Winter trip to San Diego

This past January Eric attended a conference on Coronado Island near San Diego. This is actually a very respected conference and he'll probably get to attend every year...which works out great for us!

We had a blast hanging out with family in the few days before the conference started. We went to the wild animal park, beach and Owen and his cousin Brynn had a blast at a huge indoor  bounce house.

And even more exciting we got to meet baby Blake for the first time!

Later in the week Eric and I went down to his conference and enjoyed some time just the two of us. The resort and weather were amazing. Everyone joined us that Friday and we had fun swimming and playing for the rest of the weekend. You can't beat hanging out by the pool in January!

In other news, this was about the time that Owen really started talking in complete sentences. The first time he strung several sentences together was in the week after we got back from California. This boy loves his play-dough. We were all sitting around the table playing with it and Owen spoke up, "No momma, don't touch. I do it. I push hard!"

Eric and I both stared at each other amazed. Our baby boy was definitely growing up!

Christmas ... 2011

Yes this blog is woefully behind - almost a year behind. I'm going to do my best to quickly update it with the major events from the past year.

First up - Christmas 2011 - our first Christmas just the three of us at home. We tried to start a few family traditions we'll hopefully be able to keep in the years to come.

Christmas Eve night we had a yummy dinner of raspberry chipotle pork loin, roasted butternut squash and green beans. Then we went out to look at Christmas lights. There are a few displays in town where you can get out and walk among them. Owen really enjoyed his up-close look!

Once we got home we got in our Christmas PJs (at least Owen did) and opened gifts from family. Owen got a tool set and Dr. kit that he loved!

The next morning things did not go as planned. Eric got called out at 6am (he did psyc evals at hospitals) and didn't get home until 1pm. Needless to say I was not happy to be spending Christmas morning alone.

One good thing about Owen's age is that he doesn't know Santa comes on Christmas morning. So Santa came after his nap instead. (He was a little grumpy after his nap.)

That night we had the Texas traditional tamales - even Californian Eric enjoyed them and agreed it should be a tradition!

A few days later we headed to Amarillo to celebrate with the extended Burns family. On our designated Christmas morning Owen woke up to ANOTHER stocking. This one had lots of goodies - his favorites were some toy planes and sidewalk chalk!

But his favorite even of the morning was putting snow on the Christmas tree.

Later that night we opened gifts, but Owen just wanted to throw tissue paper in the air.

Owen did really enjoy loving on his cousin Graham. I love these two pictures of the boys.

The holiday did have a sad ending. Right before new years my mom got a phone call that her dad had passed away suddenly. I was so thankful that the whole family was there when she got the news. We were able to take all the Christmas stuff down in a few hours and then Owen and I drove with my parents to Oklahoma for the funeral.

My PaPa was a Colonel in the Army and was buried with full military honors, including an 18 gun salute. I'm thankful he got to meet Owen (Thanksgiving 2010) before he passed away.

Faith like a Child

This spring we've been blessed to see the truly precious and innocent way a child begins to interact with God.

It started with our prayers. We pray not only at bedtime, but I also say a quick prayer with Owen before we leave the car each morning at school. One morning earlier this year, Owen interrupted me and said his first prayer - or at least repeated after me. Talk about bringing tears to your eyes. His quiet little voice saying "Dear God" was amazing. Owen is adding more and more requests to his prayers now - and all his school and church friends get prayed over regularly. :)

We've also started playing praise music at home and in the car on the way to school. The first time Owen heard "God is so Good" he asked for it again and again. He then proclaimed it a pretty song and wanted us to sing it together. I never get tired of singing with my baby boy. His favorite song this month is, in his words, "Children of the World" :)

Owen also loves going to worship with Eric and I before we take him to the nursery on Sunday. This is one of my favorite times of the week. I hold him close while we sing and pray that one day he'll love the Lord with his whole heart. One Sunday, to Eric's and my amazement, Owen lifted his hands during a song. No one around us was doing that at the time and it just felt like Owen knew he was worshiping God.

Being a mom makes me even more appreciative of how my own parents introduced me to God. I am in awe of how Owen is already starting to know Him.

Thanksgiving in Boston!

For Thanksgiving we met Mimi and Papa in Boston to visit Kirsten, Mike, Margaret and Brendan. Brendan was born the day before Owen turned one and we hadn't had a chance to meet him yet!

