The Fantastic Family Shepherd

9 month stats

2012-01-25T15:58:00.002-06:00

So Phoebe turned 9 months old on January 20th. We visited the doctor and her stats are:

height: 28.25 inches
weight: 21 lbs., 5 oz.
head: big

Her head size has leveled off, but her weight is now in the 90th percentile! Her length was in about the 70th I want to say, so she continues to be "healthy" size. She doesn't miss any meals.

She learned to feed herself on Christmas Day (a month ago). She had been inconsistently eating a bite here or there, but she figured it out and has been munching away ever since on Kix cereal, Cheerios, graham crackers, regular crackers and even had a cereal bar yesterday (which was quite a mess!). Here's a video of her eating.

She has also learned to wave and clap and loves to do both all the time. She is very social and loves greeting people everywhere we go.

She is trying to crawl, but mostly rolls and pivots to get to things and hasn't figured out how to go forward just yet. We hope it is just around the corner. She does have a lot of weight to push around after all.

She has had a couple ear infections this month (or one that has not gone away). But then Owen, Justin and I have all been sick too. Fun times around here. Stay tuned for more pics and video and some final posts to catch up to the present.

shepherd family christmas

2012-01-10T21:42:00.002-06:00

So we went to Shepherdsville for the Shepherd family gathering and I took only a very few photos before we got to the actual gathering. Phoebe had a rare "off" day and cried a lot there so there probably were not too many great moments to capture.

Phoebe with Grandpa.
Phoebe with Owen.

Phoebe with daddy.

christmas phoebe

2012-01-10T21:15:00.002-06:00

Here are some photos of Phoebe before our first family Christmas event. I had to have her pose with her stocking. She was wanting to play peekaboo with it, which is one of her favorite activities. This video is also of us playing peekaboo very briefly.

christmas parade

2012-01-10T21:04:00.004-06:00

The beginning of December brings the Bowling Green Christmas Parade. Not only is it our (Spencer's Coffeehouse) busiest day of the year, but it is also a fun very day for the kids. The Veteran's Day parade is good, but the Christmas Parade is awesome with lots of marching bands, Christmas music and of course, more candy (though not as much as Veteran's Day).

Phoebe even waved at a few of the floats.

Justin got to watch with us for a few minutes.

Aunt Ellen tried to keep Lewis under control.

It was a great time.

advent

2012-01-08T17:01:00.002-06:00

Just after Thanksgiving, we decorated our home and put up our tree. We hung an extra stocking for Phoebe, which was fun. The only crafty thing I've done for my kids has been making them each a stocking. Phoebe's is bright pink, with an angel beside her name. I enjoyed making it!

We are just beginning to figure out Christmas traditions at our house. During a brief black Friday shopping trip, I picked up $1 advent calendars for the boys at Trader Joe's that had a piece of chocolate for each of 24 days before Christmas. Lewis is kind of picky, but generally likes chocolate so I hoped they would enjoy opening the little door each night.

They both LOVED doing this. And honestly, it was a huge motivator for the whole month of December. Any ugly behavior and I threatened to take away the privilege of opening the #5 or whatever day it was. While there was nothing particularly spiritual behind the calendars, it was a nice way to countdown to Christmas. The doors were not in any order so they had to look for the numbers each day which is a good skill to learn. The chocolates were shaped with different holiday related objects and they were excited to see what they got each night. This might be the best $2 we spent all season!

thanksgiving

2012-01-08T16:56:00.002-06:00

We took very few photos at Thanksgiving! We spent time at my dad's and I guess I forgot to take pics. I did get one of Phoebe grabbing Owen's ear before we ate that day.

The next Saturday, we went to Nashville to see Justin's family. Here is Justin, Owen and Grandpa swinging at a neighborhood play area.Justin's cousin Ryan is a freshman at Baylor this year, so we were glad to see him and his sister Olivia while he was home for the short break. Lewis is huge fan of these two!!

november highlights

2012-01-08T16:40:00.003-06:00

November started into the holiday season, and we got super busy. These are photos that are random and didn't fit into any certain post. I had to look for one of Owen though, which seems bad. He's usually pretty photogenic, but this was the best one I had. He loves riding that trike and putting stickers on his jacket.

Many of these have been posted on Instagram with an app on my phone. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, these may look really familiar! The ones I pull from there are square with interesting filters or borders.

Lewis running in the leaves.

Phoebe loves to swing!!

This was Phoebe and her lion at 7 months old. We take a picture of her each month with the lion.

This is Lewis at a decorating party at school just before Thanksgiving. Here he is interacting with a "friend" from the 2nd grade class. He went through a phase where he talked about this boy all the time! It was really cute to see them talking. Lewis is generally not interested in most kids, so we were really excited that he seemed to like one in particular. I was happy to get to meet him too.

After a month or so of eating solids, Phoebe had gotten really into eating, and she still loves it. This was her "waiting for another bite" pose. It seemed like with every bite she swallowed and opened quickly for her next bite. So cute.

winery tour/8th anniversary

2012-01-08T15:59:00.002-06:00

On November 8, 2011 Justin and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We found a Groupon for a winery tour/bed & breakfast stay in Hampshire, TN (about 2 1/2 hours south of Bowling Green) at Ridgetop Bed & Breakfast. The couple that owns Ridgetop also owns a winery called Natchez Hills Vineyard.

The cabin we stayed in from the outside.

And on the inside it was very cozy, with a real 1800s charm.

Our first stop on our tour was the Natchez Hills vineyard. It is going on 3 years old, so the vines have not started producing grapes, but should next season. It was very interesting listening to the process of growing grapes, tending vines and harvesting the fruit. Not to mention that it was really beautiful and peaceful there.

I took a self portrait with some scenery!

After that we visited a couple of other local wineries and got to do some wine tastings. Another couple was staying in the other cabin at the bed and breakfast, and we really enjoyed their company too. They knew a little more about wine and also had a small son they had left behind with family, so we had quite a bit in common. I always thought I didn't like wine much, but as did the tastings and went from dry to sweet wines, I discovered that I liked more than I didn't and enjoyed the ones in the middle the most.

Justin and I took a quick photo before we departed. It was a lot of fun and we recommend getting away like this! The couple that own the bed and breakfast were so kind and interesting. We really enjoyed talking to other adults without the responsibilities of feeding several kids, cleaning up etc. It was a lovely break!

veteran's day parade/beth's birthday

2012-01-05T22:51:00.003-06:00

The annual Veteran's Day Parade in downtown Bowling Green coincided with our celebration of Aunt Beth's birthday this year (in early November). Dad and Martha came and met us to watch the fun. There was a lot of candy thrown by those in the parade, and this is dad/Grandpa trying to open a piece while holding Phoebe.

We ran into our friends the Cahoons, whose kids collected a TON of candy. There are five of them so it is not too hard to imagine. There was much sugar consumed that morning. Lewis was picky about which candy he wanted, of course!

After lunch at Mariah's, we returned to Beth's place for cake.

We tried to capture the essence of Beth in the style of this one.....but that's no easy task.

Candles aglow.

Lewis was eager to sing and help blow out candles.

Martha posing for a shot with the birthday girl and the baby girl.

pics from the end of October

2012-01-05T22:43:00.003-06:00

Phoebe and the shape sorter.

Lewis eating an apple after school...I had to take a picture because he usually wants to give all fruit to Owen.

Owen trying on daddy's "Erkel" glasses.

zoo trip 2011

2012-01-01T22:58:00.005-06:00

We took a trip to the Nashville zoo just before Halloween. It was really warm, but there was a cool breeze so it seemed like a perfect day to go. We stopped by the BIG animals first (the elephants, giraffes in the back of the zoo). The boys liked them, and had no trouble finding them.

But near the giraffes there was a coin thing where you could watch your coin go around and round, and they may have liked this better than anything else (much to our dismay).

There was a lot of walking. Thankfully, this zoo is flat and the paths are all nicely paved for walking. Still it was hard on them to walk so much that day.

Phoebe was pretty content in her stroller.

Lunch was a nice break. The boys were cracking up about something the whole time.

We hit the aquarium next. The fish are always a big hit.

The rest of the animals were tougher to spot, and Lewis did not have the patience to look much. Owen did better, but also couldn't see several of them. Phoebe got to nap, which is what we all felt like doing when we left there! Overall, it was a fun day. We did spend a little bit of time at the awesome playground before we headed out and that was a blast as always. The boys had a burst of energy when they saw all the fun stuff to play on.

owen's field trip to the orchard

2012-01-01T22:40:00.002-06:00

I got to take a field trip with Owen to Jackson's Orchard in late October. It was fun seeing him with his class. He was especially excited about the animals.

He would've stayed with this horse all day if we let him.

Of course, snacks are always welcome in his world.

miss lynn

2012-01-01T22:30:00.003-06:00

On October 15th, we had a special musical guest perform at Spencer's. Miss Lynn is a singer/songwriter of children's music from Nashville and the boys have grown to love her songs after our friend, Heather Morozov, passed on her cd a couple years ago. We went to see her in the spring and they had a blast, but it was even more special to have her at our coffee shop! To prepare, the boys had a "practice" session the night before playing instruments while listening to her cds. Lewis really got into the egg shaking.

A lot of kiddos and friends came out to see her.

She was fantastic and all the kids seemed really engaged while she performed. Lewis was quite shy in talking to her afterwards, but she was very kind regardless. It was a pleasure to host her.

random october pics

2012-01-01T22:20:00.002-06:00

Here are a few October highlights. Phoebe trying to sit in a chair.

She got into rolling balls around that time, and here she is using her feet to catch the ball! She still loves rolling and catching, and gets excited anytime we get a ball out for her to play with.

Owen started riding the bus after fall break. We drive him in the morning with Lewis and then he comes home on the bus around 11 a.m. He seems to really love it, and has been playing with our toy school bus a ton at home.

