Owen’s Baptism

Saturday morning we celebrated Owen’s baptism! 

It truly was a special day for a very special little boy!

It’s Amazing…

…what a fresh haircut can do for a person!  Especially when it’s that 1st ever haircut!

It can make you look and feel like a new girl!

Or at least that’s what it did for Bailey!  Gotta love that girl!

Happy Halloween!

Each year I try to be creative yet keep things as simple (a.k.a. cheap!) as possible when it comes to Halloween costumes.  It always amazes me how expensive so many store bought costumes can be… and most of them are really poorly made. 

In the past, Bailey has dressed up as a clown and a lion, which were both a lot of fun.  This year, since we now have two children, I decided that the Halloween costumes had to coordinate!  I honestly had no idea where to start. 

So when I remembered having this brown, bear suit that friends (thanks Laura and Travis!) gave us for Owen I decided to keep it simple and dress him as a bear.

Then came the tough part… trying to figure out a coordinating costume for Bailey.  Then suddenly it hit me one day… Bailey could be Goldilocks and Owen could be Baby Bear! 

I found this sweet little dress at the local Goodwill for $2.99 and thought that it would make a perfect Goldilocks outfit.  It was sized 2T, but with Bailey being so petite I figured it would probably still fit her.  So it took a chance on the dress and took it home.

I tried the dress on Bailey to check the size and was thrilled to see that the dress was almost a perfect fit.  The one and only problem with it was the length.  You know those girls you see out places and you think to yourself that if they bent over even just a little bit you’d see everything?  Well imagine that… only shorter!  You could actually see everything while Bailey was standing! 

Fortunately, it wouldn’t take much to solve the problem… just a little bit of fabric sewn onto the bottom of the dress.  And best of all, my mom was in town and she was looking for little projects that she could do to keep herself busy.  So I put her to work!

The end result was this sweet little ensemble…

…and this even sweeter little pair!

Have you ever seen a better looking Goldilocks or Baby Bear?  Surely not!  They are just so sweet! 

Unfortunately, thanks to some pesky shots at the pediatrician’s office Halloween morning and some very chilly weather outside Owen wasn’t able to go trick-or-treating.  Instead, he hunkered down at home with my Mom while she handed out candy.

Bailey on the other hand was good to go!  And go she did!  She had a great time visiting at the neighbors’ houses and getting her trick-or-treat on! 

Definitely another very happy Halloween!

4 Months!

Well, who would have thought it?  Owen is already 4 months old (technically he’s already 4 months and 1 week… sorry I’m so far behind on my blogging).  I truly can’t believe how quickly the time is flying by!

At his 4 month pediatrician visit Owen weighed 13 lbs. 7 oz. (10th percentile) and measured 25 1/2 inches long (60th percentile).  Although his measurements are pretty close to Bailey at 4 months, there’s a big difference in their percentiles.  I guess that’s just the difference between little boys and little girls.  Anyway, his pediatrician assured me that Owen’s doing great and that he’s perfectly healthy. 

As far as milestones are concerned, Owen has been trying out a few new things over the past couple of months. He can roll from his tummy to his back (although he doesn’t do it very often), but hasn’t quite figured out how to go in the other direction. Owen is also now sitting up in the Bumbo seat and enjoying some play time in the ExerSaucer (with a blanket helping to prop him up in the seat and another pillow/blanket propped beneath his feet).

Owen has become much more interactive over the past several weeks. He spends far less time sleeping and a while lot more time playing! He coos and jabbers all the time and everything he touches goes straight into his mouth. He’s extremely ticklish and loves playing peek-a-boo.

Owen is such a joy to be around. He is almost always laughing or smiling and has one of the best dispositions I’ve ever seen in a baby.  We are truly blessed to have this little guy in our lives!

Erin Wendt Wedding Weekend

A couple of weekends ago we packed up the kids and headed to South Carolina for my sister Erin’s wedding.  We were so excited to visit with family and share in Erin’s special day!  Unfortunately, I was so busy having fun that I neglected to take very many pictures.  So, here’s a couple of what we got at the reception. 

