Crammond Family Chaos

Thankful

2011-09-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

Its been a long stressful month for us. We have have moved, Eric has been gone a lot for work, and life is just busy overall for us. I need to keep focused on all the little things I am thankful for...

My two wonderful, happy, healthy boys

Owen was so happy to sleep in a "big bed" all by himself while on a work trip with daddy-he let Emmett try it out too.

Big blue eyes and easy smiles

Emmett sitting at 5 months.

Late night trips to the grape vines outside our new house.

Owen getting treat for using the big boy potty.

Window seats

Owen eating breakfast and waiting to see a school bus go by.

A comfortable place to call home.

Emmett sleeping, like normal, with two feet outside of the crib.

Pacifiers

Staying at home with my boys

Add caption

No carpets in our new house!

Clean up is a breeze now!

God entrusting Eric and I with these two

Our Content baby

Emmett hanging out in the wagon outside

Watch Owen have a ton of fun with Elmo foam soap in the tub

Owen is getting a little braver in the tub each day.

Kid's Tri

2011-07-11T21:25:00.000-05:00

This past weekend our family volunteered at our local Y's kid's triathlon. It was an early morning, all four of us had to be at the Y by 7:15. Our post was on the bike route and our job was to help direct kids around the turn. The kids were ages 3-14, some were really into it and others, well, not so much. Next year we hope to put Owen in the race. This year both of our boys did so well.

Owen was a trooper and well behaved over all. He really enjoyed cheering all the racers on and he would yell "go go" to everyone as they went by. In between each age group there was some down time so Owen sat and watched the airplanes in the sky, played in the grass and tried to pick up ants on the curb.

Hugs for daddy

Trying to pick up ants

Emmett spent most of his time in a carrier either on mama or daddy. He also took a nice long morning nap in the stroller. Next year he will have to help us cheer on his big bro.

Mama and Emmett

Nap time in the stroller.

Eric and I look forward to volunteering with our boys at many more events in the future. We hope to instill in them a desire to serve others and volunteer as much as possible.

A little theif

2011-07-08T21:41:00.000-05:00

Owen has really been fighting naps and bedtime lately. We have had some 3 hour battles over bedtime in the last few weeks. The other night we hadn't heard him in his room so we went to check if he had fallen asleep but he wasn't in his room. He had sneaked into Eric and my bed and was looking at his Brown Bear, Brown Bear book. We told him he needed to go back to his room and he did. We tucked him back into his bed and he was asleep quickly. When Eric and I went to bed that night Eric couldn't find his pillow anywhere. We didn't think much of it and went to bed. The next morning we found Owen, fast asleep, snuggled into his daddy's pillow.

Bath Time times two

2011-07-07T22:13:00.000-05:00

Tonight when we were finishing up dinner one of Owen's best buddies ran over to our house to see if Owen could play (he was quickly followed by his mama). We went over to their back yard so all the kiddos could enjoy the nice weather. They boys played with cars, dirt, bats, balls, swords, and had snack. Owen and the boys all had a blast and were completely filthy when it was time to go in for the night. A bath was a must!

I quickly drew the bath for Owen and Eric decided that tonight should be Emmett's first time in the big bath tub too.

Owen was very excited to have his little brother take a bath with him.

Owen even helped wash Emmett's hair.

Owen blew bubbles in the water to help entertain Emmett.

Emmett in his "bath chair"

Our happy boy after his bath

Emmett seemed rather content in the big tub tonight...although I will continue to use the regular bathtub for our little man. I do look forward to bath time once Emmett can sit up. I'm sure I will need many more towels to mom up the floor from all the fun they boys have.

Like Father, Like Son(s)

2011-07-06T23:50:00.000-05:00

Daddy and Own for a walk at Como Falls in Hokah, MN

Reading the Sunday paper

Emmett and Daddy taking a nap

Owen helping Daddy grocery shopping

Our Fourth of July Weekend

2011-07-05T16:37:00.000-05:00

Well it was a busy weekend around here!

We started out on Friday going to the YMCA to go swimming with Owen. Owen has not been a big fan of the water, but has been getting better over the last month or two. We dropped Emmett off at the Y-Watch so we could swim just the three of us. Owen did much better than he has been doing. He jumped off the wall into our arms and he started putting his face in the water too. It is a big step from screaming and holding onto us for dear life like he had been doing earlier this spring.

Saturday Owen and Daddy got up really early [for our house] at 6:30 to get ready to run in a 5k. Eric, Owen, our friend and his little girl all did the race together. Owen and the little girl rode in a stroller while the dads ran the 5k in a half hour. After the race we went to a celebratory pancake breakfast. At noon that day we participated in a "family parade" where the kids are the "floats." Our team, The Patriots, took third place and we got a trophy even. That night we went back to the park to see water ski show and we ran into some of Owen's friends there. It was a great day overall.

Eric pushing our family "float"

Owen got to go on a train ride. He is the driving the yellow one.

Sunday we woke up and got ready to go to church. Just before we were ready to leave for church Eric decided we would take a day trip to Portage after church. We headed down and had lunch with Eric's family and then had dinner with my family.

Owen riding his bike down the driveway at Grandma & Grandpa's.

Owen picking flowers for Mama

Owen working hard to dig a hole where grandma pulled up the weeds.

Owen riding his tractor-his favorite toy at Grandma & Grandpa Becraft's.

It was getting late so we decided to stick around for the 4th too. On the 4th Eric helped his mom and dad work on their porch with was in need of repair. Owen, Emmett, Grandma Carol, and I all went to a 4th of July parade. It was a nice long parade with lots of fire trucks, old cars, tractors, and candy!

