The Sheas of Our Lives: Tyler and Tristan Take on the World

August roadtrip, camping and beyond!

2011-11-10T23:46:00.000-08:00

So in late August, knowing our time was beginning to run out on the warm summer weather, we packed up the car and headed down to Oregon for a week-long road trip. Our first stop was in Portland, where Tyler and Tristan discovered a fountain they could ride their scooters through. I told them specifically, "We are waiting for a table so we can eat dinner. Do not get wet." As you can see, Tristan needs to work on his listening skills. Luckily I had the prescience to take off his pants before he got too wet. He's also lucky I have a spare sweatshirt for him.

Somehow we made it down to Sun River, which looked so close on the map, and yet was so friggin' far away in reality. Luckily when we got there they had plenty for us to do. Tristan has now become an avid fan and player of the mini-golf and....

Ronja and Tyler squared off head to head on the bumper cars. They also had real golf, horse-back rides, bounce houses, and bicycle trails galore. Oh, and on our way there, we happened to hit a winery that was right next to the Enchanted Forest, which from the parking lot looked like a good place for the kids to stretch their legs for an hour. Four hours later, we emerged, having had the time of our life. We met Abe Lincoln there...

Visited the Gingerbread house and Hansel and Gretel....

Tried to scare the wicked old witch from snow white. There was a rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland to go down, the little old woman's shoe slide, and all these other nursery rhymed activities to do throughout the forest. Plus a ridiculous play and real carnival rides. Who knew?

Oh, and we also visited the Point Defiance Zoo. You can't tell here, but the boys are looking at a giant walrus who kept coming up and giving them the eye.

Tyler clearly liked the elephants.

On our way back I tried to get them all to pose for a nice scenery shot. Things quickly deteriorated once Tristan suggested that I take a photo of his butt. Who's kid is this?

But it was breath-taking. We'll be heading back there next summer and hopefully camping right next to this beach.

Oh, we also stopped and visited our friends the Anderton's and they were kind enough to invite us to dinner at their club along the Columbia River. Tristan got tired of soccer and preferred to take in the view.

Once back home, we had a few days of recovery and then I took the boys camping with our friends Tomas and Michelle. Michelle is a very seasoned camper and very helpful since I am not and couldn't figure out how to set up the tent. We had a great time riding scooters through the campground, tossing rocks in the river and going for a little hike.

Such cute, cute boys!!

Our last days of summer were spent visiting all the parks and beaches around Seattle (and there are a lot!). This is one of our favorites - Golden Gate Park.

We also like Discovery Park because little bears climb up into the trees!

Lastly, Nana and Papa came to visit. We took them all over, including Alki Beach which is great for beachcombing and pizza eating.

We also took them to Ride the Ducks, which they loved. It took us all over Seattle and told us history and fun little facts. Every time we passed a Starbucks we had to shout out, "Lattes!"

This time around, Tristan didn't fall asleep. How can someone sleep when riding a huge, windowless, noisy tank?

Our end of the summer big finale was going up to Lopez Island with our friends the Lewis's. They have an amazing house and taught us how to crab. The boys absolutely loved going out in the boat, setting the traps, letting them go, then going back to pull them up and check the crabs to see if they were "keepers." We got a ton of them and were even sent home by the Lewis's with a bunch of leftover crab!

Plus, while they kids weren't out on the boat, they got to horse around on the beach and soak up the amazing scenery. This northwest lifestyle is looking pretty good!

First summer in Seattle!

2011-08-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I didn't think I would admit this so soon, but I am sold on Seattle! Now that the sun is out and the days are warm (but not stifling like the rest of the country), I can't imagine any other place more interesting or beautiful. I still miss Hermosa: the beach, the sun sets, the bright mornings, my friends, and did I mention the beach? But Seattle is definitely growing on me. Every day we do something new and we've been trying to get out most weekends and explore the greater Puget Sound area. Here are a few highlights: Berry picking on the Olympic Penninsula. You can pick strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Plus there are farms all over that will let you pick whatever is in season. I noticed yesterday that blackberries are growing wild in all the parks.

The park down the street has a killer view of the sound. Our new au pair, Ronja, who is from Germany, will take the boys down and set up a lemonade stand. Tour buses stop there and the kids make a killing. If we were smart, we'd really work their cuteness while it is at its peak.

We had to wait until August to get a day above 80 (we've had three so far!) but on those days, the fountain below the Space Needle is timed to music and makes for a great afternoon of getting drenched and balloon sword fighting.

Mt. Rainier, when it is visible, is spectacular! This was taken from the beach at Discovery Park where we went tidepooling and found gigantic barnacles and huge purple starfish.

Strawberry milkshakes on the back deck after running through the sprinklers rocks! If they turned around, they could see cruise ships, container ships, ferries, sail boats and the occasional battleship pass by.

We camped in the northern cascades over the 4th of July. It was beautiful and so much fun. This is Tristan going on a night walk. He's got his headlamp on and is ready for action!

Fresh air and sunshine - ahhhhh!!!!!! Isn't this great, Tristan? "Yeah, but do you have any snacks?"

Smile if you like s'mores! Seriously, the main reason the boys liked camping was because they got to eat junk food.

Lucky for us, Ed was in town and helped us to set up camp. Otherwise, we might have been sleeping in the car like we did in Yosemite. Thanks Uncle Ed!

We sold the surfboard....

2011-05-23T21:58:00.000-07:00

Alas, on January 4th, 2011, with a heavy heart we said goodbye to our beloved Hermosa Beach home and headed up to start our great Pacific Northwest adventure. The boys were both excited and sad and I was leaning more toward the sad side. It had been a crazy fall, there's nothing like remodeling one home, then putting it on the market and trying to keep it clean for showings with small children running around, planning for and executing the holidays while hosting family, and buying a new house in another state and remodeling it from afar. On top of all that, Tyler broke his arm on the playground on New Year's Eve. Fun stuff! We completely gutted our new home on Queen Anne, just about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle, so we lived on the 38th floor of an apartment building downtown for two months. The boys absolutely loved being able to ride the elevators ten times a day, not to mention the freshly baked cookies in the lobby starting at 10am. We all enjoyed looking out the windows and checking out all the action that was going on below including, "Hey, what's that white stuff on the ground?" Sure enough, snow! Lucky for us, REI's flagship store wasn't far away. Our boardshorts and flip-flops were quickly replaced by Bogs and down jackets.
One of our first excursions was a strenuous hike through the jagged mountains - not! This was actually at the Japanese Gardens in the arboretum. I am astounded by how many fantastic parks there are in the Seattle area: Discovery, Carkeek, Lincoln just to name a few. They are all huge, like over 250 acres, and filled with gorgeous trails, beaches and old growth trees.

Another first outing was to take the ferry to Bainbridge Island where we have discovered several cool playgrounds, a children's museum and a few nice cafes. What was Tyler's favorite thing about the ferry? Getting to stay in the car and watch a movie while still being on the boat. And Tristan's? Drinking chocolate milk. Such an adventurous duo!

We quickly discovered Top Pot doughnuts was a few blocks from our apartment (and another one is just blocks from our new house!). It has become our Saturday morning ritual. The first week we were here was Elvis's birthday and they were selling maple bars with real bacon bits - they had to limit it to one a customer they were selling out so quickly! While the boys are crazy about the doughnuts, I am crazy about the "latte art," the little picture of a leaf that they make in the foam on top of the latte all over town. Now when I get one without art (Starbucks!), I'm just a little disappointed. Only a week here and I am already a coffee snob (and understanding why coffee is the accessory of choice here - it's cold, dark and damp. You NEED something to keep you warm and awake!).

Another adventure we took was to Snoqualmie for tubing. Never in my life have I been rained on while trying to sled or ski. It didn't seem to affect the boys, though. They loved every cold, wet minute of it.

We went back to Hermosa for a week over spring break and when we returned, our house still wasn't quite ready. We toughed it out at the Four Seasons.

When you are used to going to the beach or an outdoor playground for fun every day, it's tough trying to adjust to the fact that the beaches and playgrounds are wet and freezing. We therefore became members of just about every museum around. My favorite is the EMP (Experience Music Project). The boys can practice on real instruments and there is a sound stage where they will film you doing a video with your very own band. So far we've covered Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll" and "Wild Thing." Tyler comes up with our band names like Black Mamba and the Birthday Boy. I think at this rate, my little guys will be giving Nirvana a run for the money when they get older.

Tristan wakes us up every morning by playing Hole's "Malibu". He knows the lyrics and rocks out to it in his pj's.

Tyler wants to learn guitar and is practicing his guitar kicks. When he's stronger, he's looking forward to being able to play it behind his head.

We've also been forced to get creative with our new, extra inside time. We are taking up cooking, have lots of new playdough and will practice shaving for a good 30 minutes.

The Discovery Park lighthouse - we aren't in L.A. anymore!

Tyler settled in quickly in his new preschool. They were putting on a circus the first week and he opted to be the ringleader and a strong man.

Meanwhile, Tristan was happy to sit in the car while Tyler was at school and "play d.j." putting songs in and out of the cd player while I argued with the contractor.

"This is the coolest place I've ever been!" Tyler said when we found this trail in the middle of the city. I may still be homesick, but the boys have quickly adjusted and that is helping me along. I have to admit, this place is seriously cool. If it just weren't for the pesky weather!

Another favorite is the Ballard Locks. You can watch the salmon climb the ladder in the summer (250,000 pass through every year!) and watch the boats go through from Puget Sound to Lake Washington. It's like a small Panama Canal and very, very cool.

The apartment was pretty close to the famous Pike Market. The boys now have all their favorite places to eat crepes, sample smoked salmon, taste fresh fruit and of course, pick out their favorite cookies - pink ginger pigs! We eat under a huge squid that hangs from the ceiling and next to a gigantic wooden statue of Sasquatch, who is, ahem, very well hung. Something the boys point out to me every time we are there (and on occasion, they have shouted out to everyone else around).

The flight museum is a gold mine of activity! There are simulators, a play area, control tower, the real Concorde and Boeing's barn where the company began. So cool.

Gray skies by the Space Needle, but we have Bluey and our fuzzy sweatshirt. Plus there is hot chocolate in the Center House by the Children's Museum, Tristan's favorite place in the whole wide world.

One Busy December

2011-01-11T22:05:00.000-08:00

Ack!!!! Here it is MAY and I'm just now finishing posting of December? I gotta get on the ball! With that said, here are some of the things we did in December!!! Slapjack and Checkers, the boys' mischevious little elf friends, came to visit us for several days over the holidays. They only sleep one hour a night and the rest of the night they seem to make messes.

Who else visited us this December? Nana and Papa!!! They came to make cookies, wrap packages, decorate gingerbreak houses and just soak up our last wonderful Christmas in Hermosa Beach.

We took Nana and Papa to the Science Museum and Papa was brave enough to try riding a bike over 50 feet in the air across a cable - yikes!

The elves had a snowball fight in our living room with marshmallows, those crazy little guys! Tyler and Tristan were more than happy to eat the evidence.

Get used to it, kids. It actually rained in Hermosa, and hard! Afterward the boys went out and splashed around, getting their boots, pants, socks, underwear, everything, wet. Good practice for the upcoming move.

Does frosting count as a beard? What is Santa's made of?

Again, Slapjack and Checkers tried to make Tyler's room into a winter wonderland by using, you guessed it, TP.

That cute little elf at the top is Tyler in his Christmas pageant. His class sang at the Salvation Army and it was adorable!

Daddy's birthday always takes a bit of a backseat to Christmas, but we at least baked him a cake, made him make a wish and blow out his candles.

Glorious beach!!!! We've been in Hermosa how long and have never been to Abalone Cove? I started looking for places we've never been to this fall and we finally got up to this wonderful, deserted beach with tons of soft sand, beach stones and wonderful tide pools. Plus it was 80 degrees in December - who doesn't love that?????

Neither one of the kids were fooled by this particular Santa. Only in Hermosa....

We may not have snow, but we've got sand and a lot of it. Our sand snowman might not have won any prizes, but it was admired by many an onlooker - and it was quite fun to make!!!

Hunting for the perfect Christmas tree! Thank goodness the lot is fenced in because these boys had me looking all over for them!

Gingerbread architects at school. What is this? Modern? Classical? Mediterranean?

I love this photo! Tristan and Tyler both ran up and down the sand berm probably 200 times in December. Nothing feels so good and free as sand under your feet and salty air in your hair. What adorable little boys I have!!!!

Sufficiently Stuffed

2010-12-09T22:11:00.000-08:00

In November we headed up to Seattle to meet with the contractor who talked us into gutting the house. We then took a side trip up to Snoqualmie (sp?) Falls for a little R&R. The town is a one-horse town and the best fun we could find was glow-in-the dark bowling, which the kids just loved.

We also stayed at the very romantic Snoqualmie Inn, perched right above the falls. Needless to say, we were about the only ones with kids running the halls; not very romantic for us, but the boys loved it, especially the icicles on the handrailings the next morning (he was decked out in his new ultra-warm snow coat, I was the idiot SoCal girl freezing in my sweatshirt).

At school, Tyler earned his feathers by perfoming good deeds. His native American name this year was Jumping Frog.

Desperate to get in as many cool play-area attractions before we moved, I loaded the boys up on field trips including this one to the Peterson Automotive Museum. Here Tristan tries to set a new trend for hat-wearing for the firefighters.

I said "Boo!!"

2010-11-16T21:58:00.000-08:00

"Let's carve our pumpkins now, Tyler!" I said enthusiastically. Tristan was sleeping, it was the perfect afternoon activity for a five-year-old to focus on before heading out to get a plastic pumpkin full of loot. "No, that's okay. You can do it, I don't want to waste my time," he responded. What a party pooper! I ended up carving all of them, even the ones I had painted to look like ghosts the night before. Luckily, when Tristan woke up he was more than happy to get gooey with me.

Happily stuffed with sloppy joes, the boys are ready to hit the 'hood! Batman did not bring his blankie along for the ride.

We covered the walk streets of Hermosa closest to the beach. The folks there are so friendly and practically every house is well-done up in over-the-top decorations with parties galore. It gets horribly crowded later in the night but we went early and all the folks oohed and ahed over my two little goblins. We did two short streets before we had to take a candy break, as seen here. Only a few more houses later Tyler was ready to head home to take stock of his loot.

Grandpa visits!

2010-11-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

So we have a new little cousin, Sierra, up in Belmont and Grandpa drove all the way out to see us and then up to see her in his big, red truck. Knowing that he likes to keep busy and not sit around the house taking naps, we decided to take him to as many places as possible. Our first stop was the annual "Pumpkins in the Park" up at Fort-Lots-o-Fun. Tyler was a race car driver who became a tiger at the park and now refuses to let me take his pictures while....

Tristan was a very hungry batman who liked to snack on popcorn instead of saving people which is really overrated in the first place. Here he is clutching his popcorn bag to his chest like its his most precious treasure.

We also took him to the world's most ridiculously over-priced vacant parking lot-turned-pumpkin patch in the world where we fed the goats, bounced in the bounce house and met the most unfriendly pony ride attendant in the free world. Regardless of all the ugly grouches, both real and fake, we had a fun time running around.

Then we chose the cloudiest day ever to go to the observatory. Not much to observe when you're in a cloud, but we learned some stuff anyway (like clouds are cold!).

Then we made the trip down to Legoland where everything is constructed of Legos and there are rides and fun galore! We love this place and wish we could go there every day to see the mini-city, ride the roller coaster, and build, build, build with Legos!

The two-hour drive home in Friday afternoon traffic was well worth it for this super fun day!

Tyler turns 5!

2010-11-10T22:15:00.000-08:00

Every year on Tyler's birthday I take a picture of him in John's swim trunks. He still has a lot of growing to do to fit into them (especially around the middle) but my goodness he's getting big quickly! Can I buy something to make him stop growing and just remain my perfect little boy forever????

Hey, you swash-bucklin' rum-drinkers! Git yer lousy stinkin' hands off my cake! Tyler's party was, as you can see, a pirate party. There's nothing quite like eight little boys going back and forth between a trampoline and a bounce house jacked up on sugar and wearing pirate gear. Even Tristan got into the mode and would threaten me with a sword.

Happy birthday pancakes? Of course! We had candles on everything from pancakes to sandwiches on his big day. By the end of he day he had completely run out of wishes.

Tyler's big surprise was going to be taking him to Disneyland on his birthday. Who would have guess that it would have rained on that day, and not just rain, we're talking monsoon-style rain! Instead we played with his new toys and took him to AdventurePlex and gave him a raincheck for another day at Disney. He was a mighty happy camper and so were we. How lucky are we to have such a sweet, funny five-year-old running (along with his brother) our household?

School Days, School Days

2010-10-07T15:06:00.000-07:00

With September approaching fast (or is it here already? I can't keep track) we tried to squeeze in as much summer as possible when we got back from our last summer trip. That included quite a lot of beach time spent splashing in the overly (and oddly) foamy water, making "swimming pools," building and promply destroying castles, writing Tristan and Tyler's names in the sand so Tristan could jump on the letters and trying to avoid being pushed down into the water by Tyler.

The Hermosa Beach Fair came over Labor Day and we hit it at least twice. This lemonade must have been rather sour, I'm guessing!

After picking virtually every turtle in the pool, the boys were finally ready to try their skills at fishing for one and getting their junky, over-priced toy that will never be played with.

Rides! Tristan is a big fan of getting on them, but not a big fan once they start (unless it's a roller coaster, then we can't get him off without a serious tantrum). This one they had to stop in mid-ride to get him off since he looked like he was going to jump.

After all these activities, sometimes it's nice to just be home with your favorite blanket, Bluey.

And sometimes it's nice to have a whipped cream beard, especially if that whipped cream has been whipped up by....

your very own brother, Chef Tyler, who, incidentally, loves to help out in the kitchen and can crack an egg all by himself (those little pieces of shell won't hurt anybody!).

Then it was off to school for Tristan. He's going to preschool two days a week at our club. Here he is not only showing off his brute strength, but also his vast knowledge of all things bunny.

"Hmmmm, comfy chairs, playdough, trains, snacks, and books. This place might suit me well for five minutes."

Then it was Tyler's turn to start school. He dropped off his little brother and headed to his new Pre-K class with Mrs. Cataldo.

Tyler checks out the other kids in his class (two sets of twins!). This is only about 1/5 the class, when everyone is there, it can be chaos!

Yay! Schools out and we can play! What fun to ride a gigantic sloth in the tarpits of Los Angeles!

