A new addition!

I had been begging Jr for YEARS to have a puppy, and he's always said "Not right now.." for various reasons. Well, we ended up talking about it last week and found the PERFECT puppy for us. No matter how tough Jr acts, he's a softie at heart, and would do anything to make me and the kids happy. So we went and got him! YAY!

So... Meet Diesel!

I'm a firm believer that kids need to grow up around animals. I believe that it helps build character and responsibility, as well as generally makes kids better people. When Devin, Kailynn, and Leilah are old enough, they will all share different chores with taking care of him. 

Devin already loves him, although Diesel is almost as big as him! Devin says, "That MY puppy." He loves petting him, but still gets a little scared when Diesel tires to play with him. 

We are so excited for the newest addition to our family! 

We have a crawlerrrr!

Leilah is officially crawling :]... It's more of an army crawl at the moment, but it still gets her where she needs to go lol.

It still fascinates me how fast time seems to be flying lately. Maybe it's because I'm so busy with two children now at home? I still think of Leilah as a little 3/4 month old little baby, and always get a jolt of surprise when I remember, "Wow, she's already 7 months old." My baby girl is now closer to being a year old than she is to being a newborn. 

Here's a video of her army crawl :]

Something else I've been meaning to blog about: my poor plants. 

I had the bright idea this year in spring, to try to grow my own flowers in pots in the house. I love flowers and I thought, "This will be so easy.".... NOT. 

I was so excited that after a week or two after planting the flowers, I saw little sprouts shooting up! I even called Jr at work and gushed to him about it! Well, for some reason I guess I just don't have a green thumb because they all just died :[. I think maybe they needed more sunlight, or maybe I didn't water them enough... I'm not exactly sure. 

I don't really get it, because I'm EXCELLENT at taking care of animals and kids... But my plants just always die. I have the anti-green thumb. 

When I work up the courage... I will try again, and one day I'll have beautiful flowers that I can say I grew on my own. 

6 months old and 4th of July

Life has been so busy lately that I'm finding it hard to remember to update on here! I can't believe it has already been 3 weeks since I've blogged. Jeeeezz! Get it together Nancy! 

Leilah is now 6 months old! It's amazing how fast these last 6 months have really flown by. 

Gosh! She has grown so much!

At 6 months:

•  her eczema has finally ALMOST cleared up... Not completely... But we're almost there. 
• she's mobile! not quite crawling yet, but she scoots and rolls EVERYWHERE.
• she loves her big brother and is constantly watching him and following him around 
• is eating baby food, but it's a battle everyday 
• her eyes are now a greenish/hazel color instead of blue
• her hair is growing (I can't wait to be able to put it in pony tails :]) and is turning an almost auburn brown
• she loves baths and splashing in the water in our little pool
• she will only laugh for Devin, but will smile for everyone else
• she "yells" at you when you're not paying attention to her

Here are some recent pictures of her:

This is mid- "yell"

Hanging out outside after swimming in the pool

Such a pretty girl

You can see the color of her eyes in this one

Trying so hard to crawl

Rolling around on the floor

This past weekend was 4th of July, one of my favorite holidays! We went to a BBQ at our friends house and lit off fireworks. It was so nice outside and a great, relaxing, and fun day. 

"Ball broken!"

Daddy and Devin playing games with the other guys

Leilah in her 4th of July dress

Kisses for my baby

Devin sitting with Mommy to watch fireworks

helping Devin with his sparkler

Daddy helping Devin

Devin loves sparklers

Sitting with Grandma he says "Noisy fireworks Mommy!"

Worn out at the end of the night

My babies decked out for 4th of July in Red, White and Blue

We had so much fun. Devin loved the fireworks and playing with the other little boys. He even loved the BIG fireworks even though they were "NOISY" :].

Update: Devin

My little boy is getting sooo big! He doesn't qualify as a "baby" anymore (even though he'll always be MY baby boy). Anytime I call him baby, he says, "No, Mommy, me big boy!"
I was on my old computer going through pictures this morning, and is so crazy to see how much he's grown. 
Look at this great picture I found from when he was 3 months old:

Gosh, how the time has FLOWN by!

He's almost 2 1/2 now, and is talking up a storm! He knows his numbers all the way up to 20, he can tell me which number is which if I point to them (even out of order), he knows his numbers up to 10 in Spanish. I can actually have a full blown conversation with him now :]. 

