Ran through the Wringer

Barry is in SLC until late, late Wednesday night. He probably won't come home until 10 PM. He and his dad are working on fixing up of his sister's home. They are painting every room but the nursery (I'm not sure about the bathrooms). They are also putting in baseboard throughout the house and putting Pergo flooring in the kitchen/dining room. Then when they leave they will have every room re-carpeted.

I'm glad Barry and Dad are available to help but it was poor timing because yesterday Owen decided to be tornado. Yesterday morning he split the entire joint of the left entertainment center door. I had placed the ottoman to keep it open. The AV Receiver and the Blue Ray player get over heated if the glass door is closed and Owen won't leave it alone. He has this thing about closing doors. Anywho, Owen pushed the ottoman as far left as he could and the door joint couldn't take the pressure. It split. I'm pretty sure it can be glued together with some wood glue.

Later he took the remainder of the Fabreze bottle and either dumped it over himself or sprayed himself so much that it soaked his shirt and got into his eyes. He can now untwist caps off but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have drank it since he had his binkie in his mouth the whole time. So I had to give him a bath to flush his eyes.

Thinking the worse was over, I took him after his nap for a walk. I didn't put him in the stroller because I thought the walking would be good for him. At the end of the walk he decided it would be fun to play a game of chase into the neighbor's yard. He stepped into the mud and I chased after him and ended up loosing my shoe because it was stuck in the mud.

Needless to say, this sounds funny now but it wasn't funny at the time. Thankfully today has been so much better. Owen woke up in such a better mood and so did I. We just want our daddy home again! It's not fun trying the entertain the both of us.

Butched

I figured I haven't posted many new pictures of Owen. I took some pictures of him in the bath to show off his new hair cut. He was so shaggy and now he looks like a respectable little boy again. We were calling him Butch afterword. As you can see in the last picture Owen likes to lay on his tummy in the bath tub. Funny how he hated his tummy when he was a baby and now he sleeps on his tummy, bathes on his tummy, and watches TV on his tummy.

I still cannot believe he'll be 2 the end of April. We'll be getting invitations out for his birthday. We're planning on (at least I'm planning on) a quieter and smaller party than his 1st one. But hey that was his 1st birthday. What else can you do but go hog wild!

Owen's Quilt

We've figured out part of the reason why Owen is waking up at 3 AM and wanting to go sleep with us. His toddler bed is not big enough for him to roll around so he ends up either rolling out or his legs are flung out the side. We have a twin bed that that has a pillow top with box springs. We bought it for guests knowing that Owen would use it eventually. So we figured it was time to upgrade him. Good thing our crib is convertible so it wasn't any money wasted on a toddler bed.

Well, I couldn't find any bedding I wanted for him so I decided to make a quilt instead. Thank you to Momma Vest for helping me tie it! Here is a picture of Owen showing how much he cares about the quilt. Hehe. And the last picture is the completed project. Whew! Thank goodness it's finished. I only wish I'd made it bigger to cover the sides of the bed better. I guess you learn but it's just the right size for Owen for a couple years at least.

Relief Society Birthday Party

On the 19th, our Relief Society celebrated the organization of the Relief Society with a party. We had a wonderful dinner with barbecue pork, fried chicken, baked potatoes, salad, and cheesecake. It was lots of fun chatting and laughing while we got to know the other ladies at our table better. Our ward is in constant flux it seems. The shining star of the night had to be the program though. A women's choir sang songs from the Sisters of Light album by Jenny Phillips. They were awesome! I had to hold back my tears the whole time. You have to visit Deseret Book online and listen to the clips. So here is a gift idea (Barry) for Mother's Day. Now if only I could figure out your wedding anniversary/birthday/Father's Day gift!

http://deseretbook.com/store/product/4973812

Our Week So Far

We've had a full week but a really good one so far. Monday night we had dinner and played games with some other adoptive couples, Bryan (Barry's cousin) & JaNan and Neal & Brenda. We ate and talked a lot. We talked so much that we played only a couple rounds of a game called Snorta. That was OK with all of us. We rarely get to talk with other couples experiencing the same family growth woes and when you do it seems there is so much to talk about. I guess misery loves company. All of us are trying to add a second child to our respective families but they have waited a year longer than us. The kids had lots of fun playing. Owen started off shy but eventually enjoyed playing with Aedin & Halle.

Tuesday at lunch break I went over to Payless and bought Owen some new shoes. We had problems with Owen's shoes last week. The velcro straps just wouldn't stay put because he has outgrown them. It was time to break down and buy Owen new shoes. He has huge feet for his age (size 8T). I got the one pair 40% off so I got Owen's summer sandals early. I love shoes! Aren't these so cute!

The big event this week was that yesterday Owen met his birthmother for the first time. It was simply just a happy moment and we were so glad she felt good about seeing him. We all expected it'd be really hard. She mentioned it was so much easier seeing him as a toddler because he doesn't look like the baby she placed. She wanted to see him several times before but we had bad feelings about it and now we know why. She just wasn't ready. Owen didn't want her to hold him (typical toddler reaction) but after a bit he did tease her a couple times by getting close and then running away. She loved watching him interact with Barry and I and watching him play. I think we'll be seeing more often as time goes by. I am so glad Owen has such a good birthmother.