Christmas 2010

This year we spent Christmas with the Hardcastles, which meant that for the first time since Brad and I have been together (5 years) we didn't travel for Christmas! It was a little strange to not be flying anywhere on Christmas Eve, but also really nice not to have to fight the holidays travelers with an infant in tow.

We spent 3 days up at Brad's parents and had a great time visiting with family and friends who were in town for the holidays.  I'm not sure Owen had any idea what was going on, but he enjoyed all the excitement nonetheless. 

 Christmas morning-- would you believe Owen was the last one up?  8:30 and he was still snoozing.
 (And no, it hasn't happened since!)

 "Hmm... this is harder than it looks"

 "Sweet, a bottle with my own name on it.  I'll be the coolest kid in nursery!"

I got a bunch of cute home decor to help spice up my kitchen/house

 (Guess we didn't take that many pictures!)

As I sat there Christmas morning I couldn't help but think about how far we had come in just a year.  All I wanted last Christmas was to get pregnant and now here we were, one year later with our sweet Owen.  I am so blessed to be his mom and have him in my life!

Happy Anniversary to us!

4 years down, eternity to go!!  I love you Brad!

December festivities

(Published a few backdated posts today, don't miss the others!)

One more reason to love having a little one around: Brad can't complain about me wanting to do any and everything Christmas this year!  All I have to remind him is that it's Owen's first Christmas, so we have to do it!

I started off the month with my annual Christmas craft with the Hardcastle ladies.  This year we made Christmas countdown blocks, and they turned out really cute!

Next, we had an FHE activity where we decorated gingerbread houses.  Owen was a little fussy (past his bed time) so I held him while Brad worked his magic.  He did the entire house himself, while I cheered him on and ate candy.

Next item on our December to-do was to spend an afternoon in Salt Lake at the Gateway & Temple Square.  I was so excited for Owen to see all the lights,  I knew he would be mesmerized by them.  But he decided the lights were overrated and instead slept the entire time we were downtown! Oh well, that excursion was mostly for me anyways.  I love Temple Square when it is all lit up.  It's gorgeous!


Last, and best, of all we took Owen to see Santa.  I was so curious how it would go down: would Owen sleep through it all, cry, not care one bit???  Well folks, he loved Santa and the picture did not disappoint.  Is this not the cutest picture ever?  

That smile just melts me!

We are looking forward to the week ahead: family Christmas parties,  lunch with visiting friends, and a white Christmas with the Hardcastles.

Merry Christmas everyone!

La Caille

Last night Brad and I got all dressed up, dropped Owen off at the babysitters, and headed out for an evening out at his work Christmas party.  It was held at La Caille, one of the nicest restaurants in Utah.  The restaurant is a French cottage nestled at the base of the mountains with trees and ponds all around.  The grounds were all lit up with Christmas lights and dusted with a few inches of show on the ground.  It was beautiful!  The food was delicious (even better because we weren't paying!), the company was refreshing, and we even won a raffle prize.  Overall, a great night!  I enjoyed being able to carry on a conversation with the other spouses there and get to know them all a little better.  This wasn't something that happened at the San Francisco parties:  First, because there weren't usually many other spouses there (marriage?  who does that?!) and second, because after a couple hours of open bar I couldn't hold an intelligent conversation with anyone except Brad.  What a nice change! 

3 months old!

Here are a few pictures of our little cutie at 3 months.

 

 Owen & Dad's favorite Saturday activity: College Football.  There will be many tears shed after January 3...

Getting stronger at tummy time!

Chilling out on the boppy

 Drooling & blowing bubbles like crazy lately... but no sign of teeth.  Good thing, I don't think I'm ready for that yet!

Sporting his red & green at the Ward Christmas Breakfast

Hanging out in his "old man" jammies

Thanksgiving with the Urry's

We were able to have my family here for a full week in November-- to celebrate my cousin's wedding, Owen's baby blessing, and, of course, Thanksgiving.  Grant, Luke, and Taryn couldn't have been more thrilled that Utah decided to welcome them with 2 big storms, over 15 inches of snow, and record cold temperatures (single digits!)  The rest of us weren't as thrilled, but we still had fun.

Life has been a little stressful lately for my family, so it was nice to just get to relax and spend time together.  It was our first time together with everyone in over 2 years... and my youngest siblings first time meeting Owen.  He was so spoiled the whole week, always having a constant playmate and admirer to keep him happy.  He even started sleeping for 7 hours at a time while they were here, and no one was as excited as I was!  He is now sleeping 9-4ish, then eats and sleeps again until about 7.  For a girl who needs her sleep, I am very grateful we are making progress!

Here are a few pictures of the week:

Taryn and her cousins (the quads-- 3 girls, 1 boy) at Chelsea's reception.  Aren't they adorable?

 My mom & Grandma.  We had grandma & grandpa Fox stay at our house for 5 days and it was really nice to have them there.  Hopefully they felt the same, although I wouldn't blame them if they didn't.  It was a little crazy with 13 people under one rather small roof!

 Part of the boys (Ross was still stranded at the Long Beach airport, and Brad was entertaining Cade somewhere!)

 Part of the girls-- missing a couple cousins.  

Funny/Crazy story:  My mom, Owen, and I stopped at the SLC Airport on the way to Roy, Utah for the reception and picked up Bryant & Vanessa who had taken the shuttle down from Rexburg.  As we drove, the weather deteriorated pretty quickly.  We hit Centerville and it was sleeting and quickly thereafter, snowing.  I was driving but wasn't worried because we were going slow.  Until all of a sudden my driver side windshield wiper flew off!!  Now I was driving in a snow storm with no wiper, and little to no visability.  Luckily we were 1 mile from an exit, so my mom guided us.  After about an hour of searching for a place to get new blades and trying to get it on we were on our way.  A little scary, but we made it to the reception in one piece! 

Vanessa & Chelsea, the beautiful bride.

 The next morning we woke up to about a foot of snow.  The kids helped the men shovel. 

Here they are "helping"!

4 generation picture with my mom & grandparents.

Having fun sledding on the big hill next to our house.

 We were all grateful that Brad volunteered to sled with the kids.  No one else wanted to brave the 10 degree weather! 

The boys all went to the Jazz/Hornets game one night.  This was Luke's sign that he made so he could get on TV.  I don't think it worked, but it was sure cute!

 At the game

Taryn & Owen the morning the family was leaving.  She didn't want to let him go!

We will miss spending Christmas with them, but are looking forward to our visit in February!

Blessing Day

This past Sunday we were able to bless Owen at church.  We had a lot of family there to support us-- including my grandparents, which was extra special for me.  I made sure to time it perfect so Owen would be asleep during the blessing, but he knew something was up and wouldn't have any of it.  He woke up right before the blessing and I was so nervous!  But he was so happy and I was told he smiled all during the blessing.  That is our happy boy! 


We were so grateful for all of those who braved the snow (11+ inches) to support us on our special day.

Here are a few picture of our handsome boy:

Owen is wearing Brad's blessing shoes 

 

Hardcastle's

 

Urry's (... and a sleepy Owen)

 Grandma & Grandpa Fox; Grandma Odekirk

Happy Veterans Day!

Showing a little love for the good ol' USA!

2 month stats

Weight: 11 lb, 13 oz (51%)
Height: 23 1/4 in (62%)

Head: 15 3/4 in (49%)

Absolutely perfect!

Halloween 2010

(Lots of posts today... see the others below for more pictures of my cute baby!)

Yesterday I took Owen to visit Brad at work for their annual Halloween activity.  Owen didn't do much trick or treating because he was too busy looking cute!

 The cutest little frog I've ever seen!

We also went to the pumpkin patch to celebrate Owen's first Halloween.  Yep, we are first time parents and can't pass up any and all photo-ops!