new kicks

One of the many great things about me staying home with Owen now is my "free time" that I can use during his naps if all my to-dos are done. I have been able to get a lot of craft projects done and have really been enjoying all of the creativity! My newest project that I have been working on was making baby booties. I had really been wanting to make some but I had to first find some suede for the bottom-which was hard. I finally found a old ugly coat at Good Will that was $4. I used some scrap fabric I had and this is what I came up with. They are just a first draft and are not made that well...but I will just have to work at perfecting them.

Owen is starting to take steps more and more now (will try to post a video soon). He will walk for 2-4 feet and then start to crawl. Its so amazing to watch his development!

This weekend packed up and went home to Portage to spend time with the family. We spent Haloween night at the Crammond's handing out candy and enjoying the down time. Grandma and Grandpa got some balloons for Owen!

He loves when they give him balloons!

I have also started to let Owen drink from a cup some on his own-it is defiantly a learning experience. He is really good about holding the cup and getting the water into his mouth-he just seems to spit out the water once it is there...but he did the same when he started drinking out of a sippy cup too. Here are a few photos from tonight.

One of Owen's favorite things is when Eric tosses him up in the air. Tonight in the midst of getting ready for bed Eric decided to have some fun with him. I just love the expression on Owen's face!

A Random Trip...

Not much is new here at the Crammond Household. A lot of the same-old-same-old. Owen is taking a few steps here and there, but not getting much closer to walking-which I am perfect content with that.

Yesterday after a morning full of meeting, shopping, and a family trip to the library Eric said "Lets go the the North Shore" so we did. At 2:30 we got to our house, changed Owen's clothes, grabbed the camera, got some food for the road and for Owen and took off. It was a nice ride up to Superior/Duluth.

Our initial plan was to stop in Superior at some little park to take Owen's "10 Month" photos. Well, after looking at the GPS and picking out a really cool park to go to we realized that we would have to go to MN and then come back to WI to get to the park...so we decided to just drive up north a little more to Two Harbors. We took the scenic way and it was beautifully refreshing!

When we got to Two Harbors we found this little park and were able to snap some cute photos with Owen by a huge Anchor. These are just a few of my favorites that I took.

Then Eric said, "Can we take some without that stupid hat?"

So I did that too (although I must say I liked the hat a lot!)

After we explored that area a little more we drove just down the road to a lighthouse area. We were able to go down by the rock beach and get some cute shots of Owen too. He loved [to chew on] all of the rocks.

We finished up our day by stopping by a little gift store. We talked to the shop owner and he suggested a little local restaurant about 10 miles north, so we headed there and had a great meal. They had some of the best fish Eric and I had ever had. It was a great day but it did leave us both exaused as we didnt get home until after 11:30.

Ready, Set, Go!

Okay, so as you can tell I had a little extra time today...hence the three posts today.

I wasn't planing on doing one tonight but we just had to share this!

Enjoying the Week

It has been a busy week here for us Crammond’s. I picked up two extra shifts at the Kid’s Korner (the drop off childcare at the YMCA) and I watched an ex-coworker’s 11 month little girl three days this week. Owen had a lot of fun playing with her. It was so cute to watch them crawl around our living, get into the toys, and just have fun together. One of the days I got out our pool and some ball pit balls and let the little ones play in them. Here are just a few shots of the little ones enjoying the balls.

Owen also discovered how to take his pants off by sanding on the legs and kicking them down…it was cute so I grabbed my camera...

He had a few long days and he was so tired that he was almost falling asleep in the jumper.

I'm sure the next few weeks will bring more adventures!

Eau Claire Orchards

We went to the Eau Claire Orchard this past Wednesday. Owen got to play around by some of the pumpkins and hay. He didn’t seem all that impressed as they were just covering the rocks and dirt on the ground that he wanted so desperately to eat. He did try to chew on the stems some...that's my boy.

Owen liked that he could pull the hay out of the bale (then he ate it)

It was very windy when we went. his hair is getting so long, one of these days we will need to cut it, but for now, he looks cute when the wind isnt so bad.

This one isn't a good photo...but he is standing on his own. He will do this for up to 20 seconds or so...here comes the fun.

After playing around by the pumpkins we went inside to taste some apples. Owen seemed to like all of them. We didn’t get to pick any that day but plan to go back later this month to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Lastly here are a few photos of Owen before we left the place. He is just getting so big!

