The Benz Family News

Life with twins

2011-07-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Life is really busy now as you can expect, but I still manage to pull out my camera to capture the sweet moments with my three babies. Here are just a few (hah) of my favorites.

Allie loves meat on the bone, she gets mad if we take her chicken off the bone. :) Her first taste of ribs. Yum

She loves being a big sister.

Fourth of July parade in Happy Valley

Waving at the car to get them to throw candy!

Eli during his photo shoot (just kidding but it looks like it)

My lovely sister with one of our favorites, Elephant Ears! When we presented a bite to Allie she started crying because she thought we were buying her a bit elephant ear to put on her ear, she requested a pink one.

Allie riding her first pony!

This look is, no more pictures mom, and no I don't want to smile.

Splash pad after her pony ride. The duck football sticker on her face had been there for two days. She refused to let us take it off.

Her first fireworks

One of her favorites. It used to be my favorite too.

Playing with my new iphone. She LOVES all the games and their educational too. Amazing that she is two and can maneuver around the menu to find her game.

Playing together. Sometimes while sleeping they touch hands like they just love knowing the other is there.

My three loves.

Sam in her bonnet. :)

Tummy time

Sisters! Sisters!

Painting on her new easel.

Concert in the park last night. My sweet boy.

Sleepy Sam

One Month Old!

2011-05-26T19:24:00.001-07:00

Can't believe the twins are now one month old. It has been a whirlwind month and I think I only remember 25% of it. :) I have enjoyed the precious moments of the last month though and can't wait until they are awake a little more and sleeping a little more at night! I wish I could say it's been easy but it's been challenging to say the least. I wouldn't change a thing though. I am learning slowly how to balance motherhood of three. and loving every minute.

Couldn't get Eli to sit up like his sister. :)

Samantha Rose

Eliott Mitchell

My three lovies. So proud to call them mine. Allie is so excited to be a big sister after so many months of talking about the babies.

Big Life Changes

2011-05-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

For those of you who still check this you probably already know we had our babies. and since life has been a bit busy I am just getting to this post 3 weeks late. Although life has been crazy I wouldn't change anything. I am so in love with our new additions. I have a ton of pictures too but for now I will post a few and if you are my facebook friend look there for more.

The babies are now 3 1/2 weeks old and are doing great. They are both gaining weight but Samantha seems to like her food a bit more then Eli and is now almost a pound bigger. As for me I am getting a bit more sleep thanks so my amazing husband and awesome family. Thanks to everyone who brought us meals, folded laundry and did our dishes. I owe you!

Here I am the day after Easter at 36 weeks pregnant. My water broke that afternoon and surprised us all.

Samantha Rose was born at 2:58am. She was 5.4 lbs, 18 3/4 in.

Eliott (Eli) Mitchell was born at 3:04am. He was 5.7 lbs, 18 3/4 in.

Big sister Allie came for a visit later that day.

Holding a baby for the first time.

Leaving for home

Finally home with "The Big Benz Family" as we are now calling it. Allie is loving having them home. She gets so excited and asks where her babies are when she wakes up. We are all still adjusting but slowing each day gets a bit better.

Her First Play

2011-03-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

Matt's mom and sister took Allie to her first play last Saturday. Go Dog Go. She got all dressed up and when I put the dress on her she said "I'm a princess!!". She was so excited. After we got a call from her and she said "There was a green dog, and a blue dog, and a pink dog, and a yellow dog, oh and a boy that said I looked like a princess." In this first picture she looks so grown up! How did that happen???

At the show, Allie looks a little tired. She got autographs from all the actors/dogs. :)

Shower

2011-03-16T15:21:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago my mom, mother in law and sister threw me a great shower. My favorite little touches were the double stuffed oreos, double mint gum, twix bars and all the pink and blue decorations. Matt's mom and my mom even coordinated the color of their shirts. :) Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated these two new babies to be born. You all helped us get prepared for their arrival!

My mother in law wearing her pink shirt

My mom wearing her blue one.

Matt's mom found these little name confetti but they didn't have an Eli so she bought Elijah and cut off all the jah's. Now that's decorating and love. :)

My mom and grandma made this amazing diaper cake.

Allie came a bit later and she got presents of her own!

Then she cleaned up after herself, she loves to do that.

Allie's First Movie

2011-02-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

At first she didn't quite understand that we were going to a movie, she just kept saying "Movie ok lets watch it" and walking into the living room. but once we explained there would be popcorn at the theater she was so excited.

We saw Yogi Bear.

She was loving the popcorn!

Dinner at Cha Cha Cha after. What a great Benz family date night. For being almost 2 1/2 she did really good during the movie. Only talked loud a few times when she saw the bear, she was excited.
Look at her squinty eyes. That is how she smiles for the camera now. :)

Being silly

26 Weeks

2011-02-19T20:14:00.000-08:00

We have made it to 26 weeks and we only have 12 to go! Seems to have flown by and I know they next few months will blur by too. We have been preparing and planning and as my shower approaches I know our loved ones will help in those preparations. Although I find it really hard not to buy super cute clothes for them!
Allie has been to three of my ultrasounds and loves to see them move. The last one was pretty quick and they both seemed to be asleep but Eli's little mouth was moving as he slept. So cute!
My energy has been pretty good but I find that I can only do a load of dishes or a little laundry before I have to sit down again. and in the coming months my amazing and wonderful husband will have to take on even more. More then he already has! Thanks honey!
Needless to say we are getting more and more excited to meet them and there already budding personalities (Samantha is to active - crazy like her sister, and Eli is our quiet one). We will keep you posted as we get closer to the big day!

