10 Months

Owen turned 10 months on the 9th!  The next day was a Saturday, and BYU had a basketball game, so of course he's wearing his new BYU hoodie (thanks to Becca!).  He loves the Cougs.  Doesn't he look so grown up?

10 Month info:
Weight: 18 lbs. 2 oz. (15th percentile)
Height: 29" (80th percentile)

He now pulls up on everything, and is also cruising.  Last week on Sunday he climbed up ALL the stairs.  He loves to brush his teeth. He especially loves his dad.  He has 3 1/2 teeth, two bottom and one and a half top.  Sadly, He only takes one nap now.

I can't believe he's only two months away from a year!  Crazy.

A Basket Case

While I at times do feel like I'm going crazy, it is all worth it when I have moments like this:

So funny.

Cruisin' along...

We've been seeing a lot of this lately.  Owen pulls himself up on EVERYTHING, and has also started to walk along the couch or the TV stand.  In fact, two days ago he climbed the first step!  This picture was actually his very first time to pull himself up, and I'm glad I captured it.  He's growing up way too fast, but I'm really trying to cherish everyday.  We sure do love him.

(This is also the last of the pictures I took on my camera before it died...so their may not be many posts for a while.)

I {heart} fall.

A Week of Fashion and Faces: Day 2

So, this week of fashion is going to be cut very short because...well, I don't have a camera to take any pictures anymore.  Before my camera broke though, I was able to take a few more pictures that I haven't posted, and that will be the next couple of posts.  This next outfit is a lovely moose ensemble, very sporty, very cute, very warm.  Perfect.

I had to include this picture because, even though it doesn't showcase his outfit, it shows exactly how busy this little man is getting to be.  We've become quite skilled at putting clothes on a moving target.

Here's a good view of the outfit, and a happy Owen face, which is the face we see most often. 

Honorable mention

Our church Halloween party/Chili cook-off was on Saturday.  We entered Annie's famous blue ribbon pineapple chili, which has received two blue ribbons thus far (to my knowledge).  We didn't get a blue ribbon, but the chili did receive an honorable mention.  So there you go, two blue ribbons and an honorable mention.  Not bad.

Our costume was also thanks to Annie.  She bought Owen the skeleton onesie and gave it to me before he was even born.  At the time I didn't think Halloween would ever come, nor did I think I would ever have a baby that big...alas, Halloween has come, and he is indeed that big.  So here we are, nurse and Dr. Pickett with our patient.

Woops!  Upside down.

Chewing on our prop...typical. :) 

 Here we go!  (Okay, my mouth is covered by Owen's hand, but it's the best we've got.)

A week of fashion and faces: Day 1

Alright, so the title is a bit deceiving because in order to do a post every day for the next week I would have to go do laundry right now...and that's not going to happen. :)  However, the next seven posts or so should be Owen in his new Fall/Winter fashions courtesy of Nana.  We dedicate these posts to you, Nana.

Also I finally bought batteries for my camera.  Hooray!!  In honor of that, I checked out a photography book from the library to learn how to maximize the quality of pictures from my point-and-shoot.  Hopefully you'll see an improvement in my photography from here on out.

Ensemble #1:

Blue striped waffle weave onesie, with attached long sleeves.
A classic Owen face.

Owen really loves getting into things he probably shouldn't.  Case in point, the computer.  So fun.

The miracle

This dresser was a miracle for a number of reasons.  Perhaps I'll tell the story later.  For now,

Before

After

After sanding, priming, painting, and changing the hardware, I do believe I love it.

Hilarious.

Owen's new favorite game is to have me or Casey hide behind the fridge and then jump out and surprise him.  He thinks it's hysterical.

See?

Welcome!

I used to think that wreaths were really cheesy, and definitely only for holidays. Then I saw a wreath on the door of a neighbor, and it wasn't cheesy, nor was it a holiday, and mostly I realized it made their home look so much more welcoming! That made me decide I wanted a wreath, so I found some inspiration on a blog (I think it was tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com, one of the linky parties for wreathes), and made my own! What do you think, do you feel welcomed?

It's made from: a styrofoam wreath form

an old sweater from the thrift store

and some leftover fabric to make the flowers.

Owen's latest accomplishment

He still scootches on his tummy to get around, but for the last couple of days Owen has been getting in this position quite a bit. I think crawling is in his near future, what do you think?

