The Brothers Magu

Some things you should know about Joey, age 3...

2010-04-09T10:24:00.009-05:00

We just can't believe that our little Joey Bear is 3 years old! He has always been such a pleasant little boy but it seems that overnight he has turned into our little man. He has such a sensibility about him and it's so much fun to have real conversations with him about things like, "How do we leave our planet?"

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Here are a few things going on in Joey's life right now that we want to remember forever:

Joey is very skilled at identifying different makes of cars on the road. His current list includes: VW, Toyota, BMW, Honda, Lexus, Audi, GMC, Ford, Chevy, Cadillac, Jaguar and Chrysler. We are working on Mazda, Nissan and Saturn. The annual car show comes to town next month and we think it is going to blow his mind!

Joey is the best big brother ever. He wants to be a part of Owen's every naptime and bedtime routine. Before naps, Joey and Owen sit side-by-side on the rocking chair in Owen's room and we all sing "You Are My Sunshine" together. During Owen's bedtime routine, Joey likes to read with Owen, say prayers, sing "Hush Little Baby" and then he kisses Owen on the forehead and says, "I love you, good night, wan an, wua ai ni (good night and I love you in Chinese), I'll be right outside."

As of about a month ago, Joey is completely potty-trained! He even wears big boy underwear to bed at night and has not had a single accident!

Joey gave up napping a few months ago although on some days he's so tired that he will fall asleep on the couch or even on the living room floor. Cutting out his nap has made his bedtime routine so much smoother and he's even starting to sleep in a bit later in the morning (and by sleeping in I mean sleeping until 6:30 or 7:00). Each night at bedtime we read 1 or 2 books, then Joey goes pee pee in the potty, then he comes back to the room to plug in his car (surprised, are we?) nightlight, and then he climbs into his bed and we sing songs. We have been singing the 5 same songs every night for as long as I can remember: "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Hush Little Baby," "You Are My Sunshine," "Beetlecar" (this is a Maguire original), and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." After the songs, Joey goes through a list of things that will not wake him up. It goes something like this: "No cars, no trucks, no fire engines, no helicopters, no airplanes, no showers, no bathtubs, no toilets flushing, no loud dishes, nothing's going to wake me up." Then we say our good night's and I love you's and call it a night.

Joey is so lucky to have a great group of friends from our neighborhood playgroup. His best buddies that we play with all the time are: Cristian, Zander, Hannah, Kaitlin, Sammy and Griffin. Joey and Griffin have even had a couple of sleepovers at our house with Joey sleeping in his own bed and Griffin sleeping on a kid-sized air mattress and they've done surprisingly well!

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Joey is absolutely our life's pride and joy and although we are sad that he's no longer our baby, we are so excited to watch him grow everyday into a wonderful little man. We love you, Joey!

Happy 1st Birthday Owen!

2009-11-13T11:29:00.000-06:00

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday sweet Owen,
Happy birthday to you!

Little Longhorns' First Game at DKR

2009-11-07T11:16:00.001-06:00

We took the boys to their very first Longhorns football game at DKR this weekend. Texas was playing the University of Central Florida so we figured it wouldn't be as crowded as usual. Our plan was to go to the game without any expectations of how long we would stay. It turns out the boys quite enjoyed the game day ambience and we stayed until well past halftime!

We made a stop at the Shotgun 30 tailgate. Joey enjoyed a breakfast taco while relaxing on the stinkiest couch known to mankind. But hey, it's burnt orange so it's a keeper!

The four of us squished into our two seats. Here we are during pre-game festivities.

Sometime around the 2nd quarter, Joey got tired of sitting in our seats so we wandered down to our friends' seats in the front row. Joey got some smiles and winks from the UT cheerleaders and even made it on the Jumbotron!

Joey running down the row looking for some high-fives.

Owen and Daddy eventually made their way down too and as you can see, Owen did his fair share of charming the cheerleaders too!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:52:00.000-05:00

This was a busy Halloween season for us mostly because it was our first time coordinating for two kiddos. So I'll never understand why I decided that it would be a fun idea to make Joey's costume. I may have thought that it would be cheaper than buying one (which it wasn't) or maybe I thought that he would appreciate it more (which he didn't). But one thing's for sure - a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into that thing and it actually turned out quite cute!

Joey helping out by painting one of the styrofoam wheels.

The finished product...TA DA! We used a carseat box and to make the car red (Joey's favorite color) and to help make it a bit sturdier, we wrapped red electrical tape around the whole thing. We topped it off with some styrofoam wheels, a couple of LED headlights and daddy's homemade TX license plate.

Our not so happy sunshine. Why does trick or treating have to start so late?

Trick or treating with our friends and neighbors, the McInnis family.

Here's a video from the Halloween Parade at Joey's school where his red car costume made its official debut.

Happy birthday Da!

2009-10-28T09:11:00.003-05:00

Sweet Pumpkins

2009-10-25T20:43:00.002-05:00

TX-OU Weekend

2009-10-17T20:33:00.002-05:00

Since we don't have tickets (or the energy) for TX-OU weekend in Dallas anymore, we hosted a small get-together of fellow Longhorns at our house during the game. This was the boys' first real experience with a TX-OU party and they'd better get used to it because there's a lot more where that came from. Hook 'em!

Owen enjoying a pre-game Mum Mum snack.

Joey and his future college roomies, Cristian and Zander.

Joey showing off his brand-new parking garage to our friend Daniel. More importantly, check out Colt and Mack on the TV in the background with their victory pose.

Owen is talking!

2009-10-03T22:24:00.002-05:00

Owen is quite the babbler as of late. His vocabulary currently includes "hi", "dada", "lalalala" (which signals to us that we need to start singing) and "nai nai" (Chinese for Grandma). No matter how hard I try, I cannot get him to say mama. That darn boy.

Owen's 9-month well check

2009-09-13T16:42:00.002-05:00

Owen turned 9-months old today! Here are the stats from his well check:

* Weight: 23 lbs., 14 oz. (90th percentile)
* Length: 28 1/2" (75th-90th percentile)
* Head Circumference: 47 cm (75th-90th percentile)

Here is our big guy getting around the house in a walker. He's not crawling yet, but the pediatrician suggested we just skip that stage and work on his cruising skills instead.

Our two guys enjoying some post-nap downtime in Owen's crib. It's hard to wake up after a good nap!

First day of school 2009

2009-09-11T22:15:00.002-05:00

Today Joey started his second year of Mother's Day Out at Bethany School. This year he is in the Monkeys class with Ms. Laurie and Ms. Dana. There were a few tears this morning but then his teachers got out the toy cars and all was good in the world again.

Daddy and Joey walking into school.

Joey playing with the cars in the classroom at drop-off.

Owen and daddy walking back to the car.

First trip to the circus!

2009-08-22T22:03:00.002-05:00

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey was in town this weekend so we took the boys for their first trip to the circus. Our boys may not yet have quite the attention span required to enjoy a long sit-down show as this year's performance was almost two hours long. Owen slept for more than half that time and as Joey walked out of the Erwin Center (with souvenir toy in hand, might I add), he declared, "I don't like the circus." Okay then. Glad we spent about $800 on food, drinks and souvenirs.

Owen eating his lunch before the show begins.

Joey riding a motorcycle on the circus floor during the pre-show.

Joey's potty training: Round 1

2009-08-21T16:54:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to play it cool with the potty training and decided that I was just going to let things run its course and that we would start only when Joey let us know that he was ready. Over the last couple of weeks, Joey started asking us to take him to the potty and actually successfully went pee-pee and poo-poo several times. So I took that to mean that he was giving us the green light (and I was also admittedly excited about cutting down on diaper purchases).

