And We're Off...

We are headed out the door early tomorrow morning for Disney!!! It is Tristan's actual birthday and we are going to dine with Mickey tomorrow evening to celebrate the special occassion. I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures to post once we return and hopefully I can get caught up on a few other posts then too!

"See" you guys next week!

Halloween '09

Oh boy, Halloween has come and gone, and we had a great one!!! For the past month or so we have been talking about and reading fun books about Halloween, getting dressed up in our costumes, pumpkins, and trick or treating, so don't you know that my boys were ready for today!

Tristan has been extrememly interested in all things scary and has his own name for any scary looking item, "joke". Here's the background where the word "joke" came from: Not too long after Michael Jackson died, Victor and I were watching a clip on the internet with Larry King walking through MJ's house and MJ's supposed ghost appears in the background. And as you are staring trying to see the ghost, a big scary looking skeleton/monster thing pops up on the screen. Well, what we didn't realize when we were watching this was that Tristan was standing right behind us when the scary thing popped up! Naturally, it scared him to death, so much so that he was trembling, and of course we immediately told him it was just a joke, thus where he gets his word "joke" from.

Since that moment , he has been interested in "jokes" and is constantly telling us he sees jokes in his room or the hallway or wants to go see them at the stores int he Halloween section. But it truly depends on his mood as to how close he wants to get to them. Some days he's all about touching them and other days he steers clear! Nevertheless, the interest has been there every day!

And of course, he has parlayed this interest onto Parker, who has now learned the word "joke" and spent most of tonight's trick or treating running towards skeletons, ghosts and goblins pointing and saying "joke". It was actually quite cute!

But before we went out trick or treating, we finally hit up a pumpkin patch at 3:30 this afternoon...I was lucky they still had a few pumpkins left and a cute picture-taking spot. We have been so busy lately that we hadn't made it out to one of the really fun, activity filled pumpkin patches and since we missed it last year too, I was bound and determined to get a few pictures of the boys, even if it meant getting them dressed up in their costumes and taking them by myself on Halloween (Victor was at work). And I must say, for being by myself with 2 active, never-stop-moving boys I was able to get some semi-decent pictures.

Tristan showing his best policeman pose next to the scarecrow

Okay, that's more of a Tristan pose!

Parker pointing...I think he thought this was a "joke" too!

I think the policeman is supposed to be chasing the convict, but hey, whatever works!

Telling Mommy to head towards the pumpkins

Still really fascinated with the "joke"

Best picture I could get of the the two of them...it really is hard!

Sitting on the bench like a big boy

Oh gee, he's showing off those Kadish lips

The best one of Parker

Tristan and his "Mommy is making me sit here and smile" look

That's a good one

So after the pumpkin patch, we headed over to my hairdresser's salon sinc ethey were participating in the downtown trick or treat festivites for the kids. Susan, who has cut my hair forever, absolutely LOVES Halloween, so she and the two other haridresser's there went all out and were standing out front flaggin cars down to stop. Ther location is a little off of the downtown square so not truly within walking distance for most of the tick or treaters, but they were working pretty hard to get cars to stop, and they looked awesome. We, of course, stopped by!

The 3 Bling-A-Tiers working hard to pull traffic in!

The 3 Bling-A-Tiers

Tristan and Parker were less than interested in the Bling-a-tiers and preferred to find rocks to throw

My attempt to get Tristan to sit on the front steps and take a picture..best I could get

After visiting the Bling-A-Tiers, we ran by Daddy's work (no pictures of that) and then headed to some friend's house to go trick or treating and hit up their neighborhood Halloween party. Tristan and Parker had a great time trick or treating, although Tristan was quite lazy about the whole thing. He had no problem running up to houses, spitting out the words "trick or treat" and then "thank you" after receiving candy, but then he immediately ran back to the sidewalk to get in the stroller to be pushed to the next house. It was all quite ridiculous...he would have made it to the next house faster if he would have just run straight there!

Parker, on the other hand, wanted to run free. But, he kept running back to any "joke" decoration within eyesight! Once we got him distracted from the big "jokes" he trick or treated pretty well with big boys, but I don't think he totally got the concept down...he kept giving his candy back to the people at the doors. Who knows, maybe he did know what he was doing, he doesn't really like candy afterall. Although, he did discover tonight that he really likes popcorn balls and grape lollipops, he held on tight to those!

