Dad-Tography

We've all heart of Momtographers. Well Adam has finally started to try to learn how to use my camera. In manual mode. I usually shoot in manual, mainly because I don't like the onboard flash, and whenever I put it on auto it seems to pop up. Oh well. Adam has started to take some interest in figureing it out. One afternoon he went to town while Dylan was playing outside. Here is what he captured.


so skinny

This is usually his face when I tell him to smile!

WOW

"I'll smile for you Daddy"

Next Tiger Woods?

I think Adam did well!  He will learn my camera just in time for me to want to upgrade!:)

G'Day Mate

Grandma's are funny

This last week, Adam's sister Laura has been in town.  As many of you know from previous mentions, Laura lives in Sydney.  She was just granted her student Visa so she will be there for another couple of years at the least.  We were lucky enough to spend some time with her and her boyfriend, Andrew, in Hawaii, but this time, she was lucky enough to spend some time with our boys.  Although she has seen them on Skype, she hadn't seen them in person since Dylan turned two.  Lots has changed since then. 

Lucky for her, we are always willing to let our boys go over and hang out with their Aunt. Last Thursday, Adam's office had a celebratory happy hour that I was invited to, I dropped the boys off and headed over to Bone Daddy's ( classy right?) while Dylan and Graham got to hang out with their Aunt.  Dylan is always a little shy at first, especially when he and his brother had fallen asleep in the car on the way there ( Thank you no nap at school) He warms up quickly and was super excited to play.  After Happy hour we joined them for a homemade meat dinner that was sausage, buffalo steaks, beef steaks, and some fish.  Never send my mother in law and sister in law into Central Market alone!  That is what happens.  All was delish, and the boys had a great time, Dylan didn't want to leave, he kept saying "Moa, Moa" when we were leaving.

We also went over for dinner on Father's day.  Us ladies had planned a trip to the Dallas Arboretum to take a look at the much talked about Chihuly glass exhibit, on Monday morning.  (With both Adam and me being in deigns classes in college, we had both studied him, and been to the Bellagio in Vegas where some of his work is displayed.) Dylan got his wish, and stayed over at his grandparents house Sunday night, so that he could get as much sleep as possible.  I was aiming to be at their house by like 8:30, of course that ended up being closer to 9, but oh well.  I've never claimed that I'm never late!

The boys seemed to have a great time, and we were lucky in that it was a lovely day out.  Not too hot, and a nice breeze.  Other than a few tantrums about having to get back into the stroller because I refused to carry him, the day went pretty well.  Graham took a quick nap in the stroller, until Dylan woke him up, so that could have been better, but he was in a pretty good mood once I got a bottle into him. 

After spending the morning and early afternoon we had to hurry home so that Dylan could get a good nap because we had to go to the soccer game that was mentioned in a previous post.  Lucky for me, I can threaten Dylan with NOT going to the soccer game, and he listens pretty well.  I'm not above bribery or threats!

Working on their fitness

Soccer Stars

He saved it

He didn't make that goal.

This year Adam and I have been much better about trying to get in better shape.  We both played soccer in high school.  SO this year when I was asked to play outdoor, I said yes, hesitantly.  I was out of shape, I had lost the love of the game from having a terrible high school coach.  But I did it to help lose weight.  Much to my surprise, I wasn't terrible.  I still had the ball touch, thought not great, it never was.  With having games every Sunday, Dylan became quiet obsessed.  He even has his own "Uniform"  So when Daddy started playing outdoor he was in heaven. See, we both play indoor, but he can't get on the field at all with indoor, because the halftime is only 60 seconds.  Poor guy.   Unfortunately for Dylan, Adam's outdoor was in Carrolton and he only got to go to like three games.  The last one was on Monday, and the team hosted a cookout afterwards.  It was a lot of fun.  I forgot to mention that Becca's husband, Garet also plays on this team, so it was a great time.  I was lucky enough to get to leave my tiniest child at home with his Aunt, so I could enjoy some time actually "watching" the soccer game.  The little guys let us watch the first half before insisting that we head to the spray park and playground for the second half.  I am happy to say I finally remembered my camera so I got some action shots of our biggest boys, and out medium sized boys playing soccer.  I think Carson and Graham are going to be the stars of the Wylie High School team!

playing in the fountains

His season is over, just in time for my indoor season to start, and my outdoor season to start in the fall.  I'm not looking forward to all that heat!

