What We’ve Been Up To

We are in between computers right now, so trying to update the blog has been challenging.  Thank goodness for Facebook and a family that is mostly online to check the occasional picture updates. That and two very active almost-three year olds, make it really hard.  Luckily, we had the boys three year photos taken and the photographer, the talented Kerri Gagne, who has been taking the boys’ pictures since they were seven months old has blogged about their pictures. You know, the photographer who has photographed moments like these -

Pictures with all the Grandies Blogged

 

First Birthday Party Pictures

 

First Photo Shoot

She just blogged about the boys’ 3rd Birthday photo shoot at the beach.

Kerri Gagne Blog about GnR

It was kind of a crazy thing to do after we were basically housebound for over two weeks of sickness.  The boys have had a ridiculously bad cough that kept them from two birthday parties among other activities, and vomiting up phlegm, and just being miserable for weeks.  The photos were rescheduled among other things, but taking two boys to the beach for photos after being stuck inside was a bit nuts!  Nonetheless, Kerri was able to capture their personalities and showcase their amazing blue eyes.   I adore the picture of the boys in the lifeguard stand both clutching their sides in laughter.  Gus was definitely more into getting pictures that day, so his smiles are a bit brighter, but both of them are just so darn amazing.  We are truly blessed to have them in our lives and so thankful for all the moments we have shared so far.  We have a few great adventures planned for this year, and cannot wait to see how they change and blossom. in the next three years.

 

The boys had an amazing birthday party early this year, this past weekend. We have had two years in a row of having so many kids to the park for a party, and this year we tried to keep it more low key by having it at our house.  This meant a smaller party with less friends, which sucked in a way to have people we could not invite, but it was also great to really enjoy the party with the people we spend a lot of time with, too. The boys had a ball.  We did too.  Here is a video I put together of the event. Put your music on, it adds to my tear-age 

 

They are growing up so fast.  Every day they say more, communicate more like little people rather than toddlers, and it is mind blowing, really mind blowing.  One of the things I say every now and again when I am having my not-the-best mommy moment, is “am I talking to a wall?”  Well, today, after saying something to the boys in that nature, Gus turned to the lifeguard stand, clearly a wall and yells “Hey, I’m talking to you.”  And then looks to me and says “Mommy, I’m talking to the wall, am I talking to the wall?”  Then starts chanting or singing, “I funny man, I funny man.”  Ugh, yup, you sure are Gus.  Boy!  Kind of sucks to have super smart kids, doesn’t it? 

The other exciting adventure I have been on more so than the boys, is playing with my new DSLR.  Of course, if you know me, you know I love to take pictures. I have been using basic point and shoot cameras for years and I asked Matty for a real camera for our 10 year anniversary. Yes, 10 years!  I love the camera and am learning so much and am having a great time really working on getting better at taking real pictures.  So far, we’ve been to the beach a few times and I have had a ball taking pics at the boys’ party, and I look forward to doing more soon.

Sad Goodbyes, but Man Did the Boys have FUN!

This morning Nannie & Poppy headed back to Oz. The boys are napping, so they won't know it for a while. It sure gets harder each time, particularly with the boys. The good news is that we will all have another adventure with them again in a few months, and this time with Auntie Peta too:)

The boys have a great new routine in the morning thanks to Nannie & Poppy that we will continue on with. They get up (EARLY) and play of course, then eat a HUGE breakfast, including Vegemite on toast; they even tried meat paste this morning (don't ask), and then they go for a nice walk in the neighborhood, and then back for a morning nap. They also love their new bean bags from Nonnie & Pickles, very comfy place for a bottle or a climb & a cuddle.

The past week the boys have been very busy. They have been to the Tomato Festival, the zoo, shopping, out to eat, and all sorts of fun places. They even had another beach photo shoot with the talented Kerri Gagne (http://kerrigagnephotography.blogspot.com/). Today we are planning on having a lazy day until we do dinner with Nannie & Grandpa Pickles. I am sure the other grandies miss the boys too!

Kerri Gagne Photography - Peterson/Hamilton Grandparents Lido Beach

Here are a few of our own shots taken at the zoo, our favorite restaurant down the road and at the Tomato Festival - including the video below of the boys on their first horsie rides!!!

Raleigh standing up in the pool now

Poppy - holding back tears before they left:( Good news is that we'll see you really soon!

Augustus loves his Daddy!

IMG_3948, originally uploaded by klgagne76.

Just a quick hello to you all. We have had computer troubles and we just bought a new laptop yesterday, so we should be back up and blogging soon. Just a quick addition of one of Kerri's great birthday shots of Augustus leaning on Daddy. We cannot wait to get all the shots of the day from Kerri so we can share them all from you. You can see a preview on her flickr account if you have not seen them yet:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerrikittles22/sets/72157616104479518/

This week the weather is supposed to be a bit cooler, so we plan on spending a ton of time outside before we get super hot again. The other plans for the week are to put the donations for the Ronald McDonald House together. We want to have individual bags for each guest with shampoo, conditioner, soap, shaver, etc., and a label on the bag that indicates the donation is from our friends and family in honor of the boys first birthday. Lots of work to do to get that done! So worth it though. We have plans every Saturday for the rest of the month too, so we will be keeping these boys very busy! Augustus has been making strides, no pun intended, in the walking department. He will go on his own at times without mommy or daddy's arms to fly into. Raleigh will only take about 3 steps max after he hears the praise & excitement over Gus' walking. We had tried to move to one nap a day for the past two days, but after Raleigh had a couple of night terrors we decided he really still needs the two naps. Whether he is just overtired coming out or just anxiety about change we don't know, but it is not worth it to push the issue. We'll let them tell us when they are ready for just one nap for now!

The Peterson Family with the Boys

IMG_4339, originally uploaded by klgagne76.

We need to say a big "THANK YOU" to Auntie Mary, Uncle Jerry, Nonnie & Grandpa Pickles for all their help this past week in preparing for the party, providing "security" & setting up & cleaning up the party. You are all amazing and we all love you very much!!!

Raleigh eating his cake & loving every minute!

IMG_4124, originally uploaded by klgagne76.

Beachy Time in Florida

Dad with Raleigh

Mom with Augustus

Augustus

Raleigh, our little Abercrombie model for babies:)

Raleigh "holding" Gus' hat!

Happy family!

The boys are doing awesome! They are down to three meals a day now with a night time bottle thanks to the suggestion of another "twinkie" mom. This is great; it means we can travel without worrying about feeding in the middle of a zoo or aquarium trip, for example. Next task is to work on getting them past the 4:30/5 am feeding. They just keep holding on:) They are asleep every night by 7 am and usually go back to bed until about 7 am...but still want to cuddle with mommy about 4:30 in the morning.

Last weekend we had one of Brooke's former co-workers take pictures of the boys & us at the beach. They turned out so amazing, we are overwhelmed with them. It will be hard to pick out this year's Christmas pictures!! It turned really cold towards the end, so some of the pictures have pink noses & cuties looking a bit tired, but all in all, they did great.

Lately, both boys have been so vocal. Augustus is saying "ba, ba, ba, ba, ba" and "ma, ma, ma, ma" all the time, but of course not correlating the ba's and ma's with a bottle or mommy...yet. Raleigh just wants to make raspberries and "wa wa's" as we call them. He has his hands in his mouth all the time looking for new noises. Both are so darn cute =)

We are counting sleeps until our big trip. It is so exciting, we just can't wait to see Nannie & Poppy in person, but we are a bit overwhelmed with the daunting task of packing and of course the actual travel there & back! So worth it, so we will suck it up!!

The Hamiltons