Tristan's friend, Knox, posing with his front yard decor

Heading out to the first house

Knox and Tristan loading up on candy

Parker following his big brother

Tristan and Knox patiently waiting

Yep, Parker was fascinated with this "joke" and kept trying to return to it!

Parker catching up to the big boys

Daddy and Parker

One of the last houses

The last one...that's all the candy for the cowboy and policeman!

After trick or treating and spending some time playing with the neighborhood kids, we tookt he kiddos over to Victor's mom's house to trick or treat, which is where Parker discovered his love of the grape loillipop, and Tristan got to eat 3 or 4 pieces of candy within 2 seconds!

Parker and his sucker!

Parker and Daddy

Well, that was our Halloween in a nutshell, hope everyone had as much fun as we did!

Bad Blogger

I know, I have been a bad blogger lately...just can't seem to get caught up, ever!!! We have had so much going on lately with selling the house, looking for a new house/plans, Tristan's birthday party, getting ready for Halloween and our trip to Disney, not to mention all the day to day things that go on around here...

Parker is growing like a weed and is truly a toddler now, no more little baby, although he still acts like it! He is so stuck like glue on me it is hard to get anything done because he won't go to anyone else other than Victor, who is at work most of the time. He has started to become more picky about his foods and is not so receptive to trying new things...oh joy, another picky kid. But, along with the little things that he does that driv eme absolutely insane, he has developed quite a few lovable new habits, like saying "hi" with a big grin when I walk into his room in the morning, making silly faces and laughing at himself, showing off his belly button, head, ears, and eyes when asked, giving hugs and kisses (he is not as an affectionate of a child as Tristan), and so much more!

Tristan has also been growing...such a big boy now, and definitely acting like it! His speech and vocabulary are tremendous and there's pretty much nothing he can't say, or won't! He's 100% potty trained, even at night (of course we have a couple of daytime accidents here and there). He loves school, and comes hom every week with a new song to sing, some of his favorites include "Wheels on the Bus", "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "If You're Happy and You Know It". All the he has his occasional meltdowns, is sometimes aggressive play, and other things that put more gray hair on my head, he really has been a good little guy lately...he understand so much mroe and the whole being able to communicate back and forth seems to have made life so much easier, for him and me!

I will be posting pictures from Tristan's birthday party we had yesterday sometime this week, but I'll leave you with these random pictures to tide you over till then!

Tristan showing off his excitement after hopping into his new bed!

Shpwing Daddy some love for putting together his "big boy" bed...no more toddler bed!

Fireman hat, underwear and a guitar = a future rock star!

Posing in his new shirt wear for western day at school

Playing at school

At Daddy's work

Parker, getting into mischief, as always...

Trying to get himself out

Tristan at the Comal County Fair

He loved this ride!

And this one

Hehehehe, too cute

Parker on the other hand, was not as amused by his stroller "ride"

Parker, always imitating Tristan

I catch him quite often doing this

Tristan giving Shamu a huge hug!

Family picture minus Daddy

Family picture minus Mommy...one of has to be the one taking the pictures!

Hook 'Em Horns!!!

Another win for Texas against OU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next year I'm watching the game in person!!!!!!

"Seriously, It's Time to Go Inside Now"

I feel like I am always telling my boys this, but they constantly want to be outside. What is it about kids and the great outdoors??? Personally, I prefer the nice cool A/C and comfy couches inside the house rather than the hard pavement and the always hotter than it "should be" weather outside, but what's a Mom going to do?

End up outside, of course...and if we're going to be outside, I'm at least going to snap a few pics!

Parker heading over to "his" bike

Tristan, about to throw something...as always!

It's always the little things that amaze him...this twig (or whatever it is) was his best friend for like 30 minutes!

Close up!

Silly boy

He finally broke that twig thing

Parker, deciding to walk the rocks, just like he sees his big bro do

And jump off, just like brother

Found an airplane

His "say cheese" smile...lovely isn't it???

His GQ pose

The best way to watch what your brother is doing is by standing on top of seat on top of three wheels...yep, that's completly safe!

Loves to do this...maybe because he knows it is slowly turning my hair gray

Tow peas in a pod

Maybe...

