Santa!!!!

This was the first year we got Owen's picture taken with Santa...and I could not have been more thrilled! Although, I suppose it would be funny to have a picture to look back on where Owen was screaming and you could see the look of terror on his face, but I am really excited about the way it turned out! I will admit, though - I was really worried. Owen has been going through a bit of a "I want mommy all of the time" phase, and I just didn't know how that would bode for Santa. He was fascinated with Santa's (real!) beard, so after that, he was set! He just needed mommy and daddy acting like fools off to the side to get a good smile, and there you have it...a perfect first picture with Santa!

O Christmas Tree

With the exception of last year (you know, newborn baby and all), since Justin and I have been married, we have made it a tradition to go out with Justin's family and pick out real Christmas trees. The place we have gone to in the past was the "lazy man's version" of a Christmas tree farm - you pick out your tree, point it out to the workers, and they come and cut it down for you with a chainsaw, tag it, and drill it into your stand for you by your car :) For those of you who may not know me very well...that's my type of place!!

Unfortunately, that place is really far from where we live now, and for the sake of not having Owen in the car for two unnecessary hours, we went somewhere "real". We had to do the work. Let me rephrase that...Justin had to do all the work. A few weeks ago, we went out with Grandma and Grandpa Myers, and Aunt Kristen and Uncle Chris to pick out trees. Despite the cold temperatures and the early start, we had a great time. We piled Owen up in about thirteen layers of clothes, but he really had a great time!

Ready to pick out some trees!!

Resembling Randy from A Christmas Story...he could barely move!

The Myers family and our tree*

Kisses from mommy always helps the cold

Kisses from daddy never hurt, either!

Owen was way more interested in the cat than picking out the tree

One wiped out little dude

* Our Christmas tree did not survive very long in Casa de Myers. It currently resides in the Yard de Myers. My allergies got progressively worse and worse once we got the tree home, so it was soon replaced with a fake tree that brings out no allergic reactions from me, has no bristles to clean up, and there is no chance of a rabid squirrel coming out and attacking us all :)

It's Party Time

A few weeks ago, we had Owen's first birthday party. It was a great time with friends and family. He wasn't really too sure about the cake. He never really dug in too much - he kind of prissily (I am not sure that's a word) picked at it until we decided that was enough. He had a blast opening presents, though! He got a lot of great gifts that have completely overtaken our house! We are so blessed to have so many friends and family that love Owen so much!

I guess since Christmas is officially over and I am just now getting around to posting Owen's birthday party pictures, I may post Christmas pictures sometime in March! :)

You mean, I get to eat this?!?!

Power to the people!

Let's tear into these presents!

Um, Dad, I'm one now. I can do it by myself!

Surrounded by lots of cool stuff

Pushing around his cool new bee

Playing with his favorite "toy" of the afternoon...Great-Grandpa Myers' walker!

Happy Birthday Owen!!!

So, this post is obviously a little late (one week, to be exact). Owen's 1st birthday came and went a week ago. It was pretty emotional for me - I think I cried about five or six times! I just can't believe it's already been one year!! It's just crazy!

Here is Owen the day he was born...

Here is Owen exactly one year later...

Holy cow...what a difference a year makes!! We had a pretty rocking party for Owen a few days after his birthday...as soon as I can get a chance to download our pictures, I will try to get some posted :)

Dinner-time

For the last few weeks, Owen has been joining us at the table for dinner. In the past, Justin and I would just wait until after we put Owen to bed to eat. It is so nice now to all eat together!

It has provided for quite a few funny (and frustrating) moments, to say the least. Owen refuses to eat vegetables or fruit. When we give them to him, he picks it up, examines it, and immediately throws it on the floor. I have tried all kinds of everything...he still does it! (if any of you have any words of wisdom, please send them our way!). He also stuffs a TON of food in his mouth before he swallows. Sometimes it's so full he can't even fit the straw in his mouth to get some water. Don't worry, though - we watch him very closely and do try to limit the amount of food he has in front of him :)

A mouthful of food...yummy!!

Trying to keep it all in.

Monkey-ing Around

I can't believe Owen's first Halloween has already come and gone. This year is just flying by! I think mom and dad had a little more fun than Owen did, but I suppose that's part of the fun of being a parent :) Owen was a monkey for Halloween , and a pretty stinking cute monkey if you ask me! We didn't really go trick-or-treating...we took Owen to our neighbors house, and then he helped us hand out candy to our trick-or-treaters. I think he had much more fun doing that than dressing up!

Hey, check me out! *Owen pretty much lives on our fireplace. He loves it up there, and plays up there (supervised, of course...most of the time :) all of the time!

Clap for monkeys!

Checking out our crap fake pumpkins we had to buy because we waited to the very last minute to go to the pumpkin patch AND then didn't bring any money.

Pumpkin patch

We thought we'd get in the true spirit of fall and take Owen to a pumpkin patch this year. Owen really loves being outside, and he LOVES other kids, so we thought he'd have a great time. We had to go on a weeknight because our weekends have been so jammed-packed full of stuff lately, but the weather was great and it was packed! There were kids running around everywhere, people laughing, it was perfect! This is what Owen thought...

He was definitely not quite sure about the pumpkin patch (and yes, we are well aware Owen is desperate need of another haircut)! After a few minutes, he finally warmed up a little bit, and we started checking things out.