So we got the boys' bathroom ready to go with all the requisite potty training items:

Toilet seat

Kid-sized urinal (aka the Peter Potty)

Reward chart

Bribes (er, rewards)

Our plan was to give Joey 1 sticker each time he went pee-pee and 2 stickers each time he went poo-poo. Everytime he earned 2 stickers, he would get a car. Joey wore big boy underwear during the day and wore Pull-Ups only at night or when we were leaving the house. The training went surprisingly well for about 5 days as far as the pee-pee was concerned (as evidenced by the chart pictured above). He earned a lot of cars and we even had a song and dance routine that we would perform each time he went ("Joey went pee-pee in the potty, repeat, repeat, repeat). The pooping started out okay and just slowly deteriorated throughout the week until finally he was pooping in his underwear and freaking out when we would try to change him. Then he started peeing in his pants too and it was around that time that mommy's patience started to wear thin. And that was that for round 1 of potty training...

Port Aransas

2009-08-16T16:16:00.000-05:00

Mima organized a family trip to Port Aransas to close out the summer. Almost everyone was there (we missed you Kevin and Laura!) and it was great to see Joey and Owen play with their cousins Beth and Maggie. We can't wait to do it again next year! Click here to see the pictures.

Happy birthday mommy & daddy!

2009-08-11T15:55:00.000-05:00

Another year, another birthday for mommy and daddy. Our birthdays are not nearly as fun and exciting as the kids' birthdays - we don't get balloons, smash cakes or parties. But we do get to celebrate with two of the sweetest, most adorable boys ever so who are we to complain?

Joey has started singing songs a lot recently. Here he is performing "Happy Birthday" with a bit of prompting from mommy and daddy.

Going to the Big D

2009-08-09T15:22:00.002-05:00

We made a trip to Dallas over the weekend to catch up with family and friends. We got to see the Kelleys and their brand new baby boy and visited the beautiful new home of our friends the Poglitsches. The drive there and back was actually pretty pleasant. Both boys slept a lot and when they weren't sleeping, they were about as happy as can be expected.

Joey flipping through the pages of a costume catalog in preparation for Halloween.

Owen and his precious bunny.

I love this picture of cousin Scott staring at Owen like he's some sort of alien.

Cousin Susan practicing her baby skills by feeding Owen his dinner.

Our boys with all our friends' cute kiddos.

Happy 8-months, Owen!

2009-07-13T22:03:00.002-05:00

We took these pictures a few days after Owen turned 8 months old. He is such a sweet baby boy, so relaxed, laid-back and happy! He naps well, sleeps well at night, eats well (obviously) and is sitting up like a big boy. Happy 8 months, sweet cheeks!

Showing off his 2 teeth

Poor guy does have some struggles with pooping. Here he is working it out.

Owen's 7-month photos

2009-07-13T21:01:00.000-05:00

We did Owen's 7-month photos earlier this summer to capture his cuteness in all its glory. The photographs were taken by my playgroup friend Rachel in the comfort of our own backyard. It was brutally hot outside (as it has been all summer) but Owen did flash us a few smiles. We also were able to get some pictures of our two boys together and even a good family pic. Click here to see the full set of photos.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

Twinkle Twinkle...

2009-07-02T21:15:00.002-05:00

Every night we sing one song to Joey as part of his bedtime routine. His favorite by far is 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' - he's been requesting that one for at least the past 4 months. On a side note, he also likes to change out the word star for other words. For example, tonight we also sang 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Car', 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Daddy' and 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Mommy'. Anyhow, Joey usually mouths some of the words as we're singing or he'll help us finish a line. Tonight, though, he surprised us by singing the whole song on his own. We didn't have the camera with us but Brian pulled out his iPhone to capture the moment. And then I took a video of the iPhone...

Finger painting fun!

2009-07-02T21:01:00.006-05:00

Joey had his first encounter with finger paints this week and there is no doubt in my mind that I am the worst mommy in the world for depriving him of this fun until age 2. And to be completely honest, the only reason we busted out the paints was because sweet Caroline (our mommy's helper) was game. Joey had a blast with the paints and was just as delighted with the wonderful mess he made all over his body and his pj's!

Here is Joey just getting started and still being cautious about dipping into the paint. Please note how white his top is.

Joey and Caroline's handprints side by side.

The aftermath...

The artist at work...

Owen's first haircut

2009-06-28T15:02:00.003-05:00

Our sweet baby Owen has some of the craziest hair you've ever seen on an infant. Since the wild hair was captured in the baby photos that we did a couple of weeks ago, we felt it was time for us to take the plunge and chop it off. We asked our playgroup mommy friend Roxanne to come over and do the honors yesterday.

Here's the 'before' shot.

Owen looks a little worried and slightly frightened.

Owen thinking, "Okay, this is not bad, not bad at all..."

"Hey, I'm really starting to enoy this!"

All done!

Here's the 'after' shot. Let's hope the haircut will put a stop to people asking us if Owen is a boy or a girl. Seriously, people!

Joey jabber

2009-06-28T14:42:00.013-05:00

Joey is quite the little chatterbox and each day he surprises us with new words and the ability to string more and more words together into complete sentences. The other night as Joey and I were preparing for a mommy & son date night at Souper Salad with our friends Rachel and Griffin, Joey said to me, "Mommy is a princess and Joey is a good boy." I just about melted into a puddle right there on our kitchen floor.

p.s. Is it just me or does Joey look much too grown-up in this picture?

Owen's Baptism

2009-06-21T14:16:00.004-05:00

After a delicious breakfast to celebrate Father's Day with daddy, we spent the rest of the day celebrating Owen's baptism. Owen was baptized at St. Vincent de Paul and we were so blessed to have family and friends with us to witness the special occasion. The baptism itself was very short and sweet but Owen made it known to everyone that he was not happy about it interfering with his naptime. I can't say I blame him - you wouldn't be very happy about getting your head drenched in chilly water either, even if it is holy water!

Mima putting Owen in the family baptismal gown (Daddy and Joey wore it too!).

Owen and mommy sharing a quiet moment before the baptism.

Owen being doused in holy water - as in, HOLY cow this WATER is cold!

Deacon David practically shampooing Owen's hair with the oils.

(from l-r) Aunt Janet, Oma, Daddy, Owen, Joey and Mima - everyone in this picture wore the same gown for their respective baptisms. Isn't that neat?

Our family with Owen's godparents, Craig and Jennifer. Look at Owen eyeing the Deacon as if to say, "What did you just do to me?"

Owen's baptism cake - it was not so beautifully decorated, but you'll have to trust me when I tell you that it was delicious!

Happy 7 months, Owen!

2009-06-14T22:00:00.003-05:00

Our big boy turned 7 months old this weekend! We celebrated today by having some professional pictures done - will post as soon as I can! Since our last update, Owen has started eating 3 solid meals a day (in addition to his bottles), has 2 bottom teeth coming in and now has a whole bunch of personality. We love you big boy!

Joey's 2-year photos

2009-06-13T23:17:00.001-05:00

We got the final edits of Joey's 2-year photos from our photographer/friend Rachel this weekend. Here are a couple of teaser shots. Click here to see all of the photos from the shoot.

Summer break - Week 1

2009-06-12T22:20:00.003-05:00

This past week was our first full week of summer vacation where the boys and I were at home with absolutely no plans on the calendar. We did manage to make a couple of trips to the park (despite the inferno-like weather) but mostly we found lots of ways to keep ourselves entertained at our home sweet home.

Joey working out on the treadmill (don't worry - he is ALWAYS supervised).

The guys lounging on the couch watching a little TV (I don't even feel guilty about this anymore).

Joey and his playgroup buddies Kaitlin and Quinn at the movies eating popcorn and waiting for Curious George to begin.

We also had an "All Day Jammies Day" - we definitely plan on having more of those this summer. Here are some videos of the boys just hanging out in their pj's.

Playing at "the beach"

2009-06-07T22:08:00.003-05:00

With the drought that we've been experiencing here in Central Texas, all of the area lakes have gotten really low. That's the bad news. On the other hand, the low water level means that a lot of new sandy, beachy areas have appeared. We took full advantage of this and spent the day frolicking in beautiful Lake Travis.

Daddy and his boys

Joey testing out the waters

Owen spent some time lounging in the water too. But after awhile the poor guy looked like he was melting in the hot sun!

Impromptu fun

2009-05-19T15:06:00.003-05:00

Today started out as just another Tuesday...we had a slow morning with nowhere to be so we took our time eating breakfast and watching TV. Originally we were supposed to have lunch with a friend but she ended up getting sick so we had to make other plans. Luckily, daddy was free to meet us so we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and took Joey to Hula Hut for the first time. I really don't know why we hadn't thought of taking him there before because he loved it and was completely entertained by the water, the boats, the birds, and anything else you can imagine. Heck, even Owen was in a good mood while we were there!

This is how Joey looked as we were getting ready to leave Hula Hut.

Since it was only noon when we left Hula Hut, we decided to meet some of Joey's buddies at a local park. I thought that the kids would spend some time playing in the sandpit (which of course they didn't). What I didn't know is that this park had a spray fountain and of course that's where all the kids wanted to play.

Here is Joey standing right in the middle of the water spray...

So he ended up looking like this...

Since mommy did not come prepared with extra clothes or even a towel, we stripped Joey down to his diapers and dried him off with Owen's burp cloth. Then we borrowed a friend's sling to put around Joey so he could stay modest...

But Joey decided that getting rid of his farmer's tan was more important than modesty so he sat around like this until we finally left.

Happy 6-months, Owen!

2009-05-13T21:28:00.003-05:00

My baby boy is 6 months old today! He's growing so quickly that I'm almost ready to have another baby (totally kidding!!!).

Here are the stats from his 6-month well check:
* Weight: 21 lbs., 2 oz. (95th percentile)
* Length: 26 1/2" (75th-90th percentile)
* Head Circumference: 45.4 cm (75th-90th percentile)

We took these pictures this afternoon of our happy guy...

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T21:22:00.004-05:00

Owen celebrated this Mother's Day with his great-grandmothers. What a lucky boy!

Owen and Oma

Owen and Grandma (aka Nai-Nai)

Sneak peek: Joey's 2-year pics

2009-05-08T21:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we ventured out to the beautiful Mayfield Park to do Joey's 2-year pictures. The photographer is a friend of mine from playgroup who is just venturing into the photography business but is really talented with a camera. She has not had a chance to edit all the photos yet (I'll post them as soon as I get them), but did send me some to tide me over. This one is a personal favorite of mine...

I had planned on doing 6-month photos for Owen, but then I remembered how limited Joey's 6-month photo options were since he was not sitting up yet. So as soon as Owen can sit up on his own, we're going to do a session for him and during the same session we're going to try (the key word is try) to get some shots of our two boys together and maybe if we're really lucky we might get a family portrait too!

Car show!

2009-04-20T15:22:00.003-05:00

Joey's favorite thing in the world is cars. He loves cars more than he loves mommy, daddy, candy, etc. So you can probably guess just how excited he was when daddy took him to the car show last weekend.

Here is Joey's reaction as he walked into the car show...

Brotherly love

2009-04-19T20:03:00.004-05:00

In the last couple of weeks, Joey has become more interested in Owen and is starting to play around with him (when he's willing to take a break from his beloved cars, of course). Here are a couple of cute videos of the boys interacting with each other.

Pay special attention to the last few seconds in this one...it's very sweet.

Here's Joey making Owen laugh out loud.

Happy (and busy) Easter!

2009-04-16T21:37:00.012-05:00

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! Ours was jam-packed with all the fun and candy a boy could want! Below are the highlights but many more pictures can be seen here.

We kicked off the weekend on Saturday morning with Easter bunny photos and an egg hunt at a local park.

Later that day we drove to San Antonio for a Maguire Easter gathering at Mima's house. Joey and Owen met the Caputos and Woreks who were visiting from Virginia and had fun with another egg hunt, a pinata and cascarones!

We were at home on Easter Sunday and the weather finally warmed up enough for the boys to wear their matching outfits.

Joey holding his Easter basket after a mini-egg hunt in our front yard. Note the chocolate around his mouth (M&Ms) and confetti on his shirt (more cascarones)...

Joey checking out his loot and Owen unhappy that he doesn't have any loot.

Joey's 2-year well check

2009-04-10T21:23:00.001-05:00

Joey had his 2-year well check this morning and here are his latest stats:

* Weight: 30 lbs., 3 oz. (75th percentile)
* Height (used to be called "length"): 34" (below 50th percentile)
* Head Circumference: 90th percentile

He got one shot for the Hep A vaccination and this time was probably the worst because he knew exactly what was coming and I could feel his body tensing up as he watched the nurse prepare the needle. But of course he was a trooper and the "crying" lasted approximately 4.3 seconds. The doc said that we can start giving Joey skim milk which is awesome because it means we only have to buy one kind of milk (at least until Owen turns 1) and he also recommended that Joey go for his first dentist visit in the next few months (that should be pleasant). Next well check in one year!

Happy 2nd birthday Joey!

2009-04-09T19:13:00.005-05:00

Joey celebrated his 2nd birthday today! To make the day extra fun, we hosted a playgroup at our house so that Joey could run around with all of his little buddies. At the end of the playgroup, mommy discovered that Joey had sneakily licked the icing off 3 birthday cupcakes - I guess that would explain the high-pitched screaming, crazy giggling fits and running around the house like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone that we experienced all day.

Waking up to his birthday banner.

"Mother, please take this annoying hat off my head!"

Cousin Scott came to the playgroup too! Actually, he was really at our house to pick up Grandma and take her to Dallas. But he stayed awhile to say hello to Owen.

Joey had a birthday dinner at Red Robin. The best part was that it was kids eat free night!

Before bedtime we marked Joey's height on a wall in his room.

Joey's 2nd birthday bash

2009-04-06T11:23:00.003-05:00

This weekend we celebrated Joey's birthday (a few days early) with a party for him and his best buddies at Arrowhead Ranch. It is a working ranch by our house that is located smack dab in the middle of suburbia. We had pony rides, a petting zoo, balloons, Chick Fil-A, chocolate cake and lots of fun...what more could a 2-year old ask for? Here are a few of our favorite pics - you can see the rest by clicking here.

I am posting this picture especially for little Camille - your Aunt Stephanie told us that you like reading our blog and that you especially love to see pictures of our dear old Grandma. This is a silly one just for you!

Joey's bedtime prayer

2009-04-02T21:17:00.002-05:00

Joey's nightly bedtime routine consists of taking a bath, reading some books, saying a prayer and then singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The praying part is first the Lord's Prayer and then we run through a list of our whole family (which is a lot of people). I guess Joey's been paying attention because just recently he has started to jump in with names here and there. This video is especially for his Aunt Laura - it is just too cute how he says your name!

From here to NAP-ternity!

2009-04-01T21:20:00.002-05:00

Owen has made tremendous progress in developing his sleep schedule and today marked the first day of what I hope will be his consistent sleeping routine:

7:30p.m. - 4:00a.m. - Nighttime sleep
4:00a.m. - 4:30a.m. - Bottle
4:45a.m. - 6:00a.m. - More nighttime sleep
8:15a.m. - 10:15a.m. - NAP!! (unfortunately I had to wake him up from this nap for an appt.)
11:45a.m. - 1:00p.m. - NAP!!
3:00p.m. - 4:20p.m. - NAP!!
7:30p.m. - Bedtime

Next step is to start weaning him off the middle of the night bottle and then our lives will be smooth sailing. This having kids thing is a piece of cake (I'm kidding).

Piano trio

2009-03-27T21:26:00.005-05:00

Joey had his friends Hannah and Cristian over for a playdate on Thursday and they had some music time on the piano...

Owen's sleep training

2009-03-22T20:44:00.007-05:00

We started Owen's sleep training (Dr. Ferber style) last week on Friday the 13th. Although this was the same method we used with Joey, we were still anxious about how things would go with Owen. On the first night when we put him down for bedtime, he cried for just over 30 minutes and then was out until the middle of the night feeding. And after the bottle he went straight back to sleep. With each night his crying time has gotten a bit shorter and as of last night we're down to about 15 minutes of crying. The best part is that he's also been weaned off his pacifier so we don't have to keep putting it back in his mouth and even better is the fact that he's sleeping about 11 hours a night! I heart Dr. Ferber. As was the case with Joey, the naps are not coming along as easily but I will not be defeated.

Here are some new pics of our happy boy!

Joey is a "shear" genius!

2009-03-22T20:44:00.004-05:00

Watch how Joey expertly fixes my hair. We are going to see huge savings in a few years once Joey masters the art of cutting and coloring!

Owen's 4-month well check

2009-03-11T11:09:00.005-05:00

Owen had his 4-month well check this morning and here are his latest stats:

* Weight: 18 lbs., 3 oz. (95th percentile)
* Length: 24 7/8" (75th-90th percentile)
* Head Circumference: 42.7 cm (50th-75th percentile)

Our little chunky monkey is pretty big and is ready to move into size 3 diapers (it's too bad mommy stocked up on size 2 not too long ago). Owen is currently taking 7 oz. bottles about 5 times a day and the doc suggested maybe bringing that down to 6 oz./bottle and trying to stretch out his feedings a bit. In other surprising news, Owen's head is no longer ginormous compared to the rest of his body as it was at birth. If you'd like to see how Owen compares to Joey at this age, click here.

Here are a couple of pics of our guys dressed up in matching camo shorts. I had to do this while Owen still fit into his shorts!

Brotherly love

2009-03-08T15:08:00.002-05:00

California love

2009-03-04T22:33:00.004-06:00

We trekked out to the Bay Area last week to visit mommy's side of the family. We were able to introduce Owen to the family and the most special part was that he got to meet his great-grandfather who is spending some time in the U.S. The trip was a lot of fun although we were all thoroughly exhausted by the time we got home. The flights were not terrible - don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy with the two boys - but they were as well behaved as you can expect two little guys can be in a crowded and confined space. Click here to see all of our pictures from the trip - below are some highlights of the visit:

Owen with his great-grandfather

Daddy and Joey looking out onto Half Moon Bay.

Joey vs. really big tree.

A family photo after eating an awesome sushi dinner.

We originally took this picture because I insisted on having a picture of Owen on his first trip. Brian didn't mean to capture us in the photo but I think this is a good illustration of just how tired we all were by the end of the trip. We'll just blame it on Joey's 4:30.m. wake-up calls each morning.

Belated Christmas photo

2009-02-26T21:35:00.002-06:00

Uncle Kevin took these cute pictures of the cousins (minus Owen) during our Christmas celebration at Oma's house and finally passed them on to us (just giving you a hard time, Kevin!). Even though it's February, I just couldn't resist posting them because a.) everyone looks so happy and b.) there are very few opportunities to catch a photo of everyone sitting still!

I just realized that the last 3 blog posts show Joey hanging around little girls. I'm thinking that this early and frequent exposure to females is either going to make him the ultimate ladies' man or he may end up being that guy who the girls always think of as "the friend". I don't know which is worse...

Hannah's birthday party

2009-02-26T21:25:00.003-06:00

This past weekend Joey attended the 2nd birthday party of his good friend Hannah. The party was at one of those inflatable bouncy places and Joey had a great time playing with the birthday girl.

Hannah and Joey in the foam pit

Joey getting the hang of jumping in

Building a tower of foam blocks with some random kid. On a side note, Joey's been really interested in playing with older kids recently.

Digging into the birthday cake

The younger siblings trying to enjoy the party as best they can from their infant carriers

Joey and Bella

2009-02-26T21:08:00.003-06:00

Joey's friend Bella from Seattle was in town for a wedding this past weekend and we had a chance to get the kids together for some playtime. These two had not seen each other since last May, but through the miracle of blogging, still recognized each other and had no problems getting re-acquainted. I was a bit lazy and didn't take any good photos, but thankfully Bella's daddy did and these photos are courtesy of him.

The many faces of Owen

2009-02-19T21:08:00.002-06:00

Mima and Da came to visit their little guys this weekend and somehow Mima always manages to capture great pictures while she's here...

"Food coma Owen"

"Caught by the papparazzi Owen"

"Whatcha lookin' at Owen"

"Giggles"

And here's Owen saying, "thank you for putting me back in my favorite place in the whole wide world...I'll be asleep in about 2 minutes..." without saying a word.

Sesame Street Live

2009-02-19T20:48:00.005-06:00

Later in the day on Valentine's Day, Joey and mommy went on a date to see Sesame Street Live. It was actually a double date with Joey's friend Hannah and her mommy. It was a fun time for all and a great way for mommy and Joey to have some quality bonding time.

Mommy and her handsome date.

Joey and Hannah sucking on their heart-shaped suckers waiting for the show to start.

Mommy did not forget the lesson we learned at Playhouse Disney Live...popcorn saves the day yet again!

Elmo is mesmerizing...

Elmo and his friends - turns out mommy doesn't know any of their names.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-18T22:04:00.004-06:00

This past Saturday on Valentine's Day, Joey and daddy let mommy sleep in while they prepped a surprise breakfast. Joey has as of late become very interested in helping out in the kitchen and daddy did a great job of assigning him some fun tasks:

Step 1: Pour milk into pancake mix

Step 2: Whisk it good.

Step 3: Add blueberries. Joey's tip: It's absolutely crucial that they be added only one at a time!

The finished product...beautiful and tasty!

Owen is 3 months old!

2009-02-13T20:38:00.002-06:00

My how time flies! Owen turned 3 months old today on Friday the 13th. Despite the creepy date, we had a fine day. This morning mommy had one wisdom tooth extracted. Then tonight we celebrated with some McDonald's (high class) and chocolate covered strawberries. Owen decided to stick to his regular diet of baby formula.

The sweetest thing

2009-02-06T13:33:00.002-06:00

A sweet moment between Daddy and Owen during bathtime. The sound of a baby cooing is the best sound in the whole world!

Super Bowl weekend

2009-02-02T18:52:00.003-06:00

Since we knew that we'd be eating all day Sunday during the Super Bowl festivities, we decided to get out of the house on Saturday for some fresh air and exercise. We packed a picnic lunch and headed over to a nearby park.

First on the agenda? Eating, of course!

Joey is one with nature...

Super Bowl Sunday...chips, dips and Shiner. Joey is ever the Texas boy!

Owen is so excited that his first Super Bowl was such an exciting game!

4 years and counting!

2009-01-29T18:43:00.000-06:00

Brian and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a date night at Austin Land and Cattle...yum! Although Joey was asleep by the time we got home, Owen was still awake and ready to party with mommy and daddy.

My dear hubby got an almost-replica of the bride's cake from our wedding and some beautiful flowers for the special occasion...

Owen and daddy about to cut into the cake...

Goldie's last road trip

2009-01-25T18:32:00.000-06:00

About a month ago we decided that our family had outgrown Goldie, our Ford Explorer (guess what color it was??), so we started the search for the perfect minivan. In the midst of the search and negotiation process, we took Goldie to Dallas to visit family and friends. Mommy drove on the way there and daddy sat in the backseat wedged in between the two carseats and we swapped seats on the trip back. The trip definitely confirmed for us that we needed to move on to a bigger vehicle. Here are a few shots of mommy and her boys in the backseat to commemorate the fun times we had with Goldie...

Joey's lunch date

2009-01-21T14:17:00.003-06:00

When we made plans to have lunch with our friends the McKinneys this weekend, we thought it would just be a nice family get-together. For Joey, though, it turned out to be a date with their little girl Jaci.

Things started off innocently enough as Joey makes small talk...

After the meal Jaci allows Joey to give her a goodbye hug...

Then things started getting a little out of hand. Seriously, this kiss looks so real it kind of scares me!

Jaci's big brother Drew finally comes over to break things up...

Owen says, "I was asleep for the whole lunch so my parents forgot to take any pictures of me. But here I am wide awake and happy hanging out at home. Just thought you guys would want to see what I look like now!"

