Because he's so cute...and a new tradition

Jenny took these of my little man...can't believe he posed for her...can't get him to even look at the camera for me....she's very talented, isn't she? Hopefully she'll be opening up her own studio one of these days....

Also, wanted to share a new tradition I shamelessly stole from Jamie Waters (love her blog...she's is adorable and has 4 kids!). When it is your birthday in our house, from now on, I will make a photo display of favorite photos of that special person. I did it for the boys this year. Spencer enjoyed seeing himself in all the pictures, in fact, he was a little put out when I returned the original pictures to the frames. "Hey, where's my picture?" he wanted to know!

Have a wonderful weekend!

200 posts...and party pics!

woweee..my 200th post! Can't believe it! And ta-da, more pirate party pics for your viewing pleasure....

And in other news, we are sad to hear that our beloved babysitter, Margo, is moving to Iowa to be with her only child, Jake, who is married. We have adored her and better yet, our boys love her! She is one of Coop's favorite people. I am so happy for her, but sad for us and for Coop. He has one more year before pre-school, so he needs to be in daycare one more year, and he'll have to be with someone new. We will miss Margo terribly. I get teary eyed thinking of it...she comes to their parties and is just an important part of our life. We have about 3 more weeks to see her. I have to pay for daycare even though I am not working now, but it's kind of nice, to be honest. She lets me bring both boys a few times a week instead of just Coop. Yesterday they ate lunch and took their naps there so I could run errands, Target, grocery store, etc. in peace. Joe and I get a chance to go to lunch alone and actually eat at a restaurant, something that parents of small children rarely get to do and I miss! God bless our Margo! (Here she is with Coop last summer.)

Some pictures...

I didn't take many pictures, waiting for my sister to send the disc of pictures she took, but here are some of the party! I guess I should say before the party. My guests shots aren't that great. I didn't even get a shot of my two cuties together...waah!!!!

Also, beach book alert!!! Just finished another book...Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot, and loved it! Very fun! Perfect book for lounging by the pool or hanging at the beach. I read it in a day. While making dinner, while Spence and I rested....

More later!

Happy birthday, Cooper!

It's my little man's 2nd birthday today! Yay! He's a great little boy, so clever and cuddlely, and all boy...obsessed with balls and cars. Loves his mama lots! Kind of a loner. Always climbing. Likes The Wiggles. Starting to get into books. Can't sit still very well. Loves chocolate! Carries a blue blanket with him everywhere. Says "uh-oh" a lot. A man of few words. Wants to be outside all the time. Adore that kid!

catchin' up...

Whew, where did this week go by? Did a lot, though. Spencer finished his first week of swim lessons, I am reading a fiction book, so happy about that! Had my family over for dinner last night, though Mom rocked and made and brought the food, guess I didn't really do much...thanks, MOM!!!!! Meg was in town, as well as Jenny and Justin, so it was fun to be together. We all watched a really raunchy movie together afterwards...can you guess? No, not Borat. Lots of laughs, though! :-)

Now, I am relaxing a bit. Our wonderful friend Stephanie threw a party for our boys today...a joint pirate swim birthday party! So much fun! Her parents' backyard is perfect for parties, so we had the pool, a monkey lagoon with a small pool for the babies, a Mt. Tiki Soaki sprinkler area, and several areas of pirate loot and skeletons set up in the gardens. There was also a tent filled with fish streamers and balloons that the kids had to crawl through to get to their pirate booty gift bags. It was incredible! steph is SO talented in party planning, and decorating, and directing, and singing, and acting...our boys adore her, too! I will post the pictures when I get them dowlaoded onto the computer. For now, I'll post some fun ones from last night (no one is 3 this year, but that was the only candle we had on hand!) and cousins this week. Lovin' Meg's fun shirt! Ha! Those rugby players don't have any clean sayings! Hee-hee! Have a super summer day!!!!

Happy Birthday to Spence!

Yesterday was his 4th birthday! How is it that my baby is 4??? He was so excited that he woke up at 6:15 AM, coming in to tell me he was 4! He had a fun day. We played all morning, and Grandma came over to give him what he really, really wanted: The Polar Express train set. He is obsessed with the Polar Express. He threw his hands up and shouted, "This is what I really wanted! I love it!" Too cute.

He also started swim lessons yesterday. And had McDonald's for dinner, his dinner pick. Then we had family over for cake and ice cream. And we tried to get a family picture, but boys don't pose...love 'em anyways!

