Owen is 3!

My baby boy turned 3 last week. Three seems a lot bigger than 2, for some reason. He's definitely seemed more like a little boy lately rather than a toddler. He continues to entertain us with his passionate, expressive, determined, quirky ways. He still seems to relish being as different from Ethan as he can possibly be - we can't decide if it's premeditated or it's just how he naturally is. Probably a little of both. He's incredibly helpful and always needs to be busy doing a project, and he knows his construction equipment like no one I know.   

All he's wanted for awhile now is a pair of overalls. I've never really wanted to put my kids in overalls (probably because they remind me of when I wore them back in Jr High/High school...a style better left in the past), but it's hard to say "no" when your son is begging for them. And they're functional, right? He hasn't wanted to take them off since he got them, so I guess it was a good gift. 

My Dad came and got Owen this weekend and took him to Oklahoma so Owen could be a part of the ground breaking of their new house. They'd planned to come here and take Owen to a hotel like they did Ethan, but this seemed to fit Owen's interests a little better! Owen packed all of his tools and tractor toys, and was ready to go as soon as I mentioned the plan. My mom said he was up at 6 ready to go to "the construction sight", and he and Papi were out the door to get donuts and head that way by 7:30! It sounds like Owen had a blast watching the constructions workers do their thing. I also think he enjoyed having Papi all to himself. Thanks, Mimi and Papi, for the fun memories!

I feel safe...

...with these super heroes running around the house.

11 Months

We can't be this close to celebrating a 1st birthday, right?!? I can't even get myself to think about 1st birthday stuff for Harper because I think I am in denial...

This fun little lady makes us laugh every day. She's turning into a "ham" as she's learning to make funny faces, crazy loud sounds, and to dance. She can say 5 words: Momma, Dadda, Bubba, baby, and yeah. The latest addition being "baby". That girl loves her babies! It's so fascinating watching her with them. She'll pick it up, hold it on her chest, rock back and forth and kiss it. The boys have never thought to do that. 

She's yet to figure out the crawling thing completely. She can get on her hand and knees, and she does an amazing "plank", but there's no movement forward on her hands and knees. She still manages to get into everything and always end up under a piece of furniture. 

She's also already learning to work us. She gives the BEST hugs and cuddles - right before it's time to go to bed. She's learned that if she cuddles really well, I'll hold her longer. And she's mastering the bottom lip when she gets sad - pretty sure Chris would give her a car if she could ask for one when she does that. She's going to give us a run for our money!

I am loving having a daughter. I never thought I would, but I am. Harper Laine has been such a blessing to our family these past 11 months!

Random

 Ethan & Owen generally play together, but lately Owen has started playing with Harper and she LOVES it. I look forward to seeing my kid's friendships form...

Daily Happenings: Ethan has started making up his own costumes so he can be whatever super hero he's obsessed with at the moment. Oddly enough, most of the costumes end up involving his underwear. This day he was Black Panther. Also, as a "winding down" activity before bed, the kids have started jumping off our bed into a pile of pillows. Just the thing to get them calm and sleepy, right?!

A Busy Farmer

The other morning I heard the boys talking, and it went something like this...

Ethan: I am Admiral Ackbar, and I am in charge of combat operations against the Galactic Empire. Who are you, Owen?

Owen: I'm nobody. I'm a farmer, and I need to go outside and feed my cows.

And that's a pretty typical day for my Owen. If he's not riding his tractor, he's feeding his imaginary cows, chickens, goats, sheep and Z Donks. (think he got some inspiration from his Paw Paw?!)

It has been so fun watching the boys be so incredibly different. Owen's favorite show right now is "Mighty Machines" - all they show is different construction sites and the functions of each machine. He claims to be "over Bob the Builder" too. I've learned not to question or correct him when he's talking about different types of machine .

AND this big guy has decided he's "over diapers" too. Last week, as I was changing his diaper, I could see him thinking really hard. He finally told me that his stomach was a cement mixer and he would only be putting cement in the toilet from here on out. That's all it took. I haven't changed a dirty diaper since then! He's had a couple of small accidents with peeing, but overall he's done AMAZING. I haven't had to do a thing...he goes when he needs to, has been waking up completely dry from naps and bed, and he's so determined that I don't even have to remind him. I knew it would have to be his idea, but I didn't know it would be so easy when he decided he was ready.

