The Munro family updates

2012-02-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Darren's birthday with family this past weekend and unfortunately I lost about half the pictures I took, so sorry if not everyone made the blog =(

We had a great time with family and thank you so much to everyone for being here to celebrate with us.

Darren was so excited for his cake since he had helped me make it the night before, when he finally did get to dig in, he only ate the frosting and made a huge mess doing it too! Gotta love it!

Chuck E Cheese

2012-02-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, Dare's actual birthday, just the four of us went out to celebrate at Chuck E Cheese. Both boys had a great time playing games and playing everywhere! Both really enjoyed all the characters singing up front and Braden just kept going back to them. Once home, we opened gifts and had cupcakes, a great night.

Happy 3rd Birthday Darren

2012-02-08T06:37:00.000-08:00

Saturday making pancakes

two years

one year

6 days

My gorgeous, flawless amazing son turns three years old day!! I love him so so much and could never imagine my life without him. He has changed our lives so much for the better and are unbelievably proud to be his parents.

His birthday started out a little rough last night when he fell and had to go to urgent care, 2 staples later we were on our way home talking about Chuck E Cheese for his birthday. In true Darren style he is always keeping us on our toes.

He is the roughest, toughest, most fearless little boy I know (Braden quickly catching up) and we love him so much for it. Happy Birthday my love!

fun at the park

2012-02-08T06:28:00.000-08:00

The park is such a great place for the boys to get out and get some fresh air. So glad the weather is getting nicer and nicer by the minute and enables us to get out more!

painting

2012-02-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

The boys love doing crafts still, there attention span always pleasantly surprises me. This past weekend it was a joint effort when they painted a bird house for our Grandpa in Fort Bragg.

We had seen them at Michaels and when I asked Dare who we should paint it for and who had a garden, he said Grandpa! Now the tricky part of trying to mail a delicate bird house to him :)

lunch time fun

2012-02-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Tim met up with his Mom and took the boys to Lake Elizabeth to play at the park. Since I can see the lake from my window at work (super close) I met them on my lunch hour. It was great, totally refreshing to get out and play with them to break up the work day, hoping to make this a new Thursday tradition :)

Braden's first haircut

2012-01-29T16:37:00.000-08:00

Last week we finally cut Braden's hair for the first time. Nobody wanted me to cut his cute little curls but his hair was getting pretty long and I think it was time. He looks adorable with his hair cut, looks so grown up and I think him and Dare look even more alike now too. Thank you Grammy for going with me to help keep the boys under control (trust me when I say they are less then thrilled getting their hair cut).

more phone fun

2012-01-29T16:10:00.001-08:00

Darren has a Mickey app on my phone that he recently discovered has a section where you can take your picture with Mickey. He LOVES this option as you can clearly tell and every time I get my phone back from him there are more on there. Don't really know why he makes the little mad face a lot but it is super cute!

playing with Mommy's phone

2012-01-24T18:13:00.001-08:00

Braden has now mastered the art of taking pictures of himself with our phones! He is not too fond of taking group pictures though :)

Darren also loves taking pics with our phones and sometimes even finds apps that do cool things with his pics......

fun at Auntie Kim's

2012-01-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

Me, mom, Uncle Joe and the boys went to spend the day with Kim and Jaxson on Saturday. The boys had a ball playing in Auntie Kim's laundry baskets, makes me wonder why they have toys on top of toys at my house when they were content playing in the baskets forever! They even watched movies from in there. The boys also had there first real encounter with Diesel, my sisters great Dane, he is usually outside when we're over. They were not afraid of him at all; Darren barked at him and Braden just kept smiling at him very curious. So cute! Both boys very excited to see cousin Jaxson too!

Our new friend Maddyn

2012-01-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

Our good friends Tabitha and Marlo had a beautiful baby girl yesterday, Maddyn Paige. She was six pounds five ounces and absolutely gorgeous! Congratulations guys, looking forward to lots of fun times with her!

Braden joins the big boy club

2012-01-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

Darren enjoys painting and Braden has always sat and watched, today Braden got to paint for the first time too. He was very excited and ate only a little! I was having him use just his fingers and then Darren gave him one of his really big paint brushes that Braden loved and actually did really well with. When his painting was dry we hung it up on the wall where all of Darren's are, when I asked Tim to pick him up to take a picture with it, he went right to it pointing and smiling, I think he actually did know that was the one he did!

A new car!

2012-01-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

The boys big gift from Santa was a cool car! They had so much fun with it and have even been good about taking turns, either Darren and Braden together or just Dare, but Dare didn't seem to mind driving around Braden much as long as he could still play with it. They both enjoyed that the dog followed them around too. Darren is not to good at steering yet or stopping before he hits things, but in time I'm sure he'll be a pro. That last pic on the lawn is about .5 seconds before we needed new Christmas decorations for the front yard!!

