Enjoying the big blue...

Ocean that is. Down in our favorite little vacation place, Monterey. We always make it a priority to come here, whenever we get the opportunity. It's less than 2 hours away, so the drive isn't miserable, yet it's far enough away that it's still a vacation. It's perfect.

We spent plenty of time taking walks on the beach while we were there. These always seem to be my favorite pictures are the ones we take while on this beach. I should really frame all my favorites together and put them up in my house somewhere.

I can't believe how much Ethan is growing up. He speaks in full sentences now and just has the funniest personality. He's very strong-willed, but he can melt my heart in an instant.
Ahh, my fabulous husband. He can also be very strong-willed. Come to think of it, I myself am very strong-willed. I think there just aren't any sissies in our family at all. But John is very sweet and extremely hard-working. I think the most hard-working person I know. I certainly don't have his work ethic. But that's what marriage is about right? It wouldn't be successful if you both had the same strengths right?
We never cease to find treasures on the beach. Sea shells, worn glass, seaweed. Sometimes it's a seal carcass.
As we discovered, taking a family shot with a newborn in the baby bjorn is not all that successful. But at least Lincoln will know he was there too, right?
It's always a struggle to get my mom to take pictures. She is so lovely though.
At some point we do hang out inside the beach house too. We watch a lot of movies and eat -- oh how we eat. This trip Pammie and I spent a lot of time working on a quilt for Ethan. It's my first pieced quilt. I'm so excited. A little overwhelmed with the expense, but I'm planning on him liking cars until he's 40 so the quilt should get some good use, right?

Occasionally, we do a little of this as well:
Ethan took over the camera and kept taking pictures of the coral on the mantel. He kept calling it "Nemo" too. What? Me let him watch whole-length movies? No. Well, hardly ever.
Look at this cool dude.
Love this one of Pammie retrieving Ethan from the front yard. I think it's one of my favorites of the two of them.
Lincoln is managing to add a little chub to his face, and spending a little more time awake.
John came home from the beach house, while Pammie and I stayed there with the boys. While we were there John admitted himself to the ER because of some severe abdominal pain. I don't know why that always happens (last time he went to the ER I was out of town for a girls trip in Tahoe -- he had his gallbladder out and I got home in time to pick him up when he was released). This time was almost identical to last time, John insisted that we not come back from Monterey because we wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time at the hospital anyway with Lincoln. He spent 3 days there! They weren't able to give us a diagnosis with 100 per cent confidence, but they think that he must have had a gall stone remain in his system after the removal of his gall bladder last year and now it was lodged in a duct in his liver. They think he must have passed it and supposedly he shouldn't have any lasting effects, thankfully.

I arrived home to see that John had gotten a glider for me for Mother's Day (well, we had been saving for it and many people gave us money as gifts when I had Lincoln), but I mean he went

and found one and picked up up and set it up for me! Yeah! I love it to the max. It's super comfortable and has fantastic little details all over it. It glides, it swivels, it lulls your baby to sleep. Ahh, just what the Dr. ordered.
Lincoln even spends some time hanging out there too.We got to hang out a little at Jared & Shannon's house with Pammie. The boys are starting to get along so well now. Ethan is learning to be just a little more gentle with other kids. Here they are lining up for a race. Such cutie pies! Ready. Set. Go!

Carmel Mission

This weekend we started it off right by going to Carmel! We got to go to the Carmel Mission. My mother claims the following statement isn't true. I have never been to a California Mission. I know, crazy isn't it? It's funny how some major things in life can be neglected like that. Pammie says it couldn't possibly be true, but I have exactly zero memories of seeing any missions in California.

Before we actually got to the mission though, we stopped at a hole-in-the-wall deli for some scrumptious sandies. I stayed in the car so I could occupy the little ones. Here Ethan is doing his best to hide from me in the picture. Heaven forbid I get a little smile from this guy lately. Henry isn't shy though. He's happy to give one up!

After I take pictures, Ethan takes a turn. He even centered it pretty well. Not bad, kiddo!
He had a bit more difficulty capturing Henry though. Nice kicks, Hensy.
Ahh! We made it there. Hello chapel!
Hello, bench. Hello family sitting on the bench. What are we waiting for? Get a movin'!
Ethan was especially excited to point out the bell above us.
We took turns guessing what this contraption is. Jared had to ruin it by actually knowing what it was. Lame. p.s. it's an olive press. Can we get one John, can we?
Oh, I'll take an arbor like this one too. I found myself wanting to steal ideas for landscaping our yard from the mission. The grounds were simply delightful.
Ethan is hiding again. And I am amused. Very amused, evidently.
We let Ethan out and look what he found! Quick! Make a wish!
I think that's a smile Ethan, nice job! Maybe he just wanted out of the belts we bind him up in.
Family of four now, weird eh?
I'd like to steal this bench too. But I won't cause it's a church, and you can't just go stealing from churches. It looks bad on the resume.
I'll steal this staircase in a heartbeat though. It's worth it. As long as it comes with the door too. And the tree. The tree must come too.
Thanks Carmel Mission for the great tour, and great ideas for our backyard. And really sorry about the two year old we let trample your garden!

