Music to my ears

I have always loved listening to music. I love music that I can really relate to and love reading the lyrics. Valerie gave me a CD for my birthday by a Christian group named Point of Grace. I was riding back from Owen's appointment yesterday and the song came on the radio and it just reminded me how much I love lyrics of this song and how they remind me that "it's not who you knew And it's not what you did
It's how you live"

Here are the lyrics:

Point Of Grace – How You Live
From the album How You Live

Wake up to the sunlight with your windows open
Don't hold in your anger or leave things unspoken
Wear your red dress, use your good dishes
Make a big mess and make lots of wishes

And have what you want, but want what you have
And don't spend your life looking back

Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances and let it all out
'Cause you won't regret it
Looking back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live

So go to the ballgames and go to the ballet
And go see your folks more than just on the holidays
Kiss all your children, dance with your wife
Tell your husband you love him every night

Don't run from the truth 'cause you can't get away, no
Face it and you'll be okay

(Chorus)

Oh, wherever you are and wherever you've been
Now is the time to begin
So give to the needy, and pray for the grieving
Even when you don't think that you can
'Cause all that you do is bound to come back to you
So think of your fellow man
And make peace with God, and make peace with yourself
'Cause in the end, there's nobody else

(Chorus)

Label: Word Records

Lyrics may not be reproduced without permission from the publisher.

Owen's 2 Month Stats

I took Owen up to the base today for his two month check up. I guess you could call it more like a two and a half month check up. He tipped the scales at 11 lb 7 oz and is just over 23" long. He is in about the 50th percentile for weight and about 75th percentile for height and head size. Overall he is healthy as can be. The doctor was impressed that he is already turning from tummy to back often.

It seems that as the days go by he is getting such the little personality. He smiles ALL the time now and is even starting to laugh out loud when tickled. It is still hit or miss but its the highlight of our day to get those laughs. He also LOVES to stand. I struggle to get him to bend to sit:) He is beginning to sleep a bit better. Last night he slept from about 8:30 to 3 and then 3:30 to 6:30 (although making noises the last hour). I know he would have crashed back out too if it had not been for his brothers waking---darn it! :)

So we ended the visit with three shots. FUN! Poor baby. I know he is my third and I should be used to it but having to restrain your child and have them look at you like "how could you let them hurt me" breaks my heart! He cried and then passed out the entire time I went grocery shopping:) He was asleep early tonight so I am scared to see how sleeping will be but TGIF!! at least I know I can get a nap tomorrow!





Ian took this one of him passed out in his chair hugging this bottle




These are of Jacob playing with him while he is in the swing. Everytime he would come forward he would kick Jacob in the chest and Jacob would yelp and Owen just thought it was the best thing ever. Jacob is the best brother and he loves Owen so so much.

The Chicago Sport's Show!

I had no idea about this show coming up but you better believe Ian had his sights on going today! I think he heard about it on the radio during his lovely commute. So, he decided rather than go by himself (like I would let him go to one of those shows with a credit card by himself!--ya right! :) we decided the kids would have a blast and it happened to be kid's day today. So we packed up the crew and the entire nursery it seemed and off we went. (I was a little scared Owen was going to have a cow sitting in his carrier and brought along the sling AND the baby bjorn just to be safe. Thankfully he did AWESOME, actually better than his tired brothers)

The show was great. They had this passport where the kids went to each station and saw animals, did activities and got stamps and then they turned in their passport for a little tackle box. They were in heaven! They got to see and pet an Owl, got to hold a big lizard, pet a tortoise and little turtles, pet snakes.....I think that was it. Then they had the bungee cord jumping thingy and they both did that and mastered flipping. They were so proud of themselves.


They had all kinds of boats, atvs etc and they even had the Cost Guard there and they let the boys climb on the boat. They were pretty funny to watch




I let Ian go off and rummage through fishing poles and lewers, etc and took the boys to the Dog Show. They had this dog long jumping contest where they ran and jumped into this indoor pool as far as they could. It kept the boys quite amused for an hour.

Then it was off to look at other exhibits. They had a paintball shooting galley (which of course the boys HAD to try--and loved) and they also had a little indoor trout pond which they also enjoyed until the 5 minutes was up and they had not caught anything. Jacob especially was not thrilled. He got over it quickly though!

