Trip to Florida- Part 1

Thursday

We got to Florida on Thursday evening and just relaxed from the day of travel. Sadly Brett couldn't come with us since he had to work so it was just Owen, me and Baby G #2 in search of warmer weather and to visit Papo and Nonna Barbara.

We had my favorite dinner of spaghetti with white clam sauce and it was off to bed for Owen. His new 3T fleece pjs have zippers that really bother him. So, I looked for t-shirts they other day but they were out of his size and all they had was these tank tops. They look HILARIOUS on him so we had to take a picture.
And here is evidence of the nightly struggle to put on thus said pjs. As you can see, I won, as always...
Friday
We had to get out and enjoy the sunshine and mid to upper 60 temps. Those of you that read the blog frequently may remember our trip to the Jacksonville zoo in September. It is an absolutely wonderful zoo and since we didn't get to see all of it last time I wanted to go back.

We started off with feeding the giraffes which was one of my favorite things last time. Owen seemed a lot more comfortable with it this time too.

Climbing the elephant statues

After lunch all of a sudden these giant peacocks started roaming around. It was really neat as I've only ever seen them behind a fence before. Owen thought they were hysterical.

And that they looked fun to chase.
And of course we had to ride the carousel again, since this was an Owen favorite. First he rode the giraffe.

My Dad, me and Owen

He rode the alligator second, which moved up and down and he thought it was fabulous. He made everyone smile with his contagious laugh.

And, of course we had to pet the goats which was another one of Owen's favorite attractions last time. At least we were able to get him out this time without the screaming fit we had before.

He had to touch every single goat and look them in the eyes to say hello. Very silly.

Brushing the goatGoat going for a ride on the shovel


Naming the goat parts

The next exhibit was part of the Australian loop and it was the Lorikeets. It was a really neat open exhibit where the birds could fly all around. You could buy a container of nectar for the birds to eat out of which was so cool. And the birds are so pretty.

Feeding the birds

Here are some cool videos of me feeding the birds.

(Note: I did not fall over at the end of this video as it looks like was about to happen...)

Ok, this video you just watched is perhaps one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed. I've probably watched it about 50 times since we realized it was recorded and it is still just as funny every time. I think it's so funny not only because of Owen's reaction, but because he thought it was so funny when the bird landed on my head, only to completely freak out when it happened to him. I definitely think this is America's Funniest Home Video quality.

Kanagroos- No, they are not dead, although it was about as exciting as if they had been.

Next we checked out the Komodo dragon exhibit. We told Owen it was just like a baby dinosaur and he thought that was so cool. Owen really enjoyed the asian gardens where they had the coy ponds. He loves anything to do with fish and water.

All in all it was a really GREAT day. Even if Owen walked around the second half of the day saying "I don't want the bird to land on my head."

Craft Crazy

I've been feeling rather crafty lately since it's been so chilly. My Aunt Lu and I love to swap handmade items so I made her and her husband Ed a few things for Christmas.

Ed loves chili peppers so I made these painted Santa chili peppers that I saw on Martha Stewart. They turned out really cute and were fun to make. I kept one for our tree too:)
My Aunt Lu is into butterflies so I made her some tea towels with iron-on transfer butterflies which I also saw on Martha Stewart. They didn't turn out quite as good as I hoped but they were still pretty nice. She liked them which is all that matters.
The last thing I made was a fishhook bracelet for my Aunt as part of a swap we are doing. She's going to make me a tea wallet. I will share pics when it comes. These bracelets are really fun and different to make. I saw them somewhere years ago but can't remember the source.
As part of swap-bot, I joined a crafters swap and sent out this black and white necklace to my partner. She really liked it which always makes me happy! I will post pictures when I receive my swap item.
We've also been trying to find things to keep Owen from going stir crazy, which isn't always easy. Here he enjoys some reading while the cat makes silly noises in the background. (You can't really hear them in the video but that's what he's talking about.)

We have also been playing with playdoh which Owen really likes. He was into mustaches this day for some reason. And singing the Wonder Pets theme song of course.

Something funny he did the other day is definitely worth posting. We were driving home from work and the cars in front of us weren't going. So out from the backseat comes "Come on dudes!" Definitely a phrase used frequently by me when driving (to avoid a less kid-friendly option) so it's really funny to hear it coming out of his mouth:)

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.