3rd Birthday Celebrations

Well...finally the birthday celebrations are over.  When all was said and done, Owen ended up with 4 parties!  It is crazy...with big families and scheduling conflicts, it was the way things ended up this year.  We thought about combining two (Tony's family and friends) but if we had it at our house it would be packed and it was just not quite enough people to justify renting a place....but we may consider it next year...I am pooped!  Every party was a pirate theme, so at least we could reuse some of the decorations:)  He was all about singing happy birthday, blowing out the candles, and licking the cakes!

Party 1:
Was at my mom's house for that side of the family.

My aunt made him an awesome pirate ship cake!  It had Jake, Captain Hook and the Tic Tock Croc:)  He loved it!  Action shot of him blowing out the candles!

Opening presents.

My brother and sister-in-law got him a chainsaw.  He kept walking around saying "I'm a sawing man!"

Party 2:

Was at our house for Tony's family.

I bought the cake for this party...notice the finger:)

Dalton and Owen having a good time....notice the blue lips!

He got a scooter...so he was helping Daddy and Nick put it together.

Putting his new cape to good use:)  He got the hang of the scooter pretty quick!

Party 3:

Was at my great aunts house.  She does parties for all the kids and even some adults!  It is a tradition:)

This is the best picture of the cake.  It's a pirate:)  Notice the hand trying to keep his fingers out of the cake!

He got a Jake computer!  He is all about the pirates!

Party 4 (the final one!!):

Was at our house for friends!  Just about everyone has kiddos now...or are about to have them!  Seriously just about every one of our friends is pregnant or just had a baby.  I tried to throw my first "theme" party...and I even made the cake:)

First the kiddos made "treasure maps."  Every pirate has to know where to find the treasure!
Notice the 3 preggos too!

Then they decorated treasure chests.  Every pirate needs a place to put their treasure:)

Next they got to dig for treasure:)  I borrowed a rice bin from one of my occupational therapy friends to "bury" their treasure in.  This is Owen and Leah looking for treasure:)

Owen and Jackson digging:)

My big 3-year-old boy with his cake:)  Daddy helped with the skull and crossbones and mommy did the rest.  We think it turned out cute...and he knew what it was, so that was all that mattered!

 I again can't believe that my baby is 3!  The time seriously does fly....next thing I know I'll be posting about his 4th birthday:(

A Third Letter

Dear Owen,
I cannot believe that you will be 3 tomorrow!  Where has the time gone?  It seems like every year of your life has gone faster than the previous one...and I want them to slow down!  You are definitely a little boy now and not so much a baby anymore.  You are potty trained (although you still have an accident every now and then) and talking up a storm.  It's getting harder for me to remember you as a baby and you remind me almost daily that you are "getting bigger":)  You are definitely a "momma's boy" and I can't tell you how happy that makes me, but sometimes it makes daddy sad when you choose me over him.  I love to hear your little voice call my name because it reminds me that you do still need me.  Your daddy and I talk almost everyday about how happy we are that you are in our lives.  Daddy tells me often that he is so glad I was persistent in our efforts to bring you into our lives because he can't imagine our life without you in it, and I have to agree.  I can't believe how much joy you have brought us in 3 short years and I can't wait to see what is still in store for us.  You are everything (and more) that I could have ever hoped, wished, or dreamed for.  Thank you for completing my life.
I love you so much!
Love,
Mommy

Kidney Update

Well, it was time for Owen to have another follow-up with the Pediatric Urologist yesterday.  Tony had some vacation days to burn, so he got to join in all the festivities this time:)  We started the day with an ultrasound at the hospital.  This time they brought in a DVD player for him to watch while he was having the test done.  They put in a SpongeBob DVD...not my first choice by far, but it worked.  He was very worried about if the test going to hurt.  We kept reassuring him that it wouldn't, but he was having a hard time believing us!  He asked if there was going to be a shot in his arm...which I think meant he was remembering his last renal scan....I swear the kid has the memory of an elephant!  He did well during the test, rolled on both of his sides when asked, but was just a little dramatic at times about if it was going to hurt:)  This was our first ultrasound being fully potty trained, so when the tech took pictures of his bladder and it was pretty full, he immediately said he needed to go potty.  He was able to hold it until she was done and then for her to go and get a cup for him to pee in.  Daddy took him to the bathroom to get it all done.  Then he was back for a few more pictures after emptying the bladder.  He did really well and even got to pick a sticker and a toy, so he thought he was pretty cool:)

Next it was off to the Dr.'s office.  I was under the impression that at this appointment she would decide if he needed surgery or not.  I was fully prepared to hear that he would need it...but I was wrong....His right kidney still looks good, but the left kidney is still "suspect" at this point.  It still has fluid in it, but otherwise it is fine.  It is growing and working well at this point.  She said they they used to rush in to fix them, but now they just like to wait it out.  So, we continue to wait....we go back in 6 months for another ultrasound and check with the doctor.    I really do hope that it decides to fix itself, but only time will tell....

Fall 2012

Well, I am behind in my posting....so I thought I would do one big Fall 2012 post:)

We again did our annual trip to Tanner's Orchard.  We didn't end up going until the weekend before Halloween because our schedules were so busy!  It was kind of nice because when we went there were hardly any people there and the place was having a lot of sales....but it was also freezing cold that weekend.  Owen didn't seem to care, but his friend was not too happy about it.  We ended up cutting our trip a little short this year....but we still had fun!

Annual family photo in front of the sign.

A semi-good one with the pumpkins.

Owen and Jackson.

Feeding the goats...he loved it!

And of course we had to get a pony ride in:)

Since Halloween was right around the corner, next up was carving pumpkins.  He and daddy did this while mommy was the photographer.  He didn't want to touch the insides of the pumpkin at first...He said "EWWW!" over and over.  He did finally decide to dig in a little at the end:)

Not sure about touching....

