Fun With the Fam

Last weekend we drove home to Alamosa for my youngest brother Justin's high school graduation and Memorial Day weekend. The whole family was there, which meant my parents were in heaven! The last time we were all together there were only 2 grandchildren for them to love on, this time there were 5.

Justin and Crew. He's so great with the little ones! I can't believe he is graduated from High School and getting ready for his mission. He should get his call next week!!!

All of us at my Grandma Sally's Playing down by the River

My grandma's first time meeting Owen! Memorial Day we all went to visit my Grandpa's grave.

Gracelyn and Owen Owen with his new twin cousins Tenley (left) and Quincy (right). They are just 6 weeks. Owen looks like a tank next to them:) Owen and I stayed a whole week in Alamosa, as well as Spence and Car and their girls. Everyone else left Memorial Day. It was so great to just relax at home, spend time together, and take care of babies together....that really is all we did. I loved it.

Owen did pretty good for his first time traveling. He hardly slept on the drive out, but he didn't scream the entire way like I thought he might (since he loves his car seat so much). We flew back to Salt Lake and he did great, slept the whole way! I did struggle just a little trying to get through the airport by myself with Owen, a stroller, car seat, luggage to check, diaper bag, etc. but I'll take the 1 1/2 hr flight over the 8 hr car ride ANY day!!!

Here are some recent favs of Owen....

Pool Time

A friend invited us to a little play date at the Lehi Legacy Pool. Owen loved the water. It was nice and warm, just like his tubby, so I figured he'd like it.

Ready to get in the water....

I sent the above picture to Brett while he was at work. His response was "what is he wearing??" Ha. The pool we were at required all kids under 3 to wear a little swimmers diaper and these hideous plastic diapers as well. I didn't even bother with the trunks (even with double duty diapers they would have fallen off)

We pretty much just sat and played in the water like this the whole time.
Don't worry, I didn't dunk his head under....neither of us are quite ready for that. Owen slept the rest of the afternoon and went to bed at 7:15pm. I guess "swimming" tuckered him out!!

Car Seat Dilemma

Owen has this new thing where he hates his car seat. As soon as we start to put him in it, he loses it. He knows exactly what's going on and is basically tellings us, "Don't put me in this stupid thing!" He'll cry until he falls asleep, gets a lil' power nap in (which doesn't last long) and as soon as he wakes up, he loses it again. He'll start with a fuss to nicely let us know he'd like out. And from there it escalates into an aweful cry that just sounds painful.

We have a wedding to go to in Sacramento next month and actually thought about driving. Owen is clearly voicing his opinion on the matter.

Aside from the car seat tantroms, he's such a sweet baby.

PS....the little bit of hair that this lil' guy does have, is looking red or red-ish! Even his eyebrows have a tint of red.

Just Cry it Out....

I didn't know how hard letting your baby "cry it out" would be. IT. IS. HARD.

Last night was the first night we let Owen cry through the night. Our room is so close to Owen's nursery that we had to put ear plugs in (i know it sounds harsh). They were useless for me though..there was no way I could go back to sleep knowing he was crying. I eventually just took them out and laid in bed, just listening to him cry.

When he finally stopped crying (and yes, they really do stop), I had to go check on him. Check for breathing, make sure he was ok. Sure enough he was sound asleep again. I felt so bad I just wanted to scoop him up and snuggle him while he slept. I fought the urge though.

I've heard some moms say they can't stand to let their babies cry it out, that it literally makes them sick, or they are in tears too. I completely understand why now. My stomach was in knots.

Owen usually goes to bed at 8:30pm and wakes up at 3:30am or 4:00am. I'm hoping it doesn't take too many nights of "crying it out" before he is sleeping completely through the night.

When did all you other mothers start letting your babies cry through the night?

SWAGGER WAGON

We might just be a mini van family after all.....if its the swagger wagon:)

Ramblings on a Friday Night

We are watching the Jazz/Nuggets game. Well, I'm not really watching. I'm blogging instead.

We just put Owen to bed and I'm fighting the urge to go get him and snuggle him while he sleeps. Instead, I'll just think about him and share a little bit about him.