Grandma Carol and the boys waiting for the parade to start.

Owen spotting a fire truck around the corner.

Emmett wouldn't let grandma sit the whole parade.

Owen waving to one of the many tractors.

After the parade it was hot out we stopped by to get Grandma Elaine and we headed to the beach to go swimming. It was Emmett's first time in the water and he seemed to like it. It was Owen's first time this year at the beach and at first he wasn't so sure of the sand-but by the time we went home he was covered in it.

Emmett's first time at the beach.

Owen with sand all over his hair.

I hope your 4th of July weekend was as fun as ours!

Time to wake up...

2011-06-30T16:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it has been over a year. Lots has changed in that year. We have moved to La Crosse for to help plant a church and we had another a little one. We've decided its time to "wake up" our blog for all our family and friends who we don't get to see nearly as much as we would like too. Rather than trying to play catch up we will write like we never took the year break....

I always have loved to peek in on Owen when he is sleeping. I really don't know how he sleeps in some of the ways that he does. Here are a few photos of my sleepy guy over the past few months.

And of course, Emmett is quite cute when he sleeps too. He still is sleeping well in his swaddle blankets. He has only woken up more than once a night three or four time since coming home from the hospital. He sleeps all night long about half the time now. If he wakes up it isn't before 5:30am. We are blessed to have such a great little guy!

I couldn't resist putting this photo in too. Both Emmett and Owen asleep after a long car ride. Owen happily and comfortably rear facing at two and a half and Emmett in his infant seat.

Photos

2010-05-19T14:35:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite things to do is capture great photos of Owen. Well last night Eric, Owen and I went out to have some fun in the park and get some photos-Owen's 16 month photos, just a few weeks late. Here are some shots from Pettibone Park in La Crosse. I think we will spend a lot of time here this summer, as they have a nice beach for Owen to play at.

Owen loves to pick the flowers...he often tries to eat them still.

I love how little he looks in this photo.

Picking more flowers up...

After the park we went back across the river into La Crosse and went to an old building I had seen before. I knew I wanted to come back to this place to take photos of Owen.

There was traffic that kept his attention, he wouldn't look at Eric or me.

I love how blue his eyes look in this one!

I posted an ad on craig's list this week to in hopes of taking some portraits for others. I have gotten a few hits so I hope I will be able to get some shoots scheduled soon. I have so much fun taking photos of kids I would love to be able to turn that into some revenue for our family too.

Lots of Visitors

2010-05-17T15:02:00.002-05:00

So we have been luck to have lots of visitors lately. Last weekend my mom, uncle Dave and Paul all came to visit on mother's day. We had a great time with them in La Crosse. We went to Grand Dad Bluff and to the park to play. This past Saturday Ian and Brittany came to visit too. Sunday we got to see John and Elaine. I think Owen was excited to see everyone too! He even started to say Grandpa while John was here.

We have also started to use cloth diapers with Owen. It has been going well too. It is so much easier that I ever thought it would be. I wish I would have started this sooner! At least we haven't had to purchase diapers since last September anyways. We really like the Rumparoozs and Knickernappies so far. Its crazy how many choices there are for cloth diapers.
Owen has also been getting into sweets more and more. He has figured out where we keep them, and he has figured out how to get into our pantry where he gets out cans of food. He is a growing boy who is getting into everything!

A short trip for mom & dad!

2010-04-23T21:31:00.008-05:00

Last weekend Eric and I got to take a short trip, without our little one. We were blessed to have my cousin Michelle and her husband Paul watched Owen for us. To read about Owen's weekend you can link to her blog here.

Eric and I had a wonderful trip to Charleston, SC. Our goal was to just get away and have a fun care free weekend together. Friday night when we got to SC we went to Folly Beach for a short walk at sunset. It was great to dip our toes in the water, hold hands and talk!

After our walk on the beach Eric and I went to Taco Boy's for dinner. It was SO GOOD. We had some amazing fish tacos...the good kind, with cabbage and a yogurt sauce on it! If you have never had fish tacos you must try them some time!

Saturday morning we toured an old garden and plantation, Magnolia Plantation. The garden was beautiful. We enjoyed walking the paths around the old historic plantation on the banks of the Ashley River. Here are a few shots of the gardens.
After the garden we went to down town Charleston to the Market. We walked though and looked at all the vendors, but didn't find anything we wanted. Down town had tons of amazing old houses with shutters, window boxes, and tiny little streets. I truly don't know how someone would want to live in a new house when they could live in a house like one of these.
After walking down town we made our way to Sullivan's Island to see Fort Moultrie. While we were there we were able to see the Blue Angles preform. We had such a great view from the fort!
Next Eric and I went to Isle of Palms to walk the beach there. We walked barefoot, in the waves, for several miles picking up sea shells along the way. It reminded me of our honeymoon. As we turned around to walk back to our car we could see something off in the distance. We couldn't make out at that time it was just the fishing pier of it it was a bunch of people standing by the pier. As we got closer we could tell it was a huge crowd of people. Once we got to the crowd we found out that they were releasing a sea turtle back into the wild. We decided to go get the camera and stick around to see the turtle make her way back to sea.
We finished up our night with a great meal and some shopping back downtown. It was a great weekend away and I can't wait to do something like it again. We were so luck to have my cousin and her family watch Owen!

Crazy Boy

2010-04-01T10:26:00.003-05:00

So today has been of to a great start for Owen. He has been into everything today so far. Of course there is the normal little things like trying to throw away his toys, climb on the kitchen table, stand on his rocking moose and all that...

But today he has added a few new items to his list of things to get into...

