Happy New Year!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Christmas Preparation Video

This is Owen helping me bake cookies and making up his own lyrics to Christmas carols.

Christmas Morning Video

Daddy's New Truck

Last Wednesday we received an advertisement in the mail for a car dealership. We decided to go for a drive and look at vehicles. We have been anticipating the end of our lease on the Jetta and have been searching vehicles for a few months now. We didn't think we would actually be purchasing anything yet, but we were looking.

When we arrived at this particular dealership we spotted a reasonably priced used Honda CR-V. We checked it out, Gavin took it for a test drive, but then we went home without it. After arriving home we spent some time looking at the same vehicle on-line and doing a little more research. We decided that the price for the used one at the dealership was the best we were going to find and since they were taking the lease off our hands as well, we couldn't pass up the opportunity!

We made the final decision over dinner, called them back, told them to hold it for us, then bathed the kids, changed them into their pjs, and went back to pick up our new car. It was nerve racking signing all the paperwork and working out the logicistics while tending to two children, including a bloody nose incident from Owen, who ran into a glass door, but I was not going to make a separate trip to sign my paperwork on Christmas Eve Day!

While Gavin was moving the carseats out of the Jetta and into our new car Owen spotted a bell he could ring. I told him to wait until Daddy came back in. When Daddy came back with the salesman, I told Owen to ask his question. He shyly asked to ring the bell and the man excitedly gave him permission. He announced to everyone else working that we had a bell ringer, and Owen pulled the rope!!

Moments later, we were sitting in our new car, Owen questioned where Daddy's car was and Daddy explained that the "truck" we were sitting in was Daddy's new car. Once Owen finally understood, he excitedly said, "Start it up Dad!!"

The minivan is feeling neglected because it has not been out of the garage since we brought the truck home! Mommy and Daddy are going to fight over who drives the minivan and who gets to drive the new truck!

Pecking Order

Yesterday, Gavin was busy trying to fix the helicopter toy that Owen got for Christmas. (Owen had dropped the remote control part and broke it). Anyway, Owen was pestering Gavin because he wanted to play with the toy, Gavin kept trying to explain to him that he had to wait because he was fixing it. Finally, Owen walked away adn found something else to play with.

When I went to check on him, I noticed that he was playing with Max's new mailbox. He had put it on the couch where Max couldn't reach it and Max was sitting on the floor looking up at Owen, grunting. In other words, asking Owen if he could play with it. When I asked Owen to put the toy on the floor to allow Max to play with it too, he responded, "but I'm fixing it."

The pecking order has been established!

Working Out!

This evening, in an attempt to make sure all of Owen's energy was out of his system before he goes to bed, I got him to run in place with me. After a few moments this got boring for me so we did some jumping jacks. We continued to "work out," for a few minutes and Owen was having a blast. The next thing I knew he was running to the bathroom. I followed him in to see what he was doing. I watched him put water on his hair, his upper lip, and his chest/belly. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "getting sweaty!"

This kid cracks me up!

Packer Fan Part 2

For Christmas one of Steve and Shonna's girls had Owen's name for the gift exchange. A week prior to Christmas they were over to our house and Shonna said they went with a theme this year, I told Gavin my prediction and on Christmas I was proven correct, this is what Owen opened:

First, a T-Rex. Next, some race cars. Finally, a framed picture of Owen if front of the Christmas tree wearing a Packer's jersey and a picture of Max wearing a "little packer fan," bib!! Very creative and too funny!

Chipmunck?!

Owen: "Eating nuts, Mom?"
Me: "yup,"
Owen: "You a Chipmunck?"

I don't know where he comes up with this stuff. :)

No, I'm a Packer Fan!

Last Saturday night I met Gavin and the rest of his classmates at a bar for dinner, drinks, and just to celebrate this being their last weekend of their Master's class. Our friends Steve and Shonna were watching the kids. Shonna and one of their daughter's had a birthday party that day, so for about an hour Steve was in charge of both of our boys and his oldest daughter! He was okay with this situation as long as nobody pooped!!

