are you my mother?

i knew something looked funny, but it was good anyway

tonight was a new experience. my tummy got filled, but i don't think that was my mommy i was looking at. all i know was i had to wait longer than ever before for sustenance and i sure let them know i wasn't happy. then, i couldn't figure out why everything was so different than before as i tried to drink...different faces...different feelings...different hands. i didn't like that either. but then i figured, what they heck, i'll just go with it. and i liked it. different. but good all the same. and by the way, i finally realized, it was my daddy. how he did it, i still don't know. i've tried to get stuff out of him before, but this time he actually cooperated. yummy!

hopefully next time will be a little easier

i think daddy's done this before with me...

the thinker...baby style

camera crazy with daddy

so this morning mommy dressed me up in the very first outfit daddy ever picked out for me. i wasn't even born yet but he thought it would be perfect. it even has a cute little turtle in honor of my great gampa. so of course, daddy kind of went crazy with the camera. however, a large diaper and oversized outfit adds like a dozen pounds to a boy. daddy even put some heavy stick in my hand, which i'm apparently suppose to get used to. he tells me that we will hit the greens someday, but what did the greens ever do to me. i'm a lover, not a fighter. just ask mommy.

tell me when your going to
snap that thing

don't forget my profile

it's getting kind of tight in here

closest thing to a smile i can get out,
or maybe i just welcomed something
in my diaper

did simon stick his nose
in my picture again?

did i mention that daddy went
crazy with the camera?

ready to hit the greens

happy 1 month birthday!

i turned 1 month old today so mommy and daddy bought a cake and we celebrated. i guess they can have the cake and i'll take the milk. they sang "happy birthday" to me and daddy helped me blow out the candle. maybe next time they will put me in something a little more festive. i'm sure gampa and grammie or grandpa and grandma will hook me up with some cool threads for the next picture.

look gampa! it's chocolate

i do have all my hair still, even though it blends in with the chair!

leaving my mark

my tiny handprint captured forever

tonight, although i should have already been in bed, mommy and daddy decided they didn't want to wait any longer. they wanted to actually finish a project...one for which they needed me. lula and mo gave us a really cute tin ornament. when you open it, there is a place for my handprint. the problem was that it required mixing of plaster as well as my cooperation to actually make the print. daddy mixed the plaster and filled the tin, and mommy held me and tried to open my hand to make the print. i was very uncooperative, though. the minute i felt the ooey, gooey plaster, i made a fist and quickly jerked my hand away, taking a little plaster with me each time.

mommy cleaning all the plaster off my hand

after trying to hold me in several different positions, all to no avail, they finally decided to lay me on my playmat and let me fall asleep, hoping i would relax enough to let them do what they wanted. after several more failed attempts, mommy was smart enough to call lula (who has done a few of these with my cousins) for advice..."let the plaster set up a bit," she said. so they did. after more than ten unsuccessful attempts, i finally did it. i left my mark. thanks lula and mo - we can't wait to see it hang from our tree this year!

grillin' with the neighbors

i went with mommy and daddy to our neighbors house to have a bbq this afternoon. our neighbors, jarod and beth, live right across the street and they had a baby girl about a week before i was born. it was so much fun for mommy and beth to be pregnant at the same time. their baby's name is eliana (eli for short) and i got to spend some time with her outside of our stroller (mommy and beth take us for walks during the week). they cooked some yummy food on the grill, but eliana and i had our usual...breast milk. i had so much fun. i'm glad that mommy and daddy have great neighbors. i'm looking forward to growing up with eliana across the street and having play dates together.

beth and eliana

hello, my name is owen

me and my new friend, eliana

A Long Word from Daddy...

As I sit here typing this, Kelly is sleeping and Owen is on her chest. It is perhaps the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Life-changing events like the birth of your first child makes you reflect back on your life and how far God has brought you. I still can't believe that God brought me a wife that is the most wonderful woman I have ever met. She still makes me smile when I see her and I cannot imagine going through this life without her by my side. She is without a doubt a beautiful woman and a gift that God has blessed me with.

Now i sit here years later and feel fortunate enough to have her by my side with a new addition...Owen. It all makes me scared when I think about what God has entrusted me with: to provide for and protect my wife and son. Yet, I feel like life has prepared me for this moment. I also know that I cannot lead them without God leading me. If you ever get a chance, listen closely to the lyrics of the song "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real. It describes my prayer for my family.