(Don't mind the poor picture quality...I'm still using my video camera for pictures because I don't have AA batteries for my digital camera.)

Rain or Shine

Owen and I go on a lot of walks. At least one a day. Yesterday was rather rainy, but did that stop us? Nope. I was inspired by a quote on a friend's blog, "No bad weather, just bad clothing". So we bundled up and went.

Hat from Becca, jacket from Annie. What great aunts!

Funny Dad

I'm pretty sure Owen thinks his dad is the most fun person alive. Here's a game they like to play (first played with Papa):

Before & After

Casey and I (mostly Casey...he had vision), rescued this wooden medicine cabinet from his parents' garage when he was helping to clear it out. I'm really grateful he did, because it turns out that our bathroom has VERY LITTLE storage. I thought it had potential if we removed the doors (I didn't get a picture of it with the doors, sorry), painted it, then wallpapered (wrapping papered) the back. Here's the before and after:

Before

After

So fun!

Fun in the kitchen!

Earlier this week, while Casey was at school, I was in the kitchen baking some bread (I'll post about that later). I put Owen in his high chair, and just kind of talked and sang to him. He was in a really good mood, and every time I looked over at him he would flash me these HUGE smiles. I just had to take some pictures and share. I think the progression is really fun to watch, which is why they're in slideshow form. Enjoy!

Kizoa slideshow: Owen's Highchair Smiles - Slideshow

Proof

Owen really loves his Nana.

We love you Nana!

Two best friends

Last week (maybe the week before??..my concept of time is totally thrown off) my dear dear friend Katie (lovingly known as Dearie) came to visit us in Seattle. She'd never been, and it's really the perfect place for us rain loving types (she's one of those). Here's a summary:

There was much cherishing. Owen and Dearie are now best friends.

Friday:

We went to Casey's family lake house on Lake Cavanaugh. We canoed, ate s'mores, and just generally lazed around. Always a good time. Here's Owen and Casey, all ready to canoe in their matching hats.

Saturday:

Dearie and I went to the Edmonds farmers market. So fun. Then we rode the ferry, just for the experience.

Monday:

Happened to be Dearie's birthday, so we had a celebration breakfast at the Maltby cafe. Really they have the best breakfast ever. Happy birthday Dearie!

Later that day we visited the UW campus to see this building. Dearie's ancestor was the contractor who won the bid to build it, and then died in a fire a little before it was completed, leaving behind his wife and 6 (7?) children. (I hope I got that right...if not just correct me in the comments Dearie.) Talk about a cool piece of family history!

After that it was time to say goodbye. Always the saddest part. I got to see the mom, and she got to meet Owen, which was wonderful. (She's going to be his third grammy.) I probably won't be seeing Dearie for quite some time, but that's alright. She and I have an understanding, and we'll always be best friends, that's for sure. I love you Dearie! Thanks for visiting.

Two-five!

Casey turned 25 a week ago (the 14th). A quarter of a century...pretty significant. :) To celebrate we had a carrot cake and went to see Aladdin at the 5th avenue theatre in Seattle. I sure do love this man. He's amazing, and here's why:

Ten Reasons I love Casey:

1. He makes me laugh

2. He loves me and he loves Owen

3. He gets up with Owen in the mornings so that I can sleep an extra hour

4. He is kind to people and always willing to help

5. He honors his priesthood

6. He's incredibly creative and good at problem solving

7. He's patient

8. He laughs at my silly jokes

9. He doesn't take things too seriously

10. He makes any activity fun

Happy Birthday a week late Casey!

5 months

Owen is 5 months!

(picture credit: Dearie)

Owen's new skills include:

Sitting up (sometimes, mostly when other babies are doing it)

Rolling, tummy to back and back to tummy (although not much of the latter)

Eating solids (kind of)

Talking...a lot...when he feels like it

Laughing (very rarely)

Kissing with his mouth wide open

We love this guy and are so grateful to have him in our life. It's difficult at times, being parents, but more worth it than we ever would have imagined.

Happiness is...

Always makes me smile.

Funny Talking

Owen has started talking in this really funny high-pitched voice. It makes me laugh A LOT. I decided I needed to share his talking with the rest of the world. I apologize in advance, though, because the file format of this video doesn't allow me to edit...so you'll see some seriously shoddy camera work. If it starts to make you sick, just listen to the audio, that's the most important part. Enjoy!

