Thursday, July 29, 2010

Wet Dirt

We had our first signs of monsoon the other day. 
The monsoon season is my favortie time of year here in AZ. 
It is just about the only time it rains. And everything smells like wet dirt. I love it. 

When I was a young child (okay-maybe not so young), my siblings and I would run to my moms room and camp out on the floor in fear of the thunder and lightening. I wish we could still do that.


Monday, July 26, 2010

Penne and Aprons

I'm back in the kitchen cookin' up some delicious meals. 
Light, healthy and mouth-watering-worthy. 

And to add to the greatness, I have an entire new collection of aprons, 
thanks to grandma Irene for spoiling me with 4 new ones!
She knows me too well.

(ps, grandma, I will come by soon to return the dishes and tea kettle! Ive been working everyday)

tonight's meal: ricotta penne with tomato and pine nuts


Recipe found HERE


Sunday, July 25, 2010

Upgrade


Dave took me to Jared today just to check out our options
Just incase I wanted to switch setting for my perfect diamond.

Well it turns out they had options. Great ones. 
They ended up having the perfect pair setting for my perfect diamond.
So, we upgraded a little. 

But, you must know (according to dave), they didn't have this when Dave bought mine. 
I can't stop staring at it. It's my dream ring!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A Beautiful Life

Today, as I'm sure you already know, is Owyn's First Birthday.

It's amazing how much parenthood changes you. If you let it.
From the moment I knew I was going to be a mother everything was different. My perception of life had changed. Becoming a mother is such an amazing and spiritual experience. Life becomes clear.  Like a rainy day when the rain stops and the sun shines through the clouds lighting up the sky and everything that is beautiful on this earth. Everything is clearer. So pure.You can see straight through it to basic important meaning of life. This life we live on earth is so sacred and short. And now, I see, that we are to make everything we can of it so in the end we can live together for eternity in Heaven.

Right before I knew I was pregnant I was going through one of those times where we question our importance here. What is great about me? Who am I and what is my purpose. And my questions were answered very soon after. I am a child of God. And now I have the opportunity to give life and meaning to another. One I call my own. I can tell him what all I've learned and experienced and teach him the true meaning of life. I was faithful before Owyn, but this experience has strengthened my relationship with God so much.

Just last week Dave and I were having one of our "deep conversations" we often do about life. This talk was about traveling and how we're less likely to travel the world now that we have so many responsibilities here at home. I mentioned how I never understood when people use the excuse of wanting to travel instead of having children. Dave had an empowering response. He said, what makes traveling the world so great is being able to see the great work of God. He added that being able to wake up and see Owyn grow, laugh and learn everyday reminds him of the great work of God. And we both agreed that is much more powerful. If I had to choose between traveling the world while never having children and never leaving my state while having children, Id chose children in a second.

That is the greatest thing that ties Dave and I together. Our faith. We are always able to pull each other back up to the righteous path. His words are inspiring and his actions are some to live by. He is such an amazing father to Owyn. He does everything he can to make a good life for Owyn and I. The night Owyn was born I slept throughout the entire night. Though all of the chaos and visits from the nurses, I never woke once. Dave stayed up by our side changing and attempting to feed Owyn when he woke. Nothing really has changed. Sad to say. It makes me feel awful, but Dave still wakes up with Owyn, changes his diapers, cleans his bottles and is the best at putting him to sleep. I am so grateful for him. I feel lucky to have him to teach Owyn all about the wonders of the world. Dave is that guy who has answers to everything. Whether it's the meaning/spelling of a word, a verse in the bible, a fact about history, how telephones work, what kind of clouds are in the sky (and why), or even how to sew on a button. He knows. Good thing, cause Im the parent who would always answer, "just because, sweetie", when my child asks me why or how. If it weren't for Dave, I wouldn't know that babies can't have grapes because of the skin. 
---------

Back to Owyn's birthday...

Has it really been one year? Really?
It's been a long but short year. We've been through so much, which makes it seem so long, but it's flown by so quickly. Owyn has taught me so many things. Like how to be patient and find joy out of the small things in life. Like a balloon. He brings me happiness everyday. Id be lying if I said he didn't also bring me frustration everyday. But Ill tell you all what I tell every other person about motherhood...

Yes, your life revolves around someone else. It has it's hard times and it's great times. But every night I go to bed feeling accomplished and every morning I wake up with a purpose. And that purpose is so beautiful. 


July 21, 2009:

One year later:

Happy Birthday Owyn-Cornelious-Slig.
You are more than a mother could ask for.

Happy Birthday Barnslig! - From Dad

The past year has brought with it many permanent changes in our lives, not the least of which include buying a new home and leaving apartment life behind, becoming engaged to marry, and of course, little Owyn. The past 365 days have shown our lives a kaleidoscope of emotions, scenarios and experiences – but the most trying and rewarding situation of all is that of becoming parents. Observing Owyn as he grows and develops his own little personality has taught us many things about ourselves and each other.

