Mid-May Update

Here is one more video of Owen working on pulling up:

Here are some pictures of Olivia before school one day.  I just thought she was looking very pretty with her headband and took a couple  pictures of her.

and here is a picture of Olivia helping give Owen a bath:

Now I am actually caught up with my blogging!  That's right - mark it down in the record books!  Anyway, We are doing well, just trying to get the house settled and the yard fixed up and weeded.  Still working on getting furniture in all the rooms and starting to plan someones 4th birthday party . . . hmm, who could that be!  Someone that wants a princess party!  I'm already well into planning her cake(s) for the party!  You guys know I have to do something grand!

Owen has been working on not only pulling up, but he can cruise now.  He can walk all the way from one end of the couch to the other and can even get a couple steps up the stairs now.  I definitely have to keep a close eye on him now.  We really need to spend some quality time baby proofing this weekend! 

Well, until next time - I hope you all are doing well and I hope next time won't be so far away!  Take care and Happy Mother's Day!

Early May Update

Here is a video of Owen pulling up.  The little guy has already figured out how to pull up at 7 1/2 months old!  Now he is pulling up everywhere and even starting to climb the stairs!  Oh my - I need to really work on baby proofing our new house!!!

This morning I had not realized that while I was dressing Owen, daddy was putting on the very same outfit!  how funny!  I had to get a picture of the twins before they left for their day:

Here is Owen jamming on his piano:

Here is a video showing how much Owen adores his big sister!  He always lights up around her and loves her to death!  She always makes him laugh and just loves him to death, as well. 

Here are a couple more videos of him pulling up.  He has become quite a pro at it:

A couple weekends ago, when Grant's parents were here, we took the kids to Frankie's Fun Park (arcade games, go carts) and we met Sara, Randy and Gracie out there.  The girls had a ton of fun!  Here are some pictures and videos from our adventures:

The girls rode this virtual ride/game and it was like a roller coaster type of thing.  It was pretty funny watching them do it - but they were a bit short for the seats so it was a little rough on them.  Take a look:

Here are just a couple more pictures and videos of the little man hamming it up!  He was pulling up on this music table and walking (or pushing) it across the floor grinning at me!

 

Family Beach Trip - Day Two

On our second day at the beach we actually made it out onto the actual beach for a little bit  . . . a very little bit.  It wasn't very warm out and let's just say that Owen was not a fan!

Here are a couple pictures of Olivia and Owen out there and a little video showing us dipping Owen's toes in the water for the first time - he did NOT like that one bit!!

After the beach - we went over to the NC Aquarium once we checked out of our rental.  We had a great time and loved to see Olivia checking everyting out.  Here are tons of pictures and videos from our trip:

Here's Olivia checking out a little turtle:

The sea horse tank:

Listen to this next video carefully.  See what she calls the shark . . .  it's pretty funny:

We were telling her that it was a hammer head shark and she started calling him a hamburger head shark!  ha ha!  - it was too funny!!

Family Beach Trip - Day 1

A couple weekends ago we took a family trip out to Carolina beach for our anniversary.  We wanted to take the kids to the NC Aquarium and just get some time away.  We had a great time and it really was nice to have some time away from our regular busy lives. 

We got there late Friday night.  On Saturday we drove out to Myrtle Beach and decided to take Olivia to play miniature golf - now don't expect a whole lot - she's a work in progress, but by the end of it, she was definitely getting the idea!

Here are a couple pictures of her goofing around on the course cheesing for some pictures:

Here is one more video of her playing golf.  Obviously - we were not counting her strokes:

After we finished golfing - we went to the crocodile park in Myrtle Beach.  Olivia had a great time checking out all the crocodiles and alligators.  We had never been there and were very impressed with how many they had and how HUGE some of them were!  It was unbelievable how big a couple of them were!  I wish the pictures of the couple huge ones had come out better to show you all - but they were under water and you couldn't really see them in the pictures.  If you are in Myrtle - it really is worth checking out.  They had tons of other animals there, too - tigers, birds, lemurs, turtles, bob cats etc.

Here are some pictures and videos:

Those are TONS of baby crocs behind her:

HUGE turtle:

Here's a video of them feeding the crocodiles:

 

HUGE Snake:

Cute Livi & Cute Monkey:

Tiger:

Owen checking out the Lemurs:

Owen's 6 Month Update

In my rush to catch up with all the blogging, I forgot to update you on Owen's 6-month stats and all that happened around that time.  His appointment went well and he measured well, (he had actually just lost some weight from being sick when he had gotten RSV back in February and never really recovered fully), so he dropped from 75% to 50%:

6 Months16 lbs 13 oz (50%)
26" Long (48%)
17" Head Size (45%)


At his 6 month appointment, they told us to keep nebulizing him for his lungs daily because he was still having some lung issues left over from the RSV, but told us we could try a little of the sensitive formula in one of his bottles to see if he had started to outgrow his milk/soy protein intolerance (the one we discovered when he was about 2 months old and had to put him on alimentum for - the hypoallergenic formula).  Well . . . . . . . that was NOT a good idea!!!  Turns out, he DEFINITELY did not outgrow it!!!  In fact, looks like it may have gotten possibly worse!  I only put one scoop of the sensitive (partially broken down protein instead of the alimentum, which is completely broken down) in one of his bottles - about 1/4 of the total amount.  Anyway, he got so sick that he was projectile vomiting until he was dry heaving then it started coming out the other end and then he got so lethargic that he couldn't keep his eyes open.  He was just pitiful.  I talked to my allergist and he said that although it isn't an allergy, it is still as (if not more) serious.  It is life threatening and we are NOT to let him have ANY milk or soy until he is 18 months or more likely 2, then only in the doctor's office so they can monitor him.  The problem is that it causes a severe drop in blood pressure that can be life threatening and with the reaction that he had - that is exactly what happened - why he got so lethargic!  Scary!  It took him a week or two to get his system back in shape after that one little scoop of sensitive!  Just imagine if he had gotten hold of something that wasn't already partially broken down! 

This isn't so difficult for us right now since he is only eating gerber stage 2 foods and his formula - but when he hits 1 and is supposed to go onto milk - he can't have cows milk or soy milk since the protein crosses between them.  And most foods that don't use cows milk compensate by using soy.  He will be starting to eat table food - so it will become difficult - but we will figure it out as we come to it.  The doctor did tell us that since it isn't an allergy, he is more likely to outgrow it by 2 years old - so please keep your fingers crossed for us!!

Other than this misstep - we have all been doing well and he has continued to be a very happy little guy who continues to brighten our world! 

Here is Olivia helping daddy mow the lawn:



And here is a little (or actually HUGE) *friend* we found in our garage on a flower pot a couple weekends ago.  Yep, a nice big black Widow!!