The Happs.

You know what's difficult? Keeping an active blog when you have two kids at home + work 20 hours per week. Heck, it was difficult with one kid at home. Throw Owen into the mix and things just get exponentially more busy. Right now I'm using a few precious minutes from my Golden Hour (the one hour during the day that both kids are sleeping) to post a quick update. 

Here are a few of the happenings:

Dylan started preschool! He goes twice each week at a wonderful preschool a few miles up the road. Seriously, this place is magical and I love it. Dylan loves it too- he's excited to go and always comes home with cute pictures, worksheets, etc. Dylan picked out his preschool outfit and he was so proud.

I discovered a wonderful new hair product- Oscar Blandi Hair Lift. I decided to order it after reading  the positive review from Kate at The Small Things Blog, The girl has amazing hair and tries all sorts of products, so I knew that this must be a winner... and it really is! It gives my hair great volume without feeling producty. 

I went to my high school's 10 year reunion! I had the best time- I was able to see so many great people that I hadn't seen since high school graduation, and it was a wonderful night! Ridiculously hot and humid at the outdoor event, but otherwise fabulous. Seriously, if they had another reunion in a few years I would totally go. I think one of the best parts was that I was able to visit with a ton of great people- not just the girls that I have remained close to after 10 years, but all sorts of people that I had lost touch with (other than being friends on facebook) or people I wasn't close to in high school but have gotten to know better after high school. 

The funny thing was that no one really changed at all... personalities are the same, everyone looked pretty much the same... we're just adults now. 

Since I went to my high school reunion, what else does that mean? Seeing my family in Indiana! Hooray! Yep, Owen and I few home for a long weekend and were able to visit with my parents, my sister and her family, and my grandma. My grandma is amazing- she's 81 years old and drove by herself from St. Louis to Indiana. She honestly has the most energy of any 81 year old that I've ever seen... she's more like 60. Mind you, she takes extremely good care of herself and has the best style. No joke. 

The above picture is Owen and I on the airplane. He was such a champ and slept for most of the flights. I may have violated FAA policy by keeping him in the Moby during takeoff... who cares, he was sleeping and I wasn't about to take him out and wake him up. 

Ben and Dylan had a great time while I was away... they ate cupcakes and snow cones for dinner, went to the dinosaur museum, and just had fun. Dylan wanted to be my welcome home present, so he had Ben wrap him up and send me a picture:

Hilarious. Love my crazy Dylan boy. 

I came upon these while at Target yesterday... my goodness, I love them. I ended up taking the bag to work, because I knew that I would end up eating them all in waaaay to short of time otherwise. There was also candy corn M&Ms, which I'll have to try sometime soon too. Can't wait for fall!

The End.

Owen at Three Months.

How is already happening? I can't believe that my little baby is already three months old! I feel like that officially puts him out of newborn stage and into infant stage. 

Owen continues to be the happiest, most content little baby that I've ever encountered. He has such a pleasant little personality, and he makes everything brighter ad more enjoyable. Like I've said before, Ben and I constantly marvel at how easy the transition from one child to two has been, and I know that Owen's laid-back nature is a huge part of this. 

Owen has become more alert and interested in his surroundings as he has gotten older- he loves to watch Dylan play and is enchanted with the cats, especially little Stella. He loves looking at his toys and has started to hang onto some of his toys when they're put into his hand. His current favorite toy is Jacques the Peacock by Lamaze. It really is the cutest toy with all the colors and textures, and the best part is the back of the toy- Owen just stares and stares at the bold black and white patterns! So smart, those toy designers. 

{Thank you Carol for this wonderful toy!}

Owen continues to be a great eater. His feedings are still really quick, which makes life easier all around. He's also really flexible in where he'll eat- on an airplane, at the beach, in a fitting room... the list goes on. That being said, I have also had to become flexible about where I nurse Owen. Obviously, it's easiest at home where modesty is not a concern and I have my trusty Boppy, but as long as I have my nursing cover, I feel like I can feed Owen pretty much anywhere. Still, if I know that I'm going to be out at a place where I really don't want to go through the hassle of being modest and/or discreet, I'll just bring a bottle of pumped milk along with me. No biggie. 

Owen started sleeping through the night a few weeks ago, and is has been wonderful! He usually goes down between 7:30-9 (depends when he had his last nap), and I feed him right before I go to bed around 10:30. He then sleeps until 5 or 6 in the morning, wakes up to eat, and then sleeps again until around 8. Not gonna lie, I feel like a new woman when I have all those blessed hours of uninterrupted sleep. Owen is a great napper too. He usually only stays awake for 60-90 minutes at a time and then needs a nap. His naps are usually about an hour in length, but sometimes he throws in a 2 1/2 hour nap just for fun. No complaints here- that means that I have more time to get things done and give Dylan extra one-on-one time. 

