Back to Blogging

Blogging has fallen off my list very quickly as I went back to work. It wasn't until just this past week when a co-worker mentioned she stumbled upon my blog that it crossed my mind.
Elise has just celebrated her first birthday. Unlike Owen, who ate his entire piece of cake, Elise ate the fondant circles but had none of the cake. As I realize that neither kid is less than 1, I'm determined to (1) finish Owen's first year photo book and (2) start Elise's first year photo book. Perhaps by posting, it will actually happen. I won't hold my breath.

Foreshadowing

As I count down the days/weeks before I head back to work...3 weeks from tomorrow ... i realize that Elise's recent bottle taking dislike is going to be a problem. So, tonight we decided to see how long she would hold out - she went a good 6 hrs without bottle. She mimicked a flat board, screamed her head off, and even ate a rather large portion of rice cereal (mixed with the same liquid in the bottle) than take THE bottle. Houston, we might have a problem in 3 weeks.

Toddler Logic

I love toddler logic - makes you rethink what you say :)1. Connect the dots - we didn't give specific instructions on which dot to connect...he knew he was suppose to find a fish but kept asking 'where's the fish?'

2. Ice Cream Conversation
Owen: I want to eat some ice cream (as we were passing Graeters)
Me: Owen, it's too cold outside for ice cream
Owen: We can eat it inside - it's not cold inside

Ready for T-giving

Trick or Treat - check...We got lots of candy and our first family foto snapped. Race car driver Owen and Elise 'O Lantern survived the chilly night.

November is here! Owen is ready for his trip to RAP although he doesn't know it yet. We got him a little Owen size suitcase last weekend which gets rolled around the entire house, including the bathroom...3 weeks and counting!

A flash of Lisa

Although the weather was dreary this past weekend, it was a warm house here in Cincinnati with a great but short visit from Lisa. Owen was so excited and couldn't stop talking the entire 50min ride from our house to the airport to pick up Lisa.

On saturday, we checked out Applefest in Lebanon. Even though Lebanon is only 15 min up the road, I can't say I've really been to Lebanon but we will definitely make it back for numerous reasons. The applefest was a combination of craft fair and food fest. The highlights for Owen include seeing the Lebanon Train...and actually getting to eat an apple at applefest. (we heard his request for a solid 30 min before actually getting an apple)
Tom had a nice find with a local chocolate shop - I thought I would have to pry him from the store. They were yummy treats and I'm sure we'll be back for future visits.

Of course the weekend wouldn't be complete without story time with our guest...

forecasting a slow warm up...

With the arrival of Elise last week Monday, I was wondering how Owen would be adjusting. He did visit at the hospital on Monday in which he never got closer than 2 feet to either Elise or me. No hugs, nothing...I was only able to bribe him to be within arm's reach with some M&M's.

On Wednesday, I was released and Tom picked me up himself. Together, we went to pick up Owen from Barb's house. As soon as I walked in, Owen says Hi Mom - Go to work, I'm eating cereal...hmm, not the welcome I was hoping for. But by bedtime, he did say "Mom, I missed you."

On Thurs, Elise came home and Owen would not come anywhere near her. But by Friday, he did get within 3 feet of her and acknowledge Elise's presence. Today, was yet another step forward with willingness to sit on the couch next to Tom or I while we were holding Elise. He has yet to touch or hold her but perhaps by end of this week there will be a cute photo of Owen holding Elise. Until then, this is the official first photo of the siblings...

No shortage of cars here

We celebrated Owen's birthday today with a house full of chaos. Fun was had by all. The theme was Disney Cars and with that came many Cars presents. Thanks to everyone's generosity and I think Owen's car count went up at least 10 fold. If anyone would like to play with some cars, please stop over!
I decided to make my own cake this year and found a pic on the web that seemed easy to replicate. I was pretty happy with how it turned out and Owen thought it tasted pretty good, I think.

owen-isms

When I picked up Owen today, Madelyn had to show me her board of Owen-isms. I had to laugh. They always like to tell me stories of funny things Owen says but never knew they kept a board of their favorite ones!

