Dang Mosquitos...

This picture doesn't even do it justice. We get so many mosquitoes where we live and the other night Liv was eaten alive. The next morning when she woke up her eye was so swollen. What is the purpose for mosquitoes? Andy you might know.

Back to real life...

Coming home from vacation is the pits. I feel like I need another vacation one without the kids, and maybe without Chris (I do feel bad that you got strep throat, but it did damper my plans a bit.) Besides that, it was great! Beaches were beautiful, and Disneyland was way fun, a bit chaotic, but Owen loved every bit of it. It was hard to keep up with Jamie and my Dad, man you guys are die hards with making sure we rode all the rides.
To top the trip off, David Archuleta sat a couple seats ahead of me in the plane, I was a bit shy to ask for his autograph, But I could tell he was one class act. More pictures to come..

Week of firsts.

Last weeks was busy, a little too busy for me. Owen finished school and had his program. I thought he wasn't going to participate in any of it, but he did! He sang his songs and said all of his parts, we were very proud and relieved. As for my "Week of first" title, Owen has learned to swim and ride a bike with no training wheels. He was very hesitant at first to swim without his life jacket, but after a couple of tantrums and scenes at the pool, he gave in. So I think Owen is officially a big boy now, no training wheels, and swimming on his own. Good job Owen!



Owen's sweet preschool teacher Ms. Tecia.

Sick day.

I guess the perks of having one of your kids sick is that you get to stay home all day. Therefore leaving you plenty of time to catch up on things. Blogging being one of them.
I'm officially a soccer mom! Driving a white suburban with the kids in tow. Owen has such a talent for sports, and I love watching him play. He counts all of his goals and then tells his Grandpa Jim how much he owes him ($1 each goal). He has so much fun playing with his buddies, sometimes too much. At last nights game Owen, Kolbyn, and Cannon were getting a little distracted with one another. And had to be told more than enough times to get their butts out on the field.
Meanwhile Liv is on the sidelines, not much a cheerleader, but more of a pain. At least she has me wrapped around her finger with her beautiful blue eyes and soft kisses and loves to me. I'm a proud momma of my two kids!



I don't know if Owen has been looking through some of my old photos, but this kissy face is starting to takeover all his photos. I think I like his big cheesy smile better.

I finally started to edit some more pictures of Kayden. I think this one is my favorite!

This is how we roll..

Lately, well for the past 6 months, Owen has had a bit of an obsession with big shirts and they have to be Soccer, Baseball, Tennis, etc. shirts. This is his routine for the most part; wake up around 8:30 eat a waffle and chocolate milk go to preschool get home eat lunch, and then this is when he strips down and changes in his big shirt for the rest of the day, unless I interfere. So please don't judge when you see this kid with no pants and a big bright shirt. This is what makes this little guy happy! Owen you make me laugh.

And as for Liv I have been a little more successful in making her smile. You are so much more approachable with that big smile of yours.

I guess not that successful, yet!

Two weeks in review.

Wow time flies I guess when your having fun! April just came and went by so fast. Easter Eve my parents took me and my sisters to Wicked, which I personally think was one of the best plays I have been too. Jade almost got us into a brawl with the girl in front of us, oh that was just too funny, ask Jade if you want to know the whole story, he he. Easter was wonderful, we celebrated with my family the Sunday of, and then the next weekend with the Burtons in Beautiful Kamas. Liv was in heaven with all the chocolate, have you ever seen my Liv eat M&Ms? Too cute.

And now we have just returned home to 50 degree weather, when after soaking up the warm weather in sunny St. George. I could live there, in fact I want to move there, maybe one day. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of St. George or Easter. I have a hard time lugging my big camera around. I need to be better about that. Now I'm just counting down the days for Newport, can't wait.

No umbrella for you.

Oh Liv if only you were good today you would have been able to get that princess umbrella. But instead you decided to make a scene at the store because I wouldn't let you open the umbrella in fear of you poking someones eye out. I couldn't give into you today, I am afraid I do that too much. So today I put my foot down and we walked out of the store with only Owen holding his sponge bob umbrella. You were sad, but maybe tomorrow will be better.

This picture was taken yesterday while I was taking Bre's pictures. She is a lot harder to photograph than Bremen.

Twenty six

I love birthdays! I hope I always love them even though each year I get older, and it seems to be going faster and faster each year. I always look forward to what Owen picks out for me, Chris literally lets him pick out anything in the store. This year I got a cool guitar shirt and he picked out Livs gift to me which was a bright aqua shirt with a glitter butterfly on it, even better it was a maternity shirt. So I was pretty surprised! Well, I had to take Livs present back but I can't wait to wear my cool guitar shirt.
Chris thanks for making my day special; taking work off, making me breakfast, taking me to lunch and shopping, and my date night with you.

I love Photography!

I had so much fun with Jessica Kettle today. I am loving these pictures that she helped me with. I definitely would recommend doing a mentoring sessions with her, she is sooo talented and very helpful. Thank you Erin and Addison, you both were the perfect models.

Owen's cute friend Kanoa came over last week, and fortunately for me he left his adorable hat. I had to bribe Owen to wear it for just a moment while I snapped some photos of him with it on. I wish he loved to wear hats, because they add so much character especially in photos. So thanks to you Kanoa I was able to get some of these cute pics. Oh and of course Liv had to put on a hat and have her pictures taken. She loves to do what her brother is doing.

Isn't this little girl so cute? Check my photography blog for more of my favorites from this shoot, http://www.julieburtonphotography.blogspot.com/.

Best Friends!

Owen you are the best big brother, you include Liv in everything you do. You were so nice and shared your twinkie with her today, and also let her play with your hats. You made her laugh so hard at lunch that she couldn't even focus on eating her cookie. I love my two little buddies!

Owen, thanks...

for helping me test out my new backdrop, you look so thrilled in doing so!

Liv missing her Daddy.

Friday morning Chris went to the store to get me something, and this is how I found Liv. She got Owen's stool from his room, and tried to see if she could find Chris on her own. As of her dressed in boy Pajamas, Owen was so kind to let her borrow some of his, and little Liv was thrilled!

Love for Soccer...

Every time Monday comes around, Owen can't wait to play! It has been so much fun to watch, and I'm so excited to be his soccer mom. Last night was a big night for Owen, 8 goals, mainly because while almost all of the other kids went to get drink breaks he stayed out on the field and kept going. After he scored one of his goals he went up to his coach and asked, "Guess who made that goal, I did!" Now if we can just teach him a little humility.

A good read...

I wanted to get this book for Christmas, but I guess all my hinting failed to make sense to Chris. Lucky me, my friend Erin let me borrow it. I loved it! I couldn't put it down. I know our lives are completely different than they were back then. But I honestly feel like I can't complain. Joseph and Emma struggled and sacrificed so much. I could relate to Emma as a mother, and truly felt her pain in all her trials. I can't believe how much the mormons were persecuted. I don't understand it. I'm so grateful for their much endurance so that I can have the knowledge of the gospel and the comfort it brings me daily.

Request...

Chris do you think you can serenade Matt Nathanson, "Come and get higher " to me tonight.? I'm on a huge music kick right now. I love it! Also another huge favorite Lady Gaga.

To post or not to post...

Its been awhile, but I just haven't had anything exciting happen lately. But then why would I have to write about only exciting things. This blog isn't meant to make my life look perfect, because who's is anyway? I struggle in being a good mom, wife, sister, friend and daughter (I might be closer to perfect on the daughter part, ha.) I LOVE my kids, but it can be overwhelming and discouraging to never have a clean house, or to never be able to have lots of alone time with Chris.
What I do know, and I usually figure this out when I get ready for bed, is that this time will go by so fast. And bottom line the ONLY thing that matters is that I make sure that my family is loved and taken care of. Owen and Olivia I love you, even though I put you both in your rooms so I could have 10 minutes to cool down. Good thing McDonalds ice cream helps us all feel alot better.
Chris I love you too. I know that when I'm happy your happy. Thanks for the sweet surprise last night. It was just what I needed.

Owen and his boogers.

So lately Owen has been telling me that he thinks his boogers taste good. I never thought that I would have a kid eat his boogers. I can still remember to this day, I was probably in 2nd or 3rd grade and I had a huge crush on this kid. Until one day I caught him picking his nose, and then yes he ate it. The crush was over, and I could never look at him the same way. So in attempt to get Owen to stop I have told him that if he eats them a booger monster will grow in his stomach, and it won't be nice. Its not working. So if anyone has advice on what to do, I would greatly appreciate it.

On a different note, my cute friend Rachelle designs the cutest baby onsies. I purchased one for Liv and I love it! So check out her blog on my sidebar. This picture is with Liv wearing it.

Olivia...

You are 18 months old. And getting more like me everyday, not that its bad, but I've heard I wasn't nice growing up. Your tantrums are getting more dramatic. You love wearing dresses and shoes. You love both your Grandpas (you love your Grandma's too, but I think you know how to get your Grandpa's to dote on you). Your favorite parts of the day are getting Chocolate milk in the morning, and hearing the garage open when Daddy comes home. You love playing in the basement with Owen. You love teasing Owen. You love to eat, mostly yummy treats. I love watching you eat, it is so cute to see the way you chew your food, so careful, you don't want to waste any little crumb.
I don't know what you would do without your blanket ( it use to be Hudson's, but once you laid eyes on it it couldn't leave your sight) and your binkie.
I love you so much! Happy 18 months.