10 months

Today we celebrate 10 months in the life of Owen! In two short months, we'll be celebrating his 1st birthday. I can't believe it!

His stats (by my calculations):
Height: 28.5 inches
Weight: 20.8 pounds

At 10 months, he:

-is crawling all over the house. It is still on his stomach but he is fast! He is obsessed with finding power cords and the fireplace. He like to lick the tile hearth and beat on the glass of the gas logs. We are desperately trying to break the habit before winter comes and the gas logs are actually on.
-is sleeping 10 hours at night, taking 2 2-hour naps.
-is nursing 4x a day
-drinks water out of a sippy cup
-is eating more foods with his fingers. His favorite are Cheerios.
-is eating new foods this month: chicken, pork, pineapple, blackbeans, cheeries, cheese, potatoes, and rice.
-babbles up a storm (I wish we knew what he was saying!)
-waves bye-bye. We are working on the baby signs for all done and more but he hasn't shown them back.
-flirts with everyone we come in contact with in the grocery store
-is chewing on everything. We are now up to 4 teeth. 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom.
-loves to play peek-a-boo and banging things on the hardwood floors.
-loves books and being read to.
-loves to play in the bathtub and roll over while you are trying to change his diaper.
-is having mild separation anxiety when we leave him at church.

I'm sure there is more but I can't think of them right now.

Toy Recommendations

Hey moms out there! I need your help. Owen turns one in two months (whoa!) and I'm starting to think about what to get him. What do you recommend? What did your kids love to play with? Thanks!

Who needs a teething a ring?

...when you have a chair. Introducing our little beaver.

How can you not smile at that face?

I Can Do It By Myself

Lately Owen has been very difficult to feed. He has become rather discriminate about what is put in his mouth. He refuses to eat any homemade green vegetables but will eat the Gerber jar ones. We have also been trying to expand his palate and feed him dishes that somewhat resemble what we are eating. Tonight we had the Cox's famous chicken pie and thought it would be a great meal for Owen because it's basically chicken, cream of chicken, broth, flour, butter, and milk. Much to Jeremy's dismay, his son does not enjoy this dish as much as he does. He was holding his lips together refusing to move. We tried to trick him by alternating between it and hsi fruit. He's smart though and figured it out. In our final attempt, we put it in his hand (anything that gets into his hand goes straight to his mouth). The pictures below show Owen's "attempt" to feed himself. I'm not sure how much ended up in his tummy but he had fun doing it.

Look at these hands. He definitely needed a bath after this.

It's Your Own Fault

Owen fell asleep while eating breakfast this morning mid-bite. Jeremy was able to take his picture, wipe his face, remove the bib, get him out of the high chair, take him upstairs and put him in the crib without waking him up. This is what happens when you wake up at 3:45 then again at 5 am. He was ready to play at 5 am so Jeremy stayed up with him. They played awhile and then ate breakfast. This picture was snapped around 6:45. Crazy boy...just sleep later and you won't fall asleep at the breakfast table!

Reminiscing

Do you know where this is?
Or this? It's the beautiful view from Beacon Heights on the Blue Ridge Parkway outside of Blowing Rock, NC. For those who don't know, this where Jeremy and I went on first date in Boone and where he proposed. Sunday, while we were visiting J's family, we went back to visit this spot. We took a picnic and hiked up there for lunch.

Stopping along the path for a photo op. Owen had it easy; he got to ride up the mountain.Checking out the view.
J and Owen standing on the edge. I was one nervous mommy!
That's a long way down!
Mommy, do you always have to give me kisses?


Our little family on the rock face. It was fun to go back and spend some time there. Last time we were there, we were getting engaged. Now we've married for 5 years and have a son. Wow!

Oh What a Night...

July 10th marked our 5 year wedding anniversary. We have been blessed the last 5 years; no matter what the Lord has thrown at us we have come through it together even stronger. The last 5 years have been awesome! We have moved 3 different times, gone to seminary, were part of an amazing church, gone through multiple crazy jobs, and had a terrific son. Having Owen has not only brought us closer, but it has made me fall in love with him even more. There is nothing like seeing the man you love care for and love on your son that you created together. (I'll save you from all the mushiness as I wrote it in J's card.) We have had an amazing journey up to this point and I can't wait to see what the next 73 years bring (we're both planning on living until we are 100. :))

Originally I was bummed that were weren't going to be able to do anything special like a trip or anything because of finances. I should have known the Lord was looking out for me. :)


To celebrate the event, Jeremy planned a special date night. (Thanks Nana and Papa for babysitting! Hopefully next time he'll go to bed easier for you!) He made reservations at The Mint in downtown Raleigh for early in the evening. We got all dressed up (yeah I forgot to take pictures) and headed to Raleigh. Evidently we are old people already and eat dinner before most hip people in Raleigh so we were the only ones in the restaurant. Jeremy said he "arranged" for private dining. :) We had an AMAZING 3 course dinner! The manager found out it was our anniversary and gave us a gift certificate for 10% off the next time we came.

After dinner, Jeremy had plans for us to peruse an art gallery. Once we got there, it wasn't what we thought so we decided to find something else to do. I suggested we go down to the BTI Center and see if they had any cheap seats left for the play Jersey Boys.


Again the Lord's hand was at work..we found a parking space right in front of the theater (free!) and walked up to the ticket counter. Jeremy asked the lady about seats and she passed some tickets through the window. She told us they were free and to pay it forward to someone else! FREE tickets!! Once inside the theater our seats were upgraded due to empty seats. (Later we looked to see how much those seats would have cost us...$85 a piece!!)

