Working on mastering my birthday present

Well as most of you know I decided to invest in a nice digital SLR camera with the money I have been saving up from Christmas and my birthday and am really enjoying learning all the fancy things these cameras can do. I don't even belive I have begun to strach the surface of the pictures my camera is capable of taking. But after only having it a few weeks we did get some great pics of you know who........Owen.

My goal is to get pretty comfortable by the time we head out to California for a little vacation. Hope you all enjoy the pictures of Owen and stay tuned as I sure there will be many more posts as I master my new hobby.

If you couldn't tell Owen loves to say "cheese" or look right into the camera when we pull out any camera..... I guess mommy has trained him well.Perhaps we have found the reason for his recent outburst of temper tantrums. Who knew the "Bernstein Bears" are such a bad influence on children.

Owen loves this little bear that his "great great" gave him for Valentine's DayBut judging by this pictures I think he loves his mommy a whole lot more!!!!! Our little dare devil will climb on top of anything he possibly can.Why is it he will sit down everywhere except where we tell him too. Our serving tray is his favorite spot to sit in. Oh well with a smile like this how can you tell him not to do it!

Someone has a baby bump!!!

This isn't the best picture in the world as I took of Vanessa when she wasn't ready but thought it would be neat to post. It is hard to believe we are already almost 18 weeks into pregnancy #2 and Vanessa is starting to show. Thanks for all the prayers so far for a healthy pregnancy and stay tuned as in a few short weeks we should know what we are having.

Owen's Big Boy Bed

Well, I knew this day would come, especially since baby #2 is on the way! We have officially converted Owens crib to a toddler bed. It hit me really hard because I now have to accept that my baby is seriously no longer a baby. He is really growing up too fast. This past week the three of us have been out shopping around for a new room set for Owen so he can pass his crib set down to his new baby brother/sister. We have found a couple sets we like and will probably be going out next week to make our final purchase. So in the mean time we converted his crib into a toddler day bed and put up a bumper. Last night was his first night sleeping in it and he did really well. We really talked a lot about it with him and tried to include him in shopping for a new bed so he would be excited and not scared. And of course, he was very excited and happy when we took him up to bed last night. We are just so thankful we won't have to buy another crib set. Some other quick news, we should be finding out the sex of our new baby within the next 3 weeks so please check back for the big news. My pregnancy is going pretty well. Other than bad back aches and head aches I don't have much to complain about. My belly has really popped now and we are getting super nervous and excited! Baby #2 will be here before we know it!

And here is the Big Boy this morning after he survived his 1st night without being caged in a crib. Wow, such freedom

A Few Random Pictures

So I feel I haven't been very good about blogging lately, probably because my adorable son has officially hit the Terrible Two's and I haven't had much time for anything other than discipline! Yes, Owen has not been the easiest child to care for lately. It has been one fit after another, after another. Brandon and I are slowly trying to figure out how to handle them and what type of discipline works best. We are relying a lot on God to help us through this difficult time. Anyway, sorry for the lack of blogging but here are a couple pictures from the past couple weeks for you to enjoy.Here is Owen and Olivia on a neighborhood walk a couple weeks ago. Cutest Bronco's Fan ever! Here is Owen in his awesome Bronco's hat his GG gave to him for Christmas! And here is what I am talking about. This was after our play day this week. We took the kids to Hoot's again and Owen made it about a whole 40 minutes without a huge temper tantrum melt down. I dragged him out of there kicking me and screaming. This was the drive home. Wow, if looks could kill I would have no hope!Here are my two boys. This is seriously the cutest picture ever! I love them both so much. O yea, the Mickey Mouse Owen is holding you may start seeing a lot more of. He got it a couple weeks back, but the kid will not let it out of his sight. It goes everywhere with him. Too Cute!Here is Owen a couple days ago at the Aquarium. He loved driving the boat!

Girls Night Away!

About a month ago Me, My Bff, My Sis & Her Bff all decided we needed to have a girls night. Not just a night out, but a night away. With all our busy schedules and babies we knew it may be a challenge to work it out and we knew we wouldn't be able to go far. So at the end of January I was driving up to go to a baptism in Las Vegas, NM and I saw a billboard sign that there was a concert at the Big Rock Casino in Espanola, NM on Feb. 19th, and guess who the concert was? All-4-One. Okay, so I know most of you have no clue who I am talking about,but they were a semi-popular R&B group from the early 90's that me and my sister loved. So immediately I am thinking, perfect girls night away. Espanola is a super tiny town about 30 min. from Santa Fe so it was a reasonable trip away that we could all do. So we packed our bags and left on Friday afternoon to go to Espanola. The casino that the concert was at has a really nice Hotel that just opened up last month so we decided to spend the night there. It was a really fun and interesting night. We ate dinner at a little cafe in the casino, went to the concert, went back to the room chatted and watched a little TV and then had a peaceful night of sleep with no kids to worry about. In the morning we woke up around 8:30 went down ate breakfast and then headed back home. It was a great night and a total blast from the past seeing an old band we all used to love and was quite funny too. O yea' before I get to the pictures, did I mention we all got to meet the band and get their autographs and a picture with them. Yes, that is how un-popular they are now, they actually sign autographs at a table. Well, it made us feel super cool and special and gave us a fun story to talk about. Here are a couple pics from our evening.

