Christmas at our house

We decided this year would be our first Christmas celebrated at our house. Danny and I talked about it, and as much as we love spending time with our families on Christmas, we thought it was important to start our own traditions at home. Thankfully, we were able to convince my mom, Danny's grandparents and his Aunt Cindy from Oklahoma to join us for our very first Christmas at home.

For as many years as Danny can remember, his father read Twas The Night Before Christmas to him and his sister on Christmas Eve. Danny even jokes that Dan would leave it on the answering machine while he was in college. This is a tradition I really wanted to carry on with our children, so last Christmas I went and bought a copy of the story for Danny to read to Owen. I video taped him reading to a sleeping Owen last year and an on the go-into EVERYTHING Owen this year. It will be fun to go back and watch these with Owen when he gets older. Mom and I did watch the one from last year just before Danny read to Owen this year.

Danny's Dad called to see if we had his copy of the story and when we told him we didn't, but we had our own, he and Danny thought it would be nice for Danny to read over the phone to our nephew, Colin.


So, here is Danny talking to Alice just before he attempts to read the story to Owen. Owen thought it would be more fun to play with all of our Christmas cards.

On Christmas morning we woke to a wonderful surprise left by Santa. We forgot to set out milk and cookies, so thank goodness Santa still decided to drop in. Someone PLEASE remind us to do this next year.

Here is Owen as he gets the first glimpse of what Santa has left for him...

He LOVES Mickey Mouse and went straight for the Mickey Mouse ball.

He was also a big fan of his Elmo remote (hopefully this will deter him from playing with OUR remote) and the really cool bean bag from Gramma Karen.

A little musician in the making....

Playing with his new Brio dog....

Around 11am Danny's grandparents and Aunt Cindy arrived. It was so nice having them here with us to celebrate. This was the first time I had met Cindy and Danny hasn't seen her in years. We really enjoyed our visit and it meant so much having everyone here with us.


Here is Owen and his Great Aunt Cindy...

Danny cooked a pork rib roast, baked apples stuffed with corn bread stuffing and made chocolate truffles (he watches the Food Network.) I made crock pot-mac and cheese and spinach artichoke dip, mom made sweet potato casserole and Nana brought a pina colada cheese cake.

We don't have a table that seats more than four, so Danny, Nana, Bobo, and Cindy sat together in the dining room....

Our dear friend Julie, who had to work Christmas Day, also joined us for a few hours. We just love Julie and were so excited when she accepted our offer to come for dinner.

Here is my mom and Julie...

Not long after dinner, I found Bobo asleep....

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. We are off to celebrate with Danny's parents and his sister's family this weekend and my Dad and brother will be here New Year's Day.

Christmas at Gramma Karen's

On Saturday, December 22, we celebrated Christmas at my Mom and Chip's house with my Grandmother, two Aunts, Debbie and Linda, Uncle Mike, Cousin Lesa and her new husband, Ken. Mom made a wonderful lunch and then we all watched Owen open his gifts and we joined in with our annual gift exchange.


My Aunt Debbie gave Owen a pretend phone (somehow he already knew what to do with it....scary and a bit sad, because he had to pick this up from somewhere.)




My cousin Lesa and Ken got us, I mean Owen, a HUGE bag of Mega Blocks. We, I mean Owen is going to LOVE them!!!!

Here is a picture of him with the gift bag. It's bigger than he is.




My mom and her sisters (L to R, my Aunts Debbie and Linda and my mom.)

Owen and my Uncle, his Great Uncle, Mike.

We forgot the Bumbo, so we had to improvise by belting Owen to my childhood rocking chair.

Little Elves...

So I broke down and did the Elf yourself thing that's been going around.

See me, Danny and Owen dancing our little butts off (this will probably be the ONLY time.)

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1506893625

This little guy...

