Father's Day and a little bit more...

Father's Day is all about celebrating everything, manly, right? What's more manly than baseball, a hot dog, and teaching your son "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch? We had a great afternoon at the Colorado Rockies game, despite it being close to 100 degrees that day. Owen was such a trooper--we had a wet bandanna around his neck that kept him cool as a cucumber and he even fell asleep between the 4th and 6th inning (almost along with his mom). :) Just kidding, Shawn! I actually, surprisingly, enjoyed myself as well. You have to do a ball game in the summer--it just isn't summer unless you do!

On the O-man front, he continues to put smiles on our faces! He absolutely LOVES climbing the stairs (now we need to teach him how to go down safely), especially when you "chase" him. He just giggles and squeals. This is a favorite tradition of Owen and Shawn before bedtime (as captured above). If you look closely of the one picture of Owen turning around on the stairs, you get a good view of his newest accomplishment--3 teeth! And with those new teeth, he loves eating watermelon! He will seriously gobble up 2 huge whole slices of it--no problem! And as you can see, he loves sharing it as well!

Well, we are off to San Jose, CA for the Mennonite Convention this week. As worship leader for the Youth Convention, Owen and I are going out on Thursday and Shawn will join us on Sunday. You can keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I enter into this role--it seems a bit daunting...I'll let you know how it goes. We'll be back home on the 7th of July. I am looking forward to having my mom out there to help with childcare--so, until next time...

Cutie Patootie

Think Owen looks like Shawn? Perhaps, but here are a few other celebs that he resembles...

Friend visits!

We were so thrilled to have Colleen Rhodes here with us a few days this past week! Colleen is one of my best friends from Harrisonburg, VA who has just recently moved to Carlsbad, NM. We had a great time together doing things like: shopping, watching the Cavs lose, shopping, eating out, shopping, going to Starbucks, shopping, watching a movie, and shopping. It was fantastic...(and so nice to have a second opinion when clothes shopping!) I had to do some serious shopping to get ready for the San Jose Convention which is coming up in 2 weeks! AHHH! Anyhow, great friends are just like riding a bike---you just jump back on and take off right where you left off. Come back soon, Coco!

Owen is doing well, despite being drug around from places here and there these last few days, which cut into his afternoon nap time pretty severely. He absolutely loves climbing up the stairs now--always makes a bee line for them whenever in sight. He actually crawled up our 14 stairs 3 times tonight. And he could have gone more...that has to be like climbing a 10,000' mountain for a regular person! He also has a mouth full of teeth now--4 finally came down on top, to round out his bottom two. Hopefully he'll be a bit happier now. :)

We are looking forward to celebrating Shawn's first father's day tomorrow. I am taking him to a Rockies baseball game in the afternoon. So, I'll have to have him post his thoughts about his day tomorrow. So, until next time...

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

What a day! Shawn surprised me this week by making reservations at the Brown Palace Hotel for a high tea this afternoon. Yes, you heard correctly. Bless his heart, he did it for me (alas to say, he'd never go on his own accord)! However, I think I heard correctly that somewhere between his delicious buttermilk scone with Devonshire cream and strawberry preserves he said, "Wow--I think there is more to this tea thing than I first thought!" Needless to say, we had a great afternoon together, while Owen was with a babysitter.

Owen on the other hand, has had quite a week. Somewhere between a complete refusal of baby food, working on 3 teeth, and sleeping erratically for anyone other than me, has been fun. His new tricks include clapping (see new video) and "talking on the phone." Whenever you say, "Hello..." he puts whatever he has up to his ear and pretends he's talking. So funny. Dad, I took that picture just for you--from one "pilot" to another! :-) He has also begun repeating a few words---"duck," "light," "nigh-night," "nana" (for banana). And today, he just started crawling doing that 'tripod' thing...which most likely means walking isn't too far off.

I can hardly believe I am 29 years old. This year has been full of so many joys and new challenges. One of the better years, for sure. Shawn continues to enjoy his new work, and we are thankful for the opportunities that provides. I preached last Sunday, which is always such a "birthing process" all on its own. If you want to read it, you can go to: http://fmcdenver.org/sermons1/current.html and they should be posting it sometime soon. It's titled, "The song of the village." Thanks to all of you who wished me well for this new 29th year of life. I truly am thankful. It was a good day. Now that Owen is in bed, Shawn and I will retire to our newly finished patio and enjoy this beautiful evening...

A day in the life...

Interested in a day in the life of Owen and Rachel? Today, Derek came over (Rachel's parenting co-op buddy), and Owen and he played "mountains," as any good Colorado-ian would do! I put all of our couch cushions on the floor and they had a ball climbing on top and over them. Then, when Owen went down for his nap, Derek and I made cookies for the guys that were putting our patio in. We enjoyed watching them do their "thing," and were impressed at the results! I learned a lot about how stamped concrete is done. In short, they pour the regular concrete and then throw this colored sand on top, which is the tint. Then sweep over it with their brush to blend it in to the concrete (and continue this a few times over). They let that dry for awhile and then sprinkle on the top coat color (it's darker, so when it is sealed, you'll get a relief effect...the lighter bottom color will come through). Once the color desired is reached, they take these huge rubber stamps and put them together like a puzzle piece, pressing it in with a large mallet. Then then go over the cracks by hand with what looks like a pizza roller, and makes it look like real stone. Anyways, before you fall completely asleep, it looks like it takes a lot of work, and creates a lot of dust! We are very thankful and grateful for the amazing job Enesemo Duran and crew did! He's coming back tomorrow for the final sealer, so I'll post a picture of the final product then.

Anyhow, back in the house, Owen loves playing with his new instruments Shawn and I got him. It includes: a drum, chimes, tamborine, shakers, etc...Owen will mimic anything you do. He's hilarious. I think the picture of him drumming, captures his essence completely! What will this world hold for him? (Sort of reminds me of the SNL "Cow Bell" sketch...look it up and watch it on YouTube. It is so funny!) Currently, both boys are down for their naps. It is a blessed moment of the day! I am preaching on Sunday, so I had better return to that. Until next time...

Owen's 9 months!

I can hardly believe that Owen will be 9 months tomorrow! It just seems like yesterday I was pulling my hair out, wondering if he'd ever stop screaming for hours upon end, sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time, and go more than 2 hours without eating! Now, he is just a very well-adjusted, happy, and did I mention before, social boy? (Truly, God is good! :-) Shawn and I took him to get his 9 month pictures on Saturday. Shawn thought he looked like a girl in this outfit (and kept apologizing to Owen throughout it), but I think he is adorable. If I left things up to Shawn...who knows what he'd be wearing! It's funny, he thinks as long as it is sports related, it matches (doesn't matter of the color--he is into more "theme" matching.) :) At least he loves the kid to death! For that I am very grateful to have such an involved father (that would actually love to dress him!). Regardless, I think we have some great shots! Springer/Gerber family...be looking in the mail for a hard copy of yours soon.

Owen walking...sort of!