Baby Blessing

My baby is two months old! And we had the wonderful opportunity to give him a baby blessing (as is customary in our church) this past Sunday. My parents, my brother Brett, and nephew Will came to celebrate the occasion with us. The weekend went by much too quickly, as it usually does with family. But we were happy to be together and give our Gavin lots of attention.

As for some interesting stats, he is 14 lbs already. I thought Owen was a chunky little guy, but Gavin may have him beat. I love all the chubbiness. Cheeks and thighs especially! He is also getting so strong--holding his head up and using his legs to stand in place. He loves to smile...a lot. He is so cheery and will coo to anyone who looks at him. He just discovered how to blow bubbles in the past couple days too. And he loves, loves bathtime. As soon as the evening hour hits he is ready to splash. He's a good little guy. We feel so lucky to have him.

Utah

Some highlights from our last trip for the summer:

It was the first time we had been together with Mark's parents and all his sisters in several years. So family pictures were in order.

It was our first time visiting Cherry Hill. We met up with our California-turned-Utah friends and hung out a bit. Owen loves his buddy Trenton.

It was NOT our first time at the zoo...but this was one of many things Owen got to do with his cousins.

It was the first time the boys took a bath together...per Owen's request.

It was my first time flying with both the boys alone...and not my last.

Triple Threat

Last week I was packing for a little family trip to Utah. Gavin was taking a snooze and Owen was keeping me company by talking my ear off and simultaneously jumping off his bed...as usual. It wasn't long before one particular jump ended in a crash landing and a hurt arm. We treated it like any other injury by checking it out, putting the trusty ice pack on it, and soothing the tears away. Owen went to bed shortly after and woke up to more pain the next morning.

Now Owen is no stranger to scrapes and bruises. He's definitely not a wimp. But he complained of pain and refused to use his arm. So (with no swelling and no bruising) we figured a trip to the doctor couldn't hurt just to be sure. The doctor requested we get an x-ray since we'd be leaving town shortly. And after a trip to radiology and a referral to an orthopedic surgeon, we walked away with a bright blue cast. Owen had broken his arm in two places!

But here's the clincher. Two of the cousins we came out to visit in Utah happened to have casts too. Jasper, age 7, injured his arm in a trampoline accident. And Cameron, age 11, fell while climbing a tree. All three boys had casts! On their right arms! At the same time! What are the odds?

Super Hero Birthday

We celebrated Owen's 3rd birthday last week with a superhero party. It was a team effort to make the whole thing happen...what with a newborn around and all.


First, Mark and I put together some activities for our little heroes in training. They decorated super hero masks and completed an obstacle course testing their agility, courage, and speed.

Then they practiced their super powers by shooting balls and rockets into floating hoops in the pool.

When all activities were completed, each guest was presented with an authentic, handmade, his or hers, super-duper cape. Lest you get too impressed with my ability to make homemade invitations AND capes, you must know that my mom sewed every single cape while she was here helping out with the baby.

The capes were amazing! Even on the littlest of heroes.

And we ended the celebration by serving lunch and super hero cupcakes. It all came together quite nicely (with even more help from friends who prepared food and took turns holding Gavin during the party).
And a special thanks to our photographer, Caleb, for supplying us with all these photos. It allowed us to enjoy the party even more!

1 and 3 and 9

This past week marked several milestones for us. Gavin is 1 month old! Time has flown by since he was born. I feel like it is still the beginning of July, and here we are in August. But Gavin is truly a good baby. He is giving me a reasonable amount of sleep at night so I can function during the day. That's all I can ask at this point, really. And he adds an incredible dynamic to our family. He is sweet and calming and so very handsome.
Owen is 3 years old! Yes, my little Owen had his birthday this past week. And the big brother in him is coming out full force. Aside from his usual help with diaper changing and burping and the like, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. He likes to hold Gavin...a lot. If I happen to leave the two alone for a moment, I come back to find Gavin in a new place. Hmmm. I wonder how that happened?
We have been married for 9 years! Mark and I just celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. And he gave me the best anniversary present ever. He let me sleep in first of all. And when I awoke he told me he'd be taking the day off work. That may not seem like much, but tears came to my eyes when I heard it. I NEEDED the break. We spent the day getting some important errands done and eating lunch out as a family. It was low-key, relaxing, and simply wonderful. Eating good food and tackling my "to-do" list...the day was just right.

