Chad's First Father's Day

On June 21st Chad celebrated his first Father's Day. For those of you who don't know, Chad bought a motorcycle from a neighbor. I am not a huge fan of it, but am letting him enjoy it for longer than I had intended. So for father's day I told him that he could go for a long ride on it. Initially, he friends Peter and Carlos were going to go together--as they were all celebrating their first Father's Day also. Unfortunately Peter came down with a stomach virus and was out. So around 8am, Chad and Carlos revved up their bikes and headed out to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive.

Carlos and Chad's bikes at Skyline Drive:



Chad was home shortly before 3pm, right as Owen and I were getting back home from the pool. At that time, we gave Chad his presents. Owen got his Daddy a picture of the two of them for his desk at work, a pen holder for his desk at work that we painted together at a pottery store, and a couple of shirts.

The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent barbequing with the new Daddys: Chad, Carlos and Peter. The three families contributed to our feast. We had steak, mac and cheese, green beans, potatoes, potato salad and a delicious ice cream cake for dessert. It was a lot of fun. Even Owen, Keifer and Bella had a good time. :)

Keifer and Owen hanging out in the "Baby Cage":


Owen and Bella:


The Daddys and their babes:


All in all, I think we all enjoyed this Father's Day. :)

Family

We had a very nice visit with my mom and sister. They came down from Connecticut on the 11th and stayed until the 16th. Not long enough, if you ask me!

We had a wonderful time. The 12th was Lisa's birthday. She and I went and got pedicures. So nice! We were both in desperate need of one. The three of us ladies and Owen went and did a little shopping. Grammy bought Owen a new John Deer, Johnny Tractor book, which he loves! We also had dinner out at Cheeseburger in Paradise for Lisa's birthday.

Lisa enjoying her fruity beverage at Cheeseburger in Paradise:


We spent time at the pool and a lot of time playing with Owen. My mom and Lisa were both a great help with Owen. Owen loved his Grammy getting him up from his naps. We went for lots of walks too with Owen and Quincy. We can't wait until they come and visit again!

Grammy Penny feeding Owen:


Grammy Penny, Owen and Auntie Lisa:

Ten is Heaven!

Owen turned 10 months old on June 12th. Our little boy is in the double digits! Ahhh!!!!

There is not a lot of new information to pass on. He still loves to eat, he continues to sleep great, he loves to crawl, is incredibly curious about everything in his environment and he is just a happy boy. We love him so, so much. Happy 10 Months Owen.

Our First Family Vacation

We took our first family vacation last week. We rented a house on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It was, in one word, fabulous!

Coming from New Engand where people had CCs for Cape Cod, MVs for Martha's Vineyard and NAKs for Nantucket on folks cars, we wondered when we moved down here what the OBX on people's cars was for. We shortly learned that it was for the Outer Banks. So we figured (nearly 4 years later) we'd better check it out. ;)

We decided to rent a house on the beach. And of course once Chad saw that we could rent a house that was only accessible by driving on the beach (4x4 vehicles only) we had to rent one of those! Plus we were able to bring Quincy. :) We stayed on the section of OBX called Corolla. It is the northernmost part of OBX, and our house was on Swan Beach. It took us 5+ hours to get there. We stopped at the rental office to pick up our keys, let the air out of the tires and headed to the beach. Let me tell you, it was an adventure. It was initially a neat idea to me. But I'm not sure I'd want to do it again. It was so bumpy and kind of a pain if we needed to go out. Oh yah, and it totally sucks if you get stuck. Yah, we got stuck. The first day when we were trying to get to the house. Luckily we ended up getting help. But really, it was a cool experience. We were so close to the beach, and there were wild horses on the beach--that was pretty awesome.

The house:


Wild horses on the beach:


We spent the first couple of days relaxing and going to the beach. We drove onto the beach, parked the Explorer and got settled. We set up our beach shade, took out the beach toys and had a good time. We brought Quincy the first day, but it really ended up being too much for him. Lots of sand, water and it was kind of warm for him. We got home after the first day at the beach and Quincy was wiped out. He ended up throwing up some sand and was sluggish for the rest of the evening.

Quincy at the beach:


Owen on the beach:


Quincy after his day at the beach:


On Wednesday we went to the Currituck Lighthouse. We had a picnic lunch (forgot to pack mine and Chad's sandwiches though--doh!!!) in the park and then climbed the lighthouse. Its the same one that Jon and Kate Plus-8 visited. We did 214-steps worth of climbing. It was very worth it. The view was really nice.

