Boise Vacation

I know I am a little late on posting our trip to Boise. We went to Boise to visit family and friends for Cooper's Spring Break. We started off by visiting our friends and Nate's business partner Boone in new Plymouth. They have two little girls the same age as Cooper and Charlie. The children had a great time playing together. Cooper and Charlie did not want to leave. We wish we lived closer to them so we could all hang out more. The next stop was Nanni Vicki and Boppi Brad's house. It was so good to see them. It had been about eight months since the last time we were in Boise. This was dads first time meeting Emma.

On Thursday we celebrated Megan's 28th birthday. Aunt Linda, Uncle John, and Beth came over for the afternoon and evening. We had a great time. The boys helped Beth and Linda decorate a cake and made Easter magnets. After nap we went to the Morrison-Kundsen Nature Center. That was a lot of fun.

Nanni Vicki and Aunt Linda with the boys at the Nature Center.

First family photo.

Charlie loved seeing the fish.

The boys in the bear cave.

Nanni Vicki and Charlie in the bat habitat.

The boys with Aunt Linda and Uncle John looking at the birds.

Cousin Beth with Charlie looking at the fish.

Uncle John and Nate.

Friday we had lunch with Brandon. It was so great to see him. Brandon is Cooper's god father and a great friend from high school. We had a nice lunch together.

Saturday we met Nate's family and drove to Twin Falls. We celebrated Nate's grandpa's 80th birthday. It was great to see family. It was a very long day without naps and Emma was awake most the day. We stayed the night in a hotel.
Charlie with his cousin Ariana.

Grandpa Owen and Emma. She cried through most of the pictures, but was sound asleep in this one.

Boppi Owen and Emma.

The next day we went to church with his grandpa. After church we stopped by Shoshone Falls. Cooper said, "Look at that smoke mom." We informed him it was mist from the waterfalls. :) Then we traveled back to Boise and stayed the night with Nanni and Boppi Owen.

Shoshone Falls.

Nanni Owen and Charlie at Shoshone Falls.


Emma resting at Nanni and Boppi Owen's.

Melody, Ben, Logan, Malia and Tim came over to visit us. It was great to see them. After dinner Brian and Nicole came over and we had a nice time visiting with them.

We had a great time visiting all of our family and friends. The boys can't wait until our next trip to Boise. Charlie tells us everyday he wants to go to Nanni's house tomorrow.

Emma is Two Months Old

We cannot believe our little girl is already two months old. She is now cooing, smiling, and loves getting kisses. She continues to sleep most of the day, but is up quite a bit now. She sleeps very well at night. She slept a couple seven hours stretches a couple weeks ago and one night we were blessed with 8.5 hours of sleep. She slept in her car seat all night the night we picked up Greg from the airport. On average we are up about one to two times a night with her. She loves her baths. She was not a fan those first few weeks. She is very relaxed when we put her in the sink. The boys love to give her kisses and talk to her. We weighed her right before her baptism and she weighed 12.4 lbs. She is gaining weight wonderfully. We love our little Emma.

Noticed her mobile for the first time on her swing. Unfortunately we can't find the swing cover and have to use a blanket. I'm sure it will turn up when she is out of it.

Charlie and Emma watching, "UP" together.
Enjoying her bath in the sink. Look at those rolls.:)

She loves Oreo. She will just sit and watch her.

Baby Chicks

We were very saddened to see four of our chickens being killed by a dog. We were left with two out of six. The boys were very excited to go buy some new baby chicks. We bought four Rhode Island Reds. They are supposed to be really good egg layers. While mom and Emma went to dinner with book club the other night, the boys all went to Lewiston to pick up the baby chicks. The boys love holding them. They are very cute. Already growing fast.

Cooper named his chick Sammy Reddie.

Charlie named his baby chick Charlie. :)

Emma's Baptism

Today we were blessed watching our little Emma join the family of God. She looked so pretty in her dress. The service and message at church was lovely. We enjoyed having all of our friends and family there for this special occasion. We are honored to have Tiffany and Derek as Emma's godparents. We hope Derek and the rest of the family feel better soon. Darn flu bug. Our great friend Rosanna took pictures for us. Thanks Rosanna! The link to them is: http://picasaweb.google.com/rcartwright80/BabyEmmaBaptism?authkey=Gv1sRgCMyFxvXPnsrbmgE&feat=directlink.

