Tea Party Bridal Shower

As part of our busy weekend we were invited to a bridal shower for my cousin's fiance.  It was a cute little bridal shower with a tea party theme.  We were all encouraged to wear fancy hats and come dressed up.  I didn't take pictures of everything but Megan was in heaven when she saw where she'd be sitting along with another little girl.  A child's card table set just for her with fine china, little sandwiches, cups for lemonade, tiny silverware and a little fruit bowl!  Look down to the second picture below to find the table where she spent the other portion of her time!  The dessert table!

 

 

The dice game was the game of choice and there were lots of fabulous prizes.  Our favorite part was when rolling doubles the first time through, Megan grabbed the Victoria's Secret bag.  When it was time to open the gifts before we started stealing Megan pulled out a lacy, pink camisole and a pink pantie.  She sure beamed because she thought she scored new pajamas!  Funnier yet was that Grandma stole this from her right away - 60th wedding anniversary is right around the corner, you know!  In all, we came home with some nice prizes - Christmas ornament, necklace, cookies & cream goldfish, and mints to name a few.

The kids attention span was limited during present opening so we took a few pictures in the gorgeous, brand new house.

Kudos go to Megan for taking this cute picture of Owen and me!  I don't have many of just the two of us!

And I think I have even few pictures of just my mom and me.  I think this one turned out great too!

Father's Day Weekend

We had quite the busy last couple weekends and week and this upcoming weekend is going to be crazy as well.  Hopefully I can get caught up on some blogging because we sure had plenty worth writing about and pictures to go with!!

Let's start by wrapping up Father's Day weekend.  John, obviously, had to work the Saturday before Father's Day.  That left me and the kids to go to the chiro, run errands, go to the park and get ready for the Lewis party!  We all got together that Saturday evening for a fun Father's Day dinner of pizza!  After dinner we all gravitated towards park so the kids could burn off some energy.  Megan and Alexa also rode their bikes a bit, Owen and Ethan got some swing time and Owen and Lily even got to go down the slide together!

Too bad John couldn't sleep in on Sunday for Father's Day but we were up early for church.  Here was a quick picture I took before we were off!  Daddy and his kiddos!

Our plans for later that day were going to a graduation party and Megan's swimming lessons.  It was so nice out that I also wanted to spend just a little time outside as a family so we stopped by the Lowry Nature Center on our way to Eagan.  We only had 45 minutes there so didn't see much but just nice to get out.  The whole time Megan kept thinking we were at the jungle and was pointing out tigers, flamingos, snakes.... Of course there really weren't any of these but we did get to watch a Marlin and Owl presentation :)  Boy did her eyes light up when they brought out the owl!

 

 

Daddy and his kiddos on the dock.  The kids were trying to find tadpoles.  I was just praying that no one fell in!

Such a pretty little girl! 

At the graduation party, Megan assumed her station of the water and lemonade dispensers.  She was actually handing them out as people came in just for fun!  I'm so proud of how social she's getting.  We also had a fun time playing lawn games together.

Fly A Kite

We started Father's Day weekend off right by taking advantage of the breezy Friday evening to fly some kites.  We've had them for a while and it was time to get them out!  We first just had Megan's Pooh kite out and her and John shared.

 

 

Megan really enjoyed holding on by herself but I think she wanted a chair to sit on.  Must have gotten boring for her!

 

When I had to take Megan in for a potty break, Owen decided to "help" Daddy fly kite.

Megan helped get the kite back up in the air.

This was the picture that really made Megan not want to share anymore.  Time to go inside and get Daddy his own kite!

After both Megan and John had their own kites (John's was a rocket one) we were outside for a bit more.  Owen and I watched from the hill.  We knew it was time to go in when Megan let go of her handle and the kite took off across the busy road...  Fun time outside overall and hopefully can do it again soon!

Owen 13 Months

Our little Owen has changed so much in just the last month.  I wasn't sad about him turning a year but this 13 month stuff is a different story.  He is just changing so much every day!

