christmas

We had a fun Christmas Eve and Christmas. Susie made us a great Christmas Eve dinner, and then we had an amazing cake that Richard made at our house (white cake with cranberry filling and white chocolate on top- yum!!). Dad read Laurel and Owen the Night Before Christmas before everyone headed off to bed.

Apparently Owen was good this year, because Santa visited and left a lot of goodies and even a sprinkling of snow. Susie and Todd were unable to get north to visit Todd's family for Christmas because of the snow, so they spent the day with us. We had a marathon gift opening followed by a great dinner. My special gift was a quilt and quilted pillow my mom made for Fuzzy Baby, which my dad had gotten finished.

Still no sign of Fuzzy Baby. I had completely assumed that he'd be here on Christmas, so now I don't know what to expect. Still 3 days till his due date. We've been keeping busy by playing with Owen's new toys.

not a creature was stirring...

not even a Fuzzy Baby.

Merry Christmas!

showers

Fuzzy baby was treated to two small but very sweet baby showers. The first was with the Friday lunch group (named "Group Therapy") and the second was with Susie and Andrea. Both were at a new pasta restaurant in town. Fuzzy received some new clothes and gear and I received some excellent mom treats- a massage gift card and Dream Dinners.

We are getting another day of snow (it's been snowing all week long- not typical for Corvallis) and hoping my dad will be able to fly in tonight. Lots of Portland flights have been cancelled, but his looks good so far.

the stockings were hung

I finished FB's stocking (except for the name) and hung it up. I've also finished Christmas shopping and wrapped all the presents. I have thereby guaranteed that FB will NOT be born until after Christmas, since it would now be convenient for him to do so.

We have had 3 snow days this week and will maybe have a 4th tomorrow. Owen and I went a little stir crazy in the house, but it was nice to spend some time together before the upcoming chaos. He is looking forward to having everyone home, including Grandpa, for the next few weeks (work has a 2 week shut down, so regardless of baby events, we will all be here).

Owen has been playing a lot with his Little People Nativity set and with Richard's wooden one. He calls them "activity sets" and understands all the characters and their roles- as much as we can explain them. The wise men, angels, and animals visit each other's mangers and go on little adventures together. It's all very cute.

christmas picture

We decorated the Christmas tree on Saturday, and Sunday convinced Owen to smile for a family picture.

christmas sweater

Owen has a hard time still with new clothes and new shoes. Aunt Pat knitted Owen and Fuzzy beautiful Christmas sweaters. We are still working on getting him to wear it.

pull his head gently

Owen told me a couple of days ago that he will pull on Fuzzy Baby's head, gently. I asked why he would do that. He said he would pull on Fuzzy Baby's head to get him out of my body. Of course! I asked him if he'd rather stay with Aunt Susie instead of coming to the hospital when Fuzzy Baby is born and he said yes, that would be much better. I don't know where he got the idea that he'd be birthing his brother, but I thought it was sweet that he was willing to try.

I got these matching pj's for Owen and Fuzzy, optimistic that the baby will be here before Christmas. I know the size difference will be even more stark once he's born.

The crib is set up and the baby clothes are washed. Richard hung up pictures and a shelf. We are mostly ready!

fuzzy baby's room

While my dad has been here over the last couple of weeks he painted and helped put together Fuzzy Baby's room. We still need to put together the crib, but it is close to becoming a functional nursery.

thanksgiving

Grandpa came out for our first Thanksgiving in our renovated house. Susie's in-laws Al and Dianne joined us for a turkey dinner. Kitchen and dining room both worked great.

owen being cute

Some pics from the past couple of months.

park

Grandpa and Owen at the park- note the lack of rain!

november

My mom passed away at the beginning of November, after a 6 year battle with Carcinoid Cancer. This picture is of Mom and Owen from last November.

maze- where's O?

hay ride

pumpkin patch

cousins

fuzzy baby, more in focus

We have new pictures of Fuzzy Baby from a follow up ultrasound. All is well with baby and mom, and these pictures are more flattering of the little guy. He's moving around a bunch, especially at night, and keeps growing. And I keep growing too.



Owen got some new Halloween PJ's from Gramma Kumpf. He put them on immediately, and is interested in bones and what they are all about. Owen's growing too- we had to get new shoes last week and got new boots today. We'll be ready for the muddy pumpkin patch! We've also been bribing him to try on new pants- he's been only in sweat pants since we started potty training. I can understand the reluctance to wear jeans, but they look so cute on him (and I got some with an elastic waist band). The deal is 4 books at bedtime (up from the normal 2) if he wears new pants that day to school. It's worked for all but his new camo pants- maybe he's holding out for 5?

Owen's "new" room

Richard finished painting Owen's room, and we'll be moving in this weekend. The three of us played in there the other day and got these pictures. I didn't blog on here for most of September since I was updating the home remodel blog (and dealing with living in the basement and grilling all the meals). The remodel will be done on Friday!!

My car's air conditioning barely works, so this summer I took a few trips to 7-11 for a Slurpee when it got extra hot outside. Owen has developed a taste for Slurpees as well. Today when I picked him up from school, he asked for one (which was exactly what was on my mind) and he told me the directions from his school to 7-11. The boy has a very good sense of direction- and good taste.

Owen's been picking various things as his "favorites." Here's what his favorite things are right now:

favorite color: purple

favorite underwater animal: octopus

favorite shirt: purple octopus shirt

favorite road: any road that is curvy

favorite Todd: Uncle Todd

Laurel and Owen

while we were out...

Richard and I took our 8th anniversary trip to the North Umpqua River area and spent the night at the Steamboat Inn. Owen got to have a sleepover at Laurel's house. They had a great time, and so did we. Aunt Susie sent us this picture from her phone.

chuckle monster

Owen would like to name his little brother Chuckle Monster. We are considering it, along with some other options.

Here are some pictures of Owen doing one of his favorite activities: "watering the mulch."

september evening

We are kitchenless during our remodel, and are grilling most of our meals (grilled chicken, quesadillas, pancakes, corn, pork...). And doing a little bit of take out. Wednesday night we did a picnic at the river park with the water fountain. Owen had a blast, and was very photogenic. He's grown up so much! At what point is he not allowed to play in his underwear in public anymore?