The big FIVE

Owen turned 5 on Saturday.  Five.  Wow.  Five years since I first became a mama.  Five years since we were blessed with our first baby boy.  We had no idea of the adventures we had waiting for us.  Looking back the years have flown by, but I still remember those first sleepless nights, the temper tantrums and the "phases" I thought would never end.  But out the other side came my sweet Owen.  He is sensitive, caring and thoughtful, constantly bringing me flowers when he sees them in the yard.   Even at 5, Owen is a mama's boy who still loves to snuggle.  He is a big brother in the truest sense of those words.  Owen loves Mason unconditionally -  he encourages him in his struggles and praises his successes.  And to be perfectly honest, I don't know why Owen doesn't get more upset with Mason when he takes his toys and bosses him around.  Truly one of a kind.  And that is why I love celebrating Owen's birthday.  Not only is it a celebration of the day I became a mother, but also a celebration of the kid that Owen is becoming each day.  We must be doing something right ... I just don't know what it is! 

Here are some pictures of Owen' birthday weekend - a celebration fit for a king!

Getting ready to open some presents (still in pajamas!)

Trying out his new skateboard

At Sport Bounce for Owen's birthday party

The birthday party crowd!

Star Wars cake!

the family

Family celebration the next day - our King and his brother, the Prince!

Graduation Day!

I remember when Owen was a baby and I went on tours of daycare centers.  They always talked about "graduation" once they are ready to go onto Kindergarten.  And I rolled my eyes to myself, thinking, really?  A pre-school graduation?  Fast forward 5 years and my first born, Owen, is graduating from pre-Kindergarten ... and I couldn't be more proud.  Sure, it's not quite like working towards a high school or college graduation, but my baby is growing up!  And it's to be celebrated.  I cheated on my bed rest and had my mom accompany me to Owen's pre-school graduation.  As I saw all of the kids lined up in their red cap and gowns, looking all cool with their matching red shades, the tears started rolling.  Pomp and Circumstance played and as Owen and his friends walked by, I thought how fast the past 5 years have flown by and my mind fast-forwarded to a high school graduation 13 short years away.  And I wanted to cherish every moment.  Well, I wanted to stop time, but I knew that wasn't possible.  We are so proud of all that Owen has learned and accomplished in the past 5 years and we know that he is ready for Kindergarten this Fall.  He has grown in to a thoughtful, caring, smart (especially with math!) and patient (most of the time!) little boy!

Below is a video of the best of the best parts of the graduation and a little photo montage at the end.  Enjoy!

(sorry, Tracey, I used a copyrighted song so it's not available in Germany. Only Germany.  Not sure why??  I'll do a different version for you without Leann Womack so you can view!)

Birthdays and Bed Rest

Yesterday, June 8, 2011 was Mason's 3rd birthday.  3 years ago yesterday we celebrated the end of my bed rest, the birth of our much anticipated second child and the beginning of a beautiful journey.  Yesterday, I was placed on bed rest for the duration of our pregnancy with our third child.  Ironic?  Life is just one big circle it seems.

First, let's focus on the positives.  Mason is three!!  We are so proud of all our little boy has accomplished in his 3 years.  He is thriving at home and at school.  A little defiant and stubborn at times, but he's my kid so what do you expect?  At three, Mason loves most of all to play with his older brother.  They play Star Wars, Superheroes, wrestling, and more.  We can even get them to agree on what TV show or movie to watch every once in a while!  We had a small party over the weekend, but Mason didn't seem like enjoy the invasion of other children on his home turf and was not too keen on the birthday celebration.  But, we did a small family birthday last night with a simple piece of cake and three candles and he loved it.  Happy happy birthday to our beautiful big boy ... as I've said before, I never dreamed three years ago that our little boy would teach ME so much about living life to its fullest, persevering through things that come difficult, and accepting what God has given you and making the most of it each day.  We are truly blessed.   

Now onto the not so fun stuff. Basically I've been put on bed rest due to contractions and results of certain predictive tests that increase my "odds" of giving birth in the next 2 weeks up to 40% coupled with my prior pre term labor experience with Mason. The baby has been given steroid shots to speed up lung development and I am on medication to try and calm the contractions. I am 30 1/2 weeks and really need to get to 34 - 36 weeks to be in any kind of "safe" zone.  Brian is being a trooper and picking up all slack when it comes to the kids.  I know this is as hard on him as it is for me to lay on the couch and not lift a finger.  But together we will get through this.  Because that's what we do.  And this is what we have to look forward to:

Isn't our little girl adorable?   As excited as we are for her to join our family out here, please pray that she stays put for a few more weeks!  

Sight Words

With Kindergarten approaching for Owen, we started to work on some site words.  Thanks to the recommendation from my mom, we found this great video called "Meet the Site Words" that both boys have responded to.   It focuses on a visual approach to recognizing site words, an approach we know all about since kids with Down syndrome also respond much better to visual prompts.  It is amazing to watch as both boys learn the beginning site words.  I attached a video below of Owen reading the longest sentence we could come up with for the beginning site words he knows.  And if you listen when Owen gets to the word "you,"  Mason shouts it out before Owen.   We also found that if we put two or three cards out for Mason and ask him which word says, "X,"  he will get it right about 75% of the time.  At 2 years old.  With Down syndrome.  It's truly amazing.  Both of my boys are.

Dapper Diaper Dude

I don't have much to write today ... because I think these pictures say it all.  Last night Mason was in an especially goofy mood as we were getting ready for bed.  For once, the camera was handy and I grabbed it to snap a few of my diaper dude hamming and dancing it up!  As I look at these pics, I can't believe how fast my little baby boy is growing up ... gonna be 3 in a couple of months ... and a big brother in a couple more.  How can we make time slow down???

Oh, and one more ... It started out as a Robin costume, add about 2-3 more capes and the Iron Man mask on top.  Whose scared of this multi-caped masked crusader??

Opening Day!

It's become a Lochhead family tradition.  The first home Nationals baseball game of the season.  We are so there!  It signifies the first "event"of Spring - Baseball season!  This year, it was cold and rainy so we made the difficult decision to leave Mason, who was just starting to get a cold, at school.  I felt so guilty about this ... until I sat there shivering with my toes going numb.  I knew it was the right decision.  Nonetheless, the three Lochheads braved the elements and had a great time.

 
We even got a personal visit from Screech in our section! 

Go Nats ... the Four of us will be back ... when it's a little warmer :)   

It's a GIRL!

We are thrilled and excited to be welcoming a baby girl into our family this August!  We took Owen with  us to the gender ultrasound and I wish I could say that he was enthralled with the photos of his sibling, but I couldn't get that kid to take his eyes off of "Angry Birds" on my iPhone.  HA!  But, he did say, "I knew it was going to be a sister because we already have two boys and we need another girl."  How thoughtful!  We really would have been excited either way but this mama is pretty happy to have a little girl to spoil.  Brian, on the other hand, is a little shell-shocked.  And while he says he likes the "idea" of a girl, after two boys I think he's a little unsure of how girls "work" (or maybe a little nervous about having a mini-Kristin in the house!)