Thanksgiving 2010

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving this year in Columbia with the Banks side of the family and a couple of friends.  The food was terrific as always but Austin and Owen just had to take our word for it.  Obviously Owen is a bit too young for turkey, but Austin was just being plain picky.  He declined all the delicious homemade food and opted for the turkey Lunchable I packed as a 'just in case.'  He did, however, enjoy the cookies Aunt Ca Ca made and the cake from Aunt Geri.  Everyone else really enjoyed feeding him said sweets because they are all suckers for an adorable 2 year old.  Several people even caught him in the kitchen sticking his fingers in the cake and scooping icing into his mouth.  I let it slide since it was a holiday and pretty much just refused to feed him anything with sugar in it for the rest of the weekend to give his body time to adjust.  That boy has a serious sweet tooth!

We spent the rest of the day talking, telling stories, looking through Black Friday ads and keeping the boys entertained.  I was really bad about taking pictures this year, but I did get a couple of Owen on his first Thanksgiving.  Also, Owen, who can't usually stay awake for longer than 2 hours at a time, did not nap the entire afternoon.  He amazes me with how content and happy he can be in public, even when he's to the point of utter exhaustion.  Austin is a different story completely and lets everyone know when he's tired!! Both boys were sound asleep by the time we hit the interstate on the way home.  It was a good day, the pictures don't do it justice.

Austin loved being pulled around by Papa in our old wagon

Owen showing off his standing skills 

The only somewhat decent picture of me and my baby boy on his first Thanksgiving

Austin loves Mimi and Papa's house because he gets to play with his bat indoors

He Speaks!!

My sweet, quiet, baby boy who barely makes a peep, has finally decided to make his voice heard.

And what is it that he wants us to hear??

Why, "mama" of course!

That's right....the day after Thanksgiving, Owen said his first word and he's been saying it non stop ever since.

So, he may not know that I am "mama," but it's a good start, and I'll gladly take it!

I'll be back.

Sorry I've been MIA here lately...gosh it's been busy...

We made an exhausting trip to the pediatrician's office on Monday for what I thought was a couple of ear infections, turns out both boys are just teething and we left with a clean bill of health, and from the looks of it, a couple of nasty cold germs.

Ryan's step-grandmother passed away Sunday night and we attended her funeral on Wednesday.

Thursday we went to Columbia for Thanksgiving .

Thursday night Austin woke up sick in the middle of the night for the first time in almost a year.

On Friday, Ryan and I did a little tag team Black Friday shopping (you can't take kids into that mess!) and then went to visit his step-brother and his two kids who were visiting from Florida.

By that afternoon Austin was already much better, so that night we went to see a movie for the first time in a really, really long time.

On Saturday, Aunt Ca Ca and Uncle Nick came up from Columbia to babysit the boys while Ryan and I went to the Clemson v. USC game.  We got a text around halftime that Owen was inconsolable and were headed home shortly thereafter.  We came home to a sick baby boy (thank you, doctor's office) who slept for no more than 30 minutes at a time the entire night.  Ryan took over around 8am Sunday and I managed to get in a short nap.

We wanted to spend Sunday putting up our Christmas decorations, but instead spent it in our pjs feeling exhausted and trying to entertain a rambunctious 2 year old while taking care of a sick little one.  And by the way tonight has gone so far, looks like tomorrow is going to be more of the same, minus the nap, since Ryan will be at work.

Whew....

So, once these nasty germies have quit torturing us and things calm down, I promise to post lots of updates and pictures from the past few days.  Right now, however, I'm going to see if I can get in a 15 minute nap before I'm up consoling my sick little Owie.

But before I go, I will post a super cute picture of my *almost* 7 month old (before the attack of the yucky germies) for your viewing pleasure.

Be back soon!  (I hope.)

Not so fast...

I went upstairs to get Owen up from his nap this afternoon and he had pulled himself up to his knees in his crib and was chewing on the railing.  It kind of reminded me of this:

Ok, so Owen's nose isn't anywhere near that big, but you get the picture.

Initially, I burst into laughter because it looked pretty stinkin' cute, then I kicked myself for not having a camera anywhere nearby, then I realized that this means it's about time to lower the mattress, then it set in that my baby boy is growing up waaaay too fast.  

