February

Another month has flown by and it has been another good one. Owen is growing so much and I just love watching him learn new things. He is so busy but so much fun! He loves to sit on his rocker in his room and read his books. He will point at a book for us to hand him until he has a big pile of books in his lap.

Dan had a big beard for a long time and we all got pretty used to it. He kept it trimmed really well and I liked it. He finally shaved it a few weeks ago and Owen looked at him funny for a while, but we love his shaved face now!

The biggest news for us this month was that we found out that Owen is allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts. He has always had some eczema patches and rough skin, but after he had been drinking cow’s milk for about a month, his skin was getting worse, and he started getting big welts on the back of his neck and up onto his cheek and under his neck. It was pretty bad so we decided to give him soy milk for a while and it got a lot better. So we went to an allergist and they did a skin test. We have completely eliminated those foods from his diet and his rash is completely gone and his skin is totally different. His eczema patches are gone and his skin is smooth. I’m so glad we figured it out, but it definitely sucks as we are trying to figure out what to feed him. We need to bring food everywhere and read labels and make sure people don’t give him food. He hasn’t had anything worse than a rash, but they said he was a level 4 for all 3 allergens, which is the highest. We have noticed his rash on his neck and cheek flare up a few times and it’s probably because he comes in contact with something or it’s on our hands so we try to be super careful. We are hoping that if we are very strict about it, he will outgrow some or all of the allergies.

He can have oreos and costco chocolate chips, so we indulge and give him one sometimes. Grandpa Hill goes a little crazy and gives him lots of oreos when we visit. I have not given Owen a lot of treats because he really doesn’t know what he is missing yet and I’m sure soon enough he will be begging for treats, so we have just avoided them, but he definitely loves oreos!

We embarked on a big project and refinished out banister. It started out with us thinking it would be easiest to restain the entire thing but as we started the sanding process, we realized that sanding each individual curvy spindle was going to take a lifetime. We tried a few different things, but ended up painting the spindles white and just staining the posts and handrail. I love the look and wanted to do it originally, but I just thought it would take longer.

Before and after. It was an orangey color and dried out. We love it and are so glad we did it. We learned a ton and have lots of insight to share to help avoid the mistakes we made, if anyone is going to attempt it!

I took the day off on Valentine’s Day to take my mom to a doctor appointment. We ended up going to lunch afterwards and had a good time together. She is pretty awesome!

With this randomly awesome weather, we have been taking a lot of walks and going outside as much as possible. Owen is in heaven and just stares out our back windows at the kids and dogs. He absolutely loves going in the backyard to swing, look at the chickens, and say hi to the dogs. We also have horses across the street and we look at them every day as we go upstairs!

He is still not walking yet, but very close! He can stand by himself and move very quickly along the walls and furniture, but he gets nervous as soon as you let go. He is getting a lot more interested in walking though and loves to hold our fingers and walk as fast as he can. I’m sure it will happen any day now, but until then, he is having fun crawling everywhere.

 

Mike, Hailey, and Weston slept over and the babies had lots of fun together. Weston is only 5 months younger than Owen, but so much tinier! He is a firecracker though and crawls all over the place. It is so fun to have cousins so close together!

Owen got this cute little rocking chair for his birthday and he just loves it. He can push it all around the house and one day he pushed it by the bay window and just climbed up and sat down. He sat on it and just looked outside for a long time. I thought it was a one time thing, but he left it there for about a week and spent a lot of time in it! It was the cutest thing.

He also discovered how to stand up on the chair…dangerous but he hasn’t fallen yet!

In other big news, the Honda hit 200,000 miles last week! It was very exciting and I had to get a pic (while driving, but I was super safe about it!). We have loved that beast of a car and we have put over 100,000 miles on it in the past 4 years! It has been amazing and lived up to the Honda reputation so far! We are hoping that it will go 200,000 more and Owen can drive it when he turns 16!

I took this picture after church on Sunday. Owen is such a doll face and I got his some suspenders for my brother in law’s wedding. They looked awesome and I just love him! He is my little buddy and I’m so glad that I get to stay home and work so that I can be with him. Being a mom is just the best and I remind myself every day just how blessed I am.

February was another good month for us, and we are holding out hope that this warm weather is here to stay and spring will come early!

January

January was cold and snowy, but we tried to make the most of it by doing a fun hike at Mueller Trail in Bountiful. We were going to snowshoe, but ended up just hiking since the trail was really packed down. We stuffed Owen in the backpack and he loved it. He did awesome and didn’t complain once!

It wasn’t too cold and the views were beautiful!

I love these boys.

Owen is FINALLY getting some hair and it is pretty wavy and curly. When we pulled off his hat, he had crazy hair and it stayed that way all day!

We had to put up the baby gate after he snuck all the way upstairs while I was working. He is still working on breaking it down.

I love that he loves to explore and check out everything, but sheesh, he can make a mess! This is a pretty regular sight around here.

This kid loves to read his books! It makes me so happy and I hope he always has a love of books!

He even reads in the buff. Is there anything cuter than a little naked bum?

The dryer is another favorite toy to explore. Opening and closing the door never gets old.

We finally got rid of our awful fluorescent light in the kitchen and put in pendant lights! Hooray! We also started working on refinishing our banister. It has been quite a huge headache but hopefully that will be done in the next few days.

I met my mom and sister at The Pie for a yummy lunch and then we got massages (my mom got us gift cards for Christmas)! It was awesome!

I can’t even pee in peace…but those tiny fingers make me so happy!

