Look Mom, I can sit!

Owen started rolling over right around four months. He is quite proficient at rolling to whatever object he wants. 

Just in the past couple days he's started sitting for several minutes at a time without toppling over. I'm so happy he's reached this stage. At the same time it means he's one step closer to crawling, that I'm not looking forward too. 

Such a big boy! 

I'm pretty sure Lilly, likes this new trick of Owen's. I think she likes him more and more as he becomes more like a playmate!

That fluffy white stuff.

Winter arrived with a force in Alaska this year. I think we got 6-8 inches in a matter of two to three days. It's here to stay for sure, it won't get warm up here for months now. I don't really mind the winter so much. What I can't stand is the wind, and by wind I mean 50-60 mph gusts that make me feel like the house is going to collapse and the windows are going to blow in.
Last Thursday the drive needed shoveled and the two Owen's were sleeping. I bundled up Nathan and Lilly and out we went. Last year Lilly hated the snow, she just stood in one spot and cried. This time was a totally different story. She was thrilled to be outside, she loves her gloves and her "ca cake" hat, I figured she throw and fit and take them off. It's so nice to know that as long as it's not windy I can take sent the two of them outside this winter.

 I'm pretty sure Nathan is explaining to Lilly how to eat snow.

Diving in! 

Good stuff!

Lilly was quite impressed with herself after made herself a seat.

Laying in the snow, I may have to get her some bib snow pants. She likes to lay in the snow and a cold belly is not much fun.

Thanks to my friend Beth for taking photos of the kids while I shoveled!

Reading

Up until about a month ago Lilly was not really interested in books. She'd bring you one, sit still for about  10 seconds then very abruptly slam the book closed and be off to something else. We've read to her before bed since she was little but during the day it just never happened. Now it seems that's it's all she wants to do. Her favorite thing is to read her own book while you read to her. I find it rather annoying, I don't like to read over her "da da da da da" Mike, every patient man that he is, tolerates it just fine. Lilly also spends a lot of time reading to Owen. I'm so glad she has this new found interest in books, I was a bit worried there for a while.

 I just love when she sits down and reads to Owen, it is a rare moment when she's not trying to pick him up or drag him around by his neck. 

 This one just melts my heart. 

I can talk Momma

Lilly has become quite the chatter box in the last couple months. She's figured out how to call me from another room. Sometimes I love the "Momma, Momma do'in?" Other times I want to press the mute button. She opens doors quite adeptly now, gone are the days of things being safe as long as the door was closed. She's starting to pretend play, sometimes mixing up food for Owen. Other times sitting on the couch reading to her baby. She's a lot like her dad in some ways, everything has to be "just so" with her. Before bed, we must have her beloved baby on her pillow, with a blanket before we can start reading. I try to remind myself that it's sweet.
She tries to be nice to her brother but she has yet to grasp the concept of the word "gentle." More often than not I look over to see her with her arms around his neck in what appears to be some sort of wrestling move but in actuality is a hug.

She has lots and lots of words, and is starting to put together sentences. My current favorite word of hers is "dupe," with the U having a real U sound so it comes out more like duuuupe. That is how she pronounces soup and soap. Makes me smile every time.

6 months

It has been two months since I last blogged. Sorry. We've had lots going on around here, but I won't bore you with all of that stuff. Instead, here are some photos of Mr. Owen Caleb, who is now six months old! He's doing all the typical six month things, rolling, jabbering, lauging and boy is he grabby! If he can see it he wants it. He can sit a little with help but not very well on his own yet. He is still pretty content most of the time. Night time has gotten better, he's only up about once a night now. I didn't get any good smile photos last night but he certainly looks like his daddy, with a grin that takes up his entire face. I can't wait to see more of his personality develop over the next six months.

Check out those baby blues!

See how much I look like my Daddy???

Yes my hand or my thumb is in my mouth 98% of the time.

4 months

My little "O" will be four months old in a couple days. He's getting SO big. I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to toys/accessories in my house. However with Lilly and two other big "littles" in my house I get a bit worried about them pulling him off or out of something or stepping on him. We've had a couple accidents ending with "O" on the floor crying. I thought a bumbo seat might be just the ticket. I looked on craiglist for several days with no luck. Fortunately one of Mikes co-workers had one he didn't want. So last night we got this lovely green seat for FREE. *happy Mommy*

He's trying to get his thumb in his mouth. This task usually requires both hands and is usually successfull. However he usually ends up looking like this at some point in time.

Love that smile, takes up his whole face.

And apparently all that smiling was hard work.

Lillian Turns 2! (pic heavy)

Lilly's birthday this year was so much fun. Mike decided to use his two weeks of paternity leave the week before and after her birthday. He spent the week working on a kitchen for her. He even drew up the plans himself. 

He's learning a lot these days about constructing things. His biggest complaint is about the poor quality of lumber up here. Seems as though everything is warped, badly. He made it work though

Primed and the painting started. He obtained a can of chalk board paint from work. The entire fridge is painted with it. Cool stuff, you should try it sometime!

We ended up using a couple of the sample size jars of paint from Lowe's. It was cheap and we had plenty. We even managed to get one of the jars for 1$ (a mis mix) I will admit that I didn't do much with the constructing or the painting, or really any of the planning. I did however pick the paint colors. Here's what I spent my week doing.

I made this using scrap fabric I had laying around. Way cuter than the ones you buy at Wal Mart right?

I also made this little apron. As well as the curtain you see on her kitchen. 

We had plans for the majority of her birthday (all the party prep for her evening celebration) and so the night before we moved the kitchen into the house. She got to check it out and open her presents first thing Saturday morning. 