This pic was added in because it was right after the car adventure and Braden's first sandwich =)

so hard to be mad...

2012-01-01T17:58:00.000-08:00

I caught these two hiding by the tree (it's between the couches and they are out of sight at most angles where they are standing) eating the lollipops that they got in their stockings. Darren was the only one that could reach them where they were up on a shelf and told multiple times not to eat them until after lunch. He looked so guilty when I caught them that he wouldn't make eye contact, sweet Braden has no idea he is doing anything wrong. On the upside I'm super happy that Darren thought to give one to Braden too and that they were hanging out together and not fighting =) Love them SO MUCH!

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2012 from our family to yours!

(Baron was the only one that would humor Mommy and wear the hat!)

Christmas with the Munro's

2011-12-31T21:28:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day was spent with the Munro's which was extra special getting to share it with the newest edition to the family, baby Connor! Dare and Braden love love love when their cousins are in town and neither one of them left Lily and Emma's side the whole day. Darren was even more interested in playing with them than opening his gifts! What a great Christmas, thank you so much to everyone for making it an amazing day, we love you all!

Christmas Morning

2011-12-31T21:13:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning at our house, despite everyone being sick, was awesome. Darren instantly felt better when he saw a Giant red Angry Bird under the tree! The boys had a lot of fun opening all their gifts and Braden even stopped to help Baron open his gifts. Christmas morning was great, I love watching the look on the boys faces when they saw their presents and the anticipation of them trying to open them up fast to see what it is, a great great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T21:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was so much fun! We had a great time with the family opening gifts, eating, playing white elephant and even had a taste testing contest between Coke in the holiday white can vs. Coke in the red can. My brother in law Dan swore up and down that he could tell the difference and long story short he could, and so could everyone else.

This was also baby Jaxson's first Christmas and he did wonderfully, not a peep out of him , he is such a good baby.

Thank you to everyone for again spoiling my boys, we love you!

Braden and the Christmas tree

2011-12-24T21:46:00.000-08:00

Braden is very busy to say the least these days, just always on the go. We cleverly separated our couches to block the Christmas tree that would at least give us a head start in blocking him because of the time it would take to climb over the couch. This kind of worked until he would only climb there when we were in the other room and then think he was hiding out of our sight (he wasn't). Too too cute to ever be mad at him and he always looks so innocent when he gets caught :)

cookies for Santa

2011-12-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

This is really the first year Darren has been into Christmas and understands the concept of Santa. It has been a lot of fun talking to him talk about it and fun to see him looking forward to it so much. Last night we made cookies for Santa, another very exciting Christmas event!

Craft time

2011-12-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

We got to play with Lily and Emma today and do crafts them. And meet baby Connor for the first time too, he is gorgeous!

Darren and Braden love when their cousins are in town!!!

"but I caught him!"

2011-12-23T10:38:00.000-08:00

So the other day as I was strapping Darren into his car seat leaving Grammy's house, the ice cream man drove by (why is there even an ice cream man driving around December 22nd in 45 degree weather!). Darren instantly was like " ice cream truck, Mommy Sponge Bob ice cream, ice cream truck". Luckily it was driving in the other direction so I told him he was going home and he was driving too fast for us because we weren't even in the car seat completely. He fussed a little but was ok as we drove away.
As luck would have it, the ice cream truck had taken side streets and pulled in front of us a couple blocks up. Darren of course sees him and says "Mommy Mommy ice cream truck". I politely tried to tell him no and that he didn't have anymore ice cream and that's why he was on his way home. Darren, in his super cute little voice, says "but but I caught him Mommy, I caught him" and that's why I had to follow an ice cream truck for almost two miles on the main streets until he went back into a residential neighborhood when I could stop him and I would do it again!

Gingerbread Man Darren

2011-12-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

Tim brought home Gingerbread man kits for each boy this weekend and Darren was so excited to do it. He did his on Saturday and of course named him Darren and carried it around with him the rest of the night (which means Baron followed him around the rest of the night). The next day he asked if he could do Braden's and we said yes because Braden is still too little to do crafty stuff. So now we have two gingerbread men with little bites taken out of them, named Darren and Darren 2!

Darren's first movie!

2011-12-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

We took Darren to see his first movie in the theaters last night. We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks three, Chipwrecked. We went with The Gardin family and I even made the boys their very own Alvin shirts! Darren did amazing in the theater, his little eyes got so big when the lights went down and the previews started to show. It was so cool to see him realize that it was a giant movie screen in front of us not just a wall! He sat through the entire movie, it probably helped that he adores the first two chipmunk movies.

