Big Girl!

Brandon's days off usually consist of us running tons of errands/grocery shopping for the week. So this past Friday we desperately needed to make a trip to Costco. When we got there we put Owen in the shopping cart and since we didn't need too much I decided to hold Autumn instead of putting her in my front pack which I normally do. Well, as we were walking around I decided why not put her in the cart with Owen since there are two seats. To say she enjoyed herself would be a major understatement! What in the world happened to my baby girl? She is growing up so fast.

See what I mean, she was having a blast!
At one point, Owen reached and put his arm around her and looked up at me and said, "it's okay mommy, I'll take care of her." Yes tear drops rolled down my face when he said that. He has become such a sweet compassionate little boy and is always concerned about his baby sister.
Just wanted to post this picture because she is so stinkin adorable and boy does she love to eat!

Happy Birthday Brandon!

This past Friday was Brandon's 29th Birthday! Yep, this means Brandon only has 364 more days of being in his 20's. Sounds like I need to start planning a big 3-0 Celebration for next years Birthday. I always give Brandon the choice of going out for his B-Day dinner or staying home and I will cook him a meal of his choice. This year Brandon chose to stay home, but he wanted my Dad's famous Hot Wings for dinner. Yeah, says a lot about my cooking, huh? J/K. My dad agreed to make his famous Hot Wings with his special Hot Sauce and I made a veggie tray and Brandon's favorite Potato casserole to go with them. We invited a few friends over to help celebrate. It was such a fun night. After we put the kiddos to bed, us adults stayed up and played some Mexican Train. We had a blast. Warning there are a million pictures in this post. Enjoy!

The day before Brandon's Birthday, Owen and I made daddy a special Birthday Cake. I asked Brandon if he wanted one of my famous home made Ice Cream cakes, but of course he said no and wanted a Funfetti Cake. Yes, my friends the one with the rainbow chip pieces in the frosting. I guess you never grow out of some things. Lol.

Owen really made the whole cake. I was just there for measurements and overseeing his work. He said, "First I need to wash my hands." He is so funny. Reading the package directions.

Making sure he has all the proper ingredients.

Pouring.

Dumping.

Mixing.

Watching. Please don't laugh at my ancient Sunbeam Mixer. This was a hand-me-down from my mom that she has had basically my entire life, so its about 26 years old. Brandon has offered to buy me a fancy new Kitchen Aid mixer but I honestly LOVE this thing. Sometimes the old is better than the new.

Setting the timer.

Testing.

He was absolutely shocked when I let him have the spatula to lick. I know its probably not the best since there is raw egg in the mix, but my mom let me do this as a child and I survived. Sometimes you have to break the rules and have a little fun.

Owen's Masterpiece. Daddy Loved it!

Before our guests arrived for the party, Brandon took sometime to open up his cards from his family out of town. Thanks everyone for all the wonderful gifts and Birthday wishes for my wonderful husband.

Family Picture. Owen is cracking up, I love it!

Daddy and Owen watching some sports center waiting for our guests to arrive.
Dinner. Chicken Wings and Potato Casserole.
My Dad's famous wing sauce. We were all sweating while eating this stuff. It definitely has a kick to it! Owen and Olivia watching some cartoons while we were eating dinner. They are so adorable.

Mommy and Autumn.

Singing Happy Birthday. Owen loves this part of Birthday's since he loves to sing.

Blowing out the candles. Owen was playing with my Dad and I came in to tell him it was time to go up to bed. They were trying to pretend they were asleep so I wouldn't take him up to bed. Nice try Owen your a terrible faker!

Olivia & Kaitlyn getting ready for nigh nigh time. We have tried many times to put Olivia to bed at our house so we can have some adult time, but it always fails. Not this time my friends! We put Livie to bed in Brandon and I's King size bed and she did great. It was so nice to have some time to our self's kid free!

Getting ready for bed!

Owen and Olivia were playing with his train set in his room before bed and they decided to try and get away with sleeping together. If we would've let this happen they would have been up all night playing. Nice try kiddos we can totally tell your faking.

Present Time!

Of course more Broncos apparel. According to Brandon, you can never have too much!

Some much needed new work attire. Thanks Mimi!

Playing Mexican Train. For all you who have no clue what this is, it is a super fun domino game. Please excuse my Christmas table cloth, we use it so the domino's don't make such a loud noise on the glass table.

My mom & dad.

