Houston for the Summer

Looks like we are heading down to Houston for the summer (well, I am required by Daniel to mention that it isn't 100%). I should have known that something moving related was going to happen since we are having a child. Seems to be the theme with us. Shell is offering Daniel an internship this summer and since they are the ones who are funding his research and will probably be offering him a job next year, it is something we probably need to do. Of course, this doesn't sit real well with me. I am having a baby in June (which includes finding a new doctor who will be a practical stranger delivering my 3rd born) and we will have 3 children this summer. That is a whole lot of work that is even harder not living at home. But, I support my husband and realize this is probably the best choice for us. So, we are off to Houston in May!

Looks like we will probably live with my parents since I would spend most of my time over there anyway. Good thing they bought a house big enough for us! :). My little brother said last night, "I think there comes a time where you really shouldn't be living with your parents anymore". I totally agree. However, this WILL be the last time.

The last two times we did internships we just had one child, this time there will be three. So, that means hauling down clothes for 5 people, toys for the kids... it is going to be craziness.

Unfortunately, Ellie won't be able to finish out her ballet class and participate in the recital in June. That is alright, we are hoping to get a refund for her costume if it hasn't shipped out yet.
Owen is the child I am most concerned about. For the most part, our kids roam free in our house and climb and do all sorts of things because it is their stuff. Plus, we don't really have anything too nice that we have to worry about. It will be harder at grandparents' houses to keep him under control! This boy loves to climb!

As we get older and have more kids we realize that though we don't do much we have our own lives and it is getting harder and harder to uproot that and move somewhere else. Especially these temporary moves are really hard. But, we are looking on the bright side... I, for one, will be really happy to have help this summer juggling 3 children-- it will allow me to be able to do things with the older kids and/or have someone else do something with the older kids! Plus, the development that my parents live in is building a new pool area complete with a water slide that Ellie will love! Not to mention unlimited access to the other grandparents' pool! Maybe this temporary move won't be so bad...

Baby Memory Lane

I have been REALLY horrible about taking pictures of the kids lately. So, I thought I would do a post of my some of my favorite pictures/memories of my kids.

First off, we have Elise. To tell you about Elise let me just say that she was, from the very beginning, a difficult child. She still is. Lucky for her, she is the cutest little girl ever.

This picture is of Ellie when she was about a week or two old. Ignore Daniel's hairy leg, but this picture always makes me smile because I remember Daniel kissing her all over her face and she made this face... she still makes that face when Dad is annoying her.
Just cute.

When I took this picture, Ellie and I were playing at home and it was a totally lazy morning and we were both still in our pajamas, but I sure do love this smile. This is one of my favorites!
She loved the Gymboree classes. I tried them with Owen but it was kind of old for me by that time. I think it is definitely a first child kind of thing.
I was pretty pregnant with Owen when this picture was taken. Ellie has always loved coloring.. she still does and will love you forever if you sit down with her and color.

Now onto Owen... my sweet boy.

Let me explain this picture. Owen was born enormously big... 10lbs 3oz. So, when he was born, I was really unprepared because I had all of these newborn and 0-3 month clothes that all ended up being too small for him. This picture above always makes me laugh because he looks like such a pudge!

Doesn't he look like such a sweet angel? I love seeing ANY baby sleeping. A sleeping baby is a very happy sight!

One time I left Ellie and Owen alone in her room for a few minutes and I suddenly heard Owen laughing hysterically. Ellie was putting stickers all over his face!! He thought it was so funny. Though he didn't find it so amusing when they had to come off.

My big eater. Thankfully I finally have a child that eats. Owen has always been a pretty good eater. Never to shy to stuff a whole handful of food in his mouth at once.

To fully appreciate this picture I have to tell you how old Owen is in this picture. He is 9 MONTHS!!!! He looks so much older. And look at those feet... he has the biggest feet. We can't wait to see what this boy grows into.

Well, thank you all for letting me relive some of my favorite moments. A few of my friends that had been expecting have had their babies and I am starting to feel ready for my baby. It is just the beginning of this year's baby boom. This always makes me want to go back and look at my little sweethearts when they were younger.

Room for One More?

As I am getting nearer to having three children I am constantly thinking how I will be able to handle it. I have very feely children who need to be holding mom all the time. Just the other day I was commenting to a friend how cute it was that her kids play with her hair when she holds them. My kids, they go right for the elbow pit. I know, it is weird. Ellie especially is really obsessed with it. It is how she marks me or something. Owen really likes to be holding both of my arms at the same time.