When we arrived at their house later that night Steve says, "Owen, I'm a T-Rex,"
Owen responded, "No, I'm a T-Rex!"
Steve continues, "I'm a race car!"
Owen responsed a little louder, "No, I'm a race car!"
Steve says, "I'm a Packer Fan,"
Owen responsed the loudest this time and with the most enthusiastic tone, "No, I'M A PACKER FAN!!"
Gavin, "WHAT?!?"
Steve, "That'll teach you to have me watch your kids....we've been working on that all night!"

Gotta love it!

Cookies!

Owen and I baked cookies this afternoon....one batch anyway! It sure is a lot of work when you are trying to do the rolling/cutting, decorating, and baking by yourself, especially, when you have a little helper who really really wants to do everything!

Growing up we had an assembly line for baking cookies; my mom did the rolling/cutting, I decorated, and my Grandma baked. We would dedicate an entire day to this. I am tuckered out after only one batch!!:)

While rolling and cutting the dough, Owen was deciding what shapes to make. My particular favorite was his interpretation of the angel cookie cutter, he lifted it up and said, "this one mommy, the princess with butterfly wings. She flying."

Mommy's Little Helper

I decided to take advantage of the time Owen and I had to ourselves, while Max took a morning nap, to get the sugar cookie dough made. Owen was quite the little helper. He poured in the measured flour and sugar like a pro. Then, I got out the baking powder, I should have had out the measuring utensils before the ingredients, but I guess now I know for next time, because while I was getting the teaspoon out of the drawer my little helper took it upon himself to dump some in! I was able to spoon some out, but I am a little curious what will happen to the cookies that have too much baking powder in them. I guess time will tell.

He really enjoyed getting his hands dirty when we had to add in the oleo and didn't argue when I told it was time to wash his hands. I think he is really going to enjoy rolling out the dough and decorating the cookies this afternoon.

Rocker Hair

Last night while getting Max's PJ's on after his bath, I spiked up his hair in a mohawk. I walked down to our bathroom where Owen was brushing his teeth. When Owen looked in the mirror and saw Max's hair, he said, "Max a rock star!" Then he reached in the drawer to get the comb out. I think his original train of thought was for me to fix his hair so he didn't look like a rock star, but instead I showed Owen how I could make his hair look that way. We wet the comb down and I successfully go Owen's hair to stick up in a mohawk too, which really isn't that easy with his hair. Anyway, when he finished brushing his teeth he asked for his "rock star guitar," so Gavin went downstairs to get it, he jumped around his room playing his guitar for a minute or two, then Gavin told him it was time to stop and read his bedtime story. He then turned off his guitar, patted his hair back into place and said, "all done being a rock star!!"

Happy Thanksgiving

• This is our first Thanksgiving without any of our family. So the first thing I am thankful for this Thanksgiving is for our "Vegas Family." We have been so blessed to have friends who treat us like family. We have spent every Easter, except our very first Easter with them, we have spent every Christmas Eve with them, Halloween, Labor Day, Superbowl, ect., but this will be our first Thanksgiving with them.
• The secong thing I am thankful for this Thanksgiving are my two little boys. They are my life and I can't imagine my life without them. That being said....
• I am thankful that Owen is potty trained and truly embracing his role as a "big boy," complete with growing some "listening ears!" I can't believe he is ready for preschool!
• I am thankful that Max is such an easy going baby. He is such a happy little guy, he loves to sleep, and I am thankful he did not start crawling at six months like his brother!
• Last, but certainly not least, I am thankful for my wonderful husband. I am thankful for the fact that he allows me to play with my kids every evening and not worry about putting dinner on the table. I am thankful that he is a very involved, Daddy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Track Break Ending

I am sad to report that today is officially the last day of my track break. Since Owen has been about 16 months, he has been so active and hard headed, that being home alone with him is so much more work than going to work. Past track breaks he liked to wake up at 4:30 in the morning and not nap and that made for a very long day. Let's not forget, this time last year, when he stuck a noodle up his nose! Just one of the examples of how he certainly kept me on my toes!