Owen's 2-month well check

2009-01-16T22:04:00.004-06:00

Owen had his 2-month well check today where he received 6 vaccinations - 3 injections and 1 oral. The little guy was a champ with the shots. Here are his latest stats:

Weight: 13 lbs., 15 oz. (90-95th percentile)
Length: 23 1/4" (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 41.4 cm (75th - 90th percentile)

Daddy took the day off today for an extended long weekend (he'll be home on Monday too for MLK). In the morning, mommy and Joey went on a playdate to Inflatable Wonderland (sorry, no pictures as I was too busy following Joey around trying to make sure he didn't get a concussion from being knocked down by the older kids who were running around at 100mph). Anyhoo, daddy stayed at home with Owen and coaxed some adorable smiles out of him!!!

2 months old!

2009-01-14T10:04:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was our baby Owen's 2-month birthday...absolutely incredible how quickly time flies! We have his 2-month well check on Friday so I will update with his stats then, but for now here are some pictures of our cutie.

p.s. Come visit us if you want a chance to squeeze those chubby cheeks!

Some of you have asked if I think Owen looks like Joey did as a baby. I do think they have a lot of similarities, but looking at these two pictures side by side (L-Owen, R-Joey) show just how different they are.

Some differences that we've observed so far:

Skin tone - You can't tell it from these pictures, but Owen has much fairer skin than Joey does. Joey has an olive complexion and looked tan almost from the get-go. Owen has much more of a pink look to him and when he gets angry, he turns bright red.
Eyes - We can't tell exactly what color Owen's eyes are, but they're not as dark as Joey's. We've definitely had to use red-eye reduction on Owen's pictures which is something we never have to do with Joey.
Hair - Joey came out with a head full of black hair but by 2 months it had started falling out and when it started growing back, it was a little lighter and now it is much lighter than it was at birth. Owen also came out with a head full of black hair (maybe even more than Joey) but it hasn't fallen out and in fact it looks like it's getting longer everyday. We can pretty much brush and style it however we want after his bath...any requests?
Swaddling - Joey as a baby loved being swaddled (god bless the miracle blanket) and would fall asleep as soon as we got him bundled up tight. Owen, on the other hand, almost always gets more agitated after being swaddled. He spends most of his time struggling to free himself and only after his arms are out does he fall asleep. Thank goodness his moro reflex (that startling feeling where they feel like they're falling) isn't as strong as Joey's was so it doesn't necessarily wake him up.

What time is kickoff?

2009-01-05T10:48:00.002-06:00

Our smallest Longhorn is ready for the Horns to open up a can of you know what on Ohio State tonight at the Fiesta Bowl and show the BCS voters that we should be playing for the championship. Hook 'em!

Glimpse of a smile...

2009-01-04T20:50:00.003-06:00

Owen turned 7 weeks old this past Thursday so we know he's very close to flashing his first smile at us. We were able to catch a quick photo of him yesterday teasing us with an almost smile...

And here's our chunky monkey resting on the couch. Such a cute little Buddha baby!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T20:29:00.008-06:00

Happy 2009 to all of our friends out there! Thanks so much for reading our blog in 2008 and we hope to continue keeping you entertained this year.

Once we had recovered from all our Christmas celebrations, it was time to get ready to ring in the New Year. We started off the week by visiting daddy at work so everyone could meet Owen and of course Joey had to take care of some business...

The next day, Da, Mima, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Laura, Sadie and Charlotte drove in from San Antonio. We had a delicious lunch with them at Shady Grove...

This photo was taken by Sadie who is only 4 years old...isn't she talented?

We celebrated New Year's Eve with our friends the Taps. Mommy and daddy had a great time, but the kiddos had even more fun running around all night going berserk. There was a lot of climbing on furniture, screaming, yelling and goofing around. At the end of the evening, we were even able to get everyone on the couch for a group photo...

Then on New Year's Day, we drove to San Antonio for Mima and Da's annual bowl party...

Joey spent most of the day running around in the backyard with these two lovely girls who kept a watchful eye on him (which left mommy and daddy free to watch some football)

Uncle Kevin (and many of the other party guests) took a turn holding Owen. Look how sweet Charlotte is holding Owen's hand!

The last two weeks have been a really great time celebrating the holidays with family and friends! Tomorrow it's back to the real world...daddy goes back to work and Joey goes back to school. And mommy and Owen have got lots of cleaning up to do around the house!

Owen's first bath

2008-12-30T21:43:00.002-06:00

Obviously Owen, being almost 7 weeks old (how did that happen so quickly??) has had multiple baths in his lifetime but tonight was the first time that we remembered to bring a camera into the bathroom with us. Mommy's feeling slightly guilty for not having taken some bath photos any sooner but oh well...

Miscellaneous holiday moments

2008-12-30T21:25:00.006-06:00

There have been lots of happenings around the Maguire household over the last couple of weeks so here is a quick recap of what we've been doing during our holiday break.

Cousin Sandy and her hubby Klay meet Owen

Owen and Grandma get to know each other

Joey did not have school over the holidays so we took him to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time - Daddy met us there for lunch.

Daddy and his boys lounging on Christmas morning

Mommy and Owen catch some downtime at Mima's house after all the gifts have been opened

Brian and his high school buddies Mike and Kyle with all the kids - the last time these three were together was at Kyle's wedding a few years ago and there was not a kid in sight. What a difference a few years makes...

My high school friends Jennifer and Wendy plus Jen's kids and Wendy's hubby at our annual gathering at Z Tejas

Tschoepe Family Christmas

2008-12-30T21:07:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe that another Christmas has already come and gone! This year, as with every year, we gathered with the Tschoepe family (Brian's mother's side of the family) at Oma's house on Christmas day to celebrate. It's always a fun time catching up with everyone and we always have fun with the annual traditions: generation gift exchanges, family photos, soup and tamales. Joey was in top form showing off all his party tricks - our little politician worked the room shaking hands with everyone and he also showed off his surprise face, his sad face and his sleepy face. And sweet little Owen was introduced to the family, especially all of his great aunts who took turns holding him all day. We're already looking forward to next Christmas!

Joey introducing himself to one of Oma's beloved cats.

Joey digging through Oma's toy closet - the toys in there are the same ones that daddy used to play with!

Joey learning to drive his new car - a gift from Oma, Mima and Da.

Daddy and Joey in matching outfits - a special treat for mommy.

Oma with all of her great-grandchildren

The entire Maguire clan

Playhouse Disney Live

2008-12-23T22:07:00.011-06:00

Let me begin this post by saying that Joey was barely interested in any television shows until about two months ago when mommy was in her last month of pregnancy and never felt like doing anything - especially in the morning. As a result, the television at our house stayed on more everyday and Joey slowly became immersed in the world of Playhouse Disney. It's now become part of the routine for him to watch one or two (okay, maybe three) Playhouse Disney shows every morning after breakfast. So when we found out that Playhouse Disney Live was coming to town, we just had to go!

We decided to make it special alone time for Joey to spend with mommy and daddy so while Aunt Janet stayed with Owen at home, the three of us ventured to the show. The week leading up to the show, we talked everyday about who he was going to see - Mickey and the gang, Tigger & Pooh, Handy Manny and Little Einsteins - so much so that by the time we got in the car Joey was giddy. Since Joey had never been to anything like this before, we didn't quite know what to expect, but with help from a bucket of popcorn, he made it through the entire performance without any fussing and was actually pretty amused by the show. Next year we may try the circus!

Joey catching his first glimpse of Mickey Mouse onstage

Keeping his eyes on the action onstage but definitely going in for some popcorn

Oh look...it's Tigger & Pooh!

That's exciting and all, but I need some more popcorn...

