The everyday life

We are jetting off in a couple days, and since I have a spare minute during quiet time, I thought I would get these photos off my phone and onto the blog! 

It's been a quiet month or so... something we haven't been used to this year, but it's been a good slow. The summer days have been good to us, and we have the tans to prove it... except baby Owen though. Our pediatrician laughed at how dark June and I are, and how white Owen is. Lancaster Oreo! 

      

 That is a straw that he is holding, and it seriously kept him entertained for an hour. He just kept flicking it around... sometimes he would throw it and crawl to get it. It kept him busy and happy. What ever you want my baby boy. 

It's obvious that every kid loves popsicles, especially hot summer days. My Instagram account is full of  kids eating popsicle's... mine included! 

Breakfast for myself is usually a green smoothie... I have tried giving them to June but she doesn't like the texture of it, and I also put protein powder in mine after I workout, so I always worry about too much protein for her... anyways, I had extra one day, (with no powder in it) and put them in our popsicle trays. June loved it! It was a sneaky moment for a mother, but with a picky eater, you do what you gotta do! 

 Owen Inhaled his as well! 

We spend lots of days at the science Museum, doing crafts, looking at dinosaurs and playing around! It's been a good escape place for us when it's too hot to swim, or rainy that day.

We sent this picture to Dan, telling him how thankful we are for his hard work so that we could be out playing all the time! I really am so grateful that I get to be with my babes everyday, I really try to not take it for granted or complain too much, because I know a lot of women who are not able to be stay at home mom's, who wish they could. So a big thanks to daddy for all of his hard work and providing for us!!  We sure love daddy!! 

June fell asleep on our way home and took a good long nap. It was nice during the nap. I was able to get quite a bit done without the constant "MOM!" but....

We paid for it later. We have really learned that she doesn't need naps at all anymore. When she falls asleep during the day, she gets to hangout with us at night... Which isn't such a horrible thing, but Dan and I do like our nights to ourselves to hangout. It's not an every night thing, so again... no need to complain!

One night, we had a glow in the dark bath! It was pretty fun. Once we got Owen out, June and daddy had a pretty rocking dance party. 

June likes to come into our room in the morning, while Dan is getting ready for work and fall back asleep. Her and Ranger usually fall back asleep for a couple hours... letting me work out, and give Owen some one on one time with me! 

One item on our summer bucket list was to go visit the Mustang statues down where Dan works. We went and played in the water and ran around the square. 

Dan came down and played with us for a bit and then took us to lunch. 

It wouldn't be a day in the Lancaster house without puzzles! 

Speaking of puzzles, Dan and I have made quite an addiction for ourselves and we can't stop doing puzzles. We now spend our weekend nights, drinking Dr. Pepper and doing puzzles. In the last three weeks we have finished 5 puzzles... and no, it's probably not going to stop. 

My happy little guy, hanging out while we swim. I usually put him in the pack n' play for a while so I can play with June and then bring him in the water later. He has pretty fair skin so I don't want to expose him to too much sun!

June reading books to Sally. I love catching her reading or playing house with Sally. June is becoming such a little girl. It's not just toddler play anymore, she really has taken off with her imagination and actually plays! It's so fun to watch her!! 

There you have it. Nothing but ordinary adventures happening in the Lancaster life! We are excited for what's to come!! Happy Summer!! 

At 9 Months

Weight: 20lb 3 oz (45th Percentile) 

Height: 30.0 in (93rd Percentile) 

He is one tall little stud! 

And he choose today to pick up on the whole crawling thing! forward that is... 

Alphabet and counting at the Pool

Lately I have had some requests to put video's on the blog for viewing pleasure. I've posted a few, but I try to stick with pictures mainly because of our blog books.. and plus pictures are so much easier to skim though than playing and watching the video, but I like the idea of people wanting to see the cuteness in action and I have millions of video action (I might exaggerate that number, but I have A LOT of videos) but if I post videos I promise to make them worth your while! 

OK! To the blog post! 

June has been singing the alphabet and counting forever! Like probably since she turned two and I have yet to catch it on film. Which is funny because she literally is singing all the time. Everything turns into a song with this little lady, so I am shocked myself I haven't gotten it. 

