17 Months

Owen is 17 months...and busier than ever! He loves climbing, especially on the furniture in our house. And he's so proud of himself each time he gets on top of a chair or couch without assistance (we're proud of him too!). Owen loves to play outside, and thankfully the fall has given us some beautiful weather to enjoy. We started swim lessons this month, which has been a fun (& important) new activity. Owen loves to play with cars, play under a pretend fort, look at books, and stack his blocks (he can stack them 6+ high, which seems pretty good!). Owen gets excited whenever he sees balloons, as well as airplanes and trains. He has many new words & sounds, and he continues to mimic our behaviors more & more - including putting an oven mitt on his hand and standing in front of the oven! Owen (like most toddlers?) likes to throw things - which is a bit of a challenge as we attempt to teach when it's okay to throw (ie: a ball outside) and when it's not ok to throw (ie: his wooden cars in the living room, and his food from his high chair tray). We've enjoyed many play-dates with local friends (photos for a future blog post!) and several special family birthday celebrations. It's been a great month!

Owen & cousin Remy celebrating birthday's for Grandpa Jim & Uncle Greg

A hot fall day brings one last backyard swim

Being silly with great-grandma Marion

"Go Huskys" - saying goodbye to dad & Grandpa Clark as they head to Seattle for the UW football game

Climbed on the recliner myself - so proud!

Mimicking the faces in the book

Farm Visit

Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful fall day (is it really fall already?)...80 degree weather and bright blue sky! We took the opportunity to head to a local farm for opening day of their "harvest festival", and surprisingly we were some of the only people there! No doubt as we get into October farms such as these will be full of visitors, but in the meantime we enjoyed the treat of a farm nearly to ourselves!

Oh look...an airplane! Owen always stops in excitement at the sound of an airplane or train. We love to experience the world through Owens’s eyes!

"Hello Llama" (Notice the wave. I love it!)

Our little runner smiles as if to dare "can you catch me?"

Our little farm boy

And what could be better at a farm than playing in the dirt!

Wow...this tractor is MUCH bigger than my toy trucks & tractors at home!

Look!...another airplane!

What better way to end our visit than by enjoying a homemade pumpkin donut from the little farm store! Yum! (and you bet - Brian and I both had one too...how could we resist?!)

Hood to Coast

During the last weekend of August, Brian participated in the Hood to Coast with a team from his office. Hood to Coast relay is thought to be the largest relay race in North America as it stretches 197 miles from Mt Hood OR to the Pacific Ocean in Seaside OR.

Their team of 24 people was divided into 2 vans of 12 people each. Truly a relay, they took turns - each person in their van running about 6 miles, and then they would rest (and drive) while the alternate van took over for the next segment. Each van had 3 segments, which means that Brian ran a total of about 18miles during the two-day event.

They started at about noon on Friday and ended at the Coast at about 5pm on Saturday. Although he got almost no sleep, and even ran one of his legs at about 2am, Brian had a blast and enjoyed the experience with his coworkers. Way to go, Brian! We're proud of you!

16 Months

Owen is 16 months! I recently realized that after he turned one I stopped writing about his monthly highlights....and I've really missed doing this!

Owen has really made the turn from a baby to a toddler. It's a lot of fun to see his personality developing more & more, and it's also providing new challenges as we're faced with new opportunities for "correction" (ie: no, it's not okay to throw your food and sippy cup as a way of telling us that you are "all done" with your meal).

He loves to laugh, and makes great animal sounds on cue (roaring, meowing, and barking are the favorites). He's walking almost exclusively now, enjoys climbing (boxes, furniture, whatever!), and is already trying to both run and jump. We have one busy boy on our hands!

He holds the phone to his ear like he's talking, will show you his tummy if asked (knows other body parts too, like hair, ears, teeth, etc), likes to high-five and fist-bump, enjoys riding around the neighborhood in a little red push car we got him for his birthday (he says "vroom vroom" during the ride - so cute!) and actually sits still (on occasion) and listens as we read books to him. Great progress for a boy who used to only like to chew on his books!

Owen loves to snuggle cozy blankets and stuffed animals, enjoys playing with whiffle balls and musical instruments, and many of his favorite "toys" - if we'd let him - are actually our belongings...cell phone, keys, credit cards, pens, etc. He gets quite frustrated when we won't let him play with these things (go figure!) and is not fooled by the toy versions we've gotten him as a substitute.

Owen continues to be a great sleeper (one 2-3 hr nap in the afternoon, and 11 hrs at night), and is slowing becoming a better eater (the whole meal process is very boring to him, when he’d rather be down playing!) – his favorite foods being fresh fruit, bagel & cream cheese, avocado, and yogurt.

Owen is developing into a wonderful little boy with a great, strong, energetic, enthusiastic, and loving spirit. We are so blessed!

Welcome Baby Landon

We are celebrating the arrival of our new nephew!

Landon Paul Williams
7lbs 12oz
20inches

Blake & Angela (Linnea's brother & his wife) welcomed their precious baby boy on 8.9.10. Everyone is healthy and doing well!

Welcome to the world, sweet Landon! God has wonderful plans for your life, and we are so excited to be with you along the way. We love you very much!

Walking

Owen took his first steps in mid-July, but continues to prefer crawling...probably because he crawls so fast and has no problem keeping-up! We keep trying to capture some of these cute wobbly steps on camera, and tonight we were successful. Enjoy the clip!

8th Anniversary

On August 3rd, we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! Amazing to think it's been 8 years - and we had so much fun reminiscing about our magical wedding day and all that the last 8 years has included: many moves, homes, jobs, travels, and of course the arrival of Owen! Cheers to a wonderful 8 years...and 88 more ahead :)