When Dandelions Aren't Annoying

This is the time of year that those pesky dandelions start showing up in yards around town. Some yards are more "blessed" than others. Some yards look like a soft-fuzzy and I just want to pet it!!! Those fluffy balls of seeds have always been my nemesis. Josh used to make fun of me because I would have a "spray" to kill weeds and bugs or treat plants with certain chemicals for optimal growth. I would always say, "Just spray it with something." (and it will be "fixed") So when I saw fuzzy dandelion seed balls popping up, I would pray the wind would blow the seeds to the neighbor's yard. Whatever you do, don't blow the balls of seeds!!!

Well. Yea. That all changed when one of Keagan's favorite books (I am a Bunny, by Richard Scarry) shows a bunny named Nicholas blowing dandelion seeds. When we get to this point of the book, Keagan starts making blowing sounds. It's great! So when those first fuzzy balls started popping up, I threw caution to the wind and showed Keagan how to blow dandelion seeds into the air (and, yes I admit it, I directed him towards the neighbors.) I was hoping to get some awesome pictures of him actually participating in spreading the "joy" of dandelions, but he much preferred to shake the balls of seeds. And he got mad when I tried to make him actually blow them. But we had a good time anyways. Oh. And now, there are dandelions EVERYWHERE (no kidding). But there's a spray for that!

Happy Spring, everyone! And Happy Dandelion Killing Season. (But before you do, blow a few and allow yourself to be a kid again...it is very liberating!)

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A gentle reminder: I am walking in the March of Dimes walk on May 5th and am raising money to fund research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And your donation will also be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care (this is where I was directly touched). I sincerely hope that you will consider giving to this organization. You can support me and my team here:

http://www.marchforbabies.org/teamowens

And to see my original blog post with more information, go here.

Thank you again to those who have generously given. You have not only supported me, but you have supported babies and families that you don't even know.

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Shameless Request

If you've followed my blog for any length of time (or if you are privileged enough to know me personally... :-) haha) then you know that I gave birth to a preemie baby nearly 2 years ago. You might also know just how passionate I am about education regarding prematurity, breastfeeding for healthy babies (preemie and not), and an organization called March of Dimes. There is not a philanthropy I feel more passionate about than March of Dimes. I didn't know a whole lot about the organization until a couple of weeks after my sweet Keagan was born 4 weeks early, unable to breathe on his own, and in an incubator in a NICU two and a half hours away from our home. Once we got home, I realized just how "behind the scenes," so-to-speak, March of Dimes was in the health of my baby, other premature babies, and even babies born full-term and healthy.  They really are amazing. 

No new family should ever have to go through even a tenth of what ours went through when Keagan was born, and our story isn't really even that "tragic." I am again walking in the March for Babies on May 5th, and fundraising to support March of Dimes. I sincerely hope that you will open your pocketbook and donate to our team, not just for Keagan but for all babies. Please go to http://www.marchforbabies.org/teamowens to donate to our team. 

 

The first time I held my tiny son, he was nearly 24 hours old. This is also the last time I held him before he was transferred to a hospital 2-1/2 hours away.

How I saw Keagan when I finally arrived at the NICU. 

We had to learn how to gently touch our baby so as not to over-stimulate him.

 Hard to see how beautiful our son was with the CPAP mask on. 

Keagan not only received breathing support, but had to have treatment for his legs/hips to encourage proper development and his head to prevent torticollis due to a flattened side.

The NICU nurses are special people, and were spectacular to our son and family.

What our sweet preemie looks like today.  A glowing, happy, and very healthy little boy.

So, that is our story in a picture-nutshell. Please, visit my page and make a secure donation.  Your gift supports March of Dimes research and programs that promote healthy babies, and help those that are not.  http://www.marchforbabies.org/teamowens

Thank you to those who have already donated. I am so very appreciative of your support!

Name and Number, please

This weekend marked 20 weeks into this pregnancy.  Twenty weeks = Half Way Point.  Whaaaaaaaaaat??  It hardly seems possible that we are already half-way through this process.  And it scares me because I haven't done ANYTHING to prepare for this baby!!!  Well, that's not entirely true...we have done some brainstorming and have talked about a lot...but haven't actually DONE anything! Oh well.  It will happen.

Twenty weeks means it is time for some belly "bump" (if you want to call it that...it is more like a full-fledged pregnant belly!) pictures. This month, we were on the road again. Josh ended up getting us last-minute tickets to see NCAA playoff games in Louisville. It was insanely hard to pass up this opportunity: both our alma maters in the NCAA tourney, back-to-back games, only 4 hours away.  For some serious basketball fans, it was on like donkey kong! (as the college kids say...or said way back when)  At first I wasn't feeling the expense or spontaneity of the situation, but then I was reminded how very rare this situation was...and how you only live once! :)  Twenty week pics were taken in Owensboro when we dropped Keagan off at Gama and Poppy's for the day. 

In other baby news....sweet Baby Boy #2 has a name!! We finally settled/agreed on something and we are so very excited about the uniqueness.  Keagan's brother will be Finley James Owens. Finley means fair-headed/blonde warrior.  I love this because (by sheer coincidence!) it kinda goes with Keagan's name, which means small, fiery thinker and is also Irish in origin.  Josh is pretty set on shortening Finley to "Finn" which I like a whole lot, but I have been calling him Finley.  So I guess it will all pan out once he's born!

Now back to the NCAA tournament...a definite highlight of our week...possible year! (no, seriously.)  Josh and I absolutely love March Madness.  I wouldn't say it is all-encompassing of our lives, but we do our best to fit our schedules around the basketball games on television.  Honestly, I never dreamed we would get to go to a tournament game, let alone two games of schools that we love.  So when we got tickets we went all-out! 

Tassie and Joey were also up in Louisville for the games, so we met them for a drink (or, in my case, some cake) before the game.  Check out Tassie's toes...you know you're die-hard when you get a pedicure and pick UK blue polish! :)

BEHOLD!  Our tickets!!  Little did we know when we bought these (the day BEFORE) just how spectacular our seats would be.  We were TEN rows up from the court.  NO JOKE.  We about crapped when we realized how lucky we were.  Can we say Cloud 9???  I don't think the grins left our faces the whole 5+ hours we were there!

Because the games were in Kentucky, we ran into a bunch of people we knew from school...either from MSU or from UK.  It was really neat!  I managed to get some pics with a few people I knew were going...the others we ran into were just luck!  The first pic is with my friend, Jenny, from PT school.  It was fun to catch up with her before the games.  Then we met up with Stephanie and Christian, sorority sisters from MSU, and Steph's fiance Jason. It was lots of fun, but we didn't have enough time to socialize at half-time...quick hugs, quick catch-ups, and a quick picture...die-hard fans can't miss the game!  So good to see you all!  See you in Atlanta?  New Orleans??

By the time UK played (they were the second game) the arena looked like Rupp Arena...a literal sea of blue. Iowa State fans were severely out-numbered, out-cheered, and the team was out-played. Darn their luck.  Because we were cheering for two different teams, we had to do a t-shirt quick-change between games. 

So much fun.  I told Josh I am ready to go to Atlanta now to watch the Cats play Indiana.  That's this coming weekend.  He didn't seem so sure, but you never know!!  Thursday morning there wasn't even a thought in our minds to go to these games...but it happened!  Sadly, MSU didn't win...but they played their hearts out and gave us a wonderful game to watch.  UK won.  And we are hoping they will win it all.  Who knows...I might even be going to New Orleans for that game.  This new found spontaneity makes me think we can do anything!!