Our Christmas Card

Unfortunately, they won't be mailed until this weekend because I am so far behind.

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Recent Pictures

Being super busy continues. Here are some recent pics of Owen.

Growing up WAY too fast

Feeding himself

Exploring in the refrigerator

So happy when DaDa comes home

Story time!

O's new obsession is ziploc bags. He pulls them one at a time out of the box.

Book Time

Owen loves to read books. He is really good at turning pages and pointing at pictures. We have a soft photo album that he likes to "read." We have not put any pictures in it because it is constantly in his mouth.

Helping Daddy fill the tub for bath time

Owen & his friend Bert

Owen loves to play with Bert. I think that is going to be his first real word. He says "Ba" and "Bu" all the time. If you say where is Bert, he will say "Bu" and look around until he finds him. Then he giggles and squeals loudly. It is so cute! Owen has learned how to be sweet to Bert and pet him. I will try and capture this on video. These pictures are from my phone so they are not the best quality.

 Friends forever

Owen wanting to play with Bert outside

Eating bananas

One of his favorite things to do is crawl under the table, back and forth, over and over.

Trouble

I have a feeling this is going to lead to trouble. The crib tent has been ordered.

On a side note, this is how happy Owen is every time he wakes up. Love this little boy!

California

We had such a great time in California over the 4th of July holiday. Owen was so good on the plane that a woman a row in front of my parents said at the end of the flight she did not even know there was a baby on our row. So I stressed over nothing! 

 Playing on the plane with Grumps

 Loved looking out the window!

We got to spend time with Gigi, Aunt Linda, Uncle Walt, the Oesch Family - Laura (my cousin), Shem, Anna, Nathan and Lucy, and the Coffey Family - Liz (my cousin), Paul and Ronan. It was truly a wonderful week with the whole family together. Can't wait to do it again soon!

Lots of pool time - Owen loves the water!

 

Gigi and Owen

 

Having fun with Gigi

 

Owen loved playing on the big kid toys with Ronan

 

I love the look on both their faces - so cute.

 

 

The cousins plus Anna

 

Aunt Sara & O (with straight teeth)

 

Four generations

 

All the little ones - best we could do.

The women

Our celebrity sighting at LAX - Duff from Ace of Cakes

Active Little Boy

Owen is all over the place these days. Here are some short videos of him climbing the stairs (with Mom right behind him) and walking along the table. As soon as we get home from school and I get O out of the carseat, he is off. Crawling all around, pulling up on the couch, walking along the couch, crawling to the table, pulling up on the table, walking around the table, crawling to the chair, and so on. It is exhausting for me and I am just following him around. He has learned so much in the past month. It is really amazing!

9 Months

I am so far behind on everything in life including the blog. I don't think I will ever catch up. I will post pictures of our trip to California later this week. We had such a great time visiting our family. I wish they lived closer so we could see them more often.

Owen had his 9 month check up last week. He weighs 19 pounds 9 ounces (25-50%) , is 27 3/4 inches tall (25-50%) and his head is 46 1/2 cm (25-50%). He did not have to get any shots this time but they did prick his toe for a blood test. He barely even flinched. We had to go to the pediatric dentist after the pediatrician. Long and painful story so I will try to sum up.

Two weeks ago, Owen was playing in his exersaucer while I was making dinner. We have some extra toys attached to it to keep him entertained. One was the panda pictured. Do NOT buy this toy! All of a sudden I hear him screaming. I turn to look at him and the green pull part of the panda was stuck under his chin and inside his mouth. I think he was trying to chew on the middle plastic piece since he is teething a lot. I tried to wiggle the toy out from under his chin but he has a chubby little neck and it was stuck pretty good. I then tried to pull the piece up and out of his mouth. As I did this, it pulled one of his teeth completely forward. Blood was gushing everywhere and he was screaming even more. Of course, I started crying which did not help any.

After calling my Mom completely hysterical, I pushed the tooth back in place the best I could and called the afterhours line for the doctor. The nurse told me to go to their clinic and they told me to go to a pediatric dentist the next morning. His tooth was very loose but she said it should tighten back and did not pose a choking hazard. We had to take away any toys that he could put in his mouth and not let him have a pacifier at night. Poor baby! Owen did so well and the dentist said it had tightened a lot in a week. Yay!

I took the whole thing pretty badly and kept replaying the event in my mind. What could I have done differently besides not giving him that damn toy in the first place? This also happened the night after he fell inside his crib and slammed his head on the side. After several nights with wine and crying myself to sleep, I have realized that it is just a tooth and could have been so much worse. It is just so scary when your baby is bleeding and you caused it.

So much for a short story. Anyway, Owen is fine and his tooth is a little crooked but healing each day. He also has two new teeth - one on top and one on bottom. Random yes but so cute. I will try to get some pics if he will sit still long enough. He is trying so hard to walk. He pulls himself up on everything and walks around couches, chairs and tables. He is one active little boy!

Happy Father's Day

We had such a wonderful weekend. Erik watched O so I could go out with my friends Friday night to celebrate Brandy's birthday. It was great catching up with everyone. Saturday, we ran some much needed errands. We got Owen some new toys including a walker dino. I think he will be pulling up on it pretty soon! We had movie night Saturday after O was down and I must say "Just Go With It" is hilarious! Sunday Erik took O to his parents house to celebrate with Papa. I had to play tennis so I missed out on pool time. Owen had so much fun in the water with Nana, Aunt Heather and Cousin Keleigh. He was a little hesitant at first but then he was a pro splashing around.

O has turned into quite a little ham when I take his picture. If I have the camera out and say his name, he will turn and look at me with the biggest smile on his face. I love it!

Playing with Nana

Looking through the float at Keleigh

Look at the new toy Nana and Papa bought me!

All smiles

Cutie

Having fun with Daddy!

Lightning Strikes

A few weeks ago we had some bad storms in the area. I was at home with Owen and we heard this really loud noise. I had no idea what it was. It almost sounded like a transformer blowing. I walked throughout the entire house to make sure something didn't crash or blow up. Everything looked fine but I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad happened. As I was walking around the yard a few days later, I noticed a tree in the back. It was a beautiful Redbud tree that turns purple in the spring completely covered in blooms. This is what it looks like now. It must have been struck by lightning which took off half the tree. I am afraid the poor tree won't survive now. At least it was not near our house and did not catch on fire. It is still scary to know that lightning came that close. And there are much taller trees in our yard and behind our fence. Why that tree?

It was dark when I took the pics but most of the branches you see in the back are from this tree.

Weekend Recap

Aunt Tracey came home for a race at the lake and to visit with the family. We had a great weekend full of fun in the sun, good times on the boat and jet ski and way too much food!

Owen and Daddy

Relaxing boat ride

The Gram

Owen loved Daddy's hat

They let me drive - muah ah ah!

Owen in his life jacket

Not too sure about getting in the water

Bert had fun in the water although it looks really muddy here.

Aunt Tracey and O-Bear

Having fun rolling around and trying to crawl

Enjoying the water for a little while with Mommy

Family photo

I love this picture. We were on a boat ride and I said "Owen, look at Mommy."

He looked up at me with this goofy grin on his face!

We had a great weekend. I wish Tracey lived closer so we could see her more often. Luckily, we will see her in less than 3 weeks when the King family heads to California to visit Gigi, Aunt Linda, Uncle Walt, Cousin Laura and the Oesch clan, and Cousin Liz and the Coffeys. So excited!