Which List?

Which list will Owen's name be on this year?

Naughty or Nice

The teenage rebellion has started early...the boy is already telling us "no".

"No" isn't always bad.  We do ask him lots of questions. 

But, when "no" is loaded with sass or accompanied with food flying onto the floor,
"no" is not good.

We were working on it, but clearly not enough.  Owen's teacher even mentioned his love of the word.

Could this leave a boy on the naughty list?

Well, we kept working on it, and I think we made some progress.

Later that week, when I went to pick him up, I was buckling him in his seat.  He was not liking it.

He started yelling, "no thank you" "no thank you".

Hopefully Buddy is noting the improvement.

Buddy is Owen's elf, and, unlike most the elves in town, Buddy can't fly back to Santa each night.
That's because Owen takes him to bed every night.  I definitely should have read the book prior to taking Buddy out of the box and handing him to my child.  Oops.  I'm sure we'll get it right next year.

Santa hasn't mentioned the questionable behavior either time we've seen him,
so maybe we're lucky Buddy has been held captive.

Santa

I know him!

He's made my garage and basement his new workshop.

He's been so busy building toys for all the good boys and girls.

My gift card gifts suddenly seem lame.

:(

No one ever talks about what Mrs. Claus is up to while Santa is building toys.

Well, I've found out.

She gets to do all the house cleaning, cooking, and grocery shopping.

Thank goodness the projects are nearly complete.

Big Truck

Owen has a new love in his life. Trucks.

To him, any size is considered a big truck.

But, the bigger the truck, the BIGGER he emphasizes big.

It's all he talks about on the way home.  

That, and how the horses are night night...

now that it's dark and we can't see them from the road.

When the trash man came on Black Friday, 

Owen stood at the door.  Completely mesmerized.

And as for the thirty minutes after the trash man left?

Well, little O cried,

"big truck bye bye".

I tried to explain that the trash man had to
go home to his babies.

Useless.

The next weekend we were outside when, out of nowhere, 

Santa came down the street, riding in a fire truck.

All was swell until the fire truck continued down the street.

And, what do we have again?

Little O crying,

"fire truck go bye bye".

Santa, how could you do this to me?

I could not console him.  So, out of options,
I Google imaged BIG trucks and fire trucks.

The best idea i've ever had.

I even found a little YouTube flick of Finley the Fire Engine.

Between his lovely accent, truck friends, and nice dog, 

it's no wonder Finley can make a boy smile.

Thanksgiving - Part 2

I am so pleased to say we celebrated Thanksgiving without any

vomit, hives, or blow-outs.

It was a great day!

If I wouldn't have been so busy beating Nate and my brothers in croquet, 

I would have taken more pictures.

My mom made an amazing feast.  

Owen slept right through it all.  But luckily, there were lots of leftovers.

He skipped the stuffing this year.

Still not sure if that is what caused our problems last year,

but I was too afraid to even attempt it.

70 degrees and sunny.

Not your typical November day, but we sure enjoyed it.

6'6" tall man pushing son on ~2' tall tractor = true love

Good thing he knows chiropractors.

We were lucky enough to see both of our parents over the holiday.

Friday morning we put up our tree, and that afternoon Nate's parents and grandma came to visit for the rest of the weekend.  Owen kept them all busy!

It was such a wonderful, restful weekend.  

A great time to reflect on how blessed we truly are.

Giving thanks every second of every day would still not be adequate.

20-ish Months

It's that time again.

Time to take matters into my own hands and provide a little update on my life.

Dad took me to my last check-up. To summarize, I'm big.

If you'd like details, here goes:

Weight - 32 pounds - 93rd percentile

Height - just about 3 feet tall - 92nd percentile

Most days, I still LOVE to eat.  Still love the dippin' sauces.

Sometimes, Mom tries to feed me to avoid the mess.

But, I like to feed myself.  Get use to the mess.

I had my very first PB&J...I guess you should call it an AB&J.

I'm still allergic to peanuts, but Mom couldn't bear to see me miss out on her favorite sandwich of all time.

So, we tried almond butter.  I must admit, it is pretty delicious.

I have most my teeth, just a couple bare spots to fill in.

I don't bite my friends anymore, just my mom occasionally...when I get excited.  Poor girl.

I left a big bruise on her leg once.  I felt so bad.  

For a whole week, I would point and say owie until she showed me the bruise, then I would kiss it.

Ever since we said goodbye to the paci, I have gotten really close with a few friends.  

I sleep every night with Teddy and Freddy.  A blanket too.  

Occasionally, I take whatever toy I've been playing with.  

A bed can get pretty full with a stuffed bear, dog, pillow, blanket, and occasional toy. 

I am turning into a chatter box.

I repeat most things I hear, or at least I try to.  

Sometimes Mom and Dad have no idea what I'm saying.

Here are a few newer things they can understand:

I love you

I don't know

Yummy

Play catch

Mommy, up

Owen's turn

Coffee (no idea how he knows this)

Scary

Fire Truck

Choo Choo

Long-time favorites include:

Momma & Daddy

Please & thank you

Oh no & woah

Night night

My folks finally packed away my old baby things that had found a temporary place in an empty room.  

They thought I'd exceeded the weight limit.

Mom and Dad would find me swinging.  I loved pressing the buttons and swaying to the music.

A boy has to relax.

Speaking of things I love, here's a little summary of my current favs:

Music

Dancing

Jumping

Lifting heavy objects

Working with Dad

Playing with Dad

Driving my car and pretending to drive Mom and Dad's

Playing catch

Any type of truck

Talking on the phone and pretending to talk on the phone

Snuggling with my Momma*

Giving BIG hugs and kisses to my Momma *

*Okay, maybe those are her favs.  She finds me irresistible.

:)

Things I don't love include:

Time-out

(I hate it!  I usually get sent for throwing food or hitting.)

My car seat when I am tired.

(I am nearly as strong as my mother,

so I make things very complicated for her when I don't want to get strapped in. )
:)

One of my new favorite games is getting "stuck".

I will stuff my hands in the sides of my carseat and say "stuck" until someone rescues me.

I get "stuck" in blankets, "stuck" in the couch,  I can really get "stuck" anywhere.

I make my folks get "stuck" too.

And, I saved the most exciting development for last.

I LOVE my bath time again.

Hooray!!!!

After having an accident in the tub, I refused to sit down.  

I would stand stiff as a soldier and scream.

That lasted a few weeks & then I started squatting again.

But I never sat.  Not ever.

And then, Mom talked me into it.

The next thing I knew, I was laying in the water and loving it,

Now, they can't get me out!

BTW - the top left expression is the one I make when I refuse to eat something.

The bottom left is one I make when I am being silly.

I think that covers it, but if I missed anything, just call.

I'd love to chat! 

-Owen

Man's Best Friend

Meet ours.  His name is Owen.

Walks and runs are a must, he has SO much energy.

He loves to play fetch and sometimes plays rough...

bites and scratches are rarely out of anger.

He gives sloppy kisses, makes huge messes, 

  and jumps and crawls all over us.

We are often told we need a dog.

But as you can see, 

we already have man's best friend right here.

Bearish Halloween

Owen had his first fall party at school this year. 

We were responsible for treat bags. 

I made plans to attend the party, but I just confused the poor boy.

I got there, camera in hand, ready to take part in the toddler fun.

He hops up and heads to get his jacket and papers.

He was ready to go, and there was no talking him into staying.

The boy was not happy.  I had planned to take him into work, but decided we should just head home.

He had dressed as a superhero, but I didn't even get a picture!

At some point in time, I will dress him back up to get that picture.

Sorry, Owen...I take my job as family historian very seriously.

:)

Once we made it home, he was tugging on his pants.  

I went to change them and found a bad case of diaper rash.  

Poor guy.  There was a reason for his bearish behavior.

I doctored him up and we spent our extra time cuddling.

By the time Grandma and Grandpa arrived, he was finally happier.

We ate a little dinner and got him into his second costume of the day.

When Nate made it home, we went to the neighbors to trick-or-treat.

We only made it to one house.  Next year, we may shoot for more.

The rest of the night, our bear helped hand out the candy.

And by help, I mean took a handful for himself every time a kid came to the door.

It was hard to get our bear to smile all night long.  

But then, the candy started to kick in and our silly boy was back.

Attacking Grandpa and creating a disaster area of toys.

We even got a few "roars" out of him.

We hope everyone had a beary happy halloween!

Turning Thirty and Winning

No, not me.  I'm not that old. Nor do I win anything, besides an occasional lotto ticket.

I'm referring to my dear brother and the K-State Wildcats.

The whole fam got together to celebrate Travis turning the BIG 3-0...

and watch the Cats, of course.

The celebration was a success.

The kids got a chance to play together, which worked well with 

our attempts to wear out Owen before game time.

It was chilly, plus we were in the shade.  

The man sitting next to me kept commenting on Owen.

"Poor boy, he looks so cold."

"Feel his hands, they're freezing!"

#1 Mom.

