House Changes...

So as you all know Brandon and I have been super busy, basically since March, trying to rearrange four rooms in our house to make room for our newest little addition. We basically changed four rooms in our house. It may not sound like much work, but changing four rooms also meant some major closet cleaning and rearranging which is really what really took the longest amount of time. It is amazing how much junk you can accumulate over years, but I am sure glad we got it all done! Here are some pictures of our transformations.
So, Owen's room was the first room we tackled which was honestly the easiest, hints why we started there. We didn't repaint or have to clean out any closets and drawers so it was basically harmless. We did however, get rid of all his nursery furniture (or moved it to Autumn's Room) and bought him a cool new "Big Boy Bed", new night stand and dresser. We also moved in his cool train table into his room so he has stuff to play with upstairs since his play room with all his toys are downstairs. Again sorry, its a bit messy, but really what can you expect a 2 year old lives in this room.
His room is still in an awkward transition from baby nursery to a little boys room. It is still half sail boat theme and now half Mickey Mouse themed. O well, it will get done someday. I also need to get him darker curtains so I can take down the tacky blanket hanging over his curtains to make the room dark, but hey you do what you have to when your kid likes his room dark at night. Can you say High Maintenance?!?

So the next room we moved onto was the Formal Living Room... We used to have a Bookcase, Sofa, Love seat, Chair and Coffee Table in the Formal Living Room, but we honestly never used the room so we decided to transform it into our new Office. Our Office used to be in our downstairs bedroom, but we needed to free that room up to now be our Guest Bedroom. I think the room actually looks better as an office, probably because all the old furniture that used to be in there was all hand-me-down stuff that wasn't really my style, but hey it was free so I never complained. I still need to make curtains for the 3 giant windows on the left, but like I said I have had no free time lately. It will all get done one day at a time, at least that's what I keep telling myself!



The Next Room was the Old Office which we now transformed into our new Guest Bedroom...
So this room used to be our office. I chose the green paint to make the dark office furniture not make the room look so tiny. I was determined to avoid repainting the room so I was on a mission to find a comforter set that looked good with the existing wall color. I am pleased with how the room turned out, although I do still need to hang a few pictures up and get some curtains, but again one thing at a time. This room was one of the more difficult to complete since we had to completely clean the closet out since it was where we always ended up throwing things we weren't sure what to do with. It was not fun but it got done.


And last but definitely not least, Autumn's Nursery...
This room is the third bedroom upstairs that we used to use as are Guest Bedroom, but of course we wanted both kids upstairs with us, so bye bye Guest Room, Hello Nursery. Did you notice Owen sitting in his old Rocking Chair? Lol, he was determined to get in at least one of these pictures! We were very fortunate to transition Owen to his "Big Boy Bed" a little early so we didn't have to buy new Nursery Furniture and just used what used to be Owen's. So since the walls were already grey I was determined to choose a bedding set that went with the grey so we didn't have to completely repaint the room. See a trend here? I fell in love with this bed set and was so lucky My Mom and Sister pitched in and bought it for us. We love it, Thanks Guys!!!!!Of course I couldn't just leave the nursery Grey without adding a little pink! Brandon and I added the Pink, Black and White accent strips to go along with the bedding set. We had a fun time painting and trying to picture what our precious little girl will think of her new room outside of mommy's belly! Of all the rooms we did, the Nursery is by far my favorite! It came out better than I originally visioned. Hope you enjoyed the tour of our new house, now all we are waiting on is a baby to officially complete all our hard work.

2 Year Check Up

This past Thursday Brandon and I took Owen to his pediatrician for his 2 year check up and shots. Everything looked good. He is a healthy growing 2 year old who is too smart for his own good and his measurements are as follows,

Weight: 27 lbs. & 40th Percentile

Height: 36.5 in & 90th Percentile

Head: 47.5 cm & 20th Percentile

So in simple terms, Owen is Tall, Average Weight with a Small Head. Lol. We did have a talk to the doctor about a concern we have had for the past few months, which is that Owen refuses and can't eat with a spoon yet. Most kids can feed themselves with a spoon by themselves around 18 months. So he suggested working really hard with him on it for the next month and if we don't see any improvements during the next month that we should set up an appointment to see an occupational therapist. Please pray we get this down and can avoid therapy.

Yesterday I went to lunch with my Mom and left Owen and Daddy at home for a couple hours. Well, Daddy is amazing and played with Owen and when it came to lunch time he sat Owen down and talked him through this whole spoon process. Sometimes, I guess boys just need lessons from their Dad's because he is doing so good. I have tried working with him in the past and have gotten no where, but after a few meals of Daddy's teaching, Owen can now feed himself a bowl of Applesauce with a spoon all by himself, which is a HUGE improvement! He is still refusing to try feeding himself other foods with the sppon, but this is definitely a huge leap in the right direction. I am sure it is still going to take lots of Practice, Time & Patience until he is all the was there, but Big High Five to Daddy for getting him this far in just two short days!

