Photo Session

As any parent knows, picture day can be quite stressful, especially with a 3 year old and a newly walking 12 month old. They actually did a really good job. Audrey is very good for the camera and does whatever the photographer tells her to do. She never stops smiling. I think she thinks she's a movie star or something. Sawyer wasn't too scared of the crazy picture ladies. He did want to walk around the set, eat the Christmas ornaments, and open up the boxes - other than that I'd say we survived pretty well.

On another note, Aunt Barbie babysat last night and Audrey was SO happy. When Barbie arrived she told us she wanted us to leave. She knows that when Barbie comes she gets to eat popcorn, watch movies and stay up late. She told me she stayed up until 10 to 3! She also told me she wasn't going to watch Mickey Mouse anymore and was only going to watch Hannah Montana because she's a girl like Hannah Montana, not a mouse like Mickey. Is my three year old turning 13? I think we'll stick to Mickey. Thanks for giving us a much needed night out Aunt Barbie! The kids loved having you!

It's Back!

Well, from the pictures, you can see the flakes were a flyin'! Audrey was thrilled to play in the snow and that her friend, Frosty, came back from the North Pole. She has a little plastic figure of Frosty that she loves. He went away when the weather got warm, frankly because I was just sick of him, but she remembered that Frosty comes back when it snows, so I had to bring the little guy back out.

Sawyer could give or take the snow. He was not fond of wearing Audrey,s pink gloves. His boots are a size and a half too big on him, which made walking difficult. He did eat some snow and Ben pulled him around in the sled which he seemed to enjoy.

Audrey made a little snow man that she now thinks has come to life. He "magically" moved from our driveway to our deck this morning. She was very excited. I only wish I could have captured that moment on video!

First Birthday Party

"Why is everyone starring at me?"

"I'm over that. Might as I'll dive in."

"This is so embarrassing."

"I love cake!"

"He-He, my revenge will come tomorrow, in my diaper! Blue food coloring is the best!"

The big party was Sunday. Many friends and family members came to celebrate. Ben's parents came over and Uncle Ryan even flew in for the weekend. Sawyer wasn't sure about all the singing at first but then decided to try his cake and ignored all the people. Our house is now full of little boy toys; trucks, planes and push toys. Audrey is enjoying them too.

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate and helped make Sawyer's birthday such a special day!

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

I love my new train from Audrey.

I love to climb! Even on my birthday present.

Cupcakes are way better than veggies!

I'm 1 now and I have the black eye to prove it!

I eat cupcakes like a boa constrictor!

The first birthday party is on Sunday but these are pictures from his actual birthday, which was yesterday. The year went by so quickly, so much faster than it did with Audrey. With Audrey I was so happy when she turned 1 and felt like PHEW at least I made it through that. With Sawyer I just felt kind of sad. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital, not 365 days ago!

I don't have any dr. stats for you because I'm not taking him to his Well Baby check up until January. I'm guessing he's 23 or 24 lbs. He does seem to be slimming down a bit. We watched a video of him last night from May and June and he was much chubbier. He is so active that the baby fat is melting off.

His favorite things are still climbing over and up everything and anyone, his beloved pillow - the one I had to cut out of his swing so he's sleep in his crib, his bottle, playing with Zoe, food, chasing balls, cars/trucks and daddy's dance moves. His least favorite things are being strapped in anything, getting his diaper changed, getting dressed, and getting his hair washed.

Here's what's going on in the pics: The first one is him trying to grab the balls out of his train. The second, he didn't really know what to do with the big present. Pretty much if he doesn't know what to do he just starts climbing. The third is self explanatory - give kid cupcake, kid crams it in mouth and rubs all over body, kid goes in tub. The last one is him after his spaghetti dinner showing his new age! The video shows him eating his cupcake like a boa constrictor would eat a mouse. Once he picked it up he never put it down. He just kept cramming it into his mouth until it was gone. I think he thought if he put it down we would take it away.

We'll post more pictures after his birthday party. Happy Birthday to our Little Man, aka Sawyer the Destroyer!

YEAH Obama!

Although I never have before used this blog for any other purpose than the kids, I am about to break that tradition. It was very exciting last night watching Barack Obama get announced as the 44th president of our great country. It was a proud and hopeful event for both Ben and I. I am so happy that when my two children go to school they will see a different picture in their history books than I saw. My daughter and my red-haired son will get to look at a picture of a president other than a white, old man with graying hair! Of course, more importantly, we like Barack for what he stands for and his ideas to move our country in a different direction.


On another, but very different, political note, I have to say I was also very disappointed to see CA ban gay marriage. Why is it OK for a man and woman to get married and divorced and then married and divorced 5 more times but it is not OK for committed same sex couples to get married at all? Many times I think our country is becoming more open-minded and then other times I realize that there are still so many ignorant people in this country. This is America and we all deserve to be treated equally and more importantly, we all deserve to be happy. Isn't this stated pretty bluntly as our rights in the Declaration of Independence?


OK, next time it will be all about the kids. You all know I am very opinionated and I just had to state my views for once. If you have anything negative to say go start your own Blog!

Will Walk for M&Ms

Here's some brief walking clips. They were taken over the weekend. He was going even more steps today at the park, maybe 8 or so. He still prefers crawling but sooner or later he'll figure out it's much nicer to walk. If you bribe him with M&Ms he will go the extra little step. Once Audrey got to this point in walking she just took off, around 14 months. You never know what he'll do since they're all different. And boy is he different than her!

Today is election day and it's 72 degrees and sunny here, so there's no excuse not to get out and vote. I voted and then went to the park with the kids where Audrey loudly exclaimed, "My mama voted for Barack BoBama." She calls him BoBama because we always sing the "Name Game" song. You know, Mama, Mama, Bo Bama, Banana Fana and so on....... Three year old kids are so funny. Well, two days from today Sawyer will be one! The year sure has flown.

Happy Halloween

The Loot

Even Doggy had a costume, a ghost.

Our neighborhood was VERY generous.

Running for the candy!

Minnie and Elmo!

We actually got one with all 3 looking at the camera!

Ready to GO!!!

As you can see from the pictures, Halloween was a huge success in the Rapp household. We got so lucky with our 70 degree weather so you can actually see their costumes instead of their winter coats. Our neighbors were very generous with the candy. I have no idea what we'll do with all the King Size candybars. Ben and Brad felt it was necessary to go to every house in the neighborhood so now we have enough candy for a year! Luckily, one of our neighbors gave Audrey a toothbrush. Hope you all had a fun Halloween.

Carving Pumpkins

As many of you know, Ben is a very talented pumpkin carver. He didn't make anything crazy this year because he was traveling during the week. Audrey was a little bit more hesitant to clean out the pumpkin this year. Can't say I blame her since it smells a little like Sawyer's nasty diapers. Audrey drew her first face on the pumpkin and Ben carved a Mickey Mouse pumpkin to go with their costumes.