Amy Scott's Thoughts

Gingerbread Houses and a Windy Evening December 13, 2014

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 5:47 pm

This week has been a bit odd. On Monday, my good friend Kaly brought her boys down for a play date with Owen. It was interesting to watch Owen interact with other kids who wanted to play with his toys. Let’s just say that sharing is not too high on his list of social skills. My guess that is that in the nursery at church it’s not as big of a deal because the toys there are not “his”. Kaly and I spent the time chatting and making sure that each kid had something to occupy them. Also, my dog didn’t attack anyone, so this is considered a good play date in my book! It was really great to see Kaly and catch up with her. She is such a busy lady. Time with her and her boys is precious. Tuesday was my MOPS Christmas party. My baking skills lately have been horrible. Instead of making something to bring, I ran through Starbucks and bought a tray of Cranberry Bliss Bars. I had to cut them in half so that there would actually be a number worth sharing. It was the easy thing to do and I might have eaten all the leftovers. Just maybe! Sadly, after the morning at MOPS, Jeremy came home with us and proceeded to fight a fever for the next day. It was nice having him around on Tuesday/Wednesday, but I was super bummed that he had to be sick in order to see us. Wednesday night, I bundled Owen up and took him to church. This would allow Jeremy some time at home without Owen and I to distract him. Turns out Jeremy ended up watching cartoons the entire time we were gone. He discovered Star Wars Rebels on Disney XD and his life was changed. I was glad that he could rest and recover and just do his thing.

Wednesday night was a special night of the year of my class of 5th/6th grade girls. A few years ago I started a new December tradition for my class. We now have a Gingerbread House Decorating Competition every year. I buy the pre-made kits that come with all the decorating supplies. This truly is the way to go. The houses are sturdy and all you need is supplied in the box. The girls always think that the supplied candy isn’t enough, but at the end of the competition they find that is truly is more than enough. I divided the girls up into three teams by having them draw numbers. The girls were judged on teamwork, creativity, use of supplies and overall appearance. The teams all did great this year. In fact, the girls gave team names to themselves, so Team Peppermint was our winner. Team Elf Bunny got runner up because they had the best use of teamwork. And sadly, Team Baby Jesus brought up the rear. I know, it doesn’t seem right that Baby Jesus would be last. Sad story. Overall though, everyone had a good time. The girls were allowed to destroy and devour their creations after it was all said and done. I also brought a class snack, so their combined sugar intake was off the charts that night.

Thursday night turned out to be pretty wild for us! We had a wind storm blow through the pacific northwest. Our power went out sooner than we expected. By 4:00pm we were powerless and set for a night in the dark. Owen ate dinner by lantern light and then spent a majority of the night running around with a mini-flashlight in his hands. We waited for things to quiet down a bit and then we ran into town to get some oil and gas for Jeremy’s generator. A few Black Fridays ago, Jeremy came home with a generator from Cabelas that was a fabulous deal. We lose power fairly often where we live so it was only a matter of time before we needed to use it. This Thursday was the day that the generator got to leave the box and fulfill it’s purpose. The purpose of the generator was keep our fridge and freezer running so we didn’t lose any food inside. It was odd to go to bed in the pitch black to the hum of the generator. Also because we didn’t have our baby monitor system to work with, we set the baby gate up at our door to keep our dog in the room, but the door was open so we could hear if Owen was crying in his room. Luckily for us, the power returned about 2:00am before Owen’s early wake up. I was able to turn the monitor back on and things went back to normal. I was very intrigued to see what Owen thought of the power outage. He was interested in the candles but they were all out of reach. No fun. The main highlight was running around with that mini-flashlight. With that flashlight in hand Owen had no fear in going into any of the dark rooms. I now know that if it’s a rough night and I’m home alone, I’ll just turn off all the lights and give Owen a flashlight. Hours of entertainment at my fingertips!

Well, that about sum up the interesting points. We all went out to breakfast on Friday morning to celebrate surviving the storm. Jeremy and Owen went over to Nana & Papa’s to help take down a tree that had fallen during the the storm. I took a nap while the boys were away and it was GLORIOUS! Today, we braved a few stores for Christmas shopping reasons and random reasons. Now Jeremy is at a lighted tractor parade helping our kid’s choir sing on our float. Owen is down for a nap and I am enjoying a small window of quiet! It’s delightful!

