Breakfast with Santa!

We went to visit Santa this morning at Bristow Manor.  Last year we went to Fair Oaks mall and waited for two hours to see Santa... Owen was great, but there is no way we were going to wait in that line this year with a 17 month old and a 3 month old.  So, I saw online that Bristow Manor hosts a breakfast with Santa and I jumped on buying the tickets!  I also love the fact that we got married at the same place almost exactly 4 years ago... who would have thought we would be back there four years later with two little boys!

Jimmy and I have been looking forward to this for quite some time.  I even bought them matching Christmas outfits before Thanksgiving!  We got them all dressed up this morning and headed out the door!

My little men with Santa!

Owen was so excited to see Santa!  As soon as we walked into the manor house and saw Santa he kept saying "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Family picture!

After sitting on Santa's lap and taking a few pictures we headed to the pavilion for some yummy breakfast.  About half way through breakfast Santa came and wished us all a Merry Christmas!

Again, Owen kept saying "Ho, ho ho!"

Waiting for Daddy to bring back some grub.

Passed out in the car on the way home.  I think it's safe to say he had a blast!

It brings Jimmy and I so much joy to make Christmas so magical for Owen and Dylan.  We love this time of year!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Love,

Judi

Thanksgiving!

Jimmy and I hosted our families for Thanksgiving this year.  We had my Mom and a few people from Jimmy's family come over for dinner.  I spent the week before cleaning and cooking a little bit each day during the little down time I have.  I had to start way in advance so that I would get everything done!  My mom made the turkey and the desserts while I did all the appetizers and sides.  Cindy brought a fruit salad and some delicious wine.  It was so much fun and we all had such a great time just hanging out together!  Here are a few pictures...

 Table all set and ready to go!

 Got to use our wedding china.

 Nana with Dylan.

 Stephen holding Dylan.

 D Rob doing some tummy time

Everyone sitting down to eat!

Every year my Dad and Tari celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday.  It's always nice that we don't have to go two places on Thanksgiving day.  My dad's family and Tari's family all joins together and everyone brings something delicious to eat (I brought the cornbread stuffing and chocolate peanut butter balls).  I love being surrounded by 25 (sometimes more) family members laughing, eating, and enjoying some wine together.  It is so wonderful!  My favorite part about getting together with all of these family members is that everyone jumps in and takes care of the boys.  My amazing dad fed Dylan while Jimmy and I (and everyone else) ate Thanksgiving dinner.  Stewart and Savannah played with Owen almost the entire time!  They wore him out and kept him entertained.  Savannah and Aunt Alicia took Owen outside to watch the annual family football game.  It warms my heart to see everyone loving on the boys so much!  I was not good at taking pictures, so I stole all these pictures from Lauren!  Thanks Lulu!!!

 Owen with his mustache!

There were mustaches in the poppers!

 Pretty ladies!

 Owen with his Pa!

(He calls him Pa right now.)

 Dylan just chillin.

 Miles and Savannah!

 The mustache crew!

 Stewart pushing Owen around in a box.  

He loved it!

 Owen and Uncle Coco.

He saw Cody and ran to him saying "Coco!  Coco!  Coco!"

C'mon Daddy, wear the mustache!

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful!

Love,

Judi

Dylan is 3 Months Old!

Happy Three Month Birthday Dylan!

 Wearing his "Mommy's Little Turkey" outfit!

Thug face.

C'mon Mom, I'm tired of these pictures!

Sleep:  Dylan goes to bed at about 9pm and wakes up around 4-5am.  He will sleep 7-8 hours each night.  When he wakes up at 4-5am he will drink his bottle and go right back to sleep.  He then sleeps until 7-8am.  If he isn't up by 8am, I wake him up so he stays on schedule.  It is really helpful to red this blog from a month ago... it's much easier to tell he is making good progress towards sleeping for longer periods at night when I am reading it verses trying to remember.  

It is a long road to getting a baby to sleep through the night... Right now, I'm going to bed after I put him down, so 9:30ish and then wake up to feed him around 4:30ish.  That's 7 hours of sleep, if I'm lucky.  Usually it takes me at least a half hour to fall asleep... For some reason, I cannot fall asleep after I put Dylan back down around 5.  It's like my body says 6 hours was enough sleep!  6 hours of sleep is not enough for me... I'm exhausted some days but still can't manage to fall asleep any earlier!  Jimmy says it's a mom thing... I'm always on alert!  So hard to turn it off... I never used to drink coffee, but now it has become my best friend!

Size:  He is starting to outgrow his 3 month outfits.  Some are too small and some are fitting him just right.  I broke out a few 3-6 month outfits that fit him pretty well.  So in the next few weeks, I'll probably put away all his 3 month clothes.  On Thanksgiving he wore 6 month outfits because that's what Owen was wearing on Thanksgiving last year!  I didn't see the need to buy another outfit for just one days wear... They actually fit him just fine and didn't look too big.  

