Trick or Treating

As a child, we never went trick or treating. I mean to say that never in my life have I been trick or treating. So tonight, I got to vicariously live through my child as he had his first experience going door to door for candy that only I will eat. :)  Thanks to my mother-in-law for getting Owen's costume for us.  We just knew he had to be a cow since he loves them!

getting ready to head to the parade

look mom, the moon is out.  he pointed to it all night!

lots of BOYS in this group!

 

couldn't resist this one those cute tails!

with cousin Jules

he never really "got it" but next year, I'm sure he'll be running up just like Ty and Ben!

Halloween story time

We tried to make it to storytime at Bella on Friday, but Owen wasn't feeling too hot thanks to these molars that are coming in. But we wanted to try out the cow costume, so on Saturday we set out to the Urbana Library's story time. It was pretty fun and had it's share of "Urbana characters." No offense to those of you who live in Urbana. For how many kids were there, it was pretty well organized and even though I feel like you should have to be a kindergarten teacher to run storytime effectively, that gal did ok. They read stories, sang a song or two and then sent the kids off to do 1 of 3 art projects. While the kiddos took their time doing their art stuff, we went and read some books and checked out all the toys in their kid area. Then we came back to the room for a neat Halloween snack. Overall, a really fun time!

dad helping Owen color his picture

come on, let's go look at the books

he loves the animals

he got really excited when he found the cow

not the best, but I had to prove I was there

a little snack before we left

Family Fall Fest

We kicked off the Halloween weekend on Friday at our church's Fall Fest. We knew he'd be too little for a lot of the things, but he did pretty good!  Thanks Pam and crew for the fun night and great snacks.  Here's a few pictures from the evening:

I'm supposed to do what with this ball?

good throw buddy

this was his favorite of the evening, throwing the marshmallows into the fire

he wasn't too sure about the clown.  i don't blame him.

potato stamping

I had some potatoes that were starting to get a little soggy. So I thought it was about time for a little craft project with Owen and Miss S. I cut simple shapes into the potatoes.  Instead of dipping them, I painted some craft paint on and then handed it to the kiddos.  It was fun for the few minutes it lasted. :)  And thank goodness for easily wiped-off tile!

pomegranate

3 down, 7 more to peel!

It's pomegranate season again! Woohoo! This week they're on sale 5/$5 at Meijer, which is an awesome price so I may have bought 10. :) And the best thing about them this year: Owen loves them. I was surprised because they're a bit tart and they have a little seed inside, but he has been chowing on them and continually asking for more.  If you need a reminder of the best way I've found to cut them without getting red splatters on everything, click here.

one of Owen's verses

In my (almost) daily Bible reading, I love to use the One Year Bible.  It's a great way to get through the whole thing in a year and everyday you read an old testament and new testament chunk,a Psalm, and Proverb.  So when the book of Jeremiah is killing you (like this past month for me) you know there will be something else that speaks to you that day. :)

Anyways, onto the real reason for this post.  Last Thursday, we read a chunk in Psalm that had been something I've prayed over Owen before he was born.  I like to only pray certain verses of it which would make some of VLI profs cringe, but well, there's still lots of power in the words.

Owen's name means young warrior. I love that meaning when I think of trying to raise a soldier for Jesus.  Even though these verses were written about David, I like to pray them over my little warrior:

Psalm 89:19-37
¹⁹Long ago you spoke in a vision to your faithful people.
   You said, “I have raised up a warrior.
      I have selected him from the common people to be king.
 ²⁰ I have found my servant David.
      I have anointed him with my holy oil.
 ²¹ I will steady him with my hand;
      with my powerful arm I will make him strong.
 ²² His enemies will not defeat him,
      nor will the wicked overpower him.
 ²³ I will beat down his adversaries before him
      and destroy those who hate him.
 ²⁴ My faithfulness and unfailing love will be with him,
      and by my authority he will grow in power.
 ²⁵ I will extend his rule over the sea,
      his dominion over the rivers.
 ²⁶ And he will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
      my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
 ²⁷ I will make him my firstborn son,
      the mightiest king on earth.
 ²⁸ I will love him and be kind to him forever;
      my covenant with him will never end.
 ²⁹ I will preserve an heir for him;
      his throne will be as endless as the days of heaven.
 ³⁰ But if his descendants forsake my instructions
      and fail to obey my regulations,
 ³¹ if they do not obey my decrees
      and fail to keep my commands,
 ³² then I will punish their sin with the rod,
      and their disobedience with beating.
 ³³ But I will never stop loving him
      nor fail to keep my promise to him.
 ³⁴ No, I will not break my covenant;
      I will not take back a single word I said.
 ³⁵ I have sworn an oath to David,
      and in my holiness I cannot lie:
 ³⁶ His dynasty will go on forever;
      his kingdom will endure as the sun.
 ³⁷ It will be as eternal as the moon,
      my faithful witness in the sky!”

Owen's Sunday

Owen had a busy day today and did a few fun new things. He had fun in kid's church and is doing great about not getting us paged anymore. Then he hung out with dad at home while I was at a meeting at church about our Christmas outreach. Side note: I can't believe it's almost holiday time. I *almost* started listening to Christmas music the other day. I resisted, but it won't be long.

When had got up from his nap, we headed outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather.  We also have a huge yard FULL of weeds.  Since this house sat empty for almost a year, the yard got overrun.  Anyone want to get paid to pull some weeds?  Anyways, William pulled quite a few while Owen and I played and then we got the wheelbarrow out to pick them all up.  Of course, Owen had to go for a ride first.  Safe to say, he loved this.  Especially when William went down the "hill" that blocks our property from the street.

Then of course, he had to help put all the weeds in the wheelbarrow.  I was thankful that he didn't even attempt to put anything in his mouth.  Well, the worm tempted him.  Sorry my voice is so annoying on videos. :)

Then, when we went in for a snack, he started turning in circles.  This is a new thing for him!  Miss S, who we watch likes to spin, but has only done it a handful of times, but I guess Owen caught on quick.  It's so much fun watching him learn all these new things, no matter how small they seem!

13 weeks (well, almost 14)!

How far along? 13 weeks last Friday, which means in the last week of trimester 1!
Baby: He/she now has fingerprints, is about 3 inches long, and weighs about an ounce.
How I'm feeling physically: still pretty awful. I tried to stop the medicine last week to see how I'd do and started puking again.  But at least with the meds, I'm holding down food and am just dealing with the all-day nausuea.  Poor hubby has had many a night with no meals cooked and the house looks disastrous.  But hey, Owen's still alive and I'm making another baby.  Can't ask much more of me on some days. :)
How I'm feeling emotionally: It hasn't totally sunk in yet, but the moments it does, I'm so excited.  Many of my mom friends have told me that going to 2 was easier than going to 1.  And if that wasn't true for you, umm, don't tell me. :)  I have had a couple moments of being sad over that fact that it won't just be Owen any more.  Sad that I'll have to divide the time that is right now, all his.  But I'm sure this is a pretty normal feeling.
Stuff I've done for baby: nothing.  umm,I'm not that much of an over-achiever. 
Starting to research: double strollers!  Whew, the info out there is overwhelming, but I already have a couple front runners.  This is really the only big-ticket item we'll need to purchase this time around.  I'm starting early so I can start saving up!
Movement: I swear I felt this kid move twice last week. Both times, I was holding Owen in the glider so his weight was pressed on my stomach and felt the all familiar flutters.  The midwife said this was very possible, even though I thought I was a crazy girl for possibly feeling it this early.
Food cravings: umm, nothing.  I really despise all food right now.  Of course, you can't ignore it when you have to feed a toddler who always seems hungry. 
Names: We're pretty sure we've settled on full names for a boy and girl. But what fun would if be if I gave them away this early in the game? A few that I love but that aren't going to make the cut this round: Kylie, Rylee, Charlotte, Harper, Regan, Benjamin, Finn, Cole, Beckett, and Drew.  I'll let you know sometime after we find out the sex in early December! 
And some really bad pictures: Whew, really need to get better at taking these when I look presentable (please excuse the bed head in pic 1 and the no makeup in pic 2).  But now that all my family is out of town, I've been told to be good about posting pictures of the growing bump.  Pretty sure I didn't have this size bump until week 18 or so with Owen, but everyone says it happens much faster with number 2.  I'm definitely just embracing the elastic pants (or my regular pants with a rubber band).

