2.21.2015

Little Mr. {15 Months!}

Our sweet, loving little boy is growing up! The past three months have been tough in some respects but also a lot of fun. Owen has become even more fun-loving and energetic and constantly pushes us to be better parents (how often he outsmarts us is insane!)

Owen officially turned 15 months on February 16 and had his well child check-up just yesterday. (Poor guy was a hot mess despite not needing to get shots - was so glad we came in the week prior to get those!)

15-Month Appointment (2/20/2015)
Weight: 20 lb 13 oz
Height: 31 inches

I must admit, I am OVER THE MOON with Owen's stats. I was a nervous wreck the past few months with his weight, activity levels, eating habits and being sick for so often and long. At his 12-month appointment he was a teeny tiny 18 lbs 11 oz. We added more fats to his diet like avocados, butter and olive oil and more of yogurt and cheese. Well then he went through a solid 2 weeks of not eating quite right – probably due to teething but not actually popping any teeth. On the day his sweet cousin Liza was born, we weighed him again. So on December 29 he weighed in at 18 lbs 12 oz. Imagine my internal freakout. I was pleased that despite not eating quite as well he hadn’t lost any weight but only gained one ounce. Really? And then to go the next 3-4 weeks with sickness after sickness, I was a hot mess. This winter has been NO JOKE. Stomach flu reduced his eating to literally just formula and then oatmeal or toast for an entire week. Poor guy! When the nasty cold hit right after that (and subsequently turned into bronchitis and an ear infection a week later) his eating did improve but again was just a little less than I had hoped for. When he was finally feeling a wee bit better – he ate like a champ. THANK GOODNESS. I was calmed a bit and didn’t fret as much though I was convinced he dropped in weight so was simply putting it back on. Oh how I was mistaken. On February 6, I took him in to get shots and our little champ weighed in at 20 lbs 6 oz. I suppose those days at daycare where he ate a crap ton of what they provide in addition to the entire avocado we provided did the trick :) This just proves that no matter what happens, as long as you provide your child a good assortment of foods and the proper amounts of milk (though we stuck with formula until just a few weeks ago because it holds a bit more calories than whole milk), that child will be just fine.

These days, Owen eats really well. He eats just about everything we put in front of him but seems to gravitate towards cheese first 95% of the time. If it seems Owen refuses a particular item, he'll often warm up to it after awhile and give it a try. We haven't yet truly introduced utensils because we don't often get the chance to eat right along with him on a consistent basis. By the time we get home, it's nearly 5:15-5:30. He goes to bed early so we often feed him right after we get home. My goal during maternity leave is to have dinner ready for everyone so that we CAN eat together and have Owen see us using forks and spoons. I look forward to the mess though I can't imagine it being much worse than now since he likes to throw food on the ground occasionally :) 




As you can see, Owen is a happy, messy and goofy eater!


And sometimes, he seems to just eat and eat and then eat some more! You'll notice we added grapes in the third photo!


Owen is also a very playful boy. He likes to play hide-and seek, loves to dance and wiggle, talk on the phone, play with cars and chew. Chew on everything. Still. :)



He's super adventurous and loves to explore though he's outsmarting us at every turn and can climb on just about everything we've used as barricades. Yes, we've finally put up some baby gates that he hasn't yet figured out how to open or destroy. I'm sure that day will come.

he no longer needs any sort of step stool. yikes

He's ticklish in so many places and loves to make us giggle too. His funny faces are almost too cute.


Owen also thinks Peach is his very best friend though I'm not convinced Peaches feels the same way.




Owen can for sure say dada and sneaks in mama here and there. Beyond that, he's using more non-verbal communication - pointing, waving and making tons of funny faces. He's starting to mimic us too which has been fun. We're working on sheep and lion noises right now. 

One thing he hasn't quite grasped yet is the baby bump. He thinks it's a toy or just tries to pull my shirt down. Silly boy.


Owen has had some new things pop into his life as well. He got two new teeth at the end of January/early February - the lower left and right lateral incisors. Owen is now also transitioning in to a new room at daycare which has been a little difficult. He's not a huge fan of the room  just yet but is slowly making progress to be his happy normal self. He's becoming a bit more shy with strangers too so that may be part of the struggle. He's taking all sippy cups during the day and taking one bottle before bed. Owen's also wearing shoes more consistently because that's the only way they serve them at daycare - no shoes, no service!

Owen is sleeping a solid 12 hours as he has been for quite some time but his daytime routine now more closely resembles his daycare routine. He wakes around 7:20, eats breakfast at daycare around 8, lunch at 10:45, naps at noon (home it can last up to 2+ hours, daycare - we're lucky if it's an hour!), snack at 2:45, dinner at 5:30, bottle and bed at 7.

