The BIG 5!

Five years ago, when I held my first baby for the first time, and my world turned upside down, I could not have imagined how fast time would fly!  From those early days of just trying to figure out how to breastfeed, how to shower and feed myself with a newborn around, to watching him learn to walk and talk and feed himself, to potty training, sleeping the night in his own room, and everything in between... to now waking up one morning to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the birth of this beautiful boy!  He has been the one I've had to learn the most on so far, and he has been such a trooper.  What a sweet and joyful boy to have in our home!

On his actual birthday, Owen and I were able to come to preschool and bring treats - we had pudding cups and graham cracker sticks.  Eli even got a candle in his pudding, and was tickled that his class sang Happy Birthday to him.  Owen was THRILLED to get to spend a day at Eli's school, and I think Eli was just as thrilled to have us there. 

 

After Brad got home we had dinner and "birthday cookies" aka. Oreos.  Eli got to open his joint gift from us, Grandma and Grandpa K. and Great Grandma K.  It turned out to be a Playdoh tool kit, and a super fun and challenging Marble Run game called Quadrilla!  Brad set it up for him and he and Owen were transfixed by rolling marbles for a good hour straight.  We had to force them to get their PJ's on, then we watched home movies from Eli's newborn days before bed.  It's really funny to watch those old videos - especially just noticing how novice Brad and I both seemed as parents - just trying to figure out how to dress and bathe a baby!  Eli got phone calls from Kramer and Benson grandparents before bed... it was a lovely day!  He got his gifts from Grandpa and Grandma B. a few days later (though no pictures - a "rescue hero" action figure with helicopter, and "spy plane" from Cars 2 that opens and closes with room for a race car inside). 

Eli had a snowman themed birthday party the next weekend.  I managed to pull it together in a few days - including informal email invites to friends - I've been flying by the seat of my pants lately with all these bdays and holidays at once!  Anyway, here is the (very simple) Snowman cake!  Eli was tickled with it.  

Of course the boys helped clean the frosting off the spatulas.  Yummm.... coolwhip!

For games we played "cold snowball" which is basically like "hot potato."  The kids sat in a circle and passed around a styrofoam ball that looks like a snowball while "Frosty the Snowman" song played.  Whenever I would randomly pause the music, whoever was holding the snowball was out and had to leave the circle, but that just meant they got to come and get a candy cane =).  After that, we sat around the table and assembled giant marshmallow snowmen!

Then of course was cake and ice cream time.  Eli has trouble keeping his eyes open in pictures with a flash, so this is the best shot I got of him with his cake! 

 A great big breath!

All the little kiddos who celebrated with us!  We had 3 boys and 1 girl from Primary class, and Eli's best girlfriend and her big brother from playgroup.  In the back are Lydia and Grant; front is Jay, Owen, Andrew, Eli, Ali, Brayden.  It was sure a lively and fun group! So lively in fact that I sent them outside for balloon wars the last half hour of the party.  It was a little cold, but the snow had melted so it wasn't too bad (other than muddy!).   

Eli LOVED his party.  But the fun didn't end there.  The minute the last two kids were picked up, we had to jump in the van and head over to Barnes and Noble for Eli to sing Christmas songs with his Pre-school class. 

 

Lydia (who was at the party) was there too since they now go to school together.  They are bestest pals.  Eli describes her as his "really, really, really, really best friend."  She's a cutie for sure!

And a shot with his fun teacher, Ms. Garrett.  She has been THE teacher at Eli's school for 25 years!  She's pretty good at it!

After the singing, we were off again - this time to our ward Christmas party!  We had a lovely dinner, a singing program, then the kids got to walk down "candyland lane" for a surprise visit with the big guy in red!  And I promise, Owen is not picking his nose even though it looks like it in the picture. What a fun-filled day of celebration!  It must be interesting to have your birthday all wrapped up with Christmas excitement!  

The Basics at Five:
Height: 43.75 inches - 68th percentile
Weight: 43.6 pounds (hey, a pound an inch!) -70th percentile
Clothes:  Size 4/5 kids shirts and 5T pants with the adjustable waist - long but skinny torso!  12-13 Shoe.
 
