Arboretum Photo Shoot

We took the boys to the Overland Park Arboretum last weekend for a photo shoot.  It has taken me a week to sort through and edit the pictures, but I'm happy with the outcome!  Here goes....

 Literally, all you have to do is look at Maverick to get a smile out of him :)

Let the brotherly taunting begin...

...and backfire.

Sorry, Mav.  You and I both have to put up with the terrible two's. 

Pouty boy.  I can't help but LOVE this picture

"Mitchell, am I supposed to do something in return here?"

Mr. Blue Eyes

"Mitchell, this IS what I'm supposed to do with this flower, right?"

"Yes, Maverick.  See how it tates."

One for you, Mom.

Doesn't he look all grown up?

Hmm...this might be the one to make it into my frame at work.

Maverick & Daddy

The Folks Men

Don't worry...I got in one picture too.  Or atleast my backside did!

Solemn looking boys

I could stare into these eyes all day....and sometimes do :)

Ahhhh....to watch the love & friendship grow between my boys is priceless!

Maverick is Mobile!

I'm a bit behind on this one (story of my life lately), but Maverick started crawling on August 19th. He seems to really enjoy his new found ability to explore!

Rock Chalk?

I guess I have to like that ugly bird now that they are sending me a paycheck. That's right, I'm now teaching classes at KU and today was my first day of school, so I had to get the obligatory 1st day of school picture with my 'backpack'.



I had enjoyed teaching accounting classes at Johnson County Community College for a few years, but an adjunct professor position at KU opened up, I applied and got it! I teach the Intro to Acctg class for MBA students. The 701 title scared me a little bit, but I survived my first class tonight! Professor Folks....it does have kind of a ring to it, doesn't it? :)

We Believe!

We took the boys to the Royals game today and had a great time! It was a little warm (90+); it IS August afterall!

We sat in the shade the majority of the game, which certainly helped keep us cool and the sun off of the boys.

Does anyone else think this little squinty, scrunchy smile is as cute as I do? :)  I could stare at this picture all day!

After the 7th inning stretch, we took Mitchell to play in the Outfield Experience for a while.  We had a little extra time there due to the game going into extra innings.  The Royals actually pulled it out in the end.

He loves carousels!

Maverick started to get a little sweaty and tired towards the end, but he was a trooper!  I literally don't think he cried once the entire time we were there.

We did the Sunday Fun Run after the game, where they let you go down on the field and run the bases.  What fun!

Here's a little video of Mitchell running the bases.  Of course, Jacob has to make sure he actually steps on each base :)

Crossing homeplate!

BIG Boys!

 took the boys for their pediatrician check-ups yesterday.  They are both doing wonderful :)  They are growing like weeds and continue to top the charts in both height and weight.  Actually, our doctor was a bit concerned that Mitchell is a little too heavy :(  And here, I thought he was slimming down!  He's literally off the charts.  Her first question..."does he drink juice?"  Answer: no.  Honestly, the kid eats healthy, he just eats a lot!  We are going to work on portion control and try to get him back on the charts by his 3 year check-up. 

Mitchell
Height - 37 1/2 inches (75%)
Weight - 39 pounds (>97%)

Maverick
Height - 28 1/2 (95%)
Weight - 19 pounds, 15 oz (90%)

Here's a video of Maverick STILL trying to crawl....he seems to have had a breakthrough in the last couple of days though.  He's taking 3 or 4 crawl-steps in a row!  I'll get a video soon.

Here is Mitchell and I reading a book yesterday morning. Gotta love giggly kiddos :)

My First Wedding Shoot!

Most of you probably know that I'm an aspiring photographer.  I'd love to do it on the side as time allows!  One of my best friends got married this past weekend and she TRUSTED me enough to photograph her wedding!  It was a learning experience to say the least.  I took about 1,700 throughout the course of the day.  It was a BEAUTIFUL outdoor wedding at a golf course.

Here are Jacob and I at the reception.

I am STILL sorting through all of the pictures, but here are some keepers :)

Yes, he's too young to be the groom :)  That is Courtney's oldest son, Will.

I'll post a slideshow of the pictures when I'm done!

Mitchell, we missed ya!

After two weeks in Wisconsin, Mitchell is home! While the break was nice and well-timed with me starting a new job, the trip to Denver, nights spent painting the basement, etc....the house was just TOO quiet! He had a WONDERFUL time with my mom and David, my grandpa (who visited at the same time) and my sister and Mark (who are ENGAGED! More on that later!). We are slowly transitioning back to life as normal. :)

My Dad decided to give Mitchell's daily bath a boost and turn on the whirlpool jets. He absolutely loved it...and now that he knows where the knob is, I have a feeling he'll have many more whirlpool baths! Maybe that makes him twice as clean?

Oh, Maverick was in there too when Grampy turned on the jets. He wasn't so fond!
Yes, Mitchell now refers to my dad as Grampy. Or sometimes Grampy Bo-bo. Long story. :)



Now that he has spent so much time with my Mom, I can start to hear Mitchell saying things that I know he picked up from her. For example, she says "ya" instead of "you" a lot. Like, "Let me help ya." He has been saying it over and over for the past few days. We'll see how long it lasts :)



On the plus side, Mitchell seems more interested in Maverick than ever after being away from him for 2 weeks. He is constantly finding toys he thinks Maverick would like and brining them to him. I'm guessing it's a short-lived phase, but I'll take it!



Two out of three smiles isn't bad.

Jacob is out of town all week, we're looking forward to some Daddy time this weekend!

First Taste of Veggies

Maverick is a veggie man these days.  Here is a little clip of his first taste of squash.  He ate it pretty well!  He has since moved onto Sweet Potatoes with equal success.  Hopefully he will continue to be a good eater like his big bro!

Race for the Cure

Maverick, Jacob and I woke up early this morning to participate in the 2010 Race for the Cure in midtown.  We walked in honor of our friend, Amy Ladner ("Team Laddy") who lost her battle with breast cancer in January.

Here's a picture of our team. 

Courtney was all too happy to carry Maverick in the little backpack for the walk.  In fact, she carried Mitchell two years ago in the same backpack.  My mom was here for the weekend, so she and Mitchell stayed at home and played.  My Mom already had Maverick dressed for the day when I woke up...and coincidentally she dressed Maverick in the exact same outfit that Mitchell wore to the walk 2 years ago!

Wasn't it nice that Court brought Mav a toy to play with during the walk? ;) 

Here's Maverick riding on Daddy before the walk began.

He couldn't make it through the whole walk without a cat nap!

Here's the crowd walking through Power & Light district downtown.

The walkers head towards downtown KC.

Hard to see...but there is a sea of walkers coating this mid-town bridge.  What a great cause!  This will definitely be an annual event for us!

Amy's almost 3 year-old, Harrison was her biggest supporter!