Owen's 9 month stats

I took Owen to the doctor today for his 9 month check-up. He's been sick lately so I'm glad he already had an appointment because it turns out he has an ear infection. He hasn't pulled at his ears or seemed super cranky so I was surprised. But he has had a super runny nose and drooling like crazy so there's a lot of fluid in his little (big) head. The doctor asked if he had a fever or throwing up and Owen had both! He threw up twice last night but wasn't acting sick at all. The doctor said kids with ear infections can throw up because their inner equilibrium is off. Poor Owen!!

Although he was sick he did really well at the appointment. He was calm and happy. I expected a crying unhappy baby because the appointment was right at his normal nap time. 

So here are his stats:

Height 28.5 inches (47th percentile)

Weight 20 lbs 8.5 oz (61st percentile)

Head 48 cm (97th percentile)

Look at Owen's chub! Neither of the girls were like this. He is definitely my biggest baby. Anna was always under the 10th percentile for weight and Macy hovered around the 15th. And I'm pretty sure Owen's head is bigger than Anna's head right now!

I love this chubby little guy! 

He cant believe how much he's grown!

This mirror kept in occupied for a good while. He's trying to eat the other baby. 

In this one it looks like he's trying to old the other baby's hand. 

Now he's concerned the other baby is going to steal his lotion. 

Owen's first kiss!

Here's me and my baby in the waiting room. He loves to chew on my little hand sanitizer bottle. 

Family update by Ja

Dorothy asked us to write a family update for her family reunion with her brothers. Ja wrote this up and I think it's great! 

Laura and I are living in Charlotte, NC. When people ask why we moved there, we respond, “It’s where the dart landed.”

While living in Washington, D.C. we felt it was time to move out of the D.C. beltway so we could afford a bigger place for our growing family. We discussed California, Colorado, Utah, and Northern Virginia.

Some of those places were too expensive for what I wanted to pay, and others just didn’t feel right. One night, out of frustration, Laura asked me, “Where can we move?” I replied, “Look at Charlotte, NC.”

We checked it out on Zillow, drove down to look at homes, and everything just felt right. We ended up moving at the end of April, 2014.

Macy just started Kindergarten and she loves it. The bus, her teacher, the discipline, the structure - everything. It seems that children nowadays are rewarded for being seen and not heard, and that suits Macy just fine. She’s also taking tap and ballet, enrolled in “Let’s Play Music,” and loves playing school when she gets home.

Anna turned 3 in August and started preschool. Fortunately, she responds better to preschool than she does to nursery. She seems to enjoy her teachers and fellow classmates. She’s also taking ballet class and loves wearing the outfit. Anna is definitely spunkier than Macy - she’s loud, wild, and very dramatic. We love it.

Owen is 9-months old and is typically pretty happy. He’s sitting up and scooting while also eating everything in sight (including leaves and sticks). He’s also the chunkiest child we’ve had.

Laura is now a Young Women counselor and just inherited more girls as a result of stake boundary changes. She loves her calling and is great at planning events and running the show. She’s also diligent at writing in our family blog, busy with sewing projects, painting our bedroom, planting a garden, saving our grass from the drought, running kids around, planning amazing meals (we recently began eating more vegetarian meals), and just overall taking care of things. I love her.

I am still a Seminary teacher and begin class around 5:55 am (though most kids are late, so we get rolling around 6:00). I’m also writing a book for young fathers and helping my brothers grow their business.

We’ve been very blessed, and our testimony of the gospel has grown a lot since moving to Charlotte. We’ve been able to share the gospel with our neighbors, experience little miracles, and learn from the testimonies of others.

Jonathan

Ward Campout

Our ward (mostly Mindy Wheatley) put together a ward Campout/ pioneer celebration. Ja got back from his San Francisco trip just in time to take the girls Friday night. I waited until Friday afternoon to tell Macy she was going. I didn't want her to be disappointed if Ja's flight was delayed. She was ecstatic when I told her. She jumped around saying "we got to pack!! We have to get ready!" Her and Anna packed their clothes into their backpacks in record speed. Anna's clothes were a poorly matched outfit so I had to fix that. They were so excited to go real camping.

I stayed home with Owen so no one would have to hear him crying in the middle of the night. Turns out he wasn't the one we needed to be worried about. 

Friday night they had cobbler and a Bishop's fireside around, well, the fire. Ja said the girls were great and had a fun time playing with their flashlights in the dark. 

The girls fell asleep just fine. But at 4 a.m. Anna woke up because she had diarrhea. It got all over her pajamas. Ja put her in the van because she was screaming. He tried to change her and wipe her down but didn't have any wipes. Sadly, I told him there were some in the van but I was wrong. He was able to find a washcloth in the emergency backpack in the trunk and used that to clean her up. Thankfully, she went back to sleep. 