- is 13 months 2 weeks
- is sleeping through the night and in his own bed. YEA!!!!!
- says mama when he wants food and calls the dogs dada
- will point to the fan, TV, light and dogs when you ask where they are
- goes to the door when we ask if Molly and Sam need to go outside...and then he waits there calling for them until they come back
-is now bringing us books to read to him. His current favorites are Brown Bear, Goodnight moon, Lullabies and Sweet dreams, What's Wrong Little Pookie and Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs. I swear we read each book 15 times a day.
-will make a silly face for Jane and put his hands on his head for peek-a-boo Violet when we read the Mirror Me book.
-will eat ANYTHING you give him. This week he had smoked salmon, sun dried tomatoes and artichokes.
- loves to watch other babies and kids
-enjoys riding in the buggy at the grocery store and Target
- is really into The Mickey House Clubhouse! We can't wait until he's old enough for Disney World
-is walking up a storm. He's very fast and looks like a little wide legged penguin
- likes to play with potatoes, He also gets into our tea drawer and takes all the bags out of the box and throws them on the floor. In the same drawer there are two very old packs of hot chocolate that he walks around and shakes. I am embarrassed to say he also gets out the small canister of Metamucil and walks around shaking it.
- has gotten into hiding things. He takes his small balls and tries to put them behind the TV cabinet and today I saw him trying shove one down the side of the fridge. Most toys end up under the couch.
- still loves music. He sways and bounces up and down and will even pretend like he singing. We have enrolled him in Kindermusik again next semester.
-he now has 4 teeth on top and 3 on the bottom. I think the molars are still working on making their debut
- continues to bring us so much joy and these days fun and LAUGHTER. Really, how lucky are we!!!!

I'll write soon, I promise.

Just a little tired and my computer is on the fritz.

Don't give up on Owen's Corner.

Is he really walking????

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Danny's grandparents, Nana & Bobo, and Danny's Mom and her boyfriend, Randy. We had a nice dinner and visit with everyone.

Here is Owen and his Great Nana.

Grana and Randy took Owen out to practice walking.

Looking cute...

in his new birthday wear...

Here Owen is modeling his

new cargo pants from Grandpa Ron.

Looking GQ in his argyle sweater and

jeans from Rayan.

Keeping warm in his new Jacket from Grandpa Ron, while

riding in his really cool wagon from Grana.

And finally, looking cute in his new shirt from Allison,
while playing with his pound a ball from Meredith.

at 12 months...

Owen...

- weighs 20 lbs 11 1/2 oz (25 %)
-is 30 1/2 inches tall (75%)
- has a head circumference of 48cm (90%)
So, Owen is tall, skinny and has a big head.

This month in review...
-has his own kitchen drawer
-crinkles his noes
-lets you know if he likes and especially if he dislikes something
-has his own little language
-grinds his teeth(ahhhhhhhh, it's like nails on a chalk board)
-brushes his hair
-blows kisses
-claps all the time. Especially if he thinks he's doing something good or funny.
-dances to music and his favorite cartoon theme song, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
-celebrated his first Halloween
-has 6 teeth and his molars are working on making their debut
-had his first hair cut
-can say cat and point out a cat (we have dogs....no cats)
-pulls on blinds
-can throw a ball
-looks for his toys under the furniture
-he's a MASTER stair climber...very, very scary!
-LOVES looking out the windows
-has a few hiding places
-jumps up and down in his crib
-will imitate us
-can turn the light switch on and off
-like to watch Jeopardy
-wears size 4 diapers, 12-18 month clothes and size 4 1/2 shoes (big head and BIG FEET)
At 12 months, Owen is still the light of my life and he never ceases to amaze me with all the new things he can do. He is truly one special kid and I feel so blessed every morning when I wake up, before the chickens, that he is mine!

It's ALL about O

Check out this really cool slide show our friend Michael put together 0f Owen for his first birthday.



Thanks Michael. We love it! And for the rest of you, please ignore my really bad regrowth. I have since taken care of this unsightly disgrace to my hair. Thankfully, the pictures were meant to be ALL about Owen!

