Devon: April

"I'm eating my chicken. See ahhhhhhhhh!"

Me: Dude, what are you doing?
Devon: Licking the fireplace with Sampson.

Convincingly pretending to sleep in my bed.

Heard me take his picture, but still desperately trying to get me to think he's asleep.
I made an airplane out of card board with a steering wheel and moving propeller. He insisted on laying down and making this face until I took his picture. Guarantee you will see this particular expression again soon.
And there is is. Happy Easter!
And again. Feeding the ducks bread with cousin Charlie Belle.
Doing cool tricks on the parallel bars at gymnastics.
Walking the cat. No biggie :) Really though, he loves to walk the cat.

Audrey: April (21 months)

Audrey is starting to love to paint and color. She loves to do glitter and be involved in whatever art Devon is doing for the day.

Such a happy-go-lucky lady.

Man oh MAN is Audrey independent! She is off and running. Literally. The kid runs everywhere she goes. I was having a rough time keeping track of her and Devon at the zoo and "Mom-Guyvered" a baby leash from my purse strap. It didn't last, but it gave my mind a break from the constant,"Audrey! Devon! Stay with me!"

There was a puddle at the park and both my kids splashed right in. Of course, Audrey sat down. In the water. And of COURSE it was the ONE time I didn't bring a change of clothes. Ugh.

When it's cool enough to make it to the park, she loves to swing and climb where all the big kids are.

"Lips!"

Two ponies.

Audrey loves to play toys, guns, swords, dolls, bad guys blocks ... whatever is around she will play with. She is so busy!

I made some "cloud dough" (baby oil and flour). It's moldable, but easily breaks apart. Makes everyone smell great :) I put some in a big bin on the back porch and let the kids go nuts for about an hour. I am so in love with these pictures I can't pick a favorite.

In spite of her expression in this picture, and ALL pictures of all the cousins, Audrey had a fun time hunting down all the eggs at the hunt we had at our house. She loves candy and I would bet that jelly beans (a.k.a. jubellines) are her favorite.

Audrey loves to snuggle stuffed animals and animals in general. She is very sweet and nice little girl. She loves to run and be tickled. Peek-a-boo is still a favorite.

Audrey loves dogs tramendously, but has a special bond with our cat, Sampson. He, unfortunately, has lymphoma and the vet doesn't think he will make it to Thanksgiving this year. He has been my baby before I had babies for the past 13 years. He has always been an indoor only cat. I want him to have a happy life and figured that he would really enjoy being outside. So, I put a leash on his small frame (down from 20 poinds to 10 in just a few months) so he can learn the parameters of the yard. Now I let him out with the kids to play and he rolls in the dirt, chases bugs and digs (and poops) in the sandbox with Audrey everyday.

Devon: March

My sister said it best ... there is a magic that happens when cousins play together.

We got a special treat this past month when my sister, Katy, and her darling daughter, Charlie Belle, came to visit from Alaska for nearly 6 weeks. It took a while for these little kids to find their stride, but they became sweet little friends sharing Popsicles on the porch, playing at grandma's house and having adventures all over town. Charlie Belle is very easy going and chill so she and Devon were super cute to watch. This is Charlie Belle, Sadie (another cousin) with Devon eating Eegees. I couldn't get a picture that Sadie wasn't making this face in. Lol

Devon still insists on being called a different animal, TV character, person he knows or thing he makes up. This one nearly pushed me over the edge. He is Pooh bear, pretending to be Tangled (Eugene Fitzherbert from Tangled, hence, the pan). It's cute except when he gets busted and I yell,"Devon!!!" and he calmly responds with,"Mom, I'm not Devon I'm a robot."

Devon loves his daddy. Man oh MAN does he love his daddy. He just loves to be around him. Kid has good taste. He is practicing choking him out in full guard.

He has fully embraced the functionality of overalls and loves to wear them because they have so many pockets to store all of his treasures. He always asks me if he looks adorable when he wears them.

Devon loves to eat waffles, anything with ketchup, Vietnamese food, noodles, jello and jelly beans. He loves to learn new yoga poses from mom and fight moves from dad. He's such a smart and sweet kid I love being his mama.

Audrey: March (20 months)

Audrey is getting better and better with learning new words every day. It's pretty remarkable. One morning I was changing her in my bedroom. Joe walked into to her line of sight, pointed to him and said,"Daddy! Cuuuuuuuute." Can't argue with her there. My favorites right now are azzip (yep, pizza spelled backwards), help you (which really means, help me), bankie, night (good night) and YOU (love you). She is starting to ask for crackers, bacon every morning with her milk and loves rice cakes.

Audrey still takes naps mid day and goes to bed pretty well at night. I read a few books to her, just her and I, and she will fuss for a few minutes after I put her down, but reading to her has really helped. She loves to read Corduroy, Elmo, Blues Clues and touch and feel books.

This little sweetie is going to break some serious hearts with that tiny dimple of hers. She is so thrilled with herself when she accomplishes something all by herself and loves to play with the bigger kids.

This is her funny face. How she manages such a serious, funny face I don't know. It's a gift.

I love my one on one time with Audrey when Joe takes Devon out for guy time. She is so happy and silly and loves to play peek a boo behind the drapes. She is not very snugly (let me just wipe away this tear), but she gives out kisses and hugs, fist bumps, high fives and when she does snuggle up with you, it is that much more special

Devon: February

We took the kids to the Jem Show that comes to Tucson twice a year. It's lots of beads, rocks and fossils at various locations all over the city. The fossils were FASCINATING. To be able to look at something that was millions of years old ... mind blowing. Anyway, Devon loved seeing all the dinosaur bones and hanging out with his daddy. I included two pictures of this same image because you miss the cuteness going on in the front.

Why NOT wear a mask and be Batman whilst looking at fossils?

Shoulder rides and "holly pops" round out the full Jem Show experience.

If you've seen Monsters Inc. the cartoon, you are familiar with Mike Wikowski, the one-eyed green monster. When Devon sat in this little spot at the playground he said,"Look, mom! I'm Mike from Monsters Name Fink!" (I don't know how he got Monsters Name Fink from Monsters Inc, but that's what he calls it.)

"Hey, mom! Maybe when I grow bigger we could get me one of those motorcycles."

One day we saw a pretty steady stream of interesting, manly mustaches while we were out running errands. The next morning when I was putting on my make up, Devon found a brown eye liner pencil and decided that he needed to "grow" a mustache, too. I let him do the bulk of it and filled it in to make it even.

Make a mustache face!

And another.

I think he grew a mustache every day for a week. Eventually he decided that I needed one as well.

Funny faces.



Devon is such a good helper. He loves to pour his own milk, help Audrey, hand me things I drop, put clothes in the washing machine and the list goes on and on. He loves to cook, go to the park, play with his cousins and grandparents, explore in the yard and is an all around good kid.

People stop me all the time to tell me how cute he is and how well mannered he is. If we're in a store and he gets close to bumping into someone he says,"Oh! Sorry! Excuse me."

Seriously, how handsome is this man of mine?

Snow ball fight with daddy. I think some snow made it down his jacket on this one. We took the kids up to Mt. Lemon to play in the snow and we had a great time. We stayed up there a bit too long and Devon started to melt down (pardon the pun) on the drive back, but it was such a fun way to spend an afternoon making snow balls, snow angels and sledding.

I love that this sweet, little boy just wants to play and do dress up. He doesn't care if it's a cowboy hat or a tutu, he just wants to have fun. I don't encourage him to put on a gold, sequined dress and twirl, but if he wants to do that on his own ... go for it!

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house, as we do every week, and Devon got to wear a special chef's hat and apron to help make cookies. This kid loves to cook. He loves to hand with Grandpa in the garden and loves his Grandma tons and tons. He asks to call her and is getting better and better on the phone.

My little chef.