Busy Day for Baby Owen......and Mom and Dad!!!

Me and Owen!

Today was a busy busy busy day! We took Owen to Kangaroo Kids. It is a place full of slides and ball pits, trampolines and tons more. I was all excited about taking him, this being one of those toddler activities I had wrote about earlier. Unfortunately it didn't quite turn out as planned. Although the ages listed say 1 year and up.....I think Owen was still a bit young for all of it. The slides made him nervous and the trampoline, mixed with all the other kids, terrified him...so sad.
However he loved the ball pit!!! Yay!! Of course after all the trauma of the other contraptions Mommy had to get in with him, but it was fun. We sat there forever throwing the balls around and he loved swinging his legs and arms back and forth to make them fly all around him!

All in all it was a good day....oh wait.....that wasn't the end of it......


Me and Owen at the top of the slide. He looks nervous doesn't he?


He did like the kiddie toys in the baby area too.

Also today, once we got home from Kangaroo Kids, Daddy happily put Owen's swing set together! We attached his toddler swing and then he was off! He loved it! He smiled and laughed the whole time. I imagine this will become a regular activity for us, especially since the weather is really starting to warm up!


Daddy and Owen


Happy, yet exhausted Baby Owen!!!


On a side note, these are images of Owen's bedroom (for Tracey)!!:) All those years of art school paid off!!! haha

Happy Days......well....sort of.

So Owen is now 13months old. He is in the transition of baby to toddler, if he is not there already and I am just in denial about it. Whatever the case, we began cleaning out his drawers and closet for all the clothes and baby toys that are useless to him now. It was a bit sad to know he isn't that sweet little infant that I loved to hold and kiss. Now he has become this rambunctious little boy that loves to give hugs and kisses as if it is a pit stop from his high speed playtime. I am excited however at the possibilities his toddler years bring. We are looking forward to lots of activities with him this summer that weren't possible last year.

Today signified an end to one stage of Owen's life and the beginning of another. A little sad yet a little exciting.


Owen in the midst of the mess.


OK, He looks a bit tired of cleaning.....or perhaps he is holding the Sneetch captive for more vanilla wafers.


We really needed more compartments. I didn't realize how much stuff we needed to pack up. There were also about 4 other bags in the garage I had bagged up last week....geez!

Cowboys and Jager.....

Joy and Me!


It isn't often that I experience new things anymore. Partly because I have done more in my short life than I would probably like to admit but it is also due to the fact that I don't get out much anymore.

My longtime childhood friend Joy and I were exactly alike growing up together...boy crazy, swapping Sweet Valley High books, listening to New Kids on the Block and Debbie Gibson....but somehow around the age of 17 the two of us ventured down different paths...her country, me rock and roll. Despite our differences in music and men (she is obsessed with guys in cowboy hats with enormous belt buckles) we have remained inseparable.I have always considered myself a little bit artsy and strange, a child of the grunge era. But somehow this past Friday I found myself for the first time ever at a country concert. Yep you read that correctly....COUNTRY!!!

She convinced me to go to Wild Bill's with her to see Chris Cagle in concert. Our closet country girlfriend Kristin met us there. We were right up front full of excitement and Jager!!!! Kristin and Joy sang all the words while I attempted to catch onto the lyrics. We danced the night away, made drunk phone calls to Lori and I swear Chris Cagle waved to me! We screamed and laughed so much some guys beside us got a little freaked out! Needless to say we had a great time! I enjoyed most being with my girlfriends and letting loose. Oh and the music wasn't so bad! ;)

To Joy I would like to say I had a blast and I love you, despite your taste in music ;) Also I really think we should go see Billy Ray in March!!! haha

To Kristin...I miss you. I miss your craziness and wish I could experience it more.


Chris Cagle....Chicks really dig him...or so he says!

I would like to say..................

GO HILLARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Please go read about her perspective and plans on all this issues on her website.

A Burden On My Heart That I Just Couldn't Shake....

For a few months now I have had a heavy burden on my heart that I could not get rid of no matter what I did. I have felt this tugging on my soul to explore in detail the idea of adopting a child from the foster care system. I kept thinking about all the students that passed through my doors while I was a teacher that had been failed by society and how their lives could have been so very different if only for different circumstances. The main reason that Dustin and I want to adopt is not due to infertility issues, we simply want to give a loving, stable home to a child that needs one. A family is built through love and I do not feel that I need to give birth to a child to love them from the deepest parts of me. This is what lead us to adoption in the first place.