The boys had a very full weekend of Easter egg hunts. We started off by going to the LCSC game on Friday and after the game there was an Easter egg hunt with all the baseball players. The boys loved it. Although it started raining towards the end of the game. That didn't stop them from getting eggs though. Saturday was the annual egg hunt here in Genesee. Today we said our good-bye's to Greg and dad. It was wonderful having them here with us and meant a lot. We missed having mom here. The evening was filled with fun, food, and another egg hunt out at the family farm with Nate's family. We are exhasted. What a wonderful Easter! Happy Easter to you all. Christ is Risen! Alleluia.

Uncle Greg and Emma.
Boppi Brad and Emma.
Genesee Easter Egg Hunt. Cooper was too fast and gone before Greg was able to get a picture of him.
Happy Boy!
LCSC Baseball team. Coop and Charlie are in the front just a couple in.
Here is one of Cooper running back. His basket was full.
Easter morning.

Busy, Busy, Busy

We have had a very busy past couple of weeks here at at our house. Nate went back to work. It was a very busy week for him. Megan was on her own with all three kids. It went very well. Cooper made it to preschool on time, Megan started walking a few days with the girls, she made it to playgroup, and PS I Love You. The boys went to the dentist. This was Charlie's first visit. He did great. I think from watching Cooper go he knew what to do. Both of them got x-rays, let the hygienist clean their teeth and floss them. Everything looked good.

The house was filled with worker guys. The addition is finally complete with the final inspection on Monday. We are so excited to be using the new rooms. Moving in is a slow process though. It is nice to put everything it its own place though. Megan has had fun arranging Emma's room. Pictures to come.

Nate is back in full swing with his band, practicing every weekend. We are ready for Spring. It feels like it is just around the corner with flowers starting to bloom. Looks like it will drop back down to the 40's though this week. Darn. The boys love being outdoors. We plan on taking them down to the river to feed the ducks this afternoon. The boys are very excited.

Emma continues to grow. She is filling in quite well. She is starting to smile and we just love to see that. She is so much fun. The boys love showing her off and talking about their little sister.

Our good friend Carly decorated this onesie for Emma. It has her name on it. So cute!

We got a smile out of her and got a photo of it. :)

All three children watching, "UP."

Emma and mom hanging out.

Laying in her crib that we finally got to set up in her new room.

All ready for church wearing her first bow.

The Owen Household two weeks after Emma Arrived

We can't believe our little girl will be two weeks old tomorrow. We have had a very busy two weeks since Emma joined out family. We love her dearly. We are up 2-3 times per night. Nate is off this week to help out and then I will be on my own starting next Monday. We thank all of our family for coming and helping us out with the boys, cleaning, and meals.

Emma is doing wonderful. She is alert a couple times a day now. She is starting to make more noises and likes to grab onto Megan's hair. She already hates being swaddled. The boys were swaddled for months. She likes her arms free. She isn't interested in the binky at all yet. Both the boys were binky babies. She had her first check up today. Everything looked great. She weighed 8lbs 8ozs. She gained 28 ounces since leaving the hospital. The doctor said they shoot for an ounce a day. Well she almost tripled that. :)

The boys are doing well with her. Charlie seems more interested all the time and likes to help out a little now. Cooper enjoys helping out whenever he can. Cooper is doing well in preschool. We can't believe he will be done in just a couple of months. He is very excited about his field trip to the Connors Museum tomorrow. Charlie enjoys staying home with mom and going to PS I Love You. He loves having his own preschool to go to. We still try and go to playgroup when we can. He loves hanging out with all his friends.

Unfortunately a little virus is passing through our household right now. Nate and Charlie haven't been feeling so great. We can only hope and pray the rest of us don't get it.

Charlie holding his sister.

Daddy and Emma napping.

First time sleeping in bassinet.

Emma Elizabeth

Emma Elizabeth was born via c-section on Wednesday February 10th at 12:33pm. She weighed 7lbs, 7.5ozs and was 19.5 inches long. We are all doing well. She eats and sleeps well. She is becoming more alert everyday. She was up bright and early today at 6:30am for about an hour and just looks all around. We love having a little girl! It is so much fun. The boys do very well with her. Cooper loves to hold her, bring us diaper and wipes and help out where ever he can. Charlie doesn't seem to mind too much and just goes on with his daily activities. He has held her one time and he will bring us blankets for her. They both love having a little sister and are adjusting well. We can't believe she is already a week old. We are so blessed.

Charlie and Cooper meeting their new baby sister.

Cooper holding Emma.

Emma and Nanni Vicki.

Emma and Nanni Owen.

Emma and Grandma Verla.

Walter and Tamra meeting Emma.

Our new baby girl. We love our Emma!

Hanging out with daddy.

Getting ready to go home.