[ doug & becky + baby tucker ]

utah in november

2012-02-13T21:39:00.000-10:00

well, i'm way behind in this post but it was so fun to go to UT in november. I had a conference so mom flew out and we all stayed with the most gracious hosts, cassie and chris, and had so much fun seeing them and most importantly mr. luke. here are just a few pictures that i have right now from one day when we went to the sugarhouse park to feed the ducks and play at the park.

Play date with Van!

Look at those 2 cute front teeth.

aunt joslin met us too. we are so lucky. she is so beautiful.

i think they kissed after this pic. i love it.

and auntie april too.

i have a love hate relationship with going back to all these pictures. it was so fun at the time but it's so sad now since we can't come over and play again. miss you guys!!

dear cassie... belated.

2012-02-13T09:49:00.000-10:00

I'm so glad you were born and that you're my sister and always will be. You're the best and I love you. Hope you had a great birthday.

flying

2012-02-13T09:32:00.000-10:00

don't you wish you were little enough to do that still? i love how he holds his legs up like that. we miss you uncle al.

just some from my phone camera

2012-02-08T16:43:00.000-10:00

Trying on the socks that Aunt Ellie left when she came to visit for Thanksgiving.

A few great pictures from our early November trip that we took to UT. Who doesn't love Cabellas?

Was waffling about going in. Luckily I know that he can't resist a dare.

Reading books with Grama LoLo

Sharing with my cousin. Oh, this makes me miss everyone so much.

Our trip to Monterey. While I worked the boys played.

Someone loves clam chowder, licked the cup clean.

I'll have to see what treasures doug has on his phone next...

more from christmas

2012-02-07T16:59:00.000-10:00

still going through all the pictures I got from everyone and there are a few things I want to put down so I remember. it was so cute to see lily and tuck together. to see how different they are. so different. lily is pretty mellow and loves dolls and playing house type things, pretend cleaning and taking care of people. tucker is so not like any of that. trucks, planes, running around. even how they eat is so different. lily takes dainty bites and tucker eats the whole spoonful. but the cutest thing was how lily would bring tuck his blanket and try to lay him down in and cover him up all comfy. she was very insistent at times. when they are not being opposite though, they are insisting on having the very same thing. it was really fun to have them together and by the end they were all good friends. how nice.

And even though we didn't get a lot of pictures of the two, zeke is so cute with tucker. loves to play with him and pick him up pull him in the wagon. and it's so cute how he says his name. tuck is so lucky for these three (now 4) and for cousin Luke! we haven't forgotten you either.

I love the scene in this picture. I love the girls sitting by the fire, Nana in the background with a towel over her shoulder cleaning up the kitchen for the 45th time because she's awesome, and small chaos running in circles with lots of laughter surrounding.

did you know

2012-02-06T16:47:00.000-10:00

That my newest niece was born on February 4th? I'm pretty sure she still doesn't have a name but I can't wait to meet her. Congratulations Kaity and Danny! It only took her one hour at the hospital before this baby was out! Nice work kt.

ocd?

2012-02-06T16:39:00.001-10:00

We see this around the house a lot. Rows and sections of perfectly lined cars. It's pretty funny to turn around and find what he's been so quietly doing.

And sometimes on dad's back.

2012-01-29T17:52:00.000-10:00

Table set for 20. I love getting the table all fancy for dinner.

Nativity: Elizabeth and Zacharias. Turns out Garrett is quite the actor. Very nicely done on his part :) Mine, not so much, a lot of giggling. How old am I?

Gio did an awesome job as the angel

And this is Nephi and his wife. Not sure what they were doing here but they were a great couple.

And of course, April leading the music with enthusiasm

And after the white elephant Tuck ended up with this remote control car and as you can see, he was pretty pleased.

Christmas morning was craziness and really fun. There were a lot of presents under the tree. Especially a lot of cars for Tucker.

Danny and Kaity made canes for D&N out of manzanita branches from the yard and they were beautiful. Everyone got a pretty good kick out of them.

Our 2nd Christmas with Tuck already. Crazy. This time was so much fun. He loved opening presents.

Stoked about getting his noisy police car with siren from uncle Al. Wouldn't you be?

Opening more cars...

And more...

Checking out each others loot after things calmed down a bit.

And here's an awesome video taken by Danny, but i actually like it.

I am grateful this year for our healthy, happy family that loves each other. I do feel so blessed.

Gio & Tuck

2012-01-28T20:47:00.000-10:00

At Emily's wedding Tuck was loving having an older cousin to hang out with. Gio might be his favorite word. He still says it plenty times a day. He especially says it when he sees anything plaid, since Gio wears plaid a lot. It's funny how he'll always point out peoples clothes. Pointing to Doug shirt or pants while I'm folding laundry: "dada's". He does it for my clothes too. Anyway, he called Zeke and Lily by Gio's name the whole vacation. Just today he finally said Zeke as we were looking at a picture. Nice. But Gio is an awesome oldest cousin. Tuck is so lucky.

Gio looking as handsome as ever. When did he get so grown up?!

Grandad's "Pane" & San Fran with the Rathgebers

2012-01-27T20:42:00.000-10:00

After going back and forth all night about deciding if we should make the trek down to SF the next day, I'm so glad we decided to head down and meet my family. Luckily my awesome father-in-law volunteered to fly us down there and we were able to cut our trip by a bunch and we got to fly in a cool plane. Tuck wasn't so sure at first about the headphones but figured out quickly that when he took them off it was super noisy so he finally settled in. He loved seeing all the "panes" and did really well.

Thank heaven for this blanket. Really.

We had a gorgeous day and hung out at Golden Gate Park and wandered around. Didn't get too far with the kids, but it was a lot of fun just to be together.

And a close up because everyone looks so happy :)

Definitely got sidetracked by the ducks for a while. Tuck and Luke with G&G. Love.

And thanks for taking pictures Jules & Cass. These I stole from you but I want them on here to remember this fun day.

Then we headed to the Pier and walked around and had dinner. Went back to Aunt Barbara's to hang out a bit and finally flew home. It was a great day.

Emily & Garrett got married!

2012-01-26T11:44:00.000-10:00

Emily and Garrett got married this Christmas break and it was a beautiful wedding. I really think these DeMartini sisters should start up a wedding company, especially Julia. Isn't Emily's wedding dress gorgeous. And what about those bridesmaids? All designed and made by Jules (with help from April on a few of the brides). Cool.

High five for Uncle John

Cousin Gio taking care of Tuck that day.

Beautiful Lily. Zekey was there too of course and he kept his shirt on only as long as was necessary.

I am so happy that we started our family in this very same temple. I feel very blessed. I'm glad Emily married Garrett. He seems like a perfect addition.

Daddy & Child

2012-01-25T21:53:00.000-10:00

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Need I say more?

Well, maybe...

cutest snot on the block

2012-01-24T21:51:00.000-10:00

lunar eclipse

2012-01-23T21:45:00.000-10:00

someone was up at 4am taking awesome photos of the moon and it sure wasn't me. pretty cool. this was sometime in the beginning of december.

Christmas at the mall

2012-01-22T21:41:00.000-10:00

We kind of love going to the mall in Kaneohe. It was really fun to go during Christmas and extra fun that Richie was there with us. Tucker's first Santa picture. Clearly we were to cheap to buy so we have to crop our own photo :)

First train ride and first time giving the ticket to the conductor.

He looks so grown up!

like a good neighbor

2012-01-21T21:37:00.000-10:00

State Farm is there.
Doug got this tattoo for Tucker from the Pipe contest when they went. This could be their next ad don't you think?

2012-01-20T21:35:00.000-10:00

Who needs a playground when you have a dad like this?

