Dichiara Christmas

After breakfast on Christmas morning, we headed to Noni & Grandpa's house. We all got so many wonderful gifts, had a delicious lunch, and had an all together great time celebrating Christmas and being with family. Owen got a red wagon which he immediately had to go and try out with Grandpa in the neighborhood. You can't see it in the picture, but he took his red ball with him of course ;) Owen also got a rocking horse that moves it's head & tail and makes neighing sounds, it is really cute and he gets a kick out of watching it. He likes to sit on it too, but he's gonna have to wait until he gets a little bigger before I let him ride it by himself, haha ;) Testing out the horse with little help from Noni

Tony got some wonderful, much needed, clothes (that man never buys clothes for himself!)I think I got the best gift though!--a KitchenAid mixer :) Needless to say, I was pumped about that! Helping Noni read the picture book of Owen that we gave themChecking out his t-ball toy from Uncle Chris!

Family picture with my awesome new tripod from Chris--though I think Owen was just interested in getting back down to play :)

Christmas Morning

WOW did we have such an AWESOME & BLESSED Christmas this year!!! We had such a great time and spent so much quality time with family & friends that I'm just now finding the time to blog :) hehe!

Christmas morning we woke up in our house and had our family Christmas with just the 3 of us. It was so very sweet and special and we loved every minute of watching Owen surrounded by the excitement of Christmas. The biggest hit was a red play ball--Owen was THRILLED by it and we could hardly tear him away from it long enough to see anything else he had gotten. He also got a crawl through play tent that he's been having quite a lot of fun with--and I think Margo & Delilah like it just as much as he does :)

After Santa, we opened presents from each other and then ate breakfast before getting dressed to have Christmas with the rest of our families. Waking up in our home on Christmas morning is such a sweet and precious thing that Tony and I really want our children to enjoy every year. We are so very fortunate that both sets of grandparents live so close that we can do that and also celebrate and spend time with them as well--it makes Christmas so very, very special! Like I said, we are SO, SO BLESSED!!!

Owen & his beloved red ball

Opening stockings with Mama

Presents with Daddy

Checking out all the goodies from Santa

Crawling in the tunnel-SO FUN!

Visit With Santa

On Friday night we took Owen for his very first visit with Santa! Santa came to Noni & Grandpa's neighborhood for a Cookies With Santa party and it was the perfect set up for Owen's 1st Santa encounter! We didn't have to wait in long lines at the mall, brave the crazy parents and their kids, or shell out big bucks for an overpriced bad polaroid picture of the event. Both sets of grandparents came with us to witness Owen's visit and it was great. When we sat Owen in Santa's lap he was very unsure and didn't know what to think at first, but he quickly made the decision that he did NOT want to sit in Santa's lap and he started crying...exactly what we expected! We got a few quick shots for tradition sake, scooped him up, and got out of there and back to Noni & Grandpa's house for a wonderful meal. We were in and out of the Cookies with Santa party in 20 minutes--SO much better than the hours we would have had to spend waiting in the lines at the mall! It was perfect!

Who is this guy?

Hmmm...I'm not so sure about all this...

Get me out of here!!!!

Mornings at Our House :)

The other morning I decided to take some pictures of Owen to document how we spend a "typical morning" (but is there really anything typical with a 9 month old though?!) and to share some of the "big boy" things he's doing these days.

Owen almost always wakes up really happy every morning and plays in his crib with Pancake the bear until I come and get him. I can hear him squealing and laughing and it's such a sweet way to wake up every day. Even when I'm really tired and wish I could sleep in a little longer, I hear him playing in his room and it gets me going.

He typically eats cereal and fruit for his solid food breakfast every day and then I give him various soft/mush foods after that for him to pick up and eat himself. He love puffs and graham crackers, will occasionally eat cut up banana pieces, and tolerates soft pieces of pear....but he does NOT care for eggs! It is so funny to see his reaction when I give him eggs. He will almost always take that first bite, thinking it's some fruit or something, but upon discovering I've given him eggs, I get immediate disgust!

Haha, oh well! We'll keep trying :)

After breakfast Owen has play time in the pack and play while I eat my breakfast and then clean up the kitchen. After I'm finished, we usually have play time in the living room for a while until it's time for his morning nap. The other day, I turned on the TV to check the weather, but when I turned on the TV, Sesame Street was on and Owen was immediately mesmerized! I let him watch it for just a minute or two because he was just so cute. It made me a little bit sad though, because, well...just look at him, he looks like such a little boy sitting there watching TV!

