Owen update

 Owen is doing awesome in kindergarten!  I have got good "report cards" for him from both his teachers (including the daycare kindergarten).  In addition, I have asked (just to make sure) if his teachers recommend that he go on to 1st grade or stay back in kindergarten and they have both almost been surprised that I even asked and enthusiastically tell me yes he should go on to 1st grade. 

We've signed Owen up for t-ball this year and the practices are supposed to start in April.  Looking forward to that - especially getting him outside to do something fun!

Yesterday, my Owen got hurt at his daycare while playing outside (tripped and hit his mouth on a plastic stair).  I got the call while I was teaching so I didn't even notice until I was done teaching.  They said his mouth was bleeding and he was crying pretty bad.  They had put ice on it.  When I got there, he was acting like his normal self and didn't even seem to be phased.  I do wish I had seen it happen so I knew exactly what had happen.  Luckily, it appears he hit between his lips and chin. 

Today, he was supposed to dress up like his favorite character in his favorite book - he wanted to be Woody.  I had nothing cowboy lying around and we were told that we shouldn't have to go out and buy things for this.  Luckily, a friend let us borrow some cowboy stuff.  I think he looks pretty cute!

Owen is generally a pretty good boy; sometimes I am amazed at what a sweet boy I have.  Then, of course, I sometimes wonder where the little hellion (never had to spell that before!) comes from.  Yet no matter what "I love him around the whole wide world!"

Parent-Teacher Conference

So, last night we got to have our first parent-teacher conference.  Daddy stayed home with the kids and I went to meet Owen's kindergarten teacher.  She was a bit behind schedule, but I'm sure it is hard to force parents out if they still have questions/concerns.  When I got in there, she told me that she would take some time to talk to me about Owen's social skills, as I was a bit concerned at the beginning of the school year, especially since he was the youngest in his class.  But first, she was going to talk about his test scores.

There were 3 mains areas that they tested (two were of "reading" types - visual recognition but then verbal as well, the other was math).  In each area there were about 3-4 sub-tests in which students were given a task and they had a minute to complete as many of that task successfully as possible.  In order to see how each student is doing, there are goals (or benchmarks) that they would like students to be able to complete.  Owen beat all of the goals on all of the sub-tests!  In addition, his "math" tests were at the first grade's benchmarks!

In addition, he made great progress on reading and is right where he should be with that.  He understands sentence structure (capital first letter, punctuation at the end, spaces between words) and uses it when asked to write a sentence.  Finally, their last task was to write the numbers 1-20 in these boxes without looking at any numbers for reference - he did awesome!

She then moved to social skills and asked if I was as worried anymore, which I'm not.  He comes home with great stories about friends, he'll tell me that he isn't friends with some of the kids because they do "bad things."  She then told me that once Owen realized that he didn't have to "take" things and could say how he felt, she noticed a great improvement is his social skills and she believes that he is doing great at it too!

So, in other words I heard what every parent would like to hear.  I'm very happy and proud of Owen that he is doing so well.  I think we made the right choice with starting him young.


You are doing awesome, my Owen!

Owen at 15 months

Owen at almost 5!

Am I Super Mommy?

On Monday, Owen was off from "regular" Kindergarten and I was off from work.  So, I decided that I would take Owen into daycare for his half day of kindergarten there and then pick him up around 1 (kept Quinnie home with me).

Monday started with all of us oversleeping until about 8am, so I got Owen dressed, threw on some sweats, put Quinnie in her carseat (jammies still on) and we took Owen to daycare (as he also ate a granola bar on the way!)  Got him dropped off at about 8:25 and came back home.  I got out some of the dough for making Runzas today (recipe another day!).  At about 9am I got a call that Owen had just got sick in the bathroom so I was headed out again to get him (still me in sweats and Quinnie in her jammies).  He seemed fine when I got there, but just to be safe, I took him home.

Once we got home I asked him what he wanted to do - right now he wanted to watch a "new movie."  So, I got out Cars 2 that he got for Christmas from Uncle Dan and Aunt Amber and he got to watch it.  Although he loved the movie and sat rather still for it, he wasn't acting sick.  During the movie, I got my hamburger browned, cabbage and onion grated, and got everything simmering.  I started rolling runzas at 11:30.  At about noon, I started to get the kiddos lunch (Owen had a lunchable and a runza, Quinn had a runza and puffcorn).  I ate a couple of runzas between making runzas and getting the kiddos additional things that they needed.