This track break I decided to start potty training. I fully expected to be homebound the entire month trying to get my child to potty train. To my surprise he picked it up in just a day or so. Refused to poop in the potty until just two days ago, but still, much easier than anticipated.

Since we did not need to be stuck at home close to the potty, I worked up the nerve to take both boys out in public by myself. We started first with the park, that is nice and fenced in so Owen can't escape. Then, a friend invited us to story time at the library, where Owen even went potty! We went to the store to get ideas for Christmas, Owen went out to breakfast with Uncle Tobie, and we treated ourselves to In-n-Out Burgers one day.

We have had a nice laid back track break, Owen playing with his race cars and Max trying desperately to crawl across the room. We have slept in, by that I mean close to 7 am most mornings and it has just been a nice change of pace from our normally hectic days of trying to get out the door in the mornings and then dealing with cranky tired boys in the evenings! Of course, there have been the occasional melt downs, and Owen still does not take a nap, but he does relax in front of the TV for a little while and have quiet time.

Track breaks are always weird for me, I spend the first week not really sure what to do, feeling like I need a "to do" list and not feeling busy enough. The first week is usually spent checking papers and not knowing how to take a vacation from the classroom. Then throughout track break I master the art of being relaxed and I pick up some novels from the library and start to forget about the unchecked papers that are still sitting on top of the fridge, so that when track break ends I find myself not really looking forward to going back to work.

But it's only three weeks and then we will be on Christmas break, and Gavin will home too and we can relax together for another two weeks!

Race Car Obsession!

Yesterday, I took Owen to Toys R Us to get some ideas for Christmas. This backfired a little as he really wanted to take home some race cars. In the process of him running away from me in the store in his attempt to have his way about taking the race cars home (which isn't very good reasoning, what mother in their right mind gives in to buying something if the child runs away in the store), ANYWAY, he happened upon an aisle dedicated to the movie, Cars. He spotted a McQueen toddler lounge chair and immediately asked to sit in it. I took it off the shelf and he sat down. First, he sat back like he was settling in to watch a days worth of Word World, but then he put his hands at the end of the arm rest, sat up in the seat, and made a race car noise. A saleslady walked by and said, "I think he likes it."

Thankful

This morning Owen mentioned the name of a family friend. I told him that we were going to see her for Thanksgiving. He repeated excitedly, "Halloween!"

I replied back, "no, for Thanksgiving, when we eat turkey,"

"Turrrrkeee," he repeated.

"Yeah," I responded, "and we say that we are thankful for our family, and our friends, and wearing underwear (tying in the recent potty training)."

"And ice cream," Owen added with a grin!

Music to My Ears

I have never been more happy to hear the sound of pee hitting the water in the toliet, than I was on Tuesday morning, when Owen did it for the very first time!!:) The "potty" dance that people talk about, does not have to be faked, it is completely natural. At the moment that I heard that noise I just couldn't contain my excitement and I danced around clapping.

Tonight, he even pooped in the potty!!!

Trick or Treating!

Owen had so much fun Trick or Treating last night. This picture was taken while he was waiting for the door to open, he was just beside himself with excitement. He said, "trick or treating," to every person who opened the door and I am proud to say after a few houses, he remembered to say "thank you," without being reminded.

Much to our surprise, he did get tired toward the end, he needed to ride on Daddy's shoulders, and admitted that he wanted to go back tot he party. He woke up this morning ready for treats!

Big Bear Lake

While we were on vacation at Big Bear Lake, we took a walk on the boardwalk. It was a great little walk because there was no way Owen could wander off the boardwalk and into the water....he was completely contained. We were enjoying our walk and stopping to look at fish jumping in the lake. About half way into our walk Owen wanted to push Max.
While he was pushing him, he frequently stopped, manuevered the stroller so it was facing the water, and parked it so Max could see the jumping fish, too.


How precious it was to watch him try to share the moment with his baby brother!

Is Mommy a Crazy Driver?

The other day I was driving Owen and Max to Lety's. The first intersection that we come to outside of our little subdivision is hard to see. So, I have to stop and then creep out into the intersection to look for oncoming traffic. This particular day when I creeped out into the intersection, there was a car coming and so I had to hit the brakes. Owen, reports from the back seat, "hit car."

