Creative Escape

Well I had the absolute best weekend ever this last weekend....My older sister and I went to a scrapbooking event at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort. First off it is the first time I have ever left my children over night other than being in a hospital. So that was step one... My amazing husband took a couple days off work to hold down the forte and the kids loved it.

This event Creative Escape has taken place the last five years and you only get in by lottery. I have entered the lottery every year and have not gotten in. This year I got my lottery email and was soooo excited. Now you can bring a guest if you get selected but it is pretty pricey. Amy and I jumped the gun and decided to go. Shortly after we both had a little anxiety about deciding to go. Well it was A-M-A-ZING! Creatively it was a blast and all of the teachers are famous in the scrapbooking world. They had great meals and projects. I told Amy I was going to win something in the raffle and sure enough I did...exciting! And thent the event ended with a key note speaker Jaimee Rose a reporter from the Arizona Republic. She basically talked about "Nie Nie" her perspective of the "story" which left the whole building in tears it was awesome. It gave me a sense of renewal, encouragement to continue to document the lives of my children and family because they will love it. And most importantly it gave me a reason to be a better Mom, Wife, Sister, Daughter to not sweat the small stuff to county my many blessings and be so greatful for the life I have been given!!!

It was a wild and crazy time....put 500 women together for three days and fun times are had by all!

The Otto Twins

Logan

Landon

Here are the precious twins. I am lucky that I got to spend several hours with them last Saturday morning while their mama got a nap. They are so cute and already 3 months old. They have gotten so big and their little personalities are starting to shine! I love spending time with them and wish it was more often!

Bunco

It was my turn to host bunco this month and it was fun! We all pick a theme every month and I picked Summer Movie Fun. I made a little concession stand for everyone to get snacks. We had Matt's yummy pulled pork, sweet potato fries, coleslaw, veggies, chips and dip! I made watermelon punch and lemon drops and it was yum! Thanks girls for a fun night ;-)

Ears Pierced

Avery asked to get her ears pierced for school. Matt and I always said we wouldn't do it unless she asked. I explained to her that it would hurt for a second and she still wanted to do it. I was really nervous. We walked up and went through all the paperwork and picking out earring and she was fine. Then they did the first ear and she was a wreck and I felt horrible. She DID NOT want them to do the other ear. I hate to say it but I told her she could get whatever she wanted in the store for being so brave. Probably not the best parenting technique but she was hysterical there were 10 people watching us and getting impatient because no one was helping them. They did the second one and she didn't shed a tear she jumped off my lap and started picking out her loot!!!

Avery's first day of Pre-K

Avery has been sooo ready to start school again. She asked the last several weeks when she would go back. Her teacher Miss Laura was her co-teacher last year so Avery feels very comfortable. She is going three days a week this year Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9am to Noon and loves it! She has several students from last year in her class and several new ones. It will be a great year and next year we will decide if she will go to Kindergarten or do another year of preschool. She misses the cutoff by 3 weeks so we will see!

Back to School Sleepover

All summer Avery has been asking to have a sleepover with her cousins. So we made it a back to school sleepover. We made individual custom pizza's, back to school cupcakes, headbands, custom water bottles, and custom t-shirts. Avery loved every second of it and although everybody loved all the crafts I think I made all the tshirts. A little beyond their scope ;-) Avery picked an ice cream cone for her t-shirt, Noah a tie and a pirate, Peyton a big flower with the letter P and Parker embellished the whole neckline of a shirt with flowers. Bedtime was a little difficult but it was a great time!

Avery Swimming

A little vide of Avery swimming. She loves it! She hasn't taken classes yet this summer but will be in September! She is a little fish ;-)

Madyx 1st Birthday-The Party

He Loved the Balloons!

He Hated the PARTY Hats!

Madyx 1st Birthday-The Party

He Loved the Cake~mmm chocolate!

