We live a Beautiful Life

So, I think that it is time to......

2011-05-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

share the new blog address!!

I am sorry that it has been "secret" for so long, but, I am trying to get a little bit of a business up and going with some of my sewing adventures, home projects, etc so the new blog has that on it and also recipes, and other things...but it is still very much about our daily lives as well. I am just getting started so it is no where near where I want it to be!!! But that is okay. We all have to start somewhere right???

Anyway, I would really appreciate any feedback you have and please leave me some comments... and click on the "follow" button as well, I promise it would make my day :)

www.dwellonthepossibilities.blogspot.com

I hope you like it,

Jodi

Okay, So it is True....

2011-02-24T14:06:00.001-08:00

I have been neglecting this blog...like a lot.

But, I have been blogging, just not on this blog.

I am not quite ready to share my new blog with the world yet though...even though I know some have already found it ;)

I will post the link to the blog soon though, I promise.

Las Vegas Getaway

2011-02-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

Las Vegas was amazing! We had so much fun!
We started things off with lunch and a Moose Drool beer upon arriving in Vegas.
It was so good.

Then we were headed to our friends Dave and Leyla's. We were so excited to see them and catch up. We all talked for awhile before heading out to dinner.

We went to the Yard House and it was amazing in all ways. Why do we have to live in a place that doesn't have one of these? We couldn't believe all the beers that they had on tap. It was overwhelming and so awesome. I tried to take a picture of my beer to show that the foam was pink, but it didn't turn out so well. It was fun to try a few beers that we have been wanting to try for awhile. It was great food and great company.

then we were off to the Flamingo to see a comedian. We took Las Vegas Blvd to get there and on the way we saw some funny characters. I guess it is the new thing here for people to dress up like characters (Elmo, Toy Story characters, etc. I didn't get a great pic from the car, but Winnie the Pooh and Minnie Mouse were out there. They want tips when people take pics with them. haha.

Before the show, we stopped at a Sin City Brewery at the Flamingo and sampled some more beer. It was so nice to sit outside at night in January and not be freezing our butts off.

Happy!

Donny and Marie were there too. (GAG me!!) But we couldn't resist taking our picture with them ;)

This is a poster from the comedy show that we saw. This guy was hilarious! We seriously laughed the entire time. So much fun.
Then we headed off to the M resort and casino for a little gambling, beer, and a late night snack. We had fun loosing money :) Leyla was so lucky and won 160 bucks from just putting 20 in on a slot machine. It was awesome! She had such great luck that night. Then we headed to the South Point casino and Paul played black jack for a few hours. It was great fun, even though he lost 30. We headed back around 2am or so to sleep. I was SO exhausted as I really didn't sleep at all the night before we left. I slept like a rock and when we woke up, Paul and I headed to one of our favorite coffee places--The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. (Again, an amazing place that we don't have here in Utah.)
We had such a relaxing morning, sitting out in the sun and enjoying our coffee. It was so nice.

Yummy!

When Dave and Leyla woke up, we all went out to the Hash House A Go Go for some twisted farm food. This place was on Man vs Food and it was amazingly good.

Look at this food....it was crazy big proportions and so good.

then it was time for some beer and wine shopping...this is a MUST when you live in Utah and don't have much available to buy in that category. We went to the most amazing store called Total Wine and More. Leyla and I had a wine tasting. The wines were all from Australia and one from Red Knot Winery was so good that we both bought a bottle. Meanwhile, Paul and Dave were looking at beer and Paul found some good Dogfish Head beer and I had to take home some Big Sky Brewing Co. Moose Drool.
Dave's next homebrew batch is going to be a Moose Drool clone. We hope that we can get back down there to try it.

Then it was time for a cupcake. This bakery was adorable and had some really neat flavors. I chose a smores flavor and Paul had a Glazed Donut cupcake. There were so many flavors that I wanted to try. Next time :) We were so exhausted (pretty much all day!) and so we went back to Dave and Leyla's, talked for a little while longer and then Paul and I packed up and went to the Las Vegas Hilton where we were staying that night. We wanted to ride the monorail down to the strip to explore the new City Center project, but we just couldn't muster up the energy.

The Las Vegas Hilton was kind of a bust (which we knew, but couldn't beat the price for a Friday night) so we hit a late happy hour and shared a huge margarita and appetizers, then got some sleep and hit the Venetian before heading home. (We just had to get one more Coffee bean coffee!) We can't wait to go back and do it all again (except for the Hilton..haha).

It was an amazing 2 days of great conversation, fun, food, and beer. We couldn't have asked for anything more for our first getaway without the kiddos. :)

Many Thanks

2011-01-31T13:22:00.000-08:00

So I have to say that we are pretty *sad* to be home from Las Vegas :( 68 degree weather in January? yes please.

We had such an amazing time and are so blessed with amazing friends. (The words "thank you" cannot even begin to express our gratitude for these people...you know who you are...Dave and Leyla :) Love you guys.

We are also so blessed to have Paul's parents who were more than willing to have the kiddos at their house for a few days. It means so much to us to know that the kids are safe and so happy with Grandma Joan and Pop Larry. We didn't worry about them at all.
Madilyn wanted to stay forever!!!
We are STILL trying to recover from it and trying to get back into the swing of things.

We had so much fun catching up, drinking amazing beer, eating great food, gambling a little, playing with the cutest pups ever Kaya and Sadie, and laughing our asses off at a comedy show. Such amazing memories and we can't wait to do it again!

More adventures and pics of our trip to come soon. I was having too much fun (and then I was too exhausted..haha! to take as many pics as I wanted to.)

"Aunt-o-claus"

2011-01-24T07:29:00.000-08:00

"this is my funny face!"

Madilyn is at that age where the funniest things come out of her mouth.

There is a new home being built on the lot next to us and it was painted yellow (canary yellow!?) last week. Madilyn was pretty disappointed as she really wanted it to be green. So she said
"Mom, let's go over there and wipe that yellow paint off!!" haha..yep, that is exactly how I was feeling. I kinda think the yellow is growing on me now though...seems kinda coastal and that is a good thing :)

Yesterday evening, we were playing outside and one of our neighbors stopped by with his son and we were all talking while the kiddos played. Our neighbor asked if one of the toys was a Christmas present and Madilyn replied "yep, from aunt-o-claus!" The toy was from their Aunt Jessica. It was so funny :) Gotta love it.

Gotta go put some nutella on a waffle for this little "funny face!"

Some Stuff that we REALLY Like Right Now :)

2011-01-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

I am really loving researching, reading blogs, and just overall learning about whole, healthy living. I really believe it makes all the difference in our health and happiness. There is SO much to learn on this topic and it makes me happy :)

Paul and I are working on fitting more "date nights" in. Most Friday nights we have one at home after we put the kiddos to bed. We both look forward to it so much. Tonight is a movie (Eat, Pray, Love...my choice :), beer (his choice), ice cream...healthy right? Goes with my first thing doesn't it? haha.

Cowen is LOVING "Bob the Builder"...he is obsessed with heavy equipment. TV never held his attention until he got a load of this show. He is glued to it right now (for the 1st time!)

This is definitely a passion of mine. Fun things to come with blogging for me...stay tuned :)

Oh yoga, you make me so happy!!! I am so thrilled to be back in the gym again. I love yoga and step aerobics...I also love going and zoning out on the elliptical trainer. Going to add in weight training soon. Ahhh, it makes all the difference in my life.

I just love this pic :) And I am always calling my babies this. And that hair just kills me.....this is awesome.

Madilyn is obsessed with this happy little train. We play trains all day (at least it feels like that).

OH yes, and we can't forget beer. Paul's hobby and love. It is definitely a staple in our house. He just ordered stuff for his next 2 batches...YUMMY. We are planning a beer and food pairing party with our friends soon as well. Ultimate dream is to have our own brewery and coffee shop...awesome idea right? Now for the funding........ ;)

Last but not least...the kiddos could LIVE on this stuff. And the microwave just beeped and I must go and get it out for them now :) I swear my homemade version is better, but sometimes the convenience of this stuff out weighs mine by a long shot.

So that is what we are currently obsessed with in our home right now. We are off to enjoy our mac and cheese! :)

Happy Friday!

January Blues

2011-01-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

Oh January....it is always a hard month here in Utah. We have the w.o.r.s.t. air quality ever and we don't see the sun very much---hence January Blues for me. Oh yeah, and have I mentioned that I HATE the cold and the ice?
At least these 2 little boogers are here to brighten my day...that is when they aren't fighting and taking toys away from each other.......haha.

This January started out particularly yucky as we packed up and headed to Reno for Great Grandma Dorothy's funeral. The kiddos were great helpers while we packed :)

and it wore them out* but before we knew it, it was a crazy hour of the morning and we were loaded up in the car and on our l.o.n.g drive to across Nevada and to Reno.

It was an emotional and whirlwind 3 days for us. We spent 2 days driving sandwiching the 1 day that we actually spent there. It was especially hard, as I had been pretty sick with a cold/flu and fighting a major infection.

On the bright side, it was pretty awesome to see all of Paul's cousins. It was especially fun to see our kiddos play with them as well. Here Madilyn is with Gabe. He danced with her on his feet and taught her to twirl. She loved him :) It always means so much to us when people spend the time to get to know our kiddos and develop relationships with them.

Madilyn and Lane became friends right when it was time for us to go back to our hotel for the night (of course). They were pretty silly together. Here they are licking a salt rock that they found at Lisa's house :) haha. It was totally hilarious to watch them interact with each other and show off.

Madilyn threw a huge fit when we had to leave...then came the monster fit that happened back at the hotel.....oh boy. I am counting down the months until this 3-year-old turns 4...I am just sure that it will get better at that point...right?

We saw this funny sign at a gas station by the UNR campus and just had to take a picture because it is so true. Gas here in Utah has been around 2.65, so it was A LOT more in Reno.

We were happy to get back home.
We have pretty much been homebodies since our trip. It has been nice, but last weekend Paul and I were both so stir crazy....again a total January thing for us.

But, we have some fun and great things in the works. I can't wait to see what the next few years brings. I have a few things up my sleeve......

Upward and Onward!

Today, the weather was clear and sunny (hooray!). It was SO nice to see the blue sky and the sun so I bundled the kids up and we went to the park. It was freezing, icy, but so fun. The kids do so much better overall when they get outside time to play. It was long overdue.

after swinging for a long time (their favorite) they wandered around on the frozen ground and collected leaves for me.

and we just enjoyed the fresh air.

counting down the days until January is over...seriously the longest month ever for me.
Oh yeah, and Paul and I are taking our very first ever trip together without the kiddos next week (WHEEE!). We are going to Las Vegas for a couple of days to stay and play with our good friends Dave and Leyla. We are elated and just can't wait. The kiddos are "Over the Moon" to be staying with Grandma Joan and Pop Larry for those few days. It will be so fun for all of us :)

Is it February yet?!?

Kiddos Update

2011-01-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

A little update on what the kiddos are into lately.....

MADILYN: Getting into more "girly" things.
Likes to have sleepovers with her Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella princess dolls.
Talks about Disneyland daily.
Still LOVES trains and watching Thomas the Tank Engine.
Ballet dances all over the house.
Loves "cooking" in the kitchen that santa brought her.
Loves playing Candyland with Paul and I every night.
Loves helping shovel the snow off the driveway.
Picks out her own outfit.
Is 99% potty trained!!! (FINALLY!!)
talks about and wants more brothers and a sister too...is really interested in babies.
Loves doing puzzles and coloring and helping me with projects around the house.
Loves being out and about and shopping. Any new adventure.
Her favorite color is pink.
She tests my patience and sanity about 300 times per day.
She loves to hit, scratch, and pinch her brother....especially when he isn't doing things her way.

