Daddy's Helper

Spring is on it's way, or at least we hope it is, and with it comes garden and yard projects which both Josh and I enjoy. Josh decided to take advantage of this semi-dry weekend to begin one of the many landscaping projects we hope to accomplish in the coming months. The project ended up involving a tarp, the hose and a bunch of rocks needing to be cleaned of mud and moss all of which resulted in the creation of Owen's paradise - his very own pond!

There have been two other occasions this winter where Josh and Owen have "worked" outside together and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to observe. Owen follows Josh around, mimicking his actions or simply shadowing his every move with a stick or ball in hand. He seems to enjoy just being with Josh and I love watching them together. So, knowing how much fun Owen has when Josh is working outside I bundled him up and sent him to "help" Daddy with the rocks. He definitely was of no help to Josh, and in fact he probably made it more difficult, seeing that he stole rocks away from Josh's project to throw in to the tarp pond but he was in heaven.
I don't think there could be anything better than throwing rocks in the water all while being outside with his Dad.

No more crib - 21 months

(Horrible picture I know but he was sound asleep and I couldn't bear to wake him up by using my flash)

There comes a time in every child's life where a crib is no longer needed. At this same point in time in a parents life there is an emotional battle that rages - a strange combination of pride and sadness at your child's growth all mixed with fear at the thought of that same child's new found freedom while sleeping. We decided to embark on this life transition before Baby #2 makes his grand appearance thinking that it would be wise to give Owen and ourselves time to adjust to his new room and bed.

So I painted, and sewed, and dreamed up Owen's new big boy room knowing that once we got back from Colorado we wanted to make the transition from crib to bed. The big day came - Owen could not have been more thrilled and I could not have been more simultaneously excited and terrified all at the same time. What would this do to my coveted & uninterrupted nap-time break and our full night of sleep? How were we going to deal with these possible disruptions? Fortunately, none of my fears came true. Owen slept like a champ for nap-time and night-time from the first try! For the first week, every time I got him out of bed his little face was lit up beaming with pride at his new big boy bed.

Morning sleepy head!

Colorado 2012

Two years ago something horrible happened, my bosom buddy moved to Colorado. It was wretched, countless tears were shed and promises made that nothing would change were made. Two years later, the Schween family's move to Colorado has resulted in some pretty awesome memories being created between our two growing families.

Owen has experienced some significant firsts in his short little life thanks to our visits to the Schweens. First airplane ride, first trick-or-treating experience, first time in a swing all happened on our 2010 trip. This time his firsts included: first road trip in a car with a DVD player (I swear the kid barely exhaled he was so enthralled with watching Winnie the Pooh), first trip to a museum, first best friend (pretty sure he thought Tyson could walk on water) and first time hitting a ball with a bat.

It was a wonderful week of low-key family fun. Owen and Tyson reveled in each others company keeping each other entertained with trucks, trains, balls and pretending to be puppy dogs thanks to an over-hanging table cloth on the kitchen table. The husbands hit the slopes for a day at Winter Park and engaged in some rousing Wii sporting events. As for Heidi and me, it was lovely just to engage in every day life together. There was nothing fancy about what we did but that's what made it perfect and real. I think both of us enjoyed soaking in how completely blessed we both feel by the families we have been given, amazed at what we've been through since high school. What a joy it was to spend so much time together.

Thank you sweet sunshiny state of Colorado for beckoning us again with your golden winter rays offering a different take on winter's icy, or in Seattle's case gray, hold. You provided a glorious back drop for new memories made between two growing families and furthering a life long friendship between two best girlfriends


Trip to the museum

Mirrors!

Cute boys playing together, kid movie night, singing songs, and driving cars on a track made from masking tape.

SNOW!!

Last day of fun - Round 2 of pregnancy together (30 weeks, 25 weeks.)

20 months

My how fast time flies. Owen is in his 20th month and soon he will be a big brother. I find myself soaking up these moments of uninterrupted time with him, wanting to hold on to what we've had with just the three of us, while looking forward to what awaits with the addition of a brother. Owen was made to have siblings, nothing exhibited that more to me than the week we were snowed in together. I'm excited to give him the gift of a sibling, a brother to navigate through life's troubled waters with. Oh the adventures that await, and the fighting, and the wrestling, and the farting...I look forward to watching their lives unfold together. But it's still a few more months till I have to increase my heart's capacity again, so for now I will take the time to chronicle once again my ever growing and changing son.

*Clothes - 18/24 months and some 2T (cloth diapers tend to skew things)
* Nap - 2 1/2 to 3 hrs
*Food - Generally a good eater of all things including fruits and veggies. Bell peppers are a new favorite.

*Activities: All things sports and balls related...I think we're going to have one athletic kid on our hands. He loves to slam dunk on his hoop, play pass with a soccer ball, and learned how to hit a soft ball off a Tee in Colorado.
*When he is interested in something he will repeat the action for quite some time. Tying shoelaces, clipping buckles, throwing snow balls all activities he would do repeatedly.
*Interests: Coloring, saying the sounds of letters, reading books, playing with trucks, rocks, balls - any and all classic boy things. Curious George (which he calls the ooh-ooh show), Thomas the Train, and Winnie the Pooh are all shows he's started being interested in, guess we've moved on from Baby Einstein. The Letter Factory is still you're all time favorite.
* Language: slam dunk, swoosh, hot dog, "there he is," answering yes or no correctly when asked a question, trying to sing the ABC's, identifying sounds certain letters make especially "O" "H" "C" "B" and "S" on his own.