20 months

I am 10 days behind on this post, but the show must go on!

Scarlett, our little angel is now 20 months old -- that's YOU girl!!!!

You are one vivacious, fun, sweet and smart little girl. You are asserting your feelings more and more everyday which means Mommy and Daddy are praying for guidance more and more!!! (do I see a foreshadowing of what is to come?... "the terrible twos...")

Here is what is going on with you sunshine:

- You wear a size 5 diaper (I would like to make a note that you are showing more and more interest in the potty, so maybe diapers will be a thing of the past here in a few months), size 2T clothes and a size 7.5 shoe.
                                                      

- Your favorite foods right now include: macaroni and cheese, pears, yogurt covered raisins, frosted mini wheats cereal, apples (you prefer to eat it right off the core!) and yogurt. 

- Your sleep (or lack there of!) is an matter of much discussion between your Daddy and I right now. One day at a time sweet Jesus!!
                                

- You LOVE, LOVE, LOVE baby dolls. You have one that is your favorite right now (she is pictured with you here). Anything Mommy does to you, you do to your doll (i.e. brush her teeth, feed her, put chap-stick on her, change her diaper, put her in a chair and scoot her up to the table....) It is so sweet to watch you be so loving.

                            

- You have a pair of LUNGS sister. Let me just say that yesterday when our neighbor across the street informed us that he can hear you with all of our doors closed, I had to pick my jaw up off of our street. Yikes. You are very happy, you just like to show your happiness by "singing" and shrieking at the top of your lungs. Go girl!
                                         

- You are crazy about your Daddy. You give him the sweetest hugs and I love to watch you two together. 

- Your vocabulary is expanding every day!
- You are one active girl and crack us up all the time....

You are so very loved!!! We thank God for you!!! Love, Mommy and Daddy

And the count down begins...

10 days!!!! Oh my. I am not sure how to respond to that number. I mean I am so excited but, yet I feel like I still have so much to do. Well, if you feel the same way...please read THIS post I came across. Weightless anticipation is now what I am now striving for :) 

So, big news in the Owen house... Mitch's written boards are now behind him!! Woohoo!!! Thank you for all of your prayers and for asking about him. He said that he is glad it is over. I can only imagine so. The not-so-fun part is the waiting to get his score... it will be a couple weeks. But for now we are just glad that Daddy is done and can spend lots and lots of time with us. 

Scarlett is pictured here in what is now her and I's Christmas uniform. At least while we are in the house that is :) I bought these little matching aprons at T.J. Maxx (the greatest store on the planet!) and she is like a little drill sergeant when it comes to our aprons. We BOTH have to have them on. I had to hide them last night just so I could wash them. She is a character!  

Warm reading from our home to yours!!! As always, thanks for stopping by!

Celebrating Jesus and 1,2,3

Whew! Where have the days gone? It seems like everyone feels that way in December... it is just a busy, fun filled month for most and we are certainly feeling that way here on the Owen range :)

Those of you who have been praying for Mitch, thank you! He is sitting here next to me studying as I type. That man is just precious. He works so hard and I am so proud of him. I know it may seem silly to write about that on here, but hey this is my little "platform." T-minus 2 days for his big board exam... We were going over sample questions for fun tonight while we rode in the car. He would let me choose an answer for each one and then we would see who got it right. Well, you guessed it, I got every single one wrong! Ha! All I can even remotely remember about the 5 or so questions we went over is something about parathyroid and a drug I said sounded familiar that Mitch then said was used to treat Parkinson's disease. Let's just say I am not ment for the medical field. I told Mitch that if he is ever in doubt on a particular question during his 8 hour (Tuesday) or 4 hour (Wednesday) exam to just choose the answer I would not choose. Sounds complicated, I know, but it made sense when I told him.

Anyhow, we were riding in the car on our way to Kingston's house. Every time we told Scarlett where we were going she would stick her little legs straight out (from her car seat) and explain "Weeeee!!!!" She loves Kingston. Kingston hosted his second annual 'Happy Birthday Jesus' party and it was so fun. Lots of little kiddos, good food and friends. And all for a great cause -- everyone brought toys that will go to Appalachia Mission of Hope that serves Eastern Kentucky with the good news of Jesus. I really want Scarlett to learn from a young age the joy of giving with a merry heart. I really LOVE this idea that Kingston's mommy and daddy had :)

I totally forgot to take my camera with us to the party, but here are SJ and I after we got home...

Just had to throw this one in for memory's sake.This is SJ and I before we went to the 'Happy Birthday Jesus' party last year....

Here is my sweet little artist. She enjoys coloring more and more every day.

SJ's new favorite thing is twirling, spinning and dancing ALL THE TIME. I really have to watch her because sometimes she twirls so much she gets dizzy and falls down. Silly girl. Well, she loves when Mommy or Daddy spins her around... here we are doing our little 1, 2, 3 spin. You will notice someone is learning to count :)

it's the little things

We had a beautiful, sunny day last week that we took advantage of by going on a long walk at the park. Good thing we did because it has been raining ever since! Our walk made me start thinking. I thought about all the days I walked Scarlett in her stroller at that same park from the time she was just weeks old... She would doze off and just enjoy the ride and now she is a busy toddler ready to go all the time! I could hardly keep up with her...

She LOVES babies and baby dolls. Everywhere we go she points and says, "baby, baby, baby" if there is another child in a stroller. She loves to carry Genevieve (pictured with her!) all around. It is so sweet to watch her kiss her and pat her little head. I like to think she is mimicking what her mommy does to her :)

There is just no way I could ever express how thankful I am that I get to stay home with my sweet girl. These 20 months have seriously been the sweetest days of my life!

I am telling y'all, it truly is the little things in life. We made a batch of cookies after our walk so I made Scarlett a glass of milk with a straw to go along (you know the book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, well it's true!). She learned to blow bubbles in her milk, (completely on her own may I add)...

And as you can see, she loved it!

As I have mentioned before... we are having so much fun sporting our Christmas garb each day in December! I cannot get over how much SJ's smile here looks like her Daddy's in his baby pictures. They are our little 'look alikes' :)

So grown up and SO sweet!!!

NO NO to HO HO

Scarlett and I drove in for a little Christmas gathering in Lolly and Pop's neighborhood Sunday evening where we got to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus... more on that in a bit!

Can I ask something of y'all, my precious readers? Mitch is studying like a maniac for part 2 of his national board exams that are a week from tomorrow. Would you please pray for him? He does NOT get stressed. But, today he used the exact words, "I am stressed." I know he can pass them, but I know he is feeling the heat right now. He has been on a long road for the past 4 years that is quickly coming to an end, but there is still a lot ahead. I would so appreciate your prayers and I know Mitch would too.

Okay. So, Scarlett is not a fan of Santa Claus this year...

Well now that I feel like the worst mommy of the decade, at least Mrs. Claus was a hit.

~~~~ Aside from Santa, she had a ball!!! ~~~~

We rode in a covered wagon pulled by a big, black horse...

And she even danced the night away with her aunt and uncle...

This darling dress is a gift from Aunt KT....
thank you, we love it!

Sorry Santa, there is always next year :)

P.S. Just had to do a little "remember when"... Here is Scarlett with Old St. Nick last year. Not happy, but not reaching her arms like Stretch Armstrong for mommy!!

oohing and ahing

Yesterday was such a special day. One of my very best friends, Beth, gave birth to her first baby on November 21st and I have been dying to get my hands on her! The baby that is :) ha! So, KT and I made the drive to Beth's house yesterday to visit our newest little duckling! It was such a sweet time because we have prayed and prayed for Beth and for precious McKinley. You may remember when we went for McKinley's shower back in October. Here is the newest angel baby...

There is just nothing more fun that oohing and ahing over a precious little miracle like this!

Here is Beth (the new momma) and darling McKinley.

There is just nothing like holding a newborn baby!!

Aunt KT and baby girl.

KT bought Scarlett and McKinley matching Christmas outfits.... Here is McKinley in hers. (I will post pictures of SJ in hers soon!)

Thank you LORD for McKinley's precious life!!!!

KT, Beth, McKinley and me. Friends for life!!! Love you girls!

Some of SJ's antics...

Diapering anyone in sight... watch out!!!

Climbing anything to get a snack...

Driving Nonni's car in style...

Entertaining a flock of ducks...

This is our girl!!!!

Advent and baking

Hello! We had a lovely Thanksgiving and I hope you did too. I have been trying to catch up on all that comes with "taking a few days off" and therefore have not been stopping to blog. Happy 1st day of December to you! I have a lovely reminder to open each day of the Advent thanks to Mitch's Gran.... check out the Jacquie Lawson site where you can enjoy the anticipation of Christmas each day of December!

Here is my little bit of Christmas cheer from earlier this week....

We have busted out SJ's Christmas wardrobe and I am loving it! Some of these outfits I have been saving since before she was even born :)

What better way to ring in this cozy season than with baking?

Scarlett and I made this pumpkin bundt yesterday. It was super easy and we added some pumpkin pie spice to make it even more spicy.

So, poor Callie girl (our four-legged fur child, as we like to call her). She has become the number 1 subject of Scarlett's bossiness lately. If she is in the house she is on a leash being led around by miss personality herself! It is actually quite sweet and I think Callie enjoys the attention :)