We took a trip to Lost River Cave on their discount day, and rode the boat through the cave. It was pretty fun! Lewis and Owen seemed to like it ok, even though it was pretty dark in there.

Owen looked pretty handsome with his life jacket on.

the big move

2011-12-31T23:49:00.003-06:00

This photo of Phoebe is the "before" picture of what is now her room. On October 8-9, we made the transition of Lewis into Owen's room (sharing that big room) and Phoebe out of our room and into her own space. She was almost 6 months old and was barely fitting into the bassinet she had at the time. She is much happier in a crib now, and the boys adjusted much better than we expected too.

Phoebe has a crib, and a trundle bed in case she wants to invite friends over to spend the night.

The boys have a lot of space still in their room too. The train track has more room to grow.

The first night in their new room, they read books together on the couch.

Lewis in his bed.Owen in his bed. They actually seem happier this way, and enjoy saying prayers together and our new routine. And we are happy to have our room back, and to have Phoebe sleeping soundly in a big crib.

Awana

2011-12-31T23:28:00.003-06:00

Our church, Grace and Peace Presbyterian (PCA), is a church plant and does not have a lot of programs for children just yet. Because we want the kids to be involved in activities that help their spiritual development, and to give them another outlet for social activity, we have been taking them to an AWANA program at another church. I stay with Owen and help him and Beth goes with Lewis. They are actually really good at scripture memory which is the main emphasis in AWANA, although there is a story and craft generally, and sometimes games to play.

Owen's group are all 3 year olds and there have been up to 16 kids on any given night which can be pretty overwhelming.

We got a cd of the songs that go along with Owen's scriptures and both boys have memorized them, and Lewis even learned to play them on the piano. Justin and Phoebe have special daddy daughter date nights while we are gone. :)

a couple videos

2011-12-31T23:06:00.003-06:00

Here are a couple videos to track Phoebe's development. The first is of Phoebe rolling over. This is from Oct. 3, when she was 4 1/2 months old. She got really good at rolling from back to belly in this one direction.

The next one is from a few days later when she was trying to balance and keep herself sitting up, but Lewis and Owen were trying to make her laugh so she would fall over on the bed.

the pumpkin patch

2011-12-31T22:11:00.007-06:00

It seems like every fall we spend a lot of time at Jackson's Orchard which the boys refer to as "the pumpkin patch." This year was no exception. Lewis and I went on a field trip before his fall break. He picked this pumpkin to bring home. He was pretty happy that day.

His class had yummy apple slushes and he willingly drank some and even ate a few bites of a cookie with a lot of prodding from me. I was pretty proud of him for trying it.

I think it was the next day, we took the whole family out there, and we were joined by my dad and Martha who had come for a visit. The boys played in the play area, and on the bails of hay they had set up.We took some rides down the cider slider.

One of grandma and grandpa and the boys. One of our goals that day was to take pictures of Phoebe. We have really cute pictures of both boys at Jackson's Orchard when they were babies. Phoebe started out happy, but we had a hard time getting a collection of decent photos.

This was one of our attempts.

We also tried to get some family photos.

Owen and a pumpkin.

And we got a couple smiles from her before we left.

mammoth cave discovery tour

2011-12-31T22:05:00.002-06:00

At the end of September, Justin went to Seattle for Coffeefest (not sure if this is hyphenated or what) and so Beth and Ellen joined me and the kids for a weekend of fun. The highlight was going on a free Mammoth Cave discovery tour. It was Smithsonian weekend so we were able to walk through for free and the kids did pretty well. Phoebe got pretty heavy in her carrier, but the boys walked nicely until the end when Owen seemed to drag a bit. It was about 45 minutes to an hour total, with optional input from the park rangers.

We also stopped to walk around the little boardwalk with the pond (can't remember what it's called) and that also went ok, but my other photos were really bad. A ranger took this one.

september highlights

2011-12-26T22:58:00.002-06:00

From the balloon fest, we drove to Louisville to celebrate my dad's (aka Grandpa's) birthday. Owen was excited to help him blow out his candles. As usual, we had a good time with him and the rest of the family. The boys did a lot of running around and Owen still swore he was not going to sleep in the car.

This was maybe 10 minutes later. All 3 kids sleeping soundly (Phoebe is in the mirror). Owen clutched that purple balloon all the way home.

We spent a lot of time in the park when it was still warm and sunny in the evenings.

And Owen and Phoebe had some afternoons at Keriakes after Owen got home from preschool. Both like swinging and neither fit well in the baby swings at that point.

These two were from right at 5 months old.

The boys have been into the Wii off and on. They are currently "off", but Owen has learned this fall too and is actually a really good bowler and is more likely to play correctly. Lewis currently likes throwing the bowling ball behind him at the spectators more than anything. He likes to golf into bodies of water to hear the sound as well. But at times they play and play pretty well.

back to september: balloons, tunes & bbq

2011-12-22T14:37:00.002-06:00

So, at the beginning of September, there is a "festival" in Bowling Green called Balloons, Tunes & BBQ and it basically revolves around those three things. This year, I took Owen and Lewis by myself and tried to manage the two of them at the "fly in" early on Saturday morning. A few minutes after they got out of our van, they started talking to some girls who were maybe 5th or 6th grade and pretty quickly climbed into their van (which I was not happy about!). I got them out and we watched the balloons fly in, but it was rather stressful!

We still had fun, but next year I will be taking along assistance!

Phoebe's 8 months old!!

2011-12-20T16:41:00.004-06:00

Phoebe's 8 months old today. It has flown by and she is so big. We are taking her picture each month with this lion to monitor her growth. She's doing great. Still working on mobility. She rolls both directions now, but mostly side to side and not really going anywhere. She is making efforts to move around though and goes in a circle while on her belly and wants desperately to get up on her knees, but she hasn't figured out how to do it yet.

She loves peek-a-boo more than anything and initiates playing. We wanted to post a couple videos of her playing and laughing at Owen who hides and jumps out at her. I am overwhelmed by all the blog posts I have missed this year, but I'm setting a goal to get caught up by January 1st, so look for tons more posts in the next couple of weeks.

Owen dancing video

2011-11-20T23:05:00.001-06:00

6 months!

2011-10-31T23:22:00.002-05:00

Phoebe turned 6 months old on October 20th! She is happy and sleeping good, in her new room (which is a whole other post that has been put off with many others). She has gone 11+ hours a couple of nights, but nothing consistent yet. She generally sleeps about 8 before waking up, eating and going back to sleep. She is determined to get a new tooth in the near future and has been in a bit of pain, but tries her hardest to stay content.

She is eating solids now. So far she has tried bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas and oatmeal. She likes them all. She cried desperately during her first feeding after the first bite. She was dying for another. She ate an entire pureed banana that first feeding. She also loves Kix cereal, and gums them until they dissolve with no problem. She is picking up Kix, but can't get them into her mouth. She does a great job of dropping them on the floor though. :)

She is sitting independently and only rarely falls over. She has mastered rolling from back to belly but can't seem to figure out the other direction. She LOVES her jumper and watching her brothers play most of all. Pat-a-cake is her favorite little game.

We saw the doctor the other day, and he said she looked great. Holding steady at big in all categories and developmentally on target. We have continued skipping vaccines, and we are happy with that choice and the cooperation of our doctor.

Her current stats:

Height: 26.25"
Weight: 18 lbs., 8 oz.
Head: 17.25"

two trains and a kitty

2011-10-31T22:47:00.006-05:00

Phoebe got to celebrate her first Halloween this year! She was a kitty cat. This is her trying out her costume a few days before.

The boy insisted on being trains this year. Lewis has been obsessed with Thomas and so Owen agreed to be Gordon (the Express). We looked at the "real" costumes at the store and online and they were kind of ugly, to be honest. My sister, Beth Reitmeyer (aka "Aunt Beth") assured us that she could whip up some good costumes.......and we were rather shocked when she showed up with these:

It wasn't really all that shocking because she never does anything half-heartedly. They are pretty amazing! The boys LOVED them. This was the first year we didn't have to fight to get them to put on their costumes.

On Saturday, we went to a local "Trunk of Treats" event.

It was kind of a combination of trunk-or-treating and a fall festival. There were little games to play at each car. The boys got really into it. Lewis got to hook this snake for some candy.

Phoebe was good as gold and enjoyed hanging out in the stroller.

Then tonight we went trick or treating on the square, as is our tradition.

We started at Spencer's. Matt did a great job handing out the candy.

The kids got a good haul! Lewis did his best to ravage each location for tootsie rolls, oddly enough, even for him. Phoebe even got some candy that we are hoping she will share with her parents. We took a few pics on the porch when we got home.

There was not a lot of cooperation.

We'll leave you with a picture of our pumpkin. This year we let the boys draw the face on and then we carved it out. It turned out pretty good for their first attempt.

Phoebe on video

2011-09-23T22:48:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple Phoebe videos....one in the exersaucer:

And one jumping:

Hello, friends!

2011-09-23T22:40:00.004-05:00

Owen sings constantly these days. He comes home from preschool singing songs, and has learned a ton at AWANA too. This particular song is one he sings most often, and is a greeting song they do at school. Since Lewis was in the same class last year, he knows the song too, but has never sung along until tonight. This is very typical for him, to hear people singing a song, or hear it playing and then go in his room and plunk it out on the piano with little effort.

bikes 'n trikes

2011-09-23T22:21:00.002-05:00

Not too long ago (we are catching up A BIT with the blog), Grandparents Shepherd were visiting and determined that Lewis had to have a real big boy bike. So, we took the bike fund and found Lewis a reasonable bike with training wheels, and got the necessary helmet to go along with it.

Lewis was pretty excited and seemed to take to it immediately.

