30, Mother's Day, 7 years

It has really been non stop here since March. I don't think we have had a free weekend since then actually. And I think May has been the busiest so far. This weekend we will have a chance to relax some finally.

We started May off with my 30th birthday. That seems crazy. I was pretty sure I wasn't older than 26. But I can't really complain. I couldn't ask to be in a better place in life right now. A great husband, two adorable and amazing little boys, my dream job, a nice house. I mean really, it doesn't get much better than that. To celebrate, Josh threw a surprise party. Which is a difficult feat since I am not gone very often. So it was kind of a backwards surprise party in that I was already here and people just started showing up. It was a great evening with our family and friends. I also got a fun new camera to play with. A good camera that helps me catch the boys doing something cute while they're still doing it instead of after the moment has passed!

For Mother's Day this year we headed to brunch then to my mom's to plant flowers for her. It was pretty low key other than that. The boys played in the little pool grammy bought last year. Well Jacob played and Owen wanted to but the water was cold so he wasn't a fan of being in it and he couldn't make up his mind about what he wanted to do.

Next up was our anniversary. 7 years. It is crazy to think about where we were and what we were doing 7 years ago. I was still in school, Josh was still at the Y. Those things seem so far away now. We have done so much and come so far since then, but at the same time it doesn't seem like it has been 7 years! Josh surprised me by taking me to a Dave Matthews Band concert the weekend before our anniversary. He arranged for my mom to come watch the boys and just told me we were going somewhere outside. We had a great time at the concert and it was a fabulous surprise! Josh got tickets to a Cowboys game, but obviously he has to wait until the fall to go to that.

These events probably all deserved their own posts, but time is not my friend lately! So some pictures to go with this post.

Playing with my new camera and a great picture of flying baby

 

Mother's Day

 

Mother's Day again, with my boys

 

This is not warm like my bath water!

 

Splashing around

 

Much happier playing on the side of the pool

 

Before church this morning. They are adorable.

1 year check up

We had Owen's one year check up a few weeks ago. (And have been super busy so I haven't had much time to update). He is still big but not as big as he has been, but significantly bigger than Jacob at this age. He is walking everywhere, and trying to run. He gave himself his first black eye by running then falling into the window sill. He eats a ton and likes most food. He still only says mama with an occasional baba in there, but  he signs please, more and thank you and makes car and dog noises. Although he has absolutely no problem telling us what he wants most of the time. If he wants to nurse he pulls on my shirt and signs please, if he wants a snack he goes to the pantry and bangs on the door or if it is open at all just grabs what  he wants (He half climbed the shelves one day to get the graham crackers down), or he will grunt and point at what he wants. The grunting and pointing is generally the hardest part to decipher and sometimes takes us pointing to things to figure it out. And he understands almost all of what we say. We can tell him to go get something or give someone a hug and he will go do it. He climbs on his chair to sit in it and can climb up the steps on the slide in the backyard. He is working on getting down to one nap a day and about half of the time is taking one nap. And he is sleeping through the night most nights. Usually he wakes up between 5 and 6 to nurse once then goes back to sleep again until around 7. He still nurses anywhere from 5-7 times a day and shows no signs of weaning anytime soon. He still loves playing with Jacob and frequently just follows him around. He also has a weird love for Jacob's toothbrush which he can get out of the drawer in the bathroom so we have to keep the bathroom door shut now. And he is an expert at opening the dishwasher, according to him it is the best toy ever. He loves bath time, as long as the water isn't cold when he gets in. And he loves reading. He will grab a book off his bookshelf or Jacob's and bring it to us signing please.

One year stats:
Weight:  25lbs   79%
Length:  30in     57%
Head:     19 in    92% (our kids have big heads)

Owen's birthday party

We had Owen's party on Saturday. It was great! We celebrated with a bunch of our friends at our house. It turned out to be a gorgeous day so the kids got to play outside. We did "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" for the theme and it turned out awesome. We served all the foods from the book and had a caterpillar cake/cupcakes. I was really proud of my non-crafty self making a bunch of the decorations. Jacob had a blast playing with his friends and Owen just walked around visiting, then begging for food and eating a ton. Jacob helped Owen open his presents and of course wanted to help him play with them too. Owen tore into his cake afterwards. He had red icing all over his face. He also got his first taste of ice cream and loved it. His reaction to the cold was hilarious! We had such a great time celebrating Owen's first birthday and I am so glad we had out wonderful family and friends join us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sitting in his chair from Grammy

 

Opening presents

 

 

 

Singing happy birthday!

 

 

 

Enjoying the cake

 

Sweet boy sharing with daddy

 

Cold ice cream face

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy first birthday Owen!

Happy birthday lovey! I cannot believe you are already a year old. It has been such a fun year watching you grow and learn. You have been such a lovey boy since you were born, always loving to be held and cuddled. Even now with you walking everywhere you still come running when I lay down and you still pull me down to pick you up and cuddle up to me any time you meet someone new. I love watching your sweet little, shy flirty face as you reach out to someone then smile and lay down on my chest. I love all your little laughs, your big belly laugh at brother's antics, your giggle when you are tickled, and your happy chuckle when you get something you want.