The Past Couple Weeks...

I decided I would do a brief little update with what we have been up to the past couple weeks since my blogging has been lacking a little. Besides being busy trying to get the house all ready, rearranged and clean for our baby girls arrival we have been trying to keep our 2 year old little boy entertained, busy and away from the TV. We have officially finished all the room rearranging and have finally completed our daughters nursery. Pictures to come soon, I promise. Since the weather is finally starting to get nice out, which means high 70's to low 80's without wind, we have been trying to play outdoors. A couple weeks ago we walked down to our friends house in the neighborhood to play in the grass with a sprinkler toy.

Here is Owen and my friends son Aiden taking a break from the sprinkler to eat a delicious Popsicle!Averie decided she wanted in on this picture action too! Aren't they so cute? Owen loves playing with these two. Most of his friends are around the same age as him, so these two seem to really fascinate him since they are older! Aiden is 5 and Averie is 3 and Owen really tries to keep up with the both of them.

Later that same day we were invited to go to Aiden's 5th Birthday Party at Peter Piper Pizza. All the kids had a blast! I can't believe how big all these kids are getting. I remember going to Aidens 2nd Birthday not too long ago. Gosh, where does all the time go?

Here is Owen playing on a couple rides at the Birthday Party. He had a blast and passed out in the car on the drive home. Poor kid really wore himself out!


And when the days are yucky and windy out we still manage to keep Owen entertained! Last week for play day, Jess and I took Owen and Abby to this awesome indoor pool that is pretty new, I think it just opened last summer. The Kids had a blast and Owen cried extremely hard when we had to leave. Good thing we start swim lessons in two weeks! My kid has turned into a little fish and absolutely loves playing in the water.

It was really hard to get any fun and exciting pictures of them since, 1.) I couldn't take my camera in the water with me and 2.) If Owen was doing something fun and exciting that meant i needed to be right next to him so he didn't drown. Anyway you get the idea. Owen wanted to go down that big red slide in the background so bad, but unfortunately he was too short and way too young. I guess my dare devil 2 year old will just have to wait a few years. Abby is so adorable. Her and Owen had so much fun playing in the pool together. So if you notice the frog behind Owen it is a slide that is designed for kids 7 and under since they can't go on the big one. Owen and Abby had a blast playing on this little frog slide. Towards the end they didn't even want me and Jess at the bottom to catch them. Who knew 2 year old's were so big and independent?

So aside from all our fun outings lately, Owen has really enjoyed playing with all his new toys he got for his Birthday.

For those of you who don't know Owen is OBSESSED with Mickey Mouse, so naturally he received a ton of Mickey Mouse gifts for his Birthday. Here he is playing with this cool little Mickey Mouse car he got. He loves this thing. It even talks to him when he pushes it. And here is the awesome Mickey Mouse Backpack that his Auntie Megan and Uncle Dan sent him from California. He carries it around all the time, along with his new Mickey Mouse Sippy Cup! And here is Owen and Daddy playing in the awesome sandbox he got from his Nana and Pampo. He would play outside all day with this thing, if the dang wind would just stop blowing I would let him! He was also lucky enough to get all these fun sand toys too from his Birthday. What a spoiled little boy! Thanks again everyone for all the wonderful gifts.

Happy 2nd Birthday Owen!

So it is hard to believe, but my Baby Boy turned 2 years old this past Sunday! Wow, seriously where does the time go? Well since I am 7 months preggo now and not feeling up to much and the weather in May is pretty yucky, we decided to have Owens Birthday Party at a place called Hoots. They have big bouncy slides, castles, obstacle courses and a huge jungle gym. We have taken the kids here a few times for play days and they seem to love it so we had him a private party there for his big day. He invited 10 of his best friends and let me tell you they all had a blast! It was definitely well worth the money and it was even better that we just had to show up and do nothing. Enjoy the pictures from his day. They are not the best because these kids were running around so fast it was almost impossible to get a picture of them.

Well Sunday morning, we went into Owens room to wake him up by singing "Happy Birthday". He loved it. We got him all dressed for church and then took him downstairs for a surprise. He got to open all his Birthday presents that family out-of-town had sent him. Again he loved it.

Here he is ripping open the wrapping paper off a gift from Mimi. Thanks for all the wonderful gift that were sent to my little boy! After ripping open his gifts we headed off for church.

