Summer at Home

Don't ask me why, but all of these pictures uploaded completely out of order. Oh well! It's a smattering of pictures from our summer that have finally been uploaded and gathered.

Ian loves toys! He's gotten so imaginative in his play and uses different voices for each toy, allowing them to converse. We just love listening and watching him play. Ian's animals are still a very popular toy. While we were at The Pinery last week he was gifted a bunch of matchbox cars from my family in Miami. He spends lots of time arranging them in lines and rows around our house.

 Owen's gotten stronger and stronger. Rolling over and lifting his head far about his hands. He can crane is neck in any direction necessary and often turns 360 degrees around on the blanket. Owen's quite interested and observant.

 At the very beginning of the summer we had about a week straight of grandparent visits!! It was lovely.

Fourth of July- Owen had some very appropriate leggings!

 These boys are found like this all throughout our days. They LOVED being together, babbling back and forth, and smiling at each other. It's going to be fun to watch this relationship unfold.

Ian learned how to catch a ball this summer! He loves throwing back and forth or dribbling or chasing us as we dribble around the yard.

 

If this picture is any indication, Ian definitely approves of cooling down with a cool smoothie! No matter the color ;)

 Owen's dexterity has improved greatly. It's so sweet to get purposeful caresses and watch him manipulate his toys and other objects around him.

We've read loads and loads of books. The local library had a challenge to read 20 hours over the summer. This kid easily surpasses that in very little time. He's started asking more comprehension questions while we're reading, which is really fun. Ian's also quoting the books we read a lot while he plays or walks throughout our house. It's so fun, almost like a auditory scavenger hunt, to listen to him speak and figure out which book he's quoting. We have a pirate book called, "Pirates Don't Change Diapers" and that is a common source. It's fun to hear pirate jargon (all appropriate) coming from our sweet two year old's mouth!

 Jim's parents are clearing out his childhood home and brought us six adirondack chairs. They needed to be stained and so Ian and Jim spent some time painting them together. What a pair they made!

 Owen's favorite past-time (other than rolling, nursing, sleeping, ha!) is sticking his feet in his mouth. What delectable treats his toes must be! Ian continues to be a huge fan of apples, but the tomatoes currently growing in our garden are the most recent winner! He downed a whole pint before I even noticed he'd been sneaking them off of the kitchen counter!

These two. More of the sweet, sweet same.

Papa continues to bring so much joy and love into the lives of these boys. 

 Owen's taking notes. Soon he'll be in the mix, too. It's going to wild around here!

 Each homemade dinner is brought to you by either naptime or the jumper! Thank goodness for this jumper! He loves it (most of the time)!

This HAD been a really cute moment when both boys were lying on their bellies on this blanket. Right when I grabbed the camera, Ian turned around. Oh well! I still love the way his legs are crossed.

 I told you these are crazy out of order. Here are some of Aunt Erin and Seraphina when they visited last week. We loved having them here and getting the cousins together again! Sadly we didn't get one of all three of them together. So silly!

 They enjoyed playing together a lot. Ian did a great job sharing his toys.

 More grandparents visits...

 Sweet moments between brothers.

I don't bring my big camera on many excursions, so Instragram has a lot of our outings. But I love these moments captured around our home with the boys. This is everyday life.

Life & Visits

While life has been fairly simple with cuddles, diaper changes, and nursings, it's seemed so busy and full during these first few weeks. We've had Jim's mom here for a week, then one week of normal family life, and now Jim's sister is here for a few days. Here are a few photos to capture some of Owen's early weeks and our new life as a family of four.

 Still in his scrub pants, Jim reads a story to Ian. We're trying to make sure we devote loads of time and attention to him, although he makes it fairly easy, since he loves to ask to be read to, played with, and sung to. He's very social.

 Somehow we all seem to end up on the couch together a lot. It's lovely.

 We're so grateful for our time with Gramee. Thank you for the meals, games, books, and love that you poured into all of us.

 We look forward to our next visit!!

 Owen continues to adore his sheepskin. We just love this sleeping angel.

 From the very beginning he responded to the sound of my voice and would turn his head toward me. Lately he's really been catching my eyes and gazing into them for long periods of time. It's the sweetest, most heart-warming experience. Oh, my heart... being a mama is the best.

 One day Ian and I made something with peanut butter and honey and I let him lick the spatula. He was covered in both from his forehead to his chin, but boy was he happy!!!

 Life's included a lot of really sweet sibling moments. Most of them include Ian asking to hold Owen, which is wonderful. He's very gentle and immediately wants to hand him off as soon as he fusses, "Owen's upset."

 This was a sweet moment... those guys...

 I've been placing Owen on a blanket on the floor sometimes, while Ian and I are playing in the same room. Owen is very content to lie on his back and watch the world around him. Overall he's a very content baby and enjoys having a few independent, quiet moments during the day.

If he fusses, there's always a reason... gas is normally the culprit.

Ian's very careful about staying off of the blanket, as he navigates the room. He walks around the blanket and even verbalizes, "We have to be careful around Owen." Yes, we do! Thanks, Son!

 Moments like this make me so happy. Two boys already "playing" independently in the same room together. Both content, both aware of the other's presence. Both feeling my presence in the same room. Both feeling known.

 His alert eyes just melt me. Such an aware, active, sweet little man.

"Easy like Sunday morning..."

We're looking forward to more mornings like this next week during Jim's vacation time :)

 I snapped a few pictures like this of Ian, when he was a baby, so I thought I'd do a couple this time, too. Ian came in and hopped into the photo :)

 Christine came for a visit and obliged me by taking a few (okay a TON) of pictures of me & Owen. Thank you for your patience and for taking a bizillion photos for me to choose from. Post to come.

This picture occurred during the photo shoot. Ian was playing happily with Leif for most of the time, but he came over for a kiss on his hand, when he got a scratch. All things can be solved so easily for a toddler. If only we could keep this innocence...

 We're so grateful that Christine chooses to spend her vacations from pharmacy school with us. She comes often enough that she knows most of our friends and Ian calls our guest room "Istine's room," even when she's not here. This visit she took Ian to hang out with my friends and their kids while Owen and I had a quiet morning at home. A blessing for both Ian and me.

 Owen loves her, too. And I think that the feeling is mutual.

There you go, a few snapshots into visits and daily life in the past couple of weeks.