IPhone photos

Ever since I got an Iphone I've been bad about using it instead of my big camera to take quick pictures of what we're up to. I realized today that I have a TON of pictures on my phone so I'm going to start posting them a few at a time.

Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to lately via my phone....

washing dishes at Nonnie's house

a slicked down hairdo after a bath

playing with goggles on the way to the lake

caught in the act of making a big mess!

this is what happens if I attempt to sit down after work

a rare shot of me

spoiled :-)

time for dessert!

A semi-cleaned plate courtesy of Owen. We're so proud of how well Owen is eating here lately!

A glimpse of Special Eddy the fish we've been fish-sitting for the summer. He's the class pet of the self-contained class at the elementary school and will be going back to his classroom in a few weeks.

Aiden's favorite place to hide

Chris got sidetracked watering the garden and watered Owen instead!

Typical Owen....he always finds a way to make normal things a little more dangerous.

Popsicle time!

early morning playtime

I'm noticing a trend of nudity in all of these pictures. We just can't seem to keep them both completely dressed this summer! More Iphone pics coming soon!

Cousins

MDST 2011

[Looking over the blog, I realized that this post never published in July when it was scheduled...better late than never!}

We signed Owen up to be on the Dolphin Swim Team this year for the first time. He's learned so much and really likes it. We'll definitely do this again next year. When he started he looked like he was having a seizure in the water and now he can swim a lap with minimal assistance from his coach. He has not competed in the swim meets this year but will next year. He goes every day for practice for the months of June and July. I took these pictures when they had their fun day the Friday before the 4th.

I'm so glad we signed him up! He needs something structured to do every day or he just gets a little out of sync. This has been great for him and he really enjoys it! Thankful that we have this available in our town.

Sweet Boys

Chris got these great shots of the kids the other day while they were playing. Too cute!

Aiden - 18 months

Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday you were our tiny little peanut that had to be weighed every week because you were so small. Now you're such a big boy and changing so much every day.

At 18 months, Aiden....

• is 30 pounds
• is 33 inches long
• is finally learning to run but still can't run very fast
• is climbing on our furniture....and falling off...*sigh*
• still loves to eat and will try anything
• doesn't like strawberries or fish sticks but that's about it
• doesn't really like to eat breakfast...he'll eat a little dry cereal and a bite or two of bacon but has a strong dislike for pancakes, donuts, etc.
• is a milk addict....and we're his enablers......he would drink milk all day and all night long if we'd let him
• loves to play outside
• has to have his blanket "Banks" when he's sleepy or upset
• is my little tech guy...he is fascinated by computers and has recently starting doing the Wood Puzzles app on my IPAD
• has great language skills (makes my little speech pathologist heart so happy!)
• follows directions well
• is so laid back....to a point and then look out!
• can be a bit of a bully (I blame Owen...haha!)
• says the following words consistently: mama, dada, O-wah (Owen), hot, da (dog), up, out, bye bye, night night, uh huh, mine. He is good about trying to imitate words that we say
• is an ok sleeper now that he has tubes in his ears
• still wakes up at least 1-2 times per night
• likes to nap
• is a TERRIBLE car rider.....we can't go more than 15 minutes down the road without him freaking out. This has been hard because we like to go, go, go and especially like to travel to see family
• is not as lovey as his brother....we have to beg for hugs and kisses most of the time
• loves Emma
• adores Owen and wants to do whatever he's doing whether he likes it or not

Aiden is our sweet, squeezable, precious Bubba and we love him to pieces!

Owen...You're 4 Years Old!

It's hard to believe that it's been 4 years since this little guy entered the world! Time sure does fly when you're having fun. It makes me sad to see how much he's grown up this past year. He definitely looks like a big boy now. I know there are a lot of changes coming up during the 4-5 year old year and that makes me even more sad. It's hard to believe that this time next year we'll be registering for kindergarten :-(

Ok, I'm going to pull it together now.

Owen is around the 42 inch mark for height. I only know this because they measured him at Magic Springs and he got to ride the big slide...haha!

He weighs somewhere around 35 pounds which is sad because chunky Aiden is gaining on him quickly!

Owen is such a joy and definitely keeps us on our toes! He's so smart and just amazing us every day with what he is learning. He had a good first year of preschool and we're excited to see what he will learn this next year. We're doing a reading program this summer and seeing a lot of progress.

At age 4, Owen can....

• count to 50
• read some basic sight words
• beginning to add some single digit numbers
• count to 10 in Spanish
• knows the days of the week
• knows his shapes
• knows his colors
• write his first name
• write some letters and short words
• talk a blue streak!

Owen's vocabulary is expanding every day and he's beginning to use words like "actually" and phrases like "I promise" or "my daddy said..."....Lord help us! He talks from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to bed. He's still not the best sleeper in the world but is definitely a lot better than this time last year.

Owen has a mad crush on Miss Brooke (one of his preschool teachers) and particularly likes girls with long hair. He's been known to tell us (loudly) "hers is pretty!" if he sees a girl he likes. He's got good friends at preschool and at church and is a social butterfly.

He's enjoyed being on the swim team this summer and has really learned a lot (more pictures and a post to come soon). He's definitely ready to go back to school and be in his routine with his friends and activities.

He's a great big brother and is really sweet and good with babies and kids smaller than him. He's very loving and will give you thousands of hugs and kisses every day.

We love you Owen!