COWEN: Is so happy!
Loves helping his mama with dinner and sweeping the floor
Is such a cuddle bug (when he is in the mood..haha!)
Loves the snow and helping shovel the driveway.
Is obsessed with diggers (eat dirts).
Loves cats and animals.
LOVES books and reading time.
Loves being naked :) haha
loves playing with cars, heavy equipment toys
he is in love with his dada and can't wait to see him each evening.
Is talking more and more. He now says "one more" when it comes to reading books.
Can climb on tables and loves to get on the stool and play in the sink and wash his hands. (he could seriously play in the sink ALL day if I would let him).
Smiles when you point the camera at him.
Loves to hide and giggles when we pretend that we can't find him.
Absolutely loves his sister no matter how mean she is to him

and so much more! They really keep me on my toes and completely busy. It is craziness, but the best thing all at the same time.

It's been a {CRAZY} New Year so Far......

2011-01-14T14:14:00.000-08:00

I started this year off by getting really, really sick (again)...yuck.
Paul and I spent New Year's Eve at home with movies, pizza, and beer.

It was perfect and just how we wanted to spend it. As the night went on, I felt myself feeling pretty yucky. I barely made it to midnight.
I woke up with a horrible cold.
and that wasn't all....
my belly button piercing hole had been hurting for a few days. I didn't think too much about it, as I hadn't had a ring in it for 4 years and it was pierced for 9 years before that. Somehow, that justified in my mind that it would just take care of itself and I shouldn't worry about it.
Well on New Year's Day, I couldn't let it go any longer and went to the Insta-care clinic. Good thing I did, as it was a pretty serious infection. I was put on heavy duty antibiotics and spent the next 2 days in bed.
I am just now starting to feel back to my normal self. In the middle of it all, we took a whirlwind trip to Reno, NV for GG's funeral and I barely remember any of it. Crazy.
The antibiotics took their toll on my body and gave me a rash all over as well. (the day after I was done with my 10 day course). It is almost gone now, but not quite.
Now I think things are finally ok. What a way to start off a new year....haha.
I will post pics and update more soon.

It's all a little blurry......

2010-12-30T13:19:00.000-08:00

and not just the pics that Cowen and Madilyn took of each other, but the WHOLE Christmas weekend!

See little man oven there? I love the pics that Madilyn and Cowen capture when they get ahold of the camera. (Okay, so there is one positive to having a point and shoot inexpensive camera, I will admit---can't wait to have the Canon that I have been dreaming about....Santa listened, and we will be getting it this winter !! WHEEEEEE!) Anyway, This was before my fam arrived for our 2nd annual Christmas Eve party. Good pic Madilyn!

Aunt Jessie and Uncle (almost) Alex got Cowen a baby 4-wheeler. Here they are assembling it.

yep, pretty sure that he loved it.

but I am also sure that this Cat digger was his favorite gift. He loves this thing and plays with it all the time. Great job Grandma Penny and Pop Dan...he LOVES this thing.

Christmas Eve was a blast and soon the kiddos were worn out. Grandma Penny read them books while the guys assembled the big train table for the kiddos.

they were exhausted, but found a little more energy to play with the train set. They both love it.

We had a fun Christmas eve....watching the kiddos play with gifts from their aunties and my parents, we set out goodies for Santa, ate great food, and talked, oh yeah, and played Santa for the next morning.

All too soon (for Paul and I anyway) Christmas morning was here!

we opened gifts and then had our traditional beignets made by Paul. This year, I made the dough (instead of ordering the mix from Cafe du Monde) and we thought that it was even better than last year. Yummy!

Then we were off to spend Christmas day and night with Grandma Joan and Grandpa Larry, Uncle Brian and Wendy.

We had a great day opening gifts and playing. Paul and I visited our friends from L.A. who were in town visiting their parents, we had wonderful dinner and then the kiddos were off to bed.

Thank you everyone for an amazing Christmas 2010 :)

Madilyn the Baker

2010-12-30T13:12:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas we spent the day at my parents house. The men were busy mounting my parent's new TV and the ladies put our aprons on and got to work on making cookies and a gingerbread house.

Madilyn absolutely LOVES baking. She rolled out the dough and cut out shapes like a pro. I couldn't believe how she took over the project and got it done. Maybe it was the motivation of getting to eat yummy cookies, or the fact that the dough was so good to snack on? Either way, she is loves baking.

hard at work :)

Looking at the Lights

2010-12-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

The Saturday before Christmas, my parents took us out to dinner here,

as they have a new location up here by us and we used to go and get pizza there as a family while I was growing up. It was fun!After dinner we drove through Layton Park to see the awesome light display. It was a lot of fun. They have tons of animals and fun things to see.

my favorite was this aqua blue elephant. We drove through 3 times to see it all. It is free and so much fun.

Can't wait to do it again next year.

Santa!!!

2010-12-30T12:50:00.001-08:00

One of the coolest things about the Air Force is during Christmas time. Santa arrives in an F-16 and spends some great time with the kiddos in Paul's unit. Here he is!

The "magic" on Madilyn's face was amazing and priceless. She was so into Christmas this year and it was so much fun!

Cowen was pretty into it as well. He was so excited to see Santa!

He didn't want to sit on his lap though!

Santa gave them each a train and a car. They were thrilled!

they loved when Santa sat down and played with them! They are lucky ducks! Madilyn also got her picture on Hill AFB's website for Paul's unit. Check it out :)

Santa was pretty funny and had us cracking up the whole time :)

We know that we are pretty spoiled :)

We have another beautiful angel watching over us.....

2010-12-22T10:56:00.001-08:00

Great Grandma Dorothy Lyons passed away early this morning. She is finally at peace and it makes our hearts happy to know that she is not in any pain anymore.
We will miss her, but know that we now have another angel watching over us.
We love you GG!

3 more days.......

2010-12-22T10:49:00.000-08:00

We are busy little elves around here today :)

I have 2 little baking partners and on the agenda today is sugar cookies. And the stakes are high, as they are Paul's favorites (and mine too!) so they have to be good.

Madilyn wants pink frosting and I just want them to turn out soft and chewy and delicious.

Paul and I have a lot of building and assembling to do in the next few days.

tick tock tick tock.....

Christmas Village

2010-12-15T13:25:00.001-08:00

Yesterday evening, Paul and I loaded up the kiddos and headed out to downtown Ogden to see the Christmas Village. It was fun to see all the displays and the lights. We love the lights...especially Cowen. He was content to just ride around in the stoller (which doesn't happen too often anymore)
We had to cut our visit a little short because of the rain, but it was so much fun!

I LOVED the stars in the trees. Reminds me of starfish and the coast :)

We weren't ready for our Christmas light fun to be over when we left so we drove around our neighborhood for a bit and looked at even more lights. This house has a light show to music, so we sat and enjoyed it for awhile. Madilyn and Cowen loved it. We will probably have to do it again before the season is over.
Tomorrow, Santa comes to Hill AFB and arrives in an F-16. We can't wait.
Friday, we are having dinner and seeing more lights with my parents.
Saturday is Paul's work Christmas party.

It is a pretty packed week with lot's of fun Christmas stuff going on!

Elves, Elves all around :)

2010-12-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, my sister Jaime and I took the kiddos to Gardner Village to see the elf displays and to shop around a little bit.

Cowen was WAY more interested in the mud, dirty snow, and rotting leaves. He was filthy by the time we left! And we didn't get to see many of the elves either as a result of the mud/snow fest. He just couldn't help himself. Definitely a boy.

This is Cowen's smile right now. Every time we say "smile!" this is what happens. It is pretty darn cute.

Cute candy house

We were starving after chasing the monkey's around for awhile, so we had to go and get some yummy lunch.

Cowen was pretty happy about it :) Another funny smile.

then a little shoe shopping was in order. Madilyn LOVES shopping for shoes. It didn't take her long to find a pair that she liked. She also found sunglasses to match.

Cozy Week

2010-12-12T09:59:00.001-08:00

This week, we spent A LOT of time at home.
I went back to the gym this week and have been showing the kiddos some yoga poses...here is Madilyn doing a downward facing dog. She loves it, which makes my heart happy. She is also amazing at tree pose as well.

We cozied under blankets and watched Christmas cartoons

and we adorned our walls with beautiful art

and Madilyn worked on healing up her gash on her head. She is complaining of how itchy it is, so that is a good sign that it is healing up. Sorry for the gross pic. We took this after she got her staples put in. Can you see them in this bad pic?

We had advent dinner at Grandma and Pop Cocanour's house last night. We had Mexican food and it made me over joyed!!! It was made even nicer because my sister Jaime joined us and Uncle Brian changed Cowen's poopy diaper :)

2 more weeks until Christmas!!!

Currently.....

2010-12-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

working on our Christmas cards :)

and watching Christmas classics

and dreaming of San Diego.

17 days {and counting!}

2010-12-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

I am getting pretty antsy for Christmas to get here this year!

I just wish that I could wrap the presents and have them under the tree..but we all know that isn't really an option with a 1 year old in the house.

I am getting excited to bake Christmas cookies

and

to go and see some Christmas light displays with my family

and

having my family over for a little Christmas Eve party complete with cheese fondue.

and

spending Christmas day at Paul's parents house, instead of trying to do both in one day (whew!)

and

the many many many warm and cozy feelings that this time of year brings :)

I saw her skull :(

2010-12-06T12:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a pretty crazy and hard day.
Madilyn and I were about ready to go upstairs and get Cowen up from his nap when I heard the sound of a curtain rod coming down....it scared me and I remember screaming. Madilyn was standing right there as it came down (she was pulling on the curtain a little as she walked by) and she had a terrified look on her face. I went up to her and held her and she cried a little bit but said that she was okay. She said that it hit her head. I felt her head and didn't feel a bump. When she calmed down we started going upstairs to get Cowen...that is when I saw a bloody spot on the back of her head. We went into the bathroom so that I could look at it better. It was a pretty deep cut from what I could see through the blood. I called Paul and left him a message and then I called my mom. I decided that I would put her in the shower and rinse it off so that I could see it better. I was pretty freaked out, but she was acting fine and said it didn't really hurt her so that made me feel a little bit better. Before I could even get Madilyn in the shower, Paul was walking up the stairs. I was so happy to see him and so thankful that he had gotten off of work a little earlier than nomal. He hadn't gotten my message yet, so I filled him in. He took Cowen while I put Mad in the tub. As I rinsed it, I could tell that it was pretty deep and I swear that I could see some of her skull bone :( I called Paul in to see it and he said that we definitely needed to take her in to see the Dr. We looked up an instacare near us as we thought that would be better than the ER at a hospital. Paul stayed home with Cowen and I took Madilyn to the Dr. She was so worried and kept telling me that she was all better now. We got there about 20 minutes before they closed (whew!) and didn't have to wait too long (maybe 30 minutes or so) to see the Dr. I held Mad on my lap while the nurse looked at it and then when the Dr. came in we decided on just doing the staples without numbing it as the needle of the shot to numb it usually hurts worse than just doing the staples without it. The Dr. cleaned it out really well and Madilyn was happy that the cleaner was pink. He really got in there and cleaned it out (gross), but it didn't seem to hurt Madilyn so that was good. Then he hurried and stapled it with 2 staples. Madilyn was so brave! She just flinched a little. She was so happy that it was over. We stopped and got an ice cream cone on the way home and had Madilyn's favorite thing (cheesy pasta) when we got home. She is doing really well and says that it doesn't bother her at all. I hope everything goes as well in 10 days when we go back to have the staples removed.
Wow, it was a crazy day yesterday!

An afternoon with the penguins

2010-11-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

The kiddos absolutely LOVE the aquarium. They are fascinated by all sea life. It makes me happy because it is one of my very favorite things too. I have to visit every aquarium that I can. Ours here in good old SLC isn't too bad considering we don't really have a coast nearby!

It is so neat to see the kids amazed by all the neat things that they are seeing.

Madilyn is almost as tall as an Emperor penguin!!