Favorite Foods:  Eli is still pretty particular about what he will eat.  This summer he was evaluated for sensory processing issues, and is currently in occupational therapy to help with his eating, as well as some mild motor incoordination.  Some "new" foods this year are chicken nuggets, fish sticks (super skinny french fry kind) and only cut up in small bites and dipped in honey, Annie's Organic Macaroni and Cheese Bunnies (never thought I'd see the day!), String Cheese, smooth creamy yogurts with no fruit chunks, juice (any color) and egg nog!  That's quite a list of new things!  His favorites are still cheese "rollups" (melted cheese in tortilla rolled up) and peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch, toast with chocolate almond butter for breakfast.  We've cut way back on goldfish crackers, but they continue to be a special treat.  He also has a sweet tooth and will accept a lot more new "candy" type items than other things.  Marshmallows are also a new thing this year.  The only vegetable is still raw carrots, and fruits are apples or dried mango.  He's been very willing to earn stickers for his chart by allowing new foods to at least be on his dinner plate without complaining.  He gets different numbers of stickers for being able to either smell, touch, lick, or bite the new foods.  So far he has gotten brave about licking, but biting is still a challenge with most things - even familiar foods that are just on his "yuck" list.  We are really proud of him for trying and think he's doing great at trying to understand being healthy and working up the courage to try new things.  

Favorite Activities: 
Eli still loves trains, and has been asking Santa for a "real one" for two years now... we'll see if he delivers this time around.  He also loves racing cars with Owen, and playing all kinds of pretend scenarios with their animals.  He has discovered the joy of Hide and Seek, and loves riding his new "Big Trike" from Harbor Freight - the thing has monstrous inflated tires!  He has LOVED attending pre-school three mornings a week this year - much to my surprise and delight.  He also enjoys gymnastics, and has been making great strides in his upper body strength and balance.  He's been in occupational therapy for a few months and while he really enjoys the "gym" toys at the clinic, he has not been very excited about the fact that he has to try touching/smelling new foods when he is there sometimes.  He is making progress though!  Along with strength and balance, his fine motor with writing and cutting is coming along so well with practice too!  He recently got some dry erase books with mazes in them and can sit for an hour straight doing 30 or so mazes in a row!  He loves to think and figure things out.  He is often so lost in thought I can find him at the breakfast table 20 minutes after it's served with no bites taken, because he is busy "thinking."  He LOVES to ask "WHY" about everything, and is usually truly seeking an explanation for the world, not just asking for the heck of it. He has become a great helper, and is so excited about having a baby sister.  He explains to everyone that we already have 3 kids in our family - one is just in my tummy... he tells them she can't come out yet because her lungs are not ready.  Eli also loves reading books and is interested in letters and sounds.  He has picked up all on his own recently what letters make what sounds, what letters start words, and is also practicing basic math!  I don't know where he picked up the addition concept (probably preschool) but he is always telling me what number plus what number equals what.  He is a super smart, loveable cutie pie, and we are lucky to have him in our family!!!

Owen's Three!

Mr. Owen turned the big 3 last month!  I don't know how the last 3 years have whizzed by so quickly, but I'm sure a lot of it has to do with how busy this little guy and his big brother keep me!

On his actual birthday, we watched some home movies from his newborn days, had some birthday cookies, and a special package arrived from Grandma and Grandpa B.  Wouldn't you know it contained Cars character race cars, a Cars launcher and a movie (though the Cars 2 movie has since been banned at our house - what was Disney THINKING?  That's a whole other post though).   He and Eli spent the rest of the evening having car races across the kitchen floor. 

My big boy still loves to get his snuggles in though, and talked me into wrapping him up on his special day.  It was kind of hard to do with the rather large BUMP on my front at the moment, but he had some fun taking pictures of ourselves.

Owen's party was an intimate affair with a few good friends from the weekly playgroup we've been a part of for the past couple of years.  Owen was thrilled to have Grant, Lydia, and Iris Mueller, as well as Emory Tilghman come and celebrate with him. 

 

 He was particularly over the moon about his racetrack birthday cake... complete with a green race car with the #3 on it!  He'd been asking for a race car cake, and this was the simple alternative that his non-gifted-baker mama came up with.  In case you can't tell, the top is covered in crushed cookie so it looked a little bit like blacktop.

 

He definitely knows what to do about presents at this age! He ended up with Bendaroos (waxy craft building sticks) from his friends, and  Playdoh kit, Hotwheels cars, a Hotwheels launcher, and a jumping frog game from a combination of Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa K and Great Grandma K. 

It was a fun night playing with all the toys!  The friends all pitched in with the toy testing, and after they went home, the boys and Daddy got to stay up late putting together hotwheels track and launching cars through a loop de loop. 

We sure love our "Little Big Boy!"  He is very excited that he is going to be a BIG BROTHER now, and he loves to look at my growing belly and try to feel the baby kick. Owen is quite  a hoot to have in our family.  He's been very verbal from an early age, and is already mastering the art of sarcasm and cracking jokes.  He loves to tease and be funny, and definitely has his own strong opinion on just about everything.  Some of the things he comes up with to say lately have had us laughing our pants off... I'll have to write some down and get them posted up here!

