First Flight....to Houston!

Owen and I got an unexpected treat a few weekends ago and were able to fly to Houston for a few days to visit my family and friends! The thought of flying with a 6 week old baby was a bit daunting at first, but he did so great on the plane! He actually slept the entire way there and back on the plane. I was very grateful for that considering I was dreading being "that parent" with the screaming kid on the plane that everyone hates. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of us at the airport..I was a bit preoccupied trying to survive the security check points and what-not while holding my child (I hope all of you blog Nazis will forgive me!). The trip was AMAZING! I got to not only spend time with my parents, but was able to introduce Owen to some of my best friends. Lauren and Katie took every chance they could to smooch on him. My friend Megan, who delivered her baby boy Jacob in September (during Hurricane Ike!!), was able to come spend a couple days with us. It was so great to see her and we had a blast watching Owen and Jacob try to figure each other out.

Whoever says that babies all look the same is definitely WRONG...I mean seriously look at how different these two are! Megan bought them matching outfits and during their photo shoot, Jacob (who is teething right now) started chewing on Owen's arm! It was hilarious to watch Owen's reaction to it all. Owen also got to meet his Nana Connie (my mom's best friend), who he later christened during a diaper change!
It was a very special weekend and I thank all of you who gave up your weekends on such short notice to spend time with us!

Newborn Pictures

Here are some BEAUTIFUL pictures that Kate took of Owen right after he was born!













Thanks,Kate!

Christmas and New Year Cheer...better late than never!!

We survived the holidays! They were FULL of family, food, fun, and of course plenty of time passing Owen around! Since Owen was born smack in the middle of the holiday season, we were blessed enough to spend time with both of our families. My sister and her family got to spend Christmas week with us and it was so much fun getting to have Santa visit our house and leave presents for my niece, nephews and Owen. My niece Grace made fast friends with the neighbor girl, Kalie, across the street. They made Christmas ornaments out of Jolly Ranchers and cookie cutters and they made "reindeer food" out of glitter and oatmeal. On Christmas Eve they spread their reindeer food all over our front yard and Kalie's. Someone in our family, don't remember who exactly, was craving Chinese food on Christmas Eve, and so our Christmas Eve dinner was spent at Lin's Garden Chinese Buffet. It was a first for us all, but I must say that we had a blast eating all the Chinese food we could handle! We topped our Christmas Eve festivities off with Christmas lights at the town square and then headed home so the kids could go to bed and the adults could set up for Santa to come! As you can imagine with a house full of kids, Christmas morning was packed full of laughter, excitement, wrapping paper EVERYWHERE, and tons of toys! We spent New Year's Eve at our house cooking a FANTASTIC dinner with our friends Kate and Dave.
We had yummy salmon and blue cheese appetizers, pumpkin risotto and apricot stuffed pork tenderloin. Kate bought Owen a flashing New Year's Eve bow tie, which he wore for about the duration of these pictures and then started to cry!
Kate and I stepped back and watched John talk Dave through changing Owen's diaper..so cute!
It truly was a great New Year's Eve and a wonderful holiday spent with all the ones we love!

Warm Front!

Apart from the treacherous winds, Northwest Arkansas had beautiful weather in the 50's all weekend! This being said, John and I were just itching to get out of the house and be outside. We were able to take Owen to the Promenade (our outdoor shopping mall) on Saturday and the best part about it was listening to John apologize to everyone for his poor stroller pushing skills! Since we were determined to enjoy the weather before it gets cold again, we decided to take a hike on Sunday...that's right, not just a stroll around the neighborhood or park...oh no, not my husband, we had to HIKE. So being the great wife that I am, I strapped Owen into my fancy baby wrap and off we went for TWO MILES! I had to include a picture as documentation of my wonderful efforts :)
Owen had another milestone this weekend. His umbilical cord fell off on Saturday night which finally allowed us to give him his first "real" bath. He survived the bath with no tears...hopefully that is how all bath times will go from now on! I also added a couple other pictures of Owen this weekend...we can't help but laugh at his mad face!

Eyes wide open!

Owen has finally started to stay awake during the day with his eyes open...can you tell that we get excited over the little things? :)

Seems like forever ago....

Owen has only been here two weeks and yet it feels like we have always had him! It is hard to believe that only two weeks ago my belly looked like this and ALL 8 lb 12 oz of him was curled up inside me! I never shared these photos with you so I figured now was as good of a time as ever....enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks to our wonderfully talented friends, Kate and Dave Burris, we have a beautiful Christmas card/birth announcement to share with all of you! Hope you all have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and keep checking back for more picture updates (Kate took some really great ones and I can't wait to share them with you!)