I love Tucker

2012-01-19T16:13:00.000-10:00

And he loves me too I think. I love the way he goes ooooohhhhh and his eyes get huge whenever he sees a passing truck, motorcycle, bus, or anything with wheels pretty much. I love when he says 'weeerweeeerweeer' when a siren passes by and how he loves to climb up on the couch to watch the flashing lights pass by. I love how he smiles if you show him the tag of his favorite blankie and he'll grab it from you or dive onto it. I love how he starts dancing in his bike seat when a car drives by with it's radio on loud. I love/hate how he is such a pack rat. He needs at least 3 blankies when he gets out of bed, and now usually his bear or duck. And he'll keep pointing back saying 'that one' until you get them all. And how he tries to carry all his trucks around at once, and fills up his little arms and chin with as many as he can handle. I love how he lines up his cars so straight and them pushed them into something and makes a cute crashing noise. I love how he says planes, 'pwane'. I love how he is getting better at snuggling and relaxing and can sometimes sleep with us. I love how he is so good at folding his arms when you say it's prayer time. I love how he goes to bed without crying now and loves to snuggle in with his stuffed animals. I love how he wakes up and says 'Dada' as soon as you go get him. I love how he runs around on the lawn back and forth like a crazy person and then just dives to the ground, and how he tries to do a headstand and lifts is right leg up. I love how he is so brave and loves to jump off the rock in the back yard and just dives into the water and always comes up with a huge smile. And how he can pick up and throw rocks for at least an hour each day and never get tired of it, and how he can pick up some really big ones sometimes and never seems to drop them on his toes. I love how he carries the body board behind lately by the leash, carries it all the way home like a big boy. I love how he says 'home' when we are turning into our driveway or if he's ready to go home from the beach. I love how his 2 front teeth are too close together and a little crooked and how he recently learned how to smile for the camera and says 'keeys' (cheese) anytime he sees a camera and how he kind of looks like a gremlin. I love how he's smart enough to understand me now and do a lot of the things I ask him, he amazes me at what he understands sometimes. I love how he growls at his bear or when he sees any animal slightly resembling one. I love how he will take my finger and lead me to show me what he wants, or where he wants to go. I love how he says uh-oh if he can't get to his truck, or for any other reason that might warrant an uh-oh. I love how he takes that syringe of nasty vitamins without complaining. I love how he cuddles and snuggles when he gets out of the water and is freezing and lays his head on my shoulder while I cover him and warm him up. I love how his hair is kind of crazy. I love how sweet he is when he snuggles with dad at night and give him a kiss, and how sweetly he kisses owies. I love how he dances around when we sing our songs during family home evening. Pretty much, I love him. Just didn't want to forget these little things.

cheeeese

2012-01-18T21:48:00.001-10:00

his new smile. love it.

Thurgoods come back.

2012-01-18T21:10:00.000-10:00

Dear Sam,
Thanks for teaching Tucker how to blow his nose. It's one of those life skills he got from you. And he does it really well.

And thanks for playing with Tuck every day even though he's pretty cantankerous sometimes. He gets it from his dad :)

And for making sure there were lots of kisses in his life. I'm pretty sure he really loves you.

And Chad,
Thanks for coming over and hanging out with Tucker too. And thanks for the awesome shirt :)

We are really lucky you guys were here even for a short time. I'm glad you were ours. We are so blessed you wanted to hang out with the little rascal.

Thanks for babysitting him overnight. You guys were lifesavers. Thanks for being so awesome and looking like a cute little family. Glad he was your first true baby love.

You guys are the best. Hope you're having fun in UT. Aloha.

brothers

2012-01-18T20:43:00.000-10:00

2011-12-28T12:30:00.000-10:00

We're still alive and our un-blogged pictures are really piling up! Hope you all had a great Christmas and are still enjoying it like we are.

2011-11-01T11:02:00.000-10:00

Hope everyone had a really fun Halloween. We definitely did. We found this bee costume for Tuck at a thrift store in CA and cut off the arms so he wouldn't die of heat, Doug's dad really has some hives that he keeps so we borrowed his bee keeper suit, and Enos and Al helped me make my beehive costume. Then we headed to Moana St. to go trick-or-treating with Tuck. He started out tired before we even left but he ended up having a great time. He was so cute in his costume. He ate lots of candy and got the hang of the whole thing pretty quick. His hands were super sticky from double fisted lollipops. Luckily someone was giving out hotdogs and water (best idea ever!) so it kept us all going. We all had a really great time and it was fun to see everyone in their costumes. Usually I'm not one for dressing up but it was fun this time. And we were so glad that Uncle Al and Jake were able to come.

Before we even started:

yellow jacket and bumble bee

More, more, more:

This creepy zombie kid was following me and making me a bit squirmish truth be told

hightlight of the night, seeing jake getting a real good laugh because al saw a kid drop some candy and instead of giving it back he swiped it real quick and ate it.

tuck and bowen together, so cute. i can't believe how much bowen can talk already.

finishing off at randy's house

And I'm just saying, with 4 adults that love chocolate and candy and only one kid suitably young enough for a trick or treat basket, i think next year we are going to need to bring another kid along with us.

We Love Holli-Aynn Cart

2011-11-01T10:35:00.000-10:00

And we are really missing her already but we'll forgive her to moving to California to start a new job. Not going to lie though, it really stinks having her gone.

We had a fun time carving pumpkins before she left. Tuck loved hanging out on the table making a sticky mess.

And this was just funny/classic:

Tucker absolutely loves auntie Holli. He will even cuddle with her. That makes us even more sad that he's losing one of his fav's.

I love how Tucker does the "ewwhhhh" with his mouth in surprised delight.

The final products. Doesn't Enos look great in all the pictures? He mentioned that he did well in all of them multiple times. We had to keep very still because of the low lighting and Tucker kept moving our side around and Doug was up and down doing the camera. As you can see we tried a few times to get it right.

This last one is my favorite. Look at cute little tuck peeking out sucking his thumb. it was very past his bed time, as it has been for the last week or more.

We love you Holli!!

2011-10-11T10:15:00.000-10:00

I sure did miss that face. He seemed so much more like a big kid when I got home after hanging out with all his younger cousins. Of course everyone was terribly sick while I was gone, baby and dad and babysitters and friends. The worst 24 hours flu was going around. Perfect timing. But everyone was alive when I got home, even though Tucker did choose to go to Doug over me at first. Dagger to my heart, but also nice at the same time. Seems like the boys had some good bonding time. Thanks to Nat and Holli-Aynn for helping out so much while I was gone!!

The wedding was really beautiful. The sealing was wonderful, the reception was absolutely wonderful, as was the cake, the bride & groom, and of course the bridesmaids with their awesome dresses made by Julia. I got to see lots of friends I haven't seen in a long time and it was so nice to be able to enjoy it all. Most especially fun was hanging out with all the family that came. Got to do a little shopping with a thousand stores close by and no baby to stop me. With dad and Katie there of course there were multiple stops to Cafe Rio, or Taco Rio as Aunt Kathy says, or just Cafe as dad started calling it. Ha.

I'm really so glad I got to go.

not bad looking after spending the night puking and running to the bathroom :)

My favorite shot of the night I think.

Some cherished friends from Plainview NY ward were there!

Zeke!

Isn't that cake awesome?

Thanks Alli for marrying someone awesome like Derek and getting us all together. And double thanks to Cass and Chris for letting us all crash their house again as usual. Love you guys.

2011-10-05T18:02:00.000-10:00

yay for alli and derek getting married on friday!
boo for leaving tuck and doug behind.
yay for natalie, holli, rachel and sam for helping doug and tuck while i'm gone so neither i nor doug freaks out.

first trip away from this little guy over night.
i'm really going to miss this face a lot. i'm going to miss his dads too.

2011-10-04T15:32:00.000-10:00

Tucker has been teething lately. He's getting at least two, probably more. He's been waking up a lot lately in the middle of the night screaming. The bad part is that I'm feeling semi sleep deprived lately. The good part is that he's pretty snuggly after he stops screaming his head off.

s h o e s

2011-10-03T15:26:00.000-10:00

He's obsessed. Multiple times a day you can see Tucker walking around in giant shoes. He loves to borrow slippers where ever we are. He can totally walk in size 10+ in the sand at the beach, with them in between the proper toes.

As we were leaving our friends slip-n-slide party from the park on Saturday I heard our friends saying, hurry up, let's go and the other saying I can't find my slippers. I did notice that Tucker had his eye on them earlier...

Rathgeber Family Reunion 2011

2011-09-28T21:49:00.004-10:00

(are Tucker and Colt having a staring contest?)

Lest you think we only went to Nevada City this summer, let me tell you about our awesome time in NY!

After missing last year it was sooo good to be there this year, even though it didn't work out for my beloved husband to join me and he was missed. It was so nice to get picked up at the airport after a terrifically terrible 12+ hour red eye standby flight alone with Tucker. He did pretty good actually, but it was still terrible and i was completely exhausted. I was so glad to see the look alike Explorer pull up. And then to get home to the beach and everyone was up on the deck outside anxiously waiting for us to get there (or just eating dinner) and give Tuck and I hugs. Pretty much got a hug from 45 smiling people right when I arrived. That is just the way I like it.

(faces like these x10)

And I can't believe how much some of the cousins have changed in 2 years! And there were 2 new babies (Zeke & Ellie) and a Colt I had never met. Can I just say that I love going home and I love love these reunions. Even though I seriously don't know how much longer we are going to get 45+ people from all over the country together every year for much longer, it's still going strong and awesome. Any-who.