These pictures, of course, don’t do the wedding or reception justice.  Everything was beautiful… especially the bride!

So, in parting, let me leave you with this classic shot… which happens to be one of the only pictures I got with Matt (a.k.a. the groom) in it. 

Can anybody say “flash forward 3 1/2 years”?  Oh come on… I’m sure at least one of you out there was thinking it!

DIY Thumbprint Tree

I’m very excited that my sister Erin got married a couple of weeks ago!  As her matron of honor I tried to help with as many of the wedding preparations as possible.  When my sister mentioned that she wanted a thumbprint tree to fit in with the fall theme at her reception I happily offered to DIY one for her.

I started off by scouring Google for images of thumbprint trees.  Fortunately, there was no shortage of inspiration images available out there.  I spoke with both Erin and her fiancé, Matt, to see what their thoughts were on how it should look.  Once I had a rough idea of what I wanted to create I opened up Microsoft Publisher and working on a draft. 

I printed my draft and copied it in black and white onto a transparency, which I then shot onto a 24” x 36” canvas that I had purchased for 50% off at a local craft store.

Using a pencil, I lightly traced the outline of the words and tree.

I used a basic, black paint pen to fill in the words along the bottom.

And then I painted the tree.

In the end I was left with a canvas that looked a little something like this.  Not bad if I say so myself!

The tree was placed in the foyer at the reception hall to be used in place of the traditional guest book.  It was a big hit and by the end of the night Erin and Matt were left with a tree filled with the thumbprints and signatures of their dear family and friends. 

2 Months!

I can’t believe another month has already flown by.  Honestly… where does the time go? 

Owen is growing so fast and is developing such a little personality!  He is constantly smiling, laughing, and cooing.  I had almost forgotten just how sweet this stage of baby-hood can be.  I absolutely love it!!!  And it makes me want to hold on to each and every second of it for as long as I can!

At Owen’s 2 month pediatrician visit last week he weighed 11 lbs. 8 oz. (25th percentile) and measured 23 1/4 inches long (55th percentile).  It’s hard to imagine him being in the 25th percentile on weight considering his weight when he was born.  But as long as the doctor isn’t concerned about it neither are we. 

So far, Owen eats and sleeps like a champ!  Seriously, he deserves a trophy or something for it!  We haven’t had any of the feeding or sleeping problems that we experienced with Bailey (although I may have jinxed myself by typing that just now).  He nurses well, rarely spits up, and always seems satisfied after a feeding.  He’s a typical man… as long as his tummy is full he’s happy!

Owen has experienced a couple big transitions in the past few weeks (since his 1 month post). 

The first big transition was his move from the portable crib in our room to the crib in his shared bedroom with Bailey.  We decided to do this when he was about 6 weeks old (right before I went back to work) and I’m happy to say that from day one both he and Bailey have both been very satisfied with the arrangement.  Bailey absolutely loves that Owen goes to bed alongside her.  And Owen seems pretty darned happy that Bailey sings lullabies to him each night as they lie in their beds!  I swear… it is the sweetest thing ever to listen to over the baby monitor!  Makes my heart melt just thinking about it!  So, I’d definitely call the whole shared room thing a win!

The second big transition for Owen also took place when he was 6 weeks old.  At that point I went back to work and Owen started at the daycare.  Fortunately, it’s the same day school program (with the same wonderful teachers and staff) that Bailey has been a part of since she started at 6 weeks old.  Oh, and did I mention that it’s next door to my office so I can drop by any time I want?  Talk about a bonus!!!  So far he seems to really love it.  And all of the ladies there seem to really love him too! 

Adjusting to life with two kids has definitely kept us busy so far, but we seem to be working our way through it just fine.  I think the fact that we have a little bit of experience under our belts and that we tend to be fairly laid back parents helps.  Not to mention the fact that Owen just seems to be an easy baby overall (again… I probably just jinxed myself). 

Sadly though, time seems to be passing so much faster with Owen than it did with Bailey.  Ridiculously fast!  Owen is one of the three great loves of my life and I cherish each and every moment with him!