I chuckled and said, "no we did not hit the car."

The next day we got to the same intersection and Owen immediately announces, "hit car." I explain once again that we did not hit a car.

The third day we are driving along the road, already past the blind intersection, and I hear Owen's voice from the back seat say "here comes our car!"

I reply, "What do you mean here comes our car? Do you mean, watch out here we come."

Owen says, "yeah, watch out here we come!"

Then today, again sitting in the back seat on the way to Lety's he announces "here we come."

Not sure if he thinks I'm a crazy driver or what, but he is warning everyone on the road that we are headed their way!

Crazy Hair

On the first day of school, we decided to go to Chilli's for dinner to celebrate a good start to a new school year. On the way Gavin and I were talking about how some of Gavin's male students need to get hair cuts.

Owen was listening to our converstation, as he was sitting in the back seat, and he said, "yeah, haircut," and he touched his head.

I replied, "do you need a hair cut."

To that he said (while tapping the top of his head) "yeah, crazy hair!"

Workout Police

Last Tuesday I only had to go to work for a few hours to check out for the end of the year. I planned to be home by 10:00 so that Gavin and Owen could go to the gym and Max could stay home with me. Gavin and Owen left for the gym and I was ready to spend some quiet time with Max, when the phone rang, it was Gavin and Owen was throwing a fit in the back seat...Owen loves the gym so this was a head scratcher for both of us. Gavin still continued to drive the short distance to the gym and get Owen inside, but he still just kept throwing a fit. Finally, Gavin had to bring him home because he wouldn't set foot into the play room.

When he got home I tried talking to him....I got him to calm down and tell me what was wrong. He wanted Mommy to go to the gym, too. So, the workout police succeeded in getting the whole family to go the gym that day!

If Everything Happens for a Reason, What was the Reason Behind this......

My flight was delayed in Detroit on the way home from my Godmother's funeral because of weather in Dallas where I had a connecting flight. Because of the delay when I finally did arrive in Dallas I only had 12 minutes to get to my connecting flight, I asked the stewardess if I should wait for my stroller or if I should just run to the gate. Her response informed me that my connecting flight was full, they gave away our seats to standby passengers! So there I was with my three month old baby, stranded in the Dallas airport. I was told I could get on a flight to Vegas the following morning at 9am. In the meantime I had two choices: go to a hotel at the discounted rate of $69.99 (seriously, that was discounted price!?!) or sleep on a cot by security for $10. I chose the hotel room. I also had to provide my own transportation, so I got a cab and tightly held my baby in my arms while riding on the freeway to my hotel. When I arrived at the hotel the airline sent me to, I was informed they had no rooms. I threw my arms up in the air with frustration, took a deep breathe, then calmly said to the "boy" behind the counter that I knew it wasn't his fault, but I was extremely frusturated. He quickly got on the phone, called his sister hotel, found out they had a room, then got another "kid" to drive me to that hotel. I got the last room. Once back in my room I looked at my new boarding pass and discovered that my flight the next morning wasn't to Las Vegas it was to LA. I tried calling the airline, but it was a 27 minute wait, so I went to sleep prepared to deal with it in the morning. As I went to sleep I was thinking about what the preacher said at my Godmother's funeral, "sleep means you will awake in a refreshed day," I went to sleep hoping that tomorrow would bring sunny skys, clearer heads, and a short trip home. However, when I awoke four short hours later, I awoke to the same thunder, lightning and rain. I took the shuttle to the airport, almost didn't make it through security because they woman the night before did not add my baby to my boarding pass, but because he was on the original one they were nice and let me through, then I asked the first "official" person I saw about my flight. She confirmed that I was not on any flight to Vegas, so I would have been stranded in yet another city. But she got me on a nonstop flight out of Dallas at 9:35. However, due to weather that was delayed and delayed and delayed some more. I was patient, though, because I was watching the weather and knew we couldn't go anywhere, but my supply of diapers was dwindling and my patience wore out once the sun came out and we still didn't get on a plane for another hour.