Owen got up at 6:30 so we headed over to meet Ja and the girls. We got there just in time for breakfast. 

Mindy put together handcarts and a trail for us to walk on pulling the handcarts. At one point Ja had all these kids in the handcart and was running around with them. It was so funny to hear the kids squeal with delight as they went over bumps and downhill. He is such a fun daddy. 

The girls were loving the pioneer bonnets. They are adorable!

There were 7 stations of crafts and activities for the kids to do. Macy and Anna loved the yarn dolls. Anna named hers Marsala then later changed it to Maya. Macy named hers Luciana. 

We received the family name of Kirwood. After we finished our little trek we found out our 11 year old son died. Those pioneers were amazing people and went through so much. 

And we are off!! I have Owen in the ergo walking behind the handcart. He eventually fell asleep in it. The Catawba river is on our left. 

At one point Ja made the girls pull. He said he broke his leg and can't walk. They pulled for maybe 50 feet. 

Back at the camp Ja taught the kids how to play the hoop and stick game. Macy caught on very quickly and could keep the hoop rolling. I was impressed. 

Macy loved these can stilts. He also caught on quickly and walked all over with them. 

Anna, on the other hand, didn't catch on. 

But she sure had fun on them. 

Anna loved this rope swing. 

The kids all had so much fun playing outside with sticks and dirt. Macy didn't want to go home because she was having so much fun.  I had a great time too and I'm so glad I went even though it was only for the morning. I hope the kids will remember the fun time they had. It gave us hope that we can go camping in the future. 

Anna's first day of preschool

Anna had her first day of preschool today! She refused to let me take a picture of her and her cute Minnie Mouse backpack though. I was nervous about it because she still cries when we drop her off at nursery. She's been doing that for 18 months! On the drive there she kept telling me, "mommy I might be scared." Her face did look nervous. I told her it's ok to be scared on your first day of school and that I was always nervous on the first day too. When we got inside she asked if I could go in with her but got distracted when the teacher asked if she wanted a star stamp on her hand. The other teacher whisked her inside and no tears were shed. I was so relieved. And proud of Anna! She got to bring in her stuffed Minnie Mouse to show her class too. I went grocery shopping with just Owen! It was a very quick and quiet trip!

**update** on September 10 I was able to sneak this picture of Anna and her backpack. She still refuses to pose for a picture.

August 2015

August 1- Owen is recovering from our trip and only wanted to be held. I put him in the ergo so I could put things away and he fell asleep. I had to stop and watch his cute face since he doesn't fall asleep in my arms very often anymore. I love those cheeks and want to kiss them!

Parker and Macy wanted to climb the tree but couldn't quite get up into it. Someone (we still aren't quite sure who) put these boards up into the tree and they were a huge hit!! The kids played in them all day and Anna loved sliding down them on her tummy feet first. Our neighbor gifted the boards to us so we had them on the side of the house. The Elders were over so they might have done it. Whomever it was we thank them!  The kids love these boards!

Another neighbor is moving and getting rid of a lot of stuff. He gave Macy this bird house and she painted it to be her fairy house. I thought she did a really great job!

August 2- we had the Gardner's over for dinner and the girls thought it would be fun to dress up Owen. 

August 3- the boards are still a hit. Ja set up a third one to make it more exciting. Unfortunately we got a letter from the HOA board saying we have to put them down. So Ja takes them down every couple days so we don't get fined.

Anna knows that if she wants to watch a movie on my phone she has to go potty first. This is my attempt to keep her on the potty long enough to actually pee. It worked very well. For a few days after everyone she peed she'd say, "I watch a movie now!"

August 4- I've really enjoyed taking the girls swimming this summer. We are so lucky to have Ja work from home so I can take the girls during Owen's nap. Macy is completely independent and lives to jump in "5 feet."  Anna wears her floaties most of the time so she will swim around on her own too. Here we are enjoying a snack poolside. 

August 5- Macy made this mermaid with play-doh. I thought it was really good! She worked really hard on it. 

August 6- I went through all the bins of baby clothes and took out all the clothes that I don't like, are stained, or neither girl wore. That's 5 garbage bags! I sold them in a consignment sale and got $168! Woohoo!

August 7- Macy wanted to sell Lemonade again but we didn't have any. We just bought three boxes of gum from Costco so she sold gum for $1- box. She sold $8 of gum. 

Her confidence in her ability to sell gum in the morning of a workday is incredible. I wish I had her confidence. She sat there knowing customers would come. Lucky for her, her daddy isn't afraid to go around to neighbors/people walking around and ask them to stop by the gum shop. 

August 9- Anna asked if she could feed Owen. She is a good big sister when she wants to be!

