Funny Faces

Day 137 (5.17.10) - Totally random picture but I had to post it since it was taken by my budding photographer Joey! I taught him how to use my camera tonight and he just loves taking pictures. He is so funny doing it too - he says "say cheese mama, say cheese dada.............click!" Yeah he actually says "click" as he takes the picture too.

First Sleepover

Day 130 (5.10.10) - We "attempted" to let Joey and Jacob have their first sleepover. Both Nick and Alex were coincidentally out of town for work for a few days so I spent the night with Kelly to keep each other company. We had a great evening until we got to the sleeping part and Jacob wanted Joey out of his bed! Oh well, we had a great time anyway. Here are the boys watching a movie and eating popcorn.

Splashing Around

Day 125 (5.5.10) - It was a beautiful day today. The kids and I spend the day at VJ and Melissa's house. Since it was so hot and sunny out, Melissa took out the water table and the sprinklers for the kids to play outside. Joey and Ili had fun but Miss Ruby had a BLAST! She splashed and splashed around the water table, crawled head on into the sprinkler and just drank lots of gross water from the table. She was so happy - just look at her face!

Baby Naming

Day 122 (5.2.10) - Today we celebrated my newphew Andrew at his baby naming ceremony. I just love that we are close enough to our family that we can celebrate every occasion with them big and small. Here is Nick's brother Alex and his beautiful family. I didn't get very many pictures today because it is really hard to when I have my hands full with my own kids but I thought this was a sweet moment of big brother Jacob giving his little bro Andrew a kiss.

Happy Anniversary

Day 120 (4.30.10) - Today Nick and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. Well, we didn't exactly celebrate, it was actually just a typical day in our crazy lives. One day (hopefully in the near future) we'll have to truly celebrate ALONE. Crazy to think about how our lives have morphed in the last five years. We've gone from a young couple dating (we've been together for 11 years now), to a married couple and now parents. Truth be told, we hardly spend any time alone these days which is something we definitely need to work on but with 2 young kids, we're just trying to enjoy the chaos. Not only do I love him more every day but the kids absoloutely adore him. They really love their dad and apparently he is really funny - you can tell by the look on Joey's face.

Andrew

Day 113 (4.23.10) - I have lots of cute pictures from today but this little face is the cutest....my newest nephew Andrew. He is not quite 6 months old and he is pretty much the same size as Ruby! He's going to be a big boy. I thought he really liked me but apparently he is a flirt and smiles like this for everyone!

Nick's Home!

Day 112 (4.22.10) - Nick got home today at about 10 pm. He drove 2,500 + miles and stopped at the diner to pick up 2 taylor ham, egg and cheese sandwiches to bring home. Look at how happy he is. He hasn't shaved in over 2 weeks and is still representing San Diego with his chargers shirt. But yes, he's home! The kids haven't seen him yet - tomorrow morning is going to be like Christmas!

Chez Lao

Day 111 (4.21.10) - The kids, mom and I spent the day at my brother VJ and Melissa's place in the Poconos. Melissa is the best host and we always eat good and PLENTY at their house. Here she is - always with a smile, her "you had me at merlot" apron, and a delicious plate of food ready to be served. For lunch we had salmon with a sort of walnut vinigarette sauce, broccoli rabe, asparagus and potatoes (also not pictured is steak). After this delicious lunch you better believe we also stayed for dinner too!

Lolo and Ruby

Day 110 (4.20.10) - Since we arrived in NJ Joey has been really excited to see everyone. Ruby has been a bit more skeptial of all the new people she has been meeting and has been pretty clingy to me. We've been here almost a week now and every day since we've arrived, my dad would approach Ruby so he could carry her and every day she would turn away from him towards me. He would never push her, instead he would just say "that's ok, we'll try again tomorrow." Every day he would talk to her and he could make her laugh but she never wanted him to carry her. Well, today he put his arms out to her and wouldn't you know, she went to him. Yes she still looks around for her mama but looks like she is finally warming up to her Lolo.

