Fun Post.

Since Owen has been rolling, he is often found on his belly when we go in to get him up in the morning or from a nap. I found him sleeping on his belly with his butt in the air for the first time late Saturday night (after my long Wal-Mart grocery shopping). I told Kelly about it and she told me that she took a picture of her son, Carson, asleep with his butt in the air and that it was one of her favorite pictures. She encouraged me to take a picture, even if it might mean waking him up. So, the next time I found him on his belly with his butt in the air (just a few days later), I took a picture and it didn't even wake him up, yeah! Those little diapered butts are so cute!

Owen is also starting to pull himself up on things (although not really well; we help him). So, we decided to lower his mattress down a notch to be safe rather than sorry. We stood him in the crib to see if the height was correct and he was so enjoying himself that Byron suggested I take a quick video of Owen being so proud of himself standing. So, here you go...

Finished.

The organized type-A in me has appeared and produced something that should make my life SO much easier. My sister-in-law, Stacy, told me about a co-worker of hers that made herself a 12 week menu plan and simply rotates it so she never has to think about what to make for dinner each week. This got me thinking and after weeks of working on it, I made myself my own 12 week menu plan complete with a magnet calendar and magnet meals. Now, I have just begun this and I hope that I picked tasty meals. If I did not, I can swap them out, no problem. I went grocery shopping on Saturday night and making out my list for two weeks worth of groceries was a breeze. (However, Wal-Mart had a fire drill while I was in the middle of shopping and I had to leave my loaded up cart to wait outside in the cold wind for 10 minutes before resuming shopping.)

I have included pictures-just for the fun of it.

A Couple of Other Important Things.

Stacy and Jeremy had their baby!!! They were awful nice and waited until the day we got back from Tucson.

Ben now has a blog too (see my blog list).

I will be home for awhile(*sigh*). Byron will be trekking over to Portland on his own since we felt that Owen needed to be home for a bit.

Warm Weather and Cacti.

The nomads have returned. Here are some of the only pictures I took. I have been soooo bad about taking pictures. Anyone have any tips/hints on remembering to take pictures?

Here is Owen and Reuben hanging out. Debbie has better ones though.
This is the perfect shot of what the week was like... relaxing...
Byron lets Owen "drive" while waiting for Uncle Ryan to finish his flight.
Saying "goodbye" to Uncle Ryan (at least for the next two and a half months).
Then I realized that I didn't take a single picture of a cactus, and I was really fascinated with these plants (not really sure why). So, I took a picture of one in the parking lot of Boston Market.
Now we just have to be patient and wait for April to arrive so Deb and Ryan can move back to Idaho.

Nomads.

We have been living in Donnelly while Byron and Anthony finish up my parent's "toy" barn, see Bartlow Family Blog for pictures, etc... Tomorrow we leave for Tucson to see Deb and Ryan. Then Stacy and Jeremy's baby is due so we will be home to see him arrive into the world. THEN, we are headed to Portland for a long weekend and after that, who knows... Good thing Owen is a traveler! He likes all the people around and is stimulated to do new things and as a result, gets lots and lots of reactions to his new things. Check it out...



More later...

He must be a genius, or something!

Ah, doesn't every parent think this...
Now that Owen has hit the six month mark (and now the seventh) he is learning new things every day, literally. This post should have been posted two weeks ago because the following accomplishments happened two weeks ago. Oh well.

Owen...
...officially sits on his own.

...feeds himself finger foods (and pretzels).


...got his first tooth (which has since gone back down and continues to give him painful problems).

...plays peek-a-boo (pulls off a blanket that covers his head).

...waves hello and good-bye.

...shakes his head back and forth.

...rolled from back to tummy (once on Christmas, but not since).

It has been fun and I am trying my best to keep track of it all.

I also posted the picture of him in the Bumbo because he rests his toes on the inside of the tray and it humors me, so I thought that I'd share. (And yes, I know that Bumbos are being recalled, which is too bad because parents should really just keep an eye on their kids and not blame the Bumbo company for the parent's negligence. Okay, off my soapbox...)