Owen is really into squatting for some reason. I think maybe he's experimenting with his balance or something, but he really likes to pull up on his exersaucer and then get down in a squat. He seems pretty proud of himself too because he always looks at me and smiles when he does it. So precious :)

He also likes to pretend he's going "night night" and snuggle with his boppy. He will lay there for a second or two and then look up at me and laugh. It's a fun game for him and he loves to play it every morning. Mornings are probably the sweetest times for me too because Owen is so very happy and very cuddly with me. It is precious time for me that I treasure every day. It's also a time of reflection for me as I sit and watch him and realize how quickly he's growing up and becoming a "big boy". I am so excited for all that lies ahead as Owen grows, learns, and discovers new things, but it is bittersweet to realize he's not a tiny baby anymore. I am enjoying every minute of being a stay at home mom and I am so blessed and thankful that God has provided the opportunity for me to do so. I wouldn't trade this time with Owen for anything in the world!

9 Months!

Owen turned 9 months last Friday. We went to the doctor yesterday and he said Owen was looking great and he was really glad to hear that he's still breastfeeding. No shots yesterday which was good :) but Owen did have to have his toe pricked to check his hemoglobin. The poor little guy bled so much it was dripping down his foot, but it didn't really seem to hurt him. He hated the nurse holding down his foot to get the blood sample, but as soon as she let him free he was happy again. Oh, and I'm happy to report in the words of Owen's doctor, "his blood is great!"

Here are Owen's 9 month measurements:
weight: 17 lbs. 3 oz. (3rd-10th percentile)
height: 29 in. (75th-90th percentile)
head: 45 3/4 cm. (50th-75th percentile)

As you can see, Owen's very tall and skinny (nothing we didn't already know!), but his doctor isn't concerned about him at all. Hey, someone has to be in those low weight percentiles right? :) He said Owen should even out and catch up somewhere between now and 15 months.

Added to Owen's diet this month were:
beef
pasta
cheese
pineapple

Owen's doctor isn't concerned about allergies at all (which is good because I'm not really either!)and has pretty much given me the go ahead on most foods, only holding back with the obvious ones (nuts, milk, etc) until after his 1st birthday. He is a great doctor, very laid back, and we've been VERY happy with him.

Some new "tricks" Owen's accomplished this month are:
cruising--he loves to walk around the room holding onto the furniture. he'll even take a step towards something all by himself when 2 pieces of furniture are too far apart to hold on the whole time.
standing alone--though he's only done this a handful of times though, he's still pretty cautious about standing and isn't really showing too much interest in attempting to walk, which by the way is A Okay by me!!! :)

Also, on December 2nd Owen officially said his first real word. And the word was...drum roll please...COW :) Haha, for some reason I think this is such a funny 1st word! He says it all the time though and will even do it while looking at cows in books :) He also says: "mama", "da-da" , "la la" when he sees Delilah, our cat, (which is what I call her all the time), "oh wow", and "ow" which he picked up from me...Owen is ALL BOY and can be very rough: pulling hair, pinching, biting, etc. so apparently I say "ow" all the time and now he does too. Needless to say, we are working on being gentle (especially with the pets) but Owen's not quite gotten that concept yet :) It's really funny when Owen says "ow" too because of course he uses it completely out of context...when I'm putting on his shoes, when he's playing with a toy, when he wakes up from his nap, um...pretty much all the time...so I like to be silly and tell him, "Owen, you're using that term inappropriately" and he just smiles right back at me. It's our fun little game :)

Well, here are some pictures of my sweet baby who's really starting to look more and more like a little boy every day! Owen's getting so big, so fast, it's hard to see time pass by so quickly! Sigh!....

Oh well, Enjoy! :)

Owen: 9 Months

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!!!

Chritmas is my very favorite time of year (okay I know, I know, who doesn't love Christmas?!) I love EVERYTHING about it...most importantly celebrating the birth of our Savior, but also being with family and friends, the cold weather (and the occasional snow that seems to come about once every 10 years here in Georgia--still keeping my fingers crossed for this year!), the Christmas lights, decorations, trees, music, food...I could go on and on. This year is extra special though because this year we get to celebrate it with Owen. I know he won't really "get it" this year, but it is such a joy to watch him explore all the wonderful sights and sounds. I'm sure he'll love the boxes his toys come in more than his actual toys, but of course it's not about the presents anyway. GOD IS SO GOOD and we are so thankful for all the ways He has blessed us!

We had a family photo shoot a few weeks ago at my parents' house to take pictures for our Christmas cards. Owen was in such a great mood (very wound up too!) which made for some GREAT pictures :) He is such a joy to photograph--he makes the best facial expressions! I know I'm a little bit biased, but isn't he just the cutest thing ever?!