I was in my room making the bed when I heard Owen say "ma ma, ma ma" so I went to look where he was. The bathroom. Hands on the floor of the tub, belly on the side of the tub and feet kicking in the air. He had the biggest smile on his face. He has learned to open doors now too. Not good.

He also decided to do a little furniture rearranging today too. New places for his chair.

And just after I got him dressed for the day we went to visit dad downstairs. Eric and I had to check something so Owen went over to Eric's desk, grabbed Eric's coffee and poured it all over the floor. I heard this turned around just to see Owen slip and do one of those TV falls with the feet in the air and all. My little boy, in a white shirt, was now covered in coffee.

Ahh, great times with my little one. Luckily he is down for a nap, so I should get a chance to get a few things checked off my to do list now.

2010-03-29T19:06:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I haven't been on here in a long time. From what my family tells me, way to long. Lots has happend since I last posted. Owen had his first birthday, we had Christmas, went on a really long trip, and the biggest thing is our move. We have moved to Onalaska, WI to be part of a church plant here that our church from Eau Claire is starting.

We love our new place. I'm making it feel like home more and more each day. We are blessed to find a place with a large basement for all of Owen's larger toys and my craft things. It has an office space for Eric too. It has a large deck for Owen to play on and a nice yard too. I have a few things I need to get in order here but as soon as I do I will post some photos of our new place.

We have been busy exploring the area around La Crosse too. Saturday we went on a long car ride up and down the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa.

We also went to a nice park last week on French Island. You can see the planes landing and taking off from this park so I have hopes of Owen and I going to the park to watch one of Eric's flights land some day and then going to pick him up afterwards.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from that day in the park:

Okay, so really I will try to this more often....

new kicks

2009-11-01T21:29:00.003-06:00

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...

2009-10-25T21:39:00.012-05:00

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!

2009-10-09T19:46:00.004-05:00

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

2009-10-09T16:53:00.007-05:00

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

2009-10-09T15:25:00.006-05:00

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

2009-10-04T21:39:00.004-05:00

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)

2009-08-27T13:16:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-03T20:50:00.004-05:00

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.

A weekend of Fun….

2009-07-26T20:15:00.005-05:00

Friday Marked Owen turning seven months old. It’s so hard to believe how fast this time has gone by. Friday was also Eric’s last day at United Way. It’s kinda a bitter-sweet moment for us. It has been a great job and a wonderful experience for Eric and our family to have him work there, but this new job will allow us to have me stay home…an opprotuity that I am thankful to have. While it will be hard for me to give up the professional aspect of my current life, I look forward to the little things that I will experience with Owen and Eric every day. I plan on finding volunteer work and possibly some sort of part time job, but that will be down the line a little.

This weekend our good friend Sarah’s wedding. Grandma Elaine and Grandpa John came up to spend the day with Owen so Eric and I could enjoy the ceremony and evening. They had a great afternoon and evening hanging out with Owen. It was such a blessing to have them come up to watch Owen.

Today we spent the afternoon doing some running, went to eat, and Owen and I took a nap. Owen ate his first “restaurant food” today. He had a baked sweet potato from Texas Roadhouse. I don’t think he enjoyed it as the ice cream he had the night before with grandma and grandpa :)

This afternoon was finally warm enough for Owen to play in his pool! And here are some photos...

He really seemed to love this silly snail. He crawled in circles around the pool to catch it, unknown to him every time he moved the snail was pushed further and furhter away...but eventually he caught it.

Owen also really liked the pool because he was really close to the grass...he kept trying to grab it.

Here he is crawling in the pool...well kinda a belly flop at this point.

Yup...he found the snail again!

Owen also figured out that he could stand up and then sit down really fast and make a big splash.

Owen has also been trying really hard to get under the coffee table in our living room. Well, tonight he was successful. I figured he would crawl up onto it, but instead he decided that he should just wiggle in and sit under it. He seemed so proud of himself!

Way to long...

2009-07-20T20:40:00.003-05:00

So its been way to long since I've updated...so here it goes.

Owen's 6 Month Check Up...
Owen weighs 18lbs 3 oz. and is 27 inches long. This puts him in the 70th percentile for each. The doctor said that he looked like a happy healthy boy.

New Things Owen Can Do & First for our Little Man...

At the start of 6 months Owen could sit fully on his own for a long time. At about 6 and a half months he would get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. Last weekend he was starting to do the "army crawl" sort of thing where he would scoot all around. This past weekend on Saturday Owen was crawling with his belly off the floor and going all over!
Sunday he started to pull himself up all on his own. Tonight I spotted him cruising from one end of the couch to the other. Owen also got to go camping for the first time the end of June.
Owen has 2 teeth breaking through on the top. Owen has started to eat more and more food. He love yogurt and will only eat cottage cheese if he feeds it to himself.

New Things For the Crammonds...
Eric has gotten a new job, with Helix, a computer software company. He will be working with companies around the country from our basement. He is very excited and will be starting next Monday. His last day for United way will be this Friday.
This new job will require some travel and we have decided that it would be best for me to stay home with Owen. I will be done with the YMCA on August 7th. I am really looking forward to staying home with Owen, yet I still am sad to leave the YMCA.

Some Photos...

Owen on his first 4th of July in Grandma & Grandpa Crammond's back yard. This is one of the few photos where Owen isn't eating grass that day...side note...one of the firs things started crawling for was grass.

This photo is Owen on his Grandpa's lap watching fireworks for the very first time. He did great at the fire works, even though he was up hours past his bed time. Eric and I enjoyed watching Owen watch the fire works. With each burst Owen would blink his eyes really hard...but he just kept on watching.