Slow down, Owen!  You may be my last baby and I need more time to savor this.  Quit trying to grow up so fast!!!

Celebration!

My little sister is getting married in March so her fiance's family gave them a little engagement party the other weekend.  It was really nice to finally meet my sister's future in-laws and get to know them.  Nick's family seems to be really cool, just like him! :-)

The highlight of the evening, however, was watching Austin and his new best friend, Jack, play together the entire night.  Jack is Nick's cousin and one super sweet little boy.  He just loved playing with Austin and Austin was really attached to Jack.  In fact, the next morning when he woke up, Austin asked where Jack was.  They had so much fun playing together in Jack's room that we barely heard from Austin the entire night.  Sometimes other kids can be the best babysitters!!

 Austin & Jack

 Aunt Ca Ca with Owen and her future mother-in-law

 Owen loves his Aunt Ca Ca!

Some of the Banks side of the family 

Nick and his Mom 

The sweet Bride & Groom-to-be with their super adorable nephews! 

Aunt Ca Ca, Austin and Jack cheesin'

Looking for Ideas...

I'm stuck...stuck in a rut...

I feel like I'm running out of fun and new things to do with my boys all day.  Things have gotten pretty monotonous around here, thus the lack in blogging.  There's just nothing to blog about when there's nothing interesting going on!  Of course, I could post pictures of my beautiful boys all day long, but I need more substance and we need more entertainment.

I just feel like we've done it all!  We play with blocks, read books, color, sing songs, play silly games, go outside, take trips to the playground and go out to lunch.  We watch a little TV, crash cars, throw balls, make music, have snacktime, draw with chalk and play with toys.  What else is there??

My mom suggested daily "lesson plans" to do with Austin while Owen takes his morning nap and I like that idea and it's something I'm going to look into.  I want to make it fun though and I need a ton of ideas if it's something I'm going to do on a daily basis.  Owen is only asleep for about 2-3 hours a day though, so I need some other ideas that I can incorporate both boys into.

We do try and go somewhere everyday or at least every other day (depending on my energy level), and places I can take both boys at this stage by myself are somewhat limited, so I really just need ideas on what to do while we're home.

Any ideas are more than welcome.  I'd especially love to hear from some of you mommies out there and those of you who are teachers....teachers always have wonderful ideas!  Also, any playdate offers are more than welcome!

Help!  The boredom is taking over!

Lately... Part 2

-  The other day we were outside and Austin was on the deck playing while I was moving some stuff around in the yard.  I looked over and realized that I didn't see him anywhere.  I called his name and a moment later he came running down the stairs into the yard.  He looked at me and then popped something from his tightly closed fist into his mouth.  I immediately freaked out thinking he had grabbed a bug or a rock or some other dangerous choking hazard off the ground and eaten it.  I ran to him and pried open his mouth to find....a Hershey Kiss.  That crazy little kid had been sneaking in the house when I wasn't looking and getting into the candy jar!!

-Speaking of that same candy jar....I was putting Owen down for the night and left Austin closed up in the living room while I was upstairs.   About 10 minutes later I started coming back down the stairs and I heard the pitter patter of little toddler feet running in the hallway.  Then I heard the baby gate open and close.  As I got downstairs, I saw a trail of Hershey Kiss wrappers leading all the way into the living room where a chocolate covered toddler sat surrounded by blue foil.  The candy monster had struck again!!  Still don't know how he got that gate open...

-In preparation for Christmas, I've been showing Austin pictures of Santa Claus and telling him all about Christmas.  I want to get Austin use to the sight of Santa so we don't have another meltdown experience when we visit him this year.  So, this morning I was telling him how Santa is going to bring him presents.  He seemed to like that idea so then I asked him what he wanted.  Apparently all he wants this year are cars; red and brown ones to be exact.  Oh, and he wants Santa to read him books.

-Owen can scoot all over the place now.  He really likes to scoot over to the bookcase and get his hands mouth on all the books.  If I had a dollar for every time Austin let out a concerning yell "Owen eating book!" I'd make at least $20/day...

