Yogurt is Yummy!

I thought I would share with everyone Oden feeding himself yogurt for lunch. This is not a typical lunch, but he didn't drink much milk this morning so I was trying to up his protein for the day. He does not have much experience feeding himself with utensils. I blame myself completely for his inexperience. I would rather take the time to feed him myself than clean up the mess, that would inevitably be EVERYWHERE! That being said, I am putting in much more of an effort to let him have some independence with feeding. With the added hope that if he is feeding himself with new exciting tools, he might try (and like) more things! This video is really cute though :) and I am so thankful that he likes yogurt!

Stuff from my phone

Here are some random cuteness that I remembered I have on my phone. A couple of them are from the beginning of the summer and the others are more recent. The quality is poor, but I know you will appreciate them anyways :)

He has been doing this all summer.....he stands in front of this baby pool at my moms, yells "GO!", and jumps in head first. It's hilarious!

This was a very random day this summer. We went for a walk with Heather and he had to have his stethoscope around his neck, and he actually kept his Sponge Bob sunglasses on!

This picture is part of his morning routine. He comes down first thing, runs over to his toys, grabs his Thomas box, and plays with/lines up all of his trains. Have I mention obsessed?!

I just took this one a couple of days ago. This is the little girl I am now watching two days a week, Maddie. I had a couple of new candles out and they were taking turns smelling them.

It was adorable!

This video is from when Jess got a new cell phone. Oden is always all up in our electronics, so as soon as he saw Dad's new phone he had to see ALL of it. Look for his little squatting dance!

A Day Out With Thomas

Today was our day out with Thomas. This is something Tiff and I had been looking forward to taking Odee to for a long time. As the event neared closer I became increasingly more excited for it to finally be here. I was anxious for the look on his face as he witnessed his hero in the flesh. To provide some sort of a backdrop, if any of you are unaware of our little man, then you will have to know of his obsession with our friend Rev. W Awdry and what he has created out of narration and cleverly designed model trains. His name is Thomas and he is what Odee dreams of. From toys to clothes, cups to lunchboxes, he is everywhere our guy is. If there ever was a smug look upon Odee's face just find some sort of Thomas oriented trinket and his frown will immediately turn upside down. Thomas and Friends is to little boys what the spring training football, baseball in October, and the NHL/NBA playoffs push, is to grown men, what shopping, Jon & Kate Plus 8, and cherries covered in chocolate are to grown women. This is the mecca of little boys everywhere. So, on the day of I wanted to wake up with our baby hawk and start his day off right. This is a Friday, and my excitement for his excitement, prompted me to take a personal day from work. He's in a great mood and looking forward to his toast and fruit to energize his tiny body. After a quick munch session, a dose of Sid the Science Kid and Sesame Street, a good morning from his beautiful mother, and he is ready to get going. We all head up to straighten ourselves out and pack up for the trek ahead, next stop Union, Illinois. The jeep is gased and were buckled in, heading up north. Again mom chooses to use yahoo directions and we are immediately guessing which way to go. You see, yahoo likes to name streets the names they feel they should have, this makes following them very tricky. However, moms keen sense of direction quickly guides us towards our destination. The trip to Union was very pleasant, it was a very scenic route that took us through areas we had never been, this breathe of new places always seems invigorating to the imagination and put us all in the right mood for the day. We arrived forty five minutes before departure and took our time making it to the train. As we neared closer to dreams come true, I could feel the pleasure inside our baby. Then as we came walking down the path, there he was, right before his eyes, it was him... Thomas. The sheer enjoyment that poured from his soul was enough to see what dreams our made from. He was happy, genuine and sincere, just plain and simple happy. I wanted to be detailed to remind everyone and myself when I read this when I'm old, that the small things in life, that we cherish with the ones we love, those memories will be with us forever, so make them. The rest of our day was filled with memories that all three of us will have for the rest of our lives. We rode on Thomas, Odee got his first tattoo (removable, moms), had a wonderful picnic in the grass, and saw lots and lots of trains. It was at an interesting venue, the Illinois Railway Museum, and this was a fascinating place for a family to visit, especially on day out with Thomas. By the time we were ready to leave we had seen it all, Sir Toppam Hatt, the trains, trolleys, the whole kit and caboodle. He was sleeping within five minutes of our trip home, but I knew... he was dreaming of Thomas.

Above story by Jess. All I can say is....I wish Jess would write on here more often. What a great way to sum up our wonderful day :) Now I will add some not so cleverly worded captions on the pictures.

A life-size Thomas! That's something you don't see everyday!

Our first view of Thomas!

Yay for nice people also patiently waiting for their ride.

Odee's 1st train ride!!

Odee getting his first tattoo!

So amazed that Thomas was on his arm!!

It was a little hot, but well worth the slight discomfort.

Dad and Odee in a train graveyard, not really. The back of the Museum.

Exhausted from his adventure with Thomas, Dad, and Mom.

ODEEEEE =)

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have been so busy with wedding events for my friends from Canada. Here are a few new pictures I have been able to take during all of the wedding craziness. The wedding was this past weekend, so everything should be back to normal now. Meaning = I should be taking tons of Oden focused pictures again! LOL!

Swimming at my MomsHanging out with that shy Laney

POSER!

Yep.....this looks about right!
Jamie, Laney, Oden, and me :) (A wedding party BBQ at our house)

Missouri 2009

Missouri was amazing this year. It's pretty awesome every year, but for many reasons this year was my most memorable. Go figure because the boat was broke, the fireworks were confiscated, it rained more than usual, and Oden was a complete wild child. Perhaps I am beginning to appreciate all the elements of Missouri more and more. Every year just seems to get better. This was Oden's first year swimming in the bay, and he liked it. I was too scared of the water to try it last year. We brought some friends with us this time around, it's nice to be able to bring a piece of home with you! Everyone was so helpful with Oden this year considering he sped around like a bullet. He was up and down and wanted to run EVERYWHERE the whole trip. Thank goodness everyone did their best to help keep us sane and help with the chasing. He was definitely a hand full and a half, but I know every year will get easier. Special thanks to the 3 Grandma's up there who took such great care of everyone. As always, we would fall apart without you. I will be thinking about this year's memories until next year when we can all make some more. (P.S. I am already reserving a s'more for next year since I missed them this year!)

Oh those breathtaking Missouri views......

The number one reason we love Missouri.....GRANDMA MARY!!!

This year we brought our friends Paul, Kerri, and Laney. This is Laney :)

They are best buddies!Oden looks like a true Missouri native!

If you have a freeze pop, you are Oden's best friend!Can I just borrow those glasses for a second cousin Matt??
Baby cousins on the Forth of July! So sweet!

This picture describes their personalities so well. Oden looks sneaky like he's planning a break for it, and Chaela is happy as an elf! Chaela rubbing Oden's head for good luck!

I miss you Laney, WAKE UP!!! LOL!

Our family out on the dock

This is the yard and the dock at the house that is rented. Amazing.

Oden learned how to pick flowers and loved giving them to everyone!

Baby Hawk is back!!

That's right! We re-hawked Oden's hair yesterday and.....it looks amazing! Just in time for Missouri. Here are some new pictures for ya! He hasn't been doing anything new and exciting lately. We are trying so hard to get him to start talking. When he first started sounding things out about 3 months ago I was so certain he would be talking shortly thereafter. Now here we are, patiently waiting. He will be exactly 18 months on Tuesday and he can say Mama, Dada, Uh-oh, Kittie (kind of), cheese, and he can sound out hot and cold. He has started shaking his head no, which is not fun at all. He's able to differentiate when he wants to say yes by nodding his head or say no but shaking his head. Since he isn't able to communicate with us through words, he is still doing a lot of whining. Like I said, we are patiently waiting with hope he will break through this communication barrier sooner than later!! Other than that, we are leaving for Missouri on Wednesday morning. We are very excited and we will have tons of cute pictures to post when we get back!

First picture after the haircut, you can't really see it that good.

These next three pictures were from when my family was in town a couple of weeks ago. My cousin Daphne took these, she is a dang good photographer!

Typical Oden, running with no destination.

Blowing kisses!!

New family pic!! Thanks Daphne!!

This is just Oden hanging out with his friend Rileigh. Yay for play dates!!

Laughing Baby Dude

I just took this video today. It was so cute that I had to upload it right away!

I love laughing babies.

A little of this.....a little of that.

This is my attempt to catch-up on sharing pictures of all the fun we've been having lately. He is crazy and keeps us going non-stop, but he is the cutest boy ever! ENJOY!

Feeling sleepy.....

This is his 'cheeeese' face. He will pretty much do it whenever

you ask him, when there's a camera around.

Playing with his girlfriend, Laney.

I might have posted this one already, but it's cute so....no harm done :)

Check out the graphics on this t-shirt! So cute!

We get comments on it all the time. Thanks Grammy!

Papa Joe and Grandma Laura came over with a new toy!! He loves it!!

Now we just have to work on getting the weather to cooperate.

YAY for new toys!! THANK YOU!!

Memorial Day.....jumping with Auntie Heather

No photo is complete without his drooled on clothes!!

GOOFY BABY!

Laney pushing Odee on her swing, this lasted for about .02 seconds.

BBQing!

Again with this cheese face, and the drool.