Babies and Bulldogs...

Okay, my sister-in-law Mandi (yes we have the same exact name... weird!) is here for 4 weeks! Her husband Joel is doing a dermatology internship at Stanford and they are staying with Ben's parents. Basically since she arrived we have been together everyday! So fun. Her little girl Norah is a few weeks younger than June and the two of them together is pretty cute. Then you add in Joel's bulldog, Mr. Higgins, and there are a lot of photo opportunities.
I took Mandi up to Sunol to let Norah explore the creek and Higgins to stretch his legs. The funniest part was that Higgins refused to be on the sidelines. He just nuzzled his way in between the two babies and basically let them pound, hit, grab, poke and abuse him all day. Both June, William, Norah, Mandi and I were all covered in sand and dog hair by the end of the trip!
p.s. We know our babies are sucking on rocks! Better they were getting the big ones instead of choking on the little ones. You have to pick your battles! (no logic whatsoever in that PS!)

Hanging out with Andy and Sarah is never uneventful. I started snapping shots of these characters from inside where Sarah and I were trying to take cover from these two rascals. I tried not to give them guns, but then William found this black tube thing and started pretending it was a machine gun. So I just gave in and let Andy play with the cap gun. It was h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s! When the cheek squeezing started I just sat back in hog heaven! Great day. Thanks for letting me watch your kids Kristina! You can go to the Dentist anytime!!

spaghetti to sink

Before

After


I know I should probably rename this blog juneandjune.blogspot.com but I find myself in endless situations where I can photograph this child. If you are wondering what William is doing, just imagine him with his police shirt on pretending to be a rescue swimmer. That just about sums up his life for the past summer. On to June, the following is a summery of our feeding routine...

1) put food on highchair tray- this is similar to the scene in Jurassic Park when they put the goat out and then it disappears without anyone seeing who ate it. It is as freakish and unexplainable as the movie. I turn my back and she is looking at me like, "Where did the food go mom?"

2) Hose down June in sink- This is more like the scene from Tommy boy when after cow tipping Tommy is singing "I'm a maniac" and getting hosed off. Not really, but that would be classic. More or less June sits in the sink because there aren't enough paper towels to wipe this girl clean. I used to think it was too much work, but I've just decided it is easier to feed her with no clothes on and hose her down.

p.s. Kiren, that Tommy boy reference was for you! "Brothers gotta hug!!"


(what double chin?)

front porch girls...

You know that commercial where the lady and her man are in Venice and he gives her a ring and yells "I love this woman!" And then the girl whispers "I LOVE THIS MAN..."

I want to yell, "I LOVE THIS BABY!!"

She is so cute and fun and independent and sassy. Yes, I said it... SASSY! Already she throws fits when things are taken away. She bobs her head up and down in an angry fit and it just makes me laugh. But also makes me scared of what is to come. Here are some other little cute things about her I can't forget.

-She baa's like a sheep when she gets excited (this is coupled with shaking... it is worrisome!)

- She loves her dad so much that it is sometimes offensive to William and I... not cool!

- She attacks you if you lay down on the floor and will crawl back and forth over your body like a jungle gym.

- She loves her bottle and will eat milk all day if I let her

- She will not be spoon fed and will only feed herself

- She smiles biggest first thing in the morning

- The people at the gym love her and call her princess June

- William likes to squeeze her until she cries (we are working on this!)

- She is getting 4 teeth at once right now and I feel so bad for her throbbing gums

- She looks best in the color peach

- Her nicknames are endless but here are a few I can think of: Juney, Junes, Moons, Moons over my hammy, June moons, Moonie, Junia (Spanish version), Junia Punia, Punes (I get in trouble for this one), Punia, Junie Moonie, Baby June, Fish Taco etc

did i get close?

does this

look at all like this
?

Whitney and I have been trying to concoct something similar to our amazing smore cake we had in Oregon. I made a regular gram cracker crust, cooked a Brownie mix on top and then broiled marshmallows for the topping. It was good, but I still need to tweak a few things. I'm still determined!

Sky mall...

Okay, the title with this picture is "With the proper support, you can sleep sitting up!"

I mean, you have got to love skymall! I find myself buying into the impossible. I can't even sleep in my own bed, let alone on a plane with an over sized pillow collar! Who are these people kidding? I love it, and it only gets worse... case and point... see next picture...

Okay, this is called the Detox Foot Patches (all natural) that draws out toxins right through your skin. Does anyone else think this is gross and not possible. Although there is the part of my brain that is intrigued. The same part that loved to pop blackheads and pull splinters! There is something about that dirty patch that says "BUY ME!" What would we do without skymall?




