Jillian has been babbling a lot more lately. We've been more diligent about only giving her pacifier to her if she's sleepy/sleeping. We noticed she talks a lot more (for obvious reasons!) when she doesn't have her pacifier.

In the last week she started saying "Dada" and "Uh oh!". We think she has her own way of saying "Owen", too, but haven't quite confirmed that. She also said "Papa" after I said Papa tonight and I'm not sure if it was a fluke or if she actually said it. I can't wait for more!

In other news, Jillian got her first top tooth on 5/6/11 and is working on her second tooth! Last night, she slept from 9:15 pm (we had to wake her up to take cover in the basement for a tornado warning...not fun) until 6 am and the night before she slept from 6:30 on until 5 am. It was SO nice to stay in bed for that long! He's confident that she'll be willing to share her present with him. Good thing she probably won't mind as much now as compared to when she's older!

Owen has had so much energy the past few days. We've been spending as much time outside as possible and I think he would spend all day outside if I let him. He's really interested in puzzles and games right now. It's amazing how quickly he can figure out a puzzle. I really hope to get some new puzzles this summer at garage sales. My Mom got him this great pattern puzzle for Christmas and we've been spending a lot of time with it.

Owen seems to be really excited about Jillian's upcoming birthday. How can she already be one year old? Crazy! Owen wants to celebrate her birthday now and give her the present he spotted upstairs in our room.

Before I forget...

Owen has been eating Kix lately. We don't usually buy anything other than Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats but he was thrilled with some new cereal. The best part is that he gets confused and talks about "runs" but he actually means Kix.

"I want some more runs!!" What? "RUNNNNNNS!!!" You mean, Kix?? "Yah! Kix!" Ha!

Oh, Jillian. She's been so sick! It seems like she picks up everything that's out there. I swear I haven't allowed her to lick the shopping cart. On Friday, I took her to the doctor because she was on day three of a fever. She was super pathetic but didn't have any other symptoms. At the doctor, her pulse was high so they ordered an EKG and chest x-ray to make sure the virus she had wasn't affecting her heart (ah!). I'm not sure they could have freaked me out much more. Luckily, the tests came back and everything looked good. Owen was with me for this two hour visit and he did so well. He was covered with stickers from the nurses for being so patient. Jillian's fever finally broke on Saturday and she started to act more normal - crawling around and playing. It was so good to see.

To add to her discomfort, Jillian's second bottom tooth broke yesterday - yay! I was sure it would come in weeks ago. She seems to be a very slow teether. Her gums swell up and and are bumpy for weeks before the tooth breaks through. Then, it takes a long time for the tooth to push up. Her first tooth still isn't all the way up.

Mike took this photo of Jillian a few days ago. Isn't she gorgeous?



Owen alternates between being the cutest thing ever and being super challenging. I've been reading a book, "Your 3 Year Old - Friend or Enemy," which comforting and familiar. This in particular is exactly what we're experiencing right now:

Three-and-a-half attempts to control his environment in way that will, perhaps, make him feel more secure, more sure of himself. 'Don't look," "Don't laugh," "Don't talk," he commands those around him.

He was yelling at Jillian in the car yesterday, "STOP MOVING!" and he often tells me to "STOP TALKING!!" or "NO SINGING!". Oof.

On the bright side, Owen has quite the imagination and has been making up lots of names, songs, and doing lots of pretending. It's awfully cute!

This has been the longest winter I can recall. Too much snow, too cold, and way too many illnesses. Jillian has been sick off and on for over a month now. I feel so bad for her! She had a fever last week on Wednesday but it went away on Thursday. Then she had a GI virus Saturday and Sunday. We ended up taking her into the ER because it seemed like she was having stomach cramps and that can be a sign of something serious in children her age. Fortunately, she was fine. Yesterday, she started to develop a fever at music class and it continued through the night and has lasted all day today. She seems clingy and grumpy but there's no other symptoms right now. I wonder if it's teething but a temperature of 103.2 seems high for teething. Here's hoping Jillian feels better soon and stays healthy for a long stretch!

