To the Zoo

We haven't been to the zoo in forever, so yesterday we finally coordinated with some friends to make a day trip to Santa Barbara.  I count this as Owen's first trip to the zoo because the last time he went I was still counting his age in weeks.

I got some great pictures of Owen "hatching" in the zoo park.  I think he had a blast.

This face says it all.

Owen playing with his bud Sebastian.  The big boys were going down the ant hill and never paused long enough for me to get a picture.  And whoops that I only had my phone to capture this day.

We've mastered the backpack wear.  Great way to see the zoo.  And what gorgeous day it was too!

We watched the giraffes on three different occasions and I think its safe to say they are Scott's favorite.  The lions live next door (the lions and giraffes can see each other actually, I think its kind of a tease for the lions to constantly be looking at edible animals, and I feel like it might keep the giraffes up night.) and at one point the lions started growling and roaring so we ran over to watch which also ended up being a highlight.

Hangin' with my boys.  Next time I will try for a smile.

Memorable moment:  During the lunch the big boys were done before the rest of us so they were running around in the trees nearby, when all of a sudden Elias calls out "mom, we found a bird" and comes running over with a dead bird in his hand.  UGH!  Scott told me he hadn't touched it, but I washed his hands like he had.

10 months...

 Two months from yesterday this guy will be one.  Freakin me out!

What's he up to these days?  Well he is still the happiest kid you'll ever meet.  He is always smiling, and lately he has taken to really smiling at people and flirting.  He's a charmer.  Watch out girls!

Owen is super fast crawler, especially when playing chase aka "imgunnagetchew".  That's probably his favorite pass time.  He cracks up when you say it and turns and crawls away as fast as he can.  He also loves to wrestle with Scott.  The two of them have started getting rough, much to my dismay and constant background commentary of "watch out for your brother", "gentle", "get off of him".  Last night they were wrestling after bath while I was getting them into jams and Scott head butted Owen causing him to fall backwards onto his head - I gasped, Owen could not have laughed harder.  He loved it and came back for more.  Lord help me!

Owen is still not a walker but he can surely cruise all over the furniture and anywhere as long as he has a walking toy.

He has 5 teeth and I'm pretty sure he is working on a few more as we speak.  Happily for everyone involved, Owen doesn't seem to run high fevers with each tooth anymore (knock on wood).  His last tooth came through with nothing more than a sleepless night.  He is putting those pearly whites to good use by eating up a storm.  We are still mostly on purees but there is almost nothing he hasn't tried.  He seems to not care for butternut squash and he absolutely would not touch the blueberry and banana puree I made after the first time he tried it, first time love, ever since HATE! I have given him little bits of cucumber which he LOVES and little bits of banana which he hates (which makes me think just blueberry puree would be a hit).

Miscellaneous facts:  Owen LOVES to dance.  Loves!  He dances all day!  Beyond cute.  Anytime music comes on he rocks back and forth and smiles so big it looks like his cheeks are going to pop.  Also I think he signed "more" to me the other night at dinner.  He did the same motion on two occasions when it would have been appropriate.  But he hasn't done it since so maybe not. Does this make me that mom who thinks their kid is so advanced?  Probably.  Either way I think he rocks!  And we have also mastered the backpack wearing in the ergo carrier and he is loving the view.  It was kind of a necessity as he still comes with me when I work in Scott's classroom on Thursdays, this way Owen gets to watch everything and I get to have my hands even more free to help out.  Win win!

Love this little mr. mcweetums! Isn't he delicious?!!??!

California snow suit

It's flippin' freezing here!  Temps below freezing over night and in the 30's and 40's during the days.  These California babies don't know what to make of this cold!  Plus its super sunny out so Scott cannot for the life of him figure out why I make him put on jacket, hat and shoes before we go outside (until we get outside and he realizes how cold it is).  And since we only get weather like this maybe four days a year we don't invest in the attire.  So my boys are wearing footie jams 24/7 layered with hoodies and beanies when we go outside.  And that my friends is a California style snow suit!

After this particular park outing pictured we came home for hot chocolate and for the first time ever Scott got marshmallows in his.  (If you are interested, for Scott I just heated up chocolate almond milk and he was none the wiser, still dairy free for this kid).  And it should be noted: I LOVE how Scott pronounces it "hot chic-witt".  So cute! Part of me wants him to never grow out of it, but I know he will, way too fast!

Happy winter!

Superman's Mom

We play a lot of superhero around here lately.  Fun.  And hilarious.  Here is an example:  today Scott had on his superman jams (which he calls his batman jams) around 3pm (we are that family, don't judge).  He said "I'm batman, daddy is Superman and you are a rescuenaut." (astronaut, but sometimes he confuses that word with other things).  And I asked what Owen was, Scott said, "A Rhino".  So there you have it:  Superman, Batman, a rescuenaut and a Rhino....walk into a bar....

And just for my memory purpose Scott was trying to remember the words to "Slippery Fish" in the bathtub tonight and when we got to "octopus" he stopped for a second, thought, then exclaimed: "OH yeah, OCTOFISH!" LOL! For real!

{gf} banana bread

I started using the recipe about 6 months ago and figured it was high time I posted it so that a) you all could enjoy it should you choose and b) so that I don't ever lose it.

