Owen Turns 10 Months Old & The Clemons Family Visits

Samantha: 86 Months, Week 1
Aedan: 51 Months, Week 3
Owen: 10 Months, Week 1 (Week 44)

Sunday, July 15th was our last day in Marquette, and we had plans to swim in the hotel pool one more time before driving back over to Presque Isle Park to walk out towards this lighthouse in the the middle of the water. The kids always enjoy swimming, although you could tell that it had been a long and busy weekend and the kids were starting to feel tired. They didn't have as much energy in the pool as normal.

When we were at Presque Isle Park the day before, we noticed this lighthouse, and Ben thought it would be cool to walk out as far as we could on the rocky path to get there. Owen fell asleep in the car, and luckily, I was able to transfer him to the Ergo and he continued sleeping as we walked around and explored that morning. It was a warm and sunny day, and we enjoyed looking out over the water for awhile. It was definitely fun experiencing Marquette in the summertime, and I'm sure we will be back again some day.

We stopped at the Subway in Munising for lunch before continuing on the rest of our drive home, arriving home mid-afternoon with plenty of time to get unpacked and situated before Ken and Linda came over to watch the kids while Ben and I went to our Married Person small group. Then it was getting the kids to bed and getting ready to start a new week.

Monday through Thursday this week, Samantha and Aedan had swim lessons again. Here's Aedan practicing getting in the water using the ladder, swimming across the pool using the pool noodle to help him float, and then climbing out the other side.

And here's Samantha practicing her backstroke. She's getting so good at it! And she's swimming across the water, floating and swimming all by herself, except for a little help from her teacher to turn her around in the middle of the pool. It's been fun to watch them at swimming lessons.

I had Samantha sit next to Owen on the way home to keep him awake so I could put him down for a nap at home. He ended up taking a good nap at home that morning, which I was extremely grateful for. Also, he continues to do pretty well at night. He still wakes up 1-2 times at night before Ben and I go to bed, and now it's become a running joke that Owen wakes up because he wants to say good night to Ben. Then, he wakes up 1-2 times at night to nurse and go back to sleep. None of that really bothers me as long as he goes back to sleep quickly and easily. However, that Monday afternoon, he was back to his normal 20 minute nap. I was hoping that after his good morning nap that maybe the afternoon nap would follow suit, but that was not the case. I went in his room and got him back to sleep easily, but then he woke up again as soon as I laid him down. I needed some time to myself and was trying to do things with Samantha, so I decided to try another method that I read about where you slowly increase the amount of time between going in their room, and when you do go in their room, you're only supposed to stay in for 15 seconds and not pick them up. I tried it that afternoon, but it wasn't working, and he just kept crying and crying, desperately wanting me to pick him up. I really don't want to have to sleep train him like this, I don't like hearing him cry for a long time, and I certainly don't want him to feel like I am rejecting him by not picking him up, which is clearly what he wants and needs. I would rather this all just be a phase that he would grow out of. I never had to do sleep training with Samantha and Aedan, but neither of them gave me as much trouble with napping and sleeping, either. I nursed them to sleep at nighttime, too, and it never seemed to make a difference, and they finally just grew out of it when they didn't need to nurse to sleep anymore and were fine going to sleep without that. However, I just still feel so tired of these short naps and want it to be resolved. Like I've mentioned before, I feel like my whole summer is being overtaken by this, and I'm missing out on being with the older kids during the day without Owen around, and I'm missing out on hanging out with Ben in the evenings because the things I don't get done during the day get pushed to the evenings/night. For example, I haven't cleaned the house in almost 6 weeks, which is much longer than I would like, but I just don't have dedicated time to get it done. Summertime is when Ben is the most free to just hang out at night, and I feel like before we know it, he will be back into another semester, and I will have missed out on all these evenings that we could just spend hanging out, talking, watching shows, or playing games.

Tuesday, July 17th was my 34th birthday, and although birthdays aren't quite as exciting as you get older, I still like people to celebrate with me and plan special things for me. I came upstairs to a wonderful card from Samantha and Aedan, as well as my favorite breakfast that they all worked together to prepare. Owen's gift to me was sleeping through the night and taking two good, unassisted naps that day. It was so wonderful to feel well-rested and to finally see light at the end of the tunnel with his sleeping. Ben's gift to me was our patio table that we had so much trouble getting. While we were gone to Marquette, the table and umbrella was delivered, but we were still waiting on the chairs that were somehow lost in transit. Here is the table and umbrella that Ben put together. I'm excited to be able to sit outside and enjoy eating outdoors and just hanging out with the kids, or talking with Ben in the evenings. I have always wanted a patio set like this, and it's great to be able to have the back yard and the space for it now.

