1 YEAR OLD!!!

It's official, as of last Thursday, my sweet precious child is 1 year old! AAHH, I'm still in a little disbelief/shock to actually write that...We had a grand time last Thursday and had a GREAT day...all about Owen, of course!!! When Tony was leaving for work I asked him if he wanted to wake him up to sing Happy Birthday with me, but Tony said to let him sleep and he'd wish him a Happy Birthday when he got home (Tony leaves for work about 7:15 am and Owen and I don't usually get up till around 7:45 am). So when Owen woke up I burst into his room singing the "Happy Birthday" song and I must admit, I started choking up a little because I was just so excited for him--and also in a little disbelief of how fast he's growing up! He's almost always in a great mood in the morning and used to my silly songs in the morning, but I'm not sure he knew what to think with his crazy mama singing that loud song ;)

The entire day was quite a lot of fun! Sara, her mom, Jack, my mom, Owen and I went to a consignment sale that morning and Owen got lots and lots of great spring & summer clothes! We really racked up and I'm so excited about all the adorable outfits Owen will be sporting soon :) Then Geebee came back to our house and hung out with us for a while. Later that afternoon Tony, Pops, and Noni & Grandpa all joined us. It was such a nice day that we went outside and watched Owen play with the balloons that Noni & Grandpa brought him for a while before going back inside for a yummy dinner. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY...I'M SOOO EXCITED!!! Loving on our special boy!
One very blessed little birthday boy with all of his wonderful grandparents!

Group shot :)
Hamming it up for the grandparents
We tied the balloons to his overalls so they wouldn't float away :)

Balloons are so much fun!

After dinner, we took Owen to Dairy Queen for his very first ice cream cone ever! We were all so excited to see what he'd do with it...plus, ice cream is my favorite :) When we got there, they were having trivia night and it was packed, but luckily we did find a table. There was lots of fun music, which of course Owen loved! With all the excitement of the day, I'm sure he thought all the people and music were there to celebrate with us! I'm not sure if it was all the distraction, or the coldness, or what, but Owen wasn't really too huge a fan of his ice cream (he's his father's child in that respect!) and was content to play with it and eat the cone instead. He did get quite a kick out of taking a plastic spoon and flinging ice cream all over Tony and the floor quite a few times! It was SUCH a great day and evening, and a very, very happy birthday celebration for Owen!!! Daddy, Mama, & our birthday boy!!!

hmm, I'm not sure about this stuff...

It sure is cold!

I think it's more fun to play in it!


Owen at a glance: 12 months...
I would definitely say that Owen is officially walking now. He still will crawl quite a bit, but takes steps 5 and 6 at a time (his most at once is about 10 so far) and does this frequently throughout the day.

He is getting better & better at "copy catting" things that we say. He won't repeat everything, but will repeat quite a bit.

He is getting more and more dance moves every day and is now doing lots of head and body swaying back and forth, up and down. He is so precious to watch and I am still trying to catch this on video, though I haven't gotten a really good clip yet.

He has developed quite a bit of self independence and will play with his toys by himself for 20 minutes or so at a time. He's still quite the socialite though and LOVES to play with other children!

Owen loves to capture the spotlight! Whether we're at a restaurant or we just have family or friends over, he wants to be the center of attention with all eyes on him. He'll talk, shout, dance, and move around until all eyes are on him...he's quite the little ham :)

He's eating more and more solid foods these days and we usually try and give him a little of whatever we're eating as long as it's is soft and easily chewable.

12 Month Measurements
18 lbs. 4 oz (0-3rd percentile)
31 1/4 inches (75th-90th percentile)
and I didn't catch his head measurement, but I do know it was 25th-50th percentile

Owen is still quite the slender little thing, but his doctor isn't concerned. He says that around his age, babies that were born premature start catching up to the full term babies. They do this at a very rapid rate and so it knocks the slower growing children down a bit on the charts. Our little skinny mini will catch up eventually :)

Family Vist, continued...

Here are a few more pictures of the weekend that my mom's side of the family came to visit. My uncle Berry was just getting over being sick and was really itching to get his hands on Owen, but refrained just to be on the safe side so unfortunately, I was unable to get any pictures of Owen & him. Also, Sandy & LeeAnn had already left when these pictures were taken, so I was unable to get any of them either :( However, here are a few pictures of Owen playing with bubbles with Pops outside at my parents house along with a few of him with Lali (my aunt Alison) playing with their cute little dog, Sissy. Being gentle with Sissy

Playing with Lali & Sissy

Handsome boy, growing up so fast!