Maybe my boys resemble each other a little bit...when Victor saw this picture he thought he could see some similar features, what do you think??

Wrestle Mania Live At The Kadish House!!!!

Okay, so for those of you moms (and dads) out there who aren't parents to 2 boys, 18 months apart, here's what you are "missing" out on!!!

And, as you scroll through these pictures, please don't worry too much for Parker, he actually has quite a bit of fun during the almost nightly "wrestle mania" sessions!!!

"Hello and welcome to the nightly broadcast of Kadish Wrestle Mania. Tonight we have two young talented wrestlers joining us, the Buff Blazer (aka Tristan) and Napalm Buttermilk (aka Parker). Both of these little guys can move and squirm with the best of them, so let's get ready to rumble!!!!!!!"

"Early on in the match Napalm Buttermilk is pinned down by the Buff Blazer"
"But Napalm Buttermilk quickly gets free, and flashes the Buff Blazer a quick little smile"

"Oh, look at that jaw push by Buttermilk, it's surely over now"

"Oh no, look at that, the Buff Blazer has come back, he's got Buttermilk pinned down now"

"But somehow Buttermilk has managed to get free"

"But, not for long, here comes the upside down foot kick from the Buff Blazer"

"Looks like it's going to be a tie tonight folks, Napalm Buttermilk and the Buff Blazer have both given up from exhaustion"

Wrestler names courtesy of http://www.wrestlingname.com/ Check out your own pro wrestler name!!!

My Eating Machine

Have I mentioned that Parker likes to eat???

Seriously, this kid is going to live up to the "going to eat you out of house and home" phrase! If Parker is not sleeping or running around exerting more energy in 10 minutes than I have for the whole day, then he's EATING...maybe that's why he has so much energy?!?!?!?!

When he gets upset about something and won't calm down, all I have to do is offer him a little snack and he's as happy as can be. As soon as he wakes up in the morning he drinks his milk, but the second after he polishes that off, he heads to the kitchen (blankets in tow...my very own Linus) and goes straight to the cabinets, points his finger up and says "bowl". And of course, I oblige his one word request that I know means to fill up his bowl with cereal (Corn Pops are his fave) and he carries it to the living room and begins to chow down. Sometimes he decides he wants more, at which point he goes back to the cabinet points and says "more". He also loves to go to the pantry and pull out exactly what he wants to eat and bring it to me.

He is definitely a more adventurous eater than Tristan has ever been, but he still has own peculiarities and won't try everything, but lots more than his picky brother! Funny thing is that he doesn't seem to like any of Tristan's favorite foods, like bananas or turkey...true opposites!

I recently discovered a new love for him...ketchup. He LOVES the stuff, especially on his chopped steak/hamburger meat or just licking it straight off his finger, which majorly grosses me out! He also loves to sit in his chair while he is eating and throw his fork or spoon, put his hand over his mouth, and say "uh-oh", all while looking at me with his giant eyes. Yes, I know it sounds cute, but when it happens at least 10 times at every meal the cuteness begins to wear off, lol!

I guess I can't complain because at least he does eat well, even if I do have to fetch utensils the whole time. Hopefully he will grow out of his food allergies soon and he willbe able to enjoy even more yummy stuff!

Enojying some corn on the cob at Rudy's...corn is one of his faves!

Tristan's New Gal

You may have remembered my post a few months back about Tristan's love for his friend Katie at school last year...well, apparently a new school year brings a new love interest!!! This year it is Emma. He's actually known Emma for awhile but this year they are in the same class and he just can't get enough of her!

Apparently, they are always hugging and kissing at school, so much so that the gymnastics teacher who comes out to the school on Tuesdays even mentioned it to me when we saw her at Gymnastics Open Gym on Monday. My little boy is already a ladies man that the teachers are having to keep an eye out for!

Here are a few pictures Emma's mom sent me of the two of them at the end of this summer...

Showing each other some love

Kisses for Emma

And big hugs too (the only reason Tristan is naked down to his skivvies was that his clothes had got wet outside at playgroup that day so while they were drying off he ran around like this!)

Time for Some Video!!!

