Audrey: 1 year old!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Audrey!

So exciting to have my little La La turn one!

Balloons in the bed .... A birthday tradition.

We went to a special music class at the library then later we had a family party at our house with grandparents and cousins.

I decided to have a taco bar and made chicken, beef and pulled pork. I had some fruits and veggies, chips and dip, home made salsa and lemonade. It was so fun to decorate the house with pink streamers and balloons to try and make the party festive. I know she doesn't appreciate it now, but hopefully someday she will look back at pictures and see that I truly wanted to make each of her birthdays special.

Ahhhhh the cake. It's from a wedding cake store. The same one I got Devon's last birthday cake from. They didn't do it exactly the way I asked .... WHY didn't they do the leaves in green? It would have looked so much better, but it tasted SOOOOOO good with white cake and Bavarian cream filling.

The "smash cake". They gave this to me for free. How nice was that?

All the little cousins came up to the high chair to help her blow out the candles. It was probably one of my favorite parts of the evening. They were all so excited and happy for her.

Very dainty at first. Just dipping her fingers into the frosting.

Bravely digging in.

Yummy. Taste it, Mom!

Almost done.

Oh, this is so fun! Right after my Mom took this picture I ran my fingers through my hair. Bath time!

Demolished. I seriously had to take it away from her or I have no doubt she would have licked the plate clean.

Audrey loves her Aunt Jane. Jane is so sweet and patient with little babies they can't help, but love her.

Audrey had a blast with Abuela pushing her around the house in this grocery cart.

Audrey is such a lucky girl to have such thoughtful family to shower her with gifts.

I gave Audrey a sock monkey that I named Lily and a Madame Alexander doll I named Claire.

She waved her hands at the sock monkey and kissed the baby.

My sweet husband selected this beautiful antique box and bracelet for Audrey after looking in several antique stores for the perfect gift. He did this with out any prompting from me and I was brought to tears when I opened it. Someday she will be able to look back on this birthday and know that her Daddy got her a gift that will last a lifetime.

Fascinated by her new bracelet.

Happy Birthday to my darling daughter!

Audrey hit a HUGE milestone this month .... her first word!!!
Mom.
Not Mama, Mommy or Ma.
Mom.
I think she said that because that's what Devon screams over and over and over at the top of his lungs first thing in the morning. So happy that her first word was ... me ;)
She has such a fun time swinging at the park with her brother. She loves to be pushed high and giggle and wiggle!

Pucker up!

"Do you love my bow? My Mom made it. She makes me wear one every day, but even though I don't like having my hair done I am getting used to it."

Audrey will stop crying for three things: 1) milk 2) food and 3) books. She LOVES to be read to. She will be in a screaming fit and fussing to avoid going to bed, but will stop crying almost instantly if I set her in my lap and read to her.

Audrey loves her brother and he loves her too, but we are definitely starting to deal with sharing .... or lack there of ;) As soon as Audrey picks up a toy, Devon decides that he has to have it. She used to just let him take it and she would pick something else, but every once in a while she "fights back" with a slap or a hair pull. He better enjoy this time right now because pretty soon she's gonna clobber him! ;)

I am not sure what she will end up with, but so far Audrey seems to be a "lefty" much to my Mom's dismay.

Audrey has taken a few official on-her-knees crawls, but mostly Army crawls. She is so fast and has a pretty unique way of getting some serious speed by pushing with her toes and slapping the ground with only one hand to pull herself forward.

At her last appointment Audrey was 60th% for weight, 70th% for head size and 90th% for height. She loves to eat blueberries, eggs, chicken, fish, yogurt and pretzels.

Devon: June

Devon is a little ray of happy at our house. He has never ending energy and always wants to play and have fun. I feel like a gushing Mom every time I sit down to write about my kids, but I can't help it and I'm not gonna stop ;)

I took Devon to his first, real movie at a theater. We went with my brother and sister and a few of their kids and saw Shrek 4. He clung to his little cup of soda, ate his jelly beans and sat for the entire movie. He loved it and can't wait to go back.

About once a week we have "tattoo day" at our house. Devon will start to draw on me with a pen so I draw on him, myself and we just have fun coloring our skin. I always give him a "Mom" tattoo on his arm. It is the only tattoo, real or otherwise that I will allow.

Devon loves to pretend and use his imagination. Here we was being "Sampson" our cat on his way to the vet.

