Funky Monkey

Owen's first "real" Halloween went well. I say his first Halloween because he was only 6 days old last year and didn't have a costume or anything. He absolutely loved wearing his monkey costume! We went up to Aunt Carrie's work to trick-or-treat around the bank in the afternoon. The little ham was walking all over the place, showing off! After that, we went home and got ready for the big night.

We were a little behind this year, so Mike had to carve our pumpkin while I ordered pizza and got Owen back into his costume. While I stayed and waited for trick-or-treaters (who never showed up), Mike and Owen made their way around the neighborhood. For being a little guy, Owen sure cleaned up (lots of candy for mommy and daddy)! Grandma and Grandpa T came over to see Owen in his costume and ate some pizza with us. After that, Mike took Owen over to visit Tim and Joan. Owen was exhausted at the end of the night, but he had a good time!

Pumpkin Prowl

We took O to the zoo this evening for the Pumpkin Prowl. They set up mini haunted houses, pumpkins and other Halloween decor, and had little animal shows. O loved looking at all of the other kids in their costumes. He actually just enjoyed being outside in general. We tried to take his new wagon along, but it had a little accident and was basically out of commission the whole night. Grandpa W came with us to the zoo and we met up with Mandy, Ben, Jace, Mary, Justin, and AJ.

We came home and put Owen to bed so that we could play with the Wii. I think Grandpa W may become addicted to the Wii :) He said he was staying for a few minutes and ended up staying for 2 hours.

Grandpa T's party

Happy birthday to Grandpa T! He turned 75 on October 23rd, and we celebrated his birthday this evening. Everyone went out to Grandma and Grandpa T's house for a yummy dinner, cake, and presents.

This morning Mike got up and went to Target at 5 am to buy a Wii. He ended up getting one, so I'm sure a lot of our time will be spent playing the Wii after Owen goes to bed. It's a good thing he's sleeping through the night now!

Tonight when I was putting Owen to bed, I was watching him twirl his hair. He does his every night as he's falling asleep and it's one of my favorite things! I love it because both Mike and I twirl our hair. It's so cute when he does it and it's something that he got from both of us.

The big day

Finally the day we've been planning for has come! This evening was Owen's birthday party and everything was great. Aside from being a little overwhelmed at times, Owen enjoyed spending time with all of his family and friends.

Dad's first attempt at cake was a success! At least, Owen had no complaints about it. He was pretty careful at first, but ended up making a mess. His white shirt was turned teal and he had blue hair, so I'd say the cake was a success!

We thought since he had such a great time ripping up his gifts at home that Owen would do a good job of opening them at the party. This was not the case at all! I think he was a little overwhelmed with everyone watching and so many gifts because he was not cooperating at all. He was more interested in climbing over things, visiting friends, playing with the new toys, moving gifts around, etc than actually opening any packages. I think he sat through all of one gift before taking off in a thousand directions and leaving me to open the rest. He ended up getting a lot of fun toys that he can't wait to play with.

Owen wanted to thank everyone for celebrating his first birthday with him. He was lucky to have all of his friends and family with him on his special day. Here are some other random pictures from the party:

12 Month Check-up

Owen had his 12 month check-up this afternoon. He is still tall and skinny (which we already knew) at 30.75 inches an 21.2 pounds. That's 90th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight. Mike and I decided to delay his MMR shot until 15 months, so we saved him from one shot, but unfortunately he had to get 2 others. He was not very happy about getting them, but quickly calmed down.

After we put Owen to bed, we had a lot of party prep to take care of. Mike and I were up until 1:30 making lasagna, cakes, and cookies. Everything is finally finished and should be ready for tomorrow!

The Big One!

One year ago, our lives were completely changed by a tiny person. I can't believe that it's been a year since Owen's birth; it amazes me how much he's changed! He went from being this completely helpless being to an independent toddler.

Mike took the day off so we could all celebrate his birthday together. Owen decided he wanted to take it easy on his b-day, he napped for almost 3 hours! We ended up running to the mall to get Grandpa T's birthday gift and gave Owen a little time to play in the play area. After the mall, we met Grandma T, Grandpa T, and Grandpa W at Incredible Pizza for dinner. Owen loved the rides, especially the mini-carousel. He rode it so many times that the threw up! It's not a good birthday unless you throw up daddy said, so Owen must have had a great day! He was able to open his gifts from us when we got home that night. He tore into the presents, ripping through the paper to find his Mega-Bloks and Little People Airplane.

The day went well, and I think Owen had a good time. He was able to spend the whole day with his favorite people, his mom and dad. Now we just have to finish some last minute things for his party on Saturday.

Party Time!

Today was the Halloween costume party at St. John's. It was so much fun seeing all the babies dressed up! They were all so cute in their costumes. I think the tiger costume was the definately the most popular. There was another monkey identical to Owen's (but O was cuter), a spider, skunk, lion, pumpkin, superman, yoda, dragons, etc. We took the kids around to trick-or-treat and see the nurses on the floor.

Fun Fall Days at Stuckmeyer's

Since we'd already went to Eckert's earlier this year and weren't too impressed, we decided to try someplace new for pumpkins. A few people recommended Stuckmeyer's Farm, and since it was close, we decided to give it a try. We all had a great time and got 2 nice pumpkins. Owen really enjoyed the complementary wagons the best. He loved being pulled around while he held onto his pumpkins.

Go Owen!

We have a walker finally! Okay, not necessarily a walker, but he's taking steps on his own. Kailey and I were having him practice standing on his own, and I decided to try to entice him to walk with my cell phone. The kid is obsessed with phones and did finally take 2-3 steps towards it. By the end of the day, he had taken 5-6 consecutive steps on his own. He might end up making Mike happy after all and learn to walk by his birthday....we'll see!

Bump on the head

Owen had his first injury that required us to call the doctor today. He was crawling around at the Mullen's house and got a lamp cord stuck on his foot. He continued to crawl and proceeded to pull the lamp off the table, directly on his head. Tears immediately followed, but were quickly gone as soon as I gave him my cell phone. He seemed fine afterwards, but on the drive home, I started freaking out, wondering if he could have a concussion. When I felt his head, he had a large knot on the back, so I decided to call his doctor. She said that as long as he wasn't acting differently then he should be fine. We continued to put (or try to put) ice on it and gave him some Tylenol before bed. I'm guessing the whole incident was much more traumatic for me than it was for him.

Rainy Days

We woke up to a rainy, dreary day today. Not that big of a deal since Owen still isn't feeling great and we had no plans. I decided to run up to the store since there was nothing for lunch. It was Owen's first real experience with rain. He's been out in the rain before obviously, but this is the first hard rain that he's been in for any length of time. Normally my car's in the driveway so we can get him in the carseat pretty quickly. I parked in the street last night, so he was able to "play" in the rain a little. It was pretty cute to watch him. He kept laughing and reaching up to try and catch drops. I think he was a little confused at first, but ended up liking the rain.

We have tornado warnings all night until 6 am, so hopefully the weather doesn't get too bad tonight!

The Focus is Fixed!

My car has been making a rattling noise for about 2 months now. I finally made an appointment to have it looked at after getting yelled at several times by my dad. So Owen and I dropped the car off around 10:30 am. Since the carseat was in my car and I don't know how to move it (yes, something I should learn), Owen and I decided to walk around South County until it was finished. We headed down Lindbergh to K-Mart first. My dad ended up meeting us for lunch at the Chinese Buffet. It was Owen's first Chinese experience and he loved it! He was eating everything, crab rangoon, sesame chicken, vegetable lo mein, fried rice, etc. We then went back to K-Mart for a while. After a trip to Dollar Tree and Babies R Us, we finally got the call that the car was ready. I can now drive without sounding like we're in a go-kart, very exciting.

Mr. Owen is not feeling very well. He is overly crabby and has a runny nose. I'm not sure if he's getting a little cold or maybe he has teeth coming through. He won't let me near his mouth long enough to see if teeth are the problem. Hopefully he starts feeling better soon!

Happy 1st Birthday, Caleb!

Today is Owen's buddy Caleb's birthday. His party was yesterday and Owen had a good time celebrating with him. We hope Caleb had a great 1st birthday!

Mills again

We headed out to the Mills again on Monday. It seems like all we do lately is go out there. We went with Rachel, Rylynn, Mary, and AJ. I ended up getting a few things for Owen's birthday and some pjs for him. On to babysitting after that, nothing too exciting today.

Birthday Weekend

Owen had two birthday parties this weekend, so he was a busy guy! Saturday morning we went to the Magic House's Big Truck Day for Luke's 2nd birthday. Owen wasn't all the interested in the trucks, he had a much better time inside playing. He loves the little ball pits the most I think. We went over to Steve and Tricia's house for lunch, cake, and presents afterwards. Owen had a blast playing with all of Luke's cousins (Mia, Connor, Ellie, and Brendan).

Sunday afternoon was Caleb's 1st birthday party! All of Owen's friends were there so he was happy to hang out with his buddies. Caleb did a great job making a mess with his cake! Owen is definately ready for his big day. He is just as, if not more interested in everyone else's presents.

New Do!

Owen got a haircut today! It's his fourth one and he's done great at each of them. He and I went to GreatClips because they sent us a coupon for a cheap cut! Cool Cuts 4 Kids charges $15.95 to cut his hair, which was a little too much for me to spend on a one year old's hair. Anyway, Mike doesn't like the back of his hair. He says it looks like they put a bowl on his head and cut around it. Apparently, he likes the "tapered" look better. Whatever :)

We spiked his hair after dinner. It looked so cute and he was showing it off. I took some pictures of it, but haven't uploaded them yet. I'll have to add them once I do.

