Owen Turns 2 & A Trip to Roba Family Farm

Samantha: 100 Months, Week 1
Aedan: 65 Months, Week 3
Owen: 24 Months, Week 1

Sunday morning after getting ready for church, I had the kids record a little video to sing Happy Birthday to Brielle, since she was turning 5. I figured this is even better than sending a card or something like that, and it's a way to stay connected, even when we are far away.

Then, we were off to church. Everyone really loves our new church, Restored Church, and we are glad to go there every Sunday. They have started using the orange curriculum for the kids' program, which makes Samantha and Aedan happy, and every week there is a challenging sermon addressing God's truth for our lives. I am so glad that we found a good church where we can now get to know people and get involved.

After church Samantha and I went shopping together because she needed new shoes for Uncle Tim and Aunt Pla's wedding next month. She found some nice, silver sparkly shoes that will go nicely with her flower girl dress. I also bought a couple pair for myself because I haven't bought new shoes for myself in ages. We then stopped at another store to find undershirts for Samantha to wear underneath some of her new sweaters before heading back home to join up with the rest of the family.

I was pretty tired on Sunday afternoon because Owen has been waking up crying every night, pretty much for the last 4 weeks. Plus, we have to go in his room right after we put him down, too, because he just screams, cries, and kicks the wall. He then wakes up in the middle of the night around 12:30-1:00 as well. Then, he's been up at 6:00-6:15 the last few days, so no one, including him, is getting enough sleep. We have tried letting him go and not responding right away, but it will be fifteen minutes and he just gets louder and more angry. I don't know how long it would take for him to stop crying on his own. He has always been bad at putting himself back to sleep, and I was feeling frustrated that it was still happening after so many weeks and was tired from being up at night with him. He also has been a lot crabbier during the day because he is tired. I wasn't sure if it was still a sleep regression or if he could be teething or if it's something else all together.

Monday morning was a bit stressful, as we missed the van that morning, for a combination of reasons. I was trying to fill out their picture forms for picture day, but then I also had to mess with Samantha's ears for fifteen minutes. Samantha's ears were starting to close up. She has trouble getting earrings back in after wearing dangly ones, and she decided to sleep without earrings in, so I cleaned her ears really well, and took quite a bit of time trying to put back in her original posts, and I told her we should leave those in for awhile, clean them, and turn them, to get the holes back to how they should be. It was not fun, and there were a lot of tears. Then, Aedan was outside playing and didn't have his backpack. It was one of those mornings where I was tired and frustrated by the time they left for school, not a great way to start the day.

This was one of those weeks that was hard and frustrating all around for me, just when being a parent wasn't that fun. Owen woke up again in the middle of the night and was up at 6:15, and the kids were driving me crazy over the weekend with not listening and being super tired. Then, when Ben was mowing the lawn over the weekend, he discovered that the kids left a huge rock in the middle of the grass, and he didn't notice it nestled among the thick grass, so he mowed over it, and it flew out and hit him in the knee, and then the mower stopped working. We were both pretty frustrated because this lawnmower is brand new, and it already got damaged because the kids didn't do their job of picking things up in the yard like Ben asked them to, and they keep moving rocks around, which we have also asked them not to do. Speaking for myself, I know I have not been handling things very well and have been raising my voice a lot more than I would like. I feel like there's a lot of crying in our house with Owen being crabbier and Aedan crying every morning when he has to stop playing so we can go to school. He likes school, but it's just any transition like that where he has to stop doing what he's doing to do something else, like when it's time for dinner, bath time, clean up time, time to leave the house, or bed time. Samantha doesn't cry like the boys do, but she has been talking back a lot more lately and just using a mean tone of voice when she talks to people. Also, I have felt slightly overwhelmed with the daily tasks I have around the house, and lately have felt like I have just been cleaning up after everyone and not having time to get anything extra done during my day. Maybe I have too high of expectations for what I want to get done in a day, but it's frustrating as a stay at home mom sometimes. So needless to say, it was a discouraging way to feel at the start of a new week.

After getting the kids dropped off at school, I came back home and spent most of the morning looking up what providers are covered under our insurance, and then calling and making appointments for everyone at the dentist and a 2 year well child appointment for Owen at a pediatrician. It was something I had been meaning to do for awhile, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet. It's just another thing that you have to do when moving to a new place and have to find new everything.

