Slacker Mama and our Eventful Few Months!

Blake, Owen and I at the Clark County Museum - 12/10/11

Whew!  What a whirlwind these past few months have been!  I apologize for not keeping you all in the loop - it's not easy working full time, trying to keep up on housework (thank goodness for Blake!) and taking care of Owen and still finding the time to sit down and write about it all!  So here goes my cram session of these past few months!

For Thanksgiving Owen and I flew all by ourselves back home to spend some quality time with our families and got to meet a bunch of new family members!  The plane ride was picture perfect - Owen sat on my lap and was an angel both ways.  Ate and played on the way there and slept on the way back.

Owen and I on the plane!

We met Vicki's little lamb Ella Grace who is so sweet!  It's so nice that Owen has someone only 3 months apart in age he can grow up with!

Owen, Ella, Alla and Vicki

Judie and the kids (minus Dave) came down to too so Owen got to meet Jeff, Jamie, Irene and Ryder!  Also saw Nikii again, and of course Aunt Judie and Uncle Willie.  We had a little get together at S&S's house (baby party!) and Owen got to hang out with the neighbor babies as well as some old friends.

Owen and Uncle Willie

Owen, Grandma Spill and Aunt Judie

Owen also got to hang out with Blake's parents too - spent some time with Mimi and also Grandpa Dave and Grandma Nancy.  He says sorry he was so fussy - but cutting TWO TEETH IS NO FUN!  Yep, that's right, Owen got TWO teeth!  Owen loves to hang out with his grandparents and wishes he lived closer so he could see them more often!  Owen is also sitting up all by himself now!  It's nice that he can play more now that he's not either on his back or tummy.  He will also stand as long as you're holding his hands.  He's growing up so fast!

My Big Boy!

Here are a few more from our family photoshoot I won on Plum District.

We also celebrated our first Christmas with Owen!  I'm going to make a special Christmas post though.  :)

Love, The Gilmores!

Family Fun Time!

Last weekend while my parents were here Owen got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa!  Since we don't live that close to nearly our entire family it's a treat when they come to visit!  We ate LOTS of yummy food (no surprise there!) and went to the park and took some photos.  Owen was sick so wasn't the best host but managed to suck it up and put a smile on most of the time.  Poor thing, even when's he's sick he's still a really good baby.  He was diagnosed with RSV and had been throwing up.  Thank goodness he is A LOT better now!  I haven't heard him cough in a few days and he hasn't thrown up in 3 days so I think we're in the clear (knocking on wood!)

Last Saturday we went to Floyd Lamb park here in the northwest side of town.  I'd never been there and it was really nice!  There was grass and water and trees!  I almost forgot I was in Vegas!  Steve and my mom took a TON of photos and I managed to snag a few before they left.... Hopefully I'll see the rest someday!  My friend Kimm and her daughter Sterling came too and they got some adorable photos of them.  Can't wait to see those too (hint, hint!)  Here are the ones I snagged.

Last night we were lucky enough to get tickets to the UNLV / Boise State football game to see Kellen Moore in action!  Owen's first sporting event was a hit!  He liked watching the confetti rain down when UNLV scored (yes, they scored! Three times!)  Owen was bundled like we were in Alaska (I'm pretty sure it was only in the 50's) but looked adorable in his bear suit!  

Owen will be 6 months on Thursday which means we're going to start feeding him 'real' food!  Today I baked a pumpkin for him and also have a pear I'm going to puree so on Thursday (if I can hold out that long!) Owen can have some pumpkin!  After we're sure he's not allergic I'll try some pumpkin/pear combo!  I'm excited for Blake to put together his highchair and feed him like a big boy!  He's growing up so fast!  I can't believe we're half way through the first year!

Pumpkin Patch Party!

Gilcrease Orchard

Owen visited his first pumpkin patch last weekend!  We went to Gilcrease Orchard, just a few miles from the house.  It's a pumpkin oasis in the middle of our giant desert city and quite an impressive sight to see when you're used to strip malls and rock gardens!

Pumpkin King

Mommy and Owen

Daddy and Owen

Happy Boy!

Family Shot - 10/2011

Owen is going to be a monkey for Halloween - his costume just arrived from Amazon.com yesterday.  Yes, I'm slightly obsessed with Amazon!  We're also expecting his mobile to come today.  It's super fancy with a remote control and image projection!  We're attempting to move him to his room this weekend - yes he still sleeps in our room in his cradle!  Blake's been painting his room this week for him - it's a nice rich tan color.  We're planning on (we as in Blake!) painting Jungle Book themed images from the Disney movie on the walls too - can't wait to see the final product!

New Firsts!

So we've had an exciting few weeks in the Gilmore household!  First we got a new car!  My poor little Accord was having some transmission issues and was just a sad girl... it would have cost too much to fix to then be stuck with a car that doesn't fit our family so I've been on the hunt for a great deal (you know me, are there car coupons?!) and found the perfect one at Carmax!  A friend recommended them and I love that they offer an extended warranty on used cars so we were very excited when we found a 2003 Ford Explorer that we could actually afford and that our whole family would fit in!  It's golver (gold and silver...??) and I love it!!!  Yippee for all the fun family adventures we will have in our first family car!!

Owen is a PIG these days and will eat and eat and EAT!  This boy has never turned down food in any form so we thought why not try giving him a little rice cereal....  It was a hit!  Like I figured, he'll eat anything!  We had a nice messy time trying it out!  At first his little tongue would pop out but he'd want more, and after a few bites he got the hang of it and was slurping it down like a pro!

What do I do with this stuff mom?

Oh... OK!

Hurry give me some more!

