Big bellies and screwdrivers

This is my cute sister Melissa. She is amazing. Here she is almost 8 months pregnant and still wrestling the kids (Owen). She also runs circles around "hard-core"runners and we get to mortify them by telling them she's 6 months pregnant! Anyway, a few weeks ago, she and her husband Blake and little Ellis were down visiting and Aunt Missy picked up Owen. There was no room for him on her hip and he was feeling crowded. He pointed to her big belly and said very matter-of-factly, "You need to go to the doctor. And he can get a screwdriver and help you get that out." I guess Daddy's been explaining the facts of life. Don't worry, I'll set him straight before he's 25.

We can't wait to meet that sweet little baby girl!

Happy Birthday Baby Drew!

MY SWEET baby Drew! You started out as this little peanut...

with your big brown eyes

the most mellow, cuddly, good-natured little man...

And you've amazed us all at how quickly you went from runty little peanut, "Little Man Drew"--to our roly-poly, "Mr. Chubs", "Fatso", "Mr. Brew-man", "Stinky-face"

Just look at that Husky boy!

(notice cousin Ellis has no neck either)

You make us laugh--smiling with your big, funny tongue always hanging out!

It's bigger than your mouth!

We celebrated your birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's house with all your aunts, uncles, and cousins...Since both of your "same age cousins" had their birthdays a few months ago, you were experienced at the cupcake thing...

Your CONSTANT smile brightens our world!

We're so blessed to have such a healthy, happy little giggle monster to love!

You are the perfect little brother and son.

Happy 1st Birthday little man!

Morning giggles!

This is how I find these two funny boys MOST mornings! For SOME (very odd) reason, Owen, who's 3 1/2, doesn't come out of his room in the morning UNTIL we come in...I know what you're thinking, but there are no threats or bribery involved! We either find him playing in his bed talking to himself, or wrestling his baby brother, or jumping in the crib. And Drew is just BEAMING! He is THE happiest kid alive (all day)! And he thinks his big brother is so funny--especially in his bed in the morning. I must say, these two make it so fun to wake up in the morning...I love sneaking up on them when they don't hear me coming, and then hear them SQUEAL! They usually have about 8 blankets and a bunch of pillows in with them too. I'm so glad they have each other to laugh with.

LOVE YOU my sweet boys!

Beach with the Baggetts and Whites

The Baggett cousins were in town and we met them, and Missy and Paul at their beach house in Irvine Cove. It's so peaceful and beautiful there..thanks for the invite White Family.

These cute boys loved showing off their climbing skills.

Avery and Owen were so amazed by the caves--it was fun seeing them so excited to go exploring.

This cute boy, "JP" as he seems to be called now, gets along so well with even his GIRL cousins. We love you JP!

the girls taught each other some new games

We had fun exploring the sea life in the tidepools. We had such a fun time with all the cousins, we hope they visit again soon.

Spring Break in Utah

I've given up trying to stay current on my blog. So now I am just recapping our Spring Break in Utah...

We got to see ALL of my cousins on the Woffinden (my mom's fam) side!

Everyone was up for my baby cousin, Brett's (aka Bertie) wedding to Tara.

I love all my cousins--we always have a good time hanging out.

My kids got to see real snow (as opposed to the extreme hail piles we had in SD this winter) for the first time! Here's little Owen and his first snowman...I told the kids to "hurry and build a snowman before all the snow melts", and this is what we got...

Poor little San Diego kids were sad when their creations melted away after about an hour!

Cute girls with their sweet cousin Sammy.

"CHEEEEEESE!"

Playin' in the snow in their pjs--I barely got them to put on their jackets and shoes!

Little man D

My sis-in-law Chelsea gave us passes for the Children's Museum up at Gateway. So we met the Baggett cousins and Papa there and had a blast! Such a COOL place--the kids loved all the fun things they could experiment and play with! Thanks Chels! She took these pics 'cause I couldn't find my camera (don't have any of the cousins though).

Of course we had to stop at Rumbi, our FAVORITE (right up there with Cafe Rio)!

Such a fun, busy trip!

Family Photos at Rancho Carillo

Two months ago the Young Women in San Elijo Hills did a fundraiser for camp...

family photo sessions.

Here are a few cute ones taken by my good friend Brooke Brown.

Love this one of my girls.

My adorable kiddos

(even if the oldest 3 are ALL fake smiles)

Owen-3, Avery-6, Drew-8 months, Madison-8 1/2

How did they get so OLD?

Thanks YW!

Let us know when you do it again next year.

Naked buns and such

"Does this rug make my butt look big?"

Tell me that isn't the most yummy little pair of buns you laid eyes on, in the last few days?

My little man (now 8 1/2 months) has turned from a little peanut, trying to gain some weight...to Mr. Thunder Thighs.

And he thinks he's sooooo big, climbing up and getting into all sorts of germ-infested things! I was making lunch today and thought he was playing with his toys in the family room, when I heard him get excited and giggle. So I followed the sounds and found THIS!

Except when I found him, his chubby little arm was ALL THE WAY INSIDE, splashing around in the water! Ew, sick. Don't worry, I boiled his little fingers and dipped them in Clorox for 40 minutes...or maybe we just let the dog lick them clean.