Our Anniversary

Today was our second anniversary. I can't believe that it's been 2 years since our wedding! I was surprised that so many people remembered and called us to wish us a happy anniversary. Grandma, Sue, Zachary, Tim, Carrie, my dad, and Mike's parents all called. Owen spend the evening with Grandma and Grandpa Thierauf so Mike and I could go out. We ended up going to Cunetto's and to the Chocolate Bar. Cunetto's was okay, but the Chocolate Bar was yummy! Mike had never been there, so he wanted to see what the hype was about. He enjoyed his martini, but thought the place was a little too girly for him. We had a good time and Owen enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa.

ND Fall Festival

So I decided that we should go to ND's fall festival this year for some reason. I haven't been since I graduated and wanted to check it out. We did a little shopping and then headed up there. Things were definately different than when I was there. There was a band and beer garden set up in the front of the school and in the back they had a blowup jousting area. We were too late for games and such, so I don't know how that was. Coronation started at 6, so we watched a little of that, but left early. No air conditioning in the gym was killing me! Owen had a good time watching all the people and hearing them cheering. I, on the other hand, was not that impressed. I guess you just have to be a student and be caught up in the whole spirit of the event because it was not fun to me. We left before the actual winner was announced, so I'm just assuming the seniors won, as usual.

Party Time!

Today was Rylynn's birthday party at the park. Everything turned out so cute! Rachel and David did a great job getting everything together. We had a good time watching the babies play with one another. Liam was a little bit of a party pooper and slept for half the party, but he woke up in time to watch Rylynn open her gifts! She got a lot of great gifts. Owen was having a great time climbing in and out of her turtle sandbox and just generally getting in the way while she was opening presents. I guess he was jealous and looking forward to his big day! There was a blowup ducky with ice and drinks in it that Owen was drawn to. We would move him away and he would immediately crawl back to it and start splashing in it. He somehow knows exactly what he's not supposed to play with and immediately go for it. He is definately determined and stubborn.

We also had two kickball games before the party. I ended up playing because they were short a few girls. Owen had fun letting Sarah, Krissy, and Dawn watch him while I was in the field. He had a blast playing in the dirt with the sticks. He was a mess when we brought him home, but he had so much fun. We ended up winning both games, so Shot to the Balls is now 10-0.

Busy Weekends

We have sooo much going on this time of year! It's actually a little ridiculous how busy we are. Last weekend was Mandy and Evan's wedding and Jace's birthday party, this weekend was Rylynn's party, next weekend is Caleb's and Luke's parties, then Grandpa T's birthday dinner, then Owen's party, then Kaden's party, then Grandma T's, Erin's and my birthdays! We literally don't have a free weekend until the middle of November and then it's just going to get crazy with the holidays.

Mills Trip

A few of us have decided to get together for a monthly scrapbooking night without babies. Since we're starting next week, we decided we needed to make a trip out to the Mills to go to Archiver's for some supplies. Mike met us for lunch since he got off early. Owen rode on the carousel and enjoyed it. The Mills is becoming my favorite place to shop, too bad it's so far away!

90 Degrees in Oct?

The weather has been absolutely crazy here lately! It's October and it's still 90 degrees outside! We went to Des Peres Park to meet Michelle and Liam and ended up leaving because of the heat. West County Mall's play area was much cooler and they have Cinnabon. Yummy!

Also, we had our Parents As Teachers meeting today. Darlene came over and Owen had a good time. She brought some toy animals for him to play with and we made a book of animals. She was impressed with his ability to throw a ball so well. Apparently it is a 12 month skill that Owen has mastered.

Happy Birthday Rylynn!

Yay! Today's Rylynn's first birthday! Owen is very excited about going to her party on Saturday at the park. I can't believe that we have so many birthday parties coming up and that all our babies are growing up so fast!

Today Owen and I took a walk around the neighborhood. It was beautiful outside, and he had fun looking at everything around him. Grandma Thierauf came to babysit while I played volleyball. He had a good time hanging out with Grandma.

Magic House Fun

We took a trip to the Magic House today with Rylynn, Caleb and their mommies. All of the babies seemed to have a good time, they especially enjoyed the balls. Owen loved climbing up and down the steps which is becoming his new favorite game to play. He loves the fact that he can get up and down on his own without any help. He still scares me going down though, so I have to follow right behind him constantly.

There's also a water room that Rylynn and Owen loved. They had cups, pitchers, fountains, etc. to play and splash in. I didn't realize how wet Owen would actually get and had to change his clothes afterwards. He was soaked, but he had a blast splashing himself.

They should be finished with the construction by summer and the Magic House will double in size then. I'm excited to see the new things that they are adding. It's one of my favorite places to go with Owen and he seems to love everything there.