Some of my favorites include:
- excuse me, i burped
- the pancake house
- pizza store
- i'm just not tired yet (as he's yawning)
- mmm...tasty
- not just yet (usual response to 'are you ready?')

Problem Solved

Tom was upstairs getting Owen into the bathtub while I'm downstairs cleaning a bit in preparation of Lisa & Bob's arrival tomorrow. Next thing I know Owen is headed back downstairs calling to me that he needs me to go upstairs. When asked why, he responds need to help Daddy, needs a kiss on his foot.

As I get into the bathroom where Tom is prepping Owen's bath, I asked what's up. I guess Owen accidentally jumped and landed on Tom's foot and he knows the magic fix to any boo boo is simply a kiss from Mom on the boo boo.

Enforcing manners

'buurrrrrp!'
Owen: What's that noise?
Tom: I burpped
Owen: dad, say 'excuse me'
Tom: Excuse me
Owen: that's better

I lost to a 5 yr old...

Yesterday, Owen and I were having a good time playing bubbles until he heard the creaking of the swing next store. Looking over he sees Kathyrn and he says to me " mom you play with bubbles, i just be right back". He leaves me sitting on our deck and makes a mad dash over the to playground to play with Kathryn. Now, if only he could swing by himself...

Catching Up with Von

I know I probably talk to my brother more often but he's not much of a phone person. I found him over IM to ask what was new - his response...

I got a new car
Refinanced my mortage
We are still planning on coming up for july 4
That the wedding last weekend, I saved a life - I saved someone from a bad date.

...yep, that's my brother.

good times had by all...

Sadly, our staycation is coming to an end but it is ending on a good note. Nana and Papa brought with them wonderful Sodus/Milwaukee like weather - sunny, highs in the upper 70's with a slight breeze so we had a chance to enjoy the new patio furniture :) well, except for last night when we had a few tornado funnel clouds and hail come down on us.

Owen had a great time and took liberty to give himself a temporary tattoo.

As usual, Nana and Papa helped us get our yard looking somewhat respectable ... but I'm sure Papa didn't plan on climbing trees!

We ended the weekend with taco dinner with the cetti's - how many toddlers can you fit on a step stool? ... and no, they weren't going for the effen vodka!

Staycation Update

Well, we are half way through our vacation week already! After the nasty pizza reguritation, Owen had a fever. However, the next morning we were definitely on the mend. He woke up and came into our room with teki in tow and pronouced that he can walk again!

On Tuesday, we sent him to Morning's house while Tom and I had a day to ourselves - it was wonderful to relax and get some things done around the house without a 2 year old demanding attention. We were able to shop in IKEA with ease...we got some new lamps for our living room.

Of course, it wasn't without additional excitement as Tom and I got a call from Barb saying she thinks that Owen might be coming down with Chicken Pox...thank goodness it wasn't - just viral rash most likely associated with the fever he had. But for a while, I was trying to figure out what I needed to do being I've never had the chicken pox and read up on how it can hurt the baby!

Today, we started the morning off right (finally!) with Owen sleeping in until after 8am - then we got dressed and headed to the 'pancake house', aka First Watch, for some yummy breakfast where Owen has decided he likes the taste of creamer. He helps us pour it into our coffee and then licks the remaining drop out of the container. I'm sure you can guess what Owen had for breakfast :) Now, we await the arrival of nana and papa.

starting out on the wrong foot...

We decided to do a 'staycation' as its being termed these days. We took off memorial week knowing that Tom wouldn't be able to take time off the month of June and July due to his project at work. So, yesterday started our staycation in cincinnati. We started the day the way we normally start a saturday - going to 'class'. Owen had his tumbling class and then we headed home for some lunch and naptime. After naptime, something happened while putting some markers away because he started limping and then would put no weight on it.