July 29, 2009

Hard to believe that his little guy turned ONE! There are so many things that have happened since I took that little digital pregnancy test on Christmas Morning 2008-

-My pregnancy was a lot like Avery's except he MOVED all the time
-I was hopeful that I would carry a baby full term and wished for an 8 1/2 pound baby
-I was convinced I was having another girl and it took me a couple months to realize I had a BOY
-My head hurt so bad and it scared me when we went to the hospital I knew we would deliver early
-When he came out and I looked at Matt he was shaking so bad and then he said "Jen its a BOY."
-I could NOT believe we had a son
-He was so strong and stayed in my room and my 4lbs 12oz baby BOY nursed like a champ
-I was so excited to bring him home with us
-Avery was soooo excited to meet him but worried every time he cried
-I was so sad he had to be readmited for jaundice
-He slept in my arms for the first three months of his life
-He nursed every 2 to 3 hours for 9 months
-He is so active sat up at 6 months, crawled at 7 months and started climbing everything
-He has the sweetest little giggle
-He loves following Avery around to play
-Avery loves having a brother
-Somedays all he wants his Daddy and he yells "dada" while Matt is working
-He is a clone of his Daddy
-He always lays his head down and lets me rock him before bed
-Getting him out of his crib in the morning is like Christmas he is so excited to see us and we are so excited to see him

Here are his One Year Stats
-He weighs 20lbs 12ozs and is in the 13th percentile
-He is 29 and 1/4 inch tall and is in the 42 percentile
-He crawls and climbs and takes several steps
-He wears size 3 diapers and 12 month clothes
-He eats 3 meals a day and is down to two bottles and many sippy cups
-He says "mama" "dada" "uhoh" "alldone" and signs milk and all done

He's not just anyone HE's OUR SON

This is for you Grandma Joanne!

The second Avery saw that it might rain she ran inside and got her rain boots and umbrella. Daddy and Madyx sat in the garage as Avery splashed away in the rain...Thank you Grandma for providing the rainy day essentials ;-)

Cousins

The benefits of having older cousins....they dress you up pretty silly and you LOVE IT!

LOOK AT THIS....

Madyx got 4 shots last Monday...MMR, Chicken Pox, Hepatitis A, and Pneumonia...needless to say it was a rough week. He had a 102-103 degree fever for four days and then broke out in a big rash! I felt awful for him. His legs were sore and he decided it hurt too much to sit down once he was standing so he was walking a lot that night! Poor kid....

San Diego 2010

We went to San Diego for 5 days and had so much fun! The kids were great in the car with just toys and snacks. We scored a two bedroom, one bath flat that was great for our little fam! We went to Sea World and hung out on the beach and had an amazing time. Sure to visit again soon ;-)

This is what summer is all about!

Avery and Matt have been building forts....or as Avery calls it "clubhouse" they have so much fun with blocks, legos, and barbies in the clubhouse!!!! Really this is what summer is all about ;-)

4 on the 4th

Meet Logan and Landon Otto, these are Emily and CJ's adorable twins. Hard to believe they are almost 3 months old. Emily is supamomma taking care of these boys. The Ottos stayed the night on the 3rd of July and after a little convincing I got Emily to let me take care of these cuties from about 2am to 7am. All I got to say is EMILY YOU ROCK! They are cute but a lot of work. I didn't really sleep...one wakes up and you change a diaper, feed, burp, rock back to sleep and then repeat ;-) I seriousy have a whole new respect for Moms of Multiples.

At 7am my two woke up so we had 4 babes on the 4th. I got a nap in when Madyx napped and then Em and I would take turns snoozing for a few minutes here and there! So here is to you Em you are amazing and although you are in the middle of the hard part you do it beautifully!

Our 4th of July

July started off with a bang! Anthem lets fireworks off on the 3rd and they just happen to be right outside my sisters house. We all headed over there and barbequed and the kids had tons of fun playing and popping all the poppers. Madyx was sound asleep for the fireworks and of course Avery's favorites were the pink ones ;-)