This was just a fun photo of Owen eating cottage cheese. I think there was more cottage cheese on the floor, fridge, counters, and chair then there was in our little Owen's belly.
This photo is from last weekend...we put Owen in one of our toy baskets and let him dig in the other one to get out the toys that he wanted. He played in this for quite some time.

This last photo is from this past weekend. Owen, Eric, grandma Carol, and I went out to gem gardens in Eau Claire. We snapped this photo of Owen. He is getting so big...kinda makes me sad.

6 months old!

2009-06-23T20:55:00.005-05:00

I can hardly believe that Owen is six months old. The time has gone so quickly. He has gotten so big-we have our doctor appointment next Friday so we will see then just how big he his. He is doing great at sitting, rolling all over to get places, standing against things if we put him that way, love bouncing, eats a ton of fruits and veggies and smiles a lot. He love to explore things too.

Here are a couple of photos we took this past weekend for his 6 month photos. They are all from grandma and grandpa Crammond's back yard.
He seemed to love the little white flowers. He even picked some and tried to eat them...good thing we were quick. Owen got the toy octopus from one of his four year old cousins-she decided that he would like it-and he does. It was very kind of her to give him the toy her mom had just made for her.

Owen and Daddy

2009-06-21T22:18:00.002-05:00

Eric had a great Father's day. We were able to spend it with Eric's family and my mom. I got Eric a web cam-so we hopefully can start using skype with family and friends. Owen and I worked to make Eric a cork board with Owen's foot prints around the edge. Eric said his favorite part of his gift was the card from Owen. I picked one out with a white background on the inside and I helped Owen "sign" his name. Eric said he was so touched by it.Here are a few photos from the day.

Grandpa John, Eric, and Owen Well I didn't get both of their full heads in the photo, but they are both looking at the camera-I guess that must be some sort of an accomplishment.

It brings me so much joy to see Eric and Owen interacting. Owen truly loves Eric so much, and Owen brings Eric such joy too.

One of Eric's favorite ways to hold Owen is on his shoulders...its so cute. Unfortunately this time we learned an important lesson-don't do this shortly after he eats...o-well that's what laundry detergent is for.

Wonderful Weekend

2009-06-21T21:35:00.004-05:00

We had a great weekend. Owen and I headed down to Portage Wednesday night. Thursday we spent the day at Devil's Lake State Park. We meet two of my cousins there and it was a great time. Here is a photo of Owen that afternoon:

That evening we met up with Eric's Sister and mom at the concert on the square in Baraboo. We hung out with them and had a lot of fun.

Uncle Ian even stopped by the park to hang out with Owen for a little while.

Friday we went to see my cousin and her four kids in Appleton. They all had a lot of fun playing with Owen. They hadn't seen him since he was about 6 weeks old...They were were so cute to watch all of them play.

We spent Saturday with Eric's family. Eric's mom and dad just got back from a trip and they gave he a few new things. One was a sippy cup...his first. It was warm so we thougth we would let him try. He was very wet by the end but it was cute to watch. He was able to get it up to his mouth and get water out.

He also figured out that if you tip it upside down you can get water out too.

On Sunday we spent the day at the Crammonds. We fed Owen in the highchair that grandma Crammond used when she was a baby and when Eric was a baby.

Grandma Carol had a lot of fun with Owen this weekend. She even watched him so Eric and I could go out to dinner just the two of us and out to play Bingo with Eric's Family.

Aunt Liz was doing laundry on Sunday and thought Owen might like to go in the basket.

He seemed to like being able to stand in the basket all by him self.

When we got home on Sunday night we had a surprise wating for us. Owen's Great Aunt Jean sent Owen some new goodies...including these adorable new summer PJ's.

All in all it was a great weekend-I loved being able to spend so much time with Owen and our family.

Teeth

2009-06-14T21:49:00.002-05:00

Our little Owen has two teeth coming through now...I need to get a good photo of the teeth...but for now here is him with his teething toy.

This isnt a good photo of Owen, but you can see how he is sitting up on his own really well now. He will sit for a long time. He seems to be having so much fun lately-Eric and I are so lucky.
This was just a funny photo of Owen, he looks so shocked.

When Owen is done with his meal I sometimes let him eat the last little bite with him holding the spoon. He gets such a big grin when he gets himself the food.

I just love his big blue eyes in this one!

A Weekend in the Garden

2009-06-14T21:16:00.003-05:00

This weekend we spent alot of time in our garden. We should be eating a radish or two by the end of the week. Here are few photos from our adventures. We took our pack'n'play for Owen to hangout in while Beth and I worked in the garden. We had a really great time!

2009-06-02T14:13:00.003-05:00

So its been way to long since I've posted...I'm not good at this lately.

Every thing has been good in the Crammond household. Eric had his 25th birthday this weekend. It was great to be home and celebrate with him and Owen. Last night we had a bunch of close friends over for cake and other goodies. After that we went to see Eric play softball.

Owen has started eating food at about 5 months old. So far he has tried sweet potatoes, avacados, green beans, which lead to prunes, and squash. He will be trying applesauce this week too. I have decided to make Owen's baby food rather than buy it for the most part. I bought comercialy made prunes and we will buy natrual applesauce, but for the most part I will try to make it all. So far it has worked out well. It kinda bums me out because he didn't make any funny faces or anything yet. But-I'm sure those will come down the road with something.

On another note, Owen hasn't been his normally happy self lately. He is by no means crabby or anything, just not as happy & a little bit whiny. He had tried green beans and we thought he was having somewhat of a reaction to that, but last night I realized he had a tooth breaking through his gums. It had come through enough that I could feel it---so now we know why.

Owen has also started sitting up on his own some. He will sit up on his own for about 1-2min. at points. He will also hold onto stuff and stand for about the same amount of time. Its hard to belive how much he has grown and all the things he can do now!

