When did we grow up?

How hard is it to get a family photo? For us it was very difficult, the last family photo we have is the four of us in the hospital when Boston was born, snapped by a hurried nurse while we were all delirious, so 3 months ago. It was pretty important for Adam to get this done before he left for New York.  So 2 days before he left, we were on our way to a friend's party, and we asked our friend Sarah to take some quick pictures for us. So in about 5 minutes, this is what we got.  Some fabulous photos! The big miracle of these photos, is how normal Solana seems. We can never get her to do her "normal" smile, she'll usually go for some all out goofy grin.  So for that we were most happy.  Sarah is an amazing photographer, and we were so grateful for her help.  Now we have proof we now have 2 kids. 

Are these not the same kind of photos that hang in our parents' homes?  Adam and I looked at these and could not believe we now have kids of our own and have the same kind of photos. It's very surreal and I feel so grown up, but we are just not sure how it happened so fast.

Baby B is 3 Months!

My little heartbreaker man. He melts me, and we are so in love with his happiness.  Time is flying by and by the time Adam is home, he will be 6 months and doing all kinds of new things.  

On the 7th of this month he turned the big 3 M! His new big thing is sucking on his fingers or hands, and he has come to love that he can grab whatever is in front of him and pull it in to his mouth.  At first you don't think it's a big deal, but at this age, its huge.  He also loves to scoot like a worm. He puts his bum in the air and scoots along like an inch-worm, which is pretty hilarious until he gets all frustrated at himself because he is not moving fast enough.  He is a pretty determined little guy.  My favorite part about this age is how much he loves his sister. All he does is want to be near her. When she leaves the room after she has been playing with him, he cries.  He loves to watch her play and he loves all the hugs and kisses she dishes out.  

Before He Leaves

We wanted to make sure we got in some memorable family time before Adam took off. So what else is there to do in little Willamsburg but head to Busch Gardens...again!  This time was much better with Solana (because she didn't throw up all over Germany-land, or anywhere else).  She had so much fun, and it wasn't too crowed, so after each ride, she wanted to go again, and ended up riding everything at least three times.  Adam took her on most rides and she had so much fun.

The whole gang waiting to walk out the door.

First stop was Sesame street forest.  This ride is pretty low key (borderline un-entertaining) but she likes it, and I always enjoying feeling a little thinner for being able to squeeze into the kiddy rides :)

I lost count how many times she rode the carousel. She loved her pink horse the most, she even named him "Pink."

Another favorite of her and Adam's is the dragon ride.

Im assuming her tongue hanging out of her mouth helps her concentrate because she does it a lot!

Freshly squeezed orange juice is a big tradition in our house. So the morning he left, we decided to indulge, since he won't be around for it this summer.  Nothing better than this!

Toe Tapping Gymnast

We ended another semester of gymnastics and its nice to see her improving and being able to do more.  We also enrolled her into ballet, and at first we were regretting it because she was not focused at all.  While all of the other kids were gracefully dancing in a line across the room, Solana was running back and forth and laughing hysterically.  But it was all she talked about for awhile.  Adam and I would go home and practice "First Position" and "Second Position" with her and she always loved going.  So when we had the chance to enroll her in ballet and tap, we thought it would fit her much better.  First of all, her teacher is way better, and Solana just loves to wiggle and dance, so tap dance is very fitting for her.  It's a small class, so she is able to get more one-on-one attention, and last week she was the only one there, so she had private lessons and did great!! So it looks like we will keep this girl in ballet after all and am grateful they now have tap! 

Her first day of tap dancing was a success! And it's pretty darn cute to watch as well :)

Oh Happy Day...Let Summer Begin!

Adam finished with his second year of law school!! School is done for the summer and it's time to play.   This time next year he will actually be graduating, woot woot! 

But for now we are just as excited to have another year behind us, and it was a great year at that. 

So for the summer we have some fun plans and some not so fun plans.  Once Adam was done, we had 2 weeks of play time together, which flew by. He is now gone for the summer (the not so fun part)  and we are not sure when we will see him next.  I get to stay at home with the kiddos and party (and try to survive single parent living) we have lots of fun things planned, and have plenty to do, it's just never as fun to do it spouse-less.  So this was the beginning of our 2 week summer. 

Feeding ducks is still a favorite activity around here.  Now that winter has ended, we're happy to see our feathered friends around here again.

One of Solana's favorite things to do is lay down in our arms and pretend that she is a baby, sometimes a sleeping baby.  I'm sure there's some big-sister, toddler-psychology going on here, but while we hesitate to encourage it too much, it is however the time when she is most easily manageable.
Running around the house like a mad woman at bedtime?  "Come here baby, come get in my arms and I'll put you to bed."  She'll jump right up with a coo and snuggle in for the night.  Works every time.

"Oh hello there"

"Seriously women, put down the camera"

He's a rolling over machine, I can barely keep his on his tummy long enough for him to have his tummy time. 

Handsome boy.  

Solana said the other day "Boston is pretty like me" I told her boys are handsome and then she said "Then he is cute and handsome" Such a funny girl.  But you have to be careful with your adjectives - the other day she told Adam that only girls were beautiful.

I love the wind up pitch of bread. Softball might be in her future.  (No, Adam informs me that he will strongly discourage this as a last-resort sport.)

Picnics are pretty popular around here.  Now that the weather is nice, we actually get to play them outside and have real food.  

No one can get bigger smiles from this boy than his Daddy.  He's a Daddy's boy for sure. 

I guess Solana thought his outfit lacked a bow tie. She likes to help pick out what he wears :)

 Too bright, and too fun.

Playoff Season Around Here

(Adam here)

I was working in my office the other day, and Solana was all up in my grill, as usual, so I gave her a pencil and paper to try to keep her distracted with something other than distracting me.  Next thing I know, she's drawn her first unassisted (recognizable) picture - of me!  Notice the nice round head, arms (with fingers), and lovely head of hair.  I feel so flattered.  I was totally impressed.

One of my primary duties as a father is teaching my kids to become fans of the most successful sports franchise of the last 15 freaking years - the team with the highest winning percentage over the last 15 years - the team with the greatest power forward of all time and the winningest player-coach combination of all time - the team that embodies a transcendent celestial form of basketball and sports management - yes, the San Antonio Spurs.
So we're starting early, and I take every chance I can to sap every ounce of Solana's attention span watching Spurs basketball on TV.  Now that the playoffs are here, we are in full Spurs mode, and the kids are getting into it perfectly.  I predict many years of continued fanaticism and completely unbiased recitation of Spurs greatness.
Shoot, just writing about this makes me happy, so if you scroll all the way through the photos, I'll leave you with a link to one of the best Spurs moments ever.  (Sorry Suns fans)

Okay, one more bonus! (Sorry again, Suns fans, haha)