Fun to be a Kid Again!

Ok. So I'm sure that most of you have at one time or another collected tokens, stamps, etc. to send in to a company and receive something in return. When I was a little girl, this is something that we did every once in a while. Our "prizes" if you will, mainly came from cereal companies. A box of "Cheerios" would have random advertising for some prize if you collected and sent in so many cereal labels from that cereal. Mainly these prizes were of some funky, kid gadget that was very cheaply made, but none-the-less, I was enticed! Many of you can probably relate, (or at least I hope so)!

One of our favorite cereals (and yes, I could live off cereal!) is Raisin Bran Crunch! Recently they advertised movies that you could receive if so many cereal tokens were sent in. Today, we received our first movie, "The Sandlot". Not only was it essentially free, because we buy the cereal anyway, but it is a classic movie from my younger days too! I can't wait to sit down and enjoy seeing it again soon!

And So It Begins!

Today marks day 5 of potty training in the Owen house. Yes we have started this tedious process and have thus far been pretty pleased. Hearing both the pros and cons of starting at this age (almost 18 months), we both decided that we, as well as Little Man, were ready for the change. We wanted to wait until after our big vacation, knowing that we could set aside the time necessary to focus on the training.

The first few days went pretty well. We pulled out the potty seat so Little Man could get used to the idea and we reinforced words to help him with the transition. Having nice, warm weather helped as well. We could be outside and experience the feeling of being wet without all the clean up. Since the beginning, Little J had been pretty open to the idea of sitting on the potty. His timing was off a little and would end up going and then say "potty" and go to sit on it. Today we had a breakthrough! He actually went #2 in the potty twice and #1 once. I can't believe that I could get this excited over poop!

We are hoping to have him going consistently during the day before we take the diaper off at night. So we will see how long this takes. Thankfully, it is Friday and both J and I will be able to work with Little Man over the weekend. It really helps to have two there to reinforce everything.

VACATION!!!

Oh what a trip! We were blessed with the opportunity to get away for a week and spend some time with a dear friend and then some family time on the Emerald Coast of Florida. The timing was perfect in so many ways! Both Josh and I needed a break from the daily grind and a chance to visit a friend was hard to pass up. I was a bit weary about taking a 17 month old on a drive that was 13 hours direct, but I don't regret it. The trip down was great. We traveled during his nap and all through the night. We stopped at a park just outside Little Rock, AR (which worked out perfectly), had a picnic dinner and a memorable walk in the rain. We drove through strong thunderstorms (they actually had a tornado touch down very near where we stopped)  and took shifts during the night. Little man slept great and we arrived early the next morning in time to catch a few extra hours of sleep before Little J woke up for the day.

My friend, who is in the Coast Guard, showed us around the aircraft she is and will soon be flying! Way to go girl! That was awesome! We also toured the Pensicola Naval Air Museum. Pretty neat (and free)! God blessed me so much with this time with my dear friend! Something that I had been praying about for a while!

After our time with her, we headed down the coast to Panama City and (thanks to my amazing brother) stayed in a beautiful suite overlooking the gulf! Love you bro! This was Little Man's frist time to the beach and he loved it. It was great to see his energy and awe for the waves and water! I pray that the oil spill doesn't make it to that area! Those beaches are so beautiful!

Unfortunately, I was a not thinking and went without sunscreen the first day we were there and had J smearing aloe vera gel on my back the rest of the week! Uhh! It was sad to have to return to the everyday norm but also good to get back to it in many respects.

The drive home was a little more arduous than the drive down, but we made it! Thank you Lord we made it! We are still recouping from that drive!

Here are a few pics from the trip!

We're Here....I Promise!!!

Ok. So I  know that it has been forever since posting last and frankly, I have not had any determination to do so. The Owen family as a whole are doing well, we are all healthy and totally enjoying this season of our lives. Thanks to the amazing weather recently, we have been able to enjoy our yard and start our garden for the year. Little man has become a diferent person now that the outdoors are readily available to him and he is exploring everything!!! Yes, he is on the go every moment that he is awake and keeps me light on my toes.

Easter is one of my favorite times of the year. This year we celebrated with family and enjoyed watching Little Man with traditions of Easter baskets and an Easter egg hunt.

