Who is Anne?

Several people have asked me who Anne is. I realize I probably should have clarified this a long time ago, but here it is. Anne, pronounced Ah-nay, is the Turkish word for mother. Anneanne is the Turkish word for grandmother. We thought it would be fun for Ryan's mom to have a Turkish name as her "grandma name", hence Anne (which is just easier to say than anneanne). So no, our son is not being disrespectful by calling his grandmother by her first name. Her name is Vallie.

A visit to Tyler

Yesterday we met Ryan's parents halfway between us and them in Tyler, Texas. We were supposed to see them in Baton Rouge last weekend, but due to the weather, we couldn't make it. So we decided to take a little road trip so Owen could spend the afternoon with his Anne and Papaw. Uncle Brent just happened to be playing at a church north of Tyler, so he came down to hang out for awhile too. We played at a park for awhile and then had dinner. It was a really nice little visit. Owen was excited because he got to show off his new walking skills. Here are some pics from the day.

Personal Hygiene

Owen has recently taken his personal hygiene into his own hands. The following is evidence of why this is not a good idea for a 14 month old.

Bathtime with his friend Kyley (yes she's a girl)Taking a shower with his clothes on

This face is only going to lead to trouble

Brushing his teeth (ok, this is great...until the toothbrush ends up in the toilet)

NFL Widow

It's true. I am officially an NFL Widow for the next 16 weeks plus 1 by-week plus playoffs. And as you can see, my one-year-old has abandoned me as well.
But look at the bright side. You are now pretty much guaranteed to get a blog update from me every Sunday afternoon and Monday evening :)

Walking

Yes, Owen is walking. Well, sort of. He is very capable of walking and has gone great distances while hanging on to the very tip of my pinky finger. But he seems to only walk when it is his idea and on his terms. So right now he is just building confidence and deciding for himself that it's a good idea to walk. Here is a short video of some of his first steps last week. Someday I'm going to be in trouble for showing this video to the world.

Sand and Water

While my parents were here last week, they bought him a Sand and Water activity table to play with outside. I think I was even more excited about it than Owen. I had this picture in my mind of a nice, clean, organized, outdoor activity similar to the picture shown on the box which you can see below.

However, this was the reality. What a mess! But oh, what fun! Owen sure looks like he is having a ton more fun than these kids with their parted hair and spotless T-shirts.

Notice how the sand seemed to somehow make it's way into the water... a mystery.Sharing the sandbox fun with his friends Ethan and Kyley.

NKOTB

Ok, in order to know what NKOTB stands for you had to be a girl with big bangs and tight rolled jeans in junior high in the early 90's. Why am I blogging about New Kids on the Block you might ask? Because this is the scene I happened upon last week while my parents were here visiting. Yes, that is my dad dancing with my son to NKOTB.

Ok, ok...

Enough with the threatening emails already! I'll put some pictures up!

A lot has happened during our month hiatus. Ryan went to NYC. Tara's parents came for a stay. Owen learned to walk. Hurricanes. Oh yeah, did I mention Owen learned to walk. Yup. However, that's for another day because those pictures are still on our camera. But until then, Owen has learned to...

Smoke a pipe - he picks up his mother's bad habits! ;-)

Devour a popsicle. Before...

After!

...and cook. Apparently he's so good he's already giving Tara instructions on what goes in next.

A little cinammon ought to do the trick, mom!