Forever and a Day

Sorry it's been so long, friends.  Where has August gone? Well, I'll tell you.  Between Clemson and the Outer Banks, plus dear friends visiting, the month flew by. Things aren't slowing down any time soon, but I'll try to be more consistent with posting...even if it's just a taste. The thought of summarizing the past month is overwhelming, so I'd refer you to Hannah's blog if you want pictures of the Ashton portion of our vacation.  Or, see my mom's facebook album for pictures of the beach house. I'm a slacker, I know, but for now, a quick update on the boys.

After slipping in a mud puddle at the park

A shopping cart!

Owen is our imaginative narrator.  He has a constant dialogue (or monologue, as the case may be) going on and if he's not talking, he's singing.  He's starting to ask, "Why?" a lot and he loves to tease.  Though he can identify probably half of the alphabet, he'll intentionally do it wrong after saying it correctly and then crack up.  How that bears on future homeschooling, I do not know.  Owen loves Bob the Builder and new books from the library.  He loves to play with blocks and hates to be dirty. 

Starting to pull up and cruise

Hooligan

Caelum is a smiley little man.  He can now army crawl from room to room, but he refuses to lift up that big bottom.  He'll be all over the place once he figures that out.  Caelum loves to eat and I recently spent a day making little cubes of baby food for him (squash, zucchini, green beans, peaches, etc), so I feel ready for the next few months before finger foods get going.  He also enjoys playing in sand and then the subsequent bath time.  Caelum can play peek-a-boo and wave, real spastic like. The boys are sharing a room and they sure do love getting up early. Zach and I have been enjoying our sweet little boys!

Playing together in their kitchen

 

I Will Not Take These Things For Granted

Knowing that I probably won't blog for the next few weeks, I figured I'd get one out there really quick. Someone posted this article about motherhood, and I thought it was so true and a good reminder. Lately I've heard many complaints by pregnant mothers, gotten a lot of "my, your hands are full" from strangers, and uncovered some silly reasons as to why people wait to have kids. I know a few couples that have been trying for a long time to get pregnant, yet simultaneously, the whole of society devalues children. Time at the Community Pregnancy Clinic has made it exceedingly clear.

Not that I'm much better. There are days when I greedily wish I could sleep more, or I begrudgingly gather the many items Owen needs to sleep with: 4 Pull-Ups (2 with race cars and 2 with tow trucks on them...representing our various family members), Lion, Blankie, and his cup of water. But it is a blessing to reflect how much God cares for children, and what an honor it is to be raising up little ones in the fear and admonition of Him. That's the goal anyway.

Get Better

This post is dedicated to Mantis, as he heals from a brutal yellow jacket attack. We hope you're doing better!
A few more pictures from the Ashton visit. We had a cold day at the beach, but still fun. We stopped for some delicious fish tacos and coffee after our short, chilly beach time, and then took a very winding road home. Everyone was carsick.

This is a hilarious sequence of pictures from one of our hikes around the ranch: Zach trying to get Owen in the backpack carrier while it is on Mantis' back.
Owen can't believe that Daddy and Grandpa Mantis would do that to him.

Caelum also enjoyed being toted around by Mantis while they wore matching Tillys. Very relaxing.
And Queenie, I'm sorry that I didn't get more pictures with you and the kids, especially considering how many hours you devoted to playing with them. However, I love this picture because it shows what a great Queenie you are...playing diggers until the point of utter exhaustion. Note the small digger in the crook of the neck.

Suddenly Is Sooner Than You Think

Caelum is six months old. Did that just blow your mind? It should. Two years ago, we were embarking on a two month long road trip across the country with a six month old. Now we live in California with not one, but two little boys, the littlest one being six months. I can't reiterate this enough; Caelum is six months. Where does the time go? Who is this big chunk who smacks his lips and gets crazy excited when he sees me take out the box of baby cereal? This kid jumping in the exersaucer is surely not mine, right? I don't know who snatched my pregnant belly and placed a rolling, laughing, growling, jabbering baby in my arms, but whoever did it was really sneaky.

Caelum, you love every second with your brother. Seriously, no personal space necessary when it comes to the two of you.
Your interests include napping on the beach, blowing bubbles, bouncing , and doing whatever your brother is doing.And I can not overstate how chubby you are. You weigh about 20 pounds and are already on the biggest size of the cloth diapers. You are all thighs and rolls and delicious baby fat. This probably helps explain why you are such a good sleeper. Thank you, my child, thank you.
Random people stop me to say you should be a Gerber baby. I know that, those fools. Just look at you! You have a wonderful, jolly temperament and are quick to smile at everyone. You only freak out when I'm trying to change your diaper and won't let you immediately roll onto your belly.
And you love being on your belly. You can pull your butt up into the air and be on all fours, or you can turn 360 degrees after I put you on the floor, but no crawling yet. I don't think it's far off. It's strange for me to have a baby that rolls so much as Owen was a bit, um, lazy. In all fairness, he was in a carseat for most of the time when he was your age. But still, you make me very nervous with how much you can move. What's it like to have a baby who crawls rather than skipping straight to walking? We shall see.

The Four Corners

Happy anniversary to my Zach!

And no, I could not find a good picture of just the two of us from the last 6 months or so. Those crazy kids are always around.

Awake on a Train

Queenie and Mantis came for a delightful visit. Aside from Owen's feverish delirium and first-ever ear infection that encompassed a few days, we had a great time.

One of the highlights was our train ride up to Santa Barbara. Owen, who has recently become enamored with Thomas the Train, was delighted with the whole experience of the train, then promptly fell asleep for most of our wanderings around Santa Barbara.

Eagerly awaiting the train. It stops in Simi Valley at a station about 5 minutes from our house.

Owen and Mantis scope things out right before the train approaches.

Owen enjoying the view from the train.

Family picture on the train.

Queenie, Mantis, and Caelum enjoying the ride.

We putzed around throughout Santa Barbara, did some shopping, and got lunch.

Then we took a nice long break. Note Owen passed out in the stroller.

A historical site in Santa Barbara. Zach could tell you the name.

We checked out the beach as well.

On the pier

View from the train as we headed back to Simi. The tracks are right on the coast, clearly.

Everyone was very relaxed on the way home. Except the people whose seats Queenie stole.

One last family picture with the train.

It was a perfect daytrip and now Owen is "on a choo choo train to Santa Barbara" when he drives the steering wheel on the playground at the park. Thanks again Queenie and Mantis! More posts to come regarding your visit...

Splitting Hairs

A mixture of thriftiness and laziness makes me very lax when it comes to haircuts. This reached a peak in college, and there are a few pictures from that time upon which I can look, grimace, and ask why no one told me to cut my freaky long hippie hair. My hair wasn't that bad this time around, but it was still time for cut.
A good 12 inches later, and I got my mom-do. Apparently, my hair is so thick, I had enough for two wigs for Locks for Love.



More importantly, and certainly more adorably, Owen got a haircut as well.

He did very well and sat still the whole time.

He may look like a rebel, but he's still the sweetest big brother on the block.

And, just so you know, the mohawk only lasted a few weeks. It has since been shaved off, so Owen is now rocking a summer buzzcut.