Thursday, October 30 entry Edited to add...
Just got an email that I am the Employee of the Month. This means covered parking for a month in the coolest up-close parking garage! Hip hip hooray! ........
Tomorrow is the big day! Owen goes trick-or-treating. This could be quite an experience. He has such a mind of his own. I tried his costume on him last week and he screamed and cried until his face was bright red and he was choking. We'll see if he goes sans costume tomorrow night. We are going to the ritzy mall a few towns over so he can go store to store and get candy, in lieu of hiking around the neighborhood. I like the mall idea better. It seems more safe than door to door nowadays. Keith is off work and able to go with us, so we're going to have a good time.
In other news, we are working on devising a timeline for our life plan. We've been given the opportunity to refinance our house to a much lower interest rate, but there are the usual closing costs involved. Because of said closing costs, it won't be worth it to us to refinance unless we will be in this house for 3 more years. And we're not sure we will be. Will we be in Nashville for too much longer? We have no idea. I have a job with great potential for monetary growth, we have a house we like, we love the city. But what is a great city with no one to enjoy it with? I guess my heart is still in Bentonville, and probably always will. I'm a homebody, small town girl, and I love Arkansas. I'm afraid if we don't move home, I'll always want to for the rest of our lives, and I'll be lonely and unhappy anywhere else. So what's stopping us, you ask yourself? The answer to that is Keith's job. No matter what he chooses to do, it will be hard to do it in Bentonville. Obviously recording would be virtually out of the picture, at least until he could own his own equipment. Insurance brokering is really a big-city type of gig. He has thought about getting a finance degree and making a go at financial lines in Bentonville, which is a possibility. I just don't want him to be stuck in a job forever that he hates just because I insisted we move back to Bentonville. So we're trying to work out a 5-year plan that puts us closest to our eventual lifetime goals. Where do we want to be, and what is the best way to get there? What is best for Owen? How do we reconcile both of our dreams? Truthfully, I don't think we'll be in Nashville too much longer. Maybe another two years at the most. Maybe not even that long. Why is everything hard and confusing? Heavy decisions weigh much more when the happiness of a child is in the swing, as well. It's not just Keith and me anymore. Such is life.
Owen is sick again. I knew babies got sick a lot, but this has just been a ridiculous few months. We took him back to the doctor yesterday, and she put him on a third antibiotic, a prescription decongestant, and an OTC cough medicine. He is so medicated. But he actually slept better last night, so maybe we're getting somewhere. He had a dry hacking cough, and would cough literally until he threw up. He also had a fever just about every evening. A little boy at his sitter's has croup, and I was afraid he had something like that. He doesn't, thankfully, so I'm hoping these new meds will get him back in tip-top shape.
Keith's birthday is coming up in a few weeks (November 23) and I have some plans. We'll see if they come to pass. I need a little bit of help on them, so I'm waiting to hear back from a few cohorts who are a necessary part of The Plan. I hope it works out and he loves it. More details soon.
In the meantime, I have fall fever. The leaves are turning all over the city, the air is crisp and cool, and long sleeves are back. I have fall decorations for the porch that I must dig out of the garage. I'm even getting that twinge to get out my Christmas tree! I'm so excited about Christmas this year, with Owen being old enough to enjoy the tree and gifts. We're planning on driving home on December 23, and staying until January 04, so we should be able to spend plenty of time with family and friends over the holiday. You know, when I was younger, I failed to appreciate family. It took me several years (actually, just a little bit of growing up) to realize what a gift my family was. All of them (yes, you). So I love going home now and seeing all of them. Life changes people.
Kyle sent me the Clay Aiken CD, Measure of a Man. It is so great. It is in continuous rotation on my work PC. I have finally taken out the Elms' CD that has been playing 9 hours a day since February. They will be coming back soon, though. You know how I am. I have about a zillion pictures to upload that I've been taking recently. So the next entry will probably be all about pictures. Be prepared. 10.29.02 while we were there i got this sense of hope, that maybe we could do this[...]
Tuesday, October 21 entry We are back safe and sound from Arizona. I have never visited Arizona before, and it is exactly what I expected... desert. Sand, dirt, heat, and everything is brown. It was interesting to look at, but give me trees and grass and the Cumberland anyday. Especially now that fall is here. Nashville is a beautiful place in the fall. The view from my office is amazing. I need to take my camera to work someday and get shots of the trees turning colors. I love the fall.
