19 months.

heres the o.bug update: 

-he loves to point to people or things and ask "right there?" (which really means 'who or what is this?')

-he loves the itsy bitsy spider song and will try to put his little fingers together to do the itsy bitsy parts.

-he can point to his nose. and yours, as well.

-he thinks it is so funny when he puts the cell phone to his ear.

-when you count from one to five, he will repeat the numbers four and five.

-he has added a few more books to his favorites collection, including little hoot, little white fish, and the best mouse cookie.

-his favorite toys of the month include his wheely bug, his soccer ball, his books, his blocks, all of his stuffed animals, and his spin + sing alphabet zoo.

-his favorite foods of the month include quesilldillas, spaghetti, french toast, frozen banola, and frozen grapes.

-he is slowly learning how to ride around on his wheely bug.

-he gets so excited to watch the cars as they drive by.

-he can go down our staircase backwards.

-he has figured out how to get out the back door all by himself.

-he has been perfecting all of his new words. (including his most recent few: boat, snack, and yuck.)

-and he has really been testing his mommy and daddy with his...shall we say...determination.

hot wheels.

he thought they were pretty cool. 

thanks for sharing your hot wheels track, trev.

bounce planet.

after a long day of shopping in indy, we thought the boys could really use some fun. so we headed over to bounce planet, and they had a BLAST. (thanks for the tip, missy.)

just a quick + exciting announcement...

i have decided to take the leap, and formally start buliding my children's portrait portfolio. (yay!) a new blog/website will go live soon with all of the details, but basically what this means is that i am looking for 5-7 models to book a 'portfolio building' session. these special sessions will NOT have a creative fee, but prints and all custom products will be available at the regular price. so, if you or anyone you know is interested in booking a custom children's portrait session (creative fee waived), please send me an email and we can hammer out all of the details. (my gmail address is listed to the right, on the top of the sidebar.) and if you're interested in having a christmas card designed using photos from our session, please try to contact me immediately.  :)

new buffalo, michigan.

just a few photos from our evening at the new buffalo beach.

and a couple from our favorite hamburger joint, redamaks.

and you can check out last year's trip to redamaks here...you won't believe how much the o.bug has changed.

thanks for the fun day, everyone.

swimming with grandma b.

gotta get some pool time in before the summer ends. 

thanks for the super cool nemo trunks, grandma bonnie + grandpa doug.

super saturday.

we kicked off our saturday morning with the the valparaiso popcorn festival's cutest baby contest. owen only had a minute to charm the judges, and for the first 45 seconds he clung to his daddy and hid his cute little face. however, he did manage to let out a big "choo choo" in the last few seconds. thanks to grandma bonnie for being owen's 'sponsor.' :) 

and seriously...how cute is he?

after a quick nap, we headed to bella and aidan's house for a ballerina + cowboy infused birthday party. they had a GIANT bouncy house in the backyard, and owen absolutely loved it. (as did adam.) i think my two boys spent about an hour bouncin all around in there. we sure had a fun time at the party, and it was so nice seeing everyone. happy birthday, bella bean + little adian. 

and after a quick change of clothes, we headed to g.town to party with grandpa scott on his *50th.* as always, we had a wonderful time chatting and visiting with everyone. thanks for the nice evening, guys. (and sorry i don't have any pics...i really should invest in a back up camera battery.) hope you had a fantastic day, grandpa s.

ten on tuesday.

1. if you haven't already heard of the bento box lunch craze, you have to go check out laptop lunches. its such a cool concept...absolutely no waste and a simple method for packing healthy, balanced lunches.

2. and while you're surfing the web, cruise on over to etsy.com. the site is full of some seriously fun + creative handmade goods. (many of which are made by work at home moms.)

3. if you're local and looking for something fun to do with the kiddos, the town of valpo has started hosting 'downtown movie nights.' next up..SHREK. tonight at dusk on the west side of the courthouse. (thanks for the tip, kath.)

4. are you thinking about halloween yet? you bet we are...owen's halloween costume has already been picked out. all i can tell you is that he's gonna be cute + creepy. :)

5. i finally found a homemade playdough recipe that i love. no sticky residue, a cinch to make, and tons of fun. if you want to give it a try, you can find the recipe here. 

6. if you're like me and the thought of a germy toothbrush is just too much, you have to check out these super cute flipper toothbrush holders. owen would love to have the panda, and i think adam would like to have one of the dinos for himself.

7. owen has outgrown all of his current shoes and we're getting ready to order a new pair. what do you think of these little pumas?

8. i've already started hammering out the details for owen's second party. (i know, its still 6 months away. i will admit...i tend to get a little crazy with the party planning.) but its gonna be fun. 

9. we gotta send some love to the grandparents. thanks to grandma jan + grandpa scott for the new little adidas soccer ball. its a hit. and thanks to grandma bonnie and grandpa doug for the new books. he loves them all. 

10. and last but not least, grandpa scott will be celebrating the big 5-0 this saturday. can't wait to party with you, old man. :)

have a fantastic week.

tub time.

we didn't really intend for owen to end up *in* the tub...but he had his own ideas.

indiana beach.

our weekend adventure didn't stop with the lincoln park zoo. on saturday, grandma bonnie and grandpa doug treated us to a super fun day at indiana beach. owen + trevor absolutely LOVED kiddie land, and wanted to ride all day long.  they looked so cute together...they were steering their boat and driving their car. and believe it or not...the faster the ride, the bigger the smiles. in all the summers we've been going to indiana beach, i don't think we've ever had a more enjoyable time. here are just a few of the many, many photos...

thanks, mom and dad. we had a wonderful time. and you sure made the boys day.

lincoln park zoo.

adam had the day off on friday, so we decided to celebrate our fourth anniversary at the lincoln park zoo. adam and owen had never been there, and i hadn't visited since i was a little girl. i just loved how it was located right in the middle of downtown chicago, completed surrounded by the city. we spent about four hours exploring all of the different exhibits, and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch in the grass. owen seemed to really like the underwater penguins and the african rainforest. adam really enjoyed the reptile house and the aardvark. and i loved the giraffes and chimpanzees. it sure was a nice way to celebrate our family. here are a few photos...