Busy With a Capital B

That would be my BOY! Busy with a capital B. Today Owen is eight months old. He celebrated by showing me how busy he likes to be now at the ripe old age of eight months.  And how busy he is going to keep me.

Eating the Gerber Graduate puffs was a highlight in the day today.  Why you might ask? Because this boy was actually contained!

Today Owen:

*crawled everywhere and anywhere he could.

*smashed  his face into the tile and bled all over mommy.

*some how drew pen all over his face?

*played with his toys.

*played with things that are very much NOT his toys. (for instance the pen)

*ate banana and oatmeal baby food for dinner.

* consumed at least half a bottle of baby puffs.

* made us all laugh

* got caught underneath the exersaucer and cried VERY hard.

*only took one nap today:(

* is still awake and jabbering at his dad @ 12:48 A.M.

Maybe he wants to be an artist?

Today while Owen was being eight months and busy:

* Lexi had strep throat and had to go to the doctor.

* Lilli went to dance and got to hang out with one of her favorite friends.

* Ava learned her four times tables! woo hoo!

* Vivien made a guitar out of trash and got to play with her B.F.F.

* Nicolette went to preschool! (big post to follow:)

yes, we are busy these days at our house. No, I would not trade it for anything.

Duck, Duck, Bird.

We had a very fun event during this summer. We had the fowl in the area really like our home!
See the cute little duckling on my lawn?

Well, this is where we found about a dozen ducklings...in our window well! This brought tons of excitement to the neighborhood! It was fun yet sad to watch as the ducklings tried their hardest to get out of the window well.  The mom of these cute ducks was flying around trying her hardest to "quack" us all away from her babies.  Luckily...

Doug got home just in time to help the ducklings out!

He crawled down into the window well to lift each duckling out one at a time.

Eventually, our neighbor found a net for them.  The box was not working and they would just hop out of the box once they got out. (half of them ended up across the street.)

The kids were all VERY fascinated!

We ended up finding a box that the ducklings would not jump out of! I wish I had a picture of where the ducklings ended up...but, I don't. So, we found out one of the neighbors just a few houses down had a pond where two ducks came to every morning.  We ended up putting the ducklings in that pond. It was so fun to watch them all swimming around having fun with their brothers and sisters. we don't know for sure, but we think the mom did come back for her ducks because they were all gone by late that night!

We also had a birds nest here above our front door/window.

Doug was able to climb on the ladder and get a few good pictures of the eggs in the nest.
We did end up with three tiny baby birds chirping away. That was fun. The mess their parents left behind, I could do without:)

Three Big Firsts

Owen has been busy trying out some new things...like a tooth! A couple days ago I noticed something very sharp in this boys mouth. Finally a tooth has popped through.

A runny nose.  This is a sad first for the boy. Luckily, he has been a trooper through it. I figure he made it through his first six months with not one sickness. Which seems pretty amazing considering he has 5 older siblings! 

Crawling everywhere! We are finding Owen in different parts of the house on a daily basis. His exploring has definitely started. He's already fond of the bathrooms...darn.

On your mark...

Get set...

There he goes!

It's That Time of Year Again!

No...not Christmas time! Back to school time. Our summer seemed extra short this year. We are all focusing on being positive...so we are just rolling with it! This is the last year these three girls will all be in the same school together. Again, I'm rolling with it! no tears..no tears...

Vivien is starting the first grade! That means being at school the whole day and getting to eat in the cafeteria with her friends. It's pretty exciting! 

Ava has now made it to the 3rd grade. I can't believe it! When we moved to our new house Ava was not even born yet. She is excited for her new teacher and getting to be a third grader.

Lilli is at the end of her elementary school career. She will be in the sixth grade. She gets to have one of her favorite teachers again this year. This is an extra treat for sure!

ummm....here is my Lexi...my first born child. So, to make a long story short. Lexi really did not feel she had time for her back to school picture. I did empathize with her feelings, but being that I have taken a "back to school" picture of her since she was three.  I really felt like I could not let this slide. So, I let her know if she did not have time at home I'd have to get one at the school. Now, I thought she would be expecting me at the school.  Surprisingly, she had to be called to the office four times before I could get her for her picture. ( I guess that speaker at the jr. high really needs to be replaced if the kids can't even hear their name being called on the loud speaker! ) It's such a shame when the budget does not allow us to fix up our schools.

Anyway, my Lex was I guess not feeling in the picture mood...so I got what I could get.  That's just the breaks when your the mom, make do make do. Luckily I've had lots of practice at the make do's.

Lexi heading back to class.

I did follow her back to class hoping for a better smile picture. No luck. Maybe next year:)

Owen and Grandpa

Today Owen is 7 months old!

He is as busy as ever! 

Owen has decided that he is now a crawling baby. 

He loves to crawl.

He has incredible energy,

An intoxicating smile,

still hates rice cereal,

is liking oatmeal cereal better,

loves any of mommy's food!

While Owen turned 7 months old today...

Grandpa Turned 70 years old...

Happy Birthday Grandpa! 

We love Grandpa and wish we would have been able to celebrate this exciting birthday with him! We will have to catch up on celebrating when we get home. 

Owen's Grandpa is definitely one of the best I know. I am so grateful for Owen and all of my girls that they have a terrific, kind, loving, Grandpa. All of the grandchildren are blessed to have and to know him. 

Grandpa and Grandma at our recent family photo shoot:) 

Owen spent his 7 month celebration at Mammy and Poppy's house. He has been loving crawling from the rug to the hard limestone floor...I have not been loving this.  I am afraid he is going to crack his head! I am watching him like a hawk. :)

Owen spent lots of time hanging with his Mammy, Poppy, and Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. Here is Owen with his Uncle Mike. Owen likes all of his family! 

