13 months

Good Morning Sunshine! Happy 13 months to our little Owen!



He's growing up so fast, and becoming more and more independent every day, especially with eating.  He manages to be independent yet a complete mama's boy at the same time.  I **love** his hugs.  He's the cuddliest boy.  His 6th tooth arrived on 9.10.11, and he's still holding steady at 6.  He's practically running already.  He is also continuing on his very naughty biting streak (only now, I think he's biting just to bite...not because of teething issues).  Every time we say, "Owen, no biting."  He will slap himself on the head.  I'm not sure what that's about, but it sure makes it hard for us to keep a straight face.  Tormenting his brother is a must - I swear he knows that Isaac will freak out if he even gets close something that Isaac has labeled as HIS.  Kind of funny sometimes, other times I just want to pull my hair out because it usually starts with Isaac freaking out, then Owen screaming at Isaac, then both of them CRYING.  Someday, they'll be buddies.  I know it!

Owen's favorite word right now:  Ball
His newest favorite food:  Apple Slices (not pieces...it has to be the slice that he can bite himself).
Favorite things:  Putting on his shoes, hats, turning lights on/off, opening and closing doors, biting, tractors/cars/anything with wheels, and getting into pretty much anything that he can.

They grow up too fast.....don't forget to wait for me Bubba.  We love you sooooo much!

 

Thursday Deals - 9/29/2011

1. FREE sample of Tom's of Maine children's toothpaste here.  It is made of all-natural ingredients, and is strawberry flavor.  I'm excited to let Isaac try it out!

2. Buy two large jar candles or tumblers at Yankee Candle, and get TWO FREE with this coupon.  Hurry, expires 10/2.

3.  FREE sample of Dial Nutriskin lotion here.

4. Use this coupon to get a FREE coffee at Waffle House.

5. Take this coupon into your local Wal-mart vision center, and get a FREE lens cloth and cleaner.

6. Get $10 worth of coupons from Downy here, $10 more from the Febreze companies here, $10 more from Bounce here, and some more laundry coupons here from Tide.

7. Sign up for a FREE 2012 Women's Health Calendar here.

8.  FREE "Save Our Species" endangered animals coloring book here.  You can choose to print it at home, or you can have one mailed to you by clicking on the "get a copy" button, then selecting United States Postal Service, then "select all" and finally, click on "Show Order Form."  Fill it out, and wait for your copy! :)

9. More for the kids, get some FREE fall printable activities here.

10.  Try the Lysol dual action wipes FREE after rebate.  Make sure to check the details!

More order

Just a few pictures of some of the things Isaac lined up around our house this morning.  He is definitely obsessed with order and is going to be a perfectionist.  If owen gets even a little close to anything Isaac has lined up, drama ensues.  Major drama.  Oy vey.

Blake's favorite

Every time we visit Nebraska, we HAVE to eat at Runza ASAP.  Last time we visited, a few weeks ago, we bought 6 extra runzas, packed them on ice, and brought them home to our freezer.  I'm surprised that they are all still in there!

I had ever had a Runza until I met Blake, but I must admit, they are pretty tasty!

Owen's Adjustment

Owen has been getting his adjustments since he was less than a day old.  He's an old pro. :)

There are two ways to watch this video:

1.  Watch the actual process of Owen's adjustment (and observe how much he loves his mommy at the end!)

2.  Watch the kid in the background, eating his distraction snack.  Oh, Isaac. :)

Thursday Deals - 9/22/2011

Sorry they're late folks! :)

1. $5 off $25 at Family Dollar with this coupon from 9/23-9/25.

2. FREE sample of Good Nites Underwear for kids here.  Just type in any 9 digit number for the member number and you're good to go. 

3. 30% off any one item in-store at Old Navy with this coupon.  Also, through Sunday, 9/25, they are offering a buy one, get one 75% off deal.  In stores only.  Check it out!

4.  Buy one entree, get one 50% off at TGIFridays with this coupon.

5. FREE sample of Dove Nourishing Oil Care Leave in Smoothing Cream here.

6. Burger King now has soft serve ice cream.  Through October 9, you can get a FREE soft serve cone with the purchase of a value meal (excludes breakfast).  Details here.

