Happy 6th Birthday to Ethan, and reasons why Katie is awesome...

Today Ethan turns six. I actually sat down and realized I was not ready to be finished with my blogging that last time but as you read...nature called and I went and dutifully responded to the booty-in-waiting.

Its so weird how a child's birthday takes a mom back to that exact moment when we held them for the very first time. I remember Ethan coming emerging (via C-section) and the doctor holding him up for us to peek at for the first time. And that memory is still CLEAR as day...even six years later. He was brown and fuzzy, and really teeny. And sooooooooooooo dang cute. I mean...REALLY cute. This was my first C-section and let me tell you...those babies fare MUCH better than the ones delivered naturally all squashed and cone headed. At 6.2 pounds, Ethan was a sweet furry ball of monkey-ness.  How can  you NOT fall in love with this precious face...

Daddy snapped this picture of Ethan one week old looking at me....melts me every time!

                                                    Ethan and daddy, Bodega Bay 18 mos old

                         Proof that big sis LOVEShim, no matter what type of tormenting happens

                                                                Silly goose...two years old

  What a handsome dude he is now...which he actually knows because he will randomly strike poses like the one below, requesting a photo. No kidding!

So the plans, as requested by the birthday boy himself...is to have his party at the bowling/recreation center where he will be joined by six or seven of his best buds and we will eat pizza that tastes like greasy cardboard and a Star Wars Lego cake. (if I can FIND one....shhhhh....he doesnt know that I havent actually FOUND a Star Wars Lego cake yet....)

Good times! Dave and I added up the number of birthday parties we have thrown for our kids so far and it was something like 26.  Granted, not all of the parties are "away"...we do take turns and some years they celebrate at home but I admit, I am getting pretty good at this now....:-)

So happy birthday to our awesome sweet Ethan Michael. We love you to the moon and back. Fifty hundred times (as he would put it).



Why Katie is so awesome.

Now, that sounds like a subject line she thought of herself, right? But actually...its all me. I am amazed sometimes at what a great kiddo Katie is...really. I have heard the stories of first-borns being the leaders, the compassionate ones, the ones driven to succeed. But I am not going to give in to the birth order myth so easy...this girl is a true gift from God.

She actually ASKS to hang out with me...to chat...and to "do my hair" --not always a pretty result but lots of good conversation along the way.

She WANTS to do well in school. She cares. Maybe a bit too much in the area of getting to school on time. Holy smokes, that girl is a clock nazi and if I EVER got her to school late I dont know what would happen. But guess what? I have never, in SIX YEARS of driving kids to school in the morning, been late. Through pregnancies, morning sickness...regular sickness, newborns having blow-outs just before heading out...I have always made sure she was on time.

I am sure there will be an award ceremony for that some day, right?

She is always CONCERNED about her brothers, her family. Especially Ryan. She notices when something he is doing may be "dangerous" for him. She worries....maybe a bit too much for her age. She catches baby Owen as he toddles down the hall with something in his hands that is deemed to be a "choker"...and removes it from his slobbery clenched fists, not flinching at the slobber part.

She TEACHES. She loves to give Ethan "homework", and play school in her bedroom. She spends hours making sheets of letters, matching, phonics, etc. I am pretty sure Ethan is only ok with this because in the end she gives him some type of treat.

Katie insisted on being there for her brother Ryan when he had some dental work done in the hospital. She woke up EARLY in the morning and remembered to bring his favorite stuffed animal. She kept a smile on his face and he wasnt even afraid for a minute. The funny part of this whole story is that--upon seeing Ryan in the recovery room all groggy and with some blood still on his face from surgery, Katie began to pass out, and it was SHE that had to be wheeled out in a wheelchair by the nurse. :-)

                                           
                                                  Entering the tweens.....my silly girl

                     She is a true animal lover...and is most at home on places like this...the farm in Sebastopol  where I grew up.
                                   

         And just check out the little lunch note Katie made for her brother to stick in his lunch box. You just cant ask for better stuff than this.....

 So my sweet Katie, I hope you know how much you are loved and how amazing you are. Dont ever think about changing, because you have SO much substance at such a young age. I'm just so glad you belong to us.

And while you are at it, we are about to enter the pre-teen years...so if you ever need to remember how much you LOVE ME, and how cool I am to you...just read this. :-)

Birthday boy, family visits, and Fall is here

I admit I had to do a double take when I saw that the last time I updated my blog was in August. Really? Maybe that explains my "flowers" that are so pathetic in the backyard. They always look so nice right after I plant them...but I guess they eventually fall victim to the speed at which life is moving for our family nowadays.

There will be a time to plant, and actually have success with it, but apparently NOW isn't that time.

OK, so on to the updates. Or maybe a sweet quote from Ethan, who will shortly be turning six.

