Owen is 2!

Owen,

You are 2 years old!!!!  Where does the time go my sweet little boy?  We cannot believe how much you have grown! You are really getting tall and are pretty much in 2T clothes now and size 6 (almost 7) shoes. 

You love to run, kick and throw a ball, form sentences, wrestle "body slam" daddy, laugh, read books, play with cars, go to the park and the library, "ride" your bike (you can't reach the pedals yet), play outside, go on walks with mommy in your wagon or your push bike, watch "Mickey Mouse" and "Elmo" and snuggle!  You are very active and on the go, but you still take a good nap.

You usually go to bed at 7 and wake up between 6:45-7.  You take a nap at 11 or 12 and will sleep from 2-3 hours.  You have always been a good sleeper little buddy and we are very grateful for that!  You got a big boy bed in February and you are sleeping great in it! 

You had your 2nd birthday party Saturday March 3rd at Fun City Pizza.  Your cousins Jada, Jaxon, Ben, Jack, and Emma were there as well as Mawmaw, Pawpaw, Mimi, Grand dad, Aunt Jeralyn, Aunt Janna, Uncle Justin, and of course Mommy and Daddy.  You had so much playing the games (especially throwing the balls at the ski ball tables), eating pizza and cake, riding the rides, and playing on the slide.  You love your presents you got too!  You got your own toy laptop, toy cellphone, a lot of clothes, shoes, pajamas, puzzles, legos, bowls and spoons, sippy cups, bubble lawn mower, books, alphabet letters for the bathtub, and a giftcard!  You see my little man, you are very loved!!! 

Your little life has gone through so many changes these last 2 months.  We moved to a new state and a new house, you are going to be a big brother, daddy got a new job, and you are getting your molars in.  You have always adjusted well to change and are a just go with the flow kind of kid. 

We went to Uncle Brian's house by Baton Rouge for Thanksgiving and you spent time with mommy's side of the family, then we went to Aunt Janna's house the weekend before Christmas to spend time with mommy's side of the family, and we went to Little Rock for Christmas and you spent time with daddy's side of the family.  You had so much fun seeing everyone and are such a good traveler.  You also loved all of your Christmas presents!

We love you so much and can't wait to continue watching you grow!  You bring so much joy and laughter to our lives and we cannot even remember what life was like without you.  We can't believe that in just 2 1/2 months you will be a big brother!  You will do so great in this new role and we know you will be our little helper. 

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Baby Boy #2

Baby boy #2,

In August, we found out we were pregnant with you little one!  We had only been trying for two months (sorry if TMI) and were thrilled to find out we would be giving Owen a sibling.  All of your ultrasounds have been wonderful.  We have heard your strong heartbeat, seen you moving around, and got to see your little features.  Your pregnancy is unique because you have already lived in Oklahoma and now Arkansas while in mommy's tummy!  You will be born a Razorback!  We were told before we moved from Oklahoma that our dr. was pretty sure you were a girl.  BUT...when we moved to Arkansas and had our 20 week ultrasound, your third leg was revealed.  We couldn't be more thrilled that you are a boy!!!!  We are so excited for all of the wrestling, cars, playing outside, and sports that we will get to enjoy with your brother and you.  Our prayer is that you both grow up to be each other's best friends and grow up to be men of God!  We cannot wait to see what your personality is like and if you look like your mommy, daddy, brother, or yourself!  I love feeling you kick and punch in my belly and recently your daddy has been feeling you too!  Your due date is May 28th, although we know you will come whenever you are ready.  We can't wait to meet you little guy!  We are really close to having your name picked out and want it to have a strong meaning like your brother's does.

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, and Owen

Owen 18 months!

Sweet Owen,

You are 18 months old!  Where does the time go?  Your daddy and I were commenting today how you look like such a big boy now.  You have gotten so tall and have quite the personality.

You will eat anything my dear. You are such a good eater and have never been picky.  Your favorites are anything with spaghetti sauce or cheese. 

You are now walking everywhere and are so close to running.   You are getting faster and faster everyday.  We love watching you when you play, because you will squat down to play with your toys.

Your favorite activities are hide and seek (I usually do all the hiding though), peek a boo, singing songs, playing outside, going to the park, anything with music, balls, cars (you've recently started making noises like "vroom vroom" while playing), playing in any water, playing in sand, going on walks, "talking" on the phone, being tickled, reading books with mommy or daddy or to yourself, playing in your room by yourself, and any organizational toy.  We have begun working on colors and letters and you are loving this.  You aren't quite getting it yet,  but I know you will. 

You don't watch a lot of tv, but maybe one show a day.  The only shows you like right now are "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" or "Yo Gabba Gabba." 

You LOVE to talk and although we can't understand you when you really get going sometimes, you are so adorable.  You know where your belly button, nose, mouth, and toes are.   You say car, ball, mommy, daddy, Mawmaw, Pawpaw, Mimi, dog, belly, milk, more, juice, book, and many many more things.  You are very smart and you learn things very quickly. 

You love to give kisses and hugs, high five, knuckles, put clothes in the dryer, turn on and off lights, close doors, throw things away, pick up your toys, and snuggle.  You are our little helper and we love how you love to help. 

Some funny things you have begun doing are barking like a dog when you hear one, telling yourself no no if you know you are doing something you aren't supposed to, walking all over the house talking on the phone, climbing on and off the couch a hundred times in a row, closing the door in our face and saying bye bye as loud as you can, dancing when you hear music anywhere, and laughing when you hear us laughing even if you don't know whats funny.

You are getting your molars in and you are not happy about it.  You have always been a slow teether and we will get through this my little one. 

You are so sweet, loving, fun, hilarious, and a delight to be around.  We get compliments all the time about how well behaved you are and about your red hair and blue eyes.  We love you so much and can't wait to continue to watch you grow baby boy.

Love,

Momma and Dadda

Owen 1 year!

Sweet Owen,

You are 1 years old!  This year has flown by!  Your dad and I love you so much and we know that our love will only grow more and more each year.  You are an absolute delight and we love being your parents.  You are so much fun and we love watching your unique personality develop.  You are quiet and analytical and will sit by one toy or something unfamiliar and try to figure it out.  You also can get upset if you can't figure something out or don't like it.  We think you have a mixture of our two personalities and we love it!  You are developing into a curious little toddler, and one day you will be a little boy, then a teenager, then a man.  We want to raise you to love Jesus and to grow into the man of God that He created you to be.  When we decided to become parents, we could have not asked God for a better son.  You have totally surpassed our expectations of what we thought being parents would be like.  We are so lucky to have you in our lives and we can't wait to continue this adventure of life with you. 

Love always,


Momma and Dadda

Owen 11 months

Sweet boy,

You are 11 months old!  In exactly one month, we will celebrate you being here with us for a full year!  You are such an amazing addition to our family and we truly love you more and more each day. 

You are still crawling everywhere and aren't really showing any interest in walking yet.  That's ok son, because your dad and I were both late walkers.  It must run in the family!  When you see or hear something you really want get to, you will crawl really fast, almost like you are running, and will make a really excited noise.  You are constantly crawling with something in one of your hands.  We say that you can't leave a toy behind!  You also love to stand up by holding anything and everything.

This month, you have become very independent with eating.  You LOVE to feed yourself and we are starting to offer you more foods.  You have had fish, homemade pizza, peas, carrots, grilled cheese, maccaroni, waffles, toast, and anything else that is easy for you to pick up and gum.  You refuse to take a sippy cup with milk, juice, or water and will either throw it on the floor or push it away when we give it to you.  We have also tried different kinds of sippy cups and you are just not having it.  What can I say, you love your bottle!

Since getting tubes, you have felt a lot better!  You have started experimenting with making a lot more sounds and just seem to be in a lot better mood!  Now, you are working on getting more teeth.  You have white spots on several spots on your gums and we are wondering if you are about to have a bunch of teeth appear at the same time!

We haven't weighed or measured you this month, but I know you are growing!  You are outgrowing a lot of your clothes and you just look long like your daddy.

This month, your new favorite word is mama.  That's right, mama.  You say it all the time now!  You used to call everything dadda and now everything is mama, including me!  You also love to echo sounds and will say "uh" when I say "uh oh." 

You love to read books, play with balls or anything else that you can bang on the floor, you are beginning to roll cars, and you love music! 

You will reach out to be held and just recently you started reaching your arm towards something you want.  I love that you are starting to become more independent and your personality is really starting to show! 

You truly are the sweetest baby.  Everyone we meet comments on your red hair, how good you are, or that you are so cute!  You really are all of these things and we cannot imagine our lives without you!

Owen 10 months

Sweet baby,

You are 10 months old!  We are very soon going to start planning your one year birthday party and I hate to admit it, but I get tears just thinking about how big you are already getting!  You have no idea how much joy you bring to our lives!

You are still crawling everywhere!  You are pulling up on everything still and you are starting to cruise while holding onto furniture!  This month, you have also begun to dance!  It is absolutely the cutest thing ever!!!!  You will be standing, crawling, or kneeling and will hear a song and will just start bouncing up and down.  I guess you had no choice but to like music!