In retrospect I should have tried to take a picture before all the popcorn, cookies and candy! Dare was so excited after the movie I couldn't get him to sit still for a picture!

Overall, a great experience for our first movie with a toddler.

Santa Picture 2011

2011-12-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

The boys did so good with Santa this year, no tears! When Santa asked Dare what he wanted for Christmas he said Angry Birds and he was so excited to get a coloring book from Santa too. Braden was impartial to the whole thing, I was just glad he wasn't crying or reaching for me and Tim.

Angry Birds

2011-12-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

So, Mommy and Daddy both have Angry bird apps on our phones so of course Darren knows how to play too and loves it. He even hums the little song as he plays! We have now gradually collected the plush toys. The first started innocently as a prize at Chuck E Cheese, the next in the dollar bin at Party City, the the next few have been claw machines at the mall. He now has 11 and can tell you exactly which one is missing. The super cute thing is that he wants to take them everywhere ( both Grandma's houses, Fort Bragg, the store etc.) and trying to hold all at once. I have now talked him into putting them all in one bag otherwise we lose them, I walked around the Disney store for 10 minutes yesterday trying to find one that he had just won in the claw machine and dropped out of the stroller and actually did find it mixed in with all their plushes!

Darren's cafe

2011-12-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

Today we had breakfast in San Francisco near Fisherman's Wharf called Darren's cafe! Food was delicious and I know they have good taste based on the name of the restaurant!

Fort Bragg road trip

2011-11-28T20:22:00.001-08:00

Me and my sister took all three of our boys to Fort Bragg over the holiday weekend to visit with our grandparents and so they could meet Jaxson too! I was a little hesitant at first to go on a four hour car ride with a one year old, a two year old and a 2 month old but it went great. All of the boys did great in the car and in Fort Bragg.

It was fun getting to show off all of our boys to Grandma, Grandpa and our Uncles. Darren was just like us when we were little and wanted to go on walks around the property with Grandpa, that super made me smile to think that another generation is getting to experience what we did! Hope we get to go back soon.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-28T19:54:00.000-08:00

So so much to be thankful for this year, most of all we are so blessed to have a happy loving family.

A great Sunday

2011-11-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

waiting for Mommy to flip him over so he can do somersaults!

playing hide and go seek with all his angry birds

Braden trying to nap next to Darren :)

refrigerator snowman

Today was a great Sunday! We had a big breakfast where Darren helped make pancakes, we had craft time, did a little bit of Christmas shopping and then just relaxed around the house playing games the rest of the day. Good one!

Pictures of the week

2011-11-19T09:22:00.000-08:00

Eating pancakes, watching Pixar shorts...a perfect Saturday morning!

The top couple pictures of Braden and the garbage can was a super cute milestone for him. Darren started a fascination with stickers about a year ago and liked to put them everywhere (like most kids) and to prevent them from being on the walls and in my shoes, we decided he was allowed to put them on the garbage can only. This way it was still a "fun" place to put them and he could see them all the time. Braden has been witnessing this for a year now and I never thought to let him try because he is so little still. With that said, when I was cleaning out the boys closet last week, Braden was trying to help but really making lots more work for Mommy so I handed him a sticker I found while cleaning, without hesitation he walked out of his room and straight to the garbage can! It was so cute, goes to show they are always watching and taking things in.

Superfranks

2011-11-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

This was Daddy's first time going to Superfranks with us! The boys had a blast, even Tim who was asking me for more tokens for the arcade!

visit with our cousin

2011-11-19T09:06:00.001-08:00

The boys had their cousin Jaxson over to our house for the first time last week. Darren did really well with him, he seemed interested in what he was doing and Braden was intrigued when he would hear him make noises.

great memory

2011-11-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

After trick or treating and eating a lollipop in each hand last night, he couldn't bare to part with his precious candy. He refused to give up his pumpkin with candy so Mommy gave in and let him sleep with it. I waited until he fell asleep and then put it away because if anyone knows our mischievous dog Baron you know he would be all over that!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

Woody and Buzz had a great Halloween. Braden only trick or treated at a couple houses before going back home with Daddy and Jacob to pass out candy, but he got the feel for it for next year. Darren and I continued the rest of the night with our friend Justin. Dare got really good at saying trick or treat and thanking each person. He loved coming home to pass out candy to all the other kids too. A little tough to get a good picture of the boys together, but all in all a great Halloween!