Cammy, My Sister & Kaitlyn heading down to the concertMe and Kaitlyn

Cammy and my sister waiting to get their cd's signed. The funny thing is that the cd on the top is the one my sister has had since Middle School. Here we are with the band. How funny!

The Little Gym

Today was a very exciting day for Owen. One of his Best Friends, Abby, invited Owen to bring a friend day at her gymnastics class at the Little Gym. I have been wanting to enroll Owen in the Little Gym, but the cost is a little high and I wanted to make sure he liked it before paying all that money. Well, Owen LOVED it! They played so many fun games, sang lots of fun songs and got to run around and play on all the gym equipment. Owen loved walking across the balance beams and swinging on the bars and rings. I think we may have to cough up the dough and start Owen in the Little Gym. Here are some pictures of our fun filled morning.

Owen on the balance beam.

Taking a rest on the play mats.Abby on the balance beam.Owen loved rolling in this giant wheel.Owen was so excited when it was time to play with the balls because his favorite game is "catch" O' my goodness. At the end all the kids got to play with tons of bubbles. Owen and Abby had so much fun trying to catch them all.

Valentines Day Dinner & Presents

We had a great Valentines Day. We woke up went to church, came home, napped, played and then headed over to Nana & Pampos house for a delicious spaghetti dinner. We were in charge of dessert so Owen and I made some delicious cherry vanilla cupcakes with pink cream cheese frosting. To top them we made heart shaped chocolate drizzled rice crispy treats. They were a big hit and Owen loved testing all the treats while I was baking. At dinner Nana and Pampo gave Owen a nice laptop computer for Valentines Day.Of course the grandparents love to find any reason to buy Owen a gift, spoiled kid! Anyway we had a great day and it was great to spend it with the people we LOVE! Happy V-Day everyone! All ready to go to Nana's HouseHere is the dessert Owen and I made. (Well, I made and he tested them)Opening his presentsHe loves his new laptop so much and hasn't put it down since he got it except to sleep. It keeps him super entertained. He likes to play the games find that letter and find that number! Here he is saying "cheese"

Valentine's Day Date Night!

Last night Brandon and I went out on a date to celebrate Valentine's Day a couple days early! The date started off with a very nice dinner at a super nice restaurant in Old Town called Seasons. Brandon got a Half Rotisserie Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Broccoli and I got the Autumn Harvest Squash with Sage Ravioli in a spinach Cream Sage Sauce with Shiitake Mushrooms. O my goodness it was delicious. Then we shared the Lemon Cream Pie for Dessert. After dinner we went to see the new movie Valentine's Day. Yes, Brandon was very sweet and took me to a nice chick-flick! We both enjoyed the movie and more than that enjoyed a nice quiet night out just the two of us! We weren't supposed to get each other gifts this year, but my wonderful husband decided to break the rules. He got me a Pearl Necklace, Bracelet and Earrings. I have always wanted a Pearl set and thanks to my amazing husband, I now have the perfect set! For those wondering what Owen was doing, he was hanging out with his nana and pampo for the night. They were so sweet and even took him out for ice cream after dinner last night. Such a spoiled little boy! Here we are all dressed up for our date. Like my Pearls?Saying goodbye to my precious baby boy!Gotta love the kisses goodbye!Here is a picture of our amazing dessert! Sorry not the best picture.

Valentine's Day Party!

This past week for play day we decided to have a Valentine's Day Party! We had some super delicious food including Tomato Basil Mozzarella Heart Shaped sandwiches, Heart Shaped Cream Cheese and Cucumber Sandwiches and the always delicious Grape Salad, Chips and Chocolate Cake for Dessert. The kids were so busy playing they could care less about the food, but us mommies ate our little hearts out. After letting the kids play for a bit we decided to try our first craft time with all five kids. I know we are a little crazy. We had all the kids make Valentine's Day cards for their Daddy's. We had a lot of fun and it was also a lot of work getting all the kids to stay interested in our craft time. All in all I think the party went very well.

Here is what I got my friends for Valentine's Day. I gave them all matching cups to take home!Owen gave all his friends Mickey Mouse Valentine's Day Cards with a giant Triangle Sesame Street Crayon inside with heart shaped suckers on the outside. Here are the delicious left over sandwiches.Owen and Olivia having a time out for some juice.

Here we are making our Valentine's Day CardsAbby looks very upset about something?Here is Owen double checking his work on Daddy's card.Surprisingly we had enough time and attention span to make two more cards for his Nana & Pampo and his Auntie Kiki!