26 Weeks

This one was too cute not to post. :)

Shake Your Booty

2011-02-18T19:50:00.001-08:00

Matt: Come here Allie I have something to tell you.
Allie: No Dad, I gotta dance.

Surprise!

2011-01-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

In the car on the way home from the store

Allie (2): Mommy, Daddy I have a surprise for you (she loves giving fake gifts)
Me: (Laughing) Is it in your pants?
Allie: Yup
(Matt and Elizabeth laughing)
Allie: My Legs!
(Matt and Elizabeth laughing harder)

The Adventures in Potty Training

2011-01-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

For about 6 months now we have gotten Allie to go in the potty at least once a day and recently it's been up to 6 times but it hasn't progressed beyond that so we decided to just stick her in big girl undies and see where it goes. The last time we did that a few days ago we got her to go quite a bit but she still went through 7 pairs that day. Well I just have to keep at it and hopefully she will get it. I will just share a cute story while we were shopping for her undies.

At the store we were in the wrong section for little girl undies instead found ourselves in the big girl section. As we were looking she found some she liked but they didn't have her size so we went in search of the smaller section and while leaving Matt was explaining those ones didn't fit her bottom. We then found the right section and picked out some cute ones for her. Matt's mom called a few minutes later and in the process of getting her excited about them we told her to talk to Donna and tell her about her new undies.

Allie: I got big girl undies!
Donna: You did! What's on them?
Allie: Tinkerbell and they fit my bottom!

They Have Names!

2011-01-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

Samantha Rose and Eliott (Eli) Mitchell. :) Love that I can pray for them and call them by name.

Baby Pictures

2011-01-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

We had our big ultrasound on Tuesday and found out we are having a boy and a girl. The babies were moving around like crazy and the tech was having a little bit of a hard time getting the shots she needed because they kept moving around. It was so cute. :) Here are some pictures of our little peanuts.

Baby Girl all curled up

Baby Boy

Baby Boy Foot

The Babies Are........

2011-01-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

A Boy and A Girl!!! Pictures to come. :)

18 Week Comparison

2010-12-21T18:40:00.000-08:00

18 Weeks with Allie

18 Week with the Twins

Peacock Lane

2010-12-20T20:14:00.001-08:00

This Christmas season Allie has been loving everything. She loves the songs, the lights, the crafts, the treats, the tree and I cannot wait until Christmas morning, she will be so excited. She even has me sing only Christmas songs at bedtime. Since this year has been so special with her I have been thinking of things to do with her. She loves the lights on the houses so we decided to make our way down to Peacock Lane tonight. She was so adorable. She was either singing Jingle Bells or saying how cute everything was. Definitely worth the cold to see her loving it all. This may be a new family tradition now that she is old enough to appreciate it. Next year we will just have a double stroller with us. :)

Christmas Tree Hunting

2010-12-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

All ready to go!

A hunting we will go

Which one Allie?

Found it!

This is Allie's first big tree. We haven't had a place big enough for a regular size tree in 2 years. It was so fun to pick it out together.

Time to cut it down. Allie was helping dad.

Then we grab some hot chocolate and candy canes! I think this was her favorite part.

The tree farm also have sheep and after attempting to feed them she asked to ride one. (We have a rocking sheep at home she loves to ride)

Did The Ants Do It?

2010-11-30T08:49:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving Matt hurt his knee playing football and was in quite a bit of pain when he got home. Allie was very concerned and was hovering as he was taking his shoes off. When his shoes came off he sprinkled little black dots on the carpet (part of the turf they were playing on).

Allie: "Daddy hurt?"
Matt: "Yeah Daddy's hurt"
Allie looking at the little black dots on the carpet..... "Did the ants do it?"

Dr. Benz...... Paging Dr. Benz

2010-11-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

Allie practiced for her future career Saturday at the Children's Museum!

We Have News!

2010-11-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

We are being blessed not with one but two babies this time around. :) Yup the Benz's are going to be a family of 5! I am currently 12 weeks and due May 24th. My doctor says they probably won't let me go past May 10th though. So we get to see the babies a little early this time.

The weeks leading up to our 8 week ultrasound I had my suspicions as to whether there were two. For one I was a whole lot more tired and hungry, I was starting to show a little at 8 weeks ( and in maternity clothes at 9) and I think the Lord was preparing me a little before we got the news. On the way to the ultrasound I asked Matt if he thought it was two or not and he said he would be surprised if they told us it was one. So it wasn't just me then. :) When she said there were two we just laughed and smiled and said "we knew it!". It was a pretty big shock but a good shock. We have had a month to get used to idea and while I am still nervous I am trying to learn as much as I can and make the right decisions for the babies.

The picture isn't as bright but here they are at 12 weeks. This was the coolest ultrasound. Since they are still small you can see their whole bodies and they were moving around like crazy. Baby B was pushing off the side of the sac almost like Micheal Phelps. and when she went to track to heart beats they had little blups in the rhythm because they were moving so much. That the fun part, I get an ultrasound every appointment because they need to see the two heartbeats since if they heard them they wouldn't be able to tell who is who. So I get to see them more often. :)

We have been talking about the babies with Allie and she is so excited to meet them. Sometimes she hugs my tummy and says hi babies. :) My brother gave her twin dolls for her birthday and she loves to care for them. She will be such a great big sister. Everything in pairs are now called twins, like the other day there were two oranges on the counter and she said "twin oranges". Oh and beware if you are pregnant she will just assume there are two babies in your tummy too. :)

Halloween/Allie's B-day

2010-11-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had a b-day party with some family. She was the only kid there and was loving the attention. She was dancing for us all in the living room. :)

Then there was a dance party going on in the kitchen with a dancing/singing Mickey doll she got.