In between fevers, she's a goofy as can be!



Today was St. Patrick's Day! We celebrated with Shamrock jell-O jigglers, rainbow crafts, and green milk. I told Owen that people wear green on St. Patrick's Day and if you don't, you might get pinched. He said, "I don't want people to bite me!!". Ha!



Tomorrow, we're planning to have friends over for a corned beef & vegetable dinner. Hopefully they won't be scared away by Jillian's fever or else we'll have a TON of corned beef to eat!

I have so much to write about! Let's see...

First of all, Jillian is crawling! Our friends, Karin, Julian and Eli were over on Monday and Karin asked if Jillian was crawling yet. I said that she isn't but she's very close and started to walk away. Karin said, "she's totally crawling!" and I looked back and Jillian was crawling! Go Jillian! She hasn't done a ton of crawling since then but I've seen her practicing!

Jillian also has a new goofy smile. She loves to do this with her Dada at dinner.



Yesterday was Paczki Day! I love my paczki and so does Owen! Mike and Owen have to fight over the raspberry. I like raspberry too but I let the boys have them because they REALLY love raspberry.



Yesterday after dinner I said something about how we should get another dog to do the clean-up under the table. I was joking. Owen said, "Maybe we should go get Murray back! What do you think of that? Should we do that?" I think my heart broke in half. I don't know if we'll get another dog. It will probably be a few years before we seriously consider it. I miss Murray like crazy and I'd love for Owen and Jillian to grow up with a dog but there's no way I can take care of two small children and a puppy.

I was feeling motivated yesterday and took a shower and got dressed before Owen got up (Jillian was up). Owen did not like that I was already dressed by the time he got up. He was super irritated about it and said, "I don't like your shirt. I can't see it. It's too white." Okay then!

Because of "the plague", we've missed at least two music classes. I was all excited for music class today and then I realized that Jillian felt warm. She had a fever. Ugh! It's hard to know if it's teething or illness but because she had a fever right then and was so unhappy I decided we should stay home. Serious bummer! Then, Joe, Katie, Alexa & Melina were supposed to come over for dinner tonight but are going to play it safe and stay home. I'm so ready for spring and so sick of germs. Maybe it's just teething but how would I know? The kids often start off illness with a fever so I'd hate to risk it and infect a bunch of other kids.

She may be little, but Jillian is starting to give Owen a run for his money.

Jillian and Owen both had a hard day. Jillian's teething is bothering her and she doesn't want to be put down much and Owen was grumpy and defiant. Oof. It's amazing how quickly the days go and how little we get done! Ah well, there's always tomorrow, right?

I was talking with Mike this morning while holding Jillian and he said, "stay right there" and he grabbed the camera and took our photo. I said "my hair isn't right and I have no make up on!". He said it was better that way - apparently we looked cute!

Jillian has her first tooth - the bottom left center one! Well, you can't see it yet, but you can feel that it has broken the skin. The other bottom one is about to come in any minute, too. Yay for teeth!

Today I volunteered at Owen and Jillian's "Friday Morning Out" program. I have volunteered in most rooms but had not had the opportunity to volunteer in Owen's room until today. It was really fun to spend time with him in a school setting and meet his "friends". His regular teacher wasn't there today which was a bummer because I would have liked to see how she does things. Owen has been saying that he's "shy with Teacher Rae". I was talking to him about it yesterday and got a little more out of him. Apparently she said "something rude" but Owen couldn't remember what she said. All he could remember is that it made him "feel mad". I think it may have happened when I brought cupcakes for his birthday and maybe he was feeling shy when the sang happy birthday? Who knows. Poor little guy.

Owen really loves temporary tattoos so I put the Cake tattoo that came with my new CD on him. It's a huge wasp that says CAKE. Pretty cool, dude.

Jillian is 9 months old! How did that happen?! To celebrate, she had her 9 month well child visit today. She now weighs 22 lbs 10 oz (95th percentile) and is 28 1/8" long (75th percentile). The pediatrician asked if she's always so easy going (mostly) and said that she looks great. He confirmed that her two bottom teeth are about to cut through her gums (yay!) and asked about our family's head size because apparently her head is pretty big (as are all of ours).

