Lots of thanks to give

I think it goes without saying that we have SO much to be thankful for right now. There are so many wonderful, beautiful things happening in our home and in our lives and none of it goes unappreciated. Sometimes we do have to remind ourselves to stop and take it all in but no matter what, we are always thankful. A Happy Thanksgiving was indeed had in this household.

This year's turkeyfest began with a Thanksgiving Feast at Owen's preschool. What a sight! The whole preschool sits down together for a celebration of thanks and giving. Chaotic environment, sweet sentiment. I made turkey cupcakes for the occasion and I have to say I was thrilled with the end result. And they didn't taste too shabby either!











Here are a few shots from the feast. Owen enjoyed sitting with friends, Claire, Ella and Ansley (all familiar faces to our blog viewers at this point!)










































































































Here's hoping that Thanksgiving brought each of you some quality time with those you love.

It's a...

We had the 20-week ultrasound on Wednesday, 11/22, and learned that Baby Stone #2 seems to be a healthy little thing with all the pieces and parts in all the right places. As for the gender....we'll just let Owen tell you!

It's a...

If you are one of the unlucky few who can't watch our videos, or you just can't wait for the video to load, we won't leave you hanging. Click here to find out...boy or girl?? Yeah, I know it's a strange angle but with the labels our lovely sonographer typed out for you, the guess work is eliminated (we hope!).

And a couple more ultrasound pics for fun.

Bring on the fun!!

He got punk'd*

I can't believe that I let Halloween come and go without a blog post bragging on the '06 costume. As several of you have heard from me, I just have trouble with the "cutesy" costumes for boys (or for my boy at least...no judgement on the others who do it...don't hatemail me if your son was a cuddly lion this year) and couldn't bring myself to let him be yet another version of some adorable animal or cartoon character. Plus, this was the last year I'll ever be able to pick his costume myself...I am certain that next year I'll be suckin' it up and buying that Bob the Builder costume or some version of Thomas getup that Owen will demand. But this year? This year was Mommy's last turn. I struggled to find anything that I really liked until the nightly post-bath game of "mohawk hair" gave me a brilliant idea. And thus, Owen the "punk wocker" was born.








































































Buying a chain wallet, studded dog collar and earring for your 2-year-old can be quite the shopping adventure. In the end, it was all worth it...the costume was a huge hit, Owen loved playing the part and Mommy was thrilled! And the very best part of all? Owen was the ONLY "punk wocker" we saw in our circles this year. Perfecto. After all, when you were a pirate with dreadlocks at 1-year-old, it doesn't leave you with much wiggle room at 2.

This mom at the preschool Halloween parade said it best! It WAS the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life. (Even if we are a little bit biased. And even if I was trying to avoid "cute.") Plus, having little Owen as a punk made for some really hilarious pictures with his friends.

Ella, this is the boy that Daddy warned you about...


















Dorothy says, "We are DEFINITELY not in Kansas anymore!"














Sweet cheerleader Caroline and her rebel boyfriend...

And finally, what we like to call the "Halloween afterbath"...


















Want to see more Halloween photos? Click here.

*For those readers who are lost on the whole title of this post, here's a quick lesson: Basically, Punk'd is the MTV generation's version of Candid Camera. Yeah, it has nothing to do with the gist of the post. Just pretend it's funny.

I FINALLY caught it on tape!

I've mentioned before that filming Owen these days is often an exercise in futility. He does something cute, I get out the camera and he immediately stops or loudly exclaims, "NO PITCHAS, MOMMY! Put it away!" So, you really have to be stealthy or catch him in a cooperative, show-off kinda mood. After months of trying, I was finally able to capture his rendition of the ABCs a couple of months ago. Man, I love that kid.

Watch it here.

Owen has something to say...

Yep, you read that correctly. The Stone family is adding a 4th! We are expecting our new addition in mid-April 2007. If you are quick with the math then you'll know that I'm already almost 18 weeks along. I apologize for the late notification for some of you...it's just been a little bit nutty around here lately. Let's just say that the pregnancy experience thus far has been a bit difficult. All seems to be fine, it's just been a little less than ideal for me health-wise. Nonetheless, we are thrilled about this new chapter in our lives and are beginning to prepare ourselves for the big changes coming in just a few months. Exciting times are definitely ahead!

