Two Years!

Today is our Ashen-Famiversary...the day we finally met and smooched our dear baby boy two years ago. Each day with him is an undeserved gift. We are so blessed he's our son.

Father's Day

The boys and I spent last weekend at my mom's sans Mark. We had a family picnic (indoors) and headed to the park. As you can see, my family is pretty young at heart. My brother, my boys and I were wandering through the spray park while the water was off, and my brother happened upon the 'on' sensor and of course had to touch it, thus abruptly starting the sprayers, and scaring the boys since they didn't even realize we were standing in a full-on fountain. Not deterred, the boys, headed by my nephew Isaac, decided to brave the cool waters of the even though it was quite chilly out and had a blast.

The shower wall art turned out how I envisioned it, but much better than I expected. Now all we need is our baby niece to enter the world and enjoy it--I'm sure my sister would appreciate meeting her daughter sooner than later.

Cookie Dough

Jury's out, but I think he likes it!

I know A sure does :)

"Torin's Big Like Me!"

For the last year, Torin has looked longingly at Ashen as he played at the sink--and finally he's steady enough to stand up on a chair and play too. Boy, did that tickle both boys fancy. The first two photos are as Ashen is saying, "Look mom, Torin's big like me!" See the pride in his eyes? Gosh these two are beautiful together. A bit (lot) of a handful, but beautiful.

A Belated Daddy Day

Mark took his first overnight business trip since he's been a dad--over Father's Day weekend. Poor guy. He was in Kentucky too. Poor, poor guy.

We spent yesterday relishing in a sweet reunion after his three days away (that's a LONG time for two little boys). There's no place these three like more than the beach at low tide.

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Tighty Whities

We're venturing down the road hopefully "one child in diapers" rather than two. No pressure though...it's his own idea. We weren't planning on orchestrating anything until he is 3, but the excitement of the potty got hold of him, and now he's sporting some Thomas undies. I have the timer set to ring every 20 minutes, and we'll see how this goes. It's been about a week of inconsistent potty training. We'll try the underwear for a couple hours this morning before we have to get going for the day. The funniest part is watching Torin try to climb up onto the toilet (no baby potty for us...are we crazy?). I would welcome an extra early potty trainer, not to mention the cash savings. I know one fellow blogger who is so lucky to have a 14 month old who is potty trained!!! SO, there is always wishful thinking. For now, I'm going to relish in how cute my big boy is in his tighty whities.

Strawberry Fields Forever

It was our boys paradise...all you can eat strawberries! I couldn't pick them fast enough for Ash, who was quickly gobbling up the strawberries in my box. Torin picked his own--green, pink and red. It didn't matter, he was in heaven.

Their experience to date with strawberries has been a) from the store/farmers market b) from our very small and new plants at our house c) from a house down the street who curiously planted a bunch of plants right on the sidewalk, perfect for kids...hope he doesn't mind these boys take a few every day. So...to have rows and rows of berries was pretty unbelievable for these two. It was gorgeous out at the farm, surrounded by corn fields and forested hills.

It's so nice to spend time in the country. Sometimes I dream of a house in the country, with lots of room for endless gardens and space for the kids to roam. Then I'm torn by my love of the city and the proximity to my favorite French bakery, grocery store, neighbors I know and see often, beaches, parks, sidewalks and diversity. We really have it pretty good.

Corn!

A healthy appetite

I think I've mentioned that Ashen loves bananas. Well, apparently it runs in the family because so does his little brother. Together they devoured this pile of bananas (I think 5?) a couple afternoons ago. To their credit, they sort of missed lunch (it was one of those on-the-go have some snacks kind of day). Their banana cravings seem to go in spurts. This was definitely an "on" day.

"Mama, look where Torin's painting!"
~Ashen

I guess they have their differences.

The Fountain

There once was a gigantic fountain
that looked like a cross between a spaceship and the crazy robot from the Incredibles.
It played loud sychronized music and scared little children.
They liked it anyway in a thrill-seeking kind of way.
Maybe next time they'll be brave enough to run through it.
Probably not.

Another Bean Counter?

My grandpa.
Mark's grandpa.
Mark's brother.
All accountants.

Hopefully they don't mind a little mess with their numbers.
Click on last photo for full effect.

Out at the Farm

We took our little animal lovers out to a local farm this week with their granny and papa and they were in heaven. It's only about 5 minutes from Mark's inner-city office (go figure...this place is in a residential area, but quite rural feeling), so he was able to pop out of work for an hour--MORE or less--which was quite the mid-week treat. The boys loved the sheep best because they were in petting range, unlike the cows, horses, slippery pig and all your other known farm animals. Ashen, who is a bit more retiscent than his little brother (who doesn't have a hint of retiscence) let Torin take the first pet. The sheep seemed a little surprised and jerked back a bit, which made the two boys roll with laughter. Ashen then had the courage to give a little pet, but won't stop talking about the sheep's sudden movement when he sees these photos. Ashen was in a bit of a funk that day and necessetated that I carry him. Thank you, Ergo! The boy is now 36 pounds--no light weight, and my back is in rare form carrying two 30+ pound boys all day. I start massage therapy next week.

Loving being close to my boy, as heavy as he is.

Torin and his papa are best buds. Really inseparable, those two. A lot of love right there.

Right after the 'sudden jerk'.

Granny insisted on a family photo. Doesn't she know they always turn out like this...or worse. Actually this was the best one! We try, we try.