I love taking pictures!

Here are a few of here and there that have turned out good. So what... I can't stop taking pictures of my kid and nieces and nephew - Don't blame me! They're precious! (I didn't take this one of Bailey but I cropped it and turned it b/w - So awesome!) She's beautiful just like her mama :)

Summarizing Summer Fun So Far!

Well I've fallen out of the practice of updating the blog so bare with me while I get back in the swing of it. I have lots of fun pictures to share about our first summer with our little guy.

This first picture is one of Pauly and Daddy sitting at our good friends Patrick and Heather's house. We spent the 4th of July with them. When mama needed a breather daddy took Pauly and sat him up on the counter and there he sat with his arm around his daddy for at least an hour and a half. It was precious! Thanks Heather and Patrick for a great 1st 4th of July with our little guy. You two are great hosts!

Then off we went up to Camp Morrison for a week. It was a lot of fun and we got to meet new people and go for nature walks. Here is Pauly wearing his Daddy's head lamp. We did a lot of interesting things to help our day pass. This is a picture of Ben and Pauly sitting outside our cabin at Boy Scout Camp. It was a really beautiful location and was very close to the Payette Lake.

Once we got home we had to figure out a way to get cooled off. So off we went to Ivy Wild and this was Pauly's first time swimming. He loved it and now when we go swimming he scrunches up his face and acts like he wants to put his head under the water. (His father taught him how to breathe out when he goes under water, it is so cute!!)
A regular hot summer day at home with mama has usually been consisting of waking up at about 8 a.m. where Pauly lounges around and eats and plays for a couple hours. Then if it is a warm day we put out the tarp on the front lawn and Pauly plays on the tarp in the blow up elephant sprinkler with his bath toys! It is a nice way to cool off and mama usually gets great pictures of her little monster! Then lunch and nap time for a few hours then (on the perfect day) he wakes up to his daddy just getting home from a hard day's work and the play time begins again!

Lots to catch up on!

I'll soon get back in the swing of updating this weekly or atleast more than I do now :)

Uncle Raul got married!!!

Well I have a lot of catching up to do. It has been quite a while since I posted last. Late June we went to Portland for (our friends) Raul and Carmen's wedding. Ben and Raul are best friends and Ben was Raul's Best Man in the wedding. Below are some pictures of us from the wedding.

My Boys are so handsome!

Granny and Grandad live in my town!

Yep! Granny and Grandad MOVED TO BOISE!!! (Ben's mom is Lena and her husband is named Ben... that is right she married a Ben... it is a little confusing but fun! :) Last weekend we waited and waited for them to arrive and finally on Sunday afternoon they got here! We are so thankful they live in our same town and we are loving every minute of it! Pauly went right to them as if he knew just who they were. He loves on them so sweetly, it is really precious. He especially loves to play with Granny's earrings and when Grandad popped his teeth out at him, he was amazed! It was hysterical!

Playing around!

Pauly was playing around in his walker the other day and I was doing my regular cleaning and I ran onto these goggles that Anastasie gave him and I put them on him. Doesn't he look like the perfect little ski bum?
Then we were playing outside and I wanted to finish up some pictures on my film and I got this one of Pauly and Dapher-doo.

Hansen Family came for brunch!

A couple weekends ago the Hansen Family came to visit and had brunch with us. Pauly got to play with one of his best girls, Alandra. Pauly was born only 6 days before Alandra came along. Aren't they precious playing together? They are quite the pair! Teresa (Alandra's mama) and I are realizing our days are numbered as far as how many we have left before these two are cruising to go get into stuff! Jeesh, we don't even want to think about it!

Thanks Nelle!

Just wanted to give my cousin Janelle a shout out "Thank you" for helping me with my blog! Don't you love the new background?!

Cousins, Family and Fun!!!

Last weekend we had a house full!!! Everyone came to visit because our sweet Aubrey Catherine graduated from High School! Yay Aubrey! We love you!

To get the weekend off - Jodi, Bailey and Birch flew in from Spokane, WA.Then Mimi, Papa, Casi and Carti came in from Howe, Idaho.

Then we had Amuma and Papa Paul & Aunt Tammy and Uncle Mike in from Lovelock, NV.We got some wonderful pictures and had a great time... chasing kids.

Happy Birthday Hadley and Macarti!