I am happy that Devon hit a new milestone (in my opinion it's a milestone) and gave up his "papash". We have been slowly throwing them away as they wear out and I didn't buy new ones. Finally, the last one just had too many holes in it and it was no longer safe for him to have in his mouth. We told him that he could choke on it and that we had to throw it in the garbage and that was it. He did ask for it for the next few naps and nights, but we just talked to him about it having holes and that we had to throw it away and he seemed to understand. He is also less attached to his blanket and even slept without it a couple of times. The blanket thing doesn't bother me, but I was getting so sick of having to hunt down ONE papash night after night.

The evening ritual. Wrestling and playing on Mama and Daddy's bed with Daddy.

Devon is getting better at eating more food and has put on a few extra pounds. He has also developed an affinity for jelly beans.

Charming a set of twins at the park. "Hi, I'm Devon. Nice to meet you."

Devon is amazing at using a computer. Seriously, it's sort of freaky. He can totally navigate the mouse and pull up Google Earth on his own. He loves to play video games and watch videos with his Dad on youtube.

Joe took Devon to work with him last Friday and they took this cute picture on the copier.

Some of my favorite quotes:
Me: Devon, what are you doing?
Devon: I'm reading to the Statue of Liberty.

Me: Are you OK, Devon?
Devon: Sigh. Yeah. I'm just resting. I'm Daddy.

"Daddy, make a smiley face."

Devon loves to play Playdoh, watch the "crazy show" (America's Funniest Videos), paint, color, ride cars, play soccer and sword fight. If you sword fight you better defend yourself because he doesn't take it easy on you. My strategy is to swing and retreat.

Audrey: June 11 months

It's been a rough week for Miss Audrey since she has had to deal with her first time getting sick. She almost made it a whole year, but not quite. She has been running a high fever, not urinating, not eating or drinking, fussy, and vomiting. After a couple of trips to the pediatrician, a catheter and Urgent care I think she is finally starting to feel better.

Audrey has been "Army crawling" all over the house. If she has somewhere specific she wants to go she gets there fast! She goes from sitting to her belly pretty seamlessly and has pushed up to her knees a couple of times. I think next month will be her month to really crawl.

Audrey loves to eat grapes, crackers, noodles, Cheerios, pretzels, green beans, yogurt and eggs. She really hates ham, tofu and laughing cow cheese and will almost always spit them out.

She gets up pretty early, but it's nice to have some time that is just us girls and eat breakfast and chat. She has the sweetest smile and I never tire of seeing her little dimple and toothy grin. She loves to draw, but the fact the the pen is connected to the pad frustrates her into screaming fits.

"Shake, shake, shake your bean bag" is her favorite song at story time.

I stopped using her infant bath tub and put her in the regular bath .... which she hates. I basically just try and clean her as fast as possible and get her out. On the rare occasion she enjoys the bath she loves to splash the water and poke the bubbles.

Audrey loves to watch cartoons with her brother. I am amazed at her attention span, but she will sit for most of a movie and watch quietly. She also does a great job playing toys by herself and will keep herself entertained. She still prefers Mama to pretty much anything else at this point, but she is starting to reach out for other people to hold her.

Audrey loves her Daddy and perks up when he walks into the room. He and I have such different dynamics with the kids and it's fun for me to see the new and fun things he introduces to her.

Like all siblings, Devon and Audrey don't always get along, but when they do it is so sweet and tender. Audrey thinks that Devon is hysterical and the feeling is quite mutual.

She is babbling more and more each day and I have heard Mama, Dada and what, but we can't call any of them her "first word" since she was just babbling and not knowing what she was really saying. It is so cute to hear her little voice start to emerge and words start to form.

I can't believe this little-not-so-little baby doll will turn 1 year old in just a few weeks.

Freezer cooking day 3

Gravy
Chicken tacos with black beans
Pulled pork

OK. These are three of the BEST foods I have ever cooked. Like .... probably ever. They are soooooo good and embarrassingly easy. You almost have to try to screw them up. The gravy takes a little finesse, but it is worth it. I love it because it is made entirely of veggies so I don't have to make a whole chicken or, God forbid, a turkey to get flavorful gravy.

* Gravy*
1 carrot
1 celery rib
1 onion
3 T. butter
1/4 flour
2 c. chicken broth
2 c. beef broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 t. thyme
5 whole peppercorns
salt pepper

Food process carrot, onion and celery. Heat butter and saute veggies 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and stir in flower for 5 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add broths. Reduce to medium low and add herbs. Simmer and reduce 25-30 minutes. Strain solids through a mesh strainer and discard solids.

