moving again

So, a week and a half ago, Nathan got a two month internship with Tupperware in Orlando, Florida starting in July! Since it's only for two months, it works out better for Nathan to go alone and the boys and I will stay with my family in Colorado. If they ask him to stay longer (his teachers say it's pretty likely) the boys and I will go out to Orlando at that point and I will have to cancel my classes for the fall semester. But in the mean time the boys will get to spend time with their grandparents and little aunts and uncles. Now we get to pack our things into storage again! We've already started tearing the place apart and filling up boxes. What an adventure!

photography class

I just finished my photography class yesterday. I have to say that the last assignment was my favorite, portraits. And, of course, I had to pick the most beautiful subjects that I had at my disposal, my boys! Here are some of my favorites. I just can't pick any less to show off than this and I wish I could post a lot more.

Liam and his favorite thing... can you guess?


sleeping smiles


dreamy baby


Owen with his daddy






Liam's first experience with a candle.

graham crackers

Here is a video of Owen. He is now a month old. He's cuter than ever and and doing great. Sorry about the car noise in the background in the video, I had the front door open to let light and air inside. Liam absolutely loves Owen (he calls him "oh-wee"!). If I hadn't taken this video while Liam was napping, you probably wouldn't have been able to see Owen because Liam would have been all over him. I think they are going to be good friends.
I am pretty much recovered and I feel pretty good. I have been walking the 15 blocks up to school with Owen tied to me for my photography class on Mondays and Wednesdays. I also try to go running twice a week, if you can call my pathetic attempt running. I was so out of shape when I started a week and half ago, I could barely manage to jog a whole block and had to walk for 3 or 4 blocks before I could jog another. Now I can jog 3 blocks together and only have to walk for 2 or 3 in between. So at least there's improvement.
The past month I have tried making some different kinds of breads. I made some bedouin flat bread (kinda like pita bread), they weren't perfect but we enjoyed them. I also made wheat crackers that were good but a little dense (I will make improvements on both recipes next time hopefully). And finally, I made graham crackers last night that turned out wonderful! They were better than store bought (of course), buttery, and you couldn't even tell it was made with wheat flour.

Owen Alexander Shirley - April 15 2009

Our little bundle arrived at 2:04am Wednesday morning. Owen weighed 8lbs. 3oz. and measured 19.5in. long. His hair has a reddish tinge, it looks about the same color as his daddy's right now we'll have to see what it changes into. But we might possibly have a little red head.

Liam came with Chris to the hospital to visit. When he saw Owen, his face lit up, "Beebee!" He softly stroked Owen's head and tweaked his little ear. It was nice to see that he was excited about his new little brother. We brought baby Owen home Friday afternoon. When we put him in his basket Liam started setting his favorite toys (cars) in the basket next to Owen. Next Liam started pulling letters off of his wooden alphabet puzzle and held them one at a time a few inches from Owen's sleeping face and told him what each of the letters were (at least the ones that he knew). It was precious! Today Liam has been laying down next to Owen while he sleeps on the Boppy pillow. Most of the time he is pretty gentle but we have to remind him occasionally.

Here is the nitty gritty (but not too graphic) on Owen's arrival for those who are interested:

On Tuesday after my visit to the doctor it was decided they would induce labor because the placenta was showing signs of being tired (I was 2 days past my due date...). They had us go straight to the hospital. So Chris picked up Liam at the hospital and I was started on pitocin at 6pm Tuesday night. I decided to have an epidural this time. I didn't feel any pain just some pressure during the last hour before he came, which was nice. I did get the shakes which was weird since I couldn't feel any pain or how hard my body was working. I didn't even push, he just came out. I didn't even know he was half-way out until I heard him making sounds. He was having trouble breathing because he had some fluid in his lungs so I only got to hold him for a minute before they took him to the nursery and put him on some kind of a respirator for a little while, then he just had oxygen tubes to his nose for a day. Later, they found that his white blood cell count was high (and some other test I can't remember), that made them think he was fighting off an infection. So, they wanted to put him on a 48 hour round of antibiotics. They had trouble getting the IV in him, the poor little guy had bruises and poke marks all over his arms, head, and feet. Finally, a nurse was able to get the needle in near his ankle with the help of 4 other nurses to hold him still. So our little Owen was tethered to the nursery and I had to visit him there to hold him and breastfeed him. They later told me they wanted to give antibiotics for 72 hours, so he was going to have to stay longer. I was reluctant to leave without my baby, but it couldn't be helped. I stayed at the hospital until Thursday night so I could be there to feed him as long as possible. When I came back on Friday to feed him, the pediatrician told me that I could take him home with me! So I hurried back to the house to grab the car seat (and Nathan and Liam). So Owen is home with us now and we are so grateful that he is healthy and here with us.

the Shirley family updated

Owen Alexander Shirley

A couple weeks before my due date

Liam having fun with Daddy

Owen with his mommy



Owen and big brother Liam first meet

Liam wanted to share his best toys with Owen

Owen with his daddy on his first night home

Liam dancing

I decided to try uploading a video of Liam dancing. He is cute, is he not?

Things are going well. I have two weeks left 'til my due date, so we are playing the waiting game. I am doing my best to get as many of my assignments done or close to done as possible so that if the baby comes early I won't have to stress out too much about everything I'll have to finish. Nathan is waiting to hear back on his internship applications. We are trying to prepare Liam for the arrival of his little brother, I think he sort of understands. Liam is working on his vocab and amazing us all the time with his intelligence. We are also working on his attitude. He seems to believe himself entitled to whatever he wants without talking of any kind, we're just supposed to give it to him when he squawks at us. He is also good at pestering Nathan or me when we are trying to get something important done. Luckily he is very adorable and entertaining or his parents might loose their minds. I definitely think God knew what he was doing when he designed children to be so cute and irresistible.

What a boy!

We spent last weekend in Colorado with my family. Liam had so much fun there. There's a lot more room to explore there than in our little apartment, a lot more people to play with, and tons of things to do. Since we came home, he occasionally will run around the apartment calling, "Josh!" like he wants someone to play with (I think he is calling any of my little brothers when he says Josh).

Liam recently became fixated on cars, the toys and the real thing. He calls out, "Car!" for almost every car or truck he sees (and there are a lot). He loves looking at books and having them read to him. Oh, and he loves balls and pushing (it's actually more like punching when he does it, but he says "push" while he does it), if you say push and push him gently, he will fall on the ground and just lay there for a minute. He's all boy, that's for sure. He dances in a really cute way to upbeat music. It's like a sway step in a circle with his knees slightly bent and his head dipping side to side with each step.

Looking at books.

Liam borrowing his uncles head lamp.

Doing pull-ups.

Reading with Daddy before bed.