OWEN.....

He is super SMILEY. I love his smiles and I am dying to hear him giggle!

He is happiest in the morning (definitely doesn't get this from his dad, lol).

He is sleeping through the night! It's fabulous and gives me a new appreciation for sleep.

When the kid gets hungry he has very little patience...he wants his milk NOW

He's already a mama's boy and I LOVE it.

He burps, passes gas, and poops like a champ! He's such a boy.

Likes to hear his dad whistle (the Denneys are whistlers)

He's real good at spitting up all over me

He doesn't like laying on his tummy

He likes sucking on his fist or hand...they're starting to replace the Binky

He gets fixated on lights.

He's been to church twice and was surprisingly reverent.

He enjoys car rides, but only for about 10 minutes before he want to get out.

His hair is actually growing. We might be able to do some "styling" soon.

Likes to do tricks with his dad (aka balancing acts)

He's figured out the "fake cry"

But gets tears now when it's real.

Loves his swing.

Still loves bath time.

Did I mention he likes to smile??? I can't get enough of these...

I LOVE being a mom and I am SO glad I've decided to stay at home with Owen. I was considering going back to work part-time. But when it came down to it, I couldn't imagine leaving my lil' guy. I miss people though. I'm such a people person. It's kind of an adjustment from being around people all day every day to being at home alone, talking to a baby all day. (Just to be clear, I absolutely LOVE Owen, love talking to him, cooing and babbling with him) Please tell me some of you mothers understand?

Most of the time, I read while Owen is napping. The Denney's would be proud. When Brett and I were dating, I wasn't familiar with the book Marvin K Mooney Will You Please Go Now! by Dr. Seuss, so they assumed I didn't read as a child, or as an adult (but I really do)! I'm trying to develop some other hobbies/talents too. Any suggestions? Any book suggestions too?

I look forward to evenings and weekends when we can all 3 be together. I wait anxiously for Brett to get home from work. And weekends are the best because we get two whole days of Brett, it's so great!! Now all we need is some warm, sunny weather so we can play outside.

Well I guess that's enough rambling for one night.

I love my baby boy. I love my husband. I love being a mom. Life is good.

Officially a Graduate

Brett's officially a College Grad

Both of our parents were in town to celebrate! (also here for Owen's baby blessing)Matt and Bailey Bauman with Brett and Owen.

Our college days are officially over. Even though I graduated 4 years ago (yikes that makes me feel old--and for those wondering, I'm only 6 months older than Brett!) I've felt like I've still been living "college life" since Brett's still been in school. But those days are officially over. I guess that means we are grown ups. Oh, and we have a kid now so I guess that makes us grown ups too.

Lately....

Owen has discovered his tongue and is obsessed!

My dad came to visit for a quick weekend trip to finally meet Owen!!!

And Owen finally got to meet Great Grandma Denney

Owen will be 2 months old this week. He's getting too big too fast!

You Gotta Try These...

I usually try to avoid the candy isle at the grocery store...otherwise I buy a big bag of Peanut Butter M&M's and eat them ALL in just a couple of days! Basically I have to avoid it because I have no self control! But today at the store, I gave in. I walked down that isle. I'm so glad I did though because I discovered these special edition Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's. They are super yummy. Go get yourself a bag!

Owen's First Photo Shoot

One of my best friends, Tami Judd, is in town for the week. She is a great photographer so I had to have her snap some pics of little Owen. Go here for a preview of the shoot! I love them!

Thanks Tami!

Mr. Smiley

I love this lil' guy and his sweet lil' smile!

To Grandma and Grandpa

Owen is changing every day. His cheeks are gettin' chubbier, his legs longer, and his belly fuller. His personality shows more and more each day. I'm constantly getting requests from the Grandparents for more pictures on the blog and daily picture texts. So these are for the grandparents.....Owen misses you:)

He is such a poser in his sleep....hello huge hands!

Brett couldn't wait to get him in his "Zoom" onesie that has a cape.
He is liking tummy time more and more

Check out that scowl!

