Finally some privacy

We finally got around to putting in shutters in our house giving us some privacy and shade from the sun. Here is Cole's room before the shutters. Cole actually thought he was getting his picture taken and proceeded to get into position. Little did he know Dad wanted to take a picture of his window.


Here's the after. The shutters are from Sunset Shutters. The shutters are made in Mexico with the wood and paint coming from the US. We decided to get the rest of the house done as well.


Here you can see the old blinds and how they got discolored from the hot sun.


Kitchen before.


Kitchen after.



Family room before.


Family room after.


Family room before.


Family room after.


Bedroom before. I was in the middle of taking down the window coverings and hence why 2 windows are missing their treatment.


Bedroom after.

First surgery

Do you think the nurses will notice if I make a quick getaway in this car?

I'm 20 months old today!

Where do all the 20 month olds go when they want to celebrate? That's right, Vegas baby! I just love coming here. So much has happened this past month. I got a zillion gifts from my family and from this mysterious guy named Santa although supposedly he leaves me in stockings of naughty kids. Luckily that didn't happen this year.

Merry Christmas!

Help me!

I'm not sure if you can tell, but please help me. I'm barely able to put a fake smile on. Look at my sister's face. She's up to no good.


Look at what she's doing to her baby. Heads aren't supposed to turn that way. I think I'm next.


Please help me. She has her arm around me now.

Holiday time

Vacation has officially started.

Xmas lights

This is the first year that we put up Christmas lights. We were going to do it last year but we moved right before the holidays so it didn't make sense to put them up. Here's Cole supervising the work.


Here you can see how I strung them up. I bought some hangers from Target and used them on every other bulb.


The lights are LED ones from 2 years ago so they kind of have a bluish tint to them. I think you can get some LED lights today that are a bit softer in color.

Zoolights 2010

We recently went to the Zoolights at the Phoenix Zoo during their member preview nights before thanksgiving. I think every other member with kids had the same idea because it was packed. Here, they had an interactive light display that was choreographed to music.








Lauren and Cole were riding in style. Luckily Cole is still too young to worry about looking girly.




One new addition this year was the sled ride on the artificial turf/snow. It looked like a lot of fun although cost extra.

I'm 19 months old today!

Okay I'm not 19 months old today. I was actually 19 months old a week ago but my parents were too busy or something. They had better not forget Xmas is coming in just a few weeks. I'm not sure if you can tell but I got my first bad haircut. My hair got hacked. Luckily I still have my adorable smile and good looks.

Low rider

Lauren took her first bike ride out in the street today. She says she knows how to use the brakes but whenever she was riding downhill, she took her feet off the pedals. Is this the same girl that was afraid of the motorized Barbie jeep?

First accident

Cole got into his first "fight" while riding a tricycle. Cole 0, the Ground 1.

Science fun part duex

Intel had its annual employee day at The Arizona Science Center. The whole family went this time and they had a lot new exhibits that were very child oriented.


Lauren is climbing into the giant heart filled with red blood cells.


Lauren made sure we followed the rules.


Cole is checking out the heart beat drum.


Future doctor?


Cole sliding down the intestinal slide. New meaning for mini pooper.


And what scientific principle is this about?


3 generations answering the question of the week. Maybe lauren will get the arts and craft gene.


Not too bad...

I'm 18 months old today!

Cheese! Enough pictures already. The life of a model must be so hard. I want to be an engineer. My parents are engineers and all they do is go from meeting to meeting talking to people. Now that's the life.

Fisher Price day at the Zoo

The zoo recently had a Fisher Price day where basically they setup tables of toys and let the kids just play with them. What a brilliant way to market your toys as busy parents are always looking for ways to reduce the stress during the holidays. All the parents have to do is sit back and see what toys their kids are playing with and then go and buy that toy come Christmas time. You can see Cole in the orange hat above cruising from table to table.



"Hmm, how can I take this home with me?"



Lauren checking out the Dora guitar.



They even had a race track and a bunch of motorized cars. Unfortunately Lauren was a little scared of the speed and never made it past the starting line. I have a feeling she won't have this problem when she turns 16.



What better way to travel then in your own wagon with a canopy.



Tortoises munching on some nice veggies.





I'm not sure who is enjoying himself more, Lauren or Grandpa?

Spooky spiders

Halloween arrived early at our house. I found this black widow spider by our garage door. You can tell it's a black widow by its distinctive red hour glass. We also had a black widow at our old house.

I'm 17 months old today!

I can't believe I'm another month older. I started in a new school and have begun my Montessori journey. Actually this is the same school that Lauren goes to so it's been a lot of fun riding together to and from school. She loves showing me off to her class like I'm some kind of pet. I've started using real cups so no more sippy cups for me, although for some reason Mom and Dad don't trust me at home just yet. I wonder why....