All in all it was a fun day. Like I said, Owen did great and even slept a bit. The sling worked out great and I am finding we both love it a lot more now that he can kind of sit up and look out.





It was a fun family day and I am glad we all went together instead of sitting at home as its way too cold to be outside as you can see from just SOME of the icicles that were hanging above our door!

AT LAST....A Family Picture

My friend Nicole wanted to take some pictures of Owen with her awesome camera and I figured why pass up a great thing!:) So last week we went to her house and she took some shots. Unfortunately Owen had the hardest day I think he has had in his entire little life. He cried ALL afternoon and evening so he was not the best model. She did get a few great shots however and after photo shopping them they turned out awesome! You can take a look at those pictures here: Nicole's Blog

While we were there I asked if she would take a family picture for us since we have yet to get one of all of us and she was nice enough to oblige. Here are a few other shots that I love because they are just "Owen".

Enjoy!


Can you tell he was just a bit upset?:)


Oh how I love TOES!


I love the ones where he has his arms thrown up. He LOVES to kick and gets so into it it is pretty funny to watch.



Checking out his daddy.



He has that big toe of Ian's!:)

He is growing leaps and bounds especially in length. I swear he is about half as long as Jacob at this point! He was supposed to have his 2 month appointment today but of course Ian's schedule changed and so I moved the appointment to next Friday instead. The last thing I feel like doing is taking Jacob and Nathan to get Owen's shots. I think they may beat up the doctors!:) They are beyond protective of their little brother, almost to the point of being rude! It is cute though.

Why we love Nathan.....

Nathan is a total crack up and I thought I would share a "Nathan moment" from last night. We were eating dinner and he was in heaven since we had meat and blueberries (the kid will eat blueberries until he IS blue). So after he scarfs down his meat and berries and is on his second helping of berries with mouth full says to Ian "more meat too daddy" Ian replies "why don't you eat your berries and then we can see where you are at". Nathan looks at Ian puzzled and replies "I am right here daddy, where else would I be?" Ian and I about spit food across the table. He is for sure my Dennis the Menace child and I just pray Owen is not quite adventerous but at the same time Nathan is just hilarious.

Hope you are all staying warm! It actually got above 30 today and the boys enjoyed an hour of freezing in the snow playing and then crashed out! Yea for outdoor play!

Look who is two months old already!!

I can hardly believe its been two months since Owen was born. It is amazing how fast he has evolved into our little family. I for the life of me can't remember what its like to sleep more than 3 or 4 hours at a time:) He is so worth it though!

Here are a few pictures of him and his new "room". He is in the crib right now as I type for the very first time so we shall see how it goes. It makes me a bit sad that he is already getting so big but he brings so much joy to our lives. His smiles are contagious and as long as he is fed, dry and not gassy he just smiles a way. I can't wait for the giggles! My friend Nicole took some really great shots of him this past weekend so when I get them I will share!

Here are some cute ones....enjoy!


BIG SMILES! This is just one of many. I love his eyes and his curly eye lashes.




This is his new little suit outfit for church. I could not resist buying it even though he will probably wear it two times:) It was on clearance with an extra clearance at Target and I think I paid maybe $3. He looked like such a little man today. My favorite is the first picture in his bouncer. I had gotten him all dressed and he looked so cute laying there I grabbed the camera and did not realize he smiled until the picture was taken. The other two are of him passed out once we got home. He is such a sweet baby boy!

Laying in his new crib just chilling.


Ian trying out a new way of feeding:)

Jacob and Nathan dancing in "Owen's room" (a little space in our room that we have curtained off)

Owen's new space! Its bare but I just was so happy the crib fit! I can't wait to get batteries for the mobile. Owen is going to love it! We got it thanks to great neighbors.

Cute Random Shots

Here are a few cute shots from the past few days. As most of you know its been beyond freezing here. Most schools were shut down yesterday but not us so the kids went and we froze getting there and home. This morning I was up with Owen and the phone rang at 5:30 with a recording saying schools were canceled due to the buses not starting. My heart sank when the phone rang as I was freaked out something happened back home. What a relief to find out thats all it was. Anyhow so here are some from yesterday and today:



Ian was tired and Owen woke from his nap and I was trying to do some things so I laid Owen next to Ian on the couch and the next thing I know I look over and see this. How could I not take a picture?



