Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
57 Month update
We took a road trip to Abbotsford to meet Uncle Steve and catch two of his hockey games. We spent the first night in Manning Park and we took a snowy hike and introduced Harper to her first snowfall. Uncle Steve made Owen's year and brought him into the Abbotsford Heat locker room, Owen didn't stop talking about it for quite some time!
We are gearing up for Christmas and as of December 1st the Christmas lights are up, tree bought and decorated and the house is fully decorated and full of Christmas cheer. Owen has been adding to his Christmas list each and every commercial that comes on TV. He basically wants every toy that was ever made, so Santa shouldn't have too much trouble getting him a few things that he will enjoy!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Saturday, November 3, 2012
56 Month Update
Owen, Harper and I had a wonderful 2 1/2 weeks visiting with family and friends and as always I kept our days busy with various activities that included a trip to the Brookfield Zoo, Planetarium, Skydeck at the Sears Tower, sleepover at Lauren's, trip to Uncle Jim's cottage with the girls, block party and pumpkin carving at Mi-Mi's, sleepover and playdate at Gi-Gi's, pizza night at Grandma and Papa's, meeting Aunty Mel and Morgy and Jack and ended it with an amazing weekend in Michigan City to celebrate Grandma and Papa's 50th Wedding Anniversary. WOW!
Owen continues to be an amazing big brother to his little sister and showers her with sweet kisses, gentle touches and still wants to hold her and sing her songs to make an unhappy baby feel better at times. She seriously is so lucky. Owen has been doing great in school and is learning a lot. All of his friends and teachers were so happy to have him back in class after a 2 1/2 week departure. It was very sweet to see such a warm homecoming for him when I dropped him off at school when we got back.
Well we are sad to leave all of our family and friends but happy to get back into a somewhat slower and less hectic schedule of life again...and of course we all missed our dad! Darren was very happy to have us back. Let's ask him again in a week after the excitement of us coming home wears off!
We celebrated Harper's first Halloween and dressed her up as a sweet little giraffe in a warm and cozy costume and Owen was transformed into Sir Knight McCarthy - he played the part extremely well and kept his two special maidens safe and sound!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
54 Month Update
The days are flying
by with a brand new baby and an energetic four year old in the house.
Darren, Owen, Harper and I are trying to figure out our daily schedule
and adapt to being a family of four. Miss Harper Adele has been a
wonderful addition to our family and is such a good baby. She eats a
lot during the day and sleeps like a champ at night, all a new mom can
ask for! She has been sleeping for 4-6 hour stretches at night which
has been great and Owen has adjusted to having a sibling in the house
stealing some of his lime light. He sings her sweet sings and plays with
her, check out the videos below.
Owen
still has the skewed concept that it is normal to want to marry your
sister and he still really wants to marry her one day. He told me that
when a boy comes to marry her he is going to tell him, "You better give
her right back", and he is serious. He even followed it with, "If you
don't I am going to kick you right in the bum!" Don't mess with a
McCarthy, we mean business when it comes to family!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
53 Week Update
Owen is such a great big brother and still really likes her. (So far he has not asked to return her or take her back!) He thinks her belly button is absolutely disgusting and will not go any where near her if it is exposed and he is not a big fan of her crying episodes. Though I must say for something so tiny she is soooooo loud when she belts it out. Owen covers his ears and at times Darren and I want to to! Owen has a special song he sings to her when she cries or is unhappy and a lot of the times it works like magic. She is starting to stay awake longer throughout the day and recognizes our voices and faces while speaking closely. It is so nice to have another baby in the house. Darren and I are in love....again.
Owen had his first sleep over at his friend Aidan's house. It went really well with a few "I want my mom" comments made at night, but he did it and made it through the night. He called me in the morning and wanted to know if Harper was bigger than him since he wasn't around for 12 hours. I assured him that he was still the bigger sibling in the family and will most likely be for a very long time. He seemed OK with that. He played for a bit in the morning and then hit a brick wall which pushed him over the edge. It quickly turned from good to worse and Owen came home over emotional and ready to see his mom and dad that he realized he missed too much. Maybe a 4 1/2 year old is not ready for a sleep over, but we thought he did a GREAT job. But I think we will keep him home in his own bed for a bit longer!
