6-7 Months!

Yet another way overdue post about one of my kids.  This time it’s a nearly-month-old update on Owen.  Needless to say the kids have been keeping me pretty busy.  Anyway, back to the 6 month update on Owen!

At his 6 month well check last month Owen had the following measurements:

• Weight—15.2 lbs.
• Height—2 ft. 2.75 inches
• Weight to height—3rd percentile

Over the past several weeks Owen has experienced a lot of firsts.  He began sitting up on his own.  He got his first tooth.  And, probably the most exciting first of them all, he began eating solids!  Needless to say, by this age he was ready for solids (and my boobs are more than ready for a longer break between feedings/pumpings)!  As far as milestones are concerned, he’s a little behind where Bailey was at this age, but he’s a completely different baby from how Bailey was and just seems to do things at his own pace!  I’m very curious to see what sort of changes the next few months will bring.  Whatever they are I know they’ll be exciting to watch!

3 Year Well Check!

* To say the past month or two have been busy is an understatement.  I’ve got a back-log of posts that I’ve been meaning to write, so bear with me as I try to catch up. *

Last month I took Bailey in for her 3 year well check.  As usual, I was pretty interested to see how her weight and height have changed over the past year (check out her 24 month stats here). 

• Weight—29 lbs. 6 oz.
• Height—3 ft. 1 in.

As expected, her numbers were up.  Also as expected, she’s still on the lower end of the percentile range.  But, as Dr. Reinhardt assured me, it’s much better to be on the lower end of “normal” than on the upper end.

As far as developmental milestones go, Bailey is meeting or exceeding all of them!  Some of her current favorites are:

• Color—Blue
• Toy—Jigsaw Puzzles
• Food—Pizza
• TV Show—The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That
• Animal—Dolphins

No matter how desperately I try to hold on to them, her baby years are long gone. She’s now entering the 3’s, which is exciting and terrifying all at the same time (anyone out there who’s had a 3 year old will completely understand that statement!).  Can’t wait to see what the following year with bring!

A Christmas Mantel

I realize that this post is more than late.  I had every intention of writing it 2-3 weeks ago, but work, the kids, the house, etc. just kept getting in my way.  Sorry about that, but better late than never, right? 

Anyway, here are some pictures of our mantle all decorated for Christmas this year.  It was so different from the mantel that we had last year and the year before.  It has a much more casual feel to it, which I love!  Hope you love it too! 

Bailey’s Rainbow Birthday Party!

This past weekend we celebrated Bailey’s third birthday (check out her first and second birthday parties too)!  I tried to keep things as simple as possible by sticking with a rainbow theme, where pretty much anything bright and colorful would go. 

I whipped up these cheerful invitations to go along with the rainbow theme and then printed them on card stock left over from my sister’s bridal shower earlier this year.  Waste not… want not, right?

The foyer, dining room and kitchen were all decorated with these fun, rainbow-colored streamers that I made (thanks to a little inspiration from my friend Holly).  They were so super easy to make and I plan to reuse them at future celebrations.

Since the most important people at the party were going to be two and three year olds I tried to have a few different play zones scattered throughout the main living areas (you know… to try to keep the kiddos from destroying playing in Bailey’s room).  I pulled out the rainbow-colored blocks and set them out in the living room.

In the dining room I covered the table with white craft paper, which the kids were free to color on.  And color they did!

The food at the party consisted of pizza (requested by Bailey), rainbow-inspired fruit and veggie trays, and rainbow tie-dye cupcakes (recipe found here)! 

The kids all seemed to be BIG fans of the spread, especially when it came to the cupcakes!

After eating the kids were invited to make a toddler-friendly tie-dyed t-shirt following this tutorial. 

They all seemed to enjoy the activity, but it proved to be a little more time-consuming than their two and three year old attention spans could manage.  So, we moved on to the presents.  Naturally, many of the presents had to be tested (for quality assurance purposes) as soon as they were opened!

And as always, playing with the wrapping paper was just as much fun as playing with the presents!

Even sweet Owen enjoyed getting in on the wrapping-paper-playtime-fun!

As they left, the kids were given favor bags filled with candies that fit right in with the rainbow theme. 

But as great as the favor bags were, by far the best part of the day was Bailey getting to spend some time with her two most favorite people… her BF (as in boyfriend) Colin and her BFF Maelen!

Happy birthday sweet girl!  I love you to the end of the rainbow and back!

5 Months!

Yet another month has passed… this one even faster than the last one.  Owen turned 5 months old last Tuesday. 

He had a follow-up appointment at the pediatrician last week (for the cold he’d had a couple of weeks before) and while we were there we got all of his measurements.

• Weight—15 lbs. 5 oz. (24th percentile)
• Height—2 ft. 2.75 in. (83rd percentile)
• Weight to height—5th percentile

Both his weight and height percentiles were up, which is always nice to hear.

His latest discoveries include the following:

• Feet (and the socks that accompany them) are actually pretty tasty
• When in doubt, blow spit bubbles
• Bath time is the most awesome-est thing ever
• Bailey is, by far, the most fascinating person in the world!

Can’t wait to see what new tricks he comes up with in the next few week!

A Morning At The Circus!

A couple of weeks ago the circus came to Johnson City and we were so excited to be able to take the entire family (plus Bailey’s little friend Maelen) out to enjoy the experience!  We all had a great time watching the animals, acrobats, and other performances. 

Oh… and the quality time spent with the family wasn’t too bad either!

Owen’s Baptism

Saturday morning we celebrated Owen’s baptism! 

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