Pumpkins and the Land of the Ducks

We went to the Pumpkin festival a few weeks ago. The Parks Dept owns a big empty property outside of town. Each year, they turn it into a big family day with food booths, kids games, face painting, pony rides, and of course, the pumpkin patch. Owen's not very into the games yet (maybe in 2-3 years!), but we feel like this is as good a time as any to start some family traditions. Plus, the view of the mountains is great out there and Owen always enjoys being outdoors.

We did think the "pumpkin patch" was a little strange... where are the vines? At least this makes it easy to find the one you want. And who can pass up pumpkins for $2.50? We probably won't get around to carving them before Wednesday, but at least our porch looks festive.

Now that we live in Oregon, we have to work a little harder to represent our purple and gold. We had Dan and Jill over with their baby, Joseph to watch the UofO game. Joseph had his Duck gear on, and Owen worked hard to show his Husky spirit. The game ended ugly for our dawgs, but we feel better knowing that UofO beat USC this weekend. Let's just hope that Jake Locker leads our team to some more wins over the next couple years - Owen needs a reason to learn the fight song...

Minuses and Pluses

Minus: Well, it doesn't seem that we've made much progress on correcting Owen's vomiting. The medication at least keeps him happy while he's spewing all over us and our floor. It seems that each time we try something new, it works for 2-3 days and then he returns to his old ways. I think the intensity of the vomiting has decreased, but it's hard to tell. I started taking a Vitamin B supplement at the suggestion of my friend, Phyllis. That actually produced the most promising results. THANK YOU PHYLLIS!

Plus: With all the foods I have cut out of my diet (citrus, dairy, chocolate), I'm back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Scott thinks he'll probably shed a few pounds since we're not keeping ice cream in the fridge.

Minus: I am hungry and still craving cheese! I also think this restricted diet is making it harder to shake a cold I've contracted. I'm trying to find good substitutes and remembering my vitamins, but still... I've also had two people suggest I try cutting out eggs. I'm not sure if it's worth it, as SO MANY products contain eggs, but what if it would work??

Plus: OWEN SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT LAST NIGHT! This is legitimate. He went down around 7:30 and slept clear through until 7:00 AM. We are so thankful that he sleeps well, as it makes the other problems SO MUCH easier to work through.

Back to Work

I started back to work this week. It's been...interesting. My week was focused on preparing for two presentations - one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. In some ways, it was nice not to have to do any project work this week (I've put off checking in with my project managers until Monday - then the real work will begin). On the other hand, there's nothing like forcing you back into mindset like standing up in front of 60 people and trying to speak coherently about a technical report you wrote. Plus, I ended up working in the office an extra day because my laptop was getting repaired. Thankfully, both presentations went well.

My mom has been here this week helping out, which is a huge blessing. She picked Owen up early from daycare each day, helped walk the dog, and stocked our fridge. She also baby-sat this morning while I presented at the workshop. I think next week will be easier because I can work my normal schedule:
Monday and Wednesday will be full days in the Office
Tuesday and Thursday will be half days from Home

I have to say that being at work is no where NEAR as fun or fulfilling as spending my day watching Owen explore the world. It's a real bummer to only get to see him for 45 minutes in the morning and two hours at night. For now, we're committed to giving this work schedule a chance. We'll see how it goes...

Grandparents!

Both sets of our parents were in town this weekend. My parents (Nana and Poppo) stopped by on Thursday and Friday to visit with Owen and rock him to sleep for his afternoon nap. Nana is teaching Owen the multiplication tables - puts him to sleep every time!

Scott's parents (Grandma Ethel and Grandpa Jeff) stayed with us Friday and Saturday night. Scott and I got to go out to a movie on Friday after Owen went to bed! Jeff and Ethel were thrilled to see how much Owen has grown and get some new pictures of his toothless grin.

On Saturday, we went to the Fall Festival in the cold and wet. Bend is full of babies, and it was fun (and educational) to see the different ways people are bundling them up and toting them around. Owen slept peacefully in the carrier, but woke up in time to enjoy this mirror in the t-shirt shop. The festival outing was also affirming for me - since moving to Bend, I've struggled to establish my own friendships, but I've been really trying to throw myself out there since Owen was born (a baby is a great way to meet people, right?). It's paying off - we ran into quite a few people we know perusing the food and craft booths.

P.S. We're trying a new experiment to deal with the messy problem I blogged about previously. It may be working, but I don't want to jinx it by blogging about it too soon. Hopefully I'll have some good results to post next week...