Owen Speak

Owen has started saying more and more things recently. Well, actually I think he's been saying them for a while, we are just getting around to understanding him more. I did get so tired of hearing him say, "Uhhhhhhh", that I taught him how to sign the word 'help'. It's not the real sign for help as that's too hard for a baby to do, but it's a sign that means help to us. That really was working nicely for a while, but now he's refusing to sign it anymore. He's thinks the sign for 'more please' should cover a multitude of things. He can be so set in his ways and he's not even 2! Anyways here is a list of things he can currently say...

Daddy - His favorite person
Ga-Ga - We are still trying to figure out if this is his word for both Ga-Ga and me. He says is all the time. Michael says that he says it when he's looking for me and he rarely uses the word mama so it might be for both of his favorite women in the world.
Idea - 'I did it'
Dea - 'You do it'
Jaa - 'Jack'
Hi - Self explanatory, also his favorite word
All dun - 'All done' (He throws his hands up in the air to sign this phrase as well.)
Bu-bye - 'Bye Bye' (He waves sometimes when he says this, sometimes he just puts his hand in the air like when he's saying all done.)
Eeee - 'Kitty' (We don't have the cats anymore, but there are some in the neighborhood and we do have a kitty doorstop in our bathroom.)
Peee - 'Please' (He will either rub his chest to sign please when saying this or he rubs his hands together to say more please.)
I git it - 'I get it or I did it"

Phrases Owen has said, but only a couple of times are...I love you and I'm a big boy. I think the reason we've had such a hard time understand him is because he doesn't break up his words he just runs them all together.

Other cute things Owen is doing right now...he loves to dance with Ellen DeGeneres...he loves to turn the TV on and off at his disposal (Even though there is a child proof thing that suppose to keep him from doing this...yeah right!)...he is turning into Linus from the Peanuts, he has to have a blanket with him almost all the time now.

One not so cute thing he's doing right now is not sharing. He definitely is not liking the fact that Jack might be playing with his toys soon. I will try to show Jack a toy and even if it's a baby toy and something that Owen hasn't played with in ages he has to stop what he's doing and come confiscate it. I have a feeling things are going to get ugly in the sharing department in a few months.

Rainy Day at the Fair

On Saturday we went to the Puyallup Fair with our friends Micah, Kim and Andy. It was such a yucky rainy day, but we had been planning it for a while and I had already bought the tickets. So we bundled up and headed out. There is lots of stuff to do inside so we didn't really get that soaked. We did (against good Washingtonian rules) actually have umbrellas with us and they came in handy. Owen rode around in his new backpack that I bought on Craigslist the day before. He actually fell asleep in it! Totally awesome!! Jack and Andy spent most of the time being bundled up in their strollers. Kim is always so prepared and she found out online that they have one nursing station on the fairgrounds so we were able to feed and change the boys in a nice dry place. Owen also enjoyed pushing the stroller and stomping in the puddles. He also was being quite a socialite with some of the other fair goers.

Side Job - Professional Photographer!

When Owen was 2 1/2 months old we received an offer to have professional pictures of him taken for free if we signed a model release form, of course we jumped at the chance. With Jack we haven't received any offers like that. Probably because the lady that took Owen's pictures ended up being kind of a flake and almost none of the people who posed for her ended up ever getting their pictures. We were very lucky!

Anyways I really wanted to have pictures taken of Jack around the same age Owen was when he had the professional pictures taken. Well Jack is already 3 1/2 months old so I decided it was time to take action myself. So on Friday I took tons of pictures of Jack and then when Michael got home he helped take some as well. I think they turned out great. In fact I've already had Costco make prints and bought frames from IKEA and they are now proudly displayed in our dining room where Owen's professional pictures are.

We tried to do similar poses. It's so much fun to compare our two adorable boys!

Owen Jack
Owen

Jack

I saw it...

I finally saw Jack rollover! It was in the dark of night, but I saw it. He's almost rolling over from his back to his tummy now. As I've said before he loves to suck/chew on his hands so he lifts his hands up above his head and then goes after them with his mouth. This results in him almost rolling over. He just hangs out on his side.

