My 1 year old!

Happy Birthday Owen!

You are 1 already.  Wow, this year flew by.  You are growing stronger and smarter day by day.  You caught up quick for being a month early.  You are still the sweet cuddly baby you were at the beginning.  You are happy, playful, flirty, 'talkative', sweet, curious, adventurous, daring, lovable.  You adore your big Sis so much.  You are always giving her smiles and wanting to play with her.  She is teaching you lots of things like colors and shapes and how to eat foods play with toys.  She takes her job of helping you and protecting you very seriously!  She can play a little rough and love you a little too hard at times but this just helps you to be stronger.  Your sister loves you very much.

You like to do a lot of things these days.  You love playing in the kitchen, banging pots and pans, stirring with spoons.  You love trucks and cars and tools.  You like to ride your motorcycle.  You like books.  You LOVE water- the bath, the pool, the wet grass.  Getting wet is really really fun.  You and your sister play in the sandbox a lot.  Can you please stop putting the sand in your mouth?

You like to put things into containers and take them out.  This activity never gets boring.  You like to show us what you can do.  Cleanup is more of a game to you instead of a chore.

You like a wide variety of foods.  You love eggs, ground beef, oatmeal, apples, watermelon, cheerios, yogurt.  You have a very good appetite.  You are growing bigger and bigger every day.  You have 6 teeth now!  You love feeding me pieces of food with your sticky fingers.  I love how it makes you smile and giggle.

You are very ticklish.  It doesn't take much to get you to giggle.  I think you are close to taking your first solo steps.  You have said Mama and Dada and now we're waiting for you to say Lia!

We are all so blessed to have you in our family.  You are an amazing baby and your growing into an amazing boy.  We can't wait to see what you learn this next year!

It's a party!

We decided to have a double party to celebrate Lia's 4th and Owen's 1st birthday.  The weather was perfect for a backyard party.  Paul grilled pizza's.  We played games.  The kids played and played.  There was lots of laughter and love and relaxation and fun.  I think the cake was Lia's favorite part.  It was so great getting family and friends together.  And since, the kids birthdays are only 8 days apart, a double party was the way to go!

My 4 year old!

Happy Birthday Lia!

I can't believe you are 4 years old now.  I remember thinking there was a huge difference from 2 to 3 years and now I have the same feeling- there's a huge difference from 3 to 4 years.  You are becoming your own individual in this world.  You are fiercely independent, silly and sweet.  You are strong willed, determined, a go-getter, a manager, an executive, a theatrical drama Queen (ha)! 

You like to try new things.  You like to make your brother giggle.  You like art, music, dressing up, taking care of baby dolls, walking Monkey.  You can draw little people.  You love to cut paper!  You can write your name and Mom and Dad.  You like to 'work' in the garden, picking peas and weeding.  You like to get dirty.  You do not like bugs.  You don't like being hot (just like your Dad).  You like to have picnics and cook in the kitchen.  You love going swimming.  You are now brave enough to put your head under water.  You like fishing.  You love ice cream.  I think Dad is your favorite person right now.  You like school.  You love books!

You are wild, spontaneous, fun, smart, sensitive.  You make me laugh.  You are an amazing individual.  You are going to do great things in this world.  You are my big girl!