Owen was a bit frustrated that he didn't get a bike too, but has learned to actually ride the tricycle and not just pull it around. He does like to borrow Lewis' helmet when he's at school.

Lewis has fallen a couple of times, and so some days he is not that confident of a rider, but overall he is doing pretty good!

sibs

2011-09-23T22:08:00.002-05:00

These pictures are about a month old, but it was our first attempt to try and get all three kids in one shot together.

Phoebe's 4+ month stats

2011-09-13T10:28:00.003-05:00

We had Phoebe's 4 month appointment today, but she'll be 5 months in a week, so it seems kind of late. However, her stats are up to date (percentiles to the day compared to others)....and they are:

Height: 25.5" (70th perc.)
Weight: 16 lbs., 7 oz. (82nd)
Head: 42.5 cm (90th)

So she's big, essentially! We knew that already because she's heavy and roly poly. She's doing great as far as eye contact, trying to roll (she's rolled both belly to back and back to belly a few times, but is inconsistent) and her head control is excellent.

We passed on vaccines again today. We might let her get one shot next month. I dread that decision, honestly! Otherwise, it appears she is on target. She is definitely trying to get a tooth as well. Drooling constantly and I can feel it under the gum. Will it recede or pop out? Time will tell. Phoebe is enjoying her bumbo seat, her new jumper we got for $5 on consignment and her exersaucer. She likes to be vertical and able to look around. She is also sleeping well. Generally at least 8 hrs, often 10-11 in a row.

potty training owen

2011-09-11T22:08:00.005-05:00

When Lewis headed back to school, we took the opportunity to potty train Owen with one less child around. We wanted Owen to be potty trained before he went to preschool, but with vacations and activities through the summer, there never seemed to be a prime opportunity until the week before school started.

Using an intense method (that we used with Lewis as shown by our behavior analyst), we spent a couple of days basically on the potty giving Owen lots of juice and taking him potty using a timer, and putting him in underwear from the beginning. He caught on quite well, and when he was successful he got to play with this "special toy."

When he had an accident, we put the toy away. The amazing thing about this method is that the child doesn't have to have all the "ready-ness" signs. Owen seemed to have NO concept of what it meant to go potty. He had NEVER gone pee in the potty before we started. He watched a video while sitting on the potty that first morning and accidentally went and we went crazy reinforcing what he had done. From there he started figuring out control and within a few days he was virtually accident-free as far as staying dry was concerned. Now we are a month in, and he still is not requesting to go on his own, unless we are out places. He almost always wants to go in a public place. At home, we really have to watch the clock and take him at least every hour.

In the solid waste category, Owen had a bit more trouble. He didn't want to do it, and seemed terrified of it, even after having a couple of successful trips to the potty. We used some books including "Everyone Poops," "A Potty for Me" and "Where's the Poop?" to help him get more comfortable with the whole idea of it. Popsicles became a big reinforcer, along with an app on my phone called "Wood Puzzle." We also had to remove his lovey toys that he sleeps with when he went in his pants or pull-up at naptime. If he went in the potty, he earned back his toys. We also used kiddie laxatives to make it easier for him to go.....but now after a month of potty training, we are over the hump and he is doing great letting us know when he needs to go. He is going at other places, with babysitters and we are thrilled! And he is very proud of himself.

Daddy sent this picture to show Owen how proud he was after one of Owen's first successful potty trips.

back to school

2011-09-11T21:51:00.003-05:00

On August 4, 2011, Lewis started kindergarten! This is him coming out that first day with a picture of a car on his head (because he's a car-rider). He seemed to have a good day, and has been enjoying it so far. He is in a cluster with first and second graders, so that he has different teachers for reading and math and his kindergarten teacher covers writing. He also gets to visit many other special classes like computers, art, music and even Chinese.

Lewis was kind of surprised to see his old friend, Mr. Patrick, back to help out as his instructional assistant. It's pretty convenient to have someone who already knows Lewis helping him through each day. He's also made some "friends" and allows other kids to give hugs or sit with him at lunch.

This boy, Jeremiah, had been helping Lewis reach the soap when he needed to wash hands. We were sad that he transferred to another school a couple weeks ago. Lewis still says, "Jeremiah is at a new school," here or there. Lewis has already been to a friend's birthday party, and we have run into classmates at the fountain recently too. Lewis doesn't tell us much about what is going on at school, but he seems to like it and they all seem to like him too, which is a huge relief for us.

Owen started preschool on August 15, 2011. He had been riding in the van, dropping Lewis off for over a week and was getting frustrated that he couldn't go.

Here is Mrs. Brandy showing him his cubby. He was a little sad that first day, but has gone willingly and sings songs from school and tells me random facts or things his teachers said. Most of it doesn't make lots of sense out of context, but I like that he tries to communicate about his day. He has been a bit of a bear when he does come home, but overall it is going really well, and we know that he is in great hands at PBC.

Phoebe 3 month pics

2011-09-11T21:17:00.002-05:00

These pics are from way back when Phoebe hit 3 months old!

She was enjoying belly time in short spurts.

And during bathtime.

And with a host of friends.

lake trip 2011

2011-08-30T21:41:00.003-05:00

Justin's family takes a trip to the lake every year (for the last several anyway!) and this year we returned to Center Hill Lake in Tennessee. Here's the highlights in pictures.

Phoebe got to know all the aunts, uncles and cousins, including Shari. She seemed to like them all pretty well.

The boys enjoyed a lot of time on the boat and swimming in the lake. Lewis had a great time, while Owen was running high or low at all times. He missed his nap just about every day because all 5 of us were sleeping in one room and we wanted him to go to sleep quickly instead of his usual concert of preschool hits (with "Firework" thrown in) for a good hour. It worked in that regard, but his attitude was affected negatively at times when he got tired.

Owen's grumpy look.

He also loves the cousins and was excited Olivia came on the boat some.

The boys rode up front with Aunt Jeanne.

Back at the lake house, Grandma had some quality time with Phoebe.

The boys sat on the tube/raft thing.

Justin and Owen relaxing on the porch swing.

Phoebe and Owen.
Our view from the lake. It was lovely, but so hot!! We had a great time. It was nice to get away from reality for a while.

Phoebe starts to play

2011-08-30T21:36:00.003-05:00

These photos were imported on July 15th! Shows how behind I am. Phoebe was chunking up a bit (notice her legs!) and starting to show interest in the dangling toys in her pink box.

VBS

2011-08-30T20:59:00.002-05:00

We are playing catch up from the summer, starting back in mid July. We took the boys to a short VBS sponsored by the Church on Main. The boys had a great time and recognized some staff from school which made it seem more familiar! The playground was a big hit, including this funny see-saw.

The second night they had the kids act out the nativity story. Lewis agreed to play the part of a wise man. He got to take a gift to baby Jesus.

After Owen saw Lewis dressed up, he decided to participate the next time and got to be Joseph.

They were an antsy bunch, but loved the songs, costumes and crafts.

the pledge

2011-08-21T22:12:00.001-05:00

This morning at breakfast, Owen started saying something that soundly oddly familiar. I realized he must be learning the Pledge of Allegiance at school and had him do it again. It needs work, but absolutely cracked me up. Check it out!

boys' stats

2011-08-10T21:48:00.005-05:00

Well.....this is not a very exciting post, but our boys are growing, so we wanted to update the stats. Lewis started school last week, and Owen starts next week, so it has been a whirlwind. We were crazy and threw potty training Owen into the schedule this week to make things extra interesting!

More on all of the above later! Here's the latest:

Lewis, age 5:
Weight: 37 lbs.
Height: 40.5"

Owen, age 3:
Weight: 33.5 lbs.
Height: 38.5"

They are really close in size actually. Lewis is still in the 20th percentile which was good news. I'm always afraid he'll drop way down, but he is gaining at a steady pace. Owen is way up there percentile-wise, and doing great. He is even catching onto the potty thing pretty quick, which he should at age 3! He's going on a fairly strict timer still, but keeping dry pants pretty well. Here's hoping having those two in school will give me a bit more time to update the blog.

Mandy moved!

2011-07-31T23:07:00.004-05:00

Ok, so this is mostly just a link to my friend, Mandy's, blog, about her recent to move to Houston. She does a great job of summing up her experience with us over the past 2 1/2 years of working with Lewis. By the end, she was working with Lewis and Owen and was at our house (or in and out) chunks of just about every day. Needless to say, the past couple of weeks have been an adjustment. She knew the boys really well and easily worked with them, helping to teach them all kinds of things. She is pursuing Applied Behavior Analysis (the type of therapy we use at home) as a career now, which excites me because it is a field that is so needed when the rates of Autism have sky-rocketed and it is the one most proven method that works to change behaviors of kids with the disorder. Unfortunately, it is not commonly used in this area.....and when it is used, it is often not as accurate as it should be because there are so few board certified behavior analysts training others to do it. So, we wish Mandy the best of luck and beyond that--pray that God will use her to help so many families like ours to help our kids reach their full potential.

These pictures are not the best, but it is hard to take pictures of squirmy boys on an iPhone.

random pics

2011-07-22T13:17:00.003-05:00

So...we are kind of behind. These are random pics. Phoebe, above, had her first play time at Hopscotch. The boys got to play and she got to relax.

Owen left Big Red School demanding to wear his backpack one day a few weeks ago. He has never wanted to wear it so I took several pictures of him holding his butterfly painting. So funny. He got pretty upset when he had to take it off to wear it in the car though.

We have also been spending quite a bit of time at the "water park" downtown. The boys are enjoying the fountains with the hot weather we've had.

Lewis strutting his stuff.

Owen taking a break on the side.

This is Lewis with one of his "M & M" friends. He loves going to Kroger to see these guys.

