#115 - The one that didn't get away....

After months and months of little to no action on the water, Lou finally had his day. Check out the fish he caught this past week: a 40-plus inch redfish. The biggest he's caught yet (at least of ones that didn't get away).

#114 - Future Homeschooler?

Uh... no. Just kidding - it'll be many years of Catholic school for us! But, this video does make me laugh and totally makes me think of being homeschooled. We bought Owen these flash cards for Easter at the Dollar Store. He loves them and has memorized most of the words.

This week, our good friends Leslie and Jared were in Savannah for a long weekend. We got to meet up with them a few times and see the beautiful mom-to-be. She's doing great, and is expecting a little girl in July. We're excited for Owen to have a tailgating buddy at the Gator Games! For those who remember, Jared is the one that introduced Lou to me nearly 7 years ago. Thanks Jared!

Yes, he thinks he's super cool sporting the Gator hat.

Owen hanging with his Daddy having fun!

Forgive the lack of pants. It was almost bath time, and I refused to put pants back on him after changing his diaper knowing that the bath was only 20 minutes away. Owen just loves to make a stinky diaper about 30 minutes before the bath. Good timing, huh? I don't know who's happier in the picture - Lou, Owen or Cocoa?

We are truly blessed to have such a sweet dog. She lets Owen ride her, play with her, shake paws, etc. To watch their relationship grow is truly rewarding. Cocoa loves Owen so much. Our only problem is that we don't want Owen to think that all dogs are as patient and gentle as Cocoa. That's how bad stuff happens.

Public Service Announcement - Yogurt covered pretzels on a warm day's walk = a very messy toddler.

About ready to go to church! His cheeks were a little pink from our weekend walks. Hope you all had a great weekend!

#113 - Visitors from Albuquerque

Just love the little guy in yellow! (or, as he would say, "wuwo")

This weekend, Jake and Rachel were in Savannah for the AAAA conference. We had not seen them since they eloped to Hawaii, and they are wonderfully happy and as fun as ever! They came over Friday afternoon to meet Owen and hang out at the house. Friday night, we went out with them for drinks at the Bohemian, followed by dinner at Jazz'd. Lou spent most of the day with them on Saturday, and I met up with them for an early dinner that night. So much fun! We do miss our old friends in New Mexico!

The happy couple....

Hanging out with Owen....

Giving high-fives.....

#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.