I like Owls these days

As you can see I have changed my Blog Template. I just wanted something different. I won't be changing my blog too often I don't think but just when I find a new blog that makes me smile. I have Terran to thank for giving me the motivation to look for a new one. So thank you Terran!
And I have a preschool parent/teacher conference for Grace on Friday so I am sure I will be updating my blog then to share with everyone how Grace is doing. I realized that a lot of my blogs have been about Will and not so much about Grace. That girl has a lot going on in her life too so I need to keep everyone current.
Thanks for keeping up with us through my blog.

~ Em

Will's Birthday party with his friends

As always we had Will's birthday party at The Sellwood Community Center. My sister works there and it is a great place to have a low key birthday party. First of all, there is no cost to me, how could you turn that down? And then, we get the entire building to ourselves. There is a gym upstairs where the kiddos can play basketball, or drive the toy cars. Kids love open gym. A ton of open space for them to run around and get all of their energy out. And there is a mat room. Now, that is the room where you see the kids really let loose. 

We were so happy to see everyone that came. Will does not get to see his peeps as often as he would like so this birthday was a great opportunity to do that. Now we just have to make a point of having play dates more often.  

The gifts Will received were spot on. Even though he wanted his birthday themed Spongebob, everyone must have known that his true love is Thomas the Train. One neighbor gave him a Thomas zip up sweatshirt hoodie. And another gave him a Thomas pillow pet. Holy cow, that was a big hit. He also got a pair of Nike sandals that he immediately put on.

Will is one lucky little man to have such good little friends. Thanks to everyone that came. We really enjoyed everyone's company!

~ Em

Celebrating Will's 3rd Birthday

Three years ago today God said, "Get ready, cuz here he comes." William entered our world with just as much love as he gives back. The happiness he has brought to our lives is only just beginning. We knew having a boy would be different than having Grace, but nothing could prepare us for this one. Anyone that knows Will knows he hits the ground running everyday. He almost always has a smile on his face, and laughs for no apparent reason. Grace is his best friend and worst enemy, all at the same time.

We look forward to his third year of life. He will without a doubt challenge us almost everyday with his new obsession of the word NO. And with all of that, our love for him can only grow, right?

You may or may not know this, but William was named after his two grandfathers. William comes from Chris' dad, who went by Bill. We could not be more proud of the name we chose to call our son. Anyone who knew Bill absolutely loved him, and truly misses his presence in their life. Will may not have had the honor of knowing his grandfather, however Chris and I make a point of talking about his grandfather as often as possible so he feels a connection to him. William's middle name, Spencer, was my maiden name. My father passed away when Grace was just 7 months old, and lived in Hawaii at the time. So for William, when he was born, both of his grandfathers were unbelievably no longer with us. My dad, would have adored my children and given them so much love. It was and is important to Chris and I that we convey that love to our children.

William is more than just William, or Will, or Buddy. He is living with his grandfather Bill and Dennis' spirit very much alive inside him. When we celebrate his 3 years of life today we also celebrate the lives of our father's and the impact they had on our lives.

We love you Buddy! (aka Will)

Our Family Tree

I enjoy browsing the Etsy web page, and have made three or four purchases from it. And every time I have been pleased with my purchase. Of course this time is no exception. I love wall decals and the drastic change they can make to a room. As you can see, this one does just that. There were quite a few different tree decals to choose from but I kept coming back to this one. Something about the whimsicalness of it, and the life that it seemed to portray through the picture caught my eye and made my decision to purchase it easy.
I was completely impatient once I purchased it and found myself checking the mail everyday specifically hoping it was there. Of course when it did arrive I was not home and came to find out that it required a signature for delivery. Instead of waiting until they attempted to delivery it again I drove out to Tigard where the delivery company returns it to temporarily house it. I actually was even laughing at myself a little that I was so anxious to just have the decal in my hands. But I felt so good about my new addition to my living space that I couldn't stop myself.
That night I pulled it out of the box and was a little perplexed at first. I don't know why I had it in my head this way, but I thought it would just come as one big sticker and I would just place it on the wall. Not so much. Each piece of the tree came on a separate sheet and had to be pieced together. My excitement dwindled down and turned into a little anxiety. Those kind of things that are intricate can be overwhelming for me. Luckily, Chris does not react in the same way and a little reluctantly,but still, agreed to help me sort through the pieces and get it put together. And, let me just add, the reason Chris was a little reluctant was because I tend to find a lot of house projects to do and it usually ends up with Chris completing them for me. Bless his heart, he loves me I guess!
He did a great job, placing each piece very strategically and did it a lot smoother than I ever would have. I just love where we placed it, and the change it brought to the wall.
Next step was placing the pictures. So far we have just our little family, however I do plan on adding more family pictures.(With our without their consent!)
I am so completely impressed with the life it brings to the house, and the fact that it will continually change and grow with the more family I add.

I recommend this Etsy Shop: WallDecalDepot. And the entire Etsy.com webpage. Happy Shopping!

