Reunification.

Here are some pictures of the boys when they first saw Mark. Boston's reaction was priceless. He ran to him and burried his head in his chest and started laughing and smiling. Then every couple of seconds he would look up at Mark and start laughing again and burry his head back into Mark's chest.

This was waiting at Red Lobster for Mark's welcome home dinner. They're sitting by my brother Josh or as Boston likes to call him "Josh-ie-ua"

I'm a big kid now...

For those of you who may not know... Mark was gone for 3 months this fall doing training with the navy. He spent 5 weeks in Rhode Island doing Officer training and 7 weeks in South Carolina at the Chaplain Academy. I flew out to South Carolina (sans children) at the end of his training for a Spouse Orientation and his graduation. I'm so proud of him and glad he's finally home!

Strickingly Similar.

Since I've been staying with my family my mom asked me to redecorate a few rooms in their house. In the process I came across this picture of my brother Josh:
Below is a picture of Lincoln. Don't they look so much alike?!

Since you've been gone.

While Mark is on the East Coast doing Officer Training and Chaplain School with the Navy the boys and I have been living in California and spending time with my family. He's been gone two months and we still have one month left. We can't wait for him to get home but we are enjoying spending time with family. Here are a few random pictures of the boys.

Lake House

We spent a few days up at my parents lake house in northern california. It was so beautiful and relaxing there. The only thing that was missing was Mark. We can't wait to go back when he comes home.

6 months.

happy half birthday lincoln.

we love you.

I'm losing my mind.

Some days I feel like I'm going crazy. Those are the days Mark and I just look at each other and start laughing because it feels like we live in a nut house. I can't believe how forgetful I've become. I lose my phone at least once almost every single day and Mark has to call it so I can run around the house looking for it. On Thursday Mark's sister was watching the kids and I packed their bags and forgot to include diapers ... how can you forget to put diapers in your DIAPER bag?! Then yesterday we went to a dinner and Lincoln was acting kind of fussy. We couldn't figure out what was wrong with him so we gave him teething medicine and kept trying to soothe him and then Mark said "I bet he's hungry" and I realized "oh my gosh he's hungry!" like a light bulb finally went off. How can I bring my child to a DINNER and forget to feed him?! My poor children. Will I ever get my brain back?...

A sweet message.

I woke up to this card in my inbox this morning. I'll have you know I almost deleted it because I thought it was junk mail but luckily Mark was looking over my shoulder and stopped me. It's so hilarious I had to share.

Our new car.

Last month as we were driving from San Diego up to Sacramento our car died about two hours north of LA. It was so tragic because we had neglected to replace a belt and when it broke the engine overheated and literally melted. There was nothing we could do to salvage it so sadly we had to leave it behind and take a rental car the rest of the way. I was surprisingly really emotional about saying goodbye to my car of over 6 years. I kept thinking about all the fun family trips we've taken in it about the day we brough both our boys home from the hospital. I couldn't control the tears. I felt like I was just abandoning it after all it had done for me = (

So we've spent the last month looking for a new car. We wanted another Corolla but kept getting outbid and we were starting to get fed up with it so we decided to widen our search to include Hyundai's because we had heard great things about them. Now we finally snagged this beauty.

It's a 2009 and still under warranty so I'm happy about that. I also love that it's iPod compatible. I hope it turns out to be just as trusty and reliable as our Corolla.

Boston's dream vacation.

We spent two weeks in Sacramento with my family and it was pretty much a dream vacation for Boston of endless fun and attention. Here's what he did all day everyday.

Oh yah and we had fun too.

My favorite holiday.

We were excited to spend the fourth of july in sacramento with my family. We rafter the American River and had a BBQ at my brother's house followed by never-ending fireworks.

Quarter of a century.

The last time I celebrated my birthday at home with my family was when I was 17 so it was really fun to be there this year. It was such a great day that started out with breakfast in bed.

Then an obstacle course that Mark created out of sidewalk chalk which started at the front door and included things like hopscotch over the pit of mordor and throwing water balloons at a target to erase the picture inside. It was hilarious.

We had dinner at the Olive Garden and my mom made the best cake ever!! Sooo yummy!

3 months!

I think this boy gets cuter every day. I love how he smiles when he spots me across a room or laughs when I talk to him. We truly love having him in our family.

I love my boys...

... they melt my heart.

I can't help but smile. = )