4th of JULY

Cameron and I are blessed to share the same family tradition for the 4th of July. We both grew up celebrating in Cayucos.  It is so fun to watch our kids make the same memories we have as children.  We spent 5 days with Cameron's family and then when Cameron went back to work the boys and I stayed with my parents.  Unfortunately Collin got sick so we had to leave 2 days early.  The weather was perfect the whole time we were there!  We did all the traditional must do's like the parade and fish tacos at Duckies.  We had a great time and can't wait for next year.  Here are some pictures of the festivities and previous years celebrating in Cayucos.

July 2011

July 2010

July 2009

Collin's First 4th of July

Ethan's First 4th of July

Thankfully Ethan is very long! I didn't think that 9 month onesie was going to fit him like it did.  Collin had the chunk and Ethan has the length.

Loving his first parade

Some of the Nelson's

Grandma JoJo & Ethan

Collin better watch out!  There is a new boyfriend in town for Helen.

Brian, Collin & Rocco watching the parade

We got to meet Baby Garrett!

Little Flirt

Giggles with Grandpa

See... His heart belongs to Mommy!

Love this!

Catching a ride with Daddy

Our walks at the beach used to be stumbles to the tavern...
Now we are pushing 2 kids around. 
Oh how the times have changed!

Hunter, Rachel, Ethan & Collin

Cousins!

Digging for treasures

Beach Day

Bath Time!

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July!

Swim Lessons & Cousins

Collin finished 15 swim lessons with Jan Thomas Swim School this summer.  He loved his "coach" Becky and he can't wait to go back next year.  He wears his gold medal around the house and tells us all about being a "champion swimmer."  Almost every day since the last lesson Collin wants to watch his swim dvd!  He will climb up onto the bar stool and open the dvd slot on the laptop to get it started. Ha!     

Becky & Collin

Thumbs Up!

June 2011

May 2010

After Collin's last swim lesson we had a fun filled afternoon at my Aunt Susan's house.  My cousin Tyler's wife Kerstin was in town with their kids Kaitlyn (6 weeks younger than Collin) and Baby Dylan (4 weeks older than Ethan).  My sister-in-law Ashley also came with my niece Maddi (almost 5) and nephew Brody (18 months).  It was great to get all the cousins together!  They swam and played so well together and then we enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by Aunt Susan.  Fresh fruit and pb&j squares for the kids and tuna sandwiches for the moms.

Brody, Collin, Ethan, Kaitlyn, Dylan & Maddi

Enjoying lunch

Swim Time!

I captured Kaitlyn's first time having a popsicle...

And the verdict is...

She'll keep it!

Collin on the other hand, took a huge bite of his popsicle and it was too cold so he just spit it out in Aunt Susan's hand and was over the whole thing! 

How cute are these two...

Thanks for having us Aunt Susan!

Family Photos

We recently had family photos taken and I am in love! Kathy at Garden Gate Photography was so great to work with and very patient (which is a must when photographing little ones!)  I now have a few more items added to my "grab these things if the house is burning down" list.  Garden Gate Photography is having a Groupon on June 9th so don't miss it!  You can also find them on facebook.  And their blog is having an awesome frame giveaway that you should totally enter by going to: http://blog.gardengatephoto.com/ 
Book your session with Kathy ASAP!  You will not be disappointed.

7 Weeks

Same chair...
Same onesie...
Different boys...

Collin - 7 weeks

Ethan - 7 weeks

Something pretty funny happened yesterday.  Collin's bed and Ethan's crib are set up in a way that they back up to the same wall.  It was only a matter of time before Ethan's cry was loud enough to wake Collin up.  Yesterday he woke up from nap crying and trying to look behing his bed.  Through the tears he was saying "Who's in there!"  He totally thought there was someone under or behind his bed but it was just Ethan crying on the other side of the wall.  Ha!

Very Photogenic...Sometimes!

Do you ever look at pictures of your kids and think OMG they are so cute!!!  Like this picture right here...

Then you see other pictures like this one and are um, well, speechless!

My least favorite picture so far, obviously!

Comparisons

It's fun to see the similarities and differences between Ethan and Collin. Most notably Collin's brown eyes and Ethan's blue eyes. I seriously can't get over the fact that I have a blue eyed baby! For those that know me, you know I prayed for a blue eyed baby!!! I fell in love with Cameron's eyes the first time we met and it would be a shame to not see those eyes carried on to the next generation, right?!?

I'm sure it would have been very exciting (and expensive!) to have a girl but then I wouldn't be able to recreate pictures like the ones below to see both of my babies wearing the same outfits.

So far I am hearing from people that Collin is a spitting image of his daddy with my brown eyes and curly hair.  Ethan looks more like an O'Neill (my mom's side of the family.)  Maybe because Ethan has light hair and looks more "Irish."  Ethan looks exactly like my brother Josh in his newborn pictures.  Collin and Ethan have the same hairline which is a Nelson trait and the same nose.  Both boys lost only their baby hair on the top of their head and not the sides.  Kind of like old men :) 

Collin - 8 days old

Ethan - 10 days old

Collin - 3 weeks old

Ethan - 5 weeks old



Brothers



Collin loves holding 'Baby Efin'

Oh yeah, and most importantly but totally irrelevant.... I got some sleep last night for the first time in about 4 months.  Ethan only woke up once to nurse at 2.  Heavenly I tell ya'!  Keep the zzzz's coming.

Happy Little Guy

I could stare at this sweet face all day long... but laundry and vacuuming is calling my name!

I Can Do It By Myself

Sometimes independence is uncomfortable!

GG

This is my Grammy. To my babies she is GG. GG LOVES babies. She squirms in her seat just waiting to get her hands on them. Once she gets her turn, you aren't getting that baby back unless he needs to eat. She rocks back and forth whistling like a bird or making this little noise that my cousins and I try to mimic but haven't quite figured out how to do it like her. We love our GG!

GG the baby hog.