Pumpkin carving

2011-10-31T21:02:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin carving went well, but did not hold Darren's interest very long at all. He colored for a bout two minutes and was done with it all. Braden had a good time just watching Mommy and Daddy carve and he even played with the pumpkin seeds for awhile. And yes, there are little bites marks out of Braden's pumpkin =)

Pumpkin patch round 2

2011-10-30T16:04:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the pumpkin patch with Auntie Kim, Uncle Dan, G-ma and Jaxson. This pumpkin patch had a little petting zoo, a train and a hay stack maze. Glad we got to go with little Jaxson to his first pumpkin patch.

Happy Birthday Lilee and DJ

2011-10-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

Happy first birthday to Lilee and my precious godson DJ! They had a Halloween party and all the kids got to wear their costumes. There were lots of Halloween crafts and treats for the kids, probably the most popular for my boys was the popcorn machine, they loved it!

Happy Birthday guys!

Connor William McCoy

2011-10-27T21:58:00.001-07:00

Our handsome nephew (and newest cousin)Connor William McCoy was born early this afternoon. Six pounds fourteen ounces, 19.5 inches long and perfect! We love you baby Connor and can't wait to meet you and Happy Birthday!

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

The boys had so much fun at the pumpkin patch! We told Darren that he could take home the pumpkin that he could pick up all by himself. He easily picked 30 different pumpkins, it was so cute watching him try. When he finally picked up a tiny one he was ecstatic yelling " I did it!". He doesn't even know we still have lots more fun to come when we carve them!

It's true....

2011-10-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

My boys have too many toys and yet they had a great time with a box yesterday! I was cleaning out the garage and Darren asked to play with the car seat box. He just sat in there for a long time pretend playing until Braden realized he was in there and then they both chased each other in and out of it =)

pictures of the week

2011-10-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mom

2011-10-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week we all went out to dinner for my mom's 50th Birthday! It was the first time little Jaxson came to Fremont too. It is always so nice when all of us can get together.

Happy Birthday G-Ma Love you!!

Coyote Hills

2011-10-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

Today we took all three boys to Coyote Hills as a birthday walk for Baron. We hiked and had lunch on the picnic tables. All three had a lot of fun, but I think we really wore out Baron, poor thing walked slow the rest of the night and mostly stayed in bed =)

Pictures of the week

2011-10-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

A collection of pictures from this week. Darren being pretty focused on playing with Mommy's phone that he didn't even notice toys being put on him, both boys playing at the park and Baron crying for his Lou Seal on the other side of the baby gate ( he was just being lazy because he can jump over the gate or walk around it ten feet away).

1,2,3

2011-10-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

one

two

three

For 16 days I will have had a one year old, a two year old and a three year old! Baron turns four tomorrow, but it was fun to get to say that. Baron has been such a big part of our lives and we adore him so much. He is great with the boys and they absolutely love him. Happy early birthday Mr. Bare!!

even more helping!

2011-10-14T10:20:00.001-07:00

little helper

2011-10-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

I put the mail on the kitchen table went to get a glass of what, literally gone 10 seconds, and came back to Mommy's little helper going through the mail for me!

welcome home

2011-10-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today Kim and Dan had a welcome home party for baby Jaxson. It was the first time my boys got to meet him and the first time I got to hold him! Both of my boys did really well with him, Darren even gave him lots of kisses and Braden just looked and was good enough not to touch. It was such a good day, can't wait until they are all running around together.

Chuck E Cheese

2011-10-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to Chuck E Cheese on Braden's actual birthday, just the four of us. The boys had a ball! They could not get enough of it, Tim actually loved it too. Since it was a Monday afternoon there were only two other families there too so I let Braden roam around.....it was great!

Jaxson update

2011-10-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

My nephew Jaxson came home from the hospital the day of Braden's birthday party (one week ago)! My sister has started a blog as well, you can get to it on my blog if you look at the list of "our friends" on the left side of my blog listed as The Smith's, just click on The Smith's and it will take you there! So happy he is home and looking forward to seeing him this weekend!

one year well check

2011-10-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

Braden had his one year well check on Monday. He is growing perfectly he weighs 23.5 pounds (Darren is currently 27 pounds) and on the 65th percentile for weight and 70th percentile for height. We were not lucky enough to get a good picture with Dr. Lin (about 10 where someone wasn't looking or squirming around), but he is an awesome pediatrician, we love him! On our way in to our visit we got to see our little friend Jacob, my friend Rosie's son, who was there for his two month well check and our friend Leila there for her six month well check. I guess we all know which pediatrician (and his assistant Tabitha) is the best since we work there =)

LOVE.....

2011-10-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

family party

2011-10-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

Braden had his family party on Sunday and was very very loved! Thank you so much to all of our family for loving and supporting us and our boys. Braden had a blast at his party, he thoroughly enjoyed his second day of cake and presents! Both parties ended the exact same way, asleep with his turtle!

