reading with eli is one of my favorite things. he is learning so much lately and loves to read books and ask questions. we love reading this book together and eli says the same part every time.

auntie's valentine

claire wanted me to send her a video of eli. it was valentines day and he was feeling lovey.

eli learns to say crocodile. it is hilarious how he says certain things.

he's picked up some new moves here. i've never seen that sweet head move, or the spin. he could teach me a thing or two.

dancing boy

stupid blogger is not loading my videos so i don't know how else to post them other than youtube. so there will just be a bunch of one video posts. does anybody else hate blogger? anyway, eli loves to dance and does it any chance he gets. we have daily dance parties and he's picked up some pretty sweet moves. here he is trying to get down in his carseat.

eli counts

excuse eli's bum and my grumpy mood. is it illegal yet to put your kid's but on the web? he is learning to count, he has some work to do.

state fair

last week we went to the fair. it was fun, just the three of us. our first goal was to get eli his first taste of cotton candy. it wasn't as exciting as we though it would be. he wasn't interested at first so mike had to take the lead. i'm sure we looked like crazies forcing our child to eat straight sugar in a fun cloud form, so we could laugh and take pictures.

at first he would only eat it if mike fed it to him.

then we finally got him to hold it, but he still needed a little nudge to actually eat it himself.

moment of truth. we got a tiny bite from him. then he would just hold it in his hand and it started melting and getting sticky everywhere. needless to say we just fed him from then on. that stuff is annoyingly sticky.

he loved loved loved the car rides. i was sure he would be scared, but as soon as they started up he was all smiles.

oh i just thought i'd throw this picture in for kicks. let's analyze shall we? my eyes are closed, i'm not even looking in the direction of the camera, eli's attention is directed to something much more interesting, and the shadow covering my whole body. can you guess the photographer? yep, the same genius who took this prize winner. thanks hun.

old macdonald had a farm

in january eli and i went to a friend's house, who basically live on a farm, and played. they have a horse, a few pigs, tons of chickens, a flock of geese and a little potbelly pig. we had a lot of fun and can't wait to go again!

eli loved the pigs. he fed this one carrots. or he threw them and backed away. whatever.

i couldn't get him close enough to the horse to get a decent picture.

the boys playing/fighting with the cars.

they have a chihuahua who just had puppies and they came out to play with the boys. they were sooo tiny. eli loved them, they just followed everybody around.

that is not poo by the way, it's a leaf. i double checked before i put up the picture. but look at how small the puppies are, barely reaching eli's knee.

here's the potbelly pig. he thinks he's a dog, it's very cute. he runs around wagging his tail, and he's so friendly.

dos anos

this little girl turned 2 on december 30. violet holds a special place in my heart. i think about her all the time and miss her so much. the other day i cried because i missed her, even though eli was in the other room, but that's beside the point. she is kind and strong. sweet and sassy. timid and brave. eli used to bully her around and she was so tender and unsure of herself. well not anymore, no ma'am. she can stand on her own two feet and hold her own amongst all these boys she's growing up with. she is such a special girl, our little princess. she is so funny, yet super nerdy. and she has this way of making you feel super awkward, like when you're doing something that always makes her laugh, even though you look stupid, yet this time she won't laugh. she'll just look at you like you're so embarrassing, as though she has no idea why you're doing what you're doing. it's great, especially when it happens to cassie. she has the funniest run i've ever seen. she is so ticklish. you're sure to see her cute dimple and hysterical laugh if you tickle up the middle of her back. she loves one on one time. she gets quiet and shy around a lot of people, but she cherishes time she has alone with someone. she is so smart and obedient. from a very young age we could see her conscience kick into gear, and she constantly battled those wall sockets. she just couldn't bring herself to touch them. i love the love that she and eli have. it is one of a kind, they are very dear to each other. she is the sweetest little girl and i love her like my own.

sassy little thing ready to go to disneyland, with her pink aviators.

i was bribing her with candy. she had to say "please auntie" and put her hands on her cheeks.

violet has a special relationship with her food. particularly sweets. she has no shame.

eli and violet had spent everyday together up until about a month ago. they love each other so much. they're best friends.

and sorry mom, but these moments were jus too precious to not document. these two playing with their little hands all over the windows that josh just cleaned for the wedding. my mom has two rules; don't touch the windows, and don't play with the curtains. they were just having so much fun.

wedding bells

my sweet sister jenny was married on december 27 2010, at my parent's home, at sunset. it was such a special day for jenny and john and i am so happy for them.

pre-ceremony. all of us hanging out, getting ready, and waiting for everything to start.

my sweet baby was a trooper and mike was the best that day.

i don't think violet was really into taking picture that day.

whitney and her beau. he's from spain. his name is gorka. legit.

the flower girl was having a hard time being her usual photogenic self.

the happy couple. they've been together 5 or 6 years and i truly have never seen them as happy as they are now, it's really beautiful. let's keep it up guys!

the man himself. he gave a beautiful toast at dinner, as usual. you would get nothing less from my dad. confession: every once in a while i will get out the raw footage i have of my wedding luncheon, and just watch the toast my dad gave. it was so perfect and fitting and intuitive. my dad is not a man of many words, but when he opens his mouth, people listen. i love that about him.

oh the queen bee. she did not stop that day. actually she was going, going, going, from about a month before to whenever the turkey ran out weeks after the wedding. she prepared like 10 turkeys for the wedding dinner. i hope someone gave her a foot massage that night, i sure as hell wasn't going to do it, but man she deserved it. at one point during clean-up, john's best friend (who is hilarious and my favorite) says "i would offer to stay and help, but i've seen ant colonies work less efficiently than this group". we owe it to my mom and her crazy friends, we all benefit from their generosity and love, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

since whitney lives out of the country she does't get to see the little ones very often, so when she comes she just devours them. it's very special, she bonds with each of them and makes sure she takes them all in. they love her so much. yes whit, they love you more than gorka, even if they did learn to say his name before yours.

we danced the night away and payed no attention to the 30 degree weather.

and then there was cake. delicious cake. cake that i ate much too much of.

jayms and johnny enjoying their dessert. who gave johnny bubbles?