videos!

We finally caught Owen rolling over from his tummy to his back... he's starting to do it more and more on purpose, and I think he's pretty close to rolling over from his back to his tummy.


Practicing sitting up with Owen... he still needs a little more practice. :)


We gave Owen his first solid food the other day, and it was pretty funny. I don't think any of it actually made it into his tummy. We're not switching to solid food yet - it's basically just fun to watch him try out new things and learn how his mouth works.


Owen is a talkative little boy. Sometimes he'll go on for half an hour to 45 minutes at a time just talking constantly. He's discovering lots of new sounds, and it's fun to get him to talk.



Owen especially loves sucking on his two middle fingers, which usually looks really funny.


Too sleepy to bounce.


New Bumbo seat.


His face cracks me up in this one - I think Matt was doing something silly.


...and this is what he thinks of rice cereal. :)

Bathtime fun!

Owen has discovered that he loves bath time. He kicks and splashes the whole time, which means I'm generally soaked after his baths. It's pretty hilarious. Maybe he'll be a swimmer. Here's a video of the fun we have (it's really dark... it was lighter on my camera, but on the computer it looks way darker. You can still tell how much he's splashing, though). :)



Here are some pictures from the last little while. Sometime over Christmas break, Owen discovered his hands. He's just beginning to reach out and bat at toys in front of him. And he loves sucking on his hands - even more than his pacifier, which is saying something. His hands and sleeves are constantly soaked. Owen is also learning to laugh - he's got a great little chuckle that's so fun to hear. We haven't gotten it on video yet... but we keep trying. :)

Smiling in his sleep.


I'm pretty sure he could get his whole fist in his mouth if he wanted to.


Smiling at daddy.


Daddy's got a yummy chin.


All bundled up on campus.


More sucking on his hands - he just can't get enough.


Matt thinks this is hysterical... Owen and I were taking a nap on the couch, and it got cold. I didn't want to get up and wake him up, so I just grabbed the blankets that were closest - which happened to be an assortment of baby blankets. So instead of using one big blanket for the both of us, we were buried under four.


Owen's hat is too small for him, but we haven't gotten around to getting some bigger ones, so his ears always poke out. I think he looks like an elf.


I love his face in this one. Doesn't he look like Dopey, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?


In his bouncer... he's not quite steady enough to hold his head up the whole time, but he loves to bounce. He just rests his head on the side and kicks away.


Sitting with daddy... absolutely refusing to smile.


Cute boy.

My new favorite product, and my new goal

I have to give a talk in church tomorrow and I don't really feel like writing it yet, so I decided to post instead. For the record, I have it totally outlined, and I have most of the quotes and scriptures picked out. I just haven't put it all down on paper. So I'm not that bad. :)

Anyway... I have discovered a new favorite cleaning product. My Clorox Bleach Pen. I know I'm a little late - these things have been around forever. But my family didn't really use straight up bleach on clothes when I was growing up. If you got something on your shirt, you took it off, rinsed it, stain-sticked it, and hoped it came out in the laundry. Well, I got tired of trying to scrub blowout stains out of Owen's white onesies, and discovered the bleach pen in a pile of other random laundry stuff (part of a sweet bridal shower gift that included all kinds of cleaning products). I used it on the onesies, and the stains came out right before my eyes! In two minutes, I had completely white onesies, where before it had taken me like ten minutes per onesie. Lovely. I know I'm a dork for discovering this so late, but the bleach pen will definitely be a much-appreciated permanent fixture in my laundry supplies.



Also, I outlined a plan this week for getting back in shape. I was pretty active during high school, playing volleyball and on the swim team. Before Owen was born, I walked a lot and tried to go swimming every so often. But the other day, I got down on the floor and tried to do some crunches, and was tired after like, 10. Which is pathetic. I used to be able to do hundreds with no problem. My stomach muscles seem to have disappeared to make place for Owen. So I decided to make a plan to get back in shape. It includes 30 minute walks every day (with Owen strapped to me, they're a good workout), thrice-weekly weight exercises (with the spanking new pink weights Matt got me for Christmas), and swimming whenever I can fit it in. I made a calendar with what I have to do every day, and hopefully I'll stick to it. If I do it for a month perfectly, I think I'm going to buy myself a pair of shoes. I already have several candidates picked out. :) So here's to a month of finding out where those stomach muscles have gone, and hopefully getting them back.

Christmas adventures

We spent a whirlwind 2 1/2 weeks in California for Christmas. Owen and I flew out a few days before Matt so that we could give him some peace and quiet as he finished his finals. We stayed at Matt's house while he was there, and when he left, Owen and I stayed at grandma Bromley's house. We also spent several days in Monterey and several days in San Jose visiting grandma and grandpa Auman and aunt Karen. Owen had lots of firsts - going on an airplane, going to the ocean, and meeting lots of new people. Here are pictures from all of our adventures:

Owen's first airplane ride.


Meeting aunts Jenny and Fij - poor Fij was sick so she couldn't hold Owen. Hence her dejected pose in the background.


Meeting great grandma Auman.


Five Farrell boys. Doesn't Jason look like he wants one of his own? :)


Waiting outside Matt's house for our Polar Express party. Look at the cool Polar Express ticket that Jason is holding in the background.


With the "Conductor" of the Polar Express.


The whole family making cookies.


Tummy time.


Owen and Andrea (my newest Bromley cousin) as twin baby Jesus-es (or however you want to spell that...) in the Bromley cousin nativity on Christmas eve.


Most of the Bromley cousins in the nativity on Christmas eve. Matt is one of the shepherds on the right, and I'm one of the wise men. Not a great picture, but oh well. Our camera has issues.


My family listening to David Sedaris' "Six to Eight Black Men," a hysterical memoir about the author's experiences with Christmas in different countries. Google it. It will make you laugh. We listen to it many times each Christmas season, because it's just so funny.


Owen's first Christmas morning! He pretty much slept through the whole thing.


Owen with the "Sock Monkey" that Matt got him for Christmas.


Sitting with Matt's mom on Christmas morning.


He loves his grandma Farrell!


Four generations of Auman men.


Owen with three generations of Auman women.


Hanging out with great grandpa Bromley at the ocean house.


Fisherman's Wharf!


Can you tell Owen is just loving Fisherman's Wharf? :)


We found this picture in the Maritime Museum at Fisherman's Wharf, and just had to stick Owen in it. Here he is with Becca, Madeline, and Kevin. These pictures crack me up.




The whole Auman family at Fisherman's Wharf.


Owen and me and the Pacific!!


Auman siblings waiting for our Earthquake from Ghirardelli in Monterey.


Eating massive amounts of ice cream is an Auman family talent.


Auman siblings and the ocean.


Owen meeting his great aunt Karen for the first time.


We went to this cool park in San Jose called Heritage Park or something like that... they transported all these cool old historical buildings from stables and firehouses to hotels, candy shops, and homes to this park, and then offered tours of all the old buildings. It was like a little tiny town, complete with a school, a trolley, and several roads running through. It was really neat. Not everything was open when we went, but I'd like to go back and see it all again.





My whole family flew home from California at the same time, so we got to spend our last two hours or so together sitting in the airport. I love it when my whole family is together - we have way too much fun.



Well, that's the end of our great (and busy) trip to California. It wasn't very restful - we did a lot of stuff, we were sick pretty much the whole time, and it was also hard for me to take care of Owen all by myself after Matt left, but all things considered, it was a great vacation. :)