The Stright Life...Travis, Megan & Oliver

We live, we love

2010-04-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

Life is busy, life is good. Oliver took 3 consecutive steps tonight, and it brought tears to my eyes. In just one week he will be One. Wow. Our little bundled babe is now a little dude (In Travis lingo). We are buying a house. I am changing jobs. We seem to have a lot going on lately, all good things. I want to write to recap the last year, but for now just an update...and more importantly Oliver pictures. Love to all of our family and friends who read this, I am constantly reminded how blessed we are to have you in our lives, near and far.

Oliver learned to climb on these boxes all by himself. Such a little adventurer. Dad trying to make sure this continues to be a good experience for him...aka, don't let him fall off.

Dad & O having a picnic at the park

Scrub-a-dub-dub. Bath time with cousin Jack

Grandpa Steve taught Oliver how to climb stairs. He is now an avid stair climber. Thanks Grandpa!

O & Jack pushing around, yes, tupperware lids. If only you could see the stack of toys to the left, being completely ignored :)

BG & O on Easter

First Easter basket

O watching history as Health Reform is signed into law. An advocate already.

You and me together, we can do anything baby

2010-03-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

You and me together

We could do anything baby

You and me together yes, yes

You and me together

We could do anything baby

You and me together yes yes

Oh and when the kids are old enough, we're gonna teach them to fly

I was listening to the song You & Me by the wonderful Dave Matthews Band yesterday, and I just loved these lyrics. They remind me that even on the days that I feel 'stuck', really I am free. And while the little life of Oliver certainly demands a lot of me, I've never felt more free than when I am with him. Before Oliver I would not in a million years sing in the grocery store. Now I sing freely to him as I race down the aisles, simply because it makes him laugh. And never do I think twice about what the shoppers around me are thinking. I can spend hours crawling on the floor, reading books and making silly faces; and from that I feel accomplished. This new little body of hope, future and adventure that is Oliver. He is completely free, and he makes me feel like we can do anything :) And like the DMB lyrics, my most sincere prayer is that everyday I spend with him, I am teaching him to fly.

I think this video was taken in June/July of 2009. He is just learning to pick of his head, an athletic task at this stage in life.

This video was taken yesterday. It's really nothing special, just Oliver exploring in his swimsuit before going to the hot tub; but I think it's amazing that he has come this far in less than a year.

Playdate with buddy Joel

Beau, Oliver, Joel: Figuring each other out

Oliver LOVES to splash in the bathtub. And check out that O-Hawk.

Below: Being friends with Shanti :)

Dadada

2010-02-16T10:42:00.001-08:00

It never fails to amaze me how quickly our little man is learning. "Dadadada" is the recent addition to his vocabulary, along with the long time favorite "Babababa", mixed in with some "Gagaga" and of course strange grunting slobbery noises that are classified with "Sound Effects." Travis of course is thrilled that Oliver is now saying Dadadada, and I'm still holding out for Mamama :)

O is also crawling everywhere, and pulling himself to standing on just about anything he can find (He pulled himself up on the toilet this morning, which of course I quickly grabbed him from, grimacing as I washed his hands for 5 minutes to make sure all of the invisible 'toilet germs' were washed off)

It is so much fun to watch him grown up, but it is also bittersweet for me-I am definitely not ready for him to be 1 in a few months! I am however looking forward to spring and summer. Travis and I are starting to plan some hiking/camping trips, hopefully Oliver won't mind sleeping in tents :)

Oliver's most recent adventures are pictured below :)

This is O's "Who, me?" face.

Valentines Day Hike. Oliver is sporting his new ride, our Deuter backpacking kid carrier :)

Table Rock

First trip to the Zoo

Oliver checking out the Siberian Tigers. He would like one of these for his household pet

5 months later...

2010-01-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

Wow, so I've been neglecting our blog, and of course a lot has been going. I will do my best to give you all a good idea of what is going on with Oliver, Trav and I since our last blog...which was almost 5 months ago!

Oliver had his first Halloween (as Yoda) his first Thanksgiving (as himself) and his first Christmas (as an Elf). He is now eating solid foods of course, and has recently added finger foods to his diet. Mealtime has become much more fun for Oliver, and much more messy for mom. He does a good job of getting food in at least 5 different places, at least one of which I don't find until hours later :)

We now have a crawler after months of 'creeping'. Oliver has also learned how to pull himself up on things and wants to spend most of his time standing or perched on his knees. I'm guessing this means he will start practicing walking in the near future. This new skill gives him lots of advantages when trying to get into things he shouldn't. But luckily for him, Mom & Dad will let him play/slobber on/destroy pretty much anything as long as he can't a)choke on it b)get sick from it. His favorite toys are: the remote control, cell phones, a dog ball, any paper, a wooden airplane.

