Family Portraits

We have never had family portraits taken. The last professional pics of Johnny and I were from our wedding (almost 7 years ago!). So it was about time. And they turned out great! :)

Enjoy!

http://www.thegambinofamily.com/Photo%20Galleries/2009/family-portraits-march09.htm

Up up and away!

This post gives new meaning to yesterday's post about "what's Max up to?"

So, Max has been taking a Mommy and Me Gymnastics class. He has great strength and hangs onto bars and rings and swings without touching the ground. I help pull his head up and over the bar and he leans over and gives me a kiss. Awwww!

So, last evening we were headed out the door to go to our portrait sitting. I had parked the car in the driveway but we walked out through the garage. I opened the garage door and Nicolas and Max stood at the door as it opened. Max watched Nicolas hold onto the bottom and copied him. Well, Nicolas knew to let go... Max did not. My back was to them... luckily Emma's was not. Emma caught Max as he was headed up to the garage ceiling... a couple feet above the ground... thankfully before he fell. I can laugh now.... but Emma's reaction (screaming) scared Max and he was bawling all the way to the house we were going to for our pictures. Just great!

The pictures still turned out awesome! :)

What's Max up to?

Potty training! He wakes up dry 99% of the time. He pees on the potty every morning (that I am home) and periodically throughout the day. I suddenly realized a few weeks ago how much easier travelling out of the country in the summer will be if I don't have to take diapers! So away we go! Of course we have two potty chairs (upstairs). The blue one doesn't get used as often (except Max likes to "ride" it!) but he wanted to pose on it when I had the camera. :)

Gosh, Max looks so skinny in those pictures! Really... I do feed him! :)

So, what's Emma up to? She complains she's never blogged about... so here she is with her bangs cut. She looked like a shaggy sheep dog! I love that you can see her eyes now! We're getting family portraits done tonight, so she really needed the bangs cut. Apparently she's being teased mercilessly about it at school. Teenagers!

Random Pictures

Just pictures. :) Including some of my garden. Max at gymnastics, Nicolas at Karate and his basketball banquet yesterday.

Videos

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a video worth?

Roses are Red ... Guess What's Blue?

That's right! Nicolas' new belt in Karate!! We now have a BLUE BELT in the house!! 3 more belts until BLACK!! Way to go Bub! Below are pictures from his Belt Ceremony tonight. And at the botton is a video clip of him getting his new belt. The man in the picture with Nicolas is Mr Eyeman, one of his instructors.

Happy Birthday Max!!

Today, my baby boy turned 2 years old. I can't believe how 2 years has just blown by. Where is that little baby with the dark hair? My gosh. It's just unbelievable.I am trying to cherish every day with my kids, especially when they're small. Because they just grow so darn fast.

So, what's Max up to these days?
He does gymnastics 2 days a week (one is Mommy and Me, and one he's supposed to do it on his own... but no way)

He does Mommy and Me Ceramics once a week.

He still nurses like a newborn. :)
He still sleeps in my bed (he's never slept anywhere else)

He's peed on the potty a few times, but isn't quite ready to potty learn.

He still wears his cloth diapers... and has never even worn one disposable diaper in his life... even in the hospital.

He gets into everything. He climbs. He dances. He dances well! He tries to sing. He loves "talking" on the phone (more like listens and smiles). He has an amazing little smile, especially when the camera is aimed at him. He's at the "I do it!" stage. He loves his Mommy, Daddy, brother and sister.

He still gets anxious and nervous in new places or when strange people come to our house. He loves to play outside in the back yard. He imitates everything. He loves to wash his hands, and he loves his bath. He'd have a bath every single night if he could. He loves to turn on the hose outside and spray water (sometimes into the house!).

He's a slow talker, but gets his point across. He shrugs his shoulders and puts his hands up, as if saying "where is____" He does that and says "Dada?" The other night when I was at work, he woke up Daddy and shrugged his shoulders, put his hands up and asked "wawa?" He was asking Daddy "where is my water". So cute!

So, his words... he says: Mama, Dada, Emma, Bubba (brother/Nicolas), wawa (water), yellow, no, cold, uh oh, ohhhhh, meme (milk), more, "p" (the sound) for please, ball, pee pee, poo poo, and many other words that he will repeat.

He's such a fun little boy. Tonight at Karate, he saw one of the dads that always gives him a candy... and he went over

to him with a huge smile on his face. It was so cute. And of course he got a candy. :)

He is such a joy to have. I can't imagine what our lives would be like if we had stopped at 2 children. It warms my heart to watch my two little boys playing together... laughing and giggling... it's so precious. Or watch him go to Emma for comforting. Gosh, I just love being a mother. It's the best job in the world. And it's even more meaningful on the day I gave birth to each of them. So happy happy birthday, my sweet baby.

Below are pictures from his little party we had for him yesterday (his cake was "Bolt", but not for the movie... just because there was a cat and a dog figurine... and he just loves animals... so I knew he would love his cake... and he did). We sang happy birthday and put candles on his left over cake again today... he did pretty good blowing out the candles. :) Also below are pictures of his new presents. His main present is his new tricycle. :)