Dear Owen.

Dear Owen,

My sweet little man- It's so hard for me to believe that 6 months ago today I met you for the 1st time!

I had waited so long to see your sweet face, to kiss your little head, to count your fingers & toes, and to see your adorable hair!

My first 6 months as your mother have been wonderful, yet have been full of so many feelings & emotions, some of which I would have never anticipated.

I have had moments filled with anticipation, overwhelming love, joy, fear, exhaustion, pain, anxiety, pride, confusion, guilt, grief...I have laughed, I have cried...I have felt older than my age at many moments, yet have also had the pleasure of feeling so youthful all over again...I have felt competent at some moments & yet so ill-equipped at others...I have been humbled, I have had my patience tested, & I have prayed constantly for strength.

I have learned that being your mother is the most  important job I will ever have. It takes precedent over all of my other responsibilities. I am slowly learning how to balance being your mother with my roles as a wife, nurse, teacher, daughter, sister, friend.

I love that I have had the gift of spending these last 6 months at home with you. I wouldn't trade our time together for anything in this world.

Daddy & I love you sooo much & you should know that you are the most precious gift we have ever been blessed with. We give thanks for you everyday & pray that we can learn to be the best parents possible.

I love you more than ever little man,

Mommy

Owen's 5th month.

Owen will be 6 months old on Wednesday (wow!), so here's the rundown on the 5th month of little Owen's life:

• You love to make noise...squealing, oohhing, babbling, and you're even starting to imitate sounds we make. 
• You rarely take your binky anymore, only if you are sooo sleepy & will be still enough to leave it in your mouth.
• You are almost sitting up on your own. You sit up great in your bathtub & do pretty well with just a little help when you play on the floor.
• You are rolling over like it's your job! You roll constantly & are also scooting on your belly. We've watched you get up on your knees a couple of times, so we know crawling is not too far away-oh my!
• On stroller outings, you sit up in the stroller now & you love being able to see everything going on around you. 
• You love to touch our faces & unfortunately, you also love to pull everyone's hair.
• Your hair has grown like crazy. You have enough hair that sometimes after you sleep it has a "messed-up look". It's the cutest thing ever. 
• You have become super ticklish especially on your deliciously chubby thighs and under your neck :-)!
• You make the most adorable little "snorty face".
• You love the simplest of things-the tags on your toys & blankets, and anything with buttons. 
• You love to read & lift-the-flap books seem to be your favorites. 
• You have learned that you can throw toys from your highchair...oh dear!
• We love to play peek-a-boo together!
• You are eating like a champ...your menu options include rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, avocado, butternut squash, green beans, applesauce, and peas. Next up-pears & sweet potatoes (yummy!). 
• You have been so fixated watching us drink from cups so we bought you a sippy cup. It took you a little while to figure it out, but now you love drinking water from it & you think you are such a big guy. 
• We bought you a Baby Einstein stationary bouncer. It took you a little time to warm up to it, but now you love it & are getting the hang of bouncing in it. 
• This month, you celebrated your dedication at WBC & your first 4th of July. 
• You decided to adjust your sleep schedule this month (without my permission!) & some nights you reverted back to waking up several times to snack. Hopefully we're back on track, with you going to bed around 9p.m. & sleeping until about 6 a.m.
• You love to sleep on your belly. We start on your back, but you always roll yourself over to get cozy on your belly.

      You are wearing 6-9 month clothes & we estimate you weigh around 18 pounds!

      You are growing soooo fast & we love you more everyday!

I caught you mid-laugh!

A hard-to-capture smile!

Checking out your baby "bounce house"

You still love bathtime!

Big guy!

I love your serious faces...

Sweet face!

Snorty face!

You are so silly!

Daddy, Owen, & Daddy's new grill!

Little things.

The tiny wrinkles on your teeny toes after your bath, the way you raise just one eyebrow when you're curious about something, how you squeal when you look at yourself in the mirror, the fact that you have become super ticklish :-), how eager you are to try new foods, the way you smile at Sadie ("your puppy"), 

the way you reach to touch my face, that now you have just enough hair that it looks messed up when you wake up, catching your big smile in a picture (finally!), the way you smile as you drift off to sleep, the way you play with your feet & toes, how you learn new things everyday, your sweet little laugh, kissing your chunky little leg rolls...

So many sweet little things about our days together that I want to never, ever forget. 

Sermon.

I love our pastor!
He always challenges me to think deeply about the way I live my life and my relationship with God.

Our service on Sunday, June 24th was special in so many ways...
It was Owen's Dedication Sunday,
the music led by Bruce & Lisa was so inspirational,
and the sermon by Dr. Roebuck challenged me unlike any other sermon before.

For nearly the last 2 weeks it has left me thinking & praying about how I view and relate to others.
I have been deeply convicted of my tendencies to readily judge people and their actions.
Our human nature makes judging others seem so natural, yet I pray that I can instead focus on looking at others with respect and treating everyone as a dwelling place of God's Holy Spirit.

Here is a link to the 6/24 service. I highly recommend watching at least the sermon.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/44873304

Owen's Dedication Sunday.

Owen's dedication at Woodmont Baptist Church was Sunday, June 24th.
It was such a special day!

It was our great pleasure to formally dedicate Owen's life to the Lord in the presence of our families & our church family. Grandma, Grandpa, Grammie, Grampy, Auntie Cheri, Auntie Abbey, & Mr. Raymond were here to share the weekend with us.

