The Douglas Family Visits!

The Douglas Family came to visit us this weekend all the way from Texas! Tracy and I have been friends for 13 years and I really miss living close to her! It was a quick trip but we really enjoyed spending time together and watching our kiddos play.

Owen tried to entertain Cecily and even shared his toys with her (most of the time). He did get a bit rowdy at times, but did pretty good for playing with a one year old.

Owen and Cecily splashed together in the bath! She is such a cutie!

On Saturday Tracy and I spent most of the day in Reno while Micah and Matt hung out with Owen and Cecily. They all went on a little winter hike.

Cecily slept the entire way.

We're so lucky to have such wonderful friends!

Adler is 4 Months Old

Adler had her 4 month doctor appointment earlier this week and is growing wonderfully. She's now 16 pounds, 10 ounces (95th percentile) and 24.5 inches long (50th percentile). She's also just started sitting by herself this week. She's a bit wobbly, but certainly surprised me by sitting so soon!

Adler's Great Grannie mailed her these pillow pets for Christmas.

I love this shot of Micah and Adler getting ready for bed.

Here she is showing off her mad skills.....sitting all by herself.

Owen also had his 3 year check-up and is 40 inches tall (95th percentile) and 35 pounds (80th percentile). He passed all the doctor's developmental tests and was thrilled that he didn't have to get a shot like Adler!

Our Weekend

We've had a fun weekend filled with cooking, sledding, and snowman building. Here's some pictures from the past few days.

Here's Adler all bundled up in her car seat.

Adler likes to spend time in her play saucer now. It's hard to believe she already likes to stand up, but she definitely prefers standing to laying. And she really likes to watch her big brother play around her. He's very entertaining!

We go to Dream Dinners about once a month to prepare a bunch of meals. I took Owen with me on Friday for Kids Night. He helped out with a few meals and then played games with his friend Sofia the rest of the time.

While Owen and I were busy preparing meals, Micah played dress-up with Adler.

Owen & Sofia

Owen loves watching Curious George....his favorite cartoon! And lucky for him we have a DVR so he can watch it on demand. Lucky kid. I had to wait until Saturday morning for my favorite cartoons.

Meet Mr. Carrot Nose.

This is the very busy (and sometimes dangerous) sledding hill we went to today on top of Spooner Summit.

Ryder, Kameron and Owen

Here we climb up once again. Owen LOVES to sled! He was absolutely exhausted when we left after 2 hours of sledding.

Sofia, Kameron, Ryder & Owen

Mr. Independent

Owen likes to do things on his own as often as possible. He likes to put on his jacket, comb his hair, peel his bananas, turn on the TV, and take pictures all by himself. Here's a few funny stories about Owen that show how independent he has become.....

Story #1
I actually took both Owen and Adler to Wal-Mart by myself a few nights ago. What was I thinking? I absolutely hate going to Wal-Mart, but for some reason I end up there occasionally anyways. About half way through our shopping trip I was running all the way across the giant store wearing Adler, pushing a cart full of stuff and chasing a toddler who was holding his butt screaming "Poop is coming out, poop is coming out." Luckily we made it to the bathroom just in time and Adler and I had to wait in the bathroom for 20 minutes while he took care of business. Fast forward about 30 minutes later. We're in the middle of checking out, with a line of impatient people waiting behind us. I'm digging through the diaper bag searching for my wallet when I hear Owen scream, "Be right back, Mom" as he disappeared into the men's rest room. WHAT? My three year old just walked into the MEN'S rest room in WAL-MART all by himself???? There could be child molesters and kidnappers in there. I honestly didn't know what to do. I was in complete shock. Should I abandon all my groceries and rush into the men's bathroom to save him? I couldn't decide. So, I ended up keeping my eye on the exit to the bathroom and paid for all my items. Right about that time he came running out of the bathroom with a huge smile on his face and said, "Mom, me washed my hands all by myself!"

