Moo. Baa. Oink.

This past weekend we went to Houston for a visit. It was so sunny and warm!!! Sorry to all of you upfront that we didn't have a chance to connect with. As always, it was a whirlwind trip so it's hard to fit everything in that we want to do.

We got in on Thursday and swung by FKM (my old workplace.) It was great to see everyone. Then we went to dinner at Chuy's with Cindy, Doug and Michelle. Good food and good friends, doesn't get better than that. Especially with creamy jalapeno!

On Friday we had breakfast with Diane (my old client.) We then had lunch with some FKM friends. Monique, Ashley, Cindy, Vargo, Mark and Nancy, it was great to see you! Mark was the biggest hit with Owen because he had an iPhone. Owen got to watch part of a movie!!

It had this great app with a coy pond and when you touch the screen the fish swim around. So cool!

We swung by FKM again and got to see a few more people after lunch.

On Saturday we went to the Livestock Show and Carnival. We went with the Babb's. Our dear friends who have triplets. Triple the fun we say:)

Jen, Caroline, Dylan, Garrett, David

Brett, Owen and I Owen got such a kick out of the cows. I think he said "moo" about a thousand times.

Some nice kid let him come behind the fence and pet a calf. It was so cute. I was a little shocked that he wasn't scared.

Mesmerized by the cow

We also saw baby sheep and baby pigs. There was a cow giving birth while we were there, but it wasn't worth it to fight the crowds to see. Poor thing. I surely wouldn't have wanted to be on display while I was giving birth...

Owen thought the picture of the goats was pretty funny.

Next to the cows (perhaps even more) the plethora of tractors was the highlight for Owen. This kid LOVES transportation vehicles.

This is in front of an old tractor that was refurbished. It was part of a large display where kids had redone all of these old tractors. It was pretty neat.

And they had tractors for the kids to ride in and climb on. Owen was in heaven.

The kids really enjoyed looking at the big tires on all of the tractors too.

Garrett on a tractor

Dylan on a tractorCaroline on a tractorMy little cowboy

The kids enjoyed the carnival outside. Owen was too little for the rides still, be enjoyed a snooze in the stroller while the triplets played games and rode rides. It also gave mommy and daddy some time to eat deep fried Oreos. Yum!!!

Some pics of Owen kicking it in his stroller on the tram and while shopping.
As if this wasn't already enough fun for one day, we went back to the Babb's and played outside with the swingset and baseball toy.

This is one of the sweetest pictures I have ever taken.Look at the airplane everybody!

Sunday morning before we headed to the airport we squeezed in a quick stop to see Magda and Eric. We haven't seen them in a few years so it was great to get and spend some time with them!

They have a very brave cat that let Owen pet him. Owen thought it was so great!!!

Sadly it was then time to head home and say bye-bye Houston.

Owen got to ride in a car, on a bus, on a train and on a plane all in one day. By all little boy measures, it was a great day.

He is learning so much, so fast right now. And we now he's learning a lot at school because he shows us things that I know we didn't teach him.

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Things Owen did this week:
-Began making a fish noise, a monkey noise, saying tweet tweet for a bird and flapping his arms when you point to a butterfly
-He's also learned the word "no" much to our dismay
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Goodies from the Grandparents

My Dad and Stepmom just got back from a month long journey to New Zealand. So jealous!!

Lucky for us, they didn't totall forget about us and brought us some gifts.

Brett got a very warm and soft jacket.
I got some beautiful jewelry and beads. (Sorry, some of the pics. aren't the greatest.)
This last piece is called from a company called Greenstone. It is a Kumara which represents the many paths of life and love and as such is regarded as the original eternity symbol. The single twist shows the joining together of two people. The strength of the bond of friendship, loyalty and love will last forever. So great!

And of course, the big winner was Owen:)
He got a t-shirt from Sydney.
A Haka t-shirt from New Zealand. For those of you not familiar with the Haka, they are a local tribe. And, they are also a Lacrosse team (All Black Haka) and are apparently a big deal down there.
Haka is the generic name for all Maori dance. Today, haka is defined as that part of the Maori dance repertoire where the men are to the fore with the women lending vocal support in the rear. Most haka seen today are haka taparahi, haka without weapons.

More than any aspect of Maori culture, this complex dance is an expression of the passion, vigour and identity of the race. Haka is not merely a past time of the Maori but was also a custom of high social importance in the welcoming and entertainment of visitors. Tribal reputation rose and fell on their ability to perform the haka (Hamana Mahuika)

Another big deal down there is the Buzzy Bee character. Liken it to Mickey Mouse in the US.

He got socks, a t-shirt and an actual Buzzy Bee toy!! I didn't get a picture of the t-shirt because Owen wore it so it's in the laundry. Will be sure to get one at some point.

Owen thought it was great!

And, Walli of course did not let the box go to waste that all of this came in:)

Spring Fever

This weekend was beautiful in Chicago! Ok, for all of you down South, you probably would have froze, but at 54 degrees, it was spring fever in Chicago!!!

Owen decided he must go out to play. Or run away, not totally sure.
We went to the park. I was laughing as I was taking the pictures because it's totally a city park shot with the chain link fence... Owen had a blast just running around. This was his first trip the park since he could stand and walk on his own.

Owen and Daddy. Two peas in a pod.

Weeeee

Fun on the playground equipment

In the afternoon we did some yard clean-up to get rid of all of the leftover leaves in the flower beds. Look, you can see some green sprouting up!!!! Owen helped us sweep up the sidewalk with his new broom. No Nonni Pat, he is not obsessed like Bennett was with sweeping.
Owen also tried out the new golf clubs that Nonni Pat got him. He tried to use them to rake the leaves more than anything but we did get him to push a ball around a little.

Say Cheeseburger!

Owen LOVES cheesburgers (in this case, a turkey burger.) We've been trying to get him to try different foods and get some more protein into his diet. Although he gets plenty from the amount of cheese he eats I'm sure.

Earlier this week we got McDonald's after a horrible day at work (I needed some comfort food) and Owen usually eats nuggets. I got a double-cheeseburger which Owen was eyeing. He really wanted to try it so I let him and he loved it.

Fast-forward a few days and I decided to make him a turkey burger. He couldn't get enough. It was actually quite a bit larger than I had planned, and he ate at least 2/3 of it. He loved it. We'll tweak it a little bit, but we've got a hit on our hands for sure. Now I'm going to figure out what healthy things I can hid in it:)

That was pretty much the big excitement this weekend. It rained and rained and rained all weekend so we hibernated.

For your viewing pleasure, here is some recent artwork from Owen. Some mittens done in February and a recent finger painting. Genius for sure.
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Things Owen did this week:
-Kicking (luckily just balls and things he's supposed to kick so far)
-Tons more words and animal noises
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Where is...?

This is one of Owen's favorite games now. He is honestly learning things so fast I can't keep track of them. He loves to point out his ears, nose, eyes, belly, etc. He has also started blowing kisses. In this video, he will entertain you with his dazzling peekaboo show finished off by blowing kisses.

Peekaboo

Nose

Ears

Silly little boy

This weekend Owen went to his first birthday party of a non-relative for Camille who turned 2. Camille and Owen used to be in the infant room at daycare together. Camille and her parents moved to a suburb of Chicago so we haven't seen them in about 6 months but it was great to see them and Owen had a great time and we think they even remembered each other!!! At first Owen was shy but the balloons got him to warm up.

Oh, and the best part was this big truck in their complex parking lot. Owen thought it was great!!!Owen wants to give a shout out to Nonna Barbara and Papa Mo who are in New Zealand right now. Hope you are having fun!

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Things Owen did this week:
-Learned to make an elephant and owl noise
-Has begun picking up 2 pieces of food at a time with one hand to eat (very odd)
-Blowing kisses
-Licking his fingers when he's eating something he likes
-Learned blue and yellow (says them sometimes when he sees them)
-Said bubbles, Elmo (and a whole slew of other things I can't remember right now)
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Weekend Potpourri

We spent the weekend being lazy and silly. It snowed a lot on Saturday so it gave us a good excuse to stay inside.

Caught up on our reading

Wrote down our thoughts

Stylin like daddy

This picture isn't great but it's the first time Owen said "cheese" before we took his picture:)

And of course the highlight of the weekend, Brett taught Owen to "pull his finger." Lovely. This is the new favorite activity in our house.