Sticking Around

Brett accepted a job offer from Overstock.com in Salt Lake! He starts this coming Monday. Amongst a few other opportunities this seemed to be the best fit for Brett and our family. He'll be a buyer's assistant, helping acquire new product for Overstock's website.

Brett has been networking, applying, and interviewing for jobs like crazy over the last couple of months. His hard work and patience has paid of and I'm so happy for him.

So I guess Utah will be our home for a while longer! I'm happy to stay in Utah (for a while I thought I was ready to leave). Our little family is happy and comfortable here. We'll continue to live in Lehi until our current contract is up, and maybe then we'll think about moving. The last thing I want to do right now is move again!

I'm grateful that we aren't living in the unknown anymore and I'm so grateful Brett has been able to find a good job! Congrats to him, I hope he loves it!!

Two Years Down

Yesterday, Brett and I celebrated two years of marriage. We celebrated with a quiet day at home with Owen, several episodes of CSI, a couple of Lifetime movies (Brett wasn't thrilled), Sushi, and homemade Oreos!

Something we've decided to do each year on our anniversary is watch our wedding video. Our videographer did such a great job, I just love watching it. At the end of the video, there's a clip where some of our friends and family left us with some words of advice. I've been thinking a lot about the advice my SIL Carly gave us. She said to remember "where each of you came from, why you fell in love and how you got where you are today, and to reflect upon these things often." I need to think about these things more often.

I'm grateful for the good husband I have. I love everything about him that I loved while we were dating. Over the last two years I've discovered new things to love about him, especially now that he's a dad! I'm grateful for our love, our friendship, our individuality and our commonality!

Two years are down....looking forward to the many more to go!

Look -A-Likes

We've all been wondering who Owen looks like? A few people say he looks like me, a few have said he looks like Brett. Most people say he's just one of his own.

Well, take a look at these pictures....

This is Owen

And this is my little brother Justin when he was a baby
Is it just me, or did we find Owen's look-a-like???

The funny thing is, I remember thinking when they brought Owen to me for the first time in hospital, "He looks like Justin did as a baby." Later I told my mom this, so when she got back to Alamosa she sent me this picture. I think I was right. Brett and I were shocked at how much they look alike. Crazy!!

More Pics of the Lil' Man

I love watching Owen sleep I just want to nibble on his chubby cheeks
I love bath time and swaddling him up afterwards

Over the last week we've had several visitors....

Traci and Collin came to meet lil' Owen
Ryan, Laura & their kids came to meet their new cousin

and Nana Sheri and Grandpa Craig came to visit too!

Owen is already 2 weeks old! We are figuring this whole parenting thing out and loving every minute of it! My mom left on Saturday so we've been on our own for a few days now and we are surviving, rather well actually! I cant say how nice it was to have her help for a week though.

We sure love this little guy and can't seem to get enough of him.

Baby Owen (re-posted)

I was deleting all of the "draft" posts I've started and never finished and accidentally deleted Brett's post of Owen's birth. He was upset because it took him hours to write, and I was upset because it was our journal entry of Owen's birth. Brett thinks I deleted it because his post got more comments than any of mine ever have! haha! Luckily Brett figured out how to restore it! Unfortunately we weren't able to restore all of the nice comments everyone made. So sorry!!

Owen Brett Denney

Owen Brett Denney was born at 6:55 p.m. on February 17th 2010. He weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz. and 19 inches long.This wasn't our first trip to the hospital this week. Kristy and I were sent home after a false alarm on Tuesday. Kristy woke up at 3:00 a.m. Wednesday morning with some strong contractions and couldn't sleep. This wasn't the first time that this had happened and with the recent false alarm fresh in her mind Kristy tried not to think much of it. The contractions didn't stop that morning and instead of staying home from work or calling the Dr. Kristy decided to go to work to try and get her mind off the pain. She also packed her bag with intentions to go to the gym after work to try and shake this guy loose.

Kristy and I chatted throughout the day about going into the Dr. or at least calling but Kristy was hell-bent on not getting her hopes up just to be dashed again. So being the tough chick that she is Kristy made it till 3:00 p.m. before she started to reconsider her literal gut wrenching pain. She tried calling the Dr.'s office but her cell phone crapped out. So naturally she tried rebooting her cell phone and went back to work. I didn't realize how bad it was until about 3:40 when I texted her to asked her how she was feeling and she responded "awful". Not your typical response from a tough chick. This is how the rest of our conversation went:

Brett: Leave! Did you call the dr office?

