Look who's four!

  Owen turned four on Thursday, May 21st. Four years ago I earned the honorable title of mommy and I couldn’t be happier. Owen is such a happy, energetic and outgoing kid. He is our little social butterfly. Everyone he meets is his friend. He will talk to anyone about anything, and it seems that everyone always wants to talk to him. He is very polite, always (mostly) uses his manners and he is kind. God surely blessed us! Above all, Owen is a great son and big brother. When he wakes up in the morning, he is quick to tell us that he loves us and that he is happy to see us. When he sees his brother for the first time, he gives Jase a hug and says, “I missed you my little buddy.” He truly brings joy into our lives every day.
  Owen chose to go to the Rocket Museum (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum) for his birthday. Because of our family’s flexible schedule, we decided to go on his actual birthday. When the day came, it was very overcast, cold and rainy. We were all disappointed. Thankfully, we were able to move my schedule around and go the following day. What a difference a day makes. Friday was a perfect day for a DC adventure. It was in the mid 70s, sunny with a slight breeze. It was absolutely perfect.
  We left home around 9:45am and both kids passed out on the way there. We arrived and parked (thanks parking panda!) around 11:15am and had our first family tailgate lunch in the back of the Pilot. Once everyone was fed, we packed up and headed for the ‘Rocket Museum.’ The parking garage was only two blocks away from the museum, which is on the national mall. The museum was busy, but that didn’t deter us. Owen loved seeing all of the airplanes, missiles, rockets, and space gear. It is such an awesome place.
  After about  two hours of exploring the museum, we all needed a break so we headed out to the national mall. We set out a blanket and just rested for about an hour and a half. The boys shared a milkshake with daddy and played in the shade of the trees. I spent most of this time on the blanket, with my back against a tree, soaking in the beauty. The luscious green grass, the rows and rows of leafy green trees, children running and laughing and the others just like me, sitting on the lawn seeing the same scenes as I did. I remember turning to Greg and telling him that sitting on this lawn, under the branches of a tree is quite possibly my favorite place. I will never forget those few moments I spent with my family there.
  We left the mall and headed for the Sculpture Garden by the National Gallery of Art. By the time we got there, Jase was taking his afternoon nap in the stroller so we decided to stop and stay awhile. Owen loved the large oval shaped fountain in the middle of the garden. We hung out there and got our piggies wet while we waited for Jase to wake. Owen met a friend, of course, and they splashed together while Greg and I laughed at Owen’s lack of inhibition. The highlight of the fountain was seeing a mommy duck and her 5 little ducklings swim around the fountain pool.
  Our next stop was the Museum of Natural History. We saw all sorts of things, but Owen’s favorite was the large fish tank where he saw, Nemo, Dory, Bubbles, and some coral. We stayed there until close (5:30pm), got some dinner and headed back to the car. We were home by 9pm and we were all pooped. We had such a great day. There is so much to see, we couldn’t possibly see it all. We all had such a great time that we decided that we need to make this trip on a regular basis. It only takes us about 75 minutes to get there, so why not?  I am very thankful for the day that I got to spend with my family in such a beautiful place.

 We're here!

 Flying their new planes :)

 Jase enjoyed DC too :)

 Nice pic setting...

 Nevermind...

     Sitting with mommy at the oval fountain pool.

  

ER, here we come!

What a weekend! I got an early morning work out in on Saturday which was a great way to start the day! I came home, hung out with the boys and started making lunch. We just got some fresh tomatoes so I was making fresh sauce to go with some penne, when out of the sunroom came Jase. Jase has been walking for a little over 2 months, so when I saw him ‘running’ I didn’t think anything of it. As I looked over to check on him, he tripped on his own feet and lunged toward the corner edge of the wall. He smacked his head directly in the middle of his forehead. As soon as he ‘bounced’ off the wall, I knew the cut meant an ER trip! Once we got ourselves as settled as we could, and with our food still on the stove, the four of us rushed out of the house. (Don’t worry- I had enough sense at the time to turn the stove off!) We dropped Owen off at a nearby friend’s house- we are so blessed that they were happily able to help- and off we went. The entire visit at Carroll Co ER was great. The people were very professional, efficient and it genuinely seemed like they cared! 

We got into triage right away and quickly admitted. Since the cut was pretty wide, the PA told us that we would need stitches. A nurse came in and put some numbing agent on his little head and had us wait about 45 minutes for it to set. I think Jase really enjoyed his time at the hospital! He had all the attention from mommy AND daddy at the same time! We blew up some Dr gloves and tied them to make ‘balloons’- he loved that! Daddy and I had a little game of volleyball going over his bed. We kept busy by playing with cars and reading books (that I thankfully had in my diaper bag), as well as eating snacks! We were all hungry since we he took the spill right before lunch! Jase was really funny, he kept trying to escape our room and explore the ER floor. He was really having fun…until it came time for the stitches. The nurse and PA were great; they wrapped him in a blanket, then placed him on a board with straps that kept him still. They worked together as a team to put in 4 stitches. We had to wait about 20 more minutes or so after the stitches. After we got the stitches, one of the nurses came back and gave Jase a handmade security blanket. It was so sweet. Volunteers make these blankets for the little kids in the ER to 'provide securty through blankets'...Jase was quick to give it many snuggles. 

We were in and out in about 2 hours!  Jase is now a happy camper and all is well. We are very thankful that Jase is okay, and that there’s no further damage to his little head. He is such a trooper..he only cried for about a minute after the initial crash and during the stitches, of course :( All in all, not a bad first ER visit!

Snacking while we wait :)

Sitting with daddy

                                                                                       

Sweet blanket for Jase.

 Home and healing!