Fun Filled Weekend

This last weekend Olivia's school had a "trunk-n-treat" where all the church members decorate their trunks and pass out candy for the kids. They also have a train, games and food. We had a GREAT time. Here are some pics. Olivia's favorite thing was the vampire teeth she got! What a little princess. We are going to have candy coming out of our ears after this week. Between what she got this weekend, she has a fall festival at school tomorrow and Halloween night on Wednesday. Thank goodness David and I are here to help her out :o)

My Little Monkey :o)

Olivia and Ashley

Olivia and Clayton

The TEETH!!

My friend Natalie also came into town for a visit. We spent all day Saturday catching up and doing a little shopping. Here's a pic of her with Reece.

Family Resemblance?

I thought it would be fun to compare pics of the kids at the same ages to see how much they look alike. I'm thinking the older Reece gets, the less he looks like she did. What do you guys think?

Olivia / Reece Newborn

Olivia / Reece 1 mo






Olivia / Reece 2 mo










Olivia / Reece 3 mo





Olivia / Reece 4 mo

Olivia / Reece 5 mo

Who Needs a Babysitter ??

Okay, no one turn us into Child Protective Services, but David discovered the best toddler baby sitting devise! PLASTIC SHRINK WRAP..... Mom's keep this in mind when you need a little time alone :o)

Only kidding of course.....

Splish Splash

Well, Reece has outgrown his plastic tub already. He is such a CHUNK! I went ahead and bought an inflatable one which they are "suppose" to be able to sit up unassisted in to use...however, all the other plastic tubs are the size of the one we had. I just bought a non slip mat and lay him back. He LOVES it! Such a typical guy, no matter how bad of a mood he is in, get him naked and in a hot bath and he's a ball of laughs. Here are a couple of pics. Sister also assists in the bath ritual. She is usually the entertainment, but also does some foot scrubbing from time to time.

A day in the life...

Okay, so it's been a week and I haven't posted...that's because I feel like I don't have much to inform everyone on. I keep sitting down at the computer, but nothing comes to me. Here's a traditional day in the Cowan house....

-Wake 6ish for the day with Reece

-Olivia wakes up at 7

-David shortly after that

-Eat breakfast, and get dressed for school

-Drive to school

-Come home watch Ellen and the View

-Do laundry / dishes / or clean

-Watch Food Network

-Pick Olivia up from school at 1pm

-Play then nap (if I'm lucky)

-Eat dinner around 5pm

-Play

-Bath (for both kidos)

-Bedtime between 7 and 9 (depending on nap that day)

-I then read for a bit and go to bed

This is what's been going on lately :o)

We did have a fall festival for the neighborhood this weekend, which went okay. Reece enjoyed the festivities for about 20 min. so I let David stay and play the games with Olivia. They had pony rides (which she chose to skip), games and our fav. cotton candy. Here are a couple of pics. I'll have more to post as the month goes on. We have lots of fun things coming up so stay tuned.

Reece's Dr. Appt

Well, not too much to report on the visit with the Hematologist yesterday. Might I take this opportunity to express how MAD it makes me when you go to the doctor (especially with an infant) and wait for an hour in the exam room for someone to come see you. Thank goodness Reece was on his best behaviour yesterday and actually took a nap while we waited....but still!!


Anywho, the doctor pretty much told us that we are still in the "honeymoon" stage at this point. Usually the first joint bleeds don't show up until 6 -9mo of age. She went over how to identify a joint bleed early and what to do if he has one. They are also going to have us order the factor (the synthetic protein) to keep on hand so if we do go into the hospital we will take it with us. This will prevent us having to wait for insurance approval to get treatment there. She said she does want to check his factor levels, but doesn't want to risk causing a bleed taking blood. She said if we go into the hospital for treatment which will require a needle prick anyway, we will get it then. When he was in the NICU his level was less than 1% factor level in his blood, and she said most likely it has not changes much. She did say though that if it is above 5% he may not have spontaneous bleeds. So we're hoping for that. We will go back in January and do another assessment.