As promised in an earlier post, I captured some video of Tristan singing his favorite new song from school, "Wheels On The Bus". And, I happened to get his second favorite song as well, "Happy Birthday"...now, the only reason this probably ranks in his favorites is because he has heard it so much recently. We have been to 10 birthday parties in 5 weeks! But, I guess it was good practice for him since he was able to sing me happy birthday this past Saturday and it was music to my ears!

Tristan singing "Wheels On The Bus"

"Wheels On The Bus" again, but this time in fast forward!

Tristan singing "Happy Birthday" to his friends

Mommies Are Tough

The following is an article I saw online at FOX Sports, written by Mark Kriegel...I think all the mommies out there will appreciate this, especially since it was written by a man!

The beginning of the NFL season inaugurates a de facto debate at the watercooler, or thereabouts: who's the toughest guy you saw this weekend?

Tom Brady? Maybe.

Richard Seymour? If I'm the Patriots, I wish I never let him go.

But I want to run something back here, an athlete whose virtues were lost in the news cycle, woefully unacknowledged by the first week of pro football. Turns out the toughest guy isn't even a guy. She isn't even a football player.

Kim Clijsters. Yes, that's right. The U.S. Open champion, mommy.

Look, I've been on the field and seen, no, felt, the concussive hits up close. I've been ringside for the most brutal knockouts. But I've also been in the delivery room. It's like the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" — except it goes on for hours.

I'm a devout believer in the miracle of birth, which, like most miracles, is a test of faith.

Happens the same every time. The nurse says, "There it is. See?"

And the guy says, "Where?" All the while thinking: "Are you ------- kidding me? No way that's getting through there."

No one should ever come back from that kind of physical trauma. No one.

Now you want me to weep because Brett Favre got his shoulder scoped? Please.

Favre had the trainer from Minnesota flying out to give him pep talks and shoulder rubs. New mothers are sent home, still wounded, and left to deal with prolonged sleep deprivation and psychiatric torture that would've shamed the most sadistic masters at GITMO.

Which brings me back to Kim Clijsters, who has an 18-month-old daughter named Jada, winning the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

I know other athletes have done extraordinary things after giving birth. There are those crazy distance runners, and Dara Torres and Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes, to name a prominent few. Still, with another NFL season now begun, the attributes celebrated by the TV announcers like John Madden were best displayed by Clijsters.

There goes your week's toughest ballplayer. Turns out Clijsters is the first mother to win a Grand Slam since Yvonne Goolagong won at Wimbledon in 1980. But she's also the first unseeded woman to win the Open, and she only had to defeat both of the Williams sisters to do it.

As comebacks go, I'll take that over Brady's knee and Favre's shoulder.

Anyone who's witnessed the metamorphosis — from woman to baby mama — would tell you the same: they're tougher than we are.

One of the cutest faces you've ever seen!

My "little baby" turned 16 months old last week, and I seriously think he gets cuter and cuter every day! Victor likes to joke that he was a little scary looking when he was first born, but he sure is cute now...I know, it sounds horrible, but I think he means it in a complimentary way...Parker was just really swollen when he first came into this world, guess that's what happens when a 22 inch, 9 pound baby is all squished up like a ball in his mommy's tummy!

Anyhow, just wanted to share a few recent pictures of Parker since I haven't posted much lately, for which there is a good reason...I still haven't got a new "diaper bag camera" to replace the one Parker threw in the potty, and I don't like to haul around my big camera from place to place. But don't worry, I think a replacement is coming soon since my birthday is this weekend, so the days of blog posts with tons of pictures will soon resume! Enjoy these few for now and check back soon for lots of new posts, with lots of pictures, hopefully!

Things I Love About My Babies

1. That Parker almost always wakes up happy.

2. That Parker loves to blow "farts" on anything. I often hear him first thing in the morning making this sound by blowing on the top ledge of his crib!

3. That Parker throws everything (pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, pacifiers) out of his crib once he wakes in the morning or from a nap (must have learned this from big brother since he did it too!)

4. That Parker always gives open mouth kisses

5. That Parker copies everything Tristan does

6. That Tristan will go up to Parker and kiss him for no reason whatsoever.

7. That Tristan tries to reprimand/discipline Parker, which he usually gets in trouble for doing but it's still cute! I often hear Tristan saying "no Carker, that's Mommy's" when Parker has something of mine and next thing I know Tristan has taken it from him and brought the object to me.

