Mr. Handsome

We had church photos Thursday night for the new directory and Owen was still all smiles once we got home.  I took advantage and snapped a few more of him.  I think I could take pictures of this smiley face all day long!  I just love those smiles!

 

 

  

 

These are from yesterday morning... again, more smiles and reaching for the toes!

 

 

P.S.  I'm not always successful, however.  This is what I get when I try to photograph these two while they're watching Mickey Mouse!

 

Owen At Three Months

My absolute favorite thing about Owen right now is his big, gorgeous, toothless muppet smile.  There is nothing more precious than a baby's smile in the first few months.  He started smiling before he even turned two months and has been melting hearts ever since.

Speaking of his mouth, this little guy has also had his fingers in his mouth constantly  for over the last month.  He still gets more comfort from his pacifier (which never seems to stay in his mouth) but there's something about his fingers right now that just feels good I guess.  Kind of annoys me a little but if it makes him happy... 

               

I also think it's great that Owen is such a strong little guy.  We already know that he can hold his head up great but his latest thing is trying to sit up.  For a while it felt like he kept trying to do tummy curls while I was feeding him his bottle but then I realized all he wanted to do was to sit up straight!  He does the same things now in his swing and in his bouncy seat or car seat where he keeps leaning forward trying to sit up.  I guess he just wants to see the world head on and is tired of laying around!  Even when we go for our stroller rides we now need to use the harness so he can sit upright and watch the world go by.

Owen officially rolled over on July 28th, so 2 1/2 months old.  I had him on the floor for some tummy time and when I came back into the room he was on his back!  He did it four more times in a row for me and then a couple times once John came home.  I hadn't been able to recreate it, however, until today.  I guess he just has to be in the right mood and moment.  Even on his back he quickly flips to his side with ease.  I'm sure it won't be long until he's rolling that way too!

When awake, Owen is always grabbing or batting for toys.  I think he thinks it's cool that he can see something and then actually be able to touch it himself.  Lately all the little things on his bouncy seat and floor gym have been flying around as he bats at them!

Owen continues to be an excellent eater.  He is doing up to six 6oz bottles every day (depending on how he sleeps at night).  Last weekend we noticed that Owen got pretty putzy with his bottles so John had the great idea to put the faster nipples on his bottle since he was now 3 months.  Well, wouldn't you know... no more putzy eater.  He had no choice but to drink his bottle fast!  Since Owen is drinking close to 36 ounces of milk every day it is a struggle for me to keep up but so far so good!  Even though sometimes it feels like he is drinking just as fast as I can get it out!

Sleeping... that is a touchy subject right now.  He goes to bed relatively easy in his swaddle but sleeping through the night has been kind of hit or miss lately.  I know Owen can do it and had done it rather consistently once I returned to work.  When he actually does sleep through the night it's a solid 9-10+ hours.  However, in the last two weeks I think he only slept through the night two times... I've readjusted my body to waking during the night now but that first week was tough.  I figure he just needs the extra calories since he is growing so much right now.  Plus, it's that weird transition time right before he's allowed to eat cereal which will stick in his tummy longer.  I remember Megan eating a ton at this age as well.

Other items... Owen's been in size 3-6 month clothes for the last month and is wearing them well.  I don't have a ton of fall clothes this size so once the season changes we'll be stepping it up again.  I also switched him up to size 3 diapers since I ran out of the size 2's.  They are still just a tiny bit big but work just fine.  (Plus, these might help control the blowouts!).  John also adjusted the straps in the car seat since Owen's shoulders are now at the next height.

The above pictures were taken within the last month but I realized that those were the only recent ones I had of him alone so I snapped a few more this morning.

 

 

Weighing In

The time had come for John and me to start trying to lose weight.  He had gained a few pounds with me during each pregnancy and was actually up about 20 pounds from our wedding four years ago.  Me, I had an instant weight loss plan called giving birth but even that doesn't take it all off and also leaves you with a completely different body shape.  I was actually down to my pre-Owen weight but mostly concerned with the weight that Megan left me with, also up about 20 pounds from our wedding.

We decided to do Sunday morning weigh-ins and our first one was on July 29th.  John weighed in at 270.5 and I was 140.5.  Our goal is to see if John can lose 20 pounds and me 10 pounds before Thanksgiving.  My brother and his fiance are planning a destination wedding for the weekend before Thanksgiving so we'll be going to Florida.  How nice it would be to look a little more fit for the trip!

I am so proud of John so far.  Just two weigh-ins after the initial one and he's already down 8 pounds!!!!!  He downloaded an awesome app onto his iPhone where he can program how much he currently weighs and how much he wants to weigh by Thanksgiving and it tells him how many calories he is allowed every day.  From there he can enter in recipes or scan product UPCs right onto his phone and it will keep track of everything for him.  John's doing a great job not cheating and staying right in line with his allowances.  Yesterday he even passed up really big Bavarian cream filled donuts at work AND cake!

Unfortunately, I am not doing quite as well as John.  I'm in a tough situation because, although I would have no problem cutting back on food, since my body is still making milk, I need the extra calories to keep my supply up.  I have a couple pounds so far so my weight loss will just be a little more gradual.  I'm also hoping to tone specific areas as well as lose weight overall.

In addition to just watching what we eat we are also walking about four nights out of the week, generally for a half hour or 1.5 miles.  John found another app for his iPhone that uses GPS to track the distance we walk, the duration of the walk and then calculate the calories burned.  Then he knows how big of a bedtime snack he can still have :)  We do allow ourselves a free day, Friday, where we don't count calories.  So far John has enjoyed pizza, fair food and burritos!

Hopefully this will result in more of a lifestyle change and last longer than just through November.  We joined Safari Island today so we will have a place to walk and work out during the cold months.  Hopefully we take full advantage.  I know Megan is looking forward to all the swimming opportunities!

Park Time!

As I was relaxing on the couch last Saturday during Megan and Owen's naptime I got a text from a good college friend of mine saying that she was in town visiting her cousin in the hospital and wanted to meet up.  Since our house was a mess I didn't want her coming over we decided to meet at a park since she had her daughter along.  John and I pushed the strollers up to the castle park next to Bayview (I think it's Cedar Point).  We chose it because we had yet to take Megan there and we needed to get a good walk in that day anyways.  

Megan had fun exploring someplace new and John and Owen bonded over the slides and swing.

 

 

We couldn't get Megan and Karina to play together that much but they actually loved going on the tire swing.  They kept telling me to push faster and faster!

 

County Fair 2012

It's County Fair time again!  We could tell that it was quickly approaching, not just because it was August, but the fairgrounds were starting to get all shaped up and we kept seeing cattle trailers being pulled through town.  On Tuesday night we took our nightly walk up to the fairgrounds to give Megan a little sneak peak.  Already there were plenty of tractors on Machinery Hill and a few campers.  

My parents took Megan to the fair on Thursday night.  They mainly walked her through the animal barns.  Apparently she was very concerned for the horses' legs being all wrapped up and she thought they were all hurt.  There was a goose that scared Grandpa and in each pen she had to label every animal with a family member's name: Daddy, Mommy, Megan, Owen.... no matter that every animal was exactly the same size.

Then on Friday night my mom was nice enough to stay with Owen so John and I could go up to the fair with Megan.  It was nice to give Megan some quality Mommy-Daddy time and Owen slept the whole time for Grandma so I'm glad we didn't end up bringing him.  I was suffering from a cold all week and was leary about going up there since I usually get a cold from things like these.  I took a benadryl before we left home and also wore a mask in the barns so I actually feel ok now.

We arrived at the fair in time to get a good seat for the bear show and for me to quickly grab some boar bites and french fries before the show started.  Then we wandered through some buildings and Megan kept asking for more animals so we knew we better get a move on.  On the way to the cattle barns we stopped at Machinery Hill so Megan could sit on some tractors and mowers.  They (obviously) didn't move so she kept telling me that Grandpa needed to put some batteries in them so they would go.  

We walked through the horse and cow barns as quickly as we could since those are the ones that bother me the most.  Megan got to "milk" the cow before we left the barn.

We then started walking towards the small animal buildings, stopping for a pork burger and milk on the way there.  Megan loved the goats and sheep and pretty much everything.  It was nice having the stroller because we would let her out as we entered each barn and when she bored with the particular animal she would just go back in the stroller and we'd make our way towards the exit.  She got to feed the exotic animals which weren't as cool to her this year as last, although we did get some pretty good giggles out of her as she fed the ostrich.

We saved some of the best for last.  The much anticipated pony ride!  And she so happily waved to me every time they went around.  She had a blast!

Then we had to use our free Ferris Wheel ride coupons.  I couldn't believe how excited Megan was to ride it!  Even as we got going she never got afraid, instead was smiling from ear to ear.

 

After the Ferris Wheel ride we back-tracked so John could get a strawberry malt which he figured he'd share with Megan.  We sat down near the patio area and Megan barely wanted any ice cream at all - she just wanted to dance, dance, dance to the live music, showing off all her wild moves.  She even wanted me to dance with her - this was my favorite part of the night!

Kid's Workshop - Cork Board

Last Saturday, the 4th, was another opportunity for Megan to go to Home Depot's Kid's Workshop.  John was working so the kids and I met him there.  John and Megan proudly displayed their aprons before heading back to the workshop area.

The project this time was a small cork board.  Not near as much assembly required this month as with the Penske truck.  All they had to do was hammer the four sides onto the middle cork part and add a hanger to the back.

 See....

Then we had to paint, of course!  John did most of the painting but did let Megan try painting the middle section by herself.  I figured we would just do all brown so we could put it downstairs by her desk.

Brown ended up being just a little too boring so Megan added some bright red and blue to the cork.

And after the project was over, Megan couldn't wait to go get popcorn!  I still think this is her favorite part about Home Depot!  After all, that's what she thinks Daddy goes to work for - to make popcorn!