Dichiara Family Beach Trip

Last week we headed to Panama City Beach with Tony's parents, his brother (Chris), & Chris's girlfriend, Ashley. I hadn't been to PCB since high school and I must admit, that place has really cleaned up :) Tony's parents own a condo on the west end of Panama City and it's very nice. We had a great time going out to eat, taking walks and playing on the beach, and spending time at the pool. Tony and I even got some time to check out the workout facilities :) We (okay I) took about a billion pictures while we were there and even had a classic white and khaki photo session :) (I'll post some of those pics separately). The weather wasn't really sunny, which actually worked out quite nicely for Owen. Since the sun wasn't blazing down on us, we stayed pretty cool. It was a great last trip before Tony had to go back to work and we had such a nice time! Our favorite place that we ate was called Schooners. It was right on the beach and had very YUMMY food. After dinner we walked out on the beach and watched the sunset. It was so beautiful! Here are some pictures that we took... Just before sunset--Owen's face is so funny!

Chris & Ashley with Owen at dinner

Relaxing in the Adirondac chairs outside of Schooners :)

Noni & Grandpa with Owen at sunset

I love my little guy!

Here are a few others pictures that we took during our trip...

Owen discovering sand for the first time. He loved it! He wriggled his toes and kicked his feet just watching the sand move underneath him. It was so fun to watch him play in it.

I snapped this while we were taking a walk along the beach one day. I love the way it turned out!

Playing with Noni in the pool. I think Owen might be a natural when he starts swimming. He kept kicking his feet over and over. He loved to watch the reflections in the water and make lots of splashes.

Going back to the condo after swimming. I thought this one turned out so precious :) Owen loved the pool so much, I think he would have played in there all day if we had let him!

Life isn't Fair...

Life isn't fair. God never promises us that it will be. "Fairness" is a human invention. God does what's best for us and whether or not we think it's "fair" evolves from our own human perspective of things. Still though, when bad things happen to good people, many of us often cry out to God, "Lord, it isn't fair!" That's something I have been doing quite often these days.

You see, my dear friend Katie and her husband, Donnie, are expecting their first baby, a precious girl they have named Catherine Marie. Several months ago, on the day of their big ultrasound to find out the sex of their child, Katie and Donnie were given the news that their sweet baby was not developing correctly in the womb. Catherine has something called a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. From my understanding, basically that means that her stomach is growing in the space where her lungs are supposed to grow and this isn't allowing her lungs to develop properly. Her heart is also on the wrong side of her little body and I believe that this also is contributing to her condition. While she is in the womb, Catherine is just fine because she is getting all of the oxygen that she needs from her mommy. However, when she is born, Catherine faces only a 20% chance of surviving more than 1-2 days.

When Katie gave our friends this news do you know what she said? She said that even if God gives her Catherine for a few minutes, she will be the best mommy in those few minutes that she can possibly be. I have no doubt that she will either. Katie is amazing. Her faith is incredible and unwavering and though she has no idea why God has chosen this path for her, she doesn't question Him. She walks with faith and trust in our Lord. I am inspired by Katie. She truly is an amazing Christian woman.

As a new mother myself, I have been particularly burdened for my darling friend. Since she told me about Catherine in April, I have been in constant prayer for Katie, Donnie, & Catherine. Katie is scheduled to deliver Catherine on August 21st. As that day quickly approaches, I cannot tell you how many times I have cried out to God that "it isn't fair." As I hold my own healthy baby boy in my arms, tears stream down my face as I think of the possibility that Katie may not be able to experience this with her sweet little girl. Why has God chosen this path for Katie and Donnie? Why can't Catherine be healthy? It isn't fair God, it just plain isn't. God answers my cry too. His plans are far too great for me to understand and besides, He never promises us "fair." He does promise us this though, that no matter what happens He will never leave us, never turn His back on us, and He will carry us when we need Him too.

God may perform a miracle and heal baby Catherine. He may not. I don't know what is going to happen. I do know that it will be exactly God's perfect plan though. For now I passionately pray for my sweet friend and her family. I ask for your prayers as well. If you would like to read more about Catherine Marie Davis, you can visit Katie's blog. She has written letters to her baby girl and she posts them on her blog. Katie is an amazing writer. More than that though, she is an amazing, amazing Christian and I love her dearly.