My mom, dad and Aimee visited and we had such a nice time. They were a lot of help and it was great to have them here with us. Papa and Grandma took Owen to swimming lessons and got to see how awesome he is at hitting baseballs. They got to enjoy their new granddaughter, which made me happy. Aimee had so much fun with Owen, who kept her very busy throughout her stay. Owen made us all laugh when Aimee mentioned she had to go to the gas station to wash her windows. Owen told her, "Mi Mi this is Trail, we don't have water at our gas stations. Apparently he has heard Darren and I mention the things our great city is lacking in.
Mo and Dan are also in heaven and have enjoyed having a grand daughter at their fingertips. They have been such great help as well as Darren and I have become acquainted with being a family of four. Thank you to everyone for all the love, phonecalls, kisses, gifts and help they have given us throughout the past few weeks. We are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
52 Week Update
Obviously with my belly ever growing and all the new items in our house, the topic of Harper comes up quite often. Owen has been so super sweet and is getting very excited about being a big brother and meeting his new baby sister. Darren and I set up Owen's old crib for her and he has taken on the responsibility of learning how to care for his new sibling. He carries around a stuffed animal, "Harper" and rocks her to sleep, sings her songs, swings her on the baby swing, feeds her a bottle and changes her poopy diaper with a real diaper and wipes. Though every time he changes a poopy diaper he says, "Oh gross, this smells. Mom come smell this." My question to all of you is why do we always smell something that is disgusting and then ask others to smell it? Apparently this is not just an adult thing but also instilled in us as children no matter if the smell is real or fake!
Owen is taking this Big Brother stuff seriously. Darren was putting Owen to bed and reading a few books to him before he started to count sheep and he told Darren that he had to read quieter because Darren was going to wake Harper sleeping in her crib. So Darren obliged and read in a more quiet voice and at the end of the story even had to give Harper a kiss good night. Owen also told us last night at the dinner table that he is going to protect Harper and won't let anyone be mean to her. If they were mean to her he would punch them in the face. Hmmmm, not sure if that is quite necessary but at last we know he has her back!
Owen also takes caring for others to the next level in school. His teachers are constantly telling us how sweet and loving Owen is. There are a few kids in his class that do not have a lot of friends and in particular a girl named Lexie who has some developmental issues and speech delays. Owen has taken Lexie under his wing and takes that extra step to make sure that she is included and understands what is going on a daily basis. His teachers say that it is the most amazing thing to witness, that Owen just gets it and understands that she is a little behind everyone socially but he wants her to still feel apart of the group.
The other day I went to pick him up and I heard him tell the teacher, "Ms. Romnina, I think she understands, she knows what I am trying to show her." Owen was showing her how to play a simple game of tag and by the end of it, Lexie was running around just like all the other kids playing a fun game of tag in the sunshine. Owen's teacher put it best, she told me that Owen is a very good friend to the friendless. It just makes my heart melt, what a sweet and loving characteristic to have, and we couldn't be happier that it is our little guy that just knows these things.
I will leave you with one last story about our cute little 4 1/2 year old. He has found a new career path as a paper delivery boy. The other week on a Sunday morning Owen asked if he could gather up the old newspapers and deliver papers to the neighbors. So he folded up three of the pieces of newspaper and put them under his arm and was off to deliver papers. He first went to Anita and Dean's house. Anita answered her door 5 minutes later in her bath robe and coffee in hand (it was 9:00 am) and Owen spoke up and said, "I am here to deliver your paper". Anita thanked him and said she would read it while drinking her morning coffee. Owen was off the Jackie's house. He knocked on the door and she answered and he said the same thing. He accidentally gave her two of the papers and insisted he needed one back. Jackie obliged and said thank you and Owen was off the the next neighbor. The third neighbor answered the door and Owen went through his routine and she asked him to hold on for a minute and she went back into the house and came out with a shiny gold loonie ($1 coin). Owen's eyes lit up and he ran over to me to show me his first paycheck. He told me that he definitely needs to get a job like this! Ever since that day he asks me if he can deliver the papers, the boy has some motivation!
