hanging with Grace

On Tuesday, we had a "play date" with Anne and Grace. Anne made me this beautiful quilt for Owen. Isn't it fabulous!?
It is just amazing to watch Grace and to think than in a year, Owen will have changed that much. Grace is blast to watch as she plays, reads books, makes animal noises, and runs around! I cannot wait to see how Owen's personality develops like hers! She loved saying baby and pointing to all Owen's parts - particularly poking him in the eye. :)

meeting Jonell

I'm behind again. Whoever said that stay and home moms have lots of time of their hands is nuts. I have no idea where my days go and while getting back into the kitchen has been great, my house it still in utter disarray. This article has been circulating around the web for awhile, but I just got it again from Joanna. It says it so well:
But anywho, today was a pretty low key day. I left Owen for the first time with dad so I could go get my hair cut from Jenna. She only has a week left, so I needed to get my $9 cut in before the price goes up when she moves to her real job at Lando! When I got home, he was chugging from a bottle and Jonell had arrived!

Jonell and I were roommates when we first moved to Lafayette. I miss those late night talks! It was awesome to see her and catch up. She brought him 2 adorable outfits he'll be sporting when he grows just a bit more! Thanks also for the cherry wine Jonell. It was great!

making baby food

I'm already looking into lots of yummy recipes for making baby food (I know a little early, but so fun). Chronicles of a Babywise Mom has a great giveaway going on, so I'm posting here to score another entry in the contest. Looks like a great kit to get started! Check out her post about it: HERE.

nap time

YES! Our first successful nap in the crib (as opposed to the pack and play). I put him down awake and without too much crying or squirming, he fell asleep on his own listening to his Dr. Jean Bible Songs CD. I'm thinking the pack and play in our room is on it's way out. It would sure be easier for William to get ready in the mornings without having to worry about not making too much noise or turning on too many lights.

All I can say is thank goodness for our video monitor. I thought it was such a frivolous thing to put on my registry, but I'm eating my words. All I've done for the last hour is watch him from the comfort of my couch while also trying to watch my VLI video for the week. Love that thing so thank you Grandma Pool!

Happy Birthday Auntie Jenna!

So, this is very belated, but last Sunday was my sister's birthday! On Tuesday, a small group gathered to celebrate her 27th year of life. If you don't know this about my sister, she likes cows. She's famous for telling people that we see a cow everyday (it doesn't have to be a real cow, but a figurine, cow print fabric, etc). So we were asked to wear black and white in honor of that. Along with the decorations, all the food was also black and white. Very impressive. Owen decided to take in one step further and actually dress up like a real cow. Too bad the udders didn't stay on longer than a few minutes. Stupid craft glue.
Anyways, all that to say. . .Happy Birthday Jenna! I hope this year has lots of great surprises in store for you!

our week

Monday marked Owen's first trip to O Baby! at the library. We met Joanna and Taylor there for singing, stories, and generally parents making fools of themselves for the sake of their kiddos. He actually stayed awake for the whole thing and made sure his presence was known by letting out quite a loud fart during a lull in the noise. Then, Joanna and I walked downtown and had lunch at Aroma Cafe. What a great morning! Here's our 2 munchkins in their matching strollers:
The rest of this week has been super low key. I decided to take a day to nap with him during every nap. Much needed although definitely not the same as 8 hours of consecutive sleep. We've been hanging out at home just loving the time together. He usually loves tummy time and is doing awsome at holding up his head. Of course, I get the camera out and he gets lazy.
And this was just too funny not to document. Yes, his passy was stuck behind his ear. I had to yank it out. Poor dude.

Happy 1 Month!

I absolutely cannot believe that it has been one month since Owen has come into our lives. I know, I know the cliches about time going so fast. But they're TRUE! I remember the last 4 weeks of pregnancy going so slow and then I blinked and he's been here for a month already. He is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me (ok, William was pretty great too).
Measuring
He doesn't have an appointment until he's 6 weeks. I was feeling a little unsure if everything was going alright, so I took him to the lactation consultant last Monday to have him weighed. He was already up to 9lbs8oz, so I'm sure it's even more since then. He's starting to fill out in his face and his legs and arms are getting those adorable little rolls on them. As far as height, I have no idea. . .but some of his newborn and 0-3 things are definitely starting to get too tight as I snap them. I'm glad people told me to keep tags on some outfits. I'm going to have to trade them up for bigger sizes!
Milestones
I'm continually amazed at all the new things he's starting to do. Ok, they may not seem like much to the outside observer, but a first time mom goes nuts over them. He's tracking really well with his eyes. He'll move his head to follow your face or voice. He's holding his head up more and more and seems to enjoy his few minutes of daily tummy time. We've gotten about 4 smiles out of him this week. The first was at my grandparents house on Monday. They've been unrelated to eating (so not the milk drink ones) and in response to me or William looking at him. Ohh, my heart just melts. As of two days ago, he's been blowing little bubbles and starting to make just the smallest of cooing noises. And yesterday, I caught him doing this! I'm not sure if it was a fluke and he got his hand caught, but I chalked it up to reaching out and grabbing. :)
Schedule
This kid may look like his dad, but he is his mother's child. He was born on a 2 1/2-3 hour schedule and has kept it up (despite the few days of his 3 week growth spurt). He eats, is awake for about 45 min to an hour and then screams until he goes to sleep. We've gotta work on the screaming part. Haha. If we're out and about, he usually falls asleep easier. And he's great in the car!
Feeding
Another thing I thank God for daily! He latched on immediately after being born and hasn't looked back since. My milk supply seems awesome and he easily switches between the boob and the bottle with daddy! YAY! Although it does feel like you have your shirt off all day, it's been a really great bonding time. And what was taking his 15-20 minutes per side, is now only taking him about 7 and I'm not having to try to keep him awake as much. Usually around 7 minutes on the dot he yanks himself off. It's pretty crazy. While I was trying to do both sides at each feeding, he seems to be turning into a one side per feeding guy. So I just pump the other side if he's not interested to start building my stash!
Other quirks
I know most kids fall asleep in the swing and stroller. But no, not my kid. Wide awake the whole time. I guess I'm glad for the sake that he's been taking most of his naps in his crib or pack and play. I hope that will make crying it out a little easier. Speaking of that, I tried to start that this week and just couldn't do it yet. I'm going to give him another week or two since he's definitely been crying less at nap time on his own. He still has hiccups everyday!
William
William is back at work, but continues to be amazing. He comes home everyday for lunch so we get some daddy time. He picks Owen up the minute he gets home and is still the reigning diaper changer and swaddler around here.
Me
I must say that I've been absolutely blessed with no post-partum issues at all. Physically, my body is feeling pretty much back to normal, unless I overdue it one day. And emotionally, I feel great. I tell my mom a lot, I think I was kinda born for this. It has truly been the best 4 weeks of my life and I cannot wait for more!
A few more pictures (of course courtesy of Auntie Jenna):

Peoria

William had off work on Monday and we spontaneously decided to drive over to Peoria just to look around. Even though I've been there many times, we literally just drive straight to my Grandparents place and home again. We drove along the Riverfront and looked around downtown. Then, we drove along Grand View Drive. When Theodore Roosevelt visited Peoria on October 10, 1910, he called Grand View Drive the "World's Most Beautiful Drive." We'll definitely have to go back in the fall. I bet the trees are absolutely gorgeous!
We then drove around a few neighborhoods that William has been scoping out. I of course loved the one that was furthest out of town. It's in a great school district, but depending on jobs, it might be a little too far out there. After a great lunch at Avanti's (I love their gondola sandwiches) we drove around a few more neighborhoods and of made a stop at Target, of course. Then, we went and hung out with my grandparents. It was such a blast! They took us to a little drive in called Lou's where they got their normal chili dogs and I ate a yummy tenderloin. Then we went back to their place where we ate strawberry shortcake and helped my grandma get a few pictures on the computer. If we move there, I look forward to hanging out more with them. They are amazing people who love Jesus and have lots of great stories to tell us!

4th of July

I cannot believe it's the 4th of July! Where is this summer going? We went to Walmart the other day and I saw this:School supplies already?! I must admit I did a little jig inside. This is the first time since I was 5 (that's right, five) years old that I won't be getting ready to go back to school. That's 24 years of school, either going or teaching. It's so weird, yet I'm so excited!

Although we didn't see any fireworks, we had a great time at my mom and dad's. They had everyone over who is even slightly thinking about going to Peoria on the church plant. There was an amazing spread of food and great conversation. Owen was quite decked out for the occasion in his red, white, and blue:

first time in restaurant

Owen had his big debut at church today. My dad worked him into his sermon and he even had 7 pictures up on the big screens. It was fun to get lots of congratulations and tons of people googling at him. We think he's pretty big stuff, but I know we're biased. He did so great through the service, we decided to get brave and go out for lunch for the first time with him. I'd heard great things about a new place called Kaiyo and I haven't had sushi in over 10 months, so it was time. They had the most amazing sushi buffet!! I would highly recommend that place, especially M-F when their buffet is only $8.95. I didn't have one piece that I didn't love. And the best part was Owen slept through the whole thing. Thanks buddy for letting us enjoy our first meal out!

Wednesday, June 30

Today was a super fun day on the go. Owen does absolutely wonderful in his car seat, so I carted him all over town today. First, we had to get him into a cute outfit since he would be seeing tons of people today.
First, we went to Panera to meet Summer, Lillian, and Izzie. Izzie was quite excited to show me all the things she had just got at the dentist. They were adorable to watch with Owen and it was great to catch up with Summer. I miss living in the same town!
They were so good during lunch!Owen loves all these ladies:
After lunch, I headed out to church so we could see Grammy. It had been a few days and she needed an Owen fix. We hung out in the prayer room so he could eat and I couldn't resist taking a few pictures on the orange sofa that matched his outfit. Aren't the tennis shoes adorable!? He always has such a serious look on his face!

Tuesday, June 29

Today the Brad and Charlee (and of course Micah and Caleb) came over and brought us delicious enchiladas. Charlee, I really want that recipe! We miss hanging out with these guys and their adorable boys in small group. Hopefully, we'll get to hang out with them more this summer!

Micah is a great big brother, can't you tell!?
Later in the evening, we decided it was time to test out the bottle! I've been trying to pump a little each day to try and start building a stash. Owen downed 2 ounces like a champ. I think William's excited to be able to have a little daddy feeding time. I think we'll try to give him a bottle every other day or so just to be sure he keeps on liking them!

randoms

His first real bath. Unlike the first sponge bath, he seemed to really enjoy it as long as kept pouring water over him to keep him warm. Although note to self, as soon as the washcloth comes off, the pee will come.He seems to enjoy his tummy time. I've got to catch him on video holding his head up. He thinks he's pretty strong!
Just random cuteness:
Oh those lips get lots of kisses:

Pentwater!

Every year, my family heads north to Pentwater, MI. This year was the 20th anniversary. It is so hard to believe we've been going there for that many years! This is a picture from that first year. The shirts this year was a replica of this first shirt.

So suffice to say, we've grown up there. I think I'm so close with my family due in large part to this yearly vacation. My cousins and I have grown up there. There are tons of traditions and sayings that newbies need a manual to get up to speed on all that happens on this vacation. We decided that we were brave enough to take our 2 week old since it is the last year. We learned very quickly that we may need a minivan sooner than later. Who knew a newborn could need so much stuff?! The drive took a little longer than normal because of the stops so Owen could eat, but we made it in about 7 hours!
Usually our days consist of laying on the beach. So things were a little different this year. I decided I didn't want to take Owen down to the beach because of the sand, wind, and bugs. So my mom got to spend some time (which we're not sure she enjoyed at all :) while we went down in 1-2 hour shifts.
I tried to take a few pictures of the actual house since it's the last time we'll be there. This is part of the main room. At any point in the day, you can find tons of people reading trash magazines, tons of candy wrappers strewn around, and maybe even some mice in those couches that have been there since day 1 of us coming there. :)There are 2 pathways down to the beach with 100+ steps down. Makes for quite a trip for all the people with lots of kiddos and beach bags.
As you get to the bottom of the stairs, there is this little bridge. Then it's up and over one dune to get to the beach!
The view as you come over the final dune looking out towards our beach and Lake Michigan.
Every year, we all put on our t-shirts and head to a location and try to corral the crew for family and a group picture. Here's a few shots from that.
My two favorite guys. Owen's shirt was the original. It was my little brother, Casey's.
staring at his momma:
Our family, minus Casey who didn't get there until the next day:

Our first Pentwater family picture:
My grandparents. Virginia and James (where Owen gets him middle name from.)
I don't think it will really hit until next summer that this is our last year. Usually at the start of June, the talk begins of the shirt designs, what room everyone's getting, and starting the shopping for all the junk food. It will definitely feel like something is missing next summer. Here's a link to the amazing slideshow that my brother made of the last 2o years. Thank you to my grandparents for 20 years of amazing memories! I am so blessed to be a part of this amazing family!