Pretend like I actually published this when I wrote it back on May 10th.

This is how we usually refer to Owen. He has lots of nicknames like Jackson did. Owen is one happy little dude. He has had a cold for what seems like a month now but he keeps trekking along. We went for his 4 month appt last week (actually 2 months ago!!!) and he is HUGE! He is 17 lbs and 27 1/4 inches long! He is in the 90% or above with all of his stats. Where on earth do these big boys come from? Seth was 9 lbs something so he gets all of the credit for those genes.

Owen continues to amaze me with his laid back go with the flow personality…another thing Seth gets credit for. He is enjoying his play mat these days although he doesn’t last long on it because he is obsessed with rolling these days. This is only fun when he is awake. When he is sleeping he makes himself so upset when he wakes up to find himself on his tummy. I suspect he will be crawling sooner rather than later!

first time in the bumbo…reminds me of Jackson’s first time…this next picture is of Jackson at almost the same age. I never think they look alike but they for sure do in this picture!

“these people are crazy!”

In late May, early June Seth’s sister Claire and her husband and baby Benjamin made the big trip from Oregon to DC! We had such a great time having them here. Jackson and Owen got to meet their new baby cousin and we got lots of time to catch up. Claire and Donnie had more energy for sight-seeing than any guests we have ever had. They walked their legs off and did it all with a little baby in tow! Impressive!

Here are some pictures from their visit!

A week after Claire, Donnie and Benjamin left Seth’s parents and Tommy, our nephew, came from Texas for a week. Jackson loved having Tommy around. He is a “bigger big boy” in Jackson’s eyes. He was so sweet with Jackson and Owen and tolerated a ton of enthusiasm from Jackson. Jackson did not give him a break the entire time he was here!  Jackson and Owen were excited to see their Mia and Grandan as well and I hate to say it but Jackson hardly talked to them for the first day because Tommy was so exciting! While they were here we went to Frying Pan park, drove to Annapolis and went to the Amish market and waterfront, went to Great  Falls,  and had time for lots of wrestling! Seth and I (along with Owen) took advantage of having grandparents here and snuck away for a night downtown.

Here are some pictures from their visit!

(when the tractor is occupied  don’t despair, simply hoist yourself onto the hood and make the driver uncomfortable with your presence)

Owen proud as a peacock at the hotel. He scored himself a getaway at a hotel when he continued to refuse taking a bottle!

Lots of visitors, lots of fun!

We decided that swimming lessons would be a good way for Jackson to get some extra energy out this Spring. After our long and brutal winter goodness knows he had a lot stored up. During March, April and the beginning of May Jackson did a Toddler and Me class at the rec center. He loved it. Now to say that Jackson learned anything about water safety would be a generous and maybe untrue compliment of the program.  But to their credit Jackson was in a class with all children that had just turned 2 so it was really geared toward littler ones. Jackson looked like a giant!

Here are a few pictures….(disclaimer: we have  spent basically 3 summers in summer-less climates so Seth has a great excuse for being SO white! )

Wow, 2 months later I am finally sitting down to catch up a bit!!

Spring is here and we are loving it. The Farmer’s markets are back and the flowers (and allergies unfortunately) are in bloom. For Mother’s Day the boys got me The Southern Living Farmer’s Market Cookbook. Everything in it looks delicious! I can’t wait to get to the market on Wed! I love the book, especially because it goes season by season so you can make what it actually available..asparagus and strawberries are the current produce that seem to be everywhere. I already have my eye on a few recipes to try.

For the past 2 months we have been busier than ever with playdates, going to the park, swimming lessons (to be highlighted in the next post with some fun pictures) and enjoying lots of long walks. We have had some hot days and some chilly days.The changing of seasons is so refreshing. I am amazed I survived in Bogota with the constant climate. That must be why I moved our furniture so much.

Seth is still polishing off his German. He is really enjoying it and studying hard. He was just given an extension along with his classmates to be able to stay until the first week of July.  We were originally going in June, that got bumped up until May 10th and now it is officially July 7th. I really prefer to refer to it as “tentatively official” because with each year in the Foreign service we are increasingly more aware of the unpredictability of our lives! It remains Seth’s dream job, hence the continuation of the chaos!

A few weeks ago we planted our first mini-garden. Ruthie, my niece, came over to help Jackson and I work. Amazingly enough things are sprouting! I’ll post in a separate post about the garden so you can see how it’s grown! This was day 1! The watering pails were too slow for toddler standards so the first garden watering was more like a flood! They decided to turn the watering cans over and dump!

I just started the Couch to  5k running program. One week down. It looks so easy, peasy on paper but after having 2 babies and spending every waking moment caring for those babies I am finding it to be really challenging. I am appreciating the time to get some fresh air and think a little more clearly without my 2 loyal sidekicks!  In addition to taking on running again I have been on a cooking high. Not that everything turns out good kind of high just that I am really enjoying it and hunting through blogs and my recent magazines for anything that might be fun and delicious. Pioneer Woman is one of my new best friends! And Stephanie, my sister-in-law, just lent me her Artisan Bread in 5 mins a day cookbook so that will be my next baking adventure. I will let you know how I do! Notice that none of my recent endeavors include German.   It is one of those constant stressors but one that I am having a hard time focusing on with the boys.

this was a chicken I made using as recipe from The Pioneer Woman blog…I took it to a friend a few weeks ago! Don’t ask why I took a picture I just thought it looked pretty yummy.

Stay tuned for posts on Swimming lessons, Easter and all of those other important things that have passed me by!