Well keep us in mind, July 26th is our scheduled delivery date! We will keep you all posted!
Love you!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
51 Month Update
Everyday I get a little bigger and everyday Harper tends to move
around a little bit more. She is extremely active and keeps me aware
that she is around! She also has had the hiccups for the past three
days straight. Her little belly must be sore!
Owen is super sweet and greets his sister with hugs and kisses on a
daily basis. We are hoping that the love for his sister continues to
flourish after she gets here! We have been trying to pump him up with
communicating all the big brother jobs that he will be responsible for,
in hopes to keep him as positive about our sweet baby girls arrival as
possible. So far so good, the trickery tends to be working and keeping
him excited to be able to help out the family in the future.
Owen has started soccer practice and he is a definite All Star. Darren took the time to show him some soccer skills prior to soccer beginning and it is amazing to see Owen actually utilizing some of those techniques when he plays. It is great to see that he actually does listen when we tell him things! This year is a little less chaotic then last year, I think being a year older has helped with this issue. He tends to be more focused on playing and a little less focused on wanting to go play in the park in the near distance! Though playtime in the park is very much a necessity right after practice. It is amazing to see how many 4 year olds can fit on one tiny jungle gym!
Owen has also taken on the job of butterfly/flying ant catcher at home. He has a system that includes sneaking up on the unexpecting butterfly, being VERY quiet and slowly walking up to it in hopes to catch it and put it in his plastic container where it can spend its last final hours of life. He hasn't had any real luck with butterflys but he does have a container full of the gross flying ants. He collected some yummy green leaves and put them in his container to give them something to eat and extend their life span by another day or so. Great...
We are looking forward to the warmer weather...and we are patiently awaiting...hurry up summer!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
50 Month Update
Spring has finally arrived here in Trail, though it might have been awhile since we felt the warm sunshine on our pasty white skin. I put out a pair of shorts for Owen to wear today because it is supposed to be 80 degrees. He yelled back to me, "Mom these pants are too "yiddle". Haha, how cute! I told him, "No Owen those are shorts, they are supposed to look like that.". He said, "Oh you silly mom, they are just shorts!" The warmer weather graced us with its presence this weekend as well and we spent the weekend getting our tent trailer ready for the season. Though with the baby on the way and Darren's new job we might be able to only go two or three times in June. I will be big and pregnant, and hot, but I am a trooper and love camping. So I am all for it! I am a little over 6 months pregnant and moving right along. Things are going great, I cannot complain. Owen is constantly giving big hugs and daily kisses to my belly and his soon to be sister. He is very gentle and careful around me which goes to show us that he will be a great big brother. He has decided that once again he is naming the baby and has finally OK'd the first name of Harper but has decided to change her middle name to Snowy. (Which is the dog from Tin-Tin). So it looks like the babies name will be Harper Snowy McCarthy. :)
We tried teaching Owen how to ride his bike without his training wheels, and let's just say he is not ready quite yet! He actually did OK the first time around, because I do not think he realized what was going on. But the second time and on as soon as Darren let go of the back he took a nose dive into the cement. Which was not a good time for all parties involved. So we might save that adventure for a few more months or even another year down the road!