Well we were swimming in the pool, which we do literally everyday, and she started counting AND singing the alphabet! I ran for my phone... safe distance so I could still watch her in the pool, and started recording and I got it! HA! 

Counting from Lesli Lancaster on Vimeo.

Alphabet from Lesli Lancaster on Vimeo.

I threw in this picture of Otis simply so this blog post has a picture for the blog book. Plus Owen lives in this pool. It's either in the pack in play or in the little pool splashing away. We have a pretty good system in the back yard with us 3, when daddy is at work, and it keeps everyone safe and happy!

Owen at 9 Months

Dear Owen, Owit, Fat baby, chub chubs, baby Owen, Otis... 

   Oh my word baby boy I love you! I first off must say how incredible happy of a baby you are. No seriously, you are so chill and easy going. Yes you have your little crankiness but I would be cranky too on an empty stomach. You are so loveable and giggly and just make everyday a good one, even on the bad days. I can't believe you are already 9 months old. Time is going so quickly and you are growing right before my eyes. I just love you and your sweet spirit that you bring into our home. 

    You are moving and rolling all over the place. I can't take my eye away from you for a second because you get stuck under the furniture or you completely roll under our bed and go missing for a couple of minutes... that is until you start to cry and your sister comes to the rescue. You are crawling backwards but have yet to discover the front motion, but you tend to get around just fine. It now has come to the point where nothing small can be left on the floor, due to the fact that even though you are not officially crawling yet, you still tend to find a way to find the smallest toys that your sister has left  on the floor for you to devour. She is getting better at picking up her small toys so "baby Owen won't eat them". She is more concerned about the toy. 

     You are an eater my boy. You eat everything and anything you can get your hands on. So far you haven't really turned anything down that we feed you. You still love squash and have really taken to noodles and sucking on oranges. I feed you when you first wake up around 6:30-7am, you will eat breakfast and then have another small bottle around 9. Then lunch, another bottle at 1. snack in between, then I feed you and that usually holds you over until dinner and then bedtime bottle. So you are getting fed and you suck back everything! You are my fat baby. I hope I don't give you a complex, I just really like calling you that! 

    Sleep has become your friend. Though falling asleep is your enemy. Every time I lay you down you start to cry. Usually it's only for less than a minute, but still... The tears come. Then you fall fast asleep. You are on a great little schedule right now. You wake up around6:30-7am and then we play and you usually want to go back down at 10. Sorry to say but that is usually our out and about play time with friends and other activities, so your morning nap is usually spent in the carseat or in my arms. I do feel a tad guilty about that, but it's just how it has to be right now. Sorry love. Then we come home and have lunch. You usually go down for a nap around 1 or 2. depending and you sleep for a good 3 hours. Then it's play time, dinner, bath and to bed by 7. You are mostly sleeping through the night now. You do have some nights where you wake up, but mostly just to be comforted and put back to bed. I do have to say it is nice to be sleeping though the night again. Between you and your sister... well you both choose your moments to be awake in the middle of the night which led to your father and me to be up almost every two hours. Not sure what happened, but it sorted itself out and really not needing to be complained about. 

     You are wearing 9-12mo clothes and are still in size 3 diapers. You are tall. Very tall. You are almost sitting at the same height as your sister, and we can't wait to find out your weight at your next dr.'s appointment. I know I could just weigh you, but I like the build of suspense. 

    Summer has been your friend. You have loved chomping on the grass, and splashing at the spray parks and pool. You love to kick and splash. I'm glad it hasn't frightened you yet. 

     You are learning so much, and it is so fun to watch you learn and discover new things. It's been a fast 9 months. A very good 9 months. And no my son, I'm not sugar coating anything. You have been such a good baby. You make being your mother very easy. For that I am grateful... Though I would love you no matter what! 

     I love you with all my heart and more. You are just becoming the most amazing little thing and I seriously can't get enough of your laughter and happiness. 

           Love you son! 

                  Love mom

 P.S. June really wanted to be in the picture with you. 

"I want to be just like Owen, I love him, I am laying on my tummy too!" -June 

Random Photos & The Weekend

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Ours was low key but actually really fun! More on that later... 