Special Visits:  As I stated in Owen's blog post, we hosted Thanksgiving this year!  Jimmy's family came up and enjoyed loving on Dylan for the day!  It was fun to see Jimmy's brothers interact with little D!

Oh, hey bro!

Firsts:  Dylan is rolling from front to back and from back to front!  He did this for the first time a week or so ago.  We found him in his crib on his tummy.  Now he is doing it on his play mat too!

Mid-role.

Dylan had his first Thanksgiving!

Likes:  Dylan loves to play on his play mat!  He will chill on there for an hour and coo and ooo.  It is so cute!  He loves to bat at the toys hanging from the mat.  He also likes to have dis diaper changed, or rather likes to lay on the changing mat.  Every time we change his diaper he is all smiles and laughs!

 Playing on his mat with Owen.

Tummy time on his mat.

Cute overload...

 My little bear in his little bear jammies.

 Thanksgiving day giggles!  

I LOVE this picture!

 Cooing in my vibrating chair.

 I'm talking to YOU!

 Owen loves his brother!

 Baby smiles!

 Baby giggles!

Strong little man!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Love,

Judi

Owen is 17 Months Old!

Riding the "Neighhh" at Cole's house!

Size:  Owen is still wearing all size 18 month clothes right now.  He has plenty of 18 month clothes, but will soon be in 24 month/2T clothes and we barely have any clothes of that size, so we will need to do some shopping here soon!  I'm thankful Dylan can wear most of Owen's clothes right about... now!  It makes me feel not as bad splurging on something extra cute knowing it will get worn by Owen AND Dylan.  

Owen is still a little chunk, but has definitely thinned out a bit.  He still has a little belly, that we call his Santa Belly and some chunky little thighs that I love to squeeze!

Special Trips/Visits:  Owen's old nannny, Katie, came to visit and brought her daughter, Kenzie, with her.  We had not seen her in about 6 months, although she lives in Haymarket, only a few minutes from us.  When she saw Owen she started crying because of how much he had grown and how much she had missed him.  It was so sweet to see and made me even more grateful that we were lucky enough to have someone take care of Owen that loved him so much while I was working.  God is good!

Jimmy and I hosted Thanksgiving this year and had some of Jimmy's family up for the day.  My Mom and I cooked the meal, she did the turkey and desserts, and I did the sides and appetizers.  It was so fun to host and cook!  Although, it was exhausting... I was cleaning and preparing food all week!  I don't have many pictures yet, so when I get some from other people, I'll do a Thanksgiving Day post.

Firsts:  Owen has started using a fork!  He picked it up right away and now uses it for most meals.  He is so determined to get that piece of food on his fork.  Sometimes it takes him a few minutes to get the food on the fork, but he keeps trying!  I think it would be so easy to just grab the piece of food with his other hand and stuff it in his mouth, but he is very persistent!  I love to see the look of pride on his face when he accomplishes something he tries so hard at.

Owen has also started to brush his teeth with a real tooth brush and tooth paste.  For awhile we were using the baby tooth brush, which has rubber bristles.  It was time to start using a big boy tooth brush.  He loves brushing his teeth!  Probably because I bought him banana flavored tooth paste, haha!

Of course he had to try and turn on the water!

Likes:  Owen loves eating and snacking... his thighs are certainly a testament to that!  He loves running errands with me or Daddy, especially the grocery store.  He LOVES to play with the dogs and feed them.  One day he ran around the house with a treat the entire day letting the dogs lick the treat, then running away and giggling as they chased him!

 Bed head.

Eating some cucumbers with ranch dressing.

Chowing down on his first Georgetown Cupcake.  He only ate half.  :)

 He loves to play with these drum sticks Daddy got him when he went to Cleveland for work.

(They are from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)

 Loves to play in his 'fort'!

 Loves his penguin, Quacky.  Giving him some kisses!

Feeding Lola some treats!

Dislikes:  Owen does not like milk.  I have tried for months to get him to drink milk and he just won't.  I've decided to give him vitamin D and calcium fortified orange juice, which he loves.  He also gets cheese and yogurt each day so he is getting the nutrients he needs but is missing from milk.  Our pediatrician said they don't need milk, just the vitamins, calcium, and calories from it.  So, as long as they are getting that somewhere else in their diet, they are fine.

 Sixth Sense, anyone?

I walked into the room to see he had moved all the dining room chairs.

 Turned his car seat around, now we can see each other.  :)

 Doing some push ups on Daddy's push up bar.

 Oh no!!!

Peek-a-boo!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Love,

Judi