We splurged an got season passes to Silver Dollar City this year and so far we have "paid" for the passes with our visits to the park. Little J really enjoys getting to see the animals. Whether he is willing to go on any of the rides there depends on how tired his is at the time. But it is fun just to walk around and see all that the park has to offer. WorldFest is going on right now (my favorite time to go to SDC) so  I have really enjoyed seeing the different cultures and as always the different foods!

Here are a few pics of us this spring. I promise to post more often in the future!

(This egg actually came from Germany from a friend. It is chocolate and hollow inside where there is a campartment that has a prize inside. Very cool!)

Loves playing in the dirt!

It Happened!

It happened! Many of you know that we were expecting a miscarriage, and after 4 weeks of waiting and wondering....IT happened! I won't go into the details, but I had complications with the event and had to go to the hospital and ultimately have a D & C (minor surgery) to stop some bleeding. God is good and over the 4 weeks of waiting, He was preparing us (especially me) for the emotional and physical battle that the day brought! I am so thankful that I had time between knowing and the actual event.

Many have asked how we are doing. This is a little piece of what I am feeling during this time.
I will say that this has been an amazing growing time in my Christian walk. Having to trust that God is in total control and that He ultimately has a plan and reason for this happening, has really challenged me. Even though I don't expect to understand His reasons, I am trusting in His perfect plan. My heart is eager for the day when I will get to see my son or daughter in heaven and I know that he/she is in very good hands...the same hands that are holding me right now! And truthfully, that is such a comfort to me!

We have been so blessed with such an amazing support group from friends and family. Even though this is a difficult time/experience, we have been given so much hope and peace through this trial. Thank you all for your encouragement. You are a tremendous blessing to us!!!

New Pics!

I uploaded some recent pics of little man and wanted to share them. So here are a few!

Here are a few of little man's first time making cookies. We had a blast and he loved the experience!

For I Know The Plans I Have For You!

Truthfully, I really didn't know for the longest time whether I should or shouldn't publish this post. The fact is, that this is a very personal part of my/our lives and therefore more difficult to write about in a public setting. However, after much thought and prayer I feel as though someone/anyone can use this circumstance as encouragement, if not a deeper understanding, of where our hearts are. So the story begins...

About 5 weeks ago, we found out that we were expecting our second child. We were so eager to meet this addition to our family and were happy about the timing of this little blessing. We told family and a few friends of our great news. About a week and a half ago we arrived at our first Dr. appointment for baby with feelings of excitment and joy. This visit turned our world upside down! Our Dr. couldn't find our baby's heartbeat during an ultrasound and requested that we do additional lab work to determine if our baby was still alive. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard this! With our emotions everwhere, we decided to wait and do the labs the following week.  The weekend seemed like an eternity! I went in twice for lab work to check to see if my pregnancy hormone was increasing or decreasing. This would give a clear indication of the wellness of the baby. After much anticipation, we received the news. Our baby did not survive and in the next few weeks I would miscarry. We had prepared our minds for this news and even though it is extremely sad, we both have an incredible peace about this situation.

As I said, I wanted to share this event and our feelings as an encouragement to those who read this. Thus, I want to share how God is challenging, growing, and walking with us right now through this difficult time.

4:00AM Wednesday morning (the day we found out), I was awakened by our son who is teething, I got up, put more wood on the fire, and was praying before getting back to bed. I was praying for peace, understanding (however much God wanted to give), and an overwhelming sense that He in deed was walking beside me through this and that everything WOULD be alright. Not 30 seconds after I finished praying, a very dear friend sent me a text saying that she was also praying at that time for peace and joy for us that day.This arriving at about 4:30AM. (Now, I know that not many people are up at this time of day and the timing was perfect!) Tears filled my eyes as I heard God whisper, "Everything is going to be alright."

After we found out the news, we sent word to the people that had known our situation and we were again filled with emotion after so many thoughtful words were sent our way. Thank you all for every word of encouragement! The days following the news were also filled with joy and hope as God continued to encourage and give peace.

The hope that I hold onto is that God has a plan. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

As of now, I still have not miscarried. This, I think is a good thing right now. I feel that I will be more prepared (if only mentally) for the event and God is using this time to strengthen us in many ways.

Thanks for taking the time to venture a little more intimatly into our lives. I know that God will use this circumstance to His glory and if this will be even a little encouragement to someone, we freely give it!