* Chicken tacos *
3 chicken breasts browned in olive oil
1/4 t. cumin
1 t. oregano
1 small can diced green chilies
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 onion diced

Brown chicken and put in crock pot. In the same pan that you cooked the chicken, saute the onion for 1 minute then add the chilies and tomatoes for an additional minute. Add to chicken and mix in herbs. Cook in the crock pot for 4 hours on high. Add the black beans for the last hour and stir the entire mixture breaking up the chicken. Add small amounts of chicken broth if it seems to be getting too dry. Voila!

I make these chicken tacos every other week for dinner. I made them into 6 oz. lunch portions and froze them and have had a taco salad every day this week for lunch and I am not tired of it yet.

* Pulled pork sandwiches *
1 T. brown sugar
2 t. salt
2 t. garlic powder
1.5 t. ground mustard
3 t. chili powder
1 3 lb. bones less pork shoulder (**I used pork country style ribs. YUM!)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

Mix herbs together and rub over the pork. Place pork in crock pot. Cook for 7-8 hours on low. In the last 30 minutes of cooking, stir in the tomato sauce. That's it. You literally only use one pot ... the crock pot. How easy is that?!?!?

I made the pulled pork for the first time this week and served it on French bread with lettuce and avocado. You don't want to look up from your plate or interrupt the eating by wasting time talking .... it is so good. These would also make insanely good tacos. OK, great ... now I'm hungry. Happy freezer cooking!

Devon: May

At least once a day I say out loud,"Devon is blowing my mind today." He is so staggeringly smart I am just amazed at the way his mind works, how he speaks, the way he thinks about things and what he is learning.

No, we did not get this dog, although, I wanted to. I have decided that a Husky is my kind of dog. Beautiful, soft, loyal, smart, calm and good with kids. We aren't going to get a dog until we totally fence in the yard, but I am not taking care of a dog so Devon has to be old enough to help feed, bathe, walk and train it. I take care of enough people (and a 20 pound cat with a litter box) so I am not dealing with a dog as well.

Devon loves to sit with Dada in his truck when he gets home from work. He turns on the wipers, steers, uses the gear shifter and rolls the windows up and down.

We visit a park at least once a week and Devon has gotten more adventurous with trying new things and climbing the equipment. He loves to play with his friend Roman and talks about him all the time.

This little boy loves his grandparents. Devon, Audrey and I go over to their house once a week for an hour or so and play in the garden, Grandma's toy room or we just sit around and let Devon talk to us ;)

Devon requested nail polish on his toes. I let him pick out the colors and he had a blast! He sat so still while I put on the color and watched intently as it dried. Joe thought it was hysterical and Devon loved to show off his toes where ever we went.

Heroes and Villains was having their "free comic book day" event so Devon and I went and got a few comic books about Super Dinosaur, Shrek and Spiderman. Local "Star Wars Fans" showed up to sweat it out in their official Star Wars storm trooper uniforms and shake hands and take pictures with customers ... for free. They were all incredibly nice, patient and accommodating with Devon and even let him hold their guns and "light savers".

We went into the store to get our free comics and Devon wouldn't leave the front window. One of the storm troopers came over and gave him a high five through the glass. He kept calling them "white guys".

Fumbs up white guys!

The splash park finally opened for the summer and I didn't think Devon would even get in the water so I didn't put him in swim clothes. He surprised me and was excited to play in the water with his super sweet friend, McKenzie. The fact that there was a gun helped encourage him as well ;)

I still love to baby-wear my babies. Audrey in the front in my new Pikkolo carrier and Devon on my back in the good 'ole Ergo.

I took Devon to see "Elmo LIVE" at the TCC and he. Had. A. Blast. It was so over the top and so amazing it was sensory over load.

He sat in his seat for the entire first half (45 minutes) and made it 15 into the second half before he got up and started walking back and forth in our row. No one was sitting by us so it was fine. It was so fun to take him to something that I knew he would like and something that was so outside what we normally do.

I try to take Devon out somewhere every week just the two of us and I really treasure that time together. He is such a funny kid and I love being able to give him my full attention while we do something fun that I know he will love. It usually involves going to Costco for diapers and formula and ends up with a hot dog and soda lunch.
Devon loves to shoot his Dada with the water hose when they play out in the yard every evening and tend to the garden. They wrestle on the bed and Devon knows how to get out of a rear naked choke (by turning into the choke), he can do a take down, get in your guard, side control and he is great a punches in bunches. He loves to fight!