Braden's first 1st birthday party

2011-10-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

Our gorgeous son Braden had two birthday parties, one with his friends and one with family, the theme was under the sea with an emphasis on turtles (because of his lovey Myrtle). His friends party was a lot of fun, the kids did crafts, played and had a pinata. Thank you to my good friend Tabitha for making his turtle cake, she also made Darren's Mickey Mouse first birthday cake.

All the kids played great together and we tried to get a group picture and actually did pretty well although 3 kiddos were missing in the pic (that's pretty good still!) Thank you so much everyone for making Braden's party a success

Braden's first birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-10-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my baby is one years old, where did that time ago? With that said, I have loved every minute of this past year. Braden is such a wonderful baby and I love him so much. I love that he growls when he doesn't get his way, I love that multiple times a day he walks over to me just to lay his head on me, I love that he is so curious and needs to know what everyone else is doing, I love that he follows around Darren. This list could go on for pages, so I'll just end it with I love everything about him! This past year has been amazing.

feeding the ducks

2011-10-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

My mom and I took the boys to a little lake to feed the ducks last week. Braden mostly fed himself but eventually fed the ducks too! Darren loved feeding them and wasn't scared at all ( I was a little scared some of those ducks get really close and mildly aggressive).

Both boys loved it and Darren has asked me twice already to go back.

Cal academy of Science

2011-09-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we went to the California Academy of Science in San Francisco with our good friends The Taboras. Darren had a blast and Braden was just excited to see other babies! I think overall every ones favorite thing to see was the awesome aquarium, the kids got to explore a little more there than the other exhibits.

The weather was great, the exhibits were great and the company was great!

Way more interested in DJ than watching the penguins get fed =)

Hydrangeas in the Azores

2011-09-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa spent a couple months in the Azores this summer and transferred all seven hundred pictures he took onto my computer. When I was looking through them I noticed all the Hydrangeas and remembered that I had just blogged about the ones in his garden. You can see them all over the hillsides. I will definitely be posting more of his pictures of the islands, there are some really gorgeous ones.

caught!

2011-09-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

So every morning and after every nap, Braden's bottle is stuck between the wall and the crib and any excess milk is spilled on the ground. Well today I was walking by his room when I heard him stand up, so i walked very quietly up behind him and watched him jam it between the wall and then laugh at the milk dripping down! Before he saw me, he finished laughing at his bottle trick and then turned on his music projection thing on in his crib which is usually are clue to go get him. I asked him about the bottle and he went over to it smiling which is when I took the pics, so cute and now there is always a towel under the crib!

D's first time bowling

2011-09-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

We took the boys bowling yesterday for the first time, well Braden just watched. Dare did good he bowled a 44, not bad for his first time. Darren loved bowling and cried when we had to give back the bowling shoes.

miniature golfing

2011-09-21T21:40:00.001-07:00

I'm off of work for three weeks and Tim is off with me for the first week and we are taking full advantage of it. We have been taking the boys to do fun things everyday.
Darren loved miniature golf, I took two videos, the first was his cute little reaction when he hit the ball in the hole and the other showing how long it took him to get it in. I decided to only post the one with the reaction, the other was a little long!

Glass beach

2011-09-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

Glass beach, I've have probably blogged about his before, is a beach in Fort Bragg that used to be the city dump that over time the waves crashing into the trash turned all the glass into a colorful non sharp stones. We couldn't get Braden down to the actual beach so Daddy and Dare got some good quality time together. Darren brought me back and handful of glass to take home too =)

Pudding Creek

2011-09-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from our Portuguese Festa weekend. We took the boys all over the place in Fort Bragg. This is us at Pudding Creek, it is a quaint little beach on the outskirts of Fort Bragg. The morning started out over cast, but quickly turned to blue skies and great weather the rest of the weekend.

The three pictures of the boys overlooking the beach I adore. I can't decide which is my favorite, the one of Darren looking down and checking on Braden, the one of the both of them watching the waves or the one of Braden clutching onto Dare when he got scared (don't worry I picked up Braden as soon as he got scared).

Playing at Grandpa and Grandma's house

2011-09-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Braden enjoyed playing with the berries too.

The Grey Whale Inn, Fort Bragg California. This hotel used to be the town hospital, we drive by it on our way to the Portuguese Hall. It is where my Dad was born fifty years ago on September 16th. Another cool thing about going to the Festa every year is that is always falls around my Dad's birthday. It's nice to be with his family and all remember him together =)

Braden playing in my Grandpa's garden, Hydrangea's are all over the Azores, in particular Flores the island my Grandpa is from.