The BIG day

So my Owen is officially ONE. Last night Danny and I started sharing Owen's birth day story with him starting with where we went for dinner the night before he was born and then I finished the story with him this morning. When Owen woke (us) up we sang Happy Birthday to him. He's probably going to expect this everyday seeing as though I have sang it to him for the past two weeks. I wanted him to recognize the song so he would get excited when he would hear it. Silly I know.

Here he is this morning in his new monkey jammies...

After breakfast and his morning nap, we headed off to Kindermusik. When we walked in the door, there was a little girl from his class wearing a party hat. I thought it was so sweet of her to wear a hat for Owen's birthday (after all, it's all about Owen, Right? Like she knew it was his birthday.) While in class, the teacher asked if it was both Owen and Alyse's birthday. Come to find out both of them were born at the same hospital, on the same day and only 2 minutes apart. Owen was born at 10:52 am and Alyse was born at 10:54 am.

Here is the birthday boy sporting his birthday boy tee shirt from Gramma Karen.
Later, Julie came over for dinner and she brought cupcakes. Yellow cake with chocolate icing. Yum, my favorite. We lit the same candle he had on his party cake and sang Happy Birthday to him once again.

I think he liked the cupcake. What do you think?
The little guy is exhausted and now sleeping peacefully.

O's PARTY!

On Saturday we celebrated Owen's 1st birthday with 48 of our closest friends and family. I was really pleased with how everything turned out and especially pleased with how excited Owen seemed. I think he had a wonderful time and by all means was spoiled with gifts and attention (as any one year old should be.)

The theme for his party was monkey's. We had a monkey cake made for all the guests and a "destruction" cake for the birthday boy. We also had Chunky Monkey ice cream, Chocolate Monkey trail mix (w/banana chips, coconut, and chocolate), there were even monkey themed favor bags with a monkey bath squirter for each of the little kids.



Here is the birthday boy just after he made his debut....

and eating his special cake...
and modeling his new puppy dog hat...

all his gifts...

attempting to open them himself...

and finally wondering where everyone went...

His actual birthday is Wednesday, so we will be celebrating with his Kindermusik class and later we will be having dinner with Julie and anyone else that would like to join us.

First haircut

We took Owen for his first haircut today. He was so well behaved and was by far the hit of the salon. I couldn't believe how still he sat and that he didn't cry or even whine. He spent most of his time in the chair flirting with the lady sitting next to him. He clapped, played peek-a-boo (so there are a few stray hairs) and blew her kisses.

Here is his before picture...

during...
and after...

shoes for Owen

Have you been wondering why Owen doesn't ever have on shoes? It's because he didn't have any until yesterday. All the shoes he'd received as gifts prior to these, his feet were too fat to fit in.

Danny and I decided to order these from Livie and Luca. They came in the mail yesterday; just in time for his first birthday party. I think they are adorable and they have a soft sole that is perfect for an emerging walker.

Trick-or-Treat

We had a busy day celebrating Halloween. Danny and I finally got around to carving our pumpkins last night, but didn't have enough time to carve Owen's. I really wanted to carve his today, but I woke-up with a migraine and was doing good to do everything else I needed to do today.

Here are our pumpkins. Danny carved the one on the right. It's called Goodnight Moon, which is coincidentally one of Owen's favorite books. I carved the very moderate pumpkin on the left.
This morning we had Kindermusik. Patty Lee asked that we dress the kids up and most everyone did. There was a skunk, scarecrow, dinosaur, chicken, and the youngest baby wore his festive jammies. We danced and sang along to Halloween music and at the end Pattie Lee had treats for the kids and their parents. Danny joined Owen and I today and this was such a treat. I could tell Owen really enjoyed having him there.
Around 6:00pm we dressed Owen again and took him around to a few of our neighbors just to show him off. After which, we went home and passed out candy to the million and one trick-or-treaters we had.


Here are our close friends and neighbors, Steven, Ali and their twin girls, Anna and Brooke and their niece Emily.
My last trick-or treater was Miss Charlotte and her mom Kelly. They were both very cute cats.