Pals Forever

Day 106 (4.16.10) - Joey and his cousin Jacob had the sweeeetest reunion today. They really just love each other. As we arrived at their house Jakie was looking out the window waiting for us, just so excited. When I took Joey out of the car Jacob ran outside and Joey and Jacob just ran full speed at each other and gave each other the biggest hug. They played, they fought over toys, they cracked jokes that only each other could understand, took a bath, got their jammies on and layed in bed reading books before bed time. Joey was pretty comfy laying in Jacob's bed I joked that I would pick him up tomorrow. Here they are having fun in the bath.

Day 65 (3.6.10) - I obviously didn't take this picture - some stranger did. : ) But, I had to post it since family pictures are VERY rare. I think we only may hvae like 5 or so, ever! We spent the weekend in Palm Springs and took the Palm Springs Aerial tram up to the top of the mountain to play in the snow. I wish I had some fun pics of the kids in the snow but I wasn't feeling good so I hardly took any pictures the whole day. Oh well! We all look cold and I'm not sure what Ruby thinks about all of this, lol.

Valentine's Day!

Day 45 (2.14.10) - We don't usually celebrate Valentine's Day but Nick and I did get to go out on a date last night for some alone time. So today we had a family fun day. We tried to snap a couple of pictures of the kids literally on the way out the door to a party. Of course Ruby would NOT sit still (as usual) so I jumped in to hold her and we got this great picture. I wasn't planning to be in any of the photos but was so glad we got this great capture. I was posing alone with Ruby when Joey jumped on my back so we were all laughing. I obviously did not take tihs picture, Nick was the man behind the camera.

Sibling Love

Day 35 (2.4.10) - This is not a very good picture (quality wise) but this was just too sweet of a moment to not share. Ruby NEVER sits still but she snagged Joey's cup and that kept her still next to her big bro for a little while.

When I Grow Up...

Day 23 (1.23.10) - I couldn't decide what my picture for today would be so I'm posting two. Nick was preparing his dirtbike for a ride this weekend and Joey loves to "help" his dad with his "vroom, vroom, vroom."

Sick Baby

Day 22 (1.22.10) - Poor Ruby isn't feeling good and today we had to give her some breathing treatments with the nebulizer. She didn't like it at all but sat pretty still. This was the ONLY picture I took today because we only have one camera now and after I took my first picture the battery died! So, here it is.

Long Days In the Rain

Day 21 (1.21.10) - It's been raining hard for the last 4 days. When you're 2, lots of rain makes it a long day. I snapped this one of Joey as he was walking into the house after being at daycare all day. My little model was cranky, tired and uncooperative (hence the look on his face). The sun was almost completely down so it was tough to get good lighting but I think it looks ok. His outfit is pretty funny to me. It was only drizzling at the time but if it is wet out, he HAS to put his raincoat on, he HAS to have it buttoned, he HAS to have his hood on and he HAS to have his froggy rain boots on. He is all about a routine.

Nerd Alert

Day 19 (1.19.10) - It is typical for Nick and I to be sitting in front of our individual laptops in the evening and now Joey has is own "puter" and likes to join in. I set the camera up on a table and put the timer on to take this family portrait. Yeah, we're a bunch of nerds.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Day 18 (1.18.10) - It was a dreary, rainy day today. Unfortunately it is supposed to rain for the next few days. Our new house is right across the street from this really great park. That is wonderful on sunny days but on days like this it is just torture for Joey. He was looking out the window here talking about how we can't go to the park because everything is wet. Of course Ruby has to copy everything her big bro does so she has no idea what she is looking at, she is just trying to keep up.

Ruby Grace

Day 16 (1.16.10) - Sorry for the unoriginality of the subjects for my photos....life gets busy and especially with the kids. So here is another picture of Ruby. She is just so pretty and the camera loves her so I can't resist.

Puzzles

Day 7 (1.7.10) - We got a series of wooden puzzles from Joe for Christmas yesterday and tonight Nick, Joey and I spent lots of time taking them apart and trying put them all back together (one of them is still in pieces on our dining table). Here are my boys working on one of the puzzles. Joey really thought he was helping.

This picture is SOOC - it was dark in the room, but I used the 50 mm with a custom white balance and it seemed to have let enough light in. Love how easy it is to do a custom white balance on Nick's camera (the D200).

And just for fun, here they are in deep thought. hmmmmm.....

and finally - yay, we did it!