Our Little Gymnast

Vincent is finally at the age that getting him involved in some kind of activity is important. Or so we think. With pre-school right around the corner, playing with kids away from his mom and dad and having to listen to another adult are lessons he's going to have to learn the hard way if we don't get him going in something before that. So when my boss told me she has both her son and her daughter in a gymnastics program right by our house, we jumped on the idea and brought him in for a free trial. Needless to say, he LOVED it! We were a little hesitant about whether or not he would actually like it so we were SO excited when he said he wanted to go back.

And two months later it's still quite the hit. Most Saturdays he decides at the last second that he doesn't think he wants to go in, but with a little encouragement from us, he goes and stays the whole time. Peeking into the parent room from time to time to make sure we're still watching but mostly he just goes along with whatever exercises and activities they have planned during the 45 minutes he's there. It's THE best. 

Here's a few of his new stunts ;0) 

First theirs stretching… oh, and did I mention he's the only boy in his class? :0)

And then there's jumping and forward rolls

 Then backwards rolls

And of course, cartwheels! 

And he must learn the proper form ;0)

Though I think his most favorite of all are the bars. He even likes to help the other girls in the class by putting his hand under their feet to get them up. What a sweet helper he is. 

 I think he's already focused on the GOLD ;0)

Never the less we could not be more thrilled with how this is working out. I don't know that I ever stuck with an extracurricular activity longer than two months so he's already got me beat there and I couldn't be more proud.

And as long as he's still excited to go, we'll keep taking him. 

Waller's, the gym he goes to, says they "build hearts of champions" and I think we've got one already right here. 

For that smile, I would do anything. 

Two Very Special Reasons to Celebrate

Deep in the midst of the holidays falls both of our sweet boys' birthdays. But, despite the craziness that is the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our California friends and family, plus some our favorite New Mexican's, came to help us celebrate two very special birthday milestones.
And what a celebration it was.
Food and cupcakes and presents galore

Those eyes... they melt my heart! 

Special friends and cousins who we are so glad to have become close with.

And some very special grandparents who I'm sure were just as excited to cherish in these moments with our sweet boys as we were. 

Not to mention we had a special appearance from Jay's cousin, Jeff Griggs, the celebrity, who killed it on NCIS, Los Angeles the following night :0). 

It was THE best. 

But you know what else was the best?.. Disneyland. Which was the second stop on the birthday train of fun for our little guys. 

We decided, instead of more gifts, since they got more than enough stuff at their party and Christmas was just a week and a half away, that we would take them to THE happiest place on earth and give them a whole day of fun that hopefully (at least for Vincent) they will cherish as one great birthday memory. 

The castle all decked out for Christmas. An entrancing ride on It's a Small World. Dumbo. Tea Cups and the Mickey Mouse Christmas parade. It was amazing. Vincent was most definitely overwhelmed with excitement the entire time. But the highlight, you ask? It was this. 

Sylas was Terrified. I've never felt him hold on so tightly before. Those giant ears must have really put him over the edge. But that smile never left Vincent's face. It was like a boy meeting his very best friend and my heart practically exploded from watching him. That in itself made the whole day. Which was good, because oh how quickly we learned that Disneyland on a Saturday before Christmas is INSANE. And even that is an understatement. Luckily we hit all of the highlights that a three year old should experience his first time around. And luckily (times two), we live close enough that heading back again soon may not be too much of a stretch for his Disney loving parents ;0). Next time though, I think California Adventure may be on the agenda.

Overall, we couldn't feel more blessed than to have been able to celebrate our boys in such a way. So thank you to everyone that helped make this years celebrations so incredibly special. And thank you, Mickey, for blowing the top off our three year olds' big day. Can't wait for next year! … (or is that this year?.. Maybe I should catch up on these blogs more often - doy!) 

T-H-R-E-E

Three?...What?! 

Vincent, you are three!