It was an extra special trip to the aquarium because Pop Larry came with us! That is definitely a special treat as Pop Larry works so much and misses out on so much.

This face sums up how much fun she had.

One of Cowen's favorite parts was touching the stingrays! They are used to being fed by aquarium visitors so they are super friendly and come right up to little hands. I will never get tired to touching these awesome animals.

The jellyfish are Mad's favorite. She could watch them for hours. Paul loves them too and looked into getting a tank for our home (crazy right?) The cost is a little out of our reach for now anyway. haha.

back and Gma Joan's and Gpa Larry's the kiddos serenaded us with beautiful music :) I love when these 2 sit at the piano...too cute.

and these chubby fingers? Priceless. They are just one of those things that always make me smile.

Sickos (Part 2)

2010-11-30T18:48:00.000-08:00

Well 3 weeks or so after the first round of puking, it hit us again :(
We were out shopping on a Saturday afternoon and Madilyn fell asleep in the car so I stayed in the car with the kids while Paul ran in to Best Buy and Lowes....good thing Mad fell asleep because a few minutes after Paul had been gone Cowen started puking...poor little guy. He puked 4 times that afternoon, then slept all night like normal and woke up fine. We felt like we got off easy. Sunday was great and then Monday morning at around 1:30 am Madilyn started crying. Paul went into her room and she puked. We brought her into our room and the poor thing was up all night puking every 15 minutes. It hit her hard. She finally fell asleep around 6 am and got up at 11 am like nothing ever happened. I couldn't believe the energy she had that day....I was dragging after being up all night.
All is well now though.

And then there is the preschool thing.....
The Thursday before Madilyn got sick I attempted to take her to preschool again. I brought her in a little early per the teacher's advice and she was fine until I tried to leave. She threw a fit..crying and screaming. I took her out to the lobby and then one of the other moms came up to me and hugged me and told me that she knew how I was feeling. I was crying at this point and we talked for a little bit.. Then she offered to walk Madilyn to class. I watched her little one while she did this and it worked!! She offered to do it every time if I needed her too. I was amazed at how nice and understanding she was while all the other moms were just starring at us while Madilyn was throwing her fit. It meant the world to me that she was there for me. Well I had to keep Mad home for the next day of preschool as she was still sick...then it was Thanksgiving...then today when Mad didn't even want to get in the car to go to school. It was today that Paul and I said that it isn't worth it anymore. We are taking her out until she is 4. We are going to try other ways to socialize her until then and work on preschool type curriculum at home with her. It isn't worth me crying and Madilyn being so upset. It is puzzling to me how she loved it for over 2 months and now this, but she is only 3.

So many things to say and show.....

2010-11-28T14:08:00.000-08:00

I have many things to post, but my laptop is not reading my SD card :( Bummer.
I hope to be back soon!

Hard Day

2010-11-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a pretty hard day for me. Madilyn is REFUSING to go to school...she is fine getting up and getting dressed, even getting out the door and into the car, even walking into the school
but...
when we get to her classroom door she just won't go in. She started not wanting to be left there the 1st week in November and it has progressively gotten worse. The last few times I could get her in the room and then I could go. She would cry for 3o seconds to a minute (her teacher reported) but then would be fine. She has a few moments where she will get worried and want Paul and I, but they are fleeting moments.
Yesterday she wouldn't even go into the room. I ended up just taking her home after 20 minutes of trying to get her to stay.
I am so scared for tomorrow when it is time to go back.
She loved school. What went wrong?
We keep asking her why she doesn't want to go and she says that there are "too many kids" and that she doesn't like it anymore.
Her teacher suggested that we come earlier and get her into class first before the other kids get there and see how that goes. So we will try that. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that we can figure this out. I don't want her to be scared of school and have it affect her whole school career. We just don't want her to be scarred for life and aren't sure the best way to handle it.

On a brighter note (and a super exciting note)....my little sister Jessica got engaged yesterday!!!!
I am so happy for her and so excited to help her plan her big day!
(We have been waiting for this day for a L O N G time)
We can't wait to add Alex to our family! (and hopefully cousins for our babies, but I won't be pushing for that one just yet :) haha

Our First Batch

2010-11-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

of beer!
Paul and I had a fun time brewing our first batch of beer. Paul has been interested in brewing beer for a long time now and this year for his bday, he got all the stuff he needed to make it.
He decided on a Holiday/winter ale for his first try.
It is now bubbling away in the basement and will be ready to bottle in a week and 1/2 or so.

Paul and his "masterpiece"
We can't wait to try it!

Parent Day at Mad's Preschool

2010-11-13T15:04:00.001-08:00

Last Thursday was parent day at Madilyn's preschool. The parents were invited to come to the last 30 minutes of class to see what the kiddos have been learning so far.

In preschool fashion, we started with a hands on art project.

we made a turkey!

Cowen was pretty in to it all! He loves Mad's preschool and wants to do everything with her. It is pretty sweet, but can be frustrating too.

They did a whole presentation in her classroom with songs and dancing, etc but this is the only pic I got because Paul had to take Cowen out of the room and he happened to have the camera in his pocket :( big fail.
Madilyn was a little shy at first, but she got really into it and warmed up. It was so cute to hear her sing the ABC's, Hey diddle diddle, a toucan song, etc.
All the kids in her class got up and said their name and something that they were thankful for complete with a picture. Madilyn didn't have one to share because she was sick on the day they prepared for this. Her teacher Ms. Law tried to get her to do it on Tuesday, but she refused. (my little girl? What? Really? :) but it was a good lesson for Madilyn.

Madilyn was supposed to go to her tumbling class afterward (as per usual) and they were going to do a presentation for the parents as well, but things went south. Madilyn REFUSED to participate in the class at all. We ended up taking her home and decided to pull her out of her tumbling class. To be replaced with swimming lessons instead. Frustrating day, but I think we learned a lot :)

Friday Morning Photoshoot

2010-11-13T14:57:00.001-08:00

Madilyn and Cowen love to sit on the steps. It is kinda funny. Yesterday morning, I decided to take a few pics of them sitting there. They loved it!
Whenever the camera comes out, Cowen smiles so big.
These pics are pretty cool, as I really see "big" kids in these little faces..kind of a flash forward to what they are probably going to look like when they are older :)

my beautiful girl.
those eyes and eyelashes...I could die. She is just so perfect.

and this face...my heart melts and melts. And when you add those blondy curly locks on his head....I mean really...how did I get so lucky to see these faces everyday?

Thanks for the fun photoshoot Mad and Co man!

Friday Afternoon

2010-11-13T14:54:00.000-08:00

Paul got off work earlier than usual today and along with that awesome surprise he brought home another one with him.....a volcano.

the kids had so much fun with this little volcano! We dyed the "lava" red and then we just had to try yellow and green too.

happy faces!

oh the delight in watching this little thing erupt. We had so much fun with it and the kids were so impressed.

We even had to take a little video of it!

and had to wind down with a puzzle after all the excitement.

We are currently playing with the volcano again and are dying it blue (of course) as that is the only color that we didn't try yesterday.
Madilyn is chatting happily away about our upcoming trip to Moab...this girl loves traveling and I think she has the same wanderlust that Paul and I share :) Wonder how that happened? :)

Later we are putting up our Christmas tree!! Not decorating it just yet, just putting it up. I wanted to enjoy it just a little longer than we usually get too. We have plans of enjoying a glass of wine by it later too :)
Happy Saturday!!

Unconventional Thanksgiving Plans

2010-11-12T12:37:00.000-08:00

Moab, Utah

This year we are headed here for Thanksgiving. It is one of our favorites places and we haven't taken the kids here yet.
Paul's parents are coming with us and we are going to hike, relax, eat, and just enjoy.
Pretty excited to eat at Moab Brewery for Thanksgiving dinner!
Going to miss my family, but my sisters are spending Thanksgiving with their significant others families and my parents just don't want to celebrate it at all (what?!)

Here's to new traditions and making memories with our kiddos!

Frustrating!

2010-11-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

I have so much to write about and many pics to post, but my laptop is being pretty temperamental and will not read the memory card so that I can upload our newest pictures :(

!!!!YO GABBA GABBA!!!!

2010-11-10T19:14:00.001-08:00

My beautiful sister Jaime got Madilyn tickets to go see Yo Gabba Gabba Live back in August for her bday. We have been anticipating this day since August and it was finally here!

Madilyn enjoyed her rootbeer while we waited for the show to start.

and then the show started and Madilyn's eyes looked like this..haha, so cute. She was amazed!

and here they are! Her favorite character is the pink one up front "Foofa"

Madilyn loved when the balloons fell.

can you see the message to Madilyn on the screen?

after the show, we took Madilyn to the Mayan Restaurant. It is a fun restaurant for kids because they have live divers that dive into a huge pool. Madilyn loves watching them and wants to dive in the pool herself :) It was the perfect way to end our special day for Madilyn.

Gorgeous Fall Weekend and a birthday

2010-11-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

Oh how I love fall. The lighting alone is enough reason to just love it....that is when the sun is shining :) We took advantage of our last known nice fall weekend and spent most of it outdoors.

We had to have a few Popsicles too :)

Madilyn and I put our rain boots on and were ready for some yard work.
We have these awesome huge trees in our backyard and we really love them...but, they drop a TON of leaves in the fall.
We actually couldn't wait to rake them up and jump in them.

and sitting in them

and on them was pretty fun too.

Madilyn's friend and our neighbor Preston came out to help too.

when we were done with the leaves, it was time to mow the lawn one last time.
This is Cowen's favorite thing to do. Paul puts him in the hiking pack and mows the lawn with him.

Cowen was in heaven :) He asks to mow the lawn about 13 times a day. Hopefully he likes to shovel snow or this is going to be a l o n g winter!
(and I am in love with those big brown eyes...)

that evening it was time to celebrate my little sis's 29th.
We had great food and good company.
Happy 29th Jess!

and then we dressed Cowen up like a sock monkey.

The end.

Enjoying the Fall Weather at the ZOO

2010-11-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

By the end of last week, we really, really, R.E.A.L.L.Y needed to get out of the house and into the sunshine.
My BFF Alana was feeling the same way, so we decided to take the kiddos to the zoo for the afternoon.
We were sure that it wouldn't be crowded....but then it was....ARG, but it was still a great afternoon.

Baby Ewan and Cowen. Cowen really wanted to share his drink with Ewan :) so he kept putting it in Ewan's cup holder.

Cowen was pretty excited to get his animal drink. When he saw that it was a lion, he had to "roar" at it! haha..this little boy loves animals. (Said drink ended up all over his lap a little while later when he turned it upside down to watch it pour out)

Here are Madilyn and Cowen watching the elephants. It is a mama elephant and her baby Zuri. Madilyn just loves them and so did Cowen. I think they could have stood like this for at least an hour.

Then it was on to see the rhinos. A man told us that the rhinos were right up by the viewing windows, so we rushed over there and it was amazing. Madilyn couldn't believe how close she was to these magnificent animals. I have to admit that it was pretty neat to see them this close. It was a new experience for me as well. So cool.

Then it was carousel riding time! Madilyn loves this particular carousel as it has the ladybug. We were lucky that the ladybug was still free when we got on and so were the 2 giraffes beside for it for Cowen and Ewan. All the kiddos just LOVED the carousel.

Cowen kept pushing my hand off of him. He obviously didn't want me to hold him while he was riding. What he didn't realize was that he would have fallen a pretty good distance if I wasn't. I finally found a place to hold onto him that he didn't notice.... :)

Group shot with the gorilla :) Cowen was pretty fascinated by it, and at this point Madilyn was pretty tired (she was just a day or so post sicko)

While waiting in line for the train, Cowen entertained his buddy Ewan :) It is sweet to see them interacting with each other. Cowen can't wait until Ewan is old enough to play with him!

Enjoying the 2 minute train ride and the last bit of nice fall weather. This was literally the last nice day we have had.

