#85 - Raspberry Jello Stains

Red Jello stains. It stains shirts, fingers, lips and even the highchair tray. But, it's so, so good! On top of trying Jello for the first time, Owen used his own spoon and fed it to himself. He was quite proud of himself (as were Mom and Dad), even though the jello stayed on the spoon only about half the time. And bathtub after Jello is extra long, so Owen enjoyed that too!

Cocoa is so sweet with Owen, and in turn, Owen just loves to give Cocoa hugs and kisses. We are very lucky to have such a sweet, gentle dog in our family.

Playing with his airplane.

And reading a book with Mommy.

Our little "Linus" - Owen has started dragging his blankets behind him like Linus does. So cute!

This weekend, Lou, Owen and I drove up to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. It's a four-mile drive through a beautiful park, full of rivers, creeks, alligators, crabs, birds and other wildlife. It's so nice here in Savannah this time of year, so we rolled down our windows and took in the pretty landscape. A few times we stopped the car to walk around. Below, you can see an alligator in the water just to the right of Owen.

Our sweet little guy in his overalls. He seemed to really enjoy himself at the park!

#84 - Future Athlete

We're hoping Owen has his Daddy's height, not his Mom's. So, we're introducing him to basketball a little early. He thinks it's very funny when Lou and I toss the basketball back and forth to each other over his head. He doesn't quite understand the dribble.

The cutie pie wearing a shirt given to him by Aunt Jenifer. Hi Aunt Jen!!!

He definitely has more of an interest in soccer. We taught him how to kick it (instead of picking it up every time we kick it to him), and he's quite proud of himself. The only tricky part is keeping Cocoa out of the game, because of course, if there's a ball moving at all, Cocoa thinks we're playing fetch with her.

Owen has developed a new habit of walking with his hands clapsed behind his back. We have no idea where he got this from, or why he does it, but it's pretty darn cute.

Not only does he still play with his truck, but he can ride on it now, and push himself both forward and backward.

Tita Susan, do you recognize this shirt? It's the Emory t-shirt that Lou gave to Noah about ten years ago. It barely fits Owen (it's a 12-month size), but we had to get him to wear it at least once and capture on the camera. Love the retro style of it! I would love to get my hands on a picture of Noah wearing this shirt too.... ????? Can anyone help?

#83 - Lost My Camera

We just got back from Jacksonville, where we visited Nana, Aunt Jenifer and Kaylin. Nana watched Owen for us while Lou and I went to the Gator game in Gainesville. We had a great time. In fact, we had so much fun tailgating that I lost my camera. Lost, as in left it on the bumper of Joe's truck while refilling my adult beverage, and forgot to pick it back up. So, unfortunately, I'm unable to share pictures with you today. Fortunately, it was my old, small camera, and not my newer SLR, so Lou is not too mad with me. However, if I had not lost my camera, I could have proudly showed you dozens of pictures of my 38-year old husband dominating a bunch of 20-somethings in beer pong. Yes. That's right. Beer pong. My heart aches with pride.

The Gators beat Tennessee, and Lou and I roasted in the sun having a great time. In the meantime, Owen was enjoying the ducks, visiting Mimi and checking out the local Babies R Us with Nana. Owen and Kaylin spent the entire day together, dressed in matching Gator outfits. It was quite adorable. If only I had not lost the camera....

So, I'll take double the amount of pictures this week, and hope to have a mid-week update for you.

Hugs and kisses from Savannah....

#82 - Owen's First Haircut

The little guy got his first haircut this weekend. After weeks and weeks of talking about it, I was a little disappointed how quickly it happened and was over with. But, I like the haircut, and he looks like such a big boy now!

Here's Owen in the special "airship" salon chair. He sat in there and played with the handles, and had quite a good time. No tears for him!

I actually thought they'd wash his hair and style it. Little do I know. I've never seen a boy get a haircut before! Growing up, my mom used to take us to Fantastic Sam's and if we were afraid of the washing sink, they'd wet our hair with a spray bottle. Apparently, "dry cutting" is the way it's done now.

A family picture while the stylist finishes up the back.

Here's the big boy with his new haircut, sitting on top of Cocoa, who was laying on top of Lou.....

Owen has learned how to climb up on the couch. Now, we must teach him how to get back down!

Giving Cocoa hugs.

#81 - Nana, Aunt Jen and Kaylin visit!

While Lou was in Florida on his guys fishing trip, Mom, Jenifer and Kaylin drove up to Savannah for the weekend. We had lots of fun watching the children play - Jenifer and I are extremely lucky to have children so close together in age (10 weeks apart). It was good to spend some family time with Mom and Jen too!

Little Kaylin is the cutest thing ever. Her smile absolutely melts your heart, and that head full of hair is adorable! She is so sweet, and as evidenced below, loves to give everyone and everything kisses. Here she is smooching Cocoa.

Now, she's going in for a kiss on Owen. Check out the look on his face. Priceless.

Nana loves her grandchildren more than I ever thought possible. Owen and Kaylin are so very lucky!

Helping each other build blocks.

Got to love the sweet smiles on their faces!

Bath time!!!!

Nana fed Owen orange juice for the first time. He loved it!

Check out Kaylin in her cutie pie bathing suit!

Owen is still climbing up on anything and everything!

This is not good.

He's got four teeth now!

#80 - Owen's First Boat Ride!

Sorry for the delay in posts (well, at least posts with pictures). I fully recognize you guys would much rather read about the cute little boy in our lives, and not us celebrating our anniversaries and such. But... you'll have to oblige me once again. But, read on, as there are cute pictures and even a video that will make you smile!

First up, Owen took one of his many spills the other day and earned himself quite a shiner on his right eye. I took a picture of it. But, after reviewing the picture, to me, the captiving thing is not his eye, but his chipmunk-like cheeks. How cute are they? Don't you just want to pinch them over and over? It takes great restraint for us not to! (by the way, his eye is perfectly fine now, only to be replaced with two separate bruisers on his forehead)

So, Lou's 38th birthday was last Wednesday. Unbeknownst to him, about 3-4 months ago, a friend and I planned a surprise guys' fishing trip to Steinhatchee, Florida, which is a very popular fishing destination for the determined fisherman. We unveiled the surprise birthday gifts to Lou S. and Lou V. (yes, he has another friend here named Lou) about two weeks ago - the entire trip was planned: a 2-bd condo on the water, a fishing guide hired for one day, a boat rental for two more days, and even new fishing tackle and a buff. So, the boys departed last Saturday, and spent five days in Florida fishing. The day they went with the guide, they caught 50 fish!!!! The next day when they were on their own, they caught 4. he he he.... But, they did get over two pounds of scallops, and Lou cooked them up on Thursday night, and they were fabulous! So, the birthday trip was a good time and I'm on my way to earning the Wife of the Year award for setting it up and keeping it a surprise.

Here's a picture from their marina.

And, from their condo balcony.

To celebrate our 3rd Anniversary, Lou took me to Charleston, SC for the day. It's a little less than 2 hours from here, and we left the little munchkin with a sitter, and spent the day touring the beautiful city. Lou took me on a horse and carriage ride, to a nice lunch and bought me some awesome balsamic vinegar. A sweet husband! :)

Here's Lou devouring an entire flounder at lunch.

Walking along the waterfront near Rainbow Row.

Finally, onto the good stuff..... We've been wanting to take Owen out on the boat for his first time for a while now, but it's been so stinking hot here, we just haven't. Well, today we did!!! Owen was a little apprehensive about the big life jacket he had to wear, but really loved the water, and especially loved feeling the wind in his face.

Owen and Mommy getting ready for a day on the water (more like 90 minutes)

Daddy and his future Fishing Buddy

Mom, this life jacket feels funny

Here's Owen pushing me away. He's a big boy now, and wants to do things on his own. Helicopter Mom wasn't about to let him loose on a boat though.

Owen was happiest when he could sit on Daddy's lap and help drive the boat.

All this sun and excitement wore him out. He literally fell asleep on Lou's chest while eating black beans....his eyes were shut, but he kept sticking his hand in the black bean container, shoving them in his mouth, and drifting off. He finally fell asleep with three or four in his mouth, and took about a 45-minute nap.

The little guy taking a snoozer on the deck of the boat. Mom stood over him the entire time blocking the sun.

And, a quick video to demonstrate the little guy's superior driving skills on his first ever boat ride. Enjoy!

#79 - Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband! And, Happy Anniversary to us both. It's a weird day to celebrate. It's 8:30 pm, and I'm still not back in Savannah, as I've been in Atlanta for work for the past three days. Lou's been out of town too, and got home this afternoon. The good news is that he got to spend a few hours with Owen before bedtime. I, unfortunately, will not get to see his sweet smile until tomorrow morning.
Not much of an update, but did want to wish Lou a very, very happy Birthday and Anniversary. Three years ago, on Lou's 35th birthday, we said our wedding vows. I'm an extremely lucky girl to be married to such a wonderfully supportive, incredibly handsome, smart, intelligent man. And, Owen is even luckier to have him as a Daddy.
Honey, can't wait to celebrate with you this weekend. Sorry you had to be home by yourself on your birthday, but at least you had Owen there. See you soon!