Three and so much much more.
You're three and smart! Extremely smart. You surprise me every day with the things you pick up on your own and the things you already know - you amaze me, constantly. Colors, shapes, animals, you know them all. Numbers and the alphabet are what's on the learning agenda next. And recently you have started singing along to the alphabet song (thanks to Elmo) and those 26 letters couldn't sound any sweeter coming out of your mouth.

You're three and funny! Hilarious actually. The things that come out of your mouth, I swear, you sure do say the darndeset things. Your silliness brings upon some serious laughing daily. The timing, the context, the things you say - you are THE silliest. And it's the best.

You're three and STRONG. Strong willed, strong minded, strong in every sense of the word. It's what keeps your Dad and I adjusting our parenting methods every single day. It's what defines those "terrible two's three's" moments. It's what makes me proud of who you're becoming, when you don't back down for something that's actually important. It's what I love and battle with you over constantly, but i'll take it. You're sharing your feelings through these strong and frustrating and empowering moments that show me you're comfortable expressing yourself to us. And though sometimes we may not know just how to handle them, they're moments we would never trade. They're just bringing us one step closer to figuring you out ;0). 

So, you're three. You're so so smart, hilarious and strong. You're caring and compassionate. You snuggle and say "I love you" and melt our hearts with your random yet incredibly sweet tendencies. You're independent. You know what you like and don't like (i.e. milk - that still hasn't changed). And you're curious and eager to try and do new things (on your own terms, of course). You evolve into a bigger, older, wiser version of yourself every single day. You can play by yourself or with other kids. You can do so without your parents and that's huge. Your dad and I are beginning to think about pre-school and kindergarten and we can't believe that that is not far off these days. Every day is a blessing with you in our lives and every day I feel a little more proud of who you're becoming. Your dad and I are so in love with you and love that you're ours. Something that most definitely will never change. 

We love you, bud! xoxo!!

Sylas is One

365 days have literally gone by in the blink of an eye. I'm not sure how that happens and I'll probably never get used to how quickly life seems to pass us by, all i know is, quick or not, life is so much sweeter with you in it.

As a big 'ol one year old, you're still just as calm, cool and collected as ever. Your demeanor is one I try to channel on the daily - letting things just roll right off, never getting upset over the small things. Finding excitement in all things new, meeting new people with an open heart and never letting anything that does seem to upset you, do so for long. 

Holding you is one of my most favorite happy places ever. And sometimes, if i'm lucky, you snuggle your sweet little head down on me and my heart just bursts into a million pieces. I cherish those moments because they never last as long as I'd like. There's just too much to see and explore to spend more than a few seconds snuggling with your mom!… though I totally would love it if you did :0).

Your smile is contagious and your eagerness to explore things keeps us all busy right along with you. There's a house full of toys and a brother who loves to play, but silly you would rather get into things you shouldn't… like the toilet paper in the bathroom, all of the canned goods and popcorn and pretzels in the pantry, oh! and the DVD's are SO much fun to make a catastrophic mess out of ;0). Time with you is always spent keeping you busy. Showing you new things and you picking up them like it's nothing. Singing to you, reading to you, dancing with you. You truly know how to bring the fun all hours of the day. 

You're still an excellent sleeper. Putting you down for naps and for bed time couldn't get easier. You sleep through the stalling that your older brother does for a whole hour at bed time and you never complain. The only down part, you still think waking up twice during the night is a good idea :0(. Hoping that will change soon but as we transition into less day time naps i'm assuming that will..? We'll have to see! 