Cupcakes!

Sitting peacefully between her Papa and Poppi.

Then on Halloween her actual birthday we laid low during the day since she has a slight cold and then went trick or treating with cousins.

She got the hang of it after a few houses and then after her bag got heavy and she got tired daddy gave her a ride to each house.

Pre Halloween Fun

2010-10-30T09:20:00.001-07:00

We are so looking forward to Allie's birthday this year. She is at the age that she can actually enjoy all the fun activities. We spent Matt's birthday carving/painting our pumpkins.

We themed our pumpkins around Allie's b-day, Matt's was Mickey Mouse mine said Allie.

On Friday we went to the Clackamas Promenade for some trick or treating. This was Allie's first time and so of course I had to bring the camera to capture the occasion. The kids costumes are so puffy I had to dress them in the back of my car.

Will loved to squeak Allie's ears. and she giggle when he did it too.

Concentrating on a sticker she got.

Love the little tail on that costume. It swings when she walks.

We went with some friends. Aren't they adorable!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

We took Allie to her first pumpkin patch and she loved it. It was so much fun for the whole family and I would recommend Liepold Farms in Boring, it's better then Sauvie's island. They had a kid area, pony rides, pumpkin catapulting, a maze, a farmers market, hay ride, and boring fire was there with their fire truck and ambulance. We all had such a great time. and the weather was beautiful!

Allie loved the kids area where she got to ride the carousel as much as she wanted.

Then after a carmel apple and a pretzel we rode the hay ride and learned about pumpkins are grown. When the guy asked for volenteers Allie tried to get out there.

Then we got to pick out our pumpkins. Look at this one, isn't it adorable. :)

Found the perfect Allie pumpkin!

Daddy's are silly!

2010-10-08T20:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight as I was getting Allie ready for bed she was laying on her back on the changing table and she asked me

Allie: whats that?

Me: Whats What?

Allie: That (pointing at my nose)

Me: My nose?

Allie: No, that

Me: You mean hair?

Allie: Ya let me get it

Me: No daddy's have hair in their noses

Allie: That's Silly

Me: Ya I guess it is silly

Then to cap it off about ten minutes later after a couple of books I asked her do you wanna pray she said yes, and I said what do you want to pray for. She said "thank you Jesus for nose hair" I was fighting back laughter so badly I had to quickly finish up and leave before I started laughing.

Me!

2010-09-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

While we were waiting for Matt's departure for the last few weeks (he flew to Arizona for the Ducks game) Matt had been talking to Allie that he was going to go in an airplane. Every time he said this she would say "no me!"

and while he was gone every time a plane flew overhead she would ask "daddy?"

Beach #2

2010-09-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

The last few days we spent our time....

Playing video games - old school Super Mario Brothers, Allie is pretending to play here

The kids finger painted for the first time.

Cheese!

They loved it if you couldn't tell, the pictures are currently displayed in the playroom.

What a mess!

We spent the perfect day at the beach and we did some kite flying

Exploring

Playing in water, her fav

and more games

Matt doing the robot

and a family favorite, Spoons! It's a rough game, we had injuries.

Beach #1

2010-09-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time in Lincoln City with my family. We walked the beach, played in the sand, played games, read, shopped, ate great food and spent great time with family. and we had great weather. We had 4 out of 5 nice days.

On the way to the beach

My two favorite people

She doesn't like the cold water

Her sweet baby feet

Love this picture

Papa reading to his kids

So Polite

2010-09-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

When the hair dresser cut Allie's hair (the second after she cut it, she really wasn't even done) she said "Thank you".

When someone clears their throat, coughs or just makes any noise in general Allie says "Bless you" or "Excuse you".

Allie's First Hair Cut

2010-08-29T17:49:00.001-07:00

We decided it was time (much to my apprehension about having my babies hair cut, she's too big!). Her hair was becoming a rat tail although I like to call it the colonial instead. :) Most days it wasn't so bad but when it wasn't curling or in pig tails it was so long. I brought a baggie for the hair and the camera. The girl even had a little card for her baby book that said Babies first hair cut. Matt said "I didn't know this was such an ordeal."

Here is Allie on the way to the hair cutting place. She is so independent, she loves to walk and run on her own instead of insisting we carry her.

But we still hold hands at the crosswalk. :)

Mama got a cape and Allie got one too

The Before

She did so good (it only took a minute)

Cutting my babies hair!!

The after. Such a big girl!

Random Summer Pics

2010-08-19T21:38:00.000-07:00

Silly Girl

Berry Picking

2010-08-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

My friend Kayla and I took our little sweet girls berry picking the other day and got some adorable pictures. We will definitely do this again!

All was all ready to pick some Strawberries (that is what she kept calling the Raspberries we were picking)

See the determination on her face

The girls, it would be so awesome to look back on these pictures when they are friends in 20 years.

Allie kept saying "Jilly come on!" she was just so excited for her friend to join in the fun!

Stinky

2010-08-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

The other day while we were all hanging out in Allie's room she decided Matt had a poopy diaper. "Dada Lay Down!" she ordered him while pointing at the ground. "Stinky poopoos!" So he obliged and laid on the ground. She pulled up his shirt and wiped his belly with a wipe then put the diaper on top of it. She then turned to me and said "Mama, stinky poopoos, lay down!" and then it was my turn. :)

HV Concert in the Park Take 2

2010-07-31T09:34:00.000-07:00

We didn't take too many pictures but these were the best. Most are of our beautiful daughter. Feel so lucky that she's ours! She had so much fun shaking her booty with Nonna Donna.

