They are a couple

I always say that Josh and Ella are going to get married someday...much to Brad and Kami's dislike, but they are always so cute together. Ella is so nice and plays with Josh even when Josh takes EVERY toy away from her.

We had Brad and Kami over earlier this week and every toy that Ella grabbed just happen to be one of Josh's favorite toys, or toys that he plays with. After enough whining, they got smart and decided to share the toy....and it was the PERFECT photo opportunity.

Josh is taking driving seriously.
I LOVE this picture. Ella is absolutely flawless and Josh is actually smiling!
Josh loves his older woman.

Vacation Pics

Vacation was WONDERFUL this year. There was no major fighting and I think everyone genuinely had a great time. It was so fun to watch all of the little cousins playing (fighting) together. I did not want to come home this year, and usually by the first day I question why I go on this trip every year.

Unfortunately, our camera was acting funny, so we didn't get that many great pictures, but here are some!

Eliza and Josh were adorable together the entire week. Here is some cuddling action.

This is Josh with three of my brother's kids, Azelin, Eliza and Cameron. Hudson is still too little to be in this picture.
He is on some great adventure here...finding buried treasure!
What can I say, the kid loves sand.
Patric and my nephew John hanging out in the ocean.
Just me and my little man.

Topsail Island

We are heading down to the beach today. To say I am excited is an understatement. This week has been a whirlwind of emotions for me, and it will be nice to get some much needed R&R.

Naturally I will be taking lots of pictures, so I will update when I get home!

First hair cut!

I finally convinced Patric that it was time for Josh to get a hair cut. It was so scraggly and nasty. I couldn't help but worry that it was going to come out crappy and that I made the wrong choice...but Patric did a really good job.

Before -

He was having a fit while we were waiting in line for our packets for the triathlon that Gregg, Patric and I were in. We did the Montclair Triathlon as a relay and got 4th.
This picture is from like two months ago, but you can see how long it already was then.

This is actually a staged picture. We were already done cutting his hair and realized we didn't take any pictures. We put him back in the chair to get some "action" shots. He wasn't amused...nor was he when we were cutting his hair.
I really like how it came out. It is not too short, it still shows his wavy hair and it is still cute!

Golfing and Sakura--the last day for Erik

Well-

Erik's last day was probably the most eventful one of the entire 2.5 weeks he was here. We went golfing, to the pool and then out to dinner with friends.

The theme of golfing was sand traps and losing balls in the woods. Erik must have hit his ball in the sand trap like 4 of the 9 holes.


Sorry to say, but I do not think either of us will be pros anytime soon, but we had a good time.

Dinner at Sakura is always fabulous. Josh LOVED the soup and the food. He tried shrimp too and liked it. His personality is coming out more and more and I love it!

Look at those cute boys!

The whole crew, From left to right - Andy, Anthrea, Erik, Me, Patric's seat, Josh, Ella, Kami and Brad...oh and Brad's finger...
Our chef. He was good. He threw shrimp at my mouth and landed in my shirt. nice.
Patric taking pics pre-food
The chef doing what he does best...making big fire! This was called the volcano.

Ocean City

While Eric was here we decided to take him to Ocean City, Md. We left Thursday evening and came back Saturday afternoon. The weather was PERFECT! I don't think you could have asked for a better day. We got on the beach around 1000am and it was already getting pretty crowded. We got a spot in front of the ocean and started our day.
Josh is a true water baby. He LOVES the water. It scares mommy because he is way too bold in the water, but hopefully he will learn to swim in the next year or so and then I can breathe a bit easier.
The waves were huge. It seemed like the lifeguards were running into the water every 10 mins getting someone back in from going too far out into the ocean. The current was really strong. I love the water, but did not feel comfortable going in too deep...especially if the lifeguards thought I would need help getting back in. Talk about embarrassing!
Josh is just relaxing in the shade with his sippy. We rented this big umbrella for the day so Josh would have relief from the hot sun. Luckily, he did not get burned! We applied lotion like every hour - hour and a half.
The day wouldn't be complete without some sand burying!
On the trip up to Md, Erik and Josh fell asleep in the car (light weights). Patric and I thought it was cute for cousins to snuggle up together, so we had to capture the memory.
There is no doubt that Josh loves Erik, in fact I wondered if maybe he loved Erik more then me while Erik was here. He gave Erik all sorts of hugs and cuddles...even in the morning when Erik would have rather been sleeping...

It's time...

for Josh to pull his weight around this household. He has had it easy for the last year, so Patric decided to make him work on the walls of this house. Patric always fixes up the walls before we paint, and this is our new family room....and of course, Josh is sand papering the walls for Patric to get ready to paint.


Also--one morning we were all sitting in my office and I decided to take some pictures. Josh was busy playing with something, I took a self portrait, and then one of Josh and Isabelle.

Josh is getting into the camera bag
Don't mind the morning look I got going on
Isabelle doesn't even care what Josh does to her.