My parents were sitting in the sun, so attempting to redeem myself a little,  

I took O over to sit with them.

I kept my eye on them (see below) and was shocked when I saw Owen sleeping.

(I'm surprised he is still able to snooze with all the noise.)

He made his granny nervous.  

He was pretending like he was sleeping, as he likes to do.  

And then all of a sudden, he really was.  

It happened so fast, she had to check his pulse.

Silly Grandma.

After a little catnap, he was good to sit a bit longer.

But before long, Owen had met his quota on game watching.  We left a couple minutes early.

And after making our way through traffic and waiting too long for dinner,

our little man was too far gone.  He cried for nearly a half hour before finally falling asleep.

Despite the journey home, we had a great day.

Celebrated a BIG birthday with a BIG win.

Here's to turning 30 and winning!

Pumpkin Patch

This fall, Owen made his very first trip to the pumpkin patch.

And these days, you can find much more than pumpkins at the ole patch.

We saw goats walking on rooftops, farm animals playing musical instruments,

pumpkins getting shot out of cannons, 

we saw it all.

Owen's favorite?  The bouncey tarp thing.  

Not sure of the actual name, and a little unsure of why he enjoyed it so much...

He spent most of his time getting knocked over.  Loved it!

All boy, this one.

The pumpkin patch will definitely be an annual trip.

*Warning*

I got a little picture crazy.

Shout Out to All the Villagers!

I don't know that I could tell you anything else that Hillary Clinton has ever said.

But, I do remember her saying that it takes a village to raise a child, I believe she wrote a whole book about it.

Well, I couldn't agree more.

If I couldn't call on my village,

Owen would be one hungry, deprived little guy.

The fall is, by far, the busiest time for me at work.

It requires longer hours and nights away.

I am so happy September is behind me.

I had a dreaded 3 day trip.  It had been looming in my future for quite awhile.

Not dreaded because of the work.  I enjoy my job.

But, it was the longest I have ever had to be away from Owen.

All throughout the month, I had a few late nights here and there,

but if I missed him before bed, I could at least catch him in the morning.

I was not looking forward to the three-day-away.

Thanks to all my villagers, I worried less.

Nate's mom came in to help us. 

Thanks to her, Owen got to ditch school for two whole days!

He went to the nature center and the zoo. 

Fed everything from ducks to giraffes.

They had a great time and we were so happy to have her here.

My madre and padre are villagers that I could absolutely not live without.

Whenever I have an evening event, Granny is there to rescue O.

I still haven't brought myself to find a babysitter outside of Owen's school, so any

Christmas party, birthday party, fundraiser, wedding, etc. that is not kid-friendly means that Owen visits the grandfolks.  See, I told you I had great villagers.

And my greatest villager of all?  My dear husband.

I can say with certainty that our household would be an utter disaster without him.

For one, we wouldn't have electricity.  I don't pay the bills.

Two, we wouldn't have food.  I do manage to cook, but we wouldn't have ingredients because I don't manage to make it to the store too frequently.  These boys go through milk like you wouldn't believe. Three, we'd have no clean clothes.

I marvel at this man's efficiency. 

Our computer crashed on Friday and, all thanks to him, a new one will be delivered this Friday. 

We all know it would be at least Christmas before I could make a decision and get one ordered.

:)

In the words of my lovely sister-in-law Jamie, another villager who baby-sat for me last weekend,

so blessed.

So unbelievably blessed.

Per ususal, I've been slipping with one of my only duties as family historian. 

But, I was in town every day last week and made myself get caught up.

If you are wondering what we were up to in September,

take a look here, here, here, here, and here.

Villagers, my sincerest thanks and appreciation.

Love you all!

Never Ever Getting Back Together, Like Ever

It is with mixed emotions that I write this post.

Owen recently lost a life-long friend.

A friend that has been with him since...well, pretty much since day one.

A friend that has helped when no one else could.

They were together through thick and thin.

He was just as good of friends with Nate and I as Owen.

We never went anywhere without him.

We loved him.



Along for our first walk.



Paci + lamb chair = magic

No paci, but such a cute pic



Always a great friend when little O started to get sleepy



I did it again, couldn't pass this one up.



Our #1 compadre through every sickness.



Never embarassed of his friend, no matter how ridiculous.

But, It was past time.  We pulled the trigger.  Went cold turkey. 

Owen has, surprisingly, handled it like a champ.

Well, minus a few major meltdowns.

Now, it's been three weeks.

And we can officially say,

We are never ever everrrrr

getting back together.

Like ever.

Cue Taylor.