Intensely watching as Donald and the gang perform the Hot Dog Dance

And then, of course, stuffing the last bits of popcorn into his mouth

Somewhere along the way got tired of sitting with mommy and daddy and decided to sit on the steps instead

Joey cheering on his Disney friends during the grand finale

The whole gang taking a bow as they say goodbye

Sleeping cutie

2008-12-19T20:29:00.006-06:00

This video is probably one that only a parent can really enjoy (others watching may be bored to tears). But honestly there are very few things in life sweeter than a calm and peaceful sleeping baby...

Okay, well maybe the only thing sweeter than a sleeping baby is a daddy passed out in his undershirt and boxers holding a sleeping baby...

Big baby boy

2008-12-08T21:09:00.002-06:00

Today was the first day that mommy was home alone (grandma doesn't count) with the two boys and we all survived! Big bro Joey was at Mother's Day Out this morning so Owen and mommy had some special quiet time together for the first time since coming home from the hospital. I took this time to capture some photos of baby O - I can't believe how much he has grown in the last week! Not only is he getting bigger, he's also starting to straighten out his arms and legs too so now he actually fills out his clothes. And he's been feeding more often today (every 2 hours instead of the usual 3-4) so he'll probably look even bigger by the next time we post new pics.

Holiday photos

2008-12-04T13:51:00.003-06:00

We dressed up the boys in their festive red gear this morning and sat them down for a few minutes to take some holiday photos. Here's a sampling...

Owen's 2 week well-check

2008-12-04T13:50:00.005-06:00

Owen had his 2-week well check appointment earlier this week and here are his first set of stats:

Weight: 8 lbs., 6 oz.
Length: 20 1/2"
Head Circumference: 36.7 cm

Mmm Mmm BBQ!

2008-12-04T13:50:00.004-06:00

We've been lucky to have several mommies from our playgroup taking turns bringing us dinner since Owen's arrival. Last night we had bbq ribs and twice baked potato salad on the menu. Although this definitely was not Joey's first time eating bbq, it was the first time he wanted to gnaw on the ribs himself. From the looks of it, we've got a real down home Texan on our hands!

Thanksgiving weekend visitors

2008-12-01T20:16:00.003-06:00

Although we did not join in any big Thanksgiving family gatherings this year, we were fortunate to have the family come visit us at home over the long weekend.

Aunt Katie (in Austin for Aggie midnight yell) and Joey playing with puzzles.

Owen with Grandpa Charlie and Susan

Maggie, Aunt Julie and Owen

Beth, Aunt Julie and Owen

Mima and Owen

Owen and Da enjoying some snuggle time

Not to be outdone, Joey snuck in some snuggle time with Da too!

Christmas decorating

2008-11-28T20:45:00.004-06:00

We are skimping a bit on our Christmas decorations this year and using the "we have a newborn and a crazy toddler running around the house" as the likely excuse. We did decide to put up our artificial pre-lit Christmas tree and at first were not going to add any ornaments at all so as to avoid the inevitable removal of the ornaments by the aforementioned toddler. But once it was up, it looked so barren and sad that we added some cheerful red bows just for a little color. We promise to have our house back in full holiday swing next year!

Good job with the bows, Joey!

Joey helping daddy put the star on top

Joey inspecting his work...looks good to me!

Owen is 2 weeks old!

2008-11-27T20:32:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! As always, our family has so much to be thankful for. This year, we are especially thankful for Owen, our little Thanksgiving turkeyball and of course thankful for his adoring big brother Joey. It's hard to believe that Owen is already two weeks old! He is still sleeping a lot although he is starting to open his eyes more often. He is also eating very well and you can tell in the pictures that he's starting to get a little chubbier in the cheeks.

Here is Joey pointing out Owen's umbilical cord stump just moments before he gives it a big tug...not coincidentally, the stump fell out the next day.

And I couldn't resist a couple of photos of Joey sneaking to the dinner table to gobble down a huge spoonful of sweet potatoes while no one was looking...

Owen's first week

2008-11-20T19:27:00.008-06:00

Owen was born one week ago today and we're so enjoying having him home with us. He is such a sweet and pleasant baby and things on the homefront have been wonderful (especially with Mima here to help). Enjoy some of our favorite pictures from this past week!

Coming home from the hospital

Big brother Joey welcoming Owen home

Joey teaching us how to use the bulb syringe

Resting...this is literally what he does all day

Joey checking up on his baby brother

Mommy catalog shopping with her boys

Owen patiently waits while we do Joey's bedtime routine

Sponge bath!

Sweet little feet

Finally...the eyes are open!

School pictures

2008-11-19T14:21:00.005-06:00

Okay, so the title of this post should really be singular since Mr. Photographer only took a single shot of Joey on picture day, but then he managed to photoshop the one pose into four incredibly cheesy variations. And on top of that, he also managed to con me into ordering all four...

Introducing Baby Owen!

2008-11-14T09:22:00.007-06:00

Our precious baby Owen made his surprise entrance yesterday! He must have heard me begging him to come out the night before - we went to sleep for a few hours and then my water broke at 4:00a.m. We got to the hospital, got Pitocin, got an epidural (yay!!) and before I knew it, we started pushing. I guess it's true what they say about second babies just slipping out because I started pushing at 12:51p.m. and Owen was born just 16 minutes later. He is absolutely adorable (looks a lot like his big bro Joey) and so far the only issue we've had with him is keeping him awake long enough for feedings! Enjoy some pictures of our cutie below. Click here to see more (and we promise to keep posting more pics over the next few days).

Owen Christopher
November 13, 2008

1:07 p.m.
7 pounds, 8 ozs.
19.5 inches long

Quick Owen update

2008-11-12T13:39:00.002-06:00

Our doctor's appointment went well this morning...although it would have been better if they had just kept me there and checked me into the hospital! I am still 3cm dilated and am now 50% effaced. We confirmed with the hospital and are still on for induction next Tuesday, November 18th. We also did our last ultrasound today and Owen is head-down facing my spine which is exactly how the doctor wants him to stay positioned for the delivery. His weight is estimated to be about 8 pounds right now so he may be up to 8 1/2 pounds by the time he comes out - that's over 1 pound more than Joey was at birth...YIKES!!!

Waiting for Owen

2008-11-11T20:19:00.006-06:00

It really feels like we are just sitting around twiddling our thumbs and waiting for Owen to make his grand entrance these days. In fact I am so bored that we made a "test run" last Thursday night to the hospital. I swear to you I was having contractions and really did feel like I was going into labor. When we called the after-hours line for my doctor's office, the nurse told us to go ahead and head for the hospital. So we called Aunt Janet here in Austin - she's our first line of defense for staying here at the house with Joey - and then we called Mima in San Antonio to give her a heads-up. As far as the logistics go, everything went very smoothly. But as far as delivering a baby goes, we were sent home after an hour at the hospital because I was still only 3 cm dilated and experienced only 2-3 more contractions during that time.

In the meantime, we've pretty much finished working on Joey's big boy room. While he won't be moving into the room for at least a couple of months, he is really enjoying playing in it everyday. Since we've got guests coming to stay with us for the next few weeks (thank goodness for family members volunteering to help us with the boys!!!), Joey's room will be the guest room at least through the holidays. He'll stay in his crib for now and Owen will sleep in a bassinet in our room until he's about 3-4 months old. Here are a couple of pictures of the new room:

Joey's big boy bed - we upholstered the headboard ourselves!

A little table and activity center

A new dresser for Joey and some display cubbies which daddy worked diligently on hanging this past weekend.

Here's Joey testing out Owen's bassinet. Can you believe Joey was once small enough to fit in this thing??? I promise it looks a lot more gender neutral in person!

Some random photos from this evening...here's Joey giving his little brother a good night kiss!

And mommy gets a good night kiss too!

My next dr. appt. and last ultrasound is tomorrow morning so look for another update soon!

We're in the home stretch...

2008-11-05T14:17:00.003-06:00

Went to see the baby doc today and things are progressing well. I am 3 cm dilated and the doc said she could tickle Owen's head with her fingers (blech!). The doctor sounded fairly certain that I would go into labor on my own before the actual due date, but just in case I don't, we are scheduled to check into the hospital at 7:00a.m. on Tuesday, November 18th, to be induced. So the countdown is on... only 13 days to go!

