The Dow Family

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas in Amarillo

The unfortunate thing about living far away from family is that it's always hard being away from family on special holidays. Whether we decide to stay in town or drive back to Missouri, we are away from someone's family.

The good thing, however, is that Christmas lasts a LONG time!

Owen bundled up in his winter gear; it snowed ON Christmas this year!

Christmas at Nonnie & Papa's house

mommy & Owen

Last Christmas was the first year we have ever stayed in Amarillo on Christmas Eve/Day and we are thinking it might be a new tradition now that Kaden knows exactly what's going on.

We've never really pushed or even talked much about Christmas folklore, but as soon as Halloween was over he quickly started telling us about Santa Claus & his reindeer, how presents get delivered in Santa's sleigh... the works...

"helping" Papa open his gift.
Kaden was all about "helping" everyone rip the paper off and see what lie inside!

Owen creeping around Nonnie's coffee table.

Kaden's new pair of shoes.

... and trying to figure out his new game from Papa.

Owen not quite sure what to think... Opening a present from Aunt Dorothy.

I got one of the best presents ever!
A brand-new Le Creuset dutch oven- something I've been eyeballing for a while now.
Thank you Shanny!

Love the look on Kaden's face as we are
all opening our presents.

Spreading out "reindeer food" that Kaden got from preschool
and, of course, setting out a plate of cookies for Santa.

On Christmas morning I made a special batch of cinnamon rolls.

Hmmmm... Kaden had been eyeballing this present under the tree for weeks!
He kept telling us that he knew it was HIS present and he just hoped it was more train tracks.

Mommy's new & exciting strobe lights for running in the dark,
and Daddy's new golf balls.

Ben & I didn't really get each other anything big this year.
Neither of us had anything that we really wanted or needed (and to think that I never understood my parents when they said that!)
We seem to have reached that point in life where we can pretty much buy whatever it is that we are wanting at the time. Not say that gifts are not appreciated (because who doesn't love a great gift?!) We just kept it simple this year in hopes of going on a fun (ski? spring break? summer?) vacation in the future.

Owen with his new kaleidoscope.

Daddy helping Kaden get his new drawbridge out of the box.

Somehow shed all clothes and started playing with the train tracks in the dark during nap time.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Happy 1st Birthday Owee!

Owen David, my precious baby… and you are less of a baby every day...

Happy birthday carmel cake with Papa Dow

· Dr. Fletcher report: 19 ¼ pounds (10^th percentile) and 31 inches long (70^th percentile).

You seem to be following the same growth pattern as your brother (and your parents) and we are supposed to “keep doing what we’re doing” as you are “perfect”.

· I think you have a sense of humor and you have a cute laugh.

· You definitely have a “look” about you. You often knit your eyebrows together with your lips parted, as if you are unsure about something or asking a question.

· We love the big gap between your two front teeth. For the past four months you have just had four teeth (two on top & bottom) but you have suddenly gotten two more (top) and are constantly gnawing on your pointer finger or other objects.

· You like to imitate facial expressions and mimic sounds. When I scrunch up my face and breathe loud through my nose, you do the same thing and then laugh. When Kaden or I let out a high-pitch shriek, you simultaneously sit up taller, raise your eyebrows and let out a piercing scream… and then smile.

· You don’t have many, but your temper-tantrums are comical. You let out a high-pitch scream, bend forward and place your forehead on the floor. This has somewhat stopped as you’ve recently done it in the bath, only to startle yourself when submerging your face in the water.

· You often babble “ma-ma-ma,” “da-da-da,” “ba-ba-ba,” mixed in with other “sss” sounds.

· You are a good eater (not too picky) although you don’t like green things: avocado, green beans, peas, etc.

· You like music and like to DANCE! You’ll bob your head, rock your torso, or bounce when you hear music, whether it’s in the car, grocery store, or on TV.

· You don’t seem interested in learning to walk. When we try to get you to hold our hands & walk, your legs suddenly turn to noodles. BUT when we lift you several inches off the ground you kick your legs like mad. We’ve both caught you briefly standing on your own without the support of anything.

· You cruise the furniture, slowly & thoughtfully sit down, speed-crawl to the next piece of furniture and pull up again.

· Weirdly enough, you seem to enjoy being upside down. Our best family pictures this year were the ones where you were inverted. I think that was the only one where you were truly smiling.

· You are finally sleeping through the night—meaning about 12 hours at a time. You usually don’t take more than 1 big nap during the middle of the day. God love you because you are completely on OUR schedule so you don’t have a set-in-stone naptime. You are, however, getting better about staying asleep when being transferred from your car seat to your crib.

We can't keep covers on you either.
You always rip them off and pull them over your face when we put you down for bed or for a nap.

· You are a fairly light sleeper. We have always had the blue (noisy) fan in your room to block out sound (Kaden) but you can pop awake at the sound of me tip-toeing across your room. On more than one occasion, I’ve “hit the deck” when trying to get a peek at your while you’re sleeping.

· You don’t seemed bothered by strangers & never cry when people come up to say hi or want to hold you.

· One of my favorite times of the day is when you hear my voice after being in the gym nursery for an hour… you turn your head, see me, and then SPEED crawl to where I’m standing. Makes my day!

· You enjoy bath time and being naked. You giggle when I take off your diaper.

