The boys

Today is Javier's birthday. It's his 37th year of life and the 14th birthday we have celebrated together. I can hardly believe I've known him for 14 birthdays. My, how the time flies.

We had plans of going out and taking the boys to a museum and eating out.... but the weather has put a damper on our day. It's 30 degrees and raining/sleeting. So leaving the house with the boys is a no go for today.

So far, I made Javier's breakfast request of bacon, eggs, and refried beans and toast. He opened his birthday cards and now he is playing his accordion until it is time for the boys to take a nap. Don't know what we'll do for lunch yet. My mom is planning to cook him a birthday supper. I will try to remember to get pictures later on.

For now, I have posted some recent pictures of the boys.

Over a few days, I tried to capture some good close up photos of the boys. It is exceptionally hard to do because they are constantly running around. I must have taken over a thousand photos and only ended up with 20 or so good ones. The pictures that I have posted today are my favorites.

They are truly amazing to me. Looking into their innocent eyes makes me feel so full of love. I can't help but wonder about their bright futures. Joaquin still loves music. He dances and bops his head around anytime he hears a tune and a good beat. I wonder if music will be in his future. Jacob loves all things mechanical and electronic. He has figured out how to work the televisions, cable boxes and even the dvd player. He loves to figure out how to open things and climb up on things. The boys are so very different and beautiful in every way to me. Joaquin's skin condition has improved greatly since we started some new skin care regiments. He is also a much happier baby now that his alligator skin is gone. He is by far, the hardest subject for me to photograph. He is really on the move a lot and I end up with a lot of blurry photos of him. But once in a while, I can catch him with a little smile or a cute little pout, and I feel like I've just photographed a magical moment.

The boys are not talking much still. They do most of their communicating through pointing, grunts, and screams. Their favorite games at the moment are peek a boo and chase the baby. Oh they are learning the fundamentals of hide and seek as well. It's been a really fun time to play with them these past few months. Every day, they are doing something different or crazy.

And yes, I realized the boys' hair is getting pretty long. Still no immediate plans to cut their hair. We really like the way Joaquin's hair is growing, and Jake's do is growing on us too. Sorry, Welita, it will be a while still before the boys get their first haircut.

Well, it's almost naptime, so I will close this entry for now. I hope our friends and family enjoy the pictures.

~Latrice