The funeral for Keith's grandma was Saturday morning. It was a really nice ceremony, and a lot of her close friends shared memories of her. I know Keith was glad to be there. It was wonderful that it worked out for us all to go. We went with my mother-in-law Laura, and we really had a good time. Amongst all the family gatherings, we also managed to work in a trip across the border to Mexico, which I love, love, love! I swear, someday I should just move to Mexico. I love it there. I'm the tourist you see eating out of the back of taco carts and open air concessions, with crossed fingers that Montezuma won't take his revenge out on me... but I just can't help myself. I love the culture, the people, the food, everything. Just like my Uncle George. We took Owen in just a t-shirt and a diaper, since he had a major diaper blow-out and we didn't have anymore pants on us. Since he was half naked, we bought him a little outfit while we were there with frogs on it... turns out it is a Senor Frog's outfit, which is a bar in Mexico. He wore it onto the plane on Monday, and the pilot said, "Little muchacho, you've been across the border partying at Senor Frog's!" Great, my infant is a walking advertisement for a bar. Still a cool t-shirt, though.
So we had a nice time in Arizona, as nice of a time as one can have when visiting for a funeral. Keith is doing well under the circumstances, and I am proud of him. He is so laid back that it always surprises me to see his strength emerge, but he is such a strong man, and so intelligent and has a wisdom beyond his (and my) years. I am so glad to be married to him.
Owen did great on the trip, slept through most of the plane trip. He is obtaining so many new skills, one of which is pointing. His little finger is always pointing out some interesting person or animal. He loves to point at Keith or me from across a room, or he points at the dogs. If I ask him who is Daddy, he points at Keith. If I ask him who is the baby, he points at himself. He has never said Mommy, so I can't ask him who Mommy is, because I guess he doesn't know. He did call me Dad though at the funeral, so I wonder if he doesn't refer to both me and Keith as Dad?
Because we were in Arizona, we didn't get to watch the Titans game on Sunday, but I have seen the highlights over and over again, and I am so excited. My Titans! They showed up! All of them! Even Eddie George! I felt fabulous after I heard the score. And there should be another win this weekend when they play the Jaguars. I would certainly hope if they could beat the Panthers, they could beat the Jaguars.
On a side note, today is the 1-year anniversary of my due date! My offical EDD was 10/21/2002. I was 9 days early, thankfully, because I was just so incredibly pregnant. I sometimes miss being pregnant, but this little boy is so much better outside than inside! Now I'm off to bed. Click here for some pictures of our trip to Arizona. 10.21.02 the best part of it all is that our washing machine decided yesterday to start making some weird noise, so we can't use it until keith takes it apart and fixes it. i have all these poopy clothes sitting in shout stain spray until further notice.
Wednesday, October 15 entry For Owen’s first birthday, we threw an outdoor party at my grandparents’ home in Decatur, Arkansas. It was on October 11th, the day before his actual birthday. The weather was fabulous; we had a great tent, plenty of food, a few Ninja Turtles masks, and lots of family and friends. Owen got so many presents, he didn’t know where to start opening. He had his first cupcake – first anything sugary, actually – and wasn’t sure at first if he liked it. But after a quick taste of frosting, he went on to finish two and a half cupcakes (almost three, but he accidentally dropped the other half of the third!). I was so happy with the party, I simply could not have asked for a better first birthday for my son. He had so much fun with all the little cousins, watching the "big boys" play ball, and walking around with baby cousin Brooklyn. And when the party was winding down, we got Aunt Charla to give Owen his first haircut. What a big day for my one year old! Needless to say, he slept well that night.
A big, huge, enormous thank you to everyone who helped set up, brought food or gifts, or helped clean up afterwards. Thanks to long distance friends and family members who drove from out of state or college to attend. Thanks to the one who had his wisdom teeth out the day before, and still came to party. I feel privileged to count myself a member of this family, which is the absolute truth. I love all of you. Thanks for making my boy’s big day special. It’s easy to forget about us living over here in the hills, but you never, ever let us down. It was a great day for Owen, his first birthday! See pictures here.
Owen had a second birthday party on Sunday with Keith’s family, and as soon as we get pictures from that party, I’ll post them here as well. It had a Winnie the Pooh theme, and another big bunch of family members, including Owen’s great-great-great-uncle! And he got more fabulous presents. After opening each one, he would clap his hands and say "yaaaay!" It was great. 10.15.02 There were no entries on this date.
Wednesday, October 15 entry Owen had his one-year check up today. He weighs 24 pounds, 2 ounces and is 29.5 inches long. He had two shots, poor thing, and he screamed and screamed because he isn’t feeling well, either. He hasn’t slept for the past two nights, even in our bed with us he was whining and tossing around in his sleep. He threw up Monday night in his bed, so I knew he wasn’t feeling well. He has yet another ear infection, bringing the grand total up to four. His pediatrician told Keith that they normally begin suggesting tubes when a child gets five ear infections. So it looks like we may be headed down that path. My poor baby, I never wanted him to get tubes. I can’t figure out why he gets the infections. Neither Keith nor I smoke, he doesn’t drink bottles in bed, so I don’t know why he is so prone to infections. Hopefully if worse comes to worse and he has to get tubes in his ears, at least he won’t have ear infections anymore. No more pain, at least for a little while.
