Mattson Family Moments

Two Months Old!

2012-01-29T23:57:00.000-08:00

Today Elizabeth is two months old! I just cannot believe it has been two months already. She's changed in so many ways. She smiles so much. She can hold her head up really well, but still can't sit because she flops over. She likes to squeal and attempt to laugh, it's really quite adorable. She is out of NB clothes and 0-3 month clothing just fits her...it won't be too long until she out grows those. She has been attempting to roll over but only gets halfway. Then she discovers her fist and sucks on that instead. She loves to play and have all your attention. She is a great eater and is getting good at sleeping too...meaning at night she sleeps 4-6 hours at a time! She has discovered she has a voice and makes her noises all the time. She loves to snuggle with mommy and just relax with daddy and watch her Owen. Her two month check up is in two days, so I'll have the stats then. Here are a few pics:

This picture was taken today on her actual 2-month mark...she's just so cute!

This was taken yesterday, her last day as a 1-month old.

We were having fun trying on hair bows and flowers. Hehe.

And I could not put a post up without including a picture of Owen also.

He loves his sister so much and is always giving her kisses and

encouraging her and just making her feel special. I love my kids!

Elizabeth Kay is here! (Finally the labor story)

2012-01-29T23:47:00.000-08:00

On the morning of November 29th, I started having contractions around 4:30am. At around 6:00am, Sean and I headed to the hospital. We were checked in by 7:00am and the doctor came in a checked me. I was 7 cm dilated and told that we were having a baby today! :) Wahooo! They moved me to a labor and delivery room where we spent the remainder of my labor. At about 9:30am my contractions were getting really bad and I requested an epidural. As many of you know, I had back surgery after Owen was born so I have a nice thick scar going down my spine. I knew this might be an issue, but they wanted to try anyway. It took a while for the anesthesiologist to get there but once she did, the fun began. After three attempts, they broke me the bad news...they could not get past the scar tissue. So that meant, no pain relief for me...literally. At that point they checked me again and I was at 9 cm and they said I was too far along for any kind of medication. After I realized that I was going to deliver this child all natural, I looked over at Sean and said, "I'm so scared." The doctor broke my water and then left for a little bit. At 11:30ish I started feeling the contractions get worse and a lot of pressure and the urge to push. I told the nurse so she had me push to get the head to drop. Well, it dropped! It was 11:40 at this point. She opened the door to get the doctor and the doctor wasn't there!! She had me push again to see how quickly this was happening and it was happening pretty quickly. I was hurting so bad and just wanted the pain to go away. Having given birth before, I knew the only way to make this stop was to get this baby out. Since they couldn't locate the doctor the nurse asked me to stop pushing. HA! I don't think so lady. I literally yelled, "What?! This hurts so bad!!" Haha, I was not stopping. So the nurse just opened the door and yelled, "We need a doctor in here now!" That got their attention. In came the doctor and out came the baby...at 11:50am! I now know why they call it the "ring of fire" when the baby comes out. The first words out of my mouth were, "This is our last child." Haha!! Holy cow this birth was so painful, but definitely worth it. I just need to grasp the fact that I will never be able to have an epidural again, so all my next children will be delivered natural as well...eeeek! I really just hate the clean up and healing process more than anything. It's painful, frustrating, time consuming and annoying, but that all goes away eventually. Anyway, back to the labor story. So Elizabeth was born at 11:50am, weighed 8 lbs 13 oz and was 20 3/4 in long! She was so purple too, haha, but that went away pretty quick once she started screaming. It is such a surreal experience having a baby. When I was finally able to hold her and just snuggle with her, it hit me...I have TWO children! I have a little baby again...and it's a girl. I just felt so blessed and scared and happy and nervous and grateful all at the same time. I can't explain it but I just love the feeling after giving birth and finally meeting this little baby that was cooking inside me for 9 months. It's amazing how much love I have for her the moment she was with me. The connection I knew we already had was there and I just felt like her and I already know each other. I remember feeling the same way with Owen after he was born. I just love being a mom and love my children so much. I am so blessed and grateful for the family that our Father in Heaven has given me and Sean. We are so lucky. Our children are adorable and such sweet kids. I just hope that I am able to be the mom they need me to be and to teach them the things they need to know to be good people. Anyway, that's the labor story. After giving birth, Owen came to meet his sister. We had family visit us throughout the day. It was nice having people to talk to but man oh man, I did not look the greatest. Oh well. Here are a few pictures from "labor day"...please remember that I had just given birth and that is the reason why I look the way I do. Ha!

"Hello world!" - She's here!!!!

My swollen, pink baby!

Me and my DAUGHTER!! :)

Owen seeing his sister for the first time :)

Owen holding Elizabeth

Me and my beautiful kids!

Owen checking out his little sister

Daddy, Mommy and Lizzy!

Daddy-daughter time :)

Precious, sleepy baby

All dressed to go home!

Daddy getting Elizabeth ready to leave

Let's go home!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

New Year's Day was an exciting day for our family. Since it fell on a Sunday, there were a lot of changes at church. Owen will be 4-years old this October which means that he moved up from the nursery to the Sunbeam class at church!! Ahhhhh! My baby is not longer a baby, he's becoming such a wonderful boy and is growing up way too fast if you ask me. Here is a picture of him wearing his "I am a Child of God" crown he made during class:

When Sean and I dropped him off in his new classroom, he was NOT excited at all. It was really sad, but also kinda funny. His teachers are so nice and his favorite church buddy was already waiting in the classroom when he got there. He even told one of the teachers, "I no like you!" Haha! After sitting with him for about 5 minutes, I left and he was just fine. I checked on him numerous times to make sure and every time he was having fun and was very involved with the lesson. Which made me happy.

Also at church this Sunday was Elizabeth's baby blessing!! Sean and I got her blessing dress, it was so adorable, and she was just a little angel during it all. I was a little worried how she was going to be since her eating schedule hasn't been the greatest, but I'm sure she'll get on a better one soon. Anyway, the blessing was great and everyone seemed to love her. She was passed around during the other classes, lol. And she was so good for everyone. I feel very blessed. Here is a picture of her in her dress:

It was just a wonderful way to start the new year.

Our Police Officer of the Year!

2011-11-22T22:20:00.000-08:00

So Sean was selected as his department's 2011 Police Officer of the Year this past month! I am just so amazed and proud of him. He has worked so hard in the last 18 months of being a police officer and it's so wonderful so see that his hard work has gone unnoticed. There were two events we went to that recognized him as police officer of the year. First on Tuesday (11/15) we went to the Colusa Rotary club for a luncheon. There, four officers from different departments were recognized and given awards. It was really neat to see the selections of officers and hear why they were selected. I am just so proud of Sean for making his mark so early in his career. He just amazes me every day. Here are some photos from that event:

The next day, Wednesday (11/16) we went to the Williams City Council meeting. It was so quick, but at the same time it was really nice to hear and see the city officials so proud of one of their officers. Sean's chief presented and said some really nice things. Owen came to this one with us, so we got a family picture. :) Again, I am just so proud of Sean for his huge accomplishments in his short career. Here are a few pictures from that event:

We are just so proud of our Police Officer of the Year, Officer Sean Mattson. He works so hard when he's at work, but we are so lucky that when he comes home he's 100% ours and dedicated to being a great daddy and wonderful husband. I love you Sean and am just so proud of you. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you.

Owen's 3 Year Check-Up

2011-11-12T19:26:00.000-08:00

So yesterday, 11/11/11, Owen had his three year check-up. Yes, I know, almost a whole month late, but October was a very busy month for our family. Anyway, he did so good! Now that he's three, he has a more normal appointment and not a "baby" one. He got to have his blood pressure checked, and stand on the scale and stand by the ruler on the wall. He even had an eye exam...which was the cutest thing to witness. He did great with that. The nurse that was helping us was just so good with him and he seemed to like her. After we finished up that, we went into the room to wait for the doctor. He was asked to strip down into just his undies. And of course, he wanted to do that himself. It was really cute to see him sitting there a little nervous and waiting for the doctor. The day before his appointment he expressed that he did not want to go see the doctor and was scared. So I pretended to be a doctor and showed him what his appointment would consist of. He then was really excited to go. (I'm hoping he gets this excited when we go to the dentist for the first time, lol.) Anyway, when the doctor arrived, he got a little nervous and scooted away. I told him it'd be ok and he was just doing his check-up. Once the doctor started, Owen was so good for him and was really happy. He would glance over at me and smile, but then immediately focus back on the doctor and do what he asked. The doctor was very impressed with how well he did and told Owen that, you could tell how proud Owen felt. He even said, "Ima big boy." Haha. After the doctor finished up, he said it was time for Owen's flu shot. He's old enough to not have to receive it from a shot, so they gave it to him through the nasal spray. After that, he got a Cars sticker and we were done. He did so great! I never get to take him to his appointments, so I was really happy to get to for this one. We usually have Sean take him on one of his weekdays off so I don't have to take the time off of work. I am really sad that I didn't take any pictures because it was so cute to watch him be so independent and cooperative with the staff. I'm just so proud of him and still cannot believe my baby is three years old! Hopefully next year I'll be able to remember to schedule his check-up on his or around his birthday. :)

Fall Decorations!

2011-11-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

Now that it's Fall, I'm so excited for the decorating. :) I've been wanting to buy and make so many things, but I have to resist and save for this baby. So I have a few things that I did to the front of our house. I recycled some chairs that my friend Shannon brought over...she was going to donate them, but I took them instead! Then we got a $7 scare crow from Walmart to add some color. And then I made the wreath for the front door. And also bought the pumpkin. Not much, but I like it. I can't wait for Christmas so I can put up lights!!! :)

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Well it seems like Star Wars was a very popular choice for costumes this year. We also chose to do Star Wars. Actually, the main reason we decided to do it was because we already had the costumes from previous years and decided to "recycle" them to save money since I spent too much money on supplies for making Owen's original choice in his costume. There's a reason why I say "original" costume choice. Here's the story: Owen really wanted to be the original red Power Ranger, which was fine and so cute because he loves watching the show with Sean on Netflix and also loves to pretend to fight and that good stuff. Well, they don't make the original red ranger costume anymore since that show was out when I was a kid, so I was all in for making it. (I actually love making costumes.) I bought a little red sweatsuit and had some white fabric to attach and also to make boot covers for, then I went out and found some white gloves. This all costed me about $20 (maybe a little less) for everything. Well, all we needed was the Red Ranger mask. Which is extremely hard to find...especially around this time of the year. I ended up finding the perfect mask on eBay for $10 and free shipping! Wahoo! So I ordered it. Then I received the dreaded email informing me "due to high order volume you expected delivery date is Nov. 1st to Nov. 8th." What?! So I emailed the guy and asked if I could get it any faster. Well, while waiting for a response from the seller, I decided to keep looking online to see if anyone else had the mask. We found one, not as great as the first one, but it'll do. We found it on a Halloween website. It was only $5 but $10 shipping to get it by Halloween. I sat there for a few minutes looking at my shopping cart trying to decide if I should order it and then just tell the eBay guy never mind on getting the other mask here sooner. In the end I'd be spending $25 total for these cheap Power Ranger masks, but we'd have two and Owen just LOVES to pretend to be a Power Ranger so I know they'd get some good use out of them. So yes, I ordered it. Then saw that they do not let you cancel your orders, "all sales are final." Oh well, I thought, I'll just email the other guy and tell him never mind on getting it faster. Well, I logged on to my eBay account and saw THE message. "Request received. Your item will be shipped out first thing via EMS Express Shipping." What!? Ok, so I was trying not to panic at this point. I will now be receiving two masks before Halloween. But then I kept reading and saw the shipping charge...ready for this...brace yourself...$35!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!! It was this much because apparently the guy lives in Thailand! I had the worst feeling in my gut. I just spent $60 on two, extremely cheap plastic masks for a Halloween costume! Plus the $20 on the other supplies...that's $80!!! WAY too much money! After venting and moping about for a few days, I decided that Sean and I would have to recycle some old costumes this year instead of getting/making new ones. A few years ago he was Darth Vader and I was the Death Star (yes, the giant spaceship planet), so we decided to just wear these again. Well, my story is not even over yet. Sean's birthday had recently happened during all this and for his birthday we got him the new Star Wars: The Complete Saga on bluray. So, for about a week or so that's all that's been being watched at our house (minus football games). I didn't really think anything of it until...the Friday before Halloween I was talking to Owen about his Power Ranger costume because I needed to fit him for a few things and he informed me of this, "mama, I no wanna be a power ranger." EXCUSE ME?! I thought. I just played along and asked why and what he'd want to be. "I want to be..." and he couldn't really pronounce this name the best, but I knew who he was talking about..."Yoda." OMG! I asked him why and he said, "Daddy be Darth Vader." Then he continued with, "I like Star Wars." I kept my cool and said, "Well, you're being a Power Ranger. That's what we got for you." Then the tantrum started. "I no wanna be a power ranger!" He was so upset. So I decided to just not talk about it and put everything away and start working on the costume again on Saturday. Well, he still felt the same on Saturday too. I even tried giving him his mask and letting him play with it. Which he did, but he still kept saying, "I be Yoda for Halloween." So for the church Trunk-or-Treat that night, Owen and I went as the Death Star and Yoda. (We had a Yoda costume from last year that was just his size this year for him to wear.) I was OK with this for the church party because they don't allow masks so he wouldn't be able to be a Power Ranger anyway. Well, Sunday Owen's feelings about being a Power Ranger were the same...he wanted to be Yoda. The idea of wearing the Power Ranger costume put him over the edge. I told Sean about it and he thought it was funny. I, on the other hand, did not. I just kept thinking of how much I spent on everything and what a waste it all was. So, I caved and we went as the Star Wars clan.

I decided to either sell the masks on eBay and try to get some money back. Or Owen will have no choice and have to be the red ranger next year. Or just finish the costume and try to sell that on eBay! Who knows, maybe I'll start a costume making business because of all this. haha.

Other than that, Halloween was great! We went trick or treating for a little bit because Owen got bored and tired of walking. Then we hung out at Seth and Julies and had carmel apples! It was a nice night. I really felt like a Friday though, so waking up for work the next day was not very fun.

Here are a few pictures of Owen decorating his pumpkin we did earlier that week. I'm so sad that Sean and I didn't get to do our yearly tradition of carving a pumpkin face together. :( So I just did one by myself. I wish I would have gotten a picture of them outside, but oh well. Oh, and don't mind all the junk behind Owen...we did this in the garage and I am still in the process of going through and organizing/throwing out all that stuff.

Owen's 3rd Birthday!

2011-10-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

Well, Owen is now a three-year-old. I still can't believe it. Just when I was getting so use to telling everyone I had a two-year-old. Oh well. It seems as he is getting older, time is going by so much faster. Our lives seem to have busier schedules and more events happening that I feel like I'm losing time with my little man. I'm excited to go out on maternity leave so I can spend my days with him and of course the new baby. But it'll be nice to just have that time home for a while. Anyway, back to his birthday. The night before his birthday, Owen and I cleaned the house and started blowing up balloons to decorate. I always decorate our living space for birthdays...just to make the day feel a little more special. Owen was really excited for the balloons, he was kicking them and throwing them. Haha, he's just a kid...I love it. Anyway, after I got everything ready to decorate, it was time for he and I to make our way upstairs for bedtime. He showered, watched a show and then fell asleep. I then went downstairs and got the place decorated and finished cleaning up the kitchen. Sean came home from work (on Wednesday nights he's home around 11:15ish) this. We went to bed and then Owen decided it was time to wake up. Oh geez, what a night it was. He woke up probably 6 times just wanting me and for no reason at all. Around 1:45ish, Sean went to the extra bedroom to go to sleep and Owen came into our bed with me. Finally, a little after 2:00am, we were all asleep. Then my alarm went off at 5:15am! Not enough sleep for a pregnant woman at all, but I had a plan to stick to for Owen's birthday so I was up and getting ready. Then around 6:30am we all were up and went downstairs for Owen's birthday celebration. We decided to celebrate it in the morning since Sean is working swing shift (afternoon to middle of the night) and we weren't going to see him at all that day. We got downstairs and I started the pancakes. Then we let Owen open all the presents we got him. Since we took him to Disneyland, which was essentially his gift, we only got him a few things. But he was so excited because they were things that we knew he'd love. That morning he also opened his only b-day card he had received at the time (he got way more that afternoon). There was $5 in it too! Owen has been really into collecting money and loves to put it in his piggy bank. I hope he keeps this attitude of saving when he gets older, but I'm sure once he figures out that he can use money to buy things, he won't be such a great saver anymore. :) Anyway, so from Sean and me we got him a Jessie doll (from Toy Story), a little black robot toy (he has others like it already) and the movie Monsters Inc. He was really excited and wanted to play with everything right away. Haha. But by then the pancakes were ready and it was time for his birthday song! Since it was so early in the morning, we just put his candles in his pancakes and let him blow them out. He didn't care that it wasn't a cake or cupcakes, I think he was just so excited it was his birthday. So after that, we gave him hugs and kisses and Sean went back to bed and Owen and I continued with our normal morning routine before daycare and work. It was really nice doing this and I'm seriously considering making it a new tradition to have a big breakfast for birthdays, but we'll see. Waking up that early was tough, but it's a lot easier when you're doing it for someone else. Here are some pictures we took from the morning:

Owen and Daddy...they are both so tired!

Opening his first present...

His new robot!

His $5 and card!

About to open present #2...

It's Jessie! (He picked this one out at the store, so he knew he was getting it)

And lastly, Monsters Inc!

At the table with his b-day pancakes!

Time to blow out the candles! (He's so bashful, it's so funny.)

Owen and Mama

THE BIRTHDAY BOY!

This was Owen right before we left for school!

He got a lot more gifts that arrived in the mail that evening, I will be sure to post more about his birthday again later. We're having a few people over this weekend, so I'll make sure to take some pictures too.

Happy Birthday again to my sweet little man. Owen, you have been so wonderful and such a blessing in my life. I have never felt more loved by someone and have never loved a little person so much like I do you. I am so excited to see you become a brother and see how you will love your sister. I love watching you grow and develop into the person you are meant to be. You are so handsome (you can thank your daddy for that) and so fun and I hope that we will always keep our special bond and relationship as we celebrate more birthdays together. I love you Owen.

Busy, busy, busy!

2011-10-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

(I never posted this post...it was written a month ago)
So much has been going on in the Mattson home...but not so much exciting, photo worthy things. Haha. We have just been getting the house ready for Baby #2 and preparing for Disneyland trip! I will definitely post about Disneyland when we get back...we're so excited!!! Ok, so since my last post in September, here's what's happened. Andrea (that's me), celebrated her 26th birthday!! I still can't believe I'm 26 already.

Then we went with Grandma (my mom) and looked at strollers and bed side sleepers for the baby. We want to get a "sit n stand" stroller because Owen is kind of at an in between age for stroller riding. Meaning, he hates being strapped in to a seat (he just likes having the option to get up and walk also) and he's also looking a little big for the seat. So a "sit n stand" has a normal stroller seat in the front (and you can attached the infant seat on to it like other strollers) and then in the back, it's a little bench seat, so Owen can sit or stand or even walk without feeling constrained to a seat. He's just getting so big and independent, but also I know he still wants to feel apart of this new baby excitement, so instead of getting a traditional double stroller (that he'd grow out of within the year) and instead of only using a single stroller (which may make him feel left out), we decided to get a "sit n stand"!! The hardest part of this pregnancy for me is making sure Owen does not feel left out or feel like he's being replaced. He's so excited for the baby and always kisses my belly and says hi to her, but I know that there's going to be a point of jealousy or sadness because mom and dad's attention won't always be on him. It breaks my heart a little, but we're trying really hard to make sure he's involved in everything that we do. I just hope we succeed. As of right now he's super excited for the baby so I really hopes he stays that way after she arrives. Anyway, we've been very busy. After Disneyland we'll have Owen's birthday, then Sean's birthday, then Halloween, and then it's November! And that month will be all about getting everything for baby finalized. Ahhhh! I can't believe how much there is to do!

Updates! FINALLY!

2011-09-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

As promised, below are a ton of posts that I have been wanting to get on here. I have updated our July fun days and some things that happened in August. I'll have more to come soon for September, but for now, here you go! :) Yay!

Idaho/Utah Trip!! (8/17-21/11)

2011-09-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

(Pictures will be added shortly!)

So we took a trip to Idaho and Utah in August because Sean's baby sister, Brianne, got married!!! Unfortunately, not many pictures were taken because this is where my camera was misplaced. :( But I have "borrowed" a few photos from Facebook to show. Anyway, so Sean, Owen and I drove through the night on the 17th. I think night drives are the way to go since Owen fell asleep after about 3 hours into the drive and was out for about 7 hours! About 2 hours into the drive, the started getting upset and yelled, "I wanna go home!" Haha, well, that didn't happen. Anyway, once we arrived it was just family hang out time. We stayed with Sean's parents (Rod/Papa and Linda/Nana), which was really nice because we hadn't seen them in a while. Owen had so much fun playing cars with his Papa. They played for hours! Nana and Papa had a nice collection of new toys for him when we arrived, so Owen was pretty excited. Sean went to bed when we arrived since he did all the driving that evening. I, however, did not. I stayed up and hung out with Brianne and Nana for a while before Landen (Brianne's fiance at this point) arrived. After an afternoon of relaxing and fun, we went to Rod's sister's house for a BBQ with the Mattson side of the family. That was really nice to catch up with everyone. I really only met a few of them once, maybe twice, before then.

(I'll insert a picture here later...it's still on Sean's phone)

The next day was Brianne's endowment day! We all went to the Idaho Falls temple. Brook (Sean's other sister) took Owen to the zoo while we were with Brianne. The temple was so nice. What a wonderful blessing and amazing experience it is to see someone enter the Lord's house and make promises for the first time. :) As for the zoo, Owen had fun with his Aunt Brokie! She bought him some goodies and they just had a good time together. (Unfortunately, no pictures from this.) After the temple, we all went to lunch with Landen's parents and the Fawcett side of the family (Sean's mom's side). That was really fun to catch up with cousins and just spend time with them. (Again, no pictures.) After lunch it was time for Brianne's bridals! I was asked to do her hair for her wedding, so it was really fun to get her all dolled up and in her wedding dress a few days early. She looked so stunning! Her cousin Courtney took the pictures. She is amazing at photography! I'm sure she was getting annoyed with me and my suggestions as I was following her around. But everything turned out great and she was able to get some beautiful pictures before the sun set.

Ok, so Friday we drove up to Utah to decorate the church for the reception. Seth and Julie flew in this day also. Decorating was very...interesting. It started out completely unorganized, but ended beautifully! The place looked great and everything was ready for the big day. That evening we went to Landen's family's house for a BBQ. His family is so great! Plus, the have the most amazing grass my feet have ever felt!! Haha. Landen has a nephew that is Owen's age, so it was nice that he had a buddy to play with. He had so much fun! It was really nice to see and meet the family Brianne is marrying into...what great people. I can't wait to see them all again. (You guessed it, no pictures again.)

Saturday was wedding day! That morning was a little hectic. I burned Brianne's ear and made her cry...I think it was the combination of the burn and the stress all at once. Then after Brianne was ready, I did Julie's hair. Then after she was done, I had 15 minutes to get ready!!! Luckily my hair was in curlers and just needed to be pulled back, so it wasn't too bad. We were off to the temple! Brook was suppose to watch Owen for us, but she wasn't there when it was time to go in. So we had Sean's other cousin Emily watch him. He was a little upset at first, but once they started playing and going outside, he was fine. The sealing was so beautiful! Brianne and Landen looked so happy. It brought back memories from when Sean and I were sealed for all time and eternity. What a wonderful blessing it is knowing that you will be with your spouse forever, and not just until death. After the sealing, I helped Brianne get ready for her big debut! Her and Landen looked just perfect when they exited the temple! So happy and in love. Lots of pictures were taken (their Uncle Shane took the wedding ones...they look amazing!) and then it was time for lunch! We went to a luncheon and there was a ring ceremony held for those who were not able to attend the sealing in the temple. It was really nice. Owen fell asleep for the entire luncheon! Thank goodness, because he was so cranky at this point. After the luncheon, we all went our separate ways for a little while and waited for the reception to begin. Family had to arrive early for pictures, but they were fun to take. I also had to get there a little early to get Brianne ready again. She wanted her hair all up for this part, so I just needed to fix that. She looked beautiful. The reception was great! Everyone loved the decorations and everyone seemed to have a great time. Owen was really happy that the candy bowls were right up front. He kept running over and taking handfuls. Haha. After the reception, clean up went smoothly and quick! We were back at our hotel no later than 9:00pm. We just hung out with Seth, Julie, Courtney and Eric until we were tired. Then we went to bed and got ready for our long drive ahead of us.

The next day was our departure day. I was up super early, got ready, packed the car, got Owen ready and was just ready to go way before anyone else woke up. Haha. After everyone else was ready, we packed the car and had breakfast with Nana and Papa (Sean's parents). It was great to hang out and spend some alone time with them not stressing about wedding stuff. It was also sad so say good-bye. I love our visits with them and wish we were able to see them more. But it was time to go and get back to reality. Our drive went really well...except for one part...Owen decided to throw up in the middle of Nevada! It was absolutely disgusting, but the poor little guy just didn't feel good. I think his food didn't settle, because after he threw up he said, "I feel better now." Haha. We didn't have anything to clean the car with. All we had were two water bottles and a soda...so we were rinsing everything we could off with that. Then we drove to the nearest gas station and got the rest of it cleaned up. After that, our drive continued. We didn't get home too late that night. We got things unpacked and it was off to bed.

The trip was so much fun. I wish we could take more of them. It was so great to see Brianne and Landen get married and to see all the family again. We definitely learned a lot about family road trips from this trip and will hopefully remember those things for our next one. :)

"Welcome Home Daddy" (8/13-15/11)

2011-09-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

So in August, Sean went to Los Angeles with his friends to go to a WWE paperview event. That meant Owen and I would not see him for the whole weekend! Owen has a rough time when he doesn't see Sean at least once a day. So to help him feel better, we did a project! We made a sign for Daddy for when he got home. I rolled out some paper on the kitchen floor, poured paint on some paper plate, and let Owen have fun. Haha. He had so much fun painting with his feet! He'd step in the paint and "skate" across the paper (it looked more like a shuffle). Then he'd use the paint brushes for a little bit. At one point he wanted to paint the cabinets! Haha, I told him no, only the paper or the floor. (I didn't mind him painting on the floor because this would motivate me to mop afterwards. Lol. It needed to be done, but I just had to desire to do it.) Anyway, after he was done, we let it dry and hung it up in the dining room. Owen was so proud of his work and couldn't wait to show his daddy the sign he made for him! :)

Owen cleaning off all the paint! He really liked this part. :)

The finished product!

After Sean finally did come home, he brought Owen a gift from his trip! A Rey Mysterio (barf!) mask!! Haha, I'm not a Rey Mysterio fan, but Owen likes him so he was really excited to get it.

Owen wearing his mask...haha! so cute.

Haha, Owen wanted me to try it on! I sure look cool.

Jumpy McJumpster!

2011-09-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

One evening, Owen really wanted to jump off the couch. He was doing this all night long! Haha, he would want Sean and I to watch too, which made it hard to get things done because all he wanted to do was jump around. But he was sure having a great time. I was trying to get some good air shots with the camera. By the end, Owen was pretty annoyed that I kept taking pictures of him...he just wanted me to watch. Haha. Oh well. Here's our little Jumpy McJumpster.

HAHAHA! Look how mad he is! He's still so cute. :)

"Stop it Mama!" hahahaha!

Fairy Tale Town! (7/23/11)

2011-09-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

Owen and I have been trying to make this summer memorable since it's our last summer with him as an only child. Since Sean had to work (as usual), we decided to make a fun day and go to Fairy Tale Town in Sacramento with my friend Brittany and her son Jackson. Jack is a week older than Owen, so getting those two together was a lot of fun. I love the innocence of a child. They accept you and automatically deem you a friend as soon as they meet you. I wish adults were more like that. It was really cute to watch the two of them follow each other and help each other on all the playground stuff. It was also really nice to have adult time with Brittany. I think we both enjoyed talking to someone our ages rather than a 2 year old. Lol. Anyway, the day turned out to be wonderful. The weather was perfect, the boys were in great moods. We packed a cooler for lunch...and while we were picnicking squirrels kept coming over to us. The boys got really excited for this, so we let them feed them for a little. After lunch we went back to the park and let them play for a few more hours. Then it was time to go home so Owen and I could see Sean before he left for work. We want to do this one again for sure. Perfect place for a nice day out.

Owen in front of the giant shoe slide!

Owen and Jackson in a tee pee! (Owen is saying "cheese"...haha)

Owen coming down the slide at the barn.

Owen riding down the slide at "Owl's House"

Owen coming out of a tunnel slide.

King Owen!

King Owen and King Jack sharing the throne!

Owen pretending to be Woody riding Bulls eye. LOL.

Owen and and Jack riding the horses of Cinderella's pumpkin carriage.

Owen and Mama

Brittany and Jackson! (I love this picture!)

Brittany and Jackson!

Owen on a horse!

Owen and Jack on Cinderella's pumpkin carriage.

Owen really wanted to make silly faces.

Owen and Jackson climbing a giant foot.

Owen not wanting to get off the train...it was time to leave and him and Jack did not want to. :) This was the last picture I took that day. We had so much fun. Thanks Brittany and Jackson for coming with us!

Train Town! (7/16/11)

2011-09-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Owen and I went to Train Town in Sonoma with Shannon and RJ! It is the cutest little park ever. It is absolutely perfect for a toddler. There's just enough to do and the park is not too big so they don't get tired of walking. Also, the train rides are super long! They go over little bridges and through tunnels and it even stops at a miniature town! Owen had a blast. We will definitely be doing this again sometime. It was so much fun.

Owen exploring an antique train.

Owen wanting to jump from the platform.

Owen on the carousel.

Owen and mommy!

Owen wearing his train hat and blowing his train whistle that Shannon and RJ got him!

All of us about to embark on a train ride! (It was really hard trying to get all our faces in the shot)

After many attempts to take the picture myself, Shannon just got up and took one for me.

Owen and Mommy in jail!!

Owen on the potty!

Owen in front of the engine that took us on our train ride.

Shannon and RJ on the potty...well, RJ wouldn't sit but Shannon looks like she's having a great time!

Owen in the miniature school house. :)

Owen was sooooo excited to ride the ferris wheel...just look at the pure joy in his face. He was like this the ENTIRE time we were on there. Haha. So cute!

Owen wanted to ride it again, so RJ took him this time. :)

Owen was zonked out by the end! We had so much fun. Thank you Shannon and RJ for a great day out!

Update Delay!

2011-08-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

I would like to apologize for the lack of posts. Things have been pretty crazy lately and I find myself not even touching a computer when I am at home these days. I have tons of posts from July and August that need to go up and am trying to find the time to get around to posting them. Also, I left my camera at my in-law's house in Idaho and am waiting for it's arrival so I can upload all the pictures. As soon as it arrives, hopefully posts will come up soon! There's just so much I want to share. :) Love you all!

Baby #2 News...IT'S A GIRL!!!

2011-07-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

I had an ultrasound yesterday and we found out the sex of our little one. FEMALE! We will be having a daughter and Owen will have a sister!! Crazy! I have a new due date...December 6th. So a little sooner than what was originally calculated. We are so excited. We actually have a name picked out already. Elizabeth Kay Mattson. Below are a few pictures from the ultrasound. We are so excited!

PT Update...We're DONE!

2011-07-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

I figured I'd give an update on Owen's potty training since the last post was me talking about how much trouble he was having pooping and the post before that I mentioned that we were trying to stop the training. Well I am very pleased to announce that our little boy is 100% potty trained!! The only things we need to help with are wiping after pooping and sometimes he has trouble getting his pants/undies down. But other than that, he will let anyone know he has to pee or poop and go in any restroom and not cry or whine at all. It was quite the adventure potty training. I am glad it's over and I have taken some notes for our next, which won't be for about three more years (thank goodness).

How did I get through our last hurdle you ask? Well, we weren't able to get him to use the pull up again; he just would not go in it. So after reading many articles online and seeing what other families did, we decided to just drop the "poop" subject all together and let him figure it out on his own (since he knew what he's suppose to do, he just wasn't doing it). This was very hard for me, especially when Owen was in pain and telling me that his butt hurts. But he is so stubborn and every time I would take him to try, he would scream and cry and jump off the potty and run away. He would get so mad at me (at one point he hit me!). It just became a huge ordeal. So finally, Sean and I discussed things and decided that he knew what to do and when he was ready, then he would be the one to decide to poop. <--(that is soooo important with potty training. Your child needs to feel that they are in control of the whole thing and you are just there to help.) At first it started out kind of ok. He would hold his poop until he couldn't hold it anymore and then cry to me that his butt hurt. So I would just take him to the potty, but not say anything, and put him on the toilet. He would tell me no and cry and want to get off (a lot of the times he would get off and we would just continue this cycle over and over...but again, I did not mention "poop" or anything, I just walked him to the potty and if he'd fight too much I'd take him off and let him go back to what he was doing.), but after about a minute the poop would come out. He would be so happy when it did too, and I would praise him and give him a reward for going, that way he knew that it was a good thing.

Over time this became a little better, he would just whine as we were walking to the bathroom but then would immediately poop after he got on the toilet. Every time he pooped he was so excited and wanted to tell everyone. But again, Sean and I were not pushing the subject and not telling him to do anything. In the mean time, he would always let us know he had to pee and would do that just fine. But the pooping was still tough. Eventually, and I can't really remember the exact day, Owen just started pooping without making a fuss! It started probably a week and a half ago. His digestive schedule changed also. He would say he had to pee and while he was peeing, he'd have to poop too and he would just let it out because he was already on the potty. After that happening a few times, I think that he finally got familiar and comfortable with the idea of pooping and what he needed to do. And now, it started about a week ago (maybe 5 days), he tells you when he has to poop and will just go in and poop with no fuss!! HALLELUJAH!!! It just clicked one day and he was doing it.

And a day or two ago Owen started discovering "bathroom privacy." Now he would like us to stand outside when he goes. Haha. It's so cute. It's actually a little hard for me because I want to help him and make sure he's ok. But he is getting bigger and more independent and can do things on his own now. It's hard because my little man is really becoming a little man and isn't my little baby anymore. He's just getting so big and smart and I can't help but hug and kiss him and try to hold on to these moments because before I know it, he'll be in school, then college, then married...ahhhh (I'm not going to think about that now)!! Anyway, that's all, I just wanted to update you with his potty training. We have our happy little man back...he's back to his normal self and is happier than ever. Plus, I know he's sooo proud to be a big boy that uses the potty. So after about 50 days, Owen is officially a potty trained toddler! I think 50 days is good...that's less than two months!

Zoo Trip! (7/9/2011)

2011-07-15T07:27:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo with my mom and had a blast!! We got there right after they opened so all the animals were awake and very loud/lively. Owen was so thrilled that he could see everything! He especially wanted to see the monkeys but the chimps weren't so lively. They apparently had a little fight yesterday and one of my chimps got an owie on his foot (another chimp bit off his toe) so he had to go to the hospital to have it fixed. The cool thing was that hospital was on site so we went and saw some of the surgery!! Owen was so amazed and concerned for his little monkey friend. It was really cute. Overall the day was great. We rode the train, saw almost every single animal there (a few were off site) and ate lots of goodies! Here are some of the pictures we took:

Look closely...we're in front of a tiger!!

Owen and a lion

Owen and the orangutans!

Owen doing his monkey face! haha.

The sad chimps. :(

"Joey" the chimp in surgery

Lazy kangaroos

The red pandas! (they were gone for a year)

Andrea and Grandma

Owen and the fish

Flamingos!

All of us on the train (it was a tiny car)

Owen on the train...and with his cool new monkey hat.

Ice cream!

Owen and grandma

Owen pooped out on the way home!

We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back. Next summer we're getting season passes so we don't have to pay every time and we will also get discounts inside on stuff too.

What a great husband/daddy we have!

2011-07-15T07:19:00.000-07:00

So Sean stays up all night the day before he goes back to work to get himself back into his work mode since he works graves (night shift). Last night, after he tucked me and Owen into bed, he had the whole night to himself. When I woke up this morning, he was just getting to bed to sleep all day. I got ready, then got Owen ready and then we headed downstairs for breakfast. When I got down, these were sitting on the table:

He got Owen a new car, me flowers and even baby #2 some diapers! It was such a sweet surprise. Sean is so wonderful to us. He even cleaned up the kitchen after dinner last night while I was putting Owen to bed! I sure am lucky.

Here are what my flowers look like after I took them out of the wrapping and put them in a vase. So pretty! I love the hot pink! (Thank you so much honey...I LOVE YOU!)

Two More Weeks!

2011-07-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

Only two more weeks until we find out if Baby #2 is a boy or a girl!!!! July 27th is the day, so mark your calandars and expect a blog post! I'm just so excited!! He/she has been kicking and moving like crazy...I just can't wait for Owen and Sean to be able to feel him/her also.

4th of July Weekend!

2011-07-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Boy oh boy! What a busy and exhausting weekend it was. Our weekend began on Friday evening...after I got of work early (yay!) I went home and napped. Then Sean and I picked up Owen from daycare and we went to dinner before Sean left for work at 6:00pm. After Sean left, Owen and I just hung out and got some stuff done. We made rice crispy treats, did some laundry, played, watched a movie and went to bed. Saturday was extra fun because we had a birthday party to go to that morning. Our friends Brittany and her two-year old Jackson came over to pick us up. The car ride was so cute...Owen and Jack were so funny together. At the party, which was a bounce house place, the kiddos all had so much fun just running around and jumping all over everything. After the fun, they enjoyed pizza and cake and then the party was over. Just in time for naps!!

Well, Owen didn't actually fall asleep for a while, but when he did he was out for a good 3 hours. He woke up a little after 6 pm! (not a good idea) He ended up staying up ALL NIGHT that night because he wasn't tired and then he needed to poop but wouldn't. So he would lie in bed whining and complaining that his butt hurt. Well, no sleep for Owen means no sleep for mama either! And a pregnant mama really needs her sleep!! Owen did finally doze off around 5:40ish but at 6:45, he was up and ready for his day! Then Sean came home that morning and could not believe we were up all night. He felt really bad for me. But I had called my mom and she said she was going to come over and watch Owen for a little bit so I could nap.

When my mom arrived things started smoothly, except for one thing. My screen door has yet to be installed because Sean and I don't have the proper tools, so my mom came over with some tools and her and I got started installing. Haha, yes, I was suppose to be napping at this point. We filled the pool for Owen and he had a blast playing in the water, and we just worked on the door...the whole afternoon! haha, so no nap happened. After my mom left, Owen fell asleep and so did I!! Wahoo! I napped for about two hours...it was very nice. That night, I made sure Owen and I both went to bed on time...and we did! Because the 4th of July was going to be a busy day.

Independence Day was so much fun! Sean got home from work that morning and went to bed...but he didn't have to work that night, so he was going to join us at my mom's house later! Owen and I went over to my mom's for swimming. Thank goodness too, because it was a hot day! We hung out with my brothers (Josh and Chris) and my mom. We swam and BBQ and just had a great time. Sean called and told me that we were going to go to his friend Sal's place for a BBQ that night. And that was a lot of fun too. I really love get togethers...especially with Sean's friends. Owen loves them too...he sure likes to be the center of attention. Haha. After the BBQ we went to watch Sean and his friends play softball before fireworks. It was fun. Owen really wanted to play too. So Brad took him out and was showing him how to throw and catch. I even got to bat!! I really miss playing sports. It was just a lot of fun. We really need to do stuff like that more often. After the game, we all went our separate ways to watch fireworks. Sean, Owen and I just went home because you can see the fireworks from our front yard. Owen had so much fun watching them. he was so excited. After fireworks it was bedtime for the Mattson family. What a long day it was, but it was so fun. I was so happy to finally have Sean home on a holiday (well, half of a holiday). I even put Owen and a festive little outfit:

I hope that everyone else had a wonderful day celebrating our awesome country's independence! Go America! :-)

Spiderman sighting at the park!

2011-07-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

I took Owen to the park last night since the weather was absolutely beautiful and I didn't have anything necessary to do at home. He had so much fun. When we first arrived I was a little nervous about the amount of older kids there with no adult supervision (ages 6-11). But they were nice and didn't get in anyone's way and just played their games. Anyway, Owen started out running around like crazy...he was just so excited to be there. Then he wanted to go on the slides and then the swing. He is so funny when he's swinging, he will literally say, "Weeeeee!" the entire time he's on it. Haha. It cracks me up. After that he decided to go over to the spiderweb-ball, jungle gym, rope thing that they have. Usually she just climbs up one or two ropes and then bounces for a little bit. But the big kids were on it and he was watching their every move. Next thing I know it, Owen is trying his little heart out to make it up the ropes. It was really cute watching him. He would get really frustrated when he couldn't do one, but then he'd look up at the big kids and keep trying. Eventually he got higher than me! At that point I put down the camera and stood under him because I was a nervous wreck watching my baby do this! He was a little spider man! He was so happy and proud of himself. The only problem was, he had no idea how to get down. Haha. I of course helped him, but he was ecstatic. It just showed me how big my little man is getting. I can't believe he's going to be three years old in only 3 1/2 months!! Time really does go by fast, but every minute has been so wonderful. Here are a few pictures from when he started climbing...I don't have any from when he go higher because I was freaking out and getting ready to catch him if he fell. :)

Before we left the park we took a little break. Owen is now at an age where he enjoys picture taking moments. So here are a few pictures of me and Owen smiling and making faces for the camera. Haha, I just love my little-big man so much. :-)

Owen's 1st Movie!

2011-06-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight we took Owen to his first movie at the movie theater!! It went a lot better than I thought. After I got home from work, we packed a bag (pull ups, a pillow for him to sit on, a jacket for after, etc.) and we were off to dinner. We decided to go to McDonald's since it was right across the parking lot from the theater and also Owen want some chicken nuggets for dinner. :-)

Owen was actually smiling but he does is so quickly that it's really hard to get a picture of it. Anyway, after dinner we went over to the theater. He was so excited when we walked in because they had all the Cars 2 posters still up. He kept telling me and Sean, "Look! I gonna see that!" It was so cute to see him so excited. Then we made our way to the concession counter...Owen was really excited for this part because all the candy was displayed at his level AND we told him he could pick out anything he wanted!

After we picked out candy, bought popcorn, nachos and sodas, we were off to the auditorium to find out seats! Owen was sooooo excited. He kept giggling the entire time. I'm glad we chose to go on a week night. That way it wasn't too crowded. I was just worried about someone tall sitting in front of Owen and creating an obstructed view for him. We brought a pillow for him to sit on to help him see better, which I am glad we did. We took a few pictures during our short wait before the movie started...Owen had already started to eat his candy so he wasn't really in the mood for pictures.

Once the movie started, things went smoothly. Owen was so excited and would yell out who characters were and say "Whoa" and "Oh no!" Haha, it was very fun to watch him. We only had one minor incident during a slower part of the movie. Owen didn't seem that interested and really wanted Lightning McQueen to be back on the screen, so out of boredom or frustration he took Sean's nachos and threw them!!! Luckily Sean was almost done and he threw them in our aisle and not at anyone. Sean had to tell him that that was not a good thing to do and Owen started crying...for literally 2 seconds because then the scene changed and caught his attention again. Other than that, he did so good during the movie. However, when the movie ended Owen was not happy. Lol. He started crying and saying "more." It was so cute and funny, but sad at the same time. We actually prepared for this because, knowing our son, he loves to watch movies over and over so we thought this would happen. Earlier in the week I bought a Cars 2 book for him after the movie...so when he started crying I gave him the book and the crying stopped. Thank goodness! Haha. After that we just went back to the car and drove home.

I think Owen's first movie experience went really well! The movie was cute and entertaining (even for adults) and he was interested 95% of the time. I would definitely do this more except it ran us $50+ for tickets and snacks!!! I can't even imagine what the price will be like one day when we have more children. Eeek!

School Bound Sean

2011-06-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well a baby is not the only new and exciting thing happening in the Mattson household. As of recent, Sean has decided to go back to school. I know it's something that he's been wanting to do for a while, but since he was still so new at the department, he wanted to wait until he was a little more established before he talked to the Sergent's about a school schedule. Luckily, these days, there are so many classes offered online and at night that Sean probably won't have too much of an issue with that. Today he met with a counselor at a community college around us and discussed his education plan. So, he'll be finishing up his General Ed. at the community college and then he'll be able to finish up his Bachelors at Sacramento State (hopefully in the next two years). Sean already has a lot of classes under his belt, but since he's kind of changing his major around, not all the classes may apply towards his new one. But that's OK. I'm just so proud of him for doing this! He's already so busy as it is, and to take on school on top of his crazy schedule (and home life) is just amazing to me. I am only taking one class a semester, but Sean is trying to get full loads. His first semester back will be part time since a lot of the classes are already full, but from here on out I think he'll be fine getting into the ones he needs. I think this is just so exciting. I am just so proud of my husband and love him more and more everyday. He always finds ways to amaze me.

Father's Day!

2011-06-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well Father's Day this year was very special. It is Sean's last Father's Day with one child and Owen's last Father's Day with Daddy all to himself!! We had some simple, yet fun things planned for him. First, we're keeping gifts small this year to save for our new bundle arriving this December, so I asked Sean what he wanted. After some thought, he decided on a new pair of shoes...athletic ones. So on one of his off days, he went to the store and picked out the ones he wanted. He sent me a picture and the item number/description. Later on in the week, Owen and I went to the store and got him his shoes. Well, Owen is in this "I wanna call Daddy" phase where he likes to use my phone and call Sean. So as we were driving from the Nike store to Target, I let Owen call Sean. I learned that night that children cannot keep secrets...or that two year olds don't know what secrets are. Here was his conversation with his dad:
Sean - "Hello"
Owen - "Hi Daddy!"
Sean - "Hi Bubba! Whatcha doin?"
Owen - "I go to da store with Mama."
Sean - "Yeah, you are?"
Owen - "Yeah, we got Daddy shoes!"
Sean - " Oooohhh, that's cool!"
Mama - "HAHAHAHAHA! Owen! That was a secret."
That was pretty much the conversation. Owen just told Sean what we were getting. It was so funny. He already knew that I was going to get those, but still, it was just so funny that Owen just told him. At least he didn't tell him his other gifts. Owen had picked out a "Daddy, I love you" book that him and Sean can read together. And I got Sean "Battle : LA" on Blu-ray. Also, since it is a very special Father's Day for them both, I made Sean (and Owen) a DVD slide show of their years together! I put Owen's favorite song and another cute song on it and found all the pictures of Sean and Owen I could and also some really cute ones of Owen and made the slide show. It was about 7-8 minutes long and I think it was pretty cute. I had never made a DVD before but it was really neat showing it on the big screen!

So back to Father's Day...Sean left for work on Saturday night. We said our good-byes and Sean asked me if I was going to clean the house. Haha, I have been EXTREMELY bad at this lately and poor Sean as done EVERYTHING! I told him that we'll see. Usually I tell him I'm going to clean and then it never happens because I either fall asleep or get side tracked. Then I asked him that if there was one thing he wanted cleaned, if I couldn't do it all, what would it be. He chose the bedroom! Haha, our bedroom was cleaned up for Mother's Day but both of us are really bad at keeping it that way. We have a pile of dirty clothes and then after laundry day, the clean clothes always make it to our room but never make it to their drawers. haha. Plus, my shoes never seem to make it back to their appropriate places either. So tonight was the night that I was going to make Sean's wish come true!

Owen and I (mostly just me) cleaned the downstairs. I mean cleaned...it was spotless! Everything was put away and it looked great! But by the time we finished, it was pretty late and we were both pretty tired. We made our way upstairs to get started on the bedroom and...I fell asleep! Ahhh! But not to worry, I woke up early on Sunday and cleaned it!! Our house looked absolutely wonderful! After I finished, I got ready for church and woke up Owen and got him ready as well. Then we hurried downstairs for Sean's arrival. We put all the gifts out on the table and got breakfast ready...so when he walked in everything would be perfect and ready to go! And it was! Happy Father's Day Sean!! He was very impressed when he walked in. As soon as he came in we sat him on the couch to watch his DVD! I think he liked it. After that we opened gifts, he was happy to get them. But I could see there was some concern in his face. He asked, "The downstairs looks awesome, but you didn't clean the bedroom, huh?" I just told him that he'd have to see for himself. He was double impressed!! Wahoo! I love making him happy. :-) We had a nice dinner that evening and just enjoyed time together as a family before he left for work.

I am so grateful for Sean and all that he does for our family. He is a wonderful man and such an amazing father to Owen. I am so excited that we will be adding on to our family and making even more memories together. I hope he knows just how much we love and appreciate him.

(sorry, no pictures...i was so bad about taking them that day.)

And then there were FOUR!

2011-06-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

You guessed it, Andrea is pregnant with baby #2!!! Due December 9th or 15th, today is her 15 or 14 week mark. Which means she's past the first trimester and only (about) six more weeks until they find out the sex! To find out more of what's been going on, feel free to visit Andrea's personal blog at http://andreamattson.blogspot.com/.

April 3rd - Day they found out!

Andrea EXCITED to see the positive pregnancy test!!!

Andrea and Sean soooo happy for #2!

Andrea side shot of week 4! (let's see how much she grows)

April 25 - 1st Doctor Appt!

(and the day family found out)

Ultrasound from first appointment! Our little peanut is that tiny white blob in the bottom right of the big black oval (uterus). The doctor estimated 6 weeks, 4 days along with a due date of December 15th!

June 1st - Prenatal Screening

(everything went great!)

Profile of baby...look how much he/she has grown!
A whole 2" long!!

After the measurements, the doctor gave a new due date of December 9th! Which means that Andrea is 12 weeks, 6 days along at this point! Her doctor said that at her 20 week appointment they will confirm a new and official due date, so stay tuned!

Face shot - a little alien-ish but still adorable!

June 10th - Second Trimester

(14 weeks)

Second Trimester! (According to the December 9th due date). Andrea also informed her work of the exciting news!! Yay!

June 15th - Tell EVERYONE!

Owen's so excited to be a big brother!!

Andrea and Baby #2

Andrea at 15 weeks!

So far this pregnancy has been great! If you would like to read more about all the details, again, just check out Andrea's personal blog: http://andreamattson.blogspot.com/. Sean and Andrea are so excited for this new addition to their little family. Owen is asking for a sister, but since that cannot be guaranteed he said he'd still be happy if he gets a brother too. Haha. The next exciting date to look out for is July 29th...they find out if it's a boy or a girl!!! Yeah!

PT update! (Beware, it's all about poop!)

2011-06-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

Well we have some good news!! Owen has pooped on his own again!! Yay! No the experience has not been very pleasant, but I am just so relieved that he pooped! Like I said in my previous post, I had to give him a suppository on Sunday (6/5) since he didn't go for FIVE days! Then Friday came around and he still hadn't gone!! I just loaded him up with fiber and put a drop of this very light, baby laxative in his juice and said a prayer that he'd poop. Well, at 4:00pm I received a call from daycare and they informed me he did!! yay!! What a relief. When I got home from work Sean told me that he had pooped again. That night his poop was still painful for him, I think he was just cramping or something. Saturday, nothing. Sunday was very interesting. I have decided that I 'm not going to give him anything and just act like everything is normal. So I just fed him like I normally do and we played, went to church, and all that good stuff. That evening he was getting a little cranky. I put him on the potty and I could literally see that he needed to poop because it was right there!! He was fighting it so much!! For about 30 minutes he was telling me that he hurts so I'd put him on the potty but he'd get so mad and just want off. He eventually just laid down on the couch and fell asleep. I just let him sleep even though it was pretty early for bed and too late for a nap. He had been through so much in the past hour. He woke up about an hour later crying because...he pooped!! Haha, since he relaxed he was able to let it come out. Well, the fun isn't over yet. Haha. After that poop, I put him in his bed since he was still out of it. He woke up about an hour and a half later crying. He said he still hurt. I felt so bad and there's really nothing you can do to help them. So he came back downstairs with me and laid on my lap and just farted...a whole lot. Poor guy. :( We watched some of his shows, had some dinner, and he was getting cranky again. By this time it was 10:00pm and I told him that it was time for bed. We went upstairs and I put on a movie in my room and let him lay there with me until he fell asleep. Well, he didn't. He was just crying and screaming and rolling around. I was so tired but of course you can't sleep with your baby in so much pain and plus he was super loud. So I told him that he needed to sit on the potty. He did not want to, but he also refuses to go potty in his pull up so I don't know what he was planning on doing. haha. So I took him to the bathroom anyway. I put him on the potty and he peed (yay!) but he still needed to poop. So I started tickling him. HAHA! I know, but I was thinking that this might help him get it out. And it did...after I tickled him for about 10 minutes, he was so mad. He told me he didn't want to potty so I said fine. I told him that I will put his pull up back on but he will need to go to his room and go to bed. (yes, i was very frustrated at this point...it was 11:45pm!) As I walked to his room to grab a pull up I hear him yell, "mama! it's coming out!" but in more of a terrified voice. I ran back in and there he was, pooping his little heart out. YAY!!!! After it all came out, he was sooooo excited and said, "mama, i feel better." I was so happy and relieved, I just hugged him and said good. I wanted to say "I told you so" but I didn't want to ruin our precious poop moment. haha. After I cleaned him up he wanted to look in the potty at his load he just dropped (haha, why do boys do this?). He was so proud and waved bye to it as he flushed it. I asked him if it hurt when he pushed it out and he said no!! You see, if he would just not fight it for so long, pooping would be a much pleasant experience. But how do you explain that to a two year old? Anyway, after that I was so tired and tired of fighting with him that I let him sleep in my room (Sean was working). I put on a movie and I fell asleep right away. What a night. I really hope that he starts pooping regularly and without crying. He was such a good pooper before. I think when we started potty training he really understood that he was not to do anything in his underwear but he might not have been ready to sit on a potty an poop. Honestly, I think you should try to train your child to go poop before you start the pee! Well, this was only one day of him pooping without laxative help, so let's pray that he will continue to get back into a regular routine and not freak out so much. I just want my happy boy back. My heart breaks every time he needs to poop. :(

Potty Training Adventures!

2011-06-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

Well, May 28th was day 1 of Owen's potty training. And he has been doing wonderful! That weekend he picked it up so well and only had 2 accidents on day one and has not had one since!! We are having only one issue...and it's kind of a major issue. He WILL NOT go poop! Not just not poop in the potty, but now he's terrified to poop all together. My poor baby. :( I have tried changing his diet, giving him laxatives and this past Sunday I had to give him a suppository! He held it for FIVE days!! I called the hospital and they told me to do that, just so he can empty himself. Well, since then he still refuses to poop. He's had 3 successful poops in the potty, but everytime it hurts because he held it in for so long. Now I think he thinks that pooping will hurt no matter what. So what are we going to do now you ask? Let me tell you.

This morning I put him in a pull up. I just want him to go poop. At this point I don't really care if he goes back to diapers/pull ups, I just want him to be back on his regular potty schedule. Once he is able to start pooping again, then I will try the potty thing again. We're keeping him in pull ups because this still gives him the option to use the potty to pee if he wants to. But I think I'm going to take a break from the potty training just so my little man can relieve himself without feeling scared. I just feel so bad. I have never heard of people having this issue. But today I spoke with a lady at my work, and she had the exact same problem with her son when he was younger. So it was nice to talk to someone who's been there.

Owen is only 2 1/2 so I'm not in a hurry to get him potty trained. He was just ready for it and was so excited when we started. I didn't think that he'd stop pooping because of it! Haha, oh well. I'm going to stop for about a month, then we'll try it again. Hopefully round two will be better. Now that I know what works for him and what doesn't, I think I know what I need to do to help him conquer this fear. Owen got an A+ in pee pee in the potty, but didn't do so well with the poopies. My poor little man just hasn't been himself since we started. And who can blame him, it's gotta be a life disrupting experience...one minute you're in complete control of your potties and then next minute someone tells you you have to sit on a potty. His whole world was changed upside down. I'll post any updates on the pottying, but for now, I think we're going to give it a break just so Owen can get back on a schedule again.

Rough Morning

2011-05-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I am back in school. This is my last week of the semester and I have an essay due today. I have been slowly working on in over the past few days, but just finished it last night. Or should I say this morning at 1:00am!! My sweet husband Sean was so kind to help me by proof reading it and giving some advice on stuff. I was very grateful for that. I am also grateful for his ability to get up when his alarm goes off or when he needs to. My alarms never went off this morning but Sean helped me get out of bed. It was extra hard today since I had gone to bed so late. I was moving rather slow this morning but felt that I would still be able to get myself ready and Owen and out the door on time, so I told Sean to just go to bed (he works night shift and sleeps during the day). Well Owen woke up in a wonderful mood. He was ready for the day to begin. However, he woke up rather late in the morning, which means his morning was going to be cut very short. He was very good for me the whole 15 minutes we were downstairs, but then when I asked him to get his jacket on so we could leave, his happy face turned up side down! He was so mad and ran away from me. I was ignoring this, hoping that he would calm down and come to the car with me. But no, this episode dragged on for another 15 minutes, and when I realized what time it was I knew I wasn't going to make it to work on time if I took Owen to school also. So, I woke up Sean. :-( I felt so bad because I told him that I was going to be able to do everything. He is so wonderful to me and I just wanted to post this. He didn't come down upset or anything, even though I know that he had been trying to sleep and was super tired. He just calmly got Owen calmed down, gave me a kiss so I could leave (and try to get to work on time), and he took care of getting Owen to school. I don't know what I'd do without him. He really makes my life so much easier and better and I am so grateful for him. He has developed so much patience and is always willing to help me with stuff that I know he really doesn't want to (like the dishes, or bathing Owen, or finding my phone for me when we're already in bed). Even though this morning was rough and I was late for work, my Sean always makes things better with the little things he does for me.

Family Photos! (5/10/11)

2011-05-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

We got some family pictures taken again. Last time we got them done was September of 2009 by our friend Carrie Butler...her photography is amazing! However, she lives in Utah and we didn't have the funds to have her come out here to do them again. So.....my little brother Chris did them! He is actually starting a photography business of his own and we're helping him build his portfolio. Despite the fact that Owen did not want to take pictures at all that evening and it was really windy so my hair is blowing like crazy, we are very pleased with the outcome. I just love my family so much and am so blessed that they bring such joy to my life. Thank you to my little brother Chris for taking time to do these. You're the best. :) We love you!
Here are some of our favorites:

And here is our wonderful photographer! Thanks again Chris!!

Purrrrrrrr

2011-05-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

So every morning I have to go in and wake Owen up for the day, which is nice because I am able to get ready without any interruptions. This morning was extra cute. He loves when I come in and get him in the morning. If he has gotten enough sleep, he is absolutely charming...but if he's still tired, he is such a grump! (haha, he gets that from me.) Anyway, this morning I go in there and I always open the door saying "Good Morning Owen" in the sweetest mom voice possible. He still had his eyes closed, but smiled. Then I walked over and laid on his bed and began to softly tickle his feet. "I said good morning," I repeated and he just giggled and opened his eyes and then popped straight up. "Hi mama," he finally said, "where daddy?" Haha, he always asks where Sean is in the mornings. I told him that he was in his room sleeping. Then he asked, "where Micki?" (our cat). She had just walked in the room and I told him, "she's right there." He always watches me call Micki and always tries to get her to come to him, so he starts patting the bed trying to get her to come up. I of course help and she jumps up for some love. Owen gets so excited when she comes to him. She was rubbing her head on his feet and purring so loud. I said, "Owen, listen." He got all concerned, but quiet. "Do you hear that sound coming from Micki?" "What that mama?" he asked. "That's her purr. She purrs when she's happy." "Oh, I happy mama!" he said all excited, "You happy too?" "Yes, Owen, I am very happy," I replied. He smiled and gave me a hug. I just love my little man so much. I love that he is getting old enough to have conversations, even if they are so simple. After that we went downstairs to eat breakfast and leave. It was just a nice morning. He even went to school just fine. Usually he cries and doesn't want me to leave, but this morning he gave me a hug and a kiss and went and sat with one of his teachers who was reading a book to the other kids. I am very happy and Owen is such a big reason why. I absolutely love being a mom. I am going to try to post more moments like these, because it's these little moments that matter. These are the moments I cherish.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

I am very grateful to be a mom...and a wife! Here is a picture of my first Mother's Day gift I received. I got it on Thursday...Owen brought it home from daycare and he was sooooo excited and proud to give it to me. I love it!

Mother's Day was a very nice day for me. Nothing out of the norm, but just nice. Saturday was the beginning of my Mother's Day weekend. Sean had to work night shift so he was home sleeping. This gave me a free day to go get some errands done and spend time with my mom. First we left and dropped my car off to get a smog check and certificate...it passed!!!! Then after that, my mom, Owen and I all went to go see her kitchen guy...she's getting her kitched remodeled and needed to get everything finalized. That took a little longer than expected, but that was ok. While driving back to town, Owen fell asleep. I took my mom to Panda Express (the drive thru) for lunch...haha. I had an appointment to do hair at 1:00pm, so I needed to leave. I felt bad that I didn't get to sit and enjoy my yumminess with her, because I had to leave, but that's ok...our day didn't end there. She watched Owen for me as I left to go do my sister-in-law Julie's little sister's hair for her violin concert. It was fun. I really enjoy doing hair and people apparently like what I do so it all works out. After that I went back to my mom's and we hung out for a little bit at her house. Then she took me to get some ice cream! Yummmy! After ice cream, we went back to her place and ran into my older brother Josh and his friend Matt. Then Jairo (my mom's husband) came home for work. We left shortly after that. Sean was awake when we got home. And he had an early Mother's Day gift for me sitting on the table!

Flowers, a very sweet card, Twix and a Sprite. :-) He's so sweet. He had to work that night, so there really wasn't any other time to give me those since he gets home when we're getting ready for church on Sunday. It was just a nice evening we spent before Sean had to leave for work. After he left, Owen wanted to watch a movie. I was in the middle of getting things ready for dinner when I noticed that he was asleep!! It was 6:15 at this point. So I decided to leave him there and let him get into a deeper sleep...well, he woke up and asked for some milk. I gave him his cup and he sat up and continued watching his movie. Only this time he asked for me to sit with him. Haha, it was really cute. So I did. Well, not too long later, he was out. It was about 7:00pm and my little Owen was asleep. YES! He is such a night owl, so for him to be asleep for before 9:00pm is a wonderful thing in our household. I took full advantage of this moment. I watched one of my TV shows! Haha. Then I put him in his bed and decided to give myself a Mother's Day gift...well, I just decided to do something that I hadn't touched since we moved to our new place.

I cleaned our bedroom!! Haha, I know this doesn't seem like it would matter to most, but if you would have seen our room before I cleaned it, you would completely understand why I am so excited that this is done. (I did not take any before pictures because it was that bad, haha.) We moved in the second weekend of March and our bedroom was full of boxes, laundry baskets and bags of (clean) clothes, and just a bunch of our stuff that we never put away...we literally have not made an attempt to do anything in our room since we moved. Our closet only had some clothes hanging in it, and that was it...the rest of the space was not being used! Since Owen fell asleep at 7:00pm, this gave me plenty of time to get my stuff done and get to bed at a decent hour too. I was so excited to clean my room. For two reasons, (1) it really needed to be done and (2) to get my other Mother's Day gift from Sean! Haha. You see, Thursday night Sean took me out to get a new comforter for our bed because I have been asking for one for a while. We went to Ikea that night and I had so much fun just looking at all the pretty stuff and dreaming about what our place could look like. Haha. Then we went to Taco Bell (yummmmy) for dinner, then we went to Big Spoon Yogurt for dessert and then we just spent the evening relaxing at home. That night I told Sean that I really wanted to get our room clean, because I don't think I'd be able to enjoy having a pretty new comforter in such a messy room. So we made a deal. He would let me have my Mother's Day gift on Mother's Day only if I got the room clean. I know what most of you are thinking...it's Mother's Day, why didn't he just do it himself for you? Well, anyone who knows me knows how picky I am about organization. I would have been grateful if it did, however, I would have probably just reorganized the whole room because things weren't put where I think they should be. Hahahaha. I would have much rather just cleaned it myself, that way I know where everything is and it's all done my way (yes, a little selfish I know). I dont' think Sean cares that I don't want him to do the organizing, haha, I think he only cares when it doesn't get done for a very long time. Anyway, back to my gift. So Thursday we made the deal...I was so excited. Now it's Saturday and I am working hard. I was so proud when I was able to see the WHOLE floor! The room is actually a lot bigger than I thought. With everything put away and the laundry in the wash, the only thing left to do is sort the basket of socks and vacuum!! Yay!! What a great gift for me! I slept very great Saturday night. I couldn't wait for Sean to get home on Sunday and see it!

Sunday morning...Owen woke up at 4:30am!!! Don't worry, it was just because he was thirsty and he wanted to know where daddy was. I gave him a drink and told him that daddy was still at work. He was really sad and then I asked if he wanted to lay down in daddy's spot until he got home. He was so excited to do that. As soon as I brought him into my room and his head hit the pillow, he was out. YES! More sleep for me!! Well, Sean came home about 7:00am. Owen and I were awake and lying in bed still. I told Owen that daddy was home and he got so excited. He loves to steal Sean's spot in our bed because this always starts a wrestling match between the two of them. So Owen got really giggly and put the blankets over his head. Sean walked in, and playing along says, "Where's my family? And who's in my spot?" Owen, full of energy and excitement, throws the blankets off his face and yells, "MY SPOT!" Then the wrestling match begins. This is probably one of my favorite things that Sean and Owen do together. It is so cute to watch them. Owen is so happy and Sean is just so wonderful with him. I am grateful for his patience too, I know he's usually tired when this match begins, but he never complains and just goes with it. He really is a wonderful dad and understands the important moments that are worth losing a few minutes of sleep over.

Well after the match and Sean really going to bed, Owen and I went downstairs to watch some TV so I could finish getting ready. My little brother Chris is in town visiting, so he was asleep on the couch. Owen and him watch "How to Train a Dragon" and Owen ate his pop tart and milk. Once we were ready, Owen and I headed off for church. Which went pretty well. All the women received chocolate...yes! And Owen went to nursery. He had a hard time at first, but he gets over that pretty fast. I went to Sunday School with Julie and then to Relief Society. I had to teach! My lesson was on honesty. I get so nervous teaching adults. I just feel like I have nothing new to say or I don't know anything that they don't already know. Oh well, I think it went well and at least I only do it once a month. After church, I picked up Owen. He had a giant card with his hand prints on it and a magnet with his picture on it for me. It was so cute. Again, he was so excited to give them to me. But he was more excited to go home. Haha.

When we got home, we sat on the couch and ate chocolate together and watched some Mickey Mouse. Haha, it was really nice to just sit and spend time with him. We played and talked and just enjoyed our afternoon. Then Sean woke up. He let me watch my shows and played with Owen for a little bit. Then he got ready for work and then it was time for him to leave. After he left, it was time for dinner. I really wasn't in the mood to cook so I just made mac n cheese and some broccoli. Owen had a good experience with broccoli the last time I made it, but I would have never imagined that he would LOVE it like he does. That's all he ate! He didn't want anything else, just broccoli. Haha. I wasn't complaining, well, actually yes I was. It was really good and he kept taking mine! Haha. At least he's eating his veggies, right?! After dinner I put in Toy Story 2 and Owen fell asleep. I cleaned up the kitchen and went to bed. It was a nice and relaxing day. Nothing out of the norm, but I didn't have any freak outs or tantrums, so that made it all the more pleasant. I am so grateful to be a mother. Owen brings so much joy and gratitude to my life. He is making me a better person everyday. I love him so much and am so happy that I can celebrate being a mom because he came into our lives. (I wish I had more pictures of my day, but I am really bad at remembering to take them.)

Easter weekend!

2011-04-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

This Easter weekend started off just wonderfully. Sean and I haven't had a chance to go on our yearly anniversary trip yet since December was pretty busy and so far this year has been also. So since this past weekend was Sean's last weekend home before his schedule changed, we decided to do an overnighter in old Sacramento. My mom watched Owen for us that night. So after work on Friday we met each other at the hotel. We checked in and dropped off our stuff, then went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. After that we came back to the hotel and watched TV and just relaxed...which was so nice not to worry about what Owen was getting into or being attacked by our devil cat. We slept in that next morning...which was heaven! After we checked out and put our stuff in the car, we walked to Old Sacramento and walked around for a little. It was fun. Then we went to Joe's Crab Shack for lunch! Yummy! After lunch Sean took me back to my car, which was still parked in my work parking garage, and we drove home. Here are the very few pictures that we took:

Sean taking apart (and hiding) his gun before we left for dinner.

Us after 4 years!!

I had to get a kissing one too. :)

After we got home, I had to run a few errands. So I took Owen and Sean took a nap. Owen and I went to ride the train too! He loves the train so much, I don't mind taking him when we're out since it's only $2. Here's our picture from our ride:

I just love his big, cheesy smile

Well Easter day was very...hectic. Owen fell asleep on Saturday at 7:00pm! I wanted to color eggs and get everything ready for Sunday, but that didn't happen. So Sunday, Sean and I woke up early and filled about 30-35 plastic eggs with Goldfish and hid them all over the backyard. We got the hard boiled eggs out and all the coloring stuff ready. When we woke up Owen we told him it was time to go downstairs and find the eggs. When he got downstairs he saw his two baskets sitting on the couch. One was from my dad and step mom Jeannine. It was so cute, here's the picture:

And his other basket was from Sean and me. Sean had to get him a new WWE belt, haha. But boy, he was excited to get it. See!

After he got his basket, it was time to got Easter egg hunting. He had to wear his belt! Haha. But it didn't last long because he realized he couldn't bend down to pick up the eggs with it on. It was so cute to see the joy and excitement in his face when he was finding the eggs. He looked so proud and was so happy every time he put one in his bucket. He was so happy when he filled it up.

After his egg hunt it was time to dye the eggs! haha, see what i mean when I say it was a hectic morning. Owen had soooo much fun picking the colors and coloring on the eggs with the "magic" crayon. He loved stirring the egg in the dye too. We only did 12 eggs since we still needed to eat breakfast and get ready for church. But it was a lot of fun. Sean got ready first and while he was getting ready I made cinnamon rolls. Then I got ready. I had matching outfits for us all. I really only do this about twice a year, so i was really excited. I found a green and white striped shirt for Owen. Sean had a green tie to wear. And I just had a green shirt. But we all wore khaki colored bottoms. Here's the picture we took, the sun is shining on mine and Sean's head, but you get the idea. Owen looks pretty cute.

Church was really nice. Owen went to nursery all by himself for the first time. Which meant Sean and I could actually enjoy Sunday school together. After church Owen was telling me about Jesus, which was awesome! And it was really cute. After church we had a BBQ with my mom and step dad, Jairo. It was really great. We had tri tip steak, shrimp, mashed potatoes, salad, strawberries, cupcakes, rolls...but not in that order. :) We all just hung out and relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. My mom brought a basket for Owen too. I didn't get a picture of it, but I did get a picture of one of the shirts she got him:

Yes, my son LOVES WWE wrestling. Haha, but that's ok. He had a great Easter. After the dinner was over, my mom and Jairo went home and Sean, Owen and I just hung out. We watched a movie and cleaned up everything. It was a great day for all of us. I just love Easter and can't wait for next year. We're going to try to make it more about Christ next year and be a little more prepared with everything, so I'm looking forward to that. :)

Mark Your Calendars!

2011-04-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

May will be potty training month for Owen! I'm so excited to start and conquer this. We bought a huge pack of diapers and I'm hoping that it's the last pack we will have to buy! A friend of mine gave me a 3-Day potty training guidebook, so I'm hoping that it really works and we will have this little guy out of diapers in no time. I think Owen will have a rough time at first, but once he discovers how wonderful it is to be so independent I know he's going to love it! This month I'm going to work on talking to him about how much of a big boy he is and also keep referring to his diapers as "yucky". I think that he's ready because he wants his diaper changed as soon as he goes to the bathroom and sometimes he doesn't even want it back on because he doesn't like the cushion in between his legs. We are also going to go to the store and let him pick out all his new undies and his potty seats. We need two because we have a bathroom upstairs and downstairs now. We have a potty but he doesnt' seem to fit on it correctly, so this time I'm going to let him sit on the potties and make sure it's a good fit for him. I still can't believe that he's 2 1/2! He'll be exactly 30 months on Wednesday the 13th. My little man is just getting so big so fast. I love him more than anything. He's so much fun and so sweet and brings so much joy into my life. I know Sean feels the same. Him and Owen are the cutest together. I just love my family so much!

(We really need to take a new family pic...this one is from February)

G.C. and WRESTLEMANIA!!

2011-04-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

Today was a very exciting day for our little family. It was day two of General Conference so we stayed home to watch it. Seth and Julie came over and made us breakfast. Well, Julie was the one who actually made it. She made waffles and they were so yummy! After we ate we had conference on, but Owen stole the focus and it turned into a Daddy vs. Uncle Seth vs. Owen wrestling match. Haha, Julie and I tried to pay attention to the talks but it was very difficult to focus with all the commotion. But it was ok, they all eventually calmed down and we got to listen to a few talks most of the way through. General Conference was great, I always feel the spirit when I hear the words of the Lord.

In between Conference sessions I went to a baby shower for a friend of mine. I felt so guilty because there was a talk directed toward keeping the Sabbath day holy and not doing stuff. Owen fell asleep right as I left, so that gave Sean some quiet time. The baby shower was a lot of fun. I wanted to stay longer but I had to come home for a previously planned engagement so I was only able to stay for a short while. But the party was still so fun, it was great to see everyone and celebrate in this wonderful time! I made her a diaper cake...my first one! It was a lot of fun to make and think it turned out pretty ok. Here's a picture.

Later on in the day was Wrestlemania!! Haha, this is a once a year event that we watch with Sean's friends. It's actually really fun. Owen loves it because he LOVES wrestling. During the event, Owen again stole the focus and was wrestling with everyone! Haha...I hope they didn't mind. He was having such a great time. I love when Sean's friends come over, we always have a great time.

After Wrestlemania was over we watched the end of a Dodgers vs. Giants baseball game. Everyone left after that. It was just a wonderful day today.

February 2011

2011-03-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

So now on to February. I already posted our Valentines day adventure earlier (Mattson Family Moments: Love Day Fun!) but the rest of the month was just as fun. Owen had a few creations of artwork happen, on being with play dough. He told me he was making Frosty the Snowman, and then Thomas the Tank Engine. He was sure pretty proud of himself.

Later in the week he also decided to draw with some markers. Luckily for us, they were washable! Here he is, again, so proud of his work. I couldn't get mad, he was just so dang cute. And walls are paintable if it didn't come off, but they did...we made him clean it up. And he loved it!

For Christmas I got Sean tickets to see his favorite hockey team, the Colorado Avalanche. They were playing the San Jose Sharks that night and unfortunately lost. But we had a great time anyway. We were surrounded by cool people, so that made the experience a lot better. That night my mom watched Owen and took him to see Disney on Ice! I wish I had some pictures from that, but I don't. The two of them had such a fun time. Here are a few pictures from the hockey game.

The last weekend in February was very busy. Sean had to work that weekend, so Owen and I made plans with Shannon to go to her co worker's daughter's birthday party. It was at this fun house place and Owen was so excited to be there. I have never seen my boy smile and laugh so much in his entire life! I think we're going to have to do something very similar for his birthday this year. He had so much fun. And so did me and Shannon, what a great workout for us! Haha.

After our fun with Shannon, Owen and I raced home to meet up with Sean (who had just gotten off work) and get ready for Lauren and Brandon's wedding reception. It was so beautiful!! I am so happy for them both. I got to hang out with Heather while I was there, her and I need to hang out more because it was really nice to just have some girl talk. Here are a few pictures from that.

Well, that's really all I have so far. February was another great month in 2011. March was the month we moved, and I also posted pictures of our new place earlier, so if you haven't seen that yet you'll have to check it out (Mattson Family Moments: WE MOVED!). This year so far has been busy but very exciting. Owen is learning and growing so much. I still can't believe I have a 2 1/2 year old. I am so blessed for my son and my wonderful husband. They are my reason for smiling everyday.

