Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas Round 2
We had a second Christmas this past Saturday when some of our family members were able to make it to our house. Owen thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention and insisted that everyone participate in the fun activities he had planned for the evening.
We started off with a family band. Owen broke open is tub of instruments and passed them out to mom, dad, Stephanie, Grandpa, Grandpa (yes, they have the same name apparently), John and Kevin. Sometimes he'd take instruments away or have people switch instruments if they were unable to perform to his standards. Most songs were short and ended with Owen's enthusiastic round of applause.
Later, Owen instructed us it was time for "circle." Also known as musical pillows. He found it unacceptable for anyone to just sit and watch. He'd pull everyone off the couch and have them running in circles around the pillows. People tried to escape but he'd pull them back into the circle.
Don't you worry, I have pictures of this all to come.
2008 in Review
Few of us can reflect on what we accomplished in 2008 and come up with a list as great as Owen’s.
In 2008, Owen:
-Learned how to walk
-Grew 4 inches
-Grew at least 8 teeth
-Learned sign language
-Learned English
-Started school
-Celebrated his first birthday… twice
-Saw the Oregon coast for the first time
-Went camping for the first time
-Got his first haircut
-Had a first kiss
-Drove a boat
-Moved into a new house
-Got a passport
-Took his first plane ride (or three)
-Became an international traveler
-Saw his first snow
... to name a few.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas!
As Owen and I watch the Curious George Movie, I thought I'd write quickly to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Travis and Stephanie are braving their way to the Blazers game right now, using up 2 of the 5 tickets we had slated for the family outing. Stephanie was our only guest that made it this Christmas.
We unfortunately don't have any pictures to share with you at this time, as our new camera did not arrive. We took pictures with an old camera but can't find the cable ... yet! Have no fear, we'll sort it out.
It was definitely a weird Christmas, but great. It was the first Christmas where Owen had some clue what was going on.
We set out cookies and milk for Santa last night and a carrot for the reindeer. Owen was thrilled to see that Santa had come and eaten the cookies. He really enjoyed each gift he opened. Every toy had to be opened and played with before he would move on to opening the next present. He was so excited about just about every one, that he didn't really even want to move on to the next.
Stephanie and I made dinner for 3.5. Owen preferred the gourmet items such as corn and mashed potatoes!
It was really weird to be at our own house for Christmas, but also to have so few family members join us. It was also odd to have so much snow on the ground on Christmas Day, but frankly, we're getting kinda used to the snow at this point! Despite previous forecasts for improvement, we saw more snow today, and are slated for more tonight and tomorrow. And to add insult to injury, the roads are even worse now with a mix of compact snow, ice, slush, and crazy ruts. I am now happier than ever to have walked the 4 miles to buy chains!
And last but certainly not least, our bad luck has continued (I won't go into it) but we hope the curse expires in 2008! Clearly, you all have not been sending enough good vibes this way!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Best wishes for a great 2009.
Pictures soon!
We unfortunately don't have any pictures to share with you at this time, as our new camera did not arrive. We took pictures with an old camera but can't find the cable ... yet! Have no fear, we'll sort it out.
It was definitely a weird Christmas, but great. It was the first Christmas where Owen had some clue what was going on.
We set out cookies and milk for Santa last night and a carrot for the reindeer. Owen was thrilled to see that Santa had come and eaten the cookies. He really enjoyed each gift he opened. Every toy had to be opened and played with before he would move on to opening the next present. He was so excited about just about every one, that he didn't really even want to move on to the next.
Stephanie and I made dinner for 3.5. Owen preferred the gourmet items such as corn and mashed potatoes!
It was really weird to be at our own house for Christmas, but also to have so few family members join us. It was also odd to have so much snow on the ground on Christmas Day, but frankly, we're getting kinda used to the snow at this point! Despite previous forecasts for improvement, we saw more snow today, and are slated for more tonight and tomorrow. And to add insult to injury, the roads are even worse now with a mix of compact snow, ice, slush, and crazy ruts. I am now happier than ever to have walked the 4 miles to buy chains!
And last but certainly not least, our bad luck has continued (I won't go into it) but we hope the curse expires in 2008! Clearly, you all have not been sending enough good vibes this way!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Best wishes for a great 2009.
Pictures soon!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Pictureless
We're buried under more than a foot of snow here in Hillsboro as well as apparently a family/house curse. Our furnace went out a week ago and we're still waiting for it to get fixed. Luckily, we are keeping warm with our fireplace and 4 space heaters.
Our reign of bad luck continued when the garbage disposal stopped working, our camera broke, my cell phone broke, and the Infiniti wouldn't start. Most of these issues have been resolved with the exception of the furnace and garbage disposal.
