Visit with High School Girl Friends

Last week, Owen and I took a day trip to visit two of my girl friends from High School. We enjoyed hanging out and chatting and eating yummy food!

Here is the whole group - Cameron, Tori and Luke (3 months) and Owen and I. I have known Cameron since nursery school and Tori since 1st grade.



Miss Cameron gave Owen and Luke baby size pumpkins. Owen LOVES his. I am sure Luke does too. The next day, Owen just kept asking to hold his "pumpqua." He sat on his little bike while he held the pumpkin for a good 15 minutes.



What a sweet little boy! Luke Robert Secrest. We were so glad to meet him!

It's a ...

BOY!! We just found out this morning that we're having a boy! A playmate and "friend for life" (as one friend put it) for Owen and another sweet little boy for us. We are so thankful that the Lord has been so good to us and has cared for and formed this little boy thus far. We trust Him to continue that good work.

We'll try to get a picture from the ultra sound up soon. I didn't want to wait for that to get figured out before I posted the news though.

Jump!

Owen was trying to jump tonight. If you have ever seen a toddler try to jump, you know it is very cute and funny. Here is our sweet boy "jumping." After this video, Matt and I took turns jumping up and down for Owen - he laughed hysterically. Matt said "I think I'd die laughing too if I could see how we look!" Oh the things parents will do for their sweet children.

"Da Be"

This past weekend, we were a part of the Young Adults Beach trip through our church. Part of Matt's position at the church is to provide pastoral leadership to the Young Adults Community. One way we decided to kick off the fall was through a trip to Corolla, NC. One of the guys in the group has a house in his family. It sleeps 24. We brought 32 adults and Owen. Lots of people! It was a great weekend to get some time with this group of people that we are ministering to. Matt taught a series on Knowing God which provided the group with some great truths to think and talk and pray about during the weekend.

AND Owen LOVED the beach! He had been less than impressed with the beach in the past, but now he is hooked! He loved looking at the water and the birds and playing in the sand. From our house we could see the beach and he would constantly say "da be" which translates to "the beach." It was a joy for us to see him enjoy it so much. We had a very sweet time as a family Sunday morning before the worship service on the beach playing in the sand and going for a walk. Here are some pictures from our time.

Owen enjoying the sand.



Owen and Matt looking at the water. He didn't want to get close to it, but enjoyed looking at it.



A few of the folks on the trip made a turtle out of sand - Owen was thrilled!

Cox Farm with the Purdy Family

We spent this Saturday with Matt's family in Northern Virginia. We enjoyed lunch at Panera with Uncle John, Aunt Anna and Grams and Grandpop. Then we went to Grams and Grandpops for nap time where we spent time with Aunt Noelle and Aunt Megan along with the Panera crew. After naptime, we all got Owen, Ashley and Madison loaded up in the cars (Uncle Scott and Uncle Mark and Mrs. Nestlebush joined us too) and went to a farm in the area for the afternoon. It was a great time! Hot, but fun. Here are some pictures.

Matt and Owen on a hayride.



Owen enjoying some "hay" and a "couw".



This was a big tall slide that Owen and Matt enjoyed.



Owen, Ashley and Madison on the train.



Owen driving the train.



Owen and I at the top of a big tower of hay!



Matt, Owen and I picking out our "free" pumpkins. Owen can say pumpkin - it sounds like "pupqua". He enjoys spotting them all over town.

Fall is here!

We love fall here in the Purdy house! Here are some fun moments we've had recently. I realize that in almost all (if not all) of these pictures Owen is dressed in a couple of Orange shirts. He does have more than 2 long sleeve shirts!

Such a sweet boy!



He went through a phase of walking around with blocks in his mouth. Mostly he just likes to open and close the bag (thanks to my roommate Regina at our last Son House reunion!) and build "towe" with them.



Still making the cheese face!



I know we all had a puppy that you pulled along when we were young. Fisher Price is still making it and Owen loves to either pull it around OR he really loves to chase us when we pull it around or run from us when we chase him with it!



