A shot of our little girl...she sure makes us smile.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Happy Birthday Jesus...

and Baby Gabriella Grace!

Born December 23rd, 2008

6 lbs. 10 oz., 19.5 inches

@ 7:16 pm

God's timing is perfect so we are home for Christmas to have turkey as a family in our home. Owen is adjusting quite well to having a little sister and loves her so much. He wants to help put her hat on, give her a blankie, give her hugs, etc...
Life...so precious...we are in love and very happy to be the parents of two kids!
Owen loves that Gabriella loves pink...he's becoming quite a fan of pink as well. :-)

Gramma Momma made it! She drove in this afternoon and will be with us for a bit of her vacation! Isn't it great being a teacher? :-) She came bearing gifts, food, goodies, and...a bob the builder hat? Owen loved it and wore it through dinner. He also did something he hasn't done in awhile...he went and put on my shoes and walked around...until they fell off. What a goofball! Gramma Momma is saying how much he has changed...she hasn't seen him since October! Wow! How did that happen? Sorry momma! We are so happy to have her here and be waiting for Grampa Phil and Auntie Emmy to make their appearance as well.

I have not been "sitting" around lately, but the other day I had to. Owen is seemingly aware of "baby sister" and talks to her, rubs my belly, and even gave her a "hug." The doctor thinks she's about 6 1/2 lbs. by now so we are eagerly waiting her arrival. I didn't think I wanted a Christmas baby, but I am finding that this is a wonderful time to be expecting a little one. I think about the birth of Christ and Mary as a young mother in such a different light. What a gift! Anytime is perfect...God's timing and will is always perfect. And we may need to be reminded...He is always good. God bless you and your family this season and into the New Year!

Merry Christmas!...or almost...

We spent the afternoon a week or two ago with the cousins so we could get some "Christmas" pictures. They did pretty well smiling. I had Owen practicing all day without saying "cheese!" because when he says "cheese," he scrunches up his face and looks mad or in pain. Here is a sweet-"am I doing it?"-mom smile. :-)

Then I tried to get a close-up...My sweet little angel.

Yesterday was a big day for Owen...he got to have "breakfast with Santa" at a church down the road. Granny Nanny and Papa Steve picked him up at 7:45 and he came home around 11...smelling like syrup! I just know he had a blast! Last night we went to the Holidazzle parade. It was warm (for December) and we got to see lots of lights, floats, and fun characters in the parade downtown Minneapolis. Owen's favorite part was the choo choo train float.Everything has been going great with the pregnancy. Baby Girl is movin' and shakin' and growing and developing wonderfully. My doctor thought i was measuring small so she asked if I wanted an ultrasound to do some measuring. Why would I not want to see my little girl if given the chance??? :-) She is small but not TOO small. There are no worries according to that ultrasound and she seems to have a strong heart too...her heart rate is ranging from 140-179. I think that is the entire range for healthy hearts!

Here she is smacking her lips or sticking out her tongue ( I can't tell). She looks to have Owen's round cheeks and cute little nose. We will see her in person in a few short weeks here (or less)! We are truly excited!

Owen's comfort...hmmmm...

This morning he was up late...8 in the morning! I think that is a new record. But...when he looked out the window, he got really excited about the dusting of snow we got. He wanted to go outside...I had to tell him," first we have to put pants on."

Details, details!

In the mail on Friday we were surprised to find a package from "Auntie Lori". Owen must be starting to understand presents and packages because he got excited. He actually was really excited to get the note attached...Then he saw the t-shirt. I think she sent it to him because of some rivalry between Roger and her when it comes to sports teams that they root for. She wasn't sure Roger would let him wear a Georgia Bulldogs shirt...Owen doesn't know the difference quite yet. :-)

Here he is showing it off...

Here he is taking it off...

:-)Thanks auntie lori!

We got to see Auntie Emmy this Thanksgiving weekend...it was so good to see her and smile and laugh and and eat and throw toys under the table and run away from her and play chase...
It was a cold day, but we stayed nice and snuggly warm!

Dearest faithful observers...yes, it has been awhile! :-) Thanks to my dear, sweet cousin Nicole for pointing out how long it has been since I "blogged." At least it got her to e-mail me after so much time! It sure is good to hear from you, Nicole, and I will respond to your e-mail. I too feel close to you just knowing you are keeping up on us...I just wish we could talk more! Let's work on that! Love you!

And so it goes...she wanted Halloween pictures...here they are! :-)

We went to a local farm that has a pumpkin patch, wandering animals, and hayrides. Owen loved petting the animals and seeing a pig and chicken up close. He picked out a pumpkin and we carved it when Gramma Momma and Grampa Phil were up...

How does it look? (the little one was done by gramma momma!) The next weekend we dressed up like a lion and went trick or treating. Owen really got the hang of grabbing for the candy...even though he never really said, "trick or treat" to the people. Good thing we only went to a few houses on one street. :-)

It was a special treat to have Auntie Emmy come stay for the whole weekend! She came Thursday night and stayed until Monday morning...owen is still asking where "Shasha" and Diego are. :-) We love and miss our Auntie Emmy! (yes, we miss our other auntie's too!)

One of the houses that we stopped by was Great Aunt Lori's house...Roger's Aunt Lori (Reger, Lori)...I had to clarify for those who think this could be my sister Lori...we'd have to travel far to stop at her house for "trick or treating" :-)
Aunt Lori was very generous with the candy and even let Owen have a piece while we chatted a bit. Owen said, "I love you" and gave her a hug...I wonder if he is beginning to associate food with love....hmmmmm.

Under Owen's Lion was a punkin' sweatsuit that Auntie Julie had sent to him a year ago...it fits! Owen is saying, "oh common mom! peas? again?" :-) Yes, fruits and veggies, yum yum yum!

We'll have to send the punkin' sweatsuit Julie's way next year for her little girl that was born just a week ago! Julie, can you believe it's been a week? Feel like longer already? We love you and can't wait to come meet our little Elodie Ruth!

I have become a fan of the author Jonathan Friesen. He's local. He went to my church. He wrote a book called Jerk, CA. And I am totally impressed. I added his blog as a link...I'm sure he has more fans than me so I don't think he'll mind me advertising this book...or him. I am hoping he'll make an appearance at my school and inspire my students to write and write for life. We'll see!
http://jonathanfriesen.typepad.com/

MEA weekend and i got to spend lots of time with my little buddy...on Friday, we went to Gleason's gym, a gymnastics club that has open gym for "pre-schoolers" every Friday morning. I have never seen Owen have soo much fun for a whole hour and a half. Running, jumping, trampoline-ing, bouncing, climbing...workingup a sweat and loving every miunute of it. I will let the pictures tell the story until I have time to write some captions.

Owen met his cousins on top of a folded mat that acted as a slide for them. They hung out up there and we tried to take pictures...Christmas pictures? We'll see if any turned out. :-)

Momma was happy to see Owen happy! This is one of the few times he let me hold him...he squirmed his way out of my arms so he could go...

play with cousins,

climb and hang (here's the pomel horse),

RUN,...

Run some more on the big, long trampoline,...

Get ready to jump,...

AND JUMP!,...

He's been practicing for a few weeks how to jump off furniture and off of curbs. He gets his two feet in the air and gets everything moving forward, and take off! Here he gets to land on a huge, soft mat in a foam-block pit.

He's telling me he got stuck in there...so let's go climb something else!

We found a few more things to climb and another big mat to jump on...

and even after cousins went home, we stayed and played and found some new kids to jump on...I mean, jump with! :-)

What fun it is to see your boy full of smiles!

Grampa Phil was here to visit! We had so much fun and Owen wanted to tell him everything! One thing about Grampa Phil...he may not admit looking for things to help with, but if you don't ask him to help, he'll look for something to fix! While he was here, Grampa Phil found where our water shut-offs were, re-programmed our water softener, and painted the new dresser for our baby girl's room...
doesn't it look great??? In the time he was here, he also fixed a bunch of stuff at the duplex, "cleaned" gramma mimi's garage, and "looked" at her lawn mower. He also squeezed in a Badger game on TV and a few good meals followed by a great night's sleep.
Thank you Grampa for all you do! We love you and Owen has so much to tell you...see you in two weeks!

Owen's favorite toy lately has been little trains, but at daycare he will only play with the blue one. He has even called it "owen's." Carrie told me also that when all the kids are running up for lunch, the kids all shout out, "i want to sit by Devon! I want to sit by Alex!" And then there's Owen, yelling, "I want to sit by Owen!" I giggle just to think about that. :-) I don't blame him for wanting to sit by the coolest kid ever! He'll "get it" sooner or later.

CAMPING!!!!!!!!

We took the plunge and took a two-year-old camping for the weekend! :-) Owen was such a champ...he loves an adventure. He slept alright in the tent except for when he thought he was done sleeping at 3 in the morning ("all done") and when he got a bit cold so he filled his diaper (which overflowed onto me). We were alright though! It was as state park with full amenities (showers!). Saturday was a beautiful day to walk by the lake, stroll through the woods, and throw rocks into the water (a little boy's dream!).

The weekend after Labor Day was quite the celebration for Family!