Fatty-Fatty Foot Face

I don't know what's grosser...his face or my feet?

The kids and I were laying around being silly before school. They kept begging me to play horsey (bouncing them on my legs as I lie on my back). Then we started trying out different faces on Mr. Mc Bowen...SCAREY.

Happy Birthday little O

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY

(last month)

to our Sweet Owen!

We love you Mr. McBowen.

I can't imagine my life without this little man. He is really a JOY to raise!

He can convince me to do anything with his cute little voice (sample for yourself in the video of him singing below-earlier post) and that infectious smile! Even when he's doing something naughty, if he starts smiling, it's all over...

Here are a few pictures of my adorable Mr. O

1 year old

hunting for Easter eggs at Grandma & Grandpa's house

2 yrs. old

2 1/2 yrs. old

Can't get enough of that smile!

Turning 3 yrs. old

Blowing out the candles of his (homemade--no applause please) train cake...No he did NOT make the cake himself...It actually wasn't as bad as it looks. The front side had a tunnel with Thomas the train coming out and a few other trains following...gimme a break, I never said I was GOOD at cake decorating! But that little 3 -year-old was thrilled to have TRAINS & CHOCOLATE...that's all that matters. Thanks to my family. who all made the trek out to celebrate Owen's bday as well as mine.

And last, here is a cute little video of sweet little O (dancing) when he was just barely talking in phrases at almost 2...ENJOY!

Good times with DAD!

Just a few FUN things Marcus has taken the kids to do recently...

Last month I went to get a pedicure (thanks Allison!) and go out to dinner with some girlfriends so Marcus had the kids for the night. At the end of a long work day, he's pretty tired. So, I wouldn't blame him if he had just taken the kids home to a movie and crashed on the couch (that never happens). But being the fun-loving dad that he is, he took them out for pizza and BOWLING! Even Drew got to tag along (can't you see how much fun he's having-behind the kids in the car seat?)

Owen, who is CONSTANTLY told not to throw heavy toys, had a grand ol' time...and is now really confused.

The kids had so much fun! Pretty lucky kids to have a dad that loves to spend time with them and makes life so fun! Marcus can often be found coaching the whole neighborhood in some cul-de-sac softball on any given Saturday. They just eat it up!

And then the next week...

I was off to get my hair done and see my favorite hair stylist and little sister, Coco. My mom and sis. Jen met me at her salon and took Little Man Drew. The older munchkins were kinda sad they weren't going with Grandma. I told them if they were good for Daddy, maybe he'd take them to a movie...They came back from the mall with PIERCED EARS! Lucky girls! Their fun, spontaneous dad just walked them in and said "who wants to get their ears pierced?" At dinner the previous night Madie had been talking about really wanting to get this done, so she was THRILLED!

Avery actually went first (with much prompting from her dad--he thought she would never do it if she saw Madie in pain).

Such a sad little face...but that didn't last long. She felt like such a BIG girl. She chose some pretty red stones to match her glasses.

Poor Owen. All he got was a pretend ride on the Bob the Builder tractor. Daddy never carries change, so he just sat on it--but look how HAPPY he looks! This totally supports my husbands belief that we don't need to spoil our kids with actually buying something if they are happy with just pretending (just a tip kid--you better wipe off that grin if you wanna get anything out of your old man!) Thanks Marcus for being such a great daddy!

Owen sings Baby Drew a bedtime song

i just HAD to post this--my kid is soooo stinkin' adorable!

Love his little singing voice.

For Heather...

I put this song by the Cranberries at the top of my playlist as a tribute to my dear childhood friend Heather, who is suffering through a great tragedy right now...It's her favorite by a favorite band of many of ours--reminds us of our high school days...if only life were still so simple...my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. May you feel the love of friends and family lifting you up...Love you Heather.

"Nice dress, Avery..."

So a few weeks ago I told Avery to go get dressed for school. About 15 minutes later, she came out in this...

Her big sister Madie's INFANT blessing dress (size 3 months)...girl's got some tiny shoulders! Thing is, she really thought she was going to school in it! "ahh, why not mom?"

Gotta love that "O"!

This little firecracker just kills me! He's CONSTANTLY making us belly-laugh with the things that come out of his mouth...

One day while driving in a quiet car with Mom and Drew, he says in this funny little voice,

"WE use to have that cage when WE were a little mouse family"...?? Guess I missed the part where we turned into rodents?

These 3D glasses he found on the ground at some store and the clerk just gave them to him 'cause he loved them so much...

O loves his little buddy Miley! Funny little story: Her mom (my friend Nicole) told Miley "I love you"...Miley's response..."No, Mommy. I marry Owen"...awww, now they HAVE to.

Yea, I know there's some rule about taking pictures on the john, but...I'm just so excited he can do this and I don't have to hold my breath as I clean up his diapers anymore!

And out of the blue (as everything IS with 2 1/2 yr. olds), he told me,

"You make my heart feel better", as he gave me a big tackle-hug!

(SERIOUSLY? Can I just bottle you up and save you just like you are right now?)

Ok, so after this picture, I went and found his Spiderman costume for him to play dress-up with his sisters...Uncle Jefe, you can relate, right? At least there's no sissy bonnet (and make-up).