.............Princess Ava Grace.............

The whole world seems to be obsessed with Prince William and his soon to be wife Princess Kate. There is one little girl, that I am obsessed with.... My own little Princess Ava....


Dearest sweet baby girl,

My heart is filled with emotion as I recall this time last year. Your precious birth mother was about to endure the most difficult time of her entire life. I was excited/nervous/stressed etc... preparing for the birth of our new baby girl. The crib was ready with fresh sheets and blankets, the car seat was waiting by the door, the cupboards were filled with sparkly new bottles, the changing table was stocked with crisp nappies, The closets brimming with beautiful baby dresses, I was just aching to dress you in. I was already in love with you Ava, I just couldn't wait to meet you. I wanted you soo much, I was so helpless and vulnerable. We were putting our hearts on the line in the hope of you. With adoption ANYTHING can happen.

On Friday 23rd April, I got the call, that your birth mother was in labor and was heading to the hospital. Your daddy and I raced to the hospital with every emotion but mostly just excitement. We ran into the hospital and were stopped by the front desk workers, they told us that we needed to wait. Auntie Mayte was talking to me on my mobile and told us you were born!!! By this time I was crying and pleading with the lady at the front desk, I was desperate to hold you, to look at you, to smell you. I waited impatiently. Then a nurse came down with a digital camera with pictures of you. I stared at the pictures of you, you were soo beautiful Ava. It felt like an eternity when finally I was allowed to come and meet you. This little angel that we had spent soo many hours discussing and planning for. I couldnt help but cry when I held you, It was love.

A month later, we said a heartfelt goodbye to your beautiful birth-mother, A woman who will forever be a hero in our family.

The adoption process was the hardest roller coaster we have ever experienced, but the lessons along the way were priceless, we found our friends, our testimonies were strengthened, and most importantly we were able to kneel across the alter and be sealed to you forever. What a special day that was!


You are such a blessing Ava. You have filled our home with sparkle, you have such a bright personality. you are beautiful and we love you more than I know how to express. You are so loved Ava!

Tomorrow is your 1st birthday, you are growing up way too fast. You love your daddy and your 3 big brothers. You love to play with your stuffed animals. You love to play in the dirt, you love to EAT everything!! You are good at standing, not walking yet, you are girly, sociable and happy.

I am soo grateful to have you, It is an honor to be your mummy.


Happy birthday darling girl
we love you xxx

We love our white haired, toothy, darling boy OWEN

some of my fave owen pics....






A little story.........



Last year as we were otherwise engaged, working on adoption paperwork, Owen had his 1st birthday. We rummaged through some drawers and found a wrinkly orange balloon. We blew it up and alas .... it became Owen's birthday present.
At grandmas house after dinner we wanted to sing happy birthday to our darling little boy. But, we had no such cake to put the candle in. Horrified at the idea of a handheld candle, Grandma insisted that we put the candle in a marshmallow. We all sang happy birthday as Mark held a marshmallow with a candle to the birthday boy. We gave the marshmallow to Owen, who seemed offended and threw it on the ground.

This year we wanted to celebrate in style and pulled out all the stops for our little man. We had a BIG party at the park with family and friends, our neighbour made a fabulous mickey cake and we had pizza. it was perfect!!

Owen's new obsession!



my brothers would be sooo proud




Owen is at a fun age as he is constantly learning new things. He is the cleanest of my children. He hates having dirt on his hands, and is helpful about cleaning up his toys, he loves to put rubbish in the bin.
He wants to be independent and likes to do things by himself. He likes to sit in a big chair like his brothers. He is 24 lbs and in the 20th percentile for his age. His fave foods are strawberries, grapes, pizza, milk. He has a love hate relationship with Ava. She is his partner in crime, but he does get jealous of all the ava attention . Owen loves to sing and dance, he gets all happy and sticks his little front teeth out, he is soo funny and cute. He is still not saying many words, most often he says... "aggy" (daddy) "mummy", "A-ah" (ava), "bye bye" "aah coo" (thank you)"

He is a ray of sunshine in our home, he loves to make everyone happy. We are very blessed to have him. We love you Owen xxx

pizza for breakfast anyone????

This morning I stumbled upon this scene......

Owen had helped himself to the pizza in the fridge, and had made a little picnic for him and his best friend Ava.

.............The GUILTY!...........

..............The ACCOMPLICE........


Partners in crime!

e'll hae twa fish suppers an a packet o minstrels

A couple of weeks ago we made a spontaneous decision to go to Scotland!

We booked our flights for the whole family the Sunday before our departure date. We decided it might be fun, not to tell my parents we were coming, and just turn up on their doorstep!! Keeping my mouth shut has never been a strength of mine. But I managed and sure enough they had no idea!!! hahhaha it was so funny.

