We're home....for 24 hours....

Hi everyone,
We hope you all you had as wonderful of Christmas as we did. We really enjoyed our time in Summerland, although brief. This year our hockey plans are taking over. We will be heading to Vancouver tomorrow morning bright and early.
Owen did so well over the holidays with meeting many new people, and of course everyone wants to hold a cutie pie! He is kind of playing shy these days, but it doesn't seem to take him too long to warm up. He was SPOLIED ROTTEN this year. Grandparents go way overboard. He's five months today and has toys and clothing for the next two years, I swear.

I've enclosed some pictures. One with his Auntie Erica, she is in love..... our nephew Ethan covered in Chocolate (Grady's mom had a chocloate fountain set up on Christmas Eve, so cool).....Owen and Zach, my new nephew, look at the SIZE difference!! My child is a monster......Owen opening a Christmas gift; it came in a pink bag and the tag read 'pink is the new black'!...... Auntie Kristi sniggling with Owen.......Tannis holding Owen; hard to believe I starting babysitting Tanis when she was SIX MONTHS OLD!! Now look at her!......

Enjoy the snaps! I will blog again after we are home on the 6th.
I hope to read about everyone else's Christmas.
Take care, Patricia

Cameron's can't skate!

We went to a skating 'party' today. Really neither of us are good skaters, but Grady is really bad. LOL. It was a pretty fun afternoon in spite of almost falling and skating at a speed of half a mile per hour! Owen doesn't look too thrilled in these photos, but he really did enjoy himself. Really. He is majorly eating his lip in one picture; I tell ya, he needs to be chewing at all times. He is constantly soaking, requiring bibs to be changed almost hourly!
Talk to you later, Patricia

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!
I really didn't send out many Christmas cards this year, but that doesn't mean we're not thinking of you! Hopefully we will get to see a few of you over the holidays. We will be in Summerland from the 22nd-26th, then in Vancouver until the 6th of Jan.
Happy Holidays and best wishes for a stellar 2006!
Patricia, Grady and Owen

my baby...not so baby anymore

Hi everyone,
I really don't have much to say but I really love this blog thing so I must contribute something. What I have noticed over the last few days is that my baby really isn't so 'baby' anymore. Owen will be five months on boxing day, time has really flown by. We have been busy not only with the baby, but with adjusting to life in our new town. Owen was born on a Tuesday and we moved to Lillooet on Sunday! In the midst of meeting new people, learning the town and unpacking (which we're STILL doing), Owen has just gone along his merry way and grown up! How dare he!! He is so big and squirmy now. He only likes to be held facing outward and really likes to 'play' with toys. He lives for his jolly jumper and even seems to enjoy alone time in his crib. The days of cuddling and falling asleep in my arms are fading. Now when we cuddle he giggles and burries his head in my neck, kicks his little feet. I love all this too, I am just realizing that the real 'baby' in him is slipping away. I now know why women have more than one baby! The need for a 'baby' is so strong. And let me tell you, I never thought I would have a second after giving birth to the first 10 lb 2 ozer! I guess all you women were right that told me the memories of the pain will fade and I will want another baby, because Owen makes us so happy! This picture is of Owen sleeping in my arms last night. I made Grady grab the camera asap to snap away as this is rare these days. He is so sweet.
Enjoy. Patricia

Stay at home moms???

Wow, as I read other people's blogs I notice so many moms just stay at home. I am still receiving mat benefits but am frightened to think of what our life would be like if I didn't have any income. This may sound selfish to some people but we really like to have the extras in life.
We like to take little weekend trips, buy new things for the house, spend a little extra on eachother; and an overnight trip to Kamloops in necessity at least once a month when you live in Lillooet and who doesn't like to eat out or order pizza? For instance, we bought tickets this year to the World Junior Hockey Championship in Vancouver. These didn't come cheap, but they are so worth it. We are really looking forward to our Christmas holiday because, in part, of these tickets. Will I have to give up these sorts of things? I know some people will say I am 'exchanging' one thing for another great thing and that we would not be giving up anything, BUT parents need fun stuff too.
How much am I willing to give up/excahnge to stay at home, full-time, with O? Also, I feel like he would benefit from daycare and eventually play school. He explores the whole room if we are at Mother Goose and loves to watch the other kids play at Kindergym. I suppose Grady and I will have some decisions to make in the next few months.
I would also have to think about my education. Do I have to retrain in five years? Return to college or university? What happens to my work experience? Hmm....alot to think about.

Anyway, here are some photos for your liking! We put Owen in his new snow suit and just went into the back yard, he sure doesn't mind the cold. What he didn't like was that his snowsuit prevented him from eating his hands, so it didn't last as long as we'd of liked. There is also a picture of my new nephew Zach, he is a real sweetie. And we too have our own princess in this family! My niece Emily is all about the princess lifestyle. When I was visiting her a couple of weeks ago she said "auntie Patricia, you're really pretty, but you'd be prettier if you were wearing a dress"......hmmm.....too funny. TTYL. Patricia

Oh yeah, and our family photo too.

I'm back

Hey everyone,
I made it back from Vancouver; did I ever miss my boys! That was the first time I was away from Owen AND....he rolled from back to front for the first time on Saturday! I missed it. It was nice for dad to have a milestone under his belt, I know it is hard for Grady to be at work all the time.
Julia and I picked out a great dress and fabric for her wedding (Sept.2/06). She's a pretty excited girl. Dawn Gartrell (Anderson) is a bridesmaid and she was with us for the day. In the evening we went to the new Earls downtown and had dinner/drinks with Kristi Rajacich and Bianca (bridesmaids). Then we went to True Confections for dessert....mmmm....huge pieces of cake. It was sure nice this weekend to have some girl talk, I sure feel out touch sometimes!
Time to start wrapping gifts and baking. I'm also trying tofind time to work on my biology classes. too much to do with not much time. Honestly, I have lots of time i just love hangin' with O all the time so not much else gets done! patricia

Ok, here he is! We can't get enough of our little Owen. He was born July 26 in Terrace, that was tuesday. Our 'little' one was 10 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches! On Sunday, of the same week, we moved to Lillooet! It was all fun and games that week. Time has flown by since then, hard to believe he is four months already. He is doing many of the usual things, is now managing to put his toes in his mouth. He's full of smiles and giggles. Loves his jolly jumper like no other! I think he counts the minutes until I put him in it again. He is growing like a weed, is up to 19 lbs and just over 26 inches. We are looking forward to being in Summerland for Christmas. Will probably get to see some of you while we are there. We will be home from 22nd-26th; after which we will be in Vancouver. We bought tickets to the World Junior Hockey Championships which start on boxing day, 21 hockey games in 10 days! (Not my idea, mostly Grady). My mom will be joining us in van to help babysit! My brother (Michael) and his wife Jill (and little Emily and Zach will be there too). Zach is actually being born this morning, as we speak! Jill is in labour right now! Don't envy her. Still pretty fresh in my mind. Michael and Jill have hockey tickets as well, and really, the start of this was my brothers idea! It was later he found out his son would be born around the same time! They're gonna be busy!
Anyway, I could go on and on so I better stop! Enjoy the photos! More to come. Patricia

I think I got it....

Ok, so I first added 'posts' as 'comments', so disregard. I have since figured it out!
I will post some photos of our little Owen, man we can't get enough of him.
I think he may be missing his daddy a little. Grady is in Kamloops all week for area meetings. When he gets home on Friday I am off to Vancouver to help Julia with some wedding stuff. Fun times! This will be the first time I am really away from Owen, but he always has such a fun time with dad. I also know dad takes such good care of him. He is really looking forward to his weekend alone with the baby. Must be hard to have to leave him for work; i'm not sure I could. What to do next year when mat leave runs out? Worry about it later I guess.
I've enjoyed reading other people's blogs, I still think this is pretty neat.
Talk to you again tomorrow.
Patricia

Are we on??

Oh my goodness, I think this is the neatest thing ever. What a great way to stay in touch with people and to find old friends. I hope to hear from people as I share our life. Right now the light in our lives is Owen. Owen was born July 26, 2005; very hard to believe he is already four months. He makes Grady and I laugh and smile everyday. We have a whole new love for eachother; Owen makes our hearts feel like bursting. I still can't believe I am a mom. A mom. Mind blowing.
I will post some photos for everyone.
Too cool.