Gingerbread House Decorating Competition

Dinner by lantern light

A boy and his flashlight

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Christmas is Here Again! December 9, 2014

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 4:20 pm

December started with relief and stress. On December 1st, I called the City of Winlock and discovered that they had one court case scheduled for the month and it has been canceled. I asked what that meant for me having jury duty. I was told that I was released from that commitment. I was a little stunned and asked if that was for the week or the whole month. Of course, it was for the whole month when the once case gets canceled. I couldn’t believe my good luck. I was so grateful. I had been dreading having jury duty and had even requested to be excused from it. In good small town fashion, I never heard back from them about asking to be excused, but that is okay, because it all worked out in the long run. That was the relief part.

The other part of December 1st was spent going over my notes for my speaking engagement at MOPs the next day. During Owen’s nap time, I hunkered down in my room and practiced my message. I timed it to figure how long I was going to take. I practiced the pace and the tone I wanted to set. After practicing a few times, I went through and formatted my notes for printing. Later that evening Jeremy took Owen grocery shopping, so I printed my notes and went through my message another three times – this time practicing eye contact and not being glued to my notes. By the end of the day, I was feeling like the message was as internalized as it was ever going to be. I just had to pray that things would go well the next day.

I’m happy to report that things did go well. In fact, I think I was the calmest and most collected I’ve ever been while speaking in front of a group of adults. I’ve put certain skills aside as I’ve entered this season of stay-at-home mommyhood. I was reminded that even though it terrifies me, I do have the ability to share the gospel in a pubic way in front of adults. I loved the message that I got to share. I got to talk about extravagant love and what that means during this time of year. I got to share about the extravagant love of God and what Jesus did for us by coming to earth as a baby. It was a good message. One that I have been deeply impacted by. My life has been filled with extravagant love. The love of my God, my Savior. Also, the love of my family and friends. I am loved and blessed and humbled. I’m so grateful for how the whole day turned out. It couldn’t have been any better.

With things being busy around the church for Jeremy, Owen and I got some quality mommy/son bonding time over the last week. Jeremy joined into the Christmas festivities when he could. We got our Christmas tree in phases this year. Friday, we got the tree. Saturday, Jeremy got the tree into the house. Sunday, we decorated the tree. Now that the tree is up, it really feels like Christmas time once again. Jeremy has another big weekend at work and then he has vacation time. I’m so excited! We have some festive plans that I’m really looking forward to. I’m debating whether or not to try to get Owen’s picture with Santa. I have this sinking feeling that Owen won’t be too interested in being placed on a stranger’s lap, but part of me thinks it’s worth a try. Who knows? Maybe he’ll love Santa.

I’m doing my best to make peace with Santa. I didn’t grow up in a home where Santa was a big deal. I don’t remember getting gifts from him. In fact, my mom told me when I was really little that St. Nicholas was a good man who gave gifts to kids and died a long time ago. She wanted me to have a “historical” view of Santa. She wanted me to know that he was “real” but just not in the way that TV made him out to be. All my little mind heard was “Santa is dead”. Now you might assume that I was crushed, but no. I found this fact very interesting and worth sharing with the other kids who came in contact with me. As you can guess, that spread some Christmas cheer and made a lot of parents happy with me. All that to say, Santa is a new thing for me to incorporate into the holidays. Owen will get one present from Santa this year. It’s a nice present, but it isn’t the best present. My friend, Christa, once told me that Santa gets the credit for presents that parent’s get their kids. This really stuck with me. I want the credit for a good gift. Not Santa.

In other news, our family had a great time visiting Zoolights this last weekend and celebrating my nephew, Keegan’s, upcoming birthday. Owen loved looking at the Christmas lights. He enjoyed playing with the rope lights throughout the zoo. One of Owen’s words is “light” so this was right up his alley. Speaking of words, Owen has also learned the word “hot” and uses it to point at the stove and coffee mugs. Lots of things are “hot” these days. Owen has taken to dancing right now. He loves to dance to the “Hot Dog” song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He also likes to dance to NSYNC and “What Does the Fox Say”. He is quite the twinkle toes these days. The music moves him! It’s so fun watching his personality develop. He certainly has his likes and dislikes. He loves to take off his shoes and socks. Stuffed animals have become his buddies. He loves to destroy anything I build with his Legos. He is growing into quite an interesting and unique little human!

