Owen is TWO

What a difference a year makes! On May 31 we celebrated Owens second birthday. This boy. I can't say enough about him. I don't know if I am getting a hold of this mothering thing, or if he really is just such a good boy. First of all, he is hilarious. I seriously laugh at him all day long.  Right now one of the sweetest things he does is first thing in the morning he walks into my room, climbs up on my bed, lays the biggest hug on me and says "Good Morning! I love you!" I don't know where he picked it up but it is one of the best parts of my day. Every day. Owen has grown up so fast! When he started taking his first steps at 7 months I thought to myself how this boy must be in a hurry to grow up. He hasn't slowed down since. He keeps up with Grace and Mike like you wouldn't believe. He already is showing interest in potty training and he is always anxious to try new things. I love this boy with all of my heart and I am so lucky I get to watch him grow every day. At two years old I can already tell he is going to be a fantastic human being. Happy birthday Owen!

Some of my favorite pictures from this last year. 

Always the crack up!

I have been LOVING church lately. We all go to sacrament and right after the bread and water Owen and I slip out to the mothers lounge. Our ward literally doesn't have any small children so I get to sit in the air conditioned room and rock Owen to sleep. It is right during his nap time so he falls asleep without fail every sunday. That way I am able to turn up the speaker and actually get a lot out of church. He sleeps for an hour and a half then wakes up so I can go to young womens and he can go to nursery with the one other boy in our ward. I love it so much and I have started to cherish that time together. I just look at his face and thank Heavenly Father for this little angel I get to raise. 

End of the year

I feel like I am a crazy person. I thought it would be best for my kids to have them involved in everything that way they could choose what they love and stick with that. BAD DECISION. I am so totally burned out. When we moved to Elk Ridge I didn't know what a pain the extra 15 minutes of travel time would add. I feel like we have lived in the car. Towards the end of the school year I found myself counting down the days until school was out. We have been to countless soccer games, dance competitions, Karate promotions, school programs..... the list goes on and on. I feel like I haven't had a chance to relax and enjoy my kids. Now that it is summer, we plan on doing absolutely nothing. A family reunion here and there, but otherwise, we are just going to play at our house. I have never looked so forward to doing nothing. 

Grace really grew up this year. Her dance competitions were so fun and she got better and better with each one.  I am so proud of her.

She is getting freckles! I couldn't be more proud.

We haven't started potty training yet, but this boy has started to hate his diapers. I guess it's a good thing. 

We caught our cat playing with a mouse and I couldn't watch the murder so we rescued it and let it go. The kids were a little grossed out. 

Grace has started leaving notes for the tooth fairy. They are pretty cute. 

A few weeks ago we had our good friends the Gardners come and visit. I wish I would have taken more pictures, but we were too busy enjoying our short time together. We miss them terribly. 

This day was one to remember! I got a message on my phone telling me that Gracies school had been evacuated due to a bomb threat and I could pick her up at a nearby park. I started to panic a bit but when I got to the park she was just fine playing with the other kids. Apparently there was a backpack left at the school that was duct taped all around and was ticking. They found out later it was a joke from one of the students. 

A quick post

Not much to update on. Life has just been crazy in a beautiful way. I have been taking pictures though so here are a few. 

Sometimes Chad likes to wake Owen up in the best way... Cuddle time!!

I was a chaperone for Gracies class field trip. I had a crazy group of girls!

When Chads parents were in town a few weeks ago they took us to lunch. Needless to say it was a healthy one.

I don't know how this happened, but while Owen was sleeping he got both legs in one pant leg. He walked around for a long time before I noticed

I took the boys to get a hot dog while we waited for sissy to get out of school

Mikey and Dax in Cedar

Casey and the boys. They couldn't look away from the cake even to take a picture

I too the kids to feed our friends horses and Owen was terrified. Finally after a while he warmed up to her. 

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

My happy place. Grace reading a story to dad and Owen while Mikey rubs my toesies.

Soccer has started!! Mikey is working really hard to get the hang of it. I think he will be really good one day!

Chad broke Gracie out of school early and took her fishing. She loved every second. 

Mikey Is 5

On Feb 20 Mikey turned 5. I don't know if I am the only one that feels this way, but it seems like it took Gracie FOREVER to turn five. It seemed like we had all of the time in the world and we were so excited for her to finally turn 5. Mikey turned 5 out of nowhere. It honestly came up so fast.  Five seems like a big year because you can go to kindergarten and there are a lot of extracurricular things you can finally participate in. It is crazy to think that he will be starting school in the fall right along side his sister. Mikey is such a joy in our family.  He is so affectionate and caring. He is always very aware of me. If we are out at the park or doing something social, he always comes over to me and gives me a hug and a kiss. He doesn't want me to feel left out.  He will always tell Chad and I that he loves us. Several times during the day he will just say "Dad I love you" or "I really love you Mom." he is honestly so sweet. I don't ever worry about Mike. I mean, I worry about him in other ways like being safe, or harnessing his extreme energy, but I don't worry about his spirit. He makes good choices and at such a young age already has a deep testimony of Jesus Christ.  He is going to be an amazing young man because he is an amazing child.  A few things about Mikey this year: He started wrestling. Even if he was getting beat terribly he was always smiling the whole time. At the end of each match the ref would hold up the winners hand and even if Mikey lost he would hold up his hand too. He LOVES his singlet. He wears it any chance he gets. Even if its snowing.  We always look forward to his prayers. They are so thoughtful. His favorite quote of mine in every prayer "Please bless that we will be a good family" What a doll. We love you Mikey! Happy Birthday!!

A few pictures of Mikeys year

Touching a Jellyfish

Helping mom drive

Making shirts with Aunt Traci

First time to the beach

His last night being 4. Sleeping in his singlet

Helping with birthday cupcakes

On his birthday

Two parties! One at our house and one and Grandma and Grandpa Stahelis!

Right after kindergarten shots

I had to show the side view of how much he has grown out of his superman costume