Bob's Big Boy

This is one big bunny! 10 pounds doesn't seem that huge until you realize that your children were 3 pounds smaller than that when they were born! He came to us with the name "Bob" but it seems so boring. We changed it to Cuzco, but Ryan kept calling him "Couscous" so now we call him Cozmo.

Yes, he is completely litterbox trained. We keep him in the kitchen to protect our carpet just in case. (Might be a mistake if we can't get the bunny odor controlled). He's been pretty shy thus far, mostly sticking to his cage or under our kitchen table in the corner.

I'd venture to say that you would too if you had 2 small shrieking children looming over you all day long. He does hop out and around the house every once in a while but hasn't gotten himself in any trouble yet.

We'll see how the Bayles family does as pet owners. As I was writing this blog I heard Ryan laughing and Katie squawking. I went in the kitchen and found Ryan spraying kitchen cleaner ALL in Katie's hair and now he was aiming it at Cozmo. I hope this bunny lasts more than a week (not to mention my daughter).

No kids?

That's right, Derek and I went to the beach by OURSELVES today. We stayed a few hours and played frisbee and made a sandcastle. We haven't had so much fun together since two weeks ago on our previous date night. We were able to use our tripod to get a shot of us with our sand castle - complete with moat and small entry way into the courtyard.

Gina's Bag

Here you go Gina, a sneak peak at the pretty bag you picked out. Even in the cold Utah weather you'll be thinking of spring for sure. This one even has adjustable straps. Ooh la la!

FINALLY, a new blog entry!

I'm back to cloth diapering (I don't need any comments from all of you who think I'm weird) and am really happy with my diaper choice. After tons of research I decided on a brand called bumGenius. It's a one-size diaper that fits babies from 8-35 pounds. SO, I can use them on Katie AND Ryan (at night since he's potty training and usually wears underwear during the day). Anyway, they are REALLY easy to wash and don't stain and have great stretchy tabs on the side that make them fit the waist really well.

We got 5 of the diaper-wearing cousins together and you can see, they really DO fit all the different sizes. You gotta love diapered bottoms!

(Notice how Judy is the one reliable person looking at the camera in all the pictures. Plus, I love her crossed feet in the last picture.)

Beach Time

*Well, blogger USED to let me copy and paste pictures in the order I wanted them to go. Not today. *sigh*

We went to the beach yesterday for the first time since living in California. We went to a group of tide pools during low tide to catch a glimpse of starfish and octopi and crabs. We didn't happen upon any of those things (unless you count a hermit crab) but we did see anemone, plenty of mussels, and these fun sea slugs that were pretty neat.

We had a picnic (translation: our kids ate sandy sandwiches and apples) and then the kiddos played in the sand. Ryan was nervous at first and kept telling us he wanted to go home. He was afraid the boats were going to get him. There were some pretty loud motor boats. He warmed up to the ocean eventually and spent a LONG time playing in the sand making sand castles and filling the bed of his dump truck.

Katie wanted in on the action too. She crawled around and touched and ate everything she could manage to put in her mouth. She didn't even want me to hold her while we were looking at the anemone and such, she wanted to get a piece of it all.

The following pictures are in no particular order.

Happy Birthday to You

I had absolutely NO plans for Katie's birthday yesterday since I figured she didn't know the difference, but then felt like I wanted to celebrate the day she was born, even if it was just for me. :) Ryan was really confused how it could be Katie's birthday and not his birthday too. He also said to me multiple times in the morning, "I want to go to Katie's birthday". He didn't understand that we don't GO to birthdays, we HAVE them. Luckily, some moms in my ward planned a last minute play date at the park so we took along some cupcakes and sang to her and it felt like a party enough for Ryan.

Katie doesn't eat sugar so I wanted to make something for her besides a cake. I finally decided on a fruit pizza (thank you Cindy for the idea). I know it's a cookie, but I felt like it was better than cake.

She was so daintily plucking off raspberries and blueberries and enjoying it very much. I realized we had one more cupcake left from the park and suddenly decided to give her the choice (for once). I put it on her tray and she picked it right up and got a mouthful of that poison called "frosting". YUCK! She would go back and forth between the cupcake and fruit pizza, but finally settled on the cupcake.

Ryan was told that he couldn't have any of the cookie until after he ate his peanut butter sandwich. He fought and fought and finally ate his sandwich and got his slice of pizza.