I can't remember why, but here are some cute pictures of the kids sitting in the book nook before bed. Even though they can drive me crazy at times, I love them so much, and I wouldn't trade having them for anything else in the world.

Here is some of Aedan's work from the week. They are doing two alphabet letters a day as an overview, and then will go through the alphabet more slowly, focusing on one letter a week.

Monday afternoon I baked Owen's round cakes so they would cool and be ready for me to decorate that evening. Ben helped me make the buttercream icing for the cake, and then I used the icing to decorate his cake like a baseball. It wasn't my best work, and I didn't like using the gel to write as it was harder to control, but I still think it turned out pretty well. He will like it, since he is a big fan of baseball, and that's all that matters.

Tuesday, September 17th was a big day, and my little boy turned 2 years old! I was very excited to celebrate with him and decided to spend the morning doing things that I knew he would love. Our first stop was Build a Bear which is just a little store in the Wilkes-Barre Walmart. They have teddy bears where you pay your age, so we decided to go with that one, and then I let him pick out an outfit for his bear. Owen thought it was fascinating to watch the fluff spin around in the machine, and he really liked stepping on the pedal to make the stuffing fill up his bear.

After trying to decide between Batman, Chase from Paw Patrol, or Buzz Lightyear, he finally decided on Buzz. He was very excited for me to put the outfit on him right away, and I got these adorable pictures of him holding his birthday bear. My grandma sent some money for me to spend on a present for him, and I didn't have many great ideas since he already has so many toys, but I figured this would be a good gift since he likes to snuggle animals.

Owen and I then went to a playground down in Wilkes-Barre because it was a beautiful, sunny, 80 degree day. He was SO excited to play on the playground and to have my undivided attention while he showed off going down the tallest slide and stepping from these platforms. As we were at the playground I realized how busy we have been lately and how little time I have taken to just play with him and take him fun places. I get too caught up in things that need to get done, or think that he is just as happy playing at home, but I was glad that we took this little excursion together. My time at home with him will go by quicker than I want it to, as I know full well in thinking about my time at home with Samantha and Aedan, so I want to take advantage of my time to play with him and enjoy him, instead of always having something to get done. I loved watching the joy on his face as he enjoyed playing and being active.

After he had his fill on the playground, he saw a man shooting hoops on the basketball court and wanted to go over and watch him play. He found some acorns on the ground to play with and also enjoyed throwing big rocks toward the fence.

Owen didn't want to leave the playground that afternoon because he was having so much fun, but we had to get back home for lunch and nap time. I got his presents wrapped that afternoon, and Samantha and Aedan made me promise that he wouldn't open his presents until they got home. Here he is posing with his bear with all his presents behind him. Everyone was so excited to celebrate Owen's 2nd birthday!

I love watching kids open presents because the other kids are almost just as excited as the birthday kid. Here is Owen opening up his presents from Aunt Christy. He was really excited about the sink because he played with it while he was at their house over the summer and really liked it.

I just love his little voice saying "ank oo." One of my favorite things is when he says "uppy" when he wants to be held and "helpy" when he needs you to help him with something. He says so many words. I really want to keep track of all his cute phrases and mannerisms.

Owen has really enjoyed Paw Patrol lately, even though he has never even seen the show. Rather than having Samantha and Aedan pick out a random present at the store, I suggested that they give him these Paw Patrol puppy sets to play with because he likes playing with the two puppies that Aedan has so much. He couldn't wait to get the puppies out of the box and play with them!

This next present was a book I found for him when we were at Barnes and Noble last weekend. He loves Elmo and Sesame Street, so when I saw this book with a character named Owen, I just had to get it for him. Samantha was eager to start reading it to him right away.

And here he is opening up his other set of Paw Patrol puppies. I love how excited Aedan is and how he has his hand resting sweetly on Owen's back as he opens his present.

Owen was being so gentle with opening his presents that I think he was afraid to tear the paper. I got him this book of five minute Paw Patrol bedtime stories, and he was so excited that he brought the book over to me, sat down, and said, "eed" which is his word for read.

We went with a Paw Patrol theme for his birthday, and I also got him this little busy book with the little figures and play mat. He wanted to get the little puppies out right away.

The next present was from Ema and Papa, and this present probably trumped them all. They got him a baseball bat and ball, a blue baseball hat, and a left-handed glove. This was perfect for Owen, and he wanted to put everything on right away and start playing baseball. The biggest problem was that he was trying to use the bat and the glove at the same time, which didn't work too well. Isn't he just the cutest little baseball player you've ever seen?

