Ahoy Mateys!

Many, many years ago, in a land far, far away...

Okay, so it was really 38 years ago in Moline,
Illinois--a land that really does feel far away. But
then and there Tam's mom was a whiz on the
sewing machine. She made most of the baby/toddler
clothes for her three kids. Tam's brother Dave, the
oldest, was the first to sport Cheryl's handiwork.
While fabrics of that day lacked in comfort and
breathability, Cheryl made up for it in her beautiful
finishing work. (These clothes really were very well
constructed -- a challenge I'm sure given the tiny
silhouettes she was working on!) Anyway, as this tale
would have it, Dave, Tracy, and Tammy were the
best dressed kids around.

Through the years, a couple of Dave's outfits have been
passed down to Tracy for her boys, and most recently, she
passed one on to Iron. Here's the little shipmate below,
finally big enough to sport the ever-dapper sailor's outfit
made by Grandma Cheryl.


Look at that smile! He had us hook, line, and
sinker...for a few minutes. Then he started to wail.
We think his sobs translated to, "Get me out of this
itchy polyester!" Sorry, Grandma, it's back to the
fabrics of the 21st century!


To prove the truth in this story, here is sailor
Reece, Tracy's oldest son who is now 7 years

old, followed by a shot of Tam's brother Dave,

circa early 1973. How handsome they are!
(Are those compression socks?!!)

Another Hills Gets Hitched!

On May 1 we traveled to Spokane, Wash., to see
Jeremy Hills marry his love, April. Jeremy is Dennis's
half nephew and one of the few extended Hills
family members living in Washington.


It was great seeing him so happy, and we also
got the bonus of toasting the newlyweds with
other family members who traveled long
distances for the occasion. These sexy ladies
below are Dennis's half sister (Carrie, left) and
half niece (Heather, right).


But they weren't the only ones having fun! Mama
danced that night with Iron and wrestled Benton
for one of his favorite toys.




Daddy got crazy with some self "portraits" toward
the end of the night. This Tam Sandwich shot was
amazingly centered!


And here's one final photo -- a rare shot of
Dennis and Tamara. With the days of chaperoned
dances long gone, Dennis's hands had fun, too!

Hippity-Hoppity-Happity Easter!!!

Happy Easter, everyone! We hope you're enjoying
a nice holiday with family and friends. In lieu of
celebrating with you all, here are a couple shots of
our little bunnies...




Man, the boys are growing fast! If we look hard
enough, I think we can actually see them developing
before our eyes! In our last post, we told you Iron
got his first tooth. Well, the next day, tooth No. 2
made its debut! Here's a micro shot of Teet and Tot.


Meanwhile, Benton finally pushed past his sickness
that kept him in sour sorts and out of school since
the beginning of the year. He had a respiratory
infection with mild pneumonia. Tough stuff! Here he
is being sweet and then silly after practicing with
oral tastes. (No, that's not a creative headdress...
it's a bib Grandma Hills made him!)




Back to Iron, there's more going on inside his
mouth than the invasion of teeth. He's discovered
his tongue! Lately we've been graced by Mr. Licker
in most photos...




And check out the tongue action in this
cute video of Iron introducing his shirt and
pants to Benton's Sock Monkey!


The boys still seem intrigued by each other. Iron is
wide-eyed fascinated by everything Benton does,
and Benton simply finds Iron amusing. Here's a shot
of both boys enjoying a morning moment in B's bed.
Apparently, little brothers taste good!


But not every bonding moment is cannibal. Here
are our two goofballs in Daddy's office chair.
They're showing off for Grandpa Otto, who was
watching them via Skype. (Looks like Mr. Licker
made another appearance!)


When Benton's not around, Iron is trying to be
like big brother. Here he is eating like a big boy
with his first attempt at solids. (Note: Mommy
and Daddy don't have any experience at this...we
made it way too thick for him this first time!)


And when Iron's not around, Benton likes to play
with little bro's toys. Here he is with Mushy, a
rubbery mushroom that squeaks when you
squeeze it. Or at least it used to squeak...until
Benton got his hands on it, that is...


