action shot

proof that he does not always fly his own jet. :) here he is (in the front).....sent me this link from DVIDS and the caption reads:
"Capts. Reid Nannen and James Knipe, pilots with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232, conduct pre-flight checks on their aircraft and equipment before launching on a mission here June 24. The squadron brought more than ten aircraft to the fight, including both the single-seat and double-seat models."

birch aquarium at scripps, la jolla

sunday afternoon we enjoyed a few hours at birch aquarium....i thought perhaps petey would enjoy it given his recent obsession with fish, "iiiish" as he says it.  it was the perfect size for us and we spent the perfect amount of time there. not to mention we had emily, one of our favorite friends, along for the trip!

at the entrance with these gorgeous whale statues in the fountain....he is realizing we are at a very special place....filled with "iiish"

pictured below: enjoying the seahorse exhibit, playing with the current table, posing inside the shark next to the shark tank

wanesta garden project: harvesting

i've actually eaten green beans from my garden. sadly that one tiny harvest of beans was enough for us to share one evening for dinner and no surplus - but they were wonderful and it was fun to actually enjoy something from the garden. its doing quite well, actually - and i take no credit for that. its all mother nature at work back there. all i do is water it.  although i should probably pay attention to my poor leaves, there is a little wormy eating to its heart's content. recommendations on what to use that is earth-friendly?'

so, the dead looking stick thing used to live in my kitchen window and dad and i transplated it and its pot-mates to bigger pots and moved them outdoors. dad said something about it going into sun shock. i think that is maybe what it looks like. however - while i was gone this new beautiful green thing sprouted up from under the soil....so excited to see what that ugly stick was supposed to be and so glad this new guy came into town. to think i almost dug up that dead looking thing. :)

tomatoes are getting pretty big....super excited about THIS harvest. but what will a girl do with all those tomatoes? perhaps i'll make spaghetti sauce again. :)  is canning tomatoes worth the effort?

planted 2 plants of this variety.....each plant got one big fatty pepper on it. :)

planted two plants of this variety.....got a couple tinier peppers coming along, but this one is looking ready to eat!

zucchini is doing fabulous in there. :)  grandma and i actually ate a teeny one on our salad one night during her visit.  so how do i know when they are ready to harvest? anyone?

such a big change from that empty raised garden bed we planted a few months ago!

so, my son is now obsessed with fish. he calls them "eesh". he's also pretty stoked about stickers. his very first sticker was a chiquita banana blue sticker label off the banana the other day. i put it on his hand to see what he would do. well, he walked around all day with that sticker there touching it over and over like a prized possession.  then the lady gave him a sticker at target the next day in the check out line for being so good and cute (and she asked me if he was in preschool.....awesome!). that one didn't last as long since mean mommy took it away as a punishment for insane-toddler behavior syndrome.  today as a reward for being so stellar while running errands i bought him some fish stickers from michaels. needless to say, he is all about it. i'm wondering if maybe these stickers are the way to go for the potty training i think i'm going to try for.  in 2 days he has sat on the big potty 3 times and all three times he has managed to fart on command. that has to mean SOMETHING, right? i mean....he has to get it.  i walked in his room yesterday after his nap and the first thing he said to me was "diaper"...and enough, he had done the number 2 in his diaper. he totally gets it. now i just need to do some research on how to go about potty training a 19 month old. any body have any good resources?

here's a tiny culprit who is eating my leaves. i killed a big brother of his earlier in the day - he was much bigger and fatter. so sad that i want to start quoting "the very hungry caterpillar" in this post.  are those little black things baby worm eggs or poop? and what do i do about these guys? they are really going to town on my tomato leaves. not so much with the rest although they have sampled a little of the pepper leaves. help!

love that lady bug smile

i am having the hardest time catching her new smiling trick in a photo. so i decided to try the video function out.....her smiles were a lot bigger about 10 minutes before i finally started filming but this gives you a tiny glimpse of her sweet little face and her new social interactions, however brief those periods may be.....they are growing longer each day and i love watching it happen!

such a doll baby in this picture!  yes, poor thing is wearing her boxing gloves. its mom's feable attempt to keep her from being a thumb sucker. we'll see if it works again, worked swimmingly on petey!  my poor children....

a little half smile....almost caught it!

and a sweet little crooked half smile (yes briana, i know....) - such a cutie!

