Howes Family

JANUARY 2011.... HERE WE COME!

2011-01-23T22:18:00.000-08:00

I know I've said this time and time again, but I am seriously going to try and post more regularly so that one day when I get a little older I will be able to look back and laugh at some of these things or cry, or smile, or feel grateful for these times, especially in these years!! The past few months have been a little rough for our little family, but nonetheless, adventourous and busy as usual! We are still living in Las Vegas and Ryan and my brother-n-law started the pest control business out here. Ryan also got a job with At&T and has done well with that. Owen and Isabela started preschool this past September and love it MOST of the time. Jacobs thinks he should be able to join them too. Little does he know he still has a couple years to go till he leaves his mommy! :) Halloween was a blur. I can't even remember what the kids were for Halloween unless I take a minute to figure it out, or look at a picture.. haha!! We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving here in Vegas with Ryan's parents!! All I remember was that dinner was DELICIOUS.... or as Isabela would probably say, "It taste like delicious!!" It was a pretty relaxing holiday for us and we were glad we could spend it with family!!

December this year hit the Howes family pretty HARD!! We all ended up getting sick around Christmas time. THe kids got sick with the flu the week before Christmas, and lucky me got sick on CHRISTMAS DAY!! :( .. It stunk!) Luckily Ryan was there to save me... HE took over the kids and I got to sleep in all day after we opened presents at my mom and dad's place! We got back home and the kids were getting better and then BOOM!!!! IT hit us again!! I was likw.....REALLY??!!!! You have got to be joking. So as of tonight, we are still trying to recover from all these sicknesses!! Slowly but surely we are getting better, I just wish it would get better NOW!!

The start of a year is always so refreshing! I love it! We get to start off nice and FRESH.... CLEAN!!! I think we all make some goals for ourselves and some of those goals are always on the list year after year! But the beginning of the year is always so motivating and exciting!!

Here are some of our family goals for 2011:

1. Continue to do Family Home Evening on a weekly basis!

2. Read scriptures daily as a couple a:nd individually ( this one is on every year!)

3. Read the Book of Mormom for Young Women

4. Lose my pregnancy weight or at least get down to ___ lbs. ( Only I know that number :)

5. Have a better outloook on life and better attitude

6. Apply and start to take classes to finish my degree ( fingers crossed)

7. Make an effort to be more social and friendly to others

8. Read a book and put kids down by 9:00 pm.

9. Adding to our family of fivc... shh Ryan doesn't know thats one of my goals

10. Be happy and for what I have and RECOGNIZE it!!!!!

SO these are little details that are important for me at this time in my life and in my family's. Well at least this is what I feel will help our family and of course ME happpier!! I hope that we can accomplish this together as a family and have fun with it too! I know goals are not easy and require alot of work, prayer, and faith, but with all those things, we can accomplish GREAT things! I hope whoever reads this can understand this! I know my Heavenly Father loves me and with his help and my efforts, I can be happy! I just need to pray for his help and guidance and remeber to be patient or ask him to HELP me be patient!!
So 2011, here we come! We are ready and excited for what this year may bring to our family and are ready to take it on!!

Attempting a Gingerbread House!!

2010-12-24T12:49:00.000-08:00

A few days before we went to California, the kids and I thought it would be fun if we all did a gingerbread house. I didn't think it would be too complicated or hard. I bought the kit from Walmart on clearance for $5.oo!! So I was pretty excited and so were the kids until we started TRYING to put it together with the frosting!! I don't know about everyone else, but I got frusterating the first 15 minutes and threw the towel by 30 minutes!! I don't think I would do very well in construction! :)
Isabela and Owen started feeling frusterated as soon as they figured out that I wasn't going to be able to build them the "house." I have to say though we did have lots of fun "eating" the whole thing. Well at least the kids did. I think the candy they sell are gross!!

Here is Owen and Jacob trying to open up all the pieces.

This is sort of a random picture, but this is how Isabela's hair is when she wakes up every morning!! :)

Here is the three of them eating all the "yummy" gingerbread house before it was even constructed.

'Hhhmmmm.. what to eat? "

I think one of the jely beans got stuck in Bela's teeth!! :)

2010-09-21T14:06:00.001-07:00

The other night, I made dinner and served the kids first, as usually that is the daily routine, nothing new.....Kids eat first, then mom and Dad get to eat our "cold dinner." I hate it when my food gets cold or when the food is uncovered when it should be covered to stay warm. I usually end up putting it back in the oven or in the microwave to make sure it is extra hot and ready to eat!! Anyway as I was eating dinner, the kids were finishing up and they know the drill.... when you're finished, put your plate in the sink, wash your hands, dry your hands, and you can go play! Well this is what I found when I turned over to see who was washing dishes.......

