Happy Birthday!!!

Alexis made it to the big 24 today! It looked something like this....


Just kidding, this may have been what the celebration looked like circa 2001? I found this picture on our computer and thought it was pretty sweet.

I was gone all last week on trek and did not have the foresight to buy decorations and such before I left. This morning I woke up early and cut the words "Happy Birthday Alexis" out of construction paper and taped it to the wall in the stairway. Due to my ineptitude with scissors, it took me FOREVER to cut that out and that was all I got done before I had to leave for work. I didn't feel like that did this day justice; so I left work a little early, picked some stuff up at Wal-mart and convinced Alexis to go to the gym. When she got back she found the place a little more festive.


Balloons and streamers with a little happy birthday sign are pretty much the go-to decorations.

I also picked her up this little number...

The point is, I have the best wife ever, and the best mother for my kids I could have ever hoped for. Happy Birthday Babe! I love you!

Livy Louly "Bust" Photo Shoot

Yesterday, Drew and Megan could sense I needed a little break from my passionate, determined and independent 2 year old - so they took her to Tangled. (Yes, this was her 4th time seeing it :)) Anyhoo, next to the theater, Megan spotted this sweet bus and immediately wanted to take some pics by it, so she had a little Livy photo shoot. Livy kept saying she was so excited for her "bust" pictures :) Megan's pics turned out AWESOME. She learned quickly that 2 year olds aren't that easy to photograph - but she got a ton of cute ones! Every picture shows a different part of her personality. She looks so old in some of them. It makes me sad. But she's so dang cute! Here are all of my faves!

FAVORITE

Classic Livy Face

So grown up!

Mad face

Boss face. I believe she was yelling at Drew right here.

In this one, Megan's mom edited out Drew's car and it turned out SO CUTE!!!

Snowday

Last week, we had a fun little snow day. I'm over the snow days but Liv and Jake are IN LOVE with them - even though they play for 10 minutes and then demand to come inside and drink hot chocolate :) First, let me explain the outfits. It was an impromptu snow extravaganza so we didn't have any of Jake's snow gear. So luckily, Liv fit into Adam's 18 month old snowsuit (of course) and Jake fit into Livy's. So funny. Livy looks homeless.

So much excitement!

Loving the taste of snow.

Action shots :)

While Drewbee shoveled, he also tried to see if he could fling it into the air on them. They were loving it.

And here's what normally happens on snow days when I'm not willing to send the kiddlies outside...


We make robot suits!

And Adam remains in a diaper most of the day because I'm too lazy to dress him when we're cooped up inside all day.

Lovers of Loving Love v.6

Each year I look forward to an awesome CD from Matt on Valentine's Day. Matt puts a lot of thought into CDs he makes for me. When we were first flirting (not dating since Matt wouldn't admit he was dating an 18 year old) I asked him to burn this song he had on a CD for me. Instead of just giving me that one song, he spent hours one night putting together a CD of some sweet songs. He then nonchalantly handed me the CD one night like it was nothing. Denial. Anyhoo, he's continued this tradition for 5 years now and the playlists keep getting better and better. Thanks, babe!

1. Hello (Glee Cast Version feat. Jonathan Groff)

I LOVE this song! I don't watch Glee anymore because it makes me feel weird, but I am still obsessed with this song from last season.

2. What a Girl Wants by Christina Aguilera

Classic 13-year-old Alexis - I still love you, Christina, even though you butchered the National Anthem - so dumb.

3. My Front Porch Looking In by Lonestar

Matt tries to act cool but he's such a softy when he hears a sweet country song about family

4. Baby I love Your Way by Bob Marley and the Wailers

5. If You're Into It - Flight of the Conchords

Google the video if you haven't seen this song on their show - HILARIOUS

6. Hanging By a Moment by Lifehouse

7. I Just Wanna Be With You by N Sync

8. Stop and Stare by OneRepublic

9. I'll Make Love to You by Boys II Men

10. Love You Out Loud by Rascal Flatts

11. You're Still the One by Shania Twain

12. I See the Light - Tangled

There's nothing better than Chuck with a good singing voice. He became pretty hot after I heard him sing in Tangled :)

13. I'll Never Break Your Heart by Backstreet Boys

14. The Way You Look Tonight by Michael Buble

15. Everything I do, I do it for You by Bryan Adams

16. All my life by KC and Jo Jo

17. More than Words by Xtreme

18. Endless Love by Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross

19. Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis

20. Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Valentine's day was fun this year! We began by preparing for it the day before and making heart shaped doughnuts. My sister-in-law, Megan, and I didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into, but according to Matt - they turned out DELICIOUS! I was unable to taste them because after all of the preparation and grease burns, I just wasn't in the mood...

Our workstation

The cause of numerous burns...

Finished product after we finally started getting the hang of it :)

We even did doughnut holes - awesome!

Livy was loving it. She's wearing her shoes because all of our windows and doors were open due to a small smoke problem and she was playing outside :) And the fairy costume (or as Livy calls it her "fairy godmother" dress) she currently wears every single day and to every store we go into. Her cute little friends came over and taught her about dress-up and since then, she hasn't taken the dress off.

All photos courtesy of Drewbee. Seriously, Livy was so happy.

Then comes Valentine's Day:

They woke up to balloons and Valentines pajamas - since pajamas bring Livy the greatest joy ever - still. I'm wondering if we'll ever leave this pajama phase.

And apparently Drew wanted us to celebrate our rich Spanish heritage - hence the "Te quiero" themed balloon...

The balloon quickly became Adam's best friend and went with him everywhere.

They also woke up to hearts everywhere. At first, Livy was VERY upset about this. She woke up and came into my room and yelled, "Who's birthday is it!?!?" And then she yelled, "And who put hearts all over my door!!??" After I explained that it was Valentines Day - she said "Oh Mom! The hearts are so pretty! Thank you!" :)

Also, I got the flu really bad that day, so this is what my dreams of heart shaped pancakes turned into.

Then it was actually warm enough to go to the park. Well it was 50 degrees - which is significantly higher than it has been - so we were all about getting out of the house!!!

Story of Adam's life. Looking on at what his sister is doing, wishing he could keep up with her. Poor guy.

Awesome faces:

Love this face! I swear he was having fun on the swing!

Obviously I was only able to get some good pics from the boy since Jake and Livy took off the second we got to the park!

Sweet valentines outfit.

Cute little Jake. Livy's favorite cousin and BFF.

My favorite pic from the park. I love how you can see the leaves he was playing with in his eye.

After the park we went to Macey's to get some stuff to make cookies. Unfortuantely, our trip then turned into an attempted robbery on Jake's part. When we got out to the car I realized that he had stolen a little dog toy. So we went to return it and the manager not only let him keep it but then gave all of the kids balloons! I don't think he quite understood that I was trying to teach these 2-year-olds a lesson! So I took the dog away and before we got the balloons I explained that this wasn't a reward for stealing and we have to pay for stuff at the store with money - hilarious!

Anywhoo, we finished the day by making valentines and cookies for our friends and family. Besides getting the nasty flu - it was a fun day with the kids!