Darren and Great Grandpa looking for berries

Darren is a notoriously picky eater, but he ate every different kind of berry my Grandpa gave him, I think he thought it was fun to "find" food.

Uncle Pat and Grandpa showing the boys around the property.

Daddy and Darren stretching in Cloverdale (about half way of the four hour car ride to Fort Bragg)

great investment =)

2011-09-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

The boys recently got a Mickey Mouse ball pit that they ADORE! Braden just goes in circles in it and Darren loves throwing the balls in the top part and watching them circle down (I'll post pictures of that part of it later). They are so cute in it and we have had it for a couple weeks now and have only lost three balls to Baron =)

Baby Jaxson!

2011-09-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

Jaxson Randall Smith born at 11:41 p.m. on 9/10/11, he is 4 lb 2 oz and 17.5 inches long. My gorgeous nephew Jaxson made his debut a little earlier than scheduled (about 6 weeks early) but mom and baby are doing well. I love him so much and I know my boys can't wait for him to get nice and strong so they can all play together.

I was able to see him briefly last night, he will spend a couple weeks in the NICU for monitoring and got one picture but definitely more to come.

Congratulations Kim and Dan!!

11 months old

2011-09-06T20:43:00.001-07:00

Our baby is eleven months old, wow crazy to think that he will be a whole year old next month! Braden is into EVERYTHING right now, nothing is safe =) He is walking so much. it's hard to believe that he just took his first steps a couple weeks ago and is already doing so well.

beach day

2011-09-04T20:30:00.001-07:00

Today we took the boys to Half Moon Bay. There is a picture in our bedroom of me and Tim on our honeymoon at the beach and at least three times a week Darren will point out that picture and ask about the beach. Dare has been a few times but not since he was little and Braden had never been. Darren had a blast, he dug holes with Daddy, built sand castles with Mommy and even made a friend on the beach and played frisbee together.
Braden was not so impressed, he didn't like getting his hands dirty and was very unsure about the sand and how unstable it was. I got some really cute pics of him crying in the sand but decided not to post them. Once we had been there awhile he came around and had a great time too, both boys enjoyed putting their feet in the freezing cold water. A very good family day at the beach.

showering baby Jaxson

2011-09-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

My sister, Kim, had her baby shower for baby Jaxson last weekend! I didn't get a whole lot of pictures but here are a few. She had a great time and got lots of gifts from friends and family welcoming baby Jaxson, thank you to everybody who came out.

cousins pic =)

second cousins (all our kids from the previous pic) Dare, Carter, Addison, Braden and Grant ( Blake not pictured, he is two months old and the newest addition to out little guys)

plus 1

2011-08-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

summer 2010

summer 2011

Our cute cousins picture grew by one this year. Next summer we'll have another plus one when our nephew Connor joins the party!

first steps!!!!!!

2011-08-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

Braden took his first steps today walking to his Uncle Ron for a puzzle piece! We tried for hours to get him to do it again while the cameras were rolling and by the end of the night I caught it!!!

I was super excited at first but now a little sad thinking this is the next step to him becoming a big boy not my little baby anymore.

Great job Braden, Mommy and Daddy are in for a whole new adventure with you!

San Jose Giants

2011-08-20T21:36:00.001-07:00

We took the boys to San Jose Giants game tonight, this is the third year we have went on my company sponsored night and has been really fun every time. This year Darren was old enough to play at all the cool kids booths they have and he loved it! A very good night with the boys despite a loss by the San Jose Giants and the San Francisco Giants too =(

walking to the park

2011-08-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

Darren and his friend Justin walked to the park yesterday hand in hand. It was so cute! They also had a blast at the park, but walking there was so sweet!

wagon fun

2011-08-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

The boys in the wagon together for the first time walking around the block with G-ma.
I could not get these boys to look at the camera at the same time to save my life! So here is one of each!

the quiet before the storm

2011-08-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

I thought this was so cute at first so I took a quick picture with my phone and then promptly told him to get down. Well when i left the room I of course heard him jumping on the bed (duh) told him to get down again and then left the room to change Braden. I should have known that it was too quiet for him to simply being sitting on the floor playing with toys. He had climbed on the other side of the bed, found markers that I had placed up on the windowsill and colored all over himself which he called his "tat oooos", all over his puzzles and toy story sheets. i didn't think to take an after picture though, something tells me this wont be the last time something like this happens.....

stayin' alive!!!!!