And last but not least, Ben and I got him a new baseball tee with some orange bases to use for a real game. It was a pretty cool tee because it can be used three different ways: as a regular tee, a way for the ball to pop up in the air and be hit, and a way to practice the ball being pitched to you. I thought this might be useful for him as he grows, and also something that Aedan and Samantha would enjoy using as well.

With how busy our evening got, we decided to just order pizza so we wouldn't have to spend time making dinner. We enjoyed our Grotto Pizza, and then got to the most important thing of the night, eating birthday cake! This first video is Owen standing up and singing our fruit song with the word cake instead. He was super excited about his birthday cake! He had been talking about it all week long.

We passed out the Paw Patrol plates and napkins, got two candles in the baseball cake, and all sang Happy Birthday to Owen. I love how he rocked himself back and forth and sang along to the song himself. I also love how he tried so hard to blow out his candles, but didn't quite have enough air to get them blown out. (Daddy had to assist him a little.)

Here's my little 2 year old, ready for some birthday cake!

To say that he was a fan of his cake would be an understatement. He devoured it! I think he liked the funfetti cake with buttercream icing. It was the perfect way to end a day of celebrating Owen. He is such a fun little boy, with a handsome smile and hilarious personality, and he brings so much joy into our lives every day. He is a blessing from God after a couple years of trying to have another baby and not getting pregnant. He loves his brother and sister so much, and we can't imagine what our family would be like without little Owen Bowen to round it out.

After dinner I had to leave quickly because it was our first MOPS meeting, and even though I wanted to stay home and play with the kids and watch Owen enjoy his new presents, I didn't want to miss the first Wilkes-Barre MOPS meeting. The kids all went outside to play baseball together, setting the bases out, and Owen couldn't wait to use his new glove, bat, and baseballs.

After a fun Tuesday, Wednesday was another busy day. Owen was pretty grumpy that day, probably because all the commotion and excitement of his birthday. However, even on the worst days, I am grateful to be home with him and to have these moments where I get to rock him to sleep every day at nap time, to see his sleepy eyes close, and just to hold him while he sleeps for awhile. I know some day will be my last day of holding my sleeping baby, so I try to soak it in while I can. Sometimes I wish I would have remembered that more back when he was an infant and I had to hold him so much to get him to sleep. I wish I would have cherished those moments more, instead of wishing that he would move out of that phase and sleep better. Now he hardly fits in my lap, and to lay his head on my shoulder while we sit in the glider chair, takes some squishing and bending of his legs. Anyways, here are some cute pictures of Owen sleeping once I laid him down in his crib.

Owen enjoyed playing with his new toys that day, the sink being one of the main things. You fill it up with water, and it has batteries that work a pump underneath the faucet, bringing water up through the faucet from the reservoir below. he played with his sink for quite a long time that afternoon.

Wednesday night was another busy night, as it was Back to School Night at the kids' school where we got to hear information from the teachers regarding how they run their classrooms, what their expectations are, and more about homework and various school procedures. I was really looking forward to seeing the school and hearing more information from the teachers. As a teacher myself, I remember nights like these. It was good to hear a little more about how procedures go in the classroom and the school, as we are all new to this area and the Lake Lehman School District. In Aedan's class we got to hear a lot about how their day goes, their behavior system, as well as what kind of homework they will start having in math, as well as practicing, reading, writing, and sight words. In Samantha's class they talked a lot about how they organize grades and how they are encouraging the students to be more independent in making sure they check the board for what homework they have and bring home the proper materials for studying. I left feeling very pleased by the kids being a part of the school. They seem to really be doing things well, and the kids are already thriving. Samantha has the highest number of AR points in her class, and apparently there are a lot of kids in 3rd grade that are struggling to keep up with the class expectations, the homework, and the studying. I have not heard any complaint from Samantha, and she has been responsible to bring everything she needs home with her. I left feeling proud of her, feeling happy for Aedan, and feeling excited about a good school year with lots of learning and growth.

Here's some of Aedan's artwork that I found hanging in the hallway:

Samantha's classroom has some alternative seating, so I took a picture of Samantha's seat to show Ben where she is choosing to sit to do her work.

And here are the AR reports showing how many words she has read and how points she has gotten just in the few weeks of school so far. I was so proud of my little girl! I have a feeling this school is going to be so good for her.