Kristy: Tried calling but my phone went all weird and I had to reboot it, haven't tried again

Brett: Are you still having contractions?

Kristy: Yes

Brett: Call!

Kristy: But I've been reading a bunch of stuff online and they could be false, or just really early labor pains. I will. Don't yell at me through text.

Kristy finally called her sister-in-law Carly who used to be a nurse at Kristy's Dr.'s office. Carly luckily was able to talk some sense into Kristy, and Kristy decided she would go in. Thanks Carly!

I picked up Kristy from work and drove her to the hospital. This when I finally got a glimpse of how bad the contractions actually were. She was in a lot of pain. I felt terrible that I didn't know that she was hurting this bad. I don't know how she went to work?

We got to the Hospital and Kristy was changing into a gown when her water broke. They checked Kristy and she was dilated to a four. On Tuesday she was only at a one. This was surprising but the real shocker was when the nurse said she felt a finger. They then did a quick ultrasound and realized it wasn't a finger but a toe that the nurse felt. Last Friday Owen was head down but the little stinker had flipped since then. Kristy took this news pretty hard, she knew this meant C-section. She had been planning on a normal delivery, especially since we thought the head was down. Kristy's heart-break started to ease as soon as the epidural drugs started to kick in.

We thought we would have plenty time to announce the upcoming arrival to family and friends but this wasn't the case with the new update. Kristy's mom Debbie was already on her way from Colorado but wasn't going to make it in time for the emergency C-section.

Within an hour of arriving we were in the OR prepping for surgery. I got to go in with Kristy and watch the procedure from up by Kristy's head. It was quick and dirty and the next thing we knew we had a screaming baby boy.Owen and Mama are healthy. Kristy is in love with this little guy. When she first found out that he was breach she said that "the lil stinker is grounded." Mama couldn't stick to her guns though and Owen is back in her good graces. Here are some pics of the lil guy.

Home from the Hospital

We are finally home from the Hospital. Even though we were only there for 3 days, I was so anxious to get home with our little guy. I keep thinking to myself, "I can't believe this is my little baby boy!?" It's surreal! And I just have to say that although I was devastatedwhen I found out Owen was breech and I'd have to have a c-section (yes, I did have an emotional breakdown...I even surprised myself) the second Owen was in my arms, I no longer cared how he got here! I was just so happy he was in my arms and a healthy baby. The feeling you get when the nurse brings you your baby for the first time is absolutely amazing!!

We got home yesterday at about 6:30pm. Our first night was sleepless as expected (well, Brett slept just fine). Thank goodness my mom is here to help for the week, otherwise I wouldn't have survived the night.

Here is a picture of Owen all bundled up and ready to leave the hospital....

Grandma Debbie and Owen......

Brett is a pro at the burrito wrap.....

But Owen usually finds a way to get his hands out and by his face......

My two favorite boys........

Life is great! We are blessed to have this sweet baby in our home and part of our family!

26 and about to POP!

Last year on my birthday I told Brett that I wanted to have a baby before I turned 26! Well I turned 26 last week, and no baby....but only two more weeks (hopefully not longer) until our little bundle of joy is here! So, that is close enough for me!!

We celebrated my birthday with some friends on Saturday night. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (conveniently located just 3 minutes away from our apartment!! I absolutley love their rolls). After dinner we came back to our place for cake, ice cream, Traci's famous brownies, and games!! We stayed up playing games and Super Mario World on the Wii until 1:00. My mom was in town for the weekend too, so she was able to join in all of the fun!!


As hard as it is, I'm trying very hard not to get too anxious for this baby to arrive. But I can't explain how excited I am to finally meet him and to snuggle him. I can survive two more weeks right?? Just for an update, Brett is hard at work on the job hunt....we'll keep ya posted on where it looks like we'll end up. Right now, it could be anywhere. We'll also let everyone know when baby Denney arrives!!!