The biggest thing that happened since last month is dun-dun-dun.... returning to work. This summer has been an absolute dream- it really has felt like a nice, long summer vacation. Going back to work was something I was not looking forward to even a little bit, but it had to be done. Owen and Dylan are being watched by a sweet woman who also watches Dylan's best friend Payton and another one of my co-worker's little boys. I know that Owen was in perfectly loving and capable hands, but the first day that I dropped him off I was such a mess, but it has gotten better. I don't like leaving him, but at least I don't feel like I'm going to have an anxiety attack every time he gets dropped off. And really, I'm only working 2 1/2 days per week, so it's not like we're apart all that much. 

As far as size, I'm not sure what his exact weight is, but I'm guessing around 12 pounds. He's moved up to size 2 in diapers, and he will be ready for 3-6 month clothes pretty soon. He's almost too long for all of his 0-3 month pajamas, but he still fits in all of his onesies. 

One of my favorite things about Owen is how smiley and "talkative" he has gotten. He loves to coo and squeal when we talk to him, and he is a constant smiler. Even cuter, he doesn't just smile with his mouth, he smiles with his whole body- he gets all excited and squirmy when you smile at him. It's darling, I tell you. 

Owen looks so much like Dylan did at his age- see?

Goodness, I love my boys. The end. 

Owen's Nursery.

When we found out that we were expecting Owen, one of the first things that I worried about was where would put him. Our home is a ranch style with a main level and a basement. When our home was built in 1959(!) there were three bedrooms upstairs, but sometime along the way the previous owners knocked out a wall and filled in a doorway to eliminate the tiny third bedroom and make the living room quite a bit larger. That means that our house had two bedrooms upstairs and one bedroom downstairs (two, if we got rid of Ben's golf room... I know, a golf room? That's another story for another day.) 

I knew that I didn't want to put the baby or Dylan in the basement bedroom. Partly because that just seems so far away- I want my babies close, and partly because I didn't want to lose the downstairs bedroom as a guest room, as we frequently have guests and I like having a place where they can stay. Baby and Dylan sharing a bedroom wasn't an option- the bedrooms are tiny and Dylan's bedroom furniture is just too big  to accommodate nursery furniture as well. 

So what option does that leave? 

Yep, put back the third bedroom upstairs! And put back we did. We knew that this was not a project that we could do completely on our own, so we hired a contractor and electrician for the more difficult tasks of creating a doorway, putting up framing and drywall, and wiring the room for outlets and an overhead light. The contractor also put up molding for us, although we (ahem, I) put in some time with covering nail holes, sanding, caulking, and painting.

Here are a few progress pictures: 

{The before view of the living room}

The area to the right of the front door (far right in this picture) became the baby's room. This really works, because I always felt that the space was not really used, other than to be Dylan's play area. 

{We shoved all the stuff into the other side of the room. It made for some close quarters for a few days before we cleared some space in the basement for the brown sectional.}

{The new wall! Even though our living room was about 40% smaller, it really didn't feel cramped at all. Everyone that has been over has commented that the new living room looks like the room is a perfect size.}

{True story, this is Owen's room 16 days before he was born. Poor second child- I think I had Dylan's nursery finished when I was like 6 months pregnant. I definitely left the finishing of the nursery to the last minute.}

Owen's room was definitely not large, but it had enough room for what we needed- crib, changing table, glider, and ottoman. 

Not to fear, Owen's room was finished about 2 seconds before my due date. Seriously, my mom came to town 4 days before I had Owen and we went to work! Here are a few shots of Owen's sweet, little nursery. 

All of the furniture was from Dylan's nursery. I wanted Owen to have a nursery that was all his own, which meant different bedding and decor. The only thing I really had to work around was the green glider and ottoman. I love this nursery, because it isn't at all cutesy or themey. I also love that Owen's nursery doesn't have the most traditional color scheme- black, white, gray, and green. 

Most of the things in the nursery are from Ikea, Hobby Lobby, and Target. I also re-purposed picture frames that I had elsewhere, and I did a little DIYing with the chevron canvas. My wonderful mother made Owen's bedding and window treatment. 

I'm incredibly happy with how the nursery turned out, and I think that Owen loves it too :)