JANUARY 2011

2011-03-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

2011 is the year of love! Well at least that how it started for us. We were honored to attend a friend of mine's wedding on January 1st! Sean had to leave for work during it, but I am so glad he came and stayed as long as he could. Danielle and Chris' wedding was absolutely beautiful and we got so catch up with some old friends. Shannon and RJ sat with us and hung out with us most of the time. Here are some pictures.

Also in January, Sean got a shift change...finally! He has been on night shift since basically June of last year! But he is on day shift with weekends off!!! So we of course, had some family fun. First, we went to the Nut Tree park so that Sean and Owen could have some daddy-son time on the train...and so we could have lunch too. It was a fun day. Here are some pictures.

And the most exciting part of January (for us) was very exciting because we took Owen to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium for the first time. It was so much fun and very educational. I was sad because the shark/deep sea creatures exhibit was closed, but that just means we'll have to go back this summer! Here are pictures from that trip.

January was so much fun, what a great way to start off the year. I'm so glad we were able to have some fun weekends with Sean while he's on his new shift. I just love my family so much.

December 2010!!

2011-03-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I need to update everyone on what's been going on in the Mattson household. Christmas was a success! Owen made out like a bandit and we want to thank everyone to made this year so wonderful for us. We are truly blessed with wonderful family and friends. Here's a few pictures.

Also in December we went to Dudetown Christmas again. Dudetown is the name of Sean's group of best friends, they are some of the nicest and most genuine people I know. I love when we are all together. And Owen sure did too, he was the life of the party...well, our nerf gun was. :) Here are a few pictures from that.

And finally, December was an exciting month for two of our family members....Julie and Chris!! My brother Chris graduated film school in LA on December 20th! We were unfortunately unable to attend, but my mom went down and saw the whole thing. I'm so proud of him. Now everyone keep him in your prayers that he gets a job soon!! As for Julie, she graduated Nursing School on December 17th!! Yay! We did go to her graduation and party. I am so proud of her, that is a huge accomplishment. Now, we need to keep her in our prayers too that she finds a job soon. But congrats to both of them on their achievements. What an exciting time in their lives. Here are a few pictures from Julie's graduation.

As you can see from the pictures, family came out for the event! Sean's parents and sister were here to support Julie. So not only did we have a great time at the graduation and party, but we also had a great visit. Here are a few pictures from that. We love and miss them so much!

Rod tried to exclude himself from all the pictures, but I got one!

December was a wonderful month. Sean and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary on December 16th! We just went to dinner but he has a trip planned for later in the year! Sean and I also attended his department's Christmas dinner, which was a lot of fun. We are so grateful for the year of 2010 and all the blessings we have seen. We may still have struggles and hardships, but how blessed are we that Sean was able to find a job in this economy. I see the Lord's work in my life everyday, and everyday I look around and try to make sure that I have done something good or that I at least have the good, grateful feeling that I know I should.

WE MOVED!

2011-03-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well we are officially out of apartment living and into a duplex! Half a house! We're one step closer to a full house! I feel like we have grown up a little bit. Our duplex is absolutely perfect for our family. There's a garage, a backyard and 3 bedrooms. It's big enough for us to grow as a family and not feel so squeezed in. Right now we have so much unpacking to do. I just can't wait for everything to be in it's place and all my pictures, curtains and decor back up! Here are pictures of the place (empty):

Front view (our half)

Front door

Living space (view from when you walk in...living & dining)

Kitchen!

Back yard!

Covered patio

Side yard (and trash/recycling bins)

Living space - view from the back door

Hallway - pantry to the left and half bathroom

Half bathroom (downstairs)

stairs - going up from downstairs

stairs - going up from the landing

bathroom - vanity/sink

bathroom - toilet and shower/tub

1st (master) bedroom, from the door view

1st (master) bedroom, closet view

Linen closet

2nd (Owen's) bedroom, from the door view

2nd (Owen's) bedroom, closet view

3rd bedroom, from the door view

3rd bedroom, closet view

The garage pictures wouldn't upload...but that's ok, you get the idea. That's our place! I love it! I'll post new pictures once everything is put away and we're all unpacked. :-) Oh and let me know if you want our new address, or if you want to come over!

Come What May and Love It

2011-02-15T21:52:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd share. This was posted on a friend's blog recently and was a nice reminder of how we should handle the trials that are thrown our way. This talk has always been one to help me get through even the toughest of times.

Come What May and Love It

Love Day Fun!

2011-02-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

This Valentine's Day was a good one. Sean and I started a new family tradition back in 2009 that we are going to try to keep going. We make homemade, heart-shaped pizzas! And this year Owen was old enough to actually participate. It was so fun to watch him and help him. He was more interested in eating the cheese than decorating, but that's ok. We were together as a family celebrating this day of love! We did do small gifts for each other. Owen got "Cars" cups, fork and spoon...he was pretty excited for those. I got Sean a box of Reese's and a romantic card! And Sean got me flowers that were delivered to my work at morning, with a box of chocolates and the sweetest note attached. It was a very fun day and I hope that we are able to keep up our family pizza tradition in the years to come. I love my family so much and I'm so glad someone made up a day specifically to celebrate our LOVE for each other. :) Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Boy Owen

Daddy making his pizza

Owen pizza - before

Owen pizza - after

Sean pizza - before

Sean pizza - after

Andrea pizza - before

Andrea pizza - after

Chocolate Pie for dessert! YUMMY!

He's so cute when he eats :)

Mama and Owen! (Owen's watching WWE)

Owen on his sugar high!

Our family!

Hello out there!!!

2011-02-11T23:34:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been forever since I have written on here...well, I guess it's only been a month but still, I feel like it's been forever. Anyway, I have been working on a post updating all the life happenings lately, I just need to finish uploading some pictures and then I can post it! We have news...we're moving!! Not to a new city or state or anything, just to a larger place so we can "grow"!!!! We are starting to feel cramped in our little apartment. Owen is getting so big and active and it's just getting hard to keep him entertained in our tiny apartment. This new place is a duplex and has a backyard and garage, as well as 3 bedrooms! I am so excited, I can't wait!!! We should be moving the 1st or 2nd weekend in March. Once we do, I'll be sure to post pictures of the new place. We're planning on staying here for a long time...like until we buy a house some day! Unless we move somewhere, but I don't think that's going to happen because Sean loves his job! :) Which is fine with me...I love Owen's preschool and don't want to go anywhere that would make us have to change schools. Well, I need to get to bed, but I just wanted to post to say that more posts are coming soon!! OK...chao!

Mommy the horse!

2010-12-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures for Owen and me playing horse! Haha. He loves this game. :) But not so much when he keeps falling off. But ice packs fix everything! haha.

Time for Decorations!

2010-12-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

I love this time of the year. I love pulling out all the Christmas decor and turning our apartment into a winter wonderland!! Haha, well, not really a winter wonderland but it sure looks a lot prettier than it normally does. This year Owen was a little older and could actually decorate all by himself! After about 3 ornaments, he was done. I guess decorating the tree isn't that exciting for him....yet. I know he'll be excited one day. :) Our cat loves decorating...well, the boxes that is.

After we got the inside finished, it was time for the outside. We put lights on our window, balcony and a wreath on our front door! I made the wreath myself, just bought the wreath for $2 and used my own ornaments. I think everything looked pretty nice after we were done.

About a week after we decorated, I had craft time with Owen. I try to make the holiday season fun for him. This year we decided to make a paper plate snowman! haha. We used 3 paper plate, cotton balls and glue. After everything dried, I attached the face, nose, hat and scarf and hung him up! Owen was pretty proud of his work. Everyone who came over, he had to show them his snowman. :)

I think everything turned out pretty good. My favorite thing to do is wait for it to get dark, turn off all the lights and turn on all the Christmas lights and just relax on the couch. Owen and I do this when Sean is working, we usually watch a Christmas movie too! Another one of my favorite things is my favorite ornament...Micki!!

Haha! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this year was extra exciting for me, I had a chance to cook the whole meal! It was a little overwhelming, but I did it!! Sean helped, he seasoned the turkey, so I was only in charge of making sure it cooked ok. Preparing everything started on Wednesday night. Sean and I brined the turkey! He had a cool recipe he found online. He prepared the brine while I cleaned and trimmed the turkey, then we soaked it over night! Speaking of that night, we got very little sleep because Owen got very sick. He was up vomiting all night! Poor little man. I felt so bad. I eventually went to bed sometime between 1-2 am, and Sean stayed up with him. I felt so bad, but he was fine in the morning! Thank goodness. That morning my brothers came over to have breakfast with us. Since Sean had to work that night, he was in bed, so it was just Owen and me up. I made cinnamon rolls and bacon, well my older brother helped with the bacon because I apparently was not cooking it to their liking. :) After breakfast, they hung out with Owen and watched football. Sean woke up to season the turkey then went back to bed for a little bit. I continued cooking away in the kitchen. I made mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, crescent rolls, deviled eggs, salad, gravy...and i think that was it. Oh and chocolate pie! Everything turned out pretty good I think. I didn't have any complaints, so I'm hoping that means it was a success! Below are only three pictures, my brother took more on his camera so I will post more later. It was fun to be in charge of the food, hopefully next year we'll have more family and I'll have more help! :) Yay, Happy Thanksgiving!

Sean with the turkey, about to start cutting it!

Our turkey!

The whole table set up!

Like Father, Like Son

2010-11-26T22:29:00.000-08:00

So I couldn't resist posting these. I am a mother and wife who pays attention to the little things, and it's those little things that really make me smile and so happy. I have noticed for the longest time how much Owen is just like Sean, in everything. The things he likes, the way he sits, and the way he sleeps! I told Sean about how Owen sleeps the same way he does, and he thought that was neat but didn't really see why I was so excited about it. I finally had a chance to take a picture of these twin sleepers, and oh my goodness, I love it! They are so cute!!

Sean sleeping...

Owen sleeping...

Hahaha! Isn't that the cutest thing ever!!!?!! I just love my little family. They make me smile everyday.

Halloween Fun!

2010-11-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's been a few weeks since I've updated the blog, but here it is. Our Halloween fun! A week or two before Halloween we had a family craft night. Sean, Owen and I painted paper plates orange, well Owen decided he wanted to use dark pink, but that's ok. After the paint dried (a few nights later), we drew our faces on! Owen's was more like a scribble all over his plate, haha, it was so cute to watch him try to copy mommy and daddy. After we put our faces on our paper plate pumpkins, I attached pipe cleaner to all the them for the stem and we hung them in the window! It was a lot of fun to spend time together as a family, especially since Sean works on the weekends so our three week nights are all we get. We try to make the best of them.

Family Picture...having fun making paper plate pumpkins!

Owen painting...well, playing with his paint brush

Happy Boy!

Sean painting his plate...so crafty!

One of my plates!

All of our plates! Can you tell which one are Owens? Haha.

Our plates with faces and stems...Owen drew his all by himself!

ROAR!

The final product!

A few days before Halloween it was time to carve our pumpkin. We didn't go to a pumpkin patch this year since every time I was planning to, it would rain. So Sean just bought one. Owen had a little pumpkin that his Grandma bought him, so he got to decorate that one. Sean and I have a tradition that we started where I will carve one half of the face, then cover it up and he carves the other half. Then we reveal our pumpkin to see what it looks like! haha. Last years was kinda ugly, but this year's turned out pretty nice. Owen painted his pumpkin. It was so little that it would have been hard to carve, so we just let him paint it. I think he enjoyed that. When we were done, we lit the candles and put the pumpkins outside! Owen loved this part, he thought it was pretty fun to blow out the candle (since he just had his b-day, that was still fresh on his mind).

Sean making the first stab!

"We're in!"

I get to clean it out...of course.

Meanwhile, Owen is painting his pumpkin

Look at that concentration. :)

Voila! A masterpiece!

Andrea's half...

Sean's half...

...the Seandrea Pumpkin Creation!

Owen watching Sean light the candles

Our pumpkins!

Owen really liked the lit candles

Ooooo!

Halloween was pretty exciting for me this year. I made our costumes! Owen had two costumes this year. Daycare has a Halloween parade, so we bought one for him to wear so that the one I made didn't get ruined. He was Yoda at daycare and Boots (from Dora the Explorer, one of his favorite shows) on Halloween. I don't have any pictures of him in his Yoda costume, but as soon as I can get him to wear it, I'll have Sean put on his Darth Vador costume and I'll take a picture of the two of them. But I do have pictures of Owen and me in our Dora and Boots costumes! I only did costumes for the two of us since Sean had to work on Halloween this year. :( But hopefully next year he won't! So, as I said earlier, I made our costumes this year. It was fun! I bought a grey hoodie and sweatpants for Owen and then made all the attachments. Owen's is what took forever, I made boot covers, the ears, tail, belly, and little hairs on the top of this head. Mine was pretty easy, I just bought the whole thing! Once everything was all done, I think we looked pretty similar. (see pictures below) Owen and I went trick or treating at Grandma's (my mom) house. We only went to about 10 houses because after every house Owen wanted to look in his bucket and see what he got. Plus he's a slow walker, it's probably the little legs. He had fun though. He was even saying "trick or treat" and "Thank you"...it was so cute. Kids recognized us and thought it was pretty cool that a parent dressed up. Lol. I would have dressed up with or without a kid, I love Halloween!

This is a picture of Dora and Boots...

And this is Owen and me dressed up! What do you think?!

Owen in his costume...sorry the pics blurry.

Here we are walking back after trick or treating!

Haha..Owen apparently wanted to go back (they had a nice kitty on the porch)

All done! Owen enjoying a lolly pop!

Well, there you go. That is our Halloween fun. I hope that next year Sean won't have to work so I can make another family costume and we can all go trick or treating together! Hope you enjoyed the post! Let me know what you think of it all! LOVE YOU!

Johnathan Deployed...Prayer Request

2010-10-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Family,

My little brother Johno has deployed to Afghanastan again. He will be gone until some time in February. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers for a safe return. Thank you!

(I love you Johno...I'm so proud of you!)

Sean is 26!

2010-10-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Today is Sean's 26th birthday! He had to work tonight so we celebrated it last night. But I still did something special for him today too. Last night we had Seth and Julie over for cake and presents. I decorated the dining room and we all wore our party hats. We sang happy birthday and Sean blew out his candles...all 26 of them! haha. Then he opened all his gifts. I think he liked them. We had a great time just hanging out and talking. After the Seth and Julie left, Sean and Owen dozed off in the living room. They were so cute.

Sean's cake! (i woke up at 5:30am to bake it and iced it when i got home from work)

The birthday boy (with his crown and 26 candles)!

The best candle blow out ever

Owen was happy it was Daddy's birthday

Sean's gifts!!

All of us!

Owen and Dada all pooped out...aw!

THE NEXT DAY...His actual birthday

Today we weren't able to do much since Sean leaves for work about 20 minutes after I get home from work. I still wanted to do something for him, and since I already gave him all his presents, I decided to let the world know it was his birthday! haha. I decorated his car!!!! I was pretty excited for it, but I don't know if Sean felt the same.

Sean so happy to see his car! hahaha!

passenger side view

driver side

Owen and his daddy

Family Picture!

Hahaha! Sean driving away in his car!!

Yay! Happy birthday to my wonderful husband! You are amazing and the best person I know. Thank you for always loving Owen and me and making sure we both smile and laugh everyday. I hope you enjoyed your 26th birthday!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SEAN!

Owen's Birthday Party (10/16)

2010-10-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to keep it small and simple. Sean has been working night shifts so we had a nice short party before he had to leave on Saturday. We had family and some close friends over...no kids though. Which was fine since Owen didn't want to take his nap on time and ended up being a grump for the first half of the party. Lol. It was nice to have everyone over. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Josh, Uncle Seth and Aunt Julie, and Shannon and RJ all came! We had snacks, opened gifts, had cake and then watched Dora the Explorer! When everyone arrived, Owen was so cranky. But Grandpa came to the rescue with a donation of Thomas trains. (Thank you Jeannine!<--step mom, she couldn't make it.) He played with those for a while. During present opening time, Owen was really tired and started throwing his gifts! It was quite comical, but Owen didn't think so. Once he discovered that some of the gifts contained toys and books, he was a little more excited to open them. After gifts we had cake. When everyone started to sing, Owen started crying and reached for his daddy. It was so precious. Then he blew out his candle and only ate the icing off his piece. I think everyone had fun. Hopefully for Owen's 3rd birthday party he'll be in a better mood. :)

Owen playing with his new Thomas trains!

Opening presents...he liked this one.

Mama opening presents...Owen got tired.

His "Big 2" birthday cake! (I decorated it!)

Owen crying during his birthday song..so sad.

Teary-eyed Owen blowing out his candle.

GROUP SHOT! (and some decorations in the back)

Thank you everyone who came and those who wished Owen a happy birthday! You certainly made these days fun and special. I think he's enjoying life as a two year old.

Owen's Birthday (10/13)

2010-10-19T21:59:00.001-07:00

As promised, here are some pictures from Owen's birthday fun. These are from his actual birthday on October 13th. The three of us had a lovely evening hanging out, playing, riding his tricycle, eating dinner, eating cupcakes and opening a few gifts. We even Skyped his Sean's parents and sister in so they could see Owen open his gifts from them. I bought a birthday crown for Owen to wear, but he had more fun putting it over his face and scaring us with it. He loved tearing open his presents and was especially excited for the gift that he had picked out earlier that week. It was a great night and I think Owen enjoyed his 2nd birthday.

Owen enjoying one of his favorite meals...mac n cheese and hot dogs!

Silly Owen showing us his red tongue from his juice

Owen playing with his birthday crown instead of wearing it!

His cupcake!!!

Yummy!!!

Sean getting Nana on Skype!

Owen talking to his Nana!

Present time!!

Owen's favorite toy of the night...his Dora guitar (he picked it out)

FAMILY Picture!!!

Daddy and Owen playing!

Sean and me at the end of the day...can't believe we have a little two year old.

Back to Public

2010-10-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

We are no longer a private blog! There were a few people who just couldn't figure out how to create an account or kept forgetting and we would have to send them a new invite to view. Lol. So we're public again. Enjoy!

Amazing Story!

2010-10-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

A friend shared this amazing story of a family. It really touched me and make me think of the more important things. This couple is amazing and I am very glad I got to hear their story. Click the "share" link below to read the article. I have also attached the like to their blog. The event happened back in July of this year.

share

http://www.patrickandashley.blogspot.com/

This was just what I needed today.

Owen is TWO!!

2010-10-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

Today Owen is officially a two year old! Oh my goodness, I can't believe it. He's getting so big so fast! I hope that he's enjoyed his first two years of life as much as Sean and I have. He has truly been a blessing in our lives and I can't wait to see what happens next in his adventurous life. Being a mother is seriously the best job ever! I am just so amazed with him and all that he learns everyday and the things that he teaches me! I hope he has a great birthday and we are able to show him just how special he is to us! Happy Birthday Owen!

(We're having a small party this Saturday, so I'll post pictures later!)

Andrea's 25th Birthday!

2010-09-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

It's official everyone, I am 25 years old, a quarter of a century! Turning 25 was great! It was days full of adventure and fun. First, on Saturday, Owen took me to the zoo. haha. Ok, I took Owen to the zoo, but it was his gift to me. A day with mom at one of our favorite spots. We had fun walking around looking at all the animals, we got there after 11am so they were all either eating or sleeping. Next time we'll be sure to get there when they open at 9am, because they are all awake and going nuts! :) I didn't take a lot of pictures but here are a few from when we were relaxing at the play area they have.

Monday was my actual birthday and I took the day off of work. Sean had bought me tickets to a Monday night San Francisco 49er game, so I took Monday and Tuesday off so we could go to that and not be so rushed and tired the next day.

But Monday morning I had other fun stuff to do. My older brother Josh called me when I was getting Owen ready for daycare and asked to take me to breakfast. Of course I was going to breakfast with my brother...we never do things with just the two of us. We went to IHOP and had a great time. We ordered more food than we could eat. Maybe next time we'll split our meals. (I didn't get to take any pictures of that) When we were done, we came back to my apartment and Sean had just gotten home from a night shift. When I walked in I found flowers and card sitting on the couch from Sean!

Josh and Sean and I visited for a little bit, but then they both needed to go to sleep since they both had just gotten off night shifts. Since Sean was going to be sleeping all morning, I had made appointments to get a pedicure. My very first one! I went with my sister-in-law Julie and my good friend Kimber. We had a lot of fun. Our feet were cleaned, massaged, lotioned and our toe nails were painted. It was fun and felt great. The only thing that was kind of dumb was that the ladies had us leave as soon as they finished painting our nails...the nail polish wasn't even dry! Haha! We probably won't go back there, but it was still a fun experience. It's always nice to have girl time, especially when you're being pampered! Here are a few pictures from that, we left our cameras in the car so we didn't get any of us in the fancy chairs, but these are good.

After the pedicures, I ran a few errands and relaxed at home for a little bit while Sean slept. When he woke up, we got ready for the game and left...at 2:30! The game didn't start until 5:30, but we wanted to make sure we got there in time. Little did we know what we were in for. We stopped and got some food on the way and we were off!

Everything was going great, we were moving at a good pace only hitting a few spots of slowing here and there...then we had to pay toll at the bridge. That's when disaster struck. We waited in line to pay toll for an hour! After we paid, it took us almost another hour to get over the bridge and to the city. Once we were to the city it took us almost ANOTHER HOUR to get to the park and get parked!!! We didn't get to the game until the last 13 second of the 1st quarter!!! Sean was not in a good mood, he was upset about the traffic, missing the first quarter of the game and that fact that the Niners were losing when we got there...oh, and also that we were sitting my Saints fans! But after we got there and sat down and started watching, his mood got better. It was still a cool game to be at. The Niners were playing the super bowl champions AND they were going to retire Jerry Rice's number at half time, so that was exciting.

The retiring of the number ceremony was cool to see. It was cool to have all these great retired players in the same place that we were. The game was good, even though the Niners lost, it was exciting up to the last minute! I had a lot of fun, but the fun was about to end. Trying to get out and home was going to take us a lot longer than we thought. (Here's a picture of the traffic just leaving the parking lot)

My mom was watching Owen that night, and we estimated being home to pick him up between 10:30-11:00pm. Nope, it took us an hour just to get out of the parking lot, and we even waited a little bit to let traffic die down. We didn't get to my mom's house until midnight!!! UGH! Oh well, besides the traffic and the loss, I had a lot of fun anyway. Sean and I got to spend an extra 4 hours of one on one time. :)

Tuesday was my day with Sean day! He had planned a nice day out for the two of us. First, we had a nice morning with Owen. Then Sean took him to daycare and I got ready for my day of fun. He took me to the Roseville Galleria (a huge mall) to go shopping!! This is what he said, "I'm going to take you shopping for clothes, and I'm not even going to complain!" Haha...how cute. And that's exactly what he did.

After shopping and our yummy lunch, we were off to his next gift to me...shooting at the range!! This was my first time at an indoor shooting range. It was so cool. We used Sean's gun and I even got my own target to shoot at. Sean was way better than I was, but I did ok. I want to keep going so I can get better. I thought it was really sweet of him to take me, I've been wanting to go for a long time and have never been able to. Plus I think he wanted to get some practicing in, so it was double the fun for him.

After shooting, we went home. Sean was pretty sleepy so he took a nap. I watched a few shows while I cleaned the house. When Sean woke up he picked up Owen from daycare and I started dinner. We had Seth and Julie over for dinner and cake. I made chicken, mashed potatoes and corn. It was pretty yummy. Then we had cake. The cake that Owen decorated (with the help of grandma) for me!

Owen says "Happy Day!" when we tries to say happy birthday. He decorated it and my mom just wrote on it and iced it (the writing came off when i pulled off the cling wrap). After dinner it was time for cake!

After we had cake, Seth and Julie went home. I never got a group picture :( but we can always take one another time. We had family time after that. Owen and Sean and I just hung out and relaxed. Owen was wearing Sean's hat, and it was pretty cute. He loves his daddy...I love his daddy too. ;-)

I will say that my first days as a 25 year old have been wonderful. I am glad to be where I am right now and can't wait to see what the future holds. I love my family so much and am so glad that they are apart of my life and love me too. Now I just need to not think about the fact that I'm going to be 30 in 5 years!! Oh my goodness...I'm getting so old!!!!

Good Morning All!

2010-09-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

So I haven't posted anything lately not because I am forgetting to, but because nothing is really going on in our lives. My birthday is coming up next week, so I should have some pictures from that. But we haven't really done anything in the past week or two. Our apartment is almost finished. Our landlord recently got the outside redone which caused problems for the interiors, so we had some walls fixed. Plus we had a leak in our shower, so that had to be fixed. Our apartment has been a mess since we had to more furniture and take down pictures and stuff, but we're finally starting to get things put back. Owen has picture day at daycare this week, so I will post those pictures when we get them. Oh, and Sean had his first traffic court yesterday...he won! I'll let him tell that story, it's pretty funny. But yeah, that's why I haven't posted much. But I will be posting more next week...pictures and all.

PRIVATE!

2010-08-31T22:31:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! If you're able to read this, that means you are on our "only these readers" list. Since we post so much about our family and the things that we do, we thought it'd be best to set the blog to private. I hope you enjoy reading about our lives. Also, please let us know if you have a blog too...so we can follow you and read about you!! Have a great night ! :)

Family Fun Before Shift Change! (8/21/10)

2010-08-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Sean is a police officer. Since he started his job back in April he's had almost every weekend off, so we've been able to enjoy Saturdays and Sundays together as a family. Well, he recently got switched to graveyards (night shift) and will be working over the weekends, for pretty much the rest of the year. So we decided to make our last Saturday as a family really fun...well, really fun for Owen. :) We decided to just spend the day at the Nut Tree family park. It used to be an actual mini amusement park, but now it's just a little area for little kids.

(This is a shot of the sign)

Owen was pretty excited when we got there. First we had lunch together and we ate outside so that Owen could watch the trains. Also so that if Owen got loud it wouldn't bother anyone. After lunch, we were stuffed! But it was time to have fun. We walked right across the street to the train for a train ride!! Owen was so happy. It was so cute just to see the joy in his face. I love when he's happy.

Once we were on the train, Owen was anxiously waiting for it to move. I have never seen a bigger smile than when it started to go. Owen was a happy boy. And, we even got a free lap because the conductor had to stop the train ride and move something off the track. You usually go around 2 times, but we got to go 3 times. It was fun.

(The train!)

(mommy and Owen on the train)

(daddy on the train)

After the train we headed over to the carousel. Owen was again, extremely excited. I took him on first. We only had tickets for two rides, but we also had another surprise...since Owen was under 2, he rode free for his first ride! So I took him on first, then Sean, then me again. He had fun looking for which ever parent wasn't on with him. He was giggling the whole time. It was fun for me to see him so excited. It was really funny after his ride with Sean, he did not want to get off, so it was a good thing we got that free ride so we were able to take him on again!

(the carousel)

(mommy and owen before it started)

(mommy and owen again, waiting)(and one more time, mommy and owen after the ride)(Owen on the carousel!)(daddy getting owen buckled in) (daddy and owen)(daddy and owen after the ride...owen did not want to get off)

After the carousel, we just played in the park area for a little. Owen had fun poking his head though all the animals paintings, opening and closing doors, and even playing a giant chess game! He seemed to enjoy himself a lot. There was even a live band so he would dance at some points too.

(peek-a-boo bunny owen)

(elephant owen...distracted as usual)
(owen opened the door and said "hi mama!")(owen playing chess...trying to figure out his next move)(owen moving the piece)(and again, owen moving another piece)

After Owen played for a little bit, we were ready for ice cream. We went Fenton's Creamery! They are known for their extremely large scoops. The ice cream bowls are so full that they have to give you plates as well because it overflows! MmmMmm! This was one of my favorite parts of the day. We all ordered smalls because they give you so much.

(These were pictures from a different visit to Fenton's

but this is what his ice cream looked like! And that's

the "petite" size!!) (Owen loves ice cream)

After ice cream, we went to the PetSmart to look at the animals before going home. This way Owen could get the sugar he inhaled out of his system. :) He sure loved looking at the fishes and the birds. It was exciting for him. Especially now that he knows all the sounds they make and how to say what they are, AND what color they are. My boy is just so smart.

This last Saturday with Sean was absolutely wonderful. I was so happy that we all had a great time. Owen was an angle all day and didn't complain about anything. He fell asleep on our way home and woke up in a good mood too. I am sad that Sean won't be able have full days with us for a while, but we'll just have to make our evenings together extra fun. I love my family so much and am so glad we are able to have moments like this one.

Haircut!!

2010-08-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

I gave Owen a haircut tonight...and by haircut, I mean I shaved his head! :) His hair was getting way too long and needed to be cut. I decided to do it when Sean was at work so he didn't have to worry about it this week. (We've been wanting to cut his hair for weeks now.) So, I had to bribe Owen with a cookie to sit on the sheet so I could shave his head. We use Seth's razor, and it's actually a really quiet one, but it still scares Owen. He hated every second of it! I felt so bad, but after the first cut I couldn't stop. So I ended up putting him in my lap and holding him still as I cut. He was fine, just a little scared. When I finished, I told him "no more" and he repeated me...he actually yelled at the razor. Haha. He stood up and put his hand out at it and yelled, "No Mo!" He sure told that razor who's boss. ;) Once he was brushed off, he ate his cookie and got a bath. I can't believe how old he looks. My little man is growing up way too fast!

Owen before... Owen's pile of hair...

Owen with short hair! (front shot)

Side view...

Owen again, just looking so cute!

So Grateful

2010-08-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a quick, short post. I just wanted to say how grateful I am for my family and the joy they bring to my life. Sean is such a wonderful husband. I am so grateful for his listening ears...I know that I talk a lot and I am so grateful that he's always there to listen to me and even give me advice. He's my very best friend and I am so glad we are married. I don't know how Sean and I ever managed without our little man Owen in our lives. I was thinking about it today when Owen was napping. I remember all the free time we had and always trying to figure out what to do with our time before Owen was born. Ever since Owen's been around, we have never really had to think about that at all. I actually find myself trying to figure out when I can do little projects because I don't have enough time in the day anymore! :) I love it! (well, except when my house gets messy) I just love Owen so much. He's such a blessing and watching him grow and learn more everyday just brings tears (of joy) to my eyes. A child really puts things into perspective. We don't need to have beautiful furniture, fancy dishes or a lot of decorations...we don't need to make sure our clothes are up with the latest fashions...we don't need the latest gadgets or movies...we don't even need to have the biggest bank account...we just need to be there for Owen and he's happy. It's such a cool feeling knowing that there's someone in this world that thinks the world of you and passes no judgement. Even after time-outs he still hugs us and wants to make us smile! I love being a mother...it is the most rewarding and challenging and fun experience ever! I have learned so much about myself and life ever since he's been here. He's not even two and he's already teaching me so much. I know that it'll get harder and he'll probably not like me someday, but I know that he'll always love me and that our family will be together forever. I just love my family!

Perfect End to a Not-so-Perfect Day

2010-08-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

Today was not a good day for me. I was so emotionally and spiritually down. I kept thinking of all the bad things that have happened in the past and was focusing on everything negative. On my lunch break at work, I called Sean and just cried. I didn't have a great night last night, I was tossing and turning just thinking about things. I didn't really know why I was getting into such a horrible slump. After I talked to Sean, I felt a little better but there's only so much one can say, you have to be the one to change your attitude and outlook on things. So I said a prayer in my car before returning back to the office, I just needed something to help me. When I got back, I was still finding it hard to focus or just be there. I spoke with a few coworkers, but I was just not feeling any better. Then on my way home, it hit me. I just need to stop focusing on what everyone else thinks and stop trying to be what everyone wants me to be. I am me and me for a reason. I have a wonderful life, and I need to be happy and grateful for that. As I was driving, I was just thinking and praying a lot, and when I pulled up to my apartment I decided not to go in with my poopy-pants attitude that I was having all day. Owen doesn't need to see/remember his mommy being down, he needs to have a fun/happy mommy. So that's exactly what I did and I will have to say, my night was a lot better than my day.

Sean went out with some friends tonight, so it was just me and Owen. We started our evening just relaxing and having a snack. Then we decided to go for a walk. It was about 6:35ish when we got to the train tracks and Owen was really excited. He wanted to see a train. Unfortunately, I don't know the train schedule and had no idea when the next one would come by. So, we waited. lol. Owen was so excited waiting by the train tracks for a train. He's really in to "things that go" right now. He loves trucks, cars, trains, motorcycles, etc. So, as we waited, he was pointing out every vehicle that drove by. Bicycles and skateboards, to semitrucks and even a horse! I couldn't believe that he was still in such a good mood, we had been out there for over 20 minutes! (here we are waiting!)
Finally...7:00pm A TRAIN!! Owen was so excited...and a little nervous. I told him it'd be loud, so he covered his ears. and the train zoomed by! He was so excited, he wouldn't stop smiling. THen, as we were crossing over the tracks to go home, the red lights started flashing again! ANOTHER TRAIN! lol...Owen was ready for this one. His ears were already covered and he was smiling so big waiting for the train to come by. And this one was even faster than the last. Owen let out a loud, "WOW!" He was so happy. We were finally able to walk home now that all the trains were gone. I decided to take him to IHOP for dinner since kids eat free right now. When we go there he demanded his juice! Lol. He even picked out his own meal (by pointing to the picture) and I let him choose mine (also by pointing to a picture). It was a lot of fun. He sat in booster seat next to me, so he felt pretty cool. He said "hi" and "bye" to everyone there. It was just a good evening for Owen and me. I really needed it. (us at dinner)

WHen we got home it was bath time. We stopped by Seth and Julie's house to say hello first. That was nice, I love having family so close. When it was time for his bath, he was being so silly. He would stand up and the jump on to his bottom! It scared my so much, but he was having so much fun. He was just being a little angle all night.

After his bath, I got him ready for bed. Sean came home and we read a book together as a family. It was so much fun. I know Owen really enjoyed it. He didn't really want to go to bed, but after some play time, he did. He was so good tonight. I feel so lucky. After a long day of being down, all I needed was my family to lift me up. And it didn't even end there! After Owen went to bed, Sean and I watched a movie! Monsters Vs. Aliens. It was so fun and well needed. We haven't done that in a while. I am just so grateful for my family and the joy they bring to my life. I am so glad that they are all I need to be happy. Today was perfect because of them.

Park Fun! (8/7/10)

2010-08-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun day at the park recently. We actually went to two different parks that day and Owen was having a blast! Since Sean will be starting night shifts over the weekends in a few weeks, we're trying to have a lot of family time before our Saturdays with him are over. He'll be on night shift for a few months. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the first park we went to, this is our usual park and Owen just loves the swings!He decided to come sit with me on the bench. I recently started letting him roam free and explore without me so close. He's been really proud of everything he does since he's doing it on his own. It's so cute. I'm still close enough and I'm still watching his every move, I'm just not right next to him on the playground. I figure he needs to learn his limits and the only way he does that is when I'm not in his bubble. ANyway, here are a few pictures of him on the bench. I tried to get one of me and him but he wasn't in the mood for a picture. Oh well. :) Later that afternoon Sean and Owen and I went to visit my mom and Jairo and we went to downtown Vacaville for lunch and then to Andrew's Park (a park that's down there). Owen and Sean were having a lot of fun on the swings together.
Owen decided he wanted to try the swing that Sean was on. He had so much fun. All in all, our day was a lot of fun for Owen. He loves being outside and loves spending time with Sean and me even more. I am so glad we were able to have a fun and relaxing day with him. I hope we are able to still do these things even after Sean starts his new shifts.

Beach Trip! (6/26/10)

2010-08-17T22:29:00.000-07:00

Owen went to the beach for the first time this year! It was quite the adventure. I am the type of person who likes to leave early for the beach so you don't hit traffic and so you find a sweet parking spot and a good spot on the sand. I always forget, however, how FREEZING it is in the mornings at the beach! Our trip included Sean, Owen, Brianne (Sean's sister), Johno (my brother) and me. When we arrived, we did not hit any traffic and we found a great parking spot. It was somewhat sunny but so windy and so cold! We got our blankets laid out and the snacks out and all that good stuff...Owen did not want to come out from under his towel. So I joined him! Owen and I huddled under the towels to keep warm and Brianne tried to work on her tan. Sean and Johno got started on sandcastles right away! After the sandcastles, they decided to bury someone...Sean volunteered. It was pretty funny. By this time the sun had come out so Brianne, John and Sean threw the football around for a little bit. Owen still did not want to come out of the blankets. haha...he was enjoying eating and sitting with his mommy. I decided that I needed to work on my tan, which meant that Owen needed to move. So he finally got out of the blankets. It took us forever to get him off the blanket, but when he finally decided to give the sand a try, he could barely keep his balance! It was so cute and funny! He was so frustrated, but I knew once he got the hang of it that he would love playing in the sand. And I was right. Owen was having a blast playing with the bucket and shovel. He even started putting sand on Brianne! lol. But his attitude changed when we tried to take him to the water. What a disaster! He was so terrified. He didn't mind looking at the water, but he didn't want to get close or touch it at all. We were trying to get him calm down, so we started to throw rocks at it and he liked that...until the wave started coming towards him! LOL! Once we gave up on trying to get him to like the water, he just sat by the blankets playing in the sand. In the meantime, Sean and John were attempting to get in the water but it was FREEZING! They both only made it waist high. Then Brianne decided to show them up and she dived in the water!!!! Crazy girl! But the boys shortly followed. Owen and I were the smart ones and stayed dry. :) After we relaxed and got all dried off, it was time to go home. Overall, I think that Owen's first beach trip went pretty well. Our ride home was not so fun, there was an accident so we were stuck in traffic for a while. It was still so much fun. I hope we go back soon! (check out our slideshow!)

New Roof!

2010-08-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

Over this past weekend, our apartment building was getting a new roof put on. Thank goodness because this past winter we started hearing rain dripping into the attic/crawl space. Of course the work days had to fall on the only two days Sean needed to sleep for his night shift, but luckily they were done by Sunday. The roof looks great and now I'm excited for the new paint, patios and caulking to happen in the next few weeks. Owen was really excited about the roof workers outside, they brought all their trucks and were making a lot of noise, two of his favorite things.

Owen was glued to the window all morning! It was so cute. Micki, our cat, on the other hand, was not so excited about the noise. She found a safe place to hide all weekend (squashed behind Owen's stuffed animal shelf)! Hahaha!

I'm so for real this time!

2010-08-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! I am really going to be keeping up with my blog now...I have decided to delete my Facebook page and only do emails and blogging. I will be setting this to private also, that way only those who gave me their emails, and also those that I want, can see this blog. I am working on updating everything, so you shall see some changes soon...and also an updated blog post. Ta ta for now!

Update on Life (Feb-Mar)

2010-04-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hello all. It's been a while since my last post, but so much as been going on! First off, Sean has been applying like crazy to police departments looking for a job. He was contacted by a few, but one department really seemed interested. Williams Police Department. He had his first interview with them on February 11th. Everything went really well and was scheduled for a "Chief's Interview" about a week or so later!! The interview with the chief went really well also! He was told that he was going to be put through backgrounds (an extensive background check). After many weeks of waiting, on March 23rd we were visited by the detective that was conducting his background check. He stopped by our apartment and just talked with us of a few minutes and told Sean that everything was looking really good and that he was hoping to wrap things up real soon. Then on March 26th, Sean received an email from the chief asking to meet with him and me the next week. So we scheduled the meeting for March 31st, I had the day off of work so it worked out perfectly. After arriving to the tiny city of Williams, we had a nice meeting with the chief. And during our hour long meeting he OFFERED SEAN THE JOB! Of course he still has to pass a psychological evaluation and a medical exam, but if that goes well then the job is his!!!! So yesterday was this psych and he passed...woop woop. And today is this medical, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and saying a prayer that no illness or anything is found. If he passes, then he'll get his uniform next week and then get sworn in and his start date is scheduled for April 19th!!!! I'm so proud of Sean for not giving up on this. I feel like he's had so many hurdles to jump over the past few years of his quest to become a law enforcement officer.

Secondly, Owen is getting so big! He'll be 18 months old on Tuesday! I just can't believe it. He's starting to talk and knows how to communicate and tell you when he wants things. His favorite word is "dada"...he knows other words, but he just loves pointing at Sean and saying "dada". It's really cute. Everyone tells me that 18 months is a huge turning point for a child and I'm already starting to see it. I'm excited to see what he's going to do next. I feel like he knows more than we think. I just love him and love learning from him. I'm learning to take life slow...I try to go to the park with him daily and just have some time to play. Time where we don't do anything else but what Owen wants. I figure it's so hard trying to do my after work chores when he's awake because he always wants to help and ends up making it more difficult, so I just commit my time to him and after he goes to bed I'll quickly straighten things up. Speaking of bed, Owen had a few months of not sleeping very well. Ever since Sean graduated the police academy until about two weeks ago, Owen would have problems getting to sleep, he'd wake up multiple times throughout the night, then wake up so freaking early! We don't know what was going on, but one day he just slept...and didn't wake up until about 7:00am. It was so nice. And then it happened again...and again...and he's been a great little sleeper. I feel so blessed. It's funny how his sleeping habits were exactly what they needed to be when Sean was in the academy, then when Sean was home daily looking for work Owen's habits were horrible (I think he knew his daddy didn't have anything to do the next day and just wanted to spend time with him during the night.). And now that Sean will be starting work, Owen's sleep is back to where it needs to be. I just feel so blessed.

Lastly, I will be posting pictures soon of our adventures over the last few months. Sean's family came and visited. Owen went to the zoo for the first time and seemed to enjoy it. We also had Easter and have some pictures of his first egg hunt (indoors since it was raining). And then just some pictures that we took of us just hanging out. I can't begin to describe how amazed I am with life right now. As I take a step back and reflect, I would have never imagined things going the way they went. But now that things have happened, I wouldn't have changed anything. I am so grateful for my family and the joy that they are to me. I have learned to accept things the way they are, but to make the best of every moment. Life's just not enjoyable if you're not enjoying it. Sometimes we need to put aside our opinions and just go with the flow. I am so grateful for the power of prayer and all the blessings that have come our way. They may not seem like blessings to some people, but they are to us and that's all that matters. Life's not about comparing, it's about living and enjoying what you have. We need to stop daydreaming about the things we want, because while you're off in your dreamland, life is running by you. Stop wishing you had what others have and learn to love what you have and be grateful you even have it! I have learned that patience is a very good quality to have. When you pray for patience do endure, the Lord will put an obstacle in your way to practice that patience. :-)

Anyway, pictures will come! Life is good...let's keep Sean in our prayers that his medical exam goes well and he can start work as a police officer soon.

So much for that goal...

2010-02-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

Well, so much for keeping up with my "writing a blog at least once a week" goal. I am just not good at this. I feel like I have nothing interesting to write about and if I do, I just don't have the time. My days consist of working, when I get home I am making dinner, playing with Owen, talking to Sean, and once we're done eating I'm cleaning. Once cleaning is done it's time to start the bedtime routine and then when Owen goes to bed (usually between 8:30-9:00pm) I am so tired that I just sit on the couch and cuddle with Sean and we talk and watch TV. Then I start getting ready for bed, we read our scriptures together and say our prayers and then it's bedtime for me. I just feel like I have to time to blog because I feel guilty to take any free time I have away from my family. I'm away from them all enough that when I get home, it's time for be to be with them with my full attention. But I will try to do better. I guess I could try to work on blogs during my lunch breaks during the week. Hmm...I'm going to make this work. I would love for my friends and family to be able to know what's going on in the Mattson household.

Owen's Room...FINALLY!

2010-01-25T20:54:00.000-08:00

I feel like I am always cleaning and reorganizing Owen's room. Because Sean and I have so much stuff and so little storage in our apartment, Owen's room has always been the room we put our extra stuff in. Ever month I go in and try to organize things since he's getting bigger and more curious and starting to get into things. Plus, it's not fair that he doesn't have his own play place where he can just have fun and not worry about dangerous objects in his reach or stacked boxes falling on him. Plus the combination of all that and his too small clothes started becoming overwhelming. His room was becoming an unpleasant place to be, not to mention dangerous. Cleaning his room out was something I found myself doing on a weekly basis, and it was starting to become very tiring and irritating. But not anymore!

He's finally at an age where I don't have to keep going through all his clothes to try to see what still fits and what doesn't. He wears 18 month, it's big enough to where he can grow into them until he's a little bigger. For Christmas, he got many clothes, so I was able to put away all his 12 month and smaller stuff. Also, my mom got Owen a toy box for his many, many toys he's accumulated in his 15 months of life. This new toy box was exciting for me because we have several small baskets and bins around the house to put all his toys in and I just felt like our apartment was looking more and more cluttered that more toys he got. He ended up getting such a large toy box that everything can fit! This sure made me happy. (And I know he likes it too!)

So this past weekend, we set aside some time and got it all organized. We boxed up all his clothes and put them in the closet, we folded all his clothes that fit and organized them in the drawers, and we organized the toy shelves and put all the toys in the new toy box! I never want to let rooms (or closets) in my house get to a point where it literally takes me a full day to just clean what's in the room! It was ridiculous, but so rewarding once it was done. Let me just tell you how wonderful it is to have clean up time every night and after Owen goes to bed, there are not toys lying around the house. Ah...I just love cleanliness and organization. It's really a great stress relief. I have a few pictures of his new room. I wish I would have taken some before ones, but that's ok. Yay for clean, organized baby stuff!!

While I was cleaning the room, Sean and Owen were having playtime in the living room! They were playing ball and wrestling. Then I snuck in to take a family picture...and Owen was still in the mood to attack daddy, so it didn't quite turn out the way we hoped. :)

I just love my family! Ahh.