Brudam Brigade Holidays

It was our last Christmas at Casa Versailles and it was probably the best so far.  The boys are in that sweet spot zone where the excitement of Christmas Eve is infectious,  They go to be super giddy at the notion of what's to come the next day.

In attendance were all the Milam Men, Gramma and Papa, Avo (a new addition), Ronnie (long time veteran) and Joanna (making her second appearance).

It's a nice, relaxed day, without a ton of chaos.  We wake up, the boys open a few presents, we eat breakfast, they open a few presents, we eat a late lunch, they open a few remaining presents and then eat some leftovers.  Good times all around.

A few highlights below:

The first presents of the day (after stockings, of course)

Noel modeling his new TMNT robe

TMNT in front of the door....

TMNT in front of the tree

Ethan taking in his stash

Uncle Ronnie schooling them on KerPlunk

Late lunch and holiday crackers

Noel opening his Christmas Cracker

Unsure of what's happening here - but loving Bruce's shirt the boys made for him

A nice shot of Ethan

Noel digging into Pai's famous Texas Sheet Cake

Ethan taking a different approach to same Texas Sheet Cake

2014: Professional Photos - The 5th Year Edition!

Year 5 represented our last year in Dallas - while we had mixed feelings about most things related to our departure - this 5th year represented perhaps the end of our photo shoot creativity in the metroplex.  For this one, we wandered over to Ft. Worth to explore the Japanese Botanical Gardens, which had some amazing fall colors that we don't see across the majority of Dallas. 

 

Some seriously good nuggets in this photo series . . .

 

Family Photo 1:  Four Men on Four Stones with Reflection

Family Pic 2 - happy family, adorable twin boys

Family Pic 3:  Daddy and Pai at eye level

 

100% natural and such a great representation of how much Ethan loves his brother.  Maybe favorite pic of all time

Look at those cheekbones!  Look at that grin!  Noelly really hitting his stride

Ethan's casual catalogue model pose

Daddy and Sweet Pea

Pai and Noelly Canoli

Latter part of the day . . . two super happy boys

 

Handsome Boy Modeling School Part 2

The second round of modeling came around the holidays when they boys received some TMNT pajamas.

The fell right back into modeling and gave some first rate poses:

Can you handle this?

Trying out his tree pose in costume

On the hunt for Shredder

Say "what" again....I dare you!

Over the shoulder (L) and bada$$ (R)

Handsome Boy Modeling School

On several different occasions over the past few months, the boys have asked us to take pictures of them "posing."  It was out of the blue and that's always a fun thing to indulge as you have no idea where it will take you.

The first was in Seattle - we were walking home from somewhere waiting for Bruce to get home and they just started posing.   Here are a few with last one the rivals Blue Steel a la Zoolander:

#realness #nofilter #blessed

Noel at the bus stop

Ethan acting like a statue

Ethan giving Urban Casual Hipster

Moving on to our action shots

Finding their light 

Airing it out

First Halloween in Seattle!

Halloween has always been serious business in the Milam household . . . last year we were the fearsome foursome school of sharks and we knew we had to up our game for 2014.

After taking my new job in Seattle in September, our travel schedule required that we spend Halloween in Seattle, which turned out to be a spectacular decision.  We caught up with Uncle Ronny and then paired up with a great family from work and went to the Queen Anne area, where all of the businesses handout candy to the kids in an incredibly easy, fun environment.

The boys loved the whole experience . . . nonstop candy every 3-5 steps . . . what more could they ask for??

Now . . . onto the costumes . . .

Our legendary bosses:  Noelly Optimus Prime and Ethan Darth Vader

The bosses with their minionst:  Pai Stormtrooper and Daddy Bumblebee

Transformers R-O-L-L . . . 

This picture KILLS me . . . I mean that Stormtrooper is DIS-interested and lacking discipline, while Darth is commanding respect.

First Trip to Seattle: Part 2

So we've arrived, settled into our apartment, which is nice, just a bit crampt -  four of us in 800 sq. feet.  Luckily, it's an amazing building with a ton to do there and we're right in the middle of downtown where we can go on these great Urban Adventures.

The boys have totally taken to the city and love exploring the new scene.  And a little wind and rain doesn't phase them either - they just keep on going through it all


On our first outing they proclaimed, "Pai - look, it's Little Blue Truck!  We didn't know he lived here!"  For those not in the know, it's one of their favorite books - go HERE for a reference.

On Day 2, Bruce arranged for us to go on one of those Duck Tours.  Super Touristy, yes, but the boys had a blast and we got to see most of the city in under 2 hours with a lovely duck whistle accompaniment:

On Day 3, we rode the monorail down to the Space Needle, where we paid for our tickets, rode up the elevator and after about 5 minutes, the boys declared they'd had enough and wanted to head back down (the cost per minute on that transaction was maddening):

Ethan taking in the sites

Noel looking too much like a grown up...

A pit stop in between the monorail and the Space Needle

Post Space Needle candid photo - moments before, his shirt was off.

We're at this massive water feature and they're protecting us from it.

Having a world famous "Dingleberry" - aka chocolate covered strawberries.

We took a lovely boat ride with Bruce's boss the last day

And some brotherly love as we landed back in Dallas.

First Trip to Seattle - Part 1

In early October, the boys and I made our first trip out to see Bruce in Seattle.  It was my first time traveling with the boys alone and it was a four hour flight.

I know - you all know me as the poster child for "cool as a cucumber" - unflappable, overly planned, think of everything - you'd never know on the inside I'm like this:

Who am I kidding - I'd planned for nothing, forgot to pack any pajamas for the boys and barely managed to grab iPads as we headed out the door.  My only goal was getting both of the boys to Seattle - that would deem the trip a successful one.

That being said, the plane experience was lovely, the boys were amazing and set the tone and routine for our future trips to the Northwest:

The night before the flight - the boys are SO excited to talk to Bruce.

Ever the stylish travelers - backpacks and all

They both sacked out for about an hour giving me a nice peaceful moment to read and relax - well, as relaxed as you can get with two 40-ish lb. boys strewn across my lap: