in light of the name of this blog...

Luke
*always eats all of his yogurt
*randomly says "i love you" for no particularly obvious reasons
*Eskimo kisser
*always has to wear socks; never barefoot
*has very expressive eyebrows
*cannot be parted from "shirt"
*asks you to sing "slippery fish" when you least expect it


Shannon
*dances, no matter the music
*follows me anywhere- even into the closet
*has itsy bitsy feet
*blows kisses and gives extra snugs
*always offers you a bite
*likes trying on hats
*points to things to share with you how marvelous each one is

The Husband
*wears three outfits. ever.
*you say "comb," he says "my black hat"
*has wicked dance moves he stole from the numa numa kid, and tunac tunac
*thinks eating is a "contact sport" if you're at taco bell
*claims to be a shaman
*has a BA from discovery channel, and his master's from the university of youtube
*hail all ye nerds- the king has arrived?

look what i found under the tv stand...

just kidding, its a toy. but i still had trouble picking it up even after i realized it. if it was real we would have had to leave the house till justin got home from work.

three years

i canNOT believe my little man is three. its bittersweet, it seems to have flown by too fast. he is such a great little guy, and changed my life so dramatically i can't even imagine life without him. every day i am reminded of how grateful i am for his life, even when he's throwing a fit and won't eat dinner, or pushing the limits as far as he can; he looks at me with those big brown eyes and i know i was born to be his mama and i will love him forever. here's a little collection of the past three years, doing very little justice to the wonderful experiences and all the love we've had. i'm totally balling as i'm doing this, so be forewarned.

at long last

sorry folks. august was a bit of a trying month, comprised of much illness and exhaustion, and i found myself not getting much time for blogging. but hopefully i can get back on top of my game.

i'm adding some summer-fun photos of the kids. we didn't do any big trips this summer, but we did have some fun stay-cation activities.

swimming at auntie theresa's with some friends. shannon was a bathing beauty! luke was a little nervous about going past his knees but eventually warmed up when the nikko and tino played with him.

some cool park adventures at our favorite digs:

NOT so sleepy babies! shannon is literally this excited every night before going to sleep. its hilarious!
luke was having trouble going to bed at night, we'd hear him jumping and banging around in his bed, keeping himself and shannon awake for at least an hour after we put him down. lately i've been putting books in his bed with him, and he's quiet and goes to sleep without the circus action.

here's some sleepy babies, not in their beds but cute all the same (minus me):

zooin' it with marcus:

filling some big shoes:
i've been doing a lot of crafting lately (more on that later) and here is a crummy picture of a cute outfit i made shannon:
justin says she looks like minny mouse in it :)

we love you grandpa

yesterday our family lost one of its most precious members: grandpa albert passed away in the late afternoon. he was a good man who cared so much for the people around him, and will be terribly missed by so many. luke and shannon were so lucky to have him in their lives. many people don't even get to meet their grandparents, but they spent years living with their great-great-grandparents. to me, that gift was immeasurable, and i am so grateful. at this point it feels so surreal. he was someone who had such a constant presence, it strange to think he isn't downstairs, reheating his coffee and toasting a tortilla, or digging for something in the garage, or caring for his garden, or watching his wrestling. at least we know that he is at peace and resting in God's hands. we love you grandpa albert!

pictures of home

i haven't been very good about taking pictures this summer; i always seem to think of doing to when we're sitting at the breakfast table, so many of the pictures i take of the kids center around meals. hopefully i'll have more to post soon. adventures in potty training soon to come!!


my little photographer and one of his favorite subjects


a rare candid moment. luke likes to make funny faces in pictures these days.


yummy; monkeys and cheerios



almost, but not quite, crawling.


ps- many people have told me there was some trouble with trying to leave comments on this blog. i've messed with some of the setting so hopefully that's cleared up and there won't be any more trouble.

big brother, baby sister

so lately the green eyed monster has been showing a bit more lately with luke. he seems more aware of the fact that shannon steals people's attention from him and he'll ham it up more, raise his voice just a bit louder, repeat himself 100 times, or literally get into your face so you focus only on him. all the same, he's been so sweet to shannon. they sleep in the same bedroom every night now (finally that transition is complete) and sometimes before they fall asleep, luke looks out the little trap door justin put in his bed that opens right above shannon's bed and sings to her, or makes her laugh. i love hearing them crack each other up in their room at night, even when it keeps them up a little bit later than i'd like. it reminds me of when my brother and i shared a room and we'd make each other laugh before falling asleep. i'm so excited to see the way luke and shannon's relationship will blossom and grow apart from justin and me.

the other day, i finished feeding shannon, and luke asked if he could have the nearly empty jar of baby food. i expected him to eat it himself, since that's what he normally does, but instead he pulled up a chair and started feeding shannon himself. he even tried signing "more" to her and was talking to her in the same tone of voice i use when i feed her. it was so sweet!



by the way, anyone who thinks that boys get into "boy things" strictly because of nurture never had a child of their own. out of no where, luke has turned into such a little boy; he's really into pretending to burb and cracks up when anyone talks about bodily functions (his favorite thing to bring up is "poop soup." don't ask me, i have no idea). really, i don't know where this is coming from. it must be in his dna.