Discovery Kingdom

My mom finally got out of school and came for a visit to meet Lincoln and to help out with the two boys. Can I tell you how much we miss her already? Can I tell you how great it was for her to be here? No, I cannot. Because then you might want her to come and visit you. And really, I can't stand the competition. We need her back already. I have a to-do list about a foot long in size 8 font that we never got to do. Well until she comes back, let me rehash the fun that we had when she was here.

First off we got to take both of our moms (Mine and John's that is) to Marine World/Six Flags/Discovery Kingdom (Who is the marketing genius behind changing your name 3 times in the last 10 years -- you should be fired. Now no ones knows what to call it!). We decided to celebrate Mother's Day a week early AND we have season passes there that John and I hadn't been able to use yet. It actually worked fantastically well with the nursing schedule as well because anytime I needed to feed Lincoln, we would find an animal show to watch. Presto! I'm not chasing Ethan around the park topless -- really ideal in my book. Here is a good one of Pammie enjoying her newest grandbaby.
We got to spend some time in Thomas town, and rode every train in the park while we were there. You'll see. We are big fans of trains.
Look at the spoiled boy in the window with TWO grandmas! Ethan was eating up all the attention.
Here's another train! Ethan got really good at waving to everyone as he passed. He didn't even need to know you.
Thankfully we also located some airplanes to ride. This was Ethan's first solo ride. He's at the 36 inch mark!
Ahh. The wave. How I love those chubby little fingers.
We are at the whale show and look! John & Jane are on TV! Can you see them? John is wearing the orange Shirt and Jane is right next to him in the blue. We totally know them.
Ethan is waiting ever-so-patiently for the whale to come out. I love that he uses his pants pockets now. So cute.
Lincoln was awake for some of the whale show, but really just enjoys being held. And whenever he gets held, he gets comfy. Which means more sleeping.
Wake Up, you're missing the whales! Oh and this is the closest thing I have to a 1-month photo. He looks so tiny! I still can't believe it.
Ethan fell in love with the Looney Tunes characters too. He skipped ahead of the line of people to give a high-five.
And even sneaked in a hug. Oops, sorry everyone. We're still working on the waiting in line rules.
Then we waited through the line so we could get a picture.
Twice. (I wish we could have gotten a picture with both Pammie & Jane in one shot. I'm not experiencde with photoshop otherwise I would just paste Pammie into the top picture. Can someone teach me?)
Discovery Kingdom we will come again soon!

April has come and Gone?

Evidently I'm still in "new mom" mode because I can hardly believe how quickly time is passing. I'm still a zombie I guess, although I'm slowly coming out of it. Here are the few other events/cute pictures I have yet to discuss this month.

First off, Ethan got his first official pair of Chuck Taylors and mama is so proud. Ethan loves to wear them.
Ethan had a big first this month too...going to the dentist. I got him dressed with a "teeth shirt" (see the monsters teeth?) and he seemed to be pretty well prepared.
The Dentist and his staff kept commenting on how he was the best patient. Ethan let them do absolutely everything on the first visit. They counted his teeth. Then they polished them. Then he let them use the scraper to get off the sugar bugs. Then they took 4 x-rays. Then they flossed his teeth. What a super kid! They rewarded Ethan with a cars toothbrush.
They also let mickey mouse sit next to him while they flossed, I wish I would have gotten a picture of that. But look at the cute little kid chair. He passed the exam with flying colors making two very proud parents.
Since Lincoln has been born I've been somewhat scared to leave the house, but I still get a little stir crazy so we've been taking lots of walks. We take different routes through our neighborhood and practice our listening skills. Ethan saw these flowers of our neighbor and asked me to take a picture of him with the flowers. It was so cute. How could I refuse?
Please ignore the orange juice all over his sweater. We are still, amazingly enough, enjoying our oranges off of our orange tree! And since Ethan is so fiercely independent, he always has to peel the oranges himself.
Here is old man Lincoln wearing big boy clothes. I dressed him up for church in real clothes instead of wearing the usual sleeper. I think he looks so old! I'll have to keep him in the sleepers a little longer so I can enjoy the infant phase.
Here are my two boys with Grandma Jane. Jane has been so good to us, taking Ethan as often as we need her. Ethan loves his visits with Grandma Jane. It sure makes a visit to the Doctor's office or to the grocery store a lot less stressful!
We also went fishing this month at Tilden Park. We met John after work, and fished until after the sun went down. We worked our way the whole way around the lake. Next time I think I'll either put Ethan in shorts or get him a pair of waders.
Ethan spied a fishing lure that looked like a little fish in John's tackle box and threw it straight into the lake. When I asked him why he did it, he explained that the fish needed to be in the water. duh mom.
Ethan lately likes me to take his picture and will pose for me.
For some strange reason though every time I ask him to look at mommy and say "cheese," he just hides his face. What a stinker.