Porch

We spend a lot of time in our front yard and on our front porch. I bought Pete a couple squirt bottles and he loves spraying Abby, bees and me. Once in a while he gets Jamie right in the face. His new thing, drinking the "wa-wu". We eat our morning snack outside while watching people come and go from the gym next door. Usually we eat Doritos.
Pink Pumpkin. That's what my mom called her when we were in CA.
Waiting under Pete for some food to fall. There was a noodle under his chair and she tried to get it for like 5 minutes.
Pete took this picture of Jamie through his chair. She is where you see her above and I gave him the camera. Pete takes some really good pictures sometimes. P. wants to get him his own child-proof camera so he can further his picture taking interest and not ruin our camera.
Here is another one of her he took last week at the library. Not bad eh? He takes a lot of bad ones too though. Thank God for digital.

Jamie

I found a food Jamie doesn't like. Cheese. I gave her small bites of Colby Jack cheese cubes last week and I thought she ate them all up so I gave her more. Again, all gone. I got up to put our dishes in the sink and saw that she had dropped all the pieces on the floor. Jamie doesn't drop food on the floor. She eats it. So apparently she doesn't like cheese.

This past weekend we gave her a couple bites of chicken. See for yourself.

Jamie doesn't like chicken either.

Summer Fun

It may not be officially summer yet but we have had some nice "summer" weather off and on over the last month or so. It is warm, then it rains, then it gets hot, then it rains. Today it is raining. This was us last week Thursday. A local pool had an open house free to the public. We met a friend and her daughter there and stayed for 3 hours. The kids loved it. I felt like I was at a resort. I seriously considered signing up for a summer membership. Still thinking about it....but not as seriously.Jamie fully enjoyed the water and she was darling in her little bathing suit. No picture of the suit. This was her after she got changed into dry clothes to head home.
Pete having a snack and doing a little people watching. He also enjoyed the evening at the pool very much. Every time he sees a swim diaper around the house he says, "Me, me, me. Me wa-wu mama." And since last Thursday he has learned how to say "pool". I should just get him his pool membership, don't you think?
And on Saturday we enjoyed another nice day down at Riverside Park. They had a small dog fair called "Dog Days at the Park". Everything dog so of course we all loved it. But Abby stayed home, she is still not a dog to take out in public though at home I would say she is a really good dog. This is Pete pulling our wagon filled with our lunch cooler, chips, and blanket down the trail in the park. Pete is a worker. If something needs to be done, he is on it. P. says Pete never rests. There is always something to be done. Just like his dad.
Me and Sugar Ball in front of a dog exercise track and a bunch of St. Bernards under the tents. All very hot St. Bernards.
We try to get out and do fun things. I think it is good for the kids. And me. Pete gets to explore new things, see new places and experience different adventures. Jamie has a whole world of new things to learn. Our city always has stuff going on. I do like that about living here and I do enjoy how pretty it is with all the greenery and water. But with water and greenery come mosquitoes and once again we are dealing with the annoying bugs. Pete has about 30 bites right now. Within minutes they become red, swollen welts and by the next morning he can have bumps as big as golf balls under his skin. I put cortisone cream on them and we give him benadryl to help with the reactions. Poor guy, I wish there was something I could do for him. He woke up yesterday morning and showed me his wrist and said, "Bite." It looked terrible and it breaks my heart.

Yesterday I took Jamie to the doctor thinking she had chicken pox. Silly mommy. Jamie is allergic to mosquitoes too. Two kids allergic to mosquitoes. Now what do we do?

Go

Jamie hasn't said "mama" yet. But yesterday she started saying "go". Why? No idea. Sometimes I say, "ready, set, go" with Pete and maybe she hears that. But "go" came out a few times yesterday morning and later at the library I got it on video. Take a look. Listen carefully, it's right in the beginning then again when Pete comes over and she turns her head towards him. It would be kind of weird to tell people her first word was "go". We will see if it sticks or just babbling that happens to sound like a word.

10

Abby turned 10 yesterday. I have spent 10 years of my life with Abby and I love her very much. I am happy she has made it this long and I hope she lives another 10. She is a good dog. And I think she is happier and healthier than ever. You couldn't tell she was at the end of her average life span. Boxers live, on average, 8-10 years. I am watching her sleep right now. She is a good dog.

Every year she gets a birthday hot dog. We sang to her too but I think she was too excited to get to her hot dog that she didn't enjoy it.

