15 month check up

Owen had his 15 month check up a few days after we got home from Michigan. He is getting so big and doing so much, but at the same time doing so many things differently than Jacob did! He really only says Mama, but says lots of ma's and me's and variations on those mean different things. But he signs please, thank you and more still, and has added airplane, hi and bye and no. He made up his own sign for airplane in the past few weeks, but it is very clear and if you ask him he will do it. He is really good at following directions and is like a human version of Pavlov's dogs at dinner, when he hears the timer beep he goes running to his high chair. He is climbing and rough housing with Jacob, but also loves to give his brother hugs and kisses. He still nurses a ton and is back to not sleeping through the night. He has started to open up more and will wave to strangers and is less hesitant to go to others. But if he is tired he will still cling to me and won't let me let him go. He is working on 3 teeth currently (well that we can see!) too, but his lack of teeth hasn't stopped him from eating anything. He has a major sweet tooth and loves ice cream. He can point out many body parts and thinks it fun to point ours out too, mostly by gouging our eyes out. He loves to read and LOVES Frozen and the song Let it go. He dances any time is comes on. It is adorable.

Stats
Height: 32 in   76%
Weight: 25.13lbs 87%
Head:    19.5 in   98%

He is bigger than Jacob at this age, but seems to be built very similarly.

Michigan Trip, Part I

A two part post here because our trip was long and eventful and I have about 600 pictures to sort through! After many weeks of prep and a 10 day countdown chain, we were up very early on the day of our flight. 4am to be exact. We wanted to be out the door by 4:45 to drop off our car and make it to the airport in plenty of time. Of course it was raining that morning and we were a little scared of having a delayed flight because of the impending storms. We got our car dropped off and everything, 3 suitcases, one box with the pack n play in it, 2 carry on's for Josh and I, two carry on's for Jacob, two carry on's for grammy,  one booster seat, one bag of toys, and 2 car seats, unloaded and packed up (carseats were coming with us so we had to put those in bags at the parking lot) and then reloaded onto the shuttle and got to the airport around 6:30. Of course the security checkpoint we were at had a long line and they made us take the carseats (and stuff we packed in the bag with them) out of the bags to put them through. Once we got through all of that and repacked up and reorganized we headed to our gate and only had about 20 min before our flight was to start boarding. The rain had stayed north so there was no rain or storms at the airport at that point so we got lucky there. They let us gate check our carseats early and the nice flight attendants took them down for us and then they preboarded so we could get settled. Jacob got to peek into the cockpit and then one of the pilots got up and put Jacob in his seat! Jacob thought that was really cool. The nice pilot even took a picture of Jacob for me. Once on the plane we got everyone settled in and ate some breakfast before we took off. The ride was pretty bumpy because right as we were leaving the rain and storm that was by us earlier had moved south towards the airport and it started raining there. We had to fly around some storms when we took off. The seat belt sign never turned off. Fortunately, both boys took about an hour long nap. Unfortunately, upon waking up, Jacob threw up his breakfast. That was fun. Being the prepared travelers that we are, we had backup outfits for all of us  in the diaper bag. So he got a quick change of clothes and was fine after that. The boys watched Frozen and the rest of the flight was uneventful. Once we got to Detroit we had a hike to get to the baggage claim and then to the rental car shuttle so we gathered up all of our stuff and about 45 min later got to where we needed to be and an hour after that were in our rental car. It was a long morning so we spent the afternoon relaxing at Aunt Gini's.

 

 

 