Highlights of course include family olympics, specifically when uncle gary steam rolled aunt kathy or aunt barbara, i can't even remember but i do remember a bunch of parents rolling as fast as they could in the sand towards the ocean, barreling into each other. Loved it. Unfortunately no pictures to be had of that! Had lots of Ralphs, and pizza and Tucker was teething so he had his fill of otter pops. And got lots of cousin time with Luke and Zeke and Tuck had a blast trying to steal all of Livvy's toys. So fun to have cousins his age around. I really wish, with all my heart, that we could all live together, and our kids could grow up together like we did. And a shopping trip to the outlets with mom watching Tucker was very exciting. 3 babies and 6 grown ups. Of course Zeke and Luke were pretty much perfect. Going over and finally seeing Josh and Katie's new house was exciting. It really is beautiful.

(this is an awesome party backyard. i love this house.)

(grandpa dave entertaining some cuties)

(don't you wish this was your bathroom?! and this doesn't even show the awesome shower. i can't believe how much work this all took.)

We got to all hang out at the beach with our cousins, hang out with our kids, hang out with the new grandparents and swim and eat and talk and laugh. Pretty much as good as it gets. Oh, and all go to church together with Dad as the Bishop and me, Alli and Julie speaking with everyone there. It was a pretty awesome sight looking out at everyone there at church. I'm so grateful for Grandma Barbara and that she let the missionaries in so many years ago and was willing to listen. I feel very blessed.

OK, so a few of my favorites:

(uncle 'yake')

(don't ask me how this is still happening)

(congrats alli and derek. so glad you chose someone cool alli :) excited for you to be Mrs. Nielson in a few more days)

(and i don't know what was so funny...)

(so happy to have sister rathgeber back from her mission at temple square. so good to see her cute face at home again.)

(and that about says it all)

(reunited - and it feels so good.)

(don't they look so alike in this picture? and so cute.)

(tucker's go to face for group posed pictures)

(the great grands)

And had an awesome time with Grandma Gerry and Aunt Roberta at Grandmas house too. We got to show Tucker and Luke off to all her friends and it was quite amusing. The kids were a hit. Wish I had some better pictures of them together.

And if you haven't seen enough of this reunion you can see more from Alli, Jessie1, Jessie2, and Erin1, Erin 2, Erin3.

Oh man, I almost forgot this highlight. Many Rathgebers were fairly certain that we were all going to be rich off of this whale vomit that is worth millions. No joke about the whale vomit, that smells like vomit, being extremely rare and valuable. But unfortunately, what we had searched for so diligently was just a disgusting mass of something very invaluable. But it did get us all out to walk the beach a ton and have some fun :)

Family Home Evening

2011-09-28T21:20:00.003-10:00

Uncle John invited us to Family Home Evening up at Washington, a ways up. Well, we started late (which should be expected really), one or two were slightly grumpy and the sun was pretty much setting when we finally got everyone up there. And it was worth it. This new spot that I had never been to had a fun rope swing into the beautiful river water. Glad Doug pushed me to go even though it was quite cool by then. And we all left a lot happier and in better spirits then when we got there and had a great time all together. We were all starving, and when I say we I mainly mean me, so we stopped at A&W's and ordered everything on the menu. I would say this FHE gets an A+ even though we actually never did get to meet up with John :)

Which reminds me of another family outing this summer that I wish I had some pictures of. We rafted, kayaked, canoed, tubed, and snorkeled down Truckee River one afternoon. Which started out very much like FHE being a little late and a little cranky. But ended up awesome. It was so fun. The chicken pasta salad was totally delicious made by Ape. Kaity and I got the big boat with Tuck, Lily, Gio and Zeke, with occasional visits from their dads. Danny found some treasures. Em and Dave flipped over the canoe at the end but besides that we navigated like professionals. We got home and then decided on a sister outing (minus Julia who was missed) and ate Thai food and talked about first kisses and knocked over the huge vase at Safeway trying to take a picture and finished off by eating ice cream.

DeMartini Family Picture Party

2011-09-28T20:50:00.003-10:00

Finally getting some pictures up. These next posts will be out of order, but for some reason these are the only pictures I can get to right now.

Here are some family pictures that a friend took for us while we were all there this summer (minus Britta who was sorely missed but was busy traipsing around Europe). And as Natalie just informed me today, she's soon to be on the minority side of things after Em gets married! Family of 11 is already huge. Family of 11 + marrieds and kids is a serious party. I love every one of these DeMartini faces. Especially the ones in this first picture. I think this last picture is my favorite, the one of the boys.

do you feel overwhelmed too?

2011-09-06T16:06:00.003-10:00

On the list to do today and tomorrow.

-Work all, and it's busy at work.
-Hang out with Tucker and Doug and have some fun
-Decide to leave directly from work to go to Costco and finally have some food and then pick Holli-Aynn or go to Enrichment and try to find a babysitter for Tuck and have no food for a while longer
-Figure out collecting rent and other issues that come with managing 3 houses
-Get everything figured out for those moving in and move some furniture over there
-Call, set up appointments and interview nannies/mother's helpers for Tucker
-Get all the bills paid
-Fix this stupid blog that keeps saying it's been hacked and is dangerous.

And those are just the big and bigger things. Never mind the daily important stuff like making meals, exercising, scriptures, cleaning, etc.

I need another week.

Any bets if I'm really superwoman and can in some miraculous way get most of this stuff done?

happy belated birthday post

2011-08-31T23:24:00.006-10:00

dear doug. i hope you had a great birthday. i love you a lot and i'm glad you were born so you could come into my life and stay there forever. p.s. holli and i had a lot of fun planning your party.

oh snap.

brushing

2011-08-31T23:15:00.004-10:00

Tucker loves to brush his teeth. Good think too because he has 10 whole teeth already you know.

truffles + july 4th

2011-07-08T14:22:00.002-10:00

Doug is a truffle making fool these days. Danny, I blame this on you. And the Truffle Shop in NC. I think there should be a truffle bake off this summer with Danny, Doug and Julia who told me she has been making them too lately. Any volunteers for judges?

Didn't get a picture, but for my birthday Doug made me the most delicious key lime truffle. Yum.

4th of July was pretty perfect. Some Waimea fun in the morning then a quick nap for Tucker and a quick trip out to the hole in the rock near the point for Doug and I. Thanks Becca and Holli for helping that happen. Then back to the beach behind our house with the thousand other people to relax and play on the swing and swim. Then off to Turtle Bay for some fireworks enjoyed by all.

From JPEG

Finished it all off with a bedtime story.

Low point of the day: somewhere along all this fun I lost my favorite necklace of all time.

Favorites and Firsts

2011-07-08T10:52:00.003-10:00

#1 Favorite:
His blankies
Randy and his yard

Favorite Toys:
Balls, every single kind
Cars and trucks
Sand shovels
Books that make noise or are touch 'n feel

He carries these big balls around with him all the time. No matter if it's a basketball, volleyball, beach ball or this huge birthday ball. He's got a serious grip.

Favorite Animals:

Dog

Duck

Birds

Favorite Foods:
Lilikoi's
Cheese sticks
Avocado
Hotdogs
Ribs
Watermelon
Pretzels
Black Olives
Tomatoes
Biting into apples, peaches, plums, oranges or anything round
But luckily he's not terribly picky.

First word:
I'm pretty sure it was dog. Pronounced da.
He says Da a lot all of a sudden and totally is talking about his Dad and following him around like a shadow. But he did say Mama the other day, and looked right at me. He knows who I am if Doug asks, he points. He can mimic sounds and his lips are so cute when he's concentrating on making a certain sound.

First kiss:
Open mouth. Not sure who got it, me or Doug. But Tucker definitely loves to go in for the kill.

First Shoes:
I just put shoes on him for the first time today and he was not at all sure what he was supposed to do. So he crawled around for a while to afraid to walk on them. Finally took a few tentative steps. Then started crying.

First time he was ever good in church!He sat on our laps the entire time, relaxing on and off with his blankie. The best day of church so far. It was my first time fasting in a long time and I might just claim that was a nice blessing from it.

First time he demanded that he sleep with a toy. Last night and it was his blue car. He would not let go of it last night so he slept with it.

He makes really funny faces and is so expressive. He is starting to interact and understand really well. He can get things when I say "go get your blankie" and dad tried "got get my phone" and it worked! How exciting. I can understand him a bit better too. His noises at least. Still has that funny gremlin growl. And still no progress with baby sign. We'll just have to wait til he starts talking I guess.

We have tons of pictures like this. Don't even know what this face is.

Things that are not his favorite:
He's a big scaredy cat around loud noises. He hates or is extremely wary of them, the vitamix, vacuum, lawn mower, other babies crying loud.

