Designer Genes

I joke with my kids sometimes, that we have "designer genes", passed down to us by Mike's and my parents and their parents and so on. That our impeccable comedic timing and stunning looks were inherited by generations-old elders who also had their share of good hair days.

"I'm tellin' you, guys, it's in our genes. 'Designer genes'."

And joking aside, it's actually kind of true. Not necessarily the quip about good looks and instinctive hilarity per se, but the bright and beautiful personalities that make up these kids can most definitely trace back through their ancestry, right?

I mean, we must have a long lineage of visual artists and lefty-footed soccer players with big personalities who love to goof around and spend time with their family and who have a deep appreciation for homemade tacos, sunny weekends, fart jokes and apres ski root beer.

Or perhaps my boys are just who they are, genetics aside, because our world is made more whole with them in it. Plain and simple.

As a proud mom who is clearly throwing modesty aside for the sake of this blog post, I ask: Where would we be without Jaime's palpable sensitivity, humble competitiveness, enviable patience, loving big brother-ness and wicked dance moves? Without Quinn's skillful portraiture, limitless curiosity, delightful independence, whimsical imagination and ability to burp the alphabet on cue?

Honestly, if we didn't have these two little weirdos, I'm sure our universe would be a little less bright.

I still like to think of us as having "designer genes", so the joke with my family will live on. (It plays especially well on the days Jaime's bed head looks professionally styled for a surf mag photo shoot.)

But at the end of the day, how they show up in this world is all them. Startlingly unique and a pleasure to know. Biological make-up and all.