uggh

He's already been awake twice since putting him to bed. It's going to be a long night. . .

Happy Halloween

On Friday, we had a fabulous time at our first Halloween party as a family! Aubrey had the great idea of our families joining forces and going as the whole Flintstones crew. And thanks to my mom's great sewing skills, we pulled it off. It was really fun to try and help her sew up the costumes. I added all the final touches (my hair bow, and necklace, BammBamm's hat, fur, bone, and club, and did all the jagging of the edges). Thanks to Pam and Kevin (Morticia and Gomez) for the wonderful food, dancing, prizes, and fun!

The wonderful hosts:
our fam:a close up of the cutest Bamm-Bamm ever (courtesy of my sis)the whole crew:Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm
Here's my sis as a Gold Digger. The details were quite impressive from the gold shovels, eyelashes, jewelry, nails, leggings, shoes, hard hat, and more!
And here's my parents who went as Vineyard Church Planters (they leave in a few months time to go start (plant) a new church in Peoria!).
Here's a link to MORE pictures on Facebook! There were some awesome costumes!

yabba-dabba-do

I'm busy putting the finishing touches on our costumes for tonight. Can't wait!!

modeling debut

Today, Bella had a fashion show and Jennifer was in need of some baby models. So, Owen had his modeling debut. Aubrey and Mataya were there too, so we had fun hanging out. I think my favorite quote from the day was:

Me - why am I a little nervous about walking my kid down a short runway?
Aubs - because these women have more money than either of us will in our lifetime.

So true! :) Here's a few pictures from the morning:
getting set up:
in the "dressing room" (ie, the closet) getting ready. I did love his little airplane outfit!almost ready:
Loving the flower:
Getting ready to head on the runway:

Here's your sign

Signs that you may be sleep deprived:
Yesterday, I finished my bottle of Bath and Body Works bath wash and William being the recyling nazi that he is, took it out to the garage and put it in the plastics containter. So this morning I opened a new bottle and was sad to realize that the cap was broken. This meant I would have to unscrew the lid each time I used it (read: annoying). So tonight I asked William if the old bottle was still out there because I was going to pour the new soap into the old container. He looked at me like I was crazy and then asked "why don't you just take off the old lid and use that."

Duh. Glad this conversation didn't happen while I was trying to figure out how to get all the soap out of the bottle. :)

doctor

We had our first visit to the doctor today that wasn't a well-baby check. On Sunday, Owen woke up with some goop in his left eye. I *think* he may be teething. I know its easy to blame many problems on teething. But. . .he's chewing like nuts, drooling all over, and has been screaming a new cry, like he's in pain. I used the Baby Orajel and he instantly calmed down. Yesterday the goop was gone, but today it was back in full force. So I called and they got us in right after our Mom2Mom meeting. The only thing we found out is that he is now a whopping 17lbs, 10 ounces. Dr. Tripathy wasn't concerned at all about his eye and said it was probably just a clogged tear duct. Nothing a warm wash cloth can't handle. Oh well, couldn't be a new mommy without a few worried trips to the doctor. I did follow Holly's advice and put a few drops of breastmilk in his eye tonight. She claims it's the answer to most baby-ailments.

neat video

This is an terrific video of conception and watching a baby grow in the womb. Absolutely amazing. My uterus is already hurting for another one. :)

VIDEO

Sorry, can't figure out how to embed the video here, so you'll have to follow the link.

week of new developments

Owen's been busy this week figuring out new things! On Monday, October 18th, he rolled over for the first time! He rolled from his front to his back (to the right). This video is NOT of him rolling over. He has yet to repeat it. But I did want to document the day. :)

He also got a new noise this week that's pretty cute, but its a hard one to describe. Put your lips together tight and act like you're spitting through them,. It's adorable. The other development is NOT adorable. Pinching. The face, the neck, the arms, the boobs. He's got quite the pincher grasp, especially when he's mad or frustrated.

And lastly, this morning we attempted rice cereal. We got the ok from the doctor because of his (huge) size and great head control. I was going to wait until 5 months, but I'm pleading with God hoping that maybe some cereal helps with his sleeping. I know, I know it probably won't. But a mom can hope right? He didn't seem too interested and only had about 10 little sips total, but we'll try again for dinner. My So Easy Baby Food Kit arrived this week and I'm so excited to start making his food next week and getting it ready to go! I'll leave you with 2 (boring) videos of his first cereal experience!

makes a momma cry

This is purely one of those mommy moments that I had to document so I wouldn't forget when it happened. We didn't get home from small group tonight until about 9, so I was expecting quite the battle for bedtime, especially since he didn't get a bath which is a part of our nightly routine and I hadn't fed him in while. We were reading our Bible story and he didn't seem too tired yet, so I picked up this book from the pile. Don't ask me why I have an Easter board book. I think it was from when I was using all my teacher scholastic points to get free boards books for my kid instead of my classroom, but I digress. I was reading it and making funny voices for Peter Rabbit (a normal occurrence when we're reading). Owen was intently starting at me, not the book tonight. And then, out of the blue, when I used the funny voice for Peter, he cracked up. Like seriously all out laughing. And he did it for the rest of the book anytime I used the voice. It was like music to my ears.

I could barely make it through singing Jesus Loves Me because I started crying. Tears of joy of course over how much I love this little man. And then to top it off, I laid him down and after just a few minutes of playing with his lovey, he rolled over and went to sleep. I think that was just about the perfect way to end a day.

Thank you Jesus that you DO love me. . .enough to entrust the raising of this boy to us. Please give us wisdom and lots more days like today filled with Owen's joy and laughter.

Need a quick centerpiece for your table? Grab a pumpkin (I used a small pie pumpkin), some old container (I used the yogurt container I had eaten for breakfast), and some flowers.
Cut out a large enough hole in the pumpkin to put your container in. Scoop out all the guts and seeds. A melon baller works great for this. Don't forget to save your seeds for roasting!
Fill the container with water, cut the flowers pretty short and you have a perfect centerpiece for the fall season!

remembering

Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. So many of my friends have dealt with the loss of a little one. I hope that today, you follow Kimmie's advice: "Please don't be scared off when you hear about a miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death. Don't feel bad for asking. Don't think that bringing it up will upset the mother. That baby is part of her story. Part of her family. Remember that baby. Because the mother will never forget."

My two losses are a part of my story. I will patiently wait to meet them. I know that they are with Jesus. Happy and safe and perfect. I was due in February 2008 and again in February 2009. I am so thrilled that in February 2011, I will get to meet my dear friend, Sara's, sweet little girl. What a moment of joy and healing that will be.

A great line from the song below, Glory Baby, by Watermark:

But baby let sweet Jesus hold you
‘till mom and dad can hold you…
You’ll just have heaven before we do.

I can’t imagine heaven’s lullabies
and what they must sound like
But I will rest in knowing, heaven is your home
And it’s all you’ll ever know.

Thank you Jesus that you are good, all the time, even though we sometimes don't understand. Thank you that despite the pain, you gave us Owen who was the the perfect kid for our family. I pray today for SH, SM, BC, LF, AC, MH, JM, AT, KL, MM and so many more women and remember their sweet little ones who left Earth much too soon.

Happy 4 Months!

A few days late, but as always, wanted to get the "official" measurements at the doctor. Happy 4 months little man! You're 1/3 of the way to a year! What?!? I better start planning that birthday party (and I'm only half way joking here. I may already have some theme ideas.) I would sum up month three by quoting Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." :) This month has been so hard because of sleep training and feeling like I live in a permanent fog of tiredness. But it also has been SO much fun watching him become more interactive, alert, and funny!

Measuring
On Sunday, at our small group for the Peoria church plant, Owen was next to his 2 new buddies, Abe and Jacob who were all born in the same month. He's by far the biggest one of them all! Today at his 4 month appointment, he was 17lb 1.5 oz (84th percentile) and 25 3/4 in (78th percentile). His head is 41.4 cm which is still only in the 26th percentile. We're still in size 2 diapers, but this week we'll probably be moving up to size 3's!

Milestones

• He is able to sit upright when he's propped up with the Boppy or a few blankets. He's able to do it for longer and longer times without slumping forward.
• He's making TONS of noises! Some of his consonant sounds are /m//l/ and /b/. He has an adorable shriek and his laugh is so precious! He loves his little activity mat and screeches at the animals (especially if I'm not close to him):
  
• When we read books before naps and bedtime, he's starting to reach out and hold the book with his left hand. Ahh, makes the teacher in me so proud.
• At small group the other night, I was holding him and eating snacks off a plate. For the first time, he reached out about 5 times and grabbed onto the plate. Guess he's starting to realize that there might be something good on there.
• He blows little bubbles all the time and his hands are always in his mouth, especially that index finger that he liked when he was first born.
• He rolls easily from side to side while on his back. I often find him facing the complete opposite way in his crib after a nap. And he's starting to try and kick his leg to roll over when on his stomach. Maybe in the next few weeks, we'll have a real roll over?
  

Poop
My son got my digestive track, meaning he doesn't poop very often. In his 3rd month of life, I think he pooped maybe 4 or 5 times, total. The doc was not at all concerned and neither was Owen. Although this week, he's pooped twice already, so maybe month 5 will bring about some more regularity.

Sleep
I went back to look at my 3 goals of sleep training to see how we were doing:

1. Owen will be able to lay down for a nap or bedtime without the 20-30 minutes of rocking/walking that we've been doing.
This is the one thing that is going super well!! No more walking around the room trying to figure out how to get him to calm down. We swaddle, read a couple stories, sing Jesus Loves Me, and lay him down. It usually take about 15 minutes, but he goes to sleep with NO crying!
2. Owen will extend his naps from one sleep cycle (45 minutes) to 2 sleep cycles (1 1/2 hours).
This is really hit or miss. He rarely (almost never) can stay asleep for longer than 35-45 minutes on his own, but it's getting easier for me to get him to go back to sleep after a short nap. I usually try this once of twice a day. Otherwise, I just let him get up after the short nap.
3. Owen will sleep for a 4-5 hour chunk at night and then be able to go back to sleep. Also, Owen will only need 2-3 feeds at night, instead of the 6 he wants right now.
Absolutely no change here. He's still up 6-8 times a night. Now don't worry, I don't feed him every time. Nor do I rush in there the minute he makes a sound. But he'll still take a full feeding 2-3 of these times. Maybe I'm just doomed to not have a full night's sleep until he 1) starts solids or 2) is in high school? :) One (yes, just one) night he slept from 7:15-12:30 so I know it's possible. Just not the norm at all.

Feeding
My cousin, Julie, and I were talking about how for her next baby (due around Thanksgiving) she was going to make as much noise as she could when nursing. I laughed, because I feel the same way. When Owen eats, it now needs to be totally distraction free. No talking from me or William and either on "my" couch or in his room. I've been trying to talk a little each feeding because there's no way to always feed him in a quiet place. But he's still a 7 minute, one sided nurser. At least he's a consistent little guy.

Other things that have happened:

• He had his first (not Dad or Grammy) babysitter. While still family, my Aunt Toni watched him while I worked one day. She even drove him home (it's scary to let someone else drive your kid, even knowing she raised 3 of her own just fine).
• He's been going to 2 small groups with us and does a great job hanging with whoever wants to hold him.
• He got his DTaP vaccine and Polio vaccine today. We somehow didn't get the Rotovirus series started on time (oh darn) so we'll be taking that one off our schedule completely now.
  
• Sophie has finally realized that Owen is not going anywhere, so she's rejoined the family. She's back to cuddling up in our laps and now likes to sit very close to Owen. If he's crying in his room, she'll go and sit by his door until I go in there. And as this picture shows, Owen is starting to realize he has a furry friend that likes to move. He follows her with his eyes and has reached out a few times for her.

Here's a few more pictures of that cutie patootie:
It's getting easier to catch a few smiles:
On a road trip to Peoria:
My arm is yummy.what's this for mommy?
laughing more with Daddy:

Bella decorations

Here are all my crafts put into use at Bella. I know it looks busy, but it looks better when you're actually in the store. I forgot to mention in the first post that I also did a cute bunting flag banner. Simply cut triangles out of fun paper, decorate, and hot glue (or sew) on a ribbon.

candy corn wreath

I saw this wreath gracing the front page of Women's Day Magazine. Isn't it pretty:

I was on a limited budget, time and money wise, so I knew mine wouldn't be quite as pretty, but here goes. I gathered my supplies. Instead of black duct tape, I just used orange paint which I already had. I also would've used thicker black ribbon, but again I had some of the thin stuff stashed in my craft box, so I used that.
First, I laid out my candy corn to dry out. Don't really know why, but they suggested it and I'm assuming it's to get some of the moisture and sugar out of it in case you were hanging it outside where animals might want to eat it. Who knows, but I'm a direction follower, so I let them dry out for a few days:
Then, I gave my styrofoam wreath, from Hobby Lobby, a few coats of orange craft paint. Then I started hot gluing! I did one whole row facing one way, then started the next row, etc. I wrapped it with the black ribbon and hung it up. Not too bad if I don't say so myself:

fall crafts

Well, hello blogger world. Sorry it's been such a long time since I visited you. :) We're trying to figure out a lot of big choices for our lives, so any prayers (especially for wisdom for William) would be much appreciated!

