oh mother...

oh mother..., originally uploaded by mdwinell.

we had yet another exiting new year's celebration. owen was a good sport and took a photo with the cheesy new year's antennae. mom has antennae headbands for just about every holiday! lol. we opened up the instant snow that santa left in the stockings...lily and owen enjoyed it very much!

after the kids went to bed mom and dad grilled their surf and turf and ate at their traditional (past) midnight hour. mom waited in line at albertson's for crab legs for over an hour and then decided to go with miniature lobster tail. this is a tradition we hope not to continue! :)

Yes, Owen is up to no good!

lily_owen_xmas004, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

This portrait session at Clix Portrait Studio was one that will not soon be forgotten! Owen was at his all time nuttiest...running throughout the entire studio and actually breaking one of the giant styrofoam snowflake props in half. The staff there could not have been more wonderful and patient thankfully, so we managed to get a few decent shots. What a day!

don't just sit there, lily - save me!

don't just sit there, lily - save me!, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Apparently Owen is terrified of Santa. We went to Costa Mesa (South Coast Plaza Mall) just to visit the jolly fellow and ride the special Reindeer Carousel. Owen was not amused! Of course, he was probably ripe for a nap at that point, but the photos say it all!

owen walks!

heading for the slide, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

This is the day we officially count Owen as starting to walk!

Owen by the pool

Owen by the pool, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Here he is enjoying a poolside party at Grandma's. He really enjoys swimming and being in the pool. Also, he LOVES to play in the saucer at Grandma's. Yes, he has 2 now!

Owen loves the doggy!

love the doggy, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

He cannot get enough of Katie and Daisy...he loves to curl up with them, pet them, follow them around, give them kisses and "loves".

Here he is on the sofa curling up with Katie...

asleep in the pool!

asleep in the pool!, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Nana came to visit us and took us on vacation to "her house" at the WESTIN Mission Hills in Palm Springs. The kids had a GREAT time. We had alot of crazy adventures there including weather that varied from 110 degrees to snow. That's the desert for you! Nana actually lulled Owen to sleep in the pool at the resort. Here he is crashed out on the noodle...

Sisterly Love

DSC00387, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

It is great to see Lily and Owen start to interact with eachother now. They are finally getting to a point where she can make funny faces at him and he will crack up. I let them "play" together out in the driveway and Lily drew pictures with her sidewalk chalk. Owen is WAY more into the Saucer than Lily ever was. He loves to explore all of the toys and figure them out. He laughs at the sounds and swats at all of the hanging toys. Silly boy!

Flowers Everywhere!

Kailie takes care of Owen, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

We really enjoyed our trip to The Flower Fields in Carlsbad. There is a cute little playground for the kids, a delicious fresh lemonade stand (shaped like a lemon!), beautiful gardens, a sweetpea maze, and a tractor ride through the acres of flowers. Also, there is an Armstrong nursery on-site where they sell plants and bouquets of (my favorite) ranunculus.

Owen loved hanging out with his cousins and being taken care of by Kailie and Taylor. It was a gorgeous (and fun) day!

Owen's First Easter

Owen's First Easter, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Owen seemed to enjoy Easter day. He even woke up to find an Easter basket filled with treats from E. Bunny. This fabulous hat was one of his Easter gifts. Owen found 3 eggs on the hunt and enjoyed playing in his Winnie the Pooh saucer that he was gifted as an Easter present. He was on his best behavior while we dined at Marmalades. It is hard to believe that Owen is now 6 MONTHS old!

Owen crashes Suzie's shower

Owen crashes Suzie's shower, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Darren wanted to work on the taxes on Saturday and I really wanted to go to my friend Suzie's shower. So we compromised and he ended up watching Lily while I took Owen with me.

Because of the reflux, it is tough to know just what mode he will be in at a function such as this. Suzie's friends were so gracious in offering to help me and let me have a break. Of course, I had to give them the disclaimer about him having Acid Reflux...and let them know that he may (or likely will) spit up on them. Each of them smiled and said, oh thats okay! And one by one they would come back with a wet shirt and a barfy Owen. I have to admit that this is all getting a bit frustrating. Toward the end, he just completely lost it and I had to leave.

Owen sure knows how to crash a baby shower. I just hope I didn't scare Suzie toooooooooooo much from having her baby! :-P

Splash, Spash, Kick, Kick

We bathed Owen in Grandma's sink and was really getting into playing in the water...

Mt Baldy trip...

Mama and Owen staying warm, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

This weekend we went to Mt. Baldy to test out or new car and let Lily play in the snow. This was Owen's first exposure to the cold and snow. He cuddled up with me in the backpack and took a nap while Lily went sledding and had a snowball fight with Grandma, Grandpa and Daddy.

Owen kind of looked at us all like we were nuts! I think he had a good time too. He was probably relieved not to have to ride down the hill on a trashcan lid. :-)

Cheese!

Smiley!, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

I did an impromptu photo shoot with Owen since he was in a particularly smiley and playful mood. He is really getting his own little personality. I love his smile!

Giggly Owen

Here is Owen at a recent trip to Alondra Park...

