Nine months old!

Nine months old- watch out!  She's about to blow a raspberry at you!

She won't sit still for pictures any more.  As soon as I put her on her back she rolls right over.  I have to catch her mid- roll!  I was kind of hoping for a snuggle-bug baby, but instead I got a wiggle-worm! She does not like me to cramp her style- she is very busy and into trouble at all times.  She is either heading for the potted plant to eat dirt, the toilet to splash in the water (yuck), or off to climb the dangerous stairs.  She puts everything she finds into her mouth, but fortunately she knows what "spit it out" means and will eject whatever is in there if I ask her to.  She is really keeping me on my toes lately.

Derek met up with his good friend Nate to watch a UFC fight in Vegas.

Nate with fighter Matt Hughes.

Derek fighting an evil robot- I think Derek can take him!

Time keeps on ticking and I turned another year older.  The boys spoiled me :).

Brett and Cara helped me blow out some candles.

My parents sent me a cute little wallet that I love.  My old one was falling apart, so it was a perfect gift.  The Liau's are always so generous and I am saving their gift card for a day when I really need some retail therapy!

Brett also had a birthday.  He is four years old now!

His one major request was a fancy birthday breakfast, so I fixed him chocolate chip pancakes with cinnamon whipped cream, fresh fruit, sausage, bacon, and sparkling apple juice.  A breakfast fit for a king!  He didn't make it through his whole plate, but he enjoyed every bite.  He asked for the same breakfast every day for the rest of the week, but he got cold cereal instead :).  You can't eat like a king every day!

We had a piñata and opened some gifts.

He got to pick the restaurant for dinner, so we went to Red Robin, which we all enjoyed, especially Mohawk baby, here.

Blowing out the candles.

It was a very food- centric birthday.

Jason watching Cara for me at the park.

Grandma and Grandpa Liau came to visit!  We all enjoyed having them very much.  Grandma was a good sport and played lots of (tedious) games with the boys.  They loved it and miss Grandma and Grandpa's unwavering attention!

Who could Jason be?  We thought he was a guessing genius until we figured out he could see his reflection in the glass on the table.  He's just a genius con artist!

The boys have been diligently going to Tae Kwon Do (and we have been diligently taking them) and they earned their yellow belts!  They were so excited.

Hooray!

Don't mess with these two dangerous ninjas.

A group picture.

Hattie gave me my new favorite outfit for Cara.  Its so cute, I just love it.

Jason just hauls her around like a rag doll.  She puts up with it pretty well.  He really enjoys playing with Cara.

Look, they match their dolls!

They have their rotten moments, but these two are pretty good buddies.  They have a lot of fun together and it is so funny to listen to them make up wild stories and fight legions of imaginary bad guys.  They are a lot of fun.

This sums up playtime with my wild crew!