It was a good thing that Owen got good at saying "cheese!" because...We were smiling lots about Mom and Dad's 40th Anniversary! Whew! I can only guess that love gets better with age...right?? :-) These two look happier and healthier than most who've been married so long. Love must be good for you!
We had so much fun laughing, talking, walking, playing, and...eating!

I think owen put on a pound or two...of just watermelon alone! :-)
We tailgated and went to Owen's first baseball game! Miller Park is the best place to go to your first game: we had great seats, there was a slide for Owen to play on, and clowns making balloon shapes for kiddos.
Proud daddy was just glad to take him...even if it wasn't to a Twins game. :-)
Everyone had a great time...Con even shared his big ,blue cheering hand for Owen to wave about. When is the next party? Owen wants to know because he now knows that when we go to a party...there's going to be CAKE! :-)

The weather of September; one thing is predictable: some cold, some hot. Last week it was sunny enough to wear shades, but cold enough to wear a sweatshirt/vest in the morning. It is cute: the only time Owen wants sunglasses is in the car when the sun shines in the windshield. He may know how "cool" he looks or perhaps he just wants to be like Mommy. Lately it's been tough to imagine loving another child as much as I love Owen and I've talked to mother's who had thought the same thing when their second was on the way. I know I will...love is so abundant when it's from God. His blessings would not come without a way to enjoy them...or at least to fulfill God's amazing purposes. I am so glad that I have so many woderful women in my family that I've been able to watch to grow and learn from.

Yes, he is in motion and yes, I took this on my cell phone so the clarity is not the greatest. However, I just think it is so cute how he can push himself along and steer and turn in a circle and even fall gracefully without crying. I know...helmet? Oh, I barely was able to put the thing together without him jumping on. :-) He has two of these scooters to ride at daycare, but he only wants to ride the red one. I found him a Spiderman scooter, but all he cares is that he has a scooter! What joy it is to see him grow up...
I was looking at baby pictures...even pictures of him a year ago and last spring...he is getting so big! have I held him enough? have I squeezed enough of his "sturdy" little legs? have I nuzzled his round belly enough? have I embraced all I can of him while he is still my little boy? At what age do little boys make you stop kissing them? If there is any consolation...owen has learned how to hug, using arms and everything! He's learned to kiss without an open mouth, but he keeps trying to kiss the kids at daycare. I guess we need to teach him a few boundaries. :-) I just hope I am getting enough of him while he's still so little...I don't want time to stop or even slow down, but I want to love him all I can when I can...any words of hope? encouragement? suggestion?

Our little boy had quite the weekend with two different sets of grammas and grampas and a whole bunch of other family. I'm so blessed to be so close to family, to be supported, to know my little boy is loved and cared for...even when my sweet husband takes me away for the weekend. We had a great time up in Brainard...two rounds of golf, breakfast buffet, chillin' out, relaxin', and enjoying perfect weather. We got home just this morning, but it already feels like a week ago. I start back at school tomorrow so I'll be heading to bed soon. I am excited...ready...only 4 months 'til baby girl arrives. Oh, how life is going to change!

WHO IS THIS BOY???

"Melissa Louise" sure did a great job taking Owen's 2nd birthday pictures. People ask why he's not in modeling...I say, time? purpose? for me or him? But, I am now convinced he needs to be entered in these contests to add to his college/education fund! so, Vote! You can go to the link below and vote for this adorable boy to win some cash. How about it! When I get home from vacation here, I will update with more recent photos. :-)

https://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/index.aspx?referid=EmailFriends&p=724482&x=.png

Our beautiful family...I've asked Owen whether he wants a little sister or a little brother, but I don't think the concept is clear to him. He knows where the baby is, but I don't think he quite gets it. I told him all the things he can do with a baby sister or brother: rock in the chair, read books, push the stroller, etc...Then he asks for tootsie rolls or chips & salsa. Hmmm, we'll keep trying, but now we can actually tell him that he will be having a little sister! Yep, here is our baby girl! 11 ounces big, 20 weeks (1/2 way!), and wiggling like crazy! We are excited and now we can envision even more! Names...hmmmm...

Today's fun!...Auntie (Grauntie) Paula played with Owen in the sandbox! It must be love since she was wearing black pants! :-) Gramma Mimi, Steven and Paula came for lunch and to see our new home. We had a lovely visit!
After a three-hour nap we went to Lucas and Landon's birthday party...man! they have a lot of toys to play with! It was lots of fun with cars, trampoline, slides, teeter-totter (that he loved until he rolled off of), and CAKE!
We then got to cuddle with daddy on the couch. Roger wanted to lie still and just have some quality time...yeah...try to get Owen to be still other than when he's sleeping! :-) He's TWO!