Friday was spent again relaxing since we were all tired and the boys didn't sleep well, then Josh, Lindsay and I headed out to do grocery shopping for the family reunion on Saturday. We spent most of the afternoon doing that and the boys hung out and played at Aunt Gini's. Saturday we relaxed in the morning then ate lunch early so Owen could nap before the reunion. We let him sleep a while then eventually had to wake him up to go. We had a ton of people there. I think the final count was around 80. It was great. Jacob quickly made friends with all of his cousins around his age and ran off with them. We were at a big park in the woods so they had plenty of space to run and play. He didn't care that he had never met any of the kids, he just got right in there. After a while Josh took him to the playground and on the way back Jacob found a little frog and found a cup to put it in. After that he had an entire audience of kids followings him around trying to see the frog. He made great friends with his cousin Ainsley. Not surprising since she is about 18 months older than him and older girls are usually what he goes for! Owen wandered all around too looking at everything and trying to eat everything! By the end of the day he was more willing to let other people hold him. Jacob and the other kids gathered up a ton of sticks and wanted to  make a bonfire, right in the middle of the park. It was great visiting with all of our family that could make it. It was much harder to visit this time around while chasing after Owen and at least having some idea of where Jacob had run off to! There were a ton of old photo albums out there so we got to look at old pictures (and take some of them too). We also got pictures of each siblings family, the cousins, 2nd cousins, and the growing group of 3rd cousins! We ended up being out there for 6 hours. The boys were exhausted by the time we got back to Aunt Gini's and thankfully went to bed much quicker than the night before. Of course Josh and I ended up staying up late playing cards, so we didn't catch up on sleep! I love having these family reunions and it is so much fun with the boys now since they get to see their cousins. I love that Jacob had so much fun playing with everyone and I can't wait until the next one when Owen will get to play with all the kids his age!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday we had yet another busy day planned. We headed to the Detroit area to have lunch and spend the afternoon with my dad's side of the family. We don't see them much, but it is nice to be able to see them and catch up when we do get up there. Unfortunately I was so busy talking I didn't even get my camera out to take pictures. But Jacob had a blast making everyone there pull him down the street in a wagon and they filled up a small kiddie pool for him to play in for a bit. It was a gorgeous day that day, warm but not so hot we couldn't sit outside and enjoy the breeze from the water. The boys both fell asleep on the way back to Aunt Gini's. The boys got to take a ride on Uncle Al's 4 wheeler and lawnmower. Jacob loved it and even got to drive! So of course Owen wanted a turn! We put Owen down early and let Jacob stay up for a bonfire, s'mores, and catching lightning bugs. He had a blast! He has never had real s'mores before and he caught a ton of lightning bugs and put them in a jar. He went to bed very quickly that night!

 

 

Part II coming soonish.

4th of July

We had a very busy and fun 4th of July this year. We spent the morning at the pool, enjoying some sun and letting the boys get in some swimming before coming home for a nap. Grammy joined us at the pool after Jacob called her and talked her into coming over in the morning. While the boys were resting after lunch Josh and I were busy getting ready for our 3rd annual 4th of July cookout at our house. We had all of our neighborhood friends, plus Grammy, over for dinner and hanging out. This year we made some water balloons for the kids to throw. While they only lasted about a minute, they kept the kids entertained for about 20 while we filled more up so they had another round of balloon throwing. Josh manned the grill and did a great job with burgers and brats for everyone. After dinner and chocolate covered s'mores for dessert we packed up and headed to our city's celebration and fireworks. Unfortunately none of our friends went this year and Jacob was really upset because he was looking forward to watching fireworks with his friends. After a rough time getting into the parking lot this year, we finally got in and Jacob was feeling  much better after getting to enjoy some bounce houses and running around with thousands of other kids. They also had a really cool train ride this year so Josh and Jacob waited in line for that for a while then Owen and I joined them. After the train we got our glow sticks out and got ready for fireworks. Owen wasn't too sure about them at first but then started enjoying them. Jacob loves fireworks and this year was no exception. By the end of the night they were both exhausted and once we eventually got out of the parking lot they both passed out in the car. Fortunately, they both slept really well that night and Jacob even slept in. We were all exhausted the next day though!

 

 

water balloon fight

 

Owen running free

 

 

Entertaining the small one

 

Silly Jacob

 

 

On the train

 

On the train

 

Best family picture we could get

 

Loving the fireworks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June Recap

I realized that I have posted all month. As always we have been busy. We do something almost every day right now. Josh got out of school the second week of June and we have been going since then. Appointments, playing, swimming, running errands, cleaning house. We bought season passes to a  local waterpark this year and have been going there once a week. The boys absolutely love it. They run and run and wear themselves out. It took Owen a couple of times to warm up to it, but now he just takes off. Jacob got to go down the big slides last week. We have also been going to the pool most days if we aren't at the water park. We have been working on Jacob swimming using his arms this year. He is getting better at it but is still working on it. I'm sure he will have it down by the end of the summer though. We have also been working on getting Owen swimming. Right now he will hold his breath and float and sometimes he will kick his feet. But he will jump right off the ledge in the pool and go under water no problem. He likes to throw the Mater dive stick down to the bottom and wave bye to it, then asking us to get it for him. I am so glad they are both loving the water!

We also celebrated Father's Day this month. It was just a low key day hanging out at home and swimming. Then we had steak for dinner. It was a much needed relaxing day.

We are getting ready for our trip to Michigan in a few weeks. Traveling with two kids requires lots of prep! Especially since this is the first time we have flown with kids. It will definitely be a new experience for everyone, but we are all excited! It will be a busy trip with lots of activities already planned. I can't wait to get the boys up north to Hubbard Lake for the first time.