The first day we were there was clear and cool, but gorgeous!  We took a walk through Boston Common and the public gardens. It was such a beautiful fall day!

After lunch, the kids headed back to the house for naps and Papa, Mike and I kept walking the freedom trail. I had walked it back when I was in college, but still really appreciated all the history.
I grabbed some quick shots on my iphone - gotta love technology. :) And again, this was the most perfect autumn day ever!

The next day was not so perfect. Highs were in the 30s, but we bundled the big kids up and went to the zoo. Most of the animals were hiding and trying to stay warm, but we did see an amazing gorilla exhibit and Margaret and Owen had a blast.

Later that day, the adults headed off for the minute men museum and took a look at Walden Pond. We got there just as the sun was setting. (Although the sun sets around 4pm in Boston during the winter!)

 We took several other little trips over the next week. We visited Harvard and an amazing art museum. During one of our jaunts Kirsten stayed home with the kids and sent me this video. Owen loves to dance and was having so much fun with Margaret!

It was a wonderful trip. It was so good to see Eric's sister and her family and enjoy Thanksgiving somewhere it actually feels like fall!

What a BIG cow you are... and more fall fun

Owen was a cow for Halloween. I bought a 2T-4T costume for my 18 month old. He would not try it on - it terrified him. Finally a week away from Halloween, Mimi and Daddy were able to bribe him to put it on with m&ms. It was a little small. Ok, maybe a lot small - the ankles were around his knees and the sleeves were almost to his elbows and there was no way we were getting it fastened around the neck.

Owen was a trouper although the costume came off after he posed for pictures. He helped hand out candy in his diaper. :)

While Mimi and Papa Oslund were here, we had a lot of fun.

We visited a pumpkin patch

Owen helped Daddy and Papa rebuild our deck - it's now twice as big! And the perfect place to play with bubbles.

We also made a trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival - Owen rode an elephant. He did not enjoy it.

Thanks for the fun memories Mimi and Papa!

The last 6 months...

I have been a very, very delinquent blogger the last 6 months. I'm going to try to do better - really - well I'll at least try. Get ready for a few quick posts to get us from October 2011 to March 2012 - where my little boy will be turning TWO in five days. I cannot believe it!

To kick off my renewed dedication to post more timely updates to the blog, I did a little spring cleaning. We lost Sophie after Thanksgiving, so we no longer have three dogs and Owen is most definitely no longer a baby! I like the new, fresh look of things. :)

Here are a few shots of him at our 18 month photo shoot last September. We have our two year photo shoot scheduled in a week. I can't wait to see how he's changed.

First Prayer

I'm so behind on my blogging. I will go back and catch up...one of these days. But today, was too precious not to post immediately.

I was raised to pray often but not always at the expected time. For example, while I was growing up we prayed AFTER we ate breakfast, right before our family devotions. I remember my dad coming into our rooms at night once we were in bed and saying prayers with us several nights a week. To this day my family will join hands and pray before we go on any kind of trip - my mom often laying hands on our car to protect us for the journey ahead.

I've tried to be intentional about where and when I pray with Owen. I'll admit to not being the best about praying at dinner - although we do try to have a short bible story after supper each night. I do always pray at bedtime. Getting to rock my little boy before bed at night is the sweetest moment of my day. Recently I've started praying before we get out of the car at daycare. I'll climb in the back seat and before I unbuckle his seat belt, we'll hold hands and say a short prayer for the day ahead.

Today I was rushing - I was running late to work as usual, but still stopped to say a quick prayer. It had been a few weeks since we'd gone through our ritual - we were in California last week and Owen was home sick most of the week before. As I said "Amen" and Owen repeated after me, he said something new.

"Another one Momma." I looked around for a bus or truck on the road - he's often pointing them out and says "another one" as they come around the corner. I couldn't see a bus, but still Owen was saying "another one." I looked down at him and he had folded his hands again. He wanted to pray.

"Ok" I said, but before I could begin he said so quietly, so sweetly, so preciously, "Dear God." He paused...he couldn't think of what else to say. "I love you very much" I whispered in his ear to prompt him. "I love You much" he said, "Amen!" And then clapped loudly very proud of himself.

I was very, very proud of him too.