An Adjustment

I had a short list of things I wanted to accomplish today:
1. Do the laundry
2. Go grocery shopping
3. Make banana bread

Here's what I accomplished:
1. Took clothes out of dryer and folded just four items
2. Wrote out a partial grocery list
2. Opened my recipe book

I think I'll readjust tomorrow's goals to look something like this:
1. Feed Gavin all day
2. Keep Owen busy while feeding Gavin all day

Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Solomon

I thought it would be a fun comparison to show a baby pic of the boys. I'm sure you can tell the middle picture is Mark. (His mom hinted to me that he was not the cutest baby, but I just love that photo. His little features and head of hair are ridiculous!) Mark was a small baby at birth, weighing in under six pounds. And the photo doesn't show it, but he had distinct red hair.

Owen is the baby on the right. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz at birth and was 21.5 inches long. He was also 9 days overdue! His hair does not show well in this picture, but he had a substantial amount of medium blonde.

Gavin is on the left. Of course he weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 19 inches long. He was also born a day BEFORE his due date. It was a good thing my doctor suggested inducing me early. I can't imagine how much longer he would have hung out in there and how much more he would have weighed! He has more hair than Owen did and it is a slight red/brown color.

When I first saw Gavin it felt a little like deja vu. I couldn't stop thinking about how much he looked like Owen at birth. And although there is a clear resemblance, they each have their own distinct look. I can't wait to see how their personalities compare!

Introducing...

Gavin Mark Solomon
Okay, okay. If you've been anywhere near Facebook or Twitter you know he arrived a week ago. But his name hadn't been established until just yesterday.

Yes, we left the hospital without choosing one. And no, we did not get harrassed by the nurses for doing so. We pretty much waited until the last possible minute to put it in writing. That's just our style this time around.

But he's here and we are overjoyed! He weighed in at 8lbs 8oz and was 19.5in long. The labor and delivery were just short of amazing. I had a wonderful experience (much improved over O's delivery) and actually felt good afterwards.

We're all so excited to have baby Gavin around, no one more so than Owen. His new favorite activity is trying to wake baby up every time he is sleeping (which is most of the time). He also happens to be an expert on what baby wants. A true bother...I mean brother.

I'll post more pics and info in the coming days. For now we are simply adjusting to life as a little family of four. It's truly amazing. We love our little Gav.

Can You Guess...

Which belly is which?

One is my pregnant Owen belly and the other is my current pregnant belly just a week before my respective due dates. Interesting comparison, no?

Bending it Like Beckham

Would you believe this child is just two years old? I don't know if it's because I've got baby on the brain or if I'm just realizing my little guy is not so little anymore--either way, I swear he looks at least four.

Lately Mark and Owen have been kicking the ball around together at the park and in our culdesac. And I love watching them play. Mark must be in heaven to finally have a little soccer player in training.

Mark has played on a soccer team ever since I've known him. When we were dating I used to watch him play indoor soccer in Salt Lake. Then when we got married and moved to Houston he played on both an indoor team and an outdoor coed team. Once I even attempted to play on the coed team with him. Seriously. I look much better from the sidelines than I do on the field in shin guards and cleats. (Short-lived was my soccer career.) And then we moved to Oregon, and Mark continued to play the sport he grew up playing. Whether it was on his lunch break or at a late night game, he managed to make time for soccer. But ever since we came to California Mark has been off the field. With a kiddo in the mix and a demanding job, life just got busy. And I didn't realize how much I missed watching soccer until I saw these pictures of Owen.

I have a feeling the sport may be making a comeback in the next few years. My little O is growing up. And with another boy on the way, I think "Soccer Mom" is in my future.