I realize this isn't exactly the most flattering picture of me, but I wanted to show everyone our current compromise. Ellie MUST be laying next to me and Owen settles for laying between my legs though he often climbs up on top of me and then rolls down and wedges himself between Ellie and I. This knocks her off the couch and then we go into meltdown mode. Now, we were trying to figure out where Maggie will be. It looks like one of my arms is free, but Ellie was just taking a short break to reposition her milk and pose at this moment so she isn't rubbing my elbow pit. It should be interesting... Maggie is going to be one of those latch-key kids who never gets touched or has human contact. Poor thing. (Not to worry, I am sure this won't happen... afterall, Owen will try sitting on her all the time and Ellie will try picking her up and dragging her across the floor like she does her doll).

I'm a cake decorator! Kinda.

Tuesday evening one of the sisters in our ward hosted a cake decorating class. I was excited to go since I have been toying with the idea of taking the Wilton cake decorating classes at Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I mainly wanted to go and see if I would do okay with the icing decorating... I often times think that I am craftier than I actually am and then end up buying all the stuff for that hobby and it turns out I am not really good. So, anyway, I went and learned a lot fun little things to be a better cake maker (all those cakes I am currently making:)).

We each got a cupcake to practice with the icing tips. I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't terrible at it. Sure, I wasn't the best there, but I did alright. I was really proud of my little cupcake and wanted to bring it home to show Daniel. I was very careful bringing it in the car and held onto it most of the time I drove to make sure it didn't tip over. I got home, got out of the car and then looked down at the plate that my cupcake was supposed to be standing on. As I was getting out of the car I must have tipped the plate because my beautiful cupcake was laying upside down in the grass. I was so sad as I walked through the door without my beautiful work. I felt like a little preschooler whose special art project got ruined and couldn't show their parents. It was very sad.

Maybe I will be able to bring home something to share from my Wilton classes.

Bow Crazy!

I have always put bows in Ellie's hair. I think they are cute and girlie and I've always really loved them. I have tried several times in the past to make them, but was never really good at it. Well, I am working on that! With Ellie and another girl on the way, I ought to start getting serious about it because it will save me a lot of money to make them myself and it would also be a good hobby for me.

Here is Ellie's hair bow collection as it is right now (she has bows that go up and down both sides of her quilt). I have made close to half of them but most of them are pretty basic, easy bows. The single layer bows are the ones I can do, but as soon as you add more layers, I am totally lost! I have put in my recommendation for someone to teach how to make bows at a Super Saturday or something but I don't think anyone in our ward knows how to make really good bows that I am aware of.

Here is Ellie wearing a pair of bows that I recently purchased on Etsy. These are the bows that I want to learn to make. I have found lots of instructions online to help me learn. I don't think the ribbon I have right now is ideal for them so the kids and I are off to Michaels this morning to hunt down some good grosgrain ribbon.
As you can see, they are pretty darn cute bows. Like I said, I have directions if anyone is interested, I can email them to you. At this point it is just a matter of getting my fingers to do what I want them to. It is kind of difficult to hold onto all that ribbon at once and to get all your loops right. But, I am on a mission and hope to update you shortly that I am making beautiful, multi-layered, boutique bows!

Austin's BEST BBQ

Since we were downtown for the Sesame Street show, we decided to go someplace "Austin" for lunch. Daniel had heard about this BBQ place called The Salt Lick that is always listed as one of the best places to eat in Austin and arguably the best BBQ in Texas!
The cook all the meat in this big pit. We splurged and decided to eat 'family style'. Basically it was just a ton of food piled on plates in the middle of our table and we just had at it.
We had to wait about 20 minutes until we were able to be seated, but TOTALLY WORTH IT! Ellie loved the beans, Owen loved the bread, Daniel loved the sausage and I loved the brisket. It was amazingly good.
Their BBQ sauce was to die for. They had a regular sauce and then a sauce that was a little bit hotter and they were both so good.
Owen was surprisingly well behaved and enjoyed the quick service. He also enjoyed a couple of bites of Daniel's peach cobbler that he had for dessert (I think he was slightly regretful of the amount of food he ate, but not too much since he said the cobbler was really good).