Well, that’s a brief snippet of December so far! I’m looking forward to all the holiday fun still yet to come. I’ll keep you posted as the month unfolds! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year! Yipee!

Laundry baskets can be endlessly entertaining!

Playing with buddies

Kissing Baby Jesus

Wearing Mommy’s hat on the way back from getting our tree

Selfie with the birthday boy

Hanging with Uncle Eric and Brinley at Red Robin! Yum!

Zoolights!

The star is a trumpet right?

Trying to get a family picture is front of the tree

Trying to get a family picture in front of the tree

Some pictures are easier to take without one year olds!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

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Thanksgiving Weekend November 30, 2014

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 7:43 pm

Helping around the yard!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I know we sure did! The office closed at noon on Wednesday and there were no evening services at our church, so Owen and I got Jeremy home sooner than usual for a Wednesday. I always miss my class of girls when we have a Wednesday off, but it’s always a nice and very appreciated break. Jeremy took advantage of the dry weather and hopped up on the roof to put up our Christmas lights. Then Owen got to help Jeremy put up the decorations in the yard. Owen loved roaming around the yard and playing with the various plug-ins to our lighted displays. Owen is a shadow to Jeremy these days. He followed his daddy round the yard and was in the middle of the action.

Thanksgiving 2013 & Thanksgiving 2014! What a difference a year makes!

Thanksgiving day started off perfectly! Owen slept in a little later than usual. We got to watch some of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I made chocolate chip pancakes. Yum! Owen enjoyed pointing at the giant balloons on the TV screen. After a leisurely start to the day it was time to get ready. Jeremy made his green bean casserole to take to our first Thanksgiving celebration. Owen took a bath and then went down for a quick nap before all the festivities. Because of the late nap and my attempting to get a shot of Owen in his Thanksgiving outfit, we slid in right at the time dinner was supposed to begin with Jeremy’s family. Thanksgiving was different this year since we had a rather large crowd that no home would accommodate well. I wondered if Thanksgiving would feel weird since we weren’t celebrating at a home, but it was actually really nice. We had plenty of space and Owen had a blast running around. We learned a few weeks ago that Owen really likes both turkey and ham, so we piled up his high chair with Thanksgiving goodies and he went to town, especially on the meat. We got Owen a shirt that says, “This guys loves turkey” and it has Mickey Mouse on it. Owen loves Mickey. He kept looking at his shirt and pointing and smiling. In fact, if we pass anything with Mickey on it, he tries to touch it. This can be cute and annoying when we’re in a toy store and he gets his hands on something we aren’t planning on buying… But, I digress!

Owen loves turkey and ham!

Being true to our tradition, our family took of from Chehalis and the hour plus drive up to Puyallup to have dessert with my family. The two different gathering places were quite a contrast. My grandma’s house was packed full of family members. It was warm and loud! We celebrated two family birthdays and then the big Seahawks games started. My mom and I moved into the living room where it was a bit quieter and cooler. Throughout the night people wondered in the living room and I got to catch up with quite a few members in a calmer environment then in the family room with the game on. Black Friday shopping has always been a big deal with this side of the family. I talked with many family members as they made their plans for where and when to shop. It’s always fun to hear their strategies and see what the must have items of the season are for them. When we got to Puyallup, all of the meal items were packed up, but Jeremy asked to get more turkey out for Owen and again, Owen drove right in and started munching on turkey. I love how his shirt truly fit his mood that day. Owen loves turkey!

This what decorating with Owen looks like.

This is what decorating with Owen looks like.

Usually the Friday after Thanksgiving is a big hunting day for Jeremy. I end up decorating the house by myself while he is out in the woods. This year Jeremy’s season ended before the holiday weekend, so Friday was a family day spent at home in our pajamas. Jeremy jumped right into decorating the house with me. We quickly learned that decorating with a mobile Owen is a very chaotic experience. Owen was into everything. We had get creative since this is the first year decorating with a toddler in mind. Everything has to be out of arms reach. We don’t have our tree yet. That is still on our list of things to do this week. I have no idea what Owen will do with a Christmas tree and the ornaments. We are in new territory, that’s for sure!