Me and My Bestie, I love this girl! We had so much fun. Happy Birthday Brandon!

Cousin's

We also had the privilege of having My Sister and Niece come over yesterday. I was bored at home and my sis called and she was bored too so we decided why not be bored all together? So her and my adorable little niece headed over to have some fun. They kids had a blast together. Owen loves being the big boy around and always has to check up on his baby sister and baby niece to make sure they are okay when they cry. He even told my sister that her baby was really cute. Too funny! Here are some pictures of the cousins time together.

Owen, Abbi & Autumn hanging out on the couch.

The girls. It is still hard to believe these two are 5 months apart when you get them next to each other. I love these girls.

Happy Autumn

Abbi was really enjoying playing on Autumn's little play mat. I can not get enough of her, she is so adorable!

She looked like she was having so much fun that Owen decided to join her. Too Funny!

Owen & Finnley

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching one of my good friend, Leanne's, daughter Finnley. She is about 10 months younger than Owen but they had a great time playing together. Here are some pictures from their time together.Here is Owen giving her a ride on his Fire Truck. He did very good sharing all his toys with her. He made me very proud. Here are the two cookin up something delicious together.

They were even talking to each other on their cell phones.

Autumn had a blast watching the two of them. Owen even brought her over his new globe ball to play with since she is too small to play with them. He is so sweet to his baby sister!

Here are the crazy duo eating their delicious lunch; PB & J, Carrots, Grapes and Cheese Puffs. It was quite funny because Finnley wanted more grapes so she started trading Owen her cheese puffs for his grapes. I guess your never to young to trade food. Lol.

Weekend with the Aunt's

This past weekend, Brandon's two Aunt's (Aunt Rose & Tia Bev) came down for a visit and to meet Miss Autumn for the first time. They came in late Thursday evening and left early Sunday morning. It was such a treat to have them here and spend some quality time with us and the kids. Owen took no time at all warming up to them and had them running around playing in no time. Autumn on the other hand has some major stranger anxiety right now that we are trying to work on. Apparently Brandon was the same way as a baby so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Autumn loved them as long as I was present but the second I left her sight she would start screaming. It isn't just them either, its basically anyone that is not Mommy or Daddy. Since Owen was never a snugly baby, I prayed that my next child would be; well I got my wish x100. She wants to be in my arms 24/7. O well I guess it could be worse. Right? Anyway the weekend was awesome. Friday we spent the day just hanging out. That night, Brandon's Aunts took the two of us out to a nice dinner at Outback while my Dad and Sister came over and watched the kids. I mean, listened to Autumn scream for an hour and a half while Owen played on the computer while they tried dealing with my traumatized daughter. Saturday night I made a delicious dinner, Spinach Manicotti with salad and garlic bread and we had a mini early Birthday celebration for Brandon. Here are a few pictures from our time together.

Tia Bev, Aunt Rose and Owen.
Aunt Rose and Autumn
Autumn and Tia Bev
On Saturday, Aunt Bev brought Owen a special treat, a lunch bag full of gummy candies that look like food. It had Pizza, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, French Fries and Coke. It was so funny and Owen got a huge kick out of it. Thanks Tia Bev.Here he is showing off his snack. Gummy Pizza & Coke.
Aunt Rose never comes for a visit with out bringing some goodies for the kids. Owen scored this adorable Mickey Mouse T-Shirt that says, "Mr. Perfect" on it. So fitting since Owen is a major perfectionist. Thanks Aunt Rose.

And Autumn was also lucky and got some adorable PJs that say "Baby's First Valentines Day" on them. She looks great in them. Thanks Aunt Rose.
On Saturday it was a beautiful winter afternoon, just a slight breeze, so we took advantage of the weather, bundled the kids up and went out for a nice walk around the neighborhood.
Aunt Rose giving Autumn a ride.

Autumn didn't make a peep the entire walk. I think she enjoyed the fresh air. This is what she did the whole time, didn't move once.

Here is Tia Bev pushing Owen on his tricycle.

Here is a close up of Owen on his bike.
Saturday evening before Daddy got home from work, Tia Bev and Owen put on some 70's music and had a dance party. They were hilarious!
More dancing.Having a ball!After dinner, Brandon got to open his presents from his Aunt's. Of course Owen was a big help in the opening department.

Owen looks so excited about Daddy's new shirt. Lol.

And right before bed Owen wanted to do some underwear modeling for his Aunties. Here he is showing off his muscles! He is too funny.