owen's newborn photos we ordered arrived! we ordered a canvas print and hung the sweet baby brothers over our mantle. I was so pleased I had to photograph it and share. the photographer we used, stephanie fisher, is very talented.

this, i know, is a terrribly un-flattering picture of me, but the only one where both boys were looking at the camera. they are the important subjects!
last week Gary was in South Dakota all week for work. it was an interesting but survivable week. to share an amusing story from one of the nights ... owen and henry eat dinner at the same time which is challenging when there is only one parent around. I fed henry dinner earlier than normal so that I could feed owen while henry was playing in the bathtub. I was in the bathroom nursing owen while henry played in the tub, when henry exclaimed, "mommy! poo poo in the big potty!" so one handed-ly I put the potty seat on the toilet, while still feeding owen, lifted henry out of the tub and sat him on the toilet. a few minutes passed, nothing happened and henry says "all done mommy." so I put him back in the tub, put the toilet back together, and continue to feed owen. a few minutes later, henry exclaims, "mommy! poo poo in the big potty! hurry mommy!" and so I start the process over again, except this time its too late ... plop! a little surprise floats in the tub and henry says "mommy, henry too late, henry too late." I run and put owen down on henry's bed, come back and another plop was heard ... I quickly got henry back on the potty as fast as I could and began scooping the poo, which had all started to separate (yuck!), out of the tub, laughing almost hysterically while i do this. by now his toys were all dirty and i hadn't yet washed him, so I ran the toys to the kitchen to be washed later and filled up the tub again so I can wash henry and finish feeding owen. poor owen is screaming his head off because he's hungry and his dinner was disgustingly interrupted. I got henry all washed and settled back in a CLEAN tub and brought owen back in the bathroom with me to finish nursing him. I find that owen, in his fit of hunger, had spit up ALL over henry's comforter/quilt. I then got owen cleaned up and finished feeding him and everything was then quiet, peaceful, like no chaos had ever ensued.
needless to say it was one of those times when all you could do was laugh! gary would have gotten the biggest kick out of it had he been there. after the poo, spit up, you name it bodily function incident, I let the boys hang out in their diapers for a while. and below are some photos of them afterwards-happy as clams and cute, cute, cute as can be!

after a three week blog hiatus, the vaughans are back to the land of the living and the world of posting pictures and other random tidbits ... I think.

we, meaning all four of us, have all had a nasty stomach virus. henry had the worst of it, his lasted over a week. owen's lasted about 3-4 days, and gary and I had it for about 2-3 days. on one hand we are so thankful it was only a stomach virus. on another hand, I'll be honest and say that these were some of the longest and toughest weeks we've had in quite some time. with henry it was nothing out of the ordinary as far as stomach bugs go ... Henry has literally thrown up over 50 times this past year so we are "used" to that part of it. the tough part was going on little sleep to begin with having a 5 week old, and then trying to be and do everything possible to two very dependent little ones to help them feel better. you never want your child to be sick-so sad! and then to feel awful yourself as parents ... anyway, its over and we are so excited. here's to health and may none of us ever take it for granted! here's to jobs that we both have that provide time off when needed to care for our children or ourselves! here's to my dad who was a TREMENDOUS help with Henry last week when Gary, Owen and I all had it at the same time. cheers! :)

So ... here's a brief update and some photos ... funny brothers (above)
at cole's 4th (yes, 4th!) birthday party (before all sickness ensued)
owen slept through the entire party

yesterday I had my first outing with henry and owen by myself. so far the only place I've taken them both by myself is to henry's preschool. we went to the grocery store and to petco for dog food; all the essentials, right? it was a success. the buggy was a little more awkward to push, but both boys were perfect. it was a good day!

and this was just too cute not to post. oh to be swaddled and sleep so soundly ...

this little fellow turned one month old yesterday. henry, owen and I went on a walk since it was such a nice day. this was owen's first stroller ride ... the weather has been so cold or rainy that I haven't wanted to take him out just yet. he seemed to like it - he was awake through part of it and asleep through the other part.

we are getting our double jogging stroller this month and I can not wait!

I'm itching to put some miles on the old running shoes ... soon!