It's my week!

Yes, it is! Wednesday was my birthday! Hello, 30-something....heeeheee....had 4 celebrations, lucky me! And tomorrow is Mother's Day! I love being a mom! How can one truly put into words how it feels to be a mom...I could go and on, but I think most of you know the feeling...:-)

So, i will leave you with what you most care about...the pictures....the one of me and boys (not posing, of course...) on my birthday. They gave me a "princess party"! One of me and my man about to go out for steak!

One of Spencer celebrating his pre-school birthday (summer birthdays celebrate early...though it did trick him a bit. He kept saying he was 4!)

Happy birthday shout outs to Maddie, who is 11! Morgan, who is 1!! And Robin, my fellow birthday gal! Happy wedding wishes to my cousin Paolo and his bride, Julia...so wishing I could have been there for their Italian wedding, I am sure it was beautiful! :-)

Star birthdays

Did you know that you have a star birthday when you are the same age as your birthdate? So, on June 4, Spencer will be 4...it's his star birthday this year! Tomorrow is his pre-school birthday celebration...because he has a summer birthday...so he and Grandma made star cupcakes to share! He did a great job! Thanks, Grandma, for coming over and facilitating this activity...Coop was in quite a feisty mood, think he is gearing up for 2! But I did manage to get a pretty cute picture of him!

Partyin'

Happy Birthday to Jake and Kyle! We went to cousin Jake's party last night...he's 4! He got a skateboard for his birthday. He was very excited! Today we went to Kyle's party...he's 1! His party was the gymnastics center where Spence used to take "nastics", as he called it. The kids had a blast! They were running all over the place. Both of my boys conked out once we got home. Even Daddy got in on the action...he was on the rings doing flips and on the trampoline. Kyle's Daddy is his good friend, so they had fun. Have a great week!

Da Bears...and a child for sale...

OK, so i am not a football fan, but hey, if it's my hometown, not to mention everyone in my family's favorite team, then...go Bears!!! Yes, we even sat and watched the game (some of it anyway). So excited, they haven't been in the Superbowl since 1985! and the first black coach in the Superbowl...lots of exciting stuff...

Meanwhile, here on the home front, one child for sale, one cute, smiley, 19 month old who in the space of about 1 hour:

a. knocked my contact out of my eye, it's lost forever...

b. dumped out 3/4 of a box of Cheerios

c. knocked over a lamp in the family room and the light bulb blew out

Luckily, Daddy arrive home in the nick of time, I was ready to go list him on craigslist.com...ha!

Happy Birthday (a little belated) to Casey, friend in LA, and Brian, our Tennesse friend...go check his site for the link to his new home being built...gorgeous! And happy birthday to my brother, feels weird to say that...Justin!!!! Jen and Just had a nice birthday, I think he went snowboarding and then they went out to Buca de Beppo for dinner...love that place...

I guess I'll keep C. after all...he's really cute....

She's here!

Baby news: Lillian Emily (to be called Lily) is here! She was born yesterday to our friends Chip and Vicki. She's a gorgeous, big baby (9 lbs, 6 oz...if I am correct). Joe and I drove down to LA, picking up Ryan on the way, and surprised Chip and Vicki at the hospital in Fullerton! They were excited! I think Chip needed that, it had been a long night for them...We swooped him out and went to dinner so Vicki could rest. It was a great time! I am so excited for them! Welcome to parenthood!
And then Joe and I drove home that night, after a quick visit in Burbank with Ryan and Jillian. It was snowing so hard on the grapevine, which we didn't even realize for a while. We thought it was just hard rain, but no, I finally looked to the side and saw snow! Wow, was it windy, too! We saw police escorts on the other side, and realized we probably had just missed having an escort. We were tired, but happy to be home at 3 AM. And of course, my lovely son Spencer, who I missed on our trip to LA, woke up early today...so I am looking forward to naptime, to say the least!
Happy birthday also to Tyler, Spencer & Cooper's cousin. And Margo, Cooper's precious babysitter....Jan. 4 is a great day to be born!:-)

Flashback Friday...late

OOPS...I'm a day late...here's pics from 2004...Spencer & Daddy in Santa Barbara and me and my man going to Shea's wedding...

Happy Birthday also to Evan, Tegan's brother, who was 1 yesterday! Also, my friend Kelly had her 4th child, baby boy Caden, yesterday! Congrats to her family!