At about 1:45, I had the last pan of runzas in the oven (I made 72 in total).  So I got Quinn ready for her nap and had her down before the timer went off.  Phew, that's done!

However I was somehow a very smart mommy and was also planning to make a spiral ham, mashed potatoes and gravy for supper.  (Let's just say I had planned to make it Saturday or Sunday forgetting that Brandon had his dart banquet on Saturday and I had a department party on Sunday).  So I got that in the oven around 2:30.

Owen now wanted to play same games while Quinnie was napping but I told him I had to get some things picked up and cleaned.  "I can help you Mommy!" was the reply.  So Owen helped me fold laundry, clean off the table, pick up toys, pick up towels around the house and start more laundry.  He was a great helper.  Then we sat down to play some games.  We played "Guess Who" for the first time and then he helped me fold the next load of laundry.  After that, he wanted to play "Candyland" which he normally wins, but it wasn't happening much today.  Quinn woke up from nap, got them a snack and then Daddy got home.  I got the potatoes ready and gravy made for us to eat at about 5:45.  Daddy went to his "Best of the Best" tournament and I spent about an hour cutting and dicing the leftover ham for future meals.

That night, my neck hurt so bad (and still does) on just one side.  I couldn't even hardly sleep on that side.  Although I had done a lot this day (on my own accord), I felt like I was trying to be "Super Mommy."  However, what I realize is that I just want to be a good mommy.  A day like this once in awhile is busy and tough (as I had to do some work for school later that night), Owen will look back at how Mommy taught him responsibility (work before play) and how she took the time to spend with him doing things that he loved.  So, "We had a great day, it was a super way, to spend some time together."

The Choice: Working Mom

I have a blogging friend who became a stay-at-home-mom soon after her son was born.  Her and I have talked some and I believe that we are both tired of peopling judging the choice that we made (as well as other choices that we make as mothers).  Every family, child, situation is different and no one else has the right to tell a mother (or anyone for that matter) that they are a poor one because of some choice that they made.

Yesterday, she shared her choice of becoming a SAHM.  Today, here is mine for choosing to be a working mom.  So first, some back story:

In fall of 2005, I was in my 4th year of grad school.  My husband and I had been married for a bit more than 3 years at this time.  One of the reasons I considered not going on for my PhD was wanting to have children sooner rather than later.  I began looking at classes for the next semester and realized I only had one more class to take (then just working on my thesis).  So, if I were to have a baby soon, I would at least be done with my classes.  I also believed that I could finish up my thesis fine with having a child.  Finally, we had heard of so many couples taken a lot of time to get pregnant, so we figured, the sooner we started "trying" the better.  So, my husband and I actually started to "not prevent" in November of 2005.  I found out in early January 2006 that I was in deed pregnant already!  We were due in mid-September.

When I had my son, Owen, I was very lucky to be at the university that I was.  I was only teaching one class (at night) and they were able to give me maternity leave for 6 weeks (I actually went back in 4 weeks due to students having problems!).  My husband got home from work in time for me to go to my 2 day-a-week class.  In November, I found out that I was going to have to teach 2 classes (3 days a week) during the day for the spring semester to keep my assistantship.  So I started looking for a daycare.  We were able to find a very nice in-home daycare who charged us $1.50/hour, so we didn't have to worry too much about the cost!

Now to be honest, I don't know how much of a "choice" it was for me to be a working mom.  And by that I am not talking about feeling forced into working to keep my assistantship.  What I mean is that I never really considered the alternative of being a SAHM.  Whenever I pictured my future, I was working and had kids.  I got to see what being a SAHM would be like that first 4 months of Owen's life, and it wasn't a negative experience by any means.  I cherished every moment, as well as every moment after that.  I know that one of the things I want to teach my children is to follow your dreams and that you are capable of anything you set your mind to.  I believed this myself - why can't I have it all?  A great career and a great family.  I believe that I have both and plan to work hard to keep it that way.

