Happy 1st Birthday Owen!!

It's hard to believe, but Owen is ONE today! Wow.....where has the year gone??? We've spent a lot of time today remembering what was happening this time last year and just how much our lives have changed since then. Owen has enriched our lives more than we could have ever imagined.....seriously, what did we do before Owen???

Here are some tidbits about Owen, the one year old: he loves baths and swimming, he likes to push chairs (or anything) across the floor, he likes music, his favorite food is the banana, the word he says most often is "dog," he loves to dig in the bathroom drawers, he has an obsession with socks, his new favorite toy is his golf club, he knows how to turn off the computer (especially when we're right in the middle of something), he kisses with his mouth wide open, he LOVES the outdoors, he knows how to crawl out the doggie-door, he has a habit of tackling other kids to the ground, he likes to carry sticks around, he is very ticklish, he loathes his face/nose being cleaned, he enjoys watching the fish, he trys to eat the dog food when the dogs are eating, he's proud of himself when he dances, he runs to the dishwasher when it's open, he likes to play with magnets, he always helps with the laundry and he loves his mommy and daddy!

Owen has received many cards, gifts, phone calls and emails (yes, emails) today for his birthday! Thanks so much for making this day special for us!

Let's Party!

Owen had a fantastic birthday party yesterday! We ended up having a smaller party at our house because a week ago Positive Energy (the place we were supposed to have the party at) caught on fire and had extensive smoke damage. But we had a great time anyways!! Several of Owen's friends came over to help celebrate. And both of Owen's grandmothers and his Uncle Mark flew in from Texas for the weekend! Owen is one special boy! He ate his cake like a champ.....after one taste of the icing he crammed the entire cupcake in his mouth! So funny! He received a ton of gifts......but was scared to death of his Tickle Me Elmo! He's warming up to it some, but still unsure of it. Thanks to everyone for making Owen's First Birthday Party the best ever!!!

Birthday Parties Galore!

Owen is lucky to have so many baby friends the same age! He has 3 friends that were all born within 3 weeks of each other. We have spent the past 3 weekends attending first birthday parties of our friends. They've all been a warm-up for Owen's big day!

Here Owen is stealing birthday cake from Ryder!


Owen still needs to learn how to share.


Here they are at Sofia's party


Owen helping Brock celebrate his first birthday with a little music.

Owen & Mommy

We have had such a good day today! This morning I took Owen to his baby swim class. We used to go religiously every Friday, but we've been busy and haven't been in months. So today Owen was really excited about swimming and interacting with the other kids. He was jumping from the side of the pool, trying to blow bubbles, and even dunked his head under water 3 times! He loved it! After swimming we went to a coffee shop with our friends Brenda and Ryder, and while we were there a local string quartet was playing Christmas music. Owen would walk up to the stage and stare at the musicians, dance to the music, and clap at the end of songs! I really think he and Ryder stole the show! They were getting lots of attention from other customers.

Owen likes to climb on Sandy....and Sandy loves the attention!


We bought a "play hut" at a secondhand children's store last weekend (for only $6!). The hut takes up half of our living room, but Owen sure likes to play inside it!

Owen received a Christmas gift in the mail already and we used the big box to play in......I wonder what he'll like better: the gift or the box???

First Hair Cut

We've really been debating whether or not to trim Owen's hair. It's kind of shaggy, and I like it that way. But when it started hanging in his eyes, I knew we had to do it. So we decided to just trim his bangs ourselves (which sounds a lot easier than it actually was). Micah made a couple of snips and then I played with it some so it wasn't such a "bowl" cut. He looks like such a little boy now.....what happened to my baby???

Owen's Got Moves!

Owen's First Turkey Day!

This was Owen's very first Thanksgiving, but he wasn't too impressed with turkey.....one bite and he was done with that! We had Thanksgiving dinner at our friend's home yesterday, with Brenda, JP and Ryder. We were both planning on staying at home for dinner and at the last minute decided to get together and share food! Plus Owen and Ryder enjoyed playing together, as always. Owen likes to follow Ryder around and tackle him to the ground.

I Walk the Line

15 Years!

Fifteen years ago today, Micah called me on the phone and asked me if I would "go with him." I was 14 years old and he was 15. I wasn't allowed to officially date until I was 16, but we "dated" all through high school and then through college. He also proposed to me on this day 7 years ago. I still think saying "yes" to him 15 years ago was the best decision I've ever made!

Eleven Months Old

It's hard to believe we are already planning Owen's first birthday! Wow.....time flies! Owen is walking everywhere (seriously, we think he forgot how to crawl). And he's started dancing a lot when he hears music. He has a toy in the kitchen where he pushes a button to start the music. So now whenever he pushes it, he bounces up and down....his version of dancing. Where did he get the idea to dance???? We must get this on video soon! We haven't been up to much this past week. Here are a few random pictures.

Oh, I almost forgot.....Owen's 4th tooth came in this week (this is the 2nd top tooth).



Owen getting a ride in the luggage.


Owen loves to help me with the laundry. He always follows me into the laundry room so he can push the buttons on the washing machine.

Sandy Train

Some of you have seen or heard about Sandy (our crazy dog) pulling Micah around the neighborhood on his longboard....it's really quite a sight! Micah is the envy of every boy in the area. And we wonder why Sandy isn't very good walking on a leash! :o)

Walkin'

I just got back from my business trip to Las Vegas last night. I flew there early Thursday morning and this was my first night away from Owen. Boooo....it was difficult to be away from him and I missed him more than anything, but he was in wonderful hands with his daddy and I think they had a good time hanging out. It felt so good to come home though!

Owen is walking all over the place now! He no longer needs to be encouraged to walk......he is making the decision to walk on his own and he's getting around pretty good! He just walked all the way down our long hallway!




Owen likes to carry his beach ball around the house.

Fall is Here!

Owen helped his dad rake up the leaves in the yard this weekend. But he wasn't so sure about playing in the big pile of leaves. Maybe he'll enjoy it more next fall.








Owen has discovered where we store all the DVDs!!!

Trick or Treat

Owen's first Halloween was a good one! In fact, we've never seen a town make such a big deal out of Halloween before (for kids at least). Here in Carson City, it is tradition for the Governor to pass out candy every Halloween. So the area around the Governor's Mansion was packed full of parents and kids trick-or-treating. The Mansion was decorated and a band was playing on the front lawn (click on the title of this post for a link to the Governor's Mansion). There was a long line to get popcorn from the Governor, so we skipped that part, but we were amazed with everything! And all the big, historic homes surrounding the Governor's Mansion were decked out with decorations, haunted houses, graveyards, and scary things everywhere. Owen got frightened once by a person dressed up as a dead zombie....poor baby.



Elton John look-alike???


Governor's Mansion


Here's our little monkey!



Dinosaur, Ladybug, and Monkey (a.k.a. Ryder, Sofia and Owen)



Some people in my office dressed up today. I was a flight attendant with pretzels and all.

Howdy Texas!

We have been in Texas for the past 10 days! Micah was in a wedding in Dallas, so we made a vacation out of it. We spent a lot of time in College Station with our families and also visited Kelly's grandmom on their family ranch. It was busy, but Owen got to spend time with all of his grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, aunts, and friends. We already miss everyone!!! While we were there, Owen discovered stairs and wanted to climb them constantly! He also had his very first horseback ride and got to feed some friendly cows!

Owen likes the dirt!

Over the weekend we took a hike up to the top of S Hill, which is here in Carson. It gets its name from the big S on the face. Not sure what it stands for. Owen slept for most of the hike up so when we got to the top he was ready to play. As you can see in the video he's not afraid to get a little dirty!

Tiptoe'n

Ten months old and almost walking! In just the past 2 days he's really been taking a lot of steps. He's taken more than 10 steps at one time. I think he's finally figuring it out (after many falls and bruises)!

More Pumpkins

Today we went to a local fall festival at a school in our neighborhood. Here are Owen and his buddy Ryder playing at the pumpkin patch.