30, Mother's Day, 7 years

It has really been non stop here since March. I don't think we have had a free weekend since then actually. And I think May has been the busiest so far. This weekend we will have a chance to relax some finally.

We started May off with my 30th birthday. That seems crazy. I was pretty sure I wasn't older than 26. But I can't really complain. I couldn't ask to be in a better place in life right now. A great husband, two adorable and amazing little boys, my dream job, a nice house. I mean really, it doesn't get much better than that. To celebrate, Josh threw a surprise party. Which is a difficult feat since I am not gone very often. So it was kind of a backwards surprise party in that I was already here and people just started showing up. It was a great evening with our family and friends. I also got a fun new camera to play with. A good camera that helps me catch the boys doing something cute while they're still doing it instead of after the moment has passed!

For Mother's Day this year we headed to brunch then to my mom's to plant flowers for her. It was pretty low key other than that. The boys played in the little pool grammy bought last year. Well Jacob played and Owen wanted to but the water was cold so he wasn't a fan of being in it and he couldn't make up his mind about what he wanted to do.

Next up was our anniversary. 7 years. It is crazy to think about where we were and what we were doing 7 years ago. I was still in school, Josh was still at the Y. Those things seem so far away now. We have done so much and come so far since then, but at the same time it doesn't seem like it has been 7 years! Josh surprised me by taking me to a Dave Matthews Band concert the weekend before our anniversary. He arranged for my mom to come watch the boys and just told me we were going somewhere outside. We had a great time at the concert and it was a fabulous surprise! Josh got tickets to a Cowboys game, but obviously he has to wait until the fall to go to that.

These events probably all deserved their own posts, but time is not my friend lately! So some pictures to go with this post.

Playing with my new camera and a great picture of flying baby

 

Mother's Day

 

Mother's Day again, with my boys

 

This is not warm like my bath water!

 

Splashing around

 

Much happier playing on the side of the pool

 

Before church this morning. They are adorable.

1 year check up

We had Owen's one year check up a few weeks ago. (And have been super busy so I haven't had much time to update). He is still big but not as big as he has been, but significantly bigger than Jacob at this age. He is walking everywhere, and trying to run. He gave himself his first black eye by running then falling into the window sill. He eats a ton and likes most food. He still only says mama with an occasional baba in there, but  he signs please, more and thank you and makes car and dog noises. Although he has absolutely no problem telling us what he wants most of the time. If he wants to nurse he pulls on my shirt and signs please, if he wants a snack he goes to the pantry and bangs on the door or if it is open at all just grabs what  he wants (He half climbed the shelves one day to get the graham crackers down), or he will grunt and point at what he wants. The grunting and pointing is generally the hardest part to decipher and sometimes takes us pointing to things to figure it out. And he understands almost all of what we say. We can tell him to go get something or give someone a hug and he will go do it. He climbs on his chair to sit in it and can climb up the steps on the slide in the backyard. He is working on getting down to one nap a day and about half of the time is taking one nap. And he is sleeping through the night most nights. Usually he wakes up between 5 and 6 to nurse once then goes back to sleep again until around 7. He still nurses anywhere from 5-7 times a day and shows no signs of weaning anytime soon. He still loves playing with Jacob and frequently just follows him around. He also has a weird love for Jacob's toothbrush which he can get out of the drawer in the bathroom so we have to keep the bathroom door shut now. And he is an expert at opening the dishwasher, according to him it is the best toy ever. He loves bath time, as long as the water isn't cold when he gets in. And he loves reading. He will grab a book off his bookshelf or Jacob's and bring it to us signing please.

One year stats:
Weight:  25lbs   79%
Length:  30in     57%
Head:     19 in    92% (our kids have big heads)

Owen's birthday party

We had Owen's party on Saturday. It was great! We celebrated with a bunch of our friends at our house. It turned out to be a gorgeous day so the kids got to play outside. We did "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" for the theme and it turned out awesome. We served all the foods from the book and had a caterpillar cake/cupcakes. I was really proud of my non-crafty self making a bunch of the decorations. Jacob had a blast playing with his friends and Owen just walked around visiting, then begging for food and eating a ton. Jacob helped Owen open his presents and of course wanted to help him play with them too. Owen tore into his cake afterwards. He had red icing all over his face. He also got his first taste of ice cream and loved it. His reaction to the cold was hilarious! We had such a great time celebrating Owen's first birthday and I am so glad we had out wonderful family and friends join us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sitting in his chair from Grammy

 

Opening presents

 

 

 

Singing happy birthday!

 

 

 

Enjoying the cake

 

Sweet boy sharing with daddy

 

Cold ice cream face