Owen's 3rd Birthday

My little man turned 3 on December 30th. What can I say about this kid? Well, in short - Owen is a rockstar! He is funny, kind, loving, opinionated, laid-back ... he is just a cool kid. He is very similar to his big brother, yet very different too. I absolutely adore being his mama.

To celebrate we had the family over on New Years Eve. Owen loved the attention and all his presents. Thank you to everyone who made his day special. Happy Birthday O!

Christmas 2010

As usual Christmas was filled with F-U-N at the Govier house. Josh and Owen who are at the perfect age for Christmas did not disappoint their parents with Christmas magic. Thomas, our elf, arrived at our door just after Thanksgiving and Josh literally lit up and ran through the house just absolutely elated that Santa sent Thomas back to watch after my kiddos. I wish I had known that Josh’s response to Thomas’ arrival would have been that awesome – the video camera would have been rolling! It was absolutely amazing.

I had to take 2 weeks of required vacation time in December so I headed to Houston for a few days to see my sister and family with the boys. Tim had to stay in Tulsa to work – life of a Controller at year-end, I guess. Anyway, the boys and I had a great time in Houston. We enjoyed the White Trash Sweater Party at my sister’s house and just hanging out with their family. I wish we lived closer as my sister is my best friend and it would be great to spend more time with her and her family. Love those Dougherty’s!

Christmas morning the boys awoke at 6:30 a.m. – I was actually pretty impressed that they made it that long! Karen joined us bright and early and was at our house before we were awake. The boys opened their gifts from Santa and then their gifts from us immediately after. We enjoyed breakfast together and then the kids played with their new toys as we watched the Disney Parade.

Christmas Day was spent with my family and although it was hectic, it was great! I am a family girl and will always love the time I get to spend with my parents, grandparents, and my brother’s family. The day after Christmas was spent with the Govier family. Josh, Owen, Avery and Adalyn play so well together and they always enjoy their time together. Add new presents to that mix and you have a recipe for success!

Christmas for me, besides the religious side, has morphed into amazing moments of watching Christmas magic dance in the eyes of my children, nephews and nieces. Watching them open presents and light up with glee and is absolutely intoxicating and I don’t think I will ever get enough of it – I love it!

"Be Still and Know that I am God"

I have went back-and-forth on whether or not to write about the below information and have finally decided to post a brief paragraph on what happened to our family last November.

Since I last posted, my family was hit with horrible news. On November 8th, Tim and I went to the ob/gyn to find out the gender of our expected baby, I was 15-weeks pregnant. Unfortunately what we found out was that the baby no longer had a heartbeat. I had a D&C on November 11th and have really struggled with this loss since that date. Every day gets better, but for me personally I still occasionally get blindsided with emotion over this loss. I am no longer angry, but I am still sad. Besides the actual loss, the thing that hurts the most is how the medical community refers to a D&C as an abortion. To try to stomach that I somehow had a choice in this matter is extremely difficult for me. However, what I have chosen is to remain strong in my faith and to try to live by the mantra “Be Still and Know that I am God”. I know that there is a miraculous plan that I do not understand and has not been revealed to me. I also look forward to one day meeting the child I lost at heaven’s gate.

Halloween 2010

The best part of Halloween this year? We were not sick - whoooo hoooo!!!!! Last year all 4 of us had the swine flu so it was so nice to be healthy this year. Very thankful to be healthy!!!

In the past I have been able to make my kids match with Halloween, which for my own selfish reasons I like. Two years ago we had Woody and Buzz, last year was Batman and Robin … this year my kiddos developed their own opinions and we had Wolverine and Handy Manny. Even though they did not “match” they were so cute! We went to the Phillips House for chili and trick or treating and had a great time hanging out with friends. Josh and Trent had fun running around the neighborhood and even ran into 2 more of their friends, Matt and Dani, and the 4 of them tackled the neighborhood and scored some serious candy. Owen, by nature, is a very timid child. At first, he did not know what to think about the scary costumes or the idea of going up to some random house and saying trick or treat. Well, when he figured out that they gave him candy, all fears were washed away and he was on a mission. It was pretty funny how quickly he flipped from being scared to being this little man who could conquer Halloween.

Frontier City @ Halloween

After church we decided to drive to OKC and take the boys to Frontier City. Josh and Owen had such a great time. Josh rode his first roller coaster with Tim and he loved it! The park even had a trick-or-treat event for the kids and they thought it was amazing. Next year, we will have to dress the kiddos in their Halloween costumes and head that direction again. Definite repeat.

Pumpkin Patch

One Sunday in mid-October we headed to Porter, OK to Livesay Orchard to spend some time at the Pumpkin Patch. This pumpkin patch is truly out past the middle of nowhere! We enjoyed a hay ride to the actual pumpkin patch where we picked our pumpkin and then we spent some time in the hay maze. The boys had fun running around the Livesay Farm and pumpkin patch. I will say the pumpkins we purchased from there were huge and looked great in our yard.

Josh's Birthday

Josh turned 6 this year. The past 6 years, just like every year so far, seem to fly by and before we know it we’re celebrating another birthday. A lot of big moments for Josh have occurred over the past year: end of daycare, loss of 1st two teeth, start of Kindergarten, etc. It has been a great year of milestones and watching him grow into a young man is awesome! Josh is outgoing, sweet, and so very loving – he is simply a great kid.

This year for his birthday he had a water balloon battle with some friends in the backyard followed by a sleepover. Josh had such a great time. Tim spent hours getting 500+ water balloons filled and set-up for the optimal battle. The battle itself actually lasted for probably 15 minutes, but the kids had a blast. Afterwards, they just played in the sprinklers and slip ‘n slide. We had a pirate piñata and Josh was first to take a swing. In one single hit, Josh decapitated the poor pirate’s head and candy was everywhere. The sleepover was a success and the kids were so well behaved.

The next day, we had the family over to celebrate Josh’s birthday. Josh only wanted to play the egg and spoon game with his cousins and the 3 boys are well, boys and they all competitive. It was pretty funny watching them compete with each other.