Owen's Officially Five...

In honor of my baby no longer being a baby, I thought I'd share some pictures that we used for his birthday celebration at school.  I had to provide one picture for each year to show the class while we talked about what he did and what he was like that year.  Here's the pics I used this year:

2 Days Old

1 year-January 12, 2008 (Maui)

2 years-August 1, 2009

3 years-October 8, 2010 (Butte, MT)

 4 years-April 6, 2011 (Disney World)

5 years (Almost)-November 19, 2011

It's a Healthy Baby....

GIRL!!!!!  I was so sure this was another baby boy, it honestly never crossed my mind I'd end up with a little girl, I'm in absolute shock and still trying to come to terms! ;O)  She is a trouble maker already and is going to keep her big brother hopping I do believe!!

I was SO excited for the "4-D" sonogram we were scheduled for, but, instead, he spent most of his time in 2-D mode anyway.  So, here's another grainy shot of our baby girl.

The sonogram guy waited until the end to get a good shot of her face and by that point she'd had all she was going to tolerate.  The picture below is the best he was able to do.  The rest of them have both her arms crossed in front of her face!!  The one thing we're sure about...she has all 10 fingers! ;O) 

And just because I think its crazy how much these two look alike, I thought I'd show a picture of Owen and his new sister at the same age!!  I think they BOTH are going to be little Daddy mini-mes...I just get the chore of making them and he gets all the credit! ;O)

Halloween!

So, Owen was SUPPOSED to be Bumble Bee from Transformers for Halloween this year.  We even did a little photo shoot in the backyard in September with that costume!!

Instead, he INSISTED on wearing last year's costume come Halloween night!!  I could barely get the hood over his head and then he was mad because I made him wear his coat over his costume.  He cried and told me that nobody would be able to see the costume...dude, it was 20 degrees that night and it's not like I could fit a winter coat UNDER the costume that is almost 2 sizes too small!!  Goof ball!  He finally gave in when we told him he could answer the door for the other trick-or-treaters as a "dinosaur".  He really enjoyed that part, but, instead of giving each kid 2 pieces of candy, he gave the girls 2 handfuls!!!  Such a typical man!!

His uncle dressed up and went out with him.  Owen was thrilled to have him there!

Snow!!

We FINALLY got a little snow this past weekend...woohoo!!  Dave went out to put away the last of the stuff laying around the yard in preparation for winter while Owen supervised, sledded, and enjoyed some hot chocolate by the fire! ;O)  Don't you love that hat?  Dave bought that for me before Owen ever existed as a joke.  But, Owen thinks its the greatest thing ever made!  It pays to keep stuff every once in a while I guess!!

Pumpkin Patch...

Well, a pumpkin patch Alaska style anyway!!  The Reindeer Farm in Palmer put on their first Halloween event this year and we decided to go.  We had such a great time!!  O.k., so the pumpkin patch left a little to be desired...they had about a 50 pumpkins tossed out in the field to choose from...it was kind of pitiful!  But, they did have a hay maze, pony rides, a tractor pulled hay ride, and of course, we got to feed the reindeer!  We also had a chance to check out the elk herd they have there now and a couple of bull moose they've rescued.

USMC...

I think this turned out to be a super cute shot.  Gram thought Owen and my Uncle Bill needed matching beenies.  Owen doesn't quite grasp the difference between the Marines and all the other branches of the military yet, but, he does know how proud we are of the heros in our family!  Plus, anything to look more like his uncle is a winner in his book!

Big Brother...

We bought this shirt as a subtle hint to the family about the baby, but, nobody picked up on it!  My uncle even told Owen that now all he needed was a little brother or sister to go with it...hello!!! ;O)  Anyway, Owen knows what it says and wears it as often as I can get it washed.  He's really excited for this baby to get here and he insists that if it's a boy, we have to name him "Engine"!  I'm not so sure about that, but, we will know what the baby is going to be in less than 2 weeks!!  Things have changed SO much since I was pregnant with Owen.  We get a "4D" sonogram with this baby, I guess that's standard now.  Last time, you only got a "3D" sonogram if you were considered high risk and I don't think "4D" even existed!  Nothing like making me feel even older than I already do!!