Self Portrait

Attempt at a self portrait. Every artist should construct a self portrait at some time or another. So, I thought that I would make an attempt. I've drawn so many other people but never completed one of myself.

Beirut

An Amazing performance by Beirut. Definitely check them out if they come to your town. Thanks goodness Philly is a hub for concerts! Check out one of their shows at,

http://www.baeblemusic.com/concertvideo/MusicHallofWilliamsburg/Beirut.html

Really quick...

Taking a Sunday walk and Brandon couldn't resist...

Tanny's still not sure how he feels about food... Makett is quite the eater! He eats all his food, has seconds, then finishes the rest of Tanzen's. Tanzen still hasn't figured out how the whole spoon/food/swallowing thing goes...it takes about 8 times to get him to swallow one bite of food. His tongue does a great job at blocking our best efforts!

Makett loves the jumper!

Our fabulous feeders!

Really love these fingers!

Mmmm!

We started solids last week, and Tanzen and Makett had no idea what was coming! I find the video to be quite amusing--especially the initial bite! It will be nice to feed them food...I'm still breastfeeding them, so I'm excited to be able to supplement a bit, since it seems like all I do is eat and nurse!

Makett's first bite...

Tanzen's rice cereal...

My dear husband...

Ah, my unique husband certainly keeps life exciting. Here's another Brandonism that makes me smile...sometimes it's an exasperated smile, but it's a smile nonetheless. First off, he has a fabulous green thumb and we have EIGHT aloe vera plants gracing our house (yes, they will be fun for the babies to play with once they're toddling!) Anyhow, we have plenty of aloe vera. Alas, he can't bear to let any go to waste, therefore we have 5 stalks of aloe in our fridge, just chillin, waiting for the time when Brandon will munch on it. Yup, he'll eat it eventually--you know how great it is for "the skin and hair follicles". Meanwhile, he has plans to use the seeds he harvested last summer to plant yet MORE aloe vera plants. Hmmm, aloe anyone?! Maybe someday I'll do a post on the 29 plants we have on one floor of our house, along with the many large cacti we just had to lug all the way from Arizona. Won't they be fun for Tanzen and Makett? I'm personally not a fan of plants that are designed to inflict pain, but that's just me being overly paranoid.

By the way, have you noticed this is the THIRD post in a row that's not about the babies? Wow!

Music...

A recent, not incredibly scientific study, compared various artist's/music genres and correlated them to SAT scores. The chart takes a look at those results. Let's hear it for my favorite two artists-- Sufjan Stevens and Bob Dylan--whose music appeared to give participants higher scores. I'm also very pleased with the Shins and the Grateful Dead, who knows where I would be today without their inspiration while I studied, maybe that's how I got through med school...actually I know I got through med school through fasting and prayer. If I have to study then it's nice to have some good music to break up the silence and open up the brain. Music has been a constant companion and the play list on the side of our blog is something I take very seriously. We have Eddie Vedder-takes me back to 9th grade; the Grateful Dead and Bob Marley-such good friends in high school and they’re still by my side. Beck was there in my early days of Weber State as I studied on the grass. Sufjan Stevens-a wonderful find in Arizona; Of Montreal-accompanied me on all my crazy bike rides in the Arizona desert; Tribe Called Quest-climbing in Utah; Death cab for Cutie-doing Yoga while stuck living by the hospital; Radiohead-soothed my mind while trying to sleep at the hospital on call; Mason Jennings-brotherly love and friendship; Beirut-horn resounding Philadelphia experience. Each band has a particular memory that has etched its way into my memory with some good experience. I'm sure we all have our own, a song and a memory to go with it.

About time!

We were lucky to have Brandon's brother Andrew and his bride-to-be Andee come stay with us for a couple of days. After five years of dating Andee is now sporting a gorgeous ring and we're so excited for them! We were playing Rummikub after dinner when the power went out, so we finished our game by lamp light...it got a little tricky deciphering the red from the black tiles, but was definitely memorable!