We ended our zoo day at discovery land where Mad and Co man could run around and play. They headed straight for the hug caterpillar.

Then Madilyn thought that she wanted to try the big snake slide. I was hesitant to let her climb up all those stairs... as a few things were against us that day:
1. I couldn't go with her (per the sign)
2. There were A LOT of kids rushing around, pushing to get up front, etc.
3. It was a pretty big slide by Madilyn standards.

Needless to say, she threw a fit at the top, claiming that there were "too many kids" and just stood there screaming.
I eventually got her to come back down and that is when we called it a day.
It was a really fun day.

We have recovered

2010-11-10T19:07:00.000-08:00

After a few days of R & R, countless hours of watching "Clifford", millions upon millions of loads of laundry, 2 days of missed preschool, and many cans of ginger ale...I think we have recovered from what ever was ailing Madilyn.

Luckily all I got was a night of really bad aches, but nothing like what Madilyn had to go through...poor thing. Just one more reason that I am NOT looking forward to the winter months...San Diego? Yes please.

Cowen @15 Months

2010-11-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

Here is our Cowen bug at 6 months. At his 6 month well baby checkup, he weighed almost 22 pounds...

Here is our little man at 15 months (looking at his favorite book)....

At his well baby checkup today, he weighed 22 pounds 15 ounces. He has been just about 22 pounds for 9 months now! Concerning? I am not quite sure. He is still getting taller, just not gaining much (or any) weight. He is in the 75 percentile for height and only the 25 percentile for weight.
So he is growing...just not gaining.
It is so hard to believe as he was 9 pounds 10 ounces when he was BORN!
Crazy.
He doesn't look little (at all!)
he isn't too much interested in food these days though. He would rather be exploring, tearing things apart, looking at books, or just playing. Eating requires too much sitting still. He isn't a fan.
The Dr. looked concerned to me, but she didn't offer up much advice. She asked me what a typical meal plan is for him each day and if he eats a variety of foods, but that was it.
She also told me that I could bring him in before his scheduled 18 month visit if I felt concerned about his weight or if I thought that he might be losing weight. Hmmm.. I guess we will just watch him and
try and get creative with the calories/foods for him and see what happens.

Other than that and a little eczema, he checked out fine. He is even ahead in his vocabulary skills...probably because he loves books.
Oh yeah, and he is cutting his first molar on the bottom right side. Maybe it is just too uncomfortable to eat sometimes...

and....

Madilyn is feeling much better. She went most of the day Wednesday without puking, but then puked at about 7:30pm and woke us up at 11pm with vomit all over her and her bed (again). That was the last of it though. Thank goodness.

Today, Madilyn talked nonstop during Cowen's Dr. appointment. She told the nurse that she puked and had lots and lots of bugs in her tummy, but it was okay because she got to drink ginger ale.
She told the Dr. and nurse all kinds of things.
She is just too hilarious.

She was a sweet sister and held her brother's hand during his shots. I think he appreciated it.
what he didn't appreciate was the band aid. He ripped it off and threw it :)

After Cowen's apointment, (and 2 suckers, a custard ice cream cone, and a grilled cheese later) we headed over to my friend Alana's. We put her babies carseat in the car and headed to the zoo for the afternoon.
We had a great time.
I will post pics soon :)

In the spirit of trying to get my little Co man to eat, we picked up some good Mexican food (his fav) on the way home.
and
he ate really well.
What can I say? The boy loves bean and cheese burritos and guacamole.
I have no idea where he gets that from ;)
As for now, it is time for sleep.

A Bunch of Sickos

2010-11-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

What a week.

Monday started with Cowen puking all over the kitchen floor (after eating/drinking of course!) and then later having diarrhea.
I thought that he might have eaten something gross (as he tries anything and everything)

and since he was better that evening and had almost the same amount of energy all day, I didn't think it was a bug.

Tuesday, Madilyn refused to go to preschool. Paul took her and she freaked out and didn't want him to leave. He stayed with her as long as he could, but got called into work and had to go. So he took Madilyn with him and she missed most of the day. I was thinking that she probably didn't want Paul to leave, as she hasn't see him much lately. Thank you US Air Force. So we went and visited the next best thing....Grandma Joan. We spent the afternoon with Grandma hanging out and going to the park. I thought all was on the mend.

Well then came this morning...5am...a little visitor came to our room... and the puking began.
She puked about 5 times this morning.

Luckily, she didn't have anything in her stomach, until after I gave her some ginger ale.

So I have been doing laundry and trying to make her as comfy as possible.

The puking has stopped and she is holding some of a cheese omelet down, so we are hoping we are on the better side of things now.

And Paul is working CRAZY hours this week. He has already put in over 40 hours and it is only Wednesday. He hasn't had a day off in about 12 days now. YUCK.

My poor little lady.

We have watched the Clifford movie about 3 times already and many Clifford episodes.

This is poor Madilyn's first time with puking :( I feel so bad for her.

Here's to hoping little lady feels better soon and that Paul and I don't get this bug
*crossing fingers*

Celebrating Halloween 2010

2010-10-30T22:57:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween and I always have.

We celebrated Halloween tonight (the 30th) as we live in Utah and if Halloween falls on a Sunday, then we celebrate it on Saturday instead. We had our families over and I made the usual chili, cornbread muffins, mexican dip, fruit dip, and my sis Jess brought pizza fondue. My mom brought candy corn cupcakes for dessert. It was fun to have Lisa and Fletcher here from Reno, NV this year as well!

This kiddos and I spent the day preparing for the party and Paul had to work :( We always hate the 1 weekend a month that he has to work.

When Paul got home from work, Cowen fed him some chili :)

and I got my man a beer, while he relaxed and I took care of everything (in my dress, heels, and with full makeup on :)

yep,
I was a 1950s housewife and Paul was going to dress 50s as well, but got home from drill/work so late that he just decided to stay in his uniform. It still fit the theme well. We decided to take a pic of me doing dishes in my dress and heels. haha.

Then, we set off trick-or-treating with the kiddos, my sister Jaime, her husband Joe, and their puppies Essie and Ely.
Madilyn wanted to walk one of the pups as usual,

She usually wants to walk Ely, but tonight she walked Essie. It was cute to see a ladybug walking a bee! They were too adorable and the puppies really enjoyed it.

One of our neighbors dressed up in a grim reaper costume and wandered around the neighborhood all evening. It was awesome! His costume was so realistic and he was on stilts. It really set the mood for trick-or-treating.

pretty creepy!

Madilyn with her neighbor friend Aidan.

This house looked so awesome!

The kids loved all the Halloween decorations and the lady dressed up like a witch.

It was so fun to watch Madilyn and Cowen go door to door.

Cowen absolutely loved it. He would just stand there and pick candy out of the bowels and put it in his little bucket. Everyone loved him, so he scored a ton of candy.

Madilyn was a little more leery this year. She had fun, but it wasn't like last year when she was overwhelmed with excitement.
It was still very magical seeing the whole thing through the kiddos eyes.
So much fun.

My sister Jaime's pup Ely

and Essie

My love carrying the kiddos loot.

Gotta love trying to capture a family shot with 2 little ones. :) Madilyn is trying to eat some taffy without taking the wrapper off first and Cowen was trying to pull his monkey face hood off. Priceless :)

After trick-or-treating we came back and hung out. I always love having our families together. It is always a great time.
Cowen found the beer and thought that he would check it out.

While Madilyn and my mom frosted the candycorn cupcakes :)

Madilyn would put 1 candycorn on the cupcakes, then eat about 10 of them, repeat. haha.

then she made good use of my high heels by using them as ramps for her cars. She is so innovative. She had a great time playing cars with her Uncle Brian, Aunt Jessie and Alex.

Then Madilyn had us put on animal masks from her Curious George game and took pics of us. Here is her Auntie Jaime as a lion.

Happy Halloween!

*Fall Sky

2010-10-30T22:52:00.001-07:00

Paul took these pictures at work one evening this week. The sky has been breathtaking lately.

Mr. Helpful

2010-10-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

This little man is so helpful lately
If you mention that you need to get your shoes on, he brings shoes to you.
Then he gets his shoes and tries to put them on all by himself.

If your face needs wiped off, he is the man for the job.

When you are going to the bathroom, he grabs the toilet paper.

and he will always share his meal with you and wants to feed you.

He wants to try everything!

^^^Halloween Carnival^^^

2010-10-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today was Madilyn's Halloween Carnival at preschool. She had her regular class for the first hour and 1/2 and the last 45 mins was the carinval. While Madilyn was at preschool, Cowen, Paul, and I went and had coffee and a donut and ran a couple of errands.
Then we headed back to Madilyn's school.

Cowen wore his costume too and was in heaven walking around and flirting with all the little girls. He is so social.

I secretly want him to wear that monkey costume all the time because he is just too darn cute in it! Good thing he likes wearing it!

(Grandma Penny and monkey man (a.k.a. Cowen) watching the "eat dirt" work)

The kiddos wore their costumes and they got to play games and make halloween crafts. It was so fun to see all the cute kids in their costumes.
Madilyn made a ghost out of a sucker with a tissue over it, played plinko, pin the face on the jack-o-lantern, stamped her face and hands, ghost bowling, and musical chairs.

It was a lot of fun!

Madilyn had a little bit of a hard time when I dropped her off this morning, so it was nice to be able to come and spend time with her and stay for her tumbling class. My mama (Grandma Penny) was able to come up and see the carnival and Madilyn's tumbling class too. It was neat to have my mom there!!

Madilyn making her lollipop ghost sucker "boo"

Here she is showing her brother some of her loot.

Cowen wanted to play Plinko too. He LOVES Madilyn's preschool and wants to be involved with EVERYTHING.

cute moment.

Here Madilyn is sitting between 2 of her favorite friends in her class. Austin on the right and Jackson on the left. The little boy in the skeleton costume is Tate and Madilyn talks about him all the time.

fun with stamps. We put them all over her hands, arms, and

even her chin. She loved it.

The last activity of the day was musical chairs. It was too cute to watch this one! They didn't take a chair away each time, thank goodness because Madilyn was always giving up her chair to someone else and then she would say "where is a chair for me?" haha. hilarious.

After Madilyn's tumbling class, we all went out to lunch at Cafe Rio before Paul had to go to work and my mom had to head back.

It was a great day!

Now Cowen is napping and Madilyn is relaxing and watching some of her favorite shows. I really thought she would pass out and take a nap after such an eventful morning/afternoon, but who am I kidding? It is Madilyn we are talking about :)

When Cowen gets up we are going to bake some pumpkin muffins and play outside before dinner...now, what to make for dinner?
Sometimes it is hard to cook just for the kiddos and I. I will be happy when Paul is back on day shift again in a couple of weeks!

*Time Flies (Whether you are having fun or not :)

2010-10-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

We spent this weekend cleaning/organizing the garage. It was much needed and actually we had a pretty good time with it.

Madilyn helped by keeping us company. She is such the little talker and it is so fun to hear what she is saying (except when the "Oh damnit!, or "Holy shitballs" come out)...yep, wonder who she is hearing those things from?

Moving on.

Cowen helped too. He loves to sweep and just explore.

Cold weather and rain/snow have definitely hit or lovely state. It was pretty cool being in the garage while the sky dumped rain/hail/snow outside. We got to watch it all happen, and I loved it. I really want a big covered porch someday where I can sit all cuddled up in a blanket and watch it rain/snow/storm. It would make winter a little more bearable :)

Anyway-----

Saturday night we celebrated my dad who turned the big 60 on the 20th. It was low key and fun.

It is already Wednesday and we are busy prepping for our Halloween Party on Saturday evening.

Madilyn is so excited that she can hardly stand it. She gets to wear her costume to preschool tomorrow, so she is pretty excited. Paul and I are excited to see all the kiddos in their costumes. Her school is having a Halloween Carnival the last 45 minutes tomorrow and the kiddos are going to put on a little parade.

