Catch-up!

So it's been a bit busy for the past few weeks...I have clearly been neglecting my blog. Needless to say, a lot has happened since I last posted. Where to begin...?

Owen had his 4 month check-up last week. He is now 25 1/2 inches long (75th percentile) and a whopping 15 lbs 7 oz (65th percentile). I had to laugh at the reactions of Owen's grandmas... Grandma Loretta said, "Oh, so he's above average!" and Grandma Vicki said, "He's just a tiny thing!" Hahaha Their comments were so cute. As you can probably guess, the Araiza children were on the smaller/average side and the Stephens children were always in the 90th percentile and above. It was just funny and cute. Owen continues to get cuter and cuter every day. He has the cutest little giggle, which he shares with us about once a day ( he has to be in the right mood). He has also started sucking his thumb on occasion... I keep pushing the pacifer because as he gets older, I can take the pacifer away, but I can't take his thumb away. He continues to be good natured and very laid back. We're hoping that these personality traits will continue into his toddler years. :) I had to capture Owen on film sucking his thumb because it is pretty cute.



A week or two ago Rick came home from the grocery store and said, " I bought us a little treat!" He then proceeded to take out the ingredients for s'mores. I asked him how he was going to make the s'mores, and he excitedly said, "Using your candles!" So, yes, Rick made roasted marshmallows over the flame of my sugar cookie scented candle. He had a good time bonding with Owen, pretending that they were camping. Here are my cute boys:




December, of course, brought lots of family gatherings. We went Christmas caroling with Grandma and Grandpa Araiza, Tawny, Donovan & Rylan, Hannah, and Joey. It was a lot of fun, but also a bit more difficult this year with two infants in tow. Grandma Loretta bought each of the babies the appropriate attire for the evening. Rylan was our little reindeer while Owen was our little Santa. I think their cuteness made up for anything we were lacking in the singing department. :)




We also had the annual Stephens family Christmas party, complete with a visit from Santa Claus. Owen sat on Santa's lap for a photo and didn't shed a tear. We were so impressed! We had a great time visiting with family members that we don't get to see very often.





That's all for now... I'll post a "part II", including Christmas eve and Christmas morning. Stay tuned...

Priceless