Catching Up....Again

So, the blogging has been a little spotty lately...again.  Woops.  Figured I'd do another catch up post to get everyone up to date on the happenings of the Means family.

The first weekend in July we went down to Bart and Joni's for the 4th of July.  For the last several years we've gone to their house and run in the 5k that starts just about outside their front door on the morning of the 4th.  This year was a little different, as I ran with Lara and Sara pushed the boys in the stroller while walking with a few of her old friends who are still in the area.  They took up pretty much a full lane of traffic with their 3 strollers and 5 total children.  After the race we went back to the house and cleaned up and then grabbed our spots for the parade.  Connor is a sucker for just about any parade, and Lake Forest puts on a pretty standard small town 4th of July parade, complete with boy scout troops, random politicians and of course kids with squirt guns.  Connor got blasted by a couple of squirt guns and we all had a pretty good time.

We came home on Saturday and got to see our friends Kim and Fredy and their new son Lucas, as well as Sara's old coworker Sam.  We enjoyed a nice afternoon sitting in the backyard and eating a little pizza.  The boys even got to hang out with each other for a little while.

We also managed to make it to the beach where I submitted my application for Father of the Year with my sunscreen application.  See below and then submit your votes (Editor's Note: Connor is unhappy because there is a picture being taken of him, not about the sunburn...I don't think)

The following weekend was our annual trip to San Diego for Over The Line.  It's really fun to see Nick and Jenn, Steve and Kris, Bill and Laura, Ryan and Molly and my parents.  Our Saturday morning the OTL contingent headed down to Fiesta Island while Sara, Nana and the boys headed to the Zoo to meet up with Amanda Allen and Jasmine.

On Sunday after OTL we hopped in the car early to head up to Thousand Oaks for a baby shower for Sara's cousin Chris and his wife Jill who are expecting their first child later this summer.  It was fun to see a lot of the family and celebrate another addition.  Soon Grandma Izu might be able to stage a full football roster with only great grandchildren.

Owen and Connor with Cousin Coleman

Last weekend was a quieter one by comparison.  We got to see Mike and Jess and Anastasia and Brittney with Henry.  Connor loved "taking care of the babies" and was great playing with Stasia.  On Saturday night Bart and Joni came up and we took a quick trip to the beach before having dinner down in Hermosa.  On Sunday night we had a date night.  We left the kids at home and met up with some friends for a concert in the park, listening to some live music while enjoying a picnic and a bottle of wine.  That's about it.  Until next time...

A Change of Plans

It's interesting how your childhood shapes so many opinions about your life moving forward.  It dictates what is normal, expected.  Sara and I were both raised by loving parents.  Sara's mom stayed home with her and her sister, my mom worked.  Each of us I think anticipated the paradigm from our childhood to be the path we followed when we had kids.  For the past 3 years we've tried to follow a path down the middle as much as possible, a solution that tried to factor in all the different demands on our lives, that worked the best for us in that moment.  Sara worked 30 hours a week, spent a day or two at home with the boy(s), and we figured out our own way.  Well, that era came to an end yesterday with Sara's last day of work and she is now a stay at home mom.

It's a decision that looking back has been a long time coming.  Sara was unhappy spending so little time with the boys on the days she worked, weeknights were a crazy complicated mess with laundry, dinner, tired kids, dog walking...and all the other minutiae that takes up time in each day.  After a lot of consideration there was really only 1 factor on the "Keep Working" side of the ledger, finances.  Unfortunately, it turns out money is a big deal.  Sara and I enjoy going out to dinner, planning vacations, buying a few things on the Costco trip that aren't on the list.  Are these conveniences worth their costs?  For now, we've decided no.

Life is complicated, messy, stressful, but when you get to share it with the people that we do, it is also blissful and hilarious and heart melting.  We have no idea how long this will be the plan.  We think for a year or two, but if there's one thing we've learned over the past 8 years together it's that planning can only get you so far.  Situations change and plans change with them, but for now, Sara's only two clients are these two little guys

  

Catching Up

Well, fallen a little behind once again so I guess it's time for a bit of a catch up post.  The last month has been a whirlwind, as they all seem to be with the social lives of Connor and Sara and I.

The first weekend of June we made a quick trek down to San Diego to celebrate with Nick and Jenn and the rest of the Gedestad clan.  In was nice to see friends and family, and Connor didn't even fall in the pool, so...success.

The second weekend of June was Father's Day.  We went down to Bart and Joni's house to watch the very boring US Open (I blame Martin Kaymer's ruthless German efficiency), eat delicious ribs, and generally be glutens.

The third weekend in June was Nick's bachelor party, so Colin headed up to Seattle and Sara performed Super Mom duty taking care of the kids.  Colin returned in one piece, and Sara and the kids had a pretty awesome weekend.

The fourth weekend of June we took the family to the beach on Saturday and celebrated Sara's birthday a little early on Sunday.  Connor loves the beach at this point and it's so fun to see how excited he gets by the waves, destroying sand castles, and throwing sea shells into the water.  On Sunday Bart, Joni and Lara came up with lunch and we enjoyed the early afternoon together.  Then Sara and I snuck out with a picnic and took a bike ride along the beach before finding a spot for some salami, cheese and beer out of Planes cups.  We really couldn't be any more stereotypical parents I don't think.

