Teddy & Josie's Music Video Roundup!!!

Music videos have been difficult to produce as these two stars have been keeping us pretty busy. 

Luckily, while on their vacation in Minnesota, these two have been able to get some studio time and create some new videos just in time for Mama's birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Mama!!! We love you!!!

Josie... our Little Bird



Josie... our Wild Child



Teddy... a day at work

June 2014

Another bad month for photo documentation. Good thing Grandpa visited for a couple days and took some pictures. 

May 2014

Having some dry cereal in their superhero PJs, sitting on their grandpa stools. Two little peas in a pod. 

We celebrated Teddy's 3rd birthday with the Rouspil family on Mother's Day. 

Apparently Mama was more excited about his new shoes than anyone else. 

His actual birthday was on a Thursday and since it coincided with a work trip Brian had to take to LA, we decided to squeeze in a visit to Disneyland to celebrate. We talked it up for a few days beforehand since he's not great with surprises. We pulled out his Mickey ears from our trip back in October and he was excited to wear them. Here he is on his birthday morning, before we headed to the airport. 

We had planned the trip about 6 weeks prior, only to find that as the day approached the forecast predicted 104 degree heat. So, our first stop in the park was to buy a handheld misting fan. 

Stop #2: Ice Cream.

After that we headed to Toon Town. Jo learned to walk since we were here last, so this was a good place to let her wander around since it tends to be less crowded than the rest of the park. 

She and I posed for this picture with Pluto in an attempt to convince Teddy that the characters aren't scary. It didn't work. It was probably only about 98 degrees by this time but you can see how flushed I was already from the heat.  

The best antidote to the heat was air-conditioning and luckily we had reservations for lunch at the Storyteller's Cafe where we'd also called ahead to order a birthday treasure chest cake for Teddy.

He was really into it. 

Still working on that smile, though he does look a little bit like a scowling pirate - maybe that's what he was going for.  

We fueled up, reapplied our sunscreen and mosied over to Radiator Springs. Teddy was really excited to see McQueen until we got up close and he started talking. We went on Mater's tractor ride and then cooled off for a while in Flo's V8 Cafe. 

After that we found a mini splash park nearby and let the kids get all wet.

By the end of the afternoon, the heat had scared a lot of people away so we were able to make a last swing through several rides with very short lines. 

On the Jungle Cruise: 

We went on the carousel and Dumbo: 

We headed to the car a little after 6pm and drove down to San Diego with some sleeping babies in the back. Overall, a hot and fun and hot day. 

Down in San Diego, we went to the beach with Grandpa. It was Jo's first foray into the ocean and she loved it. 

Queen of the kelp!

On Saturday, the kids and I visited a local playground where Jo indulged in her new-found love of slides. 

And we followed that up with a visit to Papa, Poo and Umberto (hiding under the kids' chair)

April 2014

Look, mama, a new bag!

Bath time continues to be a favorite with these two. 

We dyed Easter eggs with Teddy for the first time this year. If any of you read Nate Blogg, you'll see why I opted for the gloved approach. 

Teddy's "smile": a work in progress.

Relaxing in our not-so-infinity pool

Easter egg hunt! This was the first year we did one at home. We figured Jo wouldn't really get involved, but she immediately recognized the basket as a handbag and with her genetically ingrained OCD tendencies, she instinctively knew to tidy up all the eggs laying messily about. 

What's in there?

She was undaunted by the foil wrappers

Teddy showing me that there's peanut butter inside.  

 

Spruced up and ready for church. 

March 2014

In March, Grandma and Grandpa Amberg came to visit for a week and we had a birthday party for Jo. 

Here's Teddy enjoying a leisurely al fresco lunch in his pajama shirt. 

These kids love their milk. 

Given the opportunity, I think they'd both forego food and subsist on milk alone. 

Teddy likes to mimic Jo. Here: throwing his cup down. 

Scavenging Teddy's leftovers 

Party prep with Grandma Pinkie. 

For the record, they were both useless at blowing up balloons. 

But very cute. 

The party turned out lovely and the guest of honor was adorable. 

It was great to spend time with friends and family.

She was tentative about the cake for about a second - 

- and then she dug right in.

Why won't kids hold still for nice family photos?

By the end of the party, the birthday girl got a little sleepy which made for some nice snuggles for Grandpa.

At the playground

Playing suspiciously near to the forbidden realm of Reggie's dog food and water bucket. 

Ever since she began walking, she's taken to carrying handbags of all sorts in the crook of her arm. Such a little lady. Sometimes.

As promised, Daddy helped Teddy upgrade the rocket ship with a custom paint job.

The artist contemplates.

A masterpiece! 

Later that day, Grandma and Grandpa Rouspil came over to help with the rocket launch and take Jo out on a little Sunday drive.  

February 2014

February was a much better documented month, largely thanks to two big events: Judd and Sherri's wedding and Jo's 1st birthday.

The first weekend in January, we were joined by Grandma and Grandpa Amberg for a drive up to Lake Tahoe to celebrate the wedding of my Uncle Judd and Aunt Sherri. It was Teddy's first time in the snow so we borrowed some snow clothes and tromped out into the cold. He was very excited about wearing his gloves and snow boots. 

Out in the snow he set to the task of collecting all the fallen pinecones he could find. 

After stomping on a lot of snow, we went back to the hotel for lunch where we ran into many of the other Ambergs staying at the hotel, including the groom.
And of course, this adorable little guy...

That evening was the wedding, so we all got dressed up and Uncle Jeff took this great picture of the Amberg/Davis/Rouspil clan. Can you see Baby Davis making an appearance?

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was tons of fun. Teddy ran around and danced like a wildman. Jo was so close to walking at this point, but luckily there were lots of people willing to hold her, including the beautiful bride. 

 Jo did start walking the next week, just a couple weeks shy of her first birthday. 

She loves this chair; she climbs in and out (from all sides) and likes to corral toys in there, too.  

She learned to clap! Hooray!

Here is Teddy re-asserting his ownership of red car blue stick. It was lunch time and to keep Jo from playing with his cars while he ate, he hid them in the trunk. And then to keep her out of the car altogether he parked himself in the driver's seat.

Continuing his clever ways, he found a handy cup-holder for his Slurpee while playing in the backyard.

On February 22nd, Josephine turned 1 year old. We drove up to Calistoga the night before and had a jam-packed day of fun on Saturday. 

Waking up in the morning, Teddy and Jo goofed around in their Christmas PJs. 

A little smooch.

One blank stare, one cheesy grin. 

Teddy trapping himself and Jo in the baby tent. 

After the continental breakfast, we wandered from our hotel to downtown Calistoga. We went to the little farmer's market and visited a nice playground where Teddy and Brian played cowboy and yelled, "Yeehaw!"

Back at the hotel we took a dip in the mineral swimming pools.

Then we showered, packed up, checked out and headed to the geyser for a picnic lunch.  

Daddy stole some hugs, Teddy ate a few bites of his burrito and ran off.

Jo helped herself to his leftovers.

While Brian and Teddy went to feed the fainting goats, Jo and I wandered around practicing her wobbly walk. 

Then we hit the road for the 90 minute drive home and the kids napped in the car most of the way.
Success!