Emma's email from Santa

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/g0dlx71ds0Nffd7eCb78BPQ?utm_campaign=share-video&utm_medium=share&utm_source=copy-paste

Follow this link and you can see the email Santa sent Emma!

Uh oh!

Looks who figured out how to pull himself up in his crib!! I think its time to lower the matress a notch! He loves to stand and he loves his crib, so this must be a blast!

Santa's Elf stops by!

Emma woke up Sunday morning to find that one of Santa's elves had come to check on her and to take her letter to Santa. We found snowy footprints (its northpole snow that never melts) and a note the elf left for Emma. His name is Jolly Jack and his job is to help Santa check the naughty and nice list. And he said, so far, she is still on the nice list. :)

I cannot express some of these moments in words and for those of you who know me, know thats quite the fete! I was bleary eyed when Emma woke us up calling to come see, but the moment you watch your childs eyes light up with fascination and wonder....there are no words. Just this warm tingle and a tear to my eye. Its such a precious thing, childhood. And I am so blessed to have Emma! Its so much fun!

Owen 9 months Old!

Owen at 9 Months...

Owen is our little Big man! He has that wise look in his eye. Always as though he knows more than we do. And yet he is trapped, so to speak, in this baby body and is learning how to communicate and coordinate. An old soul.

Owen is teething badly. He is very irritable and clingy and I have lost a ton of sleep this last month. He used to sleep thru the night, but now wakes up several times. I have tried everything, but to no avail. Those teeth just need to break thru already!

He is a blanky boy! He LOVES him his soft blankies! He has several, but one in particular he absolutely loves and cuddles. Its the one we brought him home from the hospital in. Its my favorite too. :)

Owen is way ahead of the curve compared to Emma at this stage. Emma was content to sit, jabber, and play. Owen, however, is all over the place! He first learned to roll to where he wanted to go. Then it turned into an army crawl. And just today, he was up on all four, and went a few feet really crawling. We are in for trouble. No more being able to leave him and know where he'll be when we get back!

From the beginning Owen was a great eater and LOVED it! So its a bit of a surprise that Owen is a bit picky when it comes to food nowadays. Its all about the textures. He still likes soft blended baby food and cereal. However, he loves Cheerios! He has great dexterity with his hands and carefully picks them up one at a time with his little fingers. He is very interested in what we are eating. He loves to get a taste even if he doesn't like it. He really likes things like pizza crust, crackers, or bread that he can nom on. This said, he won't eat things like Spaghettios. He spits out the O's. No macaroni and cheese either. And I am talking very fine blend here. Still nope. Ah, but eventually he will.

Owen still loves his bottle. I think we may have an issue taking it away eventually. He can drink from a sippy cup now and we are transitioning to them during the day, but he still has his bedtime bottle. Not looking forward to that last one. haha.

Owen likes music and with a good beat "dances." He also is mesmerized by that creepy Kia Hamster advertise on TV. No matter what he is doing he will stop to watch and bounce with the music. "Party Rock is in the house tonight!..."One day I will catch it on video!

Since Owen was about 2 months old he has loved to stand. So its no surprise its one of his favorite things to do. He holds on to the couch, or your knee, or whatever is in reach. He just loves it and jabbers away and laughs. Fully entertained until his legs give out. Still loves his activity center for this very reason.

Owen loves his swing and thank heavens we managed to not go too long without it when ours broke!

Owen still doesn't really have any hair, but its coming in. Its so soft and fine like silk. I love it. And I love the way he smells. Like baby!

He adores Emma! I think his main motivation to move is so he can eventually keep up with her. Not sure she will be so thrilled about that once he can get to her things. lol.

Owen loves his Daddy! Daddy is the fun guy who throws him in the air, tickles his tummy, and cuddles him with big arms. He gives Daddy the best giggles!

Owen is a big Momma's boy. I always thought it was pretty even between me and Phil after we were all up here together and settled, but recently its been noticeable. He wont stop crying or whining until I am holding him or I come back into the room etc. And then he just wants to cuddle and have mommy hold him. And of course I have no objection with that!(except when I am trying to be productive.) :)

Owen loves to see himself in the mirror. He is fascinated. He gives"the other baby" kisses and pats at the mirror. I need to get this on video too!

Owen is 19 pounds, 29 and 3/4 inches long and a growing baby boy! We are enjoying him so very much and can't believe its already been 9 months. Seems a bit cruel if you ask me! Wanted him so bad and waited and waited. Then he shows up early and its like the clock was put on fast forward! If anyone knows the secret to slow down time, please let me know!

