Gotcha Day

Today marks the one year anniversary of Owen joining our family. We are so in love with this little guy. It is amazing to think about how much he has grown and matured over the last year. We are all forever changed!

We celebrated tonight by spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's with Aunt Amy, Uncle Craig, Turner and Carter. We had cupcakes for dessert along with presents. Those pictures are on the right hand side of the collage.

This week has brought back a flood of memories for us. It is hard to believe that it has been a year already. It is a year that we will we treasure and never forget.

We are truly blessed!

It's Final!

November 4, 2009

We Have a Winner

Adoptive Families Magazine
2009 Photo Contest Runner Up
Photographer: LeighAnn Hasley

Thanks LeighAnn for making such wonderful pictures of our family. We have always been so pleased with all the pictures you have made...you are truly very talented!

check our her website
www.stillmomentsbyleighann.com

or check out the magazine website
This photo was chosen as a winner out of more than 5,000 entries. What fun!

Halloween Panda

SLIDE!

Happy Fall Y'all

These are pictures of Owen and his Daddy at the Pumpkin Patch....Momma was the photographer. As you can see...he's learned to walk with his hands behind his back! Isn't that the cutest? I think his favorite part of the day was the riding in the wagon. You can see the excitement on his face. We LOVE fall at our house! I have made plans to go to all the Fall Festivals/Pumpkin Patches we can find. It is a great excuse to get out in this pretty weather.

Ok...one other quick picture. I got Owen dressed this particular day and realized he was dressed just like his Daddy would be for a typical day of work. I tried really hard to get a picture of him and this was the best one I got.




We are so in love with this little guy! It is hard to believe that this week he will be 18 months old. He loves trains, balloons, balls and is a very happy little boy. He is trying to talk, mostly just one word at a time and mostly when you say "Can you say..." he will repeat you. He tells you when something is "All Gone," and he asks for his balloon or points out balloons in a store or wherever he happens to see one. He can identify pictures in a book when you ask "Where is the...," and just yesterday, he out smarted me by showing me it was a sticker on the bottom of his shoe making the noise. I thought I left tissue in the toes of his new shoes! He is very loving and a good snuggler - we love that!

We are so blessed to be his parents!

Celebrations!

We have done a lot of celebrating lately! Here are a few:

My niece Brittni's Baptisim
We are so proud of her for making the best decision she could ever make, to follow Jesus for the rest of her life!

Grammy's Birthday

These pictures were taken after dinner at her favorite restaurant, P.F. Chang. As you can see, trying to get a picture with all three grandkids...well it's trying. She was thrilled with her "His and Her John Deer tumblers."

Family Reunion in Missouri

We had so much fun on our trip to Missouri. Not only did we spend time with Grandpa's family but we celebrated Grandpa's birthday too. What a great weekend it was!

Finally, can I just say, "Come on Autumn!" We love fall at our house and we are so ready! Here is a picture to get you in the mood for Autumn, if you aren't already.

Owen's Weekend

Owen attended his first birthday party for a friend this weekend. Actually...friends. His friends, B&B turned 1. After the party, Daddy said "Let's go to the park." We had a blast. Owen loved the slide the best. Sorry that the pictures a bit blurry, it is hard to catch a moving object!


The best thing about the birthday party for Owen...balloons! He went crazy for the balloons and thank goodness he got to bring on home. He's not smiling in this picture, but he loves his balloon! Who knew something so simple could make him so happy.

Hope you all have a great week!

Eight!

8...# of months Owen has been home! Can you believe it? We sure can't!

8...# of months Owen lived in Korea, in the loving care of his foster family.

8...# of teeth Owen is cutting at one time! Can you believe that? All four one year molars AND all four eye teeth are in various stages of making an appearance.

Owen is doing great! He must have a miserable sore mouth, but most of the time he is happy and bubbly. Finally yesterday his Grandma got a peek in his mouth to see what was going on and much to her surprise, she found a mouth full action! He will soon have a mouth full of teeth!

I told him that when he gets all those teeth in, Momma will take him out for a steak!

Here is one (not so new) picture (didn't want to leave you without one)...it is one of my favorites.