We're getting closer to 3 years old, and I feel like my Baby Boy is growing leaps and bounds!

My FIVE Year Old

I can't believe my first born is five! For some reason it seems sooo much older than 4. We've decided to one big birthday party for all three kids in March, so Ethan's birthday looked a little different this year. We woke him up the morning of his birthday to balloons and cupcakes. He got to pick what he ate for all three meals, and he received a few action figures as gifts. I think the biggest deal for him was that turning 5 means you get to sit with your parents in "big church". He was really excited to be a big guy with us that Sunday morning. (I hope the excitement continues...)

The highlight of his birthday weekend was from Mimi and Papi, though. (unfortunately I didn't get any pictures!) They came in town Friday afternoon, picked Ethan up and took him to a movie, then to Chuck E Cheeses, and then to a hotel where he got to swim and spend the night with them. Saturday morning he requested donuts in bed while he watched cartoons. He was in heaven. My mom said he didn't stop talking from the minute they picked him up to the minute they dropped him off! I think he enjoyed the one-on-one time! Thanks, Mimi and Papi!

Harper is 10 Months Old

My baby girl is getting big. She's continuing to grow up too fast for me. It's the small things like her being pretty much done with baby food, that makes me kind of sad. And packing up clothes that are suddenly too small. Of course, it's also really fun watching her turn into her own little person. She's going to be a little firecracker, I think! She's becoming quite verbal - if people aren't paying attention to her she yells. Loudly. I think with the influence of her brothers, she thinks that growling at people is a normal way to communicate too. She was playing with a sweet little girl her age at church (an only child), and Harper wanted the toy she had. So, naturally, she got in her face, growled, and took it. The poor little girl started crying. Oy. 

Harper is on the cusp of learning to crawl. She scoots and rolls all over the place, and for some reason she always ends up under the couch! She can get on her hands and knees and rock but hasn't figured out how to actually crawl. I think I'm pretty okay with that...although it's a source of major frustration for her. 

She loves dolls. It's really cute. She has one baby doll in her bed, and she knows exactly what I'm talking about when I say, "Let's go find Baby." Almost every night she's asleep holding her baby. 

She has two teeth in the bottom, and there doesn't appear to be any more coming in any time soon. 

She's quite strong and determined, we're seeing. Just try taking something from her. That girl has a grip!

Her brothers make her laugh like no one else can. She just watches them...and you can tell she's dying to keep up with them. I let Harper and Owen take a bath together the other night while Ethan was at the ER (he's fine), and I don't know that I've seen Harper laugh so much. 

Christmas 2011 Part 2 AND 3

 Yes, it's February and I am just finishing blogging about Christmas. I haven't been able to keep up very well (obviously!), but I couldn't not talk about our celebrating Christmas 2 more times after the actual holiday! That's how we roll...we like to draggggg it out and savor every moment...

We spent New Years Eve in Mulberry with Chris' dad and his brother's family. The day was full of playing basketball, watching football on tv, eating lots of food, the kids getting fun gifts, and I even got to go to a movie with Kerri and Alyssa. (that's exciting these days)  Harper got her first Holiday Barbie from Paw Paw (a yearly tradition for his granddaughters). She wanted it out of the box as soon as she saw it! Owen of course got lots of tractors and trucks, and Ethan a ton of superhero stuff.

The next week, Grandma Debbie and Lynn came to celebrate Christmas Part 3. We had fun hanging out with them on Friday night and showing them the new places to eat in the square and the newly renovated Walton 5 & Dime. Sunday the other Hoyles came and we ate lunch, watched the kids play with all their toys, and then hit the ice skating rink. Ethan got it his long-awaited Wolverine costume from Grandma, while Harper got her first real baby doll (whom she tried to eat her face off), and Owen got a tractor. (That kid hasn't gotten off of it since!)

Christmas 2011 was pretty wonderful! We're so thankful for all the fun memories with our family.