10 Months

In usual fashion, I'm soooo late (almost an entire month this time, perhaps a new record?) with Owen's 10 month post. However, Owen is now 10 (and a half) months old now, which I can hardly believe, but he is. It's so cliche to say how "time flies by so fast" but it's really so true, and I don't think I really grasped HOW fast until I actually became a mother. I suppose what really gave me some perspective this month, was that my sweet friend Emilie & her husband, Whit, just had their baby boy on Tuesday. His name is Hansell Lee Smith II (named after Whit's dad) and they are calling him Lee. He is a precious tiny little bundle--only 5 pounds, 5 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long--and mom, dad, & baby are all doing great by the way :) So, we went to visit them in the hospital the other day and it just really shot me back, I mean, we were JUST there! Yet, already it's almost been an entire year, geeze! Here's a picture of us holding sweet little Lee by the way :)What a cutie, huh? :)

Owen is really content crawling these days and not showing too much interest in moving on to walking (...and I'm sure not rushing him either!) Since he has seemed to be on the go practically from birth, Owen kind of got us thinking he'd be a really early walker. He still may do just that, I know it is still quite early, but he's not showing signs so far. He will occasionally stand on his own for a moment or two, but he isn't making the move with his feet yet. Also, he hasn't liked the few times we've held his hands and tried to see if he'd walk with us with assistance--he's content just to get around on all fours :)

Owen is eating a huge variety of food these days too. He's tried just about everything Tony & I eat, except for nuts & seafood. He is really not picky at all with the exception that still not crazy about eggs, but I still try them every now and then. I'm sure he'll eventually develop a taste for them :)

His vocabulary is ever growing too. The list of words includes:
wow, ow, woah, and dog---ALL the time
la-la (what he calls Delilah our cat), cat, ball, and go--quite frequently
da-da and ma-ma--occassionally

He loves to play with balls, his push toys (riding on them with us pushing him, he hasn't gotten the hang of how to push them yet), his shape sorter, and his tunnel, but he LOVES to play with anything he isn't supposed to be playing with (ie. the fireplace tools, remote controls, tv, etc.)

Owen's 10 month measurements:
17 pounds, 6 ounces (5th to 10th percentile)
30 in. long (75th to 90th percentile)
46 cm. head (50th to 75th percentile)

...still tall & skinny with an average sized head :)

Here are some of my favorites pics this month, enjoy!

10 Months

Crested Butte slideshow

Crested Butte!

During MLK weekend, my parents, Tony, Owen, and I flew out to Colorado to visit my brother, Matt, in Crested Butte. Matt moved out there just a few months ago and wasn't able to make it home for Thanksgiving or Christmas so it was so great to be able to see him and see where he works and plays! He works at a beautiful ski resort called Elevation and he was able to get us some sweet deals on ski rentals & lift tickets.

We had an AWESOME time out there spending time with him, skiing, eating absoultely wonderful food, and relaxing. Owen did such a great job on the airplane (I was a little worried!) too which only made things better. He wasn't super crazy about the cold weather, but when we bundled him up he was a great sport about it. It was a bit challenging, because CO time is 2 hours behind us so it was interesting trying to juggle his schedule with the local time out there. About the time we'd head out to dinner every night was just getting to be bed time at home and Owen fell asleep more than once inside of Tony's coat :) It was so precious!

Owen was of course way too little to get out on the slopes, but we did take him tubing which he absolutely LOVED! He squealed and laughed all the way down the hill and then as soon as we finished, he started babbling, telling us all about it :) He also loved the indoor pool. It was heated, but for some reason the days we took him swimming, it wasn't heated nearly enough. He started shivvering a little bit, but still wanted to stay in the water. We let him for a little bit, but then to warm him up a little, let him dangle his toes in the hot tub. He loved the jets and the bubbles they made.

The skiing was so wonderful too. I skiied mostly with my mom & Tony, but got to go down a run or two with my brother when he wasn't working which was fun. He snowboards on the double blacks mostly and Tony went down those with him some, but I am NOT a double black skiier ;) Dad wasn't crazy about skiing so he stuck mostly to the spa & workout center and also went snowmobiling with Matt one day. We took turns going out on the slopes so that someone was always there to watch Owen and it worked out fabulously--an excellent time was had by all!

Crested Butte is SO, SO beautiful!!! As my friend Renee put it, "Colorado is like God's work on steroids!" That statement is so true. It was an act of worship just to stand on the mountain and take in all of God's glorious creation. Words and pictures cannot describe how beautiful it truly is.

2008 Baby Dedication

On January 11th, our church, McEachern Methodist, held a Baby Dedication service for all of the babies born in 2008. It was a very meaningful and special church service for us as we got to take Owen down to the front and present him before our church family. Geebee & Pops were there (we all attend McEachern together) and we even had some of our best friends, Ashleigh & Joel, in attendance to witness the special occasion. Owen was presented with a beautiful little white Bible that has his name in the front of it with the Dedication date and our pastor's signature. What a very special gift!
Listening to the Dedication Receiving Owen's Bible (The Madsens with baby Mackenzie are in the background!) Showing Owen his Bible Loving on my sweet boy!

Phillips Christmas

After Christmas lunch and a nap for Owen, we headed to my grandparents' house (my dad's parents--my Nonnie & Poppaw) to celebrate with them as well. Owen was fired up and ready to go and had just as much fun trying to chew on the bows as he did playing with his new toys. We had another great meal there (I think it's pretty safe to say I probably gained a few that day!) and visited with them. My cousin Tristan got a new remote controlled car and Owen was VERY interested in it. He crawled after it for a long time trying to catch it. Owen was quite the entertainment as always :) Owen giving Geebee & Nonnie a laugh :)

Playing peek-a-boo with Pops

When those festivities were over, we headed over to my parents for the evening. We exchanged presents with them and got some AWESOME, AWESOME gifts! We got the board game, "Loaded Questions," which if you haven't played it--come on over to our house anytime and we'll play it, cause it's a BLAST! We also got some wonderful, much needed kitchen gadgets & some great, sharp knives (can you tell we were in need of kitchen stuff this year?!) Owen got a really cool push & ride dump truck. He loves to ride it while we push him all around the house, I think he feels like quite the big boy :) He also got lots of wonderful books--a few of his favorites being some "touch & feel" books that he likes to investigate very carefully, it's so cute to watch him lift the flaps and feel the different textures. Playing ball with Pops--I'm telling you, Owen didn't let that thing out of his sight all day long :)

We were so blessed this year--not just by all of the wonderful presents, but by all of the quality time we've gotten to spend with family. Having Owen this year renewed and magnified all of the excitement and anticipation that Christmas has always had for me, but it has also deepened the meaning and gratefulness that I feel--first and foremost to my wonderful Lord and Savior, but also to my family and friends for all that they mean and all that they do in my life.

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?!