Story #2
A few weeks ago I was rushing around one morning, trying to get the Owen to school and me to work. Adler was in her swing and I told Owen I was going to run outside to warm up the car real quick. When I walked back into the house I looked down the hallway and noticed Adler was no longer in her swing. Owen was standing there looking so proud of himself. As I walked closer I saw that Owen had dragged Adler's car seat carrier all the way down the hallway into the kitchen, lifted his 15 pound sister out of the swing and placed her in the car seat all by himself. She was laying there all crooked in her seat, but unharmed and fairly happy. What a big helper (but I told him to never do that again)!

Story #3
About 10 minutes after Story #2 (as we were still all trying to get out the door), I walked into the kitchen to find Owen standing on top of the counter reaching above the refrigerator, trying to grab the dog treats. We normally give the dogs a treat as we are leaving the house and Owen was going to take care of that chore all by himself. Good grief! That was two heart attacks I had in a matter of minutes!

Our Weekend

We had a fun weekend, filled with a massage for me (heaven), two parties and lots of friend time. Owen went to Kameron's fourth birthday party at the bowling alley. Check out all the kids at the party.

Owen takes after his Uncle Matt.....he bowls like he's throwing the shot put! In the picture he was screaming, "Get out of the way, Mom!"

Adler got passed around a lot, as everyone wanted to hold her. Here she is being held by Steve (looking very manly) with Lawrence and Baby Richard.

Brenda and JP were playing with Adler here. She enjoyed pulling JP's beard.

We also made it to Reno for Adler to take her 4 month pictures. It will be a few weeks before we see them and I can hardly wait! Afterwards we went to see our friends Enid, Cory, Brock and Theo. Theo is the only baby we know that is bigger than Adler! He's such a cutie and they're both pretty chunky.

And while the babies relaxed on the floor, Owen and Brock ran around the house and played in Brock's cool fort.

Calm

Things are pretty calm around here in the new year. All of our company is back in Texas and we're just back to our normal routine. Here's a few pictures of what we've been up to.

It was time for Owen to get a BIG BOY BED! This bed makes his room look so tiny, but he's been sleeping so much better in this bed. No more waking up in the middle of the night screaming! And it has some extra storage and a trundle bed at the bottom.

He likes the fishies on his sheets.

About a week ago we went to dinner at our friends house and here are all the moms and crazy kiddos.

Here is Adler being her typical smiley self!

Adler Giggles

Adler has started giggling....really laughing out loud! It is the cutest thing ever! And of course the funniest thing for her to laugh at is her daddy. Here she is in her happy place....the changing table. She loves to lay on her changing table and just smile away.

The Little Artist

Owen loves art. He enjoys coloring, painting, writing, and other art projects. For a long time we've been enjoying his scribbles. But recently he's started drawing with intention. A week or two ago he surprised us with this portrait of his Grandma.

Many of you may look at this and wonder what the big deal is? But when he goes from crazy, meaningless scribbles to drawing a face, it's very exciting! I was completely impressed with the details, like the hair and even glasses. I'm hoping he has inherited his father's creativity and talent!

December Catch-up

I have a ton of pictures left to share from December, so I compiled them all into a slide show. We had a lot of company these past few weeks, including Micah's parents and brother, and then my mom and step-dad. Their trips overlapped a few days, so we definitely had a full house. But it was so much fun having everyone here and getting to spend quality time with them. They were all such a big help with the kiddos and now our house seems unusually quiet. We are so lucky that our families are willing and able to fly to Nevada so often to visit us! Sometimes it's hard being so far away, but we make it work (although I know our parents are wishing and hoping for us to move back to Texas very soon). Saying goodbye is difficult for everyone.

Welcome 2010!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

from our family to yours!

This time last year I didn't even know I was pregnant yet and had no idea we would have a beautiful baby girl by the end of the year. What a wonderful surprise for 2009! Now I wonder what 2010 has in store for our family.....