Operation Baby Brother

We're counting down the days until baby arrives. Up to this point, I have to admit I have just sailed through the pregnancy without much thought of the after-birth. It has not consumed my every conversation, thought, action...like it did the first time around. Quite the opposite, in fact. I have to keep reminding myself we ARE having another baby. We are, we are, we are. And so with the due date only a few short weeks away, I feel a need to set the tone. Make preparations! It is time to get serious! This week our days are being filled with things like:

1. Reading "big brother" books we checked out at the library
2. Making the switch to a big boy bed
3. Pulling out and organizing baby clothes and toys
4. Taking a tour of the hospital
5. Talking to baby in my belly; giving him high-fives and kisses
6. Picking out a name...or at least establishing a solid list of choices

Oh brother, I'm totally not ready for this.

Getting All Crafty

As if we didn't have enough going on with all our travels and renovations this past month, I managed to squeeze in a little craftiness on the side. The first couple weeks in May found me participating in a local craft boutique and organizing another Enrichment Night for church. While I normally enjoy doing both, it was a bit stressful to get it all together this time around. Thankfully it is over with and I can start relaxing for the next 7 or 8 weeks until baby comes. Wait, I only have 7 or 8 weeks? Maybe relaxing isn't quite the right word.

Anyhow, here's a little peek at what I made and sold at the boutique.

I sold sets of decorative wooden blocks, magnetic message boards, and scrabble tile pendant necklaces.


The necklaces turned out so cute. They deserve a close up.


And my mom convinced me to sell some last-minute baked goods as well. She really did all the work...and I took all the credit. We prepared two kinds of cookies--sugar cookies decorated with summer flip-flops and painted toenails AND monster cookies handsomely packaged in CD envelopes. The cookies were both adorable and delicious!


And finally our May Enrichment Night. The theme of the evening was "Simple Abundance". The tables were decorated with pots of wheat grass that I grew from seed and took care of for the past few weeks. I also made butterflies out of coordinating napkins to hang on the walls; and used the same patterned napkins to create signs for our display tables. The decorations were simple and cheery. Paired with our uplifting message and informative displays, I'd say it all came together quite nicely.

One Busy Month

April, where did you go? You were just here a second ago. It's hard to believe you were around for a whole 30 days. We were so busy visiting and being visited that we hardly noticed you. One busy month, that's for sure.
Part 1: The beginning of the month brought a visit from my dear friend Marissa and baby J. It is always good to see her. But it was especially fun to spend time with her little one as well. We had been waiting to meet him for months. And he was just as cute as promised. Plus he offered good practice for Owen's coursework on "how to be a big brother". Oh how I wish they lived closer!

Here are the little buddies after a dip in the pool. Baby Wy at 5 months, Owen at 2 years and 9 months, and baby J at 8 months. [Photo via Kim's blog]


Part 2: Not even a day after Marissa's visit, Owen and I headed out to Utah to visit family. We had a great time staying with the grandparents. Again, I wish we lived closer so we could hang out more often. I have no good pictures of our trip because I did not take the camera. So instead, I will entice you with a list of Owen's highlights.
1. Spending time with older cousins - watching their lacrosse games, visiting them at school, unleashing some wildness, idolizing everything they do
2. Taking a personal tour of the fire station with uncle Dan (it's great to have a firefighter in the family)
3. Dropping by the local library storytime about dinosaurs (quite possibly the coolest storytime we've ever been to)
4. Visiting the zoo with Grandma and the pet store with Grandpa (yielding two small goldfish)
5. Getting to play with Trenton (a favorite San Jose buddy who now lives in Utah)
Here are O and T hanging with T's twin sisters. It was just so fun to see them and catch up for an afternoon. [Photo via Jami's blog]


Part 3: Not even a day after returning home from Utah, we found ourselves hosting another set of visitors. My parents flew down to visit [work for] us. My dad spent the week renovating our master bathroom with Mark. And my mom spent the week helping me craft and prepare for the new baby. Owen spent the week hunting pirates with grandma and fixing things with grandpa. We owe them BIG TIME! (Pictures of the renovation are in the works).