Owen and Friend

This is Owen and his friend who was also born in Korea. Their Birthdays are actually 4 days apart. This means that they were probably in the nursery together at Eastern. We had the opportunity of meeting Owen's friend and his family recently at Korea camp. We had a wonderful time and we look forward to many more years of fun at Korea camp.


I will post more soon, but I thought you might like to see these quick pictures.

Trip to Grammy and Grampy's

We celebrated Independence Day with a trip to Grammy and Grampy's. We did all the usual Fourth of July things...swimming, cooking out, fireworks and homemade ice cream. What a fun time!

This was our first overnight trip with Owen. Can I just say, that we felt like we were loading up and moving a small city? I think I made it there with everything we needed, but on the way home I forgot about half of my stuff (including my camera cord). Thanks to Grammy for making a trip to see us for lunch and returning all the stray items.

Thought you might enjoy seeing this picture of Owen on the carousel! He loved it! By the third trip around he was letting go and waving with one hand when he went by us. He cried when the ride was over...how cute is that?

Yankee Doodle Dandy

What Does Owen Do All Day at Grandma and Grandpa's?

Owen's First Pool Party

Tonight we went to a pool party for our Sunday School Class. We had a great time playing and visiting with friends. We had over 35 kids there! Our class name is "Grand Purpose," but Nathan and I joke that it should be "Fruitful and Multiplying!" It is so much fun to share life experiences with these families. God has blessed our class with lots of children. For Nathan, I know that it was pure joy to be able to have his own child there to swim with. As you can see, Owen had a great time. One of the highlights for Owen was splashing his Daddy in the face with the waterfall.

By the way, I didn't post last Sunday on Father's Day, but I do want to tell you what a wonderful father Nathan is. He tells me everyday how much he loves Owen. He is fully hands on when it comes to childcare and housework. He has really "kicked it up a notch" as far as housework goes because he knows keeping up with our busy little one keeps me tied up. I love you and you are a wonderful father to Owen.

I have to show you how cute he looked for church this morning. Remember I told you that he had a couple of personal shoppers? Their names are Grammy, Brooklyn and Brittni, Grandma and Grandpa. Check out these overalls...aren't they the cutest things? Thanks to those personal shoppers, he always looks cuter than either of us on a Sunday morning.

Did you notice his stylish swimsuit? That was picked out by Brittni who frequently finds things and brings them to Grammy saying "Owen has to have this!"

Owen is trying so hard to walk. He grins so big when he walks a long way. I think he will have it mastered by the time this week is over and maybe, I can figure out how to post video!

We are so blessed to be able to call this boy our son. To see him smiling all the time is truly a blessing.

We Really Should Get Out More...

Check this out...








Maybe we need to get out more if we thought this looked like fun. This is a tree that was knocked down in the storm Thursday night not far from our house. No telling how long that tree had been there. Don't you know Owen wondered what in the world we were doing! I do have to say that he cried when Nathan took him off that log...he wanted to stay and play. I was starting to get a little creeped out at the thought of being locked in the cemetary all night.

Mr. Innocent

What Owen is doing to be "helpful" when Momma and Daddy aren't paying attention...

Rearranging the kitchen

Reorganizing the baby wipes

Don't you love the innocent look on his face!

First Mother's Day and Baby Dedication

Sunday we celebrated my first Mother's Day. This day was made extra special because we also celebrated baby dedication. This ceremony is used as a formal time for the parents to present themselves and their children to the church and commit to raise them in a Godly family. This in no way is a means of salvation for Owen, but it is our prayer that one day, as soon as he understands, he will accept Chirst as his personal Savior.

We continued the festivities by having our families over for lunch. It was a wonderful day.

"For this child I prayed, and the Lord had granted me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord...as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord." I Samuel 1:27-28

One Year Portraits

Owen had his one year portraits made this week and we couldn't be more thrilled with how they turned out. My dear friend LeighAnn made his pictures. She is so talented. She makes it very hard for us to pick our favorite. These are just two of many. As you can see, she really captures his personality well. You can check out her work by going to her website http://www.stillmomentsbyleighann.com/