And perhaps the most exciting thing this past three months is meeting some pretty special people!

Gary's godparents stopped by on December 26.

Meeting Liza Joann on her birthday! December 29

Kendra and Spencer came to play! February 14-15

2.08.2015

The Bump II {8} - Recap: 32-36 weeks

Energy & Motivation
I'm glad we've made it through this last set of four weeks.We started it off with Owen having a nasty cold. Poor guy coughed so much one night, we took him to urgent care early the next morning. There he was diagnosed with bronchitis and an ear infection. I, too, had a pretty nasty head and chest cold but was in the clear for anything else. Sadly that took every last bit of energy I had for a solid 2 weeks. We have very little lingering affects still but nothing like before. Thankfully, as the cold dissipated, I got incredibly motivated! Nesting has come in full swing - baby proofing for Owen, moving my desk, sorting baby clothes, putting this little bundle's nursery space together, organizing closets and on and on. I wish I could do more but my body just can't handle it. I've worked myself too hard a couple of times and each time the next day my body was screaming, "What are you doing to me?!" Once I had an incredibly sore lower back and another time felt braxton hicks, unusual for both pregnancies so far. And now, when I'm starting to recognize when I should slow down and take a break, I cannot get comfortable (like in this very moment! Thank goodness for Top Chef on Hulu Plus! Side note: I am so happy it's now on Hulu Plus but I  am four episodes behind since they are locked. I'm going to need to stay off Facebook so I don't accidentally find out the winner of this season!)

Cravings
I cannot keep my hands off of Cosmic Brownies. Sadly, I try to keep it to just two a day and I don't always succeed. Gspice took the last brownie one time and when I found out, I'm surprised I didn't chop all his fingers off. Somehow, I've only gained 23 pounds so far and I'm really unsure how. I eat way too much of all the wrong things - sweets and carbs primarily. I'm also starting to want beef jerky again. I can't wait until I'm not pregnant just so I can make some. Bridget & Dad - let's set a date!

Pregnancy Symptoms
Tums and my preggo body pillow are my two best friends. I'm not sleeping so well these days but they definitely help. I find that if I go a couple of days without using the body pillow between my legs, I don't sleep at all because my hip hurts and will continue to hurt all day long. Lesson learned! My bump is now super-sized so turning around is an Olympic event. I don't always win. Just the other day, I slipped while doing something stupid (walking down a snowy hill) and definitely pulled something or got something out of place. Not only could I BARELY walk but I physically couldn't turn from side to side while laying down. During the night, I like to turn over at least 4-6 times a night.I woke Gary up this particular night because I was crying from so much pain trying to turn over. I somehow managed to sleep on my right  side for the entire night. Other symptoms include starting to feel a little swollen after a long day but nowhere near the elephant feet I sported with Owen yet. My hands too - I took off my rings at 35 weeks this time around.

Movement
Little man still moves around quite a bit but he's definitely super low. The kicks and punches are now well below my bellow button. Being so low makes my bump feel even more heavy than before and every once in awhile, the nudges get a wee bit uncomfortable. I can hardly complain though. He likes to keep really busy during the day and is relatively quiet during the night. All my moving around though does wake him sometimes.With as much movement that he does provide, I can imagine that he'll be just like his very busy big brother.

Bump Update
I'm getting bigger and bigger every day! My clothes are reaching their maximum stretch capacity and I'm in definite waddle mode now :)


2.06.2015

Bathroom Remodel {2} - Half Bath Styleboard

In addition to renovating our main bath, we both feel pretty strongly that we need to add a half bath in the space directly underneath our main bath.  I am so sick of living in a house with one toilet. Sure, normally it's no problem at all. Until it is one. Then it sucks.

Right now, that room is used for storage.

Yuck. 

We have so many items in there that are either way too heavy to carry down to the basement or that we don't feel comfortable putting in the basement. That along with all the randoms that I simply throw in there because I'm just that lazy. My desire would be to have one side of the room be the half bath (with the likely possibility of adding in a stackable washer/dryer in the future) and the other side be a little play area for the boys.

The doorway to this room is teeny tiny so I'd love to open that up as well. I've also recently moved my desk in there so that Owen could have more dedicated space space to play and run around in. When we remodel, the desk will need to end up somewhere else. Where it was originally or simply taken apart. We shall see. My guess is that it will go back to it's original spot.

With all of that in mind, here is the styleboard!