Owen ready to go out in the fridged weather yesterday. This was the first outfit I got last summer when I was pregnant:) I need to get a shot of him not in the carrier because its super cute. It kept him warm too. He never peeped the three hours we were out:)


My sweet green baby. Here is a half smile and a full shot showing how portly he is getting. He is such a sweet sweet baby.


Last but not least a crack up! Nathan was "helping" Owen because he was crying and I was trying to get ready and I walk in the room and find this! Poor Owen. Nathan does this ALL the time. I can't tell you how many times I have left Owen on my bed and Nathan watching a cartoon so I can jump in the shower and Owen is FINE but Nathan feels he needs the bottle and I get out to find Nathan glued to the tv and a bottle like this "feeding" his brother. This is not too bad half the time its up his nose or something! I just happened to have the camera near by and had to get a shot. I don't think Owen was half as amused as I was!

I was having fun going through a friend's older blog posts today and she had this quote posted and it just rang so true I had to post it as well:

I think I need to type this up and put it on my fridge or mirror or something. Maybe on the dashboard of the van:)

"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache." ~Marjorie Pay Hinckley~

As my friend Kim said, "I mean really, doesn't that just sum it all up?"

I love my daddy!

Can you tell? He loves me too and loves getting to experience my first smiles!




Just a couple cute ones of the boys waiting for the car to warm up to go to church. Owen has started rolling over too from tummy to back:)

Happy 4th Birthday NATHAN!!!!

I can hardly believe Nathan is four. He has been DYING for it to be his birthday for months now and finally yesterday was the "big" day. We had big plans of Chuck E Cheese, but after a blizzard outside and over a foot of snow (with more in the forecast this week) we decided staying in and ordering pizza and enjoying cake and ice cream with great friends was a better idea.

Here are a few pictures of his big day!



The snow that kept us home. This is the top of our patio table out back. Some places were even deeper depending on wind/drift. It is definitely winter here!


THE Diego Cake. We normally make them but with so much going on I threw in the towel and ordered him one. It was exactly what he wanted Diego and Baby jaguar. He was thrilled!

Me with Nathan blowing out his candles....blurry but cute



Nathan on his brandnew bike. It is a Tonka Bike with construction stickers and he LOVES it. Ian brought it in and he jumped on it and rode through the house of course smacking into the wall and knocking paint off....oh well easy fix I just wish I had it on camera!







Nathan in all his attire. Note the knee pads. He cracks me up!

Me and my snow bear

Yipee for snow days! We got a couple inches early this morning and it was/is supposed to snow off and on until tomorrow supposedly getting a few inches. When I took Jacob to the bus it was coming down and I was praying Ian would get a call before he had to head to work saying "don't come". He got up and shoveled and just as he was leaving the call came! Yea for answered prayers and yea for snow days!

Jacob got home from school and ate and we bundled up the kids to go out and meet Kinley and Kayden to play. I figured I would put Owen in his little outfit (if even just for pictures--I know I torture the poor babe) and we all went out. Owen hated it and lasted just long enough for the pictures and said "hi" to the girls and back inside the two of us came to drink bottles and cuddle while my three "big" boys had a blast in the snow. Its like powder really light so they had a blast "digging for treasure" on the playground equipment and playing with the girls. Ian of course did not take any pictures so I only have the ones of me and Owen I forced him to take:) But Valerie was taking a bunch so hopefully I will get to see some.

One other GREAT thing about today is Owen slept from 10pm to 4am this morning and then went back down from 5 to 7:30. I got some good sleep! Of course now he won't nap more than 20 minutes today and is a crab but I will take it:)

I am so thankful to have an afternoon of us all home safe and warm to spend some time together. Tomorrow is Nathan's birthday! I am in shock a bit that he is already four. Look for some footage of that in the days to come!

First Jeans---ahhhh how cute:)

I went to dress Owen this morning and we were not doing anything at all today but thought he would look cute in jeans so I dressed him and had to get some pictures:) The funny thing was I dressed all three boys and realized they pretty much matched. It gave me a good laugh. As you can tell the boys LOVE him more and more each day. They are both great helpers, especially Jacob.




Owen has good enough body control now that I can sit him on the couch and lay him back on Jacob and Jacob will feed him for me so I can blow dry my hair actually eat myself! I am so very thankful for him.