We are beyond blessed. Gratitude isn't enough. Love you little man!

Nothing sweeter than a baby laugh!

Hearing a baby laugh is so contagious! He was playing with Daddy and was having a blast! He thinks Dad is the coolest!

Wiggle! Wiggle! Wiggle!

Owen just started this little "wiggle" one day. We thought it was hilarious! He does it all the time now. He does it most when he is happy or excited. Its too funny. Especially when he tries to do it while locked in his car seat! :)

1st Holiday Photos for Owen!

Emma told us that Owen was her present. Melt my heart!

Dashing thru the snow!

Our little ham, Emma! She loves the camera!

Handome boy is 8 months old now!

Love Emma's freckles. Such a sweet girl!

Emma is so excited this year and tells us Owen "has been good too." Guess Santa can stop by! haha!



Over Thanksgiving weekend, my sister Rachel came to visit, and she works for JcPenney photo studio. She got us a crazy deal for $30! Couldn't pass it up to get a few photos for the holidays. I still like outdoor photos best, but these are pretty darn fun! We are all excited for our first Christmas with Owen!

Thanksgiving 2011- Our 1st with Owen!

Little man is getting so big! His 1st Turkey Day!

Emma stalking the food! She ate all the olives!


Me and Rachel!

Rachel and Mom!

Phil carving the turkey!!

This year was very low key. No big plans. Just nice and quiet. Rachel decided she was going to come up and have Thanksgiving with us since everyone else was busy, and to come and see where we live. She came in on Wednesday and flew out on Saturday. Emma enjoyed it so much! She missed Rachel. We made the traditional Thanksgiving meal: turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce, rolls, salad, and an olive tray. Emma ate all the olives before anyone noticed! My mom and her husband Phil stopped by on their way to his daughters house. It was very nice. After our yummy meal we went and saw the movie Arthur Christmas. Pretty darn cute! On Friday we met up with my mom and we went dress shopping with Rachel. I googled for a store with modest dresses here in town so we could all go while she was here. Me and my mom felt we were missin out a little bit. It was super fun! The girl helping her was so nice and me and my mom got to pick stuff out for her to try. We spent almost 2 hours trying on dresses! In the end Rachel came away very happy and we got to be a part of it. That was really nice. We also got to try 2 new restaurants we had wanted to try. And they did not dissappoint! The first was called The Elk Public House. I had a BBQ chicken Quesadilla and it was all I could think about for 2 days! Phil had a French Dip and it was delicious! Then we tried this restaurant by us called Boston Pizza. Its like California Pizza kitchen but 1000 times better. We will for sure be eating there again! haha! Hey its 4 days of food. No one specified it had to be 4 days of turkey. lol. We enjoyed ourselves. Emma loved having Rachel here. And Owen had the best of it. More hands and arms to hold and play with him! He is such a good boy and he enjoyed himself as much as anyone! So grateful for our family! No words are big enough!

Halloween 2011

Emma was Christine from Phantom of the Opera this year.

Emma's loot!


Owen was our little Phantom for our Christine.

Our little Christine has a sweet voice!

The Phantom and Christine take to the stage and dance!

This year was Emma and Owen's first Halloween together. Owen was obviously too small to trick or treat but we had fun with him anyway! Emma originally wanted to be Hermoine Granger from Harry Potter, but I could not find a costume that was under $40! I refused to pay that for a one time deal. I looked in the thrift shops but nothing that I could work with. So I explained to Emma that I could not find Hermoine, but she could choose something else. If you recall last year she went on for 3 months about being Christine, but at the last minute chose Alice in Wonderland. So this year her immediate 2nd choice was Christine. I supplied many other ideas, but nope. Christine won. So, we used the dress-up we had that Nana gave her. Its perfect, pink, and fluffy. We bought sparkles for her hair and white gloves. I let her wear some pearls I had. I put make-up on and curled her hair and she was ready to go! We painted Owen's face and I made a white Onsie that said, The Phantom of the Opera. We got alot of compliments at our ward Trunk R treat! On Halloween I took Emma around the block. It was nice and dry, but it was freezing! The coldest year we have been out in yet. So after trick or treating, I made us all some Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate and then we watched Hocus Pocus. Perfect Halloween movie. And Owen? Fell asleep while Daddy handed out the candy. Its a busy job supervising Dad! It was a fun year and Emma is already planning for next year! EEK!!!