Hey, this pumpkin makes a pretty good drum!

This chicken would make a fun pet!

Yum, yum! Hay!!

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch. We'll definitely make it a Myers family tradition - only we'll do some better planning next year. We would have liked to go on the hayride, but we just ran out of time, since we had to go on a weeknight. It will also be a little more fun next year when Owen can run around on his own. Another thing we'll remember next year is to bring some cash...we had our nice pumpkins picked out, wheeled our wagon up to pay, and realized it was cash-only, and I think we had $1 between us. Oops!

The Burton Boys

A couple of months ago (I know, I know...I need to get with it!), we were finally able to get all of the Burton family together. This was the first time we had a play-date with all four boys! In the past 17 months, there were four new additions to the Burton family, and they were all boys! Zane (17 1/2 months), Jonah (14 month), Owen (10 months), and Anderson (4 months)...CRAZINESS!!

Our play date was too cute!! We definitely have four of the cutest little guys there are! :) It was insanely difficult (okay, it was impossible) to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time...this was the best I could do..

Jonah, Anderson, Owen, and Zane

Four boys and their mommas

Four boys and their papaws

Playground

One of our favorite activities this summer has been going to the playground. There is a really nice, huge playground that is a 10 minute walk from our house, and we love getting out and checking things out. Right now Owen particularly likes the swings, but I think next summer, there will be quite a bit for him to do!

We took him to the playground for the first time in May. It took him a few minutes to warm up to the swings, but once he did, it was non-stop giggles!!

Owen loved the swings the first time he tried them (5 months)

Not quite sure about the slide yet, though (5 months)

We also have played on a playground in Indiana when Aunt Katie and Jonah were visiting. We had a lot of fun there, too! It was really the first time he had been on the playground equipment...not just the swings! :) (Please excuse the camera phone pictures)

Checking out a new playground in Indiana. and kicking mommy's butt at tic-tac-toe (7 1/2 mo)

Jonah showing Owen how to walk across the bridge (7 1/2 months)

I love the playground!!! (7 1/2 months)

I really love the park close to our house. There is so much for kids to do (and I especially love that it's close!). Now that this summer is winding down and fall is fast approaching, I am getting really excited for next summer when Owen will be walking around, exploring all there is to see at the playground!

The little kids playground. There is also a HUGE wood playground for bigger kids.

There is also a splash area with a lot of cool water stuff. *I only mildly felt like a child molester while I was taking pictures of what could have appeared to be other people's children! :)

Still loving the swings! (8 1/2 months)

I don't really know what this thing is, but he LOVES it! :) (8 1/2 months)

Playing in the wooden kitchen (8 1/2 months)

I really can't talk enough about this park...it's so cool. It's called the All-Children's Playground, and the vast majority of it is designed to accommodate children with special needs as well. It's just really cool! :)

WIsky Business :)

Our first big trip this summer was to Madison, Wisconsin for our great friends Jori and Megan's wedding. We were so excited about this weekend - Jori and Meg have been great friends for a long time (we've known them since college), and they are truly perfect for each other. We were thrilled to be spending the weekend celebrating them! This was also the first time we would have the pleasure of introducing a lot of our friends to Owen.

We were a little nervous for the trip, though. It was our first true travel experience with Owen. I had taken him to South Carolina, but we had always stayed with Aunt Katie and Uncle Ben. This was our first time staying in an unfamiliar city and staying in a hotel. We somehow managed to survive, and had a great time!!

Finally, Daddy gets to fly with me (and mom gets some help)!!!

Lunch with the ladies

My mom was gracious enough to come with us and hang out with Owen so we could enjoy ourselves at the rehearsal dinner and reception without having to worry about taking care of him. It was a really tough decision for her, I think :) It was so nice to be able to hang out with our friends and feel like adults again, and not have to worry about Owen...knowing he was in the best of hands. Thanks, Mom!!

"Who is this guy and why are you letting him hold me?!?!"

Justin getting down with Megan. I think she was one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen. I know everyone always says that, but I really mean it!!

Dancing the Hora. This was my favorite part of any reception I've ever been to (maybe including even my own). Jori's family is Jewish, so a lot of Jewish traditions were incorporated into the ceremony and reception. It's really hard to explain how unbelievably cool it was watching all of Jori and Meg's family and friends dance around them in a circle. This should be standard at all weddings!

Getting crazy in the photo booth! This is another one of my new favorite reception ideas. Three of the four weddings we've been to this year have had photo booths....I LOVE it!!

Haircut

I really should start my post-catching up on stuff from the beginning of the summer. But this weekend we took Owen to get his first haircut, and I can't help but post those pictures first...they are that cute! I know, I know...he's only 8 1/2 months old, but we really DID need to get his hair cut. It was crazy out of control. Justin and I both have really, really thick hair, and Owen definitely got those genes! Although it wasn't actually that his hair was that thick, it was just insanely long.

We took him to a place called Cookie Cutters. It was really cute, and they did a great job. He sat in a little race car and watched a Baby Einstein movie. He barely moved the entire time, even when they used the little razor-trimmer thing on him!

Getting ready for the big cut. (Look at that ridiculous hair covering his ears. Mom and Dad should be ashamed!)

Holding still

Lady, you better be careful with that thing!

Checking out the new 'do

The finished product after a few days of "settling"