Resistance is Futile!

Yet again, we have a 2-year-old. Owen is a handful. He LOVES LOVES LOVES all things Thomas the tank engine so for his birthday we went all Thomas - cake, tablecloth, plates, a take along play set, several trains, pajamas, and a book and talking Thomas toy from friends. And when I say he "loves" Thomas, I really mean he is completely obsessed - he knows all the different trains' names, he loves the shows and asks to watch them all day. Now that he has the trains, he carries them everywhere he goes. From the moment he started taking an interest in Thomas I swore I wouldn't buy in to all the paraphernalia, but I just couldn't resist. I have never seen him so attached to anything. Here are the pictures from the party, with more details at the end for those who care to know.



Owen is awesome. He is still small - 1st percentile for weight! - but sturdy. He goes and goes and goes all day (except for his daily 3-hour nap) and is usually in a great mood. He loves Zoe and the kitty and playing outside. He talks all the time and is a great communicator. We love having him around.

He definitely has me wrapped around his finger and probably gets away with more than he should. But he's my baby. He loves giving hugs, kisses, high-fives, and fist bumps. He's a great eater and would drink his weight in juice every day if I let him. He loves nursery and playing with his friends. He is turning into such a big kid. We love you Owen!

Where does the time go?

More to come after I'm finished catching up on the rest of the posts. But for now, Happy Birthday Owen!

Fun for Zoe's 4th

Zoe is Four. Or, if you ask her, she's "twenty nine four." It's a little-known number between four and five. I'm surprised you've never heard of it.

Moving on. My parents were here for the big day and we had a nice time together. Zoe got a new scooter, lots of nail polish and lip gloss, and some fun things to go along with her Ariel-themed birthday. I found a cake online (for the life of me I can't find the link anymore, but if I do, I'll post it) and did my best to duplicate it. It was a bit of a mess, but I think it turned out pretty cute.


Now to bore you with the details of Zoe's life. Zoe is a fun little girl. She has an excellent memory and is finally going through the phase of asking me "why?" a bazillion times a day. Most of the time she already has an idea of the answer she wants to hear (whether or not it is a logical answer to the question) and just likes to hear me tell her what she already knows/thinks. It's cute most of the time and the bane of my existence the rest of the time.

Zoe is potty trained (mostly). If she decides she is a "big girl" then she does fairly well. She also wears certain clothes, is better about eating, and speaks very clearly. When she is a "little kid" she only wears certain things, has many more accidents, doesn't speak, and makes me cut all her food into tiny pieces "so I don't choke." So I never know which Zoe I will get throughout the day. Mostly I'm getting better at rolling with the punches and being very careful which battles I choose to fight.

Zoe's favorite color is pink. Then purple. She will tell you an exact order, naming every color she can think of until she gets to "sparkle." It's her favorite color after orange. She loves Tinkerbell and I must say I myself am excited for the new movie to come out in a month.

She has some really great friends in the neighborhood who love her despite her indifference towards them and the near-constant whining. Preschool is starting back up in a couple weeks and I am excited for that. We'll have 8 kids in our co-op preschool so that should be an adventure.

So that is Zoe's life right now. We have some more exciting news but I'll wait to post that until I catch up with the rest of our summer fun.

Oooo! Intrigue!

The Eyes Have It

It's my birthday today. It's been a pretty good day so far. I've received all my favorite things- breakfast in bed (my favorite place to be in the morning), the new Arcade Fire album (one of my absolute favorite bands), a cookbook from The Range Cafe where I worked in high school (one of my favorite restaurants and jobs and I love to cook). Also, James is staying home from work to give me my absolute favorite thing - TIME! I get to do things (like blog and work out the menu and pay bills) without interruption from the kiddos. Loving it.

One of my new favorite things which I am enjoying today - waking up and being able to see. My parents' big present to me this year was springing for Lasik surgery. I had my eyes lasered two months ago and I love it! The procedure itself it pretty much the creepiest thing that has ever happened to me, but I'm free of contacts and glasses so it was worth it. Plus I got Valium and that was fun. I've had glasses since I was in 3rd grade and contacts since 8th grade - that's 13 years (or nearly half my life) that I've worn contacts. So I am really enjoying my new-found freedom. Even if it does mean I'm another year older. They say 27 is the new 24, right?

Monkeying Around

For Owen's actual birthday we had a few neighbors/ friends over for cake. It was a quick "party" as our guests had meetings to get to and one-year-olds don't care all that much. I wanted to have it outside and had a vision of our backyard decked out in streamers and balloons, then reality hit - I couldn't get the decorations in the colors I wanted and it was so windy we couldn't go outside anyway. Oh well. Such is life.