Bubbles with Pops

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere!

Figuring out how to make the bubble maker work

Hey, whatcha doin' there, Pops?
Practicing walking
More walking with Mama & Daddy...love Owen's expression!

My sweet, little snuggle bug!!!

Family Visit & GA Aquarium Trip

My aunts & uncles from my mom's side of the family were in town last weekend--Alison (mom's sister) & Berry and Sandy (mom's brother) & LeeAnn. They were here for the entire weekend and we had such an awesome time visiting with them and catching up. It was also Sandy & LeeAnn's first time meeting Owen :) To kick off the weekend, we all (minus Tony, he had to work) took a trip to the GA Aquarium. It was both Owen & my first visit and we all had a blast! That place is soooo awesome! Owen really thinks so too, he was in awe the whole time, pointing and laughing and telling us all about the great fish he was seeing! We were all in such awe of the enormous fish surrounding us that I only ended up taking a few pictures of Owen with Geebee & Pops. The rest are of just Owen with the fish and then a few of the fish & other sea creatures by themselves. I really hate it that I didn't get a group shot or any of Owen with his great aunts & uncles at the Aquarium but I guess we were all just so enamored by the fish that it slipped our minds! Owen's very first encounter with the fish. He started pointing and saying "wow" immediately!
Checking out the giant jellyfish Watching the sea otters with Geebee My sweet boy and me :)This was my favorite creature, a dragon sea horse...I forgot the real name, but they were so fun to watch! Watching the beluga whales with Pops The main attraction! The whale sharks :) Owen in the concave window, it looks like the fish is right next to him! Silly boy trying to grab my camera while I was taking a picture of him with Geebee

...and this last one pretty much sums up Owen's GA Aquarium experience. I absolutely LOVE his expression in this one!!! I'm pretty sure he's saying, "I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!"

Snow Day :)

Busy, busy, busy!!! That's what our life's been lately for sure :) I know that the old saying March comes in like lion and out like a lamb refers to the weather, but that saying fits our life these days too! All in good ways though, no complaints here!!!! We've had lots and lots of fun times with family and friends, but it has left me little down time and my blog has been a little neglected lately! That being said, I have at least 5 posts in the works so stayed tuned over the next few days and I promise to get them all up :) Okay onto the first one...

We started out the month of March with a snow day. Now I do use that term very lightly...we do live in Georgia here, but nonetheless, we did at least see some snow. The snow fell down for the majority of the day and we had a very light dusting, but not enough accumulation to cause the schools to close and give Tony the day off :( It was Owen's very first local snow sighting--he saw snow for the first time in Crested Butte in January--(and our first one in a few years too I might add!) so we took the opportunity to bundle him up and get a few pictures in the cold, white stuff. That's about all it was to Owen too. He wasn't too big a fan of the cold or the wet so we only stayed out for a few minutes, but here are a few cute ones :) Sweet boy Snowy kisses from daddy ;)snuggling with mama my 2 favorite people! smiley faces :) precious love!

11 Months!

I cannot, CANNOT believe that my baby is 2 1/2 weeks away from turning 1!!!! I was talking with my friend Cori just the other day about how this time last year we were playing the waiting game and taking guesses on when Owen would make his arrival. It seems like just yesterday!

I have been busy getting ready for his party and it has been so much fun to plan! My mom has done a special smocking for his birthday and I am busy sewing the outfit all together. It is going to be jumbo blue & white gingham long-alls and I can't wait for it to be done, it is going to be so precious! We aren't really doing too much of a theme, but his invitations have a train on them and I'm going to put a train on his cake too.

Okay, so here are a few things Owen has learned and developed during month 11...

He is saying so many words these days! His new words this month include: "bye bye" and "book"...and maybe even one or two more that I'm forgetting. We have also discovered that when Owen is saying "go," he is actually referring to Margo our dog.

Owen also has a handful of new tricks this month too! He gives the absolute BEST hugs and kisses!!! Oh they are heaven! He gives a little squeeze and makes a little "mmm, mmm" noise when he hugs--so adorable :) He gives them to his mama all the time, but shares some with his daddy and grandparents too!

