I don't want to forget this one...

We are so glad that Owen has incorporated "yes" into his vocabulary. Here is an example from about 2 minutes ago:

Owen had already discovered how to open the pantry and that the shelves pull out AND that (stupid) Mommy put the "Nats" (snacks) on the bottom shelf (really, they fit better there), however, he hadn't taken full advantage of this until this morning...

Owen opens the pantry doors. Sits down on the floor in front of "his" shelf. Says, uhmmm! Then finds the zip-lock bag full of "nillas" (vanilla wavers) and says very confidently, "Yes!" as he helps himself. 

Yes!

Austin update #2 (no pictures--sorry!)

I am hesitant to post anything tonight because I don't have pictures, but I figure an update is still in order.

Our things arrived pretty much as planned (per my last post) and (I've said this before and I'll say it again and again)--movers were worth every single penny and more. My saint of a sister-in-law watched Owen for 3 very full days while my mom and I got things unpacked, put away, and basically made the house functional. My mother-in-law came into town after we got settled and spent a few days with us as well, which was great--the "grandmas" tag-teamed w/ Owen and I was able to continue to get things settled. I know I've gotten a lot done, but it's somewhat overshadowed by all I still think I have to do (and want to do) before "the move" to-d0 list is complete and the baby comes.

I would say Owen is doing really well. He's definitely been enjoying all the new friends and all of the family attention. I'm amazed that he's able to keep everyone straight and know who goes with who. He knows 1) Bee and "JoJo" (Sido), 2) Nana 3) GrandStan (still don't have a name Owen can say) and Pam and "dogs--black and white," 4) Wook, Mel, BayBay, dog--Blue. He knows Wook has a truck and I think he thinks Sido has one too because every time we see them the first (and only) thing he says to Sid is "truck! truck!"...

He has had fun helping Uncle Wook (or "Poor Luke" as Kyle calls him b/c he's been my "honey-do" man with Kyle gone) with a couple of assembly projections around the house...picture of Owen's new train table (HUGE hit!) to come...And going to the Pool! We have definitely jumped right in to the requisite M.O. in Austin which is--it's hot outside, let's go to the pool! Sunday Owen and I went by ourselves to a little pool by my mom's place (she's out of town for a week, in cool northern California). He was extremely timid at first and kept saying "out out, home home" but I kept distracting him and he finally got used to it and had a good time playing with an abandoned diving ring in the kiddy pool. Then yesterday we made our first trip to the famed Deep Eddy (aquifer fed pool w/ a very hip following including my dad who swims there almost daily). We went to meet him there and actually ended up there w/ Luke, Mel, Bailey, Joel, Katie and Emmy as well--it was quite a party! Owen was timid at first, but GrandStan (I think I've finally come to accept the name--I'm just worn out from trying to come up w/ alternatives) got him distracted and interested in watching the lap swimmers. We had a great time. Then today Owen and I went back w/ Katie and Emmy and a sweet girl named Kara that I actually knew in high school and her little boy Caleb. (I wish I had a picture of our three bathing-suite clad, toddler-toting, very pregnant bodies...but then again, I'm glad I don't!) Owen acclimated more quickly this time and by the time we were done he (along w/ Emmy) was jumping off the side of the pool and into my arms and squealing like a little girl! He had soooo much fun and he did NOT want to leave. Yea! I told Kyle that in this heat we may be at the pool (take your pick) every day this summer!

Speaking of Kyle, he gets here Friday night which means we can stop missing him and I can stop telling Owen that Dadda is still at work, and it means that residency is finally over! Woohoo! We'll have about a week and a half just to catch up as a family and have some quality time AND to take care of some major to-do's like buying a 2nd car! Kyle has only done a quick walk-through of our house before our things were here so I'm excited to introduce him to his new home!

Okay, so for an Owen update. Let's see...no big changes really--no new teeth or anything like that (still 7 and counting). Got him a much-needed haircut on Saturday. He was looking very south-Austin hippie (not that there's anything wrong with that) but it was a little unruly. :) The biggest development is that I feel like his little vocabulary just keeps exploding--Kyle is going to be amazed to get to him in person. He's putting lots of words together like "Ont (I want) big truck" and he has finally Incorporated "Yes" into his repertoire of answers which previously only consisted of "No" and "Noooo!". :) He's definitely got trucks on the brain--he points out every one we pass on the highway, and their wheels and their color if he knows it (his favorite right now is yeyo--but there aren't many yeyo trucks). I guess we're on the interstate here more than we were in Winston-Salem, so he has a lot more opportunities to spot trucks, buses, and even the train (yea MoPac!). All are big hits. He's also taken to pointing out every time we go up or down a hill ("Up Hiw" or "Big Hiw"). I've sort of stopped keeping up with new words because it seems like he's at the point where he can almost say anything (at least try) when you tell him what it is. It really does sort of blow my mind. It catches me off guard a lot because I realize he's actually telling me stuff like today when we left pool he said "bye bye poo. back home". Crazy.

