Busy weeks

We have had quite a busy few weeks. Here are just the hi lights! First, Ellie's birthday where the girls (Tatum, Ellie and Ramey) played games,...

jumped on the trampoline...

and decorated cupcakes after eating a delicious and nutritious lunch. What more could you ask for at a birthday party?!

I only put this pic in because Tatum's hair is a crack up. She hates to have me put water on her hair in the morning so if that's the case, she needs to put it up in a ponytail. Or we're left with a fro that you see in the picture above. Where did this curly hair come from?!

And here's my little 7 monther. Ty is the BEST little baby, always smiling, happy to sit and wait his turn (which with Tatum, is always last) and loves to give kisses. He loves to wave, loves to sit and play with his toys, loves to chew on everything, and he has his first tooth! I think it's just one but it's hard to get in there and see. He's growing so fast, it's unbelievable and a bit sad for me since this is our last little baby. He's been slowing down on the nursing which is sad as well because it's the end of an era. Oh, my little man, I love you!

And Tatum is a wonderful big sister. It's an adjustment for her but she's trying and such a great helper.

On Sunday we headed out to the Carlsbad Flower Fields and it was so fun! So many flowers and things to look at and do, a fun day.

Tatum loved smelling all the plants.

But it was hard to get a good picture with everyone looking at the same time. :)

They've set up a play area with the old Santa's Village stuff from Big Bear. Oh the memories!

The mushroom huggers. :)

We met Matt, Erica and baby Jack out there as well. Thank goodness Matt was nice enough to give Tatum a ride, it was quite a walk out to the fields.

Part of the reason we went out to the flower fields was to get some good shots in the flowers, just like the ones they show on their web site. Apparently, those are only available for a very high price through a photographer on site. Otherwise, you get to crouch down in a muddy ditch and sit next to the yellow tape to get a picture of the flowers. :( Not quite as I had imagined.

Here are the two boys. Only 5 months apart so they're sure to be BFFs!

And lastly, Garrett's birthday. He had gone out with the neighbors the night before so he was hurting a bit the morning of his birthday. We made him a yummy birthday breakfast and then we all wore birthday hats as he opened his presents. Later that day, Tatum and I made him cherry cheesecake cupcakes which we all enjoyed later that night. Happy Birthday honey!

It should be called Ice Draining!

First off, on a better note, here's Ty enjoying a highchair at the mall. This was technically his second highchair experience since the first one was at Claim Jumper and I'd forgotten the camera. I'm not quite as on top of things as I was with the first one. :)

He also enjoys the rice puff stars! They work wonders keeping him busy and quiet. And after one try, he figured out how to get them in his mouth! So much more coordinated than others in this house. :)

So Julie and I decided to attempt ice skating with the kids on Sunday. Correction, we were going to go Saturday but after I had talked endlessly about it that day, we got to the skate rink at 4 and it had just closed. :) So we were back again on Sunday and after waiting in quite a long line, we were in, skates on and ready to go. See those smiles on our faces? We had NO IDEA what we were in for. :)

Here's one of the many photos that didn't turn out too well since there's plastic around the whole rink and it's hard to take pictures through. This is also one of the rare moments Tatum was not between my legs. For the most part, she stood in between my legs, my hands under her arms and her feet shooting out in every direction. Both Julie and I were in UTTER pain due to the horrible skates and being bent over, dragging our children around the rink. This smile is ALL for the camera. :) I don't know if the video link will work below but if so, you will see a small glimpse of what I'm talking about. And please note the look on my face at the end of the video, that's true feeling. :) Anyway, the event ended when we got half way around on our second lap and Tatum fell. I guess it caught her off guard because she said she had to pee and I said we had to get around the rest of the rink to get out so we could get to the bathroom. She said no, I DID pee. WHAT?! Oh yeah, on the ice people! Thank goodness she was wearing thick jeans and a few layers, not much trickled out onto the ice. But that was the end of that and we don't have any plans in going back anytime soon. :)

Tatum's new camera

Tatum LOVES to take pictures and was always trying to steal my camera, so she got her own for her birthday! She's still trying to get the hang of it but here are a few of the 124 pictures that she's taken that were actually good enough to put on here. As you can see, some of us are NOT a fan of being photographed... :)

but otheres are fine with it. Like this gorilla at the zoo...

or this bench. Who doesn't need a picture of a random bench? :)

This was at the Wild Animal Park.

And this was a self portrait. But, unlike her mom who is notorious for self portraits, I believe this one was due to holding the camera backwards. :)

Daddy working in the front yard.

Oh, here's one of those self portraits of Mommy. We were playing dress up and I thought my crown / head piece was quite beautiful. :)

Here's the princess blowing kisses to all her fans. :)

And here's her biggest fan. And I mean that in love, not in size. :) We need lots of work on our aiming but she might just be a famous photographer one day.

Wild parks and birthdays...

