diego dog.

poor little diego still hasn't quite gotten used to his new place in the family. he is getting used to owey, but seems to still be heartbroken about not being #1 anymore. we do still try to entertain him, but let's face it- he's just not nearly as cute or fun as our little man. here are some of our attempts to keep him happy and convince him not to run away from home. (anyone ever see lady and the tramp?)

dog beach a few weeks ago- if you've never been, it is a sight to see!! especially on the first warm day in february!! there were soo many dogs... let's just say the day ended when diego ended up in a bull mastif's mouth. yeah. funny thing is, he totally started it. little rascal.

we have a little "heat dish" in owey's room and if ever the door is open diego will sneak his way in there to cuddle up next to the warmth. i don't blame him! so toasty!

he finally got a much needed haircut the other day, and this was his best post-groom pose. ok, he is a pretty cute dog i guess.

and the lucky dog got to come with us to this beach (my favorite to take owey to because there is a park with grass right by the water - so all the glory of the beach with out the mess of a baby in the sand). diego was so happy to be included in the outing. and look at that view!!! this is why we live here!! (did i mention it is february and i totally got sunburnt that day?)

ok, and of course i had to include this one of owey at dog beach. he was sooo happy the whole time we were there - he just kept laughing and cooing completely entertained by all of the crazy doggies.

cinco, cinq, cinque...

hard to believe that owey is five months old today!!
5 months ago, his smile first looked like this...


and even though he was little freaked out at the new world around him, he still melted out hearts.
it's amazing what a difference those 5 months have made! he is bigger, stronger, happier, and just cuter by the minute.
now his smile melts just about anyone!


we love you son! we are sooo blessed that you came to our family and our lives will never be the same!

i guess winter had to come sometime...

today it rained, rained, rained all day. couldn't resist taking a few pics of owey looking like a little gangster. the cutest gangster on the planet, but nonetheless...






i suppose we shouldn't complain about the rain. at least it's not snow!! besides, it gives us a good excuse to stay in the house and snuggle all day. now where's that apple cider. i think i'll get the fire going...

jessy asked for some hints on taking pictures of babies. here are my top 4:
1. camera, camera, camera. a good camera takes good pictures!
2. it's all about the lighting. i am not a fan of the flash, so a bright window behind you makes any picture look better.
3. get up close and personal. babies are not as cute from far away.
4. use a program like picassa to edit your photos - make them black and white, lighten them up, etc.

have fun! hope that helps!

can't get enough of this kid...

happy v-day to me!!

my valentine's day present to me came a day early...

a haircut!!!
a-line, stacked - super cute straight and curly (i know it's not the best picture of it curly, but you know how those self-photos go) and it still fits in a pony tail so i don't have to worry about how i am going to train for a half-marathon with hair in my face. the best part is that it takes like 2 seconds to shower (hooray!) and owen usually can't reach it to yank it out by the fistfull. i know- i'm officially a mom now that i have my mom haircut.
what do you think?

thanks hubby hubby for spoiling me and making me feel soooo loved yesterday (and every day)! you are my favorite!!

my valentines

to my big hunky valentine:


you are my heart, my soul, my smile, my world, my man, my forever love.

to my little chunky valentine:


you are my hope, my laughter, my joy, my life, my forever little boy.

i love you, valentines.
xoxo.

young love (sigh)

a little something to get you in the mood for valentine's day...

owen and audra cuddling at the beach.

in case you didn't know...

my sis recently told me about something that has made blog stalking sooo much easier. before, i used to click on links several times a day desperately searching for an updated blog. now i have a website that can be OCD for me! and since some of you admitted to me that you check my blog every day (thanks for the roll call by the way-- i appreciate you coming clean...hee hee) i thought i would help you out.
it's called bloglines.com and i love it.

check it out. you can "subscribe" to blogs like you would subscribe to national geographic or the wallstreet journal or even US weekly (uh-heeem... mique and erika) . this way all you have to do is check bloglines to see which blogs you check up on have been updated rather than tediously clicking on each individual blog only to see the same darn post over and over. (annoying!!)
cool, huh? i know, you'll thank me later. (and by the way, if you go to the bottom of this page there is a "subscribe with bloglines" button that can get you started. you're welcome.
i must caution you, however. this new system could lead to more blog stalking and sometimes subscribing to people's blogs that you've never even met, and maybe even knowing more about them than you should know about a perfect stranger. for reals. it's kind of weird when you think about it.
and some of you have asked how i know who visits my blog. i don't know exactly who, but there are a few things that can help to see what kind of action you're getting. the first is google analytics. just type it into google and you can basically get a report for your blog each day to show how many hits you got and where from. this is how i know that there was someone from alaska checking out my blog and i don't know anyone in alaska. there are all kinds of reports you can find - even keywords typed in a search engine that led people to your posts. for example, the most common keyword for my running blog is "peed my pants." awesome. bravenet.com has something similar. lastly, the maploco map on my sidebar shows how many people visited each day and from where (today someone from Iran visited!! random!!) you can add a map to your page by clicking on "create your own visitor map." so, there you have it. tips from a blog-a-holic.

long overdue...

a few weeks ago i got to go on a super fun (and much needed) girls night out with keri, brooke, and sharlie (3 mormons and a jew as keri likes to call it!). lucky us, keri managed to snag 4 tickets to the sold out garth brooks concert in LA. soooo fun! (look, i'm even wearing my big girl earrings!)

we headed out in the afternoon and picked brooke up in orange county before heading to dinner in huntington beach. it felt so strange to be away from owey for so long and to be in a restaurant with 2 hands all to myself! after dinner we made the trek up to the staples center in LA through a major rainstorm. since garth had added 4 more sold out concerts (2 friday and 3 saturday) we had to wait in the car for a while once we got there before we could go in. this was quite possibly the funniest part of the whole night... brooke and i both pumping in the car and a full on "girl talk" session made for quite the entertainment.
the concert was so awesome. i am not the hugest fan in the world, but garth was such a great entertainer and somehow i knew every song except one. he even brought out his wife, trisha yearwood to sing with him.
i loved that you could tell that he really loves doing what he does, and since he hasn't toured in like 10 years, he was practically giddy. i also love that all of the proceeds for all 5 concerts went to the southern california wildfire families. way cool.

after a wrong turn and somehow ending up in compton at 1 am, major torrential downpours in orange county, and very slow and cautious driving (because of the rain and the drooping eyelids), i didn't get home until about 2:45 am. i don't remember the last time i stayed up that late!! it was well worth it to have such a fun night out with my girls.
thanks girls! my only question is when can we do it again?

a few matters of blog business

dear readers,
as you can see i have finally updated my blog. you will notice many new pictures for your viewing pleasure. now i have a request for you.
who the heck are you??!!
i am not one to beg for comments, so don't think that i am about to do that - but it has come to my attention lately (thanks to google analytics) that people read my blog in states where i don't know a soul. also, sometimes people mention having seen something on my blog and i had no idea that they knew i had a blog! so... if you don't mind, could we do a little roll call?? just so i know who my audience is here...
i know my mom, clint's parents, and my sister are frequenters - and holly and tracie and JESSY(they always comment, so i know they are here!) but other than that, i have no idea!
so, i have made it so that anyone can comment - and you don't have to tell me how cute my child is or how amazing i am (although you may not be able to help yourself :) - just a quick "hi my name is..."
if i don't know you, no worries - don't be shy. i too am a blog stalker (see my updated list on the left). just a little howdy would be grand.
thank you. now get back to looking at adorable pictures of my beautiful baby boy.
sincerely,
jess

i'm all for arranged marriages...

owey sure misses his friend audra (they've been out of town for over a week!)
here are the last pictures i took of the two of them a few weeks ago. sooo funny!

looks to me like they've already got their roles pretty much figured out...



a: so today i was thinking. maybe i should try huggies instead of pampers. you know, maybe they'll just fit me better.
o: uh- huh.


a: i mean, i am gaining a little bit of weight, but i don't think it's noticeable... do you?
o: (pause, stare off into space so as to avoid the question)


a: oh great. i knew it. you think i'm fat don't you? is that what it is?
o: uh- what? i mean... no, i mean... whatever.

a: boo- hooo!!
o: dude, what did i say?


i laugh every time i see these!

(feel free to add your own captions... come on- it's fun!)

adventures in eating

we finally put use to this super cool high chair. (seriously - if you are shopping for a high chair, i HIGHLY recommend this one!)

this is how owey looks at us when he's ready to eat:


this is what he does if we are too slow:


he is totally into food now! the only problem is he already wants to do it himself (grabbing the spoon and practically gagging himself)!

julia turns 6

owey and i went up to the provosts last week to celebrate julia's birthday. it was so fun to spend the day with miq and her fam - it seems every time we have seen them in the last few months has been so rushed.



we had fun playing the wii, eating good food, and owey loved all the attention from grammy, auntie m, and his cousins.

i also had to get some pics of shortcake the dog. she is a cute puppy. and drew drew LOVES her.

an update in pictures (part 1)

some of my latest favorite pictures:


owey just has a look of wonder in his eyes lately. it is so fun to watch him discover the world around him.


love little boys in overalls!!


there's that look again!



the other night we put o to bed and about 1/2 hour later i realized that he was just awake talking to himself in his crib. i told clint to go look at his son, and next thing i knew this is how i found my boys... silly dad!

an update in pictures (part 2)

some more favorites:


little o is all but sitting up. he is so strong and will sit like this as long as he doesn't get distracted by his feet (you know how he loves to suck on his feet!)


bubbles, bubbles.


i just love that buttery baby skin!


getting kinda chunky!!