Photo Challenge; Face

This picture was from Quinten's 2nd birthday after his cupcake.. happy? I think so!!!

Photo Challenge; Friends

Thought I had disappeared? I guess I kinda did! Between illness', birthdays, computer crashes, I really had no umph to blog. I lost a lot of photos, edits, and such. Catching up is last on list behind laundry, cleaning, and well sitting for a few moments to catch my breath. Did you know that keeping up with a 2 year old boy is less than easy. Quinten is so much fun, but whew he knows how to keep a girl busy ALL DAY LONG! :0) Well there's a quick recap of my life. And I saw this photo challenge and thought of this picture of Quinten and his bud Aedan when he was down for Q's second birthday. Oh ya... my little 'baby' boy is 2!! Unreal I tell you!!

So I'll try and be better about blogging. I have some things in the works that is going to be taking some time to get in order. I'll fill ya in later! ;)

p.s Do you seeee how tired my little man looks in the pic? Thats what a day of partin', bounce housin' and a 20 minute nap will do to you, and this is the next day!!

What To Do On A Saturday When Daddy Works...

We go for a nature walk! Quinten and I drove over to the local walking trails, and took a look stroll. It was one of the first fun outings I had since being sick. Nice relaxing, and easy walk! It dumped us out at the dog park, which was another fabulous thing all in itself. So the day was a bummer because Shannon ended up having to work. But Quinten and I made the best of it and got out and about.

Independence....

Posing for the camera

Precious Moments

Love

Investigating the "dark"

Curious little man he is!

Looking handsome for the camera

And a photo shoot with mom... :)

What We Do While I'm Sick...

We were busy. You know the usual stuff. Birthdays, lake trips, family time. And then... I (we) got sick... Quinten had a little runny nose late Wednesday (like 10 days ago), then woke up a little snottier, I woke up soooo drained, stomach ache, the whole deal. Being sick is so much easier when the kiddo is feeling down and out too. We hung low, watched some Toy Story, stayed in our jammies, had soup and crackers, and napped. We both started getting better quick AMEN! Then it was cousin Robyn's birthday party, we party hard-ied, Shannon went to watch his brother in his first down hill mountain bike race (8th place!), and then came mid-night-ish, Sunday/Monday. On came the new bug for me! This week was brutal, the stomach pains, dizziness, and oh my gosh more drained then I can tell you. I napped every day while he did, and never ever felt refreshed. Then Wendesday was my mom's birthday. Dinner plans, surprises, the whole deal. I couldn't miss it! That morning was horrid. Between taking care of me, and trying my dangnist to be as good as mom as I could, I was about done. I prayed and prayed, and rested and rested. And I kid not, Quinten got up from nap, and we shared some yogurt, and POOF I was better! We celebrated, and had a great time with my mom for her birthday. Anyways ALL that to say, I vaguely remember the day(s) of being sick back in the day, staying in bed, watching Friends and doing NOTHING. These days, HA! It's me and what little energy I have left to chase after this enthusiastic 22 1/2 month old boy... I caught some hilarious moments on camera of what we did to try and entertain ourselves in doors...

We HAD to wear our cars outfit over our pj's, no no, not separate, they had to be worn together!

But before that, we dug through mom's sock drawer, and picked these jems out to wear!! And, he rocked them!
Showing off his muscles, and the socks.

Hot stuff!

Smile... Stay well... And have a great day!!

We're goofy

Memorial day weekend we went to Bakersfield (I mentioned it Here) to visit some friends. Its about a 2 hour drive for us so we conveniently left at nap time and Quinten slept the whole way. But for someone who is used to the hustle and bustle of mommy life at home 2 hours of sitting is just plane weird! So I entertained myself by taking photos, and singing to the radio, and all around being, well goofy. Shannon and I used to road trip so much when we were dating. It's always fun to do it again and act like we did back before we were all responsible and stuff. Quinten was obviously oblivious to the whole charade.

Let's Here it For the Boys!

Shannon's second fathers day is a wrap! It was a wonderful weekend (if I do say so myself). Saturday we celebrated with his family, his mom and brother and his family. We grilled it up at our house, the kids played in the water, and in the sandbox, and ran around like children should do. Sunday we woke up at our usual 6:30, Quinten came and joined us in bed for cartoons, presents and Dad-do time! Have I mentioned thats what Quinten calls his daddy? Dad-do, its the cutest thing I've ever heard. We got him some clothes and new parts for his bike. We finished off the day with a BBQ at my parents house, a little pool time and some more family time. It was great. And best of all we were celebrating this guy...

