No more crib?

Last weekend Ryan and Julie sent us home with my niece and nephew's crib.  When converted, it becomes a toddler bed.  Our crib converts into wooden slats that will be stored away until it can be returned to Grammy Guthrie.

I'm not sure where the time has gone with my little Owen. I rember placing him into the the crib the first time thinking that he just looked so tiny. Now when I go into his room he has one leg over the rail. As soon as he see's me coming he starts bouncing up and down.

In my head I know that he will transition well.  He is 22 months old and has always been pretty receptive to change. My heart on the other hand wants to keep my baby in that crib until he is 22 years old.

Since we have a three day weekend, I suppose we'll go ahead and give it a go.  Will he be like his brother and stay in bed until we come get him out or will he be up and down all night long enjoying his new found freedom?  Let's just hope that it's an easy night...



O-the things he can do

May marks Owen turning a big 18 months old. I'm amazed every single day about something that he does. He melts my heart with his big smile a thousand times a day. He gives big hugs, sloppy kisses and his laugh is completely infectious.

He finds everything around him interesting. He has gone from walking to running and is nonstop on the go. Owen's favorite toys right now are tractors and cars. (Boys must have some inherent gene that allows them to make car noises.) Anything in Ben's room is of course far more fun than anything else in the house.

He is now trying to repeat everything that is said to him. It is so sweet to hear his little voice saying purple and Layla. I'm not sure how many words he has but "NO" has finally made it into his vocabulary. He can now vocalize when he doesn't want to do something, which is pretty funny...for now.He imitates his big brother perfectly. When Ben is practicing his "Kung Fu" moves Owen will kick his leg and say "haa" just like a big boy. When Ben is turning somersaults, Owen is standing on his head trying to roll over with him. Ben absolutely loves having him with him and gets disappointed when he doesn't want to do the same thing.

Owen loves to throw the tennis ball to Layla when we are playing outside. He also loves kicking a ball around with the other kids. I don't have a picture of it yet, but he wears Ben's helmet, which is hilarious to see, while I push him around on the bicycle.

He has been easy going to a fault up until this point. Owen now has his own ideas about what he wants to eat and when he is done eating. He can clear the table with one big swipe of his arm, which Layla loves. When he doesn't quite get his way, we now hear about it. It's hard not to laugh at his tantrums when he is throwing things, falling down on the floor, or even trying to head butt me or Jeremy. Not quite sure where he gets his flair for the dramatic but Jeremy seems to think it's all me...hmmm.

All tantrums aside, he is absolutely the cutest, sweetest little man I could ever ask for.



No more messy highchair!

We have officially transitioned Owen from the highchair over to the booster seat. I'm not counting on any less food to end up on the booster seat or the floor, just that I will not have to routinely throw the chair cover into the washing machine. He really wants to feed himself, so I've been letting him try. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of it but it is funny watching him. He'll pick up a piece of food with his fingers then put it on the spoon. He's very determined so I figure he have it down fairly soon.

He has also become quite an impressive climber. Just today I turned around for a second and he was standing on a stool at the kitchen island with a spoon in hand eating the strawberry pretzel salad (which was left out from snack time). Dessert is such a great motivator!



Wide Open Spaces

I had the boys in the basement with me this afternoon while I was vacuuming the new carpet. Owen, now 13 months, decided to stand up on his own and take eight to ten steps! I could see the look of accomplishment on his face as he was walking towards me. Ben and I were both extremely excited for him and were clapping and encouraging him on. He probably did this a dozen times while we were down there. I'm not sure if it was the soft new carpet or the fact that there wasn't anything to fall into, but he wouldn't repeat it for Jeremy later on in the living room upstairs. Of course I didn't have my camera while I was cleaning, so I took a little video of it before bedtime this evening. I'm sure it would be just fine with him if we didn't put furniture in the basement at all.



Happy 3rd Birthday Ben!

The night before Ben's birthday, my parents arrived so that they could celebrate with us. Early the next morning, I woke up expecting to hear the pitter patter of three year old feet coming to my bedroom to notify me that it was daylight and to request his morning waffle. When Ben didn't come in, I thought he might have gone in to wake up my parents first. I was bummed because, I really wanted to be the first to wish him a happy birthday. I found him in his bed sound asleep. I crawled in bed with him and he woke up and said in his groggy morning voice "Momma, what are you doing in here?" I wished him a Happy Birthday and he immediately snapped awake. "I have to go!" he shouted as he was running into the spare room to wake up Grandma and Papa.At 2:00 on Saturday our first guests arrived for the "Backyardigans Extravaganza". Our buddies Mason, Mitchie and Kelly made their way from Springfield, IL to give the birthday boy big hugs. In the next hour the house quickly filled with our neighbors and friends. Ben couldn't wait to get to the cake! He was grinning ear to ear while he played with all the kids and his new loot. He was still going strong that evening with a game of hide and seek with Jaxon and Lily while we watched the Oklahoma-Missouri game with their dad, Matt.After our bedtime routine, I asked Ben what his favorite part of the day was. "Blowing out my candle" he said sweetly. I then asked what he wished for...."to eat my cake" he replied.