Owen is enjoying his tummy time!

Owen on his tummy, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

He can roll over lots and lots. He really likes the Fisher Price jungle playmat. He spins around like a propeller. It's pretty amazing!!

Owen eats solids for the first time...

Owen eats solids for the first time..., originally uploaded by mdwinell.

February 2, 2007 - Owen obviously thinks the rice cereal mush is nasty. His expressions were priceless! What a big boy eating solid foods and all. He is growing up so fast. It seems like it is going much faster than when Lily was this age...

Owen digs the saucer

Owen digs the saucer, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

He's really getting into it. Today he learned how to roll the puppy toy around. It's amazing to see how their little brain works. At first he just sat there, but now a few days later he is batting at everything!

I love this one...

DSC07044, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Owen just looks so darned happy. He had a smilefest while we were at the paint-your-own-ceramics place in PV. He was just grinning ear to ear the entire time.

Owen rolls over...

DSC06927, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

December 29, 2007 - Owen rolled over on the jungle mat that Grandma and Grandpa gave him for Christmas. We haven't been giving him much tummy time because he usually ends up in a pool of spit, but the Dr. says that we need to do it regardless. He sure doesn't like being on his belly much at all. I guess it motivated him to roll onto his back since he loathes it so much! Good job Owen!!!

Christmas Cutie

12_07_xmas_portrait_kids2, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Owen looks so smug here. I think that this is a sweet photo of him and Lily. We actually got some decent photos from Sears Portrait this year. Now we are an actual official family with a real family portrait! :-)

Owen picks out our tree...

Owen picks out our tree..., originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Here he is at Home Depot on 12/21/07. I know the cart looks like prison in this photo, but in actuality we were all having a good time. I think we ended up with a decent tree for buying it the week of Christmas. Yes, we procrastinated...but we were stilll thinking we might make it to Pennsylvania for the holidays up until we decided to bite the bullet and buy the tree. This was our first EVER tree as a couple/family believe it or not!

Owen can sleep through a war...and karaoke!

Grandma hangs with Owen, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

We celebrated Kathie and Bob's wedding with a nice reception. It was the first time much of Darren's family got to see Owen. He behaved pretty well and even slept through the crazy karaokefest toward the end!

Silly boy!

Cutie, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

He's starting to look grown up here. This was taken in November at a little over 2 months old. He is so alert and strong at a young age.

Watch out for the pack of Cheetas...

DSC04508, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Here is a photo of Lily and Owen on Halloween with their cousins Kailie and Taylor. The girls had a great time trick or treating. Lily was trying to walk into all of the houses. Owen stayed back with Grandma and Grandpa to hand candy out. It was a fun night!

Catching some ZZZZZs

Catching some ZZZZZs, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Owen picks out the Halloween pumpkin for our Jack-o-lantern. I actually think he slept through the whole thing! Lily enjoyed the petting zoo.

The infamous Googly Chair

Every grandbaby loves the Googly chair. It isn't much to look at, but something about it really connects with them. This is video of Owen playing with the chair back in early November. He is so strong and big all ready at just barely over 1 month old. Grandma Gail likes to sing Barney Google with the goo-goo-googley eyes to the grandkids in the chair.

This is a song that you just can't get out of your head once it is in there. I once asked her where this song came from and apparently it is from before my time. I finally just ended up Googling it out of curiosity. There is alot of google going on in this post I just realized...

Barney Google Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Google

Owen's First Smile

smile!, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

At 1 month old. Gotta love his silly smile! With how sick he was feeling I was kind of worried because he didn't seem to smile as much as Lily did...but he smiles just fine now. And giggles!

Lost 1 pound!

Lost 1 pound!, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Owen has been suffering with Acid Reflux since birth. Thankfully now he seems to be catching up a bit...16 lbs at 4 months (75th percentile). This was at his weight check at Dr. Pang's office when we found out he had lost 1 lb. just after birth. He continues to spit up constantly, but he is keeping more down than he once did...thank goodness!

Brotherly Love

DSC03212, originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Lily absolutely adores Owen. To her, he is a real live baby doll. This is one of the first photos of her feeding him. She continues to be sweet with him and take care of him. As much as she might give us a hard time, she doesn't seem to take things out on Owen. No matchbox cars have been run over his head just yet, Nat! Although there still is time for that...

Owen as an "itty-bitty" baby...haha.

Daddy and Mama get him suited up..., originally uploaded by mdwinell.

Owen arrived on 9/24/07 at 11 lbs 6 oz., 21 inches long. Yes, he was a giant! He looks so chubby in these photos. This was right before we had his photo taken in the hospital (which we never received...what's up with that?!) and just before we were getting ready to bring him home for the first time. This all seems like a millenium ago to me!

My anti-second-child-syndrome blog

So yesterday I posted a video of Owen to Lily's Journal and I thought about how unfair it was that Lily has a blog, but poor Owen doesn't. So today I am creating Owen's Journal. I will attempt to keep updating this Journal with entries that will document his developmental milestones. He is all ready 4 months old, so I do have some time to make up for! Keep checking back for new photos, videos, and news about everything Owen.

Here is that video again: