happy birthday, kevbo!

my second-oldest brother turns 27 today!

holy moly.

how is it that we are all SO OLD

(by the way, kristi turns 30 tomorrow. now THAT is weird--but more on that tomorrow).

kevin is the sibling directly above me. we are 19 months apart and only separated by about 3 inches. kev and i lived together for a brief stint in utah and they were some of the funnest times of my college career. we frequented eateries together where people often mistook us for a dating couple (which is SUPER weird, considering how much he and I look alike). 

kevin can fix anything. whenever anything of mine breaks (mostly my car because let's be honest, I drive crappy cars), kev is the first person i call. for some reason he always doubts the advice he gives which is silly, because he is so unbelievably smart. in fact, he built a sweet robot his senior year of college and won the regional competition and got to compete nationally (which he never actually went to. dork). check his robot out here! 

kevin is a great older brother and he is married to the sweetest girl (don't ask me how he got so lucky) and i am grateful to have him AND her as part of my family--especially when they come here to LA and visit and buy me mickey mouse pins for my lanyard.

did i mention kevin doesn't have a big toe? well here is his punishment for ALWAYS TAKING HORRIBLE PICTURES OF ME AND POSTING THEM ON FACEBOOK.

guitar heros.

happy (belated) birthday, dad!

ugh.

i hate that i already sort of screwed this up.

mi papi's birthday was actually the 24th, but in my defense, I was in the doctor's office with ruby for 3 of those daytime hours and the rest were spent making the house not look like a bunch of frat guys lived there (fail on this one, too) and tending to ruby girl and her sicky nastiness.

anyway. my dad. man, i really love this guy. i know i have mentioned this before, but did you know he drives an hour and a half EACH way to work EVERY DAY? He gets up at 3 am. he gets home around 5 and is in bed by 7. and he drives a piece of crap geo (that he loves, mind you). he duck tapes the hood down with white duck tape..."it's seamless!" he says. 

he is kind of short-temper, LOUD person, but so am i. i think i get it from him and i sort of love that we share that. we understand each other because we both get so frustrated and spout off then immediately regret what we did. he taught me that it's always o.k. and appropriate to say you're sorry--and you should. he is handsome and loveable and the best guy to have in your corner.

happy birthday, dad!

(from our BYU graduation--see how much we look alike?!)

(and if you are wondering why my face is so fat, I'm 20 weeks preggo with O here)

 (*see, dad--you ARE still taller than me!)

this is from Christmas 07'--clearly we need to work on getting more recent pictures together.

*also, I think only my sister-in-law, shilly-dog reads the blog, so these posts will likely only be seen by good friends, random acquaintances, and complete strangers. sort of weird that complete strangers will read, yet the people they are about won't. eh, whatevs.

my new friend

thanks, tax return, for being a great friend this year.

because of you, I was able to get another awesome friend.

blog friends, meet new camera.

 new camera, meet awesome blog friends.

I think it's awesome I used my photo booth camera to take a picture of the new camera.

is it wrong to be so terrified of something?

here's to more blog updates with even more pictures!

(*note* we have a video camera from my cute little bro that we are planning on using just as much now 

that we can finally take videos with it rather than pictures (it's first a video camera, second a still-photo cam).

the twinkies turn 12!

yes, I fully understand that they are two separate people.

 Nickolas and Nikko COULD NOT BE MORE OPPOSITE. 

Oh my days, it's ridiculous how opposite they are. 

(especially physically)

however, I don't want someone to come scan the page and only see one and think that was it and the other be left out! so, i'll do two separate things WITHIN the same blog.

aren't you glad I am so clear about things?

ok, here it goes:

Nickolas

Nickolas is one of the most kind-hearted little boys you will ever meet. He is feisty, yet sweet. He's loud, but so calm. I know, it doesn't make sense that those two work together, but that's the best way to describe him. He is super-athletic and active but when it comes to his niece and nephews, he is like the baby-whisperer--unless him and Nikko are throwing a bean bag at oliver--but don't worry, Oliver throws it right back. That boy has the most tender heart, especially when it concerns his niece and nephews. He is so smart (though he may not always agree). Because him and his brother don't have any younger siblings, I think he really thrives on being an uncle. Especially a young one. 

Oliver prefers Nickolas to almost everyone.

and it's especially ridiculous because Oliver wants Nickolas to hold him...

...and he is almost Nickolas' size. 

Seriously.

You should see him hold him!

love, love, love this boy.

Nikko

Nikko man! Man, this kid. Nikko is this big teddy bear of a boy. He just radiates love and kindness and goodness. He is soft-spoken and incredibly sweet. He is so helpful and does it so cheerfully. He'a artistic, athletic, and smart. He is so well-balanced. He snuggles with me when we watch tv and movies together. *sigh*. When Shantele was asking the boys what they wanted for their birthday, Nikko said he wanted to come to LA (by himself!) and hang out with us! 

Freaking sweetheart.

Ruby is really drawn to Nikko and Nikko is so sweet to her. And to Oliver.

And to everyone.

love, love, love, this boy.

These two are seriously some of the best little men in the world

 and I am so very grateful to have them in our lives.