Owen has sure turned into a giggly little guy.  I love it when he starts laughing and clapping when I walk through the door after getting home from work.  John loves the giggles he gets when he bounces Owen's tummy on his head!

 

Owen has been sleeping a lot better lately - sleeping through the night for the past couple weeks, in fact!  We've added a couple crackers to the bedtime routine.  Oh, and I can't forget about the books.  Owen's become obsessed with books and brings several to me at bedtime before he crawls up on my lap!  We do about three simple board books every night.  One more thing is I have to suck on his tiny little toes before putting him into his crib with fuzzy blankets.  He is surely a toe guy :)

Owen is in constant watch and observation of everything we do and then, of course, will try to imitate our actions.  Examples of this include:

• Brushing his teeth - If he sees one of us (including Megan) in the bathroom, toothbrush in hand, you'd better hurry up and get toothpaste on his little brush!  He actually does a good job of moving it back and forth!
• Combing hair - All I had to do once was take out a comb to try spiking his fuzz when he ripped it out of my grip to try combing my hair!
• Praying at mealtime - Yep, every time we pray he is there with folded hands!
• Covering his eyes to play "what's missing?" - A game Megan picked up from Daniel Tiger.  Cover your eyes while someone else pulls something off of the table.  Then try to guess what's missing!
• Rinsing shampoo off of his head with the bath pitcher - Doesn't quite get the pitcher high enough but gets the concept.
• Putting shoes on his - He surely knows what shoes are for and where they go!
• Blowing the dandelions - Although more fuzz gets in his mouth than in the air he is off to a great start!
• Hugs & Kisses - He sure wants to be in the action when hugs and kisses are being handed out!

 

Hmm, being that he is copying so much of what we do I really, really need to push that sign language thing on him.  Just learning a couple signs would help so much!  Although he is doing a great job of communicating the way he is now... For instance, if he is tired of a particular food or wants to get out of his high chair he will toss the food overboard.  If he doesn't want you to hold him back from going somewhere he will try to bite.  If pickles are on the table he will point and grunt until he gets one...  OK, maybe I do need to teach him a few signs :)

Owen is now saying "buh bye" very clearly and knows what it means.  He will go into the bathroom or closet and shut the door saying "buh bye, buh bye".  He will also wave and say it when going into the car.  We don't hear Dada very often but he can say that too.  At Home Depot last two weekends ago we rounded the corner where John was and Owen let out a great big "Dah"!  Balls are still a favorite thing too, although he won't just hold onto them anymore when I give him one in his stroller.  He likes to throw it like the big kids!  Yeah... Owen likes to throw a lot of things and make big messes in the process... That's why I call him "TornOwen"!

I am proud to say that Owen now likes noodles!!  What was I doing wrong?  I was giving them to him plain - but this kid likes flavor!  Also still can't find many types of meat he won't eat, with the exception of taco meat.  Owen knows the difference between snacks and meals.  When he's hungry and it's mealtime he expects hearty foods and will look past the Cheerios and wait for the good stuff.  Good for him for knowing the difference!  Owen is still on the bottle and I have just two more months for weaning him off of that thing.  Wish me luck!  We are sure going through a lot of whole milk and that transition went really smooth.  Just hoping that consumption will go down once we are onto cups full-time.

Other things this month are that Owen's starting to give 5's when you put your hand out.  He loves lights (sometimes I think he can even say "light") and always wants to touch them.  He also learned that he can climb onto the couch by himself!  Owen still has a "left-behind" anxiety.  It doesn't matter who is going where... he just wants to be a part of it!

I still haven't gotten professional 1-year pictures taken because he's had a constant bump on his forehead.  Hopefully in the next few weeks.  Until then, enjoy more candids!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Megan's Royal Sleepover

Megan had her first sleepover at a place other than ours or a grandparents' Saturday night!  My brother Kevin's wife Catherine invited their two nieces over to their place for a princess sleepover!  DeLaney is just a couple months older than Megan.  Megan got to know Laney on the Florida wedding trip and they got along great!  It was so sweet of Catherine to want to do something for the girls and also to get them back together so they could see each other.