Lewis also has been loving to hang out in Phoebe's pink box. She has a little bird that plays music and he has been learning to play the songs on the piano.

We got to celebrate Independence Day with fireworks this year. We went to a party at our friends' house (Jim & Susan Nelson). There were a lot of bigger fireworks there since Kentucky's laws got a bit looser this year. The boys LOVED it!

Phoebe and Aunt Ellen enjoyed the party before it got dark. Since the boys liked it so much we went to Alvaton's fireworks show and it was pretty big and loud. Once again, they loved it, but Phoebe did not like how loud the fireworks were at this bigger event. Next year should be better!

Owen and the monkey during their nap.

A cute pic of Phoebe in her cute dress from the Shephard cousins!

birthday highlights, Part 2

2011-07-22T12:46:00.005-05:00

Big smile before he blew out the #5 candle.

The next weekend, Justin's side of the family came for a visit and showered the boys with gifts. We had the Shepherds, Shephards (from Nashville) and Uncle Lee and Aunt Imogene Simmons (also from Nashville). It was lots of fun!

Lewis opening a gift with encouragement from Grandma Linda (aka Ninna).

Owen trying out the pirate costume from a dress up set.

Baby Phoebe looking on with Aunt Monica.

Yet another cake.

Aunt Jeanne takes a turn with Phoebe. It was such a fun day, and we had a great time with everyone.

birthday highlights, Part 1

2011-07-15T18:30:00.003-05:00

Because the boys' birthdays are so close together, it makes more sense to celebrate them together. However, to keep it from being totally overwhelming, historically we have had separate parties with each side of the family. This year, we opted to throw in a "Tattoo Party" so some other kids could come. The above photo is the only picture I had from the party. Justin has many more and we will try to post them soon. You can see our friends, Tom and Jack Sternberg, talking with Mandy Guss while others are getting tattooed out of view of the camera.

The next day, we celebrated with the Reitmeyer side. The boys each had some candles to blow out.

Phoebe and Grandma Martha.

Lewis got a tee ball set. Owen and Grandpa enjoyed it most!

Grandpa and baby Phoebe.

We did some work outside after the celebrating. Beth and dad posed for a shot.

firework

2011-07-07T23:39:00.001-05:00

In honor of Independence Day, Lewis performs Katy Perry's "Firework."

Lewis turns 5!

2011-06-28T22:53:00.003-05:00

This is Lewis smiling as we sang "Happy Birthday" to him after dinner tonight. He kept counting down the days to his birthday and he would say, "I won't have to sing!" But it seems like he meant that everyone else would sing for HIM. And sure enough, he got a cheesy grin when we sang.

Lewis has been having a busy summer, but it's actually pretty laid back compared to life when school is in session. He's been eating a lot of new foods, which is huge for him. He's added corn, pizza and cereal bar to his diet in the last two weeks. He seems to be getting over the fact that he has to eat new foods. He still resists and talks about "deleting" them, but then gives in and eats. We use an iPad or iPhone to reward him (depending on who is around....our BCBA has been helping with this and she has an iPad, thankfully!), and then fade it out as he eats the food multiple times.

He is reading books, and everything he sees. Here is a video of him reading some of our "Baby Jesus" book with Owen and Phoebe the other night. It is one of his current favorites.

Here is Lewis playing some songs from his Miss Lynn cd. He loves her music and loves playing the songs on the piano when he gets a chance. They are longer videos, so be warned!

phoebe's two month stats

2011-06-25T22:58:00.003-05:00

We made it to the doctor the other day, and can report Phoebe's official stats:

Weight: 11 lbs. 4.5 oz.
Length: 22.5"

She's in the 50th percentile for weight, and the doctor was super pleased with her growth. She seems to be doing great! We skipped shots for now. I'm trying to figure out what shots and when we want to allow her to have. Otherwise, it was a lovely visit.

Here's Phoebe after her bath the other day. She's a pink monkey! And here's a video of her smiling at about 5-6 weeks.

Owen turns 3!

2011-06-21T22:37:00.006-05:00

Today, Owen became a big three year old. Turning 3 has brought about some changes. First, he has moved into a big boy bed. We made the transition about 10 days ago. He was actually very sad to leave his crib, and still asks to sleep there regularly. The first night he cried quite a bit, but now gets into bed just fine.To prepare him that first night, we kept talking about it, and had him write "BED" on his magnadoodle. He is all about writing these days, and spends hours a week writing and spelling on the magnadoodle or outside with chalk.

Here he is in the bed before nap. I tried to get a picture of him that first night, but he was too sad! The funny thing is that when he goes to bed, he is so used to being in a crib, that he stays there without question. He waits for us to come get him after nap and in the morning. We keep expecting him to figure it out, but so far, so good!

This one is to illustrate how active he is. It was hard getting him to cooperate so we could take a picture of ...

his stegosaurus tattoo! Justin got a new tattoo recently, and the boys have been obsessed ever since.

Here's Lewis' first tattoo. Our friend and therapist, Mandy Guss, bought and applied these to the kids and they are both super proud of their body art.

Also with turning three, Owen graduated from First Steps, Kentucky's Early Intervention program. He will head to preschool in August (more on that later), but he will surely miss his speech therapist, Kim Smith. She did a great job with him, and he really loved seeing her each week. His DI, Krista Posey, is kind of a fixture in our home, and also made a huge impact on Owen. Both boys love Krista. She makes learning so much fun. We hope to still see her regularly, but I should still get a new picture! :)

Today Owen had a big time (despite a torrential rain that poured for hours). He started out at Big Red School, then got some frozen yogurt and a visit at the Barnes & Noble train table with Mandy.

After nap, he played some with Lewis and then we had dinner. He chose to eat Mac and Cheese (one of his current faves) and applesauce. After which we had cupcakes and ice cream.

Blowing out his candles.

Finally, he got to open a few gifts. We have more parties coming up with family and friends. Tonight he got a couple of I Spy books, some underwear (which he did not seem at all excited about) to encourage him toward potty training, a car from Aunt Beth, and this tool set. The drill actually works! He seemed to like it, but was hyper due to so much sugar today. We took a walk after dinner to use up some energy before bed.

It was a fun day. Now we get to prepare for Lewis to turn 5 next week!

2 months old!

2011-06-20T16:29:00.004-05:00

It's hard to believe Phoebe is 2 months old! She must be going through a growth spurt because she has slept a ton the last couple of days. She is smiling quite a bit now and loving her toy dragonfly. She is also sleeping 7-9 hours just about every night, which is great for us!! She is cooing quite a bit, but still doesn't like laying on her own (to play) so she has spent a lot of time in her bouncy seat the last week or so. She has rolled a couple more times, but only when propped on a pillow, so she needs a bit of gravity to help her, which is age appropriate. :)

It has been fun trying some of her little dresses on her now that she is fitting into more of her 3 month clothes. She has a doctor's appointment this week, so we will have an update of her stats soon.

Just the girls!

summer times

2011-06-17T14:55:00.003-05:00

So while Phoebe has been sitting around growing (she's 8 weeks already!), the boys have been out playing quite a bit around town at the various parks Bowling Green has to offer. Aunt Beth took a two week trip to Chicago which gave Justin and I a chance to get out with the kids in the evenings to insure their extreme tiredness at bedtime. It's been working pretty well. Owen even opted to push Lewis on the swings some on this trip.

They are so happy there that the pictures turn out better than usual! It was hard to pick which ones to post, but you can stare longer at the ones you like best. :)

in the zone

2011-06-03T15:35:00.004-05:00

So going from 2 to 3 kids has been quite an adjustment. I've always heard that going from 1 to 2 kids is the hardest. In our case, that didn't seem to be the case. When Owen was born, Lewis was still non-verbal, and it seemed like when he got some new toys a week later on his birthday, he was content to "play" while I had long feedings and I could easily manage the two of them on walks and that kind of thing.

Now with 3, it is virtually impossible for me to get anywhere on our own. Lewis has therapy at the hospital twice a week, and I went once with all three and it about killed me. Just getting in and out and through the parking lot about put me over the edge. Our boys do not have a concept of safety and while I try to instill that in them, they find it hilarious to run off into the danger zone and my nerves cannot handle it. We have set up a schedule now that allows for someone to be home with Owen while I go back and forth for these appointments, and I'm so grateful for the resources to do this.

The boys also like to fight with each other while I'm stuck nursing Phoebe. It is hard to get up and discipline them each time, so they are taking advantage of the situation. Now that Phoebe is sleeping a bit longer (5-7 hours depending on the night) I am functioning better and able to deal better with them when they need extra attention.

Still, it has been a big adjustment for all of us. We are enjoying Phoebe, and she is starting to coo, and even rolled over twice today (from belly to back) which surprised me at 6 weeks because the boys were both fairly behind developmentally. She is pretty active already and seems eager to move around.

All of this to say....I won't be going anywhere with the three of them by myself unless I am super desperate. We are so thankful for our providers (Aunt Beth, Mandy Guss, Krista Posey, Katrina Giannini and Aunt Ellen) who give us a break to blog and take great care of the kids so that we don't lose our minds. Lewis has had a rough adjustment to school being out, being a big brother and getting ready for kindergarten. He's been pretty clingy and keeps saying, "Mama is NOT gonna feed baby Phoebe" and things like that because he wants my attention. I welcome it because during the school year my time with him seems so limited. Still, it is hard to balance quality time with each of them. Thank God for the grace he gives and that it is not all up to me to raise these kids. In our case, in definitely takes a village!! :)

A few pics from the last week or so. We went to cousin Ryan's graduation party in Nashville and the boys got to swing with Aunt Monica.

goodbye holly

2011-06-03T15:19:00.003-05:00

About a month ago, another one of our caregivers for the boys moved away. We have a trend of running people off/losing people to other great opportunities far away. Holly has worked with Lewis and Owen for about a year and a half. We had a mutual friend (Priscilla Baker) who first introduced us because of her interest in autism therapies. Then she was a student teacher for Krista Posey, our developmental interventionist the next semester and started working with Lewis in her spare time.