In other good news, I (Megan) am only working part time now (2 days/wk). This has been such a HUGE blessing, and a welcomed change for 2010. I can't begin to say how grateful I am for this. Oliver and I have lots of fun together-lets be honest: going to the park with my adorable son is much more fun than sitting at a desk all day :) Other exciting news, we are 'working on' buying our first house!! I say 'working on' because it is a short sale, and while the buyer has accepted the offer, we likely have a few months before the bank does. It will be a trial in patience, but well worth it if it works out.

All in all, I couldn't ask for anything more :) I'm sure the part you are looking forward to the most are the pictures, so here they are. Now that I have a little more free time I will try to update our blog more often than every 5 months :)

Always squirmy in his high chair

Holding his clementine like a football...making dad proud :)

Our first Christmas

Good morning BG!!

On the plane ride home from our trip to California

Playing with Cousin Jack

Back to the Grind

2009-08-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy for myself, Trav and Oliver. I've been back at work for about a month now, which means Oliver has been busy playing with all of his new friends during the day (Grammy, Ide, Baba, Mallory and BG). Returning to work has been SO hard, as anticipated, but some other logistical things have made it even more challenging. Mainly Oliver not taking a bottle for the first three weeks. Oliver not taking a bottle = a very unhappy Oliver every 2-3 hours, new mommy Megan running back and forth during the day, and an ever patient Grammy accommodating both Oliver and I throughout it all.

We had no idea why Oliver not only refused to take a bottle, but he would get extremely upset at what seemed just the sight of one...except that there had been a few rare occasions that he would gobble one up. Which left us all confused and wearily approaching the decision to completely give up on the bottle. We were all at a loss, and even made a special visit to the pediatricians to see if there was any medical explanation for O's bottle protest, or if our wise but quirky doctor could give us some good advice. 20 minutes and $85 dollars later we left with no answers, just the 'reassurance' that "some babies never take a bottle, you just have to work it out." Well, forget the medical profession I decided....maybe the Google gods have an answer. I looked, and I looked. Get a different nipple. Check, we own every one you can buy at Babies R Us. Hold baby in different positions. Check. Feed when baby is not very hungry. Feed when baby is so hungry he's crying. Check. Check. Nothing worked. Until....I finally came upon a random blog, not unlike this one written by a mother also plagued with a baby who refused to take a bottle and often cried at the sheer nearness of one. Long story short....lipase. Never heard of it? Me either. But apparently some mothers, including myself, naturally have an excess of it in their breast milk which essentially makes the milk go sour quickly. So basically, for 4+ weeks we had been so stumped trying to figure out why O made such a fuss about a bottle, and the problem was the milk! Poor baby...I knew he wasn't just being stubborn, he's too darn cute for that! :)

I'm still learning to cope with being at work so much, and like I've said before we have been so blessed to have family and a close friend watching him. I remind myself everyday that I drop him off that he is blessing their day and life just like he does mine everyday-the perfect little gift.

More importantly...Oliver of course is constantly exploring and learning new tricks. Sometimes I think that I want him to stay small and "just this way", but watching him explore the world and make new discoveries is one of best parts of my life. Some of his new tricks: roll onto tummy from back; roll onto back from tummy; suck on middle and pointer finger (so tasty); with some fumbling grab things to put into his mouth; twirl around in his jumper; laugh and giggle; sleep through the night (4 times); be awesome.

I'll leave you with the best part...pictures of Mr. O. They start with the most recent. Much Love from Meg.Trav.O.

Beautiful, happy boy.

