Merry Christmas!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Snow Day!!

Yes, you read that title correctly, we are having a snow day in Vegas today!! This is the first snow day since 1979. Our house hasn't seen any snow on the ground, but parts of the valley had a couple of inches. In the three years that I have been here I have never seen the snow on the mountains be this low. It is gorgeous!

The airport was closed last night and part of today and the strip had significant snowfall, lots of people were taking their picture at the famous Las Vegas sign last night in the snow (according to the news broadcast)!

I am sure this will not happen again in the next 27 years of my teaching career here, so I am enjoying the relaxation day!

Noodle up the Nose!

I started the day last Wednesday with the thought in mind that I would take Owen to the park a few miles away, let him play for a while to really wear him out. Then I would be able to get a lot of stuff done around the house when he took a nice long nap.

Everything was going according to my plan, until he decided to push a noodle up his nose at lunch time.

When I figured out what he had done I immediatedly began to panic. I had been predicting this would happen for weeks, as crayons and vegetables have been almost inserted into his nose many times. But on this day he finally went through with it. I called my husband at work to tell him what happened, but he had no real suggestions on what I should do either, other than call the non-urgent medical advice line through our pediatrician's office. So I called and left the detailed message with the nurse. But still, I wondered is this more urgent? There is no list describing situations other than the obvious that would classify an emergency.

Anyway, after I called I still wondered whether or not it was safe to lay him down for a nap. Could this noodle somehow clog his airway?! So, as I waited for the nurse to call back, which could take 2-3 hours, I called my sister, who agreed no nap. i also made an appointment with my doctor, while waiting for the nurse.

Finally, after about an hour the nurse called and confirmed that I should keep the appointment and that it was safe to lay him down for nap. So, off Owen went to bed, but he did not have a nap.

As if the noodle up his nose was bad enough, after about a half an hour of being upstairs, he was quiet and so I went to check on him. As I walked through the hallway, I could smell something, but couldn't quite place it. When I looked into his room, he was sitting in his (big boy) bed, completely covered in sunscreen!

To make a long story short, when we got to the doctor's office, the noodle could not be found so either:

A. It went all the way through and made it to his belly,
B. It fell out, or
C. It is stuck up there and we have to watch and see if the other nostril drains a lot, then we would have to go to a ear, nose, and throat doctor. But so far no sign of that thank goodness!

But the doctor did say, if this happened again, we could always try holding the opposite nostril shut and blowing in his mouth to remove whatever he decided to stick up there next!

So much for my prodcutive nap time that day!! I think I am ready to go back to work!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Big Mistake

I had to take Owen to the sitter yesterday, because I had a doctor's appointment. So, I was packing his lunch, but couldn't find the plastic container I put his sippy cups in. So, I slid over his little red chair, stood on it, and retrieved it from on top of the refridgerator. Not realizing that little eyes were watching my every move! Immediately after I put his chair back, Owen, with a twinkle in his eye, slid over his chair, stood on it and pushed the button that will unlock the fridge and allow him to get water out. Luckily, although he knows which button it is, cannot count to three in order to actually unlock it!

Big Boy Bed!

Owen is now officially sleeping in a big boy bed. I decided I was ready to try this on the first night of my track break. I figured I could afford to be tired for the next few weeks as he transitions into this new stage in his life. The first night went ok. I had to finally sleep in there to get him to fall asleep, I snuck out at 10:30, he got up again at 2:30, and I slept in there again until 4:30. Then he was up for the day when daddy got up at 5:30. So that was a short night

The following day I expected naptime to be a headache, but he cried for about a half an hour and then it was quiet. When I finally tiptoed upstairs I was pleased to find him fast asleep in his bed. That night, he again cried for about a half and hour and then fell asleep in his bed.

Last night was the 4th night in his bed and he cried once at 10:30, but only whimpered and went back to sleep. He then again cried at 1:00, which was more than a wimper, but he didn't run to his door. I went in his room, retucked him, sat with him, and was back in my bed within 9 minutes!! I am very proud of his progress! Hopefully by the time I got back to work in December he will be sleeping through the night with no problems!!