Megan was so excited for the sleepover.  We had been talking about it for weeks, always with much enthusiasm.  i did have to confirm that there would be a potty at there, however, and that she wouldn't have to potty outside like a dog.  It was also Megan's idea to bring along her (my old) camera to take pictures of the event.  When I dropped her off I stayed around a little bit to talk with Kevin but she kept telling me to leave and she'd be fine.  

Auntie Cat had lots of fun activities for the girls.  She had bought bubbles, sidewalk chalk, planned to make cookies, eat mac 'n cheese for dinner, watch princess movies, Tangled, sleep on air mattresses and have pancakes for breakfast!  She even got them matching princess nightgowns!  How sweet!  her goal was to make both girls feel equally important and successful and I think it was mission accomplished!

Cookies!  I heard Megan had four cookies as her treat!

 

I'm assuming Megan took these pictures of the cookies?

 

Here are the matching jammies!  They look like they're having too much fun to go to sleep anytime soon!

Breakfast time!  Love the bed-head!

Megan at Three Years (and three months)!

Before we do another Owen post I think it's time Megan got her own little spotlight, outside of the weekly funnies, that is.  Megan is now about three years and three months old.  I had her in right away on her birthday and she also asked for herself to be re-weighed and re-measured at Owen's check up but there wasn't any change.  Here is where she stands:

Height - 37 1/4 inches - 53%

Weight - 35lbs 2oz - 85%

Body Mass Index - 91%

The doctor wasn't too thrilled about her BMI - they prefer kids to be between 5% and 85%, so we have surpassed the top end of it.  I guess if she doesn't slim down on her own she'll have to go on a diet but overall I think she's doing just fine.  Yes, she still has some baby pudginess and maybe she'll lose some of it this summer or else hit a really big growth spurt and shoot up :)  She is very active and also eats well so I don't know what else we can really do.  Perhaps all of those fruit snacks for using the toilet and crackers before bed didn't help... I am surprised that Megan's feet really haven't changed sizes this whole last year.  She wore size 7 toddler shoes and those shoes are now just a little bit snug.  Weird.

Here are some recent pictures I took of Megan.  I think they turned out really well considering she doesn't really like being in front of the camera.  She is like her mommy and would rather be the one shooting and telling people to smile.

 

 

Megan is a darling little girl who wears her heart on her sleeve.  She is fun to be around, although quite bossy at times.  She has things set in her mind on how they should work and you're in trouble if your ideas don't follow her plan.  Maybe that's why she asks to many questions.  Megan wants to know as many details to every play as she possibly can.  She would rather know details than be surprised.  Her favorite question is "Where are we going tomorrow?"  She asks a lot of "why" questions just like other youngsters but I feel all of her questions are sincere.  "I don't know" answers are not good enough - you'd better have reasons for everything!

Megan getting enough sleep is very important but sometimes very tricky.  Naps are hit and miss.  It's about every other day that she gets a good afternoon nap.  And when they are afternoon naps she's usually sleeping until 4:30 or so at night.  You're probably thinking that that's the reason it's hard to get her to bed at night but even when we don't have a nap it's still hard.  Megan is one consistently inconsistent when it comes to bedtime.  We have to make her think that she's in charge so we made a little checklist of bedtime things for her to follow.  We used it for a while and it really did help but we've drifted away from it lately.  Megan's been in our bed a lot the past month+.  We are still trying many options like her sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag but haven't found the best way to break her of the "sleeping in Mommy-Daddy bed" habit.