Happy Wednesday.

Madilyn's 1st Field Trip

2010-10-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

and it was to the pumpkin patch. This is the same pumpkin patch that we visited a couple of weeks ago. We were all pretty excited to go back, as we had such a great time the first time.

We went down the slides

had lunch among the pumpkins

learned about onions, carrots, and other things on the hayride.
This is Madilyn holding a big onion and talking with one of her classmates Austin.

Madilyn picked out a pumpkin

and we took a family pic in the patch. Madilyn's friend from preshool Makayla wanted to be in the pic too...so cute. They are pretty good buds at school.

Madilyn with the pumpkin she picked out.

we roped a few cattle and a little brother :)

had a little anxiety with all the people on the slides (Madilyn doesn't like crowds...she is just like me in that respect)

and we tried the bigger slide this time! and LOVED it!

It was a great day!!!

On the Road Again....Reno, NV Oct 15-17 2010

2010-10-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided (pretty last minute) to venture off to Reno for the weekend. Paul's Grandma Dorothy has not been feeling well, so we thought that we would visit her and try to cheer her up and get her feeling better.

We stopped in Elko, NV to let the kiddos stretch their legs and blow off some energy. We found a great park there. The kids loved the dinosaur and the slides (as well as the swings, but that is a given at this point ;) Madilyn would live on a swing if it were possible.

Madilyn was so scared of this slide, but kept climbing to the top and then screaming that she was too scared. Then after doing that 4 times or so, she decided to just go for it. Then she had to go down it about 15 times before we left.

We arrived in Reno around dinnertime on Friday. We got pizza and headed to Paul's sister Jeannine's house where we were staying. Cowen was in love with Auntie Jeannine's dogs. Here he is hanging out with Lily.

This was a cute moment. I told Cowen that he needed to be changed and he went and got the mat and laid it down. He usually resists being changed so it was pretty cute.

Madilyn was in absolute heaven playing with her cousin Robert. He was such a great sport. He is 12 1/2 now and such a great guy. He is so patient with Madilyn and Cowen and was willing to play with her. It made her year!!! She just loves Robert.

We spent time with Grandma Dorothy on Saturday and Sunday morning. The kiddos really loved visiting with her. Madilyn is always talking about her GG and is saying how she misses her and wants to go and see her again.

While Paul and Grandma Joan helped Grandma Dorothy eat her meals and Ensure milkshakes, Madilyn enjoyed a milkshake of her own....

and so did Cowen. They were trying to encourage GG to eat and gain strength. I am pretty sure it worked, even if it was only a little bit.

We had a great visit with GG. It was so great to see her.

Good thing that the kiddos are such good travelers (for the most part) as this was our second really long road trip in the last month.

What's next? San Diego in January? (Crossing my fingers :)

---This little man---

2010-10-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

is growing up so fast!

He is a mama's boy and a snuggle bug
he comes up and gives me hugs and kisses all the time

he also "waters" my feet anytime that he has his diaper off. Paul says that he is just marking his territory....what? Must be a guy thing? haha. But he seriously does this EVERY time his diaper is off.

Right now he:

Is loving books (especially books with trucks, cars, trains, heavy equipment, planes, etc in them)

LOVES being outside...he loves to "ride" Madilyn's tricycle, pick dandelions ("poofy heads") and blow on them, walk around and explore, pick up rocks, play in the dirt, play with cars and trucks, dig in the sandbox, sweep the driveway, and pretend to fill up the tires on the car with air. If there are any sprinklers on, puddles of water, or anything to do with water--this little guy will find it and get in it. He LOVES water.

He loves to ride in the hiking backpack while Paul mows the lawn. He is fascinated by it.

He loves meeting new people!

He is saying: book, sis, mama, dada, bath, bubble, pop, "ama" (grandma), hi, bye, apple, ball, cat (and meow). He also says "boo" when he sees a picture of a ghost (we are reading a lot of Halloween themed books lately) He is comunicating really well too. He shakes his head for yes and no and he knows the signs for more, and eat. He is so cute to talk to right now because he looks you right in the eye and listens...so fun. He also protests when he is mad. He screams and pushes...not so fun. But it is great to see him becoming independent and watching his little personality develop. He also wants to have and try anything that his sister has or is doing.

he is smiling most of the time. I love when he sees me first thing in the morning...he giggles and claps. :)

He is such an amazing little guy and those big brown eyes melt my heart.

Visiting the Witches with Grandma and Pop Cocanour

2010-10-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

It has been a whirlwind October! I am trying to get caught up on everything that has been going on in our lives before it is a whole new year :) Paul has been working 12 hour shifts and a week ago his hours were 6pm to 6am. He needed to sleep during the day, so I thought it best to get the kids out of the house. Also, Grandma Joan has been in Reno, NV taking care of her mama, but was back for a few days so the kiddos and I headed down to spend the day with her and Pop Larry.
We all decided that it would be fun to go and see the witches at Gardner Village.

This was Cowen's first time seeing them and he loved it! He spotted one on the roof of a building before we even got out of the car and was giggling and squealing. I have taken Madilyn every year so far, so this was her 3rd time seeing them.

This was the best year yet.

The hula hooping witch was Madilyn's favorite. She was moving her hips as if she was hula hooping with the witch. It was hilarious.

then we had a little photo shoot of the kiddos

It was a great day!
Thanks MIL for these pics! I was sad that I forgot my camera that day :(

{PUMPKIN} patch 10/9/2010

2010-10-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

I have been dreaming of a place/farm like this and had no idea that one existed so close to home. Paul's friend Nate called us one Saturday morning and invited us to go the this pumpkin patch with him and his wife and their 2 boys. We are so glad that he did!
Madilyn loved these great swings shaped like horses.

and we all loved the slides

Cowen loved the tunnels he could crawl through

and Madilyn loved this train. Paul and I squeezed ourselves on this train too so that we could go with the kids. We both felt like we would never be able to get out of it! Haha...it was hilarious, but the kiddos really enjoyed it so it was worth feeling like a sardine for a few minutes :)

the kiddos loved the little band stand. Madilyn has been asking to play the drums for so long. She was thrilled to find this pink drumset!

We stopped for a little rest and enjoyed some italian ice. Blueberry for Mad and lemon for Cowen.

Then it was time for the pig races. We were all pretty excited about it.

Madilyn was cheering on her choice....(the green one) and he won! She was pretty excited. It was cute to hear her and Nate's son chatting about which pig was going to win.

After the pig races, it was off to the hayride to pick out our pumpkins. Madilyn really took to Nate's mom right away and wanted to hold her hand on the way to the hayride. It was adorable :)

Madilyn decided that she wanted a little pumpkin, but they were hard to come by. It was so hard to pick one, as there were so many and they were all so great. We ended up with 3 pretty big pumpkins.

On the way back, Cowen decided that he wanted to sit with Nate. It was pretty cute.

Before we left for the evening, we wanted to go and see the animals. How funny is this goat feeding contraption? We got some food for Madilyn to send up to the silly goats waiting up on the platform.

she had fun sending the food up and watching the goats stretch and wait for it to get to them.

the we fed some llamas

went down a few more slides and then called it a day.

we are pretty excited, as we are going back to this same farm this week with Madilyn's preschool class.

Birthdays Galore!!

2010-10-12T13:20:00.000-07:00

August through early November is birthday marathon in Paul and I's families. It is pretty crazy. Well, it actually starts in late July now thanks to Cowen's arrival on July 27th :)
It is madness, but a lot of fun. The latest birthdays were my older sister Jaime's on September 28th and Paul's on October 10th. The kids have been hard at work on birthday cards!
It is so fun to watch them create.

Wrapping up or Wonderful Oregon Adventure

2010-10-12T12:58:00.001-07:00

Our last few days in Oregon were laid back and fun. On our drive from McMinnville to Salem we came across a ferry. Paul and I were both pretty excited, as we had never been in our car on a ferry before.

This is the river that we crossed. So beautiful. This is the Willamette River. We stayed in Salem that evening. We already had a hotel booked through hotels.com. When we finally arrived at said hotel, we decided that we just couldn't stay there...it was pretty bad. I was disappointed in hotels.com because they have NEVER let me down before this. It was a pretty seedy place. So we ventured on to find another hotel to stay at. The next morning we were off to the Redmond/Bend area. It was a gorgeous drive there.
We stopped and visited Paul's former work buddy Gary that moved back there after a few years in Utah and his wife Rose.
Going to their house is pretty much just like going to Paul's parents or my parents.
Rose made us spaghetti and meatballs and then after dinner we were off to the park to let the kids play.

Rose taught Madilyn how to pump when swinging. Madilyn still prefers to be pushed, but does try pumping now and she always says "this is what Rose told me to do"...it is adorable.

Here is our attempt at a group shot of all of us. It was a little dark, but it turned out good. I love how Gary and Rose's dog Moses is licking Paul's face. Haha.
The next day we stopped in Bend (cutest town) for breakfast. We stopped at Jake's Diner and it was more than amazing. I would drive the 12+ hours just to have breakfast there!! Then we pushed through and made it home that night after a crazy long drive. The kids did pretty well for being in the car for so long. Madilyn is used to it and is so great in the car. Cowen does pretty well for a 1 year old...no complaints.
Our next trip is last minute and coming up quick...Reno, Nevada to visit our "GG" (Madilyn and Cowen's Great Grandma Dorothy). 8 hours will be a breeze :)

Evergreen Aviation Museum

2010-10-11T12:14:00.001-07:00

On our way back from the coast, we stopped in McMinnville, Oregon to explore the Evergreen Aviation Museum. This is such a beautiful area of Oregon. It is in the heart of Oregon's wine country and the drive from the coast down to this area is breath taking with all the vineyards, farms, and small towns.

This museum is very well done and just the tip of the iceberg to what it is going to become. It is home to Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose and many many other airplanes. We only had time to explore the aviation building- but their is another whole building full of aerospace and an outdoor playground.

The kids loved the hands on area where they could play and experiment with aviation.

We loved this Ford Tri Motor. It was adorable. I was imagining being a passenger on this airplane back in its hay day.

Madilyn and I were pretty excited to sit in the cockpit of the Spruce Goose. It was so neat. We had to pay an extra $25 to do it, but it was so worth it.

Here are Paul and Cowen sitting right where Howard Hughes sat on the maiden (and only flight) that the Spruce Goose ever had. Pretty cool. Cowen was actually trying to get this huge wooden airplane off the ground!!!

and their is also a winery at this place. So we had to get a bottle after our wine tasting. Pretty cool to have a wine tasting at an aviation museum.

I couldn't keep my eyes off this building with the 747 on top of it. It was amazing and this picture doesn't do it justice. This is going to open next June and it is going to be a waterpark....I pretty much couldn't believe it. There is going to be a waterslide that goes from the body of this airplane down into a huge pool in this building. They are also building a hotel/resort on the grounds too. They are trying to get this area to be sort of a Napa Valley of Oregon. We can't wait to return once this project is done.

{Flying a Kite}

2010-10-11T12:07:00.001-07:00

because it is just what you do on the beach in Oregon :) The wind is perfect and it is beautiful.

Cowen found a crab and had to study it for awhile.

and we found this adorable little flower stand on the boardwalk as we were making our way home.
So cute.

Low Tide @ Haystack Rock

2010-10-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

We spent an evening at Cannon Beach at low tide. We played on the beach--but instead of sand castles we made sand roads/tunnels/bridges for the trucks to drive on. The kids had the best time doing this. I loved playing in the sand as well---it is the softest sand ever.
We chased waves and played in tide pools. We watched the sunset and the moon rise.
This was one of the BEST experiences of my life :) Truly.

and here's why:

our little lady got to hold a starfish...and we weren't at the aquarium or Sea World---we were in their actual habitat. Madilyn has never done this before....and she has had many many chances. She loves visiting the aquarium (and we have been to a lot of them) and Sea World (she has been twice) and she has always been scared to hold/touch the starfish.