Jillian has been doing really well with feeding herself. I gave her kiwi for the first time this morning and she gobbled it up. For dinner, I strained our corn chowder and gave it to her and she devoured it. She's also been sleeping longer stretches at night. Yeah! Still no proper crawling but she's crawling backwards really well!



I think Owen is happy to be back to his social life. Our friends Karin, Julian (2.5) and Eli (11 months) came over last night for pizza and a movie. We all had a good time. Yesterday morning, cousin Alexa and Uncle Joe came over for some playtime, too. It had been so long since we've played with friends - it is so nice to socialize again!

Today, Owen had a haircut. He loves to get his haircut. It's funny though, because he's in a complete trance during the haircut and is so shy. But it's all he can talk about before and afterwards! After the haircut, we went to get him a hot chocolate that he earned for his poop chart (yes, he has a poop chart).

Tonight Mike is working a double back which means he works evening shift (home at 11:30 PM) and then works a 6:30 AM shift. I say that he might as well sleep at the hospital. Anyway... I asked Owen to be extra helpful for me and he really was. He helped clear the table, load the dishwasher, and sweep under the table. It was so helpful and lovely.

We've started a tradition of telling a "little Owen bear" story before bed. They're always about something that really happened but we tell it about "little Owen bear". I don't usually do Owen's bedtime but tonight I did so I had to come up with a little Owen bear story. I'm not always very good at coming up with them on the fly. But, tonight I told a story about how little Owen bear went to visit Nana and her fish and her cats. Owen seemed to approve of the story. Telling the stories is fun and it's amazing what he remembers. He'll interject his memories into the story as it's told.

I completed it awhile ago, but here's Owen's dino hat! He loves it and I'm pretty darn proud of how it turned out. And, to clarify, this is his own "pose". I can't get the kid to just look at the camera these days!

Today was the first day in a long time (3 weeks?) that we're all healthy. Hoorah! Healthy feels so great.

Jillian is almost 9 months (will be on the 2nd) so she had her 9 month photo shoot today! I can't wait to see the photos. She took photos in a bunch of different chairs, on a furry blanket, in a basket and on a dresser. She wore 3 outfits: a onesie and baby legs, a poofy dress, and a diaper. Fun! We have to document those rolls while she still has them!

Jillian is teething and seems to be pretty bothered by it. Her gums are swollen but there's no obvious signs of teeth cutting yet. She's cranky and having a hard time sleeping. But, she's 9 months and has no teeth yet! So, I think it's time. She's also so very close to crawling. She rocks back and forth on all fours, scoots on her butt, and goes from all fours to sitting very easily. She's also starting to pull up to her knees. I think she'll be crawling and then walking before we know it!

Owen did something amazing this morning. He woke up dry for the first time ever! It wasn't really something we were trying for, it just happened. I was shocked and so proud! It's funny because the previous morning he woke up soaking wet (literally dripping) so this was truly surprising. We made a sticker chart to fill when he wakes up dry and hopefully we'll have success!

Tonight, we had pork tenderloin with cherry sauce, cous cous, and mixed veggies for dinner. Both kids ate big portions of it (well, J didn't have the cherry sauce) - would it be possible to raise two non-picky kids? Probably not, right?

There's nothing like taking two years off blogging about your family! Ah, how time flies. Now that we have Jillian (9 months) and Owen (3 years), I'm finding it really hard to document the little things that I find so precious and want to remember years down the road. So, here I am.

In June of 2010, we welcomed Jillian Reese into our lives. I can't believe she's already almost 9 months old. It blows my mind how fast the time goes! She's an incredibly happy baby and a joy to be around. It's such a beautiful thing to watch Owen love his little sister and watch her love him back. Here are a few photo collages to bring us up to date:

This free picture collage customized with Smilebox




Personalize a digital collage

Today, we met our newest niece, Melina! I made a baby doll sling for Melina's big sister, Alexa, and of course I had to make one for Owen, too. Owen sure does love his baby dolls.