Happy Birthday you two little precious sweethearts! We all love you so much! (Aren't they stylin' chics! Their hair cracks me up! And see Grandma Pattie in the background... this was at church over Mother's Day) Hadley, do you like cake?xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Carti Cart Cart!!! Very serious!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Jump! Jump! Jump!

The other day I was cleaning and I thought it would be nice to put Pauly in his little Jumper he got from his Auntie Roo and cousins Jacob and Joey. He loved it! He jumped for a long time so I thought I better capture the fun he was having in a few pictures so I sat down in the hallway ready to take pictures of him and Daphnie kept getting in my way - so I just would asking her to sit down and every time I said "Daphnie! SIT DOWN!" He just started laughing hysterically. It was so funny! He had so much fun jumping!

Pauly and Phoebe!

This is Pauly with his new girlly friend Phoebe. She is 4 months younger than Pauly and they love to hang out! (Well their mothers make them but anyways...) Isn't she precious :) Below also there is a picture of her and her mom - Heather. We met through Ben's work and we have bunches of fun together.
Priceless...

I'm 27!!!

I turned 27 on May 18th!!! So weird! It wasn't as dramatic as when I turned 25. (Don't worry Jode you'll be fine ... hahaha (evil laugh) Thanks to all of you for the cards and Birthday wishes and to my loving husband who slaved away the whole evening to get our front planters looking BEAUTIFUL! I love you all!

93.1 KZMG Baby Idol

93.1 KZMG is doing a contest for all babies in the Treasure Valley who are 2 years of age and under called Baby Idol and yours truly "most adorable kid in the world" is there for your voting! Look for Pauly and please vote because HELLO! He is gorgeous and precious too! This is the picture I posted...
Look at those cheeks! Irresistible! If Pauly wins he could win diapers, a new car seat and lots of fun gifts from BabiesRUs! So go Vote! We are able to vote everyday, once a day until May 20th! Click here... ttp://www.theticketchicks.com/babyidol.asp
Love you all!!!

Out little Vandal!

Daddy is so proud of his little Vandal! Uncle Raul was in Boise to visit this last weekend and Pauly loved spending time with him! Uncle had no problems making Pauly laugh and was very helpful with taking care of our little guy. We can't wait to go see him in June for his wedding! We also were able to have dinner with one of Ben's other friends Sean and his friend Angel. We had a yummy dinner and enjoyed spending time with our friends!

Easter 2008

Pauly was such a good boy our whole drive to Howe for Easter. We were very excited because we were also able to stop at Jodi and Brian's before they pulled out to their new home in Washington. Here is Aunt Jodi. Scary Huh! Those are actually Easter Eggs. We laughed and laughed because Birch and Pauly just didn't know quite what to think of it. Once we got to Mimi and Papa's, Pauly was able to put in a lot of time playing with one of his best girls Macarti Rae. She is such a little entertainer! Macarti was also dedicated to the Lord on Easter Sunday. We were so glad we were able to be there!How lucky Pauly was to get a tub time in Mimi's sink! Those were good times when you could get bathed in the sink. Remember that? I totally do - so much fun!

Then bad luck struck all of us and we all got seriously ill with the stomach flu! First it was Pauly then he gave it to EVERYONE! Luck was on our side a little because we were at Grandma Pattie and Grandpa Bill's when we were sick - now how bad can that really be :) Easter 2008 will always be remembered.

Growing Like a Weed... WITH TEETH!

Some of you might already know but Pauly got his first tooth on March 17th! and then within a week he had another. They are cute as can be and both on the bottom. He isn't one to show them off yet and he hates it when mom tries to sneak a peak. He is approx. 23 lbs and we aren't sure how tall but he seems like a huge kid already! Ben always asks me how our toddler is doing! He also is in size 12 month clothing and pretty soon he'll be out of that :) INSANE I tell ya!!

Big Boy haircut for Pauly!

Pauly was getting a little scraggly and started to look like he was getting a mullet... Mom just couldn't have that so one evening (and this was before the big skin issue) I sat him up on the kitchen table in his Bumbo (like a booster seat) and gave him a hair cut! He is so handsome!

This is before...

and After! He was such a big kid to sit so good for mama and get his first haircut!

Hanging in there...

