The joy in a cardboard box

Since I have been doing most of my Christmas shopping via the internet, we have been receiving our fair share of cardboard boxes.  So, we've been having a little fun with them (when I'm not recycling them as gift boxes!!).

Check out our cardboard box car (a Pinterest inspired idea).  Super easy, and the boys love it - cut cardboard box, also cut out cardboard headlights, paint, add paper plate tires (attach wheels and lights using hot glue gun) and paper plate steering wheel (I added a cardboard horn to ours, and attached to box via a flat bottom screw with a nut so that they can actually turn it) Our cardboard box car has been driven all over our house in the past two days, and it's still holding up!  It was, however, turned into a padiddle late this afternoon..  Looks like it's time to get my hot glue gun out again before we get a ticket!

October 2012

Thank you to anonymous for commenting!  You actually inspired me to post today, and I shall try to keep up with it as much as possible again.

Happy Halloween from us to you!  Can't believe our boys are already 4 and 2.  They truly are the light of our lives - but they are BUSY!  O speaks so well, trying to keep with his brother!  I'll try to catch you up in pictures.

Here are the boys before trick-or-treating tonight.  It was impossible to get them both to look at the camera.  Check out I's awesome sheet ghost.  His request - but it was impossible to get right because he was so squirmy!  O got to choose between the "old" costumes that his brother wore for previous Halloween's.  Since the ghost was kind of a bust, he'll probably actually get his own choice next year!

I did take 22, 23 month pictures of O, but unfortunately have not uploaded them to my computer yet.  So, here is O at 2:

And Mr. I at 4:

And that, is a quick update!  Thanks for the encouragement!

21 Months

Today, it hit me, that our family's littlest member is going to be 2 soon!  On May 30th, Owen turned 21 months old.

He loves talking about and enjoying tractors, farms, fields, wheels, ice cream, cows, pigs, his brother {in Chinese - ge ge}, grandma and grandpa, parks, swings, babies, hugs, kisses, cats, Sophie, blocks, Thomas the train, trains in general, Bob the Builder, scoops {which can be the skidloader or backhoe loaders or tractors with scoops}, blocks, and just about a million other things.  Despite his short temper, he is just so fun to watch right now!  He and Isaac actually have conversations, and Isaac will cater to Owen.  Other times, they're just yelling at each other, while Owen, in his only defense, will usually sit on, or push up against Isaac and try to bite him.  We're still trying to nip that one....

I can't believe how quickly both of my babies have grown up.  Watching them grow every single day is such a blessing and a reminder of how miraculous and beautiful life really is....even if I want to give them away sometimes. :-)  I love both of them more than they'll ever know.  Thanks for adding some more spice to our lives O's! :) We love you!

20 Months

A couple of weeks ago, Owen turned 20 months.  I'm really trying to enjoy him at this age, because our children really do grow up so incredibly quickly!

This age can be so fun, but also incredibly trying on my patience.  It seems to be the beginning of tantrums!  He is constructing simple sentences, "Let me out; set me down; I love you," and is completely into attempting to copy everything we say.  But I know many of his tantrums are still out of frustration - being unable to verbalize what exactly it is that he needs or wants at any given moment.   At times, he is so frustrated, that he'll resort to biting, rather than throwing a tantrum.  I'm not sure which is worse at this point....the crying on the floor, or Isaac crying because, "OWEN IS TRYING TO BITE ME!" 

It always amazes me to see how much he copies his big brother.  When Isaac was this age, it was rare that we would find him playing by himself.  Owen, on the other hand, will sit and play with his tractors "in the field" (read: carpet), he'll push a truck around, and he'll patiently hook up the trains from their Thomas the Tank Engine sets.  He's incredibly into books now, and adores his stuffed animals.  The stuffed animals are something Isaac was never really into, but Owen loves them.  Especially his cat and his pig!  We actually thought briefly about adding a cat to the family because Owen loves them soooo much.  He is from the Chinese Zodiac year of the Tiger, so maybe he feels like they are kindred spirits to him. ;)

He's growing up so fast, and many times, I find myself wishing that I could just push "pause" on my life, and his.  His chubby cheeks, his "chub chub" when he gets out of the tub, his laugh, his smile, his "mommy,.....ye-ove you,"  his requests for a kiss and a laugh, watching him laugh at the silliness of his brother, his big hugs (he'll run up and say, "HUG"), or his manners, "sank you."  Oh, and most recently, I discovered that he knows The Lord's Prayer.  He'll fill in the blanks when we stop.  I'm  amazed at how quickly the littlest among us grow and learn.  He brings so much joy and love to our household, we're so happy he's ours.  Love you O's!