total randoms

I have no real theme for this post, except for completely random thoughts.

• Owen had a 3 day fever this week. Uggh.  There went all the good things that were going on with his sleep.  He was miserable, as were we.  This was pretty much what our days were like the last few days: popsicles, books, cuddling, and some TV.  Today he was finally fever-free and when I ran my hand over his gums, I found a new molar on both top sides.  Must have been the culprit.

• When Owen's feeling like himself, he's a blast these days!  He's gotten some new words in the last few weeks.  He says apple, bubba (for baby), and we swear we heard him say Sophie tonight.  His newest thing is blowing on food when it's hot and doing his "it's cold" face.  This is hilarious.  We'll say freeze and he'll make this face and clench his hands.

• He is such a boy!  He loves his trucks and usually can be seen with a little matchbox car in each hand.  He also loves balls and says football.  Ok, ok I'm the only one who can probably understand what's he saying, but it's still cute.  He would play outside all day and I'm kind of already dreading the long winter months.  I can see lots of trips to FCC's indoor playground in store for us!

• So, I was looking at diaper bags online and William saw me and about choked.  Reminder that I have 3 diaper bags.  I told him I'd only need a new one if this baby is a girl.  :)  He said no way.  So I sold one of my bags on Ebay.  I thought I'd love the JuJuBe All, but I used it for a week when O was little, and it just wasn't the perfect bag.  I didn't get exactly what I was hoping to get for it, but it's made me want to go through the whole house and find other stuff to sell.  Already sold 10 things of yarn and a sleep sack that I never opened. 
• Speaking of baby, I started my weekly baby posts.  But I just can't get around to finishing it.  And I need to start taking belly pictures.  So I'm guessing baby 2 syndrome has already started and I'll likely not do weekly posts for this little person.  Maybe bi-weekly?  I apologize baby.
• Now that's it's cooler weather, I'm inspired to pick up my knitting needles again.  I finally found Owen a winter coat, so now I need to get going on a couple new hats for him.  My friend Angie is due any day now with a little girl, so I knit her a frog hat (oops, no picture) and this little number.  I have tons of new projects on my list.  And now that I'm feeling (a little) better, I need to get to making some bows for Ms. H too!

Biblical Gardens

Last Sunday, Owen and I took a little road trip to Peoria! When we arrived, we met them and the church plant team at a park for a picnic. It was great to see so many new faces. The team is busy painting the building this week and getting it ready for their launch in just a couple weeks!

Then, we went to a dedication for my Grandpa's Biblical Gardens. This has been a project he's been working on for 3 years and this week it "opened" to the public. It's basically a small walkway with stones that have pictures and verses of Jesus' life. It starts with his birth and ends with the resurrection.  After the dedication and a nap, we went out to dinner with my grandparent's to celebrate my grandma's birthday.  Monday morning, my dad fixed us a great breakfast and Owen got to see the cows in their "backyard."  Then, on the way out of town, we stopped by my mom's work to see where she lives everyday and to show off Owen to some of her co-workers.

thanking lots of people

one of the views of the gardens

as a surprise to them, there was a ginko (my grandpa's fav tree) planted in his honor

the boys - my dad, Tim, and Austin and Evan standing in for their dad, Nate

the rock inscribed for my grandpa

 

Owen and Grandpa