Holiday Weekend

The weekend all started with a night out to see Sex and the City 2. A wonderful friend of ours came over to watch the kids and we headed out early to get popcorn an icee and a good seat. The movie was very entertaining. A little far fetched and sometimes shocking but overall I was pleased. The clothes were incredible and the girls were as witty and as beautiful as ever. Wish I could have seen a little more of Aidan though. :) While in the theater I remembered how fun a night at the movies could be in comparison to watching a rental at home. Totally different experience but not quite as convenient and it's all about convenience and cost these days. Looking forward to SITC 3. It may be the next time I make it to the movies.Sat morning we headed up to my in-laws house. My nephew turned 13 over the weekend so we had a little party on Sunday. We made it up there around noon, had some wonderful chinese buffet, and got home to put the kids to bed. When they woke up we went over to my BIL's house for some swimming. Here is Jamie in the lake for the first time. She ate a lot of sand. No surprise right? And really liked the water, more than Pete I think.
"This stuff is interesting. Feels funny between my fingers. I think I will eat a whole bunch."
Eating sand, relaxing in the water, getting some sun.
Dad and son trying not to get too wet. We joke, dad and Pete stay clear of the cold water, mom and Jamie jump right in.
Me and my kiddos. It is so fun to experience things like this with them for the first time. Wish we could visit more often but it's a long drive for 2 kids who really don't like to be in the car and don't sleep in the car like other children.
My favorite picture of the little ball of sugar.
On the pontoon boat with dad.
With cousin Katelyn.
With cousin Katelyn's Rockstar drink.
Riding on the tractor with Opa.
Getting a buzz for the summer. The haircut makes him look so much older. I want him to grow it back.
Snuggling with dad. Yes, Pete is naked. It was after his bath after his haircut and he loves to run around in the nude.
Sunday for the bday party. Mom taking a little break. I remember the days when I used to lay out for hours. I fully enjoyed these 5 minutes.
In the shade with the grandparents.
Yummy ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. And that's my BIL, me, BIL's girlfriend, my nephew cutting the cake and a friend of his.
Jamie getting a little cake from her Omi. Omi loves to feed her anything and everything. Jamie doesn't mind.


Found this shirt at Old Navy. It was like $3.39 after 40% off sale price. I bought two. How perfect huh? Life long Laker fan, Lakers win playoffs and headed to the finals, cheap and cute. Go L.A.Pete can play with a hose for hours. Stay clear if you want to stay dry.Popping water balloons.
Jamie pooped, gotta go!

Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.....

On our drive up to my in-laws this past weekend.

Siblings

Jamie thinks Pete is the funniest person in the whole world. This "jump and make sissy laugh thing" went on for at least 15 minutes last night. When he first started doing it she would laugh so hard she couldn't breathe.

Little Guy

Pete has grown up before my eyes. He talks all the time. He jokes. We have conversations. He plays more on his own. He puts together big puzzles. He tries to keep his sister out of trouble. He pees in a potty. Pete is sweet, gentle and growing up too fast. But I love every minute of it.

Here is him painting a flower pot for his grandmother this week. A little belated Mother's Day present but made with lot's of love.He may be growing up but he is still our little boy.

9 Months

I know, Jamie is closer to 10 months now but I wanted to update you on her 9 month doctor's appointment that we just had yesterday. The doc walks in and the first thing she says is, "Holy cow she looks like Pete!" I said, "I know, everyone says that."

Jamie is perfectly healthy, right on track and one active little girl. The two of us could hardly hold her still to do the exam.

Jamie is in the 50th percentile of weight and 95th percentile of height. She is tall! And active. See below.
Love you to death my little 9 month, going on 10 months, old.

Sunday at the Park

We BBQ'd hamburgers at our favorite park on Sunday. It was a beautiful evening and the kids had a blast. Jamie loved the water but every other second she put a rock in her mouth so I had to keep her out. She was not happy about that.

Here are the great pictures of our family night at the creek.
Yes, she is very ticklish and her giggles are to die for. Wet, muddy and fists full of rocks. Yum.My little wet angel. More fun at home. It was a wet day. The weather lately has been toasty. Hot and humid but I am not going to complain. Could be much worse and I prefer this weather any day.Pete playing ball with the neighborhood kids. He is the tiny one on the far left in the blue shirt and red shorts.

Outfits

Yes, I dressed Pete up in a ladybug costume. And yes, he loved it. P. told him someday he wasn't going to love the pictures. We received a bag of hand me downs on Friday and this costume was in there. Jamie will look so sweet in it next year and all the other awesome clothes we received. I tell you, we are very blessed. And Pete just looks so cute as a ladybug. Too bad it wasn't a turtle costume.Jamie can officially wear this onsie. I bought it in Laguna Beach when I was pregnant with Pete. Remember that pooping problem she had when she was born? Well, it has cleared itself up nicely and now she poops 2-3 times a day. It's a lot of fun but it's what I prayed for.

"Me Eat"

"Mom, can I have this granola bar?"P. jokes to me, just let her have it already.Snack time with Abby waiting in the background for something to fall.

Lazy Morning

It's a hot one today. The air conditioner is running and Pete is just in his big boy underwear. The kids played in the window together this morning and I caught a few precious pictures of them.

Pepperoni

Whoever put the pepperoni on our frozen pizza must not have been paying attention to even spacing of the slices.