We have been spending quite a bit of time outdoors, riding bikes, playing frisbee, climbing trees, hitting baseballs and Owen has been asking Darren daily to go fishing. So the fishing rods will need to be dusted off so the boys can catch us some dinner! We are hoping you are all enjoying your Spring!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
49 Month Update
IT'S A GIRL! Darren and I are pleased to announce that our family will be growing by two feet in PINK socks! We are very excited! Owen was in the room with me, and the ultrasound Tech told Owen he was going to have a sister and he said, "Oh Man, I don't want a sister, I want a brother." I told him, "Sorry Bud, but I don't think we can change that back right now!" He also told me that he was going to name his sister Catwoman or Snowy (the dog) from Tin-Tin. Two very girl appropriate names...but I think Darren and I are going to stick with the name Harper.
Owen and I got to go home for a quick but amazing trip back to Sweet Home Chicago. We had such a wonderful time and got to spend some quality time with family and friends. We spent the night by Gigi's and had GiGi's famous meatloaf, mashed potatoes and cucumbers and sour cream...delish! Owen spent the morning teaching GiGi a thing or two about playing video games on the IPhone, check out the video below.
We also spent an evening at Lauren's house and all the kids played, giggled and ran around for hours while us girls hung out and caught up with each others lives. We spent some quality family time at mom and dad's house and ate Tree Guys Pizza, had breakfast at Bentley's and sat outside in the warm summer like weather on the back patio.
My friends all met up with me at Ben's for my birthday evening, it was so nice to see everyone and Sunday was followed up with a memorable Sprinkle Baby Shower for Baby Mac #2, thrown by my awesome mom, and best friends Lauren (the infamous Event Planner that did an amazing job), Corrie and Aimee. It turned out so nice and we got the cutest pink outfits you have ever seen! It was hard to get back on the plane after a quick 5 days, but the trip was worth every minute.
Darren, Owen and I spent the weekend in Spokane for a last minute get away before Darren starts his new job. We had such a great time staying in a downtown hotel, walking Riverfront Park, shopping and eating some good food. Owen ended the trip with a purchase from Target of a Thor helmet and lightning hammer that he has not stopped playing with since we bought it! It was another great weekend full of great family memories!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
48 Month Update
Our baby is now 4 years old! We had a fun 4th Birthday Under the Big Top at our house and invited 15 of Owen's friends, their mom and dads and Darren's family. We had a packed house which was perfect because it went along with the wild circus theme! Owen and his friends got the true carnival treatment complete with game tickets and 9 different games to test their skill at that included a Tight Rope Walk, Mystery Box, Basketball Shoot, Slap Shot Hockey, Coin, Bean Bag and Ring Toss, Guess How Many licorice in a jar and Owen's cousin Sarah was the official face painter and painted faces that included tigers, ladybugs, ice cream cones and butterflies. They all had a blast and won some great prizes to take home in their goodie bags. Owen was spolied with some really great gifts that included a lot of super hero items, which hit the spot for him!
Owen has become quite the snuggler and lover in his four years. This morning he said, "Mom I am going to marry you." I said, "Owen I would love to marry you." He said, "But you have to wear the dress because I am not the girl." I said, "OK I can do that but what are you going to wear?". And he said, "Well I can wear one of dad's ties or maybe even one of mine, even though I don't like them, and one of those other things." I said, "Do you mean a suit?" He said, "Yea, I can wear a suit." So now that we have our wedding day wardrobe planned stay tuned for a date!
Owen has become quite inquisitive lately as well, here are a few conversations that have occurred.
Owen: How can superman fly?
Mom: Well when he puts on his superman suit, he gets special powers. (I have no idea if that is even correct!)
Owen: I don't have special powers when I put on my superman suit.
Mom: Well it is probably because they are only superman pajamas.
Owen: Oh, well can you buy me the real superman suit for my birthday? I want to be Superman and the Hulk.
Owen has been curious and discussing death and dieing lately. One day over Fall, Darren and I brought him up to the cemetery where Darren's grandma and grandpa are buried and we tried to explain the concept of going to heaven, dieing and what being buried was all about to a then three, now four year old. Really smart eh? Umm yeah, not so much. But he eventually will have to figure it out and we like to talk to him about all things of life. So needless to say it has been a frequent conversation piece since then. So anyways the other day Nana was watching him and this is how their conversation went down.
Nana: Oh Owen I should buy that (about a piece of excercise equipment on TV)
Owen: You can't get that, you are too old.
Nana: I'm not that old.
Owen: When you get too old you die. But if you died I would come visit you when they put you under the grass.
Nana couldn't help but bust out a little laugh at that comment.
Owen and I are looking forward to our trip home to Chicago! We cannot wait to come home and see everyone! xoxo
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
47 Month Update
Owen had a great Christmas and got everything his little heart desired. We spent Christmas Eve at Mo and Danny's with family. Mo put out an unbelievable spread of appetizers and we had a great time visiting with everyone. On Christmas morning, Owen slept until 8:00am and finally woke up to a sea of wrapping paper. He got right to business and quickly but patiently opened up all the goods! The presents didn't end there, because Aimee, Dayne and Chad showed up Christmas evening to visit for 10 days!
We had so much fun! We spent two days shopping and eating in Nelson and visited the hot springs.We took an over night trip to Kelowna (4 hour drive) to get my Permanent Residence approved...which means I can finally leave Canadian jail (as Lauren likes to call it) and travel home to see family and friends! Yeah! Owen and I are planning on coming home for a quick visit March 21-26! The day they left was the day that I started my new job. I landed a Project Administration position for an Engineering company called Amec. So far things are going good.
The end of 2011 has been pretty amazing for us, but to top it all off we found out that we are having another baby! Due in August! We are over the moon with happiness and when we spilled the beans to Owen we asked if the baby could share his room and he said, "No way, the baby is staying in your room!" Darren told him that in a few years we could get bunk beds and since he would be the big brother he could sleep on top. I think this bribe convinced him on possibly being a better sharer in the near future!
We also asked him if he wants a brother or a sister. He told us, "He wants a sisser, because he is the brother." We told him that you could still have a brother and be a brother. But he was pretty adamant that he does not want a brother because he already is a brother. I guess that makes sense...smart little kid.
He also gets very mad when we tell him that if we had a boy his name would most likely be Charlie Thomas. He thinks Charlie is a girls name because he saw something on TV where the girl character was named Charlie. So we asked what we should name the baby then if he is a boy, he said Hulk and if it was a girl it should be Catwoman. So who knows...Hulk is kind of growing on us!
Owen has started ski lessons and has quickly become a powder hound. His teacher has him up on the chair lift skiing green and blue runs. He absolutely loves it and skis his little heart out for three hours each Saturday. Darren and I are extremely jealous and living vicariously through him since we cannot ski this year. Last Saturday we got about 6 to 8inches of snow and when we were driving up to the ski hill Darren told Owen he was going to have some good powder to ski on. Owen looked at us and said, "That makes me happy." He has already been bitten by the ski bug!
Well we will keep you updated on the baby news! xoxo
Sunday, January 8, 2012
46 Month Update
Christmas is right around the corner and Owen already sat on the big guys lap. He discussed his need for some Transformers this Christmas season and gave him a high five when departing off his comfy lap. He also received a letter and email video from Dear Old Saint Nick. I wish I captured Owen's face when he was watching the email video of Santa discussing the concept of the Naughty and Nice list. Owen was terrified that he might have been placed on the naughty list, asking us over and over what list he was on. I am sure it felt like the email video lasted an hour but after a few short seconds it was determined that Owen could once again sleep at night, he made it to the nice list! Pfffew...that was a close one!
We bought our perfect Christmas tree and put it up the other weekend. I love how the tree makes the house smell so nice. Owen is getting pretty good at helping to put on the ornaments. Though they all seemed to end up in the same few branches on the front of the tree. Needless to say we had to help a bit to rearrange so the tree didn't topple over!
Merry Christmas everyone! Happy New Year! xoxo
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