Being a parent inevitably brings with it much joy, laughter, confusion, fear, and sometimes sadness or anger – whether directly attributed to the child and their behavior or resulting from a general tertiary sense of despair in pondering the ways of the world and what it means to raise a child in such a place where the evening “news” has nothing good to say about anything, ever. It is in pondering and weathering such that separates the good parents from the not-so-good parents I suppose, and our response to whatever travails stand in our way is, in the end, what makes or breaks a family.

Like so many unfaithful sports stars have indicated to their better halves’ in their press conferences earlier this year, “for better or for worse” counts for a heck of a lot more under the “for worse” category. It’s pretty easy to take things for granted when everything seems to be going well and there isn’t much to complain about, if anything, but it’s through our trials and tribulations that show us who we really are and gives us a chance to grow into the people we wish we were. Although neither of us are perfect by any stretch of the word, I can bear witness to Chelsea becoming firmly grounded in parenthood and taking on such crushing responsibility with the sensibilities and the comfortable future of our family in mind. As for myself, I believe I have settled into fatherhood somewhat nicely, although I admit our opinions of ourselves and our performance are usually biased to some degree.

One year ago this day, Chelsea and I were in the delivery room anxiously waiting to be thrust into our new roles as parents. And anxious we were. More than anything, we just wanted to see Owyn, and have him come into this world happy and healthy – the top priorities for any parents-to-be, I would assume. And to that end, our prayers have been answered above and beyond our expectations.

The joys of watching Owyn roam the house with found objects in hand while professing his limited knowledge of the world in his own loud secret language are unparalleled. At times I would wish to shelter and ensconce his innocence from the cold miasma of a world we live in, but I would suppose that most things are inevitable. He will be how he will be, and he will find knowledge that I would keep from him - and there is little I can do to change that, other than equip him with the tools he will need to make informed and intelligent decisions... because I won’t always be there, even though I want to be. I digress…

Tonight we are going to Organ Stop Pizza for Owyn’s first birthday! As fortune would smile, our new house is just a stone’s throw away. I hear from a reputable source that their pizza has improved from “Peter Piper Status”  in the years since my last trip there. Hopefully the younger organ player is there tonight, I hear tell that his rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody” rivals even the original version in its magnificence. Chelsea is somewhat hesitant to go, but once she experiences the awesomeness for herself, she will be changed forever. She will want to go back tomorrow night, and the next night, and the next and the next… and soon after going there many consecutive nights, our refrigerator will be full of rotten, forgotten food and our bellies will be fat with the fantastic wonders that only a blue-ribbon pizza parlor can provide. As for my baby, he will feast on the untold Ameri-talian delights of pizza, spaghetti and meatballs or perhaps some other pasta dish… he will become very dirty and greasy in an astoundingly short period of time, and he will sleep peacefully tonight (unlike last night, the little rascal).

In the end, it has been a light-speed year of twists and turns, of grandeur and drain, but all in all I think we are doing okay. It’s important in this life to be thankful for what you have, and not resentful over what you don’t. I wish to extend our endless gratitude to all of our friends and family who have helped us out so much over the year – we couldn’t have done this without you!


And Owyn thanks you too!

* Edit - 6:51pm exactly this minute 1 year ago, Owyn was born!

Guess who's 1 year old today


More birthday thoughts and activities later. 
For now I have a no-pants-birthday-man to smother with love.

Monday, July 19, 2010

What a weekend it has been




This past week has been exhausting. 
I've 2 parties, worked everyday of the week and had all of my family in town staying with us. 

Even though we had such a good time and I always love being with my family, we are definitley in the need of some peace and quiet. And not to mention some catching up to do on the cleaning around the house. 

So this is me apologizing before hand for not blogging, answering my phone or calling back. I have another week full of work and family time.

Here is something to entertain you:


(aunt whitney put one of rileys headbands on owyn. he was trying to look at it for a while.)

Baby Shower- Tea Party

After having Owyn's party on Saturday, we celebrate the mommy-to-be, Whitney. My dearest sister. I'm so lucky I was able to give her such a wonderful shower, with the help of my family. Whitney is such an amazing woman who inspires me everyday and is going to be such a good mother. She has so many great friends who think the same about her. 

I can't wait to go see her and meet little miss Riley in October!


Celebrating One Year Out of the Womb

We celebrated Owyn's FIRST BIRTHDAY this past Saturday. 
All of our family and close friends came to shower Owyn with love. 

Let me just tell you, this kid is so loved!
Everyone thinks my child is the cutest, funniest, happiest sweetest boy in the world. Im not lying, thats really what everyone tells me. I'm known as the girl with the cutest son. Not to brag or anything, but I did work really hard to grow him. So I guess that gives me the right to take pride in my work. 