2011-08-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

Darren adores the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies and likes to quote some of his favorite parts. Probably his favorite part in both movies is when Alvin sings staying alive, so cute!!

sorry the camera angle is funny =)

cute boys

2011-08-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

Just some cute pictures taken yesterday of the boys =)

Giants vs. Phillies

2011-08-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Giants Phillies game. We went a little early so Dare could get the give away for kids, it was a really neat Brian Wilson jersey. The jersey is pretty big but I'm sure he'll get plenty of use out of it. They also had a big van shaped like one of the cartoon characters Darren really likes outside the ballpark with giveaways (the cartoon was Phineas and Ferb if anyone was interested and the van was in the shape of a giant platypus which on the show is the boys pet).

Tim's parents offered to keep Braden for us (thanks guys!) so we got some really good quality time with just Darren, that hasn't really happened since we had Braden and I think Darren really enjoyed it. Although when we saw a baby in line behind us he did ask for Braden which kind of surprised me, in a good way. He also picked out a really cute mini Lou Seal plush to take home to Braden.

Darren did great at the game, we went to the build a bear factory and got food but sat in our seats most of the time. He had a blast and was a very happy guy being there with Mommy and Daddy.
We beat the Phillies 3-1

ten months old

2011-08-05T20:35:00.001-07:00

Braden is ten months old!! He is the busiest little guy ever right now. He is at such a fun age, old enough to entertain himself and still need his mommy but not old enough to get into much trouble, at least not on purpose. Love him so much!

two teeth!

2011-08-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

Braden has two teeth! They came in at the same time about two weeks ago and have not been the easiest thing to photograph. I get tons of great pictures of his big smile but his little teeth don't show when he smiles. The best picture I have of them is the third one down and he has a super messy face but beggars can't be choosers and that pic will have to do.
The other pictures of the boys I just thought were cute!

=(

2011-08-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

This is the look I got when I said no more Monster's Inc. and time for bed, arms crossed and everything! No verbal attitude cause he said "ok Mama" ( mama now instead of mommy because that's what Braden calls me) but the body language said it all!

hahaha

2011-08-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

I often get my phone back with tons and tons of pictures that Darren has taken of himself or nothing at all like the back of the car seat, much to my surprise these are the pictures I saw recently! I usually try to discourage the taking seventy pictures in a row of nothing, but Tim joins right in on the fun, gotta love him!

superfranks

2011-08-01T11:23:00.001-07:00

A little bit of a late post, but we went to Superfranks again with some of our friends last week. I forgot my camera so cell phone pics will have to do this time =)
Braden had a blast!! Since he is very very mobile now he loves to get into things, so having giant rooms with nothing but stuff for him to touch was the greatest think in the world for him. The boys pretty much stuck together too, Darren would check on Braden and Braden would try to follow Darren around.
Darren of course had fun and the sweetest thing happened, as we were leaving, we stopped to trade in all of our tickets for prizes and he picked out a frog for Braden (with out being asked to ) and gave it to him saying " here baby you like frogs". What a good brother!

Asleep on the ride room clutching his prizes.

Happy Birthday Baby Jacob

2011-07-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Rosie, had a beautiful baby boy today. Nine pound two ounce, twenty two inch long Jacob Isaac.
Congratulations Rosie, I got some little guys here that can't wait for Jacob to be big enough to play with!
Welcome to the world little man.

me and Tabitha got to see him when he was just 10 hours old

park time with Grammy

2011-07-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we met up with Grammy at the park by her house. I had not not been there with the boys since they remodeled and it looks great. It was also Braden's first time on the swings and he seemed to really enjoy it =)

hmmmm..

2011-07-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

I'm wondering which one of them taught the other to do this!

spoiled?

2011-07-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

How in the world did Baron get himself under the pillows and just his little head out, I'm used to finding him under the covers when its cold out but under the pillows??? The tempur-pedic mattress must not be comfortable enough for him, I think my dog might be a little spoiled.

Saturday morning cartoons

2011-07-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

Pier 39

2011-07-11T17:53:00.001-07:00

We had a blast with the boys at pier 39. The highlight was probably when we went to the arcade. We had only been there about ten minutes when we were down to our last tokens in the last game when Darren and Tim hit a 1000 ticket jackpot. Darren was so excited he yelled over and over again "yay Daddy you did it", it was so cute! We spent an equal amount of time picking out a ton of prizes; two sharks, to claw sharks to pick things up, 3 rings, a car, two airplanes, a whoopee cushion and two flying toys. Six dollars worth of tokens very well spent!

playing with some of their prizes.