8. That Tristan cracks himself up, all the time...the loudest laugh you have ever heard.

9. How animated Tristan is with his facial expressions.

10. That when Tristan does something to Parker that he shouldn't, he says "sorry Carker" within seconds of doing it or sometimes while he's doing it...in his mind if he says sorry then all is well!

11. That both of my kids always applaud for themselves. Parker loves to throw his diaper out in the garage and as soon as he throws it and closes the door, he stops and claps, then he's on his way. Tristan appluads for himself after he eats something he doesn't noramlly eat, and then expects me to applaud for him too!

12. That Tristan tells me "good shot mommy" when I shoot the basketball in the hoop" or "try again Mommy" when I miss!

13. That Tristan loves to cuddle up in bed, usually with Daddy, but when Daddy's gone, he comes to Mommy.

14. That Tristan says "hold Mommy" or "hold Daddy" when he really wants Mommy or Daddy to hold him!

15. That if you ask Tristan about something he did earlier in the day or the week, then he acts out what happens and can repeat what he said at the time. Funny example: he had a potty accident at the gym daycare during his first week of potty training and when I went to get him out of the daycare they told me about his accident. I then asked him if he had an accident to which he crouched down, looked at the floor, grabbed his shorts, and said "oh no, what happened, help"...apparently this is exactly what he did when he had the accident!

16. That Parker loves to go into Tristan's room while he's asleep. He heads off to Tristan's room and turns around to see if I'm coming after him and has the most mischievious smile you've ever seen! (I may not actually love keeping him out of Tristan's room while he's napping, but I do love that smile!)

17. That Parker now knows when we go somewhere he likes and gets excited. When I pulled up to the gymnastics place the other week and went to get him out of the car, he immediately pulled his pacifier out of his mouth threw it at me, and pretty much got himself unstrapped as soon as I clicked the buttons on his seat and started pointing at the door! He's actually done this little routine for awhile now, but I still think it's cute that he gets so excited!

18. That both of kids LOVE to get on the ride-on toys and chase each other around the house and race up and down the hallway.

19. That when I say "1,2,3" Parker follows it with "go"...I guess he's pretty much heard this phrase his whole life since I always say it to Tristan for one thing or another and Tristan is always counting himself off to do something! Also, as soon as he gets dressed for the day, he heads to the door and yells "go, go"!

20. That Tristan is such an affectionate, lovey child. He hugs and kisses me, Victor, his grandparents, his friends, and just about anyone he feels comfortable around, all the time!!! Today, his teacher told me that he wouldn't stop kissing all the girls in class...and his kisses are quite involved, he grabs your face, pulls it to his and smooches you right ont he lips for at least 5 seconds!!!

It's September and that means back to school!!!!!!!!

Last Tuesday was Tristan's first day back at school (aka Mom's Day Out)! He had been talking about school for the last couple of weeks, constantly repeating that he wanted to see his friends and every time we drove past he would yell out "there's my big blue school!"...the school isn't really blue but the tarp that covers the front playground is blue and I guess that is what he was really focusing on!

The Thursday before school started up we had meet the teacher night and Tristan was the first child in the door to school and the last one to leave his classroom, he was so excited! We got to meet his new teachers, check out the bathroom (a very important thing to Tristan at this age, gotta see the potty!), find his cubby in the room, and of course, play with the toys. His class, the 2 year olds, has 2 teachers and 12 kiddos, 8 of which are boys...I feel sorry for those teachers!!!

He's one of the oldest kids in his class since his birthday is only 2 months after the September 1st cut off, so I am hoping and praying that he behaves and is nice to all the other (younger) kids. Although, if he doesn't behave, I have my very own little spy for who can fill me in on all the daily happenings. Tristan's little friend, Kinsley, is in his class this year and after the first day of school her mommy asked her what she did at school, to which Kinsley replied that they played, sang songs, ate lunch, took a nap, all the normal stuff but added in one other piece of info that my son neglected to tell me when I asked him how school was that day. Kinsley told her mommy, "Tristan got in trouble" and her mommy naturally asked "why?", to which she answered "he pushed" and then her mommy asked "who did he push?" to which she, in all her 2 year old wisdom answered, "somebody"!

