SUTTON

Sutton still surprises me everyday with something different that he does! He is the happiest, silliest toddler I have ever seen. I was telling ever body that I thought he was probably about 25 pounds. Well, when I took him to the doctor last month (the first of many in the month for the never-ending ear/sinus infections he had) he was 33 pounds and 33 inches tall! I couldn't believe he was even bigger than I thought. He is starting to talk a lot. Not very many words yet, but they are coming quickly.

Sutton already is the one that lightens all of our moods whenever we need a little pick-me-up. He makes sure that none of us wake up on the wrong side of the bed by being so cheery in the morning. He calms Owen down when he is in the middle of some first class fits by tackling him with giant hugs every time he's in timeout. He gives the best goodnight cuddles and kisses to all of us at the end of a long day. He greets us with a smiley "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" or "Dada, Dada, Dada" everytime we get home feeling stressed from work and worried that we missed our kids entire day. And hopefully this picture makes every body's day a little happier:

Him and Owen both got toy workbenches for Christmas and they love them. These are the goggles that came with the Bob the Builder tool set. He is hilarious when he plays, usually holding a drill in one hand and a hammer in the other going to town on the poor plastic screws.


He has been folding his hands together a lot lately. So cute.



Here he is talking to my parents on the web cam. He loves to see them on it, but I have to very strategically place the computer where he can't attack it.

Awe, my little monkey.

OWEN

My sweet little baby now seems like a giant to me! When we went to the doctor last week he was 44 lbs and 44 inches tall. As Owen said, "Hey, just like I'm 4, those numbers all have 4's." His favorite thing to do is anything involved with arts and crafts. I know that most kids feel this way, but he REALLY loves it. He will work on a project for hours at a time and get a kick out of picking who he will give it to. We need to get better about actually sending it to whoever he chooses! It's usually for one of his second cousins that he barely remembers even meeting, or his cousin Kierstyn. He also loves the outdoors. The first picture is a lookout point about half the way up to Mt. Lemmon. We stopped there after sledding with Ryan and Brandon (Colin's cousin and his son).

Bri gave Owen glow-in-the-dark skeleton pjs last fall. And she is a genius for doing this! I think he liked them more than any present he's ever received. He immediately asked to wear them for Halloween. Yes! This is a pic of him at his school party.

Here he is in his snow gear at Mt. Lemmon. I will try to post a video of them sledding later. It was awesome! I couldn't believe how much fun Owen had. He did not whine or complain about anything all day... with all the walking, climbing, falling, getting wet, being cold, etc. I definitely was expecting him to. He was a happy trooper all day and couldn't believe how exciting it was to play in the snow. I wish we could have done it more this winter. Darn the whole no snow in the desert thing! I think it's 90 degrees out today!

Owen is 4, going on 14! Sometimes he reminds me so much of a teenager it's scary. Actually, now that I really think about it, just one particular teenager... my brother Rory when he was younger. (Absolutely no offense, Rory, I mean this in the nicest way possible!) Most of the time he is a huge sweetheart, especially towards his brother. He is learning so much in preschool that it is amazing! He really likes to learn when he feels like he is getting it, and will work on something for hours at a time if he is doing well. However, if he feels like he doesn't get something, he gets instantly embarrassed and does not want to finish. He has a "no" attitude and his favorite phrase right now is "I can't do it." I thought 4 year olds were supposed to want to gain independence. If Owen had his way (and he way too often does) I would dress, feed, and help him go to the bathroom all the time! I'm trying to help him gain the self-confidence to want to try to do things for himself, but it has definitely been a struggle lately! Going to school and having a lot of friends there is helping. It's so sad to see him get hurt, because he feels the pain of embarrassment way more than the physical pain. The first thing he says when he falls down is "I didn't fall".

He wants to take Karate lessons so badly! We've told him he can start when he's 5. He is fine with this and talks about how he's waiting until he's 5. But, he's taking the waiting so well and is so darn cute when he's practicing, we might cave before then.

Here he is on the Heisey's quad. He loves it! But don't worry, he only rides with Colin and they go about 5mph on the dirt lot next to our house.

Here is Owen at the lake last summer. Another of his favorite days ever!

Colin's dad gave Owen a shovel for his first Christmas (He was 2 months old). Owen has been waiting to use it ever since (But not as much as Greg and Colin have been waiting for him to use it). This summer he definitely got his use out of it. He had a lot of fun with it around the house.

Owen and his baby cousin Ellie:
She is adorable!

A Quick Review Session

Way too much has happened over the past few months to record all of my favorite things, but I want to atleast have the big milestones recorded. And I know my mom has many, many pictures she's waiting to see. So here are a few events...

Sutton started walking at about 11 months.  It seems like so long ago that he was a tiny baby, and yet it seems like yesterday.  I know that every parent in the world says this same thing, but it really is still a surprisingly unbelievable feeling.

Sutton turned 1 on Sept. 20th. We had a small party for him and our friend Kelly (who is his godmother and shares the same b-day).  He really enjoyed the cake.  But my horrible photography skills definitely did not capture the joy.

Owen turned 4 on November 4th. It was a Spiderman extravaganza that would be hard to top! We had the party at a nearby park and rented a jumping castle that was a big hit. Unfortunately, we were having too much fun and things were way to chaotic to take very many pictures.  And by very many, I actually me NONE.  Sorry, Bud.  Hopefully we can get some from the Grandmas.

Colin has been working at his dad's CPA business. Things are going well, but very busy until April 15th. I have had a very hectic schedule for the last couple of months that is hopefully slowing down for a while.

This is depressing... but this picture is the one and only picture of all four of us.  I've really got to start taking more pictures.  And really need to start including adults in at least some of them!  This one is from last 4th of July.

FINALLY!!!!

OK... I'm just going to take the plunge back into the world of blogging... I can't believe that it has been almost a year since I have updated this thing. At first, I told myself I was just too busy to even think about making a post. Then, I kept thinking there was too much to catch up on. Then, after many times of lying to myself (and my mother-in-law) that I was going to start posting again, I basically gave up altogether and forgot about it. Well, now with all the guilt of not recording the past 9 months of my children's lives (and trust me, that's a lot of guilt when you also factor in all the working-mom guilt too), I am diving back in! I really want to keep track of as many things that our family is going through as possible. The boys are changing way too fast, and even today as I look back at my blog I'm so happy that I have all of it to remind me and re-melt my heart at the thought of the wonderful memories. So, to start off... here are a few pictures of the boys: