Boy Oh BOY!!

James and I are really excited and proud to share with you one of the pictures of our little boy. Of course James chose the picture...I guess that it is a man thing. Well we are still working on some names, and we probably will be for a while. But the good news is that he is healthy and active. And we are so happy to have him in our lives. We will be having a name contest so if you feel like you have a good one and it is clever enough to pass with James, you may win our little contest. So bring on the names and let the games begin. Oh and my friend Kelly has already started us off with a good one so make sure to be creative and we will see who is the most clever. As Gwen would say...ready...set...GO!

The Coppertone Kid

For our Memorial Day weekend it was a bit of a hit and miss with the rain, but on Monday it was warm enough to bust out the pool toys. We hit the perfect window to go to the pool and so we did. Gwen was not so sure that she wanted to be in the water so she took some time to get warmed up, thanks to a patient and fun dad she came around.
Megan was trying to help her to get the most out of the day at the pool. I think that she gave her some pointers for a good time.
Here she is getting warmed up to the water, James makes it look so easy.
Lets try a little backstroke...
And a really fun game of fetch the water bomb is the lucky winner! That's the girl we know.


Mom is obviously not quite as fun, but she went for it, even if it was for just a little while. After this we put her back in the boat floatie and she sang row row row your boat as we pushed her around. We are really glad that the clouds broke long enough to have a swim, but I hope that the summer weather decides to show up pretty soon. I feel like we need a whole bunch more practice at the pool this year.

Sunday, Sunday

Here is a dress that my friend Kelly got for Gwen and we had her wear it on Sunday. She looked really really cute in it. But when it came time to take a picture of it she wouldn't stand up or stand still for that matter so I had to help her.


And we discovered that Gwen is the culprit that has been moving and hiding James' shoes. Here she is surrounded by them, and busted in the act of moving them around. Ha James I told you that it wasn't me that moved your shoes. I wonder what other things she will be into besides shoes, and cleaning. If she stops with those two I will be just fine with it. Thanks for the darling dress Kelly, we love it.

merry-go-round and round

On Saturday night we were in need of an outdoor adventure...yep that means dinner at the park. A great place for the kiddos to run wild and everyone else can enjoy mixing and matching dinners and friends. Here we have Kim doing all the hard work and spinning the kids on the merry-go-round...by the way we don't know who the third kid is, just in it for the ride.
Say cheese please, and then we will start spinning again.
I actually decided that I would have a go with the kids, and in the process I had to hold on to Gwen because she let go mid spin. She could have flown right off, but I snagged her just in time, but then Kim had to save me by stopping the ride. Oh boy, the park is just full of stuff waiting to happen.

out on the town

Here is James saving her from the parking lot.
Here Gwen is trying to loose James, but he is right on her tail.
Gwen is mingling with the locals and seeing if they would like to be entertained for a small fee.


We went out the other night and Gwen wanted to stretch her legs while we were waiting. So James took her around to see the sites. We took turns running after her and saving her from wandering in unsafe places. And by the time we were ready to eat, she was famished. Now that was a great idea. I am glad to be back and to see James and Gwen playing together, I think that is one of the sweetest things ever.

A homecoming fit for a queen

Well we had a great trip but there is just something that feels so good about being home. To my happy surprise when we arrived home James had not only left us some lovely flowers and fun pictures of Gwen to welcome us, but he also had cleaned the house up, done the dishes (mind you they were put away too), and he had gone to the store and gotten everything that we would need for the upcoming week! Now that is some service. I think that he may have missed us. And we missed him too.

more than just a park

Now this is not just your typical park. But there is a little place in Logan that is home to many different kinds of birds and some other little animal. At Willow Park there is a little kind of a zoo that really is just a nice walk and some fun things to see. And how often do you cross a peacock that is just wandering in the path all spread out? See what I mean, not your average park.
Here is my friend Julia Buell, and her son Eric. Eric is one month younger than Gwen, and both Julia and I are pregnant and she is one month behind me, that is so funny. Julia and I have been friends since the 8th grade. She was around for all the crazy high school days. However crazy you can imagine we were in Logan, Utah.
So it was a little bit cold and we bundled up the kids, and we were not the only ones bundled up. Here are a few little ducklings that were trying to keep warm as well.
And here we are in the bundle stroller formation as we get a few more pictures. Just as we were leaving the park it started to rain. We were lucky to get out of there just in time. It was a really fun day and the kids were so tired when we left.

a Birthday times two

Here are the Birthday girls...and Gwen. This is James' mom Sylvia and she was brave enough to tackle all three at once.
So here is Maddie and she was playing with James' dad while he was trying to catch a little nap. Notice that he is covered in little toys, that is what happens if you close your eyes around kids. They will get you however they can.
Here is London with Grandma Barlow, and Elmo.
From left to right: Becky ( James' youngest sister) Ryan (Becky's boyfriend), and Rene (James' brothers wife). Sorry that the picture came out so dark.
This is Ryan James' brother, I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of Leslie or Chris. I think that Leslie was getting ready after swimming. Well for the party Ryan and Leslie ( the parents of the twins) had a little pool party and the kids went swimming...and then it turned into a very large water fight amongst the adults. Then we had something to eat and everyone changed into dry clothes. It was a really fun day, and we were able to see all but two of James' siblings. Thanks for the party Ryan and Leslie.

Gwen and Grandpa

This is a little evening run around. Basically Gwen runs around and everyone else has to get on their hands and knees to get her. So here she is with my dad and it is his turn to chase her all over. He would pop out of the hall bathroom and scare her as she ran by and she would just keep going back for more.

shedding some pounds

Well I thought that it was about time to loose some weight...and all I had time for was a haircut. So here it is. Now mind you the camera is not so keen on me so picture this cut on someone like Jessica Biel, and that will make it more interesting. Surprise James.

who is at the Zoo?

So we took a little trip to the Hogle Zoo. I have to say that it is super nice, I mean way cooler than when I was a kid. But we were trucking through so I didn't take too many pictures. However here are a few that we did get. Gwen and I were checking out the zebra's.
Penguins? That is right they have their own little piece of the Arctic.
Here we are having a little rest while there was a cloud burst. This is my best friend Kelly and her son Cooper. Cooper is just three months older than Gwen...that gives me a good idea of what to look forward to in the future. And who doesn't love a little toe head?
The picture below is my mom and I, and we sure do love her.

Two little braids

I thought that one little French braid was cute....well check out these darling little double braids. It took all that I had to hold her down while my mom finished the braids. It was really a circus, but totally worth it. I mean I can hardly stand how cute they are. But I am sure that is just because I am the mom.

here kitty kitty

Here is Gwen's little fettish...kitty's. She is really lucky that these cats are totally used to kids. She thought that the tail was the best part. So if you have a cat we may be paying you a little visit.

bring out the sun..

We have been waiting for the sun to bring the heat so that we could make good use of the pool. Well today it was really nice, and so Summer and I took the girls for a picnic to the pool patio. The pool was actually being cleaned, but that didn't stop us from dressing for the weather and eating some yummy picnic food. The smile that Gwen is giving in the top photos is the one we get when we count to three with the camera...we have to catch the teeth when she is not expecting it. Bummer. Oh well at least we were able to see the new suits for the season. And all we can hope for is the sun to keep on shining for more pool days. Because who doesn't love those?

reading rainbow, Gwen style

Well I don't know too many people that are more excited to read books then Gwen. She loves all sorts of books, magazines (they don't really survive the reading process more than once), newspapers. She is all about telling the story, and here she is doing it in perfect Gwen style, in the jammies. I caught her this morning as I was getting breakfast ready, she had already started the counting book for the day. It looks like it is going to be a good day for a book.