After hearing this story from Melissa, Kinsley's mommy, I asked Tristan if he got in trouble at school and he answered yes, like it was no big deal. I guess he just left that part when I had asked him how his day was! But, I am happy to report that he did not get in trouble on Thursday...we'll see if he can keep it up!

So, when he's not getting in trouble for pushing at school, he's really busy learning. The kids go to gymnastics, music, children's church, fine arts, play outside, do arts and crafts, have story time, eat lunch and take naps....busy, busy busy! After his first day at school, he came home and went back to sleep (I had to wake him from his nap at school to leave), and he slept another 2 hours. He never ever did that last year!

My favorite thing from school this week has been listening to Tristan singing " The Wheels on the Bus", a song they learned during music time on Tuesday...he sings it complete with hand gestures and all. It is so cute, I am really going to try to capture it on video this week. I can't wait to see what this year of school brings for him and am excited to see him growup into my big 3 year old!!!

Here's a few pics from his first day!

Backpack on (sort of) and ready to head out the door!

Wondering if Mommy was going to let him take the sticker off hi new shirt to school with him..nope!

Way more proud of the sticker than anything else that morning!

Closest shot of him with his backpack and lunch box as I could get

Standing by Mommy's car, waiting to go inside

Making himself at home with the toys in class...one great thing abotu school is that he can play with the play kitchen, which he loves and doesn't have at home because "he's a boy, and boy's don't need kitchens" (Victor)

Hilarious!!!

This picture cracks me up...Tristan enjoying a little bit of light reading while doing his thing on his Elmo potty!!!!

Beachy "Vacation"

So, as always, I am a little behind in getting these pictures posted on here, but that seems to be the story of my life right now, and probably for the next few years! At the end of July we took the kids down to the coast for a mini beach vacation. I had been dying to get the kids out on the beach at least once this summer, so after a little bit (or maybe a lot) of nagging to my "not-a-huge-beach-fan" of a husband, we headed down to the Corpus Christi area for a two days.

By some struck of luck I happened to find the one area of the Texas coast that is like an actual beach...aka. great sandy beach, nice blue water, plenty of area for the kids to play, not what you usually think of when you think of the Texas coast! I know some of you may not believe me about this magical find and I would love to prove it tou skeptical perople out there, but unfortunately I don't have a picture, but for a very good reason, which I will get to in a minute.

Anyways, on the last Sunday morning of July we packed up Victor's truck and headed down to Corpus, a driv ethat should take about three hours from where we live. Naturally, it took us closer to 5...first, we had to head back to the house because we forgot Victor's hat, we had to drop something off at my parents, then I needed a breakfast taco, next we ran into a funeral procession, and that was all before we left town. Once we were finally ont he road, it didn't get much better...Parker, who fell asleep during all of the in-town running around woke up as we were driving though San Antonio, only to need his diaper changed. Naturally we stopped to do so, and at this point we unknowingly dropped his "lovey" out of the car. And since we were stopped I decided I might as well giv ehim his milk, which he drank, only to choke on a few minutes down the road and spit up all over himself. So, one more stop, on the side of the road, to clean him up.

Then we were off, crusing down to the coast, both kids wide awake! I had planned on both kids sleeping the whole time down there but neither obliged, Parker because he had already taken that little cat nap and Tristan, who knows why! About an hour and a half into our drive they both finally fell asleep, only to awake when we stopped at WalMart in Corpus for me to go buy Parker a new "lovey" seeing as how I wasn't sure he was going to sleep at th hotel without one. Luckily, he's not too picky about his loveys, as long as the are soft and/or silky, he's a happy camper, and Carter's made the perfect thing!

So, after a little bit of confusion on where our hotel actually was, we arrived at the beach. By this time it was mid afternoon so all we had time to do was get checked in, check out the beach from a distance and get something to eat. We got into our hotel room and were trying to get settled when we heard Parker playing in the bathroom...normally not a big deal, but he happened to have my camera. It was in the potty and he was looking quite innocent when we ran into the bathroom. The camera was ruined, hence the reason for no pictures of the beach. Fortunately, he did not have my big, expensive camera, but instead my small Sony that I used to carry everywhere, so it wasn't a complete disaster. I did bring my big camera on the trip as well, which I used to take th epictures you see below but I didn't want to take it down to the beach for fear of it getting salt and sand in it and ruining it too, so no wactual pictures on the beach. I was extremely upset about the no pictures on the beach situation, but am just going to have to make up for it next year (because I am planning on making this an annual trip for us).