Doug is really good at savoring the moment and remembering to enjoy it right now with Tucker because it won't last forever. I'm glad he does that. I like the reminder now and then.

Lilikoi Birthday Hike

2011-07-07T06:32:00.005-10:00

Becca was there in the morning with balloons and chocolate and breakfast. How's that for the most awesome babysitter in the world.

For my birthday I wished that we would hike up and searched for lilikoi's, finally, since we've been talking about it for a month. We were not disappointed. Although we did get attacked by mosquitos and Doug did have to climb a very high tree standing on vines to get these delicious fruits on the tippy tippy top. Found out that a lilikoi will keep Tucker quite and busy for a hike, a car ride, and any number of activities where you need to be still. Which reminds me, we still have a few left in the fridge waiting to be finished off.

On the way home from the hike walking back to the car we saw one of the kids from our scout pack walking home with his mom from the activity we were supposed to be at but we skipped. I really do feel blessed to have such an awesome ward and so many awesome people around us.

One Year Old

2011-06-29T16:05:00.010-10:00

I am the mother of this one year old. Can you believe it? He is pretty funny and cute if you ask me. Warning all those who aren't family, this is going to be a long post!

1st Birthday and 1st birthday presents!!
Baby pool extravaganza at the beach park behind our house. Plenty of kids and pools and hotdogs and animal crackers and no one even seemed to mind the rain. And more then plenty of presents. He is so lucky to have so many friends and such a thoughtful family. Thanks everyone!

Come on guys, we're going to be late to my party.

Thanks for my awesome swimming outfit picked out by Gio and Zeke!

Male bonding time.

Just one example of some of the cuties at the party.

This is Becca. She is our friend and Tucker's amazing babysitter. She is awesome.

Working on his second hotdog here. Pretty sure that's why he was not interested at all in his birthday cake.

Friend from Doug's work came up and brought this little cute friend for Tucker. Just the right size.

Ha. I love this picture because I know these cute little kiddies were probably wanting this piece with the sprinkles or something or other and Doug might not have been most accommodating as he mentioned later.

If this isn't the cleanest first birthday boy eating his cake I've ever seen. Not sure he's really my son.

Watch out Tucker. This little guy was trying (very successfully) to cuddle his way into your Dad's heart. He loved Doug.

Take that.

And the week before his birthday he must have fallen and bruise/cut his head about 5 times. I was just thinking before that how he hardly ever gets hurt. Yup.

After his birthday bash, and then a nap, we headed to Turtle Bay to hang out with the Neville family. Tucker sure loved Dave's nieces. Took him a minute to warm up, but only a minute. Then we headed over to the hot tub to end the night. So fun.

Little Buddy, you turned out so much better than I was imagining and it's hard to remember how much of a pain you were a year ago.

So so happy to welcome his first birthday!

And that he's ours.

2011-06-20T15:23:00.002-10:00

Hope you liked your breakfast this morning as much as Tucker did. Even licked your bowl.

2011-06-20T15:14:00.003-10:00

Tucker, don't be scared, but I think you have something on your head.

This is what happens when dad is in charge. Luckily he doesn't seem to mind at all.

It's so funny when he squirts himself in the face or anywhere with the hose. Totally surprised every time but loves it anyway.

Jake!

2011-06-20T14:54:00.002-10:00

My brother Jake left last night and we are pretty sad about it. Tucker absolutely adores him and he is so great with him. This morning it was just me and Tuck in the quiet house and I was feeling bummed just knowing that Jake wasn't asleep in the other room for us to come bug in a bit. I'm sad for Tuck because he has gone into Jake's room for the last 4 months pretty much everyday to play and now he's gone. I wonder if babies get sad. All that I know is that I'm sad for him. I love having family close by and this was especially nice because I haven't really gotten quality time with Jake and a long time. Thanks for hanging out with us, being an awesome uncle to Tucker, helping out with the house and for coming out. We totally loved it. Can't really blame him for leaving though, he's headed to Peru to meet up with some friends and surf for a month. Don't you wish you just graduated and were bumming around the world for a few months?

Doesn't he look like Grandpa Freddy in this picture below a bit?

I love this one because Jake is king soda drinker around here and Tucker is obsessed with those chilly cans. Jake just lets him sip off the bottom side of the can. It's pretty cute.

Mr. B

2011-06-20T11:18:00.008-10:00

Dear Mr. B. Thanks for coming and saving our butts. You are a superhero and it was so fun to have you here. More pictures of before and beautiful after pictures to come.

Where's Ben? Oh, there he is. Getting attacked by a wave.

He took this awesome little picture with his handy little itouch when we hiked Sacred Falls.
Thanks cousin Ben!!

belated

2011-06-20T10:54:00.003-10:00

Happy Father's Day a day late. I'm pretty sure Tucker is glad you're his father. He didn't exactly tell me with anything more than that weird gremlin growl that he makes, but it's written all over his cute little face.

slip sliding

2011-05-29T20:53:00.001-10:00

up and down and all around

2011-05-27T22:07:00.002-10:00

please excuse my loudness in this video. be warned, you might want to lower your volume right now.

There's holes in our walls!

2011-05-26T00:08:00.002-10:00

Sorry it's sideways, but I can't fix it. Luckily those holes are gone now thanks to cousin Ben DeMartini being here to help us get this place looking tip top. Holli's standing in the studio bathroom and to the right is the other bathroom and I'm in the bedroom. A lot of walls missing. Now there is tile up in the showers. Things are getting pretty exciting around here :)

2011-05-12T10:17:00.005-10:00

Guess who came to visit? I'm way behind on posts and too tired to write much but it was soooooo fun to have the folks and cassie and cutie baby luke here. and richie too for a bit. to bad it pretty much rained the entire time, no joke. but at least we were together :) and they were there to help out a bit in the beginning stages of fixing up the house we just bought. more on that later. anyway, more pictures to come of this lovely group, but this is all i have on my computer right now. don't you just want to squeeze those cute chubby cheeks?!

baby steps

2011-05-08T13:08:00.001-10:00

helicopters

2011-05-05T09:29:00.003-10:00

Tucker loves them. But not as much as Dad and Uncle Jake and Uncle Richie do. Best $22 on Amazon they ever spent.

9-10 months

2011-05-05T09:11:00.004-10:00

Well not much is new I don't think. Except that about 2 weeks ago he stood up for about 5 seconds on his own and then just sat down... and since then he may be spotted standing in the middle of the room all by himself just looking around. He's starting to take steps a few at a time. It is very exciting!! Maybe he'll be walking by the end of this month. Yay / Oh NO!

He's still a super fast crawler. Bear crawl only these days. Still a blankie snuggler. He is really good at waving hi and bye and clapping and is practicing putting his pointer fingers together for some reason. He loves birds and loves the beach and is starting to really love the water. Races towards it. Starting to really recognize people, but is still friendly to most. Starting to play pretty good with other babies. He knows to climb down from the bed or couch feet first. So cute to watch him turn around. He recently tried to get down too quick and is now a scaredy cat, but he stops at the edge at least :) He takes the stairs like a big kid, one whole step at a time.

We think he finally weighs 18lbs! Doug said he was putting his face in the water by himself the other day. Slept 11 hours last night :) Not usually that good, but generally sleeps at least until 5:30 eats and goes back to sleep for a bit. And 2 naps still. He's starting to play longer in his crib before naps. Half hour later I go check on him, sure he's asleep since I haven't heard a peep and he's just looking out the back window staring at the birds and chickens walking around I think.

He makes his mouth into an oval and breathes through it and makes a whistling sound.

Cousin Luke is here right now and he loves to rub his head because he has so much hair. It looks so soft and fuzzy :) He loves to push his new truck around the kitchen floor. He loves the remote control helicopters that doug and jake got. he can't keep his eyes off them. He is starting to not nurse as much and eat a lot more. He is pretty funny these days as long as he gets enough to eat and goes to be early enough.

He finally likes the bath again!!! Tucker usually gets so fun right before bed. I love it. He is happy to just play around in the living room and comes in for cuddles a lot.And doesn't even cry every time when we put him down for bed after reading a book, prayers, eating then snuggling. He just lays in his crib for awhile on his back kicking the side of his crib.

Oh, and he is starting to love watching baby movies. For the past month every time I'm not actively thinking of something my mind is singing "It's signing time with Alex and Leah". But Tucker loves it. And that's that.

And he absolutely lights up when Dad starts playing with him. He never laughs so hard.

Friends Angela, Domi and Kainoa came and it was so fun to see them all!

Took out the Bumbo for Luke and Tucker now has a new jungle gym toy.

And his other, most favorite, jungle gym toy:

Playing in the mud on and dad's new grass.

Playing with his loot from his first Easter egg hunt. With cheerios inside.