Since then she's become a good friend, and the boys have loved her! She's the one who encouraged us to go to camp at the Center for Courageous Kids where she was working at the time. The boys had a blast mostly because she made it so fun for us. We will miss her, but hope she will be coming back to the area to help more kids struggling with disabilities. She's got the perfect personality for it. :)

Here are some pics of her and the boys before she left.

preschool graduation

2011-05-28T14:40:00.007-05:00

Thursday, Lewis wrapped up his preschool career at Parker Bennett Curry. The week before, they had a graduation ceremony where they handed out diplomas and acknowledged all the kids moving on to kindergarten. Lewis has had a great two years in Mrs. Brandy's class. It's hard to believe he'll be in a new class next year.

I think this is Lewis getting his diploma.

Aunt Beth and Lewis with his diploma.

Lewis and Mrs. Brandy. She will be Owen's teacher next year!

Lewis and Miss Brittani, the assistant who helped him this year. She'll be moving to Florida soon, and we are sad to see her go! She has done a great job preparing him to move on to kindergarten next year.

Lewis will be in Mrs. Lee's class next year. He's gotten to visit several times. Our friend, Ben, works at the school and took this picture of Lewis observing the class. He seems very excited about Mrs. Lee and what goes on in kindergarten and actually got upset when he had to leave on a couple of different occasions.

the early days from Justin's perspective

2011-05-28T14:32:00.003-05:00

Grandma with Phoebe.

Leaving the hospital.

Resting.
One of her first baths.

Owen hoping someone comes to see him soon.

Her first month!

2011-05-27T17:53:00.005-05:00

Phoebe survived her first month! She actually went to the doctor for a weight check last week to make she is gaining at a good enough pace. At 1 month she was 8 lbs. 15.3 oz. and since the doctor didn't call us back we are assuming he was happy with it. She was 7 lbs. 11 oz. at her 2 week check up, so she had gained more than a pound in about 2 1/2 weeks. We are not going to worry about too much and see how we are doing at 2 months.

The above picture came from an idea we got from our friend, Whitney Winkler. She has been taken monthly photos of her baby, Ellie, with a stuffed bear each month, and it is really evident how much she has grown over the months! We decided to give it a try with our stuffed lion. Hopefully she will grow and have more happy expressions in the months to come.

Phoebe has gotten into a pretty regular routine of going to sleep between 10:30-11 p.m. and sleeping until 4:30 or 5 a.m. She has slept seven straight hours a couple of times which was great! We took the above pictures after one of those long nights and she was so alert and almost smiling! Since then she has actually given some big smiles a couple of times. Those are hard to capture.

Getting a kiss from Owen (daddy's shot).

Cuddling with daddy in one of her little dresses.

Her big eyed look.
Phoebe has had a lot of visitors in the last few weeks. She got to meet lots of friends we don't see very often, including Corrie Powell (pictured above). We were so happy to see Carrie and Mary Powell too. Corrie was one of Lewis' first friends and he still speaks fondly of all the Powells. He was especially chatty about Brian Powell, but we didn't get to see him this visit, unfortunately!

We also had a visit from my friends and former roommates, Tasha Caruthers and Heather Morozov (and her daughter, Annabella). We somehow made it through the visit with no pictures!! Kinda sad about that one, but it was really nice to see them even in the fog of sleep deprivation at 2 1/2 weeks post delivery.

phoebe's first couple of weeks

2011-05-07T23:17:00.004-05:00

Phoebe's first couple of weeks have been rather uneventful. She's been eating a lot, sleeping and staying awake for brief periods here and there. This was Phoebe at a week old with our stuffed lion.

On Tuesday, Phoebe had her two week check-up, though she was a day short of two weeks. She had not quite gained as much weight as Dr. Kniery would've liked, so we have increased the length of her feedings and frequency when demanded. She weighed in at 7 lbs., 11 oz., 3 oz. shy of her birth weight. We are supposed to go back in a couple weeks to check her weight and not see the doctor unless her weight is too low.

We actually weighed her today at our friends' (the Winklers) house on their postal scale. She was up to 8 lbs., which is great! We will keep an eye on things and she should gain without any trouble. Honestly, with 2 other small kids, I have lost track fairly often of when to feed her and not paid nearly enough attention unless she is really mad & hungry.

We have asked Lewis multiple times if he'd like to hold his baby sister, and he has always said 'no' until the other day when he agreed to hold her. Once Justin put her close to him, he kind of changed his mind, but sort of got to hold her.

On Wednesday, when she was exactly 2 weeks old, her cord fell off. Dr. Kniery had cleaned her cord area thoroughly with silver nitrate, and that seemed to help things along. Our infant tub needed a good cleaning before we could use it, so she got her first bath today! She's fresh and clean now.

She's sleeping in good chunks once we get past midnight, but she fights it until then. We are still pretty sleepy during the day, as a result because I end up with just 5-6 hours before the boys need to get up, which isn't enough. Over all, things are going pretty well. We're really glad she's ours! We'll leave you with her angry/mad/hungry face.

Easter fun

2011-05-07T22:51:00.002-05:00

Just after Phoebe was born, we had a small Easter celebration at our house. Thanks to Grandpa Norm, and Grandma Martha, they actually had candy and some other random things for their Easter "buckets." They enjoyed looking through their loot and have been eating it on slowly ever since.

Their cute shirts were courtesy of Grandpa Billy and Grandma Linda.

The guys went to church, while Phoebe and I stayed home for a nap.

Lewis was really excited about the jelly bellies (aka "candy beans").

Owen was ready to eat everything in sight, but we slowed him down somehow.

Welcome Phoebe Corinne!

2011-04-28T10:06:00.006-05:00

Phoebe Corinne (pronounced kuh-rinn)
Born April 20, 2011 at 9:33 a.m. CST, Phoebe's stats:
Length: 20 1/4 inches
Weight: 7 lbs., 14 oz.

Last week, we were anxiously awaiting Phoebe's arrival. Tuesday night and into early Wednesday, there was a pretty big storm that woke Lewis around 1:30 a.m. With hail crashing into our windows, Lewis got in bed with us and the loudness of the storm terrified me a bit. Contractions started immediately (they had been coming and going for a good week at this point, so I didn't think much of it initially). Around 2:15, things quieted down a bit and Lewis willingly went back to his bed. My contractions continued and kept me awake the rest of the morning! At 4 a.m. I woke Justin up because the contractions were coming about every 3 minutes or so. I was still not sure I was in labor, and he didn't want to go to the hospital (which would require us waking up my sisters) so I waited a while longer and my contractions did slow down some.

By 5:45, I headed to the hospital and told Justin I would call if I was indeed in labor. At 6, I had been hooked up to the machines and told that I was 4 cm dilated and my contractions were strong enough and regular enough to keep me. With my history of Group B strep (Lewis having contracted at birth previously) my nurse managed to have me hooked up to antibiotics by 6:45 (which really impressed me! my two previous deliveries it took twice that long), and Dr. Gass broke my water at 7 a.m.

From there I felt like my progress was slow. The next couple of times they checked me I was still at 4 cm. I sat up for a while which helped me handle the pain, but by 8:40 or so, I was 5-6 cm, and my contractions were so painful that I asked for a half dose of nubain (which I had with Lewis). Unfortunately, all that did was make me more tired! So, having it to do over, I would've skipped it because it did not help with the pain and seemed to make labor & delivery more exhausting! However, despite that, in the next few minutes after, I felt ready to push and they said I was a full 10 cm.

Dr. Gass was in his office and rushed over in time to deliver Phoebe at 9:33 a.m. It was a fast and more painful birth than I remember the other two being, which may be a result of me being older this time around! Still, I was glad to get her out and get it over with. She is a beautiful baby and looks a lot like Lewis as an infant.

Recovery has been going well, and she is nursing great. She was 7 lbs., 5 oz. when we left the hospital on Friday and had gained an ounce when we went to the doctor on Tuesday. We go back next week for another weight check. So far she is sleeping tons and relatively easy. I have been a bit more emotional than after the other two were born, but seem to be leveling some.

We are grateful she is here and healthy so far. The boys do not know quite what to think, but since we talked about her sooo much before the birth, they have easily transitioned to the idea that baby Phoebe is "out" and visible now.

Ready for the ride home.

Owen loves to give her kisses!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T10:39:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter from all of the Shepherds!!

hamburger night

2011-04-17T14:22:00.003-05:00

April is Autism Awareness month, and while we blog occasionally about the disorder and how it effects us, I wanted to do a post specifically on eating challenges that many kids on the spectrum deal with. As a side note: This month at Spencer's we have drinks of the month in honor of Lewis and Owen and both are delicious. Owen's is an orange Italian soda with coconut and it has been a real treat at the end of my pregnancy!!

Ok, back to eating.....For many children and adults on the autism spectrum, eating is difficult. From the books I have read, it seems to relate most to the sensory processing disorders that exist in the brain. They simply process sensory information differently than a normal person. So while you or I might feel something on our skin and think, "Hmm...what is that? Is it a spider or some lint?" and then we reach down and brush away whatever it is and move on. We have sensors that alert us when something is different and may be wrong. That is how typical people process sensory "information." For many on the spectrum, they have this type of sensation all day through lights, sounds, & sensations of all kinds. Some don't feel enough, and some feel too much. Their filter doesn't work quite right so that they may be over-alarmed, or not notice things that could be harmful to them.