Owen enjoyed his picnic lunch:


Me at the park:



Chad and Owen inside of the lighthouse:



Us on the top of the lighthouse:



A view from the lighthouse:


Owen and I making our way down the lighthouse:



The lighthouse:


As great as the beach was one of my favorite things was the food. We found a BBQ restaurant called Sooey's. They had the BEST southern fried chicken, and I fell in taste bud heaven with hush puppies. Oh. My. God. I made Chad take me there twice, it was so good. Owen enjoyed it too. He really liked Chad's pulled BBQ chicken, the macaroni and cheese and the hush puppies. In fact, he liked the mac and cheese so much so that he was nearly crying on our second trip when I got my meal and I wasn't sharing quick enough! He didn't even see the macaroni and cheese. Somehow he just knew that it was in the little dish. Smart boy.

So between the food, the beach, the relaxation and quality family time we had an amazing time and can't wait to go back.

Here are some more pictures from the trip.

Owen munching on his puffs while we were trying to get the Explorer unstuck. He was a happy boy!:



Owen and I eating breakfast:



Chad and Owen on the hammock:



Owen and I. He's holding on for dear life because he was a little scared of the waves:



Owen napping with his noodle:

9, and feeling fine!

Owen is 9 months old! I can't believe he's been outside of me longer than he was inside. It couldn't be going by quicker if I wanted it to.

We had Owen's 9 month doctor's appointment on the 12th. He is weighing in at 19 pounds and 12 ounces, and he is 27 1/4 inches tall. He is healthy and the doctor says he is doing well.

Owen is a strong boy, in body and in mind. He sits up and crawls like a pro. He is so curious about the world around him that he can barely stay still. When he gets his diaper changed its all I can do to get him to stay on his back, usually he's flipping over, trying to sit up, rocking on all fours...you name it, he's trying to do it. And I'm trying to get a diaper on him all the while! I've become so good at putting on his diaper with him in all positions that when he actually does lie still on his back I almost forget how to put it on him. LOL

He and Quincy have begun "fighting" over Quincy's toys. I guess its the colors and the shapes of Quincy's toys that Owen likes. Quincy will put a toy in front of Owen, in the hopes that he'll throw it to play fetch with him. But then Owen picks it up and plays with it. Sometimes Quincy will let Owen keep it and will then go get another toy to play with instead. And othertimes Quincy will swipe it back from Owen. And then Owen cries. Actually, Owen has been crying when we take any toy/anything away from him that he does not want to give up. This is a new thing.

Owen is still loving food. He loves to eat. Loves Breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. He has definite favorties and definite dislikes. He loves fruit: grapes, kiwi and bananas top that list. He loves cheese. He likes some veggies: broccoli, sweet potato fries, peas, carrots and green beans. It became quite evident to me tonight that he dislikes cauliflower, as he made faces and growled at me when I tried to feed him. He has tried chicken and loves it. He really enjoys having toast with cream cheese on it with his breakfast. Some of his favorite snacks include graham crackers, Gerber puffs and Veggie Fries.

Owen continues to sleep well. He is good for two naps a day and 10-11 1/2 hours a night. We've been teaching him to high five. He smiles at everyone and has the most beautiful little voice I have ever heard when he's singing, talking (lots of da-da's and some ma-ma's) and even when he's screaming. He's such a wonderful little boy and we feel like the luckiest parents in the world to be sharing our life with him.

Our sweet, smiling boy:

Magnificent May

We have had a lot going on in May so far, so instead of having a bunch of different posts (and who am I kidding, I haven't had the time for 4 or 5 different posts!), I thought we'd have one post for all of the fun and wonderful happenings of May.

The first weekend in May we went to the Singers house in Columbia, Maryland for a cookout. We saw our Maryland peeps: the Singers, the Morgans, the Nelsons and the Badowskis. We last saw them all during Christmas time and swore we'd do a better job of getting together in '09. Um, that didn't work so well as it took us 5 months. Oh well. We had a nice time anyhow. It was exciting as the Singers have a new house and the Nelsons are due with their first baby in September and got to see Anita's adorable little baby belly. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures from this visit. Darn it all.

