Silly, Silly Owen

So Owen loves to run around naked. One day last week he had once again stripped himself bare naked. I was doing some housework while he was watching a show. I brought back some of my shirts from the laundry room to hang up later while I finished cleaning somewhere else. I came back to find Owen wearing one of my shirts. I had to take a picture.



I took it off him and he started watching his show again laying on his tummy with his hands up on his face. I thought it was so cute that I took another picture.

I'm a Big Kid Now!

Ask me a couple weeks ago if I thought Owen would be almost completely potty trained during the day any time soon and I would have told you absolutely not. For months he has wanted nothing to do with the potty. It was wrestle-mania just to get him to sit on the potty for a second. He would scream and cry. At his wellness visit I described this behavior to the doctor and he told me to stop and try again in a few months.

A couple months passed and my defense that the doctor told me to wait started to weaken. So after a disagreement with Barry, I decided the next day I'd try again. I let Owen run around without a diaper or pull up since he just wets/soils it instead telling me. Later on he started doing the potty dance and asked for a diaper. He was acting scared so I sat down next to his froggy potty and got him to sit down. I read to him and gave him a sheet of stickers to play with. Anyway, I went to go to get him some clothes since we had a play date coming over and came back to find he'd pooped! We cheered and celebrated. I gave him his Hiro train (from Thomas and Friends) that I'd been holding on to for months hoping it would be an incentive.

It's been 2 weeks and he is accident free. Now every time he goes he gets so excited and says, "I did it." So proud of him!

Owen's Birthday Party

Saturday we had Owen's birthday party. Barry's sister and her family came up from Utah for the event. Her little girl is exactly one week younger than Owen so we decided to combine their parties this year. I made two mini-cakes for each of them and then two sets of cupcakes. Thanks to Melanie from our ward for helping me with the frosting of them :) They turned out great! Owen really loved his presents. I'm so grateful because it's kept him happy even though we've been couped inside since it's been too cold to play outside. Nasty wind!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Boy!

Three years ago the best day of my life happened (tied with the day I married your daddy). You have brought such joy to my life and everyday you teach me that nothing is more important than you and your daddy. My how you've grown this past year. You are so tall and talking so well. I can hardly believe you already know your alphabet, numbers, and colors. I realize now that waiting those long, hard 5 years for you molded me into the mama worthy of you. I thank Heavenly Father and your sweet birth mother everyday that you are my son. Always remember how much your daddy and I love you and want you to find true happiness. Happy Birthday my sweet Owen!

Love always, your Mama

Underwear!

I bought Sesame Street and Pixar character underwear for Owen's birthday this April. Apparently I didn't hide it well enough. I was at work when I got this picture on my phone. Don't you know that underwear goes on our arms and not our bottoms!!! LOL!!

Crazy but Fun Owen

Everyday is an adventure with Owen it seems. Of course we wouldn't change that for all the rice in China. LOL.

Owen loves to take baths especially in our big jacuzzi tub with Daddy. Barry got the water started and walked away for a second (it takes a couple minutes to fill the tub.) He came back to find Owen still completely dressed in the bath tub. I love this picture with the look on Owen's face that just says "Yep, I've been caught."

We are also trying to get Owen excited to potty train. He'll be 3 in a couple months. We brought home this little potty that Barry's parents let us have. I left it on the kitchen counter over night and Owen found it the next morning. He was so excited and kept saying "potty, potty." So we got it down for him and let him sit in it. Then he decided to move it on Daddy's recliner and sit on it. It was so stinkin' funny. Needless to say he hasn't done anything with it since. I know eventually he'll be ready

Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes

Mushes (aka Kisses) for the Cousins

Our Summer Nights

I figured I haven’t posted any pictures of Owen for awhile. He’ll be 2 and 1/2 years old this October. Time sure flies. Anyway, about 6 o’clock at night it’s just cool enough to let Owen out to play. It’s about the same every night. Thanks to Owen’s Uncle David & Aunt Joni we were able to borrow their sandbox last year. Owen still loves to play in it. His favorite thing is to shovel sand in his wheel toy and watch the sand run through from above.

He is so focused when he’s playing with dirt.

Good thing we have wonderful neighbors that have given us permission to let Owen play on their swing set. It’d be so impossible to keep him away from it since we don’t have a fence yet. He was big into swinging at first and scared of the slide. Now all he wants to do is go down the slide.

Running to go down again!

Swimming

We went down to SLC for a little weekend getaway. Since Barry's parents were stuck with babysitting duty, they gave us their tickets for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Pioneer Day concert and so we went down for that. The concert was wonderful as always. We also got to see the new Harry Potter with our friends Melissa and Jared. I wish we could have had a chance to visit more. We sure do miss them! HP 6 was good even though I was a bit disappointed that they didn't show any battling at Dumbledore's death and showed a bit to much mushy stuff instead of the all important memories. But I still really liked it. It was lighter than I was lead to believe.

I apologize for the terrible resolution of this video and picture. We didn't bring our camera so I only had my cellphone. It doesn't record or take high resolution pictures being only a 2 megapixel camera. For some reason even though I had it set to take pictures at it's maximum resolution it didn't. We'll have to go swimming again. We invited Barry's sister and her family to come swim. It was so fun! I've decided Owen is really just a fish out of water. He was only one who would jump into the pool at first. Then he got Noah and then Eloise to start jumping in from the side too.

What's a Little Mud?

I think the picture speaks for itself. After pulling Owen away from a mud puddle several times, Owen relented to temptation and jumped right in. He even took a taste of the mud. Needless to say he went straight to the tub.