Summer heats up

2010-08-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

What is the date? August 22nd already? Really? Where did summer go? It feels like it just got here because a) we've been traveling so much and b) the weather in Hermosa just this week became summeresque. School starts next week for many of the kids here, lucky for us we have another two weeks to hit the beach and all the hot spots of SoCal that we didn't get to yet. The boys have been such fantastic travelers this summer, totally going with the flow. They have been on 11 airplanes, stayed in six hotels, hung with grandparents, aunts and uncles, visited the Space Needle, swam in Puget Sound, the hot tub at the Four Seasons and Kalahari's water park in Wisconsin Dells. They have weathered one canceled flight resulting in two irritated parents, one random stay in Dallas without so much as a toothbrush and as Tyler put it, "We had to sleep in shirts, we didn't even have pants!" So true, and sadly the shirts read, "Here Comes Trouble, Dallas." Lucky for us, they have embraced the whole thing as an adventure, especially our pending move to Seattle. Tyler made us feel better when he stated, "This Seattle thing just keeps getting better and better!" Tristan just romps around, happy to be going places and meeting new friends. While Tyler hangs back, Tristan is the first one out there and can always be counted on to run down the jetway with his hair on fire giving his father a heart attack (mom knows going down the jetway is no problem, he can't escape, it's going up and out the jetway you have to watch out for). So, here are a few photos from our summer adventures to Seattle (twice!), Colorado, Iowa and Wisconsin Dells. Whew!

Butterflies and other crawly insects with Grandpa at the Butterfly Pavillion outside of Boulder, cool!

Tristan driving Grandpa's "Big Red Truck!"

Tyler catches a fish with Papa over the 4th of July in Grand Lake.

Tristan gets psyched abou the beautiful mountains and freezing lake water in Lake Grandby.

We could have spent all afternoon throwing rocks into the lake. Tristan kept giving us heartattacks since he would go so close to the water.

Go-Karts at Heritage Square in Golden - woo hoo! Tristan had a MAJOR meltdown when he was not allowed to ride the rollercoaster more than five times in a row. We're talking MAJOR.

Tristan and Elliot ride the arcade rides. I think it's fair to say our rates will be going way up when Tristan turns 16.

Fun at the Children's Museum with Elliott, Uncle Matt and Aunt Kristin.

Our budding scientist, Tyler becomes "Dr. Bubble!"

The three little cousins in their bubble house.

Back home between trips we chilled out on the patio with the tools from Handy Manny and a tea party or two.

Back in Seattle Tristan tries to warm up to the freezing waters of Puget Sound.

Tyler and Daddy meanwhile have no problem loosing all feeling in their numb feet. They even find some dead jellyfish, hooray!

We meet Uncle Ed in Bainbridge Island and tour the town with him.

Back in Hermosa, we tried at art class. The boys complained the entire time and I had to cancel us out of there. Too bad, Tristan looks like he could be really good!

Happy Birthday to Uncle Ed! Make a wish for no headwinds because shortly afterwards, he rode his bike from L.A. to Seattle!

Grandpa and Kookie found time to visit us this summer. The boys love trying to bury their grandparents in the sand.

Bacon on Bainbridge Island tastes good!!!

Tristan on the ferry to Bainbridge. He loved running around the decks and checking out the boats.

Have movie, will travel.
Back in Hermosa, we take the time to check out Wilderness Park and their overly fed turtles and ducks. We also say hi to five of the "Uncle Ed" squirrels that were caught at our house and brought here.

Tyler: "Dude, those waves look epic."

Tristan: "Rock on, man. I took a gnarly faceplant on my longboard this morning. Practically broke my skull."

Tyler: "That is so totally radical."

Then it was off to Iowa for fun in the sun with Grandma and the gang.

We even took a long road trip to Wisconsin Dells, the waterpark capital of the world, where you can play all day on waterslides and never do one twice, or just use air hockey paddles to make yourself look like a manaical Mickey Mouse.

On our way to Iowa, our flight was delayed and we had to stay in Dallas for the night. Tyler is so good at rolling with the punches, he was just excited that we had to sleep in our clothes and freshly purchased T-shirts that read, "Here Comes Trouble, Dallas."

Knee high by the Fourth of July, eh? By August, this stuff is way over our heads! They couldn' believe that there was actual corn growing on these plants literally everywhere we went. This stuff was maybe 50 feet from he airport.

Back, home, safe and sound. Whew!

Since March

2010-06-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged since March, which isn't horrible, considering I was thinking I hadn't blogged since Valentine's Day. The boys are growing so fast it makes my head spin, I can't believe we're already in the first week of summer vacation! We've got a ton planned and I know it's going to fly by, I just wish I could capture it all and hold on to it forever. I know I can't, so I try to take every moment and put it away in my memory cells for later (okay, not every moment, like when Tristan has his tantrums because he doesn't want to do something). Anyway, since March we had Easter, have had numerous days at the beach, went to Santa Barbara with Uncle Ed, John and I went to Florida (alone!), and Tyler had his last day of school. Here are some photos!

Post Easter egg hunt sugar coma

The careful examination of the dyed egg.

Already Tristan can program the VCR, debug the Direct TV and write code.

Tristan and Scout on an outing in Colorado over spring break.

Spring break sunset in the always fun to visit Colorado.

Luck o the Irish

2010-03-15T23:23:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is St. Patty's Day and Lenny still has to get up to his shenanigans, hence this will be short. We spent last Saturday rolling down Pier Avenue in our lovely green attire and decorated wagon as Tyler handed out candy and Tristan lounged in back eating it, looking at all the people and wondering what the spectacle was. All he needed was a Guiness and a track suit and he would have made a perfect Dubliner.

Peek a boo! Where's the little leprechaun?

Here I am!

These little laddies don't really know it, but their great grandfather came over from the Emerald Isle when he was 17, dropping the "O" from "O'Shea" in the ocean. He lived in a stone cottage with 16 other brothers and sisters, their room was about the size of this wagon. I'd say these Shea brothers are a wee-might luckier to be hanging in Hermosa Beach instead of Smead, Ireland.

Who else is lucky? I am because my hubby took me to the Oscars! It was all that and a bag of chips. Truly something to experience once in a lifetime. And, once is all we will get because I got blacklisted from the Academy for taking this picture on the red carpet. You'd think I was taking photos of top-secret nuclear technology and selling it to the Chinese instead of just trying to snap one of us. Oh well, it was a ball! We hung with the rich and famous and realized- again - that we are lightweights and shouldn't drink like we are 20-years-old anymore.

When Tyler is rich and famous, let's hope he gets his own sunglasses instead of taking mine for paparazzi shots like this one taken at the Natural History Museum. We went there with his class and his brother and half of L.A. I couldn't get out of there soon enough!

Ski Week

2010-02-21T22:57:00.001-08:00

So naturally after a week of non-stop puddle madness (for the boys) and a weekend of partying like I was still in my 20's (without the ability to sleep in since the boys have hotwired a 6:30 wake up call in my brain), we all got sick. I think the boys lost their body weight in snot on a daily basis. We have all been so congested that we have coughed, sneezed, wheezed and thrown up mucus all over the house (it's lovely, come on over!). Here is Tyler looking naturally pathetic, we didn't even have to ask him to pose for this one. Of course now he wants to be sick so he can drink smoothies and watch TV all day long (hey, I want to be sick, too!).
Then we got some sunshine in the form of Grandpa and Kookie (ahhhhh...) along with a good dose of the real thing. Finally, back to the beach...

Their visit coincided with what is known as "ski week" around here. We all get the entire week off instead of just one day for President's Day so people can go skiing. We went to the beach instead as well as hit some of the attractions around L.A. including.....

The Petersen Automotive Museum where Tyler showed Uncle Jim just what a good trolley car driver would say and do (strangely enough, it highly resembled the Polar Express' conductor's lines).

Then we hit Train Town with our good friends Casey and Kyle from down the street. The little boys could climb on a dozen or so real locomotives as well as go on a miniature train that took us around the perimeter of the grounds a couple of times.

I think a real freight train could pass by and Tristan would hardly notice it if rocks were around.

We also spent some time horsing around at our favorite parks. I can't believe how big the boys look in this picture, where did my babies go?

Letters!

2010-02-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

Tyler and his entire class wrote letters then walked them up the street to mail them in a real mailbox. So much fun!

Tyler and Tucker pretend to be pilots at school. "Busy Airflight 1, you're clear for take-off!"

Tristan's best friends are letters, especially "H" for some reason (and not the little one, only the big one!). I use letters to prevent meltdowns even!

This was the start of my Wednesday morning:

Tyler: "Emergency! Emergency!" He races into the bedroom where I am putting away the boy's clothes.

Me: "What is it? Did the guys in your castle eat too many cookies?"

Tyler: "No, it's Tristan. Come look!"

We scramble out of the bedroom to find Tristan standing on the dining room table chewing on a knife he apparently found there. The kid is going to give me a heart attack. This was after I found him standing on the wobbly arm of the chair in the computer room where he likes to play computer games. He was just calling my name, "Mama, mama." Very casually. He either wanted me to witness him jumping and breaking his arm, or he wanted me to save him. I opted for the later. Other than being a daredevil, Tristan is absorbed by letters. Like in the alphabet. We have a DVD about them and he is fixated on it. He loves to play with them in the tub and he apparently likes X so much he picked it off my keyboard (luckily he's not into vowels).

It's raining, it's pouring.....

