The Little Bears Fan in the Big Bears Shirt

Cody decided to get Owen pumped up for the game last night and put him in one of his Bears t-shirts. Then Owen decided to get Daddy's Bear Head and put that on. He ran around the house in it having a great time! Go Bears!

A Fun-Filled Christmas Adventure at Pella Corp....and some other stuff

On Saturday morning we went to a little Christmas thing at Pella Corporation that they do every year for the kids of the employees. There are a bunch of different things to do like making ornaments, coloring cards, ballon animals, cookie decorating, and of course seeing Santa. Owen was a little young for a lot of it, but still had a good time. Here are a few pictures of our day, along with some other pictures we took throughout the weekend:

Cookie decorating with Dad.

Sampling the cookie.

"Nummy!" as Owen would say. He loved eating the cookie. Later, we let him out of his stroller and he kept going back to the cookie table saying, "Nummy, nummy, nummy!" I guess he takes after his mama in that respect. I refrained from decorating my own as no other adults were doing so, but I did have to sample Owen's. You know, to make sure it was safe for him to eat. ;)

Here he is coloring a Christmas card.

And here it is...our long-awaited Christmas tree. Still doesn't have the skirt on it and the ornaments were kind of thrown on--I'm usually a little more picky about placement of ornaments. When I decorated our tree at my parents' house, I even had specific spots where the ornaments had to go EVERY year. But this year, there was no time for pickiness!

Here's Owen checking out the tree. He does like to take the ornaments off, but he's not quite as bad as I thought he'd be. He does listen when I tell him to stop. I showed him where one is that plays music so he likes to go up to that one and press the button all the time. Then he dances to the music. It's too cute!

This is just a cute photo that Cody took of him while I was out shopping on Saturday. They had a fun time together while Mom was out purchasing gifts all weekend.

This is his new hat and mitten set that I bought him while I was out on one of my many shopping trips.

And here he is trying to take his temperature after finding the thermometer in the diaper bag.

So that was the weekend at the Muhses. I forgot to scan his picture with Santa so I'll have to do that and then post it for you all to see. Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season!

The Pea in the Pod

I went to the doctor this morning for my 12 week appt. He had trouble hearing the heart beat with the doppler so I ended up getting a free peek at the baby because he had to find it via ultrasound. He said everything looked good and the heart rate is 152 BPM. I got to see little arms and hands flailing around! It was a wonderful, unexpected surpise. As we were looking, the dr. said, "It's already breech!" I said, "You're kidding! What is wrong with my children that they don't know the correct way to enter this world?" (Owen was also breech.) He said, "Maybe we need to shine a flashlight up there and tell them to follow the light!" When I got home, I called Beth to tell her the story and she said, "Well, maybe it's not the babies' fault, maybe you guys are putting them in there wrong!" So we decided that Cody must have "backwards" sperm. Haha. I'm sure he will love that I posted that on here! In any case, here is a slightly cloudy picture of our 2nd backwards, but healthy, baby.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Ok, well not a lot, but at least it's a start! This morning I went to the doctor while Cody stayed home with Owen. I came home and Cody said, "Owen learned a new word this morning." I said, "Oh! What is it?" "Tree, " he says. I said, "Oh, did Barney teach him that?" Cody looks at me like I'm an idiot and says, "Uh, no, I did." I look to my right and the Christmas tree is in the room!!! Granted, it needs a lot of work, but he said he thought I would be happier if it was up so he decided to haul it up from the basement. How sweet of him! I know we still have to decorate it, which we plan to do tonight, and we will only enjoy for 2 weeks, but it is really nice to have it up and I do feel happier! So here are a couple of pictures of our not-so-pretty tree and the few decorations that Cody added himself.

I don't know if you can see it, but there is one ornament on it that Gary brought Owen at Thanksgiving. It was already sitting out so Cody put it on.

And here is his "skirt." Yes, that is one of Owen's bibs. He also put the star on top, which I didn't get in the picture. He said I should really appreciate that because it took a second trip to the basement to get it.

Check back and hopefully tomorrow we'll have much prettier pictures of our tree! I'm starting to feel the "scrooge" escaping me! :) And the best part is that so far Owen hasn't really bothered it too much. I'll get back to you on that after it's full of lights and ornaments!

Wheel Contestant in Training

As most of you know, Owen is a big fan of "Wheel of Fortune." We watch it every night, although some nights he's more into it than others. Tonight was definitely one of those nights. As soon as he heard the music, he jumped up and ran to the TV and started cheering and clapping. He has now also started to call out the letters after the contestants do. Tonight, when a woman found out she won a trip, she was ecstatic and put her hands over her mouth and jumped up and down. Owen got just as excited for her and put his hands over his mouth as he cheered! Now he just keeps walking around the house doing it. We were able to get it on camera:

Look out, Pat and Vanna, this boy is ready!

Procrastination, Mommy and Me Time, and the Bears Clinch the Division!

So here we are nearly 4 days into December and my tree is not up, nor have I bought one Christmas present. I don't know if it's the exhaustion that comes with pregnancy or what, but I just can't get into the spirit this year!! I had planned to get the tree up this weekend while Cody was away in Chicago at the Bears game. I got the area cleared out where the tree is to be placed, but I didn't have the energy to haul it and it's mountain of lights and ornaments that go with it up from the basement. Part of it is because I really do think I need Cody to help with the actual assembly of the tree. But I think the biggest part of it is knowing that I will have to spend the next 3 weeks keeping Owen from destroying it!!!! I feel like such a scrooge and just need to get with it and get it up!

On a happier note, as I said earlier Cody was gone Saturday and Sunday for the game which left me here by myself with my baby. We had planned to go with him but then the bad weather hit IL and he had to wait until Saturday morning to head out so we just decided that it was better if O and I stayed here. We had an awesome day together on Saturday. We played for a bit at home and then went out to lunch at Subway and did some shopping at Wal-Mart. Not anything special, but we just had a really good time together. Owen was so good the entire time. It was just one of those days that made me remember why I wanted to be a mom in the first place. And then the Bears won their game and are headed to the playoffs to boot! Now if I could just get those damn decorations up all would be well in the Muhs household!

Basket O' Fun

Who needs a bunch of expensive toys when you have a basket to play in? This basket sits by the back door with towels in it for when Murphy comes inside and he's wet. Owen's newest thing is to empty out all the towels and play in the basket. And I wonder why I'm not in the mood to put up Christmas decorations!!! :) This child plays with anything that isn't an actual toy. If the things he currently plays with are any indication of what he'd like for Christmas this year, I guess you might see on his list some coasters, a bunch of swim diapers, picture frames, and absolutely anything that he can place on his or my head and put out his hands and say, "Ta da!"

New Link

Well, I finally got to my best friend, Michelle, and she started a blog of her own. You can find her blog in the "Links" section if you'd like to see what's up with the Calvert Crew. Welcome aboard, Michelle!

Another Fun-Filled Thanksgiving

Cody's Mom, Dad, and Stepmom Linda came to visit again this year for Thanksgiving. We started the tradition of Thanksgiving at our house the first year we were married. I make the entire meal, bird and all, which I love doing. I was a little worried that nausea might keep me from doing it all myself this year, but I was able to make it through without any trouble. It seems to get easier and easier each year, although I am still exhausted by the time we finish eating! Then we just lay around watching TV and napping and eating leftovers for the rest of the weekend. No crazy day-after shopping, just nice relaxing family time. We love it! I never thought I would say this, but I don't miss the Black Friday shopping one bit!!! We didn't take a whole lot of pictures as I was just too worn out to do so, but here are a few that I did get of Owen and his grandparents.

Owen made Grandpa read this book about a hundred times this weekend. He loved it! And good 'ol Grandpa never complained. And for those of you wondering, no, Owen wasn't scared of Grandpa at all!!! They thought he might be but he went right to Grandpa as soon as he walked in the door and just said, "Hi!" It was too cute.

We discovered this weekend that Owen has a fondness for pie. He would just go around to whoever had some and share theirs. Whey they ran out, he'd move on to the next person. He especially loved sharing Grandma's pie with her. Here he is scraping her bowl clean.

I think this was after he was licking the spoon clean.

Not sure what he's doing here, but aren't they cute together?! :)

So, another Thanksgiving is over and now we are gearing up for Christmas. I've still got to put up the tree and decorations, although I've decided on just doing a few decs this year since I'm sure my little mischief maker will be getting into them. Then we have to get the picture with Santa and shop and get the cards sent out and on and on and on and on....It never ends but it's so much fun, isn't it?! Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Owen's Big Announcement

Owen has been dying to share something with you all so without further ado, here it is:

Happy Birthday, Uncle Ryan...

from one Bears fan to another!!

I'm cheering the Bears on so you can have a win for your birthday!

Hope you have a great day! I love you soooo much! Go Bears!

The Old Bo Dog

I'm sorry to say that the Glodo family experienced a great loss while Owen and I were home visiting last month. On October 19th, my parents had to make the difficult decision to put our wonderful dog, Bo, to sleep. Bo was 14 years old and his health was really starting deteriorate this past year. He had bad hips, a tumor on one of his eyes that bled a lot, and a problem with his ears. He had a hard time getting around and had also lost his hearing. On the day that it happened, he was laying down on the living room floor and stayed there for 3 hours--not even getting up to relieve himself. Mom called the vet at about 8pm that night and he said he would meet them at his office. Dad had to carry Bo to the car. I, unfortunately, was out shopping with my cousin and was not able to be there but I was at least glad that I was in town. I think having Owen and Maddy there really helped my parents grieve a little easier and I was glad that I got to see Bo one last time.

Bo was really the 5th member of our family. My brother brought him home when he was just a pup when I was 15 years old. He said he was going to be a hunting dog. I think Bo went hunting maybe one time, and spent the rest of his time laying on the couch watching TV with my dad. Dad very quickly became Bo's favorite person in the family. Wherever he was, you'd find Bo right next to him. He was the quirkiest dog I've ever met and we all swear he understood every word we said. He was also the calmest dog I've ever met. Right up until the end, Owen would climb all over him and he never minded one bit. When we were on vacation this past summer, Owen started saying, "Bo!" Now, every dog he sees is, "Bo!"--even our own dog! It is the cutest thing and I rarely correct him because it makes me feel like a part of Bo is still with us that way.

I was going through some photos this week and came across some of Bo, which is why I decided to do this post in the first place. So here are some pictures of our dear old friend whom we greatly miss. Christmas won't be the same this year without seeing him dig his nose into a gift bag full of bones and tennis balls.

Here he is on GiGi's couch at Christmas. It is only because she loved Bo so much that GiGi would allow him to sit on her couch!

This is one of my favorite pictures of us. It's a little hazy because Cody was dry walling and sanding and got it all over the picture. But I still had to put it on here! Bo always loved to lay on a pillow.

Here are the two best buddies doing what they did best--relaxing on the couch.

Auntie Gaye emailed me this poem that Beth wrote about Bo when she was in high school. I think it pretty much sums up exactly what kind of dog he was and how much our entire family loved him.

“BO”

There is a dog that I know,
He is a black lab whose name is Bo.
He likes to play catch, sleep and eat,
Bo is a dog you would love to meet.
He loves to take walks, run and play,
A ride in the car makes his day.
He is as precious as a baby in our eyes,
When he is left alone, he mopes and cries.

His owners treat him like a child of their own,
He chews on a tennis ball instead of a bone.
When they go for a ride, he sits in the front,
He's very spoiled, he gets whatever he wants.

If you are a stranger who walks through the door,
He barks real loud, and runs across the floor.
If you are a face he is familiar with,
He doesn't move at all, not even a twitch.

He is a bodyguard, when his family is gone,
He sits at the window from dusk until dawn.
You can tell he cares by the look in his eye,
Bo is a great dog, and now you know why.