Well our little monster is hanging in there. The eczema hasn't really went away - I wish it would :) Pauly is being a trooper. A couple of weekends ago we spent the weekend with Jodi, Brian, Bailey and Birch in Bellevue and we had a great time! Pauly was having a hard time pretty much the whole weekend which we thought was just his eczema when all the sudden we noticed he had popped a tooth out!!! It was Nutts! I kind of felt like a crazy mom at that point! The very next week he popped out another! He has two teeth on the bottom! and his baby girl cousin Macarti (who is 3 months older than he is doesn't have any. Poor Carti :(... Anyways here are a few pictures of Pauly and his eczema outbreak, Pauly and Birchy Brown and then Pauly and his best girl Dapher Doo...

... oh and don't forget Pauly and his Mama and Daddy too!

Top 10 Reasons I love you

1. You are an amazing father to our son - you are so adorable when you play with him and I love watching you two well because one - I still can't believe how much he looks like you and two - I can see in Pauly that he knows you are his Pa and he loves you and I think that is such an amazing bond.

2. You love me unconditionally - I'm a women... and I tend to be crazy a little bit... okay a lot! and no matter what condition you fine me in when you come home - Usually I'm in my scraggely sweat pants and t-shirts, and my hair is all a mess... and please don't ask me when I had my last shower because I couldn't tell you! Plus sometimes I'm cranky (don't smirk - it is only sometimes) and you love me no matter what. You keep me together when I just want to cry - You are kind and patient and remind me when I forget how blessed we are - Thank You.

3. You're a family guy - You always talk to your sisters once a week and your mama too - you make sure that we get chances to go see my family because you know it is important to me. I love that you love family and I love yours too- I'm very thankful that for both of us family is something we truly treasure!

4. You're Fun! - I always have fun with you and your smile is so adorable. I love it when we laugh till we just can't breathe; which is quite often. You also can tell jokes in such a way that usually you have everyone in the room grabbing their stomach in pain because they are laughing so hard.

5. You take good care of us - You work so hard to make sure we have everything we need. A cute little warm home, enough food, bills paid and most importantly you provide for us so that I can stay home with Pauly. We are so blessed!

6. I love the way you make up songs - I love it when you are just strummin' on your guitar and all of the sudden you break out into song - making up the words which are usually hilarious and little stabs at me. So funny!

7. I love it when you sing and play your guitar - It's fun how you disappear for a couple hours downstairs then come up stairs with your guitar in hand with a big grin on your face because your so proud of the way you just learned a new song and you come upstairs and sing and play it for me. You are very talented and I love that you can do that.

8. I love that you challenge me - I always want to be my best version of myself when I'm with you and I love you for that.

9. You're smart - of course this was definately a huge part of the reason I chose you... ha ha ha... A smart man IS quite important. Although it is a little annoying sometimes but over all a good thing :)

10. You're adorable - I love it on a work day when you have got dressed for work and I can tell you are particularly proud of the way you look - you constantly look at yourself in the mirrior and .... oh just thinking about it makes me smile. You're so cute.

Happy Valentines Honey !!! I love you !!!

Update on Pauly

Well the last two days have been 100% better. Pauly's face is clearing up and he isn't near as itchy as he has been. Plus my most favorite thing the little sparkle in his eye is back and I'm so thankful! Thank you all for praying for him!

Our little champ!

Well some of you might know already but our little champ broke out with a extreme case of eczema about 2 weeks ago. Eczema is a very itchy skin condition. He first got it on his cheeks and it was there for a couple weeks and then this past week it spready to all over his body. Saturday and Sunday were the worst days ever. We were up with him screeming and moving every second just to get that itch he just couldn't quite get itched. His poor little spirit is trying so hard to be happy and positive but being his mother, I can see his little heart is broken and he is just plum sick of it. He wakes up in the morning just screaming because he is so tired of fighting it. We took him to the doctor on Monday to get an antibiotic to keep the sores from getting infected and hopefully speed up the healing process. Ben is being so helpful holding him and comforting him when I just can't quite keep it together. I know this too shall pass and we'll be closer because of it. I just think it is weird that about a week and a half ago I was noticing how this kid just never cries. We would go days and days at a time and he never cries. Always happy! He is such a little champ and I'm so proud of him for being so brave! Please keep us in your prayers.

So proud of my husband!

I just want to share with everyone how thankful I am for my husband who works so hard everyday so I can be home with our son. Ben just recently got a promotion at his job Boy Scouts of America to a management position. He has worked so hard for this and he is going to be amazing! So proud!