Too funny!

I just noticed after I posted the 'In Position' post that the baby on the right is 'In Position' too!!!

In Position

I had another Doctor's appointment on Thursday to see how Jack is doing. Soon I'll be going to the Doctor's every week instead of every other week. Sheesh! Anyways I gained another 3lbs so it's official I have gained more weight with this pregnancy than I did with Owen. In fact I'm getting so big I only have a handful of shirts that will still fit me. I'll have Michael take a picture of me and post it later. My Doctor was overbooked today so I saw the Doctor that delivered my niece Samantha back in November. She felt Jack and thought that he still felt like he was breached, but decided to do an ultrasound just to be sure. Come to find out he is actually head down! I was super surprised and a little nervous. I had pretty much convinced myself that we were going to have another C-Section so to think about having to push this baby out is a little scary. I know most people wouldn't want a C-Section, but since I've been through one already I know what to expect and I recovered really fast. Since I have already had one C-Section there still is a chance that I won't be able to push Jack out, but just in case I have started doing all of the exercises I need to in preparation to have a natural birth. I sure hope Jack wants out soon though because I'm getting more and more uncomfortable and exhausted everyday.

Doing Laundry!

The other day I was doing laundry and Owen has gotten really interested in putting things away. He will actually put his books back on the shelf if you ask him too!!! I hope that's a good sign that he'll help mommy clean up when he gets older. Anyways I was doing laundry and he knows that the clothes go in the hamper so he was really confused that they were just sitting the blue laundry basket so he decided to fix that by taking them out of the blue basket and putting them back in the hamper. He's such a good helper!!!

Swinging

When my mom and dad bought their house in Orting it came with this great swing set. I had to babysit their house again earlier this week so I brought Owen's swing down with us and attached it to the swing set. I got this swing last October at the Mill Creek garage sales for only $5, but we haven't used it until now. Owen really liked it so I just left it at Ga-Ga's house since we don't have a swing set at ours.

Jackson's Name Sign

A couple months back a friend and I went to a teahouse up in the Mill Creek/Bothell area and I found the cutest letters to make Jackson's name sign. We finally got around to making it and I think it turned out so cute!!!

Terrifying

Yesterday after Owen's nap I put him down and said, "Let's go downstairs." He's knows to go right over to the stairs and turn around and slide down feet first. I followed him over and he was just turning himself around and I was just about to get behind him and he slipped! He ended up falling down all 13 stairs! It was the most awful sight I've ever seen. He fell down laying parallel to the stairs which I think is a good thing. I don't think I'll ever get the look on his sweet face out of my mind. I just remember screaming, "Oh God!" over and over as I ran down the stairs after him. When he hit the bottom I scooped him up and he was screaming and I kept thinking screaming is a good thing. I held him so tight forever and then finally decided I should check him out. Surprisingly he didn't really have a scratch on him and keeping true to his tough guy self he was done crying after 2 minutes.

Giddy-Up

This was the first time Owen rode his horsey. I was just trying to take a picture, but the camera was turned to the video setting instead.

Stomping His Feet

When Ga-Ga was watching Owen while Michael and I were in Sequim, she taught him how to stomp his feet. I filmed him doing it the other day. I'm sorry for the sore neck you'll have after watching this I forgot that I'm not supposed to film it like that.

Keep your hat on!!!

I've been trying to take Owen outside at least once a day. He just loves the outdoors!! The weather has been so crazy lately that we try to get out in-between rain or snow showers and I make sure Owen is properly bundled so he won't get cold. He has been such a stinker though when it comes to leaving his hat on. He use to be so good, but now he rips it off the first chance he gets. Then he tries to put it back on and gets upset that he can't. I'm sure he's just trying to teach himself a new skill, but he's also trying his mother's patience!!! :)

What is this hat doing on my head?
I'll just take it off!

(Side note: Check out my cool Converse shoes from Aunt Kim)
I can't get it back on Mom...help!!!