As most of you know we had been pursuing an Ethiopian adoption for an infant girl. Today however, we went to an Orientation meeting with our local county to learn more about adopting through foster care. All I can really say is that I felt as if a huge brick had been lifted from me. I began to cry talking with the social worker about our future daughter and the path to building our family. She was wonderful and understanding about my fears and hopes with following this particular path. After a lot of questions, discussion, and research me and Dustin feel this is the path we need to follow. I do feel a bit saddened about the little girl we would have had from Ethiopia but for our family this feels right.

We are still going to request a girl 0-14months. We are open to any race and most likely will receive a presentation for a child of African American decent, meaning AA or biracial. The reason for this is that the majority of children in foster care are of AA descent in our state, one website said 51%, and since we are open we will most likely be matched with a non Caucasian child (the Caucasian children are often adopted much faster and matched more easily with other families).

I hope that as we follow this path that we retain the friendships we have acquired through our Ethiopian support group. I hope that all our children will become friends, although our daughter may not come from a foreign country she will still be in a multi racial family and experience many of the same situations as our Ethiopian counterparts.



Thank you to all of you that have and are supporting our family through this journey.

Please continue to use One Cause! It not only helps with our adoption it helps others through the National Adopt Foundation complete their own families!

Eight Track

8 Things I'm Passionate About:

1. My family
   
2. My friends
3. My photography/art
4. Teaching
5. Football
6. My business MyLife Photography
   
7. Expanding my family
   
8. Painting (which I suppose could go into the art category but it is worthy of it's own for me)
   

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Live to be an old eccentric grandmother with funny glasses.
   
2. Adopt a child
   
3. Travel to see art/culture around the world
   
4. Publish a book incorporating storytelling and art/photography
   
5. Be an amazing photographer (still a ways to go...)
   
6. Obtain another Master's Degree
   
7. Learn to belly dance
   
8. Get another tattoo! :)
   

8 Things I Say Often:

1. That's funny. (without laughing)
   
2. Dude.
3. No No!
   
4. I love you
5. I need a break.
   
6. I'm exhausted.
   
7. What did you say?
   
8. Give to Mommy.
   

8 TV Shows I've Recently Watched:

1. American Idol
2. Anything on Disney Playhouse
   
3. Maury(sorry haha)
   
4. NFL Football Playoffs and an Amazing Superbowl!!! Go Giants!
   
5. Project Runway
   
6. Springer ( I don't really know how that happened!!! help!)
   
7. The Shot
   
8. Anything on Bravo
   

8 Songs I Could Listen To Over and Over:

1. Sitting (Cat Stevens)
   
2. Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley)
3. Prophecy (Remy Zero)
4. Carry the Zero (Built to Spill)
5. California Here We Come (Phantom Planet)
6. Sampson (Regina Spektor)
7. Game Over (yep, by NSync)
8. Waiting on the world to change (John Mayer)

8 Things That Attract Me To My Friends:

1. Loyalty
2. Honesty
3. Trustworthy
4. Faithful
5. Funny
6. Understanding
7. Creative
8. Forgiving

8 Things I've Learned (or been reminded of) This Past Year:

1. Life is too short
2. Patience is harder than I thought.
   
3. My husband does more than I give him credit for
4. Life often throws you a curve ball.
   
5. My body is never going to look like it used to! ;)
   
6. Other peoples negative thoughts about my life, family or decisions don't really bother me.
   
7. I sometimes need to focus more on the positive sides of things. (weird statement after that the #6 revelation...hmmmm)
   
8. I am a pretty darn good cook!!! Just ask Joy or Lori....except don't ask Lori about the Greek salad...hehe...just kidding, but not really...really don't ask her!)
   

8 People I Think Should Do "8":

1. Heather
2. Jessica
   
3. Jennifer
4. Joy
   
5. Kristin
   
6. Chevella
   
7. Julie
8. Tracey

Chaos and Cake!

Sunday January 20th was our son, Owen's 1st birthday. We had his party this past Saturday.It was a frigid snowy day and we thought that maybe most would not venture out but to our surprise it was truly a party! We had enough cake and playtime for everyone! Family and friends drove from all over to be here for his special day. He is still learning the concept of opening presents but trust me we have been playing non stop since Saturday night. We have also had animated movie marathons that cause Owen to burst out into fits of funky dance steps!!!

He was a bit delicate with his cake until I encouraged him to just take a big heaping bite!!! After every successful mouthful he would clap and then everyone would join in!

It was a bit more chaotic than I had expected and I think that perhaps our party next year will be at Chucky Cheese!!!haha We had a good time nonetheless.






He got some amazing gifts: movies, bath toys (which he loves), a wagon and bike, and They Might Be Giants "Here come the ABCs" a must for any child of a generation X Mom and Dad!!


Dive In!!!



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