My mommy has no shame

2008-11-04T12:52:00.010-06:00

Mommy went to a New Kids on the Block concert and all she brought me was this stinkin' onesie...

p.s. The only reason daddy even let me put this on was because it was worn underneath my Halloween costume where not a soul would see it.

Halloween fun!

2008-11-02T11:47:00.007-06:00

Joey had a blast this Halloween. In case you can't tell, he is dressed up as a kangaroo because baby kangaroos are called joeys...get it? His costume came with a toy kangaroo to go in the pouch but we didn't know if Joey should be wearing it since that would make him a girl kangaroo, but I digress. We took Joey trick or treating at a few houses on our street - all were neighbors that know Joey well - and then afterwards we sat in our driveway and handed out candy to all the trick or treaters. Joey's favorite part was actually putting candy in other kids' buckets. And because daylight savings time was the night after Halloween, we decided to keep Joey up later than usual to help with the time adjustment so he had fun until almost 9:00! The most amazing part was that he kept his costume on (including the headpiece) for over two hours! Below are some of our favorite pictures but you can also click here to see all our Halloween shots.

The trick or treating is about to begin! But first Joey poses for a picture with his friend from across the street, Zander. He is dressed up as a little golfer.

Joey carefully examining his loot before placing it in his pouch.

The kangaroo and a black Halloween kitty.

Joey waiting for our neighbor to come to the door. In the meantime he's a little freaked out by the light-up skulls.

Joey and his friend from down the street, Arav, who is dressed up as a lion.

Joey and his umpteenth lollipop of the day.

Coming soon!

2008-10-29T11:02:00.003-05:00

I am now 36 weeks pregnant and started my weekly dr. visits this morning. For anyone who has talked to me recently, you know that I am in full-on complaining mode and am ready to get Owen out of my belly and into my arms. The good news from today's appointment is that Owen has already dropped and I am 1 cm dilated so things could start happening at anytime. The even better news is that we will probably schedule an induction at next week's visit and the doctor may even let me be induced the week before the due date! Hmmm...I'm thinking I'll munch on some spicy buffalo wings while watching this weekend's UT vs. Tech game - maybe between the hot food and the anxiety of the game I can coax Owen out on my own...

In the meantime, here's a cute picture that Mima took this weekend at a little family gathering. I think Joey is willing Owen to stay in the belly as long as possible so that he can hog the spotlight for just a little while longer.

Pumpkins...take 2!

2008-10-23T14:04:00.003-05:00

This morning we ventured out to the pumpkin patch at Joey's school for another attempt at some pumpkin photos. We didn't get a spectacular shot, but as Joey's personal stylist, mommy was just happy with how cool the kid looked in his outfit.

Dinoland

2008-10-20T09:31:00.003-05:00

This weekend Joey and daddy went to see the Dinoland exhibit at the Zilker Botanical Gardens. When they got home, the guys both reported to mommy that the weather was great and that they really enjoyed their Saturday morning father/son bonding time. Here are a few pictures from the park...

Elgin pumpkin patch

2008-10-14T09:39:00.003-05:00

Earlier in the week Joey and mommy ventured out to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm for their annual pumpkin festival. It was a gloomy and overcast day, mommy didn't feel that great and Joey wasn't in the most excitable mood either. So while we did have fun on the tractor hayride and enjoyed looking at the animals in the petting zoo, this picture below kind of sums up our trip.

We're going to try for some better pumpkin pictures this weekend with daddy.

I missed my daddy...

2008-10-10T13:37:00.002-05:00

...this morning so I put on his glasses. What do you think? Do I look more like a mini-me version of daddy or do I look more like that little boy from Jerry Maguire?

18-month well check

2008-10-09T19:50:00.002-05:00

Joey had his 18-month well check appointment this morning and here are his latest stats:

Weight: 27 lbs., 12 oz. (75th percentile)
Length: 33 1/8" (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 50 cm (95th percentile)

Child Safety & Protection Festival

2008-09-29T09:56:00.010-05:00

This weekend our neighborhood HOA sponsored its annual Child Safety & Protection Festival. Daddy and Joey went on Saturday morning and after taking care of business (aka getting his fingerprints taken), Joey was able to partake in all the fun activities the festival had to offer...

Don't make me cuff you...

Joey enjoying the petting zoo with goats, bunnies, geese and ducks (I'm sure that smelled great).

Joey and his friend Hannah. He's wondering to himself, "Why won't she share that yummy popsicle with me? And why won't my daddy buy a popsicle for me?"

Texas Tailgater

2008-09-22T17:31:00.003-05:00

Joey attended his first UT tailgate this past weekend. We sold our game tickets but when we heard that the tailgating crowd would be a modest size due to Rice being the opponent (no offense to daddy), we thought this would be a good opportunity for Joey to be introduced to the tradition of Texas football tailgating. The loud music and crazy (er, inebriated) people were a little much for him at first, but once he got over the shock of the new surroundings he actually had a great time. Hook 'em!

Joey and daddy representing for Shotgun 30.

Munching on some grilled chicken.

Okay, now let's try the jambalaya!

Hmmm...have I overlooked any other food?

In front of the historic Scholz Garden on the walk back to the car.

Owen Magu

2008-09-19T13:35:00.006-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted any news on Baby Magu #2. Since our last update, we've decided on Owen Christopher for the name. Owen has no sentimental signifigance - it's just a name that both Brian and I like. The origin of the name is Celtic and it means 'young warrior'. Christopher is Brian's dad's middle name and the name that he goes by so we thought that would be a nice shout-out to Da (that's what the grandkids call him).

Because the umbilical cord issue that was diagnosed earlier in the pregnancy can sometimes cause a baby to not grow at a normal rate and also can cause problems in the development of some vital organs, we've been doing ultrasounds each month to closely monitor baby Owen. We are happy to report that Owen is right on track with his measurements and according to the doctor, he has a 'beautiful brain' and 'pretty kidneys'. As of this week (week 30), Owen weighs about 3 lbs., 6 ozs.

Owen would not let us see his face at this week's appointment (he was face down with both arms blocking his face), but at last month's appointment, the ultrasound tech was able to get a pretty good glimpse of his face in 3D. Already a cutie like his big bro!

p.s. For those of you who really know Brian, I know you're thinking that we're naming our child after his man-crush. Believe me, I have my suspicions too but I haven't been able to get him to admit to it so we'll just leave it at that.

p.p.s. Not to be outdone, here's a picture of me with the cute Wilson brother. I guess if we have a third boy we'll name him Luke???

Chop Joey

2008-09-19T13:35:00.001-05:00

Dumb luck or extremely advanced motor skills? You be the judge...

School update - Week 2

2008-09-18T20:25:00.006-05:00

Joey is starting to enjoy school a bit more this week...well, at least he's not crying as much as before! Here's a quick recap:

Monday
Four days away from school must have wiped out his memory of the prior week because he was still pretty happy on the car ride and even did a great job of walking into the school on his own. It was once we walked through the doors when he immediately turned to me and wanted to be held. The drop-off was predictably miserable as the big tears started rolling down his face as soon as we put him in his chair. I called the school twice that day to check in on him. The first time was around 10:00 and the teacher said his crying had turned into a slight whimpering. My second call was around lunchtime and this time the teacher told me it was two thumbs up and that he was quietly enjoying his food.

The comment card in his backpack for that day read:
Lunch...I ate everything
Disposition...Inquisitive
I liked...Barney books
Additional comments...Joey had a better day

Wednesday
By this day Joey recognized the school as soon as we turned into the parking lot. He was a bit hesitant about getting out of the car and demanded to be carried into the school. The drop-off was awful as he started crying as soon as the teacher poked her head out the door to say hello. Again it was huge teardrops, an angry red face and the crazy rolling R thing in the back of his throat (like he's speaking Spanish) that Joey does when he's really mad. I did not call to check in on him but at pick-up the teacher said that he stopped crying shortly after drop-off and that playing outside and playing with trucks in the room kept him busy all day.