2010-01-24T22:25:00.001-08:00

I'm not even going to mention that an old man is snoring. But, maybe an old woman! Yep, I turned 40 on January 16th and John and I got up to San Francisco to celebrate. Nothing reminds you more that you are old than staying up late drinking then paying for it in the morning. Oh to be young and alcoholic again. Alas, we did have a really fun, albeit rainy, time, especially since Jackie and Tom Lynch joined us! Outside Vesuvios where the beakniks used to hang. This is us, before we were beat.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Cathy and Kevin flew in to help Aleksa take care of the munchkins. Tristan here was channeling his inner Scarlet O'Hara for the folks.

And, once we got home, the rain began. It rained and it rained and it rained some more. Tristan, aka "Puddle-dude" was in heaven. Tyler, too, because rain meant we stayed inside more and played imaginary stories.

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Finally, FINALLY, the sun came out and we got to go to the beach, which was glorious. Boy are we spoiled with the weather out here. The storms were so bad that the waves practically washed away all the sand berms the lifeguards had plowed up to protect the pier. We got in a fun day of "butt berm sliding." Loads of fun.

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Tristan LOVES the water and makes a break for it every chance he gets. I'm sure he's thinking, "rats, I make a run for it one more time and we're going home," right here. Best to squash their little dreams early. Ha ha! Actually, this is him taking a breather after being in the water, sliding down the berms, collecting rocks and shells and running all over the place.

Blogging Resolution

2010-01-10T21:25:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! I've been terribly inconsistent (shall we say nonexistent?) about blogging. Shame, shame, shame!! My resolution is to blog more consistently. It may not be pretty, or well-thought out, but I do promise to blog more often. Here goes! What better way to start the new year than to have a Silly String fight?

Happy New Year! Tyler pops off a "popper" with a firework inside. He's addicted to them and snap-n-pops now.

"Where to, Miss?" Tristan is quite the driver. He looks quite mellow here, but get him behind the wheel of his buggy and he is road rage personified. Tyler likes to play D.J. and work the cd player in our car while Tristan drives. We do this at least once a day.

Santa may be gone, but his replacement is still here! Ho ho ho!!!

While the rest of the country freezes, we are basking in the sun at the beach. I didn't even mind that Tristan ran into the freezing water because it was so warm out! We did a run of "sledding" rides down the hill, too. This is how I get my exercise! Tyler usually hops out as I'm trying to catch my breath and immediately wants to go again saying, "Come on, Mama! What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

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Running around town

2009-10-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

We have done so much stuff lately, it is impossible to keep up! I wish I could blog and scrapbook every moment of their little lives so they (and I) will never forget what a great time we are all having. But, since there is still laundry to do, dinner to cook, shopping to be done, etc., the scrapbooking and regular blogging will have to wait a while longer. In the meantime, here are a couple of movies: one from our trip to Disneyland for Tyler's 4th birthday where we spent the night in the hotel next to the park and the boys got just as big of a kick out of running down the halls as they did on the rides (they are a bunch of cheap dates), and another of the little train at our mall that they ride all the time and Tristan is waving so enthusiastically, I just had to post it! Let the chaos continue!
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Next stop, Jimmy Choo's

2009-09-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

It has been MONTHS since my last update...bad mommy!!! In my defense, I have been working diligently on another project so everything in the house has been falling to the way side. However, I took this video this morning and had to share it because I just love it. It totally illustrates a typical moment in our busy household. Tristan is absolutely CRAZY about shoes, so here he is in my closet, trying on and walking around in the red platform ones I wore at my wedding. He definitely prefers the brighter, more colorful shoes, except when there is a good gooey flip-flop hanging around, in which case he'll try them on and then suck the gunk off the bottom -- delicious! Oh, and Tyler is happy to usually tackle him or just squeeze him, boa constrictor style, until he gets a good rise out of him. He also loved shoes when he was Tristan's age. I think I might have to write a book about Jimmy Choo's shoes, sounds like a good children's book character!

So here we go, and hopefully there will be a better update with more photos to follow soon!

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The Big One!

2009-05-01T16:57:00.001-07:00

What? I'm one? Should I be worried?

It's hard to believe, but Tristan turned one on April 17th. It seems like just a month ago we were in the hospital, just him and me, watching the palm trees blow in the breeze from our window. Now he's a full-throttle toddler, walking all over the place (starting to run all over the place) and having very strong opinions about everything. He's such a little boy, loves rough-housing and exploring how every little thing works. He cracks us (and himself) up all the time. Just this week he discovered that if you blow in one of the tools from the doctor's kits it will make a whistle. So he ran around the house whistling then laughing hysterically about it all. He refuses to hold hands on walks around the block and will dart out of the preschool class and run down the hall first thing when I drop off Tyler. In short, he is a handful! Oh, and this teething business? When is that going to stop? This morning I found a little chunk of wood in his crib - where the heck did that come from, I wondered? Then I saw the edge of his crib. Tyler had left a few bite marks in the edge, but Tristan has pulled full-on beaver action and is actually trying to gnaw his way out of the crib!!! Needless to say, our little beaver keeps us on our toes and entertained, and we are so very delighted to have him in our lives.

So, I get presents for my birthday but Tyler gets to open them all. Huh?

Ummmmm!!! Cake! This is way yummier than I expected! And fun to pound, squish through my fingers and then rub in my hair!!!

Yes! I'm a big boy now and can ride facing forwards. Let the backseat driving begin!

Cool, one year old and I'm already king. What should I do for my second birthday?

And He's Off!

2009-04-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

Tristan, that is. Off and running. Well, not running yet, but he wanders all over the place, Charlie Chaplan-style, usually holding his favorite drumstick. We corral him in the playroom as much as we can, but he grows tired of it and wants out and when he wants out, HE WANTS OUT! So, I generally let him out knowing that the house is baby proofed. And then he wanders. Wanders to his bedroom to check out his books. Then to Tyto's room to look for used binkies (he won't take one of his own, but likes to chew on Tyler's used ones, it's pretty gross. He also likes to chew on shoes, the dirtier the better. Ew.). Then back to the living room to play with the trains and look for the TV remote to slobber on. I looked over while doing dishes and couldn't see him but then saw his shadow coming out from the dining room and he was just waddling back into the kitchen to give me a little sugar. He's Mr. Independent and he cracks us up how he just doesn't care if we're around or not. We've lately taught him to raise his arms in the air after we ask him, "How big are you? So big!" so he'll be wandering around and we'll say, "So big" and he'll shoot his arms up in the air. Here's a video of me trying to get him to do it. He did it once at the beginning, but then was just bothered by me following him around.

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Walking has been Tristan's biggest accomplishment this month, followed by eating normal people food and totally shunning baby food. He really wants nothing to do with it, but I keep pushing it (and my luck) knowing it's good for him. It's much better than the fireplace rocks I found him eating the other morning. Or the piece of foam he bit off of one of the squishy toys we had. Or even Uncle Ed's full cup of (luckily) cold coffee that he grabbed off the table, drenching himself and then licking the cup. Yes, he keeps us busy. And speaking of which, here are a few photo ops of what we've been up to this month.

Look! Someone else has my same hair-do!

String cheese in hand and silly glasses on. This is how we roll.

Pajama day at school for Tyto!

Uncle Ed helps Tyler to pick the tallest oranges from one of our trees.

The St. Patty's Day parade. Yes, we are drunk on the candy they handed out. Everyone else is just drunk.

Cupcake smiles at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Tyto played "Special Delivery" with his new truck giving out gold coins to all the staff. They then sent him room service of cupcakes and milk - what a sweet surprise!

The top of the mountain on our hike at Ojai. It was just beautiful there. Tristan is in the backpack on my back pulling my hair. The whole way.

We drove through Oxnard, where they grow strawberries, to get to Ojai so we picked up a bunch. Tristan LOVED them and tried to see if he could get one the size of his fist into his mouth. He was pretty successful.

Fabulous February

2009-03-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

What a fun month February was! It wasn't that we did anything out of the ordinary, but as I look back at my calendar to refresh my memory and look at photos to post, I realize how much fun we have on a daily basis. Just this morning, while Tristan was taking his morning nap, Tyler and I played "Easter Egg Hunt" upstairs in our bedroom (we're practicing early so we'll be good and ready next month). I would hide under the covers and pretend to sleep while he pounced all over the bedroom hiding "eggs" (blocks). It was hilarious to hear him padding all over the room, moving stuff, shuffling around, and then have him jump on the bed and yell, "Wake up! It's Easter! The bunny was here!" Then as I hunt for the eggs he shouts, "I see one!" like he didn't know he, himself, was the one who put it there. We did this for an hour taking turns hiding eggs and could have played longer if Tristan hadn't woken up and motivated us to go to the beach. Tyler is so curious and almost always up for going on an adventure. He loves playing with Aleksa now (our new au pair whom we all just adore) and I'll see the two of them head off down the street to practice their "silly walking" and it just makes me giggle.

A boy, his magnifying glass and his froggy boots.

Then yesterday, as Tyler slept, Tristan and I played what I call "snugglebug." He was in such a snuggly mood. I would show him a stuffed elephant and he would laugh, grab it, suck his thumb and lay down on it. Same with a monkey, blanket, ball, etc. He was so cute! These moments that I have with them are priceless and they are such fun little people who seem to genuinely like eachother - so far - some days a little too much as I have to tell Tyler to "quit touching your brother!" as he practically hugs his ears off.

Make sure dinner's on the table by 6, boys.

Tristan is about to take off. He's already taken 2 steps, and he loves to be held so he can walk around (not by the fingers, you have to hold him under the armpits, he will let you know). He loves dancing to the hotdog dance and eating sand at the beach, and wreaking havoc all over the train set as you will see here (the sound on my movies isn't working for some crazy reason, I'm trying to fix it):

So, what else have we been up to lately? Well, Tyler had a week off from school for "ski week." I guess that's when all the folks from Manhattan Beach take their ski vacations. We did a lot of stuff around here including visiting our friend, Justin, who is a firefighter at his station for the tour. He has now been given God status in our household. I can say, "Firefighter Justin eats his broccoli so he can be strong," and in the mouth and down the hatch it goes. Amazing. We went to the zoo (Tristan's first time - he LOVED seeing the animals and his eyes would light up when it registered in his brain that it was an animal. Tyler loved the food and instead of eagerly going from one exhibit to the next, he eagerly went from the popcorn vendor to the monkey drink vendor). And, we went to Hollywood to visit our friends and go to the Grove which was a big disappointment because we didnt' get to ride the train. Other updates include the fact that Tristan got a new tooth, the right front one, so now he doesn't look quite like a vampire anymore (his fangs were already in), he loves playing karaoke with the microphone on our play piano, it's hilarious, he can now say "mama" but it sounds more like "mo-ma" and both kids are still waking up in the middle of the night. On nights when John is out of town I pray that they don't wake up at the same time. All I need is to be rocking Tristan back to sleep with Tyler wandering around the house looking for me.

Nana and Papa allow Tyler to help open their Christmas gifts, we're not exactly punctual around here.

Bonzai!

Tristan and Aleksa - he lights up and grabs for her when he sees her.

more present opening..."why aren't any of these for me?"

the next great sushi chef

ride 'em cowboy!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Mickey Mouse pancakes, who has it rough?

Yes, I am cute!

Forward motion

2009-02-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

There is evidence of the passing of time everywhere around me: we just celebrated the beginning of a new year; the old, lame administration is gone and a new, hopefully better one, has taken office; Tristan is moving all over the place, goodbye to sitting still; and Tyler is now a full-fledged legitimate little kid, no more toddlerdom for him. Now I'm all for looking forward to the future, but I'm having a bit of a hard time saying goodbye to the past. 2008 is going to go down in my book as one of my all-time favorite years that will be pretty darn impossible to top.

For starters, Tristan was born and he is a healthy, smiley, snuggly baby, who is already growing up too darned fast for my liking. At 9 1/2 months he already looks like a one-year-old and most people gasp when I tell them how old he really is. "He's big! Really big!" is their typical reaction. Yes, he jumped out of newborn clothes and into 2T's almost instantly. I love all the development that happens in this first year, but I can't stand that it happens so fast and with so much other chaos going on. Where is my chance to savor it all? Tonight he stood by the bathrub BY HIMSELF for six seconds before grasping the tub. Walking is right around the corner, then talking, then he's off to college. I can't stand this.

2008 was a banner year for Tyler as well. His language skills exploded at the beginning of the year and with those new communication skills came a host of questions and comments that I will treasure forever. Just a few days ago I was working in the office when he ran in to get me and said, "Hey lazy bones! Come dance with me!" Who can resist that? Of course, the oddball sentences are still in full force such as, "I'm your email helper. Break a leg!" Just this past week I've noticed that he's no longer scared of going down the slide and is climbing up practically everything. He's out of his crib and into a super-cool fire engine toddler bed. He's becoming much more independent and I expect him to be requesting the car to hang out with his friends next week. Why does this all happen so fast? Three years is not long enough! (On the flip side, he is still in diapers and prefers the baby swings, so he's not moving out of the house yet).

While posting these little movie clips, I just looked at a few from the past years and they make me so nostalgic already. I am going to be an absolute mess when these little people go to college. John had better load up the house on wine and line up some good vacations so I'm not begging to adopt another baby when we're 60.

Here are a few videos that I will treasure forever. The first is Tristan in his walker, running around the house with his bath flutes that he just loves. The second shows him learning to crawl. The third show Tristan and Tyler dancing and playing together with Tyler's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. And the last is from the inauguration, which was freezing, poorly organized, exciting and inspirational all at once.

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Christmas!!

2009-01-29T22:30:00.001-08:00

The big man (and we're talking BIG) in the red suit at the mall.

It may be February, but we are still awash with Christmas spirit here at our house. Not a day goes by that we don't talk about Santa, or play Santa, or sing about Christmas, or ask about presents and/or candy. You get the drift. Santa and all his wonderous ways were in full force this year and it truly was fantastic. We started in October when Tyler learned the Chipmunk's Christmas song and while it peaked at a 4-5 times a day one-man concert, now we're down to hearing it maybe three times a week. We're still reading our Christmas books and just this morning we watched "The Polar Express," again. And although "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas" crecendoed around New Years, we're still watching that a lot, too.

Tyto shows off his gingerbread "Polar Express" train

Eventually I'm sure we'll start talking about other things and Christmas will fade away. Tyler knows that Santa is in Mexico right now sucking down margaritas and taking a vacation, but I have to admit that I absolutely love his enthusiasm and excitment for the holidays and I am enabling as much of it as possible (especially the part where Santa is watching so he needs to be good - boy that's an amazing behavior modifier!!).

Show us your bowl full of jelly!
Tristan, of course, was just in awe of all the activity. Tyler opened every one of all of our presents and Tristan delighted in the ripping of the paper, the climbing into the boxes. Next year we're going to have our hands full. So, here's to keeping the Christmas spirit with you all year long!

Tristan would make a b-line straight for the tree every chance he got. Needless to say, it looked a little bare on the bottom.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

I need to sleep all this excitement off.

Oh, boxes and paper! Just what I wanted!

On the go!

The best present ever!

Helping Daddy unwrap his birthday presents.

Thanksgiving!

2009-01-12T17:03:00.000-08:00

What a bunch of turkeys!!

I am so incredibly thankful for my family! Just look at this lot, they are silly, sweet, gracious and fun. I know I'm blogging about Thanksgiving and it's practically Valentine's Day, but not a day goes by where I don't find myself thinking how lucky I am to have such a great family. And yes, in particular I'm talking about my little boys who are just so adorable, but it also applies to everyone else in my family whom I love so much. I actually keep track of what I am thankful for every day on my calendar. Sometimes it's as ridiculous as gingerbread biscotti cookies (which are really friggin' good!), sometimes it's the sound of the wind on the palm trees as I nurse Tristan to sleep, usually it has something to do with Tristan and Tyler and how cute they are and how I absolutely love, love, love being their mama and watching them grow up. It's the most important thing in the world, and I'm ever so thankful that I get to be part of their lives.

Enough with the mushy stuff, mama! I want my turkey dinner!

We definitely don't have problems with finicky eaters at our house. Tristan is a chow-hound and I love how he just opens his mouth like a little bird waiting for a wonderful surprise. I found myself this Thanksgiving wanting to let him experience each and every dish- including pumpkin pie - whereas I was much more conservative with Tyler (I wanted to make sure Tyto could handle all the foods individually first, then make sure he was up to the task of the different textures, etc.). Tristan got his fair share of sweet potatoes and a little turkey, which because he didn't even have any teeth at the time had to be blended and then gummed, but from the "uummmm, ummmm, ummmmm" sounds he was making, he didn't mind. Next year should be even more fun!

Did the Vikings have a Thanksgiving dinner?

Playtime at the park. We don't get the typical Thanksgiving weather, but this day was nice and crisp (probably a chilly 60 degrees!). This photo depicts one of the rare occasions that Tristan isn't eating leaves, grass or sand and Tyler isn't on the swings.

Nana and Papa (and Uncle Ed, too!) were with us for Thanksgiving so we took the ferry one day over to Catalina to visit some friends. Tyler couldn't wait for the ferry, he thought it was so cool but was scared to death of going outside and really didn't like being close to the windows, either. He was, however, very content to sit in his seat and eat plenty of snacks. He still talks about the snacks to this day!

Tristan was loving the boat ride, too, and charmed everyone who would sneak a peek at him.

Back at the beach, I tried to get some decent shots of the boys for our Christmas picture, but it was like herding cats. One would look cute and the other would look dopey. Then they would reverse it. Did they choriograph that? Finally, I got this shot which I liked, they are probably both making faces, squinting, or something else, but they still look adorable. Hopefully not all of our shots in the future will be of our backs.

Papa loved spending time with both boys and they in returned hanging with Papa!

Tristan gets a chuckle out of Nana and his rolly-polly ball.

"Dude, go get the potatoe chips, I've got the munchies. I'll hold down the fort."

Uncle Ed went with us to the Redondo Beach Christmas festival. The anticipation for Santa was palpable with Tyler. He is still talking about Christmas every day and it's now February! The wonder and amazement in Tyto's eyes when he sees Santa is priceless.

Halloween

2008-11-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

Whoa! It's January and I'm now posting my photos from Halloween - pathetic! I guess my New Year's resolution should be to blog a little more often! Well, here are the Halloween photos and Thanksgiving and Christmas will be up, soon (I hope!).

The annual pumpkin patch outing. Tristan, please don't eat the hay!

Mama, I want to be a cowboy for Halloween!

Tristan HATED being a bunny more than you can imagine. This is about the only photo I have of him in his costume where he isn't completely screaming. I wonder why....

Little T is turning out to be the life of the party.

Rub a dub, dub, two very white little men in the tub!

Cousin Elliott came down to spend Halloween with us. He took one look at Tristan and didn't feel so humiliated after all in his pig costume. Tyler, in the meantime, was "Whiffy the Skunk Ghost." (Not to be confused with just any ordinary skunk!)