Even with the loss of my camera we still had a good trip and the kids had a blast on the beach the next day. Tristan searched for seasheels, chased birds, ran in and out fo the waves, sat on Mommy's lap as the waves gushed up to us, went deep out into the waves with Daddy and all in all had a great time. He literally stayed on the beach all day, fromt he minute we finished breakfast until the time we went back to the room to clean up for dinner!

And don't think Parker wasn't right in the middle of the beach fun too. He loved the huge sandbar area because he could run up on the beach and back down, fall down to his knees inthe shallow water and do it all over again. He went everywhere on the beach, laughing and playing the whole time. I REALLY wish I had pictures of their expressions, because it was priceless! Parker even got a little nap in laying on top of Daddy under our cabana area, while Mommy and Tristan played.

After all day at the beach we ate at the hotel restaurant and listened to the "live entertainment", aka. some guy playing guitar and singing who was definitely not getting a record deal any time soon, but Tristan seemed to enjoy him! Then we had to hit the hay, that beach and sun wore us out! The next day we packed up and headed to the State Aquarium on our way out of town, but the kids weren't too interested...they just wanted to get int he car, sleep and get home. So, after about an hour there, we headed out and both kids slept pretty much the whole way home!

Enjoy the non-beach pictures I happened to get of our beach vacation!

I thought we were off to a good start when we left the house and Parker fell asleep...

See how happy I was...

And Tristan too!

Being oh so silly...that's a bucket not a hat, silly!!

And then all the chaos ensued and we started the typical family drive with all the stops

But silence came

Even if was only for a short while, it was still silence!

Parker testing out his new sleeping quarters...he was put in this crib to stay confined for a few minutes, shortly after the potty incident!

Mommy and Parker at dinner

Tristan and his cheesey grin, as always

Mr. Serious

Okay, not sure what he's doing here...probably shoving food in his mouth!

What's that face for Parker?

That's better...my silly baby!

Just a shot of my beautiful little boy!

And now his "bug eyed sprite" impression

Daddy and Tristan strolling down by the water...downtown Corpus, not nothe nice beach are aI was talking about

Tristan and Daddy trying to not get blown away!

Mommy and Tristan

The boys by a pirate ship

At dinner the next, after a day at the beach

Yep, a tad bit of sunburn on those cheeks

My three boys

Okay, just had to post this...so typical, Tristan doing his own thing drinking his lemonade, Daddy smiling, and Parker with that face

My big boy, a little sunburned too

His faces crack me up

Family shot

Just Daddy and Tristan, at that beer in Victor's hand...lol!

Tristan really getting down to the guitar playing

He even added a little jumping in his dance routine

Uh oh, where's Tristan go?

Mommy and Tristan at the aquarium

Tristan watching the dolphin show from the underwater, air conditioned viewing area

Here's what he saw up close

Daddy and Tristan scoping things out

Just Parker

A giant tortoise that only I seemed to be interested in, the kids could have cared less

Daddy and Tristan checking out the dolphins

Here's what they were looking at

Right before we left...Tristan's face sums it up, it was time to go!!!

Brothers For Sure!

So, my babies may not look very much alike (or at all!), but they are definitely brothers, and are really starting to act like it! Over the last 2 months the interaction between my two kiddos has increased 10 fold!

They run around all over the house together, chasing, and purposely running into, each other on their ride on toys, they fight over and steal toys from each other and are always competing for attention! Tristan is definitely aware that he is the older brother and loves to "discipline" Parker. If Parker has something he shouldn't, perhaps a TV remote, he takes it away from him and tells him "no" and then brings the object to me. He's even tried to spank Parker before...jsut lovely!

But he also likes to lend a helping hand to his little brother. They both love to climb up onto the arm of the couch, using the Sit and Spin as a stepstool, and then jump onto the couch from the arm, but Parker isn't quite tall enough to pull himself up over the arm without a little push from his brother, which Tristan is happy to oblige. I have tried to captur ethis on video a couple of time sbut have not had any success thus far because whenever the video camera comes out, all these two kids want to do is get their hands all over it to see themselves!