I think that any family that goes through the decision process will always look at pros and cons.  So I have compiled my list of those from my perspective.

Pros

• I get to have my identity that is separate from "mommy."
• My children light up when they see me come home (or pick them up)
• My children get lots of social experiences.
• My children get to learn from people specifically trained in early-childhood education (I was trained in secondary education)
• We all get to tell each other about our day.
• I have people built in to help me when one of my children is struggling (another opinion, set of eyes, etc has been great to have with Quinn)
• Extra income

Cons

• A lot less time with them during the week.
• Other people may see the "milestones" before me :(
• Mommy guilt - feeling that I shouldn't need "me" time since I'm already away from the kids so much!
• Feeling "judged" by other Mommys for not staying home.
• Trying to find the balance.
• Having to worry more about what you are going to do when the  children are sick.

I'm sure there are some other pros/cons out there for working moms - others of you feel free to add to these pros and cons!

But again, most important - each family is different and needs to make the decision that is best for their family!

Owen's 12 Day of Christmas

The other night we were singing Christmas songs.  I started to sing Twelve Days of Christmas and Owen stopped me to tell me I wasn't doing it right.  He said...

"On the First Day of Christmas, my teacher gave to me, some homework in my backpack."  All I did was start smiling and then he kept going.  I grinned the entire time and at one point he told me to stop laughing.  I said I wasn't I was just so happy to hear him sing.

First Day:  Some homework in my backpack.
Second Day:  Two journal entires
Third Day:  Three learning centers
Fourth Day:  Four special treats
Fifth Day:  Five flashcards
Sixth Day:  Six crafts for making
Seventh Day:  Seven coints for counting
Eighth Day: Eight Phonics Papers
Ninth Day:  Nine crayons for drawing
Tenth Day:  Ten pencils for writing
Eleventh Day:  Eleven Books for reading
Twelfth Day:  Twelve "good job" stickers

I don't know how long ago he learned this at school, but I am so impressed how he remembers it!  What a special boy I have.  So lucky!

Shirt say "Sorry Girlds...Mommy says no dating"  :)

What would you do?

So, first let me give you some background on the situation.  Owen is in kindergarten, but it is only half day at the public school whose district we are in.  Thus, I was happy when I found that the daycare he would go to would also do a kindergarten class for the other half of the day.

Well, the daycare that he goes to was taking a field trip to the local pumpkin patch.  "That sounds like a fun idea" I thought.  Started to read a bit more closely and...

Cost for field trip - $14 ($6 for the pumpkin patch and $8 for the bus). 
Note:  We will probably not make it back in time for the afternoon kindergarteners to make the bus, so if you want them to go, you can provide the transportation by picking them up at the pumpkin patch or picking them up at the daycare.  In addition, talk to ______ about if there will be an additional ($25) charge for the extra half of the day if they do not go the kindergarten.

Well, part of the reason I have daycare is I can't really do this pick-up kind of thing.  So Owen would have to miss kindergarten and I'd have to pay an extra $25 for the daycare.

So what would you do?
1.  Let him go on the field trip - allowing him to miss "regular" kindergarten and total extra cost:  $39
or
2.  Have him do his "regular" thing - but then he isn't included on the fied trip.


What I did below - but think about what you'd do first (I'd like insight for later field trips!)





















We chose option 2 - he just did his regular thing, and luckily, he wasn't the only one.  In order to make him feel semi-included, he also wore the color of shirt that those going on the field trip were going to wear and we packed him a special lunch.  He was a little upset when I first told him that he wasn't going, but I explained that he would miss going to kindergarten and we are hoping to go to a pumpkin patch as a family this weekend anyways.

So all in all, I think we made a good decision.  What do you think?

Owen's 5th Birthday - Part II

Now, we'll talk about his favorite parts - presents and seeing family!

Even though we are out of state, he got to talk with his grandmas and grandpas on the day before his birithday (his birthday was on a Monday, not the best day of the week).

We started with my parents - my Mom was currently at a rehab place from her surgery, but my brother had brought up her laptop and got her internet hooked up so we could webcam.  She had sent a gift earlier for Owen so this way she got to see him open the gifts.  It was great getting to see her and my dad and I'm sure they enjoyed getting to see him open his gifts.

