One Year!

We recently passed 2 milestones: the first big one was of course Owen's birthday (January 11th), and the second was the anniversary of him coming home from the hospital (February 13th). We celebrated his coming home anniversary with a trip to the pool (which he, of course, LOVED.)

We had our own celebration with our little family
before everyone arrived for cake & ice cream

Let's pause for a moment and make sure proper attention is given to that cake. I had a friend teach me how to do fondant frosting, and was super proud of my first real fondant cake. It was fun (and delish) and I definitely want to make more in the future.

Owen loves animals. In case you can't tell, it's a lion, a monkey
and a giraffe. There was supposed to be an elephant as well,
but I ran out of room. Oops!

I finally put together all of Owen's monthly pictures. I took his 1-month and his 1-year on the same blanket, so you can get an idea for how much he's grown. And one secret - his 1-month picture was actually taken a few days after the real 1-month mark because he was STILL IN THE HOSPITAL when he hit one month. (Sigh.)

And because I have more pictures to post, I will!! These are all from a photoshoot we had done a couple of days before his birthday. I can't believe how much he's changed already since these were taken. Speaking of being grown-up, this kid is walking EVERYWHERE these days. Which also means he's falling everywhere. It might be a while before his head is bruise-less. His walk is hilarious (picture a drunken, bow-legged cowboy and you've just about got it!)

Holy handsome boys batman!

Miss that Lydia girl!

Yep, we still love each other.

This guy never holds still. The jeans he was wearing here (my all-
time favorite ones!) now have holes in both knees. Someone
who is creative should tell me how I should re-purpose them
so I don't have to throw them away (weep!)

Diapers Made of Gold

Maybe someday I'll write a post about the holidays (despite Owen's 2-week-long cold, they were awesome) and his birthday (holy smokes, I have a one-year-old!) but for now this post is dedicated to Owen's first airplane ride. Let it be noted that I was EIGHTEEN years old before I stepped foot onto an airplane. And Owen was 12 months. Is he spoiled, or what?! ;)

We took advantage of a crazy good black Friday deal to visit my sister and her family in Seattle. We didn't want Dan to miss too much work, so I left a day early, figuring I could definitely handle my easy-going baby by myself for the less-than-2-hour flight.

Everything was going great until we made it through security and I realized I had forgotten to restock the diaper bag with diapers (yes, I see the irony here). All the diapers I brought were in the luggage that was checked-in before going through security, which was now probably enjoying its ride in the city of conveyor belts on its way to our plane.

For a boy who poops no less than 4 times a day, this is a BIG deal. No worries - I figured one of those airport shops MUST sell a diaper or 2. It took a few minutes, but I found them. As someone who prides herself in shopping deals and never spending more than 11 cents per diaper, I threw up a little in my mouth when I saw the price. $5.49 for a package of TWO diapers. We lovingly refer to them as the Diapers Made of Gold.

We survived the diaper near-tragedy and boarded the plane. All was going well . . . for about 15 minutes. It was Owen's nap time and there was NO way he was going to fall asleep in my arms with so many new things to look at. Owen was THAT baby who fussed and whined 95% of the trip. Bless the nice people who sat next to us who didn't complain.

This was taken during the 15 minutes of bliss (before taking off)

When I put him in his stroller after we landed it took him about 22 seconds to fall asleep. Poor guy.

But it was all totally worth it! The Balls sure do know how to host. Their house is awesome, Mel and Randy are the best, and Owen was obsessed with his 4 rowdy cousins who entertained him 24-7.

Swings! It's too cold in Utah to swing. Owen was in heaven (and please note that he is WEARING SHOES!!)

Our little star wars Padowan.

Hot tubbing in the famous Seattle rain.

Hello, giant man-sized burger.

Walking in the rain (yes, we did a lot of things in the rain . . . it's Seattle.)

Owen couldn't get enough of his cousins!

All the boys (minus Landon) watching America Ninja Warrior.
There was too much man-ness in the room for the likes of me.

This is definitely NOT my husband.

At Snoqualmie water falls. In the rain. :)

The sun came out and it was awesome!