Just for the record:

-Owen can count to three (now catching him when he actually WANTS to do this is the trick. But I've heard him do this on three separate accounts now, so I know he can do it!)

- He has two new words that come to mind. "House" and last night he shocked us all with "shark" after reading a book with Aunt Rachel on...well..."sharks" :-) Just random, I know. But I like to keep track of these new words as they appear in his vocabulary.

- I'm starting to appreciate the fact that I now have a toddler that can mostly communicate with me. He is getting really good at asking us for what he wants. Mostly...juice. I figured this out when we didn't have any in the house over the weekend. I'm not a HUGE juice giver, but I probably let him have about sippy cup full a day (plus I found a brand at Marsh that carries a apple juice that is NOT made from concentrate...SCORE!)and basically Friday-Monday I was only offering him milk or water. He wasn't pleased. "JUICE MOMMA, JUICE"! :-) Ok. I picked some up at the grocery store yesterday.

- I have nursery duty at church this month and they just so happened to stick me in Owen's room. At first I didn't think it was a great idea because he was confused about me being there and freaked out whenever I went to help another kid...but it turned out OKAY (not great, just OKAY)he eventually forgot about me (mostly) and just went about his business so I got to see him interact with other kids. It was really cute. He is definitely Mr. Sensitivity...just kind of shyly watched the "rough and tough" kids, played on the slide and was super good at helping clean up...um....my kid even arranged the books on the bookshelf in a neat row. Yikes. I wonder where he gets that....probably Josh!? (NOT!) Anyways. It was fun to watch him play and interact with others somewhat independently from me.

- God has been reminding me once again how incredibly blessed I am to have Owen...and to have a healthy Owen. :-) On a playdate with another mommy friend to Chic Fila we met a mother who was here from Nashville, Tennessee...she had her one month old baby boy in the Payton Manning Children's Hospital (St. Vincents) because he was born with a diaphragmatic hernia....(apparently Indiana is one of the seven states that has the breathing machine that will help repair this in an infant...go Indiana!)...her ONE MONTH OLD BABY. I can't even imagine. She was very positive and optimistic....I told her I'd keep her family in my prayers. Shew. So sad. Thankfully it sounds as though he will recover well and really be just fine. Still scary! Yesterday I met a friend at Riley Hospital (right across the street from my office)...and I now literally have to prepare myself emotionally before I even walk in that place because I always end up feeling overwhelmed by all of the sick kiddos....and yesterday I saw a blond headed little boy about Owen's age being pulled in a wagon with an IV in his arm and I seriously couldn't even get a grip on myself to stop from crying. I had to turn around and walk away. Seriously. Where does this emotion come from? I have no idea...but I feel like every sick kid I see...is MY kid! So...THANK YOU JESUS for another day that my sweet baby boy is healthy! I WON'T take this for granted!

So much to be grateful for....so many good days to look forward to. We may not do many 'exciting' things right now (no extravagant vacations, pizza and a movie on Friday night, and Chili's being our big dinning out experience) BUT I love our life and am blessed by the warmth of friendships and the love of a wonderful family.

Anyways...yay for March being here. Flip flop and capri weather is just around the corner, Owen will turn TWO next month (how did that happen? I REALLY have NO idea) and before we even know it we'll be into the summer. Josh is taking his LAST graduate class this summer!!!! (I can't even TELL you how exciting this is!) and we're hoping to drive down to Florida to spend a few days with the Sharbaugh Family and take Owen to the beach. So excited :-)

Thats it for now...Happy First week of March! I hear its supposed to be 60 degrees this weekend!