He loved it all - he got jammies, legos, and a remote control car! 

We then got to talk to Brandon's parents - Owen was still on a sugar high from his cake at this point.  He was very excited to see Grandma and Grandpa, and especially Uncle Austin.

Owen also got to open a couple of gifts from Mom and Dad - he got a Nerf "arrow" football, a Nerf indoor basketball hoop/ball, and a Cars race track. 

We also got to webcam with our Auntie April who hid a present for Owen's birthday when she was out here last - she got him "Scrabble Scoop" which he loves, he particularly loves when I get a bee and have to put all my letters back!  We were so busy webcamming, I didn't get a picture :(  So here's one of them from an earlier date.

Finally, I'll end with one of the things that made him very excited at school - he got a birthday crown!

Owen's 5th Birthday - Part I

So I'm finally getting around to posting about Owen's Birthday.  Due to picture overload, we'll take this across two posts!

Let's start with the our birthday outing.  We haven't really had a "big" party for Owen since his first birthday.  We have kept it very small since then for two reasons - one, now that we are out of state from all of our family, we can't really have a big family party.  Two - I don't really want to invite a lot of kids yet as we just switched daycares and he just started school.  I don't even know who the kids are in his class yet and don't know how to get ahold of the few he mentions ALOT.  So instead, we invited some family friends and their kids to go to Jump Zone for us.  This place was great for Owen - it had inflatable slides that you could run from one to the next without really having to wait much.  We got some pizza and he even got his first set of darts!

Then we got to have cake - he really wanted an ice cream cake like Mommy had for her birthday.  So we ordered one and he picked things - he wanted chocolate cake with white ice cream with cookies, fudge and chocolate chips mixed in.  Then, we needed blue frosting - here it is!

We'll do presents tomorrow!

5 year old food battles

Ok - so I'm starting honestly here.  I am a picky eater.  I know it, anyone that really knows me knows it too.  However...

why is my son an even pickier eater suddenly?  He used to eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that you put in front of him.  Now, if you put a piece of beef roast (which he loves) in a soup and ask him to just eat that piece of roast, it turns into a stand-off.

What did we do wrong so that he won't even TRY anything without a fuss?  How do I stop the battles at the table without cooking special for him (I refuse to make him something separate for supper)?  I do not ask him to eat anything that I won't eat in front of him (and believe me I have choked a few things down that I don't really like so that I'm not a hypocrite!)

We have a "behavior" chart at home and meal time is included with the decisions on this chart.  I don't want to intentionally hide foods that he should just eat as is as I really think that isn't the point.  I'm pretty sure if he tried many of these things with an open mind, he would like (or not hate) most of them.

Please give me some ideas!  I can't fight this battle every night!

Owen's 5 year check-up

Owen turned 5 on September 19th and we just had his check-up on Saturday.  In addition, he had an eye doctor appoinment on Friday.

The eye doctor appointment went really well.  We were seeing the new ophthalmologist at the outpatient Cincinnati Children's hospital since the last one moved.  I honestly liked this one better.  She put Owen at ease and showed real genuine interest in him and what we were doing.  I was also honest about the fact that we hadn't been doing the eyepatch for almost 2 months (once we got back from our vacation in Nebraska, it just seemed to have gotten pushed out of my mind).  After dilating his eyes and testing his prescription, his farsightedness had actually gotten better (needed a weaker prescription, just by a little).  So we are going to continue not patching his eye and see what happens in a couple of months.  He did, however, get new glasses which he is very excited about - they are even his favorite color, dark blue!

Old Glasses

New Glasses

His regular doctor appointment went well too. He is 46.25 inches tall (95th percentile) and 47.6 lbs (90th percentile).  He was very cooperative for this visit for a change, although I did warn he would get his flu shot.  The good news, for both of us, is they offered the inhaled,nasal one.  I asked if he preferred to be poked or to take a big sniff - guess which one he chose?  :)

He is very much enjoying kindergarten - he is beginning to tell time and write his address.  He is learning to recognize "sight" words in class and is everyone's friend now! 

I'll post about his birthday celebration next...promise!

Dentist Recap

Owen had his teeth worked on last Thursday.  Just in case someone else needs to go through this, I thought I would share how it went.  (Prior post)

Owen couldn't eat anything after midnight the night before.  Daddy was the one that took him (and I got to talk to the anesthesiologist on the phone the day before as well) so this is what I was told did (or would) happen. 

After they arrived, Owen got in his chair with Daddy sitting next to him.  The plan was for Daddy to help distract Owen from the anesthesiologist getting things ready to start the IV.  So, Daddy got to play a "game" with Owen that involved magnets and keeping one of his hands busy.  Then they would start the IV in the hand that Owen wasn't using playing the game.  He would be out a few seconds after.  This did end up working for Owen (there was a plan B ready in case - a shot in the butt to get things started).  Daddy said he was out in less than 10 seconds and it was sort of scary seeing him like that - his eyes were still open but he wasn't "there."  Daddy was then told it was time for him to go.  It took a bit more than an hour and then Daddy was back there for when he started to come to (I was told the IV sedation was much milder) and they were ready to go home about 30 minutes later.  Owen was a bit dizzy and "drunk-like."

Daddy had to watch out for him on the way home as he couldn't put his chin to his chest as that would cut off the airway.  He had to stop a couple times to get Owen adjusted.  After they were home, Daddy gave him some 7up (clear liquids but no water) and later some ramen noodles once he was getting hungry.  They chilled out in the living room a lot that day and watched some new shows, especially the How It's Made show.

When they came to get me, Owen was all smiles and he wanted pizza for supper.  His lips were a bit banged up - assuming from the procedure.  Otherwise, he wasn't in much pain and isn't angry at Mommy or Daddy.  I consider this a success!

We have to go back in about 2 weeks to see how he is doing.

Honesty About Kids Part 3

This is honestly a post I didn't think I would do.  Then I realized that one of the reasons I do this blog is to help other people understand what can go wrong and that they aren't the only one it may have happened to.  So here it is:  Owen has cavities.

Ok, so maybe that wasn't as shocking of an announcement as you were expecting, but let's be honest, most parents don't want to admit it.  So here is my story.

Owen first went to the dentist when he was about 18 months old.  The dentist's office had a pediatric dentist in their office and she mainly cleaned his teeth and counted them.  Everything was looking good.  Later that year, we moved.  I hadn't gotten dental insurance when I moved at first and once I did, I only got it for me at first (it was quite a bit more expensive to get the family version).  I thought what harm could come to Owen - he was young!  That of course was my first mistake.

When we decided to enroll Owen in kindergarten this year, he had to get a dental check-up (and I now have family dental insurance).  First tried to go to a regular dentist, but Owen was scared to death (so here is the first reason that not taking him was a mistake).  She got a peek and said she saw a couple gray spots on his lower molar.  She referred us to a pediatric dentist.  There, after many tears and the balloon bribe he got the panoramic x-ray and a couple of front bite x-rays.  Yep, he had cavities.  Almost worse - he was scared to death of the dentist. 

The pediatric dentist recommended Owen be sedated for his treatment.  We considered and decided this would be the best option so that he wouldn't be scarred for life.  So, on Thursday, my baby is going under to have his cavities filled. 

I thought I was the worst Mom possible - I had worked so hard to brush his teeth twice a day really well and we had just started a rinse for him.  But the dentist said that poor brushing/flossing is not the only thing that causes cavities.  He said that diet (extra sugar??) as well as spread of germs could attribute.  We try not to give Owen high amounts of sugar and he drinks one glass of diluted juice a day.  So, if you find yourself in the same boat or are worried you may, here is a great article that helped me understand!

Honesty about Kids, Part 2

Recently, I published a post with some of the issues we are having with Quinnie.  I know that each child has their struggles, and Owen is having some too.

As most of you know, Owen has glasses.  I have no problem with the fact that he wears glasses, I just didn't realize how much that could impact things.  I worry about how other children treat him because of it (especially as he has just  started kindergarten and a new daycare.)  I worry about how that will affect things when he really starts wanting to play sports.  When we go swimming and he takes his glasses off, I don't know how/what he sees.

