Ten on Tuesday

Ok, here is today's 10 on Tuesday.  A review of our Albuquerque trip.  I can't promise I'll hit 10 today, but I'll sure try....

1.  It was Little J's first time on an airplane.  His sister, on the other hand, was quite the world traveler by the time she was 16 months.  Poor Little J.  I guess it's true what they say about the second child :)  Just kidding!  I couldn't even imagine the thought of traveling with two until now.  And I think I was half nuts when I thought we would do ok taking a 2 1/2 year old and a 16 month old on a plane half way across the world (ok, being a little dramatic).  I know you all are thinking, "thank god they weren't on our flight."  Believe me, I saw a couple of eyes rolling and heard some moans as we stepped on board.  Did I also forget to mention that J was on crutches due to his unfortunate skim board accident?  Yeah, that was just the cherry on top of the sundae that was our trip.

But actually, it wasn't that bad.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say it was "smooth sailing" by any stretch of the imagination.  But we survived.  And with only a few tears on my part :).  But I will say, I was sweating like nobody's business the entire time we were traveling.  I swear, why does someone always have to turn the heat up when you are flailing around like an idiot trying to keep your kids calm?

For all those thinking, "how'd they do that?".....I leave you with one thought.  Give them whatever they want.  Yes people, they had lollipops for breakfast.  But you know what?  It gave me 15 minutes of peace so it was so worth it.  Also, the DVD player was our savior.  Little J isn't really into watching movies yet, but he sat still for maybe 20-30 minutes watching Mickey Mouse.  Also, travel games are really helpful.  We also brought crayons and coloring books.  But with my kids, snacks were key.  And lots of them. 

Well, here is a snapshot in the airport to document the occasion:

2.  Little J got to meet Goompa H for the first time (his great-grandfather).  To Miss C and Little J, Goompa H is the coolest person on the planet.  He had 3 cats, 2 dogs, a donkey and miniature horses.  Miss C and Little J got to feed the horses some grapes.  Of course Miss C was holding the bag of grapes and played the old, "one for you, a handful for me" game.  I think she ate  more than the horses did.  But does that surprise you?

3.  Little J got in on the action too and seemed to like it until one of the horses thought his finger was a grape.  He got a tiny little nick on his finger....but it was game over with the horses after that.  He didn't go near them again.  

4.  Not only is Goompa H cool because he has all of those animals, but because he has a whole garage full of.......drum roll please....TRACTORS!

They pretty much died and went to heaven.  I think we spent most of our time out in the garage.  Goompa H was good enough to let them pretend ride them.  Miss C even spotted keys in the ignition to one of them.  She had a ball pulling out the key, putting it back in, pretending to turn it on, and then steering like crazy.  Damn woman drivers :)

This pic cracks me up, Little J "driving" with one hand on the wheel.  Like he was trolling for chicks.  Not sure what kind of chicks he'd pick up in this get-up!

5.  Here is J with his grandfather and the kids

And one of the Great-grandfather with his great-grandson

6.  J is going to kill me for this one.  But we went to a wedding while we were there and the bride's family asked me to take a few pictures.  The day before, we headed out to their house and I got a chance to "scope" out where they were getting ready, etc.  I wanted to try to find a couple of places to get some shots outdoors.  Their home is this beautiful terra cotta color on the outside.  So I had J stand against the wall so I could take a couple of test shots to see if it was something I would do with the bride the following day.  This is how cooperative he is

Not that this isn't a great shot, but I ditched the idea because I couldn't figure out how to make skin not look too pink next to the wall.  I surely didn't want to make the bride look like an oompa loompa on her big day :)

7.  Miss C and Little J also got to meet their cousin A for the first time.  I don't have any shots of that unfortunately.  A and Miss C are only a month apart, so it was nearly impossible getting a shot of three little toddlers under the age of 3.  I didn't even try.  But they had a great time with cousin A.  He was into Lightning McQueen.  So he got the automatic thumbs up in Miss C's book.

8.  Just a shot of little J on the trip.  Somehow I manage to get so many shots of him in a "reflective" mood.  But seriously, he is not at all like that.  I'm surprised I don't have more shots of him screaming and running around like a chicken with his head cut off!

9.  On the way home, Mee ma and Goompa flew with us.  That was helpful!  When the kids got restless, we shipped them across the aisle to their grandparents.  Here is Little J and his Goompa...

10.  We're glad to be home!

Goin' To the Chapel

No, we're not renewing our wedding vows (even though our 5 year anniversary is in less than a week).....I'm just delaying proofing our Albuquerque trip (I promise an update either tomorrow or Monday).