You have eight teeth and two more slowly making their appearance on the bottom so these days, you are putting those teeth to the test and literally eat everything in sight. Nothing is off limits as to what you'll eat and as long as there's food out, you want to be eating it. From any and all types of veggies (especially tomatoes), to chicken, pizza, quesadillas, and peanut butter and honey sandwiches, you say "give me all of it" and "keep it coming!". I truly fear the day you and your brother eat us out of house and home. And unfortunately I think it's coming sooner than I think! Better get a second job.. ;0)

With all of that said.. I still can't believe a whole year has already come and gone, my sweet little Sylas and so many milestones have come with it. Watching you grow and learn and accomplish all of them brings me more joy than I can even explain. You're on the verge of walking and after that, you'll officially no longer be my little tiny baby. You'll have gained an even bigger sense of independence that I know you've been so eager to have and you will have almost leveled the playing field between you and your brother. You'll be able to run and play and explore in a whole new way and even if it means you need us a little less with each milestone, your Dad and I enjoy being a part of it all each and every day. You bring so much love and light to this world. You are one of the most special people I've been blessed to know and I'm even more blessed to be able to call you mine. I have cherished every single day of your first year and I am just as eager and excited to be a part of many more days in your future. I love you to the moon and back, sweet boy. Happy 1st Birthday!!! 

XOXO  

Life in California

Hi there! Remember me?... I know, it's been awhile. But as an attempt to catch you up, I thought I would share with you some pictures from a few fun weekends Jay and I had with the boys. Since we're new to California and all, we've designated Sunday as our one day out of the week where we try to check out a new place or experience something fun, so here's what we've been up to!

Our first weekend here we REALLY wanted to go to the Griffith Park Observatory. We quickly found out though, that that is not a place you really go on a whim when you've got two young boys. It's more of a plan in advance, get your tickets online and get there early type of place. Otherwise you're parking 1-2 miles away and hiking up the hill just to get in. Didn't sound like fun to us, so we bailed and drove around the hollywood hills in attempt to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood sign for ourselves. And personally, I think this was probably more fun. Especially once we found it in a place where we could get out and take pictures. I'm sure the people who lived in this neighborhood didn't mind much ;0).

We had lunch in the city at some amazing little Italian restaurant we found nearby and felt a little bit like a local for the first time since we got here. It was the best day. 

The next weekend was just for the girls! My sweet sweet cousin took me out for a night on the town. The first since Sylas was born, if I might add, and we had such a great time. Universal Studios is always fun but add a few more drinks and it becomes a blast! Howl at the Moon is a dueling piano bar where we spent most of our time. Can't wait to take Jay here, it was some of the best entertainment yet. 

Next up was the weekend we went to Lombardi Ranch to have a little October fun with the family. From pumpkin picking to corn maze walking to petting the goats, it really helped it feel a little more like Fall than it has so far. Except that it was almost 90 degrees. We're definitely not used to this kind of Fall weather but I'll take it over being cold any day. 

Last weekend we decided to head to the beach for the first time since we got here. Ventura isn't that far so we decided that would be perfect! The weather was beautiful so it truly made for one of the best days to go. As per the locals, sometimes the beach weather is better in the Spring and the Fall than it is in the summer - weird, huh? So glad we got to take advantage of one of those amazing weather days in order to spend some quality time together. First, lunch at a taco hut on the pier and then lots of fun in the surf. And for Vincent, having a jungle gym at the beach was probably on his top ten list of most amazing things ever. His smile made the whole weekend. 

Poor Sylas did not love the cold water on his feet. But luckily playing in the sand made up for it :0)

Vincent on the other hand surprisingly loved it.

He practically submerged himself at one point and cried when we had to leave. Could not be happier that he loves these simple things in life like spending time together near the ocean. 

Finally, after researching free things to do with your kids in L.A. we decided to check out the Travel Town Museum down near Griffith Park. And let me just say, this deserves two thumbs up for sure. In fact I think it's probably one of the coolest free things i've ever been to. It's a "railroad petting zoo" of sorts where people can climb up and walk around old trains and railroad memorabilia. There's a little train that kids can ride around the whole thing and lots of cute photo opportunities for moms and dad's like us. Not the biggest of places we've been to but just enough to keep an easily distracted guy interested and having fun. 

So much fun for big and small. 

Absolutely love adventuring in this city with my sweet little family. My heart could not be happier here.