Owen's OALAHWI!

That means he's been Out As Long As He Was In! 40 weeks and 1 day, Owen came into the world after being in my stomach (ok, uterus) for 40 weeks and 1 day! It was the start of this great adventure of parenting!

just arrived!

about 24 hours old

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

and from today.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Eve

Owen has his outfit all ready for tomorrow.  Are you pinch proofed?

shower gift

Two of my cousins are getting married this summer!  I very sadly had to miss their shower this past weekend due to the prom dress giveaway.  But I've been planning their gift for awhile.  I've seen this idea floating around the blog-o-sphere for awhile, and I'd been dying to try it. 

Supplies needed:

*pans - I got a set of 3 Pyrex pans with lids from Target (I love mine and use them all the time)

*contact paper or vinyl (something that has a sticky side)

*Silhouette machine or scissors/exacto knife

*glass etching cream - I got mine at Michaels using my 40% off coupon

*fun things to fill the pans - spatulas, whisk, measuring cups/spoons, cookie mix, and my favorite recipes

 

Here's how to do it:

1. Decide what you want each pan to say.  Then cut the words out BACKWARDS into your vinyl or contact paper.  I had my handy dandy Silhouette machine do this for me, but you could print out your words on paper, then use that as a stencil and cut it out of the contact paper with an exacto knife. 
   
2. Carefully peel off the back of your vinyl and stick them to the pan.  I'll be honest, this step is a pain especially for those of us that are perfectionists.  Your words should be backwards on the pans, meaning you can read them when holding the pan right side up
    
   
3. Make sure the vinyl is really stuck on there.  I used my pampered chef scraper to really go over the vinyl before putting on the etching cream.

4. Put on your nice cleaning gloves since this stuff is powerful.  Put a generous amount of etching cream on the words.  I couldn't find a paintbrush, so I made do with a old toothbrush.
5. Let the cream sit on there for 10-30 minutes.  I was impatient and 10 minutes worked just fine!
6. Scrape off the extra cream and put it back in the bottle!  You can reuse this tons of times.  And it's pricy stuff, so definitely don't skip this step.
7. Then, simply wash off, peel off the vinyl/contact paper and wash your pans. The pans can be washed and washed and they'll still look like that!  And Alyssa and Audra will always know which pans are theirs.
8. I then put all the fun stuff in the pans and wrapped them up.  Ok, well my mom actually wrapped them up for me. :)  A perfect gift for the ladies getting ready to stock their kitchens for the first time!
9. Now I'm off to etch everything glass in my house!

Audra's

Alyssa's

CVS deal of the week!

 

So I promise I won't bore you each week with the deals I get with this whole couponing thing, but I just couldn't NOT brag about this one.  And Summer, you'll notice there are no bottles of Maalox or actually, anything that we won't use. :) If I had paid full price for all these items at CVS, it would have totaled $128.65.  With my ECB's, careful sale matching, and coupons, my total was . . .$26.12.  That's a savings of 80%!!

Thanks to mojosavings and moneysavingmom for the weekly list of deals and printable coupons!

Happy 9 Months!

 

How in the world is my sweet little boy 9 months old?!  I cannot believe that I'm already needing to think about his first birthday party for real now.  I love each stage more than the last (although you all told me I would).  But this one is SO fun!

9 Month Appointment 

We actually had an appointment today ON his 9 month "birthday."  I had to fill out a 6 page questionnaire before going in.  It's one of those awful things that ranks your baby based on what they are or are not doing yet that makes a mamma all worried.  He scored well in everything except communication.  Umm. . .no, he does not say mama or dada yet.  But I'm pretty sure that's ok because he babbles adorably and shrieks SO loudly!

 

He got all checked out by Dr. Tripathy and then had fun playing with the mirror waiting for the nurse to bring his polio vaccine.  That's his last one until his 1 year appointment.  He is 28 3/4" (70th percentile) and 21lbs 4.5oz (64th percentile).  His head is still on the "smaller side" at 44.7cm (21st percentile).

 

Things about this month

I should title this month "I need my mom" or "I love to pull hair."  Owen loves people's hair, especially mine and it is now officially all over the house because he pulls quick and hard!  He is still really dealing with separation anxiety and needs me to be close by, even if dad's in the room or playing with him.  He didn't really seem to notice the move to the new house, thankfully!  And he's starting to give everyone more smiles.

He's quickly picking new favorite toys like his balls and the bigger, more "involved" toys.  We also set up one the little table toys where he can stand up and play with it.  He loves it!  He also loves his Jumperoo, although about 10 minutes is his max, especially if mom is not sitting right next to him.  I debated posting this video, because yes the TV's on. :)

Another fun thing is that it's finally been warm enough to get outside!  YAY!  Our new neighborhod has a park literally a block away which is going to be so great for this summer!  We went to the park for the first time with Joanna and Taylor who live a few streets down.  Owen absoluetly loved his first time in the swing and cried when I got him out.

Eating 

He's still a fabulous nurser and has even started to eat sometimes from both sides.  Not every time, but I'm definitely offering it to him because he all of a sudden will take it occasionally.  As for baby food, he's tried a little bit of everything.  He likes the chicken/apples and turkey/rice combos, loves any kind of fruits and yogurt, and pretends to gag on any vegetables.  Dr. Tripathy said at the appointment that with his size and great pincher grasp, he can basically eat anything we're eating.  He loves bread/toast, super small pieces of plums, apples, the insides of grapes, and even ate some spaghetti with us the other night.  Below is a picture of the one veggie he loves: carrots. 

Do you like how my face matches my bib?

Developments/Mobility

We still have no teeth and no crawling. He rocks back and forth on his hands and knees, but no forward movement yet.  He can push himself backwards and get somewhere slowly.  This video cracks me up because it pretty much sums up where he's at crawling wise.  He can't do it, but I can tell he's getting VERY frustrated with not being to get the things he wants. Especially the cat.

Sleeping

Blasted blogging always ruins any good sleep progress.  Well, I shouldn't say ruin.  In general, Grace's good sleep vibes have remained and he's only getting up on average 3 times a night which is still tons better than 8.  Now that he consistently rolls over, getting to sleep takes a bit longer because he hates to fall asleep on his yummy.  So I have to go in there to turn him back over. And while his naps are still mostly 30 minutes, he's starting to give me one nap that's closer to an hour.  Hallelujah.  Dr. Tripathy wasn't much help in the sleep area except saying that he just may need more "big people" food to make any more major steps toward sleeping through night.  Someday.  Someday.

And of course, some pictures:

I like matching Daddy!

Looking so grown up while visiting the Habels

See, I smile?

get this thing off my head!

getting big!

Owen's 9 month post is almost done, but then I got carried away making these. I'm getting all teary eyed thinking about how tiny he was.  Man it really does go so fast!

saving money

I'm still very new at learning about how to effectively use coupons and play the drugstore game with CVS and Walgreens.  But I can see how this could get addicting (hopefully in a save lots of money, good kind of way).  This past week I scored these things in the picture completely FREE and today at Walmart, I saved us about $15 using coupons.  Not tons, but a great start for only being at this for a few weeks.  If you get the paper and don't use your coupon inserts. . .I'd love to pick them up from you every week!

Here's a few more money saving websites I'm liking (along with the other ones I posted about here):

• www.hip2save.com
• www.jillcataldo.com
• www.totallytarget.com
• www.givemeneither.com
• www.thecoupontrainer.com

sleep

I'll be taking you on a tour of new place as soon as there's a few more things in place, but just wanted to say thanks if you have sometime in the last 9 months prayed for Owen's sleep.  I'm always scared to blog about something good for fear it will change, but it's been a week and so far, so good.

Let me just remind you of Owen's normal night:

bath time - 5:30/6ish
quiet play time, books, nurse, bed - 6:30/7ish
9pm - wake up screaming, only calms with a hand on him or pick him up
10:30 - up again, wants to eat
12, 2, 4- up (would eat if I let him each time)
5 - up and won't stay asleep at this point unless in our bed or being held
6:30 - up for the day

Nightmare.  And nothing we did changed this.  Until we got home from the Habel's last week and he slept from 7-1 (6 hours is longer than he has ever gone.  Pathetic.  I don't really know how I'm still functioning at this point, but I digress).  Then he didn't get up until 5 and then up for the day at 7.  I chalked it up to being tired from traveling.  But every night this week, he's given me at least a 6 hour stretch at the beginning of the night and has made it with only 1 or 2 times nursing!  I know, I know he doesn't even need this at his age.  He's been doing a 12 or 1am wake, and then again at 4, and he's up by 6:30.  I feel like a new woman!  And naps. . .while 2 are still at 30 minutes, he's taken this week a few at an hour, and even a couple at an hour and half!! 

I don't know what exactly to attribute this change to.  Him turning 9 months, us being better at making him cry, or moving into this new place (maybe his smart little brain was tuned into something at our old place that we weren't?)  So this is just to say thanks for praying for him and me.  And pray this only gets better and he realizes how great sleep really is.

trip to Carbondale

Last Monday, we were so excited to get on the road to Carbondale to meet the newest little Habel.  I stopped at World Harvest and 45 minutes later, had some stinky cheese and olives that Phil had requested and we were on our way!  Mr. O only slept about 25 minutes on the way down, but overall did pretty good!  It was wonderful to be able to meet Sara's mom (finally) although I'm sad I didn't get any pictures of her.  We basically just sat around and stared at the beautiful little Liana.  I'm not just saying this because Sara's my good friend, but Liana is really one of the most beautiful babies I've ever seen!

 

Owen looked so huge compared to that sweet little thing.  He did great and didn't seem too upset when I couldn't stop holding Liana.

He really liked playing in their rocking chair.  Man, does he look like a little boy here or what?

 

Phil got home from teaching and had some good cuddle time with his little girl.  It's so fun to see how she has him wrapped around her little fingers already.  After we got O to bed, Phil fixed us an (as always) amazing dinner with 3 types of pizza.  Who knew pizza could have things like peaches, walnuts, sage, and all other goodness on it.  Amazing.  And I think he was excited to have someone to drink some wine with!

 

In the morning, despite protests, Sara made us some delicious blueberry pancakes (I need the recipe for that Sara).  We brought down our swing for Liana to use, which is great because its one less thing to store right now, so William set that up.  Then we very sadly took a few pictures and said our goodbyes.

 

On the way out of town, we met my brother Casey for lunch across the street from where he works.  It was a fun catching up time to hear about the big move he's going to be making in a few months.  He also is pretty in love with Owen, which I think is adorable!

Then, we got in the car, not without a little playing first.  Owen did pretty good on the way home until about 30 minutes out.  Whew, that screaming in the car seat is stressful!  But overall, this picture sums up the 2 days.  Pure joy!  We love you Miss Liana and cannot wait to see how much you've grown next time we come down!