Aren't they adorable?? He is such a wonderful dad. He is so caring, funny, comforting, energetic, involved. I love sitting back and watching them play, read, build things. He wants to be so involved in his life. He wants to watch him play, help him do things, just be a part of everything. Its amazing, I'm so lucky, and so is Quinten. So very lucky to have a dad like Shannon. He works so hard for us. He really wants to give us the world. He does everything he can so I can be home with Quinten, so that Quinten has everything he needs, so that we can be a happy, healthy, and wonderful little family.

Quinten was very impressed with how the bike turned out.

My men folk

I also got to celebrate my daddy. And with him, where do I begin. He is such a wonderful man. He has always been there for me. Through the good and bad. He always believed in me, encouraged me, trusted me, pushed me, held me back. He also works so hard for his family. His perseverance and will is something to aspire for. He is faithful, and honest. I love my dad so very much, I love that Shannon and him get along so well. They have a lot of things in common that really have brought them closer. I love the dads, and dad-do's in my life. They are amazing, and deserve much more than one day a year to smother them with love and presents :)

Cousin time!
My little ham of a niece
My sweet little Lauren
And a much sweeter Robyn
Love it!
Impatience...

Look out buddy!! Check the cannon in the left corner

So we'll end on this... I love the boys and men in my life, my husband, dad, brother, and kiddos!! I'm nice and tired, but for such a good reason. xoxo. Have a great one!

Milestones

This past weekend we celebrated a big milestone for Shannon's, we'll call it "step" cousin ( its complicated). He graduated from college. After 4, probably grueling, yet fun years, he did it. It was a surprise celebration his mom and Shannon's uncle (her b.f) planned. They had a bus, and scheduled a skydiving sesh for his mom and him. It was funny to see his face, and hear the tone in his voice as he prepared himself for the jump just a few hours away. Shannon's brother and sister in law to be were so inspired and excited by the idea of the new local skydiving that they also set up a slot and had planned to jump just after lunch. But just as our weather would have it, they all got winded out. Central coast weather lately is anything but predictable. I think they are all nuts. I have NO interest in jumping out of plane in hopes that that folded up piece of polyester will open :) to each their own, I know people love it, but do not, I repeat DO NOT ever count on me doing it! Anywho, about milestones. The weekend got me thinking, you know as a kid there are so many celebrated milestones. I even ran by a junior high graduation on Friday that almost surpased my high school grad. But as we get older the milestones get fewer, the celebrations farther between. We somehow fade into the background of celebrating the next generation. Which in fact is all the more fun, because you get the celebration without all the focus and pressure. But on the other hand, I sometimes miss the abundance of praise and gratitude that comes with accomplishing something. Being a parent now, I am so focussed on Quintens accomplishments, I sometimes forget that I too, am growing. I can still have accomplishments, I can still learn and grow. I may not stand in front of thousands for recognition but, hey just because I'm getting older doesn't mean I've reached the end of that era! So heres to the moms, the grandmas, the aunts, sisters, and cousins. The "grown ups" who thought their time was past. We can celebrate the little things, the big things, the everythings. I say we start having parties for any reason! Lets bring a little celebratory cheer back into everyones lives, and I think we'll find a much happier world. C'mon what have we got to lose! :) Oh ya and here are some photos of the weekend to sum it all up!

My boys... chillen

Le bird

Quinten got to feed some ducks ( he was telling us all about it here)

The cousins all kept Grandma runnin!

Q's cousin thinking deep

She loves the camera!

So are you planning a party yet??

Best Photo Contest!!

The Paper Mama is having another "Best Photo Contest." Choosing my best photo is so hard, besides the fact I'm super hard on myself, every photo I take of my kiddo I love!! :0) So I narrowed it down and had the husband help me choose. This photo is one that I absolutely love of this little guy. For those of you who know him, know he is a pretty good eater (so far thankyou God!) and this was after lunch. We had left over home made spaghetti from the night before. I guess I need not say more... the pic says it all :) wish me luck!!!!!