Happy 1/2 Year Birthday Owen!

I can't believe it's already been half a year! We have been so busy that this last month has just flown by. It is so exhausting being a mother to a 6 month old, working part-time (24 hours a week), selling a house and trying to buy a new one all at the same time. I have never been more stressed… hence I am writing this at 1 am on a night before I have to get up at 5:30 for work because I can't sleep.

Everything on the selling side house-wise has gone smoothly. We had 32 showings and 10 offers over 4 days. The inspection went smoothly and we couldn't be happier with the person buying it. We close in a month and the buyer will let us rent back for 2 months, so we don't have to be out until July.

The buying side is a different story. We are currently under contract on one, but the inspection uncovered a lot of big problems. The situation is very messy right now… and as much as I like the house, at this point it makes more sense to walk away and cut our losses. I guess on the bright side, one of the things Rich and I were really excited about the house was that it was in a particular neighborhood. So I think we have come to realize through this whole experience that this is definitely the neighborhood we want to live in and we are willing to settle on some other aspects of the house (as long as everything is up to code and the house isn't rotting). There are 2 other homes in the neighborhood on the market right now that we are going to see this weekend.


Owen's Milestones
- We tried sweet potatoes and peas this month. You love sweet potatoes and are not a big fan of the peas. Mommy made all of your food herself!
- You are a very light sleeper. We have to use a noise machine so you don't hear us get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
- You grunt when you are mad. You always have.
- Speaking of getting mad and grunting… nothing makes you more mad than seeing an iPhone that you can't play with. You have an obsession with iPhones and already know how to swipe your finger across the screen to make things move.
- You can ride in the stroller sitting up and can ride in the seat in the cart as long as we keep a hand on you to prevent you from leaning.
- You are getting pretty good at sitting up by yourself.
- You love playing in the jump-a-roo.
- I've tried to give you water in a sippy cup… but you don't understand. You make a face whenever you drink it because you are expecting formula.
- You get about half breast milk half formula these days.
- You love to make all kinds of noises! Very noisy during Gymboree.
- We switched you to your 9 months clothes at about 5 and 1/2 months.
- We go to the Doctor for your 6 month check up on Friday, I will update the blog with your weight and height on Friday.

Morning snuggles with Daddy. Owen was reaching for the glasses.

Sitting like a big boy in the stroller.

Lunch with Laurence...

And Eva!

Easter Sunday at the Country Club :)

New hat for the beach this summer!

Love cousin Nicole.

First time trying sweet potatoes.

Owen's first Easter basket. 

Owen opening his basket.

Happy boy!

Playing in the jump-a-roo.

Family Easter photo… good thing this was taken before Owen pooped all over his new seersucker shorts! And even better that Resolve Spray n Wash gets everything out!

Owen and Papa on Easter.

Now it's 2 am and I need to try to get 3.5 hours of sleep before I have to get up to go to work…. better get to bed!


Until Next Time…
Tressa

Mr. Owen is 5 Months!

Last weekend I shared my 30th birthday with little O. It's not fun turning 30, but he makes it a little better :) We just had little celebrations with friends and family all weekend... very low-key.

Spring is just around the corner. I am so excited for Owen to experience his first Spring and Summer. Right now he must wonder why we ever go outside since it's pretty much been unpleasant out there since he was born. I can't wait to be able to go on walks with him on more of a daily basis. It's been so cold and/or rainy that we've been on like 2 walks in the past month.

We've hired a Realtor and are shooting to list our home on March 26th. The home stagger came over last Friday, went through every room in our house and left us with 3 pages of "to-do's" to get the house ready to photograph and show. The biggest and most time consuming thing is going to be packing up everything we don't need before we move from all of the closets, laundry room and extra bedroom. We basically have to half-way move out and live out of a suitcase in our house. It's a little stressful, but it will all be worth it in the end. Hopefully we will have and accept an offer by mid-April and close/move by mid-May.

Owen's Milestones: (5 Months):

- You hate facing inward when being held. You want to see everything that's going on. We wear you in the baby bjorn and k-tan facing out and you love it.
- You really don't like being burped. It's like you don't have the patience for it (you get the lack of patience from mommy). To successfully get you to burp, we have to do something else while burping... i.e. walk around, have someone sit in front of you to entertain you etc.
- You have a sweet little laugh. The thing that gets you going the most is Gymbo the hand puppet from Gymboree. You loved it so much in class, we bought one to have at home. I think it's your favorite toy.
-You are getting better at tummy time. You like it when we put a mirror in front of you.
- It takes 2 spoons to feed you rice cereal because you always steal one!
- You like to suck on your thumb and fists. You still don't like pacifiers.
- You've discovered your feet this month. You try to sit up to stare at them.. especially when your socks are off.
- You don't want to lay down anymore. When we put you in the bouncer you are constantly using those ab muscles to try to sit up.
- You started sleeping in your crib!!!
- You are very social. You smile at anyone who makes eye contact with you.
- You are starting to get particular about who holds you when you get tired. Sometimes you just want your mommy or daddy :)
- You like to try to hold your own bottle when you eat. In fact, you've even started trying to grab and drink from mommy's water bottle.

I got a new lens for our camera… it takes really nice close ups.

We started eating in the bumbo instead of the bouncer…. only about 20% of the rice cereal actually gets consumed now that we are sitting up instead of reclining.

Owen's smile melts my heart!

Owen's first art project. We made a footprint butterfly planter for Popou for his birthday.

Owen at Gymboree

Owen on a walk with his shades

Ashley, Owen and I celebrating my 30th

Owen and his daddy.

Until Next Time...
Tressa

Happy 4 Months Owen!

 I might be biased… but I think our little boy is pretty darn cute! And he just keeps getting more handsome every day! These last four months have both flown by and gone slowly at the same time… if that makes any sense. Someone told me recently that with little ones the hours go by slowly, but the months fly by. I think it takes being a mother to really understand how true it is.

I feel like our house is full of baby stuff right now. 4 months is an age where you use a lot of different equipment. Owen still enjoys his gyms (he has 2, 1 for his bedroom and 1 in the living room) and spends most of his playing time in them. He still goes in his swing about once a day for a nap. We put him in the mamaroo when he's awake and happy, but we are doing stuff like making dinner. He likes to sit in it and watch us. We also put him in his bouncer a lot and it's a great place to put him while we feed him. We also have a bumbo seat and a summer infant activity seat which he isn't completely comfortable in yet but I think we will start using a lot more until he can sit on his own. If all of that wasn't enough, I picked up a doorway jumper and a jumperoo (kind of like an exsaucer) at a consignment sale last weekend. I got a great deal on them and both items can start being used at 4 months. As you can imagine… there is baby stuff everywhere! I think it's just the age though, he hasn't quite outgrown some things but is old enough to start using other things in small doses. I think in another month or 2 he'll start sitting up and then will be too big for the gyms, bouncer, bumbo and summer infant seat. He'll be too tall for the swing and mamaroo and all we will have left is the jumper and jumperoo (and we'll get the highchair out then too). At the same time… we are trying to clean and organize the house to put on the market. I hate to put things away before Owen is done with them since there is such a small window he can use them in. I guess we will just keep everything out until the day we put it on the market and hopefully the house will sell fast so we can get everything back out again.

At Owen's 4 month appointment, the doctor told us to start doing a rice cereal feeding once a day to get him used to eating with a spoon. We started right away! I mixed the cereal with formula for his first feeding and he absolutely hated it! See the face of disapproval below….

He isn't a big fan of formula. But then I mixed it with breast milk and he loved it. He kicks his legs in excitement when I feed him… making getting the food in his mouth very challenging. We have to change his clothes after every feeding… he is such a mess. At least rice cereal doesn't stain!

Owen's milestones:
- You weighed 15.3 lbs (43rd percentile) and measured 25.75 inches (77th percentile) at your 4 month doctor's appointment. So you are long and lean!
- You definitely follow me with your eyes/head when I walk around the room. You are very aware of your environment.
- You are starting to enjoy our walks outside and hardly ever cry on them.
- We went to a gymboree class… you really enjoyed watching the teacher sing and looking at the other babies. We got a membership and are going to be going weekly.
- You went into the doorway jumper and the jumperoo for the first time…you like both of them in small doses… after 5 minutes you get a little overwhelmed. I think you will be more of a fan in another month.

Until Next Time,
Tressa 

Owen's First Road Trip

We took a trip to Michigan last weekend to attend my Grandmother's memorial. It was sad Owen never got to meet Grandma Lauinger, but I'm glad he got to meet Grandpa and many other family members. It also makes me happy to know that grandma knew about Owen and saw pictures of him before she passed.

The trip was 12 hours in the car (not including stops). It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. On the way there we left at 5 am (Owen had gotten up to eat at 3:30 so we just got up, fed Owen, packed the car and left). Owen slept over half of the way. When he was awake I sat in the back and entertained him. On the way back we split the trip between 2 days and spent the night in Cincinnati with Rich's friend Brian who also has a son (8 weeks old).

Owen and I went to a Gymboree class yesterday and had so much fun. We signed up to start going to weekly classes. I think it will be good for us to meet other mommies and babies and to learn ways to work on developmental skills.

Owen with his Papa (winking)

Owen with his Papa

Owen flirting with the ladies :) He has the same smile as his Grandpa.

3 generations of Lauinger men (skipping my generation)

One with everybody looking

Owen playing with his firefly in the car.

Owen and his new buddy Aaron, 6 weeks apart.

Aaron, Owen and their Daddys

Owen smiling during playtime

Owen and Great Uncle Gary.

Until next time,
Tressa

Happy 3 Months Owen

It's a lot harder to find time to update the blog now that I've gone back to work! On the days I work I'm exhausted by the time I get home (I wake up at 5:30) and dinner needs to be cooked/eaten, Owen needs a bath, I need a shower, pumping supplies need to be washed and sterilized for the next day and at the same time I have to sit down and feed Owen every 2-3 hours! On the days I'm off I spend the time Owen's awake playing with him and during his catnaps I am trying to do laundry, clean and pack boxes to get our house ready to sell. So that's what we've been up to lately….

Owen turned 3 months old last week. I feel like 3 months is such a big milestone. The "newborn" phase is over…. which is both good and bad. He's less fussy in the evenings and sleeps through the night most nights now, but on the other hand I miss my tiny baby who used to cuddle with me and fall asleep on my shoulder when I burped him. He's growing up way too fast!

Owen's Milestones

- You are a very happy baby. You smile a lot :)
- You love making all kinds of noises and blow bubbles.
- You kick your legs and shriek when you are excited.
- You can hold onto an object briefly if I hand it to you.
- You LOVE eating your own hands. It was hard to get a 3-month picture of you without your hands in your mouth.
- You can roll over from your back to your tummy… but not the other way around. You cry when you roll to your tummy because you hate being in that position.
- You smile so big at me and your daddy when we get home from work. You definitely recognize us and like having us around :)

We are about to take Owen on his 1st road trip… we are headed to Michigan (14 hr drive) on Friday for a memorial service. Owen will probably get to see some snow for the first time. I'm a little nervous about being in the car that long with a 3 month old. Hopefully we will make it!

Until Next Time…
Tressa