"Wwwalk"

Owen loves, loves, loves (did I mention loves?) to play in the backyard. He will literally stand at the backdoor saying "wwwalk" over and over again until we take him out. Luckily the weather has warmed up nicely the last few weeks so we can spend an extended period of time outside without freezing. These pictures were from an inpromptu playtime that Brad & Owen had a few weeks ago while it was still cold. Loving the outfit choice that Dad picked for Owen! Oh boy...

(While my fabulous Mom was here for Easter she completely restained the whole swingset and it looks 100x better... Thanks Mom!!)

This Post is Brought to you Today by the Letter O...

Have I mentioned how much Owen absolutely loves Sesame Street?  He can name (in his own Owen language) all of the main characters and also does a mean impression of Cookie Monster smashing cookies all over his face.  It's pretty cute.  Although admitting this may take me down a few notches on the 'Super Mom' rating scale, I will admit that I let him watch it for a bit after breakfast each morning while I catch up on emails, cleaning the house, or attempt anything else that needs to be accomplished without a clingy toddler attached to my legs.

How cute is this?

Oh, and we can't forget all of Owen's friends!  Usually accompanying Owen for his morning show (and just about everything else these days) would be Teddy, Pacy, Elmo, and Horsey.  It get's pretty tricky trying to keep all those friends in his arms, but if one drops they get a few snuggles and then picked back up again! 

18 months young

Today Owen is 18 months old, which means one very exciting thing for church tomorrow-- nursery!  I remember when Owen was 9 months old (and we were spending every waking moment at church walking the halls) thinking, "Only 9 more months until nursery!"  It seemed like an eternity then, but we made it!  One of my callings is doing music time in nursery so I have been taking Owen in with me the last couple weeks, and the boy is more than ready.  He loves it.

At 18 months, Owen is our little charmer.  We had a girls night at Olive Garden last night and there was quite a wait, so while we waited Owen made friends.  He was blowing kisses to people, waving "Hi" and then immediately "Bye".  Everyone thought he was just adorable.  We do too!

Owen still loves to read books.  He has a bin of books in his room and he will "read" each of them to himself each morning while I get ready.  We also always read a couple to him before naptime and bedtime.  I love it when his little mouth is jabbering away, telling quite the story.  I wish I knew what he was saying!

Owen knows when it is time to say prayer.  He always remembers before it's time to eat and before bed.  He will fold his arms, and (unless there's something too tempting on his plate) will usually make it all the way through without sneaking a bite.

Owen loves to talk on the phone.  He has a play phone which he will have conversations on, but he also really loves to use our phones and talk to family members.  Never one to draw out a conversation, he is always the first to say "BYE!"

We have recently started singing songs together, and Owen's favorites are "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Popcorn Popping".  He doesn't sing the words (except for a long drawn out "eeee" when he wants to sing the spider song) but knows all the gestures.  He's my best student during Nursery Singing Time!

The last few weeks, Owen's vocabulary has really grown.  It seems like he is learning a new word almost everyday, and he is starting to know family members names which is really fun too.  He knows about 30 words now, and even put together his first phrase of "BYE DADA" which he emphatically says every morning when Brad leaves for work.

Owen loves all balls, and would spend countless hours throwing them all over my house if I let him.  He also loves trucks (at this point, every moving vehicle is a "kuck") and will stand at the front window yelling and pointing at them.

Owen is a sweet boy and loves to give hugs & kisses which we gladly accept each time.

Happy 18 months Owen!

Owen vs. Snow

We have had a very mild winter this year (which I am definitely not complaining about!) so there haven't been many opportunities for Owen to play in the snow.  But Monday morning we took advantage of the new snow, bundled up and headed to the backyard.  Owen loved it!  He was so top heavy with all his snow gear that he kept falling and getting stuck in the snow.  We even caught a perfect example of this on video.  I'll post that at the end, and believe me-- it's worth a watch!

 Someone is excited for snow!

 He wasn't afraid to trudge a path! 

A few times he ended up like this:

But after a bit of help, he was right back up ready for more. 

Brad was shoveling off the patio and covered Owen with the extra snow.  He thought it was so funny.

What a fun way to end our 3-day weekend! I am already mourning the fact that Brad won't have another day off for almost 3 months. Why aren't there any holidays from March-May!?