Matt bought this bubble gun the other day and we brought it with us to the concert in the park and we thought Allie and Will would have fun. What we didn't expect was for all the neighborhood kids to swarm him like bees.

"Hello Dada! I can't tell you how much fun I am having here at the park. I even got to eat some of cousin Nathan's snow cone. Let's come again next week!"

Summer

2010-07-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

Just a few random pictures of our summer. Allie has been having fun in the sun! She is actually at the age were she can do more things involving water, slides, swings and anything involving fun. :)

She put this hat on and was walking around the house with it.

She now likes to strip herself and run around the house. To the amusement of our guests.

My awesome sister got her this water table and Allie has been loving it. But she usually soaks herself so I took off her dress. Good thing it was warm. :)

Celebrate

2010-07-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

We had family over for my b-day and it was a lot of fun. Especially being able to have everyone comfortably in our place. We will hopefully post pictures of our place soon but for now you can see little glimpses.

Here is my brother doing my dishes which just had to be photographed. :) Thanks Shawn!

Family :)

Happy Valley Splash Pad

2010-07-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

Today the weather was finally nice enough to do something fun outside, preferably in the water so we had a play date with our friends Kayla and Jillian at the Happy Valley splash pad. The weather was perfect, just right only about 75 with a little wind. The kids happily played for a while, Allie didn't really want to play with the shooting water but loved to play in the dirty puddles around it. I know we will be doing the a ton this summer. Come join us!

Our Fourth

2010-07-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

We spent most of our fourth in Happy Valley with my sister and her family so we got to start the day off with some sliding in their backyard!

We then headed to the park because they do a big celebration with food vendors (ate way too many sweets) and bouncy houses for the kids. Allie is still a bit to small for all that but she had fun anyways. I think this picture is so funny. They are making identical faces.

We then barbecued and hung out letting the kids do some fireworks.

and then (I think this is so awesome) the neighborhood does a kid parade. Allie had fun waving at all the people. She was so cute doing her princess wave. Then Happy Valley does a big fireworks show but we got Allie home and in bed before that. We had a fun day!

Allie-isms

2010-07-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

The other day while in the bedroom Allie came in and shut the door. She then turned to me, put her hands on either side of her face and said "Oh Dear".
That night we put her to bed and she sat in there and cried over and over "Oh Dear!!!"

While at the mall with Nonna she saw a Thomas the Train book and said "Oh my gosh!"

While getting ready to leave she said "Let's go baby"

and once again I try to get her to say Yes Mama while trying to obey and she started saying "Yes Baby".

Impressionist!

2010-06-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

Allie used syrup to do her best impression of Nick Nolte

We're Moving!

2010-06-20T19:19:00.001-07:00

Yep that's right! We have officially become claustrophobic in our place and we started searching a few months ago. We found a great townhouse out in Clackamas. It has three bedroom and three full baths. and I think it's hilarious that Allie will get her own bathroom and walk in closet. Spoiled. :) So if any of you blog readers want to be our bestest friends and help us move on July 10th please let us know! Wish us luck as we prepare to move yet again. It is never ending. ;)

Cute Baby Talk

2010-06-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

I asked Will (2 1/2) if he wanted some apricot and he said

Will: "Yes I would like some aperpot."

Every time Allie hears or sees anything about a monkey she says

"No more monkeys jump on da bed"

Whenever Allie asks for something Matt always says "oh okay" so Allie now says it whenever she asks for something. For example

Allie: "Milk please"
Me: "Here's your milk"
Allie: "Oh okay"

Dancin' Girl

2010-06-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

It's Off To Work We Go

2010-06-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

Out landlord is currently redoing to roof on the house and the roofers where there during the weekend. It was quite annoying trying to get Allie her naps. On Monday Matt had one of the windows open and the roofers were whistling outside. Allie looked at Matt and started saying "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho".

Will-ism's

2010-05-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute Will (my nephew 2 1/2) ism's

Me: "Will would you like some apple?"

Will: "Of Course"

Me: "Let's go to the store"

Will: "That's Wonderful!" or "That's Vun-der-fur!!!"

While in the grocery store - At the top of his lungs

Will: "I tooted!!!!"

Matt Gets...

2010-05-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

Camera Shy

Adult's Eyes Only!!!!

2010-05-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

not appropriate for little readers.

This was the conversation between Beth and I the other night after a commercial for the new Sex and the City Movie. (must say that earlier in the day Beth was giving me crap for watching the golden girls)

Me: So gross

Beth: What

Me: They are so old now who wants to watch a movie about a bunch of old lady's talking about sex?

Beth: Well the golden girls had sex!

Me: Only Blanch, she was a whore!

My Jesus

2010-05-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

We bought Allie her first bible the other day and she loves reading it before bed now. The first day we got it she loved talking about the baby in the book (which was Moses in his basket), she kept telling me he was poopy. Then while reading it at bed time she kissed the Jesus picture over and over. I think she likes her new bible.

Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

2010-05-17T07:45:00.001-07:00

Saturday was a beautiful day so we decided it would be a perfect day to take Allie to the zoo! This is her second trip but now she can actually appreciate it. We had so much fun but man, the zoo makes you feel as if you have been walking for 8 hours! You better be in good shape just to walk up that plank walkway!

We started the day off with Allie's first bus ride because the lot was full and we had to take the "shuttle". Then Allie needed to consult the map before we started.

Most of the animals were in hiding (what else is new) but some were out but it was enough to make me say Hey! I paid to see the animals not the habitat in which they live in. Poke them with a stick to make them come out or something! :) Just kidding to all you animal rights people. :) Don't write me any nasty letters.