That day Aedan also had come down with a pretty bad rash on his upper chest and neck, as well the molluscum bumps on his elbows that he's had before. However, we decided it would be a good idea to get the rash looked at since he was itching it quite a bit. So, Ben and I divided and conquered. I went to Back to School Night and recorded each meeting so that Ben could listen to it later when I got home, and he took all three kids with him to a walk-in clinic so that Aedan could get looked at. It was a bit of a crazy night, but Aedan got some medicine to help him out, with the doctor saying that it was dermatitis and that the molluscum is something that certain kids have more than others, but that we don't have to worry about it being contagious.

Here is some more of Aedan's work that he brought home from the week. They are learning about shapes in math and are almost done going through the alphabet.

Thursday night was another busy night, as Ben and I had our last foster parent training that night from 6-9. It was Reasonable and Prudent Parenting, and it was a required training, so we used Megan, the same babysitter as last time to watch the kids while we went out that night. We ate dinner quickly before leaving, and even though Aedan didn't listen too well when it came time to clean up and get ready for bed, Megan did an excellent job getting all the kids to sleep and leaving our house spotless with all the dishes cleaned and all the toys put away.

On Friday we had visitors coming for the weekend, my parents. They left Friday morning and had a long drive out from Chicago, so they didn't arrive until after the kids were in bed that night. However, it was good to spend some time talking to them before we all turned in for the night.

Saturday was going to be another beautiful, warm, sunny day. It was going to be around 80 degrees, and we decided to go to Roba Family Farm for the day. We had heard great things about it, and we were excited to check it out with Grandpa and Grandma. It was about 50 minutes from our house, so not a bad trip at all.

Here are the kids posing on the giant rocking chair near the entrance to the farm.

One of our first stops was feeding and petting the animals. They had goats, rabbits, chickens, and pigs, and the kids loved being around all the animals.

Here's some cute pictures of the kids sticking their heads through these animal cut outs.

After seeing all the animals, we decided to go through a corn maze together. Samantha and Aedan took turns deciding which direction to go, and we eventually made it out of the maze, even though Aedan complained about walking for a lot of the time.

From there we went to the back of the farm to watch some pig races. We got a front row seat off to the side, and Samantha was excited when she got to be a cheerleader for one of the pigs, getting a spider ring as a prize. I thought the pig races were kind of silly, but the kids loved them.

After the pig races we got some hot dogs and taco bowls for lunch before heading over to this really fun slide. Samantha and Aedan went down the slide over and over again, and I even got Owen to go down on my lap a few times. It was a lot of fun.

We did a lot of other fun things that afternoon from watching a dog jumping/frisbee show to going on a wagon ride. Owen really enjoys his "papas" and spent most of the wagon ride sitting on Grandpa's lap. I thought this was a cute picture of the two of them together.

Another highlight of the day was playing in these little houses. One looked like a house and one looked like a school. They were the perfect size for kids, and they all had a blast running from one house to another playing imaginary games.

One of Owen's favorite things was the cow ride. A tractor pulled all these little cars that were painted like cows, and he swerved back and forth which made the cars snake back and forth, too. Owen and Aedan loved having wheels to pretend to drive, and you could tell they were taking their driving very seriously.

Even though the kids were having fun and would have stayed there for even longer, we decided the low ropes obstacle course would be our last activity of the day. There were all kinds of things to climb on and walk on, from rope walls to tire steps, to monkey bars, to swinging bridges. All three kids had a blast climbing around and being crazy, although Owen had to be followed by an adult so he wouldn't hurt himself by falling off of something. That little boy certainly has no fear! Here are my two big monkeys hanging upside down!

We were at the farm all day, and Owen fell asleep very quickly on our ride home. We had been in the sun outside all day, and we were all feeling tired that evening. Grandpa and Grandma also brought presents for Owen from themselves and Uncle Matt. He got play animals and a large book of Five Little Monkey stories from Grandpa and Grandma, and here he is opening the dinosaur and singing Scout puppy from Uncle Matt. Samantha and Aedan were a little jealous that he got more presents, but they were just as excited to open up the little animal container and start playing with them on the play table. We were grateful for family who thought to buy presents for Owen, and to get him thoughtful things that they knew he would play with and enjoy. He is one lucky boy and had a great 2nd birthday. :)

(Blog about September 15-21, 2019)