Clippers game

As Tamara noted below, back in Jan. we went to a Clipper's game. If you think Bron Bron is awesome on TV, you have to see him in person. It's something else. You've never seen anyone so huge, quick, and powerful. It's really not fair. It's something every sports fan should do at least once.
Anyway, as you might imagine, we can't go anywhere in LA without getting hounded by a paparazzo. Yesterday I got home late and Tamara was all excited about something she recorded on the DVR. I had a couple guesses but was way off. She pulls up the list and it's the Daily 10 on E!, which I try and avoid. So I guess it has to be about either Seth Green or Chris Tucker. NPH/Barney Stinson? Alec Baldwin back in the news? Steve Prefontaine? All wrong. Somehow Tamara had seen a pic of me like one of the two on the bottom. I couldn't even see me when I first looked. As you can see in the next few pics, the paparazzi wouldn't leave us alone at the game but some couple kept on photobombing us. You can definitely see us on the top one and you can barely make me out in the next two. If that couple wouldn't have been so rude you could see us more clearly.

Very Exciting....

I have stopped blogging for so long I forgot to let you all know the exciting news.....I am going to the Bon Jovi Concert next week!!!!!! Papa Hall hooked me up with tickets for Christmas and my brother Robert is coming with me. If you know me at all you know what I fan I am, yes I cried for happiness at the last concert I went to in NYC. Doug likes to bring it all the time and laugh at me, that is why my brother is coming with me this time. I will post updates after the concert:)

Papa Hall also hooked us up with Cavalier tickets vs the Clippers at the Staple Center last month. It was our first date sense the boys and we had a great time. Papa Hall has front row tickets so we got to see Shaquille O’Neal and Lebron up close and personal. I have never been a huge fan of either but they have some serious skills and enjoyed showing them off for the crowd. I was just as excited to be sitting in arms distance to Rihanna.

Boys are crying....I am out.

I get asked often

I get asked often how I handle both boys at once and I always reply, "I just do." My family and friends have been super helpful with everything from babysitting, to bringing me meals, or just giving advice. It also helps that I love the boys so much and Doug and I have been praying for them to come into our lives for a long time. On top of that I thought that I would list a couple things that have really helped and I am not sure that I could have lived without, well at least helped me not to go crazy.

The BOB stroller. The boys just love to be outside and this has been the most amazing stroller. It is so light weight so it does not brake my back to carry it up and down three flights of stairs about twice a day.


The Baby Bjorn. Again this helps with being outside in tight spaces and in the beginning I would carry Ben around the house in it and still get things done without him crying.


A friend of mine gave me the book Baby Wise to read. This book made all the difference with how I scheduled our days. The boys are on the same schedule so I know when they are going to eat and take naps. It also helped with knowing the boys different cries so that I was not feeding them when they weren't hungry. It has always helped with the boys now sleeping through the night.


Colic Tablets. Ben was a very colic baby and when I gave him a couple tablets he would instantly calm down. They are natural so I did not feel bad giving them to him. Trust me, I tried everything else and these were the miracles workers. They also help for when they do not feel well instead of giving them Tylenol.


The Bumbo Seat. Many people do not believe in these because babies fall and hurt themselves but I just never leave them alone in one. But it makes them feel like they are part of the group which keeps them happy while I am cooking or putting on makeup.


Baby wraps. These help the boys calm down when fussy and helps them to sleep longer. It also helps when I need to carry both boys because they are more restrained.


Lastly, Breyers Black Raspberry Ice Cream. This is a new flavor that helps me relax after a long day....SO good!!

Missed Calls

This last weekend we went to my parents place to let the boys cry through the night. Tamara went up one day before me on Wednesday. Wednesday night I got home around 8:30 and sat down and put on a little PTI. Next thing I know it's 11:45 and the first thing I think is Tamara is going to be so mad I didn't call her. My phone looked something like this:

Of those 14, at least 12 were from Tamara. I knew I was in trouble but surprised I hadn't heard a knock on the door. Turns out this time she showed some restraint. Let's rewind about 4 years. When Tamara and I were dating I'd take her home almost every night to 168th. Then I'd turn around and go back to my place on 63rd. It took forever. I called her between the subway and my place to let her know I got home safe. One night I totally forgot to do so. I got up in the morning and had almost twenty missed calls. I thought, that's weird, I wonder what happened. Turns out Tamara freaked out when I didn't call, called my roommates who didn't answer, and then called a neighbor downstairs, Jen Bennion (née York), who came upstairs and woke up a roommate who checked in on me. I was passed out, because it was 3 am. I had to swear and promise to never, ever do it again and hear I was doing it again. Fortunately, she was much more understanding this time. Must have been Ben and Will interceding on my behalf.