 Owen also turned 5 months!!  He's such a good happy baby!  If only he'd go back to sleeping through the night!  He's waking 1-3 times a night to eat... no surprise there! My boy likes to EAT!  Thankfully Daddy helps out a lot and will change him and even run downstairs and make a baba to give me a break.  We make a good team! :)

October 11th, 2011 - 5 months old!

New trick!

Owen has learned a new trick!  He can now roll over from his back to his tummy!  We lay him on his back and within seconds he's on his tummy looking around.  I think he's finally gotten tired of staring at the ceiling! :).  At daycare the other day they wrote on his daily summary "Owen had a great time showing all his friends he can roll over"!  So cute!

I've been working on my photography skills with the Canon 20D I got from S&S.  Still trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing, but I must say thanks in part to the cutest model ever I think I'm getting better! This one believe it or not was even taken on MANUAL! :)  Still need to work on the focusing a bit I think... maybe next week!  Speaking of photography I WON a 45 minute photoshoot with DW Photography! I entered a Facebook contest and I won!  I'm so excited to get some family photos taken of us!  The only ones we have are the ones when Owen was just 10 days old.  

Taken October 2nd, 2011.  20-1/2 weeks old!

No more photos mom!

Such a sweet boy

That's all for now!

Germs... YUCK!

So we got to experience one of the drawbacks of daycare last week... GERMS!  Owen woke up last Friday morning throwing up and puked for a good 16 hours!  Poor little guy has been fighting off a cold for a while now and to have to have a tummy bug on top of that was not fun!  We thought we were in the clear once he stopped throwing up early Saturday morning... wrong!  Sunday morning both Blake and I started feeling queasy... and sure enough we had gotten it too!  Sunday was a nightmare!  Trying to take care of a baby while you're feeling like death is not something I recommend!  I was laying on the floor with him (I couldn't do much more) wondering how parents who are sick take care of their little ones!  Well, we all survived and are now feeling back to normal!  Woohoo!  Wonder how long we'll be in the clear for?  ;)

School has been going great for me, and Owen seems to really like daycare.  He's always smiling and happy when we drop him off and pick him up.  They sing songs, read books, do tummy time, play with all sorts of toys and it's great socialization for him that I'd have a really hard time recreating on my own.  He's in the infant room with babies six months and younger.

Ready to go on our first day of school!

A while back we were feeding Owen and discovered he has a new trick!  Blake was barely holding the bottle, and Owen put his hands on it so Blake let go... We ordered him two sippy cups this morning!  He's also been much more intent on watching us when we eat.  He just stares at us - it's really funny!  Not too much longer before we can try feeding him some rice cereal!  With knowing what a little piggy he is I'm sure he'll take right to it!

My new trick!

Owen turned 4 months old this month!  MAN time sure does fly!  He's so amazing I can't wait to get home and snuggle with him every day!  He's such a happy baby - always smiling, cooing or giggling and  only fusses when he wants food or a new diaper.  We're so thankful for our happy Bubba!  Blake always told me, "Hard pregnancy means an easy baby".... Well, isn't that the truth!

Sweet happy boy always full of smiles!

Four months old and playing with my Oball!

Wanna Go See Mickey Mouse?

It's true, we're obsessed with all things Disney!  Both Blake and I practically grew up there and now that we're married the family trips have grown from groups of 4 to numbers closer to 15!  This time around we were at 12, but with some key members missing!  Roll Call: Alla, Blake, Owen, Sylvia, Ruth aka Nana, Mikey, Romaine, Auntie Val, Michelle, Amber, Darcie and Aaron!  We went to both celebrate birthdays (Romaine and Darcie) and also to commence the start of Owen's trips!  It was an amazing time filled with laughs, junk food, crowds, mint julips, nostalgia and of course the rides!

Nana, Sylvia, Me, Blake, Owen and Mikey

The days leading up to our trip Blake would ask Owen, "You wanna go see Mickey Mouse?" and Owen would reply with a great big smile - he's a Mickey lover from the start!!  Here he is meeting the Mouse in one of his many mini Disney outfits from Romaine, Auntie Val and my mom... he was definitely dressed for the occasion!

 Meeting Mickey Mouse!

Owen's first ride was the Haunted Mansion!  He LOVED all the rides we took him on - he did so well and definitely earned himself another trip very soon as we are now annual pass holders! :)

In line for our first ride as a family! :)

All in all it was an amazing adventure and I will always remember little Owen's first trip to Disneyland!  I can't wait to pass down the obsession I mean love we have for all things Disney to our little man!

Owen's First Blog!

Hi friends and family!

I wanted to start this blog to help document Life With Owie for not only you but so we can look back and remember all the milestones and new experiences we will share with our little man.

Every day his personality shines through more and more. He's a very good baby! He will have his off days but for the most part he is very content, and only fusses when he's hungry or needs to be changed.

His sleeping patterns are not quite as good as they were a few weeks ago but that comes with development. I'm sure he'll be back to sleeping through the night soon. (Fingers crossed!). Last night he woke up at 1am and 5am to eat. Not too bad considering we put him to sleep around 7pm.

Owen is 14 weeks old today! I've been taking weekly photos of him every Wednesday but wondering how long that will last... ? Should I keep going? I feel guilty stopping, not to mention I'm kind of obsessed with taking his photo and editing it in Adobe Lightroom, so I'm sure you'll see many more to come!

Owen's new trick is he's rolling over from tummy to back. He HATES tummy time and will now roll right onto his back to get out of it. Usually he does it right away but sometimes I think he forgets how he was able to and gets frustrated and will start fussing a bit. It's cute.

I still can't really believe he's here. Sometimes I just stare at him in awe and amazement. He's just perfect and I can't believe we really made him! I hope you enjoy this blog and please feel free to comment!

Love, Alla