We've signed Megan up for preschool at our church, Trinity, this coming fall.  I am 100% sure she's ready for it and needs it.  We also signed her up for swimming lessons which start next week!  She is so excited and tells me that she's going to have three lessons: swimming, piano (on my keyboard), and talking (reading)!  I can't wait to see what she takes away from everything she gets involved in.  Comparing this summer to last she is so much more brave on the playground and also with kids in the neighborhood.  I still make sure she stays close but just out of the blue she will start talking with groups of kids, asking them what their names are, asking them if they want to walk with us, or telling them she likes their bike.  It even makes my heart melt when she goes up to kids at the playground and says, "My name's Megan Kristine Lewis.  What's yours?"  Many times she doesn't get a response because she's asking older kids but her heart is in the right place.  Oh, and yep, you read it right - she is also learning all of our names, first, middle and last.  Not to mention memorizing our ages.  It's cool that she is three just like Daddy is 33 and Owen is one just like Mommy is 31!

Megan is completely potty trained with occasional accidents.  Our biggest problem is when she gets so emotional when she doesn't get her way.  I can always tell when she has to go potty because those are the times she seems to act out the most.  The other night at dinner she started screaming at me with her arms up in the air and next thing I knew she was racing to the bathroom to pee.  It's getting better!  Every night is dry so no worries there.

When Megan turned two she also learned the word "mine".  I think this year is the year of the whine.  It started right away when she turned three and it's as if there is a whine over everything.  She has a very shrill voice at times that just pierces your ears.  And then there is her shouting voice.... She doesn't really project her voice, just talks more from her throat.  Funny that when you want her to talk up to other people she gets so shy but has no problem yelling at the top of her lungs at home...  

One of my favorite Megan pronunciations is the word "sure" which she uses frequently instead of "yes".  She pronounces it like "show 'er", so with a long O sound instead of long U.  Cute and polite at the same time!  Megan's vocabulary is quite large and I am always surprised that she just has to hear a word once and it's engraved in her brain.  A favorite Megan expression is something she says to me after I've apparently said something dumb like telling her to go to bed without a treat, "hahaha.....Mommy" (shaking her head, with a sigh).

Megan is slowly learning how to dress herself.  She can do socks and shoes with a little help from us telling her which shoe goes on each foot.  She can now pull up her panties and pants after going potty too.  Shirts are a little trickier but we haven't worked on them much together either.  Oh, but coats - the Grandma Lewis upside down way is still her favorite way to go!

I am still confused at why Megan is having such a problem with the ages thing.  She still thinks that she will one day be a baby in my tummy and that she will be a mommy to me some day.  I guess she thinks we will start aging backwards at some point in time or something.  Or maybe she just wants to experience being a baby since she doesn't remember it.  Who knows.....   She also associates us more or less with sizes than ages.  Owen is baby, she is little, I am medium and Daddy is big.  Megan also has another name for herself, Stinker!  Enough said there!

Speaking of babies, Megan just adores her little brother.  She does a great job of making him laugh, even if she does smack him around quite a bit.  Guess she's trying to show him "tough love"?  I ask her if she likes babies and she says she likes the ones Owen's age.  She doesn't have a lot of exposure to other babies so isn't comfortable with many others besides Owen and her cousins, Ethan and Lily.

What else.... Megan is still my little baker buddy.  She is getting better at mixing, knowing ingredients, counting how many scoops or eggs we put in.  She is a lot of fun in the kitchen.  Megan likes to serve food to her stuffed dogs - bowls of cereal and a bowl of water is what they eat!  Oh, and she

I don't think I posted these pictures yet but just a couple fun ones from the past couple months.

 

Friday Funnies

Hey everyone!  Not too many funnies for you today but just be glad I am getting this up before Friday is over!!  Enjoy!

We ended up taking a family trip to the grocery store on Monday night.  Before we left Megan overheard John and me making the shopping list.  We had lots of normal stuff on there but I started joking around saying that I wanted roses from the store too.  Sure enough, Megan with her excellent memory said as soon as we rounded the corner by the flowers and gift section at Mackenthun's, "Mommy, what kind of roses do you want?"  Bless her little heart!