During this whole crazy experience I kept thinking about my converstation with my Godmother's son-in-law on my way back to the airport. We talked about how we both believed everything happens for a reason, even if we can't figure out the reason until years later. So I wondered to myself, is this happening because I am having a hard time getting over this untimely death and so the universe had to throw me something else to deal with? Is it to tell me that I really do need to buy a new belt and then I could get through security faster, since the splitting leather on my belt gets caught on the belt loops and takes me extra time to take off? Is it to prove that you should always pack an extra pair of underwear "just in case," and remember to put it in your carry-on not your checked luggage? Did it happen to tell me to pay the extra money for a nonstop flight next time? Did it happen to remind me of yet another positive for nursing my baby (if I would have been feeding him formula it would have run out hours before the plane left)?

As a result of this whole experience, I met an awesome couple from Australia, got to spend some great quality time with my three month old son, met a unigue group of people going to Vegas on vacation, (one of which I don't think will ever fly again), and have made the decision to never lay over in Texas again! Oh, and I now know the reason people have credit cards for emergencies. And I learned you can pay for a cab with a credit card.

I am hoping that the reason for this whole fiasco is that I will be able to fly home in November for free to spend some more time with my family. I will be working on that in the upcoming days...weeks...months, whatever it takes!!

Don't Feed the Animals

A couple of weeks ago, Owen decided to get out of his room after we had tucked him in for the night. He would climb over his gate (he had known how to do this for quite some time, but didn't do it after he was tucked in at night). This became a little game for him as he would sneak downstairs, run to the couch and sit there and look at the TV like this was completely normal and maybe no one would notice him. Well, one night we locked the gate at the bottom of the stairs and I told Gavin to ignore him. We continued to watch the TV show we were watching. When Gavin laughed at the TV, Owen would laugh really loud trying to get noticed. We continued to ignore him. Gavin got up, got a snack from the kitchen and sat back down in his chair. Owen reached his arm through the bannister for a cracker....I said, "I should take a picture of this and title it 'don't feed the animals!'" Unfortunately, I was busy with Max and didn't get the camera so I don't have a picture to go along with this post!!

Family Band

Owen got a new guitar as a "New Big Brother" gift. He loves it. He rocks out complete with head banging, swinging the guitar over his head and jumping around the living room. Yesterday, he wanted to play drums. So I got out two plastic baking spoons and flipped over his square plastic chair and we made drums. He was very pleased with this. He assigned himself to be the drummer, he requested that I play the guitar and he made his daddy dance on the landing of the stairs!!! We made quite the family band!!

Morning Concoction

Owen's is very particular about his morning "juice." He gets a sippy cup full of milk, with a drop of French Vanilla Creamer and a squirt of Reddi whip! He stands right by you to make sure it all gets put in the cup. If the T.V. happens to grab his attention and you continue to make the drink and give it to him completed he will refuse and walk back into the kitchen, open the fridge and point to all the ingredients and make you repeat the process because he dosen't trust that it was done correctly unless he is watching!

The things we do to avoid morning meltdowns!

Where are Keys!

Owen has been playing with a couple of little keys that go to my cabinet in my classroom. He will pick up the keys, come give me a kiss, wave good-bye, hop on his motorcycle and "go to work."

Yesterday morning the keys were no where to be found. Owen kept saying, "where keys, where keys," and following me around while I literally searched high and low, inside and outside for these keys. Finally, I answered him by saying, "I don't know, I will have to ask Daddy."

I went to the computer to e-mail Daddy at work, while I was doing this I heard Owen in his play closet on his cell phone say "Hi Daddy, where keys?"

Caught Red Handed

Owen has been in a big boy bed since Novemeber, we have a baby gate at his door and until recently he only "escaped" when he was mad at us for putting him in his room. Now, however, he is "escaping" in the morning without warning and running into our bedroom and at bedtime after we have tucked him in. The other night we had tucked Owen into bed and then come downstairs to eat our dessert. We were happily relaxing Gavin with his pudding and me with my left over cheesecake when we heard little feet coming down the stairs. Owen appeared between the bannister rails, pointed and said, "oh,cake!" We were busted!