Graham { 8 Months}

Better late than never right? My reason for taking so long to post this one is a little sad.  I didn't really want to have to buy new white onesies for his picture, so I asked around but it seemed no one else had a white one either. But alas, I bought some so now you can have his update.:)

This month was a big one for the ol' Graham Bam. He got his second tooth. He was left with someone other than Grandma and Grandpa, for longer than just one overnight.  We were gone a whole week.  I feel like he got so big in that one week.  He was officially crawling, like on all fours when we got back.  He had also mastered eating puffs, yogurt melts and mum's.  No more gagging!  With that new development, he also got to try waffle, and peas, and some tortilla.  He is getting so big. 

He also started clapping. I thought it was a fluke one night, but then he kept doing it.  It's the cutest.  He also has officially moved out of his baby car seat and into a big boy seat, now sits in a high chair at restaurants, and the shopping cart at the store.  He had a blast sitting with his big brother in their " Car"
The biggest  thing that happened to my little Grammy this month is that he started school.  That's right people, I put him in school one day a week.  He is going to the same school Dylan is, so I have five whole hours on Tuesday all to myself.  It will be so good for him.  I am hoping to miss out on the mommy attachment that we got with Dylan around this age.  You know, the one where they cry when they can't see you, and no one can do anything about it?  Yeah, trying to minimize that. 

He is such a pull up machine too.  We had to lower his crib to the lowest setting because he started pulling up in there and climbing on to his bumper which gave him another couple of inches so he could get his elbows above the rail.  I am almost positive that he would never have been able to pull himself out, but heck, with this child I just never know.

I am so thankful that he is such an easy baby.  Adam is hesitant for a third because the first two were so easy.  He is pretty sure the next will be a terror.  I am pretty sure they are just great babies because we are great parents.  Right?  Ok, maybe not.  Graham hardly ever cries and he has even done really well staying out well past his bedtime this month.  We had some late nights, like 10 PM nights.  He was a champ and such a happy guy.  He doesn't mind breaking routine which was always something I tried to do with Dylan, change it up again so they can be flexible.  Dylan is probably one of the most flexible kids I know, so I'm happy that Graham is following in his footsteps. 
One last thing, I'm so happy that my boys play together now.  Granted Graham isn't walking yet, but he can certainly chase down Dylan.  They love each other and it just makes my heart so happy.  Hopefully it will stay like that. * fingers crossed*

8 Month Stats:

Weight: 17ish lbs

Lenght: 29ish inch's

Diapers: Size 3 or 4

9 Month onesies and sleepers

3 eight oz bottles and 1 six oz

3 meals a day with snacks

sleeping about 11 hours

most of the time 2 naps a day

House Guests

Last week, due to certain medical reasons, our garage once again became a storage unit.  This time for my sister.  Not only did Erin move in, her two little furry children did as well.  Franklin and Einstein.  Beagle, basset mixes. You know, I didn't think a house as big as ours could ever feel crowded.  But try having four dogs and two little boys in your kitchen. It's chaos.  They are lucky they are cute though.


They love to play outside, and the other night I got some funny pictures of them, which is what promted this post .  They are great with Dylan and try to clean any lit bit of spit off of Graham's face.
Though sometimes Dylan can't throw the ball fast enough and they just snatch it out of his hand.  They do love to fetch though, and Dylan gets a huge kick out of it.
  So I guess they do have some redeeming qualities.  oh yeah, and they like to snuggle, once they can calm down enough to do so.  But of course, they think they weigh ten pounds when infact they weigh about forty.  Each.