This next one was one of my all time favorite - and a classic.  Both kids enjoy playing with all the stuff John leaves on his nightstand.  It's mostly just stuff emptied from his pockets at the end of the night, but still quite entertaining to little kids.  Owen had about everything on the floor and then grabbed John's set of store keys (keys only, no remote or batteried parts).    Next thing we knew Owen was running (ok, not running but walking as fast his little legs would go) out of the room with the keys.  I sighed and sat down on the bed to talk with John who sighed too and said it was ok as long as they didn't end up in the toilet.  Sure enough, we heard a drop and Megan exclaimed, "Daddy, Owen dropped your keys in the toilet!"  She took off to our room and I took off to the bathroom.  I fished out the keys, rinsed them off and put them by John's sink, closed the toilet lid and left Owen where he was.  I could hear John reassuring Megan that it was alright just as long as Owen didn't flush.  So she took off to return into the bathroom and what did she see?  Owen standing right by the toilet with hand on the flusher!  It was almost like it was happening in slow motion with her yelling and crying, "Owen, No!!" as she rushed into the bathroom!  Boy was she scared for Daddy's keys but I had them by the sink all along!

We are still trying to decide what activity, other than swimming lessons, to sign Megan up for.  As we watched a ballerina show one night I asked her if she would like to learn how to dance like that.  She told me yes and she wanted to dance on a big stage.  I thought that was very brave of her but questioned if she would be scared.  She replied with, "No, I won't be scared because Alexa would be right there beside me!" I thought that was so sweet...cousin love!

And of course I couldn't leave you without any pictures, could I?  I made sure we took some fun ones during our dandelion blowing contest last night...Owen only had to look at what his big sister was doing one time before he caught on to the fact that he needed to blow into white fuzzies.  Concept was easy... execution, not so much!  But still a fun time!

 

Not So Funnies: Last Week of May

There were a lot of "Ugh"s last week.  Maybe it was brought on by the dreary weather we had been having again. At least the sun is shining today so we can smile about it just a little :)  I don't have a long list of funnies for this post but will do a run down of all the "not so funnies" from this past week.

To start with, it may sound cute when Megan says, "Owen's leaving you a present!"  But after cleaning an average of 5-6/day of those "presents" for a few days straight you just start to say "Ugh".  Yep, he had been teething so you know what the presents looked like.  Anyway, gross as it was, the tooth has cut through and back to normal!

I don't know if I mentioned it before but our dryer is on the outs.  There is a control panel that is going out and needs to replaced but it's kind of pricey and we've just been putting it off.  It used to just be bad when it was super cold and windy out but it's gotten worse.  I had to do some laundry earlier last week and the dryer wouldn't even keep running.  I was only getting 45 second intervals out of it along with the ever-annoying beeping.  Ugh!!  It seems to be a bit better today and we just keep it unplugged when not in use.  Guess I will be calling Home Service Plus this week!

Megan's bedtime.... Ugh... I guess Mommy's just too much of a pushover because for three nights last week she was up until 10:30 and wouldn't go to bed unless we were in our bed together - since we're "best friends" and all...  She has given us every excuse in the book: My leg got out, I need a treat, There are ants in my bed, I'm lonely... We're not sure if it's because she likes sleeping with me or in our bed but it's only Daddy who can get her to bed.  And she is still ending up in our bed in the morning.  Help!

Then on Wednesday night I got a message from our church organist wanting to see if I could play for a service at Trinity on Saturday night!  Ugh... only three days to practice!!!  It turned out just fine (and the piano is fantastic) but I had never played piano there before so I was pretty nervous.  I was able to go up to church on Friday night to practice which also, coincidentally, meant that I wouldn't be there for Megan's bedtime :)  Am I sneaky or what?

A few cute pictures from this week...

Megan's giving Owen his first "licking the beater" experience.  You should have heard him squeal with delight!

Safety first when filling gas!!

Owen's first time riding in the shopping cart cars is a great reason for a Puppy Kiss!