The flight was LOOONG but we managed.. and all 4 children were amazing! We made it into Edinburgh and arrived at the car rental place to discover they had given our car away and had none left for us.... As Mark tried to figure out another car (at another rental office) Brody took the fur trim off of his hood and he and Kyle decided to play a prank on their dad... please notice Marks "tail" ... (hehheh)


Finally we got a car (paid double what we wanted to pay) but non the less we were on our way!!! All 4 kids slept peacefully the 45 minute drive to Dundee.
When we reached Bright st, I could barely wait.....
We rang the doorbell and my mum came out and calming/confused said.. "hello" and then she gasped, she stood back shocked and started screaming for my dad... "DENNIS... You won't believe this!! DENNIS!" My dad came out and said.. "oh for goodness sake". It was such a good reaction!

My mum and dad have recently sold their huge house to Grant and Sara (my brother and his wife). My parents now live in a small part of the house connected to them. So kindly, Grant and Sara let us stay with them. They even gave us their own bedroom. We had such a wonderful time being with all the family. Then on Wednesday, Anna decided impulsively to drive up to Scotland with her girls.... It was such a nice surprise, then the next day Pauline and Shiloh came up from London.

It was sooo much fun seeing my children interact with their cousins that they really didn't know too well. By the end of our trip My boys were crying when we told them it was time to go home. The best parts of Scotland (according to my kids) were.. drinking fruit shoots, and playing with their cousins.




Millie had her 8th birthday while she was in Dundee, so we were able to sing to her and have birthday cake.





Cooper and Ava held hands all the way down town. Soo sweet!



I tried to get a picture of alot of the kids when they were at the park, but half of them ran away when I pulled out the camera.


Katie and Rosie, my twin nieces are just such good girls, they pushed this car around for several hours giving the little kids rides in it... such sweethearts.



Brody and Findley playing wii (of course)

Ava loved lapping up everyones attention, She would put her arms out to complete strangers and give them a cuddle. This happened several times on our trip including to the air hostess, who proceeded to walk round the plane with our charming little princess. Ava was soo charismatic that she even got an offer from a sweet Swedish lady who was so smitten, and wanted to take her home.



Ava and shiloh (13 days apart)

As always it was hard to say goodbye to the people and the country that I love soo much.

some one-liners.......

kyle comes in limping and breathing hard whilst rubbing his hip.... I asked him whats wrong and he bravely and maturely answers... "I've just hurt my spine" ME: "Your spine?" Kyle: (rubbing his hip harder) "Yes, I guess I have been using it too much!"


Brody has a sweet tooth. He has a little brown dot of decay on one of his teeth to prove it. Today in the car......Brody - "hey mum, my carseat matches my tooth!"



Kyle- "mum, can I have another boy scout cookie???"



I had to drop something off at someones house, while we were waiting for them to answer, Brody was peeking in the window and said..... "oooooh they have nice couches....... we should just live here!"


I seriously have the funniest cutest kids ever!

Mummy date with Owen.....

A couple of weeks ago Owen's pediatrician referred me to a pediatric urologist for a consultation. She was concerned about his "BOY" area, not looking quite right. (Owen is going to LOVE this post when he is older!)

Anyway so today was the big day, I dropped my other kids off at grandma's house and Owen and I set off to the doctor. The medical plaza was huge, and we were at the top floor (level 5)

We filled out paperwork and waited.........

Then we sat in the dr room and waited..........

Then out of nowhere the fire alarm started RINGING!!! It was LOUD!!! I opened the door and got a huge whiff of something burning. Everybody was frantic, (well I was) and started heading for the stairs, I couldn't believe it! The building was on FIRE!! The sirens were soo loud and lights were flashing. My poor baby boy was covering his ears. "We need to get out of here before we burn to death!!" (I thought to myself dramatically) a single tear rolling down my cheek, my bladder pulsing.
Then all of a sudden the alarms stopped ringing, and someone announced that it was a false alarm! "WAIT.... But I can smell something!" ( I think with accusation)... Long story short... A member of staff was making popcorn in the microwave and burnt it!!! First of all.... how do you burn popcorn in the microwave??? There is a button assigned specifically for popcorn.
Secondly, why am I slightly disappointed that it was just burnt popcorn?? Come on... couldn't it have been something a little cooler??? I feel silly now!
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have push that old granny out of my way!

Anyway so I stumble humbly back into the waiting room when the dr finally enters..... I took off Owen's nappy, The doctor takes one look and says... "yep, That's exactly how a little boy should look!!!" WHAT??? So now I have to decide, do I dwell on the fact that I drove an hour, wasted my morning, had a small panic attack, paid $30 when there was nothing wrong with my son. OR Do I feel grateful for the fact that Owen is a perfectly healthy BOY??

