Pardon the progress.

As you can see, I have major blog renovations going on.

Hopefully in the next week or two, I'll have a new, fresh-looking blog.

Come back & check it out soon!

Beach bound!

We're bound for the beach with this little man!

Can't wait to see his face when we put his toes in the sand & his little feet in the ocean for the 1st time!

Be back soon!!!

4 month check-up

Owen had his 4 month check-up on Tuesday.

He had to get 2 shots & the oral Rotavirus vaccine. He screamed, but not nearly as bad as he did at 8 weeks & he calmed right down.

Owen weighs 16 lbs & 6 oz. (65%), is 25.5 inches long (65%) & his head circumference in at 75%...a well-proportioned guy!

We can start giving him some water in a bottle (if he's interested) & we can start rice cereal whenever we're ready (after we come back from the beach).

So thankful for a healthy little man!

Owen's 3rd month.

 

(Owen is now 4 months old, but I'm catching up from lost time due to our computer madness)

Owen-
You are such a big boy & are growing up w-a-y too fast! You are such a joy & we love you so much!!!

Here's what you've been up to...

• You laughed out loud for the 1st time at 3 months & 1 week. Your laughter is the sweetest sound I've ever heard!
• You "talk" all of the time...another of the sweetest sounds ever!
• You can't tell us what you're thinking with your mouth, but your facial expressions speak volumes. You have many serious faces, lots of smiles, and even some little scowls.
• You blow spit bubbles like it's your job!
• You are picking up all kinds of stuffed animals & toys. You have also learned to put everything in your mouth.
• Although you'll put anything in your mouth, your favorite thing to put gnaw on is your hand. Unfortunately you occasionally put your little hand too far into your mouth & lose your food...you think it's funny, but it's really not!
• Your favorite activity of the day is still bathtime. You splash, splash, splash & laugh, laugh, laugh. It's so fun to watch you!
• You love to have something to hold onto when you nap in the swing during the day. It's usually your stuffed monkey or your little ribbon blankie. 
• You still love to cuddle, & I hope you always do!
• You went to work with Daddy one morning while Mommy went to the dentist. Daddy had a great time showing you off to all of his friends. They also put some lab goggles (clean ones!) on you for a cute picture...silly nerds!
• You love to sit up, so we prop you up in the corner of chairs, the corner of the couch, the head of our bed, wherever-as long as you're propped up like a big boy, you're so happy.
• You are so close to rolling over but just haven't quite coordinated getting the upper and lower parts of your body over at the same time!
• We took you to see your family in Atlanta again & you had a great trip & everyone loved seeing you.
• Mommy got to celebrate her 1st Mother's Day & you & Daddy made it such a special day for me. I love being your mommy!

You wear an array of sizes, but mostly 3-6 months, a few of your bigger 3 months outfits & even some 6 month clothes too!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from your 3rd month of life!

Owen's favorite time of the day!

Owen's new friend Sophie the giraffe

Mother's Day 

up & running again!

Well, I've been MIA because of our major computer issues.

Long story short, I dropped our laptop when Owen was 6 weeks old. It was entirely an accident (obviously!), but I still feel horrible about it.

We're in the process of having the hard drive recovered, but the computer itself is useless.

We pulled out our old desktop, rearranged our living room to set the desk up in here & were doing good for a week or so until the computer decided to stop recognizing our internet connection.

After calls to tech support we decided our best option was to re-install the operating system.
When you do this, you pretty much start totally over with nothing on your computer.
So, we had to load all of our software back on there, install tons of upgrades & now, at last, we are up & running again!

Our current computer situation is not 100% ideal & we're hoping to buy a new laptop when the back-to-school sales start up in a couple of months.
Hopefully, for now we're back on track.

It's crazy around here getting ready to leave for Emerald Isle on Saturday morning. I'm hoping to get a few posts in between now & then since I'm so far behind.

Check back soon!

Owen's 1st Easter

We had so much fun celebrating Owen's 1st Easter!

I absolutely love the Easter season & can't wait for future Easters when Owen comes to know the significance of Easter & can share in the joy that Easter brings.

We went to church on Easter & Owen wore a sweet blue Feldman Brothers one-piece outfit with sweet little buttons & adorable detail across the top. It was a sweet gift from Mrs. Kay Sims & he looked just precious in it (I know I'm just a bit biased).

Of course, a photo shoot ensued following church. The weather was gorgeous & I took about 100 pictures outside in our side yard. I got some great shots of Owen and his photo partner, Buddy the lamb (an Easter gift from Uncle J & Auntie Cheri). We even managed to capture a few smiles on camera!!!

There were so many good pictures, but here are a few of my favorites. About 3/4 of the way through the photo shoot, Owen dribbled on his "fancy suit", hence the wardrobe change for a little more of a casual photo shoot.

