Owen 15 months (almost 16)

Mommy and Owen (13 months)

Owen is the age that Olivia was when he is born.  This is a little crazy to me because I can't imagine having another one right now, but then I was a little scared about having him when Olivia was his age.  I have to admit though.. Owen is such a easy going little boy, I probably could have another one right now.  I have watched this sweet little boy blossom over the past few months. He was very clingy to me over most the summer, especially when Sam was gone, but once he was back home it was like he felt like everything was back to normal and he could let other people hold he and let me out of his sight.   Some things I love the most about him is his sweetness.  He is a great lap snuggler, loves to sit on your lap and read books.  He shows concern for his sister. He gives the best open mouth, wet drool kisses and I will do anything to hear is belly laugh.  He also is in a big copying stage right now and anything Olivia does... Owen does.  He even looks to her approval sometimes to see if it is ok to laugh at something or to respond to something.  The other day Sam was trying to make him laugh at the dinner table and he looks to Olivia to see what she thinks before he responds.  It is so funny.  When she is napping and he is awake I often have to block off the hallway so he doesn't go busting in her room to wake her up.  If I do that though, he just will bust out his loudest toy (the lawnmower toy) and push it around the house because he knows it will wake her up.  They have both been sick the past week and the other day I found them both sitting on the recliner chair snuggling and holding hands.  It brought tears to my eyes it was so cute.  Unfortunately I couldn't find my good camera in that moments notice so i snapped a picture with my cell phone.  It isn't great but at least I have saved that memory. (I can remind them of it when they are teenagers and think they hate each other because they have to share a car.)
I have been a little concerned about Owen's language development.  He has great receptive language but he isn't saying much.  (As Olivia put it the other day when I told Owen to tell Olivia "thank you" for sharing... "He doesn't talk Mom)  He is finally saying a couple words functionally.  He says mama, dada, "sis", cat if prompted, ut oh, and if you listen closely you can decipher "there it is" and some other random things.  He has several signs that he functionally uses... drink, eat, more, cookie, all done, fish, dog, paci (although this looks a lot like eat and drink), where?, book, elephant and I'm sure some others that I can't think of at the moment. 
Hopefully his verbal language continues to develop.. I'm sure it would help if Olivia didn't talk for and over him so much, but I guess that is what older sisters are for. We took a Kindermusic class over the summer and in that class I watched him grow a lot from a little boy who wouldn't let me put him down or get off my lap to a little boy that was the first to follow some directions, clap along with a rhythm, finish the song ("EIEI")
Some other fun facts about Owen right now....

Happy 4th from my little red head

Favorite foods:  pancakes, meat, cheese, juice, milk, pb and j, mac and cheese, spaghetti
Favorite toys:  push toys like the lawn mower, mega blocks, shoes (he can walk like a pro in Olivia's princess heals!), ball pit, swing, letters (he has wierd obsession with letters and has since he was very little.  He would always point them out on your shirt and loves the bathtub letters.  When given a choice of two he can almost always pick out the right letter that I ask for)  and mommy's kitchen utensils.
Favorite books:  Ten Little Ladybugs, Sesame street board books, I love you through and through, My big book of Animals, and The Eye Book (by Dr. Seuss) (he brings it to me then pokes himself in the eye)

Things Owen loves:
Swimming, swinging, being chased, Olivia, the TV remote, mommy's phone (he figured out how to turn on my ipod without unlocking my phone.. GENIUS!), snuggling, opening and closing the dvd player, being outside, his paci, music

Things Owen dislikes:  Mommy leaving, the nursery at church (more of being left I think), veggies, foods with strong tastes, sometimes sharing, getting his diaper changed, when toys move on their own and wearing bibs.

One other first was Owen had his first trip to the ER on Monday night.  (Actually my first time taking either kid to the ER)  He has the croup and was having some labored breathing.  He did great for everyone except puking all over me twice (he kept gagging.. I think he was nervous).  He only got really mad when they did the breathing treatment, but then he crawled right onto my chest and zonked out.  I tried to lay him down next to me and there was no way.. he was going to hold on tight and make sure I didn't go anywhere.  He slept like that for about 45 minutes until they moved us to the peds unit and then we got a crib and he slept until we were discharged.  I didn't take any pictures with my phone because I was so overwhelmed, but I thought I'd document it so I could remember.  It made me so thankful that overall my children are very healthy and I said a little prayer for all the parents and children that were spending not their first evening in the ER or hospital for a little croup, but that spend many nights in the hospital because their kid is sick.  I can't imagine what that must be like and the sleepless nights they must have, so I prayed for health and happiness for them that night and thanked God for my healthy babies and for kind, smart people to help me take care of my babies when they are not so healthy.

Summer 2011

(Ok, I wrote this about a month ago and I'm finally adding pictures and posting... I have been lazy about the blogging recently.  At least I was fairly consistent until Owen turned 1)

Happy 4th from the O's!

Well I start back at school tomorrow. This is always a bittersweet day. Obviously I'm sad to leave my full time SAHM status, the pending of cold weather, getting up early and having to wear work clothes instead of yoga pants, t-shirts and bathing suits. On the flip side though, I really like my job, it is part time so I will still be home with my kiddos a bunch and it means football season is right around the corner.
I have been a complete slacker on my blogging this summer so I will fill you in with the adventures we had this summer.
This was an interesting summer in the fact that Sam has been gone for the majority of it. He had training to do in Ft. Leonardwood, MO so the kids and I were on our own. We formed a little play group that we tried to get activities planned at least once every other week with some our friends. We had some fun play groups but not as many as we had planned... life, weather and schedules got in the way.

Visiting Bailey at "college"

We had two cousins graduate high school that we enjoyed wishing them well in their new adventures, we went swimming at Aunt Cerelle's lake, we went to visit GiGi and Grampy, went to the 4th of July parade with Aunt Jan and Uncle Bob and played in our backyard A LOT. The hot weather has kept us inside these past couple weeks, but for the most part we have been outside enjoying the weather.

Swimming at the pool in MO

Our big adventure was a Mommy and Double O rode trip to go visit Bailey at college (Southern Illinois University) and Daddy in Missouri. Some fun things we did on that trip was checking out Bailey's college and staying in her apartment (the girls taught Olivia how to say "Sorry 'bout cha"), swimming in a big pool with a big slide, eating dinner in a cave, the kids finding their first geocache, and watching movies in the car. The O's did so awesome traveling. I was really concerned about the logistics of a long rode trip like that with a 1 and a 2 year old, but they did amazing.

Snoozing on our way home

Olivia, Owen and I have taken a Kindermusic class this summer. We did the Family Time class so the three of us could all do it together. They have really enjoyed it and we can listen to nothing besides "music class music" in the car right now. I have really seen a lot of growth in Owen during the length of the class in his participation, communication, ability to keep a beat and interactions.

Sam has been home for a couple weeks now and we have done a couple things that we have been waiting all summer to do like go to the zoo and his family reunion. He also finally got our pool open right and we have been swimming a lot.
Our final adventure of the summer was to go visit Mandy, Evan and Austin. We had a great time and the kids loved playing together.

Swimming in the river park in Louisville

Olivia 2 1/2, Owen 14 months, Austin Trester 18 months

We have had a great summer and I look forward to some new fall adventures.

Owen Turns 1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN LUCAS DRISKO

Well, I'm a little late on this blog post, but life has been a little crazy. He is actually 13 months old now, but I will include some pictures from his first birthday and his party.

For Owen's first birthday Sam was gone for military training for his unit, so we celebrated a little bit on his birthday and then waited a week for his party when daddy could be home. On his first birthday we went to Flap Jacks (a family tradition) and then later that after noon met Aunt Cerelle at Holliday Park for some fun. It was a beautiful day outside and we had a wonderful day. Aunt Cerelle even brought giant, delicious cupcakes and Owen got one all to himself.


For his party we had a kite themed birthday party and a beautiful cake. The party was held in the shelter at Williams Park and I had planned kite flying, sidewalk chalk, bubbles and playing at the park for all the kiddos and kids at heart. Unfortunately there was some severe storms and lots of off and on rain so all that was held to a minimum. I was a bit bummed, but Owen didn't know the difference so in the end it didn't matter. A good time was still had by all.


Now summer has hit and we are loving it here at the Drisko house. Unfortunately Sam is gone again and this time until the middle of June. The good thing is I'm off work for the summer so the stress level is down and everyone is getting along just fine. We have been playing in the kiddie pool and on our new swing set. I have been working in my garden. We have been to the park, the pool and some cookouts with friends.
Owen wasn't in love with the kiddie pool at first. He recently has developed a fear of the bathtub too, but he is starting to warm up to it more and is getting in all the way. He loves the swing set and the little monkey can climb up the slide and the ladder which scares me to death.
Here is a little bit about Owen at 13 months. He is walking all the time now. He started walking Easter weekend (@11 1/2 months old) and within a couple days was walking mostly everywhere. Once he learned he could walk somewhere.. no more crawling. He is down to one bottle a day at bedtime. I don't plan on weaning him off that until I know his growth is catching up and he is eating more of a variety. He is slowly moving to one nap a day. Some days he is fine and other days it is just a two nap kinda day. He is totally off baby food (never really liked it in the first place) and he is basically sleeping through the night 80% of the time except every night he wakes up between 11:30 and 12:00 and I have to put his paci back in his mouth and he goes right back to sleep... it is funny how predictable this is. He still isn't talking very much but he says "daa" that means everything such as yes, that, hold this please, etc.. everything but no. He understands most of everything you say to him though. Today I think I can say he said his first functional word. Uh-oh (does that count?) He likes to drop his milk cup on the ground and say "uh-oh". I should be worried probably that this is his first word but after raising Olivia for the past 28 months.. nothing scares me.

Here is some other fun Owen facts at 13 months....

Loves:
Dancing (start singing and the kid can break it down.. I must get a video of this)
Music
his paci
playing outside (meltdown usually occurs when it is time to come inside)
swinging.
Pull and pushing toys around the house (he has a dog he pulls around the house, and a lawn mower and that pop toy that he pushes around all the time)
cell phones
meat and cheese (these are he staples in his diet)
blueberries
pancakes
Books (Farm animal, sesame street beginner books, Little hands and peekaboo books)
his sister... you should see them snuggle on each other when they are in the mood.. if they were older it would be weird. :)
his mommy (he is my little leg ornament. I love it though)
coloring
Cars and trucks (I have a feeling someday I will have a house full of hot wheels, for now it tonka trucks, big bulldozers and more)

Doesn't like:
veggies
Olivia taking things away from him (he is starting to fight back..watch out Olivia)
going to bed if he isn't ready
being told no... this boy can do a meltdown/fit with the best of them
reading books that are over his head (as in books Olivia wants to read)
lately the bath
strangers or unfamiliar people (especially if I am around, he is better if he can't see me)
Olivia doing things he can't do (there are certain activities Olivia and I save for when Owen is sleeping right now because he is not ok with her doing things without him)

Owen has been such a blessing to our family. He was such a sweet little baby and their are days I miss that little baby all snuggled up in my arms, but I look am enjoying watching him grow into a loving, curious and sweet little toddler.

Livy Lou (2 years old)

Well, Owen turn one on Friday, so I will save his blog post until I have some 1 year birthday pictures of him, but in the meantime lets catch up on Olivia.
Olivia, Olivia, Olivia.. that girl! She is hilarious, challenging, energetic, stubborn, smart and sweet all in the same package.
Let me start with some of her funny sayings that I don't want to forget.

1. Turn the wind off (air conditioning, heat or windows open in the car.. she hates all three of these.. says it bothers her sleep)
2. Mommy (or anyone else's name) I have a question. (She says this over and over and often is not followed by any questions, but sometimes she asks real quietly if she can have a cookie.. like if she says it softly I'm more likely to say yes)
3. Are you happy? (She usually asks this after she has been in trouble)

I know there is more.. see I need to blog more often.

Also I want to capture a favorite moment I had with her (and Owen) the other day. The three of us were all in my sister's hammock waiting for my sister (Auntie) to be ready to go walk on the Monon. She puts her arms around both Owen and I and says "I love you guys" Then she puts Owen face between her two hands and says "You're the best" kisses on the nose and then says "you are such a sweet boy" My heart was melting. It was one of those wonderful family moments, it was beautiful outside, the tree above us was gorgeous and she clearly felt that. It was awesome, my heart was melting listening to her be so sweet.
She isn't always so sweet.. as Owen has learned to walk we have had some quite scary moments. His biggest threat isn't himself and his wobbly walk, it is the threat of danger from Olivia. One time she just came up behind him and pushed him to the ground and the other day she, with a running start, just face forward tackled him to the ground. I don't see such aggressive moves from the Colts offensive line.
On the opposite side of the spectrum I have seen these moments of compassion out of her too though. When Owen is crying or upset she often brings him his paci or a toy for him to play with to try and calm him down. Sometimes it even works!

Since I posted last she has has a sleepover. Since Olivia is so tough at bedtime, she really hasn't stayed many places (she is crying right now and I have already been in there about four times). Sam and I had a staycation and Olivia and Owen went to stay at family's houses. I think both nights went well. She even got new jammies at Aunt Jan's house.

Sam has been gone and Olivia is going through a very clingy phase. She says I want you "I want choo" over and over and over again. This has gotten a little bit better, but I think it has been hard on her. We have tried some picture schedules and setting timers for snuggle time. This has had some success.
Potty training is going no where and I haven't worked on it at all. Occasionally she asks to go and we take her, but usually this is maybe on average once a day. I will work on this over the summer when I'm home all summer.

Likes/Dislikes
Food: Likes.. granola bars, cereal (cheerios), pancakes, pb and j (usually almond butter.. don't tell her), anything sweet like cookies, cupcakes, juice, milk, spaghetti, chicken with ketchup, broccoli, bread, cheese
Dislikes: getting picky, most anything that is not on the above list, veggies, lasagna, sloppy joes, chicken salad... you name it.
Books: love books, favorites right now.. Dark Night (we rented this from the library and she didn't want to ever return it), Dooby Dooby Moo, Olivia books, Sesame Street books
Shows: Sesame Street! (we turned off our cable so her choices are kinda limited) she also likes the Care Bears movie and Wonder Pets on Netflix.
Clothes: Olivia really doesn't like clothes, we have an agreement at home that she can take off her clothes but she leaves her diaper on, she does however likes to dress up.. go figure. She loves hats, mommy's shoes, and jewelry.
Education: She doesn't like to show you what she knows, but if you read a book to her a couple times she usually has it memorized, she can ID 9o% of her letters, and we are working on counting and 1 to 1 correspondence. The girl has an incredible memory... it is a little scary at times, I have to watch what I say!
Toys: she loves to color and paint, play with play-doh, play with Owen, sand box outside, and play with her dollhouse.

Well that is my little Snuggle Bug in a nut shell right now. More on Owen to come.

Spring Fever

Boy do we have spring fever at our house! We have taken advantage of every single semi warm day to get outside and play. This week is my spring break and unfortunately it is snowing outside and hasn't been warm all week. We are making the most of it though and today went to the Children's Museum to have a playdate with some of our faves... Tyler, Illa, Savannah and Sophia. Of course I forgot my camera, but many more playdates to come I'm sure.

The kids are getting big. Olivia is 2+ years old now (I think at 2 years I can be done with the counting her age by the months.) And Owen is 10 1/2 months old. The best thing about these ages is watching them interact. They "talk" to each other and play games together. Their favorite game right now is chase (Olivia calls it hide and seek, but really it is chase.) Olivia runs laps around the house, Owen crawls after her. When Olivia laps Owen she pauses to look at him then starts running the other way and he turns around and follows her. They also play a peek a boo game. They sit on opposite sides of the door and Olivia pushes it mostly shut then Owen pushes it open and they laugh. This one makes me nervous for smashed fingers but they are both laughing so hard I can't interviene. They also wrestle. Owen is starting to instigate this by just crawling up and tackling her. Olivia thinks this is hilarious and tackles him right back. We have to remind her though when he cries, he is done and to let go since she is stronger then him. (At least for now.) I think all this love and interaction might just make last summer's craziness of having a 1 1/2 year old and an infant worth it... maybe.

Here is some individual information on both kids.

Olivia... Olivia is doing great. She is a little stinker, but she is hilarious. When you talk to her it is like talking to a 10 year old in a 2 year old's body. She says the funniest things. Here are some of her latest quotes.

Olivia getting into her cozy coupe car... Mommy: Olivia where are you going? Olivia: College, Bye Owen, I'm going to college, I'll be back" (Turns the key to the car) I'm turning on my music. (Plays for a few minutes and then gets out of the car) I'm back from college.

Mommy: What would you like for dinner? Olivia: I think I'll have a calzone (mind you.. we don't eat calzones, I have never made one or ordered one at a restaurant since she has been alive) Mommy: Olivia I don't have a calzone, how about some lasagna? Olivia: (Thinking for a second) No, I think I'll just have a calzone.

Olivia every morning when she sees Owen for the first time and he smiles at her, or waking up from a nap. "I THINK HE LIKES ME!"

Olivia: Mommy puppy is in time out. Mommy: Oh he is?! What did he do? Olivia: He was throwing mulch... like Luke (one of her friends). Mommy: Oh yeah, I think his time out is over. Olivia to puppy: Puppy no no throwing mulch, say your sorry. Give me a kiss. (Kisses puppy)

Other things about Olivia. She is starting to potty train. She likes it when I do the potty dance after she goes in the potty. Some days she does great, other days we have two accidents in twenty minutes and the diapers go back on.

She is becoming quite the picky eater. I thought we might avoid the "I only want peanut butter and jelly sandwiches phase because she ate everything as a baby, but I don't think we are. I am torn as to what to do here. Do I just make her what she wants so she eats or do I offer her dinner and she eats what she eats????!!? Right now her favs are: Pancakes, pb and j, cheese, milk, juice, the cheerio trail mix I make up, raisins, granola bars, and yogurt. When I try and make her eat something she doesn't want to she rolls her eyes up into the right upper corner of her eye lids and scrunches her lips up.

Olivia likes to paint and play with playdoh, she likes to watch sesame street and pretend like she is Abby Cadabby. She like animals and often pretends she is sea turtle or a frog. She likes to dress up and often walks around the house in her princess shoes and tiara. She LOVES to play outside, run, go down the slide and play with Owen. She likes to go to the childcare when I exercise. She loves and memorizes all her favorite books. When I'm reading them too her sometimes she will fill in the blanks for me when I pause but sometimes she says "Mommy just read it to me" then i will mess with her by changing a key word. She thinks this is pretty funny and loves to correct me. She also loves playing with her dolls and animals (more so her animals) They get time outs, bottles, diaper changes and they go to sleep. Sometimes when she is putting her animals to sleep it can look kinda creepy in her room. I'll have to get a picture next time to fully appreciate the Night of Living Dead look her room gets during stuffed animal nap time.

She is sleeping good through the night most nights, but occassionaly we still have a hard time going to bed or wake up in the middle of the night and end up sleeping with mommy and daddy.

Owen... Owen is my sweet little boy. He is doing pretty well. We have struggled all winter with a snotty nose and we can't seem to beat it. Just when it goes away for a couple days he gets a fever for a day or two and the snotty nose comes back with a vengance. Owen now has 6 TEETH! We went from 2 to 6 in the matter of a couple days. Three broke through in one day. As you can imagine we have had some rough nights sleep as he cut those teeth. Now that we are through that Owen actually sleep through the night FOUR nights in a row this week. Thats about as many night total in his 10 1/2 months he has ever slept through the night. Last night he woke up again, but I think Olivia's waking up might have stirred him since he woke up about 20 minutes after she woke up.

Owen still isn't talking much. He signs a little bit and he babbles "mam amam" and "dadad dad" and he plays tongue games like clucking and blaha balhah. He really is into pointing right now where he wants you to take him. He likes to look at the pictures on the walls, he wooden airplane and giraffe on his shelves in his bedroom and out the window. He likes to be held and read books. He wants someone to play with so if Olivia is asleep or gone I'm usually playing with him, but he will play by himself for short periods of time. He is staring to stand by himself for mini seconds, but then he sits back down and he like to walk holding on to your hand or pushing something, but he isn't close to walking alone because he does this with wreckless abandonment until he hits a wall or lunges into someone else's arms or a couch.

Owen also loves to climb. I call him my billy goat. On one of our first days outside playing the backyard, I was sitting on a blanket while Olivia played in her sandbox and Owen crawled over to the slide (one of the little tyke slides). he was playing at the bottom of it so I turned my attention to Olivia for a moment and when I looked over again he had crawled over to the ladder and was climbing up the slide ladder by himself. I about died! I ran over to him, but I didn't touch him and all be darn if that boy didn't get himself all the way up that slide by himself. Mind you that I had to hold him to get down the slide. He really didn't know what to do with himself when he got up there. He does love to go down, but just with a little more caution then he took himself up. I will have to be very careful with that this summer!

Some other Owen facts. Owen loves food.. especially real food. He has never cared much for baby food. He is my carnivore. That boy will eat some meat any meat! He also loves pancakes, jelly toast, cheese, grapes, oatmeal, cheerios and yogurt. He doesn't really care for vegetables, but sometines if I can get some bites in inbetween bites of something he likes, especially if the thing he likes he is feeding it to himself.

Some of his favorites toys are the barnyard animals, books and the pretend kitchen stuff. He also loves music.

He is generally a pretty happy baby. But when he does get upset there is no turning back for a period of time. Olivia is pretty good about trying to cheer him up though. She sings him songs or brings he a stuffed animal from his room or will get his paci for him. In the picture above we were trying to leave the house to go somewhere and Owen was having a freak out moment. I always hold him when I give him bottle but I was in a hurry so I layed him on the pillow and handed gave him his bottle. He wasn't quite sure about this so Olivia ran and found her sippy cup and layed down next to him. He immediately quieted up and drank his bottle. At that point I didn't care we were running late I had to snap some pictures of this sweet moment. :) So glad I did.

Thats what is going on at our house right now. We are looking forward to warmer weather, gardens, playdates, parks and stroller walks. But right now we are trying to live in the moment and enjoy our indoor fun too. Have a great week everyone!

Chicken Noodle (9 months)

I LOVE THIS BOY!

Owen at 8 months

Time flys when you are having fun! Seriously can Owen really be 9 months old already?!? Olivia grew up fast, but not even close to how fast Owen has seemed to grow up. There are days I miss my little infant, but I love watching him grow his little personality, play and love on his big sister and have his set of "firsts." First Christmas was fun, now he had his first Valentines day, first time playing in the snow, first word ("da da" of course) and first fever. Oh and he had a third the other day.. finally his third tooth broke through! :)

My first fever :(

Owen is my little lap baby. Everyone told me boys are more cuddly than girls. Owen can be cuddly but mostly he just loves to sit on my lap and face out. He likes to play from there, read from there, relax from there, etc. He really doesn't like to be left alone, so especially if Olivia is napping or something you can find Owen in my lap or hanging on my leg. I enjoy Olivia's nap time with Owen. I was so concerned about before he was born about not having any one on one time with him. Since he naps in the morning he goes down for a nap later than Olivia (usually about 10 minutes before she wakes up), so I usually have a good two hours of just Owen/Mommy time. It is nice to just play with him and read him books or even let him play by himself while I work nearby (if he will) for a while. Don't get me wrong, there are days when I would pay a pretty penny for them to nap at exactly the same time so I could have a lengthy break, but most of the time I just enjoy to one on one moments that don't come the rest of the day. The good thing is he really, really loves Olivia (despite her efforts to use him for her personal pony.) Olivia can even tell this. When she comes up to him to play or when Owen and I get her up in the morning she always grabs his hand as he smiles really big at her and says "I THINK HE LIKES ME!" They love to play together and with the exception of monitoring some safety and Olivia taking everything from him they play independently. It is so cute to watch them when they don't know that I am watching. Makes my heart melt. He also is so protective of her already. When she gets put in time out all he wants to do is crawl over to her and sit by her when she is in trouble. Even if she is in time out for being mean to him.

I am happiest when... I'm playing with my sissy.

Some other things about Owen... he is finally starting to babble some constants. He said "dada" and "mama" and "nah nah" and I swear he said "more" the other day. He is also doing some signs (mostly more and up and maybe all done) and holding his own sippy cup. These are all big milestones to "mama".

All about Owen:

Favorites:

food: MEAT! (steak, chicken, turkey), graham crackers, oatmeal with fruit, bananas, and mashed potatoes

books: doesn't seem to have strong preferences like Olivia did, but he likes the book with kitten pictures, peek a boo baby and whatever I'm reading to Olivia.

things to do: play with Olivia, dance with mommy, crawl (really fast!), play chase or follow, play in the kids kitchen, suck on his paci, sit on someone's lap, Bath time

toys: shoes (he loves to look at them and try to chew on them), barnyard magnet toy, fisher price kitchen and usually just whatever olivia is playing with.

Dislikes:

getting diaper changed or changing clothes, getting nose wiped, being left alone in a room, being put in my exersaucer unless I'm in a REAL good mood, things that move fast in front of my face (dogs, balloons), loud noises (vaccum, hair drying, blender), most vegetables

Some of my favorite Owen moments: Dance dance parties we have in the kitchen with Olivia and Daddy. He smiles so big and laughs as I hold him and we dance to music.

Another bittersweet moment was when he was sick he was the snuggliest little snuggle bear in the world and I soaked up every moment of it.

Watching him dance while sitting on the ground bouncing his butt up and down... so funny

Watching him play and laugh with Olivia.

when he picks up things, puts them in his mouth and then crawls to where he wants to be.. example a sock or a toy he wants to move somewhere else.

Owen's nicknames right now: chicken noodle, Owen chicken noodle, handsome man, snuggle bear (olivia is snuggle bug), Owie, mister mister and Bubby.

The Not So Terrible Twos

Olivia 2 days old
Olivia 1 year oldOlivia 2 years old


Olivia is TWO!! Can you believe it?!?! I can't. Two years ago today I had just brought my brand new baby girl home from the hospital and life has never been the same. Olivia was born February 8, 2009 weighing 7lbs 12oz and 20inches long. She was the most precious thing I had ever laid eyes on. Seriously! These past two years have challenged me, changed me, helped me grow spiritually and uplifted me more than I probably did the in the previous 10 years.
Olivia today is a beautiful, smart, happy, hilarious and wild little girl. She has the vocabulary of a10 year old and says some pretty funny stuff. (Example today.. "Mommy, I have my green froggy boots on, I go jump in the rain.. (while jumping) ribbit, ribbit") Also she has started singing more and more and every now and then busts out an Olivia rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday or Sunny Days (Sesame Street.) It is a definite favorite Olivia moment when she is singing something. Olivia is a high energy child and is always getting into something. The beginning of the winter was really tough because when the weather is nice(r) we are usually always outside for a part of the day and with winter here we have been inside without the space for running and burning off some energy. She is starting to adjust to this better though. The beginning of the winter I swore I was going to find her hanging off the ceiling fan if I didn't get her outside for a little bit. I have struggled this winter finding appropriate gross motor activities for her to do that are age appropriate. Indoor play lands/playgrounds are too big for her to navigate independently. We have gone over to the church gym just to run around some and that has helped. She likes to push Owen in the stroller. Speaking of Owen... Olivia and Owen are really playing together great these days. This makes me soooo happy. The other day I actually sat on the couch in the playroom and read a magazine while they played in the ballpit and the kitchen together. It was amazing! I think I only had to intervene a couple time to tell Olivia to quit sitting on her brother and "No Owen is not a horsey, please get off his back."
Another milestone Olivia has accomplished (not by her choice) is the paci is gone as of last week. Olivia was chewing large holes in them and trying to eat the plastic so it had to go.. cold turkey. It has been tough, but not as bad as it could have gone I suppose. We have had a couple of really bad evenings and then other evenings she asks for it, crys for a minute and then gets over it. Someone said on my facebook wall today that she thinks bedtime is going to be tough till they go to college and don't sleep anymore and you know what.. I think she is right. I think bedtime is tough for some kids more than others and my kids seem to have a particular aversion to sleep, so bedtime will probably always be tough. The sooner I accept this, it probably won't be so tough anymore because I just know.. it is going to be tough. (Did that make any sense.. it did to me in my head anyways)
Well, Olivia's birthday was Tuesday and we celebrated by putting on her birthday dress and going to Flap Jacks (this is what we did last year too). She ordered pancakes of course, but for a special treat I let her get strawberry pancakes! She loved them, but still wanted "surpert" (syrup) too. Then we (Sam, me, Olivia and Owen) went to Buy Buy Baby and bought her a new bathing suit. She came home and wanted to put it on, but then was very upset we weren't going swimming. That evening we (Me, Olivia and Owen) hung out with her Grand Poo-Bah (Great Grandpa Kindler) because he had fallen in his house and needed some company that night. Then Aunt Jan stopped by before bed and brought a little cake, so we had that for a bedtime snack.
Here are some more Olivia fun facts I want to remember about her at the age of two: Favorite cartoon- Sesame Street, favorite character.. she says Bert, but it is probably actually Elmo. She likes "Super Grover" too. Favorite foods: cheese, yogurt, milk, graham crackers, apples, bananas, oatmeal, pancakes. Favorite toys: kitchen(bringing you food), ball pit, hats, shoes and dressing up, coloring, play-doh and her roll and play game. Favorite comfort item: Up until last week the paci, now her stuffed monkey and stuffed polar bear Favorite books: Grouchy LadyBug, Monster at the End of the Book, Olivia books, When Will Spring Be Here, and Wonder Pets book.

Happy Birthday to my Princess, Peanut, Pumpkin Pie!
More on Owen next time!

