Photo Friday

A Friday tradition- a single photo from the week, a single sweet moment. A moment to savor, cherish, and remember.

Big Boy Owen

Everyone always told me how fast time flies with your little babes... but yet I am still in shock at how fast my little adorable boys are growing up!

My little Nathan will be 6 months on Sunday! Hello...6 MONTHS!! Where is the time going!? I still feel like he should still be a newborn. When they are so small they change so much, and every stage is so quick!

Sweet Nathan, just today! Don't you love that sweet little face? (And crazy hair!?)

Owen is no different. He is growing and learning so much these days. Everyday he turns more and more into a little boy and less and less a toddler baby boy. I certainly enjoy each minute of my day with these two little munchkins! I love 'em!

Owen is getting more open to exploring new places, learning new things, and trying new adventures! My dear friend, Alyssa, who Owen absolutely adores, came up with a fun craft for Owen to do. We LOVE Alyssa! She is an elementary teacher, so she has summers off and we LOVE it when she comes to play during the summer time! She goes with us to the zoo, comes over to play, and comes up with great crafts for us to try! She saw this idea on Pinterest ( I still have yet to join the pinterest world), and we love it!

We got a plain white canvas, painters tape, and fingerpaint. I taped out O-W-E-N, and then let Owen go to town with green, blue, and yellow paint!

At first he was a little hesitant and would ONLY paint with one single finger. He doesn't like messes, and hates to get his hands messy.

This would have taken HOURS with just one finger...!

Finally, we got him to get into it and use his entire hand! :)

Still not sure about the mess!

Alyssa helping Owen out... we just love her!

So close to finish!

We all love how it turned out! So cute!

So proud!

This is where we decided to hang his new masterpiece! ...Yup over his brand new BIG BOY BED!!

Along with becoming a big boy also means... a BIG BOY BED!! Owen has been asking for a big boy bed for awhile. But I wanted to wait until our summer trips were over to introduce it. He has slept 3 nights in it so far and LOVES it! He fell out once the first night, and we found him curled up asleep on the floor. But every night since he has stayed in bed and slept peacefully. He still prefers his crib for naps. Which is just fine with me, because the longer and better he naps, the longer the break for this momma! :) Plus I am not totally ready for him to be a complete big boy... that first night of Owen being an official "Big Boy" for me was emotional!

So excited to be in his new bed!

Sure do love my big boy Owen! He really is a special, smart, bright, happy, caring, loving, and sweet little boy. I'm lucky to be his mommy. He definitely is ready to become a big boy! Next up on the big boy to-do list...Potty Training!! (Yikes!)

Thomas Obsessed

We have a Thomas the Tank Engine obsession in this house. It's a healthy obsession that we all participate in. Owen is spoiled by all (mainly grandma/grandpa, aunts/uncles) with Thomas gear. The Thomas franchise has made a serious steal off of the McOmber family! I certainly hope Nathan shares the same love for that little blue engine!

Owen is not lacking in Thomas paraphernalia, that's for sure! He has Thomas clothes, jammies, underwear, trains, books, stickers, flash cards, a Thomas movie, Thomas music, and even a Thomas chair. This is serious business. The love for Thomas runs deep.

Here is Owen's favorite seat in the house... his Thomas chair!

Thomas Jammies

The toy box full of Thomas trains... these trains are certainly NOT cheap!

I always thought Thomas was sort of an odd show. And I wasn't really sure what all the hype was about concerning Thomas. Now I see it through the eyes of my 2 year old toddler boy, what a lovable little character Thomas really is!

So when I heard Thomas was coming to Snoqualmie,WA... just 45 minutes away, I had to jump on the chance to take my little boy! We bought our tickets months ago to what eventually would be a sold out gig! And Owen has been eagerly counting down the days to go, meet and ride on Thomas!

That day finally arrived on Saturday! We woke up early and decided to make a whole day of it! Owen also has a deep love for Waterfalls and "Water Mountains (Fountains)," so we made sure to stop and and spend some time at Snoqualmie Falls before meeting Thomas. That was a big hit as well!

"Owen looooves waterfalls, Mommy!" 

So pretty, one of my favorite places.

"Waterfall, Nayfin!" Owen was a good big brother and wanted to show Nathan the waterfall!

We finally arrived to meet Thomas. Now... just imagine hundreds of little Owen's running around, eager to meet and ride on Thomas!! With Thomas merchandise at every corner, and Thomas activities... Right around nap time...yeah, it was pretty chaotic! Luckily, our little Owen (and Nathan) were excellent troopers. 

 Meeting "Sir Topham Hatt"

Owen's favorite Thomas Movie, "Day of Diesels." These are the diesels from that show. 

Owen was able to play with stamps and colors. 

Then... we finally got to ride on Thomas! :)

Nathan slept the entire ride on Thomas! 

The best picture we could get with Thomas! Haha!

Owen LOVED watching these table trains, we had to take him away by force!

Owen waving goodbye to Thomas!

Happy baby Nathan! 

We had a great time together as a family. The boys (including Shad!) came home and crashed! A mark of a day well spent together!

Photo Friday

A Friday tradition- a single photo from the week, a single sweet moment. A moment to savor, cherish, and remember.

Look who started rice cereal this week! :)

Photo Friday

The return of 'Photo Friday' after a brief hiatus! :)

A Friday tradition- a single photo from the week, a single sweet moment. A moment to savor, cherish, and remember.

Seriously... is there anything cuter than baby feet!?

McOmber Family Reunion 2012

We had the BEST time in Utah!! It was so much fun taking this vacation together as a family and getting to spend so much time with family and friends! We are so lucky to have such awesome family and friends! 