19 months

On March 30, our little love bug turned 19 months old!   He is just becoming such a little man, and he sure is stubborn with little patience.  He likes to get mad and hit, or throw himself on the ground.  He is Isaac's little shadow, and the two of them are so incredibly sweet together.  He picks up on new words every day.  We are able to understand him most of the time, which certainly helps ease his frustrations.  He has nearly all of his teeth.  His canines have finally poked through, so he's back to sleeping pretty solidly at night, which is good news for us!  Lately, he is completely obsessed with reading books.  His current favorite is "Freight Train" by Donald Crews {He will say the title and the author.  super cute!}.  He's just so much fun and I'm already so proud of the little man he is becoming.  Love you, O's!

Typical

This is my view of Owen most days.  Poor guy.  Between growing some new teeth and just feeling like he never gets any attention {which, he DOES!}, I just feel so bad......bad enough to take a picture.

It's Show Week!

I'm playing for the musical, "Annie, Get Your Gun" and it is finally show week.  After a few months of being gone nearly every night at home, I'm exhausted, but really looking forward to seeing this all come together.  It is really going to be great.  I've been singing the songs so much around here, that even Owen knows them!

18 months

And still cute as a button! :)  Our little snuggle bug is growing up so quickly.  He spends most of his days being a complete chatterbox.  I'm amazed at how many words he knows!  I can't even give you a list because he really knows so many.  Recently, he has started constructing two-word phrases.  Before long, he's going to be having full conversations with his big brother.  Although, I might prefer the full-fledged conversation to what seems like never-ending arguing.  They are constantly picking on each other.  But then, in the blink of an eye, they are hugging, and laughing, and it just melts my heart!

Owen also has a little temper.  Easily frustrated, you'll often see him throwing things, stomping his feet, or just laying on the ground crying.  These little tantrums last only seconds, but he sure does them often.  I know he's frustrated trying to communicate, but a small part of me thinks these little tantrums are cute. :)

Still a mama's boy, he is starting to enjoy the luxury of daddy {in part because I'm never home lately}, and he is completely enamored with Grandpa.  If you even say his name, Owen goes nuts.

Happy 18 months to our growing little man.  We are so proud of all that you have done so far.  We are looking forward to all that's still in store.  Thank you for coming into our lives!  We love you.

Baby Models

A few weeks ago, I received some catalogs in the mail from a photo shoot that we had the boys do in early December 2010.  They look so great.  Isaac even made the front cover. :)  Woot!

Entertaining a 17 month old

Let them pour!  It's great for building some fine motor skills too.  I just gave Owen two cups, a bowl of water, and put it all over a beat up pan so that he wouldn't make a giant mess.  He did this for over 30 minutes.  I have also put Cheerios in an empty ice cream bucket, gave him a measuring cup and an empty bucket, and he scoops the cheerios from one bucket to the other.  He'll easily do that for 30+ minutes too.  Bonus, Isaac likes to do that too, so it keeps BOTH of my boys busy! :)

Organized Snacking

I often get tired of trying to appease the taste buds of both of my boys for their afternoon snack.  I did a muffin tin snack tray with Isaac awhile ago that worked pretty well, but this one works the best for BOTH of them.  I take some cupcake liners (and re-use them a lot when I only have dry items in them), place them in an empty round cake pan, and fill them with various snack items.  They are both happy with the variety and it actually keeps them occupied for awhile.  It's cute to hear the two of them sharing their food too.  :)

17 months

Our baby is growing up....fast!  He had a rough month with another tooth poking through, and a fractured clavicle.  That didn't slow him down any, though.  He's talking up a storm!  He has two complete phrases down, "Mommy's here" {I Love that one} and, "I pooped" {Most of the time, he's telling the truth!}.  His vocabulary is now more words than I can count.  Such a little smartipants.  Owen is so fond of his older brother. He seems lost when he's not around {or even when he's awake and Isaac is napping!}.  It's amazing how much they love each other when I see how much they argue and fight!  Boys will be boys I suppose. :)


We just love him soooo much!

Ouch.

Well, it has been quite the week.

Confirmed this morning.  Owen has a fractured clavicle (broken collarbone). 

We're not sure when or how it happened.  The only recent big thing happened a week ago.  The boys and I were headed into the basement, they were fighting over something (as usual), and Isaac shoved Owen down the stairs.  He did not exhibit any signs of pain until Thursday night before bed.  We examined him for swelling, bruises, etc.  but found nothing except a little discomfort when we applied pressure.  We babied him all weekend, checked and re-checked him multiple times and he seemed ok.  Then yesterday, one of my piano students picked him up under the arms (I forgot to forewarn her because I was in the middle of a lesson) and he screamed for a looong time.  Last night, it was red, swelled up, and this morning, a nice bruise with some swelling.  So, we went off to the Dr.  They ordered up x-rays  and it was confirmed: fractured clavicle.  Right now, Owen's right arm is basically useless.  He won't lift it much, and only uses it very minimally.  He is already on the mend.  The fracture actually already has scar tissue all around it (you can see it in the x-ray).  So, he should be as good as new in about 4-5 weeks.