Saturday, we braved a few stores in hopes of finding a few more Christmas presents. I got one gift, so it wasn’t a waste of a shopping trip, but it wasn’t super profitable either. We also saw a few snowflakes on Saturday and the ground around our house was briefly white. Jeremy and Owen went out to eat snowflakes while I got ready. Jeremy laughed as he showed me the snowman he made. Let’s just say, it was bit a tiny, but it was a snowman nonetheless. The rest of weekend has been church time and down time at home. Honestly, I’ve loved this weekend. It has been such a great time for our little family to be together. With kid’s choir coming up and Jeremy in the midst of a some big projects at work, my hubby has been super busy lately. He often has meetings in the evening and this week is more of the same as they prepare for choir performances this weekend and a lighted tractor parade the following weekend. I’m grateful for whatever time I can get with my hubby at home. Owen has loved having his daddy around so much. It’s cute to see his playful excitement when Jeremy’s around. It’s been a good mix this weekend. I know this week is going to be busier, so I’m treasuring the slower pace at this moment. Not only does Jeremy have a lot on his plate this week, but I’m speaking at MOPS and I have jury duty for the month of December. We have students in our ministry that are in multiple performances for school and ballet. We’re debating our schedules and if we’ll be able to see them perform. We have a big birthday to celebrate with my nephew as he turns one soon. The party will take place at Zoo Lights, so I’m intrigued to see what Owen thinks of all the light displays. Yep, our next week or two will be full. I love this time of year! Other than jury duty, the month of December is like one big celebration!

Don’t mind me

Jeremy’s snowman

Goofing around together!

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Flying Through November November 25, 2014

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 1:08 pm

Flying through November

It’s hard to believe that November will soon be coming to a close. This next week is one of my favorites as we celebrate Thanksgiving and Jeremy has a few days off from work. I’m like a kid looking forward to Thanksgiving break! It’s coming! It’s almost here! The month of November has been a strange mix for me. Lots of busy and lots of down time. The down time was mainly induced by all three of us Scotts getting colds. For Owen and I, this makes three bugs in two months. I’m so done with being sick. Oh well. Despite illness, our little family has managed to be here and there and everywhere.

For me, the month of November has been full of MOPs prep. We had multiple crafting work parties as we prepare to sell some products at a local bazaar this weekend. Let me tell you, crafting isn’t something that comes easy to me. I’m too much of a perfectionist and knowing that these products were going to be sold only made me stress even more over the quality. I’m so glad that the bazaar is this weekend and this fundraiser will soon be behind us. Also, I’m the guest speaker at our upcoming MOPs meeting so I’ve been working on what I want to share the ladies. The theme for the month is courage to love extravagantly. Pray for me! I’m super nervous. Apart of teaching 10-12 year old girls, my public speaking skills have gotten zero use recently… I’m afraid that I’m a bit rusty at speaking in front of adults. Yikes. I’m going to stop thinking about it now before my blood pressure raises anymore!

Shopping with the ladies

November has a been a shopping month. Jeremy and I started our Christmas shopping. We finished all of our shopping for those under the age of 10 almost immediately. Shopping for the little ones is always the most fun! Now on to the grown-up, who are a lot harder! My mom and sister and I (and Owen) took a trip down to Portland to do some clothes shopping. Both April and I have been putting off updating our wardrobes. It was time. My mom was super and helped me with Owen so I could shop. This meant she loaded up a screaming toddler and drove him around the mall parking lot until he fell asleep. Since Owen fell asleep right when we planned to get lunch, April and I got lunch to go and we all in silence in the car while Owen took a nap just inches away. The only sounds you could hear in the car were Owen’s snores and our munching. It was really funny. It has to be one of the oddest lunch experiences I’ve ever had.

