14 months.

so our little owen bugs turned 14 months old today...

here are a few fun facts:
-he is SO SO happy to be on the move. and is always running all over the house, having so much fun.
-when he gets excited, he does this super cute little penguin walk. (hope to post a video clip of this soon...it really is the cutest thing ever.)
-he loves to run in circles around the table laughing, especially when hes being chased by his daddy or playing tag with hudson.
-he really likes to hide things. and is always putting his toys down in the couch cushions and pulling them back out.
-he loves to play with ALL of his toys, but definitely has a few favorites: his piggy bank, his corn popper, his baseball bat, his sports balls, his soft blocks, his guitar, and his singing pablo the penguin (from the backyardigans.)
-he is getting really good at putting the coins into his piggy bank. and the cylinder into his block. and his corn popping skills are improving.
-he understands which toys belong to the doggie. and loves to take them to hudson.
-he gets SUPER excited when its time to read his OWEN BOOK. (we've been reading it every day since we brought him home from the hospital.)
-hes a huge fan of the backyardigans and the little einsteins.
-he is starting to use his spoon all by himself. and is doing better with the whole scoop thing.
-he loves his fruit smoothies. and always begs for more.
-carrots are his least favorite vegetable. and cantaloupe is his least favorite fruit.
-his top tooth has finally decided to come through. but a second and third are close behind.
-his second nap of the day comes and goes. sometimes he just likes to lay in his crib and take a break. other days, he zonks out.
-he loves his baths. as soon as he hears the water, hes ready to climb in and play with this foam shapes.
-he loves to switch the lights on + off. and this is probably why he already knows how to say the word "light."
-he loves going outside. and loves to touch the trees. (so much like his daddy.)
-he could play at the front door for hours.
-he has figured out how to push the button on his tot rod to make it go.
-he gets very very excited when his daddy gets home from work. and instantly becomes his little shadow.
-and when he gets upset, he makes the cutest little mad face.

and here are some of the words that owen understands:
momma, dada, hudson, doggie, clap, dance, shake, cookie, kisses, uh-oh, books, music, ball, sippy, bye-bye, pablo (from the backyardigans), tree, light, blankie, paci, monkey, and grandma.

and some of the phrases:
are you hungry? do you want a sippy? do you want some cookies? daddy's home...where's daddy? can i have a kiss? can you give your turtle/monkey/pablo a kiss? where's pablo? where is your ball? can you bring momma/daddy a book? can you read your book? where's hudson? can you give hudson his toy? all gone. night night. and grandmas here.

and here a few of the words we have heard owen say:
momma, dada, uh-oh, cookies, sippy, tree, + light.

and a few that he is working on:
blankie, paci, + monkey.

so, thats it for the update. it certainly has been a wonderful month...hes just so happy and fun to be around.

little g baby

seriously...how cute are these?

so we're still trying out the cloth diapers, and still trying to find a style and combination thats going to work best for us. i love the bumgenius pockets, but am not yet sold on the gdiaper covers. i have to admit, though...they are pretty darn cute...especially when paired with those baby leg warmers.

happy 50th birthday, grandma bonnie.

happy birthday to the most amazing woman i know.
hope you have a wonderful day, mom. we love you so so much.



and we sure had a good time hanging out and playing "over the hill" bingo at your surprise party. hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

a visit from the easter bunny.

the easter bunny sure was good to owen, delivering a very special board book (owen's marshmallow chick), the land before time movie, a set of zippin zoo roll a rounds, a magna doodle, a backyardigans bucket of bubbles, and a balloon. thanks, easter bunny.

and a very special thank you to grandma bonnie and grandpa doug + grandma jan and grandpa scott for all of the fun easter goodies. i'm sure the backyardigans, the little einsteins, and the 101 dalmatians will be enjoyed many many times. and i'm sure the books will become quick favorites around here, as will the pj's and toys. love you guys.

easter goodness.

you just gotta love the easter grass.




and making yummy bird's nest cupcakes. 

and taking a trip to the candy factory for a visit with the easter bunny.


and spending time with family.

hope everyone has a wonderful easter sunday.

a few more from last weeks outing.

and i promise to post easter bunny pics tomorrow. just too lazy do the scanning today. lol. happy wednesday.

lots of new video clips.

if a play button doesn't appear, just click on the picture.

owen & his piggy bank from casandra on Vimeo.

owen & his corn popper from casandra on Vimeo.

owen & his block from casandra on Vimeo.

owen & his big red ball from casandra on Vimeo.

and sorry about the grainy quality. i think we need some more light in our house.

look for pics with the easter bunny tomorrow.

cloth diapers ordered.

heres a look at what we're getting...

the starter kit from gdiapers.

a bumgenius 3.0 one size pocket diaper.

and a whole bunch of other accessories to try...

a standard infant chinese prefold diaper

a hemp babies little weeds diaper

a babykicks joey bunz hemparoo

a cotton babies newborn + one size microfiber insert

and a cotton babies stay dry doubler

hopefully we'll find something that works for us.

such a boy.

he just loved being outside, playing with the leaves and the sticks and the mud. good times. (click to see a larger version.)

and i finally started shooting in manual + this was one of my favorites from yesterday.  its a little underexposed and i don't think i have my white balance set properly, but thats okay. i just love the capabilities of manual mode...i still have a lot to learn, but i'm definitely not going back.

our silly boy.

and now, for bit of randomness:

after doing quite a bit of research in the cloth diapering world, i have taken the plunge and decided to oder two different types to try: a bumgenius 3.0 one size pocket diaper, as well as some chinese prefolds and a g-diaper cover. (to be used together; not to be used with the flushable liners found on their website.) i'm not sure if either style is going to work for our family, but we are definitely willing to give it a try. of course, you'll get the full update here. and if you would like to know more about cloth diapering, you can find a ton of helpful info + numerous resources on this blog. (and mom, you really should check it out...its a much different world than when you cloth diapered. there are many, many, many different options available.)

and on a different note...we finally purchased this cute little portable drive + have started moving files and clearing some space. so hopefully now i'll be able to share a few clips of owen walking. (or pretty much running.) so stay tuned.

yesterday, i added some frozen blueberries to owen's smoothie and he absolutely loved it. so today, i'm thinking of adding a few fresh strawberries. if your interested, you can find lots of great smoothie recipes here.

and tomorrow adam has the day off, so i'm looking forward to starting our weekend a little early. and hoping to get owen out in this nice weather for a few pics.

HAPPY THURSDAY.

someone has some big news to share...

...thats right, trev is going to be a big brother. my little sister, crystal, and her husband, barry, are expecting their second child, due november 9th of 2008. congratulations, guys. we are very excited for your new little family of four.
(and thanks for sharing the cute picture, crystal.)

stylin.

in his new little uni shirt. (a favorite of mine.)






and the old converses were getting a little small, so this weekend he got a new little pair of pumas. (a favorite of his daddy, uncle riley, uncle jonah + uncle douggie.)

trying some new things.

fruit smoothies. and homemade baby wet wipes.

so yesterday, i decided that i wanted to make owen his very first fruit smoothie. adam + i headed out to pick up a new blender (the old smoothie maker just wasn't gonna cut it) and this morning i whipped up a simple bananarama, consisting of 1 ripe mashed banana, a 1/2 cup of full fat vanilla yogurt, and a 1/2 cup of whole milk. it definitely won the approval of owen, seeing as he had his entire sippy cup devoured in just a few, short minutes + was still demanding more.  so now i'm surfing the web for some fun fruit combinations, and even checking out a few green smoothie recipes.

as for the homemade baby wet wipes... yesterday, i made my own batch using a recipe given to me by my wonderful mother-in-law, jan. (who was given the recipe by her very sweet sister-in-law, julie.) they were incredibly easy to make + worked out great. and the best part is that they contain less harsh chemicals than store bought wipes, so they should be better for owen's little bum. since a few of you have already asked for the recipe, i thought i'd just share it here on the blog. 

homemade baby wet wipes recipe:

1 bounty big roll (cut in 1/2)

2 tblsp. baby bath

2-1/2 c. water

mix baby bath and water in container. put 1/2 roll of bounty in the container and close tightly. turn container upside down to absorb the water. turn upright after approx. 15 mins. take out the cardboard tube in the middle of paper towels, and pull the towels from the middle. (save the other half of the bounty roll for the next time.)

{edited to add} after searching the web, i found that you could, if desired, add 1 tblsp. of a non mineral oil and/or 1-2 drops of 100% pure tea tree, lavender, or calendula oil (for their antibacterial, healing + soothing qualities.) also, distilled water is preferred. and of course, an all natural baby bath is best. (heres my fave...little twig.) 

so if any of you decide to give the smoothie or homemade wipes a try, be sure to let me know how they work out for you. happy monday.

owen the junior ranger.

so this past weekend was the start of the 30th annual maple sugar time festival at the indiana dunes national lakeshore. on sunday, adam had to be there to work, so grandma bonnie and i took owen for a little visit. he seemed to have a lot of fun...he loved touching the trees and watching the horses. and he was very excited to hang out with his daddy. we even got him his very own junior ranger hat...which was ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. here are a few of my favorites from the day...

and this one makes me all kinds of happy...

...my two boys together...just as cute as can be.

{ p l a y }

as promised, here are the pics of owen's playroom...








some more pics of the schoolhouse bookcase can be found here.

and a pic of the chalkboard can be found here.

and as you can tell, the playroom is STILL not quite finished. i'm trying to decide what do with the orange wall...thinking about hanging two long white shelves + some fun wonderful graffiti. and i'm still in search of the perfect material for curtains...hoping to find a turquoise cotton canvas thats just right.