Owen at one

Owen is a big one year old as of March 8th! What a year it has been & we are thankful not only to have survived year one with our brood but more so to have this sweet boy to care for.  For being only a mere three pounds at birth, Mighty O has surprised us with his go get'em kind of attitude.  He has one speed....super speedy all the time & keeps mommy & daddy on the look out for his whereabouts if we step away for a second.  We love Mr. O!

Like I said before, thankfully those little buckaroos are one for an entire year giving me ample amount of time to write their one year old blog posts ; ) I do want to record it all soon though because they change each & every month so, here we are...

All about Owen Marshall at ONE year old (give or take a month)

At his one year old appointment:

28 1/4 inches

18 pounds 8 ounces

size 4 shoes

12 month clothes (sometimes 9 month)

With his weight & length he jumped from the 3rd percentile to the 10th percentile leaving the "adjusted age" classification for being a preemie in the dust! We came across a new book called "Cowboy Slim" & laughed about how we dropped "Cowboy Small" as a nickname for the yittle guy but could stick with "Slim" instead. O keeps his slim figure by crawling rapidly everywhere & pulling up constantly coupled with spitting out LOTS of what we offer him at meal time. 

He LOVES his brother & the combination of those two keep us all busy & smiling...

Owen is known for having the cutest little grin...

It was so fun to tag team pictures with my friend Brooke when we were in Dallas just before the boys' birthday. I had this idea that I would read the boys one of our faves while they paid attention to the story & got their picture taken...Ha! It is more of a true lifestyle photo...those are better anyway right?

Back to Mighty O & what he is up to at one year old:

• loves to be on the move & looks for things to crawl into 
• pulls up on furniture & cane take a few steps sideways or towards something
• has been found in Daddy's office screaming because he tried to crawl over a metal support on his desk but got stuck 
• crawls up to the bookshelf, stands up & pulls every single book off in 2 seconds flat
• says mama, dada, gaga, papa
• attempts to repeat sounds
• waves hello & goodbye
• acts like he hates his car seat when you put him in but never even peeps once we are on the move
• points frequently & likes when you point back at him
• torments his brother by stealing most everything from him
• tries to stack block but always knocks them over
• can climb up the slide on the school bus
• makes me grin ear to ear every time I put him down in his crib, he pops up, pulls up & squeals while he waves bye bye & sometimes says "buh buh"
• when he gets excited he totally spazzes out jolting his arms up in the air & flopping onto the ground. he did this when he got inside the make shift tent off Char's lofted bed the other day
• has four teeth, two on top, two on bottom...they are sharp!
• had a natural O-hawk until his recent summer buzz cut by his personal stylist (mommy)
• loves to crawl around the chair in his room while a sister chases him
• enjoys being read to but has a hard time not eating the book
• very squirmy with diaper changes or getting dressed
• is a water baby & crawls quickly to the tub if you ask if he wants to take a bath
• makes a "fish face" often

Sleepy time: The O-meister is so busy while awake & truly values sleep. He sleeps soundly from 6:30pm-7:45am & usually naps from 9:45-11 & 2-4. On occasion the boys are grumpy, cry their way through dinner & are delivered to their sleeping quarters at 5:30 where they fall asleep with no problem & sleep till 7 or 7:30.  Sometimes he takes a bit to fall asleep but can be heard practicing making sounds & banging on his crib to get some attention from his bro before snuggling up with his blankie & his horsey. He is usually found sleeping on his tummy or side with his middle finger in his mouth. He could sleep through a tornado with all the racket that goes on here during nap time & never disturbs him.

Hungry Bone: Owee O is on what I call a carbalicious diet where he would happily consume a package of graham crackers & a loaf of bread each day. He is a picky guy but tolerates most bread products plus some other things. His favorites: pancakes, PB&J sandwich, graham or ritz crackers, yogurt (his absolute favorite), yogurt covered raisins, pineapple, blueberries, raspberries, apples, pears, sweet potato chunks, peas & Chick-Fil-A nuggets.  The only meat other than those nutritious nuggets that he happily consumes is red in color. He LOVES steak....guess we just need to make that more ; ) I keep offering him other things & he keeps spitting them out.  He was nursing three times a day until the week before his birthday where he decided he would rather act like a crazy person with too many wiggles & bit mommy one too many times. It was bittersweet to be done nursing but I am so thankful that we made it a year! He has successfully transitioned to whole milk in a sippy cup & did so just after his birthday.

Sensitive Soul: Owen has revealed some of his sensitive side lately which in turn has caused some good laughs. Owen has always been a fan of Bella girl but on our last three week trip to Texas he experienced some memory loss. We walked in the door to one very excited puppy dog. I sat Owen down on the ground to go get a bag & he went bonkers screaming & trying to climb up my leg! Poor little guy was soooo scared & would shudder if she came near him for a few days! After some quality time those two were buddies again but it was a rough couple days : ) A couple weeks ago we enjoyed a meal with the Lent family followed by some time on the front porch with bubble blowing by the big girls. The boys were crawling around & I noticed Owen scream & that he started crawling towards me. I thought maybe he hurt himself but Robby saw it too & told Charlotte to blow some bubbles again. Oh my goodness, Owen was TERRIFIED of the bubbles & we being the fabulous parents we are could not stop laughing! I stooped down & stayed with him until he managed to at least have a serious look on his face without tears.  We laughed after joking about how easy it would be to discipline him...."Anson, you go to time out! Owen, come here, I am going to blow bubbles on you for one minute straight!" Just for the record I don't think you should discipline your children utilizing something that terrifies them...just a funny thought : ) We also mentioned how awful our bubble guns might be for him ; )

My friend Jocelyn takes pictures of her boys in their Daddy's boots each year on their birthday so I thought I would do the same for my little buckaroos. I almost cried from laughing so hard when I saw the result. It looks like a little floating body over some gigantic boots, haha!

One last one with sweet Owee-O.....love that boy!

My precious Owen, 

How has an entire year passed since you were first placed in my arms? I have loved you since that first ultrasound with two little heartbeats. I immediately felt filled to the brim with joy knowing how much I have loved your sisters & knew that my heart would only expand to love two more babies at the SAME TIME! 

We along with many others prayed that you would grow healthy & strong. God answered that prayer & let you keep growing until the day He had chosen for you to be born.  Your cry was one of the most incredible sounds I have ever heard following months of waiting to see what the outcome of a challenging pregnancy would be. 

You have grown & changed so very much this year! We are delighted to see you learning new things, playing with Charlotte, Eloise & Anson, squealing, crawling & making messes. You are a gift from the Lord & we are thankful for you.  We are praying that you would grow to understand the love God has for you & that you would do mighty things for His kingdom. 

Love, 

Mommy