Pictures lately, and my child prodigy

Just thought I would post a few pictures of what's going on lately. Nothing too exciting happening around here... Shad and is still working hard, long days. And I'm still staying at home with the kiddos. The weather lately has been really cold, rainy, and slushy so we haven't gotten out much, just a lot of hanging out at home. :)

Nathan continues to be my angel baby...he still loves to be swaddled, and he does a lot of this (sometimes at the same time as Owen too, whoo hoo)

Owen has a small obsession with the ipad my parents bought, I think he uses it more than anyone in the house! Ipad= One Happy Boy!

Yeah, Shad thinks he is the one sleep deprived... riiiiight.
Yesterday, before church, my dad took some new family photos of the four of us. It was a small miracle that we were ready early enough to squeeze in picture time! We even color coordinated!


Then I got some cute pictures of my little guy. He's just too sweet.
Nathan is starting to be really responsive. He loves to talk/coo to you and will often flash his adorable grin! Can you believe he is 8 weeks old already!?! (Me neither!)

Now for my little prodigy! Today I was trying to get dressed, get some laundry folded, and take care of Nathan. Owen was craving some mommy time and attention, so I gave him some letter cards (a favorite of his) to pacify him while I cleaned up. Finally, when I took notice of him playing I looked on my bed to find this:
NO JOKE--Owen had spelled out 'Owen,' 'Bus,' 'Truck,' and 'Car'! Little smarty pants show off! Needless to say he got the attention he was craving for!

He then asked me to help him spell out 'mommy' and 'daddy.'

It doesn't stop there. He can spell/recognize the words: toy, boy, baby, grandma, grandpa, stop, go, train, and a few others! All this at just 25 months old!

This is for you Kam!

Last week was a really hard week, I was wondering HOW I was ever going to survive being a mother of two at home all day, then I had a day like today... where BOTH boys were complete little angels, perfectly pleasent. We had a very productive day, complete with a walk outside and BOTH boys napped for me AT THE SAME TIME for 2 hours. Oh man, it was HEAVEN. In addition, currently both boys are in bed... I know amazing. We have a pretty good routine going with Nathan and he has been a great little sleeper. Much better than Owen ever was. (Hopefully that keeps up!)

Anyway, I thought I would take this opportunity to blog. My friend Kambria did a little "About me" post on her blog and then asked three friends (me being one of them) to answer 11 questions that she asks us and post it. A little interview if you will... so maybe you will learn something about yours truly. :)

Me and Kam at Christmas 2008...I miss her SO much!

1. What do you always have in your purse?
Well, besides the obvious (wallet, license, keys, etc) it would have to be hand sanitizer. Ever since I've become a mom I always try to carry some with me. In the car, diaper bag, purse... its essential.

2. If you could choose to be best friends with a celebrity, who would it be?
Hmmm....Someone low-key and closer to my age... I think maybe Rachel McAdams. I always seem to like her movies and she seems pretty down to earth. Not a whole lot of gossip pops up on her. I think we could hang. :)

3.If money were no object, what would you choose to do for a living?
Well, I'd still be a stay at home momma to my cutie little boys. But my dream job would have to be photographer. I'd love to travel to world and photograph everything and everyone. Maybe this dream will become a reality... someday...

4. What's your favorite memory with me (Kambria)?
Oh man, SO MANY, do I really have to pick just one?!
One that comes to mind is when Kam and I were in high school and I was sleeping over at her house. It was late, very late, and there was a knock on her backyard window/sliding door! We both freaked out and locked ourselves in the bathroom because we were both so afraid! Isaac, Kam's younger brother, even offered to defend us with his baseball bat! (hahaha!) The knocks and noises kept coming... we finally got brave enough to look outside only to find out it was some boys we knew/liked. They came back later to apologize with mass chocolate and cookies! So funny.

5. What movie could/do you watch over and over?
'That Thing You Do!' will always be a favorite of mine, 'Enchanted', 'Sound of Music', 'Heart and Souls' But my current favorite movie that I've been watching over and over is '17 Again'! I know, dorky... but it seriously makes me laugh so much!!

6. Who are your favorite male and female singers?
My favorite male singer: Jack Johnson or Micheal Buble. My favorite female singer: Well, you just can't beat the greats like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston... seriously awesome! I also really like Gwen Stefani.

7. If you could be granted ONE wish from a genie what would it be?
Well, if we're going for material gain...I'd wish for like a Billion dollars (okay, maybe not that much, its a ballpark!)... that way I could just buy anything I wished for (house, car, pay off Shad's student loans, college for the kiddos, take care of my parents and extended family, etc.). I know this makes me seem REALLY shallow, but Shad told me it was practical, so I can justify it. Don't worry, I'd still pay tithing.

8. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
This is always such a hard question, because I don't know what its like to live anywhere besides where I've lived. Plus I always want to be close to family and friends, so my initial reaction would be to say Seattle, which is home to me. Plus I just LOVE Washington and love the NW. But if I'm thinking paradise/better weather, maybe somewhere in Italy off the Mediterranean Sea. Ahh...paradise.

9. If you could "get rid" of one celebrity who would it be?
Lady Gaga, yes, I said it. I'm sorry but she is so irritating and obnoxious. She doesn't come off as very likable. She's too weird for me. But what is the MOST irritating is that her music is SO good and SO catchy! I'll listen to a song of hers, fall in love with it, only to find out later that she is the one who sings it! Oh man, I so want to dislike her but I can't... drives me nuts! Haha.

10. What is your best or worst story involving snow?
I HATE snow. Its a deep rooted hatred. The Best Worst Story for me is when Shad and mine's curse of recording breaking snow began... Spokane. Our first winter in Spokane (2008) was absoutely insane. It was in December and a snow storm was moving in, the news forcasted 3-6 inches overnight. However, the snow storm did not just "pass through" it stayed stuck over Spokane for DAYS. It just dumped snow, I mean... the heavens opened up and fell upon us. We recieved 2 feet in one day, and 4+ feet in the week. The whole city shut down, schools, banks, malls (yes, that close to Christmas). It was IMPOSSIBLE to go anywhere. There weren't enough snow plows to get to everyone, some people where stuck in thier houses for days, even up to a week before the plows got there. And the snow just kept coming for weeks. Spokane made national news, the city was in a "state of emergency." Shad's car got completely buried into a snow cave that took him 4 hours to dig out! Shad's law school final was canceled, which was UNHEARD of. I worked at a bank and was told the previous day before the storm that NO MATTER WHAT we will be open... then received a call at 5 AM that we will be closed! Haha. It was absolute mayhem! Ever since then, Shad and I have had the curse of record breaking snow... *sigh*

11. Are you addicted to Pinterest? If so, what a recipe or craft from there that went wrong?
Well, I can't say that I have "never" been on Pinterest, but pretty close to never, at least never on my own. The only time I ever got on Pinterest was with a friend who showed it to me, because I asked her what it was. She showed me her account and explained what the website was all about and that is the one and only time I've even been on. I'm sure someday I'll jump on the pinterest bandwagon... just not yet. :)

Love you Kam!

You are supposed to tag 3 other friends and come up with more questions to keep it going. But I'm going to be a party pooper and just leave it at this!

Nathan's Blessing

Two Sunday's (February 26th) ago we blessed our sweet little Nathan. We decided to do it sooner rather than later because we happened to have family in town that weekend. My uncle and cousin from Finland came for a visit and we really wanted to include them in the experience. It was really special having them here for the event. Since its such a rarity to have any family from Finland in town... in fact, it never happens!! Also Shad's mom, Rosalie, was also able to fly in for the weekend. She got to meet little Nathan and spend some time with Owen. Owen loved having her here; he called her "Grandma Reef," and was so excited at the concept of TWO grandmas! Grandma's are the BEST! :)

While my parents were off site-seeing and showing the sites to my uncle, Shad and I spent the weekend with Rosalie and Shad's sister Heidi. Owen absolutely adores his older cousins and enjoyed spending all day Saturday with them! (We are LOVING this whole living close to family idea!) We have the 1 o'clock church schedule, so we decided to have a little luncheon before church (since Rosalie had to catch a flight after church!) with everyone to celebrate Nathan's arrival and blessing day!

We are so grateful for the family that could share in our special day, and are especially grateful for our beautiful healthy little boy, Nathan!

Cousin Julia is SO good at entertaining Owen! He has so much fun with her!
Happy Grandma!
Heidi and Rosalie... part of our day together was doing art projects! :)
My Cousin Mika (age 11) holding Nathan.
We took some family pictures outside the church after the blessing.
My side of the fam:
Shad's side of the fam (... and my parents!)
At home we also took some family photos before we all changed out of our Sunday best.
My dad with his brother and nephew:
Owen and Mika (Owen was very sad to see them go... Mika was a good playmate for Owen!)
It was impossible to get a good picture of all of us... my mom was making weird faces in all the pictures, and Owen was all over the place! Haha! So here is the best one we got!