Birth Annoucement

JessieMary Photography

Santa Visit & Family Christmas Card

Christmas Afternoon at Nana's House

Tim & Ty

Nana opening gifts

Alex & Max boxing

Mya watching over Owen

Ty hanging out

Max & Syd on Mya's Sit n Spin

A new bike from Nana!

Stacey, Max & Mya opening gifts

Marshmallow Launcher

Riding her new bike with Maddy & Taylor

Christmas Morning

Sydney woke up a couple of times during the middle of the night looking to see if Santa had arrived! Thankfully she went back to sleep until 7 & Owen stayed asleep until 8 only waking up once during the night to eat - Merry Christmas to Tim & Me! Sydney was thrilled to see that Santa left another candy trail from the landing all the way in to the Christmas Tree! This started last year & Syd was REALLY hoping it was something Santa would do every year!

A few of the things Sydney asked for & Santa delivered:

Twinkle Toes!

Bras ( At 8 years old?! I guess so!)

A "Cool" new water bottle.

A stocking full of Hair Accesories, lots of Candy, Toothbrush & Toothpaste, Beenee Weenees, Subway Gift Card (Sydney's FAVORITE!), Chapsticks, and more!

The Aftermath:

After Christmas morning at home, it was off to Nana's house that afternoon with Aunt Stacey, Uncle Alex, Max & Mya, and Uncle Tyler who was in town from San Diego!

No more flop house!

This summer we moved from a queen to a king size bed. Sydney got our queen bed when our king mattress arrived. She was thrilled to move up from the twin Ikea bed she'd had since she moved out of her crib. After moving our set to her room we ended up with a King size Tempur-Pedic mattress on the floor in our bedroom - flop house style. We couldn't figure out what frame we wanted and we had also just spent a lot of money on the mattress so buying a new bedframe wasn't an immediate possibilty. After searching different ideas for a few months I found the Pottery Barn knock off Ana White website through a friend and fell in love with the farm house bed. Tim agreed to make the bed (& even seemed to have fun making it!) I think it fits perfectly in our room & I'm proud of Tim's hard work!

Before:

After:

Nice work, Tim :) Love You!

Christmas Program

Last night was the annual St. Ignatius Christmas program. Sydney's class sang Silver & Gold and Reindeer Shouldn't Waltz. They were so cute! Sydney even had a speaking part with Celina where she got to yell, "Ouch!" She was so proud of herself and we were proud of her, too! Owen was awake for the whole performance. He enjoyed the singing, but was startled each time the audience would clap. I only had to take him out for the last 15 minutes. We'll see how next year goes when he can walk, uh-oh!

Sydney & Celina preparing to take the stage.

2nd Grade is ready to sing!
Owen wants to sing with sissy's class, too!

Owen - 1 month

You are such a good natured little man and we are all madly in love with you. Your big sister thinks you're the best little brother, except for when you cry in the back of the car with her. She does her best to quiet you and hold your Monkey Wubbanub in your mouth to calm you. You really only cry briefly when you're hungry & about 3-4 times a week you have your 8PM, 30 minute, melt down. Mommy is very thankful that daddy takes you during that time and walks you around upstairs until you calm down. You love to be held, but do well napping in your papasan chair or the swing. You love to eat, eat & eat some more. You're currently eating every hour to 3 hours. During the night you will sleep about 2-3 hours between feedings. We got lucky a few nights ago when you slept for a 5 hour block two nights in a row! I think the secret was eating lots and being swaddled up before we put you to bed in the co-sleeper between daddy & mommy. Maybe we can recreate that every night! Sounds easier than it really is!

Can't wait to see what this next month brings. You've become so alert this past week, and I know this next month will be full of even more development.

Christmas Tree Hunt

We ventured back to Beck's Tree Farm again this year for our Christmas tree. Thankfully this year it wasn't as cold and windy. We wandered around for a good 30+ minutes before finding the perfect trees. Tim suggested getting 2 trees this year - One for the den & one for the living room. Sydney had a fun time hunting for trees and Owen slept the entire time in the Baby Bjorn. As soon as we got home Sydney was right on decorating the little den tree. She had lights & decorations on it in record time! I managed to get the lights on the living room tree while Tim was out putting lights on the house. Maybe someday I'll get ornaments on it as well...

Giving Thanks!

It was Owen's first Thanksgiving! We spent the evening at Nana's house this year with The Linke's and our family. Each year I look forward to Mom's huge Thanksgiving spread of Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Yams, Corn, Rolls, etc... I love it so much that I asked mom to make me a Thanksgiving Day Cookbook for Christmas so I'll always have her recipes and can make it throughout the year. Heaven knows I have NO CLUE how to make gravy from the turkey drippings on my own!

What a year to be ever so thankful! I love my family to the moon and back and couldn't ask for more. We are so blessed, even on the tough days!

Owen Michael Charlot - The Birth Story

Friday, November 12th, was my last day of work before maternity leave. I was just a couple of days shy of 39 weeks and decided to enjoy the final week relaxing at home before Baby Child arrived. The evening went as it normally does with dinner, shower, reading stories & bed time. Sydney went to sleep looking forward to basketball practice the next morning, I went to sleep looking forward to my free week ahead. Little did I know I'd wake up around midnight to my water breaking! Tim was at the fire station that night, but thankfully had just returned from a call and had his phone close by. Mom came over to stay with a sleepy Sydney who woke up as I was making calls & packing up. Tim arrived back home, and off we went to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital around 2 AM where it was confirmed that my water had broke, but I wasn't technically in labor since I wasn't contracting. The doctor wanted to put me on Pitocin right away, but I asked to hold off for a few hours to see if I would start labor on my own. I didn't, so at 6AM they started the Pitocin. The contractions weren't bad at first, but then they became unbearable. The nurse decided the Pit was up too high & turned it down. Not wanting to give in to an epidural yet, I decided to get Fentanyl, which only helped with the next contraction and was gone. At 12:30 PM my epidural was in and I was a happy camper. I was able to feel my contractions but they weren't painful. I was dilated to a 9 at 2:30 PM and the nurse said I should be ready to push within an hour. I never did feel the urge but around 5:30PM I was ready to try pushing anyway. I pushed through about 8 contractions & Baby Child arrived with his cord wrapped around his neck! Tim was able to deliver Owen, which was such an incredible experience. The midwife was right there to guide him through the process, but Tim did it all! He put the baby on my chest and said, " It's Owen Micheal!" My prediction was correct!

Owen Michael Charlot

Born: November 13th ( 1 week & 1 day early) @ 6:11 PM

Weight/Length: 9lbs. 3 oz., 20 3/4" long