Baby Pic!

My 18-week sonogram was on Tuesday, and Ben and I were blessed to see a perfectly healthy little baby!  This time around has been so different than when we were expecting Owen.  With Owen, we were completely focused on the pregnancy and getting a crib and all the other baby paraphernalia.   But this time, because we are so busy with Owen, sometimes we forget that we have another one on the way!!  So it was a special and exciting time for us Tuesday morning to be reminded that this is really happening!  And Owen was not there, so Baby #2 got all our attention!  Thank you, Lord, for the gift and miracle of another healthy baby!

Potty Exhaustion!!

Well, we all made it through Day 5 of potty boot camp.  Whew!  We've been sort of  potty-training for a while, but I decided it was time to really hit it hard.  Well, actually, what happened was that I read the paperwork from our church's preschool that Owen will attend next year and it said in bold print:  CHILD MUST BE POTTY-TRAINED!!!  Okay, no pressure!  

I was really dreading this little adventure.  But once we convinced Owen to ditch the diaper and give the undies a try, it hasn't been so bad.  He learned really fast that he did not like poop in his undies.  I feel like he's almost got that part licked.  As for the wetting, we just don't give him much of a chance to wet himself.    I have him on a strict schedule of going about every 45 minutes!!   He really is doing well.

I, on the other hand, am exhausted!!!  When I'm not taking him to the potty, I'm changing wet undies, putting on dry undies, rinsing out wet undies, or washing a load of undies.  And I think I have used a whole tub of Clorox wipes in the last week on the toilet and surrounding areas...his aim is not too good yet.  But I guess it's okay that this process is so taxing.  I keep eating all of his "potty candy" that he gets for successfully using the potty (1 jelly bean for TT; a tootsie roll or starburst for poop.)  At least I'm burning off some of those calories.

Okay, enough about that!  Here are some pics of Owen's new headboard!  I found this headboard in someone's trash on trash day a few months ago.  It had an ugly factory finish on it and was all chipped and beat up, so Ben has been slowly refinishing it when he's had the time.  I think it looks great!  And it was FREE!!

And I took this of Cooper b/c he just looked so pitiful!  I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and Ben was giving Owen a bath.  He just couldn't stand not being with us.  He sat at the door for the longest time, just staring in.

Pop's Blessing

For the longest time Ben's family has prayed a particular blessing at many meals.  It started with Ben's grandfather on his Dad's side of the family.  We have just started to teach it to Owen.  Kind of neat that this will now be the fourth generation to give thanks this way...

Global Wildlife Center

We met my parents yesterday at the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, Louisiana to pick up Owen.  It was the neatest place!  You get to ride on these big covered wagons, and all kinds of animals just come right up to you, ready to chow down!  My dad bought a huge bucket of feed so that we had plenty to feed all the animals.  Owen really loved it!

Owen getting his food ready for the animals

 They just come running up to the wagon when they see it coming!  Keep in mind, the wagons "tour" every hour, so these animals are eating ALL DAY LONG!!!  In fact, our tour guide said that a flock of geese appeared at the center a year ago, and now they're too fat to fly back to wherever they came from!

Owen was really excited about seeing the byson, but he kind of snubbed us.  He walked right on past us!

Ben had to be really careful with this guy...he was trying to snatch the whole cup!!

And this one got the cup from my dad!

Is this not the ugliest creature you've ever seen??

This zebra was a real PIG!  He ate and ate and ate!

And here he is about 10 minutes after we left, SACKED OUT!  He was so exhausted from his adventurous week at Gram and Paw-Paw's house! He slept for 2 1/2 hours, almost the whole way home.

A Vacation at Paw-Paw and Gram's House

Ben and I have had the wonderful gift of an empty nest for the last FOUR nights!  My parents were kind enough to let a wild 2-and-a-half-year-old invade their home so that we could have time to get some unfinished projects done around our home.  It sure has been strange...and quiet.  I have not cooked one single meal in five days, which has been wonderful!  Ben and I have been working all day on different things, then eating out and enjoying time on the town at night.  Tomorrow we will meet my parents to pick him up.  I am ready!  I have missed that booger.  Here are some pics of him at Gram and Paw-Paw's house.  He has had a blast, and I'm afraid he doesn't want to come home.  :(

Golfing with Paw-Paw

Loving (or annoying?) his buddy Champ while watching morning cartoons

My parents took Owen to a place called Jump-N-Jive...can you tell he had a blast?

Belly Pic - 15.5 weeks

Okay, this is so vain, but since I was having a decent hair day for the first time in MONTHS (fertility meds FRIED my hair!), I had Ben take a picture of my belly.  Which, by the way, seems to have grown a ton in the last week.

Forest Easter Egg Hunt

One Saturday, we all got together so the kids could hunt Easter eggs. They 
had so much fun! Owen ran around picking up eggs as fast as his little feet 
would go!

Easter Weekend

This is a video from the entire Easter weekend. We had a great time
together. Owen's favorite part: the candy!

Easter Bunny!

Getting ready to go to Bass Pro Shop to see the Easter bunny.  Owen said he was NOT going to sit on the bunny's lap!  I don't know if he remembered his last experience...he SCREAMED last year when he saw the bunny!

I've had some requests for an updated belly pic, so here ya go.  I'm 14.5 weeks now.  Made it to the 2nd trimester!!  I have been so blessed to not be sick this pregnancy or with Owen.

Owen walked right up and gave the bunny a sticker!

Mr. Serious

Giving the bunny a high five!

Bass Pro had a little Easter craft for the kiddos.  Owen was not too interested.  He just wanted to go see the fish!

DIRT!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. I haven't done a very good job with that in 2010!

We have been enjoying some BEAUTIFUL weather this past week and soaking up every minute outdoors! Over Spring Break, we had a new volleyball court put in at camp. Last week we had 20 huge piles of dirt (it's actually sand) delivered for it. This has been instant entertainment for Owen! I received the sad news today that the dirt will be spread out tomorrow.  Oh, well. He'll still enjoy digging in it, I'm sure!

Pictures of Easter egg hunt are coming soon...got to figure out how to load the slideshow on the blog. It's HUGE!

Here is the reason I go through two bottles of Oxi Clean stain remover a month!! Literally!  I swear by it.

"Ahhhh...I think I'll take a little break."