Riding the Horsey

Yesterday when we were out in the garage I noticed that we had one of those horses on a stick. I've been wanting to get one of these for Owen, but I completely forgot that my parents had already given me one. My Dad actually bought this for my Mom quite a few years back and just decided that they didn't need it anymore. Not that my Mom really wanted a horse on a stick anyways. See my Dad likes to find creative ways to give my Mom presents and this one takes the cake. My Dad bought this horse and put diamond ears on it and put the horses head in a box. The card he gave my Mom said something like, "I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse". Now I've never seen any of the Godfather movies so this scene had to be explained to me, but for those of you who have I'm sure you see the humor in it. Anyway Michael showed Owen how to ride around on his new toy and he thought it was great fun. He's such a quick learner!

Elmo Toy and Bath Time

On Saturday night I thought it would be fun to take a bath with Owen in the big tub. I was bathing him in there a few months ago, but the bath seat we have wasn't sticking to the bottom of the tub correctly so it was freaking me out. We haven't gotten around to getting a new one yet so I've just been bathing Owen in the kitchen sink again. It's easier on my back anyways and then I don't have to get in the bathtub with him if I don't want to. So on Saturday night we got the tub all filled up and before we got in we decided to see how far Owen's Elmo submarine toy would go if we wound it up and put it in the tub before any of us got in. It was so cute to see Owen's reaction! He loves his Elmo submarine, but he's never seen it go for that long because the kitchen sink is so small.

Puppies

I never really let Owen got to bed with any toys because I was always paranoid about him smothering on them. When Owen stayed at my parents house for two days my mom let him sleep with this whale she has and ever since then he has wanted to sleep with something in his crib. Right now he's been sleeping with his two puppies. One is a Wendy Bellisimo puppy that my friend Nikki got Owen back at my very first baby shower. The other is a Blue's Clues slipper with a puppy head on it. He just loves to snuggle with them!

Yard Project

We have done a lot of work to our house in the 2 1/2 years we have lived here. Most of that has been to the inside. Last year Michael did paint the outside and we had new gutters installed, but other than that the outside of the house has been neglected...particularly the yard. I despise yard work. I don't mind mowing, but that's about it. Michael doesn't really enjoy it either so that has left us with few options for getting the necessary work done. When we lived at our condo before moving here it was perfect, they took care of the yard and we had a 3 foot by 8 foot section of garden that was ours and that was plenty for me. We planted tomatoes, beans, pansies and sunflowers and that was all we needed.

Anyway...Michael has gotten a fire under him to make the front yard look nice this year. The front yard is not that big, but it's a nice size and it shouldn't take too much money to fix it up. Our backyard is another story, I'm not sure if we'll ever get it the way we would like too because it will cost so much money. We need to build a retaining wall to level the yard and do a whole bunch of other things. It might just end up being the next owners problem. The front yard on the other hand is totally "do-able" when it comes to fixing up. On Michael's to do list are...

- Rake moss out of the yard
- Aerate the lawn
- Put new topsoil on the lawn, level it and re-seed
- Put in new curbing around the yard
- Build a 3 ft high fence with a gate to give Owen a safe place to play outside
- Remove rosebushes and other irritating shrubbery around the yard
- Put new topsoil in the flower beds
- Plant new low maintenance plants

Yesterday we went to Lowes to buy our first batch of materials and we got under $500 so that's good, but boy does Michael have his work cut out for him.

Raking out the moss! What fun!
Owen does such a good job supervising! Punkin just loved rolling around in the pile of moss that Michael just raked from the lawn.

15 Month Check-Up

Today Owen had a doctor's appointment to see how he's developing. He crossed a big milestone...he's over 20lbs!!! He's 20lbs 1oz to be exact. He's still only in the 2.9% for his age, but for his length which is 30 1/2 inches he is in the 29% for weight so that's not half bad. He got all checked out by the doctor and everything looked great. In regards to his development he's ahead of schedule on some things. They give you this sheet listing abilities that he should be doing between now and his 18 month check up and Owen is already doing most of them. The only thing we need to work on is getting him to stack blocks. We've tried teaching him, but he just wants to knock them over. He's such a boy!

