Mine!

Ben loves toys and he has started taking all the toys away from Sam. I snapped this picture today when I looked at them playing together on the floor and Ben all of a sudden had all the toys in front of him. I have also witnessed him taking every toy away that Sam starts to pick up.



Ben laughing at a stuffed animal that I am holding by the camera:

Aunt Nancy's Birthday ....Week!

Last week was my Aunt Nancy's birthday and a bunch of our cousins and my Aunt Mary Lou and Uncle Morgan came in from Arizona to celebrate. It was soooo much fun and I loved that the boys got to meet so much of their family. Their cousins, Riley, Katie, Christiana, Rori, and Brennan really helped out with the boys.

Here is a pic of all the kids (minus Christiana) and Ben and Sam. Katie (holding Ben), Riley (holding Sam), Rori, and Brennan. The boys seriously needed a nap in this pic - that is why they are crying:

Here is my Aunt Mary Lou with Ben- he is giving her a kiss because he LOVED her! He is usually very shy at first around people but her totally warmed up to her right away:

Aunt Mary Lou with the boys:

Like I said it was a birthday week. There was a celebration every night!

Arizona family got in on Tuesday. On Wednesday my Aunt Linda had shrimp at her house for Aunt Nancy's actual birthday (we didn't make it that night). Thursday my cousin Anthony and his wife, Annette had a hot wing competition at his house. They just did their backyard, sun room, patio and deck and it looked great! It was a wonderful place for a party! My Uncle Morgan won the competition and received his award of a rubber chicken.

On Friday Anthony and Annette had another party. This time we made our own pizzas and he clooked them in their new pizza oven (also on their party patio). Anthony received a "Best pizza maker" award.

Saturday was the main event! There were over a hundred people at the Mission community center to celebrate Aunt Nancy's b-day. Her family made tacos, rice, beans, enchiladas...and of course there was LOTS of pop to quench everyone's thirst! And, I'm serious about that. There were still about 50 2 liters left over at the end of the night. My Aunt Marlene made beautiful cup cakes and they also had 4 birthday cakes there for her. The best part of the night was that they hired a DJ and there was dancing pretty much all night. Matt's parents watched the boys so we could stay late and have fun!

The little girl cousins and Aunt Nancy dominated the dance floor and Anntte and Anthony even brought limbo sticks out! Here are some pics of the night.

My cousin Nick, giving a speech for his mom. And, in true Aunt Nancy fashion, she is over there hamming it up for the crowd with her birthday hat on:

Anthony and Nettie holding the limbo stick while everyone "limbos":


Christiana and Katie doing the limbo:
The cousins dancing the night away!:
My little dance partner:


Sisters, Michelle and Annette having fun on the dance floor:
Cousin's, Kurtis and Nick and Nick's sunglasses:


Me and the woman of the hour:

Matt and Aunt Nancy. Everyone wore name tags to say how you knew the birthday girl. Matt's said "Nancy's nieces husband". He crossed out "nieces" and his name tag just said "Nancy's husband":
Folks hanging out in the kitchen...it appears my entire family including my husband were hanging out back there. My dad and sister, Lauren are in the background:
Family friend, Shayla and my Mom:

Aunt Elaine and Aunt Linda:

Cousin Nick's sunglasses and his mom:

It was so so much fun! A very big special thanks to my cousins, Nick, Anthony and Annette for doing all this for your mom- I know it meant so much to her! And, for the cousins, Kurtis, Laurie, Riley, Rori, Katie, and Brennan and Aunt Mary Lou and Uncle Morgan for making the trek all the way here to celebrate!

7 months!

I can't believe my little men are more than halfway to their first birthday. Everyone says it but it's true.....it goes so fast. I don't want to see them get big because they are super cute as babies, but it's so fun to see all they are learning everyday. They really do surprise me with new skillz every single day.

This months highs and lows:

They can pretty much sit up by themselves even though Sam is too squirmy to sit still for long
First time in the big swimming pool at Aunt Tracy's house
Ben can give "high five" and wave "Hi"
Sam keeps saying "dada" over and over again. No mama yet although I swear I heard him say Jill. Real cool, Sam, real cool- dada and Jill - makes me feel good.
Ben got 2 new teeth (6 1/2 months was his first tooth)
3 sick trips to the doctor :( Ben went twice for back to back ear infections in opposite ears and Sam went one basically because I was paranoid he had one too, which he didn't.
They roll around like crazy and both get on all fours like they are ready to crawl. Somehow without crawling they can move around the room. They have gotten skilled at angling their rolls to move any direction
They both love the laundry basket and pick and and look at lots of toys in it
Ben is obsessed with his hands
Still sleeping through the night!
Starting to drink out of sippy cups
Eating lots of new foods....chicken, avocado, pumpkin, mango, lentil (have made but they haven't tried yet), blueberry, spinach, potatoes, pears, carrots, applesauce, peaches, butternut squash, sweet potato, peas, green beans...I think that's about it. Oh, and their fave, bananas.

Here they are in their new swim outfits from Aunt Jamie:


It is getting increasingly difficult to get them to sit still for pictures:
....and to get them not to play with the sign:

So busy!

We have been so busy this last week. I need to do some catching up!

It all started last Friday when some of my old co-workers and I had a wedding shower at my house for one of our other co-workers. It was so much fun and great to see everyone! Sam and Ben went to my parents because it would have been too hard to take care of them and do the shower. Here are some pics from the shower!

The bride, Sara:

Saturday night was Glaserfest. It was a outdoor gathering at Martini Corner to raise money for the John Glaser Memorial Fund and also a fund for surviving spouses of fallen servicemen. John's brother put it together and he did a great job! After that was Sara's bachelorette party so I met some of my old co-workers out at Ernie Biggs in Wesport.

Sunday was Fathers Day, of course. My family came over in the afternoon and we went to Matt's sisters after that. She has a pool in her backyard and the boys went swimming for the first time! I think they really loved it. They were a little unsure at first but start splashing in no time! When Ben woke up on Fathers Day he felt warm and I took his temperature and he had a 101.2 degree fever. Matt's sister checked his ear out and sure enough he had an ear infection in the other ear!

Monday morning first thing I took Ben to the doctor. He is now on another round of antibiotics for his 2nd ear infection in 2 weeks. Poor little guy :( I just hope they don't come back! We were at the doctor but were supposed to be at Deanna Rose with my friends Pooky and Betsy and their kids. Betsy and Pooky are 2 of my best friends since high school. Betsy lives in Denver and was here visiting with her two boys, Oliver and Murphy. Pooky has Anna and is pregnant with baby #2. After they got back from Deanna Rose I met them at Pooky's house and was there the rest of the day until 11:30pm! We basically set up shot at her house - thanks again Pookster for all the hospitality! What I cannot believe is I don't have 1 picture of all the kids together! I take a pic if the boys sneeze and I don't have a picture of this fun outing? What was I thinking?!

Tuesday my Aunt Mary Lou, Uncle Morgan, cousins Riley and Rori came in town from Arizona. We went over to my Aunt Nancy's house so the boys could meet them for the 1st time. More cousins are on their way! Tuesday night we went to Nancy and Will's house for dinner again with Betsy and her boys. Will made these absolutely delicious tri-tip steak sandwiches. They were very nice to have 4 screaming boys at their house :) Betsy brought amazing cupcakes - have you ever had a peanut butter cupcake? OMG- amazing! I made my famous Jill Salad, of course :)

Today my mom and I just ran errands. She hadn't seen them since Sunday so she missed them!

Ok, enough for now. More updates later!

Happy Fathers Day!

A belated Happy Fathers Day to my dad and Matt's dad! We love you guys! And, a very special Happy Fathers Day to Matt on his first big day :) Our boys don't realize it yet but they have the best dad in the entire world. They are going to think you are so cool (well, for awhile at least) and always look up to you. I can't wait to see you coach them in soccer, baseball, basketball, and to teach them how to play golf. You will have two golfing partners for life. Love you!

All the guys in their matching shirts standing on the deck that Matt just built:

I surprised Matt with these shirts for the boys to wear on Fathers Day:

We also got Matt a round of golf, which he played on Saturday with his dad and brother-in-law, some new swim, trunks, and new pictures taken of the boys. We actually got the pictures for free because Sam fell on his face during the shoot and it all went down hill from there.

Happy Birthday BK!!

I just wanted to wish my friend, Brooke (BK), a very happy belated 30th birthday! Yesterday, Flag Day, was BK's big day and I totally forgot to post something. BK has been one of my very best friends since we were in 1st grade (24 years!). Welcome to your 30's girlfriend!

BK and me maxin' and relaxin' in style in Cabo:

The boys with Mama and Dada

Me and Sam:


Matt making Sam laugh:

Me and my boys:

Ben's chubby little leg jumping montage:

Sweet little faces and other stuff

I've been taking a ton of pictures of the boys but haven't had time to post them since this week has been pretty difficult since the boys don't feel that well. They were sick over the weekend, then got better, then got sick again. They are finally feeling better!