From Owen's point of view, he is having a hard time making friends at his new school and daycare.  He keeps telling me that he doesn't have friends and that "they" don't like him.  This just breaks my heart and I don't know what to do.  He is a pretty outgoing little guy who will introduce himself to you so I don't believe that he isn't somewhat trying.

But outside of this, our biggest struggle is his pickiness and general pain-in-the-butt behavior with food.  If he hasn't already had it, he says he "doesn't like it."  We've tried a reward system for trying new food (if he marked off 10, he got to do something extra fun like go to the zoo or pick out a toy) and this worked through his first trip to the zoo.  We don't give him special treats/snacks if he won't eat supper.  I don't want the dinner table to be a battle zone, I want it to be a place where our family comes together to share in each other's company and to talk about our day while enjoying our meal.  So, anyone out there have some good (non-battle zone) ideas?

Here are some pics of Owen growing up...

Owen's First Day of Kindergarten

Yesterday was Owen't first day of kindergarten.  We had gone school shopping with his supply list awhile before.  Of course, the most important thing was the backpack! He wanted a Cars Backpack and we got him this one:

About everything else had a Cars theme to it as well (folders, notebooks, pencils).  The one thing we got him that had a different theme was a Marvels lunch box (with Spiderman on it).

So on Tuesday night when he went to bed, we got out clothes for the morning - he wanted to wear his blue Diary of a Wimpy Kid shirt and "hook" blue jeans.  Of course right before I go to bed is when I realize that I better put his name on everything.  I got his bag packed and ready to go in the morning.

We got up in the morning around 7 and were ready to all leave the house around 7:30 but of course, I needed a few "first day" pics:

In addition we left early enough as I wanted to take him out for donuts to show him that this was a very special day:

He seemed to enjoy the special treat and managed to keep himself clean :)  I then took him to his new daycare (which starts a Kindergarten program in September).  He didn't seem to be nervous at all - "bye Mom" - I have to admit I was a little sad that he wasn't more sad, but that's a Mom for you!

I called daycare after he got on the bus to ensure that the morning had gone ok, which it had.  Dad picked him up from daycare and they went out for ice cream (he doesn't need treats for a long time now!).  He wasn't overly talkative but he said that he had a good day, he had made friends (but didn't remember their names), there are two other Owens at daycare so he is now Owen W. (boo - I really didn't want him to have an initial!).  He was excited this morning about going and wanted to make sure he got to ride the bus again!

So we'll see how today goes.  Do you remember anything from your first day?

100th post! (Kindergarten)

I may have been blogging for about 2 years but this is still my 100th post!  This one will be about Kindergarten, another big milestone that is coming!

I found out last year that our school has an October 1st cut-off for birthdays for Kindergarten. So since Owen will be turning 5 before then, he can start kindergarten next year.  Brandon and I were trying to figure out if it would be good to start him or if it would be a bad thing, especially for a boy (driving later, etc).  After talking with his teachers at "school," we all decided that he is easily ready academically speaking.  Now the sitting still part we need to work on!  The checklist academically that they gave us seems sort of sad - can count to 20, knows ABC's, can recognize some letters and numbers, knows name, speaks in sentences of at least 4 words.  On that note, he shocked Mommy around Thanksgiving my typing the word NOVEMBER on his computer.  Wow!

So, we started looking into kindergarten and I found out that sadly, we have half day kindergarten here.  I honestly think that this should be banned.  Most kids go to some time of pre-k and in a lot of families, both parents work making half day a greater challenge.  Anyways, so now I had to investigate a daycare that does half day in our area (where we currently go is 20 miles away from school, so no chance) and that buses to the school (believing it is going to be afternoons at kindergarten for him).  I also asked about prices for Quinn if we were to bring her there.  Wow!  To move both of them was going to cost me $20-$40 more per week with Owen doing half-days!  Thus, Quinn will stay put!

I can't believe that Owen is already that big of a boy that next year when I'm doing my school supply shopping, I will have to get him things too!  The cliche` is true - they grow up way too fast!