Until now...she did it and loved it.

How amazing is this? It was so neat to see all these starfish and other sea life. I was truly amazed. I couldn't get enough.

the kids loved playing in all the tide pools and looking for little creatures.

It was magical

and the sunset was amazing

and the moon (see it between the 2 houses behind the tree) was full and gorgeous. It was one of the best evenings of my life.

Seaside Aquarium, Exploring, and Beach Time

2010-10-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Well, almost....here are a few more shots of us exploring the streets of Cannon Beach as well. We got Madilyn a kite at this adorable kite shop. Flying a kite is one of those things that I really don't understand....I don't see how it is really that fun (I mean holding a sting while it just floats in the air....hmmm baffling), but it WAS fun to see this little lady's excitement at picking it out and flying it on the beach ;)

It was also fun to see her walking down the street with a "hiking stick" that was just her size that she picked up/out herself.

and watching these 2 monkeys together. Cowen LOVES for Paul to carry him this way. He loves to snuggle with Paul's hair and head (and apparently gauge his eyes out as well :) haha

this was just a sweet moment that I wanted to remember. Playing cars together? wow.

This pic makes my heart sing! Ahhh..the beach.

Now on the the day in Seaside! We spent the morning at the small, quaint, but very fun aquarium. We got to touch hermit crabs, sea stars, and much more.

but the highlight was feeding the seals! Madilyn and I loved this. There was one seal that would slap her side with her flipper to get your attention so that you would throw a fish her way. She was too cute! Paul told Madilyn that she should try that at preschool when she wants more snack....I wonder when we will get a call from her preschool asking if Madilyn is okay? haha...Madilyn is still talking about this seal and Cowen is doing patting his side/tummy when he wants more of something he is eating.

and then more beach time. I loved putting my feet in this sand...seriously the softest sand ever! Happiness!

we had to drag ourselves around from the sand to ride this carousel.

I was floored when the little lady wanted to sit on the bench...what???? She always loves to ride on the animals...I was baffled. Later, she told us that since there wasn't a ladybug, that she had to sit on the bench instead. Ahh, now I see.

and the little man LOVED it this time. The first time he rode a carousel at our local zoo, he was a little uncertain, but now he loves it. It is not the best pic, but I was trying to hold him on and take the pic at the same time (safety first my friends, safety first :) Back to the beach we go........

We have to get some sunset swinging in before dark :)

Cannon Beach, {OR} Part 1

2010-10-01T14:23:00.001-07:00

Cannon Beach is one of those places that I can't believe is even real. It is that magical and beautiful to me. Cannon Beach is only 7 miles south of Seaside so we got to spend a lot of time here. I liked it a lot more than Seaside. It is small and quaint and just plain gorgeous.

On our first day exploring this adorable city, Paul and I drove around and explored, read and talked in the car parked at the Ocean, and took a lot of pictures while the kiddos napped in the car. Sleep = the difference between a great day and a day from hell when it comes to toddlers/preschoolers/parents.

When the kiddos woke up, we decided to go down to the beach.....

We met Captain Steve along the way. Here we are him. Captain Steve was right on the way down to the beach and we always had to stop and visit.

These 2 little were too much fun at the beach :) They got along great at the beach except for the occasional squabble over the coveted red shovel. haha true story.

Paul and Cowen with the beautiful haystack rock in the background. Cowen couldn't get enough of the water.

Madilyn and her friend Captain Steve. She was pretty fascinated by his beard and pretty much asked Paul to grow one like it. If it wasn't for the military's regulations on facial hair, he probably would.

Madilyn asked to have her picture taken here. :) Loving her cupcake hat (thanks Mom :)

also adoring the sock monkey hat (thanks x2 mom)

Ahh, the hydrangeas in Oregon were amazing! So many colors and they were so big! Paul and I got a blue one for our backyard this spring. I just love them, but it is hard to keep them happy in Utah..the summers are just so hot and dry.

After the beach, we decided to explore the town and get something to eat. Haha! Cowen loves to ride on Paul's shoulders and it works out good because it keeps him out of trouble for the most part. His little "moon" was adorable.

This was one of the first places we saw, and we were STARVING, so we stopped. It was an okay place, but not great. At least it put food in our bellies and the menu had lots of options.

Cowen was being pretty silly. He kept trying to pull the tablecloth off the table, so we had to move him back. This was his response to that.

After lunch, we found this adorable candy store. It was great!

Paul found the biggest gummy bear that he had ever seen.

Madilyn and Cowen did their best to keep their hands to themselves. Can you believe we got out of here without buying anything? I couldn't either.

So many reasons to love Oregon. This was outside a restaurant that looked pretty swanky. I loved it!

We decided that it was time for a little treat, so we stopped at this place. I had one of the best things ever ---a scoop of vanilla ice cream with fresh espresso poured over it----and can't believe that I had never seen this on a menu before. Then I remembered that we reside in Utah and then I knew why.
I just have to say that it was AMAZING...man, now I want another one. Can I justify driving 700 odd miles just to get one? Probably not.

and this cute pup made the ice cream place even more appealing. How adorable is he? He was so sweet too. Another wonderful thing about Oregon is the doggies...they are everywhere. All breeds and kinds.
It was a great day.

If you were to drop by our house.......

2010-10-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

you would probably find at least a couple of these things going on:

me rearranging my furniture while the kiddos nap

a little lady cuddled up with her favorite blanket snuggle watching "Curious George" on TV

a little man waddling (walking) around following his sister and getting into everything that he possibly can

a little man "sweeping" the floor (or everything off the counter tops) with the broom

the kiddos drinking a smoothie

cheerios somewhere on the floor of the kitchen or family room

the kiddos playing in the sandbox

Madilyn and I working on her "Cars" puzzle for the 200th time

A little lady in time out for saying "holy shit balls", or for hitting/poking/pushing/scratching her brother or for not listening to her parents

me cooking in the kitchen (especially since it is Fall....I get the motivation back around this time of year and I just want to bake/cook/create in the kitchen)

me updating our blog/reading other blogs that I love

Madilyn coloring/working on some sort of art project

Paul working on one of the many projects on my list :)

Cowen giggling at his sister

something weird in my cleavage thanks to a little man (yep, he loves to put things in my cleavage...I find crackers, toys, crayons, you name it!) He loves to hide things around the house to find later and apparently my cleavage is one of those places--and sometimes I don't notice it until later :) haha

me reading books to my little kiddos

Paul playing and being silly with his kiddos

cleaning, cleaning, laundry, cleaning, and laundry

fun music playing and a little dance party going on

an empty house (as we are probably at the park/with my bestie Alana/or shopping

and if it is a weekend, you will find Paul making breakfast

*I just wanted to record what life is like these days so that I never forget :) Paul and I were talking with our neighbors the other night and we all were trying to remember what life was like before we had babies...I really wish that I would have recorded more memories during that time. I know that I will feel the same way about this time in my life as well so I am trying to be better about recording it on here.

My heart is full and I am happy :)

Seaside {OR} Day 1 Ocean GLORIOUS Ocean

2010-09-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

We seriously could not wait to get to the beach! Madilyn and I have been anticipating this moment for so long. Madilyn has been to the beach at least 4 times before, so it made it even more exciting as she knew what she was in for. It was a little chilly, windy, and cloudy the first day, but it didn't get us down. We played in the waves/water anyway and even though it was a little cold, it was easy to get used to.

I love this pic of Cowen! I also love the dramatic clouds. So beautiful.

These 2 had so much fun playing on the beach

The wind caught our stoller at one point and sent it rolling down the beach. Madilyn took off after it to catch it! It was hilarious. Paul helped her catch it and all was well, but it really took a long stroll down the beach by itself.

So amazingly beautiful.

Seaside has swings all along the beach and when Madilyn discovered this, it was pure bliss (for her at least ;) We got a little sick of always having to swing for a little bit, but we did it because Madilyn just loved it so much. Her very favorite things were combined here: swinging and the beach. It made her year I think!

My men! I love Cowen's silly face. He is such a little ham. And how adorable is the beanie hat that he is wearing? He hates wearing brimmed hats, but really loves beanies.

Our first day at the beach was a little chilly, and windy, but we couldn't complain because it is the beach afterall and the feeling you get when you are near the ocean is unmatched. It is truly spiritual and so clarifying for me. Love.

Seaside {OR} Day 1

2010-09-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

And we were off to the coast (finally!!!) We were all pretty excited to get to the beach. Madilyn watched her movies on the way (fighting sleep as usual).

I enjoyed all the great old SUV cars that we came across. Here is one :)

and Cowen slept (in the "hammock" as we call this sleep position). This has been one of his favorite sleep positions since day one. It just looks like he is kicking back in a hammock to us. So comfortable.

I loved all the farm stands along the way.

and the bridges

and tunnels. Madilyn really enjoyed the tunnels too. She kept asking if we could go through another one and another one.

Finally we made it to Seaside and our beach house! We loved the cute starfish on all the lamp posts.

and here is our beach house and a little tour for you all.

This is the great room.

and kitchen. I LOVED this kitchen. It was so bright and big. Perfect for cooking. The only problem was there wasn't any place to eat except for the bar/barstools. That made it hard to feed Cowen, as I forgot his highchair (BIG oops).

Here is 1 bedroom

and the master bedroom. So cute, but weird that the box springs were exposed....it kind of bugged me, but then I am completely OCD with decorating. I kept thinking of the things that I would add and change etc. It is just a problem that I have :) The bed was comfortable though and the room was huge. Good thing, because we all slept in this one room. We put one of the mattresses from the other room and put it on the floor for Madilyn. She was comfy there with her "Cars" tent. We put the pack-n-play on the other side for Cowen. It worked out really well. We could put the kiddos to bed and then watch TV and have some beers downstairs without disturbing them.

the master bathroom.

More of the master bedroom. It was 2 story and the light was amazing.

cute backyard with a garden.

the kiddos wasted no time exploring/rearranging the place.

We also went to the beach that evening. More pics to come.

Portland {OR} Day 2

2010-09-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

Day 2 in Portland was pretty much spent preparing for the beach house and a little more sightseeing. We hit Trader Joe's (which is a luxury that we don't have here in Utah...boo) and we also went to Costco. It was a beautiful day with rain mixed with sunshine. We really enjoyed the clean air and I didn't have any allergies at all the whole time which was definitely a bonus.

We wanted to stop at Voodoo Donut, but as usual the line was SO long and we just didn't have the energy to keep the kids busy and entertained in a long line so we skipped it this time.

We passed the huge group of food trucks. Sorry for the poor quality photo...I was leaning over Paul and trying to get a good pic while we drove by.

Here's a little better pic of some of the food trucks.

This was right by our hotel. A whole neighborhood of floating houses. This idea is pretty interesting to me and I really wonder what it would be like to live in one of these babies. Some of them were pretty decked out. How neat to be able to just pull your boat right up to your house. I need to look into these a little more and see if anyone rents one out as a vacation home...now that would be a pretty interesting place to stay next time we are in Portland.

Portland {OR} Day 1

2010-09-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

It was so great to be in Portland again. I mean, look at this cute city. Love.
We spent our first morning in Portland sightseeing (while the kids napped in the car)

So I may just have a little obsession with photographing bridges...I love them. They fascinate me. You are lucky that I am only sharing 1 pic, as I have a whole lot more ;)

Mt. Hood
I was pretty excited to see Mt. Hood on this trip. It was so cloudy/overcast/rainy last year when we were here that I never got to see it. Amazing.

When the kiddos woke up, they were excited to go to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry)

but first, we needed to have some lunch. We knew we wanted to go to a Brewery, as Oregon has some of the best, so we typed what we thought was the address to our destination, but had 1 number wrong and ended up at this cute house....how cute is the turquoise front door?

and these garage doors? So cute. It was kind of cool that we got a little lost because we got to see a pretty cool neighborhood. Portland is definitely a hard city to navigate, even with GPS.

