Texas, our Texas

First and foremost...the interview...It went extremely well. We really couldn't feel better about it--what a blessing! Kyle did amazingly well (no surprise, here). He/we loved everything we learned about the practice and they gave us reason to believe they liked him too. It really does seem like it would be a great fit from both sides. Again, we're trying not to get our hopes up, but it's hard. We should find out if they're going to make an offer in early May, so we'll just continue to pray until then.

Owen travelled really well and we had a great time bouncing all over town seeing the grandparents and other family and friends.

It's sort of becoming a tradition that when we're in Austin we get family and friends together at my mom's for a cookout. It was such a nice evening we snapped some photos of all the babies outside. Kyle/Owen are with our friend Joel w/ his daughter Emmy (3 months old), and Kyle's brother Luke w/ Owen's cousin Bailey (3 weeks older). (Katie, Joel's wife, and Melissa, Luke's wife were there as well.) Aren't they all adorable!

Here is my mom (Bee) teaching Owen how to play the piano. He really got into banging on the keys. The next day Owen's 2nd cousins (removed?) gave him a little toy piano--how perfect!

It's pretty much a requirement that if you're in central TX in spring and you have kids (maybe even dogs) that you take pictures in the bluebonnets. Trying to get Bailey and Owen both napped and fed at the same time presents a challenge, but we still got a coupel really cute ones. They didn't look at the camera much because the flowers were so much fun...to try to eat. It doesn't get much cuter.

Just for kicks...Franny (Kyle's mom) has been on a cleaning spree and brought some things to Austin that she thought the boys might want (or they were going to Goodwill). These old ski jackets were among them. Do I need to say that they are going to Goodwill?

Overall, we had a great week. It's hard not to be excited about (hopefully) moving back to Austin when we have such great family and friends there!

Special Guests

Before our trip to TX last week, we had a couple of special visitors. My dear friend Andrea and her husband Harry were driving through W-S so they stopped to have lunch with us. They are friends from Vandy/church in Nashville and it was such a treat to see them! Owen took right to Andrea, and like Harry's beard!

Then we had a surprise slumber-party when the heat in our friends' house went out. Anne and her two kiddos David and baby Lauren stayed with us--it was crazy fun to have so many little ones in the house! Anne and I were almost bested by Lauren's mini-crib, but we finally figured it out.

Beuler...Beuler...

A post not about Owen? How can it be? I know, I know, but humor me. This is really interesting. Check out the trailor for Ben Stein's new movie.

www.expelledthemovie.com

Easter, Etc.

He is risen, He is risen indeed!

We had a great Easter weekend. Kyle was post-call Thursday and had Friday off (which was a last minute surprise) so we had a much-needed 4-day weekend! He's been working soooooo hard this month w/ ridiculous hours and studying, so it was great to have a break.

Church was great too. Wonderful message and some of our favorite songs, which is always fun. And Owen did GREAT! We opted to go to the early service because of lunch plans w/ our Bible Study friends! This has become (like our Christmas meal) somewhat of a tradition--its a pot luck and everyone tends to bring "their usual" so its easy and so nice to celebrate/fellowship with friends.

Owen milestones:
1) He's able/willing to take a bottle! Kyle has now successfully fed him several times and the nursery helper (a stranger to him) fed him at church--wow!

2) Owen has successfully transitioned to an earlier bedtime. We start at 7:30 and he's usually down by 8:15 or so after his bath, feeding, etc. And he's still sleeping through the night. He's waking up a little bit earlier too (not too much though) so we are able to go to early church and avoid him getting fussy b/c he needs a nap (the problem the last few weeks). Another benefit is that we're able to hang out with friends after he's asleep. We spent Saturday night staying up late with Christal and Phil watching the TX Aggies almost prevail over UCLA. (Part of Kyle's TX interview preparation!)

3) Owen took a nap in a pack-n-play at our friends' house after Easter lunch yesterday--went down just fine and actually slept for over an hour and a half! (I told our host that we may be back every day if he naps that well at her house.) Yea for being able to nap at other places! (One funny note about his naps these days: he sleeps in a "sleep sack" but likes to have a thin cotton waffle blanket to play with...he rubs it all over his face as he's falling to sleep and leaves it there covering his head and nothing else--like Bee's "softy".)

