Bloggy Randomness

I don't feel like I have many big things to blog about these days. We are pretty much just hanging out at home. I'm a homebody by nature, so that has been a-okay with me. :) I don't have any big things to blog about, so I thought that I would just do a random things post.

* I love this picture. I love that little froggy on my little baby's bottom. I love that my biggest boy loves my baby boy so much that his whole face just lights up. Just love it.
* Being at home so much has really brought out Clayton's creativity. He came downstairs the other day and asked me to come up and see his "grocery store." I thought that it was a pretty smart setup.
He demonstrated his conveyor belt thingy for me. He put it at an angle so that he could use gravity to make the "groceries" slide down. He got my grocery bag holder out of the pantry to bag groceries. I asked about the remote control on the table. He said, "That is where people put in their number for their debit card." Ha!

* Have y'all heard of this True Lemon stuff?

It is really good! It has no sugar, no calories, and is 100% natural. I have been drinking a TON of water and this has been a yummy addition to my regular H2O.

* I feel like I need to properly document a BIG milestone in my life as the mother of 3 children. Last Friday (6/23), I made my first solo trip to the grocery store with all 3 monkeys. That's a big deal, y'all!

I had quite a list, so I was pretty worried. It actually went pretty well, though. I had done some strategizing beforehand in my mind and determined that Drew would ride in the car part of the basket, Owen would ride in his stroller, Clayton would push the stroller, and I would push the massive cart. Oh my, we were a sight!
Clayton is wearing an American Airlines pilot's hat that he got in the airport giftshop when he was 4. I used to care about that sort of thing, but now I just go with it. Three boys has really mellowed me out. Ha!

* Wade was out of town last week and so was Leah. I have determined that, for the sake of my sanity, my husband and my best friend are not allowed to be out of town at the same time ever again. ;)

Having my two right hand people gone did make me step out of my comfort zone. I tackled another big mom of 3 hurdle and took all my monkeys to the pool one evening. Drew did great in his puddle jumper. Those things are the best! Why didn't they have those when Clayton was a toddler???
I sat in the shade with my littlest fella and watched the big boys. O slept through our entire adventure. Sweet boy...
* Speaking of swimming, Drew been much more cautious in the water than Clayton was at 2.5. Granted, we have only been swimming a handful of times so far this summer. Every time Drew has been content to splash around in his puddle jumper, but declines our numerous offers to jump off of the side. On Friday night, however, that all changed. Our neighbors invited us over for some swim time. By the end of the evening, Drew was jumping off of the side like a pro! Look at him go...

* Owen Thomas, one day when you are a big huge 6 foot tall man, I want you to know that there was a time when your entire thigh fit between my thumb and middle finger.

I'm so ready to get some rolls on those legs! It won't be long, I bet.

* Yesterday in the car, I pointed out to Wade that our kid's first initials are OCD. His reply - "I'd say there is some irony in that." Whatever do you think he meant by that??? ;)

* It took me 3 days to compose this post. I swear... Downtime comes and goes in 5 minute intervals around here. This is a busy season of life, for sure, but I a definitely enjoying life with my 3 sons. :)

For Father's Day...

Clayton, Drew, and I gave Wade some store bought cards, some handmade cards, some hugs, and lots of kisses.

Owen, however, gave his Daddy...



the biggest smiles of his 48 day old life!

We're going to have to watch this little one. I have a feeling he may be a "one-upper." Ha!

What am I going to do with this kid???

Last week we were sitting at the dinner table and talking. Clayton started to ask questions about Wade's paycheck. I think that he was trying to figure out the concept of automatic bank drafts. He was asking about how the money gets from Wade's company to where we can spend it. Wade explained it to him by saying something along the lines of, "my company puts my paycheck in the bank and then mom and I can get the money out to pay for things like groceries, gas, and clothes."

Clayton's eyes lit up and he said, "Oooohhhhhh, I get it! You and Mom have a symbiotic relationship!"

Wade and I just looked at each other like, "Did he just say what I think he said???" and then we died laughing. What are we going to do with this kid? Ha!

