College Fund

Owen got his first "elephant" bank the other day ... wonder what college will cost in 18 years???? :)

Cereal

We tried cereal for the first time last week...and we've tried a few more times since, but Owen does not seem especially interested right now.  We will try again in a few weeks.  Until then, enjoy these shots of Owen and his not yet developed liking for food!

Owen is 4 months old!

It's hard to believe our little guy is four months old!!  We went to the doctor on Monday for his check-up and he weighs 15 pounds and 7 ounces.  He was 25 inches long.  He is in the 60% for weight and the 80% for height.  He got some more shots, but she said he is perfect and we couldn't agree more!!!  Here are some 4 month shots.

I got the above photos taken and then Owen spat up...I decided not to change his outfit because this is so typical, that I want to remember the "REAL 4 months!" :)  So excuse the wet spot...

                                                      Check out my band-aids!

                                                          How cute!!!

                                              Yes, he's drooling like crazy, but the doctor says no teeth yet, she
                                            just says that boys drool...of course... why didn't I think of that?? :) 

Reader Poll: What are you reading?

What I've been reading:

Parenting books:

BabyWise ( Ezzo and Bucknam)
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer  (Hogg)
Bringing Up Boys (Dobson)

Girls' Bible Study:

Having a Mary Spirit in a Martha World ( Weaver)
 (This is my second time through this book and it's GREAT!!!)

Fiction:

Echos (Steele) (for those of you who know me it will come as a huge shock that this is about WWII. :)


Let me hear from you guys... any good books you've read lately??????

"Blanketed in Love"

I wanted to do a post on all the amazing handmade blankets we recieved for Owen.  These were all made by dear friends and family.  There are 12 of them!!!  We use at least one everyday and it has been so fun to pull them out and tell Owen who made it for him! I know these will be precious to him one day (oh, yeah right, I keep forgetting he's a boy!!!... but maybe his wife will care!)  Then I will be old and gray, but have this post to remind me who made what! :)  So let the tour of blankets begin!

Made by:   Linda and David Hagewood

Made by: Joyce Dark

This was actually made for me when I was a baby.  My Nana made one and then when there were two babies, she went back and made another one! 

Made by:  Gina Toole

Made by:  Martha Young

Made by:  Sarah Brown

Made by:  Donna Richards

Made by:  Peggy Donnell

Made by:  Sue Mast

Made by:  Karen Walters

Made by:  Mimi

Made by:  Donna Richards

I know these took a lot of time and effort and they are very special to us!!! 

THANKS!!!

Cole

                                                                                

 Owen and cousin Jesse both share the same middle name... Cole.  That is after our grandparents, whose last name was Cole.  As I sit down to write a little something about our grandparents, I am overwhelmed as to where I should start.  They were such AMAZING people!!!  Michael, Julie, and I learned so many wonderful life lessons from them.  They were some of the most humble, grateful, and giving people I know.  Life sent them some very hard knocks (Pa was shot in the head during WW2 and had a severe stroke in his thirties... he had to learn to walk, talk, write, etc. all over again and was in the hospital for a year.  As you can imagine, this changed their lives forever.  Grandma developed arthritis early in life and I'm sure dealt with a greater amount of pain than we ever realized.  I remember the first time I saw her toes, because they were literally crossed on top of each other and it made quite an impression on me as a kid).  And yet they were not bitter people...just the opposite.  We kids had the honor of helping in small ways for Mom and Dad as they took care of Grandma and Pa in the last years of their lives.  Grandma and Pa both handled themselves in those very trying times with dignity and grace.  Some favorite memories of my "Grandma and Pa" are:

*  I loved to spend the night at their house... Pa would move to the couch to let me sleep with grandma and she would tell me to close my eyes before she turned out the light... she said that way it wasn't so bad when it was dark... she then would play soft music and hold my hand until I fell asleep. 

*  Pa was a vivacious reader... I don't remember a time that the floor in front of his chair was not strewn with books.  Everywhere he went, he took a book.

*  I went through a phase where I would call Grandma and pretend to be selling all sorts of things... she of course, would play along with my silly games.

*  Grandma played all sorts of games with us... card games, board games, "office," "school," etc.

*  We would have days where "we" put up corn.  Pa and us kids would shuck and silk the corn and Grandma and Mom would cut it off the cob. 

*  We would have great yard sales at their house.  We would set up a lemonade stand.

*  Grandma and Pa would keep us when Mom and Dad went out of town.  Grandma would sing "Oh, Little Playmate" to us when she drove us to school.

*  Grandma always said, "All we can do is brighten our little corner of the world."  She did just that!  I'm so glad I was in her "corner."

It is for all of these wonderful memories and so many more, that we are so proud that our sons bear their name. 

Atlanta Cousins

Our cousins from Atlanta came up a few weekends ago and we had a great time visiting! 

Here is Emma Kate with Jesse

Mandy and Jake feeding Owen

Owen, Julie, and I enjoyed the great day outside while our cousins played putt-putt!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Well, Owen rolled over from his back to his belly for the first time on Wednesday... and I missed it! :(  I put him down on the blanket and went to the fridge to grab a quick drink and when I got back he was on his belly.  Then on Thursday he did it again and Jim and I both got to witness it!  On Friday, he rolled from his belly to his back!  Wow!  What a week!  I have a feeling we are going to be chasing after him in no time! :)  He still is mainly rolling up on his side, but about once or twice a day now, he gets all the way over.  In fact, he woke us us at 3:15 one morning this week because he had rolled over on his belly in his crib, and couldn't get back over.  Boy, was he mad!  It's hard to get action shots of this milestone... Jim laughs because everytime I grab the camera/video camera he stops.  Here are what I was able to capture:

Yes, he is drooling all the time!

Ignore the orange on the socks with the red pants! :)

He is grabbing blankets, necklaces, bibs, etc. now too!

This rolling business is HARD work!