*Note: Idid NOT teach her or tell her she needed to wash dishes this early in her life!! I am sure she will have plenty of dishes to wasj in the future :)

This is when I finally, got her attention and asked what she was doing. She replied, " I'm helping wash the dishes mommy!"... I couldn't resist, I replied back, " oh mija, that's great.... you have about 20 of them left!" haha.. jk

I love my little Isabela! She is seriously such a great helper. She loves to clean. I'm not sure why because I am not the type that is cleaning all day, but I am so glad that she enjoys helping me with these sort of things. One can definitely not mistaken her for being a little boy. She is so loving and nurturing with our family. She always makes sure that her brothers are okay and that Dadddy is well taken care of too. I hope that she keeps those gestures with her always. She is the BEST little girl!

PRESCHOOL STARTS AND MOMMY IS SO EXCITED!!!

2010-09-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

Here is Owen and Isabela before we headed off to school!!!
.... And Jacob thought it would be nice to pose with Owen and Isabela

Okay, so I know that I should be super sad to have my kids go to school and all, but honestly, I am super exxcited!! Is that bad?! Haha!! I'm just kidding! I am a little sad but excited at the same time. Owen and Isabela started preschool this past Tuesday and they went for a couple hours. Owen was super excited and so was Isabela. It's a joy school that I am a part of in our church ward, and it seems like the kids are going to have fun. All the moms take turns teaching and so it is a great oppurtunity to meet new members from our ward and have my kids make friends from our ward as well.... and of course they are learning social skills as well as academics!! :) Owen has been to preschool before, but this is the first time for Isabela!1

She was so excited to go. We left just a couple minutes before 9:30 because the house was just around the corner from us. At first when we got there, she asked me to stay with her.... she seemed a little unsure, but within 5 minutes she turned to me and said, " Mommy, you can go now.. I'll be ok!"It was so cute! Owen was there with her and she was all smiles :)

SO SORRYFOR THE LATE POST........

2010-08-11T16:22:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I haven't been too "on it" with the journaling and posting! There are not too many people who look at this anyway, but it makes it more overwhelming when you want to remember all these memories with your children.. (yes including the bad too.) But hopefully, I can remember some of the events that have happened these last few months. I will do my best to write in detail some of our past adventures! :)

ANGEL GAME..... FREE TICKETS!!

2010-04-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

I know, I know it'a been a While since I've written on our family blog! There are no really good excuses other than I'm just being lazy and procrastinating! Not much has happened anyway. We have been hanging out at home. Owen has started preschool EVERYDAY right smack in the middle of the day which leaves all of us stuck in the house all day, and three crancky kids at 2:00pm because that's nap time for ALL of us... yes, I'm included in that bunch! I need my naps to function.
Owen started back in January and ends in the middle of June. He is already complaining to me that he doesn't like school!!! I'm like... "WHAT???!!! You still have at least 12 years ahead of you, so you better start liking it!" Crazy boy! Owen is a very active little boy and has energy enough for all of our family and more. He is constantly on the go and is always asking questions, so school has taught him to be a little more structured and feels a little "bored." But it has helped him tremendously. Everytime we drop him off , Isabela wants to stay at go to school with him. At least one of them is excited for school!! She is so cute!!
Recently, we had friends from our ward who were cool enough to give us FREE tickets the Angels game vs. Oakland Athletics?! The game was so much fun and we were able to go with Nat and her little family!! They ended up winning the game and the kids thought the best part was the fireworks at the end which lasted like 30 seconds!!!

Jacob and Isabela posing

Cousin LOVE!!

M.I.A. Owen and Ryan were not able to make it because they were in Vegas. Owen let Ryan know how upset he was that we went to an Angel game without him and that we should have waited until he got home :)

HAWAII 2010

2010-02-11T12:46:00.000-08:00

This January I had the opportunity to go to Hawaii with my family. Well it not all of us made it. We were missing Teri Lisa and my Dad :( . But we had a great time. We all sort of just invited ourselves but it ended up being a super fun trip!!! The weather was great compared to California that week. We were lucky enough to miss the whole week that it was pouring in January. My mom and Steph made it out there a couple of days before the rest of us got in. We left early Wednesday morning and Stephanie's companion's dad was nice enough to get our family really good prices on the flights. We fle into Honolulu and went around the whole island. We got to visit Byu- Hawaii, the temple, the Dole Plantation, and lots of other little areas around there. Our first day, it was raining so we just drove by the island and stopped by the Laie Temple. It was so beautiful!! We forgot to take a picture of it!! :(.. Overall, the trip was awesome and I had a lot of fun with my family. I definitely would love to go back there with Ryan one of these days... Hopefully soon!!!

This is somewhere in the North Shore. We stopped and took a picture because of the vies, minus the construction fence in the background :)

We went to visit the Dole Plantation and got to ride on a little train that explained how they grow the pineapples and the history behind it.

