Footprints Keepsake

I came up with a wonderful idea for Father's Day! I was looking at Michael's for a kit to make molds of the boys' feet, but I happened upon the painting aisle instead, and although I don't have an artistic bone in my body, an idea was born:

And this is how I did it. I used acrylic paint, a sponge brush, my boys' feet and their fingers. I have to say, painting on canvas was really fun!

 

Thank you for being a great Dad, for caring about seeing your children everyday and enjoying the time you spend with them. Thank you for doing your part to make this family happy and functional and for providing for our necessities. I look forward to continuing to raise our family with you and I can't wait for all of our adventures together.

Loves.

Can't Leave Nothin' Lyin' Around

About a month ago, it happened. Lincoln had started getting on the move, but we didn't quite know how determined he was to get from point A to point B. Let me give a little back story:

For those of you who know my husband well, you know he loves popcorn. But not inasmuch that he'll eat anything, he's a connoisseur of the popcorn. He's developed his own seasoning to fit his taste buds perfectly. It's a secret blend hot sauce, seasoning salt and cajun spice. And he's addicted, I swear.

Anyhow, the bucket was left of the floor from the night before, and I put Lincoln on the ground to deal with Austin, not realizing this bowl of Red Hot flavor was right there. Once I saw Lincoln had it, I was so worried he would lick it and be so upset by the hot spice shocking his little taste buds! But this is what I found, and he didn't seem bothered so "Wait!" I say, "get the camera!!"

I'm sure this satisfied his salt intake for the next month.

If I Have To

It's Passport Photo time! I took the boys to get their "oh so charming" pics taken at the AMA last week. I used to work at the AMA, and I used to take passport photos. The running joke was that there was an "ugly filter" that made even the most gorgeous person look homicidal, or at the very least unimpressed, and nothing you could say or do would make them crack a smile.

I wasn't worried, though. My boys are pretty darn cute. There may be those who say otherwise, but I really don't think they exist. These would be government photos with flare!!

Well, I was wrong. The "ugly filter" applies to babies, too.

Okay, so maybe not 'ugly' persay, but I'd much rather catch a pic of them screaming their faces off with alligator tears streaming down their cheeks than this souless, two-dimensional mis-representation of my two happy little men. They're happy babies, I promise! Don't trust the current evidence. I also can't say I'm a fan of Austin's "I'm in a stupor" face, either.

Which leads me to part II of my rant. On the application form, it specifically says mouths must be closed. Having done photos before, I know there's leniency for babies, but I didn't want to risk making the trip to the passport office, just to turn around and get another picture taken. So I got the pic re-done. I don't think AMA was very happy that I was being so picky. And they reminded me that it would likely be okay.

Well, if it would be okay, how about they say so on the application?? Something along the lines of "mouths must be closed, with the exception of children under 3" or something like that. But no, it's this unspoken rule that they'll pass, and wouldn't it be grand if I ran into the one person who rolled out of bed and decided to be a government (fill in the blank) the day I go in. No grey area, please - just re-do the photo and I'll be on my way. So we did.

 

He doesn't look so clueless, and the collar adds a touch of 'studious', but it still doesn't show the world how loving and amazing this little boy is. 

So be it. 

Scarfing Pancakes

I'm trying out different finger foods on the boys. They do great with puffed wheat and raisins, but the mango and banana just gets squished in their tiny Hulk hands.

I decided today to try out some pancakes for them, so I whipped up a teeny batch with whole wheat flour, added cinnamon and banana and omitted the sugar and guess what? Huge hit! I just had to make sure they swallowed what was in their mouth before they packed in another fist-full to avoid a choking hazard. I think this will be my new staple.

The Boys Will Play...

The boys have been sleeping in the same crib up until a couple of weeks ago when I pulled out the playpen to seperate them. With all their rolling and army crawling, they just weren't falling asleep anymore! Well, it turns out they miss each other, cuz even though they're not in the same crib, they are in the same room and I swear they've developed their own morse code with stomping the mats back and forth. So now it takes a while for them to wind down and fall asleep, and I don't mind. Who am I to not let them interact while they're still happy?

One night, they were taking a particularly long time to settle, so Miles went up to check on them. He grabbed Austin out of the crib and as they passed the pen where Lincoln was, Austin practically jumped out of Miles' arms to see him! So he placed them together, and this is what we got! The first real noticeable interaction between them.

Austin thought he was pretty clever taunting Lincoln with his soother:

This is an especially great video because the boys laugh out loud so rarely. Even with tickling it's like forcing water from a rock...