What are the odds?

Recently, we purchased a new couch. Gavin arranged for a friend to help him pick it up and for Salvation Army to come and pick up the old ones. However, that could not all be done on the same day. The new couch was picked up and the old couches were moved outside into the backyard until a few days later. We live in Las Vegas, where the weather is sunny 99.9 percent of the time. So the thought of rain never crossed our minds. What are the odds that on the night that we put couches outside it would down pour!?!?

A Teaching Perk!

Today my class and I, along with about 1,000 other Fourth and Fifth graders, were given the privelage of attending a free Blue Man Group Performance! It was great! A little chaotic, getting in and out of the theater, due to the number of children, but the show was fantastic! Just one little perk for teaching in Las Vegas!

What a Night!

Well, it finally happened, Owen successfully escaped his crib last night and it couldn't be worse timing. Gavin is in Michigan for his Grandma's funeral and Owen and I are here all by ourselves. Well, whether it was the 3 and a half hour nap yesterday or the teeth that are trying to come in, Owen was crabby at bedtime last night. At 8:00, I heard a loud thud from upstairs, I ran up the stairs, and found Owen standing in his doorway. So, we came downstairs and watched Baby Good Sport while putting ice on his forehead! (He's got a pretty good rugburn there)! Anyway, he went to bed pretty well then, and thankfully I called it a night early as well.

At 12:42 a.m. all the shinanigans started. Owen woke up screaming, nothing could console him, he was making no sense, he pointed for a book that was on the floor, I finally gave it to him and he laid down satisfied. But when I tried to leave the room he screamed. I finally was able to sneak out of the room and back into my bed, but then I was hungry. So, I came downstairs and got a snack. When I went back up I couldn't fall back asleep. I finally did drift off, and the screaming started again at 1:30, I laid on his floor again, but was paranoid that if I slept there I would oversleep, since Gavin wasn't home. I finally got back to bed and again at 2:30 he was up! Then again at 3:30. Finally at 3:30 I brought him into bed with me. He was screaming and pointing at the T.V.. When I asked him if he wanted to watch T.V. he stopped crying, shrugged, and looked at me as if to say, "well, if you'll let me." So I got Baby Good Sport and popped it into the DVD player.

Well, this did the trick and soon he was snoring next to me. At last I thought, let's get a good 3 hours of sleep in. I turned off the T.V. and he woke up, like a Dad or Grandpa napping on the couch watching a boring T.V. show, and when we go to change it they awake and say, "hey, I was watching that!"

Anyway, we slept on and off until 5:30, when he woke up and refused to stay in bed.

Needless to say he was asleep by 7:00 this evening and I am not far behind him. Hopefully, we get a good night sleep tonight.

I Passed!!!

I passed the U.S. Constitution test I had to take to get the provision off my teaching license with an 88%!!!!!!!!! Now I can keep teaching! As if knowing the U.S. Constitution backward and forward really made a difference in my ability to teach children how to add and subtract decimals, pick out a main idea in a paragraph, or write a great introductory paragraph in an essay. (Just to name a few things we are currently working on). But nonetheless, I apparently am now a better qualified teacher!

Woof, Woof!!

Owen can now say "woof, woof!" And he spends a great deal of his evenings hanging out the front door (in the little space that will actually open due to the lock we have up top becuase of him) repeating "woof, woof" as the dog across the driveway barks!

He will also say "moo," but not as often as he will bark!

Oh..and a week or so ago we realized that he can say all his vowel sounds. He "reads" books repeating a, o, and e as he turns through the pages!

Hopefully he will start on words soon!

It's been a while,I know!

For those of you who actually read my blog, you must be wondering why I haven't posted anything in over a month!! The answer is, simply, life has been crazy.