Ellie chowing down on some good ol' Texas barbecue.

Here Owen has a full plate of barbecue favorites yet resorts back to bread and his goldfish.

It is nice that we are starting to explore a bit more of Austin and sampling a couple of eateries around town. We are eager for family to come into town again to try other new places or to return to the places we have been... the barbecue was really good.

Sesame Street Live!

Today we traveled downtown to go to Sesame Street Live. The weather wasn't great, but that didn't stop us. We had so much fun last year that we were pretty excited to go this year. The show was different this year but pretty much the same format. They do lots of singing which always is good for keeping the kids attention.
Ellie especially enjoyed the show. She got a new Abby Cadabby shirt this year since she grew out of her other shirt and Owen wore it this year. She was pretty cute dancing up and down, clapping along and just getting all excited when she saw her favorite characters.
Owen was a little more trouble this go around. He mostly wanted to climb on the chairs (that is nacho cheese on his sleeve and mouth). He dropped his milk half a dozen times and it rolled down two or three rows and then we had to ask people to check under their chairs. It was really annoying. Eventually towards the end, he decided he was tired so I took him out so I could stand up with him and he fell fast asleep.

Ells and her Zoe toy.

Owen with Ellie's Zoe toy... his Elmo toy is in dad's lap.

It was a fun day for our little family and I am glad we were able to do something like that for the kids.

Another Doctor's Appointment

Just thought I would do a real quick update on the pregnancy. Things are going fine. I have been having HORRIBLE headaches almost constantly for the last three weeks so I have been concerned about my blood pressure. However, when I went to the doctor's office my blood pressure was fine but she did give me something stronger for the headaches. So far, they haven't gone away. That has been hard because it has caused me not to sleep so well and I have this constant throbbing in my head. Oh well, these girls like to give me trouble I guess. Otherwise, she sounds great and I am measuring normally.

Preschool Valentine Party

Since today is Valentine's Day, and also because we try to find any holiday to celebrate at preschool so us moms don't have to teach, we had a party. Here are a few pictures to tell about our day.

Each of us moms do an activity at these parties and this time I decided to do a little Valentine headband with the kids. Here's Ellie sporting the headband. There was absolutely no glue necessary in this particular project which was nice since just about everything requires the kids to get sticky with glue.
Here's Owen playing with the blind cords (which were immediately tied up after this picture). He is trouble.
One of the moms had the kids make Valentines and here is Elise showing off the one she made.
And, of course, here is Owen stuffing a whole handful of goldfish in his mouth.
This is the whole preschool class. We are down two since the new year but that has been ok for us moms. 5 is easier than 7 anyway. The kids had a lot of fun. They did crafts, played games, decorated cookies and played outside. Each of us moms have babies (all within a month or two of Owen and all boys) so the babies were busy playing together as well.

Valentine's Day (a day early)

Well, it all started earlier this morning when I received a knock at the door... my husband sent me "Valentine Eve" flowers (what a sweetheart). Then, when Daniel got the mail this afternoon, his present from me had come in the mail. So, he had to open it -- especially since it said "American Brownie Company" on the return address label. Therefore, we decided to give the kids their Valentine's Day gifts tonight rather than tomorrow. It was good because now they will be able to play with their gifts all day tomorrow.

Ellie showing off her haul.
Owen wasn't too interested in most of his gifts but quite enjoyed the cars he got.
Ellie with her new Valentine My Little Pony.
Owen playing with his cars (we JUST had eaten dinner and I hadn't even swept up the table droppings, so excuse the mess you see).

The kids got some little stamps in their gift bags so they stamped on some paper for a little while.

Stamp time was short because Owen started eating them.

Enjoying a few last minutes outside before the sun goes down.

Ellie cheesing for the camera... she still has her messy dinner face. Ew.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. We love all of our family and friends so much and feel fortunate that we get to love them every day and not just on Valentines. Thanks again to Papa, Grammy and Uncle Evan for the Valentine goodies--- a small side note about those "goodies". During Owen's nap time Ellie had a bit of "quiet time" and watched a movie. She was being so quiet and good that I had assumed she fell asleep. Well, I went out to check on her and she was surrounded by foil wrappers. She had climbed up in the pantry and got the bag of chocolate hearts and was chowing down on them (she ate like half the bag). When she saw me she said with her mouth full, "Mama, I eating chocolate!" This is why we don't keep chocolate in the house... I am not the only chocolate junkie.