We are headed to Arizona this weekend for Keith’s grandmother’s funeral. We are flying out early Friday morning, and will be returning on Monday. Before we leave, I will try to get all of his birthday party pictures uploaded onto the webpage, with a full recap of the big day. Owen had such a great time! I can’t believe my little baby is one year old. Not so much my little baby anymore! My little boy. One. Wow. 10.15.02 There were no entries on this date.
Tuesday, October 07 entry Let's not mention the Titans. I am better off to not even speak of it. And the Colts, oh, what is the sport coming to? I just can't talk about it.
Despite the game, Sunday was a great day. We were up early to attend yet another new church. We went to a local interracial church here in Smyrna, pretty small congregation. We went expecting fabulous music, dancing, preaching, the works. I know, it is pretty stereotypical for us to expect a "black" church to rock, but we did. And we weren't disappointed. The music was good, and the worship leader was hilarious. He had everyone in the audience doing a two-step, and I was just glad I showed up with my sense of rhythm. Keith on the other hand embarrassed me with his whiteness. He kept bumping into me. It was the only church service I have ever been in where I heard the phrase "Excuse me while I get my praise on" used from the platform. Not only did the preacher call the young people up to the front to do the Electric Slide (I swear it was the Electric Slide), but he also managed to work B2K into his message. I was loving it. I have said it before, two of my favorite things are marching bands and black people. It's just such a great culture with the dancing and singing and etcetera. Yes, I am lumping a lot of them together; no, I'm not being at all derogatory. So that was church, and it was quite a trip. Owen actually spent the entire service in the nursery, which shocked me. Of course, he had to be fed the entire time so he wouldn't scream, so a pack of crackers, 8 ounces of bottle, and a banana later, he didn't want lunch. But it was nice to get to actually hear a sermon instead of walking around the back with a fussy and bored baby.
After church, and after the heart wrenching Titans game, we loaded Owen up and took a trip to Comer Farms in Lebanon, TN. It is run by a family who owns a big farm, and turns it into a fall festival type of place after the harvest. There is a pumpkin patch there, with a corn maze and a barn full of animals. The run a hayride and they have a hay pile for kids to play in. They have pumpkins for sale, and mums and pretty fall scenery set up with benches all around for photo ops. Owen absolutely had the best time. We took him into the corn maze, which actually was quite confusing. We got totally turned around in there, but eventually made our way out. We let him walk a lot of the way, which he loved. He also loved looking at all the pumpkins. He patted them all and talked to them about something. He saw his first real chicken, and he tried to chase it around, but he's pretty slow and unsteady (Owen, not the chicken). He saw a llama, and was terrified. He also stood in front of the pigpen for a long time, laughing at the pigs. They smelled rank, but that didn't stop him. He kept saying, "dah-ow" which is his word for dog. I guess if you haven't ever seen a pig before, you might think it was a dog? I told him pig over and over, and finally he started saying "pi" which is pig minus the final 'g' - so it was close. I think out of the entire farm, the pigs were his favorite thing. It was actually a really fun place. I'd like to take him back before the season is over and take him on the hayride, which we didn't do this time. Looks like fun. There are several pictures of our day at Comer Farms posted here.
What else is Owen up to these days? He has all kinds of new tricks. He can wave bye-bye or hi now, while saying the accompanying word. If I ask him where are Mommy's eyes, he will poke me in the eyes. Ditto for nose. He says "bah" for his ball, and he spins in circles until he falls down. He also mimics any word we give him. The other night I was picking up in Owen's room, and I was trying to get Keith to help me. He was ignoring me, and after several attempts to get his attention, I said, "KEITH!" in a loud stern voice. And right after that, Owen said, "TEEE" in the same tone. It was so funny. He got this little mean look on his face, even though I'm sure he didn't know what he was talking about. He's a little monkey-see monkey-do!
Owen received his second official birthday present in the mail this past week. His Nini brought him his first one a few weeks back, and it is a wooden cart with all kinds of tools and blocks attached. He loves it. It entertains him for hours. Then his great-grandma Ross sent this to him:
Looks like fun! When the package arrived wrapped, I tried to show him how to rip open the wrapping. I tore a little piece of the paper. He put the torn flap back in place and smoothed it down, with this look at me like why in the world would I destroy such fine Winnie the Pooh wrapping paper!? Hopefully he will grasp the package-opening concept prior to his party this weekend.