Clearly the Easter bunnies (yes, it takes multiple bunnies to deliver this many goodies!) were so good to Owen. We have 3 new books-Green Eggs & Ham, The Poky Little Puppy, & The Little Engine that Could. Owen has some new toys-an Easter rubber duckie, a blue & green football, & of course, Buddy the lamb. He also has 2 new adorable 6-month size outfits.

And, another Easter bunny came the next weekend bringing more fun gifts! He loves his new super soft bunny, but I couldn't get my silly boy to even look at the camera. Owen's bunny is so soft, has nothing attached that he could choke on & can be washed in the washing machine (genious idea!!!). We love him & we love our new books too!

Thanks again to all of our Easter bunnies!!!

Back in the kitchen...

Because we have such amazing friends & family, I was able to spend the 1st 2 months of Owen's life anywhere but the kitchen! Literally, I went about 9 weeks without cooking a meal!

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook but it can certainly be time-consuming & would have taken away from the time we had to spend with our new little man.

Since being back in kitchen, I have been trying out some new recipes-many of which can be traced back to my guilty pleasure, Pintrest!

I wanted to share the links for a few of our favorite Pintrest recipes & another new recipe courtesy of my amazingly talented dad the chef.

Egg Rolls- We enjoy cooking & eating lots of stir-frys. Occassionally, I would 'treat' us to accompanying frozen egg rolls. They weren't nearly the same as restaurant egg rolls, but weren't bad. Well, if you try this recipe, you'll never buy frozen egg rolls again. I was intimidated at the thought of making them, but they were super easy & they freeze so well! I used ground chicken this time, but will try ground pork next.

Chicken & Rice Casserole- This is definitely my new favorite chicken casserole. It does require a little prep, but it is so worth it. I even snuck in a few chopped carrots for extra nutrition & color. It would be great for pot-luck dinners & to take to friends & neighbors in need.

Low Country Boil Kebabs- I love how summery they are & they were delicious! I boiled the potatoes & corn completely before we skewered them & put them on the grill.

Chicken Parmesan Crescents- A twist on chicken parmesan that was easy & fun. I did not use the frozen fried chicken tenders it called for, but instead seasoned & breaded my own boneless skinless tenders & baked them before using them for the recipe. I also opted out of the pasta with spaghetti sauce on the side.

And, what's cooking without a fun sweet treat here & there...

Cheese Danish- Another wonderful use for crescent rolls...these are frighteningly simple & so delicious! I think I've made them 3 times already...great for coffee dates with friends, brunches, or entertaining weekend guests (which we do a lot :-o).

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle- Imagine a giant peanut butter cup smothered with whipped cream deliciousness. I made it for our Easter meal with Chris' co-workers & it was definitely a hit. Be forewarned, it is time-consuming (prepping the pudding, unwrapping & chopping the Reeses cups, baking the brownies, & piping on the whipped cream) but sooo  worth it if you want a beautiful, delicious chocolate desert!

And last, but definitely not least, Not Your Average Breakfast Casserole (that's what I've named it!). When we were in Conyers in March, my dad served this one night for dinner & when I asked him where he got the recipe he told me he made it up! He has a knack for doing that, but luckily this time he was able to remember how he made it so it could be duplicated. It sounds odd, but trust me, it's delicious!

1 bag of seasoned croutons
6-8 slices of bacon, cooked & diced into small pieces
6 eggs
1 cup of heavy cream
1 cup of milk
2 dashes of onion salt
1/2 tsp. mustard
2 dashes of pepper
2 cups of shredded cheddar & monterrey jack cheese

Grease an 8x8 pan. Spread the croutons on the bottom of the pan (it may look like a lot, but use them all). Sprinkle 1 cup of the cheese over the croutons.
Beat the eggs well & add the heavy cream, milk, onion salt, mustard & pepper. Pour the mixture on top of the croutons.
Sprinkle the top with bacon pieces & remaining cheese.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.
(You can also prepare it ahead of time & cover & refrigerate overnight until baking.)

Yummy, yummy, yummy!!!

Aunties & Uncles

Owen is so fortunate to have 4 aunties & 2 uncles who love him so much!

They have all been lucky enough to meet Owen at least once & have enjoyed playing with the little guy.

They are spoiling him greatly too with gifts of toys, books, & clothes.

These are some of our favorite pictures of Owen with his aunties & uncles. We love you all!!!

cloth diapering

Lots of people have been asking me how cloth diapering is going.
The overwhelming majority of people ask & are thrilled that it's going well, but there may be a few skeptics out there who ask & I think may be secretly hoping that I've given it up already.

Well...it's going great & there's no chance of us giving up cloth diapering any time soon.

