Big Day

So this morning while I was a mere few feet away from Ryan, brushing my teeth --- Ryan was able to pull off his diaper and start playing with his poop. YUCK!

This afternoon Ryan totally skipped his nap. I guess he has decided that he doesn't need naps this week because the entire week has been bad nap-wise.

Then later Ryan walks over to the front door and unlocks the deadbolt. I had no clue that he could even reach it or had an idea of how to work it. I have to come up with a solution so my child isn't outside when I think he is inside.

Tonight Ryan helped me to make a pizza. He was counting every single ingredient that we put on the pizza. So we had 24 slices of green pepper, 28 slices of pepperoni and I think 12 or so hunks of cheese. He is so big and was so proud of himself for both counting and for making dinner!

8 Months Old!

Dear Owen,

Happy 8 month birthday little man! You are growing so fast. Daddy and I were just noticing how much of your crib you take up now. We are getting ready to lower your crib mattress down because you are starting to pull up on things any chance you get.

This has been a very big month for you, Owen. You have gotten very strong and are almost crawling. You are good at moving all around the room but you aren't doing the traditional crawl just yet. You have gotten very good at sitting this month. You very rarely topple over now when you are sitting. You love to be heard too. You will chatter nonstop in your special little language. I love hearing you babble on and on.

You have decided that you don't like bananas or peaches and most days you don't like apples either. You do like your veggies though and yogurt is your absolute favorite thing to eat! You also tried avocado this month. The first time you had it, your face was priceless. You were not sure what to make of it. The second time you had it, you loved it though!

You still let me rock you to sleep here and there. You are great at falling asleep on your own but occasionally you will fall asleep in my arms. I never want to put you down when you fall asleep in my arms because you are growing so fast and I know that all too soon you won't want me to hold you and rock you.

You adore your Mommy, Daddy and brother! You watch Ryan all the time and want to play with the same toys he plays with. Luckily Ryan is great at sharing. Ryan tells you to share with him too. When Daddy comes home from work you bounce with excitement. You smile the biggest smile possible to let him know you are happy to see him.

At 8 months you have outgrown all of your 9 month clothing as well as your 6-12 month things, not by weight but by height. Mommy thinks you are going to be long and lean like Daddy and Grandpa Jerry.

I am so happy to be your Mommy! You are such a wonderful blessing. You are perfect in every way.

I love you!

Mommy

Here is a quick picture from this morning...I took some more but I will upload them later. I am also hoping for an outdoor photo shoot this afternoon to document Owen as an 8 month old!

This is probably one of my favorite photos to date. It captures Owen's bubbly personality perfectly. Owen is ALWAYS in a great mood. He grins all the time. The pjs say "My big brother says I'm super cool!"

Videos...

I have been having major issues uploading videos to blogger. It is making me frustrated so I have decided to do something different. If you would like to be added to my flip channel, let me know. I have to add you by e-mail so you can see the videos. :)

Happy Father's Day!

This year Jeff celebrated his 3rd Father's Day! We had such a wonderful time spending the day as a family. The boys are so blessed to have such a great Daddy. Jeff loves to spend time with his boys and is such a wonderful role model for them. I could not be more proud of the father that Jeff has become. Thanks Jeff for being such a great Dad!

I was able to get Ryan to sit with Jeff for exactly one picture. He is constantly on the go! Ryan's shirt says -- I've got an awesome Dad.

Daddy and Owen

Sweet Owen loves to get kisses

But he loves to give them even more!

My sweet boys

I hope these guys grow up to be best friends. Right now they are starting to play more together and interact more every single day. Ryan likes to show Owen how things work and Owen watches everything that Ryan does. I am sure he is learning so many things from his brother already.

Hey brother, play with me!!!!

I love how they have similar looks on their faces...

Washing the car...

This past weekend we washed our cars here at our house for the first time...ever. We usually take them to get washed and since we don't have a driveway we don't want to soak our neighbor's cars in the process of washing our own. This weekend we just went with it though and no one seemed to mind at all. Ryan had a great time helping us with the water hose and sponge. :)

All that car washing was hard work. Ryan needed to get some refreshment with lemonade and watermelon.

Ryan's Blanket

Most of you know that Ryan has to have his blanket and paci when he goes to sleep. It is pretty much a rule around here that both items stay in the crib and do not come out. The only time we bend this rule is if Ryan isn't feeling well or if he is super tired. Well last week we had a yucky, rainy day and were having movie time so I allowed the blanket and paci to come out of the bed.

Owen does not have any lovie items yet, who knows if he ever really will. But if that blanket is left sitting out he will swipe it in a second!

Look at what I have...

I am so sneaky..

All is right with the world, Ryan got his blanket back. :)

My little artist

For the past couple of weeks Ryan has been really into art. He loves to color, write with chalk, put stickers all over his legs and paper, but his favorite thing of all is painting. He asks to paint at least 3 times per day. I actually had to hide the paints away so that he could not get them out on his own. Ryan made me a painting on Sunday that I decided to actually frame and display as art. I think I am going to put his (and Owen's) art work up in the playroom as decoration.

Anyway - enjoy a few photos of my budding artist.

First time to use watercolors with Daddy..

So focused.

We even took the paints outside...less mess!

Friends!

This past weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to visit with some of our friends. They moved away the same weekend that Ryan was born so they had never met Ryan or Owen. I wish that we were able to see them more!! Their little girl was absolutely smitten with the boys. She loved playing with them and I think they all had a great time together.

Their little girl also LOVED my camera. She told me that she wants to be a photographer someday. She did a great job with the camera too. I showed her how to use it and she had it figured out within seconds.

My Business!

Have you been to www.shannonabbottphotography.com yet? If not, check it out. While you are at it check out my blog at shannonabbottphotography.blogspot.com and become a follower!

Just Ryan

Yesterday I took Ryan out for some special Mommy and Ryan time. Ryan had a great time as we rode around with the windows down and jamming out to his favorite band. After we got to our destination he started asking about Owen. He asked me "where's Owen" at least 3 times. Then we played for a little while. Suddenly Ryan wanted to leave. He just wanted to see Owen and Daddy. It was sweet that he missed his brother.

The story has nothing to do with the pics. Ryan has really been enjoying his pool lately. I think we will get a ton of use out of it this summer!

Just Owen

so determined

excuse me...time for an important phone call

Owen LOVES the jumper. He would use it all day long if we would let him.

Monkey see..Monkey do.

Ryan has been playing with his stuffed animals more lately. His favorite is his little brown monkey followed by his Mickey Mouse. Both of these guys sleep in the bed with Ryan and come downstairs with him to play. After a while Ryan will tell us that they are tired and need to take a nap and he will take them upstairs and put them into his crib and say night-night to them. Ryan tries to give them a paci, sometimes they need diapers, he feeds them and gives them hugs and kisses. Last week he told me that the monkey needed to go potty.

First the monkey went potty...

Then Ryan told the monkey he needed to wash his hands...

He is so funny. I have a video I need to find of Ryan feeding his monkey cereal.