One Years Old!

One year has come and passed already! On to another exciting year ahead with Mr. Owen. A crazy year it will be with Owen on the go and another one on the way. I will no longer need to run marathons because I feel like I run one every day chasing Owen around the house. These days the little man is walking all over, pointing at everything, investigating everything he can get his hands on, jabbering up a storm (no actual words yet), and developing quite a strong temper and personality! Recently we took some family pictures at Midway Village in Rockford. A family friend, Caitlin Jarvi, has taken up photography as a hobby and she took these pictures. She did such a wonderful job that we have hired her as our family photographer from now on. She already is planning on coming in September when the new baby arrives!

Owen's personality came out in the pictures and they were so wonderful of him. Showing his great smile and curiosity.

We had Owen's first birthday party a few weeks ago (pictures to come). He had so much fun with all of his friends and family. He was not quite sure of what to do with his cake. He was messy by the end but did not really eat much. It was quite a tiring weekend for him. By Monday we was really out of sorts and had a difficult first birthday day!

Another one on the way and Oh How Owen is Getting so Big!

It has been way too long since I last posted! Alot has happened in the past 3 months. Just to name a few- Owen is 11 months, we are remodeling our kitchen and I am pregnant with baby #2. Yes, we have been busy! I am going to try to keep this up to date every month like I did with my last pregnancy. They always say you are so good at taking pictures and keeping baby books for the first child but then it goes down hill from there. I am going to do my best to not let that happen.

Well, since I last posted here are some new things that Owen is doing. He is walking about 3 or 4 steps on his own. A little temper is coming out, particularly when he is not getting his way. He is eating more and more table food, which makes it easy on me. I am proud that to this day he has only eaten homemade food, no canned and processed baby food. I hope he knows that he has eaten like a king. He has had quite the array of foods. I will do it all again for the next baby, it was so worth the extra time and the money we saved.

The first pictures says it all about who Owen is and what he is up to these days . He is cruising around and getting into everything. We have all of our kitchen stuff in the dining room while we are waiting for our new countertop and this is Owen's favorite place to be. He gets into all of the utensils and anything else he can get his hands on.

Owen and his buddy Landon. They are almost exactly 1 year apart.

Our new cabinets!
Before in the kitchen
Owen and his buddy Charlie going sledding. Owen loved it I think more than the big kids
One of my favorite pictures of Owen, his blue eyes really pop out here

Thanksgiving and Christmas! Oh How time flies!

Well, it is pretty bad that I last posted at Halloween. The holidays came and went so fast! We had so many wonderful memories of our first Thanksgiving and Christmas with Owen. Here are just a few pics of what has been going on over the past 2 months (a little out of order) :

Owen playing on the Ipad (already up with technology)!

Christmas pics with the Bogdonas Clan

Owen at swimming lessons

Owen with his buddies Landon, Andrew and Matthew

Hunting for our Christmas Tree at Williams Tree Farm (just like the Griswalds)

My Little Turkey

Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve in his big boy outfit!

Some of the things that Owen is doing since the last blog in October:

-Crawling

-Going up the stairs

-Saying "OOOHHHHH" at the lights and fans, constantly with an "O" shaped mouth

-Pulling himself up

-Walking all over when holding someone's hand (he is actually over crawling and only wants to walk now)

Halloween Fun!

I am not sure if we can ever top Owen's first Halloween! We went to Galena and watched the Halloween parade, which Ryan, my brother, dad and Drew were in. It was quite the parade, a few hours long and over 15, 000 people in downtown Galena. We got down there at 4 pm and the parade began at 6:30 and we were watching for over an hour. Owen was wonderful, he is quite the trooper! During the parade he was mesmerized, not taking his eyes off the parade. Below are some pictures from our fun-filled weekend. Next year we have already decided that us girls are also going to be in the parade, possibly in Drew's Westfalia van as hippie zombies with a haunted bus!

Owen and I with our friends Tristi and Landon waiting for the parade to begin

The Super Mario Characters and Owen was diddy Kong
Happy little monkey!
Of course, always smiling! He was riding Tallulah
Riding Drew's go carts, Owen was enjoying it and so was I!
Smiling again! That is Owen!
Owen and dad, Luigi!
Owen is 7 months!

Owen 7 Months

Owen will be 7 months this week. He is coming into his own little self, with such a fun personality. He is our little wild guy! He talks up a storm, he even has said "Ma Ma". I pretend that it is intentional, but I know that is not the case yet. He is on the verge of crawling, I keep waiting to look at him and he take off, but he has not put it all together yet. We have had a fun month, we went into Chicago 2 times and stayed in a hotel. Owen was wonderful, he really adapts so well wherever we go. We went to the Chicago Marathon Expo, his first experience and many more!

He had his first taste of frosting for Ryan's birthday. He of course loved it, takes after his mom!

He played out in the leaves, however, I think he began to get scared when dad raked the leaves all around him.

Reading his favorite book with Uncle Nick
In his high chair getting ready for a meal. Wearing his bib, which says it all! So true, he is the star of my blog and the star of our lives! This pretty much sums up Owen all the time, happy, smiley and so fun.

Owen-6 Months Old!

Owen is 6 Months!! Half a year has already gone by and I still can't believe it. He is coming in to his own little personality and learning new things everyday. His bottom 2 teeth came through this past week, and amazingly he has not been fussy! Overall, he is such a happy little guy, very curious and aware of everything around him, and giggles all the time! Owen gets up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth trying to crawl, so I think it is just a matter of time. He is able to move around in circles using his upper body. He is one very strong little guy! He loves to jump all over in his johnny jumper and play in his exersaucer, shaking it like a wild man. He also talks up a storm and it looks like he really is trying to say something to you and carry on a conversation at times. Below are some more recent pictures of Owen.

This was at about 6 am, yeah he sleeps in a tie! He was as happy as could be this morning and making tons of noises. It was at grandma and grandpa Bogdonas' house and he woke everyone up because of how loud he was talking and making noises early that morning.

Taking after Ryan, he knows what to do with a can of beer! Owen is living the High Life!
This is what we call Owen's sensory overload exersaucer! It makes every sound and does everything you could ever imagine.
The next 2 pictures were taken by our good friend Mike Radford. He should be a professional photographer! They were taken at a shower for our friends Chris and Marianne, who just gave birth to Owen's future girlfriend-Belle Marie Neidhart! Can't wait to meet her.

Owen 5 Months

Almost a month has passed since I last posted. I am thinking this is becoming a monthly update on Owen since I do not have time to post weekly anymore. School is in full swing, Owen is doing great at the babysitter, and Ryan and I are harvesting our garden crops!

Everyone probably wants to know what Owen is doing now at 5 months!?! He is a rolly polly, getting up on his legs and hands but then not sure how to move. He loves his johnny jumper and his exersaucer. He began eating pureed fruits and veggies. So far avocados, bananas, pears, carrots, and sweet potatoes, and he loves them all! I am making his baby food which has been alot of fun. He is the best thing to come home to after a long day at work (in addition to coming home to my wonderful husband). We are having so much fun with him now at this age because he is laughing and smiling and talking to us. Below are some pics of the little man, oh how he has grown and changed!