Happy First Birthday, Justin!

Justin's 1 year stats and updates:

• 21 lbs, 15 oz and 30 inches long
• took 7 steps on his own!
• loves puffs - still. He chooses pasta over rice, baby puffs over cookies, and dried fruit over fresh fruit
• loves to throw balls and scream
• can crawl to Jack and scream "dada!" (and when he crawls to me it's a 50/50 if he says "mama" or "dada")
• loves to chase Colin and laughs hysterically at Colin's crazy faces and moves
• absolutely loves his bed - and has trouble sleeping anywhere else
• he's a toughie! Jack says that he can crawl of the couch, head first. He can keep his own with Colin, and he just brushes off little bumps here and there.
• Justin makes our family feel complete. Loving every second!

Colin (3 yrs), Justin (1 yr)

 We had the family over for dinner. (pork roast, mashed potatoes, house of prime rib salad, peas/carrots, and a kid menu)

 Colin made Justin these cupcakes for his birthday!

 We let him go at his birthday cupcake. He ate the sprinkles and frosting and threw away the rest.

 The cousins ran around the house all night, playing together. Amazing how much they've grown.

 Proud papa and mama!

 We love you so much, Justin!

Working Mama

For the last 6 years, I have worked with a great group of people in Housing, Residence Life & Greek Life at Case Western Reserve University. They've been through it all with me: marriage, house purchases, child #1, child #2, ups, downs, sideways, blizzards and heat waves. Before our trip to SF, they held a very sweet reception for me to say good-bye. I forgot to take pictures of everyone, but I did manage to get one with these two crazies. The three of us served on-call together for the last 4 years! Crazy, right?!

And after our SF trip, I went to work as Associate Director for Career Development, Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.  Had a great first day, but there's nothing like knowing the ins and outs of a familiar job. =) I wanted Jack to take a picture of me this morning, but I sped out of the house b/c I was running late. So instead, you get a picture of my first day of school shoes. (i love them! cute and comfy.)

Sunny San Francisco

Off we went to San Francisco for a week -- and it greeted us with sun, amazing weather, family, friends and oh so good food!

Far better than the 10 degree snowy weather that we escaped from in Ohio! "Mama, why do we have to de-ice the plane?" - Colin

 After a 5 hour flight, "Hello San Francisco!"

 "Hi-Bachan, come look out of the window. There are lots of houses." - Colin

 Auntie Lori with our other Hi-Bachan. The boys are so lucky to have TWO amazing great grandmas!!!

 Justin had a hard time sleeping on this trip. Luckily Auntie Lori and Bachan helped with night duty.

Me with Lin-Shao and Jill.

 With the wonderful weather, we took several trips to the playground in GGPark. We love Auntie Lori so much!

We met up with Billy, Monica, Anthony and Chloe at the Bay Area Discovery Museum and dinner. What a fabulous day! The boys loved playing in this water stream...

 Justin was soaked, so he spent the rest of the museum trip with no pants! Here he is with Cousin Chloe enjoying apple snacks.

 And a cousins bath after dinner...

 A family trip to Stow Lake where we fed ducks, and this time, we took the pedal boats out for a spin. =) Don't let this picture fool you -- I wasn't princess for too long. Jack sat in the back for awhile too!

 "Auntie Dana!" is how Colin greeted Dana every morning in Puerto Vallarta. And this trip was no exception. Thanks for a wonderful dinner!!

 And here's the family. (Justin is looking at Colin b/c Colin just stole his stroller.)

Thank you for a wonderful trip! We love you!!! (I was horrible with keeping up with pics on this trip. Lots more pictures on other cameras though. Hopefully I'll get them and re-post.)

Story week...

