Tee Ball

It is that time of year again.  With the weather being so nice, they have been practicing for most of the month of March so Gavin has been ready for his games to start.  Ashland always has an opening day parade, this year it was on April 7th.  Unfortunately, we didn't have the opening game and had to wait until April 16th to have our first game. 

The first game was awesome.  The team did great - all the practice really paid off.  Most of the players didn't even need even need to hit off the tee.  The way Ashland runs tee ball is that if the coaches have practiced with their players, they give the kids 3 pitches to hit the ball before they hit off the tee.  Gavin hit the ball both times without the tee.  I was so proud of him.  Actually, I think that the tee was only used a total of maybe 5 times.  Hopefully they continue to do so well!!

Walking up Centre Street in Ashland to the Little League field. 

Coach Daddy and Gavin



I have to say he has a pretty good stance for a 5 year old.



This was his 2nd hit of the day.  I wasn't ready for the 1st because he actually hit the first pitch and I was too busy just making sure that I got a picture of him up to bat.  Lesson learned - don't underestimate your kid!!



Playing first base, his favorite position.  We have a little work to do in this area!  One step at a time :)

Gavin - Easter

Gavin loves the Easter bunny and egg hunts.  He had no problem running and finding the eggs "all by himself."  He is such a big boy now.  It is very hard to realize that he needs me less and less every day.

Unlike Owen, Gavin couldn't wait to pose with the Easter bunny.  I don't think that the bunny loves to see Gavin all the time considering how big he is!!



Getting all ready to get his eggs.  Autumn made his shirt - isn't it adorable?  Owen had his on too, but it was a little cold for him to wear without his sweatshirt since he was sick.

Owen - 17 months

I am a terrible mother - as usual- and haven't been keeping up with updates, so here is the latest on Owen.  He is into everything and is still a monkey.  He is busy as ever and wants to be outside all the time.  The warm weather has been great.  He loves to use sidewalk chalk and write on on our driveway and he got a baseball glove from the Easter bunny so that he can play with Daddy and Gavin since Tee ball has started.  We were going to practices with them, but Owen was not happy that he could not go on the field with them so we now stay at home. 
After an relatively uneventful winter as far as illnesses go, within the last 2 months, poor Owen has had a Staph infection that showed itself through eczema and a horrible rash on his legs and then just over Easter had a fevers of 103 because of an ear infection.  Hopefully this will be the last for a while!
At his 15 month checkup, he was 23 pounds (26 percentile) and 33 inches (92 percentile). The doctor says that my kids continue to be long and lean, which I am more than grateful for!!

Thanks to Minnie Mouse, Owen still hates anything that in costume!  He loved waving to the Easter bunny, but wanted no parts of going near it!

Waiting patiently for the egg hunt to start!  Poor guy was so sick!!

Even sick, he did enjoy finding eggs and putting them in his basket.

Just last Sunday, Owen finally ate his entire bowl of Cheerios by himself.  He is giving his thumbs up sign here to show how proud he is of himself.

October 29

Our first snowstorm of 2011 was the first time that Owen was able to really play outside in the weather.  He was not a big fan but only because Owen does not like shoes and curls his toes whenever you try to put shoes on.  So as you can imagine, boots were not a big hit!  We got him outside for a little anyway, he just couldn't walk very well.  On the other hand, Gavin thought this was the best day!  He was helping Daddy use the snowblower on the driveway, and building snowmen & snow angels, but the most fun for him was running across the driveway and jumping onto the pile of snow created by the snowblower.  He would have stayed outside forever if we would have let him.

Owen's first time playing in the snow!

Brotherly Love!

Gavin is giving his devil smile under that mask.  He thought it was great that he could throw snowballs at Mommy & Daddy.

Gavin helping Daddy with the snowblower.

Owen's 1st Birthday!!

I cannot believe that over a year has passed since I had my second little boy, but it has and it has been a great year!!  It is amazing how different a second child can be from the first yet they look so much alike. 

Owen

• has 6 teeth now.
• is 21.5 lbs. (his 12 month checkup is next week so we will get an accurate height then)
• has been walking since 10.5 months.  This kid doesn't sit down!!  
• is quite a monkey - which is why this was the theme of his party!  He climbs on everything so we have to watch him like a hawk. If you turn around for one second, he is walking on the end table. 
• has had no problems adjusting to daycare.  He seems to love it and we have not had any meltdowns (from him) when I have to leave and go to work.  It certainly makes having to go to work much more bearable.
• LOVES the tub!  He can play in there forever, but when he is done, he will crawl out himself if you don't get him.
• LOVES to eat!  There is nothing so far that he doesn't like.  Recently, we just found out how much he likes tomatoes. 
• LOVES Gavin!  He follows him everywhere (which I'm sure will get old for Gavin)  and loves to hug Gavin.  They are really good buddies right now.  I can only hope that continues!
• is a dream to get to sleep.  After tub time, we snuggle for a few minutes while reading a book, then he simply points to his crib, cuddles up with his blankie and is off to sleep until at least 7:30 the next morning (unless I have to wake the poor kid up for daycare).

I am so blessed with my 2 boys and I can't believe that they are both growing up so fast!  Here are some 1st birthday pictures!

I bought this hat for Owen at the Covered Bridge Festival at Knoebels at the beginning of October.  I thought it was so cute!  Gavin had a prince hat so it was nice to have something that was just Owen's.

Hats are not really Owen's thing, but he is getting better.  He did leave this one on for a little!

Owen's special sign.  That hair is still crazy. I  think that it's a good thing that I didn't have a girl because I couldn't control Gavin's and I obviously can't control Owen's either.  His will be shaved by next year like Daddy & Gavin!

Hannah loves to wear the boys' hats.  Check back to the Christmas blog to see her in Gavin's Bears' helmet!

Owen likes attention!  He loved being sung to.  Thanks to Hannah for helping out so I could video tape!!

Owen's monkey cakes - of course they were banana flavored (which Owen loves by the way).  The top was for everyone and the bottom was Owen's to dig in to.  Unfortunately, he didn't actually dig in, but he did have some icing on his face.

Our boys certainly do not want for anything thanks to great family and friends!  Here is just a snapshot of his presents.  Of course he is going to be well dressed as well and he got a Cozy Coupe from Mommy & Daddy which we opened back in September so he could enjoy some time before the cold weather.

Great Week for the Boys!!!

This week has been momentous for my boys.  Gavin scored two goals in his soccer game on Tuesday and Owen clapped for the first time today!  I'm so excited for them.  I will attempt to post the videos soon!

Disney!!

The week of July 16th was such a great week.  We took the boys to Disney.  Of course this was crazy to take a 9 month but luckily he was such a good boy.  We went because Greg is taking classes to get his doctorate through Nova Southeastern University and had to attend a class during that week.  If Greg was spending a week in Florida, then we were certainly going with him. Luckily, my parents and brother went with us so when Greg wasn't there, I had help (and we appreciated the help when Greg was there too!).

The week was special for so many reasons besides just being in the most magical place in the US.  Greg and I celebrated our 8th anniversary, my brother, Aaron, celebrated his 29th birthday, and Owen turned 9 months old.  Owen got his second tooth on vacation as well.

Saturday

We arrived in Florida about 12:30 and Disney's Magical Express wisked us away to our hotel, Port Orleans - Riverside.  We didn't even have to claim our baggage.  They collected our bags for us and brought them to our room.  The only problem with the hotel was how far you had to walk to actually get to our room and they didn't seem to take into account that since I had an infant, I would in turn also have a stroller.  Unfortunately, we were on the second floor and there were only steps to get there so it was a little difficult but still very nice.

This was waiting on our bed when we got to the hotel.

We went swimming that afternoon and then got ready to attend the Hoopty Doo Revue.  It was a great show and dinner and a nice way to start the week.

 This was a funny place.  They slammed the bucket of chicken in front of Gavin so he thought the entire bucket was his and he didn't want to share.

Sunday

We started by eating breakfast at the Contempory Resort at Chef Mickey's.  Here the kids met with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto.  Gavin was very excited though disappointed because he was very much looking forward to see Daisy Duck so she could blow him a kiss.  Sometimes I wonder where he comes up with this stuff.  Owen enjoyed seeing Mickey and Goofy, but while I went to get us some food and my mom stayed with the boys, Minnie snuck up behind him and gave him a big hug.  This did not go over well and every character scared him to death!  Poor little guy.

Gavin loved every minute of the attention and Owen was fine until...

... Minnie attacked.  Gavin was trying to comfort Owen - it is really sweet how protective he is.

The way to Owen's heart is definitely through food.  Any girl that wants to marry Owen in the future will have to be a chef.  These Mickey-shaped waffles were his favorite!

Donald snuck in for a quick picture, but ... 

... Pluto was not as slick.

This was also our first trip to the Magic Kingdom. Gavin went on every ride even Space Mountain and Splash Mountain - not much scares him.  He really loved the Buzz Lightyear ride of course.  The greatest part of the Magic Kingdom is how family friendly it is.  Owen went on a lot of rides.  I was so worried that he would have to sit in his stroller all day, but he went on many.  We all loved "It's a Small World."  Gavin sang the song all week and Owen didn't know where to look since there was so much happening.
 

Gavin finally got to meet Daisy.  She did blow him a kiss.  Owen was exhausted from breakfast.

Waiting for Gavin and Daddy to get off a ride, Owen finally shows off that first tooth. He loves to wave hi and bye bye right now!

The boys were exhausted from a very long first day in Florida.  We were waiting for the electric light parade.  Gavin woke up to see it - he loves parades.  Unfortunately, it was too much for Owen - he slept right through it.

Gavin loved all of the parades, but this was his favorite!