We finally made it to our destination Widmer Brewery

We didn't waste any time ordering our drinks. A hand crafted root beer for Madilyn and a few different beers for Paul and I to try before making our decision.

YUM..trying some awesome beers.

Cowen colored while we had our beers :)

then we had the absolute best beer cheese soup that I had ever tasted. I seriously had to hold myself back from picking up the bowl and licking it clean :) It was amazing.

Paul and I shared a yummy turkey avocado sandwich with a salad and Madilyn and Cowen shared a grilled cheese and fries.

and Cowen tried his first pickle... and I think he liked it. I tried to get a picture of his cute "sour" face, but the timing was just off. This is as close I could get :)
Cowen also met a little girlfriend that you can see in the background of this picture. He spent a most of the time we were there turning around and trying to get her attention. A little ladies man.

After our lunch, we finally made it to OMSI. The kids absolutely loved it. Especially the sand and water areas for little kiddos. They scooped sand, and played with dinosaurs in the sand pit.

and then suited up to play in the water. They both had to be dragged away from this area!
It was just too much fun playing in the water.

Cowen reminded me of a penguin as he was walking/waddling around in his smock. It was adorable. I was so worried that he would slip in the wet floor, but he managed to make it without any major accidents.

OMSI is so perfect for kids. There are so many hands on exhibits and things to do. We colored with stamps, played in the sand, played in the water, turned propellers, played in balls, sent balls through mazes, shooted balls into the air, had a puppet show (thanks Paul :) I am pretty sure that more than just our kiddos enjoyed the show..haha, built towns out of blocks, grocery shopped, built damns and made streams, saw dinosaur bones, explored Einsteins life, and more.

I love this pic of Madilyn "slipping" Cowen a magnifying glass to play with. He was thrilled and didn't want to give it back!
We got to hit a few more exhibits before the kids were too pooped to go any further. We didn't even get to see 1/2 of the museum, but there is always next time right?

Before the kids hit their limit, we got to see an exhibit on Einstein's life and achievements. It was fascinating and I was wishing that I had more time to explore it and read/see everything. It was great because Cowen was wearing his Paul Frank monkey Einstein shirt that his Auntie Alana got him for his bday. So cute.

Stay tuned for more Portland and then Seaside/Cannon Beach Oregon vacation pics and tales to come.

We Journeyed to Portland Yesterday......

2010-09-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

and here are our little passengers settling in for the L O N G drive. We decided to drive it all in one day. We left our driveway around 8:15am and arrived at our hotel in Portland at 9:30pm. And we only made 2 stops the whole way. We were pretty impressed with the kids! Way to road trip :)

He was pretty excited to see that he had his own screen to watch movies on. He is not big on TV, but he thought it was neat to have a screen just for him.

Here we are at a rest stop somewhere in Idaho out of the Boise area. We had lunch here and stretched our legs for an hour or so.

Madilyn didn't want to picnic on the lawn with us, so she set up her lunch on a picnic table. All Cowen wanted to do was get into "nasty" stuff...like rocks with dog poop. or cigarette butts....it was tiring chasing him and keeping him from bringing his found "treasures" into the car with us. At least it wore him out!!

Our next stop was a HUGE park in Baker City, Oregon. It was so great to find this park!!!

We loved how "old school" it was! I remember a lot of this same equipment from my elementary school in Ohio. The kiddos had a great time swinging and stretching their legs.

Back in the car around hour 10 or so, we were all getting pretty silly....

Then we saw a huge accident involving a 5th wheel trailer on the other side of the freeway. It was holding back traffic for miles. Luckily, it looked as if the trailer was the only thing hurt. It was smashed.

Madilyn was entertaining everyone with her boiled egg!! She is a silly girl.

This guy drove almost the entire way. Thankfully, he was feeling up to it (as I was just tired and not feeling so great :( I think I only drove about 3 hours of the whole trip.

We had a wonderful day in Portland today. More updates to come soon :)

Saturday and Sunday

2010-09-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

We (just me and the kiddos, as Paul had drill this weekend) got up early on Saturday morning and met my BFF Alana, her baby boy Ewan, and my mama at the Avenues Street Fair. It is a street fair held in the Avenues of Salt Lake City. There were over 250 booths to look at! There were so many great things and us ladies had a great time browsing around. I say us ladies even though Cowen was there, because he made it about 1/2 way through when he started having a complete breakdown. Not good my friends, not good.
Madilyn thoroughly enjoyed herself, which was adorable. She cruised around in her big pink sunglasses and everyone commented on how cute she was in those glasses. She stayed with us the whole time, didn't grab things, and when she got tired, she would just sit in the stoller and relax. Good thing she was an angel ;)

Little Co Man wanted to walk around, which was fine at the beginning when it wasn't very crowded, but as the day went on, it got pretty crazy. He kept getting knocked over, or people were at our heels, or he wanted to grab everything...not so fun.

Alana's baby Ewan did an awesome job. He is just the cutest thing and enjoyed being carried around with his mama.

Cowen pretty much cried and threw a fit for the last 1/2 except when we came upon a booth that had a fishing game for kids. He was SO interested in the fishing pole. He couldn't take his eyes off of it.

Here he is watching a boy fish.

Love the little look on his face as he watched that fishing pole. He sat there for a good long time watching.

A little "where's Waldo" picture looking down the street at the fair. It was pretty crowded by the time we were wrapping up to leave.
It was one of those moments when you wished you had tons and tons of disposable income to spend on things.
We ended up with a sock monkey beanie hat for Cowen and a cupcake beanie for Madilyn (thanks mama :) the kiddos LOVE them.
I got a little leather cuff bracelet for Madilyn and 2 little fabric hair flower clips for her as well.
It was a great time despite Cowen's meltdown. I am pretty sure that he was just tired and a little hot, and just wanted to roam around where he wanted to be.

After the fair, my mom and I picked up lunch at Chipotle and went to her house to eat and relax for a bit. We also took the kiddos to check out the new playground equipment that my parent's neighborhood association just put in. The kiddos LOVED it and definitely approved of the new playground.
Cowen was pretty frustrated about not being able to do everything that his sister was doing. It was a day of frustration for him (and me!) Poor little guy.

Sunday was pretty uneventful. We were pretty lazy except for when I took the kiddos to the park for a little bit. I figured that we needed a pretty lazy day after yesterday :)
Madilyn LOVES to swing and Cowen had a great time playing in (and eating) the dirt/gravel. We played in the sandbox and the kiddos helped me make some great veggie enchiladas for dinner and before we knew it Paul was home and we were putting the kids to bed. I am REALLY enjoying cooking and exploring healthy alternatives in recipes. It is becoming a great hobby of mine. (more on that to come!)
We then caught up on a couple of our favorite shows It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Dexter. We are pretty excited for the new seasons of these shows starting this fall.

And since this blog is pretty much a journal of our lives to keep and cherish ;) Here is an update on the little lovelies.

Madilyn has been such a cuddle bug lately combined with being pretty sassy sometimes. She has a hard time not pushing, poking, or hitting her brother on a regular basis, but she is working on it. She is a little too possessive of her toys. She is getting pretty interested in soccer, running, and mostly anything sports related, working on puzzles, and helping with things around the house. She LOVES throwing the dirty laundry in the washer. She is doing really well in preschool. We are still working on potty training.

Cowen is walking and walking. It is the cutest thing! He is happiest when he is walking around naked with a drink or snack in his hand. He loves helping around the house as well. He loves to throw his dirty diapers in the diaper pail after he is changed. He also loves "helping" me fold laundry and put it away. He also loves to help in the kitchen. He loves giving kisses and high fives.

I can't believe that Monday is pretty much over....I have so much to do to get prepared for our Oregon trip! We leave Friday...early. Can't wait!!

Last Week and this week too :)

2010-09-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday my good friend Tammy (and her adorable kiddos) were in town from LA and came up and spent the day with us. We don't get to see each other very often, but it is like we have never had time apart when we get together. I hope we can live closer someday :) Our kids get along so well and we have known each other's babies from the beginning. Madilyn and Shan are only 4 months apart! I remember holding her daughter Vanessa when she was less than 2 months old....crazy. Anyway, they mean a lot to us!

Cowen just LOVED getting kisses and attention from Vanessa. He is wooing the ladies already. Actually, he always has ;) haha.

He loved having his lunch fed to him by Vanessa. I could just see the happiness in his eyes.

Madilyn and Shan are pretty much into all the same things right now. (Since Madilyn is such a tomboy, it works out great.) You can see Shan playing with the red truck in the background? This is Madilyn's absolute FAVORITE toy and it was hard for her to share, but she did. You can see the look on her face. I was really proud of her! They played so well together all day. It was a great lesson in sharing for Madilyn too.

Aren't they cute?

The only shot of all 4 kiddos together. I really miss my other family and the closest things to cousins (their age anyway) that our kiddos have :) We love you Afzali Fam!

We kicked off the holiday weekend by going up Ogden Canyon and eating at a restaurant that we have wanted to go to for a long time...The Oaks. You eat outside right along the river. It is awesome. I had a delicious veggie sandwich, Mad and Cowen split a grilled cheese, and Paul had a philly sandwich. It was so good! The atmosphere was amazing and we will definitely be going here again. So lucky to have this so close to us.

Cowen woke up early on Saturday morning and it was fun to spend some time with just him. He loves this Ewok that I got Paul years and years ago from Disneyland. He loves to cuddle with it and carry it around in his mouth! haha Oh yeah, and he is WALKING so well and wants to walk everywhere. He started standing and trying to walk a little around 12 and 1/2 months, but really started to take off this past week at 13 and 1/2 months.

Later Saturday morning, I took off for my mom's house, as we had plans to shop at furniture consignment stores for my birthday. It was so fun to spend the day with my mom and shop!! I got an awesome cabinet for my 1/2 bath, a wooden star for my front door, and a metal star for over the kitchen sink.
Then we went and had lunch at my favorite mexican restaurant La Costa and chatted and chatted. It was great to re-connect with my mom. She is a busy lady and I don't get to spend as much time with her as I would like too.

While my mom and I were out, Paul took the kiddos to the Farmer's Market. They had a blast as usual.

This little face melts my heart!

Sunday (my birthday) Paul and I spent the day with the kiddos, went to Costco and the commissary to get some shopping done, and then it was date night! Paul's parents came up to watch the kids and Paul and I took off to Park City. We shopped a little at the outlets, ate at Baja Cantina (YAY, 2 great mexican restaurants in the same weekend!!), and then rode the Alpine Slide. We headed home and had some ice cream. YUM.

We had a BBQ at Paul's parents house on Monday (Labor Day) and celebrated Joan, Brian, and my bdays. We all have bdays in the first week of September.
Here are the kiddos lounging!

We got to play a little of the bean bag toss game. Cowen wanted to crawl through the hole instead of throwing bean bags through it! I remember when Madilyn would do this too. Now she is playing the game and doing great at it!

Cowen helped me shuck the corn. We had a feast of hotdogs, hamburgers, beans, potato casserole, coleslaw, and of course corn. We had pumpkin pie and rice crispy cake for dessert. I had a "free pass" to drink that night, but I have been having CRAZY allergies (or some sort of nasal/sinus crap) that I was feeling a little lousy and didn't even want to. Man, isn't that just what would happen after 4 years of not being able to drink? My luck.

Then we all sat around the fire while the kiddos played in the sandbox. We are so fortunate that our families blend well and can all hang out together. It was great to spend time with my parents, Paul's parents, and my sister Jaime and her husband Joe.

Cowen had fun hanging out with his Grandpas!