I love those cute little feet!

The boards are back up! The kids pretend they are a pirate ship, a house, a road, whatever they want! That's why these boards are so great!

August 10- Our neighbor gave us this desk and chair. The girls enjoy coloring on it and sitting on the desk to watch movies. Here is a rare moment of them sitting in close proximity of each other and not fighting. 

We had a lesson for FHE about being a child of God and of being of royal birth. For the activity I had the kids make crowns. I knew this would be a hit.


My adorable royal, forever family. Well, minus the neighbor boy.


August 12- We had a huge group of moms and kids go swimming at the Wheatley's pool. We had a blast- especially all these little girls because their favorite babysitter Emily was there too. Emily is the best babysitter. She is so kind, sweet, thoughtful, and plays with the kids. It's hard to get her to babysit because she's often booked!


I was at mutual when I got at text from Ja with this picture of Owen. Owen had his first fall out of the bumbo. Ja was over talking to the neighbors on their driveway. Owen tried to reach for something and popped himself out of the seat and his nose hit the pavement. It broke my heart when I saw it!


August 13- This one is actually about me! I was putting together an Etiquette Dinner for mutual and this was my outline of the presentation I wanted to give before the dinner. It went really well and all the kids loved it! I was even told by one girl that it was her most favorite mutual activity! During the presentation I looked out at the kids and everyone was looking at me! It almost took me off guard because I'm so used to someone being on their phone or talking. I was really nervous about the night but it went so much better than I expected. The kids ate slowly and politely during the dinner. I had decorated the gym really nicely and they kids were impressed with that too. I was on a high for a few days after it.


August 14- I finally cut two knots out of Anna's hair. She had them in for quite a while. I guess I was hoping they would untangle somehow. I knew if I cut them out she would have a big space missing on the left side of her head- and she does. Oh well, I guess it's better than having two deadlocks.


August 15- Ja and I went to the White Water Center to celebrate our anniversary. It's been 10 years!! I  can hardly believe it. When we got married I don't think in my wildest dreams I would have imagined living in North Carolina and having a mini van (and loving it). It's been a fun 10 years!


August 17- I took Macy to Target to buy all her school supplies! EEEKK! How is it she is old enough to be in Kindergarten? I learned my lesson though about shopping the week before school starts as everything was really picked over. However, Macy did find this great backpack. It's big enough she can still wear it in high school!


Today Macy also got fitted for her ballet and tap shoes. The studio requires that we buy the shoes from them to ensure proper fit. Macy was excited. She even had a tap dance class with Ja in the kitchen.


August 18- Ja was doing push-ups so I put Owen down next to him. I thought it was so cute having Owen doing his push-ups next to daddy. Owen looks thrilled too!


August 19- This was Owen's first time sitting up in a shopping cart. Notice his little toes up on the handle bar. He enjoyed being upright and being able to see everything.


August 21- Both girls climbed into bed and I thought it was comical that all three people were using three different devices.


I had the kids by myself tonight because Ja left for VA to run his Spartan race with Trevor. I decided to take the kids to Ikea for dinner then to Hobby Lobby. This was Owen's first time in the high chairs at Ikea. As a side note- they no longer include drinks in the kids meals, and didn't show a movie in the kids eating section. It was a disappointing eating experience.


August 22- The girls picked out wooden things to paint from Hobby Lobby. Anna picked out this heart wand.


And Macy picked out this little treasure box. I loved watching their faces focus intently on their project and their little hands trying so hard to be steady.


Later on Austin came over and the desk turned into a pirate ship.


Then we head to Ramsey Creek Park for a picnic lunch. (I like to stay busy when Ja is gone.) We met with some friends who we actually met at this park at the beginning of the summer. The water level was up to where I was sitting at the beginning of summer. It's been dry here!


August 23- I'm so glad I was able to quickly snap this picture before church. I thought it was so precious. The girls missed their daddy even though the was only gone for one and a half days.


Owen finally started sitting up!! YAY! He was 8 months old when he first sat up.


August 24- Now that Owen can sit up he can have better access to more toys! I remember doing this with Anna. It's great because he can reach all the toys and play with them one by one. Although, he usually ends up playing with the basket somehow.


August 26- Anna turned 3 and Macy started school.

August 28- Since Macy didn't have school today I thought we better go do something fun. I love this fish fountain so we headed down there and met up withe the Moshers. Our kids play so well together and had a ball. After playing in the fountain they played on the grass. (running around, chasing each other, having one kid run away then the rest of them would yell, "stop! come back!") I got to sit on the grass and play with Owen and have an adult conversation.


Here is Anna and Tatum. They are only 2 months apart.


August 31- Macy started kindergarten full time now! She loves it so much!