I mean... why? I don't even know where to start with this one. These are called Jumpin Jammerz. Basically full sized pajamas for adults. Okay, I get it. There are people out there that love this stuff, but is it really necessary to have this girl in the front doing the splits. Come on?!





Here is another that boggles my mind. I was under the impression that the edges were the worst part of the brownies! We always fight over who gets the middle. Is it just me or is Skymall turning into backwards world? HELP ME!



I'm starting to like this whole skymall bashing post. I think I might make it a usual thing because there are so many more where these came from! I challenge my friend Laurel to join in because her commentary is ten times funnier than mine!

good job daddy!

Some of my favorite times are when Ben gets home and we just lay around listening to Coldplay, wrestling and talking about the day. William and June attack their dad while I get a rest and try to document everything. Last week we made daddy a "good job daddy" sign with a coordinating police car mask. William has been asking lately, "Where does money comes from?" I have tried to explain that daddy works so we can buy food, clothes and toys. I think something clicked in his head when he wanted to have a special dinner for Ben to thank him for working so hard. I wonder how much this was motivated by the desire for more toys!?! Ben was a good sport and even wore the mask for dinner. Good job daddy!

I'm bored...

Okay, to say June has been late in getting teeth would be an understatement. It seems her little mouth has decided to catch up all at once. Yep, she is getting three teeth at the same time. Basically I've been home following her around with baby orajel and the camera. Also, started making bracelets and jewelry for her. She looks like a tacky Christmas tree by the time we leave the house. What was that quote from Coco Chanel? Oh yea, "Take one thing off before you leave." Well we have our own philosophy: If there is a limb that does not have a piece of jewelry on it... you know what to do!! Here is to accessorising little girls. I'm out of control.

Juney Bands

This is my new complete collection of headbands. I have been working non-stop to get these ready and now they are available to grace all the beautiful little noggins out there. Please go to rubysclips.com and check them out. If you love me please tell your friends and anyone you know who would be interested. If you live in Ca and know me I can get you everything without shipping just email me at juneybands@gmail.com


Baby Reagan (Whitney's little angel)







This is my new complete collection of headbands. I have been working non-stop to get these ready and now they are available to grace all the beautiful little noggins out there. Please go to rubysclips.com and check them out. If you love me please tell your friends and anyone you know who would be interested. If you live in Ca and know me I can get you everything without shipping just email me at juneybands@gmail.com

Oh the cuteness...

new bands are coming... a whole new collection available at rubysclips. check back tomorrow!!

Adults getaway!

caution... way too many pictures for anyone to tolerate! I apologise!!

I have decided that taking a 3 day weekend trip with friends may be even better than 7 days away from your kids. Why, you ask? 1) You don't feel as guilty asking someone to watch your kids for 3 days. 2) You really start to miss them anyways after 3 or 4 days. 3) The amount of packing and preparation for a 3 day weekend is less overwhelming 4) your husband only has to take 1 day off of work.

We just got back from one of the most enjoyable vacations we have ever taken and it was only 3 days long. Ben and I took Spencer and Whitney up to Black Butte for Spencer's 30th b-day. We ate amazing food, went bike riding, Spencer got a pedicure (no laughing!), laid out on the back deck and talked, read, ate ice cream in the sun, swam, slept in, bird watched and much more. We might have to make this an annual event. I wish one of us turned 30 every year!

He's Four!!

William's Birthday was really cool this year! Police was the theme, as you can see and we really just enjoyed being with friends and family. Here are some things about William as he is going into year #4!

William loves his routine. He gets up in the morning with his dad, eats his cereal and watches his show. Like clockwork! Ben goes to the Menlo Park Library and checks out videos about police stations and anything emergency vehicle oriented. It is an obsession to say the least.

When William walked down the stairs the morning of his birthday he looked at himself and said, "I don't look four?!" It was cute. He was sincerely confused.

William loves to have his daddy tell him stories. Ben has concocted a whole world of witches. There is a black witch, white witch, red witch etc. The black witch loves chocolate cake and the white witch tries to catch her by luring her with a big slice of it! Williams love the adventures his daddy thinks up!

William likes to combine words to make new ones. His favorite is Fragical... it is a combination of fragile and magical. This word is perfect for his little sister and he likes to call her his fragical baby.

Serious Back Blogging...

We discovered we have a plum tree in our back yard! William was acting like he had found a pot of gold! Lets just say the three of us ate more plums in a three day period than what is healthy for the human bowels! We thought we had the stomach flu but then realized we had just had too much fiber from our diet of plums and plums and more plums!!

Would you believe me if I told you I didn't force these boys into this. I was simply in the right place at the right time! photographers miracle!