May 30, 2010

Another Comparison...

Austin's 1st Bath

Owen's 1st Bath

Austin in the swing

Owen, in the same outfit, in the same swing!

While you can still certainly tell they're related, I can't believe how much Owen is changing and how different he is starting to look.  I can't wait to do compare them again in a few more weeks!

May 29, 2010

1st Bath

Owen had his first bath last week and just loved it!!  He was completely quiet and calm through the entire thing, even having his hair washed!  He was not, however, very pleased when I it was time to get out and dry off.






Making His Mark

As much as Austin loves to color/draw/make his mark on anything and everything possible....I've been trying to find new ways to let him indulge without having to clean up a huge mess afterwards.  Color Wonder has been a lifesaver and although still a bit messy...we've found that chalk wipes off fairly easily.  Here is Austin demonstrating some of these new found pleasures:


Enjoying his Color Wonder markers on the car ride to Columbia!  Also, his new car seat tray works great for coloring and for eating snacks in the car!!




Color Wonder finger paints are lots of fun too!!  Towards the end he was more interested in opening and closing the lids, but there was plenty of finger paintin' fun to be had!


He LOVES his new easel that we found at a garage sale for only $5!!  Chalk marks have randomly appeared on our carpet, coffee table and wall...but a quick wipe down was all they needed.  We also take the chalk on the driveway which is tons of fun for both Austin and mommy.  Who doesn't like to draw pretty pictures with chalk? :)

May 28, 2010

Columbia Visit

Last weekend Ryan was in a bowling tournament in Columbia with his dad, so he dropped me and the boys off at my parents house for the afternoon to hang out.  My sister and Nick were there and Keri, Shawn & Kylie stopped by too.  It was so great to see everyone and Austin had a FANTASTIC time!!  He just adores his aunt and uncle-to-be and had the best time playing golf and swimming with his papa!  He pitched a fit when Catherine and Nick had to leave and went chasing his papa down the hall yelling "papa! papa!" every time my dad walked out of the room.

My dad must have read the blog recently because he had Austin his very own golf set waiting for him at the house.  He's still trying to get the hang of it but got some great lessons from his papa!




Something else his papa taught him was how to jump off the side and into the pool!  He LOVED this and must have done it a hundred times.  We just have to work on his jumping out instead of straight up!  He sure is one fearless boy...and it really scares me sometimes!




And of course we can't forget about sweet baby Owen...
He did really well on his first road trip and pretty much slept all day in my arms or the arms of his aunt and Keri.  No one can resist snuggling a newborn baby!




Keri & Kylie Come Visit!

Last week my best friend, Keri, and her daughter Kylie traveled up to Greenville to come visit me and the boys! Kylie is going to be a big sister in July and got some practice holding a new baby.  She also got a taste of what life is going to be like with a toddler around because Austin is just in love with Kylie and wouldn't leave her alone all day!  He must have pushed her around on his toy train for an hour and loved playing with her Zhu Zhu pets.  I guess he knows a good lookin' girl when he sees one!!  Here are some pictures from their visit:



May 25, 2010

Random

As you can probably tell, the blog has been a bit neglected lately.  It's truly hard to find the time now to sit down at the computer for more than a couple minutes without a child attached to me!  However, both boys are currently snoozing away and my house is clean, so it's time for some me time.  Yeah, I probably should be sleeping too, but maybe I'll try that tomorrow (if I'm lucky enough for this rare occurrence to happen twice in a row)!

I do quickly want to mention something I find a little odd...

Owen lost his umbilical cord stump yesterday.  And when I say lost...I really mean lost!  We have no idea where it is and just noticed its disappearance during a diaper change yesterday evening.  The same exact thing happened with Austin...it just disappeared never to be seen again!

I find it extremely odd that we never saw the umbilical cord stumps from either of our boys after they fell off.  Is there an umbilical cord fairy that I don't know about...kind of like the tooth fairy but without the money under your pillow?  I am seriously stumped!  (no pun intended)

But in any case, be on the look out for some first bath pictures any day now.  I'm thrilled we finally get to bathe the little guy in his infant bathtub!!

Kick the Ball

If you have met my son then you know for a fact that his favorite word of all time is "Ball."  Austin's new favorite phrase has now become "Kick the ball!"  Here he is demonstrating just that...

Showing Off...

Austin has always been a "late bloomer" in the tooth department, but they have all decided that it's finally about time to start popping up!  Look at that mouth full of chompers....


On a side note...Man I love that boy!!!  :-)

Sneak Peek!

Last week we had Owen's newborn photo shoot.  Here's a sneak peek at some of his adorable photos!




Day 1



Last week was my first week at home alone with both boys.  I was so nervous as I watched Ryan walk out the front door on Monday morning, but the week went by quickly and pretty smoothly.  It's going to take some getting used to...but at least I know I can do it!  Here's how our first day went...

Monday:  The day was finally here...the day I had been dreading since we got home from the hospital...the day Ryan went back to work full-time.  It wasn't so much that I was dreading being alone with my boys, although a bit scary, I just didn't want my husband to leave!!  It was SO nice having him home for a few days and Austin had so much fun playing with daddy all week!  It was a great week to get adjusted to our new life and I was able to get some sleep and bond with Owen while Ryan entertained Austin.

Well, Monday morning both Austin and Owen decided to wake up about the same time.  I had to feed Owen while Ryan got Austin out of bed.  Ryan eventually left for work and Austin was very sad to see his daddy go.    I turned on Austin's new favorite show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and cuddled Owen for several minutes while Austin was entertained.  Owen decided he was going to be awake ALL morning though and didn't want me to put him down.  Austin also wanted cuddle time so we basically spent our first morning on the couch with Owen in my arms and Austin crawling all over me as we watched Nick Jr. and I tried to keep Austin from knocking the new baby in the face or head with one of his flailing appendages.

Eventually it came time for Austin's nap (hallelujah!) and wouldn't you know it, baby Owen decided he was starving about the same time I started up the stairs with Austin.  I had to forfeit our nap time ritual of the ABC and Jesus Loves Me books to run downstairs and check on Owen who was red-faced and screaming by that time.  Austin took a nice long nap though and Owen eventually drifted off.  I tried to nap but the overwhelming need to clean my messy house set in and tidied up instead.  Rookie mistake!

That night Ryan had a softball game so bedtime was completely up to me.  Just getting Austin fed, bathed, and jammied was difficult enough with the constant breaks to soothe and/or feed Owen.  He must have sensed something was new because, like I said, he was awake ALL DAY!  I finally started up the stairs with my tired, teething toddler and sure enough, halfway up the stairs I hear Owen starting to wail!  This time when I dropped Austin off in the crib though, he was none too happy about me rushing out.  By the time I was downstairs to calm Owen, Austin decided to let me have it.  I popped the paci in Owen's mouth and ran up the stairs with Motrin and Orajel for Austin.  And as I walked back into Austin's room, I could hear Owen screaming again.  I just had to ignore him for a few minutes to get Austin settled down and hearing my baby crying downstairs was killing me!  I felt a panic attack coming on and broke out into a cold sweat.  Why, oh why, was this happening on the only night Ryan was gone!  Our pediatrician warned me that the hardest thing about having two children would be deciding which child to go to when they were both unhappy.  He advised me to choose Austin at first since he will remember I let him cry whereas Owen will not.  I took his advice but MAN was it hard!!

Eventually Austin was sound asleep and by the time I was back downstairs, Owen had cried his little self to sleep.  I whisked him into my arms anyway and those hormones took control.  Ryan walked in the door a few minutes later and I just started to ball!!  I must have looked pretty pitiful because the next morning Ryan got up with Austin at 7am and let me and Owen cuddle in bed for 2 more hours.  What a good hubby I have!!

The rest of the week went a lot smoother but I'm sure there will be many more days when I just want to curl up in a ball and pull my hair out.  To quote Kate Gosselin, "It may be a crazy life, but it's OUR life!"

May 18, 2010

Austin at 19 Months




- Austin has recently decided that he is no longer interested in eating lunch.  I'm lucky if I get some applesauce and a few Teddy Grahams in his belly.

-We may have the next Tiger Woods in our midst (minus all the sexual misconduct I should hope).  Austin loves to take my hair brush and hit his toy balls around the house with it like he's playing golf.  I think it's time to get this boy some golf clubs!!

-Speaking of hair brushes, Austin steals them...all.the.time!  (See above picture) I have to hide my favorite one from him so that I have access to it when I need it.  When he steals a hair brush he either uses it as a golf club or hides it somewhere around the house.  Occasionally he uses it to brush his hair, or mine, which usually consists of him just beating me in the head with the brush...

-Austin can count to ten almost completely unassisted.  He now loves numbers even more than letters and counts everything!  This morning he was counting Owen's toes while I was feeding him. :)

-Austin is a great big brother!!  He gives Owen kisses and hugs all the time (although not always as gentle as we'd like them to be).  He also loves to bring Owen his paci and blankie whenever we've left them behind.  He tries to rock him in the swing as well...which is why I can't leave Owen in the swing when I'm not able to be at least 3 feet away or less...  Austin is still learning the words "slow" and "gentle."

-Toy cars are a new favorite.  He drives them across all the furniture as well as me and Ryan yelling "vroom, vroom!"

-I just can not keep clothes on this boy!  From the moment he wakes up he is tugging at his jammies and trying to get them off.  He then runs away and fights me when I try to get a shirt over his head.  Needless to say, most days he cruises around the house in just a diaper.

-Austin is starting to put together 2 word phrases, most have the word "go" in them.  For example:  Car go, dada go?, ball go.  He also says "ready, set, go" in his own jumbled toddler language before taking off at mach 5 speed down the hallway.

-We think Austin is going to be a lefty.  He throws and eats with his left hand most of the time.

-Jumping, running and galloping are his preferred methods of getting around.

-He's STILL obsessed with balls.  We had to buy 2 golf balls (one for each hand of course) at our neighborhood garage sale this weekend because he found them sitting in a box on the ground and absolutely would not let them go.  He even carried them to the pool later than evening until we realized that Austin + golf balls + pool full of small children = injury waiting to happen.

-Austin got his second hair cut this month after daddy's constant pressuring.  I think short hair makes him look too grown up.

May 17, 2010

Comparison

Austin - 1 Day Old


Owen - 1 Day Old

2 Weeks!


Owen had a weight check last Friday and I'm happy to report that my new baby boy is doing fantastic!!  In fact, he is already breaking records.  At his first appointment he was 7 lbs. 7 oz. which was a big drop from his birth weight of 8 lbs. 1 oz.  Well...in one weeks time he jumped up to 8 lbs. 10 ozs.!!!  Needless to say, we were all pretty shocked, including his pediatrician!  I guess I should have expected this considering he seems to want to eat constantly.

In other news, at almost two weeks, this sweet boy is already defying everything I learned about infants from Austin.  I can hardly believe how different my two boys are.

-Owen caught on to the whole breastfeeding thing in no time, unlike Austin who had significant troubles in the beginning.  He's a fantastic nurser, although I could certainly do without the cluster feedings!

-Owen had his first bottle this weekend because mommy desperately needed a break and he took to it like a champ!  We tried out Austin on almost every bottle out there before we found one that agreed with him.  He's doing great at going back and forth between bottle and breast feeding.

-Austin was a paci lovin' little dude from the day he was born, but Owen doesn't care for the paci unless it's getting close to feeding time.  It will calm him for about 10 minutes but then he's ready for the real deal!

-I think we swaddled Austin constantly for his first several months, but Owen can't stand it!  I thought all babies liked to be swaddled, but this little guy likes his space.  That being said, he loves to cuddle and falls asleep almost instantly when curled up in my arms.

-Owen loves his baths!  Obviously we can't submerge him just yet because his cord hasn't fallen off, but I get in the bath and hold him and pour water over him and he loves it!  He hasn't cried a single time...until it's time to get out.

-Austin was great about going at least 2.5-3 hours between each feeding.  We never seem to know when Owen is going to decide he's ready to eat though.  Sometimes he'll go an hour and sometimes 3.  It's a guessing game I'm not particularly fond of.

These past 2 weeks have been a struggle, an adventure, pretty stressful at times, but a lot of fun.  I really can't wait to see what the next few weeks have in store!

Ohm...


Owen is already practicing his baby yoga!

May 15, 2010

Day at the Pool!

Our neighborhood pool opened this weekend and we decided to venture out with the two boys and enjoy an evening in the sun and water.  Well...Austin and daddy enjoyed the water while Owen and I watched.  There's no way I was getting in a swimsuit less than 2 weeks after giving birth!!  :-)

Austin, of course, had a fantastic time swimming and playing with the other neighborhood kids and Owen seemed to enjoy being outside in the fresh air.  I have a feeling we'll be spending a lot of time at the pool this summer.  We had to drag Austin away kicking and screaming!






May 13, 2010

Owen & Salem

My friend Aaron just had her sweet baby girl, Salem, 9 short weeks ago.  Yesterday, Aaron and Salem came for a visit!  Austin may already be promised to Sofia, but as long as she likes younger men, I think Salem and Owen would make a fantastic pair!


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