Lil' fishy

We've known for a while now that Dylan was a little water baby.  From his first bath, that he didn't cry during actually.  Last year, we spent a lot of time at the pool.  It was hotter than hot, and well, I was pregnant.  This year getting to the pool has proven to be a little more difficult.  I'm kind of a chicken, and haven't ventured out with both of them.  Of course, the times when I could have taken both it has been raining. Back to the point.  Since Dylan is of an age now where he wants to be more independent I thought it was a great summer to start him with swim classes.  My neighbor took their girls last year, so I got a recommendation.  Friday morning was our first lesson. 

He started out the day so excited.   I would ask him if he wanted to go swimming, he would respond with an enthusiastic "Yeeah" We get to the lady's house and he is still pretty excited, until he finds out I had no intention of getting in the water with him.  Luckily for me, and poor Lynn ( teacher) he quickly got over his freak out, and was swimming with her and laughing.  I would call our first swim lesson a success.  He wanted to stay and not get out, maybe it's because she heats her pool to a nice 90 degrees. 

Looking at these pictures prompted me to look through our pictures from the pool last year.  My what a difference a year makes.  He is getting so big.

Two point five

Can you believe it? Dylan is two and half years old.   I haven't done a month post on Dylan in a while, mainly because, well not much changed from month to month anymore with him.  Since we had a well check yesterday, I thought that I would post about him.  He is , not surprisingly , still a peanut.  He gained over an inch and a half of a pound in six months.  Which is good, but it still only puts him at 34 Inches ( Graham was 28 at 6 months) and 23 lbs.  He is my tiny.  Which is actually good considering that he currently is in this state of " hold me mama."  He eats decently so his Pedi and I are chalking it up to a high metabolism

He finished up his first school year, and starts summer school today.  I'm sure we are going to have a fit because it will be a new school, new teachers, and new friends.  But hopefully he will get used to it.  We are also starting swim lessons on Friday.  So hopefully he will not panic when his head goes under water, nor will I. 

His speech is getting better, I'm excited to say, he finally says Mama, correctly.  I am not sure I have even heard him call me daddy today.  I call that success!  But of course, he is still behind.  I think he is getting a little better at people, other than Adam and I, understanding him.  Although sometimes it does sound like he is speaking Japanese.  We still see his therapist once a month, but his Pedi, suggested maybe looking at going private.  So I might start doing some research to get him somewhere come the fall.  I think the summer is going to be booked enough.

He is also becoming quiet obsessed with soccer.  Between watching me play, watching Adam play both outdoor and indoor, he is a little soccer player.  I had to take one of his T-shirts and have a number put on it just so he would have one.  He LOVES it, and throws huge fits when we make him take it off.  But hey, it makes him happy.  I'm already planning his soccer third birthday party!  

Speaking of fits, man, this last week it's been like he is punishing us for leaving him for a week.  He has been a pill.  Whiny, clingy, and throwing fits over the smallest things.  I'm hoping that since we won't be leaving him for that long again that he will get over his issues, and that it's not just because he is a two year old. * crosses fingers*

14,600

14,600 Feet.  That's how high we were before I halfway willingly could have fallen to my death.  Good news is, I'm writing this today, so I apparently made it to the ground safe and sound. 