I have a few notable things to quickly document:

- Owen's first molar is all the way through. That thing was brutal to watch come through. Holy ouch! His first eye tooth is on its way, too.
- Owen has added a few words to his vocab - balloon ("booooon") and all done. It took me several days to understand all done. It sounds more like ah dot. But I realized he was saying it at the end of his meals, after I ask him if he's all done. That one could be helpful.
- We're in the transition to one nap. I'm not too excited about it but it's happening no matter how I feel!

Owen is a year old today! How did that happen? Happy Birthday my little man!

A year ago, I met you for the first time.




And now you're a year old!


To celebrate, we're having a birthday lunch with Rowan (also born today) and then we're going to do something fun (tbd) with Dad and go out for birthday dinner! Saturday is the official birthday party. Photos and stories to come!

Owen is doing so many neat things, I can barely stand it. One of my favorite things is pretending to talk on a phone. My Mom taught him to do this when she visited at Christmas and now he does it all the time. He usually uses a wood block as a phone but the other day the phone rang when I was giving him a bath so I didn't answer it and he held his hand up to his ear and said, "heeeehhh?". I'll have to try to get that one on video.

He's been pretty attached to me lately. I tried to take a nap today while Dad was playing with Owen and I kept waking up to, "Mama??!! Mama!!". Oy! I think he says Mama at least 20 times a day. I love it but it's also a little tiring. He still hasn't really shown much separation anxiety - I keep waiting for the time when I go to leave and he cries but it hasn't happened...yet.

I'm being paged from the bedroom - Mama! Mama! Mama!

I'm starting to understand why early toddler communication can be frustrating for both child and adult. Here's a excerpt from our breakfast conversation:

V: All Done? (also signing)
O: Hot?
V: All Done?
O: Hot!
V: All Done??
O: Hot!!

In other news, Owen has added a third type of "crawl" to his way of being mobile (the first two being the "wounded soldier" and "normal" crawls . We call it the "monkey crawl" where he sits on his butt with one foot flat on the group and one hand on the ground and moves about. It's his way of moving when holding something. I'm not doing a very good job explaining it. Time to get out the video camera!

The past week or so, Owen had been practicing standing up by himself. He typically pulls himself up to standing using me as a prop and then let's go. He gets this adorable grin on his face when he's attempting to stand by himself. It's amazing how fast he became stable on his feet. I fear walking isn't too far away!

Owen has constantly been adding new words to his vocabulary. Right now he says, Dada, Mama, Cat, Dog, Ball, Sock, Hot, Fish, This, That, Duck.... I think that's all. He also can woof like a dog, meow like a cat, roar like a lion/bear (his very favorite thing to do) and very rarely moo like a cow (my favorite). He was doing a cute little roar but in the last three days, it has become a very loud, throaty roar that might scare some people in public. I blame Dad for that one.

I'm not sure why we even have toys because Owen is perfectly content with going around the house and emptying drawers, cabinets, shelves, turning the radio on/off, etc. Once in awhile he'll play with his toys but they're usually second choice.

I've been trying to get Owen to take to a "lovey". So far, the idea is failing. I know, you can't force a lovey but I try to encourage his attachment to a little blankie. He tells me what he thinks of the idea by throwing it out of his crib and tossing it off the rocking chair when I try bring it in on our cuddles. Recently, he has become attached to a little purple ball that came with a ball popper train that he got for Christmas. He has taken the ball for car rides, taken it to bed at night, taken it to bed at nap time and Grandma and Grandpa said the ball got a bath on Saturday when they watched Owen. Hah! So, maybe the purple ball will be O's lovey? Weird kid!

I haven't posted in so long - mainly because I always feel like I don't have the time to put much thought into posting. But, I'm hoping I can change that! Owen is growing up so quickly and hopefully I can quickly capture some of the milestones and special moments by jotting them down here.

On the 2nd, Owen's 8th tooth broke through and I discovered that a molar is on it's way, too. You would think that through evolution, teething would become less traumatic. Sleep has been crap lately - maybe because Owen has/had a cold and maybe because of the teething. Either way, I'm hating it! Late night was a "good" night - Owen was up 3 times. The night before, Owen was up 5 times or something insane. I feel like I have a newborn!