The second weekend in May brought us a trip to the zoo and my first Mother's Day. Chad's cousin Theresa, her husband Liam and son Graham came down from New York to visit with us and her sister Jodie. We decided to take the boys for their first visit to the National Zoo. First of all, the day could not of been more beautiful. It was sunny, in the 80's--just gorgeous! We didn't stay all that long, but it was nice. We saw a few animals and had lunch. We were lucky enough too to see the orangatans climbing along on the big ropes overhead. Around 2PM it became evident that it was nappytime at the zoo, as almost all we could hear were the cries and screams of tired young ones. So we decided to leave at that point to get Graham and Owen home for naps. We had a great time though!

Owen and Mommy at the zoo--with a lion in the background, if you look hard enough:


Owen and Daddy, being silly:


Happy the Hippo, who the zoo is sending to another zoo someplace to enlarge the elephant habitat (so not happy about that--hippos are cool, I love Happy!):


The three of us, during the zoo's naptime:


On Sunday the 9th I had my first Mother's Day and it was wonderful. I am very happy just being Owen's Mommy, so to get a holiday for it...its kind of weird and surreal all at the same time. I enjoyed my day so much. I recieved some wonderful cards. My favorite was from Owen--it made me cry when I read:
"There's no one like my Mommy....For stopping what she's doing to rock me for a while.
There's no one like my Mommy...for hurrying to hold me when seh hears my little cries."

For gifts Owen gave me a new Willow Tree figurine called "Child of my Heart":



Chad gave me a spa gift certificate, which I promptly took and got a pedicure. And an eyebrow waxing. LOL We had grilled steak for dinner with strawberry shortcake for dessert--so yummy!

The following week, May 13th, brought us Chad's 32nd birthday. He had a nice birthday. Unfortunately he did have to get up super early for work. But when he came home he was welcomed with some cold beer, chicken parmasean for dinner with a homemade chocolate cake for dinner.

Owen and Chad opening up Chad's presents:


That Friday we went to the Cheesecake Factory for a joint birthday lunch. My most favorite!!!!

The 16th I begrudgingly celebrated my 36th birthday. I'm not going to lie. I feel OLD. I'm now on the downslope of my 30's. Yikes! We started the day by going into Washington D.C. to participate in the Police Week 5K. Chad ran it and I pushed Owen, walking. I loved the race route. It took us up Capital Hill, behind the Capital where I saw for the first time the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court building. It was a humid morning and Chad ran the race in 23 minutes and Owen and I finished it in 53 minutes.

Chad and Owen before the race:


Owen(enjoying his Cheerios) and I before the race:



Owen and I crossing the finish line:


We ended my birthday by going up to the Morgan's house for Luke's 10th Anniversary of his 21st Birthday suprise party. How fun to hang out with our Maryland peeps (and also with Parke and Sarah who were visiting from Maine) twice in one week! Talk about making up for lost time. We had a great time and Luke was definately suprised.

We are looking forward to the rest of May, especially in going on vacation the last weekend. Can't wait!

Just keep swimming!

As Dory says in Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim."

So, yay! Chad finally came with Owen and I to swimming class and took some pictures of us enjoying the water.


Making our way into the water:


Getting ready to practice "jumping in the pool":


Owen floating on his back:

Some fun "firsts", and a beautiful day for a ride.

We went to a party at the house of one of Chad's co-workers. Earlier in the day they had a birthday party for one of the children. One of the activities they had for the children, and that was still going when we got there, was a bouncy house with a monster truck motif. Chad was all excited about Owen going into it, I however needed a little more convincing. But once I saw someone with a little girl only a bit bigger than Owen in it, I took him in. He and I bounced around for a little while together. It was fun! I think he liked it. But he had his typical serious face on that he tends to wear when he's doing something new and taking everything in. In addition to the bouncy house, there was a sandbox which seemed to be a big hit with the little ones. He and I went and sat in it and he loved it. Okay, maybe he loved trying to put all of the shovels, spades and rakes in his mouth the most. Well, and of course, the sand. But he was not happy when we got out.

And as it turned out, it was a gorgeous day out this past Saturday. It was sunny and around 78 degrees. A perfect day for Owen to go for a ride in his car. With one of his favorite bucket hats and his shades.

Owen and I in the bouncy house:


Owen and I in the sandbox--and yes, he most likely is putting snad in his mouth:


Owen in his little jalopy:

8 is Great! Well, mostly.

