Monday, June 23, 2008

This deserved it's own post...

If you know me, you know how deathly afraid of tornadoes I am. Thankfully this fear has not reared it's ugly head in quite some time. We used to live in Oklahoma and every night during spring and summer I would be terrified. Being in Houston, the severe storms are much more subdued. Until, that is, Saturday night. We were at Paige and Blake's house when Blake's mom called and said "oh, there's a tornado in Pearland heading for Friendswood right now." No one else was worried. This was the first time I have had to deal with this situation since having kids. I was having a hard time because my brain was telling me to be brave so the kids wouldn't freak out (I will have to work on this as they get older and know what is going on) yet my fear was taking over. Paige, being the good friend she is, decided that if it would make me feel better we would all sit in the hall with a mattress. So that is what we did. And I was able to relax and "act" brave on the outside. She brought us Coke Zero (which we spilled), pretzels and sippies for the babies, and Blake even hooked up the 'ol rabbit ears so we could keep an eye on things. Also being the good friend she is, she made sure to document Owen and Mason's first tornado warning. Classic.






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Boys will be boys

Owen and Mason have now officially been christened as "boys." Aaron had his company picnic this weekend at a ranch. The boys, being new walkers, spent a lot of time on the ground. They have never in their lives been so hot, so sweaty, and SO dirty! The pictures don't do it justice. After the last picture was snapped they proceded to dump water from a water bottle all over themselves while they were sitting in dirt. As we all know, water + dirt = MUD! They loved it. And they loved the honeydew melon we gave them that dripped dirt-colored juice down their arm because their little hands were so dirty. All I kept thinking in my head so I wouldn't freak out about how dirty they were getting was the old addage "God made dirt so dirt don't hurt." Laugh all you want. It worked and I let them have fun! :)

6-22-08

A typical morning...

Aaron took the opportunity to play with his camera and take some pictures of the boys during their sweetest time of day...morning. Enjoy.

6-21-08

We Have WALKERS!!

Well, the day has come! Our babies are walking! They both started right at 13 months. I've been asked, "so, who started walking first?" Tough to say, actually. Mason was balancing on his own and taking 3-5 steps at a time before Owen was brave enough to let go of our fingers. Then Owen got brave and did it too. Not long after that, Owen took 10-12 steps on his own as long as he was already standing. Then Mason figured out how to stand himself up so he started getting more practice (since Owen had to wait for someone to come stand him up). Mason had better balance than Owen but Owen would take more steps. Then Owen figured out how to get up on his own last Saturday. Ever since then, the sound of little footsteps across our hard floors have increased. Mason takes small, controlled steps with his elbows bent by his side (Aaron calls it the T-rex walk). Owen tries to go fast (too fast that he falls) and takes bigger steps as if he is marching. His arms are straight out in front of him (the Frankenstein) or out to the side. Walking is now their mode of choice, and of course, they are working on running!

We are behind on our blogging so let me update everyone on our happenings...
We went to San Antonio for Father's Day and didn't tell anyone that Owen and Mason were walking. Everyone was so surprised and excited. We went to the SA Children's Museum (not as cool as Houston's) and went swimming in Granddaddy's pool. For Father's Day everyone pitched in, including Owen and Mason, to get Aaron a professional quality camera. We decided that these years were to precious not to get the best pictures possible. Since it arrived in the mail a few days before Father's Day he got to play with it and figure it out (much to my dismay but the other's involved in the pitching-in said he could open it early). We are already getting better pictures and Aaron hasn't even figured everything out yet. I can't wait to see what we'll get when he does.

One thing we didn't get a picture of was our new Father's Day "tradition." For those that don't know, last year the babies and I named a star after Aaron (we named it Daddy) and gave him a telescope. The idea was that every Father's Day the three of them could go outside together and try to locate Daddy's star. We all went outside but since we are no experts, we had a hard time finding it in the telescope. We did find the Little Dipper (which it is just off the corner of) so at least we were able to look in "the general direction." Oh well. The babies enjoyed pointing at the full moon and saying either "light" or "ball." Although it wasn't perfect, we still achieved our goal which was to create a new family tradition and spend time with Dad.


First few pics with new camera


Test shots outside


Swimming!


Father's Day Weekend

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Happy Mason, Tired Owen

Here we are at yet another pool. Mason was thrilled to be in the water and he was playing along with getting his picture taken. Owen was being lulled to sleep in his float and every time he'd come near the camera he'd whine and reach up for Daddy. Hence, lots of pictures of Mason, not a lot of Owen. Oh well. We had fun anyway!
6-8-08

Lake Travis





Here are a few more pictures that were on my dad's camera from our trip to Lake Travis about a month ago. The water was surprisingly still really cold so Owen and Mason weren't as impressed as I thought they'd be. Oh well, they still looked cute in their humongous life jackets! Top left picture is Mommy and Mason, top right is Mason, bottom picture is Mommy showing Owen how to splash. We're going to the lake again in July so hopefully the water will be warmer by then so everyone can enjoy swimming.


Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Owen's First Steps

I thought this deserved its own post. Here's a video of Owen taking his first steps and then getting mad!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Sensory Overload!

Daddy has been working a lot lately so we decided that it was time for a family day! On Saturday we all went to the Children's Museum. They had a special area just for kids under two with lots of balls, bubbles, mirrors, switches, buttons, music, other kids, etc. Owen and Mason had a blast and they were all over the place. The entire "Tot Spot" was multiple rooms and all child friendly, down to doors that didn't pinch little fingers! Mommy and Daddy didn't have to worry about anything being unsafe which was good because we were too busy trying to keep up with them. I didn't even get great pictures because neither one of them would sit still long enough! It was a lot of fun and we have some other family day activities that we are looking forward to!

As you know, Owen loves to hold hands and walk around the house. And as you know, Mason is getting pretty good at standing on his own. Owen, however, has been afraid to stay on his feet if you can somehow wiggle your finger out from his death grip. He immediately drops to the ground. Well tonight he saved the best for when Daddy got home late from work. The boys should have been in bed already but Mommy was stalling because Daddy was almost home. We were all playing and Owen was standing next to Daddy and started clapping, not realizing that he had let go. All of a sudden he was balancing on his own and then he realized it himself. He thought it was the coolest thing and was able to do it for a very long time while he continued to clap and dance to "Wheels on the Bus." Then he lost his balance and his hands hit the floor. But that wasn't it! He stood himself back up to dance and clap some more. Again his hands went down and again he stood back up! We were amazed since we hadn't really seen Owen balance on his own, much less either kid get themself back to a standing position. I ran to grab the camera and we caught Owen taking his FIRST TWO STEPS EVER! Yay Owen! The only problem was that once he actually fell down and lost the position he was in that allowed him to pop back up, he was really frustrated that he couldn't do it again. He just layed his little head down on the ground and whimpered in frustration. I tried to help him "reset" but he wasn't having it. He wanted to do it on HIS terms! Silly boy!

Children's Museum

The very last 'picture' in this album is actually a video of Owen taking his steps.