While leaving every exhibit Allie would wave and say bye! bye! and then blow a kiss to the animals.

We think the elephants were her favorite.

Holy Moly that's a big bear! Watch out Allie!

Eyebrows

2010-05-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

About a month ago Allie started doing "the eyebrows" to us at random times. I finally caught it on tape. Sorry youtube makes it a little blurry and her eyebrows are so light but it's so adorable once she does it. :) Enjoy! - Eyebrows

Yup, She Poopy

2010-04-27T08:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Matt and I started to smell something funky and we asked Allie is she was poopy. Will (2 1/2) being the good big cousin decided it was his job to check her and went over to lift up her shirt and try and check her. She started to squirm away but the look on his face followed quickly by a gag did indeed tell us that she was poopy. We haven't laughed that hard in a while. :)

Vacation Day 4 and 5

2010-04-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the only day it rained at the beach so we decided that would be a good day to visit Tillamook. Even though the factory is a glorified cheese store I love it. and Allie has been really into cows lately (although the picture below is the only cow we encountered but she still loved it). We saw how cheese was made, tried samples and bought lots of yummy things. Including a garlic white cheddar cheese. Yum! We then ate a huge bowl of ice cream and headed back to Cannon Beach.

Watching cheese being made

Later that night we decided to walk around town and grab dinner. Right as we were parking Allie thought is would be a great time to upchuck all that cheese she ate in her car seat. Thank goodness we were only a minute from our hotel. Later she was feeling better and we thought it was maybe a one time thing so we headed to Seaside for dinner. While at the table she started to puke again - in front of a bunch of people trying to eat. We hadn't gotten our food yet so we canceled the order. The waitress was super nice and even gave us our drinks in to go cups for free. On our way out Matt spilled his smoothie all over the front door step. We felt so bad because they gave us our drinks for free and as a thanks so dumped it on their doorstep to clean up! We just laughed on the way home. Sometimes being a parent is NOT what you expect and you just have to laugh.

The next day we had some great beach time. She was walking around saying Beach!! She then found some beach toys and began to play not worried about if they were ours or not. It was so cute. I am so glad she loved the beach because we are definitely a beach family!

Vacation Day 1,2 and 3

2010-04-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

We started off our vacation by dropping Allie off with my mom for her first overnight stay. We then headed downtown for some dinner and the Dream Girls Broadway show. It was great. The singing was amazing. but what's funny is that we liked a sub character even more then Effie the main character. We then headed to The Governor Hotel. It is this really cool hotel built in 1909. Then the morning was spent sleeping in! getting coffee, reading in bed and then Matt and I went out to a great breakfast at a place downtown that has pancakes bigger then your head! Their awesome. We then went and got Allie from my parents and we headed to the beach. Allie did great on her over night and had a ton of fun with my parents. It was so nice to have a night to ourselves and do something other then go to a movie. and my fav part was waking up, getting coffee and reading, in other words doing whatever I wanted in the morning!

The weather at the beach was nice enough for sunglasses but not warm enough to walk around without our jackets. Here is Allie ready for the beach!

On the way to the beach we passed our friends The Roths on the freeway. Mike being Mike almost ran us off the road trying to get our attention. We thought it was just some drunk guy on the road. :) We then ran into them on the beach later that day. That was a fun surprise.

On Friday Allie got her real taste of playing in the sand. I bought her some new toys and she loved them! but every time she got sand on her pants she would stop and say UhOh!

Good weather that day but super windy so it was cold.

More to come tomorrow!

Funny Al

2010-04-06T17:51:00.001-07:00

Dream

2010-04-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

My cousin had a funny dream the other night I wanted to share. She dreamt that I had a son and he looked just like me but with dark hair and dark eyes and he was really big. So it was the exact opposite of Allie. So funny!

Happy Easter From Our Little Bunny

2010-04-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Play Time

2010-04-03T11:04:00.001-07:00

I was organizing baby clothes - Some I got from my sister that were Will's (don't get excited I did this with baby girl clothes years before we had Allie) and some of Allie's old clothes - When Allie decided to try some of it on. It took me a few days and she loved playing with all the little baby toys and trying various items of clothing and shoes.

John Mayer

2010-03-31T15:07:00.001-07:00

Last night my sister and I went to the John Mayer concert and it was awesome. As always. We saw him a few years ago too. We had 300 level tickets but because they didn't sell out we got moved to 200 level. Michael Franti and spearhead opened. I didn't know who they were until the last song, Say Hey. Then John came on with a full band but about an hour in he came out with just him and his guitar and spent about 45 minutes that way. He said he specifically chose Portland to sing that way. Whether that was true or not it was really great. He is such an amazing guitar player. I could listen for 5 hours. Because his music is pretty laid back I felt very sleepy by the end. Especially getting home at midnight. I may not agree with everything going on in his personal life but he is still an amazing musician. Thanks for an awesome Christmas present Heather!

2010-03-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Happy 7th Anniversary to my wonderful husband! It's been the most wonderful 7 years of my life and I don't feel itchy at all! :) Love you.

Edward vs. Jacob

2010-03-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Matt finally agreed to watch both Twilight movies with me and he really liked the first one and was excited for the second. After the second he had some opinions about what was wrong with it and we actually got into a heated discussion about Edward vs. Jacob. He being on Team Jacob. It was so funny I was laughing throughout. It totally reminded me of that SNL skit. We sounded like teenage girls! So funny. but since this is my post I can say he is soooooo WRONG! :)

Sellwood Bridge Walk

2010-03-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

We recently found a trail that is just on the other side of the river so yesterday we parked on our side of the bridge and walked across. As long as I have lived in Sellwood I have never actually walked across the bridge. It was cool to see the river from this angle and we got a great view of downtown. The trail is pretty cool too and we even found a place to park next time so we don't have to spend 10 minutes of our walk on the bridge.