..."mommy, why does the ground have so many big cracks in it?"

Me: "well, the ground gets old and run over alot over time so it cracks"

Ethan: "oh, it cracks...like the cracks in your face?!"

Me: "um, sure. Oh darn, looks like Baskin Robbins is closed, sorry bud"

Ok, so the Baskin Robbins part is a lie, but the rest is true words, as spoken by none other than Ethan. Charming, eh?

Owen celebrated his second birthday in September with a pirate party and all the fixin's. We had it at home with just a few people over and of course Owen just loved every bit of it.  Big sis Katie even got in on the festivities and made the CUTEST treasure map quesadillas (remember...it was a Pirate party)...check out some photos from his big day....
                                              
                                    Big Birthday Boy cheesin' it up for mommy's camera.

        Katies fabulous creation...treasure map quesadillas! Move over, Martha!

 Owen had two of his toddler besties over...Henry and Jacob. Apparently they didn't get the memo to laugh hysterically in this photo. Henry is under-enthused, and has clearly been to better parties. Jacob is just confused at whatever Owen is so dang happy about.

           Mommy and daddy take a moment to have a photo with the man of the party....

So we pirated and we partied, and we celebrated our babiest of babies as he enters into true toddlerhood. Oh how we adore you, Sir Owen! OK, this calls for a mini-trip down memory lane....a few snapshots of the past couple years with our dude...

        A freshly born Owen Scott...September 5, 2009.  We were all instantly in love with this sweet boy.

                                    ............random crib photo of Owen at 2.5 months...grins galore!

 This photo was actually an accident, but it came out so completely funny we used it for our Christmas card that year. The kids came into our bed in the morning and I thought it would be cute to fit them all in and snap a photo. Check out Owen's facial expression here....we used to say he must have just heard that Santa knows who's been misbehaving...

One of Owens favorite things to do is to go out in the backyard and pick "berries" (we have strawberries planted) and "matoes" (yep. tomatoes too).

I couldn't resist grabbing the camera when I spotted him outside, in his glory as he engulfed a big juicy red tomato...eating it just like an apple. Atta boy!

                                                                  YUMMY!!

 OK, I guess I should wrap up this "ode to Owen" and move on. But I have SOOOO many more cute photos..where oh where will I ever find a spot to use them...???

September marked a month of family visits from Dad and Cathy. Dad has been down several times over the past couple years but his wife Cathy has not been able to join him due to her work schedule. We were happy to have them both here for a week, and it was fun having my side of the family all together...not something that happens very often. The kids had so much fun playing Legos with Uncle Bub and just plain tormenting Aunt Kel with their relentless requests for individual "special time". I am pretty sure, being that Kel is a college student at Chico right now, that any visit down to see her MUCH older sister with four kids is pretty good birth control. I love family...and wish we could have more of these times....

Ryan orchestrated an all out Beehler family jamboree...handing Ampy and Grandma instruments and getting himself a drum. Let the rockin' commence!

                                        Meanwhile, Uncle Bub played Legos with Ethan and Katie...
                                       and Owen snuck in some time with Ampy and Uncle on the sofa...

Ryan was relentless...only allowing Ampy to sit and rest for a moment, before having him get up and dance in front of him. Because I grabbed my cell phone for this shot, its not the best, but the memories it invokes are crystal clear.

 One of the perks from Ampys visits....HOME MADE JAMS!! Straight from their berry farm in Washington...absolute heaven! (just don't get my dad talking about his berries...that will be a LONG conversation).

 So my dad even brought one of his Washington blueberry bushes down for Katie to plant for herself. Here is Katie finding one of the seasons first blueberries...hooray!

And now that Fall has descended upon us, we find ourselves settling into the school routine, winding down another season of soccer (Ethan played, Katie did not this year), and bracing for the upcoming holiday season. I find it ironic that, as a photographer myself, I am most pleased by the very "amateur" photos that seem to be the result of my grabbing either the cell phone or a hastily taken photo with my other camera. Not technically stellar, but the memories spoken are perfection. Here are a few recent snapshots...


         Homework descends upon the house of Hurtado....busy bees at work.

   Knowing mom was preoccupied with the homeworkers.....Owen found something to keep him busy too...

                                  He had JUST had his bath, too.   True story.     Ugh.

In June Ryan had a Batman themed birthday party to celebrate turning 9, so...in true Hurtado spirit we all got really into it. Here are a couple shots from that fun day....

And although I have more to write, more thoughts and memories I really want to jot down here before I forget them, I will need to end this blog entry for now because I have heard the "call"........you know.....from down the hallway- it goes a little something like, "mommy, can you come wipe my butt please?" - from Ethan.

Hey, at least they say "please". Ahhh...the joys of mommyhood, and this wonderful life. With all its facial cracks and butt wiping, I wouldn't trade it for anything.