O-W-E-N

As promised, here is a video of Owen spelling his name and also counting. He can get to 7 nearly every time. So cute!

Owen Counting

Owen can almost count up to 10 when we read his counting book. His popup "baby toy" (as Barry calls it) has the numbers 1 through 5 on top. Here is some fun video of Owen counting. Listen carefully. :) He can also spell his name when it is written down. I'll have to catch him doing that another time. He is doing a lot better with talking and learning new words.

Train Table

After 8 or so hours of blood, sweat and a couple "dang-it"s and "shoot"s, Owen's train table is basically finished. I have some touch up painting to do and I need to screw in the middle support brace but those can wait. It works is all I can say!

I used some really simple plans from a web site called Squirrel Tracks. All it took was a piece of 1/2" 4x8' plywood, paint, drywall screws, and some scrap 2x4"s. Thanks Neal S. for getting the plywood board and cutting it out. Then I sanded, painted, and assembled it all by myself! It was my project so it doesn't bother me a bit that Barry didn't help. It just makes the sense of pride and accomplishment even sweeter. I can hardly believe little ol' me drilled the pilot holes and screwed in the drywall screws. I even sawed by hand the 2x4 support blocks.

I simply love the blue and green I picked out which is saying something because I never pick out the right color. I also love that I can store Owen's trains, tracks, and accessories under it. I put on top the rug Owen's been using so far to play trains. I figured it would serve two purposes, protect and give some interest. We'll see if we keep it there.

After I get it completely finished then I'm going to put these way cute Thomas vinyls on it.


Happy Owen!

The world's longest train!

Owen's 2 Year Checkup

Wednesday morning Owen had his 2 year wellness visit to the doctor. I still cannot believe how well Owen did! Four or so months ago we took him in because we thought he might have an ear infection. He cried when the doctor tried to do any examining. So this time I was expecting the worse. 

We go to a practice with 8 doctors but you are allowed to choose one if you schedule ahead. Owen has seen Dr. Edwards about a year ago because our regular doctor wasn't available for a last minute appointment. I was really impressed how he related so well to little kids. So after last time's experience the thought came to me how it might be good for Owen to switch doctors. Just like the time before Dr. Edwards let Owen touch the instruments so he wouldn't be so afraid of them. It made all the difference. I also can't believe how Owen only cried for a second for his Hep A booster and when they pricked his finger to get his iron levels. I'm happy to report his iron levels are still normal after failing the test at 12 months and 15 months.

Owen weighed in at 28 lbs 2 ounces and he is 34 inches tall. The nurse mis-measured him at 35 1/2 inches. I would have messed up too if I had to measure a little boy struggling to escape. I noticed his head was about 2 inches away from the starting mark so when we got home I re-measured him. Next time we go in we will have to correct his growth chart.

Other than his eczema he was given a clean bill of health.

2 Year Old Owen

I took Owen to JCPenney to have his pictures taken for his 2nd birthday. He acted horribly just like when I took him in at 18 months. Crying and not cooperating at all. Luckily just like last time one picture turned out. He isn't smiling but at least it's still a really good picture of him. 

I was changing the picture in the living room of him and I noticed how much he's grown up in just six short months. No more chubby baby cheeks but at least he still has his dimples. Even though I feel empty armed, it's just as fun watching him do more and more. He is talking more everyday and learning new words. Even with his toddler meltdowns, I thank Heavenly Father and his birthmom for him.

Little Moonwalker

Lovin' the Sandbox

Owen loves being outside and most of all the dirt. He'll run around for a bit but he always comes back to flower beds and starts playing in the dirt (and sometimes trying to eat it). So I thought it'd be better for him to have a sandbox. We looked at the prices for a plastic one and they were just plain expensive. We thought about Barry building one but he's too busy at the moment. Anyway, Owen's Uncle David and Aunt Joni were so kind to let us borrow their dinosaur sandbox they aren't using. We picked it up Wednesday and filled it up when we got home. Owen loved it! He played for at least 30 minutes before he wanted to get out. He was covered in sand from head to toe so we gave him a bath afterward. I usually freak out about him getting dirty but I don't mind when I can watch him and not chase after him.

The Double Wammy, Ear Infections That Is

Owen has been running a fever since Monday. It has spiked to 102 - 103 degrees a couple times. Tylenol has helped keep it down but we weren't sure the fever's cause. I mentioned in my last post about his head cold (just a stuffy/runny nose) and then two weeks ago he had his shots. The one immunization can cause high fever weeks after getting the injection. Plus he was pushing through a tooth. So, we finally decided to get him checked out because he's been shaking his head and pulling on his ears somewhat.

The doctor looked into his one ear and instantly said it was really nasty. His other ear is bad too but not as bad as the other. Poor little guy! So, now he has a 10 day coarse of antibiotics and he also got some ear drops for the pain.

Another Tooth for Owen

Owen's other center bottom tooth popped through the gum line today. Unfortunately he hasn't been any less cranky. Let alone the teething, he has a head cold and it's making him feel pretty cruddy as well. Poor little guy. 

Beside my usual computer work and daily kitchen duties, I am trying to juggle Owen and folding/putting away laundry today. I'm literally dealing with laundry up to my elbows. I should just learn to fold and put away laundry after it's dried instead of doing all the washing/drying one day and then the folding/putting away another day that week. It just gets too much to handle and then I have to worry about using the Downy Wrinkle Releaser spray (I hate to iron). I know Barry would reel in reading this because I know it frustrates him the way I do laundry. Well, back to work. TTFN!