You are starting to eat more foods like waffles or toast, cheese, and carrots. You are still taking stage 3 babyfood too.  You are eating snacks once-twice a day now and you like Gerber puffs, pinwheels, cheetos, and Yogurt melts.  You are down to 16 ounces which means only 3 bottles now!  You are starting to take to your sippy cup more now and are starting to hold it by yourself.  You make this cute face where you make your lips look like a monkey when you are really concentrating on picking up food.  It is so cute!

Poor baby, I'm sorry to tell you that you will be getting tubes in your ears this month.  You have either had one long ear infection, or four in a row.   You are on your fourth round of antibiotics and each one has been different.  You also had to get an antibiotic a shot in both thighs. We hate how you had a week where you woke up in the middle of the night, diarrhea, fever, and pulling on your ears.  These last two months, you have been a trooper and have still been such a sweetie throughout this whole ordeal.  We are so excited for you to start feeling better.

You weigh 22 pounds this month!  You are growing like a weed and probably by 5th grade you will either  be as tall or taller than me!  This month, we have really seen a change in your face.  You are looking so much older and are growing into such a handsome little guy! 

You will suck your thumb to soothe yourself when you're tired.  This is always our cue that you need a nap or that you have just had enough!

You are still babbling by saying "dadada" or "bababa".  You started saying a bunch of gar and gr sounds this month too. 

You are so funny when you're tired.  You will start making the funniest noises that sound like you are clearing your throat really loudly.  When you do this, we will do it back to you, and we will go back and forth over and over.  You think it is so funny!

You have started to enjoy peekaboo this month and I will hide behind anything or just my hands and you will giggle when you see me!  Your laugh is so contagious and we absolutely love to hear you giggle!  Your other new favorite thing to do is when I roll the ball to you, you will throw it to me!  You will smile as we do this over and over!  You are also really starting to enjoy hearing stories more and you love looking at the pictures!  It is so sweet to see you as you look at the pictures, or turn the pages. 

You have a tooth cutting through on the top and so with this and the ear infections, you are not a happy camper at times!  I love your little teethy grin!

You had your first Christmas this month!  You had a Christmas with MiMi at our house first, then we traveled all the way to Louisiana for you to meet all of MawMaw's family!  You did soooo good in the car and only had two minor meltdowns.  They loved you and kept commenting on how sweet and laid back you are. Oh yeah, and they also kept saying that you are a big boy!  You didn't really understand the whole Christmas thing.  I would open presents for you and then you would just stare at me or the present like "what is this?"  Now you have a million toys and you are having so much fun exploring all of them! 

Love you pumkin! 

Owen 9 months

Baby boy,

You are now 9 months old!  I know I say this every month, but I seriously can't believe it.  In only 3 short months, we will be celebrating one whole year of you being alive!

This month, you have started crawling really fast.  When you spot someone or something you are excited to crawl to, you will crawl really fast, get a huge smile on your face, and start panting.  It is the cutest thing ever.  You have also learned how to pull up on pretty much anything and everything now, and recently started to use your walker to take steps.  You are literally growing up right before our eyes!

You are starting to eat a little bit more finger foods and you are not quite sure about them yet.  We love your funny face when you eat something you are unsure of.  You are eating stage 3 foods now and you are still taking 4 bottles a day. 

You have another ear infection this month and this time it is a double!  You are such a good baby that you never even let us know that you are hurting.  The only reason we went to the dr. in the first place was because you have had this cough for a long time, a runny nose, and your eyes just looked like you didn't feel well.  Hopefully after this round of antibiotics, we are done with ear infections for a while!

You weigh 20.5 pounds and are 29.5 inches long.  You are growing out of some of your 12 month clothes!  I should have known you would be long like your daddy.  It is hard to believe that you started as this tiny little guy who has grown into my big baby! 

You are saying, "babababa" all the time now and just tonight actually you finally said mama (although I don't think you knew you did.)  I loved it and almost cried though.  You are also starting to make a bunch of noises using your tongue and while doing that spit flies everywhere.  Recently while saying "baba", you will say it really loud and it sounds like a squeal.  We laugh so hard every time you do it.

You have 2 bottom teeth now, but that is it.  I think you will get more soon because you are gnawing on everything in sight.

You met mommy's grandma in October and you got to meet a lot of family in daddy's family this month at Thanksgiving including Memo.  You will get to meet all of mommy's Louisiana family next month at Christmas.  You are such a good traveler, and as usual, are the most content baby in the world.

We hear almost daily from Mrs. Shelley or church nursery workers that you are the happiest, most easy going baby in the world.  Someone told me that if she had octuplets, she would want eight of you.  You see my darling, everyone loves you so much!

We love you so much baby and can't say enough how lucky we are to have you and how greatly you have blessed our lives.