Christmas

For Christmas this year, we headed down to St. George to my parents house.  We had such a good time and as always, it was much too short!  We had too much good food, so I told Jordan it was salads for us for a week!... and we really only lasted one day.  Thank you to my parents for hosting us and making it a great Christmas!

We got down there Thursday night. It was a bit of a rough ride down there again with Owen.  He usually doesn't take evening naps, so we were in the car for a majority of his awake hours... he was not a happy baby!  

Friday and most of Saturday was pretty low key.  We finished up our Christmas shopping both days. I had most of mine done, but wanted to get Jordan a few more small things.  When I was telling my parents that I got Jordan a drill, I found out that they were also giving one to Jordan.  So when I thought I was mostly done, I had to practically start all over!  Christmas Eve night, we had my grandpa and his wife over for a delicious dinner followed by a Christmas program of singing and Christmas thoughts.

Owen spent the dinner entertained in this walker. He was so good and liked it so much, I went right to the store the day after we got home and bought him an exersaucer.

The whole clan

Playing with grandpa. Love the sequence of these photos. Not so sure... some assurance that he's okay... and actually, this is pretty fun!  

Owen was completely fascinated with my dad the entire weekend. His eyes would follow him wherever he went and he would light up each time he said his name.  Especially if he said it in this voice.  I haven't ever seen that strange movie, let alone heard of it, but luckily for us, my dad has. Since Owen was born, my dad has shown me this clip countless times and I have a feeling it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. 

No Christmas is complete without the pets in some Christmas attire... Duke as Santa and Bella as his reindeer

Growing up, my dad always bought us some Christmas jammies to wear on Christmas Eve.  They started out normal (aside from usually being about 3 sizes too big), but then they progressively turned into the funniest and weirdest things my dad could find (which is not a surprise if you know my dad at all).  We decided to continue on with the normal jammies.  Jordan didn't buy them this year since I am still trying to sell him on adapting this tradition, but next year, I will get him!

Christmas jammies!

Since Owen was the only "kid" there, we weren't in any type of rush in the morning. We all got up around 9:30.  Since my parents had church at 11, we didn't have time for gifts AND breakfast, so naturally we went for the food option. My dad has been making us sausage omelets since I can remember. Yummmm. 

Morning face. 

It was kind of nice to only have Owen suffer through these dreaded Christmas morning pictures.  I have enough pictures of me makeup-less with a swollen morning face from past Christmas mornings thankyouverymuch.

Next, we enjoyed a lovely Sacrament meeting at my parent's ward. Unfortunately, I spent a majority of the meeting trying to get Owen to sleep so we could have a somewhat enjoyable experience opening presents.  But of course, the little stinker wouldn't go for it.  I liked having Christmas on a Sunday - especially since it usually feels like a Sunday to me anyway.  And it was nice to have that reminder of what Christmas is really about.

As soon as we came home, it was back to the comfy clothes in an attempt to feel Christmas morning-ish.

 My mom, Hannah, Katie, Jordan, me and Owen. And of course my parent's spoiled dog, Bella

 Opening his first Christmas present...

The Lion King!  In an attempt to build up our collection, I wanted to start a tradition of getting him a Disney movie each Christmas.

Little O was spoiled this year by his grandparents and aunties!

Auntie Kate with her diet soda

My mom

Hannie and Bella

On Monday, we saw We Bought a Zoo and then finished off the trip with a trip to Arctic Circle. You read that right... my dad's choice, not mine.

You know Owen likes you when he becomes fascinated with your face.  Looks like you passed the test, dad!  And just moments after this, my mom also passed the test, but instead of a loving touch, he did more of a loving grabbing of the eye... taking out some eyelashes along the way.

Thank you to everyone who made it a great Christmas!  This was the first year we haven't been able to see both of our families around this time of year and we missed being able to see Jordan's family!

6 Months

I promise he gets plenty to eat...

I can't believe that my tiny little baby is now 6 months old now! I thought about this age a lot last year when I knew I would have my little guy around for Christmas.  And I can't believe that it is already here!  He is at such a fun age.  I love all of the new things that he does and that he is so interactive now.  Even though I love this stage, I can't help but miss the tiny little newborn stage and am so sad that he won't ever be that little again!