Playin in the leaves 2011

Fall in Spokane is beautiful! There are so many Maple trees and they turn this golden yellow! And there are these trees that turn orange, bright orange. Not sure what they are. There are Burning Bush that turn vibrant red, and these trees with smaller leaves that turn a purple color. And amidst all the colors, the Evergreens keep green. Such a pretty pallet of color. Total eye candy straight from nature. Its amazing. Our neighbor has a big Maple and as it turned and the leaves fell, Emma took delight in playing in their yard. So I grabbed my camera and put Owen down in the pile to see what he thought. He picked up the leaves, shook them, and then tried to eat them. Typical everything to the mouth. haha! I got a few fun shots, but as always Owen is camera shy. Unlike Emma who is a ham! :)

Owen 6 months!

Little man's 6 month photo! Isn't he handsome?

*see post below for his 6 month update. :)

Owen 6 months

Owen is 6 months old and growing strong! Sitting up now all by himself!

Owen LOVES Emma's Turtle. And Emma is not happy about it. haha!

Owen is a good sleeper for the most part. The months of teething haven't been kind on the schedule. lol!

Owen LOVES his sister! He watches her and laughs for her and thinks she is the neatest. :)

And Finally Owen is liking bath time! He hated it for so long and it was always a struggle. Now he splishes and splashes!

(This post is about a month late! I haven't been posting in order of events and I am a bit behind.)

Owen turned 6 months old in September and I cannot believe that a half a year has gone by! He has grown so much! He learned to sit on his own. He started eating more cereal and things like pears, carrots,green beans, etc. He does not like to be left by himself. He sqwuaks if he sees you leave. He loves to play in his activity center. He does not like to be in his car seat. Going farther than around the corner is a pain! He has learned to give kisses. So fun! Bring a towel though. haha! He has learned how to clap. Loves the Patty cake song. He is a bit of a dare devil. He will tip backwards or forwards to hang upside down if you are holding him. He loves the dogs and they better make a plan to get away because he is way more interested than Emma ever was. Those ears are going to take a pinching. He's gotten them already! He learned to get over his fear of the bath and is now enjoying them thank heavens! He LOVES and adores Emma. He is still a Momma's boy, but he thinks Daddy is the coolest.

We are so thankful for our little man! We have been so blessed and we enjoy every minute of him! We love you Owen!

Owen and Daddy playing continued...

Owen and Daddy were playing. I caught the first video below. and then this one. The sound didnt pick up to well, so you made need to turn up your volume, but Daddy makes a raspberry noise and then Owen tries to. Pretty cute. In this video you can see him using his tongue to try to make the sound. ;) Have I mentioned I need a new camera?? lol!

Owen mimicking Daddy!

Owen and Daddy time! Daddy was making noises and playing with Owen when all of a sudden Owen started doing it back. I hurried and grabbed the camera! Course its still the phone camera, but you can see them go back and forth. Owen is growing so fast!

Owen is going mobile!

Owen has learned to roll his way around! He has never like tummy time, but a week or so ago he figured out that when he rolled he moved. And now he rolls from one side of the room to the other! He is also starting to get up on his hands and knees. This clip is too short to see how far he came and I kinda missed part of it. I really need a new camera! My camera phone is just not doin it for me. lol! But you get the jist. And please ignore my voice. haha.

Its been 12 years already!

I cannot believe it has been 12 years! Where does the time go? It doesn't feel like that much time has passed, but looking back I can see how far we have come. In 12 years we have had quite the adventure already! We have had good times and bad. Happy moments and some sad. We have had small homes and big homes. Crap cars and great cars. We have lost jobs and found jobs worth uprooting for. We have finished our educations. We have traveled to far off places and seen different lands. We have lived in different cities and have made many new friends. We have grown our family from 2 to 4 with two beautiful children, Emma and Owen. But the best thing is that we have been able to do all this together. And at this point we are barely in the middle of this adventure. I hope for many many more precious moments. There are many great love stories. But ours is my favorite. :)

Our very Fall weekend

My darling Emma. Picked her own pumpkin from the garden. :)

Master Owen and his very first pumpkin!

The newly engaged couple. I took this pic and think its pretty cool for announcements. ;)

Siblings! Their first Fall and Halloween season together. :)

The road my Mom lives on is so slow you could lay there and get a suntan! Good place for a fun pic.