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T19:28:00.003-05:00

Last year on mother's day we broke the news that we were expecting. We had so much fun sharing our news with our mom's on that day.

This year Eric, Owen and I spent the day together, just the three of us. We went to early church, went to brunch and then spent the day at home re-arranging the living room...something I had been wanting to do for a very long time. We also put up some new frames and photos in our living room. Eric worked very hard to get the frames centered and leveled just the way I wanted them.

Owen and Eric worked to make me a frame with Owen's hand print on it. It turned out supper cute and I cant wait to put it on my desk at work so everyone can see it.

Eric also got me a sweatshirt that I had been wanting for some time. It was great to have today as I bummed around at home seeing when I went to urgent care this morning they said I had strep....

Owen-4 Months

2009-05-01T06:45:00.004-05:00

Its hard to believe that my little man is now over 4 months old! He has grown so fast. We had our 4 month check up today and he is 14.33 pounds (25th %) and 25.5" (62%). The doctor said he was looking great and we agree. He is now able to roll over both ways too. He did great with his shots today too. Here are a few more Owen photos for you from the past week...

Cereal?

2009-04-30T20:45:00.002-05:00

Our growing boy has started solid food this past week (rice cereal). We were planing on waiting until closer to 6 months, but Owen just always seemed to be hungry at night when we got home from work. He has done great with the cereal, and he seems to like it just fine. For now we have been feeding him one bowl of cereal each evening and will eventually add more feedings and try oatmeal cereal. Here are some photos of the first few rice cereal feedings.

This is one of the first bites Owen took. He didn't seem to quite know what to think...

While eating Owen really likes to keep his hands in his mouth...
And then he grabbed onto the spoon and thought he would help out too.

This was just a cute shot of Owen. I love his blue eyes.

He looks we caught him doing something wrong in this photo. It made me laugh when we took it. I love his big blue eyes.

Feet

2009-04-30T20:16:00.003-05:00

Owen just loves to play with his feet lately. His kicks at his toys, grabs with his feet, and sucks on his toes. Its so cute to watch how he maneuvers and wiggles about to get his feet. Here are a few photos for you to illustrate…

In this one he stuck his one foot through the one toy
I liked in this one how you could see him really grabbing at his feet.

Our Little Cuttie

Easter

2009-04-29T16:41:00.002-05:00

So it has been a long time since I have posted…so I will be needing to do several posts. Owen is continuing to grow and bring us more joy each day. Eric and I feel so blessed to have him as a child. He is learning & growing more and more each day.

Here are some photos from our adventures in Portage on Easter weekend. We were able to have lots of family time over Easter and it was great.

This first two photos are of Owen in his Easter outfit. Grandma Elaine and Aunt Liz bought this for him before he was even born...He looked so cute. Eric and I were quite happy that he didn't have a blow-out in it.

On Easter we took a family photo in Grandpa John's and Grandma Elaine's back yard. I guess two out of three looking at the camera isn't bad...

On Easter Sunday we also died eggs. Uncle Ian helped Owen die his first eggs.

This photo is actually from Good Friday, but it was so cute. I don't have a photo of it but the outfit even had a little puffy tail.

Good Morning

2009-04-07T07:50:00.005-05:00

This is what Eric and I have to wake up to each morning....

Multi-tasking

2009-04-06T19:18:00.003-05:00

Multi-tasking is a staple in the Crammond household. It seems that our little Owen is starting to work on it as well. Tonight Eric and I got a good laugh over Owen shaking his rattle and sucking his thumb at the same time. It was cute...

Owen has really started to suck his thumb more and more-and I don't quite know how I feel about it. One one hand it is kinda nice because he self-soothes at night more. One the other hand I feel like this is going to be a harder habit to break in the future. He has started to refues his pacifier now, but this could all change.

Its fun to watch how Owen changes each day. He seems to be noticing more and more things. He will smile at Eric and me now as we talk to him and smile at him across the room. As you can see he still has no toys...the poor kid. On another note, Owen is either staring a new phase where everything goes in his mouth or he is starting to teath. He is drooling constantly, has a misterious rash on his face, and has beening going #2 more. He hasn't been sleeping as well. Eric says he think's Owen's gums feel differnt too. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Some New Things

2009-03-31T19:17:00.004-05:00

Its hard to believe that Owen is over 3 months old now. Time has gone so fast. It seems that each day Owen is doing something new. Today He was almost lifting his bottom off of the ground as he kicked at his toy.
He is just growing so fast. He is such a happy, healthy, baby and Eric and I feel so blessed to have him. He smiles more and more each day. He has even started to giggle some. Owen is also starting to play with toys so much more now. He really is using his hands to grab onto everything-my fingers, hair, necklace, glasses...and the fun starts.

Day care is going well for Owen. He seems to have adjusted just fine. I get to go down to see him 2-3 times a day, which I'm thankful for. Today when I visited him he was all smiles for me. It was so much fun to see him so excited to see me.

This past weekend Grandpa and Grandma Crammond came to visit. Grandpa had finished the changing table for Owen so they brought up that as well. It was great to spend time with them. After they left I decided I wanted to rearrange Owen's room some. I think it turned out okay. I still think we need to hang some stuff up on the walls.

Owen likes to hang out in his crib-in this photo its hard to see him-he blends in with the sheets so well.

As you can see Owen has no toys and no books. We decided to put some more of the toys away so we could have all the books out. I'm sure that this will be a continue process of rearranging toys, but I like the way the room is set up for now.