For almost two and a half weeks we had family in town. First my mother and father-in-law, then two days after they arrived, my brother-in-law, his wife, and their two boys arrived. And we had six adults and three children living within 1300 square feet for three and a half days. Then some of them moved to a hotel, and the rest of us followed for a weekend filled with wedding festivities and more family members to visit with.


Then two days after that side of the family left, my parents flew into town for a week's visit. During that same week the new school year began. We also squeezed in a overnight trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon over Labor Day weekend.


When my parents left I spent a few evenings doing my usual new school year routine like making that first positive phone call to parents, ect., that I had neglected while they were here.


Then when we finally got a quiet weekend, I spent the whole weekend up in my room studying for the U.S. Constitution test that I have to pass in order to renew my teaching license that expires this coming March. Nothing like waiting until the last minute I know.


So every evening last week was spent reviewing the study guide and this past Saturday I took the test. I think I did pretty well, but I will find out at the end of the this week, since I paid extra to get my results faster! (Just in case I need to sign up for the next testing date to retake it).

During it all I have been battling morning...no morning, afternoon, evening, and night sickness, as I am now 15 weeks pregnant with our second child! And although we are thrilled the first trimester wasn't exactly enjoyable. I have now gone just about a week of feeling good after feeling absolutely miserable for the entire first trimester! I'm hoping the sickness is a sign that it's a girl, since I didn't have any sickness with Owen. We'll find out in a few weeks!

Not only have I been busy and sick due to pregnancy, our computer is deciding to die. So, I can't download any of my pictures off my camera. Well, I could, but it would take a year to get them downloaded and then uploaded and ready to share. I can use Gavin's work laptop for e-mail and blogging, ect., but not for pictures, so when we finally fix that problem I will have a lot to share!

Well, that pretty much sums up the past month of my life! Stay tuned for more blogs without pictures!

Watching Daddy

Gavin has recently taken up an obsession with the Food Network channel on TV. Which I am not complaining about, dinners have been getting very tasty! Apparently it has been rubbing off on Owen as well, although Owen likes to watch his cooking shows live!!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Erin and Kris!! My card is sitting on the table ready to be mailed a day late! And I lost track of time and realized at 8:00 my time that it is too late to call you! Hope you enjoyed your special day! I can't believe it has been 7 years!

Big Boy

Owen had his 18 month check-up today. Unlike every other trip to the doctor, he freaked out as soon as we laid him down to remove everything but a dry diaper! He didn't like getting his temperature taken, being weighed, or being measured. He cried the whole time the doctor was examining him too. We figured he must remember his last appointment and be anticipating his shots. But when it was time for his last shot until he is five years old, he didn't make a peep!

And for his stats:
Height: 35.75 inches (above the 95th percentile). He was too long to be measured on the table, he had to stand up like a big boy against the wall to be measured!
Weight: 35.1 pounds (above the 95th percentile).

Dare Devil Multiplied

Ok, so I thought going down the slide head first was dare devilish, but that is nothing compared to Owen's pool experience on Friday night. We were at our friend's house in the pool late Friday night, so it was dark out, but they have lights in the pool. Owen went in the pool with Daddy (Mommy was too lazy to put her bathing suit back on). Owen was splashing around having a great time and Mommy was talking with the other ladies who didn't want to put their suits on either!

Anyway, all of a sudden Owen decides to walk across the very shallow area, about knee deep on him, to the other step, climb out of the pool, and take of running. I quickly got up and went after him, but he is fast! He excitedly ran about 5 feet and simultaneously kicked Gavin's drink into the pool and jumped in! Luckily Daddy was ready to catch him. He still went under, even with his swimmies on and his Daddy catching him. I was freaking out, but we couldn't stop him. He proceeded to jump into the water, swim with Daddy back to the shallow end climb out and do it again. He jumped at least 10 times, giggling every time he came back up! Although a few times I grabbed him and gently handed him to Daddy in the water. My concern was that his lack of coordination would ultimately end in a head injury! So we decided enough was enough!

Owen definitely never ceases to amaze me! I really do wish we had captured this on video, but we didn't!

Big Helper

When Owen turned one we began a new nightly routine of clean up time before bed. Of course, in the beginning, Owen would just watch us clean up the toys. We would make a big deal, sing the clean up song and high five each other for doing a good job! Occasionally, he would pick up one or two toys and hand it to me as I put things in drawers and on shelves. This week, Owen has become quite the little helper. He will pick up toys from across the room and open the drawer and put them in himself! He will even put toys that belong in the closet back in the closet! Yesterday, Owen and I were playing with one of his puzzles. When we were done, he picked it up and handed it to me, telling me to put it away. I told him to put it away, instead, so he went to the shelf and set it on top of the other puzzles. However, he didn't stack it exactly how the other ones were stacked and he got mad. I think we might have a perfectionists on our hands.

Reflection

Owen has a ribbon in his toy drawer that he will sometimes pull out and we will tie it around his head to make a headband. As soon as we do that he takes off running into the kitchen laughing. I never knew why. I always thought he was just running out of excitement. The other day, I put the bucket on his head to make it look like a birthday hat, he went into the kitchen to the dishwasher door, bent down, and leaned in so he could see himself. Then a couple days after that, he brought me the ribbon, I tied it around his neck like a tie and again he took off for the kitchen. He went to the oven door, bent down, and leaned in again so he could see himself. Now I have finally figured out why he is always running to the kitchen; he likes to check out his reflection and see how cool he looks with a ribbon or a bucket on his head!!

Bucket Full of Water

During our vacation we bought Owen a bucket and a shovel, so that he could play in the sand at the playground. When we got home, he was playing with the bucket while we were unpacking. We noticed the sound of water running, we went into the kitchen and found Owen holding the bucket up to the refridgerator, filling it with water! Needless to say, we have gotten into the habit of locking the water and ice dispenser on the fridge!!

"It was Worth the Hike,"

During our vacation, we went to Kolob. This is part of Zion National Park. When we were paying our fee for entering the National Park, I asked the ranger about the two hikes that we could take. He told us about the first hike, which was a mile long. Then I asked how strenuous would the other hike be. This hike was five miles long. The ranger assured me that it was a moderate trail even with a 30 pound child on your back.

I have the best husband in the world, because before I even had to begin my begging to go on the longer hike, he said we could. So we packed up Owen and headed off. We stopped numerous times to rest his shoulders and rehydrate, but he was a trooper. I knew their was going to be a reward at the end. The Double Alcove looked beautiful in the picture. Throughout the hike we were crossing over the river numerous time, back and forth, following the trail. We saw a bunch of little lizards crossing our path. We saw a snake too! Gavin told me to just keep walking. It wasn't until we were safe back in our tent later that night that Gavin told me it was a coral snake!!

We kept hiking and hiking for what seemed longer than 2.5 miles when Gavin turned around to me and said, "I think this is as far as I can go." But I wanted to see this Double Alcove so bad. So, after I helped get Owen off Gavin's shoulders so he could rest them, I continued on a little ways because I knew we had to be close. Sure enough not even 100 feet away was the end of the trail, so I turned back around and helped get Owen back up on Gavin's shoulders and he finished out the hike. Well, the first half of the hike anyway.

When we reached the Double Alcove it was amazing! This picture doesn't even begin to capture the beauty of this natural marvel. As we were beginning our hike back to the car, Gavin said "that was well worth the hike, but the mile hike is out of the question." I certainly didn't argue with that!

Kick, Kick, Kick!!

