top 25 of 2010

So I'm a little behind on my new years posting. Sorry! Here is my year in review countdown style.

25 - Under 25K. Way under. Minus our rent (because William's boss takes that out of his check) this is about what we lived on this year. I don't say for any reason except that is TOTALLY doable to live on a super tight budget if staying home is a priority for your family. I look forward to getting even better at getting my grocery budget more under control this year! We've seen God be so faithful in taking care of our needs (largely through our families!)

24 - the number of first graders at Robeson that do NOT have me as a teacher this year. While I do miss being a "professional" and all the other fun things that come with teacher 6 and 7 year olds. . .I would be lying if I said I really missed it. I am so thankful that we've been able to make our budget work to be able for me to stay home with our little man.

23 - the number of movies that we saw from Netflix that I'd actually watch again. This was less than half. (Remember Me, Love Happens, The Last Song, The Invention of Lying, It's Complicated, Letters to Juliet, Adam, The Lovely Bones, When in Rome, Alice in Wonderland, District 9, My Best Friend's Girl, Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, Dear John, Avatar, Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Sherlock Holmes, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Up in the Air, No Impact Man: The Documentary, Inglourious Basterds, The Time Traveler's Wife, 500 Days of Summer)

22 - the number of projects I've bookmarked just this week to make with my new Silhouette machine, which still has not arrived. I'm compulsively checking my doorstep.

21 - the number of new knitting needles I've bought this last year. Finally getting my needles and stash up to what I want it to be. These are my favorite to knit with.

20 - during the month of July, this day marked our 3rd year of marriage.

19 - 19(01). Our current address. As much as this beige on white on cream condo with the awful carpet and super loud appliances drives me crazy. . .it's still the place we brought Owen home to. It's where our family of 2 became a family of 3.

18 - the number of books I was to read for VLI this year. Here is the list. Mosaic of Christian Belief, Christian Theology: An Introduction, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, The Mosaic of Christian Belief, The Faith of Israel: A theological Survey of the Old Testament, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, Handbook of Biblical Criticism, Power Healing, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, & Background of the O.T, How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth, Introducing Christian Doctrine, Growing Your Faith by Giving It Away: Telling the Gospel Story with Grace and Passion, Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Gospels and Acts Volume 1, Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Letters and Revelation Volume 2, New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel, Planting Missional Churches, Doing Church: Building from the Bottom Up, and The Bible, selected chapters. I won't tell you how many I actually read. :)

17 -how many months it's been since moving back to Champaign. Just this week as we said goodbye to the Carlyles who are moving to TN and Jonell who is moving to NM, it really seems like the Lafayette chapter is closed. (Ok minus the awesome ladies I miss from Cumberland!)

16 - the number of months I've been blogging. I love having a reason to document things and love that some people actually read this. I must say I'm pretty jealous of those ladies out there that are "professional bloggers." Maybe someday.

15 - the total number of hours I was in labor. It was probably a little longer than this if you call all those beginning pains, but I wasn't sure. But by 10pm, I was definitely timing things and knew being a mommy was in sight.

14 - the number of Mom2Mom events I've been to this past semester. I'm loving this group of ladies! And now that I know we'll be here for a little longer, I really want to dig my heels in and connect with the ladies in my small group. Next week, Owen's going to the childcare for the first time. Hold me to this ladies. :)

13 - the number of knitting projects I've now been paid for. This could be fun. :)

12 - how many Sandra Boynton books we now own. Love this lady's board books.

11 - the number of time Sophie Cat has puked in the last few months. This seriously didn't happen before I had a kid. Now when I'm not up dealing with Owen, it's Sophie. But I still love that cat.10 - the actual number of months that I was pregnant. 40 weeks/4 = 10 months

9 - the month (9/10/10) that my grandpa went to be with Jesus. I think of him when I play his violin or cuddle under one of his afghans that he knitted for me.

8 - the number of tests I have left until I finish Vineyard Leadership Institute! 2 more quarters and 4 exams a quarter. It's been great material, but I'm ready to have time for some recreational reading again.

7 - How many months I have have had no more than a 3-4 hour chunk of sleep at a time. No wonder I'm not as sharp as I used to be. :)

6 - the number of weeks (about) until I get to meet Baby Habel!!!!!

5 - the number of awesome photo shoots with my sister (maternity, Owen's birth, month 1, month 3, and Christmas card). I am so thankful for a sister who is not only great at doing my hair, but awesome behind the lens of a camera. And I'm very thankful that we've hung out more this past year than ever in life.

4 - the average time in minutes that my showers are now. Oh the days of long showers without obsessively peeking out to check the monitor.

3 - My three favorite people. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They really got me through the rough parts of this year. I look forward to really pressing in this year and figuring out a better quiet time routine. Owen, can you learn how to nap buddy?

2 - 2 parents who I love more than anything. I'm so excited for them and the amazing things that are in store for them this next year as they move to Peoria and start The Vineyard Church - Peoria.

1 - One beautiful baby boy that was born at 12:43 on June 10. The day my life changed forever for the better. I love you so much Owen!

hanging out

It had been way too long since I had seen Summer and the sisters. On Tuesday, they drove over and we checked out First Christian Church's indoor playground. I must say I was pretty impressed. It's a huge space with all kinds of things for a kiddo to do. Each of the classrooms off the gym is painted with different "shops" in a town. There's also wifi and a nice eating space so you can bring lunch. And best of all it's free! I look forward to using this space when Owen can actually enjoy it. Sorry for this blurry pic:

Olivia had a great time. She was also in love with Owen's giraffe (Squeaks as we call him).

This is how Owen spent some of the time:After we spent a couple hours at the playground, we headed to good ol' McDonald's for some lunch. While playing in the large tubal play structure (or the disease tunnel as Summer calls it) Ollie must have panicked a little from some of the other rowdy kids that were playing. We could hear her crying, but couldn't see her. Since Summer has a slight thing with germs, I handed off Owen and relived my childhood as I climbed up, rescued the child, and then fought with the static in my hair the rest of the day. All in all, a great day and I can't wait to hang out with the sisters again. So sad we didn't get a picture with everyone.

laughing while reading

We were putting away some of Owen's new things and decided to read some of the books before putting them away. I think it's safe to say that we have a new favorite book around here. He repeats this every time we read it. LOVE.

Christmas gift recap

We were so blessed this year by our families! The lavished us with gifts that we really weren't expecting. We are some lucky people to have such great people in our lives.

William - He racked it in with the Daily Bible for men on CD, gifts cards to Old Navy, Kohl's, Amazon, a nice shirt and an awesome SIU hoodie from Casey (Case - he basically wears it everyday). There was more but I already forgot. From me, he got a couple Report Collection shirts from Bella. He looks really good in them. :) He also got some cologne as he was out. I also got him a subscription to Dwell magazine. Lastly, in his stocking was a letter opener because he drives me crazy every time he opens the mail with our good kitchen knives. Owen - Owen of course got the "most" gifts. We tried to explain it was because they're all much smaller gifts that what us adults were getting. I think I covered most of the Pool gifts in the other post, but to recap our favorite was a recordable story book of the Night Before Christmas. You open it to Grandma Pool reading the story to him. Amazing. She also got him some blankets, a DVD set, a great Advent calendar, the Elf on the Shelf book set, and some clothes. Some of his highlights from the Hoerr Christmas were a ton of books (many Sandra Boynton ones which I love), some plastic animals, a puzzle, some clothes, and of course some trucks and cars. He loves puppets, really cracks up at them. My mom got him a cow puppet.
I love this Little People farm set that he got. And he is absolutely going to LOVE the pool complete with a basketball hoop and slide. Next summer's going to be a blast with him. Me- So I was completely BLOWN away this Christmas. My mom always amazes me at the creative gifts she comes up with or remembers me mentioning throughout the year. The highlights (because there were so many great things). My mom has a great recipe system and I asked for all the beginnings of her system. Can't wait to take all my folders of sauce stained pages and get organized!
She also got me the book I've been eyeing. I'm loving making Owen's food, and this book has tons more recipes in it, schedules for when I should be doing stuff, and even making food up through 3 years old.
Along with great pj pants, some awesome shirts, she gave each of us kids something that is a huge part of her. She spent the last year making all four of us kids a quilt. Not just a lap quilt, I'm talking a king size quilt. It's absolutely gorgeous. I'm so in love with mine. I don't think I'll be able to convince William to change our bedding to flowers, but I cannot wait to have a gust bedroom to put this beautiful thing on. This is about a 1/4th of it. I was home by myself when I took this so I couldn't unfold the whole thing. The lighting doesn't to the color justice. I love love love it.
My sister got me a great cardigan, some adorable earrings and necklace and some amazing Moroccan Oil for my hair. The first time i used it, it already felt healthier.But I have to save the best for last. My hubby was supposed to stick to a very small gift budget this year. Meaning I told him I wanted a new cover for my IPhone since mine is broken. But what does he do? He blows it out of the water. The first thing I open is this:That's right, a red KitchenAid mixer. I'm in love. I've never had a real mixer, just a hand one. I couldn't wait to open it up and get baking. See future post about the snickerdoodles that were the first thing to grace the bowl of the mixer. Then there were these two big pink storage baskets. Perfect for storing my yarn or for a little girl's toys someday. But then I saw the little slip of paper that said pull me. Attached to that was this gift card. That's righty folks. In a few days I will be a proud owner of a Silhouette machine. I CAN NOT WAIT! Isn't my hubby amazing?! I mean, really amazing. What a wonderful Christmas. I am so blessed.

Christmas Week Recap

*warning, mega long post*

Sunday, December 19
The week kicked off by dressing Owen in his Christmas outfit from Grandma Pool for church. For the month of December at church, groups of carolers and instrumentalists have been playing Christmas carols in the commons. I was asked to play my violin, so Owen hung out with daddy while I squeaked out beautifully played some carols.

Tuesday, December 21
I admit, I have no patience. As soon as I start seeing present under the tree, I want to open them. G&G Pool sent a big box full of gifts for Owen, and I convinced William he really needed to open one early. So this was Owen's first Christmas gift - a cute blanket with owls that says Whoo loves me? We also went to All Things Kids and I found this cute hat for $1! I know the kid has lots of hats, but how cute is that thing?
Thursday, December 23
Time for another gift, right? :) This one was a DVD set of all the Christmas classics like Frosty the Snowman and Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. We put it in immediately and watched a few of them. Well, Owen didn't really watch.I also finally decided on Owen's new carseat. I've been hemming and hawing over this. I had narrowed it down to the Britax Marathon and the Graco My Ride 65. I hate to admit that it was coming down to the fact that I just didn't love Britax's prints (I love the cowmooflauge, but William said no way) and the fact that it didn't have a cup holder. But then I looked on Amazon and saw that it was $80 less than the list cost. Not only that, but if I ordered that day, it came with a free cup holder that clips onto the seat. And because I bought it through my Amazon Mom account, I now have free 2-day shipping for a whole YEAR!! I couldn't buy it fast enough. Thursday evening, the boys arrived in town, so we headed over to my parent's house for some Monicals thin crust sausage pizza, a family favorite.

Friday, December 24
Merry Christmas Eve! The car seat arrived!! You read that correctly, I hit send on Thursday and it arrived on Friday. I love Amazon! We just hung out as our family and helped Owen open some books and a few toys from us. Then we got dressed and ready to head over to my family's big Christmas. Christmas Eve has always been a bigger deal in our house and I must admit it's one of my favorite days of the year!It couldn't have been a more perfect Christmas Eve with the beautiful snow that was coming down all day.We arrived to the Christmas music playing and just as it was time to light the fire. Owen wasn't so sure about the heat coming from the fire, it seemed to enjoy looking at it. The boys played a game of Rummikub, a family favorite. William's doing a little better about enjoying games, although he doesn't have the Hoerr competitive gene. The table was getting set with all the fondue pots with oil. Owen had a quick dinner of butternut squash and pears while all the lights were still on.I'm not sure the year that we started the fondue tradition. But I have a feeling it will be around for a long time and probably even carried into our own individual families. We're up to 3 pots of oil and we cook shrimp, chicken, and steak. Yes, all in the same pot, and yes sometimes the raw meat gets on our plate, and no, no one has even gotten sick. :) We usually do this meal by candle light and it's accompanied by mom's raspberry punch, raspberry jello, veggies, and potatoes. Of course, there's chocolate fondue for dessert. After dinner, we gave Owen a quick bath. He loved the big tub and toy time.
We headed back downstairs to start the evening. Dad read the Christmas story. Then, we went around the room and shared something we were thankful for this year (OWEN!) and something we were anticipating/looking forward to/needed prayer about in the upcoming year. In other words, break out the Kleenex. My dad is kinda writing a book called The Things I Wish Series. Each Christmas, we get a chapter which he reads to us and again usually calls for the box of tissues. After reading that and some prayer, it was time for gifts. Yes, we go one at a time and I love that it draws out the process. Owen had no idea what was going on, but it was fun nonetheless. He loved all the toys he got and especially the hat made by Casey.
After a wonderful time of getting completely spoiled by my parents (see next post for the actual gift recap), we got Owen to bed and ate some great chocolate fondue. Then, we settled in the for the movie Inception. I had seen it yet, and whoa. Good movie, but I hate when movies end that way! Or maybe it didn't end and I was just dreaming. :)

We got home around midnight and got Owen back to sleep. And just as we were headed to bed ourselves, William asked if I wanted to open our gifts. I'll never turn that down! We were supposed to have a VERY limited budget which I stuck to, but my hubby was bad and blew it out of the water. Again, see my next post for details on the awesome things he got me! Then it was finally time for bed.

Saturday, December 25
With the snow coming down all night and my new tires still not on my car, we thought we wouldn't be going to Peoria. So, we took our time lounging around in our pj's in the morning. We Skyped with the Pool's in Texas. They enjoyed seeing him open the rest of his gifts from them and checking out his new car seat.
But then I started feeling like it wouldn't be Christmas without heading to Peoria. So, we scrambled around and got ready and on the road in record time. The roads were perfectly clear, and I'm glad we went. Owen was the only little person there as it was a TINY crowd for us. Great Grandpa snagged Owen right away as we helped ourselves to appetizers and jumped into the game of Bag of Nouns that was in progress. We had fun just hanging out with everyone, even though the dinner was probably the "worst dinner yet." Di summed it up by pointing to the lid which was titled BBQ sauce (with meat).
After dinner and way too much dessert (cut out cookies yum), we headed back downstairs for "gifts." Back in the day, this part of the day consisted of hours around a Christmas tree (there's not a tree to be found these days) with mounds of gifts, lots of yelling, and pretty much chaos. Now that everyone just gets checks, Grandma had to invent a game. So each year we lay the box game. Everyone passes around a box with a die in it. If you roll a 6, you get to go to the middle where a pair of gloves and a gift waits. You have to put on the gloves and then try to unwrap the gift. Sounds pretty easy right? NOT. Grandma wraps that sucker with duct tape and ties the twine really tight. And it's not only one box. Oh, no. . .there's usually around 8. This year, Kaley got the last box open and got the $20 bill.All in all, a great day. And after about 10 minutes of screaming, Owen passed out and slept the whole way home. I am not kidding. This is the first time he's really slept in his car seat (it was still his bucket, not his new one). I hate how quickly Christmas goes each year. I think I'll keep my decorations up for another month at least.

Merry Christmas!

Just wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! It's snowing here which only makes it a more perfect Christmas Eve. We're looking forward to a great fondue dinner and presents with my family today and I can't wait! Even though he doesn't understand it all yet, having Owen here makes this the best Christmas yet!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy 6 Months!

My baby is growing up so fast! Half a year. Whew. I cannot express in words how much I love this little guy and how much I don't remember what life was like before he arrived! This month has been jam-packed with new things so I hope I don't forget any of them! Sorry for the picture and video overload in this one. They were just so adorable, I couldn't resist.

Loves/Hates
Owen can't really decide if he loves or hates the exersaucer. For example, this was a day he loved it:Other times, he screams in it or just seems bored. He really likes to eat! More on that below. He continues to love bathtime, especially now that's sitting up and getting to play with toys in the tub. He loves to sit up, but I'm convinced he's just not going to be a roller. He only last about a minute on his stomach before the blood curling screams begin. He also loves when I vacuum, which no, doesn't make me do any more even though I should.

Milestones/What's happened
He's making so many fun noises!! These most often happen when he's laying on a blanket by himself and especially on the dressing table after bath time. Here's a peak at that time:
He loves to feel people's faces which I find adorable. Also, when he's nursing, he loves to take his free hand and hit himself in the head. I sometimes have to hold his hand so his doesn't jab himself or leave a mark on his head. No teeth yet, but I have a feeling it won't be long with how often I have to use Orajel or by how much he loves when you rub your fingers on his gums. He also has developed a wiggle. He does this a lot while trying to go to sleep. I find it absolutely hilarious!
Feeding
Still a great nurser. But onto the more fun things: food! It took him a little while to start liking real food, but now he's a great eater! I've made everything so far and am loving how easy and quick it's been. He really doesn't love cereal, so I typically make the food a little runnier when I puree it and then thicken it with a little cereal when he eats it. He'll nurse first, but then eats 3-4 (ice) cubes in the morning and again during his last awake time before bath. Here's a list of foods he's eaten in the order of how much he likes it (as far as I can tell).

butternut squash
avocado
pears
apples
peas
sweet potato
banana
prunes (only fruit/veggie I didn't make)
rice cereal
oatmeal cereal

As you tell by the picture below, eating is not something that Owen has a problem with:

Poop
Poor little guy. All this new food is just doing a number on his system! Below is a video of what most of his pooping is like. But we've added prunes into his diet every couple days and while he doesn't love them, they do help quite quickly after he eats them!


Sleep
For the first time about 2 weeks ago, he slept from 6:30-12:15. So I know he can do it. But for the most part, he's sleeping from 6/6:30-10 and then up every few hours. It's brutal, but by now I'm quite used to it. Naps are still 30 minutes, so we just take 4 of them throughout the day.

Me
Not too much to report on me this month. You know how people say your hair is supposed to be luscious during pregnancy. Not so much. Mine broke, got brittle, and fell out. Not to mention that the curl I used to be able to get now just looks kinky and gross. So I'm glad to report that this month, my hair has finally started to grow back. I'm looking forward to keeping it longer and to get a chance to maybe go a little lighter. In other news, I've stayed super busy with VLI and getting ready for Sara's shower. I'm really looking forward to Owen's first Christmas! Just be praying for William and I as we really try and hear what God wants us to do next.

A few more pictures of month 6:
first time in a high chair at Billy Barooz's:
First time sitting up and playing with toys in the tub.
ohh, I love the lights!
just chillinglove those big brown eyes!Oh my mister serious, please don't ever lose that furrowed brow!