I 'Just' Had a Baby--Really.

I have come to the awful realization that JJ and I are on the slippery slope to 30. I keep saying that we are in our early 20s, but it's obviously (as in legally) not true. It hasn't been for a couple of years. This means that not only do we have to start acting our age, but we also have to accept that we are indeed old enough and wise enough to have a child. JJ will look over at me at least once a day and say, "We have a child. In our house. Like, a living, breathing, pooping, small human being." I sometimes can't believe that I am someone's mother and my prayers often consist of asking God why he is entrusting us with another human's life. Then I ask for patience, wisdom, and an anti-wrinkle cream that doesn't cost over $5 and comes in a bigger jar than .5 ounces.

These wrinkles are likely caused from all the smiling we do with Owen who is a ham and an absolute joy to be with. I can hardly wait to wake up in the morning and go get him. There is nothing like laying in bed and listening to him wake up with coos and laughing, then going into his room and peeking over the crib only to see him look up with a big toothless* grin, kicking and wiggling. From the moment he wakes up, he is going a million miles a minute. Tucker usually comes into Owen's room with me and the mere sight of Tucker sends Owen into a frenzy. The converse is also true, but the type of frenzy Tucker experiences at the sight of Owen is not so much a happy feeling as it is truly terrifying for him. We try to keep the two at a distance, but the braver and more mobile Owen becomes, the more aggressive Tucker is. If I had a crystal ball, I might see a de-clawing in Tuck's future and more handfuls of cat hair in Owen's.

Owen just learned how to roll from back to front which is a problem at night when he accidentally wakes himself up by rolling over. He really enjoys categorizing his toys by putting like toys in piles which actually kind of freaks us out. He's eating well and basically loves everything he tries except of course, anything other than water from a bottle**. This is pretty limiting for me as it means that Owen refuses to eat while I am subbing (this can be up to 9 hours). He's obviously not starving at 22 pounds and 29 inches. I just put 12 month PJs on him and I want to cry. He's just getting so big and learning so much every day. There are times when I am holding him and he's snuggling (very rare) and I just cry. I am so thankful for him. I am proud beyond any sense of pride I have ever had in myself and I am deliriously happy. Don't get any ideas--pooping, crying, eating constantly, drooling, and pooping some more will not get YOU on my good side.

So, at 7 months I have to now stop using the excuse that I just had a baby. I have to finally tighten up these abs (or the muscles that used to be abs--sort of) and begin figuring out how to actually parent, not just sustain his life. Here are a few pictures of our bubbly, crazy, seven month old on the slippery slope to 1 year.

* He now has a tooth as of this morning
**We discovered the right bottle and he's eating whatever out of it
How quickly things change in a couple of days!

Check out the dinosaur toes. He's a Snuggleosaurus.

Still loving that bath time. He's taken a few nosedives into the water trying to grab that octopus. Don't worry, I eventually put the camera down long enough to retrieve him from the water.

Rocking and occasionally moving an arm. He can stay this way forever for all I care.

He loves to look at his shadow.

Trying to get a picture of his 4 inch hairs that I refused to cut--until this day. I finally cut them and it still makes me sad they are gone. I think Tucker ate them.

No matter how we put the blanket on, he's always snuggled up when we peek at him.

Tucker, disguising himself as one of Owen's toys.

"Categorize this little man!"

We are SO ready for spring!

New 12 month PJs! Yeesh. He will eat us out of house and home when he's a teenager.

I am ready for some new books, but Owen seems to not mind that this is billionth time we've read Green Eggs and Ham.

Hanging out at YoungLives Club with Auntie Shauna and his baby buddies.