Happy birthday, Owen!

Three kids has proven to put blogging farther down on my list of priorities than it was before! Here are photos of Owen's birthday. We had lots of fun, and it was a joy to celebrate Owen. Clearly, he was worn out by the end of the day. Thank you to everyone who came!

I did do the 3 year old interview on time, I just never took the time to blog it. So here's what he said:

What's your favorite color? Uhh, yellow! Second favorite? Black.

Who's your best friend? Landon.

What's your favorite animal? Giraffe

When you grow up, what do you want to be? Mmm, a daddy. What do you want to do for a job? Drive my kids to a monster, but I would fight it. Because it would try to eat us. Why do you want to be a daddy? To make sure my kids don't get hurt by a bad guy.

What's your favorite movie? Lightning McQueen! [Cars] What do you like about Lightning McQueen? When he races.

What is your favorite book? Goodnight Moon.

What makes you happy? Kisses and hugs. *kisses me*

What makes you sad? Spankings and dreams that are scary.

What is your favorite food? Broccoli.

What is your least favorite food? Uh, ants. What real food? [he thinks for a long time and could not think of anything he didn't like to eat].

What's your favorite song to sing? Jesus loves me.

What games do you like to play? Running around at church.

Who is the coolest person on earth? Jesus! When he comes in the house I'm going to run to him and hug him.

What is your favorite thing to learn about? Jesus! What do you like to learn about Jesus? That He loves us.

What is the thing that you do the best? Bounce houses!

If you could go anywhere, where would you go? To the zoo.

3 words to describe you. A sweet boy. Playing games. Playing with Norah!

When you were little you used to ____? Say "wa-pbpbpb"

What's your favorite snack? Crackers

What's your best memory? Lord our lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, you set your glory in the heavens. [He must have remembered that it is called a "memory" verse]

If you could have one wish, what would it be? Watch TV

What is your favorite thing about being a brother? Changing Norah's diapers. You don't change Norah's diapers. Yes I do!

What's your favorite thing about Mommy? Hugs!

What's your favorite thing about Daddy? Hugs.

Favorite thing about Lucy? Hugs

Favorite thing about Norah? Hugs

What's your favorite thing about Owen? Playing games

What did you love about being two? Picking peaches when they were ready!

If you could tell a lot of people something really smart, what would you tell them? That I love them.

Things I want to remember about Owen at this age (some of these I've noted before and some I'm thinking of about him currently):

If he's fussing and/or whining and I ask him for a hug or kiss, he'll stop, hug and kiss me, then pick up crying like he never stopped.

After Norah was born, he would want to play around and be rough, then remember to be gentle and ask, "are you okay? Are you still healing?" He remembered for a long time, about 4 months after she was born to be gentle with my tummy.

He'll sometimes stop what he's doing and ask me to pray with him, especially if he remembers someone or something to pray for.

John put Owen to bed one night and said, "Goodnight, Owen. You're a good boy." Owen said, "goodnight." John walked out of the room and Owen called him back in and said, "Daddy? You're a good daddy."

His imagination is so entertaining. I can't think of a lot of examples, but some are him seeing banana with the skin split and he said it was smiling at him, or currently he has an imaginary "other house" that has motorcycles and tractors and a trampoline and any other thing he can think of that he may want there. He also asks what if often. What if the store ran out of food? What a giant came to step on us? What if there were no more clouds?, etc.

A few weeks ago I got them in the car after coming out of the store and was putting the bags away and he asked, "Can I have some pancakes while you're doing that?"

He's the worst secret keeper ever.

He loves to bake with me.

If he sees a yard sale or really anything going on outside he'll say, "Look! That looks like a fun party!"

His love for Norah. It is so sweet and an answer to prayer. I tell him often that when Norah was growing in my tummy I prayed every day that God would make Owen a sweet, loving and kind big brother, and God did! He'll point her out and say, "Look at her, she's so cute!" and hugs her and kisses her often. He'll hear her crying and go to her and talk to her and play with her. If she stops crying he'll get really excited and say, "She's not crying! I did it!" He tells her, "hey baby girl, I love you!" and "you love me, don't you baby?" I'm so thankful for his sweetness toward her.

He's so outgoing. Definitely more than any other family member at this point. He will talk to complete strangers, asking their names and telling them all about himself.

Prayers for him: that he will be kind, and love others. That he will love God above anything or anyone else. That will have wisdom and love truth above being correct. That he will be humble. That he will have discernment. That he will continue to be so open and loving and often generous.

Owen, God has blessed me so greatly by giving me you. You are my joyful boy. You have taught me so much. My relationship with you has strengthened my relationship with the Lord. I'm so proud of who you are becoming. You brighten my days and bring joy to our family.