All three of these things mean more and more normalcy/freedom and its wonderful!

Here are a few photos after church/lunch/nap:

Next year there will be Easter eggs in Kyle's beautiful green grass for the little guy to pick up!

For any of you that remember "study face"...this is his new one. He sucks his bottom lip in and looks very contemplative. What a serious baby!

Stay tuned for a video we're hoping to catch of Owen's belly laughs. Very similar to my quest to get him to smile (and catch it on camera) a few months ago, his real laugh has made appearances, but is not regular...so we'll keep you posted.

And a prayer request: we're travelling to Austin next week to see family/friends and (drum roll) for Kyle's 2-day interview w/ a practice there. We are sooo excited and are trying not to get our hopes up. We know God has a perfect plan for us...

SPRING!

We are soooo excited about the warmer weather we're having. Bring it on Spring!

Last Thursday we took our first family hike--up to Hanging Rock (one of our favorite places). All things considered, Owen did pretty well. We kept thinking he would fall asleep in the car, then on the trail, then in the car again, but no...he fought it pretty much the entire time. He likes his backpack and there is just soooo much to take in--who can blame him?


No napping (or very little) means he was pretty tired (and cuddly) which I got to enjoy on our lunch break. He doesn't look very happy, but I was. :)

And back at home: we're trying to spend as much time outside as possible. We're really enjoying our walks with our favorite neighbors (you know who you are) and spending some playtime on a blanket on Daddy's nice grass in the backyard (ah, a dream of Kyle's fulfilled). Here, Owen is practicing his "unassisted sitting" as well as his "unassisted toppling over". Grass is soft.

Rebel

Owen got "kicked out" of baby Sunday School today. We were in church and 703 (his # for the morning) flashed up on the screen in the corner, meaning we were needed. His first rub with authority. Some thought he might be hungry, others tired, or that he needed a passy. He was just being (unpredictable) Owen, and he needed a little mommy. Luckily, there is no three strikes and you're out policy or anything...so he'll be back. :)

Adventures with Rice Cereal

Our voracious eater now has something new on his menu...Rice Cereal. Yippee! We gave Owen his first taste of something w/ a spoon last Saturday and it went well. He gobbled it right up. He wanted to hold the spoon himself but that only made it more difficult. A+ for effort. You can't see it, but his bib says "drool" and that was very appropriate.



In other news (still about Owen, surprised?), I feel like I can't keep up with all the new things he does on a weekly basis (so forgive me if I repeat myself)...Here are some "what he's doing now" updates:

He's really into sighing a lot these days. Still squeals when he's happy or we're playing, but now he also has these really mellow sighs when he's just hanging out (say, in his swing, or in bed in the morning after he wakes up but before I come in and get him). Surprisingly, he'll lay there in the morning for quite some time just "talking" (sighing) to himself. It's really sweet.

He's also started loving to play with our faces. If you stand him up on your lap he can't help but put his hands all over your face (beware if you have glasses--they're coming off). It's good motivation for me to keep his nails trimmed!

Also, he's getting closer and closer to sitting up unassisted. His "tripodding" is getting steadier and he really likes to sit in between our legs and play.

He has started playing with his duck in the bath and actually splashing about a bit (in an attempt to grab the duck, which he can't because it's wet and it moves around when he goes for it).

And he has another fun toy...we borrowed a bouncer/"johnny jump-up" that goes in the door. He hasn't quite figured out he can bounce it himself (he sort of just spins/slides around w/ a little bounce here and there) but he really likes it when we help him. Oh, for the moments when he plays unassisted!

He spent his first Sunday in the church nursery and the sweet lady who kept him said he did great. He was asleep when I went to pick him up. Somehow, I don't believe her (that he didn't cry), but it will make it easier to leave him there next week. (To clarify, I'm not worried about him as much as whoever has to deal with him if he has a melt down!)

Whew, that's it. We're hoping to take an actual little hike w/ him tomorrow (if the weather is nice and Kyle has an easy call night)...we'll let you know how it goes.