Me and my pal Owen. What a sweet boy! He gives us hugs and kisses and snuggles. What a joy he is to our hearts! Today he woke up from his nap talking about all sorts of things - puppies, paci, piggy... Then he said "God, Baby, Mommy." He knows that God made our baby and that he or she is in mommy's tummy. So amazing. (Note: he also thinks that daddy has a baby in his tummy and asks other people if they have babies in their tummmies...so he's still not really understanding what is going on, but he's making headway for sure.)

Maymont

A few weeks ago we went to a great park in Richmond called Maymont. It's huge - big walking paths, gardens, a Children's Farm, etc. We just spent an hour there between nap time and dinner time, but we enjoyed ourselves a lot! Here are a few pictures of Owen enjoying the animals. He was particularly excited about the cows and horses.

Two Blessings

Two blessings since moving to Richmond are our friends the Brocks and our new pizza place. I lived with Jenny at JMU, and she and her husband Kyle live in Richmond and go to West End. We're so glad they are here!

We have also found the best pizza ever! Mary Angela's Pizza in Carrytown is our new pizza spot. It's delicious classic NY Italian pizza. Every time we leave there I say to Matt "We don't have to go to any other restaurant, I'll come here every time we go out!" It's that good!

The Purdys and the Brocks at Mary Angela's.



Owen walking with his daddy and his good buddy "Kyye".

Football Season

Owen with his two favorite teams.

(Notice also his new expression for taking pictures. He says "CHEEESSE" and squints his eyes and smiles. Just a phase I hope. We'll see how he does next week for his 18 month pictures!)

Catching Up

We have been quite delinquent yet again in our posting efforts. So sorry! So, here is a marathon post to catch up. I think the main reasons for the lack of posting are 1) Most of what Owen is doing is not photographable (like all of the words he is saying and him running around and such), so it's harder to remember to take pictures; 2) WE ARE PREGNANT! We are 14 weeks, and I have not been feeling great, so I have not had much in the way of blogging energy. We'll try to do a better job in the coming weeks/months!

Owen has started feeding himself SOMETIMES - mostly with his yogurt at lunch. He's very Type A, so he doesn't make too much of a mess.



One of Owen's favorite past times is building with blocks. Here is a big tower that he and daddy built one day while I was out having some mommy time (most Saturday mornings I'll go to a local bagel shop and read and enjoy a bagel while Matt and Owen get some good time together).



For Matt's ordination, my brother Bryan and his family came up. We enjoyed time with them. Owen really loved having them here. We didn't take many pictures, but here are Reese and Owen building a tower. Reese is a lego expert, so he was teaching Owen some good building technique I think.



One blessing of our time in Richmond is a playgroup through church. There is a group of moms with kids Owen's age that get together at the church to play during the week. We've enjoyed being a part of this group and will continue in the fall. (Owen has enjoyed spending time with Luke Farkas (bottom right) and Kylen Zollinhoffer (second on bottom right) and Matt and I have enjoyed spending time with their parents too.)



We recently bought a drum and other instruments for Owen. He loves to play with the instruments. We usually turn on his favorite song on the Indelible Grace album - "Arise My Soul Arise" and sing and play.



There is a botanical garden in Richmond called Lewis Ginter. We went with our friend Blair Brown and Jeb and Anna Roe. This is Owen climbing under a big tree. (Joe and Matt were at work - Joe is the Children's Ministry Director at West End.)



We haven't done a bath picture in a while.



Uncle Bryan and Aunt Becky gave Owen this great bubble machine. He is COVERED in bubbles in this picture. He loves to stick his hands in front of the bubbles and let them collect on his limbs. At least it's a clean thing, right?

Trip to Charlotte

We had the chance to go to Charlotte for part of Labor Day weekend - it was so great to be back! We were able to spend time with most of the folks that we had intended to - others were out of town. One of my favorite parts was that Owen remembered everyone and still really loves them! It was so sweet to see his face light up every time he saw his old buddies - young and old. He and Bennett especially enjoyed eating their meals next to each other. They'd just keep looking at each other and wave and say "Hi". So sweet. Thanks for a great weekend guys!

These are some of the ladies we spent the most time with (Me, Mary, Melissa, Lindsey).



Here are Owen and Celia watching a show together one morning. Celia kept remarking that Owen could walk on his own. She thought that was very neat!