I decided to clip his tongue at this doctor appointment.  I was so nervous at the doctor appointment because he seemed to be fine with how his tongue was and didn't want to mess anything up.  But the doctor encouraged it in case it caused any problems with his speech later.  When the doctor looked at his tongue, he said that he had never seen a tongue like Owen's.  Usually the string that connects to the tongue is very thin, but Owen's was very thick.  When he cut it, he said that it would bleed much more than normal.  I thought that they would give him some kind of numbing medication, but nope... they just strapped him down and snipped it.  And he was SCREAMING.  I don't know if he was screaming because a stranger was holding his body and head down or if it hurt him.  Somehow I held it together through the screaming and blood dripping out of his mouth!  Sadly, that wasn't all he had to go through.  Right after he was calmed down, it was back to the table to get 3 shots!  After that, he would NOT let me set him down.  Poor thing.  I still don't understand how he wasn't in a lot of pain. It looks like the cut on his tongue is a little sore.

6 month stats:

Length: 27.5 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 15 lbs 3 oz (10th percentile)

Head Circ.: 42.5 cm (10th percentile)

A tall, skinny boy!

A few things about Owen this month:

• Nicknames: Bubba, Bubbaloo, Owie, Baby O, Monkey
• As active as can be!  I was concerned about his low weight, but the doctor said it can be normal for b-fed babies. And if you see how active he is, it isn't surprising... he burns all of that weight off!  He sometimes looks like a little birdie because he waves his hands in the air and looks like he is flapping his wings.
• Too strong for his own good.  Usually he eats right after he wakes up from a nap.  The other day he woke up and was apparently a little hungry.  He grabbed me by the hair, whipped my head down WWE style and attempted to eat my face.  I had to pry him off of me.  He may be small, but he's scrappy!  And you definitely don't want to be around when he has his rattle. He has been known to leave bruises...
• Can still wear 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diaper, but also fits in 6-9 month clothes.
• Can keep himself entertained for a few minutes on the ground with some toys. I love that is into toys now!
• Has the grabbiest little mitts I've ever seen.  He loves to grab whatever I have in my hands when I'm holding him like he's helping.  
• The least cuddly baby ever!  If I am lucky enough to get a cuddle, it usually only lasts about 3 seconds and then he is trying to stand.  Even sometimes when he is asleep, if he catches his foot on my lap, he stiffens his legs to stand.
• Along with grabbing everything, once he has it, it's straight to the mouth. His favorites are paper and plastic bags. Perfect. One night when we were eating dinner, I let him play with a piece of paper. I was watching him, but then he suddenly started to gag. I thought he maybe had a small piece in his mouth, so I scoped it out and couldn't find anything.  He gagged again and Jordan thought it might be at the roof of his mouth.  I checked again and couldn't find anything until right before I was pulling my finger out, I felt a HUGE wad of paper at the back of his mouth.  I have no idea how it happened in the 20 seconds he had it, but it scared me to death. Needless to say, paper is off limits now.
• Eats solids twice a day. We just started him on "real" solids and he eats a green vegetable at night before bed. I am too cheap to buy the premade stuff, so I made some homemade green beans and peas.  The jury is still out to see if he likes them or not.
• He puts himself to sleep now and was sleeping through the night before he got his shots.  Then we went out of town and he is trying to work himself back to sleeping through the night.  My mom and sisters did not like that he was just sitting in there by himself, awake.  They wanted him to come out and play each time he made a peep!  My only problem with him putting himself to sleep is that he only likes to go to bed in HIS bed. This makes going anywhere difficult. I miss the days when he would fall asleep in my arms or in his carseat.
• Still loves his boo game. If you catch him in the right mood, he just laughs and laughs.
• Loves spitting and blowing raspberries.  
• Makes this weird grunting sound now instead of whining.  As his Auntie Kate kindly said, it's not very cute. 
• Still isn't sitting up on his own completely, but getting closer every day. He just loves standing so much that he tries to straighten his legs and ends up tipping right over.
• He is all of the sudden really into hitting himself. It is the weirdest thing. Sometimes when I bring him into bed with me in the morning, he will just clench his fist and hit himself on the side of the head or on his binky over and over again.  He has tried it a few times with toys, but those are a little heavier than toys... so it usually ends in tears.

Still interested in the feet

Big puppy eyes

Always kicking

He is always wearing socks, so when he can get a bite of a toe, he's a happy boy

Oh, hello.

Grabbing the camera

Escape artist

Our one attempt at a standing pic.  Too crazy for this month.

Many faces

 My how you've grown...

For your viewing pleasure... the spitting in action.  And Jordan of course trying to get him to play with a ball.

