Happy 1st Birthday Jacob!!!

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!!

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

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

MOTHER’S DAY

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

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!! J

Christmas Spirit!

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

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

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!!

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!

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!!