Just a few randoms from the week!

He is getting bigger and bigger and becoming all that much more fun. Owen is such a happy little man. People comment  all the time of how content and happy he is and it's so true. Obviously he has his exceptions with cranky days and cries when his tummy isn't full, but the majority of the time he is happy happy happy. 

Sorry about baby eating food picture, well no I'm not, because he is my child and it doesn't bother me, but I understand if they aren't your favorite, they aren't mine either.... It just usually looks like one big mess and kinda gross, and when it's not your own kid you don't find it as cute... but obviously to me he is the most adorable eater ever. Ha ha! You have to love a bias mother!!  and plus... look how adorable he is?!?! LOVE MY BOY!

He is eating so many solids now and slowly getting off the pureed foods. He still gets the majority of his meals from me or a bottle, but solids are becoming more and more apart of his diet! 

June loves to climb in any basket and the best part is, being so little, she fits in most baskets around our house 

OD is getting stronger and learning more skills everyday, like standing up and strengthening those legs of his

Also learning the different ways his legs can move and bend. I find him in very odd positions sometimes

He finds his time well spent crawling under our wall unit and chairs. 

June has made a very strong connection to her blankets lately, to the point where we bring them everywhere. It can be difficult because there is a lion, monkey and elephant blanket and she gets particular in which one she wants for the day... Have to stay on top of keeping them clean without her asking for one thats in the wash. Tricky business. 

We had a couple warm days this past week before it turned chilly in Texas in the middle of July. We played at the splash park with friends 

Many of you know, June no longer takes naps. I have found a way to keep her in her room for quiet time with special activities and toys that she ONLY gets during quiet time while Owen sleeps. She does pretty good with it. We played hard at the splash park and she fell asleep on the way home. She ended up taking a 3 hour nap. We paid for it that night, with her not wanting to sleep, but it was nice during the day. I have learned that it really is better for June to not take naps during the day. Her little body just doesn't seem to need that much sleep and has out grown her nap time. She tends to go to bed a lot better without the nap and sleeps much better at night. I think I can say she is officially done with her toddler naps.

This little butterfly was not scared of us at all. June was able to touch it and then it would fly away, but close enough that June could follow it. It was cute. 

I went to the temple one night just by myself. I love the Temple. It's such a special place and I get no better feeling anywhere else. I did miss Dan though... I think I might be too dependent on him... everything I do I just want him there. I don't mind. 

Our weather became all crazy this past week and we had days with rain and in the 60's. It was chili. I even had a sweater on one day.  So we spent the majority of the day inside and staying warm. 

We made cookies

Had lots of arts and crafts time. June loves to cut and glue. We cut out pictures of magazines and made a collage. The majority of her favorite pictures were of food. That's my girl. 

Owen finding Range's bed quite comfortable. He thought it was pretty funny being in there. 

Friday was such a low key but super fun day. When Dan got home from work, we decided to just spend the day with us and go out and play. We took June bowling for the first time. Well first time where she could roll the ball herself. Of course she LOVED it! We ended up just letting her bowl on all three of our names. 

Every time she knocked down some pins she would get so excited! She would jump up and down, clap her hands and yell "I did it, I knocked them down!!!" 

Watching daddy from a safe enough viewing spot

After we went into the arcade and let her play around on the machines for a while 

 We all got into it

We then went up to flower mound for pizza and to play at a really fun park. 

Saturday was the same cloudy outside day. It was nice to be able to play outside without dying of heat, but it's July and meant to be hot. I'm ready for it to spike back into the 90's. We ran some errands and had lunch then came home for quite time and watched a movie. Later that night we went over to a family in our wards house for dinner. After we came home, gave the kids a bath and then got them to bed. 

Dan and I got a new puzzle. 500 piece, and finished it last night. We might be addicted. 

It was about 11pm when we finished and we weren't quite tired yet, so we decided to watch an episode of our recent series that we are watching on Amazon. Some how it became 2am and we both realized we should probably go to bed since the munchkins would be up early the next morning. 

It's been a good week. Life is so good. And I'm so grateful for how good it is.