We have an eater!!!

Owen has finally decided that he likes food. It took a little testing on our part though. I finally decided I had had enough when he didn't want to eat anything he just wanted to drink his calories in the form of milk. So one day I just stopped giving him milk in a bottle and just gave him his liquids in a sippy cup. This made for a rough couple of days, but he caught on fast that's for sure. Starving really works!!! :)

I slowly started introducing the bottle back into his routine, but instead of getting 5 bottles a day now he's only getting 3. The rest of the time Owen get water or juice out of his sippy cup. He really won't take that much milk from a sippy cup right now that's why he's still getting a bottle. Let me tell you Owen has never been a bad sleeper and I don't want to start now if I don't give him his milk so we'll deal with dropping the bottle completely at another time. Mama needs her sleep!!!

It's really amazing how much more he is eating now that he's not completely stuffed with milk. He can finish a half a sandwich for lunch! That's a lot for someone his size. He's also been more willing to try new things which has been so great. I was getting so sick and tired of him just eating 5 different things. Some of the new things he's eating now are - kiwi - tangelos - apples - carrots - pizza - chicken patties - hamburgers - pretty much any kind of sandwich. The next big thing is to get him use to a spoon. I've been trying to let him practice when he eats yogurt, but most of the time he just wants to play around. I also need to get over the messy factor when it comes to letting him feed himself. I don't mind his hands getting dirty, but a spoon brings it to a whole new level of messiness!

Good Times @ B & B's

Now that I've vented about Lost Mountain Lodge I thought I would post about the good times that we've had at the other B & B's. To celebrate Valentine's Day in 2005 I surprised Michael by making reservations at the Tucker House in Friday Harbor. We had heard from our friends Micah and Kim that it was a nice place. Come to find out later we actually ended up staying the same room that they had on their trip. Too funny! We took the ferry from Anacortes over to Friday Harbor and it was just gorgeous! We had blue sky the whole time we were there and this was in February. Since it was the off season some places were closed, but we still had a great time. We drove around the island and took a walk by the water. We ate at some fantastic restaurants and relaxed which was really nice. The coolest thing about this B & B is you can choose when you want to have breakfast and they bring it to your room!!!!


The room we stayed in was called 'Dove in a Window' and it's the second story window on the left side of the house in the front. There are actually two or three houses to this B & B.
Here we are tired, but getting ready to enjoy our breakfast that was brought to the room. I loved that I got to eat breakfast in my PJ's and I didn't have to get all ready and go down to a dining room.


This was the bathroom in our room. Before we had a jacuzzi tub put in our house I always tried to reserve a room with a nice tub.



Here we are walking on the rocky cliffs somewhere on the island. It was chilly, but it was beautiful!




I took this picture of Mt. Baker on our way home...it was so clear out!


This is the Run of the River in Leavenworth. Michael and I went there to celebrate Valentine's Day in 2006. I don't think the outside is all that attractive, but the inside of the Inn was just grand. Michael and I stayed in one of the biggest rooms at the Inn, but it was the least expensive. I think they priced it that way because our room was actually connected to the dining room. I didn't mind that though because I didn't have to put my shoes on and go outside in order to go to breakfast. I also loved waking up to the smells coming from the kitchen.
The Run of the River has the most wonderful beds. In fact so many people have commented about their beds that they contacted Serta to see if they could offer their guests a discounted rate on mattresses if they want to purchase them through the Inn. Michael and I desperately needed a new mattress and after sleeping on this high quality mattress we were sold. We order one through the Inn and saved a ton of money.

Some of the amenities our room had were a gas fireplace, jacuzzi tub, wrap around deck and heated slate floors in the bathroom. I would go back in a second!

Innkeeper's response!