~ Em

P.S. (You had to know this was coming) Will's curiousness couldn't help himself and grabbed Dad's freshly brewed coffee pot from the holder. Of course it was too heavy and he could not lift it completely. The glass pot busted and coffee spilled all over the counter and cupboards and floor. He thank goodness was fine and not burned. Once again, I was not home. Just sayin'.

Changes for Will & Grace

This last year there have been a lot of changes for our family as a whole. It started out with Chris making the big decision to change careers. Frito Lay was a good paying job but as I am sure many people can relate, it comes at a cost. The pay was keeping him there because it was helping support our family. But as the years dragged on he came to realize there was not much possibility for growth and the early hours required were taking away from his quality of life, as well as our families. When his days off came, or it was family gathering time it was known he would be a zombie and not want to do much of anything other than relax on the couch. Who could blame him? He tried so hard to fight against the tiredness but when you know everyday that you will be starting your day at 2am it never feels like you can be completely rested.
Chris took a big leap of faith and obtained his insurance license. And let me remind you he did this while still working at Frito Lay. It was not easy at first, however knowing the outcome would take him to a better place it got him through it. He opened his Allstate Agency, the Chris Osburn Agency, LLC in July and is still giving it 110%. Just one parent changing careers plays a large role in the family dynamics.
Once he became his own boss he had set office hours and finally got to have the good ol' 9-5. It's actually 6pm but still. So instead of me taking the kids to daycare in the morning and him picking them up it turned into him getting up with them and taking them to daycare and me picking them up. It was an adjustment for them because pretty much their entire lives I have been the one to wake up with them and get them going in the morning. They were very excited to be with dad in the morning but still were sad that I wasn't there. And Chris really enjoyed his time with them in the morning.
That only lasted about 4 months, which was when I decided to join Chris in the insurance world. It was a risky move on our part for sure. And believe me we had a lot of our family and friends trying to talk us out of it, or at least tell us to wait until he was more established. The timing just seemed right for us. So now with Chris and I on essentially the same work schedule we had to figure out who would do what. Now, I get up with the kids, get them ready in the morning and take them to daycare. Chris goes straight into the office and I am right behind him. Lucky me, having a great boss that knows how much I love my children let's me leave work around 4:30pm and pick them up. Chris has been working longer hours with the new business, and even though it is hard for the kids to understand it all we are getting to be with the kids more.
This week brings a close to the childcare world they have known almost all their lives. As you can see we like change. Cross your fingers this is the last change for quite awhile. We are fortunate enough to have family that love to be around our children and help us however they can. My sister in law Jamie is going to start watching the kids. And I can't say thank you to her enough. There are so many positives for this (in no particular order), I don't have to drive to Milwaukie twice a day (opposite direction I need to go to work), the kids can wake up whenever they feel like it, they get to stay at their home and be in comfortable surroundings, they get to be with their Aunt Jamie and Cousin Liam 5 days a week ( Can you say bonding time?), and of course we don't have to pay nearly as much as we have been paying. Also, Grace is in an at home preschool right now, so with her Aunt Jamie watching her Grace will be able to go to an actual structured preschool.
Grace has visited the preschool a couple of times and is thrilled at the idea of being in a "big girl" school. And for meeting new kids and making friends. The first visit was difficult for Grace. She was very emotional and nervous. This made me nervous, and question our decision but I knew in the long run it would be the best thing for her. Chris took Grace for her second visit and it went a lot more smoothly. Now it is all she talks about and she is counting down the days.
All of these changes and decisions in the last year have been made to provide a better life for our children and a more satisfying life Chris and I. We have been fortunate enough to be able to make these decisions and minimally impact our financial life. We are very greatly for everything we have and a day doesn't go by that we don't count our blessings.
I of course will keep everyone updated on how the transition goes. Grace gets to take part in the school picture's too! I can't believe she is old enough for that! These are the times in a parents life when you couldn't be prouder of the little person your child is. And the small stuff is the big stuff!

P.S. Will's curiosity and inability to not touch everything in site has struck again. My camera's memory card is currently MIA. I do half blame myself for this because I was the absent minded one who left it sticking out of the computer. Still, Will just has a knack for finding the smallest of things and finding a new home for them!

~ Em

Will's Ways...

This child of mine may appear to be sweet and innocent but let me share a few of his recent actions that may help you see right through his sweet little self. And let me also tell you that I love my little mister man more than you would believe. He keeps me on my toes, and even when I can feel the smoke coming out of my ears like on a cartoon, he makes me smile. There is no staying mad at him.

I will start this story with our most recent occurance with Will. I received a telephone call this morning from the car dealership. I took my car in because the stereo was crackling and making some very not normal sounds. They checked it out and said my stereo was shorting out and would need to be replaced. Since the car is less than one year old and still under warranty they ordered a new stereo to be installed and that is why the car was at the dealership. Once they removed my stereo they noticed something that did not seem quite right. They shook the stereo system and something was floating around in there. Turns out it a shiny penny! Yes that is right a penny. How could a penny possibly get into my stereo? Well the answer came to me quite quickly. I know my son and I know how much he likes to pick up change and do very random things with it. Luckily, once they removed the penny my stereo seemed to be working just fine and not shorting out. They reinstalled my stereo and did not charge me for the labor. They said they got a good laugh out of it and it was an easy fix. I thanked them for their efforts and told them how much I appreciated their time. It is times like this when Will does what he does that I know I am interacting with other parents. My child can't be the only one to do these things can he?

If you thought the story was over there I am sorry to inform you that is only the incident from today. Let me share a few more of the mischievious things my son does to test my love. Which by the way is still going strong. The second the dealership told me there was a penny in my stereo two things popped into my head. First was, Will! Second was, what is with that kid and pennies. Just a few months ago Will started to get very interested in money. Dollar bills and change but mostly change. He figured out that his pockets have a purpose and that purpose is to keep other people's change in. Whenever we saw him with change we took it away from him and put it up high in our change jar. Somehow he always managed to find at least one penny. One night after struggling with keeping him in his room for bedtime he came into my room for the millionth time it seemed like. Before I would even let me talk I told him to get back in his room and go to sleep. He just looked at me and said "Mom, I eat penny." I scrunched up my face and said "What?" He repeated himself. I just sat there for a second and then logically had to ask, "Why?" He without hesitation stated "Because I wanted to." This is as he shrugged his shoulders. I shook my head in disbelief for a moment and then decided I needed to google it. To my relief the search for child ate penny came back with results. I could breathe a little easier. We also called the doctor and they assured us he would pass it in a few days and to just monitor him to make sure he is not complaining of stomach pain or not going potty. Three days later we were routinely changing his pants when a small shiny object caught our eye. Of course at this point it was pretty humorous. We had confirmation that Will had in fact tattle tailed on himself and not made up a bogus story so he didn't have to go to bed. After this I thought he would move on from pennies and there would be no way we would have another comical story to record in his baby book. Once again Will has proven me wrong.

Will does not limit his mischieve with shiny objects. In the almost three years William has been alive he has done countless things to make me question my sanity. For quite a while there when he was still in the stages of crawling he liked to life the heater vents up and put whatever he was holding at the time down into them. When we starting missing things we came to find out this was where he was hiding them. He put crayons, crackers, toys, pom poms, (and my favorite) my Ipod down there. For safe keeping I am sure. He has broken two of our toilets by flushing a lotion bottle and an Avon kids body wash bottle down them. We have Will to thank for Chris' new plumbing skills I guess. And he threw my Iphone in the toilet. $70 dollars later my phone was brought back to life. He has scribbled permanent marker on Chris' brand new laptop, and broken two tv's by pushing them off of their stand and face first on the floor. Along with that he, for curiousity reasons I am sure, put dominoe's in the VHS player, as well as DVD's. And the list goes on.

After all of this I am always left thinking that whatever happens next or when we are faced with another situation I will not be surprised. But every time it sneaks up on me and I am shocked at what he can come up with. What am I going to do with this boy of mine?

~ Em

How we came to be

Our story begins with a completely random act that proved to change the course of my life. Chris and I like to tell people that we met through mutual friends because it is easier than telling the full story. In essense this is true however it is a stretch. The truth is we met online while using AOL instant messenger. And as I said in the beginning it was random and not how everyone would assume you meet someone online. To make a long story short, I was turning off my friends computer for her when he wanted to chat. Instead of ignoring it and just turning the computer off I politely told him I was not her and before we knew it we came to find out that we grew up with the same friends and had lived near eachother all of our lives. We planned a blind date (the only one I have ever been on), and the rest is history. Now who can tell you a weird story like that on how they met their spouse? After being together for 2 1/2 years we got married and it was not long before we were starting a family. And this is where the best parts of the story begin.

 I welcome you to my world with Gracie Lynn and Will (aka Buddy). My children are the light of my life and I would not have it any other way.We decided to have children fairly young, and that has come with its own challenges. I believe parenting at any age is work and I apparently decided to start early. When Grace entered this world she was a ray of sunlight that we welcomed with open arms. Her bright blue eyes should have immediately warned us that she was going to stand out among the crowd. From the beginning she has known the individual she is and not been shy to share it with the world. Watching Grace grown has taught Chris and I so much about ourselves and the way we want to share the world with our loved ones. Of course with all the love in the air we could not help but decide we wanted to expand our family and have another bundle of joy. Grace was only fifteen or sixteen months old when we found out she was going to have a little brother or sister. Even though the process was starting over faster than we had anticipated we were up for the challenge. Our hope of having one girl and one boy came true when William was born. We were very proud of the big sister Grace became overnight. William added the last piece to the puzzle that we knew we were missing. Grace with her exuberant personality and William with his sweet and innocent yet mischievious self make our life a story that can not go untold.

With this blog I am going to share with you all of the happiness and love these children bring to my life. Along with that will come the "accidents", unbelievable incidents, and never ending chaos they also bring to my life. Sit back and enjoy the smiles, laughs, tears, and life altering love they have in store for you and I. I suggest sitting down when you read our blog, you never know what they are going to entail. Thank you for letting us share our crazy life with you! And please bear with me as I fumble my way through the world of blogging!

~ Em