South Padre

In late May we went to San Antonio to see Lauren and Scott graduate from medical school. I am so proud of these two. They began their residency in OKC in July.

From there our whole family went down to South Padre for a few days of vacation. I did not realize how far south we were going. It was a LONG trip (and the trip back to College Station was even worse!)

Once we arrived we had a blast. Our condo was right on the beach and had it's own pool. We all had fun - especially Owen. He loved the pool and the waves. Unfortunately water and our camera don't mix, so I only got shots of him on the beach. :-)

We did get some good family shots that week.

We even got one of the whole family. It had been too long since our whole group was able to get together. I'm glad we were able to spend some time together this summer!

Spring has Sprung

Since we're suffering through what feels like the 100th day of over 100 degree temperatures, it's high time I posted the rest of our spring photos.

Here's my big boy on his 14 month birthday. Since he's not changing as much month to month, this will probably be the last surfer dude pic for a while.

And here are some pictures that I know will hugely embarrass him when he gets older, but it's my job as his mamma. :-)

Just so you know, our child doesn't typically walk around the back yard butt naked, but the bottom in question had a terrible diaper rash and we were letting things air out a little.

Owen's second Easter was fun. The Easter bunny brought him lots of goodies. He loved the eggs and the watering can his Nana gave him. He also looked very handsome in the outfit his Mimi sent him.

Mother's Day was pretty uneventful. Owen was suffering from yet another of his many ear infections and his medicine made him sick. Mamma got to wake up to a blow out in his crib, and his pants had to be changed several times before the day was out. It was also Eric and my 6th anniversary on Saturday. My boys got me flowers and a bird bath - very thoughtful!

Here's the only attempt we made at photos that weekend. We were all pretty tired, but it was a fun day.

Doesn't Owen look so much like his Daddy? He looks more and more like him each month!

Owen and his favorite pastime - helping to water the yard.

Thirteen Months and Walking!

 

At thirteen months Owen is 30 pounds and 33 inches tall - good thing he started walking a few days after this picture!

His new favorite thing is to throw his ball. We've seen a lot of this the last few weeks

 

Owen isn't saying too many new words, just dog, ball, bubbles, mamma. He does try to mimic us a lot and so will say things that sound very similar to words we just said. He babbles constantly and walks around the house talking to himself. He has started copying how I call the dogs. I make a "kissing" sound when I'm trying to get them to come into the house. Owen has stood at the front door several times yelling, "GOG, GOG" and making kissing sounds. It cracks me up :)

Owen's generally a happy boy, but he has started exerting his independence. The temper tantrums are happening more and more often when he doesn't get his way.

I'm trying to take more pictures of one of us in the photo with Owen

Poor Shady doesn't get much love any more, but she did get a new summer hair cut.

Three days after he turned 13 months he took his first steps!

Just a few seconds later he was walking even farther.

By the end of the night he could go 10 to 12 feet. Within a week he was walking at least 50% of the time and within two weeks he's walking 90% of the time. He still walks with his hands up in the air - pretty funny. :-)

Bluebonnets - 3 years in a row

Two years ago we took a picture of our family in the bluebonnets. It looked like this

Last year our family bluebonnet shot had a new member - he was only 2 weeks old.

This year the bluebonnets were scarce because of the drought. We found a patch a few minutes from our house. Owen was not in the best mood and there were ants biting in the bluebonnets, but we did manage a few pictures.

I'm glad we got a few shots of spring in Texas - it seems like it was very short this year!

One Year Photo Shoot

The weekend before Owen turned one, we had a photo session with Sarah from ButterflyChaser Photography. We're so happy at how the pictures turned out - the weather wasn't great, and my back was killing me, but she was full of energy and kept Owen in a good mood for two hours!

Here are some of our favorites. I'm definitely ordering some prints to put up around the house.

Happy Birthday Boy

On Saturday, March 19th Owen had his birthday party with the Burns family and a few of our friends from church.

We had a beach/surfer theme. I used a lot of Owen decorations from his room, and some wonderful friends made a really cute surfer cake and yummy cupcakes!

Nana and Pawpaw got Owen a slide for his birthday - this boy love to go fast and already prefers crawling up the slide to using the steps. :-)

 

Eric and I gave him a wading pool for his birthday. Thanks to the warm Texas weather, we were able to pull it out for the big day. Owen wasn't a fan of sitting down in the water, but he sure loved to splash!

Owens friend Linclon was also able to join us for the party - we were so glad he was there! He was a good sport to put up with Owen's splashing. :-)

Next on the agenda was bubbles! This is now Owen's favorite past time - he asks for "Bubulls" many times a day. It was love at first sight! :-)

After a delicious dinner (Eric grilled chicken stuffed with jalapenos and cheese) it was time for the pinata. This was mainly entertainment for the adults, but the birthday boy had to get in a few good whacks first. The pinata stick is actually a piece of pvc pipe, expertly decorated with duct tape and streamers by aunt Kat ... and Owen's favorite toy of the night! :-)

 After the pinata was demolished by uncle Scott and Eric it was time for cake. Owen wasn't that excited about it. I think he may have remembered his run-in with the cake at his California birthday party. That cake ended in tears, this one just ended quickly. Owen didn't know what he was missing, it was delicious!

Ready for the Cake!

His one and only bite!

The other highlight of the party for the birthday boy were the balloons. What more can a boy ask for?

One Year - We Made It!

Owen Lars is one! Here are a few of his stats:
31 inches and 28.4 pounds (he was actually heavier than this a few weeks earlier, but he's recovering from a pretty rough ear infection and lost over a pound in a week)

Still no walking, but he has started standing on his own - especially when he's "helping" mamma water the plants. :)

 

He's so much fun and loves playing, laughing and "talking" to his parents. A few of the words he says pretty consistently is dog "gog" - he really emphasizes the "g" and says it whenever he sees the dogs. "caw" for claw - daddy has The Claw when he tickles him and he loves it! Bubbles is his new word (he was introduced to his new favorite past time at his birthday party) his says this word almost perfectly - "bubul" and asks for it constantly. And of course he's a pro at saying mamma and dadda. Although he primarily says mamma when he wants to be picked up. :)

Owen's favorite place to be is outside in the front or back yard. He'll lay by the door and cry if anyone goes outside and doesn't take him. We have had a few temper tantrums in the last week - been kind of hard for Eric and I not to laugh. When he doesn't get his way (usually not being picked up or being allowed to go outside) he'll bury his head in his lap and then roll onto his tummy and kick the floor all while crying. It's such an obvious attempt at trying to get sympathy, we usually just try and ignore him or start having fun very loudly in another room and he quickly stops crying and crawls to see what we're up to.

Even with the little tantrum now and then, he's still the sweetest boy I know ... who refuses to look at the camera! :-)