For Lewis, he tends to be sensory seeking which means that he seeks out noise, movement and visual stimulation (through looking at lights or squinting at things from the corner of his eye) throughout the day. When it comes to foods, however, Lewis has sensory defensiveness. He is terrified of touching foods with his hands, but especially putting them in his mouth. Anytime something new is offered he will gag and cry because it makes him physically ill.

One book I read had an explanation from an adult with autism who explained that growing up when foods were offered to her, it was as frightening as if someone were trying to get a normal person to eat worms. Here are the worms on a plate and the person is saying, "It's delicious, just take a bite," and all she wanted to do was vomit. If you remember the show Fear Factor, and the awful rotten things people would eat on there, it would be similar! I try to remember that when we offer Lewis new things to eat. To him, it is something new and therefore threatening.

Lewis has a few foods he eats consistently: Rice Krispy Treats (his breakfast), red or black beans, apples cut into pieces (skin left on b/c that is the only part he will touch), yogurt with "no chunky stuff," Vienna sausages, chicken nuggets, french fries, pretzels, tortilla chips, potato chips & apple sauce. The only vegetables he eats are stage 2 baby foods, and generally only orange or yellow varieties. He eats nuts on occasion and has a variety of candy he will eat, but generally does not seek it out unless a therapist offers it.

With this in mind, Justin recently wanted to add hamburger to Lewis' rotation. He talked about it for several days in advance to get Lewis used to the idea. When "hamburger night" came, he grilled some burgers, cut one into pieces and proceeded to try to convince Lewis to take a bite. It took about 20 minutes to get Lewis to just touch it to his mouth. Meanwhile he was crying and gagging. It felt like an episode of 24 where Jack Bauer was literally torturing someone for information. After about 30 minutes when we were just about ready to give up hope, Lewis allowed a tiny piece in his mouth and Justin held his mouth shut to keep him from spitting it out. Once it was in there and he was chewing it, he calmed down immediately, swallowed the bite and proceeded to eat the rest of it while playing with an iPhone.

As he sat there eating and laughing, I was relieved, but also very sad. It made me so sad that trying to introduce a new food to my child was so hard and felt so mean. We have so many good things we want Lewis to experience and enjoy and yet each small step feels like a mountain. Owen, on the other hand, sees a new food and begs to try it. Coming from a family who loves to eat, it is really hard to imagine really not wanting to eat delicious foods. It is one of the things that Americans struggle with most! But for Lewis, taste is secondary to how a food "feels." It is impossible for a typical person to 'get', but we continue to press on, hoping to expose him to things in a reasonable manner so we don't overwhelm him, but so that he has a more rounded diet. We do it because we LOVE him, and we want GOOD for him. The process of it is painful for this mom to handle most days, but we are thrilled when progress is made.

We posted on Facebook about the hamburger last week, and we had several say, "So what's the deal with Lewis eating a hamburger?" To most it is nothing! To us it was like winning the lottery. Hopefully this lengthy explanation will help make sense of what life is like for so many families out there dealing with this incredibly strange disorder.

38 weeks

2011-04-15T20:26:00.002-05:00

I had my 38 week appointment yesterday and there was no real change (still 3 cm, 80% effaced). My doctor still says I could go anytime, and my contractions are getting stronger, and at times fairly regular, but nothing escalating into real labor at this point. Justin and I are both "nesting" and driving one another a bit crazy. He has been ready for over a week. Now that the fridge is stocked and the laundry is done, we get to wait. Oh, it's so fun!

Due to my extreme clumsiness, I dropped a quart of yogurt on the kitchen floor yesterday, and this morning knocked my open purse into the washer that was filling with bleach water for our whites. A new purse and wallet were purchased, but our camera may not recover. It is sitting in a container of rice, but so far will not come on. :( I had put it in my purse, battery charged, in case we headed to the hospital to bring Phoebe into the world. We may need to borrow a camera if the rice doesn't work! Hopefully she will arrive before I manage to break anything else.

37 weeks

2011-04-08T14:10:00.003-05:00

Today's check-up brought news of steady progress. The doctor says I'm 3 cm and 70% effaced. He said it could be any time, but we are still guessing for another week.

36 weeks

2011-04-04T22:25:00.003-05:00

I went back to the doctor on Friday for my 36 week check-up. I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced, exactly the same as with Lewis and Owen at that point. Most of last week, I had been feeling pretty bad with a low fever, stuffy ears & super congested, but after a z-pack I am doing much better! Here's a photo.

lewis lately

2011-04-04T22:08:00.002-05:00

Lewis has some new interests, as usual! He has gotten super obsessed with tennis, of all things. He saw some people playing at Keriekes park, and since then has started playing with real rackets (though he doesn't really swing and hit the ball.....he will bounce it to his partner and let them hit it to him). He likes to play Wii tennis, and Wii golf too. He mostly likes hitting the golf balls into the various bodies of water on the Wii. He can play well if he wants to here or there, but generally likes playing badly!

Apparently some of the tennis players he has seen also wear sunglasses, so he has begun wearing various pairs of glasses lately too. He looks pretty ridiculous in most of them, but it's funny to see him "pretending" in this way.

We had a big meeting at school to plan for kindergarten next year. Our team has worked up an IEP for him that includes an instructional assistant, extended lunches, and help from a feeding team to help him expand his food reportoire (which is extremely limited due to sensory issues). We are really relieved that he will have so much support because he is doing great academically, but socially needs a lot of help. Having an assistant to help him transition throughout the day and interact better with peers should make a huge difference! It will be an adjustment going all day, but he should enjoy some of the extras like music, art and computer class.

The boys have started watching the Bounce videos again from Spectrum Connections and I caught Lewis dancing to the music from these "movies" the other day. Enjoy!

all about owen

2011-04-04T21:50:00.002-05:00

Owen has been enjoying the spring so far. One day, I found him trying out putting his hands in his pockets (a first!). He's not really done it much since, but it was a fun look for him!

He is as energetic as ever, and loves going for "runs" around the block. He's really hard to keep up with lately. I am physically unable to chase him the way I used to so I have to really get prepared, and there is a lot of forced hand-holding that he's not fond of, but it's the only way!

We got out the moon sand when it got warm and the boys have enjoyed playing with it.

Here's Owen in his monster towel.

And this is some of the "artwork" I found on my phone that Owen created with my Catpaint app. It cracked me up! Aside from these activities, Owen has been enjoying dipping food in ketchup and now salsa, watching Lewis play Wii sports, and memorizing tons of books that we read before nap and bedtime. He is especially into I Spy books these days, and loves to name things that start with various letters, or vice-versa ("apple starts with 'a'"). He is enjoying Big Red School so much more now, and actually smiles and says, "Hello!" when he goes through the door. It is a welcome change! He has absolutely no interest in potty training, but we are lacking the energy to take that on these days anyway.

35 weeks

2011-03-25T13:07:00.002-05:00

This morning I went for my 35 week check-up. The doctor says the baby's head is down and I'm dilated about 1 1/2 cm already. We have been expecting her closer to 38 weeks so we seem to be on target for that, but the next couple of check-ups should give us an even better idea. This week has brought more obvious discomfort in walking and lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions. We are not really ready for her arrival, but it will be so nice to not be pregnant anymore!

overdue

2011-03-13T21:46:00.005-05:00

So, our excuse for a long silence this time, is that we have been busy putting our house on the market. We have had a hard time figuring out how we would arrange the boys with Phoebe's impending arrival, and since a house with a real yard would be sooo nice, we decided to list our house and see if anyone was interested in buying. So far we have had one showing (with some interest....we'll see if anything comes of it!), but we have spent literally weeks purging, cleaning and painting to make the place look better. It has been truly exhausting! But, I had a successful consignment experience ($250+ profit) at a local kids' consignment sale, and Justin is selling un-needed coffee items on eBay for a pretty good bit of additional cash too.

And, what can't be sold and we still didn't need has been taken to the Goodwill or a local ministry called Hope House to be distributed to the needy. It is wonderful to have a lot more space and to be relieved of the burden of excess stuff! I'm sure we could purge more, but it has been a good start.

This is what our house looks like now. We had a photojournalism student come take pictures of the house, and they were so much better with his wide angle lens than anything we could've taken ourselves.

In pregnancy news, I had my 32 week appointment over a week ago. The doctor said I was measuring a perfect 32, and had no other issues, so he was going to give me 3 weeks off. Instead of seeing me at 34 weeks, I'll go back at 35 weeks when my weekly appointments will begin and we'll get a better idea of when Phoebe will cross-over into the real world. I'm getting pretty uncomfortable now, and extremely clumsy. I've spilled 3 beverages just this week. And, I'm taking lots of Tums regularly now, which is so fun!

We have a big ARC meeting for Lewis this week on Tuesday afternoon. His teacher and team of support from pre-school will all meet to discuss his transition to kindergarten. I'm a bit nervous, but have been really pleased with his experience there, so I know having input from everyone will help us make the best decision possible. It is something we are praying about a great deal because we know it will be a big deal for Lewis. He's been in the same classroom for 2 years and really likes where he is at.

This was the only picture I hadn't posted previously. Lewis has gotten to see a bit of Mr. Patrick, the instructional assistant who helped him so much last year. Patrick is working at Bowling Green High School and one new responsibility he has is driving a student to Lewis' school every day for some sort of work experience in the middle of the day. So basically, some days when Lewis is leaving school, Mr. Patrick is arriving with this student while driving a bus. Lewis was so excited to see him that first day, he ran right up on the bus, and has acted it out several times with his Little People characters. It is a joy to see him so excited when things like this happen.

obsessed with bowling

2011-02-23T09:56:00.004-06:00

So, we mentioned previously that when we attended the Center for Courageous Kids autism weekend, both boys really enjoyed bowling. Since then it has gotten out of control at our house. We have worked on Wii bowling with Lewis, and he is quite good! The boys also enjoy playing with a couple of toy bowling sets we have.