Hook Chair

Owen is now sitting at the dining room table eating with us instead of using his highchair. I always like to move him out of things a couple months before I know Jack will be using them. That way he doesn't feel like Jack pushed him out. We did that when we moved him into his new bedroom with a different crib and it worked out great. Owen did speed up this move though. Earlier this week he decided it would be a great idea to remove the round covers on the highchair tray that cover the springs inside and then it would be even better to shove his sandwich in the hole where the springs are. Mommy had it! Hence the move to the Hook Chair.

I love how he crosses his ankles when he sits!

When you see this you can't help...

Smiling too!!!

Already???

Jack is definitely starting to teeth. ARGH!!! It's right around the same time Owen started so I shouldn't be surprised. He is constantly chewing on his hands and his spit has all of a sudden become VERY stringy. He's also been sort of a crab the last couple of days.

Oh wow this is what your whole face looks like! Cute! :)

7 Things

I stole this idea from this blog!

Here are 7 things you might not have known about me...

1. I don't really know anything about IPOD's. I know they are for music and you can download stuff on them, but that's about it. I'm really not a music person. I don't rush out and buy the latest and greatest CD, I just enjoy what's playing on Spirit 105.3.

2. I honestly just figured out how to insert a link to my blog by linking to the blog that I stole this idea from.

3. I am completely OCD about having a stockpile of food and necessities in the house. You should see my pantry! I get freaked out when I only have one extra thing of deodorant on hand. It's crazy I know, but it's me!

4. I love Ellen DeGeneres and I try to watch her show everyday. I don't necessarily agree with the way she lives her life, but I find her truly hilarious and laughing is a good thing. (No, I'm not a Martha Stewart fan!)

5. I currently check 24 other blogs. I know that might sound obsessive, but I just stumble across them and it's like a good novel...you get hooked. I love hearing about other peoples lives and taking an interest in them. Michael doesn't understand how I can get so invested in other people, people that I don't even know, but I can. I was super excited when Brittany gave birth to her twin girls and I get ideas for family outing like when Melody and her family when to Mount Rainier.

6. I would absolutely love to go to a culinary school and really learn the ins and outs of cooking. When we had cable I use to watch Barefoot Contessa or Everyday Italian. I don't really know what herbs go with what or any of that fancy cooking stuff. The first thing I need for sure is a new set of knives because mine barely cut through tomatoes. Sheesh!

7. I know some you know this, but it's fun and I was having a hard time thinking of a seventh thing since I'm such an open book. My Grandpa Grant was born in 1920 and he was 30 years old when my Dad (his son) was born in 1950. My Dad was 30 years old in 1980 when I was born. So that means I'm shooting for baby number 3 to be born in 2010 so Grandpa will be 90, Dad 60, Me 30 and Baby 0! Well see if it works out that way. :)

Now what 7 things might we not know about YOU????

Mount Rainier

The views of Mount Rainier were just breathtaking. From far away the mountain always looks like a bunch of snow, but up this close you can really see the rocks and the glaciers. It was so cool. Plus the weather was just perfect it was about 73 degrees. So nice for Mid-September. The ride home was the worst part of the trip. The boys both cried for the last hour. We didn't get home until 7:30pm so they had been away from home for a long time and Owen only took about a 17 minute nap in the car all day so he did pretty good considering.





This is the mount of the Nisqually River. I love the zoom on my camera. It was so fun to get to see where a river starts!

Nisqually Vista Trail

When we got to Paradise the first thing we had to do was find parking. The normal parking lot was full so we had to go to the overflow lot. Luckily we found a spot that wasn't down very far. Once we got all suited up with the boys. Michael carried Owen in the backpack and I carried Jack in the Moby we were on our way. Of course I was dying before we even got to the Visitor Center. I'm so out of shape!!

After I went to the bathroom and got Jack situated in the Moby Wrap correctly we went to the top of the Visitor Center and let Owen run around while I fed Jack.

Then we suited back up and headed out to go walking on the easiest trail. The walk was so nice! Here I was all worried that we would need survival gear just in case we got lost and the darn trail was paved. Sheesh!

Alder Lake

Yesterday morning we set off on an adventure to get outside and see Mount Rainier up close and personal. We left around 10am and stopped at Costco first to get some gas. Before we left though I made sure we had all the necessary stuff. See I'm paranoid so I made sure we had food, blankets, extra clothes, cell phones, Michael's handy all in 1 tool thing and a lighter. We were going to go on a nature walk and you can never be too careful. I think I watch the news too much! Oh yeah and I also called my Dad and told him our plans and where we would be going in the park.

After we had been on the road for a while we stopped at Alder Lake Park to have a picnic lunch. Owen really needed to get out and stretch his legs and it was a nice park. An added plus was there was no fee to get into the park yesterday.

Hey are you lookin' at me???

Knock Knock...Let me in!!!

You might think by the title of this post that Owen locked me out, but nope the electricity locked me out. See Michael and I were the only ones that had keys to our house and about 2 years ago I gave my house key to our friends Micah & Kim. They were going to check in on the cats while we were on vacation. I never got around to making another key for myself because I always come in through the garage door by using the garage door opener or the keypad. What are the odds that the electricity would be out when I need to come in?? I guess the odds caught up with me. I should go buy a lottery ticket!

Anyway on Monday afternoon the boys and I went out to do some errands and when we pulled up to the house I pushed the garage door opener a couple of times and decided that the stupid thing wasn't working. So I got out of the car and punched in the code on the keypad...nothing. I tried it a couple more times and decided that the stupid thing wasn't working. I called Michael and he asked me if the keypad was lighting up when I punched in the code. Hello it's the middle of the day how am I supposed to tell if it's lighting up. Then I cupped my hand around the keypad and it wasn't lighting up. Come to think of it the outside light that is always on...wasn't.

Michael was working in Federal Way which was farther away than Micah & Kim's new house so I called them up. Thankfully Kim was home and had my house key so the boys and I buzzed over there to pick it up. By this time Jack needed to nurse so we hung out for a little bit and I joked with Kim that I was sure the power would be back on by the time I got home. When I pulled up to the house I pushed the garage door opener like normal, but nothing. There was a PSE truck across the street though so there was hope the power would be restored soon.

After opening my front door with a key for the first time in forever I decided to get dinner ready. Thankfully I had already planned on having a cold salad for dinner so no big upset there. Owen of course wanted nothing to do with it so he ate 2 strawberries for dinner. By the time Michael got home it was getting to be twilight outside and it was time for the boys to go to bed. Michael and I were going to watch a movie together but no such luck so we lit a bunch of candles and decided to have a good old fashioned night of (where is your mind going...my parents read this blog) playing card games. We played Cribbage and I got 22 points in one turn and for the first time ever I won!!! After that Michael was ready for bed...sore loser! ;) So we turned out the lights I mean snuffed out the candles and went to bed. Easier said than done though because the PSE workers had come back to fix the problem and were making quite a bit of noise and I'm so used to sleeping with the sound of a fan it was hard for me to fall asleep. I do remember hear the fan kick on a while later and then I fell fast asleep. AHHHH...sleep!!!

Sleeping Schedule

Jack is finally on a schedule when it comes to naps...kind of. He is now sleeping 8 - 10 hours every night. He goes to bed at 8pm and then gets up to eat anywhere from 4 - 6am. If he gets up before 6am I just feed him and put him back to bed. If he gets up at 6am I stay up with him and have Jack time. After he gets up for the day he normally take another nap around 10ish and then another nap around 1ish. His 1ish nap is a long one...it can be up to 4 hours! It's so awesome!!! This afternoon while both of the boys were asleep I actually got to watch a whole movie!!!!

Bunny & Ducky

Blue Bunny was given to Owen last Easter by GG & Peepaw and Ducky is a bath toy I got at one of Owen's Baby Showers. They are his new favorite stuffed animals. Owen has always loved stuffed animals, but since Jack was born he's not been as interested in them. He has rekindled his love for them recently though. He now HAS to have both of these animals in his crib with him. It's really cute!

The other day Owen decided that bunny and ducky should sit in the Bumbo.

Hmmm...maybe I can fit too!!!

Sorry for squishing you!

Fear

Owen has pretty much always been a scaredy cat when it comes to loud noises. He cries at loud kitchen appliances, people cheering and lawn equipment. So last Saturday when we visited Grandma & Grandpa Martin's house I shouldn't have been surprised when he freaked out at the riding lawnmower. Still I thought once he got on it with Grandpa that he would see that it wasn't going to hurt him and he might actually enjoy himself...

NOPE!!!!!

Lunch with Daddy

Michael has been working like a dog these last couple of weeks. Since the boys both go to bed at 8:00 sometime they don't even get to see him. So when the opportunity arose for us to have lunch with Daddy (he was working close to home) we jumped at the chance. I packed us a picnic lunch and we sat in the grass and had a short, but nice time together.

Hanging out with Andy

Jack 13 weeks / Andy 10 weeks

Last Thursday Owen, Jack and I went over to Micah and Kim's "new" house. They moved into Kim's parents old house. It was so much fun to see the house with all of their stuff in it. Andy's Jungle/Safari theme room is so cute. The baby boys are both getting bigger and bigger. Owen was quite a handful though. It was a new place for him so he was getting into everything. Plus he was hungry so that didn't make for a happy toddler.

Prince Charming

Owen has started this new thing where he will kiss you if you sit still and close your eyes. It's so cute. It's like Prince Charming kissing Sleeping Beauty to wake her up. He's such a sweet boy!

Oh yeah and Jack has rolled over more times that I can count now, but I still haven't seen it. I have had him take his naps on the living room floor in order to see it, but he NEVER rolls over outside of his crib. Michael got to see it the other morning, but I was in the shower so I missed out. :(

Day Camping

Yesterday Owen, Jack and I went down to visit our friends while they were camping. We were supposed to be camping with them, but Michael ended up having to work the weekend instead. It was great just getting to spend the day with them. I can't wait to go camping next year!!!

Sitting around the fire. It was pretty cold when we first got there. To help keep Owen and Charlie out of the fire we put them in the Radio Flyer wagon together. They really didn't mind it at all. This is when Charlie got a little upset because he kept trying to drink from Owen's sippy and we didn't want him to because Owen just got over the stomach flu. (I got a call from Jen this morning...guess who was up until 3am puking...oops!!)

Evan was such a big help gathering up wood from the other campsites. Of course they were vacant!
Jack did really good, in fact he slept most of the time in Fred & Jen's trailer.

That is one dirty kid!!!

Crazy Boy

The other day Owen did 4 somersaults in a row. I was trying to get him to do it again, but he wouldn't. Instead I got this video of our crazy boy!

Garage Sale Deals

I don't normally go to garage sales that many times a year. Mill Creek has great garage sales in May and October and that's about it. This summer I have gone out hunting for good things twice already and boy have I found some awesome deals. A couple weeks ago I got a whole box of name brand clothes for Owen and Jack and two pairs of really nice shoes for $40! On Saturday I went out with my sister-in-law and I got a ton of stuff for only $35! I was so excited I took pictures of everything so you can see how much I got for so little....

I'm not sure how many pieces of clothing I got, but a lot. There are some off to the right that you can't even see. Most of them are 3T and up. I like to be prepared. Plus when clothes are .25 a piece you can't pass that up.

A day or two before I went to the garage sales Michael and I had gone through Owen's toys and put some of them away. It was a perfect time to find new toys for him. He got three puzzles, two books, 4 trucks, a train set, an Elmo guitar, two Veggie Tales DVD's and 3 Disney VHS tapes. I also got a 4 cups measuring cup and a salad shooter for myself.

I also found this blue container for just $2. They sell at Fred Meyer's for $6. I've been wanting one to put the outdoor toys in. My sister-in-law bought this climber, but they live in an apartment right now so we are keeping it for them until they move later this year.

Have you ever had a day like this....