Congratulations Graduate!

Today Garett graduated from Southern Polytechnic State University with a BS in Computer Science! We are so proud of you Garett!

It was a wonderful day, the perfect weather and company. Heidi, Taylor, Spence Shumway, Jerome and Ian Trent and Cody all came to the ceremony. We had a great time cheering for him. Here are a few pictures. The ones we wanted the most didn't turn out well at all. I will see if I can get some better copies.

We are proud of you Garett

We are so proud of Daddy for his recent accomplishments that he has been working on for the past 4 1/2 years. He graduates this Saturday from Southern Polytechnic State University with a Bachelors in Computer Science. The second week of school 4 1/2 years ago Garett and I met. While going to school he worked full time, married me, and became a Dad. That is a lot to do in such a short time and we are proud of you!

This coming Monday he begins his new career as a Software Engineer for Systems Atlanta! He is eager to get working and is well deserving of this wonderful job.

(For anyone attending the ceremony this Saturday, please arrive at least 30 minutes early. The ceremony starts promptly at 2pm any stragglers will be locked out per the email from SPSU. Follow the signs to the Gymnasium.)

Welcome Marilee!

December 14th 2006 Marilee Ann was born to my sister Wendi. She is out in Houston so I don't have any pictures yet. I hear she is 6lbs, and 17"long. (Tiny!) Beautiful jet black, straight hair and dark dark eyes. I can hardly wait to meet her. Mom (grandma) is out there helping Wendi recover. She had an emergency c-section but is feeling well - both of them.

Mid-Month Update

So our camera broke the day before Thanksgiving so we had to buy a new one and are getting used to it... So I now have the pictures from this month and I'll show you what has been going on - way more interesting than just words. :)

December 2, 2006

Owen and I took a walk around the neighborhood and enjoyed the outdoors so much I swept away all the leaves while we waited for Daddy to come home.

Daddy's home! As always...Lots of hugs and fun!

December 4, 2006

While taking a drive Owen became inventive to find a way to keep the sun out of his eyes. It really makes you proud of your child when we see him learning how to solve problems and coping with a situation rather than just sitting there crying. Good thinking Owen!

December 9, 2006

May there always be time for a new adventure down the hall way.

December 11, 2006

Owen ringing in some Christmas cheer into the house! He loves to jingle the bells on the door.

December 13, 2006

I keep trying to get a picture with Owen wearing the Santa hat but I am just not fast enough to catch the shot before he yanks it off. So here is the next best...Owen holding Santa's hat while sitting under the Christmas tree.

Later, after making a mess of dinner, it's Owen's favorite time.... Bath time!
And it's a great pre bed-time soother.

This is the ultimate in family team work.... while Mom does most of the cooking and house work during the day... in the evening Dad takes over and washes Owen. Then Owen washes the tub; for Mom of course. It all works together nicely.

December 14, 2006

My favorite picture of the month.
Today Owen and I went to the park for some swinging and sliding.
He loves to swing and people watch.

New Words - All This Morining!

Owen has been having fun trying to talk. It's all mainly jibber jabber. This morning, however, he was able to put a few sounds together to make some new words. The first was "agua" with is spanish for water. I speak a lot of spanish to him. He yelled out "agua!" for his cup at breakfast. It was filled with Ovaltine and milk. :) Later he said "good" between sips of his bottle. :) And last was "Ah-Oh", we have been working on that for a few days and he has it down now. He still constantly says "Hi Dad". It's so cute.
Have a great weekend everyone!

New Tooth!

Owen has a new tooth! On Wednesday morning (29th) I was holding Owen and heard him chewing on something and checked his mouth to find a new tooth. He was grinding his teeth. :( I hope that is not a new habit. You cannot see the tooth yet but you can feel it and it is really sharp!

Meeting Santa

Owen met Santa Claus for the first time today. We went to have his picture taken as part of our new family tradition. Owen was kinda freaked out by the big guy and a straight face was the best we could get. In all the other pictures his bottom lip was curled under and big tears were forming. :( It was other wise a great experience. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did. Mom, Tim, Heidi, Elias, Taylor, Mya, Drew, Cristina, Ezra and Naomi all came over to celebrate. The food was all comfort food and insanely delicious. We all stuffed ourselves, watched a bit of sports and had a great time catching up. There is so much to be thankful for, especailly for our families. Here are some of the pictures of the days events.....

Early morning cooking.

After dinner nap. :)

Owey on outfit #3 for the day. Messy kid.

Heidi with Owen and Mya

Beautiful Naomi

Mya - up to something

Daddy, Mommy and Owen

Cristina, Drew, Ezra and Naomi

Elias, Heidi, Taylor and Mya

Garett proudly wearing his "Dad" shirt.

Good-bye's are never fun when you don't want to go. :)

Good Times

Well, here we are about to board the holiday train. It's right around the corner! We are excited to visit with family and friends and to enjoy family traditions. Owen continues to grow quickly. He is constantly learning new things and loves to explore every corner of the house. Garett will be graduating in just a few short weeks and has had lots of interviews, some of which seem very promising. We are so proud of his accomplishment! I continue to take care of my boys and my successful Heritage Makers business. Both I enjoy very much. I've also designed some new quilts that I hope to get started soon. Happy Holidays Everyone! Be sure to keep in touch.


Hurray! for bath time! :) He has thinned out a lot, but he still
has a good amount of lovable baby chub.

Guess who learned a new trick.
And I'm the wreckless mom who let him wear it
like this for at least half an hour. :)

Weekend visits

This past weekend we had a great time visiting family. We went to visit Owen's Grandpa and Grandma, Jerome and Yen. We were lucky to be able to visit with Garett's step-sister, Wynn, and her son Ashton. The boys had a great time visiting with each other. Owen was thrilled with the new toys and people to play with.

Yen, Jerome and Owen

Wynn and Ashton (he is so darn cute)

Later we went to Bob and EJ Waldron's to visit with Skot and Christy since they were in town for a wedding. I miss them a lot so it is nice to see them any chance we get. We ate some yummy wedding food and had a fun time chatting. Robbie and Kali were there too. (Skot's brother and sister-in-law) Owen loved on Christy and made a quick friend out of Kali. I think he did a great job at working to room for attention. :)

Owen with his Aunt Sissy

Skot the Great! He makes us call him that.

Owen taking some supported steps. He just started doing this.
He is learning early to do anything for a pretty girl.

Hurray! Progress at last!

Owen is having so much fun pulling up on the furniture. He can now pull up to standing on anything. I can hardly believe how strong he is. Also, last weekend Owen finally took his first bottle. :)

Owen loves watching the weather just like his cousin Mya.

Owen fell off the wagon, he hasn't had a bottle since he was a month old.

Nine Month Check-up

Owen had his 9 month check up on Halloween. It went just fine. He is a happy, healthy little boy. He is still at the top of the charts for height and weight even though he has thinned out a bit. His acid reflux seems to be under control and rarely bothers him unless we skip a dose of medicine.

Owen loves to smile for the camera and to play with his boppy. He will wrestle all over the floor with it and crawls away as if he won a great battle; The Battle of the Boppy.

Happy First Halloween!!

Tonight we went to the ward trunk or treat. It was a blast! Owen was a lion! He was making the roaring noise all week and during the day, but once we got there he didn't even make a peep until right before we left. That is when he let out a big roar! Tonight was also a first for candy, Yummy! He sampled a lemon sucker and refused to let it go. I pried it from his sticky hands which resulted in a tantrum. What can I say, the boy likes his sugar. :)

Watch out Dad! There is a fierce lion in your arms!

Owen and his friend Nick.

He is a happy lion, even past bed time.

"Hey pretty lady"
Owen aiming for sugar.

Score! We have never seen this child eat anything with such zeal. :)

Just Horse'n Around

On Monday we took a trip to South Carolina for a job fair in Greenville. It was also a chance for us to check out the area and to see where my parents are living right now. It rained the entire time and Owen kept us up all night, but aside from that it was a very nice trip. We stayed with Mom and Tim, so we had a nice time visiting. Mom took me and Owen around the area and into North Carolina; it was all very beautiful. Then we met up with Garett and went out to the barn and saw Renegade and Summer, they look good. It was Owen's first time seeing a real horse. He loved it! We also went out to eat somewhere in Spartenburg and wow! was the food delicious, and the people there were very friendly. There is a nice relaxed atmosphere everywhere we went. It is a welcomed contrast to the daily hustle and bustle of Atlanta. Keep us in your prayers for a good job. We are looking everywhere.

Daddy and Owen with a 6 month old foal.

Owen petting Summer. He was so excited to see and hear the horses. There were lots of them on the farm. One of them kept whinnying and Owen just loved the new noise.

A visit from Mya

Today Mya came and visited us while Heidi worked for an hour. She only had one client scheduled. Owen was thrilled to have a visitor his size. I had the kids in the play pen on the back porch to contain the chaos. When I took Mya out they were quick to discover the mesh fabric that separated them. Super cute.

And here Mya is kind enough to feed Owen a rattle. Yum.

It was a nice visit. When Heidi came back we had
some fun sister time catching up and cooking red beans and rice.

A visit from Taylor

Taylor was on break from her year-round schooling and came to visit with us on Saturday the 6th. We went to the park and played till we were wiped out then we went to Sam's Club and entertained shoppers with our piano doodling on the display mini grand piano. It was a blast. On Sunday we went to church, or as Taylor calls it "Turch". Heidi and Mya came and picked her up that evening.

Here is Taylor on the play ground.

And Daddy with Owen on the swings.

Owen and Mya in the exersaucer.
I guess it's more interesting with two crammed in there.

It's a learning process

Owen has been making great strides with coordination. So we decided to give feeding himself another go. There was some success and a whole lot more mess.
This was a two wash cloth cleanup.

Mohawk Mania

Here is Owen with his very first Mohawk.
I'm not so sure that it looks quite right on him, but we had fun with it anyway.

This is his tough guy look.

Happy Birthday Aunt Sissy!

Today is Christi's birthday! Happy Birthday! We love you!

Aunt Sissy with Owen in Chicago.

Taylor, Christi and Mya at Mya's birthday party.

We love you Christi!

A Busy Day

Yesterday we had the car so we were out and about having fun. We started the morning out with some friends- Lori, Karla and her son Taylor- we went to Babies R Us to get Lori registered. She is due this December! Preparing for baby is always fun. Then we all went out to lunch at Chillies. Owen had skipped all naps up til now and was doing the tried stare. As soon as we got into the car he fell asleep. I tried to continue the nap at home but Owen refused. So I gave up and we went to the park for swinging! We met our friends Amber and Adalin there. It was a blast, Owen loves to swing! And as always we left time for exploring the living room. All before 5 o'clock. Not bad.

As cute as can be and yes, still bald.

Owen and Adalin checking out the big kids.

He really get around now and loves to expolre!