say a word then they don't bother signing it, like "cracker" or "car". And there are a few more words that they know the sign for but they can't quite sign it themselves..."monkey" and "blanket" are two such words b/c Timo loves his monkey and Cameron adores her blanket. I just realized today that I need to look up the signs for their names and for "brother" & "sister"...they just point at each other and grunt right now.

Like Mommy, Like Daughter

I know it's hard to see but Cameron fell asleep sitting up and her head is resting on the bumper pad. Too funny. I put books in their cribs to play with before or after they wake up. I guess she fell asleep looking at a book.! Poor girl just couldn't keep her eyes open to finish reading...just like her mommy! She slept like this her whole nap too.

Monkeys!

You know I'm all about getting the kids to feed themselves...I've taught them how to eat a banana out of the peel. This works great for two reasons...#1 I can peel a banana and let them go at it and #2 no more messy hands holding banana chunks I hand them. The only problem with this is the kids usually can't eat a whole banana so I end up with two 1/2 eaten bananas...but a small problem in the grand skeem of things.

Cameron had to test out eating the peel...guess it's not so tasty!

Pull Toys

The kids are learning the concept of pulling a toy and it follows them. They have been tugging on the strings for a while but toy just ends up flying across the room. Now they understand if they pull and walk, the toy will follow...how fun! We've had this telephone and train for a long time but now it's like we have 2 new toys!!
There goes Timothy down the hall with his train and Cameron not far behind with her phone.

They get so excited and turn themselves around...usually ending up crossing strings and tangling their toys. This picture ended in a crash!

Catching Up

It's so easy keeping up with the blog day to day...but once you take a few days off...it's so hard catching back up.

My parents have been in town for the past week and half and things have been busy. I don't have a ton of photos to post because I wasn't around for a lot of their visit. I tried to take advantage of having full time help and take some time for myself and with Young. I spent my days shopping, manicure, reading time at the library, lunches and fun dinner dates friends we haven't seen in a long time. It's like I was the one on vacation. And the kids didn't even notice I was gone...Granny and Grandpa kept them thoroughly entertained.

Here are a few photos I have...
Cameron trying to play horsey on Grandpa's legs...and story time!

My parents fed the kids constantly! It seemed they were always feeding them something and different. And of course the kids would gobble up something that I said they normally didn't like. Cameron really liked Granny's cereal every morning and the both got in the habit of snacking on fruit just before bedtime.

Grandpa handled bath time like a charm! He got to see the challenges playing referee all while trying to wash and rise the kids.

Doughnuts

Another classic southern treat the Grandparents wanted to share with the kids were Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. We stopped and got an assortment of the mini doughnuts to see what the kids might like. They aren't super sweet eaters, so I was interested to see how they went over...about 50/50. They loved to eat the sprinkles and chocolate glaze off the top but didn't really find the doughnut too tasty. Again I ask...who kids are these???

Gotta have milk with doughnuts!

First Hair Cuts!

My mom is retired from 35 years as a hair stylist...or hair dresser as they call it back home. So I thought it only fitting that she be the one to give the twins their first hair cuts. Their hair isn't especially long but just needed to be trimmed and "neatened" up a little...just enough to say it was a hair cut. I took video of both but it was taking waaaay too long to load. I might try again in a few days but here are the pictures.

Cameron was up first and did an amazing job at sitting still and letting Granny snip her hair. We gave her a giant make up brush and she was happy.

Now our little girl can see...no more hair in her eyes.

Timothy on the other hand was a little more squirmy and restless...maybe because his hair cut took longer.
We started with the make up brush but had put on one of his music TV programs. That worked for a little while.

Grandpa had to step in with a car and then Granny bracelet...

A little more music videos and then Granny's watch occupied him enough to finish the last little bit

Our handsome little boy...he looks so much older.