First and foremost, here is my little man at 6 months. I can't believe he's already 6 months! He loves to smile and laugh, and REALLY loves to pull hair. Especially Tatum's. :) He's also finally decided that solids aren't too bad so he eats twice a day. But that doesn't seem to help him sleep through the night. :(

Tatum and Daddy bought a basket ball hoop and it's been nightly fun! Here's Tatum slam dunking past Daddy!

She loves to use the chair for a jump shot. :)

Ty tries to get in on the fun but he has a hard time getting the ball away from Tatum and when he does, he just wants to eat it. :)

Jenny and Mattie came down to meet us at the Wild Animal Park for a day o' fun! We took the Journey into Africa...

and saw lots of animals, including the giraffe eating off their tree. So cool!

After walking around and seeing lots of animals and having lunch, on our way out we got this cute picture of the girls. Such great friends.

And we HAD to hit the carousel of course. Except for the fact that it was President's Day holiday which made the park pretty crowded, it was a fun day with our friends.

Then on Saturday we went to Keira's 1st birthday. Look at that cute birthday girl in her party dress!

Keira loves Elmo and she got a big Elmo face cake all to herself!

After some coaching, she dove into the cake. Mental note to all with upcoming 1st birthdays. Don't put black frosting on the cake. Wow, it was a mess! But soooo cute!

And then yesterday Ty had a play date with his friend Colin up the street. Colin is just 18 days younger and they're already the best of friends! :)

Birthday party part 2

Ty has become such a helpful little man. Here he is helping me with the laundry. :)

On Tatum's birthday we were suppose to go to a gym class with friend Ellie and then back to her house for a birthday celebration. Unfortunately, Ellie came down with a cold and we had to postpone. But we got to enjoy the gym and birthday celebration the following Tuesday which was so much fun. I didn't get any pics of the gym but Tatum loved it. She learned how to jump on a trampoline, somersault down a hill, walk on balance beams, and hang from bars. We'll have to think about enrolling in gym class in the future. But after class we headed to Ellie's house for a delicious lunch of heart and start shaped pb and j sandwiches, veggies, and a hard boiled egg in the shape of a car! After lunch came the yummy cupcakes and here's Ellie helping Tatum blow out the candle. :)

And here's Tatum blowing out the candle. Delicious cupcakes I might add, I had to make sure by having 2 or 3. :)

Then there was finger painting, coloring and sticker playing. We had so much fun and very happy to re celebrate Tatum's birthday. :) Thanks Mandy and Ellie!

Then Daddy went to CO to visit his step brother so we headed up to Irvine to visit Grandma. I didn't take too many pictures since we didn't do anything too exciting. But getting down this boat that Jenny gave us was pretty exciting. Ty loves it and could sit and play in it for hours. That is if he'd ever get a turn, since his sister feels it's a new toy for her and usually monopolizes it. Oh, poor Ty. Soon he'll be pushing her around but for now, I guess he has to sit back and take it. :)

Elephants, Tigers and kids, oh my!

On Friday Tatum, Ty and I met some friends (Ellie and Ramey in the picture) at the SD Zoo. We love the zoo and they have a new Elephant exhibit with large animals to play on. Here's the elephant...

and the saber tooth tiger...

and the baby elephant which all the girls loved...

and the real elephants of course...

and the cheetah. The best part about the exhibit is you get to ride the sky buckets over to see it. Not my favorite thing to do since I hate heights but Tatum loves it! She looks over the side (which gives me a heart attach since I'm gripping the railings tightly and not moving the entire ride) and the views of the zoo and Balboa park are amazing.

Then on Saturday, Garrett and I took the kids to the Wild Animal Park. I bought a new pass which allows me to bring a guest, any guest. So Garrett was my guest and we also get free parking at WAP which is awesome. The other thing is we've taught Tatum that if they ask her how old she is at the zoo or the WAP, she is to respond, "Two!". But in case that doesn't work out, she can always be my guest. :) While we were there, we took a new trail and saw the bald eagle, mountain sheep, elephants and the tigers. The tigers got frisky and had a little cat fight for us. It looked like two little kittens rolling around, batting at each other. Of course, they're actually huge tigers with large teeth and claws, but still cute! :)

After lunch we stopped at the play area and had to take a picture with the lion.

Since Ty is a Leo, he requested this shot. (just to let you know, I didn't leave my unstable kid perched on the top of a lion head, Garret's behind him holding him up) :)

And then Sunday morning, while Daddy went golfing, Tatum, Ty and I walked to a park. Tatum is always asking to walk to a park and I always tell her we're not close enough to one to walk to it. But yesterday we found a path, about a 20 minute walk, leading to our favorite park! Look at this little model, posing on the slide. :)

And here's Ty enjoying the swing. When I first put him in and gave him a push, he wasn't sure about it. But as he got his barrings and hung on to the side, he started to smile and enjoy it. Such a sweet little man.