I started using the cloth diapers with Owen consistenly when he was between 4-5 weeks. Because we had some issues with weight gain & were feeding him so frequently=I was getting so little sleep, I wanted to overcome that hurdle before jumping fully into the cloth diapering adventure.

We are using cloth diapers made by BumGenius. We use both the Econobum diapers (prefolds with waterproof covers) & the BumGenius 4.0 (pocket-style diapers).
There are pros & cons to each. For instance, the Econobums are not made to hold moisture for 6 or 7 hours meaning we definitely use the pocket diapers (double-stuffed) at bedtime.

I've gotten into a pretty good routine of laundering the diapers. I wash diapers on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday nights. The process is lengthy as we wash 1st with a cold cycle, then with a hot cycle, & then rinse with cold water again. I tumble dry the inserts, but line dry all of our covers.

In the interest of full disclosure, we do not exclusively use cloth diapers. There have been nights that if Owen decides to revert back to his newborn sleep schedule (up every 3 hours) that I am exhausted & stick a disposable on him. If we're going out for a long period of time or travelling a great distance we use disposables.

When Owen goes to WBC preschool starting in September, they have graciously agreed to use our cloth diapering system. I'm so excited about that!

So, all of this to say that yes, we love using cloth diapers and will definitely keep it up with Owen & Owen's future siblings!

Thanks to all of our cloth supporters!!!

I just love...

Owen-

I just love how you very rarely cry when you wake up in the morning or from a nap-instead you just starting babbling, or what mommy calls "singing". It's a sweet sound to wake up to!

I just love the big smile you give me every morning about 6:30 a.m. when I walk into your room & peer over the side of the crib & say "Good morning Owen"...it's the sweetest smile I've ever seen!

I just love how you often grab so tightly to my shirt when I'm holding you or rocking you that if you fall asleep, I usually have to gently pry your little fingers open so I can lay you down.

I just love the way you stroke my arms & my hands and grab my fingers while I'm nursing you.

I just love the way you need me like you need no one else & I secretly love the way that when no one else can soothe you, I can.

I just love that you are the happiest, smiliest little guy I know.

I just love...YOU!!!

(The sweet, happy face I get to wake up to every morning...he makes catching his smile on camera quite difficult, but it's priceless!)

picture catch-up

Whew, we've been so busy lately & I'm obviously way behind on blogging.

Here are some recent pictures from the last few weeks until I can find some time to blog more again!

(Some of these probably also appear on facebook)

Playing on the play mat is such hard work!

Owen is learning to hold lots of things-toys, shirts, bibs, burpcloths, hair...his hands are always very busy exploring!

We have frequent photo shoots around here. This was a pair of pajamas I wore as a baby & mom loaned them to us for us to take Owen's picture wearing them too.

A recent trip to Babies R Us resulted in Owen being the proud new owner of a pair of cool shades. Oddly enough, he loves them & never tries to take them off!

All dressed up like a little man for my 2nd trip to church!

Sadie is slowly warming up to Owen. Yes, she's nearly licking his nose!

Owen still loves bath time & is learning how to splash! He also enjoys hanging out in his super cute bathrobe after bath time.

Owen loves nothing more than sitting up like a "big boy". His head control gets better by the day, so he thinks he's Mr. Big Shot when we play like this.

Daddy celebrated his 29th birthday this past Thursday. Here's Owen watching daddy open his gifts from us!

And, a picture from today...Owen with "Buddy" the lamb (a gift from Auntie Cheri & Uncle J). He absolutely loves Buddy. He holds him, pets him, tries to chew on him (only out of affection I'm sure!).

More to come soon, I promise!

Owen at 2 months.

Time is flying by faster than ever & now Owen is 2 months old!!!

As you can see, Owen is growing super fast & is such a big boy!

Here's what you're up to lately:

• You're so "busy" these days...your hands are exploring everything & you are kicking those strong legs & feet around like a crazy man!
• In addition to discovering your hands, you've discovered your voice. You make all sorts of cute sounds...mostly "maaaa" & "yaaaa". Sometimes when you 1st wake up in the morning or after a nap, you don't cry you just start "talking". It's super cute!
• You started smiling about about 6 weeks & you haven't stopped since!!! You tend to smile the most when you are lying on your changing table, so we spend a lot of time playing there. Unfortunately, you don't really like to cooperate in smiling at the camera & it's hard to capture many smiley pictures. I'm going to keep on trying though!
• You love to sit up with our help & have gotten super good with your head control.
• You also love to be carried around facing outwards so you can check out everything going on around you.
• You love, love, love to stare at overhead lights & the ceiling fans. I think you could stare at them for hours.
• At about 6 weeks old you started sleeping longer stretches between feedings at night...hooray!!! So far, you average about 5 & 1/2 or 6 hours from the time I lay you down (about 9 p.m.) until your next feeding. One night you even slept 7 hours!
• However, you love to start your day nice & early around 6:00-6:30 a.m. regardless of how recently you ate.
• From about 5 weeks-8 weeks the hair on the front 1/3 of your head fell out (sad :-(). I knew that was normal, but didn't want it to fall out. It's now coming back as the cutest and softest little sandy blonde fuzz. Your hair is definitely getting more of a redish-tint on the sides & in the back...love it
• You love things that make noise. When we get you ready for bed at night, I play the rain song on our sound machine & you love it. Your newest favorite sound is the hairdryer. You can be unhappy & if I turn on the hairdryer, you settled immediately...it's a handy trick!
• You got your 1st shots just before you turned 8 weeks old. It was super sad to watch you scream while you got a total of 3 shots in your tiny little thighs (1 in 1 thigh & 2 in the other). You also got the oral rotovirus vaccine which unfortunately gave you diarrhea for a few days...not fun. You were quite sleepy & a little more cranky than usual for about 48 hours, but all in all you handled the shots quite well.
• In addition to all of the family you met when you made your 1st road trip to Conyers, your Uncle Dave & Aunt Courtney came from D.C. to visit a few weekends ago. They had a great time playing with you & mommy & daddy enjoyed their visit too!
• 2 of mommy's sweet friends from Belmont babysat for you on 2 different occassions. Mrs. Sharon watched you while mommy had lunch at the Puffy Muffin with Catherine H. & Ms. Sara watched you while mommy got a much-needed haircut! We have a lengthy list of people who are dying to babysit you...what a blessing!

At your last doctor's appointment (you were 7 weeks), you weighed 10 lbs. & 12 oz. (45th%), measured 22 inches (45th%) & your head circumference was also in the 45th%...a perfectly proportioned little man!
You are wearing exclusively 3 months clothes & when you wear a disposable diaper (if we're out for a long time or someone else is babysitting for you) you wear a size '2'.

hands

I love touching people's hands, holding the hands of those I love, and just looking at peoples' hands.

The only reading we had at our wedding was a poem entitled "The Hands of the Bride & Groom".

I definitely think you can learn a lot about someone by looking at their hands.

It's suffice to say that I'm very intrigued by hands...and now, especially intrigued by little, tiny hands!

In the last few weeks, Owen has discovered his hands & has learned that he can do things with them.

It has been one of the most fun aspects of watching him grow in the past several weeks.

He started by reaching for our faces with his hands when he was on his changing table.

Quickly he learned that he could grab my hair as well (ouch!).

It wasn't long & he discovered my necklaces (no more jewelry for me for a while).

Now, he's grabbing at everything...

his shirt, our shirts, burp cloths, his bibs, his taggie blanket (his favorite thing right now), his toys hanging from the play mat and the bouncy seat...

He also likes to think that he's "helping" us with his hands. He likes to put a hand, sometimes two, on his bottle. He loves to "help" by wiping spit-up off of his face. He also has been known to put his hands down into his diaper = much less helpful.

Just this week, he's gone beyond just grabbing everything to rubbing things too.

We're reading him a few of his books that have textured objects, and I think he likes that!

I can't wait to continue to watch our little man learn new things with his hands...he's sooo fun!

Owen's 1st road trip!

Owen took his 1st road trip to Conyers a few weeks ago!

Grammy came up on Wednesday night and she, I, & Owen left for Conyers on Thursday morning. Chris joined us for the weekend.

Owen did great in the car on the way down! We even had to sit in traffic for an extra hour, and although he was a bit fussy then he was still not too unhappy.

He did great on the trip back to our house too.

1st road trip=success!

We enjoyed getting to introduce Owen to some Atlanta-area family & friends.

Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Smiling for Grammy!

Meeting Aunt Sissy

Hanging out with Grammy

Meeting Aunt Diann & Uncle Leon

Auntie Cheri introducing Owen to Uncle Jesse for the 1st time

Meeting Aunt Lisa, Aunt Kit Kat, & Uncle Sam for the 1st time

Looking forward to our next road trip!!!

you might be a new mom if...

• it's noon & you're still drinking your morning coffee!
• you realize at some point in the day that you have baby spit-up on your shirt & you have no idea how long it's been there.
• it's 2 p.m. & you can't remember if you brushed your teeth this morning :-(
• you think your boobs might spend more time uncovered more than covered!
• you're not entirely sure what day of the week it is.
• you consider going to the grocery store a 'retreat'.
• you haven't blogged in a month!!!

Yes, all of these things have happened to me in the last month.
Please do not think that I am complaining...I'm definitely not.
I wouldn't trade not one second of my time with Owen despite any of these things.

Being a mom to a 2 month old is an adventure & I love it!!!

(Hopefully more blog posts with pictures to come soon!)