It makes me so happy to watch you learn and figure everything out. You are always surprising us with the new things you know and how fast you pick up new skills. Sometimes we don't even realize you have learned something until you just do it! I love watching you watch your brother and join in with his play. Seeing you play with your brother has brought me so much joy this year. From you just laughing at him playing peek a boo when you were just a bitty baby to chasing him around and asking to ride on the bike with him now.

Even though you have only been here for a year, I can't imagine our family without you. You are such a blessing to us and I am so thankful that you are ours and I can't wait to see all the new things you learn this year! Our lovey, Obie, brother. Happy Birthday Owen!

(These pictures are copyrighted, please don't copy them without asking)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy Spring Weekend

We have not slowed down at all around here. If it is possible, I think we have been even busier. This past weekend Owen's Godmother, Aunt Wanda, was in town visiting. We took advantage of some gorgeous weather on Friday and spent the day at the Dallas Arboretum with Grammy and Aunt Wanda. We took a picnic lunch, walked through the gardens, then headed to the Children's Garden there to let Jacob explore and play. We could not have asked for a more perfect day to go. It was sunny and warmed up nicely without being too hot. Jacob enjoyed running around and checking everything out and Owen was up and down all day enjoying the grass and walking around. He was a huge fan of the plush green grass they have. We headed to Grammy's house afterwards and met Josh there for dinner.

Saturday was another busy day as I had work in the morning then we had our community Easter egg hunt in the afternoon. The weather did not cooperate, however, and it was cold, windy and rainy. But the boys both participated then we hung out for a while to enjoy the train ride, bounce house, and Easter Bunny. Owen loved the Easter Bunny. He kept staring at him and asking to go see him. He also wanted to check out the grass at the park but he was not nearly as much of a fan of that grass.

Sunday we headed to church with Aunt Wanda and Grammy then to brunch. They came over to our house afterwards and we spent a "quiet" (quiet as in we didn't do much, not as in the noise level) afternoon here. It was cold and rainy all day Sunday so movies, chatting and playing inside were perfect.

We also had our first tornado warning of the season on Thursday evening. The boys were bathing when the sirens went off and we pulled them out dripping and headed to the closet. This is the first year Jacob actually understood what was going on and on Saturday when the sirens went off for their monthly test he froze and told Josh they had to go to the closet because there was a tornado. Hopefully we won't have anymore this season.

Grammy carrying Owen

 

Owen walking with Grammy and Aunt Wanda

 

He loved the soft green grass

 

I have another picture exactly like this from 2 years ago

 

 

 

 

Passed out with my water bottle

 

Owen looking for Easter eggs

 

Jacob's turn

 

With the Easter bunny. Owen was obsessed with him

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11 months

11. That is awfully close to 12 months and Owen is definitely letting us know that he is almost a year old. He has been doing so much new stuff this month. He, very loudly, lets us know what he wants. He will actually have you pick him up and point and grunt to get you to move in a direction to get him to what he wants. He has been opening and closing things and putting things into other things and taking them out again. Turning things off (the cable box mostly, usually while brother is watching a movie), drinking out of a sippy cup, and eating a ton. He could easily eat almost an entire pint of blueberries in the morning. He finally got some teeth, 6 of them actually, and they pretty much all came in at once! He is so close to walking (still). He runs along the edge of the couch, sometimes not realizing he isn't holding on the whole time. This week he has been getting braver with letting go of things and walking for them on his own (as opposed to us holding something for him to walk to). He is a goofball and loves to play with Jacob. He just lights up as soon as he sees him. He dances anytime there is any sort of music on and gets a big smile. He loves throwing balls. If he finds a ball he will throw it and chase it on his own for a good 20 minutes. He also loves Cosmo. He loves to play fetch with her. He will get her toy and hand it to me or Josh to throw for her and he chases her then cracks up as she runs back with it. He has a  bit of a temper and when he doesn't get what he wants he will let you know he is not happy with you.

We are busy planning his birthday party and I am so torn on how I feel about it. It is exciting because he is growing up and doing so many fun things and I know we have so much to look forward to, but it also means he isn't such a baby anymore!

 

I love the look on his face here.

 

Brother love

Spring Break

Josh has been off this week for spring break, but we have stayed pretty busy. We went to the zoo on Tuesday and it was a gorgeous day. Of course the animals were not out and moving around much that day but we still had fun. We rode the train like we normally do and apparently a ton of other people had the same idea. Both the train and the zoo were packed that day. We heard that evening that the zoo broke their one day attendance record that day. But the boys had fun. Owen just chilled in the carrier all day and Jake ran around, played in the childrens zoo, and got to ride a pony. So overall a good day. We have done lots of outdoor playing and Jake has done lots of bike riding this week. He has gotten so good at riding his bike. He loves it and asks to go most days. Although the weather has been so up and down that we haven't been able to go every day. I think we are all ready for spring to get here and stay!

We had Owen's 1 year pictures taken on Thursday and are just waiting to get those back so we can get invitations for his party out. He was a ham for the camera. I can't wait to see them! (And I can't believe we just had one year pictures taken)
 

 

 

He spotted the lion