The Chicago Caper ~ Murder Mystery

We hosted our second murder mystery this past weekend. I had wanted to do it for my 30th but it took several months to get our busy friends scheduled!

This games' theme: 1920's speakeasy complete with gangster, flapper, nightclub entertainer, gambler, golfer, attorney, baseball player, reporter and brothel owner. My dad once again provided his assistance as Jewels the bartender (& my mom was our babysitter).

Our menu: Antipasti, veal scallopini, pasta, salad, triamisu  & cannolis. And of course plenty of bathtub gin & Italian wine!

Hilarious fun -

Beach Combers

In need of some fresh air and time in the sun, we packed up the boys for an impromptu visit to the beach this afternoon. It had been a whole year since we visited Mukilteo Landing (was very pregnant the last time), so it was a lot of fun to head down there with Aaden (remembering everything fun from before) and Owen (his first time seeing the ocean)!

We brought sand toys, enjoyed beach combing and met new friends. It was a good for the soul kind of visit, we need to do it more often!

Here are a few photos from our day:

Portland Fun

My folks zipped us down to Portland after Owen's party for the week. I had my quarterly meeting with my trainer, the boys spent a lot of time with Papa {my dad}, we had fun field trips, visited with friends, went to church and hung out at the community garden.

I only grabbed my camera once through the busy week --- when we headed to the community garden where they had a petting zoo, garden tours and a scarecrow hunt. The boys loved it!

The Party

It has been a whirlwind since Owen's birthday, with him being really sick, having a party and then after cleaning up from the party driving down to Portland for the week. We are now home, unpacking, cleaning and getting back to normal.

I finally got around to uploading a few pictures from Owen's party. We had a small, family only party this year. As if I knew he was going to be sick...low key was just what we needed! Of course it was the only day in weeks where the sun didn't shine. I planned on having a picnic outside. We did our best and braved the cool temperatures. All-in-all it turned out well and the sweet boy, despite still being under the weather, enjoyed himself.

Theme: Blue {for Mr. Blue Eyes} and Yellow {for the summer sunshine}.

We also went to Owen's one year check up this week. Here are his stats:

H: 31 1/4" {89%} --- Aaden was 31"
W: 25lbs {89%} --- Aaden was 26lbs 2.7oz
HC: 47.5cm {79%}--- Aaden was 47cm

Just as I suspected, Owen is slightly taller, weighs less and has a slightly bigger head then his brother. :)

{O-N-E}

September 7, 2011 ~ 5:00 AM came fast. After a little over 2 hours of labor our sweet Owen Philip came into this world (diving head first into his Daddy's arms). For a recap see my post from last year here.

A whole year later Mr. Blue Eyes is one busy guy. Here is what he is up to these days -

1. Standing up to everything constantly. As well as side-stepping around furniture.
2. With some work on Mom's part, he is sleeping through the night (12-14 hours), with two naps during the day (usually 1-2 hours).
3. He is still a good nurser, but Mom is ready for him to be done, so we are working towards that and making good progress. He LOVES cows milk, so that will be an easy transition for him.
4. He continues to be a great eater, loves meat especially, and different fruits & grains. Mom get's plenty of veggies in him through smoothies and squishers (God bless who ever invented pureed food in a squeezable container).
5. He adores his older brother. Aaden is working hard at sharing with Owen, demonstrating how to use different toys and sheperding Owen away from dangerous toys.
6. Owen's favorite activity (no surprise) - playing with cars, trucks and anything with wheels. He spends long periods of time driving cars around on the floor, crawling with one hand and growling loudy.
7. He continues to be quite the comedian, chuckles easily & smiles constantly.

We'll have his one year check up in a few weeks so will see what his growth looks like. To me, he seems taller than Aaden. While he's quite sturdy he doesn't have nearly as many rolls as his brother did at this age. :)

We had family pictures a few weeks back - I was hoping to have some of them to share for his birthday, but they have yet to come. Instead, Mom took him out to our field behind our house for a little shoot the other day. Enjoy --

Happy Birthday my darling boy. You have been a true delight for your mom, dad and brother.

 ONE!

Sky gazing with brother