Really enjoying months 9-10. He is a complete ball of energy and kind of crazy, but definitely makes us smile.

nice outfit mom

2011-04-29T09:19:00.003-10:00

I have to dress up and go to every single BYU-H graduation. Tucker and Doug met me outside while I was in line with the rest of the faculty congratulating all the graduates and I loved it. Like my outfit? Jealous that you don't get to sit through every single graduation over here, aren't you?

And look at that bubble kissing Tucker's cheek before it totally popped.

2011-04-20T23:06:00.003-10:00

Ralph Lauren model in the making. How do you like your little outfit on him Auntie Emily?

Haha. And this face is really funny. This is the beginning dry face. Now when he makes that face he put his tongue out a bit and spits at you and gets you all wet. And thinks it's so funny.

aloha

2011-04-20T15:28:00.002-10:00

feet first

2011-04-20T15:25:00.006-10:00

I think he fell too hard one time and since this video has decided to wait at the edge of the bed for help down... but he has the idea at least to not go face first off the bed anymore :)

2011-04-20T15:21:00.005-10:00

he has pretty much explored every crevice of the lower 1/4 of our house. And tasted. He he has his favorite spots.

he's a keeper

2011-04-20T15:17:00.001-10:00

beach critters

2011-04-20T14:46:00.003-10:00

Tucker loves when Doug digs him a hole in the sand. He is soo good at climbing out. He can get around like a little sand crab. I really do love lunch at the beach with these two. How sad that Doug is back at work and not here for lunch breaks anymore. Luckily the tide is just right after work these day and the weather is beautiful. We are lucky.

So grown up now. Not such a fan of a handful of sand anymore.

Isn't Doug such a great picture taker these days? I love him.

Poor Baby Tucker

2011-04-14T10:06:00.003-10:00

Tucker was really sick last week. How sad for him. And how sad for us. He had a super high fever and was really freaking us out. 103.5 as the highest, but that's high enough as far as I'm concerned. Up all night to make sure he didn't catch fire. After 2 days we headed to Kailua to the Docs office and a rash had just started appearing on his stomach. But I forgot to mention that right off, so after seriously torturing poor Tucker for about an hour, or you would think we were torturing him since it took us 4 people to look in his ears and the people in the next building could hear him for sure. So glad Jake was there with us :) But then we mentioned the rash and she said, "Oh, it's Roseola." High fever for a 2-3 days followed by a rash on the stomach for a day or two. This is what it looks like. By this point he was back to happy and no fever. But it looked bad. It's not supposed to itch or bother him or anything, but how sad looking.

But this was the same day, so you see he wasn't doing too bad. But it was scary looking!

So glad uncle Jake was at the docs with us! What a nightmare to do alone. I saw a friend there with 4 kids by herself and I was just thinking that is insane. I can't even go alone with Tucker! My oh my how things will change I suppose.

Tell me these toes aren't cute. I love how he rubs his toes together while he's eating.

Well hello there...

2011-04-08T21:18:00.002-10:00

i'm kind of excited to watch this...

2011-04-01T11:35:00.005-10:00

Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration

A motion picture about the life and legacy of Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"People around the world now have a new way to learn about Joseph Smith, the founder and first president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A film called Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration is now available online, marking the first time the Church has shared a full-length film on the Internet."

"The film will also help people better understand Latter-day Saint belief in modern prophets, the purpose of temples, and the eternal nature of family relationships. There is also additional context around historical events such as the First Vision — when God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith when he was 14 years old." Read more here...

bike rides

2011-03-29T12:49:00.002-10:00

Tucker loves going on bike rides with his dad. It's probably his favorite thing to do. He's been liking it with uncle Jake these days too. Even though sometimes it starts raining, or it's suuuuper windy, or kind of chilly, it doesn't even matter.

And he totally lounges in this thing and puts his feet up and taps away. He's still too small for the straps to fit, but he's in there pretty good. Don't be alarmed.

How can you not love these two?

And if you notice, Tucker has his tongue sticking out. That is pretty much the way he rolls these days. He's soon to be getting his top 2 front teeth! They are oh so close to coming down. All of a sudden I'm kind of nervous for them to come because then he's going to start looking so big and I'm going to want time to really start slowing down.

Holli-Aynn Cart

2011-03-25T10:28:00.003-10:00

Happy Birthday Holli :)

We all went to stay the weekend at Ko'olina on the west side and it was sooooo fun. We hung out at the pool, went on the slide, under the waterfalls, and hung out at the beach. Tucker loved the pools. And we bbqued and had soooo much good food and enjoyed the awesome sunset. And there was a perfect closet for Tucker to sleep in and the place was so nice.

Thanks Holli for an awesome birthday and getting us over to the west side. We love you!

The awesome place we stayed in...

"learning" with enos.

have i mentioned...

2011-03-16T21:45:00.005-10:00

Not sure, but have I mentioned how much I love this kid? And how much he makes me laugh. He is really so much fun I could hardly stand to put him to bed tonight.

I love when he crashes in for a quick cuddle like this.

I believe I mentioned he can fit a ping pong ball in his mouth. Just one of his many party tricks.

And finally, all hail King Trix.

I really do love this kid.

date day to pt. reyes

2011-03-16T21:25:00.003-10:00

Thanks to Nana Nancy and Aunties Joslin and Ellie, Doug and I were able to get away for the day and drive down to Pt. Reyes Lighthouse and see "the only place I've been wanting to go for so long" as Doug likes to say about almost everything :) But I'm so glad we got the chance and made the trip. So nice to drive in the car without being anxious that Tucker is going to start screaming at any moment. So nice just to hang out with Doug all day. So nice to go on a fun road trip. It was sooo windy there. And so green and blue and beautiful. The lighthouse stairs were closed, so that was a bummer, but overall, this day was a 10.

And apparently Tucker was an angel all day. Bonus.

Guess who was really excited to see this smiley face when she got home.

family

2011-03-16T20:56:00.007-10:00

I'm not going to lie. The thought, "what the heck were we doing having this kid" crossed my mind more times than I can remember in those first few months. And the main thing that made sense was the fact that there is no where in the world we'd rather be, and no other people in the world we'd rather be around than our family. We have been so blessed with seriously amazing family with so much love everywhere. We are very lucky. So, when we get to be around any of our family it is quite a treat. And luckily we get to see a variety of them quite often (although not nearly enough). Just a few of the faces we have loved seeing lately.

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And so so so many more faces. But you get the idea.
And I really wish I had one of one of our many breakfast outings with lovely Ellie. Yum.

And of course buddy dog.

Joslin's Home

2011-03-16T20:35:00.004-10:00

We missed you Sister DeMartini. We are so glad you got to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for a year and a half with the people of Salta, Argentina. And we are so so glad that you are finally home.

So glad that we even showed up two days early just in case we might get to see you a minute sooner ;)

Tucker is really happy he finally got to meet aunt Joslin too. I know you won't believe this but until now he had no one to teach him how to play the recorder.

This was really funny. Tucker trying to get over the bar underneath the ping pong table. He conquered the first time. This looks like the second time where he was defeated. Ha.

So fun to be together. We missed you Emily and Natalie!!!

Love this kids face. And we love to see your face again too Jos.

I think I speak for all when I say that it is sure nice to have captain blondie back.

Snow & Igloos

2011-03-16T19:53:00.005-10:00

When we were in Nevada City to see Joslin after coming home from her mission in Argentina last month it DUMPED snow. A few feet. So much that the trees were falling all over the power lines everywhere and we lost power for a day and half or so. And it was oh so much fun. I think we all felt like little kids again. Check out Kaity's post for some great sledding pictures.

On Doug's drive home from snowboarding. Before the big snow storm.

It started snowing during the afternoon and we had this much by the evening!

>

The next morning with the power out...

Al and Doug decided to make an igloo. Britta and Jos, Ellie & Dave decided they could make one better. I don't have day pictures of them though! Only video. Maybe I'll put that up soon.

>

Tucker and I decided to watch

And then Al slept in one, and then Gio and Grandad/Danny slept in one and Doug slept in the other. Doug kept trying to get me to sleep in there with him but with Tucker waking up 2 times a night I was kind of off the hook...

As usual, we didn't want to go home.

This was before the train was perfected... Love Dave's laugh in there :)

And still working on it...