Loves those fingers

Talking. He's got a lot to say :)

His new jumper toy

Dad & O on a saturday morning

Bottoms :)

Life is so good

2009-07-27T12:33:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time since we've written, so I'll try to catch up on what's been going on, with chronological pictures to boot! Time has gone by so quickly! Oliver is approach 3 months (what!?), and summer is quickly floating by. I'm returning to work in 2 weeks, which is breaking my heart just imagining being away from O so often. If anyone had told me that going back to work would be so hard I would have laughed at them. I've always been so passionate about social work and my career, I never would have thought that being a stay at home mom would be something I wanted. But now that he's here its hard to imagine not being with him. Not to sound biased or conceited, but who is better to raise a child than his parents. We have, however, been blessed by family and a good friend Mal who will be the ones taking care of Oliver. This is a huge relief for me, I know how much they all love him and that he'll be well taken care of (and probably spoiled sometimes!) I also try to convince myself that going back to work will be good for Oliver...it will enable us to buy a house for him to grow up in, send him to a good college, buy him a football or two :)

Oliver is such an amazing little boy, and we are always surprised and impressed by how fast he's growing. He is full of smiles, talks a lot, is playing with toys, and is always making my heart grow bigger (how is it possible to love someone so much!) Below are so photo-ops of Oliver's most recent adventures.

We went to visit my dad's side of the family. I hadn't met baby Jack yet (on the left) so this was a much needed trip! Above are the grandparents, my Aunt Les with Baby Jack, and my Dad with Baby Oliver. Don't they both just look so happy? Those boys will do that to ya!

Oliver playin' with Grandpa! Watching them together makes my heart melt

Amanda and I with our baby boys! It was so fun to be together, and I miss Manda, Jack and the Crew so much!! I wish we lived closer! Although while I was there we did devise a pretty good plan, called the KJSC Ranch...I still have my fingers crossed :) Haha

I think this is the sweetest picture I have ever seen.

Oliver and Jack might not know it yet, but they are best buds. Aren't they the perfect pair! I just love them together!

This was on the Fourth of July, notice their matching outfits? Amanda and I were a bit scared about how the boys would react to loud fireworks...the verdict...I don't think they even noticed. Jack slept the whole time, and Oliver woke up during the fireworks only to eat and fall back asleep. Easy babies.

So this is what Oliver looks like when he has the stomach flu...poor babe! He was 7 weeks old when he spiked a fever in the middle of the night, which led us to the ER, and to finding out that he somehow got the stomach flu. In addition to being hothothot, he was also throwing up and was just not his normal self. Luckily his Auntie Jess made him this sock monkey (pictured above giving O a hug) which helped him recover quickly.

Aunty Jess & O. Jess came to visit us from California, and I felt bad that she came when O was sick. Of course, being her normal helpful self, she didn't mind at all, made us delicious meals, cleaned our house (and even scrubbed the kitchen floor!) Another person I miss and wish we lived closer to.

All Smiles

We've been up in McCall often, Oliver's cabin in the mountains :) He gets to do a lot of exploring up there...like the above picture. Grandpa John is helping Oliver explore a hammock for the first time...he was kinda scared, but a first nonetheless.

BG and O doing yard work at the "mountain cabin"

This was taken two days ago, so the latest picture of Awesome-O. So darn cute.

And this was taken today. Oliver had his first round of shots today, not much fun :( You can see his ouchie band-aids on both his legs...and he is fast asleep from all the trauma! Oliver has a sensitive gag reflex, so of course he threw up the oral vaccine all over the nurse (he peed on her last time we were at the dr, so he's 2 for 2). And of course he cried his sweet little head off when he got his shots...I don't blame him, I wanted to cry too. All in all I would say he did very well, and his is still in this position as I write, sleeping it off :)

Thanks for checking in! Love to you all....Trav.Meg.O.

June 14, 2009 Update

2009-06-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's Travis' turn to update the blog. Megan says blogs require pictures, and pictures shall be provided. We just got back from being in McCall for the weekend, where Oliver really roughed it, going with only a single outfit (and luckily, a back-up found in our diaper bag), as Dad (me) forgot to load up the bag that contained all of Oliver's and Megan's clothes.

Oliver turned 1 month old on the 7th of June, and has already prepared his dissertation for defense. He is supremely disappointed that the Lakers won the NBA finals, and it took him approximately 30 seconds to forget about basketball entirely and move on to more important things. Things like making funny faces with dad.

Anyways, here are my favorite recent shots of little 'O':

(I let Oliver caption the pictures.)

I took Mom and Dad to the park. I let them push me there in my stroller. If I just walked, they would feel useless.

I chose this picture because I am laughing at Mom and Dad. First Mom tried to take a picture of all three of us, but kept failing to include Dad. Dad said he could do much better, and this was the result. Way to go Dad.

Really Mom? Maybe you should think about who is going to be paying for my therapy bills to help me cope with pictures like this.

The Baby Björn. At least Mom likes it.

My parents bought me a crib. I am not sure why. Also, Mom accuses Dad of never taking pictures. She offers as proof, the fact that Dad and I show up in 90% of all of our pictures. I agree with Dad - that's hogwash.