His loves:

• playing with Daddy
• giving Leilah hugs,kisses, and "talking" her
• playing with anything outside
• reading
• Cheerios, Mac n cheese, and Peanut butter and jelly
• Dora the Explorer, Bubble Guppies, and Max and Ruby(TV shows)
• swimming or playing in the bath
• milk!

His dislikes:

• going to bed and taking naps lol
• picking up his toys
• when Daddy has to go to work
• when Kailynn has to go back to her mom's house
• pouring water over his head in the bath

I wanted to make these lists, so that in a year from now, I can look back and compare how different he is!


Here's a couple pictures from the last few months :]

He loves animals :]

My big boy helping out.

Silly boy :]

Laughing with me.

A Little Bit of Everything

Wow! I can't believe it's already been about 6 weeks since I posted last. Sheesssh! We've been pretty busy around here. I have so much to update on! 

Leilah's ears pierced 4/17

When Leilah turned 4 months old, we decided to take her to get her ears pierced. She did great! Barely even cried :]. 

My beautiful baby :]

Easter 4/24

We had so much fun this year! Kailynn was here, so on Saturday afternoon, the kids and I colored eggs with their cousins.

Then on Easter day, we got dressed up and had an Easter egg hunt at our house and the kids opened their baskets.

 Then later in the day, we went over to Jr's sister's house and celebrated Easter there with dinner and ANOTHER Easter egg hunt for the kids :]. It was a really great day and so much fun for us and the kids.

Jr and I got new tattoos 4/29-4/30

While in California for my grandmother's 80th birthday, Jr and I went to visit his cousin Robert, who is an awesome tattoo artist. Jr had been thinking about getting a tattoo for his father (who passed away in Nov. '09) and I had been wanting to get a tattoo in honor of my niece, Ojaio, who has Cystic Fibrosis. 

Jr's isn't finished yet. There is still a whole other part that he wants to add on. But I'll keep that a secret for him until he gets it down. I'll post another picture when he gets it finished.

Grandma's 80th Birthday Party 4/30

The whole reason we went to California for the weekend, was to be there for my grandmother's 80th birthday party. Most of my family had never met Leilah yet, and some hadn't even met Devin yet, so We thought it would be great to celebrate her birthday, and get to see all of the family. Here's some of my favorite pictures from the party:

Mother's Day 5/8

Mother's Day was also a fun day. Jr and the kids got me a really nice straightener for my hair (my old one was acting up) and we went out to lunch at Olive Garden. It had been such a long time since we had been there that it totally hit the spot :]. 

I loved these 3 pictures of me and my babies :]

These were the big things that have happened the last few weeks. But there are so many things I want to write about! 

Coming soon:

• Update on Leilah's milestones and pictures
• Update on Devin's milestones and pictures
• Reviews on Eat,Pray,Love , Firefly Lane, and What Happened to Goodbye (books I recently read)
• Plants died :(
• Couponing

Botanical Gardens, Book Club, and growing plants!

Yesterday was a beautiful day and we just couldn't stay inside. We always go to the park, so I thought we would do something new. I had been wanting to go to the Western Slope Botanical Gardens for awhile, so I figured, "Why not?"

Leilah, Devin and I.. This is my favorite picture of the 3 of us.

Devin and I looking at the Box turtle.

Devin LOVED the Koi fish.

My favorite flowers- Orchids.

My babies and I again :]

Devin loved this great train out in the gardens.

Leilah bug watching the butterflies.

Pretty butterfly landed right next to me.

The box turtle.

Beautiful Koi fish.

It was really beautiful there, and Devin had a great time. Leilah even had fun looking around at all the colors. I'm glad we went, it was something new and fun to do on a quiet day.

So, the other day, the group of moms I talk to online and I decided that we should start a book club because we all like to read! I just blogged about how much reading means to me not too long ago, and I can't even tell you how excited I am about this book club. Our first choice of book is Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. 

I had never heard of this book before, but when I read what it was about, I could already feel myself being pulled in. I love that- when a book pulls you in from the beginning, and you just can't put it down.

I'm still finishing up Eat Pray Love (which I LOVE by the way... I'll write about that later.), but I can't wait to start this new book.

I posted pictures last week of the pots that I planted flowers in. I have been OCD about watering them everyday, and I check on them constantly. The other day while watering, I was so excited to see little sprouts poking through the soil!! I've never grown anything in my whole life! 

I'm so proud of myself. I can't wait to see how beautiful these flowers grow to be. 

Tomorrow, Leilah is 4 months old! And I think we're going to go get her ears pierced! I'll post pictures!