Colin put Justin in his room, locked and closed the door. Justin was in the room and Colin & I were out. I freaked out a bit while I was trying to get Justin out of the room. Before I knew it, Colin ran downstairs and put himself in timeout. I got Justin out and when we got downstairs, Colin said, "I'm so sorry Justin. I tried putting you to sleep. But I locked the door and you didn't sleep."
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Colin: S-T-O-P. That spells STOP. (as we are looking at a stop sign)
Me: YES! It does.
Colin: Why didn't you stop? you slowed down, but you didn't stop?
Me: Do I stop at STOP signs?
Colin: A little bit.
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Me: Colin, do you want to come to work with me and earn some money? (I had to go into work on Saturday to pack some boxes.)
Colin: Ok, I want money so I can buy a snack.
Me: You will only earn money if you listen to what I say and work hard.
Colin: Ok, then I want to buy a healthy snack at the museum when we are done.
(After we finish some work in my office, we head to the Children's museum. He surveys the entire snack table full of m&ms, cookies, crackers, fruit cups, gummies, etc)
Colin: I want the peach cup please.
Me: (in amazement) Out of all these snacks, you want the peaches?
Colin: yes, I want a healthy snack.
(side note: in our house, snacks fall in two categories: sugar snacks and healthy snacks. Popcorn falls in 3 categories: Aunt Natalie popcorn (airpopped), Daddy popcorn (microwave), Mommy popcorn (kettlecorn)
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At night, I allow Colin to watch 2 TV shows. He was watching his second one while I put Justin to sleep. I came downstairs, and found him sitting on top of a huge pile of blankets and pillows on the couch. Oddest thing ever. After the show ended, I was trying to look for the remote, and he stayed sitting, silent on top of his mountain. I finally started moving him and looking through the blankets. I found the remote on the very bottom of his mountain. He screamed and threw a tantrum when I found it and turned the TV off.
----
And on another night...
Colin: Please turn the TV off, I don't want my brain to turn to mush.
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Colin & Justin love playing together and chasing one another. We can tell that Justin absolutely loves chasing Colin all around the house, and they both love playing under tables and little corners. As most brothers do, they fight over toys and sharing. Jack & I are trying to enjoy every minute because they are both growing up so fast!

Week updates & Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Colin made us breakfast this week. This is what he pulled out of the kitchen for our breakfast. Pretty good, eh?

 Justin is enjoying his last bits of baby food. He still loves it, but we're transitioning to all table food this week.

Happy Birthday, Grandma! We had the family over to celebrate Grandma's birthday. Aunt Sandy made an awesome chocolate mousse cake. We're putting her in charge of dessert from now on. =)

 

 Lots of playing, screaming and jumping went on. But Brooke and Colin took a break to do their puzzles.

 Then after dinner, Colin wanted to do dishes. And Jack & I are all about empowering our children...

 Then he started screaming because he got water all over his pants. So he took his pants off and went back to work.

 And to finish the night, nothing better than playing games with cousins Sammy and Sarah.

Happy New Year from Washington DC!

We spent the New Year in DC visiting Aunt Natalie! Natalie had an itinerary for us (including a menu), and we loved every minute of it. Thank you for a wonderful trip! Trip highlights: seeing a dolphin show at the Baltimore Aquarium, enjoying the Rocknoceros New Years Eve concert, visiting the Great Falls of the Potomac River, seeing the Zoo Lights at the National Zoo, riding the Metro, driving tour of the National Mall, eating lots of delicious food, and having good family fun.

The walk to and from the Metro stop was longer than Colin expected, so he hitched a ride.

Natalie took the kids for a walk to the playground-- Colin in the baby stroller and Justin in the Bjorn. She's a pro!

The kids loved Rocknoceros... a great kids band. They did a countdown and apple juice toast!

 All of us at Great Falls, Potomac River.

 Natalie watched the kids while Jack & I went out on a date for New Years Eve! Look at us -- no kids!

 The National Aquarium in Baltimore is a MUST for kids. Justin loved every minute of it...

 Colin had plenty of hands-on activities, including touching this cockroach. GROSS. Yes, this person's job is to hold a cockroach and let kids touch it. And yes, Colin pet it, several times.

 The dolphin show was amazing! Huge hit...Colin came home and pretended to be a dolphin all afternoon.

 This is the good family fun that just can't happen over skype. Loved. Every. Minute.

Happy New Years everyone!! May 2011 bring everyone happiness, health and more family fun.