We'll be sure to keep you posted (now you know a little of why I'm sooo behind with this blog) and let everyone know how things are developing as I continue to grow.

In the meantime, cheer along with us and send warm, welcoming vibes to this new life in my belly. We can't wait to introduce him/her to our friends and family! (though this might mean that we actually have to buy Owen a pony)

Playing with pumpkins

October brought a few visits to our area pumpkin patches...some with family, some with friends. No matter who we were with, Owen was sure to enjoy himself.

Our first trip, to Berry Patch Farms, happened during one of Dot Dot's recent visits. I know she had a great time watching all of Owen's shenanigans.


He got a snake "tattoo"...


















Made friends with a scarecrow...














And he had a "kinda bumpy" time on the hayride...see it HERE.

When we went later in the week to another location with some friends, it was all new again and just as fun as the first time around. Owen made certain he spent one-on-one time with each of his gal pals. Our own little Casanova.

Owen and Claire...














Owen and Ella...














Owen and Caroline...



















Things certainly looked a lot different than they did this time last year. Remember this?

Are you jonesin' for more photos of our pumpkin playtime? We gotcha covered. See MORE PHOTOS HERE.

A promise and the playset

First, a promise...I have fallen so behind in documenting and so behind in posting that guilt has really taken hold. There are unfinished posts sitting here, along with gobs of pictures and post-it notes scribbled with quotes and stories that I want to record. While we've been busy and overly occupied with things far more important than maintaining this blog, the fact is that this really is Owen's only baby book and is the primary way I keep track of his growing and changing (not to mention keeping everyone else in the loop). So, I'm making a promise--not so much to you, but to myself-- that I will post as often as I can until I feel "caught up". It may be old news, they may be old photos, but it will all be (mostly) new to you. AND, it is all an important part of Owen's growing up. So, with that...some fairly old news...

As you already know from photos of Owen's party, he got a playset late this summer and has been enjoying it to the fullest ever since. While the set itself is pretty basic when all is said and done, you'd have thought we were bringing in an entire theme park with all the work it took to prepare for it. A huge thanks goes out to Daddy & Papa Stone for toiling away in the summer heat to make way for the little fort o' fun. I failed to get photos of the part where we had several 40-foot trees removed, but I did snap a few other shots along the way.

Here is a "before" shot taken earlier this year. Look to the top right corner of the yard. Lovely, beautiful, tall, green trees.


















First thing on the list was the tree removal process and heavy clearing (again, didn't get the photos of that). Just after the downing of the trees, Rob and Papa Stone got to work on the final clearing and leveling of the yard.














One bent mattock and one case of poison ivy later (poor Rob), and the land was clear and ready for the stump grinder. Considering his current obsession with "earth movers", imagine Owen's delight when he woke from a nap one afternoon to see a big one in his very own backyard!



















Next came the playset. Wisely, we made the investment for a playset that would be delivered and fully assembled on the property. Read: no more work for the Stone family (at least not at this stage of the game). The set was up and ready for play within a single morning.


















Following the playset assembly, came the 90+ bags of mulch to be laid down. When plans fell through for a bulk dump of mulch directly into the backyard, the process became a bit more entertaining. A pallet of mulch was delivered to the front of our house and Rob, armed with a wheelbarrow fighting a little hill in the backyard, hauled every last bag of mulch up and onto the playarea. After covering the space with landscape fabric, he polished off the mulch process on his own. Once again, I failed to get pictures of this fun step. It was, however, around this time that Rob slammed his finger in the door just after working for several hours in the yard and being rushed out the door by his wife to go look at picket fence materials. I think he had ALMOST recovered from the poison ivy. His fingernail is STILL kinda black as I type this (3 months later).









You'd think we were done at this point, but no. There was still a fence to be constructed. Our backyard is bi-level and it just so happens that the play area is at the top of the highest elevation. Worried about kids taking a tumble down the hill, we decided on a little section of fence as a safety measure. Papa Stone returned for this step and he and Rob worked long and hard hours one Saturday putting together a terrific fence. It is exactly what I wanted!


















FINALLY, we had some steps installed just to make acess a little easier.



















While we are quite pleased with the end result and Owen LOVES his "paygound", I must say we questioned the process at several points along the way. I mean, whatever happened to those metal, A-frame swingsets we all grew up on? Put 'em together, anchor 'em on the grass and you're done! Ah, times have changed.