#112 - Look what the Easter Bunny brought!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend! The weather was perfectly beautiful here in Savannah, and we were able to celebrate with Dad, Catherine, Johnny and Robbie, who drove down here from Atlanta. It was a wonderful visit!

Last weekend, the Easter Bunny made an early visit to our home, delivering a long awaited for backyard Play Set for Owen! All 700 pounds of it had been patiently resting in our garage, ready for Dad to get here so that Lou and Dad could begin assembly this weekend. I must admit, I was a little anxious about the thought of them putting it together. I've heard horror stories from multiple friends of mine on how difficult it can be to put together, and I was just hoping that we could get through the weekend with minimal swear words, no one walking off the job, and a non-lopsided swing set.

My expectations were far exceeded! Lou and Dad did a PERFECT job assembling the set. They worked so well together and were in tandem the entire day (well, 1 day + 2 hours). The end result was magnificent. Check out the pictures!

First up was to break down the boxes and bring all the pieces (there must have been hundreds) to the back yard and sort them according to labels. Fortunately, Robbie was here and was a huge help with this.

Here's Lou pushing one of the smaller boxes to the back yard.

This is at about hour 4 on the job. What a team they make!

About hour 7 I think. The three levels are now complete.

And... tada!!! The end result (hour 11). A beautiful playset for the back yard, complete with 3 swings, a sand box, a climbing wall (still need to screw in the rocks for the climbing wall), a telescope and a slide!

This expression on Owen's face about says it all! We could barely keep him off the pieces of the set as we were putting it together. He waited with so much excitement, and just loved it when we finally told him he could go play!

We're so glad my Dad and Catherine were here to help put it together. We truly, truly enjoyed spending time with them, and we'll never forget the two days spent putting the swing set together. It's a memory we'll always have!

Johnny spent Friday night here on his way down to Jacksonville for his Spring Break. He's graduating in less than two months, and we couldn't be prouder of him. Here are Dad and Catherine's three boys....

Meanwhile, while the boys were outside working on the swing set, Robbie, Catherine, Owen and I were working on coloring the Easter eggs. Owen was in charge of putting the stickers on the eggs. He loved it. We only dropped five of them! ha ha

Here's Owen, showing off his masterpiece

On Easter morning, we all got ready for church and took a few pictures.

And, after church, well you can probably guess what Owen just HAD to do!

Owen loved his Easter egg hunt. He kept trying to put the football and basketball in his basket too, though.

One last picture - my dad and my son.
Love you!

#111 - Bubbles, Bubbles

Nothing makes the little boy happier than playing with bubbles, especially if Cocoa is playing too. Owen has learned to say "bubbas, okay?". The little joys....

On Saturday, Mom and Leighton visited us briefly in Savannah. It wasn't long before Owen had convinced his Nana to read him "The Giving Tree", his most favorite book.
His second favorite right now is the book of animal sounds. He can point all the right animal for each of the sounds.
That's about it for us. Oops - forgot to mention the trip to Wal-mart on Saturday..... We were THOSE parents in front of Wally World this weekend. You know, the ones who are dealing with a crying child who has just thrown up all over himself, his Daddy and the Wal-Mart floor. Poor little guy. Don't know if it was something he ate, a virus or just a sore tummy, but he's been totally normal and fine ever since. He wasn't even acting sick before hand either. We'll never know. But, we've finally experienced our first public vomiting episode. Unfortunately, I'm sure we've got many more ahead.

The joys of parenthood.

Love you!

#110 - Leprechauns and Horses, part 2

Here are the videos promised..... First up, a quick video from the St. Patrick's Day parade.

Okay, here's a little video of Owen the other night. Part of his night time ritual is to say night-night to Noah and Grace by blowing kisses to their pictures.

Okay, I hope I'm not a bad mom for posting this one. But, it cracks me up every time I watch it. Owen had been going around the house cleaning things with a wipe. Somehow, he ended up under the kitchen table, where he proceeded to get stuck. Enjoy!

And finally, in my opinion, the cutest video ever of Owen laughing. He loves it when we blow bubbles, and he finds it so funny when Cocoa "catches" the bubbles.

#109 - Leprechauns and Horses

As the host to the second largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the US, the entire city of Savannah shuts down on March 17th for the Irish festivities. Lou, Owen and I set up on Johnson Square, and had a great viewing spot for the parade. We brought tons of snacks and toys to entertain Owen, but we never needed them, as he was absolutely captivated by the parade. The music, the drums, the floats....they all kept him in a trance. We totally underestimated how much he would enjoy it. Fortunately, the rain stayed away, and a good time was had by all.

The start of the parade.

Mom, Dad and the little guy in our rain gear, just in case. Fortunately, we didn't need it, but it sure was chilly.

Daddy and his little man enjoying the parade.

On Saturday, we had a joint birthday party to go to for Hayden and Luke Kirkpatrick. It was at the local stables, on the first day of Spring. The weather was perfect. Owen couldn't wait to ride the ponies. We dressed him as "country" as we could - khakis and a checkered shirt. I think he's the most adorable little country boy around....

Getting ready to ride the big horse. Owen wasn't scared at all!

The tractor was clearly the highlight of the day. He rode that thing over and over. Just loved it....

Waving to the camera

This weekend, he figured out how to climb into his easel. See below for the evidence.

I've got tons of videos from this week, and will try to upload them later in the week.

#108 - Happy Birthday Abuela and Nana!

Happy birthday, Abuela! We miss you mucho no poco.

This past weekend, we visited family in J-ville again. We got to see Paw Paw for the first time since his surgery. As you can see below, he looks great! We also went shopping for a surprise gift for Owen (a little early birthday gift). It'll be delivered in a few weeks, and I can't wait to post pictures!

Saturday, we celebrated Mom's birthday and my birthday at Clark's Fish Camp, a long time family tradition for us. It was great, as usual. Owen had a blast hanging with cousin Kaylin, especially when he was stealing her food.

After dinner, we took a few pictures with Paw Paw. He and Owen enjoyed giving each other the giggles....

Back in Savannah, we are getting ready for the big St. Patrick's Day celebration. Owen has been trying on this new green hat. What do you think?

He's also been helping me with the chores around the house. He really enjoys vacuuming and mopping. Next, we'll be working on teaching him to scrub the toilets. I can't wait.

#107 - Birthdays!

Birthday season is upon us! First of all, Happy Birthday Nana!!! We can't wait to see you next weekend and give you lots of birthday hugs and kisses. And, Happy Early Birthday to Abuela Isa, whose birthday is this coming Friday. Feliz Cumpleanos! We miss you! And, finally, Happy Birthday, Peyton, who turned 2 last Friday, and whose birthday we celebrated on Saturday. Owen thoroughly enjoyed the birthday party, especially the swing set and the jumping castle. He had a blast!

He had so much fun on the swing set that Lou and I are thinking about buying one this spring for our backyard. Tonight, on our family walk, Owen saw our neighbor's swing set and went crazy trying to get out of the stroller to go swing on it. He couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to go play on theirs. :)

Having fun on the jumping castle.

And, finally, a video of Owen from Friday morning. He woke up and kept asking for the picture of Lou and Abuelo Luis. How sweet....

#106 - A Boys Weekend

This past weekend, I took a much needed Girls Trip down to Miami for the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. I had a blast with my good friends, Courtney, Danielle and Heather Newberry. Since I was gone, Lou and Owen had their very own Boys Weekend themselves. On Friday afternoon, they took Cocoa over to Chris Blessing's house for a doggie playdate with their new puppy Mae. They all had a fun time!

On Saturday, Lou and Owen checked out the Boat Show at the Convention Center. They met Lou V., Grayson and Nolan there, and I'm sure the testosterone was rampant. I'm just glad Lou left his checkbook at home, and we did not become boat owners (we own the water, not the boat, as our Boat Club reminds us each month... ha ha!).

Sunday, they ran some errands, then picked me up at the airport. I was fantasizing about a sweet reunion with Owen once he saw me walking up the terminal, but I was no competition for the cheese stick he was eating. He barely acknowledged me until after he was finished eating. :)

So, check out Lou's new hat. I can't remember if I've blogged about it yet, but Owen absolutely loves wearing it.

He'll sit on his chair, put the hat on, and watch Barney. He loves to be just like his Daddy.

We can't keep the boy out of things, especially climbing into his wagon. He'll squat down in there and get his entire body in the wagon and want us to pull him.
Lou with his sweet little boy and sweet little dog.

And, finally a picture of us girls as we entered the South Beach Food & Wine Festival on Saturday. From left to right: Heather Newberry, Danielle Kahlan, Courtney Bayer and me.