A Look back on Owen's first year

I can't believe that my baby is turning ONE today. This year has flown by. As I woke up early this morning with a million things flying through my head, I settled on one face---Owen-- and thought about how much he has changed in one year. I look at my sweet little boy who already has this little personality, and I smile, and I think of what blessing he is to us all. So as I was heading down memory lane of our first year with Owen, I thought I'd share some of my shots.

 He has been vigorously loved on by his sisters since Day 1.

  

 One of my favorite pictures. He looks like a little gift from God. 

 My Aunt Vicki sent the girls an Emergency Kit for those little boy diapers, complete with googles and gloves.

 

 

 Not the  happiest of monkeys

A soccer player in the making--takes after his Daddy.

Owen's Pre-1st Party

Owen turns one on Tuesday, so we had a few friends over to celebrate. Actually, we have three amazing couples that we get together with once a month, so we decided to roll Owen's birthday party into our traditional "Game Night." Only the game this month was watching the Titan's game.

I can't believe Owen is almost one. The girls made his cake, put on the icing and Katelyn even spelled out Happy Birthday. It is a one of a kind cake and was delicious.

It turned out to be a beautiful day. We watched the game some (poor Titans) and then took the kids outside to play soccer and games. Marco pulled Ellie and Owen around in the wagon and then took his little sister, Luciana, and Owen around. They make such a cute couple don't they? :) I felt like they were out on a mini-date with Marco as their chaperone and driver.

Stay tuned for my traditional Looking Back blog on Tuesday when Owen turns ONE . . . .

Look what happened at school today

She's back!!!!!!! is Owen next?

Katelyn returned to the soccer field on Saturday for her team's last game. After spending almost the whole season on the sideline with her broken arm, Katelyn came out ready to go Saturday even scoring a goal in the first half. I forgot my camera, so I only got this one from a friend.

 

Looks like Owen is planning to follow in his daddy's footsteps. He can't quite stabilize himself yet on his feet, but he definitely likes to go after the ball.

Look at me. . . . I'm walking

Owen started taking a couple of steps last weekend when mom was in town. 

Look at him tonight. . . . . He is ready to go!

Halloween Night

For Halloween, I had a Barbie Fantasyland Fashion girl, a Sock Hop chick and a monkey. Unfortunately Owen kept pulling his head off so I couldn't get a good picture. We started the evening at my friend Chastity's house with a group of friends and some ghoulish treats. Then we hit the neighborhood to trick or treat with our neighbors next door. It was a much different experience than in years past. Usually the kids move pretty slow and run out of steam early. However, this year, they were fueled by the momentum of their friends and literally ran from house to  house. Katelyn had so much candy her bag broke at the end. Overall, fun was had by all. Now what to do with all this candy . . . . . .

Cast off, Scarecrow Day and Chocolate Galore

It has been a fun week at the Calhoun household. Katelyn got her cast off yesterday. Her arm still looks a little lumpy, but they say that it will naturally heal on its own back to normal. I hope so. She has a brace on it for another two weeks at least and no soccer for another week. She has been a trouper through it all, although she did flip out a bit when they went to saw it off again. For some reason she freaks out when they try to put casts on and off. Maybe a bit of a control issue. Now where did she get that???

Today was Scarecrow Day at school in the first grade classes. Each of the kids made a scarecrow (ours is riding in the passenger seat of the car.) They also learned a line dance and had a hoe down. It was very cute. They all lined up and danced with a partner. You can see clip of hers below.

Tonight we made brownies for a friend. My kids were relentless in trying to get every drop of chocolate out of the bowl.

Owen 11 months old

Owen turned 11 months old this weekend. I can't believe he is nearing one year old already. He is still crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. I was on my way to work last week and Alan called saying, "Guess what Owen can do now. Climb steps." We accidentally left the gate open at the bottom of the stairs and before we knew it, he was almost to the top. He is growing so fast. He has 6 teeth now and has two more popping through on the bottom. He is such a sweet, little guy and laughs hysterically at the smallest things. Ellie can get him on a roll some days.  He now says bye, bye while waving to himself and I think he is saying Mama, but I am not sure that he equates it with me. Hoping though.

It was also my birthday on Friday and if you all know my girls, you know they like to have a party. On Thursday night, they couldn't stand it anymore and had to give me my presents. We usually let them pick out a few things at Dollar Tree, and you never know what you might get. The best gift of all was an envelope that Katelyn gave me with $20 of her own money. This was huge for her. She has been saving like crazy for an American Girl doll, so to give me $20 melted my heart. It was so sweet. Of course I gave it back to her. When I asked her if she would have been sad if I kept it, she said, "no because I love you more than money."  She has such a sweet heart and loving spirit.

Chillin in my rocker

Owen is finally able to sit up in his rocking chair. He had such fun rocking in it and then more fun pushing it back and forth to rock it himself. Thanks to my Godfather, Jimmy, for the loving gift.

New cast

Katelyn went in today and had her cast cut off. She was convinced they were going to cut her arm and was very reluctant, especially after they turned on the saw and she heard it. I told her that they never cut you to which she responded, "They cut Evan's." I hope that is not the case. After some cajoling, we finally got her to agree to have it cut off. She is now sporting a new Hot Pink cast. Looks like she will only have to wear it for two weeks. So only two more weeks of No running, jumping, falling, etc and I will have my spirited, rambunctious, little girl back.

Before

 After

A cast can't keep my Katelyn down

Sporting her purple CPA cast, Katelyn took to the field Friday night as a Lion's cheer girl. She was one of about 50 elementary girls that cheered and danced during half time. It is always fun watching them even though they don't have an ounce of synchronization. They always have a great time though. Despite her doctor's directions to keep her feet on the ground, she couldn't resist a little cheerleader kick at the end.

Sunday we hit the zoo for an absolutely beautiful day. It turned out to be Harvest Days at the zoo. They took you back in time to see what it was like to press apples into apple cider, shake your own butter, make lamb wool into yarn and then use the yarn to weave a blanket. The girls were full of questions and interest. Katelyn even talked to the Confederate soldier about all his guns. It was time to go before we knew it and we hadn't really even seen any animals.

Should I be a witch for Halloween

Funny Owen picture and Katelyn update

Daycare posted this today and I thought it was too funny. I can just see him sitting back, stuffing himself, and then taking a long nap.

In other news: Katelyn went today to get her real cast. We thought it would just be half cast, but in an effort to mobilize her forearm bones, she had to have a full-length one that covered her elbow. She did choose CPA purple, so she is fashionably coordinated for school. Someone at soccer on Saturday had said she may be able to wrap it in bubble wrap and play this weekend, but unfortunately, she had her hopes dashed. Instead, she was told to keep her feet on the ground--no running, jumping, climbing, playing on swingsets or slides, etc. We are not sure what our active little one is supposed to do. She rarely walks anywhere, but rather bounces there. They were even concerned about her ballet/dance class--as though tapping with one foot might put her over the edge.  So say a little prayer for quick healing because it is going to be a full time job to keep her feet on the ground.

Happy Events

Today was a day full of happy events--birthdays and anniversary. Owen turned 10 months old today. He is growing so fast and is a hefty little guy. He has four teeth now, loves to crawl, and pulls up on everything. He loves to get into the cabinets and pull everything out, particularly the pots and pans. He can spend forever in the bathtub if you let him, just playing with toys. He likes to try to catch the water if you pour it out.

It is also Papa Bibelhauser's 80th birthday. We celebrated his birthday when we were in Louisville last weekend with the family. My niece, Sophia, also turned 6 today. She is in Arizona and the girls miss her. And last, but not least, it is the 10th anniversary of marriage to my wonderful hubby, Alan. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing partner by my side who works so hard and is so supportive of all that I do. He is amazing with our kids and loves us all well.

Happy 10th Anniversary!!!!!!

Cartwheel catastrophe

Katelyn has been experimenting with cartwheels lately. She can do three or four of them in a row and is getting pretty good at them. So yesterday in aftercare at school, she decided to attempt a one handed cartwheel. This was not a good idea. Her aftercare teacher brought her to me and her wrist definitely did not look right. It had a very pronounced hump in it. She cried when she saw me, but that was about it for most of the evening. With the  help of some of my colleagues, we iced it down and put it in a sling and then off to Vanderbilt we went.

For those who have not had to go to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital before, they do an amazing job. It is so kid friendly and is a well-oiled machine. We got there about 5:30 and were told right away by the intake ladies that it was broken. We went immediately to triage and then on to X-ray. Katelyn was so calm and collected. I forget that it is a teaching hospital. We saw a ton of doctors. For every doctor we saw, there was a medical student observing him. The most difficult part of the night was getting Katelyn to allow them to put an IV in so they could sedate her and set the bones. They were both bent and one looked cracked half way through. I didn't even know that bone bent, but apparently they do. They sent in a Life counselor to talk to Katelyn about it all. She came in with a little doll that had in an IV  which I found very interesting. but she still fought the nurses and pretty much freaked out at the thought of a needle. They finally got it in and then put her to sleep to set the bones. We left while they did it, but there were seven people in there either with a role in the setting or watching. Katelyn got kind of giggly as she started nodding off and when she awoke, she swore she never went to sleep although she can't remember any of it. We made it home at about 11:30 p.m.

So for now, she has a plasterish splint on, which she'll keep for about a week until the swelling goes down. Then she'll get a cast next Tuesday. Katelyn woke up this morning and wanted to go to school to show her X-ray and IV doll to her friends. She has been in good spirits and a real trooper through it all.

Yes--That's a worm she is holding

We had awesome weather this weekend as we headed to Cummins Ferry Resort Campground for Labor Day weekend. We went "camping" with my family which is code for RVing. The kids had a blast. They went fishing. Yes--that is Katelyn showcasing a big, fat worm. She is fearless, as is Ellie, when it comes to worms. Grandma Karen had bought Cane poles for them to use. Of course, their attention span was about 20 seconds before they were wondering when they would catch a fish. They kept lifting their poles out of the water to check. Unfortunately, they did not catch any fish. Notice their fashionable fishing dresses. One must always look one's best on the docks.

Owen received lots of Grandma love along with the aunts. Unfortunately, he was sick on Saturday. I am thinking it was not a good idea to give him the free Soy formula that I received. But he rebounded to his usual cheery self on Sunday and Monday.

I think the wildest part of our trip was when we went out on paddle boats one afternoon. You would think it would be pretty calm, but somehow the only one available was infested with spiders. So we found ourselves out in the middle of the lake with spiders crawling up the sides. Ellie about jumped in the water trying to get away from them. Quite a few met their demise that day as I slipped into my Mama Bear persona to save my little cubs. Alan motored us out to a small waterfall which the kids found amusing.

It was a great campground for kids. They had karaoke (way to go Janine and Katie).  They didn't have much Hannah Montana or Taylor Swift for my kids to have their debuts, although I am not sure they would have gone up there if they did have it.  They also had a quarter find. They had two big piles of sawdust and dropped $100 in quarters in it and let the kids search for it. Believe it or not, it kept the kids occupied for a long time. Katelyn found $7 and was very excited. She has a determined streak in her and didn't want to give up if there was a chance there was still money in there. Then they let the adults search. It was quite amusing to see grown people digging around on the ground for a handful of quarters, but I won't show those pictures :D