I also know that in addition to my own parents, my wife and my child, God has also blessed me with an amazing extended family. My in-laws are truly a blessing and my sister-in-law, her husband and their awesome children (5 of them!) are people that I love having in my life. Speaking of the 5 kiddos, they have taught me so much about being a father and much like my own son, Owen, I would do just about anything for them. I love them and always will. Through my wife, I also have two terrific grandmothers who are the rocks of the family. Grandmothers (and great-grandmothers...aka "Greats") are perhaps God's greatest gift to any family.

And of course, there is Owen. I still marvel at the fact that God has entrusted his life to Kelly and me. I am going to raise him in such a way that he will always know God as the source of his daddy's strength and remind him of how blessed he is to be surrounded by a family that loves him. God is so good. i love Owen so much and he hasn't done anything yet. Wow! He's my son. I can imagine God saying that about me when he brought me in the world. Now, I will love my own son in much the same way that God loves me.

I guess the point of this message is that I am truly blessed and don't feel that I deserve any of it from God. But He is gracious enough and loves me enough to bless my life despite all my faults. That, in my opinion, is what makes God so great. To all my family, thank you for loving me. Please know that you are all an important part of Owen's life. I want him to grow in love with you all just like I have. To Kelly and Owen, I promise to lead you with God's strength and to love each of you with all the love that God has placed in my heart. I feel like the luckiest person in the world. Thank you, God!

what a cutie patootie!

today we got to see the photos from my photography session last friday. although the pictures are not edited yet, mommy and daddy still think they are pretty cute. i don't remember being in any of the poses or wearing the hats. i guess a warm room and a belly full of milk will do that to a boy. anyway, i hope you enjoy a sample of my pictures. if you think these are precious, wait until lora gets them edited. not that i'm not cute as a button already, but a little touch up never hurt anybody. here's a peek at what mommy and daddy are getting. thank you lora and precious poses photography. you sure know how to make a boy look his best.

chillin' at the mall with ryker

mommy and I went to the mall to have lunch with mommy's friend, jess, and her son, ryker. mommy and jess took bradley birthing classes together for 10 weeks. oh yeah, daddy and jess's husband, ryan, were there, too. this was the first time mommy and jess have seen each other since giving birth to us boys. it was so cool to see ryker. he is about a month older than me and just as cute. they say he'll grow up to be a linebacker...daddy says he'll teach me all about that someday. mommy and jess were the fast and the furious driving our strollers around the mall. it was so much fun to spend time with them. we can't wait to do it again.

jess and ryker

my new buddy, ryker

i'm a model, you know what i mean...

...and i do my little turn on the catwalk (i don't know what any of that means, but mommy says that many of you will already be humming the tune that goes with it).

sporting my lil' joey diaper at home

today was a big day. at my newborn photo session last week, lora (the photographer) made mommy and daddy a proposition. she was hired to do some promotion shots and a video for rumparooz, a major cloth diaper brand based here in colorado. lora thought that i was so cute and would make a good model for the new "lil' joey" diapers made especially for newborns. so, today was my first official day as a baby model! mommy took me to the studio this morning where lora took lots of pictures of me in the diapers. they kept changing my diaper and i couldn't figure out why - i hadn't even gone potty yet! i guess they wanted to get me in different colors. i even wore a purple one! the still photos will be used on the rumparooz website, as well as other retailer websites.

plus, lora also took some video of me that she will work into the promo video they are shooting for the website. it's being put to a new song by uncle jim (he is actually the guitarist for jimmy buffet, but also does children's stuff on the side).

mommy was so proud that a professional thought i was cute enough to be a model, especially for a great cloth diaper...the ones that she intends on switching me to soon anyway! and we got some free lil' joeys out of the deal, too. so fun! i can't wait to look back on the photos someday and tell all my friends about my modeling debut. now, i am just like my gampa - i am a baby model and he won a baby photo contest! yeah us, gampa!

as if that wasn't enough excitement, i also had some visitors come see me this afternoon. three ladies from my mommy's work wanted to come over and meet me for the first time, as well as bring lunch to mommy. it was great to meet you donna, christie, and hannah. thanks for being so gentle with me and letting me sleep the whole time. and the chinese food was yummy...it added a little kick to mommy's milk tonight and i didn't want to stop nursing! yum, i can already tell i'm gonna like spicy food just like my daddy!