Busy Busy Boy

Mr. Owen has been very busy these days. Now that he is mobile, he is all over the place checking everything out. Time to babyproof!

What has the busy boy been doing lately?Playing with his toys

Hanging out with Mom and Dad

Trying out some new foods mmm

Pulling up on everything

And being just pretty darn cute

Seven Months

It's starting to get pretty difficult to sit him in one spot for these shots now

Another Extreme Home Makeover

Ever since we have moved in to our house we have never been totally satisfied with how each of the bathrooms looked. If you remember, back in April (See April blog post) we had some one do our upstairs bathroom which was a complete demo and rebuild, something we did not want to tackle ourselves.

Over the holidays, Dennis was off for two weeks due to the plant holiday shutdown and Teresa had a week off as well, so we finally decided to redo our downstairs bathroom. This is something we have wanted to do since we moved in, but focused on the other areas of the house first.

Here is a picture of the bathroom before I tore out the existing floor. Looks pretty neutral.

After tearing up the linoleum, we put down a backboard. This wasn't bad, but I did all the cutting in our family room and the whole house was a dust cloud for the duration of this project.

Here you can see Teresa cutting some tile (Thanks Jenn and Sam for the use of the Wet Saw, and all of your help and guidance during this). Cutting the tile quite possibly was the part of this project we enjoyed the most.

When the saw was low on water, rather than turning the water back on for a small amount of water, we were creative and use the elements...that's right, we put some snow in the reservoir.

Teresa did a great job spreading most of the mortar and laying the tile to ensure perfection. If Dennis did, he would have rushed and nothing would be straight.

While mom and dad were working away, others discovered "another baby" in the house. Owen loved looking in the mirror and I couldn't throw it out until a new one was put up.

TA DA! OUR NEW DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM!

We were going to put the old vanity and sink back in, but after it came out we decided not to put it back. Teresa found this sink, complete with a granite counter top and back splash Lowe's.

At Target, we found a nice cabinet to store the bathroom essentials.

A new shower curtain to go along with the new paint job.

And of course, the newly tiled floor.

At first I tried talking Teresa out of doing this because I did not have a lot confidence that it would turn out how we were imagining it. I am glad she stuck to her guns. It isn't perfect, as if a contractor did it, but knowing we were able to do this on our own, makes those small imperfections seem invisible.

Bring on the next home improvement...maybe landscaping in the spring! Stay tuned.

Six Months

That paper didn't stand a chance.

17 lbs 3 oz
26.1 inches long
healthy and happy boy!

Baby's First Christmas

We made the trek down to Horseheads for Owen's first Christmas. It worked out great this year that it was on a Friday so we could enjoy a nice long weekend with the family.
He looked very handsome in his little man church outfit for Christmas Eve. I only took about 120 pictures of him in it. He slept through most of church and was a such a good boy at the party afterward. He had to get squeaky clean and ready for Santa when we got home.
Santa definitely came. He was waiting so patiently with Grandpa on Christmas morning.
Here's Owen in his new wagon. He also got an activity table, sneakers (Air Jordans of course), books, rattles, stuffed animals, clothes, and many many other nice gifts.
Later that day we went to my parent's house and opened even more gifts. All the kiddos were there and got some great stuff as well.He had a great time trying out his toys.
We had some exhausted kiddos after all the festivities. Cousin Alex fell asleep in his highchair at dinner. Luckily Jenn's hand was there to catch his head. Then Owen fell asleep in Aunt Dani's lap. Aunt Sara gladly took him on the couch for a little snuggle and a nap. I think we all felt like sleeping at that point.We got back to Buffalo and unloaded the truck in several trips. We couldn't believe the loot we had! Santa and our families were very very generous!
It was definitely a more special holiday having a baby. This year seemed so different than last even though we basically did the same things we do every year. It's just so neat to see Owen experience everything for the first time. He was such a good boy all weekend with all the parties, strangers, and being off his schedule.

Dinner Party

For the past 6 or 7 years we have had a holiday dinner and gift exchange with our friends in Buffalo. It started as a small gathering in our student apartments and has grown in the past few years to include more friends.
We hosted the party this year. Everyone enjoyed some appetizers and drinks while we waited for the dinner to be ready.Everyone brings a dish to pass, which makes it a whole lot easier on the host. This year we had baked ziti, crockpot chicken, sweet potato soup, green bean casserole, potato pancakes, risotto, cheesy potatoes, and various sweet treats. We all ate way too much, as usual. Everything was delicious. Owen enjoyed the evening as well. He had alot of girls paying attention to him and fighting over who got to hold him next.
After dinner we did our secret santa gift exchange. Dennis got some nice cigars and I got a book, wine, and some yummy smelling bath goodies. We played some games for awhile and watched Christmas Vacation and both got everyone laughing of course.
After some good food, good drinks, and good conversation a few partygoers were done for the night.