Cade Matthew Brooks

Well, the bags are finally unpacked, although I still feel like I'm trying to get on top of all that laundry. After 2 weeks of being away, I have spent the last 2 weeks trying to catch up on things around the house. Thus, leaving me less time for blogging. But I thought I better get some pictures up of the newest addition to our family before he turns one!! Cade Matthew was born on October 25th at 1:52pm. He didn't wait for his Auntie Sarah to get back from Puerto Rico, but with a face as cute as his I couldn't hold it against him! Owen and I got up first thing in the morning on the 26th and headed over to see them all at the hospital.

My first official picture with my new "nephew."





Owen got a little jealous when Mommy was holding Cade. He had to get on my lap and sit with us! He was so cute though. He said, "Baby!" a lot and it was really the first time he connected a word with its actual meaning. It was the sweetest thing.

Here he is giving Cade lots of loves.

He was so excited to see his Auntie Beth and he kept trying to get up into bed with her!

He finally got up there with her and gave her lots of hugs and kisses.

Here's little Cade when he got home from the hospital. I think he looks like his Mama.

Here he is sleeping away in his Daddy's arms.

To see Cade's adorable hospital picture go here.

I'm told everyone is doing well, aside from the fact that Cade sometimes doesn't want to go to sleep at night! Ah, I remember those days! We are all so happy that he is finally here and looking forward to seeing him again at Christmas. For more updated pictures, check out the Brooks Family blog in the links section.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I know, it has been quite a while since my last post. We have been very busy with Cade arriving and then travelling home. I have just been exhausted from the trip and still have tons of unpacking to do, piles of laundry to attend to, and then even the fun stuff like catching up on magazines and TV shows has become a chore! LOL I will do a post with lots of Cade pictures soon--Owen was so cute with him. And, of course, I'll post some pictures of my trip. Right now, I will just post some pictures of my cute little tiger on Halloween. We're not trick-or-treating, as he doesn't get the concept, it's too cold, and Cody and I don't need to eat all that candy! So I just dressed him up for some photos today. That was difficult enough as he didn't want to stand still for a second! But I got a couple of good ones. My hat goes off to whomever designed this costume--you can't get the hood off unless it's unzipped! Genius! He tried and tried but could never get it! Anyway, here he is, runny nose and all. ;)

I know all you Cards fans are upset to see that I dressed my son up as a tiger but hey, the costume was purchased LAST YEAR on clearance so deal with it. Have a good Halloween!

Rub-Downs, Relaxtion, and A Little Shopping

I'm back on the balcony listening to the waves while Molly is back doing that work thing. A big shout-out to her husband, Ted, for not wanting to go on this trip and letting me come instead!

Last night we made our way to Old San Juan, which ended up being about a 30 minute drive away. It was very neat to see, as everything looks just as it sounds--old. The architecture is beautiful and many of the streets are cobblestone. We would have liked to have toured the more historic sites but as it was night, nothing was open so we had to settle for walking around the outdoor market. Molly bartered for some purses and we picked up a couple of other things to take home for our boys. Then we went to a little restaurant called Tito Danny's. It was Puerto Rican and Mexican cuisine. We had sort of assumed they were close to the same thing, but apparently we were wrong. We both chose Mexican and had a nice dinner. Then we came back to the hotel and did a little gambling in the casino. I like to play video poker and they only had nickle machines. It was good because I didn't lose a lot, but I didn't win a lot either. I went home down $1, which I thought was pretty good. Tonight I think we might go back and play a little rhoulette.

This morning on Molly's break we went to the spa for massages, which were very nice and relaxing. Then we had lunch at the same outdoor restaurant as yesterday. Molly had to rush back to the conference and now I think I'm going to hit the pool and relax and get a little sun. We didn't have time to feed the iguanas so hopefully we can do that tomorrow morning before we head out. Tonight we decided we'd go cheap and familiar and hit the Pizza Hut a few minutes away. Then we might go to the golf club restaurant for a little dessert. Then hopefully we'll win big in the casino! :)

We are really enjoying ourselves but I think we're both ready to come home and see our babies. We find ourselves fixated on babies in the hotel as they pass us!

A few a quick tidbits:

We saw a crab last night on the road, ironically crossing where the sign said IGUANA CROSSING. We've yet to see an iguana pass through there.

