New Years with the God-sisters!

Over the course of their first two years, our Brigade has been incredibly fortunate to have a wide reaching support structure . . . a big part of that has been the Waid family - Travis, Denise, Teal and Coco. They're our official God-family and we spend at least 4-5 weekends a year with them during which they boys are showered with love and affection from Teal and Coco, who have been incredible big sisters.

The picture below is from New Years . . . we had a "grown ups only" dinner downstairs and sent the boys, Teal and Coco and some other children of another set of good friends. . . what's most adorable is what you see happen when you leave them alone. In both shots, Coco is going for the full on cuddle with Noelly Canoli, who seems to be soaking it up! Very sweet.

Ethan and Noel's Second Birthday!!

They boys celebrated their 2nd birthday on December 29, 2012 surrounded by many our closest family and friends . . . Gramma & Papa, Avo, Uncle Ronnie, the Godfamily Waid, Sharon & Claire, Chad & Marci and their girls, Karen & Kyle and their girls and several others.

It was a lovely, simple day . . . good friends, some great (yet simple) toys, and some GREAT cake with their favorite theme of the moment - Nemo!

Lots of great shots from the celebration -

(1) First up, a great family shot - again displaing the full length and shag of their current haircuts

(2) & (3) Some great shots of each boy blowing out their respective candles . . . apparently, Dad thought Ethan needed a little more help than was clearly captured in the photo.

(4) A great pic of our favorite little "helper," Ethan - helping to slice his birthday cake.

(5) Noel holding court with some of his favorite ladies . . . Morgan, Claire and Hattie.

(6) Noel and his dueling "Lightening McQueens!"

(7) Ethan showing off his spectacular stacking skills with the Peters clan

(8) & (9) Some cute shots of the boys together, playing and sharing their new toys.

(10) Avo and Uncle Ronnie, giving Noelly a cuddle

(11) Pai and Uncle Ronnie enjoying the new patio while the boys drive around their new tractors

(12) Sunday showing that she can still get her celebration on, even at the advanced age of 15.

Christmas, 2012!!

The entire Brigade had an amazing 2012 Christmas . . . lots of company on hand to help the boys open what was ultimately a heaping stack of presents, albeit mostly on the learning/reading genre with one notable exception discussed below. Gramma & Papa, Aunt Carol and Aunt Joanna spent the night with us at the house and then Uncle Ronny joined us later in the day for the big present unveiling.

Up first a good series of pictures where the boys are opening presents and enjoying the time with everyone . . . they really figured out that there was some good stuff underneath the wrapping paper, so much so that we had to really try to focus them on one present at a time so that they didn't solely focus on the unwrapping effort.
















Below are a shot of Noelly trying to find his second wind and then a pic of the boys with what was the favorite toy of the morning - clickety clack cars with a descending track . . . definitely hit at least three of the five senses in a big way.



















Lastly, two pics of the boys with the gift that Uncle Ronny and Aunt Joanna have waited over a year to buy for the boys . . . two "just my size" electric Mini Coopers. The boys LOVED (and were a little overwhelmed by) them, climbing in and out over and over again to show everyone just what big boys they'd become. We finally got 'em out on the open road only to find that they are a little too advanced for them - their 2 year old legs were a good 6-8 inches short of reaching the pedals. Consequently, Dad, Pai and Uncle Ronnie rigged brooms, tennis racquets and anything else we could find so that we could operate the cars from behind while the boys enjoyed the ride and tried to figure out how the circular steering wheel come into play. These will definitely be a big hit for years to come (especially once they finally grow into them!).

















We definitely all had a fantastic year and are already excited to experience Christmas, 2013!

Bouncy Boys on Bouncy Cows

A quick video of the boys demonstrating a lot of new skills (talking, balance, bravery) as well as an age old skill (fighting over the same toy).

Enjoy!!

Lyla's 2nd Birthday Party at Little Gym

Okay, so truth be told, Bruce has been blasting out a lot of posts lately as I sit back, smile and read them. It's time for me to pull me weight starting with this one.

Right before Christmas, Lyla (Lisa and Tyler's daughter) celebrated her second birthday at The Little Gym. For those of you without kids, it's pretty much how you imagined it would be...loads of kids running, screaming, jumping and just begging for an ER visit.

The boys were dressed in their fancy track suits and had a blast, while we sweatily chased after them for 90 minutes:

The boys vying for Lyla's affection

Ethan standing on the bouncy pad:

Noel running all around:

And jumping:

And eating cupcakes....the boys charmed Lisa's mother into giving them cupcake after cupcake. And she happily obliged, despite our objections...