Owen is completely obsessed with cats. I'm not kidding! I exchanged some duplicate books he got for Christmas and I decided to get him, "My Little Noisy Book of Kittens" ... noisy, because if you push a button, it meows. What in the world was I thinking? Now I hear, "Cat? Cat? Cat! Cat! ... meow meow meow meow." He also flips through his picture books until he finds the cat and that's all he wants to look at. I hope this will pass or he's going to end up a crazy cat boy.

[This post was started about a month ago and I'm publishing it as is.]

Life has been too busy for blogging!

I'm now watching Sophia 30ish hours a week. The extra cash is nice but I would have preferred 20 hours a week. My free time has been filled with: playing on facebook, emailing, going to the gym, sewing Owen's halloween costume (almost done!) and knitting. I think I 'm preparing for the winter boredom that I usually face.

Owen's first top tooth finally broke through on the 2nd of October. The second front middle tooth and the tooth to the side of his front left tooth look like they could break through at any time. These top teeth seem like the move SO slowly.

Owen has been *this* close to crawling for nearly a month now. He's really good at rolling (he can roll across the house) so I think he hasn't been trying the crawling thing so much because he can get where he wants to go.

Years ago, I worked in a Scandinavian store in the good ol' Mall of America and made some wonderful friends in the four years I was there. I worked with Hilary fairly briefly but enough to get to know her. I ran into her a few years ago and caught up briefly with her. I got an email a few weeks back saying that her Mom passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Hilary's Dad found her Mom on the floor when he went to check on her because she was napping for longer than usual. They think the cause was a massive heart attack.

And it all comes flooding back... losing my Dad in the same way almost two years ago. It's amazing how quickly the ache in my gut can come back and the memories of finding him on the driveway and all that came after that. I miss him so very badly. I wish he could have met Owen. It's just not fair.

I'm working on a memory book with photos and memories of my Dad because I feel like the memories are less vivid than they used to be. But, the process is so heartbreaking. I thought I had done a lot of healing but it's amazing how fresh my wound feels when I allow myself to open back up to the heartache.

I miss you Dad and I long for the way things were when you were here.

I've been slacking when it comes to blogging lately. It may have to do with me being in a bit of a funk lately but I think I finally snapped out of it. I was feeling stir-crazy and overwhelmed...I think because all of our classes and outings came to an abrupt end. Things should be picking up over the next few weeks so that should be good. I think I'm going to sign Owen and myself up for swimming. We're already signed up for ECFE but I need to see how that will work out with (hopefully) watching another kid. [Details are still pending on the daycare bit.]

We're starting to serious think about Owen-proofing which most likely adds to my feelings on being overwhelmed. He's close to crawling and we are not prepared and I don't want to spend a day of frantically chasing him around to make sure he doesn't kill himself. I bought some cabinet locks that we need to install and we need to put away our cleaners and fragiles. I took care of some of these things today but there's still a lot to do.

On the fun side of things, we took Owen to the state fair yesterday. Last year, he attended as a little peanut in my belly and hopefully enjoyed all the crap I ingested. He seemed to have fun this year and I told him that there are many more years to come! I love love love love the Minnesota State Fair. He looks like he enjoyed himself, no? ;)

I'm a little late in talking about it, but Owen turned 6 months old on the 29th of July. We had his 6 month well-baby appointment last week and confirmed that he's quite the chunk. Mister (as we like to call him) weighed in at 24 lbs (off the charts) was 27.5 inches long (75% percentile) and has a pretty big head at 17.6 inches.

One interesting outcome of his appointment was some suggested dietary restrictions because of the shellfish allergy on both sides of the family. They suggested holding off on wheat and dairy until he's a year old. So, we're going to focus on the fruits and veggies and start meat around 8 months. He pretty much despises solid food at this point, but we continue to offer.


A photo from his half-birthday (he was SO serious and wouldn't smile - highly unusual!).