Lewis sets it up just like Wii bowling. He imitates the characters holding one hand behind their backs and the ball in the other hand.

He also likes to put out a "scoreboard" like on the Wii with a small image of the players. Since Lewis was playing by himself in these pictures, you can see to the side, his Little People version of himself on a blue rectangle. They are always set up in the order that people are supposed to take turns. Very odd, but it kind of makes sense!

The other night, Justin and Lewis were neck in neck playing a game, and Lewis pulled out the win. Lewis plays all on his own now. We used to help him here and there, but he does great when he wants to, and if he wants to throw a bunch of gutter balls, well, he doesn't do so good. He gets amazing spares too, splits and everything.

It is a little crazy to have both boys take turns playing. Owen is happy to hold a "trigger" when Lewis plays Wii bowling, but when we play with a set of pins it can get ugly. Its good they have an interest though!

Beth found this interesting article about autistic kids running a coffee shop at school. They used the proceeds to bowl, oddly enough! It combines two of our current passions so it seemed pertinent to post it.

singing, hanging out & incubating

2011-02-05T20:49:00.003-06:00

It's been an exhausting few weeks! Forgive the long silence. Things are generally going well. There's been snow, warmth and now cold rainy weather to keep life interesting. A couple of weeks ago, Hopscotch's Playplace had a discount day, so we took the boys to get out some energy on cold, snowy morning. Here are the highlights:

Owen's black eye is healing! It's almost completely gone now (this is an old photo though so it doesn't look that great).

Owen tried on a fireman's hat, and then fought with Lewis and several other children who wanted a turn wearing it.

Lewis enjoyed bouncing.

And hanging from these bars.

At school they are using this visual prompt to help Lewis with the morning routine. We were late one day, so I watched him read it and follow the steps. It was pretty sweet!

I had my 28-week appointment on Thursday, and everything seems to be going well. Dr. Gass says I'm an easy patient because I have no real complaints or issues when I go to see him. He actually told me about some of his recent problems which cracked me up. So glad to have a doctor who is real and understanding! He said I'm measuring at about 30 weeks which is fine, especially since I have delivered at 38 weeks with both prior pregnancies. We are expecting Phoebe to come mid-April, but of course, time will tell!

I got my Rhogam shot for rh incompatibility and I was on my way. Now I get to go every two weeks! It's going by pretty quickly, which is great because I'm exhausted, going to the bathroom way too often and having trouble doing things like picking up stuff off the floor etc. Nothing major, but things are starting to get harder and it will just get worse. But really, I feel great and have had few issues so I can't complain.

Owen even got to feel her move the other night when we were reading books. Then she stopped and he said, "Where'd baby Phoebe go?" We decided she must've been sleeping or something. :)

I'll leave you with a clip of Owen singing "Doe a deer" from The Sound of Music. He sings this a ton, along with Jingle Bells and a few other favorites.

what we've been doing for fun

2011-01-19T22:50:00.005-06:00

A little update on what we've been doing for fun lately. Today we ventured out to the Goodlettsville branch of the Nashville Public Library to see a performance by Miss Lynn, one of the boys' favorite kiddie artists. Our friend, Heather Morozov, passed on her last cd as a birthday present last summer, and let's just say Lewis knows all the words. Owen probably knows most of them too. The crowd seemed a bit sleepy today.

Lewis was a little antsy while things were getting started, but when she started playing a favorite song, his grin got so goofy and big. He was pretty ecstatic to see her playing these songs live. He sang aloud for a couple of them, and Owen sang along some too! It was pretty fun to share this experience with them, and she was a very gracious performer.

In other news, Owen has decided he LOVES Cariboo Island. He wants to play almost every day, and does a decent job taking turns and playing. He loves putting the coins "on the beach!"

He also started trying on my shoes recently, which cracked me up.

Lewis, on the other hand, has been playing a TON of piano. I have to say that my mom would be sooo proud and happy that someone is playing this instrument. She tried to get all of us into piano, and none of us liked it. No one wanted it when dad and Martha were combining their households, and I really wanted to keep in the family, so to speak, so we brought it home. Justin has played it off and on, but Lewis probably plays about an hour every day. Here is a clip of one of his recent original tunes. Mostly he plays by ear songs he hears wherever....but he does occasionally try to create something new.

black eyed Owen

2011-01-19T22:34:00.004-06:00

When we picked up Owen from the church nursery on Sunday, he'd had some sort of accident (I'm guessing hitting a table or chair) and had a completely swollen left eye. It looked really bad, but he was in good spirits and so we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best, since the little guy wouldn't tolerate cold compresses, let alone sitting still!

The next morning it still looked bad, in my opinion. It was still swollen, but not as bad. It looked like this, although these pictures don't do it justice.

Now it's Wednesday, and we are deep in the black eye stage. The swelling is pretty much gone, but the color is there, under the eye and on his eye-lid. It's hard to see when his eye is open so I asked him to close it for this picture:

These show more clearly what it looks like now.

He's still a cute boy, but we're calling him "bruiser" because of the obvious purple areas, but also because even with this injury, he is reckless and energetic and continues to knock Lewis around and himself. It's a hard knock life for this boy! We expect a full recovery in a matter of days.

baby update--24 weeks + name

2011-01-10T23:16:00.004-06:00

On Friday, I had my 24 week appointment. It was a busy couple of hours! I got to take the blood glucose test, run upstairs for an ultrasound (to check baby's profile that she hid last time) and then back down to the lab for the blood draw....and finally got to see the doctor. Everything seemed to go great. My sugar level was well below the cut-off for gestational diabetes which was encouraging, especially after the holidays! I was measuring closer to 25 weeks he said.

The baby's profile seems perfect, and she held her hands together in front of her face for a good portion of the time that I got to view her. Maybe she's praying?

And I bought our first baby girl dress! Kohl's had some great clearance items that I spotted while shopping for Justin's birthday. I got this little Christmas dress for $7.50 and another 6-9 month outfit for under $5.

Finally, we have landed on a name. We are going to call her Phoebe Corinne. Phoebe means bright and shining, while Corinne means maiden. We think it fits perfectly! Phoebe is also a Biblical person mentioned by Paul and commended as a servant. There were other things that pointed us to this name, but since we both agree we have to go with it! Both boys already know that baby Phoebe is inside mama's tummy. :)

full week

2011-01-10T23:02:00.004-06:00

Last week was a busy one! We celebrated Justin's birthday!! We had a small family celebration, and then a slightly larger Settlers of Catan tournament to commemorate the day. Justin came out victorious after two rounds of play. Pretty impressive.

Here's a video of the boys singing to daddy:

We took down our Christmas decorations including the pig we typically adorn with reindeer antlers. Justin decided it is time to part with the pig and took a final photo of Lewis and this funky cookie jar.

Lewis has been playing a game on my phone called 123 Color. It has Christmas music that plays in the background while he colors by number. Anyway, this is his favorite picture, and he has learned to play the entire medley on the piano: Jingle Bells, O Christmas Tree, Deck the Halls and Silent Night.
He really wowed the fam at our Christmas celebration on Saturday in Nashville with Justin's mom's side of the family. This is Grandpa and Owen hanging out watching basketball & football.

The last couple of days, Lewis got into wearing these sunglasses. He looks like the kid from "A Christmas Story" when he wears them and he calls himself a 'cool cat.'

karaoke goodbye

2011-01-10T22:56:00.003-06:00

On January 1st, we said goodbye to our old friend, Gabe McKinney, as he headed back to California with his lady friend, Elizabeth (who we have really grown to love too!). Gabe's crazy family planned a fun party at Akiko's, Louisville's premier karaoke bar. It was pretty funny to enjoy all of the quality entertainment of the evening. We hope that Gabe & Elizabeth find some killer jobs very soon....and maybe end up a little closer than the West coast. But we'll see!

Here are a couple of pics:

Oops! day out with thomas 6/13/10

2010-12-31T15:08:00.005-06:00

On the last day of 2010, I had to do one more post that we forgot from last summer. In June, we went to a "Day Out With Thomas" at the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Ky. In August, I noticed that it had been left out of our blog entries. I sort of resolved to include it before the end of the year. It was a lot of fun, so we are squeezing in a bunch of pics from it before midnight. :)

There were lots of different activities that the boys loved. Here is Owen playing at one of the train tables.

Lewis was in a sign phase where he really loved the little railroad crossing signs and other random signs. He he had collected several and was looking at them in this picture.

There was a music area. Owen was into dancing, but both boys had trouble following directions!

Owen and daddy share a happy moment.

Lewis got to jump in a bounce house, and really loved it.

Owen got to play in a bubble area. Grandma Martha made a BIG bubble!

Next, we headed to the train for our real train ride. Justin handed the tickets to the conductor.

Lewis, me and Aunt Ellen wait for the ride to start.

Aunt Ellen, Aunt Beth and Owen.

Owen, Justin and me after the ride. This is what the front of the train looked like.

We stopped for a few pictures at the museum entrance. The boys with Grandma & Grandpa.

A Shepherd family portrait. It was fun and SUPER hot that day! Happy 2011! :)

Christmas Day

2010-12-31T14:48:00.003-06:00

On Christmas we awoke to find some presents for the boys. Owen was thrilled with the stocking full of candy. They each got a Zhu Zhu pet, and Owen was pretty freaked out by his. Lewis likes to throw them.

Owen models his stocking.

Owen got a Fisher Price Nativity scene from Aunt Ellen.

Lewis got a "Band in a Box" from Grandma & Grandpa. Both boys have loved playing with the instruments. There were a few more tears opening gifts this time, and Owen still seems to want whichever toy Lewis is playing with at the moment. Unless he has an iPhone, he wants Lewis' toy....whatever it may be. Which has made for some fun times!

