Going for a jog

Blake loves running (when he has time!) so his co-worker let him borrow his jogging stroller since we don't have one. We bundled up Caroline with several layers and off they went. She seemed to really enjoy it and I got a few minutes of "me" time without anyone else in the house!!!

Birthday outfit!!!

Isn't this the cutest little outfit??? I have been day dreaming about Caroline's 1 year birthday party for awhile now and this outfit is just what I had invisioned. I have to take advantage of having a girl and get her a tutu....right???!!! When I took it out of the box Caroline started squealing and was so happy! I tried it on her and it is perfect! She loves it and I love it...and daddy even said it was cute!!!

I had Tara Rowell make it...you can view her blog here. She does an awesome job and I can't wait to get more monogrammed items from her! Thank you Tara...we love it!!!

Looking back on 2009

Well it's New Year's Eve...this year has just flown by. It's been quite a year for the Owen family. We experienced many struggles and hardships this year but through it all, it has made us and our family stronger. The biggest and best thing that happened to us this year was Caroline being born. We have enjoyed having her in our lives and I don't know what life would be like without her. She is such a blessing to us and we cherish each moment God allows us with her.

Some of the hardships that we faced this year are: my Grandmother passing away, me losing my job (with a 3month old at home to raise), Blake having a bicycle accident and having to have emergency surgery, Caroline being sick for 4 months straight (hands, foot, mouth; 7 double ear infections; stomach virus, you name it she has had it!), then mommy and daddy being sick from taking care of Caroline.

Some of the good things that happened to us this year are: of course having Caroline, being able to have wonderful friends and family members that supported me through the good and bad times, Blake got new glasses due to his accident, I got a new job with Sibley Heart Center, we had wonderful family members support us financially and emotionally through all of the hard times, Blake and I started going to Browns Bridge Church, I still have a car to drive and a roof over my head...I learned that the other materialistic things just DON'T matter. I am happy with what God has provided for me and couldn't ask for more!

We are so extremely blessed to have such wonderful family members who eagerly have helped us with finances, babysitting, getting us through all of our "sick" moments, etc. I truly don't know what our lives would be like without ya'll. And we also have wonderful friends who have prayed and helped us out throughout this year and we are so thankful for all they have done.

Here are some pics to look back on our year...












We hope you all have a Happy New Year and that 2010 brings you everything you are looking for and more!!!

More Christmas Pictures

Here are some of the pictures that my father-in-law took of Caroline on Christmas Eve. He does such a good job putting all of the pictures together and capturing her cute expressions!


We've taken down all of our Christmas decorations and I'm back at work this week. So sad that it's all over but it's time to get back in a routine!

Caroline seems to be doing well so far with her ear tubes. She's talking a lot more and seems happier! She's got a ton of toys to keep her busy too!

Happy Monday!

Caroline's 1st Christmas

Caroline had a wonderful 1st Christmas. We enjoyed being with family and eating a ton of yummy food! Caroline was spoiled by both sets of her grandparents and got a lot of toys and clothes. Santa thought she had been good this year too and left her some cool new toys. We took a lot of pictures but I don't want to overload the blog page so I picked a few of my favorites.

All dressed up to go to Blake's parents house on Christmas Eve

Ripping into her gifts...

Playing with her cool new walking/riding toy.

This is what Santa left for her.

She was so happy with what Santa brought her.

Christmas day at my brothers house

Sitting in a box...she thought she was a present!

Playing with the riding/walking toy that my parents got her!

Merry Christmas!

This is my most favorite time of the year! When I was a little girl my family would always visit my granny and papa on Christmas Eve and have dinner with them and open presents. Then we would head down to my grandmothers house in Conyers to spend the night and have Christmas with her on Christmas day. Through out the past few years, our traditions have changed since our families are changing. This morning I realized that we are doing the same Christmas tradition with Caroline that I had. Tonight we are going to Blake's parents house to eat dinner and open gifts and then we are heading up to spend the night with my parents and spend Christmas day in Cleveland. I'm so thrilled that Caroline will get to share some of the same memories that I had growing up. I LOVED visiting both sets of my grandparents and spending the night with my grandmother. Santa always managed to find me there and then on Christmas day we had about 15 other family members come over to spend Christmas with us.

We hope your family has a wonderful Christmas and that we all remember what the season is about!!

Ear tubes are in

We left bright and early this morning around 6:00 to head down to Scottish Rite. Caroline slept the entire way and was in a pretty decent mood all morning considering she didn't get to have her bottle when she got up. The staff at SR were wonderful and we didn't have to wait at all. They kept us moving from one room to the next. I went back with Caroline while she got her anesthesia...wow that was so hard for me to do. I hated seeing my poor baby girl lay there screaming while having a mask on her face and then slowly see her eyes roll back to sleep. Then I met up with Blake and we went to the post op room to wait on Caroline. It only took about 10 min at the most before they wheeled Caroline into the room. The nurse warned us that there was a 50/50 chance that Caroline could come back to the room screaming and pitching a fit like we've never seen before or she could come back calm and quiet. Well...we got the screaming kid that was mad. We spent about 20 min trying to calm her down and nothing worked so finally the nurse said to just get her dressed and go home and that should help her. She cried most of the way home but by the time we entered the driveway she was sound to sleep. She's been more like herself since we've been home. The dr told us that her ears were AWLFUL and that she had so much fluid, swelling, and that her ear drums were bleeding. He said that 110% she needed this surgery and that she will be a new kid now with the tubes. All in all this was a good experience and the nurses and dr's were wonderful! Here's some pics of our morning at the hospital.