Anyways, I'll try to get some pictures up soon. I honestly haven't taken many and we're getting a new computer this week so be patient with me. :)

Oh--random: tonight while we were eating dinner we had the pleasure of watching a momma and two baby "deers" in our backyard. What a treat!

Austin

Just a little update on the move. In short, 1) we're here, 2) we're excited, 3) it's hot, and 4) our stuff gets here tomorrow...so that's when the real work begins!

Owen and I flew to Austin on Sunday w/ the help of my mom...which was much needed because of an over-the-top toddler tantrum on the flight and a nearby passenger with an anxiety attack supposedly caused by said tantrum. I have never been more relieved to deboard a plane.

Kyle drove our car down Sunday and Monday and flew back today--a whirlwind, but now Owen and I have some wheels. Kyle's got about 2 1/2 weeks of work left and then he'll fly down to be with us permanently. (And he'll be done with residency!)

Our movers delivery (and unpack!) our stuff tomorrow so we'll be busy getting settled and will hopefully start staying at our new house on Thursday night! It'll be weird--just Owen and I--in a new place, but I'm sure we'll get used to it.

Owen has already gotten the chance to play with cousin Bailey, friend Emmy, and lots of dogs. He's already started to be spoiled (mainly by Bee so far), so overall I'd say he's adjusting quite well. :)

Pictures to come...

Bellview Street

Our wonderful neighbors next door (Sarah March and Eric) through us (the Mezgers and the Ketches) a going away block party on Friday night. It was SOOOOO much fun. The entire street came more or less. The food was wondeful and the company was even better. It was yet another reminder of how extremely blessed we have been here in Winston-Salem. And good ecouragement to make the effort to get to know our neighbors, even in our rent house.

Here is Owen, Lauren and David just hanging out before dinner and the surprise festivies began.



Owen and David finishing some dinner...and watching our entertainment...
Surprise! Owen's front-row seat of our entertainment...a band of drummers/dancers from Rwanda (orphans of the genocide) who happened to be staying w/ Sarah March and Eric the weekend of the party. It was such a special treat to hear them play and see them dance--we couldn't have had better entertainment! (The bar has been set pretty high for any future going away parties we have...)

Some of the drummers.

Party party party! Dance dance dance!

Owen got to try his hand at drumming and really enjoyed himself!

So, the farewell continues. Still feels pretty surreal, the move and all, mostly because our house looks exactly the same (since we have packers/movers--yea!--nothing is packed). A lot is going to happen in the next two weeks...

While Momma is away...

It was a big weekend for the Mezger family. First a praise: we have a house in Austin! My mom and I literally combed every street in the greater central Austin area for 2 days (with the help of MLS listings, craigslist, etc.), and well, our options were slim. We didn't expect it to be so hard--you would think that in this (down) market it would be easy to find plenty of rental properties. And there ARE plenty of rental properties, but very very few in the price range we wanted, in one of the areas we wanted, with the space we needed. But on the 3rd (and last) full day of my trip, a new house came on the MLS and it was pretty much perfect. Not exactly where we wanted, but close enough. Plenty of space, nice yard, and well within our budget. It was a photo-finish to get the paperwork in (we knew there was competition) but we got it! The house was actually built in 1966 and has had 1 owner, never rented. It's a really sweet "old lady house" that will be just perfect for us for the next year or two while we get settled. So, yea!

Before I left, Owen had been battling a fever. No other symptoms really, just a decently high fever (103ish) which made him tired and fussy. I felt bad leaving Kyle all alone w/ him, but they prevailed...as the progression in these photos/videos will attest to.

This video is almost mean...but Kyle did go put him right to bed after taking it.



Looking pretty pitiful with his pedialyte.


He started feeling a lot better by Sunday, so they went to Tanglewood Park (where the nays and choo choo are). There is also a big lake/pond with ducks. Here is Owen in hot pursuit of a duck (notice he's carrying his blankie). (We have another video where Owen gets a little too close for the duck's comfort and the duck starts hissing at him.)

Lunch on the choo choo. He'll actually leave his hat on for 10-15 minutes now!

The other news we have is sort of a bummer: Owen had an appointment Tuesday with a peds allergist and they confirmed that he does have a peanut allergy. Kyle took him (I was flying back to NC) so he got to ask lots of questions. For now, we're just going to keep peanuts, peanut butter and ethic (specifically Thai) food out of his diet. If we need to get more extreme (and we hope not) we will, but we're going to try to not go overboard with restricting his diet. We will, however, be prepared at all times w/ an Epi pin (1-dose syringe/needle w/ epinephrine) in case of emergencies. Once we get settled in Austin, he'll get tested for tree nuts as well. There is a 20% chance he'll grow out of the peanut allergy, but we're not getting our hopes up. The good news is that 1) he was also tested for strawberries (because his bad reaction was to a PB&J w/ strawberry jelly) and he's not allergic to them, and 2) peanut oil doesn't have the protein that causes the allergic reaction so we can still eat at Chick-fil-A! :)

Overall, a very productive weekend!

Nana and the Zoo

So, we had a great weekend last weekend--Owen's Nana (Kyle's mom) came to visit. Somehow he managed to keep straight the difference between his two Nanas (grandma and banana). We pretty much just hung around the house and played, except for one big outing to the NC Zoo in Ashboro which was a major hit. Here are some pics from the weekend...

Peekaboo from behind our big tree in the backyard.

We're trying not to encourage this, but Owen's ability to climb has started to speed up. Here he is on the picnic table w/ one of his trucks.

Here they are reading "boootz" together. Nana said that Owen's attention span was sometimes longer than hers! Also, he prefers to read rather than be read to--this means he wants to turn the pages and point out all the things he knows, whether it is an animal, letter (out of a repertoire of 6 or 7), or an action like someone going nigh-nigh or draaaaw(ing).

Okay, here we are at the zoo. I think Nana and Owen are both mooing at something in this photo--something that was most definitely not a cow but looked like one from far away.

I think Kyle was trying to get Owen to pay attention to the giraffes ("raffs") in the distance. Owen's favorite were probably the zebras (Naaaays) and flamingos (ming-mos).

One highlight of the weekend was Nana teaching Owen what a flashlight was (from one of his books). So we brought out an old (huge) mag light for them to play with. When you adjust the bulb a certain way there is a little crescent shaped shadow at the center that looks like a tiny moon surrounded by light. Owen went crazy over this and every time he went into (or near) Nana's room he would ask to see the moon.

Here are a few photos from the week before Nana's visit. Owen just rolled over on his back and started to "read". Doesn't look very comfortable to me, but then again, he wasn't there very long.

I was fixing lunch as quickly as humanly possible but he just couldn't make it...(I think his other leg is underneath him.)

Playing outside w/ Dada and the hose.

Owen's verbal skills continue to amaze us. He's starting to put 2 words together a lot, like "miwk peeeese" and "nigh nigh dada" and he's also learned to ask for help "hep" which is, well, helpful and say excuse me (meeuu me) which is just cute!

He's also making good use of "No" to the point where we need to start being careful what we say around him...tonight before bedtime I said, "Owen, do you want to go take a bath?" to which he responded "No". Okay, so I know not to ask a toddler a question you're not prepared to accept the answer to (even if it's no) but quite honeslty I didn't think he really would understand that. He's smarter than I think! Kyle and I were both laughing about it so to test his understanding (mistake #2) Kyle said, "Owen, do you want some ice cream?" to which Owen responded "peese, peese, peese!". Okay, he understands. We (hopefully) won't make that mistake again.

Oooh--this is big--he's telling us when he poops! (If you have/had kids, you understand what a big deal this is.) He says "boop" and pats his bottom after he goes. It's awesome!

FYI: I'm headed to Austin this weekend to find us a (rent) house and Kyle and Owen will be here having some quality father-son time. You can pray for us all! :)

Fun times in North Carolina

We've been busy trying to enjoy our friends in NC as much as possible these last few weeks. Here are some photos/videos.

Here is Owen playing with the Ketch kids (David and Lauren). I have said it a thousand times and I don't mind repeating myself--we are going to miss these dear neighbors more than we can really say.

Lauren "Miss Feisty" is putting Owen in his place. (Notice that he's riding her pink/purple toy and she's on his red firetruck.)

Love this pic of Owen and Dada. Kyle was sitting on the sidewalk and was being attacked from behind by Owen and from the front by Lauren.

Last weekend we spent some time in Raleigh/Durham. We had dinner w/ Tanya and Lee (Vandy friends) and Owen showed off all his tricks, which, as impressive as they are, did not convince them to start having children. :)

Then we spent Saturday w/ Cary and Jason (also Vandy friends). They have a lake behind their house--don't worry, very shallow and perfectly still. They have 2 kayaks and Owen LOVED going out with them (these are the same friends who have the lake house in southern Virginia where Owen gets to ride in the ski boat--seems they're bent on turning Owen into a lake bum.)

Jason has his kayak rigged w/ floaty things (the technical name) so that he can stand up in it and fish. Here is Kyle w/ Owen in the kayak showing off a fish Jason just caught from shore. Owen was a fan.

Here is Owen in the Kayak with Cary. What a treat.

This one is back at home. Owen can say his name now--"Own". He loves to point to pictures throughout the house (or mirrors) and point out Mama, Dada and Own--even as a baby! It's really fun.

Another Owen tidbit: Kyle has a new game where he counts to three and sort of shoots Owen up into the air while Owen "jumps"--Owen knows to bend his knees to get ready and now has started saying "Two...two..."--it's clearly his favorite number. TTFN.