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!

Owen’s First Birthday Party

Well our little man is one and we had a great party for him on Saturday, December 21st. We did a Polar Express theme and it was really fun!

I made this cute banner and hung it in the entry way so everyone saw it when they walked in. Our house was already decorated with Christmas stuff so that worked out.

Most of our families were able to make it, so there were 13 kids (5 were missing), and about 10 adults. It was pretty crazy but always fun. Grandma Hill read the Polar Express book to the kids and most of them sat still and listened, including Owen. He growled at the picture of the wolves. Cutest.

Danny handed out silver bells to all the kids after the story and they were a huge hit.

Mia was making sure she could hear the bell.

We sang Happy Birthday to Owen and he tried to touch his candle. He wasn’t sure what was going on and seemed a little nervous that everyone was singing loud and watching him, but he did great and didn’t cry or get upset. P.S. Dan has a huge beard. Luckily I still love him and think he looks great with or without the beard.

I tried to make Owen wear this cute birthday hat I made him but he wasn’t having it. Obviously.

He wasn’t very interested in the cupcake and as soon as he touched the frosting, he didn’t want to eat any. But when I fed it to him on a spoon, he ate most of it. Silly kid.

The treat table! I made cupcakes and cute toppers for them. We had a hot chocolate bar with toppings and we also had a few different cookies and some veggies.

Cutest picture of my mom and Owen!

Everyone really enjoyed the treats! Brioney needs to teach Owen how to eat treats. Wild child.

My cute sissy just loves Owen and is the best auntie ever. She took most of these great pictures from the party!

I have been taking a picture of Owen every week in a white onesie and I photoshopped the week onto it. We displayed all the weekly photos on the fridge and it was so fun to see how much he changed and all the adorable pictures we took through the weeks.

After dessert we opened presents with the help of some cousins. Owen got lots of fun gifts and he was really happy with all of them!

He got a rocking chair from Grandma and Grandpa Hill and started rocking as soon as we sat him in it. He loved it! We turned on the Polar Express movie for the kids and just relaxed. Owen finally got a nap and he was a happy camper. We sure love this little guy and can’t wait for another year with him! Some people get sad thinking about not having their baby anymore, and while I love remembering those sweet times, I am so excited to watch Owen grow up and see him learn and change and get bigger. Being a mom is the best and Owen has brought us (and our families) more joy in the past year than we ever could have imagined!

November

Another month down and now only a few weeks until Christmas and only a few weeks until Owen turns ONE! It’s so very exciting! We had family pictures taken with my family at the beginning of the month at Memory Grove and they turned out really great. It was really sad to do them without my dad but I just love my little family and I’m so grateful we are so close.

I really love this guy. He is everything to me and makes me the happiest girl on earth. And he put up with getting pictures because he knows it was important to me. I love our life together.

I really love these pics of my mom and sissy! They mean so much to me and are my bestest friends! Isn’t my sister beautiful?

We got to see Owen’s girlfriend Reese again and they hit it off. Owen was terribly scared of Dustin for some reason and cried a lot when Dustin was anywhere near him. Kind of hilarious.

Who doesn’t love a picture of a sleeping baby? Seriously melts my heart. And he looks adorable in his church outfit. I can’t get enough of his cuteness.

Owen finally started crawling at the end of October and now he is unstoppable. He is into everything and loves to explore. His favorite thing is opening the drawers in the kitchen and out bathroom and pulling out everything. I had to move the razors and other dangerous things for him to play.

My tupperware drawers are very well organized in the kitchen. I’m a bit obsessive…but that is Owen’s favorite drawer so we have just piled a bunch of crap in there for him to pull out and throw all over the kitchen. Then we throw it back in for next time. I will wait to re-organize it when he is past this phase!

I got him this camelback water bottle and he LOVES it. He was drinking out of mine all the time so I got him this and it is his favorite. He loves water and will drink it all if I let him.

We put up our tree the week before Thanksgiving and it made me really happy. I really want to get a bigger tree and refresh our decorations so hopefully next year! We watched Home Alone and drank hot chocolate and it was so Christmasy and cozy!

Thanksgiving was really fun and I didn’t really get any pictures except below! We had dinner with Dan’s family. There was about 50 of us and it was quite the zoo. Owen did great and ate tons of food. Dan also ate tons of food and won the weight gain contest by gaining 9.5 pounds in the hour or two before and after eating. Sexy. We went to see my family for pie that evening and had a lot of fun. We have a lot to be thankful for, that’s for sure.

On Saturday we went to Smith and Edwards (a huge army/navy surplus store) and there was an awesome Santa there! There was no line to see him and they let us take pictures with our phones for free! It was pretty much perfect! Plus Owen didn’t cry and loved it!

These pictures are pretty sweet. I just wish I knew and I would have put him in a cuter outfit…we might try to see another Santa soon but this was a success!

I don’t have a picture, but we also got another niece in our family! Annabelle (not sure of the spelling) was born a few weeks ago and she is a doll. She is the 18th grandchild and I’m sure there will be many more to come!

We can’t wait for December, Christmas lights, parties and Owen’s big day! I’m planning a Polar Express birthday party so hopefully I can pull it off without too much stress during this crazy time of year!