Parker loves to copy Tristan's every move and just can't seem to get enough of him. Tristan can't even take a nap in peace anymore because Parker bolts into his room and starts rummaging through the toys and stealing stuffed animals off Tristan's bed. Parker watches Tristan with such interest...he analyzes his every move, memorizes it and then acts it out. He rides Tristan's tricycles, cruises around ont he ride-ons and lifts his legs after he gets going really fast the same way Tristan does, tries to jump when Tristan jumps, grabs his guitar and dances when Tristan does...he really doe slove his big brother and wants to be just like him!

They are so funny to watch and things are really starting to get interesting aorund here, and I am sure it will only get more so as they grow up! Enjoy the pictures.

Big brother showing little brother some love

My two completely opposite looking kids

Parker would rather "drive" than stop to pose...just give me a little more time and I'll have him smiling and saying "cheese"

Uh oh, crash

Choking, uh, I mean hugging, his little brother

Parker really wanting Mommy to come save him

Tristan lending a helping hand

That's a lot of weight to push around!

Yep, still gotta work on Parker posing for pictures, Tristan has it down pat!

Ready for some racing action

Opposite directions

Silly boys

I'm sure Parker was thoroughly enjoying this "head massage" from Tristan

Okay, score one for Mom, both are looking!

Just big brother

And little brother

Oooppps, somebody took a spill...look at that face

Getting ready to roll, totally serious

I think Tristan is kissing Parker, but upon a second look, he may also be attempting to bite him...hhhhhmmmmnn

Much better!

Quality time (lasted about 5 minutes ) of coloring

Little brother "forced" to color a little longer since he can't get up out of his seat, but doesn't look too upset about it!

Ready for School!

I guess Tristan is ready to go back to school because here's what he told me this morning, completely out of the blue!

"Mommy, I want to go to school"
"I like school"
"I want to see my friends"

It was so sweet to hear come out of his little mouth but also made me want to cry a little bit. His speech and vocabularly are growing daily to where we are having actual conversations and that makes me realize just how much he is growing up and then the fact that he says "my friends" just gets me (don't know why, just does!).

A snapshot of my growing boy from a few weeks ago

My Digital Handiwork

Just wanted to post my latest Photoshop creation. I made this invitation for my friend's son's birthday party; she is doing an under the sea theme but accenting with polka dots so I went with that and ran. She printed the invite on a pearlized paper and it turned out super cute! I think I am learning more and more as I play around in Photoshop, but would definitely love to take a class one day in the future...

Invite Front (blacked out their address for safety!)

Invite Back

15 Month Check Up

I took Parker in for his 15 month well child check up and all is good in "Parker-land"! He was so good at his appointment and didn't even really cry when he got his shots...I told the nurse that his big brother has probably inflicted more pain on him (by accident most of the time) than any shot could ever do!

He's on track developmentally. He knows his name, can take his shoes off (which he does all the time!), can say a few words (more, up, go, mama, dada), starting to learn his body parts, follows simple directions (can throw his cup in the sink after he's done with it, picks up a toy if directed to), walks and runs, jumps (can get both feet off the ground on the trampoline and almos there ont he floor), and so much more. Seems like these days, he does whatever Tristan does...sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes not!

My only concern that I mentioned to the doctor was that he eats ALL THE TIME. His appointment was at 9 this morning so he had 8 ounces of milk when he woke up at 7:30 and a whole bowl of oatmeal plus some corn pops before we left. While at the doctor's office he polished off at least 1/3rd a sleeve of Ritz crackers and a ton of Cheerios, all before we left at 10 a.m. I told his doctor that I thought maybe he had a tape worm, and I wasn't kidding! He eats so much but isn't overweight by any means, just normal sized (or at least in my mind he is). But apparently he is growing like a weed and his body is just trying to keep up with his growth and all his nonstop activity!

Here's my big boy's official stats and a picture I snapped the other day (sorry about all the flash in the picture).

Height: almost 34 inches (99th percentile)
Weight: 28 pounds, 1 ounce (89th percentile)
Head: 19 inches (79th percentile)