UPS saved part of Christmas by delivering major gifts today. But most likely, we'll be without most of our family this Christmas, as they are trapped under even more snow than we are.
Owen is going stir crazy and does not like the snow. I wouldn't like it either if it went part way up my thigh!
Just today, he finally decided that the presents under the tree are actually for him. Until now he would say they were for Mikah or Kellen! He is looking forward to opening them and still sticks to his word that he would like "trains" for Christmas.
He has recently been reminiscing about "Grandpa's dogs" that he got to play with while we were in Seattle. He likes to continually watch the video of them playing with Mikah and Kellen's new puppy!
Please send some good luck our way!
Our reign of bad luck continued when the garbage disposal stopped working, our camera broke, my cell phone broke, and the Infiniti wouldn't start. Most of these issues have been resolved with the exception of the furnace and garbage disposal.
UPS saved part of Christmas by delivering major gifts today. But most likely, we'll be without most of our family this Christmas, as they are trapped under even more snow than we are.
Owen is going stir crazy and does not like the snow. I wouldn't like it either if it went part way up my thigh!
Just today, he finally decided that the presents under the tree are actually for him. Until now he would say they were for Mikah or Kellen! He is looking forward to opening them and still sticks to his word that he would like "trains" for Christmas.
He has recently been reminiscing about "Grandpa's dogs" that he got to play with while we were in Seattle. He likes to continually watch the video of them playing with Mikah and Kellen's new puppy!
Please send some good luck our way!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
More Snow
We got lots more snow today in Hillsboro. Here are some shots out of the front and back windows as of about Noon but it continued to fall all afternoon. It has turned to rain now but it will all freeze into a lovely Hillsboro-shaped ice-skating rink by tomorrow morning, when we expect several more inches on top of all of this. Can we turn this off now?
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Christmas Come Early
Owen's cousins and Aunt Kirsten & Uncle Brian came to visit this weekend. The kids opened their presents from each other and enjoyed playing together!
Many more shots here:
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| Davenports Visit Dec 08 |
First Snow
We got a couple of inches of snow today in Hillsboro making today Owen's first experience with snow! He thought it was pretty cool when he first saw it falling outside through the window. But we had to force him to go outside and he really wasn't that thrilled with it. It was about 18 degrees with the windchill factor so we didn't spend much time outside. By tomorrow (Monday) we should see highs only in the mid-twenties and more snow is likely Wednesday, Thursday and next weekend. That's pretty crazy for the Portland Metro area!
Many more shots here:
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| Dec 08 Snow |
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Can't find the Words
Owen wants to carry on conversations SO badly. But he's just not there yet. His vocabulary and command of the language seems to improve daily and there is always something amusing coming out of his mouth.
Yesterday, he started saying "yessir" instead of "yes." Do you want to eat? "Yessir." NO idea where that came from.
He says "ummm..." a lot to try to fill in the missing words. Like: what do you want to do? "Ummmm ... trains ... ummmm ... upstairs... ummm come."
Travis put up some Christmas lights over the weekend and as we were driving home and talking about Christmas lights he said "lights house daddy make."
He's very demanding: "come" and "bring" and "go" are common.
When he wants something he will give you a hint as to what your response should be, i.e. "juice! yes! juice! yes! yes!"
Everything is "blue" if you ask him the color and if you ask him how many of anything there is or to count he says "three." Very occasionally he will count "one, two, three."
About 98% of the time if you ask him what he wants to eat, whether morning, noon or night, his response is "pastas."
This week he LOVES Curious George and becomes upset when the credits roll. "More monkey! More George! George!"
Yesterday, he started saying "yessir" instead of "yes." Do you want to eat? "Yessir." NO idea where that came from.
He says "ummm..." a lot to try to fill in the missing words. Like: what do you want to do? "Ummmm ... trains ... ummmm ... upstairs... ummm come."
Travis put up some Christmas lights over the weekend and as we were driving home and talking about Christmas lights he said "lights house daddy make."
He's very demanding: "come" and "bring" and "go" are common.
When he wants something he will give you a hint as to what your response should be, i.e. "juice! yes! juice! yes! yes!"
Everything is "blue" if you ask him the color and if you ask him how many of anything there is or to count he says "three." Very occasionally he will count "one, two, three."
About 98% of the time if you ask him what he wants to eat, whether morning, noon or night, his response is "pastas."
This week he LOVES Curious George and becomes upset when the credits roll. "More monkey! More George! George!"
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Cabo Trip
We spent 5 nights in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico right after Thanksgiving. I'll try to write more later but for now, here is the photo album.
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| Cabo 11/08 |
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