He is Mr. Independent as well and is never afraid to try new things.  He managed to potty train before his 3rd birthday as well, much to my relief!  He learned how to potty #1 in just about a day over the summer, but potty #2 was pretty stressful.  I remember one day after multiple trips to the potty over a several hour period, and lots of crying, and finally a potty mess on the floor thinking he was never going to get it.  Less than a month after that, he was taking himself completely independently to the potty, using toilet paper, and washing his hands afterwards all by himself!  I am still kind of shocked, but that's Owen.  Once he gets it, he goes forward full steam.

Owen's latest accomplishment is being able to say family and meal prayers all by himself.  He offers the sweetest prayers, and loves to be the one to do it at dinner and bedtime - he also likes every person to take a turn saying one.  He has also transitioned to being able to fall asleep at night without Mom or Dad snuggling him (though he still gets to sleep next to Eli in their big bed).  He is "mostly" off his binky, though still goes searching for it in times of distress or nightmare waking (of which he has had a few lately - must be that three year old imagination!).  He had his first dentist appointment and was brave enough to go through a real cleaning!

In general he is just a fun loving and sweet kid.  It has been a little tough on him that Eli gets to go to pre-school 3 mornings a week this year, but it has also been nice for us to have some one on one time as well.  He has become quite the little grocery shopping helper, and we make regular trips to the library together where we get to snuggle and read one on one, and pick out special things to bring home.  I know that I will probably look to him to be even more "grown up" in the coming months when our new addition arrives, so I am trying to cherish every moment left of his time as the youngest "baby" in the family.  I sure do love my Owen and can't say enough good about him!


The Basics at Three:
Height: 40 inches - 93rd Percentile
Weight: 38.4 pounds -94th Percentile
Clothes: In size 4T to 5T shirts and 4T pants - Eli's clothes from just last season!  Catching up fast!  10-11 shoe.

Favorite Foods:  Owen does not suffer from the picky eating syndrome like his brother.  He is not afraid of strong flavors, and I think has inherited my tastebuds.  He can down 3-4 pickles in a row and ask for more.  He is not afraid of vegetables, and would often eat them raw out of the garden this summer.  He loves steamed broccoli with feta cheese on top, salmon, and all the basics like pizza and burgers and chicken nuggets.  In fact, I'm not sure I can pinpoint a favorite food because he just enjoys eating, and always seems to have room for more!

Favorite Activities: As evidenced by his birthday gifts, Owen enjoys playing race cars a lot right now, though it's not his single passion.  He also enjoys trains, and in general loves to run and play with his brother.  His imagination has kicked into full gear, and he and Eli can cook up some interesting and often mischevious plans (most recently - flushing toys down the toilet and clogging it to the point we had to buy a snake). He upgraded to Eli's old tricycle this summer and enjoys strapping on his helmet and going for a ride around our circle.  He loves digging in the garden, playing in the kitchen and bathroom sinks (plenty of mischief there!), playing playdoh, reading books, and going to gymnastics.  His favorite time of day is when DADDY comes home!  He loves to wrestle and rough house with his Dad, but he also loves to snuggle and read with him in the evenings.  He brightens up our lives so much - we LOVE you Owen!

Birthday in Hannibal

For my birthday this year, we took a little family day trip to Hannibal, Mo - hometown of Mark Twain.  We got to ride on the "Mark Twain" riverboat and soak up the gorgeous fall scenery!

We played for a while at the park while waiting for the boat, and Eli and Owen thought they were in HEAVEN to get an up close view of a real train going by!

The views from the river were stunning... and the weather was perfect!  I can't say enough how much I LOVE THE FALL!

Owen cried most of the boat ride unfortunately... best we can figure is that he was just overtired.  Both boys were fighting over sitting on Dad's lap by the end. 

We had a really nice captain to saved the day by letting Eli and Owen have turns "steering" the boat once it was docked. 

Oh, the views in Hannibal!  It wound up being such a beautiful place!  We've been meaning to visit for a while, and I'm glad it ended up being this time of year.

What's even better than a playground?  A LEAF FIGHT at sunset!

Day 3 in Sweet Home

Note: This is part 3 of our Alabama trip... scroll down to "Sweet Home Alabama" to start from the beginning and work your way up (you will actually have to click on "older posts" at the bottom of the page and it should be the first one) or just click HERE.