So I checked the review website this morning and noticed that the innkeeper responded to my review. I think it's funny that Dwight was the one to respond when for the most part he wasn't even around when his wife was being totally inhospitable. I also think it's funny that he says it was busy around check-in time. I could understand that argument had there actually been other guests staying at the Lodge. Michael and I were the only people there for both of the nights we stayed. I also think it's completely ridiculous that he assumes we've never stayed at a B & B before because we are young. As if B & B's are only for old people!! Michael and I have actually stayed at two other B & B's and would recommend them highly - Tucker House in Friday Harbor or Run of the River in Leavenworth. I also think he was totally trying to cover his behind by saying he would have given us our money back or another free night. I know for certain his wife would probably have done neither, I mean after all they have staff to pay!

Here's the link to the review site if you want to read his response.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g58737-d581826-r14917445-Lost_Mountain_Lodge-Sequim_Washington.html

Countertop

Owen is obssessed with seeing what you see. He loves to be up high and in the action. It was making it impossible to get anything done in the kitchen because he would be crying and pulling at me trying to see. Finally after a friend mentioned that she put her kid on the countertop I tried it. When he was a baby I sat him up there when I made dinner and did dishes, but he was in the Bumbo so I felt okay about it. Now he's too big for the Bumbo, but I just keep saying, "Owen sit"! For the most part he's really good about it. I usually have a toy for him to play with to keep him busy, but he'll mainly just sits there watching me make him breakfast or whatever it is I'm doing. He's just grateful that he can see. The funny thing is he still fits under the cupboards so we can push him back farther from the edge.

Two Duckies!

Last Thursday Uncle Ryan and Aunt Kim came over to pick up some moving boxes and they brought Owen a present....another huge duck. I didn't know ducks multiplied like bunnies! :) Actually the first duck that Ga-Ga and Pa got Owen actually isn't a duck it's a chick, but we didn't notice that until it was too late. Owen only knows it as a duck so we don't want to confuse him by all of the sudden changing the name. Anyways Owen now has two big ducks to play with in the family room and of course he loves both of them. The other day he actually tried to pick them both up and carry them around. It didn't quite work out though.

15 Months Old

My sweet little boy is 15 months old today and since today's date is actually the 15th isn't there a name for that? Like your special birthday because your age and the date match up. I remember thinking that when I turned 16 because my birthday is September 16th so not only was it my Sweet 16 it was even more special because of the date matching. Who knows I probably just made that all up to try to get more presents or something.

Kisses

Owen hasn't really been a very kissy boy, but it's probably because I kiss him so much he doesn't think he needs to kiss me. Michael and I were just talking about this on Saturday night. Later on when Michael was laying on the floor playing with Owen he came over and just started kissing his Daddy it was so sweet. Every since if you ask for a kiss he'll actually give you one about half the time.

Saturday

Saturday was so beautiful! We lucked out because we were having professional pictures taken down at Redondo Beach. It was so beautiful. I haven't seen the pictures yet, but I hope they turned out good. We were so busy getting our pictures taken I didn't have much time to take any of my own pictures of Owen. It was his first time at the beach and he loved it. There was tons of stuff to pick up and touch and put in his mouth...YUMMY!

The only picture I took at the beach. I can't wait to go back and have a whole day of fun with him.
After we were done with pictures at the house we spent some time out on the deck since it was so nice out. Owen loved trying to poke things through the slats in the deck.
Our deck is nice, but we still have to watch Owen like a hawk because the railings are too far apart from each other and he could totally fall through. Just another thing to add to Michael's 'To Do List' this year. Poor guy!!
While we were out there Owen learned how to go up and down the little step on the way in the house. He just kept doing it over and over again practicing.
MMM...those peanut butter crackers are the best!!!

Two Molars

Last night we were playing around with Owen and he opened his mouth really big and we saw two molars sticking out from the top of his mouth! YAHOO!! This is going to help him out so much when it comes to eating. Poor little guy has been having to chew things with his front teeth or just gum them to death. We also noticed that one of his bottom molars is right under the surface so it won't be long and he'll have 11 teeth!!! The funny thing is these molars are coming in before his Incisors so he'll have to go awhile with gaps in his teeth again.