--This weekend was my little sister Rachel's 21st birthday. And similarly to my 21st, she found herself engaged to be married! They had already planned this trip so it wasnt last minute. They went to Seattle for a few days and seemed to have an awesome time. We had work and school and couldn't go, but we met up with them on Saturday evening at my Moms and went out for some pizza at the local hang out. We stayed the night and went to church the next day and then spent the afternoon visiting, raiding grandma's garden, eating the fruits of our labors, and snapping photos while the sun was up. Emma and Owen got to pick Pumpkins from the garden adn we went over to the neighboring corn field to (shhhhh) harvest our own corn. Then my mom made an awesome pot roast for dinner! We really enjoyed our super short visit! Have to take it as it comes. :) And congrats to my sister! Approx date is February 18th. Can't believe it! My baby sister is not only 21 but engaged! Whoa! When did that happen????

Owen having a Blast!

Owen is learning and growing so fast! A month or so ago we bought him a little activity center and he just loves it. Well, he loves it when he is in the mood. lol. He has loved to stand since he was about 2 months old and in this he can stand and play. And he just gets so excited. He laughs and giggles and grabs the toys. He bangs and bounces. He loves it! I stole a quick moment with my camera phone. But you get the jist. I am a little behind on blogging. Soon to catch up! I promise!

Anniversary Weekend/FCAD

Emma getting her cut of the candy at the parade!



Us chillin at the Hot Air Balloon Light Up. Emma was in the jumper behind us. lol

Look at the size of that carrot! Its the field across the street and they grow those for things like frozen food stuff etc. They are so fat!

All of us enjoying the weekend in a field of corn. :) We even went in but I dare say its not as easy as it looks. lol Jungle!

This weekend we went to Quincy,WA for FCAD(Farmer Consumer Awareness Day). We had so much fun! Its a tiny town, but they had a fun parade(John Deer tractors, dancing horses, cheerleaders on John Deer mowers, a fire-engine that soaked us, and they threw candy to the kids), a quilt show, some live music and food, and of course the tractor pulls. I have never seen anything so funny. They compete to see which tractor can pull more and how far. In the evening there was a Hot Air Balloon light up with food and a singing Elvis(didn't we leave Vegas? lol). We ate fun food, picked fresh fruits and veggies from my Mom's garden and her neighbors peach trees, and we watched a fun firework show that would rival those in the big cities! It was nice of my mom and her husband to put up with us for the weekend and to educate us in the art of being a Washingtonian, as Phil A would say. haha. It also happened to be our 12 year anniversary and we enjoyed being out and about doing something different. For several years we were moving and didn't do anything at all. lol. This year will for sure be memorable!

Emma's 1st day of school!

The year of Kindergarten has finally arrived! I remember when Emma was born, thinking that this day was so far away, and what would she be like? Emma is bright, enthusiastic, imaginative, loving, and kind. She plays and plays and pretends like a pro! Such fun to be a little girl with an imagination. She has a big heart and befriends everyone around us from the grocery clerk to her newfound friends on the playground. She is outgoing and fun spirited. She is such a help to me and she is an awesome big sister. Owen already loves her so much and is eager to be where she is. As soon as he can move, she will have a devoted follower. haha! And her mom and dad think the world of her and are so so blessed to call her their daughter. I love you so much and am so proud of you, Emma!

Emma wasn't one bit scared on her first day. She was so excited and was ready to go. She was up and dressed, fed, and had her back pack on when the time came. I took pictures of course. And then off to school we went. Emma has afternoon kindergarten with Mrs. Stevenson. ( We met her teacher the day before.) We arrived with all the other kids and parents and waited on the playground while the kids explored. Then the whistle blew and the kids followed the instructions to line up and into class they went. She was too cute waving at me until she was inside the doors. I didn't have to worry for one minute. She loves people and isn't afraid of new things. And just so everyone will know, I did not cry! haha. I thought I would, but when the time came I was excited for her and proud, and I didn't shed a tear. True story. lol.

And now its been a few days...Emma still loves it and we had her first homework today. My little girl is in school! I can't believe it!

Emma is officially enrolled in Kindergarten!

It is official! Emma will be a kindergartner as of Sept 7th at Opportunity Elementary here in Spokane. Home of the Pandas! Don't know who her teacher will be yet. Since we moved over the summer we are technically late registration. Next week she has her assessment and then on Sept 6th it is back to school night. Somewhere in there we will find out who her teacher is and whether she is morning or afternoon. I prefer afternoon since none of us are morning people, and with Phil's schedule and us down to one car, its best for all of us. But we will see. One way or the other, Miss Emma is going to school! Class of 2025! :)