(picture from our wedding

nickolas is the blond, nikko the brunette)

(they are only 8 here--aren't they precious?!)

*also, I'm not sure where miles and riley are, hahaha

whoops.

31 birthdays and counting.

I come from a family of 9 siblings. Out of us 9, there are 4-in laws so far (including Sean) and 5 grandbabies (including ours). From Sean's side, he has 6 brothers (2 are Shantele's twin boys), and one sister-in-law. There are 3 grandbabies (including our kiddos). Add 5 parent-figures on top of that and what do you get?

lots of freaking birthdays.

and guess what?

5 of those occur in January.

And even better yet?

They occur within 5 days of each other.

So, I was thinking today that I seriously love everyone in my huge, crazy, dramatic, hilarious, awesome family, that I am going to dedicate a blog post to each one of them on their birthday.

Oooh, yeah, baby.

And guess what?

Tomorrow, we have TWO.

The twins!

More on that tomorrow.

6 months and 2 years

I know. I'm crazy. 18-months apart is sooo perfect for these two. And to me, it doesn't seem all that weird. Until I put '6 months and 2 years' as the title of a blog post and realize that I was 3 months along with Ruby before Oliver even turned 1. Whoa.

Anyway, I realized I forgot to blog about their respective appointments, so I'll quickly do the details:

Oliver: 

38.5 pounds--over 95th

39"--over 95th

I asked the doctor how in the world Oliver wasn't over the 100th percentile. Doc said he was completely off the chart, but for documentations sake, they have to say 'over the 95th- percentile. 

Doesn't really make sense, but whatever.

He loves trucks, cars, reading, Mickey Mouse, Dora, trains, balls, 'draws' (coloring), Cars the movie, and doing flash cards with Sean. He can count to 7 and knows yellow, green, blue, purple, red, and orange.

Speaks a decent amount--I'm not in the slightest concerned about that.

Loves his BB 

(yes, his binkie. Sue me.)

Wears a size 11 shoe!

Still fits into 3T clothes, but not for much longer.

zero intrest in potty-training...

which is cool by me since I, too, have zero interest in potty-training.

Ruby:
18 pounds 11 ounces--90th
27"--75th

Ruby girl is getting chunky and is actually a tad short, considering. 

haha!

she has recently started sitting up for more than a minute or two.

she has big, brown eyes (just like big brother and dad!)

she has the most captivating smile.

Like, it melts my heart every.single.time she smiles.

(don't believe me? come visit and see for yourself.)

Wears 9-12 months clothes.

 Of course, I pour her into some of her 6 month ones, too.

Size 3 diapers...

..but let's be honest: that's mostly because I don't want to move up to 

size 4 and get less diaper for my money!

LOVES solids (obviously).

This is a pretty haphazardly written blog, but I wanted to jot some stuff down before I pay homage to each of my darling babes. In a separate post. In the future.

big girl!

have I mentioned lately how much I adore this little princess?

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until the sun comes up over santa monica blvd...

ok, not really santa monica blvd, but more santa monica pier.

santa monica pier (and boardwalk) is one of my very favorite places. for those who haven't been, it's this uber-charming oasis with complete with a carnival, aquarium, shops, fruit trucks, bike rentals, taco and hot dog stands, other greasy delicious food stands, the ocean (duh), charming beach homes, and a vast array of some of the happiest homeless people and their dogs (expression unintended).

we don't go here nearly enough, especially considering it's a whopping 4 miles from our apartment.

anyway, this past MLK day we finally went down there after a several week stint. we got there right at ten and it was calm, quiet, and awesome. we decided to rent bikes for an hour and stroll up and down the boardwalk into venice:

(*do make note of the cleanliness of the surrounds.

and also of the super-sketchy helmet on loan for Rubes)

the men in my life.

are you kidding me? precious.

toilet paper trail

ruby was working very hard, so she requested we stop for a drink.

*ah, yes. notice the difference in the surrounds once you get to Venice...? 

good ol' venice.

another really awesome thing about santa monica beach are the plethera of play structures and things. oliver loooooves the swings. it's just extra-sweet they happen to overlook the pier and the ocean:

come visit us.

anytime.

lastly, I have been pinteresting lots lately--including, but certainly not limited to--this baby:

before:

after:

*yeah, and is the camera quality as annoying to you as it is to me? a problem soon to be fixed via tax return.

lunatic

geesh, this girl. no wonder my children have tank legs:

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and so it begins.

law school starts up again for the hubs tomorrow.

uggghhhhhhh.

ok, that's all the complaining I'll do. we were SO spoiled to have him all to ourselves for the last 24 days. it's actually bittersweet; bitter because we'll see him 1/15 the amount of time we've been seeing him and sweet because me and the babes will be able to get back into a routine of sorts including, but not limited to: more structured naps for the babes (this is mostly for me--I need quiet time!), organized meal times, outside play-time, crafting, reading, organizing, cleaning, more playing, cooking, laundry, and all the other things being a mom and wife are all about. it is utterly inconceivable how much I love getting to stay at home with two of the coolest little people on the planet. I'm not sure how I got so lucky.

:-)