Breached

Yesterday I had another doctor's appointment in Seattle. I'm 31 1/2 weeks along and I've already gained 28lbs which is what I gained with Owen and I made it to 36 1/2 weeks. Oh well I'm going to breastfeed and have two kids to run after so I'm sure I'll lose the weight. I asked my doctor to see if she could tell the position of the baby and it looks like he's breached just like Owen was. I think either the shape of my uterus or pelvis is just more comfortable for the babies to lay that way. I'm also measuring at 33 weeks so maybe I'll get my wish and have Jack early. I sure hope so! I'm so ready to meet him!

Review

So I found a website that had reviews on the B & B and there were a few other people that had the same type of experience we did. I wish I had check this site out first! I decided to share our experience and left a review of my own. If you want to check it out here's the link...

http://click.tripadvisor.com/ctt?kn=9&m=1029029&r=NjkzMjcxMzk2OAS2&b=0&j=MTA0NTI5OTczS0&mt=2&rj=MTA0NTA5NjQ1S0

Goose Egg

We weren't even home an hour on Tuesday night when Owen, who was acting like a drunken sailor because he was so tired, fell into the metal footrest of our bed and got this...

Picking up Owen

On Tuesday after leaving the B & B we caught the ferry over to Seattle from Bainbridge Island. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in Seattle and then went and saw Vantage Point at Pacific Place. It was a great movie! After that we headed south to Orting to pick up our baby boy. We were so excited to see him. We snuck into the house and could hear him talking right away. We walked into the family room and this is the reception we got...

Yay Mommy and Daddy are here!!!

The Dungeness Spit

After getting the tire fixed we stopped at a little market and got some cash and then drove back to the recreation area. We walked down to the spit and had so much fun watching the waves. There were some really big swells. They sounded like firecrackers at times. I want to go back in the summer time and actually go out to the end of the spit. It's 5 miles to the lighthouse and I guess another 1/2 a mile of sand after the lighthouse has been deposited naturally over the years. As you can see from the pictures it's mostly rocks and drift wood so it's not the easiest thing to walk on so we would definitely need a whole day.

Another Hiccup on the trip...

After leaving the Game Farm we went to the 3 Crabs Restaurant for lunch and then headed into town to get cash so we could go down to the Dungeness Spit. On the way there I heard this funny noise so we pulled over and found out I had a nail in my brand new tire. I called information, but there isn't a Discount Tire in Sequim so we went to Les Schwab instead. If you know me you know that this was very painful for me to have to use the services of Les Schwab, but when you're in a jam what can you do. They let us know it would take an hour and a half to two hours because they had people in front of us. Thankfully the Les Schwab was on the main street in Sequim so we decided to walk down to all the little shops. Did I mention it was pouring down rain!!! We did have an umbrella so that was good. We ducked into a coffee shop and warmed up and then went out and looked at all the shops. I ended up buying some pretty smelling soaps and by the time we walked back to Les Schwab it wasn't raining anymore and the van was being pulled out right when we got there and they fixed it for free!

Olympic Game Farm

When we left the Dungeness Recreation Park we saw signs for the Olympic Game Farm which is something I've wanted to go to for a long time. We've had a few friends go and say it was a good time. I even packed our own wheat bread to feed the animals so this is something I really wanted to do. It was so much fun! You just drive through the farm stopping occasionally to feed the animals. The dangerous ones of course are behind fences or cages, but it's really neat to see them up close. There are certain areas where your not suppose to stop because the animals can damage your car. We didn't have anything like that happen, but Michael did get breathed on by a zebra and licked by an elk. It was really funny!

My mom and dad have a peacock theme in their front room so Michael took this picture for them!
The llamas would actually eat right out of our hands.

The zebras would eat a whole piece of wheat bread in one bite!

The bears were so cute. Most of them were sleepy, but this one was just sitting there right next to the road. We tossed a couple pieces of bread at him and he picked them up and ate them and then he waved bye to us. There was another car behind us he knew more food was coming! Too cute!