But while we were in ABQ, J and I went to a wedding for some very close family friends.  The bride's family asked me to take a few snapshots of the bridal party getting ready.  They had a professional photographer at the wedding, but I still managed to take a few shots while trying my best to stay out of his way.  I kinda like the wedding photography :)

Whatcha think?

Trying to bustle the dress

Getting ready

Groomsmen

Bride + mom

Walkin' down the aisle

Posin' pretty

Mom watching ceremony

Man + Wife

Mom + Dad

Flashback Friday

This one is dedicated to Halloween.  Truth be told, I've been stressin'.  The kids are still little enough that I want them to be "matchy matchy" (stop rolling your eyes) but I'm waiting for Miss C to make up her mind.  I guess I should just trump her opinion and do what I want (which is Little Bo Peep and her Sheep.....hee hee), but I know it's going to be a huge battle come October 31.  Miss C won't even look at that page in the costume catalog.  Anything remotely princess, pretty or frilly you can just forget it.  She can't turn that page fast enough.

So I keep asking her what she wants to be.  Usually I get Lightening McQueen (and she informs me that Little J can be the Porche--which is Sally).  But when she flips through the catalogs, she wants to either be the pink Carebear or the red Teletubby.  She told me that Little J can be the blue Carebear or the yellow Teletubby.  Funny.  

So, here's the flashback part.  The Halloween's of yester-year.....

This is Miss C's first Halloween.  She was 11 months old.  One of her first words was kitty....so we thought this was fitting

Isn't that just too stinkin' cute?!  Right now she is sitting on my lap and is telling me she wants to be a kitty cat for Halloween this year.  Ugh!  See my pain?!

And here is Halloween last year.  It was Little J's first and he was about 5 1/2 months old.  They were Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  Miss C loves the Mickey Mouse cartoon.  It's really the only one she watches.....

And here she is in the full get-up.  Don't you love the shoes?!  She found them in her closet about a month ago and put them on.  They still fit (barely).  She insisted on wearing them out on errands recently.....super cute :)

And here is one of Little J last year.  My grandmother knitted that sweater and booties.  Miss C came home from the hospital in that sweater (it was huge on her).  Both of my kids have worn it and now it's retired in a memory box....

Little J

Ok, I know it's Tuesday....but we just got back from jet setting around the country (i.e. Albuquerque) that I don't think I'll make Ten on Tuesday today. I haven't even had a chance to go through the photographs I've taken yet....

But I wanted to update a little about Little J. At 16 months, he's growing so quickly and doing new things everyday. He's added a few new words to his vocabulary. These include shoe (naturally), car (pronounced cah--just like a Bostonian), zoom, yea, choo-choo, no (love this one), and apple. There are probably others, but its hard when they are sometimes inaudible.

Diaper changes are still a hassle. Now when he sees the diapers come out, he giggles and runs expecting you to chase him. To him it's a fun game. To others, not so much.

His sister loves to sing Happy Birthday. Sometimes I even light a candle for her and we sing it over, and over, and over, and over again ("candle up it mom!").  Little J even gets in on the fun and blows out the candle every now and then.  Yesterday when we were in the car, the Happy Birthday song came on the radio.  All of a sudden, Little J is clapping and yelling "Yea!" and then blows out.  For a second I didn't connect the two....but then I realized he was blowing out the birthday candle.

I think he is going to be a sports fanatic.  That boy loves to play soccer.  Today I took them to the park and he had the best time running around the soccer field and kicking the ball.

Little J had his first airplane ride last week.  He loved the airport.  He even said air-pane once (but I haven't heard it again).  He did all right on the trip.  More about that in another post.

Well, that's all I can think of now.  No Ten on Tuesday this week, but I'll post again soon about our trip to ABQ.

Just a quickie

**Note, for some reason the order got screwed up.  Ten on Tuesday below**

I'm planning a big 'ole Ten on Tuesday tomorrow with highlights from the past week.  But I just have to quickly share this little conversation I had with Miss C tonight as I was putting her to bed.  It's pretty embarrassing on my part....but I'm willing to share...

Mind you, I have clothes everywhere right now because we just got back from vacation and we are getting ready to fly to "the home land" on Thursday.

Miss C:  Mommy, are those my Lightening McQueen panties?

Me:  Yes, but I think they are dirty

Miss C:  Mommy, I need to check.  I need to smell them.