Beautiful Lily

2011-03-16T16:30:00.003-10:00

Tsunami

2011-03-14T22:45:00.002-10:00

Doug's dad called us while we were watching TV on Thursday night telling us about the earthquake in Japan and tsunami warning in Hawaii. An hour later it went from advisory to warning and we were waiting to decide if we needed to get out or not, and then finally deciding what to pack and take with us when we did leave, sometime before 3am when this tsunami was supposed to hit. We ended up heading over to the library with a bunch of blankets and pillows and pack-n-play for tucker around 1:30am. There were already a bunch of families there taking up different corners in the library. We headed up and setup camp in the stacks. Tucker cried a bit but then was pretty good the rest of the night. Jake was immediately out and Doug left us to go ride his bike around Laie and check things out. Of course he was at the beach when the tsunami was scheduled to come. Of course. Luckily nothing really happened. Except I woke up at 3:30 with no word of Doug and was hoping that didn't mean he was dead! But of course, he was fine. And had a front row seat for the small tsunami waves that did show up. So yes, thank you JFS Library for giving us a place to rest our heads :) And thank you lovely janitor for waking us up at 6:30am so we could get packed up and out of the library before it opened at 7!

He's 8 months!

2011-03-01T14:59:00.006-10:00

OK, so a recount of what Tucker perfected during his 7th month on this earth.

Percentiles at the beginning of February:
Weight-15.1 lbs: 4th
Height-27 inches: 47th
Head-? : 20th

-He is great at feeding himself now and can get those puffs in no problem.
-He wants everything you are eating and he is not afraid to throw a fit immediately to get it.
-He makes this weird face where he flexes all the muscles in it when you don't feed him fast enough. It's really funny.
-He is really great to take out to breakfast. He loves toast and pancakes and does really well in a high chair if you keep sending food his way.
-He can drink out of a sippy cup.
-New foods this month were avocado, pancakes, bread of all sorts, yogurt, and we have pretty much been giving him whatever we eat.
-The reflux medicine the doc prescribed seems to be working well. The quantity of puke in our house a greatly decreased. Yay!
-He can balance himself without holding on to anything for about 3 seconds. He pulls himself up on absolutely everything and can walk around if you hold his hands.

-His feet still turn out but the doc said that that should fix itself once he starts walking.
-He is taking awesome naps. 2 a day for a few hours each. Love it.

-Doc said until he gains some weight I should still feed him at night when he wakes, which is 2 times. I think since this medicine has been working he has gained at least a pound. Have you seen the gut this kid has now? Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's time to sleep through the night now. That will be month eight.
-He can mimic sounds/squeaks/squawks we make and is rather chatty at times. He can kind of say dadada bababa and I've heard him say ma a few times in there. But just in passing babble that is.
-He loves buddy dog and westy and gilgo and i'm sure copper as soon a he gets to see him again :)
-He is pretty darn happy if he is not tired or hungry.
-Everyone comments on how smiley he is. He is a big huge flirt. Everyone on the airplanes love him. Good thing, because he was kind of loud and exhausted and crying on this last one.
-He has been to the mainland 5 times already.
-He totally recognizes Doug and I now. He's more winey when I'm around. How sad.
-He got dunked under the ocean and didn't even cry.
-Not a huge fan of the bath, which is weird to me.
-Started dancing
-Got 2 teeth
-Started crawling away really fast when you say, what did you just put in your mouth.

-He can fit a ping-pong ball in his mouth.

-He loves going for bike rides in his new bike seat! (better picture coming soon)

-He has been spotted going around the kitchen sucking on all of the appliances, from the fridge, dishwasher, cabinet, oven.
-He loves Randy's perfectly manicured lawn and could play over there for hours with them.

-And he has his mom wrapped around his little cute finger.

-And my favorite thing about him is when he gets tired and he sees his blankie on the floor he comes over and dives into it and sucks his thumb. Or sometimes he just lays there on his stomach with his hands at his sides kicking his feet. It is really so cute.

I really love 7 months. I really love this kid!

2011-02-17T10:58:00.011-10:00

Chat unavailable. Question? Ask us here.

Happy Happy...

2011-02-14T14:46:00.005-10:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Favorite Valentine moment ever: Baby Tucker crawling/squeaking into my office followed by my cutie husband holding this homemade valentine.

Hope you valentines are as sweet as mine :)

caught

2011-02-09T12:29:00.002-10:00

Doug and I were spying on Tuck while he was sleeping because he was so cute and we totally got caught. How did he know we were watching? Love this kid.

Happy Birthday Enos

2011-01-29T13:51:00.004-10:00

Happy Birthday Enos. We all love you very much. Thanks for being so awesome.

Almost as awesome as Tucker looks in this picture.

church clothes

2011-01-29T13:32:00.003-10:00

little mr. aloha looks pretty good on sundays around here.

uncle richie and aunt erin came to visit

2011-01-29T13:28:00.007-10:00

I love when Erin posts too because she usually does it first and complete. So, check out the story here on her blog :). It was sooo fun to have them here. Beach time, family time, good eating time, seeing Earl. What more could you ask for? And it was super fun to see them with Tucker. They are going to be awesome parents. Can't wait to see that wee one inside her. We love you guys!

OK, it feels like we've come a long way from having Rich in Hawaii back then! Well, the both of us I suppose. He's such a grown up now and he is doing it well. I can't wait for him to be a dad because I think he is really going to be absolutely amazing.

alligators for lunch

2011-01-29T13:21:00.005-10:00

I love living on alligator pond especially now that we have this little keiki who loves to crawl in the sand like a maniac, take a break for handful, check out the green moss, and have fun in the water. He's getting to be more fun every day. I really wish we had a video of this. We'll have to get one soon. He is seriously so funny when he speed crawls in the sand. Still sporting his 0-3month trunks. I've got to find the bigger ones! And yeah, don't hate us because we get to spend lunch this way. It really is beautiful where we live. We are very lucky.

This one below is a classic. I love his face. He is totally having fun going for it.

Tasty sandy rock treat.

He's such a good sitter. I think he's so cute when he sits and plays.

Playing with Dad in the sand. Two peas in a pod lately.

He is not quite a fan of the boogie board yet...

Oh yes, he likes the water.

Hope you had a fun lunch break too :)

nice face

2011-01-29T10:58:00.003-10:00

I think because we take about 50 pictures of every situation that we are bound to get a few really good ones like this :)

Now, I was thinking the other day that we are pretty lucky about Tucker not peeing all over the place while we are changing his diaper. He had done pretty good for a few months it seemed.

Well, the day we took the Christmas PJs pictures you might notice there is no sheets on the bed. Reason being that Tucker was climbing around the bed for about 1 minute until we got the diaper on, and yup, huge puddle right on the clean sheets.

Then a few hours later during nap time when I go in to get him, his onsie is all wet near his tummy, his sheet are soaking but there is not one wet drop on his tightly fastened diaper. What the?! He is a magician.

And on a different funny note, two weeks ago we were over at Pam's house hanging out after dinner and Adam had Tucker playing on his stomach for like 3 seconds, and you guessed it... puke all over his chest and face. Haha. Adam was a good sport about it and gave us all a pretty good laugh :)

Christmas PJs

2011-01-29T10:40:00.002-10:00

Thank you Nana Nancy for our awesome Merry Christmas pjs. We love them!

6+ months

2011-01-26T10:17:00.007-10:00

Here is a list of thing that Tucker loved to do during his first 6 months on this earth. He just turned 7 months on Tuesday. Can you believe it?! We survived the rough patch in the beginning. I honestly didn't know if I was going to make it. But now, I can't believe he's already 7 months! Yay.

As of now, the first few days of being 7 months, Tucker:

--Loves to play "where's Tucker". This consists of me putting his favorite, snuggly, blanket over his body and saying where's tucker until he flings the blanket off his face. Ha! Sometimes he waits for awhile to build the anticipation. I love it. And if he's fussy, this is a great way to get a smile.
--Has one sharp little bottom tooth sticking out, finally, and I'm pretty sure at least one more not too far behind.
--Loves pizza crust from Impossibles Pizza truck on NS. Dad's favorite pizza.
--Crawls like a maniac. When he changes surfaces, he lifts his knees and only lets his feet touch. It's pretty cute.

--Stands up on everything too. His favorite places are in his crib, and on our coffee table.

--He'll crawl over to me, sometimes crying, while in the kitchen and pull up on my leg and beg to be picked up.
--Loves applesauce and didn't mind the squash. Hated the oatmeal. Haven't tried rice cereal again after that last catastrophe.
--Loves to make lots of squawks and squeaks. I love how he is working on controlling his tongue and mouth to make sounds.
--He gets super excited when dad or mom come home :)

--Plays in his crib when he wakes up sometimes. And plays in his crib without too much fuss in the mornings while I get ready too. Sometimes that is.
--He's really trying to get to this sponge bob pinata left over from Enos' birthday last night. He loves it. It's his new friend.
--Still waking up at least once a night, but he goes right back to bed, so it's not so bad. When can I just make him cry it out and stay in there all night?
--Usually takes 2 naps a day. For about 2-3 hours total.
--Gets real distracted while eating and pulls off to smile and look around. Especially when his pesky, distracting, dad's around.
--Still is pretty good at spitting up a lot. Still grossing us out.
--He gets gets really mad when he sees you eating and you don't share.

