2nd Memorial Day BBQ

What a great day! A long walk in the wagon in the morning, went swimming again before lunch, had some good playtime in our playroom, then over to our friends' house for a BBQ where we ate too much and played in the kiddie pool. What more could you ask for?

A few photos after dinner:





A photo on the same deck last year for the same occasion, but last year they didn't get to have watermelon!

25% Romanian - and proud of it!

I am lucky enough to be 1/2 Romanian and therefore, the boys are lucky enough to be 1/4 Romanian! And my wonderful family in Romania sent these traditional shirts for them which they modeled today! Thank you so much Alexandru, Anca and George!!! We love our shirts!!

Anniversary Dinner

It was our 6th wedding anniversary today and we went to our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant with our great friends to celebrate. And although the boys have been here before, we wanted to get a photo of them today for comparison sake.

Now...



And then... (last time they had their photo taken at Chuys, when we went for my birthday almost 1 year ago):

Outdoor bathing

This age is the only time you can get away with taking a bath in the backyard without the neighbors calling the cops for indecent exposure. Poor Brett - as if bathing them in the bathtub isn't hard enough!



It was right after I took this photo that they both decided to pee in the pool...at exactly the same time



Here is where the actual bathing starts - and as you can probably tell (even without seeing his face), Ethan is not too pleased about that water being dumped on his head

Water Babies

1st trip to the pool this summer! And we loved it even more than we did last year (if that's possible)!

Just Playin

Mini Recliners

2 good coupons + a sale = pint-sized rocking furniture. And they love them! And we love them because it helps keep them from climbing all over our couch and loveseat! A 'win-win' :)

1st Shoes!

I took the boys to Stride Rite today to find their first pair of real shoes. Though these shoes cost an arm and a leg (considering how little material is used to make them and for how quickly they will outgrow them), I wanted to get them properly measured and I was pretty sure we would need some wide shoes to accommodate these chunky feet! I was definitely right. Extra Wide all around! Mason's first pair of shoes are a 5.5 extra wide and Ethan's first pair of shoes are a 5 extra wide. I went with a summer/sneaker-ish style so their feet would stay a little cooler, but their toes would still be protected. Of course they have velcro straps and there's nothing they love more than tearing open velcro - so we'll see if they will be able to actually keep them on their feet. We did manage to make it all the way home from the store without anyone taking them off though, so that is a good start!

Mason in his new shoes




"I'll take this in a 5 1/2 extra wide please!" (A proud mom moment as my son picks up the shoe that is on sale. Too bad they didn't have them in Extra Wide!)


Ethan in his new shoes

Stepping onto the court

Ethan's first time on the basketball court (in our neighborhood park). I think maybe he has a little growing to do still...? That net is looking pretty high from down here...



And some more clips of Mason walking - but inside, because he was not yet interested in walking outside - just wanted to sit and try to put things in his mouth that he can choke on, like the wood chips from the playground. Good times.

Balloons = fun

Free balloons from the store - what could be more fun?

Baby babble

This does not even begin to touch on the hilarious conversations Mason has with us, but he just never gives us any major dialogue when the camera is on! But here's a little snippet...



And Ethan wanted to give a shout out and a wave to his peeps!

More Walking

Every day Ethan is becoming more of a walking machine. Here he is being a showoff - walking while carrying his water cup (that thing he's swinging it around on is actually the strap that fastens to his stroller or highchair to keep him from throwing it on the ground)



And here he is walking with his book (upside down of course) (please excuse Brett who was on a phone call while I'm taping this):



Meanwhile, Mason only walks when the mood really strikes him and is a much bigger fan of walking around with one hand touching something at all times.

You can definitely see what he's capable of when he really has some incentive...like when Barney is on! Like a moth to a flame! Can you tell...we "heart" Barney?



(Sorry about my very loud "good job!" exclamations in all of these videos - what can I say, they are men, they love to hear how great they are doing) ;)

Igloos in Texas (and baby eskimos in diapers)?