Here is the view of downtown in the middle of the river

On the trail that runs under the bridge. Sellwood in on the other side.

Will's a Big Boy!

2010-03-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

Today my nephew Will (2 1/2) went peepee in the potty! We have been working on it on and off for a little while and today while sitting on the potty trying to go he looked down and said

"Peepee, where are you?" "Come out Peepee"

and then he went! I guess if you ask you shall receive. He was so proud of himself and I was proud of him too.

Watching YouTube Wearing Some Hats

2010-03-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

SQUASH!

2010-02-27T16:11:00.000-08:00

Allie learned a new word last night during dinner!

Sunshiney Day

2010-02-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

Swift Fan

2010-02-19T17:13:00.000-08:00

I had heard that the Taylor Swift song "You Belong With Me" was Will's (2 1/2 yrs) favorite song but hadn't had the pleasure of hearing it while in his presence until today.

From the back seat in his baby talk - Will: "Why can't you seeeeee! you belong with meeeee!"

Children's Museum

2010-02-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

Every week we go to the Children's Museum with my friend Lindsay and her daughter Mera (same age as Allie). She has been so kind as to get us in on her pass every week! Your awesome Lindsay! The kids have so much fun together. I love to watch the girls play together, their sat such a fun age and play together really well. and Will has a blast (especially with the water area but it's not a favorite of the parents since they always come out drenched). Here are a few pictures from our trip yesterday.

Will was in train heaven

Beep Beep!

Kitty Litter

2010-02-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Has anyone seen that commercial for kitty litter were they actually have participants smell cat pee and eat kitty litter? So gross.

Matt: "There are so many things wrong with that commercial"

Date Night

2010-02-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

Matt and I had an awesome date night last night. We headed up to 23rd and started with dinner at Pastini's. Awesome Italian food. We have loved everything we have tried, I would totally recommend it. We then headed up to Papa Haydn's for drinks and dessert. It was so nice to relax and not rush. :) Thanks Heather and Andy for watching our little girl. Your awesome. :)

At The Store.....

2010-02-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

Me: "What kind of mouthwash do you want?"
Matt: "Blue"

Bottom

2010-02-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

While changing Allie's diaper last night she said "what's that" while I was putting Butt Paste on her. So I told her it was Butt Paste and she repeated Butt over and over and.......Uh Oh.

Love to Hurt

2010-02-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

Allie buried her head and got upset when Matt told her to stop hitting herself in the head with a toy.

The Colonial

2010-02-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

Allie's hair has been growing super long in the back but not so much in the front. Matt calls it a mullet but I think she looks slightly like a balding man (A little like Benjamin Franklin) so we are calling it the Colonial. :) Our adorable little Benjamin Franklin.

The Draw of the Mac

2010-02-01T08:17:00.000-08:00

While getting gas yesterday Matt told me Allie was frantically doing the sign for slide, saying park and please while pointing at the McDonalds nearby. She was also trying to push the button for her car seat to unbuckle herself. Oh man. :)

Facebook

2010-01-31T21:05:00.000-08:00

Matt and I finally broke down and joined Facebook. There is no fighting it anymore.

Allie's First Bike

2010-01-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

One of Allie's walkers turns into a bike and she just learned how to crawl on and off and even push herself a little. Here are a few pictures of her on her new means of transportation. She is so proud of herself when she gets on too.

This looks so like a dancers pose to me. Look at the hand and foot. Going to fall in mamas footsteps?

Oh and these are really cute because I took one of my hats out to wear yesterday and she loved it. I left it out for her and throughout the day she will put the hat on and climb on her bike.

Ma-Dada

2010-01-26T09:10:00.000-08:00

Now Matt is getting his chance at being called Mama. :) Sometimes she gets it right but for now we are both being called Mama.

Girls Night

2010-01-23T08:05:00.000-08:00

With Matt gone for a boys night at the beach with some buddies, Allie and I are once again spending the night and part of Saturday without him. So far we have nothing big planned but with having my nephew full time now it's nice to get some alone time with her. I was able to actual listen closely to her talk and had time to count her many words. Here is what I came up with....Mama (she is now indeed calling me only mama), dada, pup-pup (puppy), ball, okay, hi, bye-bye, baby, bear, please, no, eat, juice, this, what's that (usually repeated about 10 times before she is satisfied with whatever we say it is), papa, nonna, car (as of this morning), book, and she is trying so hard to say will - right now it sounds like the letter w but it's so cute. It's hard to believe she just started talking in July. She also knows about 20 signs and that vocabulary is definitely growing along with her speech. It's super cute when she does both at the same time. The weekends are always special to me because we get so much time as a family, and Matt and I just look at each other most days and giggle from seeing or hearing her do something amazing or really adorable. She is constantly learning and repeating too. We are loving this age. Walking is few and far between (she doesn't trust herself yet) and sometimes I do wish I didn't have to carry her everywhere but I know that will be less in the coming year. For now I am enjoying the closeness. Needing me less will come soon too so I will cherish that too. Here are a few recent pictures of our little mischievous monkey.

Da-Mama

2010-01-16T07:48:00.001-08:00

Allie is in this phase right now were she calls me Dada until we correct her.