--Can drink pretty good out of a cup when you help him.
--Will actually use his blanket to snuggle up to in the car sometimes and not scream bloody murder the whole time. This might be one of the best things about being 6 months! I'm not petrified to get in the car with him. And not tense the whole time we're driving just waiting for him to start screaming :)
--He can sit up fine by himself now

--He'll take a bath again, after being traumatized when i put him in too hot water last month :(, and likes to sit up and play with toys now.

--He loves crawling on Randy's lawn.

--He loves crawling in the sand, especially dry. But what he loves even more is eating big handfuls of sand. He totally had sandy poop quite a lot lately!

--He is doing great in the water. He loves being swooshed around in it.
--And he doesn't hate the stroller anymore either. We went for a long walk on the north shore trail on Sunday and we didn't hear a peep from him. Just from lots of passer-by's that thought he was o-so-cute. (And we saw Steve Swasey at pipe!)

--He loves to smile and is very ticklish.

--He's super strong and has really good tummy muscles that are so cute!

That's all I can think of right now, but really, we are having so much fun together for the most part. We feel very blessed and grateful for this little monster in our lives.

let it snow...

2011-01-21T23:39:00.004-10:00

Tuckers first time in the snow. It was pretty beautiful and wonderful and freeeeezing. Thanks cousin Luke for lending us your snow clothes.

Christmastime

2011-01-21T23:20:00.017-10:00

Beware. Long post. Lots of pictures. Doug, I know you say that I put too many up, but it's easier to just put them all up than to decide what to take off, so if you have a problem then I guess you can be the stay at home dad that not only does the laundry, dishes, and the blogging :) By the way everyone, he is doing a great job at home with Tucker and pretty much enjoying it. He was spotted with Tucker in the Bjorn with a laundry basket in his arms the other day. Both are surviving better then expected :)

Now back to Christmas...

So we finally got on a plane to head to UT on Christmas Eve. And the flight felt pretty long to me. Tucker is an O-K traveler, and I thought he might sleep through the night, but he pretty much cried for a bit of it, like really loud screaming, and they wouldn't let me up because of the extreme turbulence. But we made it. Exhausted and sick :( But it was sooo fun to see baby Luke, even though we couldn't get too closed. And so fun to see everyone else and basically hang around for a week and a half. Playing sequence, opening presents, relaxing, watching Tucker, watching Luke and being amazed at how sweet and quiet and sleepy and cuddly he was compared to the screamer we got stuck with :) Fun to visit temple square and be in the snow and drive in snow storms, and see friends and family. We got to go to President Monsons ward where he was the speaker. And Doug got to shake hands with the prophet twice. and he rubbed tuckers head. And he talked about how we should make meaningful resolutions this year, and take care of our neighbors. And it was really great. I felt really lucky to be there. And I'm really grateful for our prophet and the man that he is. And we got to see Sister Emily DeMartini after a verrrry long time of not seeing her and she looks fabulous. So fun to see her face again. It was delightful and I'm really glad we were able to go.

Cousin Luke and Tucker. I can't wait until they get a little bigger. Hopefully this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship :)

Christmas morning in his cute reindeer butt pjs from Naniloa.

First time seeing grandpa this trip!

Showing off some of his Christmas presents!

Enjoying a little snuggle with grandpa.

It's fun having a bigger family around for Christmas. And I have a sneaky suspicion that Jake and Dad are really glad to have a few more boys around these days.

Dad and Chris' Dad, Mike.

Getting all bundled up for a walk in the cold!

And I'm a slacker mom and forgot that this little guy would need mittens of some sort or his hands would be freezering, so dad was thoughtful enough to remedy that...

Tucker jealous that Luke has all that hair and he's still a baldy!

Uncle Jakey.

Christmas day Al and Britta and Julia and Bryan stopped by and we all exchanged gifts and hung out for awhile and had a great time. So fun to see everyone. Tucker was excited too.

I love this shot of mom and tuck near the door.

Just a little bit of sequence going on. If I'm not mistaken, it wasn't this night that doug got so mad at alli and derek for having all the jacks that he through the cards and declared it a conspiracy...

Snuggling with big uncle jake. this is a rare occasion. nice work jake.

Tucker trying to take my dads face off. this is just before he drooled a puddle of of spit into his eye.

Cutie pie luke

he totally knew how to relax. look at those long arms! he can touch his arms over his head. there is no way tucker could ever do that.

He started crawling really fast while we were there, and standing up in his crib. He used to stop when he got to the hardwood floor, but no more. pretty much there's no stopping him now.

Chris' lovely parents.

Tucker trying to lay claim on Chris' gun. It seems he thinks if you lick/drool everywhere on the gun, it's yours.

Little frozen pipe problem, but team plumbing to the rescue.

Yay!! Emily's back. And we love you too April. But it was so fun to see Em. She looks great and seems great and we love you Emily! So nice to have you back. Hope everyone had a great Christmas too.

pre Chrismtas fun

2011-01-17T12:02:00.012-10:00

Have I mentioned how much I had loud mopeds, motorcycles, or trucks that constantly drive by my house. Don't think I don't have a good reason. It gets so hot in Tuckers room for nap time if you leave the window closed, but if you open it, the engines and sirens wake him up. Never realized before how many excessively noisy vehicles are driving on Kam Hwy. Well, I would rather be at the beach with Richie and Erin and doug right now, but Tucker is a sick sickie again and very cranky today and he really just struggled to get to sleep and then a band of motorcycles comes on by. Anyway. Yeah, sitting here listening to the little guy cry so I distract myself enough to not go in and pick him up because I know he really is tired and needs a nap. I left the door open for some air and it was quiet for a while, i creep up the hall to go check and stare right into his big eyes because he's standing in his crib looking out the door. And then the screaming starts again. The joys.

But anyway...

We had so much fun with Kaity and Danny and Gio and Zeke and Lili. And Jordon. We love when they come to visit. Zekey was so cute with Tucker. He's really nice to him and likes to play with and hold him. It was very cute and fun.
Lili and Tucker are about the same size. Actually, Tuck's arms are definitely bigger than little Lils. They are pretty cute together as well.

His Christmas outfit. Thanks Aunt Julia for the handsome jacket :)

There are a few other shots of him screaming "get me out of this box", but I like this one the best :)

We were supposed to go see Santa at the mall on the way to drop Doug and I off at the airport, but we got sidetracked by the awesome play area they have there, and then Santa was gone.

But we did get a nice group picture anyway :)

We were actually on our way to the airport. Tucker and I had been and still were super sick for a few days before this and I was DREADING getting on the plane to SLC that night since we had 2 lay overs to get there and I could not stop coughing and was completely miserable. We asked the lady at the Delta counter if we could change our flight because we were sick and she said, sure, no problem. When would you like to leave. "Is there any change fee?" No, we have openings all this week. So we left Christmas Eve. Come to find out later that the ticket agent for delta was a Christmas angel because she booked us on the non-stop flight to SLC and gave us 2 free bags. A real Christmas miracle I say. I love delta. But Danny probably doesn't because we made him, with all the hungry kids in the car, turn around and come back and get us. Such a good sport I tell ya.

Doug still had a bum knee from his surgery a week and a half before so he was on camera duty most of the week.

Zeke is fearless in the water. Not sure what exactly doug was saying or thinking here...

And then he got taken down by a big one. Poor kid.

We had so much fun hanging out. Come back again soon.

2011-01-07T21:08:00.002-10:00

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday. We sure did. More to come soon!

dinosaur

2010-12-13T10:05:00.004-10:00

This relaxing and cuddling with dad does not happen often, so this was a lovely treat :) This is the first age where I've finally thought, "ok, you can stay this way for a little while".

tuckered out

2010-12-07T09:10:00.003-10:00

I know, I'm such a mean mom I just sit there and record. Ha, but this is his typical nap time routine if I don't nurse him. For me at least, his babysitter says he goes down without a fuss, but I have yet to see it. And since this was taken a few weeks ago, he's pretty much crawling now. He can definitely get where ever he wants to go and he's getting pretty confident in himself. More to come on that soon!

baby blue

2010-12-06T22:21:00.005-10:00

i'm supposed to be waiting so i can spread the posts out over more days, but i seriously love these pictures and can't wait one more day.

i love these faces.

marshmellow head

2010-12-06T22:16:00.003-10:00

Guess whose idea this was?

dangles.