Owen's Baptism

Last Sunday we had Owen baptized at church. It was such a wonderful day! Words cannot describe how incredible an experience it was for Tony and me to stand before our family and church body and dedicate our son to our Lord and Savior. He was baptized in a very special day gown that belonged to my grandfather. He looked absolutely precious! Afterwards, we had a brunch with our family and close friends at my parents' house. There he wore another very special day gown that my mom hand smocked and made just for him. He looked so adorable in both of them, but I think the one my mom made is my favorite :) It was also my mama's birthday and she was very sweet to share her special day with Owen. It was so fun to get together and celebrate both wonderful events! Hope you had a GREAT birthday mama, I love you so! Here are a few pictures of Owen's baptism as well as some other pictures I took of him in his special gowns.

Playing with Grandpa after the service
Looking out the window with Pops
My Nonnie is so proud of Owen :)

...and so is Dean! (Tony's grandmother)

uh oh! starting to get a little sleepy!

asleep at last in Noni's arms :)

the day gown my mama made

up close details of the smocking

my Papa's gown

full shot

sweet little booties

It must have tasted pretty good because Owen tried to chew on it the whole time I was taking his picture!

4 months old

Last week we took Owen to the doctor for his 4 month wellness checkup. He checked out great and is doing so well. He did have to get 4 shots :( but he was such a trooper. I think he hated being held down on the table worse than the actual shots and he stopped crying as soon as I picked him back up and cuddled with him for a bit.

The doctor gave us the go ahead to start him on cereal, so we've been doing that for about a week now and it's going very well. He really seems to like it and has started opening his mouth for the spoon. He's even fussed a time or two when I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough :) The other day Tony was eating some ice cream with a spoon while he was holding Owen and Owen opened his mouth and tried to take a bite of it. It was so funny! He definitely already knows what a spoon means, haha!

Some of Owen's tricks these days...
-rolling from tummy to back and back to tummy
-laughing out loud
-LOTS of babbling and putting different sounds together
-standing with assistance (I think he'd sleep standing up if he could!)
-sitting for a few seconds without assistance
-pulling his knees under him when on his tummy (hasn't quite got the strength to support himself with his arms yet though)
-lots of bubble blowing and raspberry noises
-putting EVERYTHING in his mouth!

4 Month Measurements...
14 lbs. 1 oz. (25th to 50th percentile)
26 3/4 inches long (9oth to 97th percentile)

I misplaced the sheet they gave me at the doctor, so I don't remember what his head measurement was, I'll update that later.

Here are a few of his 4 month pictures as well as some shots of him eating cereal for the first time...

my sweet angel

Something was pretty funny ;)

4 months old...already?!

Eating cereal for the first time....mmmmmm

He likes it :)

July 4th

Man, I'm waaaaaay behind! For the 4th of July we started the evening at my grandparents house. We had a great time, wonderful food, and we took Owen swimming for the very first time. He really enjoyed it! He was so cute-he kept looking all around him and staring at the water. He also LOVED playing in the little waterfall that runs from the hot tub into the pool. My grandparents really loved watching him swim too. Later we went to Emilie & Whit's house for the fireworks. We had a blast there and Owen LOVED the fireworks! He just stared at the sky absolutely captivated. We got to spend some time with sweet friends that we don't see often enough and had a great time visiting and catching up with them. Plus we got some super EXCITING news while we were there--Owen is gonna have another little friend to play with :) Emilie & Whit are expecting a baby in February and we couldn't be happier for them!Owen swimming in the pool

Kicking those little legs :)

Playing in the waterfall with Daddy :)

LOVE my sweet friends!!!! (not sure what Owen's looking at though, haha!)
Somehow Emma didn't make it into my pic though :(

Staring at the fireworks from Daddy's shoulders

LOVE IT!! He was so enamored by those fireworks!

Family shot :)

Trip to New Mexico--Owen's 1st Plane Trip

Last Thursday we took Owen on his very first airplane ride. We went out to New Mexico for the wedding of our friends, Matt and Denine. We flew to Albuquerque and then rented a car and drove to the small town of Las Vegas, New Mexico (not to be confused with LV, Nevada--this tiny little Vegas bore no resemblance to Sin City). Interesting fact though, "No Country For Old Men" was filmed there--I haven't seen it, but it was kinda neat to see the place it was filmed. Owen did fantastic on the plane ride out there, he slept the entire time. On the ride back, he slept a good bit and alternated playing in mine and Tony's laps. Both flights he was an absolute champ! We used our skymiles from our credit card to get 1st class tickets, which I must say was quite a treat and made it much easier traveling with a baby! We had a great time while we were out there and even took Owen to his very first baseball game--Albuquerque's minor league team, the Isotopes. I will post those pictures in a little while. We had a great time, but it is good to be back home. It's exhausting traveling with a 4 month old!

