Daddy and Owen...

... sitting in a pool,  p-l-a-y-i-n-g.
First comes fun, second comes splashing. Then we go inside and do some napping.

Is it just me...

.... or is that elephant getting smaller?

Arboretum

We had a pleasant afternoon at the Dallas arboretum

It was a beautiful day!

Today

July 2013

Had a nice walk and then we stopped and ate some sandwiches and let Owen play in the grass

California Trip

 We spend last week visiting California. We started the trip by heading to Vacaville. Melissa drove up with her two so Owen got some quality cousin time.

Sorry for the picture overload, but these two are so stinkin' cute together.

                       

Diaper time in the backyard!

 And of course, no trip to Vacaville would be complete without a visit to Nut Tree and a ride on the train!  Owen, obviously was thrilled.

Owen also got his first experience in the pool! It took a little bit of warming up, but in the end he was smiling and kicking his little legs.

Matt got some good father-son time helping grumps build a new shed in the backyard

Sunday afternoon family walk

                       

Matt had to fly back to go to work, so Owen and I joined Melissa for the drive back to Irvine.

Road trip!

While we were there, Owen got his first trip to the beach. 

Beautiful day at Crystal Cove!

He loved the sand

Kept trying to eat it

Trevor had fun too!

Top of the day with a trip to Shake Shack!

Our champ did great on the flight back home!

Thanks for letting us visit! We had fun!

Happy Birthday!

Today I turned the big 2-5.  I've had several friends have what they call a "quarter-life" crisis with this birthday and come up with things like "25 things to accomplish this year," etc.  Truth  be told, I have everything I could ever hope for.  The major boxes are checked-college degree, house, marriage, baby. More than that, my life is full of meaning.  I feel fulfilled spiritually.  I love my adorable son.  I have a wonderful, supportive family. I love my husband, and he loves me.

I do, however, like to use birthdays as an opportunity to think back on my previous year and make goals.  This year, one particular incident sticks out in my mind.  A few months ago, I was shopping at the Dollar Store for some party decorations. The woman in front of me was buying some groceries. Her son found a little toy that he wanted and asked her if he could get it.  She carefully counted out a few dollar bills and the number of items in the cart. "I get paid next week and we can come back."  The boy disappointingly set the toy down. The woman's total came to $13. Something inside told me to offer to pay for her. I ignored the feeling and didn't because I felt awkward. I thought that maybe I would offend her or something, I don't know. I think about that woman spending her last bit of money on food from the dollar store.  Maybe something as small as $13 could have made a huge difference to her.  So my goal this year is to not let my own pride get in the way of doing the right thing. I'd like to do one nice thing for someone else every day. One act of kindness each day is the perfect prophylaxis for any "life crisis."

As for today, well, Matt treated me right. Check out this chocolate strawberry torte he made all by himself. Delicious!

Owen-8 months

Little man is 8 months old!

It has been so fun to watch his little personality emerge. He his a little sweetheart and loves to smile. At other times he is very serious and concentrated.  His repertoire of sounds is increasing too. He loves to make motor boat noises. Sometimes he does this funny growling sound.  We call him our little dinosaur.

He's getting a bit closer to crawling. He's very good at planking.  Unfortunately, this often results in him launching himself forward into a face-plant.

Our good little eater is very motivated by snacks, so sometimes we'll make a trail of puffs for him to follow.

  

  This month he also discovered drawers.  He could just sit all day and open and close it over and over again.

Little Texan

Loves his walks