Random Pictures

Taft and Luke playing Beauty Parlor

Ta da!

I took a quick trip to Utah last week for one of my dear friend's wedding. I was only there three full days but fit in a trip to visit my old college roommate Jessie. She has two boys too. Her oldest is 6 mo younger than Taft and her little guy is just a month younger than Luke. We're hoping they'll be college roommates. Did you know that I lived with the daughters of my mom's college roommate for a year in college? True story. My mom and Lanx took Taft to the circus one night while we were there. I don't know why they have a picture of Taft with green stormtrooper, but here it is. 

I was so glad I was able to go to the wedding. It was a very small gathering and I felt extra special to be invited. I didn't take any pictures but Amber looked absolutely gorgeous and so so so happy. My parents watched the boys while I went and I have to admit, it was SO nice to be able to enjoy dinner at a slow and enjoyable pace, not trying to keep anyone else happy. My mom even brought Luke to me so I could nurse him before he went to bed. (Although he didn't even want to nurse. Stinker.) A couple of my other friends were there at the wedding too so it was fun to catch up. 

Then A Lot of Herways Came to Town

We had a jam packed two weeks of family here in lovely Coronado. My family and Seth's family overlapped visits for a day so we all had a dinner together and welcomed Steve (Seth's youngest brother) home from his mission.

Seth's parents rented a house for the week that could accommodate everyone. Even though we live here, we still stayed in the house so we could hang out with everyone after kids went to bed. We had most of Seth's siblings there, minus Seth's older brother who is on a top secret job in the Middle East (seriously) and Seth's other brother and his family who live in New Jersey.

Taft was beyond thrilled to have his cousins. I think he followed Brauer around laughing hysterically at everything he did for the entire first evening. We had a great time with everyone hanging out at the beach and taking it easy. Seth had a whole week of vacation so he was able to spend time with everyone too.

I can't take credit for most of these pictures. Seth's sister Natalie took most of them. I hardly took any because I knew Natalie would be all over it and would do a great job, and she did. (Good ones=Natalie's Grainy/Bad Angles/Overall Bad= Mine)

Cousins. It rained the first two days of the week so one morning we headed to the heated community pool. The lifeguards were really, really uptight.

Colie (Seth's sis) . Me+Luke. Lara (wife of Seth's oldest brother). Natalie (Seth's sis)

This is Anita's (Seth's mom) BFF from when they lived in D.C. years and years ago. She just so happened to be in San Diego the same week. They are wearing almost the EXACT same thing, right down to the shoes!

This picture captures Taft's currently personality PERFECTLY. He is always on the run and thinks everything is a game.

Zane and Brauer with newly returned missionary Steve-O

Aunt Colie. Isa. Daphne

I love this picture.

Note the squat. 

One morning TONS of sea stuff was washed up on shore including this huge starfish!

Daphne sending the starfish back home

Oh Wuke.

Grammie with the goods-- Belgian candy

Taft thinks Down Dog means horsey ride.

Just having a naked tea party with my cousin. (Future blackmail right here)

The Bluths Came to Town

My sis, Tates, plays soccer for a J.C. in southern Arizona. She had a couple of games in the San Diego area so my parents and other sister made a trip to visit us and to watch Tates play. Unfortunately, the week before they came out Tates tore her MCL. Bummer. We still went to her games to support her team and to see her. I loved seeing Tates but I think I need to change my attitude about soccer before Taft or Luke ever start playing. I had a total overdose of soccer game exposure since my sisters have played since...forever. Tates was able to join us one day in Coronado for jet-skiing in the bay. It was SO much fun! I didn't think Taft would like it because about 6 mo. ago we tried to get him on snowmobiles and you would have thought we were trying to make him jump off a cliff. It did not go well. However, he loved the jet skis and kept saying that it was so much fun. I was beaming with pride at how brave he was, really I still don't think I'm over it.

My parents treated us to a day at Sea World and we had a great time. All the shows are so cool, I can't believe they can get all those animals to learn all those tricks. My mom bought a $11.00 soda in a souvenir cup so I can get $1 refills any time I go again. She's nice. Speaking of buying things, my parents treated us to everything we did. Sometimes I feel kind of pathetic letting them do it because I'm getting pretty old, but it sure is nice of them. I'll find you guys a real nice nursing home one day. ;) Kidding!

They have a really fun splash pad that Taft loved. I think an annual pass might be worth it just for splash pad.

Gwumpa and Wukie

We hung out at the beach, went to a movie with just the girls, watched soccer games, jet-skied, did Sea World, and Seth and I even got a date night out of it. Seth had to miss almost everything because of his insane work schedule, but he did get to jet-ski which was probably the most fun thing we did.

We Made Friends

Taft + Logan. They are friends even though Taft looks a little psycho in this picture and Logan looks like he wants out.

Taft+Ashlyn

We made insta-friends as soon as we moved here which is SO not the norm for us. Seth and I are quite lazy when it comes to making "couple friends". We do just fine at making our own friends but couple friends always seem like so much work. Luckily, we moved into a ward with only a few young families so they were pumped to have fresh faces to befriend. Since we've moved in there have also been a few more families move in and it's been a lot of fun. Every Sunday this summer the main park in Coronado had a summer concert series. We'd go every Sunday and meet up with our pals. The best part is all the kids play so well together. Little Logan makes Taft feel like a rockstar. Logan's about a year younger than Taft but follows him everywhere. I think Taft likes being the big kid in the situation. The kids' ages range from 7 mo. to 4 yrs. and they all have a blast together (minus the babies who don't really know what's going on)

The guys have been playing beach volleyball once a week in the evening. Seth's liked getting out in the evening and doing something active and it's fun to give the kids a chance to run and get energy out.

Have I mentioned how nice everyone is here? We have really really nice neighbors. I was just thinking today how I never want to leave this place. Now I only have to make 4.8 million dollars to buy a house and I CAN stay here forever!

Astuonis Menesius (eight months)

Luke's newest nickname from my dad is Lukas Plepis Petrauskas. He looks like he could be Lithuanian/Eastern European. Lukie is army crawling like a mad man. He's a bottomless pit when it comes to meal time. He's becoming a binky man, just like Taft was. I've told myself that I'll have to make him kick the habit earlier than Taft (yep, Taft still uses his for sleeping and still tries to get away with using it at other times as well). Luke is a squirmy squirmerson and is very curious about everything and is determined to get his hands on it. The beach is officially no fun at all for me because Luke won't stay on a blanket or towel and insists on scooching all over the sand and eating it. He's babbling more and more. Most of the time he makes the "dada" sound but has been making some new ones lately. He still is pretty consistent with two naps a day and sleeps well at night (about 12-13 hours) with the exception of still waking up once in the night to eat---although last night he didn't wake up to eat...maybe he's going to sleep through the night now?!?! That would be too good to be true. I don't think Luke really likes to be held besides by me or Seth. I've mentioned he's pretty whiney, but it seems to get worse when others hold him. He'll do okay for a bit, but it seems like 99.9 percent of the time the person hands him back based on his whining. The whining still drives me up the wall some days but the whines come from such a cute face it's hard to hold it against him. I don't know his stats for this month, we'll head to the doctor next month but I'm pretty sure he's somewhere around 18 lbs. Luke is super ticklish- squeezing his thighs, pretending to eat him tummy, or tickling under his arms will definitely get him laughing.