· I’m still not sure if it’s being exposed to every pre-school germ imaginable or allergies/the constant dust in the air, but you are in a constant need of a tissue.

· You still seem to be extremely ticklish and laugh hard when we slowly take off your socks at night.

· You are tough. Lord knows how many times you’ve been kicked, stepped on, drug (across the floor) or knocked over by your over-zealous older brother.

Owee, you so WONDERFUL, fun and easy-going;

we cannot imagine you not being a part of our family!

Birthday Dinner

As we were driving over to Nonnie & Papa's house for dinner, we wanted to pretend that Owen really understood what a monumental day it was.

We kept turning around and exclaiming, "Owen! It's your birthday!"

His reaction was one of pure joy and understanding... He would belly laugh and wave his arms around in circles.

Owen & Nonnie on his big day.

Kaden & Owen at the dinner table.

Owen's very first birthday cake.

Butter pecan cake with carmel icing and toasted pecans. Yum!

Owen with daddy, sporting his signature look. And Owen's very own cupcake.

He actually didn't tear into the cupcake as I had anticipated... The night was starting to get late and he didn't want to sit in his high chair anymore. Instead, he got to open his presents.

Kaden eager to "help" Owen open his birthday presents.

Nonnie hooked Owen up with some brand-new jammies & shoes.

Sadly enough, these little size 4 Strider shoes are practically the first non-hand-me-downs that Owen has received. Definitely the first pristine pair of shoes!

3 generations of Dows... eating cake & ice cream

Kaden harassing Papa for more Blue Bell ice cream

Kaden seemed to be just as excited about Owen's birthday as he knew that he would get to enjoy the bathtime bubble maker during the next time they got in the tub.

Giving hugs at the end of a big day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN!

Owen's 1st Haircut

Kaaren came over to see Owen on his birthday and while she was here, she pulled out her professional shears to make him look more presentable on his big day.

We started with a cape on him, but with all of the twisting & moving that I pulled it off.

I have a whole new respect for anyone who can manage to cut a 1-year-old's hair, much less make it look GOOD. Kaaren somehow managed to accomplish both in a fairly short amount of time.

Ben even commented on how good Owen's new haircut looked.

Kaaren & Owen

December 13, 2012

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Metro PCS Dallas Marathon

It was only three weeks since our previous visit to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but this trip had been on the calendar for months. Back in September, around the time of my birthday, I decided that I wanted to train for another ½ marathon and I fully had Heather talked into doing it with me, but as it turned out I did this one solo (which was probably a good thing as I needed to do this for ME).

BUT this was far from entire weekend alone.

Heather & I have been "planning" a weekend to her sister's house in Southlake for years and this race seemed like the perfect opportunity to go. In addition to Heather & I going to Carla's house, we also took Danni, Kaden & Owen with us for the long weekend.

Did I mention that Carla has a HUGE house with plenty of room for kids to run around & play?

As we were wondering what we should do that first Friday afternoon, Carla suggested that we eat lunch at the Rainforest Cafe in Grapevine.

mesmerized by the tank of colorful fish as we waited our turn to be seated

Honestly, this was one of the most enjoyable meals that I've ever been to with kids.

Just watching Kaden & Danni (and even Owen's reactions) to all of the animals in the restaurant was truly entertaining. Heather & I almost died from laughter as Kaden & Danni thought the crocodile at the entrance was a statue... you should have seen their startled faces when it's head suddenly snapped up and he opened his powerful jaws, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth. Hilarious!

Owen, days away from his 1^st birthday.

Luckily Kaden was pretty entertained the entire weekend by Danni and Carla's daughter, Jenna as well as the other high school kids that were in & out of the house all weekend.

Owen & I were able to sneak out to Central Market & the marathon expo on Saturday afternoon.

AND best of all, the boys somehow managed to sleep in the morning of the race (the morning I had to wake up at 4:30 am in order to head downtown and find a parking spot).

The paper claimed there were around 25,000 runners signed up to run that morning.

Everyone lined up and ready to go... waiting to cross the start line.

Believe it or not, I was in the front 1/3 of the pack, close to the pace sign I wanted to maintain.

I always run with my phone (iPod) tucked into my shirt, so I attempted to snap a few pictures on Instagram while running. Amazingly enough few of them actually turned out pretty good!

Making our way across the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge

The weather is always pretty hit & miss in Dallas at this time of year, but on THIS particular day it was a balmy 65° throughout the entire race. I knew a bunch of girls who ran this race the previous year and it was COLD & rainy the whole time.

circling back and running towards downtown, before approaching Turtle Creek

I met a guy at the start line that I kept passing/getting passed by (not this guy) and we got to talking as we were waiting for the race to start. He said that he had been training for this race for a few months and his goal was to finish just under 2 hours... That was a goal of mine too, but I didn't really think it would happen that morning. Anyway, just after mile 8 (about the time I was really wanting to walk for a minute), he gave me a thumbs up sign and said that we were on pace to make our goal. I simultaneously thought "YES!" & "Dammit!" as I knew I wouldn't let myself walk from that point on...

At the finish line, this guy stopped me and said that he was trying to match my pace through the last 5 miles & thanked me for helping him reach HIS goal (1:59...) We both fist pumped the air & yelled, as only nutty distance runners would do in that euporic state after finishing a race...

What a good day!