There are definite signs of spring around Seattle.
Experts say we're blooming about six weeks early,
so some of our flowering bushes in our yard have
already bloomed and are now losing their flowers.
Nevertheless, we're enjoying our mild season with
fun activities like visiting the Woods/DeFrancisco
family at Sara's parents' house on Lake Rosieger.
Here's a shot of Sara, Willa, Tam and Iron on Sara's
parents' deck.


And here's a shot of just Iron and Mama. Look
at that glassy water!


People often ask us how we capture so many
Iron smiles. It's pretty darn easy...he's a
ridiculously happy kid who's not afraid to
ham it up. And the way Daddy makes him
laugh is priceless!


But Iron isn't the only one lighting up the world with
his smiles. Does it get any better than this?!!


Some of you know that recently Tam was introduced
to a new product targeted toward moms of babies. The
owner, who's based in Seattle, sent her some samples,
and she was instantly hooked! Soon thereafter, she
asked Tam and the boys to participate in a photo/video
shoot for a Web site testimonial. Check out Tam's page
here. A few photos (see below) and her story are posted
now, and video snippets should be uploaded soon.
Unfortunately, Benton was too sick the morning of the
shoot to participate.






We'll leave you with an ocular mystery. Molly
the Monkey, pictured below, has lost her eye.
We're not sure where it went, but we're all quite
distraught over here. Molly was Benton's first
friend...she's quite the matriarch of his brood.
Oddly, Terry the Pterodactyl is down to one
eye as well. It went missing the same week as
Molly's. We've yet to solve this eyeball bender...

Catching up!

Hi, everyone! Happy New Year! I know we're nearly
two months late in sharing that sentiment, but it's no
lessheartfelt than if we'd said it on time! We hope 2010
has already brought each of you some newfound hope,
discovery, happiness, and love.

We apologize for going dark on you all for the past
three months. Since Thanksgiving, we've had a tough time
keeping our noses above water. The day after making our
last post, we demolished our office and downstairs
hallway. As such, we didn't have access to our regular
computers and photo drives. So we put the blog on hold.
As the office renovation wrapped up around New Year's,
Tam returned to work full-time and Iron started day
care. Those changes made any extra time we once had
obsolete.

So here we sit, shocked that both of our boys happen to
be napping at the moment. (Those who know our boys are
aware that neither seems to know what naps are!)

We're excited to reconnect with you all and wondering
how to update you without writing a novel. Lists are
good, so here are the short-hand updates since
Thanksgiving, followed by some select photos and videos.

By the way, if you missed our blog entries, let us know!
We love comments!


1. We enjoyed a wonderful and quiet Christmas at our
home, our first Christmas as a family of four. It was
amazing to think that on Christmas Day the year before,
we found out we were pregnant with Iron!

2. We finished renovating the office and hallway. Tore
it down to the studs. New wiring, new walls, new
lighting, new server cubby, everything except carpet.
(Before, during, and after photos coming in a separate
post!)

3. Tam returned to work. More importantly, her paycheck
returned to our bank account!

4. Iron started day care and adjusted quite well. Thank
goodness for the return of Tam's paycheck!

5. Iron got sick the first week of day care. So goes
the life of a day care kid. A couple days later, Benton
got sick. Iron finally got better last week, but Benton
is still struggling with this two-month-long bug. Poor
kiddos!

6. A hands-on daddy, Dennis got sick as well. Three
different times.

7. BENTON STOOD! With the help of orthotics and a lot
of determination, Benton held onto the arms of a chair
and stood!

8. Iron giggled for the first time.

9. Benton tried to feed himself with a spoon. We haven't
got him to repeat it, but the instance was encouraging.
Meanwhile, he's had fun playing with whipped cream.

10. Tam (and twin sis Tracy from afar) celebrated a
birthday on February 20. As dad Larry said, their
finally surpassed their bra band size! (Truth be told,
that happened years ago!)

11. Iron cut his first tooth...TODAY!

Until next time...and we promise it won't be three months!