We had a great time eating a super cute monkey cake, which I served with banana split ice cream.

For those of you interested, here is what Owen is like:

He is super tiny - the 1st percentile for weight and only the 25th for height. What he lacks in stature, however, he makes up for in tenacity. We most often compare him to a bulldozer or a wrecking ball. He just plows through everything and picks himself up as soon as he is down. The week after his birthday he started making a conscious effort to walk - instead of just a few steps here and there. I use the term "walk" loosely as it is more of a stagger. It's pretty funny/ unnerving to watch as it seems like he could fall at any moment.

He is super snuggly, but his definition of a snuggle is head butting. That kid has a majorly hard head. He is always into something and we can't leave him alone for a second. He eats EVERYTHING, even things he's not supposed to. He loves grapes and bananas and loudly exclaims "NANA" whenever he sees a banana. He can sign "more" and possibly "done" but we'll never know since, when given the choice, he always wants more. We usually just get tired of feeding him after a while.

Owen loves to clap his hands, shake his head, and laugh. He HATES being on his back and so diaper changes are still an adventure/ nightmare. He takes a pacifier for naps and bedtime and he loves to cuddle up with a blanket. We have one that we usually use, but he's not too picky.

Owen is still always happy (unless he's hungry). Now that he's one, though, he's decided to take life a bit more seriously:

We have never seen THIS face before (or since)

You're #1!

It's Owen's birthday! Can you believe it? We sure can't. His entrance into this world was dramatic (and fairly traumatic) and he has kept us on our toes ever since.

He loves to smile, laugh and eat. He is the biggest wiggle worm and is constantly on the go. He has been walking a lot the past few days, which makes him very proud of himself. He loves to snuggle (head butt) and give kisses (open-mouthed head butts). He eats EVERYTHING, even the things he's not supposed to. He is a button pusher - literally and otherwise. He is a screamer - for fun and otherwise (like when food is not in his mouth). We just absolutely, all-around adore our Buddy! Happy Birthday!

"I'm Thwee!"

When it came time for Zoe's birthday, we had a nice family dinner. During the day we all saw Up, then we made awesome kabobs with this fabulous marinade (if you haven't tried it, you should). Then we had cake, ice cream, and presents. As far as Zoe's birthday celebrations go, I would definitely put it in the Top 3.

California AND Bust!

A quick note on the car ride to California - it was not that great (I would say it was awful, but the trip home will get that title). Zoe was an angel and kept herself entertained, but Owen was not a happy camper. It took us 12 hours to get out there and we didn't leave until 3 in the afternoon. Both kids threw up - Owen gagging himself on a fry and Zoe got carsick when we turned on the portable DVD player we had brought. Luckily, we were just passing a rest stop and were able to go in the exit. Unfortunately it was a nasty one, didn't have any paper towels, and the sink was the kind you have to push a button with one hand the entire time you want water to come out of the faucet. So for the majority of the trip we were pretty stinky. And we got to spend our first day on vacation hosing down Zoe's carseat and doing laundry.

On to more pleasant subjects - WE LOVE GRASS VALLEY! Friday night (the 3rd) we went to a great BBQ with so many of our friends. Thank you to the Greens for planning it and thank you to the DeMartinis for hosting. Of course we didn't take one single picture.

On the 4th (Bill's birthday) we got up and went to the parade. It was hot, we stood around for hours, and then we didn't even get any candy (because none was thrown). Sheesh! James and I aren't parade people to begin with, so I think we've sworn them off for a while now. Oh well. Zoe enjoyed it and Owen didn't complain too much. Then we went home, rested up, and hit the fairgrounds for Bill's birthday celebration and fireworks. We hit up treat street for dinner and got a great spot to watch the fireworks. I couldn't believe how well the kids did on such little rest. It must have been all that cake and fried food - works every time.

Sunday we went to the good ole Nevada City ward. I can't overstate how wonderful all the people are there. I always feel like I'm coming home, and I've only attended the ward a few times.

Still to come - Zoe's birthday, trips to the river, more missed picture opportunities, and getting down with Aunt JoAnne. And the trip to Oregon.

36 Months (and counting)

Zoe is 3 today! Can you believe it? We certainly can't. We love this wonderful little girl more and more each day. She is getting to be such a big kid. We are so blessed to have her in our home. Here are just a "few" pictures of her over the years.