Okay, this is Kiki trying to be "cool" riding his moped:)

And of course this is my little brother also trying to be "cool"

GIRLS: Day at the Beach!!! So beautiful

CRAZY DECEMBER

2009-12-18T09:29:00.000-08:00

Well the holidays sure do go by super duper FAST!!! Especially when one is having fun! Thanksgiving seemed like only a few days ago and Christmas is next week.... AAAHHHH!! We have been keeping busy with our everday life routine and Christmas. We've been doing a lot of "park days" since the weather here in California is "perfect." We are having a lot of fun and are so much happier now that we get to see Ryan more. I haven't been in "camera mode" just because I haven't even remebered to have it with me at ALL times. But I will have to post pictures when I get a chance.
A little update on how everyone is doing:

Owen: He is such a little smart boy! I know as mothers we all think so, but he REALLY IS!!! He is always on the go and has so much energy to do just about anything. He loves helping us out and is always asking so many questions. He is such a "big brother" although recently he has been telling me he has a big sister. I ask him who she is and he replies, " I don't know her yet." I'm wondering if he is receiving revelation...... I know I'm not pregnant ;) He is such a funny boy, that's for sure. He still loves playing all types of sports and is always interested in fixing things right now. He is enjoying Primary even though I still think he is a baby. He just started going to his Primary class all by himself and helps this Primary presidency erase the board at the end of church.

Isabela: SHe is such a sweetheart. She really is the "girl" of the family. She has become so danty and so girly! I am not sure if that's a good thing or not. She is now completely potty trained through the night and during her naps. I am so happy, even though she sometimes has accidents. She is so sweet to everyone and she loves spenind time with mommy. She loves strolling her red teddy bear everywhere.

Jacob: He is such a little man! He has recently started to talk more and copying a lot of words lately. He reminds me of that commercial that the little boy is constantly saying, Mama, mama, mamma...." When I finally repsond to, "WHAT?!!!, " he has a smirk and mumbles. He is still a good sleeper and has recently become a daddy's little boy.

OWEN TURNS 4!!!

2009-11-23T15:19:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Owen!!

Oh my goodness, my oldest baby turned four this year!! I cannot even believe it! I remember the day I was in the hospital in labor and how I thought I was going to die after pushing for a couple of hours. I remember asking the doctor to cut me open because there was no way I had the strength to push anything out of my body at that moment and somehow, he finally came out! I remember hearing just ONE cry, " WHAAAAHH!!" And that's it! He was staring at me and at the room the rest of the time. I was thinking to myself, "Is there something wrong with this baby?" But let me tell you, this boy is as active as a boy can really get. If I had to describe Owen in a few words, it would be a ball of energy!

He has such a strong, confident spirit and is not afraid to be outgoing and learn new things. This year he has mellowed out a little and has been such a great big brother to Isabela and Jacob. He even loves all of his cousins as well and is always excited to see each one of them. This was his first year in Primary and he is a Sunbeam. He has loved it up until he had to say his part in the Primary Program this past OctoberL. My poor baby was so nervous when the day came and he started to cry before going up, but somehow he pulled himself together and said his part perfectly. And to make things worse, when moving into our new ward, the Primary had not yet had the program yet, and "lucky" Owen got to stand up again in front of the congregation and say his part yet AGAIN!! He was a lot more prepared this time and enjoyed a little more the second time around.

This past year, he has grown so much as of course speaks clearly and has some of the funniest comments. Here are some things I can remember him saying this year:

"Mommy, don't hit me…… Just talk to me Mommy, just talk to me, ok?"

On another occasion, I was so frustrated with him one day and told him, "Owen, why are you being such a…… such a bad child?" And his response was, "I'm not a bad child mommy, I'm a Child of God." I tried to keep a straight face, but it made me smile just hearing him. He really is such a sweet little bot. He is willing to help me with most things and wants to be a "handy man."

Here is Owen eating ONE of his many cupcakes on his birthday. I put an apron so he wouldn't get dirty!

One of his presents this year was cars, of course! You can never go wrong with getting a boy CARS!! Even if they are 28!!!

random pics

2009-11-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some more random pictures from Fabio and Stephanie's wedding

FAMILY WEDDING

2009-11-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, November 7th, my cousin Fabio and Stephanie celebrated their marriage. We had a great time. You get food, dancing and family together, you're guaranteed a good time. Teri and her family came down for the special occasion and it's always nice to get all the cousins together as well. They had so much fun dancing and hanging out.

Here are the 3 girls: Sydney, Isabela, and Olivia holding hands, showing their dancing moves. They all loved the music and you know how little girls like to dance together!

Here is another attempt at getting a descent family picture, but failed miserably. And that's that we were all wearing Christmas colors :( We tried taking them at home before the party.... no use!

"mommy and me" picture

Sibling Love: These two are usually together. Whether it's fighting and taking toys away from each or playing together and looking after each other.

I am proud to day that these are my little babies! They are growing up so fast. I found myself shopping in the bigger boys section for Owen today :(

Overall, we had a great night. Stephanie and Fabio looked very happy and it is always nice to get together as a family.

