Jonah and the Whale Cake

How could I not make a "Jonah and the Whale" cake for his first birthday!? For Jack's 1st I had made a "Jack in the Box" cake, so I thought it would be funny to continue a "first name" theme. Yes, that is Jonah in the mouth of the whale. I laminated a small picture of him, and it worked out perfectly. I was pretty nervous, but ended up being happy with the results. And as you can tell, Jonah dug right it. We had a small celebration as a family and no one was more excited than Jack. His teachers at school told me after that Jack had been talking about Jonah's birthday for weeks! ha, ha What a supportive brother.

Baby, No More!

***WARNING -- There is a bit of gushing in here, so you might want to refrain if that sort of thing involuntarily makes your eyes roll!***
I seriously feel like in the past month or so, Jonah has transformed into this little boy! Where did my baby go??? He's about 11 1/2 months here and it's truly hard to believe that almost a full year has gone by since this sweet kid came into our lives. He absolutely idolizes Jack and Jack has completely exceeded my expectations as the older brother, always so nurturing and protective of Jonah. Just a few milestones to report: Jonah is in the process of getting his 16th tooth, yes you read that right! He is our little shark, boy am I glad the whole nursing thing is behind us! He's also been walking along all the furniture and this month took his first wobbly steps all on his own. He definitely knows mama, and dada, and uses them quite frequently, but just the other day we heard him call for Jack, it sounded more like ACK! It was very cute, and Jack was SOOO excited. We love you bubs, and thank Heavenly Father every day that your a part of our family.

Mother's Day

Here's a picture of me and my boys on Mother's Day. It was such a nice day for me, and I have to admit that ALL my boys did such a great job spoiling me. I awoke to breakfast, presents (including 3 variety of gossip mag's - awe yah!)and flowers. Although I tried to enjoy it all, I had to teach R.S. that day (anyone who's been there know's what I'm talking about!), so I fully couldn't relax and enjoy until that afternoon, but it was sooo worth the wait. Then to top it off, chef Nate made some BBQ ribs for dinner that were so grub! I feel like a lucky woman to be surrounded by so much love!

Spring Break

Over Spring Break Matt (my bro.) and Sarah and their 3 scrumptious kids (Mackenzie, Macy, and Noah) came to hang out for a couple days. First day we hit the city and got to do some touristy stuff. Here's all the kids on a trolley and then we headed to Pier 39 to check out the sea lions and ride the carousel. Then we stopped in Tiburon and had dinner at Tiburon Grill, which is one of the restaurants in Nate's company.... soooo good!! We had such a good time with them and wished they could've stayed all week!!

Look at Mr. Blue Eyes.... what a babe!

I'm posting this against my better judgement. haha Sarah and I joke that we've yet to take a good picture together.

Even the boys got to go on a "date".

These pic's just make me laugh...

"Hey guys! Don't play without us!!" Noah and Jonah we're pitifully watching Mac, Jack, and Macy in the backyard.


Ewww.... kissing cousins!

Come on, funny right?

The vixen, the rapper, and the dancer.

Look at those handsome eggs!

Ok, I know I'm a little biased, ok maybe a lot biased. But isn't that the right of a parent?? Here's our shots of the boys Easter morning. Jonah is now 10 1/2 months and Jack is 5 and 3/4. That 3/4 is VERY important around here. We had a great low key Easter. We weren't able to spend it with any family, but we did get together with our friends Heidi and Derek for dinner. The last picture is of Jack and their daughter Addie.

Rocky Seashore!

Last weekend we went on a family field trip with Jack's class to the Rocky Seashore. I kept calling it the beach (because it was) but learned quickly that it had only one name, "The Rocky Seashore". So I gave in, but insisted that it be pronounced with an Australian accent (the Wiggles influence, in case you were wondering). The Rocky Seashore was indeed very cool! And the kids of course knew exactly what everything was called while the parents were like, "That's a what?". In this first picture Jack is standing in front of a wall of mussels.



There were all kinds of starfish all over this beach, oops I mean Rocky Seashore.

If you look really, really, REALLY close, you can see a hermit crab in Jack hand.

These are sea anemones. They look like a bunch of rocks, but are all soft and squishy when you touch them. And when you squeezed them hard enough it would squirt water at you. The kids were lovin' that.

Weekend in Tiburon

Last weekend we were able to escape for a short while and enjoy a beautiful couple of days in Tiburon. For those of you who don't know, Tiburon is a penninsula in the bay north of San Francisco. Nate's company has a hotel there(where we crashed), as well as a yummy restaurant (where we ate a lot)!

Jack was lovin' climbing on all the rocks that line the shore there.

My boys...

Here is Blackie. Apparentely Blackie was a horse in Tiburon back in the 50's & 60's who did nothing but stand in this exact spot and look out on the bay and the Golden Gate bridge all day long. So loved, that now he's remembered by all with this statue.

Hey Firemen, Here I Come!

So on the way back to the hotel a firetruck passed us on it's way back to the fire house, and off took Jack after it. By the time we caught up with Jack at the fire house, he was already invited in for a tour and making himself at home.

He thought it was all very cool.

Paradise Cove

We headed out for this beach and a picnic on the first day. When we got there we realized we couldn't take Lucy because it was a state park and the ranger said we wouldn't be able to come in. Well, from the back seat, Jack rolls down his window and says to the ranger,(exact quote) "Let me tell you something. We have to bring Lucy, my dog, because we're having a picnic and I don't want the seagulls to eat my food!" He let out a good laugh and let us in... but we had to leave Lucy in the car.

Nate was showing Jack how to skip rocks... I don't think he quite got it.

Jonah chillin' on the beach.

Always good for a pose!

My Happy State

We have definitely learned that if you want to see this boy happy.... just take his clothes off. As a matter a fact, I think Jonah waits all day long for those moments when I'm changing his clothes and diaper at the same time so he can try to escape and go play in the buff! Which is exactly what happened on this night. I couldn't help but make it a photo opp because it was seriously the happiest I'd seen him all day long! I heard it's hereditary but... no comment.

Jack Jack or Jonah Jonah??

Thought this was too much of a coincidence to pass up...

Catch the Leprechaun!

I have awaken from my coma and am now ready to start blogging again! Ok, so I'm obviously kidding, but what can I say?? I just don't think cleaning the house, doing dishes, and changing diapers is what all ya'll want to hear about so I usually try to wait until something somewhat interesting has happened. And well, trying to catch a leprechaun was a first for me!! This was an assignment Jack got in school and from day one he was planning it all out. I think he drew up about a dozen different plans on paper, many of which would have been way more elaborate than what we ended up with! But this was the finished product, (yes there's chocolate gold coins inside that pot) and he was convinced this trap was gonna do the trick (since his teachers had told them that they've never caught one yet). On St. Patricks Day when the kids walked in the classroom it was very clear that leprechauns had been there because there was gold dust all over the floor, green footprints all over everyones traps and treats for them left in their cubby's. It was all very cute. And the they didn't even take the chocolate coins! Mom was excited about that. =)

I'm 8 months!

I can't believe it's true, but it is. And I'm convinced time goes by way too fast. But this is a great age. Last month Jonah started saying "Mama" and "Dada" and still prefers standing over laying or sitting. He's a funny kid and it's great to see at this young of an age that he has a sense of humor. But don't worry, he still sports his "eyebrow scrunch" to remind us he's not all play, he's got a serious side too. =)