What's making them glow?

Aunt Kristin, Piggy Elliott and Uncle Matt during Trick-or-Treating in Manhattan Beach.

Tyler donned his space suit to launch his Buzz Lightyear pumpkin car at the pumpkin races in Manhattan Beach (his pumpkin was announced as the winner but later recalled, much to the relief of his father who wanted to get the hell out of the crowds).

Whiffy poses with his new Handy Manny toy. He would chase you around the house spraying his stinky stink all over you. He was quite the charmer!

Turning Three!

2008-10-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

The very cool and by the way did someone mention haunted Hotel Del Coronado
So the key to parenting, I've learned, is to properly set expectations. Don't over promise, you can always give more candy or more toys or more TV time, but it's impossible to take it away. So, what did we do for Tyto's 3rd birthday? Took him on a long weekend trip to San Diego to visit Legoland and SeaWorld. Luckily he's only three and won't remember much next year. Otherwise, he'll be expecting NYC when he's four, then London, then his own island hideaway in Tahiti by the time he's nine.

Expectations for a decent family photo in front of the del were set too high.

So, we cruised down to San Diego and Tyler LOVED the hotel. To this day he still talks about it at least one a week. Granted, it could be any hotel, as long as there are long hallways he can run down, he's a happy camper. I've got to say, the hotel was really cool. We were actually there for a function with John's company and they definitely style you. Buffet tables were set up for the children at every meal, we're talking all you can eat quesadillas, hamburgers, chicken fingers, chocolate fountains and make your own sundae bars. Thank God we brought kids, otherwise I'd have to borrow one so I could eat the kiddie food.

Now that I'm three, I can wear Daddy's cool shades
Our room looked out at the hotel and the beach, it was very cool. I had forgotten how interesting Coronado is with the mix of beautiful beaches and military bases (and ghosts haunting the hotel!). The highlight for Tyler and possibly for Tristan as well, was the hot tub. Both boys absolutely loved it in there and didn't want to get out.

Pasty white Sheas percolating away in the bubbles

Tyler checks out his tummy after several trips to the the dessert bar

High fivin' the funky fish

I used to go to San Diego practically every summer when I was little to visit my friend, Melanie. We LOVED SeaWorld and I totally thought Tyler would as well. The Shamu show gave me goosebumps, the otter show cracked me up. Maybe it was because I grew up in Colorado and we didn't have a cool aquarium there and now we're members of the Aquarium of the Pacific, but I've gotta say, Tyler was less than impressed with SeaWorld. Shamu wants to splash me? Don't even think of it. The otters and sea lions put on a haunted Halloween show? Big deal. All he wanted to do was ride the rides in the Sesame Street area and frankly, the rides at our Hermosa Beach fair are just as good with much faster lines. I guess the one good thing that came of it was we got away with spending $12 on a Shamu drink cup instead of $75 for the stuffed animal.

Tyler looks bored and Tristan couldn't care less at the Shamu show.

Hello, my pretty! I'll cast a spell on you and turn you into Legos!

Legoland, on the other hand, was fantastic. After two hours in the park, we'd only made it a quarter of the way around. It was very cool and decked out for Halloween with a spooky forest filled with Lego goblins and other scary guys. The people who put those things together for a living have a hell of a lot of patience. I was amazed at how much Tyler had grown since we were last there six months ago. How can I make him stop growing so he can stay at this super-sweet and funny age forever?

When I grow up, I want to be a fireman made out of Legos

So you cart me all around this park and the only ride I get to go on is sitting on a stationary pumpkin?
The birthday boy in his birthday suit? Let's hope not.
I once had a friend who celebrated the entire month that he was born, one day was not enough. Tyler was pretty much down with that idea so once we got back home, the festivities continued. Tyto got to unwrap his presents and, of course, his absolute favorite was Handy Manny and his tools and truck. We run around singing their song and pretending like we are hammers all the time. It's shocking how much stuff in my house needs fixing and Manny (Tyler calls him Mandy) is just the one to do the job.

Cousin Megan and Tristan
We also got a visit from Cousin Megan and Cousin Katie. They swung in for a very short weekend to say hi to the boys, celebrate Tyler and Katie's birthday, and chill at the beach. Katie is a junk-food junkie and introduced Tristan to Twizzlers saying they were good "teething" food. Eerrrrrr.

Tyler helps Katie blow out her birthday bran muffins. Two can play at that game!

Erin and Tyler looking esctatic at their birthday party.
The grand finale of the birthday extravaganza was a little party with threw for Tyler and his buddy Erin, who is a few days younger than him. We decorated gingerbread haunted houses, had cupcakes and trashed the house. Thank God birthdays only come around once a year.

Whaddaya mean the party's over? I heard there were going to be dames jumping out of cakes. Bring on the strippers!

After the strippers left, Tristan assumed his low-profile disguise to distract any paparazzi from taking his photo. You never know who is lurking around the corner with a telescopic lens.

I'm one!

I'm two!

I'm three!
Every year I take a photo of Tyler in John's swim trunks and marvel at how much he's grown. This year, the truly striking difference wasn't in how much he'd grown physically, but rather his command of the language. It took off after he turned two and he has complete conversations with us (he'll even say, "I'm going to go have a conversation with Daddy.") He's been through the "why" phase where he asked "why" 100 times a day then finally said "okay" as if the very last answer finally satisfied him, and he's been through the run-on-sentence phase, where I wanted to stop him so he could breathe. His pronounciation is pretty good with the exception of words that start with "s" and I've been writing down some of the Tylerisms that I find amusing. Here are some of my favorites:

- "Okay, if you say so."

- "I want more minutes!" (after the timer went off and it was time to stop playing and get in the bath)

- "I don't want to be thirsty!"

- "Can I have a cookie and a marshmallow for breakfast? It's good for me, promise?"

- "I need a quick nini break" (when he needs his binky, I feel like I should get him an ashtray and send him outside)

- "my tummy is growling for muffins!"

- "why are they wearing boxes on their heads?" (old-time nurses hats in our Curious George book)

- "aaahhhh, tasty!" (when drinking his night-night milk)

- "I'm not three, I'm two!!!!" (when I went in to wake him up on his birthday morning, apparently the leap to three was just too much for him, or two was a very good year. I think I'll try that reasoning this year.

- "Woody is having a meeting and making donuts for you."

- "Can I may watch something please mama. I use my good manners."

"Santa can give it to me early!"
"my gorilla cheese (grilled cheese) went down the wrong pipe!"

"Why do we have heads?"

"Christmas comes after Halloween, not Thanksgiving!"

snake=cake

cacuze me = excuse me

cool bus = school bus

caprise! = surprise!

cone = scone

cacotti = biscotti

"Hi little fella!" (what he says to Tristan every morning when we come in his room)

"His tummy looks like a panpake!" (patting Tristan's irredescent belly)

"I hear you're dirty again" (trying to get me to take a fake shower in our hotel fort)

All this birthday celebrating has made me tired! Wake me up when it's Halloween (or I'll wake up myself in 20 minutes since that's about enough of a nap for me).

Fall into Fun

2008-10-20T23:05:00.001-07:00

This fall has flown by, as illustrated by my inability to blog on a regular basis. So, here are a few photos that will get you up to date on what we've been doing.

Tyto went back to school at the end of August. He's once again in the program at our club, which at first was a little rocky because they have a new director and it didn't have the same super-warm/managable-chaos feeling that it had last year (plus, lots of the kids--including Tyler--were crying during drop-off, which didn't help matters. At least Tyto didn't throw up during drop-off for a month straight like his little classmate, Avatar). However, now we've got all the kinks ironed out and Tyto really looks forward to school. He comes home with the most adorable art projects and he loves his teachers and most of the classmates. He cracks me up when he starts to sing the songs that they sing in school, songs that I don't know, which is weird because up until now I've known EVERYTHING that he's exposed to. His teachers are so creative and he comes home doing with silly ideas like how he has to "shake his sillies out" and go on bear hunts. We now do this on a daily basis at our house so if you ever come over, we may be under the covers of our bed pretending to be bears. Don't say I didn't warn you.

While Tyto is in school, Tristan and I get to play! I usually take him down to the beach to swing a while. He loves it and I'm sure is thinking "push me higher!" but I'm just a little cautious with him still. This one is going to be our daredevil. He's growing so fast and just loves watching all the kids when we pick up and drop off Tyler.

Tyler finished up his last few classes of Coach Derek's sports class at the end of summer. Here he is making a basketball hat. With moves like this and his preference for snacks and water breaks over actually playing the game, perhaps he'll end up being a Clipper.
Best part of class is doing the cheer at the end, getting a sticker and heading to the car for yet another snack. Oh yeah.

Snack? Did someone say snack? Tristan may not be a very good sleeper, but he sure does love to eat! Uncle Ed came back to visit us for a few days before going on to Addis Ababa for his next job.

So, we decided to take a weekend trip up to Big Bear to see what it was like. Tyler loved the cabin we rented because of all the friggin' bears. I swear, it was decorated with at least 40 bears in various places: bear umbrella holders, bear toothbrush holders, bear cabinet handles, etc. Very cute, but perhaps 39 bears would have done the trick. Tyler didn't think so, he especially loved this big one. He also loved the bunk beds.
We went for a nature hike that was a little over a mile long and took what felt like all afternoon. Largely because Tyto pretty much insisted on being carried the whole way, stopping every so often to serenade us with a lovely rendition of Frosty the Snowman, sung properly atop a stump. Tristan pretty much slept in the carrier the entire way.

Here's Tyto trying to school Uncle Ed on the proper way to climb a rock.
For being only two hours away from our house, it was quite surprising how mountainy Big Bear really felt. Naturally the skiing will never compare to Colorado, but it's nice to know we can get in the car and go sledding for the day if we really, really want to.
Tristan is getting to be more interactive and playful every day. He's pretending to be Super Baby in this picture, I think.

Labor Day weekend brought the fair back to Hermosa Beach. Every morning we went down and spent ridiculous amounts of money on filthy rides that Tyler couldn't get enough of. Then he made up stories about the fair for the rest of the day so I guess it was money well spent.
Tyto says, "weeeeeeee!!!!" Mama says, "please don't fall over, please don't fall over, please don't fall over."

Cute, cute, cute! I have to say, I think Tristan is ridiculously cute. I didn't think I could take more photos than I did of Tyler, but I think I may have to sell a few extra houses to pay for all the photo development for this child. He's just so sweet and easy to make smile and he's at such a wonderful gushy stage.
Note the hand on Tristan's arm. These two are going to be such good friends. Tyler is always all over his brother and just when I think Tristan is going to scream, he laughs. He particularly likes watching Tyler walk down the stairs, it cracks him up! I may be eating my words once Tristan can take Tyto's toys, but for now we are just in such a sweet spot. I feel so lucky to have these two little people in my life.

Ode to Okoboji

2008-09-25T22:02:00.001-07:00

With an oink oink here

Is that Daddy and Tyto sitting on a pig? That must mean one thing, we're in Iowa! Oh wait, we've got a photo of Tyto sitting on a pig outside a store in Boulder as well, maybe he should be sitting on a big ear of corn.

Make this into popcorn!

Okay, so this is the closest we could get. Long gone are the days where Tyler will actually pose for the camera. Now we're all about making goofy faces and sticking out our tongues. So much for the modeling career we were banking on. Anyway, what do you get when you combine four doting uncles, two adoring aunts, four crazy cousins and one grinning grandma with an indoor water park, a super cool lake with a speed boat and an amusement park down the street? You get absolute heaven for little boys and this one is called Lake Okoboji! We "discovered" Okoboji last year and Tyler couldn't stop talking about the water park and the amusement park (called Arnold's Park, perhaps the oldest amusement park in the world but so much fun - who needs Disneyland when half the thrill of the ride is that it could literally fall apart on you?).

Just try and pry me out of this roller coaster, sir.
The rides, of course, were the big draw for Tyler (the food, of course, was the big draw for mom. Hand-made salted nut rolls and nutty ice cream bars anyone?). This year Tyler was able to do more of the rides on his own and I don't know what the hell we were thinking putting him on that roller coaster alone last year, but put us down as the most laid-back/stupid people on this planet. Tristan was content to just ride along in the Baby Bjorn and snooze every so often. That's my kind of amusement park. I think it's called a "spa."

Try getting a smile like this at the spa.

A spa treatment is definitely what we all needed after our exasperating trek up to Okoboji from Cedar Rapids. This is a four-hour car ride with two little people so serious plans had to be in place. We were to leave in the morning, just before Tristan's nap. He would therefore chill in the car for 30 minutes, sleep for an hour, then wake up during the last 30 minutes before lunch. Then we'd chill in a park and repeat the plan with the afternoon nap. Tyler would get plenty of provisions and Clifford on the DVD player and would be happy as a clam. Easy! Someone apparently missed all the planning meetings because the nap occured, but only for 20 minutes and the rest of the ride was spent howling and screaming. You have never seen a more haggard bunch escape their car, giddy at the thought of a picnic in Clear Lake. He's my adorable son but I was thinking, "please don't make me go back in the car with him. I'll walk us there the remaing 150 miles. Seriously." We even thought about purchasing real estate in Okoboji so we wouldn't have to do the whole thing again.

Oh, are we there finally? Yay! Did you notice that I wasn't particularly fond of the ride?

But, once we got there, the fun never stopped.

We went boating....
And tubing (is this activity going to ruin my hairdo?)....

And chilled out on the sun deck...
And in the water park...

And cruised on jet skis...
And gummed Thimila....
And gummed Katie....
And were ready to hit any luaus that might pop up.

And if that weren't enough photos for you, more Okoboji photos can be seen here. Too soon it was time to go home although we did get to go back to Uncle G's house for a while which was cool because he has his very own pool and a real choo choo train passes behind his house. You have never seen so many people scream and grab the toddler and rush out to see the train when they hear the whistle, you'd think the house was burning down. Nevertheless, it was a fun-filled vacation, and now we need a vacation from our vacation!!!

The Summer Story

2008-09-18T14:49:00.001-07:00

So Tyto's favorite thing to do right now is to tell stories. Or rather, have me tell stories based on the characters in a "Spreckle Story," which is something Emily Elizabeth tells Clifford. I take some liberties, of course, and Tyto keeps me in check when I get off base. The thing that drives me crazy is that the second I'm done with my story and say, "the end!" he says, "do another one!" Not even one second pause to appreciate the story he just heard. It is in this spirit that I blog our "Summer Story." Me: One day Spreckle and his family decided to visit Nana, Papa, Grandpa and Kookie in Colorado for their summer vacation! It was a long way to go and they had to ride an airplane.
Tyto: And they took Mama and Tyto and Tristan and Chi with them!
Me: Yes, they all came, too.
Tyto: And when they went through the tunnel at the airport, what did Chi say?
Me: Oh, Chi was very, very scared. Tyto had to hold her hand because it was very dark and there were scary monsters in the tunnel.
Tyto: And they jumped out and scared Chi and she screamed!
Me: Yes, but then Chi realized that Tyto was holding her hand and that she would be okay. Then she saw that the monster was actually Elmo and he asked where they were going and when he found out they were going to Nana and Papa's he asked if he could come, too! So, he climbed in the car..
Tyto: they opened the back door for him...
Me: yes, they opened the back door for him and he climbed in and they went to the aiport and bought their tickets.
Tyto: and Cookie Monster was there selling the tickets!
Me: yes, and Cookie asked them where they were going and when he found out they were going to Nana and Papa's, he asked if he could go, too. They said yes and bought some cookies from him as well and they all got on the plane.
Tyto: And who was the pilot?
Me: Funny you should ask.. Mama took Tristan up to get his picture taken with the pilot and it was Grover! And he asked if he could come to Nana and Papa's house, too! So they all took off and Big Bird was the flight attendant and Oscar the Grouch was another passenger and he asked for a drink of...
Tyto: trash!!!
Me: yes, trash!! He wanted a trash drink, it was delicious. Nobody else drank that, though. Everyone else wanted lemonade and cheesy crackers.

Tyto: Except Tristan who got milk.

Me: You're right, Tristan can't drink lemonade, yet, so he had milk. When they landed, they got their car and drove past the big blue horse with the red eyes and stopped to buy flowers for Nana from Chip and Dale, who also asked if they could come to Nana and Papa's.

Tyto: And then Dave was selling papa cheese so they stopped to buy that for Papa!

Me: You're right, it wouldn't be fair to just bring Nana a present. So, Spreckle and his family, mama, Chi, Tristan, Tyler, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar, Grover, Chip, Dale, and Dave all went to see Nana and Papa.

Tyto: And Alvin, Simon and Theodore.

Me: Where did we pick them up?

Tyto: They were on the plane, too!

Me: Okay. So they all surprised Nana! When Nana came to the door she said, "oh my goodness! Look at all these people! Tyto, Tristan, give me a hug! Goodness, I'll need to order some more pizza!"

Tyto: With Canadian bacon and tomatoes!

Me: Yes, all different kinds. While they were waitinig for the pizza, they decided to go up to Boulder to play in the river and on the mall.

Tyto: And they played in the rocks and touched the fountain!
Me: Yes, and then they went into the river and it was very cold, and mama was a bonehead and didn't bring swim suits for anyone so they got a little wet from the river. But it felt good and it was beautiful.

Me: And when they got home that evening, they were very tired and very hungry and the pizza still wasn't there. So they had to go to bed without dinner and they were very sad...

Tyto: But then Daddy came over and brought doughnuts for everyone!

Me: And they had doughnuts for dinner? Really?

Tyto: Yes! It was a healthy dinner, I promise!

Me: I don't know about that, but okay. So after eating their healthy donut dinner, they all crashed into their beds exhausted from their long day, ready to catch some zzzzz's so they could go on another adventure tomorrow.

Tyto: And they went to the firestation for a panpake breakfast when they woke up! And there was a parade!

Me: Was it for Buffalo Bill Days?

Tyto: Yes, and they got candy!

Me: Cool. Then after the parade they came home and rode cars down the street through the sprinklers.

Tyto: And then they went to Casa Bonita and went into Black Bart's Cave and there was a hand!

Me: A big scary hairy hand that came out and them and growled and they screamed and started running but then they heard a voice that said, "stop!" and they said, "no! you're scary!" and the voice said, "no, I'm just a hungry bear, that was my stomach you heard, not me growling. I've been hibernating for a long time, do you think you could get me some sopapias?" and they said "sure!" and they went out and came back with the biggest platter of sopapias you've ever seen

Tyto: and honey

Me: yes, and honey and they had a picnic in the cave and then they went and saw a puppet show.

Tyto: And then they went to the acquarium!

Me: And they saw fish and fed the rays and got a Shamu tattoo! Weren't they lucky!

