A Very Busy Weekend

Whew! What a busy weekend we had last weekend! It's been followed by an equally busy week and I've kept meaning to blog about it, but time has gotten away from me! Here's a few snippets from our weekend:

On Saturday we had our pictures taken by Blue Lily, a traveling husband and wife photography duo. I found them online years ago and it's always been a bucket list item for me to have family pictures done with them. I found out not long ago that they would be in San Francisco last weekend so I signed us up! I can't wait to see the pictures. I obsessed over our outfits. Like, OBSESSED. I ended up changing Ben's outfit and mine 3 times each. Here's a little sneak at what Ben wore...



And here are my boys and me before we got dressed (we obviously waited to get into our outfits until MINUTES before we started the shoot - duh).



We had an amazing time with Wendy and are looking forward to seeing the pictures. Well, that's putting it mildly, actually.

The next day we went to Carmel to help my stepmother celebrate her birthday. We had so much fun taking the kids in their first pool this summer!


Well, okay. Ben didn't enjoy it at first.


Being with mommy always helps, though.


Then, he warmed right up to the water!






Max was right at home in the kiddie pool. We could barely get him out to eat lunch!






While I love the trees and angle of this shot, look at poor Max. He was not in the least interested in being mommy's muse that day. He just wanted to swim, poor kid!




That was about all the enthusiasm I could get from him. It must be hard when your mom wants to be a photographer.

But, jumping into the big pool?


That was SO his thing.






So, I guess we made up for the whole swing fiasco by letting him do lots of jumping in!









After lunch and swimming my dad and Ritchie went to play golf while I got the boys to nap (with me). After naps we went and made s'mores by the pool.






His first experience was a success!

Finally, we went and had yummy pizza before heading home. It was a late night, but worth it because, as you can see, the day was a blast! Don't get me wrong, there were moments of pure frustration and sometimes I wonder if it's not worth trying big day trips like that away from our beds for napping and our toys for entertaining, but overall it was really fun and I think always worth the efforts.






Ben is a complete trooper. He had been up for HOURS at this point and was still quite happy!



While we were off having fun in Carmel, Ritchie's sister was giving birth to her first child. I was not without my phone for even a second anticipating baby's arrival. I went and saw my first nephew (aside from my friend's kids who are like nieces and nephews to me!) the next morning AND evening because I missed him already.


Mister Vincent Scott - A whopping 9 pounds 13 ounces of pure love.









Oh, Jen and Scott - you guys did SO great. He's perfect and lovely and I can tell you two are going to rock out parenthood. They're naturals already.

So, that was our very exciting weekend! We're ready for a little bit more relaxation in the coming weeks, but I'm not sure that's in our cards. We'll see ;)

Our Weekends Lately

We've been busy around here! The weather has been lovely and we've taken advantage of it in between illnesses, which have been plentiful this past month.



For Memorial Day, we went to San Francisco to ride the cable cars. We have a chalkboard that is a list of things we want to do with the kids this year and cable cars was on it! Check!


Waiting in line. We did A LOT of that.

It was an... interesting day. Max LOVED the cable cars and even Ben got a huge kick out of them. The first line to get on wasn't miserable, but the line to come back was horrific. I think we waited over an hour and it was about 2pm at that point. Nap time and long cable car lines don't mix. Needless to say, it was rough.





Luckily, we made it through and got in the car where everyone (myself included!) promptly fell asleep.

This past weekend Ritchie ran his second 1/2 marathon. The man never ceases to amaze me.

We drove to Aptos (near Santa Cruz) to watch him cross the finish line!


Grandma and Grandpa came with us!


Max ran around while we waited for Daddy to cross the finish line!




Bennett was a little cranky because he decided that 4:30 a.m. was an awesome wake-up time that morning. I was pretty pissed about that, too.


I had to wear him most of the time.


Oh, but my man! Waving even after running 13.1 miles.


Love this! A strong finish!


He was exhausted! But, we're so proud of all of his accomplishments!

Just a little weekend update for you all! What have you been up to on the weekends? Does your family do a list of things to take the kids (or yourselves!) to go do? I'd love to know your plans!

Max Speaks

Me: Come on, Max! It's time for mommy to make waffles for breakfast!
Max: Nooo! Take too long!
Me: Waffles will take too long to make?
Max: Ya. I don't like waffles.
Me: What would make the wait easier?
Max: Ice cream!
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It was 5:45 and I hadn't heard Max wake up from his nap yet so I went in to check on him. He was sitting in bed, wide awake with a Thomas Train toy.
Max: I just relaxin in bed a little bit wif Thomas.

