love my birthday present!

a couple weeks, i knew literally nothing about mp3 players, just that it looked more convenient to take on walks & runs than say a portable cd player. now, i know quite a bit, after researching what to get for my birthday present.

anyway, i am enjoying it quite a bit. everything's better with music. today, i had to take ivy & andrew with me for my 4 laps around the neighborhood(each lap=1k). so i took the portable speakers w/me instead of headphones. this is what we listened to (not too loud just enough that i could hear it and still hear the kids).

• REM,
• The Cranberries,
• Billy Joel,
• U2,
• Sheryl Crow, and
• They Might Be Giants

i got a couple funny looks, but for the most part nobody minded (i think it's because 90%+ of the neighborhood was at work/school).

where has my sweet little boy gone?

andrew is getting to be independent with eating. he's also teething heavily. popsicles are mostly all he's eating right now. it's been tantrum city from him the past couple days, between the "let me eat it myself" and "my gums hurt". hope i get my sweet little boy back soon!

teething bites

andrew is getting his bottom molars right now. we were all shocked at dinner w/the missionaries that andrew bit off part of his teether:

bouncing boys

sunday afternoon, andrew and collin both wanted to sit on my lap at the same time, so i could bounce them on an exercise ball.

soak up the sun

apparently we have had a heatwave since friday. it is finally over! we got invited to the beach saturday w/some friends, and didn't know about the heatwave till saturday afternoon. it was probably 65-70 at the beach, and over 90 when we got home, and we're only ~8-10 miles away from the beach!

this was the first time both tom & i went to the beach with the kids. i took the kids during spring break without tom.

andrew enjoyed himself. he especially liked walking & rolling in the sand(before he got cranky around naptime). he loved watching the waves hit the sand and collin jumping in the waves.

(he enjoyed himself, despite this facial expression)

(sand all over his face)

(sand sifter & being able to walk around, what else does a kid need?)

(andrew & daddy)

collin enjoyed the water, but also building w/the sand. by the end of the trip he was happy to be sitting in the shade.

(just relaxing)

(i bought the shirt for collin, but made the design myself. says "warning: autism meltdown probability high")

ivy loved playing with her friends, looking for shells, and running up to the waves and quickly running away from them before they splashed her.

(running away from the waves)

(enjoying the very cold water)

we also saw tons of ladybugs, which we all thought was strange. ivy & i saw a pair of ducks swimming/riding on a wave, but by the time i got the camera, they had flown away. we also saw a man windsurfing. the wind was so strong that it picked him up several feet out of the water before he moved to the left or right(depending on which way the wind was blowing).

we had a blast and were so tired when we got home, after 2 or 3 hours at the beach. much thanks to the shipleys and their tip about baby powder to get sand off! worked great!

keep your food to yourself

i had to take a picture of this on friday. andrew was feeding ivy his snack. i guess it was more fun feeding her than feeding himself. ;)

for all of you wondering about the box..

this is what was in my birthday box(a creative zen mp3 player--for my neighborhood walks w/the kids & runs by myself). and no, i didn't open it at midnight wednesday night--i was asleep:

(the box also had some other things like the black armband that's shown, chargers, software, headphones & portable speakers). i also got a 5 pack of mad libs from costco.

i had a nice quiet birthday at home: cupcakes for the kids, and 1 piece of cheesecake (each) for me & tom. we also celebrated saturday night while the kids were baby sat. had a relaxing mexican dinner, did a little shopping & bowling(well..the bowling was just me. i'm not very good, and tom likes watching me try to play).

i still don't feel like i've aged in the past 7 years, but apparently i have if my youngest sister got married last month and my youngest brother is graduating in the next month & a half.