-Austin got a hold of my laptop the other day while I was out of the room.  He pried off a bunch of keys and I have no idea how he figured out he could even do that.  So, if you see the letter "v" missing from a lot of my words, it's because that key is now gone...along with a Shift key and the Windows key.

-You're probably noticing that several of these stories involve Austin being mischievous while I'm out of the room.  I promise I do watch him and don't just let him roam free during the day with no adult supervision.  That's the thing about having a 6 month old who naps three times a day though, I've got to leave Austin alone to get Owen down for his naps, and Dora can only babysit for so long...

-And speaking of Dora....Austin can count to 10 in Spanish.  No one in my family speaks Spanish and I have never taught my son any Spanish words (because I really don't know any), so I'm assuming he learned this from watching Dora.  And they say TV rots your brain....while I'm upstairs getting Owen down for his naps, Austin is downstairs getting a lesson in Spanish from a little cartoon girl on TV (unless he's too busy vandalizing laptops or breaking into candy jars)!

-In the 8 hours or so that I've got the two boys awake together, I've often got to find activities that incorporate them both.  Owen is great at sitting up, but on occasion he just gets tired of sitting and falls over.  Austin finds this hilarious.  So, I pretend to fall over and Austin laughs even harder.  Then he pretends to fall over and then I do it again and then him and then me....you get the picture.  We were all sitting up and falling over and laughing hysterically.  So, a few minutes later, Owen sits back up, Austin immediately walks over to him, says "Owie fall!" and knocks him over.  Owen cries, Austin looks at me with a straight face and matter-of-factly says, "Owie crying" like he has no idea he was the cause of it.  That was the end of that game.

-I have no idea where this came from, but recently Austin has been saying "Oh my gosh!"  Like the other day, he knocked a bunch of his books off the bookshelf and then shouted "oh my gosh!"  He also said it after dumping out a big basket of toys.  I must be saying it and not realizing it.  It's amazing what that little boy can pick up on.

-Austin also said his first curse word this weekend.  He was repeating something his daddy said, imagine that!

-I was online looking at some pictures of Disney World today and Austin was sitting beside me watching.  He was pointing at the pictures, shouting "Mickey Mouse," and getting all excited.  So I said, "Do you want to go to Disney World?"  He got up, ran into the bedroom, brought me back his shoes and said "Go!"  Whoops...

-I was on the phone with my friend Keri the other day and she asked me what I was doing.  I said "Getting the boys ready.  We're going to lunch and then to the playground."  Austin heard what I said and started going crazy!  He started chanting "playground, playground", began pushing me from behind towards the door and started grabbing at the phone and saying "bye bye!"  He whined about the playground all the way to lunch and it got so bad in fact that we just got it to go and took it to the playground to eat.  I think Austin's at that age now where I'm just going to have to start spelling things...

-Austin's new favorite phrase is "Whoa, lotta cars!"  When we drive past a crowded parking lot, or by a car dealership or when he lines up his toy cars on the floor he always says it.  It's pretty darn cute.

-Ok, so I just realized that this post is mainly about Austin.  When it comes down to it,there is just a lot more going on with a 2 year old than there is with a 6 month old.  But, Austin did just turned 25 months old this week, so in honor of that I think I'm just going to rename the post "Austin Lately."

And because posts are so much better when there are pictures...here's a little gem for ya!

You can never outgrow the Exersaucer!

Giveaway Winner!

And the lucky winner of the $35 gift card to one of CSN's stores is...

Kristy from The Life and Times!

Congratulations, Kristy!  I'll send your gift code right over!  

And thanks to everyone who played!!

Smilin'

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my boys?  I mean really, I can't imagine loving any two children more than I love my two boys.  

Sure, they test my patience at times and they keep me very busy, but they always keep me smilin'...

It's Basketball Season!

Friday night was the opening game for Clemson Basketball.  Am Ma came over to watch the littlest guy since the game wasn't until 8pm and waaay past his bedtime, but we took Austin with us because we knew he'd have fun and could handle the late night. We were right!  At 2, his blood already runs orange and he cheered on our Tigers to victory.  His favorite part of the game?  Free Throws.  Most Clemson basketball fans hate the dreaded free throw, but Austin loved getting the chance to throw his hands up in the air and "Whoosh!" when the ball went in (which wasn't as often as we liked, unfortunately).