All Men are the Same

All men are the same when they are sick, even when they are only two-years-old. Owen has had a runny nose for the past couple of days and every time he needs his nose wiped he yells out like he is having a contraction!! It is quite ridiculous!

The Ridiculousness that is my life!

I am writing this as I sit in the van with my two-year-old son. It is his favorite thing to do is sit in the van. Sometimes he drives, sometimes he takes books out there to read, sometimes he plays with his little cars, and sometimes he sits in there "talking" on his cell phone to Daddy!

Lately he has wanted me to sit out here with him. He will patiently wait while I get done feeding my two-month old, and will say "ready," and point to the van. This morning, he was sleeping in my bed and when he got out he said "garage." Are you starting to see the obsession?!

Last Saturday, while I was feeding Max, Owen brought me my high heeled shoes that I had worn to church the week before and said "ready." When I didn't immediately respond to that he brought me my hat and said "ready." At that I couldn't resist, I got up still nursing my son and walked out to the van. So there I was, nursing my son in my pj's wearing a baseball hat and high heeled shoes while my oldest son "drove" us somewhere! I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation! And Owen couldn't have been happier!

Tears Really Do Work

When Max was only 2 weeks old, Gavin took the camera to work to document a project that his students were working on. He came home and reported that somehting was wrong with the camera. The camera was a Cannon brand, the first Cannon we had died after 2 years of using it, we had just purchased this new one in January. We called the Cannon tech support number and they informed us that they could fix the problem, but that we would have to send it in and it could take 2 to 6 weeks to complete. Anyone who knows me, knows that I can not go 2 to 6 weeks without snapping a picture of my children. Especially, a newborn baby that will change significantly in 2 to 6 weeks.

Therefore, I informed Gavin that we would be taking the camera back to Best Buy and I would be taking Max in with us, and I would cry if I had to until they did something to help us out. Well, that is just what I had to do.

We went to Best Buy to ask what they could do for us. They first told us that according to the return policy, we could no longer return or exchange this camera, it was past 14 days old. But they could send it in for us to Cannon, so we wouldn't have to pay to send it in. Well, that really wasn't good enough for me, I was determined to leave there with a camera. I asked to speak to the Manager.

When the manager got there she restated what we had already heard. I put Max in his carseat on the counter and said, "I have a newborn baby, I bought his camera in preparation for his arrival, and I am not going to go 2 to 6 weeks without a camera." Of course, this was all said with tears in my eyes, and I'm not that good of an actress, they were real.

Finally, the manager said, "well, you could go back and get a new camera, you would have 14 days to return it." I thought, 'ok, now we are getting somewhere.' However, in her next breathe she said, "or I could return it under a no receipt return, and you could exchange it for a new camera." Even better!

So, that's what we did. They ended us getting more money out of us, because we opted to upgrade to a better camera of a better brand, so in my opinion it was a win-win situation. Bottom line, don't mess with a new mother whose hormones are raging!!

Brothers

On March 3, 2oo9, Owen became the proud big brother of Maxwell Turner. He is such a great big brother, although, he can be a little rough at times. He always wants to know where "baby" is. He will come into the house from outside and run over to Max and say, "hi baby." He will leave to go back outside and say, "bye, baby." I find this incredible adorable. He also wants to pick him up and place him in the swing, and will ask to hold him while he watches "Imagination Movers" and drinks his milk.

Owen also likes to help give Max a bath. When I ask, "should we give Max a bath?" he will run into the bathroom and pull out the baby bath tub for me. Although, now he takes the opportunity to bathe his cars while Grandma is trying to bathe Max!

All of my worries or how Owen would act or feel having a new baby in the house have gone away. He instantly embraced his new role of big brother and I couldn't be more proud of him. I look forward to watching the bond between them strengthen throughout the years!

This Kid is Going to Make My Hair Go Gray!!!