Owen's 4th Birthday

Owen turned 4 in mid-September.  Since we live pretty far from most of our family, we ended up doing a couple web-cams with people so that they could see him open his presents.  Unfortunately, we then didn't get pictures of that stuff :(  Grandma and Grandpa Weyer had a good Toy Story theme going on - we got a woody and buzz, Toy Story T-shirt, pajamas, and playing cards!  Auntie April had a card game theme going on giving him many great games suchs as Old Maid and Skip Bo Junior.  Uncle Dan and Aunt Amber sent us a couple of Husker T-shirts so that we can wear our colors even in a different state!  Mommy, Daddy and Quinn got him some pajamas, Toy Story underwear (can't believe grandma didn't get him that too!) and a buzz lightyear computer. 

We still didn't do a big party for him, but we did go to Chuck E Cheese on a Sunday afternoon (much better than a Friday or Saturday evening.

Owen definitely likes his pizza but getting him to sit down and eat it with all that other stuff going on around him was a slight challenge! 

We decided to invite his "best friend" from school this time and him and his Mom were able to come.  Aidan got him some really cool toys include a ramp trick for a hot wheel

Owen was finally able to go up into the slide thing this year without getting scared.  You can barely see his head here but I was lucky enough for him to sit still long enough to take this!

Trying skeet ball, still not great but we can at least get the balls up there this time!

Finally, we got him and Aidan to stand stll long enough for one picture!



We made some of Owen's favorite cupcakes - chocolate with peanut butter cream cheese frosting.  Sorry, no pic of those here, but here is a picture of the ones we made for school (no peanuts allowed!)  Might not be able to tell in the pic, but we dyed the frosting a light blue!

Overall, it was a pretty good birthday for Owen.  Can't believe that he is 4 already and probably going to be in kindergarten next year!

Quinn is 3 months

Quinn turned 3 months old today! She is definitely getting more of a personalitly. She likes to talk a lot more now and is really trying to grab ahold of things (more than just my hair now!)

During the day she eats about 5-6oz every 3-4 hours. She generally gets up once in the middle of the night between 9:30pm and 7am. Generally at about 3:30 but sometimes earlier. Hope to get her sleeping better soon so Mommy can sleep more, but I just can't let her cry very long as she gets so worked up. Owen never got that worked up!

Current stats:
Weight - approximately 11 lbs based on my weighing her!
Height - 22.5" by my measurement
Head circumference - 15.5" by my measurement
Clothing size: 0 - 3 months but getting close to needing next size up
Diaper size: 1

Here are some more cute pics of her!

Looking a little shy

Smiling!

And one with big brother!

Kiddos

Thought I'd give a couple updates on the kiddos!

Quinn

Still a teenie gal. She is drinking about 5 oz of formula every 3.5 - 4 hours (except at night). We are generally going about 6 hours at night before needing to eat and sometimes she doesn't seem all that interested. I might be able to just give her her pacifier and she'd go back to sleep but with getting up at 6:30 every morning and waiting for her to be fed at daycare at 7:30, it makes me nervous that then I'd run late. May have to plan on a week where it is ok and plan to get up at 6 and feed her at 6:30 and then go to school to allow for her to sleep through the night. Might try this at 3 months (about 2 weeks!!).

Other highlights include that she is actually beginning to wake-up happy vs. crying and wanting to eat. She "blew" her first raspberry over the weekend. She loves to watch The Backyardigans with her brother. I presume she like the bright characters and all the singing :)



Owen

He has been amazing us lately. He is doing very good at school. They have notebooks for the kids to write in and the teacher will write on the board. At first, he wouldn't write what they were writing, he just kept writing his name (first and last) over and over again. Now he will write about anything that he sees, but of course he wants to know what it is! He's learned about mixing his primary colors and what colors they make and he knows that adding an S to a word makes more than one :)

He has been a pretty big helper. He likes to help Mommy with laundry, cleaning up dishes, wiping the table and baking. He will also run to get things for Mommy that she needs for Quinn.

The last couple of times I have taken him to the pool, I finally got him to jump from the edge to Mommy (and of course, he wants to do this at the 5ft part with Mommy on her tip toes!). He always has to do a count to a certain number before jumping and he changes it each time. I wonder if my child is the only one that feels the need to count to 30 before jumping? He even does a little dance back and forth while he is counting!