This is Austin's 3rd season of Clemson basketball.  Here's a look at the past three years...

2008

2009

 2010

Here's to another great season of Clemson basketball.  Go Tigers!!!

Money for the Holidays - A Giveaway!!

As one of CSN Stores' preferred bloggers, they have come to me with another fabulous opportunity to either host a giveaway or review an item of my choice.  Since I did a review a couple months ago, I thought I'd do something different this time around and host a fun giveaway for all of you that faithfully keep up with us here on the blog.

As I've mentioned before, CSN is a network of over 200 stores that offer products such as bathroom cabinets, bedding, holiday decor, baby products, shoes and more!  If you're in the market for it, there's a good chance you'll find what you're looking for in one of CSN's online stores.

Now, on to the GIVEAWAY!

WHAT YOU GET:
A $35 gift card to use in ANY of CSN's online stores to buy ANYTHING your heart desires!  I'm sure this could really come in handy this time of year with Christmas quickly approaching!!

HOW TO ENTER:
Piece of cake!  Just leave a comment on this post right here.
If you'd like to spice it up a bit, let me know what you might like to use your $35 gift card to purchase, just for fun!

EXTRA ENTRIES:
As a little bonus, double your chances of winning and receive 1 extra entry by becoming one of my followers!  (Maybe I can finally get to know some of you "lurkers" out there!) If you're already a follower, just leave a separate comment telling me so I'll be sure to add your extra entry.

OTHER DETAILS:
The giveaway will end at the end of the day on Wednesday, November 17th, so get your comments in soon!
I will assign numbers to each comment and choose a winner using random.org and post the winner by Thursday, November 18th.  The winner just has to let me know their e-mail address and the $35 gift card witll be on its way!

I'm doing this as a way to say thanks to those friends, family, fellow mommies and faithful followers who offer their support, advice, kind comments and help me keep this blog going.  Thanks to all of you and good luck!!!

Lately...

Not much going on around here so I just thought I'd post some ramblings about our life lately...

-Owen is not only sitting up but can push himself into the sitting position on his own now.  I discovered this the other night at 2am when I went up to check on him and found him sitting up in his crib watching his Rainforest Soother.

-Austin will do just about anything for a Hershey Kiss or a Dum Dum.  A little bargaining (aka bribery) works wonders sometimes!

-Austin's newest obsession is coloring with markers.  He can only color with his markers while sitting in his high chair.  Now, meal time is associated with marker time.

-Owen is getting another tooth...already!

-We read the same 10-15 books over and over every night before Austin goes to bed.  He has them all about memorized now and has started reading them to me lately.  I absolutely adore it!  However, when I read them to him I can no longer skip words, pages or make any shortcuts whatsoever.  That little booger knows how each story is supposed to go and will make me read it the correct way before turning the page.

-Babies R Us employees are HORRIBLE and poorly trained and I hate shopping there.  In the past week I've had to go there twice though.  The first time the cashier forgot to scan my gift card and instead of fixing his error, handed me back the giftcard and told me "just use it the next time you come in."  If I hadn't already been there for an hour with both boys borderline meltdown by myself, I would have let him have it.  Instead I just gave him an annoyed sigh and hurried out the door.

-The second trip to BRU was to purchase a fancy new Medela Pump In Style to replace my trusty ole Lansinoh that has been less than trusty lately.  Breastpumps were 15% off in-store, we still had my gift card and I had an additional 20% off coupon.  The cashier rang it up all wrong and then IGNORED my husband when he was trying to ask her about it....3 times!!  A steaming mad Ryan ended up going to the manager and we walked out of there with a $280 pump for $170.  Sometimes it pays to get a little pissy!

-When Austin falls down or gets hurt, I always ask him "Are you OK?"  Recently he's started answering me with "I'm OK!"  Occasionally, when he falls or trips or bumps his head he'll just look at me and say "I'm OK" before I even have the chance to ask.

-Owen has developed a real mommy attachment lately.  He's started reaching out for me and lunging towards me so that I'll hold him.  I love it!  I don't, however, love that he's started to cry sometimes when other people hold him...like his daddy for instance...