I love the way his hair is standing up in this one. It was so windy this day.

Fall Retreat & Fall Round Up

We had two great events in the past week. Our fall retreat for church at Camp Forest Springs and the fall round up for united way.

For the last three years Eric and I have went to Camp each fall. It was a great joy for us to bring Owen this year. He had a ton of fun. Although, I think his favorite activities were to eat rocks and acorns.
Owen also enjoyed the patio area over looking the water. It was great because he could crawl all around and see lots of things. He also got to play in the grass. He would crawl all over to try to get the leaves, it was so cute to watch him explore.

Owen also got to spend a lot of time on Daddy's shoulders, one of his favorite ways to get around.

The fall colors were starting to change all around us. I can wait until they reach peek.

This past Thursday we went to an event for the Eau Claire United Way. This is just a fun family event for kids to get to see horses, ponies, and donkeys. This year it rained, so we were stuck inside, but it was still fun! I

In our typical fashion, we found the perfect outfit for the event for our little Owen

I found the bibs and the shirt at a garage sale, we got the vest as a baby shower gift, and we bought the cowboy boots for him, because he just "had to have them."

Here Owen got to pet a mini donkey. It looks grey, but its mostly white with dirt...otherwise Owen would have sat on it for a really cute photo.

Owen and Mom

We were excited to have our friends Kyle, Molly and Ella come with us to the event. It was so cute to see both dads with their little ones.

To long (again)

So, once again it has been way to long since I've posted...I do really plan on getting better at this. Just to update you here are a few things that we have been upto:

• We have spent several weekends in Portage with family and had a great time. Owen had Ice cream and whip cream at Grandma and Grandpa Crammond. He Loved it!
• Eric is still loving his new job. It is a blessing to have him home with me and Owen.
• I'm at home full time now. We are having a lot of fun, and it is very nice to be spending as much time with Owen as I do.
• I have been able to get some things done on my check list, and hope to get the rest done soon.
• I've very excited because I set up a craft area in our basement. I have a table and a higher work table/space that I will be able to use for cutting my fabric for quilts and such. I'm exited to have a space where I can leave some of my craft stuff out, and not have to put it all away in the middle of a project.
• Owen now has a "big boy" car seat. We got him a Britax Boulevard-and I love it. Owen seems to like it a lot too. He can see out of the car so much better and he tends to lounge in the seat with his arms stretched out wide.
• Owen is now 8 months old. He has 8 teeth, crawls very quickly, pulls himself up, cruises along the furniture, will stand with one hand holding him up, walks when we hold his hands and walk with him, pushes his toys all around while still walking, and is just such a sweet boy. We have seen him a few times now standing without holding onto things for a few seconds at a time.
• We are going to go to OH to visit family soon and we cant wait to see them. (the 8 hour car ride doesnt seems so fun though)

I will try to upload some photos soon, but our Internet is SOOOOO slow lately.

Ups and Downs of a Weekend in Portage

We headed to Portage this past weekend to celebrate grandma Carol's birthday. We had a fun time. We just laid low and hung out with family but it was a great weekend. Saturday evening Owen's Aunt Liz came over for dinner at Carol's and then we all went to the park. Owen had never been in a "big boy swing" before so we thought we would try it out. Knowing he would be way to small we brought one of my baby blankets to keep him in place. Everyone had such a fun time with Owen that night. I think I took over 100 photos during our time at the park. Here are just a few of my favorites...

Grandma Carol enjoying time with Owen

Aunt Liz and Mom pushing Owen in the Swing: Dad's Turn...
Aunt Liz and Owen on the plane
Liz & Owen (Owen is looking up at the monkey bars)

Owen and Papa

The weekend was great fun. However, tonight we realized that someone had a little to much fun around Eau Claire over the weekend. When Eric went out to our black car tonight he realized that the back window was smashed out, part of the dashboard was ripped out, and the stereo face plate was gone. Stupid Kids.

We called the cops to report it. While the police were there a neighbor came over and said that there were several other vehicles broken into over the weekend. Luckily there was nothing valuable in the car (Eric was just happy that they didn't take his gardening things). The only thing missing was the face plate and the medical scissors in our first aid kit...apparently they wanted to be prepared in case they got hurt...

So tomorrow it will be time to call to get the window fixed...guessing that wont be cheap.