Owyn had such an amazing time at his party (eventhough he was asleep for the first 1/2 hour of it). 
He is so lucky to have so much love, guidence and support from so many wonderful people and so are we. And we are so lucky to have such a wonder son with such a bright personality like him. 


Thank you everyone, so much!


Monday, July 12, 2010

One Year Ago Today


One year ago today we were anxiously waiting for birth of our son. 
I miss the pregnancy days. It was the best time of my life. Dave and I used talk and spend time together every night. We'd lay in bed together and he'd read Owyn a book every night and once he fell asleep I read my bible. Every morning before he left for work he'd kneel next to the bed where I laid sleeping and would tell me and Owyn how much he loved us and would give us kisses. He'd leave to work with a big smile on his face. Id enjoy my day at the pool, doing homework and blogging. Now, it's a little different. We fall asleep when ever and wherever our bodies shut down for the day and Dave is usually running late for work after changing and entertaining Owyn in the morning while I'm shooing him out the door while making Owyn breakfast. I spend the rest of the day getting us both ready, changing, feeding, cleaning and repeating.  I'm not complaining, just reminiscing the days us three had all the time in the world to enjoy each others company without all of the clutter.




Thursday, July 8, 2010

Even Babies Need a Little Privacy

Hmmmm...

I hear Owyn grunting and pushing...

and I smell a stinky daiper...

but I don't see him. 

Where's Owyn??

There he is!!

Why do children feel the need to go hide behind/under something to drop a bomb?

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Recent Crafty Projects

As you could imagine, I've been working on a lot of projects around the house. 
Every weekend that approaches comes with a long list of projects. This house is starting to really come together. We're finally getting things up on the walls and we got a huge rug and couch for Dave's "band room" aka: the family room. I hope I can get all of these projects done before the shower and Owyn's b-day. 

Here are two projects I recently finished:

Doily Wall Art:

My Grandma Nita gave me tons of her mother in-laws doily's, which made me very excited because I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. Now I need to find another purpose for all the extras I have. Aren't doily's the cutest thing?

Crane Mobile:



Last semester in Gallery Exhibitions I worked on an exhibit that was displayed in one of the hall annex' in the main Art building. This was it. It was a lot larger though. Each and every one of these cranes has been made by different individuals of all sorts and every one of them have a wish inside by their creator. And I got to take it home. And Owyn gets to enjoy this piece of art as he dozes off to dream land. Maybe when he's old enough to understand he can open them to remind him that we all wish for the same things.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Mini Roadtrip- Part 4: Jerome

We ended our mini road trip in Jerome, AZ.
If you haven't been, you need to. It's the cutest little town on the edge of a mountain. Oh, and, it's a haunted town. Very cool. We had so much fun on our little get away. It reminded me of our first year of dating.




Monday, July 5, 2010

Mini Roadtrip- Part 3: It's Official

So we're sitting on a rock under a tree with our feet in the water and wine in hand. I take a look at Dave and he has this serious look on his face and looks deep into my eyes and says "Chelsea..", (yes, I felt like laughing) and pulled out...

a box? .... with a gorgeous diamond ring??

Yep. It's true. He's made it official.






We marked our spot

Mini Roadtrip- Part 2: Getting Fishy

After we left Sedona for an early lunch we drove to Oak Creek Canyon. We searched for the absolute best spot to of the creek to hike down and dip our feet in. As we got out of the car Dave took his back pack.

Me: "What's in the sack"?

Dave: "Supplies"

I thought it was very odd and figured something was up. I thought he was gonna try to pull some romantic move or something. If you don't know me, I'm very awkward about anything that has to do with emotions. So romantic makes me laugh. Then I feel bad. So I try to stay away from romantic situations.

We found the perfect spot, after moving a couple times and I immediately kicked off my shoes and put them straight into the cold water. As I was going about my business Dave got into his "supply" sack and pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses. I knew he was gonna do something like this.





Mini Roadtrip- Part 1

This past weekend Dave did something really romantic.
He planned a little day trip date for the two of us.
And it was perfect.

We began our adventure in Sedona.
We walked around the shops and shared a small lunch and beers. We've had many dates in Sedona. It's a very special place for us. Sedona is one of the prettiest places Ive ever been. And lucky for us, it's a short 2 hour drive away.





As we were sitting on a porch enjoying the weather and the great work of the Lord, we started talking about traveling and I mentioned how fun it would be to get into weird situations in foreign countries. Then, some granola with super super short shorts (which were stapled along the hem) set up his video camera on his tripod pointing directly at us. He filmed us as if we didn't know and ate his home-packed lunch. It was very strange. And very uncomfortable.

So we moved on..

BBQ on the 4th of July

We celebrated our Independence day with some good BBQ and good friends. 
It was lovely.