Speaking of hogwash. Dad read me this book about Walter the Farting Dog. The father in the book sells his kids' dog and his kids never find out. Who thinks this is a good lesson for me?

Sometimes my Dad can be so boring. After getting to know Uncle Tyler and Grandpa John, I am definitely hoping that I take after the Farrar side of the family.

Growing boy

2009-06-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

So this week was supposed to Trav's week, but he kinda forgot, and I just want to put up these pictures while they are recent. We cannot believe how big Oliver is getting. We're not sure how much he weighs now but he fills out his clothes much better, and is 22 inches long. He makes so many funny and adorable heart melting faces, but I haven't been very good at catching them on camera...I'll work on that :) He also makes the cutest noises. Just the other day he was sleeping, and all of a sudden he started saying (or making noise rather), "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh." Proof that babies dream! He is awake more, although the last week he has had a very sporadic schedule, and I think has decided he likes the "Tonight Show" and the "Late Show" (I wonder if he likes Jay or Conan better?) Anyway, here are some pics from the last week.

Much Love!

NAP TIME

G-PA JOHNS BIRTHDAY

FIRST BATH

FUNNY FACE

The Great Teacher

2009-05-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

When you are pregnant it is pretty common to get earfuls of advice from family, friends and random people in checkout line at Target. The expecting parent will hear from others how unbelievable the love you will feel is, how many diapers to expect to change, that breast feeding is difficult (so true!) how much this little person will change your life...the list goes on. Most of these things you are told are true to some extent, and I am grateful for all the advice, even the advice I have chosen not to take :)

What I'm not sure anyone told me is that our little son will be the greatest teacher I've ever had. In just 17 days Oliver has taught me more about myself and my perception of the world than anyone or anything ever has. There are certainly little things O has taught me...like how to change a diaper as fast as possible when a little person really does not want to be changed. But there are other lessons he has brought, ones I'm certain I wouldn't have learned otherwise. How to put my love for someone else in the center of my life, to truly serve another person before myself. How to appreciate and be grateful for the body I have, regardless of how different it is now...it has done some miraculous things in the last 10 months. How to love my husband more deeply, thankful for the life we have together and life we have created. I am sure that Oliver will continue to teach me these lessons and many more, and I couldn't be more in awe of our little Teacher.

As for an update on O's everyday life...He is bigger and more adorable every day! He still sleeps a lot, but has more awake time during the day, with his most alert time sometime between 5-9 pm. This might be my favorite part of the day, it's fun to watch him be so alert, and I always wonder what he is thinking, and what the world seems like to him. He is sleeping pretty good at night, although that still means he gets up about every 2 hours to eat. Before he was born I swore I wouldn't let him sleep in the bed with us for fear that Trav would roll over him...however, I'm not as tough as I thought I would be, and O doesn't like his bassinet as much as I planned...so he spends most of the night in bed with us. I have to admit, I love cuddling with him in bed and hearing him breathe.

Below are some new pics of the babe

Thanks for checking in...love from Trav, Meg & O.

Welcome Baby O!

2009-05-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

We welcomed our sweet Baby Oliver into the world on May 7th at 10:12 pm. He was 7 lbs 10 oz, and 21 inches...and he was beautiful (at least we think so :) It was so amazing to finally meet him after 9 months of wondering what he would look like. He looks a lot like Trav, although I'm pretty sure he has my lips at least. As anyone who has kids already knows, that first look at him was the most amazing experience I've ever had. If ever I've had doubts about God, that one moment and seeing his precious face everyday reminds me that nothing this good could just happen by chance of science.

Baby O is approaching two weeks old now, I can't believe its already been that long! I'm still in awe of him every time I look at him. For those of you that haven't met him yet, he is really mild mannered, like his dad. He seems to cry only when he's hungry, too hot, or some other logistical problem (Trav and I are still figuring things out, and O has been very patient!) Trav started back at work this week, which was a bit sad for me, I just love having our whole family together. But so far O and I have been doing well on our own during the day. Besides the almost constant eating (and subsequent diaper changing) Oli and I have been getting out for some walks, meeting Trav for lunch, and have even braved the grocery store alone!

I will try to update our new family blog fairly regularly, probably fitting it in while Oliver naps. And maybe I'll try to convince Trav to write a few words every once in while, for the Stright/Summers family out there.

Below are some pictures of Oliver's life so far. Enjoy :)

The Stright Boys