February Happenings

We've had a fun & busy month, which is always nice during this time of the year when it is really easy to get the February "blahs".  Over the first weekend (2/4), Brad's aunt & cousin came up from St. George and we were able to spend some time visiting with them. 

  

Mia (Brad's cousin's little girl) & Owen are 2nd cousins... and we tried our hardest to get a few pictures of them together. You know, for 'posterity', but this is what we got most of the time.  

 Oh well, we tried!

The next day (2/5), we had some dinner guests.  This is a family that is from Mongolia, but who Brad met while serving his mission in Korea.  They were living in Korea temporarily for work.  The girl in the yellow shirt was only 10 at the time, so it's been a long time since Brad has seen them.  Her & her brother (& his wife & kids) all live in Utah now and are going to school.  It was fun to get to know them!

Last Friday (2/10), we took advantage of the "warm" (50 degree) weather and visited Brad on his lunch break.  We went to the park and Owen loved it.

 Look at those mountains!!  Here Owen is trying to run towards the river that runs behind the park.  He was obsessed with wanting to see the water after we showed him the first time... whoops.  Note to self, don't do that next time. 

 He loves the slides!

On 2/11 Brad and I snuck away for an early Valentine's date.  We went to the BYU basketball game (where we met up with my brother, Ross) and then out to dinner.  It was a fun night!  The family in front of us had a little girl about Owen's age that sat there content with her snacks the EN-TI-RE 2 hour game.  She didn't whine or try to sneak away once.  I kept telling myself, "Owen would do the same.  We could totally bring him next time!"  Brad was quick to remind me that Owen would have lasted 5 minutes before he'd be done.  He'd want to either be walking up & down the stairs, or be down on the court playing too.  He's right.  Guess we won't be trying any family sporting events anytime soon!

This past weekend we had Ross stay with us for the long weekend.  We mostly laid low since Owen has been sick for over a week now.  We slept in, ate yummy food, and watched lots of movies.  Oh, and finished our taxes.  Lazy weekend here at our house!  Highlight of the weekend was Owen learning to say "Ross".... which sounds more like "Osse" and Owen playing in snow for the first time.   (Pictures to come!)

One of those days...

Just a few weeks ago I was telling Brad how glad I was that Owen wasn't too mischeivious.  He hadn't ever broken/ruined anything in the house, or hurt himself (more than the typical bump/bruise).  He was pretty content just playing with his toys, reading his books, keeping to "his stuff" and staying away from "Mommy/Daddy stuff".  Well, so much for that!  Last week, in a matter of 24 hours, Owen had pulled off half the leaves on my decorative pinecone, gnawed off the paint on the windowsill, discovered the on/off button to the computer (which of course included pushing it at the most inopportune times...), poured baby wash on the carpet, and dumped out an entire box of 1000 toothpicks. 
Guess I spoke too soon!

The next day, Owen was on his best behavior.  I think he knew Mommy needed a break.

We went to story time at the library, which we do every Thursday.  This week was a break in the schedule, so they just let the kids play for the entire time. 

After we got home, we went outside and played in the backyard for awhile.  

Then we ate lunch, Owen took a 3 hour nap, and woke up happy! I was so pleased with his "good day" that I decided to post it on Facebook. When I returned 5 minutes later, this was what I walked into,

Haha.  Oh man, I totally deserved that one.  Point taken Owen-- the only way to keep you out of trouble, is to keep you busy!

Lately...

Hello?  Anyone still read this thing?  If so, you'll be glad to see that I have finally updated!  It's only been 8 months.  One of my goals for this year is to be better at documenting the happenings of my family.  I have never been a good journaler, so this blog is it!

Here is a little life update for the Hardcastle family:

Brad:  Still enjoying his new job.  I am enjoying his commute (20 minute max!)  His office is right next to a local park and river walkway, so we are looking forward to visiting for lunch once the weather warms up.   He was recently called into the YM program working with 15+ Deacons (boys age 12-13).  He loves it.  I think it is payback from his Deacon-age years.  He is looking forward to their monthly campouts, summer scout camp, and all the various activities in-between.

Lauren:  Feeling very blessed to be home full-time with Owen.  I was given the chance to go back to school last Fall to start a program that had been my dream since I was a teenager.  The timing never was right, and this would have been my last chance to start before classes expired, etc.  Wouldn't you know it-- the timing still wasn't right and I turned it down.   I never thought I would pass up something I had worked 7+ years for, but I guess I my dream has changed.  
At church I am serving as the Music Chairman, Choir director, Nursery chorister, in addition to Co-organist.  All firsts for me.   On the advice of my back surgeon, I recently started swimming again.  I don't love it, and I'm not very good at it, but I do mostly love those early morning workouts and time to myself.   Besides working out, learning more about crafting (just got a Silhouette & Pinterest!) and couponing, the rest of my time is with my Owen, who is the best buddy I could ask for!

Owen:  Growing up way too fast!  He is 17 months old now, which means 1 more month until nursery.  We are all counting the days!  He knows all his articles of clothing and loves to help get himself dressed.  He knows over 10 animals and their sounds.  He still is the best giver of hugs & kisses.  He loves balls, and expecially loves playing baseball on a little tee/ball/bat set he got for his birthday.   He doesn't love having to stay inside with the cold weather, so we try to find at least one excursion a day to get out of the house.  Sometimes it is just to the rec center to walk around the track, but no matter what it is, he loves it!  He is constantly waving "Hi" and "Bye" to people.  I always look forward to finishing checkout at the grocery store, and watching him wave "Bye" and blow kisses to the cashier.  Every. Single. Time.  He has such a friendly demeanor and loves to interact with people. 

Life is good for the Hardcastles.  Hopefully we can keep this thing a little more up-to-date for 2012!

5 year Anniversary Getaway

Brad and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on December 29, while we were still in San Diego.  A family friend offered up her beach house for us to stay in for a couple days and my parents offered to watch Owen.  Are you kidding me!?  Who would turn those offers down!  With that, we packed up our bags and headed off to Coronado for 2 days. 

 

It was the cutest little house, close to everything we needed: restaurants, shopping, beach. 

We even had a personalized welcome waiting for us!  I loved it!

The first afternoon we walked around the Hotel Del Coronado and checked out the beautiful Christmas decorations they had.  Then we went out to dinner at yummy Italian restaurant that overlooked the San Diego skyline. 

The next day, we slept in!  Woohoo!  (Maybe my favorite part about the entire weekend!  Is it okay to say that?)  Then we went to the beach for a couple hours, and except for a small incident with some brazen seagulls (stole our bread right out from under us!)  we enjoyed some lunch, some reading, and then walked along the beach to find some seashells for Owen.

Later that afternoon we headed over to the pier and checked out the shops. 

Here is a picture of us in Coronado over 5 years ago, when Brad came out to California to propose to me.  Please tell me we look at least a little older, right?

We finished up the night with some Thai food, some ice cream, and a couple movies.  It was the perfect little getaway!  And Owen didn't even notice we were gone, he was too busy having fun with his aunt, uncles, Papa & Noni.  Thank you family for watching Owen, and thank you Moore family for opening your home to us!

California Christmas

San Diego weather did not disappoint while we were visiting.  It was 70-80 degrees everyday and absolutely beautiful.  Every morning Brad and Owen could go on walks around my grandparent's property, eating tangerines off of the tree, visiting the horses, watching grandpa work, and just enjoying the nice warm weather. 

Brad and my cousin & uncle went deep sea fishing one day.  They left around 4:00 am and were going to either do a half-day or full-day trip depending on the fishing.  Well the fishing was pretty successful, and (once again!) the weather was perfect so they stayed all day and didn't get back until 7:00 pm.  Brad was exhausted but said they had a blast. 

Sunset on the water.  Beautiful!

We headed down to Barrio Logan one afternoon for some traditional mexican food at Las Cuatro Milpas.  We got their early, so the line wasn't too long and we only had to wait 45 minutes (Yes, that's the short line wait!)  The food was yummy, and we had a kick trying to watch my Dad (who doesn't know a lick of spanish) try to order his meal.  "No queso!"  Haha... good times!

On December 29 (which happened to be Brad & my 5 year anniversary!) we were able to do a family session at the temple.  Brad and I have been able to be at the temple for each of our anniversaries, so it was nice to keep the tradition going, and of course to be with my family!

Britni, Bry, Ross, Mom & Dad, me

(Brad was lost somewhere inside)

Besides the 2 days that Brad and I snuck away to celebrate our 5 year anniversary, the rest of our days were spent with the family!  We ventured down to the park one day to feed the ducks, we went on lots of walks, the ladies did some shopping/the guys watched some football, and we played lots of games.  Including some very spirited Minute-to-Win-it games on New Years Eve that will remain a family highlight for years to come.