Deliciousness...kind of.

Owen had his first real experience with solid food yesterday. We missed the really good faces, but here's our documentation:

Full length

Reader's Digest

Happy Father's Day

Owen loves his dad. I love Owen's dad. I'm grateful for all the fathers in my life, and love them. Most especially I'm grateful for Casey, the best husband and father to my children I could ever ask for.

Gratitude

I am grateful for my eyes that allow me to see this beautiful face every day. Today I realized how much joy I derive from all the things Owen does, that I couldn't experience if I weren't able to see. So there it is

I'm grateful for sight.

(Thank you Grandma Griffith for the beautiful quilt!)

One Short Day...

While visiting Casey's parents, we had a fun-filled day in Seattle.

It started off at Ivar's for fish and chips. There's nothing like Seattle fish and chips.

We fed french fries to the seagulls. Here's a sweet action shot.

I feel like only in a big city like Seattle would you see zebra and argyle in the same outfit.

Next we went for a walk, heading for Pike Place market.

We took the stairs.
We found a great little gelato place that had pretty sweet flavors like rhubarb and chocolate orange chip. So good.

Then we ended the day at the gas works park. All in all a wonderful day. We love Seattle. Thanks Dad for showing us a good time.

Owen made a friend

We apologize for the recent slump in blogging. Things have been a little crazy. So, we'll try to slowly update on the last month and a half, starting from the present and working backwards.

Yesterday we were playing with Owen, and I thought it would be fun to introduce him to our stuffed dog that we got when we got engaged, lovingly referred to as "Bolt the Love Puppy". He and Owen hit it off right away, and I'm sure they'll be forever friends.

House for sale blog!

We are officially putting our house up for sale, and we've created a blog to help! The address is:

springvillehouse4sale.blogspot.com

So, spread the word! If there is anyone you know who is moving to Utah or already lives in Utah and is looking for a cute house, direct them here. Thanks!

Fun Puzzle

So, I was up way too late with Owen last night letting Katalyn get some sleep, and I found this puzzle online. It took me about 30 minutes to figure it out, but if you get it right away, it was the middle of the night, so cut me some slack. Anyway, good luck...

A certain computer scientist has designed a remarkable machine which gives a correct answer to any yes no question typed into it via its keyboard. The machine answers by flashing a blue or a yellow light, one of the colors signifing "yes", the other "no". The machines come with no instructions nor are the lights labeled. Worse, a given machine in stores now has equal probability of having been manufactured in either China or Malaysia, and it is known that the two different countries have selected opposite conventions for which color means yes, but it is not at present known which country signified yes by blue, and which signified yes by yellow. You have just unpacked a machine, plugged it in, and turned it on. Each of the choices below is a separate question. In other words, in answering (d), assume you have not tried any of the questions appropriate for (a), (b), (c) - in other words, assume in each case you are going to ask only one specific question, and have asked no questions previously. (a) What one yes/no question could you ask the machine which would allow you to determine whether it was made in China or Malaysia? (b) Suppose instead of wanting to know which country your specific machine was manufactured in, you just want to know whether it was the Chinese or Malaysian machine that means "yes" by blue. What single yes/no question could you ask your machine to determine this? (c) Suppose all you want to know is, for your specific machine, which color means "yes" and which color means "no" (d) What yes/no question is such that the machine, no matter what country it is manufactured in, is bound to answer by flashing yellow?

Your daily dose of Owen

This one's for Nana:

6 weeks old

Saint Patrick's Day

Yes we realize that St. Patrick's day was a week ago, but we thought we'd share our festivities anyway. For this holiday we had a splendid dinner that, while decidedly not Irish, was definitely green. (I also found out that the original color of St. Patrick's day was blue, not green!) This dinner consisted of guacamole, fajitas, and brazilian limeade (colored green). Yum!

Brazilian limeade was introduced to me by the Pickett family, and I would highly recommend you try it, it's DELICIOUS. Here's the recipe:

Place in blender

2 1/2 c. water

enough ice to bring it up to 3 1/2 c.

1/2 c. sugar

3 T. sweetened condensed milk

1/2 t. vanilla

Blend until smooth

Add two limes (skins and all) cut into eight pieces each and blend for a count of five seconds (one one thousand two one thousand etc.)

Strain drink through a fine strainer into a pitcher and serve over ice!

Enjoy.