We got this highly cheap, but very fun nylon tent at Ikea in the kids section. We figured the boys were still too young, but we also knew they would have a lot of fun with it, so we figured oh well, we could always just try it out and then take it down...



Shortly after filming, the tent was disassembled and stored for later use (for its own safety) :)

2nd Mothers Day

It was a nice and quiet day today! We all took a walk this morning and Brett and the boys played for part of the day while I got through some of my never-ending To Do list. During the morning nap I got to watch an entire TV show! We also had dinner out for Mother's Day at my favorite fast-food sushi place, Maki. The boys opted for PB&J instead of sushi, but I had 2 rolls to make up for it!



And even though these two look like they are up to no good in these photos, I am proud to say that they were very well-behaved at dinner. There was a little girl who was screaming her head off and her parents had to move everything outside, but the boys did very well aside from a few squeals of joy (who can hold back really, when you're having that much fun? Especially in a large room that echoes!)

Ethan did temporarily forget his manners with all of the eavesdropping he was doing. The table behind us seemed to be of great interest to him.

Choo Choo

Today was a great day to get outside with the boys - only in the 70s and fairly cloudy - but no rain! So we took advantage and drove down to Zilker Park to ride the Zilker Zephyr. This little train takes about a 20 minute ride through the park and the boys had such a great time! They are definitely train fans!




Video that Brett took of Mason while riding the train:

1 Year Checkup

Today we had the one-year check up! They were very unhappy campers about their shot, but I don't blame them - that needle was a big one! Otherwise, everyone is doing good and here are the latest stats:

Mason:
Height: 30 1/2 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 25 lbs 14 oz (80th percentile)
Head Circ.: 49.25 cm (>95th percentile)

Ethan:
Height: 30 inches (55th percentile)
Weight: 22 lb 15 oz (50th percentile)
Head Circ.: 47.25 cm (75th percentile)

First Steps (Videos)

Okay, so these aren't the actual first steps, but who can be prepared with the video camera when that happens? And Mason is actually up to as many as 10 steps at once, but never for the video camera, so here are just a few clips of each of them trying to put one foot in front of the other!


Mason's steps:





Ethan's steps (or as this first one should be labeled, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again!") He got so frustrated trying to walk like his brother that he forgot how to even stand up and stay standing!





And here is a video of Mason giggling - because that boy somehow knows that you just have to laugh at life once in a while!

Beef, It's What's for Dinner

Mason is apparently both our meat-loving and tex-mex-loving boy. Oh yeah, he is totally Texan. We went to Chuy's last night and I gave both boys some of my beef soft taco. Mason LOVED it...and the re fried beans...and the rice. He literally couldn't get enough of any of them. Ethan promptly made his "I don't think so move" where he picks it up - stretches his arm out to the side - and drops the offensive food on the floor (without even trying it of course). And tonight I made a ground beef, brown rice and tomato dish and Mason was eating it by the fistful. Ethan (after first dropping some on the floor) finally came around when he realized that it was his only entree option and seemed to tolerate it at least.

Ethan's 1st Steps for the Record (no video)

Happened today and went something like this...
step, step, dip down to almost sitting (psyching us out), then recover, a step sideways, then another step forward!

Waving, Blowing Kisses, Clapping Hands

No video of clapping hands right now though I could probably get that on camera at absolutely any time - all I have to say is "Yay!" and both boys will start clapping their hands. They clap their hands for themselves all the time (they apparently think they are pretty special), they wave a lot (especially when they see something or someone they recognize), and Ethan blows kisses about 50 times a day. Of course, when I go to videotape those kisses, he gives me only one. But with no camera out he will blow 15 or 20 or more in a row and then he'll randomly hand them out at places like the grocery store.

Here is a waving video of Mason:



And 2 videos of Ethan blowing a kiss (the second includes some waving):