2010 is in the Books

I welcome 2011 with open arms! I have been so blessed the past few years and Sam and I have had MANY MANY life changes. In the past five years we have been engaged, I have finished my masters, we got married, moved to Texas, moved to Georgia, moved back to Indiana, both of us have gotten new careers, we have had two beautiful babies, and bought a house. Although these are wonderful years I kinda hope this year is "boring." (As boring as it can be with two babies/toddlers in the house.) I have made some New Years Goals this year. I'm calling them goals because its a work in progress and not something like "quitting smoking" where you either do or you don't. I also have some ideas about how I'm going to achieve these goals.
New Year's Goals: 1. To eat less process, packaged and pre-made food. - Cook ahead and freeze meals so when I don't have time to cook I have some stuff to eat that isn't a bag o meal, or take out. - Expand and devote more attention to my garden this year. - Have a couple good "go to meals" with supplies that are usually on hand at home. 2. To challenge and inspire my children. - Follow a better schedule to their day - Be more patient with them (especially Olivia) - Provide an environment that encourages creativity. - Minimize the time the television is on during the day especially on my days off. 3. Make more money then we spend this year. - Follow a budget - Attend and learn from FDU - Research ways to cut costs - Don't buy stuff we don't need, if we do need it can it be bought used. -Discovery Toys business I'm writing these down and telling the blogging world because with that comes some accountability. Now on to the kiddos.. this blog is really about them anyways. :) Olivia (23 months!!)
I really can't believe I almost have a two year old! HOLY COW! I remember vividly the day (moment) I realized I didn't have a baby anymore I had a toddler and about a week and a half ago I realized she really isn't a toddler anymore she is a two year old! Olivia is doing so great. She is so incredibly smart and amazes me everyday with her sponge of a brain and the stuff she picks up. Some of my favorite things about her right now is her hilariousness (is that even a word.) Seriously she is so funny. She says the craziest stuff. For instance... today at my parents house she picked up a cat toy and was holding in front of my parent's door saying "her kitty, come play with this" (you may not see the humor in this, but my parents have the meanest cat EVER and there wasn't a chance in heck that cat was going to be fooled into playing with that cat toy). Also last night Sam asked her if she like daddy's beard and she says " I don't know, It's your choice." She loved Christmas this year. Every time we past lights while driving she would say "look mommy.. lights!" (over and over again like it was the first time she had seen them) She cried about only being able to do the advent calendar once every single day. She sat on Santa's lap with a bunch of hesitation and only a couple tears. On Christmas morning when we were opening presents she was say "WHAT IS IT??? LET'S CHECK IT OUT!" All in all, it was a really great December and she really makes Christmas fun. The pure and innocent excitement that she brings just melts your heart. Some other Olivia tid bits to remember... She is potty training right now.. it is going OK. I'm not really pushing it and I really hate potty training. It is so annoying. I'll be in the middle of feeding Owen, she says she has to go. I take her and in the processes make him mad and then she doesn't go. So far least favorite "parenthood" task by far. She loves music and know a bunch of songs. The other day I found her singing "Wheels on the Bus" to herself in her bedroom mirror. So cute. Also she will just start blurting out "SUNNY DAYS..." out of no where. (She is on a Sesame Street kick right now and I'm not complaining.. so much better than most of those Nick Jr. cartoons). Owen (7 1/2 months)
Owen's first Christmas was kinda a bummer. He started puking everywhere Saturday afternoon. It resided a little bit and then started back up that evening. It was pretty scary for Mommy since Sam was at work and he wasn't keeping anything down. He finally started keeping some PediLight down 1/2 ounce at a time and mommy slept on his bedroom floor. We left early from two Christmas' and didn't go to one of them. We also spread our germs around the family a little bit too. :( Luckily though he bounced back quickly. Owen was kinda oblivious to the whole Christmas routine, but is enjoying his new toys. He did like the tree and lights too. I think he knew it was a fun and exciting time, but adding not feeling well to the whole mix he just stayed pretty close to my lap and watched. Some new things Owen is doing are some cruising on the couch, turning pages of a book, imitating things like I bang on a lid then he bangs on a lid, bouncing and rocking when something is playing music and I THINK he is waving bye bye. (That is kinda hit or miss). He isn't saying much yet, no constants, just vowels but overall he is a quieter baby than Olivia ever was. He is pretty attached to me and likes to just sit on my lap and observe the world as it goes by. :)
It has been so nice to be home with them the past two weeks, but he may have a rough week with me headed back to work. We also have a new babysitter starting on Thursday afternoons. So 2011 begins with lots of new changes, but I can't wait to see what the year brings. All I ask for is health and happiness!