So far she seems to like climbing in and out of the oven and fridge the best. 

Saturday afternoon we got lucky enough to have a surprise visit from my dad's cousin. She and her husband as well as son and daughter-in-law had flown up for a long weekend. Alaska made Sherry's 50th state. I was so pleased that they took time out of their busy schedule to stop in and see us for a few minutes. They even sang their own family birthday song to Lilly. It was BEAUTIFUL. There are a few photos here just scroll toward the bottom.

From there we finished getting things ready for company. We planned a very low key party, Lilly is only 2 after all. We asked people to bring a dish to share instead of a gift. We had lots of kids, lots of food, and lots of great company. 

My big two year old! 

We opened the garage and asked everyone to bring their camp chairs. Worked out great!

I made Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes. Lilly wasn't real sure about blowing out her candles. 

The kids had a great time on this thing. 

I was so pleased at how it all turned out. Pretty sure that a good time was had by all!

Excuses

I have a million reasons why I haven't blogged in ??? way to long. Getting settled in to life with two, I have realized that a routine is about impossible. Mike had two weeks off. Enjoying the beautiful Alaskan summer and new friends. Lilly's birthday. Projects around the house and a NEW sewing machine. Meetings for MOPS and church things. And last but not least the workings of a new BLOG (web address to come)

Lillian is now 2, talking more and potty trained (that happened in about a week, a month before her birthday.

Owen is almost 4 months, wears 9-12 months clothes, eats all the time and for the most part is a very happy, easy going baby.

I've started babysitting a friends boys 3 and 1 a couple times a week. That means that for approximately 8 hours on those days I have under my roof four children ages 3, 2, 1, and 4 months.

About a month ago, I bought a sewing machine. I'm in love! I'm working on a craft blog, just a place to write about what I'm making, crafting, sewing, knitting and learning. I place to share that's separate from
talking about my kids.  Hopefully it will be up and running by the beginning of September.

Our lives are about to get a bit more scheduled. Mike is going to be really busy with work for the next 4-6 weeks. I have babysitting, MOPS starting, and about half a dozen sewing projects plus knitting hats for the kids. (it's about to get cold here in Alaska)

I think that about sums it up around here for now. I'll try and write some more specific posts about what's going on in the near future, when my finger (slammed it in the truck door a week ago) allows me to type a bit better.

Life

Wow! I feel like I've been in limbo for two months now.
It all started a few weeks before Owen was born, you know when you get to the 37th week of pregnancy and your brain switches to the "it could be anytime mode." Well that "mode" lasted an entire month as he was a week late. We left on little Oney's 5th day of life and flew to Indiana where we thought we were staying for the entire summer. Mike left after a week to head back to Alaska and the kids and I are still here. We have heard nothing but contradicting info from the AF and so after four weeks of being here I decided I'd had enough. Rumor has it the the deployment is not happening so I bought tickets and we are headed back to the great state of Alaska where 90 degrees and humidity do NOT exist. (I am a wuss after living away from Winona Lake for almost 6 years now)  Can't wait to get back home to my house and my husband. ( I kinda miss that guy)

Owen is now 5 weeks old, can't believe it! He is definitely very very different from his sister. Likes to be held and needs a lot more comforting than she did. (maybe that's because with Lilly I didn't have anything else to do but hold her)

Lilly is doing well with him, the last couple days she wants to hold him, all the time, and throws quite the fit when I tell her no.
She's talking more, I don't think anyone understands her but me and my mother but she has lots of words and understands most of what you tell her. She's starting to show interest in pottying in the toilet but I'm not even going to tackle that until fall.

I have adjusted to being mommy to two. Somehow I still manage to knit a bit every day and should soon have Owen's second sweater done.  I think we're all ready to go back to our own space and get into a routine of sorts...

Owen Caleb

Owen Caleb joined us at 3:17am on Tuesday, April 26th. Labor lasted about 6 hours and Owen, like Lillian, was born in the water.

We are adjusting pretty well,  Lilly is taking to him fairly well. I will write out the birth story soon enough.

ice

Lilly likes ice cubes, she comes running every time I open the freezer, makes a beeline for ice cubes, picks one out, licks it and puts it on the counter. Last night, however, it got stuck. I froze, no pun intended, got a glass of water to pour on her lip, then decided I needed at least one photo. Snapped this picture and off came the ice cube.

Nail Trimming

Sounds like a thrilling subject right? Well apparentaly when you are 18 months old and are not the one who is being trimmed, it's quite entertaining.

Last night Mike decided we needed to trim Hamiltons nails. He's WAY (and by that I mean 6-8 months) over due. We've put this off because he's not exactly cooperative but with the new flooring in he clicks like you wouldn't believe and it drives us both crazy. So we get out the needed supples, trimmers and the box, yes BOX, of treats and get to business. Hamilton, like his female owner, likes to eat. So Mike trims and I feed him pieces of treats. Well this was the first time Lillian had seen this done and no sooner had we started but she gets into the box and starts handing him entire treats, at that rate we'd go through the box with the front two paws. So I move over break the treats into pieces and hand them to her and she takes over feeding him, giggling and laughing and grinnging the entire time. She certainly isn't afraid of a few pointy dog teeth.

As we were doing this I told Mike the story of Bailey (our family's yellow lab growing up) and my little brother. Bailey was always very good about getting her nails trimmed until Isaac got a hold of the trimmers and decided to do it himself. I'm assuming he was 4-5 maybe. Well you can imagine things didn't go so well and after that it took 2-3 people and handfuls of treats to get the job done. So in case you were thinking about this Mom, the clippers are up high where Lillian can't get them.