My little party girl... Isn't she cute? Lily gave her this dress, so I thought it was appropriate that she wear it to Lily's baby shower. 

The Cake. I worked for two days on this monster. It is a total of 5 sheet cakes pieced together, 2 kinds of yellow cake, and chocolate. (I ran out of some ingredients, so I had to keep changing my cake recipes.) I have more cake than I know what to do with, and my stomach churns at the sight of all that frosting. I also made two bundt cakes. I have two failed cakes at home too. The bottom kept falling out of the cakes. I pasted a couple back together, but some things can't be fixed, like not seeing that a recipe called for cake flour... 

The diaper cake and the other cake. I thought Kathy did a great job on the diaper cake, and my sister wanted to see what a diaper cake was. 

The dad-to-be. The contest was to see who could finish the bottle first. I think they might have been a little more enthusiastic if beer had been used instead. All I had were size 1 nipples, so it was pretty tough. 

Again, at the base of the Burro Mesa pour off. Sam had a great hike with Dad. 

Eric and Sam went for a hike while I was working on baby shower cakes. I believe this is at the base of the Burro Mesa pour-off. 

Sam is giving Awyn a bath. Actually, Awy had spit up all over herself, and then had a big blowout poopy diaper, so I put her in the tub. Sam saw that Awyn was getting a bath and stripped naked, hopped in the tub, and insisted on helping. 

Sam points to his bird that we made. Today was craft day, something that the moms are putting together for the little kids who aren't in school yet. We'll be going about twice a month. Sam did all the painting and coloring, chose the feathers and trim, and had a lot of help putting it all together. 

Sam's birdie up close. 

Awyn looking forward in the new Mei Tai carrier. 

I love these guys! 

What a Day!

First I want to repeat that we have a new niece. Ella Eloisa Leonard was born at 9:07 am weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and was around 20 inches long. (Thank you Dan and Joyce for the e-mail, Chad didn't think he'd been told all the stats when he called me). Chad and Debbie and Cole are proud as can be.

As I mention a little further down in my blog, Sam, Awyn and I went to a brunch today. As I was getting ready to leave, everyone was admiring my Mei Tai carrier, and I lost track of Sam. He'd been trying to escape outside several times, and I'd been running and bringing him back in. Well, while I was showing off the baby carrier, Sam slipped out unnoticed. I looked around for him, he wasn't in the house or the backyard, so I headed outside, leaving Awyn with some of the ladies. Sam had managed to slip past all the mommies outside getting ready to go as well. Offhandedly, one of them said they thought maybe he'd just headed home. I started to take off to go hunt him down, as the house we were at was at the bottom of the hill, we live at the top, and the street winds around a bit, and there's no guarantee that a two year old is going to stay on the street. Luckily, before I made it out of the driveway, our friend Sharon pulled up with Sam in the front seat of her pickup. He'd made it as far as the apartments, and she said he hopped right in with her, and said, "Drive!"

Once my heart started beating again, I packed up the kids and went home. This incident was followed by the aforementioned Desiten attack, as well as finger painting Awyn's head with Aquaphor when I started to fall asleep while she was napping between my legs.

Yesterday I decided to make myself a new baby carrier, called a Mei Tai. I found the directions online via a website called The Baby Wearer. I've been seeing these things listed around $70-150. As I have a ton of fabric just lying around in tubs, I decided it was worth a try. I'm sold on them. This is the most comfortable carrier I've ever worn. Eric took this picture just a few minutes ago so I could show it off. 

Awyn likes her new carrier so much that she is sleeping snug as a bug cuddled up to me. 

Busted! Sam is modeling the latest in facial masks. Actually, he was supposed to be napping and got into the diaper changing drawer. He emptied an entire tube of desitin and baby vapor rub. This was smeared all over his door, the changing table, the carpet, his toys, his bed, and as you can see, himself. 

Sam and Luis get their pomegranites. 

Today we went to a ladies' brunch at Martha King's house and toasted to our friend Gail's recovery from cancer. Her cancer has been declared to be gone! Sam and some of the other kids decided to raid the pomegranite trees. 

Remember the Alamo! This is the onesie that Daddy brought back from San Antonio for Awyn. Isn't she cute? 

New Niece

We have a new niece! I don't have all the stats, so I'll post them later. Little Ella was born at 9:07 Pacific Standard. Her mother, Debbie is doing great too. I just wanted to put this in my blog because I'm so excited!

4 Month Stats

Awyn is now four months old. Yesterday we took her up north to Dr. Horne for a well-baby appointment and shots. Her weight is 14.9 lbs, or 14 lbs 13 oz (I saw the scale hit 15 lbs, but the nurse didn't) Her height (I would say length, but Dr. Horne wrote height) is 24 1/2 inches. Her head, for those who care, is 40 cm. All this puts her roughly in the 75th percentile, which is right where she should be for growth. She was deemed very healthy and active, and I was again told no supplementing, no cereal. Sam slept through the appointment in the van with Eric, Tasha stayed home. We didn't make this an overnight, which is hard on both us and the kids, but we just didn't think it was worth the extra money on a motel for the night.

A horse is a horse of course unless he's Mr. Sam. Eric brought this back from San Antonio in lieu of the coonskin cap he was looking for. I think Sam likes this better. It has motion sensors in it, the head neighs and the feet clop. 

Sam the horse does a dance. 

Awyn likes to kick at things. And these frog pajamas are cute. 

Last night I made clam strips for supper. Sam liked them so much that he licked the crumbs off both our plates and moved on to the pan. 

As the fire gets closer, they've rearranged where the trucks are. This one is on the corner accross from our house, beside the Elkowitz house. 

They've got a couple guys and a fire truck posted next to the Elkowitz house. 

This shot is for Eric, so he can see just where the fire line is. 

They're burning a fire break around Panther Junction today. If you click on this picture to blow it up you can see the flames...