To my big three year old Ben, may ALL your birthday wishes continue to come true.



My Sweet Boy Ben

During March Madness in 2005 I had a hunch that I shouldn't be drinking. Jeremy and I had a couple of friends over to watch the Illini play and I pretended to drink a beer so that rumors wouldn't start before I knew for certain. Sure enough, my hunch was correct. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we found out we were having Ben, but he will be three this weekend. Jeremy and I were ecstatic with the news. Although we had not yet been married a year, we both knew we wanted to start a family and well, we weren't going to get younger. At about twelve weeks we had a big anniversary celebration to announce the upcoming addition to our family. It was wonderful! Jeremy had the crib set up in one of the spare rooms. Most of our guests had not yet been to our house so when they opened the door to the future nursery during the "tour" they realized what was going on.

A few months later we finally got to meet Ben for the first time. What a precious little guy! Until then I had never experienced the amount of love that came pouring out of my heart as I looked into his bright little eyes. Time seemed to stand still for those first few moments together. The next several months of being new parents were a whirlwind and looking back pretty comical. Between projectile pooping and happy spitting it was a given that for those first six to ten months- I was changing my clothes as often as we changed him.

He continues to grow and I still marvel as he hits all the milestones. He has always been "Mr. Personality" and I love to watch him get excited about things he loves. When he was learning to talk, he called himself "B" and has been stuck with that nickname since.Eighteen months ago, with Owen on the way, I started working part time so that I really wouldn't miss anything. I can't believe how much he has changed in such a short amount of time. He speaks in complete sentences and has a dead on memory. Ben can recall things that he did last winter at the old house! He carries on conversations and loves to be the center of attention. His favorite question these days is the dreaded, "why?". (I have to stop myself from saying the words I have never wanted to say "because I said so"!!) He just says the cutest things and I have to hold back the laughter when he is serious. My favorite is when I call him "my sweet boy" he will say back to me "you're my sweet girl". It just melts my heart everytime.

Like most soon to be three year olds, "B" doesn't sit still for very long and Owen loves trying to keep up with him. Ben gets tickled when he see's Owen copying something that he is doing. He has taken to being a big brother really well and I love to watch them play together. (That's not to say that I still don't worry that Owen is going to get pummelled while I'm in the bathroom.)He is a little man set in his ways. He loves routine and order. He would rather play in Owen's room so that his doesn't get messy. Before he goes to bed everything in his room has to be back in it's place. Ben won't even allow new toys up to be brought into his room. He loves to be read to and looks forward to choosing a story before going to bed. He then needs a hug, kiss and a high five before turning off the lights. He still wakes up too early for my liking to request his morning waffles.

I could go on and on and on but I really need to start getting the house in order for his party on Saturday. Ben helped me pick out the decorations from the party supply store and his cake from Target. He chose The Backyardigans (his favorite show) as the theme.

I have added his third photo montage to the sidebar. It's amazing to me how much he has grown this year. Every day truly is an adventure. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us tomorrow!



Owen's First Year

I can't believe my baby will be one this weekend. I couldn't have asked for a more precious little guy. Owen was an easy pregnancy, easy delivery and has been an extremely easy going baby. Friends and family are surprised when he does get fussy because it happens so rarely. It seems like he has always lit up the room with his smile. It's the cutest thing to see and is accented with the sweetest little dimple. I called it his big gummy grin until he got his teeth (which he is up to 6 and counting!).

Owen takes everything in stride and loves to watch his big brother entertain him. Since he started crawling, he is on the move getting into anything and everything. He loves to play with his Tigger ball and chase it around the floor. He keeps himself entertained these days by putting things into and taking them out of containers. He is intrigued by opening and closing lids and loves putting the wooden rings onto and off of the ring stacker. I'm surprised by his patience because he'll work and work until he figures out how it is done without getting frustrated. (He must have gotten that trait from Jeremy). I chase him up the stairs at least a dozen times a day and get to hear his big laugh when I tickle his tummy and give him kisses. He returns the kisses by slobbering all over my cheek.

I can tell he has more rhythm than me already by the way he claps and dances to music. All dancing aside, he proves to be a "guy's" guy by giving high fives. He waves 'bye to me when I head out the door, which makes me smile the whole time I'm gone. He still squirms constantly during diaper changes and tells me under no uncertain terms that it's time to eat right this second! He now has a few words in his vocabulary, Mama, Dada, bye and "more" (which in full translation means more food!). He takes a few steps here and there, so I have my fast shoes ready for when he decides to take off.


I know that I've been through it before, but I'm still so amazed at all the milestones hit during the first year. The little bundle of life and love that I officially met for the first time at the hospital last year (and fell hopelessy in love with) has grown into this curious little guy with opinions and a personality all his own. I can't wait to see all the adventures he has in store us.