After a nice long nap after church we headed to his party. And here we are. Here is the giant bouncy slide. I am so proud of Owen because this was the first time we have ever gone there and he could make the giant climb to the top of the slide all by himself. He had so much fun, what a big boy. And here he is coming down. It really is so much fun. I think the adults have equally as much fun as the kids at this place. Here is Abby and her Dad Jonathan coming down the slide. Owen playing in the Jungle Gym with Finnley.

Here is Owen and Daddy coming down the super fast slide at the top of the Jungle Gym. Here is my Grandma (Great-Great as Owen calls her), my Mom (Nana) and my Sister (Auntie Kiki) watching all the kids and parents run around.

Here is one of Owens BFF's Cami and her Mommy Libby playing in the bouncy Castle. More fun in the bouncy Castle.

Here is Olivia and her Daddy Matt. She was a little taken back by all this unstable bouncy stuff, but I think she still managed to have fun watching all the other kids run around.

Here is Owen's cousin Alicia who is 5 weeks older than him. Isn't she adorable.

Here is Linkin, His Dad Justin, Owen and Brandon playing in the bouncy obstacle course. This place is really an insane workout. Yes, 7 Months Pregnant and all, I still got in and played with my Baby Boy on his special day. Now if that doesn't say Love I don't know what does.

Again, even I climbed this giant wall! The things you do for your kids.

Sorry the picture is kind of blurry, but here is Owen sitting in his giant king chair blowing out his candles. Such a happy little guy.

Yes he is my son, the kid loves chocolate.

Owen and all his friends eating Cake and Ice Cream and drinking their juice boxes.

And last but definitely not least, Presents. Well, the day was awesome and Owen definitely enjoyed his 2nd Birthday to say the least. Thank everyone who came to his party to help him celebrate and thanks so much for all his awesome Birthday Gifts. The three of us are truly blessed to have such amazing Friends and Family, we love you all!

Visit from Papa Bruce

This weekend, Brandon's Dad came down for a quick visit. He got in Friday evening around 7 and had to leave after church Sunday morning. He was starting to go through Owen withdrawals since he hadn't seen him since Christmas time. Owen is so great at warming up to relatives that he doesn't see on a regular basis. He figured out within minutes that his "Papa Bruce" would do anything and everything he wanted. I volunteer at Church on Saturday nights so Owen had some very special one on one time with his Papa Bruce. They took a walk to the park and had a blast playing with some new puzzles that his Papa Bruce bought him while he was down here. Once Brandon got home from work we went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner, Turtle Mountain, came home put Owen to bed and we stayed up playing our favorite domino game, Mexican Train. We woke up this morning went to church and then Brandon went off to work and unfortunately Papa Bruce had to head back to Colorado. It is sad his visit was so short since we all really enjoyed his company, but we are so thankful he made the super quick trip down just to spend a little time with Owen. Enjoy the pics. Here they are sitting on the couch together. How sweet. It kind of looks like they are having an intense staring contest. Here they are playing with all the new puzzles Papa Bruce got him, Six to be exact! Puzzles are Owens favorite thing to do these days. He loves them so much that it is the first thing he talks about when we go in his room to get him up after his nap.

Here are the boys before church this morning. I don't know about you but I see a striking resemblance between the three of them. Awe!

Our California Family Vacation: Take 1

Due to high demands and requests from all our friends and family I am finally getting around to putting up some pics from our vacation last week. We have 700 pictures from the trip so please bare with me, it was super hard trying to narrow it down to make a post, so there may be a few posts over the next week with more as I work my way through all of them. Anyway for those of you who don't know, this past Tuesday afternoon Brandon, Owen and I headed out to Huntington Beach, CA for a family vacation and to visit Brandon's sister Megan, her husband Dan and their Dog Daisy. We got in around 9ish on Tuesday night and stayed until Saturday afternoon. Wow, this was by far the BEST family vacation the 3 of us have ever been on. Here is a little run down of our trip:
Tuesday:
Our plane got in around 9pm California time and my Sister-in-law & Brother-in-Law picked us up from the airport and took us back to their beautiful home. We got situated, put Owen to bed, stayed up and chit-chatted for about an hour and then we all put ourselves to bed.
Wednesday:
Megan and Dan both had to work half days in the morning so Brandon, Owen and I headed off to visit the Ikea store for our very first time. Not sure if you have ever been to one, but WOW they are awesome. We shopped around and had a nice lunch there. Once Megan and Dan got off work we all started to prepare for the Cinco de Mayo party they were hosting later that night. The party started around 5ish and we all hung out, ate way too much and enjoyed meeting their good friends.