Owen especially enjoyed Aunt LaRae's yummy rolls at dinner...(as did the rest of us.)  

We have had a fun week visiting with our family! Doug was able to join us yesterday morning and we are glad to be together. Owen keeps getting bigger everyday. He has been a great sport and does not seem to mind switching to vacation schedule at all.  

Oh I do love my little guy!

My Baby...Half a Year.

I truly can't believe this little guy has gotten big so quickly! It seems like these last six months have flown by. We tried to celebrate Owen being so big...although it is bitter sweet.

AT SIX MONTHS:
Owen is one of the happiest babies I have ever known. He loves to smile!
He loves to roll all over the entire floor if we will let him.
We broke out the exersaucer and he is loving that.
He has the cutest baby babble around.
He is definitely my favorite son:)

Big stuff on his six month day.  Owen got to sit in the high chair. At first he was a little unsure of this.

Then he decided he loved this high chair business!

So, we decided it was time to break out the good ol rice cereal.

Of course, all of his sisters had to be there and try to help with this exciting event!
At first Owen acted like he loved the cereal.

Here is me and Viv and Nicolette trying to convince him how yummy it is.

We were all very excited.

Then...things started to take a turn...Owen was like, wait...what is this junk?

Now, he's like, ya this is junk...I hate it...

Owen really hating it.

Now, he's telling me enough already...Rice Cereal = TEARS!

Of course, being the persistent mother I am, I was so not ready to give up!

Finally, Owen gets his way. He was much happier playing with toys while sitting in the high chair instead of eating. Luckily, this is not my first baby and I know he will be loving his cereal in no time at all:)

Now, because Owen was so pleased to be sitting in his high chair in the kitchen...I had a fabulous idea! Of course, my girls felt like the idea was some sort of "ruining their summer torture", it wasn't.  We organized the kitchen. It was fun. They had fun. They tried to D.I. every recipe book I own, but luckily I'm too old to fall for that kind of jazz.

Daddy and Owen hanging out. Owen already loves to hang with his dad.

Some huge excitement came on Owen's six month b-day. Lexi's birthday present arrived!

This present inspired the girls to get working on their bikes.

Lexi's very cool "cruiser" bike is here and put together by her ever helpful dad. This bike is so cool. I hope it gets lots of riding!
Happy six months Owen. It was a busy day. A fun day.
Thanks for being my" knight in shining baby".

14 Years and 1 Week

One week ago tonight we were celebrating Lexi's 14th birthday. I have to admit it feels very bittersweet. I think my mind is still trying to catch up with my life. I truly don't know when this happened...when my girl grew up!  

Lexi can:

fit into my shoes

take care of Owen

play the piano better than me

clean the kitchen to my standard (when she wants)

Take charge like nothing I have ever seen in someone her age

be an amazing help 

Happy Birthday Lexi! Thanks for being my super, terrific, 14 year old girl:)

I love how supportive my girls are of each others birthdays. Every sister needed to buy a gift for their big sis. Nicolette chose some of Lexi's favorites:)

Ava also chose gifts that Lexi loves (mostly candy) Lexi loves candy. I wonder who taught her that love?

Vivien chose mascara. Lexi  loves mascara. she goes through a bottle a month...at least. I thought it was so cute of Vivi to know Lexi loves new mascara.

For some reason I don't have a picture of Lexi and Lilli. Lilli bought Lexi a gift she had really been wanting and it took all of Lilli's allowance. I thought this was very nice and giving of Lilli.

 We headed to Texas Roadhouse for a yummy birthday dinner. Lexi wanted to take her family to dinner, which I thought was very kind and fun! Luckily, cute, nice, sweet Kristy was willing to take on those little ones in the family who don't do well at the restaurant. This left us with a very enjoyable birthday dinner:)

Then came the real craziness...I some how (with the help of Lexi's friends and cousin) pulled off a surprise party for the birthday girl. Here is a picture of most of the group that came. I think they all thought I was a nut making them pose for a picture...hey that's just the breaks when your mom is a blogger;)

Lexi requested the birthday cake I always request...Baskin Robins ice cream cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream. yummy! The writing on the cake is a bit sloppy, seeing that the guy behind the counter pretty much refused to write on her cake! So, when I offered to do it myself he said, "sure come on back." So, I headed to the back of Baskin Robins and did my best, especially considering I have never written on an ice cream cake before. Well, when your the mom you just do what you gotta do! And, we were so not having a cake with no happy  birthday on it.

The cute friends helped set up while we were at dinner with Lex. They did a great job:) She was very surprised! 

This is Lexi "fake" blowing out her candles. 

This is my boy hanging out at the party...oh, I really love this guy. He is definitely, a knight in shining baby.

Avoiding the camera...

One really great thing Lexi has going for her, is one amazing dad! This guy does so much for his  daughters. He spent a good hour trying to get the movie to work. The movie was having a few "technical" problems. Doug does not give up though and eventually he had the movie fully set up and on the go...There is NOTHING this Dad can't do! 

* on a side note, Nicolette is one patient three year old. She sat here pretty much the whole time just waiting for the movie to start...oh she's a funny gal. Yes, she had one of her famous tantrums when she could not stay and watch the whole movie, but we'll just focus on the positive for the sake of the birthday post.

I had to add this picture of the party waiting for the movie to start. 

A BIG thanks to the popcorn lady, babysitter, patient friend, who let Vivien "help" her with the popcorn making. Thank you Kristy for giving us the "real"popcorn for our movie party! I think some peanut butter thank you cookies should some day make it your way:)

Happy Birthday Lexi! We love you!