here's a video of betsy over the past 4 weeks...she's changed so much! (nothing super exciting happening, just betsy doing her thing, i figured daddy would appreciate it)

i know in 20 years i'll look back at this fondly, wonder how i did it and smile about all the memories.
but, tonight being a mom feels wonderfully overwhelming.
i know in 20 years i'll miss frantically searching for the sippy cup lost in the house. reading the same book 5 times in a row, 4 times a day for 5 days straight. eating food off the high chair tray because my child won't and i don't have time to make my own dinner. sitting across the room wanting so badly to hug my screaming toddler mid-tantrum but knowing i need to ignore this behavior instead of reward it. fighting every urge to smile so he doesn't see what he's done is funny and doesn't repeat it (even though its SO funny). changing diapers. talking about diapers. thinking about diapers. coming up with new ways to sneak vegetables into each meal.
i know in 20 years i'll miss bedtime stories. my child asking to be held. my child throwing his toys across the room. stepping on those toys all day. picking those toys up at the end of every day. watching him rearrange my cabinets. watching in fear as he learns to use the cabinet shelf as a step stool and the stove top as a place to grab onto. watching in terror as he climbs the counter stool and blindly sweeps his arm across the counter to see what his fingers can find. watching in absolute shock as he pulls a pair of scissors out of the drawer.  realizing my house is not even close to toddler proofed. baby proofed yes. toddler proofed....is there such a thing?
i am positive in 20 years i'll miss seeing him squat down to examine the leaves in my garden. and watching him grab an orange bell pepper out of my hand at the store and try to take a big hearty bite. and hearing him announce to me whenever he has seen a fish (you'd be surprised how many times a day that happens!). and hearing him announce to me every single time a plane flies overhead that daddy is above us. and wondering if he thinks planes are called daddies. and seeing him squeeze the ever-living-daylights out of baxter with all the love he has for that pup. and hearing him announce 'eye' as he attempts to poke out every eyeball he sees.
i am positive in 20 days i'll already be wondering where has my baby gone? she is getting so big. she is smiling now. and then she'll be reaching and grabbing for objects. and talking in her little baby coos. and then she'll be rolling over and propping herself up. and eating solid foods. and then there will be crawling and talking and walking.  and i'll blink and she'll be an 18 month old toddler scaling my kitchen cabinets and blindly sweeping her fingers through my utencil drawer looking for something dangerous to play with.
and then i'll blink and they'll both be applying for college. oh my.
there isn't time enough or space available for me to note all the things i love about being a mom. and all the things i love are also some of the same things that surely cause me to be frustrated and exhausted by my day's work. sometimes they make me want to cry.  sometimes they make me want to call everyone i know to tell them the amazing thing my child has just accomplished. but at the end of the day when my wee ones are tucked in and i look back on the moments we shared that day, the good and the bad, my heart inevitably swells with love for these little ones. i just hope in these coming months and years where they are learning so much and so very easily influenced that i can do right by them and help them grow up into bigger versions of their amazing little selves.

thank you, gram!

thank you to petey and betsy's great grandmother for such a lovely visit. we loved every minute of our time with you this week!  how special to have so many generations together.  now i've got to get working on the draft of my bill to require airlines to offer free air fare to great grandparents who live out of state of their great grandbabies.  love you grandma!

and now some pics of the little lady bug for her daddy - she is getting so big!  sorry, i still haven't been able to catch her smiling trick on camera yet.

Fourth of July

old poway park.....my favorite little place, and they did independence day with style! we spent a morning enjoying what they called an "old fourth of july" celebration with live music on stage which we enjoyed from a lovely shaded tent (pictured above, can you spy granny and the kids?), lyons club sponsored dogs and beans, kids crafts and games, quilt show, cotton candy and ice cream sales, craft sales, train rides and bank robbery reenactments to name a few. what a perfect day, perfect weather, and great fun! i loved watching all the kids (and dogs) go by, decked out in their red white and blue.  grandma and i agreed grandpa would really have enjoyed watching the music from our front row seats and watching the people go by.

great-grandma splurged for ice cream for petey  - what a lucky guy!

when we got home we had a little fashion show fun with betsy while petey napped.

love her little modeling pose (she's actually pulling her own hair)

 later in the afternoon adam and emily came by for a visit and cookout.  petey's face sure lit up when those two came through the door, he absolutely remembered them and took to playing with adam immediately.  i think he was really excited to have a grown-up man in the house to rough house with.  adam performed daddy's trick of driving pete's red car around the back yard at mach twelve, jumping over the balls and petey smiling from ear to ear and shrieking with glee all the while.  emily enjoyed a cuddle with betsy, trying to remember that a little over a year ago she was snuggling with a betsy-sized petey while i worked in the navy. my how a year can change so many things!  thanks for a great visit, you two.  what wonderful friends we are blessed with!