The comment card in his backpack for that day read:
Lunch...I ate everything
Disposition...Inquisitive (still wondering what they mean by that)
I liked...outside
Additional comments...Had a good day

So we will just keep on keepin' on until that blissful day when Joey gleefully rushes into his classroom in such a hurry that he forgets to give mommy a goodbye kiss. I'm just thankful that we got Joey into school now so that he hopefully gets into a good routine before his little brother arrives (will post update on baby #2 later this week).

W-O-R-S-T mommy ever!

2008-09-12T14:28:00.004-05:00

As if this week hasn't been traumatic enough for Joey with school starting, yesterday mommy put the cherry on top by accidentally locking Joey in the car in a shopping center parking lot. Before you freak out, you should know that Joey is completely fine (physically - who knows about his mental state???) and that luckily I had the car running with the A/C on full blast so the heat wasn't an issue either. Long story short, we'd just had lunch with our friends Kelly and her son Cristian, we said our goodbyes and I buckled Joey into his carseat. I had the car keys in hand and Joey managed to click on one of the buttons - apparently it was the lock button. I shut Joey's door and from the front passenger seat (the door was open b/c I'd put the diaper bag in that seat), started the ignition and turned on the A/C to cool off the car. I then closed that door and went around to the driver side door, pulled on the handle and realized I had locked myself out. At which time I went into full-on panic mode. Thankfully Kelly and Cristian were still getting settled into their car so I quickly waved them over to help. Kelly called 311 (my cell phone was in the diaper bag which was in the car) and they dispatched a fire truck to come unlock the car. I have to give props to emergency services - they sent over a full-on fire truck with the sirens blaring and when they pulled to a stop in front of Texadelphia, out jumped at least 5 firefighters. It was a little embarrassing, but also comforting to know that this type of help is readily available to dumb mommies like me. Anyways, they quickly unlocked the car door and I was able to give Joey a big I'm sorry hug before getting into the car (one of the firemen made some comment about holding the driver side door open for me just in case...ha ha ha) and driving home. Joey was a complete trooper while trapped inside the car. It was funny to him for the first 5 minutes when Kelly, Cristian and I were smiling and making faces at him from the outside. But for the last 5-10 minutes, I think he started wondering why we were all standing outside and he was inside the car alone. Even though Joey probably never knew what the heck was going on, I would like to issue a public apology to my baby and promise that this will never, ever happen again to him (and hopefully never to his little bro either). Plus if mommy's guilt builds up too much over the weekend, he might find a huge new train set waiting for him at home after school on Monday...

School update - Day 2

2008-09-10T14:02:00.002-05:00

One of the moms in our playgroup warned me that the second day of school would probably be worse than the first day and she was definitely right on. This morning's drop-off started out okay. Joey had his backpack on and walked himself into the building and into the classroom. He sat down in his little chair and started eating Fruit Loops and Goldfish with no problem so mommy got a kiss goodbye and walked out. By the time I got to the outside window to peek in, though, he was already crying and screaming but I figured it couldn't last long. When I went to pick him up this afternoon, the teacher said that he cried all day with the exception of lunchtime where he nibbled on his food. He started crying again after lunch so she rocked him to sleep from 12:00 until he woke up crying again at 12:45. Now we're home and of course Joey's perfectly fine and normal. We finished his lunch when we got home and now he's in his crib - I might be pushing my luck but I'd love if he would take even a short little nap even though he's already gotten some shut eye today. No more school this week so we'll have to wait until next Monday to see if things get even worse before they get better!

Wedding weekend in SA

2008-09-09T18:54:00.009-05:00

We spent this past weekend in San Antonio for a family wedding. We had a busy itinerary with lots of family activities planned around the wedding but we also made time to spend some downtime walking along the Riverwalk by our hotel. Click here to see all of our pictures from this weekend - below are some highlights...

Joey and daddy watching the ducks along the Riverwalk.

Joey is very excited to see the barge floating down the river!

Joey and his cousin Charlotte playing peek-a-boo.

Joey and Mima

Joey and the little ladies (aka his cousins)

Lounging in the sun - almost conked out...

Joey in the car - completely zonked from a busy weekend!

Update - we survived our first day!

2008-09-08T13:27:00.003-05:00

Well, I don't know who missed Joey more while he was at school today - mommy or his great grandma. Neither one of us knew what to do with ourselves so we both just moped around the house doing absolutely nothing. We were in the car by 12:20 (which is way too early) heading to Joey's school. When I got to the classroom, I peeked through the cut-out in the door and saw that one of the teachers, Ms. Maureen, was holding Joey in the rocking chair. When 1:00 finally came around, she brought Joey to me and I could see that he had some tears on his face. She said that he did great all the way through lunch but after that he was really tired and started crying. It makes sense because at home Joey always goes down for his nap between 12:00 and 12:30 so we'll have to work on pushing that back just a bit. But both teachers said that Joey did not cry at all when I dropped him off (don't quite know how to feel about that) and that he was great overall. I just looked in his lunchbox and every single morsel of food is gone so he obviously had no issue with his appetite. It's now 1:30 and Joey is already sound asleep in his crib having survived his first day of school. Yay for my big boy!

First day of school!

2008-09-08T09:23:00.002-05:00

My little big boy started his first day of Mother's Day Out this morning. He'll be going every Monday and Wednesday from 9:00a.m. - 1:00p.m. We spent this past weekend in San Antonio (pictures of that to come later) where Joey did not sleep very well so as luck would have it, he chose this morning to sleep in. I finally had to wake him up at 8:00 and even then he was still groggy and not wanting to get out of bed. Our getting ready routine was a bit rushed as a result, but I did manage to take a couple of pictures before we left the house.

The drop-off at the school went pretty well. When we got there, Joey went and sat in his little seat to enjoy a morning a snack of Fruit Loops and Goldfish. Mommy got a kiss goodbye and then was banished from the room. Joey was not crying when I walked out and when I peeked through the window a minute later, he was still okay. I can't wait to hear the details from the teachers this afternoon. Mommy did shed a few tears walking back towards the car, but I think I'm better now. Who knows...I may just end up spending my free time today sitting at the computer looking back at all of Joey's baby pictures.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-02T12:50:00.003-05:00

We had a restful Labor Day weekend hanging out at the pool in the mornings and then at home in the afternoons. We did manage to stir up a little rain one evening and Joey had a chance to play around in the drizzle. Looking back on our weekend photos, it seems that Joey spent quite a bit of time without a shirt on...pretty classy.

Adorable little footprints in the rain

Naked baby enjoying a Thomas video on the computer

Half naked baby enjoying some quiet reading time

Joey and his grandpa Charlie checking out a fish pond

Jungle Java

2008-08-21T14:56:00.003-05:00

It's still kind of gray and gloomy outside so earlier this week we ventured to a new place called Jungle Java. It has two indoor playscapes - one for toddlers and one for older kids - and a little cafe area where parents can enjoy drinks and sandwiches. Joey loved, loved, loved the toddler playscape and for about two hours would just climb up the steps, go down the slide and repeat (see video below). Mommy loved it too because Joey was completely independent and self-sufficient and all I had to do was sit and watch. We will definitely be returning soon!

Sunday funday in the park

2008-08-18T13:52:00.003-05:00

We're expecting rain in these parts over the next few days and thankfully that's caused the heat to subside just a bit. It was really pleasant outside yesterday morning so we ventured out to Zilker Park for a leisurely train ride on the Zilker Zephyr. Joey's been crazy about trains lately so we thought he'd go nuts for the Zephyr, but his enthusiasm didn't quite live up to our expectations. However, he did sit calmly through the entire ride just sucking on his thumb and checking out the scenery so who are we to complain?

After the train ride we spent a little time on the playground and of course the swings brought out Joey's signature smile.

Then Joey took daddy for a little drive on the big ol' vintage fire truck.