-Ryan working so far from home has really started to wear on us lately.  He saw Austin for a total of 2 hours last week and Owen for about 10 minutes.  No wonder Owen cries when daddy is almost a stranger!  The single mom thing isn't all that fun, but we make it work.  Mainly, the boys (and me) just really miss seeing their daddy...and I know he misses seeing us.

-We have something planned every weekend from now until after Christmas...literally.  Then, Ryan will take part of January and February to study for the North Carolina bar exam.  At this rate we'll be lucky to be moved by Owen's 1st birthday.

-I am amazed with how far Austin's speech has come lately.  He is talking in sentences, understanding most everything we say, and correctly pronouncing words he used to mess up.  I love that I can have an actual conversation with him and he can tell me what he wants and what's going on.

-We made a quick trip to CVS the other day to pick up a few essential items.  I put Owen in the cart and let Austin walk beside me.  We went to check out and there was a lady with a newborn baby sleeping in his carrier that she had set on the floor beside her while she checked out.  Austin walked a little closer to the carrier and looked in, he looked back at me and whispered, "baby sleeping."  I smiled and nodded my head, he walked a little closer and out of nowhere yelled "WAKE UP!"  See, we play this little game at home where Ryan and I pretend we're sleeping and Austin tries to wake us up.  I never thought he'd try it on a stranger's newborn baby though.  Thankfully the baby's mother found it entertaining and thankfully the baby did not wake up as Austin commanded him to do so.

-There is just no easy way to go grocery shopping with two kids, both of whom need to be restrained.  Currently, Austin sits in the cart and I wear Owen in the Baby Bjorn.  Thank goodness for the helpful people at Publix who so willingly unload my cart, bag my groceries and put them in my car for me.  While not impossible, those things become quite the tedious task when you've got a baby strapped to your chest!

Gosh...I could go on and on...but I'll spare you the book for now.  Lately... 2nd Edition, coming soon!

Quack

One of the greatest things about this blog is that I can look back through it like a digital baby book and browse old pictures and remember moments past.  It's been especially helpful since Owen was born in comparing my two boys and reading up on what to expect next. (If Owen continues to follow his big brothers timeline, he'll be crawling in a couple weeks!)

So, tonight we pulled out Austin's old inflatable bathtub for Owen to use and of course I snapped several pictures of my little guy enjoying his first ducky bath!  I looked through the blog to see when we started using the duck bath with Austin and as it turns out, he was a little over six months as well.

Here's another comparison of my boys in their ducky bath!

By the way, there is a +3lb. difference in Austin (aka Chunky Monkey) and Owen's (aka Slim) weights at 6 months.

6 Month Comparison

Yay Doctor?

This afternoon was Owen's 6 month well visit and Austin's flu booster.  Let me tell ya, it was a blast.  (Can you sense the sarcasm?)

It started out great.  We pulled up to the office and as soon as I got Austin out of the car he yelled "Yay doctor!"  I told him he was probably the only child who's ever said that, and I'm not sure he'll be saying that again anytime soon.  We went in and sat down in the waiting room, Owen was sitting in his car seat calmly (which never happens) and Austin pulled around 8 toy cars out of the diaper bag and started playing quietly.  I was thrilled because usually he's running laps around the place and trying to sneak back to the examine rooms every time someone opens the door.  He did well though, until the nurse came out and called us back...  Austin tried to grab up all his cars at once, dropping half of them on the floor.  I had to put down Owen and bend over to pick up all the cars from under tables and chairs at which time the diaper bag on my shoulder tipped over and about a dozen acorns from a side pocket fell out onto the floor.  Hmmm, wonder where those came from....

So I picked up the chocking hazards off the floor and finally tucked away all the cars while the nurse stood there impatiently waiting on us.  We started walking back when Austin, probably remembering what happened last time we walked down that same hallway, decided he wasn't going to join us.  With Owen and diaper bag in tow, I managed to drag my whining 2 year old through the door way and tell him to go find room number 4.  The kid is a sucker for counting and we arrived at our room with no further incidence.  

Austin played with his cars while we weighed and measured Owen.  He is 16.5 lbs. (35th%ile), 27.5 inches long (85th%ile) and his head is 17.3 in. (58th %ile).  

Whoa whoa whoa...does that say 35th %ile....for weight??  

I am still baffled by this as Owen looks like a chubby little 6 month old to me and has never had trouble eating.  There is nothing wrong with being in the 35th %ile, but the doctor was a little concerned because of the drastic drop, he was in the 71st %ile for weight just 2 months ago and in those 2 months has only gained half a pound, so we have to go back in a month for a weight check and see how it goes.  

Of course, as Owen's main food supply, I am a little worried that this is somehow my fault, but our doctor said that sometimes breastfed babies don't gain as quickly as bottle fed babies and as long as he's happy and healthy I shouldn't be concerned.  Guess what...I'm concerned.  So, operation "beef up the baby" has commenced.  Still don't know what I'm going to do exactly, he's already eating every three hours and it's taking everything I've got to get 2 ounces of baby food in his belly (the other 2 ounces are either on him or in Austin's belly).  Baby weight lifting maybe?  Maybe I can call up this guy and see if he's got any tips...

But anyway...Owen checked out great otherwise.  He loved staring at his reflection and couldn't stop giggling at himself in the mirror.  As I suspected, he had a ball tearing up all the paper on the exam table and trying to eat it.  He didn't enjoy his shots but calmed down quickly enough.  Austin didn't pull out any french fries from the diaper bag this time but just about everything else in there (note to self: fix zipper on diaper bag).  He found his sunglasses and for some reason started complaining that they were broken and kept taking them to Dr. M while he was examining Owen saying "glasses broken, glasses broken!"  I guess it was just an attempt at getting some attention, because after that he started rooting around in the trash can and pulling stuff out...ewww!  I swear, our pediatrician thinks I'm like the worst parent ever.

This time Austin got to get the nasal spray flu booster since he's 2 now, but while I never want to purposefully inflict pain on either of my children, I think the shot would have just been quicker and easier.  All he cared about was getting a hold of that sucker the nurse was dangling out in front of him and was not thrilled about her teasing him with it as she sprayed this stuff up his nose.

An hour and a half later we were in the car and headed home.  I was exhausted and knew Owen would be asleep as soon as we started driving since he missed his last nap, so I handed Austin his favorite toy and we just drove around Greenville for 30 minutes.  It was actually relaxing and I had time to compose myself before getting home and running through the busy nighttime routine.

And I remember the days when I used to look forward to well visits....

The mad "cheese" face

Owen (unlike his brother) loves the camera!

Owen also loved looking at that cute baby in the mirror!

And there goes the paper!

Austin's first attempt at photography.

Sneek Peek

We had some pictures taken a couple weeks ago for Austin's 2nd birthday by the talented Julia Cunningham.  Here's a little sneak peek, we can't wait to share the rest!

6 Months

Owen is 6 months old today.  Where does the time go?!?

There are so many new things to share, I just can't believe how fast he's growing and changing!

-Owen is sitting by himself really well now.  He can sit for several minutes with no support and even pick up toys around him and chew on play with them.

-He's a mover!!  Owen can scoot all over the place and I don't think we're far from crawling.  He does the scoot and lunge combo to get what he wants and then puts that item directly into his mouth.  FYI-the scooting/crawling stage is much more difficult when you've got a 2 year old in the house leaving his toys and things all around.  I've walked out of the room for a second and come back to find Owen with a toy car, diaper, book, phone and shoe in his mouth!

-He can push up onto all fours now and looks like he's trying to crawl.  It's about to get interesting around here!

-Owen loves to blow raspberries!

-We've got a really great schedule going now.  Owen wakes up around 7am, naps at 9am, 12:30pm and 4pm for about an hour and a half and then goes to bed at 7:30.  He still wakes up once at night to eat but usually not until 4am.  I'm not in any huge hurry to break this habit though because he's still going for about 10 hours without eating before he wakes and those early morning feeding help me keep my supply up.

-Owen is still exclusively breastfed and eating around every 3-4 hours.  He also eats about 2 oz. of baby food a day over 2 feedings.  He's not a big fan of peaches but seems to like everything else!