Before we knew it, the weekend was over and it is all the sudden Wednesday again. Time flies! We brought dinner to Paul at work. The kids LOVE doing this. It is hilarious to be pushing a double stroller across the flight line of an Air Force Base and into an airplane hanger to eat with Paul! The kids love seeing the airplanes so close and to be able to touch them. We are going to make this a more regular thing, as we all enjoy it so so much.
It is also nice to be making dinner. I love to cook and with Paul working the 2:30-11ish shift I usually just make something simple for the kids and I. It is nice to cook a more complex meal on the days we take dinner to Paul!

It is always sad to leave daddy when we have to go.
Tennis anyone?

We have such a busy week ahead of us.
We have to get ready for our trip to Oregon, and get Paul through his PT (Physical Training) test for work, and all the usual stuff that every week brings. Whew! I am tired just thinking about it :)

So excited to be leaving for Oregon next Friday and spending some great time as a family.

Chow for now ;)

Potty Training (Take 3)

2010-09-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

Let's just say that potty training is interesting.........

One day, she is all about it and does so awesome. Other days (such as this week) she doesn't want anything to do with it.....hmmm. I think my next approach is going to be candy....I know that will motivate her. I am so ready for her to be DONE with diapers. She catches on so fast with everything else, but this has definitely been a challenge.

I took these pics of Madilyn when we were over at Grandma Joan's house the other day.
She wanted to sit on her potty in the kitchen...

then it ended up in front of the door and she just sat and sat (unfortunately nothing happened, but it was hilarious and adorable).

Hopefully, more updates to come on this subject :)

A little photo shoot with the kiddos

2010-08-31T22:34:00.001-07:00

Madilyn's "I'm 3!!!" Pictures

2010-08-31T22:29:00.001-07:00

I almost forgot to post these....ooops.
Love them!

She has only been in preschool for 2 weeks......

2010-08-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

and we are already sick :( Just a cold, but I just know that this will be the first of many bugs that will probably be coming home with Madilyn this fall/winter.
It is worth it though, as she is really loving preschool. She talks about friends, adores her teacher, and loves all the projects that she gets to do.
It is nice to have a little break as well, as she is pretty much at the hardest age right now, in my opinion.

On a brighter note, Cowen is pretty much walking! He is taking around 5-7 steps at a time now. He is standing on his own all the time now too. It is seriously the cutest thing ever seeing him stand and walk. He just looks too little to be doing it :)

Also,

He is learning to use a fork and a spoon really well and always reminds us (by whining a little) if we forget to give him one during his meals.
He is obsessed with going up the stairs (gasp!)
and playing in the dishwasher.

We are continuing our busy week and are excited for a fun packed weekend, so hopefully these colds don't last long :)

A little Festival on a Sunday afternoon

2010-08-30T23:15:00.000-07:00

We took the kiddos to Blessed Sacrament's (Catholic Church) Fall Festival this past Sunday afternoon with Grandma Joan.

They had a great time........

They danced on the table to live music

and

when I asked Madilyn if she would want to play any of the instruments her answer was "they are too big for me mom"

enjoyed snow cones.....
This little man just had to have his own chair right by his favorite person Grandma Joan. Poor Grandma Joan had to carry all 22 pounds of him around all afternoon because he wouldn't have it any other way. (Are your arms a little sore today?)

this little lady wore her sunglasses upside down...they just fit better that way alright? haha

Quite the fashion statement.

won a Nemo fish look-alike at the ducky game. (And she pretty much hasn't put the thing down since then.)

picked a duck to win prizes....

rode a train..... (she was so excited to do this, as she is really into Thomas the Train right now.)

but still asked to get off each time that the train passed where we were standing.

she also floated in a boat on rough seas....

and again told us that she was ready to get off each time it came around to where we were standing. I totally had the giggles watching her in her upside down sunglasses, riding on these dilapidated "carny" rides. These are the only 2 rides that we would let her go on, as they were pretty bad. Luckily, she was okay with that ;)

It was fun to take the kiddos to this event, as we used to come to this every year when I was little.
Cowen was too little to ride, but I am sure next year he will be all over it :)

"Dinosaurous" Part II

2010-08-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

Check out our "Dinosaurous" Adventure Part I
Only a few minutes from our house, is an awesome dinosaur park. Grandpa Larry and Grandma Joan took the kids and I there last Friday.
It was a lot of fun despite being rained out.

They had a robotic dinosaur display and Madilyn was just a little scared of it, but at the same time, she just had to keep going back and looking at it. Here she is with Grandma Joan peaking around the corner to see it. They had to do this at least 10 times.

this little look says it all! Inquisitive, yet a little worried, and excited all in one.

Check out those huge teeth. Who wouldn't want to touch them? The great thing about this place, was that you could.

Checking out dinosaur vision.....

by the time we made it to the outdoor gardens, it started to pour rain. We kept finding little shelters to escape to. The first one was a little duck pond.

We fed and talked to the ducks. Cowen tried to get in the water with the ducks and would have been happy sitting in the water with them for the evening, but we didn't let him do that much to his dismay.

It stopped raining for a minute or two and we ventured on and found this HUGE dinosaur. Cowen was fascinated by it and thrilled when he got to touch it.

There was a great play place for the kids with swings, playground equipment, lots of little dinos to play on, and a tree slide. Just when the kiddos spotted the swings, it started pouring again.....

but we couldn't resist taking a few pics with these hilarious backdrops. Here is prehistoric Madilyn walking her dinosaurous.

and Cowen in his element :)

and Pop Larry wrangling a dino

Madilyn and Larry were too funny posing in these things. It was hilarious.

and trust me, there were A LOT more that we didn't get to experience because there was just too much rain.

Our next shelter was a dino burial ground/cave.

pretty soon it was down pouring complete with lightening and thunder, so we headed back inside and just had to visit the robot dinos again. Cowen waddled up to the fence and full on "roared" at them. It was too funny. He isn't scared of them at all..in fact, he speaks their language.

We can't wait to go back to this place and experience it all. Looks like Fall has arrived early here in Utah, as we are having yet another chilly/rainy day today.

Play doh

2010-08-30T22:30:00.001-07:00

Madilyn had her eye on this play-doh ice cream set for a while. I remember when she showed it to me in a Target ad one day.

Lucky for her, she received it for her birthday.

We had so much fun playing with it a couple of afternoons ago. It held Madilyn's attention for a couple of hours and she was reluctant to put it away at lunch time. Paul and I had the best time creating ice cream delights with her.

here are a few of her creations! She is so creative and loves creating. It is so fun to watch her during the creative process. She gets so into it and has great ideas.

It is so much fun playing with you Madilyn!

Flash forward.....

2010-08-30T22:25:00.001-07:00

This little man can't stay out of the kitchen when I am cooking. He just has to know what is going on and can't wait to eat what ever it is that I am making.
Often times he is pressing his face up against the oven door to get a glimpse of what is inside.
The other day when he was doing this, I had this little glimpse of him still doing this very same thing 15 or so years from now. ha ha. Good thing I like to cook!

Our little lady turned 3---and this was her party day!

2010-08-30T21:45:00.000-07:00

Her "Foofa" cake. That is Foofa on the top and also who Madilyn was dressed up like for the day!

The look on her face sums up the day! It was magical and so much fun. We started the party at 4pm, which turned out perfect, as it was right after her nap. She came down the stairs and saw tons of gifts and all her favorite people. She was so excited!

The theme of her party was Yo Gabba Gabba (which is a TV show that she loves). There are 5 main characters on the show and she wanted Paul and I, Cowen and herself to dress like the characters. She realized that there were 5 characters, but only 4 of us, so her blanket (snuggle) took on the 5th character at her request. :) Madilyn was "Foofa"...which is the pink character on her shirt.

Here are a few of the many pics that I took that day:

Here is the look on her face when she saw the bouncy house in the backyard....

the kids had so much fun playing in/on the bouncy house.

we were able to drag her off of the bouncy house just long enough to open gifts and have cake and ice cream. She received so many nice gifts. Many, many thanks to our families. Her favorite gift of all was spending the day with all of you. It is so neat to see her relationships grow with our families.

her brother was a great help opening gifts.....

after gifts, she finally got to have some cake! She was so excited to eat her cake. She had been eyeing it all day and kept asking to eat it, so when the time finally rolled around she could hardly stand it! This was my first real cake, as I usually do cupcakes. Madilyn requested a big cake for her party, so I took on the task. Luckily my wonderful mother-in-law loaned me her cake pans and supplies, gave me an amazing frosting recipe, and gave me many great tips that made the process come together and turn out sucessful. Thanks MIL

instead of regular old ice cream with her cake, she requested that we do ice cream cones.

and then we were back to the bouncy house. She bounced until dark and then bounced all morning the next day.

our little birthday girl playing in the sandbox that she got for her birthday. It was so fun to see her looking so girly, but still doing all the tom boy things that she loves to do. It definitely sums up her personality. She insists on wearing skirts every day, loves tutus and shoes.....but plays with trucks, cars, and dirt.

Happy Birthday Madilyn Sage!!!!

"Dinosaurous"

2010-08-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

Paul's parent's surprised the kids and I today by coming up and taking us to the dinosaur park. We had never been before, so we were pretty excited about it.

Madilyn kept calling all the dinosaurs "dinosaurous" and it was making me laugh. So I had to get this down before I forget it.

It was pretty awesome, but we got rained out....BIG TIME...it was a complete down pour complete with thunder and lightening. The majority of the fun is outdoors, so we were pretty sad that we had to leave without experiencing it all. Guess that means we have to go back soon, right? It is beyond words for me to describe how neat it is to see Madilyn running around and having the time of her life exploring and learning new things. It makes all the hard times just melt away. Amazing feeling. Beyond words that is for sure.

The kiddos had a wonderful time, despite the weather, feeding ducks, watching the robot dinosaurs (which Madilyn was a little scared of, but just couldn't stop going to see them), taking silly pictures, and just being with Grandma and Pop.

I got a few good pics, but I will upload those later, as it is Paul and I's "date night" at home tonight and we are watching a movie and having dinner. (Paul gets off work at 8:30pm on Fridays and always brings home a great dinner for us, as the kiddos are already in bed) We so look forward to this great kick off to our weekends.

We had another crazy week and have lot's to share (including Madilyn's 3rd birthday bash).

Tumbling

2010-08-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

Madilyn had her 2nd day of preschool today and her 1st tumbling class. Paul and I decided to leave during her preschool after she was settled and comfortable.
It was a little hard for me to leave her there, but I knew she would be okay

Our plan was to come back in time to walk her to her very 1st tumbling class and then stay with her for that class.

We ran errands while she was in her preschool class. We needed to get sand for our new sandbox, gumdrops for Madilyn's birthday cake on Saturday, and also little presents for the 9 kids in her class for Tuesday. They are going to celebrate Madilyn's birthday next Tuesday and we wanted to bring a little gift for the kids in her class, so they could share in her big day :) It was neat to just spend time alone with Cowen as well. We haven't really done that too much yet.

We picked out sand pails and shovels. What could be better? She got a sandbox for her bday and spent her birthday at the beach...nothing says "Madilyn" like sand :)

It is very very rainy in Salt Lake City today, so that made all of our errands even more interesting :) but the kids LOVED the umbrella.

When we got back to Madilyn's school she was happy to see us and was ready to go home. She seemed a little excited for her tumbling class, but she seemed really tired too.

When we got to the tumbling room, Madilyn broke down and cried. She said she just wanted to go home and didn't want to jump on the mats or play. I just held her and let her settle in a bit. The teacher wasn't so great at teaching 3 year olds and the other 4 kids were running all over the place and not listening....kind of a disaster.

Then Paul and I got the giggles :) It was hard not to, with Madilyn bawling, and the other kids running everywhere. It was clear that the teacher wasn't familiar with teaching 3 year olds.

Madilyn eventually joined in and had so much fun rolling down mats, walking on balance beams, crawling through tunnels, and jumping through hoops. She follows directions so well.

We are really proud of her and can't wait to experience all the fun times to come as we continue her school journey.