My silly boy!

So since this blog is mainly a 'digital scrapbook' for our family, I wanted to jot down some things about Owen and also things he has said & done so I won't forget! Owen is 2 and will be 3 in a few months. He's getting SO big SO fast. This is a fun age & we are enjoying him!

• He LOVES the zoo. It is on the way to work so every Tuesday & Thursday when we pass it, he says, "Can we go to duh zoo, mommy?? Is it too dark?" (if it is night time I tell him we can't go because its dark outside & the animals are sleeping)
• He hears mommy say "Seriously?! Are you KIDDING me??" So his version is "See-wee-ously? Are you KIDDIN' me??"
• He loves to say "EXCUSE ME!" after burping.
• He NEVER misses the chance to say "WHO tooted?!?" If he hears Mommy or Daddy 'do the deed'...or even himself. Its usually Daddy or Owen (that's my story & I'm stickin' to it!)
• He calls chicken "shicken."
• Sometimes he calls Matt or I by our fist names...usually just to see how we react. He says it and smiles sheepishly at us to see what we'll do. Every now & then he'll call us Uncle Matt or Aunt Lindsay (he spends LOTS of time with his cousins!)
• His favorite color is purple.
• When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, he has said a daddy, a doctor & a firefighter.
• He LOVES the movie The Lion King. You can ask him any question about any of it & he knows the answer.
• He loves playing with puppets.
• He is REALLY into pretending. He loves to pretend & has an awesome imagination.
• Everyone says he speaks very well for his age, which makes a momma proud! But he does speak in complete sentences.
• He is great about saying "please" and "thank you" all on his own now without being prompted. Every now & then he'll forget, but overall he does great.
• He has no interest in potty training. We've tried several times, and he will do ok, then just stop.
• He is very smiley & talkative & does not know a stranger. He talks to EVERYONE in public and says "Whas your name? Where you going?" It is cute but then sometimes embarrassing! ha! Some people don't think he's as cute as I do... ;)

Taking a picture with his camera he got for Valentine's Day

Just had a fit (hence the red eyes) but a sucker makes it all better!

He likes to jam out!

Craft Day!

Saturday was so rainy & yucky that we were stuck inside all day. Owen played with lots of play doh & markers & got to get a little messy. And on a rainy, yucky day, what's a busy-on-the-go-mom-who-can't-sit-still-for-5-seconds to do? Craft!!

I took apart my Valentine's wreath & made a "holiday neutral" one for the door. Again, in the name of thriftiness, everything is made out of stuff I already had. Those rosettes? Yeah, they were an old tank top I never wore! The gray ones? An old dress sock that I couldn't find the mate to! I am slowly becoming the repurposing queen!! :) When I stick a toilet out on my front porch for potted plants, someone please shake me. ;)

While still in my rosette making obsession, I made a couple for my newborn niece for headbands. I made a super cute one that has 3 rosettes together that I like to make sound fancy so I call it a "head piece." It's rather large so she can wear it when she's 2. :) I'll try to learn to make baby ones. But even just one little simple one on a head band like this is SO cute & changes it up from the typical bow! Love it!

Valentine's Day!

I love any "holiday." Any excuse to do things a little different or plan surprises makes me happy! We started off with heart shaped oatmeal bars for breakfast & I made a heart shaped sandwich for Owen's lunch. Simple little things to do but still fun!

I also love excuses to craft or make pinterest projects! I made these for Owen's sweet teachers. They are a clear plastic picture frame with scrapbook paper in them. Then I just stuck on some scrapbook embellishments & hot glued the ribbon. Then I hot glued the post it notes on! Voila! Super cute post it note holder for their desks! :)

Then, I made Valentines for Owen's friends. I "cheated" by using Oreo cakesters! Just used a heart shaped cookie cutter.

Then added the heart cakes to a clear baggie, tied them off with some curling ribbon & tied his little card to it. I made his card in photoshop then just printed them off (wallet size) at Walmart.

Here is his cute little card. Goes with the 'heart' theme of the cakes.