Day 3

Our third day in Gulf Shores was the warmest by far, and yet we didn't start the day on the beach. Instead we drove into nearby Fort Morgan and took the ferry to Dauphin Island. Since the ride was across Mobile Bay, the water was very calm. We saw a few interesting ships, and some of the off shore natural gas drilling rigs. We even glimpsed a few dolphins swimming, though they didn't come very close to the ferry. The boys - especially Eli - were in HEAVEN. Eli later said that the ferry ride was his favorite activity of the entire trip.

Old Fort Morgan

Tree frog I found in the outhouse of all places!The ferry ride

The reason for the Dauphin Island trip was to tour the Estuarium. We learned a little bit about the various habitats in the region and the importance each plays (river deltas, swamp and marsh lands, fresh and saltwater). The most interesting thing we noted is that the Island itself was literally cut in half by hurricane Katrina. Though the storm itself hit New Orleans, the effects of the storm (winds and waves) were felt along the coast. Apparently, they are working on "fixing" the island... I have no idea how that is done. The kids loved seeing the various marine life in the Estuarium, and so did Brad and I really. I for one am a kid at heart when it comes to the ocean and aquariums... I love it all!

A favorite at the Estuarium was the play boat. Owen was the Captain and Eli the fisherman!

Waiting at the pier for the return ferry was interesting as well. The beach was littered with little crabs. We joked that they must be like the ocean's cockroaches, as they scurried around munching on tiny particles, and scattered like bugs when we got near.

A great view of a pelican flock, as well as some other sea birds.

The boys decided to watch the ocean rush by through the railing while on their bellies... I think they were just too tired to stand anymore!

Double stroller on a budget - also the only thing that will fit in our tiny car when we are traveling with luggage.

There were entire neighborhoods of these elevated beach homes along the coast. Seriously - I want one (though I'm sure hurricane insurance is something else)!

We drove through a nature preserve and saw a lot of swampland and tropical foliage such as this.

The road through the nature preserve ended at this GORGEOUS, natural, secluded beach. There were two little beach homes right there, and then nothing but miles and miles of ocean and sand. The dunes and the sea oats growing on them were gorgeous. This part of the trip was my favorite... my own personal paradise!!! Oh, and we were the ONLY PEOPLE THERE!




The kid in me is obsessed with shell collecting... not that I have any use for them once I get home, but I love looking for them along the beach and picking up ones that strike me. There was no shortage of them here.

My dream home: an Italian villa by the sea. Maybe someday...

Because the beach was a little more secluded with a lot less tourist traffic to till up the sand, we were able to see a lot more of the oil damage. You don't notice it right at first, but as you walk along and realize your footprints are pure white, it is because that is the color the sand is supposed to be. The top layer is stained with oil for miles around. What a job the cleanup effort will continue to be.

The boys enjoyed some good "digging with lizards" in the biggest sandbox they've ever seen.

Some portraits of our lovely selves.

We stayed until sunset again. It was a beautiful end to our final day.

The only reason the kids agreed to leave this beach (aside from the fact we were all starving) was because it suddenly started pouring! The downpour was shortlived, but it was enough to soak what was left of our dry clothes. I had to run back out on the beach to find one of the toy lizards that got left behind... thankfully it was red and I spotted it!


The rain left as abruptly as it started, and the clouds parted enough for us to get one last longing look at the beach at sunset.

A little video of Paradise =).

We took the kids back to the condo and cleaned all the sand, saltwater, and unseen oil traces before hitting the town for one more dinner. This time we tried the Hangout, another open air restaurant with live music right on the water. This one was even cooler looking than Lulu's, but the food was nowhere near as good (in case you are ever down there and trying to decide between the two)! The boys enjoyed dancing with Brad after dinner while I ran across the street for postcards at the giftshop. We had to force ourselves to go to bed that night!

Leaving the next morning was sad for all of us, so we did not get as near of an early start as we had hoped. Thankfully, this is what we saw in our backseat for at least the first four hours of the drive!



As I mentioned we drove home through Alabama instead of Mississippi... it really is a beautiful state (so was Mississippi, but we went through much of it in the dark). There was so much dense vegetation everywhere, and some beautiful autumn foliage. You gotta love the Confederate flags flying here and there (I really do wonder culturally why people still fly that? After all, isn't it a symbol of cessation from the Union and pro-slavery? Or am I missing something?) Anyway, my FAVORITE thing was a GIANT billboard with a little red dancing devil on it that read "Go to church or the Devil will get you!" I laughed out loud, but didn't get a picture.



We rolled in close to 1am. Overall, I think it was the best possible way I could have spent the last few days of my 20's!