First Trip To The Dentist

So after posting about the boys brushing their teeth I got a referral from a friend on FB to a pediatric dentist in Burien. The day before I talked to the boys a lot about going to the dentist and how he's a doctor for your teeth (Owen loves going to the regular doctor). I told the boys that they were going to have to smile and open their mouths and say "ahhh" so the dentist could see all their teeth.

The dentist called back Jack first and I got to sit in the chair and hold Jack. He looks all concerned in this picture, but he really did great. He was actually quite at ease and didn't even get scared at all.

He was really good about letting the dental hygienist clean and floss his teeth. The only part he didn't like was getting fluoride at the end of the treatment and that was because it tasted funny and was really sticky!

Thank goodness Ga-Ga is on vacation this week so she was able to come with me. While I was with Jack they called Owen back so he got to sit with her. Thanks Ga-Ga!!! He did so good they even tried to take X-rays, but he drew the line there so they weren't able too. No biggie though!




Since Owen did so well with his teeth cleaning they decided to use the pumas stuff to actually remove some stains he's had on his teeth since they started coming in. We were told by his doctor that sometimes baby teeth have stains on them because of all the vitamins you have to take while they are in the womb.

Look Mom....no cavities!

The boys both got little goodie bags filled with floss, a new tooth brush, their certificate and two tokens for the toy machines in the lobby. It was such a great experience!

Look at those sparkly teeth!

I Am No Poet...

but the other day in the shower I realized how many words rhymed with with Grace so I started coming up with lines in my head and began to type them out. I'm going to print this out and frame it for Ella.


Ella Grace

Oh my sweet, sweet Ella Grace,
I can’t wait to gaze upon your face.
To hold you in my warm embrace,
My sweet, sweet Ella Grace.

Oh my sweet precious Ella Grace,
My lips will trace your sweet soft face,
And I’ll cherish each and every phase,
My sweet precious Ella Grace.

Oh my sweet angel Ella Grace,
I’ll dress you up in things with lace,
And watch you float from place to place,
My sweet angel Ella Grace.

Oh my sweet baby Ella Grace,
These memories cannot be replaced,
The time I carried you in a special place,
My sweet baby Ella Grace.

Oh my sweet daughter Ella Grace,
I’ll cherish each and every phase,
And give God the glory and the praise,
For my sweet daughter Ella Grace

Shoe Fetish

As you can see I have a shoe fetish...not for me the boys! I only wear about 4 pairs of shoes on a regular basis, but I love having lots of variety for the boys. Surprisingly out of all the shoes in this picture I have only bought 3 pairs brand new and even at that I had coupons for 2 of them.

In this pictures are 12 pairs of shoes for Jack and 10 pairs of shoes for Owen. I seriously don't know what I'm going to do when Owen grows out of his Tigger Crocs that my Aunt Linda bought him. They are one of his favorite pair of shoes. Those and his baseball shoes that are blue and white that are sitting right in front of his Tigger Crocs.


Here's my question of the day...where do you store your kids shoes? Mine are stored on this bench in our living room. I used to keep them in the closet, but I would always forget them and have to run back upstairs and it was driving me crazy. Hence the whole storing them downstairs. Here's my dilemma....notice how the bench is already full? Yeah and I'm having a girl...let me repeat that...A GIRL!!! I have no idea where I'm going to store all these shoes. Michael is all for just throwing them in the box in the bottom of the entryway closet, but I know that will just mean we'll never use the ones that are in the bottom of the box. I do have one of those over the door shoe holder things, but we only have one closet that it will work with and it's in our office. All the other closet doors are bi-fold doors so it won't work. Any suggestions??

Aviators

I didn't mention one of the main presents the boys got this year because I wanted to get cute pictures of them wearing them...

Pa works for Boeing so when he saw these super cool bomber jackets at the company store he just had to buy them for the boys.

I dressed them similarly on Sunday for church and put them in their new jackets and ever since then they have only wanted to wear their bomber jackets. Today we went out to Fred Meyers and the boys got SO many looks and smiles. They do look pretty cute!!!

Christmas Day!

After we finished up having Christmas at our house we headed down to Ga-Ga & Pa's. I love dressing the boys similarly, but Michael refuses to let me have them match perfectly so I decided to dress them both in their argyle sweaters. I must say...they are the just the cutest things EVER. Of course I'm a little biased!

We pretty much opened present right away because we were all so excited.

Owen and Jack both got monogrammed Elmo towels.

The boys got new pajamas...Owen got ones with McQueen and Jack got ones with Woody.

Uncle Ryan got two new sweaters, cash and two gift cards.

Jack had fun modeling Ga-Ga's gloves that she got from Pa.

Like we do every year we made Ga-Ga & Pa a photo calendar. It's Ga-Ga's favorite thing!

Michael got a new corded drill, a Philips screwdriver set and The Unit season 4.

I got a day with my mom (my favorite gift), Season 4 of 24 and a digital camera.

Pa got the biggest present...a new shop vac.