Allie Disciplines Herself

2010-01-12T07:05:00.000-08:00

The other day Allie was a Matt's moms house while I ran a few errands. It was so nice to jump out of the car and run into a store baby free. You don't know it's a big deal until you miss it. Anyways they were playing in the living room and Allie got too close to her dvd player (we have been trying to discipline her by saying no and if she continues we smack her hand) Donna said no and Allie paused and then started to try and touch it again. Donna said no again and Allie paused looked at her and then smacked her own hand and moved on. I think this is so funny. She either thinks this is the sign for no or she was telling Donna that now is the time that you smack my hand. Either that or she knows she can try and touch something a few times and then get smacked as opposed to just not touching it at all. So smart.

Girls Weekend

2010-01-08T19:16:00.000-08:00

Matt is at a ministry retreat all weekend so us girls are spending the weekend together. I just put Allie to bed and this is how I intend to spend my evening, possibly both.
-New Wii Super Mario Brothers!
-Yummy Ice Cream
-and my old t-shirt Matt doesn't let me wear

It's going to be a good night. :)

A few words about the t-shirt. You know when a couple gets married the bride typically has a few things that the groom is required to dispose of once they move in together. I didn't have anything I needed Matt to get rid of but Matt had one request. That I throw away my beloved t-shirt. I have had this t-shirt since I was about 10 and I LOVE it. It is the most comfortable, softest t-shirt in the WORLD. but instead of throwing it out I just stored it away to wear when he was out of town. It's been years since I last wore it but the second I put it on I felt wonderful. Like comfort food. :) and just to rub it in for Matt I texted him this picture.......

Record Setter

2010-01-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

Allie loves it when Daddy is playing video games when she gets up from her naps. It doesn't happen often so to distract her from grabbing at dads we gave her an unplugged controller. She LOVED it.

No Progress

2010-01-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had those days where you spend the day cleaning and picking up only to look around at the end of the day and it doesn't look like you have done a thing. Those days are becoming more and more frequent.

Meat Juice

2009-12-31T19:45:00.000-08:00

For our Christmas celebration with Matt's family we went out to Russell Street BBQ (if you have never been there I would highly recommend it!) and Matt had a container to go which he decided a great place for it would be in my purse. I got a nasty surprise that night as the BBQ pulled pork seeped out of package and into my purse. Yuck. It didn't get on much but the actual purse it self. I was able to get it out but note to husbands, either carry your own leftovers or get your own purse! :) Love you honey!

Christmas Fun

2009-12-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

This Christmas we had a lot of family in town and so the Christmas fun started on Christmas eve. I baked three types of goodies all afternoon. Including a new cookie recipe from my friend that I had to make twice since I botched the first batch. My wonderful husband went out and bought me all the ingredients I needed to make it again. :) Then we headed to my grandmas house for dinner. We had a great dinner, watched the kids devour the presents pile, and then all the adults opened white elephant gifts. Allie was super tired when we got home and then decided to wake up at 5:45am Christmas morning.

Allie in her Christmas dress

My cousin was in town with her daughter that is only 2 months younger then Allie. It was so fun to see her get to play with someone her own age. It got pretty rough sometimes as they both just wanted to pull and grab each other (maybe to see if the other one was not really a doll)

My Sweetie

Matt's mom joined us at my Grandma's house

Then as I said we woke up Very early Christmas morning.

We lite the fire, turned on the Christmas music and opened presents!

We think it's hilarious how she knows what to do with a fake bottle but all her life refused real ones.

The hit of the day was this farm toy. She loved that she could feed the cow and turn on and off the light on the other side. It took her a while to figure out she could go through the barnyard door and not have to go around.

Then we headed to my parents to have brunch, and open more presents.

Then late afternoon we headed to Matt's mom. We had a wonderful turkey dinner while Allie took a long nap. It was nice to visit while she was sleeping.

Allie then opened more presents!

and a big Happy Birthday to my sister! I love you and Allie loves your kisses and the toys you always bring over. :) Hope your day was special.

Changing The Baby

2009-12-23T07:58:00.000-08:00

The other day Allie was pulling things out of her diaper bag and decided her baby needed a changing. How adorable is this! Her baby does everything she does, she feeds it, puts the tag she has been chewing on in the babies mouth, and now changes her diaper. The other night she was trying to put the baby to bed. I know one day I will go in her room and she will be nursing the baby. :)

I Was Right

2009-12-20T16:40:00.000-08:00

She does love it. :)

I Retract My Statement

2009-12-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

This statement no longer applies. Matt was sitting on the edge of the bed this morning putting on his shoes. Allie and I came into the room and I sat down on the end next to him and the bed frame broke! It landed on Matt's heals but thankfully it just stung for a few minutes. Allie's hand could have been under it, or one of our feet. Scary. Granted we have had it for almost 4 years but seriously our bed frame broke! So here is our makeshift "hotel". I told Matt that Allie is going to love this in the morning. The only problem is Matt won't get to sleep in.

SpegAllie

2009-12-18T18:49:00.000-08:00

Workin' 9-5

2009-12-17T10:24:00.001-08:00

Allie is doing her best impression of Dada

Allie's Hat

2009-12-13T21:46:00.000-08:00

Lately Allie has loved putting things on her head. Mostly this hat but also burp clothes, bibs, shirts, coats, ect. I think it steams from peekabo but she doesn't always pull it off right away, it can sit there up to five minutes sometimes. :) Isn't this hat so cute.

Choo Choo!

2009-12-09T11:22:00.001-08:00

Oh Christmas Tree!

2009-12-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

Once again we had to get a potted baby tree since our apartment won't hold more then that. So instead of going to a tree farm like I wanted we had to go to a lot where they sell them. It was quick and easy. Always a good idea with a one year old.

Here is Allie smelling the tree. :) She later learned the proper sign for tree , it's not a flower Allie.

Unloading the decorations box. Such a big helper.

"I don't want to be Santa!"