San Diego

We recently returned from southern California where we spent a week in the sunshine with our Oregon friends. It was so nice to get away and enjoy the beautiful spring weather. We drove down and rented a beach house in the Carlsbad area where we soaked up the sights. Despite two urgent care visits (one for Owen and one for Kim) during the week, we fully enjoyed ourselves and began planning our next vacation together before this one even ended.


The first highlight of our trip was Legoland. I have to admit I have always heard great things about it but never really understood what could be so cool. And now I know! So maybe it's geared a bit more toward boys, but I think I enjoyed our day there just as much as Owen and Mark. So many fun things to do, see, ride, build...


One day during the vacation, Mark had to drive up to LA for work. So Owen and I went with our green-thumbed friend, Abby, to the Carlsbad Flower Fields. They were gorgeous and springy and so very perfect. Rows and rows of ranunculas as far as the eye could see. The greatest part was watching the field workers collect small bouquets of the delicate flowers and load them onto trucks. They looked like they were ready to be delivered to my local grocery store...but I got to see them being picked fresh from the fields!


Our second family outing was SeaWorld. I don't have any amazing pictures of it because we took more video than anything. But Owen's mouth was half-open in awe the entire day. In fact, we're still hearing him talk about "Shamu" the "BIG whale" and "San Diego". We had a great time seeing all the sealife and watching the amazing shows. And we were true theme park goers (to Both SeaWorld and Legoland). We arrived when it opened and stayed until it closed.



And our last big stop was the San Diego Temple. We couldn't leave the area without seeing such an exquisite building. We enjoyed a peaceful family walk along paths of perfectly manicured foliage. Then Owen released some wild and crazy...so we left.

A trip to southern California? I would highly recommend it to anyone. Especially those of you who live in states that are still getting snow. C'mon, it's April already!

A Walk in the Park

There is a lovely little park a block away from our house. We go there A LOT. And Owen looks forward to the park for two reasons. First, of course, is the play equipment full of friends. And second is the variety of dogs he encounters along the way. Owen's routine is to greet the dog (every single one), pet the dog, and get the dog to lick his hand.
Well a few days ago Owen wanted to go to the park just before dinner. This time he informed me he'd be walking his dog. Alright, I said. I grabbed our shoes and jackets. Owen grabbed his dog (a.k.a. vintage-style pull toy given to Owen by my parents when he first started walking).
We walked to the park with the loud clickety-clack, clickety-clack of the dog's wheels all along the way. When we reached the play equipment I figured our "doggy" would soon be forgotten. But I was very wrong. Owen went about introducing his pet to all the other dogs and their owners. He showed the dog to all his playground friends. And he made sure I took good care of the dog while he went down the slides and crossed the bridges.
We got all kinds of looks from people; friendly smiles, pity, genuine confusion. I just sat back and let Owen do the talking. Then with a clickety-clack, clickety-clack all along the way, we walked our dog back home again. And I couldn't help but think to myself that maybe it's time to get a real dog. If only it were as easy to take care of as our pull toy variety.

Spring Project: New Carpet

We have never been very attached to the carpet in our place. It is old and worn, holds the smells of renters past, has no padding, and is off-white. Off-white! Kids and light carpet do not a happy combination make. After shopping around a bit, we found a great deal and snagged it. The new carpet was installed a few weeks ago. And it is heavenly!
Somehow, with new-carpet stars in my eyes, I overlooked the fact that we would have to move all our belongings out of the house for this little renovation. It was a painful couple of days. I did what little I could and left the heavy-lifting to Mark (and a few good friends).
In the end? Totally worth it! Not only do we have the new carpet, but I was also able to sneak in a deep spring cleaning of the entire house. We decluttered and donated, spaced out and spruced up. Though my nesting instincts tell me there is more to do, I am feeling pretty satisfied with the changes.
We forgot to take a good "before" pic, so you have a "during" pic instead. It doesn't give a true picture of the improvement. But trust me, it's oh so much better.

Spring Enrichment Night

Whenever there is a serious lack of blogging going on, you can be sure we are busy living our lives. And now that spring has sprung, we are tackling one project after another. The first one I'll post about is our church Enrichment Night Birthday Dinner that took place last week. I only snapped a few photos before the evening got underway, but our theme was "Hats Off to Relief Society".


As you can imagine the decor featured a lot of hats. I tried to stick to a spring color scheme of pinks, yellows, and oranges. Everything looked fresh and springy. On each of the dinner tables sat a white hat. We overturned the hats and used them as vases to hold arrangements of bright flowers. We also hung pink, yellow, and orange rice paper daisy decorations on the walls behind the serving tables. We created a display board that showcased each of the General Relief Society presidents over the past 167 years too. But my favorite feature of the evening had to be a grouping of old-fashioned hats borrowed from Mark's grandma. The hats had been stored away in the most delicate hat box and each was so special. I felt privileged to borrow them for the evening. We served a delicious dinner and held a fashion show of hats. Everything turned out really well. Now I can take a few breaths before I have to start planning the next Enrichment Night!

#2

Our 20-week ultrasound proved successful. The baby looks healthy and as the doctor put it "everything looks grossly normal". That's good, right? Anyway, our little one was not shy about revealing his parts to us. So, it looks like we'll be adding another boy to Team Solomon.

Mark is super excited because he never had a brother growing up. And he didn't want Owen to have to go through all the pain and suffering that comes with only having sisters. Owen is excited...he just doesn't know it yet. And I'm excited too, with a few reservations about the amount of energy it will take to raise two wild things. However, it looks like I'll have to wait to use these (and some other) cute pieces I was setting aside...just in case.
(Our poor second child. This is the big post where he gets announced to the blogger world and I just referred to him as "#2" while posting pictures of girl clothes. Sorry little guy.)

It Sucks!

My new vacuum, that is.

I have had the same vacuum for the past 8 years. It was given to us as a wedding gift. And that little Dirt Devil has done its job well, or so I thought. Over the past few months when I would take it out to clean I would notice the faint smell of burning rubber. And there’s nothing I like better than a clean house smelling like mechanical malfunctions. I had also noticed that the poor Devil was not picking up all the little fuzzies and crumbs off the carpet. No matter how many back and forths I gave it, there was still a smathering of specks left behind. And when the hose attachment gave out it was the last straw. This was unacceptable, I said. So I began the search for a new vacuum.

After much research and shopping, I finally found a keeper. Last weekend we brought it home and tried it out. You would not believe the excitement that welled up inside me as we unpackaged the box and assembled the new sucker. It was like the best birthday ever…and it wasn’t even my birthday. (Side note: I have a friend whose husband…with the best of intentions…surprised her with a new vacuum on her birthday. She was so devastated by it that she was in tears when I dropped by her house to give her a little gift. At the time I thought he screwed up big time). Turns out I would have been overjoyed to receive such a gift. There is something about cleaning supplies that warms my heart. I could write a whole post about my favorites (later, maybe). I am seriously so excited to pull out my new vacuum and clean the floors. In fact, just to prove how pleased I am with the new product you must see this:


The photo was taken on Mark's iPhone just after we assembled the vacuum and used it on the living room and dining room carpets. That is just two room's worth! What was my old vacuum picking up? Apparently nothing.

So I welcome you, vacuum. Thank you for sucking.

Wicked

This past week we joined the ranks of thousands of others in seeing the ever-popular Wicked. And I have to say it was every bit as good as everyone claimed. It was such a treat to dress in something other than jeans and a hoodie, drive up to San Francisco and have quality conversation with Mark, and attend a musical performance at a theater in the big city. You see, we don't get out much.

We had great seats and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves (thanks Kim and Caleb). I was so happy to just be there that it didn't even phase me when the girl next to me mentioned it was her fourth time seeing the show. She had already seen it in London, Australia, and New York. Yeah, didn't even phase me.