Out & Out

2009-03-22T18:34:00.002-05:00

Today was a great day. I got to sleep in some while Eric and Owen got up and watched Meet the Press-one of Eric's favorite Sunday activities. Then it was time for me to get up and get ready for church. After church we went to Walmart to get some things, Noodles for lunch, stopped at a few other stores and it was off to home.

Once we got home we decided to go out for a walk. I needed to check Shopko for some items for the spring brunch so we took a long walk there. Owen loves walks, and today was no exception. We decided to try out his new stroller today. I love this stroller-and even better I got it at a great deal. It was originally priced at $100 dollars and I got it for $24. Owen seemed to like it just fine too, although I don't really think he knows the difference at this point.

After walking around the neighborhood and then the store Owen got a little sleepy. He decided to take a nap and was out like a light. He looked so cute in his little bear outfit. It started to get a little windy so we had to put his blanket around him-Eric kept referring to it as his little cocoon.

It still amazes me how Eric and I can spend hours just looking at Owen. Especially when he is sleeping-he just looks so sweet. I love how he just looks so at peaceful and secure.

After we got home from our walk we drove out to look at the city land plot that Eric and our friend Josh plan to garden this summer. Afterwards we have had Josh and Colleen over for dinner. Eric was all excited because I made meatloaf-his favorite. I hadn't made it for a really long time for him so it was a nice treat.

A Brand New Toy

2009-03-21T14:57:00.002-05:00

Today we decided to set up Owen's Jumping toy and he really seemed to like it. We didnt really know if he would do well in it or not. He did well, the only problem with the toy was that he is a little too short. But Eric figured out how to fix that problem-just put a cake pan under him. Once Eric did that and I took his socks off he moved all around in it. He was giving us lots of smiles but then decided it was time for a nap. We'll try it again this evening and see how he does.

The Simple Things

2009-03-19T19:57:00.002-05:00

Tonight after Eric got home from GCLI we were able to enjoy some of the great simple things in life. This past weekend we found vernos at a local grocery store. This is one of Eric's favorite sodas, but normally he has only found it in Ohio. Whenever his family goes to Ohio they always bring a bunch back. So, when Eric got home we were able to each have a big glass of Vernors and eat some popcorn.

Eric and Owen spent some time playing together. Owen is getting really strong. He will sit in his seat for about 20 minutes-he really seems to enjoy it.

It was cute because when I walked by Owen just kept looking at me. Its so much fun and so rewarding to see how much Owen responds to Eric and Me. I really hope this something Eric and I always excited about.

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T18:40:00.002-05:00

Today is Owen's first St. Patrick's day and he had the outfit to prove it. His Great Aunt Jean bought him this really cute outfit to wear today. The shamrock was on his bum. he looked so cute, and all his friends at daycare were dressed up too. Eric and I celebrated the day by getting shamrock shakes-they were great.

Out For a Walk

2009-03-15T20:07:00.004-05:00

Today, for the second day in a row, Owen got to go for a walk. Today the the three of us went for about a mile walk. Owen seemed to love the warm weather, the wind, the sun, and looking all around. Eric and I are looking forward to going for many walks this summer with Owen, and we both think Owen will like it just fine to judging by his reactions today!

More Owen Photos

2009-03-13T12:32:00.007-05:00

Not much new to report here, but I just wanted to share some more Owen photos!

A Lazy Day

2009-03-10T18:17:00.002-05:00

I had big plans for getting a lot of running done today, but nothing got done. I watched the news last night and they were predicting that the weather was going to be bad so Owen and I decided to stay home, in pj's, and just hang out. Best of all we even got to take a nap together-much more of a treat for me than Owen. But Owen still thought it was a good day...

Time With the Family

2009-03-09T18:42:00.004-05:00

While Eric was in North Carolina this past week I decided to go back to Portage for the second half of the week. Owen and I were able to spend lots of time with the family. We were busy, but it was great to see everyone.

On Thursday we went to lunch with Grandpa Steve and Great Aunt Chris at Beth's favorite Chinese restaurant.
After lunch Owen and I went to see Great Grandma Diane and Great Grandpa Clarence

That evening Owen and I spent some time with Grandma Carol. We went to Madison to go shopping and Owen got a few new toys that he loves.

On Friday we went to Jackson so Owen could meet his Great Aunt Sue and Great Uncle Jim. Great Uncle Dave drove us there in his brand new truck. Friday night we went to the outlet mall in the Dells and got Owen some new summer clothes.

On Saturday we were able to go out to lunch with Owen's Great Uncle Bob. He hasn't gotten to see Owen since New Year's.

Saturday night we spent celebrating Grandpa John's birthday. He only thought Liz and Elaine would be there to celebrate with him. But we were able to pull a fast one on him and Eric, Owen, Myself, Ian, and Brittany all sowed up to surprise him. We ended the weekend by going to church and then driving back to Eau Claire. What is normally a two hour drive took us well over four hours. It was a great weekend, but we are all glad to be home!

Changes

2009-03-03T17:10:00.001-06:00

There have been a few changes in the Crammond household this week. I returned to work part time this week (2 days) and will do the same next week. The 16th will mark me returning to work full time. I have mixed feelings at this point, but I know that he is in great hands and that it will be good for me to work for the time being. Owen did go to daycare yesterday-and he did great, which made me feel very good.

Owen also got to go to the doctor yesterday for his two month check up. He is 24 inches and 13 pounds. He is a happy, healthy, growing baby boy who Eric and I are blessed to have to call our son.