We drove down/caravanned with Shad's sister Heidi and her family...which was so lucky we did! The boys love their cousins Karissa, Victoria, and Julia. They were such good company and kept the boys happily entertained in the back seat. (Although the trip was not totally stress free!!...Owen puked within the first hour...we had to stop and feed Nathan oft...Owen had a few meltdowns being strapped in that long...Nathan screamed until we stopped a few times...etc!) The trip was filled with family, friends, fun, good food, late nights, few naps, games, trips to the park, warm weather, and laughter! But we survived the trip and overall had a wonderful time! 

We broke up the trip both ways, stopping in Boise and staying with our dear friends, the Greens. They were such great hosts and we even squeezed in some swim time together! :) Nathan chillin' in the shade!

Owen in the pool with his floaty. 

Allie was really good at showing us her pool "tricks!"

 Nathan and Marilyn hangin' by the pool!

 Doug and Shad making big splashes and jumping in!! 

Owen and Katelyn watching their dads jump in!

 We arrived in Utah on Saturday night and got all settled. On Sunday the whole family finally got all together and had a fun BBQ at the park, played in the grass, and got all dressed up for family pictures! 

I had the pleasure of being the photographer!

Owen and Casen, cousins. Just a couple weeks apart in age! :) 

 The whole McOmber Gang! 

 The McOmber grandkids... it was absolutely impossible to get a good pic of all the kids! Haha

 Grandma Rosalie with sweet little Nathan.

 I absolutely ADORE him!

McOmber Kids oldest to youngest: Heidi, Kendal, Heather, Shad, Wendy, Trevor, Jessica, Danielle. 

Owen LOVED all the time with "Grandma Rosalie!"

The three 2-year-olds! All born within the same month!

 Owen's first popsicle! It was serious business. 

Owen loved Aunt Heather's dog. :) 

My love. 

On Monday Shad and Owen went with most of the family to hike Timp. caves. It was 100 degrees outside, so Nathan and I opted out of the hike! Luckily, Shad and I went up to Timp caves before we moved to Spokane, so I didn't feel like I was missing out too much. Plus, I spent the afternoon with my BFF Kambria! It was a good day for all of us!

Owen hikin' with his cousins. 

Utah Valley...so pretty. 

Owen inside the caves with Grandpa Niki

The "heart" of the caves. 

Monday evening, we all gathered together for dinner outside and a family talent show! Seriously good times! 

Owen with bubbles. 

Cute Bella blowing bubbles. 

Casen eating some pizza. 

Daddy and Nathan. 

Princess Bella LOVED baby Nathan. 

Let the talent begin! Natalie (age 9) and Amanda (age 7) showed off their sweet gymnastics moves!

Victoria (age 12) did an awesome Tap dances, which she choreographed herself!!

Princess Bella (Age 5) and Prince Casen (age 2) also showed off some dance moves!

Konner (age 3) Beat boxed! So cute!

The Gaffney Family did a cute musical number... Owen LOVES his cousin Julia, so he had to join in!

Julia did a dance number also. 

The Johnson Family did an interpretation of "The Very Hunger Caterpillar"...very cute!

Caydence (age 2) sang a song

It was revealed that we will be having a new NIECE and NEPHEW due on the same day!! (I think sometime in November!) Whoo!

Owen (age 2) sang "Thomas and Friends" and showed off some spelling skills!

On Tuesday Shad and I took the boys up to BYU campus!! We walked around campus and spent way  too much money at the bookstore! And I indulged WAY too much on BYU chocolate milk! Owen loved it! Nathan wasn't as excited... haha!

Owen, of course, loved the BIIIIIIIIIIG Y on the mountain!  

After campus, we took Owen to the temple. He has been asking to go to the temple for awhile. He was super excited and loved the "water mountains" too! We then met some old friends from my old work for lunch (at Vivint...aka APX). It was fun to see how much has changed!

On Wednesday (the 4th!) we had resevered some time at the Scera Pool in Orem. I didn't take my camera, because I knew we would be swimming and I didn't want to leave it unattended. But Aunt Heidi captured a cute picture of Owen and Caydence in the water. It took us FOREVER to convince Owen to get in... but when he finally did he didn't want to get out! He loved to splash!

 

After we cleaned up and grabbed some dinner, we headed over to the park to gather and watch fireworks. Owen and Casen were just too cute in their 4th of July outfits!

Aunt Jessica bought a bunch of glow sticks for the kiddos. Owen was in heaven! (Owen has a deep love for flags as it is!) He even slept with this glowing flag that night! 

The kids had fun with the sparklers...

...and so did we! I had Shad spell out O-W-E-N! :) 

 Newlyweds Danielle and David. They were so sweet together.

Konner wanted me to take a picture... I asked him to smile... this is what I got! Haha

Owen really enjoyed the fireworks. He keeps asking to see more! And we even left early before the BIG show! :) 

On our last day (Thursday) in Provo/Orem we packed up the condo and went out to lunch with Shad's sister Heather and her fam. So fun! Then we headed back to BYU campus to meet up with the others for BOWLING! (These are also from Heidi camera... not sure why I didn't take any pics!?)

Owen really enjoyed the bowling!

 On Thursday night we stayed with my bestie Kambria in Salt Lake before heading back to Boise the next morning. Owen was very excited to see Kambria... he had been talking about her the whole trip! 

Friday we headed back to Boise, stayed the night again with our friends. Stayed up late playing and talking. Before heading out again on Saturday morning we had an AWESOME Kneaders all you can eat breakfast with Heidi's family and the Greens. It was the perfect way to end our trip and head back home. 

It certainly made us miss Utah and our friends and family there. It was so fun to reminisce and gather together.