It seems that the police here just drive with their lights on sometimes. We've seen a lot of them and they are never really speeding or seem like they are trying to "catch" somebody. One was even stopped at a stoplight waiting for a green, but had his lights on!

The concierge told me yesterday that it is a rule on the island that service people speak english. Apparently the drive-thru lady at the McDonald's failed to read her rulebook.

Back to cold weather tomorrow! Brrrr!!!

Lizards, Iguanas, and Bug Bites--Oh My!

Just thought I'd post a bit while I have a little time this afternoon. Molly is off at her conference and I'm sitting on the balcony listening to the waves and looking at beautiful palm trees. Ah, this is the life!

This morning Molly got up and went off to the nerdery (hee hee) again while I slept in (again). She got done at 12:30pm and I met her at a little outdoor restaurant by the pool where we shared a very large, but wonderfully tasty chicken caesar salad. Then she changed into her suit and we lounged by the pool for an hour or so. When she went to change into her suit, we saw a very small little lizard that was missing a leg, poor thing! Molly was quick to inform me that he will grow it back, so all will soon be good for the little guy. Then as we were just relaxing in the pool we saw an igauna climb out of it! Everyone gathered around to watch him and it was a little bit freaky! But he didn't bother anyone and just went on his merry little way. I was quick to check my surroundings each time I went into the pool again! I just knew I'd be the woman screaming like a wild woman because an iguana was in the pool right next to me! Thankfully, I swam alone. Molly has bug bites all over her ankles which we can only conclude came from sitting on the beach last night. Guess we won't make that mistake again.

This afternoon we are heading to Old San Juan. It is about 20-30 minutes away from our resort but is supposed to have great shopping and food. We'll do a little shopping and hopefully sample some yummy Puerto Rican cuisine. Then I think I'm going to convince Molly to hit the casino with me. Gambling isn't exactly her favorite thing to do, but I think I can get her to do it.

Tomorrow we are planning to feed the iguanas in the morning (one of the activities they do here) as long as Molly is out of the conference in time. Then we are getting massages at the spa. Molly is trying to convince me to go on a short bike ride. My calves are slightly hurting from that trek up the watch tower yesterday but I guess I will give it a try. There are trails around the resort so it should be fun. Not sure what else is in store for tomorrow, but with Molly at the helm, it's sure to be exciting!

I'm off to shower and get ready to go to Old San Juan. Hope everyone is doing well and surviving the cold weather back in the states. Hee hee. More to come later!

Hola from Puerto Rico!

Molly and I made to it Puerto Rico last night at around 9pm local time (we are an hour ahead here). It was about 11pm by the time we made it to our hotel as we had to get our baggage, rent our car, grab a quick bite to eat, and drive the 20 miles to our hotel. We have had quite an adventure so far. Just getting my ticket onto the plane was an adventure! We went to the print-your-own kiosk and entered my info. and it said it couldn't find me on the flight. We realized we were using the wrong info. number and found it. But for aobut 5 minutes, we were quite scared! Our flights were pretty uneventful. The second was long, but nice because they showed the movie "The Break-Up" which we both had never seen. Made the time pass a little easier.

Once we landed and got our car, we got on the road and soon got lost and had to drive through a toll-way and pay the toll on each side of the road, which annoyed us. But we got on the right track and then decided to hit McDonald's on the way. It wasn't difficult to find one because there is a fast food restaurant about every mile. We went through the drive-thru and the woman didn't speak English, so we had to order with our broken spanish. Asking for salt was quite an ordeal (Michelle, if you're reading this, think "sugar incindent" in Mazatlan!). The woman pretty much looked at us like we had 3 heads when we asked for the salt. But we did end up getting it.

The hotel is great. We are actually sitting on the balcony of our room as we type this. Turns out we are close enough to the lobby to pick up the wireless internet connection. Our room is nice, although the maid keeps turning the a/c down to 62 degrees and we freeze our asses off. But the beds are comfy and the bathroom is nice and clean.

Today Molly had to get up at the crack of dawn for a course she signed up for. She left at about 7am and I slept in, which was nice for me. She was at the course until noon and I just hung out here and watched a little TV. Sunday morning TV in Puerto Rico leaves much to be desired. I actually found myself watching "Trato Hecho" which is the Puerto Rican version of "Let's Make a Deal." It was in Spanish, so I couldn't understand a whole lot of it, but they were funny in their costumes and I did get the gist of what was going on.

When Molly got done, we headed to one of the restaurants on-site for some lunch. Then we went to El Yunque Rain Forest, which is about 15 minutes from here. It was all VERY beautiful and we really enjoyed it. The weather is nice, warm, but not horrible and it's slightly overcast so we didn't bake in the sun. We saw a pretty waterfall and went to a look-out tower where I almost collapsed from climbing the 98 stairs to the top. After that, we hit Amigo, which is a supermarket that we think is owned by Wal-Mart. We got some snacks since everything is so expensive at the hotel.

Then we headed back to the hotel. A word about driving in Puerto Rico. We have decided they have wasted money making lines on the road because no one seems to care that they are there. And there are also times that they just disappear for a few hundred feet and you just have to guess what lane you should be in. Stoplights seem to be somewhat optional, and livestock seems to roam the roads at will. We saw a few chickens cross the road and then just a horse snacking on the side of the road that didn't seem to belong to anyone. There are also IGUANA CROSSING signs on the roads within the resort. We've yet to see one cross, although we did see one right outside the restaurant at lunch.

Tonight we went back to the same restaurant for dinner. It was good, although I was ticked that they charged me another $3.50 for my tea refill. Then we took a walk on the beach. Then we decide to go for a quick dip in the pool. It was a busy but very relaxing day and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We'll try to do another update before we leave. Molly is doing conference stuff all day tomorrow so I'm sure I will find myself by the pool with a good book or maybe even making GiGi proud and doing a little gambling at the casino. Nothing like a little gambling at 2 in the afternoon. Now that's vacation!

Beth, hold that baby in til I get there! Adios!

He Don't Need No Stinking Nap!

Today we got home from lunch with Auntie Gaye, Auntie Beth, and Uncle Ryan at around 1:30. I decided to let Owen play for a bit before his nap since he slept in late this morning. At 2pm I went to change his diaper before putting him down and he WAS NOT cooperating. He didn't want that diaper on at all! After 5 minutes of fighting him, I finally got it on him but he DID NOT want his pants on. So, I gave in and put him in his crib with just his shirt on. The little stinker was in there for an hour and 45 minutes and NEVER fell asleep. He just played and talked to himself. My dad came home from work a little early and I told him he hadn't gone to sleep so he could go get him if he wanted. Dad walked in there and yelled, "Sarah! Come here!" I walk in seeing Owen like this and saying "Hiii!":

Here he is, just as happy as a clam. I wonder what Dad has called me into the room to see. Then upon closer inspection of the crib, I see this:

He has somehow gotten ahold of some paper towels and ripped them up all over his crib. And, yes, that is his diaper you see in the middle of all that mess. At some point he took that off and proceeded to pee all over himself and the bed!!! We have no idea where he got the paper towels or how he was able to reach them from the crib. Of course, you have to really know my mother to appreciate the fact that there were restroom paper towels somewhere in the baby's room that he was able to reach while in his crib and that she didn't even know were there!

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's House

We have had a busy time here at Grandma and Grandpa's thus far. I think they are going to have to just install a revolving door in their house to make it easier for people when Owen is here visiting! :) We have a visitor here for Owen to entertain almost all the time, which is fun for everyone. We've shared lunches and dinners with the family. Tomorrow we are meeting Auntie Beth for lunch at my favorite restaurant, El Bajio. Then we are having dinner at Auntie Gaye's tomorrow night. Thursday Owen and I are going shopping with Meghan and Aidan, which is sure to be an entertaining day! Then Friday we'll be gearing up for Daddy to get here and Saturday I am headed to PUERTO RICO! My best friend Molly is going there for her work and asked if I would like to tag along. It just so happened to coincide with the time we are here so Owen will stay with G'ma and G'pa until I return on Wednesday. I am so excited for some fun in the sun with my best friend! We haven't been on a long trip together in quite some time so it should be fun. The only bad part is that our other best friend, Michelle, won't be able to join us. We will miss you, Chelle! Of course, somewhere in between all of this we are hoping that little Cade will finally decide to grace us with his presence! As of tonight, though, Beth says she thinks he's content to be right where he is. I guess his mama has provided him with such a happy home that he's in no hurry to leave!

Anyway, here are a few shots of Owen that I have captured over the past few days. Hope you enjoy!

Ready to party hard at Mardi Gras.

In the rocking chair that his mommy and Uncle Josh used to sit in when they were little. He loves this chair and is always getting in and out of it!

Grandma was feeding him dinner tonight. She turned around for just a minute and then when she turned back around and looked at him he had taken his arm out of his shirt! This is a new thing he has started doing and I'm not quite sure what it's about.

All ready with flashlight in hand to go on a walk tonight. We walked Bo with the neighbor, Ann, and her dog, O'Jack, tonight--something my parents and she and her husband do on a very regular basis. Owen had a great time riding along in his stroller and holding the light for Grandpa.

This was Monday evening after he had gotten up from his nap. Apparently he wasn't quite ready to get up so he snuggled up to Mama and sat with his head on me for about 10 minutes. He NEVER does that. I was in heaven!

Back in "The 'Boro"

Owen and I made it to Murphysboro on Friday evening after what seemed like the longest trip in the history of trips. But we made it safely and have been enjoying our time thus far! On Saturday we went to my cousin Laura's wedding. Owen had a great time running all over the reception. I always realize how much I do really need Cody when I'm at parties alone with Owen. I had no one to "tag out" with! I was on duty the whole time and he WORE ME OUT! Here's a few pictures of our fun time. I couldn't take a whole lot because I was too busy chasing Owen!

My baby boy all dressed up and ready to go! We tried to get a cute picture of him in front of some pretty flowers at my parents' neighbors' house, but it's almost impossible to get him to pose for a picture these days. I still think he's cute though! Don't you love the coat? His Auntie Beth bought that for him and we just love it!

With my newfound love of cakes, I had to take a picture of this one. Isn't it just beautiful? The colors of the wedding were chocolate brown and pink.

The beautiful bride and her groom, Mark. This picture doesn't do the dress justice at all. It was gorgeous and just perfect for Laura! She looked wonderful!

My cousin Megan, her son Aidan, our Aunt Tracy, myself, and Owen. There was supposed to be a picture above this one of Owen running down a long hallway (something he did ALL NIGHT LONG) but I accidentally deleted it! I'm too tired to go through and stick it back in so maybe I'll post it another time.

My cousin Morgan and her nephew Aidan on the dance floor. Such cuties!

Owen playing with Grandpa. As I said before, almost impossible to get him to look at the camera!

Owen and Grandma gettin' their groove on on the dance floor. Owen wasn't quite sure what to think of all that dancing and loud music!

My cousin Amy's daughter, Grace, who just turned 2. She was a flower girl and looked adorable in her dress! Here she is clapping on the dance floor. What a cutie!

My cousin Scott's youngest, Emma, whom Owen adored. He would go up to her and put his arms out for her to pick him up! She is six and could hardly carry him around, but he loved it! She would just walk around with him like this. Her 8-year-old sister, Leah, was also a flower girl but I never got a picture of her because she was on the dance floor almost the entire night!

Here's me and my baby boy. It took a few tries to get him to look at the camera on this one, but we got it!









We're having a great time on our visit here. Right now we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Beth's son, Cade. She called today saying she had some pains, but it looks like it was just false labor and the wait will continue. I will post pictures as soon as he arrives!

I have come down with a cold so I am not feeling so great. The good news is that since Owen was up late the last 3 nights we have been here, he caught up on sleep this morning and slept until almost 10 am! It was just what his mama needed. I will muddle through the rest of the day until Grandma and Grandpa get home to help me. They are always so helpful with him when we are here and give me a much needed break!