NEVER LEAVE A 2 year old unattended!

2009-11-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have always heard this statement! Well it's pretty much goes like this, " DONT LEAVE CHILDREN UNATTENDED!" And of course I get so distracted doing things around the house that I begin to think that because my kids are being quiet, they are being GOOD....... YEAH RIGHT! Why do I always fall for that trap?! I was downstairs getting ready to make dinner and Ryan comes walking in and asks, "Are the kids still sleeping?" I told him I hadn't put them down because they were being good and there wasn't really a need to. So he goes upstairs and this is what he finds:

She thinks she can put bright red lipstick on since she got to put it on for Halloween!

Beauty is PAIN

She looks a lot better NATURAL!!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T20:04:00.001-08:00

Since Halloween was on a Saturday this year, the whole family went out for Halloween. Ryan didn't have to work which was really nice and the kids took a nap right before going so they were in a good mood the whole time!! We even had dinner for them and were out the door by 6:30p.m. WOW!!!!! I was pretty impressed. We first went out to the elementary school near the house which was only a few blocks away. I guess this is their 2nd year doing a little Halloween Carnival and it was great! We stopped by a few houses on our way over to the school to get some candies. When we got to the school, it was jammed packed!!! But it was so nice becuase the neighborhood had cars parked all over (trunk-or-treat) and we were able to collect candies in a matter of minutes as oppose to having to walk door to door. I know, I've gotten lazt over the years! :) Anyway, they had a little jumping maze for the kids to play in and of course Owen was eager to go in it. We met up with Dain, Nat, Sydney, and Baby Noah and they even has cotton candy, popcorn, and drinks for FREE!! We were all over that! We ended up waiting in line for all the goodies longer than "trunk or treating."
Owen dressed up as our little "scary" skeleton man. Isabela was our little tinker fairy. She has been watching Tinkerbell and loves it! Jacob is still too young to even care what he would be for Halloween so we bought him a Kung Fu Panda costume that was on clearance. He was enjoying his sucker pretty much the whole night!

Howes Babies!!!!

Kung fu Panda

Daddy and the kids

my princess fairy

Jacob with his lolipop

cousins

Isabela trying to be Noah's mommy

2009-11-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

Here are just some ransom pictures that I have taken in the last few weeks. I subsribed to a new program called picknik.com and they have some pretty neat tools to edit your photos.

Mommy and Isabela!!!

The Howes Clan

Isabela decided to try on her boots from last year with Daddy's black socks. Owen decided to join in on the fun!!

And of course the Baby of the family...... Jacob :)

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

I know I've been slacking on recording all these fun things that have happened in the last few weeks. It's been crazy but I will summarize everything in a "nutshell" and try to be better at recording all these memories! Our little family has been quite busy. Ryan has found a new job in California and has been working in California for the past 3 months! And the kids and I have been living in Las Vegas all that while. We finally had the opportunity to move to California this past week and we have been living in "chaos" these last few weeks. AAAHHH!! But we are all doing well and are always chaotic anyhow. We will miss our friends and family in Las Vegas but are definitely excited to be close to family and to be back "home." Owen, Isabela , and my baby Jacob have kept me super busy and by the end of the night, I'm pretty exhausted. We are definitely not ready for Baby #4 yet, nor will we be in the near future!! As crazy as it might sound, no, we I am NOT expecting! Pretty weird, huh? Anyway we are all doing great and I am excxited to start our new advventure in California!

Crippled!

2009-08-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

Okay so for those of you who have been thinking that I've been MIA.... I have been. Let me just say, it's been a crazy few weeks. I threw my back out!! I 've been crippled for the last couple of weeks and let me tell you I've been MISERABLE!! Luckily Ryan has been helping me out through out the weekends and my family has been a great help a well. So anyway, I'm pretty much stuck in California for another few days.

TIME FOR A HAIR CUT!!

2009-07-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

Okay so this is also a late blog entry but I wanted to post it anyway. I have been feeling pretty lazy the last few weeks about cutting all my boys hair. I just hate cleaning up afterwards as if I don’t already do that with everything else at home but I just was not in the mood to be cutting hair. Well I finally got the energy to just do it and here are the results. I love “clean cut” little boys and so this will serve as a motivation to keep me on schedule with their regular haircuts.

My "little" surfer!

