Who needs grass?

We have some landscaping aggragate (read rocks) in our backyard in between the pool and our grass. Owen likes to help Adam pull weeds by putting the "weeds" (rocks) in the bucket. Some kids will play with a shovel in a sandbox, while others will play ball on the grass. Owen, he likes to sit in the rocks with a paintbrush.

He's happy kid no matter where he is or what he's doing. He loves to be outdoors and cries when it is time to come in, even when it's 100+ degrees outside. Can you see his red cheeks?

Oh the Joys of......

Owning a swimming pool is presenting quite a few challenges for Adam. At least twice a week he tests the water for the appropriate chlorine levels, ph balance, alkalinity, etc. He ususally cleans the pool after taking Owen for a swim, and monitors the pump, skimmer, etc. Our pool has in-floor popup heads that swirl the water around and clean the pool. Last week Adam noticed that the pool wasn't as clean as it should be, nor were the popup heads popping up. So, knowing Adam as we do, he takes apart the part that controls the popup heads to see if he couldn't fix it himself. Funny noises later and making sure all the parts got put back together, things still weren't right. He took the part into our local Leslie Pools shop to see if they couldn't tell him how to fix it and/or fix it for him. They told us we had to call and make an appointment to get it fixed. Great, not what we were hoping for! Oh well. Adam definitely has a better understanding of how things work and after Thursday when the technician comes out, he'll have an even better understanding.

Swimming Swimming All the Day

Owen found an old pair of Adam's sunglasses the other day. He'll walk around the house with them on; he'll try to put them on himself but usually asks for help. Today he realized the actual benefit of wearing sunglasses while swimming with Adam. He kept the glasses on while floating in the pool. Now that's relaxation! (Can you see Adam's new haircut? He buzzed his head..... it looks fabulous!!!! :-) )

Weighing In

Today Caroline went in to the doctor for her 2 month check-up. She weighed in at a whopping 11 lbs. 11 oz. She grew another inch and is now 23 inches long. With this weight and length, it put her in the 75th percentile for both. Caroline has a little "pea head" and that is only in the 50th percentile. She got flogged with her 4 injected vaccines and got the rotavirus vaccine orally. (If you've ever lived through a child with rotavirus you know what it is. For those of you who haven't lived through it yet, good luck. The pediatrician said that 85% of children get rotavirus by the time they are 5. This vaccine is a series of 3. It can only be started when the child is 2 months old. After that, it's too late.) It won't complete prevent Caroline from getting rotavirus, but it will lessen the severity of the symptoms. Hopefully, she'll tolerate the injected vaccines as well as she has done with the others. If not, thank heavens for Tylenol!

Time to Swim!

It is time for Owen to learn how to swim. Owen is having fun (we think) learning how to swim. He doesn't enjoy swimming to the instructor, or learning how to get out of the pool, but overall he seems to be having fun. Sooner or later he'll learn to hold his breath BEFORE he gets dunked under water. For now, he usually takes a great big gulp of water before going under. He'll figure it out. Adam is on swimming lesson duty. I thought since I am with him all day long, this would be a great opportunity for Owen and Daddy to spend some time together. They both are enjoying the time. Just think, this time next year we'll have 2 in swimming lessons. Whoa!

It IS for Me!

So, I was (finally) cleaning out the TV armoire the other day and who crawled right on in and made himself comfortable? Yep, Lincoln did. That cat thinks everything is for him (the way most cats do). He doesn't care what is happening or what you are doing. If he wants to be in or on something, he feels free to make himself comfortable wherever he is. Lincoln loves to go into the kitchen pantry while the door is open. Sometimes he even gets shut in there without me knowing. I don't know he's in there until I hear a faint "meow" and I've got to go searching for it. The crazy cat!

Say "Cheese!"

Cari is so smiley these days. Just about anyone can get her to smile. I love that she is so happy and smiley. It makes getting up in the middle of the night, or early in the morning, so worth it. Sometimes I will even make her smile so I can remind myself of why I do what I do.

A Nice Evening Out at the Park

The other night it was absolutely great! It was nice and cool (about 85 degrees) with a slight breeze. Adam and I took Owen and Caroline to the park. It's not a big park to play, but Owen had lots of fun swinging, walking around all over the grass and near the water, and watching all of the dogs at the park. It was fun and a nice treat not to have to deal with the heat. Wish we could have a few more evenings like this.

Someone or Something to Push Around

Even though Owen is a big brother now, Caroline obviously isn't big enough to be pushed around. Instead, Owen will take to pushing Lincoln (the American Shorthair cat) around on an office chair, the laundry basket, whatever he can get his hands on or whatever Lincoln happens to be sitting on. Lincoln actually sits there and goes for many rides, until Owen runs into the fridge, the wall, or something else. Owen giggles and Lincoln doesn't seem to mind. Why should we stop it if they are both happy?

Big Shoes to Fill

Owen has recently discovered not only Daddy's shoes, but Mommy's shoes as well. Mommy's shoes are a little bit more difficult to walk in because they are flippies (flip flops) and typically have somewhat of a wedge sole to them. Nevertheless, he is getting better at walking in them. He keeps trying. One day he'll get the hang of it I'm sure.

Runny Noses

Owen his cutting 2 possibly 3 more teeth. He only has about 6 or 7 teeth to go before he has ALL of his baby teeth. He has a mouthful of teeth! But as usual for him when he's teething, he has a runny nose, sneezing, fussy, cranky, doesn't want to eat, etc., etc., etc. But, because he's been sneezing and has a runny nose, Caroline now has her first cold. This past weekend was rough because she wasn't sleeping very well. Caroline was up about every 2-3 hours for about 2 hours at a time. She just couldn't breathe very well. Fortunately, it's getting better how ever so slowly, but at least it's getting better.

A "Blessed" Day

Yesterday Caroline received her infant blessing. She has officially been given a name. Adam did a wonderful job with her blessing and it was beautiful. It was fun to share the day with grandparents, great grandma, aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, first cousins, second cousins, friends, etc. Caroline was really well behaved and didn't make a peep during the blessing. She looked adorable in her dress.