Christmas in Arkansas

Owen had a great first Christmas in Arkansas. He slept for most of the car ride, but stopping to feed him and change diapers turned our 6 hour trip into a nearly 8 hour trip.  On Christmas Eve Marcus, my dad, and I did some last minute shopping while Owen hung out with his Nana.  We opened gifts with my family that afternoon. That night we all went to Marcus's sister's house for a delicious Christmas Eve breakfast.  We spent Christmas Day with Marcus's family.  It's always so much fun to watch our nephews open gifts.  I look forward to seeing Owen get that excited in a couple of years.  Owen got a piano toy, an octopus toy, an exersaucer, and some other fun toys.  We also got a family membership to the Oklahoma aquarium, which I am very excited about.  We arrived back in Tulsa Sunday night and I'm enjoying every minute of my last week at home with Owen before I go back to work.

Owen and Mommy on Christmas Eve

This picture makes me laugh.

Hanging out with his cousins

Merry Christmas!

He looks so big in this one!

Worn out from all the fun

I had to add a picture of Marcus. He's stocking up on boiled peanuts-his favorite snack.  He always gets some when we're in AR.

Christmas Parties!

I've been to 3 Christmas parties this year and they have all been SO much fun!
1) Our friends Joe and Katy had our church class Christmas party at their house.  Everyone brought appetizers and desserts and we played dirty Santa. Some people brought old stuff from their houses and others brought good stuff like Starbucks giftcards. We took an old microwave that Marcus used in college (which we later found our smelled) and a dress I wore to our ugly sweater party last year. Marcus ended up with a lovely beer themed tin of popcorn and I got a cute little calendar for my purse.  I have a wonderful picture of Owen from that night that I want to put on here, but every time I try it turns sideways... I've turned it in every direction and it won't work. : ( 

2) My girls' Bible study group had a Christmas cookie exchange.  We all wore pajamas and brought cookies.  Prizes were given for the best cookies and we all exchanged recipes.  It was so relaxing to just eat cookies and visit.

3) My office party was Tuesday night.  There were lots of yummy desserts and appetizers.  We played Bunco and dirty Santa.  Bunco was a great way to meet some of the new girls who have started working since I've been on maternity leave. It was good to see all my work friends. For dirty Santa, we ALL got Coach purses!!! Yay!!!!  I got a cute, simple brown one that is very me.  It will go with everything and no one tried to steal it.  We have the BEST office Christmas parties!

Here's my little pumpkin this morning-all bundled up.

Getting Ready for Christmas

We just put up our Christmas tree last week and I didn't decorate nearly as much as usual, but I am really excited about Christmas. I have a few more gifts to wrap and we'll be all set. It has been so much fun dressing Owen in cute Christmas outfits and Marcus and I have been singing Christmas songs to him.  We will be taking him to Arkansas for the first time in a few days.  I think he'll be a good traveler!

Holding Santa while Mommy and Daddy decorate

This isn't Christmasy, but he's wearing a cute sweater from my friend Colleen. Love it!

Getting ready for church-wearing a sweet outfit from Great Uncle Kevin and Aunt Sandi

Owen is almost 2 months old!

 I haven't posted at all since Owen was born, but I fully intend to start blogging again. Now I actually have stuff to talk about. : )
I'll start with his birthday-well a brief synopsis.  He was born on October 18. I was in labor for 22.5 hours, but thankfully I had an awesome epidural. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected.  The cord was around his neck, so he had to be taken to get suctioned and put on oxygen for just a few minutes and then he was fine.  That was pretty scary for those few minutes though. After all that, he ended up being perfectly healthy. What a blessing! The whole time we were at the hospital I couldn't stop talking about how adorable his little face is.  Everyone says he looks just like Marcus. He does have my hands though. My mom stayed with us for a few days after getting home from the hospital.  It was so wonderful to have her here to help around the house and get a little extra rest. 

I think this was taken before I even held him.

One of my favorite pictures. : )

He is such a happy baby.  He started smiling at 5 weeks old and seems to get more social everyday.  He loves my singing (he's the only one)  and reading books. Our favorite book is called "Snuggle Puppy".  It is so sweet.  He's a good sleeper (this is a more recent thing...) and has only been getting up once during the night. He's also a good eater.  At his 1 month checkup, his weight and height were in the 25th percentile, but he seems huge now.  We'll find out more about that next week. I really am going to try to blog more!!!

My friend Amy took gorgeous newborn pictures of him.  He was 9 days old in this one.

Watching football with Dad

Happy Halloween!

Happy Thanksgiving!