A little theif

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

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)

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

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...

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

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

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!