More Owen Pics

Here are some more pictures of our new little addition....we are all enjoying him!

One day old:

Two days old:

Our Family of Five!

Baby Owen Arrives!!!

Much to our surprise our baby boy decided that he was ready to face the world and arrived yesterday March 25th at 4:41 pm. The due date was April 12th and so he was just under three weeks early, but ended up weighing the same as Christian when he was born. Owen weighed 7 lb 4 oz and 20.5" long. Both Owen and Camille are doing well and are healthy. We are so happy as a family to have him in our family and the boys are excited as well. The Lord truly blessed us with tender mercies throughout the past few days!

Another Snow Day

February 26, 2011

The day before we left to St. George we got a huge snow storm and then spent our Saturday playing in the snow! Daddy built a sledding hill, Christian sledded, and of course the boys got out their scooters and lawnmower. They don't care how much snow is on the ground...as long as their's pavement visible, it's a day to ride scooters! :)

St. George, a last get-a-way

We wanted to get out of town one last time before this new baby comes, so when I was 33.5 weeks pregnant we took the boys and headed to St. George for a few days.

First, we stopped in Parowan to visit my grandparents on the way down. (Is this the grossest picture of me? Yes, I am pregnant. I am only posting this picture to document my boys with their great-grandparents.)

We played ping-pong and air hockey, horseshoes, and a much anticipated shuffleboard! I had told Christian about this game before we left and we had even created our own version on our carpet. He was so excited to play this game, and was really quite good at it! The boys also found entertainment by rolling their ping-pong balls down the sidewalk outside. Good thing for those ping pong balls that we got out of the quarter machine. I hadn't even thought to bring one ball! We also swam in their heated outdoor pools, which weren't super warm. Thank goodness for the hot tub! The boys liked that the best, and luckily it wasn't super hot, so I wasn't worried about them being in it.

We went to the Rosenbach museum, which has real "stuffed" animals set up in their habitats. It was really neat to see life-size bears, lions, a polar bear and even a full size giraffe! The boys liked it, except for when the thunder and lightning would come, then they wanted to go home. :) But they waited out the storm and we had a great time. They also had a children's discovery room at the end, which the boys had fun playing in.

We took the boys to the park and the St. George temple, where we went to the visitors center and walked around the temple grounds. I love that temple! It is so beautiful! Oh yes, and we got them ice cream cones at "Old McDonald's" and then got ourselves the good stuff at Nielsen's Frozen Custard! Yum!

And a highlight of the trip for everyone was miniature golfing! Christian especially loved it, and the most memorable moment for Jake and I was when Christian went a few holes ahead of us and hit his ball in the 18th hole before I could get his attention to stop him. As you know, the 18th hole on a miniature golf course always eats your ball and you don't get it back. As soon as Christian's ball went in the hole he went running after it, looking for the next hole that it was going to come out of. He ran the entire 18 holes again, sort of in a panic, eventually meeting back up with us. We had to break the sad news to him that it ate his ball and he wouldn't be able to get it back. He was a bit crushed, but we convinced him to play with Ethan's until we were done, as Ethan had mostly lost interest. Jake and I thought the whole scene was hilarious!

Overall, we had a great trip and enjoyed the family time together. Admittedly, it would have been much more relaxing if just Jake and I had taken off one last time before the baby came and left the boys with grandparents, but we still had a good time. And hopefully instilled some fun memories in our little boys brains. :)

My Little Helpers

Making Jello in every color of the rainbow for a preschool snack on W week. W is for weather! We ate rainbows for our snack, complete with a cloud of cool whip. :)

Christian loves to help me and Ethan has been wanting to join in the fun as well lately. It's getting a little crowded in our tiny kitchen, especially with my big belly! In fact, some days it makes me quite claustrophobic. I dream of the day I have a kitchen roomy enough to have my kids working with me and no one fighting over who gets the few inches of counter space.

Scootering and Biking

Ethan and Christian just beg to ride their bikes and scooters outside, even when there is plenty of snow on the ground! This was just after Ethan had gotten his new scooter and the temperatures were actually quite nice. Ethan insists on wearing a helmet because Christian wears a helmet, even if Ethan is just riding in the stroller. He looked so stylin' in his helmet and scooter, I had to take some pics. And Christian has finally decided he likes riding his bike again and is having so much fun riding it!