"I think we should put these lights on"

Here she is discovering the on and off button for the lights. This is her new favorite toy.

Allie is hanging her favorite ornament, a ballerina.

Posing for our Christmas card. These were some outtakes.

Jack in the Box

2009-12-01T12:10:00.001-08:00

First of all look at this shirt she is wearing. It say "Yes I have always been this happy". She got it for her birthday from my aunts and I think it's PERFECT for her. :) Even though she isn't smiling in this picture.

She has been loving the jack in the box. Here she is trying to turn it with Dada.

She screams every time he comes out. :)

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

This year was really busy for us as we went to two houses, it changes when you have children (all you parents can agree with that!). But both dinners had family from out of town and so we got to visit and show off our little one. Allie was a trouper, but she is getting three of her molars at the same time and we forgot the Tylenol like rookies! Thank goodness the convenient store we stopped at happened to have it, Whew! Both dinners were wonderful and my mom made great pies too. My favorite thing on Thanksgiving and Christmas is not something for dinner but the Sparkling Apple Cider. You can get it year round but we don't buy it unless it's a special occasion.

Here is Allie just after getting her holiday dress on.

Super cute.

Looking for Dada outside

Getting all the attention from the boys.

Matt's uncle and family from California

Mmmm

Our picky eater picking at her food. Her favorites were roll, cranberries and chewing up green beans - chewing not eating.

"Hmm I don't know about this turkey mom."

She loved playing with my uncles dog. Although she loved to pull on it's face. Thank goodness it's a nice dog but I still had to pull her away often.

This is dinner #2. There were about 25 people jammed into my grandma's house.

My mom and aunt

My uncle Doug (in yellow) flew up from Brazil this year and so my other uncle Greg drove up from California to surprise everyone. All of my moms siblings (six in all) were together this year. It was great.

My sister and our cousins

Passed out on the way home. Such a tired girl. Too much fun!

New Moon Part 2

2009-11-22T20:05:00.000-08:00

Dinner + New Moon (again) = Awesome

SYTYCD

2009-11-20T23:15:00.000-08:00

Tonight was our annual So You Think You Can Dance show. My mom and dad give me tickets for my birthday every year. I am sad to say I forgot my camera though! The show was amazing. As they always are. The show ended months ago and I had forgotten my favorite dancers and my favorite dances that they did so it was really great to see and get to relive them all. My favorite dance still is the addiction dance with Kayla and Kupono. Always brings me to tears. As does the breast cancer routine. It was so much fun! Thanks mom and dad! Can't wait to go next year too. :)

New Moon!

2009-11-19T20:17:00.000-08:00

Okay so you all know by now that I love the Twilight series. My sister begged me to read them and I was hooked. I watch the movie in March and was slightly disappointed by the acting and the movie as a whole but I was willing to stick it out for the next one because I love the books so much. and I should mention my sister is a super fan with Twilight t-shirts and Twilight makeup so as the summer went on the anticipation for the next one began to build because of her enthusiasm. We got tickets for this Saturday months ago but a mutual friend of ours heard about a fan website that does work with a charity got a theater to do an advance showing today! So she got us tickets and we headed up to Vancouver. My sister got off work early expecting to have to stand in line for forever but she was the first one! I got there shortly after and snapped a few pictures for you guys. The movie was amazing! It was an actual movie, with great acting, and amazing action. With this one being so great it just makes me mad about the first one. Why couldn't it have been like that one! But I did not think driving up to the theater that the actual theater would be a highlight in itself but it totally was. I will explain with pictures. We had a really fun time. :) and we will get to see it again in just two days. :)

Thought this was cute

My sister in one of her three shirts. If you have seen the movie or read the books then you should get the meaning behind her shirt. If not Edward the main character can read minds. Except for Bella, his love. :)

We got to choose any seat we wanted but we couldn't have chosen wrong. They all had a great view and these amazing leather seats with ottomans. and pillows!

Every other seat had a tray like this. and they actually had waiters that came around before the movie to take our order! We were in the over 21 theater so we could order alcohol if we wanted.

Allie's First Steps!

2009-11-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

Allie took her first steps tonight! After she did it we set up the camera to catch some of the action. Click here to see!

Guitar Hero

2009-11-11T15:31:00.000-08:00

Today I got to play Guitar Hero with my niece (6) and nephew (14). While Nathan was playing Brynne and I were dancing to the music. :) I am still learning but I can't go past easy. My nephew should join competitions or something because he is amazing. I don't understand how his brain works that fast! It makes me feel really old.

Allie's Baby

2009-11-08T07:54:00.000-08:00

For her birthday we gave Allie a baby doll and the other day she was playing in the living room and I looked up to see her hugging and kissing the baby and putting her safely in her stroller. What a good little mommy.

Allie's Big Day

2009-11-04T15:18:00.000-08:00

We started the day off with opening a few presents in bed! We didn't want to overwhelm her with so many at once so we spread ours out during the day.

Her favorite gift from us was the card we got her. It was doggies singing happy birthday. All day she would open and close it and do her little shimmy shake dance.

At the party we had everyone dress up. Here is my mom as a mental patient. You can see Matt as Red Sox Manny, and my niece as Hannah Montana. Don't worry thats not her real butt. :)

and Super Man!

My sister was an 80's rocker chick

Nonna Donna was a clown, when she kissed the birthday girl she smeared makeup on her. :)

Auntie Amanda and the b-day girl

We opened some presents and my grandma painted this stool for her. So special.

The cupcake table, with sweet pictures of my Allie.

She got to dive into her cake. The cake was made by her daddy. Impressive huh.

She decided to give herself a cake bath.