Girl time with Maggie & Summer

Of course, it wouldn’t be a November update if I didn’t mention the fact that I’ve had close to a million red cups! My mom and sister started me of well on Red Cup Day. I’ve managed to share a red cup with my lovely friend, Vicki, in Longview. I drove up to Tukwilla and shared a red cup with my forever friend, Maggie. Yesterday, the tradition lived on as I got a red cup with my beloved Jeannie! I love these ladies and I love the tradition of sharing the holidays with them. My visit with Maggie was one of the highlights of my month. My mom watched Owen at her house so I didn’t have to chase a toddler around while I went to lunch and coffee with Maggie. Maggie has a darling little girl, Summer, and I got to actually have “girl” time with no little boy in the mix. It was a nice break. I’m so grateful!

Sorting Christmas lights

Jeremy’s November has been just as busy as mine. It was hunting season for the first half of the month. He and my brother-in-law, Andrew, spent many a day out in the woods tracking elk and deer. The season wasn’t a successful one in the way of fresh meat, but I think Jeremy learned a lot since this was his time hunting with a rifle. I’m sure he’ll do better next year. Apart of hunting season, Jeremy is heading up a major remodel of the kid’s wing of our downtown Centralia campus. It’s exciting to see a great place for kids starting to take shape. Jeremy also had an overnight conference this month as well. Lucky for me, I packed my days full while he was gone, so it made the time apart go quickly. Also, Owen is an excellent sleeper so I’m not too intimated by a night alone with him. After surviving Jeremy’s absence for the week of summer camp in July, I handled one night alone like a champ. My parent’s brought me pizza and pumpkin pie for dinner, so I was I well taken care of!

Well, those are the happenings of the month in a very random order. The cold bug is finally departing from our home and I hope it stays away for a good long time! I pulled out my penguin winter dishes this last weekend. I think next weekend, we will decorate the house and put up the Christmas lights. We got Owen some holiday apparel on our last shopping excursion. For Thanksgiving, he has a shirt that says “this guy loves turkey”. It’s true, he does love turkey. We made a small Butterball turkey in the crock pot a few weeks ago and Owen inhaled that turkey like it was the best thing ever. I am so excited to see what he thinks of all the Thanksgiving foods in just a few days! Stay tuned for our Thanksgiving update coming soon!

Pink vacuum? Sure, why not!

Bath time for Toby! Owen is Jeremy’s shadow these days!

Can’t get enough red cups! Loved my time with Jeannie!

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I think we need some bubble wrap… November 22, 2014

Filed under: Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 4:45 pm

We’ve long been into the bumps and bruises stage of childhood with Owen. It seems once mobility hit, so did all the marks to prove that he can move. Lately, though Owen has ramped up his aim to be covered in bumps, bruises, cuts and scratches. This kid seriously needs 24 supervision and even that doesn’t guarantee that he’ll came out unscathed. A few weeks ago, I posted on here a cute picture of Owen going on a family walk with Jeremy and I. It was quite the milestone because we were letting him walk with us and not be confined to the stroller. Big boys get to walk with the family. And big boys can trip on their own feet, thus introducing their first real fall on pavement. That was a good one. A nice bruise and some road rash. Just a few weeks later, Owen wondered into room holding my round hairbrush. 30 unsupervised seconds later, I hear wailing. I got into the room and found it undisturbed, but Owen somehow has about an inch long cut between his eye and eyebrow. HOW???? Seriously, I was just in the other room and he was out of sight for less than a minute. This cut was good enough that we had to call the doctor’s office to find out if he needed stitches. Let me tell you, I felt like the mom of the year when I couldn’t tell the nurse how he got the cut and what he cut himself on because I wasn’t in the room. I’m surprised she didn’t put me on hold to call Child Protective Services right then. I also felt brilliant when she asked me what side of his face the cut was on. In my flustered mind I couldn’t figure it out. I told her left and then had to change my answer to right. It was a stellar day for me and for Owen, obviously. Owen’s cut puffed up and turned into a nice black eye the next day. Luckily it’s faded now and he is starting to look normal again. However, this morning my mom was watching Owen so Jeremy and I could go to a movie. When I got out of the movie, I had a photo text from my mom with a new bump on Owen’s forehead. Oh my. This kid needs bubble wrap or we need to pad the walls/floors of our home. The nice thing is that Owen’s hair does a decent job covering most forehead marks. This didn’t help cover the black eye though. Oh well. It seems like everyday brings some new adventure. I was told that being a mom of a boy meant lots of rough and tumble moments. I’m just now learning all that comes with the territory. I’ve gotten lots of understanding smiles as I share my Owen stories. I’ve also been told that this is just the beginning! What fun is still yet ahead!