With as great as the kiddos are doing - we still miss having the family around to get to share in all these new things with us. Owen always wants to go see Grandma(s) and Grandpa(s), Uncle Austin and Keira! Right now he gets his cousin Aden confused with his "best friend," Aiden. Can't wait to get to seem my family again and get to meet my new niece in person! Only seen her face-to-face over the webcam once.

Swimming time

Yesterday was the first time this summer that I got to get into the pool! Owen and I went to the neighborhood pool which has a little (aka baby) pool and a big pool (that is what Owen calls them). Owen hasn't really gone swimming much before this summer since 2008 so I know I can't expect a lot of him yet. But Owen only wanted to go to the little pool. My dad had taken him before and Brandon took him before too, but Owen didn't want to get into the big pool for much more than one minute.

I played my mommy bit and began to whimper since mommy wanted to go to the big pool. Owen obliged as I promised I would carry him and not let go. The first time we were in the big pool, I wasn't allowed to bounce at all, get out of "carrying" mode, or dunk him. The second time he allowed me to bounce, spin, and pseudo-swim with him (where he has tummy floating, legs kicking but his head up!). He still didn't want to go under and didn't want to lose his trust so we didn't.

Next year, hopefully I can find swimming lessons for him either at NKU or at a community pool, maybe even see about gettin Quinn started early!

The only "bad" part of the swimming experience was putting on the bathing suit, but I'd do about anything for my little man. Now, I know I was never thin, but my tummy is even more "squishy" than usual due to not using it for so long. I want to get into better shape so I can be more confident next year when I'm with them (don't need a bikini body or anything, but if I get it, even better). So I need everyone to start holding me accountable - I'm going to do this by posting at least weekly blogs about my weight update (pounds lost as I'm not going to actually give you my weight), size update (new york and company sizing as favorite store), how i've worked out, and sample menus of what I'm eating. I'd love for people to send me lots of recipes since I am a picky eater and will definitely veto or edit some.

Help me!

Temporary SAHM

Right now, I am basically being a stay-at home mom. I still am teaching a night class two nights a week, but for the most part, I am getting to experience what SAHMs do.

Owen still gets a lot of "schooling", just not in the same way he did before. We eat breakfast and then I feed Quinn while he watches Curious George. Then Quinn generally plays on her playmat while Owen and I play memory or play with flashcards. When Quinn lays down for her nap, Owen and I do a few household chores, like laundry and cleaning the kitchen. Then he usually plays with blocks. When Quinn wakes up next, I feed her and Owen watches Sesame Street. Sometimes we go for a walk after this, but it has been pretty hot for that so more often Owen will play with playdough or draw while Quinn sits in her bouncy seat or has tummy time. I try to get lunch done during this time and then I can lay Quinn down and Owen and I can eat together (though this timing isn't always perfect and sometimes I eat a bit later). After lunch we Owen generally does puzzles while I get a bit of computer work done (and of course, some play time for mommy too). Quinn then eats again while Owen watches Clifford or Word World. Then Owen lays down for his nap and Quinn and I enjoy a bit of mommy and me time and I play with her on her mat, sing and/or read stories. Then I put her in her bouncy seat for a bit of time by herself while I get some more cleaning done. When she lays down for her nap, I either shower or nap myself most the time. I sometimes even watch a Criminal Minds.
At this point, Daddy generally gets home and things aren't as consistent then, but then I have help and let him do what he wants to (as with Owen or Quinn).

Night time has been a roller coaster. Up through Sunday night, Quinn was getting up about every 3 or 3.5 hours to eat and went right back to sleep. Monday night we went 4 hours in a stretch. Tuesday night, we went 6.5 hours without eating (about 5.75 hours of sleep)! Wednesday night, we went 6 hours without eating (about 4.5 of sleep) and Thursday night was about the worst night since she has been born. Laid down at 11:30; 3 or 4 re-insert pacy; up at 1:15 to eat; laid down at 1:40; 3 or 4 re-insert pacy; up at 4:15 to eat; laid down at 4:40 - couldn't get her settled at all - finally got her to sleep at 6.

We'll see how things keep going - I'm home totally for 3 more weeks. When I go back to work, I think I'll try only taking them to daycare for 3 days a week the first 2 weeks before I have to be back full time!