-He's still a thumb sucker and I'm starting to like it!  No dropped or dirty pacis to deal with, no worrying whether or not you've got one every time you leave the house, no running upstairs in the middle of the night to reinsert a paci to calm a screaming baby, etc.  Right now Owen only sucks his thumb when he's tired or trying to go to sleep.  I hope it stays that way since you can't take a thumb away.

-In the past couple of weeks Owen has learned to put himself to sleep.  It was completely by accident too!  I was rocking him every time until he fell asleep and then putting him down, but occasionally had to put him down awake to go check on Austin and then came back to find a sleeping baby.  I'm glad he can soothe himself to sleep but it also makes me a little sad that he doesn't need me as much anymore!!

-He grabs EVERYTHING!  That little boy can't sit still for a moment without trying to grab at anything and everything in sight.  The remote, the phone, jewelry, hair, pages in a book, the centerpiece on the kitchen table, the camera, Austin...he's just got to have something in his hands at all times!  (Austin is not amused by this skill, especially when Owen gets a chunk of his hair!)

-Owen has 2 teeth and is working on a couple more.  At this rate he'll catch up to his brother in no time!

-For his weight, Owen should be wearing size 6-9 month clothes, but length wise he fits better in 12 months.  However, since he's long and lean, pants any bigger than 6-9 months fall right off.  I think he's just going to have to wear a lot of one pieces and overalls this winter...

-Owen is such a happy baby.  I can make him smile just by looking at him and he lights up when he's around people.  He loves to be held and cuddled but also doesn't mind playing solo on the floor or jumping in his jumperoo.  He loves his mama and his big brother and watches us wherever we go.  He rarely cries or fusses, in fact he's pretty quiet all around, but will let out a huge belly laugh when you tickle him or make funny faces and sounds.  He's got the sweetest blue eyes, the biggest open-mouth smile and the most precious personality to go along with it.  He makes me one proud mommy!

Trick or Treat!

Oh my gosh, I had sooo much fun last night trick or treating with my little pirate!  I've never been a huge Halloween fan but this year it was fantastic and I'm already looking forward to next year!  

It was Owen's first Halloween, but the poor baby tiger was exhausted after a long day celebrating Papa H's 76th birthday in Columbia so he stayed home with daddy for awhile and helped hand out candy.  

Austin and I took off around the neighborhood and that little boy acted as if he had been trick or treating for years!  We diligently made our way to each house with its light on, he stood on the porch while I rang the door bell, someone came to the door, he hollered out "twicker tweat," bagged his candy, said "thank you, bye-bye," and off we went!  The neighbors must have thought he was extra sweet because he had so much candy he had to drag his bag along behind him.  He wouldn't give up his treasure though...just like a pirate!

I distracted Austin with a sucker (his favorite treat) as we made our way back towards the house.  Ryan and a fussy little tiger were standing outside and as soon as Austin realized we were home he started to whine thinking we were done.  Ryan and I switched off and I took my little tiger inside and got him ready for bed while daddy took his turn trick or treating.

Austin went around the whole neighborhood and when that wasn't enough, went with daddy over to Am Ma's house and then to Papa's house as well before finally making it back home at 9pm!

He looked so proud walking through that door with all his candy and we ended the night with a candy dump on the living room floor!  (Brought me back to those good old days when my sister and I would come in from a night of trick or treating and dump our candy on the floor to see who got the most and/or best stuff and then bargain and trade and steal and eat until our parents took the candy away and made us go to bed.)

But, Oh My Gosh...to a two year old, a floor of candy is almost as good at Christmas morning!  Austin grabbed candy by the handfuls, rolled in it, jumped up and down screaming and was so excited he didn't know what to do!  He started opening about 2 different suckers and then got distracted and started going for something else.  He wanted a bite of every little treat Ryan and I snuck from his stash and with every bite gave us a big chocolate grin while licking his lips and saying "yum, yum YUM!"  It was the cutest thing, we all had huge smiles plastered across our faces!

So, thanks to an innocent 2 year old, at 28, I have finally discovered the true meaning of Halloween.  It's not about the scary ghosts, pumpkins, haunted houses or costumes, it's about celebrating the simple joy that a child gets from that delicious sugary stuff we call candy!!  :-)