The big cut the day of the incident! Luckily, no stitches were necessary!

The black eye the next day!

All bundled up for a walk and looking like he is wearing eyeliner!

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Vote for Owen! November 17, 2014

Filed under: Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 8:38 am

After a year of being told that Owen is a “Gerber” baby, I decided to enter him into Gerber’s Photo Search. I did this partially because it has been suggested to me so many times and because there is a cash prize. I like cash. I think if Owen knew what cash was, he would like it too. So… I found myself on the photo search website a few weeks ago. I created my log in, I uploaded my photo and had to wait a couple days before hearing back that Owen’s picture was accepted! Voting begins today and you can vote daily until December 14th. I feel super silly about entering my kid in a photo contest and I feel even more silly about promoting it. However, when I think of winning $5,000 or $50,000, I’m slightly motivated. I really honestly don’t expect Owen to win (even though I think he is the cutest kid in the whole wide world). I figured it was worth a shot… A long shot, but a shot. If you would like to vote for Owen, go to https://photosearch.gerber.com and use his ID#220092 (you can also search by his name, but the ID# brings his picture right up). Thanks for voting! Owen’s college fund (or vacation fund) thanks you too!

Vote for Owen!

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Catching Up November 11, 2014

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 6:51 pm

October was a month of illness for the Scott household. Owen and I both got tummy bugs and head colds. I’m hoping we got all our winter bugs out of the way and now we’re set to be healthy for a good, long while. Despite getting over his symptoms, Owen remained super grouchy for about a week after his cold. That sure made my life fun… Not. I was concerned that daylight savings was going to throw him off, but this week, Owen has decided to sleep past 9:30am most mornings. It’s crazy. If this happens when we fall back, I wonder what will happen when we spring forward? Sleeping till 11:00am? Crazy times. Going back a bit though, Fall Fest took place on the evening of Halloween and it was another great year as we opened our church doors to kids searching for fun and candy. Last year, Owen was just a few weeks old so we stayed home for a quiet evening. This year, we went to see Daddy in action. Owen was Tigger this year for Halloween and he was seriously the cutest Tigger ever. November 1st brought about one of my favorite holidays, RED CUP DAY. For those that don’t know, it’s the day that Starbucks changes their cups over to the festive, holiday red. While I only got one cup on Red Cup Day (I usually get about 3 in the past), I did continue on to have Starbucks three days in a row. Starbucks makes bank on me during the holidays. Red Cup Day is truly the start of the holiday season for me. I have started to listen to a bit of Christmas music and I even started my Christmas shopping today. It’s the most wonderful time of the year and the fun as just begun. We’re also toward the end of birthday season for the Scott’s so we’ve had a blast celebrating all 6 of October/November birthdays. Not too much else to report here. Things are good and we’re enjoying these autumn days!

October/November Birthday Celebrations

Cutest Tigger Ever!

First red cup of the season!

Jeremy’s Lego creation

Red Cup Love

Going for a family walk outside of the stroller

Another little Scott turns one! Celebrating with my adorable nephew!

Snuggle time with Daddy

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Documenting Owen October 26, 2014

Filed under: Getting Creative,Parenthood,Recollections — Amy Scott @ 2:16 pm

As with any new mom, I’ve spent the last year documenting Owen’s life to the fullest. I’ve been taking lots of pictures and saving mementos. This last month, I’ve put a bit of effort into some projects that document Owen’s first year of life. From the very beginning of my pregnancy with Owen, I knew that I was going to be using photo books from Shutterfly as my main way of saving memories. I kept a pregnancy journal using a Shutterfly photo book and had that book printed after Owen was born. For all of you who that I took no “bump” pictures, you were wrong. I took plenty. Only about half are documented in this book. I never posted a lot of pictures to Facebook, but I have them saved for myself and my family. I like that the journal captures what I liked and disliked while I was pregnant. It shows the transformation of the nursery and photos from my baby showers. It also talks about how we shared our baby news and the process that went into naming Owen. To compliment this pregnancy photo book, I’ve spent the last year making a photo book of Owen month to month. It’s mainly pictures with just a few highlights of holidays, trips and milestones. I love that with each page you can see Owen growing and changing. This photo book was meant to be Owen’s “Baby Book”. I didn’t plan on getting a baby book to write in dates and weights and milestones. Creativity did hit me though and I just created my own version of baby book. But more on that in a little bit.

After the photo books, I have two photo boxes from Michaels. One is full of mementos. It has items from the hospital, items from my baby showers, invitations to the baby showers, invitations to Owen’s birthday party. It has the first hair cut certificate in it and Owen’s birthday boy t-shirt. I love this box because it’s full of little items that hold big memories. The second photo box is all prints from Owen’s first year. I have a baby box full of photos and I wanted Owen to have the same. It’s a very heavy box full. My guess is that it probably has over 600+ pictures in it. Maybe even a thousand. I don’t know. But it’s full. This kid can’t say I didn’t take his picture!

Like I said before, originally my plan was to leave it at just the two books and the two boxes, but inspiration hit and I ended making my own version of a baby book this weekend. It was partially inspired by my sister-in-law’s blog. She writes monthly updates on her littlest guy. I love these posts because it give a great look at the things Keegan is into and all the ways that he is changing month to month. She mentioned that these posts will come in handy when she someday needs to remember the monthly milestones for Keegan’s baby book. I thought about it and I decided that I have monthly updates from this blog that are all about Owen and I would use the blog posts to create a baby book. I started off by just printing the monthly posts, but then I went back and read through my posts for the last year. I decided that I would print any post that was mostly all about Owen. I also created a fact sheet page that had all kinds of little tidbits about Owen and his first year. I included all the stats from his doctors appointments and the milestones that I could remember. I also included a photo collage of Owen’s monthly pictures. I was going through my files and discovered that I had typed up Owen’s birth story while it was still fresh last year. I printed that birth story to include in this make-shift baby book. The result is pretty much a baby novel instead of a baby book. It’s a very detailed account of Owen’s first year and I used mostly pieces that I already created throughout the year. I know that I had a lot of this stuff in digital form on my computer, but I like that I now I have a printed hard copy of it. I threw all these pieces into a three-ring binder and printed a cover sheet. And that is the story behind how Owen’s baby book came to be.

I know that these items will get lots of use through the years. At first, I’m sure only I will be the one to grab them and look back through them. Sometime in the future, I hope that Owen will read them and flip through them. I hope he can see how loved he is through the written words and the absurd amount of photos that were taken of him. It’s so special to have these memories to share with him for a long time to come!

Boxes full of memories!

Pregnancy Photo Book and Owen’s First Year Photo Book

Owen’s Homemade Baby Book

I had fun! Owen month by month!

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Owen Meets the Historic Waterfall Highway October 24, 2014

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 7:51 pm

Despite being a bit under the weather, we had a short window of opportunity to head to Portland and visit the Historic Waterfall Highway on the Columbia Gorge. We almost made it down last year, but Owen was a newborn and things just didn’t pan out the way we had hoped. Because it had been a few years since our last visit, we were highly motivated to make it work this year. I knew going into the trip that I wasn’t feeling good and that photographing a one year old is tricky business. I had to give myself a pep talk. There was likely to be no good photos in the bunch. I had to accept that and not get upset if nothing Christmas card worthy happened. Going into with low expectations made for a better trip. There was a short window for photo taking before the rain moved in. We made it just in time. I love this historic highway. Jeremy and I have been going together over the last decade and it holds a special place in my heart. I love it at anytime of year, but especially in the fall! Here are a few of the pictures we took today and a flashback to years past!

Fall Photos Through The Years – 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012

Adding Owen to the classic shot!

Walking in the leaves

Mommy & Owen

Daddy & Owen

Cutest kid!

Just us – for old times sake!

Multnomah Falls

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More Bugs… October 23, 2014

Filed under: Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 5:33 pm

Well, I’m sick again… This time with a cold – mainly a killer sore throat which is the beginning symptom of my head colds. Oh goody. This month has been full of fun, but apparently it’s also full of germs and I keep catching them. Yay me. While I would love to share some brilliant post or update on my family, I figured I would make this a photo blog today. Because let’s be real, you all read this blog for the pictures! Enjoy!