Owen is 8 months old! But before we get into that, we have some firsts to discuss. One, is Owen's first cold. Not a good first, by any means. But its worthy of mentioning. Poor Owen. He had a runny nose, sounded like a Gremlin breathing, he was sneezing, and didn't have his usual appetite. But the little bugger smiled through it all. He seems to be feeling much better now. Thank goodness. I felt so bad for him.

The second first was his first Easter. He really enjoyed his first Easter. The Easter Bunny made sure that Owen had an Elmo filled Easter. The Easter Bunny brought him an Elmo Easter basket filled with 3 Elmo books and the Elmopalooza DVD. He loved all of those, and the Easter grass is always good fun too. We had a low key, relaxed day hanging out at home. After his afternoon nap though, we went up to Chad's cousin Jodie's place in Shirlington for Easter dinner. Chad's Aunt Marie from California was there, as well as some of Jodie's friends--including her friend's 2 year old little girl Emily, who Owen loved. It was the perfect dinner and we had a great time. Owen got a ton of attention, hugs and love. All of his favorite things. :)

So. Our boy is 8 months old. I just cannot believe that he is only 4 months away from being a year. I'm not sure what I can say about this little boy of ours that I've not said a bunch of time. He is the joy of our lives. And our little joy still has not begun teething yet. Most babies start between 6-12 months, but it seems like all of the other little babies we know around his age have some. We'll see what the next few months bring in the teeth department. No crawling yet either, just rolling all over the place. He does get on his knees, butt in the air, but then he does nothing. We are still going swimming twice a week and loving it. He has tried some new foods which he really likes including cottage cheese, potatoes, grapes & kiwi. He absolutely loves Cheerios. He has turned into a wonderful eater. I can only hope that his good eating habits continue to grow in this positive manner.

Oh, and let's not forget, we had a visit from Grandpa Joe and Grandma Bonnie this month. They were heading back up to Massachusetts from their winter long stay in Florida. They stayed for two nights and we had a nice visit. The weather was just great for their visit. We went out to dinner and took Owen for a couple of walks. It was nice.

Until next month, here are some new pictures. They include the ones we got done at Babies R'Us for free.

Owen and his Easter Stash:


Loving his Elmo Books:



Owen and his, or in his, Easter grass:


Owen with Cousin Jodie and Emily:


Owen, wearing his new bucket hat, and Grandma Bonnie:



Owen and Grandpa Joe:


Owen's pictures from BRU:

We have a 7 month old!

Owen is now 7 months old. Wow. People tell you how quickly the time goes by. But you can't truly understand it until you experience it.

Owen is a wonderful little guy. We love him more and more each day. He has a great little personality. He's happy and loving. He's very determined and so curious about the world around him. Always looking around, taking everything in. I mean, obviously we're biased and think that he's a beautiful baby. But everywhere we go he gets attention in the form of compliments, smiles and laughter from strangers.

Owen loves his pets. Whenever he hears Ernie meowing, he looks to where he is. If Ernie is within arms reach, I encourage him to "pet the kitty". I know he is enamored with Quincy, but I don't think he quite knows what to do with him. Quincy is always bringing him one of his own toys in the hopes that this will be the day Owen will play fetch with him.

He and I have great routine during the week. He sleeps well, eats well and we have a great time running errands together. I think that he truly thrives on the routine we've establsihed.

Speaking of eating well he has turned out to be a great little eater. He enjoys his cereal. I give him either rice, oatmeal, or a whole grain blend. I've been putting a little cinnamon in it which he seems to really like. Unlike his daddy, he loves his veggies. Peas seem to be his favorite, followed by carrots, sweet potatoes and green beans. For fruits he LOVES bananas. I mean, LOOOOOOOVES bananas. Its nearly to the point where he demands them with the fruit I give him at night. He really likes peaches, pears and mangoes too.

Owen and I are taking a Child/Parent swimming class. He loves the water. We sing songs, "jump" in the pool and he "swims" back and forth between myself and the swim instructor, Miss Lizzie. We've also enjoyed going to the playground. He really likes the swings. We both have fun going down the slides together.

Or course, here are some pictures. We hope to get some swimming pictures soon.

Owen sleeping in his crib:


Owen enjoying some carrots:


Munching--okay, slobbering, on an apple slice:


Sharing a toy with Quincy (one of Quincy's toys, to be precise):


Our first trip to the playground: