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!

Funnies

For the last week my "perfect sleeper" has not been quite so perfect. I blame it on the teeth growing inside his mouth. He's a champ when it comes to getting shots, or when he climbs up on something and inevitably falls and hits his head (this happens multiple times a day - he's a climber). But when it comes to growing teeth, my baby is, well, a baby. (I don't blame him - it looks painful to me!) So here I am at 4:31 in the morning. Awake, but not wanting to be productive, so I figured I could blog! (Apparently blogging falls low on the productive scale in my head.)

We've had a couple blog-worthy parenting moments in the last while. The first happened last Saturday while were hurrying to eat dinner so we could rush out to watch the BYU football game. (In this house, nothing gets in the way of BYU football.) I was finishing up my last couple of bites while Dan was cleaning Owen's face, only to realize he was stinky. In the, "Owen just pooped" kind of stinky. So he rushed in the bedroom to change him. Never has a father attempted such a quick diaper change, as the one about to miss a kickoff for a BYU football game!  Soon I hear Dan saying something like, "It's everywhere!" Which I discovered meant that Owen had a blowout. Nasty. Being the nice wife that I am, I thought I should go oversee to make sure all was right with the world. Dan was right, it WAS everywhere. In Dan's defense, he was the one to suggest that Owen needed a bath, but knowing that a bath would make us even later, I thought I would be a nice wife and declared we would just use the wipes and call it good. So husband held Owen up by one ankle while I wiped him down (Owen thought it was awesome and was giggling the whole time). I can't remember how many wipes it took - maybe 12 sounds right? I grabbed the nasty clothes to get them soaking while Dan put on a clean diaper and pj's. I came back into the room to find Dan hurriedly lathering Owen in pink baby lotion because, "He stinks!" Apparently baby lotion makes a good cologne to cover up nasty smells. We are awesome. The irony of the whole thing is that Dan's brother was recording the game so we had plenty of time to give Owen a bath. And no, we will not be winning any parenting awards anytime soon. :)

Story number 2  - a couple of Sunday's ago during church Relief Society, I was doing my best to keep my tired boy happy (it was the dreaded daylight savings change and he woke up at 5:30 that morning!) I was pulling out a bottle and took off the spill-proof lid so I could get the nipple in place. While neither lid was on the bottle Owen decided to take a dive off my lap. Head first. Which meant that in order to save Owen, my hands moved in such a way that the entire contents of the bottle were thrown across the back row of women!! (That will teach them to sit on the back row!) ;) We all had a good laugh - except for Owen who just wanted his milk!

He's getting too big too fast! Not walking yet, but we're close!

We're Alive!!

Holy smokes am I ever behind on the blog!! Currently all my spare computer time goes to my job (which I LOVE. I am such a teacher nerd.) But my family has been harassing me about my long-neglected blog so I guess it's time to give the people what they want: pictures of Owen. (Let's face it, once you have a baby no one cares about you anymore - just the kid. But isn't that exactly how it should be?)

Owen is our people-loving, generous-with-his-smiles, wiggly little munchkin. 70% for height but 10% for weight (he's my little bean pole). For Halloween he is the cutest little cougar you ever did see (the tail just kills me). He army crawls faster than I walk, and he loves loves playing with cords (he unplugs the computer at least once a day). He's cutting his first 2 teeth (pray for me) and his favorite food is pizza (really). He finally likes books (the ONLY time he's not moving is when we are reading). His favorite sleeping position is bum straight up in the air (how is that comfortable?!) And I've only caught him eating his poop once (sorry - tmi)!

You know how before you have a baby everyone tells you "enjoy it because it goes by so fast!" Well, I think I can say we are MORE than enjoying having him around. I hate that he's growing, but I love every new stage and can't wait for what is to come. Am I really blessed enough that I get to be this kid's mom? I am the luckiest. Amen.

I was going to put these in chronological order, but who has time for that? Enjoy!

He would hang out in this all day if I let him

Happy 3rd birthday to the big sis. We sure do miss her like crazy!

These boys are 2 peas in a pod. He loves being thrown around and so far has no fear of heights

See, I told you he was cute!

This was his daddy's outfit when he was a baby. 

He's been chewing on . . . well, anything, for months now

My boys.

With cousin Amberly. She calls him Owey and they love being together (promise).

My cousin Season and aunt Barbara. Being close to family again is just the best. Sigh.

My little boxer.

Swimming! We took him a couple of times - he was unimpressed.

Can you believe I get to spend all day with his happy dude?!

Swoon.

This kid always wants to be part of the action.

Don't forget to check out husband's hot beard

I promise we feed him, but somehow he still always finds his toes!

I have to throw a picture of me in there every once in a while

This is how he eats pancakes

A terrible mis-hap with the sprinklers. Boy did I feel like the worst mom ever that day!

Yes, he wears not just one, but TWO bibs at each meal. It's the only way to save the clothes!

The tail!!!

Bath time with Daddy.

Can you tell he's wearing an Olaf hat? Our neighbor made it. It's too cute.

My bud after a morning 5k run in Boise

We accidentally all matched (how embarrassing)

Happy Birthday to me! My mouth is watering just looking at this!

Too cute!

Eating in only a diaper (that's why he's so happy)

Yes, he is my Handsome little guy.

Visiting daddy at work

He eats everything (including trampolines)