Exploring purple flowers

Tiny hands exploring purple flowers. He is in an inquisitive stage. Taking the time to focus on a tiny flower long enough to grasp it with his fingers and bring it near his face for a closer look. Intently watching anything around him that moves, cars, animals, people, or something just blowing in the wind. 

Hamilton family reunion 2012: Pismo beach

We had a beautiful time as a family in Pismo beach California. All of my immediate family and their spouses were there and Grammie of course! Or does she count as immediate family? We had been planning the trip for months, buying "water play" items at yard sales, searching online for restaurants to try and sending text messages to each other building hype for the trip. In the end it lived up to all the hype! :)

This is what most days looked like: wake up, coffee and breakfast, walk to the beach (only a half block!), hangout on the beach while the guys boarded, clean up, walk around town, eat at a classic beach cafe, play card games at home, yogurt and an evening stroll along the board walk and pier. What more could you want in a classic california beach vacation?

I wasn't sure what Owen would think of the beach and sand. He acts afraid when we set him on grass so I wondered if he would act the same way with the sand. He loved it! Much to my surprise he didn't try to eat it! He mostly crawled around till he found seaweed or a seagull, then he would chat away with which ever one he found first. He loved us to pick him up and chase the birds. He loves birds. He takes after his grandma in that area, she is the birder in the family. He has a blast! 

I am so grateful for my family! Lets do it again next year! 

Precious moments: a newborn

We are back in town from our trip to Pismo. I was loading the last set of pictures from our trip and got distracted. I started looking through all the pictures and videos of our first moments with Owen. The first time I laid him on my chest and we gazed into each others eyes, the first time I kissed his soft forehead and touched his pink lips, the first time I watched Paul hold him in his big hands with a tender look on his face. Those memories are so precious to me. I never want to forget them. I have been thinking about how fast it is all going by, he is already almost 11 months old! I want to savor every moment. I will always cherish each of these photos. I'm glad I can share them with you. 

Happy mothers day!

Happy mothers day to all you mothers out there!

Where are you on this mothers day? Are you doing anything special to celebrate?

I am happy to be with my mom celebrating the wonderful mother she has been! Three generations of moms together today, grammie, mom and me. My little bug can't tell me happy mothers day or make me a little craft but he is his sweet little snuggle bug self and I am so glad to be his mommy. I woke up this morning to this beautiful pot of fuchsia tulips from my boys.

We are in Pismo beach on our first Hamilton family reunion! I won't be able to do a real blog post while we are here because there is no internet at the place we are staying. This is my first go at iPhone blogging. :) I hope you have a wonderful day!

The photos are from instagram. You can find me on instagram at alwaysmewithyou.

10 months

Owen is 10 months old

-He stood on his own without pulling up on anything for the first time. He was squatting playing with his blocks and then just stood right up and balanced for what seemed like forever to me. 

-He has 8 teeth now, a whole mouth full!

-He had a very traditional crawl until a few weeks ago. Now he gets in a "down on one knee" position and then stays in that position while crawling. Foot, knee, foot, knee, down the way he goes. Maybe he figures he will try one foot out before actually walking on both. 
-If you hold his hands so he can practice walking he kicks his feet way up high with straight legs like a little toy solider. 
-His favorite toys are his little people sheep (he picks the sheep every time over all the other animals), the remote (of course), his aunties necklaces and I always find him crawling down the hall with a nursing pad.
-He still prefers to nurse over any other baby food but inconsistently eats pureed fruits or veggies. His favorite is sweet potatoes, especially sweet potatoes with corn. This week we are starting to mix other items in with the sweet potatoes to see if he likes that.
-His new favorite noise to make is a funny motor boat sound with the vibration of his lips.
-He has started to play peek a boo with us!

-We were at a party a couple of days ago and he successfully whacked over 6 different peoples food or drinks. We under estimate his arm span coupled with lunging forward. 
-He is very interested in faces. When he is getting ready for bed he sits on my lap looking up at me and pokes at my eye lashes, nose and mouth. He normally falls asleep with his fingers in my mouth.  
-His favorite things to do with daddy are playing chase, hitting daddys fuzzy head while yelling and playing together with his toys.
-His favorite things to do with mommy are eating, taking baths and naps together and reading books. 


These pictures were taken on our beautiful campus and are also where our wedding photos were taken.