Catch!

Here is Owen learning to play catch.  You can also really hear my sick voice in this one.

Owen's first haircut

So my mother finally relented and gave Owen his first haircut.  He had a serious wing going on one side, she had no choice.  

Before - with wing

During - not so pleased

After - so cute!

Weekend Extravaganza!

We had bunches of fun visiting Bakersfield a few weekends ago.  Owen got to play in the rocks and chase the doggies.  Everyone had fun trying to keep him away from the pool.  He did great on a walk through the fields.  He wanted to walk the whole time.  Those little legs have some good endurance.  We also took a trip to John's Incredible Pizza, the Bakersfield version.

Playing "hide the football" with Grandma and Grandpa

Owen LOVES rocks.  

He was very excited to see the dry creek bed in the front lawn.

Erin, Kara and Mark post go-cart race.

hint: the winner is in the middle

Watching Grandpa taking on Grandma in air hockey

hint: the loser is not pictured

Do you like my tummy Aunt Erin?

Out in the fields...

Sharing secrets with Grandpa

Playing catch up...

I have two weekends worth of grandparents visits to post.  I hope to get those pictures up this weekend.  But with Mark gone at a conference starting Thursday, I'm not making any promises.  

Mark's new job is going well.  He likes his work and the people.  After the conference this weekend (he is on the planning committee) we're hoping for less stress and more time together.  I honestly don't remember the last time we had a weekend at home all together.  

In the meantime I have a few random stories for you:

Owen is learning the fine art of hugging and kissing these days.  His kisses tend to be of the open mouth and slobbery variety, but that is OK.  I getting used to slobber.  The other day at daycare he and another boy, Donovan, were hugging.  Donovan is a few months older and has been in Owen's class for a long time.  The boys decided they had enough hugging and it was time to kiss.  Let's just say DNA was swapped and somewhere in the world they are officially married.

At daycare there is a teacher named Miss Lorraine.  She calls Owen her "chunky" and devours him with kisses every morning.  He acts shy but he loves it.  The day is not complete without lots of love from Miss Lorraine.  

Mark and I have also taught Owen to make a satisfied "ahhhhh" noise after he finishes drinking.  He is ready for a juice commercial or something.  Having a kid is so entertaining (for us)!

  

Food and "THE FORCE"

So Owen has a trait of mine, he eats pickles!  As you may know, when I was a baby my parents would give me a pickle and I would suck on it until it was flat.  Apparently this was a great source of amusement for everyone.  Mark will not eat a pickle.  But we gave one to Owen the other day and he actually ate it.  There were some funny faces made, but he definitely ate it.  

The other Owen & food story I have has to do with fruit.  Owen loves to hold oranges and apples. When he sees them in the grocery stores he yells "DAWL!  DAWL!" (dawl=ball).  He'll cradle two big oranges or apples against him and walk around with them.  Happy boy.  

Owen is also a Jedi in training.  When he sees something he wants he stretches his arm towards it, a la Obi Wan.  Then when nothing happens he looks at me and makes a noise, then strains his arm more forcefully towards the object.  Alas, more training is needed.  If he really wants it he has to walk over and get it himself.  The force is not strong with this one.    

Making up for lost time

These are some pro pics we had taken in early December 2007 to celebrate Owen's first birthday.  I have finally remembered to scan and post them.

WROLC 2008 is done!!

When Mark began his new position at CSUSB this past November, he inherited the planning for the Western Regional Outdoor Leadership Conference (WROLC).  This conference is a gathering of University outdoor programs (like the one Mark runs) from California and other western states.  WROLC has gone on for many years, in fact, Mark and I were both involved in the planning for the 1999 WROLC at Sac State.  So he wasn't completely in the dark about what to do, but it has been a lot of work along with learning his new position.  But this past weekend it all came to fruition and everything went great!  Good job honey!  

Beyond having WROLC this weekend, Mark and I are both sick with some sort of evil cold.  I'm home from work today as a result.  The experience of trying to sleep but not being able to breathe through your nose at all is very frustrating.  

On the Owen front, he learned how to point to his mouth last night.  It was cute.  He doesn't point with his index finger.  He either uses his thumb or middle finger to touch things.  So when I say "Where is Owen's mouth?" he jams his thumb against it.  He's non-traditional...

Owen visiting the Rec Center where Daddy works

Owen and Daddy at WROLC

Communing with the trees...and YANKING the bark off!

Mommy says I look more and more like Daddy everyday

View of the mountains from CSUSB

Found a fountain to play in!

Yeah, I'm cool

Busy Boy

Here is Owen helping me get the house ready to sell.

Owen and Mommy's muddy adventure

Mark was working on Saturday, so Owen and I took a walk around our local trail (the Paseo).  It seems when I am in charge these things turn bad quickly.  We were having a great time, Owen was exploring and then BLAM!  Face down in the mud.  But I feel like the experiences are worth the potential injury.  He was OK, some mud up the nose etc...but no crying.  What a trooper!  Next time we'll make sure to take responsible Daddy with us.  He will make sure Owen doesn't fall down.

Post mud fall and wipe-up

Would you buy this house?

Beautiful home, move-in condition, custom ceiling hole.

Pictures as promised!

Ok, the Giants just won the Superbowl.  Crazy!

Here are the pics from last weekend.