And here is my little Valentine on Valentine's Day! :)

My little chef helping me make the treats for his friend. He mainly just wore an apron & ran around saying "I'm a chef!" But...we call that helping. :)

One last Valentine pinterest project: Door Wreath! :) EVERYTHING you see is stuff I already had around the house! (Except for the actual wreath). So I was glad to be able to craft without spending much $$!

2 Jobs, A Hubby & 1 Crazy boy!

I normally use this blog to document our life, because, we are so busy that I don't have time for the fancy schmancy scrapbooks, but I can find time in my busy days to crank out a blog post here & there.

Today, I am linking up with another blog and sharing my take on being a mom who also works outside the home.

I work in a church office with a membership of over 1,000 people. It is CUH-RAZY busy around the office because we have a TON of different ministries. I do all the internal communication for every single ministry & every single person who needs anything communicated to the rest of the congregation as well as any external advertising or promotion to the community. So, while it is not a hugely stressful environment, it is very busy and very rewarding, as I get to use my PR Degree in a Christian environment. I also do photography on the side...which has become like another FT job. I've scaled back tremendously with how many sessions I do per month and that has helped my sanity. Sometimes, you have to learn to cut some things out. My "day" job does allow some flexibility, and I get off early 2 days a week to spend time with this little cutie:

This is Owen. He's 2!

So my day usually goes like this:

4:30am- Wake Up

5-6am- Boot Camp (only time of day I have to work out)

6-7am- Get me ready & tidy the house as it is on the market in case it shows today

7-7:30am- Get Owen up & ready

7:30- Leave the house & drop Owen off @ daycare

8am- Arrive at work (well...maybe I should say 8:05 or 8:10...if we're being honest..) Ha!

Then I work until 5 on Mondays & Wednesdays...those days:

5-5:30- Head home & pick up Owen

5:30- start cooking dinner if the hubby hasn't already started

6-7: Eat & clean up dinner

7-7:45: Play with Owen

7:45- Bath & Bed Time Routine Starts

8:15- Story, Bed time prayers, Night Night, Owen!

8:20-8:35- The hubby & I try to watch some TV together & snuggle a bit on the couch and Owen walks into the living room several times not wanting to go to sleep

8:40- Owen finally goes to sleep in his bed

8:40-10:00- couch time with the hubby, he plays on iPad, I play on iMac or iPhone

10:00- bedtime for mom & dad!

12 am- Owen comes in our room to get in our bed, I get up with him & take him back to his room

1 am- Owen comes in our room to get in our bed, I elbow Matt and say "Your turn." Matt walks him back to his room :)

4:30 am- REPEAT. :)

On Tuesdays & Thursdays, I get off work at 2:15 and usually spend the afternoon at the park with Owen & some of my stay at home mommy friends & their kiddos. So its nice to have that flexibility a couple days a week to get to just go home & play.

Now, take that schedule & throw in all the other things that pop up, like meetings with our builder, meetings with our realtor, obligatory dinners with people, etc...pack on a social life, an active church life and the week gets consumed. It is hectic working and having a family, but I am blessed to be able to help our family financially and take that stressor out of our marriage. I love that I can help us easily afford vacations, contribute to our savings account & allow us to NOT live paycheck to paycheck. I do not feel that I am missing anything with Owen because when I get home, our house is in quality time mode. We do not take him or our time for granted. Then, our weekends are usually packed full of family together time of fun activities or just vegging out at home being lazy together.

I wouldn't change a thing about our crazy, wonderful life. :)

Cabinets

Cabinets are in & stained! Love the way they turned out. This week they are painting the walls, painting the trim, and painting the cabinets in the laundry room & 3rd bath. We chose to do painted cabinets in those 2 rooms instead of stain. After that, they will lay flooring then hang light fixtures, install plumbing fixtures, hardware, counter tops and final details then we can move in! So ready & excited!

Kitchen

The left cabinet is where the microwave & oven will go.

The one on the right is where the fridge will go.

Cabinets above the cook top.

There are 2 of these in the Master Bath. This is where our sinks will go.

Matt & I have our own sinks as well as our own cabinet space. Yay! :)

My vanity area with a place to sit & put make up on!

This is the hall bath between Owen's bedroom

& future baby's bedroom

Trim & Cabinets

Most of the trim & cabinets were hung this week. It is really looking like a house inside instead of just empty rooms!