PS - Reece had his first taste of infant oatmeal yesterday. Of course, I think he was hoping for a steak, but he really loved it. Not that I'm surprised, he LOVES to eat as you can see :o)

Santa Fe

Well, we're back! David and I had such a great time in Santa Fe this weekend! His company sponsored a trip and all the spouses were invited. I'll be honest, I assumed there would be a lot of turquoise jewelry and some Navajo blankets and that would be the extent of Santa Fe. I was SO wrong. We took a tour the first day and the lady gave us some much great info. There is a ton of art galleries, and more historical sites than you can count. The oldest church in the US is there, for you Jeopardy buffs. Built in 1610, who would have thought?? While we were there we stayed at a Resort/Spa which was my first time. I had a facial and David and I did a couples massage. I also got 3 nights of uninterrupted sleep...that was my highlight :o) We did a horse back trip up one of the mountains by the resort which had an incredible view from the top. The food and night life was also great. The highlight for David was the antique car show going on Friday night. We took as many pictures of the cars there, as we did on the entire rest of the trip :o) Bottom line is we will be going back some day. We didn't have enough time to do all the things we wanted to, but it was relaxing and we had great company. What more could I ask for? Here are some pics from the trip.

Also, Reece has his next appointment with the Hematologist tomorrow. I'm not sure what to expect, so I'm a little anxious. Please keep us in your thought tomorrow. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Horse back tour group

David and I before dinner

At Dinner

View from our room at sunrise

View inside one of the churches

My Big Girl

Well, Miss Olivia did SO well at the doctor yesterday. She weighs 28lbs and is 39in tall which puts her in the 5% on weight and 10% in height. I was so proud of her when they did the shots. The doctor told her she was going to get six of them, but then gave her a coupon to get a free scoop of ice cream at the store across the street. And as any parent knows, ice cream makes everything better! She cried for the 30 sec. it took the nurses to give them, then she was ready for the ice cream. I was so proud of her! Then of course we had to get her a little "something" for being so good. Much to our dismay she picked out Barbie Fairy Princess movie, which we've now seen 4 times since last night :o) The good news is, that since we had all the shots at one time, she won't have to get any more shots until she is 11. Thank goodness.


Here is a video update of Reece. Please excuse my voice :o) I was trying to get him to smile for the camera :o)

Catching Up

VACATION TIME
Okay, so it's been awhile since I posted anything, sorry. It's been a little crazy around here. David and I are leaving this week to go on a vaca to Santa Fe, NM and (for those who know me), I've already started my spreadsheets of "to do" items before we leave. My mom and dad are watching the kids while we're gone. I go between being SO excited, to slightly panicked. This will be the first time away from Reece so that's always scary. I also feel so bad for my mom since she has no idea how much fun he can be :o) Olivia on the other hand is SO looking forward to going since the JEEP is there. In addition to getting the kids ready, I of course, had to do some shopping to get ready. It's been so long since I bought new fun cloths, and not just knit Capri's for doing mommy stuff. We're going to do a horse back riding tour, several trips to the spa, and great dinners. It's a work thing for David, but all the spouses are going. I'm really excited!

SOCCER UPDATE
On a lighter note, the post I had a couple of weeks ago about soccer....well it was short lived. After that first time, Olivia has refused to go back. We get all dressed up, get Reece loaded up, and get into the building, and she starts crying and hanging on me. She tells me, "the mean boy who throws stuff is there" and refuses to go in. On Friday night I finally talked her in to going out and playing, however, on the first drill she tripped and fell, and came running off the field. SO, I guess we're just not ready yet :o( We'll see if next spring she my like to try something else.

SHUTTERFLY PICS

Okay, Missy, you requested a link to the shutterfly website for our family pictures, and I've finally figured it out :o) See on the right hand side for a link. I'll be adding new pics soon, but for now this is all I have.

4 Yr. CHECK UP
Okay, this afternoon is Olivia's 4yr. check up which I have been dreading for weeks now. She is scheduled to get 6 shots (including her flu shot). I can't wait to see how that goes today. I envision David and I sitting on her while the nurses leisurely give her the injections. She does know she's getting them, and I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. Wish us luck! I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Stay tuned....