He liked digging with the spoon:)

Finally decided to give it a try!

Helping Daddy:)

Finished product!

I didn't end up taking many pictures on Halloween for some reason.  He originally told us he wanted to be an alligator, so I searched until I found one on line.  Of course when it arrived it didn't fit!  He was too tall and the place didn't do returns or exchanges.  So Daddy and Owen went looking for costumes one day and he picked out another one!

And he chose Jake, from the Disney Jr. show Jake and the Neverland Pirates. (He looks enthused doesn't he!!)

Posing with his pumpkin before we started our rounds:)

Fall has been busy and now it is almost Thanksgiving!  Which also means his birthday is just around the corner:(  I can't believe how fast he is growing up!

ENT Follow-Up

Well, for the past couple of months, Owen has been having ear issues again...more specifically right ear issues.  First it was swimmers ear, then an ear infection, then they thought he had eczema in his ear canal...which all finally lead to another appointment with the ENT. All of this was brought on because he is constantly itching at his right ear...and I don't mean a casual rub, he digs his finger in as far as it can go.  When you ask, most of the time he says it itches or that there is something in there that he needs to get out.  To be honest, I was getting a little frustrated with the whole thing.  We went through 2 different ear drops and 1 oral antibiotic to try to help him.  The Nurse Practitioner at the pediatricians office also dug ear wax out of his ear a couple of times during this whole process as well...nothing seemed to help more than a couple of weeks, then he was back to digging in his ear again.

So, about a month ago we had another visit to the ENT.  The PA there (don't get me started on how we haven't seen the actual doctor since he put the tubes in his ears....) looked in both ears and said things looked fine.  They sent us for a tympanogram to check the pressure in his ears-that came back fine, and then they tried to check his hearing-which was an epic fail!  So, he suggested that we try zyrtec and nasonex (two allergy meds) for a month to see if the itching was allergy related.  Well....needless to say when we went back for our follow-up appointment today, he was digging in his ear again!  They sent us back for another tympanogram-which was again fine, and didn't even try to test his hearing again.....the only thing he saw was that there was again wax in his right ear canal.  He said it was dried and hard, so that is probably what has been causing him to dig so much.  So....now we are going to put baby oil in his ear 2-3 times a week to help with the wax build up.  We have another follow-up with that office in 6 months to see if things are still good.  If they are, then we will be released again.

Needless to say, I am happy that he did not have to get another set of tubes put in.  Tony and I were convinced that this was the route we were headed, so it was a bit of a relief when he said that Owen didn't need them.  But...I really hope this baby oil thing helps because it really bothers me to see him digging so bad in his ear!

Potty Training = Complete?

Well, I am almost nervous to write this post because I don't want to jinx anything....but I think that Owen may finally be fully potty trained....YEA!!!  HAPPY DANCE!!!

Like I had said earlier, he's had the peeing down for a long time but it was the pooping that was taking a while.  Well, last week we had a breakthrough....he had been pooping for me, but not really for anyone else.  And he was only going because I made him sit on the potty every night before his bath.  Finally I guess he just decided that he was going to do it....so last week he announced to Gramma that he had to go poop...and he did!  He finally was able to earn the basketball hoop that has been sitting at Gramma's for months!  And Gramma even sweetened the pot by letting him pick out a donut when they went to the store...and he chose one with sprinkles and gummy worms!  Now he just announces when he has to go and then goes and does it...so proud of him!!

So, for more than a week he has had no accidents!  We still wear a pull-up for naps and at bed time but otherwise he is in underwear full time.  I've also started to trust him to tell us when he needs to use the restroom and not ask him every 20 minutes!  In fact, he likes to go by himself.....we just have to work on pulling the pants back up when he's finished:)

Overall it has been a long road!  I'm so glad we have finally reached the end:)

Here are the pictures Gramma sent me on the day he finally pooped at her house:

Here is the basketball hoop he finally earned!

With his donut:)

"Owenisms"

I've had several friends blog about the "cute" and "funny" things their kids say and I thought I would join the trend:)  I know that there have been several funny things he has said or done lately that I can't or won't remember them all.....which makes me a little sad:(  I can't believe how big he is getting....less than 2 months until he is 3!!  I will try to be better about writing these things down so that they will have a permanent record:)

The "My's": I know I've mentioned how Owen uses "my" instead of "I" and probably my favorites is when he is saying his prayers at night...."should I die before my wake...."  Although, I am sad to report that he is beginning to use "I" much more than "my" lately.....:(

One day after he woke up from his nap, he was on the floor playing.  My mom offered him a snack and he said, "I'm busy Gramma!"  He's used this a few more times as well:)

He is really into singing lately.  One of the songs he has been singing a lot the last couple of days is "This Old Man" and my favorite line of the song is "knick knack paddy whack, dig a dog a bone."  :)

We went to the ISU homecoming parade on Saturday to watch Tony (who was a guest of the Environmental Health Department) march in it.  Owen loves parades, especially the bands!!  He marches around playing his trombone and singing the high school fight song (he knows most of the words...seriously!).  After the parade we were in the bookstore and he grabbed two of the pom poms and started marching around the store singing the fight song. When he finished he said "thank you, thank you very much!" and then proceded to start again!

He calls Frank the Combine (from Cars) Frank the Cucumber:)

He is getting much more independent with his potty-training.  In fact, if he goes into the bathroom and you try to follow he stops, puts up his hand and says "Stop, I can do it by myself" or "I don't need help!".....which he does do a good job, except for the part of pulling his pants and underwear back up!  Usually he comes hopping out of the bathroom with them around his ankles:)

Those are all for now....but I will try to be better about sharing more as they happen....or as I remember:)