New Love

As Doug pointed out, I have not blogged forever and yes I have a new love. It is not the Dillon Panthers but the three men in my life or one man and two adorable little boys. Most of you know the story of us adopting these two miracles so I wont go into to much detail and I can't even begin to post all of the photos that I have taken so please still click on the these links for updated photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126222&id=647682644&l=88373df83d
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126226&id=647682644&l=af8717179e
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126223&id=647682644&l=7625090770

Here was the announcement that we sent out that I just LOVE:

I will just give some highlights of our amazing journey. Ben came into our lives on October 2nd and was born in Utah. I was there for about a month (in the hospital with him for about a week.) We had a lot of visitors and enjoyed spending time with family. Doug was only there for the weekend and boy did we miss him. Once the paper work was taken care of we drove home. Will was born November 15th in California about three hours from where we live. We got the call at 11pm that the birth mom was in labor so we packed up our stuff and was at the hospital by 3am to see our wonderful William. Again I had to stay at the hospital for about a week and we had to say goodbye to dad and Ben (yes, I cried for a bit). Every night we would say our good nights by ichat (this was our first family photo.)

This is a bath tub that relaxes babies when they are young because it makes them feel like they are still in the womb. As you can tell, it worked very well.

Ben had this thing for awhile where we would only sleep if he was smothered in your arm pit.

Doug's mom, Katie comes every Wednesday to help and both the boys and I look forward to her coming to visit.

Ben loves taking naps with dad which really works out because Doug loves to take naps and he has learned that I wont give him a hard time if he naps with a kid.

Will also LOVES to cuddle, especially with his brother. I promise that I did not pose them for this picture.

The boys love to me outside so they look forward to days when we can take them to the beach.

Doug blessed both boys in December. It was such a special occasion and so nice to have most of our family there.

Here was our families Christmas photo.

The boys got to sit on Santa's lap.

I don't dress them a like most of the time but some times I just can't help it.

They love their Bumbo chairs and the chairs have been such a lifesaver for me. Often they will sit and talk to each other or help grandpa make cookies.

Ben has started to bounce in the bouncer and here he wore himself out.

Last week my parents took them to Chuck E Cheese. They were so worn out after four hours of looking at lights that they actually slept through most of the night.

Those are some highlights, I will try to be better but I make no promises. Because I am writing this post my laundry did not get done......

Long time, no see

I was hanging out with my dad for a few hours today and he asked when I was going to update the blog. If my dad is asking when the update is coming, it's long overdue. Let me give you a few highlights from the last couple months. Tamara has developed a new love-Dillon Panthers Football. Someone told her to watch Friday Night Lights, it's available for streaming on Netflix, and in a short span three seasons have been viewed. Pretty impressive? Will has recently gotten pretty big and his skin has cleared up so he's looking grown up. He still doesn't like to hold his head up but he likes to coo, which is fun. Ben began making baby noises and tries to sing along when you sing to him, while Will watches and smiles. He's a big fan of Bear Necessities. I'm pretty sure they both like the 7am sportscenter as well. This last week Ben decided he was moving on from just baby noises and began making spitting sounds. He can entertain himself for a while (in baby time-in real time that's over five minutes) so that's always nice. While their sleep is improving, we're hoping they can find some way to entertain themselves during the night and throw us a freaking bone. Over the Christmas break we blessed both of the boys since both of our families were available. Tamara has all the pics on facebook and I'll get her to post some pics on here as a well as a funny Ben video from last night. Christa also did a sweet recap here. In other news, I'm still looking for a job. Word on the street from the career center is job posting should start picking up a bunch in March. Let's hope so.