There was a pool at the campground where we stayed and Owen absolutely loved it. We visited the pool twice each day. It was kinda cold when you first got in and Owen would scream (not cry, just scream)! But as soon as we were in and used to the water it was a lot of fun! We bought Owen some swimmies because we had noticed before we left on vacation when we were swimming at Tobie and Dave's that Owen would rather be in the water than in his raft. He did very well in the water. He would kick and spash. He would lay his head back to float on his back. He would put his face in the water, but still didn't understand that you need to shut your mouth if you are going to put your face in the water! We were even able to let him go and float on his own for a few seconds. He was sorta able to swim from Mommy to Daddy or Daddy to Mommy, but of course we were not that far away! On one trip to the pool Gavin counted 30 seconds that Owen was able to stay afloat without any help.

Sleep time Shinanigans!

Owen's first night sleeping in the tent was interesting. As soon as we said goodnight, he got clingy and didn't want to go into his bed. Hoping he would settle down, we put him in his bed and went outside the tent to play cards. After a little while of Owen screaming in the tent we decided we were just going to have to go to bed too. The "two bedrooms" in the tent are separated by a thin piece of material that can be zipped open in the middle and pulled apart to make one big room. So we opened up the "wall" separating our room from Owen's room and laid down. Owen settled right down, but we don't think he got much sleep that night, although he wasn't fussy.

Nap time the next day, went just about the same as the night before. But instead of laying Owen down to see what he would do, we just decided to have family nap time. This worked out quite well.

The following day, we decided to try laying Owen down for nap time all by himself. This was working out pretty well. He fussed for a little while, but then quieted down and we were enjoying some very competitive games of Speed. When we checked on Owen to see if he was sleeping, we found him with his mattress folded over reading the Owner's Manual for his Pack n' Play. At this point it was obvious Owen wasn't going to take a nap so we took a drive instead. Owen slept on the drive!

The following day, we decided to try the same routine. We laid Owen down for a nap and we sat outside the tent at the picnic table playing cards. We had the tent vented so we could see the top of Owen's from the picnic table if he was standing up. I had my back to the tent, but Gavin could see Owen clearly. Then after a while, Gavin said, "why can I see all of Owen's face?" We looked inside the tent and found Owen had rolled up his mattress with his blankets inside and was standing on it so he could see us better out the window! We took the blankets out, unrolled his mattress and he took a nap.

Each night got easier for Owen to go to bed without a fuss, but he was thoroughly enjoying having a slumber party with Mom and Dad. One night he was talking to us so much that we finally closed the curtain separating the two rooms so that he would finally let us go to sleep! By the last night he went to sleep without us in the tent and we were able to play cards until we couldn't see the cards anymore!

Playtime at the Campground

Owen thoroughly enjoyed the playground at the campground. He especially loved the slide. The tall ladder didn't intimidate him and he was extremely excited when he reached the top! The slide was super fast and he would close his eyes when he got close to the bottom, apparently he was hoping Mommy would catch him!

He couldn't go down the slide without both Mommy and Daddy. Even though he didn't think he needed the help, he needed Daddy to guide him up the ladder and Mommy to catch him, like I said this slide was super fast!
Here is a video clip of Owen showing off for another little boy he met at the playground. This was on the first night there, he got much better at going up the ladder he didn't even need Daddy to hold on to him by the end of the week.

Owen also enjoyed swinging on the swing with Mommy.

There was a Merry-go-round too, that Owen enjoyed. He sat right down and held on like all the other kids were doing. Some older kids were pushing it, but when Owen got on they slowed it right down for him. When he got off he did walk like he had had a couple of drinks, but he was still smiling! The following video was taken when Owen and I took Daddy back to the park to show him all the cool things to play on.

Then last, but not least, there was a digger. Daddy played with it more the first day, but by the end of the week Owen decided to try this toy out all by himself.

Hmmm...did Daddy enjoy this activity more than Owen? Notice that Owen is no where around and Daddy is still playing!

"Chip" (head nod, head nod).

How to keep our almost 17-month old busy while camping, with food of course. He would run around everywhere until the food came out, then he would sit still and wait or help himself!

Owen learned to say chip this week. We had to wait to get the chips out until after he was done eating his meal. If one of us tried to sneak a chip he would point, say chip and nod his head. As if he was saying, "chip, yes don't mind if I do, thanks for asking!"