UTAH TRIP

2009-06-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

I know it’s been a while since I have been able to write again! We have been so busy the last couple of weeks. We had the opportunity to go out to Utah and visit with some family and my sister Stephanie who is currently serving a mission in Temple Square. Although packing is my least favorite part of the trip, we ended up having lots and lots of fun. Besides me being stressed out 24/7 for EVERYTHING, we managed to do some fun things. I drove up with my mom and we had a total of 5 little toddlers plus the two of us in one car! Crazy right, but we got there! It took us about 7 hours and we managed to squeeze a little McDonald’s meal in too! When we got there, Feudy and Sofiya were up waiting for us. We hung out there the week and just relaxed. They have a yard the size of our house and so Owen and Isabela were in “heaven” running around. They also had a little playground where they spent most of the day at. We also got a chance to go see Stephanie at Temple Square. She looked great. She said she felt a little weird. I think it was because she was still adjusting to being back from Pennsylvania. Plus she says she’s been stuck all day in the office. So she got to take us out on a tour and have lunch with us one of the days. And one night my mom and Feudy offered to take care of the babies so we can go out on our own which you know I will always take anyone up on that offer. We ended up just going to Wal-Mart to pick up some things we needed. Anyway, we had a lot of fun being there with her and being able to see her. Here are some of the many pictures we took while we were over there.

In front of the Garden Place next to the Temple
In front of the Beehive House

Sister Clavel with "most" of her nieces and nephews

I had to post this one. I thought it was really cute:)

At the Pool

2009-06-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

So what more do you have to do when it's hot in Vegas? Of course, we go to the pool, and I love it because the day goes by a lot quicker and all the kids LOVE the water! So I decided to take our camera to the pool to see if I could get some type of "evidence" that I do take my kids out of the house once in a while. We've actually gone to the pool quite a bit this year already and we are still only in June. Owen loves the water and is pretty water safe. He still uses his life jacket althoug he can swim without it. It just depends on his mood whether he wants to wear it or not. Isabela loves playing with all her little toys on the first step of the pool. She can play all day long as long as she is close to me. And my little Jacob is still NOT walking so of course stays near as well. He is going on 13 months and is not in any hurry to get the steppin'. As you can see from the pictures below, he loves to put things in his mouth!! He is the cutest little boy I know.

The 3 Amigos
Owen

Jacob with sunscreen in his mouth!

Isabela just floating away!

baby Noah's Blessing

2009-06-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend were also went down for Baby Noah’s graduation who is the newest addition the Clavel grandchildren! He is such a cutie! We got a couple of cute pictures of him that I posted on here! He was born April 28th and is Nataly’s little baby boy! I also was able to get some random pictures of Owen, Isabela, and Jacob throughout the weekend because I had the camera on me 24/7!

Cute little Baby Noah!

Baby Noah

Owen and Tia Chana

Nataly and Baby Noah

Jay's Graduation

2009-06-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

Well this event was a big deal for the Clavel Family!! Well at least it is for my mom! This is the last of the 6 kids that she had that graduated from High School. Good bye Ayala High School!! There have been so many good memories there and bad ones too!:) But I think all in all, we love Ayala High School and there will be really no reason to go there anymore. Josh graduated in Ontario in the Citizens Bank Arena. I guess that is the first year they have had it there because they are building a nice track and field at the high school where the last few graduations have been. We got reserved seating so we got to see Josh close up so that was fun. He was one of the first to graduate and the ceremony actually didn’t last too long which was good considering there were 7 grandchildren ages 3 and under!! That is just crazy, but they all did pretty well. We had lots of fun and were able to go out to celebrate with Josh afterwards for a bit before he headed back to school for GRAD NITE!!! We went to Carino’s and met up with one of Josh’s good friend’s family, Gab! We had lots of fun there, and the boys were able to go see the Lakers game at the bar. We celebrated Ryan’s 28th birthday with a free dessert on the “house.” We love you Ry!!

Most of the babies that were there supporting Josh! ( The new generation)

Doesn't he look so handsome?

the whole gang

The boys

Nataly and my little baby Jacob!

RYAN TURNS 28!!!

2009-06-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to my “hottie” husband… Ryan!! He turned 28 this year which seems scary because it’s he’s not in his early twenties or not even in his mid 20’s, but he doesn’t seem to mind much at all. He still looks the same as he did in high school. He is such a great person, father and most of all the best husband I could have ever asked for. He is so considerate, although while I was pregnant ( which is most of the time we have been married) I didn’t think so. He is loving and always concerned for the kids and well, yes, especially me…. I love it, seriously. He is so inspiring and such a positive influence in my life. He loves horsing around with the kids and is so good with them. I love him so much and I know Owen, Isabela and Jacob do too!! Happy Birthday daddy!

Ryan's birthday happened to fall the same day as Josh's graduation :( I know it's sad because those of you who know Ryan know that he is a BIG birthday boy and loves to celebrate his birthday! So because the graduation was kind of in the middle of the day, it didn't give us much room too plan anything in the morning or afterwards, so we ended up spending it with my side of the family. So it was a birthday/ graduation party at Carino's. Sorry Ryan, maybe next year we can make up for it!

Jacob eye balling dessert after the server set it down for Ryan.

