Monday, March 31, 2008

Missing Miss Megan

Daycare was closed last week, but that's for another post. This morning, I was really excited to drop Owen off and share with his teacher all the great things he's learned in the last week. Miss Megan is always so happy to see him and his two little friends - Kaden and Brice.

Imagine my surprise to walk in this morning and find out that Miss Megan is gone... for good. We knew that she recently got married, but didn't know she was moving away. The owners found out two weeks ago, but didn't tell us until this morning. I was surprised, frustrated, and now...sad. We chose our daycare because of the owners and their great program, but I fell in love with daycare because of Miss Megan.

I'm sure Owen is doing fine - he is great with new people - but I am really sad that Miss Megan won't be caring for him anymore. At this point, she knows Owen better than anyone. She's celebrated all his milestones and endured the frustration of his messy reflux. I am sad for Owen - that he won't get to be around her joy, enthusiasm, knowedge, and loving care on a near-daily basis. And, I'm sad that we didn't get a chance to give a proper goodbye. We'll miss you Miss Megan!!

Did I mention that I am sad? I've cried today... at work... twice... and it's only 12:30.

Friday, March 21, 2008

First Day of... Spring?

Today is the first day of spring, so naturally, we woke up to... Snow! Thankfully, it melted pretty fast and the sun is shining brightly. Owen and I even spent a few minutes out in the grass before his nap. I'm ready for winter to be over.


Our baby boot camp is working. As soon as I posted that Owen wasn't interested in trying to crawl, he started doing the "army man." Rocking side to side and scooting himself forward like he's crawling under barbed wire or trying to stay low and avoid enemy fire. I guess it was all about the right motivation - he's only interested if he's chasing the remote, my cell phone, or the camera. So these are the shots I got...



Other random thoughts for Friday afternoon:
- We're going to a wedding next month and I think I need a new dress.
- Amy and Sam are coming to visit in less than a month!
- Time for some new brown shoes - the Danskos have served me well, but they're almost as old as our marriage.
- Owen mowed down zucchini for lunch - yea!
- Today is our last swimming lesson.
- I am going to read a book this month. Even if it's in 10 minute increments.
- Owen has officially outgrown the swing (our lifesaver for months!), and the bumbo. Kind of sad, but I posted them both on Craigslist yesterday and already have buyers. Sweet! Money for new shoes?
- Owen has also outgrown his car seat. I've been researching our next seat, but information overload has lead to indecision. Just need to buck up and purchase one already!

Oh, and I turned 30 this week. One of these days, I'll have some deep thoughts about that, but for now, I'm just itching for spring. We did celebrate well - Scott put together a great wine party with our friends, my mom took me for a massage, and Scott and Owen got me an Ergo carrier. Love it!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Best Look

I love the look on Owen's face when Scott walks in the door after work. No matter what he's doing, he turns and gets a wide mouth grin and you can watch the joy well through his body. Everyone should get that look at the end of their day. This video is right after Scott got home - Owen had been chasing his toys across the floor (still rolling, not crawling), but he took a time out for some dad and baby play time.



We've been trying to do some "baby boot camp" with Owen to help him get the crawling thing figured out. He's so close, but has no patience to wiggle around on the floor and figure it out. When I picked him up at daycare today, one of the caregivers said, "So, Owen really just wants to be standing these days." I just had to laugh because it was such an understatement. I know that I'm not going to get anything done this weekend because I'll be constantly holding Owen up on his feet. I'm really going to have to be persistent with the floor time. I KNOW he is going to love it when he figures out how to move on all fours...

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

8 Months and Goals

I'm a little behind in my March postings. Owen turned 8 months last week. I just blows me away how quickly the time has passed since last July. Suddenly, a first year birthday seems right around the corner. Crazy!

Owen is still preferring to roll and not interested in crawling. He'd much prefer to stand holding onto the changing table, couch, or coffee table. He has learned to clap, give high-5s, and feed himself cheerios. This month, he also started sleeping through the night on a consistent basis - hooray! We've had a little set-back this week while Owen fights a cold, but hopefully it's short lived. I guess we're lucky that this is his first real illness - not bad for 8 months.