Speaking of which, I thought I would post a "wish-list" for Owen, not because we are asking for gifts, but simply because many people are asking me what size he wears, or what kinds of toys he likes. So here are some of his favorite things, or necessities:
That's all I can think of for right now. He plays so well with just about anything. Heck, he carried around an empty Kleenex box until it fell apart and I had to throw it away! Mostly we are just looking forward to seeing everyone, and showing off our boy. He is just so entertaining right now.
Now I will end this with a few more pictures of Owen sleeping. There is just something about him when he is snoozing that I can't resist - I have to snap pictures! These I especially like because of the grip on the binky. It is never far away from him.
10.01.02 There were no entries on this date.
Wednesday, October 01 entry Where to begin? I always have trouble updating when I slack off for a few days... so much occuring in our fascinating lives to keep you interested...
To begin, I will say only that I was sad to see Big Brother end last week. I can't believe I have to wait until next summer to enjoy it again. And the Paradise Hotel finale was tonight (yes, I am a reality TV junkie, in case you hadn't picked up on it). I'm left only with The Bachelor, which I have never really watched (although I know who is watching... Linams...), and Survivor, which I will of course try to avoid yet get emotionally involved in until the big finale, for which I will have to either host or attend a Survivor Party, as is the annual tradition. Of course, nothing will top the Survivor: The Outback party where we ate rice and chicken and Doritos(tm) and actually cast our own votes into a tribal-like urn. Thanks... for the memories.
I digress.
Last Sunday the Titans beat the Steelers, thank you very much Drew Bennett. I have my own Fantasy team on nfl.com, so we will see how they fare this weekend. I left work Monday with a severe stomach virus, didn't eat for 36+ hours, couldn't even watch my son, yet I managed to stay on the couch and coherent enough to finish the Packers v. Bears game. Suffice to say I am emotionally involved in my television. And from my talk of it, you would think I watch a lot of television. But between working, exercise class, and Owen, I truly only get in about an hour per night, after he goes to bed. I just am very loyal.
I am still digressing, from whatever point I intended to make.
We did attend the Elms concert last Thursday. It was, of course, fabulous. I tried to take some pictures, but the stage lights were totally confusing my camera. I got a lot of really cruddy pictures, and have uploaded two of them below for your enjoyment. They are both of the lead singer, Owen Thomas. And to your next question, the answer is yes, that is where I got it. The name. Owen. That was your next question, right?
The pictures really don't do them justice. Please, if you're a music lover, head over to their website and give them a listen. We bought their DVD at the show, and I begged the husband for a t-shirt, but to no avail. His heart was a rock towards my pleas. The show was wonderful, and we came home to a peacefully sleeping baby who had a fun time with his favorite Tasha. Really, where else can you get a great concert, front row seats, for $8? Only the Elms.
Keith had last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off, so we took advantage of the weather and spent Saturday outside. We went to Samantha's soccer game - 6-year olds playing soccer, priceless - and to the huge outdoor flea market at the fairgrounds. I love going there. I talk Keith into a bag of German-roasted nuts, and we peruse the stalls and buildings of antiques and junk and new merchandise, while Owen winks at old ladies and grabs for shiny things. He was such a good baby all day long. He is really into looking around now that he is older, so he was loving all the people and dogs and fruit to sample, all the experiences. I took a few pictures of him (see below), but couldn't get a really good one of him in his hat. He hates hats now that he is old enough to pull them off. But he looks so good in them!
So soon until his birthday. A week and a half! Invitations have been mailed, even though most people have been notified and invited by word of mouth already. Food is being prepared, cupcake designing is under way. I hope Owen has a good time. I am worried that he will switch into clingy-baby gear and not socialize. He tends to do that now that he is older. Today I took him to the park for about an hour, and anytime other kids were around, he insisted on being held. What a little baby. He's so one year old.
Work is still fine, working very hard for very little money. Well, not very little, but less than I'm worth. Then again, doesn't everyone think that? I just hate it when I have to miss my YMCA classes to work late. So not worth it. I spent several hours on Sunday working at home, too, so I think I need some overtime pay here. Dang salary. It's a blessing and a curse. Keith is still plugging away at school, working himself to death with classes and full-time job at night and days watching Owen. He is so wonderful. Tired, but wonderful. I think he has this Saturday off again, so I'm going to see if he wants to take Owen to the Pumpkin Patch. There is a local farmer who has a huge field of pumpkins, and a corn maze, and a place to watch bees make honey. I think Owen would love that. I hope the weather stays nice, and we'll do that on Saturday.
What a long entry about next to nothing. I will try to make up for it by posting gratuitous Owen pictures. He's worth the read, right?
10.01.02 There were no entries on this date.
