A few weeks ago I received a quick email that went something like this, “What?  No pics of the boys??? xoxo Aunt Darlene” I was reminded of something that’s been nagging at me for months now – POST SOME PICS OF THE BOYS!  Of course, being the ever so lazy blogger that I am, I put it on my to-do list, hoping that I’d soon find the motivation to post .  Then last week I received this, “Where are more pics of the boys?  I would love to see them.  Hope you and the family are well.  xoxo, Aunt Darlene” Guilt began to set in – I mean there were relatives from across the country, heck, across the globe who were counting on me to give them updates on Christian & Aidan via this blog and dang, I was letting them down.  Shame on me!  OK, so maybe it wasn’t that serious (or maybe it was – we’ll let Aunt Darlene decide), but yeah, I’ve been slackin’ majorly with posting pics of my kiddos.  Truth be told, I don’t take many photos of them because they are undoubtedly my most challenging subjects and it’s a lot easier play with them than lug around my big beast of a camera in hopes of getting one good shot.  You don’t even want to know how many actual photos I’ve printed of them since their birth (hint: I can count them on two hands!).  Yes, I am that bad.  But enough about my incompetence as a mother blogger (or whatever you wanna call it!), time for the pictures.  Aunt Darlene, this post is for you!  I promise not to make you wait another 4 months for the next round of pics!

Pirates (we got our money’s worth out of these costumes):

Cheering their friends on at the school Trike-a-Thon:

Silly Aidan:

Making pumpkin bread:

This is the latest and greatest face they make (Aidan pictured here):

Christian on his first big boy bike:

Rock climbing birthday party:

Weeee!

Taking a break on an “adventure hike”:

Aidan:

Christian:

Their favorite place at Disneyland – the Fire House

Christian’s “Mom, I’m so over you and your camera” face:

My cutie pies:

Fullerton Senior Portrait Photographer, Downtown

Just a little post to send a big thank you to all the veterans out there, past and present, who have served our country. Thank you for your service and sacrifice…

I wish I had a better image, but you can’t expect much from 3 year olds who don’t quite get the Veteran’s Day concept :-)

Cheers,

Vanessa

Ok, so I’ve let this blog go a little (a lot) stale.  I’m the first to admit it – but I have an excuse, sort of – it’s summer time!  This has been our busiest summer yet, jam packed with swim lessons, trips to the beach, Disneyland, art classes, play dates…the list goes on and on.  Oh, and I forgot to mention – no daycare!  At least not for the summer months.   So yeah, I got a little laxed with the blogging – but I’m back in full force and will be posting regularly – yeah, I know, you’ve heard that one before. :-)

Now for a quick update on Christian and Aidan:  They turned 3 at the end of July and we had a big pirate birthday bash complete with friends, a pirate pinata who died a horrible death, a mini water park in our back yard, enough pizza to feed a small army (which we did) and a yummy Dobash cake (mmm, mmm, mmm).  I’d like to say that I took tons of great photos and am sharing them here, but the truth is, it’s really hard to host a party AND be a photographer – so one picture will have to suffice.   Anyway…

I’ve learned something  about Christian and Aidan that I’m sure will prematurely turn my hair gray – they are total dare devil, adrenaline junkies!  We put them in swim lessons and I soon discovered they are fearless.  I mean I sort of knew this all along, but watching them at swim lessons has solidified all my beliefs.  It’s not their performance in the pool that’s got me freaked out so much as what they did out of the pool.  I mean, how many 3 year olds (actually, they were still 2 year olds at the time) do you know who jump off the high dive and come to the surface shouting, “Again! Again!”?  Fortunately, I had the good sense to bring my camera with me that day and was able to document this horrifying event for them (see below).  Seriously, my hands were shaking while I watched them through the viewfinder.  I think they have monster wave riding in their future.

So, the monkey on my back this summer was getting the boys potty trained.  They start preschool in September and are required to have the toilet thing down pat.  Can I just tell you that this is the one task I’ve dreaded since the day they were born?  If it was up to me, I’d probably have them in diapers until they left for college – ok, maybe not, but the thought of getting two boys trained at the same time was about as scary as having a root canal with no anesthesia.  Well, I’m happy to report that all my fears were in vain.  In less than a week’s time, we said goodbye to diapers for good.  Mission accomplished.  Hey, when I set my goals, I reach for the stars, baby!

We’ve got a vacation coming up next week and I’ll make it my life’s mission to post photos from wherever we end up.  Until then,  enjoy!

Aidan giving a reluctant Christian some brotherly love:

No, really, they love being photographed:

Celebrating their 3rd birthday with a Pirate Paaarrty:

Aidan practicing his “airplane wings” at swim lessons:

Catch me if you can!

Contemplating their jump off the high dive:

Christian wondering if this is a good idea:

What the heck!

Christian showing good form:

Wheeee!!!!

Aidan up next:

No fear:

Canon ball!

After class with their completion certificates and chocolate treats:

A sudden down pour:

Aidan catching raindrops:

Christian having a blast getting soaked:

Aidan under a very cool tree:

Christian:

Christian having fun at the spray fountains:

Aidan:

Christian fresh from the kiddie salon:

Silly Aidan:

Hangin’ with their favorite gal pals after swim lessons:

They only look sweet – 2 seconds later they were slapping each other:

Aren’t they the cutest fire fighters you’ve ever seen?

Aidan to the rescue!

Aidan, my little hero:

Someone making a rare appearance in FRONT of the camera:

Someday soon they’ll surf with me:

Enjoy the rest of your summer everyone and thanks for stopping by!