seriously...

have you ever seen anything sweeter than these two?
(that's nina for those of you who may not know her. she's my friend annie's little one and she's just about the cutest thing ever!)

Gus at the park

Signs of Summer - Part 2

Playing at the park: another tell-tale sign that summer has arrived. Max was thrilled to find such "huge" slides at this newly discovered park. Gus enjoyed the merry-go-round and loved trying to climb up the slide (more than he did going down it). The only bad thing was that most of the equipment was too hot to play on. Is it wrong to wish it was just a little cooler?

Signs of Summer - Part 1

Can it be true that summer is finally here? Indeed, it's true...and I've got proof: summer haircuts! I took the boys to U Village to get the cuts & they both did great. I was shocked how well Gus did, considering the first time I took Max there he cried super hard and had to sit on my lap. Gus went straight to the firetruck chair & never seemed even slightly concerned. After haircuts we enjoyed a snack outside by the fountain. I'm SO happy to have summer weather. Finally!

Gus is walking...

...can't you tell?

Gus Goes Green

For Gus' birthday party we decided to "go green" as much as possible. It actually worked quite well. We used real plates instead of paper, I made the cake topper & cup cake decorations out of felt (and kept them for future use), instead of streamers I made fabric party flags which will go in Gus' room, the party favors were monster buttons and a "make-your-own-monster" felt kit, packaged in paper bags for easy recycling. All in all, I think we at least cut down on typical party waste and got some cute decorations on top of it! Not bad.

Celebrating Gus

Our little Gus turned 1 this month...hard to believe! We celebrated over the weekend with a small party of family and friends. Gus had a blast. What a joy this little guy is. Take a look at the pictures below & you'll see what I mean. The kid just oozes happiness!




I put this last picture in despite its lack of open-mouthed joy because I think it's really cute!

Opening Day Starts with a BANG!

About a million bangs, actually. Yeah, there were fireworks after they announced every Mariner player and then a huge blast as they set out to "Play Ball!" What's the big deal, right? Nothing aside from the fact that Max is afraid, and by afraid I mean absolutely terrified, of fireworks. With every "BANG" and "BOOM" his hysterics reached new heights. Luckily I sent him on a hunt with Daddy to find a snack (who knew they had Auntie Annies at Safeco...Max's favorite snack), a drink and something funny to photograph which distracted him from the biggest blast at the end. Once the game started he warmed up to it quite a bit though. Gus did great. He just chilled on whoever's lap he happened to be on, taking in the sights. By the 4th inning the temperature had dropped at least 10-degrees and our kids were freezing so we bailed. We stepped outside the stadium just as it began to snow and it proceeded to dump on us right until we got to our car. Nice. All-in-all, not our most successful trip to the ballpark.



Our mellow fellow

Chillin' with Papa

A much more calm Max--thank you, Auntie Annes!

This is one tired kiddo.

Easter!

I was so unprepared for Easter this year. It just came so early that I was totally caught off guard. Saturday evening I raced to Target to get a couple things for the boys' baskets which were very uninspired this year, although Max got his "arm clock" (See post below) They seemed happy, so I guess that's what matters. I didn't even get them outfits. In fact, Sunday morning I suddenly thought 'hmm...I'd better see if I have anything for the boys to wear.' Luckily I was able to piece together a couple really cute ensembles. We went to morning service and then headed out to my parents' for an egg hunt (indoors) and family dinner. I think the kids had a good time. Goal for next year: plan ahead!

Monster Truck!

Apparently, Nintendo has a monster truck...who knew? We took the boys to see it when it made a pit stop at Nintendo before heading to the Tacoma Dome for the monster truck rally. Seriously, there are so many things I never thought I'd do, say or write before I had boys.

Gus soup and ice cream

Gus absolutely LOVES taking baths (which is a nice change from the scream-fest that is bath time with Mr. Max) and he'd probably play in there for hours if I'd let him. A favorite "toy" is my big wooden spoon. When Max caught him playing with it, he immediately ran and got his "scootle" (stool) and said he wanted to make Gus Soup. It was so cute.

Here's Max giving his soup a good stir:

Gus says, "Don't you cook me, big brother!"

On another note, we're potty training. After Max went poo-poo in the potty, he got to go to the ice cream shop. He looked like this:

Potty training is slow and tough, but Max is a trooper and is doing a great job. I can't believe I have to do this all over again with Gus!

As promised...

More Christmas photos: