Owen's Busy Week

This has been a very busy week for my little man. Here's a few things that he's learned just in this last week:

• As pictured above, Jenna has been teaching him to leave things on his head.
• He's waving bye-bye consistently every time we leave a room or he sees someone walking away.
• He has found his boy parts (no, we're not calling them that, but like I want to write that on a public blog).
• He's learned to hold and drink from his sippy cup.
• The fake cough has returned.
• He got a tooth with a few more that are very ready to make their appearance. 
• He finally figured out how to pick up his feet and "walk" while we're holding his hands.  Maybe he'll be skipping from rolling to walking?
• He's been pointing at things, lights, the fan, outside, trucks, balls, etc.  He gets this from me.

• He is consistently signing 'more' for food, reading books, and doing somersaults:

Whew, I wish I could say he was tired. :)

First Tooth!

I was checking O's mouth this morning and found his very first tooth!  Now it could have come in anytime in the last 2 days, because I haven't been great about checking.  But for documentation sake, we'll say today was the day!  It's his right (as the dentist charts say even though its on his left side) lateral incisor.  Definitely not the first one I thought would pop through.  I have a feeling he's going to get a bunch at once.  Now, please buddy, be nice to your mama. :)

Happy Easter!

There is nothing I'm more thankful for today than for Jesus.  Really, I don't know how people make it through life without him.  Thank you Jesus for dying for all the crap I've done and for being ALIVE again.  I was praying with Owen tonight as we got ready for sleep and I look forward with anticipation the day he actually gets what this holiday means and asks Jesus to live in his heart.

As for our day, we headed off to church. I held off wearing one of my new dresses because 1) I'm pasty white.  According to my sister I'm see-through white and 2) we were working in the nursery, so I knew there'd be lots of floor time.  It was a little crazy with the kiddos today since there were quite a few visitors and Owen really didn't like having to share his mommy and daddy.  But we survived.  Then Owen and I went home to take a nap while William spent the afternoon with my parents loading up a big truck for one load going to Peoria tomorrow.  I think it's starting to hit a little that they really are moving. As in, I won't just be running over to their house in 10 minutes.

Then we joined them and had dinner with my parents, sis, and Liz and Daniel J.  There's nothing better than PapaDel's pizza for Easter!

picture with mom

dad's turn

the best we could do for a family picture

I love this new face - the pursed lip scowl

going from 1-3 kids

Tuesday was a fun lesson in what it would be like to have 3 kids all of a sudden. Two mommy friends both had doctors appointments and needed to drop off their sweet girls. They were both so well behaved and William was home too, so it was surprisingly easy! :) Here's a few pictures from the morning:

This is how Olivia spent much of her time.  Chasing the cat.

she loved pretending she was going to sleep - complete with snoring

Taylor is so laid back!  She just cruised the house and played so quietly.  Isn't that shirt adorable?

saving money

Along with couponing and watching sales closely, I'm always on the lookout for other ways to generate a little money. My Etsy store is up and running slowly, but in the next week or so, I'll be launching the blog and facebook page for it. So stay tuned for that! And let me know if there's a knit item (or hair bow) that you'd love to see in the store.  I'm trying to add new items frantically to it!

I have a new Iphone app to recommend for those of you looking to get the best prices on groceries.  It's called Provisions.  One of the first things the coupon people tell you to do is know the "rock-bottom" or "stock-up" price on items at the store.  They recommend making a price book where you store this info.  I'm too lazy and didn't really want to spend hours going through the stores I visit writing down every price.  So I love this new app.  I type in the item and it tells me the best price I should be getting it for with or without coupons.  Now I can figure out if the price deems it necessary to stock up on that item.  Love it.

Another way that I've been making a little "money" is through Swagbucks. I'd never heard of them before my old roomie Jonell used them, but even then I didn't believe it. But almost all of the couponing blogs I follow use it. So I thought I'd try it out. In the last 3 or so months, I've earned 3, $5 gift cards to Amazon! I'm hoping to buy one of Owen's bigger presents with just gift cards I've earned from there. How does it work you ask?  The basics are are you do things that earn you points, such as searching the web, taking a daily poll, finding swag codes, etc.  Then you redeem those points for giftcards or other prizes! 