Check out his stylin' outfit from Noni & Grandpa :)
Owen with Daddy--getting ready to get off the plane and see Albuquerque for the 1st time
At the rehearsal dinner (Owen was upstairs asleep)
Matt (in center) with all his groomsmen
Matt & Denine--Just Married :)

Sleeping?! What's That?....

So basically, Owen has decided that he does not like to sleep! Okay, I need to be a little more specific...he is still sleeping through the night (Praise God!), but he hates naptime--specifically afternoon naptime--these days. I'm thinking he is probably about to learn a new trick or go through a growth spurt or something, but he's making ME tired, haha! Yesterday, after he woke up from his early afternoon nap (around 1:30) that child did not go back to sleep until 10pm! Now, don't misunderstand, we are still putting him down for his naps, he just doesn't sleep. Sometimes he'll play, sometimes he'll cry, and sometimes he'll just stare at his mobile, but he's not falling asleep (and I know because I keep watching the video monitor in disbelief!). He's still good with his morning nap and then takes a really long nap from around 11:30 until about 2pm, but after that he wants little to do with sleeping until bedtime. I'm really hoping that this won't last very long. He's thankfully still the same sweet and happy baby (with the exception of a few small meltdowns around 7 or 8pm-ish), but for some reason feels no need to sleep in the afternoons/early evenings. Oh well, I guess we'll just motor right on through and keep putting him down and hopefully he'll get over this soon...

oh, and if any mamas have any tips or tricks, i'd love to hear some! :)

ah sleep, what a sweet memory ;)

Day at the Park

Last week Owen and I went to the park with my friend Renee and her daughter, Bailey. We had so much fun walking and talking and pushing our children in their strollers. Renee was a good friend in high school and we recently reconnected. I am so blessed that we have too, she is such a treasure! Her daughter is almost 11 months old and she is absolutely precious! I think she looks just like her mama :) We took a picnic lunch and ate it under a tree while our babies played (well, Bailey played--Owen just kinda hung out and watched the action!) I always enjoy spending time with my sweet friend Renee and I am so excited to raise our sweet little ones together! Here are a few of the pictures we took at the park. All the pictures you see of Owen and me were taken by Renee--she has such a gift for photography!

Father's Day

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

Psalm 103:13

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I am way behind in posting this, but I really wanted to put some thought into it and say something from my heart. Here goes...

Tony. Wow, that man in incredible. He is kind, patient, genuine, and so full of love. He amazes me every single day. Fatherhood comes so naturally to him. I mean, I knew he would be a good father, it is one of the qualities that made me really fall in love with him (no, I'm not talking about when I was 15 (!) I mean when I really, really knew he was the man that God put on this earth to be my helpmate).

Tony has blown me out of the water. From the very instant that the doctor put Owen in his arms when he was born, fatherhood fit Tony. He was comfortable from moment one. Being a daddy seems to come as naturally to Tony as breathing air. As Owen has begun to grow and change before my eyes, witnessing the interaction between my huband and son has only gotten better. Owen absolutely adores his daddy. When Tony walks into the room Owen turns on. His eyes sparkle and light up and a huge grin spreads across his face. I wish I could capture the love between these two in a photo because I cannot put into words the tenderness of the love that flows between them (though I do think the one above comes pretty close!)

First thing in the morning, I go and get Owen from his room and bring him into our bedroom to feed him. When he finishes eating, Owen immediately starts looking for daddy who is sleeping beside us. Owen coos and babbles until Tony wakes up to play--and when he does, our day has truly started. I will treasure our precious family morning time for as long as I live.

Tony is Owen's hero. I am so excited to know that my son will grow up being taught the morals and values that his daddy has. Thank you Tony for your unwaivering love for our son. Thank you for your pure and constant love for me. Thank you for living your life with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Thank you for being you.

Happy (belated!) Father's Day!

I love you completely,
Hannah