I finally got Owen in for some "real" portraits. He did great smiling for the camera. This one is my favorite:
On a separate note, we did decently well on our February goals. We accomplished:
Starting to compost our kitchen veggie/fruit scraps;
Great strides in baby proofing;
Taking Portraits of Owen;
Date night;
Pulling together our tax info; and
More exercise for the dog

For March, we're aiming to:
Change our remaining light bulbs to fluorescents;
Service our furnace;
Clean the outside of our windows and complete some other spring cleaning chores;
Scott's going to keep running, I'm going to take 4 yoga classes;
Write a will, pay our taxes - fun stuff!
And, our big financial goal is to eliminate a car payment...
It should be a busy month - and it's already March 11 - better get working!

Friday, March 07, 2008

Killing time while baby sleeps

Owen is fighting is first real fever this morning. It's a mild one, so not worth a trip to the doctor, but he's a pretty sad kiddo. Whimpering and clinging to me while he's awake and taking massive naps. I guess I should be taking advantage of these naps to get some housework done, but in the meantime, I bring you...

4 things about me.
Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Dental office grunt

2. Restaurant worker (not quite a waitress, not quite a busser, not quite a barista)
3. Pool/Clubhouse watcher

4. Nanny

...good thing I got that engineering degree. None of those jobs were going to get me anywhere.

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. When Harry met Sally
2. Braveheart

3. Armageddon

4. Planet Earth series


Four bands/artists on the music rotation:
1. Jack Johnson
2. Carbonleaf
3. Death Cab for Cutie
4. Snow Patrol

Four places I have lived:
1. Camas, WA

2. Bellevue, WA

3. Seattle, WA

4. Bend, OR

Four TV Shows that I watch:
1. Project Runway (or whatever other Bravo Reality show is on at the time)
2. Survivor
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Heroes


Four places I have visited.
1. Europe
2. Hawaii

3. Siberia
4. Belize

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Cheese of all kinds (Mac and Cheese, grilled cheese, dessert cheese platter, cheese and crackers - haven't met a cheese dish I don't like)
2. Caprese Salad (basil, tomato, mozzerella)
3. Grilled Salmon
4. BBC's Blue Cheese an Mushroom Hamburger with crispy on the outside, soft on the inside french fries


Four places I would rather be right now:
1. At my Mom's Group (we missed today)
2. Skiing
3. Vacationing in a warm place
4. Outside walking (but we're going in an hour)


Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Chasing Owen when he learns to crawl, walk, and run
2. Hiking and camping to teach Owen about the outdoors
3. Our annual trip to the beach with 3 kids this year
4. Planning some sort of vacation

Sunday, March 02, 2008

True Bend Weekend

We've had a great weekend. It really felt like we got to get out and enjoy all that Bend has to offer. On Friday it was nearly 60 degrees. Owen and I took Hudson for a walk along the River with our other mom/baby friends. Shannon, Shawndi, and I have been walking almost every other week since October. All three of our boys were refluxy and colicky, so the fresh air and support system has been essential. I really don't know what I would do without them.

Friday afternoon we had our second "swimming" lesson. We were hoping Owen's love for the bath would translate into a love for the pool. We were right - he gets so excited to get in the water and practice paddling and kicking. He even puts his head back and gets his ears wet without any hesitation. Looks like we have many more hours of water time in our future.
My parents came into town at the last minute, so they got to watch (and take pictures) at swimming (they're first "sporting event" as grandparents). On Saturday, Scott watched Owen and we skied in 8 inches of new until our legs were ready to fall off. Then, my parents babysat, so Scott and I went and test drove a 4 door Jeep (fun, but not a purchase yet) and then went out to dinner at Staccato for some great Italian.

Today was Scott's turn to ski. He got a beautifully clear and sunny day to go with the 12 inches of new yesterday. He came home exhausted claiming it was "hands down, the best day of skiing ever!" They skied hard and were home early, so I was angling for us to go for a walk. Almost on cue, Ryan called wanting to rock climb, so we headed out to Meadow Camp for a few hours of climbing (the boys) and a nice walk in the woods (Owen and I).


What a weekend! Of course, we topped it off with 6 loads of laundry (how many people live in our house??) and our house is a mess since we didn't do any cleaning this weekend, but that's what the weeknights are for, right? The chores will always be here, but new snow and warm weekends are meant to be enjoyed.



Parting shot...

Owen is becoming a really great eater, but he's not quite ready for the famous Pilot Butte Burger. Yikes!