Blessing

We were very lucky to bless Owen with both sets of grandparents and Jordan's family while in Texas. 

We realize having waited for the opportunity to bless him with his grandmas and grandpas Owen is a bit of a giant now. And white does make everyone look larger. Not to mention the camera adds ten pounds. 

Grandma and Grandpa Rimington came for a few days just for Owen. We are so grateful they did.

We had such a great time spending the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson. This just topped off such a memorable visit.  

Jordan Nelson, Randal Nelson, Vernol Nelson and Kenneth Rimington--Owen's priesthood circle. He has quite a legacy with these admirable men, and from those so far away who were there in spirit.

Let's not forget the cousins. Attempt #1.

And with the final attempt...Nailed it! :)

What a beautiful and blessed day!

Tex-mas

We spent Christmas with Randal's brother and his family in Houston, Texas. Randal's parents joined us from Idaho.

We played lots of games, including a few of the Minute-To-Win-It sort.

Ethan and Uncle Jordan won.

Santa still managed to find us in Texas.

Which put smiles on Ethan and Addie's faces.

Owen, however, remained rather stoic.

This gift of a plain plastic box from Santa was puzzling. More like "boring," according to Adelaide. Yet we found it handy in keeping all the little Lego pieces contained and eventually back to KY with us. Boring or not, that Santa is always thinking.

During the trip we visited Big Lou's, home of the largest pizza. 42 inches to be exact. And later we washed it down with a 3-pound cinnamon roll. 

How did we know such culinary feats even exist? Man vs. Food. 

We headed over to see the Alamo.

So did everyone else.

This is the best I could do. 

We found the Kentucky flag. Then learned we aren't supposed to take pictures once inside the Alamo as per the big sign just off to our right.

And then after seeing the hallowed sight where brave men lost their lives protecting their rights, their families and their land... 

We went to see some true patriots.

The King of Pop. 

A sort-of Barak Obama.

And this guy. (You're welcome, Tammy.) 

And thank goodness there was some kind of reference to the historic events which occurred just across the street or we may have thought we wasted our money.

Regardless of any regret over the wax museum, seeing the Alamo was worth an added 8 hours in the car to go to San Antonio.

And this was too. Loved the Riverwalk. 

Oh, and this. Though not for Owen. He didn't love the mariachi band as much as we did. More specifically, the trumpets. There were some tears.

 He later pretended to be asleep in the stroller so he didn't have to take a picture with them.

We also went to Houston's Space Center. On the busiest day in 15 years according to a tour guide. 

But that's okay because Grandma and Grandpa Rimington had joined us and we were just happy to spend time with them.

Besides, Ethan was able to help out the astronaut.

In return he received a tasty bottle of special astronaut water. Very refreshing.

So in a nutshell, that was how we spent our holiday. 

We had a great time with our family. Made some memories. And learned everything truly is...

bigger in Texas.

That...

And...

Grandpa looks smashing in a pink tiara.

12/8/12

  Owen is 2 months. He's a whopping 14.5 pounds of super cuteness!

At two months we are now getting a hair more sleep at night which is doing us both a world of good. 

He has made two best friends--the ceiling fan above our bed and the fishy hanging from his swing. They get some of his best smiles.

He has two great friends in Ethan and Addie too. They'll do anything for him. The only thing Owen has to do in return is occasionally tolerate being used like a machine gun by big brother. Small price to pay for two devotees, right?

We're squeezing him into the remaining size 2 diapers we have on hand when he would probably be more comfortable in the threes. But I'm too cheap to let nearly a week's worth of diapers go to waste. It does mean he's probably blowing out of them a bit more often so he's not the only one being punished because I'm a tight-wad.

Speaking of blowing out. We had a major catastrophe made worse by two bumbling parents who should know better. I mean, really, this isn't Randal's and my first rodeo. We found ourselves out for the evening, 30 minutes from home, with a list of errands to run and without a diaper bag. We did manage to remember we'd forgotten it and picked up a package of diapers and wipes at one of the stores, just in case. When we stopped for a bite to eat, we discovered Owen had completely soiled himself up his entire back and all over the car seat blanket. We had nothing. No change of clothes. No changing pad. No blanket. Just a clean diaper and Randal's jacket to wrap him in. He did seem to really enjoy being naked so we even made another stop before taking him home early. We're so responsible.  

In spite of nights like that, these two months have flown by. Owen is quite a sweet baby and, clearly, very patient. We are so lucky...times TWO!

Korean Christmas

Experts say that introducing impressionable babies to Mozart and Beethoven will make them smarter. 

I wonder, then, what will K-pop do for Owen?

Because this is his favorite video:  

We use this anytime we try to buy a little more awake time as we help Owen work into a sleep schedule. Whether it is the lights or the tune we don't know, but it works like a charm. He immediately quiets and looks around for the show. (Although he could be getting a laugh from our ridiculous dancing. We're no professionals that's for sure.)