So Haul Out the Holly

I was so excited for Christmas this year. Yes, babies really do make everything that much more exciting. But really, it's not like he has any idea what is really going on. I think I was really excited this year because this is the first year in 7 years that I have really been able to enjoy the season, not just a few days leading up to it.  I was in school for 5 Christmases straight.  When you are stressed about finals and papers, you just can't get that into it.  And last year I was still as sick as a dog, so I wasn't that excited about it either.  I actually decorated for Christmas this year.  I use that term loosely since I have three decorations: A tree, a nativity and Owen's stocking.  This is the first year that I have had a tree on my own.  We haven't ever really had space for a tree (and maybe I was partially lazy too).   It really just brightens up the place and makes our first home really feel like HOME.  And you better believe I listened to Christmas music at every opportunity. Regular music was banned for the entire month of December.  I am sad that it is all over, but I am happy that I actually enjoyed the season!

Owen's stocking that Grammy bought him

The nativity that Grammy has been giving me every year for my birthday. The set is finally complete!

Decorating the tree 

(I should note that since Jordan decided to ruin the picture by wearing his hat like that {as he always does}, I have since hidden the hat so he can't ruin anymore pics)

Chopped

Owen and I both chopped our hair off.  Owen had that little tuft on top that we chopped off.  I know a lot of people scoff at the idea of cutting such a small baby's hair.  I guess I just didn't feel that attachment to the uneven, crazy hair on top!  Oddly enough, his hair has grown in so much thicker! Guess that old wives tale is true.  Presenting his first hair cut:

A little bit of a bad mom moment... I forgot my camera, so all I got was this cell phone picture.  Luckily the clippers didn't freak him out at all - he was just a little stunned.

I went back to the old Kristine (as Jordan said) and chopped my hair off to my chin.  Having "long" hair was fun for the 3 years that I experimented with it. But I just lost WAY too much of it after Owen was born.  I was really sick of pulling hair off of Owen, his fingers, my bedding etc. It was all that I ever vacuumed up and it was always all over our clean laundry.  Don't even get me started on how much hair was covering my roundbrush. It was really disgusting.  So it's all gone now and I have to say, I am happy with my decision.  It's much easier to do and it's not all over everywhere!

The end results - O was a little too interested in looking at himself to focus for the picture. Don't blame him!

Man, he's cute.

Yay for haircuts!

Temple Square

We started off the Christmas season by going up to Temple Square to enjoy the lights with Jordan's sister's family and Jordan's mom.  I think we picked the worst possible night to go up there.  We went on the Saturday of Thanksgiving Break along with everyone else who happened to be in town for the holiday. We probably would have chosen another weekend to go, but Jordan's mom was in town for a limited amount of time, so it was worth it for us to go up there so she could come along.

Before the lights, we enjoyed a nice dinner at the Red Iguana. Yummm.

Then we spent an hour trying to find a parking spot. Luckily Owen fell asleep as soon as dinner was over and stayed asleep bundled up in his car seat for the entire night.  I was so worried that he was going to be really fussy and that we would have to hold him all bundled up in the freezing cold!  But he hardly even moved the entire time.

My sister Hannah was staying with us over the break, so she got to come with us too!

Patrick family

I love the lights at Temple Square. One of my favorite things to do at Christmas time. Next year, though, we are NOT going Thanksgiving weekend!

Thanksgiving

We had such a good Thanksgiving this year.  My mother in law Amy came out from Folsom, my parents came up from St. George and my two sissies, Kate and Hannah came down from SLC and Logan.  We all combined for one big party at my sister in law's house in Cedar Hills.  Lots of people, but lots of fun.  

My brother in law Ben also stopped by in the morning with my niece Laine. They were in town from Australia for a wedding. Since I only get to see them once a year (twice if I am lucky), it was a treat. Wish I could have spent more time with them!

Kate and Laine prepping the stuffing

Ben, Hannah, my mom, Kate, Jordan, Me & Laine.  My dad was taking the pic and I have no idea where Owen is...  So glad no one told me about my sweet stache!

Making the Ruth's Chris Sweet Potato Casserole.  Over 700 calories for one serving and worth every single one.  Even people who HATE sweet potatoes loved it. (MAKE IT)

Aunt Kate with Owen and Laine

Gaengy with Laine and Owen

Pop pop, Laine, Owen and Hannie 

 

The beautiful table Amy and Megan put together. Sadly, we didn't get a pic of the whole group together.

Grammy and Owen

Grammy and her four grandsons

Hannah, my dad (cute), Jordan, me, Owen and Kate at dinner at the family favorite, Mi Ranchito