We've been talking to Owen about Christmas being Jesus' birthday so he was very insistent after we opened present that we light candles and sing Happy Birthday. He had so much fun blowing out the candles!

Dinner time!

After dinner the boys got to play with their new Play-Doh.

Jack loved pretending to eat his green hamburger...surprisingly he didn't actually eat any of it.

This is what a turkey coma looks like!

Time for hot cocoa!

Jack had about 4 helpings of Ga-Ga's sweet potatoes...that's one full belly!

More Christmas tree pictures...Pa, Uncle Ryan (aka. Uncle Ry) & Ga-Ga.

Michael, Lyndsay, Owen, Jack, Ella and Uncle Ryan!

New pajama pictures! In the words of Owen....Merry Christmas everybody!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning the boys slept in until 8 and I couldn't help but think this is probably the last year that's going to happen!

We bought the boys 3 presents each...one present was DVD's, one was books and one was a toy. I found all the books and DVD's at either garage sales, MOPS care & share or thrift stores, but the toys were brand new.

Jack got a Mickey DVD and an Elmo DVD and Owen got 3 tractor DVD's. Jack was so in love with the Mickey DVD he actually held it all the way down to Ga-Ga & Pa's house...he WOULD NOT let it go.

Owen loves firetrucks so when I found this at Costco I knew it was perfect. He rode all the way down to Ga-Ga & Pa's holding on it and moving the ladder back and forth.

Jack loves playing with the broom and the vacuum so I got him his very own vacuum at Toys R Us. It makes noise and lights up and it's the same vacuum they have in our church nursery so I knew he would love it.

He is one happy boy!

After playing with their toys for a little while we had them open up their stockings. Here they are waiting!

The boys each got one wrapped present - Owen got crayons & Jack got Winnie the Pooh books. Then they each got two Cars bouncy balls and Pez dispensers. Oh the Pez were a hit to say the least!

Owen was eating them so fast his saliva glands were going crazy!

Owen definitely understood the whole opening presents thing so I'm sure next month at his 3rd birthday he is going to be a pro!

Christmas Eve

This year we had Christmas Eve dinner at our house for Michael's side of the family. This was the first time in two years that all the brothers would be together under one roof. This was also the first time we got to meet our newest nephew James.

Here's Aunt Shana and James! He's such a cute!

A week before Christmas Michael had a poker party at the house with 18 men in our dining room. If you've been in my dining room this would impress you...a lot! So we decided to set it up the same way for Christmas Eve dinner. We brought in the patio table and turned both the dining room table and the patio table sideways so they would both fit. It worked out pretty good!

Jack enjoyed slurping up those spaghetti noodles!



After dinner the kids had so much fun rough housing around in the living room. It was so great! I love hearing the giggles and laughs. They weren't even in a hurry to open up their presents they were just enjoying playing so much!

I love this picture of Paige and her Daddy (Michael's oldest brother Rick).

Since 3 out of 4 of the brothers were laid off at one point during the year we decided to just give the kids presents and not the adults. We also had the kids draw names so we only had to buy for 2 kids since we have 2 kids. It was nice and easy on the wallet that's for sure! Owen got some more Cars to go inside his Cars carrying case. They are the mini Cars. He is so in love!!! Red and Tow Mater are his favorites right now. He also got a cute pair of pajamas with bears on them. The grandparents and great-grandparents also got all the kids present too.

Camryn and Paige snuggling in their new pajamas!

Jack wasn't sure about the whole opening presents thing he actually drove around on his present with his Cars for a long time before I got him to open it. He got a cute little Elmo, green ball and a dump truck that had mega blocks in it.

James is so close to walking around...he was having so much fun pushing Jack's shopping cart back and forth. He's a very content little guy!

Like I said this is the first time since Christmas 2007 all the brothers were together. I'm so glad I got them all to stand together and take a picture. Of course standing in birth order was out of the question. They are pretty close though...Michael is the only one that's out of place. He should be all the way on the right since he's the baby of the family. L to R - Michael, Rick, Steve and Jon. I must say the fact that Jon is smiling and showing teeth is a Christmas miracle in and of itself! :)

Now for the annual Christmas tree pictures...I know it's a little corny, but I like to scrapbook them each year to see how much we've all change.

Mom & Dad

Rick, Michelle, Avery, Cooper & Paige

Steve, Shana, Stevie & James - Stevie is almost 13 years old and when he walked in the house I about fell over. The kid is getting so tall and to top it off his voice is changing. It totally makes me feel old. I remember holding him when he was 4 months old...I didn't even know he would become my nephew at the time because Michael and I weren't even dating at the time. Crazy!!!

Jon, Becky, Camryn & Samantha

Michael, Lyndsay, Owen, Jack & Ella in the tummy!

It was really nice to have everyone over to our house and it wasn't that stressful since everyone brought something for dinner. We also used...gasp...paper plates, but it was so nice to have very few dishes to wash. I still didn't get around to cleaning up the kitchen until this morning though!