Last Saturday we went to a birthday party for the daughter of one of our friends. The kids were playing outside and Gavin was in charge of watching Owen very closely because of the pool outside, and because I still can't do any heavy lifting and that means no lifting Owen. For the first hour and a half or so, Gavin was ready to pack up and go home, because Owen was trying every trick in the book to get by Gavin and go in the pool. Our friend Steve suggested we just dip his feet in, he thought if Owen felt how cold it was he wouldn't like it and stay away from the pool. I responded to this suggested very quickly saying, "oh no, he'll like it, I wouldn't try that." So, he continued to try and sneak behind trees to "fool" Daddy, or throw balls real close to the pool, so he would have an excuse to go by it.

We had finally gotten Owen interested in playing a little baseball in the area of the yard not by the pool for quite some time, until he wandered back to the other side of the yard. Gavin followed of course, but then the little boy who was playing baseball hit a ball all the way into the pool. Gavin laid down at the side of the pool to reach in and get the ball, and Owen took that opportunity to get very close to the pool...

While Gavin was reaching for the baseball, Owen sat down at the edge of the pool and dangled his feet in, as soon as Gavin stood up and made eye contact with him, he jumped into the pool. All I heard from across the yard, was "oh shit," and Gavin reaching into the pool. I ran over to the pool as Gavin was pulling Owen out. He wasn't coughing, he wasn't crying, and I'm sure if we let him he would have jumped right back in.

This kid is way too daring and is definetly going to cause my hair to turn prematurely gray!

Unlocked!

So, with the new arrival date aproaching quickly, we have started giving Owen some more freedom in the house. The other day he wanted to be upstairs, so we opened the gate at the bottom of the stairs, locked all the doors upstairs except his room and then we stayed downstairs allowing him to busy himself upstairs. The next thing I know, I hear running water in the upstairs bathroom. Questioning whether Gavin actually locked the door, I sent him back up to check on Owen. Gavin ushered him out of the bathroom, shut the water off, locked the door (again), and then headed out the door to get the mail. Owen was still upstairs and I was resting on the couch, when once again, I heard running water in the bathroom upstairs.

I went upstairs to investigate. I walked around the corner and said, "Owen, how are you unlocking the bathroom door after we lock it?"

With a little twinkle in his eye and a smirk on his face, he walked over to a picture frame on the shelf, reached behind it and showed me the penny he used to unlock the door!! Which is exactly how we unlock the doors upstairs, but usually the pennies are about the door frame! I couldn't believe my eyes, that not only had he unlocked the door, but he put the penny back where he found it!!!

Oh, the fun we have in store for us in the future!

Naked!

Owen decided he wanted to sleep naked Saturday night. And wouldn't you know that Saturday is the one night that we didn't check on him before we went to bed.....

Owen took a two hour nap on Saturday, which means he took forever to fall asleep on Saturday night. Gavin had been up early and worked some extra hours at a competition at his school, so he fell asleep on the couch waiting for Owen to fall asleep upstairs so we could go to bed. (If we go to bed when he is still awake, he throws a fit and wants to be in our bed). At 9:35 I woke Gavin up and we headed to bed, because Owen had finally fallen asleep. I told Gavin not to go in and check on him because he had only been asleep five minutes and I didn't want to risk waking him up.

The next morning, Gavin and I were up before Owen and already downstairs having breakfast. Gavin went upstairs to get him when he heard him wake up and yelled into the monitor "help." I assumed Owen had pooped out of his diaper. Nope, instead he had taken off his diaper and PJ's and slept naked, resulting in wetting the bed of course.

We had just gotten a brand new mattress the previous Monday and had not yet purchased a mattress cover because we thought, "well, he is still wearing a diaper, we can wait on getting hte mattress cover." Needless to say, we now have a mattress pad on the bed.

Of course this little situation doesn't really surprise me, since Owen is always up to something, but the one positive thing I can say is at least he did not poop like he usually does right before he wakes up!!!!!

Taken Literally

Saturday morning, Owen went to the sliding glass door and asked to go outside. I told him he couldn't go outside because he was still in his pajama's. What I did not explain, was not only was he in his pajama's, but the temperature was still in the 30's and therefore too early to go outside. But he took me literally and immediately stripped off his pajama's, as if wearing nothing but a diaper was better than going outside in his PJ's!!