the last day of owen as a one year old

yep, today's the last day.  the very last day of being one.  my littlest baby {or not so little, really} turns two tomorrow.

birthdays are for reminiscing, right?!  remembering, giving, loving, reflecting, living.

i remember us praying for another child.  i remember sharing the news with family and friends. i remember {most} parts of owen's pregnancy ... the crazy contractions that started in the mid twenty weeks and continued the rest of the time.  the weekly visits to the OB to make sure owen wasn't trying to meet us earlier than he should.  i remember all of the dreaming, planning, preparation, thinking, talking, and laughing in our family as God would soon bless us with a new life. another baby BOY!  i remember the roller coaster of emotions the night before his arrival {link to that post}- what did God have in store for us with his delivery?  i remember that next morning knowing that Monday, February 1st would be a day we woudl never forget.  i remember waking gary up and telling him excitedly, "i don't think you are going to work today.  we are going to the hospital!"  i remember the miracle of giving birth to him.  i remember henry seeing owen for the first time -"he's so tiny!" he said.  i remember thinking that how fortunate that owen came three weeks early, since he was eight pounds when he was born.  whew!  :)  i remember how breathtakingly beautiful he was when i first laid eyes on him.  i remember how content and go with the flow he was in the hospital ... and that continued when we went home.  owen was such a good, good baby, from the start.

and blink, he is almost two.  and now he is still breathtakingly beautiful, has twinkling brown eyes, is full of energy and spunk, is learning all sorts of new words, is so darn strong, so darn tough, so darn independent, is always hungry, is always getting into something, eats dirt and still likes to taste most things, is completely fearless, give amazing hugs, and is having fun discovering his surroundings one day, one piece at a time. 

i eagerly await to see what owen has in store for this world!

henry davis vaughan ... four years old.

that's right - henry turned the big f-o-u-r on january 13th.

FOUR!

to kick off the birthday weekend, henry brought a special snack to school.  i asked him on three different days what he would like to bring ... drum roll ... fruit bars.  fruit bars!  and the last time that i asked him, he said {in a sweet tone}, "i told you yesterday mommy, that i would like to bring fruit bars."  ha!

so i piped the number four on each fruit bar to be as festive as we could - with fruit bars.  his teacher took a picture of the birthday boy that day at school.  he said he had a GREAT day!  when I picked him up that day, i asked him how the fruit bars were.  he replied, "delicious!"  i laughed. 

and the next day was his actual birthday.  he was really, really excited.  he kept saying "did you know that today is my birthday?"  and "tell me about the day I was born, mommy!"

Andy Andrews, author of one of my favorite books "The Noticer," wrote a children's book.  the book is excellent - love it!  henry does too.

henry has had his eye on a batcave for quite some time ... he was thrilled with this surprise!

and owen, he just had a good time playing with the batcave too and telling henry,  "happy bfday hen-ee" - how he says henry is adorable.  hen-ee.

thanks to all for the birthday wishes!

and carrying on the notion that a gift is meant to be given, our hands always open and helping another, henry packed up a few of his cars and books and donated them to some other boys and girls.  and he did this with a smile on his face and a cheerful heart.  {sniff, sniff.  the whole day seemed like one big long moment where you think to yourself, "how incredible is this child? how thankful i am to be his mother, my cup runneth over."  side note: that's not to say that all days or moments resemble this - parenting wouldn't be parenting if that were the case, right?}

some of henry's favorite things:

crafts of all sorts

music / singing

reading / books

playing outside

animals

cars / trains

board / card games

he likes just about anything, but if i had to pick one activity he loves most, it would be reading.

some of henry's favorite foods:

pizza {he asked to eat at johnny brusco's for his birthday dinner}

most fruits

chips / pretzels / snack items

granola / fruit bars  :)

ice cream
spinach

bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon

any breakfast food

he likes a pretty wide variety of foods, but if I had to pick one meal he enjoys the most, it would be breakfast.

a couple of funny and sweet things he says:

to owen "owen, you give me so much grace."

also to owen "owen, YOU are captain destructo!"

when asked where the most comfortable place in the house is,

he says, "on daddy!" {as he is crawling on gary}

to me "i am so glad you are here, mommy.  i love you."

to us "i am strong because of all the protein i eat - it gives me big muscles."

here's to mr. h!

and one last thought ... henry was born on a sunday. 

in a book of daily prayers {Give Me Grace, by Cynthia Rylant}, sunday's prayer reads:

"sunday in a quiet time, bless this little life of mine.

in the wonder of each day, let me live a holy way."

amen.

henry ... on his birthdays

henry davis ... on the day of his birth.

seems like only yesterday {never said that before, eh?!}

 we found out at 36 weeks on a thursday that henry was breech ... that following monday we had an appointment at the hospital to do an ECV to turn him in hopes of avoiding a c-section.  God had other plans ... that sunday my water broke and a c-section baby henry was!  he was healthy, beautiful and just amazing.

 henry turns one! 

 henry turns two!

 henry turns three!

and henry just turned four ...

little of this, little of that.

playing together

 a visit from sweet georgia!

 chilly temps here ... one of the dog bowls full of water was a complete block of ice.  this doesn't happen in alabama!

 lots of smiles

 enjoying the good ole john deer tractor from trip and stacy ...

 owen is a little afraid to drive it (which is surprising given his daredevil nature) and he prefers to ride in the wagon.  so henry drives and owen rides.  this actually works out well because they don't argue about who drives!

 little tough guy

 playing with cars together ... this lasted a pretty good while with no spats about who had what car, etc.

and we caught savannah in a funny position ... don't see any of our pups laying with both elbows out to the sides.  funny!

adieu, 2011.

a new year.  new beginnings.  new experiences.  new, well, lots of things.

2011 was more than good to us in many ways ... while bid 2011 adieu, we greet the new year with smiles, humble hearts and excitement!

 quick recap of the last day of 2011 ... we aren't the "going out" NY Eve type, so we celebrated by watching the auburn game at home, making risotto (yum! a weekly tradition in the vaughan house - but one we have not done since early November), and enjoying 2631.  normally the neighborhood fireworks are a booming NY Eve ... and savannah and shelby do not care for them one little bit.  however, this was the first year we heard ZERO fireworks (hooray!) and the dogs were happy, happy about that!

 the above is a picture of the field way behind our house - this field is not our property, but the owner is super nice and allows us to use it.  it is a really nice piece of land ... and we have mapped out a great place for a trail run.

 a view of the side of our house that overlooks the pond (the pond sits in front of our house, where the picture is being taken).  the fence for the dog's yard is on the right side of this picture.

 if you look closely on the right hand side of the photo, you can see the back of our house.  this is coming back from a walk on that pretty piece of pasture from the above photo.

 from our deck/porch - one of the many gorgeous sunsets out here.  breathtaking, each one.  henry commented at the sunset one afternoon after his nap, "mommy, look at the sky and the pond.  isn't it beautiful?"  amazing.  there are a hundred and one things we love about the new digs ... it just fits us.  our lifestyle, our personalities, us.  our brother in law and his many crews did an outstanding job in the building process.  many more posts to come about 2631.  :)

 and we can't bid 2011 adieu without this thinking of this gem {warning: nostalgia to follow}.  1007 stage road. 2011 marked the year we moved from this, our first home.  a place where we became a family ... this home saw a marriage, loved and protected us in our marriage the nearly eight years, saw various home projects, renovations, learning, growing, living, the loss of a dear family kitty, the incredible addition of brother bricks to our family, helped a few foster doggies, celebrated the births of our two most precious gifts, helped us survive two strokes and thrive through the miraculous recovery that followed.  a place we went through the daily joys, pains, laughter, and everything in betweens in the life that God has granted us.

while we are beyond thrilled about our new home, the move itself was truly bittersweet.  we will forever reflect on the millions of memories created there.  and even though a home is not merely a piece of real estate, we will always cherish it. {tear}

 as we said goodbye to our kitchen, truly the main room of our home ...

 then to what used to be an office, then the sweet nursery where we brought home our first and second baby boys ...

 and goodbye to the room that was once a guest room, then became henry's big boy room ...

 and when the furniture was gone, the pictures were off the walls, everything was clean and freshly painted and ready for the next family, welcoming their firstborn child ...

... we said a prayer of thanks, followed by a few sniffles and tears.  1007 stage road was so, so good to us. 

an old "friends" viewer, i thought about the last "friends" episode when monica and chandler move. {just a show, no question, but a move always reminds me of this}.  the camera zooms into the little yellow frame around the keyhole of the door. 

a door ... a means of access.  opening and closing.  closing this one chapter of our lives.  opening a new chapter of our lives.  accessing a part of each of our days.  accessing many parts of our minds, of our hearts.

 

here's the many doors - old, new, small, medium, large, quiet and loud, we will all access in 2012!