I thought this picture was cute, trying to hod both boys =)

Candy Baron (thinking of our doggy at home)

funny faces =)

Aquarium by the Bay

2011-07-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Aquarium by the Bay on pier 39. Neither of us had ever been there and were looking for something to do with the boys. The weather in San Francisco was typical, a little rainy a little windy then the sun comes out at the end of your visit. The boys were amazing, we went all along the pier before the aquarium, to get the boring stuff over with =). Once we were in,
Darren loved looking for Nemo and wanted to know the names of the fish. Braden seemed to really enjoy it too, he was more interested in touching things though.

pointint at Nemo and Dory

silly face

2011-07-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

Braden makes the funniest little face sometimes, he crinkles up his little nose and breathes out funny. I probably first noticed it about two months ago and never thought to take pictures of it but I'm so glad I did. I would be so sad if he stopped doing it and I never had pics or a little video of it. He used to growl at people all the time (it really freaks out Auntie Kim) and I was never able to get in on video so happy I got this one at least.

Last day of swim lessons

2011-07-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of swim lessons. Darren got his little report card from his teacher at the end of class that he loved! Darren really enjoyed his time in class and caught on pretty quick. When the teacher was showing the kids how to kick she would always say "kick kick kick kick", so in the bath tub for the last two weeks all I have heard is "kick, kick, kick, kick".

He did really well kicking on his back and his tummy, but by far his favorite part was jumping in the pool!

Safety day

2011-07-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

Darren and Justin

Yesterday was safety day in swim lessons. They talked about all the rules of the pool and even floated around in life jackets to get the feel of floating alone. I thought Dare would be scared to be in the pool without me holding him but he was just fine and even smiling.
I think the boys look so cute in their life vests!!!

hot summer days

2011-07-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

These past few days have been pretty warm and has knocked Braden out more than a couple times!

I have tons of pictures of Darren grabbing my necklace as comfort to sleep and Braden started doing it the other day too.

Darren's shadow

2011-07-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

After posting Braden's nine month blog I began to realize just how much Braden loves Darren. I decided to follow them around for one hour with my camera to see if Braden really did follow Dare. He did! Braden followed Darren to the spare room to get a toy, then to check Mickey Mouse out for a minute. After a quick diaper and outfit change for little man he went to find Darren in their room and proceeded to try and climb up on the bed with dare then to the living room to read. I never realized just how busy the boys really are!

The Fourth of July

2011-07-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

We had a great fourth of July, family, fun and of course BBQ (including a hot dog eating contest that Tim won). It was a perfect day for the boys to play with their water table in the yard and kept them happy in the heat. Fireworks are legal in Union City and we learned last year just how much our neighbors get into it. This year was no disappointment, we had three or four houses around us firing off the big ones that you see like at Great America! It was crazy and lasted for hours. They of course woke up Braden, but he came out front with us and watched too, neither him or Darren were too scared by them. Baron on the other hand was hiding under the bed the whole time.

even Baron was enjoying the water table!

waiting for fireworks

Darren update

2011-07-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

Darren is becoming quite the little character these days, repeating all kinds of stuff he hears and talking more and more everyday. It is so cute to hear his vocabulary grow, I am amazed at how quickly they pick things up.

We on our second week of swim lessons and getting really good at kicking and blowing bubbles in the pool. The pool picture was taken just before class started and he was so excited to get in!
Our fish, Mickey Mouse and Fish, are also doing very well, Darren feeds them everyday and is being great about not tapping the glass or anything.

The napping pic of Dare and Tim is a cute story, Tim came home from work on Saturday exhausted after working his 4am to noon shifts several days in a row. He came in, had lunch with me and Braden and then asked where Dare was, I told him he was in his room napping. So then I see Tim walk into our room holding Dare, he took Dare out of his bed and put him in ours so they could nap together! Really cute, had to take a pic!

nine months old

2011-07-04T08:47:00.001-07:00

Our baby is nine months old today! He has changed so much since the little guy we brought home from the hospital. He is crawling super fast these days, sometimes a little too fast and you don't even realize it until the dog's water bowl is tipped over. I have to say I think his favorite thing to do still is take a bath, he is just so happy in there. I think some of it has to do with being able to play with Darren without Dare being able to out run him or leave him behind for something else, he loves being where ever Darren is, even this morning he followed him to four different places before choosing to play with his own toy.
Hard to imagine that a first birthday is just around the corner....

The whole nine yards

2011-06-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

all snug in his jammies for the drive home.

Our boys made it through a whole game. We were there before the game started and made it through the ninth! The boys have always been very good at the ballpark but we usually wind up leaving a little early and or sometimes getting there a little late, we just figure why push our luck so we always leave before anyone gets close to being unhappy. We sat in our seats for five innings and then walked around, got food and shopped the rest of the game. Good job guys!

Oh yeah and the Giants beat the Indians getting the sweep!!