It turns out that he learned about symbiotic relationships from Wild Kratts, a television show on PBS. Wade videoed his full explanation about the honey guide bird and the honey badger after dinner. What a crack up!



In other Clayton news, he reached a monumental goal this weekend. Wade is a big Dave Ramsey fan. We have done the Financial Peace University course, and we are both believers in the concepts. Shortly after we finished our course, Wade ordered Clayton the Financial Peace Jr. materials to teach him about money. He has been working with Clayton since February on earning his commission each week and then dividing his money up into Save, Spend, and Give envelopes. He set his goal to save enough money to buy a Nintendo DS. He has turned into quite the little saver. Between his commission over the last few months combined with birthday money and the money that he earned from selling some of his toys in a garage sale, he finally had enough money to get his DS this weekend.

He was soooo proud! He walked right up to the counter at Best Buy and gave the 2 ladies at the checkout counter the full run down. "I'm here to buy a Nintendo DS. I earned all of the money by myself and I really want the dark blue one." Ha! The ladies were so sweet to give him high 5's and tell him how proud they were of him. It was pretty cute. :)




I would post a picture of him with his DS, but he asked me not to put it on the blog. (He did give me permission to post the other pictures from Best Buy.) Apparently, he doesn't want to ruin the surprise of showing his friends and family his new purchase in person. I am not about to rain on his parade. ;)

The Moment

I remember the exact moment with both Clayton and Drew when they started really smiling at me - when they would look right in my eyes and their whole face would break out into a smile. It wasn't gas. It wasn't a reflex. It was a true smile and I knew it. That was our moment. The moment where I knew that we were bonded for life. They knew that I was their Mama. And they kinda liked me. :)

Owen and I had our moment last night. The big boys were in bed and Wade was in the living room watching the Mavericks game. It was just O and I in my room and he started really smiling at me. I grabbed the video camera to document our moment so that I could replay it over and over again.

I edited the video down - it was originally 3 1/2 minutes. I didn't figure that y'all would want to hear my obnoxious baby talk voice for that long. You're welcome. Ha! Seriously, feel free to turn off your speakers so that you don't hear my voice go up about 8 octaves. ;)

Isn't he the sweetest thing??? I could just stare at him all day...

Owen's Church Debut

Today was our first time to go to church as a family of 5! We took Owen to church MUCH earlier than we did with Clayton or Drew, but I was dying to get back. We have the privilege of listening to two of the best teachers that I have ever heard each Sunday. Our Pastor and our Bible Study teacher are both just amazing - I have learned so much from them over the last few years! Wade has gone to church with Clayton each week since Owen was born. And as soon as he would walk through the door after church, I would start to grill him. "How was church? What was Lance's lesson about? What did Keith preach on?" I hated to miss out on what he was learning.

So, we decided that today we would take Baby O to church for the first time. Owen slept from 12:30-7:30 (YAY!), so I was well rested and ready to go. I planned to go to Sunday School, go feed Owen, and then go to service. I thought that would work perfectly with our feeding schedule. Unfortunately, Owen wasn't on board with my plan. :( He made it halfway through Sunday School before he started getting worked up. I went to feed him, and then he wasn't calmed down enough to go to service. I was sad that our morning didn't go according to my plan. I told Wade on the way home how bummed I was that I didn't get to hear much of the teaching. I teased that I was going to call Wade's phone next week during class so that he could put it on the podium and I could hear what was being taught. I think it would work! Ha!

Owen sure did look cute for his first time to go to church!

Drew LOVES him some Owen. :)

So does Clayton! There's no shortage of brotherly love at the Carpenter Casa. :)

This sweet little stinker fell asleep on the way home and slept for 2 hours in his carrier. Why couldn't he have done that at church??? I'm hoping that he will be a little happier next week when we try again.

Oh well... such is life with a newborn! It was great to see all of my church buddies and to be back in the church that I love so much. Owen and I are going to have some pep talks this week about worship etiquette. ;)

Owen is 1 Month Old

My Baby Boy turned 1 month old today! What a wonderful whirlwind the last 31 days have been! I wouldn't trade a single second with this sweet baby. I absolutely love having a newborn! It's hard to think about the fact that Owen is my last tiny babe, so I just don't think about it. I live in denial. That's how I operate. Ha! I am making a conscious effort to savor every minute of his infancy, and not to think constantly about him being our last. However... he has been a great "grand finale"! I'm not sure that I could ever top this pregnancy, delivery, and newborn stage. We are going out with a bang, for sure! :)

One Month Photo Shoot This Afternoon

At 1 month old...

* Owen weighs 10 lbs. 9 oz.
* They didn't weigh him at his 1 month old appointment, but I measured him at home. He was 23 inches long! I measured him twice to double check. What a looonnnnggggg boy!
* Wears size 1 diapers
* Still wears a lot of his newborn clothes, minus the teeny tiny onesies that won't snap anymore. He has worn 1 or 2 of his 0-3 month outfits as well, but they are really loose.
* Owen is still a pretty serious little guy. He furrows his little brow and studies the world around him. He reminds me so much of Clayton as a baby...
* My poor little Love Bug has been starting to act a little reflux-y. He is not nearly as bad as Drew was, but he is fussy after most feedings and makes that same gaggy noise accompanied by the sour face. I'm trying to just wait it out and see if he gets better without medicine. We'll see...
* He has long wake periods during the day. It takes him an hour or so after he eats to settle down enough to sleep. :(
* He is still sleeping a 5 hour stretch at night, and had a 6 hour stretch one night last week. That stretch of sleep has been a lifesaver! Getting those hours of consistent sleep has kept me going. I can't imagine functioning without that sleep. :)
* Owen has the cutest little old man hairline. It cracks me up! Clayton and Drew had so much more hair than O!

* Clayton and Drew love, love, love their Baby Brother! Clayton has been super helpful, and it has been fun to watch him interact with Owen. He takes his Biggest Brother role seriously! Today Owen was crying and I asked Clayton to give him his pacifier. After a few seconds, Owen stopped crying. Clayton came in and said, "Owen didn't want his pacifier. He just wanted a hug." Melt my heart...

Drew has started asking to hold Owen several times a day. It is so sweet to watch him hold and talk to his baby brother! He will hold him for approximately 15 seconds before he says, "Baby Owen too heavy! Put him up." Ha!

Hanging out with the big boys before bed tonight

* Owen has grown so much! I took some pictures of him in his going home outfit today. It made me realize how much he has changed...

May 10, 2011

June 7, 2011

Baby Owen,

Oh, my darling boy... what a blessing you are to me! I love you more than you will ever be able to fathom. You will always be my "baby", of course, but I am really treasuring every moment of your actual babyhood. I spend a good portion of my day trying to burn each and every image of you into my memory forever. I smell your head, touch your downy soft hair, and look into your baby blue eyes - just praying that I'll never forget how you feel in my arms at that very moment. I am enjoying you so much! You are a precious gift from above, and I will never take that for granted.

You are such a serious boy! As much as I wish that time would stand still and I could keep you tiny forever, I am anxious to see some big smiles from you! You are pretty stingy with grins these days - you make us work for them! It is always worth the effort, though. :)

One would think that, since you are my third baby, I would have you figured out pretty quick. But, I don't! I still worry and over-analyze how you operate. Do you have reflux? Are you overtired? Did something that I ate upset your tummy? How are you getting out of your Miracle Blanket? Do you need a dose of Mylicon? I still question my judgment and capabilities at times. You are just still so tiny and new. You are perfectly innocent, and I haven't messed you up yet. I'd like to think that I can keep that track record up. Ha! But, I will make mistakes and so will you. I'll spend the rest of my days trying to figure you out (and vise versa), I'm sure. :)

I love you so deeply, Owen Thomas. I'm so, so grateful that you are mine!
Mommy

Let the Summer Fun Begin!

Love these two crazy characters! Ha!