A Camping We Will Go!

We are extremely excited to be taking our first family vacaton.

We will be escaping the city life to spend the Fourth of July week in a small town. We're heading up to Cedar City, Utah.

Owen has been enjoying the packing process. We bought a new cooler and, of course, he thought that it was a new toy for him. He opened and closed it. Climbed inside and climbed back out. Climbed on top and sat down. Climbed off and flipped it over! At least an hour of fun!

Then getting the new plastic dishes out to wash, was a good half hour of fun, as well. He stacked and took apart, stacked and took apart.

Hopefully, we can find equally entertaining activities for him while we are camping!

Dare Devil

Owen has been very active since the moment he learned to crawl. But the true adventures began when he learned to climb. He has climbed on everything including the kitchen table! He is not afraid to try anything. He has made my heart stop on more than one occasion as he teeters on the edge of the couch or when he stands up on his chairs, just barely balancing.

His latest dare devil act was at the park this afternoon. Owen decided that he should be able to go down the big park slide head first. Fortunately, I was able to catch him before he was able to follow through with that idea. Enjoy the video!

Then finally he accepted my request and went down the slide properly!

Restraunt Style

For about a month or two dinner time with Owen has been a battle. He had been sitting fine in his booster seat at the table, but since we hadn't been buckling him into it, (because his tummy was too big), he finally discovered that he could stand up. So that didn't work anymore.

Then we moved on to more creative ways to get him to sit still. We tried turing his two chairs into a table and chairs....

But then that was a constant battle to keep him seated. He preferred to grab a little bit of food and run around the house while chewing. Since, I do not enjoy scrubbing walls and vacuuming frequently, this was not working for me.

We also tried sitting at his picnic table outside....

Again, this works for a few bites, but then he would prefer running around while chewing.

While we had been struggling at home with him sitting still to eat, we realized during our occasional dining out experiences, that Owen would eat just fine at a restaurant and eat anything we put infront of him. So we decided to bring the restaurant to Owen. We purchased a restaurant high chair, and at the risk of jinxing it, he is eating great.

New Shoes

Well, they may not be from Barney's, but I think they are cute!

Shhhh

Auntie Erin was here to visit and Owen wanted her to read him a story. I handed her the book titled "Doggies," which I find extrememly annoying because there are no real words just 10 different noises that a dog would make. For example you have to say, "woof," Ruff," and nnn...nnn....nnn." Seriously, what dog says "nnn....nnn....nnn?"

So, I hand her this book, fully prepared to laugh until my abs hurt, while she tried to make all the doggie noises and she announces that this is one of her favorites! I couldn't believe it!

But anyway, on page six of this book, there are six quiet dogs. Auntie Erin taught Owen how to say "shhh." That became my favorite page!

Pretend Play

It fascinates me how much my 16 month-old son pretends. He loves to talk on the phone and will pretend that anything is a phone, including his sippy cup, puzzle pieces, and little people. His latest pretend play is to pretend he is making and feeding us dinner. Now if he would just eat his real food, we would have no problems.

Donut Thief

While Daddy was loading the dishwasher, Owen decided to sneak a donut that had been left on the table from breakfast. Before Daddy knew it, he had snatched the donut, climbed up on the rocking chair, and was savoring the two bites that he scored, before Daddy took the donut away.

Price Check

My sister Erin was recently in town for a visit. We were on the strip, strolling through the Venetian, when I pointed to the display window at Barney's and said, "look a shoe made out of hangers."

"Oh, wow," Erin responded, "and the shoes are on sale."

"Let's go in, I would love to see how much a sale price is at Barney's," I said.

I walk up to the first rack of shoes, which happens to be size 9 and 10, pick up a pair of shoes, and say, "Ohmigod, $592 on sale!!!!"

Erin walks past me saying, "yeah but those aren't my size!"