The biggest gift Ben gave me that day was just his time. He stayed home from work so he could help me around the house and just make things easier on me. For example, I was able to take Samantha and Aedan to swim lessons by themselves without lugging Owen along, too. In fact, while we went to swim lessons, Ben and Owen went grocery shopping and we picked them up on our way home. So he also saved me from having to take all three kids on a grocery shopping trip. Here is a sleepy Owen riding on Sandy after they were done shopping that day. Ben even got me a drink from Starbucks, too. :)

After getting home from swim lessons, we just hung out at home together and ate lunch together before I took Samantha and Aedan to see a movie on campus. They were playing Paddington 2, and the kids were really excited to be able to see another movie and enjoy some popcorn, too. I like to go see movies, so it was fun for me, too. The movie was really cute, and Samantha was laughing throughout the whole thing at all the silly things that Paddington did. It was so nice to have a day with just the big kids, where Ben was hanging out with Owen so I could just go out and have fun without having to drag along a little baby wherever I went.

Not only was the 17th my birthday, but it was also the day Owen turned 10 months old! Since I didn't really get any 9 month pictures of Owen since we were out of town then, I made sure to do our typical photo shoot that afternoon when he got up from his nap.

Here is Owen climbing on the trampoline downstairs. He loves this thing, and it is the perfect size for him to climb on and off by himself, and he can even easily reach the bar on the top. I thought it would be fun to just record some videos of how active he is right now, and how well he can stand up and climb around.

And here are my attempts at getting pictures with his 10 Month sign. It is so hard to keep this little boy still!

I love the smile on this little boy, his blue eyes, and his cute little dimples.

He didn't stay sitting for very long, for soon he discovered that he could turn around and climb up the chair.

Look at this crazy boy! He just loves to have fun and is so happy. He is definitely our most active baby. He loves to smile, and he loves to laugh.

There is no stopping this little guy who is always on the move. He loves to push around these little walker toys, and he is working on standing for a few seconds without having to hold on to anything. I imagine it's only a matter of time before he takes steps on his own.

Samantha and Aedan are caring and loving siblings. They do a good job of helping with him when we need an extra set of arms or eyes. Even though his sleeping has not been ideal, I wouldn't change anything about our family or these three precious gifts that God has given us. I often think about how long I prayed for this baby, how many tears were spilled in the almost two years we tried to get pregnant with a third child. In the sleepless nights or afternoons when he only wants to be held to sleep, I try to remember that I will never get these days back. He will only be this little once, and I don't want to wish his littleness and dependence on me away. Little Owen is already growing up so fast, and I can't believe we are a short two months away from him turning 1 year old. Time sure does fly by.

Normally I'm the cake decorator in the family, but Ben has to do it when it's my birthday, and look what a beautiful cake he made! He colored the icing and even did writing and decorations on the top. He made me a chocolate cake with cherry ice cream, and it was delicious.

Wednesday was another morning of swim lessons. Here is a video of a Humpty Dumpty that they do at the end of lessons sometimes. They say the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme and then are supposed to jump into the water. Samantha has no problem jumping into the water, but Aedan always waits at the edge until his teacher is ready to catch him when he jumps in. I love that it is like a battle of which swim class can be the loudest.

As we were getting ready for lunch that Wednesday afternoon, Samantha looked outside and exclaimed, "Mom! There's a beaver in our backyard!" I went to see what she was talking about, and I knew it wouldn't be a beaver, but there was definitely a groundhog walking across our yard. He went over to our "garden" area that has random things growing in it, among which are little strawberries. It looked like he ate a few things from the garden and then he walked along the fence looking for a way out of our yard, finally sneaking out the far right back corner of the yard. I tried to get a picture of it for the kids and to show Daddy, but it was hard to get a clear one. You can kind of see the brown blob on top of the wood in this picture, that is the groundhog. The kids couldn't wait to tell Daddy about what they saw that day.

Owen took a decent nap that afternoon, allowing me to get the chicken salad made for our picnic dinner in the park that evening. We had plans to meet up with some friends at 6:00 for dinner in the park before the concert. The Petoskey Steel Drum Band was to perform, and it's one of the highest attended performances of the summer. Our friends saved us some spots on the grass, and we enjoyed eating together and talking before the concert started. The kids were able to hang out and play together, and even went out into the grass to run around with some other kids. Owen did pretty well being out later than normal, and we had a fun time enjoying good friends and fun, free entertainment.

Samantha and Aedan were excited to be able to go out and try out the drums after the concert was over.

Thursday was Samantha's and Aedan's last day of swim lessons, and I had plans to clean the house that day, so Ben offered to stay home from work and take the kids to swim lessons so I could just focus on that job for the day. Here is Owen cuddling up into Daddy's shoulder that morning after breakfast. Little Owen is definitely a cuddler. He loves to be held, and we will take all the hugs and cuddles he wants to give us. :)

Here are some pictures Ben took of their last day at swimming lessons. Owen enjoyed hanging out in the stroller.

Aedan found a fun game to play with his pool noodle, scooping up water into the tube, then blowing it out from the other end. As swim lessons went on, it was a little bit harder trying to keep Aedan focused and engaged, but this is just the beginning of lessons for him, and he was still learning a lot.