And of course, we went to Chick Fil A on our way out of town with the McCanns, Kulps (minus Mr. Dave) and the Hunts. This is a picture of us with Mr. Jake and Miss Melissa (Missa for short). Their sweet baby Sam was doing a great job sleeping in his car seat.

PK

It's official, Matt is an official Teaching Elder and Pastor in the PCA and Owen is a PK (Pastor's Kid). Last night was Matt's ordination service here at West End Presbyterian Church. It was a great celebration of God's faithful guidance and provision in calling and equipping Matt for the ministry as well as a commitment by Matt and the Session of our church to this ministry and to the work of the Lord. In all of the excitement, we did not take any pictures. I think that my dad got one and Matt's parents may have a couple, so we'll post those at a later time. For now, I just wanted to share this exciting news. It was a big day for our family. We are thankful to the Lord for the work that He has called us to and equipped us for and will continue to equip us for. We can not do it without Him!

Congrats to my sweet husband, The Reverend Matthew T. Purdy.

Lots of Words

I think this will be one of our first posts without pictures. But that is appropriate. I wanted to share some of Owen's newest words with everyone. He's been talking up a storm and it's so much fun.

Our favorite is turtle. We saw a turtle outside of our house one day 2 weeks ago, and Owen has been talking about it ever since. He looks for the turtle under our porch EVERY time we leave the house and EVERY time we come home. Since the turtle has returned to his pond, Owen says "no no" and shakes his head. Other times he'll say "Bye Bye Turtle." He is very excited whenever we see a turtle in a book or on a show.

He calls my watch a show. I think it's because we say "Owen, do you want to watch a show?" So when he points to my watch and I say "Watch" he says "Show".

His sign language has picked up too and it's very helpful - he'll say more, all done, please, thank you, your welcome, no-no and help.

It's amazing to see how grown up our sweet little baby boy has gotten! Now that he's walking he seems like he's 3! The other day Matt said "Don't grow up too fast buddy!" I agree!

Thanks for reading my stories about our sweet son!

Following the leader

Owen is walking! He started slowly over the last two weeks and is now a very good walker. He still crawls about 50-75% of the time, and holds our hands if we're out and about (if we're not carrying him), but at home he cruises around a lot.

Here is a video of Matt and Owen playing "Follow the Leader." Sorry that it is sideways! (Note - just before I took this, I was out running an errand and Matt and Owen played this game for a good 15 minutes!)

Cousins Camp 2007

We have just returned from a great week at "Cousins Camp!" We'll try to capture all that happened by sharing some pictures with you. WARNING - when I say "some" pictures, I mean a lot!

Here are the cousins from Cousins Camp 2007 - Reese (9 1/2), Megan (almost 7), Anna (17 months) and Owen (almost 17 months)



The guys got to spend one morning/early afternoon on the golf course. One of the holes runs past my parents house, so the ladies went out to cheer them on. Owen, Aunt Carolyn, Anna, Megan and I walked a few of the holes with them to see them in action. They did a great job!



My Grandma and Grandpa were able to come for a few days of cousins camp too. It was a blessing to spend time with them and for Owen to get to know them better too.



One of the fun things that Gramma and Grampa had at the house were these huge bubble makers. All of the cousins enjoyed them!



There were tournaments as well - Air Hockey, Fusball, XBox (Monkeyball), and Chess. Here is a picture of one of the games - between Matt and my mom. How does one play Air Hockey with his mother in law?



Here is a practice match of Monkey Ball. Owen LOVED watching it!



We went to the park a few times throughout the week as well. This is the park that Matt and I would always go to during college to run or talk or play soccer with friends. It was fun to have Owen there with us.



Here are Anna and Owen enjoying the swings.



Anna and Owen enjoyed a cousins bath one night - they are at the age where I don't think they really even noticed that the other was there. We enjoyed it!



We went out to dinner one night at our FAVORITE mexican restaraunt El Charro.



Here are the cousins walking together after El Charro.



We went for a hike one day - it was quite an adventure with the little kids. They enjoyed it in the end. And so did we!



Mom and dad treated us to the new Water Park at Massanutten. It was a blast! The Lazy River was a highlight for all!



Here are Owen and Anna holding hands - something they did a lot of this week. Sorry it's sideways.



Owens new TV watching stance. HE got so excited he stood right up!