You say tomato, I say BLECH

Food is approached quite differently by each of our boys. East meets West, black and white, yin and yang, he says tom-ah-toe, and the other says "tomato-YUCKY!".

Pop quiz: Take a gander and guess who enjoys mealtime more.

Subject ONE--LUKE:
Just an ordinary lunchtime of veggies and fruit. Note the coos and smiles. He actually likes TOFU. My cup runneth over.

Mmmmm. Can't get enough.

Aunt Lauren watching Lukie washing it down.

CASE TWO--AIDEN:

Kindly guess what horrible concoction he is forced to eat in the following photos.

Oh. The Agony.

Yes, folks. We are horrible parents. He was indeed FORCED to eat a small piece of a fresh strawberry. For shame, for shame on us.

This is just a little taste (ha ha, no pun intended...sort of) of what we go through each day with Aiden and the general art of eating.

Too much texture...won't eat.
Too much sauce...won't eat.
Too much flavor...won't eat.
Too much strangeness...won't eat.
He will sit for hours with a piece of broccoli tucked in his cheek in the hopes he will be able to leave the table without swallowing it.

Sometimes I feel like my main purpose in life is to keep Aiden from solely eating Goldfish crackers and nuggets.



We are headed to the Monterey Farmer's Market tomorrow evening. We'll let you know who sucked down the Russian Blintzes and the Naan Bread.

Baila! Baila!

Baila! Baila!

We have been rocking out to some songs en espagnol. Luke likes to play la guitara and Aiden is always dancing (baila!). Music in Spanish also helps me learn a lot too.

Here's a little clip of our jam session this morning. Notice Lukie groovin' and jammin'....he's un pequeño prodigio!

BIG NEWS!

No, we're not pregnant.


But Robby and Jenn are! 17 weeks this week. They find out boy or girl on Oct 17th! Congrats!!

I predict a boy. I'll put $ on it. I swear.

Run through the forest

Today we ran a 10k down in Pebble Beach. It was really beautiful and the boys really liked watching all the other runners. Dustin and I took turns pushing them in the double jogger.

The course was described as having "gently rolling hills." Man oh man--what an understatement. It's hard enough scaling mountains on your own--but pushing to two little guys was pretty fun.

The views of the ocean and the scenery on 17 Mile Drive were definitely worth it.

We all took naps when we got home!

Aiden doing his warm ups before the start line.


He really liked the bib numbers.

Getting the DJ unloaded and ready to roll.


This is how we roll.

Gorgeous gorgeous (HILL-y!) run on Pebble Beach.

Done with the run!

They made a big breakfast for us afterward.

Somebody took a post-run nap.

Home Sweet Home

Here are a few pics of the new digs.

For quarters, we really lucked out. The house was built in 2005. I've never seen such nice on-post houses. Usually, they're circa 1963 and you should shut the heck up and be happy they actually have a house to give you, goshdarnit. (Shout out to Lauren and the linoleum castle in Ft Benning.)

My theory is that we are interspersed with other services (Navy, AF) They always get the better deal.

Whenever I a venture on a base, I always find myself saying, "Dangggg. Not only are their BXs and commissaries so much better, but their Burger Kings are state of the art."

So, us little Army peons are reaping the rewards of our generous sister services. I mean, c'mon. Lukie's room has an ocean view. A TINY one, but still you can see the PacO. Dang.

I will be certain to look back at these pics longingly when we are bedded down in __________. (Insert the name of a random third world country. We'll know specifics as soon as Uncle Sam decides to let us know where we'll be living 6 months from now.)

They even cut our lawn!


I love the green door.

I would really like to paint this room, but I am too lazy.

Shiner enjoying a quiet moment of reflection.

Can you spot the ocean? Lukie is spoiled.

We are dorks

3rd Month's A Charm

So, Dustin had to go back to work today.

He had about 95 days of leave since he got back from 433 days of deployment. It's pretty much been a constant party and/or vacation* since he stepped off the plane June 16.

Wanna drink Miller Lite on a Tues morning? Sure! We're on vacation!
Wanna drive to Southern California on a whim? O-tay. We're on vacation.
Um, what day of the week was it again? Um...dunno. We're on vacation!

After 3 months of laissez les bons temps roulez, it's back to the grind. Le Sigh.

Here is a little pictograph of our lil' sabbatical from saneness.

*Now, before you go thinking 95 days of vaca, wow--what slackers. Hey, it was hard-earned and well-deserved. Fighting for freedom 24/7 for over a year can get a little draining. Giving birth and raising 2 babies can be, too. But we made it through in one piece. Yey, us!

Going Coastal

If you know me, you know I love me some runnin'!

And lucky, lucky...this place is a spectacular place to hit the pavement. Or the sand. Or the gorgeous, well marked bike trails that go for miles.

(Bonus: the sun actually SHINES here and there is an absence of a constant, driving rain. SCORE.)

The boys and I ran from Pacific Grove up past Cannery Row into Downtown Monterey today. We dodged some tourists, raced some hobos (that was a little fun, and a teensy scary) and watched the seals sun themselves on the beach.

Big Sur Half-er, here I come!

Can you spot the little seal head?

"This is Aiden's mountain!"

Not really interested in the view. Just the dried gull poo he found on the ground.

Checking out the seals and pelicans duking it out over fish.

A Saint

Aiden: "Daddy, wanna go to church."
Daddy: "Ok, buddy, we will go next Sunday."
Aiden: "Ok, but Aiden misses Jesus."

Awwwwwwwwww.

Chopstix

The boys love to play music. Props to Uncle Dick for giving us Gram's keyboard Now the boys have taken over. AND they know how to use the volume controls. NICE!

He also likes to dance with it while the UT Disco Lights Dino is spinning out jams. (Thanks, Oma!) Aiden also likes to play his guitar (kid sized, but real!) and make up songs. His latest is called "It HARD to be TWO."

It sure is...

It's my potty, I can cry if I want to.

We have a love/hate relationship with the potty. Can you tell?

Luke is 1!

I can't believe that Luke is 1 year old today. One year ago, my mom and I were driving to the hospital all freaked out because Lukie decided to make an early appearance. My little boy turned out to be 10 lbs 3 oz. He loves to eat and to watch his brother play--what a happy little boy. No need to walk just yet...butt scooting is just fine...

Cheers to Lukie today.
!




Daddy and Luke


I actually made a cake...wow.





The boys celebrating...




Luke loves cake.



Somebody else enjoys cake.

California or bust!

First post on this blog--thought it would a good way to keep up!

We have finally settled into our new home in Monterey. We are living on post and in a pretty new house. If you stretch your neck from Luke's room, you can see the ocean!

The boys are settling in well. Aiden is now in his big boy bed...complete with a pirate quilt. ARGGGGH. We officially started potty training which means he is peeing on everything. He loves playing his guitar (it's real!) and singing to every song on Mommy's IPod. (Sometimes we press fast forward when the rap come on...)

Luke is turning one tomorrow! I can't believe it. Dustin said Luke wants a 52 in plasma TV for his birthday. Knowing Lukie, he will be happy with a cake and an empty roll of paper towels. Happy baby. He loves his new room and his very own crib.

Dustin has had 3 months off now, so its been so nice to be a family again. We've had a great summer on leave in Washington--and extending it here in California. We've been all over the place--this beaches and town here are spectacular.

We're starting to meet people and learn more about the area--so we will keep on posting!! :)