Lewis sang a beautiful rendition of "Happy Birthday" to the baby Jesus. We let him blow out the candle too. We always get an ice cream cake from DQ. Yum!

Owen loves his new vacuum, and his new Thomas t-shirt.

Lewis' favorite gift (and one of Owen's faves too) is this Melissa & Doug mailbox. There are stamps for each piece of mail, and slots to put them in that are size specific. It is really cool. I love these toys for so many reasons! Since our boys are both into mail, it has been a big hit.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-31T14:31:00.002-06:00

We spent Christmas Eve in Shepherdsville with the Shepherds! Lewis was pretty excited about all the wrapped gifts and the big bows on them.

He got some great books from Grandma & Grandpa and Aunt Monica.

Owen got some awesome wooden cars from Aunt Jeanne.

The boys also got some Thomas train track extensions to make their train track extra cool. They drove the cars on the track since their trains were at home. This visit was really nice because the boys did not fight over toys constantly. They actually played together some.

The bad part of the day was the ride home. We got caught in the snow about Munfordville Christmas Eve night. This was Park City, I believe. By that point, we could no longer see the lines on the roads and were pretty afraid of the other drivers out there. Thankfully we made it home safely, thanks to Justin's careful maneuvering, though it took a while longer than usual. It was lovely once we got home and knew everyone was safe. Had I been further along pregnancy-wise, I'm pretty confident I would've gone into labor over this trip!! We ended up with about 4 inches of snow in our yard.

opryland hotel

2010-12-31T14:09:00.004-06:00

We took advantage of the break from school to take the boys to the Opryland Hotel. Aunt Ellen and Aunt Beth accompanied us on the trip since daddy was at work. The boys liked the trees and decorations.

This was a really nice Christmas tree.
Owen couldn't resist touch this tree that was easily reached.

We found a fun Christmas festival. It was kinda pricey, but we had to ride this little train to the North Pole.
The boys loved it, and Owen was devastated when the ride was over.

It was fun walking around, and good to get some exercise despite the coldness outside.

Afterward, we stopped at Chick-fil-A in Rivergate for lunch. There was a crazy balloon artist there making all kinds of things for the kiddos. He made Owen this monkey hanging on a palm tree. Owen couldn't have been more delighted! The man asked Lewis if he wanted something and Lewis promptly said, "No!" but he did seem to like watching him make things for other people. It was pretty impressive.

preschool christmas program

2010-12-21T22:34:00.002-06:00

Last week, Lewis had a program at school where the kiddos performed some songs. Lewis has been singing the songs a ton at home, but didn't really participate much with the group. We had to wait a bit for them to get started. Owen did okay waiting, but daddy had to help entertain.

Lewis mostly shook his jingly antlers around.

Owen enjoyed wearing them when the program was over. They fed us dinner, so it was a nice evening overall.

Bowling Green Christmas Parade

2010-12-21T22:25:00.002-06:00

We went to the Christmas Parade downtown in early December. It was a blast!! The boys love the marching bands, and there were tons. Lewis would say, "Here come the drummers!" And Owen was dancing up a storm. It was really precious.

This was a little friend we met. He asked me to take his picture. :)

Aunt Beth came and had fun too.

Some of the floats threw candy too, which is always welcome! It was a super happy time for all of us.

light up bg

2010-12-21T22:12:00.002-06:00

We checked out the light up Bowling Green event a few weeks ago. It was fun (as you can see by Aunt Beth's expression above), but did not wow the kids as much as we had hoped. Owen loves walking around downtown and looking at the Christmas trees in the store windows. He especially loves the moving Santas at Dollar Brothers Shoes. So, despite the excitement we were hoping for, the boys liked seeing the decor downtown.

Our family photo.

random pics

2010-12-21T21:47:00.002-06:00

These are some random shots from the last few weeks. It was super cold the beginning of December, so Owen and I took a trip to the mall and walked with the mall walkers. We took a break so he could ride in this blue car.

The boys have been addicted to manger scenes. They are not very picky what kind it is, and can name all characters. They have fought over the baby Jesus in our little metal version.

There were some fun events this month, one being the Kentucky Christmas event at the Kentucky Museum at WKU. Lewis got to make an ornament among other things. His favorite part was playing this big drum.

Here's a video of Owen singing "Jingle Bells."

baby girl on the way!

2010-12-09T22:00:00.003-06:00

For those of you who just heard we are pregnant......please forgive us! We are 20 weeks now, due April 28, 2011. After a crazy start, things have gone fine. Essentially, soon after our positive home pregnancy test, I had some pain in my right lower abdomen, which led to a number of ultrasounds and early doctor visits. These early ultrasounds showed a yolk sac, and a good sized cyst on my right ovary which was believed to be the cause of the pain. At 7 weeks, a heartbeat was seen, and better yet, a baby, and Dr. Gass assured us that things were ok. He said that the cyst was large enough to cause discomfort, but nothing to be concerned about.

We were relieved, but still hesitant to make any big announcement because it had been kind of a scary few weeks. As our next ultrasound got closer, it seemed good to wait to see what kind of baby we were having.

I was super anxious to find out this baby's gender. I love our two boys with all my heart. But, I was really hopeful for a baby girl, for so many reasons. I almost felt silly praying and essentially begging God for a girl, but know I'm not the only who has done this. Still, I went into the ultrasound fully prepared for another boy. Because some babies do not cooperate during ultrasounds (and we've known of several recently), I went prepared sipping a Coke on the way to my appointment. The tech said that our baby was super active. :)

When she (the tech) started showing us the baby, she seemed worried that we didn't really want to know the sex. But we assured her we wanted to know and she quickly tried to get a good angle. I didn't see any obvious signs of boyhood, and she had a pretty good picture showing that we are indeed carrying a baby girl.With the crazy lives we lead, it was amazing to know that God heard my prayer and chose to bless us in this way. There are many things in life that are just hard to deal with, and some days it is overwhelming. Often we wonder if the Lord really sees all that we are going through. All of this to say, it was a wonderful and obvious gift to be having a baby girl, and we are so grateful. The boys don't really get what is going on yet, but they are sure to enjoy having a little sister.

Oddly, they were not able to get a good view of the baby's profile, so I will have another ultrasound at my next appointment while taking the blood glucose test.

autism family weekend

2010-11-30T09:54:00.003-06:00

Last weekend (Nov. 19-21), we got to attend the Autism Family Weekend at the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, KY. A good friend of ours, Holly Conley, works out there and had encouraged us to apply. CCK is a non-profit campground that allows kids with disabilities to attend camp when they otherwise might not have that opportunity. The best part is that because it is a non-profit, run on donations, it is free for campers and families to attend. During the summer, older kids attend camp for a week depending on their disability. In the fall, the center has family weekends so that kids of all ages can attend with their families.

It was a lot of fun, and the boys had a blast. Each family is assigned a volunteer counselor to help get them around and to help the kids so that parents can relax a little.

Our counselor was Kellie from Lindsay Wilson. She worked at CCK over the summer and the boys both loved her, especially Owen. Because Lewis was doing some bigger boy activities, Owen got to make some things in the arts & crafts area. He painted a guitar and then this turtle. He's actually a decent painter.

The food was great, and Owen tried tons of new foods, especially fruit. Lewis stuck with his usual menu for the most part, but it was great that the dining hall had rice milk on hand!

We got to go swimming in an indoor pool, make crafts, play in the music room, look at horses (neither child wanted to ride), and fish. Lewis' favorite activity turned out to be......drum roll please........

BOWLING!! We couldn't believe how much he loved it. They had these metal ramp things that allowed him to roll the ball down and he did pretty well, with daddy's help. There were also bumper rails up.
The last day, we let Owen have a turn. They had shoes that fit his little feet! He really enjoyed taking his turn too. It was a fun weekend, but a bit exhausting because Owen had a hard time sleeping in such a big room with his whole family. But, it was nice to talk to other families dealing with the same kinds of things, and to expose our boys to things we normally wouldn't have.

falling leaves

2010-11-21T15:17:00.006-06:00

The fall has been pretty nice for us. Owen has enjoyed some times swinging at the park.

And riding the little bike.

The boys enjoyed playing in the leaves. Most of them are gone now, thanks to the city who comes and picks them up from the front yard! But there are still a few to play in.

Lewis distracted himself during lunch the other day by trying on daddy's hat.

halloween highlights

2010-11-21T14:57:00.003-06:00

Halloween was filled with emotion as we headed out to trick or treat the evening before on the square downtown. Owen was not excited about being a lion, but really enjoyed getting and eating candy. Aunt Monica posed with the boys before we started to trick or treat.

Aunt Jeanne helped calm Owen down.

We hit the streets with Grandma & Grandpa.

We met up with our friend, Jack Sternberg and his family for trick-or-treating. Jack was a cute pirate!

The boys got around the square without injury, and oddly enough, Lewis has decided he loves Twix and chocolate in general. We have let him slack on the GFCF diet, and so far does not seem to have impacted him despite having some milk products. He's had plenty of wheat thus far, but has had a lot more milk (as an ingredient only, he is still devoted to his rice milk) since his chocolate obsession has kicked in. We are still working on eating all the candy.

jackson's orchard

2010-11-21T14:31:00.004-06:00

Okay, so once again, we have been slow to update. But when you see all of these cute pictures, you'll understand why. We went to Jackson's Orchard about a month ago and had a great time. It was hard to get both kids looking at the camera at once, but we got some nice moments.

Checking out the decorative gourds.

Owen and Lewis got to go down slides together.

We visited the petting zoo, and were kind of disappointed that many of the animals were not there. They were running late that day apparently. But the boys got to see the goats and sheep.

Owen got to have some apple slush while Lewis jumped in the bounce house.

It was a gorgeous day!