Charlie+Owen=BFF

We have a dog and his name is Charlie. He is part of our family, as much as I get annoyed with his licking, sweeping up his dog hair, or his accidents (which thank God we haven't had any in such a long time) he IS a good dog. The best dog for our family, and the perfect dog for Owen to grow up with. The last month or so it has been so fun to watch Owen and Charlie interact. It's like they are brothers, I'm convinced Owen thinks Charlie is a human. There has been hundreds of times through out the day where I find myself needing to work through conflict with with these two, or teaching Owen how to deal with being frustrated! He gets very frustrated and upset when Charlie won't play with him anymore. Their playing looks a lot like Charlie chasing Owen through out the house, and when Charlie gets tired I will hear "RUN CHARLIE" in a very sad two year old voice and it usually follows with him pulling on Charlie's collar trying to make Charlie get back up. Then it results in a conversation, sometimes a lecture, from either Joe or me trying to explain to Owen that Charlie is tired or to ask him nicely. Other ways they play are Owen going upstairs and throwing the ball with Charlie. Not my favorite because that means my boy is picking up a slimy tennis ball over and over, but he loves it. Again, it usually involves Owen getting upset because Charlie gets tired. Then the crying starts and I hear him begging Charlie to "Play ball, Charlie, play ball!" Charlie is so good. He just plays with him and he does love HIS boy. He let's Owen climb all over him, pull his ears, poke his eyes, jump on him, and doesn't move a muscle-just let's him! Since we have moved into the new house we often find Charlie sleeping outside of Owen's door in the hallway. They love each other. They are Best Friends Forever. He's a good dog.

BALL GAME!

We sing a lot in our house. Owen loves it. He has become such a little singer, and it's so adorable. Currently our favorite song to sing is "Take me out to the ball game." Sometimes I will hear him singing the parts he will sing in the monitor while I'm in my room folding clothes. All of a sudden I will hear "2,3 and out in the OLD BALLLL GAME!" He yells the ball game part. Most nights he requests that we sing the "Ball Game" song, as he calls it, while we rock. Sometimes we throw in the Dogers, as a reminder of mommy's California roots, but most of the times the song includes the Cubbies as Daddy likes the Cubs (always rooting for the under dog!) I will try to capture him singing on video soon. It's just too cute!

Fear

It has a hold on me in so many areas of my life. It is a constant conversation God and I have to help me not to be so fearful. Currently I am struggling with fear about having another baby. I posted one of my favorite pictures of Owen and I when he was 3 months old on my Facebook. Many of the comments on the picture were "what a beautiful picture" but the majority of the comments were "time to have another". My response to this is...the conversations are happening. Prayer is happening. Hearts are slowly being changed at the idea of having a second child. In my experience the more knowledge I have of something the scarier it can be for me! For example, having another baby. I know now know how much work babies are! I fear what that looks like on a day to day basis. The time that would be divided between two kids. I fear what Owen's heart would go through. I fear it may stress my husband out having two. I fear little things like going to the grocery store with a toddler and an infant- actually going anywhere! Most of all I fear how I would handle the changes any woman goes through hormonally and emotionally after having a baby. The first time around was hard on our family. I had post partum depression. It was rough. One of the hardest things I have ever gone through. It was (in my mind) a million times harder to deal with all of that being so far from family. The fear of that happening again is something very close to me and Joe's heart. But God is faithful and GOOD as he healed me! We know our God is big. We know he knows the desires of our hearts. I want to be released from this this specific fear. Actually I do not want to be a fearful person at all! Fear is not of God, and I want use the fact that he released me from this to HIS glory. I know that sometimes women do get post partum depression the second time around as well, and sometimes they don't. Whatever happens I know now that I have more knowledge of what this might look like, and my support system here in Atlanta is so much deeper and sweeter than it was when I had Owen. I don't know how to end this other than I trust God can move in us and guide us. And, that hopefully sooner than later we will expand our family!

Under ROOS!

So, I'm thinking we are going to try the potty thing. I have no idea how this looks today. All I know is I want to attempt it. In my mind I would love to take 4-5 days of potty boot camp here at home, meaning clearing the schedule and really devoting some time and complete energy on potty training. Everyone I talk to does it different, everyone I talk to says it's different for boys....this is how I know it looked when I introduced him to Roos..

Last week Owen and I went to Target and I made a big deal of picking out a potty, he chose a frog toilet. I then walked him down the aisle where the roo's live. He picked out some Cars underwear (BIG shocker! The kid loves Cars) and I threw in the cart a pack of Gerber training pants-just some roo's that are a little thicker. That afternoon Owen wore underwear for a few hours until nap time. In those hours we has one success, and a lot more accidents! =) He peed on the potty (with his roos on-which I still count as a win) and he peed on the floor about 4 times. Since then we have not tried again. I will ask him if he needs to potty and he tries, but nothing happens. This morning I really thought we were going to have successful poop on the toilet, but I think it scared him. I noticed him in prime poop positon and he was all for sitting on the toilet and trying...for 30 seconds and I think he felt it maybe starting to happen and then he seemed scared. Normal?? I don't know?? Still proud of my boy...YES! The thing is I want to praise him for trying and not feel pressured by the fact I know other kids his age are having success. This is Owen's thing, I will let him guide me. (Maybe not til he's eight! =) I know we will get there, and I'm hoping to really help him get there and devote some real time into trying sometime really soon!

Life

I haven't written on my blog in a long time. I think it's simply because I'm tired! =) Life has happened and my blog has been put on the back burner. My grandma passing away, traveling and processing her passing was hard on me. Even though I know she is a better place and is rejoicing with Jesus, every time I went to go on my blog to write I woud see her sweet pictures and it would make me sad and not want to write. Then Owen got got sick, yet again. He has been so sick over and over again the past year, but even more so during the winter months. That is a whole other blog post though. In the middle of Owen getting sick, I got sick, then Joe. So, writing on my blog has seemed more like a chore, and that is something I really don't want it to be about. I love having my blog to share with family and friends some of our highlights and milestones we are experiencing with Owen. I also have plans to print ALL my blog posts regarding Owen (which is most of my posts) and create books. Somewhat like a baby book. So, I want to stay on top of my blog and not neglect it, but so is life sometimes!