Getting Ready for Spring

It is a little bit cooler today, but still a beautiful day. I have spent the last week or so going through kids' clothes and buying the needed new shoes and clothes for spring. The kids were both in pretty desperate need of new shoes and short-sleeved shirts. Ellie still needs some new shorts, but thankfully Owen's shorts fit fine from last year. I bought some new things online for Ellie and the new baby on Etsy which is my new favorite place to shop. I was able to get some pretty hair bows (the intricate ones that I can't make) and some burp cloths and miscellaneous small things for the baby.

Daniel continues to be busy with school. He had a really long week last week and I think is still recovering from it. He had a big conference and had to do a presentation and everything. He made some good contacts and talked with some other grad students that he knew previously but had transferred. He should have a better idea about what Shell (who is funding his research) wants him to do and how long he will be doing it here soon, so we are anxious to hear about that and get a better prediction on when Daniel will be able to be finished.

Here is Owen playing outside. He loves to play outside and moans by the back door like a little puppy to go out. He got some new sneakers and so whenever he wants to go out he will bring me the shoes and plop them in my hands to put them on him. These days Owen is becoming faster, busier and a bit more mischievous. He has decided that he likes it when mom holds him so whenever I am holding Ellie he will climb on me and wedge himself between Ellie and I. Ells doesn't really like that. Not many new words from Owen yet but he recognizes a lot of things we say and does say a few words here and there. He is much more of an observer and a doer rather than a child who likes to talk about things. Daniel has taught him "Popcorn Popping" and he is so cute because he does all the motions. We need to get that on video.
Here's Ellie outside. Kind of a strange picture of her, but her nonetheless. You can't really tell but she has chocolate ice cream all over her face and neck and some on her shirt. These days Ellie has stopped taking her scheduled naps which has helped her sleep better at night though she does fall asleep for a little while on the couch about every other day still. She has "quiet time" instead where she has to read books or color. She is 37" tall and I am doing everything possible to make her grow an inch before we go to Sea World in a month (she has to be 38" to ride most the kiddie rides). Elise has been very interested in the new baby. She helped me go through all her old clothes that were in the attic and was sure to comment on anything cute and frilly. "Oh, so cute!" "Oh, look at this!" "Maggie be such a cutie in this!" "This beautiful!".

I've been tagged!

Well, I have been tagged. This means I need to share 7 little known facts about me, so here we go:

1) As mentioned in my previous post, I love to plan vacations. Even if I don't take them, I love to plan them and think about them. I have always done this since I was a teenager.

2) I go to bed early. I have always been the type that goes to bed early and wakes up early, but these days I think it is more necessity. The kids wake up really early so if I don't get to bed at a decent hour, I pay for it later on. Some days are better than others. If it is a hard day with the kids or if we are traveling, I am usually much more tired. I am also pregnant, so I am tired.

3) I hate nuts. Always have, always will. The only thing I will eat it peanut butter on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and that is IT! I hate nuts.

4) I hate it when my feet are hot. It drives me crazy and I practically go into fits about it when they are too hot. I hate it when my hands are too hot as well, but it is mostly the feet that really get me.

5) I hate washing dishes. I hate washing dishes so much so when I actually do it, realize what a sacrifice it is for me. As a mother, I have to do dishes quite a bit but I am lucky that I have a husband who will do them for me if I ask really nicely. I don't know what it is, I think I hate my fingers pruning or something. I just hate doing dishes.

6) I am in love with my Tivos. With this being said, we have just switched to DVR, which is basically the same. I just don't know how I lived my life before I was able to record all my shows and watch them at my own time and pace. For those of you who still live like that, I feel so sorry for you. Go by a Tivo... they're like 40 bucks.

7) I am a planner. I have to know what is going to happen and when it is going to happen and how long I have to get everyone ready. While I am a planner, I also like to be spontaneous and do something out of the blue. Whatever happens, I just need something to do most all the time and I always decide when I first wake up what all we are going to get done that day. I have driven my mom crazy for many years asking "what are we doing today?". Thankfully, I have a husband who is on the same boat with the planning thing... though not so much with the spontaneity.

Here are the "tagged" rules. I won't assign anyone to post their own random facts, but if this looks like fun and you want to try it out, just say that I tagged you!

This Week (and additional Erin ramblings)

First off, you will have to excuse the picture selection, I have not been very diligent on taking pictures lately and the quality of what I have taken is quite lacking. But, I suppose some pictures are better than no pictures.

What a week! Daniel has been very busy at school with a conference so has been really tired when he gets home. The first part of the week my sister and mom came to help me since I had my ultrasound on Tuesday early in the morning. And this latter part of the week, the kids have been sick. Once again, our carpet cleaner/Christmas present is coming in quite handy. Daniel and I are pretty fed up with cleaning up throw up.

Here is the only picture we have of the four cousins together... don't know how that happened, but this is the best we have!
Owen eating his breakfast... he LOVES yogurt.
Ellie eating her breakfast too!
Owen has been sitting at the big table for a little while now. He likes it, it makes him feel big.

Like I mentioned, the kids have been sick. First it was Ellie and now Owen. I feel like we are always sick and I don't even know how to fix it. I have disinfected all of the toys on several occasions and super cleaned and wiped down the kids rooms after each sickness as well. Nonetheless they keep getting sick and for some reason it seems to always be the pukes. YUCK! I just have this constant fear that everything smells in our house. This is heightened by my pregnancy nose that can smell anything from 100 feet away.

I am feeling pretty good pregnancy wise. I am starting to get a little concerned because I have been having some bad headaches and my blood pressure is climbing. This isn't real surprising since I had the same thing with Ellie and around the same time in the pregnancy too. It is a little worrying because you never know with these kinds of things and last time they were preparing me emotionally for like a 26 week delivery. I doubt that will happen but it is still a fear. Daniel and I have been enjoying thinking about how cute our little Maggie will be and how similarly the two girls will look.

Next weekend we are going to Sesame Street Live. We went last year and it was a lot of fun. I think Ellie will be even more into it and I imagine Owen will be mesmerized as well.

I am starting to get excited for our little family vacation that we are taking over spring break. We will be going to San Antonio for a few days. We plan on staying in a nice hotel with an indoor pool. The first day we will be going to Sea World, the second day we will do the River Walk, The Alamo and also a drive through Safari. The third day we will probably have a lazy morning and then go back to Sea World for as long as we can stand it (we have 2-day passes). I love doing things with just our little family so we are all really looking forward to it. I think Ellie will be able to ride the kiddie rides!

I love planning vacations. I plan vacations even though I know we aren't taking them. I have started planning the vacation we will take when Daniel graduates. We will go to Disney World and do the Disney cruise and Disney parks. It will be a blast! I have also decided that we will probably go to the Sandals resort the next year. Daniel always makes fun of me because I plan these things and plan them so far ahead of time but I just have to tell him, "Daniel, I need this. I need something to look forward to at the end of this tunnel!". I am just anxious for him to graduate and now that it is looking closer, I am really excited.

Magdalyn Beth is on her way!

Magdalyn Beth is on her way! I think that is the official name that we have settled on. This one is Daniel's pick. He hardly ever has an opinion on anything but this time he really liked that name so I said that we could have a little Magdalyn Beth this go around. We will call her Maggie. At first I wasn't sure about this name since it was a little wierd that he wanted to name our daughter the same name as one of my college roommates, but we will go ahead with it anyway!

Today was the official ultrasound. Everything went well and the baby looks great! She has all the right parts and all the right sizes. The above picture is a profile picture with her hand up by her face.
Another picture of Maggie's face, but this time straight on and again with her hand by her face. She was very active during the ultrasound and the technician kept telling me, "This is going to be an active one!". Great.
Another confirmation that she's a girl. If you can't tell, you are looking right at her rear end and her "girl parts"-- not sure if this picture is blog-appropriate or not but I think it will be ok.

I think Ellie gets it this time that there is a baby in mom's belly. She watched a Baby story with me once or twice and now keeps saying that when she is 3 years old, mom will go to the doctor and push and then the baby will come out mom's privates or they will cut it out with scissors. Several things: First, it is amazing what this little 2-year-old picks up and how well she remembers it. Two, no more baby story. And three, I am not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing that she knows this process so well. So far we have kind of laughed it off, but it was interesting today in the car when I was explaining to her that I was going to the doctor and she replied, "And you gonna push mom?". --- No Ellie, not yet.

Disclaimer: Sorry if this post was a little TMI for most of you (too much information)--- if you have or had little ones... you will understand.