Daily Routine

2009-05-31T00:08:00.001-07:00

Okay, well for those that think these pictures are gross, le t me remind you that I am using this blog as a sort of journal for my children when they get older. I am willing to post anything and everything, even if it embarrasses them later on in life. I have to keep track of the funny things that happen daily in our home, and hopefully one day they will laugh at all the silly things they did. For those of you who know our little "clan" there are 5 of us; three of which I still have to wipe butts for… sometimes. We are slowly progressing. Owen has been going to the bathroom on his own since he was 2 ½ years old, but refuses to go #2. He is seriously traumatized, and will get constipated, and finally I will give in and put one of Isabela's diapers on so he can go. Anyway the last few weeks somehow, Ryan has been able to help him go and so now it's a big deal when he goes. Isabela is still in the process of getting potty trained. There are good days and bad days. But she definitely does not have a problem going #2. And so Owen is always asking her how she does it and if she can help him. They are hilarious together. She'll make a face like she is pushing and he'll try copying her, and of course he wants me in there helping too. So that means Jacob also has to get all up in the mix. So there are four of us in the bathroom while Owen is trying to go…. Let me tell you chaos. Jacob is trying to touch the water and Isablea is dancing or doing her own thing in front of the mirror while Owen is doing his business. And that is our daily trip to the bathroom.

This is Owen concentrating on his business!!!
BEFORE: Jacob trying to see what is going on!

AFTER: Nevermind, I didn't want to see that... scary!

Jacob’s Long Night.... and Ryans'

2009-05-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

Okay I have to say, Ryan and I are so very lucky to have children that sleep through the night even when they are not feeling well. Jacob got shots last week for his one year appointment and he has been pretty fussy the last couple days. He’s had fever but not too high to where I have to worry but Thursday night we got home around 8pm and we were all pooped out! We were out all day and no one took a nap so you could imagine how cranky we ALL were. I had hoped that we could go home in between all of our errands but that didn’t happen. I gave them all baths when we got home even though we were all kicking and screaming by that time. I figured that they would all sleep way better if we were all clean and fresh. I know always fall asleep way quicker when I take a shower and jump into bed. Well, that wasn’t the case! Owen was the only one that went straight to bed and knocked himself out after he hit the pillow. Isabela was crying two minutes after she gulped down her milk and noticed she had fever so she stayed up with me until Daddy got home. Jacob was in his crib about 20 minutes before he started screaming and yelling to get out of his little crib! I was like AAAAHHHH!! I was so tired; I hadn’t even been able to take a shower and was dreading taking care of them. A few minutes after I got Jacob out, he threw up all over our closet and it smelled gross!! Anyway he was running a little bit of fever as well. So by the time Ryan got home and we put everyone down it was already 1 am in the morning. Well Ryan is always such a good sport about taking care of them at night if they are sick. As for me, I cannot get up, whatsoever. Even though I feel bad that Ryan is up in the middle of the night and has to go to work the next day, I can’t get myself to get up. L I know it’s pretty sad, but I really do need my “beauty” rest. J/k. So I guess during the night Jacob woke up and Ryan said he was feeling miserable so he took him downstairs and they fell asleep together on the couch. I took pictures of the two. They looked so cute asleep. Of course, Jacob woke up and was ready to play.

After my long miserable night

Sleeping with Daddy

2009-05-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

Before I start typing away, I would really like to thank all the friends and family that were able to go and share this special day with our family, especially our little Jacob. As most of you know, our Baby Jacob turned 1 May 13th and he's is just the cutest little baby! ( At least in mommy's eyes, of course) So we made him a little birthday party. It's my excuse to get together with our family and friends, and pig out! Our kids Love parties, especially Owen. They love playing with other kids, especially their cousins. We had a great time eating, talking, eating , talking.... and well just that.
So Ryan's family has always had a tradition that the babies get to get "into" their 1st birthday cake and that is what we have done since the Owen's 1st birthday. Jacob was not too excited about it. He was more interested on the leaf that was hanging around near his cake. Grandpa Howes made him his birthday cake. We tried putting his hand in it but he wasn't liking that at all. Oh well, huh Jacob? He did manage to take a bite once he got a little more comfortable with the texture of it. We also had a few photos of all the kids playing in the water.
Thanks again for making it such a fun day for us!!

Here's the birthday boy!

She is so "lady-like", isn't she?

Uncle Kiki having fun with the kids too!!

Yummy cake!

What's that over there?

2009-05-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

We are huge Laker fans!! Can you tell? GOOOO LAAAAKEERRSS!!!

We're #1!!

I am so EXCITED!!

Belated mother's Day!!

2009-05-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

I had to post it. I found it in someone else's blog and thought it was cute!
Before I was a Mom,I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.~Unknown Author

Happy 1st Birthday Jacob!!!