**Miss C brings the underwear to her nose and smells them**

Miss C:  No, mommy they are clean

I nearly died.  I've got to remember that they pick up on everything.  Sad, but true.  Usually I have to conduct the "sniff test" to see if our laundry is clean.  Note to self.  Find a better system.

Ten on Tuesday

I'm baaaaaaaaack! Did you miss me? 

Well, we had our annual beach vacation last week so I thought I would pay tribute with a Ten on Tuesday. I'm actually starting this Monday night in hopes of actually posting on Tuesday. We'll see if I can even make it on time.  Get ready, this is a long one!

1. Miss C loves to play photographer. Here she is in action. Don't you just love Little J's expression? I can hear him say, "Oh come on! Isn't it enough that I have to do this for you mom?!"

2. Little J didn't exactly "love" the beach. Let's face it, he pretty much hated it. I tried to get a couple of shots of his face on the beach, but in most of them he is screaming. So a lot of back shots to share. To his credit, he really wasn't feeling well last week. Lovely, huh? Little J is already a....how shall we say it....a "spirited" child. So add not feeling well. That pretty much sums up the vacation for him. We had such high hopes too. Oh well, maybe next year!

3. I've been trying to practice on "sun flare" shots. You know, the ones where you capture the sun beams in the picture (while trying to properly expose your subjects no less). It usually is best at sunrise and sunset. So I thought it might be a good idea to do this at sunrise with the two kiddos. Stop laughing. I know, I know. What kind of crack was I smoking? Well, I tried. I think in this series, both kids were screaming. Nice huh? I was so distracted that I didn't even get to really practice. I knew exactly what I wanted my settings on the camera to be. But in that moment, it all flew out the window. Never mind I was sweating running around trying to make them happy. So, this is the best I got.

This is what I was going for in terms of "sunflare" (I took this at a botanical garden through the trees)

To my credit, it was really cloudy that morning and the sun wasn't exactly "flaring"

On a side note, I saw the sunrise every morning while at the beach. Little J did not want to sleep in and I was afraid he would wake the whole house if I left him. Of course it's always nice to see the sunrise while at the beach. Just not every morning.

4. We took the kiddos for ice cream at our favorite local haunt. I don't know the name of it, but it's got fantastic ice cream and chocolates. In fact, these chocolates are amazing. Really to die for. How do you like that? A rave review and I can't even tell you the name of the joint. Kinda like a nah nah nah boo boo :)

It was Little J's first ice cream cone. He actually didn't actually have ice cream. It was strawberry sorbet. We're trying to do non-dairy with him, so that's what he got. I'm not sure if he is sensitive to it, but it's just a theory we are going with now. I dunno, do you think he liked it?

Here is Miss C.  She's a little more "clean"

But just for kicks, here she was last year eating her very first ice cream :)

5. I just love this shot of Little J and his daddy

Unfortunately this happened and it was all over after that

6. Miss C flew a kite for the first time. We kept singing that song from Mary Poppins. Her version? It just cracks me up:

Let's go fly a kite

Up to the Highlights

Let's go high kite.....

Miss C gets that magazine "Highlights Five" for 2-5 year olds. I guess that is what is on her mind.....

7. Here is Miss C and her buddy "M" surfing on daddy's skim board. It was an impuse buy that turned out to be a really bad idea. J ended up fracturing his foot in two places after the first 5 minutes on the stupid thing. I'm not even going to go there, but I TOLD YOU SO!

8. It rained two days we were there. But I didn't mind. At least we avoided Hanna, Ike and Josephine. On one of the rainy days, we decided to head to a local acquarium. The kids really seamed to enjoy it.

9.  Isn't this just the sweetest moment?  Miss C and "M" spent a lot of time glued together.  They loved reading to each other

10.  This is for my friend "D".  He says all my pictures are "scalp-less".  I guess that's my style....cut off the top of the head

Whew!  This has taken me hours.....

Flashback Friday

With the hectic schedules of summer and now all the kiddos going to preschool, it's become increasingly difficult to have regular playgroups.  Since Miss C can't go to the preschool we've chosen until she's three, we've been left to fend for ourselves this week.  Let me tell you, it's been a slow week.  Well, I'm being a little dramatic.  I know I could have called some of the other moms and gotten together with at least one or two of the other kids....but I kind of thrive on the drama :)

So, for my flashback Friday I'm posting a pic of all of us all together.  Since this  photo was taken, we've added a new baby to the group and another is now on the way.  J and I uprooted our lives about 3 1/2 years ago and took a chance and moved to a new city.  We didn't know a single soul the day we moved in.  In fact, we had to ask for directions on how to get to our house (we had only been to the house twice before and the realtor drove us both times).  A month after we moved, I was pregnant with Miss C.  After she was born, I met other moms in our neighborhood who had kids around the same age as Miss C (all within 6 months of each other).  And viola!  Friendships (moms + kids) were formed.