Today Owen and I stayed home for the majority of the day. We got to spend a lot of time playing with his toys, reading books together, having tummy time, and just hanging out. I also took a bunch of photos of my little man. Here are some of my favorites from today:

Plaid Like Dad

2009-03-01T14:47:00.004-06:00

Anyone who knows Eric knows how he loves to wear plaid shirts. So today we dressed Owen in his plaid button up shirt. I think he looks even more like Eric. Here are some photos from today:

I love his silly face in this one

This is how a little man fights

His hair looks crazy in this one

He looks like such a big boy here

Gazing into the distance ...

Just hanging out...

On a Roll...

2009-02-23T16:14:00.004-06:00

Here is some video of Owen rolling. This first video looks much like what his first time rolling over looked like. He rolled over twice and luckly the third time I thought to get the video camera. He also has rolled over much slower...but that video is to large to post. Enjoy!

Sunday Photos

2009-02-22T17:49:00.005-06:00

Owen and I are both feeling better today so we decided to take some more photos of just how cute he is. In this first one daddy helped Owen sit up so we could get photos of the back of his suspenders-just what every eight week old needs!

After showing us his cute suspenders Owen thought it would be fun to make some cute & funny faces at the camera:

Then we decided rather than put some of Owen's toys in the photos with him we put Owen in with his toys (well his toy's basket anyways)

Then we decided to get some photos with Owen on his belly: But Owen had thoughts of his own and decided he would really rather pose on his back! He rolled over for the very first time at eight and a half weeks.

Two Sick Cramond's

2009-02-19T20:15:00.003-06:00

We've had a sick household this week with two trips to the doctors

On Wednesday we took Owen to his doctor because he had a bad cough. He was up the night before coughing the whole night. He sounded so bad...although I think I was more upset about it then he was. Anyways, his doctor checked his lungs and they were clear and sounded good, which was a relief. My book that the hospital gave us said to call the doctor as soon as a child under 3 months has a cough, well I didnt read it until late Tuesday night, and it started on Monday. I felt relived it was only a cold. He's doing a little better today, so hopefully the worst is over for him. He is even really smiley today.

Today I had to go to urgent care. I've a the stomach flu since Monday and it hasn't gotten any better. Last night I woke up and was shivering uncontrollably for a couple of hours, despite the comforter, electric blanket, and two other blankets. Well the doctor ordered a bunch of lab work and found nothing (well other than anemia-which we knew about). As I was walking out of urgent care I almost passed out-to the point of everything going black. Two hours and two bags of IV fluid later I still only had a blood pressure of 92/55. The kept me there for about a half an hour and then the nurse walked me around and my BP came up some so I got to go home. The doctor told me to go home, rest, and eat as much salt as I could-to keep the fluids in. He said to go home and eat a whole bag of potato chips...best doctors orders ever :)

Anyways Owen and I rested tonight and are feeling somewhat better.

Where in the world is Owen?

2009-02-14T18:19:00.035-06:00

Our trip to sunny San Diego-A 7 day adventure with our 7 week old

Day One: Saturday 2/7
Owen was a happy little boy when we left for Madison at 6:00am. Security with a seven week old is very interesting. Owen did very well on his two flights to San Diego. He didn't cry or fuss at all! I think the people around us were very happy with how good he was.

We arrived in San Diego at about 2:30 and it was about 58 degrees. We got our rental car and then drove northward to Carlsbad. We checked into our hotel and then went to see our good friends Sara and Caleb. Sara made us a great dinner and we had a great time catching up with the two of them. It was a great first day in California.

Day Two: Sunday 2/8

Our Sunday morning started out with church with Caleb and Sara. After Church, the five of us went to La Jolla Beach and La Jolla Cove. We were able to make it to the tide pools and to see the seals-one of Eric and My favorite things about the area. After we finished up at these beaches We went to Hotel Del Coronado for some treats and coffee. We talked for a while and watched the sun go down. We finished up the day by going to a great little Mexican restaurant (the first of many on the trip).

Day Three: Monday 2/9

Our third day in San Diego started out with Owen getting ready for the day. He was a very cool little guy-sporting his all important sunglasses. We spent most of the morning and afternoon at the Birch Aquarium with Sara. Owen slept through the whole inside part but did awaken when we went out side. Owen was able to feel rain and wind against his skin for the first time while we were out in San Diego-he didn't really know what to think. It was so cute to watch the expressions on his face with these new experiences.

That evening Caleb and Eric went out to eat as did Sara, Owen and myself. We all had a great time!

Day Four: Tuesday 2/10

On Tuesday we started our day by eating breakfast at a little cafe in Carlsbad. It was a great meal and a good start to the day. After breakfast we picked up Sara and drove to the Marine Base to visit Caleb for lunch on base. There was a lot of activity on the base: tanks all over, planes and helicopters in the air, and people parachuting out of planes. Eric really enjoyed seeing the base. We were both shocked at how large and spread out the base was.

After the trip to the base we took a trip on Highway 101 which runs along the coast. Grandma Elaine had bought Owen some cool swim trunks so we just had to take a photo of him at the beach.

We spent the evening with Sara and Caleb at their house for their small group bible study. It was nice to get to know some of their friends even more. We were happy they invited us to join them.

Day Five: Wednesday 2/11

Our wild Wednesday was spent at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Owen rode in just his stroller (with out the car seat insert) for the first time. He like being able to stretch out more. We got to see lots of neat animals and go on a tram type ride around the Africa exhibit. We also got to see the cheetahs eat their lunch that day.

For dinner we met back up with Sara and Caleb for dinner at Ruby's on the Pier in Ocean Side. Ruby's is a 50's style diner with malts, bottomless fires, and great burgers. The servers were dressed in all red and white to fit in with the theme too. The views of the ocean at sunset were great.

After dinner we went to Sara & Caleb's to hang out a while. We will miss them and can't wait to see them again this summer when they come to the Eau Claire area.

