Playground Fun

We have been going to the playground just about every single day lately. The weather is nice enough for us to all be outside enjoying some good old fashioned sunshine. Ryan loves to go for walks and asks if we can go to the playground. It is so cute the way he says it. :)

Yesterday Owen got to try the swing for the first time and he LOVED it. Ryan loves the swing now too. He always says he wants to go higher. He likes to do the big boy swing for a bit but he likes the baby swing because he can go higher. :)

My little boys..

This little monkey does not slow down no matter how long we stay. He loves to play outside!

Totally Trucks again!

Last week we went to another Totally Trucks event. They let all the kids climb up into the trucks and tractors and pretend to drive them. You have to stand in line at each truck that you want to climb in and try out. They really should have some sort of courtesy time limit for the parents/children. It seemed like we would get to the front of the line and that the child inside would stay there forever. Ryan did a great job and was very patient.

Owen's first hard hat...

Running in the cross walk, probably one of Ryan's favorite things of the day!

Topsy Turvy

Last week we planted our Topsy Turvy strawberry planter. We filled it up with about 15 or so strawberry plants so we will see how it does. Ryan and I have been watering it daily (as directed) and there are already little green strawberries growing all over it! I can't wait to try out our little strawberry crop. We also planted some fresh herbs. Ryan knows where the basil is and helps me pick it when we need it to cook! :) He is such a great helper.

my other helper overseeing the activity and keeping everyone in line.

So behind...

I am so behind in my blogging. I have been hard at work on getting my photography business up and running that I haven't been posting pictures of my own children enough. Even worse is the fact that I am not taking any videos of them! I must fix that problem SOON! They are growing up way too fast and doing so many things that we really should capture on film!

I think with all of the photography I am doing that sometimes I forget that I don't have to have absolutely perfect images of my children each and every time. I am not going to hang every single picture on the wall so each image does not have to be technically perfect. Anyway --- none of the pictures below have been edited or changed in any way, shape or form. They are not "perfect" but they are perfect to me. They capture my kiddos just the perfect way they are.

getting better at this sitting thing...

A quick moment of cooperation. My big boy was such a great model.

Weekend Pictures

I can't figure out where Jeff moved some of the pictures from this weekend. I have SO many pictures that I have been taking lately that we are backing them up and storing them but I don't know where they are --- uh oh!

This past weekend we walked around the downtown area of a nearby town and got some great pictures of Ryan and Owen. I think the swing picture is one of my favorites so far of me & Owen. :)

6 Months!

This post is a little bit late...I have been very busy so I am just behind with the blog.

Owen turned 6 months old a little over a week ago! My-oh-my how the time is flying! I can't believe how big my baby is already. Owen is such a laid back baby. He has a smile on his face all of the time and is very easy to please. Keep him fed and well rested and he won't make a peep, well, except for laugher and baby babble. Owen is a big talker. He babbles all the time. His favorite thing to babble is Dada or something that sounds just like "Daddy". He is a champion drooler and soaks just about everything he wears. He started rolling over front to back and back to front the day before he turned 6 months. He was just so content before that he didn't care to go anywhere. The same day he started this inchworm move that is not quite an army crawl but gets him from one point to another. Owen started eating solid foods (well pureed baby food) a couple of weeks ago and is finally starting to enjoy them. He enjoys tricking me and sleeping through the night a few nights in a row and then waking for his 3am feeding a few nights in a row. As much as I love sleep, I don't mind getting up to spend time with him and cuddle one bit.

Ryan loves Owen and Owen adores Ryan. The sweet moments between them fill my heart with so much happiness. Ryan says that Owen is his friend and Owen just grins from ear to ear when he sees Ryan. Ryan will ask for Owen right when he wakes in the morning and he makes sure to give Owen hugs before bed. It is SO sweet. I hope that they are always friends.

This little boy makes me smile every single day. He has changed my life!

Oh and in case you are wondering where I have been ---- well in my "free" time I have been working non-stop on creating my business, Shannon Abbott Photography! I am working on the website, blog and setting up my business documents. In addition I have been taking pictures like crazy. Life is so good! I have 2 of the best jobs in the whole world, Mom and photographer! :)

No Nuts!

At Ryan's 2 year appointment we got the all-clear to try peanut butter for the first time. Peanut butter is one of those food items that they really urge parents to hold off on due to how common allergic reactions are these days. So Jeff and I put a tiny amount of PB onto a saltine cracker and gave it to Ryan. Within moments he was vomiting and acting strange. He got bumps/hives on his neck and upper part of his chest. After a dose of Benadryl, a trip to the ER and a blood draw from our pediatrician we discovered that Ryan has a level 4 peanut allergy (he is also allergic to pine nuts and pistachios). He is not allowed to have any type of nuts at all. In addition, he is not allowed to have any type of food that *could* have come into contact with any type of nuts. Things you wouldn't necessarily think about are now not allowed, even some things that he has had before.

There is a 20% chance that he will outgrow the allergy. Jeff and I were totally surprised that Ryan had the allergy as we do not have a history of allergies of any kind in our families.