Lucy in a romper I wore

I love that some of Lucy's clothes were mine when I was a baby. She's such a little precious peach in this ruffle-bottom romper.

Cute kid pics, August edition

When I was a little girl, my parents took a f---ton pictures of my brother and I with the polaroid camera and we did the obligatory seasonal Olan Mills trip. I hated the studio portraits because I couldn't then and still can't smile on request. My smiles were skin-crawlingly creepy. I am glad to now live in an age were it doesn't take a roll of film to get a decent shot and we can take as many home photos as we want and some of the time they are as nice as studio pics. My next goal for this year is to take a photography class so my pics can be amazing. Meantime, for having our camera out of commission, it's pretty freaking awesome to be able to take a half-decent shot, or shall I say a shot that rivals anything my old purple 110 could have caught, with my phone. I love living in the future!

Becoming his own man

I love this shot of Arthur. He loves scary things...loves them. Haunted mansions, The Dark Crystal, ghosts, aliens, skeletons, crystal balls, Tim Burton. He loves all that stuff...definitely our progeny. For this photo, I asked him to make his scared face. I think he did a pretty good job.

When you wait 12 years as a couple to reproduce, you put a lot of thought into the weight of what having children means. I truly believe that as Arthur and Lucy's parents, it's our job to help them find who they are and become the best version of that they can. But actually seeing that happen...well, it blows my mind every single day. 

There are so many things that make Arthur his own man. He quotes "The Raven" and can tell you it's by Edgar Allan Poe. He actually thinks the raven's name is "Quoth" (because the poem goes "Quoth the raven"), but nonetheless, he loves it. He eats (rather well) with chopsticks:

And he knows the names of several Star Trek species and all the major characters from Star Wars. 

I love the way he takes all his toys and creates elaborate scenarios with them, sending them on missions and having parties and such. I love that he plays with cars and with dolls equally. Hell, his cars and dolls go to parties together. I love that he dances and plays drums and makes up his own songs and stories. I love that he uses words like "actually" and uses the adverb "well" rather than "good" ("I don't do that very well") and that he loves tuna mac as much as he loves pizza. He enjoys helping us cook, and anytime we wash dishes by hand, he immediately brings his little chair up to the sink to help us. I especially love how he's starting to fill the role of big brother (protector, caretaker, teacher, friend):

I know these guys are going to be so close. I just can't wait to see who Lucy will become.

Pictorial family update

The baby is growing like a weed; she wears 12 month clothing at 4 months old.

Arthur is starting to really love having a baby sister.

Sneaking some love when no one is looking

Lots of playing dress-up for the fun of it

Hanging out at the VFW

Extra people in our bed

Learning new things

Quiet moments are rare these days

Grocery shopping as a family is more of an outing than an errand these days

 

Constant laughter all over the house

Free Tulsa 2011 Pics

If there's anything you've learned from reading this blog, it's that Yorktown Owens are some music-loving freaks.  We had such a great time last year that I was super excited to take the kids this year. Since Justin would have to meet me there again (he is a fine dining server at Chalkboard Restaurant when he's not busy rocking his GPA and working as a full time stay-at-home-dad), I needed a better system for toting kids around, so I picked up one of these awesome strollers: 

It's a Joovy Caboose: Little rides up front, Big rides on a seat in back. Simple, light, easy to use, and very appropriate for the kids' ages, since three and a half is old enough that sitting in a traditional stroller feels a bit baby-ish, but hanging on the back of sister's stroller is perfectly fine. 

Turns out there's much stashability factor, too,since I kind of have a reputation for not packing light. Plus, these freaking cloth diapers take up a lot of room (I still haven't had a chance to make that post...turns out Princess Lu has a very, very sensitive bottom; we have had a crash course in cloth diapering). The diaper bag can squash down on the baby's seat under the spot where the car seat is placed and there's another compartment under the boy's seat. Add the mommy hook and we're golden. For this event, we packed:

toys for boy and girl

glow sticks (for tracking errant children with in the dark)

Z bars and clif bars

thick blankets to sit on

baby supplies

hearing protection for little ears

bribes. never leave home without them! stickers are good ones.

extra clothes for kids

swaddler

plenty of water and juice for little boy & little friends

jammies. They'll fall asleep in the car on the way home if not sooner.

backpack carrier

peanut shell sling

Tiffany and baby Lu

River showing Artie how the real art is done

Taeh

Zoe and Lucy

Missy

Zach M. seemed to be having a jolly time

And that's why we have the backpack carrier. It's been a lifesaver. 

My homegirlz. Very rarely do we all get to hang out together, so seeing both of them pretty much made my week.