Six: Thursday 2/12

This was a very busy day for us. We started out by visiting the Old Town Historical Park. We arrived just in time for one of the two walking tours for the day. Eric listened carefully while I walked around and took some cool photos. When we were done with the park we walked to Cafe Coyote for lunch- it was a really good Mexican restaurant.

Next we drove to Point Loma-the most south west point of the US. Here you could see views of the ocean , Mexico, and the San Diego Bay. We toured the light house, visited the tide pools, and enjoyed the views. We were able to catch the sunset at sunset cliffs in the area.

We finished up our day by going to Seaport Village. It is a little shopping area along the bay with a bunch of little shops and restaurants. We split a cookie and a sprite to have are parking authorized so we wouldn't have to pay.

For dinner that night we at at In and Out. It is a fast food burger joint that is local to the area. It was very good.

Day Seven: Friday 2/13

We spent our last full day in San Diego exploring Balboa Park. We went to the Air & Space Museum and the Science Center. Owen was awake the whole time we were in the Air and space Museum so we just had to take a photo of him in the plane. At the Science center we saw a IMAX film called Wild Ocean. Owen kept staring at the screen as all the images changed from light to dark. It was so cute to watch his expressions.

After Balboa park we headed back to Old Town for dinner at the Old Town Cafe-another Mexican restaurant. We had a great dinner and then went back to the hotel to pack up all of our things.

Day Eight: Saturday 2/14
We didn't have to be to the airport until 12:00 or 12:30 so we went to see the USS Midway. It was the longest serving air craft carrier in the US. They gave us head sets and a little MP3 type player to walk around with. Each area had a number and we could hear all about that area of the ship. It was very cool. There was about 15-20 air planes on the deck that we could look at and some were even open so we could go in them. Eric even got to take a tour of the bridge of the ship.

After the Midway we returned our rental car and went to the airport. Eric and I don't typically have much luck when it comes to travel, and this leg of the trip fits right into our life. First our checked luggage got tagged with some other person's tag. The lady cought it just in time, but our bags almost went to Texas.

The big story of the day was when we were waiting in our gate for our plane to leave. All of a sudden this man comes up to the gate and starts yelling, "Whatever you do don't get on that plane! Don't get on the plane." The man was very upset and loud. He went on to tell us that he was on the plane and that it had gotten hit by the fuel truck and that the plane had moved from the collision. He went all around the gate to tell everyone who was at the gate not to get on the plane. Soon the gate agent came on the loud speaker and told us that the plane had indeed been hit. The end of the wing was crushed in a little, so they had to find a new plane. The funny part of the story was everyone taking photos of the accident-both inside the gate and out by the plane. Even the captain of the plane took out his cell phone to get a snap shot of the event. We ended up getting a different flight to Denver and then Denver to Madison. All in all it was a long day of travel.

The trip to San Diego was great and we were so glad that were able to take our first vacation as a Family and that everything went so well!

How big is Owen? So Big!

2009-01-26T12:40:00.005-06:00

Today Owen had his one month check up. The doctor said he looks great and seems like a happy & healthy baby boy. Owen is now 11lbs 14oz (94th percentile) and he measures 22 1/2" long (85th percentile). I think he make take after his daddy in more than just looks!

Today Owen also got to spend some time at the mall. We had to go look for some more long sleeved onsie type shirts that were 3-6 months in size. He is starting to be on the last leg of some of his 0-3 clothes-especially the one piece outfits. Owen and I also picked out a new outfit for him to wear to his shower this weekend-he will look so cute!

The rest of Owen's afternoon was spent having tummy time & listening to some of his new books. Owen loves tummy time and is getting stronger and stronger each day. He holds his head up for long periods now and will look back and forth.

The First Month

2009-01-25T23:01:00.008-06:00

Wow its hard to believe that Owen is over a month old already! Time has gone so quickly…Eric and I love being parents and feel truly blessed to have Owen. He is such a good child and we look forward to watching him grow and learn through all the milestones to come.

Here is a little recap of the first month of Owen's Life:

The Christmas Eve Birthday Boy!

I woke up at about 3:30 with some contractions, about 5-6 min. apart. I got up and got "ready" some, timed out the contractions, and woke Eric up at about 4:15 or so. We got tot the hospital a little after 5:00 that morning. I was about 4cm when we got to the hospital. After some time on the monitors I was able to walk around the halls some. At 8:00 the doctors broke my water. I was able to spend the rest of the mornign walking the halls and then in the tub. Owen was born at 11:20 that morning. He was a healthy 9lb 3oz, 21" long, happy baby boy.

Coming Home
After spending the holidays in the hospital Eric, Owen and I were able to leave the hospital Friday (the day after Christmas) in the afternoon. We all adjusted well to being home-Owen loves his cradle that his Grandpa John made just for him. We were also blessed to have Grandpa Steve and Grandma Carol both spend time with us during our first week home.

Time in Portage
When Owen was two weeks old we spent week in Portage. We spent time with both Eric’s family and mine. It was great to spend time with the grandparents and to be able to introduce Owen to all of our friends and family back home.

Home Sweet Home
Owen’s third and fourth weeks of life were spent back in Eau Claire. He had many firsts: his first bath in his baby bath tub, his visit to daddy’s office, first baby shower, first photo shoot, first bottle, and many more little things. He has started to make a lot more sound now and smile more, though its still not in response to us.

Owen is now sleeping for about 4-5 hours at a time at night, allowing me to get some rest too, which I really appreciate J Owen has brought so much joy to Eric and my life. It amazes us how much time we can spend just watching him. We have passed hours this way-and wouldn’t change it for a thing.