Before picking up the rest of the kids, I decided to go and get some lunch, It was just the 2 of us and it felt nice to be able to enjoy him all to myself. What a wonderful little person he is!!!! I love you O-weee x
some things I love about my boy.....

The way he puts his dummy/pacifier on his plate while he eats.
The way he puts his food onto his spoon by hand.
The fact that he loves his mummy sooo much!
The fact that his dummy is usually pink.
How much he loves to play outside, and attempts to play football and T' ball,
How he copies his big brothers in everything they do.
He is not in a hurry to grow up!
The way that he has created his own little Owen-ese language.
The way that I understand Owen-ese (for the most part)
And there are a million more things I love about my sweet little boy.

The moment I met her.... I was in love.

She was placed in my arms,
At the price of another's agony.
She was born from a hero.
When I saw her, It was love.
I am humbled by her.
I am honoured to have her.
Her story is so sacred.
She is an eternal gift.
I can't imagine my life without her.

my mum sent me to church in a skirt............

Brody is very relaxed in his kilt, but kyle, well, that's another story.......

When Kyle is an old man, He will still remember today.... For today, Kyle was asked/told/bribed to wear a kilt/skirt/girls-dress to church!

We inherited these authentic scottish kilts from my lovely friend Brandis. I could not resist dressing my sweeties up for church in honour of our traditional burn's day.


Kyle does not share my enthusiasm for burns day. And by the time we arrived at church, he was extremely self conscious of his lack of trouser leg. No matter how many times I told him he looked cool, he was just completely mortified. It brought me back a couple of years when I tried to dress him in a pink shirt and tie. This boy likes his clothes to be manly! It's a simple as that. He has drawn his line, and it is far from anything pink, anything skirt-like or in the skirt/dress family. The boy has set his standard and will not be moved on that!

I finally managed to talk him out of the car and as we were walking up to the church doors, Kyle saw one of his friends. A boy from his class. Oh how Kyle envied the boys outfit. This was a cringing moment in my 6 year old boy's life. He ran back to the car with red cheeks. I contemplated taking kyle home to change, but we just didn't have time, so I begged him once again to come inside, and I promised him that everyone would think he looked really cool. Sensing there was no other solution to this terrible situation, Kyle reluctantly (and with head down) slumped his way to the front door, mumbling " This is the worst day of my life!" When out of nowhere the sweet little friend, yelled over to Kyle... "You look COOL!" Kyle scuffled in to the church where nobody laughed at him. This might be worth the promised cookies and ice cream after all!

My peurto rican/ scottish princess..........


A much happier Kyle...


and here's why..........


Happy burns day from Kyle and the rest of them x

Ode to a blankie..........

When Brody was a tiny baby, Auntie Jill made him a blanket. It is furry on one side and silky polka dot on the other.

This Blanket quickly became his best friend! He has carried this thing around with him his whole life.


When I would wash "blankie" (as he is affectionately known.... (and yes he does have a gender,) Brody would wait by the washing machine and cry until his blankie was returned to him.



When brody turned 3 he asked for a "blankie" themed birthday party... We settled on a polka dot cake to represent his most treasured possession. Brody was thrilled!

But my all-time fave "blankie" story is this..........

Blankie is now 4 and half years old and as you can imagine, he is not looking as fresh as he once was. While he was in the dryer oneday, some of his fluffy side had melted together and left poor "blankie" with a rough patch Brody liked to call... "scratchy"
"Scratchy" was the enemy. Oh how Brody loved his "blankie" but hated "scratchy". One day Brody had enough of dealing with "scratchy" he asked me if I could fix his blankie for him. I tried pulling the fused fabric pieces apart, but it was no use. It looks like "scratchy" is here to stay. Brody tried to accept "scratchy" as part of his precious "blankie" but "scratchy" was just so anoying!



With tears in his eyes Brody asked me once again if I could fix his "blankie". Determined to help my troubled son I asked Brody to go and fetch me some scissors. Excitedly he skipped off to find some scissor. When he returned, he handed me the scissors, looked down at his blanket and with a smug look on his face, he said .....
"You're going DOWN scratchy!!!"

This little expression has become a family joke now, when we play games together you will often hear one of us say... "you're going down scratchy!!!"


Thankfully we managed to save "blankie" and he has resumed his place indefinitely.



p.s This week Brody asked me nicely if I would cut the pink circles out of his blanket. "cos cos I don't like pink" I told him if I cut the pink circles out, his blanket would be ruined. To which he responded.. "well do it in the lines!" hahhahahah I love this little boy!