Preparing for a special birthday party!

Since Caroline's 1st birthday is about 4 weeks away, I've been in planning mode. I've ordered her a special outfit for the day...a pink tutu, a onesie with a 1 and her name monogrammed and a special birthday bib. I've decided what kind of food we would have, what kind of cake I would get her and that we would just do a small party with immediate family members at our house. (she seems to get way too overwhelmed with an audience!) So, today I picked out her party invitations but needed a picture to go on them. Wow...I did NOT realize how hard it is to get just one decent picture of a busy toddler. I think I ended up with a good one but it took us about an hour! She was laughing her head off the entire time and thought it was funny that mommy was struggling to get a decent picture! I think I'm going to use the picture above but here are some of our out-takes.







Caroline goes tomorrow for her ear tube surgery. Please say a special prayer for her tonight that everything goes well. I know everything will be fine and that she will be so much better with the tubes but it still makes any parent nervous to put their child through surgery. Her surgery is at 7:40am so we should be back home fairly early. I'll update everyone once we get home!

Christmas with the Yarbrough's

Tonight we had Christmas with my mom's side of the family. For the last 3 or 4 years we have all met the Sunday before Christmas at Hard Labor Creek State Park and rent a cabin and spend the entire day together. We had a ton of yummy food, presents, and a wonderful time with family. Here are some photos of our day!







Caroline is such a little lady...she LOVES the tea set that my aunt Lisa gave her.


And just for fun...here's what I looked like last year at the cabin.

Ear tubes here we come!

From the title of this post you have probably guessed that Caroline will soon be getting her ear tubes and they can't come soon enough! We took her to the ENT this morning and she has a double ear infection AGAIN. He said her ears look awlful and are filled with fluid and wax. She also didn't do well in the hearing test so he said ear tubes is the best option! Her surgery will be on December 23rd at the outpaient surgery center for Scottish Rite. Blake and I loved the ENT dr and feel very confident that he will do a great job!

I'm just ready for our little girl to get better. She's had a rough couple of weeks and can't seem to get any better. If it's not one thing its another with her lately. So, to try and help that we are keeping her home from daycare the rest of this week and all of next week. I'm hoping that maybe being away from all of the extra germs, her little system can get well. A big thank you to her grandparents and even great grandparents for pitching in to help watch her while Blake and I work. I love you all and we could not get through these tough times without your help! Blake and I are blessed with such wonderful family memebers that truly support us in all that we do!

Sorry for no new pics...several of you have been asking for some but Caroline has been so sick and not in a picture taking mood lately so I don't have any new ones to post. Hopefully this weekend we can get a few for you!

Starting to recover!

So, I think I can safely say that our family is starting to recover after one of the worst weekends yet of being sick. To sum it all up I had to have a trip to the immediate care for an upper respiratory infection, Blake caught Caroline's stomach bug, and Caroline couldn't quite get over the stomach bug so we ended up taking her to Scottish Rite last night to make sure she wasn't getting dehydrated. I santized our house like crazy on Saturday so hopefully all of the germs will leave us alone for at least a week!

My work Holiday party was on Saturday (great timing for us!). I've been working hard at work to prepare for this party. My company throws a huge party and it's a fun night to get all dressed up and basically act like you are at prom again!!! There was a DJ, buffet, open bar, and some of the dr's put on a funny skit (this year was Michael Jackson...it was too funny!). Even though Blake and I weren't feeling so hot, we managed to go and be there for a few hours! I didn't take my camera with me so I don't have any pictures from the night but Blake and I did have a good time getting dressed up and out of our "sick" house for awhile! My mom was so kind as to offer to keep Caroline for us. Since our house had been infected with sickness, we thought it would be a nice change for Caroline to go and stay with my mom and dad at their house. She had a good time...even though her tummy was still a little upset. She LOVES getting spoiled by her grandparents! Blake and I didn't realize how much we would miss her. I still can't get over how attached you get and how much love you can have for such a small person! When we got home from the party it felt wierd not having Caroline at the house or having to listen to the baby monitor all night to make sure she's still breathing. She's been away from home one other time when Blake had his surgery but we sure did miss her! Here's some pictures I took of her before she left our house on Saturday. I had her all bundled up...it was so cold and windy!!!


BTW...my Christmas shopping is done so I'm ready to enjoy our holiday season! I need to start planning Caroline's 1st birthing in the next week or so. We are only about 6 weeks away from her being one. Where or where does the time go?!?