I have had posting on my 'to-do' list now for about 2 weeks but it somehow keeps getting pushed to the next day! By the time the boys are in bed all I want to do is go to bed myself! Our friends Melissa and Ian have 2 sets of twins under 3 years old and they are probably reading this thinking "Gees guys, buck up!" but having two kiddos is busy! We are loving it though. It has been especially fun to see Easton take on his role of 'big brother' and he does it really well. He helps me change diapers, burp and hold Owen and while sometimes it's not so much of a help I appreciate his willing heart and the love he has for 'baby Owie'. We have really appreciated church members and other friends here who have acted like family in taking care of us the last couple of weeks. My mom gets here this week and we are counting down the days!
In other news, Easton has started (albeit sporatically) going potty on the potty...we'll see when that becomes a permanent thing. Also, we discovered that we get American Idol here. Yes, call us lame but we love it. Well, at least I love it. Rob mostly tolerates it, frequently commenting on how awkward it all is, but I'm a glutton for awkward reality t.v. so Idol is right up my alley. And last week I successfully made my own thank you cards, envelope and all. Not a seemingly difficult feat, I know, but I was proud of myself and my craftiness. If you soon find one of those little gems in your mailbox know it was made with love even if it's not that pretty. Anyway, here are some more pics of Owen and Easton...mostly just laying around. Maybe next post we'll be doing something more exciting...no promises!

Owen is Here!!!!

We just wanted to let everyone know that Owen is here!!! He was born this morning at 11:56 AM in Dublin. He was 7lbs and 9.5ounces. They haven't done the rest of his measurements yet as those are done on day 2 around these parts. It was another short labor for Katie and we are all grateful for that. Everyone is doing fine. Below are some pictures of Owen's first day here with us. We are so glad to have him in our family. We will post more very soon. Enjoy!!

Christmas and all that jazz...

I finally am posting about our wonderful Christmas. We had a great holiday here in Dublin. I got maybe the best Christmas present I've ever received from Rob...he totally surprised me and flew my sister in the day before Christmas Eve. She stayed with us for a whole week...it was great! I was completely surprised. Having her here was seriously awesome. We baked for like 4 days strait! Really though, we did a lot of baking and cooking in general. I feel like it was the first Christmas where I actually had to be the responsible one (not mine or Rob's parents). Like if there was no more wrapping paper I had to take care of it where as usually my mom has rolls and rolls waiting to be used! And we had Christmas dinner for 9! My sister and Rob helped a ton...we had 4 of the missionaries from Church, Aaron, one of Rob's co-workers and the 4 of us. Easton loved Christmas and opened presents all day long. He would open a few and then be done for an hour and then want to open a few more. I have hidden probably half of all of his gifts to be strategically re-gifted to him later in the year...he was spoiled rotten...I guess it's the perfect time for him to be getting a baby brother! Here are some pics of our Christmas day:

Before the madness began Christmas jammies and all


Easton's new train from Mom and Dad


Easton and Amy


I am as big as a house (and this was 2 weeks ago!)



While Amy was here we also got to do a little bit of Dublin sight seeing. We went to Howth and she and I did a lot of shopping. Downtown was all a glow with lights so it was fun even if it was pretty darn cold! I will post some more pics later...technical difficulties!
Now that the holidays are over we've realized how not so on the ball we've been about getting things ready for baby! We still don't have a changing table or rocker (although both have been ordered). I guess since this is our second I wasn't in the frame of mind to be buying all of that business but since our previous nursery stuff is either in an L.A. storage unit or in an L.A. landfill we kind of need some items. Hopefully we'll be set by the time the baby is here. My due date is 2 weeks from today...I went 3 days over with Easton and I have been feeling like I'll go a bit early with this one but who knows. We'll be sure to post some pics when the little guy arrives!

Holiday Cheer

I would like to apologize for not getting Christmas cards out this year. I slacked and in reality there was no picture that I felt good about sending our 50 closest friends and family. We will try and get out a family card when the baby is born next month. Just because I dropped the ball on cards doesn't mean we haven't been having some holiday fun around here! Since we are far from home this year I have tried to start a few little traditions or at least do fun things with Easton and as a family. We kind of went crazy with the advent calendars...we have a chocolate one, a cloth nativity one and one with little doors on it:


Obviously we let Easton put the little cloth figures where ever he pleases...hence the star in the manger and several other out of place items. But he loves hearing about the Christmas story and asks for "Mommy talk Jesus" a lot.


I got this advent calendar box last year at an after Christmas sale. I struggled to find something to put into the boxes/doors but finally found these plaster ornaments.



I decided I would have Easton paint an ornament each day before Christmas. It has been a fun activity that he looks forward to each day.


Our tree is now full of colorful plaster ornaments!



We also went out for a little Christmas night downtown. We decided to take a horse and buggy ride around the city center. Despite the fact that Easton's sippy cup fell in a huge pile of horse poop, the ride was great. Easton loved it and even got to sit on the horse after the ride was over.





