see you soon.

We said a 'see you soon' rather than 'goodbye' to Nathan's Hal-abeoji (that's Korean for grandpa) today, as he's out for a deployment for a few months.  While I'm really sad that he'll miss Nate's second birthday, I know that the time will fly by.  It's hard to think about what Nate will be doing in a few months -- running cross country? This child has energy like you wouldn't believe!

Here are some photos from this afternoon. Be safe out there!

photo book.

I've taken on quite a love of capturing our family memories over the last few years. In addition to walking around with a camera 90% of the time, I'm also quite addicted to making photo books in Shutterfly. Easy to do, usually find a coupon, takes me forever because I'm indecisive.

Here's tonight's creation: a look at Spring 2012

cousins reunited.

Nathan and Miles got to spend some time today playing. I love that they are so close in age and I hope that they will grow up to be good buddies.  The boys are just so darling and at such cute stages. Once they are both mobile, I think we will be in for a world of trouble! 

Here are some shots of them from our cookout today at the in-laws' house. What a nice time!

twenty months.

Let me tell you, it is getting harder and harder to take this monthly baby birthday picture. Nate is such a wiggle worm and has places to go. If you knew about all of the jumping around that we do to get these smiles, you would think that we are crazy!

After a brief hiatus, I think Nate is starting to grow again. He is mostly out of his 18 month clothes and starting to get into the 24 month/2T sizes. To be honest, I'm not sure if that's from getting taller or from the season change, but it's a nice excuse to buy baby boy some new clothes.

Some recent Nathan-isms include:

• Pointing to letters and saying "E" and "O".  Apparently we're working on vowels first. 
• Obsessing over sidewalk chalk.  Every time we go outside, that is what he wants to play with. He always comes inside looking like a little smurf.
• Initiating group hugs. Nate loves to have someone in each little arm :) 
• Carrying around as many toys as possible at once, preferably little animals or Sesame Street characters
• Jumping from our coffee table to the sofa on our sun porch
• Using the tiniest little sentences ever, including: I did it, I got it, I didn't
• Playing on all of the equipment on the neighborhood playground, even the ladder! 

Here's my little labor of love, some of his 20 month pictures that we got from dancing around and screeching :)

fifty-five, and counting.

We celebrated my mom's 55th birthday last night with a trip out to one of our local Japanese steakhouses (http://akasakajapaneserestaurant.com/).  We also celebrated her 50th birthday there, so we definitely spent some time reflecting back on the last five years and how much our lives have changed. For me, I was not married yet and Nathan was not even a glimmer of a thought -- it's funny how short of a time he has been part of our family, yet I forget that he hasn't always been here!

Last night we had a lot of good food, a great chef, and a really nice time.  I mean, really, how can you go wrong with Japanese food and ice cream cake?!  Happy Birthday, Mom! I hope it was great. Here are a few pictures to capture the evening...

easter.

We have had a very nice Easter, but let me too you that I am worn out! Yesterday, I had Nate practice with Easter eggs to get used to playing with them. His mission in life yesterday was to first separate the whole eggs from those that were in half (plastic, people...hard boiling eggs is cooking, which we all know I don't do!).  Today, we had a cookout with Chris's parents and Nate had an egg hung (read: eggs in the grass to put into his basket).  All in all, he did a great job and really picked up the idea quickly! :)

I hope that everyone had a great Easter and was able to keep the real meaning of the holiday in mind!

chris's birthday.

Well, as far as birthdays go, I think that Chris's birthday this year was an improvement over last year. Of course, last year Chris had back surgery on his birthday, so there was no where to go but up! :)  This year, Chris is recuperating from yet another back surgery, but is much further along in the recovery process -- so, we got to celebrate! Not just once, but twice in fact with both his parents and mine.

What makes my husband happier than presents and grilling meat? Not much! We had a really nice cookout with my family which was topped off with an ice cream cake from Coldstone. Yum!

Happy 32nd Birthday, Chris!  We really had a lot of fun helping you celebrate -- just next year, let's stay away from all of the surgeries, okay? :)