Here are some sweet faces...
Sam:

Ben was so happy this day:

While Ben was playing in his jumperoo, Sam found a new toy:

Ben wanted in too but he didn't like it at first:
But then we took his for a ride in it and he loved it:
We figured out that this activity made them happy so the next day they both took a ride in the basket. All was well until Sam lurched forward and started pulling on Ben's hair:

Also, here are the pics I promised in the previous Cabo post. This is the pool we went to the day I forgot my camera at home. You can see that the view off the infinity pool was all ocean. Thanks Elena for sending them:

Another view:

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

First trip to Deanna Rose Farm

A couple Fridays ago the boys and I went to Deanna Rose Farmstead with Meghan and her son Graham and Camille and her daughter Kate. It is a petting zoo and we also had a picnic The boys have no idea what was going on but it was free (well $2 on Fridays) so what the heck.

Graham in front, Kate in back. The boys (Sam, left):

Me and my boys:

By the way, it's great to be back from vacation! I missed the boys sooooo much. Matt sent me lots of pictures and videos so I got to keep up with them. He is a sweet husband and did not tell me they were sick 1/2 the time I was gone- he knew I would worry too much about it. Thanks to everyone who watched them while I was gone!

Girls Trip 2010!

I just got back from a fantastic girls trip to Cabo, Mexico. We have gone on a girls trip since we graduated from college 8 years ago- I"m so proud of us for continuing this tradition.

The trip started last Wednesday. We all stayed at my friend Sarah's parents timeshare, which was by far the nicest place I have ever stayed. It was up in the hills and very secluded. We had a cleaning lady that came everyday, our own concierge and shuttle drivers. Our villa had our own infinity pool and breathtaking views. Here is what we saw when we went outside:

One of the main living areas:
A picture of all of us girls out on the veranda on the first day:

The first night we took Sarah's parents out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. There are better pics of the group but this one cracks me up. No one was paying attention but these 2 yahoos were totally up for their getting their pictures taken:

The margaritas were soooo strong. Everyone only had one but it made us all kinda loopy:
We had some locals serenade us. Of course we requested some of the local favorites - Feliz Natividad and La Bamba:

The next day we hung out at our pool all day and then cooked dinner at night. Elena cooked yummy fish and Betsy made a delicious pureed mango salsa to go on top of it. A few people also had hamburgers. We had a dance party USA after dinner. Boots stood on a chair for the good portion of the night:
Our friend Lonni had to wear a brace and walk with crutches the entire time because she tore her "not sure what word is" and has to have surgery on her leg on Tuesday. Here is her "good leg" and BK:

On Friday we all went to the main pool that all the villas share. I am so sad that I forgot my camera that day. The view was absolutely beautiful. It also had an infinity pool that overlooked all ocean. Once I get a pic from one of the other girls I will post it! We sad at the pool most of the day and had fruity drinks....and a Sprite too!

When we got back we all sat outside on one of the villas patios:
Nancy and I got in the hot tub, which we quickly learned was broken and about 1/8 of the water had been poured out from all of us girls getting in the night before. We had to call the maintenance people and they drained it and did a complete overhaul on it.

Friday night we went to dinner at a sushi restaurant (don't know the name). It was really good and we had plenty of wine.

After dinner we all went to the most well known bar in town- Cabo Wabo. Matt had one request and that was we go there and I bring him back something from it. Cabo Wabo is owned by Sammy Hagar- the lead singer of Van Halen, his favorite band. We were only there for a little bit - it was a bit spring breakish for us girls in our 30's. I did get him a t-shirt though:

On Sunday we took a very scary boat ride out to a beautiful beach. Well, no one else thought it was scary but I don't really like boats so I was terrified. It was a small boat and big waves. These guys had to help us in and out of the boat, which was quite the debacle with 2 injured friends. Sara had a broken clavicle and Lonni had the torn whatchamacallit On one of the departures from the boat our friend Nancy was dragged underwater by a huge wave. Even though I have a smile on my face in this picture I was scared to death. Notice how much the boat is leaving to one side.

The beach the boat took us to was called Lovers Beach. Even though I hated the boat ride I loved the beach. It had the feeling of being on a secluded island.
The 2 injured ladies being washed away:
It was such an amazing trip! I miss you girls already!