November

Another month is flying by. Sometimes I wish I could freeze time. Like this day for instance:

Owen at one month

Adelaide has been asking to learn to sew for some time now. Christmas gifts seemed a perfect time for her to begin. She wanted to sew a blanket for Owen. She didn't want any of the fabric I already have, nor did she care for any of my suggestions at the fabric store. But what she did do was walk around the fabric aisles weighing her options very carefully. She settled on an animal print. Baby animals to be exact, just like Owen, she said.

Shhh. This is a secret for Ethan. He loves dogs, so he should love this pillowcase. She did a great job and I enjoyed sewing with her. I'd like to freeze this day too.

Randal was over in Asia for half of November. Things went more smoothly than I had feared. Owen was patient. We only had one night with Ethan up vomiting. And the car waited until he got home to start acting up. Yet it was not until he actually did get home that I truly relaxed enough to take a breath. The anxiety of what might happen in a new place and with a new baby while he was gone made me more anxious than I had realized. So this moment I could re-live over an over again as well:

We spent Thanksgiving just the five of us this year. It was a very nice day/weekend. We are living in a temporary rental while we build a house. Most of our stuff is in storage, including all our Christmas decorations. Rather than disrupting the delicate balance of the storage POD we made ornaments for the tree. A different one each day of Thanksgiving weekend.   

The kids enjoyed it, especially my crafty Addie. And our little tree looks pretty cute covered with their projects. Definitely a weekend worth repeating sometime soon. 

Ethan is Owen's self-appointed caregiver. He can be very helpful at times. I hope this means the two of them will always be friends despite a 9-year age difference. In fact, when Owen is Ethan's age now Ethan will be going on a mission. A long way off, and yet I'm sure it will be here sooner than I like. 

  

If anyone could tell me how to bottle some of these days I'd love to hear it. They are growing up too fast. My sentimental heart can't take it!

Owen 10/8/12

Chronologically Halloween should be the most recent post, however this little guy was the biggest event of October and has taken center stage around here for nearly a month now. So welcome Owen Kenneth Vernol Nelson. We waited a long time for you!

Ethan was very concerned about having the opportunity to be at the hospital when the baby was born. We assured him he would be one of the first visitors. We waited until the kids were there to tell them what we named the baby. He just felt like an Owen once we saw him. And, yes, he does have two middle names after both of his grandpas. It felt right to name him after both. We just hope he won't curse us when signing legal documents in the future.

Adelaide's response when she heard Randal and I had gone to the hospital in the night was, "Finally!" I thought once he was born all her questions of where babies come from, how they grow and just how are they born would be over. But they switched to questions about just how is Owen being fed and why are there no bottles? That's when I tell her to go fetch me a diaper. 

Mom was here, which was awesome. We used half of her trip just waiting for Owen to come. I was really hoping he would come a little early, but he made sure he reached a modest 9 pounds before making his appearance even though it meant missing his grandpa's birthday by about 12 hours. (Thanks for everything, Mom! I still get really emotional thinking about the day you left. We loved having you here.)

Ethan designated himself as Owen's bather. And to date, Owen has not peed on Ethan during baths or diaper changes. Something Ethan is very proud of seeing that Randal and I have not been so lucky. 

Actually both Ethan and Addie are great helpers. They entertain Owen, fetch diapers, binkies, etc. If it is for Owen, you name it, they'll do it.

October will be a fun month to have a birthday.

Of course, we've been trying to capture this past month in pictures which is somewhat difficult. This little guy is so much more adorable in person.

I did manage to get one of his first attempts at a smile. 

Though his patience for picture taking is short. Just looking at his hands will show you what he really thinks of all the fuss. So naughty!

I have so much more, hopefully now that I got my first 6 hours of sleep in a row I will feel like I can get them posted more quickly...

Especially if someone can help me fix these blasted lines showing up when I download pictures to Blogger. Annoying.

Halloween

Owen's first Halloween was somewhat uneventful for him. He slept through most of it leaving me alone with the candy bowl after Randal and the kids left for trick or treating. I would have polished off a lot more of that candy too if it weren't for all those pesky trick-or-treaters coming to the door one after another asking for some of it.

Adelaide reprised her role as princess from two Halloweens ago. The dress is getting a bit short, but at least she was happy and I was not responsible for another costume this year. She is a darling princess!

Ethan decided to be a king's archer. More specifically an archer representing one of his favorite video game characters. Having such specific parameters to work with, this costume really taxed what little clothes sewing ability I have. The lack of sleep wasn't helping either. All in all, it turned out well and he was happy (which you cannot tell by the picture below because he wanted to give a serious pose as all archers do). Ethan and Randal made the bow and arrow out of pvc and wood dowels. It actually works really well so Ethan has been enjoying it.

We had a cold Halloween here in KY. In an effort to concentrate the trick-or-treating, Randal took the kids to a trunk-or-treat at a nearby Christian church. And boy did they hit the mother load! The kids excitedly said they filled their bags, dumped them in the car and went back for more. (Next year maybe we'll send them dressed as Mormon missionaries and see if they are nearly as successful.) I made them stick the majority of it (specifically chocolate) in the freezer so I wouldn't be tempted. So far I've stayed out.