SNOWY

March 8, 2011

The day after Ethan's birthday the weather was gorgeous! The sun was shining and we had a foot and a half of snow to play in! (Notice the amount of snow on the wall and the grill.) Christian and I took advantage of it while Ethan was napping. We played in it and built an awesome sledding hill down our front sloping yard. Christian had a great time on it, but of course, even when there's a foot and a half of snow, Christian always wants to ride his scooter! See how warm it was? Christian had even taken off his coat!

Ethan Turned 2!

March 7, 2011

Ethan's birthday was so much fun because he knew it was his birthday and it was so fun to watch him get excited. Anytime anyone would say, "Happy Birthday" for the week leading up to his birthday, he would respond, "Happy Birthday, Efan!" So he was all geared up for the big day!

We spent the day doing usual things: playing "Jimmer Ball", doing LOTS of puzzles, and hanging out at home. We also made a special trip to the store for some balloons and a few party decorations. Ethan loved his balloons!
We waited all day until Daddy came home to open presents. Ethan got a new ABC puzzle, Lightning McQueen sound books, and a new game called Feed the Kitty. After presents , the boys enjoyed the new presents while Mommy got dinner ready, which was German pancakes and smoothies! (This just might be turning into a tradition...)
After dinner our guests arrived, but not after making quite the trek to get there! Grandma and Grandpa, and Grammy, Papa, Connor and Camille all came, but it was snowing like crazy outside and they were brave to make the trek! That night it ended up snowing a total of almost 18 inches at our house! So they were really dedicated to make the trek in such a huge storm!
We sang to Ethan, ate cake and ice cream, and opened presents, as well as enjoyed a helicopted show from Uncle Connor. The boys love his helicopter! Ethan received a new Thomas floor puzzle from Grandma and Grandpa, and his very own scooter from Grammy and Papa. He loves them both! And let me just tell you how cute it is to see him ride a scooter! :) Pictures will follow.
All in all, it was a great birthday!

St. Patrick's Day

This baby is due in three weeks and I have a to do list that I've been working on for a few months. One of the things on that to-do list is catch up on my blog! So here goes....

On St. Patrick's Day we ate green pancakes and drank green apple juice for breakfast. The apple juice was magic: it looked normal in the pitcher, but when I poured it into our cups, it turned green! (I put a drop of green food coloring in everyone's cup) Christian couldn't figure it out, and kept talking about it. I told him funny things turn green on St. Patrick's Day! And that maybe the leprechauns did it...
To celebrate this green day, we went over to my sister's house for some St. Patrick cookie making festivities. The kids had a great time together and it was quite entertaining to watch them decorate their cookies. Many, many sprinkles and m&m's were used, and some cookies were actually frosting with a little cookie underneath. :) Megan was great to help Ethan the whole time.
Ethan also had a great time seeing their kitty Oscar, and got so excited each time he got to pet the cat. He would run up to me and say, "I pet da kitty! I pet da kitty!" and then go do it again. He loves kitties. The unfortunate part of it was that Ethan developed really bright red cheeks while we were at their house and it turned into a really bad and bumpy rash on his cheeks and ankles. I have since taken him to the doctor, and our conclusion is that he is allergic to cats. (As well as myself...I sneezed the whole time we were there, and assumed it was my spring allergies starting up. Not so. ) I have been putting some prescription cream on his cheeks and they are starting to get a little better. Poor Ethan, now he never gets to have a kitty!

Mr. Bean

After dinner this evening I was rinsing off the dishes from the mostly cleared table, where Ethan was still sitting buckled in his booster seat, when I hear Christian exclaim, "Ethan!" and I turned to look and see what trouble Ethan was getting himself into. This is what I saw:

That silly boy had reached the pot of beans, pulled them over to himself, and was eating them out of the pan with the giant serving spoon inside. (Confession: yes, I did serve green beans out of a pot on the dinner table. It's just not worth the extra dishes. A weekday habit, but on Sundays, I try to use nice serving dishes.) It was quite a sight, and I couldn't help but laugh. But now that he'd been caught, he thought he was hilarious!! So he continued his eating and laughed hysterically at himself every time I looked at him with the spoon in his mouth. He could not stop laughing, and neither could Christian or I, or Daddy when he came upon the scene. Laughing and eating, and spilling green bean juice all over himself, he finished the entire pot of beans. Yes, he was soaked by the end, and the table was a mess, but it was worth every belly laugh that came out of Ethan and Christian. And how can you stop a child from eating green beans?! What a silly boy!