_______________________________________________________________________________

So, Ritchie always makes fun of me because I'm finding gems on the internet after they've reached their glory and passed so I often show him something that was SO five minutes ago. This is one of those times. Motley Mama had the proposal to the song Marry Me by Bruno Mars on her blog today and I hadn't seen it. Well, I watched it today and cried the ugly cry because it's so beautiful to me. Max was very concerned and I had to teach him about crying tears of happiness.

The rest of the day he requested the "music" and as it played he would jump up and down saying, "Mommy so happy she cryin so sad" Haha!! He was so confused, but kept wanting it to play.

Watch it. Even if you've already seen it, just watch it again.

Hello, Summer!

Just a few pictures of us enjoying the amazing weather that we have around here.








He was having so much fun...


Until a water spurt came out of nowhere and frightened him! Poor little guy!













Max has become a pro at playgrounds and it makes me feel like he's so BIG now.

We welcome you, Summer! We're thoroughly enjoying your stay.

9 Months of Bennett

I cannot believe we've already hit the 9 month mark with Bennett. Broken record, I know. But, time really is going much faster this time it seems.

It was SO challenging to get pictures of him this month because of how much he moves!



We've noticed some pretty big changes with our littlest boy this month and it's so bittersweet. Everything is just as new and exciting as with Max, but with more nostalgia and longing for time to creep by just a bit slower. We're not sure if Ben will be our last baby, but he may very well be so I try to savor each milestone and I can truly say I'm not as eager for them to happen this time around.


He did not want this hat on.

Bennett has started to make himself known around here! He makes so many sounds, but I've caught on to the ma, ba, da, ra, la and ya sounds for sure! They don't mean anything yet, but he's very persistent with them.


And so there my props sat. Sigh.

He's a speedster on his belly now, but also is spending more and more time on his knees moving forward. He can get himself to sitting with great speed and that's his favorite position for now. He has succeeded in pulling himself up on a few occasions, but it's not something he does regularly (phew!). He prefers to try to stand without pulling up on anything by going into the downward dog yoga pose. At that point he's pretty much stuck. Ha! In other movements, we've got a dancer on our hands. If I sing or he hears music he'll wiggle and try to clap (his hands miss each other every time!). This is so darling and we try to recreate it often!



He loves to play peek-a-boo with a shirt or blanket or whatever can cover his face.



He's a little eater now! In addition to nursing at least 6 times a day (if not 8) he eats 3 meals and at least 2 snacks. A meal for him could be chicken, cheese, rice, noodles, beans, soft fruits and veggies, yogurt, or purees. A snack is usually cheerios - those are his all time favorites!



Also... and maybe most importantly for me, HE SLEEPS! We sleep trained him and now he sleeps. He usually wakes no more than twice in one night for a quick nursing and then will USUALLY go back to sleep right away. We're still having to do some sleep training to get him back to sleep, but most nights it's pretty great. WAY better than a month ago. I'm a whole new woman. And, he's a much happier baby with some sleep!


My happy little baby boy.

9 Month Stats:

Height: 29 1/2 inches
Weight: 21 pounds 12 ounces

We love you, Bennett! My love for you knows no bounds.

May Photo Favorites

Here are my favorite photos that I took in May of my boys. Happy June (holy crap!!) everyone!


We slept in the living room for awhile to let Ben have his own sleep space for sleep training. This little one thought it was the bee's knees and liked to roll around with Gracie on our bed every night after bath time.


Baby mohawk! And, one sock - in true Ben form.


Max loves him some sunnies.


And water fountains. Although we've steered clear of them recently because I think he was sneaking drinks and getting sick from it. Gross and highly inconvenient.


Just a little morning playing.


Max is pretty in love with daddy's "pink momotorcyle" as he calls it. Gets me every time.


Max made this bracelet at preschool and was in love with it.


Just my fav of the umbrella pics.


Enjoying some avocado!


Eating outdoors with us. My guess would be sweet potatoes ;)


Riding on daddy's shoulders at his buddy Preston's birthday.


Hey! Me in a pic that's not on Instagram.


Shy smiles while he snuggles daddy.


His first time at the water park! He loved it... until he didn't! Haha!


Just some gorgeous sunniness at the park.

That's it for May! I'll catch ya at the end of June!