Owen's favorite new books

Thank goodness we're out of the "Frosty" stage! :)

Family night at Sport Bounce

Tonight we decided to check out Sport Bounce in Ashburn. It was family night, so for $6, you can bounce and play for 2 hours with your kid. Sounded like a deal to me! Owen had a blast and was so pooped by the end of one hour. I think we'll definitely do it again some time.

My beach ball is fun!

Grandma and Grandpa Marshall and Aunt Hillary came over for dinner tonight. It was a bitter cold night - the perfect evening for a hot stew. I made a beef ministrone in the crock pot.

After dinner we turned on the fire and played catch with Owen's beach ball in the family room.





Aunt Hillary is headed back to the west coast tomorrow to head out on another 3-month tour. We're already looking forward to her next visit!

Coloring

Owen and I did some coloring tonight while waiting for Daddy to come home from work.

Playdate with Sarah Catherine

Steph brought Sarah Catherine over today to play. The kids had a ball playing with all the new toys. We set them up to eat lunch at Owen's new table.


They enjoyed their first lunch date at the little table. :)

Necklace giveaway on "Ramblings of an eclectic mind"

For Christmas Ben, Owen and I gave Hillary a beautiful sterling silver initial pendant with a purple charm. I had found the item on Etsy.com ~ love that site!

Well, the woman who made the necklace ~ Wendy of Eclectic Wendy Designs (her Etsy shop) ~ is having a giveaway on her blog! Go to her recent post to find out how to win your own necklace!

Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa Marshall and Aunt Hill

Today we celebrated Christmas with Ben's side of the family. Grandma and Grandpa Marshall had us over for a delicious ham dinner. Owen finished his meal within fifteen minutes. We're pretty sure it had to do with the fact that he saw all the presents under the tree and was itching to unwrap them!



Owen quickly remembered how fun it was to unwrap presents.

Owen gave Grandma and Grandpa Marshall a plate with his handprint as a Christmas Tree so they can always remember how little his hand was.

Santa, Grandma and Grandpa Marshall and Aunt Hillary gave Owen so many fun toys! Several of them were in boxes and it took a few minutes to get them out of the box for him to play with. We were all amazed at how patient he was while Aunt Hillary got it ready for him.

We made Grandpa and Grandma Marshall an album of pictures from Owen's first year. It was a big hit.

Owen waiting so patiently. We all know he doesn't get this from me.

Out of nowhere, Owen walked over and gave Grandpa a hug. Then Aunt Hillary and Grandma. Such a sweet little man. Last, but not least, he hugged his Clip-o's.

Owen's big gift from Grandma & Grandpa Marshall was a Radio Flyer 2-seater wagon! It was such a fun Christmas/New Year's celebration!

Happy New Year!

2009 was an amazing year for us. Though not by choice, we were incredibly lucky to be able to afford for me to stay home with Owen. Our baby boy grew so fast in twelve months. Here are the month-by-month highlights of our year:

January ~ Owen started eating solids and got to play in the snow for the first time.

February ~ We celebrated GiGi's 85th Birthday in Hershey.

March ~ We took Owen to the playground for his first ride in a swing.

April ~ We traveled to Florida for the second time and went to Disney with Grandma and Grandpa Killi, Uncle Mike and Aunt Lindsey; drove down to Richmond for a wine festival with Hershey friends, and Great Grandma Marshall came to visit from Wisconsin. (It was a busy month!)

May ~ My first Mother's Day and Owen feeds himself for the very first time!

June ~ Owen enjoys his froggy pool, Ben's first Father's Day, and Owen crawls for the first time ON Father's Day!

July ~ We take Owen to the beach for the first time, Owen meets Tim, Andrea and Olivia when we celebrate 4th of July with them in WV, Grandma Marshall takes Owen and I into DC to see the museums, Steph and I take Sarah Catherine and Owen to a Splash Park in MD and last but not least, Owen said "MAMA" for the first time!

August ~ Ben's Uncle Doug and Aunt Di come to visit from WI and we went boating, Owen starts taking baths in the tub (vs his baby tub), Ben and I borrow his parent's boat and go boating with Greg and Erica, Owen and I go down to FL (his 3rd trip there) and go to the beach while Ben goes to CA with Uncle Mike for the WOW conference, Ben and I celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary!

September ~ Owen starts walking on his birthday, we celebrate his first year with a little party, and Owen has his 1-year well baby checkup.

October ~ We fly with Grandma and Grandpa Marshall to Chicago for Ben's cousin's Bat Mitzvah, and we celebrate Owen's 2nd Halloween at the Deputy's Halloween party.

November ~ We attend Owen's 2nd Pre-Thanksgiving dinner party at the Gribble's and have a wonderful actual Thanksgiving at home with Grandma & Grandpa Marshall.

December ~ Owen meets Santa for the 2nd time, we drove to Hershey with Aunt Hillary to have an early Christmas with GiGi, just in time for the Blizzard of 2009, Owen received a cool sled from Grandma & Grandpa Marshall, and we flew to Florida for Christmas.

We are so incredibly blessed and are so grateful for our family and friends who make each day so special. We look forward to the coming year and can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us! Happy New Year everyone!

Packing up to head home

This morning Owen and I packed up to head home to Virginia. (Ben left yesterday morning so that he could do some work.) It was such a relaxing and fun week with family and friends. It went by so fast and I was sad to see it come to an end. Luckily, Owen won't have to wait long to see his Grandparents again since they're coming up in a month to watch him for us while Ben and I take a vacation to Cancun. Grandparents are the BEST! :)

Who needs Christmas presents when you have a salad spinner???

Hanging out before dinner