In the world of child milestones, Owen has started rolling over consistently, although I think he still forgets that he doesn't like to be on his stomach all that much.  He's also just started in on rice cereal and is definitely not sold on this semi-solid food concept yet.  I'm not actually sure if he's swallowed any so far.  Connor has recently begun potty training with moderate success and Sara and I are looking forward to the day when we only have one child in diapers.

And now, the reason that you're all here:

  

Connor Turns 3

Days are long, years are short.  It's a phrase I've thought of many times since Connor was born, and it couldn't have felt more accurate than last weekend when Connor had his third birthday.  How in the world has it been 3 years already?????  Sometimes I feel like it was just yesterday that Sara and I looked like this

Or that Connor looked like this 

Or like this

Or that his first birthday was just a couple of weeks ago

Or at least that his second birthday wasn't a full year ago

 But...here we are, celebrating the third anniversary of one of the best days of our lives.

To commemorate Connor's third birthday we went to the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica.  It is an airplane museum right next door to the Santa Monica airport, complete with many full size kit planes as well as a few cockpits that all the kids could climb into.  There were 6 other kids there and they all loved running around, getting to push all the buttons and levers in the planes, and indulging in way too much birthday cake.

After the party ended we headed back home for a little recovery time (and a nap...for everyone).  After nap we opened more presents and Connor wanted to play with each one before moving on to the next. This resulted in a 3-day present opening period, but hey, I think he's just learning early how to extend his birthday.  Below are a couple of photos of presents, including a giant blow up ball that Connor got to roll around in, complete with Papa pusher, and a ukelele, so he and his cousin Maverick can have a full band the next time they get together.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR!!!!!

Fathers and Sons and Sports

The idea that sports mean as much to me as they do seems silly sometimes when I step back and think totally logically about things.  It’s just a game, grown men being paid to play with a ball while there is so much else going on in this world to care about.  But that’s never rung true to me; it’s more than just a game, it’s a means of communicating, of bringing a group of people who may never even give each other the time of day outside of this venue a reason to hug, high five, or console one another.  The relationship that generally starts this illogical love, and the one that certainly did for me, is the relationship between a father and a son. 

My dad and I have watched sports together for as long as I can remember.  When I was three years old I was the proud owner of a Cubs Buster t-shirt after the Padres had taken down the Cubs to advance to the World Series.  In 1994 we spent the two weeks before the Super Bowl canvassing San Diego for the best Chargers gear we could find, convincing ourselves that Stan Humphries and Natrone Means could defeat Steve Young and Jerry Rice.  Instead, we could only watch helplessly as the 49ers demolished our beloved team.  In 2004 we watched the Padres win their first game in their new home of Petco Park, beating the Giants in extra innings.  It’s about more than just the games too, it’s about the nachos and cotton candy and ice cream, about singing take me out to the ballgame, about bringing your glove hoping for that elusive foul ball, about getting tired and resting your head on dad’s chest just for a minute but “No, I’m not tired, I don’t want to go home yet.” 

To this day my dad and I talk about sports every Sunday night.  Whether it’s the Padres, Chargers, Bruins, Aztecs, Phil Mickelson or simply a random game that captivated both of us, there is always something new, something we’ve never quite seen before.  We can be 120 miles away from each other but still be yelling at our televisions at the same time.  It’s our bond and it’s amazing and it’s more than just a game.

When Connor was born 3 years ago I knew that I couldn’t wait to watch games with him, to talk about why the Padres didn’t switch their pitcher at some point, or why the Chargers didn’t blitz with the game on the line.  We’ve taken him to a game or two each season since he was born, but this past week was the first time that I could feel he was really watching.  On Wednesday night we had the good fortune to get tickets for the Kings vs Ducks playoff hockey game.  Connor actually went to one game last year and had the miniature Kings jersey to show for it, so we both suited up and headed to Staples Center with Mom and Owen. 

Connor sat on my lap for the whole game asking questions the entire time.  Now, granted, some questions were more along the lines of “Why is everyone yelling so loud?” or “Can I have more fries?” but there was also “Why are they running into each other?” and “Did we score a goal?”  I got to watch his eyes follow the puck, see how much fun he had waving his rally towel around like a crazy person, and hear him scream “Go Kings Go.” 

There will be many more games in our future, soon Owen will be asking his questions right along with Connor and Connor may even try his hand at answering.  All I know is that I used to think I was so lucky that I had a dad who would spend so much time with me teaching me these games, teaching me how to win, how to lose, how to care.  This wasn’t entirely wrong, but I’m now thinking he was pretty lucky too.  There’s not much better than watching a game with your son.

A Victorious Day

At various points during parenting Sara and I have both felt the emotional extremes of absolute jubilation and triumph, as well as failure and uncertainty.  Just comes with the territory as far as I can tell.  Yesterday we got to feel the former.  Most days, the majority of our day is spent with happy kids and happy parents. Most days do also have the occasional moment of fit throwing, crying, tantruming, etc (and this is not necessarily only the domain of the kids).  Every so often though, you feel like the family threw a perfect game, that everything just came together.

Yesterday was one of those days for the Means' household.  We played outside with the kiddy pool and water table, trying to cope with the santa ana heat wave we've been seeing in SoCal lately.  Owen napped really well and was a happy boy when he was awake.  Everyone ate their food when they were supposed to, baths were fun, and no one freaked out getting their diaper changed.  It really is the little things that can make all the difference.

Anyways, below are a few recent photos of the boys being boys.