Meeting Cousins

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we headed to Mississippi to visit with Tony's family. First we visited with his mom's side--The Stimpson Family. On Saturday, we had a great big early Thanksgiving meal with the whole family and Owen got to meet his cousins (Tony's cousins' children...whether that means they are 2nd cousins, 3rd, or whatever...I don't know, I just say cousins!) Tony's cousin, Dan, and his wife, Robin, have 3 adorable children--Reese, Charlie, and Banks. Owen just adored them, especially Reese! He followed her around everywhere and she was so good with him. She has a lot of practice with her 2 younger brothers! Here are some pictures from that visit:Loving on Dean Sitting with Daddy D

Playing with Reese, Banks, & Charlie

Then on Saturday evening we went to visit the other side--the Dichiara Family. There Owen got to meet Tony's 1st cousins, Elizabeth, Andrew, & Laura for the first time. He also got to meet some more cousins--Brenden, Cameron, and Landen. Owen loved playing with the big boys and thought Landen hung the moon whenever he shared his cars with him :) We had to get on to Owen a few times for pulling hair, but he was just so excited that he got a little carried away! We went to the church where Tony's dad grew up on Sunday and had a wonderful meal on Sunday night too before heading back on Monday morning. Here are some pictures from that visit:Owen with Elizabeth

With Laura and Tony's grandmother next to them

Playing cars with Landen

Playing with the big boys--Landen, Brenden, & Cameron

A month late, but 8 month post nonetheless!

So I'm not sure where my month has gone, but I figure since Owen will be 9 months old on Friday, I better get my rear in gear and do a few posts from his 8 month of life!

At 8 Months Owen was...

crawling...everywhere...really fast

getting into everything!

eating pretty much all fruits & veggies + yogurt + turkey & chicken

saying "hey", "bye bye", and "da da"

Measured in at...

17 lbs even

29" long

45 cm head (18in)

Here are a few pictures from our 8 month photo session:

The last picture pretty much sums up the 8 month photo session! He is getting increasingly hard to take pictures of and doesn't want to sit still for anything. I kept trying to give him leaves and pinestraw and such (hey I was desperate to get his attention!) but he wanted nothing to do with them and instead just wanted to crawl in the grass and towards my camera. I must say, he was pretty patient for an 8 month old though and I did get a few pretty good shots of him with the BEAUTIFUL fall leaves in the background :)

I am a HUGE slacker...

...and I PROMISE I will blog this week...more than once to try and make up for it, I'm sorry :(

GREAT, WONDERFUL, AWESOME, INCREDIBLE NEWS THOUGH....

CATHERINE IS GOING HOME ON THURSDAY!
GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!

Bon Voyage Uncle Matt!

My brother, Matt, has headed out to Colorado for about 6 months or so to live and work out there for a while. He is quite the outdoorsman, always planning for and going on exciting trips and we are excited for him in his biggest adventure yet! We will definitely miss him while he's away, but are really excited for him and all the fun he's going to be having :)

Matt came home last week to visit one last time before heading west. Since Tony went to Kentucky for the UGA game, Owen and I packed up and headed over to my parents for the weekend so that we could spend as much time as we could with Matt. We had a great visit and I enjoyed the time that we had to sit around talking and catching up on each others' lives, watching movies, hiking in the woods, and staying up late (or my ridiculous attempt to anyways!).

My brother is such an awesome guy and is so interesting and intelligent. He knows so much about the outdoors--he is really skilled and passionate about his hobbies and interests. We always have great conversations and I enjoy every minute that I get to spend with him. If you happen to read this Matt, I want you to know that I love you so much and I feel so blessed to be your sister :) I hope you have a blast in Colorado and I can't wait for you to get back and tell me all about it. It is so cool that you've taken this trip--you really are awesome! I took lots of pictures of our weekend with Uncle Matt and here are a few of my favorites :)

Hiking in the woods

(you can't see him, but Owen is in the Bjorn with Geebee)

breakfast with Pops!

Love you Matt!!!

Owen's First Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year! Having a child to share it with (even if he's not old enough to trick-or-treat yet!) just makes it that much more exciting and special. Owen was a cowboy and we had such a blast. He didn't even mind wearing his costume at all, what a good sport he was! :) We had a chili dinner at our house and our annual bonfire in our driveway with our neighbors and had a great time as usual. It's so hard to believe that in our gang last year, there were only 3 children and this year there are 8! Next year, with the additions of Baby Bowen and Troy Holzman, and maybe even another Honaker too, we'll just keep growing--oh what fun! We got some fun pictures of all the kids together. Tony and I are so blessed to have such wonderful friends that have such great kids for Owen to grow up with. Here are a few (...okay a bunch!) of highlights from Owen's very first Halloween!

Owen's First Halloween