Sweet Little Owen

I wanted to take a minute here to talk about how much I love this little Owen of mine.  He is honestly the sweetest thing ever.  When he's awake, I find myself staring at him constantly and kissing him as much as possible.  When he's asleep, I can't stop thinking about how loveable he is.  I am so happy we decided to have another baby and, like everyone who has more than one child always says, I can't imagine our family without him now.

Nathan and I love to retrace our life steps and think about what things would be like if we hadn't done this-or-that...once in a while one of us will say "Isn't it so crazy that if you hadn't (insert any past nasty breakup, crappy job, or all-around-negative experience here), we would never be here?"  It's nice to have someone who can always see the positives in the crazy twists and turns our lives take.  To be able to look at a negative past situation and find the reasons why your life wouldn't be what it is in the moment you're in without it...I just think it's so important and I love that Nathan likes to go there with me.

For instance, the other day we were wondering what life would be like for us now if we hadn't left New York.  It's always an interesting thought for us because we both really loved living there, but were ready to (and knew we really had to) move away and start a new life.  Neither of us can escape feeling sentimental about New York once in a while though, so the subject comes up here and there.  Anyway, when that question came up the other day we both started voicing some positive and some negative things about what the fast paced city life would be like now for us, and all of the sudden I realized it...and said "Well, we wouldn't have Owen that's for sure."  That thought alone stopped the conversation in it's tracks right then and there and left us with the reality that this move we made can never be thought of as a negative thing, no matter what happens in the next few years.  Sure, we love it here anyway and wouldn't change a thing but even if the last few years we have to spend here were filled with a ton of negative experiences, we'll never have to doubt ourselves and wonder if we made the right decision about leaving New York.  If we hadn't left, there would be no Owen.  Enough said.

On that feel good note, I have to say that we are really enjoying this summer and it's not even officially summer yet!  We have already been to the pool a couple of times and we've started all of our summer activities in Family Housing so it really feels like we've left Spring far behind and are soakin' up the sun.

Take today for instance:  After Zoe's gymnastics class that she has every Monday (and is LOVING, by the way), we packed lunches and went to the pool.  After that, we spent a couple of quiet hours at home so Owen could nap.  While he was napping, Zoe and I checked on our garden and watered it...she is such a big girl.  I actually prefer to go and do this with her, because she is a HUGE help with maneuvering the hose and watering!  That would NOT have been the case last year let me tell you.  She would have been tromping in everyone's gardens or tagging along right at my heels the whole time...not this year!  I've got a big kid on my hands...the other day, she was having a conflict with a couple of her friends across the lawn from me at the playground and I started to butt in.  All of the sudden I heard her yell "Mommy!  Don't solve the ploblem!  I have a idea!" and the three little friends worked it all out without this nosey mom poking her head in.

Anyway, after that we went home and I told Zoe I had a surprise for her.  I got out the materials and ingredients to make homemade ice cream in a baggie and while putting it all together (with her help), told her to guess what we were making.  Her guesses were:  applesauce?.....yogurt?.....cream cheese?.....sausages? :-) When we got it all put together, I slipped a spoon in my pocket without her seeing and told her to go outside and start shaking it.  We had a fun 5 minutes throwing it back and forth and shaking it around and when it was done, I whipped out the spoon and told her to taste it.  It was so satisfying to see that little face brighten up after tasting it and yell "ICE CREAM!!!"  Such an easy and fun little activity for a hot day--give it a try, trust me!

Shaking it up...

YUM!!!

After Owen woke up, we went to another area of Family Housing where they were holding a "Kid's Soccer" activity.  A bunch of her friends were there and she had a great time kicking the ball around and following directions.  Right after we got there, she ran over to ask us how long we were going to stay. I started to tell her she could stop playing whenever she wanted because we were just there to have fun, but she then said "cuz I want to stay until it's over" and ran back into the pack.

Working on balance

Dribbling

Then to top off this glorious day, we got take-out from Mustard's Last Stand (really really really good veggie chili fries....) and went up to Chautauqua, where they are having free kids music every Monday night on their lawn this summer.  The weather was perfect, the music was corny and silly and we all had such a great time! We hope to do it every Monday, or as often as possible anyway.

Waiting for the music to start

Put your hands in the air!

A shot of the mountains and the crowd

For their last song, they had a guy pedal this bike to power their amps..Hello, Boulder!

Finally I have to mention the fact that ever since Zoe's hair has gotten long enough to braid and put into pig tails, I've struggled with getting her to a) let me braid it or anything in the first place and b) keep it in for more than half the day whenever she does let me talk her into it....I know, it doesn't matter, but she looks so darn CUTE with little pigtails!  Anyway, today she requested one braid and one ponytail and liked it so much she not only kept them in all day, but asked me if she could sleep with them in too....ah, kids.  ;-)