2010-12-06T22:10:00.003-10:00

This is what you might find dangling from the doors when dad is in charge :)

And I posted a few belated posts that didn't show up at the top, so check here and here if you really can't get enough of us.

my boys.

2010-12-06T21:29:00.002-10:00

Look at this goofball. I love him.

And he loves his dad.

His dad took him swimming.

Visiting Great Grandma Barbara

2010-11-21T22:51:00.004-10:00

After hanging out in Monterey for a few days and eating ourselves sick on samples of clam chowder on the pier and taffy from the candy shops, and of course filling my head with new and exciting library things, we headed up to Antioch to see Great Grandma Barbara and the Cadwalladers. The drive nearly killed us as Tucker decided to scream the ENTIRE way, Doug was trying to listen to the world series game on our stupid broken car radio not very successfully, and i was in the back crying because I couldn't handle the screaming anymore. Yes, one of the most fun 2.5 hour drives I've ever been on.

But totally worth it because it was so fun to see them. Grandma was so good with little Tucker and she was awesome at keeping him entertained. Of course she had a bucket of toys for him that she had picked up at garage sales and that was a great help. Basically we just hung around and relaxed and played together. Fun to see Aunt Barbara and Uncle John and Rachel of course. We ran around to different stores trying to find Tucker some Giants-wear, but to no avail. It makes me really sad not to live by any family when I think about how much fun it is to be with them. Thanks for putting us up and showing us a good time :)

Monterey

2010-11-21T22:42:00.008-10:00

I have a few posts to play catch up with, so here is the first...
Even though the long car rides on this trip with this kid who HATES HATES HATES his car seat were pretty nerve racking, the trip itself was a lot of fun with lots of beautiful things to see. We got to stop to see Julia and Bryan's place in LA, then in Santa Barbara to take a quick break, then in San Luis Obispo to see Brittnat and catch some dinner, and finally to Monterey. These were taken at Point Lobos and on a drive to big sur.

Tuckers first sailing trip! It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time on the bay. Dolphins swimming by us, lots of life out there. It was a nice way to end the trip.

San Diego + Al & Britta's Wedding

2010-11-21T22:29:00.010-10:00

OK, so this is a bit late, but here it is nevertheless. And I am kind of keeping this as a journal, so I figured better to keep it all in here. Yes, we went to see the Prigmores for a day and it was soo fun. Jaime was just about ready to pop and it was so fun to see them. Doug and Choob got along just great and Doug even taught him the 'tongue sticking out towards the floor means you're dead' trick. hours of fun. I hope all is going better with Choobs actual new sister Lainey (YaY!) because when we were there he was not impressed with Tucker and said dismissively, "I'm done with him" after looking at him for a few seconds! Jaime definitely has her hands full :) Off to the aquarium for a bit after and everyone got eaten by a shark and Tucker totally covered doug in puke. it was awesome. and he even fell asleep in his car seat on the way. nothing special to most of of you, but to me, it was a small miracle.

"i have a little something in my tooth"

Then we met up with everyone at Mission Beach where Dave rented a house and it was chaos and fun to see everyone for big Al and Britta's wedding. We rode bikes and went for a run and the boys rented out the Wave House (standing wave) for Al's fantastic bachelor party and we all got to watch. and the funniest thing is that they all thought they would be totally awesome and they could barely stand. it was sooo fun. Erin did a long post on her blog, so if you want to see more pictures from this lovely occasion, check it out here.

Almost as fun as it was just to be together and hang out with Richie and Erin and the little baby in her tummy, which I am so excited for. They were great to have around and even better that they loved to help out with Tucker. So nice.

The anticipation... getting a little bit nervous.

So fun to see the cousins. I loved that I came back from somewhere and Tucker was gone from the bed and Kaity said she just wanted to hold him. I love that she loves him too :) Gio was doing some amazing work with legos while we were there and zeke was so cute with baby tucker. and lily kept trying to poke tucks eyes out while saying 'bebe'. it was really so fun.

And we didn't get any pictures at all of the wedding, but check out Kaity's post for some more. It was a beautiful wedding and they really did look amazing and oh so happy.

Cassie's Baby Shower

2010-11-21T21:37:00.005-10:00

While we were in UT, Alli and Cassie's friend Danielle threw a baby shower for Cassie and it was pretty fun. The food was oh so delicious, lots of fun friends and family, so many cute gifts and a few games. Fun was had by all I hope.

So fun to see some old faces from Hawaii. Jess lent Tucker the hat you'll see in the next post. She brought some of her son Charlies winter clothes over for Tucker. How nice.

And it was so fun to see Nancy and baby Van and Miss Heidi and baby Oliver, who is apparently the perfect baby that just sits there and snuggles and relaxes. Van might be a bit more like Tucker! Sorry Nance!

Cassie's beautiful sister-in-law Amy and cutie pie niece Avery.

Brit (without the baby, another sis-inlaw is Quins mom from the other post whose hand tuck was trying to suck off :) and Cassie's friend Megan with a very sweet sleeping baby.

Quite a feast we had.

Avery was the perfect little helper and kept things moving right along.

Uncle Chris with Tuck after a long day, and the cutest little hat that Amy made for baby Thompson. Going to have to get one of those for Tucker when we go back in a few weeks! She has a company Loopty Loo Designs, so go check it out if you think the hat is adorable too :)

So glad I got to be here for this. It was a great day :)

giggling fool

2010-11-21T21:10:00.006-10:00

For some reason he thought I was hilarious tonight. And he was making me crack up too. It was a pretty fun weekend with him. We visited friends on Saturday, went swimming with no tears much to daddy's delight. Fun in the bath and shower. Nice relaxing time on the carpet with his cozy blankets. Fun bike ride on Sunday, and no tears in the car ride up to north shore, and being pretty stinking cute and hilarious tonight, just making face and being funny. We're pretty much totally in love with this kid. It's official.

I come over from doing dishes tonight to find this going on.

He does this thing were he sucks his bottom lip and I totally love it.

He's got some pretty funny faces lately.

And can be seen like this many times a day. While we were in UT his love for soft, silky blankets was realized.

toes

2010-11-21T21:02:00.003-10:00

We really love this little buddy. He started noticing and being able to reach his feet a few weeks ago. Last week he started being a total thumb sucker and hasn't been into his toes quite as much, but it is a pretty cute phase. Sometimes his feetie pjs get so soaked I have to change them before bed. That also might have something to do with him being the most slobbery baby alive.

missing

2010-11-21T20:51:00.002-10:00

Sometimes I really miss these girls. Cute Terrie and wonderful Heidi (who is also very cute). Being married is cool, but I was really blessed with having some fantastic friends to live with during my single years. I just came across this picture and I started really missing them. The best roommates a girl could have while living in town. Terrie, who never minded doing the dishes (how amazing is that) and so much fun to hang around with, and Heidi who took total care of me and both made delicious cinnamon oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. And I can't believe how much has changed in the 2 years since this lovely wedding. 1 more wedding and 3 awesome babies. How exciting. And I really wish that we all lived together still so we could be mom's together. Burbank and Germany are really just too far away sometimes.

sneak preview

2010-11-14T20:10:00.003-10:00

Tucker and I made it to UT in one piece by ourselves and are having fun wtih the family. More to come soon!

Cassie's sister in laws daughter Quin came over to visit. Tucker decided it was ok to suck on her hand. I think they'll be good friends :)

we love grandad and nana :)

2010-10-17T21:55:00.008-10:00

We had a great time watching general conference with them at home. Hanging around in between sessions. Well Sunday morning this is what we did in between sessions... Saturday morning we were busy getting the golf cart, aka electric car, out of the sand, without it falling off the sand cliff. With the help of some very kind ward members and unsuspecting people on the beach and a very sincere prayer it all worked out just fine. Never a dull moment with Dave around.

We had Nat and her friends over for dinner one night, and I just noticed we forgot to get any pictures of them. But it was fun to meet them and have them over. Seems like Natalie is having a grand ol' time.

Grandad resting after he tore apart the downstairs and organized it all.

He's getting the hang of sucking his thumb. Maybe a bad habit, but really it is so cute.

And in the last few weeks he's really been getting good at using his hands and playing with toys. He is getting pretty vocal as well, i love all the little noises he makes and how he will talk back sometimes. or just randomly yell out.

I love this one: Nana doing crazy eyes with Tucker.

Tucker loves his little perch on grandad's side.

Auntie Linda who is Tuckers surrogate grandma while his are far away. She is amazing and we are so lucky to have her!

Saying goodbye. So sad. So fun to have them to ourselves for a week!!

twinners

2010-10-17T21:45:00.002-10:00

feels like this should be the first day of school or something :)