16 months and his first broken bone......we're off to a great start!

Happy New Year

Wishing you a wonderful 2012.


We had a wonderful holiday season filled with family and friends.  What a great way to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  It even ended with Blake and I both battling colds!  Hope yours was just as special, minus sneezing, runny noses, coughing, and sore throat!

16 months

16 months already.  Happy day to our little love bug.

He is SUCH a mama's boy right now.  Some days I love it, some days it proves to be a bit overwhelming!  Owen is turning into quite the chatterbox, always jabbering on and really becoming quite clear in his speech {mommy, car, ge-ge (Chinese for older brother), daddy, treat, tree, cookie, cracker, gung (part of Taiwanese for grandpa), ah-ma (Taiwanese for grandma), pea, moo, baa, moon and more that I probably can't think off!}, loves reading, stepping up and down on things, playing with his trains/cars, eating {he is a total grazer, eating all day long.  Already out-eats his brother}.   His thing lately is that he runs and runs, but often trips and falls.  Most of the time, he does NOT put his hands out to break his fall, so we've had quite a number of fat, bloody lips and noses!

Another milestone

With every little milestone, it's so obvious that Owen is growing up, and not my little baby anymore!  Today was his first hair cut!  He's had trims before, but this was his first official cut.  He did so well.  Sat in the chair, and just absorbed it, until his hair stylist went to answer the phone.  How DARE we make him wait! :)  I'm sure going to miss his full head of little curls in the back, though.  Boo hoo......at least HE was happy about the cut.....

Window paint

What a great way to occupy my boys....it bought me enough time to do a quick clean up without them following close behind and un-doing all of it. :)  Put some finger paint in a ziploc bag, tape it a window, Voila!  Not messy either! :)  {Thanks to Pinterest for the idea!}

Concussion

A week ago, I got my first ever concussion.....From a 15 month old!!  I was laying on the floor playing with the boys as usual.  Owen sat on my back, and then leaned down to hug me, but banged his head into mine.  He was fine.  I was concussed. Glad Blake was home when it happened, but since he had to go back to work, I ended up calling my mom over and canceling all of my piano lessons for the afternoon.  Crazy!

15 Months

Owen turned 15 months old yesterday.  15 months!  Before I know it, he'll be 15 YEARS.  Much will change by then, I'm sure.  He won't want to hug me every second of the day {and he's the best hugger!} and I'm sure he'll have a much larger vocabulary.  He loves to jibber jabber now, but is really starting to put together a lot of words!  In the past couple of days, he has been using MILK a lot.  I think that's his new one. He'll often mock us when we speak, so we're getting closer!  I imagine Owen will be bigger than his brother some day, so Isaac takes advantage of that by just pushing and shoving him around right now.  Owen is tough though.  It rarely phases him!  He is up to 9 teeth now {Maybe 10, he does NOT let me put my fingers in his mouth to feel his gums!), one of his canines poked through on Nov. 22ish.  Almost half way to a full mouth of baby teeth!  I hope Owen never loses his love for making things go.  He is so content to push around his tractors, or "drive" his cars.  When he's driving on a learner's permit at 15....I'll probably wish he didn't want to go!   I wish for him to always remain inquisitive.  He likes to figure things out.  Puzzles, magnets on the Thomas the Tank Engine Trains, fitting one block inside another, playing with his ball popper/ball and hammer/ball and boat toys.  I hope he keeps that up! 

One thing I do hope he loses....his fascination with the television.  This kid will turn the TV ON...and so, I politely ask for him to turn it OFF, which he does very happily for now.  Someday, that won't be the case!

He's our short-tempered, happy-go-lucky, love bug.  He's our world {Isaac's too!}.  Happy 15 months big-guy.

I just want to remember

Isaac's little voice today.

We were driving home from a Thanksgiving gathering {I had to work with my cousin on some wedding music, so we pawned little Owen off on Grandma and Grandpa when they were left.}, Blake, Isaac, and me. 

Out of the blue, Isaac asks, "Where's Owen?"

And here is the ensuing conversation:

Dad:  We left him there
Isaac:  Why?
Mom:  We just forgot him, so we left him there.
**Isaac has a serious concerned look on his face**
Dad:  Should we turn around and go get him?
Isaac:  Yes.  We need to go get him!  We can't leave him there!
A few moments of silence
Isaac:  Are we going to go get him?  We have to go get Owen!
Laughter
Mom:  It's ok, Isaac.  Owen is with Grandma and Grandpa.

Phew! :)  I guess I never have to worry about forgetting Owen anywhere for long as long as Isaac is around!