We have always known that Owen life belonged to the Lord before we even knew of him, but it was such a wonderful reminder of what an amazing gift our son is.
It was also such a blessing to hear the response of our church family when they were asked to vow that they would model the love of Christ in all they do so that Owen can grow to know the Lord.

We feel more blessed than ever to be a part of the WBC family!

Thankful.

I need to focus on being thankful.
It's not been the best of days, yet I still have so much to give praise for.

So, today I am so thankful for... a healthy baby boy, a wonderfully loving husband, a supportive family, the most amazing church family, special friends...fresh summer produce, sunny skies, the twinkling lightening bugs in our yard...the laughter of a child, encouraging music, a roof over my head, delicious food on my table, sweet letters that arrive in the mail, the sound of a sleeping baby.

	Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
	And into His courts with praise.
	Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
	For the LORD is good;
	His mercy is everlasting,
	And His truth endures to all generations. -Psalms 100:4-5

Personality.

It's been so fun to watch Owen's personality emerge, especially over the last month.

Owen, you are...
DETERMINED & STRONG-WILLED (If you want to reach something or hold something you're going full-force for it & little will stop you!). CURIOUS (You have to look at & feel everything for yourself).  EASILY AMUSED (Don't know how long it will last, but you find even your tiny toes entertaining). FOCUSED (This is definitely a trait you get from your daddy, but if you are focused in on something, nothing will distract you). SMART (It doesn't take you long to figure things out-you watch us push a button on a toy & after a few tries you have it figured out for yourself).



We just love watching you become just the little person God created you to be!

little bookworm.

Father's Day.

 A bit belated, but we enjoyed celebrating Chris' 1st Father's Day with him a few weekends ago.

Here's the poem we wrote in a special card to reveal Daddy's gift:

Daddy-O,

On your very 1st Father's Day,

we wanted you to feel special in every way.

We thought that you should have something fun,

a gift from your one & only son.

And so, here's a gift we hope will give you a thrill....

A BRAND NEW GRILL!

I have so loved watching Chris fall in love with our little man.
He was so proud to be celebrating his 1st Father's Day.
I am so blessed to have Chris as my husband & Owen is so blessed to have Chris as his daddy!

We love you!

This is getting interesting.

Our monthly photo shoots are getting way more interesting!

Owen's 4th month.

Owen turned 5 months old today, so it's time to see what Owen has been up to in the 4th month of his life.

The 4th month was a busy one for a little guy to say the least.
Here's what's new:

•  You're still so busy "talking" & are adding all sorts of new sounds to your repertoire.
• You love to squeal with delight when you are bored or when you find something new. 
• You have nearly perfected removing your binky & putting it back in your mouth!
• You have now rolled over from your belly to your back & your back to your belly. You have just started doing a little scooting across the floor when you're on your belly, so you're a busy little guy!
• You are sooooo close to sitting up on your own. If you're feeling really spry, you can sit up unassisted for about 10 seconds before you start to fall forward...it won't be long!
• You love to play with your feet & toes & have even tried to get your foot into your mouth-silly boy    :-)!
• We stopped in Durham, NC on our way to Emerald Isle & met some of mommy & daddy's friends...Will & Vanessa (& baby Stevens), Christina & Alex, Will & Donica, Genevieve & baby Rose, Nathan & Emily (& baby Putman), & Corey.
• You went to the beach for the 1st time a few weeks ago for Uncle Dave's wedding. You loved the sand & eventually warmed up to the salty ocean water.
• Your favorite thing about the trip to the beach was the pool...I think we might have a little swimmer on our hands!
• You started eating rice cereal 2 weeks ago & by the 2nd night you had mastered the eating with a spoon thing. You even get excited now when you sit in your high chair in the evening & watch me mix your cereal!
• You also started eating bananas this weekend & seem to be enjoying them too.
• You had a play date with baby Zoey, Scarlett, & Elle...you & all of the little ladies!
• You're still taking 2 little cat naps in the morning and 1 longer afternoon nap. You're sleeping from about 8:15 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.-hooray!!!
• You celebrated Daddy's 1st Father's Day with him yesterday...Daddy was so proud!
  
  You are wearing 6 month clothes & even a few 9 month outfits too.
  
  Here are some of my favorite pictures from your 4th month of life...

Owen loves Mr. Glowworm

Owen meets Mr. Will & Mrs. Vanessa

Family picture in the pool

Owen loved his pool float

1st day in the water...not digging it!

Uncle Dave's wedding

All boy!

Just before rice cereal night #1!

some progress.

Well, the blog looks a little "fresher".
Still not quite what I had in mind, but it's a work in progress!
More tinkering to come...

Pardon the progress.

As you can see, I have major blog renovations going on.

Hopefully in the next week or two, I'll have a new, fresh-looking blog.

Come back & check it out soon!

Beach bound!

We're bound for the beach with this little man!

Can't wait to see his face when we put his toes in the sand & his little feet in the ocean for the 1st time!

Be back soon!!!

4 month check-up

Owen had his 4 month check-up on Tuesday.

He had to get 2 shots & the oral Rotavirus vaccine. He screamed, but not nearly as bad as he did at 8 weeks & he calmed right down.

Owen weighs 16 lbs & 6 oz. (65%), is 25.5 inches long (65%) & his head circumference in at 75%...a well-proportioned guy!

We can start giving him some water in a bottle (if he's interested) & we can start rice cereal whenever we're ready (after we come back from the beach).

So thankful for a healthy little man!