A little back story.  Adam has wanted to go sky diving for as long as I can remember.  I figured that if I were going to do it, I would rather do it in Hawaii, where there would be something to look as, as opposed to Skydive Aggieland.:) 
It was a little bit of an adventure to get to do it, and part of me was secretly hoping it wouldn't happen the second try.  You see, we picked like the windiest week ever to be in Hawaii.  Do you know what is bad for jumping out of a plane?  Wind.  So the first attempt was the day of the wedding, so on Sunday.  We get there at 8:30, our appointment time.  Which apparently in the world of sky diving, as nothing to do with anything.  So we wait around, wait, wait wait.  Finally Adam goes and tells them if we are not in the air by 11, they might lose us because we had somewhere we needed to be at 2:15.  Low and Behold we are in the next group called.  I forgot to mention, that Adam's life long friend, Megan was there with us.  So we get our harnesses on, our instruction from our tandem experts, ( Mine happened to be from Arlington, it's a small world) we receive our one minuet call to board the plane.  Then it happens.  The other sky dive location, cancelled for the rest of the day.  HALLELUJAH, I was saved.  For that day at least.
Needless to say, I was slightly bummed because I wasn't as freaked out as I thought that I would be.  Adam and Megan were really bummed because well, they WANTED to do it.  So we pledged that we would come back first thing in the morning.  So off to the wedding we headed.  We all processed to drink our fair share of booze at the open bar wedding, and stayed out really late, I'm talking like 1 am people.  So when the 5 am alarm went off, I don't think any of us were very happy. 

We got there, I think we were like the second people there.  We were in group two.  It was all way too real.  It was actually going to happen.  I was going to jump out of a plane.  The things I do for my husband.
I'll tell you what the worst part was.  How many people they shoved into that tiny plane.  You know, the little ones that you always hear about blowing up?  Well there were a ton of us in it.  It was loud, and very slow.  Once we took off, we were in it for what felt like forever. I forgot to mention, that Adam wanted to pay $30 MORE to go higher, a longer free fall.  Yippie!  So after like what felt like 30 min, I asked how high we were.  Do you know what it was?  like 7,000... we were only half way there.  Damn.  They really give you time to think about your life, and the kids you might not ever see again on that damn plane. 
So we were finally there, at 14,600 feet.  Time to go.  Luckily we decided not to pay the $115 for a photographer, though some of my pictures would be hilarious.  I had my fists clenched, and my eyes closed, and probably dropped the "f-bomb" about 1500 times in the supposedly 60 second free fall. 

I've been asked several times if I ended up liking it.  The answer to that question is NO.  I hated it.  The free fall was terrible, once the parachute was out, I didn't mind gliding, which further confirms my theory that I would love para sailing.  I would never do it again, but hey, at least I lived to tell the story, and I didn't faint on the way down!:)

A week in paradise

Adam and I were very fortunate this year.  We were lucky enough to go and spend a week in Hawaii, with no children.  Erica, Adam's cousin, and he new husband were just stationed there, so they decided to have a beach destination wedding.  Lucky us!  Not only was this a child free trip, but it also happened to fall on our five year wedding anniversary.  I feel like this is a big one that we always talked about doing something for, but probably weren't going to.  For our ten year, we are totally going to Bora Bora, thought Adam hasn't agreed to this just yet! 
We had a great anniversary.   We actually had our fancy anniversary dinner a few days earlier, because the rehearsal dinner was on our actual day.  We went to Alan Wong's, it's the fanciest dinner in Honolulu.  We indulged in a bottle of wine, and the 6 course tasting menu.  Man we were full.
On the 26th, we got up early ( which we did every day) and hit up the Spa.  Adam had booked us a couples massage.  It was heavenly.  We followed the spa up with a walk on the beach, back to our hotel. We spent some time at the pool, and then took a nap.
Adam had also found this little BBQ joint on the other side of the island that he wanted to try out.  We were unsure of the amount of food for the rehearsal so we made our way over there.  It was this little hole in the wall place, but the food was actually pretty good.  Not that we had any bad food while we were there ( according to the 2 lbs I gained:/)
We rounded out our half decade anniversary partying it up at the rehearsal dinner, where we were not disappointed with the amount of booze, or food.  It was a great night, one of many. Also, for those wondering, my husband did get me a gift.  Although, once again, I did not get him a thing.  I'm a bad wife, I don't think I've gotten him anything, ever.  He picked out a necklace, without any input from me, and i love it.  I cant wait to wear it again.