Trip to Iowa Chapter 4: Owen meets a bunch of Turkeys

On Tuesday night we drove to Iowa City to have dinner with a bunch of friends that we lived with in Turkey. Holly was already in Muscatine, so she drove over with us and we did a little shopping before dinner. We hadn't seen everyone since Mandy and Mark's wedding a year ago, so it was great to catch up. A special thanks to Mandy (the master party planner) for organizing this little get together.

Trip to Iowa Chapter 3: Owen's First Campfire

After church on Saturday night, we all enjoyed an evening outside by the fire. The flames kept Owen mesmerized. And next year he will be able to eat smores!!! Of course he will have to learn how to roast marshmallows from Katie because she is the best.

Trip to Iowa Chapter 2: The Pumpkin Patch

We drove down to the south end of Muscatine for a photo shoot at the Pumpkin Patch. It was a bit cold and rainy, but we had a great time picking out pumpkins and gords.

Owen searched long and hard to find a pumpkin just his size. It really wore him out.

Trip to Iowa Chapter 1: Meeting Great Grandpa Schmidt

Owen and Tara just got back from spending 10 days in Iowa. So the next several posts will be pics and stories from the trip. Enjoy!

Owen met Great Grandpa Schmidt for the first time. They became fast friends immediately. They had their special time each morning that they spent together. Great Grandpa is very proud!

Our Confused Son

I heard last week that USC is recruiting a 14 year old basketball player to come play for them, so I know that the recruiting process begins earlier every year. But there has to be a line! Case in point, in the 3 weeks that we've been seeing aunts, uncles, grandparents and old friends (and not blogging!) Owen has received paraphenalia from 4 different universities - Louisiana Tech, LSU (boooo), Iowa. and Iowa State. He also picked up some Cubs pajamas, but that was a given - his dad wasn't going to allow someone else to pick his baseball team! When it comes time to actually pick a school he's not gonna know what to do!

So, let's see who out there has an opinion on this topic. Feel free to leave comments to vote for your favorite of Owen's new university outfits. Even if you don't care about the universities mentioned, you can vote according to color - remember, Owen's eyes are blue.

Looking good in blue!

You have to question whether Aunt Ta really wants what's best for Owen by putting him in such strange colors!

Uncle Benner got him the complete outfit - shirt, socks and bib. You know, Ben, just buying more stuff doesn't guarantee loyalty.
This is a full body bib that Aunt Jill got Owen. This will come in handy on those really spitty days.

News from Iowa

Owen seems to be the hit of Muscatine - but did you expect anything less? He's made all the rounds this week - up to the church, coffee with Grandma's friends, trip to Iowa City, hanging with Grandpa and Great-Grandpa while Mom went shopping! It seems that Owen has finally found his laugh. He's been laughing for a while, but you had to do some pretty crazy things to make him start. Tara said that he now laughs freely. Dad can't wait for him to come home and show off that laugh. Ben and Katie are in Muscatine this weekend and everyone seems to be having a grand ol' time. The report is that Ben and Katie find Owen much more fun than their last visit - when he basically just slept and pooped anytime Ben held him!

Don't Give Up On Us!

Yes, we know it's been a while since we put up anything new. But we didn't plan very well before the trip, so Tara has the camera with no way to download pictures. So, in the mean time check out Mandy's latest blog entry about seeing Owen and Tara Tuesday night.

http://www.mandybee.blogspot.com/

Tara and Owen are having a blast up in Iowa, where - check this out Texans - it's actually autumn! You know, leaves changing colors, a chill in the air, it doesn't get up to 87 every day! And apparently Owen went swimming at the Y! Tara claims to have pictures, so stayed tuned!

No Comments, Just Pictures

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Sorry for the lack of new stuff. We've been pretty busy. Knowing that no one really wants to read what we have to say, but just want to see Owen pictures...you're going to be disappointed again. Blogger's image loader seems to be down. But we're trying. Come back soon for more Owen in the Bumbo pics!

Bottles, Boppys and Bumbos

These days there are all kinds of baby products on the market that all parents "must have" in order to keep their child safe and help the child develop properly. It has required a great amount of research to determine which of these products Owen would really benefit from and which are just another gimick to get our money...like the 40,262 types of bottles that claim to be the most "realistic," or 632 products that make him into a bubble boy to protect him from germs just to have the dog lick his face when we turn away.

There are some of the new items out there that are great, though. Owen's newest thing that is definitely not a gimick is the Bumbo. Leslie sent us the Bumbo a while back and said that Jack loves his. Well, Owen loves his too. The Bumbo helps him sit up, so he's been enjoying some eye-to-eye conversations with Mom and Dad at supper these days.