Pa-Lay-Doh...

...or Playdoh to most of you out there. Owen got Playdoh for Christmas from Nonni Pat and Papa Jim and we decided to get it out this past Saturday. They use it at school and for some reason he really puts the accent on the first part of the word, calling it Pa-lay-doh. It's cute:)

We had lots of playing with all of the animal shaped cookie cutters that came with the set.
We made a crocodile first.

Talking about the crocodile

I don't know why, but he looks so grown up to me in this picture...

Sharing some of our fun

Owen also got some cool Playdoh barnyard animal molds from Aunt Stacy, Uncle Thomas and his cousins so maybe we'll try those out this weekend. I don't remember Playdoh being so messy (crumbles everywhere) but I guess I'll just have to get over it in the name of fun.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of you:) Hard to believe it's 2010...

We had a great Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve we traveled to Toledo, OH to Brett's parents' house. Owen enjoyed leaving cookies and milk for Santa. Don't think he really gets Santa Claus yet, but he knows who he is at least.

Reading with Nonni Pat

Christmas morning we got up and went to Mass. Before church Owen got to open one present which was from Nonna Barbara and Papa Mo. He'll get to celebrate with them officially when we go to visit next week but it was nice to have something under the tree from them.

(Note to Nonna and Papa, ignore the end of the video, he still loves the book!)

After church Brett's brother, his wife and Owen's cousins (Ben and Caden) came over for presents and lunch. It's chaotic with all 3 children there to say the least, but Owen has so much fun with the boys that it makes it all worth it!

Have a Merry (dinosaur) Christmas!

After lunch and naps, my Mom came down and it was time for round 3 of presents. Owen actually doesn't even care about unwrapping presents yet. He just wanted to play with the garage sale toys in the corner. Figures...

People have been buying me penguins since I was little and the mass quantity of them I have drives Brett crazy. So, his mom thinks it's funny (which it is) to buy Owen something penguin every year.

Wonderpets are still a big deal in our house and Owen was so excited to get a look-and-find Wonderpet book. More WonderpetsMagnetic Dress Up Joey

Brett's Aunt Carol made this adorable sweater and matching hat for Owen. They are so SOFT. Wonderful gifts, I love handmade!

Kids being kids, of course Owen didn't want to try them on at first. This picture makes me think of the scene in A Christmas Story where they make Ralphie put on the Easter Bunny outfit. Classic.
One of the big hits was a dump truck from Gigi. Although Owen LOVES dinosaurs right now, he still loves his trucks too.

Playing with Papa Jim

Saturday morning we went to breakfast with a bunch of friends from high school and their spouses/kids. It was a really great time.

Clockwise beginning with Owen on the bottom left, Kristy, Ava, Amy, Gus, Jen, Lucas, Todd, Jeff, Jill, Cooper, Todd, Alex and Brett

Afterward we went up to Michigan to stay with my mom for a few nights. I must have been pictured out because I didn't really take any. But, I did get this great shot of Owen getting a dinosaur from Gigi (round 4 of presents for those of you keeping count.) I love it because it shows the pure joy that can only come from a child.
On Monday we headed back to Toledo for one more evening with the cousins, Nonni Pat and Papa Jim before heading back to Chicago on Tuesday.

Being pregnant and having a 2 year old does not make for a very exciting New Year's Eve, but our friends Doug and Michelle were in town so they joined us for dinner. Michelle is due 4 days before me so it was nice to have another preggo around for the festivities. Owen talked their ears off and it was a great time!
On New Year's Day we didn't do much, but Owen had fun playing with some bubble wrap we had lying around.

Penelope relaxing in Owen's chair

All in all it was a great week. I'll leave you with some pictures of the outside of our house and our tree.

Now it's time to go into mourning that Christmas is over and all we are left with is a cold, cold winter:(

It's a...

Baby!!!! We had our big 20 week ultrasound yesterday but you all still have to wait to find out what we are having until the big day arrives:) Everything looked good and the baby is VERY active. Yikes.

But, in the meantime here are some pictures for you.

Body and Spine
(In the first pic. the baby has both arms out the side like it's relaxing!)

Arm and LegBody

Left Arm

Feet

3D shots
(We tried a few in 3D although the baby really wasn't cooperating. Still pretty weird.)

On another note, as I mentioned previously, Owen is OBSESSED with dinosaurs. He loves the show Dinosaur Train and anything related. He has even learned the name of about 8 species from watching the show and looking at a dinosaur coloring book. Amazing if I do say so myself. He will also tell you about the Jurassic and Cretaceous areas (periods) and what dinosaurs lived when. He's learned all of this from watching the show. Enjoy...

Catching Up

We haven't had too many exciting things to post recently since we've been busy just living life and getting ready for the holidays. So, here are some things to catch you up.

A few funny things to note from Owen:
-We recently bought a fisher-price nativity set and it's adorable. It plays "Away in a Manger." Owen calls the baby little boy "cheeses" instead of Jesus but we are working on it. It's pretty hilarious.
-Owen is obsessed with dinosaurs. He loves the show Dinosaur Train and pretty much anything dinosaur related.
-We recently went to a parent/teacher conference and really the only thing he is doing poorly is sharing the classroom dinosaurs with others... We also need to work on getting him to listen and follow a routine. Other than that he's doing great.
-Requests we "talk about" things. As in "Talk about playing with trains Daddy."
-We also got our first "where does X come from?" Luckily it was about where does snow come from and nothing too difficult yet!
-He's really enjoyed the snow. We bought him a snowglobe which he thinks is great because he can make it snow inside.

We gave Owen one of his Christmas presents early. It's a really neat stand that sets up next to the counter so he can watch what is going on. Usually he just wants to be picked up, but that can be dangerous and he's getting heavy so this is a great solution. It folds up easily which is nice because we can put it out of the way when he's not using it. He seems to really enjoy it.

Note the dinosaur...

A few videos for your enjoyment.

A cute picture of our cat enjoying laundry day:)
I'm beginning to question our parenting ability a little bit because lately he's been yelling "don't" at his toys and putting them on the naughty step. We're trying to vary how we approach our discipline to see if that works. Brett and I are probably strict by today's standards, but feel pretty strongly that it's the only way he'll learn. I'm sure all parents second-guess themselves at some point, so I'm not that worried about it.

Other than that, not much going on here. We'll have lots of exciting holiday pictures to share in the next few weeks I'm sure.

Thanksgiving Weekend with the Grandmas

Owen had lots of fun last week with his Grandmas. My mom and Brett's mom were in town for Thanksgiving. We did lots of relaxing. On Saturday we went to the children's museum we went to a few weeks ago. Owen loved it so much we got a membership. With the cold winter coming up I think it's going to be a great way to get out and have some fun.

Riding the construction vehicle

Playing with the race track (quite possibly his favorite thing there)

Riding the car with DaddyFun with the trains

Learning about physics

Fun in the treehouse

Giggling at the water feature

Nonni Pat gave Owen a guitar for Christmas last year and we finally got it out. He had a blast with it.

Some recent artwork from the little Picasso.
Right now Owen is really into dinosaurs. We watch Dinosaur Train and read dinosaur books and pretty much talk about them all the time. It's really cute, and a little annoying, all at the same time.

He's also really into singing songs and being silly. He talks up a storm. We just love him so much, when he's not acting like a 2 year old that is!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you and your family have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for so many things this year, including all of you reading this blog:)