Tyto: And they saw the karks, too!

Me: Yes, they saw the sharks, too. Then they were so tired, they had to go home and go to bed. By then, the pizza had finally arrived so they ate their pizza and then they said "sweet dreams" to everyone and climbed into their beds and went to sleep. Good night and THE END!

Tyto: Tell me another Speckles story! The one about going to the Hermosa Beach fair!

And on and on it goes, all day long sometimes. I don't have to worry about too much television rotting his brain because he definitely has a pretty good imagination thus far. Hopefully, he'll be able to tell some of these stories to Tristan when he gets big enough. Tristan, by the way, is adorable!! He is such a love and has that perfect baby gushiness going on right now. He's got dimples where there aren't joints in his legs and arms, he's in 9-month clothes already and he's just super curious about the entire world. 50% of the people we know say he looks just like Tyler, the other 50% say he doesn't look a thing like his brother. They aren't twins, but you can definitely tell they are related. I suspect/hope they will be good friends. Tyto already makes Tristan laugh and smile as he runs around and Tristan just beams at him. One of my favorite parts of the day is in the morning when Tristan and I have been up for about an hour and Tyler finaly gets up around 6:30. Tristan and I go in to wake him up and Tyler just grabs for his baby bro to give him a big hug, then they lay on the carpet together just snuggling (or smothering in some cases, I never thought I'd have to say, "Tyler, stop licking your brother!"). I just love it!

Ah, and we'll end this post with a photo of my boys on the beach. I'll be glad when Tristan can wear sunscreen and I won't be so freaked out about burning his irredescent skin. Oh, and here's alittle movie of Tyto at summer art class.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

July Fourth, Poruth, Mourth, Sourth, Tourth....

2008-07-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

"Pores, Mama! We're making pores!" Tyler came rushing into the kitchen on the Fourth of July fresh from the rooftop deck with Daddy, all out of breath to tell me about all the fun they were having up top making s'mores in the chimeria (they were pretty darn tasty-no wonder he was excited). His language skills are a constant source of entertainment for us. "What is all this crap floating in the air, Daddy?" he asked that same day, parroting my question regarding the ash coming out of the chimeria. Time to really start watching our language, I think. He also likes to rhyme and has developed his own language just by rhyming (I am often referred to as mommy-sommy-tommy). We had a great Fourth of July weekend with most of the days spent at the beach. We're now able to venture deeper into the water with Tyler screaming and holding my hand and loving every moment of it (me, too). Tristan already loves the ocean as well and he sleeps especially peacefully in the Baby Bjorn to the sounds of the ocean as John and I take turns walking up and down the beach with him. On the way home each day we got Tyto a special treat of bubble gum ice cream to eat in his stroller. Every passerby made some sort of comment about him and his patriotic blue bubblegum mess all over the place.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

While Tristan did not get any bubblegum ice cream, he's not going to be too far behind Tyto once he gets up and running. He already has his first tooth, is wearing 6/9 month clothes, rolls over easily and will sit in his chair and watch his big brother with his huge saucer eyes hop across the room. You can tell he can't wait until it's his turn. Tyto can't wait, either. He LOVES his little brother and constantly is giving him kisses and hugs (to the point where you can see him visibly shaking) and states, "I think he likes me! He's my best friend." It is truly adorable. So, here are some more photos of what we've been up to:

Sleep in a bed? Why would I want to do that when Mama and Thimila will hold me all day?

I'll have this monkey for breakfast by the time I'm 6 months old!

Best friends!

Staring war! I will win, don't even try.

Tyto at Pint-sized sports class, which we have recently dropped due to lack of interst since the swings on the playgroup are a bigger draw.
Can you build it? Yes we can!
Tristan LOVES his bath. Rub a dub dub.

The Summer of Love

2008-06-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

Snooze and dream, dream and snooze

Ah, summer. Now that things have slowed down for me work-wise, I'm trying to relax and just enjoy the summer with the boys. My guilty pleasure is sleeping with Tristan during nap time. As Tyler would say, "he's so cuddly!" We've been getting out quite a bit and I'm learning how to handle our excursions better (Tristan HATES the car). I think there is nothing worse than having an infant screaming in that hysterical rage cry and not being able to do anything about it because you are driving. One minute of that seems like 20. And, to make matters worse then you've got a toddler screaming at you as well, "Tristan's crying!" As if I couldn't tell. But, like I said, I'm learning how to manage it a little better. This summer Tyler has classes - Pint Sized Sports, Pee Wee Picasso, and Music Together - all down at the rec center which is walking distance from our house. Then we'll toodle on down to the beach for some sand time. And, we've also picked up a new friend! Thimila (pronounced chimeeela) came to live with us as our au pair in May. She is wonderful and we love her and hope she never goes back to Brazil! Tristan is completely in love with her and Tyler is, too, most of the time. It warms my heart to hear him giggling madly out on the deck with her while I tend to Tristan. It's going to be a good summer!
Mutual curiosity.
Tyto and Thimila, they both have so much energy!
Katie Shea visits us from Las Vegas and....
coaxes out a big smile from Tristan!
Tyler and Grandma having fun in the playroom.
Wide eyed and bushy tailed.
The pouty chef king. The only way I could get his picture was by asking if I could take a picture of his oven mits!

Cute and cuddly, boys. Cute and cuddly.
Tyto, Kookie, Grandpa and Tristan (in the sling) at the beach.
Tyto and Thimila at the aquarium.
Some how shaving cream and finger paints have become a daily ritual, and painting his body is the first thing Tyler likes to do!
With Daddy on the train in Torrance.

Chaos and Cookie Crumb Kisses

2008-06-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

Our household is, to me, in chaos. There are toys everywhere. Baby blankets are all over the dining room table. Baby clothes are all over the sofa in various stacks of "too small, fits, and will eventually fit." Hats and socks are on the end tables. Playdough squishes under my toes when I walk into the kitchen. Bottles and sippy cups have taken over the kitchen counter along with cookies and Lysol wipes. There isn't a corner of living space in this house that doesn't include evidence that we have small children and I'm relishing it for I know it's fleeting and this time is going to go by so fast. "Everything is perfect, just as it is" is a saying my yoga friend once told me when I was complaining about the mess and she's right. So, as I sat down to do this post I found a ton of pictures I wanted to include that didn't exactly fit into a cohesive outline or story. Most are of my adorable boys and while I know that most parents think their kids are the most beautiful kids in the world (thank God we all do), I'm pretty sure that mine really are. Tristan at 3 weeks - I love this photo! He wore this outfit once and then outgrew it the next day.
This child gets a ton of kisses on his beautiful dark hair. The ones from Tyler usually leave behind cookie crumbs.
Tyler gives Elton John a run for his money.
Tyler had to give Tristan a hug - what a sweet boy!
Tyto greets me from preschool with a mustache, beard and glasses. What a great disguise!
Breakfast with the firetrucks. Let's not waste one second of the day staying dry.
Loving sharing the backseat with his new bro on the way home from the hospital.
Papa and Tristan!
Tiny tootsies!
Tyler insists Tristan join the picnic.

Adorable!
I can't stop kissing this head!
Elf?
Tyto's pineapple "wand."
Nana and Tristan!

Our Newest Arrival

2008-05-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

10 fingers, 10 toes, dark blue eyes, a perfect nose!

He's here! And what an incredible anniversary present he makes (no forgetting our anniversary now, John!). We didn't have him scheduled to arrive until May 1st, a few days after my due date. But, he'd been giving us some signs that he was going to arrive early for the past few weeks. I was trying to push it to May 1st to get some real estate deals closed, but Tristan was having no part of it. On Tuesday I had some pretty major contractions so after we got Tyler to sleep that night, we got a sitter and went to the hospital, bag packed "just in case." Luckily my contractions weren't close enough together and they sent us home. That little episode was enough to make Nana and Papa get on a plane two weeks early and they arrived Wednesday night. Thursday morning at 6:30a.m. I felt a contraction and then my water broke. We all got Tyler ready for preschool, dropped him off and John and I went to the hospital where they confirmed my water did indeed break and that we were going to have a baby in two hours! John's eyes got as wide as saucers at that news and he went to go call everyone. The c-section went really well and at 1:20p.m. on our fourth anniversary, we had a new, beautiful, sweet baby boy! Tristan weighed in at 7 lbs, 10 oz and was 21 inches long. He was such a sweetie in the hospital, too. They would bring him to me at night for his feedings and he wouldn't even be crying (he snapped out of that in a hurry once we got home). I cherished that time in the hospital when everything was just still and we could watch the palm trees swaying in the breeze and wait for our daily visit from Tyto, Daddy and Nana and Papa. What a priceless moment in our lives.

Welcome to the world, baby Tristan!

Let me plant a sloppy big brother kiss on ya!

Big brother Tyto LOVES his baby! He wants to snuggle up so close I have to tell him to get off the baby. "He's so coot! He's so cuddy! He's so sweet! He's so tiny!" He says in this high-pitched baby voice. He truly is in love with his baby brother, it is adorable!

Flapjack and Tristan, snoozin' away the day.

When Tyler was a baby I practically sealed him inside for an entire month. Tristan is going to have a completely different experience, mostly out of necessity for Tyto. Here we are at the Hermosa Farmer's Market, roughly a week after Tristan was born. His first major outing! Hooray!

Nana, Papa, Uncle Rob, Tyto, Daddy and Tristan enjoying the farmer's market

Whoosh. This first outing is making me sleepy!