Christmas celebrations #2, #3, and #4

On Christmas Eve, the four of us stayed home and opened Christmas presents from each other. Grandpa Kim gave the boys a wagon, and Owen a digital camera. He loves it! He has probably taken a few hundred pics by now (he takes after me that way!)

Owen also got a policeman costume (as pictured here), and a Backyardigans play-doh pirate ship kit. He was very spoiled this Christmas!

On Christmas morning we headed over to my parents house where we spent the day with Grandma, Grandpa, Big-Papa (my Grandpa), Great-Uncle Peter, Uncle Nathan, Auntie Karitas, Uncle Danny, and Uncle Adam. And once again Owen got spoiled! He got books, musical instruments shaped like jungle animals, more play-doh, a shaving kit for the tub, and some games. 

And we had another yummy turkey dinner with all the works! Owen had a great day and even though he didn't nap, and he ended up going to bed late, he was really well behaved (and had lots and lots of new toys to play with).

On Boxing Day the whole crew came over to our house for lunch and a family game of Rock Band.

We had the Warawa extended-family gathering in Langely on Dec 28th. Owen and I went to that while Papa stayed home with Andy. And that evening we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and met up with Uncle Dusty and Uncle Jesse (plus the rest of the gang too!) This Christmas season was very busy for us, but we did get to see a lot of 

family, which was awesome!

And again, Owen got extremely spoiled! He got a cowboy costume complete with a horse, a race car track and remote control race cars, and an art easel! What a lucky boy! Now I have to clear out some old toys to be able to fit all the new ones in! :)

On Dec 29th we had the whole gang over to our house again for breakfast and more visiting. Owen had a great time playing with all his Uncles!

And now we are all so exhausted from all the visiting that we are back to napping every afternoon - thank goodness!

Christmas celebration #1

We had our first Christmas celebration last Saturday with the entire extended Lanteigne family. 

Owen had a great time. He loves spending time with Mummo, Ukki, his Auntie's Annelia and Elia, and his cousins Dakota, Jasper, and Nathan - and everyone else too!

And this year Owen was spoiled once more - he got a Thomas train, a Diego doll (or action figure as Gabe would rather I call it), a Little People pirate ship, a pirate ship coloring poster, and a big bucket of play-doh!

He didn't eat much of the meal (even though it was fantastic!), but he did like the ham. 

And to top it all off, Owen got to stay up late (until almost 10pm) watching movies with Dakota. It was a great day!

Owen's new snow suit

Owen LOVES all this snow! We go outside and play just about everyday. And this year I think we're going to have a white Christmas! The snow just keeps falling!

I got Owen his new snow suit and boots the other day and I am so glad I did - the snow might stick around for quite a while, and it is soooooo cold out there!

Santa, tree, and Christmas photos...

Owen likes Santa alright, but has never been one to really want to get up close and personal. For the last 2 years, Owen's picture with Santa has been... interesting. But this year he had to show Andy what a cool big brother he was, so he got somewhat nearer to the big man in red. But he still refused to sit on Santa's lap. Instead, he said I could sit next to Santa and he would sit on my lap. Owen said that Andy could sit on Santa's lap. Way to take one for the team Andy!

And we had another first this year - our Christmas tree. We had a real tree last year for the first time. We even went into the woods and cut it down ourselves too - sort of (tree farm). But this year we got 2 Christmas trees! Not on purpose though. The first one we got was supposed to not shed needles. That is why we got it. That is the only reason we got it. It was ugly as anything! But it dropped just as many needles as other trees, and it fell over... twice! Once completely covered in decorations and lights and all! That is why we got our second Christmas tree. It is a much better tree. 

And this year we did another photo for our Christmas cards (the one above). This year we did a whole shoot though - pictures of just the boys, of the boys by themselves, of the boys with Mama, and the boys with Papa, and all of us together. Now we have a wonderful selection of Christmas photos to shower our family and friends with. Don't worry - you'll get yours soon!

Bribery works!

We got this idea from our friend Keira. How it works is like this: when Owen does one of these 'good things', he gets a sticker. Some of these things are easier to do that others. And when he gets 10 stickers, he gets to pick out a prize from the prize bag (which are all Dollar Store items that he picked out last time we were there - stickers, toys, costume pieces, etc.).

Our main objective with this chart is to get Owen to a) go potty, and b) tell us when he has a huge, stinking, rotten poop in his diaper. 

So far it is working. It has taken 2 months (this is only the latest chart), but Owen now asks to go potty. And guess what?! He is actually going now! Yay!

The other day Owen asked to go potty (the first time ever that he initiated it) and after sitting for a good half an hour, he went pee and poop on the potty! Yay Owen! Way to go!

(his eyes are closed because he hates the flash on my camera)

It's still not an everyday, every time thing, but we are well on our way to being potty trained now. My goal is to have Owen going (and actually going) multiple times a day every day by Owen's 3rd birthday (end of January).