I cannot say enough about this play! Jeremy and I knew we would enjoy it but we didn't realize how much. The play is the story of how the group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons began. Their repertoire includes..Oh What a Night, Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like a Man, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, and Working My Way Back to You Babe. It was a great show that had you singing all the way through.

We had a wonderful evening full of food and music. It was so nice to spend time just the two of us and to celebrate all the Lord has blessed us with over the last 5 years!

This is what happens...

when your parents cut your hair. Poor Owen was the victim of J and I's haircutting efforts. Once slip of the scissors, and you get a short do. His forehead looks huge now!!

Need Your Help

Jeremy and I will celebrate our 5 year anniversary on Friday. We are hitting a mental block for something fun and creative to do. Money is tight right now so we have to take that in consideration. Do you have suggestions?

More 4th Pictures

My parents had some cute pictures on their camera from the 4th that I thought needed sharing.
Here is Owen in his new hat with his Papa.He slowly was warming up to it.
Owen's seat while we ate dinner. He loves this thing!

Gilligan's Island

We may need to call the fashion police on this one...

Though his ensemble doesn't match, isn't he the cutest? He thinks he is hot stuff here holding onto the coffee table while standing. (Both outfit pieces again another present from Nana and Papa. Thanks!)

4th of July Festivities

4th of July means food and family for us. This year we celebrated on my parents' new deck! Here is the grill master at work. The men sitting at the new bar.
Owen and his great Ma-Ma. Notice his baby's first 4th shirt. I really think the kids has had my first everything shirt thanks to my parents.
Our attempt at a family shot.
Owen is excited about the new deck!
But he wasn't too sure about Allison.
He finally passed out on the way home. Don't you just love the little golfer hat my dad bought him.


We had a great 4th! No fireworks but we enjoyed hanging out with family and having yummy food, esp. Dad's famous cooler chicken. :)

9 months

Owen turned 9 months on June 28th. He had his 9 month well checkup on Thursday and here are his stats:

Weight: 19 lbs. (down to 25th percentile)
Height: 28 ¾ inches (75th percentile)
Therefore he is tall and lean. Who would have guessed from looking at his parents?

This past month he really has come into his personality and makes us laugh all the time. He has found how to make fun sounds with his tongue and loves making a farting sound. He is constantly smiling or making fun faces. He loves to suck his lips in making him look like an old man without his dentures. He loves his mommy and daddy and loves giving them hugs. He lights up when one of us comes back in the room once we left. He has had some separation anxiety and we have had to be paged at church quite a few times. I think it was more that he was tired and they couldn’t get him to fall asleep so he got worked up.

He has two teeth on the bottom and has bitten me on 3 separate occasions, all while nursing. He is still breastfeeding 4 times a day. Before too long, it will be time to start weaning him. I really don’t think he’s going to have a hard time as he doesn’t seem to attach to the idea. He just likes the milk!

Food he has tried this month: blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, broccoli, and butterbeans. Just in the last few days, he has been refusing any vegetable we give him. I’m not excited about that and have got to find a way to get him to eat them. His favorite foods still remain to be banana and oatmeal. We have practiced some with a sippy cup but he still doesn’t get the concept of swallowing after he gets it out.

This past week he FINALLY started crawling! It is an army crawl but still he is on the move. He is fascinated with electronic devices and their cords so we have to be extra careful to put them out of his reach. He still loves to roll and if he can’t crawl to get it, he’ll just roll and roll to get it. He loves to stand and hold onto the ottoman. He isn’t pulling himself up yet but has made motions to start to. Jeremy said he took a few steps while holding onto the ottoman while I was in the shower but I haven’t seen it.

Sleeping wise he has improved. He is consistently taking 2 2-hour naps. He continues to go to bed somewhere between 7 and 8 and wakes up in the 5 o’clock hour. We are desperately trying to break that habit but everything we have tried seems to no avail. We have tried putting him to bed earlier and later.

My baby is really turning into a little boy! It's bittersweet because I want to see him grow big and strong, but I miss my cuddly little baby. It's so hard to believe we'll have to planning his 1st birthday party soon.

Vacation

Jeremy has been on vacation this week and Owen and I have enjoyed having him home so much! Vacation actually started last Friday around noon. Jeremy's parents came in to town and Owen had a blast playing with them. We celebrate my father-in-law's birthday with presents and a dinner made by yours truly. Saturday we all traveled to South Boston, Va to see Jeremy's cousin get married. After leaving there we traveled to Charlotte to spend a few days with my brother. Sunday we ate lunch with Jerem's brother Adrian and his girlfriend Jen. We saw Adrian's new house and did a little shopping at Concord Mills. Monday was pool day!

This was Owen's first trip to the pool and he was unsure what to think of it.

"Uncle BP, what are these silly people making me do?"Jeremy trying to help him kick his legs.
Whose that baby in your glasses?
Floating around...finally starting to enjoy the water.
Mommy, don't go far!
Thanks Uncle BP for rescuing me from the float.
Relaxing poolside.
"What happens if I pull this hair?"
Time to try off.
What a fun day at the pool!

The rest of the trip including a trip to Ikea, Coldstone, Panera, and Moe's. Yeah we ate a lot! We also played lots of Wii. We came back on Wednesday after lunch. Thursday we went to Owen's 9 month appoinment and finally on Friday we helped my dad stained his new deck. It's been a great week, full of family and rest. We are going to be really sad to see Monday come!