Morning at the Park

I'm very proud of myself today.  I remembered to take my camera with me when Owen and I went to the park - so I can post some pictures and show you all how much fun Owen has at the park.

First of all, Owen rode his bike (which he lovingly calls his "motorcycle") the 3 blocks to the park this morning.  He did really well peddling down hill and on the flat areas, but I had to help him a little bit going up the hills, but I have confidence that he'll figure out the up hills soon too.  The other pictures below are some of things that he does while at the park - playing peek-a-boo from the windows of the big toy, sliding down the slide, and his favorite toy - the digger.  He can only work one handle at time, but he has fun trying.

Here are some of the other things that Owen loves at the park:  jumping on on the wiggly bridge on the big toy, swinging on the swings, and climbing up the twisty ladder (today was the first time he had the courage to climb up it all by himself).  The final picture is of him racing his shadow home from the park - everything is more fun if you are racing : ).

I love playing with big little boy and I'm so glad that we have a park so close to our house to play at.

Wall-E Owen

Owen and I raked leaves in our front yard this morning.  He played in them until they were all in a big pile and then he started making weird sounds and talking like a robot.  I finally figured out what it was that he was playing - he was trying to be Wall-E - a Pixar robot that turns garbage into cubes.  Here's a video clip and some pictures that I took of him playing in the leaves.

The Past Month

The past month has gone really fast for me.  Bryce finished up one show - Secret in the Wings - and has started another one - Blithe Spirit.  He is kept plenty busy, but things seem to be going okay for him overall.  Owen and I have been busy keeping the house clean - Owen relearning how to pick up toys when mommy asks, and Mommy relearning that it's easier to keep the house clean rather than have to clean it up from a messy state when she wants it clean.  Owen is potty trained now - only wearing a diaper to sleep in now.  I've also had up days and down days with my energy levels and morning sickness, but overall I seem to manage to accomplish anything that I deem necessary.

I've also had a couple of doctor's appointments and we found out this past Monday that we are going to having a baby girl and we've currently scheduled a C-section delivery for March 6, 2012.  If she decides to come on her own before then we may have our baby before then, but March 6th is pretty much the latest that she'll join our family.

I had a wonderful birthday weekend, with the Smiths coming up to visit for a few days.  We played games, ate cookies and cake, yummy food and just had a really good time.  I took a few pictures (so there are no pictures of me) and somehow missed Harvey, but he was here with the rest of the family:

 Yummy spice cake with cream cheese frosting - my favorite!

 Owen joined the adults (Leslie, Captain, Bryce, James, Rachel and myself) in playing Settlers of Catan.  He was on Mommy's team and although we didn't win we sure had a lot of fun.

 While Daddy decides what to do Owen just plays with the pieces and dice.

 James and Rachel joined us for the fun.

Happy little Lia!

Other things that have been happening in our lives:  Uncle Garrett Allen received his mission call to the Argentine Salta Mission and reports to the MTC on Dec. 21; Aunt Nita Royer took 1st Place at the 2A State Tennis Tournament; and I hopefully have managed to get rid of the tail-rot in my big fish tank and now have 3 pretty angelfish swimming around with my other fish.  All told we've been having a great time and we're enjoying our Fall here in St. Louis.