He came to me and said, "Here Mom, you can have the rest." He didn't even eat one bite of the cookie itself, he only picked off the fruit. That's my boy! (The bite was from Derek.)

Today we got in the mail 2 packages from grandparents. Grandma Cookies sent a darling little bracelet (on her other wrist in this picture), and Grandma and Grandpa Bayles sent the prettiest little dresses you've ever seen (along with a few other treats). We went to Target last night to find her a birthday present that we thought she'd like. Due to the highly unimpressive selection, we settled on a "My Little Pony" which she likes pretty well, and we know Ryan will soon hijack it from her, as he has every other toy she's been given.

Happy Birthday!

So, since I've had a few people express interest in this bag - here it is.
Pocket side out.

Pocket side in.

Jodie, here is the pattern I used.

This is the beautiful fabric. It is "cotton duck" material so it is heavy duty but not stiff like canvas. Canvas might be better just because it would stand up by itself and this is more floppy. Still, it's sturdy, and a bit cheaper.

This is my next combination. I think I'm going to make the next one with pockets on the inside AND outside (just reverse pattern) so that it is very functional like that.

I had originally purchased these colors but they are more like quilting fabric and I'd have to line them. I've decided to save it for a blanket instead.

I am currently taking orders. Only $16 each and I accept paypal. :) Seriously, these things are big enough to fit ALL the stuff I need for church on Sunday. That's saying something.

Visit to the Orange County Zoo

The weather was so beautiful last week that we just had to get out and do something outdoors for the day. I found out there was a little Orange County Zoo a few miles away for super cheap so we decided to go check it out.

We packed a picnic lunch and headed on over. When we got there a million signs said not to take food inside so we sat on the lawn outside and ate our lunch before going in. The zoo was located in a regional park so there were many picnic tables and meeting areas but we picked a sunny spot on the grass.

Here, I knew you'd want a close-up of the tote bag I recently made. I think it was the first time I've ever bought a pattern and sewed something following a pattern. It's reversible and has pockets on the inside.

The zoo was very small and we walked around and saw everything in less than an hour, and that was being slow about it. They had a petting zoo and I held the kids' hands so they could feed the goats.

Ryan preferred feeding them this way.

There were a few larger animals including this bear who was sleeping with his foot up on the wall. It was hard getting any good shots of the animals through the chain link fence, but at least the bear worked out okay.

I also really enjoyed the porcupine walking upside down. I didn't realize they could have such a good grip to hang from the ceiling.

Ryan's favorite part:

I would've loved to take him for a ride on the train but I was $2 short. The engine was awesome and Ryan talked about how it had a cowcatcher but no side plates. He would run alongside the track when it started and loved to watch it go through a tunnel. I wish there was a real train station around here because I think he'd enjoy watching trains literally for hours.

He has been talking about it all week so we're going to have to go back one of these days. I was telling him that at the OTHER zoo (in Santa Ana) has an elephant that people can ride on. He's excited about that one but was telling me that the elephant was going to drive the train. There must've been some miscommunication somewhere in there.

Bird Owners for 3.5 Seconds

We went outside to play with Ryan's friend William this morning and I noticed a beautiful little white and blue parakeet fly out of a tree. He landed on the ground near our back patio and I slowly walked over to see how close I could get to him. This type of bird is obviously someones pet so when I realized that he'd let me get close enough to touch him I attempted to pick him up. We discovered that his wings weren't clipped and he could fly, though he was flying very close to the ground and not far at all.

That pretty little thing sure bites the pizzazies out of a person. We took him in the garage and put him in a box for safe keeping. I had bird seed and put some in there with him. We all went out and played in the park for about an hour and when Ryan was done riding bikes we went back to the garage to try and put the little guy in a better habitat. I found a clear tote and lined it with newspaper and then put a dish with water and birdseed. The shelf on my window box was basically like a screen so I realized it would be perfect to keep plenty of air circulating and we'd be able to see him without him flying away. Well, in the transfer he flew right out of the box and out the garage. If I had been smart I would've closed the garage door as I was transferring him, but I needed the light. Anyway, he's long gone and I didn't even get a picture of him. Oh well, at least we TRIED to keep him safe for his rightful owner. So ends the short, yet exciting, bird owning adventure.