7. Did you know that September 19 is national talk like a pirate day?  I can't make this stuff up!

8.  Save 80% at Restaurant.com.  Get $25 gift certificates for $2 with promo code FALL at checkout.  Woohoo! 

9. If you have a Krispy Kreme near you, stop in on Sept. 29 and get a free 12 oz. cup of coffee in honor of national coffee day.  Details here.

10. FREE sample of Disney Gummies chewable vitamins here.

Amazon Prime

Have any of you tried this?

I signed up for the free trial awhile ago, and then got busy with life, and didn't have the chance to cancel my free trial before I started in with the real subscription.  At which point, I figured, "What the heck, I might as well give it a try."  I have not been disappointed.

I.LOVE.AMAZON.PRIME.

Free 2 day shipping on qualifying purchases, $3.99 next day shipping with no minimum purchase, 5GB of cloud storage, free streaming videos.....all for $79/year.  The best part?  You can share one subscription with FOUR additional people.  I'm going to see how one year with Prime goes, but I'm loving it so far.  I don't really NEED everything within 2 days, but it's nice to get it that quickly.  Many times, I would find extra things to buy just to get free super saver shipping at $25.  In those cases, the cost of shipping would have been more than that extra thing I had to buy.  With prime, I might be saving myself money by not trying to get to $25 all the time.

If you don't shop a lot on Amazon, it's probably not for you.  Since having kids, working four jobs, and barely finding time just to get groceries and the basics, I've been relying on Amazon a whole lot more.  And, if you're a regular reader of this blog, you know I only plug stuff I really like.  So, if you haven't tried it out already, it's worth, at least, the free trial!

Husband 2.0

Blake is filling this role beautifully.  Not only does he fall asleep in front of the TV almost as soon as he sits down, but he added a new dimension to this traditional husband move by adding the laptop in his lap....a sad attempt at keeping himself occupied enough to stay awake.  Ha.  Love you.  :)

Owen's Alphabet Book - Z

Hooray!  One goal finished this week!  In the back of the alphabet books that I make, I include an index of the age of the child, and the date the picture was taken.  I like it. :)  Now, on to catching up with my posting. I'm so behind on blogging, it's almost stressful to think about all of the posts I need to get up here!

Owen's Alphabet Book - W, X, Y

Owen's Alphabet Book - S,T,U,V

Owen's Alphabet Book - O,P,Q,R

Owen's Alphabet Book - K,L,M,N

Hide n Squeak Eggs

We gave these to Owen for his birthday, and they've been a HUGE hit in our house ever since.  Between our two boys, those eggs are played with almost nonstop.  The chicks squeak, the eggs are also shape-sorters, and the faces on the eggs match the faces on the chicks.  Owen loves just clicking the top of the egg onto the bottom of the egg.  A great go-to present for any young toddler. :)

I love this

We don't watch a whole lot of television in this house, but when we do, this is a really familiar scene.  It's soooo cute that sometimes I feel bad when I turn the TV off!

Owen's first birthday party

Yesterday afternoon, we gathered with our family, our furry friends, and a few local friends to help Owen celebrate his first year.  We had a beautiful day for it (sunny and upper 60's) and I hope it was a wonderful time for all. I never like to have crazy parties for the first-birthdays because if you continue to have birthday parties for your kids, each bigger than the last, then you're going to be in a whole lot of trouble by the time your kid reaches 5.  I also try to steer clear of any definitive kiddie theme (Elmo, Cars (the movie), Thomas the Tank Engine).  For Isaac, we did "dots" because that's how we decorated his nursery.  For Owen, I was going between "wheels" or "food."  In the end, food won out because I think a "wheels" theme will be more fun for him if it's something he's still into in a year.  So, we had a little foodie party for Owen.  The entire guest's menu (except the drinks) consisted of foods that Owen loves.  It was just perfect. :)  I love small, low-key, low stress parties.

Menu:
Chicken on a stick
Down-home Mac and Cheese (recipe here)
Fresh Fruit (bananas, strawberries, grapes, cherries)
Carrots (raw, but we usually cook Owen's!)
Cupcakes (vanilla or chocolate)
Spaghetti (in cupcake/cake form!)

I also brought in three different flavors of Juicy Juice boxes for the older kids - to keep some color in the palette. :) We also served coffee, soda, water, and milk.

Thanks to everyone who made the trip out.  Here are some pics of the food and the fun. :)