4 years and counting!

Brian and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a date night at Austin Land and Cattle...yum! Although Joey was asleep by the time we got home, Owen was still awake and ready to party with mommy and daddy.

My dear hubby got an almost-replica of the bride's cake from our wedding and some beautiful flowers for the special occasion...

Owen and daddy about to cut into the cake...

Goldie's last road trip

About a month ago we decided that our family had outgrown Goldie, our Ford Explorer (guess what color it was??), so we started the search for the perfect minivan. In the midst of the search and negotiation process, we took Goldie to Dallas to visit family and friends. Mommy drove on the way there and daddy sat in the backseat wedged in between the two carseats and we swapped seats on the trip back. The trip definitely confirmed for us that we needed to move on to a bigger vehicle. Here are a few shots of mommy and her boys in the backseat to commemorate the fun times we had with Goldie...

Joey's lunch date

When we made plans to have lunch with our friends the McKinneys this weekend, we thought it would just be a nice family get-together. For Joey, though, it turned out to be a date with their little girl Jaci.

Things started off innocently enough as Joey makes small talk...

After the meal Jaci allows Joey to give her a goodbye hug...

Then things started getting a little out of hand. Seriously, this kiss looks so real it kind of scares me!

Jaci's big brother Drew finally comes over to break things up...

Owen says, "I was asleep for the whole lunch so my parents forgot to take any pictures of me. But here I am wide awake and happy hanging out at home. Just thought you guys would want to see what I look like now!"

Owen's 2-month well check

Owen had his 2-month well check today where he received 6 vaccinations - 3 injections and 1 oral. The little guy was a champ with the shots. Here are his latest stats:

Weight: 13 lbs., 15 oz. (90-95th percentile)
Length: 23 1/4" (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 41.4 cm (75th - 90th percentile)

Daddy took the day off today for an extended long weekend (he'll be home on Monday too for MLK). In the morning, mommy and Joey went on a playdate to Inflatable Wonderland (sorry, no pictures as I was too busy following Joey around trying to make sure he didn't get a concussion from being knocked down by the older kids who were running around at 100mph). Anyhoo, daddy stayed at home with Owen and coaxed some adorable smiles out of him!!!

2 months old!

Yesterday was our baby Owen's 2-month birthday...absolutely incredible how quickly time flies! We have his 2-month well check on Friday so I will update with his stats then, but for now here are some pictures of our cutie.

p.s. Come visit us if you want a chance to squeeze those chubby cheeks!

Some of you have asked if I think Owen looks like Joey did as a baby. I do think they have a lot of similarities, but looking at these two pictures side by side (L-Owen, R-Joey) show just how different they are.

Some differences that we've observed so far:

1. Skin tone - You can't tell it from these pictures, but Owen has much fairer skin than Joey does. Joey has an olive complexion and looked tan almost from the get-go. Owen has much more of a pink look to him and when he gets angry, he turns bright red.
2. Eyes - We can't tell exactly what color Owen's eyes are, but they're not as dark as Joey's. We've definitely had to use red-eye reduction on Owen's pictures which is something we never have to do with Joey.
3. Hair - Joey came out with a head full of black hair but by 2 months it had started falling out and when it started growing back, it was a little lighter and now it is much lighter than it was at birth. Owen also came out with a head full of black hair (maybe even more than Joey) but it hasn't fallen out and in fact it looks like it's getting longer everyday. We can pretty much brush and style it however we want after his bath...any requests?
4. Swaddling - Joey as a baby loved being swaddled (god bless the miracle blanket) and would fall asleep as soon as we got him bundled up tight. Owen, on the other hand, almost always gets more agitated after being swaddled. He spends most of his time struggling to free himself and only after his arms are out does he fall asleep. Thank goodness his moro reflex (that startling feeling where they feel like they're falling) isn't as strong as Joey's was so it doesn't necessarily wake him up.

What time is kickoff?

Our smallest Longhorn is ready for the Horns to open up a can of you know what on Ohio State tonight at the Fiesta Bowl and show the BCS voters that we should be playing for the championship. Hook 'em!

Glimpse of a smile...

Owen turned 7 weeks old this past Thursday so we know he's very close to flashing his first smile at us. We were able to catch a quick photo of him yesterday teasing us with an almost smile...

And here's our chunky monkey resting on the couch. Such a cute little Buddha baby!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009 to all of our friends out there! Thanks so much for reading our blog in 2008 and we hope to continue keeping you entertained this year.

Once we had recovered from all our Christmas celebrations, it was time to get ready to ring in the New Year. We started off the week by visiting daddy at work so everyone could meet Owen and of course Joey had to take care of some business...

The next day, Da, Mima, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Laura, Sadie and Charlotte drove in from San Antonio. We had a delicious lunch with them at Shady Grove...

This photo was taken by Sadie who is only 4 years old...isn't she talented?

We celebrated New Year's Eve with our friends the Taps. Mommy and daddy had a great time, but the kiddos had even more fun running around all night going berserk. There was a lot of climbing on furniture, screaming, yelling and goofing around. At the end of the evening, we were even able to get everyone on the couch for a group photo...

Then on New Year's Day, we drove to San Antonio for Mima and Da's annual bowl party...

Joey spent most of the day running around in the backyard with these two lovely girls who kept a watchful eye on him (which left mommy and daddy free to watch some football)

Uncle Kevin (and many of the other party guests) took a turn holding Owen. Look how sweet Charlotte is holding Owen's hand!

The last two weeks have been a really great time celebrating the holidays with family and friends! Tomorrow it's back to the real world...daddy goes back to work and Joey goes back to school. And mommy and Owen have got lots of cleaning up to do around the house!