Big Brother Aden

Aden LOVES his "Baby Sister"! He asks to hold her all the time and dotes on her constantly. He comments on her cute clothes, pretty bows, little feet, etc. It is precious to see just how much he is taken by her!

He does a really good job of holding her. He is very gentle and quite comfortable with the task...even when she starts to squirm.

Here he is playing "This Little Piggy..." with her toes. SO cute!
Jonathan is much more of an observer at this point. He is sweet and gentle with her and all (gives her good night kisses, etc.) but clearly is not as "into" Elizabeth as Aden is.

She's five weeks already!

Kokee

On Thursday we took a last minute trip to Kokee ("the mountains" in Kauai.) We had a splendid time! We saw some beautiful sights, went on a great woodsy hike, played games, enjoyed time with friends of ours who were also up there, and enjoyed having a get-away as a family . I didn't take many pictures while we were there (I kept leaving my camera in the cabin!) but here are a few that I did take. Enjoy!

Our sweet little rustic cabin. We decided that this is the perfect alternative to tent camping when you have three little ones. It's rustic enough that you still feel like you're roughing it yet having a bathroom, a kitchen, and bedrooms makes it SO much easier to pull off with small children. We will definitely do this again!

If you click on this picture you'll see that it was raining when I took this shot. Cool weather and rain...perfect!

The dirt road that lead to other nearby cabins and some mountain mist in the background.

My silly boy with his hat over his eyes!

Aden boy playing ball in the meadow. This meadow would be a perfect place for some Ultimate Frisbee! Next time maybe...

My Sweet Girly

Snuggle time with Grandma

Elizabeth's favorite sleeping position...on her tummy with her tush in the air.
Funny story...Yesterday I was horrified when I found what I thought to be a bruise on Elizabeth's forearm. I had no recollection of her screaming in pain or anything and was uneasy about a bruise mysteriously appearing on my baby's arm! Well, an hour or two later I went in to get her from her nap and there she was sucking on her arm. It wasn't a bruise...it was a hickey!
Silly girl!

Doing some stretches after a long spell scrunched up in the car seat.


Quite content after her bath tonight.

Miss Elizabeth

All dressed and ready for a trip into town!


This was when she was just two or three days old.

She's such a smiley little baby!

Sacked out

Check out the size difference between Jonathan and Elizabeth...the difference in size between a two-year old and two-week old is crazy! Although, Jonathan is still off the charts for height so I'm sure that makes it seem crazier.

Look at those long fingers!

Life is rough!

Silly Boys

The boys have been spending a lot of time lately cooking and playing restaurant with their toy food. Their dialogue is precious! I'll try to record it and post it later.

We found this electronic guitar at the same thrift store where we found Aden's ukulele. It's actually somewhat obnoxious (hence the headphones...thankfully there is an audio jack on the guitar so Aden can play away without driving the rest of us nuts) and we are all relieved that he seems to favor his ukulele.

Jonathan's famous (and quite pathetic) "pout face." Can you tell that he's 2?

We had our camera out so Jon Jon got his out too! You gotta love the upside down glasses with one missing lens!

Sweet Boy!

Jonathan, his "fie fie, and his "car piddow."
Grandma made the boys each a small pillow with a "Cars" pillowcase. Jonathan has been carrying his around like a "blankie."
Also, notice how the pacifier is positioned in Jonathan's mouth. He chews on it which (unfortunately for him) makes holes in the nipple. As soon as they get holes in them we toss them and I think we're down to 3! We told him that once they're gone, they're gone. He'd be down to one already but somehow he managed to swipe two of Sissy's gender neutral pacifiers.

Grandpa has come over several times to do little fix-it projects and when he does the boys are in heaven! Grandpa lets them do fun things like use power tools and paint wood railings. The other day I overheard Aden say to Dave as they painted together, "Grandpa, I like it in Kauai!"

One night Jonathan found a stool that we had left out on the back porch just outside the kitchen window. My mom and I were doing dishes and this goose climbed up the step stool, said, "Mommy, Gwamma, I see you!", and then pushed his face against the screen and stuck his tongue out. He did this several times and he thought he was pretty funny. He'd say, "Ha, ha, dat's funny!" He is definitely a ham and we often find ourselves shaking our heads and saying, "What a nutcracker!"

Grapes anyone?

Jungle Boy

Wearing Grandma's shoes is SO much fun!

Our little saint preaching to our little sinner =)
I'm just kidding! Trust me, they takes turns being saintly and sinful!

Between the belly and the sand-crusted grape Kool-Aid mustache Jonathan is sure to attract some 2-year old cuties at the beach!

You know Aden and his love for accessories...well, even a swim cap got this kid excited!

Aden perusing Daddy's "Visual Basics" manual while he does his business.
He sat there for quite a while with this heavy book on his lap and when he was finished he stumbled out of the bathroom and said, "Mommy, my 'egs are not feeling very well!" His feet had fallen asleep while he sat there and by the look on his face he had never experience the sensation of limbs falling asleep. It was pretty funny!

Above and Below: Thank Goodness for bed railings!


Above and Below: The boys having fun at Uncle Lucas' soccer game.

We love Grandma!

My sweet mom arrived on September 1st and stayed with us for an entire month working tirelessly to keep our house running smoothly (cooking, running errands, bathing the boys, playing with the boys, cleaning the house, doing laundry, etc. etc.!) as my energy dwindled those last two weeks of pregnancy and once sleep deprivation set in after Elizabeth's arrival. Mom did so much to help us and we are so very thankful for her love and sacrifice. She blessed us in so many ways and we miss her tremendously!

This picture was taken in Hanalei a few days after Mom arrived.
I love it!

I took this picture of her and the kids in the Wal-Mart parking lot minutes before we dropped her off at the airport to head back to California. It's a good thing I took the picture then because once we got to the airport, we were all tears! Thank you so much Mom! And thank you Jesse for letting us have her for so long! We love you both!

Crafty Girls

Mom and I were inspired by this idea that we found in a decorating book and decided to try it out to add some color to Elizabeth's walls.

I had a lot of fabric scraps from previous projects that matched her room decor amazingly well. We did have to buy a few fabric remnants as well as some ribbon, rickrack, and buttons. We covered framed art canvas with fabric and then designed, sewed, and glued different shapes onto the fabric to give it an appliqued look.

The designs we created were modeled after the designs on her crib bumper and rug...except for the sun...that was just for fun =)

We had a lot of fun and they turned out really cute....

...and we figure we have about 8 months before Elizabeth figures out how easily they can come off the wall! =)