Mudbugs

Saturday, we were excited be invited to a birthday crawfish boil for our friends Erin and Rebecca. When I RSVP'd, I let Erin know that Owen and I don't eat crawfish, but that Richie is a big fan. What I didn't take into consideration, however, is that Owen will pretty much eat anything. ANYTHING. Please take a moment to check out my friend Maggie's blog post about our afternoon:

Just say NO to Mommy Brain!: Boys are from Mars.

A&P with Owen

Quick funny...
Owen had an accident in his pants this morning....lots and lots of tee-tee. I commented, "Wow, where did all this tee-tee come from?!"

His matter-of-fact response: "My penis!"

Goodnight already!

Most nights, Owen goes to bed without too much of a fuss. After using the potty and brushing his teeth, he will jump (literally) into his bed, mandate a couple of books to read, and settle in with his numerous bed buddies (monster, 2 Curious Georges, lamb, 'spider monkey', parrot, and little horse, to name a few). We will read, chat, say our goodnights and i love you's, turn on his baby Beatles cd, and turn off the light. Some nights, Owen will request "wabes." Oh, you've never heard of wabes before? Well, that would be Owen's way of saying he wants one of us to lay in bed with him and try to make ocean sounds. As you can imagine, that is no problem for Richie. My ocean sounds, on the other hand, generally come across sounding more like a tv that can't find a functioning channel more than relaxing waves gently lullabying our sweet son to sleep.

Tonight, it's been quite a challenge to get Owen to bed. I have tucked him in now FOUR times. Just as I get settled, I hear his little feet charging down the hallways. Here's how the conversation goes once he barges into our bedroom:

Owen: "I've got to tell you something."
Me: "Okay, buddy, what is it?"
Owen: "Spiderman."
Me: "What about Spiderman?"
Owen: "Spiderman."
sigh
tuck in
kiss
settle in
aaaah
darn...door
Owen: "I've got to tell you something."
Me: "Owen, I asked you to stay in your bed. What do you need to tell me?"
Owen: "Spiderman."
tuck in
kiss
settle in
door again
Owen: "I've got to tell you something."
Me: "Owen, what is it you need to tell me?"
Owen: "Lamb."
Me: "What about lamb?"
Owen: "Lamb."
tuck in
kiss
(uh, maybe a threat about popping his behind if he gets up again)
settle in
yup, you guessed it...
the dadgum door

Sounds like all is quiet on the other end of the monitor.
Oops, think again....

Happy Earth Day!

Spring has finally arrived in Nashville! Most of April, we've had chilly, damp, dreary weather...until the past week or so. We're finally seeing mid-60 and 70 degree weather and lots of beautiful sunshine. Owen has always loved being outside, so he's been spending most of the daylight hours running around the back yard, playing with the dogs, finding sticks, and just generally being his awesome little self. Tonight, for example, Owen fixed me a lovely dinner of gum and squash casserole (more commonly recognized as a pebble and a clump of grass) while I worked on sanding our front porch swing. :) Here are some fun pictures of Owen enjoying spring...

"It's easy being green! Hug a tree"

Comfy new sandals from Gran and Pop

Picnic lunch with Uncle Tom at the Earth Day celebration last Saturday at Centennial Park...

followed by a little yard work...

and dinner outside by our veggie garden.

Aah...springtime and the livin' is easy!

Hope you haven't been holding your breath!

Well, I am just barely getting in under the wire--it's almost been a month since my last post...but not quite! So, without further adieu, I present to you a little post about our Easter Weekend!


We started off by visiting (and joining, thanks to Gran and Pop!) the amazing Adventure Science Center...Owen and Miriam could barely contain their excitement waiting for the crew to arrive...
One of the highlights of our day was spotting this T-Rex....just like the T-Rex on Owen's shirt!

We also had a lot of fun watching the big kids figure out the pressure-launched two liter cola bottles...

Friday night, Owen spent the night at the guest suite with Gran, Pop, and Uncle Minor. Miriam and I joined them for lunch and some play time on Saturday...

Saturday night, we all headed over to the Grand Ole Opry House for a fantastic night of country and bluegrass music. Owen really seemed to enjoy himself...he clapped and pretended to drum his popcorn bucket along to the music. We did have to take him out to the foyer for some "run off some steam" time, but overall he did great!

Sunday morning, our awesome friends the Cassells and Uncle Tom came over for an Easter egg hunt! Owen and Dylan did a great job finding all of the eggs that Aunt Mimi hid.

We capped off our morning with a delicious brunch at the Nashville Biscuit House. Once we made it home, Tom convinced me that we just had to plant a garden right then! After Gran, Pop, and Uncle Minor headed back to Mississippi, we got started. Miriam and Owen were busy finding worms...

and climbing our very favorite magnolia tree...

What a wonderful visit! Somehow, regretfully, I didn't get any pictures of Owen with Gran and Pop! I have no idea how that happened, but I'm hoping that, out of the FOUR other cameras that were carefully documenting the weekend, someone got at least a few cute ones of Owen with Gran and Pop. That's right....FOUR other cameras. :)

Happy Easter to all of our friends and family!

the ides of March

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post...I've been a bad blogger once again. I haven't been very good about taking pictures the last couple of weeks, either, so I only have a couple to share....

Owen is still loving his big boy bed! Richie and I have been enjoying having more room to read bedtime stories each night, and Owen is doing a good job of staying in his bed, for the most part. Here he is all decked out a few nights ago...

Uncle Jeremy has left to go on tour until early April. A few night before he left, he did the honors of helping Owen use the potty, brush his teeth, and read stories before bed. It was too sweet to not take a picture!

A couple of nights ago, Owen started rubbing his elbow with his arm flexed and said, "Mommy, my muscles are growing!" Funny boy!

there goes my blogging streak!

Well, I was on a roll...but life has been a little crazy the last few weeks and it's thrown me off my game. I had to go to Memphis for my company's annual leadership conference, and it took me a week to even unpack! Here are a few highlights of the last few weeks....

Oops...Owen found the Fun Dip I had been hiding from him!

Owen and Uncle Jeremy playing a game on Jeremy's iphone....

....until a call came in!

Owen thought it was funny that we were all wearing gray shirts

One exciting change around our house is the addition of Owen's very own BIG BOY BED! We have been talking to him lately about if he wanted to get a bigger bed, and he kept saying that he did. So we did some research online and spent all day Saturday shopping for mattresses. Owen had a blast jumping on all of the display beds. Thankfully, the stores were very accomodating, and I'm sure they have kids come through day in and day out. Finally, after lots of testing out mattresses and a little wheeling and dealing, we came home with a nice, comfy full size bed for our sweet boy. We put it all together and put the bedding on, and Owen just hopped right in....

I'm telling you, this is one of the few times I can remember

Owen actually being excited to go to bed! :)

He slept great through the night and napped for over 2 hours today! And although it was sad to take his crib and changing table apart to put in the attic, it is awfully exciting to celebrate this milestone with our son. The crib I might miss...the changing table, not so much!