Today was no better, at first we were able to get him to take 5-6 steps as he hopped into the Acadia from the back door and walking to his seat however after that all he could tell us was that he can't walk right now. We decided to visit the Taste of cincinnati today for lunch in which Owen wolfed down an entire slice of pizza that came right back up on the way home. Yes, motherhood isn't always pretty as I sat pretty much the entire way home with a handful of vomit and trying to keep Owen calm. (who did not cry and only proclaimed that he made a mess)

Hopefully, the week to come will be better...

I declare VICTORY!

As my very confident husband said last weekend...read 'em and weep ;)

games, games, games

Here are a few pics from our Christmas holiday. We had spent most of it trying to stay warm, relax, and spending time with family. One night we did go out with my HS friends for our yearly Christmas get together. We decided on Stonefire Pizza this year since we are starting to have kids so we are looking for places which are kid friendly. It was the perfect place for both the little & big kids. The best way to describe this place is that it's a collison of Chuck 'n Chesse and Dave & Busters with a pizza buffet. They had an area for little kids (under 4) to play as well as a bigger area. Tom & Owen got into a serious game of bowling - I'm not sure who won. Then they teamed up to take down SkeeBall however, not many tickets were won.

Before we left, we had spent some time at Von's house where we broke in his new Rock Band for the XBox 360. We had it all planned out - We would arrive a little before Owen's nap time and convince him to nap in Uncle Von's bed while we then would begin forming our band, 'The Gong Show'. Owen did nap for a bit however when he got up, he wanted to have his turn on the drums.

Lisa/Carol - the best part...after he was done performing, he picked up after himself - he made sure to push it across the room to its proper resting/storage place.

keeping order with legos

It was an Owen & Wendy day today. Lucky me, we got MLK day off and decided to spend it at the Children's Museum. We got there pretty early in the moring (about 1/2 hour after it opened) and I was surprised to see all the cars but knew they had a special exhibit going on...What I didn't expect was the widget zoo at the Children's museum! There were SO many kids that it was a little scary. All I can say is that parents need to do parenting sometimes. Owen was quite adventurous and we explored a section which we hadn't explored in the past - an area where the bigger kids tended to play. We had a blast hammering nails and twisting screws - i think he was inspired by all the time spent putting his room together.

What cracked me up the most was what he built over in the lego section. There were all sorts of towers being built and endless pieces to build them with...instead, Owen's orderly side took over -

no couch potatoes here

Yikes! It's been forever since I blogged - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone. We got back into town on the 31st and rung in the new year here. Tom & I also resolved that our first project for 2009 was to get Owen a proper bed (he only has a mattress on the floor) which prompted us to begin painting his room. It wasn't that simple, we needed to do some musical beds and extra furniture to empty the room which helped to identify project #2 - painting the basement bedroom so that our next guest wouldn't have to try falling asleep with the orange walls screaming at them. The first week of work felt very long after 2 weeks of vacation bliss. Friday couldn't come soon enough and we made sure to celebrate the first weekend of 2009 with Don Q.

We woke up saturday morning to no cable - note: we still are without cable and not sure what went wrong, cableperson comes tomorrow. The weather was gray and icky and made for a prime couch potatoe weekend. However, I actually enjoyed this past weekend without the TV - I've been very productive with pulling together mom's birthday gift, finishing my book, and putting Owen's big boy bedroom together. We shopped at IKEA on Saturday, spent 2 hrs and could've probably spent another if we had the option. I've put together the nightstand and dresser with Owen's help finding the hardware needed to assemble as well as his pretend screwdriver handy work.

Luckily, our internet works and so Owen & Maia had a chance to draw together.

Winter Wonderland

We're up in Milwaukee for Christmas. We decided to leave a day early so that we would improve our chances for not having to drive through a snow storm. I didn't realize all the snow that was already on the ground - we will definitely be having a white Christmas!