FIRST……SIGN UP FOR SWAGBUCKS HERE:

1. Download the Swagbucks Toolbar – This is the easiest way to earn more Swagbucks, download the Swagbucks Toolbar and search from your browser.
2. Swagbucks Blog – The Swagbucks blog offers free codes daily. 
3. Follow Swagbucks on Twitter and Facebook – You can find extra codes by following Swagbucks on Twitter and Facebook.
4. Codes on my blog (or lots of other blogs)– In the bottom right sidebar of the my blog, you will find a Swagbucks image like below. Click on the “Swag Codes” button to see what new codes are available.  I know it doesn't fit very well.  I'm working on that. 
5. Print coupons from their site.  You'll get points when they're redeemed at the store.
6. I earn 4 easy points every day by taking the daily poll, just visiting the survey page, and browsing the special offers page.  I also take the surveys when I can, which can add tons of points to your total! :)

Let me know if you have any questions about it!

Easter (a little early)

This past weekend was so much fun! Saturday was my parents going away party. It was like a walk down memory lane, seeing old neighbors and old Vineyard members and lots of my parents close friends. I also got to see a dear old friend (but she'll get a post all to herself in a bit). Then, because my brothers were in town for the party, we celebrated Easter together early on Sunday.

Here's Owen all dressed up getting ready to go to church.  At church I got to see ANOTHER dear friend from the past, but again she's getting her own post as well.

 

   

My mom started a new tradition called BYOB - build your own basket.  She provided the basket, and we got to pick out all the candy that went in it.  I loaded up on Peeps, M&M's, jelly beans, flavored tootsie rolls, and twix.  I passed on the peanut butter candies and malted robin eggs.

Since Owen can't fill his basket with candy yet, he got this awesome sock monkey basket filled with bubbles, toys, and some outfits for this summer.  He also got an adorable golf caddy.  That's right, complete with a nine iron and putter.

Jenna got Owen some adorable bunny ears that he was forced so excited to wear.

The boys got roped into getting the large couch out of the basement without having to take down any walls or trim or doors.  They succeeded.

It's really hard to believe that it was the last holiday we'll spend in the house where we grew up. It was sad but we're excited to start celebrating new things in my parents new house in Peoria!

Welcome Emerson!

Meet my awesome friend Becky. We met in 2003 when we were both plugged into our young adult service at church. Her and her hubby, Adam, and I became fast friends. They are what you call GREAT people. They are hilarious, brilliant, and if you need advice about anything, they are the couple to ask. A few years after I met them, their first bundle of cuteness entered the world. Meet Caedmon, or Caed as he's mostly known. I was there the day he was born:

Two years later, we were back in the hospital to meet their second bundle of joy, Liam:

Yesterday, they welcomed a beautiful girl into this world.  Meet Emerson Noel who weighed 7lbs, 13 oz and was 20.5 inches.  It was bitersweet because for the first time, we weren't able to be there to love on her as they moved to Tennessee a few months ago.  I know they already have tons of new friends who will be bringing them yummy meals and cute pink balloons.  But let's just say that Summer and I are definitely trying to figure out how to take ourselves and 4 kids on an 8 hour long road trip to meet this sweet girl.  Becky and Adam, we love you and are so excited for this 3rd addition to your wonderful family!  We love you Emme.  Don't get growing too big before I get to meet you!

Happy 10 Months!

Happy "double digits" to my little man! This post was daunting to me for some reason because there is SO much that’s happening these days with Owen that I’m sure I’ll miss something as I’m writing this. We didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, but I'm guessing we're closing in on 23 pounds.  I'll have to pull out the bathroom scale and check!

The Fun Things
Favorite month so far.  What?  I say that every month?  Well, it's true.  We still have no teeth (my boobs are thankful) and no forward movement. But check out his awesome rocking, pushing up on his toes, and rolling.  I don't think it will be long before we have a crawler on our hands.

He also LOVES to stand up. He’ll hold your hands or stand by the couch for as long as you’ll let him.  When I say “How big is Owen?”  he’ll raise his hands up in the air and wait for me to say “so big."  And he gives me huge open mouth kisses and tries to blow and make a noise.  He won’t however do this for William.  Maybe it’s the stubble on his face?  One of his newest noises is clicking his tongue:

The Hard Things

He has started throwing little fits.  The first time this happened, I took a remote away from him and he arched his back, screamed, and started kicking his legs.  William and I just cracked up.  Wow, this whole asserting themselves starts young doesn’t it?  He also HATES getting his nails clipped.  I mean, scream like someone is killing him hate it.  Anyone got any good ideas for this?  And no, I will not do it when he’s asleep.  And chance waking that kid up?  Not a chance.

Eating

First off, have you seen this amazing blog?!  I cannot wait to try out some of the awesome recipes.  I feel like I’m such a rut with baby food and I know I could be making Owen a more adventurous eater if I tried. Thankfully, he’ll try most anything.  We’re doing mostly baby food still, but giving him “real” food at every meal.  His pincher grasp is pretty good if I don’t say so myself and just this week has mastered opening the grasp to actually let the food stay in his mouth when his fingers leave.  I will say that despite the healthy options he gets like green beans, black beans, tons of fresh fruit, my kids loves mac and cheese.  That’s right folks, I made some for my easy dinner the other night and gave him a few bites and he was hooked.  Well, I guess I should say that anything cheese related, he loves.  Especially the Kraft cheese slices um not really what these those things are.  So much for that whole no processed foods things.  Oh wait, I never said that.  He’s still an awesome nurser and I’m still loving it as well. 

yeah, my mom tries to give me little pieces of this stuff.  but i eventually win and get the whole piece.

i like finger painting with my yogurt

Sleep

I’m hoping and praying that he gets more mobile, maybe he’ll wear himself out a little bit and start sleeping more?  I’ve seen a slight increase in naptimes as of the last couple weeks.  He was doing 4, 30 minute naps a day around 9, 11, 1, and 3 or 4.  But a couple of these naps have been going 45 min-1 hour (hallelujah) so we’ve been doing 3 naps a day this past week.  Night sleep has made no good progress.  He’s in bed by 7/7:30 and is still averaging about 6-8 wakes a night. 

Odds and Ends

Owen is just such a delightful kid.  He's smiling a ton more for people in public!  So now people are actually believing me when I say he's so happy!  He loves being out and about and is pretty much in love with the park.  He knows the words park and swing already and will look to the garage door if I say them.  When we near the park, he gets super mad that he’s still in his stroller and then throws another huge fit when we get him out of the swing.  Thanks Gabe for this adorable picture!

He still loves bath time.  He loves when we sing.  He LOVES books, especially the ones with textures in them.  He loves watching people mow their lawns.  He loves his drum from Michelle and Bella. He loves big people's hats.

don't i look great in this hat?

i love my grandpa

He also still loves to snort:

Here's a few more pictures from this month:

i know my face doesn't show it, but i really love it Tasha and Kaelee.  Thanks!

i can't wait until i can actually throw this thing.  maybe at that camera.

you want me to do what?

oh look, my toes

check out my new guitar.  now i just need to decide if grandpa, auntie jenna, or uncle casey should give me lessons.

And on another note, I hope you're getting ready for a major overload of crafty posts because I am now in full birthday planning party mode.  I have a very small modest budget, so many of the things I'm doing myself and I can't wait to document them all for you.  Here's a sneak peak at the invite.  It's Sunday, June 5th from 3-5.  So get it on your calendars. :)

Happy birthday (part1)

So nothing like posting this almost a month late right?  I'm so behind in all my blogging.  VLI is kicking my butt and I've got too many knitting projects in the works in the evenings to keep up with all the things I should be writing.  So I'm backing up to talk about my birthday and then I post Owen's 10 month review shortly.

So I turned 30.  Yep, goodbye 20's.  I'm actually really looking forward to this decade of life.  I'm looking forward to more babies, settling my family down in a "forever" house (finally) and feeling more comfortable in my own skin.

The day before my birthday, William continued his tradition of big beautiful flowers and brought these home:

The actual day of my birthday, we had some super fun visitors.  Michelle and Bella came to eat and play with us.  Bella didn't waste any time making her moves on my guy.  I totally approve Owen. :)

They brought Owen a little drum which I think is his favorite toy of all time:

Then, Bella spent some time talking on my phone and well, just looking adorable!

After the two beauties left, I opened a package from Auntie Du!  Owen immediately claimed the little dog for his own.  Then my mom came over so William and I could go to dinner.  We had an amazing meal at Red Lobster with the best server around, Gabe! 

 

So that was it.  Not exactly the over-the-top transition into my next decade of life that I was hoping for (don't worry, William said my 31st, 32nd, 33rd and on will be amazing :)  But that's what girlfriends are for right?

Happy bithday (part 2)

So, my sister and Angie thought my 30th needed a little more fanfare, so all of us ladies went out for dinner last Saturday!  I've never eaten at Flattop Grill before and I would definitely give it 2 thumbs up.  Delish!  It was pretty crazy that we sat at table #30.  It was meant to be!  It was such a fun night of great conversation and tons of laughter. I'm really blessed to have such great ladies in my life. Thanks so much for helping me celebrate saying hello to 30, flirty, and thriving!  Here's a few pictures from the evening:

showing off the table number (thanks Holly for this picture!)

Angie, Arlene, and Jenna

the costume I was forced lucky enough to get to wear!

these ladies even got a babysitter for me.  aww!

all the ladies - Aubrey, Holly, Jessica, Angie, Arlene, Jenna, and me

even Owen enjoyed my party favors the next day!