We had Sunday dinner at my mom’s house and Steph and Owen took over the kitchen.

My mom got Owen this super cute little rocking horse and he really loves it!

I realize 95% of these pictures are Owen, but he is our life and a big part of what makes it so great! January was another goodie and so far, February isn’t looking too bad either. Maybe spring will come early? We can dream….

Owen is 1

I didn’t realize that I didn’t put up any of Owen’s 1 year old pictures so I guess I will do it a month late! It is hard to believe that just over a year ago, we were in the hospital having our little guy! He came fast and furious so it was very exciting and very crazy! But we made it to the hospital and he was here in a flash! Life before him was really good, but we had no idea just how amazing it could be once he was here.

Becoming a mother is something that has completely changed me in so many ways. I have come to realize and understand just how important it is to raise children of God. Growing, feeding, changing, teaching, and taking care of little ones is our purpose and it is what God wants. It brings me more joy than I ever thought it would.

My neighbor took these adorable pictures of Owen at our house right before his birthday. It was freezing outside and it was so nice to be able to do it inside at our house where he was comfortable. He did awesome and was a cutie pie for the camera!

He loves to raise his hands up when we say “soooo big!” and he loves to clap his hands, so we got a lot of that!

This last picture is probably my favorite because it captures Owen perfectly! He was busy and always on the move and he has the cutest twinkle in his eye because he has a plan and knows exactly where he is headed.

Owen has brought so much joy to Dan and I, but also to our families. He was born 2 months after my dad passed away and his little spirit brought a lot of joy to our family during a lot of sad days. Seeing my mom with him has made my heart so happy and I just wish my dad could be part of the fun that we have together as a family.

The past year has flown by and we have had lots of wonderful adventures as a family. Heavenly Father has blessed us in so many ways and we are so grateful for the joy we get from His gospel. We can’t wait to see what the next year brings for our family!

Christmas

This Christmas season has been extra special with Owen. Last year he was only a few days old and we had a quiet Christmas at home. We were still figuring out what we were doing, I was recovering and it was just a bit different. This year, we had a one year old and he started to understand the magic and excitement and that made it even more special for us.

We finally did a Christmas card! It seemed like it was finally time since we have a kid! Last year on Christmas Eve, we brought Owen home from the hospital around 6pm. Jimmy Johns was actually open so Dan got take out and that was our Christmas Eve dinner. This year, Dan suggested we continue the tradition and since I LOVE Jimmy John’s, I was in! They closed earlier this year so we just barely made it in time, luckily!

On Christmas morning, we got up and opened presents. This was Owen’s third time opening presents in a week so he was a pro. Not the best picture of me, but he looks adorable in his Christmas jammies!

Dan did awesome and got me some yummy perfume, a gift card for a pedicure, an awesome necklace, and a subscription to a trashy magazine! Yay.

I got Dan another sleeping bag (he has tons but still wants more), Supermane movie, John Stockton’s book, and a gift card to Sportsman’s Warehouse (his dream store).

Owen loved the excitement of presents and he really loved his popper toy. It is still one of his favorites and he plays with it every day. I’m sure he will love it even more as he starts walking. He also got a puzzle and some shape blocks.

We carried on the Sampson tradition of having cinnamon rolls. I briefly considered doing homemade then wised up and bough some Rhoades rolls. They were amazing.

After breakfast and clean up, we headed south to the Hills’. The whole clan (minus Mike, Hailey and Weston) was there for present swapping and Christmas madness. Owen slept through a lot of it, but did really well with all the crazyness and cousins everywhere. He is getting much better at handling the crowds.

Dan is still rocking the beard. Sexy.

After some lunch, we moved on to my mom’s house where she had a beautiful table ready for dinner. We met early so we could open presents there before the Thomases came over.

My mom went a little crazy again and we all got some awesome presents. Dan and I got a fabric steamer (we have wanted one for a while…ironing doesn’t happen here), a pop up shade/tent thing for summer, gift cards, emergency prep stuff, and a lot of other awesome things. We were overwhelmed.

Owen got some exciting presents and an adorable outfit. He was stoked to open even more presents and watching him try to crawl through the wrapping paper was pretty funny.

We had a delicious dinner at my mom’s house with Thomases and visited for a while. Dan went to a late movie with his brothers and Andrew and Steph and mom and I stayed at mom’s house. Dan and I spent the night there so we weren’t in a rush to get home. We just hung out and the next morning we just stayed at my mom’s.

Owen in part of his cute new outfit from Grandma!

He also got this rad mowhawk hat from Carrie/Mark and family. He actually keeps it on!

When we got home that night, Dan busted out his new sleeping bag and Owen got in on the action. He loves to cuddle up to soft things like pillows, blankets, etc and he makes the cutest cooing sound when he does it. He was cuddling with Dan in the sleeping bag here.

On New Year’s Eve, we met my mom in Bountiful at the Mandarin. It is an awesome Chinese food place and we LOVED it. Owen had his cute new hat on from Steph. He looks a little drunk here, but he was happy! Dinner was awesome and a tradition we might have to continue!

Our holidays were awesome and a perfect combination of relaxing and busy. Having time off work was so great and we were able to spend a lot of time together and with family. We are so blessed with the life we have and we try to remember to thank Heavenly Father for the blessings He gives us daily. Being an eternal family and having our wonderful families are at the top of that list of blessings. 2013 was an amazing year full of great memories and lots of joy. We hope 2014 is even better!