1 jar (16oz) raw almond butter (I use Trader Joe's)

4 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

~ 1/4 c. of  honey (or agave but I'm not a fan); also I have never measured this I just guestimate

* blend those ingredients together then add mix ins

My favorite mix ins (which in my mind make it banana bread, without bananas its really not banana bread, so I guess up til now its just a great basic muffin mix)

2 bananas sliced up

walnuts

dark chocolate pieces 

I never measure these either.

Bake in either muffin tins (~20 mins) or mini bread pans (~25mins) @ 350

They are insanely good and addicting!  My favorite part is not only are they gluten free but completely grain free (which is something I'm experimenting with right now out of necessity).

Hope you enjoy!

Friday Fun & Bonus Material (in no particular order)

I hate when I upload pictures a certain way and they don't show up like that.  And today, I'm not fixing it.  So first off, our couch arrived.  Merry Christmas to us.  Its so comfy and we love how it turned out.  I was a little nervous about the navy blue in the weeks after we ordered it.  I have never gone dark like this, we have always had some variation of beige/neutral, so this was definitely outside the box for us.  And I'm so glad we did it.  Plus I'm sold on the dark already with two boys and a black dog I think the dark will make it look newer longer.

Now we go out of order completely.  Here is Owen enjoying his empty starbucks cup....I will pick up more of the friday fun story later on.

Driving to meet our friends at the library, we passed the street that we would turn on to get to the country club where Brian and I got married.  Awwwe sweet memories!

Yesterday before our adventure Owen took a two hour nap, in his crib, by himself, WHOA BABY.  So Scott and I had some fun in his pop up tent.

A few days ago, this mess happened.  Bright colored messes bring me joy.  These two boys bring me the most joy!

Oh and I pulled a muscle in my shoulder (anterior deltoid if you care).  So I have been icing every hour and "resting" it as much as possible.  Hard to rest a shoulder when you have 20 and 30 lb. children who need to be picked up frequently.

Wednesday (? I think) we went up to Mimi and Papa's and went for a hike (on which I took zero pictures, but mimi did so maybe I will get some from her eventually).  Then we came back and played in the backyard where Owen had an absolute ball in the cozy coupe (both pushing it and riding in it).  Parker and Scott were riding the tricycle and scooter and Owen really felt like one of the big boys riding around with them!

Speaking of outside the box....here is our chalk board inspiration of the month!

While he is not a true walker yet, Owen can definitely cruise on furniture or with a push toy (as seen below).  This day he walked back and forth across the yard at least 5 times. 

Back to friday funday, we met the Richie gals at the library where we played by the fountain, read tons of books, ate an amazing gluten free pizza from fresh brothers, went to starbucks for a yummy treat and just had an all around good time.

The biggest littles enjoying their banana smoothie from starbucks (can be made dairy free, I think the kiddos just love their special grown up cup with the green straw)

Happy weekend friends!

New Year Update

What have we been up to since Christmas?  Well, NYE Brian had surgery on his wrist and had the nerve and tendons repaired, so HAPPY NEW YEAR!  The surgery went great and Brian is recovering well.  He is looking forward to his follow up appointment with the surgeon to get cleared for PT.  Thank you to everyone who has checked up on him and helped us out and sent yummy food!!! We have felt so cared for!

Then last week we had the oleander in our backyard torn out.  If you remember I had a crazy reaction to it, which is not uncommon because it is poisonous.  Then I had been noticing that Scott's cheeks had been flushing out every time he played in the backyard.  We had thought about doing it anyways to create more space so we just did it (ie had our gardener do it).

Before:

After:

 We are so excited to start working on our "clean slate".  We miss the privacy it created but we have big plans to make it even better.

We have had lots of hang out time at home, a lot of which has included the tent!

My mom and I took all the boys to the new beach park by her house and had to stop for yogurt after!

Owen had his first experience riding in the trader joe's cart.  He definitely felt like the big man on campus.  I was sad and have since been keeping him in the ergo...I don't want the baby wearing stage to end.  Plus with both boys in the cart there is not much room for groceries, and I'm not totally keen on Scott walking while I shop yet (he likes to wander).

Daddy goes back to work tomorrow which means back to routine for all of us.  Scott is really looking forward to being back at school.  His teacher mailed him a 'Happy New Year/Thank You' card with a picture of their class pet "bun bun" on it.  Scott loved it so much he slept with it.

Grandpa, Devon and Nicole came to visit over New Years.  Scott got a guitar lesson from his Uncle Devon.

Even though Daddy is down to one arm his is still able to play catch with Scott (Dad of the year!).  I took pictures with my phone, from indoors because it was dang cold out so sorry for the quality.

Despite the cold we have been at the park most days.  Owen can't get enough!

Today during nap I thought up a great game (well I didn't make it up, I just thought what a great game to play) that I thought would be quiet so Owen could sleep.  Its amazing that even blowing a cotton ball at each other with straws still turns into the loudest game ever.  When this was over we moved on to playdough. 

Yesterday we got to visit with the Johnsons!  We had a great time, the boys got to show off their park and the parents got some much needed and long over do hang out and catch up time!  Thanks for coming up Johnson crew!

Scott loved getting pushed by Riley.  Can't believe how fast they are all growing up.

The moms were there too...haha!  Thanks for the great pics Leilani! 

Well happy 2013 friends and fam!  We are excited to see what the year has in store!  I still can't get over the boys turning 1 and 3 this year (in a few short weeks actually).