More Birthday Celebrations...Jenn came over and played for a bit this week. I was so proud to get Owen to wear matching shirt and pants, but then he insisted on putting "superman" over the top. Then jenn showed him how to put purple beads on over his ears...goof balls! Obviously I also let my house go a bit during the day...Owen is quite the tornado!

Does she look like me???? When she's awake we try to have a little fun...it's still been three nights in a row of partying 'til midnight. :-)

Tonight we went to G=-ma Mimi's for dinner and cake. She asked to keep Gabriella for awhile. I guess a mother is always a mother...and holding a baby compares to nothing. Thanks Gramma for the dinner and Birthday wishes! We love you!

Pretty in Pink!I am sorry...please forgive me. I will try to take more pictures. My camera is not always handy, but this beauty was taken on my cell phone!

Precious little girl...trying to keep her eyes straight...

much of nap time was spent in this little bouncer that Owen passed down to his little sister...
Pretty little girl with her pretty pink blanket...

Then owen decided that he wanted to "take a nap" in the bouncer as well. He made me smile when he hopped up and ran to get his own blankie and bear. :-)

At least Owen sang Happy Birthday to me today...twice!

The Birthday week has begun! I shared a party with Papa Steve today....who, here, looks as happy as can be with little Gabby! Happy Birthday Steve!

I finally took the clippers to owen's hair...he is looking more and more like his daddy! I couldn't keep up with his thick mop so I cut it nice and short on the sides and back...couldn't say good-bye to the top! :-)
What do you think?
I think he likes it! :-)

For my first week home with my kids...I have been trying to keep it interesting and busy...It is quite the transition to be home...very different!

Monday we went to Rog's work and went out to lunch with "daddy." Tuesday we got all bundled up and pulled the sled around the yard (Owen's friends Caleb and Nathan couldn't come over because one of them got a cold...perhaps they'll come play next week!). Yesterday we went to the cousin's house and played...and played...and played.

Today we took a field trip to see baby Logan, Carrie's baby that is one week younger than Gabriella. They were so cute together...Owen was so excited to see baby Logan...

Gabby and Logan...sleeping and sucking, what a life!
Congratulations Carrie and Rob!

It's been two weeks and Owen has not asked when Gabriella was "going back." He seems to be adjusting well and continuing to have lots of fun. Thanks to everyone who pays plenty of attention to him before going ga-ga over Gabby. :-)
Gramma Momma and Auntie Emmy (not pictured) both took Owen swimming when they were here for an extended stay. What fun!

Still lots of love...he wants to hold and kiss her all the time. I had to convince him today that he could not pick her up out of the swing...that could have been disastrous!

When he's done holding her...he's done. We have to be there to "catch" her. :-) don't worry! he never is alone with her or holding her on his own...just don't tell him that! :-)
Roger has been wonderful to spend so much quality time with the little guy. One of their favorite things is to read books "on their bellies." My sister just had to take this picture.

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!