Owen was entertained while we were all busy cooking our Mexican feast dinner for the party. His Auntie Megan & Uncle Dan got him this really cool bubble gun. He insisted on holding it towards him and shooting the bubbles at his face!

Auntie Megan also helped keep Owen occupied by having him help her pick Figs off their beautiful Fig Tree. If you can't tell in the picture they are having a blast. Owen was 6 months old the last time he saw his Auntie Megan, but it didn't take even 1 minute for him to warm up to her. He still asks for her every morning.

Thursday:

Welcome to Disneyland!!!! Well we decided since we were literally 10 minutes from Disneyland, why not go there for a day. We know Owen is still way too young to remember anything from this trip when he gets older, but we all had a blast and it was well worth the million dollars we spent there. Owen did so well the entire day with exactly 0 melt downs to report. We were there from 10am-7pm and he never cried or complained once. I think it was a combination of stimulation overload and pure fascination! Here is just a tenth of the pictures from our day there.

Owens very first amusement park ride ever was Dumbo. You can't really see his face very well, but he had a blast. When the ride stopped I believe his first words were, "Wow, more Dumbo."

Since Daddy and Uncle Dan were big babies and said the Tea Cups make them sick, Auntie Megan and I took Owen on this one alone! He had so much fun making the cup spin!Next in line was Its a Small World. Owen absolutely loved this ride. I don't think he blinked once the entire time. Auntie Megan and I took Owen to meet his first character Pluto. Owen is obsessed with the show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and was so excited to meet a character from the show. He went right up to him and gave him a big High Five. He still talks about it every time he sees Pluto on TV. Next up we went to Mickey Mouses house to go meet him. Here is Owen sitting playing Mickey's piano. I know a lot of young kids are scared to meet characters for the first time, but that wasn't the case for Mr. Owen. He ran right up to Mickey and gave him a big hug. Once I picked Owen up to talk to Mickey he turned to him and gave him a huge High Five just like he did with Pluto. Here we are on the Roger Rabbit ride. Owen loved to pretend to steer the car for us. Owen successfully made it 6 hours at Disneyland before he passed out. I really mean passed out, after we rode the Nemo ride we sat him in his stroller with his blanket and he literally fell asleep in less than 30 seconds of touching his favorite balnky! He took a 40 minute nap and was good to go to finish off the day. Here we are waiting for the Parade to start. We got a front row seat to the parade it was awesome. Again Owen didn't blink the entire parade!And that concludes our day at Disneyland.

Friday:

We all slept in until about 8 since we were all so exhausted from our day at Disneyland. We took our time lounging around and then started packing up to head to the Beach for the day! Megan and Dan have this really sweet 1970 VW van that they have put a lot of work into. It was so fun riding in it to the Beach! Owen loved playing in the sand with his cool new Beach toys Auntie and Uncle bought him. At the end of the day the kid had sand in places I didn't even know it was possible to get sand in. Cutest picture EVER! So the water was literally 60 degrees, which to me and Brandon was freezing, but Owen loved it. He did not want to get out of the water the entire time we were at the beach! If we lived in CA I guarantee our son would be a little surfer dude. He was fascinated with the people surfing and he wasn't afraid of the giant waves hitting him in the face one bit. Im not too fond of this picture, but its Brandon's favorite. He thinks it is hilarious that my face is in complete shock from the freezing cold water and Owen has this huge smile on his face and not fazed at all by how cold it was. Now it was Auntie Megan's turn to give Brandon and I a break from the cold water. Owen and their dog Daisy chasing Megan down the beach. And back to play in the sand some more. Family Photo!Auntie Megan, Owen, Daisy & Uncle Dan.

We had a blast at the Beach but we eventually had to leave to put Owen down for a really late afternoon nap. On the way home we decided that a CA vacation was not complete until we ate at In & Out Burger. Yummy, it was amazing! Once back at the house, we all rested, showered and recuperated from a day at the Beach. That night we went and took a fairy to downtown Newport Beach. It was quite an experience riding on a fairy with 3 big cars on it, but it was a lot of fun and a very beautiful ride. Saturday:

:*( Spent the morning packing up to head home. We were dropped off at the airport around noon and that concluded our wonderful, relaxing, much needed last family vacation with just the 3 of us. We are so thankful to have such a wonderful Auntie and Uncle for Owen to share this experience with and to be able to spend some much needed time with. God has truly blessed our little family and we cannot wait to see what joy this amazing little girl he is knitting together inside my belly brings to our family. Thank you God for allowing us to have this amazing life, family & children and for blessing Brandon with an amazing job that allows us to take great family vacations such as these.

We hope you enjoyed the pictures and a little run down of our great trip. Like I said I have about 670 more pictures so I promise to keep adding some little by little over the next couple weeks.