A little while ago a friend posted a link to this blog when talking about what inspired her. I have been following it for months now waiting for a happy ending. Well the happy ending finally happened. I don't even know these people but I feel like I do from reading this.

http://www.famofcookies.blogspot.com/

It is a great reminder to me of how blessed I really am and that things are never as bad as I think they are. Make sure you have some tissues ready. If you want to start at the beginning start reading from the October 31, 2008 post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHTON! (one day late)

This year just flew by. I really can't believe that he is one. Ashton has been such an easy baby and so much fun. He is extremely animated with all of his jabbering which makes listening to him so funny. He is on the go all the time and just like all my other kids has decided now that he is mobile he does not want to really be held at all. So he is no longer a snugly squishy little boy. He is standing by himself but is still pretty lazy when it comes to actually wanting to walk. He is into everything, emptying any cupboard or drawer that he can open. He thinks he is pretty funny most of the time since he brothers and sisters always laugh at everything he does. We all love him so much!

I decided to make a caterpillar for his cake this year and thought the one from the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" would be cute. I made the cakes the morning of. Big mistake. I usually make them a day or two before and freeze them, but I ran out of time. Then I ran out of frosting. I thought I colored enough red but I didn't and I didn't want to make another entire batch just for a little bit of red so I thought if I just took a picture from above then you would be able to notice. Although I am pretty sure you can see how jacked up it is. Oh well, I wasn't making for anyone who was paying me so I just left it. I wasn't too happy with the way it turned out but the kids all thought it was cool enough so I guess I should be okay with it.

Ashton actually got the idea of opening the presents but then just wanted to play with the paper once he ripped it off. He got one of those ball popper toys that shoots the ball up with a little air and then it rolls back down a track again. He thinks it is great but I think my older kids just might like it more than he does.

All three babies (beckham, owen, and ashton) playing with toys. I think having these three all so close in age is going to be a lot of fun in a few years!

The Last

Jared making Ashton's very last bottle and most likely the last one ever.
Ashton getting anxious
Contemplating this moment
Enjoying!
The poor kid got a double whammy this past week. We took his bottle away of which I do not feel sad about. I only feel sad because it means that he really is no longer my baby baby. Also he has a nasty habit of throwing his binky's in the trash, drawers, behind beds, and anywhere he can find a spot in the pantry. One night we were unable to find a binky anywhere when he went to bed. I have never looked so hard for something in my life. I wasn't ready for him to be done. He is a very loud kid and those binky's really do come in handy. Alas, I lost the battle and he has been without them for a few days now. He did end up finding his binky in the pantry somewhere and he seemed pretty pleased with himself. I probably would have just let him have it but Jared said we went this long with out one we should just be done with them. So the bottle and the binky are gone. I am sad and all of a sudden I am a little baby hungry.

Cutting Back

If you added some dog food to this fridge it could very well be my mom's. Every year when my dad leaves for 2 months to go to the desert (palm springs) for the beginning of the grape season (he comes home on the weekends), my mom tries to save some money. Not by cutting out things people normally do like not eating out as much, saving on gas, or not shopping for clothes as much, but by not buying food. You can count on her having some dog food, cereal, sweet pickles, cheese, and bread. After that it is a toss up as to what you will find. It is a family joke and my kids have even caught on. Now they are teaching their friends how Grandma operates. This conversation happened the other day when Ethan and his friend Davin were swimming at my mom's and I thought it was worth recording.

Davin: Hey Ethan let's have a snack.

Ethan: What kind of snack?

Davin: Just some food.

Ethan: Well my grandma's house isn't the best place for a snack because she never has any food in the fridge.

And the family joke continues...........

Best Birthday

This year my sister and I were trying to come up with things we could do for the girl's birthday's. Since Chloe and Mackenzie's B-days are so close we always celebrate together, for right now anyways. So we thought of many things but then thought of the greatest idea for a birthday yet. Shopping at Target, pedicures, and lunch at BJ's. Could it get any better? We told the girls they could each bring one friend. Mackenzie brought Kea and Chloe brought Ryder. My mom and sister in law Rachel joined us as well. I did mackenzie's hair as she requested, like ariel's (it looks nothing like ariel's but she was pleased with it so whatever works right?) and kea who normally has the most beautiful natural curls wanted her hair straightend. It pained me to do that to those curls since i would kill for curls like that but request granted. Then it was off to target.

Could there be a better picture? Four little girls running through one of my favorite stores on earth thinking they have hit the jackpot? I think not. They went hog wild in the dollar bin section and then we headed over to the chapstick and nail polish section. They filled the little bags we gave them, then the big girls wandered a little bit through the store and then we were off for the real treat.
I have to say these girls did great at the nail salon. They had to wait a little bit and there was not one melt down or bunches of whining from any of them. This picture was at the end of all of it. They were all getting hungry and were pretty much done with us taking pictures of them. So off to BJ's for lunch. Oh and the big girls also got pedicures too. Can it be that giving my little girl a birthday means that I can go shopping and get a pedicure? Yes it can.

We had lunch at BJ's complete with pizookie, and a good time was had by everyone. There was no stress as to how to entertain lots of little girls, no party favor bags to fill, no games to plan and no deciding on whether or not to feed them lunch or just have cake and ice cream. I am thinking I will do this for my own birthday next year.
Later that night we had a family party at my sister's where we had pizza and ice cream and cake. The girls and I mean all the girls had a great day.



Mackenzie's day got even better when she got this. Now she can keep up with the boys.

DISNEYLAND 2009

(click on photos to enlarge)

So way back in Feb. we went to Disneyland. We were able to meet up with some of Jared's friends from college and their families as well. We were there for two days with them and we had a great time. There were 10 kids there between us and I would say all the kids did really well with all the walking and lack of napping (the parents were coping pretty well also). Ethan will go on anything and so some of the time I took the other kids and went on some other rides they could or wanted to go on, and then Jared would go with Ethan. I have to say that my new favorite ride is the new Toy Story ride in California adventure. I love it and if the line hadn't been a little long I would have ridden it over and over again. Ashton did great with all the rides and when he seemed tired I just put a blanket over the stroller and he would take a short nap. We did have to take Landon on Pirates of the Caribbean kicking and crying. I am sure the ride workers were thinking "poor kid, he's got some mean parents" but you can't go to Disneyland and not ride Pirates of the Caribbean. He'll thank me one day.