We also enjoyed a visit from Rob's dad. We went to the Christmas market on the Dublin docks where we browsed the shopping stalls and Easton got to ride on the carosel.




We are really grateful this Christmas for all of our many blessings. We have a beautiful and healthy son, one on the way (who, by the way, my doc thinks already weighs about 6 and a half pounds!!) and many friends and family members who love us and support us. We are also mindful of the Savior and happy to celebrate His birth and reflect on how much He means to us. We hope that you all know how much we appreciate you! And we wish you all a meaningful and Merry Christmas!

We Have a 2 Year Old!

We have been celebrating Easton's 2nd birthday for about 3 weeks now. After 3 parties in the states we celebrated on his actual birthday here at home in Dublin on the 8th. Easton and I went to a little Christmas parade at a toy store with Easton's buddy Wyatt and then opened presents and had cake and ice cream when Rob got home. Easton has been pretty jazzed about his birthday for the last little while and sings "Happy Easton Birthday" to himself several times a day so it is kind of sad that it is over for the year.
It is hard to believe that we have a 2 year old! Wasn't he just born? The last two years have been so great as we have had the privledge of raising our little guy. We love you Easton!

Easton and Wyatt at Hamley's Toy Store

And We're Back...

It's been a good long while since I have posted anything on the blog. But I have a good excuse. We just got back from a 3 week visit to the states and then a weekend away to the West Coast of Ireland. Easton and I took off for Colorado in early November...we survived the 12 hour flight with very few setbacks and minimal drama. We spent time with my family and friends and Easton loved pestering my mom's dog and my dad's animals. He became a pro at feeding the animals and finding poop in the yard that needed to be picked up...what a helper! We also celebrated Easton's b-day (twice) and I did a lot of Christmas shopping. Maybe the most exciting event was that I finally got a haircut, believe me, it was necessary! Here are some CO pics:


Easton's pretty smile


Helping Grandpa rake the leaves


Reading with Grandpa Rob

Rob came out 2 weeks after us and then we headed to Utah for Thanksgiving. It was more of the same there...family, friends and food. We ran (well, Rob ran and I walked with Easton in the stroller) a 5k up in Bountiful on Thanksgiving, visited The Discovery at the Gateway (the kids museum there), had another b-day party for Easton and saw some movies. We got to see lots of friends too...even Easton got to see his long lost BFF, Josh, and he also got to play with all of his cousins. Here are SLC pics:

At the Discovery

Easton and Josh

The 5k crew...us along with Rob's dad, bro Jeff and his wife Sara, their baby Syd and Sara's fam.

Us making these cute turkey cookies on Thanksgiving...thanks to my sister-in-law, Sara for the idea and supplies.

These are Easton's turkey cookies...not perfect, but you get the picture...

We got back from SLC and 2 days later headed to the west coast to the Ashford Castle in Galway for Rob's works holiday party. It is a big castle that has been converted into a hotel. It is beautiful. Rob got to go to a school of falconry and clay pigeon shooting and I got a facial and a massage. Pics:








It has been a great month but I am exhausted and ready to lay low for a while. We'll spend Christmas in Dublin which I am actually excited for. I need some time here to prepare for this little baby who will be here in about 5 weeks!

London and a little Monkey business

Rob had some business in London this past week so Easton and I decided to tag along for a quick 2 day trip. I had never been there before so it was really fun to see lots of tourist sites and just to be somewhere new. But man, it was cold. Maybe I am just not used to cold weather anymore but seriously...freezing. It didn't help that we walked a ton either and that I couldn't button my coat around my ever growing belly...I have a cold to show for it now but it was worth it.

Here we are in our cab to the hotel.

This is at Picadilly Circus or Square or whatever...kind of like NYC's Times Square.




This is Buckingham Palace. You can see the silly costumed guards in the background. They do funny stuff like march in place every so often, who knows why?

After Buckingham Palace we got some dinner at this great Italian place and called it a day.
Next morning we hung out in Hyde Park until we were frozen and then met Rob for lunch near his meeting and then went to the Tower of London and the London Bridge.


Here is Rob with Easton in his plastic bubble covering at the Tower. I always thought those things looked so ridiculous but in this part of the world they are a must have! Easton doesn't love it though and tries to claw his way out.

London Bridge

We rode the subway quite a bit. We took Easton to NYC when he was really young and found out how un-child friendly subways are there...same goes for London. I can't complain too much about fast public trasportation though!

We got home from London in time to celebrate Halloween. Easton and I made cupcakes for a little party we were going to...


We decided on a monkey for Easton's costume...here he is with some buddies before trick or treating and some in the process. We got candy from about 8 houses in our little neighborhood...Halloween is way less of a deal here than in the states but it was enough to get Easton hooked and excited for next year.

Easton and Wyatt




It's hard work trick-or-treating.
Hope everyone had a happy Haloween!