We sing together all the time too. Owen LOVES music--I suppose he gets this from his mama, who gets it from her daddy! Pops loves all kinds of music and I think we've both inherited that passion from him :) A couple of weeks ago I was putting Owen to bed and it took a bit longer than usual. When I finally came downstairs Tony asked me what I was doing. I told him that Owen and I had been singing and we just kept on singing until he finally drifted off to sleep. I could spend hours singing with my sweet one, I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing :)

He will dance when he hears music too. If he's standing up, he'll bend his knees up and down and slap his hands on the ottoman or couch. If he's sitting, he'll bounce up and down on the floor waving his hands. This kid's got rhythm too :) It's so precious to watch and we've captured it with the video camera several times. I will try and figure out how to convert it and upload it soon :)

Owen has become quite the little parrot these days too! He will copy all kinds of noises and movement that we do. He will "quack" like a duck, "moo" like a cow, and "woof, woof" like a dog. When you ask him when a dog says, he will say "woof, woof" all on his own, but the others you have to say first and then he'll repeat. We throw our hands in the air and say "Praise the Lord" and Owen does the same. (His praise the Lord sounds more like "aaaaahhhh!" right now though!)

He also waves "bye bye" and gives "High 5's" too. He's started stacking things like blocks and bowls inside of each other. He's gotten to be a pro with walking behind his push & ride toy and has even figured out how to ride it by himself too. No walking yet. I think he could if he really wanted to--his balance is great and he has the movement down pat--but he's just not interested yet and would rather crawl. Again, NO pressure here, he can take his time for sure!

11 Month Measurements:
18 pounds
31 inches long
47 centimeter head

I didn't check the percentiles, but maybe I'll check and come back and add those later. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this month...

11 Month Pictures

1st Haircut

Well, really it was more of a trim actually! Owen's hair was starting to get a little shaggy around his ears so I trimmed it up a little bit. I didn't touch the top or the back, but just snipped a little off the sides so it wasn't hanging down over his ears anymore. What a task it was too! I tried giving Owen "new and exciting" things to play with, which sort of kind of worked...I basically followed Owen around the room with my hair sheers and then as soon as he would pause to look at something, I'd snip a little here and there. Then he'd be off again and I'd have to wait until he was distracted again to cut anymore. It took quite a while to accomplish our task, but all in all I think I did a pretty good job!Brianne (Xan's mom) suggested giving him a lollipop to suck on so that's what we're gonna try next time! Thanks for the tip Bri! :)

Play Group & Trip to the Park

We have started getting together with some other mamas & babies in our neighborhood and it has been so much fun! We get together every other week so that the kiddos can play and the mamas can have some much needed "adult time" to chat and visit too. We currently have 3 boys: Luke, Jack, & Owen and 1 girl: Austyn. We also have another neighbor that might join us next time too which is so fun! Here are some pictures that I took of them playing last week. Unfortunately Luke wasn't feeling too great so he and his mama had to miss out, but I'll be sure to take some more pictures of the whole crew again soon!

The only shot I could get of all 3 of them at the same time!

Sweet baby Austyn, so adorable!

Jack & his beautiful baby blues :)

AAAH! I think Owen looks like he's about 3 years old here!

Playing with everything EXCEPT the toys :)

Owen using Jack as a jungle gym, silly boy!

Jack waiting on his mama for some lunch

Sweet little faces :)


A few days after we met for play group, we took the kids to the park for a picnic and walk. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, so sunny and fairly warm so I got a few pictures of them playing there as well. We had a lot of fun and are hoping for another warm, sunny day soon so we can go back!
Sleepy Jack in his cool shades

Picnic at the park!

Crawling ALL over the field :)
Handsome boy!

Photography Assistant

So these days it's near impossible to take pictures of my kiddo without some assistance. I typically have to give him a toy of some sort and hope for the best (hence the abundant use of "props" in my pictures these days!), but for Owen's 10 month pics, I was fortunate enough to have Kelly (Noni) as an "assistant" to help me out. Noni was a HUGE help with keeping Owen focused on sitting in his rocking chair and I got some really great shots (the ones in the "10 months" slide show a few posts below). I also took some precious pics of the 2 of them while they were looking out the window at the school bus in the neighborhood. I just found some time to edit them and here are a few of my very favorites...

Cruising Right Along!

Owen just figured out how to walk using one of his push & ride toys this morning. He first started trying to push one of his play tables around the room, but when I showed him his push & ride toys he really started cruising. Here's a video of him. I love how he's looking at me in the beginning like "Okay is the camera on? I'm ready to perform!" and then he takes off...so cute! :)