So, anywhoo, Jennifer (my boss at Bella) asked me to decorate the space for Halloween. So this has inspired a crafting kick lately and thought I'd share a few of the things I've done. This will probably take a few entries so I don't log down one post with a million pictures. Since I don't love Halloween (unlike my sister who has her Halloween costumes planned out a year in advance), so I decided to go with the more fallish look with pumpkins and candy corn. I follow tons of crafting blogs and cannot for the life of me remember where I saw some candy corn pillows. And I thought, I could make those (well, with a little help from my master seamstress of a mom). I found some super cheap fabric in the clearance section in different shades of orange, yellow, and white. Did you know that on real candy corn, the orange is twice as long as the yellow and white space? So it made for easy measuring. We cut the fabric into strips and then sewed them together. I must admit that for as long as I've held out learning how to sew, I can see how addicting this could get. I may even have to ask for a cheap sewing machine for Christmas. My mom (and my friend Anne) would be proud.
The next step, I don't have a picture of, but we just cut out triangles (about 1/2 in bigger all the way around for the seam). Then my mom sewed them up leaving a little space for the stuffing.Then, I stuffed them with cheap stuffing from Walmart. To sew them up, you use what's called a blind stitch. My mom's looks much better than mine, but I'm learning. This video helped. And viola, pillows that look good enough to eat:
Then, I whipped up a couple bats to be hung on clear fishing wire and gave them some white eyes with my paint pen:
And lastly, I needed some fake pumpkins to go along with my real ones. I took 12x12 scrapbooking paper and cut it into 1" strips. Then I glued 8 strips together to make the large pumpkin, and 4 together to make the small one. You could also use a brad to hold all the pieces together, but my glue gun was already plugged in, ready to go.
Then you just fold the pieces up and glue again! Easy peasy!To finish, add a little circle of brown paper for the stem. For the green vine, I simply twisted paper around a pencil to curl it and then glued it in place.
Stay tuned for more. . .

fall food

I LOVE fall cooking! As soon as the weather turns, I start thinking about chili and homemade caramel apples and all other warm comfort foods. We had lots of people over this weekend, so I got the chance to try these 2 new chili recipes (one "regular" chili, one white chili with chicken). They got rave reviews from all the eaters and I'll definitely be making them again this season so I thought I'd share!

White Chili with Chicken
from the kitchen of Stacie Vogelsang
Start with 1 rotisserie chicken regular seasoning, use the white meat and shred it. (I used this the first time I made it. But the second time, I just threw some frozen chicken breasts in my crock pot for the morning and then shredded those.)
48 oz chicken broth
2 cans diced green chiles (I only used 1 can and it was plenty spicy)
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
30-45 oz white northern beans (I used 3 cans)
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp of chipotle pepper (or 2 tsp cayenne)
1 tsp oregano
1 cup monterey jack cheese

Saute diced onion and minced garlic in olive oil in bottom of large pan. Dump everything else in except the cheese. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add shredded jack cheese until melted. Serve with shredded cheese if desired.

This was fabulous!! It has a great kick to it, but it not too spicy!


Chili
from the kitchen of Toni Hoerr (my aunt)
2 lbs. hamburger
1/4 c onion
1 lrg V8 vegetable juice
2 16 oz. cans of kidney beans (rinse)
2 16 oz cans mild chili beans (dump in with the juice)
1 six gun Texas chili mix (I found this at County Market. Toni said to put all packets in EXCEPT the red pepper packet, but becauase William likes his chili hot, I put in about half the red pepper packet).

Brown hamburger and onion. Drain. Put all other ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low all day! With a little cheese, sour cream, and Fritos on top this was an amazing bowl of chili! And so easy to make! Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the real food. But trust me, you'll like it!

M4

M4 - that stands for Marriage, Mentoring, Meals, and More. It's this amazing thing at our church that Pam L. dreamed up and we're part of the guinea pig group that gets to try it out! So here's how it works. For 10 weeks, 7 mentor couples and 12 "mentee" couples meet in a large and small group setting. On the odd weeks, everyone meets together for a dinner provided by the mentor couples. Tonight was Italian night at the Vogelsangs (AMAZING). We have little cards on the table that ask us questions and we spend our dinner sharing as a couple. For example, tonight William and I shared about our childhood friends, the best memory we've made together as a couple, and one thing we appreciate about each other. It's a laid back time of getting to know all the couples involved. Then we got some great prayer from the mentor couples.

On the even weeks, we break into 2 smaller groups for a more high-accountability group and discussion. We also have homework every week. Our homework this week is to go on a date, pray together every day, and practice commuicating everyday by sharing one thing we appreciate about each other and by telling each other how we feel and why. So for example this morning, I told William. "I'm feeling refreshed from a great weekend with friends that we love. I appreciate that you did all the dishes from our cooking extravaganza and that you take time to build relationships with my best girlfriend's husbands."

It has been a wonderful 3 weeks so far. It's great getting to know the mentor couples who've been married for much longer than us and have some great wisdom to offer. It's also been nice getting to know more couples who are in the same stage of life as us. We're looking forward to the next 7 weeks!! Here's a few pictures from tonight:

Jeff and Steve deep in conversation:
good food and good conversation:our table as the Majeres share:
Our good friends, Gabe and Aubrey, are also in the M4 group. Mataya (Owen's current girlfriend) is 23 days younger than he is. They love to hang out. And their matching diaper bags are pretty great!