I love Photoshop!

I took this photo a couple of Sundays ago - and well, it's actually 2 photos morphed into one. Coop wasn't looking so cute in the photo where Guy and Link looked best. I must say, I didn't think about how much I would be able to do for my family with what I learned in my undergraduate degree. I love it!

February Birthdays

One of the advantages to having 2 birthdays 5 days apart (about 6 weeks after Christmas and 5 weeks after Link's birthday) is that the special birthday treats like strawberries last for the duration and can be split between both days.

Both the boys had muffins (hot out of the oven both mornings) & strawberries for breakfast. Friends over for dinner on their birthdays, and a family party on the Sunday in between their birthdays. What a week!

You know you are a mother of all boys when: now that's really a blog entry in itself, but I justified the purchase of these sugar cookie cutters. And since moving to Delaware I've discovered the best sugar cookie recipe ever (both Rob and I love it) - from Our Best Bites, I think. I've made these cookies just a couple of times, but the boys truly love them and Guy talks about them quite often. Rob got me more cake decorating supplies for Mother's Day, so when I made them when he pinned on to Captain, they were even easier to make.

Pinterest Re-Create

While this photo isn't perfect, I was pretty happy with it. I saw this pose before Link was born and I really wanted to recreate it with the boys. It's crazy--it was taken almost 5 months ago, and Guy and Cooper are already so much older looking. I feel like they've changed more in looks than Link, but it could just be their hair. :)

Father's Day

I took this photo the Friday before Father's Day. It was like pulling teeth to get it, but I'm pretty happy with the result. I printed a copy and framed it for Rob's office. These boys LOVE dressing like Dad in their ABUs. Cooper even gets on his (toy) motorcycle and leaves for work, just like Dad. He particularly idolizes Dad.

This second one was a close contender, but amazingly, Rob and I actually BOTH liked the top photo better. That doesn't happen too often. :)

Too fast!

Link has been sitting up by himself for a couple of weeks now. He's big, but really pretty strong. I guess he has to be to hold himself up - 2 weeks ago @ the drs office he was already 18.5 lbs. I'm reluctant to stop using the infant car seat because he's finally sleeping in it sometimes.

This kid!

Really not sure how he manages. Apparently, not only does he like eating food, but he likes wearing it, too.

Feeling the Love

Guy & Coop like to make sure Link never runs out of toys.

Silly Kid

Coop is always "that kid" -- the one that does things a little differently than intended.

Not a Fan

Link isn't thrilled about vegetables so far.
A couple weeks ago he snatched some spinach off of my plate and I intercepted it right before it made it into his mouth. Tonight I used every trick in the book to try and sneak food into his mouth (as he locked his jaw).

Poor Kid

It's Saturday morning - 11 am. My 4 year old is sad that I told him to eat a cookie.
Worst mom failure of the morning - same child had to ask what kind of cookie it is. What 4 year old doesn't know what a chocolate chip cookie is? Not that they don't get sweets, but apparently I need to make cookies more often.

Captain Justiniano

The last five months have kind of been a blur. I've tried posting on here a couple of times, but I had technical issues and gave up.

There are a few things I might try and catch up on, but in the meantime, I'm going to mostly just pick up with what's going on.

Yesterday Rob "pinned on" his new rank. Guy & Cooper did the official pinning. Candidly speaking, promoting to Captain isn't really that big of a deal - every officer does it in time (2 years), unless they royally screw up. So, it's not a huge occasion, but an office meal is pretty much expected. With the new rank comes a raise, so that's cause for celebration enough.

I take in treats here and there, and they've always been appreciative. I thought I could cook them a meal that they would enjoy (kind of a large feat, considering we planned for at least 30 people). We provided pork taco fixings, rice & beans (both made by Rob), guacamole, had watermelon, chips, and a few little extras. Most people have a meal catered, and we chose not to because we thought they'd enjoy it, but I was afraid of looking cheap, so I added extra stuff just to make sure we didn't have that appearance. A lot of people also do an after hours party with an open bar. That's not something that we want to do, so we did lunch and that worked really well.

Rob's parents came in support (nice that they work about 10 min from base). Rob's dad retired after 20 years in the Air Force, and his mom even served in the Air Force, so it means a lot to them, I think, to be able to see their son choose this as a career (so far - for now - we'll see).

The office is really great with the boys. We had one ABU (Air Force Camo Uniform) that we bought when Rob started with the Air Force 2 years ago (too cute to pass up), so we added sleepers and a larger uniform to our collection for this fun occasion. Rob's office loved it, and so did everybody that saw them while were were around the Medical Clinic. Link was sleeping when I took the photo below--I'll have to take more with all 3.

Oh, and I made cookies - With one special Captain Justiniano one. Since moving to Dover I've discovered a sugar cookie recipe that both Rob and I love. More of a post on that later. We made about 50 of these cookies - and the "we" here was two of my good friends that I've made since moving here last August, and I. On Monday they brought their kids over for over 4 hours, and they were amazing help - as we shuffled the kids and the baking. So grateful for their help, or I probably would have been working on those cookies 'til 1 am, or so.

Congrats to Rob! Who knows how long we'll keep going with this. The Major that did the ceremony said some really great things about Rob and his work. One of the things that I've appreciated most about this move to Dover is that Rob's worked really hard to do a great job at work and still be a great family man. He's always one of the first ones in the office in the morning (one hour early almost every day) and he works through lunch most days so that he can get home when the office closes. I truly appreciate and am grateful for his devotion.