Here's Samantha floating on her back.

Here's Aedan practicing jumping in the water with his pool noodle to hold him up.

This activity where all the kids line up and hold on to the noodles to form a train was one of Aedan's favorites.

The kids did a great job at swim lessons. Samantha passed Level 2 and will be moving on to Level 3. Aedan will still be in Level 1, but I didn't really expect him to pass out of his level because he is still working on getting more comfortable in the water, jumping in, going under, and learning how hold his breath under water.

After I spent all of Thursday cleaning the house, we decided to cook out for dinner that Thursday night and enjoy eating and relaxing at our new patio table. Our chairs weren't going to be in for awhile, but we made do with what we had. The kids really thought it was fun sitting outside to eat.

On Friday morning we didn't have too many plans because the Clemons family was coming to visit. They stayed overnight at a hotel so they could get to our house earlier that day, arriving right around lunchtime.  I got Owen down for his afternoon nap, and Oliver and Brielle went down for their naps as well. Aedan played downstairs for his quiet time while Samantha played in her room for awhile before coming out and wanting to build the claw game from her most recent Kiwi Crate. Owen actually took a really good nap that afternoon, giving me the time to hang out and actually work with Samantha on this project. It was fun to watch her figure out how to make this, to follow the step by step instructions, and to be so intent on finishing it. She definitely has my personality to be task-oriented and not wanting to stop something until it is complete. She was focused and diligent in every instruction, and she was so proud of her end result. She often will say that she is really good at building things, and that's why she wants to be an engineer when she grows up, and I can definitely see that trait in her. She is never more focused on something as she is when she is putting something together or building something. I know this little girl will do great things and she is capable of so much. I'm glad to encourage her gifting by giving her opportunities to build things.

With Saturday looking like it was going to be a rainy day, we decided to take advantage of our time to get outside on Friday evening once everyone was up from their naps. We went out to Brimley State Park to enjoy some time playing on the beach. We brought our beach toys for the kids to play in the sand, and Aedan's floatie so he could go in the water. The water was a bit chilly, as is usual up here, but the kids didn't care at all. They had a blast jumping around and splashing in the water.

Here are some action shots of Samantha in the water.

Even Aedan was getting in the water and playing. He loves playing in the water with Samantha. (He calls her Samantha more than Sissy these days, which makes my heart a little sad.)

Here are some cute pictures of Oliver and Owen playing in the sand together. When kids are babies there seems to be such a gap in development in just a few months' age difference, but as these two boys get older, they will definitely enjoy playing with each other, as they are only 9 months apart. Owen loved playing in the sand and exploring all the toys we brought with us. I loved watching him hold the toys in his hands and study them intently.

Here's a picture of Brielle. I was trying to get a picture of her looking at the camera, but she looked down at the last second.

Here's a video of the kids playing in the water. It was a bit cloudy out that evening, but it was still warm enough to enjoy the water, and we didn't have to worry about putting sunscreen on. The kids had a great time playing together. After swimming and playing for awhile, Ben went to Superior Pizza and picked up some pizza and garlic knots for us to eat. We went up to the picnic tables to eat our food, and then we went back down to the beach for some play time. It was such a fun evening, and no one wanted to stop playing so we could go back home. I'm so glad that we decided to go enjoy some beach time even though there was some rain down south of us.

After a really good nap time on Friday, Owen also did really well that night. In fact, he didn't even do his obligatory wake-up after putting him to bed, giving Ben and I the chance to sit and talk with Matthew and Christy once all the kids were in bed. It was fun to have them come visit, and I'm always so glad when family makes the time to come up and see us.

Saturday was more of a relaxed day. Samantha and Aedan had Soccer Bible Camp that morning, and I got permission for Brielle to go, too. The kids had a good time playing outside, even in the rain. Then, we spent the rest of the day just hanging out in the house. Owen continued to take really great naps for us, not requiring Ben or me to sit in his room with him, which was so wonderful. I was hoping that maybe this finally was a turn for the better in his sleeping. He was only waking up once at night to nurse and then went back to sleep and was actually taking naps on his own. 

While the kids played together that day, Christy helped me do a huge job that I have been wanting to get done for a long time. We went through all my bins of girl clothes, and all the clothes that Christy has given back to me after using them for Brielle, but I hadn't done anything with. She helped me organize all the clothes and put them back in the bins. We even went through Samantha's closet and Aedan's closet, so all the clothes were finally organized and sorted like they should be. I was so grateful that she helped me with this huge job.

Here are some pictures of the kids from that day, doing some whatever color paining and just hanging out together.

After being stuck in the house most of the day, we decided to go out for ice cream and walk over to the locks after dinner that night. It was still a bit rainy outside, but nothing that got us too wet. It was a fun end to our day together. Then, after getting all the kids to bed, the grown-ups were able to enjoy some time playing dominoes, eating popcorn, and hanging out.

(Blog about July 15-21, 2018)