2009-05-13T18:53:00.001-07:00

My little baby is already one TODAY!! Happy Birthday to him! He is such a cutie! This year has gone by so quickly and having Jacob in my life has been such a blessing. He has been such a great baby. He is the sweetest baby anyone could've ever asked for. Jacob is the "baby" of the Howes clan and has enjoyed his brother and sister so much. He loves his daddy, especially in the morning when he makes him his "teti". He loves cuddling with mommy and sleeping in his little play yard. I remember bringing him home from the hospital; my mom took the other two so I could spend time alone with Jacob the first couple of weeks. The house was so quiet. I remember him sleeping through the night the first night 'till about 7am, and thinking, WOW!! The next few days were similar and have been since. I would breastfeed him and he'd be knocked out. He was very easy to please and at about 6 ½ months, he started crawling. He was all over the place and such a happy boy now that he could move around. He is now taking a few steps with the help of objects around him and is eager to start walking just like his older sister Isabela and big brother Owen. Happy Birthday my BABY JACOB!!

2009-05-12T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some random pictures that I took since it's been a while that I haven't taken any!

BIG HUG

Daddy and "me"

Bath time!

Yummy apple!

Playing outside while taking careof Grandma Bell

2009-05-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

Here are my 3 little "angels" on Mother's Day

MOTHER’S DAY

2009-05-12T23:45:00.001-07:00

We had a super good day, besides the fact that I got mad at Ryan for not writing me a card! I can be a pain most of the time, I know. But he made it up to me, so we are all in good terms now. J We woke up for church and were able to get ready on time…. Yeah, that doesn't happen too often. Church started at 11 am and we got home around 2:30 and watched the Lakers get blown out. I also got a really cool little handprint from Owen that he made at church for Mother's Day and told me, "Here Mom, Happy Mother's Day." That's the first time one of them has told me that all by themselves without Ryan having to tell him to repeat the words, so it was pretty cool to have him say that to me. He is such a loving little boy and gave me a big hug! I also got a really cool camera for Mother's day! I have been bugging Ryan and asking him to "upgrade." I made plenty of excuses about the kids getting older and not getting good shots, so it finally came true. Although I am not a professional what so ever, this camera sure helps me look like one, and I LOVE IT!!! I love pictures.

As for my mom, I was able to talk to her for only a few minutes, but I am so grateful for her example and for her love. I completely understand her more than ever now that I have become a mother and understand why she is the way she is. She has been the greatest example as a mother and has been so unselfish with her time here on earth. She is a mother of 6 children and 7 grandchildren who are all ages 3 and under! She is always willing to help each and every one of us and has devoted all her time in taking care of us. She was always there; all the soccer games, basketball games, baseball games, leadership banquets, school events, and most importantly always supported, encouraged, and emphasized the importance of faith and love for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and I will forever be grateful for that. Because of her, I am where I am today. My Heavenly Father has blessed me with such a great mom and she is truly a blessing for my little children as well.

MY 3 LITTLE "ANGELS" ON MOTHER'S DAY

2009-05-10T16:26:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!! J

Christmas Spirit!

2009-02-05T16:22:00.000-08:00

So even though we went out of town for Christmas, we always love decorating our home with X-mas decor!! Owen and Isabela love putting up Christmas lights outside and love our little blow up Santa Claus! I tell them that they need to be good or this Santa Claus is going to blow up and he's NOT going to come back!! How mean huh? But it works! They usually work together in putting up the ornaments on the tree! Jacob is only 7 months and still doesn't have a clue about what Christmas is but he was having fun sitting in his highchair while the rest of us were hanging stuff up!

Here is Jacob sitting outside getting some sun in December!!

Owen and Daddy setting up the candy cane lights in front of the house.

Owen helping decorate the tree.

Isabela helping too!

Here is our blow up Santa Claus that Owen and Isabela were in love with!!

CHRISTMAS FUN

2009-02-05T16:04:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas was also spent at my mom and dad's in California. The whole fanily was there except for Stephanie who is in Salt Lake City serving her mission! We missed her but she sent us a little gift and card back in California for everyone! Teri and her family also went down to California so all the cousins got to hang out together!

Mexican Cruise- Nov 2008

2009-02-05T15:49:00.000-08:00

Alright, so right after Thanksgiving Ryan and I went on a Mexican cruise! I would say that we definitely needed it, but I am sure that all parents with a child or children always need a vacation, right? Well we got such a great deal on this cruise, it was very hard to pass up and so we gave in and booked it. We left Owen with Ryan's sister and our other little ones Isabela and jacob stayed with my mom! we left the same weekend after Thanksgiving for 5 days. We stoppped at Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas which by the way is GORGEOUS!! ( even in December) The wheather was perfect!! As most know, the cruise was all you can eat, and you can imagine how much I pigged out, especially on steak!! We got off in Cabo and got in the ocean water for a couple of hours! It's was so nice to be out and not worrying about anything!! We had some mexican food right on the beach and just relaxed while we were there!!

2009-02-05T15:27:00.001-08:00

I know, I know I have to do a better job at keeping up with what's going on in our lives. I know one day one of my children are going to ask me about their childhood and I am not going to remember much about it because am so busy trying to make beds, wash laundry, make meals through out the day and make sure our home is somewhat presentable and clean!! I am doing a lot better now. This is the 1st time that I have past my 7 month mark of not being pregnant! YEAH!! And let me tell you... I am feeling great! I am slowly but surely regaining my energy and am starting to feel young like I should! I find myself not dragging out of bed wishing I still had a couple of hours to sleep. Instead I am awake, alert and ready for bathing, cooking, changing diapers 24/7, etc.
Anyway, I wanted to share some pictures of the last few holidays and let you know a little bit of what we did! Thanksgiving was spent at my mom's even though they both were not in town. We ended up spending it with my brothers and sister Nataly and her family. We had so much fun! Nataly was in charge of making Thanksgiving dinner and I helped( kinda) Dain's family was there also! So she made dinner for a total of I think 15 people! Pretty stressful for a beginner huh? Everything was delicous!

This is our family on Thanksgiving Night. It's a little challengng trying to get everyone to look at the camera and smile :)

Isabela was having so much fun climbing the bench. We took her dress off because she got all dirty while eating and was happy in just her tights!!

These were our hosts for the night, Nataly and Dain! Yummy, yummy Turkey!

KEEPING UP!

2008-12-08T22:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know that these pictures are from like a month ago, but I still wanted to post them so that everyone can see my little babies. I am always a little behind on things and I need to work on that! Here are some pictures from Halloween. Owen was so excited this year and actually understood that Halloween is a holdiay where he recieves lots and lots of candy. He was so intrigued by other people's homes when we would walk up to say "trick or treat", he'd totally forget about the candy at that moment and ask "What's that?" or "who's that?" ( a little embarassing.... such a little nosy boy, huh?) Isabela was just strolling along minding her business. She just had one concern and that was her little pale she was carrying alonng. When it started getting full, we asked her to take it so we can empty it out a little so it would be so heavy for her, but she REFUSED!! She kept saying , "MINE!!" Jacob on the other hand was our sweet little pirate that night! He was probably the sweetest pirate you'll ever meet!!

2008-10-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

So this is the most recent family picture that we have taken since Jacob has been with us! Pretty sad,huh? But we are definitely working on it. I have been trying to figure out how to make our blogger a little more exciting and creative, but I haven't had much success! This was taken the Sunday that Jacob was blessed by Ryan (Aug.). As you can probably tell in the picture, Owen is all over the place and such an active boy. He loves being outdoors and running all over the place. Thank goodness I am young enough to keep up with him!! Isabela is our sweet angel occasionally her "latin blood" rises and she becomes a little fisty girl! She is such a girl. She does a great job trying to help with little Jacob and loves being at home, eating!! Jacob is a litle angel, still!! Let's hope he stays that way! He is starting to rock on his knees so we know one of these days he's going to take off and start crawling!! He loves being held as most babies do, and loves wathcing his brother and sister play! This October month has been one of our busiest, especially since Ryan hasn't been around much!!!
Owen started pre-school and he absolutely loves it!! He is always wanting to go to school (that's a great sign!!)He remembers all his little friends names and always is asking about them. He loves watching "A Bug's Life" (gross!! Of course, he doesn't know that his Daddy kills bugs for a living) and he loves "Cars" too!! He's learning so many new phrases.
Isabela is officially now in Nursery! She was a little shy but got used to the idea quickly. She is in the same class as Owen, so I think that helped a lot. If you see her, you will probably find her eating or begging for food!! She has definitely been are good eater in the family. She still loves playing with blankies and towel cloths! She can seriously have one of those items in her hand for hours , and she'd be in heaven.
Jacob is getting bigger! Slowly, but he is getting bigger! And I have been keeping busy with all three of them! Making sure they are all fed at a decent time and that they have some type of entertainment during the day! We try and go to the park at least a couple times during the week, especially at this time of year because Vegas' winter is a little too cold!! I am also ging to the dentist about once a week. (Yeah, I need a lot of work done, it's truly embarassing) It's supposed to take about a little over a year! So until then, we can not have anymore children!(crossing my fingers) This week we will be dressing all of babies to go trick-or-treating! We'll post some pictures of for everyone to see! Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!!

SUMMER FUN

2008-06-28T10:13:00.001-07:00

This is my first time using this blog, but I am really excited about it. I 'd like to share a little bit about our family to others and you know how our family is doing and how fast everyone's growing. Hopefully I will be disciplined enough to write on it occasionally.

We are all excited for this summer. Jacob is now with us and we are having so much fun with him. He's a great sleeper and Owen and Isabela love him so much!! Owen is really excited about the swimming. He's is always asking to go to the pool. He loves being outside and playing baseball, kicking the soccer ball around, and shooting the basketball. Isabela follows Owen around and tries to do everything Owen does. She is easily entertained by him!! Ryan is still working alot and we ssee him a couple hours a day.......sometimes! He is still working on his pest control business and so far it has gone well! We miss him and always look forward to Sundays because that is the only day he is home with us the WHOLE day!

Howes Family

2008-06-27T17:55:00.000-07:00