I must admit, I feel so lucky to have these women in my life.  Thanks for all your love and support ladies!

Ten on Tues....er...Wednesday

Ok, if your seriously surprised then you really don't know me at all. Once again, I'm a day late and a dollar short. I have a good excuse, really I do. The dog ate my blog. Dang dog.

1. Aunt K came for a visit this past weekend. I managed to snap this pic. The kids of course would not cooperate, so the treats came out before we even started. This is the only one of the bunch where both are remotely looking at the camera:

We had a lot of fun over the weekend and even took Aunt K to the most magical place on earth to a 2 1/2 year old and a 15 month old. Of course, I'm talking about Chuck-E-Cheese. I think Aunt K and I had more fun than the kids did. We managed to get enough tickets to "buy" two lollipops and a light up magic wand. The magic wand probably wasn't a good idea in hind sight. Well actually the wand itself wasn't so bad. It was teaching a 2 1/2 year old to "bing" the wand over someone's head to turn them into a prince or princess. That probably wasn't the good idea.

2. I got a new lens for the camera. So far I'm in love. I almost took a picture of it to post, but I thought that might be a little ridiculous. So any of you out there, I'd love to practice with it! It's supposed to be super sharp....that is if you use it correctly. It was a small fortune, so it not only better be sharp it better make me look like a beauty queen too.

3. Super Cute. That's my favorite phrase. I use it to pretty much describe everything. I love it when we are out shopping and Miss C says, "Mommy, is that shirt super cute?" Makes me smile to myself. Here's my super cute girl (taken with my new lens):

And just because she is extra super cute, here it is in B+W:

4. Little J is saying more and more words. This morning he muttered "all done" after breakfast. He also will sing, "Ashes, ashes, awe faw dao." Kinda super cute if you ask me. When he drops something, he says "Oh" with a big heavy sigh.  Lately he points to everything and says, "this, this".  Like I'm supposed to know what that means when he is pointing in the direction of about 500 things.  He's got a few more words too, I just can't think of them right now.  Dang mommy brain.  I'll write them when I finally do remember.

5. Little J still has that love of shoes. It's getting more and more intense. I have shoes scattered all over the house. For some reason, he now loves to put only one on. I don't know if he likes the clunk it makes while he's walking or what. It's not so funny when I'm running around the house looking for the other shoe. Guess I should learn to put my shoes away :)

He also likes to put them on the wrong feet. Got that affinity from his big sister.  She wears them on the wrong feet on purpose.  I guess it's her way of "controlling" the situation.  She knows it drives me nuts.  Joke will be on her when her feet start to hurt.

6.  This is the position that Miss C must be in when she talks on the phone.  It's kind of funny to watch her grab the phone and make a b-line for the couch.  Lately she thinks it's funny to say nothing and just giggle when you talk to her.  I just get a kick out of the fact that toddlers think you can actually see them when you are talking to them on the phone.

7. We've been doing a lot of finger painting lately. Miss C loves it.

Unfortunately she decided to finger paint on other things besides the paper. Here she is caught red, ahem I mean blue, handed

Little J not so much a fan of finger painting. Didn't like getting his fingers dirty. Someone should tell him that's the whole point of finger painting. What a little diva. He was much happier washing the finger paint off in the sink. Gotta have the classic bath time in the sink shot:

8. So I've decided to make my own cleaners. Not only are they non-toxic and safe for the environment, they are a lot cheaper than buying the ones in the store. I searched online for recipes and most promised to be safe enough to actually spray on your baby. Hmmm.  I can see some brain surgeon now testing out that theory.  Anyway, today Miss C had a ball spraying the mixture on the floor while I wiped it up.  That was a good hour of fun and the floor got cleaned in the process.  Kind of a nice way to get the kids involved in cleaning (can't you tell this is my mission in life).  I like that it's non-toxic too.  Now to get Little J in on the fun.....

9.  Miss C had me take a picture of her beloved best friend.  Gotta love that she specifically asked me to do this.  Even lined up the shot.  She wanted baby to be sitting in the chair with the tutu on.  Super cute.

10.  J is out of town on business this week.  Love and miss you daddy!