Another month has flown by and it has been another good one. Owen is growing so much and I just love watching him learn new things. He is so busy but so much fun! He loves to sit on his rocker in his room and read his books. He will point at a book for us to hand him until he has a big pile of books in his lap.
Dan had a big beard for a long time and we all got pretty used to it. He kept it trimmed really well and I liked it. He finally shaved it a few weeks ago and Owen looked at him funny for a while, but we love his shaved face now!
The biggest news for us this month was that we found out that Owen is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts. He has always had some eczema patches and rough skin, but after he had been drinking cow’s milk for about a month, his skin was getting worse, and he started getting big welts on the back of his neck and up onto his cheek and under his neck. It was pretty bad so we decided to give him soy milk for a while and it got a lot better. So we went to an allergist and they did a skin test. We have completely eliminated those foods from his diet and his rash is completely gone and his skin is totally different. His eczema patches are gone and his skin is smooth. I’m so glad we figured it out, but it definitely sucks as we are trying to figure out what to feed him. We need to bring food everywhere and read labels and make sure people don’t give him food. He hasn’t had anything worse than a rash, but they said he was a level 4 for all 3 allergens, which is the highest. We have noticed his rash on his neck and cheek flare up a few times and it’s probably because he comes in contact with something or it’s on our hands so we try to be super careful. We are hoping that if we are very strict about it, he will outgrow some or all of the allergies. 
He can have oreos and costco chocolate chips, so we indulge and give him one sometimes. Grandpa Hill goes a little crazy and gives him lots of oreos when we visit. I have not given Owen a lot of treats because he really doesn’t know what he is missing yet and I’m sure soon enough he will be begging for treats, so we have just avoided them, but he definitely loves oreos!
We embarked on a big project and refinished out banister. It started out with us thinking it would be easiest to restain the entire thing but as we started the sanding process, we realized that sanding each individual curvy spindle was going to take a lifetime. We tried a few different things, but ended up painting the spindles white and just staining the posts and handrail. I love the look and wanted to do it originally, but I just thought it would take longer.
Before and after. It was an orangey color and dried out. We love it and are so glad we did it. We learned a ton and have lots of insight to share to help avoid the mistakes we made, if anyone is going to attempt it!
I took the day off on Valentine’s Day to take my mom to a doctor appointment. We ended up going to lunch afterwards and had a good time together. She is pretty awesome!
With this randomly awesome weather, we have been taking a lot of walks and going outside as much as possible. Owen is in heaven and just stares out our back windows at the kids and dogs. He absolutely loves going in the backyard to swing, look at the chickens, and say hi to the dogs. We also have horses across the street and we look at them every day as we go upstairs!
He is still not walking yet, but very close! He can stand by himself and move very quickly along the walls and furniture, but he gets nervous as soon as you let go. He is getting a lot more interested in walking though and loves to hold our fingers and walk as fast as he can. I’m sure it will happen any day now, but until then, he is having fun crawling everywhere.
Mike, Hailey, and Weston slept over and the babies had lots of fun together. Weston is only 5 months younger than Owen, but so much tinier! He is a firecracker though and crawls all over the place. It is so fun to have cousins so close together!
Owen got this cute little rocking chair for his birthday and he just loves it. He can push it all around the house and one day he pushed it by the bay window and just climbed up and sat down. He sat on it and just looked outside for a long time. I thought it was a one time thing, but he left it there for about a week and spent a lot of time in it! It was the cutest thing.
He also discovered how to stand up on the chair…dangerous but he hasn’t fallen yet!
In other big news, the Honda hit 200,000 miles last week! It was very exciting and I had to get a pic (while driving, but I was super safe about it!). We have loved that beast of a car and we have put over 100,000 miles on it in the past 4 years! It has been amazing and lived up to the Honda reputation so far! We are hoping that it will go 200,000 more and Owen can drive it when he turns 16!
I took this picture after church on Sunday. Owen is such a doll face and I got his some suspenders for my brother in law’s wedding. They looked awesome and I just love him! He is my little buddy and I’m so glad that I get to stay home and work so that I can be with him. Being a mom is just the best and I remind myself every day just how blessed I am.
February was another good month for us, and we are holding out hope that this warm weather is here to stay and spring will come early!